Title: Brunch. Author/Artist: MK Pairing: Sawada Shin x Yamaguchi Kumiko, mentioning of one-sided Shinohara x Tetsu (drama) Fandom: Gokusen Theme: #5, Ano sa… Disclaimer: I don’t own any part of Gokusen, but damn, if I did… This would probably happen: Sawada Shin was in advanced training, up to his neck in all sorts of confusing and difficult things, all with one goal in mind. “No man, you have to chop them all the same size!” Tetsu hit Shin on the head again, scowling, knife gesturing to the odd little pile of carrots he had been working on. “If you do it like that, they’ll all cook differently! Stu-pid.” Shin frowned and went back over the larger pieces until they matched the smaller ones pretty closely, then, after a nod from the older man, continued to cut the others to a similar size. Apparently there was more to joining the Oedo clan than just training, and part of that was doing the grunt work. He had been woken up early in the morning, stiff and sore, by Kyo-san for training. A morning of hard work had left him hungry, and breakfast had been a great relief until he was told that for the afternoon he would help prepare lunch, and then train before dinner. Shin wasn’t fussy about food. If he was, he wouldn’t have been living mostly off of ramen-cups and packaged bento from the convenience store. But apparently Yankumi was, along with the rest of the clan, and the newest person always did work like this. Not that Shin was getting the full experience – he could tell that much in just a day. His training with Kyo-san was unusual, fast and hard, and he still had school to go back to the next day, of course. Not to mention he apparently had the blessings of both Kyo and Oji-san, and the only person in the household who didn’t know was Yankumi. She was just in the other room, hair pulled up ridiculously high on her head in a kind of half-ponytail not fully through the loop, and still dressed in her pyjamas. Cross-legged at the low table there, she sifted through a large stack of papers covered in about equal parts doodle and math. He looked away. “…You’ve already got them on your side. I envy you,” Tetsu said quietly. Shin glanced over, but he was staring down at the large pot, stirring it slowly. “It doesn’t mean anything if she doesn’t feel the same way, and even then I still have to beat her,” Shin replied. “Besides, the person she really wanted is after y-“ he stopped himself, but Tetsu had already turned to gape. “How the hell do you know about that?!” “I…I over heard him ask for your cell number.” A pause. “Sorry.” Tetsu was red with awkward embarrassment, but shrugged roughly. “Forget it.” They continued to work like that until Yankumi came in, walking a little differently than she did when more fully awake, and opened the door to the fridge. She stared blankly into it for a long moment before she turned, scratching the back of one leg with her other foot. “Oi. Don’t we have any melon juice?” Tetsu, standing straighter than he had all morning, shook his head sharply. “No, sorry, Ojou!” he spoke like a soldier around her, it was no wonder she had never noticed how he felt. “Hmm…” She closed the fridge. “Would you like some tea, Ojou?” Yankumi nodded and made a sound in her throat – very similar to Oji-san – and wandered back out of the room and to the table to continue marking. “Watch the pot, Sawada.” Tetsu hurried to boil water, find Ojou’s favourite type of tea, grab the honey. Shin stared down at the pot as it boiled and then scraped the carrots into it. It was weird to cook for more than one person. It was weird to be in a kitchen with anyone else. It wasn’t something he was used to. She stayed in her pyjamas until after lunch time. “What? I always do this on Sundays,” she had shrugged it off. It wasn’t anything about laziness that bothered him. It was the fact that those were her pyjamas. Rumpled just a little, a matching shirt and pants set, and her hair like that. “Orya!” Kyo-san threw him to the ground again. “Concentrate!” And Shin stood up again, dusted himself and dove back into it, sunk his consciousness into the fight, into seeing clearly and dodging without thinking and aiming sharply for the solar plexus. Someone’s cell phone was ringing, but Shin blocked it out, aiming a high kick for Kyo’s head, missing and stepping aside to just barely dodge a punch. “Eh? Shinohara-san?!” Shin whipped around at the same time as Kyo. Thankfully, Tetsu and Minoru were doing dishes still, and probably couldn’t hear. “Yes, yes, of course I can be there, but…” She paused and looked confused. “Ohh, I see. Okay, sure, absolutely. I’ll be there. Kindochi in an hour, got it. Ja.” She flipped her phone closed, the one with the cute photo-booth sticker on the back, and looked up at them. “What are you two looking at? Shouldn’t you be training?” They sparred loosely until she headed for her room, changed into much nicer clothing than Shin usually saw her in, and left the compound. Then they exchanged glances and immediately rinsed off, dressed hurriedly, and followed. The bar was unassuming, simple, clean and not too crowded. That made it difficult for a large scar-faced man and a teenager to blend in, but they slipped into a booth not far from where Yamaguchi and Shinohara sat at the bar, within listening distance. The conversation had started before they got there. “So when did you know?” Yankumi asked. They were sitting awfully close together. “About Tetsu, or about--?” “About being gay.” “I’m not gay,” Shinohara replied with a tilt of his head. Yankumi looked confused. “Eh?” “I’m bi. For a long time, I was very interested in you, Kumiko-san,” he said smoothly, and she had the gall to blush, but thankfully pulled back an inch. “But the more I saw Tetsu…” He trailed off, and Shin imagined he was probably smiling to himself. Or hoped so, at least. “But you couldn’t be yourself with me, right?” Yankumi straightened and looked like she wanted to interrupt, but he waved it aside. “No, it’s okay. I knew there was a mutual attraction, but maybe we don’t have enough in common. You said the first time that you liked Yakuza movies, right?” “Tetsu does, too,” she added softly. “You’ll probably want to rent some, catch up.” He nodded. “And he can cook, and he’s very emotional, but he’s awkward around new people. But he’s loyal. And...and he’s just good.” “I… I appreciate it, Kumiko-san. A lot.” “I know. And I’m happy for him. It’s about time he was on the receiving end.” She smiled softly, and Shin wondered how Shinohara could possibly have looked past her and focused on Tetsu. Kyo caught Shin’s attention then and motioned towards the door. They stood and quietly made an exit, stepping out into the evening. “Ojou is a good person,” Kyo spoke up. Shin nodded, staring down at his shoes. “I hope it works out for you.” He clapped Shin on the shoulder and the two parted ways, both of their heads full to bursting.