Author's note: Wow, I noticed while reading this over again that people in my story fall over and laugh a lot. Hehe…. Eiji is a very sensitive boy…and that's all I'm going to tell you…

Chapter 7

A Series of Fortunate Events…Though Some Might Argue Otherwise

It was finally Friday. The week had been long, and everyone at Seigaku was happy for the weekend to be here at last.

Miku was sitting outside the tennis courts, watching afternoon practice. It was almost over, and everyone was finishing up their exercises.

Tezuka, the captain, was standing close by, and Miku was itching to ask him something.

"Tezuka-san," she said, walking over to where he was. "I have a question."

He turned to face her to show that he was listening. She almost chickened out, though, because of the scary, stern look that he was giving her.

"Um… do you ever make yourself run laps? I mean, I know the others have to run as punishment sometimes, but I don't ever see you running."

He stared at her for a few seconds, and then looked away. He'd obviously never been asked that before.

"No," Tezuka said. Miku was afraid that that was all he was going to say, but then he continued, "I haven't run laps as a consequence in 2 years." He looked back at her. "Anything else?"

"N-no," Miku answered. "Thank you for your time, Tezuka-san." She did a shallow bow, and Tezuka nodded back. Miku walked back towards her spot.

Practice drew to an end, and Miku waited for Fuji and Eiji to finish changing. She didn't realize, however, how tired she was, and so she drifted to sleep on a bench.

Miku was awoken a few minutes later by someone shaking her gently. Opening and rubbing her eyes, she saw a girl of about 7th grade looking down at her. She had dark brown hair in long braids and brown eyes.

"U-um… If you sleep too long here, the gate might close," she said nervously. Miku had known people who stuttered and others who said "um" a lot, but not both at the same time.

"Who're you?" Miku asked sleepily.

"S-Sakuno Ryuzaki," she answered.

Miku sat up on the bench, looking around.

"What time is it?" she asked, still drowsy.

"5:37," said Sakuno.

"Oh, you're right. The gate does close soon," Miku said. "Thank you for waking me up." She looked closer at the 7th grader. "Haven't I seen you before?"

"P-probably," the girl said. "I'm the coach's granddaughter. Coach Ryuzaki, I mean. She's been away for a while scheduling games with other schools."

"Sakuno-chan," said a voice from behind the two. Sakuno turned.

"Ryoma-kun," she said, smiling. She'd seemed to have lost all of the nervousness that had previously been present in her persona. Sakuno gave Ryoma a peck on the lips. Miku just stared, confused. She couldn't help it.

"They're dating," explained someone who had magically appeared on Miku's right, sitting next to her. She tensed, and looked over. Fuji!

Miku tackled the laughing brunette to the ground, making Ryoma and Sakuno stare.

"I swore I'd strangle you, Fuji!" she said, laying next to him and starting to laugh. Damn that tensai, his smiles and laughter were contagious. They both lay there, holding their sides and giggling their heads off, causing quite a scene.

When they finally stopped laughing, Miku rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up. Then, she offered Fuji a hand, which he took, and Miku helped him to his feet.

They started walking towards the gate of their school, talking.

Meanwhile, Eiji had been and was standing by the tennis clubhouse, watching the entire scene play out. He didn't like it. He felt…well…jealous. Eiji half wanted to catch up with them and half wanted to curl up in a ball by himself with the giant teddy bear he had at his house. He chose somewhere in the middle of the two- he didn't catch up with Fuji and Miku, but he did follow behind about 50 feet. He'd do that until he got to his house, and then race inside and up to his room. He started walking until he could see Fuji and Miku ahead of him; then he slowed his pace to a quiet stroll.

Up ahead, Fuji and Miku were conversing about their favorite places to go, and Fuji somehow mixed in photography.

"Okay, personally I think beaches are the best," Miku stated.

"Nope. Forests are way better, especially when all the flowers are in bloom," said Fuji.

"Yeah, well you don't have allergies," argued Miku.

"It makes for a good picture! Unless, of course, there's a sunset. Any locale is amazing with a sunset."

"Like a beach?"

"Like a beach."

"Hehe," Miku chuckled. "I win. Especially when the sunset is pink, red, orange, and purple, with a bit of blue sky mixed in."

"And speaking of red," said Fuji, who stopped walking and turned around, opening his eyes. "Eiji, what are you doing all the way back there?" Miku looked back too, alarmed.

At the moment, Eiji wished the tensai was nearsighted. He looked at his feet, and continued walking silently.

As he was a few feet in front of Miku and Fuji, Miku reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, stopping his slow walk. He looked up into her worried purple eyes with his own sad, dark blue ones.

"Eiji, what's wrong?" Miku asked, her voice worried and yet serious at the same time. When Eiji didn't answer, Fuji stepped in.

"I'll let you two work this out," he said. "My street is just up ahead, anyway." Fuji walked away, leaving Miku watching him and Eiji not wanting to be standing there, so he counted the number of light posts on the street.

"Well, shall we walk?" Miku asked Eiji. No answer, just a miniscule nod to the pavement. So, Miku grabbed Eiji's wrist to get him walking beside her.

"Come on, I'm not going to pull you all the way," she said. "Don't make me tackle you like I did to Fuji earlier." To this Miku saw anger flash across Eiji's face, and then return to a grave expression. All the same, Miku needed to know what was going on.

"Eiji. What. Is. The. Matter?" Miku asked slowly, emphasizing each word to make sure that it was understood. "I saw that face just now. Don't worry, you can tell me. I promise…" she stopped walking, and gently turned Eiji's face to look at her own. "I promise that I won't tell anyone, Eiji."

"Not even Fuji?" Eiji said finally.

'Oh, so that's what this is about,' thought Miku. Aloud, she said, "I promise."

Eiji sighed. "Do you like Fuji? As in like like, not as in friend like?" he blushed, looking away.

Miku had to process that information for a moment or two. Then she said, "Eiji, why would you think that?"

Eiji let go of caring and his sadness and let his anger take over. "You two talk about everything, and with the way you acted today, I couldn't help but think you were going out. I asked Fuji, and he said you weren't, but to tell the truth, I don't quite believe him. And you call him by his given name! I know it's stupid, but it's how I feel." He looked over at Miku. Her eyes were open wide, looking at him, but slowly changed to show a pained expression on her face.

"I call you by your given name…" she began to say quietly, but covered her face with her hands and whispered, "Eiji…"

"Is it true or not?" he asked, impatiently, probably louder than needed.

"Eiji, no. We aren't going out. I don't like him that way, I never have, and I never will. I only value him as a friend and peer…" she trailed off.

"Oh," Eiji said, obviously preoccupied with his thoughts. "Bye, this is my house." He looked at Miku, who was looking back at him with tears in her eyes. Eiji turned, and walked quickly to his front door.

"Eiji, I-" Miku started, but he'd closed the door already. A tear ran down her face as she continued the walk home.

Inside his house, Eiji sprinted up the stairs, into his bedroom, and shut the door. He flopped onto his bed, and put a pillow over his head, closing his eyes. He was so stupid. He still had Miku's tearful expression burned in his retina when he closed his eyes. Eiji hadn't meant to make her cry…

He mentally kicked himself in the head (which was actually possible; he's an acrobat, remember).

He sent Oishi a quick text telling him that he needed to come over the next day because Eiji needed to talk to him. Eiji hoped that this was the right move, because with his decision making skills today he could just screw life up for everyone around him more. Hopefully, Oishi could help him…

Author's note: Keep reading and review! Thanks! :D