Chapter 1

It was a pity, really, that summer vacation was almost over. Fuji was a bit sorry about this as he lay on Eiji's bed, flipping through a book he had picked up on his friend's desk. Said friend was currently hunched over the desk, where he was viciously attacking a mountain of summer work that he had failed to complete earlier. Eiji's bedroom was quiet save for the furious scratching of Eiji's pen and the occasional rustling of a page turn as Fuji progressed in his book.

At around noon, one of Eiji's older brothers poked his head into the youngest sibling's room. "You have more guests," he said grumpily, looking sulky. Somehow, one way or another, he had managed to get himself grounded in these last few days of summer vacation and was now forbidden from leaving the house and having fun. "She comes bearing gifts; wish someone would do that to me." He left then, slamming the door with much more force then absolutely necessary.

Eiji's frazzled nerves could not take this any longer. "Don't slam my door!" he shrieked, leaving his work and shooting out of his door after his elder sibling. Fuji was left behind with his book and a puzzled expression on his face.

Note to self: never tease Eiji when he's in a state such as this one unless you are seriously bored and need entertainment.

Reassured by this train of thought, the honey-haired genius returned to his book, only to look up again when the door reopened. A bashful looking Eiji was standing there, rubbing his head in embarrassment as he muttered apologies. "Gomen, gomen," he was saying.

"It's alright," Miho's cheerful voice sounded. "It's difficult in these last few days, ne, what with scrambling to get all the summer work done, am I right?" At the mention of summer work Eiji let out a startled little gasp and instantly reestablished himself at his desk and his homework. "Whoops… I think I said something wrong… oh, hi, Fuji-kun."

Fuji smiled brightly at the girl, returning her greeting with a wave of his hand. "So you're the guest who come bearing gifts?" he asked.

Miho blinked, then looked down at the hamper she held in her hands. Realization hit her like a brick. "Yeah! I guess you can say that! Want a cookie?" She flipped open the hamper and rummaged in it, pulling out a cookie wrapped neatly in a napkin. "It's chocolate chip," she offered. "Eiji told me once he liked chocolate."

"Oh…?" Fuji perked up; this was interesting. "It's quite delicious," he commented, biting into the snack. Miho looked quite happy at the praise. "Why did you plan a visit over here today?" he asked curiously, popping the rest of the baked dessert into his mouth.

Miho shrugged. "I just thought about dropping over. It is the last few days of break, after all."

"Ah… true." Somehow, he had a feeling that she was hiding something.

Miho sighed lightly as she sat down next to Fuji, watching Eiji as the boy scrambled to get the rest of his work done. "Maybe we can do something when Eiji's done with his work." One point for me, Fuji said to himself. She glanced curiously at Eiji's hunched back before turning her attention to Fuji's book. "What book are you reading?"

Fuji handed the book over to her. "I just picked it up. It's actually much interesting then the cover implies."

"Don't judge a book by its cover, ne?"

Fuji chuckled, taking the book back and continuing to read it. "Quite right."

***

Eiji did manage to finish his schoolwork. The fact that he managed to finish it in the next hour made him quite proud, considering that he had nearly a thousand math problems to solve (Miho would be leaning over his shoulder as he did them, occasionally spouting out a few formulas), a whole English essay to write (he whined to Fuji all the while he was writing it), a Japanese history paper to write (here he whined to Miho again, Fuji having excused himself for a few moments at this point in time), and a science report (which involved whining to both of his friends while they leaned over his shoulders as he scribbled down answers).

"I'm finally done…!" he sighed, dropping his pen down on the desk and collapsing backwards against the back of his chair. "I hate summer homework!" he wailed, looking absolutely miserable. Miho handed him a cookie and he promptly stuffed the whole thing into his mouth so that his cheeks puffed up like those of a chipmunk's when it has a particularly large amount of nuts it was carrying.

"Eiji! Chew first! Chew, chew! What if you choked on it?!"

Eiji swallowed his snack and looked thoughtful for a few minutes. "Well, if I do choke, you could always administer CPR, right?" She fell silent, looking at him like he had totally lost his mind. Her silence was broken only by Fuji's chuckling, and Miho whirled on him, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Fuji-kun, it's not funny!" she retorted angrily. "Choking is a serious hazard and should be treated as such!"

Fuji looked up at her furious face, looking faintly bemused. "Choking?" he asked innocently. "I wasn't laughing at that." He held up his book and pointed to a line on the page he was currently reading. "This line was rather funny when I read it," he explained. Miho sighed, although Eiji looked curiously at the line.

"'The blood of my enemies'?" she read, her brow furrowing in confusion. Eiji let out a squeak and leaped backwards, a horrified expression on his face. Anyone who thought that line was funny was to be feared. Greatly feared. "What's so funny about that?"

"Maa… maybe it's a personal thing," Fuji sighed, flipping the book shut and returning it to the desk. "It's a little better if you read the sentence before it." Eiji gulped, clinging to Miho and watching Fuji warily. As for the girl herself, she simply blinked in confusion, although she didn't pursue the topic any further. "Were we going to go somewhere?" he asked sweetly.

Miho perked up. "Oh, that!" she said brightly, before digging into her pocket. "Ta-da! Gakuto's family opened a new dessert shop, and Nii-san recommended it to me. I thought it would be fun if we could all go and check it out."

Eiji was all for it, nodding enthusiastically. Fuji nodded, too. "That sounds like fun. Let's go, then." They were halfway to the front door when Fuji paused, looking rather thoughtful. "Is Aa-chan coming?" he asked, looking curious.

"Iie… Aa-chan is busy today. Nii-san is still teaching her tennis." She tipped her head to the side. "But maybe we'll meet up with her later. You never know, ne?"

"Life would be boring if you knew everything."

***

Gakuto was pleasantly surprised to see the two Seigaku Regulars enter his family's newest sweet store. "News travels fast with Yuushi, doesn't it?" he asked, giving a faint shrug. He and Eiji exchanged a few friendly banters about who would win the next match (Gakuto still stubbornly insisting that he would one day beat Eiji straight into the ground with his superior acrobatics) while they found seats at a window table. Gakuto put down a menu onto the table. "I'm helping out on opening day. What would you like?" Had it not been for his slightly sulky expression, he would have made the perfect waiter. When they had ordered, he vanished behind the counter.

"The atmosphere here is nice, ne?" Fuji remarked softly, leaning his head on his hand. Miho nodded, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on them. Eiji played with the edges of the tablecloth as they waited for their orders to come.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" a cheerful voice sounded out. "I hope you didn't wait long!"

"Eh… no, not really…" Fuji started, although he paused. "Aa-chan? I thought you were having a tennis lesson."

She pouted. "How many times do you want me to get crushed by Oshitari-kun?" she asked sulkily, setting down their orders in front of them. "I lost miserably; guess that's what I get for playing against him, ne? Here you go. Enjoy!"

"Really, now." Oshitari's voice reached their ears and the Hyotei regular appeared behind her. "It wasn't that much of a loss. You got two games."

"Only because Oshitari-kun went easy on me," Asa muttered, but she still looked quite cheerful.

Miho blinked in surprise at the appearance of her brother. "Nii-san!"

At the same time, Gakuto's head popped up as he noticed his friend's presence in the store. "Yo, Yuushi! Help out a bit, won't you?"

"Maa, Gakuto… haven't I already helped out? I did advertising for you."

"But… but… Yuushi…!"

Asa grinned at their antics before turning to her Seigaku friends. "Do you want anything else?" she asked, holding the round serving tray loosely at her side.

"Iie, we're fine. Thanks a lot," Fuji said, as Eiji's cheeks were already bulging from the cake he was shoveling happily into his mouth and Miho was similarly engaging herself in doing the cake well-deserved justice. "From the looks of Eiji, this should be rather delicious."

"It is," Asa reassured the boy. "Gakuto-kun's family owns a chain of sweet shops that sell some of the best sweets in all of Japan." Ah… even she was going along on the advertising line. "And the apple pie is made with fresh Fuji apples. Gakuto-kun says that it's one of the best items on the list." She nodded to Fuji's plate and the boy's face lit up. He quite liked Fuji apples; Eiji said that it was the only normal food that he ate.

A cheerful jingling of bells signified another customer entering, so Asa excused herself and went to find them a table while Fuji attacked his pie in a very eager manner.

"Imst mit noinc?" Eiji asked, his cheeks still bulging as he chewed happily on his mouthful of cake.

Fuji chuckled as he chewed on his own forkful, and then swallowed. "I don't speak full mouth, Eiji," he said playfully.

With only slight difficulty, Eiji swallowed. "I said, isn't it nice?" he repeated himself. Fuji smiled brightly and nodded, digging his fork back into the gooey filling of his pie.

Loud voices directed their attention to the newcomers of the store. Eiji's eyes narrowed as the cat-like boy caught sight of who was causing the commotion. "Sasabe," he spat out, his grip tightening on his fork. "Why are they always popping up, nya? They look as annoying as usual."

"Eiji!" Miho scolded, although she looked slightly wary, as well.

"Well, it's true, nya!"

"Can I get you anything?" Asa asked, looking on nervously as Mr. Sasabe and his sons argued over what to get on the menu. "May I recommend the Strawberry Cream Cake?" she offered, although she wondered whether or not they heard her over their arguing. "Are you ready for ordering?" she ventured forward when their argument switched to the topic of sports.

"Give us a few moments. Shoo, shoo."

"Could I get you something to drink, perhaps, then?"

The youngest Sasabe looked up with a bored expression on his face. "Whatever; I'll have a Ponta." Asa nodded and went off to get the drink, shooting a glance behind her shoulder at the still arguing father and sons as she did.

What a strange trio, she thought, taking the drink out of the icebox and opening the can with a small click. Finding a glass, she filled it a third of the way with ice cubes and then poured the soda into it, watching the bubbles for a while before picking up the glass and grabbing a straw as she returned to the table. Their argument had toned down a bit, she was glad to note as she set down the glass of Ponta. "Have you--?"

She was interrupted by Mr. Sasabe's furious glare at her, leaving her wondering what she had ever done to annoy the old man. To the relief of her nerves, he turned his icy glance to his sons. "Can you believe it?" he asked, totally ignoring her. "I can't believe she rejected my proposal," he was grumbling. He rested his chin on his laced fingertips and an absolutely horrid expression crossed his face. "It was a perfectly wonderful proposal, if I do say so myself," he grumbled, glaring darkly at the ceiling above his head. "That stupid, brainless, doltish, workaholic of a woman…" He never quite finished his train of thought, so worked up was he that he ended up growling deep in his throat.

Geez… I wonder who it is that could get so many degenerative names tagged to them, Asa thought, standing off to the side as she waited for them to place an order. Sometimes she hated being a waitress, and this was only her first day on the job. She gave a light sigh, closing her eyes and giving a small shake of her head.

Sasabe's black eyes narrowed into slits as he composed himself so that he could utter out a coherent sentence. "That annoying brat called Ijuuin Chikako," he finished.

Asa's eyes snapped open and her hand tightened on her serving tray. Ijuuin Chikako… Ijuuin… Ijuuin…

That's my mother…!

Miho frowned at her table, setting down her fork neatly on her plate. Fuji stood, an unreadable expression on his face. "Ah…" he said softly. Eiji gulped; Fuji had a dangerous aura coming off of him. "So the Sasabe's begin to attack." All eyes turned toward the trio, and then they were surprised.

Asa slipped a dazzling smile onto her face. "Excuse me, sir," she said, the very picture of pure, sugary sweetness (Eiji wondered how she was able to pull it off without looking like a total fake), "but can I ask what proposal you offered to Ijuuin-san, the head of the company that manufactures new electronic devices and specializes in those for the use of personal entertainment? I'm really interested in learning about business and all of its branches, so I'd love it if you'd share a bit of your knowledge with me."

"She's totally bluffing," Oshitari mumbled, taking a sip of his tea as he sat down besides his sister. "Fuji, you're a bad role model. I swear she's planning something dark in that mind of hers." Fuji gave him an elusive smile and a little shrug (Eiji now had the answer to his previous question; she had learned from the master!), sitting back down and crossing his arms over his chest.

Sasabe was surprised with the request, although his pride soon showed. Here was a perfect chance to elevate himself in the eyes of a curious young girl. Besides, if she was as interested in business as she claimed, perhaps she could be an asset to him. His gold tooth gleamed as he laughed to himself about the sheer genius of his plan. "Of course," he said boldly, immediately looking much more cheerful. "Listen carefully, then. I can trust you to keep this all to yourself, can I?"

"Of course you can! I won't tell a soul!"

In the space of five seconds, Asa had Sasabe spilling all of his business proposals (failed at being accepted, every last one of them) to her. She listened attentively, nodding here, inserting a few agreeing phrases at Sasabe's genius there, and generally acting like someone who was totally besotted with an idol. Sasabe wrapped up his narrative, flashing a large grin at her (which was accompanied by another flash of that painfully gold tooth of his), and then proceeded to tip her generously. Then, he stood, remarking about how much better he was feeling, and left the sweet shop with his sons in tow.

Asa laughed as soon as they were well outside of the shop and out of earshot. "No wonder Okaa-san rejected all of their proposals," she twittered. "The Sasabe's fail at business; they must be rich only on inheritance."

"Nya? Why do you say that, Aa-chan?"

"If the Sasabe's were to run a business, and they used those kinds of proposals in order to collaborate with bigger companies, they'd go bankrupt within a couple months," Oshitari explained, looking bored. "Otou-san has already briefed these… proposals… with me. It's part of his way of getting me ready for entering business when I graduate." He sighed, sipping his tea before talking again. "Personally, I'm surprised that he's still going after all those refusals. How many was it? 5? 7? That's why Sasabe must be rich purely on inheritance money. Or perhaps money from when he was a tennis pro. I heard he was an alright player in his younger days."

Asa shrugged. "Either way you put it, I never want to see them ever again. They're so rude… arguing so loudly in a public place." She left at that moment to attend to an elderly couple who entered, and Fuji looked thoughtful as he poked his half-eaten pie with his fork.

"Saa… I say we embarrass them again like we did the other times we met with them," he offered cheerful, a sadistic smile on his face. "It should be… fun."

"And what do you suggest, Fuji?" Oshitari asked, setting down his teacup, watching his Seigaku counterpart with a critical eye.

Fuji grinned widely, leaning forward and beckoning the other two boys and Miho closer with his finger. "Listen to me. Here's what we do…"

A/n: Bwahahaha!!! Cliffhanger! =P

Personally, I've never liked the Sasabe's. They're annoying, they're rude, and they're just plain stupid. Who doesn't warm up before playing a serious tennis match and then expects that they'll be right as rain, honestly? I was almost laughing with glee when I saw the debut of Sasabe Elder and watched Ryoma cream him by making him pull a muscle. *shakes fist triumphantly* Although the eldest does have good tennis skills when compared to his father...

But, of course, it's not as good as our favorite Regulars! ^_^

So... that's where you get my train of thoughts where it involves the Sasabe's and them having a company. Again, personally, I don't think they have what it takes to run an effective and profitable business.

Please read and review! Thank you bunches!