31_days | [April 4] [Gokusen] Plum Blossom

Title: Plum Blossom
Day/Theme: faded sign at the side of the road
Series: Gokusen
Character/Pairing: Yamaguchi Kumiko, Sawada Shin
Rating: G

:::

"In vain the spring night's darkness accosts the plum,
Destroying the color but not the scent of its blossoms."

--Oshikochi Mitsune, Kokinshu 40

::

“Doesn't it just makes you want to cry?”

“Not particularly.”

Kumiko huffed. “This was a special place, admit it. This is where you met your friends, where you made and nurtured bonds of friendship and brotherhood that will tie you to each other for the rest of your lives.”

Shin rolled his eyes. He flinched when she punched him on the arm. “Oi!”

“I'm serious,” she said. She glared at him, her eyes suspiciously bright. She turned back to stare at the building beyond the gates. There was a sign on the bars, the words obscured by graffiti. She didn't need to see the characters to know what the sign said: Shirokin Gakuen closed until further notice. “This place was...it was special.”

Shin stopped rubbing his bruised arm. He sighed quietly. “Yeah...I get it.”

Kumiko sniffed and rubbed her nose. “This was my first official school as a teacher. It was my dream to...” She ducked her head, her face suffused with color. It was an endearing sight.

“To what?” Shin asked, intrigued. Kumiko hesitated and then said: “To spend my entire carrier here and one day retire from Shirokin.”

Shin smiled. He leaned against the gates and touched the heavy chains that kept the gates closed. “Yeah, well, that's not going to happen.”

Kumiko glared at him. Shin nudged her on the shoulder. “Hey, Shirokin will always be your school, and mine. They can tear down the building and build a parking structure, but we'll still have our memories and isn't that what matters?”

Kumiko stared at him long enough to make him squirm. Then she sniffed and beamed at him. “Oh, Sawada, you are growing up so fast!”

She reached over and ruffled his hair. He swatted her hand and began walking away. “Come on, you. Let's get some ramen and you can talk to me about your new assignment. Kurogin, was it?”

She fell easily into step with him. “Ooh! Yes. It's such a great school!”

She continued to chatter away at him about Kurogin and her future cute students, her sadness giving way to her enthusiasm.