A/N: I seem to have fallen back to my ShinKumi addiction. :D And right at the time when I should be studying for my exams. T_T Don't know when I will update my other story though. I just write whenever inspiration strikes.

Anyway, this is written mainly with the manga in mind (which is the reason for red-haired Shin), but I threw in Yabuki and Ren because they are hot. 3 Jun Matsumoto is still number one, though. 3

Callers from Hell

Ren Kazama had a huge smile plastered on his face as he entered his house. He finally did it. He finally confessed to her. To her. To Yamaguchi Kumiko, his homeroom teacher and senior for more or less ten years. He can still see her bewildered expression, the blush that crept up to her face when she realized what he just said. He reached to his lips, imagining the soft feel of hers when he pulled her in for a quick kiss and running away before it could register to her what just happened. He was savoring the moment when suddenly, the phone rang.

"Yo, this is Ren." He said nonchalantly as he picked up the receiver.

"RenKazama, you've been a bad boy." Said a menacing voice at the other end. Ren could feel the edge, the anger from the voice and he could almost feel the cold, chilling stare that he was sure that accompanied it.

"I-I don't understand what you mean."

"You've done something very wrong and it's not my nature to forgive you that easily. Watch your back, Kazama." The man from the other end of the line ended the call after that, leaving Ren no chance to talk anymore.

Ren shuddered. The voice was so unforgiving and truth be told, he can't remember anything wrong that he has done the past few days. Okay, he did skip a couple of classes, got into a few fights with his classmates, but nothing major as to warrant an unknown call from a gangster-sounding furious man. He was just about to get up to fetch a drink to calm his unsettled nerves when the phone rang again.

"Hello?" He said warily.

The voice that answered was a different one, though it held the same menacing tone. This call was shorter than the previous one, but that doesn't mean it's less frightening. "I know what you did, Kazama, and I know where you live." The call ended with a click as Ren looked over his shoulder, half-expecting a crazed chainsaw-wielding guy hiding behind the cupboard.

The next few days was hell for Ren. He went to school like always, mainly because he wanted to see Yankumi. The teacher seemed determined to put his confession in the past but he wouldn't have any of that. He sat at the front of the class and would constantly catch her eye and give her a smile. He would go to the teacher's room at lunch and ask her to accompany him. He even tried making her a bento once. The whole class can see that Ren Kazama is indeed in love. But that part wasn't what made those days hell. After school, he kept on getting mysterious threatening calls. For the life of him, he cannot fathom why he was having threats now of all times. Heck, he was starting to become a good and upright citizen, thanks to Yankumi! He no longer did vandals or picked fights. He wanted so much to be a man Yankumi would be proud of.

The calls continued for a couple of weeks. Though it bothered him greatly, he brushed them off and focused on winning his love. He was just getting home from extra math tutoring with Yankumi, that he asked on the pretense of wanting to take up advanced math courses to prepare for college, when he felt he was being followed. He quickened his pace and made a dash for it after turning at the next alley. He ran a couple of blocks out of his way and stopped from exhaustion. As he was catching his breath, he felt an ammonia-soaked handkerchief cover his face. As he was passing out, he caught a glimpse of red hair.

He woke up in an abandoned warehouse, much like the ones where Yankumi comes barging in and saves the day. He was tied to a chair and surrounded by mean-looking thugs. One of them looked at him and said, "Boss, he's awake."

Ren's heart pounded against his chest as he saw a man approaching from the shadows. As he came into the light, he saw a man with red hair, with eyes that could kill. They stared at each other menacingly for a while before Ren spat, "What do you want?"

"I don't like your conduct, Kazama." The man said. "Though it is expected. Kumiko loves misfits after all." He said with chuckle.

"What has Yankumi got to do with this? And are you the one who kept calling me? What do you want?" He said through gritted teeth.

"No, no, no," Ren heard another voice from behind. "The calls were partly from me." Another man stepped into the light. He was slightly younger than the first man. They both looked like college kids.

The red-haired man snarled, "stay away from this, Yabuki. You should be glad I didn't ask Minoru to throw you out."

The other man, the one called Yabuki raised his hands in a gesture, "easy, Red Lion. You're not the only one who loves Yankumi, even though she picked you." Ren's eyes bugged out from its sockets from the statement. "Though, I do believe I am next after you if ever you die or she gets sick of your face, and I won't let this little twerp cut the line." Yabuki pulled Ren's hair, exposing his neck. "Hear that? You haven't got a chance with Yankumi, kid, so scram."

"You're saying he's a kid as if you're not." Shin scoffed. Yabuki's eyes darkened as he approached Shin. He was aiming for a punch. Shin was prepared and would have dodged it but it wouldn't have been necessary since the doors of the warehouse opened and a silhouette of a woman stood by the door. It was a scene all of them has seen at least once in their lives.

"Give me back my precious student!"

Shin groaned audibly. She wasn't supposed to find out.

Yankumi was walking home from tutoring Ren that afternoon when she received an urgent call from Ogata.

"Ren's in trouble." He said in an urgent voice. "I was walking home from the arcade this afternoon when I saw Ren being carried off by thugs. He was put in a car and it sped off to the school's direction. I couldn't chase them."

"Go and ask the others for help to find him. I'll check the area." She ended the call and searched like mad for her precious student. She was about to call Ogata for updates when she saw a black sedan parked by the river bank. And by the sedan was a large warehouse, much like the ones where she rescues her students in. In true Yankumi fashion, she ran inside shouting, "Give me back my precious student!"

The warehouse was dark, much darker than the late afternoon light. The center was lighted, however, and this confirmed that Ren was indeed being held captive there. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust, but when it did, and she finally saw who was holding Ren captive, she could not believe her eyes.

"Minoru?" She gasped. "Tetsu?"

"Ojou!" They cried.

"Why did you do this? Who ordered you to?"

They couldn't answer in between sobs, ashamed of what they had done to their beloved Ojou. At that moment, Shin stepped to her view. "It was me, Kumiko. And him too." He said as he pulled Yabuki by the ear into view.

Yankumi's gasp was louder this time. "Yabuki? Shin?"

"I wish you would call me by my first name. You call Shin by his." Yabuki muttered which was ignored by both Yankumi and Shin. At that moment, Yankumi seemed to get over from the shock and her eyes darkened slowly shifting to battle-mode.

"What…are…you…two…doing…to…Ren?" She growled through gritted teeth.

Shin replied in equal rage. "He was making advances to you!" He shouted. "And you don't even stop him! As if having this kid - " he gestured at Yabuki who snarled, "- hanging around at the house isn't bad enough."

"He didn't mean any of it! And that doesn't give you the right to hurt him!"

Ren was about to shout that he meant it. He meant it when he said he was in love with Yankumi but Shin beat him to the punch. "He meant it, Kumiko." He said darkly as he grasped her arm. "He meant what he said, just like I did all those years ago."

Shin saw the anger in Yankumi's eyes falter. Then she laughed. "You're jealous!"

Shin let go of her arm and looked away. "Of course not."

She laughed, "yes you are!" She wrapped her arms around him. "Come on. Ren's my student. Don't get so worked up."

Shin scoffed. "Yabuki was just your student too until he decided to go to our house at every occasion and flirt with you."

"I do not flirt with Yabuki! How dare you suggest such an idea." Yankumi said indignantly which is partially true, considering Yabuki does indeed try his best to charm his ex-homeroom teacher. Yankumi, as always, is oblivious of this though.

"And I was just your student too," Shin smirked, "until you decided you love me back." This statement resulted to a blushing Yankumi, scoffing Yabuki, and a shocked Ren.

"O-oi!" Ren spluttered. "What did you mean by that? Are you Yankumi's boyfriend?"

Yankumi untangled herself from Shin's arms and approached Ren, almost forgetting what brought her there in the first place. "Well," she said as she untied the ropes, "he's more like my husband." To this, Ren's eyes bugged out, and he died a little inside.

"What do you mean 'more like your husband'?" Shin said. "I am your husband. Hear that, punk?" He said nodding toward Ren. "Go after some girl your own age."

Yankumi scoffed as she untied the last bit of rope holding Ren captive. "As if you did, Sawada."

"That's different."

"Okay, Ren!" Yankumi said as she straightened up. "I'm sorry about all these. As you can see, it's all just a misunderstanding." She beamed.

"Yes." He muttered gloomily. He wasn't still over the fact that the Yankumi, the woman he just confessed to, is already married.

"Well, since the matter's already cleared up, we better take Ren and Yabuki home. Don't we, Shin?"

"No, I can go home alone." Ren protested.

"And I'm going back home with you guys!" Yabuki declared.

"No you're not." Shin said, putting a protective arm around Yankumi.

"I've got a better idea!" Yankumi said clapping her hands. "Why don't you guys have dinner with us?" She said addressing Yabuki and Ren. "Tetsu! Minoru! Call at home and tell them my precious students are coming over for dinner!"

Shin rolled his eyes in what seemed to be a mildly annoyed gesture, but broke into a grin at energy of his wife. Yankumi leaned over to him and kissed him on the cheek, eliciting a smile from her husband.

Ren looked away at the small display of affection, somehow hurt, but then a tiny grin showed on his face. He turned to Yabuki who was also sporting a matching grin. "Third in line is not so bad."