"Yagyuu and I make a better doubles pair than any mixed doubles pair out there," Niou stressed.

    "Bakayarou," retorted. "Mixed is oftentimes the best kind."

    "A girl can't keep up with a guy," Niou insisted calmly.

    "Boy, you really are an ass, aren't you?" said, running a slender-fingered hand through soft hair.

    "Stop flirting already. You aren't supposed to have sweets in the morning," Kirihara interjected, rolling his eyes and laughing. Kirihara always called their bickering flirting. This was just an exemplified example. They really had no reason to argue. In fact, whenever both of them had time, and Niou made a very powerful doubles pair.

    "But you know," continued thoughtfully, ignoring Kirihara's comment, knowing the best way to shut him up was to ignore him. "I'd probably play better with all girls." Niou's eyebrows raised as his mouth formed into a smirk. Perhaps he'd win this time. For some reason, he could never win an argument against . "Since all your teammates are so gorgeous!" Kirihara let out a hearty laugh as he saw Niou's smirk turn into a frown. Niou opened his mouth to say something, but the bell rang.

    "If the girl and boy understand each other, that doubles pair can be an impossible obstacle to tackle," said seriously, then smiled. "But baka Niou wouldn't understand that!" She stuck out her tongue, linked arms with Kirihara, holding him close, and they both went off to class. Niou sighed. It really was impossible to win against her.

    " 's quite the flirt," Yanagi Renji said, passing Niou on his way to class. "98% chance of jealousy."

    "What?!" Niou demanded. When he didn't get a response, he chased after the dataman.

    "She likes him," said a third year teammate of 's to her friend.

    "Yeah, It's so

Obvious."

Believe it or not, Rikkai Dai could get rowdier than it was in the morning. The proof: lunch. It didn't matter that oftentimes their mouths were full of food, conversation was a must have amongst friends. Niou and Yagyuu Hiroshi had barely gotten their food and joined the table where , Kirihara, Marui Bunta, Yanagi Renji and , 's best friend, were sitting.

    "…of that coming out as gas," said Yanagi to Marui. It was the first thing Niou and Yagyuu heard. Obviously, their arrival was timed badly.

    "Do I even want to know?" Niou asked, seeing if satiating his curiosity was worth it. laughed. She then scooped up some beans off her school lunch tray.

    "Yanagi-kun was just explaining the probability of this," she shoved the beans closer to Niou's face, "coming back to haunt the eater as embarrassing bodily functions.

    "The percentage was…surprisingly high," Kirihara added, laughing as he did.

    "I suppose it best we don't continue the interrogation," Yagyuu said, a faint smile emerging on his face, as well as a sweatdrop appearing at the back of his head. shrugged and shoved the beans into her mouth.

    " -chan!" exclaimed. "You're still eating that even after what Yanagi-kin just told us?"

    "It's called testing the theory," replied, waving her chopsticks around after she had finished swallowing the food.

    "I'll have to pass on being your lab partner today then," Kirihara said, smiling.

    "What? Not fair!" she complained. "I like having you as my lab partner!" She held tightly onto his arm and played with his hair. "You look cute in goggles!" Kirihara was obviously enjoying the attention he was getting. Niou bit down viciously on his lunch.

    "Make that 99.8%," Yanagi said quietly so only Niou could hear.

    "What?" Niou asked, a hint of annoyance on his voice. Yanagi only smiled and continued eating. Niou's face was contorted in irritation.

    "Oi!" yelled all of a sudden. Niou looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "Don't make that face! It's so ugly!" Niou growled at , but she only laughed. "So, are we still good for after practice?"

    "What do you mean?" Niou asked, a hint of displeasure in his voice.

    "Niou, you're so cruel!" whined, throwing a piece of bread at his face. He glared at her, but once again she only laughed. "Just kidding! That's your way of saying ‘duh!' Hmph…you make me feel so dumb like that!" Niou winked at her, a smile playing at his lips, earning him another piece of bread.

    "You know, there are starving people around the world," Niou teased.

    "Oh, shut up."

Niou waved good-bye to his teammates and headed toward the school gates. They had an extra hour of practice, but as usual, was waiting faithfully, her bag slung over one shoulder.

    "Konbanwa, busu," said, already starting the teasing with his less favorable nicknames.

    "Shut up, midget," Niou replied, hitting the short girl on the head lightly. Let's go before there are no more opponents left. And so the two headed off to the tennis courts located near their apartment building. There were usually a lot of players on the tennis courts and that night was no exception. As and Niou entered the tennis courts, all eyes were on them. After all, they were an undefeated pair.

    "Well, well, well. If it isn't the Niou- pair," came a cocky male's voice. "Ready to be embarrassed?"

    "We might have been if we knew we were going to be," Niou retorted nonchalantly.

    "But with the losing streak you've had against us, I don't think we'll have a problem," came 's sultry voice, continuing the taunt. winked at their challengers.

    "But I have to hand it to you," Niou continued, tossing a ball to . The male challenger spun his racket. "Smooth." As the racket spun, Niou carried on the verbal attack. "You guys are persistent."

    "Smooth it is," said the female, seemingly undaunted by their mocking.

    "Thanks for the warm-up matches, though!" said. The other doubles pair couldn't take it anymore.

    "Shut up! If this was singles, I'd drag you both all over the court!" boasted the male, who was on the receiving end of 's serve.

    "Oh?" replied, an innocent look on her face. She bounced the ball on the court, then threw it up in the air. The next thing anyone knew, the ball was flying past the receiver's head. "15-love."

    "If that's the case, maybe we could have a singles match after this. Who knows, maybe then you'll actually be able to score some points?" Niou said as another of 's serves flew by.

They'd defeated the whole court by nine. At least, those that had challenged them. And so the mixed doubles pair packed their things and headed home. They walked in silence, but words were not needed as the physical satisfaction of the games they played lay its post-game fatigue on their bodies. Just then, an SUV slowed as the windows rolled down.

    "Niou. ," came a male voice. It was Kobayashi, one half of the doubles pairs they'd played that night, one of the better ones.

    "Kobayashi," Niou greeted as he and approached the high schooler's car. "You guys could go pro."

    "Maybe you just suck," Niou replied, grinning while stifled a laugh. Kobayashi was a good-natured person, and he ignored the insult.

    "You guys need a ride home?" he asked.

    "Nah, we're good," Niou said.

    "You sure?" Kobayashi insisted. "Your girlfriend might get raped."

    "She's not my girlfriend!" Niou denied, blushing. He thanked the darkness for its cloak.

    "Stop denying it already," said, raising two hands to cup her cheeks. "He's found out."

    "Wh—what are you talking about?" Niou demanded.

    "Why do you insist on hiding it? Are you embarrassed of me?" continued, her face in mock distress.

    "You guys are cute," Kobayashi laughed. "Just give it time."

    "Huh?" and Niou asked in unison, but Kobayashi had already driven away.

    "Are we good for today, Niou?" asked after catching up with him in the halls.

    "Sorry, , not today," Niou replied, chewing on an apple.

    "What? Why?" asked, more than a hint of grief in her voice.

    "I've got a date," Niou answered simply, taking another bite of his apple. There was silence. Then laughed.

    "Busu? A date? You're kidding right?" said, evidence in her voice that she was hoping he was. Niou smirked at this.

    "No," he replied simply once again.

    "With who?" demanded.

    "Sato Hana," Niou said, sticking to the pattern of simplicity.

    "Sato Hana? But she's such a—"

    "Sorry, . But I have to go now. I'll see you later," Niou said, and the conversation was over.

    "Yeah…later…"

That night, Niou came home late from his date. He climbed the stairs to his level in the apartment complex, only to find sitting there, clutching the railings as she stared blankly out to the empty swimming pool. Niou quieted his steps, but they still made a rather large clamor on the steel steps. From this he realized was spaced out, turning off all the surroundings around her. But Niou still crept slowly towards her, placing his hands firmly on her shoulder.

    " ," he whispered, and she was snapped out of her reverie.

    "Masaharu," she replied half-heartedly. Niou sat next to her on the floor. "How was your date?"

    "How dates are supposed to be," he said cryptically, starting the battle of words before she could.

    "Hm," she said, seemingly unbothered. Niou turned his head to look at her, and she was still staring blankly at the pool below them. Suddenly, she snapped out of her trance and glared at Niou.

    "Sato Hana is a bitch," she said straight out.

    "What? How can you say that? You don't even know her," Niou said, half laughing and half serious.

    "And she's a total slut," added. "Do you see the way she dresses? And how she pulls her skirt up all the time? And I heard she's slept with five boys already, and he's only a 2nd year! How can you go out with a person like that?" Niou was starting to get extremely pissed off. He stood up and started walking towards his apartment. stood up and started charging towards him. "Niou! I want an explanation as to why you're suddenly going out with someone as tasteless as Sato!" Niou whirled around and grabbed by the arms.

    "Why do you care so much?" he said, his voice filled with irritation. 's eyes watered up, and as Niou's grip loosened, she broke away from him.

    "You know, there are times…when a girl flirts for a reason…" she said, and ran away before he could see her cry. A shame that one fell free, hitting the ground next to his feet.

wasn't in front of her classroom door the next day. The only one to greet Niou was Kirihara, who gave him an innocent look and shrugged. She wasn't at the lunch table. avoided looking at him, when he asked if she knew were she was. Niou was worried, and it was obvious in his game play.

    "Niou! You're majorly slacking!" Sanada shouted, but even with his buchou's warning, he couldn't concentrate. He tried to ease the anxiety by telling himself that she would be waiting for him outside the school gates, just as she always was.

She wasn't.

Niou walked home alone, passing the tennis courts. He stared absentmindedly at the only other mixed doubles pair that was worth comparing to himself and . He kicked the fence, earning more than a few looks from the tennis players inside, but he didn't care. He walked home, climbing the stairs, fatigued more than usual. And she was there. Standing there, elbows on the railing, a refreshing summer breeze flowing through her soft locks, staring idly at the pool below. Spaced out, again. Niou walked closer to her, his heart racing for a reason unknown to him.

    " ," he whispered. It wasn't enough this time to snap the girl out of her daydreams. " ." He said it more firmly, grasping her shoulder tightly.

    "Huh?" said, blinking vacantly at Niou. It seemed she was lost forever. "Niou."

    "Baka," he said, smiling as he did so.

    "What?!" demanded, returning to her normal self.

    "Boys. They're bakas," Niou said, his gaze softening, as well as his grip.

    "What are you talking about, Niou?" said, utter confusion written all over her face.

    "Especially me. I—I'm such an idiot, ," Niou said earnestly, his face expressing his emotion. That face turned smug. "So…you have to make it obvious."

    "How much more obvious can I get?" she asked.

    "This much more," he said, and leaned in quickly for a kiss. The surprise kiss did what it was supposed to, catch her off guard. And being the person she was, she shoved him away.

    "What kind of a person do you think I am?" asked, angered. Niou looked at her in sheer bewilderment. smiled at him softly, staring at the ground, a foot tracing circles on the ground behind her.

    ‘She's shy…' Niou thought to himself, grinning. He then gently took her by the waist, pulling her closer, letting her step on her own instead of forcing her. 's face flushed, but she didn't stop until they were as close as they could get. "I'm sorry," he said. "May I?" laughed.

    "Baka," she said, still staring down.

    "I know," he replied, and brought a reunion to their lips. This time indulged in the flavor of Niou's kiss.

    "Daisuki, busu," she said as she pulled away, and grinned. Niou just held her close and inattentively took in her scent, planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

    "Daisuki, midget."
 

fin
soh
6.July.2005