AN: I want to thank the two people who reviewed. I thought this thing was so crappy that it wasn't worth reading, and believe me, I don't want to add to the clutter.

Another thing, I decided to put the family name first as it would be in those countries. I'm not sure how the -chan and -kun would work out, so I'll use them spairingly.

So How Many Guys Are You Dating?

Chapter 1: The New Student

Shingo sighed and stared into space. It was a school day now and he was in the black pants with the button-up black shirt uniform of Getsukin High School.

His head was plopped listlessly on the desk in math class before the bell, thinking about the rather unpleasant talk he had had with his parents last night. Evidently, one of his nosy teacher's concern about his grades had somehow trickled to his folk's ears. That combined with his lateness to home gave him a long lecture in front of his little brothers and sisters. Both of his parents said much along the lines of "If you do not stay home and study so you bring home perfect grades, you won't go to college."

Shingo shook his head as he thought about the lecture. So he did not bring home all superiors for all of his grades and he barely got the excellences for his chemistry class. But he was the National Junior Kendo Champion for the past three years and still managed to bring home above-average grades. Those two alone will get him into a good school as is. When will he ever convince his parents of that? When will they ever get sick of nagging him?

"Hey Shingo!" yelled Akira.

Akira was a slightly shorter, but still taller than most, young man with the same build and and age as Shingo. Akira had a more defined jawline as opposed to Shingo's smooth chin. Normally, right before math class, Akira would flirt like crazy with their fellow females. This time, however, AKira was not flirting. He pranced next to Shingo and proceeded to nudge the sluggish young man's leg with his shoe. "What's wrong with you, man? You've been sighing all morning!"

Shingo gave a wiry look at Akira who had brought an entourage of girls behind him. The girls were a natural addition to the two friend's presence for three reasons: one, that both young men were almong the cuter ones; secondly, that both were officers of their school's famous Kendo Club ran by Sensei Meisi; and lastly, Akira loved to say sweet words to the girls, which kept them coming back for more.

Shingo shrugged and said, "Same things again."

It took less than a second for Akira to catch on. There was only one thing Shingo had always complained about. "Come on! Your folks can't be that bad about it. I mean, you were the Junior Kendo Champion for the last two years! That's gotta look good on a college application."

"That's right!" agreed some of the girls in Akira's entourage.

"You are in the top ten percent of this school Shingo-kun," said a girl named Yumi. She was the undisputed head female of their class. A little shorter than most, with chest length brown hair and light brown eyes. She stood shorter than Akira's shoulder, her face proportioned in a way that made her the school beauty. "And you're gonna win again at this year's National Kendo Competition. Don't we all agree?"

"Yeah!" was the resounding agreement.

Shingo felt somewhater cheered-up. It was very nice to have friends such as them; they were always encouraging and positive. He was about to say something back when the bell rang.

The immediate reaction was a general low moan, the sole cheer coming from the school nerd/genius, Houin. Most ceased their talk and shuffled to their chairs as their teacher, Mr. Setshin walked in.

Mr. Setshin was a rather short balding man with large square glasses. He normally had a gentle smile with a voice that gave everyone the warm feeling of a nice grandfather who liked to give everyone sweets. He was also the hardest teacher in the freakin' world.

"Alright alright. Settle down children and open your books to page one-fifty."

"If only Mr. Setshin could be easier," said Shingo finally. He stared at the book, thinking about how to express the three-dimensional graph of a helix with polar coordinates.

Mr. Setshin used to be Doctor Setshin. He taught at Tokyo University until he felt like moving back to his hometown Osaka to work for a local high school. Being at the university, Mr. Setshin certainly loved to give insanely difficult tests on which even Houin could only get a seventy at best.

Shingo did not have anything personal against Mr. Setshin, except the fact that Mr. Setshin had taken a personal interest in him. Shingo bet that Mr. Setshin was the person who told his parents about his grades.

"Oh, before we start. Let me introduce our new student," said Mr. Setshin like it was an after though. He looked toward the door and waved. "You may come in now, Miss Hashiba."

That name got Shingo attention. He looked up from his book only to see the same girl he saw yesterday wearing the black school uniform of Getsukin High school.

The whole class was greeted by one of the prettiest tall girls they had ever seen. Her skin was flawless and pale, all in perfect contrast to her dark eyes and waist length hair. Some of the guys whistled at her long slender legs and graceful movements as she raised a piece of chalk to write her name on the board.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Hashiba Touma. I am pleased to meet you all." Touma bowed deep, much like a traditional girl. "I hope to have a successful year here at Getsukin High, Junior Class A."

"You may take a seat next to Kazamatsuri Shingo," said Mr. Setshin. "Kazamatsuri, raise your hand!"

Touma raised an eyebrow when she saw Shingo, but said nothing. Her gaze, however, was dark and penetrating, like accusing him of squishing a pretty butterfly.

Shingo stared back with a slight blush, remembering the kick she had administered the night before. Now that he had time to think about it, it was probably wrong of him to hit that man. Thank God that no one knows about that.

They kept up the staring contest, oblivious to the changing atmosphere of everyone around them. The girls gnashed their teeth in sight of this new competition. The guys gave Shingo poisonous looks for taking away the cute ones even before they got a chance to talk with her.

Everyone, however, had no time to discuss their new student as Mr. Setshin decided it was a good time for a pop-quiz.

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Shingo lounged against a tree while munching on his apple as Yumi and Aoi talk about the latest gossip in their school.

All of them, along with Akira, sat under their favorite Sakura Tree. The four were an exclusive group of friends worthy of envy in their school. Shingo and Akira had placed top three in the National Junior Kendo Championship. Yumi was the school beauty. Aoi was a pre-Olympic trial swimmer with grades comparable to Houin the genius.

Akira rolled his eyes as he listened in on Yumi's jabbering. To him, Yumi did not have much of a personality, but she did know some of the nastiest and dirtiest secrets of teachers and their fellow students. Being the class beauty certainly got her into nearly all social circles. This time, she had some interesting things to say about their new student.

"You know that Hashiba girl? I heard that she got kicked out of Osaka Prep," said Yumi.

"Really?" asked Shingo.

"Yeah. I heard that she had an affair with one of the teachers and he was one who had been changing her grades so she passes all those years," said Yumi. "It was in the papers."

"That's terrible," said Aoi with a quiet voice.

"Isn't it? I mean, with a teacher and all. The teacher was reluctant in letting her attend this school too," jabbered Yumi.

Shingo just shook his head, being a little skeptical of what Yumi was saying. Most girls he knew were disgusting as is, Yumi included. For some reason, though he could not comprehend Miss Hashiba being that type of girl. Shingo was a skilled swordsman who could feel a person's aura when he was given time to obvserve. Touma had one of the most powerful and demanding aura he had ever encountered. That aura oddly reminded him much of the guy he challenged personally two years ago.

What did happen to that guy? Date Seiji... he wondered. When Shingo challenged him, Seiji was the champion of Kendo in Northeastern Japan three years back. Since Shingo had some family issues at the time, he did not attend the formal event for the determination of the National Champion. Shingo did, however, travel to the Date dojo and challenge Seiji after the fact.

Seiji was a formidable opponent, with a piercing gaze that looked right into a man's very soul with one violet eye. Then there was this feeling that he gave off. Powerful, aggressive, calculating and calm, worthy to be a descendant of the legendary general, One Eye Dragon Date. However, when Shingo finally crossed swords with him, Seiji punched him in the face. That act was an absolute no-no in Kendo, and they never saw each other again.

"Hello? Earth to Shingo-kun!" said Aoi while poking Shingo lightly on the shoulder. "What are you thinking?"

"Oh! I'm just thinking about that kid from Sendai," replied Shingo.

"Huh?"

"You know. Date Seiji?" clarified Shingo.

"Oh yeah! That jerk who punched you three years ago," said Yumi. "I bet he's too scared of you to compete against you ever again."

"Naw," disagreed Akira. He dipped his chopsticks into his rice. With a mouthful, he said, "I had to fight him in the semi-finals that one time. I gotta tell ya, with his skills and that eye, he doesn't need to be worried about being scared."

"Still a jerk," mumbled Yumi. She finished off the last of her sandwich. "That guy should have been barred from competition."

Shingo finished his apple and tossed it into a trash can eight feet away. "I would like to fight him again," said Shingo. "And have an honorable fight."

"Hey! Isn't that the new girl coming toward us?" Aoi pointed out.

Shingo look away from their little group conversation to see that girl pacing toward them. She was alone, carrying her dark blue backpack on her shoulders and a rather heavy looking collapsible golden bow that spanned at least five feet in her hands.

"Hey! Miss Hashiba!" hollered Akira. He waved with chopsticks in hand for her to join them. "Come eat with us."

However, Touma made no notice of Akira. Instead, she paced directly in front of Shingo. "I would like to have my ID card back," she said.

That made Shingo sat up from his lounging position. "Huh?" How did she know I had it?

"I know you have it, so give it back," said Touma. "Now."

This time, Yumi got a little defensive. "New girl! Don't you dare talk to our Shingo-kun that way!"

Touma gave Yumi a dark look. The tall new girl's eyes were dark, but anyone could tell that it was an odd shade of impossibly blue-black. They bore into Yumi like the back end of the abyss, ready to swallow the girl whole. Yumi stared back with equal fervor of those light brown eyes. There was no way she was going to lose to a new girl.

"I'll give it to you tomorrow," Shingo spoke as he sat up, immediately terminating the incipient staring contest between Touma and Yumi. He personally did not like cat fights involving Yumi. He knew just how vindictive Yumi could get. "I left it at home. I didn't think I would meet you here." He gave Touma an apologetic look. "By the way, what are you doing with that bow? It's as big as you are."

The others were puzzling about the same thing. They were part of a special interest group who were into all the classical weaponry. That collapsible bow Touma was carrying must weight at least twenty-five kilograms, the same weight that a professional soldier would use for weights on chest muscle development.

Strangely, Touma smiled. Her initial demanding and aggressive look was replaced by the meek and shy traditional girl in their math class. "I'm trying out for the Archery Team." Touma carefully fingered the elaborate designs on her bow like it was her most treasured possession. "I know it's mid-season, but I hope I get in."

"That's cool," said Akira. He had finished his rice and was now sipping on a packet of apple juice. "You know, Yumi here is the captain of the female Archery Team."

"I see." Touma looked at Yumi speculatively.

"I'm the vice-president of the Kendo Club," said Akira proudly. Then, he pointed to Shingo. "Mr. Kazamatsuri here is the president and champion of kendo."

"Champion of Kendo..." muttered Touma softly.

"For two years!" added Aoi proudly.

Touma slanted her eyes. "Aren't you that same ass who threw sand into Date's eye years ago?"

"What?!" shouted Akira. He knew fully what the punishment for such an act in formal Kendo would incur. "What are you talking about? Shingo would die before he would ever do that!"

Then, just as Touma was about to say something further, a ring went off.

The group of four looked at each other with puzzlement. They were amazed, but at the same time, puzzled when Touma fished out a cell phone from her bag. Cell phones were strictly for usage of notoriously busy businessmen. Why was this girl using one?

Touma face vaulted when she saw the caller id. Without any explanation, she spun on a heel and quickly walked away.

Yumi glared at the fading backside of Touma. "Just what we need, another lying whore in this world..."

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So yeah...little Suikorin is amazed that this part came in so quickly. Little Suikorin still would thank to thank the two kind reviewers for their encouragement.