Title: Whammy! 
Author/Artist: MK 
Pairing: Sawada Shin x Yamaguchi Kumiko, mentioning of one-sided Shinohara x 
Tetsu (drama) [This part refers to v4 and 6 of the Gokusen manga - I've posted 
a yousendit link on the wesendit LJ community and my blog of v1-6] 
Fandom: Gokusen 
Theme: #4, Our Distance and That Person 
Disclaimer: I don’t own any part of Gokusen, but damn, if I did… This would 
probably happen: 

	He was visiting again.  A week had passed, but not much had changed.  
Tetsu was still distracted, and somehow she had invited Shin over for dinner 
again, but this evening Kyo-san was home, and Shin had made a strange request.

	“What we talked about that night, Kyo-san,” he said, bowing to the man 
who had practically been her father, “I would like you to train me.”  The 
relationship between the two had been weird ever since that night when Shin had 
saved Kyo-san’s life.  Yankumi had woken up the next morning and practically 
tripped over him, asleep in the hallway with a blanket and pillow and reeking of 
alcohol. (Not to mention the bruise and lipstick on his face!)  And every time after 
that when Kyo had seen him, he had gone on about how in two or three years, 
Shin could be a great Yakuza.  Was that what this training was about?

	“Aa, it’s about time, Young Master Red-Lion!”  Shin scowled, and Kyo 
laughed loudly, but the other members of the Oedo family seemed somehow 
entranced. 

	“Uwah, that’s way cool!” Minoru cheered, and Tetsu smacked him on the 
back of the head. 

	“Ba-ka.”
	

	And so Kumiko found herself watching the two of them sparring in the 
back yard as if they’d been friends or comrades forever, Shin doing his best to hit 
Kyo in the solar plexus, and Kyo laughing, dodging, looking much like he had 
when training her as a child.  “Come on!” He’d taunt, “You can’t protect someone 
if you’re not able to take them out on the first hit!”  

	Shin’s face was pink – maybe from the exertion, maybe from something 
else – and he worked twice as hard after that to land a solid blow.

	“Oi, Young Chief,” Tetsu interrupted eventually when Shin’s breathing was 
coming hard, “Give him a break and let me take a shot.”  Shin wiped the back of 
his hand across his forehead, panting, and stumbled over to collapse next to 
Yankumi.  The fight continued in much the same fashion, except that Kyo and 
Tetsu spoke quietly enough that Yankumi couldn’t hear what they were saying.  

	“He… taught you to fight, right?” Shin asked, his breath slowly returning to 
normal.  Yankumi smiled.

	“Yeah! Kyo-san practically raised me,” she replied.  Tetsu was a little better 
than Shin, but still nowhere near as good as Kyo. Kyo was, after all, probably one 
of their best fighters.  

	“Good.”  There was something in that answer that made Kumiko think she 
hadn’t fully understood the question, but she shrugged it off.

	“Tetsu’s doing you a favour,” she spoke up after a minute, “Letting you rest 
before dinner.”

	“Nah,” Shin replied, “I think he has some serious questions for Kyo.”

	“Whaat?! Didn’t you hear Ojou when the Uma-no-O proposed last time?!” 

Kyo looked shocked, hit Tetsu with a sharp crack of his fist, and the younger of 
the two fell to the ground.

	“Proposed?!”

	
	She’d have to hit Kyo later, hard.  And Tetsu. She’d hit both of them.  She 
hadn’t expected to spend dinner recounting the many proposals from the Uma-
no-O, or the fight that had taken place at her first Omiai.  “So Ojou takes a swing 
and hits him hard, and he goes flying, and she tells him, she says,” Kyo paused, 
switching to a higher pitch but keeping his distinctive Yakuza accent, “’I bear you 
no grudge, but with this, please give up on me!’ and then she took him out! 
WHAM! Total KO!” Some cheering and clanking of beer mugs followed this 
statement, and Grandfather wiped a tear from his eye.

	“When I saw her whip off that Kimono and pull out a wooden sword I 
thought, ‘Shit, we’ll never live this down’!” He laughed heartily and Kyo took a 
swig of his beer.  

	“I’ve never seen anything like it, and he just keeps coming back for more!”

	More laughter, and then Shin spoke up, turning to her.  “Is it true?” he 
asked, “Did you really say you won’t marry someone who can’t beat you in a 
fight?”  Kumiko shrugged.

	“Yeah, it seemed like the best way to handle things. There’s no way in a 
million years that he could beat me.”  She paused then.  “And what about you? 
What’s with that goofy title?”  Shin flushed.

	“It was his idea!” Yankumi laughed.  

	“Whatever you say, Red-Lion-san,” she smiled, and finally the focus was 
away from her persistent suitor for awhile.


	“You eat a lot of hot-pot and gratin,” Shin mused, leaning back on the back 
porch.  “Don’t you get tired of it?”

	“Nah,” Yankumi lay down, her legs dangling off the edge, “Because hot pot 
is my favourite, and when I first came here, Kyo made me gratin and got beat up 
for it!” she laughed to herself.  “So now I ask for it all the time, so he’ll feel 
better.”

	“Hm, that’s like you, I sup-“ Yankumi slapped a hand over his mouth and 
leaned into his side. Shin’s face flushed again, then cooled when he finally heard 
what had set her off.

	“Young chief, what should I do?” Tetsu was asking Kyo for advice, 
apparently, and Yankumi was very much interested in the results.

	“Listen, Tetsu. A real man doesn’t care about things like that – what’s 
important is the heart! The heart should be the strongest part of a man!” Shin 
rolled his eyes a little, and Yankumi shoved him with her shoulder a little.

	“So what should I do, young chief?”

	“Do what Ojou would do, do what a strong heart tells you to do!”

	Yankumi smiled, and her hand drifted away from Shin’s mouth, but he 
caught it up in his own.  “Happy?” he asked quietly.  She nodded, not looking at 
him.

	“Kyo-san is good,” was all she could say, but she was also glad that Tetsu 
wouldn’t treat Shinohara badly.  Footsteps approached from around the corner, 
and Yankumi detached their hands just before Kyo-san was seen.  

	“Come on, Red Lion,” he said, looking down at Shin with a wicked grin, 
“You’re not done training for today!”  And then Yankumi was grinning too, 
because she knew exactly what he was in for.


	There was nothing like the sweat of youth, Kumiko thought as she watched 
Kyo knock Shin to the ground again.  Grandfather came up behind her, arms 
tucked into his sleeves against the cool evening air.  

	“Shin-san,” he called out – when had they become so familiar with each 
other? – “You should stay the night so you can train early tomorrow,” and Kyo 
laughed,

	“If you can stand!”  Shin heaved up off the ground, panting, but grinning 
as well and nodded.

	“Thanks, Oji-san, I will!”  And Grandfather laughed, and Kumiko felt 
herself flush as Kyo slapped Shin on the back, signalling that they were done for 
the evening.  


	Weirder than Shin talking to her Grandfather like family was the sight of 
him dressed in one of Tetsu’s extra robes for the rest of the evening.  He had 
taken a shower, had his now dirty school uniform put in the wash and changed 
into Tetsu’s clothing, his hair dripping down his neck and wetting the collar. 

	Yankumi was uncomfortably aware of his warm knee just barely grazing 
hers, and of how relaxed he was, even among a family like hers.  But then again, 
they all seemed to have taken to him, calling him by his official nickname, and 
treating him with the same respect they showed her.  It was nice. It was 
embarrassing.  

	Beyond that, Grandfather spoke to the kumi about things normally not 
spoken of in front of outsiders – business, turf, plans – and Shin absorbed it all, 
watching him carefully.  She had the feeling that despite any protests she might 
make, her family was moulding Shin into a member of the Yakuza, and that he 
liked it.  Well, it wasn’t a bad thing.  He certainly had leadership qualities down.  

	“Oi, are you training my student to be your successor, Kyo-san?” She spoke 
up suddenly.  Kyo grinned.

	“Someone’s successor, anyway,” he replied, “Right, Boss?”  And her 
Grandfather nodded sharply, making a pleased noise at the back of his throat.  
Yankumi didn’t quite get it, but Shin looked inordinately pleased and had flushed 
again, which made her flush as well, but for reasons she didn’t quite understand 
yet.

	
	The knock at her door that night when she was ready to climb into bed was 
only half unexpected.  That he didn’t immediately kiss her was a bit of a surprise, 
after the last two weeks, but he looked a little uncomfortable, head turned slightly 
to the side.  “I.. I’m going to work hard,” he said suddenly.  

	“Ah, good, but are you sure being a member of a Yakuza group is really 
what you want to do? What about your fath-“ That got him. His head was up, his 
hand on her back pulling her forward and his lips pressed against hers again.  It 
made her stomach melt, and her eyes drifted closed after a moment.  He was 
getting too good at this, and she was letting him too often.  But—melting, her 
insides were melting away and her shoulders and back tingled, she became a little 
light-headed. 

	“I’m not planning to be just any member of a Yakuza group,” he scowled at 
her when her eyes had opened again.  “Why do you think I’m training?”  She was 
confused, and felt so out of sorts from that kiss that she couldn’t even process 
what he could possibly mean.  Apparently, it showed. 

	His head fell down to rest on her shoulder, one hand still on the small of 
her back, and he snorted a little.  “Never mind. Just… I’m going to be here 
training a lot.”

	“Well, uh, just remember, everything is training, but training isn’t 
everything!”  It was really the only thing she could think of to say.  He lifted his 
head and held himself close in front of her, eyes unblinking.

	“I know,” he said, kissing her once again, just softly. “That’s why I’m here.”
	And then he left, and Kumiko felt more confused than ever.