It was a bit of a struggle for me to return to fanfiction after being away for so long, but I really wanted to finish this. Thank you for your interest and continued support!

About a month ago, Makoto remembers that there was this girl on the Disciplinary Committee who was the bane of his existence, always being obnoxious and sticking her nose into other people's business, and he was sure he was going to destroy her. That girl, he's discovered, doesn't really exist. She's the product of unhappiness and distrust, a reflexive defense mechanism invented by someone with a soft heart.

Makoto doesn't remember when he first understood that, but now it's impossible to see Fuji Kuroda the same way. They've finally moved on in literature class from The Wild Geese, but Fuji still answers most of the questions, hand shooting up the second the teacher stops talking. He doesn't see her as a stuck up know-it-all anymore, though; he thinks she sounds tired when she answers. When the lunch break starts, he thinks about saying something to her, but she gets up to leave immediately and avoids his gaze.

When Kinaka Daicho pokes her head into the classroom, Makoto is certain he already knows what she wants to talk about, and before she even slides into the recently vacated seat in front of him, he says, "I didn't do it."

"Do what?" she asks, looking confused.

"You know what."

At that, the corners of her lips quirk upward. "Duh. I knew you wouldn't."

"You knew?"

"Of course. I play to win, Hanamiya. You're a big risk, but I wouldn't have ever relied on you this much if I didn't think you'd pull through in the end."

Makoto frowns. "So this whole time, you were counting on me feeling sorry for her?"

"I was counting on you finding out that you have a lot in common."

"How'd you know we had anything in common?"

"I'm good at reading people." She shrugs. "And I guess you remind me of her in some ways."

"She did her homework on you, too."

Makoto whirls around, startled by the third voice in the conversation, and finds Fuji standing over both of them, a solemn look on her face. Kinaka looks legitimately terrified.

"I assume you tried to learn about me before you approached me," she continues calmly, "And I can assure you that Kinaka took the time to learn about you. I'm sure she pulled your student records and found out about your unfortunate family circumstances, which she probably connected to your undesirable personality."

Makoto glances back at Kinaka, but she still won't look up.

"Incidentally, I also overheard the two of you talking in the hall the day before I came over." Her gaze flicks over from Makoto to Kinaka and back again. "Discussing my computer password and 'ruining me.'"

Makoto stands from his desk. "That wasn't—!"

Kinaka jumps to her feet behind him. "I put him up to it," she cuts him off. "It's been me from the beginning, Kuroda. I threatened him, so he didn't have any choice."

"Don't lie, Daicho," he snaps, "That wasn't all you."

"Will you both shut up?" Fuji snaps, "I'm not stupid; I know you were both in on it." Her gaze softens, and Makoto sees the real Fuji for the first time at school, completely unguarded and sincere, as she looks at Kinaka. "You were trying to help me, in your own ridiculous way. You've been trying to help me since junior high. You forgave me for treating you so horribly and ignored the way I tried to push you away. I'm sorry, Kinaka. You've been my friend all this time, despite everything."

At the use of her first name, Kinaka's eyes widen. "Come on," she says, trying to brush it off nonchalantly, "Don't go ruining your image now. I don't think Kirisaki Daiichi could handle it if they lost their most productive Disciplinary Committee member."

Fuji smiles and Kinaka grins back at her. Makoto has never seen either of them look so genuinely happy, and he thought it would look weird, but it looks right.

"And Makoto," she says, but then stops, face flushed, "I mean, Hanamiya. Sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" he asks gruffly, looking away from her, "We spent so long fake-dating that I don't know if I could go back to calling you 'Kuroda.'"

"I understand if you still hold animosity towards me for my behavior before," she says, bowing her head slightly, "And I'm sorry for that, as well. I hope you can forgive me."

Makoto stares, unsure of what to say back. "Okay?"

"Don't waste time on us," Kinaka pipes up, "You've still got one other person to apologize to, don't you?"

Fuji nods, glancing at the clock on the wall. "I'll try to find him with what's left of our lunch break," she says, excusing herself with a small bow. Makoto watches the classroom door shut behind her, lost in thought.

"This isn't over, you know," Kinaka says, "Her parents could ruin all of this."

He glances at her. "That's not really my business, is it?"

She lets out an exasperated sigh. "I can't believe you think you can lie to my face and get away with it. You obviously like her, Hanamiya."

He doesn't immediately deny it, because that would look bad, but he obviously doesn't agree, either. Instead, he raises a brow asking, "I thought you….?"

Kinaka rests one elbow on the desk to lean her head against her hand, leering up at him. "You thought I what? Liked you or something? It never occurred to you that I might be trying to lead you on for the sake of the plan?"

He frowns. "Pretending to like me has nothing to do with helping Fuji."

"Believe whatever you want." She waves her hand dismissively and stands from the desk, leaving to go back to her own classroom. "But, for the record," she calls, one hand on the classroom door as she looks back at him over her shoulder, "I've been over you for a while now."

The entire team is lazing around as usual when Makoto arrives, but Kazuya is quick to jump to his feet, sighing, "So it's finally over, huh?"

"What?"

"Your feud with Kuroda."

Makoto quickly glances over his teammates and finds Koujirou looking out of sorts, so he crosses his arms and waits for an explanation. "She came in a minute ago," he finally mumbles, "To apologize."

Makoto nods. "Yeah," he says, "It's over." He gestures for Hiroshi to throw him the ball and catches it with a frown. "So now that there aren't any distractions remaining, you lazy assholes are going to start practicing again," he continues ominously, "If you can't even pull off a Spider's Web by the time the Winter Cup gets here, I'm not going to be happy."

There are a few grumbles of protest, but his teammates start to spread themselves into formation. Makoto glances almost expectantly at the door to the gymnasium and then wonders why, but when he catches a glimpse of Fuji Kuroda standing in the hall, waiting for him, he realizes his heart is beating faster and that not everything is back to normal. He tries to ignore her, or pretend she isn't there, or just stop thinking about it, but his thoughts keep straying to wondering what she wants, what they have left to discuss now.

Practice goes too slowly, but when it's finally over, he throws the ball at Kazuya without giving him a warning—and he hears it collide with the back of his head but doesn't really care to look back—and approaches Fuji.

"You need something?" he asks gruffly.

She adjusts her glasses. By now, he recognizes it as a nervous habit. "I wanted to ask if you're going to be busy tonight."

He's too surprised to answer for a moment. His first instinct is to lie, because he doesn't like how uncomfortable and awkward and out of his element he's feeling all of the sudden, but he can't quite force one from his lips. "Why?" he asks instead.

Fuji looks away. He notices again the extra bag over her shoulder. "I'd like to come over."

"Oh."

She hesitates a moment, waiting for him to say something else, but when he doesn't, she asks, "Is that okay?"

Makoto has been caught off-guard again, suddenly finding himself in a situation where he doesn't have a plan. Their effort to outwit each other has come to an end, and now they're just two people who happen to know far too much about the other person. It all makes him nervous, but also a little curious.

"Maybe," he says.

"I'd appreciate an opportunity to get some painting done for my portfolio," she says, "The more I get done, the more I can think realistically about Okuhara Arts. It might preoccupy my thoughts so much that I simply forget to ask Kinaka to record your Winter Cup matches."

Makoto's eyes narrow. "Are you bargaining with me?"

Fuji smiles. It's sharp and confident, but also a little bit playful. "Are you willing to bargain?"

He finds himself returning the smile. "But of course." This is closer to familiar territory, he thinks, something that feels like another game. This one doesn't seem to have any real risks, and it's more like they're having a practice match with one another than a proper competition, but it's with Fuji Kuroda, and that makes it interesting.

As they leave together, the rest of the team begins to pack their things.

"Wasn't expecting that," Hiroshi mutters, "They were at each other's throat the whole time, weren't they? When did this happen?"

Koujiou shakes his head. "It makes sense," he says, "They're a lot alike."

"Looks like you were wrong, Hara," Kentarou says, shoving the other boy, "You thought Captain'd end up with someone even worse than him, but it turns out she wasn't all that bad."

Kazuya grins. "I was just joking," he drawls, "Captain's the same as her; he just likes to pretend to be a bad guy."

Life at Kirisaki Daiichi never does quite return to normal.

At a glance, everything seems the same. The Disciplinary Committee remains a near-omnipotent and omnipresent force of justice that strikes when troublemakers least expect it. Nobuo Kurita is an overly-lenient voice of reason, Yuudai Natsume is an eager administrator of bag checks, and Kinaka Daicho continues to chew gum and file her nails during meetings. Fuji Kuroda no longer brings Makoto Hanamiya boxed lunches nor does she follow him around everywhere.

But some things are still a bit off.

Sometimes, a group of students might be caught smoking in the bathroom, and Fuji will appear in the doorway with a glare that has them all begging to be left off with a warning, and she'll be halfway to writing a note for their homeroom teachers to send home to their parents when suddenly Makoto will intervene.

"There's no reason to be that hard on them, is there, Kuroda?" he'll ask with a wide smile, "After all, they're not usually up to anything bad. This is the first time they've ever broken any rules, right?" The students will nod eagerly, and Fuji will frown but miraculously back down.

"If it happens again," she'll start to say, but Makoto will wave her off and vouch on their behalf, and then she'll leave and the students will think they're off the hook.

Which is when Makoto's smile will suddenly take on an unnerving edge and he'll ask what they think his silence is worth.

"Did you know," Kinaka asks, leaning against the wall during their lunch break, "That someone actually complained that the Disciplinary Committee is abusing its power?"

"I've heard no such thing," Fuji says, and even with her face a carefully a neutral mask, Makoto hears a smile in her words.

"I overheard one of the teachers mention it to Kurita. I think he's not gonna follow up on it, though, he's too busy studying for his university entrance exam."

"What a shame," Makoto says smoothly, "Sounds like a real scandal."

Kinaka glances between them almost warily. "This is way worse than before," she says, "You're bad enough on your own, but you're just terrible using that tag-team strategy. Even upperclassmen are afraid of you two." She grins. "You've gotta let me in on this."

Makoto shakes his head. "Sorry, Daicho, but this is a two-person gig."

"Is this how you two bond? You bully and extort people together?"

"As far as our peers are concerned," Fuji says, "We broke up already."

Kinaka rolls her eyes. "Yeah, with that extremely public and ridiculous-sounding break up over lunch last week. I've never heard something that sounded so fake, Kuroda, and I've had the displeasure of talking to your mother."

"It did what it needed to do," Makoto says.

"Yeah, I guess. Do you really have time to be running around harassing people right now? The Winter Cup's going to be here soon. Who are you guys playing?"

"I don't care," Makoto scoffs with disinterest, "Some garbage team, probably."

"You call every team a garbage team."

"Because they are."

"Are you going?" Fuji asks.

Kinaka shrugs. "Maybe. Hara invited me."

"And you said yes?"

"I said maybe," Kinaka snaps, sounding embarrassed. "What about you? Are you even allowed to go? Does your mom let you waste time on boys you aren't dating?"

"Of course not," Fuji says, "But I still might go."

Makoto can't help but smile.

"She's gonna be pissed," Kinaka warns.

"I know," Fuji says, "But it's just a small act of defiance. I have to start somewhere."

"Alternatively, you could wait until the end of your senior year to start acting out," Makoto suggests, "Then tell her you're moving out and going to art school; I bet she'd just short-circuit. I want to be there to see it, actually."

"I could," Fuji agrees, "But I think that might be harder. I think taking small steps is a better idea."

Kinaka nods. "Just don't get kicked out too soon."

Fuji opens her mouth and starts to say something about how she's been quietly saving money, but Makoto says, without really thinking, "She'd have somewhere to go," and only realizes what's just come out of his mouth when Kinaka and Fuji both stare at him in shock.

"Now that would be scandalous," Kinaka laughs, "You two just can't behave, can you? Kirisaki Daiichi is never going to recover."

"It'll just have to get used to us," Makoto shrugs, trying to play off his embarrassment.

Fuji glances at him and gives a tiny, grateful smile, too small and too brief for any passersby to catch.

But Makoto sees it, and the feeling it gives him convinces him that there's nothing to be embarrassed about.