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CappuccettoRosso

Beta: None

Universe: Manga

Rating: PG-13

Pairing(s): Sawada Shin / Yamaguchi Kumiko

Genre(s): Romance; General; Slice of Life

Warning(s): Mild Adult Language; Off-Screen Sexual Situations

Disclaimer: Gokusen is the intellectual property of Kozueko Morimoto, and its publisher, Shueisha. I am only borrowing the characters for my own amusement. No profit is being made in the publishing of this story.

Author's Note: Written for the Dove_Drabbles' January prompt: 'Warmth of the inside can melt cold on the outside.'

Summary: (Or, how Shin and Kumiko keep warm). A little story about a small gesture that makes a big impact.

He was late heading home. His Ethic class had run longer than usual; the class had become rather involved debating the nature of ethics. Of course, by the time the professor did let them go, it was dark out; the temperature had plummeted and it had begun to snow.

To top things off, his brain was fit to explode.

At times like these, Sawada Shin was reminded why he didn't like school a whole lot.

Ah, the shit he did for love…

It wasn't worth bitching about, though. This was his last class for the rest of the week. For the next two days, Shin planned to do absolutely noting at all. Fuck homework; fuck tests; fuck reading assignments; and especially fuck professors that picked on their students for not participating and then got offended when their opinions were torn to shreds by those same students—basically, fuck anything having to do with school. It was just going to be him, his comfortable bed, his television and instant ramen.

At the thought of ramen, his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten since...well, that morning. Shin thought about it for a bit, and then decided to indulge himself for once. He deserved it and really, after today's class, he wasn't looking forward to next week. The professor was sure to be in a snippy mood. So he went to a restaurant, the real sit-down type with linen napkins and soft music playing in the background.

Shin gave a passing thought to visiting the Kuroda-compound as he gave his order to the waiter. He knew he was always welcomed to joined them for dinner; however, Shin didn't feel like intruding tonight. Plus, he knew Kumiko wouldn't be home.

As he waited for his food to arrive, he stared out of the window and idly watched the snow fall softly. Between leisurely eating a delicious meal and savoring a good wine, the tension Shin accumulated during the long, tedious day slowly slipped away.

His headache was gone, too.

It was almost an hour later that Shin left the restaurant with a belly full of good food and a slight buzz going from the wine. He was humming absently when he stepped onto his floor; an up-beat little song that kept playing on the radio. He stopped humming when he caught sight of Kumiko leaning beside his front door.

She hadn't seen him, yet. Actually, she looked rather contemplative, her eyes unfocused; simply too lost in her thought to pay much attention to her surroundings.

Shin leaned against the wall and took his fill of Kumiko.

Her face was relaxed, as was her entire body. Shin took that as her having a good night so far. No stress, from either school or her family. There was a small smile on her lips, so whatever she was thinking about deeply was good, perhaps pleasant.

Shin wondered if he could tease out the thought that had her smiling in such a way.

He made his way as stealthily as he could toward her. He bit his bottom lip to keep from smiling, especially when he managed to get close enough to touch. Of course, that was when Kumiko blinked out of her musings and jumped slightly at seeing him so close.

She squeaked; Shin smirked.

"Yo…"

"Sawada-san, what are you doing, just standing there like some kind of creeper…?"

Shin raised an eyebrow. "Says the person laying in wait for me at my front door. What, were you planning to barge your way into my apartment and have your wicked way with me?"

Kumiko blushed even as she sputtered. He moved around her to get to the front door. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"What, I can't come and visit my boyfriend? Are you expecting someone else, Sawada-san?"

Shin shot her a bored look and opened the door. "Don't be stupid. I'm just asking because you told me yesterday you couldn't come over."

Kumiko scrunched her nose. "I thought so, too, but the issue resolved itself before I could do anything really."

"Oh…?"

Shin stepped out of his shoes and dropped his bag to the side.

"Yeah, Hayate-kun, the idiot, ran into a biker gang, got his ass beat and ran straight home again," she said as she kicked her shoes off. A look from him had her rolling her eyes and bending down to line them up properly. "He'll be thinking twice now about running away."

"I'm surprised you let them kick his ass," Shin commented as he moved to the kitchen area, taking off the layers he'd worn to keep warm, until he was only in a thermal long sleeve-shirt and his jeans. He filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove to make tea. Shin's apartment building wasn't well insulated so the coldness from outside had seeped into the apartment. Getting warm was first priority.

Kumiko dropped down by the kotatsu [1] in his seating area, after shrugging off her own coat. She reached blindly beneath the heavy blanket and turned on the small heater. Quickly enough she began feeling the heat on her cold feet. It felt very good. She reached for the TV remote with one hand and pulled off her scarf and beanie with the other. "It was either them or me, because I'm telling you, Sawada-san, I was getting pretty annoyed with his smart mouth."

From the corner of his eye, he saw her shaking a fist at the absent Hayate-kun.

"This way is better. Random hoodlums instead of his own teacher."

Shin refrained from pointing out that most would consider her just as bad, if not worse, than those bikers, simply based on her family background. He fixed tea for the two and took it to the living room.

Kumiko smiled in thanks when he held out a cup for her.

"I supposed," he said, joining her under the comforter, "though now he'll be too scared to step out of the house, even for school."

She smirked. "Not if I kick his ass out of the front door everyday. It's called negative reinforcement. He comes to school, I don't kick his ass." She brought the cup up close, seemingly enjoying the steam raising from the hot liquid and warming her face. Kumiko took a long, careful sip.

"I'm pretty sure that's called positive punishment."

"Whatever."

They sat there and watched TV quietly for a long moment. By now, it was toasty warm beneath the kotatsu.

During a commercial break, Kumiko asked: "So, how was school?"

"Long as fuck," he paused and then added: "Are you going to stay over tonight?"

Kumiko ducked her head a little. It was enough to see her cheeks flush faintly to know what she was thinking. Shin hid his grin behind his tea cup.

"Um, yes, if you don't mind, that is?"

Instead of answering, he reached into his front pant's pocket and pulled out a small bag. He dropped it carelessly on the table in front of Kumiko.

"Here; I've been meaning to give you this."

"Eh!" Kumiko put down her cup and curiously opened the stringed little bag. She shook what was inside onto her palm. She gaped a little at the key. "What…?"

"I don't want to see you loitering outside my apartment. The neighbors are going to start gossiping and then they're going to start bugging me with useless questions." Shin kept his gaze firmly on the television, so he didn't see the small, shy smile that crossed her lips or the warm look she shot him.

"Don't lose it, because I'm not giving you another one," Shin said carelessly. He pushed to his feet. "I'm going to take a shower. Want to join me…?"

He didn't wait for her answer and stepped into the bathroom.

Kumiko continued to stare at the key and tried to blink away the happy tears. She gave the key a little kiss and carefully placed it safely inside the little bag. The bag itself went inside her wallet for safekeeping. She already had plans to buy a special chain for it. Having done that, Kumiko scrambled to her feet and went to join Shin with a new bounce in her step and a warm little flame fluttering inside her heart.

[1] A low wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.