A/N: Not mine.

"With all the delicious food that your mother and my dad brought, you are not going to eat that!" Kotoko snatched the packaged red bean bun from Yuuki's hand, the 'prize' for coming in third. "And another thing, when Obasama puts your father on a diet, you're doing it as well. It's a crying shame that you can't run faster than that!"

His cry of 'Oh, Onee-chan–' was cut off by the whirling dervish who began dancing around them.

"Kotoko, what the frack is wrong with you? Didn't ya see me out there?"

"Oh, bug off, Kin-chan," she snapped. "And thanks but no thanks for sending me to that lousy clue."

"But I did it for us!"

"Huh?" the other two responded in unison.

"To show off your true love." To indicate of whom he spoke, he slapped both hands on his chest.

Kotoko rolled her eyes and sighed, "I'm not your–"

"You ugly baka!" Yuuki burst out and shot forward. "Onee-chan is dating my brother."

Kin-chan stuck a hand on the boy's forehead to hold him at a safe distance. "Hush up, brat," he snarled. "Sure, she's been hankering after him for a while, but she just needs to see the light."

"Don't talk about lights, Kin-chan, or I'll punch yours out!" Jinko hurled herself into the fray, the altercation having attracted scrutiny from more than just nearby observers.

"Oh, my dear Kotoko-chan," Mrs. Irie fussed over the girl once she was returned to, as the matriarch put it, 'the bosom of her family', "did that boy upset you? I can't believe he tried to place hands on you. Quel goujat!"

"Well, he did place hands on me," her younger son interrupted, "so what am I? Chopped liver?" He soon regretted calling attention to himself.

"My sweet garçon courageux." His mother cupped his face before covering it with kisses. "What a chivalrous knight to protect your dear sister." Satomi nudged Jinko at that sentence. "Stepping out to face the evil dragon which so threatened her."

"More like a muddy salamander or a slimy snake," Jinko amended.

"Snakes aren't slimy," Naoki corrected, "but the allusion is apt."

"Huh?" the girl replied.

"Never mind," he exhaled with a snort. "I suppose that's one more argument for you continuing to join Kotoko's tutoring sessions."

While his brother was surrounded by three girls leaping and cheering around him, Yuuki gave his best puppy dog eyes at his mother. "Since I was so heroic, do you think I can eat the bean bun that I won in our contest? Onee-chan took it away from me."

"By the way, Kotoko," Jinko snagged an energy drink when they returned to the seating area, "what was your clue?"

"Oh," she tucked her chin, "'The man I love'."

"Say what?!"

Naoki grinned at her friends' exclamations and chuckled as their heads swerved to face his direction. "Why did you choose my younger brother, Kotoko?" he teased. "You're not a shotacon, I hope."

"Well, your father would probably have collapsed from exertion, my father was busy with Obasama's cameras, and you were still cooling down from your first race."

He thought it was a mark of respect that she listed the older generation first. "Ah, so Yuuki-kun was your fourth choice then?"

It was just as well that he did not hear Satomi's muttered, "More like fifth."

"Well, that, and if I had chosen you, Kin-chan's head might have actually exploded," she explained earnestly.

"Yes, we wouldn't want that to interfere with a competition. Too messy," he added with a straight face. "But we're between events right now," he placed an arm over her shoulders and kissed her temple, "so it might be amusing to burn his ass."

Kotoko's friends' squeals and Mrs' Irie's scolding for language were so loud that she was totally unable to hear the meltdown across the field.

"That goat-buggering bastard Irie!" Kinnosuke paced in a tight circle. His two friends shared a concerned glance as they backed away. "Getting me disqualified from that race! Stealing my manly victory. And my woman!"

"You know, Dozo, maybe it's time to break up the Terrific Trio."

"But don't worry, you sonuvabitch, you won't escape. I'll properly humiliate you in the relay. No one disses Kin-chan and gets away with it!"

"Gintaro, I've been thinking the same thing ever since that day at the water park."

"Just you wait! Just you wait!"

"Be prepared to eat my dust, Irie!"

Naoki raised an eyebrow. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Neandertal. We're both on the last leg and the race hasn't even ever started."

"There's no way I'll let you steal this victory from me, cheater!"

"You know, Ikezawa, when you point your finger at someone, the other three are pointed straight back at you."

"Whut?"

"Now, we want this to be a nice clean event." The official speared Kinnosuke with a warning glare. "Starters will begin at the shot, and the next leg runners will take place at the line. You must not begin until you feel the baton in your hand. Now, take your places!"

Once the gun sounded Kotoko glumly took her spot in the Class F lane.

"Atta girl, babe!" Kinnosuke shouted.

She tossed her head in disdain and prepared to run.

"Onee-chan, you did great!"

Kotoko was almost knocked off her feet by an elementary school missile. "Thanks, Yuuki-kun," she patted his shoulder, "but you might want to back off. I'm sweaty and stinky."

"Phew! You are," he agreed, "but hurry up. Sat-chan and Jin-chan saved us a spot near the finish line so we can watch Onii-chan bury that damn loser!"

"Language," she chided as they made their way through the crowd. Sure enough, Jinko and Satomi had used their sharp elbows to good effect, and the newcomers were squeezed in, Yuuki in front of her, held back from the track by her arms crossed over his chest. "What's the progress?" she asked.

"Saotome-kun from Class C was the last of the third runners, so all of the final leg are on the track," Satomi explained.

"It's between Irie-kun and Kin-chan." Jinko shaded her eyes and squinted. "I can't tell who's in the lead."

"C'mon, Onii-chan, c'mon," Yuuki chanted intently.

The clump of students suddenly appeared to convulse as those in the back tried to push forward. With limited space available, this placed undue pressure on the flimsy chains at the edge of the track.

"Yuuki-kun!"

"Kotoko!"

Damn! Naoki thought. That Class F buffoon sure does have the speed. I'm glad I did those extra drills this past month. Just as his stride increased for the last push, he saw his brother and Kotoko fall to the track less than ten meters past the finish line. As soon as he could slow after feeling the tape break across his chest he turned, only to see his closest competitor collide and sprawl over the pair.

"Onee-chan, you're squishing me!" Yuuki gasped.

"It's not me, Yuuki-kun, there's someone on top of me. Ugh! Get your hand away from there! Ah!" As soon as she felt the weight lift away, she rolled off the boy. "Are you okay?" Her hands wiped his face, and she hissed at a red mark on his cheekbone. "Who hit my little brother?" she demanded, spinning around.

"This one," Naoki's grip tightened on a railing Kinnosuke, "collided with both of you."

Mrs. Irie rushed to her son's side, a cold wet cloth already in her hand while Satomi and Jinko began smacking the protesting Class F entrant. "You didn't even try to dodge!" Jinko spat.

"He kicked him in the face," Satomi informed them, supported by murmurs of agreement from other onlookers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Aihara continued to film the girls and the older Irie son berating the other boy, while his friend stood nearby, hands clenched into fists and making growling sounds. "You okay, Iri-chan?"

"I'd like nothing more than to join them in, what do they call it now? A beatdown? but that is unbecoming of an adult."

Mrs. Irie apparently did not hold that belief because she left her younger son to Kotoko's ministrations and joined Satomi and Jinko. "You imbécile de crétin!" she raged. "You could have blinded my baby! I knew you were a vulgar boor, but you are dangerous aussi bien que ça! Be assured, I will be having words with the school's headmaster. You shall not escape punishment for this gross defiance of proper behavior."

An assistant principal scurried to the site of the confrontation. "Ah, Mrs. Irie-san, I came as soon as I saw the dispute." She bowed. "Please allow the administration to take care of this situation and," she glared, "this student. Who may," she advanced on the previously quarreling group and grasped Kinnosuke's bicep after Naoki released it, "be a former student if his attitude is not adjusted promptly."

"Well, Hori-san," Mrs. Irie sniffed as her husband stepped to her side, "I suppose we can do that. Right, Papa?"

"We will allow you to take charge at this point but reserve the right to take further steps if your efforts are unfruitful."

"Oi, why're you talking about me when I'm right here?" The boy complained noisily. "Damn brown-noser, just because the Iries have a bit of money."

"It's not that at all." Kotoko shrugged off her friends and stomped over. "You've been a major pain in the butt for years, Kin-chan, and it's only gotten worse the past few months. It's as if you don't know the meaning of the word 'no'."

"And since that word has only two letters," Satomi added, "it doesn't say much for your intelligence."

Fiery was the invective which flowed from the young man's tongue at that; however, they were spared much of it as more support arrived and he was frog-marched into the school building.

"Well, that was désagréable," Mrs. Irie, not usually one for understatement, said.

"If that means what I think it means, then yeah." Kotoko's eyes shot fire at the door behind which the others had disappeared. "And I didn't even get to mention that he tried to grope me while we were all piled up back there."

The camera almost dropped from Mr. Aihara's hand. "What did you say?"

T/N: Quel goujat!=What a jerk!; garçon courageux=brave boy; imbécile de crétin=fool of a moron; aussi bien que ça=as well as that; désagréable=unpleasant.