From behind the soda-vending machines, Momoshiro snatched from the ground a pebble the size of his thumbnail and, little by little, poked his head out from the side. Making no sound or movement, he watched the boy in the black tank top and white shorts jog around the singles street tennis court. One lap... Two laps... Three laps...

Then, just as Kaidoh rounded the nearest corner for the fourth lap, Momoshiro let fly the pebble that hit the back of Kaidoh's bandannaed head. He ducked back into hiding, struggling not to laugh out loud at the furious hiss he heard. He waited a few seconds before he popped his head out --

"Ow!"

'Gotcha,' Kaidoh scowled, eyes narrowed at the boy in the yellow t-shirt and blue sweatpants staggering by the side of the vending machine, his right hand clutched to his face.

"That freaking hurts, Mamushi!" Momoshiro shook a fist. "You coulda got me in the eye!"

"Serves you right, Saru," Kaidoh hissed, mopping the sweat under his bangs with the towel draped over his shoulders. Stepping out of the court, then, he approached Momoshiro. When he was only about two or three feet away from the porcupine-head, Momoshiro stuck his right foot out and gave Kaidoh a good kick in the shin.

"Hi yourself," Momoshiro smirked from behind his hand.

Kaidoh stopped just before Momoshiro and stuck out his own foot, kicking him right back (and making sure he did so harder). "You're ten minutes late, idiot," he pointed out.

"It's not my fault! My mom had me do some --"

"I don't care," Kaidoh cut him off, not truly anxious to waste another ten minutes of his time getting an earful of Momoshiro's excuses. "Just, come on."

With his thumb and index finger, the wincing Momoshiro rubbed the bridge of his nose between the eyes, before taking his hand off his face finally...

and giving Kaidoh a clear view of where exactly the pebble got him, its color growing into a healthy shade of scarlet. Kaidoh winced to himself; he nearly did get the idiot in the eye, after all.

He thought of asking Momoshiro -- casually -- if it still hurt, but only stood wordlessly watching him grab his racket bag from the ground.

After a moment, Momoshiro thought he could feel Kaidoh's gaze on him, but just as he raised his own eyes to check, Kaidoh turned and walked ahead toward the court. Momoshiro pulled his bag strap over his shoulder and lengthened his strides to catch up. Once he was side by side with Kaidoh, he took a swift glance of the area, then leaned his left hand away from his side to touch Kaidoh's right.

Kaidoh shrugged off the hand folding over his own. "Someone might see, stupid," he hissed.

"There's no one here, stupid, no one," Momoshiro shot back. For emphasis, he even swept his arm in the direction of the empty court. "And it's not like we're kissing or anything, it's just...your hand in my hand."

Not about to be convinced, Kaidoh only let out another hiss and took bigger, faster steps to get to his own racket bag by the long bench on the courtside.

Behind him, Momoshiro simpered.

...when suddenly, a ring. At once Momoshiro shoved his hand inside his pocket and fished out his cellphone. "Hello?"

Kaidoh made sure he was too busy wiping more sweat off his brow to listen in on the phone conversation.

"Hey, Eiji-senpai! What's up?" Momoshiro let his bag slip off his arm and drop to the bench. After a moment, he broke out in an awkward chuckle. "Erm, sorry, Eiji-senpai, but I'm kinda busy right now, don't think I can meet up with you guys. ... Yeah, sorry. Maybe next time. Bye," and he ended the call.

Meanwhile, Kaidoh had yet to stop mopping his forehead.

"Hot day, huh? Hot day," Momoshiro grinned, drawing the zipper of his bag open. "Is it even nine yet --"

A ring, again.

At once Kaidoh slipped his hand inside his shorts' pocket and drew out his cellphone. "Yes."

Momoshiro lifted his left foot up to the seat of the bench and made sure he was too busy re-tying his shoelaces to listen in on the phone conversation. "Ah, Kikumaru-senpai?" Kaidoh let his towel slide off his neck and clutched it. After a moment he turned a slight smirk to Momoshiro, who had moved on to his right sneaker at that point. "Since Momoshiro isn't going to be there, you thought I might want to come?"

Momoshiro jerked his head up to Kaidoh, who turned away just in time to hide his smirk from him.

"Thank you for the offer, Kikumaru-senpai, but I'm busy right now. I'm sorry. Yes. ...Bye." Kaidoh turned back to Momoshiro to see him now doing some jogging in place. Then he took out his racket and declared, "You serve first."

"Taking me lightly, are ya?!" Momoshiro huffed. "Spin it!"

Kaidoh gave a grunt of disapproval, but in the interest of keeping the rules agreed to twirl his racket nonetheless. He called 'rough' and lost, anyway.

+

"Dunk Smash!"

Kaidoh hardly bothered to return the shot, irking Momoshiro a great deal.

"Hey take the game seriously, Mamushi!" he yelled. "I'm giving you my all here!"

"If I hadn't been giving my all I wouldn't be two match points ahead now," Kaidoh retorted.

"Oh yeah?" Momoshiro smirked. "Let's see for how long!"

Kaidoh served. Served an ace that blew past the open-mouthed Momoshiro. "That long," he hissed.

"Wow," Momoshiro whistled. "Nice serve, Mamushi, nice serve."

Kaidoh felt a sort of urge to remark, "Nice game," but remained silent. He turned to head back for his bag on the bench and sat down. Taking his towel, he wiped the dots of perspiration off him.

Momoshiro plopped down next to Kaidoh, toweling his sweaty self as well. He took out his plastic water bottle and drank voraciously from it. "Whooh! That was fun, yeah, wasn't that fun?" he grinned at Kaidoh.

Kaidoh only shrugged, but it was more a shrug of 'Not bad' than 'Whatever.'

Just as Momoshiro sighed, "Man, am I hungry," Kaidoh peered into his bag and reached in for the two bento boxes that each held nine rolls of maki.

"I brought food," he announced, detaching the bottom box from the other and handing it to the sparkly-eyed Momoshiro.

"Hey, did your mom make these?"

"Of course."

Wasting not a nanosecond, Momoshiro popped a maki roll into his mouth. "Woah, it's delicious!" he chewed away. Even before he could finish the first one, he popped in a second, and then a third directly after.

For a moment, Kaidoh watched Momoshiro stuff his grinning face in distaste, before turning to the box on his lap, closing his eyes, and reciting to himself a little prayer of blessing for the meal.

Momoshiro peered simpering at Kaidoh, but was quick to look away the moment Kaidoh opened his eyes. As Kaidoh took his first bite of his maki, "I'll treat you to burgers later," Momoshiro told him, half of his mouth full.

"Later?"

"Yup, after we catch a movie."

Kaidoh's eyebrows rose a little. "I don't remember agreeing to see any movie."

"Of course not. I decided on it just now."

"Who left the deciding to you?" Kaidoh glared.

"Geezuz, Mamushi," Momoshiro licked his rice-spattered lips, "you forget who asked to meet up today in the first place?"

"So?"

"So I get to say what we do."

"You're not ordering me around!"

"Here we go again," Momoshiro heaved an annoyed sigh. He carried on his eating in complete silence -- taking Kaidoh somewhat by surprise -- and, after a while, shrugged, "Okay, no 'later,' then."

Kaidoh thought he felt a little pang in his gut, for some reason that, if he knew, he was sure would irritate him a whole lot. From the corner of his eye, he watched Momoshiro make short work of his last piece of maki. He plucked his fifth maki roll from his own set and nudged the box to Momoshiro. "Here, you can have these," he grunted. "I'm not that hungry, anyway."

"Nah," Momoshiro pushed the box back to Kaidoh. "You need more sustenance than I do."

Another glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just eat, Mamushi."

"I said take it, Saru," and pushed the food back to Momoshiro.

"No, you eat it," and pushed the whole thing back to Kaidoh.

"I'm not that hungry."

"But I'm full already."

"Fine." Kaidoh pressed the lid down on the box and was about to slide it back into his bag, when:

"What're you doing?" Momoshiro frowned.

"You said you didn't want it."

"I said you eat it."

"I don't want to."

"Then I'll eat it." Momoshiro snatched the box from Kaidoh and proceeded to consume the remaining contents. "You're real lucky, y'know, real lucky." Chomp chomp. "I wish my mom made food this, this..." Chomp. Chomp. "...special."

Quietly Kaidoh sipped at his own bottle of water. He was on the verge of speaking, when the ring of Momoshiro's cellphone jerked them both out of their momentary stillness.

Handing the empty bento box back to Kaidoh, Momoshiro answered the call. "Yeah? Oh, hi, Ann-chan!..."

Kaidoh nailed his eyes to the ground as he drank more of his water, trying his best to ignore every word of Momoshiro's lively conversation. After two or three minutes he began to push himself up from the bench, but Momoshiro kept him from rising with a hand around his wrist.

"Um, I gotta go now, Ann-chan, maybe we'll just talk later, 'k? Okay, bye." Momoshiro took the phone down from his ear and asked Kaidoh, "Where you goin'?"

"I'm bored," Kaidoh grunted, shaking his wrist off Momoshiro's hold.

"Ann-chan was just looking for someone to talk with 'cos she was waiting for her brother --"

"I don't care."

"Heh. No reason to get jealous."

"Who's jealous?!"

Momoshiro couldn't help but simper at the stark glow of red across Kaidoh's cheeks, but shut his mouth about it for once. He had far better things in mind than making fun of Kaidoh right then, anyway...

such as catching Kaidoh's hand with his own and locking fingers with him.

So he did.

Kaidoh glared at Momoshiro, but curled his fingers tighter with his nonetheless.

"Maybe we could catch a three p.m. feature," Kaidoh said after a quiet few moments.

Momoshiro tore his eyes off his shifting feet and turned grinning to Kaidoh. "That'd be super, Mamushi, yeah."

"Fssshh. Saru." Kaidoh's attempt to hide his own grin proved unsuccessful. "You look even more stupid with that between your eyes."

"Huh?" Momoshiro let go of Kaidoh's hand and rummaged his bag for his hand mirror. Once he found it, "Grr, damn you, Mamushi!" he snarled, not liking one bit what he saw in his reflection. "Everyone's sure to see this!"

Kaidoh smirked. "I have an idea." He took off his green bandanna, folded it into one thick strip, and then placed it right over Momoshiro's questioning eyes and the discoloration between them. "Now," Kaidoh pronounced, tying the bandanna behind Momoshiro's head, "no one's going to see it."

"Mamushiii!" Momoshiro seethed...

...until Kaidoh grasped his hand and locked fingers with him again. "Shut up, Saru."

In an instant, Momoshiro hushed down. He tugged the bandanna down from his eyes and tightened the weave of his fingers with Kaidoh's. He grinned at the sight of Kaidoh blushing anew, and this time he held up the hand mirror right before him.

Kaidoh saw the reflection of his eyes widen for a moment, before he shoved the mirror away and hissed at the laughing Momoshiro. He didn't stir, however, in his position right next to Momoshiro, nor attempted to let go of his hand.

Momoshiro teased Kaidoh every ten seconds, but squeezed Kaidoh's hand every five. ...or three, or two. He almost sighed out loud in disappointment when it was eventually time for them to split and go home so they could shower and change for the movie.

Kaidoh didn't feel too bad about it as they were going to meet up again at the cinema complex in four hours, anyway.

Only, they didn't get to see any movie in the end, because...

"Are you stupid, that crap's for kids!"

"Are you stupid, you're just 13 -- what d'you call yourself, a grown-up?"

"But the movie sounds so silly, it's just silly!"

"How would you know unless you watch it, idiot."

"Let's just see that one with the robots!"

"Fssshh, you're such a little kid."

"Hey, who wanted to see the kiddie movie in the first place?!"

"It's not a kiddie movie."

"Ya know this wouldn't be such a pain if they just had a tennis movie."

"Whine whine whine."

"Ah stuff it, Mamushi!"

"You stuff it, Saru! Whose stupid idea was this, anyway?!"

"Who's the stupid one who agreed to it, huh?!"

"Shut up!"

...

In any case, Kaidoh let Momoshiro drag him to his favorite hamburger joint afterwards and agreed to try the burgers Momoshiro had promised.

Momoshiro couldn't help but grin watching Kaidoh wince at his first taste of mustard. He wanted to squirt more of it into Kaidoh's burger when Kaidoh wasn't looking, but with his right hand holding his own burger and his left held tight by Kaidoh's under the table, there was just no way he could.

Anyway, Momoshiro laid intent eyes on his supersized burger just before he took his first big bite, as he was sure as heck he was going to remember this one forever.

END