It seemed like it couldn't have been that long ago, when it in fact had been ten years. Ten years since they had met; ten years since he had ruffled up her hair excitedly and she had yelled back at him sharply; ten years since they showed up at the sidewalk between their houses only to see they had given the same gift- milk candies- as apologies.

Ten whole years.

The years had melted by the same way the milk candies had- quickly but leaving a sticky-sweet residue that was hard to forget unless you washed your hands, and even then the sugar still lingered. They still gave each other milk candies sometimes, when they were bored or were walking back to school. Sometimes one of his siblings would throw it out the window of their house, into one of their hands as they walked to school together, the same as they had for years. It went on like that for a very long time, up until their second year of middle school.

"NYA! NII-CHAN! LOOKIT THIS!" Really, she was only a few months older, but that didn't stop him from calling her an older sister- or, at that, a sister at all.

"What?" she asked, slipping a milk candy into his open hand as she did from time to time.

"I WON THE RANKING MATCHES!!"

"Really? That's great!" she exclaimed, giving him a hug and popping a milk candy into her own mouth. She still remembered a few years ago when he, one of the prodigies in the area, was still playing in the street courts, wowing everyone with his fluid, acrobatic movements. He still wowed everyone, though not in the same way. She had met his doubles partner on a few year-wide projects, and he seemed nice enough- a bit stoic, but nice. It was just like Eiji to unwillfully choose someone so unlike him, yet match so perfectly.

"I know, Nii-chan!" It was easy to tell he was giddy with excitement. He popped the milk candy into his mouth, promptly choked on it, and spit it into the street. Hikari laughed and laughed, smiling widely. Eiji grinned, kicking the tiny white dot farther into street so a car would eventually run over it. They sat on the corner for a second, then exploded into laughter as it was squashed into the street, a permanent reminder of that day.

"Hey, Eiji, can you come over? I'm planning on helping Oka-san make a pie and-"

"Already a yes! I'll be right over, I just need to drop off my tennis bag at home," he exclaimed proudly.

"No prob- you can keep it at our house for a while. Check with your Oka-san, though, kay? Remember what happened last time?"

"Right." Eiji's eyebrow furrowed for a second, then returned to his customary smile.

But the damage was already done. That furrow of the eyebrow, unseen by Hikari, was the mark of something that lasted all through the rest of their second year, and some of their third first. As Eiji drifted away, spending more and more time practicing tennis and less and less time talking to Hikari, even choosing Fuji over her during partner projects, Hikari started to drift away too. The real Hikari. Hikari was still a physical being, still small and short and pretty, but it seemed as if she turned into a shell. She turned quiet and made herself small, hardly ever speaking and never sharing an opinion. And soon, there was almost no Hikari in Hikari left.

That was why it was a surprise when she turned up to tennis club practice one day.

There were a few stares, as she looked too old to be in Ryoma's fan club, but it was obvious that she was there for something. She walked up to a certain red head, tugging on the back of his Seigaku Regular windbreaker.

"Eiji."

Eiji jumped, now unaccustomed to hearing the voice that was once so familiar. Even Fuji stopped for a moment and looked over. I Satou-san never talks… so why is she talking to Eiji? /I he thought, turning back to his game just to return a shot.

"Hoi hoi, Hika-chan! What're you doing here?"

Once again, Fuji stopped to listen, only this time Inui joined in too.

"Listen, can you come to street courts later? Just to throw a ball around, I mean."

"Sure, Hika-chan. Why so suddenly?"

"I… kind of need to talk. To you, I mean."

By now, Momo and Ryoma were also listening intently. All four had one thought on their mind.

"Hoi hoi! I'll be right there once practice is over!" And, sure enough, practice ended. Eiji went in to the locker room to change into some shorts and a T-shirt now that practice was over, and Hikari opened her cell phone to tell her mom she was going to be late coming home. Fuji, Inui, Momo, and Ryoma were all oddly silent in the locker room. Inui was the first one out. He picked up his bag, only to realize he was being followed.

"Ah, so I guess we had the same idea, huh?" Fuji said, smiling serenely. Momo and Ryoma followed closely. "We didn't miss anything, did we?" Momo said excitedly. Fuji and Inui shook their heads in response.

"Well, we're off- project Kikumaru Eiji and Satou Hikari!"

It wasn't hard to find them. They were at a series of street tennis courts, with Hikari about to serve.

"So, what's up?" Hikari hit the ball, her wrist flipping sharply after the rest of her arm, remaining silent. Her words came out as a whisper, barely audible. "You'd think you'd have noticed. Eiji-chan, you have great eyesight, but you're awful at noticing people."

"What do you mean, Hika-chan?"

"Go easy, I haven't played in a while! I mean that-" Hikari's wrist flipped sharply again. "I mean that you haven't noticed that I haven't properly talked to you in months, Eiji."

"Hika, stop doing that wrist thing, you're gonna break your wrist. And I've talked to you, whenever we walk to school!"

"Eiji, how many milk candies have I given you lately?"

Eiji dropped the arm holding the racket for a second. "…Oh."

The Quartet was hanging on to their every word. "Milk candies!" Momo hissed. "That has to be a code name for something- like kisses! Eiji hasn't kissed her at all lately, the brat!" It took Fuji and Inui combined to keep Momo in the bushes.

"MOMO!"

… However, it was not enough to keep Ryoma quiet.

"Nani?"

Eiji dropped the racket to his side as an easy lob dribbled by him.

"What is it?"

"I thought I heard something…" He shrugged. "Ah well." The combined efforts of Momo, Fuji, and Inui were barely enough to keep Ryoma quiet.

"What were you thinking, screaming like that?" whispered Momo harshly.

"It was because you were about to jump out of the bushes-"

"BOTH OF YOU!"

"Huh? Was that Inui?" Eiji thought out loud. Hikari simply gave Eiji a quizzical look and returned the ball. It rolled by on Eiji's half of the court pathetically.

"Nya, Hika-chan, how long has it been since you played tennis?"

"… A while."

"How long?"

"Since, erm, you became a regular."

"Why?"

Silence. Then, much less than a whisper, fighting through all of Hikari's mental blocks, it came. "… Jealousy." With a I bang /I that radiated through the tennis courts, Hikari dropped her racket- and the little opinion that she gained in the short not-even-a-match.

"Oi, Hika-chan!" Eiji ran after her. He knew where she was going.

Meanwhile, Inui picked up the rackets. "It's a plot device," he said calmly, tucking them neatly into his own tennis bag. "For blackmail."