Ugh, I started this last mid-March, am I in a slump?

Disclaimer: the idea of letting this hopefully not get past 60 chapters is mine?


36: The Nagging Arazá

It was a tiny, acidic bud.

"Yo, Yankee-chan,"

Fudou refused to turn around to meet the familiar voice, but remained rooted to his spot. When the mohawk-haired boy refused to meet her eyes, Naomi walked to the window in front of him, steps reverberating throughout the entire corridor. "A little bird told me that you've been spoiling someone rotten ever since they arrived."

"I'm not spoiling anybody." The president's new secretary rolled his eyes. Naomi copied the action with her purple ones. "And I guess you taking her out to McDonalds whenever you two meet up is also a myth?" The teenaged boy took his spot at the windows across his cousin, finally seeing her eye to eye. "I eat at RaiRaiKen, doofus."

"Oh, come on!" The girl snapped, irritated at his sidestepping answers. "I know you take Zuko out to McDonalds and buy her happy meals!" She stiffened in an attempt to hold in her face-slashing hands. "Why are you denying it so much?"


A certain duo of a goalkeeper and midfielder was warming up together whilst uttering plans for upcoming events. "So I can take her out to the gala?" The bigger one of the two reached forward as far as he could, his legs forming a v-shape. The smaller one pushed down as much as she could. "It'll be fun; like a glimpse into the King's lifestyle, or the big man finally introducing the lady who has his heart." Genda snorted, an indication that his best friend learned to be self-satisfaction. "Hey, proper breathing."

"Your turn to stretch, tsun-chibi," he grinned at her, pleased at how he'd been addressed as the King (of Goalkeepers) with a queen to boot. Sokudone sat on the ground in the same position Teikoku's goalkeeper was in just a moment ago. "I've been meaning to ask, but what's happened since then?" The brunette inquired as nonchalantly as he could; Genda was worried about the small espionage stunt he pulled that one morning, and while he was given permission to listen to it, the president refused to disclose her plans to him.

"What's happened since when?" Sokudone countered coyly, stretching out with her face nearly touching the ground. "The recording, the delinquent, and the human jelly bean."

"Oh, that sounds like a catchy romcom," she answered distractedly, the two friends now passing a soccer ball between them. Genda rolled his eyes, barely restraining himself. "Sokudone."

"You'll ruin my plan."

"I'm your best friend!"

"Exactly," the midfielder pointed out, kicking the ball with a tad more strength, an indication that her best friend learned to be bordering on irritation. "Yuuto's tried to stop me once, and Akio has, too. Incidentally you happen to be my favorite goalkeeper so I'm protecting you from my antics."

"And what about you?" The brunette understood why she had to be stopped, but he also wanted to support her. "Who'll protect you?"


"Why are you hounding after me?"

"What?" Naomi was taken aback. Fudou had looked a tad more menacing than when he was touring the new students around. "I'm sure we had a silent, unspoken agreement to never meddle in each other's businesses," he continued, taking miniscule yet intimidating steps towards his cousin. "But here you are, in my school," he was three steps closer, "leeching off my family," two, "and associating yourself with my prey."

The two were head to head, but Naomi didn't buckle. In fact, she laughed, a realization suddenly in her mind. "You called your stupid middle school crush prey."

"It's not a crush," Fudou's face was contorted into disgust as he scoffed. Naomi was laughing. Bless her, she could best Sokudone in a matchmaking contest without even trying. Speaking of the shachō, the black-haired student backed to a more comfortable distance and took out her phone. The brunette barely held back the itch to grab the mobile and toss it three stories below them. Avoiding the fast food freak the past week would be pointless if Naomi called her up now.

The said girl sensed his discomfort. "Oh, loosen your thongs, Akkin, I'm just calling the president."

Fudou's eyes widened. That was much worse.


"Hey," Sakiyama yelled from the bench area where only Sokudone's stuff was, "Kageyama, your phone's been buzzing like crazy! Should I toss it over?" The said blackette pondered on the notion for a moment when Sakuma yelled a warning.

"The ball, Sokudone, the ball!"

The addressee ducked in the last minute, heartbeat speeding up and adrenaline rushing. She grinned from her position in the field. "Leave it! I just got an idea for a hissatsu!" Meanwhile, Kidou, anticipating his osananajimi's hissatsu proposal, was interrupted by Narukami's badgering. "Fudou hasn't shown up for practice since last week, but he's got the nerve to call everyone's phones right now."

"Fine, I'll answer it," the forward sighed, only half-hoping Sokudone couldn't formulate her move while he wasn't watching. The spiky-haired midfielder handed the phone to their leader. "Kidou speaking."

"Great. Hand it to the president."

"You called my number; you speak with me." The Jamaican-haired boy pressed. The nerve of this yankee was testing his patience. "Fine," came the slightly panicked reply from the other end. Kidou raised his brows. What was Fudou so anxious about that he needed to speak with the president? "Tell her whatever this kid named Sasaki Naomi has to say about me isn't true." Immediately the line went dead.


After practice had ended, and Gohin had left the school grounds, and Kazemaru had apparently dropped by to insist he walk home with her, Sokudone checked her phone on the walk home, making sure to remind her new secretary that he had the entire day tomorrow dedicated to scheduling meetings with the bigwigs she had succeeded into strengthening ties with during the previous week's benefit gala. "Who's Sasaki Naomi?" Kazemaru peered over his cousin's shoulder as he saw multiple mails from the same person. "Is she bothering you? Do you want me to talk to her?"

"It's fine, silly," she patted his cheek as she pocketed the mobile. The two continued their walk home. "She's actually Akio's cousin—"

"Oh," Kazemaru paused, then continued his pace like nothing happened. "So I should talk to her."

"No, stupid," this time the cheek pat was replaced with an eyeroll. "She's an asset. Now I know how to keep the ball rolling."

"Like, the Valentine's Ball?" Sokudone looked at him, a hint of realization on the double entendre. "Well, that too."


Naomi was frustrated. "Why isn't she answering, she should think of this as gold!" She muttered to herself as she waited for a reply from the school president. In actuality, she'd been waiting for a reply since last week, but the only response she got was a curt, "all in due time."

"Whatever you're splurging is fool's gold to her. She'll pick me over you any time of the day." Came her cousin's annoyingly deep voice from the kitchen. "Are you kids fighting over someone?" Mrs. Fudou lightly slapped her son's arm as they cooked dinner. "No," Akio supplied. "Of course not," Naomi added, eyeing her cousin with a trademark Fudou glare. "Why would we when he's already lost to me?"

"What?" Fudou returned the squint.

"I mean, she and I are friends, and we know everything about each other, and all Baldy's ever done here is try to bribe her with cheap fast food."

"You mean you two are still at the friendly stage while she and I've been going out on dates?" The brunette realized that while his mom may have thought he won the argument, Naomi's cunning smirk was enough to tell him he'd made a mistake for saying that. "Shut it, chicken comb," she yelled from the adjacent room. "Why don't you go splurge her with your office job money since she won't leave you alone anyway?"


Don't worry, guys, I'm on a roll and I'd like to tell you I slipped into the diamond life while flailing terribly in the ocean called college but we're doing great so far! :D

-wanonymous