Rating: PG-13

Focus: Q & A

"Who would like to go first?"

Eiji's hand was the first to shoot up, but then he retracted it almost a second later. With a curious smile Fuji cocked his head to one side and asked, "Did you want to go first, Eiji?"

The other boy chewed on one of his fingers in an expression of uncertainty. "Eiji, go," Oishi urged while giving his partner a slight nudge.

"I changed my mind. Oishi, you go first."

"Eh? Why do I have to go first? Why'd you change your mind? I thought you were dying to ask your question."

"But I only get one! What if one of you were planning on asking the same thing? Then I would've wasted mine."

His tennis partner's face scrunched up in disbelief. "Hah? Why is it a waste? If you asked what someone was planning to ask, then they could ask something else. The information is still valid."

"Or what if, what if I end up thinking of something better after hearing someone else's question?"

"Eiji, you're being ridiculous."

"I don't care! I don't wanna be first and that's the end of that!"

Oishi rolled his eyes in exasperation and turned to the others to say, "Alright, then who's next?"

The Regulars simply looked at one another, all of them reluctant to go first. "Fuji, what about you?" Eiji suggested.

"Mmm, I'd rather be the last, if you guys don't mind."

"How 'bout you, Momo?"

The second year jerked in surprise. "Me? No, I don't wanna go first either!"

"If senpai-tachi can't think of anything to ask, can I go home then?" Echizen intoned.

Almost all of his teammates answered firmly in the negative. Finally Inui recommended, "Why don't we just go around the table, starting with Kaidoh?"

"Why me? Why can't we start with that guy?" he asked while nodding in the direction of Momo, who immediately sat up and shot back angrily, "Didn't you hear what I just said, viper? Are you deaf or something?"

"You piece of—"

"Ah, why don't we decide which side to start from by flipping a coin?" Inui interjected smartly as he reached into his pocket for one. He spun the yen on the table and then placed his hand over it. "One of you choose, top or bottom."

"Top!" Both second years replied at the same time. They glared at each other maliciously and then paused and shouted, "Top!" again.

Seething with irritation, Momo claimed, "You damned viper, I called top first!"

"Fucking idiot, I've always called top!" was the other boy's equally livid reply.

"Bullshit! Since when? I'm the one who's always called top!"

"I'm top!"

"I am!"

"I AM!"

"I—" They suddenly stopped at the sound of Echizen's laughter. Directing their furious gaze at the freshman, both of them demanded simultaneously, "What's so damned funny?"

"You two sound like a quarreling couple," the younger boy replied in between chuckles.

"What?-!" The two second year had identical looks of incredulity.

"They sort of do, don't they," Fuji agreed with a mischievous smile.

"Like two sides of the same coin."

"Ying and yang. Opposite sides fitting perfectly together."

Faces twisted in disgust, they transferred their stares back and forth between Echizen and Fuji, to finally each other; as soon as their eyes met, they jerked back violently and then looked to the side in sulking silence, their cheeks coloring from both embarrassment and the remnants of their aborted rage. "That's…gross, Fuji-senpai," Momo muttered sickly.

Oishi sighed. "At least that shut them up."

"Oishi, why don't you call it for them," Inui said, "If you guess right, we'll start on my side."

"Sounds good. I call bottom."

When Inui lifted his hand, the face of the coin was showing. "You lose, Oishi, so I guess we start with Kaidoh," Inui announced.

Visibly annoyed by the unfavorable results, Kaidoh scowled. Like the others, he had hoped to be the last, or second to last, to ask a question. However, he wasn't about to argue with his senpai, so after directing a dirty look at his rival, who was presently grinning with smug satisfaction, he practically growled at Echizen, "Who's the one in charge in the relationship?"

"I don't understand your question. What do you mean by 'in charge'? In charge of what? Do you mean who decides where to eat? Where we go? What we do? You have to clarify, Kaidoh-senpai."

Kaidoh blinked in surprise; he thought the question was pretty straight-forward, so now faced with the demand for an explanation, he had difficulty coming up with one. "Uh…I mean…." he trailed off wordlessly.

"Do you mean it in the abstract, Kaidoh?" Kawamura suggested from beside him.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, do you mean who's in charge as in who decides the direction of the relationship?"

With an insufferable sigh, Momo said, "What he means is who is the boss in the relationship. You or the captain. Right, viper?"

Though Kaidoh reacted with a glare at that, he nevertheless nodded in acquiescence. Echizen thought about it for a moment and then answered, "It depends."

"What? That's not an answer," Kaidoh complained grouchily.

"It's the truth. It depends on what's going on at the time. I'm not even sure if 'boss' is the appropriate term to use. That's why I told you to be more clear."

"How is 'who's the boss' not clear enough?"

"Because that could imply either commanding, bullying, or decision-making and that's why I say it depends on the situation."

"Surely, one of you is more dominant than the other? Especially in terms of directing the course of the relationship?" Inui suggested.

"Is that your question, Inui-senpai?"

Startled Inui replied, "Uh, no."

"You're just being difficult, Echizen!" Momo cried all of a sudden. "Are you just trying to side-track the question?"

"Why would I do that?"

"So you won't have to answer!"

"If I didn't want to answer, Momo-senpai, I wouldn't have agreed to this to begin with, now would I?"

"Then answer it with a real answer!"

"I did," Echizen said, pronouncing each word slowly. "I told you. It depends."

"Kaidoh, I'm afraid you'll have to accept that answer for what it is," Fuji said. "It might be that Echizen really cannot answer it any other way, unless we ask more follow-up questions."

"Somehow I feel cheated," Momo grumbled under his breath.

Echizen smirked. "You could ask a follow-up question on his behalf, Momo-senpai."

"Hell no, why should I waste my question for his sake?"

"No one asked for your help," was Kaidoh's retort. Instead of reacting to the bait, however, Momo decided to let it slide this time, not wanting Echizen or Fuji to make anymore weird jokes at their expense. He said instead, "Kawamura-senpai, it's your turn."

"Oh! Uhn…." The usually shy senior twitched in consternation at being thrust into the spotlight. It wasn't so much that he was intimidated by Echizen, even though he usually abhorred asking questions of such a decidedly personal nature, but rather, he was more discomforted by the fact that the subject matter dealt with Tezuka, whom he held in high regard. Therefore, he decided to ask the tamest question he could think of, "When did you…you and Tezuka, nnnh, start…dating?"

"It depends," was Echizen's reply.

"This is pointless!" Momo exclaimed. "Is that gonna be your answer to every question? I mean, then why should we even bother asking?"

"Why're you getting so worked up for, Momo-senpai?"

"Because you're just screwing around with us!"

In a calm voice, Fuji prompted, "An elaboration would be nice, Echizen."

"Well, I don't think we've ever gone on an official 'first date', as implied by your question, where we specifically recognized it as such, though we have gone out together. But if you mean when did we start spending time alone together…."

"That one," Kawamura responded eagerly. "That-that's what I mean."

"Oh, then it would be sometime right after the Yamabuki match."

Momoshiro sat up, excited. "Ah-ha! I knew it! It's when you stopped walking home with me, isn't it?"

"I guess. If you already knew, why did you ask me?"

"Ah, gomen, everyone, I should've asked something else," Kawamura said regretfully while scratching his head.

"It's not your fault, Kawamura-senpai. I didn't even really think about it until now."

"But that means you didn't learn anything new," the senior said.

"Ah, it's—it's still a good question," Momo reasoned.

Eiji patted his teammate on his back in a placating gesture. "That's right, Taka-san, don't mind don't mind! I'll make up for it with my question. And we still have the three spare questions, remember?"

"Alright, Eiji, it's your turn. Go." This from Oishi.

"I kinda still want to be last…oh okay, Yosh! Echizen!" He called out in a booming voice while pointing at the freshman. "Have you and Tezuka done the French-kissing thing yet?"

"Keep your voice done, Eiji!" Oishi instantly admonished him. "We're in a public place, you know."

Sure enough, several passing customers of the restaurant, some of them students their age and even younger, had stopped to look their way curiously. Eiji immediately ducked his head in chagrin and covered his mouth. Giggling, he apologized with, "Oops, forgot about that."

"Why are you asking that anyway?" the vice captain currently asked in a disgruntled tone, "You don't even know what that is."

"Hmmph! I found out. No thanks to you."

Oishi was startled by that. "How?"

With a self-satisfied look, Kikumaru answered haughtily, "Fuji showed me."

"Fuji showed you?" Oishi fixed his penetrating gaze on the person in question. "You showed him, Fuji?"

Fuji held his hands up in mollification. "It's not what you think, Oishi, I merely demonstrated with my hand."

"Oh." Oishi blinked and slumped back in his seat, his indignation seeping out of him right away. He then frowned in puzzlement and asked, "How'd you do that?"

"I'll show you." Fuji held up his hand, his fingers forming a tunnel. He then bent forward with his tongue extended and aimed for the aperture. Kaidoh, Momo, and Kawamura were watching him with their eyes agog. Inui had gone still while Echizen just looked on with an amused expression. Before his tongue could make contact with the hole made by his digits, however, Oishi immediately knocked Fuji's hand away and yelped, "I get it, I get it!"

"Not bad, Fuji-senpai," Echizen remarked.

"Thank you."

Eiji pursed his lips wryly. "See Oishi, it's no big deal. I still don't understand why you freaked out the other day. You could've just shown me like that."

"I…didn't think of that," his friend muttered gruffly.

Turning back to Echizen, Eiji pressed, "So, Ochibi, have you, have you? Have you two done that?"

The freshman shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah."

"Whoa! That's so naughty!" Eiji began chortling in glee. "That's so grown up of you, Ochibi!"

"It didn't look like you were doing that when you were kissing at the park," Inui observed.

The younger boy shot him a sour look, still displeased that he had been spied on. "We didn't do that at the park."

"I see." Inui pulled out his notebook and started making notes.

"Inui-senpai, how will this information be useful to you at all on the court?" Echizen inquired while eyeing his notebook with distaste.

"All pieces of information may some day be useful in defeating my opponent. I have long since learned to not underestimate even one morsel, no matter how seemingly insignificant."

"I don't know if I like the fact that you're taking notes on my personal life."

"You can rest assured that I have no intention of using it in a malicious way."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I just don't like it," Echizen groused.

"Don't forget, Inui-senpai, Echizen hates data tennis," Momoshiro said with a big smile, "Seeing you do that probably reminds him of it."

"Ah, then, would it make you feel better if I reserve from note-taking in your presence?" Inui offered.

"I guess that's better than nothing," was the reluctant response.

"So where did you guys do that at?" Kikumaru inquired presently.

"That's another question, Eiji-senpai," Echizen cautioned him.

"Eh?-! Aw, darn!"

"I think we should allow that," Fuji suggested. "It's just as good a question as any. What do you guys think?"

The other five Seigaku Regulars looked at each other expectantly before nodding their agreement. "In his room," came the response.

"You made out in the captain's bedroom?-!" Momo vociferated in disbelief.

"Yeah. So?"

"That's…that's so…!" The second year sputtered.

"Inappropriate," Kaidoh breathed. His eyeballs were protruding dangerously from his face.

Echizen came back with, "Why?"

Kaidoh opened his mouth but nothing came out. While he was struggling for a proper reply to that, Eiji piped up with, "It's downright scandalous, Ochibi! You guys doing that in closed-quarters! Don't tell me you did it on his bed too! Oh! What else do you do in there?"

"Is that another question?"

Oishi instantly jumped in with, "Ah, no, that's not, because I do not want to know."

"You're such a prude, Oishi. Fuji, what do you think?"

Before the other boy could answer, Kawamura added, "I don't think we should be asking something like either. Guys, don't forget, we're talking about Tezuka as well."

Kaidoh nodded. "Exactly, I don't want to know that stuff about the captain."

"Sheesh, you guys are no fun." Kikumaru scoffed. He then paused and eyed them suspiciously. "Wait a minute, why are you guys so worried? What are you thinking about?" He concentrated his attention on Oishi especially. His doubles partner reacted by drawing back with a wide-eyed look. "Why are you looking at me like that, Eiji?" he asked with a tinge of nervousness.

"You're thinking ecchi thoughts, aren't you, Oishi?"

"No!" was the vehement response. "Absolutely not! I'm just…it's behind closed doors, Eiji. We should at least show them some degree of respect by not prying there."

Kikumaru snorted. "Then that takes half the fun out of it! What else would we ask? What were you planning to ask?"

"I…" Oishi hesitated. He glanced over at Echizen, who returned his look openly, and then, with his head down, mumbled, "I was just going to ask if they're serious about each other."

Echizen cocked his head to one side and asked in return, "How do you mean 'serious', Oishi-senpai?"

"Well, do you…like Tezuka? Are you…in love with him?"

Completely caught off guard, a blank expression came over the younger boy's face. "Ochibi?" Eiji prompted.

Echizen barely heard him. He had never really considered in basic terms how he felt about Tezuka; every interaction he had with the young captain stemmed from impulse, more or less. He never stopped to ponder the significance of his actions and if they were a result of a deeper truth. All along he had merely acted out of instinct and curiosity. He knew he enjoyed Tezuka's company and presence and a lot of other things about him, but as for what that enjoyment, or rather, that appreciation signified, he never even spared a moment's thought in that regard. Not only did he never think about it, he never even wondered.

Huh. Funny, Ryoma thought absently. Outwardly, he answered with, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Momo said. "How's that possible? Shouldn't you know if you like a person before you date them?"

"Is that a rule?" was Echizen's response, the earnesty of which was apparent. Unfortunately, Momo failed to realize that he was being serious. "It'd be a damned good idea," was the older boy's sarcastic reply. Both Inui and Fuji did sense the sincerity behind the question, however, but both of them chose to refrain from commenting on it, for different reasons. They simply filed it away in the recesses of their mind with the intention to analyze it later using their own separate means.

Presently, Fuji spoke up in aid of the freshman. "Perhaps it's too soon for Echizen to answer a question like that, Oishi," he suggested quietly.

Bewildered, Oishi blinked and said, "Oh. Sorry."

"Can we pretend he didn't ask that question then?" Eiji questioned hopefully.

Echizen replied with a wry look, "No. A question is a question."

The senior pouted. "Geez." His face lite up in the next instant as he said, "Fuji! It's your turn!" He was confident that of all people, his friend would be the one to come up with the most intriguing question.

He was not disappointed.

"Echizen, was the reason why you were grounded because you came home too late from Tezuka's house last night?"

Beaming, Eiji whooped in triumph. "I knew you were gonna ask a cool question, Fuji!" he exclaimed.

Echizen narrowed his eyes shrewdly at the tensai. He was rather impressed. "That's a very good guess, Fuji-senpai."

Fuji's eyes were wide open and alert. "Thank you. I take it then the answer is yes?"

The other boy nodded.

"How late did you get home?" Oishi asked curiously.

"What were you doing at the captain's house so late?" This from Momo.

"That's two questions there, senpais."

Inui interceded by raising one finger to get his attention. "I'll take Momo's question as mine then."

A shred of realization began to dawn on Oishi. "Wait a minute, you two…." He began but was interrupted by Eiji's hand against his mouth. "Answer the question, Ochibi," Eiji commanded. His doubles partner tried to struggle from his grasp in vain.

With an almost evil grin, Echizen answered unabashedly, "We were having sex."

"You…you had…sex?-!" Momo stammered.

"Hey, I thought we weren't going to talk about stuff like that!" Kawamura complained.

Oishi was finally able to get out of Eiji's grasp, as the other boy was too busy staring at Echizen. He was frozen in shock, with his eyes the size of saucers and his mouth agape. When he had asked the question about what they did in Tezuka's bedroom earlier, he had not been expecting this type of answer at all. In his rather pure mind, he was thinking only in terms of very innocent, playful interactions, such as petting, more kissing, and at most some necking. Never would he have thought that Echizen and Tezuka would have gone all the way. His mind could barely even handle the idea.

The same went for Kaidoh and Momo, who had the same shell-shocked expressions on their faces. The three of them looked almost comical, like owner-less ventriloquist dummies left in their lifeless state. "That was not your first time, I take it." This from Fuji.

"That's not a question," Echizen pointed out.

"How…how many times," Momo managed to get out, his face still in that inanimate condition.

"I don't know, I haven't counted. Quite a few, I guess."

"Can I take a spare question?" Inui asked. When no one protested, as they were too preoccupied with their emotions, he went on to say, "How was it?"

"Inui!" Oishi groaned. He was blushing. "Didn't I say I didn't want to hear about this stuff?"

Kawamura's face was reddening as well. "We still have to face Tezuka tomorrow, you guys!"

Fuji raised an eyebrow. "Actually, maybe sooner. Hello, Tezuka."

On hearing the greeting, everybody's head shot up to find their esteemed captain standing before them, a decidedly displeased expression on his already stern face.

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Author's Note: Hee hee, I'm being cruel again! I know! It's Fuji, I tell ya, his sadistic tendencies rubbed off on me! I can't help it, I just ended up having too much fun with this so I figured, why hold back, why not drag it on for a little more, prolong the torture, right? It just got longer the more I edited! I was going to finish this part in one chapter here, but then I got another idea. As a result, the next part will require more writing rather than just editing, but rest assured, it will be posted very soon.