Title: Presentation
Author: MK
Pairing: Sawada Shin x Yamaguchi Kumiko
Fandom: Gokusen
Theme: #11, gardenia
Disclaimer: I don't own Gokusen, thank goodness. Just writing this fic has had 
me ripping my hair out!

	Shin buttoned his jacket, checked that the t-shirt he wore underneath 
wasn't visible and tried to press his hair down into some kind of organization.  
Then he took a good look at himself in the mirror and undid it all.  

	Today he had gotten conditional acceptance to the local college for 
September.  Today he had to visit his father.  


	The walk there made him self-conscious.  He was sure that the neighbours 
might see and recognize him, or that his mother might not be home.  She wasn't 
exactly the best of mothers, but she did have a calming affect on his father.  

	He had brushed aside his friends today, told Kumiko he would be late, and 
stiffened his spine.  He hated this, hated being here. 

The officer stationed outside nodded to him as he passed.  His hand 
reached for the doorbell and he awkwardly pulled it back before simply trying the 
door handle. Inside, nothing had changed.

	"Shin?!" His mother was startled, had left him in the living room and 
gotten out the same snacks she served to guests and strangers.  A bite of one of 
the cookies was all he could manage, and silence reigned until his father returned 
home.  

	The warm sunlight pouring in from the bank of windows along the back 
wall felt unnatural.  That anything should grow there in that space, that any 
plants or life could survive here was beyond him.  Anything in the presence of this 
house should wither and die.  

	Was it too soon, or too long before his father arrived?  They stared at each 
other across the coffee table before Shin reached inside his jacket Ð now rumpled 
in defiance Ð and pulled out a thin white envelope to slide across.  His father read 
it quickly, and seemed surprised.

	"Are you ready to submit to me, then?" He asked.  Shin's shoulders 
clenched up near his neck, tense.

	"I will be moving out of the apartment. I hope the rent money can cover 
my education."

	"And where exactly do you plan to live that they don't charge rent?"

	"Kuroda Ryuuichirou has offered."   The man bit back a sound he didn't 
want to make, and his eyes became fiercer if it was possible.

	"You want to make a fool of me?! You're going to live with the Yakuza?! 
What would the media do if they got a hold of this? What then?"

	"They'd probably wonder what you did to piss off your kid." It was worth it 
just to see the look of shock at his defiance.

	"That man is outside the law." 

	"That man is more family to me than you have ever been."  


	In the end, he might have agreed just to get him out of his sight.  Shin had 
his educational expenses guaranteed in the usual account; bills would be mailed 
to the house and "You will not be seen with us so long as you live under that 
roof".  That was fine with Shin, he didn't plan to be seen with a man such as his 
father anyway.  

	"Stop."  Kyo was watching him with that calculating look again.  "If you're 
pissed, work it off, but don't let if mess you up."  Oji-san stepped out of the house 
then and walked over to them.

	"An angry fighter is easy to manipulate, you already know this.  Talk to 
me."  His body was still coiled full of aggression, but he settled next to Yankumi's 
grandfather and eventually told him what had been said.  The old man sighed a 
little.

	"I have been lucky," he said slowly, "To have grown up with the Ooedo 
clan.  My family belonged to this group, and they were only glad to see me marry 
the daughter of the boss, and to have a daughter of my own.  They were always 
supportive of my decisions."  He paused for a moment, sucking in and letting out 
a long breath.  "But not everyone is so fortunate.  Your father wants what he 
thinks is best for you, but you disagree.  Your happiness may not be his 
happiness, and that makes things difficult."  

	Shin was silent.  

	"But I learned something else, growing up in this clan," Oji-san continued. 
"The Ooedo group is not made up of only people related by blood, but they have 
always stood by each other, fought for each other.  You cannot choose your 
relations, but you can choose where you stay, and who you associate with.  Every 
member of the Oodeo group is my family, and you have been accepted by them as 
family as well.  Even if your blood relations spurn you, or agitate you, or move 
you to anger, you cannot change them. You can only choose your own way and 
show them who you are."  

	Oji-san sighed, slapped his hands against his thighs and stood up.  "Well, 
this old man has said enough.  Continue with your training."  

	This was why Kumiko was so strong. She understood things like this 
instinctively, had tried to make 3-D understand it, and maybe she had even 
succeeded.  Shin let out a long, deep breath and looked up at the tree branches 
overhead as the sky grew dark.  

	Here, at least, he could be who he was.