Chapter 16- THE CHEESE.
By Teresa

Eiji was chattering brightly in class as they waited for the teacher to come in and start the class. School was almost coming to an end, and Ryuzaki-sensei had dropped a few hints about a huge buffet with all-you-can cheese, hosted by none other than the great Atobes. It went without saying that the regulars were excited about this, of course. Eiji's current topic was his said excitement. "I wonder what new kinds will be there, nya?" he asked excitedly, his indigo eyes glowing.

Fuji offered a soft smile. "There'll surely be the best cheese you could find in all of Japan, ne?" he answered with a question of his own. "Maa… I've always wanted to try out that wasabi cheese I found on some American site called eBay!" He let out a happy sigh, and planted his chin in his hands. These past few days Fuji had seemed happy enough, although underneath his content façade he was a churning, scheming mess. Oh… Oshitari was going to pay for kidnapping his beloved sharp cheddar cheese, that fateful day at the restaurant. He would make sure of it. Eiji laughed at his friend's comment and would have said something else, except the door to the classroom flew open. Thinking that it was the teacher, the two boys instantly sat up straight in their seats until they realized that it was simply Miho who had popped into their classroom.

Eiji already bright expression brightened up some more. "Hoi, hoi, Miho-chan!" he called happily, waving to the girl. "Could you maybe possibly be carrying any cheese on you, nya?" he asked cheerfully, bouncing up to the doorway. Fuji followed at a slower pace.

Miho glanced around the classroom with a worried expression on her face. She didn't even answer the question, which uncharacteristic of her; EVERYONE knew how much the Oshitari's grabbed every chance offered to obsess about cheese. Perhaps they were the ones who influenced Atobe to suggest a cheese-celebration in the first place. Anyway: "Have you two seen Asa-chan?" she asked. "I've been trying to find her for a while now… did you walk with her today, Fuji-kun?"

"Ah… I did… wait a minute; did you use 'kun'?" Fuji looked curiously at Miho's face, but the girl was already storming out of the classroom and into the hall, muttering darkly under her breath. Fuji and Eiji exchanged amused glances as Miho stomped down the halls, saying things like 'that idiot!' and 'honestly, I know the cafeteria just a got a new shipment of cheese, but REALLY Asa!' Fuji chuckled lightly as the two boys walked down the hallways. "Her cheese must have been moldy this morning," he said lightly. Eiji nodded enthusiastically in agreement. EVERYONE knew of the Oshitari's' tradition of eating Garlic and Herb Cheese™ from The Laughing Cow®. It was their favorite.

By now they had made it to the bottom of the stairs that led to the door to the roof. A trio of freshmen girls was clustered at the base of the stairs, whispering nervously among themselves. Miho gave them a curious glance, and Fuji stepped forward. "What are you standing here for?" he asked kindly. "Classes start soon, ne?"

They glanced up from their whispers. "Ah… senpai-tachi!" one of them exclaimed. "It probably doesn't mean much to senpai-tachi… but one of our friends stormed up to the roof recently. She was threatening some things, and we were worried and were currently wondering how we should all get her back to class."

Flashback:

"IF YOU DARE TOUCH MY CHEESE AGAIN I SWEAR I WILL GET YOU!!!"

"But…we never touched your cheese!"

"DON'T YOU DARE 'BUT' ME!!! I KNOW SOMEONE WENT THROUGH MY BAG! MY BLUE CHEESE IS MINE, MINE!!! MINE YOU HEAR ME?!?!?!?!"

End Flashback

"Oh…" Miho muttered. "Did anyone else come along?"

The freshman nodded. "Hai. Another senpai…she was mumbling something about blue cheese too…"

Eiji nudged his friends. "It might be Aa-chan, nya!" he hissed, looking excited again. The words had scarcely left his mouth before they realized that Miho was already bounding up the stairs. "Miho-chan!" they called after her as she reached up for the handle.

Miho yanked on the piece of metal with a vengeance, and the door swung outwards with a bang. Cold rain, aided by a strong wind, lashed at her face as she did so.

"Aa-chan…?"

***

Asa's favorite place in the whole area that Seishen Academy was located on was the roof. On sunny days it was the best place to sit and relax with her cheese and a book (preferably not Chemistry or anything else academically related), as it was easily one of the warmest and peaceful places on the whole complex. This morning, however, it wasn't sunny and it definitely wasn't peaceful.

It looks like I stumbled on a freshman, she noted as she shut the door behind her, narrowing her eyes slightly as the wind lashed droplets of water into them. And in the middle of a rant of some sort, no less… The freshman had whirled around to glare at her upon her entrance onto the roof, and although she couldn't quite tell which were tears and which were rain drops, somehow she just got the feeling that her underclassman was crying.

"Gomen… did I disturb you?" she asked sweetly. The wind tore hungrily at her words as they left her mouth, and she reached up with one hand in a vain attempt to still her bangs, as they were flying into her eyes and when coupled with the rain, it was rather annoying.

Not to mention somewhat itchy…

"Eh… iie, senpai. I was just…" The other girl looked flustered, and glanced at her shoes. Asa wondered how long she had been out here; it was easily seen that she was soaked to the skin.

"You and I aren't much different, then, are we, if we both choose this place when there is such weather outside, ne? Perhaps you even like cheese too?" she asked, crossing from the doorway to the mesh fence. She leaned against it, feeling the cold metal against her hand and watching the raindrops form rivers of water on her arm. "If you wanted to get something off your chest, then by all means, don't let me interrupt you," she offered, turning and giving the younger girl a smile. Her fingers laced into the openings of the fence as she relaxed her body against the support.

"But of course I like cheese, everyone does! That's not the problem!"

Asa sighed, giving a little tip of her head to the side. "Maa… Well, I should have known. But back at my old town I was the only one. I felt very out of place," she said with mock dejection.

The other girl looked surprised at her statement, and so could only say dumbly, "Excuse me, Senpai…?"

"Yeah, it's true…can you believe it? But anyway, enough about me. What were you yelling about?"

The younger girl was taken aback by her bluntness, and so took her time answering. "Well…" she muttered, before taking a big breath. "It's stupid. I don't even know why it bothers me so much," She shivered, and Asa had a feeling it wasn't from the cold. "You see, when I was really little, my mother died. I was, oh, five years old? And the last thing she ever gave me was a piece of blue cheese. When she left, I held onto that cheese like a lifeline. And ever since then, I ALWAYS pack that same kind of blue cheese in my lunch, when I get ready in the morning. Same brand, same size, everything. And…well… I…three days ago, I went to the convenience store down the street to restock, because my supply running low, and…the lady said that they weren't shipping it in anymore!!! Today would be my last day that I got pack the cheese, because I only had one piece left. But when I went to lunch, part of it was dented! I KNOW it was perfect when I packed it in the morning, and I'm always so careful with it…I was just so sad! And…I…I completely lost my cool with my friends, because I thought that they'd been the ones to ruin it…" She trailed off, and glanced up tentatively at the older girl. "And Senpai?" she ventured hesitantly "What were you up here for?"

Asa leaned comfortably against the fencing, closing her eyes as she did so. "Actually ," she said breezily, "That was my fault. I'm sorry."

The freshman looked very confused. "You, Senpai?" she asked questioningly.

She rubbed the back of her head with a hand and frowned slightly, opening her eyes. "I was putting my bags away in the storage room…" She sighed, turning her head so that her other cheek could feel the rain against it. "I saw cheese there; but of course I did, you put it in a flashy gold box, how could anyone miss it? I was curiously, so I opened the box and found your cheese…oh, I'm so sorry, but…it was just so PRETTY! I couldn't resist…"

She sighed again and gave a faint grumble under her breath. "I was fine until I came to Tokyo, too… Tokyo guys are so obsessed with cheese, it's rubbed off on me." A ghost of a smile was on her face before she wiped it away and pushed off the fencing. "I used to be able to just obsess about it in my head, but not anymore… I'm so, so sorry."

The freshman shook her head. "Iie… It's alright, senpai."

Asa frowned. "Really? You mean it? You aren't mad at me?"

"Well…I am really disappointed, with the last of my cheese gone and all, but…somehow, I just can't bring myself to be mad. I know how nice that blue cheese looks."

The older girl's face suddenly brightened. "Ah! I know! You said the convenience store stopped importing that kind of blue cheese, right?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm SURE I saw it at Wegman's. In fact, I KNOW I did! You can just get it there from now on!"

The freshman looked puzzled. "Wegman's? Do we even have a Wegman's in Japan?"

"Ah, sure we do!!!"

"Isn't that an American grocery chain?"

"…Is this in the script?"

"No…"

"Ah. Well then, let us start that over again. So… You can just go to Wegman's from now on! I'm sure that they will have it for you."

The freshman's eyes suddenly shined. "Why, that's brilliant! Why didn't I think of that???" She clasped her hands in front of her and bowed quickly, three times in a row, saying, "Thank you, thank you senpai!!! Thank you so much!" And then she left.

Asa smiled. Ah, another good deed done. But…I should probably get out of the rain, shouldn't I? It's not good to get sick…

As if answering to her internal thoughts, she sneezed. "Ah-CHOO!" No, I didn't actually need to type in "Achoo" again since I've already mentioned that she sneezed, but…just deal, okay!

"Idiot," someone muttered in her ear. It was the last thing that she heard before it all…went…black. … … … That line is so over-used and cliché, isn't it?

***

The hospital was not a place that Fuji particularly liked to be; they never served cheese to their patients. I mean, really. HOW could they not serve cheese. His gaze bordered suspicious when he, Eiji, Miho, and Oshitari (the last being forcibly dragged along by his sister) stepped into the lobby. School had ended, and because of the weather, after school tennis practice had been cancelled. Fuji seized the chance to drag along his friends to the hospital, even if it did have an annoyingly conspicuous lack of cheese, and they had met Oshitari at the gate, as it seemed that even Hyotei had been rained out of their afternoon practices. Although, truth be told, Fuji would rather that Oshitari played in the rain and then slip and crushed all his stupid cheese in his stupidly huge cheese bag. "We're here to see Ijuuin-chan," Fuji said to the nurse who manned the front desk, offering her a sweet and innocent smile, even if his inner mind was churning with unpleasant memories.

Another Flashback

It was way back, a whole two weeks ago. He was feverish, and with his mom over-reacting, Fuji'd ended up in the hospital. It came time when they served him food on a plastic tray.

Milk, peas, bread roll, ham… NO CHEESE??? THIS IS… AN ABOMINATION. D=

Fuji glared icy daggers at the unfortunate nurse, whose only sin had been to be the one delivering his lunch.

"Where. Is. The. Cheese."

"Cheese, sir?"

And all heck broke loose.

End of Other Flashback

Unaware of all this Flashback-ing, as she had certainly not been the nurse receiving Fuji's wrath, the nurse gave him her own smile as she looked up from the papers before her, before pointing to the door on the left side of the lobby. "She's in room 207. Go through that door, and take the stairs to the second floor. It's the fourth door to your left." He thanked her and ushered his companions through the doorway, the nurse looking after them as the door swung gently shut. "Such sweet children," she sighed happily before returning to her paperwork.

***

Asa was a bit woozy when she opened her eyes, and her hazy eyesight made out a blurry blob of yellow. Am I in…heaven? Is that…cheese?

No. It was only Fuji. In a bright yellow polo.

Ah, darn it all.

Blahblahblah…and other stuff happens which we shall skip because I'm lazy and I can't think of a way to incorporate Cheese into a romance scene…sort of…

In the other corner of the room, seated calmly in a chair, Oshitari snickered to himself. Ah… another job well done. Killing two birds with one stone gave such a satisfying feeling. Not only that, but this would make vexing Fuji so much more fun and enjoyable.

Tokyo guys truly were very obsessed with cheese. No one ever found out what the whole deal about it was, though.

The End???

A/N: (Sileny here!) This is a parody of Chapter 16, written by my friend Teresa (no duh... XD) We thought it would be funny if we put a little parody of life up. Review, please!