Disclaimer: I do not own this story… wait, yes I do. Uh… I don't own the characters. Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.

A/N: So, I tried it. Took me a minute and a half (probably more like 3 minutes, I don't know). Yay for me?

Well, after I tried it, I wanted to write about it. And since I haven't written anything for other schools, this turned into a Fudomine fic. Enjoy~

Oh, by the way, I call Ibu Shinji and Tachibana Ann by their first names and just about everyone else by their last names… yes, I'm strange. If it bothers you, I can change it.

Cherry Stems

"Hey, did you hear about that rumor going around?"

"Rumor?" Kamio Akira's ears perked up. "What rumor?"

Ann rolled her eyes. "You're such a gossipmonger!" she teased good-naturedly.

Kamio flushed. "I am not!"

"Anyways," smirked Ann, ignoring Kamio's protests, "the rumor is that the faster you can tie a cherry stem into a knot using your tongue, the better at kissing you are."

It was Kamio's turn to roll his eyes. "God, Ann, that's old news! That's been floating around for like 3 weeks already! I thought you had new rumors," he complained. Ann just smacked him on the head. "Hey! Shut it, rhythm freak! You should be glad I even tell you anything!" Kamio subsided, grumbling, but not too miffed since Ann always teased him.

Kamio may have heard about it long ago, but several of the other Fudomine team members found it interesting news. "Ooh! Really?" exclaimed Uchimura. "Why don't we go try it out?"

So it came to be that the Fudomine regulars were sitting in the park at a picnic table with a large bag of cherries. Grinning, Tachibana declined offers of cherry stems, opting instead to be timekeeper.

Kamio got it at 1:03. It took Ishida 1:34, and Ann got it in 2:48. As time dragged on, more and more people managed to tie their stems into knots.

At 7:23, one Ibu Shinji was still trying frantically to tie his stem into a knot. Everyone else had finished, and was now scrutinizing Shinji closely. Of course, Shinji was far too focused to notice- if he had, he would have started mumbling and cursing everyone under his breath.

At 9:42, Shinji finally gave up, spitting out a kinked and worried stem, but one that had no knot in it. Grabbing a cherry from the bag, he started eating, muttering all the while.

"Well, I don't know what that accomplished, other than making a fool of myself. I should have known I couldn't do this. I can't blow a bubble using gum, either. And I can't whistle. I guess my mouth is untalented." That caused a few eye-rolls. After all, if Shinji could talk at such a fast pace while eating cherries and spitting out cherry seeds, his mouth had to be pretty talented. But they didn't say anything, and he continued to mumble.

"I'll be a really bad kisser, I guess. I'm not good at this, so I'd be terrible at kissing. This cherry stem thing is just annoying. So what if I can't do this? It shouldn't have any effect on how good I am at kissing. Really, such stupid rumors people come up with. This is just some lie that someone came up with. Yeah. Really, how could tying cherry stems into knots help you while you kiss someone? That's just completely unreasonable. I bet I'd be a good kisser… ok, maybe not. I'd probably be really bad, actually. So maybe the cherry stem theory is correct…? Or maybe not… I don't know, but I'd probably be kind of bad at kissing, but that has nothing to do with cherry stems… right?"

At that point, Kamio chose to speak up. "I don't think you're a bad kisser," he said thoughtfully. That just sent Shinji off again.

"He doesn't think I'm a bad kisser? Hah, as if he'd know anything, Mister 'I can tie a cherry stem into a knot using my tongue in 1:03'. If this cherry stem thing were true, then he'd be a really good kisser, right? But if it's true, then that means that I'm terrible. Now that I think about it, the cherry stem theory might be true, because to tie it into a knot your tongue has to be pretty skilled, which would probably make French kisses better. So I'm probably a bad kisser then. I wonder if I can still get a lover if I'm a bad kisser? Nah, probably not, since people like good kissers, I think… I mean, I wouldn't want to kiss someone that was bad at kissing. So I guess nobody will ever like me then. I'm doomed to be alone for my entire life, because I'm a terrible kiss- MMPHH!"

Kamio had become frustrated with Shinji's incessant muttering, and decided to shut him up. And of course, Kamio was a major show off, so… Wham, and just like that, they were kissing.

Shinji's mouth was still open from his last word, so Kamio took advantage of that and slipped his tongue inside. Gently, Kamio ran his tongue over the ridges of Shinji's mouth, feeling him shudder in pleasure.

Shinji tasted of ripe cherries, and a hint of bitterness left over from the stem he'd been chewing on for nearly 10 minutes. At the moment, his mouth was slack, still surprised from Kamio's sudden movement. Kamio took the chance to explore Shinji's mouth fully, reveling in the feel of the moist cavern.

That was all he had time to do before Shinji came to life. But rather than pulling away, Shinji kissed Kamio even harder, fisting his hands in Kamio's hair. In response, Kamio ran a hand through Shinji's dark hair, savoring the silky feeling.

When Shinji's tongue pressed at Kamio's lips, he let them part without a fight. Shinji's tongue swept in to claim him, licking the inside of his mouth thoroughly. Their tongues slid past each other, and Kamio couldn't help but moan. And then, Shinji started to suck…

Kamio's moans were turning Shinji on. Soon, they were both moaning as they stuck their tongues down each other's throats.

They broke apart at last, gasping for air. Kamio looked very smug, leaning back easily and crossing his arms. Shinji just looked a little stunned- he'd been participating actively, but now that it was over, he wasn't quite sure that it had happened. Around them, the others were all staring openmouthed at the pair- that had to be some of the hottest kissing they'd seen in a long time.

Kamio always had to have the last word, that one. "See? The cherry stem myth, proved wrong." Everyone turned back to Shinji, waiting for him to start muttering.

He stayed silent. Shocked, Ann walked cautiously over to Shinji, waving a hand in front of his dazed eyes. "Uh… Shinji?"

The silence lasted all of 10 seconds before Shinji started muttering at a furious pace, even faster than before. He tended to do that when he was nervous.

"Oh my god !!!" (1)- see footnote

Kamio was pulling on Shinji's ear. "Shinji, just shut up already!" Shocked, Shinji complied. Looking annoyed, Kamio stared straight into Shinji's eyes. "When are you going to get a clue? You're a great kisser, otherwise I wouldn't have kissed you for so long! And besides…" Kamio mumbled something that nobody could hear.

"What's that, Kamio? You'll have to speak up," grinned Ann, and Kamio flashed her a look. He had no doubt that she just loved to torment him. He wouldn't be surprised if she actually already knew what he was going to say.

Before he lost his courage, Kamio stood up, and yelled at the top of his lungs. "Ibu Shinji, I like you!" Immediately, his face flushed and he sat back down, ducking his head and avoiding all eye contact.

Utter silence descended upon the team. Nobody spoke, not even Shinji. Worried, Kamio looked up.

Shinji was staring at Kamio with a look of awe on his face. Softly, he asked, "Really? You… like me?"

Red-faced, Kamio nodded. He hadn't understood Shinji's last rant- he doubted anyone had- but he'd decided to say it at last. He just hoped that he hadn't misread the signs…

Shinji glomped him. There was no other word for it. Squawking in undignified surprise, Kamio promptly fell over backwards off the bench, taking Shinji with him. Sprawled on the soft green grass, Shinji was showering Kamio with kisses, and still managing to ramble between them.

"Oh my god, I can't believe that Kamio likes me, this is like a dream come true, because I like him too, and I've liked him for such a long time, I'm so glad that he likes me too, maybe we can become a real couple now, and kiss more often, because I still think that I'm not that good of a kisser, but maybe Kamio can teach me. Or should I be calling him Akira now?"

"Call me Akira, Shinji." Kamio smiled. And Shinji blushed.

And the team chose that instant to make itself heard. If anyone else had been around, they would have thought the group of teens was mad, from the way they were catcalling and whooping and cheering.

In the midst of it all, Tachibana Kippei let out a sigh of relief. To himself, he muttered, "Thank goodness that cherry stem rumor is false, because I can't do it either…"

*** Owari***

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! I had fun writing it, especially Shinji's incessant ramblings ^^

(1) So, this was meant to be a long useless rant. Unfortunately, it got deleted every time I tried to edit that section, because I was typing it without spaces or punctuation. So, for your reading pleasure, here is Shinji's rant at about 0.1x his actual pace ^^ (You don't need to read it to understand the story)

Oh my god did Kamio just do that? I think he did but I'm not sure... oh my god does that mean he likes me? No probably not, I mean kissing doesn't mean much these days anymore... people kiss all the time without it actually meaning anything. But what if he does like me? Does that mean that he knows that I like him too? Or is it just coincidence that he happened to kiss me? Yeah it's probably just coincidence because there's no way that Kamio Akira would ever like me... He's got so many other choices that there's no way he would ever pick meeeeeeitai itai itai itai !!!

Anyways, R&R, please!