Jirou yawned to hide his awkwardness. Marui was staring at his hickey again. It wouldn't be so bad if Marui didn't keep laughing every time he saw it. Eiji and Kamio weren't coming, which meant that Jirou was alone in dealing with Marui. Being alone with Marui meant suffering through the self-proclaimed tensai's snickers and stares. It wasn't Jirou's fault Atobe was feeling territorial. It was Oshitari's fault for mentioning that Jirou'd been skipping practice a lot lately. Oshitari was going to suffer as soon as Jirou was done with this project.

A beep drew Jirou's attention away from homicide. "What was that?" he asked, searching about the room for the source of the noise.

Marui's room was what Jirou imagined a Bond villain's library would look like. He had four computer screens, all of them displaying various grids and dots. A fifth computer screen had Minesweeper and an unfinished history essay. There were wires along the base of the wall, zip-tied neatly together. Marui's bookshelf was host to such titles as Demons and How They Work for You, Build Your Own Combat Robot, Amateur Surveillance, and The Joy of Cooking: Dessert Edition. Marui wasn't a tensai, Marui was just scary.

"That's the proximity alert. Someone just entered our block." Marui walked to his desk and pulled out a clipboard. "It's probably Shinowa-san. She walks her dog at about this time." He put the clipboard down after making a small mark on it.

"I didn't know you could do this." Jirou indicated the room with a sweep of his hand.

"You didn't need to know." Marui's eyes found Jirou's hickey for the seventh time that hour. "How's Atobe doing?" Marui was laughing again.

"He's fine…now." Jirou started as another beep, long and shrill, sounded.

Marui slid into the chair at the computer station. "Momo's making an outbound call. I'll put it on the speaker."

&-&

Echizen answered his phone. After talking with Inui-senpai, Echizen didn't really want to talk to anyone; not now, not ever again. Inui was embarrassing. The call was from Momo-senpai, though, and if he was calling to tell Echizen not to wait for him in the morning, then the call was important. "Hai Momo-senpai?"

"Echizen," Momo trailed off into burbles then started again. "Echizen, did you get a call from Inui-senpai?"

Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god. This wasn't the conversation that Echizen wanted to have, not with Momo, and particularly not after Inui's phone lecture on "being true to your feelings." Taken up in thought and dread, Echizen failed to respond to Momo's question.

"Echizen? You there?"

"Hai, Momo-senpai." Ryoma's hands were shaking. The phone was slippery from palm-sweat.

"Hai, you're there or hai, he called you?" Echizen's only consolation was that Momo sounded no better than Echizen felt. Maybe Inui gave him the talk, too.

"Both."

"Oh." Yep, it sounded like Momo'd received a weird call, too. Inui-senpai needed to die. Maybe he'd drink a bad batch of Inui Juice and just fall over. "Do you, uh, want to talk about it?"

"No." Echizen wiped his hands on his pajama pants. "I'm going to bed, Momo-senpai. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Yeah." Momo hung up and Echizen turned his phone to silent and shoved it in the bottom drawer, right next to the random Momo notes that Inui somehow knew Echizen kept. The notes would be taken care of this weekend. Echizen would put the ashes in a bag and give them to Inui-senpai. Echizen would tell Inui-senpai to mix them in his juice and choke on them.

&-&

"I'm going to kill Inui," Marui proclaimed, shutting off his monitor. "We're right back where we started, if not way behind." Marui's bubblegum accented every other word of his speech. Normally he took his time with the bubbles, luxuriating in the satiny feel of bubblegum sliding against his tongue. Now, the strawberry-mint gum was losing its flavor.

Jirou stood from his slouch on the bed and put a hand on Marui's shoulder. Marui figured it was to keep him from doing rash things, like finding the data tennis player and spitting gum in his eye. "We can't go forward without letting the others know about this. Leave a message for Kikumaru to meet us at the parlor tomorrow after practice. I'll call Kamio. We'll figure something out." Jirou looked at his cell phone. "I should get going before mom thinks I've fallen asleep on the train again."

Marui nodded in agreement but couldn't bring himself to put as much cheer into wishing Jirou off as he would've liked. There had to be something that could bring those two idiots together, if even just to admit that they had some mutual attraction. At this rate, even that would satisfy the mission. With a snort, Marui spit his gum into the trashcan and prepared for bed.

&-&

Kamio stared at his banana split, looking for answers. None came.

"Let's review the facts," Kikumaru said, moving his straw through a choco-berry smoothie. "Fact one: Momo likes Echizen. Fact two: Momo likes Kaidoh. Fact three: Kaidoh is not quite dating Inui but will be soon. Fact four…"

"Inui is an ass," Kamio grumbled, unable to help himself.

"Agreed," Marui said around a chocolate chip cookie. It was Marui's tenth jumbo-sized cookie in the last half hour.

"Fact four," Kikumaru continued, huffing slightly, "Echizen likes Momo. Fact five: Echizen has a crush on Buchou."

"Really?" Jirou asked, wide-eyed, abandoning his fudge sundae. "And Fuji hasn't killed him yet?"

"Fujiko and Buchou both know and, since Buchou's in Germany, it's not a problem right now. They're going to deal with it when and if it creates a situation." Kikumaru sipped his smoothie and frowned. "Where was I?"

"You just finished at fact five," Kamio answered after a look to the notebook he was using to keep minutes. Kamio didn't understand why, whenever he was in a club, he always had to be the secretary. Sure his writing was neat, but it wasn't fair.

"Right. Fact six: Echizen and Momo are aware of facts one through five. Fact seven: Inui created unneeded tension between Echizen and Momo that we must now reverse. The question is, how are we going to get them back on track?" Kikumaru took a long draw of his smoothie.

Kamio had an idea, but it was embarrassing, particularly because he'd seen it on a shoujo drama the previous night. Maybe one of the others would think of something.

"Kamio's got an idea." Jirou smiled around his spoon. "He's wrinkling up his nose like a bunny, so he's got to be thinking of something good."

"I-I just thought of something I saw on TV the other day." Oh god, they were going to laugh at him. "This girl and this guy saw some people making out in the park and then were trapped in a shed together overnight. They were stuck so long, they started talking about the people in the park and then they got around to confessing." Kamio closed his eyes and waited for the mockery to come.

"So that's what got Yumiko and Shinichiro together! I missed the episode because I was planning with Marui and then, when I read the profiles for today's show I couldn't' believe that they were talking about a first date! That's so awesome!" In his excitement, Jirou lunged over the table, soaking his shirt in chocolate sauce and melted ice cream.

"Ah, you watch Powerhouse Love, too? Why didn't you tell me! We could've put it on while you were there!" Marui's eyes welled up with tears.

Kikumaru blinked. "Powerhouse Love?"

"It's the best!" Jirou proclaimed, fist in the air. "Come on, I've got the first season on DVD. You have to watch it.

"I can probably find last night's episode online. I'll record tonight's so we can watch it after we're done." Marui pulled out his cell phone. "Hi mom. Is it okay if I stay at Akutagawa-kun's tonight? No, I've finished my work for the weekend." Marui smiled, so the answer must've been affirmative. "I'll stop by and feed the fish before I head out. Thanks mom, love you." Marui put his phone away. "Awesome, I've got clearance to stay out all weekend."

Kikumaru, still looking skeptical, took out his phone. "Hey, is dad home? Put him on. No, it's none of your business, now put him on. No, I'm not on a date. Put dad on the phone." Despite his growling tone, Kikumaru was smiling. Kamio wondered what it must be like to have siblings. Being an only child in a poorer neighborhood, Kamio often found himself jealous of people like Kikumaru and Jirou, who had money and community and all the wonderful things in life. "Dad, can I stay at a friend's house tonight? Homework's all done, I promise. No, it's not Oishi's. Some friends and I are going to watch some TV. No, it's not Oishi. Daaaaaaaaad, that's not funny." Kikumaru's eyes went wide. "You had better not say that if he calls! You promised you wouldn't tell. I'm so disowning all of you! Stop laughing!" Kikumaru pulled the phone away from his ear and glared at it. "I'm going and you better not say anything!" he yelled at the phone before hanging up.

"Sounded fun," Marui laughed, popping a new piece of gum in his mouth.

"Dad knows about me an' Oishi and he's always teasing me about it, says he wants to make sure Oishi and I are not," Kikumaru cleared his throat and pitched his voice down low, "partaking in unchaperoned, illicit activities."

"Are you?" Jirou asked, leaning forward again. Kamio moved the empty ice cream bowl a split second before Jirou's shirt would've received a second chocolate coating.

Kikumaru blushed and stammered. "That's none of your business!"

"We'll take that as a yes," Kamio snickered. He didn't need to call home, he always spent the weekend away when he could. If they needed him, they'd call.

Jirou jumped up, standing on the bench. "To Powerhouse Love!" he declared, tossing some money down on the table.

Kamio quietly scooted out of the booth, tossing their waitress an apologetic smile though a quick glance at the stack of yen on the table proved to be plenty to compensate for the waitress' ire. She would get used to them, in time.

&-&

Eighteen hours and no sleep after leaving the ice cream parlor, Kikumaru was crying, Marui was wiping Cheetoh dust off his mouth, and Kamio was staring at the blank television screen as if there were still programming on. Jirou, by contrast, was ready to start scheming.

"So, now that we've all seen the episode, what do we think about using it as a model?" Jirou ran to Kamio's bag and got the minutes notebook. "Here Kamio-kun, you'll want to get this down."

Kamio blinked. "Huh?"

Jirou did a writing mime. "Take notes," he said. He threw his arms out wide. "Big plans."

"Right, notes," Kamio yawned. "Can't we do this after a nap?"

"No naps!" Jirou proclaimed, causing Kamio to jolt upright. "We have to get this done while everything's fresh in our minds!" Jirou was far too excited to sleep. How could they sleep when they were on the verge of a breakthrough?

Marui reached into his backpack and took out a fresh pack of gum. "Well, let's start with the 'inspiring display.' What kind of display do we want and, more importantly, who's gonna do it?"

"I nominate Kikumaru and Oishi," Kamio garbled out. Kamio's eyes were a little bloodshot. Maybe he should take a nap.

"No way! Oishi would be too embarrassed. I can't ask him to do that!" Kikumaru's tomato impression was really very good.

"Don't even think about nominating Keigo and I. He'd kill you if he heard you even suggested it," Jirou warned. The thought of Atobe publicly awing people with his prowess was funny, but Jirou found that he didn't want anyone to see more of Atobe than what shirt and shorts covered. Atobe's prowess belonged to Jirou and Jirou only, thank you.

"That leaves Marui and Kamio." Kikumaru was smiley, which meant he had an idea. "I nominate Marui-kuuuuuuun." Jirou wondered what Marui'd done to Kikumaru that warranted the vengeful gleam in the acrobatic player's eyes.

"Sorry, can't." Marui's voice was calm, but his hands were having trouble unwrapping another piece of gum. "No boyfriend, no girlfriend, no nothing. Can't."

"I'm sure you can think of something," Kikumaru continued to smile.

Oh-ho, Marui was blushing. This was good. "Is there something you'd like to tell us Marui-kun?" Jirou asked, scooting toward his friend and swinging an arm over his shoulder. "Someone caught your eye?"

"No-one's caught anything." Marui wiggled out of Jirou's hold.

"Don't worry so much. Kamio's asleep, so it won't go in the minutes," Jirou pointed to where Kamio sat, slumped over and drooling. "You can tell us anything; we're all brothers here." Jirou gave what he imagined was a reassuring smile. Marui scooted away, obviously unimpressed.

Luckily, Kikumaru was ready with details. "I saw him talking to a kouhai the other day," Kikumaru whispered.

Marui covered his face with his hands. "Shut up!"

"He looked a little scary, but he had his cute moments. Oishi thinks he likes you, too. He kept trying to hold your hand." Kikumaru grinned, white teeth gleaming.

"He is scary," Marui grumbled through his hands. "He's scary and I don't like him. Besides, he likes our fukubuchou."

"I thought you said your fukubuchou and your buchou were nearly married," Jirou asked, not believing a word Marui said. If any of it were true, then Marui would be able to look the group in the eye and not hide behind his hands.

"They are. Our buchou's in the hospital, though, and Akaya's been hanging on to Sanada like a leech." There was a little growl in Marui's voice; very promising. "Yukimura-buchou's going to assign him infinite laps if he irritates Sanada much more."

Jirou saw Yukimura Seiichi play at nationals the previous year. Jirou did not, under any circumstances, want to play against or get on the bad side of the frighteningly talented boy. If Yukimura lived life like he played tennis, he was bound to be a vicious individual. "It's your duty as a good senpai to save him," Jirou concluded. "Kikumaru and I will arrange your dialogue. All you'll have to do is go with the moment." Jirou winked at Kikumaru while Marui was busy wallowing in embarrassment. They were going to help their friend and get Echizen and Momo together. Life didn't get any cooler than this. "Now that we've got the display, we need to figure out the confinement…"

&-&

Kirihara stared at the two boys blocking his path. One was wearing a Seigaku uniform (he recognized it from the day he had bus troubles), the other was Hyoutei. Yanagi-senpai showed them footage of Hyoutei to prepare them for nationals. It was a shame that Hyoutei wouldn't be at nationals this year; Kirihara wanted to play Atobe.

"Kirihara Akaya, we need to speak with you," the Seigaku member said. He had a Band-Aid on his cheek. How weird. Still, they came all this way just to see him, so he might as well hear them out. Kirihara stood, waiting for them to continue.

"We come on behalf of your senpai, Marui Bunta," the Hyoutei guy said. He looked really sleepy.

"Marui-senpai?" Marui-senpai was awesome. He had several sneaky net-plays and he was good at math, which Kirihara was not.

"We want you to kiss him," Seigaku said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No." Kirihara was not going to kiss his senpai. First, kissing was disgusting. Second, Marui-senpai was Marui-senpai and Kirihara didn't want to upset him. Third, Marui played doubles with Jackal-senpai so, while they didn't look like it, they must be dating, because when you played doubles, you dated.

The sleepy Hyoutei's eyes shot open and Kirihara found himself stuck in place by their gaze. "We'll pay you." Hyoutei removed some money from his blazer pocket. "Would 5400 yen be appropriate?"

Wow, that was a lot of money. Kirihara could buy that new pair of sneakers he wanted. "What's the catch?"

"You have to bring his gum back to us," Seigaku said. He was smiling; wide and cat-like.

Kirihara smiled, already thinking that he'd buy his new shoes with the red trim. The red trim was much better than the black or blue. "I can do that," he said haughtily.

"Good," Seigaku said. "Be to the designated place in an hour and follow these directions."

Kirihara took the folded piece of paper and watched the two walk away, whispering to eachother. This was going to be some easy, easy money.