Here it is! Hope you enjoy!

Atobe dropped me off at the gate where my friends were waiting, as per usual, and I noted that they were gigglier than usual. Which was strange, because they were already giggly on a normal basis. It occurred to me to wonder if my friends contributed to the bento tower I saw earlier.

My best female friend, Kanna, glomped me as we rounded a corner and proceeded to squeal into my ear. I winced. "You're squealier than usual, too." I said, patting her arm calmly.

"So, what are you getting him," she asked, ignoring my observation and releasing me, but still obviously giddy. Suddenly, all my friends' eyes were on me. I surveyed their curious looks before turning back to Kanna.

I shrugged. "Who's getting who what?"

She looked at me as if she didn't know what I was talking about. So, that made two of us. "It's only like one of the biggest events of the year. It's on Wednesday. You can't seriously have nothing for him. He's your boyfriend. The fanclub has been planning for this for months. It's the last one we can celebrate for him, after all, since graduation is coming up." There was a wistful edge to her statement – and I wondered if she was being deliberately vague – but it wasn't long until they went back to pestering me. The girls blinked wide eyes at me while mine narrowed into slits. Like all other times where our conversation took a turn for the Atobe, I learned how to dodge questions directed towards our relationship expertly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," my voice took on that candyfloss tone that one uses when they purposely want others to know that you don't mean what you're saying.

They alternately gaped and pouted at me. We'd stopped at the intersection where we usually part ways but my friends were not doing any parting as they decided to stay standing there and continue interrogating me. "You have something planned, don't you?" They pressed. "Just tell us, we promise not to spill."

I winked at them. "I know better than that, girls. You told me before that your fanclub has a transparency rule. Any and all information about one Atobe Keigo must be turned over. Or prepare to face the consequences." I breathed in the same way they had done when they told me a few years ago, when they had just joined their dream – more like nightmare – club.

Making a show of glancing at my watch, I sighed dramatically, ignoring their pleading expressions. "I'd love to continue this but if you don't leave now, you're going to miss your train." Eyes widening in realization, they took off down the street, the boys already way ahead while Sanna ran backwards, still facing me and shouting, "This isn't over, Mai!"

I figured as much. But I was hoping that by the time that we resumed conversation on the topic I'd have an idea as to what the topic was really about.

There was no way I was asking Atobe about something regarding him and his fanclub so we mostly stuck to our usual topics as we jogged the next morning. Our usual topics being argument and, lately, the backstory of our so-called relationship. Thus far, we'd gotten to "We actually like each and are happy we are dating." A statement that, when said, caused us both to cringe and sigh. After which, I resumed our argument regarding him deciding to jog on a Tuesday which I thought was off limits. He proceeded to tell me that, no, it wasn't. And that another morning jog wouldn't kill me while another day of eating probably would. I made a pass at his face and that damn mole. He dodged.

I think it's also worth mentioning that he once again showed up at my building's doorstep and left me at my building's doorstep before going on his own way home. Strange. But that was how it was with Atobe.

The time spent in the Student Council Room had been cut short with the resumption of morning practice so the two of us made our way to the tennis courts after a while.

The solution to my unanswered inquiry came once Atobe had deposited me onto my usual bench.

"Did you leave me some today?" Shishido asked, lowering his bag onto the bench and taking a seat next to it.

I smiled and raised a plastic bag for him to see. "One and only." He grinned and muttered a 'Thanks' before reaching out and making a grab for it. I pulled it away before he could touch it. He looked at me inquiringly.

"Before that, I have a question."

"Is this extortion?"

"No."

"Well, go ahead and ask." He said impatiently, eyeing the bread.

I waved it around in front of him for effect and he glared. "What's the occasion on Wednesday that involves Atobe, lots of planning and his fanclub? In retrospect, everything that involves Atobe involves his fanclub." I added as an afterthought.

Shishido gave me a disbelieving look. "It's Atobe's birthday, Takashina. How can you not know that? Are you really his girlfriend?" He stopped and laughed. "No, you're not."

He reached across and grabbed the bag from my hand and I glared at him pointedly. He shrugged and took a bite. I sighed.

"His birthday, huh?"

"Only the most celebrated birthday since Jesus." He offered.

I scoffed. "I've never celebrated Atobe Keigo's birthday."

"Obviously."

"Shut up." I slapped him hard on the back. He rolled his eyes. "I suppose I have to get him something, right?"

He was done with his bread and opened his bag to fish out his gum. "You're the fake girlfriend, not me."

I took the proffered stick and bit into its minty goodness before answered him. "Could have fooled me."

He retaliated by taking his sweaty cap off his head and cramming it on mine, pushing the bill over my eyes. I squeaked in distress and by the time I pulled it off, he was already walking away laughing. When I threw the cap at him and sailed over his head by a good foot, it only served to make him laugh harder. He picked it up, dusted it off and replaced it atop his head and then turned towards me with a haughty grin.

"You throw like a girl."

I crossed my arms and glared before my face eased into a candy smile. "At least I am one, what's your excuse?"

His outraged response was lost as Sakaki-sensei's booming voice called everyone to attention.

The rest of the day was spent redirecting my friends' attempts at wheedling information about Atobe's birthday gift – now I knew – out of me. I couldn't tell them that there was no information to give except for the fact that I didn't have one.

Fangirl hostility also increased as I noted that more of them were looking down their noses at me, probably telling themselves how they're gift for Keigo-sama was infinitely better than what I was giving him. I wanted to tell them that they were probably right and that they could give him all the gifts they could think off so that I wouldn't have to.

"What are you getting him?" Yuushi asked as we made our way towards the tennis courts after class.

I groaned. "Not you, too, Yuushi."

He adjusted his glasses. "I'm honestly rather curious."

"I'm sure you all are. So am I, really." I mumbled.

He threw an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. "You don't have anything for him, do you?" He said, barely audible, but the amusement loud and clear.

I shook my head after a thorough face-palm.

"Didn't even know when the guy was born, did you?" He continued.

I shook my head a gift.

"If he didn't tell you about his birthday then he'll probably accept the fact that you didn't plan for it."

Yuushi matter-of-factly tone made me sigh. "Ah, but they won't be so accepting." He followed my gaze towards the crowd surrounding the courts.

Laughing in that melty way of his, he ruffled my hair before stuffing his hand into his pocket. "Point granted."

"Unfortunately."

Shishido was waiting for me by the edge of the crowd and scowled when he was us. "I wait for you and then I find out that I wasn't really needed." He nodded jerkily at Yuushi standing next to me. The drama queen has told me on more than one occasion how he absolutely abhorred wading through the crowds to escort me and how unfair it was that Atobe always made him do it.

I didn't want to tell him that Atobe told me that he made Shishido do it because it seemed like we were on the same wavelength. I gave him hell for implying I was a drama queen but I didn't want hell from the real one.

"Way to sound like a jealous boyfriend, Shishido." The tensai said, patting his teammate on the shoulder.

I stuck my tongue out at the scowling Shishido. "More like a jealous girlfriend."

Yuushi took one look at the two of us and said, "True."

Did I ever mention how much I love Yuushi?"

The perfect idea came to me during practice. It was an out-of-nowhere kind of realization and my sudden jerk of celebration woke Akutagawa who was sleeping on the ground next to me.

Before practice was over, I made my way to my friends over at the fences and told them they didn't need to wait for me afterwards. That was met by excitement and suspicion. They knew what I intended to do and put up a fight to get me to let them go with me but when I was adamant it was final.

When I sat back down, Yuushi immediately took the seat next to me and smiled. "Have you thought of anything to save your soul yet, Mai-hime?"

"Something like that." I smiled back. "There was also the option of selling my soul to the devil but then I realized I already had an ongoing agreement with him." I turned to stare at Atobe across the courts.

Yuushi chuckled. "Tell me about it."

"I was thinking that he'd love it if I served his head on a silver platter. The thing he loves the most appears to be himself, after all."

"You may just have the right idea there. Sign my name on the card, will you?"

"Will do, Yuushi."

The both of us lapsed into a comfortable silence as Yuushi busied himself with replacing his rackets inside his bag and I stared at the practice matches going on in front of us. A thought entered my mind as Sakaki-sensei paced directly in my line of vision a few metres away. I turned back to Yuushi.

"Yuu-chan," I chimed, catching his attention. Once he had zipped his bag up and faced me, I told him about the concours I would be participating in in less than a month's time and that I needed to make a list of everyone I was inviting before the end of the week. The rest of my friends were already on the list. He asked me when it was.

"The first weekend of November."

He suddenly gave me a weary gaze and I stared at him with comically wide eyes. "We have friendly matches scheduled on that day against Ginka." He sighed. I expected as much. Yuushi had a life, after all. It just really sucked that he wouldn't be around. He's been playing duets with me the very first day he found out I knew how to play an instrument.

I placed a hand to my heart dramatically. "The pangs of rejection. I now know how your –" I paused for a split second to find the right word for what I was going to say next. "Admirers feel when you step on their hearts after all they gave you was there overly-enthusiastic devotion."

The snicker that escaped us both made me feel better. He offered me a lopsided smile as he reached behind my head and tugged on a lock of hair. I glared at him playfully. "What time is it? I may be able to squeeze you in." He said and I scarcely allowed myself to childishly hope. "The tennis matches are in the –"

"Morning." We said simultaneously. There was a pause before we both exhaled heavily at the same time.

"Woe, rejection," I started intoning. "Again."

He offered me a lopsided smile that turned apologetic as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Likewise. I'm really sorry I'll miss it, Mai-hime. Atobe will have my racquet if I even dare try to skip out on it. Tell me how it goes, though. Every detail of your performance. I'm sure you'll do great. And promise me that you'll invite me to the next round."

"Thanks. I will, promise. I'm sure you'll trample them, too." I grinned, elbowing him in the arm. "It's too bad, though. I was actually looking forward to seeing you guys in action."

"On another note, Mai-hime." He said, not looking in my direction and staring straight ahead of him towards Atobe. I had a bad feeling. "I'm rather curious as to how you're going to tell that guy that you won't be watching that weekend as his girlfriend."

He lingered on the words girlfriend because it was supposed to mean something. The first real match of the term and I wouldn't be around. I squeaked. "I forgot about him." I followed his gaze but allowed a quick sideways glance at the tensai next to me. I noticed the minute upward pull of his lips and huffed. "You had a feeling something like this would happen, didn't you?"

Yuushi had always been the type to want to observe reactions in people. He probably wanted something to happen between me and Atobe that would give him a satisfying show. And I knew that, with the way the both of us interacted, it was bound to happen sometime.

"It's my style to plan ahead and assess the situation." He offered. I knew he was giving me advice somehow. He had just tried for a rather diplomatic way of going about it.

I sighed and nodded, not looking at him. "Understood." I had three weeks or so to deal with that particular problem. But there was another problem that I had to solve before tomorrow and the cause of it was coming right at me.

My companion stood and brushed a hand over my shoulder in commiseration. "Good luck," he muttered quietly before taking his leave but not before giving me a parting wink unseen by his captain.

I grimaced internally and stood as Atobe neared me. "Let's make this quick, pretty boy. I'm pressed on time." I said, grabbing him by the sleeve of his tennis jacket and dragging him to the fence doors. He raised his eyebrows at me questioningly and secured his bag on his shoulder. If I was going to be able to get this ass a gift, I needed to hurry. The store I was going to closed at 7'o'clock and it was already a little past six.

"What's gotten into you?"

That made me stop and stare into space for a moment, pursing my lips in thought. "Life." I said with a shrug of my shoulders before I moved to start dragging him again. I didn't get far this time because he gave a curt chuckle before drawing his arm from by grasp and pulling open the door.

"What part of it, I wonder?" He said, stuffing one hand into his pocket while the other took its usual position at my waist.

"The part makes you wonder about it, I'm sure." I said slowly, sardonically.

He let out an amused grunt before loosening his grip at the gates of the school. I stepped away and looked around, seeing that my friends were – thankfully – not around. I'm glad they respected my privacy. Although, I'm pretty sure that in exchange for the 'privacy' now they were going to hound me even more tomorrow.

Once I was sure the coast was clear, I started down the street at a fast clip, waving absently towards Atobe as he stood by the gate.

"Your house is the other way." I heard him call after me coolly.

"I know." I called back, not turning towards him and instead offering him another backwards wave. I was going to get late.

His overtly-amused laugh barely registered in my brain as I determinedly made my way towards the train station. If I was going to do this stupid thing, I would do it right. Fangirls be damned.

The first thing I did the next morning was to wake up at a slightly more ungodly hour and pick up my cellphone on my bedside table. The next thing was to send Atobe a short text message that told him I wouldn't be joining him this morning.

The reply was instantaneous and very predictable. I figured he'd be up.

Why?

There was no blaming the guy since it would be a normal reaction. Especially since it was his birthday. But then, that was exactly why I had to excuse myself.

I really didn't want to tell him that that was the reason – there was no way I was giving him the satisfaction so early in the morning – so I told him something that would satisfy his need for a reason. I never had qualms about pulling the woman card. Wink. Wink. Cackle.

Fine.

And with that go signal, I dropped back onto my pillow and took a nice, recharging thirty minute nap. I tried not to purposely forget to set my alarm.

I recalled my trip to the specialty store the previous afternoon as I navigated through my empty flat in the near-dark. It was these times when I wondered why I agreed to keep such a big place. I hardly really had any use for five extra bedrooms. If it wasn't for the housekeeper that came by every week, I'd have gone crazy trying to keep the space in check.

But, alas, I was being distracted by my train of thought. I veered it towards my original purpose as I picked up the item I had bought yesterday. There was no threat of anyone seeing it so I deliberately left it out in the living room when I had gotten home. I smiled, seeing the thing. It was beautiful. As expected from the specialty store. The owners of said establishment were a family close to my maternal relatives and they never did disappoint when it came to their crafts.

Swiping my hand over the polished surfaced, I made my way to the kitchen with a purpose. What that purpose was could be lost to me for the time being.

Strangely enough, I was more tired finishing up Atobe's birthday present than when I get home after jogging with him. But since I didn't, go jogging with him, that is, I had a more pronounced inclination to sluggishly make my way to school at a later time than usual. Something I haven't done in a while so I decided to enjoy the walk.

By the time I arrived at school, my usual Student Council Room time was over and I still needed to practice my piece in the music room. Tennis practice had probably already started but I couldn't afford to miss out on practice.

I sighed to myself, climbing the stairs to the music room.

At least there was a suspense factor to his birthday where I was concerned.

Time passed quickly enough and I found myself rushing through the hallways as fast as I could without tripping to avoid getting late. I opened the door to the classroom to meet with an onslaught of glares.

I didn't have to think too hard to know why. The whole school probably knows that I didn't show up for practice on the day of my fake – but they didn't know that – boyfriend's birthday. The last birthday they would ever officially get to celebrate with him. Some of them were probably just glaring at me for show. They were probably quite happy inside that I didn't show. It meant that they had Atobe to themselves – and I meant that in plural, since they had to share him amongst the club members and all that.

Ignoring their glares wasn't so hard as I sauntered over to my seat coolly and realized that Yuushi was sitting in it. He stared up at me with a small smile and quick wink. "You weren't at practice."

"I was delayed." I perched myself at the corner of my desk as Yuushi was making no move to get up. My arms crossed over my chest. "Did anything happen?"

"To be honest, Mai-hime," he said, finally pushing himself out of my chair to be able to speak more softly. "I'm not sure whether or not he thinks you know. But," he stopped suddenly and looked to the bag hanging off the side of my desk and then up at me. "I think he'll be finding out soon enough."

I responded with a crooked smile. "He'll find out." I repeated as quietly as he had spoken.

He moved away, the bell ringing in the background. "Take pictures if you can, Mai-hime."

"I'll try, Yuushi." When he reached his desk, it was as if the whole class was waiting with bated breath to see if they could catch a wisp of our conversation but to no avail. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at them.

I was right about my friends hounding me. The entire morning was spent receiving blows to the back of my head from balls of paper containing interrogations. Some balls of paper also contained some very unpleasant things from people I didn't care much for which were easily brushed aside. I could try throwing paper at them, too, but I wasn't confident enough in my aim to entertain that option.

By the time the lunch bell rang, I had whisked my cell out of my bag and sent Atobe a message. I didn't want to have to exert any wasted effort to try and find him like what happened before. I was pleased to note that he was in the Student Council Room instead of the classroom. Less spectators, hopefully.

The bag that held his gift was already clutched to my side when I stepped out of the classroom under the watchful eyes of the school populace. None of them really tried to follow me but it was obvious from the expressions on their faces that they wished they had x-ray vision or something like that.

I waltzed into the Student Council Room without so much as a knock – because, really, when did I ever do that – and lowered the bag onto the desk he was sitting behind. He looked up at me with an inquisitive eyebrow. "Maybe more than just a riceball." I told him with a quirk to my own lips.

His eyes widened almost imperceptibly as he looked towards the object I had placed on his desk. He seemed to have an internal debate before lowering his pen and brushing aside the paperwork he was working on. "Why the change of heart?" He said with an unreadable expression. Lowering his chin onto his interlaced fingers.

"I was possessed." I responded acerbically, taking a seat on the chair opposite him and unloading the bag. He smiled and snickered quietly.

Atobe stared as I placed a traditional bento before him. The lacquered surface glinted in the fluorescent lights. The three-tiered bento measured about ten inches diagonally and its black base was decorated by the image of a gold dragon, its body creating looping patterns all around. I could see that even Atobe knew its value – being the way he was, he probably had an eye for those kinds of things. That was real gold inlay in that dragon

He reached to take the cover off the top level and place it on the table. He smiled as he saw the different types of sushi crammed into it restaurant style. The trouble I went through to get it looking like that. At least he had the decency to look impressed. It probably all clicked into place in his head why I bailed on him. Atobe was about to take one when I stuck my arm out and stopped him.

I answered his silent question by pointing down at the set of sushi in the very center. "Start with this." Atobe measured my expression before shrugging and taking one. As he popped it into his mouth, I bent my head to hide my leer. When I heard the muffled choking sound, I burst out laughing and handed him a bottle of tea that I took from the bag. He grabbed it brusquely and downed half of it in one go while I continued on laughing. It reminded me vaguely of one of the stories Momoshiro and Echizen told me.

Reaching over, I took one of the same rolls and put into my mouth. Mmmmmm. "Wasabi roll."

He glared at me over the top of the bottle after he had recovered and proceeded to prop his elbow up on and leaning his check on the back of his hand, the tea dangling from his fingers. "Is the birthday present food poisoning?" He drawled in a tone of forced disinterest before suddenly stiffening.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Of course not," I chimed. "It's revenge." Tittering, I leaned over and mirrored his position. "And who said this was your birthday gift, Keigo-sama?" I resisted the sudden urge to wink when I realized that, no, this was not Yuushi I was torturing.

He seemed to relax at my tone as he scanned the bento for another thing to eat. His eyes locked onto a regular-looking roll and he perused it for a moment before making to eat it. There was no adverse reaction to this one as far as I could tell. "So, this just happens to be something you made on the day that I was born?" He said in a sarcastic tone, taking another piece into his mouth.

"Yeah, that's exactly it." I plucked one out of the box for myself. There was no reason for me to starve.

"So, you aren't trying to kill me this time?"

"If you aren't dead yet, probably not."

Atobe didn't really say anything about the food as he went through the top layer and I didn't really bother to ask. He wasn't complaining and that was good enough for me. We chatted over mundane things and various other chit-chats, quite a bit of the conversation veering towards Mukahi and his nonexistent dog. I handed him a pair of chopsticks as he removed the first tier to reveal the four kinds of soba in the next level.

"Do you have any plans of eating me?" He said, nonchalantly digging his chopsticks into the clump of soba next to the one I was getting from.

I scoffed. "You taste way too much of ego. I'd prefer to eat myself, really, if that was physically and ethically possible, that is."

"Ore-sama doesn't doubt that you would."

By the time we'd reached the last level, Atobe'd gotten to relaying to me the essence of what his birthday meant to the fanclub. It still made no sense to me why they would be so enthusiastic about celebrating the day Atobe was born but that was probably just it, nonsensical. Our discussion abruptly stopped when he got a look at the last tier which was an assortment of yakiniku with various sauces poured into the designated squares.

He bit into one and then looked at me haughtily. I raised both my eyebrows at him in question. "Who told you?"

I vaguely had an idea what he was talking about but it was fun beating around the bush with this guy. "About the yakiniku, I believe that was all you, Your Highness."

He scoffed but took another bite anyway. "Didn't think that you were such fan, Mai. You've been playing hard-to-get this whole time?" He gave me a purely Atobe look that he had probably worked to perfect these past 18 – by now – years.

"I had no idea what my friends were talking about, you know," I laughed and he raised an eyebrow with a quirk of his mouth. "So I asked Shishido."

"So, you knew?"

"I can see you didn't."

"Something like that." He shrugged with a small smile.

I happened to glance at the clock behind his head and saw that lunch break was almost over. Stretching my arms over my head, I rose from my seat and placed the cloth bag that the bento came in on Atobe's desk. He was just about done with the last level so I decided that it was alright if I took my leave.

"I'm going to go before I get late," I told him, turning towards the door. If I get lucky, my friends might just have some food left for me to scavenge from.

"Mai," he called and I turned to see him tapping his chopsticks on the bento before him with a raised eyebrow.

Pulling my lips into a complacent smile, I turned back and gave him a backwards wave. "Happy Birthday, Atobe."

The door was halfway closed when I heard him call out an arrogant word of gratitude. "It was better than I expected from you."

Shaking my head, I meandered down the hallway with a hardly audible, "Your welcome, pretty boy."

In the classroom, I sat next to my friends and started plucking things from their bentos wordlessly before the bell rang. They stared at me in question. They had seen me walk out with a bento and walk back in without one. They had finally pieced two and two together to get four when Kanna's mouth fell open.

"You gave him a bento?" She asked in disbelief, probably wondering why I would give such a majestic human being like Atobe such a mundane token of affection on his birthday.

Mental I snorted but outwardly, I shrugged. "That's what he asked for."

The following weeks saw Atobe repeatedly asking why the amount of bento he got tripled.

"It's your birthday," I said in response to his query. Atobe had come up to me inside my classroom after the last bell had rung for the day and asked me to go to dinner with him. In front of the whole class.

He stepped closer and looked at me with a impish glint in his eye. I resisted the urge to scowl. "And ore-sama is spending it with you."

I knew where the conversation was going so I grabbed the end of his sleeve and started walking out of the classroom. When we were out of earshot, I spoke again. "Why?"

He motioned back to the classroom filled with people and I caught his drift. "Because you're supposed to be the girlfriend."

I sighed. "Atobe you know I can't go out tonight. It's Wednesday. I have plans."

The sides of his mouth pulled up in an almost feral expression and I knew that deep inside he was making fun of me. I punched lightly in his stomach. Damn those abs, every time.

"It doesn't have to be tonight. You just have to agree."

"Why should I even do that?"

He raised his eyebrow cockily. "It's ore-sama's birthday."

Clucking my tongue, I checked my watch, making sure I wouldn't be late and then berating myself for agreeing because it was his birthday. I felt obliged to be nice to him. "When?"

"Next Sunday."

I gave into the urge and scowled outright as I began walking down the hall. Atobe chuckled. "Don't you have friends or something?"

Yuushi told me later on that Atobe had taken the regulars to Ginza to celebrate the day he was born.

Nonsensical.

But I had to hand it to him. He really knew how to spoil the tennis club. At least he fed them without comment.

I had no such luck.

Saturday came and I left my flat a tad bit earlier than usual to make a stop at the usual cafe near my building – the same one Atobe took me to a few weeks ago – to pick up a cake I had ordered before going straight to Seigaku. A little birdie – whose name happened to be Fuji – told about another birthday to be celebrated. This month was just full of them. Yuushi's was coming up as well.

"You brought cake!" Eiji exclaimed before I could even say a word as I stepped foot onto the Seigaku tennis courts. He charged towards me and took it out of my hand with a comical bow before he whisked it away to show Momo and Echizen. Fuji and Tezuka walked towards me while I Oishi stared at his red-headed friend in exasperation, preparing to scold them.

"Happy Birthday, Tezuka-san," I greeted him cheerily as they neared. "Yo, Syuu-kun."

"Thank you, Takashina-san," He said cordially with a nod also shooting a scolding glance at his members.

Fuji – or Syuu-kun as I'd taken to calling him – smiled, as always. Because of his propensity to smile, the only way I could really distinguish his emotions was identifying how wide his smile was and the off chance that he would open his eyes. But I liked him, nonetheless.

I actually found it rather amusing that Atobe's and Tezuka's birthday were within three days of each other. It was a rather petty thing but still a fun fact. They were practically born to be each others' rivals.

There was some chatting done – well, as much chatting as can be done with Tezuka – until I saw my watch and realized I had to get going.

When I returned from practice with sensei, I found the Seigaku regulars in their street clothes and just throwing tennis balls around by the courts. The freshmen were hovering around as well. Eiji once again mauled me when I came. "Mai-chin! You're here! The cake was delicious!"

He dragged me, still in his clutches, towards the rest of the group. I offered them a lopsided smile. "Glad you liked it."

Momo scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "It really did taste great, Takashina-san."

It was then that Syuu-kun came in with a shiver-inducing smile. "It, apparently, tasted so good that they finished it all by themselves." At his statement, Momo, Echizen and even Kaidoh seemed to deflate, finding other places to look innocently at. Eiji moved behind me. I chuckled.

"Are you guys heading out?"

Taka-san was the one who answered. "We're going to my family's sushi restaurant, actually. To celebrate." He said meekly.

Oishi continued. "We were actually intending to invite you, Takashina-san."

My eyes widened slightly and Eiji grinned wider behind me. "So, what do you think, Mai?" Syuu-kun asked with a big smile.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure? I'd hate to be intruding."

He simply chuckled and waved my anxiety away. "It's fine. The more the merrier. Right, Tezuka?"

"Ah," The statue managed an inviting nod.

There was a split-second where I had an internal debate of the pros and cons of going which ended with a lot of pros and barely any cons so there were no personal qualms about my decision. "I don't see a reason to say no, then."

"Wahoo!" The redhead cheered and finally unhanded me so we could start walking towards the designated restaurant.

Most of the walk was spent talking with Syuu-kun but I spent some time with the Freshmen in the back, too. Things were the same at the restaurant as well.

I was with Syuu-kun when Kawamura-san placed a batch of sushi in front of us that made everyone suddenly back off quite a distance. Kawamura-san laughed before going back behind the counter. I gave a start when Syuu-kun suddenly placed a piece on my plate. "Try one?"

Shrugging, I glanced at everyone's expressions and shaking heads. Interesting. I doubt this will kill me so might as well give it a shot. With that thought in mind, I dropped it into my mouth and there was a collective gasp. There was a pause before I reacted.

"Oh, no," Eiji wailed. "She's choking!"

There was a frenzy as they seriously thought I was choking and Oishi was chiding the tensai beside me on what he did while I tried – with my mouth full – to assure them I wasn't. They got the right idea when I finally swallowed and laughed openly. They stared as if I had just lost my mind. Syuu-kun on the other hand, chuckled interestedly.

"That was a good wasabi roll, Syuu-kun."

The Seigaku guys' gaping faces were almost as hilarious as Atobe choking.

It was a bit longer than usual because I wanted to stick in Tezuka's birthday in there as well. I hope you liked it!

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