I'm the worst, I'm the worst, I'm the worst, I know. It's been forever since I've written, and for that I will place no blame. Instead, I will start writing this chapter and hopefully write next weekend, as that is my Summer break. See, I didn't even write over Christmas break or Spring break or Easter holiday. What a lame child I am.

The quote at the beginning of the chapter is the lyrics of the song I am currently listening to. That's what I'm going to do from here on out. There is absolutely no meaning behind it. I am just a stickler for format, and that's what I've been doing for forever—I have to have a quote. So you get random quotes! Woot woot!

The Life and Times of Kikumaru Eiji

Chapter Twenty

Take me to your best friend's house
Goin' 'round this roundabout
Oh yeahTake me to your best friend's house
I loved you then and I love you now
Oh yeah

Fuji helped Eiji pick out the bird. It was a green bird, and it liked talking a lot, and the owner of Animal Earth—for all he loved animals—was excited to get rid of the chatty thing. For Eiji's service—obligatory as it was—the owner threw in the cage that the bird lived in, and a whole bunch of bird feed for free. He cited Eiji's excellent character for the reason the gift was free. Eiji suspected he was just tired of the bird, but it didn't matter. The gift was free, and his mother deserved it.

Life had become hectic for the Kikumaru Clan, ever since Eiji's grandparents moved into his house. Gone were the days of it being a seven person household. Now dinner usually involved the five Kikumaru children, the two Kikumaru parents, and the two Kikumaru grandparents, along with Fuji and another friend and sometimes Miki.

For Miki Tanaka was now a regular part of Eiji's life. He still ate lunch with Fuji and Oishi, but sometimes he would go sit with Miki and her friends during lunch. Fuji was over at Eiji's house enough, and Oishi was surprisingly busy with student council—an odd sort of job for a boy so shy—so Eiji didn't feel too terrible when he ditched the two of them to go hang out with Miki. There was nothing going on between the two of them—he and Miki—and both Oishi and Fuji were friends with Tezuka, so they could go hang out with him if they wanted. Eiji was just glad to have a girl for a friend, and Miki was the perfect girl to have as a friend—she had lots of other friends, and slowly but surely, those friends of hers became Eiji's friends, too.

Eiji woke up the morning of the first day of golden week to the sun streaming like ribbon through his blinds. It was morning enough that the sun warmed his bed, but early enough that there was still the residual chill of night time. Eiji laid in his bed for a few seconds, completely content to let the sun linger on his skin as he lingered on the fact that he was free from school for a whole week.

Before long, the act of holding still became too much, so he arose, called Miki's house and told her butler that he would be along shortly. Miki had wanted to play tennis, but Eiji decided that it might be a good idea to shower before the match, just in case… well, he wasn't sure why, but showering seemed like a good idea.

Miki's house, as always, was an impressive sight. It sat up on a hill, for starters, and was entirely made of river rock and weathered wood. There was a circular drive and a basketball hoop on the side of the house for Miki's older brothers or for the kitchen staff. There was also a large set of monkey bars Eiji busied himself with while he waited for Miki to scamper forth from her house.

Before long, the two of them were biking down the hill to the park to play tennis, Eiji carrying both of their tennis bags on his back. Eiji thought of the long, arduous trip it would be back up the hill on the way home, and sighed, but decided that such a trip would be worth it if he were to be able to hang out with Miki all day and play tennis.

They arrived at court two and found it being used. Eiji was about to complain that someone was using his court, but didn't have time as Miki stepped forward, her long brown hair all shimmery and beautiful, and called out greetings to the people on the court.

"Ah!" She cried out, eyes crinkling at the corners. "Fuji! Dina! Fancy meeting you here!"

Fuji and Dina both called out greetings in return, though they did not seem as happy to see Miki as she was to see them.

Befuddled that Fuji and Dina were already playing tennis—and without him, too—Eiji too joined the kids on the court. "Fuji! Dina!" He too greeted. His stomach did that weird flipping-burning motion, like someone had flipped it over on a grill, that it always did when he saw Dina.

"Ah, Eiji!" they both said at the same time.

"How do you know Dina?" Fuji asked Miki, who had taken her bag from Eiji and was now unzipping it.

"We went to Elementary school together." Miki explained. "I was supposed to go to middle school with her, but my Father got me into Seigaku instead."

That seemed rather backwards to Eiji. Everyone knew that Hyotei was the better funded, far more beautiful school that people tried to get in to. No one in their right mind would fight to get their child out of that school, but Miki was unique, so her parents must have been also. It seemed that Fuji, too, was confused about why in the world Miki was going to Seigaku, but Dina seemed perfectly at ease with Miki's statement.

"Mind if we join you?" Miki rose from her crouching position, and tucked a tennis ball into the spandex of her shorts. "Me and Eiji versus you and Fuji?"

Dina didn't seem opposed to the idea, and as Fuji walked over to her side, Eiji joined Miki to begin a game of doubles.

After a few matches and a few hours, Fuji and Dina excused themselves and packed up their things. As they walked off toward the exit of the park, Eiji watched them leave very carefully. Miki seemed unperturbed by the proceedings, and accidentally hit Eiji on the head with a tennis ball when she served and he wasn't paying attention.

"Eiji dear," she shouted, and Eiji turned around. "We're playing!"

Eiji turned around to face her, and shook his head clear.

Eiji decided it was the gentlemanly thing to do, and bought Miki's milkshake for her. Her family was well enough off that one milkshake would have been no problem at all, but he was the man, and thus was required to pay for the food. Miki squealed, and gave him a hug of thanks.

"You really didn't have to do that, Eiji dear," Miki gushed, genuinely pleased as Eiji handed over a few crumpled bills.

Eiji beamed at her. "Oh, but I did! I'm a gentleman!"

Miki grinned, and waited for Eiji to collect their shakes before going to sit at a table by the window. Eiji licked the whipped cream off of the top of his shake and came to the realization that sweet things were amazing and that the whole day had been amazing.

Except for one thing.

"Now they would make an adorable couple," Miki said, contemplating the outside world from over the rim of her large milkshake.

Eiji, who had been concentrating on mixing his whipped cream into his shake, had no idea what she was talking about. He followed her line of sight, and saw what she was looking at.

Fuij and Dina were coming out of the sporting-goods store, laughing. They looked both ways, before quickly darting across the street. They were coming to the same ice cream shop that Miki and Eiji were at. Eiji didn't know how he felt about that. And what Miki had said.

"Why do you say that?" He asked, curious as to why Fuji and Dina made a good couple.

"They both have very pretty eyes," Miki said, waving to Fuji and Dina, who waved back. Dina pointed to the cash register, and then to the place where Miki and Eiji were sitting, before turning back to Fuji. Her meaning was clear. They would order their food, and then come sit.

Fuji, too, paid for Dina's food. Eiji, for some reason, did not like the idea of Fuji being a gentleman. That was his job.

Dina sat beside him, in the empty chair, which made Eiji's stomach wiggle a bit. It made it easier, too, to slurp sips of her milkshake, when she wasn't looking because it was funny to see the look on her face when she found out. The four of them were there together like the best of friends, laughing and joking—even Fuji cracked a few jokes, and so for a while Eiji forgot that Dina and Fuji just happened to meet them there. When the laughing and gasping and side clenching died down, Dina wiped her eyes as she checked her watch. Those big eyes became extra wide when she realized the time.

"Fuji!" she looked up at him sharply. She extended the arm with the watch on it, and Fuji, too, looked at the clock. Though his eyes didn't open, he immediately stood up and gathered his things.

"Sorry!" Dina said, throwing her tennis bag over her shoulder. "We've got to rocket. It was a great day to spend with you!"

With that cryptic, but warm farewell, Fuji and Dina exited the shop and scurried down the sidewalk back towards the residential part of town.

With a few hours before dinner, Eiji and Miki had nothing left to do but return to the park. Neither were really feeling the desire to play tennis, so instead the perched themselves on the park swings and propelled themselves back and forth with the tips of their toes.

"Do I have pretty eyes?" Eiji asked, very suddenly. And feeling very girly and un-masculine after doing so.

Miki contemplated his eyes for a second, and then grinned and nodded. "Very," She stated. "What about me?"

She blinked at him—the eye's natural reaction to the command "Stay open"—and Eiji looked at her eyes. He had never considered them before but decided "Yes, they're very nice."

Then he went on to his next point. "Since I have pretty eyes, would you say that I could make a good couple with Dina?"

Miki laughed. "Oh, I'd never really thought about that before."

Eiji laughed too, but on the inside he decided that if eyes were the only thing that made a couple, he had as much a chance with Dina as Fuji did.

Dina was not at home. Eiji tried calling her the next morning to arrange a time to hang out, but the four times that he called her—he spaced them out; he wasn't that desperate for her company—ended on her family answering machine all four times.

Dejectedly, he waited for Fuji to show up. It was golden week, and since there was no school, Fuji was sure to arrive at some point. He had known that Eiji was going to hang out with Miki that Monday, which is why he must have arranged to hang out with Dina. If Eiji wasn't available, he needed someone else to hang out with—though Eiji was slightly curious as to why Tezuka hadn't been his first choice.

The day dragged on, and Eiji cleaned his room.

The day dragged on and Eiji played video games with his brothers

The day dragged on and Eiji helped his mother carry in groceries when she came home from work.

The day ended with Eiji inviting Oishi to dinner, and to sleep over. Minoru, too, had a friend over, but Isamu and Airi were both over at other houses, so the table wasn't overflowing like it usually was. Grandma Kikumaru asked after Fuji, but that was the only recognition given to the fact that the casually smiling boy wasn't at his usual spot at the table. Inu, the dog, seemed upset, because usually Fuji snuck him scraps under the table, but no one in the Kikumaru family knew that little secret—aside from Eiji—so his odd behavior was written off as indigestion and he was sent outside.

With Oishi over, Eiji was able to overlook the feelings of misgivings that he was having about Fuji not being at his house. Oishi slept on the top bunk, only falling asleep after he pelted Eiji from above with all of the socks he had been able to nick out of Eiji's sock drawer. Eiji plotted his revenge from below, and fell asleep.

In the morning of the third day of Golden Week, Oishi decided that it would be a good idea to try to cook breakfast for the family—and by the family, he meant the remaining Kikumaru children and guest and the grandparents. Grandma Kikumaru, when she found the boys balancing mixing bowls in the kitchen, decided to lend a hand, and wrapped the boys up in aprons. This was a stellar idea to both Eiji and Oishi, who had just decided that cooking was out of their talent sphere and were about to open a whole bunch of poptarts and put them on a plate. Maybe in a nice pattern.

Before long, the smell of food began to permeate the house, and Eiji found himself up to his elbows in bubbles as he washed a skillet.

"Oishi," He stated, mounding more bubbles up on top of each other to see how tall they would go.

Oishi had just returned from putting a wooden spoon away, and began helping him with this bubble tower.

"Yeah?" Oishi asked, adding more to the base for support.

"Did Fuji mention that his dad was coming home at any point?" Eiji asked, beginning to scrub the skillet again when he saw his grandmother watching him.

Oishi paused in his stabilization of the bubble tower and contemplated the question. He rubbed his chin while he thought and bubble stuck to his chin. When Eiji's grandmother left the kitchen to awaken her grandchildren, Eiji pulled down his tower and stuck it under his lip in a mustache-esque fashion.

Oishi laughed, and smeared some bubbles on his own upper lip. "Not that I can think of." He stated. "Why?"

"Because usually he spends his free time here," Eiji answered, beginning to scrub again, thoughtfully. "The only time he isn't over here is when his dad is here… and since it's Golden Week and he isn't here, I thought it might be because his dad was home."

Oishi—without a job until Eiji finished washing the skillet so he could dry it—put more bubbles on his face. "Well, a lot of the time his dad comes home without warning. So that could be what happened."

"Looking slick," Minoru said from behind. Eiji and Oishi jumped, startled at the sudden appearance of the middle Kikumaru brother and his friend who was pulling a shirt over his head. Minoru scooped up a fistful of the bubbles and smacked them onto his friend's face once the shirt was settled on his sholders.

From there, a bubble fight proceeded, the crossfire of which Michi was very unlucky to walk into. She hadn't showered, Minoru said, so she was fine. Instead of launching bubbles at her brother, she picked up a handful of dishwater and landed the liquid right in the middle of his head.

"You haven't showered yet, either, so it's okay." She huffed, as her twin looked at her in shock. Minoru's friend scooped some bubbles off of the floor and planted them on Minoru's red hair.

"She's right, you know," he said, and joined Michi in dishing food into his bowl.

The skillet laid forgotten in the kitchen sink as Eiji and Oishi joined in on the line for food.

When grandma came back into the kitchen and found it turned to a veritable swamp, she gathered her broom and, rather than sweeping up the water, she hit her oldest grandchildren round the ankles until they moved to get the place cleaned up. Michi and Minoru complained and explained to their grandmother that the puddles were just melted soap bubbles; keeping them on the floor was making it cleaner already, to which grandma countered with more swating around the ankles.

From above his food dish, Eiji let his eyes smile at Oishi and Minoru's friend. The two wiggled their eyes conspiratorially back at him.

All thoughts of Fuji had fled his mind.

Instead, Eiji focused his energy on slurping his breakfast as loud as he could. He was rewarded with stink-eyes from his two older siblings.

I don't know why it took me that long to write that chapter. That chapter came especially easily to me. It only took me a half hour or so to write. I'm super lame. I'll try to do better about updating in the future… but every time I say that, I end up never writing for five months. So maybe I'll stop… oh well.

I hope you enjoyed it! IT was a bit shorter than other chapters, but I liked this chapter. I think I've finally mastered Eiji's character. Let me know if you think differently. I want to make sure that I make him a true replication. It's been… uh… FOREVER since I've actually seen POT, so I might have gotten a few things wrong.

As I am ultra lazy, this is COMPLETELY unedited. I'm just posting as-is!