I was in for a major throwback when I opened the fridge to see some acai berry juice in it! Acai was one of the fruits that I was looking up for certain reasons I will mention when this story ends. Which reminds me – I'm aiming for a two-digit multichapter ending so let's hope we make it through without reaching 496 chapters like it's some shonen. xD

Disclaimer: I would like some very nice Level-5 merchandise, please, thank you.

35: The Buffaloberry Arrangement

Some just have a certain, untouchable order to them.

Fudou pondered on Genda Miyabi's quick wit. Had he known all along thanks to his nephew whose best friend happened to be the school president herself or had he picked that all up from his vague description of his disposition?

"A mutualism relationship…but a parasitic one at that."

The Mohawk-haired boy had known long ago that what he and the onna had was everything but normal. They were princess and pauper but with twists here and there. If they were some cliché Western high school movie, he was the lonesome bad boy that everyone avoided but this rich brat of an idiot didn't. Sometimes he understood her; most times she had to guess what he was doing what for. They were the epitome of what shouldn't be, but ended up being.

"There will be a girl," Kageyama Reiji murmured hesitantly, as if he were hoping this information would not fall into Fudou's ears as he watched the lion-haired brunette and eyepatch-wearing tealnet prep themselves for a rematch against their former friends. When the older man failed to continue, the teenaged boy spoke up, impatient. "And?"

"She will need you." The brunette smirked. What was this about now? "And you will need her."

"I don't need anyone."

"The fact that I am here proves otherwise," Kageyama gave him a pointed look. Fudou tsked."What for?"

Kageyama had never answered him.

He didn't know how he'd ended up in such a weird relationship with the onna, if one could even call it a relationship. The girl only ever spoke good words about him in front of anyone who looked down on him, and all he'd ever thanked her with was through biting and scratching at her. When Endou voiced out his plans to recruit him to their team as they fought Aliea Gakuen, she was the only one who was open to the idea.

It cost her her old friends and her only family. Kidou refused to speak with her, Genda and Sakuma were hospitalized after that Shin Teikoku business, and Kazemaru had left the team just to end up joining the enemy.

Fudou had landed a spot and contributed to their sweet victory.

He still hadn't forgotten how he'd yelled at her when she'd disclosed to the group her forfeiture of a position in the FFI to see her apparently alive brother in Greece. He knew firsthand Sokudone was strong. She'd been trained and experimented on with the God's Aqua prototype (the reason why she and the late Commander ended up with a rocky relationship); she had better chances at the FFIs – and she'd thrown that away to go play house.

Fudou had made it to the team.

He wasn't sure whether the Commander had put in a good word or two about him to his kid that made her think so highly of him, but the treatment wasn't unwelcome. The boys all wanted to fight him, and the girls were too scared of him, but when he'd met the onna a year ago, people were starting to change the way they dealt with him. Maybe he had the Commander to thank, maybe it was that stupid goofball Endou, and maybe it could be the princess herself.

"Look," Kazemaru sighed heavily, already hating himself for even saying anything to Fudou. "It's still difficult for me to be friendly with you, since that's the case with you too, but don't…don't push her away when she's just trying to help." The speedster scratched his head, unsure of how to go about next. "She says you're reliable, and that we can trust you, because she trusts you, and Endou trusts you."

The onna had been hurt by the people she trusted more times than he could count. He was just another number on that list.

"I hope you know how difficult you are," the onnaquipped that Friday morning. "And yet you deal with it like you do every day." He answered, raising a brow at the absent car ride and lion-haired keeper. "What can I do? I gave you my heart for your brain."

"Sounds like a disadvantageous bargain."

Sokudone rolled her eyes, infinitely irate with Fudou's I'm-all-alone stint. "Learn to like people a little, and I'll work hard on the family business."

"So this is how you trick people into agreeing to your matchmaking?" Fudou laughed mockingly, failing to notice who he'd passed by. Sokudone took this as another opening. "The one heart I possess is the one in your hands."

Hiroki choked on a jellybean, and hid when the brunette spun around to find the aural disturbance. "What is it?" She inquired, then, playing the devil-may-care card, walked ahead to the office. "We're doing one more round with the names later this afternoon before you leave." The brunette did one more scan on the environment before jogging to catch up with the President.

Finally easing the sweet candy down her throat, Hiroki sighed, exhausted. If she couldn't pinpoint what exactly was making her feel irritated, she was going to have to go to the guidance counselor. The hazel-haired girl realized she didn't like counselors, and the only one she could approach then was Naomi-chan.

"Nao," she sang, searching the barely occupied halls and classrooms for her superbly blunt friend. "Nao?" There was no sign of her anywhere. "Nao, I have jelly beans!"

"Quit yapping this early, that's illegal," Hiroki felt a light fist on her head as Sasaki Naomi entered her classroom. "Here already, Genda?" The blackette raised a brow at her dozy lion-haired classmate before turning to Hiroki. "I just arrived, what's up?"

"I was wondering a little...about Fudou." Naomi's eyes widened with mild surprise. "What about him?" The dark brown eyes looked confused. Hiroki scratched her hair. "That's the thing. I don't know."

"Then how am I supposed to help?"

Hiroki shifted the weight between the balls of her feet. "I see him less often so I get fewer freebies from McDonalds and it sucks." At this, Naomi's eyes got bigger than before – if that were even possible.

"He treats you?"

"Um, yes."

"Why?"

"Because I ask him to." But Naomi shook her head. That Ducky Momo was stubborn; he wasn't exactly the easiest to coax into doing something. "Where did you get these amazing persuasion skills, Zuko?" The addressee stared at her in confusion. Naomi shook her head, excited at the new piece of blackmail she could use. "If you could talk him into opening his wallet, then you could just talk to him, obviously."

"I can't," Hiroki pouted, "Shachō has him in the palm of her hand - he's practically smitten with her!"

"What the," Naomi was bewildered. If there was anything she picked up from the momentary interaction she'd seen between her gangly cousin and the school president, it was how much those two were at each other's throats (A/N: See Chappie 19.). They didn't exactly hate each other, but they weren't on very healthy terms either. "Zuko, Ducky Momo and shachō don't like each other."

"Yes, they do. I saw them flirt yesterday and this morning."

"I live under the same roof as that baldy. We talk. He isn't into her - why are we talking about who likes who?" Naomi's eyes turned to accusing slits. "So this is what it was all about."

"I bought popcorn."

"I brought earphones!"

"What are you two dorks doing?" Kidou asked all too bluntly, eyeing Genda and Sokudone with a glare that could send a man running with his tail between his legs. Sakuma was still engrossed with his phone. The two looked at him with matching innocent, starry eyes. "We're planning on how to surprise Claire," the goalkeeper answered, his starry stare making him sound all too convincing. The midfielder beside him nodded earnestly.

"Have you two eaten lunch? Idiots are difficult to breed, you know."

"Don't worry, the canteen's keeping you filled, right?" The blackette countered as she and her seatmate set up the food and earphones on the table. Genda and Sakuma timed a grin at the fukutaichō.

"Wasn't it a great idea to go ahead to school and leave a tape recorder by our classroom?" She grinned deviously at her best friend.

Ahhh I had fun doing this. Okay! One out of a secret number of updates down, a few more to go! Also, this is the only one with a four-chapter update, because I wanted it to end with a multiple of five. Enjoy your early Christmas!

-wanonymous