Episode Eight

I noticed it was a beautiful day as I walked to school. If I was a girly-girly, I would've skipped. I was almost there when I saw Yankumi.

"Yankumi," I ran up to her.

She looked up from the book she was reading, "Saitou, you're in a happy mood."

"Well it's a beautiful day," as we walked, I noticed she was carrying a bag, "that's not a bunch of math papers, is it?"

She smiled, "no, it's just baby stuff."

"Oh baby stuff...eh?! Baby stuff?! Yankumi, are you..."

She laughed, "no, it's for a former student of mine."

I sighed, "I was about to say."

Suddenly she tripped making everything from the bag fall out. I knelt down and helped her.

"Thank you Saitou."

As I placed the items in the bag, I felt like we were being watched. I looked behind us, but no one was there. I shook the feeling off and turned back to Yankumi.

"Man, Yankumi. Did you buy the whole store," I joked.

"No, but they might need the whole store. Taking care of a baby is a lot of work," we stood up, "you'll know what I mean when you have a baby."

I blushed thinking of little Yamatos running around. I shook my head.

"Hey, Yankumi let me carry that," I grabbed the bag, "that way if you fall, we won't have to pick it up again."

"Good idea."

We walked to school. I went with her to the office because I needed to get a new school jacket. When we entered, the teachers were acting really strange. Of course, Yankumi didn't notice.

"Ohayou," Yankumi said as she entered, "Head teacher, Saitou needs a new jacket. Do you have an extra?"

"Hai. Look in that closet."

I went over to the closet and got one of the smaller jackets. As I put it on, Sakura-san pushed Sawatari in Yankumi's direction.

"Is something wrong," she asked.

"Um..."

Yankumi looked at Baba-sensei who was sitting on the ground looking depressed, "what's wrong Baba-sensei? You look like your life is over."

He sniffed, "of course my life is over."

"Huh?"

"Yamaguchi-sensei, I have a question," Sawatari said bring her attention back to him.

"What is it?"

"Preg..."

When he said that, I knew why they were acting so weird. Just like I did, they thought Yankumi was pregnant. But how did they get that idea? Did they over hear us and not get the whole conversation? I shrugged and watched the whole scene in amusement. Yankumi picked up a box off her desk making the teachers go crazy. I tried not to bust out laughing.

"Yamaguchi-sensei, you shouldn't lift such a heavy thing at a time like this," Sawatari said.

"A time like this? If I don't move it, I can't do my job," she stated.

Aoi-sensei smiled, "you don't have to hide it."

"Um, I'm not hiding anything."

Baba-sensei stood up and walked up to Yankumi, "alright! Yamaguchi-sensei. I'm a man too. If it's for your happiness," he took the box from her, "I'll give you up with good grace."

I did a face-palm. Good grief! The teachers said congratulations and started clapping. This made Yankumi more confused than before.

"On what?"

Before anyone could answer her, a man walked through the door. It was the same man that got hit with the tennis ball that one time.

"Hello! Kumai Ramen! I'm picking up your bowls."

"Good morning Kuma," Yankumi grabbed the bag of baby stuff from me, "oh yeah Kuma, here," he started looking through the bag, "it's a bit early to celebrate, but...," he gave her a huge smile, "baby clothes, rattles and some other stuff."

I decided now to make my presence known, "she bought the whole store."

He turned to me, "who are you?"

"This is Saitou, Heza. She is one of my students," Yankumi said.

"Oh! Your one of those kids from that day," he said.

I bowed, "gomen. We really didn't mean for the ball to hit you."

He patted me on the head, "it's alright. You should come by the shop sometime."

"Okay, maybe today," I smiled, "and congratulations on being a soon-to-be parent."

"Thank you," he pulled one of the baby clothes, "this is so cute! Thank you Yankumi."

Sawatari tilted his head, "celebrate?"

Yankumi nodded, "ah, head teacher, Kumai's kid will be born soon."

"Kumai's kid?"

"That's right."

They gave a sigh of relief. Kumai-san turned to me.

"What's that about?"

I laughed, "they thought that Yankumi was pregnant."

He laughed.

Yankumi heard me and looked at them shocked, "you thought I was pregnant by mistake," she playfully hit Sawatari on the arm making him clinch it in pain, "oh, come on...Saitou, let's go."

"Hai," I bowed to Kumai-san, "good-bye and best wishes, Kumai-san."

"Bye and thanks again."

I walked with Yankumi to class. We came up to the door to go in.

She laughed, "geez. Talk about jumping to conclusions..."

We walked in, "good morning!"

"Congratulations!"

The guys started cheering throwing little piece of different colored paper in the air. I covered my face trying not to laugh. So the rumor of Yankumi being pregnant reached class 3-D. They even decorated the board. It said "CONGRATS YANMAMA."

"Here, Yankumi," Ichi placed a chair with a big cushion beside her, "sit here."

Kura nodded, "you can sit during class from now on."

She sighed, "geez, even you guys?"

They smiled and nodded. I laughed at Yamato. With all the small different colored pieces of paper in his hair, he looked like a christmas tree.

Yankumi shook her head, "I'm sorry you went to all this trouble, but I'm not pregnant."

"Huh?"

Kamiya spoke up, "then that baby stuff we saw, was is for..."

He looked at me.

Kamiya smiled and turned to Yamato, "Yamato, congrates. I knew you had it in you."

My eyes widened, "baka," I went up and hit him in the back of the head, "I'm not pregnant. It's the wife of Yankumi's former student that's expecting."

Yankumi nodded, "look, it's a guy you guys know. Kumai."

Ichi and Kura looked at each other, "ah!"

Yamato spoke up, "that reminds me...Kumai-san said he was going to have a baby."

"He sure did," Ren said feeling a little embarrassed.

"Man, it was a mistake," one of the guys said, "I thought it was odd."

"Me too," Honjo agreed, "I mean, this is Yankumi we're talking about."

"Yankumi isn't married," Ichi pointed out.

Kura laughed, "getting married comes before having a kid."

Ren stepped up, "but before that, she needs to find a man."

Yamato laughed waving his hand in front of his face, "it'll never happen."

My guys laughed before going back to their seats. When I saw the look on Yankumi's face, I stayed up front, out of the red zone. The guys, except my guys, noticed too and grabbed Yankumi to keep her from killing the 6 guys. When my guys looked up, Yankumi threw the others off of her with ease. Yamato and Ren started to sink in their chairs. Kamiya and Honjo started screaming while Ichi and Kura clinged to each other.

Yankumi walked towards them, "you guys get ready for a scolding!"

After school, I suggested that we go to Kumai's Shop for some ramen. The guys agreed. Somehow, Yankumi ended up tagging along. When we got there, we greeted Kumai, and I was introduced to his wife. She told me to call her Ami-chan. We ordered our ramen and sat down. Yankumi and Kamiya sat on the ends of the table while I sat between Yamato and Honjo, and Ichi sat between Ren and Kura. Once Kumai-san brought our orders, Yankumi started day-dreaming.

She sighed happily, "I'm going to be a grandma soon."

"Grandma?"

"A student is like a child," she explained, "so that student's child is like a grandchild."

Ren laughed, "becoming a grandma before becoming a mom..."

Yankumi sent him a glare, "don't even go there."

"My bad."

Yankumi smiled and turned to me and Yamato, "I can't wait until you two give me grandkids."

Everyone started choking on their food.

I wiped my mouth, "Yankumi, you're going faster than we are. We haven't even gone on our first date yet."

Everyone looked at us in shock, "you haven't."

Yamato groaned. Luckly Kumai-san started talking to the baby and got everyone off the subject of me and Yamato.

He talked into this weird-looking pink thing, "this is Yankumi. She's going to be your grandma."

Yankumi turned to him, "what are you doing?"

Ami-chan smiled, "they say that talking to your child like this will help them feel at ease."

Yankumi stood and took the pink thing from Kumai-san, "they've developed things like this recently," she knelt down putting it to Ami-chan's belly, "hello. Good afternoon. I'm Yankumi."

As she talked to the baby, we finished eating.

Honjo rubbed his stomach, "man, I stuffed myself."

"The ramen here sure is yummy," Kura stretched.

"Hey," Kumai-san pointed to Honjo, "it's not "stuffed myself," it's "ate a lot", he pointed at Kura, "and it's not "yummy," it's "delicious". I don't want my child to learn language like that."

"There's no way he's going to learn that," Yankumi said trying to calm Kumai-san down.

"He may not learn it, but it's bad for prenatal training," he argued.

"I see."

Suddenly we started hearing classical music. We looked around for the sourse and saw Kumai-san holding a pink radio.

"What music is that," Ichi asked.

"It's supposed to be good for the child," Kumai-san explained.

Kura raised an eyebrow, "classical music in a ramen shop."

We waved our hands in front of our face, "no way..."

Ami-chan went to clean a table, but Kumai-san stopped her.

"Come on, I'll take care of stuff like this."

She smiled shaking her head, "it'll be fine."

"What would we do if something happened to the baby," he argued, "right? Take a break. Keep your body warm. Go lie down," he handed her the radio, "don't forget to take this with you. Let the baby listen to it."

She nodded, took the radio and left. I couldn't help but smile.

"Alright then," Yankumi stood, "I'm going to head out."

Kumai-san turned to her, "are you leaving already?"

"I've got an appointment," she smiled at us, "it's like a date."

We laughed at her. Like we were going to believe that.

"Don't try to look good," Yamato said.

Ren smirked, "you're just going out for a drink, right?"

Her face dropped, "I guess you could call it that too."

Honjo pointed his toothpick at her, "that's the only thing it's called."

"Sakura-chan and Aoi-chan will be there too," Kamiya pointed out.

"You have no chance, then," Kura and Ichi laughed.

She glared at us, "mind your own business!"

We laughed as she left the shop. Once we stopped laughing, Ren turned to me and Yamato.

"So what this about you two haven't gone on your first date yet?"

Yamato groaned again. I tried to kick Ren under the table, but hit Ichi instead.

"Ow! That hurt, Heza."

"Sorry."

"Well...," Ren said getting us back on subject.

I glared at him, "I don't see how that is any of your business."

Yamato put his hand on mine, "it's okay, Heza. We haven't been on a first date because I haven't had the money."

"Eh? That's all?"

Kamiya sighed, "man, if that's the case, I could give some money."

Yamato shook his head, "no. If I'm going to take Heza out, it's going to be with my money."

"How about having your first date here," Kumai-san suggested, "and to celebrate your date, I'll serve you free of charge."

Yamato and I looked at him in shock, "really?"

He nodded.

Yamato turned to me, "well what do you say?"

"Well if that's your way of asking me on a first date then...," I smiled, "sure."

Kumai-san clapped his hands together, "great! Just tell me before hand and I'll reserve a table for you."

He walked away mumbling something about young love. We paid for the ramen and left. We laughed getting back on the subject of Kumai-san's baby.

"Kumai-san sure seems like he's going to be a father that always worries," Ren observed, "he'll be in trouble if it's a girl."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "what's that suppose to mean?"

He ignored me as Honjo added, "he'll totally say something like, "I'll never let you get married!"

Suddenly Kamiya's phone started ringing. He pulled it out and smiled.

"A message from Haruka-chan?!"

"Huh?"

"Is Haruka-chan the Momo High girl from the hook-up party," Ichi asked.

He nodded. Kura went to Kamiya as he opened his phone.

"I want to see."

When Kamiya read the message, he face dropped.

"My mom..."

"What time will you be home," Kura teased.

We laughed.

"She's so annoying," Kamiya complained.

"That's right, your mom does message you a lot," Yamato pointed out.

Kamiya looked across the street and glared. We followed his line of sight to see a group of Ara High students. Yamato shifted protectively in front of me as they stopped and glared at us. The two group of boys glared at each other for a few minutes before the Ara boys walked on. I rolled my eyes before walking ahead.

"I'm going home," I announced, "ja ne."

"OI!"

I turned to see Yamato running up to me.

He smiled, "I'm walking you, remember?"

"Then come on," I laughed.

He took my hand, and we started walking. I could hear the guys tease us, making kissing sounds.

I swung our hand, "so when is our date?"

"Don't know yet," he glanced at me, "when do you want to have it?"

"Whenever is fine. You choose."

He sighed, "do I have to?"

I laughed, "are you pouting?"

He blushed, "no."

"You are," I poked his cheek, "kawaii!"

He looked away embarrassed, "we're here," he let go of my hand, "good-night."

He started to walk away but I stopped him.

"Come on," he turned to me, "don't be like that."

He didn't budge. I poked my bottom lip out making a pout. He tried not to laugh, but failed.

"Look who's pouting now," he came up and poked my cheek, "kawaii!"

We laughed and said good-night before going our separate ways.

---

I didn't get much sleep. I slowly made my way into the class and fell into my desk. Yamato leaned over to me.

"Are you okay?"

"I wasn't able to sleep," I cried, "my mind wouldn't shut up."

He sighed, "well lay your head down and go to sleep. I'll cover for you with Yankumi."

"Thank you," I laid my head down and closed my eyes, "what did I do to deserve you?"

"I ask myself that question about you everyday."

I fell into a deep sleep, but it didn't last long. I jumped up when a huge cheer broke out in the class.

I sighed, "what's going on?"

"Kamiya announced another hook-up party," Yamato stretched, "did their cheering wake you?"

I nodded tiredly.

"Go back to sleep."

I was about to lay my head back down when Kamiya yelled. I shot up again.

"Haruka-chan from Momo High agreed to a date with me," he cheered, "I've been asking for a month. Now, just like Yamato and Sai-chan, spring has finally come for me!"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," Yamato commented.

"Okay, I got it," Kamiya smiled, "I'll pass on this party, so someone can go."

The class cheered. As soon as school was over, Kamiya left to meet Haruka-chan. The guys decided to follow him, like we did when Kura had a girlfriend. After I told them I would catch up, they ran out the door after Kamiya. Once I didn't feel so tired, I followed them. I walked to the spot where Kamiya was meeting Haruka-chan and busted out laughing at what I found. The guys were surrounded by a bunch of little kids.

I walked up, "do you need some help?"

"Yes!"

"Okay," I called getting the kids' attention, "why don't you guys go find your teacher?"

"Hai!"

They ran off.

Kura came up and hugged me, "my hero!"

Yamato pulled him off me, "stay off."

I looked around, "so, where's Kamiya?"

The guys dropped their heads.

"We kinda lost them," Ren said.

"You lost them?!"

"It wasn't our fault," Honjo exclaimed, "those kids distracted us!"

I crossed my arms, "blaming little kids."

They dropped their heads lower, "gomen."

We went to our usual place. I played darts with Yamato as the others sat whining about not having girlfriends.

"So when do you want to go," Yamato asked for the tenth time.

I sighed, "I already told you," I threw a dart hitting the bull's eye, "you decide."

He sighed, "tell you what, if you can beat me in the next round of darts, I'll pick the time."

I smirked, "you have noticed I've been hitting the bull's eye more than you have?"

He smiled, "I know."

"Okay, you're on."

We were about to start when Yamato's cellphone started ringing.

He answered it, "moshi moshi," his face became serious, "we'll be right there."

Yamato put his phone up and looked at us, "we have to go to the school. Kamiya got in some trouble during his date."

We ran to the school. We found Kamiya walking down a hall with a depressed look on his face.

"Kamiya!"

He looked at us as we ran up to him.

"Hey, is it true a guy from Ara High beat you up," Ren asked.

"What about your girl," Ichi wondered.

Kamiya frowned, "she's not gonna go out with such a weak guy."

He walked past us.

"Damn it," I whispered.

"That guy is going to pay," Yamato told him.

Kamiya stopped and turned to us, "don't bother."

"Guys..."

Yankumi came up to us with an older woman, who I assumed was Kamiya's mother.

"We heard about the trouble that Kamiya had with an Ara High guy," Honjo explained to her.

"It's not anything for you to fuss over," Kamiya stated.

His mother walked to him, "don't say things like that. Everyone is worried about you."

He rolled his eyes, "I don't need your concern."

The woman bowed to us, "I'm very sorry," she grabbed Kamiya's hand, "let's go home."

He pulled away, "you're annoying."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't treat me like a kid," he told her.

Yankumi spoke up, "but you are a kid," he glared at her, but she ignored it, "after making your parents worry and bow their heads, you don't even apologize. And you think you're a full-fledged adult? How about starting with properly apologizing to your mother?"

"Yamaguchi-sensei, isn't that enough," his mother asked.

"No, it's not," she argued, "apologize."

"As if," Kamiya snapped.

"What?"

"It was that woman's decision to worry and bow her head," he barked.

"That woman," Yankumi raised her voice, "what sort of crap are you saying to the woman who gave birth to you?"

"I didn't ask her to have me," he yelled back.

Yankumi continued, "you're already 18, you shouldn't be talking like such a kid!"

"So I'm a kid! I can't win a fight. I can't protect a woman by myself. I'm worthless!"

He started walking away. We went after him.

"Kamiya!"

"Don't follow me!"

We stopped and let him go. The next day Kamiya didn't come to school. Soon Yankumi got a call from Kumai-san saying he saw Kamiya, who was very upset. Worried, she told us and we ran out to find him. We finally found him in a underground parking garage getting beat by the Ara High guys we saw the other day. The leader went to leave, but Kamiya grabbed his leg.

"I won't lose."

The leader kicked him off, "get off my foot! Like I said earlier," he kicked Kamiya in the stomach, "come back when you're stronger."

We were about to go help Kamiya, but Yankumi stopped us.

"Don't interfere."

I felt tears in my eyes, "but..."

"It'll be okay," she walked forward, "can you just leave it at that?"

The Ara guys turned to her.

The leader raised an eye brow, "who are you?"

"I'm his homeroom teacher," she stated.

"A homeroom teacher," they laughed, "you should back off."

Yankumi glared at the leader, "I can't do that."

"I told you to back off!"

The leader went to punch her, but she caught his fist. He looked at her with shock and fear.

"If you don't leave my student alone, you'll be sorry," she said in a low, dangerous tone.
The leader dropped his fist and ran away with his pals right behind him. We ran to Kamiya.

"Kamiya!"

I knelt down to check his wounds, "Kamiya, are you okay? Can you get up?"

He pushed me away, "leave me alone! Damn it! Damn it!"

"What are you doing," Yankumi asked.

"Please," Kamiya began to stand, "teach me how to fight. I want to become strong so I can beat them!"

"There are other ways to win."

"Please teach me!"

Yankumi shook her head, "unfortunately, I don't have any intention of teaching you that. Come on, we're going back."

As she walked away, Kamiya attacked her. She dodged.

"Stop it!"

"I want to become strong," she dodged his attack again making him fall to the ground, "because I'm weak, I couldn't protect my girlfriend, and I was made fun of by those Ara High kids. Even I have some pride," he kept attacking and she kept dodging, "damn it! I don't want to become a man like Kumai! Always bowing and scraping! I will never become that sort of man!"

Yankumi dodged making him fall to the ground again, "there's no way you could possibly become like that. You don't have any idea what Kuma was thinking when he was bowing his head."

"He's just weak!"

Kamiya got up and attacked again. Yankumi punched him in the stomach shocking us. Kamiya dropped to the ground coughing. Yankumi continued.

"It was to protect you, Ami, and the child inside Ami. So that you guys wouldn't be harmed, he bit his bullets and bowed his head. Can you put on an act like that? Can you eat those feelings of anger for someone's sake? In order to protect something important, can you bow your head? It's not just Kuma. Your mom did the same thing."

Kamiya groaned, "it doesn't concern my mom. She apologizes just to smooth things over, right?"

"That's not it," Yankumi knelt down to look Kamiya straight in the eyes, "it was for your sake. Because it was to protect you, she could do that. Kamiya, listen up Kamiya," she grabbed him softly by the jacket, "fighting isn't the only way to protect that which is important to you. Become strong! Like Kuma or your mother. Someone strong who can protect the important things."

Yamato slipped his hand in mine. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. I looked at Kamiya. Looking at his face, I knew Yankumi's message sank in deep.

"I...said some horrible things to Kumai."

There was a silence, but it was broke by Yankumi's phone vibrating. She stood up and answered it.

"Ah, Kuma? Huh? The contractions have started?"

She hung up and ran out of the garage. We ran after her all the way to the hospital. We went to the baby section where Kumai-san was standing at the door of the birthing room.

"Kuma!"

"Kumai-san!"

Kumai-san turned to us, "Yankumi! You guys!"

"How is Ami-chan," Yankumi asked.

A nurse came out and Kumai-san immediately began to ask questions.

"Um, how is Ami? And the baby?"

"It'll take some more time," she explained.

"Will it be okay," he raised his voice, "it's not the due date yet!"

"Everything's fine," she reassured him, "it's nothing unusual."

The nurse walked away.

"But..."

"Calm down," Yankumi told him, "I'm sure it'll be born safely."

He calmed down, "right. Of course it will."

The sunset and the stars came out, but we were still there waiting for news of Kumai-san's wife and child. Kumai-san didn't sit. He just stood at the door praying. I leaned against the wall between Yamato and Ren praying as well. Suddenly we heard a baby's cry on the other side of the door. Kumai-san started crying. A nurse came out of the room.

"Congratulations. It's a healthy 6.5 pound girl."

Yankumi smiled, "congratulations Kuma."

We smiled, "congratulations!"

Kumai-san started crying harder, "she's born. She's born! I'm a father!"

"You sure are," Yankumi said, "you're a dad."

"I did it. I did it!"

Kamiya stepped forward, "Kumai-san, I didn't understand you at all," he started to cry, "I said all those horrible things. I'm very, very sorry," he bowed.

Kumai-san smiled putting his hand on Kamiya's shoulder, "no problem."

Yankumi pushed Kumai-san towards the door, "Kuma, go and see Ami and your baby."

He nodded and practically ran into the room. After a few minutes of silence, Ren spoke.

"Somehow...giving birth to a child is amazing."

Yamato nodded, "yeah. I don't even know how to put it. It's amazing."

I smiled, "it's a wonderful thing."

Yankumi turned to us, "you guys were born like this too. Whatever you do, don't forget that."

I started to imagine my Daddy in Kumai-san's place waiting and praying for mom and me to be okay, and then his happy face when he heard my cry. I felt tears fall down my face. The happiness my parents must have felt when their child was born, and not just my parents, every parent. Like Yamato and Ren said, it's amazing. We left the hospital and went home. Not wanting to be alone, I went to Ren's house for the night.

The next day, class 3-D was greeted by a very happy Kumai-san. He came to show off pictures of his new babygirl.

"Kawaii!"

"She looks just like Ami-chan," Yamato commented.

"In the future, she might be an actress," Ren smiled.

"You think so too," Kumai-san asked.

Honjo laughed, "Kumai-san, you should deny that."

We laughed.

Yankumi nudged Kumai-san, "what a doting father."

Suddenly the door opened and in walked Sawatari.

"Hey! What is going on here?"

Yankumi took the picture, "head teacher. Look at this. It's Kuma's baby."

Kumai-san pointed to the picture, "look, doesn't the nose look just like mine?"

"Ah, how sad," Sawatari said.

"What," Kumai-san growled.

Sawatari reached into his jacket, "Kumai, take this."

It was a congratulation present.

"Get your wife something nutritious to eat."

Kumai-san took it and bowed, "thank you very much!"

"You of course don't need anymore nutrition," Sawatari joked.

Yankumi smiled, "head teacher, you have a soft spot, don't you?"

We whooed teasing him.

"Shut up! Be quiet!"

"Don't be shy, Goro-chan," I yelled out making everyone laugh harder.

After a very funny day, Yamato was going to walk me home, but instead he led me to the park.

"What are we doing here?"

He laughed, "you'll see."

He held my hand as we walked. He led me to the big clearing where he and Ren fought that one time. It was lit by the moon and stars so I could see. There was something in the middle of the clearing. Yamato pulled me towards it and my heart stopped. It was a picnic.

He laughed at my expression, "well do you like it or would you rather go to Kumai-san's?"

I looked at him, "you mean?"

He smiled, "this is our date. Our first date."

"But what about..."

"I told Kumai-san my plan, and he understood. He even helped me. You see, I had already planned this. The reason I'm doing it now is because," he pointed to the sky, "I was waiting on that."

I looked up at the sky to see that not only was there a moon, it was a full moon. I hugged my boyfriend.

He laughed, "I take it that you like it."

I kissed him on the cheek, "I love it."

That night we talking, stared at the stars and moon, and ate the food Kumai-san help Yamato prepare. It was the greatest first date ever, and I will always remember it.