Chapter 3

I think I spoke too soon when I said that I was ready for anything…

Asa was standing in front of a tall, pigtailed girl. She had a model's complexion, with a waist that would make any other girl jealous, gently wavy blond hair, and gently tanned skin. That girl was standing in front of the display case, hands planted on her hips, glaring at the array of sweets. "What kind of things are these?" she demanded, jabbing a finger at the glass case.

"They're sweets…" What else would you expect in a sweet shop? "Would you like to order something? Can I get you something to drink, perhaps?" Asa asked.

The girl rounded on her, giving her a killer glare. Asa shrunk back slightly on instinct. "Look, you," she snapped, jabbing at Asa's front with a slender finger. "Don't you know who I am? I'm one of Japan's rising new stars." She turned, striking a pose, and giving a wink as only a superstar could give. "I'm Sato Aimi. Need I say more?"

Asa tipped her head to the side, looking thoughtful. "Sato Aimi…? Nope. I've never heard of it!" Aimi's jaw dropped straight to the floor. What was this nonsense? But before the disgruntled rising star could even say a word, another waitress popped up from behind the counter.

"Ijuuin-chan, your cell phone is ringing."

"Ah… thank you for telling me. I'll be quick." She was about to leave when something attached herself to her arm. Aimi was clinging to her as if her life depended on it. "Uh… can I help you?" Asa asked, looking puzzled.

"Your family name… it's Ijuuin, am I correct?" she asked.

Asa blinked. "Yeah… it is. Is there something wrong with that?" she asked. This is… kind of awkward…

Aimi's eyes fairly glowed. "Is something wrong with that? I can't believe this…! I meet the heir to the most prosperous and awesome electronic company, in the flesh, and that's the first thing she says to me?! But this is the best thing that could ever happen! I love the products that your company produces. You know the latest gaming system? My parents bought it for me as soon as it came out, and it can play all the best games! I'm happily anticipating your company's next product!"

Now I know what all of the guys feel like when they're surrounded by fangirls. "Oh… is that so?" Asa was so surprised that all she could do was say four words. She sounded so stupid after they left her mouth. "Well, I'm glad you like the products my mother's company makes. I think they're currently in the middle of developing their newest product. Now, if you excuse me, I have to answer a phone call."

Aimi let go of her arm willingly enough. "Of course! As company heir you must be very busy."

Asa laughed nervously as she grabbed her cell phone. Hopefully whoever was calling her wasn't so annoyed that she hadn't picked up yet. I wonder if I should tell her that I'm not the heir… if anyone is going to be heir, it'll probably be Oshitari-kun, after all… "Moshimoshi?" she asked cheerfully into her phone as she flipped open the communication device. "This is Ijuuin Asa speaking. How can I help you?"

"Ah… Aa-chan!" Fuji's equally cheerful voice made it into Asa's ear. "I was beginning to think that you were annoyed with me and wouldn't answer my phone call. Is it too busy over at the shop for a few more?"

Asa pouted, although she knew full well that Fuji couldn't see it on of the other side of the line. "Annoyed? With you? Fuji Syusuke-kun, I do hope that you know that for someone to be annoyed with you requires a lot of willpower on the part of both sides. And you do know that if I were to say that customers were not allowed to come, I'd be fired, right?"

Fuji laughed on the other end. "If you say so, Aa-chan. Turn around."

"Huh…?" She obeyed, and came face to face with a smiling Fuji. She jumped slightly, and then recovered her composure, shutting her phone and tucking it into a pocket of her apron. "Konichiwa, Fuji-kun!" she said brightly. "Konichiwa, Miho-chan, Eiji-kun. Can I get you anything?"

"Can I have an iced tea?" Eiji asked, looking hopeful.

"Of course!" And so, Eiji was satisfied for the rest of his trip to the shop. "Do you guys want anything?"

"We'll browse for a bit," Miho piped up. "Thanks for offering. Let's look around, Eiji! They have so many delicious cakes… I don't know which one I want to eat today!"

Fuji stood next to Asa as he watched them browse through the wide selection. Cocking his head to one side, Fuji regarded her with a curious look. "So, how come you didn't pick up? I really did think that you were annoyed with me."

Asa smiled apologetically. "Gomen, gomen. I was talking to a new acquaintance of mine," she said cheerfully. "See? She's over there; her name is Sato Aimi-san."

"Ah… you mean that rising new star? Nee-san likes to talk about those things," Fuji murmured, "although, sometimes, Nee-san gets a bit overboard when talking about these things. Then it gets a tad annoying…" Asa chuckled lightly from her place at Fuji's shoulder, and he responded with a little pout. "It's not funny, Aa-chan!" he protested. "Don't you know how annoying it can get to hear about the same person over and over again?"

"Oh, but Fuji-kun! Don't you know that there are some people that you can hear about over and over again, and every time you hear them being mentioned it just gets better and better?" Fuji blinked in surprise, looking rather puzzled. Asa simply smiled innocently up at him. A moment later, his own usual smile was on his face, although when Eiji chanced a glance at his quiet friend, he swore that it was gentler than usual.

I hope Aa-chan's talking about me, Fuji thought, allowing himself to be dragged to a table by Eiji now that he and Miho had picked out a few desserts that they wanted to try out. Since she's so dense the chance may be slim but it's nice to think that way, ne?

***

"Ah… I'm so glad it's time for lunch!" Asa said happily as she exited her classroom with Miho walking alongside her. "It's only the second day, and I'm already tired of classes. That's not a good sign, is it?"

"Saa, saa…!" Miho said cheerfully, patting her friend on the shoulder. "It's alright if lunchtime is the only highlight of a school day!"

"When you put it like that, I suppose it's alright," was Asa's bright response. Her morning had been excellent, and she was happy.

They had made it to the stairway by this time and were about to head down them in order to get to the cafeteria when a thundering sound behind them caught their attention. A stampede of students were hurtling toward them at a speed that both girls were sure was much too fast for a hallway. Asa was slammed into the railway as the crowd stormed past her.

I wonder why everyone is moving so fast, she thought miserable as she watched the cloud of dust leave her line of sight. It's not normal, is it? "Ne, Miho-chan," she asked her friend, straightening up and dusting herself off. "What do you think they're running for?"

Miho cocked her head to the side as she contemplated. "Maybe there's something good for lunch today?" she finally asked. "It is lunch period, after all." Her stomach suddenly growled, and she looked embarrassed. "Lunch, perhaps?" she asked hopefully. Asa grinned and they began their trek to the cafeteria, at a much slower pace than the other group did.

It was while in the cafeteria that the two girls discovered the reason behind the previous group of people. "I can't believe the cafeteria actually sells treats like these!" Asa murmured. There were several trays of small strawberry and chocolate cakes, each one looking wonderfully delicious and simply begging to be eaten. "They look wonderful!" she squeaked happily. "I'll take two, please," she said to the lady behind the counter, and exchanged her money for the two pieces of cake. "Miho-chan, I got you a piece," she said cheerfully when she returned to the table that the two of them had staked for themselves.

"Thank you!" Miho said brightly as she accepted the treat. "This just made my day," she said as she bit into the cake. "Mmm… it's good!"

"Saa… eating without us?" They turned to see Fuji and Eiji walking into the lunchroom. "Really, Aa-chan, it'd be nice if you came to get us,' he teased.

"I shall just tell you that you're slow," was Asa's reply, in the same teasing manner as Fuji's. "Want a piece of cake?" she asked, motioning to the cake piece. "If you two hurry, I think you might be able to get some."

Fuji smiled cheerfully, sitting down next to Asa. "It's alright. I can always supplement my sugar needs at the sweet shop after practice. Or steal some of yours, now that I think about it…" She looked sadly at him and he laughed, ruffling her head affectionately. She blinked up at him in puzzlement as he chuckled. "I think I'll settle with just going to the sweet shop, then," he said cheerfully. "You look too attached to your piece of cake to give it up."

She pouted at him, and then popped the rest of her treat into her mouth, turning her head to stare out the window with a little huff. Fuji just smiled brightly as he unwrapped his own lunch and dug into his meal. Their table was thus turned to light chatter about weekend plans, homework, and the like as they all ate their respective meals.

***

The high school that they had entered was filled with a majority of students who came from Hyotei. More than half of the students were varying levels of rich, with a few as rich as Atobe. Such was Nakamura Katsuo. His family ran a line of resort hotels, and as an only child, he was spoiled silly when he was young. One would think he was like Atobe, but Atobe was more sophisticated that him, by a long shot.

Nakamura was a sophomore, and a member on the tennis team. Asa and Miho's first encounter with the upperclassman was during the ranking matches. He had happened to be Fuji's first opponent. "Good luck, Fuji-kun," Asa said to Fuji before he vanished into the locker rooms to change. "Don't forget to have fun. Tennis is a game, remember?"

Fuji chuckled lightly. "Only because it's the first few games. When we get to Nationals, it'll be very serious!"

He's certainly psyched up, Asa thought, nodding to him. "Miho-chan and I will be watching on the side," she told him before walking over to the courts. Miho bounced over to join her, and Fuji watched as the two girls chatted happily with each other before opening the locker room door and walking in.

There was no one else in the locker room. It seemed that everyone else had changed already. I had better change quickly, then, he thought, setting down his tennis bag on the floor and pulling out his uniform. Taking off his school uniform, he pulled on the uniform and then took out his tennis racket. Sliding his tennis bag into an empty cubby, he padded outside.

"Fuji Syusuke is here!" he reported to the coach. The coach nodded, and Fuji checked the bulletin board to see his schedule. Nakamura Katsuo… so he's my first opponent. His smile widened. Right! Fuji Syusuke, it's time to have some fun!

His train of thought was halted by a haughty voice. "You're the freshman I'm going to be up against?" Fuji turned to see a brown haired boy standing behind him. Steel gray eyes bore into his smiling eyes. "You don't seem like much, do you? Look at you; a good tennis player has well-developed muscles, but you don't seem to have much. I wonder how you can hit a powerful shot."

Fuji's smile dropped, and he frowned. "If this is psychological warfare you're trying to use, than I'm afraid that it's not working. You should save saying those things for after the match."

Nakamura smirked, looking very amused to say the least. "If you say so," he said smoothly, giving a vague wave of his hand to Fuji. "Since you're a freshman, I suppose I should go easy on you."

"Is something the matter?"

Both boys turned to see Asa and Miho standing just a short ways away from them, looking worried. It was rare that Fuji looked so annoyed, and when Asa pointed this out to her friend she had been hastily dragged to the scene. And all she had originally wanted to do was ask if Fuji usually frowned like that during ranking matches… "Ah, Aa-chan!" Fuji said brightly, offering the girl a wave. "We're fine; just waging a bit of psychological warfare."

Asa looked faintly bemused at this, and a tad bit relieved. She was glad that it wasn't anything too serious. "I thought you said that you were going to be serious only for the Nationals."

Fuji laughed good-naturedly. "It's nice to be serious when you find a good rival."

Oh… so that's it… "Well, in that case, good luck to you both!" she said cheerfully, chancing a look at the older boy, although she wished almost immediately that she hadn't done so. He was almost glaring at her, his gaze piercing. On impulse, she inched behind Fuji, using the taller boy to shield her smaller build. Fuji looked momentarily puzzled before smiling cheerfully, giving her hand a gentle squeeze and then walked into the courts.

"Let's begin."

A/N: This took forever... (T.T) I need to make my life more efficient. *sighs*

Read and Review? Please?