A/N: Hope you like this chap! ^ ^

Disclaimer: I don't own POT

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Many if the girls' faces had circles under their eyes or their faces were red. The guys had no clue why they were like that though Fuji, still having his camera with sound recording, knew exactly why the were looking the way they were. Fuji purposefully sat next to Emi. Emi blushed and looked down. She was debating in her mind whether or not she should just say it.

The rest of the girls followed Fuji's example. Sakamoto was obviously next to Inui sending him disturbing notes that made his face turn a bit red. Amane and Oishi were trying to become closer as a couple and decided to talk about their similarities. Natsume sat next to Kawamura and talked about baseball. Katou, not caring about the deal, sat next to Tezuka anyway. Airi shyly sat next to Kaido hoping that she could get the deal out of her head and talk to him properly. Usio, a bit mind boggled, sat next to Momo who was wondering why she would sit next to him. Yumi sat next to Eiji and tried to act normal. Sakuno, of course, had to sit next to Ryoma.

"R-Ryoma-kun, I'm sorry." Sakuno slightly bowed. Ryoma cocked an eyebrow.

"Sorry for what?" He asked.

"Well…I ran away so suddenly when you were teaching me how to swim…and for avoiding you for almost the whole day…and I'm the one who spilled your ponta…and I-…" Sakuno got cut off.

"It's fine Ryuzaki." Ryoma sighed, looking out the window.

Sakuno played with the hem of her long skirt. Now how was she supposed to ask Ryoma on a date? She didn't create a good mood it seemed more neutral to her. Sakuno stole a glance at the prince and noticed that he fell asleep.

'EH? That fast? How am I supposed to ask him now?' She thought miserably.

"Sakuno-chan, you should have thanked Echizen." Katou said.

"Eh, why?" She asked.

"Well for starters, he taught you how to swim right? And he saved you from drowning." Katou said.

"EH!?" Sakuno exclaimed.


They were finally home. Even though the mountains were great and all, the still love the city where they were born in. As the all went their separate ways, each girl was feeling a bit off. Some would have to ask for a date and the even braver girls will have to confess.

All of the 3rd years went to Kawamura sushi for a free bite. The 2nd years went to a burger joint. Amane and Oishi walked home together. Inui and Sakamoto went somewhere else which left Tezuka, Katou, Emi, Fuji, Yumi, Eiji, Natsume, and of course, Kawamura to go to Kawamura Sushi.

Yumi and Emi would have to confess while Katou and Natsume have to ask for a date. Let's see how they do…

"Kawamura-san do you have any sweet sushi?" Emi asked.

"Ah…yeah we do." Kawamura said as he thought about all the sweet flavored sushi he has.

"Then I'll take mines extra sweet, 'kay?" Emi asked, smiling. Kawamura smiled back. Fuji was emitting a dangerous aura towards Kawamura. Kawamura suddenly felt a chill. Natsume was sulking a bit when Emi went to talk to Kawamura but didn't say anything because she wondered why she felt mad at her fellow teammate.

When they entered the shop, they each sat down and had a bite of sushi. Emi was sitting next to Fuji, happily eating her sweet sushi. Fuji took this as an opportunity to tease Emi. "You sure love sweet things." Fuji smiled at her.

"Yeah, Katou and I both have a huge sweet tooth for desserts. Sakamoto has more of a bittersweet taste hehe…" Emi remembered Sakamoto eating a weird bittersweet chocolate candy bar that Sakamoto made herself. Emi felt like gagging when she took one bite from it.

"That's nice…Saa, I heard that you like someone. Is it true?" Fuji asked politely. Emi blushed and remembered what she had to do. She tried to forget it but it just somehow came back.

"Um…well…I…" Emi looked down to try and hide her reddened face.

"You're really cute, Emi-chan." Fuji lifted up Emi's face. Emi turned as red as a tomato because it was the first time Fuji ever called her that.

"I-I'm not that cute…" Emi took a deep breath. "Um…can I talk to you outside?" She asked, gathering up her courage. Fuji nodded and followed her outside. Natsume, Yumi, and Katou knew what she was going to do.

Natsume sighed and decided to ask Kawamura out casually before it got complicated. "Yo, Taka-san, do you want to play baseball on Saturday?" Natsume asked as casually as she could.

"Uh…sure but why all of a sudden…?" Kawamura asked.

"It's a date." Natsume simply said, drinking her water. Yumi and Eiji stared at her. Kawamura blushed at the word 'date'.

"Natsume!? That's not a date!" Yumi argued.

"As long as two people who are a girl and a boy hang out and have fun then it's a date." Natsume replied smoothly.

"Cheater…" Yumi mumbled.

"Nyaa, are you having a bet?" Eiji asked.

"Well…yeah…AH! Sushi!!" Yumi grabbed a bunch of different sushi to try and change the subject.

"Nyaa??" Eiji wondered about Yumi's strange behavior but then again Yumi is always a bit more 'special' than other people. Yet her behavior was off.

As the rest were having fun, Emi was with Fuji outside. She was ready to confess. She could actually hear every beat of her heart. It was rapidly increasing. Emi took another deep breath.

"U-Um…the weather is nice today…" Emi started.

"Hmm, you're right." Fuji smiled.

"The food was great too…" Emi continued.

"Saa, the wasabi rolls were especially delicious." Fuji continued to smile.

Emi was silent for a second. "…The weather is really nice today…" Emi mentally slapped herself for repeating the same thing. Fuji just chuckled. "Yes, it really is."

"I uh…I…" Emi whispered the next couple of words. She was almost inaudible. Fuji didn't understand. "Can you repeat that, please?" He asked politely.

Emi took a deep breath and gained her courage. "Fuji, I like you." She said confidently before her cheeks were stained with the color of red. Fuji smiled. He leaned down and kissed her sweetly. After they parted, Fuji opened his eyes.

"Took you long enough." Fuji chuckled and gave her another kiss. "Now you're mine." He said possessively with a sadistic smile creeping up on his face. Emi blushed.

"Emi! How long are you going to-…?" Yumi came out and totally ruined the moment. Eiji was right behind her staring at the new couple. Fuji was smiling in a very evil and creepy way. He was telling them to leave.

"U-Um, I think we should go back." Emi blushed and ran inside with a flushed face.

"Thank you for taking us back." Fuji smiled at his good friend, Eiji. But Fuji had a murderous aura around him. He was going to take secret pictures of him kissing Emi but they just had to ruin it. Yumi and Eiji, obviously detected his murderous atmosphere, backed away.

"E-Eiji…I think we caught them at the wrong time." Yumi said, almost shaking.

"Nyaa, Fujiko is going to kill me!" Eiji and Yumi hugged as Fuji passed by the two.

"Fuji sure is scary, right Kunimitsu?" Katou asked.

"Ah." Tezuka replied.

"Ne…Kunimitsu…are you free on Saturday?" Katou asked a bit shyly. 'Why am I nervous?' she asked herself.

"Ah." Tezuka simply replied.

"Then can we go out and eat at one of the restaurants that just opened?" Katou asked. Tezuka thought about it for a second.

"Ah." He replied. Katou did a victory dance in her head and smiled brightly.

"That's cheating! You didn't really ask him." Yumi complained.

"No, it's the same on how Natsume explained it." Katou grinned. Yumi mumbled something under her breath.

"Nyaa, what's the bet about?" Eiji asked.

"Um…well…can we talk outside?" Yumi asked.

"Why can't we talk here, nyaa?" Eiji asked. Yumi dragged Eiji outside anyway.

Yumi then blushed and took a deep breath. "It's not a bet. It's more like a challenge. The girls who have someone they like have to confess while the girls who don't have to date someone of their choice. If they don't do the challenge then they have to taste Sakamoto's experimental juice." Yumi said.

Eiji just blinked. "Then which do you have to do, nyaa?" Eiji asked, grinning. Even though Eiji was smiling, there was a deep anxious feeling of wanting to know who Yumi likes. He did, after all, knew he had a feeling and was a bit too dense before.

"I have to confess to the one I like." Yumi said truthfully.

"Nyaa? So who is the lucky guy?" Eiji asked. He was bouncing a bit on his toes. He was only pretending to be excited which was rare considering that he's always happy and full of energy.

"THE BOY I LIKE IS YOU, EIJI!" Yumi confessed in her loudest voice. Eiji stopped bouncing and he stared at her. For a few moments there was silence.

Yumi looked up to see if Eiji was getting ready to reject her but she got a different reaction instead. Eiji gave Yumi a big huge hug. "Nyaa, I like you too!" He snuggled up to her and rubbed his cheek against hers affectionately.

Yumi felt blissfully happy. They both didn't know that a certain genius was behind the shadows, video taping the confession. Sweet revenge…


Meanwhile, back at the burger joint where Momo, Usio, Kaido, Airi, Sakuno, and Ryoma are all eating. Momo, Kaido, and Ryoma were getting competitive and started to have a burger eating contest. Usio was sketching the whole scene and even made it into a short gag manga. Airi was about to tell them to stop so they could cool down but they were already behind the point of listening to others. Sakuno just sat there smiling nervously.

As it turns out, Ryoma won but the guys had stomach aches afterwards. The girls walked with each guy. It was Usio with Momo, Kaido with Airi, and Ryoma with Sakuno.

Momo had no clue why in the world Usio would walk with him. They always bicker and argue. He wondered how he came to fall in love with this ice woman. Usually she would be unfeeling and cold but whenever she was around Momo, she felt more alive at least.

"You shouldn't have eaten too much." Usio scolded. Momo didn't have the strength or stomach to fight back.

"Here," Usio handed him a pack of Tums. He looked at the bottle questionable.

"What's this for?" He asked.

"To help your stomach, what else?" Usio asked.

"What's the catch?" Momo asked.

"There's no catch, just eat the medicine." Usio also handed him her gag manga. Momo ate one small tablet of Tums and took the manga form her hands. Her drawing was really good and it was really funny. Momo forgot about his stomach ache and he was laughing at some of the parts.

"This is really good!" Momo grinned. Usio smiled. "Thanks." She said. Momo stopped and his face turned red. He remembered why he liked her again.

Usio looked at him like he was weird. "Ne, let's go on a date." She asked bluntly.

"W-What?" Momo asked. He was a bit confused.

"Date as in d-a-t-e." Usio spelled it out.

"I know what a date is but why me?" He asked, pointing at himself dumbly.

"Are you going or not?" She asked. Momo did the automatic thing from shock and nodded at her question.

"Well, ja." Usio half-heartedly waved then left. Momo's mouth was wide opened. The school's most perfect girl just asked him out on a date and, at first, he didn't even like her. It was going to be a weird date.


Airi was with Kaido. She comfortably rubbed his back and asked if he was okay. Kaido blushed and said that he was fine. After that there was a plain silence. Airi remembered the bet and wondered what she could say to get the mood ready for it. She also didn't have any sort of excuse.

'How do I ask him…um…wait, the guys paid for our meals! I can use that excuse!' Airi thought.

"Um…Kaido-san…" Airi called out. She also stopped walking. Kaido stopped and turned around.

"What is it?" Kaido asked.

"Um thank you for paying for all of us." Airi said.

"It wasn't only me." Kaido said. Then silence.

"Well, I just wanted to thank you by…wouldyouliketogooutwithme?" Airi said a little too quickly.

"What?" Kaido definitely didn't catch what she said.

Airi took another deep breath and calmed herself down. "Um…date…would you like to go on a date with me?" Airi asked. Her voice was one octave higher. She was definitely nervous. Kaido blushed.

"Okay…" He finally replied. They were both feeling very happy though they wouldn't say anything. They walked home together in a comfortable yet a bit awkward silence.


Sakuno, being clumsy as she is, had no guts to ask the tennis prince. 'Come on Sakuno! Get it together. Just…just ask him out. Be aggressive like…like…like Tomo-chan! Well…not that aggressive…' Sakuno thought.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno said all of a sudden. Ryoma stopped and looked at her, giving her his full attention.

"…The weather is nice today…" Sakuno chickened out. Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "Hn." He shrugged.

The two both walked in silence together on their way home. Sakuno would stop trying to start a conversation though occasionally she would talk about school and tennis with Ryoma and Ryoma would just listen. Basically, it was a one-sided conversation.

'Everyone in school says that we're good friends but truthfully, I don't know much except from his cousin, Nanako-chan, and his mother. And even they say that all he thinks about is tennis, his cat, and ponta.' Sakuno thought miserably.

"Um, Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno tried again.

"Hn?" He turned his head towards her. Sakuno took a deep breath.

"I-…" loud truck noise, "You!" Sakuno said.

"What?" He asked. Sakuno couldn't believe that a truck noise just ruined her confession. They were already at her house. Sakuno blushed. "It's nothing!" She said quickly. She went inside and closed the door right behind her.

'I'll never understand girls…' Ryoma thought.

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