Title: Time Tells

Fandom: Gokusen

Pairing: Shin/Yankumi

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1,010

Summary/Description: "They are both in love with each other. The only question is how long it will take them both to realise that their feelings are returned."

Warning/Spoilers: Spoilers, I guess, for the end of the J-drama?

A/N: Gah, this is such a… testing-the-waters fic. This is my first time writing for this pairing and this fandom, and I'm just trying to feel my way about. Takes place more in the realm of the J-drama than anything else, but it's okay for the anime and manga as well. Please don't hesitate to tell me if you spot anything off! Especially characterisation-wise.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen.

It is a month after Yankumi starts teaching at Shirokin, and Shin is trying to figure out when his heart began giving a little jump every time he saw her, or when those idiotic faces she made stopped being idiotic and became kind of cute, or when he started freaking smiling around her and he thinks to himself: Damn it.

Although, if he is honest with himself, it began before that first month of shenanigans and misadventures passed; maybe as early as that first day, when he walked into the auditorium and saw the strange teacher in the tracksuit on the stage. Even then, he could just tell that there was something different about her. And there was something that made her unlike all other teachers, something that went beyond her yakuza roots and manner of speech and uncanny strength.

And somehow, even after all his dire attempts not to trust her, (because it was a fact that she was a teacher, and couldn't be trusted) he found himself respecting, trusting, and even liking her, and that wealth of good feelings had somehow transcended into… this.

He sighs, peeved. It's bad enough to be in love with an idiot, but an idiot who is his homeroom teacher and a yakuza? It can't get any worse.

It is six months after Shin comes back to Japan after his volunteering job in Africa, and Kumiko is trying to figure out when she started forgoing group dates with Shinohara-sensei and the others in favour of hanging out with Sawada, or when she started looking forward to his visits so much, or when she started freaking blushing when he took off his shirt to train with Tetsu and Minoru and she thinks to herself: Oh crap!

There had always been something that set Sawada apart from the rest of her students, other than his grades or his looks. Even now, his eyes still burn with that quiet, intense intelligence, and he still looks at her as if he knows all of her secrets, and can see right through and beyond them. It was certainly true that she loves all of her students, past and present, but Sawada stands out, just a little. Maybe because of all the shit he gave her. Little bastard.

And now, the current change in her feelings pretty much freaks her the hell out, because no matter how much she liked, trusted and respected the kid, she never thought that that tiny bit of favouritism would morph into… this.

She groans, frustrated. It's bad enough to be falling for a younger guy, but a younger guy who's her past student and a smartass? It can't get any worse.

It is a year after Sawada Shin unofficially becomes a member of the Ooedo Group, and the yakuza are trying to figure out what the hell is going on between him and Ojou.

It goes something like this:

Kyou will see them standing in the corridor that leads to her bedroom, close together, heads ducked and quietly speaking in earnest.

But then Wagamatsu will report that he heard Sawada call Ojou an idiot, after which she promptly flattened him and ground his face into the floor for a couple minutes.

Minoru will see them at a ramen stand in town; Sawada stealing a piece of meat from Ojou's bowl, and Ojou laughing as she smacks him upside the head and ruffles his hair playfully.

However, Tetsu will swear not five minutes later that right before she went off to handle something for one of her current students, Ojou had Sawada jacked up against a wall and was telling him in a low, growling voice not to interfere.

Like all other matters within the group, the Boss eventually settles it for them.

"They are both in love with each other; there is no question about that," he says, smoking placidly as he looks over the morning news. He says it in a plain, factual manner, and the yakuza all exchange looks. "The only question, actually," Ryuuichi continues, "is how long it will take them both to realise that their feelings are returned."

He looks up from the paper, and chuckles at the prospect.

(As it turns out, not that long.)

It is five minutes before Shin proposes to Yankumi (a year after the Ooedo Group started trying to discern their relationship status, two years after Shin returned from Africa, three years after he first fell in love with her). They are sitting against a sakura tree in the darkness of a local park, and Yankumi is asleep with her head propped on Shin's shoulder. The punks that tried to mug them a half hour ago are either unconscious, or long gone. The moon is shining brightly, and Shin's laboured panting is slowly abating into even breaths.

Yankumi will wake up in a while. She will look up at her past student, with her glasses askew, eyes disoriented and drool smearing her lips, and Shin will think, enough is enough. He will kiss her, grimace, wipe the spit off of her lips, and kiss her again. Properly, this time. He will ignore her flabbergasted look, and tell her to forget about Shinohara, and if she wants a traditional wedding… well, he supposes he could arrange that. He will think, it doesn't matter if she is an idiot and a gangster.

Yankumi will straighten her glasses, and she will understand. She will smile, tell him he kisses like a pansy, that he needs to be shown how it's really done. She will bury a hand in his hair and pull him down for a third kiss that will be no better than the first, and perfect because of it. She while try her best to hide the fact that she doesn't really know what she's doing either, and she will wrap her arms around him. She will think, it doesn't matter if he is her past student and a smartass.

It is five minutes before Shin proposes to Yankumi. It is time.

A/N: Feedback is much appreciated!