Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or any characters. And you wouldn't believe how many boxes of tissues I've been through crying over that fact... Don't sue me. I gots no munny.

Author's Notes: This fanfic is my informal apology for not working on my other story, 1,000 Paper Cranes. I know it's been a while... I've had like a gazillion concerts between my choir and my band, and homework has been crazy, etc. etc.

I've had this idea for a while. I finally wrote it out in one go... it's really short. So I thought I'd post it. It's a sequel to yet another PoT fanfic I've written, so read that one first... It's called Eyes Like the Moon and it's from Eiji's perspective.

Enjoy! Reviews appreciated.

Kaidoh wondered, for the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, why he was here. Why he was at a burger joint with two people he didn't even like. Why he was sitting next to Echizen, watching that stupid rival of his stuff his face.

It was horrifying to think about.

Their senpais had all been called into some sort of meeting for all Seigaku third-year students. Presumably, it was something about their junior high graduation, or at least something similar. In any case, it didn't matter, except that tennis practice had been cancelled. Ryuzaki-sensei had gathered Kaidoh, Momoshiro, and Echizen together and informed them of this as soon as they got out of class.

"So, there's no practice..." Momo had confirmed.

"None. Shoo, go home," the coach said with a laugh.

Momo did a fist pump to show his utter joy at this unexpected turn of events. "Come on, Echizen; let's go get something to eat."

"Sure, whatever," the freshman consented. Kaidoh tried to gracefully slip away.

"You're coming, too, Viper," Momo suddenly declared, grabbing his rival by the arm.

"Why?" Kaidoh snarled.

"Just come on."

"Fssssssshhhhhhhhh…"

And the tragic result of this tale was his current position. He still did not know why Momoshiro had dragged him along, but nevertheless, he had. So he was forced to sit in the company of these two annoying people while he tried to figure out a way to get out of there without being rude. Not that being rude to Momo would bother him, but his rival would probably take the opportunity to pick a fight, and Kaidoh didn't really want to cause a scene in the restaurant.

During the span of time that Kaidoh had been silently thinking, Momo had finished gorging himself. Echizen had been eating more slowly and Kaidoh had hardly touched his food yet, so now Momo was forced to wait. He cleared his throat impatiently, like he wanted to say something.

Kaidoh ignored the action on purpose. He sensed that Echizen had not responded to it either, but whether this was intentional or not, Kaidoh would never know. Momo cleared his throat again.

After a few minutes of strange silence, Momo finally spoke without invitation. "Eiji-senpai told me the weirdest thing yesterday."

"What did he tell you, Momo-senpai?" Echizen asked with a sigh. He obviously didn't want to hear one of Momo's stupid stories, but he knew there was no getting around it.

"He told me my eyes reminded him of sweet-tarts. Sweet-tarts! Are my eyes like sweet-tarts, Echizen?"

There was an awkward pause as Echizen and Kaidoh stared at Momo with expressions that clearly stated that they both thought he was an idiot.

"Momo-senpai, what are you babbling about?"

Momo let out a frustrated sigh, like he was trying to tell them something obvious and they just weren't getting it. "I was talking with Eiji-senpai, and he was babbling something about Oishi-senpai's eyes, saying they were like the moon, right? And so…"

"Wait a minute," Kaidoh interrupted. "What did he say about the vice captain's eyes?"

"That they were like the moon." Momo repeated himself like it was nothing. "What?"

Kaidoh looked to Echizen for help. But the freshman seemed fine with that, though he rolled his eyes. He continued eating.

Looking back at his fellow second-year, Kaidoh raised one eyebrow. He had thought that such a compliment was reserved for lovers, not best friends. And the Golden Pair were…

Well… weren't they?...

Kaidoh didn't want to think about it. Luckily, Momo went on with his story.

"And so he was going on about that—Eiji-senpai is so cute sometimes—and then he just turns to me and looks me straight in the eye. And you know what he says? He says, 'You know what your eyes are like, Momo-chin?' And I'm like, 'No. What?' And he's all, 'Sweet-tarts, nya!' like it was the most natural thing in the world! Sweet-tarts! I don't know where he gets this stuff. I tried to ask him, but then Oishi-senpai was calling him and he ran off, and I never got the chance."

Echizen rolled his eyes again, something he must have been very used to doing. "Great story, Momo-senpai…" The sarcasm dripped from his voice like Niagara Falls.

"But don't you think that's weird? Eiji-senpai thinks my eyes are like sweet-tarts. Don't you think—"

"Kikumaru-senpai is wrong."

Kaidoh turned to look back down at Echizen, who had stopped eating and was looking straight at Momo, presumably studying his eyes.

"How's that, Echizen?"

"Momo-senpai's eyes are like grape Ponta." And with that, the freshman bit into his second cheeseburger.

Kaidoh felt lost. He also felt like the other two had suddenly forgotten that he was there.

"Grape Ponta, Echizen?" Momo asked.

"Grape Ponta."

The second-year laughed. "Well, isn't that just like you…"

Kaidoh slurped his soda loudly. The other two turned, as if remembering that they had company. Momo coughed. After the short pause that followed, he turned back to Echizen and said, "Hey, you know what really annoys me?"

"What's that, Momo-senpai?" the freshman responded with the same resignation that he had used earlier.

"Inui-senpai and his thick glasses."

Kaidoh shot a glance at his rival. What had made him mention Inui-senpai? Kaidoh didn't put it past him to imply something ridiculous…

"What about them?" Kaidoh growled.

Momo let out a little chuckle. "No one's ever seen his eyes." Then he added, mysteriously, "It's like he's hiding something…"

Kaidoh shook his head inwardly. Momo talked about it like it was some big deal. It really wasn't. And it wasn't true that no one had seen Inui-senpai's eyes…

"I wonder what color they are…" Momo stared into space.

"They're probably just brown, Momo-senpai."

"Maybe…" Momo perked up with a new idea. "Maybe they're violet, like mine!"

Kaidoh shuddered at the thought. Without thinking, he corrected them both, once and for all. "They're not brown and they're certainly not purple. They're black. Black with a touch of really dark blue. Idiots."

Momo and Echizen said nothing as they stared at Kaidoh in shock. And suddenly Kaidoh just wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

"Oh… so you have seen his eyes, Viper. I see how it is…"

Kaidoh hissed. "How what is?"

Momo ignored the question. "So… what are they like? Why has Inui-senpai been hiding them all this time?"

Kaidoh felt his eyebrow twitch.

What were they like?

Well, for one thing, Inui-senpai had no reason to hide them. They were… well, they were nice.

Oh, who are you kidding? Kaidoh heard an unfamiliar voice in his head say. They're gorgeous.

That was true enough, but it didn't sound like something he would say at all. Where did that even come from? Since when had he developed this strange voice in his head? And why was it still talking?

Inui-senpai's eyes were like… well, they were like everything and nothing. They were like their own, star-studded universe. They went on forever. They were like two black holes that pulled you into them and trapped you there forever. They were what fire would look like if it produced darkness instead of light. They were like the last moment of blackness one sees before slipping into a dream. They were jewels, deep sapphires…

Kaidoh shook his head, snapping himself out of it.

Perhaps Inui-senpai had every reason to hide them.

Not wishing to continue such a conversation, Kaidoh stood up and shouldered his tennis bag.

"They're just eyes, stupid." Then he turned to leave.

He decided that he would never tell. It would be his little secret.