I do not own The Prince of Tennis

rated T for mild swearing

~O~~O~

Kirihara Akaya's House: 4:30pm

"…And then Akutagawa-san asked if Marui-senpai wanted to go on a date. He was all 'pretty pretty please' and THEN Marui-senpai said yes. He actually said yes!" Kirihara panted as he recounted the entire event to Yanagi.

"Hmm…this is interesting. According to my data Akutagawa has had a crush on Marui for quite some time, but it is too soon for him to be ready to ask Marui out on a date" Yanagi analyzed, scribbling something in a little notebook much resembling one of Sadaharu Inui's.

Just then the front door to Kirihara's house slammed open, revealing Niou. Niou sauntered in to Kirihara's house, without knocking, like he owned the place. Yanagi noted that little bits of blonde hair, maybe from a wig, were poking out of his bag. Strands of blonde hair were also attached to Niou's shirt. Things were getting interesting.

"Kirihara, I got your text about an 'emergency meeting,'" Noting the lack of people Niou added, "Where's everyone else? You texted, and I quote "Having a super important emergency meeting for the 3rd yr regulars rite now at my house!1! IMPOTENT!"

"Niou-senpai, it's pronounced 'important' not 'impotent' " Kirihara corrected, beaming inside at how much smarter he was than his senpai.

Niou scratched his head and sighed, "I know! But you wrote…never mind, just explain this 'emergency meeting' " Kirihara probably didn't even know the meaning of 'impotent'

"Umm, well I texted everyone, but Yukimura-buchou is busy at his beautification club or whatever, Sanada-Fukubuchou has his Kendo thingy (this was a lie, Kirihara never texted Sanada and didn't know what he was doing at the moment), and Yanyuu has Student Council…." Kirihara trailed off

"What about Marui and Jackal?" Niou impatiently inquired. What was the point of a meeting with 'all the third years' if only two of them showed up?

"I think Jackal-senpai took Marui-senpai to buy some sweets, but actually I didn't text them, because this meeting is about Marui-senpai." Kirihara hesitated before continuing, "I saw something really weird today afterschool! Even Yanagi-senpai agreed it was weird. Kinda a long story, but Akutagawa, that sleepy guy from Hyotei, asked Marui out on a date. And Marui said yes!"

Yanagi decided now might be a good time to bring up that blonde wig poking out of Niou's bag before Niou plotted his escape. Yanagi thought he had pretty much figured out what was going on, but he was never one to just give away the answers right off the bat.

"That's a very nice wig you have there, Niou" Yanagi commented casually, eyeing the wig poking out of Niou's bag.

Niou looked down to see the blonde wig he used earlier to impersonate Akutagawa sticking out of his bag. Oh crap

"Blonde wig? Why does Niou-senpai have a blonde wig?" Kirihara mused.

Yanagi watched attentively as the gears worked in Kirihara's brain in an attempt to figure out the big puzzle.

"Well, this was fun guys, but I've got to get going! My parents want me home for dinner" Niou tried to quickly make his escape out the front door.

"Not so fast, he's seconds away from figur-"

"OH MY GOD!" Kirihara screamed. "Niou-senpai just asked Marui-senpai out on a date! But senpai, if you wanted to ask Marui-senpai out, you should have just been yourself. Otherwise he'll get really confused." Kirihara reasoned, nodding his head and stroking his non-existent beard.

Well he almost figured it out

Yanagi cut in to explain the situation, "Close, but no cigar Akaya. You're right it was Niou that asked Marui out on that date. But, Marui believes this person is Akutagawa Jirou. Now, the next step is for fake Maru, a.k.a. Niou, to ask out the real Akutagawa. Of course Akutagawa will say yes. Then, the real Marui and the real Akutagawa will go on their date."

"That's so confusing! And stupid! Why not just have the real Akutagawa ask the real Marui senpai on a date. Bam. Done." Kirihara clapped his hands together emphatically.

Yanagi interjected, "The chances of that happening right now are extremely low given the circumstances. At this point, the real Akutagawa would never dare to ask his idol on a date. As for the real Marui, he hasn't realized his feelings yet. "

"You mean, Marui-senpai like likes Akutagawa but he doesn't even know it? Woah." Kirihara opened his mouth in a big O shape, stunned at the new revelation.

"Precisely" Yanagi nodded. "In fact, I bet right now Marui is contemplating his feelings over a bowl of ice cream or some other type of confectionary. Most likely paid for by Jackal. Niou's prank may actually be the key in getting Marui to realize his feelings. "

"Wait, really? I was just bored. Puri" Niou shrugged.

"This is just like a manga! Please Niou-senpai lemme help!" Kirihara pleaded with big puppy eyes that even the stoic Sanada couldn't resist.

"No, Kirihara, this isn't a game!" Niou retorted, looking away from those puppy eyes.

Suddenly, Kirihara's sweet angelic eyes suddenly turned bloodshot and 'devil akaya' came out. "Lemme help! Or else!" Devil Akaya seethed.

~O~O~O~

Location: Ice cream shop

Time: 4:45pm

"And then," Marui explained to Jackal through a mouthful of cherry chocolate peanut butter ice cream. "There wasn't a girl at the love confession tree. Instead it was Jirou-kun, from Hyotei, asking me out on a date!"

Jackal was surprised. He didn't think Akutagawa would ever actually do it. " And what did you say?"

"I said yes…" Marui answered, but he quickly added, "But, Jirou-kun offered to take me to that really nice café that just opened, you know, Oujisama Café. He even said he'd and pay for everything, how could I say no?"

There was a moment of silence before Marui spoke up again.

"What? Do you think I should have said no?" Marui asked swallowing down another mouthful of ice cream.

"No, I think you did the right thing." Jackal reassured Marui. "You know, Akutagawa has had an obvious crush on you for a pretty long time. It probably took a lot of courage to ask you out."

"I know…but I don't feel that way about him" Marui said, setting down the spoon from his now finished cherry chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

I don't think I do anyways

"Just humor him and go on one date. Then you can say it was fun, but you think you work better as friends and leave it at that." Jackal reasoned.

"Right. That's exactly what I was thinking!" Marui nodded confidently as he popped in a fresh piece of green apple gum in his mouth.

"That is how you feel about him right? Just a friend?" Jackal asked, cocking his shiny bald head to the side.

"Of course, Jackal! What else would it be?" Marui winked, giving Jackal a playful thumbs up.

~O~O~O~

Kirihara Akaya's house: 5:00pm

After pleading with Niou to let him help on the 'mission', Kirihara had raced up to his room to gather important materials. Important materials included construction paper, kid scissors, and crayons.

While Kirihara was busy gathering supplies someone knocked on the door. Yanagi, being closest to the door went over to open it

"Oh, Yagyuu, we were under the impression you wouldn't be joining us. Kirihara said you had a student council meeting."

"Sorry for my tardiness. I was called here about an 'emergency meeting?' Where exactly is Kirihara?"

Niou walked over to his partner in crime. "He's gathering supplies for our mission. Well, I guess there's no harm in me telling you what's going on" Niou said as he explained the situation to his best friend ever, Yagyuu.

"Ah, I understand. These types of shenanigans are so typical of you, Niou" Yagyuu commented. "But why let Kirihara help?"

"He didn't give me a choice, he—"

Angel Akaya chose that exact moment to walk back over to the group, arms full of different colored construction paper, crayons, and he had even brought some sparkly stickers.

"Senpais, we can use this to make Marui's love letter to Akutagawa-san!" Kirihara beamed, his face full of joy and innocence.