Chapter 51.

At the sound of the final bell, Miyagi told Tanaka and Kirihara that he would be in the library while they finished up their club stuff. Tanaka announcing that she didn't have rehearsal wasn't a surprise – the drama club didn't rehearse things to death. However, Kirihara's announcement that he wasn't going to afternoon practice was a surprise. In fact, it was such a big surprise that Tanaka pinched Miyagi, and Miyagi's jaw dropped.

"I'm serious," Kirihara insisted. "Don't look like I just kicked you in the kidney."

"Okay, hang on," Tanaka said, looking at him with disbelief. "Why are you skipping again? I get not going yesterday because you got your ass kicked the day before and all. Really, I get that. Male pride. Adrenaline. Penises. Manly man crap that makes me think you are a different species."

"Miho, walk out of the classroom as you talk," Miyagi cut in.

Tanaka grabbed her bag and began to walk out of the classroom, continuing to talk. "But why are you still being stubborn? One day is excusable by man crap. Two days and I call wimp."

"I'm not going back until later this week. I'm going to jog later tonight, maybe stop by the street courts, but I'm not going to practice. I don't need them yelling at me to sit down and watch first years. I need to work on the basics, just like An said."

"Whoa. Hold up." Miyagi grabbed the back of Kirihara's shirt, pulling him to a stop in the middle of the hall. "An. As in Tachibana An? As in that girl who broke up with you a week after you told her you loved her?"

Miyagi's grip loosened, so Kirihara continued to walk, his cheeks flushed. Tanaka rushed up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso, holding him in place.

"No you don't. Put on the big boy balls and tell me," she said. When he began to wiggle, she squeezed tighter. "Dish. Now."

"Let me go," Kirihara said. When she shook her head, he sighed. "Satoshi, make her let go."

"No way," Miyagi said with a huge amused grin that disappeared as he continued. "What's up with you talking to Tachibana, and not telling us? The girl crushed you, Akaya. What the freak happened after your captain whooped your ass into next week?"

"I called her, that's it," Kirihara said. Tanaka squeezed tighter. "Miho, please let go." Miyagi poked his cheek. "Let me go!"

Everyone in the hall turned to look at them. Tanaka let go, lips pursed in the corner. Miyagi rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm being serious," Kirihara said as people began to ignore them again. "All we did was talk. She said that maybe we could hang out at some point or another at the gym. That's it. Can we please just go before they realize I'm skipping again?"

Tanaka nodded, mumbling an apology under her breath. Kirihara heard her, and nodded in return.

.

They went to Miyagi's apartment, and headed straight for the kitchen. Tanaka laughed at Miyagi for having juice boxes, but she shut up when Kirihara reminded her that she had a Capri Sun with her lunch. After making a batch of popcorn in the microwave, they headed into the living room, where they set up camp. Kirihara sat on the sofa with Tanaka, who was hogging the popcorn, and Miyagi sat in the chair because sitting on the sofa would have meant being right up against Tanaka.

"Anything on TV this time of daysat ? I'm not used to being home this early," Kirihara said.

"You're not home, genius. This is my apartment," Miyagi pointed out.

Kirihara rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant. You don't have to be a smart ass just because I'm stupid."

"But you're stupid in a fun way," Tanaka said, tossing a piece of popcorn at him. "Let's watch Aladdin. I love that movie. No, wait, put in Tangled. I never saw that one."

"You're seventeen years old, and you want to watch a Disney movie?" Miyagi asked. Tanaka nodded. "What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hula?"

Knowing where Miyagi was going, Kirihara said, "You're going to look like an idiot."

Miyagi never cared about acting like an idiot.

"If you're hungry for a hunk of far and juicy meat, eat my buddy, Pumba, here because he is a treat," Miyagi sang, completely off key. "Come on down and dine on this tasty swine. All you gotta do is get in liiine. Are ya achin' –"

"Yup, yup, yup," Tanaka sang, laughing.

"For some bacon?"

"Yup, yup, yup!"

"He's a big pig."

"Yup, yup."

"You can be a big pig, too!" Miyagi finished, tossing his hands into the air. Tanaka rolled onto her side and laughed, and Kirihara put down the bowl of popcorn down before it spilled because of his fit of laughter. Miyagi was going to say something about how The Lion King is a serious piece of art, but he too was laughing too hard.

.

Tanaka and Kirihara teased Miyagi for actually owning a copy of Tangled even though he claimed it was his sister's. They knew he was lying. He didn't have a sister. Tanaka and Kirihara snuggled under a blanket, occasionally getting hit by pieces of popcorn that Miyagi was throwing. A teenage boy and girl probably shouldn't be as close as Kirihara and Tanaka were, but they didn't care. As far as they were considered, they were siblings.

"I love that horse!" Tanaka exclaimed during the movie. "I'm totally buying a horse and training it to be that beastly."

"Just wait, it gets better," Miyagi said. Tanaka and Kirihara looked at him. He turned red. "At least, that's what I've heard..."

"I love that you love Disney," Tanaka said. "It's manly."

"Shut up and watch the movie. Rapunzel is about to go bipolar on us."

.

"We need more popcorn," Miyagi said, turning the empty bowl upside-down to prove his point. Tanaka shrugged. Kirihara pretended not to hear him. Miyagi sighed and stood up. "Pause it. I'll be back in a minute."

Tanaka grabbed the remote and paused the movie. She bit her lip until Miyagi was out of the room, and then turned to Kirihara. "Why do you still like Tachibana?"

"Who said I still like An?"

"Because I'm a girl and I know these things," Tanaka said bluntly. Kirihara rolled his eyes. "Listen, Akaya, just tell me. I'm a girl. I need to hear these things. If not, I'll just speculate, and I'll feel like a creeper. Plus I'll ask if you like her every time you mention her."

"Can I ask you a question, Miho?"

"No, you can't." Then she grinned and said, "Yeah. Ask away."

"Do you realize how annoying you are?"

Tanaka stuck her tongue out at him, tossed their blanket over his head, and unpaused the movie. From the kitchen, Miyagi shouted a rather vulgar protest. Tanaka shouted back, "Only you would swear because you missed part of a Disney movie!"

Kirhara tugged the blanket off of his head as Tanaka repaused the movie. "Miho, this is kinda random, but what did your boyfriend say about you kissing that guy in the play? You never told me."

"He's cool with it." Then she contradicted herself by saying, "Well, I told him that I'm doing it whether he likes it or not. He gets that I like acting, but he still gets a little ticked at it. We just scream it out until we're over it. Things'll be a lot better once it's done and over with. The guy I'm kissing has a girlfriend, so it's a mutual dislike kinda thing."

Just then, Miyagi came back in, singing I Just Can't Wait To Be King. Kirihara wondered how in the world he became friends with that Disney-challenged fool. A wave of depression hit Kirihara when he realized that same fool was probably one of the top twenty students in the grade.

.

After the movie was over, the three headed into Miyagi's bedroom to get study for an upcoming test. However, Tanaka and Miyagi were still hyped up on Disney-LSD, and were dancing like cracked out hippos from Fantasia as they sang A Whole New World.

"Will you two cut it out already?" Kirihara asked from his spot on the floor. "Satoshi, I get it, you're smart and you don't need to study. Miho, you're in the same boat as me – we're dumb."

"Hey, my grades are better than yours," Tanaka replied. She sat down next to him, glanced at the math book he was looking at, and then stood back up. "Yeah, no way in hell I'm not doing that. I'll fail instead."

Kirihara groaned. He hated that Yukimura checked on his grades. He wasn't the dumbest person, but he wasn't the smartest. No one else on the regulars had to be threatened with team suspension for their grades.

"I should probably get going anyways," Tanaka added. "My mom's been wanting to try this new recipe that looks really gross, and I think she finally realized I'm spending so much time with you guys to avoid eating it. So I gotta go home for dinner. Wish me luck. If I'm not a school tomorrow, I'm dead, or dying, or undead. If I am undead, please dispose of my zombie-ness properly."

"Head-shot?" Miyagi asked with a grin. How often did you get to say head-shot and not sound like a psychopath? Not often. It was a rare moment to enjoy, he decided.

Tanaka nodded, grabbed her bag, and left minute later. Miyagi left to make sure the apartment door was locked after she had left, but returned as quickly as he had gone. He sat on the floor in front of Kirihara, who had begun to text An in his short absence.

"Why didn't you tell me you started texting her?" Miyagi asked. "I forgive you for not telling me about the talking because no one talks on phones anymore. Can't be that long of conversations. Chit-chat. Whatever. But texting? Really?"

Kirihara looked up from his phone. "Didn't think it was important. Have you grown a vagina? 'Cause you're acting like Miho."

"I'm not trying to be all gay, I'm just asking," Miyagi replied in his defense. "Excuse me for carrying."

The two boys had always been close, but it was still strange asking each other personal questions. It was a guy thing. With Tanaka, it was different. With just the two of them, it was weird. Still, there were times when it was acceptable. Crushes was one topic the two could pry over.

"I'm still friends with her on facebook," Miyagi said casually.

Kirihara looked back at his phone. "So? I am too."

"She's still cute in that doesn't-need-make-up way."

"I haven't looked."

It was true. He was friends with her, but he skimmed over her posts and never gave her picture that much attention. He hadn't really seen her since last year's tournament when they awkwardly bumped into each other – she had been attending Seigaku for her first year of high school while Fudomine High was being built; she transferred back along with the rest of the old Fudomine gang once it was finished. They hadn't even talked when they bumped into each other. It was too damn awkward.

Miyagi got the idea when Kirihara set his phone down and went back to work – he really didn't want to talk about An. Miyagi got that. He didn't like talking about Tanaka lately either. She was kissing some random guy in a play, had a boyfriend, yet Miyagi was in the friend-zone. No, he was in the like-a-brother-zone. He was eternally out of her grasp. It sucked, plain and simple. He figured Kirihara felt the same way since An had a boyfriend.

Miyagi crawled onto his bed, hummed some Disney tunes until Kirihara tossed something at him, and worked on his homework.


A/N: The next two chapters also focus on this little trio.

I didn't say this in my note for the last chapter, but xxTemarixx is the most awesome beta ever and I should be thanking her more than anyone else for making this fic possible. Just sayin'.