Gokusen Fan Fiction ❯ Totally Captivated ❯ Totally Captivated ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Totally Captivated
Author: seoinage
Pairing: Sawada Shin x Yamaguchi Kumiko
Fandom: Gokusen (mangaverse)
Genre: Drama/Romance
Disclaimer: Gokusen © Morimoto Kozueko and various companies with rights to it.
Gift for: MoonKlutz (LJ community shinkumi's 2007 Valentine Gift Exchange)
Request(s): 1.) Awkward!Trying To Confess!Shin 2.) Shin having to deal with Yankumi hijinks 3.) Kyo (manga) trying to help Shin and making everything worse. Hilarity ensues."

 

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Slowly, gently, as quietly as he could, Shin turned the lock on the doorknob to engage it. Though his face remained impassive though much practice, the look in his eyes gave away something, enough so that if Yankumi had seen it, she would have been all over him in an effort to get him to talk. It might have been fun to see her try, if normality had given slightly more of itself to her. A normal woman would plead in a honeyed voice, eyes warm, body close with one hand laid softly on his arm. Or something like it. (Of course, Shin couldn't truly rely on the experience gained during that night, courtesy of Kyo, when he'd gone from one host bar to another, but it sort of counted, right?)

But normal couldn't be used to describe Yankumi. Not by a long shot. And that had made all the difference in the world, their world, Class 3-D's. That spark of hers caught him, first in curiosity at something new, then in speculation at the whiff of mystery, and then in fascination at this woman. Petite and frumpy of dress though she may be (that track suit really should be ditched), nothing stopped her when she got going. Her repertoire included embarrassment (he practiced being nonchalant every day), teasing (he made time to practice witty comebacks), spying (her uncanny ability to appear as if out of nowhere made him extra cautious), chokeholds (he's learning how to get out of them in practice and actual field usage), and plain old harassment (he'd taken to sprinting practice too). Ok, knowing Yankumi, maybe even throw in a good-natured punch or two to move things along. Good-natured in her mind. Painful for those receiving them. All of which that he could do without, especially the ruffling of his hair as it signified how she viewed him. Teenager. Student.

His mask of impassivity cracked some but quickly shifted back in place when a certain memory came to mind. It also firmed up his resolve and put a jaunty lilt to his steps. Right now, he had a focus. A goal. One not to be taken lightly. All precautions must be made. So telling himself, he visually scanned the room, listening carefully all the while as he padded barefoot over cool wooden flooring to the closet, faded jeans riding low without aid of a belt. Sliding the closet door open, Shin rustled around until he found it.

For a moment, he stood unsure. Then he reached for it, and the soft rustling of the paper used to keep the item wrapped within from getting dusty could be heard. Laying it before him, Shin grabbed the hem of his t-shirt with both hands, yanking it up and off of him in a flash. Just as one hand reached to undo the button on his jeans, Shin paused. Had that been a noise coming from somewhere in the room? With shirt still in one clenched hand, he made his way to where he'd thought it came from. Dropping to his hands and knees instead, Shin craned his head to peer underneath the bed, the light coming from the window above helping illuminate his search. Ah, alone. He really was alone. Must have been his imagination.

Pushing himself back up to standing position, Shin turned back, tossing the t-shirt aside as he took off his jeans. A little while later, after some cursing underneath his breath during certain adjustments, he stood in front of the mirror. There. Done.

Outside a lone bird trilled its territory call to all those who would hear it. Maybe on another day, Shin would have heard it and thought it quite loud to be coming from such a tiny body. Today though, nature had no hold on him. Well, perhaps his own nature. And the nature of a certain pig-tailed, glasses-wearing, Yakuza-raised person.

His reflection showed him in all his glory, slim and lean muscles defining his body. All those practice sessions with Kyo were paying off. He felt healthy and fit, though a tad chilly from the exposure. But he felt good, safe in the confines of his own room with no one else around. He couldn't control himself, wearing what he did, what he'd worn only once before in front of her.

Shin flexed.

Yes, Superman pose flexed. That type of flexing. In the carefully arranged white cloth around his privates. Towards the middle of the room and at an angle to an open window.

In that single moment (when a star galaxies away went supernova and a baby black hole formed in another), the click-whirl of a shutter could be heard. Shin froze amidst power pose. The next instant later, he lunged towards the invading contraption, knowing his life to be over should it escape and make known its contents. A despairing growl worked itself up from his (naked) stomach and through clenched teeth as he jumped on the bed, reaching hands desperate to snag the camera which was already gone from view, the perpetrator speedily made their getaway down the ladder.

A ladder…what the…? Shin whirled around and frantically pulled his clothes on, only to find out that his jeans didn't fit over the fundoshi. Cursing, he fixed the situation, haphazardly zipping and buttoning his jeans while running out and then down the stairs. Not bothering with shoes, Shin zoomed outside, following in the direction of his peeping Tom. “Hey, come back here!”

Twenty minutes later, frustrated and miserable, Shin limped back, every pebble and stone not avoided tormenting already aching and bleeding feet. He hardly cared. His life, as he knew it, was over. By tomorrow, that picture may be posted up at school. Or at those sorts of clubs. Or in the paper! Then Yankumi will see him in that stupid pose (how could he have been so careless?) and in that stupid piece of white cloth.

Tetsu greeted him first, broom in hand. “Hey…,” only to trail off when Shin's lack of footwear registered. “What happened to your shoes?”

Shin mumbled something, some excuse made up on the spot, some story crazy enough to be believed just so that he could go inside and hide. Tetsu seemed to buy it, even offered bring the antiseptic to him, but Shin shook his head, replying that he'd get it himself since Tetsu had his own chores to finish. Then a question came to mind and he turned back around towards the other man, “Tetsu, do you know what happened to the ladder outside my window?”

The yakuza paused in his sweeping again. “Oh, that? Yeah, I put it away already. Aniki said he was done with it.”

A grim smile, all teeth and thinned lips, graced Shin. A shiver passed through Tetsu's body at seeing it. “Err…did you need the ladder? `Cause I can always get it out again…”

“No, no,” he took a deep, trying to find control but failing, breath. “I don't need the ladder. Did Kyo-san mention why he needed it?”

“Well, he said something about wanting to enter some photo contest...,” Tetsu paused mid-sentence, Shin having rocketed off towards the house at the word `contest'. He could only peer at the retreating figure, puzzlement clear in the “Didn't know you're interested in bird watching too like Aniki.”

Inside the house, the scene unfolded like so: Shin found Kyo regaling Yankumi the delights of bird watching in the living room, sake flowing strong between the two. A slender square of a gift-wrapped box sat near her on the table; Kyo's every so often tribute to her. Shin marched over to Kyo, demanding to know if he'd `been the one'. Kyo grinned as innocently as he could (which wasn't so innocent at all), swearing that he'd only been bird watching, didn't Shin know that was the craze with the ladies recently? Yankumi listened on in interest as it's good to keep up with fashions, all the while starting in on opening her gift. By then, Shin had his fists in the fronts of Kyo's shirt. Kyo still grinned at him, but then added a wink as Yankumi unearthed her present.

Horror gripped Shin as realization struck, and he released Kyo to turn towards Yankumi and the photo she now possessed.

And possessed she looked, a rosy flush making its way to sit high on her cheeks, rounded eyes going limpid and dazed, almost a bit watery. She looked high. Or about to burst into laughter. Or tears. Maybe all of the above. One slender hand clutched the Polaroid. The other fluttered, forgotten, near the photo.

The photo.

If Shin thought to make a grab for it, he knew, without a doubt, he'd have no chance against Yankumi if she wanted to keep it. And keep it she would, it seems. Only if to make fun of him, to have blackmail material. That hopeful part of him felt icy, brittle. So when Kyo nudged him in the side, Shin started jerkily.

The older man's smile grew even larger as he whispered, “See? Totally captivated!”

Shin looked from Kyo to Yankumi, remembering how she'd reacted to him the last time he wore fundoshi in front of her. Maybe he could hope…

“Oh my,” blissfully sighed Yankumi, “I've got to submit this into the monthly photo contest of Fundoshi Men. They're just going to love it!”
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Constructive comments and critiques welcomed. :)