DISCLAIMER: Me do not own PoT.

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Chapter 11

A Pink Wallet

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A word was passed on to the Seigaku players.

There won't be a preparation day tomorrow. Have exams on Monday. – Natsume Ayashi, Daidouji Gakuen

"Just in time, then." Fuji said, smiling, "We just needed a break too."

Seigaku had just returned to their school when they got the word, though Ryoma wasn't with them. Tezuka told him to go home and think about what happened when they reached the school grounds; Sumire was surprised by such and asked Tezuka what happened.

"That kid, what was he thinking?" Sumire rubbed her temples.

Tezuka sighed. What was Ryoma thinking indeed?

When dismissal came, Momoshiro immediately left the school grounds.

"According to my data, there's a seventy five percentage of him going to look for Echizen. A good twenty that he'll be looking for Tachibana An, while there's this slim chance of roughly 5 that he's really going home, but there's a less than 1 for just going to hang out somewhere."

"Are you going to follow him, Eiji?" asked Oishi.

Kikumaru shook his head, "I'll leave Ochibi and Momo for a while. I… have to go home! See you!" he then bounced off.

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"Ano… Tsucchi, are you sure that you're just OK?" asked Mai, sitting on a bench, with Atsuyo beside her.

Atsuyo nodded.

"Kitami-chan has already left, and she really looked pissed off." Mai twiddled with her fingers, "It's good that our senpai haven't noticed?"

"Was it?" Atsuyo's voice didn't seem to waver, "Wasn't it much more of a good idea that they did? So that we won't have to work with Seigaku again…"

Mai frowned, "I don't think that them noticing is a good thing. Even if Natsume-buchou knew about this, she'll only get angry at us and punish us. She'll never stop working with Seigaku because of this… brawl between us and Echizen."

Atsuyo's face showed a sign of utter displeasure, "That boy, Echizen. I don't like him."

"I can see that."

"The way he talks… sounding like he knows everything. I shouldn't have made a muffin for him."

Mai sighed, "But Tsucchi, we didn't know that he would do that to Natsume-buchou, right? Maybe…"

"I don't care what happens to him," said Atsuyo, irritated, "If Natsume-buchou still wants to work with them, fine, but I won't talk."

"Gah! Tsucchi, you're a personnel manager…" Mai suddenly stopped, "Hey… do you remember what buchou said earlier… did you know why she punished us after, you know, Chokichi…"

"I dunno."

"That still bothers me," pouted Mai, "Anger dulls the blade, huh?"

Atsuyo stood, "Well, I really have to leave now. Are you sure you don't want to stay at our house?"

"It's OK. We won't have to do anything tomorrow, right?" she replied, "I think I'd be staying here for a bit."

"Ja, then." Atsuyo took her belongings and went on her way.

Mai waved, "JA NE!"

The girl with pigtails stayed at the school until it was dark, until it was only the flickering post gave off light for the night strollers. A tall figure approached her.

It was Kikumaru Eiji.

"Nya nya hoi, Sachimi-chan!"

Mai raised a brow, "Wow, you sure have a thick face to show up here, Kikumaru-senpai."

"Oi, oi! Don't be mean, Sachimi-chan!" he complained at the clueless girl, then sat beside her.

Mai sighed, "Seems I have no choice then. Spill it out, senpai."

"Spill it out?" Kikumaru asked suspiciously, "What?"

"Eh?! Then why did you go here?"

Kikumaru looked away, "Nothing important… well, not really."

"…"

"Are you still angry with what Ochibi did?" he asked, not looking at the girl.

"Ochibi?"

"Echizen."

"Oh." She waggled her brows, "I dunno, but Tsucchi and Kitami-chan were really angry."

Kikumaru looked at the young girl, just moments ago she was bursting with life, and now, she looked serene and sad. She shuffled her feet anxiously.

"You know, Tsucchi's got a very bad temper. Even if she's just in a corner, she could see everything and anything." Mai continued, "She won't let anyone know what she's thinking… moreover, she won't let anything get to her… but… she's so loyal to our buchou."

"Any reason why?" asked Kikumaru.

"Buchou… isn't just our captain."

Every word Mai said, every movement of her lips showed nothing but sadness. Kikumaru couldn't understand how a lively and cheerful person like her could suddenly turn into something so… lonely.

Kikumaru continued for her, "She's also a friend, am I right? Or probably an older sister? Nya?"

Mai nodded.

"Ochibi is just a kid whose life is centered with tennis, did you know that?" said Kikumaru, shrugging.

"You're kidding." Mai stared at him cynically. Kikumaru shook his head.

"He's a very dense person and he can't recognize feelings like that easily, not to mention that he's still a kid. He couldn't even understand that Sakuno-chan likes him." He huffed comically.

"HA! I knew it!" Mai grinned, "Sakuno-chan does like that Echizen! Lucky guy, Sakuno-chan seems to be a very sweet girl!"

Kikumaru then remembered the previous "slap-session", "Ah, I don't know about that. Sakuno-chan just slapped Ochibi earlier."

"You're kidding."

"Nya!" pouted Kikumaru, "I'm not kidding!"

"Served him right."

Kikumaru stared at the girl, and smiled, "You seem to be much nicer today than our past talks."

"Eh?" Mai looked strangely at him, "Ah, well, we do have a good topic today, that's why."

"So, does that mean that you're only interested with good topics?" he asked.

"Do you like shounen-ai?" she asked.

"…"

"I knew it." She stuck her tongue out, "Did you know that doubles partners in tennis have the ever tendency to fall in love with each other without noticing?"

Kikumaru stared at the girl, "You're mean, Sachimi-chan!"

The girl giggled, and was followed shortly with Kikumaru's laughter.

"You're nicer than I thought, Kikumaru-senpai!" Mai smiled at the older boy, "I never liked flashy people."

"You don't? That's odd, 'cause you just said that I was nice." He rested his chin on his hand.

Mai smiled at him, "But you're different, Kikumaru-senpai."

Kikumaru was surprised with the girl's statement and wasn't able to reply. Mai took out her hand.

"Friends?"

Kikumaru looked at the hand before him, "Only when you call me Eiji-senpai."

"Eh?!" Mai pouted.

"C'mon, everybody calls me Eiji-kun or Eiji-senpai!" it was his turn to pout.

"Beh." Mai stuck her tongue out, but a small smile crept on her lips, "Fine then, Eiji-senpai."

Kikumaru smiled back.

"So, friends?"

He shook her hand, "Friends."

The two stared at each other for two whole minutes, with their hands still mingled with each other. It wasn't until someone interrupted them that they broke apart.

"Oi, Mai!" a boy with spiked dark brown hair ran towards the two of them. From what Kikumaru could see, he had an aura of utter arrogance.

Mai immediately pulled out her hand from Kikumaru's, then proceeded to cradle her hand with the other in front of her bosom, "T-Teruo-kun!"

Surprise crawled on Kikumaru's skin as the other boy kissed Mai on her cheeks, "Ah… I'm sorry." He turned to leave.

"Wait, Eiji-senpai!" Mai exclaimed. Kikumaru whirled back, she said, "Eiji-senpai, this is T-Teruo, my…"

"I'm her boyfriend, nice to meet you." Teruo continued, holding out his hand.

Kikumaru shook his hand, "Kikumaru Eiji, Sachimi-chan's senpai."

"We'll be leaving soon, Kikumaru-san, do you want to join us?" asked Teruo.

Kikumaru shook his head, "No. I… want to stay here for a while."

Teruo grabbed Mai by her arm and dragged her away, fortunately Mai was able to utter him a small "Ja ne" before he did so.

Somehow, Kikumaru couldn't help but smile when she said "Ja ne" while smiling at him, in direct contrast with the way she looked when her boyfriend, Teruo, came. It was odd, but he can't help but feel angry at Teruo when he dragged Mai away, it was obvious that he was hurting Mai, then again, Kikumaru want to kick his self mentally when he remembered that he wasn't able to do anything anyway.

He looked up at the sky, remembering slightly the peaceful look on Mai's face when she talked to him earlier. When he closed his eyes, still facing the sky, all he could see was the flickering sadness in Mai's eyes that only he could see.

He patted the part of the bench where Mai sat earlier, and then he noticed a light pink wallet on the ground.

"Oi, kid! It's late we're closing!" a security guard appeared.

Kikumaru stood up immediately, the wallet in his hand, "Ack! I forgot the time! Sorry, mister!"

Kikumaru bounced out of the school, gaining a scolding from the guards. But then, another playful smile crept on Kikumaru's lips as he clutched the pink wallet in his hand.

Another reason to see Mai again.

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A/N: So how's for my 11th chapter? Hehehe…