Here's the next installment of The Iceman Cometh! - have fun!

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It's Tezuka, isn't it?

She was so going to get Atobe for this. Why couldn't he give her a moment's peace instead of asking stupid questions that attached themselves firmly in her mind and refused to go away, even after she threatened to bash them out? (Never mind that she'd be battering her own brains in the process).

Why does everyone keep asking me whether it's Tezuka or not, anyway? Do I even LOOK like I like him?

-Flashback-

"Okaeri!" Her mom was very cheerful. Too cheerful, in fact. "Are you thirsty? I made some juice for you."

"You made some juice?!" The tone of disbelief was clearly evident.

"I mean, the factory made it, but I poured it out for you... so, drink up!" Her mother replied brightly, handing her a glass which might have contained Inui's most toxic juice, by the looks of it.

"Okay..." She gave the glass one last suspicious glance before downing it.

Ah, it's orange juice.

"Thanks, kaa-san."

Her mother seated herself on a nearby chair. "By the way, Maika, I'd like to ask you something about that boy..."

She should have known there would be a catch. Not feeling particularly gracious at the moment, she asked resignedly, "What about Atobe?"

"Eh? No, not Keigo... the other one, the one who brought your homework while you were sick." Her mom looked faintly discomfited.

I wonder what she's up to...

"Oh, Tezuka... What about him?"

"Anou... how do you feel about him?"

How do I feel about him? What kind of question is that?

"He's... Tezuka." There wasn't any way to describe him in her mind – he was just, well, just Tezuka. "Why?"

"No! I mean," Her mother sounded slightly frustrated. "Do you like him?"

The orange juice somehow managed to make its way up her nostrils and out of her nose.

"WHAT?!"

-End flashback-

She could positively feel a headache the size of Africa coming on.

You'd think I'm giving out some kind of I-like-Tezuka-can't-you-see-it? aura, the way they harp on it!

But she didn't like him at all – that way or not. He was unsociable, boring, stubborn, rigidly old-fashioned – and he was annoyingly, always, always right.

...then why did she react that way every time someone mentioned his name?

She frowned. There was only one person to turn to, in times of such emotional distress. That he had the answer, she had no doubt. As to whether he would give it to her... well, that was a different matter altogether.

She shrugged.

As they say, better to try and fail than never to have tried at all.

But with Fuji Syuusuke in the picture, she should have known better than to trust a mere saying. He was never really one to believe in proverbs, anyway.

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Tezuka was not in a good mood.

In fact, he was in a very bad temper.

And the tennis team wasn't exactly helping either. He looked – or rather, glared over at where Eiji was happily sniggering over the latest school gossip with Fuji and twitched.

"Kikumaru. Fuji. Ten laps."

"N-nya? But – "

"Twenty."

"But it's not even – "

"Thirty."

"Eiji, let's go." Fuji decided to step in, pulling Eiji into a slow jog before he got them assigned a thousand laps.

"But he just gave us time-out!" Eiji protested in a frantic whisper.

Fuji looked over at the taller brunette, who was currently occupied in punishing everyone who even dared to open his mouth. "Saa, maybe Tezuka's having... problems."

Upon hearing this, the energetic redhead immediately brightened. "What problems, hoi? Fujiko, tell me!"

The only answer he got was a mysterious smile.

"Fujiko..." He whined. "Tell me what sort of problems Tezuka has!"

"Kikumaru. Fifty laps."

Fuji nearly laughed at the sudden expression of horror on his friend's face. "Maybe I should've warned you that Tezuka was just around the corner..."

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"O-i-shi!" Kikumaru Eiji bounced into the class, not unlike a child on an extreme sugar high. "Let's go eat together, nya!"

The said boy smiled fondly at his doubles partner. "Hai! Just wait a moment while I give this to Tezuka, okay?"

He placed the stack of exercise books on the table belonging to a certain tennis team captain who was currently, by the looks of it, extremely focused on finishing up the essay due in a fortnight's time. Talk about being a workaholic.

"Tezuka, would you mind giving this to sensei after the break?"

The brunette didn't even look up from his paper. "Hn."

Oishi managed to get out a rushed 'thank you' before being dragged away by an overly hyper Eiji.

"Say, Oishi," Eiji looked over his shoulder at the furiously writing Tezuka. "Do you think something's wrong with Tezuka?"

Tezuka twitched. Kikumaru's whisper, however quietly he tried to speak, was clearly audible from where he was sitting.

"I mean, he's super-scary today! Mou, he even gave me laps just for talking to Fuji! I asked Fuji about it, but he said there was nothing to worry about – Tezuka's probably just PMS-ing. But can boys PMS, Oishi? I thought only girls did..."

Reminding himself not to crush the pen – because it was his favourite, and it would be a total waste of good ink – Tezuka made a mental note to give Fuji extra laps the next time practice came around.

Seventy laps sounded about right.

Rather unfortunately, he managed to catch Oishi's faint answer as the duo exited the classroom.

"Ah, I'm not too sure about that... but you're right. Tezuka hasn't been acting normally these few days." There was a slight pause, and from three years' worth of experience Tezuka knew instantly that Oishi was going into mother-hen mode.

"Oh Eiji, I've been such a bad friend – obliviously going on with my own life while Tezuka's in the midst of a gender crisis! Do you think we should tell the school counselor?"

The twitch developed into a full-blown tic.

Why me?

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It was break time, and Ryoma was not particularly thrilled to see Atobe Keigo at their school – once again.

"What's Monkey King doing here?"

Momo glanced at the direction where Ryoma vaguely indicated, and glimpsed the said object.

"Maybe he wants to challenge Tezuka-buchou to a game?" The spiky-haired power player shrugged. He had better things to do than to find out why Atobe was suddenly so interested in their school – it was break time, after all, and break time meant food.

He was just about to take a large bite out of his burger when Ryoma nudged him. "Momo-senpai, you might actually be right for once in your life. He's standing outside buchou's class."

"Of course I'm ri – HEY! Whaddya mean I might actually be right for once in my life?!"

The freshman swiped his burger and chomped into it.

"...mada mada dane, Momo-senpai."

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"Finally!" She wheezed, sounding for all the world like a chronically asthmatic old lady with creaky joints. She had run the whole school looking for Fuji, only to find him serenely eating his lunch on the roof – of all places.

"Ah, Maika-chan! What can I do for you?" His smile was absolutely dazzling.

"Uh... um... I... ah..." She hesitated. "Well, this is kind of weird, but there's no one else I can ask, and since you're a tensai, I was wondering if you could help me out..."

He waited patiently, his face the picture of innocence.

"How do you know if you like someone?" She blurted out the question before she could rethink her decision to ask Fuji.

The brunette hesitated for a moment before replying with twinkling eyes, "I think that's a question best answered by Tezuka. After all, he does have some experience in that department, ne?"

Maika choked. "Tezuka?!"

Fuji grinned at her. "Just trust me."

He was about to turn around and walk off when he caught a glimpse of something interesting out of the corner of his eye. Something very interesting, indeed.

"Then again, Maika-chan, I guess I could always show you what it's like..." He grinned mischievously, and leaned closer towards her.

"F-fuj - !"

The sudden sensation of soft lips pressed against her own made her eyes shoot wide open, only to meet with two very blue eyes sparkling straight back at her. Fuji was obviously enjoying himself way too much to be legal, whatever he was trying to do.

...this is so NOT happening.

A few dumbfounded seconds passed before Fuji abruptly detached himself from her to smile at someone behind them.

"Ah, Tezuka! How unexpected!"

...Tezuka?!

Oh.

OH.

Shit.

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Heh. So how was it? Review! ^_^