"Say, Take-nii, since when were you known as Momo-senpai?" Ryoma sniggered at his brother's nickname.

"Hey, it's a nice nickname, alright! You know how okaasan likes to put a peach in my lunchbox everytime and over time, everyone just starts to call me "Momo" because of the peaches…"

"Is that so? But okaasan put it in because you love them, don't you, Momo-nii?"

"Don't you dare tell okaasan, otousan and Keigo-nii sama!"

"Eh? I thought you just said that it's a nice nickname and that you liked it, so why are you hiding it from them?"

"You cheeky brat… just shut up or I'll finish all your burgers!"

Ryoma immediately moved his burgers away from Takeshi and started taking big bites of his burgers.

---

At the Tezuka household...

"Keigo, how did the juniors' trial go?" Fuji asked her eldest son during dinner.

"The trial was real good, Okaasan. We have countless juniors coming for trial as usual and most of them had experience. This year, we have a first year who has the potential of becoming a regular. I guess this is all because of my attractiveness!"

"Keigo, there are many opponents out there. Just look at the regulars in Seigaku now, I believe that they will unleash much more power than before. Do not let your guard down!" Tezuka warned Keigo.

"We're home!" Takeshi and Ryoma shouted as they passed through the main gate.

"Why are you so late today? We were about to start dinner without the both of you…" Fuji told her two younger sons.

"Ano… we… had a long trial (Kohara-senpai gave a long talk)…" Ryoma and Takeshi replied, and with different answers.

"Come clean with it, boys." Fuji said in a stern tone and the ever smiling Fuji had opened her eyes, which meant trouble.

"We're SORRY! We went out to have burgers after training…" Takeshi and Ryoma immediately told the truth.

"Well, you know what will happen if you can't finish your dinner…" Fuji grinned widely at them, which was somewhat sinister-looking…

Takeshi and Ryoma looked across the dining table and saw food which could fill almost ten people's stomach fully. They gaped at the amount of food they had to finish and looked blankly at each other, then at their eldest brother, who merely smirked at them.

"We're sorry for intruding!" Syuichiroh, Sadaharu, Kikumaru and Kaidoh's voices could be heard through the hallway.

"OUR SAVIOURS!" Takeshi and Ryoma exclaimed when they saw their fellow club mates making their appearance at the dining area.

"Why are you guys here? You didn't tell us that you would be coming, or we could have come home together… And Where's Shou-buchou, Ruki-senpai, Taka-san and Dentai?" Takeshi questioned his uncle, Syuichiroh.

"You and Ryoma ran off straight after club. How was I able to tell you? Your parents invited us for dinner but the others could not make it as they had other plans. Come on, can we start eating? We are hungry and beat!" Syuichiroh replied Takeshi.

After dinner, everyone was having fresh fruits, cut and served by Syusuke and they were all chatting intriguingly about that day's trials in Hyotei Gakuen and Seishun Gakuen. Takeshi excused himself and pulled Kaidoh, who was leaning against the wall in one corner listening to the conversation, to his room.

"What do you want?" Kaidoh asked Takeshi with his usual cold voice, staring intently at his rival. Well, not really as enemies since they both fight for Seigaku's glory, but Kaidoh had been competing with Takeshi in tennis since primary school and they still did not really have any clear distinction of who was better.

"Kaoru… Do you always have to be so cold towards me?"

"… …"

"Didn't I already expressed how I feel about you? Wasn't my confess clear enough?"

"Ff-ssshhhhhhhhhh! What kind of reaction do you expect me to have after getting confessed to out of a sudden, by a guy no less?! And haven't I made it clear that… that I like An-chan?" Kaidoh cursed himself in his head for hesitating, even if it were just for a second.

"Do you really like her? It is because I thought that you had some feelings for me that I plucked up the courage to confess to you, Kaoru! And if you like An-chan, what actions have you taken to compete with Kei-nii?" Takeshi gripped Kaidoh's arms and looked at Kaidoh with a desperate and pleading look, which he had not shown anyone else before.

"Let go of me! I've had enough of this ridiculous talk! I don't even know why the hell I got pulled into your room in the first place!" Kaidoh shook Takeshi's hands away and stomped out of the room.

"Tezuka-san, Syusuke-san, I should be going home now. Thank you for inviting me over!" Kaidoh hurriedly left the Tezuka household to escape Takehsi as fast as possible.

Who knew that Takeshi would actually dash out of his house to chase Kaidoh and this led Kaidoh to break into a run. Takeshi knew that Kaidoh was a fast runner and it would be quite difficult to chase him, but he was not about to give up then. He increased his speed significantly and finally managed to overtake Kaidoh after some time. As soon as he overtook Kaidoh, Takeshi grabbed Kaidoh's arm to prevent him from running away.

"Please... don't... run away... from me... I just... want... to walk you home..." Takeshi pleaded Kaidoh.

Upon seeing Takeshi panting so heavily and looking exhausted, Kaidoh agreed since Takeshi could not try anything weird on him and allowed Takeshi to walk him home although he was quite pissed by Takeshi, who was treating him like a weak girl.

---

Back at the Tezuka Household

Takeshi had just returned home and he was drenched in perspiration from chasing Kaidoh previously. He was smiling to himself as Kaidoh would usually not reject his offer and would run all the way home. 'Kaidoh is probably slowly falling for me!" Takeshi thought to himself. He noticed that his uncles, Sadaharu and Syuichiroh, and Kikumaru-senpai had already gone home, judging from the peacefulness in the house and he guessed that his father must have driven them home since the family car was gone.

"Takeshi, how's your chasing going? Have you melted Kaidoh's heart or is he still insisting that he wants to fight with me over An?" Keigo, who was watching the news in the living room, asked his second brother randomly just before Takeshi went upstairs.

"Well, he is still insisting that he wants to fight with you over An-chan but I believe that he has feelings for me. It's just that he is not used to the idea of two guys in a relationship!" Takeshi replied his elder brother.

"You seem to have a rather positive attitude about your relationship with Kaidoh-kun. Why's that so?"

"INTUITION! I'm going to bathe, Kei-nii. I'm stinking like hell!"

---

"Hah! The bathe is refreshing! Ryoma, what are you doing?"

"Take-nii, so this guy is the one you have loved and chased since last year?" Ryoma asked Takeshi, pointing to Kaidoh in Takeshi's photo collection of the Seigaku Tennis Club.

"HEY! Don't touch my things without my permission!" Takeshi snatched his photo album from Ryoma, cleaning the spot where Ryoma touched (basically, it's Kaidoh's face).

"Why the hell are you so uptight about it? So? He's the one?" Ryoma continued to probe into Takeshi's love life.

"Yeah so what? Who the hell told you that?"

"Almost everyone knows... Even Otousan and Okaasan has a rough idea about the both of you. We are not blind, you know. The moment Kaidoh-senpai ran out, flustered, from your room and you running out of the house without even informing us... Your actions are just too obvious, Momo-senpai."

Takeshi could not retort or scold Ryoma. He felt embarrassed as he thought that he had been acting very normal to his family, of course, except Keigo-nii who had instincts and observations sharper than anyone. Nobody could hide anything from Keigo. He buried his head in his pillow and pretended to fall asleep though in fact he was just trying not to appear blushing too severely in front of Ryoma...