Shindou was usually very calm but when it came to Tsurugi, he had his trouble. The striker really tested his patience and now more than ever since it had involved one of his friends getting hurt. "Stop ignoring me and answer me Tsurugi!"

"Why? Because you're the captain?" Tsurugi coldly brushed him off. Shindou glared at him angrily but exhaled to cool his head. Maybe a different approach…?

"Listen, Tsurugi," Shindou said calmly. "We've all noticed that you've been in a bad mood lately and we want to help. Just tell us-"

"Keh," Tsurugi grunted. "It doesn't concern you."

"Yes, it does!" Shindou objected. "We're teammates!"

"And that automatically means you can meddle into my business? If I wanted any of your help, don't you think I would have told one of before?" Tsurugi told off. He knew already what the problem was and what made Tsurugi angry was that Tenma obviously was fond of his new friend and Taiyou obviously showed just how fond he was of him and it didn't look like would wane.

Shindou knew it was just Tsurugi to not tell anyone what he was distressed about. "Tsurugi-" Shindou extended to Tsurugi's shoulder when the ex-SEED waved his arms up push his hand away. "And I don't need help from a crybaby!"

That hit Shindou at his nerves and he soon scowled. The two started to argue and as the seconds passed, the argument grew more heated. Finally, Tsurugi was taken by his anger and threw a punch and soon their argument turned to an all out fist fight with a few kicks on the side. Sangoku yelled out in horror and ran back to get help, coaxing Kuramada in particular.

"Dash Train!" In the end Kuramada used his hissatsu technique to finally end to two boy's brawl.

-Hospital-

Tenma, the usually bright and optimistic boy who almost always held a smile, now held his face down with a sad expression. Today's practice ended horribly. He was a pacifist and so it saddened that two of his friends suddenly fought for almost no apparent reason. Everyone questioned Tsurugi's odd behavior but of course, the boy never answered and just left as soon as Aoi had finished fixing his injuries. Tenma sighed.

"Hey, what's with the gloomy face?" Taiyou wondered.

"Ah, Taiyou!" Tenma jumped in surprise. The boy was supposed to stay in his but often he never did. Instead he'd go out to play, surprising Tenma by suddenly popping up from here to there. "It's terrible! Today Tsurugi… and we…..then…"

"Woah." Taiyou remarked. "I wonder what's up with him. He seemed fine when we played together."

Tenma crossed his arms sadly. "I wish I knew too. He won't tell us so we are all at a lost."

"Maybe we can ask someone he's particular close to that he might tell his problems to." Taiyou suggested. Tenma began to think.

"Well, I can't think….." Then Tenma clapped his hands as an imaginary light on his head lit up with a *bing*. "Of course, Tsurugi's brother! He's a patient in this hospital!"

"Really?" Taiyou asked. He did recall seeing someone who looked a lot like Tsurugi here once or twice but he had never thought much about it. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go and talk to him!"

Tenma and Taiyou headed upstairs to room 315. Suddenly Taiyou hit his head on Tenma's back. "Wha-? Why did you suddenly stop Tenma?"

"Shh~!" Tenma whispered before pointing quietly around the corner. He could see Tsurugi buying a snack there. "There's no way Tsurugi would let us talk to his brother about his problem."

Taiyou chuckled at slapped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Who said we had to ask him together? I'll go stall grumpy Tsurugi while you go around to talk to his brother."

"Can you occupy him for that long?" Tenma wondered.

"You dare look down on my ability to distract people and waste their time?" Taiyou said comically. "Don't worry about it! You just focus on getting to his brother!"

Tenma smiled and ran back to take the other route while Taiyou went and popped up behind Tsurugi to scare him and to make sure he would really turn his full attention at him, he did it with the same bear hug often tackled Tenma with.

"Wha-?" Tsurugi hit the ground from a sudden weight hitting him from behind. "Aaah…Who-?" Taiyou waved at him from an inch away.

"Yo!" He chirped. That got his attention.

Tusurgi growled at the boy he loathed and tried to push him off but because Taiyou had tackled him from behind and had his arms wrapped around his and so he couldn't do it. "Tsk! Get-"

"So watcha doing~?" Taiyou suddenly interrupted, tightening his grip to make sure the striker couldn't escape.

"Buying a snack now get off of me!" Tsurugi snapped as he began wriggling to escape his grasp but for a sick child, he was surprisingly strong and maintained his grip.

"Really? What is it? What's it called?" Taiyou asked.

"A Hershey chocolate bar!" Tsurugi screamed, losing his patience. He began to kick to no avail.

"What kind of chocolate?" Taiyou asked.

"Dark chocolate now let go of me!" Tsurugi answered more angrily. Then an idea hit him. He pushed his hands from underneath his body to turn his body over. Taiyou was taken by surprise and yelped as he suddenly was the one at the bottom and not Tsurugi, losing his grip at the process but he wasn't done yet. As soon as Tsurugi got up, Taiyou jumped up and hugged his leg. Now Tsurugi had to lose the weight on his legs and he'd like to see him try! "Wha-! What are you doing?"

"Buy me one!" Taiyou yelled. At corner of his eye, he could see Tenma sneaking into a room. "If I buy you one will you let go of my leg?" Tsurugi asked, not noticing the brunette behind him.

"Maybe~" Taiyou answered. Tsurugi groaned and went to push a coin into the machine. A dark chocolate bar popped down. "There! Now let-"

"Eeeew! No way!" Taiyou whined" I hate dark chocolate!"

"Then what would you like then?" Tsurugi asked angrily as tried to push him off.

"Anything but dark chocolate!" Taiyou tightened his grip.

"So crackers?" Tsurugi was close to snapping.

"Hate them!" Taiyou lied. He liked the crackers but he needed to stall Tsurugi.

"Milk chocolate?" Tsurugi grumbled.

"Hate them more!" Taiyou, in fact, love them. Tenma shared a bar of milk chocolate with him everyday.

"That's it!" Tsurugi scream out. "Let go off my leg now or I will kill you!"

"You can't kill me! I'm frail and sick!" Taiyou tightened his grip. He knew Tsurugi was going to try again to get him off of him.

"Don't test my patience!" Tsurugi yelled angrily. That was when Taiyou spotted a doctor nearby. That was when he let go.

"Ooooow! Help! He's hitting a patient!" Taiyou purposely made a scene to the doctor to reprimand them. It worked!

"What are you two doing?" the doctor yelled. Tsurugi couldn't believe this was happening! "Wha-? I didn't even touch him!"

"He's lying!" Taiyou interrupted. Tsurugi glared at him.

"You grabbed my leg after tackling me from behind!" Tsurugi interjected.

"Enough!" The doctor yelled fiercely. The two paused. "You two, come with me now!"

Tsurugi sulked angrily as Taiyou followed, pretending to look sad. Tenma poked his head, from Yuuichi's room. Were they going to be alright?

….

…

The afternoon went by and about an hour later, which Taiyou felt was probably more than enough time for Tenma to get what he wanted, he finally coughed up that it was a lie. After a harsh lecture to Taiyou, he finally let the two go. Still, even though his intentions were to help a friend, he still felt bad for Tsurugi.

"Uhh, I'm sorry." Taiyou apologized but Tsurugi kept walking with his pace quickened. Taiyou sighed. "Okay, okay…here me out. First, why are you so angry?"

"What is it to you?" Tsurugi brushed off coldly. Taiyou sighed. He just didn't get it! They were having so much fun when they played. What could have made him so angry?

Taiyou began looking back on that afternoon on a hunch. There wasn't much important to remember. Tenma and him had fun. Tsurugi also seemed more out of focus during their game than on TV. Tsurugi also seemed easy to lose his temper during their game. He got angry a lot, especially when…when Tenma kept praising him or hugging him and…

Then it hit Taiyou. He looked over at Tsurugi. Now he knew why he was so cranky.

Tsurugi sensed someone staring at him from behind and turned towards Taiyou. "What is it now?" Tsurugi grumbled.

"Nothing!" Taiyou smiled. Then he saw Tenma near the corner of the hall. He had stayed outside to wait for them to see if they were alright.

"Hey you guys! What happened?" Tenma asked worriedly.

"Your friend happened." Tsurugi grumbled. Tenma looked down feeling guilty.

This was his fault. It was his idea in the first place. "S-sorry about that…"

Tsurugi mood softened as he sighed. He was about to talk to him, wanting to ease the boy's sadness when Taiyou jumped to hug Tenma again.

"Tenmaaa! I missed you!" Taiyou rubbed his cheek against Tenma's. Tsurugi frowned angrily.

"Oh, Taiyou! Nurse Fuyuka was looking for you and she's really mad!" Tenma said worriedly. Tsurugi now couldn't stand this anymore.

Tenma suddenly felt something jerk him away from Taiyou. He looked at the hand firmly on his arm and then looked back in surprise. "T-Tsurugi…?"

Taiyou smiled with a mischievous thought. He went forward and hugged Tenma softly but this time, maintained, his gaze to Tsurugi. "Man, you're acting really weird today, Tsurugi!" and pulled Tenma gently but Tsurugi tightened his grip and pulled him further away. Tenma glanced back and forth at the two, perplexed by what was happening.

"G-guys…?" Tenma asked hesitantly. Taiyou suddenly beamed him a gentle smile before suddenly jerking him hard out from Tsurugi grasp.

"Let's go to my room before it gets late!" Taiyou chirped pushed Tenma away further but he looked back at Tsurugi with a smirk. He clasped his hands over Tenma's ears so he wouldn't hear the next few words… "You are my friend after all~"

Tsurugi's eyes widened upon hearing that statement. He scowled at him angrily as the walked away.

Current Score:

Taiyou: 02

Tsurugi: 00