To everyone who thinks this is a MaruixOC fic,

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Stay tuned and you will see a bit of Shishido and Rikkaidai later on as well!

bluheat

I am begging you to write reviews, as they're the only thing that keeps me motivated to keep updating.

I tuck my side-bangs behind my ear while watching the self-proclaimed genius and the Brazilian step on to the court after Marui gobbled down a cake and Jackal shaved his head. I wasn't going to question their habits, because damn, I have them too.

The two looked confident, with the redhead blowing gum bubbles while stretching and Jackal stands there, stoic as ever. Because I was not an official member of the team, I was to stay outside the fence surrounding the court while the team members sat on a bench inside it.

"Marui-Jackal versus Yamana-Maeda pair," the referee calls. "Jackal, to serve."

Jackal tosses the neon-green ball up with his fingers and extends his arm up, hitting the ball with the racket strings.

The ball blows past the opponents and they look at each other in horror, surprised at the speed of the serve. Jackal serves again, clearly bored. Marui absentmindedly itches at his weighted wristbands. The opponents fail to return the serve again.

I fold my arms across my chest and cock my hip. I watch Jackal's remaining serves, wondering if the opponents would attempt to put up a fight. Would they? Or was Rikkaidai just that strong?

The Rikkaidai cheerleaders screech and jump up and down at the love game. The Rikkaidai tennis club-the non-regulars-cheer in support. Me? I simply yawn. I am not sure that the cheerleaders even understood tennis.

"Marui-Jackal, One-love!" the referee announces.

The opponents appeared to be defeated already with their slumped shoulders and crushed expressions. They looked disturbingly human, whereas the Rikkaidai pair across the net seemed untouchable, almost like royalty. So that was what the whispers of "King Rikkaidai" meant.

Yamana serves with a grunt and the ball flies over the net. Marui slices it back and the ball passes by the opponents again. They pant, staring at the bored Rikkaidai players.

I huff, knowing that the match would end 6-0 and without a single ball past the Rikkaidai duo. A breeze liberates my side-bangs from my ear and strands blow across my face. Glancing up, the once sunny sky seems disturbed by stacks of cloud looming nearby.

I fix my eyes on the game again but my mind wanders to when my brother and I played mixed doubles in our first tournament together. I could remember that day as if it was yesterday. The bright sun beat down on us and the light breeze cooled us occasionally. We were entered in the fourteen and under section and I was eight years old. Our first opponents laughed when they saw me, thinking there was no way I could play against teenagers. My brother and I beat them by four games, after we had dropped the initial two because of my lack of confidence.

Afterwards, he told me to always take opponents seriously, even if they did not seem powerful. He smiled and wiped away the dirt on my cheeks from when I fell over and hugged me, saying that he was proud of me being able to regain my confidence.

He was known as The Phoenix, rising above everything his opponents threw at him. His passion for tennis and strong serves gave him the nickname, along with the ability to be 'reborn' on the courts; he could change his playing style at will. He almost looked like a flame while playing, unpredictable and dangerous. He didn't seem dangerous that day though, saying that he didn't want me to get hurt by accident.

That day, we didn't just win our first tournament together. I learned a valuable lesson of how the most satisfying thing in the world is winning against people who said you never could. My brother said that day was the most fun he ever had playing tennis.

"Match point!" the referee interrupts my reverie.

Maybe I should try thinking of the past during English class. Maybe then that class would pass by faster. I doubt it though.

Yamana serves and the rally begins with the opponents who had sweat dripping down their faces. Marui suddenly smiles. His sudden and first facial expression during the game interrupts the superior attitude of the Rikkaidai pair and he hits a drop volley. The ball lands on the net and rolls on top of it, before dropping on to the opponent's side.

I gasp and clutch at the fence while Marui blows a gum bubble. "Aren't I a genius?"

"Game Rikkaidai Marui-Jackal pair! Six games to love!" the referee declares.

The cheerleaders scream and the non-regulars yell. I stay silent, Marui's volley replaying in my head. It rolled on top of the net. That ball control…

The opponents don't even seem surprised as they tiredly walk away from the court.

Yukimura nods towards the two, "Good job. You finished the game within fifteen minutes."

Niou and Yagyuu strip off their warm-up pants and grab their rackets, replacing Marui and Jackal on the court. Marui's eyes meet mine and he grins cheekily before plopping down on the team bench.

I ignore the glares I was getting from the fangirls because of Marui smiling at me. My fingers comb through my bangs, trying to secure them behind my ear again while wondering what tricks Niou and Yagyuu had up their sleeves.

Niou the Trickster and Yagyuu the Gentleman.

I blow a gum bubble, ignoring the sudden urge to turn around from the bench I was sitting on. The easy game was gratifying yet agitating at the same time. I felt like playing seriously today, and the grey-clad opponents did not giving me that satisfaction.

Yagyuu and Niou pull off their warm-up pants and Yagyuu bends over and whispers in my ear in a voice quite unlike his, "She was watching your game quite closely, wasn't she?"

My head snaps up, looking at the smirk spreading across the "Gentleman's" face.

"Niou," I breathed. "When did you and Yagyuu switch?"

He shrugs. "Right before your match started, we snuck off and did the switch."

"Impressive," I shake my head. I could never tell unless if they gave it away on purpose, as Niou just did.

He pushes the fake copy of Yagyuu's actual glasses up his nose and the real Yagyuu smirks, mirroring Niou's trademark expression. "Puri," he grins, and the two pick up their rackets and walk on to the court.

"Those two…" Jackal trails off.

"Are quite the troublesome pair," Yukimura finishes, with his usual serene smile plastered on to his face.

Sanada sits stoically, with his arms folded across his chest. I see a flicker of approval pass across his face. As impassive as he was, even he respected the pair.

Kirihara sighs, "We all know that the senpais will finish the game within fifteen minutes in straight points. They won't even have to switch back. What was the point?"

I open my mouth but the vice-captain beats me to it. "Practice," he answers curtly.

"Ninety-nine percent chance that they will not use any of their techniques," Yanagi adds.

"Niou-Yagyuu pair versus Saitou-Itou pair, Niou to serve!" the referee calls.

"Niou" tosses the ball up and slams the racket into it. Similar to my game, the opponents are unsuccessful in hitting back.

"Fifteen-love!"

I glance over my right shoulder to see if Klysen could see the switch between Niou and Yagyuu. Instead, my eyes land upon a bunch of cheering fangirls in odd outfits and they scream, noticing that I looked back towards them. I freeze and put on a fake smile for them while my eyes sweep the perimeter of the courts.

Where did she go?

I hum to myself and tuck my hands into my jacket pockets while strolling around the large park. Strands of my hair whipped across my face as the light wind made leaves on the trees dance. I needed a break from the screeches from the girls in short skirts and from the yells of the non-regulars. More importantly, I needed a break to wipe away my shock from Marui's shot.

Were all of the regulars from Rikkaidai that tough? Was Jackal hiding his true strength when he played me too? What would the Trickster and the Gentleman do? As much as I wanted to watch their match, I needed to calm down.

I pause in front of a vending machine. A drink could do me some good. I slip a few coins into the slot and cock my head. I didn't know any of these drinks. I pushed the button to a can that looked a bit like grape juice. The white designed can read "Ponta" and it clicked as it rolled down the dispense chute.

I grab it and pop the tab, savoring the fruity grape taste that slid over my tongue. I take a couple of deep breaths, only to open my eyes to a few angry fangirls in short skirts.

"Why are you here, you slut?"

"Don't you get enough of their attention during practice?"

I sigh and shake my head, "Girls, girls. I'm not interested in them. I promise."

"Liar!" one screeches back.

"If you must know," I reply with a docile smile, "the regulars asked me to be here."

Or at least Kirihara and Marui did. I'm not so sure about anyone else other than those two and Niou being comfortable with me watching the district preliminaries.

"You foreigner," another snarls and steps forward, "you're trying to trick all of them."

My eyebrows furrow and mouth turns sour at the mention of being a foreigner. What did being a foreigner have to do with anything? I sip at the Ponta, clutching the can, trying to wash away the sudden acrid taste.

"Oh really?" I spit back.

"Yes," a different girl hisses. "It's already bad that you prance around with no clothes and pretend to swim."

Swimming is a beautiful sport. How dare they? I don't prance around, I become part of the fluid motion of a wave, cutting through the water. And who cares if I'm a foreigner?

I gulp at the drink again, wiping my face of all reaction. "I see," I smile back at the girls. "If you have any other complaints, be sure to give them to me at swim practice before school starts or during club time at the tennis courts."

"Who do you think you are?" a cheerleader jeers. "With those ugly clothes, awful foreigner looks, and-"

I promptly turn the can upside-down over her head, letting the dark purple liquid spread through her hair. It's too bad I had to waste a drink on someone who didn't deserve it.

"Oops," I tilt my head. "My hand slipped."

"You! Y…You bitch!" the cheerleaders scream.

I wave my free hand that is not clutching the almost empty can while strolling back towards the match, "That's me! Submit any more complaints at the times and places listed before!"

I could hear the girls sputter and scream behind my back. My fingers start to make dents into the can, being the only physical symbols of my displeasure at the exchange. I sip the remnants of the drink and hum a tune that I used to play on my saxophone, trying to bring myself under control.

I'm not good with anger. Anger is such a human, raw emotion. Almost like feeling hopeless, or sad, or the combination of the three like I felt two months ago. I push away the emotions, not letting them linger in my head. They still existed, as powerful as they were then. They have just been pushed aside and tucked away, almost as if emotions were files in a file box.

I swipe at my bangs, trying to get them out of my face as I breathe in deeply. In and out. In and out. Just like a machine. My angered disposition won't leave and I feel my eyes slightly narrow. Until I calm down, my steely, enraged eyes wouldn't leave and everything I would say would come out caustic from my fake smile.

I lean against the fence to the tennis court, desperately trying to take in the game to wipe away my bothered state. Yagyuu powerfully hits the ball over the net.

"Five games to love!" the referee yells. "Switch courts!"

The Rikkaidai pair saunters over to the other side. Their foreheads remain clear of sweat and Yagyuu pushes his glasses up his nose.

The opponent serves, letting the ball fly. The Rikkaidai duo look at ease as they let a gentle rally take place, and then effortlessly capture another point with a well-aimed lob. The opponents pant and the one with blonde hair serves again. Yagyuu gets into an odd stance and pulls his racket back, almost as if he was going to whack at it.

To my surprise, he does whack at it, but hits it straight in the sweet spot. The ball whizzes by in the air, so fast that my eyes can barely see the blur of the neon-green ball. The sphere hits the baseline and bounces away while the opponents' jaws drop.

"Rikkaidai Thirty-love!"

Niou puts two fingers towards his face, and then lowers them suddenly. Oddly enough, that seemed like what Yagyuu would do. I look at Yagyuu and he has a smile similar to Niou's. Did those two switch spots?

"Yagyuu, don't you think it's time to take off the disguises?" Yagyuu smirks.

"Why yes, Niou-kun," Niou answers in Yagyuu's voice.

I smile at their antics and can't help but snicker at the incredulity of it all.

The real Yagyuu pulls off the silvery-haired wig, pulls on a pair of glasses, and the real Niou seems to turn back to himself out of thin air and pulls off the fake spectacles. The two switch the hands in which they hold their rackets. The crowd gasps and I shake my head at the Trickster's deception. Hm, so that is why he's called the Conman of the Courts.

Yagyuu was playing without contacts or glasses? That requires skill if his glasses aren't fake.

I could feel my negative energy drift away at the sight of the duo's tennis as the opponents gnash their teeth and serve again, utterly frustrated.

The two return the ball faster than before, with their rackets in their dominant hands.

"Match point!"

The real Yagyuu sends a golf swing the opponents' way to seal the game. The ball was faster than before and more accurate, hitting the baseline and leaving a dark mark behind.

"That's the real Laser Beam," he announces.

"Game and match to Rikkaidai, six games to love!"

The deafening cheers from the fangirls and the non-regulars nearly burst my eardrums.

I glance behind me again and see Klysen, crushing a can of Ponta in her hand with a gleam in her eyes, surrounded by the cheering fangirls. How is she not deaf? Her acute blue eyes stare at the court and an uneasy smile is on her face.

"Klysen-senpai!" Kirihara waves. "I'm up next!"

Her face breaks into a normal smile, but look in her eyes doesn't disappear. "Good luck!" she yells back, clutching the fence with her empty hand.

What happened to her?

I turn back toward the courts, but not before Niou sends a grin my way, showing that he noticed what I was looking at. I roll my eyes, hoping he would drop his theories. The Data Master could probably back me up, saying that Niou's theory was wrong.

Kirihara strides towards the court with his hand firmly wrapped around his racket. His emerald eyes are focused on the court and a zephyr lightly tousles his curly hair as he checks that his weighted wristbands are in place.

"Singles three: Kirihara versus Mori!"

Kirihara spins his racket and picks to serve, aiming on finishing the game quickly instead of taunting the opponent. He only really taunts the opponent when he finds them worthy enough to play against. It's his way of showing respect. He's also probably hungry.

My stomach growls in agreement. I press my hands over the source of the offending sound and Yanagi chuckles.

Kirihara tosses the ball up in the air and slams into it, letting it float past the opponent. The opponent whirls around, trying to see where the ball was. Kirihara probably didn't even need to play at full strength to finish the game within ten minutes.

The opponent throws his racket to the ground, "I forfeit!" he yells.

"Well that's different," I mumble to myself.

"I did not expect that," Yanagi adds.

Kirihara blinks, confused, "What? Why?"

The opponent stomps off the court and his teammates remain silent, looking sullen.

"Um, due to Fujisawa Middle School's forfeiture, the match goes to Kirihara of Rikkaidai! With winning three matches in a row, Rikkaidai advances to the finals of the district preliminary! The finals will resume after a two hour break," the referee announces with his brows furrowed.

Yukimura frowns, unsatisfied. The cheerleaders drown our confusion with their screeches and, "We love you Kirihara-sama!"

The team rises from the benches to shake our opponents' hands, only for them to frown at us and bow, refusing to acknowledge us further. Not only did that feel incredibly rude, but also dismissive. I hear the groan of the fence gate and the soft footsteps of a girl that was slowly becoming familiar.

"Kirihara, it looks like your face scared them away," Klysen teases.

The junior ace pouts at the girl teenager whose hands are tucked away in that jacket seems like an extension of her. A sudden gust of wind blows strands of her hair across her face and and she swipes at the auburn locks, trying to get them under control. Her piercing blue eyes emerge looking straight at me. I freeze, almost in a trance, and the sight of her holding back her golden-red hair and looking at me with those icy sky-blue eyes seems to instantly become engraved in my brain.

Maybe I should just shave my head; hair is too much trouble anyways. I secure my hair out of my face with my fingers combed through my tresses and glance up to see Marui looking at me. His intense gaze makes me feel transparent, as if he could read my every thought.

I force myself to tear my eyes away to congratulate Niou, Yagyuu, and the cheeky little junior of their victories, albeit the victories were easily won. Marui's ball which balanced on the net and Niou and Yagyuu's switch stunned me, but not as much as Kirihara's opponent forfeiting. What kind of opponent gives up before the game actually begins? The lack of honor for his own school seemed shameful.

"Congratulations," I smile at Niou and Yagyuu. "Your switch was quite unexpected, although Yagyuu gave it away when he put two fingers up as if he was about to push up his glasses."

"It is a hard habit to get rid of," Yagyuu nods in acknowledgement. "But thank you."

"Thanks," Niou quips, "Marui and Jackal did well too. Especially Marui."

I look at him and he smirks at me with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes.

"What are you planning?" I narrow my eyes at him but the edges of my lips turn up, slightly exasperated and amused at the same time.

"Nothing," he grins and walks off, whistling.

I shake my head at his receding backside.

I spot Kirihara sitting down on the bench with his head in his hands and I sit down delicately next to him, facing the opposite direction.

"Kirihara?" I speak softly.

"Oh hello Klysen-senpai," he pulls his head up and turns towards me.

"What's wrong?" I murmur.

"Oh nothing," he says, hiding his face. "I just wanted to play, that's all."

I look at him, and for the first time, I notice his guarded expression.

"You're hiding something, Kirihara," I whisper. "What's really wrong?"

He sighs, "I guess I just feel like that guy was too scared to play against me. I don't like that feeling."

I smile, thinking about how my brother used to feel the same way. His dangerous tactics nearly ended his tennis.

"Kirihara, I'll tell you something that I haven't told many people. My brother used to feel the same way. He was too good and utterly defeated almost everyone he played, almost to the point of injury. He was a dangerous player, even if he couldn't help it."

Kirihara emerald eyes shine back at me.

"He almost didn't want to play tennis anymore, because he was tired of hurting others. Ultimately, it took several months for him to retrain the way he played so he did not return to the way he was. It was a harsh and steep road, but it kept him playing."

I clap my hand on to his shoulder and stand up, still looking into those emerald eyes.

"Talk to me if you want help, Kirihara. I'll see if I can make a difference."

"Klysen-senpai?"

"Call me Jade," I answer encouragingly.

"Akaya," he breathes out, letting a small smile of gratitude spread across his face. "Call me Akaya, Jade-senpai."

"No honorifics. Just Jade."

I drop my hand from his shoulder and stroll away from the second-year ace sitting on the bench.

I tear the weighted bands off my hands and ankles, letting the skin underneath breathe.

"Nice win," the voice of a certain foreigner drifts towards my ears.

I look up from my bag and straighten my body. The very-confusing-person-that-I-wasn't-so-sure-that-I-wanted-to-see stood before me, head cocked to the right and beaming back at me.

"Thanks," I answer gruffly, not sure how to respond, the picture of her hair held back with her fingers and her piercing blue eyes trapped in my head. "Are you staying for the finals?"

"I think I will. And you have got to show me that trick of where you can get the ball to roll on top of the net," she grins.

I grin back, finally feeling that she was back on familiar territory, "I told you I was a genius."

She rolls her eyes at me and groans, "Not this again."

"Ne, Marui-senpai," Kirihara pokes at my arm. "Can we go get ramen?"

I tousle his hair and he pouts, like usual, "Sure, go ask the captain if we can all go together."

"Yukimura-buchou! Can we go eat ramen together?" he yells out, knowing that he would hear.

Yukimura smiles back at the younger tennis player. Though he may not act like it, the team knew that he was fond of Kirihara and often saw him as a cheeky little brother.

"Of course," he answers.

I look at Klysen and her eyebrows are furrowed and she was biting her lip, deep in thought. She watched Yukimura, as if something about the captain deeply disturbed her. Yukimura looked at her straight in the eye and lifted a single eyebrow, almost like a challenge.

"Jade!" Kirihara interrupts. "Come with us!"

Jade? Since when did he call her by her first name? Why is he calling her by her first name?

She simply turns, tearing her eyes from Yukimura, and smiles at him, "If you want me to."

Was she just trying to be coy with Kirihara and Yukimura, or was there something else going on?

The team walks and I tag behind, strolling casually behind Sanada's stiff gait and beside Marui amble, him complaining about the hole in his stomach. My tummy seemed to agree, but I didn't voice it's opinion out loud, as my usual behavior from the US didn't seem acceptable here. I flipped my phone open, smiling at the picture of me posed next to Keigo, him pouting in a dress and me laughing at him in a tuxedo.

Marui looked over my shoulder at my phone and snorted at the picture of Keigo in a dress. I grinned back at him and looked at his amethyst eyes. His eyes still made me uncomfortable, but I couldn't figure out why. He turned away first, seeming to have the same issue as me.

It had been a full week in Japan, and yet I felt as if it had been an eternity and a fleeting moment at the same time. I missed Portland more than ever, I missed my friends and the swim team in the US, and most of all I missed my brother and my grandmother. I slid my phone back into my back jean pocket and I tuck my hands into the jacket, ignoring the strands of hair whipping across my face.

I hate to admit it, but I feel lonely. There was no one at home at my flat and in school I felt like I was only accepted by the tennis team because I practiced with them. In honesty, they would probably rather stay away from me but Akaya and Marui and Niou liked being around me. I couldn't impose on Keigo all the time and Azuri was nice, but I felt bad being around her all the time because she had her other friends.

My friends from Portland still tried to talk to me over e-mail and Facebook, but it wasn't the same. There were no more late night group phonecalls, no more runs to Chik-fil-a after practice, and no more complaining about how we all smelled like chlorine. We used to all be awful dancers, and so we were obviously only comfortable making a fool of ourselves in front of each other, and so we had dance challenges in where we tried learning a certain dance routine off of Youtube and videoed ourselves at the end of the week trying to do it and judged each other. We were dreadful but that just made it more fun. I was consistently one of the worst. I missed dance challenges already, even though I could probably still do them. We didn't do one this week though.

I even missed my old room that was plastered from wall to wall in swim posters and medals and ribbons. I just hope that I could do equally as well at my next swim meet next week. Coach Suzuki had refused to let me swim anything fast; instead he insisted that I work on my drills and technique. As good of an approach that was, it was frustrating because I didn't get to see if what he was doing was working. My dives felt all wrong, my turns felt ridiculously slow, and half the time I felt like I was going nowhere while swimming. How was I supposed to swim fast at districts if I couldn't even feel fast in the water?

Jackal slid the door open to the noodle shop. I looked up and saw the label of Jackal's family restaurant. Akaya and Marui were babbling away about how hungry they were and Yukimura smiled placidly while Sanada and Yanagi were as stoic as ever. Those two genuinely puzzled me. Yagyuu was silent before pulling out a chair for me.

"Thank you," I murmured to the calculating, crafty, and in many ways, surprising human.

He nodded like usual as I sat on the edge of my seat. Niou pulled out his chair, and at the last second I pushed it away from his body as he was sitting down. He stumbled backwards and crumbled to a heap on the ground. I covered my mouth so to not give away the smile that was spreading across my face.

"Be careful Niou," Sanada threatened.

Marui, Akaya, and Jackal laughed, knowing that it was my fault and I could swear that I saw a ghost of a smile flit across Yagyuu's face. Niou simply growled, also knowing that it was my fault.

"I'll get you back for that," he grumbles under his breath as he steadily lowers himself into his chair.

"I'll be waiting," I taunt back.

I order ramen with green onions and egg, trying to calm my rumbling stomach. It growls and Niou chuckles at the sound.

"Do you have a driver's license?" he questions, sipping at his water.

"No," I said leaning back in my chair, "but I can still drive."

"Well, you're driving me crazy," he wiggles his eyebrows at me and it takes everything that I have to not yell at him for his lame pick-up lines in the middle of a Jackal's family restaurant.

"I must behave, I must behave, I must behave," I whisper in English to myself, clutching my fists and my eyes screwed shut.

"You know what my shirt is made out of? Boyfriend material."

I bite my hand to keep the giggles from escaping my mouth.

"My love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in."

A muffled sound comes out of my mouth and I cover my lips, trying to stop laughing, even though his pick-up lines were pretty lame.

"Don't be crude, Niou," Sanada snaps at him.

"Anyways," Yukimura cuts in smoothly. "We're trying a new line up for the afternoon matches. We want to try new pairings."

Yukimura seemed to be talking slower than usual.

"Yanagi and Jackal in Doubles 2, Yagyuu and me in Doubles 1, Akaya in Singles 3. Niou in Singles 2 if anything goes wrong," Sanada declares.

I couldn't help but feel if the pairings were so messed, that they wouldn't work. Just because they were strong individually didn't mean that they could work as a pair. Or, because they were so strong, they could probably beat their opponents with just one person in doubles.

"Why the new pairings?" Akaya asks, brows furrowed.

Yukimura shrugs, "I just wanted to see how well everyone could adapt."

"Who's playing in Singles 1?" I question.

Yukimura snorts, "We're not even getting to Singles 1, even if the pairings are awful."

I nod.

"So I'm not playing," Marui swirls his straw around in his water.

"Nope," Yanagi replies.

He sighs and sips at the liquid in the cup.

"Well in that case," Niou drops his sports bag on to the table which lacked food. "Can Marui and Klysen put their hands into the bag?"

"I'm not an idiot, Niou. You're probably going to pull something on me," I frown at him.

"Just do it," Sanada rubs at his temples, fully fed up with us.

"Fine," I snarl back, "but if he does anything, you're making him run laps."

The others look at me in wonder, trying to figure out if I really just commanded 'The Emporer.' I unzip the bag partially and jam my left hand in. Marui, sitting across from me, slides his right hand in.

"Now…." Niou trails off, puts both of his hands into the bag, and shuffles around. Suddenly, something is enclosed around my wrist and snapped closed. I lift my hand out and my wrist is encircled by a metal handcuff.

"No, you've got to be kidding me," Marui groans, lifting his hand out of the bag and seeing that he was connected to me. Niou lifts his bag off the table, smirking.

"Unlock us!" Marui and I hiss at the same time.

"The key is at home," Niou shrugs.

At the same moment, the ramen is delivered to our table as the rest of the regulars are laughing at our predicament, including Yukimura. Even Sanada looks like less of a statue than normal.

I break the chopsticks with one hand and say the common Japanese greeting, seething.

"Stop moving," Marui growls at me. "I won't be able to eat."

"Don't get mad at me," I snap back. "Blame Niou."

"You challenged him," he jeers back, frustrated.

"Stop acting like husband and wife," Niou remarks, slurping a noodle into his mouth.

"Shut up," Marui and I scowl at him.

I shove noodles into my mouth, knowing that if my grandmother could see me, she would call me fat and tell me I was not acting in the proper manner that all young women should. It didn't matter, everyone was concentrating on their own food. I laughed at Marui's attempt to eat with his non-dominant hand. Just because these people could play with their opposite hand didn't mean that they could eat with them.

"Stop laughing," Marui barks, dropping his chopsticks into his bowl. I don't even try to muffle my laughter.

"Oh no, the poor kid can't eat and will starve," I pretend-pout.

"Feed me," he snarls to Akaya, his hunger not helping his mood.

Akaya shakes his head, "I'll end up poking you in the eye."

"Niou! Feed me," he yowls.

"I can't hear you," Niou swallows at his noodles.

Everyone gives him excuses. Even Jackal says no, and I'm pretty sure that was the first time the Brazilian ever said that. The red-head doesn't even bother to ask Sanada, Yanagi, Yukimura, and Yagyuu, knowing that he would either get a glare from the first one and the rest would pretend that they didn't hear what he said.

He turns towards me. I frantically shake my head, chewing a piece of green onion.

"This is your fault."

"That doesn't mean I'm feeding you," I retort.

"Well then I'll starve and die, and then we can't go to the concert next week," he proclaims dramatically, slamming his empty left fist against the table.

Niou clears his throat, "What's this about your date next week?"

The rest of the regulars lean in, intrigued.

"It's not a date!" I whisper-yell.

"Both of our favorite bands are playing and she had extra tickets," Marui moans, realizing his mistake.

"If I feed you, will you be quiet?" I said, throwing up an arm in the air, frustrated.

I grab an extra pair of chopsticks and shove noodles down his throat before he could even say "yes." Instead, he makes a stifled sound while I make sure he had enough food in his mouth so he wouldn't talk.

"So about this date…." Niou trails off and I interrupt.

"NOT a date."

"Details, details," he says, waving his hand dismissively.

"Don't shove food in my mouth," Marui complains, done with the mouthful of noodles that I thrusted into his mouth.

"I'm sorry," I snarl. "I'm trying to fix a problem you started, so just chew while I fix." However, I'm gentler with the chopsticks, letting them neatly deliver food to his mouth.

He attempts to mumble a thank you with food in his mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," I remind him automatically as a result of the strict table manners I was brought up with. "And Niou, stop trying to take my food. I'm already mad at you and I will not hesitate to hurt you if you take my ramen."

"Yeah, the girl I had over last night said that she couldn't talk with her mouth full either. It was probably better that way," Niou grinned cheekily.

My face blanched at his insinuation, "Don't tell me you..."

"Don't speak that way at the table," Yagyuu cuts in. "And no he didn't, Klysen-san."

Niou smirks, "So tell me more about this date. Who asked who? When is it happening? Yanagi, you owe me five-hundred yen. I told you the two would get together within the first month of school."

I whimper, wanting to smash my head against the table.

I hope everyone enjoyed the longer chapter! There was a lot of build up for the next chapter.

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Thank you to everyone that has reviewed so far!