Standard Disclaimer applies.

RD: It's Not Your Bench

I sit back and watch him chat with that bouncy fanboy of his. You know . . . The narcoleptic one. They look like they're having a pretty meaningful conversation – though I have a feeling Marui-senpai just found a way to get cake without having to pay for it.

I sigh.

Seconds later, the 'Gekokujou' dude abandons the Seigaku shorty and sits next to me. I look at him curiously. "Need something?"

"It's not your bench," he answers with a shrug.

I suppose what he said was true, considering we were only visiting Hyotei upon fukubuchou's request. But we shouldn't even be here, really. If fukubuchou just wanted to see – and flirt with, if you can even call it that – the Seigaku captain, couldn't he do that in his free time? Like, say . . . without tugging the rest of the team along? "Whatever."

We just sit there for a while, and I'm kind of thankful that the bench is somewhat hidden from fukubuchou's view. That way, I can relax until someone points out that I'm gone or until he misses me . . . which, I hope, he never does. That'd just be creepy.

"Kirihara, right?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Hiyoshi," he says in a very un-Hyotei-like way. I expected him to rant angrily about how I don't know his name – I guess I misunderstood him. "So is that guy," he gestures to Marui-senpai, "your boyfriend? Oshitari-senpai said something like that when Jirou-senpai went on and on about how, 'Sugeeee!' this Marui person is."

"Oh, uh, yeah. He is . . . I mean, he is my boyfriend, not that he's 'Sugeeee!' or whatever." I cast a glance at him and ask, "Why'd you ask?"

Again, he shrugs.

"Ah."

"So . . . do you ever get jealous when he . . . hangs out with someone else?"

"Well, he goes out a lot with Niou-senpai and Jackal-senpai if that counts?"

Hiyoshi shakes his head. "No, I mean like with . . . Jirou-senpai, for example," he suggested. "Or anyone outside your team and his family."

I consider it before giving a sober negative. "'Sides, your senpai's a fanboy."

"I guess. So you really don't get jealous?"

"No, unless I should be." I smirk playfully. "Looking for relationship advice, Gekokujou-boy?"

His cheeks turn a little pink and he glares like I just offended him. "No!"

I grin to show him just how convinced I am. "Sure, dude . . . So who's the special little person who owns your stone-like heart?"

". . . My heart is not stone-like!"

"And that's the only thing you're denying?"

". . ."

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have some candy in your pockets, would you?"

He reluctantly hands one over.

"Thanks, dude." I pop it in mouth and lean back, waving my hand around aimlessly. "For this, I promise to answer any more of your relationship-oriented questions without the added value of teasing. Young grasshopper," I add just for fun.

Hiyoshi raises an eyebrow before turning his gaze back to Marui-senpai and his fanboy. "I used to think you were the jealous type," he admits after a while. "You're full of surprises, Kirihara."

"Makes me special, doesn't it?"

"And for all of his self-confidence and proclamations of how he's such a genius, that Marui guy's really an insecure person."

I blink. ". . . What?" My eyes instantly seek out Marui-senpai who, I find, is currently shooting metaphorical laser beams at Hiyoshi with his eyes. "Oh."

"We should get back to practice before things get awkward."

"Yeah. Good luck with your love life."

". . ."