A/N: Dun dun dunnn! Here's the highly anticipated chapter 3 of The Takoyaki Encounter! You remember that legendary elevator scene in the anime? Well, I made my own version here in this chapter! Hope you like it! This chapter is in Hibiki's POV. On to the show! :D

CHAPTER 3

The first month of getting to know Yamato Hotsuin was hard. Hard as aliens invading planet earth and destroying everything in seven days. In the first few weeks of his transfer to Tsuutenkaku High, he managed to rile me up in every turn. When he saw that I was the highest in class since the start of the year, he churned out perfectly graded tests and papers until we were neck-to-neck in grades. Actually making me work harder as my normal pace already gives me A+'s. Every time exam results were posted, he would stare at me with a gleam in his eye as we were once again locked in a grade stalemate, with either one of us lower than just by a point or even a half-point.

Then he joined Judo club, in which I was the assistant captain. He promptly rose through the ranks until until he was at a rank in which he could challenge me for my position, which he did in almost every meeting. He always manages to pull me into a match that either one of us wins or loses, as the second one never has the same story as the first.

So he's good in sports and academics, and despite his poor social skills and a penchant for saying the word "irrelevant", he's got hordes of swooning fangirls cheering for him and booing people who go against him. But strangely, they never heckle me when I go face him... weird. And lastly, he glares at any guy friend I have when they talk to me. Keita and Joe seem to be fine with him, Jungo as well because he never seems to be bothered by the evil and malicious aura of Yamato's death glares. As it was, Daichi bore the brunt of his wrath-filled gaze which made him as scared as heck of the guy. And Ronaldo Kuriki? They just loathed each other since they first laid eyes on one another.

Things just became weirder when Alcor also transferred midterm from Polaris U. He keeps on popping out of nowhere and getting up and personal in your face just to greet you. It seems he had a long-standing rivalry with Yamato in academics. It just strained the grades race between me and Yamato more as he claimed the number two spot, threatening to join the stalemate fray. He calls Yamato and me "Shining Ones" though he calls me more by that than Yamato. I wonder why he calls me by that 'cause I definitely don't feel shining at all nowadays.

After surviving another grueling day with the Yamato treatment, I exited my classroom and ran smack dab into Mr. Arrogant Prick himself. He was already standing at the announcement board were the results for the final exams were posted, looking indifferently. The exam ratings showed that he had taken the top spot with me trailing closely behind. The moment he saw me, he smirked, crossed his arms, and arched a challenging eyebrow at me. Then he turned and walked away without a word... saying nothing again as to why he was treating me this way. I just... snapped. Boiling in anger, I ran towards the swiftly retreating back, cornering the said man in an empty stairwell. I grabbed Yamato by the collar and shoved him against the wall.

"Why are you treating me this way?!" I demanded, shaking slightly in anger.

Yamato's eyes gleamed in response. His mouth quirked like he was smiling. Then what he said next shocked me to my core.

"It is because I want to break you into submission, Hibiki Kuze."

"...What?" I asked disbelievingly, my grip on his clothes slackening in my shock.

He pulled himself free of my grip, straightening his clothes. "You heard me, didn't you? I want to break you, to make submit, to make you mine, Hibiki Kuze." He focused his intense gaze at me and I shuddered, feeling that he was completely serious about his intentions.

"But... why?" I whispered, my head bowed and my hands fisted at my sides.

Yamato smirked deviously. "You are... interesting. Smart, strong, and full of hidden potential. Someone I want by my side as I create my own world. Now you are part of that dream as well, Hibiki Kuze. And you should know, Hibiki, that I pursue my goals very... aggressively." Slowly, he drew a finger from my neck to my chin, tipping my head back and making my wide-eyed gaze meet with his.

Snapping from disbelieving trance, I smacked his hand aside, blushing slightly. "Never! You've tormented me and my friends ever since I've met you! You expect me to submit to you after this ordeal? You must be crazy!" *I can't believe I got myself so riled up by this guy!*

He smirked again infuriatingly. "Try as you might, Hibiki Kuze, you will submit and you will be mine." Then he strode away, leaving me fuming in the empty stairwell.

"Oh yeah? Bring it on, Hotsuin! We'll see who'll submit to who when this battle's over!" I shouted at him as he walked away. He turned towards me, a ghost of a smile decorating his profile, acknowledging the inevitable fight for supremacy in the days ahead.

Tsuutenkaku High became basically a battleground for me and Yamato Hotsuin. The whole school was aflutter with the news of two senior high school students with stellar academic records duking it out academically and raking in the highest exam scores in history. The dojo we use in Judo practice matches was always packed with people, hoping to see us fight. When we do, we fought like demons, wrestling each other until we're tired and sweaty, and girls would swoon. Neither of us would give up and neither of us would back down. All the while, we acknowledged each other for our strength and had come to respect one another for it.

Days went by as my previously monotonous high school life was broken by this infuriating silver-haired man. Each and every day was challenging and exhausting but I... I was having fun. I'm having fun as Yamato and I glared daggers before delving into our exams... I'm having fun as I try to comfort Daichi after Yamato glares at him all the while he tries to talk to me... I'm even having fun as we took each other down, panting and sticky with sweat, in judo once again... It's hard to admit but as Yamato Hotsuin pulled my life into disarray, stirring me up and challenging everything I know, something changed in me. All I cared about before was grades and that was all that mattered to my parents. They even advised me not to hangout with Daichi, my best-friend since we were kids. I was getting ready to enter college, my standing good enough to get into premier universities. And yet I... I didn't know what I want. My world was in grey, trying to distance myself from my only best-friend, mechanically going through my days as we get closer and closer to graduation, and then... then it would be over. Suddenly, a flash of silver penetrated through the grey and brought color to the rest of the world. I noticed it and tried to chase it, reaching out to the infuriating smirk and the steel gray gaze... The man's smirk widening as my fingers brushed the palm of his outstretched hand...

"I knew that you would be mine, Hibiki Kuze..."

"Hibiki!"

I jerked awake, groggy from sleep. I realize that I had fallen asleep on my desk in the classroom, something that had never happened before.

"Hibiki, you awake, man?" Daichi loomed in front of me, brow furrowed in concern.

"Yeah, I'm awake... What's going on?" I sat up, rubbing my eyes blearily. I noticed that most of my class had gathered at the windows lining one side of the classroom.

"Its Yamato, Hibiki! Some black-suited guys arrived in front of the school on a limousine! Seems they're here for him. Yamato's out and meeting them at the gate!" Daichi said worriedly. Bless his soul, even when he's terrified of the guy, he still worries for him.

"What?" I stood up, looking out the window. Sure enough, Yamato was striding haughtily toward the black-suits clustered at rear of the limousine parked at the school's gate. The men all bowed cursorily to him. The sight prompted the class's speculations on Yamato's character. I heard whispers around me. Prince... Mafia Boss... Young Master... My grip tightened on the windowsill. I had spent a lot of time with Yamato, yet I never knew anything about him other than his being a prodigy and graduating from Polaris U.

The men, bodyguards I think, were indicating that Yamato enter the limo. I feel that someone's waiting for him inside, someone important, someone who wants to take him away from this place. Suddenly, I was struck by the feeling that if Yamato enters that vehicle, he will never return... That I will never see him again. I will never again be infuriated by that smug little smirk... be exasperated by his poor social skills... or be highly amused as he wolfs down takoyaki like a starving dragon... I will never again be impressed as he gets the highest score in the exam... be astounded by the smooth movements of his body as we fight... be flustered as he shamelessly expresses his intentions to break me, possess me, make me his in every way.

The door to the limo opened and Yamato was moving towards it. *No... Don't go...* My thoughts called desperately, but my body was frozen on the spot, my fists white-knuckled on the windowsill. Yamato leaned into the entryway, almost inside... *Please...!* A tear threatened to fall from my eye from the inexpressible feelings boiling inside me. Suddenly, Yamato stopped. He was speaking, saying a few choice words to the person inside the limo, then he turned away. He walked away from ostentatious car as the bodyguards seem to protest his leaving. But with one word from the seated man in the car, the guards stopped and all entered the car, driving away and leaving a small cloud of dust in their wake. The tear rolled down my cheek as thoughts of absolute relief and joy stole through me. Yamato looked up, up to classroom 3-A's windows and locked eyes with mine. My heart skipped a beat as his lips quirked in a smirk that he knew that had captured me.

"I knew that you would be mine, Hibiki Kuze... And now, I am yours as well..."