Hm... This chapter was slightly improved from the prologue. I'm still looking for a chance to further Jirou's personality... which of course I haven't had yet since most is still in Bunta's POV. I didn't reread this chapter as much as the prologue so there could be some errors or awkward areas. I think I moved things a little too fast... I really can't blame anything but my laziness, I should've rewritten some parts and given more time to perfect it. Besides that, nothing much else to say. Updates will probably be very slow now, school starts tomorrow.

Again, thanks goes out to awin-chan and EmbeRin for beta reading this. And thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, your reviews really help me keep writing!

Disclaimer: If I owned Prince of Tennis, the series would never have gotten this far. It probably would've been dropped and forgotten after the first volume. Maybe half a volume. So I think it's pretty safe to say that no, I don't own PoT.
Pairing: Sweet Pair as main. There may be several other ones touched upon in future chapters.

Perpetual Hourglass
KatYoukai (Chocolate Confection)
-
Chapter 1

It took several attempts before Marui was able to will his mouth to close, and even then the shock rendered him speechless. The young man standing before him didn't seem to notice, however.

"It is Marui-kun, isn't it?" There was an excited, over-enthusiastic undertone to the words that Bunta recognized all too well. "Sugoi! I can't believe I'm meeting up with you again here of all places! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Finally finding his voice again, the redhead chuckled – a little weakly, much to his disgust – and said, "Yeah… it really has. You're that Hyoutei kid, aren't you? Jirou was it?"

Jirou nodded with utmost exuberance, "Akutagawa Jirou! We played once in the Newcomers Tournament when we were first-years. You had the most amazing moves!"

If Bunta had been expecting Jirou's copiousness to have diminished any in the years that had passed, he was dead wrong.

"Say, why don't we go grab a bite to eat, it'll be a good way to calm down after exams and catch up on things!" Marui wondered how they were supposed to 'catch up' on anything when they hadn't known each other very well in the first place. No… wait, Jirou probably knew plenty about Bunta, being the fan-boy stalker that he was or had been, but that was something the self-proclaimed tensai didn't want to dwell too much on.

"You like sweets don't you Marui-kun? I know this café which has the best cakes around," Jirou continued, paying no heed to Marui's silence, "It's not too far away, we could walk. My treat?"

Well… since he offered, Bunta was really in no position to decline. Besides, he was treating.

That and Jirou had just gone all puppy-eyed on him.

And although Marui liked to think it was because of the promise of cake, cake which would be paid for by another, which prompted him to agree, the truth was he just couldn't say no to the hopeful, expectant look on the lethargic boy's face.

A soon-to-be university student really shouldn't be able to do that.

-

The blond poked his cake with his fork again for what must've been the hundredth time in that half hour. Jirou was far too excited to eat and instead settled on babbling away about the key highlights of the past years of his life and the events of the day itself leading up to his chance meeting with his once-idol outside the examination building.

Marui on his part was quite surprised with the control the excitable boy had demonstrated thus far. He hadn't attempted to tackle Bunta at all on the way to the café and even the number of 'sugoi's numbered far less than they once had.

For the most part, Marui was pleased with this new development. He was used to dealing with fans, considering that the tennis club's Regulars were usually swamped with them, and being the tensai that he was, it was no wonder that he had more fans than the others did. Except for Yukimura. But Marui would never admit to that. Sanada had almost beaten him too, but Sanada was scary and violent, and so, his fan base suffered.

Of course there were exceptions. It was okay for fan-girls to be fawning over and touching him. That was to be expected. It was not okay for a certain crazy fan-boy from Hyoutei to be jumping him as he was heading home from school and getting all touchy-feely with him. Because that was just creepy, and Marui did not appreciate being assaulted after practice at all. Not in the least.

And it was for that reason that Bunta had made it a point to walk home with either Niou or Akaya whenever he could and above all else, stay the hell away from Hyoutei. That was the absolute most important rule of all.

Still, he couldn't help feeling just slightly vexed, and he had no idea why.

"Marui-kun…?"

Marui blinked, looking up at Jirou who was peering curiously at him from across the table. He'd been tapping his fork on his plate as he thought, having finished his own cake long ago. Marui noted that Jirou still hadn't touched his.

"Er… sorry. Got a little distracted. What was that?"

"I said: I heard you changed high schools in the middle of second year. I didn't see you around anymore." By 'around', Jirou probably meant the street alley near Rikkai grounds where the volatile boy had often ambushed him.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. It was an amazingly boring school too. I considered joining the tennis club there so I went and checked it out, but they really sucked so I decided against it."

Jirou laughed, his laughter reminding Marui of bells, "It was the same for me in high school. I joined anyway though, I mostly slept through practice anyways."

Bunta merely looked at him in confusion and Jirou explained.

"Hyoutei wasn't attached to a high school and university like Rikkai was so most of us – the Regulars I mean – got split up. The tennis club of the school I went to was pretty shabby in comparison, but it wasn't too bad because I had Gak-kun with me." Marui assumed he meant Mukahi.

Marui nodded in understanding. Changing schools could be pretty rough sometimes.

"Do you still play?" Jirou asked.

Marui paused a moment before replying, "A bit. Not as much as I used to. I'm pretty out of practice."

Jirou smiled cheerfully and was about to speak before he was cut off as Bunta's watch started to beep.

"Aw crap!" Marui cried as he checked the time, standing up so abruptly he almost toppled the chair and managed to shake the table. "Sorry, but, I really have to go. See you around?"

The blond pulled back, a little startled, nodding.

"Great. See ya!"

As the redhead hurried for the door, Jirou called after him,

"Marui-kun?"

Bunta slowed down.

"Yeah?"

"We should have a match sometime."

He considered the idea for a moment, before flashing a grin back at the other over his shoulder.

"Sure, I'd like that."

And then he was out the door.

-

Marui grumbled to himself as he sifted through the cupboards, looking for anything remotely similar to food. Something he could just shove into the microwave or something from a can would be nice. Maybe some instant noodles even. It was all fine as long as he didn't have to cook, because that might lead to yet another catastrophe. As if there weren't enough in his life as it was.

This was why most university students living away from home were so eager to return whenever given the chance. At home, the laundry was free, and the meals were edible.

After a fruitless search, the young man sighed with resignation and stretched, working the kinks out of his back.

"Work sucks," Marui stated to no one in particular.

Deciding that there really was no food to be found in the apartment, he walked out of the kitchen area and plopped himself down on an armchair only a few feet away, vowing to get some shopping done the next day. And maybe learn to cook. As delightful as instant noodles and canned soup were, it would still be nice to have a decent meal once in a while.

He really missed his mother's cooking. Friday night was sukiyaki night. He could just see his two younger brothers gorging themselves on succulent thinly cut slices of beef and scrabbling over the last shiitake mushroom, all the while joking about their poor, starving brother who had the culinary skill of a horse. Little bastards.

He would've continued calling his siblings inappropriate names if his cell phone had not chosen that opportune moment to start ringing. Getting up, Marui picked up his phone and flipped it open, raising his brows as he read the caller ID.

Akutagawa Jirou.

When had he given his number to the boy? And for that matter, when had Marui added him either?

Bunta took a moment to think about that while the phone in his hand continued to ring.

"…Oh, right. He asked for it on the way to the café."

Satisfied with that explanation, he put the cell to his ear and answered the call.

"Jirou."

"Marui-kun!"

"What is it?"

"Ah, well, I was just thi-- … Marui-kun, was that your stomach?"

"…"

Marui cursed his laughing brothers sitting at home enjoying their sukiyaki.

-

"Ehhh? You're living in an apartment by yourself? That's so awesome!"

"It can't be helped, I just live way too far away from the university. Even if I don't get in, it's supposedly a good experience so…" Marui laughed, "It's nothing really. It's just the cooking that gets annoying. And the rent, the rent is really annoying. But that's okay I guess since my parents are paying for the actual tuition."

"Mm…" Jirou nodded, still looking at Bunta with sparkles in his eyes.

Surprisingly, it would seem that Jirou's antics were actually pretty easy to get used to. The attention wasn't that bad, granted that there was no pouncing and such involved. Besides, it was awfully nice of Jirou to treat him – for the second time that day – to yakiniku. Marui had meant to split the cost but the blond had politely declined. The redhead couldn't help but suspect an ulterior motive.

He placed a slice of beef carefully on the grill before glancing up at the other young man. Well, better to find out now then later.

"Is it really okay not to split the cost?" He asked in what he hoped was a sheepish manner. It was kind of hard to feel guilty when it was really all part of the other person's plot.

"It's fine," was all the reply he got as Jirou prodded a slab of mutton he'd just put on the grill, watching it sizzle. After a moment, he stopped, peering furtively at Bunta behind his bangs. "Although, if you want to make it up to me…"

And here it came.

"Since there's still two more exams coming up, following this one, and we'll be taking the same ones, I thought maybe… we could study together?"

Marui blinked. It wasn't an all-together bad idea. He did study much better with a partner, although, he wasn't quite sure if that went for Jirou. He didn't dislike the boy's company by all means, at least, not in small doses. But the long periods of time on end required for studying, Marui found just a bit questionable.

He opened his mouth to say that perhaps that wasn't the best idea but stopped when he met the other's eyes. And when he opened his mouth again to speak, he found the words falling from it not quite what he'd had in mind.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds good."

Bunta decided that he hated Jirou's puppy-eyes.

So, there it is! Love it, hate it, wish to bash me over the head with a blunt object on too many occasions? Let me know in a review!