Disclaimer: Don't own.

To make up for my hiatus I present to you a LONG, 31-paged chapter.

This chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers that wrote something along the lines like: "HEY. ARE YOU DEAD?"

To Catch A Falling Star, Chapter Seventeen: Lifestyles of the Rich

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The inside of the mansion was no disappointment. Their steps echoed against the marble floor, their shadows being cast there by huge, crystal chandeliers. The ceiling was painted in beautiful artwork that would've impressed Da Vinci, if it wasn't actually his artwork already. In this room, it was just so vast that Momoshiro really wanted to shout outwards and see how loud the echo would be—but that would be way too childish. Everywhere they turned, all they saw was rich elegance. Rich was right.

"Suzume, darling!" A woman appeared at the top of the staircase, dressed in an extravagant evening gown. Somehow her attire seemed perfectly normal in the rich environment. She descended downwards gracefully, one hand gliding along the banister of polished wood. "I've missed you!"

"Mama…" Suzume hugged her tightly, sudden tears forming in her eyes. She blinked them back.

"And Chiharu, honey! Don't you look beautiful!" She proceeded to hug her, kissing her on both cheeks. Her expression became more serious. "It's that time of the year again, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "Do you still need some help?"

"That would be really generous of you…" Chiharu said.

"What's going on?" Oishi asked worriedly. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

"No…" Chiharu said.

Suzume's mother spoke, "Chiharu's mother died during the winter. Her father goes into a sort of depression every year at this time, and locks himself in his room. I offered her a job last year in order to help support her family…"

"Mom, don't…" Suzume said as Chiharu ducked away. She gave her mother a look, which her mother returned defiantly, as if to say 'It's not a big deal…'

There was a pause of awkward silence as all of them murmured some uneasy apologies, not sure how to react to such news. "So you have to work for a couple of months every year… to support yourself?" Fuji asked, confirming. His eyes were open.

Chiharu moved her head in a way that was a cross between a shake and a nod. "It's not as if we would starve if I didn't… it just helps a bit. You know, so I don't have to spend the money in the bank that's supposed to be for college. It's okay! Really… I'm used to it now."

Kimiko frowned. "Do you work… here?"

"No, um, usually in the city. But I did work here last year. And it'll be nice if I could earn a bit of money during my vacation… just a few working hours everyday…" Her voice got quieter and quieter.

"Okay!" Kikumaru said. "So, what do you do?"

"I… erm…"

"Hey, let's go upstairs…" Suzume said, changing the subject. Chiharu looked uncomfortable. "I hate this room. It's so stuffy."

Her mother shook her head. "Suzume, you must learn how to appreciate…"

"—Mom, I'm taking everyone upstairs, okay?" She had already turned away and was making her way up the steps.

"Fine. Do what you want. I have a gala to attend with some investors, so you won't be seeing much of me today."

"I'm used to it…" Suzume smiled. There wasn't any bitterness in her voice—she'd long accepted the fact that her mother wasn't going to be around much. Thankfully, her brothers filled in that role for her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I like this room much better…" Suzume said as she put her bag down on the floor and dropped onto the floor, lying down. This room definitely had a much more 'homey' feel to it. It was carpeted in a soft layer, and had a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace. Not so many elaborate decorations were in place—it had more of a simple look. There were several comfy looking sofas and what appeared to be rather elegantly designed bean bags.

"Everyone shares a room…" Suzume said, pointing to the various doors that were connected to this one. They all had little name tags on them. "If you leave your stuff on the floor, the maids will bring it to your room for you."

Oishi hesitatingly put his bag on the ground. Immediately, two women dressed identically scurried over, and grabbed his bag, taking it to his room. He jumped a little, startled at the sudden movement. Suzume laughed. "Took me a while to get used to that too…" She kicked her legs out, relaxing.

"Hey, what are we doing for Christmas?" Akane asked, taking her seat on the floor as well.

All of them looked at each other. "I don't know…?"

"We should buy each other presents!" Kimiko suggested happily. "That way we'd each receive 17 gifts!"

"That means we have to buy 17 gifts though…" Momoshiro pointed out. But the thought of receiving so many presents was appealing.

"Maybe we should do that…" Akane said. "And Christmas carols and everything."

"Have a Christmas dinner…"

"Mistletoe…" Fuji suggested lightly, and everyone shivered. "I'm joking…" he reassured them, but he was secretly plotting. In fact, all of them were plotting on how to catch two unsuspecting freshmen under those cute white berries.

The sudden piano music caused them all to turn their heads. Reina had wandered over to the piano and was pressing her fingers into the keys in a soft, simple melody. Before anyone of them could ask her what she was doing, she opened her mouth and sang a long, high note.

All of them were struck silent. The note was high—higher than a soprano note… but softer too, at the same time.

"Dolphin's voice…" Akane said quietly. "It's the whistle register…"

The note swayed and curved before she brought it down back to a normal octave. Unaware of all of them watching her, she continued playing the melody and singing to herself. (Saikou no kataomoi by Tainaka Sachi)

Itsumo sugoku jiyuu na anata wa ima
Kono ame no naka donna yume wo oikaketeiru no
Dokoka de kodoku to tatakai nagara
Namida mo gaman shiterun darou

Her hands left the keys abruptly, causing silence to rush in, smothering the last echoes of the keys. She turned around to where all the others were staring at her.

"That…" Momoshiro swallowed. "Wow. Why the hell aren't you on choir? You could totally get the lead!"

"Actually… no," Inui said. "Although Reina-san sings well, there is little hope of her surpassing the current lead, Natsuko." He shrugged when the others stared at him. "She's good, but Natsuko has a richer voice."

"True…" Sayaka agreed. Reina did have more of a breathy voice, rather than a wholesome one. Several other girls on the honor choir had better voices. "But still, she sings really well!"

"She's not really interested," Akane said, and Reina replied with a shrug. "She likes singing as much as the next person."

"Reina-senpai is the kind of girl that was born to go into the arts!" Kimiko said suddenly. "She draws and she sings!"

"You're just not… interested." Momoshiro repeated.

"No…" she said. "It does not evince my interest."

Momoshiro gave her a strange look. "Man, you're a weird person, you know. I feel as if I'm seeing two sides of you. You take data… but you draw… you throw in a complicated word for every sentence—scratch that, five of them—but you sing… And you can speak normally. Like Marui said, you're someone who's supposed to be in the arts. And you clearly have had practice with all the drawing and singing… so what's with the data and tennis side of you?" He scratched his head. "It's really… weird."

"You think that's weird?" Suzume shook her head. "You haven't heard anything yet," She paused, for dramatic effect, and then said it. "Reina-senpai used to be a Tezuka-fangirl."

There was a long moment of peace. Then…

"WHAAAAAAT?"

Reina covered her ears calmly, anticipating the yell.

Momoshiro and Kikumaru both sat up, pointing quivering fingers at her. "HOWWW?"

"It was just a mild infatuation," Reina said, waving it away. She looked at Tezuka. "Sorry if it ever made you uncomfortable." Tezuka gave an almost indiscernible nod. He probably didn't even notice her at the time, what with all the fans that he got.

"Mild?" Suzume rolled her eyes. "You call jumping up and down and waving a banner mild?"

The other regulars could not picture Reina in such a manner.

"And what would you consider your current infatuation then?" Suzume went on. "If it caused you to change so much, then—"

"Suzume-chan…" Chiharu suddenly cut in. "That's enough." Her tone was sharper than usual, and Suzume realized that she'd gone a bit too far. She tried to give Reina a (sort of) apologetic glance, but was shocked at the pure anguish displayed on her senpai's face. It appeared that she had struck a very sensitive nerve.

"Wait, what?" Momoshiro asked, oblivious. "So why are you like this now? Y—" Sayaka kicked him in order to shut him up. Awkward silence once again descended among them.

It was then that Chiharu first heard it. It was a faint sound, but it caused her breathing to quicken and mysterious tears to fill her eyes. She heard it, she saw it, she felt it on her skin. It frightened her. It was what she imagined a flower's screaming to sound like when one twisted it and plucked it from the ground.

More than one of them had that look of anguish in their eyes.

Silently screaming.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What's the matter with you?"

Chiharu turned from the dresser to see Akane glaring at her. Well, not really glaring. "What?"

"You. You and Tezuka. Something's not right between you two. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Chiharu said. And it was true. Nothing was going on between the two of them. But somehow that's what made it wrong.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So what's going on with you and Oshiro?" Fuji asked lightly as they were unpacking.

Tezuka froze for a moment. Then he went back to putting his things away. "What about her?"

"Nothing. Just that you two don't seem as close as you did before… Well, there was that little bit on the train that was nice of you, but—" Fuji shrugged. "Something that I should know about?"

"No."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey, Morioka-senpai!" Suzume rapped her knuckles against the door, even though it was already open. Izumi and Reina were unpacking. "We have a dance studio down at the resort, next to the martial arts room. It has mirrors all around and surround sound speakers and all that. You should check it out."

Izumi's looked up. "I'd like that."

"Everyone's going over to the hotel, so meet us at the front gate in half an hour." She turned around and left.

Izumi looked around her. It didn't look like they'd be done in half an hour. Their room looked like a tornado hit it. Clothes and random things were strewn everywhere. It turned out that Reina was not a very neat packer. A bit surprising, really.

Reina was staring at the mess as if it would clean itself up.

"Reina-san…?" Izumi murmured quietly. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" She blinked herself back to earth. "I am well, thank you. I just…" She paused. "Izumi-san, do you find me... very different from when I was a freshman?"

"...yes…" Izumi replied truthfully. If she didn't know better, she'd say that the 1st year Reina and the 3rd year Reina were two completely different people. The personality switch was alarming. She worried for her, sometimes even more than she worried about herself.

Reina stared at the pile of clothes some more. "Maybe it's worth it." she murmured to herself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This has got to stop," Akane said quietly to Fuji, jerking her head towards two particular people. Even though they were standing within arms length of one another, they seemed to be giving each other the silent treatment. Chiharu seemed to have her head purposefully turned away from him, although the light blush across her face betrayed her. "Seriously. They're trying so hard to stop thinking about each other that it's getting painful to watch."

"Are you whispering about how to hook Chiharu-senpai and Tezuka-buchou up?" Suzume asked, not loudly but not quietly either.

"Suzume, you haven't heard of subtlety before, have you?"

"I'm just saying, while you're working that out, figure out how to hook those two up as well." Suzume pointed at Sakuno and Ryoma in turn.

If Ryoma heard her, he didn't show it. Sakuno turned red and looked away.

"They're doing fine on their own!" Kimiko chirped in. "Unlike those other two."

"It can't keep going on. It's stupid," Akane crossed her arms. "Any bright ideas, genius?"

"Actually…" Fuji murmured thoughtfully. "I think I have a few."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Why do I have to do all of this?" Aiko managed to say in between gasps of air. She had been bench-pressing for a while now. Her arms were aching.

"I beg your pardon?" Inui said, turning from where he was using the computer. Although no one could see how he was training, under the desk he was lifting his two legs in turn, heavy weights strapped to his ankles.

Aiko dropped the weights for a second and repeated in Japanese: "This. All this muscle training. It's so…" She wanted to say 'tiring', but her pride wouldn't let her. "Boring."

"You wanted to learn the Hadokyuu, right?" Inui confirmed. "Then you have to keep training. Right now, the muscle training you're doing is only half of what Kawamura was doing during his time of mastering it."

Aiko went back to lifting the weights without complaint.

"Komboi-san," Inui said, as he typed up his notes. "Would you consider yourself more of a sprinter or a marathon runner on the track?"

"Sprinter," she replied immediately. "Why?"

He paused in his typing, thinking, before turning around in his chair. "You do have a great deal of stamina, though."

"…what?" 'I… have a something…' Aiko couldn't quite catch that sentence. He said it too fast.

"Endurance. Stamina," Inui said in English. "You have a lot of stamina though."

"I guess…" she said, sitting up. She shrugged. "It comes with being black." 'Everyone expects you to be good at sports, so you try not to disappoint them…'

He tapped his finger against the notebook, speaking slowly in Japanese now. "You don't allocate it well though. You use your energy all up in your sprints." He looked at his notes. "Basically, you have endurance, but you aren't persistent."

"I hate games that drag on…" Aiko said.

"But you used that technique against Oshiro," Inui frowned with concentration. "You dragged the game on as long as possible and then reverted to your sprinting form."

Aiko just shrugged again.

"Marui-san, on the other hand, is persistent but doesn't quite have the strength for it," He looked at his notebook again. "Your doubles pair could have all those weaknesses and be doomed for destruction …"

"I knew it."

"Or complement each other and become a solid wall…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sayaka was walking around randomly in the new hotel. Everyone else had found something to do and somewhere to go. There was a gymnasium that was definitely big enough for her to practice some of her stunts in, but she couldn't bring herself to concentrate right now. And it was too dangerous to practice those kinds of stunts without focus—you could break your neck in a second.

She couldn't shake away her thoughts about that practice match with Reina. The latter had smoothly found all her openings, easily reading all her moves and countering them like she was born to do so. 'It's because I perform the same routine on the courts… my moves are repetitive…' Sayaka wrinkled her brow in thought.

There was loud, upbeat music being blasted from one of the rooms, muffled by the glass walls. Sayaka moved towards it. 'Surely that can't be Izumi-senpai… isn't she a classical dancer? That music is too fast…' Although the hotel hadn't officially been opened yet, there were some customers that bought their way in, according to Suzume, in order to enjoy the facilities before everyone else. It might've been one of them. Anyhow, she curiously opened the door and poked her head in.

It was Izumi, and it was classical.

It surprised her, that classical dance could be applied to a rhythm so fast. Watching silently, she couldn't help but notice how Izumi's movements were never the same. She pirouetted, she brush-kicked, she leapt… Not one move was repeated in the same sequence as it was before. It was impulsive and filled with feeling.

Izumi noticed her watching and turned off the music. "Momoshiro-san…?"

"Sayaka," she countered. "I thought we established that already."

"Sayaka-san… Do you need anything?" she asked politely.

"Yeah, actually I do." Sayaka sat down, her legs crossed. After hesitating a moment, Izumi did so too, although she seated herself on her folded legs in a very traditional manner. Seeing their positions like this, Sayaka felt like a disrespectful pupil sitting in front of her sensei. "Uh… what I wanted to ask was… how do you make your movements so random? I mean, they're so… unorganized—but in a good way, if you know what I mean?"

Izumi tilted her head in a questioning manner.

"No, like… er… it makes it really hard for your opponents to read your movements and whatever. It's not choreographed…" Sayaka tried to explain. 'Damn, I really suck at this… I might not even be as clear as Reina-senpai at this point.'

Izumi nodded thoughtfully. "Well… I always play a tune in my head, and then I just drown myself in it, I suppose. It's what I feel that controls the way I move."

Sayaka frowned in concentration.

"Gymnastics is different…" Izumi offered gently. "Everything is pre-choreographed, right?"

"Well, yeah…" 'Stupid safety regulations. You just can't go from a triple salto to a somersault without landing…'

"But don't forget, you do know a bit of dance. Rhythmic gymnastics is partly that after all… Maybe you could talk to Eiji," Izumi suggested. "He plays acrobatic tennis."

"Yeah. I guess I'll do that."

"I'm really sorry that I couldn't be of more help…" Izumi said, her face crestfallen. She felt kind of useless.

"No, no!" Sayaka replied. "Thanks for just listening! Hey…" Her eye caught on the speakers from which Izumi had been playing the piece. "That was a fast rhythm. You're upping the tempo of your tennis style?"

"Reina-san recommended it," Izumi said.

"She catches onto a lot of holes, doesn't she?" Sayaka grinned. "I'm glad we have her around."

Suddenly both their heads swiveled to the doorway. There was no one there. "That's strange…" Izumi murmured. "I was sure…"

Sayaka felt it too. Someone had been standing there. She didn't know why she was so sure of that fact, but as she stared at the empty space she could almost see the image of someone leaning against the door. "I… guess I'll go find Eiji-senpai now…"

Izumi nodded. "Good luck."

As Sayaka closed the door, Izumi stood up and turned on the music. Even as she danced, she couldn't shake that uneasy feeling off of her.

Someone was watching her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ryuzaki…?" Ryoma, as always, was on the tennis court hitting a ball towards the wall. He turned around to the brown-haired girl.

"Will…will you play a little with me?" she asked timidly. "I… I don't want to disturb your training…"

His facial expression didn't change as he said, "Sure. I don't mind."

Her face lit up as she eagerly got in position for a rally. Was it just her… or was he answering yes without hesitating anymore? It made her happy. She then told herself to concentrate as Ryoma served the ball.

It wasn't the twist; he was probably going a bit easy on her. She watched the ball carefully and aimed it back. They rallied for a few minutes, the pok pok noise easily being heard from outside the courts. Finally, she leapt up and smashed it, ending the rally.

He smirked. "Not bad, Ryuzaki…"

She panted slightly from the exercise. "Ryoma-kun could've gotten that one…" She frowned. "Ryoma-kun was going easy on me."

He didn't say anything as he pulled out a can of Ponta and sat down, right at the net. She followed suit. Suddenly, a hard object hit her head. "Ite…" It was another can of Ponta. She smiled, a light blush coming to her cheeks. Somehow the Ponta he gave her always tasted better than the ones she bought for herself.

"Ano… Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno asked after a while.

He turned his head towards her.

"Um… maybe… maybe we don't have to just play tennis when we're together?" she asked, mustering up courage. "We could… do other stuff?"

"What other stuff is there to do besides tennis?"

"Ah…" She stared at the Ponta between her hands. "I-I guess you're right…"

Meanwhile in the bushes…

"Oh my god, is Echizen really THAT DENSE?" Momoshiro exclaimed.

"Momo! Be quiet!" Kikumaru said, shushing the second year.

"But I feel sorry for Ryuzaki! She at least GETS IT! He doesn't understand anything!"

"I know! Ochibi…" Kikumaru made a face. "He's so clueless!"

"We need to help him somehow…" Momoshiro grumbled. "It won't be easy with him being THIS dense."

"At least we have it easy…" Kikumaru said. When Momoshiro looked at him curiously, he grinned. "We don't have it as bad as Fujiko and Akane-chan. They have to deal with Tezuka and Oshiro-chan."

"Oh yeah…"

"You two are pathetic," Akane's voice suddenly came, making both of them jump. "A whole hotel full of all the facilities you could ever want, and all you two do is spy on the freshmen?"

"Um… yes?"

She stared at them silently, before saying, "Move over then, will you? You're taking up all the room."

"HA!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Have you seen Momoshiro-chan?" Reina asked Kimiko. The latter was sitting at a computer, happily downloading music and burning it all into a new CD. Reina swiped the headset off of her pink hair and repeated her question.

"No! Gimme that back!" Kimiko practically bounced upwards as she grabbed the giant headset and shoved it back over her ears. "I'm in the middle of something! Don't disturb me!"

"Okay…" 'Damn… Christmas is in three days…'

"Wait!" Kimiko suddenly paused the track with a few taps on the keyboard. "I don't know where Sayaka-chan is now, but I can find out!" She quickly typed something that looked vaguely like a script or command term, and suddenly several video screens came up. They were all videos from around the hotel. Kimiko had opened the security camera database.

"Eto…" She blinked her big eyes. At least fifty video rectangles had filled the computer screen. "Man, this is a huge building!" She typed a few more keys and pulled up just ten. And then she double clicked one of them.

Reina opened her eyes in awe. She saw Sayaka sitting there talking with Izumi. The camera was positioned on the ceiling, so she saw the whole thing from above. "Wait… but how did you…"

Kimiko clicked something with her mouse. "Room 2109-A!" she announced cheerfully. "Good luck!"

"Ah… wha…"

But Kimiko had already placed the headphones over her ears. Reina closed her mouth, noting that she didn't want to be bothered, and left.

After a long while, Kimiko frowned and pulled up the video camera screens again. Something seemed strange a moment ago, but she couldn't place her finger on what it was. It seemed to catch her sight briefly, like a butterfly you see in the corner of your eye, but when you turn to see it, it isn't there.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tezuka took off his glasses and rubbed the towel over his hair. Half the audience (women, mostly) had their eyes attached to him. He'd been playing with Kaidoh, and although the latter did manage to steal a few points from him with his famous snake shot, Tezuka still managed to seal it with his Zone.

"Good game, buchou." Kaidoh shook his hand very seriously. "Looks like I still need to work on some things."

Kaidoh was a hardworking person, Tezuka noted. He would make a fine captain someday. It was a bit early to think of picking the next captain, but then again, Tezuka was a senior. He shouldn't just be thinking of his own future, but the team's as well.

His arm twitched slightly, pains creeping up the side. He forced himself not to flinch and slowly put his right hand over it, as not to alert his team members.

"Your arm, Tezuka…"

He groaned inwardly. Of course Fuji would notice. "It's nothing."

Fuji, thank god, didn't question him about it. "By the way, Tezuka…" He smiled. "I've made an appointment for a massage downstairs at the spa, but after seeing you play I want to hit a few balls myself. Do you mind keeping my appointment for me?" He handed him a slip of paper. "I've already paid."

"I don't go to such things." Tezuka replied, handing the paper back.

Fuji didn't take it and pulled out his racket. "It might do you a bit of good. You look like you need to relax a bit anyways." He turned to the second year. "Kaidoh, are you too tired to play another round?"

His reply was to step right back onto the court.

Tezuka nodded with approval. Kaidoh was indeed a fine athlete. As he sat down on the bench, he felt a dull ache in his arms and legs and finally realized how tired he was. The second year was strong to have been able to drain this much of his stamina. Come to think of it, the game did last a long time. He glanced down at the paper Fuji had handed him. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to go down to the spa.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Echizen Ryoma had no idea how he got himself into this position.

Okay, that was a lie. He sort of knew. Vaguely. But that wasn't the point. The point was that it wasn't his fault.

He had been peacefully drinking Ponta with Ryuzaki when suddenly something yanked him into the bushes that were nearby. Yes, there were hedge-like bushes around the tennis court. It didn't make sense.

"ECHIZEN!" Momoshiro whispered loudly in his ear. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Momo-senpai… whaa…" He couldn't even form a sentence. "Eiji-senpai… Ito-senpai…"

" "WHAT'S THERE TO DO BESIDES TENNIS?" " Momoshiro mimicked him and threw his hands up in exasperation. "Are you completely insane?"

"No… but I think you are…"

"Echizen, you really aren't that good with girls, are you." Akane said it as a statement.

"Good with girls…? What are you talking about…"

"Oh, in case you haven't noticed, yes, Ryuzaki is a girl."

"Ochibi!" Kikumaru whined. "Ochibi is so dense!"

"There's plenty of other stuff to do." Akane put in. "Movies, walks—"

"GO. APOLOGIZE. NOW." Momoshiro roared and literally tossed him right out the bushes.

As it turned out, Momoshiro had fairly good aim. Ryoma suddenly found himself falling on top of Sakuno and practically crushing her under his (sort of) weight.

"Ite…"

Ryoma opened his eyes and found himself staring into the largest eyes he'd ever seen.

Sakuno felt the hotness flood her cheeks. She was sure that her face must be giving off steam in the chilly air. 'Like a hot tomato,' she thought. 'Like a hot, baked tomato right from the oven… oh wait, that's a potato…'

Why had he never noticed how large and brown her eyes were? Ryoma thought back and realized that he'd never really looked into them.

"R-r-r-ryoma-kun…"

Chocolate orbs framed with a dark fringe. Her eyes made her look so feminine… and innocent…

"R-ryoma-kun…"

Really, there was nothing unattractive about her. She was actually quite pretty and cute, especially when she looked like that.

"RYOMA-KUN, GET OFF!"

She pushed him off with all her might, flinging him into the air. 'Maybe helping her train her leg muscles was a mistake…' He landed on the court, the air crushed from his lungs with a whump noise.

"Geez, Echizen… when I said there are other things to do besides tennis, I didn't mean that…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tezuka regretted his decision, and now it was too late.

It was all that stupid receptionist's fault. He tried to tell her that it was a mistake and turned to leave. But two people in aprons had grabbed him and forcibly pushed him into a white room with a small bed—or table, it looked more and more like an operation table to him now—with no consent from his part. His shirt was then practically ripped from him. (Scream fangirls, scream.) However, right before he was about to give the little workers in aprons some serious reprimanding, they scurried outside and locked, locked the door.

Who locked the door to a spa room?

This was like a scene from a horror movie. Any second now, the aliens would enter and harvest his testicles or something.

The door opened. "Hi… I'll um, be your therapist for today…"

Turns out, he should've prayed for the aliens.

He found himself staring into a pair of familiar amber eyes.

"Oh…"

"no."

She ran out the door. Tezuka rubbed his temples. This was not just a coincidence. It couldn't be. No, somebody planned this, and that somebody was going to pay...

He would make Fuji run twelve laps around Japan when he got back.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Reina-san?" Oishi said from across the hallway. He noticed her standing alongside the wall, music pulsing from behind the wall. "Kimura-san just called for dinner… are you coming?"

She nodded, looking a bit preoccupied. "I'll be right there…"

"Okay." He turned to leave.

"Oishi-san?" she suddenly called. "Would you please inform Izumi-san of the… dinner plans?" She inclined her head to the door she was standing by.

He gave her a strange look. "Ano… you can't tell her yourself?" He was aware that his words came off as a little rude, but he was perplexed. Reina was standing right next to the door. He didn't understand that she couldn't just walk in and tell Izumi herself. Noting that she wasn't moving, he walked down the hall towards her.

"So…" Oishi looked at her in a puzzled manner.

"I don't like mirrors." Reina replied simply. (For her to say something simply was quite an accomplishment, if you take into consideration her normally superfluous language.)

Oishi gave her another confused look. "But… to call Morioka-san out…"

"I don't like mirrors." she merely repeated.

He didn't question her further and opening the door. The blast of music hit him like a wall. Izumi turned it off upon seeing him open the door. When he walked in, he finally understood.

The whole room was a giant mirror. The walls were mirrors. The ceiling was a mirror. Everywhere he turned he could see himself again, watching his own eyes blinking, silently staring back. Reina... he understood why now. He'd known her for three years. He had observed the massive change she went through since the bubbly and outspoken 1st year first walked up the steps to Seigaku.

Of course she would be afraid of mirrors.

An eerie feeling crept over him.

To stare in a mirror and not see yourself staring back…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I-I can't do this," Chiharu was saying to her manager outside the door. "This… this is my classmate. It… it would be weird."

"A good masseuse does not make her clients feel awkward."

"But… but…" Her cheeks filled with color. "I can't. I just can't."

"You will go back in there," the manager's tone became sharp. "You will go back in there and give your customer the treatment he paid for. That's the way things are done. You don't get to choose your clients."

"But… but…"

"If you don't like it, you can quit."

"I…" It was on the tip of her tongue to quit. But she thought of her father. Those weeks that he locked himself in his room and just stared at the picture of her mother… She swallowed. "Okay."

She walked back into the room, closing the door behind her. Her eyes were lowered to the ground—there was no way she could look at him. "Ano… well…"

Tezuka was buttoning up his shirt. He stood up briskly. "I am cancelling my appointment." He brushed past her on his way to the door.

"W-wait!" The words jumped out of her mouth. "Don't…" 'If he cancelled… Manager-san will think it's my fault… I could lose my job.' Then her brain registered how selfish her thoughts were. It wasn't fair to him. She bit her lip. "It's okay… you can leave if you want to."

He had paused at the door. He had heard the conversation between Chiharu and her manager a while ago. "It would affect your job." A statement, not a question.

"Eh?"

"If I left. It would affect your job."

She looked at him for a moment before admitting softly, "Y-yes…"

"How long does an appointment usually last?"

"F-forty minutes."

He sat down on the carpeted floor.

"T-tezuka-san?"

"If I stay for forty minutes, they will never know."

'He's… he's going to stay? For me…?' Warmth crept up her neck and filled her cheeks. "Thank you…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Of course, just sitting in the same room as him was… awkward. They'd been at a stalemate of silence for so long that they'd forgotten what it had used to be like to converse with one another. At least, if what they had before could even be called conversation. She traced her toe in the carpeted floor.

"This is your job here?"

She jumped a little as his voice finally broke the silence and seized the opportunity. "Yes," she said, nodding enthusiastically. "Suzume-chan's mother owns several of the beauty parlors in town, so I usually work my winters there too."

A nod, followed by silence.

And more silence.

The wind blew through the curtains and they billowed upwards, silky sheets flowing. Rays of sunlight were revealed through the gaps. Tezuka lifted his hand to shield his eyes, only to experience a throbbing pain jolt down the whole length of his arm. He cringed slightly, his hand reaching for it. The ache only spread, intensifying.

"Tezuka-san…?" Chiharu looked concerned, reaching for him. "Are you…?"

"It's nothing." he managed to say through gritted teeth, trying to breathe through the pain. It was aching so much. Why, why now? Why, in front of one of the only people he refused to look weak for… Suddenly, he felt a light pressure on his arm. The pain washed away from that point of pressure, as if the stream of life flowed from there. The ache faded away quickly. He breathed more easily, basking in the relief, before turning to his arm.

To his surprise, Chiharu had both her hands against his arm. "Is that better?"

"…yes," he said, stunned. "…what are you doing?"

"It's a bit of what I learned…" she said shyly. "I actually have no idea what I'm doing. Something about pressure points?"

He watched as she gently shifted the pressure in her fingers. It was alleviating the pain entirely. "Reina is the best at biology. You could ask her, provided being able to understand her."

She giggled a little. 'So he does have a sense of humor…'

He continued to observe her. She seemed so at ease, doing something like this. Suddenly, she caught his eye and looked down again. He didn't understand why she kept doing that. "Do you… get a lot of clients?"

She paused thoughtfully. "Sometimes."

He nodded, then asked, "A lot of male clients?"

Another thoughtful pause. "No, actually, you're the first."

'Fuji's fault.'

Chiharu wondered if she just imagined it. She didn't want to get her hopes up. But it seemed that after her last answer, the muscles in Tezuka's arm relaxed slightly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Fuji."

"What?" The tensai smiled innocently, like he had done nothing wrong. However, Tezuka was not going to tolerate that.

"You—"

"I thought it would help," Fuji emphasized, before Tezuka could start reprimanding him. "You haven't spoken to her in months. Didn't you start talking again? Didn't you have a good time?"

Tezuka stopped for a moment, thinking.

"I thought so," Fuji said with a satisfied smirk.

Suddenly, they both turned to look behind them.

"I thought… someone was there."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After dinner…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"The food was so good, nya!" Kikumaru let his fork fall with a clatter onto his china plate and resisted the urge to lap up the remaining caramel syrup on his plate.

"I know!" Kimiko licked the chocolate off her spoon. "It was the best!"

"Perfect…" Kawamura declared.

The waiter appeared before them. "Would any of you like to order some more dessert?"

"I can't believe I'm going to say no to this…" Momoshiro said regretfully. "But I'm full."

"Seriously?" Sayaka raised her eyebrows and grinned at Suzume. "Hats off to you, Kimura, you managed to fill that bottomless pit he has for a stomach."

Kaidoh snorted, but in the middle it became a yawn.

"I don't want to move after this…" Akane said. "I'm so full…" She sank into the back of her chair, her stomach feeling like a heavy Christmas pudding. Some of her ginger bangs got into her eyes, but she was too lazy to brush them away. She just felt… slow. "I really don't want to do anything…

"We don't have to," Suzume said. "We could go to the onsen, you know, the one at the hotel? I haven't been to it yet."

"Isn't it outdoors?" Oishi said. "Won't it be cold?" He gestured towards the window, where a light flurry of snow was descending from the sky.

"No, silly!" Kimiko said, suddenly bouncing in her chair again. "Outdoor onsens are really warm! I think it's the steam or something. You don't feel cold at all! Oh, oh, let's go! Please? Please?" She put her hands together and made her eyes go as wide as they would. "Puhwease?"

"Just so I have this right…" Aiko said. "An onsen is a hot spring, right?"

"Yup yup!"

"I've never been to one before," she admitted.

"Then we should go!" Kimiko giggled and turned to the boys. "Are you guys coming too?"

Oishi glanced at all of them. "Well… I guess we don't have anything to do…"

"I'll just be leaving…" Ryoma tried to take off, but Kikumaru caught his collar.

"Okay! So if I knock on the little bamboo wall that separates the guys' hot spring and girls' hot spring, tell me if you can hear it, kay?" She was so bubbly that it almost irritated everyone else. Normally, they found it cute, but right now they just wanted to sit in the peace and quiet. Momoshiro was quite tempted to throw the ice bucket over her.

"Kimiko, try to be more mature." Akane rolled her eyes.

Chiharu turned to Izumi, who was being quiet. "Are you going to come?" she asked kindly.

"I guess…" Izumi frowned. "Ne, Chiharu-san… I only bring this up because it's been bothering me, but do you feel like someone's been following you?"

"Following?" Chiharu looked taken aback. "Well, I've been working all day… so no… but are you sure?"

"Did you feel it too?" Fuji asked her. "I feel that someone's been watching us, but every time I try to look, they disappear."

"Well actually, I think there is someone." Kimiko said, her tone suddenly serious. In fact, Akane rolled her eyes again at the sudden change in tone. "I was playing around with the security camera database—"

"You WHAT?"

"—and in all the places that you guys were, there were two other stranger people that seemed to go where you guys did. They pretty much spied on you all." She recalled the two dark-haired people that had stood outside the glass door, watching Izumi dance. She remembered the two that sat on the bleachers, watching the game between Kaidoh and Tezuka. The same two watching Reina talk to Sayaka. Watching Aiko train. Watching Kawamura cook. Watching Oishi read. And then the eerie feeling of someone being in the same room as her.

"You mean we're being stalked?"

"Maybe…" Sakuno said timidly. "Maybe we should tell the hotel security?" But no one paid attention to her.

"There are people spying on us?"

"Dude, if I ever find out who it is…"

"It's Mizuki Hajime from St. Rudolph," Inui stated simply.

It took a minute, then the boys exploded in outrage.

"WHAT?"

"YOU knew?"

"You didn't ask." He brushed off all the comments.

"What's he doing here?" Fuji asked, his eyes smiling but his voice steely.

"The data, obviously." Inui replied. "That's why all of you should be on your guard. We're playing St. Rudolph soon..."

"Yuuta-kun's school…" Izumi said with a glance at Fuji. He nodded, still smiling.

"I can't believe he followed us all the way here," Momoshiro said, sinking in the back of his chair. "That guy is a world class freak."

"Maybe he didn't follow us?" Kawamura asked. "Maybe he's just here on vacation?"

"Taka-san is too kind," Kikumaru said. "That creepy guy followed us."

"He had a girl with him." Kimiko added. "Mizuki, that is..."

"Oh lord!" Momoshiro resisted banging his head against the table. "There are two of him?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

While the talk of being stalked by Mizuki (although the girls had no idea who this was) was exciting, the frenzied conversation drained out their energy. (Except for Kimiko, who is an energy ball itself.) Full stomachs tend to put one in a very slow and lazy mood. The conversation eventually pittered out, and they headed to the hot springs with no further complaint.

The girls and boys parted ways and went into the respective changing rooms and onsens. All of them gasped at the size of the changing room. It was huge, done up in a cozy (but traditional) woody style. When they stepped barefoot onto the wooden floors, they felt heat seeping up the soles from the floor.

"Floor-heating…" Aiko said, smiling because she knew the Japanese term for it. She moved her feet from side to side.

Chiharu smiled at her. Aiko really was a Japanese girl at heart.

"Suzume, they don't mind your tattoos?" Akane asked as Suzume pulled off her shirt. Onsens sometimes refused entry to people with tattoos. Everyone's eyes travelled down the length of Suzume's body. Although she did have several tattoos, they were all… tastefully done. The sparrow on her collar bone was made up of black lines, making it seem elegant. She had a pair of butterfly wings on her right shoulder and an angel's wing on her left ankle, also done completely in black lines—abstract, almost. Her tattoos were more artful than frightening.

"My mom owns the place. I can do whatever I want." Suzume replied, pulling a towel around her.

"It smells… nice, in here…" Sakuno noted, inhaling the sweet scent. Incense and potpourri, probably. She wished there was a perfume in this smell.

"Um… do any of you know anything about this… Mizuki-san?" Chiharu asked. "I think I've heard of him…"

"He's the manager of the St. Rudolph team," Reina said. "A data specialist."

Something tugged at the back of Izumi's mind. The conversation she had at Fuji's house was swirling in her mind, bits and pieces floating around. "Wait… St. Rudolph... He's in charge of the girl team, then."

"I wonder how good they are…" Aiko mused.

"Yuuta-kun said that they play dirty."

"He said that about his own school?" Suzume snorted. "Way to piss in your own pool." She headed for the doors. "I'm going on ahead."

"They play dirty?" Sayaka asked. She shook her head. "That's so Mizuki's style."

"Eh?"

"Well, last year when Take-nii was playing them, he called timeouts and stuff in order to dampen my brother's spirit, especially when he was all confident and focused." She shrugged. "Not necessarily illegal, but pretty dirty stuff, don't you think?"

"Yeah…"

"You have got to be kidding me." Suzume stepped right back into the changing room, clutching the white towel around her body. They all stared at her in surprise—hadn't she already gone ahead to the hot spring?

"What is it, Suzume-chan?" Chiharu asked.

"It's a f***** mixed onsen!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, the boys had entered the spring. It was already evening, and the sky was as dark as ebony. The steam that drifted upwards traced shapes in the air, caressing their faces with soft, warm, wispy fingers.

"Do you think the girls are going to come out?" Momoshiro asked, looking at the changing room door. "I mean…" He laughed uncomfortably. "the only women that go to mixed onsens these days are old grannies." He was right, after all, the only women in the spring right now were well above 70 years old.

"They'd probably change and leave." Kawamura said with a nod.

A loud yell broke through the air.

"IT'S A F***** MIXED ONSEN!"

Pause.

"Yeah, they probably won't come out…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Is that a problem?" Izumi replied mildly.

"What do you mean, 'is that a problem'?" Sayaka also turned on Izumi.

Akane chuckled. "I would've pegged you as the most conservative of us all, Izumi, but you seem perfectly accepting of the situation," Then she remembered her background. "Oh. Being all traditional and that, you've probably been to a lot of mixed onsens…"

"Screw this." Suzume began pulling her clothes back from the little wooden closet. "There is no way I'm getting in that water now."

"I wonder if the boys dared to go out there…" Akane said to herself. She went outside to peek around the door. She drew in a breath. "Guys… it's beautiful out here… you have to see this."

"I saw plenty," Suzume retorted, still fishing out her clothes. "Enough to make my eyes bleed.

Akane returned. "I think we should go in."

Everyone else nearly dropped what they were holding. "NO!"

"The water should be nearly opaque…" Izumi pointed out lightly. "Due to the mineral content, it's a milky color. Besides, it's night."

"And…" Akane said. "It's lit up by candles and like two outdoor lamps that are really dim. You can't see anything below the water, trust me. And it's such a beautiful environment! They even have candles floating on the water!"

"You're the one that wanted to," Suzume said in an accusing tone to Kimiko. "You go."

The pink headed girl thought for a minute, then said cheerfully, "Okay then! What?" she said when they all looked at her strangely. "It's like Akane-buchou and senpai said: It's not like they can see anything…"

"They probably won't be looking either." Akane said. "Besides, there's not much to look at."

Sayaka threw her mini shampoo bottle at her.

"I'll go." Aiko suddenly said. "I've wanted to go to an onsen, and mixed ones are the most traditional… right?"

"Yes. The earliest ones were mixed. Bathing with strangers is a cultural experience." Reina told her.

"You sound like a commercial." Suzume scoffed off Reina's show of knowledge. "Why don't you say that after you've done it?"

"I think I will."

"What?"

"What if there are perverts?" Sayaka asked.

"Are you really worried about perverts when you have Suzume around?"

After about another ten minutes of convincing, they finally got Suzume and Sayaka to join them, insisting that 'they needed Suzume to feel safe'. Then, the group turned to the last two girls, who had just sat there blushing in the corner.

"Don't waste time on these two," Akane told them, grabbing Chiharu's arm. Sayaka grabbed Sakuno's. They then proceeded to literally drag them outside. The two victims, being the passive type, did not fight back. (Although cries of "Ah…Ano… Wait…" did come from their lips)

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was a sudden hush as they ventured outside, the crowd obviously astonished at seeing nine young girls at a mixed onsen. Then the whispering began. From what they could see, most (if not all) of the people at the onsen were male. Aiko, in particular, attracted a lot of attention due to her dark skin.

Of course, now that all the girls were lined outside the changing room, there was the issue of getting in to the water. Several of the more respectable male bathers, including the entire Seigaku team, turned their heads politely away. However, there were still a few that had their eyes fixed onto them.

Izumi walked nonchalantly to the edge and turned around, so her back was facing the pool. She then slipped one leg into the pool, her other hand unraveling the towel at the same time. In a smooth movement, she was in the pool, and not one inch of skin more than necessary had been revealed. It was obvious that she'd done this before, many times.

Shaking out the towel and holding it up, she provided a screen for the other girls to enter, one after another. They folded the towels neatly and left them on the side of the pool. The water came just above their chests, barely touching the feathers of Suzume's tattooed sparrow. For Kimiko and Sakuno, however, it came up to their collarbones.

"See, now isn't this nice…" Akane murmured.

The atmosphere was spectacular. Hot water poured out of stone dragon mouths. Scented candles floated around them, like fireflies skimming the water. The flickering light shrouded the hot spring in a dreamy glow. Soft music was playing in the air. Shadows of the leafy plants were cast on the glistening white-ish water. Looking up at the night sky, they could see stars scattered across the indigo blanket.

"Senpai, would you stop blushing?" Suzume said to Chiharu. "You too," she said, turning to Sakuno. She jerked her head towards the groups of male bathers. "We don't have to go anywhere near those guys. We're not going to move."

"Actually, I think we have to. Move, that is…" Aiko said slowly. She pointed out the line of males that were waiting to get in the pool that had materialized out of nowhere. "We're sort of blocking them." The place they were standing was the entrance, where there were no stones fencing the edge of the pool.

They walked (floated) towards the center.

"We should find somewhere to sit…" Sayaka suggested, looking around. "Oh…"She realized why the male bathers were in patches along the edges of the pool. The edge of the pool was not entirely irregular, as she had previously thought. Rather, it was made up of small arcs, semicircles, in which around 20 people could fit in one semicircle. There were little seats underwater seats there, where the water was shallower, as well as flat stones that you could lean on. From what she could see, all of the semicircles were taken. "Maybe we should just stand…"

"Yeah…" everyone else agreed.

There were splashes behind them as other bathers entered the pool. "So…" A couple of them approached the girls, their eyes hungry. "I guess you ladies have no where to sit, either. Mind if we join you?"

"We do not luxuriate in your ubiety, for are quite vituperable and animadversion would be your comeuppance." Reina said. That should scare them off.

Instead, one of them groaned. "I love the way you talk." This made her feel quite unsettled.

"Actually," Akane said, grabbing onto Suzume's fist underwater before the she could throw the punch. "We're going to sit with our friends." She led the girls away, in what direction, she didn't care, just away from these people. However, the few bathers (three or four of them, she wasn't concentrating enough to tell) followed them. One of them pulled close to Aiko.

"Say, you look new to an onsen…" he said, looking at her skin. "I could teach what the best part of an onsen is…"

Suddenly a male voice cut through the air. "Please stop that." Kawamura joined them. While his tone was polite and not enough to scare anyone, his muscles certainly did. One glance at his sculpted biceps and the bathers that had been trying to bother the girls left. (ran)

"You should come sit with us…" Kawamura said, smiling. "It's safer. And we'd all treat you with respect."

"Sure…" Akane said. "Better with them than with those perverts." she said in response to the glares the girls were giving her.

"Hi!" Kimiko waved excitedly at them as they approached. The boys scooted along the edge to make room for them. She took her seat, the water coming up to her chin now. It was a funny image, a floating head with a strawberry top.

"We weren't expecting you to come out…" Fuji said as the other girls took their seats. Chiharu was the last to sit. The other girls made it so that there was no where for her to sit other than the place right next to Tezuka. She went cherry red, but sat down.

"Honestly, I wasn't either…" Sayaka said, reproachfully looking at Akane and Izumi. "I'm still getting over the shock that I'm essentially in the same bathtub as my brother."

"Bathtub?" Momoshiro snorted, glancing at the place around them. "That's a big bathtub."

"Regardless. You're naked and I'm naked. This feels awkward."

Sakuno and Chiharu both blushed at the word "naked", to which Suzume scoffed at and said, "It's not even a dirty word, and you guys are acting as if it was something scandalous."

"Speaking of scandalous…" Fuji said. "I heard Echizen was in a very compromising position with someone this morning…"

Sakuno almost dunked her head underwater.

"Really? Do tell?"

"No! Echizen, you're too young!"

"Momo-senpai's fault." Ryoma said immediately. No blushing for him.

"Ah…" He spared the freshman. "So what did everyone else do today?"

"I learned a sushi cooking technique from one of the chefs…" Kawamura said. "It's a type of spicy tuna roll. I'm thinking of introducing it to the restaurant."

"What about you, Kaidoh-kun?" Kimiko asked the quiet second year.

"Training." he grunted.

She giggled.

They leaned backwards, resting their heads and shoulders against the rock. Some closed their eyes. The following conversation that flowed around them was casual, as they lazily joined in with a sentence or two.

As Chiharu shifted her position, her hand briefly touched his hand underwater, and she jerked it away as if it shocked her, her heart pounding. That reminded her. "Is-is your arm okay?" she asked softly.

He nodded. "Actually… I'd prefer if you did not mention what happened this afternoon to anyone else." There was no need to alarm the team that his arm was having pains again. They were probably just growing pains anyways.

"Okay. I understand. I won't say anything! I promise!" she said quickly, the words coming out in short bursts due to her nervousness. Her hand was tugging on her blue-ish curls, which shone like a blue topaz in the faded light.

He seemed to smile briefly. "Thank you…"

"No problem. I probably wouldn't have told in the first place." Surely her heart was creating waves by the way it was hammering in her chest.

"No, I mean… thank you for this afternoon."

"Oh! Umm…" She tried to say something about that, but no words would come. The color did though. The color came and filled up her cheeks until she had to look away.

Izumi finally met the blue eyes upon her, feeling another tug from within when eye contact was made. "Why… are you looking at me like that?" she asked quietly, questioning the intense gaze the tensai was giving her.

He smiled. "Nothing. I just wish I had my camera."

"I think the staff will decorate the mansion for Christmas…" Suzume was saying. She hooked a strand of her violet-red hair behind her ear. "And there's a small street with stores nearby if you want to get anything…"

"Are we really going to do the 'give each person a present' thing?" Momoshiro asked. "Because that's a little much. I brought presents for some of you, but not all…"

"But… but…" Kimiko pouted. She liked her own idea. "Wouldn't you feel guilty if I gave you a gift and you didn't give me one?"

"Well… yeah… that's true…"

Kikumaru sat up with the air of someone who had just been struck by an idea. "Let's do Secret Santas!"

"That's not a bad idea…" Oishi said thoughtfully. "That way we each buy a gift, and each get one."

"It's fun to guess as well…" Aiko put in, managing to keep up with the conversation.

"What if I already bought gifts?" Momoshiro asked.

"Well, I guess we're just going to accept the fact that the people we bought gifts for may not give us one in return." Akane said. "I mean, to buy seventeen gifts is just… like you said, too much…"

"No it's not." Kimiko whined, but everyone ignored her. Except Chiharu, who patted her head sympathetically. After all, it was hard to take a floating pink head seriously.

They expected to wait until they got back to the mansion to draw names, but Suzume called over a maid. "Could you bring us a piece of paper and a pen?

"Oh, and some sake (rice wine)." Momoshiro added.

"Sake?" asked Reina.

"Drinking age?" asked Inui.

"I just want to have a little…" Momoshiro said defensively.

"Drinking is forbidden on school trips." Tezuka said firmly. The maid's eyes wandered between them, unsure of what to do. "However seeing as this is a recreational trip rather than a school activity, I will allow this." He stared at everyone else in turn. "Only one cup each."

The sake arrived on a wooden tray that the maid set right on the water. She handed the pen and paper to Suzume. "Here, you do it," she said, giving it to Reina. "Senpai is good at handwriting."

"Suzume is dexterous at inventing excuses for being lackadaisical…" Reina said back. She took the paper anyways.

Suzume blinked unconcernedly. "I'll pretend I understood that."

"She's said you're good at creating excuses to cover up your laziness."

Reina scribbled down the names in her perfect handwriting and carefully tore the paper. She put the pieces on the tray, shuffling them around with her fingers. "Everybody take one."

The tray was passed around while they each took one and a cup of sake. "Oops, got myself." Kimiko said, grinning, and switched her slip of paper with another.

"Aw man…" Kikumaru scratched his head. "I got a hard person…"

Once they memorized their person, they put the slip of paper back onto the tray. The alcohol felt like it was puffing out in their mouths, like little fireballs being extinguished. The warm sensation left in their mouths was comforting. Silence hung over them as they sat there quietly and took sips of sake, enjoying the sensation.

"Well, isn't this interesting…?" A new voice drifted into their ears, causing all of them to sit up. "All of Seigaku here…"

None other than Mizuki Hajime walked over. He didn't sit; none of them had moved for him anyways. "Tezuka." He offered his hand to the captain, who took it. Manners were manners. Even if you were being stalked by this crazy manager.

"Allow me to introduce captain of our girl's team, Hina." A brown haired girl with a ponytail shook Tezuka's hand. She surveyed all of them. "Mizuki, I thought you said they were strong!" she said in a high shrilly voice.

"You don't think they look strong?" Mizuki asked deliberately, clearly hoping to hear something bad about them.

"Well, I don't know about the guys, but the girls…" Her voice was the kind that made them all want to tear out her voice box. "The girls look like they can't even handle middle schoolers."

"Excuse me?" Sayaka said angrily.

About five people latched onto Suzume at this point, to prevent Hina for mortal peril.

"In fact, these two look like middle schoolers…" She pointed at Sakuno and Kimiko. "And this one looks like something dragged off the street." She pointed to Suzume this time.

"Get out and leave us alone." Suzume said, surprisingly calmly and coolly.

"You can't make us leave." The girl stuck up her chin defiantly. "We're guests here."

"For a couple data specialists, you sure didn't do your research properly. I own this place. And if you don't get out of my face right now, I will have security eject you off the premises. Without your clothes."

That was enough. The two scurried back from where they came from.

There was a long pause following their departure. Finally, Kaidoh, who had been silent for almost the whole time, opened his mouth and growled:

"We'll crush St. Rudolph."

And everyone nodded.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

End Chapter Seventeen

A/N: Okay, I don't know when I'll update next, but it hopefully won't be five-six months later hahaha. The next chapter will be very interesting, I assure you. Sorry that St. Rudolph is going to end up as the villain school.

Christmas is in the air… as well as drama, deceit, presents and mistletoe. The new girl that the members met plays extremely dirty off the courts, and even Inui is stumped. Meanwhile, Secret Santas are underway as well as individual gifts... Perhaps the first hint of love will blossom.

Thanks to all my reviewers and readers. Not a single review was unread or unappreciated. You guys make me happy.

If you want more, REVIEW. Or else I may go on a long hiatus again... muahahahaha...