2 Months Ago

 
Jin cracked an eye open at the sudden commotion in his classroom. Taking his feet off the desk, he raised an eyebrow at the sudden activity among his classmates. Practically everyone was huddled at the window overlooking the school’s entrance. Several female classmates were flailing and squealing. Some of the boys were whistling while the others just sighed in defeat.

 
All over the school building, screams of “Kamenashi-sama!! Kyaaa~!!” could be heard.

 
“What’s going on, Pi?” Jin asked his best friend, Yamashita Tomohisa, as he sauntered over to the window. Curiosity and Akanishi Jin had always gone hand-in-hand.

 
“It seems we have new transfer students,” Yamapi answered, craning his neck over two layers of students to get a better look. If he were to lean a few more inches forward, he would be falling out of the second story window.

 
Tapping a girl on the shoulder, Jin said, “Could I get a look?” The girl promptly swooned at the infamous Akanishi smile and Jin stood in her place, getting prime view of the latest additions to Kitagawa High.

 
Four boys stepped past the gates of the school and were immediately surrounded by a semi-circle of girls. Some girls were waving uchiwas and clutching their hands to their chests. The screaming from the school building got even louder as banners unfurled with welcoming words across the school.

 
All of their attention, however, was focused on the boy standing in the middle of the group.

 
Jin gave the younger boy a good once-over. Short, black hair. Fair, flawless skin. Sharp, obviously tweezed eyebrows. Slim built, yet muscular. Nice, almost feminine waist. Slightly pouty lips, just nice to… Hang on, hold that thought. Akanishi Jin was so NOT checking another guy out.

 
Jin shook his head, blinking several times. He didn’t even have to ask for the boy’s name. A banner emblazoned with ‘Kamenashi Kazuya’ held by a group of girls told him all he needed to know.

 
“Why the hell do we have a welcoming committee? I feel like a circus,” Ueda Tatsuya grumbled, shooting a glare at a girl who was trying to inch closer.

 
“Why did we decide to come here again?” Tanaka Koki asked, not-so-subtly cracking his knuckles in the direction of the banner-waving girls.

 
“Baseball Wonder here didn’t like the grass of Arashi High’s field,” Nakamaru Yuichi replied, pointing at the boy walking between them.

 
“Oh, shut up. You were complaining about their lack of proper acoustics for your beat-boxing,” Kame retorted, shooting his friend a look.

 
“Yeah, well. At least over there, it was just Ninomiya-senpai hitting on you. Everyone here wants to do exactly that,” Maru commented, shooting glances at the sheer number of girls waving from the 3-story building’s windows.

 
“Ahem. Good morning, boys. Welcome to Kitagawa High. My name is Johnny and I’m your Principal. Peace!” a short, grinning old man said as he toddled over, holding up his right hand in the classic victory sign.

 
A lady behind Principal Kitagawa gave a curt cough. Johnny promptly lowered his hand and lowered his head slightly.

 
“I may be the Principal but most of the school’s administration is run by my sister, Mary,” he mumbled quickly, gesturing to the lady who coughed. “Enjoy your stay here!”

 
Kitagawa Mary stepped up from behind her elder brother and began to give the four boys an introduction and tour of the school.

 
Losing interest, Jin walked back to his desk. Yamapi and Nishikido Ryo also took their places next to Jin.

 
“That Kamenashi kid looks interesting, ne?” Yamapi commented, stroking his chin.

 
“Oi oi… You’ve already set your eyes on him? Don’t tell me you want a repeat of the Tackey incident,” Ryo warned, reminding Yamapi of the mountains of death threats he had received for kissing Takizawa Hideaki during one of the morning assemblies. Granted, it was a quick peck on the cheek, but the entire school population had been a hair’s breath away from annihilating Yamapi.

 
“Hey, Papa didn’t mind that. And Mama was the one who said it was a great birthday present,” Yamapi pouted, referring to Tackey’s other half, Imai Tsubasa.

 
All conversations stopped as Tsuyoshi-sensei stepped into class for their Literature lesson. Everyone was once again in awe of Tsuyoshi-sensei’s ability to pull off wearing a fluorescent green jacket with a pair of colorful shorts and loafers. The odd ensemble was topped off with a purple turban.

 
After an eternity, according to Jin’s stomach, the bell rang for lunch and he bolted out of the class towards the cafeteria. Skidding to a halt in front of the cafeteria lady, he put on his trademark seductive smile. “Oneechan, can I please have a curry bun?”

 
The cafeteria lady, who always kept one curry bun under the counter for the dashing and flirty young man, completely ignored Jin. Reaching under the counter, she produced the curry bun and promptly gave it to the boy standing next to Jin.

 
Jin’s eyes burned with confused rage as he glared at the person who would dare take his curry bun. And came face-to-face with Kamenashi Kazuya. Kame waved his thanks to the lady and walked off, completely oblivious of the seething Jin.

 
Ryo whistled, “Oooh. That’s a first. Akanishi Jin’s curry bun was given to someone else. A newbie, at that.” Ryo could not keep the smirk from creeping onto his face.

 
“Shut up,” Jin grumbled, grabbing a red bean bun instead. “I’m feeling generous today. And my stomach’s not in the best condition for curry,” Jin tried to make excuses.

 
It was the end of the day and Jin stepped onto the field. He was looking forward to practicing penalty kicks for Kitagawa High’s upcoming game against Arashi High. He was very much looking forward to crushing MatsuJun’s arrogance with a decisive win against their closest rival.

 
Jin was in the middle of plotting when something hit him hard on the side of the head. Shaking the stars from his vision, he picked up the baseball from the ground.

 
“Thanks!” a voice called out, waving a gloved hand at him. Again, Jin was faced with Kame.

 
“Shouldn’t it be ‘I’m sorry for almost breaking open your head’?” Jin called back, slowly making his was across the field to the younger boy.

 
“OK, have it your way. Sorry for almost breaking your fragile head,” Kame said, holding out his hand for the ball.

 
Jin threw the ball into the air a few times. “Hmm… That didn’t sound like you meant that apology. And you owe my stomach an apology too,” Jin shrugged, looking Kame directly in the eye.

 
Kame folded his arms over his chest. “I hit your head, not your stomach. Don’t you know the different parts of your body?”

 
“Oooh. You’ve got a sharp tongue for someone so small.” Jin brought himself to his full height in front of the slighter man, who narrowed his eyes at the insult.

 
“Hai! That’s enough!” Nagase Tomoya said, grabbing Jin by the collar and hauling him a few inches back. Nagase then put his hand behind Jin’s head and pushed it down in one smooth motion. “He’s sorry for being an idiot.”

 
Jin snapped his head back up and glared at his teacher. “What the hell am I sorry for?”

 
“You’re deaf now? I said you’re sorry for being an idiot, idiot,” Nagase smirked, turning to smile at Kame.

 
“Kamenashi-kun, I presume? I’ve heard many good things about you. In fact, Ko-chan has been talking about you every waking moment since we found out you were transferring here.”

 
“Oi, Nagase! I haven’t been doing that,” Domoto Koichi said, walking closer to the group.

 
Kame bowed politely to his teachers. “I hope to contribute to the school as much as possible, sensei.”

 
“Oh, you better. We’ve got high hopes for the baseball team now that you’re here, Captain Kamenashi,” Nagase grinned.

 
Jin’s eyes widened at that. “WHAT?! He just arrived and he’s Captain already? That’s not fair to the others in the team!”

 
“It was a unanimous decision by the Baseball Club to make Kamenashi-kun the Captain, Akanishi-kun,” Koichi said pointedly.

 
“And you’re in the Soccer Club, so it doesn’t concern you at all,” Nagase added, poking Jin in the cheek.

 
“But he hasn’t proven anything yet! Since when have we promoted people to Captain based on reputation! This goes against the school’s tradition!” Jin argued, refusing to drop the matter.

 
“If I remember correctly, you’re only in your second year. Yet, here you are, Captain of the Soccer Club. Now, how is that following tradition,” Nagase mused, tapping his finger on his chin.

 
“That’s different! I worked for it. I proved myself in my first year,” Jin replied stubbornly.

 
“Whatever it is, the decision doesn’t concern you, Akanishi-kun. I hope you’ll be able to get along with Kamenashi-kun,” Koichi said with finality, bringing the argument to a close.

 
“Yeah, whatever,” Jin muttered, turning to walk away.

 
“Oh, and Jin,” Nagase called after the retreating back, “the Baseball Club will be using this field from now. They need to practice for their coming matches.”

 
Jin turned slowly around. “They’ve always used the smaller field. Why the sudden change?”

 
“That field is too small. The team can’t practice hitting homeruns if they’re hampered by limited space,” Kame explained, as if it was the most basic thing in the world.

 
Jin turned to Nagase. “What about the soccer team? We have matches coming up too.”

 
“You can use the smaller field,” Nagase replied with a shrug.

 
“Say that again?”

 
“You, use the smaller field. Kame-kun uses this field. Understood?”

 
“What sort of club advisor are you?! You just gave our field away!” Jin yelled, stomping back to the three.

 
“OK, we’ll compromise. Both teams can use this field, but work out the timetable among yourselves,” Koichi said, rubbing his temples. He could feel a headache coming on.

 
“Fine with me,” Kame nodded and proceeded to walk back to his team.

 
“All settled then!” Nagase flung an arm around Koichi’s shoulder and steered him towards a fluorescent green and purple spot at the end of the field.

 
“AAARRRGGHHH!!!” Jin clutched at his hair.

 
On the second floor, Ryo smirked. Well, now. This seems to be getting interesting. I’ve never seen dear Jin get so wound up about anything. Maybe you can bring him out of his shell, Kamenashi.