Gomen! I'm such a bad updater. I got a bit swamped with pollen season and being sick, joining a bowling league with my boyfriend, and family issues. But I was also lazy and had writer's block, so I'm totally at fault. I apologize if this chapter isn't as good as it could be, but I wanted to get it out so I can get back into the flow of writing and everything. So, on with the story, ne?

SPOILER ALERT: This chapter includes the results of the Ranking Tournament between members of the Seigaku tennis team.

START

"Miki, you're boyfriends are here again!"

"Urusai Kazue!"

Miki rolled her eyes playfully at her brother and snapped on her face mask, thankful again that it covered her flushed cheeks. She dashed out of her room and down the stairs, just barely managing to stop before colliding into Momo's chest.

"A-ah, Konnichi wa Momoshiro-san, Kaidoh-san," she greeted, bowing slightly. They nodded in response. She glanced at them and noticed Momo was covered in dirt and had a bruised cheek and Kaidoh's bandanna looked stained with something. "What happened to you two?"

Kaidoh glowered at her and Miki shrank away from the angry atmosphere he was emitting. She looked at Momo and noticed he wore an irked expression of his own.

"A Rikkai player came to Seigaku to spy on the team," Momo muttered. "He came to challenge Tezuka-buchou to a match and ended up causing trouble before he ran off." He rubbed his cheek and pouted at her. "He hit me in the face with a tennis ball and caused a chain reaction ending with Kaidoh splashing his drink onto himself."

She quickly ran to the kitchen and dampened a cloth for Momo to clean his face with and another for Kaidoh. "Are you two okay?"

"Fshhh."

Miki looked at him carefully. "Kaidoh-san?" His piercing eyes made her shrink away for a moment. She looked down at her hands for a moment, then raised her head. "W-would you like me to wash your bandanna for you? It would only take a few minutes...." She reached out her hand to gesture at it, also presenting him with the cloth to clean himself.

"Leave me alone!" he snapped as he knocked her hand away. With a shove he pushed Momo aside and walked right out of Miki's front door.

"Ano baka, he didn't have to yell like that," Momo mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

Miki stared blankly at the spot Kaidoh was standing just a moment before, then down at the washcloth on the floor. Her clasped hands were shaking slightly. He's never yelled at me before....What did I do wrong?

"Miki-chan? Daijoubu ka?" Momo came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned and smiled at him, hoping it reached her eyes since that was all he could see.

"Daijoubu. He just startled me is all."

"He's been in a bad mood since earlier. Some of the second-years were a little too close and he lashed out at them too."

Miki nodded in understanding. For a moment all she did was stare at the door through which Kaidoh had just left. She was aware of Momo's worried stare and sighed.

"So," she began, shifting her attention as she reached down to scoop up the fallen cloth, "are you ready for the Ranking Tournament?"

:: The Next Day ::

"Kazue, I'm dying~," Miki moaned, fanning her face. It was the day of the Ranking Tournament and she was prepared to return to school, but a sudden fever kept her in bed. "I need a fan and another blanket!"

Kazue walked by her room and rolled his eyes. Miki was hidden under three comforters and was bright red, but she was fanning her face with a giant paper fan. "You know, the point of a fever is to get your body heat up to destroy whatever is making you sick.. Fanning yourself defeats the purpose."

She pouted at him. "But I can't sleep if I'm all hot and sweaty. I'm miserable!"

"Well you better get over it. I'm sure Eiji will be over in a few hours to give you your work and talk about that tennis club. He's been over every day this week, interrupting my gaming marathon." He sighed wistfully and slowly sauntered down the hall and back to his room. "Between your whining and people coming to visit I can't get anything done!"

What a drama king. She made a face as a chill ran down her spine and snuggled deeper in her covers. Maybe if you were doing something productive I would have more sympathy. Slowly, Miki drifted into a light sleep.

A knocking woke her up about an hour later. She looked around in confusion.

"Someone's at the door! I'm about to beat this level so answer it yourself!"

"Kazue, you're so mean!"

With a huff Miki slid out of her warm cocoon and quickly wrapped up in a fuzzy robe. She snapped her mask back on her face and started to leave her room when Momo appeared in her doorway.

"GAH!" She jumped back and tumbled over her bed and onto the floor, almost crushing a napping Kumo. He hissed in protest and darted under the bed. "Momoshiro-san, how did you get in?"

"Your brother told me to come in over the intercom."

She rolled her eyes and pounded on the wall between their rooms. I hate you, Kazue. With all the dignity she had left, she stood and sat down on her bed. Momo took a seat in her computer chair and just watched her with sad eyes.

She tilted her head at his silence. "What happened?" For the first time she noticed he was in his practice clothes and not his school uniform or his Regular outfit. Realization dawned on her and he gave him a sympathetic look. "Who was in your block?"

"Inui-sempai and Tezuka-buchou. 6-2 and 6-1."

"Gomen nasai, Momoshiro-san. That's some rotten luck."

He made a disgusted face. "It's not luck. I just wasn't good enough. I wasn't strong enough." He clenched his fist in his hair and dropped his head.

Miki felt bad for him. She knew how important tennis was to him, particularly being a Regular. Slowly, she took her mask off and scooted to the edge of her bed so she could put her hands on his shoulders.

"I suppose you'll just have to train harder then, ne?" He looked up in surprise at her smiling face. She winked playfully at him. "Inui-sempai was kicked out too, and look how strong it made him. You'll be fine. Maybe you just need a few days to collect yourself."

He looked at her carefully and returned her smile. "It's nice to talk to your face instead of your mask. It's been a while."

Blood rushed to Miki's cheeks and she leaned back onto her bed to put a more comfortable distance between them. "And it's nice to see you not looking so pathetic anymore," she shot back. Her expression softened. "Daijoubu ka?

"Iie," he sighed. "But I will be."

"Good. If you need to talk again..."

Momo stood and nodded to her. "Arigatou, Miki-chan. Ano, could you not tell anyone about this?"

She smiled up at him. "Hai, Momoshiro."

He paused. "No -san?"

"No -san."

"I suppose Momo-chan would be going to far?"

She smirked and stuck out her tongue. "Ja ne, Momoshiro." He smiled at her one last time and left. Miki waited until she heard the front door close before she crawled back under her blankets with a content sigh. She was worried about him, but she knew it would be all right.

:: Three Days Later ::

The lunch room seemed oddly quiet to Miki, despite the buzzing chatter around her. It wasn't often that she would eat her lunch here instead of in her classroom, but she knew that if Momo was feeling better he would be buying armfuls of food and chatting with anyone nearby. Sadly he was nowhere to be seen.

She snuck a glance to her left and sighed quietly at her bad luck. Secretly she was also hoping she could put some distance between herself a certain Regular she felt uncomfortable around by leaving her classroom, but oddly enough he decided to purchase lunch and eat in the cafeteria as well. Kaidoh was sitting alone and didn't seem to be enjoying his food or the atmosphere. Every other bite he would hiss and he had yet to open his eyes since he sat down. Like he's imagining he isn't here.

"But what happened to Momo-chan-sempai?" one of the ichinen that was always around Echizen commented. It immediately drew in Miki's attention, and it peaked Kaidoh's interest enough to make him pause in eating.

"He hasn't come to the club for 3 days already!"

"Maybe, just like this, is he going to give up club activities?"

Miki tensed and zoned out for a moment. She heard the other two ichinen angrily yell at the other but she was secretly worried that he would make that decision. It didn't seem to be in his character, but he had been skipping a lot of important practices.

"Ichinen! Talking about such things, do you not care at all?" The tense and almost angry tone Oishi had snapped Miki out of her thoughts. I guess everyone on the team is upset about Momoshiro.

"I thought I was going to be slapped!"

"No way, Oishi-sempai is too nice to do that."

"That's right. It would be different if it was Kaidoh-sempai." The three snickered at their jokes, and Miki smiled secretly, knowing Kaidoh was right behind them.

"What about me?" he growled in a deep voice.

The ichinen quickly ran away and Miki laughed a little to herself. Her laugh drew Kaidoh's attention and their eyes met for a moment. She blushed and quickly broke eye contact, picking up her tray and dashing out of the lunch room. She was aware that not only did his eyes follow her out, but they also scanned the room as the other members of the tennis club had many times before. Momo was still gone.

All day, Miki tried to stay out of Kaidoh's way. She was afraid of setting him off again, particularly because she knew he was worried about Momo. It hurt her to be yelled at like that, more than she could admit. It had happened so many times before, and every time she had be told to leave them alone. Lost in thought, Miki subconsciously reached up and ran her finger along the pink scar hidden beneath her bang. The memories were painful.

"Miki-chan~!" Kikumaru's face popped into view and Miki realized that the school day was over. "Come on, it's time for practice!"

At least Eiji-kun is still cheerful, Miki thought, rolling her eyes. "Hai, hai." She followed her perky sempai down the stairs and out of the building to the tennis court, all the while listening without much interest to him talk about one thing or another.

All of the Regulars were already practicing, but the atmosphere was more tense than normal. Oishi in particular was pushing everyone harder than normal, though he wasn't focused at all.

"I can see Inui's wearing the Regular jersey from here! And it's so hot today!" Kikumaru called as he and Miki walked onto the court. "What? Momo didn't come today either?" Miki had begun to take her camera out, but froze at his comment. Everyone's attention except Inui's and Echizen's suddenly shifted to Kikumaru.

"Well, slacking off since he was dropped from the Regulars..." he began with an oddly cheerful attitude.

Oishi turned to him, shocked. "Eiji..."

"And I thought I could make fun of Momo wearing the normal jersey."

Something snapped in Oishi and he yelled at Kikumaru, which really did draw everyone's attention. Kikumaru started laughing, making fun of Oishi for putting his shirt on inside-out, and nobody expected what happened next. Oishi reached out and pushed Kikumaru to the ground. He apologized, but the damage was done.

"I'm not pairing up with a guy like him!" Kikumaru yelled angrily. Everyone stared in shock and tried to talk to Kikumaru, but he wouldn't listen. Only Inui seemed to be unaffected by the dissolved pairing. Miki bristled at his reaction. How can he be so nonchalant? They're best friends!

She watched sadly as Kikumaru and Oishi paired up with Echizen and Kaidoh and went against each other for the first time in a few years. After one point they were in each other's faces, yelling. It took Tezuka's authority and laps around the courts to make them quiet down. Before the real practice had even began, Miki grabbed her things and left. She couldn't stand watching them fighting. Everyone is running away from their pain. Even me.

END

Reviewer love!!

ForlornDream: Yep, Miki went to Josei Shonan for her first year. I swear I thought I mentioned it in one of the first chapters but I went back and realized I didn't. Oh well, not a big deal. Yet. Thank you for the review and I hope you keep enjoying the story!

grenouille-85: Hello! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far. I'm sorry that you don't like my use of Japanese either (I'm not trying to show off, by the way. I know I hardly know anything of the language) but again, I'm not going to change it. And I'm trying to keep Miki from becoming Mary-Sue but she does have a very specific personality that I don't want to mess up. And to be honest Kazue's name at first was Kazuo but I made a typo in the 5th chapter so I decided to just go with it. Besides, Hazue won't be in my fic so there should be no issue. I wish you luck with your own fic and thank you for reviewing!

CRdragonPyro: I don't really know that I would call Kaidoh polite per se, except to his elders, but he does have a soft spot in him. Momo doesn't even have the soft spot when it comes to manners :P Oh well, boys will be boys. Thanks for the review!!

Aasta The Evil Bunny Foo Foo: Interesting name, first off. And thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying my story and I appreciate the compliment. I hope you keep enjoying it!

MoonlightChaos: Why thank you! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it and I'll try to update more often in future. Thanks for the review!!

Until the next chapter! Almost Hyotei time!!