DISCLAIMER: I am not Inoue Takehiko-sama. Therefore I am not the owner of the SD charas. But being a fanfic writer, the storyline is mine.
Author's Notes: Thanks, thanks, and more thanks to kimi-chan, Han, shi-chan, E.C, Shinigami's Okami and Tina for the feedbacks *tighter hug*.
Back to the fanfic; this is a brief story on what happened after the singing. Basically it's an introduction to the next chapter. That means, there's no song in this little chapter. But I do hope you read it all the same, because the humour should be there (I hope *wishes expectantly*). A tinge OOC in some of the charas' parts—I couldn't avoid it. On with the story!

~

Monday, 2.30 p.m, Danny's
 Rukawa yawned. Shutting his eyes for a second, he reminded himself NOT to fall asleep—for his do'aho's sake. He said he would be dedicating a song to his lover, and Rukawa Kaede always keeps his word—to Sakuragi, at least. He was scrutinizing a magazine, searching for a suitable song for him to sing. So far, nil.
The super rookie frowned thoughtfully. Funny, but all the songs and singers were alien to him. He realized how unacquainted he was with the current entertainment industry, be it in Japan or in the West.
Pursing his lips in determination, he thought, I won't give up. I won't want to Hana-kun to say I'm the most unromantic person in the universe! I want him to be happy! I have to make sure he'll like my gift to him—if he doesn't, God knows what's gonna happen! He might turn to Sendoh for comfort! With that, he imagined his worst nightmare.
 A tiny sound of a bell ringing brought him back to reality. The door was closed soundlessly, and the newcomer glanced around. His joyful eyes finally fell on Rukawa.
Speaking of the devil…Suddenly he lost his appetite.

Monday, 2.30 p.m, Kiyota's residence
 "Soi-kun!!! Let me go!!!" Kiyota, yelling madly, banged his hands on the door. Shimatta! Why the hell is this door so hard to break? "I'm sorry, OK? Soi-kun!" But why is he angry with me?

Monday, 2.30 p.m, outside Kiyota's residence
"Kenji-kun!!! Where are you?" Hanagata turned around, his eyes open for any sign of Fujima. No luck so far.
But his sharp ears heard something else—a violent cry. It was as if a beast was trying to break free from its cage, but to no avail. The noise was coming from the house on his right.

Monday, 2.31 p.m, Kiyota's residence
Finally noticing Jin was no longer in the house, Kiyota turned to the window, hoping to see anybody he knew. And he did. The vice-captain of Shoyo was standing right in front of his gate.
"Hanagata-san!" Kiyota shouted. His voice must have rang all over Kanagawa.

Monday, 2.32 p.m, outside Kiyota's residence
Hanagata heard his name being called—by a frightfully familiar voice. Unfortunately it was not that of Fujima's. His eyes wandered aimlessly on the house, not missing a single inch to look for the caller. And he saw who it was.
"Kiyota?" he murmured loudly.
The monkey of Kainan was waving his hands madly, endeavouring to capture his attention.

Monday, 2.35 p.m, Danny's
The two had spent five minutes sitting at the very same table, without exchanging any remark. Finally Sendoh decided to speak up.
I have a better chance of making a mute person talk than getting a word out of him, I should think... "Fancy meeting you here, Kaede-kun."
"More like bad luck," mumbled Rukawa.
"Excuse me?"
Rukawa glared at him icily. "Go sit elsewhere."
"Why? Don't you like my company?"
Which idiot would like his nightmare sitting less than a metre away, I want to know.
"Be a sport, Kaede-kun."
"The name's Rukawa."
"Kaede-kun is much cuter."
"Ru-ka-wa."
Sendoh sighed. So stubborn…just like, him…"I see, I see. Kaede-kun is reserved only for Hana-kun."
"That's Sakuragi to you."
Sendoh sighed. Things were not working out well—it never did with Rukawa, anyway.
Rukawa gathered his things and prepared to leave the table.
"Where are you going?" asked Sendoh, curious.
"Some other more agreeable place."
"But—"
"Some other place that doesn't have Sendoh Akira lurking around."
An improvement in his vocabulary—Hana-kun's doing a great job. A good-natured person at heart, Sendoh didn't find the remark sadistic. "What're you doing with those magazines and records, um, Rukawa?"
Mind your own business. Rukawa was by then praying Koshino would show up sometime soon—very soon.
"You're not, by any chance, looking for a song to sing to your darling, now are you?"
Rukawa abruptly gaped at him—astonishingly not giving his shock away. "Have you been spying on me?"
"Good gracious, no!"
"Hn. Too busy with Koshino."
"I can't fault that logic. So, any luck with your song?"
Rukawa ignored him. Was it purely fate that he's here? Oh, Kami-sama…He replaced his things on the new table.
Another sound of the bell was heard. This time, it announced the arrival of a bespectacled teenager. Adjusting his spectacles, he eyed Rukawa. He proceeded to take a seat opposing the younger boy.
"Kogure-sempai." Rukawa acknowledged.
"Hn." Kogure sat without another word.
He's not smiling? What's going on?
"Daijoubu, sempai?"
"Hn…"
Blinking, Rukawa gazed at the vice-captain. The response from Kogure was by all means familiar. Is it just me, or is he sounding almost like me?
"Where's Mitsui-sempai?"
There was a glint of anger in Kogure's eyes. "HIM! Oh, him!"
"Eh?"
"What has happened between the two of you, Kogure-san?" Sendoh, butting in others' business as always, spoke up. He approached the table and sat next to Rukawa. However, as soon as he earned himself a death glare from Rukawa, Sendoh moved next to Kogure.
"Care to share it with us?" asked Sendoh.
Kogure said, "By the way, why are you wet, Sendoh?"
Sendoh winced. He was shivering in cold underneath his soaking shirt and trousers. Extraordinarily, his hair was still upright. "Hiro-kun shoved me into the water."
"Serves you right," Rukawa could not help commenting.
"Why had you not go home to change?" asked Kogure.
"Ahh, that…well, I must've dropped my keys into the water when I fell. Maybe it's at the bottom of the sea right now." Sendoh laughed uncertainly. "Wonder where I'm gonna sleep tonight…"
The tiny bell rung again. Kogure got up as he saw who came in.
"Min-kun!" cried Mitsui. "I've been looking everywhere for you! I'm really sorry!"
Kogure's shoulder brushed against Mitsui's coldly. Mitsui attempted to grab Kogure's wrist, but Kogure pulled his hand away. He hailed a cab and was driven away.
"Oh God, I really have done it this time…"

Rukawa raised an enquiring eyebrow. Sendoh was watching Mitsui with amused eyes. Mitsui turned and saw the two aces. "What're you looking at?"
"Aside from a sight of a person treating his lover coldly, nothing," Sendoh teased mercilessly.
"Har har," Mitsui said sarcastically. "It's just a little, um, misunderstanding between us."
"That wasn't funny," muttered Rukawa in reprove, aimed at Sendoh.
Mitsui neared the table. "Min-kun's awfully mad at me."
"That's obvious enough to see," chipped in Sendoh.
"Shut up Sendoh if you know what's good for you," warned Mitsui crossly.
"OK, OK." Sendoh held his hands up, surrendering to the three point shooter.
Rukawa was amused—not that he showed it, anyhow.
"So what is it with you and Kogure-san?" asked Sendoh blandly.
"I dare say it was my fault. He was singing to me…and I condemned his singing. Then, he started giving me the Rukawa treatment." He said it before reminding himself of Rukawa's presence. Another blunder on his part.
Rukawa's deadly eyes glowered in Mitsui's direction. "Say that again."
"No offence, Rukawa, but that's exactly it. Can't you see how cold my Min-kun was? And that wasn't even directed towards me! What am I going to do?" He buried his face in his hands.
"Now, now, Mitsui-san, no need to cry." Sendoh patted Mitsui on his back.
"Who's crying?" demanded Mitsui, shaking a fist at Sendoh. "Hey, you're wet. What happened? Does it involve you and your precious Koshino? And is that a fish in your pocket?"
Sendoh winced again. Maybe he should have dried himself up before making his way to Danny's. He removed the half-dying fish from his pocket.
"His lover dumped him—" explained Rukawa.
"Hiro-kun would never dump me!"
"—into the sea."
Mitsui watched Sendoh, evidently impressed with Koshino's action. "Wow, I should've tried that on you before. What did you do?"
"I, um, sang to him—drowning, by BSB."
"Suits the occasion, except that you didn't drown. A pity."
"I'll forget you said that."
Rukawa shuffled his magazine, coming to the lyrics' page. "You mistook him for a girl?" he suggested, reading the song lyrics. Typical boo-boo for an ahou like him…
"Yeah. I meant to switch the word with 'boy'—I even practised to make sure I get it correct. But for some reason I boo-booed when I was singing to him."
"He must be really angry," stated Mitsui. "I know I would be."
"He is, all right. But he forgave me right after I apologized."
"Wow, that was fast. How very unlike him."
Rukawa rolled his eyes. "How sure are you?"
"Well, he smiled at me before pushing me."
"That doesn't mean anything," added Mitsui.
Sendoh's grin dropped at once. "You mean—"
It was Mitsui's turn to grin in amusement. "Ooh, Sendoh, you're really done for."
"At least he didn't 'reward' me with the Rukawa treatment!"
Rukawa wrinkled his forehead in annoyance, but said nothing at all. It was not something to be proud of, really.
"Take that back!" ventured Mitsui. "Can't you see I'm already angry?"
Rukawa sighed silently. He held his magazine up, shielding his face from stray saliva flying between Mitsui and Sendoh.

Monday, 3.15 p.m, somewhere else…
 "So, is everything well with you and Mitcchy?" Sakuragi asked in concern.
"Hn!" Kogure shook his head.
Sakuragi raised his eyebrows. He was starting to miss Rukawa, with Kogure's occasional Rukawa-like behaviour. He met Kogure by chance, when he saw megane-kun getting out from a cab.
"Megane-kun, what happened?"
"I sang to him, Sakuragi! I sang a love song to him, and yet he did not appreciate it! What's worse, he actually insulted my singing!"
"Oh, that's really bad…" Worse than what happened between me and kitsune, he added silently to himself.
"And then he said I'm giving him the Rukawa treatment!"
"Pardon? Rukawa treatment? Was that an insult? How dare he insulted my kitsune!?" demanded Sakuragi.
"Me being like Rukawa? Such untruth!"
Sakuragi resisted the tempting urge to face-fault.
"Come on, Sakuragi! You know Rukawa more than any of us! And Hisashi was wrong, wasn't he?"
"Ahh, I…" Before he could finish, he felt something bumped into his stomach. The force was so strong Sakuragi fell with a thump. And so did his 'attacker'.
"Fujima of Shoyo?" exclaimed Kogure whilst Sakuragi blurted "Substitute player?" in unison.
The brown-haired boy gave a nervous smile. "So sorry for bumping into you."
"You look like you're in a hurry. What's chasing you?" asked Sakuragi.
Fujima dusted his pants, a frown clearly on his forehead. He offered a hand to Sakuragi in order to assist him to stand up. "Nothing." A sigh.
"You look like you want to be chased with that sigh of yours," pointed out Kogure.
"That's not entirely false. I didn't see Hanagata running after me."
Question marks popped up around Sakuragi and Kogure. "Come again?"
"It's like this…Toru was telling me that he wanted me to sing something else than Sekai ga Owaru Made Wa…and I did just that."
The Shohoku players nodded in comprehension.
"And he claimed that my voice sounded like a girl's!"
"He said the exact words?" asked Kogure doubtfully.
"Well, if I remember aright, he said 'Kenji-kun, you sang so well, I almost thought the singer—what's the name of the singer again—Yeah, she herself was standing in front of me!'" Fujima was imitating Hanagata—his voice and his expression.
His companions sweatdropped.
"Not only that!" resumed Fujima. "I asked 'My voice—was almost like the original singer's?' And you know what his reply was?"
"He said—"
"He said 'Well, yeah!'" Fujima related the whole story, not letting his audience say anything.
"Ano…wasn't that a compliment?" asked Kogure once Fujima ended his narrative.
"Ah? A compliment?"
"He meant to say you're extremely good at singing—that your voice can compete with that of the original singer's," Sakuragi explained. "Geez, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out."
Silence. "But—but he could've told me sooner! He knows how sensitive I am when people question my gender!"
"Did you give him a chance to explain?"
"Err…"
"Tough luck, substitute player."
"And why are you two walking together? What happened to Rukawa and Mitsui?"
"Rukawa's busy. Said that he wanted to prepare something big for me—as a surprise or something." Sakuragi shrugged. "That's why I'm stuck with megane-kun here."
"You said that like it's a bad thing," murmured Kogure.
Sakuragi laughed good-humouredly. "Do not despair, megane-kun! I'm sure Mitcchy'll pop up very soon and beg for your forgiveness!"
"What did he do THIS time?" asked Fujima, curious.
Kogure explained his situation, the Shoyo point guard listening intently.

Monday, 4.30 p.m, Danny's…
 "Sendoh Akira! You're a dead man!"
"I'll be dancing on your grave before you dance on mine!"
"Oh, yeah?"
Came another sigh from Rukawa. Sendoh was not himself at that moment, maybe it was because of his anxiety about Koshino's feelings—either he was angry or had he indeed forgiven Sendoh for his error. Besides, Mitsui was criticizing Koshino, so it's only natural Sendoh was protecting his Hiro-kun. One by one the other customers walked out from the restaurant, whilst the remaining was waiting for a climax in Mitsui and Sendoh's debate. Rukawa would give anything just to leave his seat but Mitsui was blocking his way.
Even the owner of the restaurant could only stand aside and watch the whole drama. He was cringing at his loss of customers and made a mental note to kick "that scar-faced guy" and "the guy with an eccentric taste for a hairdo" out from his restaurant the next time he saw them.

Hanagata and Kiyota was passing by the restaurant when they saw Sendoh and Mitsui bickering. Not pausing to think, they entered the place to get a better view.
Rukawa noticed them advancing and thought miserably, Oh, crap…not another two…
 "What's eating you two?" asked Kiyota.
"Hiro-kun!" replied Sendoh just as Mitsui answered "Min-kun!"
"And you?" Hanagata questioned Rukawa.
Rukawa shook his head, assuring the older boy that he had no problem in his relationship whatsoever. He was thankful the fight was over—for now, at least. Now if he could only continue his quest…
"Kiyota, what's with your foot?" asked Mitsui, noting Kiyota was limping.
"Oh, Soi-kun stomped on it. Hell, his shoe was damned hard…" Kiyota slumped on a chair.
"I found him locked inside his own room." Hanagata shrugged. "Apparently his Soi-kun had locked him inside."
"Soi-kun's angry with me—and the worst thing is I don't know why!"
"Do'aho…" Rukawa murmured, turning over the pages.
"HEY!"
Rukawa eyed him out of the tail of his eye. "I didn't mean you."
"Anyway, I sang I Love the Way You Love Me to Soi-kun…"
"Aw, how kind of you…" interjected Sendoh.
"…because I wanted to know what he thought of my singing."
His listeners sweatdropped—a huge (make that gigantic) sweatdrop each for Sendoh, Mitsui and Rukawa. Hanagata was too busy looking outside the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Fujima that he forgot to sweatdrop as well.
"You what?" cried Mitsui.
"I was thinking of singing a song to my cousin for her birthday party…"
"You WHAT!?" demanded Mitsui and Sendoh at the same time.
In the background, Rukawa shrugged helplessly. Idiots will always be idiots…
"Why?"
"You want to sing to your cousin?" asked Mitsui. "I love the way you love me—to your cousin?"
"No wonder poor Jin is angry. He must've thought you love your cousin more than you love him."
It took some time before what Mitsui and Sendoh said registered into Kiyota's thick head and slow brain. By the time he understood what they were trying to say, he shrieked. "Oh my God!"
"Hey, have you seen Kenji-kun anywhere?" asked Hanagata. "I've looked for him everywhere!"
Rukawa faintly remembered seeing someone running past the restaurant—someone with the same brown hair and height as that of Fujima's. Then again, he could be mistaken…
"He's really mad at me this time…he accused me of labeling him as a girl!"
"Now that sounds very familiar…" said Mitsui, mocking Sendoh.
"But I was praising him, for crying out loud!"
"Somehow I have a feeling that he sang to you too?" asked Sendoh.
"Erm, yes…but I was the one who asked him to…"
Sendoh, Kiyota and Mitsui gaped at him.
"Hey! You don't know what it is like to listen to Sekai ga Owaru Made Wa all the time!" protested Hanagata.
"Right, we don't."
"And I praised his singing—he sang beautifully, I tell you. Like an angel…"
A frown from Rukawa. Suddenly he had a vision of Fujima with wings, singing Sekai ga Owaru Made Wa…
"I said if I didn't know any better, I could've sworn the original singer's standing right in front of me singing!"
"Geez, he's so sensitive…"
"Don't blame him for it, Sendoh," remarked Mitsui. "Your Koshino's no different."
"Take that back! Hiro-kun's an angel too!"
Here we go again…Rukawa told himself. I should've left this &*%$ restaurant when I had the chance…
Kiyota was banging his head on the table. "Argh! I've been an idiot! I simply MUST apologize to Soi-kun!"
All of a sudden a barely burning candle appeared—instead of a light-bulb—behind Sendoh. Not very bright, I assure you. "I get it! Hey, I have a great idea! Listen, everyone…"
Rukawa was by then really regretting his decision of staying on.

Monday, 4.30 p.m, outside a dental clinic…
 Jin's mood did not improve in the least. His toothache was really killing him, and he still could hear an echo of Kiyota's words to him—about him singing to his cousin and not to express his feelings to a certain Kainan three point shooter…Jin wished something could just hit him on the head so that he would forget those dreadful words—heck! Even Sakuragi's headbutt seemed like the best remedy for his problem.
The dentist was of no help either. During his appointment with the dentist, he was imagining Kiyota—every where. When the dentist was bending over to examine his teeth, he saw Kiyota instead of the dentist's face. Jin, in anger, had gritted his teeth—with the unfortunate dentist's fingers in between. Consequently, the poor dentist was screaming an ear-piercing howl, and he didn't cease until Jin had left the room, his toothache as painful as ever.
He didn't notice where he was heading until he bumped into something—hard. He didn't even look up as he muttered an apology.
"Jin?"
The voice was vaguely familiar. Jin raised his head and his eyes met Sakuragi's.
"Eh?" he squeaked.
"You look pale. Are you all right?" asked Kogure in concern.
"He's always pale…" Sakuragi pointed out.
Jin threw him a menacing look. Sakuragi pursed his mouth in an instant.
"Are you suffering from a toothache?" queried Fujima.
Jin nodded. "And then Kiyota just made my day worse than it already is."
"Another love problem, I see." Sakuragi grinned. "Coincidence, I think not."
"Kiyota wanted to sing a love song to his cousin."
"Oh. Anything wrong with that?" asked Fujima.
"A female cousin, mark you."
Kogure, Sakuragi and Fujima had weird looks on their faces.
"Nobu-kun sang to me merely because he wanted me to judge his singing!" Jin folded his arms. "How ironic is that?"
"Very, very ironic…" Sakuragi nodded—although he disagreed.
"I…I'm sure he's mourning right now…" said Kogure, uncertainly.
"He'd better be," said Jin, with a dangerous tone.
Even Sakuragi felt sorry for Kiyota as he noted the murderous note in Jin's remark.

Tuesday, 2.45 p.m, Rukawa's abode
 "Tell me again why you are here?" he demanded.
"Oh come on Ru be a sport!" said Sendoh.
"It's Ru-ka-wa, ahou."
"Fine, fine. Rukawa ahou."
Killer eyes glared in Sendoh's direction.
Hanagata tapped his foot impatiently. "If I'm just going to sit here and watch these two idiots playing death-glares I might as well go and look for Kenji-kun…"
"Should never get involved with this sly fox and this good for nothing hentai…" added Kiyota. Soon he found himself earning two deadly glares.
"Now, now everyone…let's do this not for our own sake…" Mitsui voiced out. "…I thought you really want to reconcile with your erm, partners."
Three heads nodded at the same time; Hanagata's, Kiyota's and Sendoh's.
"Rukawa?"
"Whatever," came the cold reply.
"I wonder how on earth red monkey could withstand this ice fox's ignorance!" piped in Kiyota.
The next moment he was kicked out of the house by one angry fox.

Tuesday, 3.30 p.m, Koshino's abode
 "Stupid Akira!"
Clunk!
"Stupid, stupid Akira!"
Clunk!
"Stupid Akira! Stupid Akira! Stupid, stupid Akira!"
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
His mother sighed. She had been watching her son for days.
[Flashback]
For some reason, Koshino had been acting really strange since his last meeting with Sendoh. Koshino had grabbed a meat-knife as soon as he returned, much to his mother's fear.
'Oh, God, Hiroaki's going to commit suicide!' Mrs. Koshino realized as the huge blade shone dangerously.
To her relief, Koshino next rummaged the refrigerator, looking for something he could use to vent out his depression and anger. However, when she saw Koshino was holding a durian and was preparing to 'slaughter' it, she shrieked in utter horror.
"Goodness gracious, what are you thinking Hiroaki?" demanded his mother, grabbing the durian away and pricking her fingers in the process.
"I need to cut something, Mom. Something else than Akira's throat," Koshino had replied simply.
Her eyes widened in shock. "Hiroaki! What are you saying?"
Koshino did not reply. Instead, he grabbed a picture of Akira from the nearby table. He slammed the blade exactly on Sendoh's throat. His mother nearly had a heart attack as she witnessed the violence.
"Now can you please put that knife away?" ordered Mrs. Koshino, clutching her heart.
"I'm not done yet."
Mrs. Koshino grabbed the knife away. "Well then, use something else!"
Koshino, as stubborn as ever, took hold of yet another knife (smaller one this time) and a lemon from the fridge. Next he proceeded to slicing the lemon piece by piece, muttering curses and threats to Sendoh for each slice.
A basketful of fruits was gone, and replaced by fruit slivers, courtesy of Koshino Hiroaki himself.
[End of Flashback]
Mrs. Koshino's recollection was interrupted as Koshino gave a yell.
"Oh my God, Hiroaki! What happened?"
Koshino clutched his finger. Finally he wiggled his hand. "No, nothing. I thought I just cut myself."
"Hiroaki, stop this nonsense! You're giving me a heart attack!"
"Sorry Mom. But if I stop I fear I might end up assaulting myself."
"Just what did Akira do to you?"
"He mistook my gender, Mom. Not for the first time!"
CLUNK!
 The cutting board nearly broke into two. Amazingly Koshino still had five fingers on each hand.

Tuesday, 3.45 p.m., Sakuragi's abode
 Sakuragi frowned thoughtfully as he replaced the receiver. He had been trying to contact his Kaede, but for some reason no one seemed to answer the telephone. He knew Rukawa gave him strict orders not to call him up until the fox himself called on him, but Sakuragi was getting impatient and curious. Sighing, his fingers dialed Rukawa's number again.
"Hello?"
Sakuragi's heart leapt when he heard the cold, monotone voice. "Kaede!"
"Ha—Hana-kun?"
"Kaede!"
"Hana-kun…"
"Kaede…So what've you been up to?"
Rukawa paused for approximately three seconds. "Ah, preparing something…"
"Preparing—what?"
"Hana…you know it's a surprise…"
"Yes, but…" Sakuragi paused abruptly. He heard a voice from the other line—another voice other than Rukawa's. "Who's with you at the moment?"
"Uh…I'm not at liberty to say…"
"I've been trying to contact you for ages! Didn't you hear the telephone ring just now?"
"……"
"Kaede? You there?"
"…no."
"Eh?"
"I mean, I didn't hear the telephone."
"Been busy, huh?"
"Erm…kind of."
"So, you're not mad at me?"
"Whatever for?"
"For—calling you even when you forbid me to…"
"No. I'm glad to hear your voice."
"So am I."
"Anything else?"
"Um, no…I think."
"If you don't mind, I have to go now and, um, resume my work…"
"Oh, sure. Sorry for disturbing you."
"You're not. Bye Hana-kun."
"Bye, Kaede…"
Sakuragi rang off. He recalled the voice he heard—the other one. It was very familiar but he just could not put his finger on it.
Until he saw his ball—his basketball.

Tuesday, 4.00 p.m., Koshino's abode.
 CLUNK!
Mrs. Koshino had no idea what to do.
CLUNK!
 Koshino gritted his teeth in frustration. His fingers gripped the knife handle tightly.
Mrs. Koshino heard the doorbell rang. Hesitant whether she should answer it or not, lest Koshino would try something else during her absence, she finally decided to leave Koshino, not without warning him to stay put.
Mrs. Koshino peeked out of her window and saw red. Red hair, to be precise. She opened the door slowly, looking expectantly at her guest.
"Sumimasen, but is Koshino home?" asked the redhead.
"Why, yes. Would you like to come inside first?" she asked.
"No, thanks. I'll just meet him out here."
"Sure. Please wait for awhile." Mrs. Koshino returned to her son. "Hiroaki, someone wants to see you."
Clunk! "If it's Akira just tell him to get lost!" CLUNK!
"No, it's not Akira."
"Then tell Uozumi I shan't attend any practice this week."
"Neither Uozumi."
Koshino looked at his mother quizzically, the knife held in place.
"A boy with red hair."
"Sa—Sakuragi?"
"I reckon it's an urgent matter."
"What does he want now?" Koshino walked out of the kitchen, the knife still in his hand.
"Wait a minute, Hiroaki."
Koshino stopped in his tracks.
"I really think you should not go outside looking like that."
Koshino muttered something and untied the pink, frilly apron he was wearing.

Sakuragi paced impatiently as he waited for Koshino. As the older boy stepped out from his house, Sakuragi turned and eyed him.
Koshino looked up, straight into Sakuragi's eyes. "What is it that you want, Sakuragi? I'm busy."
"Just what is your smiling hentai boyfriend up to THIS time?" demanded Sakuragi.
Koshino frowned, infuriated. "You called upon me just to ask about him?"
"Hell, yes!"
"I don't know what he is doing and where he is."
"Just what is he going to do to my Kaede?"
Just why did I not take the knife along instead of leaving it on the shelf? If I did I could've slash this stupid redhead to pieces… "I don't know anything, especially if it involves your stupid Rukawa."
"Rukawa is not stupid!"
"Oh, right, he's not. You are."
"Why you—"
"Whatever that hentai is doing does not concern me, period!"
"Oh, yes it does! He's your boyfriend, for goodness' sake!"
"Che!"
"Something's up between you and him…"
Koshino snorted, confirming Sakuragi's suspicions.
"Well, I just want you to know—if I ever find Sendoh laying a finger on my kitsune—"
"You can do whatever you want with him."
"Hm. I'm glad you see things the way I do."
"On one condition—"
"Which is?"
"Tell me when. I shall be only too happy to assist you." With that, Koshino turned on his heel and went into his house.
Sakuragi scratched his head in incredulity. "Everyone's in a foul mood…and it seems like everyone's having problem with their boyfriend…" Shrugging, he walked back to his own house, momentarily forgetting about Sendoh.

Wednesday, 2.30 p.m., Sendoh's abode
 "So, people, are you ready?" asked Sendoh.
Hanagata, Kiyota and Mitsui nodded. Rukawa snorted in response. The only thing he was thankful about was the fact that he needed not to play host since Sendoh offered that they could use his (Sendoh) house instead of Rukawa's.
"I asked Hikoichi to call Hiro-kun, Sakuragi, Kogure, Fujima and Jin, telling them to come over here," announced Sendoh. "So you'd better get ready."
"But, what if Hikoichi couldn't find Kenji-kun?" asked Hanagata.
"And what if Soi-kun refuses to see me?" added Kiyota.
"And what if Min-kun—" went on Mitsui.
Sendoh rubbed his temples. He did not know just what made him agree to collaborate with the other four. He was not pleased either to hear snores coming from the other side of the room.

Wednesday, 2.45 p.m., Jin's abode
"What do you want?" Jin demanded.
Hikoichi flashed his toothy grin. "A invitation for you, Jin-san."
"Invitation? Who's getting married?"
"Ah…it's nothing like that." Hikoichi handed the envelope to Jin. "Sendoh-san asked me to give this to you."
"How formal." Jin tore the envelope open and read the content. "It says here that I have to go over to his house. I wonder what's waiting for me there…hey, Hikoichi?"
But Hikoichi had already gone to deliver his next letter.

Same day, 2.50 p.m., Shoyo high school compound
 "Fujima-san!" Hikoichi called.
Fujima turned, looking at the Ryonan player with a weird expression. "What're you doing here?"
"A message for you from Sendoh-san."
Fujima slung his jacket over his right shoulder as he accepted the letter.
"Hey, Hikoichi, just what is Sendoh's plan right now?"
"Sorry can't talk gotta run!" Hikoichi waved and ran off.

Same day, 2.55 p.m., Shohoku high school compound
Kogure frowned thoughtfully to himself. He scratched his forehead with his pen.
"Now, theoretically the formula should be applied—eh?" Kogure's pen paused in mid-air when suddenly a brown, sweet-scented envelope had appeared in front of him. He picked the envelope up, glancing at Hikoichi.
"It's for you," explained Hikoichi. "Sorry for interrupting you studying."
"Ah, iie." Kogure unsealed the envelope methodically. He read the message quietly. "What does this have to do with me?" he enquired.
"You'll find out soon, Kogure-san. I have to go now."
"Hey, matte!"
Hikoichi grinned and left.
Kogure stared after him with a perplexed look.

Same day, 3.00 p.m., Sakuragi's abode
"Sakuragi-san!"
Sakuragi switched the television set off and unlocked the front door. The first thing he saw was Hikoichi waving frantically at him.
"What's the matter?" asked the redhead, approaching the shorter boy.
"I have a message for you. It's important." Hikoichi dug his hand into his backpack in search of the envelope—the one for Sakuragi. "Uh-oh…"
"What?"
Hikoichi held up an envelope. Clearly written on it was the name Kogure Kiminobu.
"Megane-kun?"
"A—Go—gomen nasai…I think I gave yours to Kogure-san's…it was a mistake…" stammered Hikoichi.
Sakuragi gave him an angry glare. Literally there was fire in his eyes. "How could you mistook this tensai—"
"Hontou ni gomen nasai!" Hikoichi bowed.
"Ah, luckily this tensai is very forgiving!"
"Thank you so much! Just replace the name 'Mitsui-san' with 'Rukawa-san', that'll do."
"Kaede? You mean this is from Kaede?" Sakuragi was confused. "But it's addressed to Megane-kun…"
"I can't say anything else, Sakuragi-san. Just follow the instructions in the letter, and then you'll see where it gets you. See you later!" Hikoichi departed.
Sakuragi shrugged helplessly. Funny, the handwriting on the letter did not tally with Mitsui's…and the fragrance of the letter was almost like a certain Ryonan player…

~{tsuzuku}~

Author's Notes: I don't think they have durians in Japan, though…but oh well…let's just say it's imported *sweat drops*.