A/N: Again, sorry guys, my schedule is so busy now. I'm trying the best I can, really!

Yep, they're still in camp. There's still a few important developments to go through before the end of camp, so please bear with me.


Day 4, Morning


"Well, well." The white-coated figure half-seated against the railing of his balcony spoke down to the youths below. "So you have arrived at the last day before your matches. How do you feel?" their camp coordinator, Okura Ashita, asked them.

"Confident?"

There on Seigaku's side of the courtyard, Echizen stifled a yawn.

"Anticipating?"

Behind the group comprised of Hyoutei regulars, Oshitari wore a small smile.

"Regretful that time flew by this quickly?"

Fuji chuckled to himself.

"Impatient to know the results?"

Atobe responded with a confident, "Hmph."

"Ah, not to mention…" Okura-san's gaze fell onto the two junior coaches under his care. "Use this last day to wrap up any loose ends the best you can."

"Yes," Shizuka replied. A beat later, Tezuka also acknowledged with, "Understood."

"Well, then," the blonde and bespectacled coordinator asked without further ado, "This morning's team competition, have you got something in mind, Tezuka-kun?"

"Fufu… Everyone, run laps until the last player from either team remains standing," Shizuka heard Fuji's mirthful comment coming from the back of her group, "is what I presume he'll say. However, I do wonder…"

"Kuku…" Inui didn't contest that prediction.

"Hn." Tezuka readied himself to speak.

"Just a moment," a tall and blue haired individual stepped forward to place himself beside Tezuka. With a roguish little smile, the Hyoutei regular said to the others of his group, "I say, won't you guys lend me your ears?"

Oshitari.

She watched the tennis players on the opposite side of the courtyard converse in low tones. After a long moment, they looked over, the majority sporting similar smug expressions. Smiiirk.

Otori looked strangely defeated.

"Those guys…" Momoshiro remarked, half scoffing and half anticipating, "They're looking to get back at us for yesterday's humiliation, aren't they?"

"Fshuu…" Kaidoh muttered with the narrowing of cautious eyes, "They can do their worst."

"The indoor pool," Tezuka said, garnering himself a few bewildered stares. "Assemble there with your racquets."


"Tezuka-san…" Shizuka had to ask. "…That…" That low hanging net suspended across the width of the pool, dividing it in half. "Is definitely a tennis net, isn't it…?"

She was quite alarmed.

"Tezuka-kun, shall I handle the explanations~?" Okura-san asked, approaching the youths who have all gathered by the poolside by then.

"Please," Tezuka replied simply.

"Think of it as target practice," Okura-san announced, crossing his arms over to point to opposite ends of the pool. "Observe, there are 16 targets lined up against the wall on either side."

Sure enough, sixteen pawn-shaped pieces, each about a foot tall, stood sentinel where they looked.

"You have fifteen minutes to knock down all the targets once the timer starts," Okura-san carried on with explanations. "The first team to accomplish this, or the team that holds highest count when time's up, will be deemed the victors."

Shizuka glanced up at the time display currently frozen at 15:00 minutes.

"Heh…" Seigaku's youngest member was a bit more awake by then. "All this fuss, and it's only target practice." Echizen yawned and said, "Let's just get it over with, then."

The platinum blonde man chuckled. A few sly smiles revealed themselves, too, on the visages of the Hyoutei regulars. "Well, well, is it really that simple? Nevertheless," Okura-san informed them with an indicative gesture of his hand, "Those tri-paddle shaped floats will be your only footholds in reaching the trajectories of those balls."

The Seigaku regulars observed the columns of fluorescent yellow floats strung through with rope, separated uniformly throughout the length of the pool. If anything, given their shape, they didn't appear to be able to support much weight before rolling over.

"Well, it's up to your team how to arrange this…but note that once a player leaves the poolside," Okura-san informed them, "touching it again will get him disqualified."

"…I see," said Inui, who had been calmly analyzing the situation in the back up till now.

"Maa…It's no mere target practice." Fuji drew a similar conclusion based on the rules given. Looking over to where the professional tennis player stood, he blithely hypothesized, "Rather, it is to assess our stamina and precision while in constant motion, ne, Tezuka?"

Tezuka pressed his glasses further up, and simply responded with, "Begin with warmups."

Shizuka approached the water's edge, crouching down to dip her hand in.

…Not only was it cold, the water was quite deep as well.

"Kagami."

Tezuka's solemn gaze was directed at the bandages around her left leg, visible just below her rolled-up track pants. "Has your injury yet to recover?

"Ah, this isn't…" Shizuka stood and turned to face him, gesturing to her bandages. "It is mostly to remind myself not to do anything rash." But, well… "If it isn't any trouble," she asked, "would it be alright if I sit this one out?"

"Hn." Tezuka replied readily, "Naturally, our absence will not affect the groups adversely."

Oh…that's right. To be evenly matched in numbers.

"…I am deeply ashamed." She apologized to him. "Because of my carelessness-…"

"Accidents happen," Tezuka said impassively, as a matter of fact. "It is fortunate this time was a light injury. It could have been a torn ligament or worse."

…There was something she had learned about Tezuka Kunimitsu in the few days she had known him, from witnessing his interactions: Though he set high standards and disciplined accordingly, he would never criticize anything other than overt behaviour. Personality traits and differences in opinion were things he held in great regard, evidenced by the way he engaged with and was well-received by the players of both schools. Furthermore, though he was stern both in appearance and in conduct, his words…were often unexpectedly kind.

"…Yes," she replied, grateful that he didn't choose to reprove her when he had every right to, "I understand."

"Nya-!" Kikumaru flailed his arms, temporarily regaining his balance. "Ehh…so…if I do this-…"

He stepped down experimentally on one side of the float he was on, then again as the opposite side splashed up, and again.

"Superb! Amazing!" Okura-san narrated from his chosen location atop the diving platform. "Is he planning to stay afloat with high speed treading?"

"What the heck? That's cheap, Kikumaru!" Mukahi shouted across the pool. "…Fool," Oshitari smoothly remarked, "What is the purpose of remaining in one place in a game like this?"

"Oi, Seigaku." Hyoutei Captain Atobe called over to the opposing team. "If you're done fooling around, let's get to settling the score, ahn?" Said with a confident smirk. "Ore-sama doesn't like to be kept waiting."

With one final word to his team members, Seigaku Captain Oishi dispersed their group huddle. "Sorry for the wait," he actually apologized. "We are now ready."

"Well, then." Okura Ashita took his remote control from his coat pocket. "I am commencing the timer in three…"

"…two…"

On Hyoutei's side, it appeared that Jirou, Hiyoshi, Kabaji, and the captain, Atobe himself, was to remain on standby.

"…one."

All but Inui and Echizen left the poolside.

Momoshiro and Kaidoh went on full offense immediately.

"Block it!" "To your right!"

Team Hyoutei's Otori and Shishido guarded at the rear, expertly coordinating their movements.

The two ball machines, one shooting toward either team, did so at random. Some were lobs, some were flat, and some were even driven low. For most players, taking the lobs was the most advantageous course of action in knocking down the targets, giving the necessary angle and power.

But, for someone like Kaidoh, there was no such thing as a trajectory too low for his specialty shot.

"Ah!" Otori was taken off-guard by the curved shot that went completely around him. "Sorry!"

"—Seigaku, 1 down, 15 more to go—!"

"Don't sweat it, Choutarou!" his doubles partner shouted. "Keep focus!"

Dammit, those snake shots were a real annoyance. It wasn't that Shishido couldn't reach them in time, but the momentum that resulted would nearly drive him toward the pool's edge.

Splash.

"Shishido-san!" Otori called when the other designated defender lost his balance and fell.

"—Another for Seigaku! 14 more to go—!"

"—13 more—!"

Seigaku's Kaidoh-san seemed to be on a roll. Was it possible that no one could stop him…?

"Nice, Viper!" Momoshiro, whose balance was still unstable at best, congratulated his worthy rival. He pumped a fist. "Alriiight! Now, me!"

Both hands on his racquet handle, he picked out an incoming ball that was optimal for him. He put all his power into it. "Taaaake this-!"

His ball stretched into the top of the net, and rebounded straight into an unsuspecting bandana-wearer's forehead. Splash.

"Erm…"

"Momo!" Kikumaru exclaimed in horror. "What have you done!"

"Where are you looking, Kikumaru!" Mukahi yelled, silhouetting the overhead lights. "If you're not going to stop this—no one can!"

No kidding. Both Oishi and Kawamura tried for it, but neither of them were a match for the height and angle of that shot.

"—Hyoutei, 1 down, 15 to go—!"

Hyoutei's acrobatic player executed a smooth recovery, displacing his weight across the floats he landed on.

"RAAAAAH!" Kawamura dragged his racquet head over the water's surface. "CLEAR WAY, MONKEYS!"

"Whoa!" Mukahi nearly lost balance. "What the heck!" He shielded against the giant splashes of water with his arms. "He's not even hitting the balls!"

"GREAT!" "EXCELLENT!" Kawamura shouted in response to the struggles of Hyoutei's front lines. "DROWNNNING…!"

Ehhh-!?

"Taka-san! Are you alright!?" his teammates shouted to the power player, who was now treading in water.

Kawamura laughed sheepishly, having lost grip on his racquet when he fell in. "Sorry, sorry. Don't mind me."

The loud, resounding noise of another target being knocked over.

"—Oh! That's the 3rd down for Hyoutei! They've caught up! 11 minutes remaining—!"

"Momoshiroo, youuu…" Kaidoh grappled with the dratted float's unstable structure. He succeeded in heaving himself upright on it, only to stumble forward with the momentum, arms flailing. A sudden weight behind him stabilized his footing.

He looked over his shoulder. "Inui-senpai."

"A battle of attrition is disadvantageous for us," Inui stated. "The opposing team holds superiority in experience. Listen up, all: this is no actual tennis match, we need to be taking up all balls regardless the means."

"If you're just noticing that," Oshitari said. "You are late."

"OMG!" Kikumaru exclaimed. "Why is he on our side of the net!?"

"Hmph." The blue haired Hyoutei regular poised to receive a low flying ball.

"Watch out!" "No," Inui protested, "That's-"

Oshitari rotated his entire weight, driving the captured tennis ball to Hyoutei's side of the net.

"Higuma Otoshi!?"

Mukahi executed the finishing blow. "Try a little harder, Seigaku!"

"—4th down for Hyoutei! 12 more to go—!"

"Oshitari-san," Fuji said as a diversion.

"Yare yare," Oshitari said as Fuji's shot approached the net. "There's no way that one will go over-"

The ball smacked into the top of the net, as expected, but it went up due to its immense underspin. "Hoi, Hoi! This one's mine!" Kikumaru followed up on it, instantly where he needed to be. The opponent team failed to react in time.

"—4th down for Seigaku! 12 more to go—!"

Oshitari clicked his tongue.

"Fufu… I've roughly gotten the hang of this," Fuji commented brilliantly.

He repeated with another retrieved ball. This time, Oshitari moved to intercept, again striking his pose.

"Another Higuma Otoshi, eh?" Momoshiro was fast approaching the net, planning to show off his jumping power. "Don't worry! I'll get it!"

"No," Inui protested, "That's-"

Oshitari's shot flew fast and precise, reaching straight for the float Momoshiro stepped on. "Whoa-!" The Seigaku regular reacted in time to catch it with his racquet, but the added weight between his knees caused him to topple over. Splash.

Totally fell for the bait, he did.

"—6th down, Hyoutei—! 5th for Seigaku—! 9 minutes—!"

"Since it has come to this," Inui decided, "It is high time for me to use that."

"Help!" Both Shizuka and Tezuka looked over as Inui cried out in his monotonous voice, robotically splashing his arms. "I am inept in the systematic locomotive-generating self-propulsion adapted by the subspecies Homo s. sapiens as an evolutionary aptitude for survival-…"

Tezuka frowned at that claim, but the girl looked positively startled.

"…-With a body density of 1.07273 g per cm-3 at a water temperature of 26.6667 Celsius, specific gravity is applied at 1.07273/0.99660, it is only a matter of nine seconds before my body ceases its gestures of aquatic distress and submerge beneath the surface-…"

Wait a minute. Shizuka started forward. He was actually drowning, right? So his words had a meaning like that!?

"Kagami." Tezuka's voice stalled her, and she looked back at him questioningly.

Meanwhile, Inui was shamelessly professing, "…-Nevertheless, if I must be resuscitated, it must be by a girl-"

There was a loud splash, soon followed by the sight of a displeased Oshitari in the water, dragging down on Seigaku's bespectacled data tennis player. "Oi, Oi, could you please limit your jokes to your choice of fashion statement?"

"Oshitari!?" Shizuka called in surprise.

"Gwua-…! Coach-! He's drowning m-!"

"…Since it is your desire to enact a near-death experience so badly, allow me to oblige!"

What are they doing-!?

"—Seigaku, 8th one down, 8 more to go—!"

"Oi, Yuushi!" his teammates bellowed.

"Fufu… As expected of Inui's diversion tactics," Seigaku Vice-Captain Fuji commented. "He has eliminated the most troublesome attacker."

"Fuji!" came the warning cries of his own teammates. He caught movement from his peripheral vision, and a view of dark blonde hair flashed past. "Eh?"

Hyoutei's Hiyoshi trespassed agilely from behind, completely upsetting his balance. "Hiyosh-" Splash.

Splash.

"What are you," Momoshiro shouted indignantly upon resurfacing, wiping water from his eyes, "middle schoolers!?"

"Haha." Fuji, in contrast, was laughing.

"Humph," Hiyoshi scoffed, his experience in martial arts training making this exercise a piece of cake for him, "It's gekokuj—" "Fshuuu…you ain't getting away with this, punk-!" Kaidoh snatched the guy's ankle, effectively toppling him over.

"Get him!"

"—Oh my, just what is this~? A full brawl has broken out on Seigaku's side! Is it really fine to leave the score as this? Only five minutes remaining—!"

"You guys!" Shizuka yelled from the edge. This wasn't good… She could sense the trembling of suppressed irritation of Tezuka behind her.

Before anyone else had the chance to speak up, however, the loud and authoritative voice of the Hyoutei captain resounded across the room. "Just what do you fools think you're doing right now, ahn?"

Atobe reached up his hand.

SNAP.

The Seigaku regulars paused to look around, expecting something to happen.

Atobe was there, arm raised, and looking as smug as ever. Akutagawa Jirou was still napping by the poolside.

"Oi, Echizen!" They couldn't believe it! The first year was napping, as well; hands folded neatly over his stomach, one leg crossed over the other, and with his trusty white cap hiding his face from the glare of the overhead lights.

But, wait-… Where was the big one? The one always following Ato- It was just then that Momoshiro caught a reflection of something on the surface of the water. He looked up, far up, at the platform of the highest diving board. Oh, shi-

"Guys!" he yelled in warning, "Get away—!"

"Whoa, wait-!" Even with advance warning, where were they supposed to go, exactly? "No way!" "You're kidding me!"

Tezuka… Tezuka was fine because he was standing further back, but she didn't get away unscathed from the huge wave that was generated by the impact. Her front was entirely wet.

…Ahh… She didn't care anymore.

"—What a shock! The three who have touched the edge are immediately disqualified—!"

"—Seigaku's Kawamura Takashi—!" Kawamura hung onto the edge at the far end, coughing.

"—Seigaku's Oishi Shuuichirou—!" The Seigaku captain had been washed ashore completely.

"—Seigaku's Fuji Syuusuke—!" The vice-captain had been carried to the pool's edge nearby, on which he now propped his arms, chuckling good-humouredly.

So, their group lost three players in one go, huh. Shizuka sighed and moved forward, extending her hand down to the guy in the pool right before her. "Here."

The blithe and elegant expression of his changed into one akin to distress. "Ah, I apologize," he said.

"It's fine, isn't it?" Shizuka replied. "You did your best."

"Not that…" Fuji admitted with a small, repentant chuckle. "From this proximity, I am afraid that the outline of your undergarment is clearly visible."

Her sudden and unexpected action of covering the vice-captain's eyes drew the attention of an ever vigilant Tezuka.

"Normally," she said tersely to the guy before her, but keeping her voice lowered, "one wouldn't blatantly point this out to a girl, now would he?" …Crap. It must be because of all the water that had gotten on her earlier.

A chuckle accompanied his response. "And normally, wouldn't one think of covering herself, rather than someone else's eyes?"

…This was pretty awkward, now that he mentioned it. What a dilemma.

"Just, stay put," the girl said, hesitantly drawing her hand away. "Wait before you get out."

Another chuckle answered her. "My uniform jacket," Fuji said, pointing in the general direction where he remembered the wall hangers were, "It's the third one from the right."

…This guy…

She might have ignored what he said, if Tezuka weren't watching. Plus…

Shizuka stared at her upturned palm, the one that had been on his skin just now.

She pressed the back of her hand against her own forehead for reference.

…?

"Here," she said, and Fuji blinked when his uniform jacket landed over him. "Since you've been disqualified, get out quickly and go change."

"Eh…?"

"—12-9, Hyoutei team leads! Three minutes remaining—!"

Three minutes. Hurry up and have it decided, is what she thought while looking at the timer, resisting the urge to shudder. She heard Fuji leave the water.

Moments later, she felt the flutter of fabric settle atop her shoulders, and she looked over at graceful blue eyes, blinking.

Fuji tilted his head lightly, offering a polite chuckle. "Did you know…among the sports clubs of our school, there is a certain saying?"

She remained speechless, puzzled by both his action and words.

"If a girl accepts to wear a guy's uniform jacket," Fuji enlightened her, blithely, "She is effectively agreeing to become his."

…Come again?

"Maa… It is merely an outdated notion that has gone out of fashion years ago," Fuji continued good-humouredly. "However, there may exist those who hold the custom in firm regard."

At this point he stepped back, agilely. Right as a stray tennis ball tumbled a set of lifesavers off the wall, landing them in the spot he had been walking just a moment before.

Her gaze shot in the direction that ball had come from.

Hyoutei Captain Atobe Keigo was approaching with an audible, "Tsch."

"Fufu…" Fuji chose to disappear into the change rooms then. "Saa… If you will excuse me."

Atobe…? Shizuka faced toward her captain. That aim was way off.

"Shizuka." There was a certain presentiment to the way he said her name. "Just what are you thinking, wearing the jacket of someone from Seigaku, ahn?"

"Ah." Her very eloquent response.

"For goodness' sake, utterly defenseless," Atobe said, unzipping and removing his own Hyoutei uniform jacket with a vengeance. "If you're so cold that you have to accept an extra layer from someone, wear this."

She stared at the offering in his hand. She glanced at his sharp and perceptive eyes.

"Ho… You're not going to take that off?" Never was Atobe to know patience when it came to a blatant declaration of challenge, or to what he perceived as one.

"Um…" Shizuka drew the Seigaku jacket further across her front, a little embarrassed but trying to conceal that fact. "I won't."

Those dark blue eyes of his widened perceptibly, flashing discontentment. "You-"

"Atobe."

Tezuka's one word rescued her from what was about to become an awkward predicament. "Is it fine to leave your team like this?"

Speaking of the team competition that was still ongoing…

"Argh!" Shishido shielded his eyes from the spray of water the high spin shot that drove by, curving up right as it reached the edge of the pool. "I can't see!"

"—Seigaku, 10th one down, 6 more standing—!"

Another shot smacked into an airborne ball, both flying in separate directions and each finding its target.

"—Two at once! Seigaku's 12th one down! Hyoutei team leads by only one—!"

"Nice, Echizen!" The boy's landing was caught by the mutual support of Momoshiro and—who is that? "Knock out each and every one of them, you hear!?" Kaidoh, bandana lost in the fray, demanded of him.

Echizen only sighed with customary nonchalance. "You should all try a little harder, senpais."

"—Seigaku, 13 down! It's now a tie—!" Okura-san announced.

"Oi, Jirou!" "That was the wrong side!" "Go back to sleep, Jirou…"

…For goodness' sake. Just because he looked away for a moment.

Atobe tossed his jacket to the girl, grabbing his racquet.

"Ochibi—!"

Kikumaru's warning shout came a step too late.

Or rather, Atobe was too swift.

"Ah-!" Echizen's racquet was knocked clean off his hands. It sank into the water's depths with a 'plop'.

Atobe laughed, his typical, arrogance-filled laugh. "How's that, Shrimp? Even in playing dirty, Ore-sama is king!"

"Echizen!"

The boy dove underwater.

"Shishido, Otori," Atobe turned to his teammates. "Full offense."

"Got it," they answered him.

"Oshitari, Mukahi," said Atobe.

"You don't have to tell us," Oshitari, who had managed to escape back to this side, informed him. They have already planned this out in the beginning. "But, Atobe…can you manage as the only defender? They have sent out a troublesome one, na?"

"Hmph. Just who do you think I am, ahn?" Atobe reminded him. "Knowing the brat, he'll attempt a retribution in kind. As if he can catch off-guard someone who is well prepared-"

"Heh. Too late," scoffed an all too familiar voice, very close by. "I already have."

Astounded pairs of eyes flew to the viridian haired boy who had resurfaced right in their midst. "Ahn!?"

Atobe's reflexive reaction was to look down at his own person. "You mean you've already-!?"

Echizen took the opportunity to flip up Atobe's float with all his might.

Splash.

"Oi, Atobe!" Mukahi shouted as the Hyoutei captain resurfaced. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Echizen snorted, resurfacing as well. "Did a little water hurt you?" He reached up the racquet in his hand.

Atobe's racquet. Which the boy threw onto the poolside, and out of reach, with a smirk.

And Atobe was furious.

Oshitari sighed. "My goodness. Why do you keep getting taken in by that lad each and every time?" This was bordering on obsession, didn't it?

"Kabaji!" Atobe snapped his fingers commandingly.

Oh. Mon. Dieu.

"S-Stop that!" Shizuka shouted as Kabaji began swinging the Seigaku first year in full circles, who was screaming dizzily, "Waaaahh-!"

"Noooo-! Ochibi!" Kikumaru screamed.

"Echizen!" "We have to save him!"

"—Last minute—!" Okura-san announced as chaos again erupted in the pool beneath him. "—Score count, 15-14, Hyoutei leads! Will Seigaku have a chance to turn this around—!?"

"I got Echizen!" Momoshiro declared triumphantly, keeping a dazed Echizen afloat. "Cats," muttered the boy, out of it, "There are cats…"

"I got back Kaidoh's bandana!" Kikumaru shouted, holding it dripping above water.

Oshitari and Mukahi emerged from below water, each smirking. "We got the plug."

Say what—!?

It was mere seconds later they began to feel it.

The pull of a fast-acting drain.

"Nyaaaah!" Kikumaru latched onto one rope of floats. Inui grabbed on in front of him. Kaidoh bumped into Inui, who in turn bumped into him. "Heeei! D-Don't come this way!"

Kaidoh grabbed onto Momoshiro's arm as the guy drained past. Echizen was dumped against Kikumaru. "Why are you all coming this way, nya!?"

"Hang on, Eiji-senpai! If we touch the edge, it's all over!" "You can do it, Eiji-senpai!" "We believe in you!"

Kikumaru strained under the pressure of his teammates' faith in him. "T-That's right! Th-This is nothing to the great E-Eiji-sama!"

Hyoutei's Kabaji drifted their way at full speed.

"Are you kidding me!?" Kikumaru screamed.

Kabaji collided with the group.

The rope itself snapped under the pressure.

"AHHHHHHhhhh—!"

A train of flailing Seigaku regulars was swept away.

"—Ten seconds left, but all of Seigaku's team are disqualified. What a major upset for yesterday's champions! Looks like Hyoutei's endgame strategy pulled through! It's Hyoutei's win—!"

…She was glad, Shizuka thought—as she watched the Seigaku members hung on the pool's edge for dear life—…that she hadn't participated this morning.


The members of the rival groups were still glowering at each other by the time they have changed out of their wet clothes and were heading back to the main building.

Shizuka was looking for one person in particular.

"Fuji," she called out to him. Much to the surprise and alarm of several Hyoutei regulars.

The girl returned the uniform jacket into its owner's hands. "Also-" "Kagami-chan~"

It looked as though she was about to say more, but Okura-san called to her at that moment. "If you have a moment, I have something to discuss with you," the camp facilitator requested.

"Ah, yes, of course," Shizuka replied, quickly excusing herself from her peers.

Fuji found his way forward blocked off by two taller, and very hostile seeming young males.

"Ho… Seigaku's Fuji Syuusuke," Atobe Keigo, one of his confronters, drawled with his arms crossed unrelentingly before him. "Ore-sama hates wasting time on trivial matters, so we will ask you clearly."

"Hyoutei's club manager Kagami Shizuka," said Oshitari Yuushi, the other of his confronters. "Is there a reason the two of you appear closer than usual, today?"

"Aa…" Not appearing phased in the least, Fuji simply replied in surrender, "Misunderstanding. Merely a misunderstanding."

"Ho…" The Hyoutei captain didn't appear convinced in the first place, but then Fuji raised curled fingers to his chin, and even commented, "However, what to do…?"

Seigaku's vice-captain Fuji looked thoughtfully troubled for a moment. "Saa… Shall I make a prediction?" He smiled, replete with innocent charm. "Because of what happened back there, she will be exceptionally aware of my existence today."

"Eh?" Kikumaru's eyebrows arched up. "Hey…have I missed anything?" he asked Oishi. Oishi shrugged helplessly and shook his head.

"What happened?" Kikumaru then asked Tezuka, who was on his other side. He received a stoic stare in response.

Fuji-senpai. Echizen tugged on his cap with a soundless sigh, not getting this at all. Didn't you say not to provoke them?

"Oi, Oi, what is this guy saying?" Oshitari said in a clipped, measured tone. "Listen here," he said, doing his utmost to remain a gentleman, "Kagami-chan is our school's manager. You can't just get close to her as you please, na?"

"Fufu… I know," Fuji said in pleasant agreement. He also knew the topic would have just ended there, if he hadn't gone ahead and added, "I tried."

There was a figurative snap, as both his confronters registered those words.

"Fuji!" "Fujiko-chan!" Kikumaru shouted in alarm.

"Wait! You guys!" "Let go of him, you punks!"

"Fshuu… Let's settle the score, right now!" "Oh yeah!?" "DON'T FIGHT-!" "Shishido-san!"

That was the final straw.

"Everyone, 100 laps, now!"


A/N: Yeah…it's one of those chapters where things shouldn't be taken too seriously. Try not to read too much into it; I kind of just went with the flow. The important things will come in the following chapters.