Out of the Ordinary by Eruanna17

Chapter 4: Suddenly Studying Seriously

Author's Note:Chapter 4! Whoo!A few quick explanations:'Shizuka' is another word for 'be quiet', so Yankumi making a pun in Japanese which I translated to 'Shhhh-zuka'. Just in case I'm the only one who thinks I'm clever and hilariA hostess or host club is basically where people go to drink and have attractive people (the host/hostess) flirt with them. Things can get more serious, and hostesses are oftento go on paid dates with clients, which may include all kinds of activities. Hostesses are often considered the modern equivalent of geishas. (Hence why it's scandalous for a teabe one)Japanese students are often required to learn English cursive! Why? No idea, except that it's considered part of English and American culture. (I had to use it in fourth grade an was it.)

Shin was trying to sleep.Homeroom with Yankumi was over, which meant it was time for Fujiyama-sensei's English class. Shin didn't mind English class, since he could answer questions in his sleep (His senator father hadsure that his children could speak English fluently, not because they wanted to, but to make sure he looked good. Stupid old man). What he did mind was the screech of desks as the other kids soclose to the board as possible, leaving him alone (and usually asleep) in the back, and the loud murmur of everyone practicing English and finishing their homework. That miniskirt the teacher worecontrolled the class almost as well as Yankumi's yelling.He had a sudden image of Yankumi in a miniskirt, which made him shudder and quickly put it out of his head. He much preferred her tracksuits and pigtails. While Fujiyama-sensei (or "Shizuka-chan classmates called her. Ugh.) tried to control the class with hormones, Yankumi tried to help them with an overwhelming blind passion for teaching. He preferred that too. So, he waited for the squeaks and voices to die down so he could finally get back to his nap.The door opened, causing an expectant silence to fall over the class as they all leaned forward for a better look. Finally, thought Shin, and settled his head deeper into his arm. Skipping his usuallynap by the riverside in order to come to Yankumi's homeroom made his English nap even more essential. He was almost asleep when cries of outrage exploded from the front."Ah, man! Why is she here again?""This is Shizuka-chan's class! Where is she?"As a chorus of "Shi-zu-ka! Shi-zu-ka!" echoed around the room, Shin slowly raised his head to see who had replaced their normal English teacher. Yankumi? He suddenly felt more awake. Proppingup on his arm, he watched as she shouted back at them,"What's with all the Shizuka? Huh? All of you Shhhhhh-zuka!" And then she went on to explain that English Teacher was sick with a cold and that she would be teaching math instead. Groaning witdisappointment, they all scooted back away from the front, offending Yankumi mightily. Shin watched with a small grin, then closed his eyes again and drifted off to sleep to the sound of a dorky vto explain algebra.After class, Shin noticed Noda rush out with his English workbook in hand. He shook his head a little. English Teacher's miniskirt had worked on Noda a little too well. The poor guy was hooked. Ahleast he's studying for once in his life.Even after school, as they headed for the crepe cart, Noda had his nose firmly planted in his book, reciting the properties of "to" to himself.Uchi and Minami couldn't pass up such a great teasing opportunity. "Oh! You're really determined aren't you?" Uchi danced in front of him, his guitar strapped on his back."Get a high score on the English midterm and capture Shizuka-chan's heart that way, eh?" Minami grinned."Aw, she wouldn't be interested in me anyway," Noda replied, without looking away from the correct usage of adverbs.Minami continued, "Operation Capture Shizuka-chan's Heart Number 1!"Good Lord, now Minami's starting to sound like Yankumi, thought Shin."Women have a soft spot for presents." Minami told him with the air of experience. Shin rolled his eyes.Noda scoffed, "How could I afford to give her a present?"And yet, as Uchi and Minami ran off to try and 'charm' some nearby girls, Shin noticed Noda stop by one of the street vendors and pick up a simple necklace. Grinning slightly at Noda's enthusiasmwas glad his friend had something to be happy about.The next time he saw Noda, he had rushed out of the classroom with a bit of wrapping paper in his hand. He returned for break minus the present and with a face that kept switching between hugand longing eyes. The other guys gathered around as Noda pulled out his laptop and started cycling through his rather impressive (and slightly creepy, in Shin's mind) collection of snapshots of "Schan"."Alluring aren't they? Older women," Uchi said dreamily, staring at the screen.Kuma thought a moment, the asked, "Yankumi too, then?"Ha! Yankumi? Alluring?"She's definitely excluded." Shin told them decisively, remembering her ridiculous 'thief catching' outfit.It was then he noticed someone tapping his shoulder. He turned to look and got poked in the cheek."Baka." Yankumi (who else?) said with a dorky smile. Who in the world did that anymore? It was something ten-year-olds did to annoy each other. "I tricked you, huh?" Her smile got wider.And that's why, Shin thought to himself. A woman-child with tracksuits, glasses, and pigtails was the farthest thing from alluring. Ever. Plus, she had snuck up on him again. Annoying."Oh! Wait, wait!" She shouted, and ran over to join Noda, who was so absorbed in his creepy collection that he hadn't even noticed Yankumi's presence. "This picture didn't turn out half bad!"Watching Noda helplessly trying to cover the screen, and Yankumi shouting that he was all grown up, Shin felt a surprising amount of amusement. No normal teacher would act like that, teasing agood-naturedly about his crush. But then again, nothing Yankumi did was normal, whether it was speaking to students or handling a crisis.The next crisis arrived (on wheels, no less) later on in the week, with the revelation that "Shizuka-chan's working part-time as a hostess at a bar!"Browse Just In Community Forum Betas Story SearchAnime/Manga (/anime/)  Gokusen (/anime/Gokusen/) +  -    /"Ehhh?" The class shouted in surprise. Working as a hostess was a few steps above working a corner, but not many."I don't know who, but someone ratted on her." The bearer of bad news continued, rolling his way to his seat. "Head Teacher is super mad."Shin thought a moment. In order to discover where English Teacher worked at night, someone must have followed her, and taken a picture or video for proof. They would also have had to be able(most likely anonymously) to the school staff. Someone who would follow her, who had a camera, and computer skills. Shin did not like who that added up to.His eyes fell on Noda, who was moodily staring at his desk. If the Noda from a few days ago heard the news that his precious 'Shizuka-chan' was in trouble, he would be outraged and demanding jThis sullen, quiet, uneasy Noda was making Shin suspicious. Yankumi pounded in a few seconds later and went straight up to Noda's desk, obviously coming to the same conclusion as Shin. Nodaher for a moment, then broke eye contact, confirming her suspicion."Was it you?" She asked, as her righteous anger started bubbling to the surface. "Was it you that took Fujiyama-sensei's picture and sent it to the Head Teacher?"Noda shifted in his seat, then leaned back with a sickly smile. "So what if I did?""Why would you do a thing like that for?" She shouted.Standing up, Noda shouted back, "But that's the truth. That woman was really working as a hostess!""It doesn't mean you can do something like that!""So teachers can get away with everything? Huh?" While this may have been true of many other cases in the school, Shin knew that this wasn't about the injustice of teachers getting a free pass. TNoda's personal grudge, though about what he didn't know."It's her own fault! She..." Noda paused, as if in pain. "She took the present I gave her...and threw it in the trash." Yankumi's eyes widened and started to fill with compassion as Shin finally undershad been betrayed by a teacher, not in school, but in love. Having the object of your crush toss away your present...your feelings...you... would certainly cause feelings of betrayal, of anger, of vengShin could strangely easily relate. He could imagine how he would feel if... someone... who was important to him suddenly rejected him, threw him away. Not that there was anybody important to hlike that. He looked out for Number One, then his friends, then no one else. No one."It serves her right." Noda said to himself, then looked to Yankumi. "Right?"Wrong, thought Shin as Yankumi's arm shot out faster than anyone could see, all compassion gone from her eyes.Noda hit the floor, bleeding from the side of his mouth, and the rest of the class stood up in shock."Does that allow you to do something so rotten? Huh?" She shouted in such anger that Shin grabbed her arms so that she wouldn't beat Noda to a pulp."Cut it out!" He yelled to her, unsure if she could hear him in her current state. One earnest punch from her was all they needed to know that they had violated her code, that they weren't acting wand dignity. More would just be overkill. But Shin thought for a moment that she was taking this almost personally, that Noda revealing a teacher's secret somehow infuriated and (Shin couldn't be was picking this up right) frightened her. He then had such trouble keeping her away from Noda that he had little time to think about anything else. Damn, she was strong."Didn't you used to like Fujiyama-sensei? Just because she brushed you off and your love wasn't reciprocated, you turned around and snitched on her, huh? Is that how you treat someone you likedespicable! Is that the extent of your love?" Her voice started to change from pure anger to earnest passion, so Shin let her go."When Fujiyama-sensei rejected you, did you feel the pain in your heart?" She put her hand on her chest and looked like she was about to cry. "It hurt, didn't it? And now that you've done this to hyour pain go away? Are you happy now?" As she said it, Shin realized that this didn't sound like her. This sounded like someone else talking to her. He had a sudden vision of Yankumi being hurt anothers until someone said these same words to her."If you are happy, then you don't have the right to love anybody!" That, however, was her anger talking. Too much, Yankumi. You pushed him too far.Noda took a few ragged breaths, then half-heartedly shouted, "Shut up," before running out the door.Shin looked over at Yankumi, who was breathing hard as well, still fighting the mass of emotions she had just gone through. Righteous anger, personal anger, (fear?), loss, betrayal, then right backpersonal anger again."What that guy did was really low," Shin walked up next to her, then spoke softly, as if to himself. "But I can understand how he must have felt."It was the gentlest rebuke he could give, and yet he saw Yankumi's eyes fill with guilt as she still heard it. He suddenly felt a wave of...something as the fact that he had corrected a teacher and thaccepted it hit him. Normal teachers didn't do that. Thank God Yankumi wasn't normal.She proved how not-normal she was (again) in class the following day, when she announced that Fujiyama-sensei was suspended for a week, but if she met the Head Teacher's condition, "he promto fire her."This sounded like it had Yankumi all over it. The Head Teacher had probably backed her into a corner with her own words, and now she was going to expect something impossible from them."What's the condition?" Minami asked for the class."Well, um," Oh, this couldn't be good. "On the English midterm, all of 3-D must achieve 30 points or above."As shouts of protest echoed around the room, Shin rolled his eyes. Yankumi obviously had no idea that the average score for these guys was far below the requisite 30 points."C'mon everyone! Work hard! If Fujiyama-sensei gets fired, Noda might feel so guilty that he quits school." Shin slid his eyes to Noda's empty desk. Although she had a point, the obstacle of suchscore (for 3-D, anyway) was too much to consider.After listening to them for a few moments, he could see that she had come to a conclusion, which would probably be worse than the original condition."I got it! Starting today 'til the week of midterms, I will stay after school to tutor you in English!" She declared proudly, somehow expecting them to be just as enthusiastic. When all she heard wasprotests, she looked hopelessly lost and confused.When the school day ended, all of 3-D filed out of the classroom and headed home. However, Shin, Minami, Uchi, and Kuma walked a little slower, trying not to feel guilty for ditching Yankumi wheonly trying to help.She's always only trying to help, Shin heard the little voice again. He sighed and noticed that Kuma, who had been lagging behind, had stopped walking."I'm going. Yankumi helped me out before." He told them, then turned and headed back.I think that's the first time he's decided what to do without asking us, Shin realized."I'll keep her company, too." Minami announced, following Kuma. "I've caused her trouble before.""Aw, man. Now I don't have a choice! I guess I owe her, too." Uchi said with a smile, joining the rest.Shin stood for a few seconds, just to contemplate the fact that three hooligans had decided to stay after school and study voluntarily because their teacher expected them to. And they didn't wantdown.Her kind of weird must be catching, thought Shin as he smiled softly and walked back to the classroom.And there she was, sitting sadly in an empty classroom with a tower of books and handouts. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even hear them come in.Time for payback.He tapped her shoulder, then poked her cheek as she turned."Baka." He said in a low tone. How do you fall for your own childish trick?"Were you daydreaming?" The rest of the guys chorused from behind him.Sudden hope and happiness filled her eyes. "You guys..."Before she could punch them or hug them or ruffle their hair, Shin ignored her beaming smile and grabbed one of the papers on top of the books."Target: 30 points. Exam tutorial. Day One. 'Let's bigin!' By Yankumi." He read, then pointed out that there was a (fairly elementary) spelling mistake."Eh? Really?" She asked in surprise, and rushed over./"This should be an 'E', not an 'I' in 'Let's begin'.""Amazing! You're a genius, aren't you?" She stated, eyes wide with admiration.He gave her a look. "I learned that in junior high.""Yankumi," Uchi asked with condescending concern. "Are you really qualified to teach us?""You're so unreliable." Minami chimed in."Let's start the lesson!" Kuma clapped in excitement."Okay! Let's start!" She agreed, heading up to the board with far too much energy."Um, Yamaguchi Kumiko-sensei?" Uchi asked, and the formal use of her full name made her turn around in confusion.Kuma smiled and told her, "For your information, all three of us have trouble with cursive writing.""Cursive?" She sounded almost panicked."Show us the way!" All three guys grinned and gave her thumbs up as she hung her head.The actual lesson wasn't too bad, and was almost helpful. As they marched home, Kuma led them in a rousing chorus of the English "A, B, C's". Halfway through, Shin noticed Noda asleep on the gbelow them. The guys made it all the way to "L, M, N" before they realized Shin had stopped. To answer their questions, he simply jerked his head at Noda's sleeping form."Noda!" They shouted, and headed down towards him."Hey, what are you doing here?" Minami asked."Nothing much," was the casual reply."Why don't you come back to school?" Kuma suggested."Yankumi started something weird." Uchi informed him."It's just a pain to us, though." Minami clarified, to try and keep up appearances.Shin chose to give him the most relevant piece of news. "It's possible that Fujiyama might get fired."Noda whipped his head around. "Fired?" He asked, worried. This was the old Noda he liked."But she won't, as long as everyone in 3-D gets at least a 30 on their English midterm." Shin continued, and saw the hope fade in Noda's face. Normally, it'd be impossible. Normally, nothing couldslackers of 3-D to study for anything. Shin grabbed Kuma's worksheet to show Noda what the not-normal Yankumi had made. What she was doing. Why she was doing it.As Noda stared at the handmade packet, Shin spoke. "She said she wasn't doing it just for Fujiyama. It's for your sake too."Blinking quickly, and glancing away from the papers and back, the guilt finally proved too much. Noda stood up and walked away as fast as he could. Shin let him go. Noda had all the facts now. Hto his own decision in time.As the bell rang to end their last class the next day, Shin waited, then looked up in surprise as no one left their seats. Conversations began all over the room, and each one was about the same thi"Man, I don't normally go for these 'study things', but what can you do when a guy asks you a favor?""I'm just too good a guy to ignore such a heartfelt plea.""Did you see his face? He's got the puppy eyes down! I wonder if that would work on chicks...""Does anyone have a pencil? I don't think I've ever actually taken notes before."Shin's first thought was, He did it. His second was, She's going to be so happy. Not that he cared. At all. But still, a happy teacher...no. A happy Yankumi meant happy students.They quieted as they heard footsteps coming to the door. There was a pause, then Yankumi, with the same giant stack of books and papers, walked in with her head down, muttering something thsounded like, "Oh, forget it."When she saw every single student still at their desk, her face went from depression to surprise in the space of a few seconds."You're late.""What do you think you're doing?""Hurry up and start the lesson."As the calls came from different parts of the classroom, she slowly walked to her desk. "You guys..." She started, still in shock. "...all came.""For the sake of our own, we're willing to do anything.""It's 'duty and compassion'!" chorused the twins, echoing her passionate speech about what friendship meant."Well, it doesn't hurt to study sometimes.""It can't be helped. He even got down his knees and begged.""Huh? Who got down on his knees?" She asked. So slow."Who do you think?" Shin said, rolling his head to look at her. Still holding her massive pile of books, she turned towards the door as Noda slowly stepped in."Noda!" She shouted in astonishment, finally catching on.He walked towards her, obviously debating what he was going to say. When he reached her, he examined the floor very carefully and said "I'm sorry," in the softest tone possible.Shin watched her reaction. She pursed her lips and scrunched up her face as if she couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. She settled on dropping all her books and attacking Noda's hair with a bsmile."Alright!" was all she managed to get out as she kept ruffling his hair in a mixture of affection, pride, and happiness.As he tried unsuccessfully to swat her hand away and hide his grin, cheers broke out. Noda made his way to his desk, pausing and bowing on the way. Shin's face also had a small grin, as the Nod was back, the weird teacher he had was happy, and everyone was ready to help."Alright, everybody, let's start the lesson!" She announced happily. "We'll work hard! Oh! Come on, let's all do it! Oh! That's too soft! Oh! One more time! OH!"The week that followed frightened and confused most everyone who knew anything about 3-D. They basically lived with their English workbooks and handouts, studied during lunch and breaks, usfor practice rather than graffiti, and started using English outside of class.Shin still had to correct her handouts, (like pointing out that 'Make miracle!' didn't make any sense without an article like 'a'. Or that 'Dream comes true!' needed to be 'Dreams come true!' to impacorrect sentiment) and that somehow led to him being the main consultant for any difficult concepts. He was also pleased to notice that no one studied as hard or long as Noda, who didn't alwaysright answers, but kept trying nonetheless.Adults started to notice their efforts too, and there was great rejoicing when the nurse brought in special onigiri as a study snack. The fact that Yankumi immediately snagged three for herself didShin's notice. Nor did the fact that 3-D had never been so unified and excited for anything, let alone studying, until she came along; so he let her have his share.And before they knew it, a week had passed, and the Head Teacher strode in to their classroom with their midterms and a smug expression.As they passed the tests out, Yankumi gave them one last piece of advice. "Listen carefully. Don't be nervous. Stay calm while answering the questions and you'll get a good score."I believe in you.She may not have said it out loud, but they heard it all the same./There had never been such an air of concentration in the classroom ever before. All too soon, time was up, and the tests were handed in. But not before everyone had written notes to Shizuka-chashe would know why they had studied so hard.And so, they all waited with great trepidation as Shizuka-chan started handing out their tests. For many of them, this was the first test they had actually studied for, and the first score that they accared about. As each score was announced, and they continued to be more than 30 points, the atmosphere became almost like a party. Many earned the highest score they had ever gotten in schothe most satisfying was watching Head Teacher's face grow more and more constipated.But, as they heard Kuma's score of 29 points, hearts and faces fell. The Head Teacher proclaimed Fujiyama-sensei as failing the condition, and thus officially let go. As the sense of injustice grew, pbroke out, and Noda admitted he was the one who sent the photo in. He begged Head Teacher to let her stay, and deeply apologized to Fujiyama-sensei.He found his way, Shin observed. As Yankumi stood up for Noda, for Fujiyama, when she argued passionately that those who want to start a new beginning should be given a second chance, Shinhelp but feel the personal meaning she put into those words.Yankumi turned to Fujiyama-sensei, and asked if this is how she wanted it all to end."I... I never had high expectations for my job as a teacher. But today was the first time I really wanted to continue teaching." Shizuka-chan explained, near tears. "I... I really want to continue!"But all Shin could think of was that Yankumi had the opposite problem. That she always had high expectations of being a teacher, of the kids in her class, of their friendships and actions. That Yankalways wanted to continue teaching."Yes, but," the Head Teacher smirked, "a promise is a promise, right?"And as Shin wondered if Yankumi was going to punch the Head Teacher, and if he should stop her or not (probably not), everyone heard an amazing sound."Ummm," the Principal (when did he get here?) was staring at Kuma's test. "For question four, couldn't choice one or two be correct?"Everyone crowded around. "That's right," Fujiyama affirmed. "Head Teacher made a mistake with the answer key.""That means Kuma scored two more points." Yankumi said aloud, then realized, "That makes 31 points!""Way to go, Kuma!" The whole class shouted, and Shin smiled broadly as his classmates saw their hard work pay off. The Head Teacher ran out (probably to go cry somewhere), and cheers erupteeveryone in the room as they all knew that Fujiyama-sensei could stay. Another happy ending.Thanks to her.Shin shook the thought off. It was probably her fault for getting them into this '30 points or higher' mess. But still. We couldn't have pulled this off on our own.His friends, still feeling the rush of victory, charged past him as soon as school was out, running like mad men and shouting Shizuka-chan's name the whole way. He shook his head at them and coa much more reasonable pace. As he turned the corner to head out the gate, he saw Noda and everyone else chanting something about "80 points means a date!" going one way, and heard girlishsqueaking "Shinohara-saaannnn!" heading the other.So noisy, Shin sighed. Boyish shouts and girlish squeals in front, plus some really annoying melody coming from the bushes.Wait, the bushes?Shin bent down and saw a small pink phone, ringing insistently."Whose is this?" He muttered to himself, then opened it. At least the person calling could tell him who it belonged to."Hello, Ojou? Ojou? It's Tetsu. Ojou?" He looked at the phone in confusion. Who here was important enough to have grown men referring to her as 'miss' instead of her name?Ah, well. I won't know until I ask, Shin shrugged, then put the phone back up to his ear. How bad can it be?