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Kazama Ren settled into his table at Kumai Ramen, already rolling his eyes. He was fresh off of work for the day, and while he always enjoyed meeting up with the guys, he couldn’t help feeling incredulous.
He waved to Kuma, who was behind the counter, working on a takeout order. Kuma knew that the other five would be coming soon enough, so he didn’t bother taking Ren’s order yet.
Kura and Honjo had called five minutes ago. Apparently Yankumi was seen walking with another handsome man, and this time, for real, it had to be her boyfriend. Or so they said.
Ren was not convinced, and Yamato, who plopped into the seat beside him, seemed similarly underwhelmed. They nodded to each other in greeting, and Ren couldn’t resist leaning over and ruffling Yamato’s hair.
“The wind was not your friend today, huh?”
Yamato pushed him away, but there was a hint of a smile hiding in the corner of his mouth. “Shut up. Look who’s talking.”
“Oh?” Ren flipped his hair. It was getting long again. He’d have to ask his sister to help him trim it. “What’s wrong with my hair?”
“Tch.” Yamato pulled out one of the barrettes and redid it for Ren. “You couldn’t see or feel the extra hair in your face?”
Ren stuck his tongue out, but when Yamato leaned back, he said, “Thanks.”
“I hear there’s another boyfriend sighting,” Kamiya announced, sauntering into the restaurant with Icchi at his side.
“Wanna bet it’s another past student like Odagiri?” Ren asked, leaning over once the other two had settled in at their table.
Yamato snorted, lounging in the chair with his arms crossed. “It’s gotta be. I can’t imagine the kind of person who would date a woman like Yankumi.”
Ren spared a thought for Baba-Sensei who was desperate for her attention and was ignored at every turn. He seemed like a decent guy, but he was too boring for someone like Yankumi.
“Eh? Someone’s dating Yankumi?”
Startled, Ren and his friends glanced up and found a man with artfully messy hair, dyed just a few shades darker than that of Odagiri, who stood at his shoulder.
“Oi, introduce yourself before interrupting,” Odagiri chided. Then, he nodded to them. “Kazama. Ogata. Kamiya and Ichimura. Good to see you again.”
The man beside him pressed his palms together and gave a comedic bow. “Ah, my bad. Yabuki Hayato. I’m from Ryu’s class.” He flashed a victory sign and a grin. “We had Yankumi four years ago.”
“Kazama Ren,” he introduced. “And these are my friends Ogata Yamato, Ichimura Rikiya, and Kamiya Shunsuke.” Each of his friends raised a hand in greeting. “We had Yankumi last year.”
“Ah!” Yabuki snapped his fingers and leaned forward, his silver necklace bouncing against his collarbones. “You’re the Kazama from that Kurose scandal, right?”
Ren winced and glared at Odagiri who was looking studiously away and out the window. He had his hands in his pockets, pretending this had nothing to do with him.
It had only been a few months since that incident, and Ren was still working hard to earn back his boss’s trust after the police had come around claiming that he was a drug dealer.
“You all! What an unusual grouping, but it’s good to see you guys,” Kuma said, coming over to their steadily-growing table. “Yabuki! Long time no see!” Kuma greeted the interloper with a fond smile as he started taking orders. “How was Jakarta?”
“Super cool,” Yabuki enthused as he sat himself in one of the empty chairs across from Ren. Odagiri followed. “I learned so many new ways of preparing dishes. You’re gonna love mie goreng.”
“Eh? Well, if you say so, then it must be true. You’ll have to make it for me some time.”
“Definitely.” Then, Yabuki perked up, looking at the entrance and waving. “Yo! Take! Tsucchi!”
“Hayato, Ryu!” A man with mahogany hair in a gray suit waved back, coming in with a much taller man. “Hyuuga’s on his way. He was just finishing up a car when we swung by.”
“All good. Pull up a table. Our kouhai here were telling us that they think Yankumi finally got a boyfriend.”
“Oh, Yankumi-kouhai, not Kurogin kouhai,” Take mused after he and Tsucchi added their orders to Kuma’s list.
“Yankumi dating? No way!” Tsucchi laughed, taking out a fan and fluttering it.
Kuma coughed, but no one paid him much attention as he bustled back to the kitchen.
Kamiya sighed and fixed his windswept hair. “I bet Kura and Honjo are overreacting.”
“We are not!” Honjo called as he slid into the ramen shop.
Kuraki pulled up a chair and waved to Kuma. He leaned in for dramatic effect. “This time I think it really is her boyfriend. They were walking super close and exchanged long, dreamy glances.”
“Yankumi?” Tsucchi snorted. “Seems unlikely.”
“I'm telling you, it's true this time!” Honjo swore, slapping a palm on the table. “We saw her holding the arm of a super hot dude.” And then he looked at Take and Yabuki. “Who are you guys?”
After another round of introductions, they got back to discussing their old homeroom teacher.
“If Yankumi is starry-eyed, then she’s probably dragging that poor guy into her fantasies, just like Honjo-Sensei,” Yabuki laughed.
“Or Natsume-Sensei,” Ren added, thinking of the friendly doctor. Ren loved Yankumi, but watching her flirt made him feel a weird combination of secondhand embarrassment and overprotectiveness. She wasn’t his mom or anything, but he still felt the need to vet any of her suitors like he did for his sister’s boyfriends.
“By the way, you six, nice job reporting back in the summer,” Yabuki said now that Ren’s friends were all gathered around the table with the four senpai. “I saw you guys on the news when I was in Indonesia. That took guts.”
Kamiya winced. “It spread that far?”
Tsucchi snorted and tapped his fan on the table. “Of course! I work for a global news network. We have reach.”
Turning back to Ren and Yamato, Take added, “Don’t be mad that we recognize you from that Kurose thing. Ryu and Tsucchi were very impressed with you.”
Yabuki grinned. “You guys did well. Thanks for keeping an eye on Yankumi when I couldn’t.”
“What are you, her bodyguard?” Odagiri muttered.
“No, darling, I think that was you,” Yabuki retorted, poking Odagiri. “I rushed back from a work trip to find you with a concussion and a broken rib.”
Ren’s eyes widened, catching the affectionate nickname, even if it had been said with a healthy dose of sarcasm. Were they together? There didn’t seem to be a polite way to ask.
“It was fine,” Odagiri replied, looking over the menu as Kuma came back with glasses of water. “Yankumi had that doctor on speed dial, and everything’s healed up.” Then Odagiri sighed gustily. “Besides, it wasn’t much worse than some of the fights we got into in high school.”
Yamato watched Yabuki and Odagiri closely. Yamato also didn’t bother with niceties. He asked, “Are you two dating?”
The four senpai went silent, regarding them warily, which was basically confirmation.
The tension in the restaurant ratcheted up, and Ren recognized the electric charge in the air before a fight.
“You got a problem with that?” Yabuki asked, all traces of humor gone. His face now bore a quiet menace that made Ren think of a tiger. Odagiri put a hand on his arm but didn’t restrain him.
Ren was afraid he was going to have to grab Yamato by the collar and run.
“Nah,” Yamato said casually, like he was oblivious to the storm. “That’s cool. It’s good to see Odagiri-Senpai happy.”
Now, Ren was the one watching his friend incredulously. He paused, realizing that Yamato had never been interested in their attempts to get girlfriends, unless they made it a challenge, of course. Could he be…?
“Sorry I’m late!” another man called. He was wearing coveralls tied around his waist, and there was a smudge of grease on his hastily-cleaned face.
“Hyuuga, come, come. We found some Yankumi-Kouhai,” Tsucchi announced.
“Oh, I saw you guys on the news!” Hyuuga said, pulling up another chair. They had taken over almost half of the restaurant now, but he knew Kuma didn’t mind.
“Join the club,” Ren muttered, pulling his wooden chopsticks apart.
Kuma started bringing over bowls of noodles, and Ren dug into his shoyu ramen as the latecomers placed their orders.
“Yankumi was spotted with a handsome man, apparently,” Take was saying. “Last time this lot saw something like that, it was just her and Ryu.”
“So who is she walking with now?” Icchi wondered, fiddling with his straw wrapper like it could reveal the secrets of their former homeroom teacher. “It’s not one of her Akado students. And it seems unlikely to be a Kurogin student.”
“Kuma, you were one of Yankumi’s Shirokin students, right?” Yabuki called.
“Yep. Her first class.”
“You think it’s one of her students from Shirokin?”
Kuma gave a hearty chuckle. “Probably.” He grinned as he put a tray of potstickers down for them. “Here, these are on the house.”
“No way!”
“Thanks, man.”
“You’re the best, Kuma.”
Kuma smiled at their gratitude. “Yankumi will be here soon to visit Nana-chan. Why don’t you ask her about the mystery guy when she gets here?”
“Good thinking,” Honjo said, snatching up two of the gyoza.
They all took that as their cue to fight to the death over the delectable fried pork portstickers. Tsucchi and Icchi almost got into a duel over the last one, but Yamato reminded Icchi that he’d ordered extra pork in his noodles.
Ren managed to enjoy two gyoza and approximately three bites of ramen before Yankumi arrived.
“Kuma! We're here.”
“Come in, come in!” Kuma called, setting down more bowls at the overstuffed table. “Ami and Nana-Chan will be here soon.”
Yankumi beamed at Kuma, and then she scanned the restaurant and spotted all of them. Her smile dropped, turning to a gaping surprise. “You guys! What are you all doing here together?”
“Oi, you’re hogging the entrance,” a deep voice said behind Yankumi.
“Ah! Sorry.” She stepped further into the restaurant, squinting at them the same way they had squinted at her math problems last year—in desperate search of an answer and unlikely to find one without help.
A man in dark wash denim and an untucked white button-down stepped in behind her, holding a leather jacket over one shoulder. He glanced at Ren’s table with a small smirk, like he had taken one look at them and already knew everything he needed to.
Ren understood Honjo and Kura’s excitement now. This man was not just good-looking. He was hot enough to be a model or a movie star. Sharp black eyes, soft lips, and a sculpted face framed by messy black layers. He had a few bleached streaks on the underside of his hair, and Ren felt self-conscious of his own bleached streaks.
“See!” Honjo said, pointing to the man. “We told you there was a hot guy walking with Yankumi!”
Yankumi clicked her tongue and put her hands on her hips. It was one of the rare occasions where she was wearing civilian clothes and not her customary tracksuit. Even her hair was different, Ren realized in surprise. She had a half ponytail, which he’d never seen on her before. “Honjo, don’t be rude.”
Honjo immediately sat back down and scratched his head. “Sorry.”
“Who are you?” Yamato asked the man.
Yankumi answered instead. “This is Sawada Shin.”
Sawada raised two fingers and gave them a lazy salute. “Yo.”
“Are you one of Yankumi’s past students?” Take asked.
One corner of Sawada’s mouth quirked up. “I am. One of the original Class 3D.”
“I knew it!” Kamiya said, smacking the table. “I knew Yankumi had to be walking with a student.”
Ren nodded, giving his old teacher a cheeky look that made her scowl before he even opened his mouth. “What were we thinking? There’s no way Yankumi could have such a hot boyfriend.”
Kura sighed dramatically, “I guess you’re right.”
“Yep. No way,” Tsucchi lamented.
“Poor Yankumi,” Hyuuga added, grinning.
“You! You brats!” Yankumi growled, stalking forward.
“Eek! Yankumi’s scary!” Take yelped, ducking behind Tsucchi.
Sawada grabbed Yankumi by the wrist. “Easy, there, Kumiko.”
At the use of her name, without any honorifics, Ren dropped his chopsticks into the broth. The table went silent, further taunts dying in their throats.
Odagiri squinted at Sawada. “Awfully close, aren’t you?”
“Of course,” Sawada said smugly, sliding a hand around Yankumi’s waist and tugging her closer. Ren was shocked she didn’t immediately throw him over her shoulder for being impertinent. “After all, I’m not just her former student. I’m also her hot boyfriend.”
“Shin,” she hissed, shrugging out of his grasp, and holy shit, Yankumi was blushing.
Ren’s mouth dropped open, and then the whole table was in an uproar, demanding to know everything. How and when did they get together? How old was Sawada? Why were they together? Was he in the yakuza, too?
Luckily for them, Kumai Ami arrived with her daughter moments later, and Yankumi was thoroughly distracted by the baby. Ren thanked Nana-Chan for her intervention in saving their lives before Yankumi lost her temper.
Sawada seemed to be amused as he assumed a spot at the head of their amalgamated tables. “Alright, answers to your question. I’m 25. Yankumi and I got together three months ago.”
“But that’s when that stuff with Kurose went down,” Ren interrupted, clenching his fists. “Where the hell were you when Yankumi was in danger?”
Sawada’s amusement vanished, and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I was in New York finishing an internship. I hopped on a plane as soon as Kuma called, but luckily, it was over and Yankumi was safe when I landed.” He looked at Odagiri and bowed. “Thanks for keeping an eye on her.”
Odagiri raised his head in acknowledgment. “She means a lot to me, too.”
They all turned to look at their former teacher.
Yankumi sat at one of the small tables nearby, her attention now completely consumed by the giggling 16-month-old in her lap while Kuma’s wife helped with the burgeoning dinner rush. Babies didn’t normally like Yankumi, but it seemed that Nana-Chan loved her bonus ‘grandma.’
“So, how’d you end up dating Yankumi?” Honjo asked, a little bit like it was a disease he was afraid of catching.
Sawada snorted. “Well, she caught my attention and my heart seven years ago, but I knew she wouldn’t take me seriously back then. So I went overseas for a while. We kept in touch, and met up a few times whenever I visited. When I moved back the day after your special news report, I confessed.”
“And she accepted your feelings?” Yabuki asked in surprise.
“No, she ran away.”
“Ah, that tracks,” Tsucchi said.
Yabuki gave Sawada a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
“Luckily, her grandfather convinced her to meet with me and talk things out.”
“Kuroda-San is a good man,” Odagiri said,
“The best,” Sawada agreed.
“So you are in the Oedo Family,” Ren concluded, scraping the bottom of his bowl.
“Unofficially for now, but yeah, something like that.”
Kuma placed a bowl of ramen in front of Sawada. “Shin’s being modest. He’s going to be the fourth-generation boss.”
“Yondaime!” they repeated in shock.
Sawada sighed, and half-heartedly swatted at his old friend. “Kuma. Don’t go around telling people that.”
“Sorry.”
“Sounds kind of romantic,” Kura said, clutching his chopsticks close. “Yankumi gets to fulfill her dreams of teaching, and she doesn’t have to worry about her family legacy because it’s in the hands of someone who loves her.”
Kamiya ruffled Kura’s hair. “When did you get so sappy?”
“Well, my girlfriend finally moved back to town,” Kura admitted bashfully.
“No way! Saki-Chan is back? Why didn’t you say so?”
And from there, the conversation shifted away from Yankumi and her super hot boyfriend/ former student. Instead, they shared random life updates, discussed sports teams, debated whether billiards or pool was better, and chattered on about random topics.
Ren answered or weighed in here and there, but he kept finding his attention drawn back to Yankumi and Sawada, who had moved his chair back over to her.
“Nana-Chan,” she cooed. “Look who it is! Uncle Shin is here. Can you say hello?”
Kumai Nana kicked her feet and reached for Sawada, who took her easily. “I still don’t know why you insist on being Grandma Yankumi. It makes it weirder for Nana-Chan. Why is her grandma dating her uncle?”
Ren almost choked, laughing into his water.
Yamato patted him on the back and gave him a bemused look. “Deep breaths.”
“Working on it,” he wheezed.
Noticing his gaze, Yamato looked at Yankumi and Sawada. “They seem to suit each other. Somehow.”
Kuma appeared, picking up empty bowls. “They do, actually. It surprised me and my buddies, too. But Shin’s good in a fight, and he’s wicked smart. They keep each other out of trouble. Or, at least, they get each other out of trouble once they’re in it.”
And they really did seem to suit each other. When Sawada looked at her, the smirk became a smile.
Yankumi smiled back at him twice as wide and just as warm.
She looked happy. Really, truly happy, the way she had the day Ren was released from the hospital and again the day his class graduated.
Good, he decided. Yankumi deserved to be happy.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t already planning a shovel talk, though.