Saa, the fifteenth installment of this story is now ready. :D Read on, and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 15

Tensai, tensai, tell me why

What makes your lips twist into a smile so wry

It was a bright sunny morning, and the world of Seigaku's acrobatic player was perfectly aligned on its haphazard axis until he caught sight of the mixed doubles pair of Seigaku's tennis team. His mouth dropped open, pure shock etched on his features.

"N-nani?!"

The two turned around. There was a moment of silence, before Shyoko spoke.

"Are you alright, Eiji?"

The redhead could only shake his head wildly, no sound coming out of his mouth despite his frantic gesticulations.

He finally found his voice. "Y-you two are - !"

Fuji arched an elegant eyebrow. "We are...?"

But Eiji did not stay for any further confirmation. Oh, no, not Eiji. He just had to tell this to Oishi. And Momo. Maybe Ochibi, too! If not, he'd practically burst.

Shyoko looked bewilderedly after the fleeing redhead before shrugging.

"Anyway," She turned back to Fuji. "You were saying...?"

"Ah, yes." Fuji smiled. "Since the coefficient of y is 3x, you shift it over to this side..."

And the two heads bent down again over the Maths book, oblivious to the storm that was about to befall them.

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As they came to the courts for afternoon practice that day – together, though it must be noted that this was a usual occurrence – Shyoko noticed that the regulars were looking at them rather strangely. And that in itself was an understatement.

Eiji started bouncing up and down the moment he saw them, a big, knowing grin spread across his face. Kaidoh turned an interesting shade of pink, while Momo looked undecided as to whether he should tease them or run away before Fuji-sempai started to get really angry. Inui was frantically scribbling data into his trusty notebook. Oishi, ever the worrier, had more creases on his forehead than she had ever seen in her life, and Taka-san blushed and stammered out a greeting as he caught sight of them. The only people actually acting normal were Tezuka and Ryoma, of whom the former had his usual poker face on while the capped first-year simply looked extremely disinterested.

Shyoko broke the awkward silence. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" The reply came too fast to be sincere.

She looked at them suspiciously, but they were saved from further questioning by Tezuka's order to start practising.

"Nya, Shyoko," Eiji said as he passed her, a big smile adorning his face, "Congratulations!"

She was starting to get very confused. "For what?"

"For getting together…" He gave her a conspiratory smile, ignoring Momo's silent pleas not to get them all annihilated by Fuji-sempai for discussing his personal love life in public.

Shyoko began to wonder if she had woken up in a parallel universe. This was not making sense at all. "Getting what together?"

"Nya, there's no need to be shy," Came the cheerful reply.

She stared at him for a moment, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. All that Maths this morning must have addled my brain… She walked over to her doubles partner, who seemed to be the only person she could get any sense out of, and asked, "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"

Fuji smiled mischievously. "What who's talking about?"

She had to curb the sudden urge to go bang her head against the nearest wall.

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"Fuji, Shyoko!"

They went over to Ryuuzaki-sensei. "Yes?"

"Your next match will be against Rikkaidai. Although their mixed doubles pair might not be well-known, watch out for them - "

"Especially Kirihara Akaya." Inui butted in, pushing up his glasses as he spoke. "He plays very violent tennis, and we don't want either of you getting injured."

He could have sworn he saw a glimmer of blue behind Fuji's closed eyelids at the last sentence.

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"Shyoko-sempai, I don't mean to be nosy, but..." Kachiro looked like he was having constipation – darn Kikumaru-sempai for making him do this!

She smiled at the freshman. "Yes?"

"Ah... Kikumaru-sempai wants to know when both of you started going out!" It came out in a rush, so Shyoko took a few minutes to decipher it. But when she did decipher it…

"When who started going out?!!" Her voice rang out clearly through the courts, causing every single head to turn and stare at them.

Fuji walked over calmly. "What's all this about going out?"

Shyoko, however, was not in the mood to listen to him. "And just who am I supposed to be going out with?" She demanded of the hapless Kachiro.

He shook his head dumbly, pointing to Eiji, who was currently talking animatedly with the other half of the Golden Pair.

She stalked over to Eiji, not caring that she was interrupting his conversation.

"And may I please know who I'm going out with?" Her tone was syrupy sweet, but the slight hint of unpleasantness promised of dangers better left unknown.

"Shyoko?" Eiji frowned cutely. "How can you not know whom you're dating?"

"Saa, I wonder too…" Her tone was dangerously sarcastic.

"Ah, you're just joking, right?" Eiji broke into a wide Colgate smile. "Because everyone knows you're dating Fuji, nya!"

Her eyes went as wide as saucers. "I'm dating… Fuji."

Fuji, who, unfortunately for Eiji, had unwholesomely sharp hearing, suddenly stilled. A hush fell across the courts, waiting for one of them to blow up.

A minute passed, and nothing had happened.

Two minutes, and Horio began to fidget.

Three minutes. Still no one moved.

Then, slowly, Shyoko turned to face Fuji. There was a moment in which their eyes met, and Ryoma wondered idly if they practised telepathy.

It certainly seemed possible, the way their lips curved at the exact same moment two minutes later. Everybody let out a sigh of relief, except a certain acrobatic player who appeared not to realise just how close to the brink of death he had come.

"You two are da - !" He was immediately pulled away by Oishi, who feared for his doubles partner's life. Eiji struggled, finally managing to get Oishi's hand away from his mouth. "I know you're dating, 'cause I saw you holding hands!"

"Now we're really gonna die…" Momo muttered. And deciding that he was far too young to say goodbye to this world, he bolted.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

Fuji looked at the now-empty courts, the last tennis club member being a good five hundred metres away. "An utter rout, don't you think?"

Her replying smirk was pure evil. "Definitely."

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The next day, however, was back to the grind, partly because Tezuka had been extremely annoyed about yesterday's disturbance of the practice, and partly because the finals of the Kantou prefecture were coming up.

"Have you ever played Kirihara Akaya before?" Shyoko asked Fuji, retrieving a ball that landed near her.

A small shake of the head was his only reply.

She thought for a moment, before wondering out loud, "What does Inui mean by 'violent tennis'?"

She was about to find out first-hand just how brutal tennis could become.

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So how did you like it? Review, ne? The next chapter's gonna be Rikkaidai! XD