Haruichi sat at his desk at the back of the classroom. It was a beautiful, clear-sky day. He could feel its pull, a tug somewhere inside telling him to take advantage of the weather and play baseball. He would have loved to be outside, but he couldn't afford to skip class.

The teacher had just finished explaining that the class was to get into pairs for the project she had just outlined. Haruichi wondered whether it would be worse to be paired with Furuya or Sawamura. Neither of his teammates paid attention in class, and as a result both were barely passing. Furuya would probably ignore Haruichi in favour of a nap the way he always did when faced with schoolwork, and Haruichi didn't wish to deal with the excessive noise that came with Sawamura. He let out a sigh. It was too bad most of his other classmates took no notice of him.

"U-um...excuse me? Kominato-kun?" A girl's voice interrupted Haruichi's thoughts.

"Do you have a partner yet?" She asked.

"No." Haruichi admitted, feeling hopeful, "Do you want to be partners, Hotaru-chan?"

"Thank you!" Her face lit up, eyes filled with relief.

"What!?" Sawamura's startled shriek rang out, " I have to work with him!?"

"I don't want to work with him." Furuya told the teacher quietly.

"I heard that!" Sawamura shouted.

Haruichi stifled a laugh, but his willpower crumbled when Hotaru burst out laughing next to him.

"That's what they get for sleeping." She giggled, "For people so different, they sure have a lot in common."

"I think that's why they're rivals"

"Probably."

Eijun stomped angrily towards the practice field. His day had gone horribly, and he was going to let out his frustration in one of the only ways he knew. Exercise.

First, Kuramochi had turned off his alarm and snuck out without waking him up, so Eijun had been late to practice. He had had to spend the entire practice running laps. He hadn't touched a baseball all day. Then, despite sleeping in so long, he had fallen asleep during class. It should have been fine, because he usually got away with it, but this time it had gotten him paired up with Furuya for an assignment. Furuya, of all people. Not only did he have to cooperate with his rival, whom he absolutely hated, but he'd probably end up having to do all the work, and he had no idea what the project was supposed to be about, or how to do it. On top of that, Haruichi had disappeared during lunch, leaving Eijun alone with Furuya. Needless to say, there hadn't been much friendly conversation.

Muttering under his breath, Eijun pulled out his tire, only to realize that one of the reasons he was in such a bad mood was that he'd spent practice running with it. Past caring, he let out a yell of frustration, launching himself forwards at full speed. He ran and ran until he was out of breath, and had forgotten why he was so worked up in the first place. Eijun placed his tire back where he had gotten it, giving a a loving pat as he gazed tenderly at his partner.

"Oi, what's with that face, Bakamura?"

Eijun bristled, yanking his tire back out and resuming his run. Trust Miyuki to ruin his good mood.

"I know you love that tire, but you should really get some sleep."

"If you really understand our relationship then you'll let us run!" Eijun shouted.

"You are way too fond of that tire, you idiot."

"You don't understand!"

"No, I don't. Now get your butt in bed before Kuramochi gets involved!"

Eijun blanched at the thought of what Kuramochi would do to him if he was woken up. One more headlock and-he didn't want to think about it.

Scowling, Eijun reluctantly put his tire away, letting Miyuki drag him back to the dorms.

"At least walk!" Miyuki complained.

Eijun just glared at him, determined to make him regret interrupting the moment Eijun had been having with his tire.

"Ouch!" Eijun felt his back collide with the hard ground as Miyuki released his grip. Eijun leapt to his feet, planning to make a run for it.

"Not so fast, Bakamura." Miyuki scolded him, grabbing his shirt once more.

"Let go of me, Miyuki!" Eijun whined.

"You mean 'let go of me, Miyuki-senpai'."

"No I don't! You're evil!"

Miyuki just laughed, opening the door to the room Eijun shared with Kuramochi and Masuko. He dropped Eijun into a heap on the floor, shutting the door before he had a chance to escape. Eijun pushed against the door, but Miyuki was keeping it closed from the other side. As Eijun's fist was about to make contact with the door, the realization that he could end up waking Kuromochi stopped him almost instantaneously. It was no use.

In a mood no better than he had been in when he snuck out, Eijun slipped into his pyjamas and flopped down onto his bed. Stupid Miyuki. There was no way Eijun was going to call him senpai when he was so mean.