This Story No Title
A School Rumble Fanfic

Chapter 10:  You're Under Arrest

By John Biles

***************

	Lord Harima smashed another golem, yawning.  This 
was not one of his better training sessions.  "Come on, 
Lady Eri, you can do better than this."

	"Fine!  I'm turning the danger level up to eleven!" she 
shouted down from the control room.

	He was in Sukuran Castle's training room, where all 
the Defenders of the Throne came to practice and hone 
their skills.  He had found of late that he was simply so 
bad-ass that the usual training scenarios weren't much help 
in honing his skills.  

	Golems began pouring into the room from all 
directions as he leaped about between the various stone 
polyhedrons which littered the room.  Rays of fire and 
lightning and cold erupted in complex patterns at him, but 
he dodged them all.

	They came faster and faster, and he laughed, enjoying 
the brawl.  Still not hard enough, but...

	Then one of them clipped him in the back of the head, 
knocking him into a mass of the golems, who grabbed him 
and began to pound on him.  He struggled, but their grips 
were too potent.  

	"I think they may wear out too fast if you don't turn it 
down to ten," he said to Lady Eri.

	Unfortunately, she was busy talking to someone else.  

	This left him no choice but to use his THUNDER 
STRIKE.

	Except that he couldn't actually manage to hit the 
ground with his foot when he tried.

	This left him with no choice but to use his 
LIGHTNING STRIKE.

	But he couldn't swing his arms.

	This left him with no choice but to hope he hadn't run 
out of painkillers.

	Lady Eri now turned back to him.  "Quit goofing 
around, Lord Harima.  We have a problem."

	"I just thought I'd take it easy, since this test is so 
simple," he said as they taught him what fifty kidney 
punches in a row feel like.

	"Princess Tenma has vanished again."

	"Kidnapped AGAIN?" Lord Harima asked.

	"She does seem to have a knack," Lady Eri said, 
sighing.

	"Don't worry, I can lead you to my sister," Witch 
Yakumo said, appearing behind Lady Eri.

	Lady Eri started and nearly toppled through the 
observation window.  She spun, jiggling just a bit in her 
skimpy sorceress outfit.  "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

	She ignored Lady Eri and went over to the window.  
"Lord Harima, are you beset by golems?"

	"I have it completely under control!" he shouted.

	Therefore, she manipulated the controls and shut off 
the golems.  "We must move swiftly."

	Lord Harima busted his way loose, then leaped up to 
join them.  "Lead us on, Witch Yakumo."

	She nodded and began to follow her link to her sister, 
Princess Tenma Ransom-bait.  "Would this be kidnapping 
fifty three?"

	"Fifty five," Lady Eri said.  "You slept through thirty-
eight and forty-two."  There was a hint of ire in her voice.

	"I thought she was only sleep walking those times," 
Witch Yakumo said.

	"SHE WAS KIDNAPPED," Lady Eri insisted.

	"Perhaps we should call the other Defenders," Witch 
Yakumo suggested.

	"Naaah, I wanna kick ass without too many people 
crampin' my style," Lord Harima said.  "I'm even wearing 
my jacket that says 'BADASS'."

	Lady Eri snickered, restraining herself from pointing 
out the character on the back of his jacket actually meant 
'Fool'.  Never buy your jacket from Ninja Mistress Akira, if 
you are wise.

	Witch Yakumo began to speak, then gave up.  She led 
them down the stairs to the courtyard.  "The trail leads that 
way," she said, pointing towards the drawbridge.

	"Good to know they didn't kidnap her through the 
ground," Lady Eri said.  "That's the only way out other than 
over the wall, you know."

	Witch Yakumo ignored her, striding forward.

	Lord Harima followed her, trusting her instincts.  A 
little crankily, Lady Eri strode after him, her skirts 
billowing about but always somehow showing off her 
strong legs.

	As they strode off across the rolling countryside, time 
seemed to pass very quickly; Lord Harima had the feeling 
of walking for days in but a few minutes time.  The 
mountains always hovered in the distance, never getting 
any closer.  

	"Shouldn't we be getting closer to the mountains?" he 
asked Witch Yakumo.

	"We're not headed for the mountains," she said.  "Our 
targets are moving southwest across the Candle Plains."

	Well, that answered that.  "Shouldn't something 
exciting have happened by now?"

	"This is the peaceful heart of the kingdom," Lady Eri 
said.

	"But I'm bored," he complained.

	"Me too," Lady Eri confessed.  

	Witch Yakumo just shook her head and sighed.

	Excitement came soon enough; more days passed and 
now a jungle rose before them, as they stood on the verge 
of the hot kingdoms of the south.  "Alright, gorilla-
punching time!" Lord Harima crowed.

	"The gorillas are normally quite peaceful," Witch 
Yakumo pointed out.

	She had failed to remember, however, Lord Harima's 
habit of punching every gorilla he saw.  This ensured that 
within minutes of entering the jungles, an angry army of 
gorillas descended on the trio.

	"OOOOOOOOKKKKK!!!!!!!"  Or in Japanese 
(English for us), "Death to Lord Harima and his harem."  
The subtleties of gorilla-speech are typically lost on human 
ears.  

	Lord Harima began punching and kicking with 
abandon.  "Sixteen!"  An uppercut sent a gorilla flying into 
the air to crash on two others.  "Seventeen!" A spinning 
kick knocked a gorilla over.  The one behind him tripped 
over him and got axe kicked by Lord Harima.  "Eighteen!"

	"BURN, YOU FILTHY APES!" Lady Eri shouted, 
then chanted the Invocation of the Five Flames, sending 
five spheres of fire corruscating into the ape ranks, sending 
burning gorillas running for the rivers.  Unfortunately, it 
also set the jungle on fire.

	Witch Yakumo sighed.  She always got stuck doing 
the cleanup.  As Lady Eri and Lord Harima burned and 
punched their way through the local simian population, she 
got out her cauldron and began brewing up a storm.  By the 
time all the gorillas had fallen, a howling storm was 
pouring down, dousing the flames.

	That it also soaked Lady Eri to the bone was merely 
gravy.

	Really.

	Lady Eri shivered in the howling rain.  "Was that 
necessary?"

	"Yes," Witch Yakumo said.

	She was less pleased when Lord Harima put his jacket 
on Lady Eri and stood by her to try and shield her from the 
rain.  She moved over with them to stand under a tree and 
wait for the rain to end.

	Lady Eri was not very reluctant to shelter herself in 
Lord Harima's arms, cuddling up to him.  He held her 
tightly and protectively despite the fact that inside his mind, 
he was fantasizing about how grateful Princess Tenma 
would be to be rescued.  His body, on the other hand, 
ignored his mind and moved ever so slowly into ever 
increasingly intimate poses with her.

	Until spiders fell out of the tree down their shirts, 
sending them both into a jumping fit of trying to get spiders 
out of their clothing.

	Witch Yakumo could not help but laugh at that.

	Finally, the storm died down, and they began 
following the trail again.  "Do you know this area?" Lady 
Eri asked Lord Harima.  She herself was from the distant 
isles of the west, while Lord Harima hailed from the South 
Kingdoms.  

	"This is the wilderlands," he replied.  "The jungle 
islands of my people are southwest of here."

	"These are the lands of the dreaded kappa," Witch 
Yakumo pronounced.

	"Then evil Lord Karasuma may be behind this," Lord 
Harima pronounced.

	"He's really not evil," Witch Yakumo said.  

	"He's actually just kind of eccentric," Lady Eri said.

	"EVIL Lord Karasuma must be to blame," Lord 
Harima said firmly.

	Witch Yakumo didn't feel like fighting about it, but 
Lady Eri stood her ground.  "He's not evil.  He is, in fact, 
the Princess' boyfriend."

	"He can't be!" Lord Harima protested.  "She...He's not 
worthy of her!"

	"That is for HER to decide," Lady Eri said hotly.  
"You should open your eyes and look at those around you, 
you know!"

	"What the hell does that mean?" Lord Harima asked.

	Lady Eri looked over at Witch Yakumo.  "Men are so 
blind."

	"Agreed."

	"But what does it MEAN?" he asked as they dragged 
him onwards.  "I don't get it!"

	Getting things had never been Lord Harima's 
strongpoint.

	Fortunately, the world saved him from further 
necessity for thought with another gorilla attack.  Once he 
was again victorious in gorilla warfare, they moved on 
deeper into the jungle.

	After a while, it eventually sank into Lord Harima's 
consciousness that they were following a long pair of 
wagon ruts.  Not normally prone to looking where he was 
going, he hadn't noticed this.

	"It looks like she was taken in a wagon," he noted.

	"Yes," Lady Eri said, having clearly noticed long ago.

	"Probably used to smuggle her out of the palace in a 
barrel or something," Witch Yakumo said.

	"We must hurry!" Lord Harima proclaimed, increasing 
his pace.

	Time blurred, days passing in minutes again, and they 
found themselves standing on high ground at night, looking 
down a slope at a camp.  There was a wagon full of metal 
bars and sacks; they could see Princess Tenma curled up on 
one of the sacks asleep.  

	Two merchants were sitting by a fire, trying to cook.  
There was no sign of other guards.

	Lord Harima frowned.  "They seem quite weak."

	"Perhaps they have hidden allies," Lady Eri said.

	Witch Yakumo sighed.  "Perhaps my sister fell asleep 
in the back of the wagon and was accidentally hauled 
away."

	"Isn't that more your schtick?" Lady Eri asked.

	Witch Yakumo fell over, asleep, while Princess 
Tenma sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking confused.  
Lord Harima caught her as she fell, and then gently sat 
Witch Yakumo down under a tree.  "Sleep tight," he said 
softly.

	Lord Harima looked down at the Princess.  She'll 
finally see my true value, he thought.  Though it did seem 
weird she'd pulled Witch Yakumo's spontaneous sleep 
routine.  But he put that out of his mind and prepared to 
charge.

	Lady Eri caught his sleeve.  "We should probably 
make sure they're hostile first," she said.

	"But they kidnapped the princess!"

	"We don't know that, just that she's sleeping in their 
wagon," Lady Eri said.

	"CHARGE!" Lord Harima shouted. 

	Before he could charge, Lady Eri leaped into the air.  
"SHINING WIZARD!"  This took him down as she kneed  
him under the chin and electrocuted him at once.

	He fell down, and Princess Tenma waved.  "Hi, Lady 
Eri-chan!  Come have some rabbit stew with us!"

	"Did they kidnap you?" she asked.

	"She fell asleep in the back and we couldn't wake her 
up," one of the merchants said.  

	"Sorry!"

	Another typical mission, Lady Eri thought.  Maybe 
one of these days we'll get a competent villain.

**************
			
	Tenma dragged herself out of bed; her deep, primal 
hunger could not be denied.  She made her way to the 
kitchen, poured a bowl of cereal, added milk, then got an 
apple and went out to the living room to watch TV while 
she ate.

	To her surprise, she found Harima asleep on the floor 
with Eri and Yakumo holding hands over his chest.  

	I must be dreaming, she thought.  In which case...I 
BET I CAN FLY!

	She immediately went to the porch doors and opened 
them, then took a long run and leaped upwards.  She 
zoomed over the bushes and woods, rising high up into the 
sky.  

	She decided to fly over to Karasuma's house to show 
off.  Zooming across Tokyo, she went searching for his 
house; she sort of knew the area where he lived, but she'd 
never been there.

	Her trip took her out into the rural fringes of the city.  
Unfortunately, she now realized that unless he came 
outside, she'd have a hard time finding him.  

	Really, there was no choice but to buzz the buildings 
until he noticed her.  Soon, the whole district was in a state 
of panic from the unkempt girl buzzing about the streets.

	Finally, he came, flying up out of a backyard to greet 
her.  "Tenma-chan," he said.

	"Yes, Karasuma-kun?"

	"You're asleep.  You need to wake up before you 
panic everyone here."

	"But I came to see you!" she protested.

	"Not like this.  Wake up."

	She sighed and woke up.

**************
 
 	Tenma dragged herself out of bed; her deep, primal 
hunger could not be denied.  She made her way to the 
kitchen, poured a bowl of cereal, added milk, then got an 
apple and went out to the living room to watch TV while 
she ate.

	To her surprise, she found Harima asleep on the floor 
with Eri and Yakumo holding hands over his chest.  

	I must be dreaming, she thought.  In which case...I 
BET I CAN FLY!

	She immediately went to the porch doors and opened 
them, then took a long run and leaped upwards.  She soared 
off the porch in an arc, then crashed into one of the bushes 
in the backyard.  "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA."

	This awoke Eri, Harima, and Yakumo.  For a moment, 
they all stared at each other and at the clasped hands, and 
then Harima sprung up, breaking the clasp, and ran after 
Tenma.  "What's wrong, Tenma-san???"

	He pulled her out of the bushes even as Yakumo 
staggered groggily to the doorway and Eri ran after Harima.  

	"I thought...it had to be a dream..." Tenma babbled.

	Harima carefully picked brambles out of her clothing; 
Yakumo soon came and assisted him and Eri did so as well.  
"What had to be a dream?" he asked.

	"I thought...Yakumo and Eri were holding hands!" 
Tenma said.  "And it didn't make sense at all!"

	Yakumo blushed slightly, while Eri said, "You were 
probably just groggy, Tenma-chan."  Eri wasn't sure herself 
what had happened.  Didn't I...how the heck did I end up 
holding her hand and not Kenji's?

	Next time, she thought, I'm going to have to do better.

**************	

	Hanai awoke with the groggy feeling he was supposed 
to be somewhere.  He stumbled off to the bathroom and 
bathed, trying to remember where he was supposed to be.  
His date wasn't until later...right?  He suddenly hoped he 
hadn't slept all day.

	But the sun looked to be in the east, so far as he could 
tell.  So unless the house had turned around...

	"Hey, Haruki-kun, you in there?" Mikoto shouted into 
the baths.

	"Yeah, I'm here," he said.  

	"You about done or just getting started?" she shouted.

	"Still scrubbing!" he shouted.

	"Put a towel on, I'm coming in."

	"HEY!"

	He quickly made himself relatively decent, and soon 
Mikoto entered, clad in a towel.  He made himself not look 
too much.  

	"I'll scrub once you're done," she said.

	"Is the water out at your place?"

	"Sometimes, I want more privacy," she said.  "And we 
don't have anything as nice as this."

	"Well, this isn't entirely private," he said, working on 
his legs.

	"Well, we did this all the time as kids, right?" she said, 
lying down on a bench and looking up at the ceiling.

	"Yeah," he said.  "If Dad finds us both in here, he'll 
kick my ass."

	"He's gone to see some tournament, your mother said."

	I hope I wasn't supposed to go with him, Hanai 
thought.  "Wait, does Mom know you're in here?"

	"She doesn't seem to mind," Mikoto said, still staring 
at the ceiling.  "You have a good time last night?"

	Hanai tried to figure out what answer would cause the 
least bloodshed.  He rinsed himself off and got in the hot 
water.  "Getting in the hot water now."

	Mikoto got some soap and started scrubbing.  "You 
didn't answer my question."

	"Yes, I did.  Lala was very well behaved, more than I 
was afraid of," Hanai said.  "We had a good time."

	Mikoto frowned.  Getting her hooks into him already, 
she thought.  I know the type--act nice until it's too late and 
the person is hopelessly infatuated with you.  I can't let her 
use him like that.

	"So where are we going tonight?" Hanai asked.

	Wherever it is, there has to be no chance of Lala 
showing up or we are screwed, Mikoto thought.  "Actually, 
we should call sempai so we can work that out."  She began 
scrubbing her hair; this went much quicker with it short.

	Hanai sank a little deeper into the water.  "We should 
probably go somewhere around his school, to minimize the 
chance of stumbling on someone who will blow your 
cover."

	Mikoto suddenly felt a little guilty, dragging Hanai 
into this.  Still, better he be pretending to be her boyfriend 
than to start turning into Lala's.  Better for both of them.  
She washed out her hair and began scrubbing her arms.  
"Yes," she said.  "That's wise."

	We can't keep this up forever, she thought.  But 
just...she didn't know how long.  

	Hanai tried to focus on Yakumo to avoid thinking 
about the fact that Mikoto was naked behind him.  
Unfortunately, this led to him thinking about Yakumo 
naked, and he could feel his brain overheating.  So he tried 
thinking about math instead.  

	She wondered why he was silent, and hoped he hadn't 
fallen asleep.  It was easy to do in the water.  

	She finished her arms and began working on her legs 
in silence, wondering what the future would bring.  Tonight 
was going to be messy, but it was too late to back out now.

***************

	Karen lunged and pinned her foe to the mat.  It was 
too easy, really.  She could see Harry cheering for her up in 
the stands, and that was nice, but it would have been better 
to have him cheering a real victory.

	Once she won, she went to see if Imadori had come.  
He'd never come before, but she kept hoping.  Especially 
after...  

	She sighed.  Probably he'd just wanted a ride home 
and a meal.  It would be easier if she could just let go and 
forget; Harry seemed to be getting serious as far as she 
could tell, but she couldn't just forget about Imadori, 
foolish as it was.

	She glanced over at Lala, who was playing with her 
foe like a cat plays with its meal.  Karen frowned at that.  
This wasn't supposed to be about humiliating people.  

	Harry waved to her and she went over to talk to him.  
"Hello, Harry," she said to him in English.  "How are you?"

	He replied in Japanese, "We can speak in Japanese if 
you want."

	"English is fine," she said in English.  

	He grinned, and reached over to take her hand.  She 
didn't stop him.  Or throw him.  Yet.

	"Like I thought, you gals are going to destroy Torio," 
he said.  "Wanna go do something after it finishes?"

	"I..uh...okay," she said, having no other plans.  She 
felt a little guilty about it.

	He took her hand and kissed the back of her fingertips 
and she blushed.

	At the same time, however, before she could say 
anything about propriety, she heard Lala give a great 
squeal.

	She turned and saw Lala staring at her in surprise, and 
Lala's foe having somehow pinned her while she stared.  As 
the referee was just about to count her out, she recovered 
and threw off her foe, harshly pinning the unfortunate pink-
haired girl.

	Once that was over, she stormed over and pulled 
Karen away from Harry.  "You can make out with your 
boyfriend later," she said.  "We're here to wrestle."

	"But...we..." Karen protested weakly.

	"Coach," Lala said to the coach, who was a short, 
cheerful dark haired woman; like Karen, her stature belied 
her power.  "Karen shouldn't be wandering off to her 
boyfriend, should she?  I didn't ask any guys to come watch 
ME."

	The coach sighed and said, "Karen, don't wander off.  
Lala, it's my job to enforce the rules, not yours."

	"He's not my boyfriend," Karen mumbled, unheard.

	"Anyway, I need you to focus on the matches," the 
coach said.  "Alright?"

	"Alright," Lala said.

	"Yes," Karen said, staring at the ground.

	"Good.  Rest, you'll be up soon."

***************
	
	Mikoto laid in the water, half asleep. Hanai was doing 
the same thing next to her.  She drifted in and out of 
wakefulness, wishing she could just spend a few days there.

	She wondered, idly, what Hanai was thinking about.  
His eyes were closed and he was smiling.  He looked quite 
handsome.  

	Probably Yakumo.  Or maybe Lala.  Or both of them.  
Men were freaks like that.

	She grimaced.  Probably doesn't even remember I'm 
right here, close enough to touch, she thought.

	Her hand drifted over towards him.  She couldn't just 
let him lose himself in dreams of a woman he couldn't have 
and a woman he shouldn't have.  

	And then she heard voices in the hallway.  "Oh, he's 
around here somewhere," Hanai's mother said.  She 
sounded evasive.

	The voice of Sagano, which could probably penetrate 
any barrier, boomed out, "We're supposed to study together 
today.  Oooh, a real bathouse!"

	"Yes," Hanai's mother said.

	"A nice hot soak would do me good," Sagano said.  
"How about you, Yuuki?"

	"It would be kind of nice," Yuuki said.  
"Is...umm...Mikoto here yet?"

	"She's in the bath, I think," Hanai's mom said.

	"Haruki, wake up," Mikoto hissed at him.

	He mumbled, "Why, Yakumo, you look nice in that 
hakama."

	"Then let's go in and join her."

	Mikoto shook Hanai firmly.  He groggily said, 
"What's going on?"

	"Yuuki and Sagano are coming in.  You have to get 
out of here quickly!"  She loomed over him like the doom 
of all things, taking each of his shoulders by the hand and 
shaking him.  This caused her towel to begin to slip.  

	"But the only way out is where they'll come in," Hanai 
mumbled.  He woke up more as he got an eyeful of 
cleavage as she looked over him.  

	This wasn't good.

	Sagano and Yuuki could be heard in the changing 
room.

	"How long can you hold your breath?" she asked.

	"Not long enough," he said.  

	"You may need to..."

	Sagano came out, clad in a towel.  "Hi, guys, making 
out?"

	Hanai and Mikoto sprang away from each other, 
stumbling and both sinking beneath the waters.  She 
desperately pulled her towel up.  

	Yuuki came out hesitantly.  "What was that, Sagano-
san?"

	Mikoto surfaced.  "Look, umm..."  She pulled her 
towel back into place.

	Hanai came up, spitting out water.  "I knew I forgot 
something."

	Yuuki froze up, staring at him, clutching her towel 
tighter.

	"Mmm, co-ed.  Best kind," Sagano said.  "Better turn 
around while we scrub, Hanai."

	He hastily did so.

	Yuuki continued to stand frozen.

	"You wanting him to watch?" Sagano teased her.  
"Even if he can't see us well with his glasses off."

	"EEEEE!!!!!!"  Yuuki sat down hard on a bench.

	"Don't mind us naked girls behind you, Hanai-san," 
Sagano said.  "I'm sure it's not half as sexy as your 
imagination will make it."

	You are a cruel woman, Mikoto thought.  "Yuuki, 
you..."

	"I can go if it makes you uncomfortable, Yuuki," 
Hanai said.  "I've been in here a while already."

	Hesitantly, Yuuki said, "No, I couldn't throw you out 
of your own baths, I'm just not used..."

	"It's the same as him wearing swim trunks, except for 
more chance they'll fall off and we'll get to see his nicely 
toned butt," Sagano said.  "Either way, you win."  She 
began scrubbing herself.

	Yuuki turned red.

	Mikoto looked at her, then said, "Hanai, maybe..."

	"No, no, it's fine," Yuuki said.

	Hanai sank down into the water.  "Thank you, Yuuki."

	Yuuki smiled nervously, trying to scrub her leg with a 
dry towel.  

	Wow, she's nervous, Mikoto thought.  But really, this 
is no big deal, Mikoto thought.  Even if I do feel a little 
nervous myself.  Hanai's the kind of guy who won't do 
anything perverted.  We can trust him to not peek.

	She got down in the water with him.  "Maybe we 
should all go get some lunch, then start studying."

	"Sounds good," Sagano said, quietly reaching over 
and passing Yuuki some actual soap. 

	Hanai half-drowsed while they chatted and got clean, 
really only waking once everyone was in the hot water.  
Yuuki sat down next to him, looking very tense, and he 
whispered to her, "If you're feeling tense, you might want 
to ask Mikoto for a massage.  She gives very good ones."

	You're so kind to me, Yuuki thought.  "Thank you," 
she whispered.  "I'm just not used to this, with...a guy."

	"Well, most of our students are men," Hanai said, "So 
we never built seperate baths.  We only have one this big 
because of having a dojo."

	"It's nice," Yuuki said, closing her eyes and imagining 
herself in a tournament with Hanai.  It was a nice dream.

***************

	Karen bent and twisted, flinging her foe over her onto 
the mat, then flipped around to pin her.  The blonde looked 
utterly confused as she was counted out.

	This had definitely been an easy tournament.  Too 
easy, really.  She got up, looking around, hoping Imadori 
would be here, but really knowing better than to believe it 
true.  He wasn't there, and she sighed.

	She watched Lala win her final match.  The team 
captain of Torio was better than the others, but not nearly 
enough.  At least she didn't look spindly as she went down, 
blue hair flapping about.  

	Lala rubbed her hands after being declared the winner.  
"Unbeaten all tournament," she said gleefully.  "Though 
really, it's due to their weakness."

	"Well, this will help our rankings, since the next 
school is probably going to be trouble," the coach told 
them.  "Karen, you can go hang with your boyfriend now if 
you want to."
	
	"He's not my boyfriend," she mumbled, but she 
wandered over to Harry anyway.  

	"You did great," he said, smiling.

	She smiled back nervously, though she wished 
Imadori was the one telling her that.  "Thanks."

	"Want to go get something to eat?"

	"Let me change out of my uniform," she told him.

	She went to change, wondering what to do.  He really 
seemed to like her and he treated her well, but...was it 
really honest to do all this with him when her heart was set 
on someone else?  She didn't know what to do.

	But she'd go along for now, until she did.

*************

	"Oooh, a policewoman uniform!" Tenma said.  
"Dressing up is fun."

	Mr. Garibaldi looked nervously at her, then at 
Yakumo, who said, "My sister is a very hard worker.  Don't 
worry, she'll be fine."  Yakumo prayed she would be fine.

	"Go suit up in the changing room, and I'll get you 
started," Mr. Garibaldi said.  
	
*************

	Her dad hadn't noticed her staying out overnight; Eri 
was glad for that.  But she wished she'd actually made more 
progress.  And she'd nearly gotten caught. 

	She wanted to do something bolder, but she was afraid 
of driving him off.  But what would get his attention?  She 
had the feeling he was pining for someone.  But who?  He 
didn't really seem to be trying to put the moves on anyone.  
It was probably his special person, but...

	I need an ally, she thought.  I can't go to Tenma, she 
thinks Harima and Yakumo are married, practically.  
Mikoto and Akira both have no love skills.  In fact, Eri 
couldn't think of anyone she was close enough to confide in 
who also had any skill at love.  Though Mikoto was at least 
good at attracting men's attention.  But it was pretty clear 
that Kenji wasn't hypnotized by breasts.  

	Well, Mikoto's at least good at talking to people, Eri 
thought.  And I need an ally.  Or at least some advice from 
someone who knows what they're doing.

************

	Yakumo looked at the blue dress.  "How is this?"

	"Hmm, too flashy," Sara said.

	Yakumo held up a very sedate yellow dress.  "And 
this?"

	"Too plain."

	Shuffling clothing around a little, Yakumo pulled out 
an orange dress, just a little flirty.  "How about this?"

	"That will work," Sara said.  "So, are you going for the 
kiss tonight?"

	Yakumo shivered slightly.  "If I get an opening."

	"You have to be stronger than that," Sara said.  "He's 
pretty clearly shy about romance, so you'll have to take the 
initiative."  Let's hope Imadori-sempai's advice is good, she 
thought.

	Yakumo sat down on the bed with the dress.  "Makes 
me nervous."

	"And I have to be bolder with Asou-sempai," Sara 
said, coming over to sit down by her.  "Good luck!"  She 
traced a cross on Yakumo's forehead.  "God bless you."

	Yakumo nodded.  "And you too."

	"So your sister is subbing for you?" Sara asked.

	"Yes."

	"Good, she gets along well with people.  She should 
be just fine."

************

	"What is the soup of the day?" Mr. Inigo asked.  He 
was a fairly average slightly pudgy businessman.

	I didn't realize each day has its own special soup, 
Tenma thought.  Hmm, Saturday seems like the kind of day 
to have...mushroom soup.  "Mushroom soup," she said.

	"I'll have that and a Caesar salad and some lasanga," 
he said.  "But I want the salad dressing on the side."

	"The side of what?" Tenma asked.  

	"Not on the salad," he said.

	Tenma noted down that he wanted a Caesar salad 
without any Caesar in it.  "I'll be right on it!"

	She bopped off to the kitchen, missing a half dozen 
people trying to get her attention.  By the time she returned 
with drinks for one table, two more were trying to hail her.

	Moving faster meant she accidentally gave pasta 
primavera to someone who ordered chicken cacciatore.  
But she fixed that, even if two more problems DID crop up 
while she fixed that one.

	This required her to run even faster to try to catch up, 
only to result in spilling the soup of the day all over several 
young punks.  "You stupid bitch!" one of them shouted.  "I 
should..."

	Tenma pulled a whistle and blew it.  "Freeze!  You're 
under arrest!" she bluffed, giving them her best angry cop 
stare.

	"Oh shit, she's a real cop on a side job!" another one 
shouted.  They all got up and ran.

	What, no tip?, she thought.  Kids these days...

***************

	Mikoto decided she was really putting too much effort 
into what was supposed to be a fake date. But it had to look 
real.  And part of her wanted to show up her old tutor's 
girlfriend.  My breasts are bigger than hers, she thought 
desperately.  But that seemed more important to Imadori 
than him.

	Just forget about him, go and have fun, she thought, 
pulling on the gloves.  Let's just hope Haruki didn't forget 
somehow.

**********
	  
	Lala tried to reach for the phone, but found herself 
strangely unable to escape Takaishi-san's grip.  "But Karen 
is out with her boyfriend..."

	"You cannot be too eager," Takahishi-san said.

	"She'll get ahead of me!" Lala blurted out.

	"Let her race to her destruction," Takaishi-san said.

	"But...Hanai..."

	"Will call you if he is interested this soon.  Don't 
appear desperate."

	I'm not desperate, she thought.  I just can't let Karen 
get ahead of me.

************	

	Harima opened the door.  "Itoko-san, why are you 
making ticking clock noises?"

	She smiled.  "Just counting down the seconds to 
doomsday."

	"I'm just going out to the movies with Yakumo-san," 
Harima said.

	"Tick.  Tick.  Tick," Itoko said.

	Harima sighed.  "I don't have time for games.  I'll 
probably crash over there tonight."

	"Just remember you can't serve two masters forever," 
Itoko said.

	"No one is MY master!" Harima proclaimed.

	All he got was more ticks.

****************

	"Son, let me give you one word of warning," Mr. 
Hanai said to his son.

	"Yes, what is it, father?" Haruki asked.

	"Dating two women at once is probably one of the 
best possible ways to die.  Especially when they both can 
fight," Mr. Hanai said.  "Plus, there's still the other girl."

	"I am just helping Suou out with a problem," he said.  
"As for Lala...well, it was Mikoto's idea."

	"Son, if you don't learn to understand when women 
tell you to do something but don't mean it, you will be 
lucky to make it alive out of high school, let alone become 
a Master one day," Mr. Hanai said.  "You're my son, and I 
don't want you to die because you didn't understand how to 
deal with women."

	"You've never actually taught me anything about 
women," Haruki pointed out.

	"True wisdom in this field does come from suffering 
and pain."

	"Well, none of that tonight, I hope," Haruki said.

	"Good luck," Mr. Hanai said.  He'll need it.

************

	Imadori asked himself why, on a Saturday night, he 
was with a bunch of guys instead of with a girl.  He could 
be dating someone right now.  But somehow, things hadn't 
gone right.  People had cancelled and he'd not been able to 
figure out where Karen or Mikoto was and everything just 
didn't feel right.

	So he was trying to just forget everything for now, 
hanging out with the gang and watching some of the 
copious video selection that Buddha had, thanks to his 
parents' business.  

	"So anything interesting happen to anyone today?" 
Imadori asked as the opening credits rolled on 'Hot Bodies 
in Hokkaido'.  

	"Not to me personally, but I did hear someone had an 
interesting time," Fuyuki said.

	"Hmm?" Buddha asked.

	"Well, assuming Sagano-san didn't hallucinate the 
whole thing, and knowing her, that's possible," Fuyuki said, 
"Then she, Yuuki, and Mikoto all took a bath with Hanai."

	"..."  Yoshidayama said.

	"You lie," Imadori said.  "Him?  Mr. Straight-Laced 
Himself?"

	"Yes," Fuyuki said.  "Sagano wouldn't give details 
beyond saying they'll probably do it again some time."

	Imadori twitched.  "NO WAY."

	"Yes way," Fuyuki said.  "Blows your mind, doesn't 
it?"

	"I can feel my soul dying from envy," Imadori said.

	"She probably imagined it," Buddha said.  "Or 
exaggerated something, like a split bathhouse with a wall 
between the sides and Hanai just happened to be on the 
other side.  You know how she is."

	"True," Fuyuki said.

	"I'll ask him," Imadori said.  He got out his phone and 
called.

*****************

	Hanai sat with Mikoto on the train, riding across the 
city.  She was nervous, while he was feeling pretty relaxed.

	"I'm sorry to drag you into this," she said.  

	"Don't sweat it," he said.  "We can't just bluff them 
forever, though."

	She sighed.  "I know, I know.  I'll figure something 
out."

	"They're supposed to meet us at the station right?" 
Hanai asked.

	"Yes," she said.

	"We should probably hold hands as we come off, 
then," he said, reaching over and taking her hand.

	She jumped slightly, then relaxed, twining her fingers 
with his.  "Let's just try and forget everything and have fun 
tonight, okay?"

	"Okay," he said.  

	"And don't think about Yakumo.  Or Lala.  Or..."  

	Tensely, he said, "I won't blow our cover."

	His phone rang and he answered it.  "Hello?"

	"Hi, this is Imadori.  Did you really take a bath with 
Miko-chin, Yuuki-san, and Sagano-san?"

	"Why are you calling me about this?" Hanai asked.

	"Did you?" Imadori insisted.

	"It's none of your business," Hanai said.

	"So yes."

	"Go harrass someone else," Hanai said and hung up.

	"What was that about?" Mikoto asked.

	"Just Imadori being an ass," Hanai said.

	"Is he jealous of our date?" Mikoto asked.

	"Probably," Hanai said.

	"You aren't jealous I went out with him, are you?" she 
asked almost hopefully.

	"It wasn't very wise of you."

	"Not very wise of ME?  At least he wasn't likely to 
break me in half!" Mikoto protested.

	The train stopped, unnoticed, and people got off.

	On the platform, Masahiro and Miki began waving to 
them.

	"She doesn't just attack people!" Hanai protested.  
"She was a very nice date."

	"You certainly seemed to enjoy kissing her!" Mikoto 
shouted back.

	"They look so passionate," Miki said a little jealously.

	"I'd better make sure they don't miss their stop," 
Masahiro said, running forward.

	"It wasn't my idea!" Hanai protested.

	"But I could see you liked it!"

	"You shouldn't have been following me!" he said, 
waving his hands in the air.

	Masahiro leaped onto the train.  "You guys coming?"

	"Now leaving the station."

	Mikoto froze up.  Hanai turned and said, "Uh oh."

	They turned and ran for the doors.  Masahiro made it 
easily, but Mikoto and Hanai were less lucky.  They had to 
get a window open and leap out as the train started to 
accelerate.

	"Sorry about that," Hanai said, embarrassed.

	"Easy to lose track of time when you're with Suou, 
eh?" Masahiro said, elbowing him.

	"Yeah," Hanai said.

	Mikoto stared at the ground and prayed he hadn't 
heard what she was saying.

	If he had, he gave no sign of it.

*************	

	Harima knocked on the door and Yakumo answered in 
a very nice dress.  She shifted back and forth on her feet in 
a manner that reminded Harima of a fighter waiting to be 
attacked.  He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  "Yo.  
Ready to go?"

	"Ready," she said.  "Where are we going?"

	"Dunno," he said, as she came out and locked the 
door.  "Maybe we should eat at Cafe Mercado, see how 
Tenma-san is doing?" he asked hopefully.

	"She probably wouldn't want me checking up on her," 
Yakumo said.  

	"It would be a show of moral support," Harima 
argued.

	"Also, my boss might try and put me to work," 
Yakumo said.  "How about Tiki Hut?"

	"I can't stand Hawaiian music," he said.  "How about 
House of Fonzie?"

	"The place that has the motorcycle on the roof?" 
Yakumo asked.

	"Yeah."  He's the most famous delinquent of all, 
Harima thought.  It'll be good luck.

	"Alright," she said.

	They headed out to House of Fonzie, which had been 
carefully designed to resemble a fifties diner.  The parking 
lot was jammed full of motorcycles.  Harima had to circle 
several times to find a parking space.

	Finally, he squeezed into one and went inside.  The 
place was crammed full of men in leather jackets and 
women in poodle skirts.  Even with the staff in period garb, 
it was hard to distinguish them from the customers.

	I should have worn a leather jacket, Harima thought.  
He didn't even have any gel to give his hair an appropriate 
style.

	They were in the middle of perusing the menus when a 
skinny blonde man in a racing outfit walked up.  "Yo, 
Kenji-kun."

	Harima half jumped out of his skin.  "Haruka-kun!"

	Haruka grinned.  "Been a while.  Saw your hog out in 
the parking lot."

	Yakumo looked at Haruka; he reminded her of Harry 
Mackenzie in appearance, though shorter.  "Hello," she said 
softly.

	"Hey, got yourself a girlfriend!" Haruka said.  "It's 
about time.  I was wondering if you'd ever get over just 
punching everything."

	Harima laughed nervously.  "She...well..."

	"Kenji-kun and I have been going out for a while 
now," Yakumo said, surprising herself.  "I'm Tsukamoto 
Yakumo."

	Harima flapped his lips in surprise.

	Haruka looked at her a little more closely now, staring 
into her eyes.  Then he smiled.  "Keep him in line."

	"He's usually well-behaved," Yakumo said.

	Haruka's grin looked fit to split his face in half.  
"Anyone who can tame a man like him has to be quite a 
woman."

	Tame?  I'm not tame, Harima thought.  He tried to 
seize control of the conversation.  "You seeing anyone 
these days?  Or too busy racing to date?"

	The waitress, a pink-haired girl, skated up to take their 
order, saw Haruka, and skated off to another table as 
Yakumo tried weakly to flag her down.

	"Well, it's one of those hard to explain things," Haruka 
said to Harima.

	"Yeah, exactly," Harima said, thinking of his own 
situation.

	It was at this point that Yakumo spotted some of the 
Dragons coming in together.  "Kenji-kun..." she said, 
pointing.

	He frowned.  "They'd better not start anything."

	Haruka glanced over.  "Not in here.  Sacred ground, 
you know."

	"Sacred ground?" Yakumo asked.

	"It's a virtual temple of delinquency," Haruka said, 
spreading his arms wide.  "Coming here pretty much says 
you're trouble or you want to be."  

	Oh dear, Yakumo thought.  I'm not trouble at all.  Am 
I?

	Harima grinned.  "I can still be a lot of trouble if I feel 
like it.  Like we showed the Dragons recently."

	"I heard there was some kind of giant brawl," Haruka 
said.  

	"Yeah, we kicked some major ass," Harima said.  
"You'd have loved it."

	"Shoulda called me," Haruka said.

	"Yakumo-chan and I handled it," Harima said, not 
feeling the need to mention everyone else right now.

	Haruka looked at her curiously.  "You a fighter too?" 
she asked, surprised.

	Yakumo stared at the table.  "I can if I have to."

	"She's humble," Harima said.

	The Dragons now spotted Kenji and came over with 
Taro at their head.  "Man, one woman still isn't enough for 
you?" Taro said to Kenji.

	"She's not his girlfriend, you know," Yakumo said to 
him firmly.  "She's just a classmate of his."

	"Oh please," Taro said.  "What kind of crazy person 
puts himself in that sort of position for a classmate?"  His 
voice was full of disdain.  "You're pretty clearly just a side-
dish."

	"Don't you have better things to do, like scrubbing 
toilets with your face?" Haruka asked.

	Yakumo felt her heart pound.  He really had put 
himself into a hideously dangerous position for Sawachika-
san.  But he'd do the same thing for her, wouldn't he?  Kenji 
was just that kind of guy.

	"Butt out, blondie," Taro began.

	"You're offering me your ass?" Haruka said.  "I must 
decline."

	Harima laughed while Yakumo continued to stare at 
the table.  Harima said, "You want an ass-kicking, Taro?  
Come see me after you eat.  I would have thought you 
learned something from what happened to you last time.  
And if you call Yakumo-san any more insulting things I'm 
gonna have to break you."  His voice had turned quite 
serious.

	That made her feel better.  Yakumo looked up to see 
what Taro would do.

	"You and what ar..." Taro began before Keiichi 
stepped on his foot.  "Fucker," he said.  "Hiding behind 
your classmates.  Even your woman was more man than 
you."

	Harima growled at that, and Yakumo feared she was 
about to have another date go to hell.

	"How about this," Haruka said.  "You two have a 
game of pool to settle this, so we don't all get thrown out of 
here for life?"

	"I'll kick his ugly poor-aiming ass," Harima said.

	"That'll work," Taro said.  "Let's do it."

	"Can you order us some food?" Harima said to 
Yakumo.  "Anything with meat."

	"Okay," she said softly, sighing inside.  Another date 
going down the drain.

**************

	The whistle cut through the din, drawing stares again.  
"I'm going to have to write you a ticket," Tenma said to the 
group of four businessmen about to leave the restaurant.

	"What?" one of them said in surprise.

	"You didn't tip your waitress." Tenma said, shaking 
her head sadly.  "That counts as theft of service."

	The man desperately pulled out his wallet.  "Can't I 
just go leave one now?"

	She looked at him with steely eyes.  "Alright.  Go do 
that.  And don't do it again.  You never know when the law 
will be watching you."

	She kept an eye on them until they left, then saluted 
the other waitress on duty, Mai, who had almost gotten 
stiffed.

	Then it was time to clear table five.

	The manager watched this, praying no real cops would 
come in.

*************
	  
	"Man, don't mope," Yoshidayama said to Imadori.  
"You look stupid when you do."

	Imadori grumbled.  "Why can't I have that kind of 
luck?"

	"The most difficult road of perversion is that of the 
apparently not-perverted man," Buddha said sagely.  "He 
must indulge his desires without ever revealing he has 
them.  It is a hard road, but often rewarding."

	"And he got to go to a mostly female slumber party at 
the Tsukamotos too," Imadori grumbled.  "Bastard."

	"The appearance of not-wanting-something can often 
induce people to give it to you," Buddha said.

	I'll have to think on that, Imadori thought.

***************
	
	"If I give you such a chance, you have to take it," 
Sagano told Yuuki.

	Yuuki sighed.  "I was too embarrassed."

	They were both at Yuuki's house, watching TV and 
talking.

	"If you can't ask a guy out when you're both half-
naked, when CAN you ask him?" Sagano asked.		

	"I'm not very bold," Yuuki said, sighing.

	"Well, I could ask him for you," Sagano said.

	Yuuki shook her head.  "No, something would go 
wrong and you'd end up dating him instead."

	Sagano frowned.  "Hey, cute as he is, I wouldn't make 
moves on your man."  She paused.  "Your man-to-be."

	"I just have to find the right time."

	"Just don't wait too long," Sagano said.  "Perfect times 
rarely come."

************

	Mikoto decided she liked the place Miki had picked 
out for dinner; she liked seafood and her salmon and 
shrimp were both very good.  

	"So, do you two have any big plans for Christmas?" 
Miki asked.

	"No, not really," Hanai said.  "But it's nearly two 
months away, so we're still focused on school."

	"Every moment of study is precious," Masahiro said.  
"They've got exams coming up next year, you know."

	Miki rolled her eyes.  "Work, work.  You two are just 
alike."

	Mikoto laughed.  "They're not that much alike."

	"Hard-working, intelligent, athletic, too dutiful for 
their own good," Miki said.  "Sounds like it to me."

	Masahiro and Hanai both put their hands behind their 
heads and laughed nervously, then looked at each other, 
froze, and quickly put their hands down.  Masahiro said, 
"We ordered different things."  He pointed to his own turtle 
soup and Hanai's chicken, crawfish, and fried vegetables.  	

	"Hanai is more of a martial artist, Katawa-sempai is 
more of an academic," Mikoto said.

	"That reminds me, you two thought about what 
colleges you're going to yet?" Masahiro asked between 
bites.

	"Not really," Mikoto said.  "Still trying to decide what 
I'm going to do."

	"Me too," Hanai said.  "Though Father wants me to 
inherit the dojo."

	"Well, no need to worry about that yet," Miki said.

	"You have to plan for the future," Masahiro said.

	Miki frowned at him, then shook her head and picked 
at her vegetables.

	Masahiro laughed nervously.  "Well, don't let me tell 
you both what to do."

	"That's Miko-chan's job," Hanai said.

	Mikoto said, "I am not bossy."  She frowned.

	"You have to learn to guide them subtly," Miki said to 
Mikoto.  "It takes practice."

	Mikoto grumbled into her food.  I am NOT bossy.  
Some people just need a firm guiding hand.

*************
	
	Eri stared at the window of a restaurant she was being 
driven past.  She could see Kenji inside, playing pool 
with...Taro?  What was going on?

	"Can you find somewhere to park?  I need to go check 
something.  And can you call Akira and tell her I'll be 
late?" Eri asked.  She was on her way to hang out with 
Akira so she didn't go crazy sitting around the house while 
Kenji was off dating Yakumo.

	"Yes," he said.  "As you like, Miss."

	He found a place and she crept back to watch.  

***********

 	Harima was glad he'd agreed to best two of three, as 
he'd lost the first game, and the second one wasn't going so 
well.  He'd sunk the five and the three, but all Taro had left 
to sink was the twelve, and then he could go for the eight-
ball.  His food was getting cold, and Yakumo was hovering 
next to him silently, watching him lose.  He didn't like the 
idea of his partner seeing things going this badly for him.

	Fortunately, it was at least his shot.  Taro was 
watching him, smirking.  Yakumo was hard to read, but 
Haruka looked encouraging, at least.  So he breathed in, 
breathed out, and took the shot, banking the cue ball off the 
side to hit the seven, which hit the nine, knocking it in.  
Score!

	Harima did a little dance.  Carefully, he lined up his 
next shot, knocking the cue off the side and into the twelve 
which then slammed into the seven, sending it towards the 
hole and...then the seven stopped just short.

	Taro smirked at him as Harima groaned.  "Twelve in 
corner pocket."  Thunk, straight shot.  "Excellent."

	Harima grimaced.

	"And now...Eight ball in side pocket."  He made a 
grand production of lining up his cue ball, while Harima 
stood calmly, screaming on the INSIDE.

	However, just as Taro was about to take his shot, 
someone jogged his elbow and the cue ball spun, knocking 
the eight ball to one side, causing it to careen into the 
seven, which sank.

	Taro spun and saw the backside of a woman in black 
leather pants and a matching jacket.  "Hey, bitch, you 
screwed up my shot!"

	The blonde turned, staring through sunglasses, a 
cigarette in her mouth.  She wore a loose white t-shirt under 
her jacket.  Her long hair was tied into a single pony-tail.  
Harima stared at her; she looked kind of familiar, but he 
couldn't place her.

	Yakumo's breath caught for a moment.

	The blonde took the cigarette out of her mouth, 
dropped it into an ashtray on an unoccupied table, and said, 
"You talking to me, kid?" in a harsh voice.

	"You made me miss my shot!  I oughta get another 
shot!"

	"No do-overs," Haruka said.  "A real man wouldn't 
have missed that shot even if someone did jog his elbow."

	"Yeah," Harima said.

	Yakumo didn't know what to say; she thought it would 
only be fair to let Taro go again, but if he did, he would 
probably win.

	"I expect you missed your shot because you're a 
shithead," the blonde woman said.

	"You want a piece of me?  I'll tear you apart once I 
finish beating this idiot," Taro said.  

	"Fine with me," the blonde said.

	Harima now took a shot at the fifteen, but he gave it a 
little too much spin and it now careened into the eight ball, 
sinking it.  "Noooooooo!!!!!!"

	"My two games.  I win."

	"Double or nothing!" Harima protested.

	"We didn't actually bet anything.  Just demonstrating 
who sucks, and that would be you."  Taro grinned.  
"Though we could play another game and bet 
something...say, your hog against mine."

	"Fine," Harima said.

	"I want a piece of this bastard first," the blonde 
woman said.

	"Let her play him while you eat before your food 
freezes over," Yakumo said to Harima.

	Grumblingly, he let himself be led over to eat, keeping 
an eye on the game.  The blonde and Taro were both quite 
good and the game went quickly.  He was only halfway 
into his food when the blonde won the first game.

	Yakumo kept looking at him with that look that meant 
he was supposed to be saying something.  Or maybe doing 
something.  It was hard to tell with women.  Harima tried to 
think about it, then said, "We're not going to miss the 
movie, are we?"

	Yakumo looked at her watch.  "We will if you play 
another game after we eat."

	He frowned.  "I can't just run away from him."

	She hesitated, then said, "Didn't we do this to do stuff 
together, not you with him?"

	Harima froze up.  Tenma wouldn't be happy if he 
ignored Yakumo.  And he had just enough insight to see 
she felt neglected.  He felt a little guilty.  But if I run away 
from this guy...

	He could see Taro winning the second game, just by a 
hair.  

	Well, I can kick his ass later, Harima thought 
reluctantly.  Though it ground his gears.

**************

	The two boys ended up in the middle with the girls 
flanking them at the movie theater; Mikoto knew she would 
come apart if she sat by her sempai.  They didn't seem to 
mind; the two guys kept whispering to each other while the 
gals watched the movie, The Shining Star Society, which 
was about a secret women's club at a university.  

	Mikoto tried to empty her mind and just enjoy the 
movie and hanging out with friends.  Much to her relief, 
Hanai hadn't said anything about Yakumo.  Maybe he was 
finally getting over her.  She prayed that was the case.  She 
hated to see him wasting his time like that when Yakumo 
had a boyfriend.

	Pretending to have a boyfriend wasn't as good as the 
real thing, but it was better than nothing.  Hanai would 
make someone a good boyfriend once he got over Yakumo.  
It wasn't going to be Lala if she could help it.

	She could see Miki snuggling up to Masahiro, and she 
got a little closer to Hanai, putting an arm around him.  He 
started, then put one around her, and she rested her head on 
his shoulder.  

	Just let the rest of tonight go smoothly, she thought.  
That's all I ask.

**************
	
	"I wonder what sort of costume Yakumo-san will be 
wearing today," Yoshidayama speculated.

	"You do know she's dating Harima, right?" Imadori 
asked, slightly irritably.

	Their whole gang had gone to Cafe Mercado for 
dinner, and were waiting to be seated.

	"Yes, but I can still look," Yoshidayama pointed out.

	Tenma came up, dressed as a policewoman.  "Table 
for...seven?"

	Yoshidayama looked disappointed; several of the 
others looked suprised to see Tenma and not Yakumo.

	Buddha nodded.  "Yes."

	"Perverted or non-perverted?" Tenma asked.

	Imadori looked dubiously at Tenma.  "That's a rude 
question to ask."

	"Perverted," Buddha said.

	Imadori grumbled as they headed over to their table, 
which didn't look any different from any of the other ones.  
Tenma brought them menus; he could note a few of the 
guys checking her out, though most of them weren't too 
interested.  They placed drink orders and she bustled off.

	I need a plan, he thought.  He couldn't let Harry have 
Karen.  Not that he wanted Karen for himself; she wasn't 
his type.  But he wasn't going to let any jerk from 2-D 
swoop in on the 2-C women.  No poaching in his pond.

	Taiki and Fuyuki began a conversation about the show 
they'd been watching.  Soon, everyone joined in but him.  
Somewhat loudly.

	As Tenma headed back towards the boys' table, one of 
the couples at another table stopped her.  "Ma'am, can't you 
stop them talking about porn?" the woman asked.

	"They didn't promise to not talk about porn, ma'am," 
Tenma said.  "This is the perverted section."

	"I'd like to talk to the manager," the woman said.

	"Okay," she said, and went and delivered the drinks, 
then got the manager.  

	"Yes, ma'am, what's the problem?" he asked.

	"Those boys are talking about porn," the woman said.  
"I don't want to listen to that."

	"I'll ask them to be quieter," the manager said.

	"But Boss, this is the perverted side of the store," 
Tenma said.

	"It's the smoking side," he said.

	"Don't people smoke after sex?" Tenma asked.

	They stared at each other for a few seconds.

	"I'll ask them to be quieter," the boss said.

	"Should I have put them on the other side?" Tenma 
asked, worried.

	"There is no perverted side to this restaurant," the boss 
said.

	"But..."

	"NONE."

	"Right."

	The manager went over.  "Boys, can you try to keep it 
down?  You're disturbing other customers."

	"Hey, we never promised to not talk about porn!" 
Yoshidayama protested.  "Isn't this the perverted side of the 
cafe?"

	"We don't have one," the manager said.

	"DISCRIMINATION!" Yoshidayama bellowed.  "I 
demand a perverted side to this cafe."

	People stared, and Buddha laughed. The others were 
mostly laughing as well, though Fuyuki shrank down a bit 
in his seat.

	"Out!" the manager said.

	"But...we haven't even gotten our food!" Imadori 
protested.

	"Tsukamoto-san, arrest them," the manager said.

	"Sorry, everyone, you're under arrest."  Tenma 
immediately slapped handcuffs around Imadori's wrist and 
her own.

	"Hey, why am I getting handcuffed?"

	"You're not nice enough to Karen," Tenma said.  
"Clearly the ringleader."

	"You sat us down here!"

	"The law brooks no excuse," Tenma said sternly.  
"Alright, all of you come with me."

	She marched them out of the main body of the 
restaurant, into the kitchen.  "You're sentenced to wash 
dishes," she said.

	"But...we were just loud!" Fuyuki protested.

	"Disrupting the peace.  Also, you didn't pay for your 
drinks."  Tenma now took the handcuff off her wrist and 
handcuffed Imadori to the sink.  "You're all sentenced to an 
hour of dishes."

	Buddha stared at Tenma, wondering what burr had 
climbed up her butt.  "We hadn't paid because you didn't 
give us the bill yet!"

	"So, trying to leave before the bill..." Tenma scribbled 
on a notepad.

	"Tenma, you can't make..." Imadori began.

	Tenma pulled a pistol and fired it into the air.  They all 
fell silent.  "The law must be enforced!  And you will refer 
to me as Officer Tsukamoto!"

	They went to work, grumbling, while Officer 
Tsukamoto resumed patrolling her beat.

****************
	
	Yakumo glanced over at Harima, who looked cranky.  
She wasn't too happy with him either.  It seemed like 
staying or going, both just led to unhappiness.  Though that 
blonde girl, whoever she was, seemed to have come out 
ahead; the last she'd seen as she left, the girl had just won 
Taro's motorcycle in a pool game bet.

	She tried to think of something to say, but she 
couldn't.  They'd missed their original movie plan; now 
they were going to have to try something else.  Hopefully, 
Herbie vs. Christine would be amusing.  Sentient car 
movies were always fun, right?

	Harima bought their tickets and they headed into the 
lobby just as Hanai and Mikoto and Masahiro and Miki 
were coming out of their movie.  Yakumo froze up, moving 
to half-hide behind Harima.

	Movement, however, draws the eye, and Hanai spotted 
her.  His glasses began to fog over.

	Mikoto spotted her and tried to make 'scram' gestures 
at Harima.  He, however, couldn't figure out why she was 
trying to make covert motions that resembled someone 
swishing a broom to him.

	He looked down at the floor, wondering if he was 
about to step into something filthy.

	Hanai was unable to stop himself saying, "Yakumo-
san!"

	Yakumo cringed; she could see his thoughts starting to 
fire up.  Miki and Masahiro turned to look at her curiously.  

	Hanai's brain was fogging out.  "Fancy meeting you 
here!"

	Miki looked over at Hanai.  "Are you alright, Hanai-
san?"

	Harima looked up.  "Yo, Suou-san, Hanai-san."

	Mikoto sighed, then said, "Katawa-san, Miki-san, this 
is Harima Kenji, one of my classmates, and his girlfriend, 
Tsukamoto Yakumo."  She squeezed Hanai's arm gently.  
"Harima, this is my old tutor, Katawa Masahiro, and his 
girlfriend, Shinohara Miki."

	Hanai yelped, then said, "What movie are you here to 
see?"

	"Herbie vs. Christine," Harima said.

	Yakumo perked up a little, though she watched Hanai 
warily.  

	Miki shuddered.  "I hate horror movies."

	"I love them," Harima said.

	Wait, this is a horror movie? Yakumo thought.

	"Well, don't let us delay you from your DATE," 
Mikoto said, ushering Hanai off.

	"Nice to meet you!" Miki said as they headed off.

	"I didn't realize those two were dating," Harima said.  

	"I hope they never break up," Yakumo mumbled.

	"What?"

	"Nothing.  Let's...go see the movie," she said 
hesitantly.

	But then her phone rang.  She answered it.  
"Tsukamoto Yakumo."

	"Yakumo-san, you have to save us!  Your sister's gone 
mad and is making us wash dishes!" Imadori said.  

	"You shouldn't have tried to leave without paying," 
Yakumo said.

	"We hadn't even gotten our food yet!"

	Yakumo hesitated.  "I'll call my sister, but you should 
talk to the manager."

	"PLEASE.  He doesn't care!  Our suffering is without 
end!" Imadori wailed.

	"I'll try.  Goodbye, Imadori-kun."

	"What's up?" Harima asked.

	"Some trouble at my workplace," Yakumo said, then 
dialled Tenma.

	"Officer Tsukamoto speaking.  How may I serve 
you?" Tenma asked.

	Yakumo knew in an instant what had gone wrong.  
Tenma had gotten too much into her role; she tended to do 
that whenever she had to pretend to be something else.  
She'd only be able to shake her out of it if she went over 
there and scuttled the date.  Which she really didn't want to 
do.

	"This is your sister, Yakumo."  She hesitated.  "Is 
everything going well?"

	"My beat is very peaceful now that I've laid down the 
law," Tenma said.

	Yakumo fretted.  "You do remember you're not really 
a cop, right?"

	"You're such a kidder," Tenma said.

	"Is something wrong?" Harima asked, frowning.

	"Nothing," Yakumo said to him.  "Just be merciful to 
people, okay?"  I'll go by after the movie, she thought.

	"That's up to the judge," Tenma said.  "I am but the 
hand of justice."

	Not good, Yakumo thought.  But it would have to 
wait.  Surely the manager will keep her from going too over 
the top.

***************
	
	Eri got ready to take her next shot.  If she won this 
game, she wouldn't just have Taro's bike, X-box, and cell 
phone, she'd get his LEATHER JACKET too.  Once she 
had that, he'd just be out of business.  

	And then Akira plunged down from the ceiling, 
grabbed her, and rose out of sight.

	"Hey, I was winning!" she protested.

	"I don't think he was going to honor his bets, and we 
won't have time for all the movies I've lined up if we don't 
get down to work," Akira said as they escaped through a 
skylight.

	"How did you find me?"

	"I called your butler," Akira said, carrying Eri as she 
ran across the rooftop.

	"Dammit, I was going to have my own bike!" Eri 
protested.

	"How would you hide that from your Dad?"

	"Stop being realistic," Eri grumbled.  "I was winning, 
dammit."

	Far below, Taro didn't know what happened, but he 
decided to just chalk it up to divine intervention and to go 
pray at the temple tomorrow and make an offering in 
gratitude.  Favor for favor, you know.

****************
 
	"Was that an ex-girlfriend of his?" Miki whispered to 
Mikoto as the four of them ambled down the street, 
enjoying the night air.

	"Yeah," Mikoto replied.  Not exactly the truth, but 
close enough, right?  Burying myself deeper, she thought.  

	"She looked almost scared of him," Miki said.

	"Haruki-kun can be somewhat overbearing.  I'm strong 
enough to just overbear back, but she wasn't," Mikoto said.  

	Miki nodded, looking at the two guys, who had 
stopped to look in the window of a martial arts supply 
store.  "So is he a good boyfriend?"

	"He's stubborn and set in his ways and he sometimes 
can't see things that are utterly obvious," Mikoto said.  "It's 
like trying to lead a mule, sometimes."  She shook her 
head.  "But he's a really nice guy who watches out for his 
friends, and hard-working and dedicated.  So in the 
balance, yeah, he is."

	Miki gave an odd sigh.  "You two looked very 
passionate on the train.  I wish...I kind of envy that.  
Masahiro is very considerate and kind, but he's 
not...passionate.  And if I get worked up, he tends to back 
down, even if I don't want him to.  You know what I 
mean?"

	Mikoto thought about how she'd badgered Masahiro  
into studying martial arts.  "Yes."

	"Does he kiss well?"  Miki asked.

	Mikoto blushed at that.

	"I won't pry," Miki said, taking it for a yes.  
"Masahiro-kun is a pretty good kisser," she said, almost 
braggingly.

	Mikoto didn't want to hear about that, but she couldn't 
stop herself from prying.  "Does he do it often?"

	"Oh, he loves to kiss," Miki said, purring a little.  

	Mikoto felt a huge surge of jealousy, then tried to 
tamp it down.  They can kiss if they want to.  It's not my 
problem.

	But she was jealous anyway.

	"Hanai doesn't have a lot of practice, but he does 
have...passion," Mikoto said.  

	She could see Miki look a little jealous, and that made 
Mikoto feel better, then feel mad at herself for being so 
petty.

	"Passion about what?" Hanai asked, suddenly turning 
around.

	Mikoto felt embarrassed.  "Everything you do."

	"Kissing," Miki said.

	Hanai stared.  "You didn't tell her about..." he began.

	"The bathhouse?  No, I..."  Oh wait, he's thinking 
about him kissing Lala.  Why is he thinking about kissing 
Lala when he's out with me? Mikoto asked herself.  

	"Oooh, naughty," Miki said.

	Masahiro stared in surprise at Mikoto and she wanted 
to shrink down and blow away in the wind.

	But she couldn't.

	Mikoto mumbled incoherently as everyone looked at 
her.

	Hanai said, "It's really not half as impressive as it 
sounds.  Mikoto sometimes has to help me clean out our 
dojo's bathhouse, and we happened to end up kissing one 
time recently."

	Miki said, "Aww, I think you're trying to hide 
something."

	"Miki, be nice," Masahiro said, taking her by the arm.  
"What they do in bathhouses is their own private business."  
Even if he didn't sound entirely approving of it.

	Hanai took Mikoto by the arm, and she tried to think 
of some subtle way to just drop dead.  

	Then Mikoto saw Sagano in the distance.  Deep in her 
heart, she knew exactly what would come to pass if Sagano 
noticed her.  She'd thank Hanai for the nice bath or 
something, and then there would be no choice but to flee 
into the wilderness and NEVER come back.

	Time seemed to slow as Sagano drew closer.  
Desperately, Mikoto said, "I know it's night and mostly 
closed, but can you show us around your campus?"

	"Sure," Masahiro said.  "Love to.  Right, Miki?"

	"We know the best places to make out," Miki 
whispered.

	Mikoto's eyes crossed.  "The campus is that way, 
right?" she said pointing off down a left street.

	"That gate is closed.  We have to go up two blocks, 
then turn left."

	Doom approached on bouncy feet.  Yuuki, Sagano, 
and to Mikoto's surprise, Karasuma, were coming down the 
street; they all had ice cream.  

	Into Mikoto's doom-laden brain came the thought 'why 
are they here?  We're halfway across Tokyo from our home 
district.  Why now?'

	Sagano began to wave; Hanai waved back.  As they 
drew closer, Mikoto felt like a hand was clutching her 
heart.  So, utterly dead.

	Sagano finally said, "Hi, guys.  We got bored of 
studying, so we decided to come see one of the schools that 
Yuuki is thinking of applying to."

	"Hi, Hanai-san," Yuuki managed to blurt out.

	Karasuma observed them quietly.

	"Everyone, this is my old tutor, Katawa Masahiro and 
his girlfriend, Shinohara Miki.  Katawa-san, Miki-san, 
these are three of my classmates, Karasuma Ooji, Yuuki 
Tsumugi, and Sagano Megumi," Mikoto said, praying 
Sagano would restrain herself.

	"It's a pleasure to meet friends of Hanai-san," Yuuki 
said.

	"Nice to meetcha," Sagano said.

	"Hello," Karasuma said.

	"Nice to meet you all," Miki said.

	"We're about to head over to the college.  Want to 
come with us?" Masahiro asked.

	Nooooooooo, Mikoto thought.

	"Sure!" Sagano said.

	Yuuki nodded.  

	"Let's go, then."

	So dead, Mikoto thought.  Why did they have to show 
up here?  WHY?

************
		
	"Officer, I'm here to pay Buddha's bail," Akira said to 
Tenma.

	"Why just HIM?" Imadori demanded.

	"The rest of you don't have family who owns a video 
rental place where I can now get a discount," Akira said, 
looking at Buddha.

	Buddha said, "You are truly enlightened."

	"Thank you.  Come, the limo is waiting."

	"A limo?  He gets to ride in a LIMO?" Fuyuki 
protested as Tenma escorted Buddha to the door.

	"I'll see about getting bail money from the folks," 
Buddha said to them.  "See you!"

	Akira sent Yakumo a text message to let her know the 
situation would soon be resolved, then headed out.

*************

	Yakumo resolved, while slowly cringing further down 
into her seat and only half peeping over the chairs in front 
of her, to pick the next movie.  Half the cast was already 
dead and the other half were trying to get off the beach 
while Herbie and Christine went round and round each 
other on the sand.  Stupidly, instead of taking a boat, they 
just ran up the beach on foot.

	"You fools!  GET OFF THE BEACH!  SWIM!  
CARS CAN'T SWIM!" Harima shouted.

	Popcorn and candy rained down on them; Harima 
caught as much as he could and started eating.  "Want 
some?" he asked Yakumo.

	She took a handful and ate tensely, looking over him.  
She could see nary a thought.  His mind was all on the 
movie.  

	Next time, the zoo, she thought.  It'll be more romantic 
than this.

***********

	Eri looked over at Akira as they watched Ninjas vs. 
Pirates:  The Revenge.  "So how serious are you and 
Nara?"

	"We're just friends," Akira said.  "He's a good guy."

	" 'Just Friends' or just friends?" Eri asked.

	"Just friends," Akira said.  "And you and Kenji?"

	Eri froze up.  "What makes you ask?"  She wanted to 
talk to Akira about it, but at the same time, she had a 
feeling Akira wouldn't want to have to take sides.  

	"You spend more time with him than I have with 
Nara," Akira said.

	"We're just close friends," Eri said.  Though she 
wanted more.  But didn't know how to get it.  "I think...he's 
in love with someone else, though.  But I can't tell..."

	"If it's Yakumo?" Akira asked.

	"Yeah," Eri said.  "Someone changed his life.  And I 
think he's likely in love with her."

	"That happens," Akira said, watching unfortunate 
ninjas getting kicked out of the ship's rigging.

	"Do you think I can compete with that?"

	"Well, I can see good for you and bad," Akira said.  
"The good is that while he may be in love with her, he 
hasn't exactly made much of an effort to pursue anyone 
romantically, except maybe Yakumo.  The bad is that he's 
such a social klutz, he may have tried and none of us 
recognized the signals.  Other good is that he clearly likes 
being around you, even though you two fight a lot."

	"We do not," Eri said, crossing her arms across her 
breasts.

	"You shaved his head," Akira said.

	"My fingers slipped."

	Akira shook her head.  "And he made it pretty clear he 
cares about you enough to risk death for you."

	That gave her a lot of her hope.  "I need to know who 
he loves.  So I know who I'm fighting."

	Akira turned to the tv and said, "This is a good scene 
coming up.  The ninjas ride the cannonballs to escape."

	She knows, but she won't tell me, Eri thought.  For a 
moment, she wondered if he was in love with Akira.  

	She dismissed the thought.  Does he love Yakumo?  
Maybe.  Neither of them seemed to be fighting going out 
with each other.  But something wasn't quite right there.  Or 
maybe he just hid all his displays of affection.  It just 
seemed like...he didn't seem to gaze at Yakumo with a 
heart-transforming love.  

	Tae-sensei must know, Eri thought.  Since Harima 
lives with her.  I should talk to her.

***************

	Mikoto continued to cling to Hanai's arm, failing to 
notice Yuuki looking at her nervously every so often.  
Fortunately, Sagano hadn't said one thing about bathing.  
Unfortunately, this meant she could do it AT ANY TIME.

	"We're a rock band," Sagano told Masahiro.

	"Really?"

	"Well, there's two more of us, but I think Fuyuki is 
hanging out with the guys and Karen had a date," Sagano 
said.

	Yuuki said, "Karen's our lead singer, and Fuyuki is 
our drummer.  I'm the keyboardist and Karasuma plays 
bass guitar while Sagano plays lead."

	"I never had time for a good hobby like that, between 
study and martial arts," Masahiro said.

	"Same for me," Hanai said.  

	"I bet you'd be a good musician," Yuuki said.

	Mikoto laughed.  "You should have heard him trying 
to play the recorder at my birthday party."

	Hanai shook his head ruefully.  "No, she shouldn't 
have had to suffer through that.  I just..."  He shook his 
head again.

	They walked around campus for a while with 
Masahiro and Miki pointing out places.  After a while, Miki 
drifted to the back and asked Karasuma, "Are you alright?  
You're so quiet."

	"I don't talk much," Karasuma said.

	"His girlfriend has to work," Sagano said.

	"She is not my girlfriend," Karasuma said.

	"Denial," Sagano said.

	"Yet," Karasuma finished.

	"Oooh, determination!" Sagano said, punching his 
shoulder lightly.  "Go for it, tiger."

	Mikoto said, "Be bold and honest with your feelings."  
Even if I can't.  "Don't hide what you really feel and people 
will respond."

	"I am not easily bold," Karasuma said hesitantly.

	"You tried to beat up my dad.  That was bold," Hanai 
said.

	Yuuki hesitantly patted Karasuma's shoulder.  "Good 
luck, Karasuma-san."

	"Good luck to you too, Yuuki-san," he replied.

	She smiled, though she lost the smile when she saw 
Mikoto clinging to Hanai's arm.  

	Sagano wiped her brow.  "Am I the only one 
sweating?" she asked.

	"Yes," Yuuki said.

	Mikoto laughed a little at that.

	Masahiro said, "It's pretty cool now.  You do tend to 
run around a lot."

	"True," Sagano said.  "Too bad Hanai's bathhouse isn't 
handy."

	Mikoto could feel the atomic bombs dropping in her 
soul.

	Miki perked up her ears.  "You go there often?"

	"We both train at his family's dojo," Sagano said.

	"Really, we just started," Yuuki said.

	"So we have bathed there and it's really nice."

	Mikoto gave a sigh of relief.  Off the hook.  

	"And I have to say Hanai looks good in a towel," 
Sagano said.

	Hanai froze up.  Mikoto prayed for death and glared at 
Sagano.  

	Yuuki laughed nervously.  Miki said, "Oh, does he?"  
She was laughing.  Masahiro simply smiled, while Sagano 
grinned.

	Sagano said, "Class 2-C is lucky to have many cute 
guys."

	Yuuki nodded quietly.

	Change the subject, Mikoto thought desperately.  "So 
where's the martial arts club meet?"

	"Ahh, this way," Masahiro said, leading them on.

****************
	
	I didn't know Volkswagons could fly, Yakumo 
thought as she watched Herbie drop from the sky onto 
Christine in their final battle on the highway.  

	Harima cheered.  "Fifty car pileup!"

	The massive pileup of cars crushed Christine, leaving 
Herbie free to honk cheerfully and drive over the wreckage.

	Harima turned to Yakumo, "Wasn't that great?"

	"I thought it would be funny," she said weakly.

	"Well, umm...why don't we go rent a comedy or 
something, watch it at your place?"

	"Okay," Yakumo said.  

	"Buddha's parents place is open still, I think."

	"Okay," Yakumo said, and began trying to think of a 
good movie.

**************

	The strains of 'Working on the Chain Gang' could be 
heard drifting from the kitchen as several cops entered the 
cafe where Tenma was working.

	Tenma came up and saluted.  "Hello fellow officers!  
Do you want smoking or non-smoking?"

	Officer Goto smiled at her.  "We've had a somewhat 
garbled report of kids being forced into slavery."

	"They were disrupting the peace and attempted to 
leave without paying their bill," Tenma said.  "So I put 
them to work in the kitchens to pay their debt, with the 
manager's consent."

	"Save us!" Fuyuki said, sticking his head out of the 
kitchen.

	"Back to work!" Tenma shouted, waving her billy club 
in the air.

	Fuyuki ducked back into the kitchen.

	"He's a notorious pervert photographer," Tenma said.  
"They're basically a gang of teenage perverts."

	"Well, it looks like you have things well in hand, 
Officer..."

	"Tsukamoto.  Nice to meet you," Tenma said.

	"Nice to meet you too.  We'd best get back to work," 
Officer Goto said.

	Tenma saluted him.

	He saluted back, and left, pleased to see a respectful 
junior officer for once.

	They say God watches over fools and children.  All 
the better for one who is both.

*************

	The group split again after leaving campus, with 
Sagano, Yuuki, and Karasuma peeling off first, while 
Mikoto, Masahiro, Miki, and Hanai hung around the gates, 
making small talk.  

	Finally, Hanai said, "We'd better get moving."

	"Yeah," Mikoto said.

	"Ride safely," Miki said.  "Don't do anything too 
naughty while your parents are asleep."

	Mikoto felt further embarrassed, while Hanai said, "I'll 
keep her on the straight and narrow."

	"Keep ME on the straight and narrow?" Mikoto asked.

	Hanai smiled.  "I had fun.  Goodnight, Miki-san, 
Katawa-san."

	"Goodnight, Haruki-san, Mikoto-san," Masahiro said.

	"I had fun.  Goodnight!" Miki said.

	And then Hanai and Mikoto headed out together, arm 
in arm.  Once out of earshot, Mikoto said, "I'm surprised 
Sagano didn't blow our cover."

	"She may think we ARE dating," Hanai pointed out.  
"And if she thinks it, so will the whole universe."

	Mikoto laughed nervously.  "There are worse rumors," 
she said.

	"She didn't mention us all bathing together.  Directly, 
anyway," Hanai said.  

	"Yeah, no danger of that getting around, hopefully," 
Mikoto said.

****************

	"I could hardly believe it," Buddha said to Akira and 
Eri.  "Hanai bathing with three women."

	"Jealous?" Akira asked.

	"Hell yes."  Buddha said.

	"Well..." Akira said.  "He has slept in the same pile of 
bedding with four women at once, you know."

	Eri said, "Akira-chan, we'd better not talk about that."

	"You guys want to rent anything?"

	"I'm already stocked for tonight," Akira said to 
Buddha.  "You can just give me my discount card as a 
reward for getting you out of the slammer.  Hanai is 
definitely less innocent than he appears."

	Buddha wrote one out for Akira.   "Wow, four women.  
Which four?"

	"I can't say," Akira said.  "But all very sexy."

	Eri snorted.

	"Man, the guys are gonna love this," Buddha said.  "A 
mystery to unravel."

	"Consider it my consolation gift for those I couldn't 
afford to liberate."

	Hesitantly, Buddha said to Eri, "You do have a lot of 
money and they would be..."

	"As if.  Most of those guys tried to steal underwear 
from my friend's house.  They're up a creek without a 
paddle and it makes me SMILE," Eri said, smiling just a 
touch viciously.

	"Okay," Buddha said nervously.   "See you guys...gals 
later, then."

	"See you."

	Just as they were about to go, Harima and Yakumo 
walked in.  "Yo," he said to them.

	"Yakumo, your sister has gone power-mad," Buddha 
said to her.  "You have to stop her before it's too late."

	Yakumo stared at the ground.  No wiggling out of it.  
"Once we find a movie, I'll go."

	"I'll give you a free rental if you'll bust them out of 
hock," Buddha said.

	"Hey, you could have offered ME a free rental," Akira 
said.

	"You two going to Tenma's to see a movie?" Eri 
asked.

	"Yeah, you wanna come?" Harima asked.

	Before she could say yes, Eri was grabbed by Akira.  
"We're having a secret girl's night.  Maybe next time.  
Bye."  Akira then hustled Eri out of the door.

	Yakumo was grateful.  

**************

	"Sister, it's time to let them go home," Yakumo said to 
her sister at Cafe Mercado a little later.

	"They..." Tenma began.

	Yakumo shook her sister gently until she snapped out 
of it.

	"Oh dear," Tenma said.

	"I think you're going to be in trouble on Monday," 
Yakumo said.

	Tenma laughed nervously.

	"Don't worry," Harima said.  "I won't let them mess 
with you."

	"Thanks," Tenma said, smiling at him.  He could lose 
himself in that smile.  "You two go finish your date.  Don't 
let me stop you."

	"We're just going home to see a movie."

	"I'll join you once my shift is over," Tenma said.

	"Thanks for covering for me, nee-chan," Yakumo said.

	Tenma smiled.  "I was glad to.  Now, go have fun."

**************

	Yuuki sighed as she sat with Sagano and Karasuma on 
the train.  "I never realized they were so close."

	"Hmm, I smell something funny about that," Sagano 
said.  "Though they do seem generally pretty comfortable 
touching each other.  But couldn't you tell how tense Suou 
was the whole time?"

	"No," Yuuki said.

	Karasuma cocked his head, looking at Sagano.

	"Hanai, on the other hand, not tense at all.  I smell a 
rat."

	"Perhaps she thinks Shinohara-san is after her 
boyfriend," Karasuma said.

	"Maybe.  There were a few times Shinohara-san 
looked a little jealous of them," Sagano said thoughtfully.

	"Did she?" Yuuki asked.  She hadn't noticed.

	"I wouldn't give up yet," Sagano said.  "I suspect this 
race hasn't reached the end."

**************

	Mikoto slumped over against the wall of the train.  
"What am I going to do?"

	"Well, I will help you as long as you need me, but I do 
expect Sagano is going to tell the whole universe about 
this," Hanai said.

	"How can you be so calm?" Mikoto asked.

	"There's a lot worse things than being accused of 
dating you," Hanai said.  "Though as I think about it, I 
suppose Yakumo may not..."

	Mikoto had to fight the urge to strangle him.  "She is 
on a date with her boyfriend, Harima.  FORGET ABOUT 
HER."

	He winced and shrank in on himself a little.  "Also, 
Lala."

	Damnation, Mikoto thought.  She's probably going to 
want to fight me now.  Well, good.  I can tell her to stay 
away from Hanai if she loses.

	And she WILL lose.

	"I'll try talking to Sagano in private tomorrow," Hanai 
said.  "See if I can stop her telling the world, though it may 
already be too late."

	"Just don't...I mean...she can't know about...me and 
Sempai," Mikoto said.

	"I will make up some reason for it," Hanai said.  

	"Thanks," she said, taking his hand and giving it a 
little squeeze.  "You're the best."

	He smiled back at her.  "You too, Mikoto, you too."

**************

	Harima laughed as everyone on the TV began a pell-
mell chase through the office trying to catch the dog which 
had the crucial contract in its mouth.  He was hanging out, 
an arm around Tenma, relaxing at the end of a long day.  
Life couldn't be any better.

	It was only when he realized Tenma wasn't laughing 
that he looked over and remembered he was actually 
hanging out with Yakumo and had an arm around her.  He 
hoped suddenly that she didn't mind, but she seemed 
comfortable with it, and it felt comfortable to him, so he 
didn't stop.  It would be good practice for evenings with 
Tenma one day.

	The movie finally ended, but Yakumo had fallen 
asleep, leaning over on him.  He looked over, hearing 
footsteps, and Tenma put a finger to her lips, smiling at 
them.  He smiled back at her.  	

	Tenma crept over and whispered, "Can you take her 
and put her to bed?"

	He nodded.

	"Feel free to crash here if you want to," Tenma 
whispered.  "I'm going to take a bath and go to bed."

	He nodded and hauled Yakumo upstairs, gently laying 
her down in her bed.  He had the feeling she'd regret 
sleeping in a dress, but he could hardly change her.  Not 
within the bounds of decency, and Harima certainly wasn't 
going to molest a friend.

	Instead, he crept out of the room and then heard the 
sounds of Tenma bathing.  This led him to imagine her 
bathing, which caused his brain to overheat.  Once he 
peeled himself off the floor, however, he drifted over to the 
bathroom door, listening to her bathe; she was singing a 
cheerful song to herself, and he imagined...

	His eyes crossed and he told himself he shouldn't be 
imagining that sort of thing; that was for people like 
Imadori.  But the great and terrible temptation to peep was 
upon him, and as he tried to walk away, he found himself 
back at the door.

	No peeping, he told himself.  He turned away from the 
door and folded his arms, trying to make himself stand 
stock still.

	Finally, he broke down and started to turn to crack the 
door, only to have it open and Tenma walk into him, 
wearing a towel.  They both fell to the floor, tangled 
together; he felt like he was going to die on the spot.  "I'm 
so sorry!"

	"I'm all done, you can bathe if you want to," Tenma 
said.  "I'm sorry I was so clumsy."

	"I shouldn't have stood so close to the door while I 
waited," Harima said, helping her up.  And bathing 
sounded like a good idea.

	He went in and got naked and soon started getting 
clean.  He began humming one of the tunes from the diner 
as he bathed himself.  He was in the middle of trying to 
scrub his back when he heard movement.  

	Some pervert is probably sneaking up to try and peep 
on Tenma or Yakumo, he thought.  He grabbed a towel and 
twisted it into a rat's tail, while pretending to keep 
scrubbing.  I'll flail him out of here; he'll wish he had never 
been born.  

	The door cracked open; he could see something, an 
eye, a red eye.  Some red eyed fiend had crept into the 
place and was peeping on him.  He continued to scrub, 
feigning he saw nothing, but now he felt himself starting to 
get self conscious.  Whoever it was, they didn't come in and 
they didn't go and...shouldn't they be able to tell he was a 
man by now?  Is this a gay peeper?  Or some freaky 
woman?

	All of a sudden, Harima felt so hugely embarrassed, 
he had to get in the tub and sink out of sight.  Whoever it 
was...he didn't want to know.  He felt ridiculous at having 
this feeling, but the gaze seemed to burn right through him.

	Finally, he pulled himself together.  It was time to 
punish the peeper, whoever it was.  He rose out of the tub 
like an avenging angel of death, only to hear Tenma say, 
"Yakumo, what are you doing?"

	Yakumo?  What was she doing here?  Had the peeper 
stopped?  And...

	Could he stop his charge in time?  

	He stumbled as he tried to abort his charge, while he 
heard Yakumo say, "I was just going to see if anyone was 
in the bathroom."

	Harima crashed into the door, then fell to the floor.  
Tenma yanked the door open and Harima quickly covered 
himself.  "There was a peeper here!" Harima said.  "I was 
going to charge out and surprise him, but I guess Yakumo-
san scared him off!"

	Yakumo stared at the floor and seemed to shrink.  "I 
didn't see anyone," she mumbled.

	"Good job, little sis," Tenma said.  "Kenji-kun, go 
finish your bath.  We'll find the peeper and put him 
DOWN."

	She dragged Yakumo off as Harima ambled back to 
the tub and sank down in it to soak.

*******************
	
	Mikoto shuffled back and forth on her feet; they'd 
reached her house and were just standing around out front, 
talking.  Her dad would be in bed by now, thankfully.  She 
felt reluctant to let the night end and go in, like something 
was missing.

	"You ready for the big English test on Monday?" she 
asked Hanai.

	"Yes," he said.

	"I'm not," she confessed.

	"I'll come study with you tomorrow," he said.

	Take that, Lala, she thought, then smiled at him.  
"Thanks.  Sorry for making you do all this."

	"I had fun," he said, then yawned.  "I'd better go 
home."

	She felt disappointed she wasn't going to get a kiss.  
Why did Lala get one and she didn't?  She told herself not 
to think like that.  Hanai wasn't her boyfriend, he was in 
love with someone else, even if it was stupid of him, and 
this wasn't...she shouldn't treat this like some 
oneupmanship game with Lala.

	If he goes for a kiss, I'll let him have it, she decided.  
And if he doesn't, then I won't press things.  That's only 
fair.  He's doing me a big favor.

	He moved in a little closer, and suddenly, she thought 
maybe he would go for a kiss.  She felt her heart speed up; 
he came closer, closer, closer...

	And then he leaned in and whispered, "Someone's 
watching us from the bushes."

	She looked and saw Imadori and most of his gang 
lurking in the bushes.  What are they doing here?  Have 
they been spying on us the whole time?  He's probably 
stupidly jealous, Mikoto thought.  

	"Pretend we're kissing," she whispered, then pulled 
him in very close, their faces pressed together, almost 
kissing in the process of faking kissing.  He looked 
surprised, but drew his arms around her tightly.

	There was a flash of a camera, and Mikoto said, 
"Peepers!"

	"Miko-chin, you have to avenge us!  Tsukamoto sold 
us into slavery today!" Imadori said, coming out and 
pleading.

	Hanai tried to grab Fuyuki's camera, but Fuyuki 
nimbly dodged out of the way.

	"I'm sure it was your own fault," Mikoto said.  
"Fuyuki, you shouldn't be taking pictures of us."

	"Man, kissing Lala and Mikoto, taking a bath with 
Sagano, Yuuki, and Mikoto...you're my new hero, Hanai," 
Yoshidayama said.

	Hanai frowned.  "I haven't done anything wrong with 
any of them!"

	"You are awesome!  If you'd only crush Tsukamoto 
for us, you'd be a god among men!" one of the guys said.

	Hanai grimaced at that.  "I'm sure you brought it on 
yourself."

	If she left him here, these fools would probably 
harrass him all the way home, Mikoto was sure.  Only one 
thing to do.  She opened the door and said, "Come on in, 
Hanai."

	Yoshidayama began to cry from envy.  Imadori leaped 
for the doorway and Hanai battered him aside without even 
looking.  "Your parents..." Hanai began.

	"Are asleep."  She took him by the hand, tugged him 
in and slammed the door.

	"People will talk," Hanai mumbled.

	"And Dad will try to kill you if he catches us, but he's 
sound asleep.  I'll just take you around to the delivery 
entrance."  She peeked out the window.  "Want a glass of 
tea first?"

	He could go for a drink.  "Sure, if you think it's safe," 
Hanai said.

	"We'll be fine.  Dad sleeps like a rock," Mikoto said.

	They snuck towards the kitchen; to Mikoto's horror, 
she spotted her father in the kitchen, digging through the 
fridge.

	She put a hand over Hanai's mouth and backed him 
up, then whispered, "Dad's in the kitchen."

	Hanai's eyes flared.

	Slowly, they retreated as Mr. Suou advanced, having 
to flee up the stairs, then down the hall, and finally slipping 
into Mikoto's room.  They could hear him pacing in the 
hallway and eating at the same time.

	Mikoto felt her heart pounding as she kept Hanai 
pinned on the floor, a hand over his mouth, just in case.  He 
lay there, looking nervous.  And then the footsteps drew 
closer.

	"Honey, you home?" her father asked through the 
door.

	"Yes, Daddy," she said, willing Hanai not to breathe.

	"Did you just come in?"

	"Yes," she said.

	"Did you have fun?  He didn't try anything funny, did 
he?"

	"No, Daddy, he was a perfect gentleman," Mikoto 
said.  "He walked me home, and I guess he must be on his 
way home now."

	"There's a bunch of kids milling around the front of 
our house," he said.  "Can you go get rid of them?  They're 
probably hoping to slip in and steal your mother's 
underwear or something."

	"Sure thing, Daddy."  She pointed at the bed, and 
Hanai slowly slid under it.  

	Then she opened the door and stepped out.  "You go 
sleep, Daddy, I'll get rid of them."

	He handed her a lug wrench.  "Use this."

	"Daddy, why are you wandering around the house at 
this hour with a lug wrench?" she asked.

	"I'm going to go work on something I didn't get done 
yesterday.  I think I finally figured it out."

	She frowned.  "Daddy, it's not safe when you don't get 
enough sleep."

	"I'll sleep in.  It's Sunday, the shop's closed anyway, 
but if I don't do this now, I'll forget."

	How am I going to get Haruki home if Daddy stays 
up, she asked herself.  Well, he's safe now.  "Here, you take 
the wrench.  I just need my fists."

	"Okay, dear.  Try not to leave them too maimed to get 
off our property."

	When Mikoto got outside, Imadori's brigade were 
milling about excitedly.  At the sight of her, they froze up.  
Mikoto says, "Dad told me to crush you all, so who wants 
to be first?"

	"Your Dad...knows and doesn't care you have Hanai in 
the house?" Yoshidayama asked.

	"All Dad cares about right now is you all getting out 
of here so he can sleep," she said.  Technically true, though 
it made her a little uncomfortable.

	Yoshidayama fell to his knees in tears.  "Hanai, you 
are the luckiest of all men."

	"Okay, I see Yoshi-san is volunteering to die first," 
Mikoto said, advancing.

	Imadori dragged him away as they all fled into the 
night with Mikoto in pursuit.

***************

	"Yakumo, were you peeping on Harima?" Tenma 
asked Yakumo softly once they reached the porch.

	"I..."  Yakumo froze up, lips moving without sound.

	"It is tempting," Tenma said.  "But he's your 
boyfriend.  He...I mean...I don't know if you two are really 
ready for that sort of thing."  She shook nervously.  "But 
I'm sure he'd...well, men like to flaunt their bodies.  Some 
men do."  Karasuma didn't.  But he was special.  

	Tiny wisps of smoke came out of Yakumo's ears and 
she fell over, unconscious.

	Clearly, my sister is not ready yet, Tenma thought.  It 
was a little reassuring.  If Harima and Yakumo...before she 
and Karasuma even kissed...what am I doing wrong, she 
wondered.  How did Yakumo win Harima's heart?  And he 
hers?  How long were they dating before I knew?

	I need to be bolder.  My sister is brave enough to peep 
on her boyfriend; why can't I be that strong, Tenma asked 
herself.  

	There was no choice really.  She would have to peep 
on Karasuma to prove herself worthy to love him.  What 
else could she do?

**************	
	
	Mikoto returned exhausted from running about in the 
streets, chasing the pervert brigade about.  She took a 
shower, and got back to her room, only then remembering 
that Hanai was there.  He'd come out from under the bed 
and fallen asleep next to it, having piled some of her old 
stuffed animals to serve as a pillow.

	She tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't rouse.  I 
have to get him home, she thought.  His dad will notice he's 
gone and then they'll find he is here and people will get all 
sorts of crazy ideas.

	Then she tried lifting him, but she was so tired she just 
fell down instead, half laying on him.  Maybe a little nap 
would help, she thought.  She wanted sleep desperately.  So 
she closed her eyes and went to sleep, telling herself to 
wake up a little later and find a way to get Hanai home.

**************	

	"Is she in bed again?" Harima asked.

	"Yes, she fell asleep again," Tenma said.

	"She is good at that," he said, sitting down by her on 
the edge of the porch.

	"Yeah," Tenma said.  "We should probably go to bed 
too."

	Tenma is inviting me to sleep with her, Harima 
thought.  How bold!  This made him suddenly hideously 
nervous, as he hadn't seriously expected anything like that.  
"I..uh, right now?"

	"You can stay up if you want," Tenma said.  "Are you 
going to...sleep with Yakumo or in the guest room?"

	With Yak...oh.  She probably wants someone to stay 
near Yakumo in case the peeper shows up again.  How 
brave of her to be willing to sleep alone in such a case, 
Harima thought.  "I can stay with Yakumo if you want me 
to."

	"I..."  Tenma turned red.  "I just mean...if you want to.  
Did you..."

	"We slept in the same room when she stayed at my 
place," Harima said.  He paused.  "I mean..."

	Really, since they were unlikely to do anything...I 
mean, I've slept in the same room as Harima and he was  a 
perfect gentleman, Tenma thought.  She yawned and rose.  
"Just don't be a monkey.  Treat Yakumo right."

	He sat on the porch a while, watching the stars and 
wondering what they thought of his chances with Tenma.  
He just couldn't quite understand what she was doing.  Did 
she want him to date Yakumo?  Was this her way of letting 
him down gently?  Or some kind of test?

	Maybe she thought he loved Yakumo.  But he loved 
her.  He liked Yakumo, liked her a lot and enjoyed her 
company.  She was important to him and a good confidant.  
But he didn't feel about her like he did about Tenma, even 
if she was pretty cute and easy to talk to and was a great art 
partner.  

	But if love was only about shared interests, he'd be 
dating Haruka probably.  The thought of that made his head 
spin.

	But he wasn't getting anywhere with Tenma.  Or more 
precisely, not the sort of anywhere he was trying to get to.  
It would be so much easier if I could only find the strength 
to tell her my true feelings.  But he didn't have that kind of 
strength; he envied Eri a little.  She was never afraid to 
show what she felt.

	I expect if she was in love with someone, she'd just 
grab him by the hair, throw him over her shoulder, and take 
him home, Harima thought.  I ought to do that, but I haven't 
got the strength.

	Maybe I should ask her for advice, he thought.  She's 
certainly seen enough men make love confessions, anyway.

**************

	"They're not doing anything," Akira said to Eri as Eri 
frothed.  "Kenji's an innocent at heart."

	"We should have gone with them.  They even invited 
us," Eri said, her hands clenching and unclenching.

	"Now, now, they didn't horn in on your date with 
Kenji the other day," Akira said, sitting up.

	The TV blathered on, unnoticed.

	"And you stopped me getting my own bike and leather 
jacket!" Eri said, pointing.

	"You could buy those any time you like; you are rich, 
you know," Akira said.

	"It's the principle of the thing," Eri said, pouting.

	"Just relax," Akira said.  "There's nothing you can do 
about it, and we both know Kenji won't manage to do 
anything unless she starts something and we both know 
Yakumo is too shy to do that."

	Eri had to fight the urge to go over there right now and 
put a stop to whatever probably wasn't actually happening.

	"And even if they do, you got to see him naked before 
she did," Akira said.

	"But you saw him naked too!" Eri protested.

	"He looked pretty good," Akira said.

	Eri stared suspiciously at Akira, then sighed.  "It's 
just...I can't even do anything like that with him, even if I 
wanted to, which..."

	"Be honest, you want to," Akira said.  "But then, you 
put yourself in this situation by telling Tenma that Yakumo 
was Harima's girlfriend."

	"I thought she was," Eri said.  "But now..."  She tried 
to will Monday to come sooner.  I have to talk to Tae-
sensei, she thought.  I have to find out who I really am up 
against.

*************
		
	Harima woke in the middle of the night, realizing he'd 
fallen asleep on the porch thinking.  Somehow, he'd gotten 
a pillow and a blanket; he quickly realized that this was 
probably somehow connected to Yakumo being out here 
with him, sharing the blanket (but with her own pillow).

	She must feel safer out here with me, he thought.  That 
made him feel kind of good.  

	He rolled over to face her and slid back into sleep.

**************	

	Hanai awoke to find Mikoto fallen over on him, 
asleep.  I'd better get out of here before we both get in 
trouble, he thought.  Even if sleeping here with her was 
kind of comfortable.

	Carefully, he lifted her up into her bed and clambered 
out the window, dropping to the street below.  Let's hope 
Dad didn't notice, he thought.

****************

	Hanai awoke to a shaking.  His mother said, "Your 
two new students are here, Haruki-chan."

	"Don't call me -chan," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.  
"What, Sagano and Yuuki are here?"

	"They came to make you breakfast and study with 
you," she said.  "Isn't that sweet of them?"

	He looked at the clock.  "But it's 6:30 AM."

	"Early to rise and all that," his mother said.  "Get up, 
get dressed, the food's almost ready."

	Groggily, he stumbled out of bed.  I hope they won't 
need me to think, he thought.  At least Dad didn't notice my 
lateness.

	He got dressed and reached the dining table, where his 
father was sitting, looking excited.  "Well, you're just a 
popular guy," his father said.  "Young ladies coming to 
make you a nice EARLY breakfast.  Hope you got lots of 
sleep last night."

	Does he know?, Hanai wondered.  "I feel fine," he 
lied.

	"Good.  Then you'll be up for giving the ladies a 
lesson after breakfast, before you study."

	He knows, Hanai thought.  And he's going to run me 
into the ground as punishment.  Oh boy.

*************

	There will be vengeance, Imadori thought.  
Tsukamoto will rue the day she messed with us.  

	But right now, he had to help his Mom clean the 
house, so a horrible vengeance...would have to wait.

	Stupid Sundays.


*****************





Katawa Masahiro