Chapter 7.

Instead of the usual pebble against his window, Marui heard a knock on his door. Yawning, Marui stumbled over to his door, half-asleep. He opened it up, rubbing his eyes.

"It's raining, I let myself in," Suzuki said, twisting her hair until little drops of water came out.

"I'll meet ya down in the kitchen, Akir-aaaa," Marui said, yawning.

He closed the door in her face. She rolled her eyes, heading down the stairs to steal some fruit for her breakfast.

Marui changed into his uniform, running his fingers through his hair because he still couldn't find his comb. He grabbed his bag off his desk chair and hurried downstairs.

Suzuki was sitting at the table, slowly chewing on a bite of apple.

"One of my brothers'?" Marui asked.

Suzuki swallowed, visibly shivering. "Yes and yuck."

"They're always going to get the mushy kind; I don't get why you keep trying to eat them," Marui said, taking the apple out of her hand and tossing it in the trash. He opened up the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and a small container of lemonade. He tossed the lemonade to her.

"Not in the lemonade mood," she said as she stood up to put it back in the fridge. She moved a few things around. "No peach?"

"Too sweet," Marui said, grabbing a granola bar and shoving it into his pocket. "Come on, off to that hell hole we call school."

"I want peach juice," she said. "Can't we stop at the Corner Market? We pass right by it."

Marui sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Let's go."

.

Even with umbrellas, the two were soaked when they got to school. Suzuki tossed her now-empty can of peach juice into the trash as they headed inside. They walked over to where the other students were twirling their umbrellas dry.

"Surprised you didn't walk here in just a white shirt," a girl commented to Suzuki. "Being modest today and wearing a coat?"

Suzuki spun her umbrella in the girl's direction, droplets of water flying through the air. Suzuki just smiled, said, "Yeah, I guess so," and closed her small umbrella. When she went to get her shoes out of her cubby, she saw that the prankster had taken her shoes and put them up in the top cubby (again), which she couldn't reach.

Marui tried to ignore her struggles, not wanting to startle her and get punched, quickly getting on his shoes and putting his umbrella in his cubby.

"Marui-senpai, did you hear?"

Marui turned around, looking up at Kirihara. "Hear what? Is there another rumor about Akira besides the sex thing?"

Kirihara shrugged.

"Then what is it?"

"They canceled practices because of the rain. Buchou said he would text everyone when he got a chance. Just thought you should know."

"That's awesome. Now I have more time for homework," Marui said sarcastically. "I hate practice, but I hate it even more when we don't have it."

"I'm a border-line practice hater."

"I see," Marui said, not sure what else to say. He'd known Kirihara since junior high, but still had nothing to say to the guy for small talk. "Well," Marui said awkwardly, "I should go help Akira get her shoes down. Don't know if I'll be able to reach them, though. I hate being short."

"Try getting the 'how's the weather up there?' comments from frustrated mini-sized first years who were regulars in junior high last year," Kirihara said.

Marui made a face. That did not sound fun.

.

Class was boring, not that it was ever exciting. Suzuki doodled in the columns of her math notes, littering page upon page of notes with poorly drawn flowers and stick-figures. Niou ended up falling asleep after chemistry, drooling on his desk and making the girls around him giggle. Marui just stared out the windows, watching the rain.

When the bell rang, Niou woke up and grabbed his bag. "See you two later," Niou said.

"Where're you going?" Marui asked.

"Library."

Marui and Suzuki stared at him.

"I'm meeting Hiroshi, don't look like I just kicked you in the kidneys," Niou said. "See ya guys. Don't screw anyone, Suzuki."

She made a rude hand gesture as Niou left.

"He didn't mean it," Marui said.

She shoved her books into her bag. "Whatever."

.

Niou had only been in the library a handful of times out of his own free will. He only came willingly when his eyes caught a pretty nerd, or when he needed to talk to Yagyuu. Every other time he had been forced to. There was that time when they were first years being given a tour and Niou had stuck gum in some girl's hair. Their English class came once a month, usually to do a project.

He headed to the row of tables, having spotted Yagyuu talking to a girl. He sat across from him, his bag hitting the table with a thump. "Hey, Hiroshi."

"I'll talk to you later, Yagyuu-senpai," the girl said, standing up and leaving with a smile.

Niou stretched out his neck, waiting until the girl was out of sight to ask, "Your girlfriend?"

Yagyuu fixed glasses. "No. The president of the first year class. She wanted to talk about the winter dance."

"We're having a winter dance? They haven't said anything in the newsletters."

"Yes, there is one every year, but almost no one attends because the funds only go to one class, and it's poorly advertised. I wasn't aware there was a dance until I became president."

Niou made a noise. "It's news to me."

"Well, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"Niou-kun."

"Hiroshi."

"What are your opinions?"

"On a dance?" Niou shrugged. "If you want to do it, publicize it. Announcements, newsletters. You could have clubs create teams for a dance off, I'm sure that would attract people. Oh, and donate half the money from the tickets to a charity – it makes the student council look good – then split the rest of the money evenly between the three classes. But give a bit to whoever wins the dance off, if you do that."

"I was asking about the girl, but that works too," Yagyuu said. Niou choked on air. Yagyuu smiled. "I was joking, Niou-kun. However, truthfully, you've inherited your father's business skills."

"Yeah, whatever."

Niou rocked his chair back onto its back legs, watching Yagyuu open up a book. Niou began to hum a song, waiting for Yagyuu to finish before he bugged him. However, ten minutes of humming later, Yagyuu slammed his book shut.

"What?" Yagyuu whispered harshly.

Niou set his chair down on all fours. "My dad wants me to sit in on some meeting."

"That make sense," Yagyuu said slowly, cocking his head to the side, "seeing as how you're going to inherit the company once your father dies or retires. Are you acting stupid today? Or are you drunk again?"

"I'm not acting stupid – I could figure out that much about my own family. And I haven't had a drink since last year when I humped the piano," Niou said. "I just don't want to."

"Don't want to what? Hump another piano?"

Niou rolled his eyes. "Now look who's acting stupid. I don't want to take over the company."

"I'm aware," Yagyuu said. "You've mentioned that before. Have you thought of a reason about not wanting to take over the company, or is there some other major development in this plot that I'm not aware of?"

"You're good at psychology and crap," Niou said, leaning his chair back again. "What'll make him not want to give me the company?"

Yagyuu shook his head, opening his book again. "You're an idiot. Your father has a successful company that, once you inherit, will provide for the rest of your life expenses in two years. I can't possibly see why –"

Niou dropped his chair to its feet. "It wasn't exactly my childhood dream to take over daddy's company."

"It's not like you're inheriting a curse. You're inheriting a multi-trillion yen company, Niou-kun –"

"Stop thinking inheriting some company is wonderful, when I have no fucking say in the matter!"

Niou grabbed his bag as he stood up. He made a bee-line for the door, not even caring that he walked right through Kirihara, Tanaka and Miyagi on the way out.

"Hey, Niou-senpai!" Kirihara yelled. Niou made a rude hand gesture (the finger of the day), rushing towards the stairs, disappearing seconds later.

"What the hell was that about?" Miyagi asked.

Kirihara shrugged. "Dunno. Niou-senpai's a bit odd."

"Who cares?" Tanaka asked. "Okay, Akaya, I dare you to… walk up to that creepy looking girl with the raccoon eyeliner and act like you've been best friends for ages," she said, pointing to the girl that was coming up the stairs.

"She looks like she'll disembowel me," Kirihara said. She had a lip ring, an eyebrow ring, raccoon eyeliner, and pink stripes in her hair. He usually didn't judge people, but she was just… murder-like.

"You have to, or you have to, well, you know," she said, smiling.

It was their game, 'Boredom Dares.' If all three of them agreed they were bored and no one could think of anything to do within five minutes, they randomly asked each other dares. No truths, just dares. If they refused to do the dare, they had to walk around with a wet spot on their pants for a full school day.

Kirihara looked back at the girl, down at his crotch, at the water bottle sticking out of Miyagi's bag, and then back at his crotch.

"Well, damn," he mumbled, and headed over to the girl.

.

Kirihara was still rubbing his face where the girl had slapped him when they got to his apartment. The three immediately moved through the small kitchen-living area and into Kirihara's bedroom. Tanaka was sitting on the floor, braiding the lower half of her hair with Miyagi's head in her lap. Kirihara was on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I don't understand the problem," Kirihara sighed. "We're so awesome, but we get so damn bored."

"We're so awesome we're boring?" Miyagi suggested.

Tanaka put a ponytail around her half-braided hair as she said, "Well, figure out something, Mr. and Mr. Awesome. I'm going to the restroom to powder my nose."

"Do you even know what that means, Miho?" Miyagi asked.

She shrugged. "It's my polite way of seeing I need to pee. Now move."

She nudged Miyagi's head onto the floor, standing up to leave. Miyagi sat up before he saw up her skirt, turning to Kirihara the second she left the room.

"I broke up with my girlfriend," he said.

Kirihara raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"Don't whisper, you idiot, I told Miho already. Actually, I told her first." Miyagi shrugged. "And I like someone else."

"Who?"

Before Miyagi could answer, Tanaka was back in the room. Miyagi and Kirihara stared at her as she stood there in the doorway.

"Do you need help finding the bathroom?" Miyagi asked.

"No, I don't need help. I just remembered what it means to powder your nose. In olden times, girls used to powder their noses to keep them from shinning. We do it before plays sometimes."

"Only you would come back before you went to the bathroom to tell us that."

"I didn't want to forget!"

She closed the door again, mumbling something about being right back.

"She's insane, isn't she?" Miyagi got a stupid grin on his face as he lied down and laughed, clutching his stomach.

Kirihara stared down at Miyagi for a second before saying, "Miho? You broke up with your girlfriend because you like Miho?"

Miyagi didn't hear him over his fit of hysterical laugher.

.

After Miyagi and Tanaka had left and his parents had come home, Kirihara was sitting in his room. Bored out of his mind, he remembered something form early that day and grabbed his phone.

He typed in a number he had memorized a long time ago, and a few rings later, he heard, "Yo."

"Hey, Niou-senpai," Kirihara said.

"What's up, Akaya? Need help on math again?" Niou asked.

Kirihara shook his head even though Niou couldn't see him. "No. Just wondering why you were in such a pissy mood early."

"Oh, yeah, sorry 'bout running into you and your friends."

"You're not sorry. You aren't a sorry-type of person."

"Of course I'm not," Niou said. "I was just fighting with Hiroshi, you nosey brat. I got mad. People get mad, believe it or not."

"About what?"

Niou was silent for a second. "Dude, you're acting really gay. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just bored."

"Then call Sanada and try to make him spell I-CUP."

Niou hung up, hitting the speed dial without a moment to spare.

There was a pause, a shuffling of papers – Yagyuu had been in the middle of working out the costs of a winter dance – and then Yagyuu said, "Hello?"

"Forgot about our fight, I have a prank and I need your help. It involves pee and a cup," Niou said, adding, "And Sanada," a few seconds later.

Yagyuu sighed. "And how did you think of this genius plan?"

"I told Akaya to make Sanada spell I-CUP, and I'm glad you agree it is a genius plan."

Yagyuu sighed again. "You are a very strange person, Niou-kun."

"Eh. Strange is fun." Niou smiled. "You go back to working like a nerd, and I'll see you tomorrow at morning practice, if I'm not already running laps for putting a cup of pee in Sanada's locker – that was the prank, in case you couldn't figure that out."

"I managed to work out that much," Yagyuu said. "Good-bye, Niou-kun."

Niou hung up, dialing in Marui's number. Never before in his life did he think he would be talking to three different guys on the phone in one night – he felt like a phone sex whore (a bad one at that).

.

"Haruto! Hikaru! Give that back!" Marui yelled, jumping over the sofa in the living room of his house for his phone.

"Why? Naked pictures?" Haruto asked.

"Naked pictures of guys?" Hikaru asked, smirking as he held the phone up high in the air.

"I. Hate. Being. Short!" Marui shouted, staring at his younger step-brothers.

"Why do you want it?"

"Because it's mine!"

"That's not a good answer."

"I'm older, so I'm always right," Marui said in an end-of-story-give-me-my-phone-before-I-call-Mom tone.

Haruto and Hikaru hummed, looking at each other in thought, before turning their attention back to Marui and shaking their heads.

"Nah. I'm really interested in what's on your phone, now that you're so protective over it," Haruto said.

Marui growled, kicking Hikaru in the shin. Hikaru swore, grabbing his knee and dropping the phone in the process. With not-so-ninja-like moves, Marui fumbled with the phone, but grabbed it before Haruto could.

"Ha!" Marui shouted in victory. "Suck my dick, losers, because you suck!"

Haruto rolled his eyes. "Grow up, Bunta. It was a joke."

"Yeah, we have no intent of looking at pictures of penises," Hikaru said.

"Eh. Whatever. I still won," Marui mumbled, opening up his phone before hurrying upstairs to his room.

The second he closed his door, his phone rang.

"Thank God I got it back," he said to himself, pressing his phone between his ear and shoulder as he sat on his bed to take off his socks. "Yellow?"

"Correct, it has to do with yellow," Niou said.

Marui tossed a sock across the room, the other joining it as he said, "I feel like I missed something. I missed something, didn't I? Speaking of missing things, you missed the funniest thing."

"Don't care," Niou said. "I'm gonna pee in a cup and put it in Sanada's locker so when he opens it the pee spills all over him, that takes precedence over anything I missed."

"Akira threw a smoothie at Ito at Sweet Treats," Marui said. "Ito and Bando – that vice-captain dude or whoever – showed up at Sweet Treats, and Ito just started talking to Akira. He mentioned Yoshida, Akira flipped, and tossed her smoothie at him. I nearly pissed my pants laughing. Wait. Did you say you're going to pee in a cup? What the hell? That's disgusting!"

"It's a long story my friend, a long story that doesn't matter. Operation Yellow will commence at morning practice. Would you like to RSVP?"

"Hell to the yeah."

A/N: I finally dropped the f-bomb. To be honest, I'm surprised it took this long for that little bugger to pop up.