"Hey Marui," Niou called with a questioningly look on his handsome face.

"What is it Niou?" Marui asked as he glanced at him behind his back while doing some handwork. "Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"I know that you idiot. It's just that…" Niou growled with a vein showing on his forehead. He placed his right hand on the self-proclaimed genius' head and said testily, "What the hell's wrong with you this time, huh? Are you doing pottery in the club room?"

"Yeah and so?" Marui raised an eyebrow.

It was true. Both of them were inside the club room and indeed, Marui Bunta was attempting to do pottery, though it did not seem like he's making any progress. There were specks of mud on the floor and on the wall and the things inside the room like bags, shirts, and racquets became dirty because of it. Right now, Niou was losing his patience. "That's you answer…?" he forced a smile on his face and said threateningly, "Why don't you look at your surroundings, huh? Especially this." He pulled out a shirt that was lying on his tennis bag and made him look at it.

"It's a shirt." Marui said blankly. "So, what about it?"

Because of his answer, Niou had had enough. "You freaking made my shirt dirty, that's why! Do you even know that I was planning to wear this for my date later?!" He bellowed at him.

Marui snorted, going back pottering. "Whatever."

Niou gave him a murderous look and tackled him like there's no tomorrow. He head-locked him tightly and said evilly, "You're going down, you wimp."

Then, the door swung open and Hiroshi and Seiichi entered, their expressions changed for a short span of time when they scanned the room. "Why is this place unkempt?" Seiichi questioned the two regulars who were busy at the moment.

"It's this idiot's fault. He was doing pottery inside and he ruined my shirt!" Niou told him as he continued to torture the self-proclaimed genius.

Hiroshi glanced at Marui's expression and said bluntly to the trickster, "That's enough, Masaharu."

Hearing the gentleman's words, he finally released him. "Pushover." Marui muttered as he massaged the side of his neck.

Seiichi sighed deeply after the checked the room. Mud Clay was almost all over the place. Looking, he finally saw what Marui progressed so far. Scratched that. He finally saw what Marui was trying to make though he did not quite know what it was. "Bunta," he called.

"What is it Buchou?" Marui replied, innocent as ever.

"What are you making?"

"A vase!" He answered enthusiastically while grinning.

"A vase…?" Hiroshi repeated, eyeing on the 'vase' warily. "Are you sure that you're making a vase?"

Marui frowned at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hate to break it to you but it doesn't seem like a vase." Niou said scratchily.

Marui was shocked and shot the Rikkai buchou a pleading look. Seiichi glanced at the object again and said sympathetically, "They're right, Bunta. It doesn't look like a vase at all."

"B-but I've been working on it for more than a hour!" He sobbed.

"That's sad." Niou snorted.

"I wanted to give something different to Kaori-chan for her birthday!" he continued as he sobbed over his 'vase.'

"Birthday?" the other three regulars repeated.

"Yeah. Her birthday's next week." The self-proclaimed genius sniffed.

"Which day?" Seiichi asked.

"Friday." He answered dumbly.

"Is that why you're skipping tennis practice?" the Rikkai buchou continued.

"I didn't mean to! I really want to give her something special this time!" he wailed.

Seiichi looked sideways at Hiroshi and Niou and seemed to think that the three of them were having the same thought. He knelt down, and eyed on the 'vase' then in less than a minute smiled gently and said, "I know someone who can at least teach you how to make a vase."

The redhead slowly looked at him and his frown turned upside down. "Eh really?" He stood up and said happily, "Thank you buchou! You're so kind to me! I'll kiss the ground you walk upon!"

The other three sweat-dropped and Niou said bluntly, "Weirdo, Puri."

After practice, Seiichi, Marui, Jackal and surprisingly Akaya walked together and went to a rather secluded part of the. In a couple of minute's walk, they finally arrived in front of a rather old but kept place. "Is this the place?" Marui asked carefully as he eyed on the two-story building.

"Ah. Let's go." With the signal from the Rikkai Buchou, they entered inside the store. "Akira-san, are you there?" Seiichi called as he walked toward the counter.

"I'm coming, wait for a short moment please." A rather young male voice replied behind the door and soon after, it opened and there a man who was slightly older than them appeared in front of them. He had black-blue short layered hair, grey eyes behind his rectangular half-frame glasses, and skin like Marui's. Right now, he was wearing a plain white T-shirt and faded blue jeans. "Ah Yukimura-san, it's been a while." He greeted.

"That is true." Seiichi nodded.

"You two know each other?" Marui and Akaya piped up.

"You can say that." Akira said. "I met him when his grandparents and mine met 6 years ago." He told them.

"Ah. So that's why." Akaya nodded. "So you're running this place now?" he questioned him.

"Not really. If I have time, then I'll watch over the place but that usually happens on holidays or on my semester breaks." He chuckled. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Can you teach me how to make a vase?" Marui quickly asked, his eyes gleaming in enthusiasm.

"Teach you?" he repeated. He glanced at Seiichi and nodded, understanding him already. "Okay but I can only teach you for 2 hours. Is that clear?"

"Yeah! Thanks!"

Because of Akira's long patience and dedication, Marui finally learned how to make a simple vase. Akaya joined in as well the teaching session and by no surprise learned faster than the self-proclaimed genius and the demon was rubbing it on him. When they put it inside the oven, Akira said in a tiring tone, "Well, that's done. You did a good job, Marui-san."

"Really! That's great!" Marui jumped up and down, looking as if he was never tired. "Now I can finally give something special to Kaori-chan!"

Akira thought he heard different and asked, "Kaori? You mean Ogawa-san?"

The redhead stopped rejoicing and stared at him. "You know Kaori-chan?" The rest of the regulars didn't say anything and just watched.

"Know her? Yes. She's one of my regular customers." He said casually. "She would always buy a vase or a pot for her flowers." He added.

"Oh really? What else do you know?" Marui asked eagerly.

"I am eight years older than her so I usually see her with a redhead boy back then. Hmmm…were you that kid back then?" He got the answer from the look of his face and continued, "I would always hear you 'I will protect Kaori-chan at all times!' and you looked really cute that's for sure--"

"Stop it!" Marui said loudly, his face red.

"Eh? Are you sure? Don't you want your teammates know about your childhood past?" He asked innocently.

"HELL NO!" He shook his head furiously.

"If you insist." He walked back to the store until he stopped. "Also, if I remembered it correctly, I saw Kaori-san with another boy…he was around your age too, Marui-san." And with that, he entered inside the store without a single word.

A pregnant silence surrounded them. Akaya glanced at the redhead and said teasingly, "I can't believe you said that Marui-sempai. You sound really--"

Marui threw him a handful of mud clay and said tensely, "Say another word you brat and you're going down!" Akaya wiped the clay off him from his face and tackled him and there, the half-harmless brawling occurred. Jackal sighed deeply and walked over them, trying to stop them from clawing each other.

While the three of them were busy with each other, Seiichi was in a state of daze. He was thinking deeply about the last sentence Akira said before entering the store. He did not quite understand it fully but he had a feeling he knew what he was talking about but for some reason, he couldn't remember it.

Six days later, right after afternoon practice, Marui bounced toward the Rikkai Buchou and greeted him, "Yukimura-buchou!!"

Seiichi, who was having a private talk with Sanada and Renji, turned around and faced him, showing him that he's giving him his full attention. "What is it, Bunta-kun?"

"Since you know all sorts of flowers and you clearly know that I'm not very good at picking flowers at all, can you come with me and help me find the perfect one to match with the vase I made for Kaori-chan?" he said in one breath.

The sannin bakemono stared at him weirdly. "Right now?" Seiichi asked politely.

"Un!" he nodded enthusiastically. "I want to be the first person who'll give her a present!" He said happily, earning stares and odd looks from the people near him.

"I have a student council meeting today. It won't take long, though. You don't mind waiting, right?" he informed him.

Marui looked disappointed at first but brightened in the end. "Of course not! I'll be staying here for a while to kill time, okay?"

"Good. Well, I'll meet you at the front gate after 22 minutes." With a short wave, He walked back inside the building with the other two tennis regulars, since they too are members of the student council. (A/N: I've just made that up! They're the sannin bakemono and since they rule over the tennis club, they should rule over the school too! Eheheh…)

The meeting ended quite smoothly and the three of them walked out of the building together where they saw Marui actually waiting for them at the front gate. Renji and Sanada bid them and walked off to another direction, leaving the other two alone. "Let's go now!" Marui said excitedly.

"Ah." Seiichi nodded and motioned him to follow. They took a bus and there they waited until after 9 minutes the bus came to halt on one stop and they got out of the vehicle, standing before a nice and decent-looking flower shop. "They have reason prices here." He said nonchalantly as he entered the shop.

When the two of them entered, an old lady popped out from the counter and gave them a smile. "Feel free to look until you find the one that you're looking for."

"Thank you." They nodded as they started looking.

"Ne Buchou, there a lot to choose from. Which one do you think it's best?" Marui asked, popping him gum and chewing it again.

"What does she like?" Seiichi asked back.

"She kept on saying that anything will do for her that's why I wanted to give her something special." Marui answered.

The Rikkai Buchou contemplated for a while and said inquiringly, "When was she born?"

"May 8." He said. "Why?"

"So it's Lily of the Valley." He said.

"Lily of a what?" Marui stared at him.

"Lily of the Valley. That's her birth month flower." He said. Why does it remind me of something important?

"So where's that flower?" Marui's voice snapped his mind back to reality.

He gave him a wry smile. "Lily of the Valley is commonly grown in gardens, sadly but Sunflowers will do since they also represent May." He explained.

"Okay…Sunflower it is!" He took a handful but stopped abruptly. "How may sunflowers will I get?" He asked him innocently.

"Four will do." He said, sweat dropping.

"Right!"

Kaori was in her room, sitting on the edge of the partly-opened window while feeling the breeze on her face when someone knocked the door softly. Not turning her head, she said, "Please do come inside." When the door creaked slightly as it opened, she heard a couple of footsteps and noted to herself that two or three people entered her room.

"Miss Kaori, your friends have come to visit you." Ami informed her as she bowed and took her leave, closing the door quietly.

"Bunta-kun? Is that you?" Kaori asked inaudibly.

"Correct! Mura-buchou is with me too!" Marui said gleefully.

"Oh…hello Yukimura-san." She greeted with a short bow from her.

"Same goes for you, Ogawa-san." The Rikkai Buchou greeted back.

"Okay enough formalities! Kaori-chan! I want to give this to you!" Marui set his bag on top of the table nearby and walked toward her. "Hold this and guess what it is!" He held her hand gently and guided her to hold the gift that was meant for her.

Kaori touched the object that was given to her and tried to decipher it. In less than two minutes, she finally spoke. "Is this a vase?" she asked.

"You got it right! It's a present for you!" he said brightly.

A smile formed on her lips and replied, "Thank you."

"Guess what? I made the vase myself!" He said proudly.

"Really?" she asked, sounding really surprised.

"Yep! Oh yeah, I also bought flowers! It's sunflower!" He picked up a bouquet and gave it to her as he took the vase.

"It's too much…" she said.

"True. Mura-buchou said that four flowers will do but I bought a bouquet instead. But it's okay! I was able to make the vase and choose the flower because of Buchou! He really helped me! I really want to give you something special for your birthday!" Marui told her.

"Is that so? Thank you Yukimura-san." She thanked the rikkai buchou politely.

"You don't need to thank me. I'm just glad that you like them." He said kindly.

"Ne Kaori-chan, do you know a guy named Akira from a pottery store?" The self-proclaimed genius wondered.

"Yes. He was really kind and he would always watch over me when Kannon-niisan was busy." She nodded.

"Really? Yukimura-buchou's friends with him, that's all." Then, he remembered something. "Oh yeah, he said something that you were with a boy when we were kids. Do I know him? What's his name?" he said inquiringly.

Kaori tried to focus and said slowly. "He was in the neighbourhood…and I was lost because I tried to follow you. He was smiling so kindly and he helped me go back home…but that was also the last time I saw him. I…forget his name." she said finally. "I'm sorry if I can't remember everything…it's a bit blurry."

Marui patted her on the head and said sympathetically, "It's okay. You don't need to force yourself. I'm just wondering, you know." He felt his stomach grumbling and added, "Ne Kaori-chan, can I have some food?"

Kaori giggled a bit and nodded.

"I'll be right back guys so don't worry. I just need to refuel myself." He said jokingly as he stood up and went toward the door and left.

Right after he left, Yukimura and Kaori didn't speak because they don't know what to say to each at all since they've just met few weeks ago and hardly had they know each other. "Umm…" Kaori started. "About the flowers…thank you." I sound so stupid…what's wrong with me?

The Rikkai Dai buchou blinked when she spoke and just replied kindly, "Like I said before, you don't need to thank me. I was just helping my teammate."

"But still…"

"Actually, we shouldn't have given you sunflowers…they were only a substitute." He mentioned. "We planned on giving you Lily of the Valley but the flower shop doesn't sell them."

"Oh I see."

He glanced at her and thought of telling her the dream he had about her but he decided not to because he might scare her. Then, he just heard her spoke again to him. "Are you staring at me?" He was simply taken aback and said calmly, "No."

The blind girl frowned and pouted. "You are staring at me."

He chuckled and said, "I'm not and I'm honest about it. I was just thinking about something."

She didn't say anything back at the moment and nodded slowly. "What are you thinking about?"

Seiichi was about to tell her when the door swung open and Marui entered with a tray full of sweets and cakes and other pastries imaginable. "Sorry for the long wait! Kaori-chan's refrigerator's full of sweets so I took some! You don't mind, right?" He said happily.

"Of course not." Kaori smiled.

"Yay! Let's dig in!"

When the self-proclaimed genius started gobbling the food that's nearest to him, Seiichi let out a small silent sigh. Maybe when it's the right time, I'll tell her about it. For now, I'll get to know her. He took a piece of cream puff and took a bite from it.

Sorry for the long wait, guys!

Chapter's 6 is here and I hope you like it! My finals are over and I can relax for three whole weeks! Booyah! This is mostly about Marui being childish and stubborn and Seiichi being kind and thoughtful but you know, a chapter's a chapter. I'll try to put more romance in the next chapter…and I might really put a Love Triangle here.

Again, sorry for the long wait! Love you guys and please review for me!