Our Teacher is a Yakuza Princess

Chapter 40

Yankumi blinked once, twice, then looked at the ground for a moment.

"WHAT!"

"Yankumi!" He hissed at her. "Do you want the whole neighborhood to hear?" He didn't mention that he just had a vision of the yakuza family rushing out in alarm with katanas.

She just stared at him in shock. "W-w-what?" She asked again in a lower tone.

He set his jaw. "Do you need me to repeat it?"

She blinked at him a few more times. "D-don't tease me like that! Saying that you're in love with your teacher, making fun of people who actually do have feelings towards-"

"Were. You were my teacher. And I'm not teasing."

When all she did was stare at him some more, he steeled himself and went on the attack.

"Besides, you didn't have a problem with Noda and Fujiyama!"

That snapped her out of her daze, anyway. "That was completely different!"

"How?"

"He… she… it was obviously puppy love, an infatuation. And that's understandably what you're-"

"This is not an infatuation." He had never heard his own voice sound so intense. "I spent two years proving to myself that this is not an infatuation, or puppy love, or anything else. And after all that time, I know… I know… that I – love – you."

And at that moment, staring into her eyes, baring his soul, revealing his love, he realized he had never wanted anything so badly. Seconds passed, and he knew that, despite what he hoped, what he wanted, Yankumi was not mentally or emotionally prepared to give him an answer.

He closed his eyes and sighed. Swallowing, he did the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He gave her time.

"You don't have to give me an answer right now. I know this is a lot, and I want you to have time to think about it." He took another breath. "I'll be in the park Sunday at noon. You can let me know then. And if you don't come… I'll understand."

Shin risked another glance. She hadn't moved.

"Good night." He said finally, fighting off waves of disappointment. And because even his self-control wasn't perfect, he allowed himself one thing.

He kissed her.

It was soft, gentle, and far too quick for Shin's liking, but he knew he was in serious danger of getting sucker-punched as soon as she recovered from the shock of it. He looked into her eyes, which were even wider than before, then bent towards her ear.

"Kumiko," he added in whisper, then turned and walked away. He refused to look back. No regrets.

The walk to Kuma's was full of mental arguments, wondering if he had said too much, not enough, if the kiss was over the line or what Yankumi needed to see him as someone other than a boy who used to be her student.

He opened the door as quietly as he could, and nearly tripped over the sleeping pile of his friends.

"Shin!" Uchi called blearily, shaking the others awake.

"How did it go?" Minami asked.

"What did she say?" Kuma added.

Shin leaned against the door and stared at the floor. "Nothing," he answered, sounding defeated even to his own ears.

"Huh?" Noda stared at him.

"She didn't say anything. She'll tell me on Sunday. Maybe." Standing straight, he stepped over everyone. "I'm going to bed."

Worriedly, his friends glanced at each other, then after Shin as his door closed. They had never heard him sound so… lifeless.

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