Disclaimer : Naaah. Not mine.

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"I'm on my way, you hear me?!"

Kikumaru turned and grinned as the echoes reinforced his vow, over, and over again. Landing neatly on both feet after a single-handed backflip from the top of the container, he bounced over to Oishi, who smiled in response.

"Kantou finals, here I come!"

"Hai hai..."

Deftly catching the can of drink tossed towards him, Eiji fell in step with his friend as they strolled down the hill, talking animatedly about his dream during physics class.

" - And then Ayami-sensei threw a piece of chalk at me!"

He burst out in indignation, waving his arms around for good measure.

"She. Threw. It. At. ME!!!"

Oishi made little soothing noises, and tsk tsk-ed at all the right moments.

"Nya… It's impossible to be angry at anything at all when you're here, you know."

"Is that so? But – "

"NYA!"

Without warning, Eiji stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide and unblinking.

Oishi stared, worried for his partner,

Just as suddenly, Eiji Kikumaru tore up the hill, muttering wildly about a mistake and wanting to rectify it.

"Ehhh?"

- x -

Hoisting himself up onto the container again, he answered the panting Oishi's gaze with a wink and a conspirational "You'll see." Footsteps sounded on the hollow metal, as the bubbly third year took one step, and then another, right up to the edge, where one little misstep would send him tumbling into the city's landscape below.

"Eiji! Be careful!"

"Shhhh…"

Raising a fist into the air, he took a long deep breath, and proclaimed to the world below and the setting sun –

"We're on our way!!!"

The evening sky once again filled with echoes, as Oishi beamed at his best friend, who pulled him to the edge of the container as well.

"Made a mistake." The sunny redhead explained. "Gomen! We're a team, nya?"

For a short moment, Oishi felt like he was bursting with pride and overwhelming joy, despite the simplicity of shouting random phrases with his doubles partner on top of a container to no one in particular. Grinning at each other, they both turned towards the city landscape and yelled into the winking lights below their feet.

"Golden Pair!!! Fight!!!"

And for the first time in a long long while, Seigaku's temporary captain felt like he could take on anything life could throw at him.

We're on our way.

He slung an arm across Eiji's shoulders. They high-fived.

And lovin' every step we take.

-Owari-