Mei: My first ever HaruMaru fic. Please don't kill me! -hides behind Niou and Marui-

Niou: She's all yours! -steps aside-

Mei: Hey! No fair! -pouts-

Niou: What? Do you own me to make me do whatever you say?

Mei: No...Marui! Niou's being mean to me!

Marui: He does have a point, you know.

Mei: Yeah. Yeah. I don't own you. Blah blah. Although...

Marui: Uh-oh. I don't like the sound of that.

Mei: I can use you for my own selfish amusement. And maybe other's as well. -evil laugh-

Niou: Just get on with it.

Marui stared out the window, a dazed look on his face. In the background, he heard the teacher's dull and monotone voice babbling on about literature. He stared at the sky, bright blue as always. The clouds drift by slowly; the sun partly hidden but still shining its brightest. The wind blew gently, as if softly kissing his cheeks. He closed his eyes; his thoughts drifting like the lazy clouds in the sky.

"-rui!" he thought he heard someone call his name. "Marui!"

There it is again. He opened his eyes and turned around. He saw the teacher towering over him, an angry look upon his old face.

"If you're so adamant at daydreaming, Marui-kun, I know you would love to spend a day's detention" the teacher's angry tone rang in his ears. He became wide awake now. He fought a blush that was creeping up his face as he heard his classmates snicker.

He heard a rather distinct snicker at his back. He didn't need to turn around to know who it belonged to. After all, this was the same person he was thinking about while he was daydreaming. Although he knew who it was he still turned around, looking at a silver-haired boy who was smirking at him.

"Niou…" he glared a bit. It only made the other's smirk grow wider.

"What?" Niou said nonchalantly, leaning against his chair. Marui sighed in defeat and looked in front again before he got any further detentions from the cranky, old teacher.

Although whatever he did, he couldn't help himself. All his thoughts always ended up to that person behind him.

Niou.

The guy that always kept his mind afloat all the time was just right behind him. His smirk always made him melt inside into an indistinguishable puddle. His attitude is a mystery he loved to try to solve each day. His voice was melodious to his ears and he longed to hear it everyday. And whenever they were close to each other, he couldn't think straight. He was glad that he didn't jumble up his words or stutter. He was proud to be able to control himself under all that pressure.

The bell rang for lunch. He got out of his seat and picked up his things. He was about to go out of the door when he heard the teacher call his name.

"Marui."

He suppressed a groan as he turned around and looked at his teacher.

"Don't forget about detention. You can tell your captain that it was all your fault for not listening in class" he nodded, not trusting his voice. He knew that if he opened his mouth, no good word will come out of it and it will only get him more detention.

But before he could get out of class, he heard the teacher's voice again.

"And you too Niou."

He momentarily stopped. Had he heard it right? Did Niou get detention as well today? Wait. He always got detention. But this subject as well?

He heard a grunt from behind him which only meant that, yes, he had detention in this subject too.

"What're you waiting for, Marui? Are you getting fatter so you're slowing down now?" he heard the boy say behind him. He turned around and glared.

"I am not fat!" he frowned and walked to the cafeteria with Niou following close by.

"You seem to be getting fatter to me with all those sweets you consume everyday" a smirk was upon Niou's lips as he dodged a book that swung at him.

"Shut up" Marui glared again as he hadn't hit target. Sometimes, Niou was just plain annoying. But that was part of his attitude that he had to put up with everyday. This was merely a routine they've gotten themselves into.

They waited in line, talking about how boring the teacher was. When they got their food, they went to their table. They saw Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi and Yagyuu already there. Niou sat beside Yagyuu and he sat beside Yanagi, across Niou. He watched Niou and Yagyuu talk in front of him.

Ah yes, Niou would forget him at times when Yagyuu was there. He won't lie, it hurt. It felt as if he got stabbed in the heart every time Niou forgot he was there. Even though the situation was like that, he continued to be happy. At least, try to be happy. He didn't need the others to notice his attitude and would eventually know how he felt towards his bestfriend.

The only thing that would keep his mind off of this whole madness was his sweets. The sugary taste made him forget the bitterness of having to love in the dark. He experienced sweetness amidst the chaos he was currently in. Yes. His refuge was eating his sweets. It not only helped his stamina, it also helped his mood.

This was the very reason he was munching on the many sweets he has in front of him right now. He heard a scuffle and looked beside him. Jackal, his doubles partner, sat beside him. And their little baby sat across Jackal. Kirihara grumbled as he ate. It seems that another teacher managed to peeve their little baby again. Oh yeah, it was always the same teacher, the English teacher.

He heard Yukimura chuckle as Kirihara whined to their buchou. That reminds him.

"Buchou" he called the blue-haired boy's attention. Yukimura turned and looked at him, as if asking him to go on. "I can't come to practice early today."

"Why's that?"

"Stupid teacher gave me detention" he griped. "Gomen buchou."

"25 laps after detention, got it?" Yukimura said sternly. Of course. We are Rikkai, we have to be the best. We have to be kept in shape. We have to be disciplined.

"Hai" he looked at Niou who was surprisingly, looking at him. Their gazes locked for a few moments. It was as if a silent conversation was being held between them.

Aren't you gonna tell buchou you have detention too?

Nope.

You'll get more laps, you know.

So?

If you don't tell him now, I'll tell him.

Chill, Marui. He already knows.

You could've said that earlier, you know.

What fun would it be if I did?

He glared at the person across him. How do they know what the other is thinking? They can't quite explain it either. It just so happened that one day, he gave his notes to Niou without the other saying anything. It just took him one look at the other and he knew what Niou wanted. From there, it kind of developed into some kind of telepathy. But it's mostly just reading the other through each other's eyes.

As they say, the eyes are the doors to the soul. They were merely using that ability to its fullest extent. It takes a lot of time to master. Hell. It took a lot of time to master. It was no joke; especially if you're trying to do that to the Trickster. With his dozens of masks, you'd have to be very keen and observant of the simple things like how his eyes would either glow with enthusiasm or be clouded by uncertainty.

Yes. What he loved the most about using this telepathy thing with Niou is that he can gaze into those golden eyes without being too obvious. But he also had to limit himself with how long he 

was going to stare. If he stared too long, then he would be obvious. But so long as he keeps himself in check, he'd still be on the safe side.

That's why he's a tensai. He had to be a genius to be able to comprehend the Trickster. He had to be a genius to be able to keep up with him. He had to be a genius to be able to put up with him. And he had to be a genius to be able to hide his feelings so well from everyone and still keep himself sane.

Mei: So...that was the first chapter. How did you guys find it? Good? Bad? Made you want to go to the bathroom and spit out all you've eaten?

Niou: Yeah. It made me want to puke.

Mei: No one asked you!

Niou: Whatever. You clearly said, "How did you guys find it?". It implicitly meant me too.

Mei: You hate me, don't you?

Niou: What made you think that? But you're finally correct at something!

Marui: Niou...

Mei: Pah! Let's see you badmouth me when I'm through with you. -evil laugh-

Marui: While these two are fighting, please spare some time to review. Thank you. -walks away while Mei tries to torture Niou-