Authoress present.

Thanks for the reviews, sports' fans! They made my stomach go happy. (…?)

And, per request, I have updated! Inspiration was the Saiyuki song (in Japanese, the only words I understand are 'Junk boys, get down' unfortunately, it's got good beats) Junk Boys, for this chappie.

Good luck to those who are trying out for callbacks at play tonight. (Go bishie!)

Enjoy!

No Mountain High Enough
Chapter Two: Junk Boys

Hana Kimi

"No. No way, no how."

Mizuki groaned inwardly. She was almost nose-to-nose with Sano, who was doing a wonderful job of ignoring her. He was staring determinedly down at the small paperback he had borrowed from the library.

Mizuki, however, was not one to be deterred. She had just asked her roommate to join her and Nakatsu's team for the Mountain race. Sano had blatantly refused.

Oh, he shall crack, Mizuki thought, a smile coming to her face. I have some tricks up my sleeve yet!

Sano snuck a peek from his book and saw the broad smile cross Mizuki's face, and smirked a little. She wasn't going to be leaving him alone, then. Oh well. He was fine with that.

Mizuki backed up from her stance two inches from Sano's face, and looked around the laundry room. No one was in tonight, and the solitary rumbling of her and Sano's washing machines rumbled lowly.

"So, Sano, what colleges are you looking at?"

Sano looked up from his book. "None in particular, at least not yet."

"So… you haven't picked up any scholarships yet?"

"I've had offers."

"How much?" Mizuki paused, thinking. A horrified look came to her face. "Don't answer if I'm prying!"

"Ashiya, it's in your nature to pry. I'm used to it now." Sano replied, amused. He could see where she was trying to lead him. "And I've gotten offers that are better than what the race offers as a prize."

Mizuki fell silent, obviously deflated from Sano's dodge. Then she spoke again. "Did you know Nakatsu was thinking of asking Kagurazaka of being in our team?"

Sano had to grin openly at that. "That was sloppy, Ashiya. First of all, Nakatsu hates Kagurazaka. And he goes to a different school. And, he's probably headlining the team at Tokyo."

Mizuki stuck her tongue out at him, reminding Sano again of all of her obvious feminine mistakes. She looked so… girly, pink little tongue out at him, red lips forming a cute little 'o' around it… He shook himself mentally as she started talking again.

"-So maybe you'd consider it then?"

"I'm sorry, I missed the first bit," Sano said.

"I said, if I pulled the puppy dog face, then maybe you'd consider the race!" Mizuki pouted, bringing her hands up under her chin as if she where Yujiro, begging for food. The little pink tongue was back, as was a small flash of pearly teeth as she mock-panted. That in and of itself was sending Sano's mind in a completely gutter-worthy direction, but the fact that she was giving small dog-barks was what made him break into laughter.

Mizuki took this as a sign of him cracking under the pressure she was putting on him. She got onto her knees, giving little puppy-whines and yips. Sano kept laughing, until he finally calmed himself down enough to tell her to get off the floor.

"What if someone walked in and saw you going around on the floor? They'd think you were crazy."

"Do you think I'm not crazy?" Mizuki said playfully, standing up.

"I never said that." Sano joked back. It felt so good to be able to talk like this to someone like Mizuki. Someone so fun and so easy to talk to, and someone so...His mind had started wandering down the road towards perverse thoughts until Mizuki's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Sano, why don't you want to compete? It sounds pretty awesome to me."

He sighed, tousling Mizuki's hair. "No real reason, except…"

The truth was, he did want to go on the mountain race. There was only one catch, and she was sitting next to him, complaining about him messing up her hair.

He couldn't form a team without Mizuki without hurting her feelings. And if he did have her with him in a team, she could get seriously hurt in the mountains in conditions built for a man's stamina and bodily abilities. And, alone with five other boys in the wild, Mizuki's secret risked being exposed. And Sano, no matter how much he wanted to compete, would let Mizuki come to danger.

"…Except I'm worried about my grades." The lie slipped out easily. Sano did not want Mizuki to know he thought her unable to compete- that would hurt her almost as much as others discovering her gender.

Mizuki gave him a surprised look, and then a knowing one. "Sano, I've been your roomie for two years, and I know that even without studying you get high grades. So a small, harmless romp in the mountains isn't going to hurt you."

Sano shrugged, hoping she'd just change the subject. He glanced at the washing machine's timer; more than ten minutes remained on his load of dark clothes. No escape there.

"You don't think I can do it, can you?"

"What?" Sano looked at his roommate in surprise. She had guessed? How? Mizuki was usually comparable to concrete when figuring out ulterior motives. She was too trusting to think someone a liar!

Mizuki grinned. "Nakatsu says you're my mother hen. Don't worry, Sano. I've done enough track and now karate to let a little 'ole mountain phase me."

"Really?" Sano remained doubtful. Mizuki could be as fit as any boy, but her sex was still an issue. "There'd be zero privacy, you know. And no showering. And no pre-cooked food."

"I know." Mizuki sounded slightly annoyed now. "And I don't care. I'm not some sissy, Sano."

"I know," Sano hurried to pacify her, and cover his own blunder. "It's just, I know you like your alone time now and then. And some others in Dorm Two are pretty…. Nosy." He finished lamely.

Mizuki sat quietly in thought for a moment. Her gender identity had been a problem in her mind, (although she doubted that Sano knew about that business) but she knew that she could keep it a secret. If it rained, she'd put on a poncho! If she needed the bathroom, she'd run deep into the woods! And if she got her, erm, monthly, well, she'd just be really sneaky!

Mizuki clenched her fist in defiance to the challenges she faced. Sano watched her with amusement. She looked pretty sure of herself, and after the hoops he'd watched her get through to stay at Osaka, he knew to trust her. And, he'd be there… to watch out for her.

"Go get the rest of the guys," he sighed. "We've got a team to sign up."

Next day, at the track field

Mizuki flew down the track, racing her shadow around the beaten-down dirt. Nakatsu, resting from his own sprint, held a stopwatch. As Mizuki thundered by him, he hit the button to stop it.

"Not bad, Ashiya!" Nakatsu called after her. She had let her legs slow down, traveling a fourth of the way around again before coming to a walk.

"Not bad? Not good, though, right?"

"Not even close to your record." Nakatsu tossed her the stopwatch as she strolled back towards him, catching her breath.

"What do you mean, not good?" Sekime demanded. He and Noe were sprawled in the grass by Nakatsu, enjoying the fine summer sun. At some point Kayashima had wandered out as well, but was now taking pictures of seemingly nothing. No one asked him what he was doing- the answer would be of the occult or of some ghostly being.

"It's not good." Mizuki grumbled. "It's like getting a B; it's not bad, but it's not the best."

"Geeze, I'll stick with tennis." Noe said, grinning up at Nakatsu and Mizuki. "As long as I pound the stuffing out of the ball each hit I keep getting one-hundred percent."

Sano jogged up, glazed with perspiration from jumping practice. "Hey. How's the sprints going?"

"Ashiya's failing," Sekime announced grandly. "He assigned himself a B."

"Sekime, I'd like to see you tear up the track like him!" Nakatsu jumped to Mizuki's defense.

"If someone can't even run that slowly, they must be descendants of snails."

A voice at the chain-link fence made the group turn. Kagurazaka leaning against it, a smirk on his face.

"Why do you come here? Do you even have a life of your own, or are you too jealous of ours?" Nakatsu snapped.

"I get my kicks antagonizing you wimps." Kagurazaka smiled cruelly. "So, too scared to enter the Mountain race? My team was already selected at Tokyo, so I'll be the one kicking Osaka ass. If you did enter, maybe you'll reconsider it now."

"I'll have you know we're going to be Osaka's team." Noe said grandly. Of course, the selection was set for the following day, but Kagurazaka didn't need to know that there was still a chance that the Dorm Two team might not compete.

"And we wouldn't pull out because a little boy like you would be competing," Sekime added viciously. "In fact, that makes us more sure we're winning."

"Yeah," Nakatsu laughed, "we know the competition is a push-over."

Kagurazaka didn't seem perturbed by their insults. "Laugh while you still can, 'cause when Tokyo's done with you, they'll have to scrape Osaka off the mountainside, junk boys."

"Junk boys?" Mizuki grinned. "By thank you, Kagurazaka. You're right; we will wipe the other teams, 'specially yours. So I guess we are the junk boys- cleaning up the competition."

Kagurazaka gave a 'huh' and turned to leave. "See you in the race, then, Princess," he flung back at Mizuki, who made a hand gesture that would have landed her in detention. The others laughed and repeated the gesture, mocking Kagurazaka and flinging insults at his back.

Sano looked at his friends, a small smile on his face. "Well," he said, "looks like we have a team name."

His words were greeted with applause. Junk Boys was official.

End Chapter

Authoress here.

Ah, Kagurazaka. I like typing his name. Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka.

Okay, enough of that. I have math to do.

Leave me your thoughts, comments, questions, chocolates! (Apparently, the 'love leaving' didn't go over well. (wink.))

Out on the Broom 'O' Doom!