This Story No Title
A School Rumble Fanfic

Chapter 3:   Touch Her and Die

By John Biles

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

	"BLAZING FIST!"

	Harima went over the fence, over the yard, and into 
the pool, as Hanai posed, fist to the sky.  Okay, a little 
angrier than usual, Harima thought, as he plunged into the 
water.

	Tae-sensei, the school nurse, saw this from the 
window.  Oh dear, swimming during lunch may get you 
cramps, she thought.  She vaulted out the window, 
dropping lightly to the ground, then headed across the yard 
towards the pool.

	Hanai was already over the fence, heading for the 
pool.  He got there before Tae, even as Harima was about 
to fumble to the side.  He jumped in, knocking Harima 
below the surface and they wrestled underwater.

	Methodically, they pummeled each other; Harima 
wasn’t even sure why Hanai was attacking him, but he was 
the sort to finish what was started.  Above them, the water 
churned.

	A large crowd advanced curiously on the pool.  
They’d be late to class, but something exciting was 
happening.  Yakumo tried to press forwards, but couldn’t 
manage to make it through the mob.

	Mikoto pushed her way through the crowd and stared 
irritably into the pool, watching them beat each other.  She 
turned to Tae.  "We’d better do something, sensei."

	"How are they breathing?" Tae asked.

	Harima slugged Hanai in the gut, even as Hanai kneed 
him in the balls.  They both lost their air and took on water, 
then keeled over and began to sink.

	"Dammit!" Mikoto said and dived in.  

	Tae kicked off her shoes and dived in as well.  

	"Sensei, don’t try to swim in your coat!" Yuuki 
shouted.

	She got away with it, soon surfacing with Harima, 
who she managed to get up onto the side of the pool.  

It was about this point in time when Mikoto realized 
she couldn’t swim well enough to get Hanai to the surface.  
She sank like a rock with him.

Tae-sensei had already begun artificial respiration on 
Harima when it sank into her head that Mikoto wasn’t 
coming up.  "Can someone get them out?" she asked.

Lara Gonzales looked over at Karen.  Karen said 
softly, "I can try."

Before she could do anything, however, Imadori had 
vaulted into the pool, shoes and all.  "Miko-chan, I’m 
coming!"

Tae-sensei returned to giving Harima artificial 
respiration; he quickly responded, for which she was 
thankful.  She might perhaps have lingered on his lips 
longer than was strictly necessary.

Meanwhile, Imadori reached Mikoto and Hanai; he 
tried to pull Mikoto up, but she wouldn’t let go of Hanai, 
and he couldn’t manage them both.  

Eri, Tenma, and Yakumo emerged out of the crowd.  
"Looks like he doesn’t swim too well," Eri said, then 
looked at Tae-sensei, frowning a little.

"Is Miko-chin still down there?" Tenma asked, 
worried.

Karen tried to push forwards to help, but wasn’t 
having much luck, as she wasn’t pushing as hard as she 
really needed to.  So Lara picked her up and threw her.  
"You need to learn to be more aggressive!"

	The cannonball resulted in Eri, Tenma, and Yakumo 
being drenched, just as Akira reached them.  

Karen dove, grabbed all three of those below, and 
hauled them to the surface.  She looked at Imadori.  "Do 
you need artificial respiration?" she sounded almost 
hopeful.  

	"D," he said.  "I crave the Ds."

	She looked at him in confusion, then turned to Mikoto 
and Hanai.  "I guess..." she began.

	"Miko-chan!" Imadori said.  He started trying to give 
her artificial respiration; unfortunately, he didn’t really 
know what he was doing.  Fortunately, she didn’t actually 
need it.  As a result, when he tried blowing air into her 
mouth, she opened her eyes and proceeded to hurl him into 
the pool.

	"No, stop, we’ll be here all morning!" Tae-sensei said 
as Harima started to sit up.  

	Karen turned to Mikoto, "Hanai needs artifical 
respiration."

	Mikoto sighed; that she knew how to do, and she went 
to work on Hanai.  Some people watching started to cheer.

	Karen dove in and got Imadori.  He pouted, "I was 
hoping..." he began, then sighed.  "Thank you," he 
mumbled.

	She smiled as she pulled him out.  

	Eri shook Harima.  "It’s your fault I’m dripping wet!"

	Harima, who had been dreaming about swimming 
with Tenma, mumbled, "But you go to the beach to get 
dripping wet."

	"Are you okay, Hario?" Tae-Sensei asked Harima.

	Yakumo looked at Tae-Sensei curiously.

	"I’m fine," he said, then looked at her curiously. "Did 
I win?"

	Hanai gave a great groan and then his arms came up 
and embraced Mikoto around the neck just as she was 
blowing air into him.  She started, then blushed as a large 
number of people began making hooting noises.

	She couldn’t resist the ensuing kiss at first, but the 
hooting noises soon enabled her to break it off.  "Hanai, 
what are you doing?" she said.

	"Yaku..."  His vision cleared.  "You’re not Yakumo!"

	Yakumo realized how she was dressed—namely 
dripping wet—and hid behind Eri.  

Eri said, "I see you haven’t gone blind."  She 
wondered if Tae-sensei was going to ever let go of Harima 
and why he wasn’t resisting.

Tenma dragged Harima to his feet.  "Your girlfriend is 
dripping wet," she said.  "You need to dry her off."

Harima looked at Tenma; she was wet.  "But I don’t...I 
mean, I’m wet."

Tae-sensei sighed.  "Everyone who was in the pool, 
come to the infirmary with me."

People began throwing themselves in the pool as she 
led them away.

It availed them not.

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

	"Maybe we should all just go home and change," Eri 
said as Tenma aimed a hair dryer at her.
	
	Hanai and Harima were both laid out in adjacent beds, 
while everyone else perched about, trying to dry off.  

	Tae-sensei sighed.  "Why were you two fighting?"

	"He’s been sleeping with Yakumo!" Hanai said.

	Yakumo blushed and mumbled something.

	"It was all perfectly innocent!" Tenma protested.  

	"It wouldn’t be your business if he did," Mikoto told 
Hanai.  "Even if it is kind of scandalous."

	Eri grimaced.

	"Well, he slept with me too, and no one cared," Tae-
Sensei said.  "That’s no reason for people to end up in the 
pool.  Why did you do that to poor Hario?"	

	For a moment, utter abject silence descended on the 
room.

	"Not like that!"   Harima protested.  

	"You slept with a teacher????" Eri said.

	"Well, umm, technically she’s a nurse, not a teacher," 
Tenma said, then said, "HARIMA, YOU MONKEY!"

	Yakumo looked at Harima, then at Tae, then at the 
ground.

	"You lucky dog!" Imadori said.  

	Harima saw this, saw Tenma’s anger, and winced.  "It 
was before Yakumo-chan and I started... doing... things... 
together.  I haven’t been to her place since I came back 
from being a fortune teller!" he protested.

	"YOU USER OF WOMEN!" Hanai shouted, now 
jumping at Harima.

	Mikoto and Karen both moved in a blur, grabbing 
Hanai’s arms.  "He may deserve some beating," Mikoto 
said.  "But not in the infirmary."

	Karen nodded.  Imadori-kun might get hurt in a fight 
here, after all.

	Tenma looked intently at Harima.  "Swear to me you 
haven’t been cheating."

	"I’ve been faithful to the woman I love!" Harima 
protested.  Namely, you.  I promised you I wouldn’t be a 
monkey.  He glanced over at Yakumo for a moment.  She 
was looking up at him, hesitantly, like a pet afraid of being 
hit, or so he took it.

	Eri was glaring at him suspiciously too; he couldn’t 
tell if anyone believed him, and he didn’t like that.

	Tae-sensei patted Yakumo on the shoulder, then 
whispered in her ear.  Yakumo nodded and Tae-sensei said, 
"It’ll be our little secret, then."

	Eri looked at them, with the feeling they knew 
something she didn’t, and suddenly, she wanted to know it.  

	Yakumo gulped and walked over to Harima and put a 
hand on his hand for a moment.  "I believe in you," she said 
softly.

	Tenma looked over at Yakumo, then at Tae-sensei, 
then said, "Well, I do too.  Be good to my sister."

	He nodded firmly.  "Of course."

	Hanai grumbled.  "You won’t get away with this 
forever."

	Eri sighed, suddenly feeling lonely.  Maybe they do 
have something going on, she thought.  What is this secret?  
She had to know.  She could feel it eating at her already.  
But she would have to be patient.  Yes, patient.  She could 
do that, right?

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

	"So, did he kiss you?" Sara asked Yakumo.

	She stared at Sara.  "No."

	"Aww.  You two make such a cute couple, but I still 
haven’t seen you kiss," Sara said, slowly picking away at 
her lunch.  Shrimp and rice vanished into her mouth.

	"He...we..." Yakumo said hesitantly.  "We’re friends."

	"He slept in your room!" Sara protested.  "Don’t try 
and tell me you don’t like him."

	"I do like him," Yakumo said.  "He’s...comfortable."

	Sara made a face.  "Guys want to excite you."

	"His...he..." Yakumo struggled to express it without 
giving away their secret projects.  "Our secret excites me."

	"Oooh, your very own secret?" Sara asked.  "Is it 
juicy?"

	Yakumo contemplated that as she worked on her beef 
and fried rice.  "Yes."

	"Oooooh." Sara rocked back and forth gently with 
excitement as she ate.  Finishing her tea, she said, "Well, if 
he joins Tea Club, you’ll get to see a lot more of him."

	"That would be nice," Yakumo said, smiling just a 
little.  "I just..."

	"Hmm?"

	Yakumo didn’t say anything, but wondered if kissing 
him would help her hear his heart.  But I don’t have to kiss 
other guys, she thought.  What hid his heart?  That was his 
secret.

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

	Mikoto dodged under Hanai’s punch, then swept his 
legs, only to have him do the same to her as he fell.  She 
grinned a little and pounced on him, pinning his legs with 
her own and his arms with her hands, only to have him 
manage to roll over, pinning her instead.

	"You’re getting strong, Hanai," she said.

	"You should have stayed at range.  I’m stronger, but I 
think you’re faster," he said.  

	"Feeling better?" she asked.

	They were at the dojo, sparring alone.  She found the 
privacy soothing, and hoped he did too.

	"Yes," he said, then sighed.  "How can she...what does 
she..."

	"Hanai," she said softly.  "You’ll only go crazy if you 
don’t let go.  If you see someone you love has fallen for 
someone else, you have to let them go, or it’ll eat you 
alive."

	"What does she see in him?" Hanai demanded.  "What 
does he have that I don’t?"

	"Facial hair.  A motorcycle.  That beret," Mikoto said, 
then sighed.  "But a girl’s heart isn’t bent by those things."

	"Then what?  Why does she like him better than me?" 
Hanai demanded again.

	"I don’t know," Mikoto said, staring up into Hanai’s 
eyes.  "But some girls like bad boys."

	"Bad boys," Hanai said.

	"Don’t go getting any crazy ideas!" Mikoto said.  "If 
you try and turn yourself into a bad boy to try and woo her, 
I will have to pound you flat."

	"I can’t just give up," Hanai said.  

	"Be sensible," she said, wrenching loose and knocking 
him into the air.

	He landed lithely.  "Love isn’t about being sensible."

	Which is probably why you’re so bad at it, she 
thought, then felt guilty about it.  But not enough to tell 
him.  

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

	Tenma flopped down on the porch, watching the birds 
go by, with Eri flopped down next to her.  "So was riding 
the motorcycle fun?"

	"It was scary, but very fun," Eri said, smiling.  
"Roaring through traffic, defying the police...I think I’ve 
hardly ever been so excited in all my life."  She stretched 
out a little.  "He was all..."  She began to feel flustered.  
"No wonder some people become delinquents," she ended 
lamely.

	"Well, Yakumo will make a good boy out of him," 
Tenma said.  "I wonder what his parents are like."

	I don’t know if he has any, Eri thought sombrely.  "I 
don’t know if you should ask him about that."

	"W..what?" Tenma asked, concerned, rolling onto her 
side to face Eri.

	"I just...nothing," she said, shaking her head.  "Do 
you...So what’s this secret of him and Yakumo?"

	"Maybe it’s about his parents," Tenma speculated, 
then looked at Eri.  "Did he tell you about them?"

	She wasn’t even sure what she knew.  "I can tell," Eri 
said, simply.  "So you don’t know?"

	"Yakumo tends to hide her secrets well," Tenma said a 
little sadly.  "It’s not easy being the big sister, sometimes."

	Eri sighed.  "Or being the only child."

	Tenma reached over and patted her hand.  "You’re 
like a sister to me, Eri," she said.

	"I...thank you," Eri said, trying to look at Tenma, but 
embarrassed enough to find it difficult.  "You and Akira 
and Mikoto are my dearest friends ever."

	"I bet Akira-chan knows.  But best to let them keep 
their secret, ne?" Tenma asked.

	Eri couldn’t just let the sleeping dog lie.  Not that 
easily.

	Yakumo came out.  "Big sister, are you bu...oh, hello, 
Sawachika-san."

	"You can call me Eri," Eri said, sighing.  "If Hige can, 
you can too."

	"Thank you.  But I see you two are busy.  I’ll come 
back later," Yakumo said.

	"Do you need your big sister’s wisdom?" Tenma 
asked.

	"Later," Yakumo said and hastily retreated.

	Eri felt her suspicions tick up another notch.

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

	Hanai jumped over Mikoto’s kick and kicked her in 
the side.  She spun away from him, but his follow up punch 
resulted in her grabbing his hand and turning, dragging him 
past her to sprawl out on the ground.  The following knee 
drop, however, he rolled away from.

	"Had enough?" Mikoto asked.

	"No," he said.  "I need a distraction."

	"It’s getting late," she said, a little worried.

	"Please," he said.

	She bowed to him.  "Okay, for you, Haruki-chan."

	He bowed to her and went into another stance.  "I’ve 
always been able to rely on you."

	She lunged, then feinted at his right side.  Going for 
the block, he got a punch across the chin as she spun.  "But 
you don’t always listen."

	"Or you," he said, tumbling back, managing to use his 
legs to block her follow up and get to his feet.

	"That’s friendship," she said, then sighed as she tried 
unsuccessfully to sweep him.  "Even if people got the 
wrong idea from the artificial respiration."

	"The wrong idea?" he asked, managing to nail her 
with an uppercut, but having his follow up kidney strike 
blocked.

	She circled left, making him spin in place.  "You 
know."

	"Umm...that you’re a nurse or something?" he asked.

	She paused.  "Oh come on.  You’re not blind."

	He paused.  "I don’t get it," he said.

	She put her hands on her hips.  "You know...blowing 
air into your lungs..."

	"Blow...."  His eyes widened.  "Well, umm..."

	"Don’t go getting any crazy ideas!" she said.  "But it 
just...I mean, it’s not really a kiss."

	"My first kiss..." he mumbled.  "I don’t even 
remember it."

	"IT IS NOT A KISS!" she shouted, going onto the 
attack, driving him back, until he fell down.  "It...Hanai?"

	"I thought...it would be her..." Hanai babbled.

	"If you start talking about Yakumo again, I am going 
to totally kick your ass," Mikoto said.  "If we DID count it 
as a kiss, and I’m not saying I do, it would be my first one, 
which I had other plans for.  But it’s just...well, it’s not 
really a kiss, and if it WAS, am I not worth kissing?"

	Hanai looked up at her.  "But I don’t even remember it 
much."

	She sighed and sat down by him.  "I wouldn’t mind 
forgetting you coughing up water on me."

	"Yeah," he said.  "I’m sorry."

	She punched his shoulder lightly.  "Forget it.  We’ll 
both save our first real kisses for someone special, right?" 
she said, making her voice light.

	"Well, you are special," he said.  "But yes, I will save 
mine for..."

	"Don’t say it," Mikoto said a little sharply.  "Just 
forget her.  She fought Eri for him and won.  If a woman’s 
willing to take another woman on in a fight for her man, 
she’s made up her mind."

	He looked over at her.  "I can’t give up that easy."

	Mikoto rolled her eyes.  "What’s it going to take, 
Harima encasing you in concrete and sinking you to the 
bottom of the bay?"

	"What’s it with him and Tenma and Eri all doing first 
names, anyway?" Hanai asked.  "You and Takano aren’t."  
He paused.  "With Harima, that is."

	"Only the gods know what is inside Eri’s head 
sometimes, but Tenma’s just about decided Yakumo and 
Harima are married now," Mikoto said.  "I’m kind of 
surprised, but you know how she is."

	"Yes," Hanai said.  "I do."  He tried to drive away 
desperate and bitter thoughts.  "We’ll always be friends, 
won’t we?"

	"Geez, you sound like you’re planning to die.  Yes, we 
will," Mikoto said.  "Now, buck up, or do I have to beat 
good cheer into you?"

	He sighed.  "More violence may help."

	She laughed and helped him up.  "Alright, more 
violence, then."  

***************
	
	"Hey, little sis, you okay?" Tenma asked later that 
night, coming into her room.

	Yakumo looked up from her homework.  "I’m okay," 
she said.

	"Did you want to talk about something?" Tenma 
asked.

	"Have you...can you..."  Yakumo wasn’t sure how to 
express this.  She’d never told anyone about her ability to 
read some people’s hearts.  She’d been a little afraid what 
they would think.  "Do you and Karasuma..."

	"I’m working on it," Tenma said.  "He walked me 
home today."  She smiled.  "But I...I...He’s so hard to 
understand sometimes," she concluded, coming over and 
sitting down across from Yakumo.

	Yakumo could see her thoughts were full of curry; I 
see we’ll need to have that for dinner tomorrow, Yakumo 
thought.  "Have you ever kissed him?" Yakumo asked.

	"I...no," Tenma said, sighing.  "I’m so jealous of you 
two.  It feels good, doesn’t it?  Kissing?"  She sounded very 
hopeful.

	Yakumo didn’t know what to say.  She’d hoped...but 
no.  "It looks very good in the manga," she mumbled.

	"What?" Tenma asked, snapping back into reality 
from thoughts of Karasuma kissing her.

	Yakumo could see those thoughts and she blushed.  
"I...the manga..."  No, can’t talk about the manga!  "I mean, 
there’s not a manga..."

	Tenma looked at her in confusion.  "Have you been 
reading love stories or something?"

	"I...yes," Yakumo said.  It suddenly hit her that all of 
Harima’s manga were love stories.  And action stories.  
Love-action stories.  He always wrote about love.  And 
fighting.  "Yes."

	"And they’re making you worry about your 
relationship with Harima?"

	Yakumo nodded.

	"Those stories are just...well, they’re stories," Tenma 
said, taking Yakumo’s hand.  "Listen to your big sister."

	Yakumo nodded, looking at her intently.  Tenma’s 
mind was full of odd things like her dressed as Harima, or 
Harima kissing Mikoto or a prince and a princess kissing.  
She thought the princess looked sort of like Tenma, but she 
couldn’t recognize the prince.  

	"Guys don’t know how to say what they feel," Tenma 
said.  "The ones who do are usually lying, and are monkeys 
who want as many women as possible.  So if Harima 
doesn’t know how to say what he feels, that’s normal.  I 
mean, a guy might panic and...and...say he likes curry more 
than you or something...if you press him too hard."  Tenma 
looked very nervous.  "Don’t make my mistakes."

	"So Karasuma does like you better than curry?" 
Yakumo asked.

	Tenma’s hair antenna wiggled frantically.  "Yes, of 
course he does."  Her mind was full of turmoil and panic, 
though, but then she calmed.  "He can’t marry curry, 
anyway."  An image of Karasuma marrying some cook 
flitted past, however.

	He probably likes manga more than me, Yakumo 
thought, feeling a little melancholy.  "Are all guys like 
that?"

	"The good ones," Tenma said.  "Watch...watch what 
they do, right?"

	"Right," Yakumo said.  I bet manga can read his mind, 
she thought, then felt very silly for even thinking that.  
"Can you ever...I mean...how do you tell what he is 
thinking if he can’t..."

	"I generally can’t," Tenma admitted ruefully.  "But he 
tries to help me and to do things with me.  If a guy seeks a 
woman out to do things with her, he generally likes her."

	That made Yakumo feel a little better.  "That’s good."

	"Of course, some guys do it to be a monkey.  Like 
Imadori."  She sighed, shaking her head.  "He’s a total 
monkey.  Karen loves him so much, but he loves Mikoto.  
Or maybe just her breasts.  And half the other women on 
the planet.  HE IS A MONKEY," Tenma said.  "Stay away 
from monkeys."

	"Thank you for the advice."

	"Let me know if it helped," Tenma said, smiling.  
"Anyway, he may have a hard time saying what he feels, 
but, I mean...a guy doesn’t spend all night with a girl he 
doesn’t like.  Even if it’s just at a teacher’s house."

	Yakumo nodded.  "Okay."

	Tenma got up. "I’ve got to sleep."

	"Are you done with your homework?" Yakumo asked.

	"Done as I’m going to get," she said.  "Goodnight."  
And then headed off to bed, leaving Yakumo to think.

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

	"So, how big is she?" Imadori asked Harima, who was 
busy scribbling out some ideas for his new manga when he 
should have been working on the homework he rarely ever 
did.  

	Harima covered up the scribbles, quickly turning the 
page.  "How big is who?"

	"Tsukamoto’s sister," Imadori said.  

	"Hmm, she’s about 160 cm, I’d guess," Harima said.  

	Imadori staggered back.  "WHAT?"

	Harima blinked.  "What?"

	"But...she...no way."  Imadori instinctively made 
warding gestures even though it wasn’t Harima he was 
warding.

	Harima cocked his head slightly.  "Uh, what?"

	Imadori fled across the room to Tenma.  "Is it true?  I 
mean, it can’t be true."

	Tenma blinked.  "What?"

	"Is..."  He paused and looked suspiciously at Tenma.  
"That’s what he said."

	"Uh, what?" Tenma said.

	"Hah!  You won’t get me!" Imadori said, flitting over 
to Akira.  "You have to tell me."

	"Two thousand yen," Akira said.

	"TWO THOUSAND YEN?" he asked.

	"That’s half what I would charge Hanai, and I won’t 
lie to _you_," she said.  "You’re getting a deal."

	Grumblingly, he forked over 2000 yen.  "How big is 
Tsukamoto Yakumo?"

	"I’d say about 163 cm."  Akira tapped her cheek.  
"Give or take a few CM."  She passed him back 100 yen.  
"Here’s for the uncertainty."

	His jaw dropped.  "But...I mean...is that possible?"

	Akira said coolly, "For a member of Tea Club, 
anything is possible."

	Tiny tufts of smoke drifted out of Imadori’s ears as he 
wandered away from Akira.  163 cm bustline?  THAT 
WAS INHUMAN.  It...they had to be pulling his leg.  A 
conspiracy to trick him.

	But he wouldn’t be fooled.  He was pretty sure 
Yakumo was only a C, not even a D.  But he had to be sure.  
And their clumsy efforts to fool him...oh, he’d never fall for 
that.  Oh no.  NOT ON HIS LIFE.

	Harima looked over at Imadori, wondering if he was 
putting together a table of vital statistics for the class...was 
it already that time of year?  He turned back to his notes, 
only to have Imadori suddenly drifting up on him again.

	"You have touched them, right?" Imadori asked.

	"Touched who?"

	"Tsukamoto’s sister," Imadori asked.

	"Yes," Harima said.  "Kind of hard for us to ride a 
motorcycle without touching."

	Imadori felt a huge surge of jealousy.  YOU SLY 
DOG, he thought.  Damnation, that’s BRILLIANT.  I need 
a motorcycle!

	He pulled himself together.  "That would give you a 
pretty good idea of how big she is."

	"Well, yes," Harima said.  "She’s much bigger than 
her sister."

	"Well, that’s obvious to anyone with eyes," Imadori 
said.  "So you have touched them."

	"I’ve touched Tenma-san and Yakumo-san, yes," 
Harima said.  Why does he keep asking me this?  "Are you 
having trouble hearing?"

	Imadori backed up just a little.  "And you really think 
she’s 160 cm?"

	"Yes."

	Imadori imagined himself drowning in breasts.  There 
were limits, even for him.  I have no choice, he thought.  
I’m going to have to find out for myself.

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

	Eri poked Mikoto.  "He’s going to do something 
stupid and cause another class war."

	"It’s not my problem.  And how do you know he’s not 
just going to the bathroom or something?" Mikoto asked, 
looking up from her lunch.

	"You do realize he was asking about Yakumo’s bust-
size, right?" Eri asked.

	"He was?" Tenma asked.

	"He should have been more specific," Akira said, but 
she smiled a little.

	Mikoto sighed.  "I’ll send Karen to fetch him."

	Tenma stood up, shaking her fist.  "I WILL 
PROTECT MY SISTER!  ONEE-CHAN POWA!"  And 
then she zoomed off.

	Eri said, "Well, that works too."

	"I’ll send Karen just in case."

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

	Yakumo poked away at her lunch, lost in thought.  
Sarah looked over at her, a little worried.  "Are you okay?" 
she asked.  She’d gotten good at reading Yakumo’s moods 
from tiny cues.

	Yakumo looked over at Sarah; worries and concern 
flickered in the air around her.  It was oddly reassuring.  
"Don’t worry," she said.  "I’m just wondering what kissing 
is like."

	"Haven’t you and Harima kissed?" Sara asked.

	"No," Yakumo said.  And then she felt something, a 
tiny pressure at her mind.  She knew what this was; it was 
usually the feeling that someone with very strong thoughts 
was approaching.

	It was poking out through the window.  A single 
Romaji letter.  ‘D’.

	Confused, she peered at the classroom window 
nearby; she and Sarah were in the yard, under a tree.  But 
the sun reflected off it; all she could see was the ‘D’.  
Huge, and in English.

	"Sarah, is there anyone else from your country here?"

	"Harry Mackenzie," Sarah said.  "He’s in 2-D, I think.  
Lala Gonzales isn’t from my country, but she is foreign, 
also 2-D."

	Maybe someone’s just thinking about their class, 
Yakumo thought.  But it felt...directed at her.

	And then it was gone.  

	"Why do you ask?"

	"Nothing," Yakumo said.

	"So you’re thinking of kissing Harima?  Jealous that 
Akira stole your kiss?" Sara asked.  "I thought...well, I tried 
setting up a little getaway for you two..."

	"We had a lot of fun," Yakumo said, then finished off 
her lunch, thinking.

	"What you should do is to draw a picture of you two 
kissing to get his attention," Sara said.

	Yakumo turned the idea over in her mind, but then she 
felt the pressure.  Looking, the ‘D’ was coming from a tree 
this time.  A tree with someone behind it.

	"IMADORI!" Tenma suddenly bellowed.

	Sara and Yakumo started.  

	"No harrassing my sister!" Tenma grabbed Imadori by 
the ear and began to drag him off.  "You should be more 
faithful."

	"I am faithful to my quest for D!" Imadori announced, 
but didn’t fight back very hard, or so it seemed to Yakumo.  
The letter D hung over him like a great shroud; she’d never 
seen anything quite like it, not even when Hanai came 
around her.  Not since the time she’d drowned in thoughts, 
anyway.

	Sara said, "That was strange."

	Yakumo smiled a little.  Onee-chan power.  "I think 
I’ll try your idea."

	"Go for it!"

***********

	Eri got out her calculator for math, then realized she 
had two, then remembered why.  She sidled back to 
Harima.  "Kenji," she said.  "Here."  She slapped one down 
on his desk.  

	He looked at it curiously.  "Yes, it is," he said.  "Here, 
that is."

	"..."  She slapped her forehead.  "For you.  The 
calculator."

	He blinked.  "You didn’t have to get me anything.  
The food was thanks for..."

	People were staring at her curiously, and she suddenly 
felt embarrassed.  "Just returning the one I borrowed," she 
said suddenly.

	"Oh."  I don’t remember mine being this good.  
"Thanks, then."  But why would Eri return it to me if it 
wasn’t mine?

	She was relieved he played along.  "That’s all."

	He caught her hand, and she wobbled on her feet.  
"Eri-san."

	"Y..yes, Kenji-kun?"

	"I need to teach you to brake."

	"Brake?" she asked.

	"If you have to ride my cycle again.  I could tell you 
didn’t know how to stop."

	He could tell that?  She was amazed.  "I...yes."

	Whispers drifted around the room.  

	"How about today, after school?" he asked.

	"I...yes.  We can do that.  Should I..."

	"I’ll give you a ride home and I can take you out and 
teach you," he said.  The thought of being a teacher was 
kind of cool to him; he drifted off into a little fantasy about 
teaching Tenma to ride his motorcycle.  

	"If you’re done flirting with Kenji, please sit down, 
Eri," the math teacher said.

	Eri turned red.  "We are not flirting!"

	"She just returned my calculator to me," Harima 
protested, glancing over at Tenma, who was busy doodling.  
It is mine, right?

	"I know young love when I see it," he said.

	"He loves my sister!" Tenma protested loudly.

	Harima’s brain interpreted this as "He loves me," and 
then started trying to fill in her confession of love for him.

	Hanai began to glow a soft blue.

	"You did fight for his love," Sagano pointed out.

	"And he let you shave his head," Yuuki said.

	"And you looked so cute at the athletic festival," 
Sagano said.

	"I have pictures," Fuyuki pointed out.

	"We are not dating!" Harima said.

	"Yeah!" Tenma said.

	Eri began to speak, but was cut off.  "Whatever.  SIT 
DOWN," the teacher said.

	He sighed.  "Anyone have any questions from the 
homework?"

	Imadori raised his hand and waved it frantically.  
When called on, he asked, "Yes.  How do we compute the 
short and long axis of a semi-regularly shaped oval?  
Keeping in mind there are two semi-circular bumps of the 
same size on one side?  If we know the circumference of 
what you would get by smoothing out the bumps as if there 
was no valley between them?"

	"Hmm, that’s a good question, if not quite what we’re 
doing.  But it shows initiative, so let’s get into that."

	He began going over the equations with them, while 
Imadori scribbled furiously.  Hmm, perhaps breast binding, 
he thought, as he worked.  No, not possible.  No breast 
compresses THAT much.

	He finally got his answer, and painstakingly he 
worked through it, then nodded.  Definitely, someone was 
pulling his leg.  And the truth...it had to be known.  

	He was just the man to find it.

***********

	"C’mon," Sara said to Yakumo.  "You can’t hide here 
in the shoe room forever."

	They were in the shoe foyer of the school, lurking by 
one of the walls, watching the doors.  Across the room 
from them, by the far wall, Nara and Imadori lurked, 
watching the doors.  "Why do I have to help you with 
this?" Nara asked again.

	"Because you came on to me while wearing a dress!  
Now you owe me!"  Imadori waved a finger at Nara.

	"I just wanted your secrets of dealing with women!" 
Nara protested.

	"Here’s the first one...NEVER COME ON TO A GUY 
WHILE WEARING A DRESS," Imadori hissed.  "Now, 
keep an eye out.  You have to engage her in conversation 
so I can go for the test."

	Fortunately for him, enough rows of shoe cases 
intervened to block his ‘D’ aura from Yakumo’s eldritch 
sight.

	Students streamed past, then the stream turned into a 
trickle.  Yakumo watched quietly, while Sara fretted.  "Are 
we sure he hasn’t gone home?" she whispered.

	"His motorcycle is still here," Yakumo said, peering 
out a window.

	"Are you sure she hasn’t left yet?" Nara asked 
Imadori.

	"Hige’s cycle is still here," Imadori said.  "She rides 
home with him while her sister walks with Karasuma, 
right?"

	Karasuma now entered, coming over to get his shoes, 
while Tenma quickly sprinted in and found hers.  "Ready to 
go?" Tenma squeaked.

	Karasuma nodded silently.  He waved to Yakumo and 
Sara, who scampered further back into hiding, then turned 
to go.  Tenma walked after him.  "Who were you waving 
to?" she asked.

	He considered, then said, "Aliens."

	Tenma laughed.  "There aren’t really aliens 
everywhere."  She paused.  "Right?"

	"You never know," he said, and they ambled off 
together.

	"He’s like an alien," Nara mumbled.

	"Amen," Imadori said.

	Harima entered with Eri now.  Imadori blinked in 
surprise.

	Yakumo stared.  Sara winced a moment, then shoved 
Yakumo gently.  "He’ll leave if you don’t act quickly," she 
whispered.

	Imadori looked around.  Where was Yakumo?

	Eri and Harima got their shoes.  Eri said, "Do I need a 
helmet?"

	"It’s a good idea for a girl," Harima said, putting his 
shoes on.

	"What, your head is too thick to get hurt?" Eri asked.  
"Or just nothing worth losing in it?"  She put her hand over 
her mouth after she said that.

	"Exactly," he replied without irony.  He stretched.  
"Let’s go."

	Oh man, he’s gonna measure her breasts with his 
cycle, Imadori thought.  I AM SO JEALOUS.  But he 
restrained himself.  Must wait for Yakumo.

	Sara shoved Yakumo again.  "Go, go!"

	Yakumo watched, like a deer in headlights.

	Harima ambled out the door with Eri following him.  
Yakumo reached towards him hesitantly, though he 
couldn’t possibly notice her as she was still mostly hidden 
at the far side of the room behind shoe cases.  Then her arm 
fell when the door closed behind him.

	Sara sighed.  "Yakumo, you have to be bolder."

	"I am not bold," she said softly.

	"Well, we go to plan two," Sara said.  "Come on."

	She started to hustle Yakumo out, when Yakumo felt 
an approaching mind.  She spun, only to see Nara, who was 
pointing at her, his mouth agape.  He tried to speak; his 
heart said, ‘Girl...girl...cute girl...I...uh...uh...’

	"Hello, sempai," she said softly.  "Sara is very cute."

	"I...uh..." he began, while Sara beamed.  ‘She’s almost 
as pretty as Tenma-chan,’ Nara thought and Yakumo read.  

	Imadori crept forwards, planning to try for the 
patented ‘oops stumble’ with faceplant in chest.  Careful 
study had shown him that if he ran into a woman, he’d 
always end up with his face in her bosom somehow.  Great 
for testing.  

	Yakumo said softly, "Did you need Sara for 
something, sempai?"

	"I...uhh...hahaha..." Nara laughed nervously.  He was 
thinking about Sara definitely, Yakumo could tell.  And her 
too.  And Tenma.  And Imadori.

	Yakumo felt a sudden chill up her spine and turned her 
head slightly.  The ‘D’ was coming.  She side stepped, just 
as Imadori bolted forwards.  He slid through the space she 
was in and collided with Nara, ending up with his face 
planted on Nara’s chest.

	Nara said, "Imadori-kun, what are you doing?"

	"Oooooh, yaoi," Sara said, blushing slightly.  Yakumo 
glanced at her thoughts and saw things which made 
Yakumo blush and turn away.  

	Yakumo could feel her head spin.  She backed towards 
the door, seeing the whir of thoughts around Nara and 
Imadori’s head; it was all too much for her, especially 
the...and the...and...

	Karen and Lala Gonzales chose this moment to come 
out into the foyer.  They paused, staring.  Yakumo could 
see thoughts whir around their minds suddenly, joining 
with the blur around Sara and Nara and Imadori.  She knew 
what was coming.

	Yakumo turned and ran.  Imadori reached out feebly 
towards her, even as Lala Gonzales said, "HIS SHAME 
KNOWS NO LIMITS!"

	"Yakumo!" Sara said, turning and running after her.

	Behind them, they could hear the sound of Imadori 
being beaten.

	Yakumo fled until she couldn’t feel the thoughts, then 
collapsed against a tree and fainted.

*************
	 
	Eri sat on the motorcycle, feeling her nerves rev like 
the engine, the helmet now firmly on her head, with Harima 
seated behind her, ready to take over if something went 
wrong.  But her whole body was jumpy, and it was hard to 
focus.  It didn’t help that he seemed so utterly relaxed about 
it all.

	She checked one more time, to make sure he wasn’t 
actually asleep.  He was quite awake, and looking at her 
curiously.  She said, "I’m ready."

	"Let’s go," he said, and they took off, roaring out onto 
the street.  

	She expected him to tell her to slow down when she 
realized she was going 40 in a thirty zone, but he didn’t 
seem to mind.  Instead, he focused on various issues of 
control, and she tried to keep up.  The motorcycle looked 
simple, but when he talked about it, it was suddenly 
complex.

	They took a corner quickly; she worried about how 
much they’d leaned, so she made sure to decelerate the 
second time.  Something hit her.  "You do have a license, 
right?" she asked.

	"Of course not," he said.  "I haven’t been held back 
enough to be old enough to get one."

	Her eyes widened slightly.  "What if the police stop 
us?"

	"Even if I did, you don’t," he said.  "But they won’t 
catch us any more than they did before."  There was a 
cocky confidence to him.  "You’ve got talent.  Can’t waste 
that."

	She blushed slightly.  "You think I have talent?" she 
asked.

	"I wouldn’t let you touch my cycle again if you didn’t.  
It’s my duty to train you like Haruka trained me," he said. 

	"Was he good?" Eri asked as she roared around a 
corner, feeling the wind and enjoying it.

	"He kicked a lot of ass," Harima said.  "Way better 
than me, and I’m pretty damn good."  He studied the area.  
"There’s a park off to the right.  Turn quick, head there, and 
we’ll practice stopping."

	"Do we have to stop?" Eri asked a little wistfully.

	"You have to learn how to stop," he said.  "So slow 
down a bit and turn."

	She sped up into the turn by accident, grumbled at 
herself, then made herself slow down.  They headed into 
the park.

	Harima had to intervene the first two times, when she 
stopped too fast; the third time she stopped too slow and 
had to make a radical turn, nearly slamming them sideways 
into a sturdy tree.  

	"Ahhh!" Eri screamed at that.

	He put a hand on her shoulder.  "No fear.  The bike 
will destroy you if you are afraid of it."

	She looked at him, and he stared back at her, utterly 
serious.  She felt her nerves jangle, and she knew she must 
look scared.  "Kenji-kun, it’s not that easy."

"Eri-san," he said, "Nothing’s easy if you don’t try."

She winced at that.  Nodding slowly, she started up 
again, circled the park, and stopped, trying to make her 
nerves slow down.
	
	They continued to jangle, but she gradually fought 
past them, driving round and round, until she finally got the 
knack of stopping.  Harima watched it all impassively, 
pausing only to critique her ‘landings’.  

	Finally, he said, "That’s probably enough for one 
day."

	"Can we drive around some?" Eri asked.  She felt 
reluctant to go home.  "It’s fun."

	"Yeah," he said, smiling at her.  She felt her heart beat 
a little faster.  "Time was, there was hardly anything I loved 
more than roaring around town on my cycle."  He stared off 
across the park.  "That and fighting.  There wasn’t anyone I 
couldn’t beat or outrace."

	She shivered slightly in the breeze.  His voice 
suddenly sounded so distant, like he was talking to her 
across some great gap.  "But it’s not like that any more?" 
she asked softly.

	"I..."  He hesitated.  "Have you ever met someone who 
changed your life, Eri-san?"

	"I..."  Her mind raced back to the previous year, to 
having moved again, being chased by all the boys, but so 
many of the girls resented her.  And the boys just wanted 
her body.  She couldn’t take any of them seriously.  And 
the girls...she’d never been good at making friends.  She 
was too honest and too easily angered.  If Mikoto hadn’t 
reached out to her...  "Yes.  I have," she said softly, looking 
over at him.

	He turned and looked at her, taking off his sunglasses.  
She stepped back a pace, suddenly caught in the intensity 
of his gaze.  He suddenly clapped a hand on her shoulder, 
and she froze like a mouse with a hawk diving at it.  Oh 
god, is he going to take my clothes off, she suddenly 
wondered, then wanted to die.  I am such a pervert, she 
thought.

	"So have I," he said.  "I became a new man, because I 
met...this person.  The old me is dead because of that 
meeting."  His voice and gaze were intense, his hand warm 
on her shoulder.

	She felt a sudden sense of envy.  Intensely, she wished 
she could inspire someone that much, that they would 
change everything they are, for her sake.  "Is it that easy for 
you?" she asked softly.  "To just cast aside your old self 
and be born again?"

	"No," he said, and now she felt his hand shiver.  "I 
screw up all the time and I still...There are days where I just 
want to chuck it all and run away.  But I won’t.  Not again.  
I did that once, but I won’t give up.  Not this time."  His 
grip became firmer again.

	That must be the secret, she realized.  Whoever 
inspired him to change himself.  She...he...whoever they 
were, they must have been incredible.  Was it...was it 
Yakumo?  Maybe he’d changed himself, all for love of her.

	But something didn’t quite feel right about that.  It had 
to be someone in 2-C.  Someone he saw every day.  Who 
could keep inspiring him to keep trying.  But who could it 
be?

	He stepped closer to her, still gazing at her intently, 
and she could feel her body quiver.  Was he about to give 
her a love confession again?  This would dwarf the 
previous one, and it had floored her.  It had been so utterly 
sincere; there had to be someone he loved, and he let that...

	That woman.

	That was now the school nurse.

	Who knew his secret.

	And called him by a pet name.  

	And said she was like the landlord and he the tenant.  

	And he lived with his cousin.

	Suddenly, she felt things whirring in her mind.  No 
wonder the nurse is so affectionate.  She must be his 
cousin.  And they live together, but he won’t admit it 
because he’s afraid people will get the wrong idea about 
him having an affair with the nurse.  Of course family 
would feel free to tease him like that in public and she’d get 
so worried about him drowning and...

	It all made perfect sense.  

	"Kenji-kun, I..." she began.

	"Hey, you," a man cut in.  "You Harima Kenji?"  He 
was a tall muscular teenager with short, messy green hair, 
wearing a long black coat with a dragon embroidered on 
the back in green.  

	Harima knew him on sight—Urashima Taro, the 
Green Dragon.  He’d beaten down Taro’s entire gang...a 
year ago?  Something like that.  It had been a while; looked 
like Taro had done more working out since then.  

	He struggled in his mind as a cunning plan came to 
mind.  "I no speak Japanese," he said in strangled English.  
"What you say?"

	The guy looked at him suspiciously, while Eri blinked 
in confusion, then looked at the man.  Now she saw he had 
a dozen punks with him, more delinquents, armed with bats 
and bicycle chains.  

	Eri said quickly in English, "Harry, can you tell what 
they’re saying?"  

	"No," he said.  "Nothing, Erika."

	Taro struggled to parse, then said, "Well, I guess not.  
Looks like his bike over there, but he’d not try and wuss 
out by pretending to not speak Japanese."  

	Eri began trying to steer Harima away; she took him 
by the arm, but she could feel him tensing up.  "Just ignore 
them," she said in English.  "They’re not worth your time."

	"Or let a woman push him around," Taro said.  "Oh 
well, no one around here but pansy boys."

	Eri felt her arm in the crook of his arm start to get 
crushed.  "Don’t forget..." she whispered in Japanese to 
make sure he understood.  "The person you told me about."

	He was breathing hard, but he looked over gratefully 
at her and nodded, then slid on his sunglasses.  "Come see 
me again when you grow up, Taro," Harima said.

	"IT IS YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Taro shouted.  "I’m 
gonna kick the crap out of you and your little girlfriend."

	"I’m not..." Eri began.

	"If you touch the woman I love, I will KILL YOU," 
Harima said, spinning and glaring at him.  Eri could feel 
waves of menace radiating off him, could see him almost 
tense and puff up.  

	Eri felt her heart begin to pound.  Did he...did he mean 
me?  Or is he just saying weird things for no reason like he 
does all the time?  "I..."  Does he...but he...

	Harima stepped between them and Eri.  "Start the 
cycle," he whispered.

	"But you..."

	"Start it," he muttered, then said louder, "Did you hear 
me, Taro?"

	"So you’re in love with a freaky half-breed, is that it?" 
Taro asked.  "Or does she just dye her hair to look like a 
gaijin?"  He grinned.  That would hit home, he thought.  
Not that he really cared; he’d have fucked her himself, 
given the chance.  Maybe he was about to.  But talking 
smack was key; angry people fought like morons.

	Eri had started to move to the motorcycle, but now she 
turned angrily.  It wasn’t easy being mixed-heritage in 
Japan, and she never put up with this sort of crap.  "This 
hair is all natural, just like your GUT," she snapped.

	Taro got too mad at that to look at Harima.  "Shut your 
mouth!" he yelled and lashed out with his chain at her.  "I 
bet those are fake tits!  How much did you pay for them?"

	Harima caught the chain and yanked Taro closer.  
"Touch her and DIE," he said, then punched Taro in the 
face, knocking him down.  "I don’t have time for you punks 
any more.  I’m not one of you."  He could feel himself 
getting angrier.  

	He turned and began to stride towards Eri, who ran 
over and got the motorcycle started.  She looked back in 
time to see the large rock aimed at his head by one of the 
punks as they charged.  "Kenji-kun, look out!"

	The blow sent his hat flying and knocked him down, 
but didn’t take him out.  Nevertheless, Eri didn’t like the 
look of it.	  "Kenji-kun!" she shouted.

	He got up.  "Go," he said to her.  "I’ll call you when 
this is over."

	"But..." she protested.

	"Go!" he commanded.

	So she went, leaving him facing down the horde of 
punks.  But she couldn’t leave him like this.  She was...The 
Prince shouldn’t run away and leave Sleeping Beauty to 
fight off the monsters.  

	She turned the cycle around, roaring back in.  She 
could see him fighting; punks kept going down, but getting 
back up.  She had a feeling they’d been training to get their 
revenge.  Four of them were down, but the other eight were 
still going at it, especially Taro, who kept trying to bind 
Harima’s arms with his chain.

	She thought for a moment about riding by and 
sweeping Harima onto the motorcycle.  It would be 
incredibly cool, but probably she would just wreck the 
cycle.  

	Instead, she circled, watching him fight; she could see 
the anger on his face, see how hard he fought. She’d seen 
him fight Hanai, but she’d never see him fight so many 
people at once.  She couldn’t quite tell if he was winning.  
But she’d never seen him fight this intensely before, not 
even against Hanai.  

	Then he gave a great shout and uppercut Taro, who 
flew backwards, knocking two others down with him.  The 
rest looked at Harima’s fists and fled, leaving him standing 
over the unconscious bodies, breathing hard.

	She roared up.  "Come on, let’s leave these trash 
behind, Kenji-kun."

	He looked at them, shaking a little, trying to calm 
down.  "Half of Tokyo wants my head," he mumbled.

	"The stupid half," she said.  "Come on."

	He came over to her.  "You okay, Eri-san?"

	"Yes," she said. He was bleeding a little on one cheek, 
his knuckles looked a little raw to her, and his clothing was 
dirty all over - but he'd come out of it mostly okay. She was 
reminded of how much better some people could fight than 
her, even with her self-defence training... though she 
suspected she could still out-fence anyone else in the class. 
"We’ve got to get you cleaned up before your wounds can 
get infected."

	"My wounds never get infected," he said a little 
stubbornly.  "I’m too bad-ass."

	"Well, let’s take no chances.  I expect Yakumo...is 
expecting to see you tonight," she said hesitantly.  "And 
Tenma will probably think I beat you myself."

	"You’d have hurt me worse," he mumbled as he got 
on the cycle behind her and they roared off.  

	She smiled a little at that.  "You’re better than I 
realized."

	"I was the best," he said.  "But those days are 
ove...wait."

	"Hmm?"

	The streets roared past them, though Eri tried to avoid 
any more law violations.

	"I was supposed to meet with Yakumo-san!" Harima 
said frantically.  "But I forgot!  Tenma won’t be happy with 
me."

	She sighed, though she then felt a little surge of petty 
pleasure that being with her could make him forget about 
Yakumo.  "Let’s go home, then, and then you can go clean 
up and see her."

	"You’ve learned well for a start," he said.  "But there’s 
more to show you."

	"Well, we can have another lesson soon, then," she 
said.

	He nodded.  "Sounds good to me."

	As she drove along, Eri realized a problem.  How to 
get him cleaned up.  If she sent him home, he’d probably 
try showing up wounded to impress Yakumo.  Men were 
like that.  But if she took him to her place, he wouldn’t 
have any clean clothing and her father might come home.  
Also, he might get freaky ideas.

	The naked Harima flashback nearly sent her into 
another lane, but she caught herself in time.

	He frowned.  "Focus," he said.  "If your attention 
drifts, you’re dead."

	"Right," she said, making sure to FOCUS.  

	She focused so hard that she ended up home before 
she could think any further.  "You want to come in and get 
cleaned up before you go over to Tenma’s?"

	"What if your father comes home?" Harima asked.  

	She frowned.  "Promise me you’ll go home, get clean, 
and change."

	"You’d better take a bath too," he replied.

	Her imagination ran away with her, just for a second.  
"Yes, yes," she said.  "Now go get clean."

	"I have to look my best for her," Harima said, thinking 
of Tenma.

	Eri frowned.  "Yes."

	"See you tomorrow, then," he said, and roared off.

	She headed inside, only to have one of the maids 
scurry up to her.  "Miss, your father is here; he’s worried 
about where you went.  He tried calling you but you didn’t 
answer."

	She frowned, then realized she’d turned her cellphone 
off for school and not turned it back on since then.  "I’ll go 
apologize," she said.

	The maid nodded and left.

	Eri went and found her father, who was in his office.  
"I’m sorry, Father, I went out with...with Harkenko, and I 
forgot my cellphone was off."

	He sighed.  "Honey, you need to keep it on.  We can 
afford to buy batteries and I might need to call you at any 
time."

	Nodding to her father, she came over and looked at the 
work on his desk, which looked to involve a bunch of 
financial records.  "What’s this?" she asked.

	"There are discrepancies I have to find the reason for," 
he said, then pushed his papers aside.  "Would you like to 
go out for dinner?" he asked.

	She smiled.  "I’d love to."

	"You could invite your new friend, if you like," he 
said.  "I’m curious to meet her."

	"She has homework, which is why she went home," 
Eri said.  

	"Well, another time, then," he said.  "Let’s go."

**************
	
	Itoko looked at Harima, who was busy bandaging 
himself in the bathroom.  "Got in a fight?" she asked.

	"That lardass Taro," he said.  "Have to get cleaned up 
before I head over to Tenma-chan’s house."

	"So, are you going to actually tell them which one of 
them you really like, or are you going to keep using 
Yakumo to get to Tenma?" Itoko asked.

	Harima winced.  "I am not!  I haven’t told Yakumo 
anything that isn’t true."

	"So when are you going to tell Tenma?" Itoko asked, 
leaning against the doorway.

	"When the time is right," Harima replied, tying off the 
bandage.  

	"Uh huh," Itoko said.  "And you seem to be making 
time with Sawachika too."

	"I don’t think we’ve ever made anything," Harima 
said.  "She’s got a talent for biking, though."

	Itoko shook her head.  "You just don’t see anything 
you don’t want to."

	"I’d make a lot of things vanish if that was true."  He 
donned his hat.  "Okay, now I just have to get my stuff and 
go."

	"Good luck," Itoko said.  He’ll need it.

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