A/N: Hey guys. Feeling really bad today... delirious and maybe a little dehydrated. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Zain, I hope I'm well enough to DM tonight or tomorrow.

[Chapter 18]: Test the Waters

"Well! If it isn't the future Mr. Kurimu Aoki!"

Ayato called on all his willpower not to slam his head on his desk. He was going to have to have a talk with Yuri about sharpening up her oh-so-keen intuition. As it was, Kimito had already put his school-time work schedule back into place, and he was still recalibrating his brain after spoiling himself rotten all summer, so he had very little energy for whatever Hejjiguchi had in store. Maybe he should have come to class closer to the bell.

Instead, he stared up at him somewhat blearily. "You're oddly cheerful on the first day back to school."

"It must be because I missed your shining face," Hejjiguchi said with a grin.

Behind Hejjiguchi, Kurimu herself walked through the classroom door. He caught her eye as she came up behind Hejjiguchi with an armful of books.

"Kurimu, he flirted with me just now," Ayato said dryly. "What do you think of this?"

Hejjiguchi's eyes grew a fraction wider, as if he'd just said there was a ghost hovering over his shoulder. Ayato could've sworn there was a bead of sweat on his brow, before he let the grin return to his face and turned to face his friend.

"Hejjiguchi, there's goofing around and then there's being rude," Kurimu said firmly, placing her books on her desk. "I told you it's not right to behave like that, especially—"

"Especially on the first day back. I know, I know." Hejjiguchi sat down behind her, pushing his chair back so he could rest his legs on the desk without getting his shoes too close to her hair. "It's an endurance test, you know. All your suitors have to go through it."

Kurimu, who had been in the middle of offering Ayato an apologetic smile, snapped her head toward Hejjiguchi with flushed cheeks. "M-my suitors?!"

"What—"

"Do you have to be so embarrassing about it?" Kurimu squeaked, stamping her foot.

Hejjiguchi folded his arms behind his head. "It's one of the endurance tests."

From some strange stroke of luck, the teacher joined the classroom moments after Ami did. Ami's hair was curled, and she looked purposely dolled up to go with her tan, but she didn't have enough time to pause by Ayato's desk and jingle her gold bracelets at him while she asked how much he'd missed the three of them. She eyed him, certainly, but strode on past him to join Hejjiguchi and Kurimu with a bright smile.

When Ayato turned fully to the front, he caught Masuda staring at him with a raised brow.

"You lucked out," he mouthed.

Ayato lifted his eyebrows right back at him. The guy was lucky to be seated at a safe distance from the whole mess, and could tune it out easily. The sympathy was appreciated.

"For now," he mouthed back.

Summer had been generous to him, but fate wasn't kind enough to let this respite last long.

Yuri had quite the inappropriate giggle fit when he gave her an update at lunch. As in, she couldn't even eat or drink for five whole minutes because she was snickering evilly and smiling too much.

"Alright, so I was wrong," she said, grinning into her drink. "I gave them more credit than they deserved."

They'd chosen their outdoors spot today, since it gave them a lingering feeling of summer break. Besides the warm sun and smell of trees, it had the pleasant addition of being far away from certain idiots. During the studying weeks those three had eaten in the classroom, but otherwise he pegged them as rooftop lurkers.

He could just imagine Hejjiguchi resting on the edge, letting his foot dangle in the air until he thoughtlessly dropped his shoe on some poor unsuspecting student. Still, he rather liked the mental image of Hejjiguchi running and hopping to retrieve his shoe.

"Also, I got a good look at Ami today," Yuri continued. "Looking dressed to impress."

"I saw that too." Ayato leaned his head back against a tree trunk. "Seriously, what is she playing at?"

"I'd like to revisit the 'Ami secretly likes you' theory."

"But that makes no sense! Why would she push her best friend at me if that were true?"

Yuri brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, which drew Ayato's interest. When Yuri did something like that, she was usually about to divulge a great mysterious truth about women.

"Because," she said firmly, tapping her nails against the lid of her drink, "sometimes, when a girl likes a guy, but she's insecure or having difficulties with her feelings, she'll get interested in what type of girl he likes. Maybe she'll ask. Maybe she'll push some competition his way, even to pretend like she doesn't like him."

For extra effect, she gave him a heavy-lidded look, batting her eyelashes.

"But secretly, in her heart of hearts, all she wants is for him to say, 'I don't want her. I choose you.'"

The coo of her fake gooey romantic voice made him snicker at first – it didn't suit her at all – but then he lightly pushed her face away.

"Come on, that's not it," he muttered. God, he hoped that wasn't it. It would take someone with remarkable patience to put up with someone like Ami.

Yuri thoughtfully hummed her agreement.

"It's a possibility, but it doesn't feel right to me," she mused. "Still, she's the ringleader, so there's got to be a reason behind it."

"Yeah. Ami's the one using her hopeless romantic melodramatics to convince Kurimu of my feelings for her." Ayato tried to enjoy the cool breeze that had just picked up, but it was very faint and fleeting. "And Hejjiguchi wouldn't even bother helping Ami bug me if it weren't for Kurimu. He's not doing this to match-make. He's doing this because he's not sure I'm 'right for her.'"

Yuri pursed her lips into a small frown as he said this, face closing in deep thought. He was surprised she wasn't teasing him about being a dangerous bad boy who went to school every day and did all his chores, but he appreciated that she might be holding her tongue.

He thought, then, of class this morning, and allowed himself an appreciative half-smile.

"Though, honestly, if it weren't for all this, Kurimu wouldn't be so bad." He snorted, and started digging further into his bento box with his chopsticks. "She actually got Hejjiguchi to shut up this morning. Now there's a girl after my own heart—"

Horribly within earshot, there was an awful screeching sound – like someone skidding to a stop.

Ayato glanced up from his lunch. Hejjiguchi stared back, eyes cartoonishly large.

"Shit," said Ayato.

Hejjiguchi's eyes narrowed again. He signed the "I'm watching you" gesture a couple of times before zooming off.

Sighing, Ayato looked tiredly to Yuri. She still had that thoughtful expression on her face, staring into her lap as if Hejjiguchi's sudden appearance hadn't even fazed her.

"Uh…" He elbowed her. "Did you hear what he just heard?"

"Yep," she said, with a faint smirk. "And you won't hear the end of it. Unless…"

"Unless?" Ayato prompted.

There was something about the tone that she'd get, coupled with an evil glint in her eye. It made her look and sound wonderfully villainous, like a mastermind who had the protagonist right where she wanted them.

"Just give me a little time to run with this thought." Yuri took a hard swig of coffee, then sighed cheerfully. "Trust me, it's a doozy."

"So helpful," he tsked, fishing some fried dumpling out of his lunch. "And what am I supposed to do in the meantime, now that Hejjiguchi has more ammo on me?"

"Steer into the skid," Yuri said, so emphatically he almost dropped the dumpling. She grabbed his arm, fingers clinging to the fabric of his sleeve. "If he doesn't immediately tell Kurimu what you said, it means he's not on Ami's side. He doesn't want Kurimu to know your feelings. And that means you have to flirt with her."

Ayato wrenched his arm away in horror, searching her eyes for sanity. "Good God, woman! What are you getting me into?!"

"Hejjiguchi is like a loose thread in Ami's sweater. Picking at it can make the whole thing unravel." Yuri leaned forward, lowering her voice but vamping up her enthusiasm. "You know what Hejjiguchi's loose thread is? His disapproval."

Swallowing hard, Ayato didn't drop his gaze. Yuri's intensity could be magnificently terrifying sometimes.

Rather, he was scared, but in a "dear God tell me more" kind of way.

"Your job is to mess with his head," Yuri told him. "Chat her up. Show that you really are warming up to her and might actually be interested. The more it bothers him, the less he'll put up with. He won't stand for it. It'll put him at odds with Ami."

"But it'll give Ami more material," he pressed. "And I'll be toying with Kurimu."

"For now, you'll just have to risk it." Yuri waved it off, and kicked the dirt as she lazily swung her feet. "I mean, that's another scab to pick at, right? You'll have to get a feel for whether Kurimu is even interested or not."

Ayato scoffed. "Of course she's interested. Look at me." He tossed his hair for good measure.

Yuri almost cried with laughter. Maybe he needed to brush up on his flirting skills.

But still he wondered, even after they parted ways for class, what was going in Yuri's evil little head. He'd admit he had been tempted to do this right before summer break, but… wouldn't hitting on Kurimu just be digging him into a much deeper hole? He wasn't as worried about Kurimu's delusions of love as he was Ami's. Besides, playing Kurimu like that? Hejjiguchi would be furious.

And yet…

Ayato smiled to himself as he approached his classroom.

Hejjiguchi would be furious.

Kurimu, Ami, and Hejjiguchi were already in their seats when he walked in. Although angled in such a way that she faced both Kurimu and Hejjiguchi, Ami's chipper voice and exaggerated gestures were directed more at Hejjiguchi, who was propped up with his back against the window and his feet on the unoccupied chair next to him. He looked only vaguely interested in Ami's ramblings and ready to nap, but his eyes opened a sliver when he caught Ayato's scrutiny.

Ayato hesitated, then straightened his shoulders and walked over to his desk. Right in front of Kurimu. Now that Ami was hogging Hejjiguchi's attention (or perhaps the other way around), and rather than bother to get a word in edgewise Kurimu was listening politely, this seemed… an opportune moment.

Time to test the waters.

"Kurimu," Ayato greeted her as he sat down. He turned in his seat, resting his arm on the back of his chair. "How was your summer?"

Her head pricked up, but she hesitated as if she wasn't sure she'd heard right (Ami apparently couldn't hear him over the sound of herself talking). Then she brought herself around to face him, and when he tilted his head at her invitingly, her puzzled expression became friendly. Hejjiguchi's behind her, not so much.

"It was so much fun. Thank you very much for asking!" Kurimu gave him a cheerful smile. "Ami, Hejjiguchi, and I spent the whole summer at the beach and the pool. The sun felt so nice."

He made some acknowledging noises and carefully studied her, keeping it only conspicuous enough to look somewhat flirty. She was too calm and polite right now, even for her. If Hejjiguchi had told Ami and Kurimu what he'd said, the news would still be fresh. A girl like Kurimu would be blushing too fiercely to answer him in coherent sentences.

Likewise, Hejjiguchi wouldn't be staring him down like a guard dog right now.

Maybe he should turn up the heat.

"You went to the pool all summer? The one here in Akuma?" Ayato pretended to look surprised, then intrigued when she nodded. He leaned forward an inch or two. "That's a shame, I must have just missed you."

Ami finally tore herself away from her one-and-a-half-sided conversation with Hejjiguchi. Her eyes had gone starry for a moment (flickering between stars and cartoonish hearts, he imagined), full of pure joy. And now they'd dulled to something else, and Ayato had the vague sensation that he was locking eyes with a very happy shark.

"Naoi, did you say you were at the pool too?" Ami raised her eyebrows, looking hopefully between Ayato and Kurimu. "I thought you were busy at your dad's pottery store."

Ayato held back a frown. He knew he'd mentioned it to them before, but still… restraining orders might be in his best interest.

"He changed my schedule for summer break," he replied, more to Kurimu than to Ami. "Said I wasn't productive without the conditions and restrictions that school brings. Too much time on my hands." He smiled innocently at Kurimu, making sure to keep in Hejjiguchi's line of sight. "I guess I just kept daydreaming about something."

Ami stared. Hejjiguchi glared.

Kurimu beamed.

"Me too!" she said, sounding kindly sympathetic. "Without any worries weighing me down, it's so easy for my mind to just drift away like a balloon. Then the whole day is gone…"

Ayato disguised a desperate need to snicker with an encouraging smile. Kurimu was strictly studious and pleased their teachers with her good grades, but when it came to flirting, it was in one ear and out the other with her. Maybe she thought he was just breaking out of his shell?

Then again, he wasn't really interested in flirting if he didn't have to. From the looks of it, him just talking to her was a big red "NO" in Hejjiguchi's book. Especially after what he'd heard during lunch.

"Kurimu," Ami said patiently, "don't you wish Naoi had told us he was free this summer? The four of us could've gone somewhere together!"

Kurimu smiled at the thought at first, then seemed to realize what Ami was hinting at. Her cheeks grew flushed, and when she turned the smile Ami's way, Ayato could've sworn that it twitched. Just a little.

"But that would've been an unlucky number," he said, and nodded in Hejjiguchi's direction. "I think if you're going to take Hejjiguchi to any kind of place with water, he'll want all the luck in the world on his side."

Hejjiguchi eyed him warily, even more so when he threw Kurimu a wink that made her giggle. His features only relaxed when Kurimu turned around to give him a supportive pat on the arm. "Heh," he muttered, sweating.

"Maybe you could bring Nakamura along, then," Kurimu offered, brightening up at the thought.

Ami looked very tired all of a sudden. Ayato could almost sympathize with her if she hadn't brought this on herself. Difficult to match-make for a love that isn't there, isn't it? When one partner's unwilling and the other's oblivious.

"Five would solve the problem," Ami agreed, stroking her chin as if thinking hard. "But I'm not sure how she'd feel about that. You know what I mean, right?"

Ayato squinted at her, suspicious and strangely defensive. No, he wasn't sure what she meant by that. Hejjiguchi frowned too, possibly just as confused as he was. He almost looked to Ayato for answers, then thought the better of it. Which was just as well – he wouldn't have told him even if he knew.

"I guess we'll have to keep it in twos and threes then," Ayato said, and gave Kurimu a performative wink.

Just as he predicted, the wink almost literally flew right over her head. Smiling Kurimu interpreted it as friendly. Behind her, Hejjiguchi narrowed his eyes as if a flirt-dar warning was going off in his head.

Ayato smiled. Kurimu's naiveté would work well with this mission.

"You're absolutely right!" Ami said, with too much joy for him to feel too comfortable. "I agree with you, four is too unlucky."

Satisfied, he started to turn back around in his seat.

"Maybe you and Kurimu could walk home together after school, to make up for lost summer time? Hejjiguchi and I wouldn't mind."

He froze. Three-quarters facing the front board. So close. He chanced a look over his shoulder.

How far was he really willing to go with this flirting game? There wasn't really a point in walking alone with Kurimu when Hejjiguchi couldn't see them. She was immune to his fake flirts so far, and wouldn't think to mention them to her friends. In fact, just now Ami's suggestion gave her a look on her face like she was trying to divide large numbers in her head.

Although…

Planting the idea in Hejjiguchi's brain might be worth it, judging by the guy's feeble twitching poker face. Just the thought of Kimito Naoi's son left alone with his sweet, defenseless little friend… it must put such horrible ideas in his mind. A tricky, hungry wolf and Little Red Riding Hood in the woods with no huntsman to protect her. Why, that thought would probably follow him all day!

But still, despite Yuri's scheme...

"What do you say?" Ami coaxed, still cheery. "The two of you live pretty close to each other, after all."

Ayato frowned. So he'd heard.

"I'll have to think about it—" he started to say.

"Kawata!" their teacher boomed, now standing at the blackboard. "Could you hold it down? You're disrupting your classmates."

As Ami squeaked an apology, Ayato grinned to himself and turned fully to the front. Saved by the teacher. Whether it was his obscured position behind focused students like Masuda, or his identity as a Naoi, invisibility had its perks.

The end of the school day could not have come sooner for Ayato.

Frankly, just listening to the troublesome trio passing notes behind him was tiring and exceptionally nerve-wracking. Well, Kurimu sounded like she was more of a note-passer rather than writer, so it was probably just Hejjiguchi and Ami. Still, Ami would scribble furiously as if her life depended on it. She almost got caught until she took off the golden bracelets that kept jangling.

What in God's name were they corresponding about?

Him, he guessed. He didn't care if that made him sound narcissistic.

But during clean-up, Hejjiguchi and Ami kept whispering fiercely to each other and occasionally glancing in his direction. He had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he elected to stay as far away from them as possible.

Except for the time Hejjiguchi got into the zoukin gake stance and raced haphazardly across his path with a wash cloth, striking him with déjà vu just as hard as he had almost struck his foot. Ayato followed him with his gaze for a moment, then shook his head. No, somehow it just wasn't the same.

Somehow he got lucky, and escaped the vicinity before any of them could snatch him up on the "I'll think about it" offer. Ideally, they'd forgotten all about it. But it was safer not to place any bets on that.

He was halfway to his and Yuri's stone border meeting place when he spotted her. She wasn't alone.

"Naoi!" Hejjiguchi greeted, feigning surprise as Ayato approached them. "And here I'd figured you'd left with Kurimu already."

Yuri looked vaguely amused, standing there with her arms crossed.

"Hejjiguchi was just telling me how you were talking about walking Kurimu home today," she said, lifting an eyebrow and giving him a shrewd smile. "I knew you got tired of me over the summer."

"I said I had to think about it," Ayato said firmly. Damn her for playing along.

"Fresh term, fresh start, am I right?" Hejjiguchi flashed them a merry thumbs up and a wink, like he hadn't even heard him. "So I was just asking Yuri here if she wanted to walk home with me instead."

Ayato clenched his fists. Damn him for calling his bluff!

This was going way too far, forcing his hand in such a way. Trying to lock in Yuri so that he'd go with Kurimu. Whose idea was it? Ami, trying to divert the "other girl," or was Hejjiguchi really still trying to play mind games?

Well, Ayato could call bluffs too.

"Thanks, but I think he wants to go with me," said Yuri, before he could open his mouth. Shifting closer to him, she tapped a finger to her chin as if just realizing something. "Although I hope your friend Ami didn't assume the same thing you did. Kurimu might be all by herself right now!"

Hejjiguchi's eyebrows shot halfway up his forehead.

Clinging to the epiphany, Ayato grinned meaningfully at him. "Now, in good conscience, which one of us do you think is more likely to stand her up?"

The imbecile was gone so fast his exit shook the tree branches.

As he and Yuri made their own exit through the school gates, Ayato's laughter melted into a relieved sigh. He may have played with the idea a couple of times today but messing with Hejjiguchi's head wasn't worth walking home with someone who still felt like stranger. When he thought about it, Yuri was the only one he really wanted to walk home with.

"Thanks for helping me get out of that," he said.

Yuri shrugged it off, but allowed an animated grin as she trotted across the road.

"Hey, Kurimu gets to see you in class every day," she reminded him, pivoting slightly to see if he was keeping up. "I didn't want to have to wait until tomorrow morning to hear how your mission went."

He scoffed. "Oh, I see how it is. So otherwise you would have walked home with him, is that right?"

"Well, we do live in the same neighborhood…"

More jeering and prodding ensued, but eventually he gave her a status report on how the second half of the day had gone. Yuri listened carefully, slowing on the sidewalks at certain points as she processed his notes. The comparison of the reactions between Hejjiguchi and Kurimu cracked her up. She found it especially amusing when he mentioned that Kurimu had offered to invite her along (he decided not to bring up the specifics of Ami's rebuttal).

"Though I'm not sure why you wanted me to do this," Ayato considered while they were walking through town. "It was already obvious that Hejjiguchi doesn't want us together. He said so himself, back in July."

"When you weren't even talking to her." Yuri stopped briefly to linger over some skirts in a window display. "Now instead of posing as the reclusive bad boy, you're showing interest and being friendly. He's not going to want to play the game anymore if you start getting in on it."

"Start?" Ayato sweated the thought. "How long do I have to keep this up, anyway?"

Yuri drew away from the window and fell into an unhurried pace, tapping her chin again.

"Give me a little more time," she said. "A few days, maybe. I need some more evidence to ensure that today wasn't a fluke."

"What are you talking about?" Honestly, if she had a solution and she was withholding it from him…! "A fluke for what?"

Yuri just beamed.

"You said you're good at deduction, so figure it out!" she told him, and led him by the wrist up the crosswalk. "I'll tell you when I'm sure of it."

Ayato sighed again. It was hard to do detective work when he was constantly swatting at flies.

They made their way onto the forest path, but not before Yuri playfully waggled her eyebrows in the direction of Midori Hill. It was a gesture he really could have done without. After school was reserved for different worries, much more pressing issues than some girl being shoved at him.

But even as they grew closer to the Naoi estate, his mind was farther away.

He didn't like feeling out of the loop with Yuri. Her playfully concealing a theory reminded him of Ami's strange comment. You know what I mean, right? She could have just been saying Yuri wouldn't get along with them, but he didn't think that was the case. Yuri thought Kurimu was sweet, and though he was loathe to admit it, she got on pretty well with Hejjiguchi. He couldn't think of anything that Yuri personally held against Ami. So why would Yuri joining them be such an issue?

What did Ami know about Yuri that he didn't?

It had to have something to do with… whatever it was she didn't want to talk about at her party. That was the feeling that he got just now.

Maybe if she knew what he was thinking about, she'd discourage his deduction skills.

"To think," Yuri mused, a playful lilt in her voice as they approached the clearing, "you were this close to bringing another girl home to meet your mom."

Ayato covered up a wince when she said that. Fine, so maybe he had some avoidable topics of his own.

"You're not going to ask me to go that far, are you?" he asked warily.

"Of course not," Yuri said, casually brushing the idea away. "Just keep chatting her up. If you're lucky, either she'll keep missing your signals or you'll lose your broody charm."

Ayato was relieved, but still eyed her with a bit of skepticism. If he was lucky? They were playing with fire here – fire named Ami Kawata. Something like this was bound to come around and bite him in the ass.

Noticing, she added, "Meanwhile, you'll be driving Hejjiguchi to his breaking point."

Ayato broke out into a grand smile, rubbing his chin. "I suppose I can keep this going a little bit longer."

They parted ways with a laugh, and he trotted up the slope to his house. Inside, he'd thank his mother for the after-school meal she prepared, but they wouldn't talk much otherwise. She'd send him off to the workshop with few words passed between the two of them.

It wasn't the mug anymore; it was just that it had been a fluke. They lived in completely different worlds. Worlds that gambled with heavy risk when they crossed, at an intersection too treacherous to bother.

Kurimu's world, he found, was much easier to breach.

Preview:

"I'm ready to tell you my theory."

"How does he always get here before me?!"

"There are two bugs in this system."

"Serves me right, I guess."

"She's not a possession!"

"Invite her out?"

"Operation, start!"

[Chapter 19]: Piecing Together.