J is for… Jalapeño- a hot green or orange-red pepper used especially in Mexican cooking.

"I dare you to do it."

"No, I double dog dare you to do it."

The Monk frowned, and scrunched his eyebrows together as he studied the young college student in front of him.

"That's so childish Yasu." Silence fell between them, none of their eyes moved away from each other. "I triple dog dare you." Monk said quickly.

"That's very childish Monk." Said teen teased back at the older man.

Monk let out a short sigh and ran fingers through his hair.

"You couldn't handle it anyways. That's too bad." Monk teased back equally.

"I don't think you'd have a problem handling it Monk. After all, the older you get, the more dead taste buds you'd have. You wouldn't taste it at all, I'm sure."

"What was that?"

Monk tried to laugh it off, but his voice held the threat in it still. Yasu threw his hands up in the air. His glasses gleamed, hiding the not-so-innocent eyes.

"Nothing, nothing. I just think you'd be the better choice to eat it, that's all."

"No, I'm not as young as I used to be. I thought all youngsters were brave and rebellious."

They fell silent again as they watched the foreign object on the coffee table.

"Well, what are we going to do with it?" Monk asked as he poked it with a chop stick.

Yasu frowned and propped his elbows on his knees to hold his head up as he thought.

"We could toss it out."

"No!" Mai gasped from behind her computer.

"What's wrong?" Monk asked, a little worried.

Her eyes grew wide and a pool of tears gathered at the bottom, threatening to rain down. She snuffled slightly and rubbed her nose.

"I…I-I lost m-my ga-game!" She wailed and threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "I worked so hard on it too!"

Both of the men bit back a chuckle and turned to Mai to offer words of encouragement.

"It's okay Mai, I'm sure you'll do fine the next time around." Monk cheered.

"What game were you playing?"

"Castle Defense." She mumbled from the crook of her arm. "And I was almost done with it too."

"Ah, that game is always so addicting! I love it." Yasu informed them.

"Well I hate it." She looked up at the two in the middle of the room and frowned. "What is that?" She pointed at the green produce on the coffee table.

"That," Yasu started off cheerfully, again. "Is a Jalapeño."

Mai's eyebrows scrunched together as she studied the two of them, slightly confused. The foreign word made her frown as she tried to pronounce it slowly.

"I'm sorry, but what is that?"

Yasu cocked an eyebrow and shared a look with Monk before a fake smile slowly played across his face.

"Well, Mai that is a Jalapeño- Mexico's best sweet tasting fruit of all time."

She raised an eyebrow as she started to wander over to the couches to join them. Yasu pushed his glasses up on his nose and hid behind the glare again.

"I-I didn't know Mexico grew any fruit, and I've never heard of the Jalapeño before."

"Ah!" Monk and Mai jumped at the loud shout from the teen. "That is because it's rare. Only the rich in Mexico dine on this delectable fruit."

Folding her arms across her chest, Mai plopped down next to Monk on the couch and across from Yasu. Monk instantly hid his smile behind his hand and let out a fake cough. Mai looked at Monk, then back to Yasu.

"Delectable eh?"

Yasu nodded his head.

"Yes. Why, they even celebrate it! I'll show you!"

And like that, Yasu was up out of his seat, the dangerous pepper in his hand, and he rushed over to Mai's computer. Mai turned in her seat, and then watched as Yasu typed with great speed on the key board. With a satisfied smirk, the printer came to life, and spat out a piece of paper that was decorated with a lot of bright colors. He jumped out of the chair and snatched the piece of paper before it fell to the ground. He waited by the printer as it spat out another sheet with a picture of a Jalapeño in the middle of it and big bright words dancing around the 'fruit'.

"See?" He asked as he rushed back over to Mai with a flyer for some sort of festival.

She accepted the paper and frowned deeply.

"It's in a different language." She muttered.

Yasu snatched it up and looked.

"Ah! It's in Spanish. It says: Festival of the Jalapeños. See, they celebrate it!" He said enthusiastically as he gave the paper back to Mai. "And look!" He held up another piece of paper. There was a picture of a Jalapeño in the process of being cut. "It's a recipe for Jalapeño cake!"

Mai looked at the recipe and another frown crossed her face.

"It's in English Yasu, and I don't read English."

Yasu made a small frown and took the paper away from her.

"Well that's a shame; I was hoping you could make us a cake. But you would need more than one Jalapeño for this job anyways."

"So what are you going to do with one Jalapeño to yourselves? Are you going to eat it?" Mai asked a little too hopefully for any sane person's taste.

"Well I was." Yasu sighed and put caught his chine with his hand. He then focused on studying her while Monk scooted away from her. "But if it's your first time having one, I couldn't be so selfish. How about you eat it?"

Mai put her finger up to her mouth as her brown eyes clouded with the thought of eating something as delectable as what Yasuhara just described to her.

"Wow. That's so thoughtful Yasu! But I can't really eat ALL of that by myself, can I?" She pointed to the Jalapeño.

Her eyes told another story. They were so wide, so…innocent. Yasu almost backed out of the silent bet, but decided to pursue it.

"Mai, you can have as much of it as you want. I'm sure Monk will be happy to share with you. Won't you dear Taki-chan?"

Monk's face instantly dropped and he silently cursed the teen.

"No, thank you Yasu, I don't need anything sweet today. I'm trying to drop a few pounds."

"Ah! Taki-chan, did you not hear me? It's a fruit and if I can recall correctly, fruit is wonderful for old men!"

"But don't you know that old men generally have false teeth and have to have everything turned into juice?"

Mai felt a frown grow on her face again.

"Well, Yasu, why don't I share it with you?"

Yasu shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I've already had one today. Besides, I have a date tonight and I'm taking her to our spot. They serve big servings of food, and I want to make sure I have enough room for our special evening."

Mai huffed and crossed her arms.

"Then I guess I'll have to eat it by myself. Do we have something used to cut this up? I don't wanna eat it whole like this."

"Here!"

Yasu ran to the kitchen, and returned with a knife and a plate; he started to cut the Jalapeño into tiny pieces for Mai. She watched curiously and frowned at all the little seeds that started showing up.

"Am I supposed to eat those too?"

"No, you can pick them off." Monk answered for Yasu. "They're just seeds."

"Oh."

Yasu finished mincing the 'fruit' and held the plate out to Mai. She studied the plate carefully before choosing a big piece.

"So it's okay if I start big then?" She asked curiously as she held the piece up and studied it carefully.

"Yeah. In fact, the bigger the bet-" Yasu stopped shot as Mai shoved the piece of the Jalapeño into his open mouth.

"Do not underestimate me Yasu." She spoke lowly and threateningly. "I can read English. And I know what a Jalapeño is. You just pronounced it weird. Do not take advantage of me again sir." She smiled a cheerful smile, and left the two on the couch.

Monk turned to Yasu, whose face was as white as a sheet. Monk could have sworn that there were tears running down his face.

"You okay kid?" Monk chuckled and slapped Yasu's back.

Yasu coughed out, and finally reacted to the hot Jalapeño. Monk's laugh grew as he watched the teen run into the kitchen looking for milk.

"Lesson learned." Naru muttered from the hallway. "Never mess with Mai." He jotted the memo down in his notebook and shut it before returning to the sanctuary of his office."

A/N: Wow. I kept getting a TON of J's! But as I was listening to a German Band Rammstein) sing a song in Spanish, I couldn't help but think of my story. And then it came to me. Weird huh? Because the song is NOT about Jalapeños AT ALL. Quiet the different story, but anyways! This was a fun one! But then again, I struggled between making Mai be a complete idiot and falling for it all, or being quick and clever. But you guys certainly see which path I chose! :D Anyways, I'm in need of some lovings, so please review? I love your feedback. Oh and K? I don't know what it's going to be, but I'll make it fun! Okay? Until we meet again dears!

Love,

Jazzy