"Time to eat!"

Ah, the words that everyone loved hearing, especially the members of Inazuma Japan. After putting their all into their practice, everyone looked forward to a break – and food, of course.

"All right! What are we having today?" Tsunami asked. Most of them had gathered around the managers, who each held a large cooler. Aki put hers down and removed the lid, revealing several delicious looking onigiri.

"Just the usual, Tsunami." Aki said.

"Oh, whatever it is, it's still gonna be good!" Tsunami said. He reached for some food, but Aki slapped his hand away.

"Wash your hands!" she scolded. Tsunami cradled his hand as the others chuckled and went over to wash their hands.

"They really enforce that rule, huh?" Tsunami said.

"You can thank Natsumi for that." Gouenji said.

After everyone had finished washing up, they hurried back over to the managers before all the food was gone. Tsunami had managed to grab a handful of onigiri before Kabeyama reached them, and he went over to sit down by Kidou and Sakuma. As they ate, Tsunami glanced over at Tachimukai, who seemed to look rather distraught about something. Tsunami raised an eyebrow. Hm... the last time he'd seen him like that was before his training for Maou the Hand. Maybe something serious was going on. He stood up and brushed his hands on his shorts.

"Hey, sorry to leave you guys, but I'm going to go check on something." he said.

"Oh... okay." Kidou said. Sakuma waved him goodbye and turned back to talk with Kidou.

Tsunami headed over to Tachimukai, who was sitting off by himself. He was holding one untouched onigiri, and he was staring at it quite intently.

"Tachimukai!" Tsunami called. He must have startled him, because he jumped and almost dropped his food. Tsunami chuckled as Tachimukai took a breath to regain himself.

"Tsunami... you scared me." Tachimukai said. Tsunami sat down next to him and smiled.

"Heh... sorry about that." he said. "Anyway... I looked over and noticed you seemed kind of... out of it today."

"W-what makes you say that?" Tachimukai laughed. He seemed quite nervous, though. "There's nothing going on... honest."

"Oh, whatever." Tsunami said. "You know, man, you can tell me anything, 'cause you know, we're bros, right?" After all, the two had grown pretty close, so why not?

Tachimukai sighed. "Uh... okay. Can... can I tell you after practice? I don't really want people to hear this."

"But everyone's off doing their own thing now," Tsunami said. "You're not just stalling, are you?"

"What? Of course not!" Tachimukai said. "Yeah, most people are off doing their own thing... but some aren't." Tachimukai looked over Tsunami's shoulder, and he turned around to see what exactly he was looking at. There, only a few yards away from them, were the managers. Fuyuka noticed Tsunami's staring and waved back at him.

Tsunami returned the wave and turned around. "Oh... is it about one of them?"

"Shh!" Tachimukai hissed. "They'll hear you!"

"Aw, c'mon Tachi!" Tsunami said. "Relax a bit. We're fine." he slapped his friend on the back, but Tachimukai shook his head.

"Uh... I'd rather just wait." he said.

Tsunami shook his head. "Alright. As long as it's nothing urgent I guess it's okay." he stood up and offered a hand out to help Tachimukai. "Now... come on, let's get back to practice."

-.-.-

After practice was over, everyone headed for their rooms to get washed up for dinner. Everyone, that is, except for Tsunami. He went off in search for Tachimukai, and he found him off over by the front doors to their cabin.

"Hey, Tachimukai!" Tsunami called as he ran up to him. "So you going to tell me now?"

Tachimukai nodded. "Yeah, I will. Come on... let's go inside.

He and Tsunami made their way into the cabin and headed down to the dining hall, where they could talk alone. Aside from Fuyuka who was in the kitchen cooking, no on was there. Everyone else was getting cleaned up for dinner, so they had some time before anyone would be down there.

Tsunami sat down at a table towards the back and Tachimukai sat across from him. Tsunami leaned back in his chair while Tachimukai looked rather uncomfortable. "So..." Tsunami started. "What's up?"

Tachimukai glanced around the empty room and sighed. "What if someone walks in and hears us?"

Tsunami rolled his eyes. "No one's here, Tachimukai. They're all showering or something. Besides, even if anyone did come down here... we're in the back. Plus we still smell pretty bad."

Tachimukai sniffed his arm. "Uh... okay then." he took a deep breath. Tsunami was getting a bit annoyed. He was being such a drama queen about this whole thing. "Well... I guess it's not that big of a deal... but I like someone."

After hearing that, Tsunami was a tiny bit disappointed that what Tachimukai had waited to say was just a crush and not something more important, but he quickly shook off the feeling. "Oh, so that's what this is about!" he said. "So, who's the lucky girl?"

Tachimukai's face was starting to get a bit pink. "H-Haruna." he said, so quietly that Tsunami almost didn't hear him. But he heard her name, and he started to laugh. "Why are you laughing?" Tachimukai demanded.

"Ah... it's just that you're so nervous about this! You're acting like it's a big deal."

"Well it is!" Tachimukai insisted. "I really like her and I just want to go and talk to her but... I don't know how I can let her know."

"She probably already does," Tsunami said. "I mean, it's pretty obvious." Tachimukai's eyes went wide and his face got even more pink.

"What?"

"Just kidding." Tsunami said and flashed a grin at Tachimukai. "But you know Haruna! You've talked to her before. Remember that training?"

Tachimukai nodded. "Well, yeah... but that was before I liked her like that."

"I don't see why it's so hard. It's not like she's going to bite you or anything." Tsunami said. He had noticed that a few people had already started to enter the dining hall at this point, and he was pretty sure Tachimukai noticed too. The younger boy was starting to look pretty uneasy.

"So... can we drop this? People are here..." Tachimukai said.

"Nah, ignore them. What we've got here is a case of young, unrequited love here and-"

"What do you mean by that?" Tachimukai asked. He watched as some more people sat down at their tables.

Tsunami waved him off. "Okay... ignore that too. Anyway, that's what this is all about. The dreaded confession."

Tachimukai nodded. "I guess it is. You know, it was hard enough telling you this... I don't know how I can let her know."

Tsunami pounded a fist on the table, and the impact startled the younger boy across from him. "Don't worry, I'll help you out!" he glanced over Tachimukai's shoulder and smiled. "Hey, there she is right now. Tell her!"

"What? She's here? No, I can't-" Tachimukai cut himself off as the blue-haired manager approached them, carrying two trays.

"Hi, guys," Haruna said. She set one tray down in front of each of them. "Why are you over here by yourselves?"

"Oh, Tachimukai was just about to-"

"Tell him about a new hissatsu idea!" Tachimukai finished. He gave a nervous laugh. "Right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about-ow!" Tsunami had said, but Tachimukai stepped on his foot under the table.

Haruna raised an eyebrow. "Oh... okay. Anyway, you guys shouldn't skip out on your dinner." she covered her nose. "...or your showers, for that matter."

Tachimukai's face went red and he kept his arms glued to his sides. "Um... thanks for the food!"

Haruna smiled. "No problem! Say, since you're thinking of a new move, why don't we train together? I think last time worked really well. It was fun, too." she clapped her hands together. "Well, you two have fun planning. And uh... don't forget your showers."

"Uh... yeah. Thanks again." Tachimukai said. When Haruna had left, Tachimukai held his head in his hands. "Oh man... that went horrible."

Tsunami stopped massaging his hurt foot and grabbed his glass of water. "Ah, it didn't go that bad! And hey, she set up a potential date for you!"

Tachimukai shook his head. "No... she'll probably invite you and the others too." he sighed. "Why does this have to be so hard?"

Tsunami, who was shoveling rice in his mouth now, shrugged. "It's only as hard as you make it." he swallowed. "I mean, yeah, you'll be nervous at first. But just think of how good you'll feel when you get everything off your chest."

"But what if she doesn't like me back?"

"Sure, there's that possibility." he smiled. "But I don't think you'll have that problem."

-.-.-

Tachimukai sighed.

His dinner with Tsunami had mostly consisted of staring at his food and rejecting Tsunami's ideas of how to get him and Haruna together. He had never thought it would be this hard to confess something to a girl. Maybe his shyness had something to do with it. Or maybe it was Tsunami's stupid ideas.

But as the night went on, Tsunami actually had a somewhat good one.

"Okay then... if you wont' do that, how about you just... ask her to meet you outside after we're done eating. And you'll be alone out there, and you can just do whatever you want." he had said.

"That... doesn't seem like a bad idea." Tachimukai said. But his joy at finding a plan was short lived. "But... I don't think I could ask her."

Tsunami groaned and let his face fall on the table. "You're killing me, Tachi." he sat up and grabbed a napkin. "You got a pen?"

"No, but-" Tachimukai stopped as he watched Tsunami dip his finger in some sauce and tried to write something on the napkin.

"Give this to her, then." Tsunami said. He waved the napkin in his face, but Tachimukai pushed it away.

"You know what? I'll just ask." he said.

Tsunami smiled. "There you go. So why don't you go take up our trays before she leaves?" he said. "It's the best time you can ask."

Tachimukai smiled and nodded. "Okay." he grabbed the trays and before he left, he bowed his head at Tsunami. "Thanks... I really appreciate it."

Tsunami pushed Tachimukai forward. "I know. Now go!" he said. Tachimukai made his way up to the kitchen counter and smiled at Haruna, who was there taking trays.

"So, did you figure out what you're going to do with your hissatsu?" she asked. She took the trays off his hands and set them on the counter.

"Oh... for the most part, yeah. Still a few details to work out, though." Tachimukai said. "Um... Haruna? Could you... meet me outside after you're done with dishes? Just out front by the doors..."

Haruna smiled. "Of course!" she said. "I'll meet you there."

Tachimukai smiled and quickly turned around to get back to his table. Tsunami was still sitting there, and he smiled as Tachimukai sat down.

"So, what'd she say?" he said.

"She said she'd be there." Tachimukai said. His smile quickly faded into a frown, though. "I think I should shower first. She said that we needed too and I-"

"Hey, I don't think you're going to do anything close enough to her to have that problem." Tsunami said. "Unless you think you're ready for it-"

"Please stop talking, you're making me nervous." Tachimukai said.

"You can do this, man." Tachimukai said. "You'll be fine if you just stop acting like a girl about it."

Tachimukai took a deep breath. "Yeah... I'll be fine. I don't have anything to worry about, right?"

"Well, it might rain tonight-"

"You're not helping me at all here."

Tsunami shrugged. "Hey, you asked. But whatever. I think it'll take a while for her to get all finished up in the kitchen, so why don't you go brush your teeth or something? You might need that..."

"Tsunami..."

"Hey, don't mind me. I'm just trying to help you out." Tsunami said.

Tachimukai stood up and pushed in his chair. "I appreciate the help... but please, please don't spy on me or anything."

"Now why would I do that?" Tsunami asked. "I respect other people's privacy, unlike some people."

Tachimukai sighed. "Yeah... I'm sorry. It was kind of dumb to even think you'd do that."

"It's okay buddy. Good luck with your 'date'!" Tsunami said. He punched Tachimukai's arm playfully before he left.

When he was out of the dining hall, Tachimukai took a deep breath. He was finally going to tell Haruna how he felt... He just hoped that he'd find the courage to be able to do it. He shook his head and ran up the stairs to his room. He'd be fine... after all, there wasn't anything to worry about.

-.-.-

Tsunami sat at his table for a few more minutes after Tachimukai had left, waiting for a few others to clear out. After a while, he finally got up and peeked over the side of the door frame. Tachimukai wasn't anywhere to be seen...

He chuckled softly and snuck down the hallway and slipped out the door. He knew that Tachimukai had wanted this to be private... but it was too good to miss.

-.-.-

AN

Why do I keep starting all these new things when I have other stuff to do /shot. Anyway this is going to be a twoshot, and the second part will be up tomorrow!

School's out for me, so hopefully there will be more time for fanfiction! :D And finals went very well. I'm glad with the grades I got.

Icee Suicune