Author's Note:This is about the THIRD TIME I've done this because of writer's block: deleting chapters. I don't have the heart or courage to scrap the darn story because I'm too lazy to write the whole thing. Meh. (stealing Apple Snapple's phrase) GO BACK TO THE LAST CHAPTER BECAUSE I KNOW YOU FORGOT WHAT HAPPENED. I ALSO KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. I beg of you! (sobs)

Ah, and I really want to read a good EijiOC story, but the real treats are usually TezukaOC stories because the robot man is so fun to write! :heart:

"Hey, Inui! Inui!" I said, walking out on the tennis courts. "Are you here are not, because my practice starts about fifteen minutes and..." I gave up. "Okay, he's not here and I am going to look really ridiculous with a present wrapped in a pretty ribbon..." I mumbled to myself. "Where are all the lockers? Or, more importantly, where is his shoe locker?"

"Eh? Who are you?" Fuji Shusuke, Seigaku's most eligible bachelor, came out with a racket. "Oh..." his face fell. "Confession, is it?"

I shook my face, deadpan. "Nope, something for..." I narrowed my eyes. "the nerd."

Obviously I wasn't going to warm up to him yet; an ubiquitous data man who stalked on every living creature for all I knew. He was smart; I gave him that much because he was one of the few that knew keenly about my attraction to Eiji. I was anxious for him to not divulge my secrets; who knew? I could land being more sickened by his juices than being in some co-despondent relationship.

It was my mother's idea. She was absolutely ecstatic about me 'getting out of my shell'.

"Well done, honey! I'm sure that the person that influenced you should deserve some sort of congratulations!"

"What... kind... of... congratulations?" I asked slowly.

"Hmm..." My mother paused, scratching her chin. Then, light bulb. "Ecchi."

I choked on my cereal. "Whoa whoa whoa! Okaa-san, seriously. We are stopping here."

"Maybe not. After all, what kind of man doesn't want a harem all to himself?" She scrunched her eyes in a failure to wink. "Shall we pick Love Hina? Or, say, a Playboy subscription? Never fails, and especially when you are in middle school..." Mother was in a trance. "Ah, middle school! The place where your sexual desires are unleashed..."

In the end I tore out my pages out of the journal and the stupid unicorn stickers and wrapped it in last year's Christmas gift paper. A bit desperate, I know, but it was fitting. He liked collecting data and he already knew about me, so why bother?

Fuji was still standing. "What nerd?"

I took a deep breath, and let it out. "Inui Sadaharu, please."

He looked taken aback and then smiled. "Sure. Inui! Someone wants to drink your new concoction!"

"Who?" he said, nearly running Fuji over. "Who is it--oh, it's you."

Fuji simply said, "Well, I'll leave you two alone."

He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and said, "So? What is it? Fifty percent chance that you're here to say thanks yet again and fifty percent that you're just here to harass me. Which one is it?"

I grinned and said, "Both. Happy birthday."

"Your sarcasm sucks." He commented. "It's not my birthday."

"Whatever. Thanks for making me try out for the volleyball team."

He took my package, carefully unfolding the wrapping paper. "Gee, a new notebook, how original. But," his face lifted. "You get to drink this," and he handed me a steaming mug of purplish... liquid.

"Ooh, how nice. What is it this time?" I tipped the tumbler toward my mouth and... waited for the blackout...

It didn't come. I was surprised. In fact, it tasted quite--

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Taka-san's voice screamed out. "Inui, how could you? And now, you're luring in girls!" He barrelled in holding a racket in one hand and a fist of steel in the other, but I digress. "LEAVE THE POOR DAMSEL ALONE!!" he hollered.

"Oh no," Fuji chuckled. "Dear me, I'll take care of him." He had merged from the bushes close to where we were standing.

Tezuka had also, came out of the bushes, looking irritated and his hair mussed. He was surprised to check up on us, said automatically to Inui-the-manager, "Don't let your guard down." and went after the other team members.

"Hm. They're stalking on us," I said.

"Probably think we're dating or something," Inui said haphazardly. "Too bad they don't know your dirty little secret."

"Shut up," I replied eloquently. "He's probably hankering off some skank, and I don't even know her that well."

"Jealous much?" he remarked. "Oh, and you should be heading off to volleyball practice."

"Oh my god you're right for once." I said, looking at my watch and practically sprinted to the gym located on the other side of the school. "See you later!"

The school is huge. Much huger than I had expected, and that was saying something considering I had attended this place for three years. The school captain, Fujiwara Manami, was waiting impatiently in the locker room.

"God. You're late." Her mouth was shaped in a perfect moue. She was perfectly amazing: a living, breathing, stereotype of the typical teenage girl.

"S-Sorry," I wheezed. There was a stitch in my side. The girl seemed to grin at my pain and I could see a lump of neon blue gum behind her perfect teeth. Manami stuck a Post-It note on my forehead. "It'll tell you all you need to know."

I peeled it off and read: Loser, your locker is 709. I've prepared all your equipment, but obviously seeing as you're not in perfect physical condition you're going to be a benchwarmer. It was amazing how much she could've fit in that tiny piece of paper. I just hoped I wasn't going to be flattened.

I asked the girl next to me hesitantly, "Um..."

"Oh! Let me think... you're Kururugi-san, ne? I'm Ryoko Mayuka, your kouhai. But seeing that it's the beginning of the club for you, you should be mykouhai!" She grinned. "It's been awesome this year. We seriously need players that aren't going to end up like sluts that are just there for the school idols."

"Ah, nice to meet you." I said, a bit take aback. "I'm not a slut!" I added defensively.

"I know that. Nobody would think that if you're number one in the exams!" she chirped. "This is why Manami let you in partly. She doesn't want the volleyball club to have a bad reputation. Almost nobody takes us seriously, either," she said mournfully. "But maybe this year... maybe."

"You mean that girl who gave me this?!" I said indignantly. I slapped the sticky note onto Mayuko's hand. "I didn't think she would be so mean."

She scanned it and shrugged. "You're a beginner, doofus. Duh. But a regular, and you are a very special case. You might even have..." she gasped for dramatic effect, "talent that nobody's seen for the last twenty years!"

"Hey!" Fujiwara barked. "Do I look like Dominoes or something, because I don't deliver!"

"Gag." whispered Mayuko. "Old line." She had changed and was strapping on her knee pads. "You might want to change." she hastened to tell me.

I sighed. Why was everyone telling me what to do?

-x-

"Hey, kid. Yeah, I'm talking to you."

"Yes?" I said. "My name is Kururugi."

"Whatever. Did you turn in your physical?"

"I got it here."

"That's great. Now I know your size and if you have allergies. Really clears it up."

I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic, but it was much better than being physically removed from her evil glare. Suddenly I foreshadowed her turning into Medusa, the famed snake charmer that turned one into stone after one looking at her eyes.

Okay. So maybe that didn't happen.

"Now, thirty laps around the school." she said. "After that you can go to class."

Author's Note:I have no idea why I replaced Mikan with Mayuko. Maybe it's because Mayuko has a better sound... and yes. It's not Inui's birthday, but it was two days ago... please tell me what you think about it!