Our Teacher is a Yakuza Princess

Chapter 46

"Where are we going?"

"I told you, it's a secret."

"But I can't see!"

Sigh. "That's the point of a blindfold, Yankumi."

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost."

"Achoo! Where are we? It smells like dust… and boy."

"That's… oddly accurate. Ok, there are six steps here."

"One, two, three, four, five – Ow!"

"I said six. Not five and then walk forward."

"If I could see, we wouldn't have this problem."

"You need your eyes to count? What kind of math teacher are you?"

"The kind that kills people when they blindfold her and don't say where they're going."

"Alright, alright, we're here. Hold still."

The blindfold came off with a flourish, and Shin waited for Yankumi to look around.

"We're… in a gym." She sounded less than enthused. He waited some more.

"Wait… this is… this is Shirokin's old gym! I thought it closed down!"

"It did. But their security is horribly lax."

"Shin…" She turned to him, not understanding. "Why are we in Shirokin's gym?"

"Well, there's a lot of memories here. For instances right… hang on, a little more to the left… there is where you were standing the first time I saw you."

Yankumi stared.

"Right down there is where you saved Kuma's ass from getting expelled. Up here is where you declared that you would get all of us to graduate."

He looked at her with a small grin. "I thought you were lying, just like all the other adults in my life. But the way you said it, the way you looked at me, made me think that maybe, just maybe, you were different."

She tilted her head at him, touched, but still confused.

"This is also where a boy who had been picked on and bullied every day for a year, came to face his fears. Because you taught him how."

He couldn't help a small chuckle at the next one. "You also stood right about there in that ridiculous cheerleader outfit and did a choreographed cheer in front of everyone."

Yankumi immediately blushed and started to protest. "N-now, I was just trying to help-"

Shin put up a hand to forestall her and moved on. "And right through those doors is where we all came to fight for your job. Because we realized that we couldn't lose you. And because I realized… that I loved you."

Her eyes widened. No matter how many times he said it, she still seemed surprised – even more so with discovering when he first realized it.

He moved to the center of the stage. "And I stood right here for my graduation speech and announced to several hundred people," Here he looked over to meet her eyes, "that you were the only person I could trust with my whole heart."

Walking back over to where she stood, blinking back tears, Shin took a deep breath and felt around his pocket.

"I also brought you here to make a new memory." Trying to ignore the fact that his heart was attempting to escape by pounding its way out of his chest, he knelt down on one knee. "And to ask you a question."

And because she was Yankumi, instead the tearful, surprised look Shin was expecting, she simply looked puzzled. "Why do you need to kneel to ask me a question?"

He sighed. "Because it's a specific question."

"What kind of specific question requires you to- oh. Oooh. OOOOHHHH."

Taking advantage of the fact that she was now in shock and likely to be quiet for a few minutes, Shin started his speech. "Yamaguchi Kumiko – knowing you has changed my life. You've taught me so many things – not as my teacher, but as a person. You taught me to value friendships, to protect others, and to never, ever give up on someone. You were the first person I ever really trusted, even before I knew I loved you. You make me happy just to be around you, and I want to be with you always. For my whole life."

There was a small squeak, which Shin took as a sign that his time was nearly up. "So, Yamaguchi Kumiko, will you marry me?"

He held open the small box, which contained a gold ring with a delicate diamond. He didn't think it was possible, but her eyes got even wider.

"W-w-w… why?" She finally got out.

Shin sighed. He was sure that he was the only man in the world who got 'why?' as an answer to 'will you marry me?'. To be fair, he was the only man in the world proposing to Yankumi, so he might have expected it.

"Why do I want to marry you?" She nodded. "Did you not just hear my wonderful speech? It's because I love you. Why do you think I've been dating you?"

"I… I don't know…" She mumbled at the floor.

Standing, he moved closer. "Are you saying no?" He asked, very softly.

"No! No, no, no. It's not that… it's just…"

"You don't think that I should be throwing away my future by marrying into a yakuza clan?"

She looked up with the startled expression that meant he had read her mind. Knowing her as he did, it wasn't nearly as impressive as it sounded. "I've told you. My future is mine, and I can do what I want with it. Like spend the rest of it with you."

When she glanced down, still unsure, he stifled a sigh and changed tack. "Alright, let me ask a different question. Do you love me?"

She nodded at the floor. He coughed significantly, which caused her to raise her head a bit. "Yes." She said quietly.

"Then marry me. We can argue about details later."

Yankumi looked up to point out that they were going to argue about the 'details' of his future right now, then saw that look in his eyes. The look that told her in no uncertain terms how much he loved her, wanted her. She fixed her eyes elsewhere, trying to get her heart to beat normally. That look made it very hard for her to think rationally, and he knew it too, the jerk.

"So… will you?"

When she cautiously glanced back, his eyes were softer, almost pleading. Even though she thought it was crazy, he really did want to marry her.

Dammit. "Yes." She told him.