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Applause thundered all around, and the host held a triumphant fist up into the air. The champion. In his eyes, every loser sat beside him at the table seemed like so much dirt, unworthy to even touch his boot. His teeth were bared in a powerful grin, an expression that showed the entire room the brilliance he had known himself to possess even before the contest. Perhaps, even before middle school or perhaps even before that. The laugh was satisfied, proud, knowing. And it was deserved; it was a laugh that spilled from his lips the way vomit spilled from the lips of his competitors. He alone wore the first place rosette. The losers wore only their sick buckets. He was the rightful, indisputable victor, rising above a sea of wretched wannabes. And Kite despised him.

"Therefore, it is Tanishi Kei-kun, from Higa chuu's First Year, who is the victor in this, our 47th Annual Tri-School Eating Contest!" The audience went wild with cheers, but Kite grit his teeth, fingers curling hard around the lip of the sick bucket, until he felt the plastic edge dig hard into his skin and his knuckles were white with rage. Unacceptable. More than unacceptable, an absolute disgrace. His shoulders (and his stomach) were trembling, and the lights above the stage allowed him to see his own pale reflection in the liquid pooling at the bottom of the bucket. An absolute disgrace. That morning, he slid his usual plate of breakfast back across the table, back to his mother who had served it. At school, his mind wandered and his eyelids drooped through the morning's lessons. At break, his reflection in the mirror looked gaunt and his eyes looked sunken, but he took the comments on his appearance -- Look at Eishirou! He looks like that skeleton kid from class 6! -- with a strange sense of pride. It was a mark of his forthcoming victory.

It should have been a mark of his forthcoming victory!

Tanishi. Kei. The months passed, but that name, that existence, still left a sour taste in his mouth. As did the sasebo burgers they served at the contest. Kai stood just behind Kite in the lunch line at the cafeteria, chatting to the girls sat on the nearby tables and tripping up every time the line moved. "Eishirou, what're they serving for lunch today?" he said, and before he had an answer he was hopping about in line, trying to swat a fly that kept landing on his hat.

"This is the third time, Kai-kun," Kite said, but the miniscule span of Kai's attention was already occupied, "It's sasebo burger, or champloo." And the line of trays shunted down the smooth silver shelf below the servers, and when Kite halted again, he looked up, and right into the eyes of Tanishi Kei. He had the lunch lady-style hairnet and apron on over his uniform, and what might have been drool at the edge of his mouth.

"Yeah? Whaddya want?" Tanishi said, pointing a ladle at him over the counter. Kite narrowed his eyes, letting the hot cafeteria light glint off the frame of his glasses.

"Champloo, please," he said, putting every drop of the murderous blood that surged in his veins into each syllable, giving them a dangerous edge. Tanishi scratched at his hair beneath the hairnet with the handle of the ladle.

"Yeah, we're out. Sasebo or veggie option?"

The very word turned Kite's stomach. "Sasebo," he said, refusing to drop eye contact with Tanishi Kei, refusing to back down, refusing to lose to him again, here and now, in the cafeteria, but he felt his throat threatening to close and gag. "…Give me a half portion," he muttered. What a disgrace.

"Eh? Don't worry, I was already gonna!" Tanishi laughed, and then bit his mouth closed and glanced left and right. The blood rushed to Kite's face. So he knew. He remembered. Tanishi slid the plate towards Kite and Kite slammed his fist on the counter beside it, making Tanishi jump and yelp. "OH WHAT THE HELL?!" Tanishi's voice was like a thunderclap through the cafeteria, and the whole room was silenced, a sea of faces turned toward them. "Jeez, don't scare me like that! Asshole!" Tanishi said in a hush, gloved hand gripping his grubby apron over his chest.

Kite leaned forward over the counter, "Remember this, Tanishi Kei-kun. You won't be so lucky next time," he said. Without lowering his gaze, he took the plate and placed it on his tray. Then he said, "Blueberry juice!" Tanishi was stock still. Kite slapped his palm hard against the counter, "BLUEBERRY JUICE!" he said. A lunch lady, with a pale, sweaty face and trembling hands took a carton of blueberry juice out of the fridge and passed it to Kite, then she raised her hands in the air like she was being held at gunpoint. "Why, thank you," Kite said, with affected calm, and he turned on his heels and walked to the back of the cafeteria, perfectly poised and followed by the eyes of his peers, every step. It was a few minutes before Kai noticed that the line had moved, and skidded down the cafeteria to catch up with Kite.

Spring came and went, and Kite chased down every accolade achievable to a second year student in middle school. Spring's tennis club wore his uniform design, summer's tourists loved his goya ice cream, but through it all he seethed inside, because autumn's failure was a shadow over every new achievement. He would not visit the cafeteria. Kite suffered every day, waiting in the shadow of the cafeteria building, with Kai forgetting his lunch order or Hirakoba sabotaging it. He bit down into whatever type of bread Hirakoba had first laid his hand upon, and let the late summer haze boil his blood. October was barely a month away, and this time, he would be ready.

The day the first flyers for the 48th Annual Tri-School Eating Contest were plastered to the notice boards of the school was the day Kite knew he was going to take the victory. He pushed open the clubroom door and held the flyer out in front of him at arm's length, treading slowly toward Kai, who began to cower out of sheer instinct. Kite let a smile curl his lip, "Kai-kun, we are going to win."

Kai took his hands off his hat with a slow, unsure movement. "Win?" he said, straightening his back and peering at the paper. "It's Feeding Time," he read, pronouncing each syllable with purpose, "Registration for participants now open?" He looked up at Kite with wide eyes, "Who're we feeding, Eishirou? Pi-chan?"

"No, Kai-kun," Kite said with a sigh, surprised by his wealth of patience, "it's the Tri-School Eating Contest. We're going to win." He pushed up his glasses with his knuckle, "or rather, I am going to win. But you will have a small hand in my victory." Kai took the flyer out of Kite's hand and held it up to his face.

"Ohhh. Sounds fun! Hey, Eishirou, if we both enter and I win, how 'bou--"

"That will not be happening, Kai-kun." Kite's voice was low, but firm enough to stop Kai from talking. Kai looked wistfully down at the poster. "But fear not, Kai-kun, you WILL be entering. And you WILL make it to the finals," the latter phrase was not as generous as it was threatening, "but quite simply, you will not be the overall winner. Are we clear?"

"Yeaaah, I hear ya. So what's the prize??"

Hirakoba, shuffling into the club room with his hands in his pockets, unwittingly put a stop to an imminent and violent display of Kite's superiority. "Sup!" he said, then, "Aw, it's you fucke-- I mean, it's you guys. What's going on?" Kite opened his mouth to question Hirakoba about his little correction, but Kai bounded forward first.

"Rin! Dude, we're winning the food thing!"

"Food thing? Wassat? You mean the food chain?"

Kai blinked at him, "the food chain? Like McD's, right?" Hirakoba frowned at him.

"Just… what were ya tryin' to say? What food thing? What do we win?" Kai held the flyer taut by its opposite edges, right in front of Hirakoba's face. "Oh, that eating contest, whatever it is? Who cares about that shitty thing? Thought we were the tennis club, man."

Now Kai frowned back at Hirakoba, "What, why? Can't the tennis club join the food chain?" He turned to Kite and wailed, "Whadda we do now, Eishirou?"

"Gentlemen, be quiet for a moment, would you please?" Kite spoke through his gritted teeth, and Hirakoba clicked his tongue at that and looked away. "I will explain this only once, and thus I greatly desire your undivided attention." He smiled, daggers in his eyes, "I will also require your co-operation."

Two days later, Kite marched through the corridors, Hirakoba and Kai in tow, to the registration desk. Girls cowered against the walls as they past, and boys pointed and murmured, and Kite's thin smile showed how he relished every moment. Kite said please, said thank you, to the student manning the desk, and took the pen in his hand, releasing the nib with a graceful click of a button. And, turning his eyes to the form, he saw it. There, at the top, the first name. Tanishi. Kei. He fought to keep every muscle of his face steely and calm, and wrote his name in the first empty box. Then he passed the pen to Hirakoba, who sighed, and scrawled so lazily, half the characters of his name drifted off the lines of the box and into the ones that surrounded it. Kai took the pen, and almost as soon as he had it in hand, he spluttered with laughter. He dropped the pen and slapped his hand against the desk, and said, "Eishirou… Eishirou!" in a loud whisper between even louder laughs. The student shot Kite a questioning look.

"Write your name, please, Kai-kun," Kite said, firmly. Kai looked up at him, red-faced, mouth open, tears at the corners of his eyes, and Kite leaned past him and placed a finger on the box. "Now, Kai-kun!"

"Wha?" Kai said, still struggling to breathe, "Oh! My name!" He braced his arms against the table and laughed into it. The student on duty moved his chair back a few inches. "I forgot! Haha, I forgot to write my name!!" He picked up the pen and held it against the page, but a huge, late-coming wave of laughter shook him, and the pen slid under the weight of him, trailing its thin black line over the sheet. "Oh look, Rin, it's a habu! Rin, look!" Kai pasted his finger against the ink trail and smudged a fingerprint at its end.

"For God's sake-- let me, would you!" Kite snatched the pen out of Kai's hand and shoved his hip against Kai's shoulder, causing Kai to slip to the ground. Kite wrote Kai's name in the box, with a tough stare at the student behind the table, "is this satisfactory?" he said, and the student nodded quickly. Kite turned, knuckle to the frame of his glasses, and strode over Kai, who was still writhing and hyperventilating on the floor. "Let's go, gentlemen," Kite said, and Hirakoba stepped after him, nudging his shoe hard in Kai's stomach as he went.

Kite stretched the tape out between his hands, and cut off a length with his teeth. He pasted the final corner of the poster to the clubroom wall, and then rested his fingertips on the top two corners, pushing his body against the wall. Then, the bottom corners. And he stood back, hands on his hips, examining his handiwork. Then he pulled out the little table, a chair, and a book, and waited. A good ten minutes after practice should have started, Hirakoba breezed in, followed by Kai, who was yammering on about accessories. Kite lowered his book, and put his best approximation of a pleasant and welcoming smile on his face.

"Gross, what's up with you?" Hirakoba said, catching the look. Then he looked behind Kite at the poster on the far wall. He pointed at it, "yo, the fuck?" and Kite sat forward in his chair and chuckled.

"Exactly as it says, Hirakoba-kun. Tennis practise is suspended until further notice." Kite uncrossed his legs and stood up with incredible poise. "Our efforts really need to be focused elsewhere."

"No… not this shitty… all you can eat…" Hirakoba waved his hand in the air, beckoning the words, "this tri-school bullshit? Dude, let's just play tennis! Who gives a shit if ya can't eat 200 hamburgers or whatever!" Kite slammed his fist so hard against the plastic table that the legs lifted off the ground. Hirakoba frowned at him, holding out one palm, "Dude," he said, somewhere between a surrender and a threat, and Kite squared his shoulders and cricked his neck.

"No one will be concerning themselves about my failure to eat anything, Hirakoba-kun, because I am going to become the Tri-School champ." He stepped closer to Hirakoba, all the better to sneer right into his ridiculous face. "And in order to do that, we are going to use our practice hours to make sure I can attain that victory." He inched closer, "Are we clear? Any more questions?"

Kai hopped up and down on the spot, hand raised, "oh me, me, Eishirou!" Kite drew back from Hirakoba and closed his eyes slowly.

"Yes, Kai-kun?"

"Eishirou, can we get our ears pierced?? It's so on trend right now, look, look at this," he poked his tongue out of the side of his mouth as he lifted the back of his shirt, and pulled a rolled up magazine out from where he'd stowed it beneath his belt. "There's a feature on Beckham's piercings, look, check it out!" He held out the magazine, and Kite pushed the edge closest to him down toward the floor.

"Not now, Kai-kun," he said. He wanted to add that he doesn't follow trends, he sets them, but Hirakoba was in earshot and Kite wasn't in the mood to take his insolence today. "We have to start preparing for the eating contest, which means for the three of us, and any other volunteers you've managed to recruit, we need to practise our techniques." Kite pulled the table into the centre of the clubroom, and then pulled up three chairs level with it. He gestured for Hirakoba and Kai to sit; Hirakoba clicked his tongue and Kai sat, eyes wide.

"Eishirou, ya got food??" Kai said, swaying in his chair to get a look at the tupperware boxes Kite lifted out of his locker. Hirakoba sighed, folded his arms, and dropped into the chair next to Kai's, and Kite slammed the boxes onto the tabletop.

"I thought we could start with something simple, but stylish: the sandwich." He spread the boxes out so there was one line of a total of five tupperwares, absolutely stuffed to the brim with rectangular-cut sandwiches, taking up the entire middle section of the table. "Obviously, the tri-school contest won't be serving something as mediocre as sandwiches, but before we can move onto the real deal, I first need to assess everyone's… aptitude."

Hirakoba snorted, "Alright, ya pansy, what happened to Spartan training?"

"I think you'll find that this will be no picnic," the light glinted off Kite's glasses in a way that was both unsual for the time of day, and remarkably unsettling. Hirakoba narrowed his eyes.

"What kinda sandwiches didja say these were?" he said.

"Oh… you know," Kite said, removing the lids to the boxes one by one. Kai reached his hand into the nearest one and Kite slapped it away.

"What kind of sandwiches, asshole?" Hirakoba said, leaning with his clenched fist against the table. And the clubroom door opened behind them. The three of them looked around to see who had entered. "Oh, Chinen, ya made it," Hirakoba said, without managing to sound happy about it. Kite pointed at him.

"Leave," he said. Chinen seemed to creak as he turned his face to Hirakoba, and then slowly back to Kite.

"Why? He's the only one I could get to volunteer for your shitty dinner party or whatever. You're the one who said bring people to tennis practice today, what's your issue?"

"Look at him," Kite put his hand out, gesturing to the whole of Chinen, "in what way does this say eating contest to you?" He sneered back at Chinen, "Get out of here!"

"Iunno, he looks kinda hungry to me," Hirakoba met Kite's look, and Kite ground his teeth, and moved to usher Chinen back out of the room. "Siddown, Chinen," Hirakoba said, raising his voice. He pushed out the empty chair on the opposite side of the table with his foot. Chinen laughed, a kind of owl-like, hooting little laugh under his breath, and he plodded towards the chair, arms swinging with each step he took. He passed close to Kite, but failed to recognise the killing intent in Kite's glare, in fact, it seemed to Kite that Chinen wasn't fully aware of anything. Chinen collapsed into the chair, legs bowing and buckling to fit under the table, his whole pose flat and angular like a squashed spider. He turned his bulging eyes, at first, to Hirakoba -- who squirmed and looked away -- and then to Kai. Kai clearly felt Chinen's eyes upon him, because he tore his attention away from the sandwiches and looked back at Chinen. The soft, hooting, almost ticking laugh, like the last drops of water disappearing down the gullet of a drain, filled the room and Kite shivered and rubbed at his arms.

Kai blinked, and then began his hearty laugh. He turned to Kite, and pointed at Chinen, diagonally across from him at the table, "This guy's great!" he said, and Kite groaned, and found a fourth chair.

With the four of them sat around the table -- Kite's chair pulled to the furthest extreme away from Chinen -- Kite took a stopwatch out of his pocket, and held it up, showing the face of it to the three volunteers. "To start us off, gentlemen, we will be holding a sprint -- DON'T," Kai had pushed back his chair and was stuck with his ass hovering between standing and sitting, "Don't run off, Kai-kun, I mean an eating sprint, for lack of a better term." Kai lowered himself into his seat again, putting both his elbows on the table, listening attentively. "Good. Now, I shall explain the theory. First, I will set five minutes on the timer," Kite began pushing the buttons on the sides of the stopwatch and they beeped along with his explanation, "and then, when I say 'Go', we will each see how many sandwiches we can eat. It's as simple as that." The light tone to Kite's voice implied something deeper, but none of the three reacted, and Kite smirked to himself.

"Whatever Eishirou, but you expect me to keep a tally, or what?" Hirakoba said, slouching in his chair and tilting his head back, "You expect Yuujirou to know how to count?" -- Chinen laughed again, and Kai growled at Hirakoba, baring his teeth -- "I mean, c'mon, man."

Kite gave a long, deep sigh. "Has anyone ever mentioned how exhausting it is to be around you, Hirakoba-kun?" Hirakoba's face twisted in disgust. "That's exactly why I… enlisted… the help of a fourth volunteer, though it appears he is running late," Kite held his hands out in a small shrug and glanced down at the floor, "which is something he will undoubtedly come to regret," he muttered. But the door swung open and hit the wall on the inside, and in walked Shiranui. "Ah, talk of the devil," Kite said. Shiranui was shaking and sweat was dripping down his forehead, good old Shiranui, never changes. Kite's smile faded when he saw the bound tip of the kendo stick prodding into the back of Shiranui's head, and behind that, it's wielder.

"Aight you little shits! Which one'a you 'cided we ain't runnin' practice today? Huh?" Harumi's little piggy eyes narrowed, disappearing even more into his round, pink face. "Leavin' some shitty poster on my desk, makin' me look stupid to the resta the staff, who the fuck was it?" He took the tip of the kendo stick away from Shiranui's head and swept the room with it, pointing it out at the four of them at the table. Kite sat up, putting his glasses straight with the edge of his knuckle, and clearing his throat. "Shoulda known, ya little ass wipe! Pack up yer," he scowled at the arrangement of the table, "yer princess fuckin' tea party and get your asses outside!"

Kite got to his feet, drawing himself up to his full height, and wearing his best piercing stare, but Kai yelled, "But it's food, Harumi-chan! You look like you eat a lot -- doesn't he Eishirou?"

"What was that, you little punk!?" Harumi's yell forced his spittle to launch itself all over Kai's hat -- but happily, not the sandwiches -- Kite noted.

"Ey, Harumi-chan, maybe if you ate somethin' you wouldn't be so drunk all the time!" Hirakoba said, leaning a shoulder over the backrest of his chair.

"None a you shits got any right to be callin' me fuckin' Harumi-chan!" He struck the back of their plastic chairs with the kendo stick, and both Hirakoba and Kai winced from the impact, "and you dipshits think that anyone who hasta be around yer sorry asses all day long wantsta be sober? Huh?! I told ya: this ain't play-pretend, girlies, now put yer dollies away and get outside! And--" Harumi stopped. He shuddered like he was startled by something, and then narrowed his eyes, leaning in to the table, "and who the fuck're you?" he said, to Chinen. Chinen blinked, his left eye a good second faster than his right. "The fuck's this?" he said pointing the kendo stick at Chinen's face.

"That's Chinen," Hirakoba said with a shrug. He looked at his fingernails, "His mom's in the PTA." Harumi grit his teeth, and with a shaking hand, pointed his kendo stick to the ground. Kite stepped up, his boots a millimetre from Harumi's toes.

"That's right. But you weren't in the clubroom today, were you, Coach Saotome? Because tennis practice was cancelled." Kite's eyes were thin, gleaming slits, and Harumi replied with a sluggish nod, "So there's no way Chinen-kun ever met you, is there? So there's no interesting story Chinen-kun has to tell his mother when he gets home tonight, is there? About Higa Chuu's drunk, violent," fat, incompetent, lazy, worthless, Kite didn't list these aloud, only because he had Harumi turning tail to flee already, and wanted to keep him away, "tennis club coach. And in turn, Chinen-kun's mother will have nothing to tell the board, now will she? And that, in turn," Kite paced forward, and drove Harumi, step by step, out of the door, "means Coach Saotome continues to collect his liquor money. Isn't that right?"

Harumi nodded, piggy sweat running down his flushed red cheeks and over his red, bulbous nose. "None of you little rat bastards saw me here today, we clear?! Anyone who says otherwise--" he raised the kendo stick and shook it. Kite smiled, a wide, humourless smile.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. There WAS no tennis practise today." And Harumi turned on his heels with a final, disgusted click of his tongue, and left. Kite's feet, however, were light as he turned neatly back into the clubroom, and pushing the door closed. "Oh dear, Shiranui-kun, you nearly got us all into a spot of bother, there, didn't you?" he said, without losing his smile, but with a hand that left an impression on Shiranui's shoulder. "Lucky for you -- lucky for us all, I suppose -- Chinen-kun came to our aid," he said. His voice was surprised, almost begrudgingly impressed, and Hirakoba said,

"His mom's not in the PTA, dumbass, I just said that so he'd stop giving us shit," Hirakoba frowned out of a tired expression and Kite felt hatred burn inside of him. "Shit knows why I saved your stupid operation, though," and he leaned back in his chair, "huh. Funny. I guess now ya owe me, huh Eishirou?" Kite shuddered -- audibly -- and Hirakoba's shitty grin reflected the light from bare bulb that hung from the clubroom ceiling.

Kite released Shiranui, and within the space of five minutes, Shiranui had set up a large tally on the clubroom's whiteboard. "Raise your hand in the air every time you finish a sandwich, and Shiranui will mark it on the tally, understand, gentlemen? You have five minutes." Kite held the timer in the air, "Ready… go!" and the button bleeped the start of proceedings. Kai dug his hands into the nearest box and awkwardly stuffed a handful of sandwiches into his mouth, and then spent a long period chewing and counting on his fingers. Hirakoba took one sandwich and, without letting Kite out of his sight, sniffed it, then opened up the bread and sniffed it again. Chinen drew a sandwich out of the nearest box by lifting with the most care, using a large pair of tweezers. He then used the tweezers to bring the sandwich into his mouth, and pressed it against his inner cheek as if it were dental gauze. Two minutes down, and only Kite's tally had begun to grow into anything decent. Well, of course. He tried not to smirk as he ate, as it affected his timing for chewing the sandwiches.

And Hirakoba made an urgent, mouth-full noise, and began regurgitating his sandwich onto the paper plate in front of him. "What's the matter, Hirakoba-kun? Is three sandwiches really your limit?" Kite said, before biting into another sandwich.

"Eishirou, you asshole! There's goya in this! I ain't eatin' this shit!" He pounded his fist on the table.

"Not all of them have goya in, Hirakoba-kun! Maybe luck just isn't on your side!"

"Ain't no luck about it! Tell me where the non-spiked ones are! I saved your ass, remember!" Kite blinked up at him, and Hirakoba said, "Wait--"

Kite pulled the box out from under Kai's nose and pushed it towards Hirakoba, "eat exclusively from this box, and you should have no problem." He said 'no problem' in English and Hirakoba narrowed his eyes.

"No, I take it back! I take it back, I don't want this favour, I'm savin' my I.O.U!" Hirakoba pushed the box back towards Kite, tipping up one of the sides, and sandwiches spilled out, breaking in half on the table.

"You can't take it back, Hirakoba-kun, I've told you which box has no goya. The score is settled!" The timer beeped. "Oh, and your little distraction has messed with the experiment! We'll have to try this one again. Please stay focused this time, Hirakoba-kun!"

Hirakoba swept his box of goya-free sandwiches towards him and growled. "I'll remember this, Eishirou!" he said, but Kite simply restarted the timer. This time, four minutes in, Kite's attention was taken by Chinen: first, using tweezers to pick a sandwich, as he had in the last round. Then, he placed the sandwich on his paper plate, and picked off one of the slices of bread, neatly, with the tweezers. And finally, he brought a small vial out of his bag and dripped something onto the filling, before using his favourite scientific implement to put the sandwich pack together, and press it closed. With 30 seconds left to go, Chinen, reached diagonally across the table, sandwich held firm in the grip of his tweezers, and placed it silently on Kai's plate while Kai wasn't looking. 10 seconds to go, and Kai took Chinen's sandwich and bit into it -- and yelped, putting his hands to his throat and lashing his tongue piteously.

"Yuujirou?? What happened?" Hirakoba said, rushing to put his hands on Kai's shoulders. "Choking? Ya need water?? --Eishirou, where's the water? Did ya bring water??" Kite was still trying to process what he'd seen, and the timer bleeped on the table in front of him, and Kite shook his head to rouse himself.

"Sorry, wait a moment," and he rooted through his bag for a bottle of water, then put it on the table in front of Kai. He watched Kai gulp down large mouthfuls, and gargle others, with tears streaming down his face. Then Kite let his eyes slide to Chinen, who had a small, but definite smile on his face, drawing out the lines of his cheeks and making his cheekbones seem oddly round and prominent.

"The hell, Eishirou! We come out here, helpin' you out on your bullshit gorge-fest, and first you spike us with goya and now frickin'--" He frowned in angry confusion, "fuckin' lava, shit, I don't know!"

"Koregusu." Chinen neither blinked, nor moved, nor changed the flatness of his voice, but when Hirakoba looked at him, he swung his long arm, and at the end of it, an extended pointing finger, like the broken branch of a signpost being pushed around the post by a strong breeze. The vial he had taken out of his bag was now at Kite's elbow. Kite blinked, and his mouth fell open, and Hirakoba said,

"Bull! Shit! Eishirou, you were aboutta say you never saw that stuff before, and it's bullshit, and you know it!" Kite looked from the vial, to Hirakoba and back again.

"…You're right," Kite said, "You're right, I did it!" And he grinned his malevolent grin, "and now, gentlemen, I have uncovered the path to our success at the eating contest! I did it, yes. Yes, I did!" Hirakoba made a dismissive noise, and got to his feet with a loud scrape of his chair legs. He picked up his bag and left without a word. And Shiranui hovered over from the whiteboard, fidgeting his fingers around the marker pen.

"Um… so do I count that last sandwich for Kai, or what?"

The day of the contest could not have seemed more glorious. Kite sat at the breakfast table and told his mother he was going to be winning the Tri-School Eating Contest that afternoon. And then he drew his plate of breakfast toward him and ate with relish. He met Kai, Shiranui and Chinen outside the service doors to the kitchen, where the contest food was being prepared. "Gentlemen! Good of you to come, more the merrier!" he said, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

"Eh? Rin not coming?" Kai said, looking around for a glimpse of him.

"Well, Hirakoba-kun is especially good at what we're about to do, so it's a shame not to have him," Kite tilted his head to the side, "But, having him know what we're about to do is the bigger liability, and I need this to go smoothly." They nodded at each other, rolling their necks, and perfecting their swagger as they entered the kitchen.

Applause and cheers were heavy in the school hall, and Kite strode in, hands on his hips, putting one foot in front of the other with catwalk grace and precision. Kai, Shiranui and Chinen lumbered in behind him. Kai was halfway through picking his nose when he spotted someone in the audience and yelped a greeting at them; Shiranui was taking small, quick steps, his eyes flicking about, left to right and back, and never fixing on anything or anyone for too long; Chinen walked in with his neck crooked to the side, eyes wide and grinning, with his mouth close to Shiranui's ear. And Hirakoba stood in front of the stage, biting his thumbnail and scowling, scowling something awful. Kite's smile spread as he got close, and Hirakoba shoved him with a sharp hand against Kite's chest. "What the fuck man, where were you! They're aboutta start, I thought you fuckin' ditched me, man!"

"Oh dear, Hirakoba-kun, got a nasty case of stage fright, have we?" Kite rolled his eyes and turned to climb the steps up to the stage.

"You better hope YOU don't get a nasty case of what's comin' Eishirou!" Hirakoba called out, but Kite didn't bother turning around. He made his way across the stage, eyes on fire, to the seat next to him. Next to Tanishi Kei. Kite took his seat with a masterful and cold elegance, and once seated, he arched his shoulders and cricked his neck, and turned his steely gaze upon Tanishi Kei. Tanishi didn't react. Kite could see half of his face, turned away, and Kite's eyes twitched.

He grit his teeth, "Let's have a good match today," he said, tone flat and heavy, wishing Tanishi anything but what he had said. Tanishi gave a grunt and looked over his shoulder. He had his mouth full and was chewing, and Kite narrowed his eyes. "I said, good luck today," and he put his hand out for Tanishi to take. Tanishi blinked, and then started to extend his hand towards Kite, when he pulled it back again and wiped the grease on his school trousers. Then he shook Kite's hand, and Kite tried not to wince.

"Thanks," Tanishi said, and then turned back to whatever he was eating -- as there was nothing laid out on the plates in front of them yet. Surely, eating non-contest food at this point would only put him at a disadvantage? But wait, and Kite bit down on his teeth, maybe he was trying to psyche Kite out! Kite ground his fingernails against the table, but that's all he's got after all, just the psychological advantage! That was nothing compared to the arsenal Kite had prepared to secure the victory once and for all!

"You're going to need it," Kite muttered, and Tanishi only hummed politely in return, not having heard it. Yes, he'd need it, Kite repeated to himself in his mind. Down at the far end of the table was Kai, gabbing away to his neighbour, but his loyalty was second to none. Chinen was on the opposite end, and around him were two silent, and sweating contestants, both of whom had edged their chairs a definite distance away from Chinen. Shiranui was close by, watching Tanishi from the seat on his left hand side; he looked up at Kite, watching for signals, and nodding seriously to himself. And Hirakoba was… it wasn't good to keep him out of view, but whenever Kite leaned back in his chair to check his position down the length of the table, he saw Hirakoba, leaning side-on against the backrest of the chair, shooting him that look. Kite gave him a smile, empty of all warmth, which turned into a scowl as soon as he was out of Hirakoba's line of sight. Hirakoba was not to be depended upon for anything but for his sense of anarchy -- he was planning on breaking this show up in some way, that much was certain, but how, and to what effect was yet to become clear.

A hush fell over the hall, and then a concentrated burst of applause and cheers erupted, as the principal walked in, mic in hand, waving to the assembly as he passed. The theatre club in the booth shook the spotlight into gear, and shot the light in a bright snake over the audience, missing the principal entirely. Then, he stood at the front of the stage, and the beam fell upon him with a steady glow. He was just ahead of where Tanishi and Kite sat, in the middle of the table. "Welcome, to the 48th Annual Tri-School Eating Contest! We're honoured to welcome you all back to our assembly hall for more eatin' and more defeatin'! Behind me are our eager, first-round contestants, Higa Chuu division, and just look at them, don't you think they're just raring to go?" he paused for the cheers, "I can't HEAR you?" he said, cupping his ear with his hand, and the cheers intensified. "Good stuff! I think we're ready to bring out the first round food, don't you?" More wild cheers. "Lovely Higa Chuu cafeteria staff, won't you please bring on the First Course Dish!!"

The spotlight glided to the left hand stage wing, and applause awaited those who might step into it. But no one did. The applause continued overlong, and the principal said into the mic, "Lovely cafeteria staff, please bring us the first course!" and there was yet another stretch of applause, which began to flag in its enthusiasm. "Uh," the principal turned about, looking worried, but then staff members appeared in classic cafeteria garb, with stumbling, trembling legs and nervous glances, wheeling in huge plates of burgers. "There we have it, first round is a return to last year's legendary first round: the Sasebo Burger course!"

The applause began, and Kai stood bolt upright in his chair and said, "YESSS!" overwhelming the sound of the crowd and setting off a peal of laughter through the audience. Kite leaned back in his chair and shot Kai a look, and Kai squashed his hat down on his head and sat, nose downcast. The cafeteria staff wheeled their trolleys up and down the table, distributing plates of burgers between the contestants. One of the ladies who placed a plate between Kite and Tanishi hesitated, her hand shaking the plate, before laying the food on the table. Kite looked her in the eye, and she quickly turned aside, screwing her eyes shut, and wheeling the trolley along to the next contestants.

"Looks good…" Tanishi said, licking his lips, "this is the worst part of the contest… the part where ya can't eat until they say so!" He turned to look at Kite, and they caught each other's eye. Tanishi's brow was furrowed with anxiety, "they disqualify ya if ya eat before they say! It's the worst!" Kite thought he saw tears forming in the corners of Tanishi's eyes, "I practise all year for this," he said, looking wistfully at the plate, and Kite smirked.

"Oh, but if you're quick enough, how will they ever know you took a bite? Just one small, measly bite?" He waited. Tanishi was staring hard at the plate. "Just one, teeny, tiny, delicious, juicy, flavoursome, meaty bite… it looks so good… so good… And they want us to wait, what? Another five minutes?" Kite's voice was caramel smooth and caramel sweet, and surely more than enough to make one such as Tanishi Kei hungry.

"NO!" Tanishi said, slamming his fist against the table, making a member of the cafeteria staff shriek, and several members of the audience jumped and gasped. "No, I practise all year! Just for this five minutes!! I practise holding back, little by little every year, so in this five minutes I can make it!! I'm gonna make it!!" He looked at Kite and nodded with determination, "I'm gonna make it!! I know whatcha mean, it's hard when the food looks so good! But we can last this five minutes!" Kite blinked, and then replied with a slow nod. "Ehehe, it's good to have you here, your words gave me courage!" Tanishi looked back at the plate, "I wanna eat so much of this food, I ain't gonna waste that chance on one measly little bite! Nyehehe, just you wait, burgers!"

Kite watched the spirit with which Tanishi Kei addressed the food, and felt… puzzled. He frowned. "I'm… glad I was of assistance…?" he said. But then reality rushed back in. He's tricking you! It's a trick! And Kite's scowl was back and meaner than ever. Of course it was never going to be as easy as just talking THE Tanishi Kei into getting himself disqualified. Kite straightened his back and glowered into the audience. Tanishi Kei must be disposed of, well and truly, once and for all. And Kite was going to do it, by whatever means necessary. He turned to Tanishi and said, "Let me give you some advi--" but a klaxon sounded and cut him off, and Tanishi seized the entire plate of burgers and began stuffing his face.

He was only stunned for a moment. His hand shot to the nearest plate and took his first burger and bit into it. It hit him straight away, that reassuring, angry tang, a perceptible crunch in all the soft layers of burger. And beside him, a student yelled and gagged, and frowning, tried to regurgitate his bite. Kite smiled as he chewed, it had begun.

"SECONDS!" Tanishi yelled, calling for the staff to furnish him with another plate, and Kite's eyes widened. He'd eaten a whole plate, without any issues, meanwhile the principal's commentating was struggling to keep up with so many early drop outs.

"Don't you think the flavour of the burgers is a little off?" Kite asked, leaning in to Tanishi to get his answer.

"Could use more relish?" Tanishi said, through his food.

For the first time, Kite began to feel a cold sweat on the back of his neck. Could use more relish? That's all? The contest wasn't even five minutes in, Tanishi Kei was leading by at least eight units, and the vomit buckets under the desk were already being shown some good use. But more relish? Kite looked at his own burger, and had the apprehension of a mountain to climb before him.

A chair scraped backwards on the stage, and the yell that accompanied it silenced even the surrounding chaos, and Kite turned his head to see. Hirakoba stood up, backing away from the table a few paces on the balls of his feet, pointing two wary fingers at his plate. There was a burger on it, with a bite taken out. "Naw man, fuck this, man, I'm out!" The audience ommed and giggled at his cussing, and the principal cleared his throat and apologised to the visiting students who had come to watch the contest. Hirakoba was about to turn and leave, when he noticed Kite looking. "Eishirou! I told you not to fuck with me man!" Kite narrowed his eyes. If you so much as-- "Teach! The food, it's been--" but one of the cafeteria staff bustled in quickly and escorted Hirakoba off the stage. "What!? What the FUCK, Eishirou!! You wanted to win that badly!? Eishirou--"

The principal's mic whined as he thought of what to say. Kite stood up, and the murmuring audience hushed. He raised a hand in the air, "Principal, it sounds to me as though Hirakoba-kun is accusing me of having spiked the competition food, although that is an impossible and ridiculous suggestion! Hirakoba-kun is attempting to frame me, so to have me disqualified from the competition, that he simply lacked the skills and tenacity to win himself by fair means!" The principal stared, and then, tilting the mic away, consulted with the other nearby teachers and principals from the other competing schools. Kite looked down the table both ways, and all eyes were on him, with the exception of Tanishi Kei, who was continuing to eat as though there were no disruptions.

"Well," the principal said into the mic, tugging his collar with a sweaty finger, "in order to allow the competition to continue, I think we have to determine if the food has, indeed, been spiked," he looked around the hall and gestured for the audience to raise their cheers in support. "I think we're all agreed. So to that end, round one of the competition is hereby SUSPENDED!" A klaxon sounded, and Tanishi jumped and looked around.

"Eh? Did I win already?" he said and Kite scowled at him.

The principal, and the other principals from the guest schools, took to the stage, peering at the half-eaten burgers and at the cloches on the cafeteria trolleys. They snatched up the half-eaten burger from what was Hirakoba's plate, sniffed at the bite mark he had left in it, and then peeled off the top part of the bun. There was some sensation among the principals, and they looked over their shoulders and shot worried glances at Kite, who had now crossed his arms and was tapping out his impatience with his foot. One of the teachers brought a sample plate from under an untouched cloche to the table where Hirakoba had been sat, and Kite saw them as they discreetly opened up one of the burgers on that plate and found it. Goya. They checked the other burgers on the plate from the cloche, and then, in despair checked another cloche entirely, but in every one they found -- and Kite knew they would find, no matter how many they checked -- identical pieces of goya topping every burger.

"W-well, everyone," the principal stuttered into the mic, "it appears that someone has added goya to all the sasebo burgers!" The crowd gave a scandalised gasp, meanwhile, Tanishi's mouth dropped open and he said, oh! As if he'd only just recognised the flavour. All eyes turned to Kite, but Kite smiled, closing his eyes and drinking it all in.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Kite said, "you fix your accusing glances upon me, and yet you fail to consider two very important facts. The first, I think you'll find, is most compelling, if not obvious. How on Earth do you propose that I -- I, singlehandedly -- added goya to every single unit of food to be presented in this round of the competition?" He let the silence of their considerations settle over the hall before he continued, "and the second is, I'm afraid, so definitive that it will put an end to Hirakoba-kun's little charade almost immediately and without any doubts. This matter, I think, is one best addressed to the head cook in the cafeteria." The lighting department did a good job of swinging the spotlight onto a very pale-looking lady in uniform and a hair protector, who was fidgeting at the hem of her apron. "Miss, would you care to answer a very important question for me?" Kite said, loving every second.

"A-absolutely," she said, but there was a pause, and then the principal made his way over to her and pointed the mic in her direction. "Absolutely," she said, this time hearing her voice resounding around the hall.

"Miss, was it or was it not, your executive decision to add goya into the recipe for today's first round foods?" Kite waited, blinking slowly, eyebrows raised.

"…Y-yes, yes it was, i-it was my decision," she said, and the hall began to murmur again, "I-it was my decision! I decided it this morning, before the contest! These burgers have not been tampered with in any way!"

The principal frowned and held the mic under his own mouth, "but what would you have to gain by doing such a thing? Why wouldn't you mention it to anyone?" He pointed the mic back at her, and she trembled in the spotlight, the sweat under her fringe glittering white.

"B-because!" she closed her eyes, and with a steady rhythm she said, "because I saw, that the first round food, would be burgers, and kids don't eat, enough greens, these days. I wanted them, to eat something, h-healthy!" She said, opening her eyes as she said the last word, and her irises flicked towards Kite and back again. Kite -- who had been mouthing along with the cook's speech -- nodded slowly with a wide smile on his lips.

The principals looked at each other, and then they looked at Kite, who held his arms out in a shrug.

"Goya has many health benefits, gentlemen," Kite said, gracefully taking his seat at the competition table, "as any true and proud Okinawan native would know." There was a hush over the hall, which was broken by Kai clapping his hands and whooping at Kite's speech.

The principals stood at the corner of the stage, in flurried discussion, and when the lighting crew hit them with the spotlight beam, they winced, and Higa's principal turned to face the audience, clearing his throat. "We have determined that no rules have been broken, and that the food in the first round has not been tampered with. We therefore see no reason to suspend the proceedings of the first round any further--"

"WOOHOO!" Kai yelled, and the principal and Kite both, shot him a dirty look.

"Therefore, we will continue with the terms of the competition as usual, until there are five competitors remaining, who will advance to represent Higa Chuu in the semi-finals!" The audience brought out their cheers, and the klaxon sounded again, and Tanishi's great hand dove forward for the nearest plate of burgers.

"BRING IT ON!!" he yelled, and a big portion of the audience roared with approval as they watched him down another plate without any assistance. Kite watched him as he bit into his own burger. Maybe not this time, but next time. The next round. And when the klaxon sounded for a final time, it was Kite, Tanishi, Shiranui, Chinen and Kai who were left -- remarkably unscathed -- by the trials of the first round. They stood and took their applause, Tanishi still reaching behind him for one last burger, and then were ushered off to a table at the front of the audience, as the cafeteria staff, teachers, and student reps began their preparations for the next round.

"That was a close one!" Kai said, taking off his cap and wiping his forehead underneath with a greasy hand, "I really thought they had you, Eishirou! I thought we were all gonners!" Kite dove over the table, pinching Kai's cheek with a flash of his hand.

"I have told you once and I have told you a thousand times, Kai-kun, about your indoor voice and when to use it!" And Kai yelped in pain and swatted at Kite's hand. Kite glanced at Tanishi, but his attention was elsewhere: the competitors from their neighbouring school were sat up behind the competition table, and cafeteria staff members were doling out the plates of burgers. Kite released Kai's face, and tucked his hand neatly under the table, the image of composure.

Shiranui leaned in, "Um, Eishirou?" he said, careful to use his indoor voice, "so are they? Are those burgers also-?"

"Yes." Kite said, looking back at the stage, voice nonchalant. "I gave our good friends very specific instructions. In this round I expect no problems." And Kite's expectations were not disappointed. He made sure they never were, and in the execution of his scheme to become the champion in this, the Tri-School Eating Contest, he certainly was not disappointed. The scene was as grizzly as it had been during Higa chuu's first round -- casualties were sprawled across the stage or slumped in their chairs, each with their faces intimately acquainted with the insides of a sick bucket. The image quite tickled Kite, and he laughed as he watched, soft enough that only Kai and Shiranui took it as a queue to look frightened.

The third round, featuring the final school, rolled on. As the participants filed onto the stage, Kite noted that there were not even enough to fill all the seats, and one of the competitors was yelling into the audience, "Don't be a freakin' baby!! We said we were gonna do this together!!" but his words failed to move whomever they were directed at. They seemed even less inspirational when the same competitor was hurling explosively into a bucket only minutes later. The klaxon sounded even sooner than it had in the other rounds, and it found less than five participants fit to proceed to the next round. Kite sighed with satisfaction, but Tanishi clicked his tongue.

"I hate that," he said aiming a squat finger at the unwell competitors, "why they gotta puke, huh? Wastin' food like that!" Kite watched him, and found there was a mean fire that glinted in his eyes, and somehow Kite thought he respected it. He looked at the stage. Yes, it was pathetic, to be so taken apart by goya. As children of Okinawa, they had no pride, and no respect. A waste, a waste of food indeed, but a waste of something much greater. Tanishi Kei was absolutely right.

Higa's principal came to the forefront of the stage, ushered there by the waves of the other teachers. "Everyone, although this is unprecedented in all 48 years of the Tri-School Eating Contest, the other judges and I find ourselves with no choice but to suspend the semi-finals round of the contest." He was drowned out by the stunned noises from the audience, and from Tanishi's fist smashing into their table.

"NO! YOU CAN'T!!" he yelled, and Kai jumped and barked out WHAT? WHAT?? In response.

"Therefore, I have to announce that all twelve semi-finalists will proceed without delay to the final round!!" He smiled weakly, and the audience stamped their feet and cheered. Tanishi and Kai got to their feet, jumping and yelling, and when they caught each other rejoicing, they gave each other a thrilled hug. Kite watched this and his stomach panged suddenly. He frowned and put his hand over it. Surely, that wasn't because he had eaten so much? No, the hurt was more obscure, and higher, or so it seemed to him, than in his stomach. But Tanishi Kei and Kai-kun, exhilarated and jumping into the audience to share the moment, was a somehow pleasant sight. Yes, all the more rewarding then, to see Tanishi Kei crushed beneath the weight of Kite's masterful scheme. He pushed his glasses up with his knuckle. Yes, surely, that was it.

Once the stage was clear of all… unpleasantness, the twelve of them, Tanishi and Kite strong at their centre, took their seats once more at the competition table. The dish this time would be champloo, and in addition to goya, certain plates would receive an extra lift. Kite shot a look at Kai and Shiranui, and to Chinen, and each of them nodded in their turn. Kite placed his hand on his wristband, checking that the tiny bottle of koregusu he had concealed there was still safe. And he turned to Tanishi, preparing himself for the moment in which he could claim victory over him. What kind of expression would Tanishi Kei be wearing, when he realises that his beloved eating contest is no longer his for the taking? Would he be shocked? Frightened? Would he cry? Kite's lips curled into a smile, and oh no, he'd ruin his appetite like this, because each outcome he considered was far too delicious to bear.

"Well, we're a little ahead of schedule, so before we commence the final round of the Tri-School Eating Contest, I'd like to get some comments from the participants!" The principal said, to a rather lukewarm audience reaction. He turned on the stage and stood in front of Tanishi, "Second year, Tanishi Kei-kun, everybody!" Applause, "This is your second year getting through to the finals of the eating competition. How do you feel?" He pointed the mic at Tanishi's face, and for a second Kite half feared that Tanishi might try to bite its head off.

"BRING ON THE NEXT ROUND!!" Tanishi slammed his palms against the table, and the audience took him up on it, clapping to his rhythm.

"Uh," The principal turned his head, voice overwhelmed by the excitement of the crowd, even as he held the mic closer to his mouth, "W-well, in that case, I now declare the final round of the contest…" he held an arm in the air, and steadily a hush fell down in the hall, "STARTS NOW!!" The principal dropped his arm and the klaxon sounded. The dishes of champloo that were placed in front of the twelve competitors were now pulled under their expectant noses, bits of tofu rolling out off the plate in the move. Kite's teeth had barely closed down on his first mouthful before Tanishi was scraping a second plate towards him. Kite chewed, and chewed over his options. Why rush? The seasoning on the champloo was delightful, it just needed a little je ne sais quoi. He slurped the last of the noodles into his mouth, feeling the tail ends of them smack his lips, but not caring. Then he angled his head toward Shiranui.

Shiranui jumped, catching his glare right away, mid swallow, and the noodles stuck in his throat. He coughed and pounded a fist against his chest while the principal narrated in anticipation of Shiranui's perhaps-imminent retirement from the competition. But Shiranui steeled himself, gulping hard on a glass of water with tears in his eyes, and once the focus shifted from him, he nodded the signal to Kite. Kite smiled, pulling another plate toward him with styled composure -- and a huge hand tore it away from him.

"SECONDS!" Tanishi Kei roared, picking up the full plate and angling it over his mouth to slide in the noodles all the better. Kite found himself watching with his fingers curled around empty air. But the next plate won't be so delicious, and he narrowed his eyes to the sound of the gargling scream behind him.

"There seems to be a problem with one of the competitors!" The Principal moved in closer to the distressed student, leaning forward to examine him, and beside him, Shiranui ate with his eyes cast fixedly on his plate. Kite let himself breathe out a triumphant laugh, and then glanced over at Tanishi to check for a reaction. Tanishi scraped the last bit of food off his plate and into his mouth, and then clapped the tips of his chopsticks together, hand hovering over the table in search of a new plate. Kite reached for one on the side of the competitor -- "He has retired!!" -- announced the principal, and Kite nodded to himself. The plates lined up for the latest dropout would suit him just fine.

He didn't check to see if anyone was watching him. He knew they wouldn't see it: he kept his head and shoulders still, and reached downwards towards the plate from above, cupping his hand. Gravity did the rest. Then he brought the plate in front of him and raised his chopsticks, ready to eat. Tanishi's arm bulldozed between the plate and Kite's body on top of the table, cutting him off from the plate, and sweeping it away.

"Don't mind if I do!" Tanishi said with a laugh that bounced off the ceiling of the assembly hall, menacing in its volume. Kite stared at him, and then, huffing, reached over to take another plate from his far side. But he smiled as he put the food to his lips. Did you just see that? The audience would begin to mutter, that huge guy in the middle took the plate from the attractive one in the glasses -- and HE got his plate from the food queued up for poor so-and-so from such-a-school, and they both retired!! Are you kidding! Their friends would pipe up, are you saying they were targeting poor so-and-so, and now, reigning champion Tanishi Kei has been pulled out of the running… and all because he was rude to the intelligent looking guy with the fashionable shoes! What are the chances!! Yes, and none of them would ever know, Kite chewed through the noodles on his plate, and none of them would suspect. And by the time they suspected, Kite would be holding up his trophy to show Pi-chan, safe at home, where nobody could challenge him.

"Are you okay??" The principal's voice ringing out of the loudspeakers brought Kite around. His heart stopped for a moment, but the principal dashed straight past the centre of the table - past Tanishi Kei - and kept going to the competitors at the very end of the table. Chinen was sat between them, bringing food to his mouth and crunching with a juddering, mechanical regularity in which all of his movements seemed measured, and conducted according to some inward calculation regarding running efficiency. His huge, disk-like eyes rattled in their sockets as they swept around to the side, to catch Kite's look, and give him the signal. So Chinen had struck, and a twofer -- both of his close neighbours were clutching at their throats in agony, coughing and retching. Kite's lips curved. Chinen had some good initiative, taking out two nuisances at once, and without any suspicion being cast over him. The principal's face was a picture, calling for more staff and health committee students to carry out the most recent tragedies of what was looking to be Higa Chuu's last shot at hosting the Tri-School Eating Contest for a long time to come.

"MORE! MORE! MORE!" Tanishi yelled, slamming his fists against the table, and the portion of the audience that wasn't too stunned by the students being escorted out of the hall by first aiders, stamped their feet and clapped, increasing the speed of the beats until a quivering cafeteria staff member pulled up a catering trolley and restocked Tanishi's part of the table. Kite frowned and watched. Wait. The cafeteria lady was taking away the empty plates, and they were, completely empty. Kite's head turned, left to right, looking around in desperate search for some evidence that his plate, the spiked plate, had existed. But of course, he was a professional, and there was none. He sighed to himself. Maybe nothing had dripped out of his concealed bottle. Kite massaged his wrist with his other hand, as if it was hurting, but the bottle was still in place where he'd left it. And now Tanishi had his own queue of plates waiting for him, it was going to be that much harder to get a handle on any of them.

But, Kite straightened his back in his chair, he had ways. The plates in front of him were well-placed; on the one hand, if he reached too closely to Tanishi, he'd risk Tanishi swiping the plate out of his hands, which would be fortunate in this case. On the other hand, he'd need to reach quite far into the range of his other opponent in order to take a plate for himself -- and he straightened his arm gracefully as he did so. At the prime moment, he let the bend of his wrist on the seam of his wristband squeeze the tiny bottle lodged between them, and then, with a quick flick of his wrist, reached downwards towards a plate. The little red droplets flew down, onto the next plate, waiting for Kite's opponent to give it his attention. Then Kite changed the position of his hand and pulled a spare plate towards himself. No problem.

He leaned his head towards Tanishi as he ate, "Don't you think the champloo could do with a little kick?" and he smirked as Tanishi grunted at him, and to his, right came the panicked screams of his neighbour.

"Oh my God, what is happening to you kids?!" The principal screamed into the mic, putting his hand on the student's shoulder. Tanishi's eyes widened, and he poked a finger towards Kite's other neighbour.

"Wassup with him?" Tanishi said, "He don’t look well," and he stared at the poor student, only breaking his glance by the interference of the plate which he positioned over his face, as a slope to roll the food down, into his mouth.

"I'm afraid poor," The mic whined at that very moment, and Kite stuck his fingers in his ears and frowned, "has been forced to retire! That's the fourth one so far! Just what is happening!" The principal was grasping at what little hair he still had, plastered over his pink and sweating forehead. He shuddered, and leaned back against the table, right in front of Kite, blocking the poor audience's view of the magnificent Kite.

"Goodness, however did this contest ever pass the risk assessment?" Kite said, low enough that only the people at the table could hear, and the principal's shoulders tensed. He stood up and walked briskly away from the table, and Kite chuckled. "Terrible, isn't it?" He said to Tanishi, and to his credit, Tanishi's face seemed rounded with worry, "like he said, this is the fourth casualty!"

"Whaddya mean, fourth?" Tanishi said, through noodles. Kite stretched his arm and gestured down the table, past Tanishi. As he did it, he curved his hand in that special way and felt the droplets fall onto the plates below.

"Two more down there were taken out-- by the nurses, taken out for their own safety!" Kite cleared his throat, "they must be allergic to delicious food, don't you think?" Tanishi looked back at him and shrugged.

"So long as there's nothing wrong with the food, why should I care!" He laughed his great forceful laugh, and though they could not possibly have heard the conversation, the Tanishi section of the audience laughed with him. Tanishi's chopsticks dove onto the next, waiting plate, and Kite felt time slow down around him. He held his breath, and with every thrill of his beating heart his anticipation grew. Tanishi brought the noodles up to his mouth slowly, so slowly, and his great and powerful jaw opened, like a castle's drawbridge clanking down on its chains, link by link. The waiting maw called out to its prey, "Aaahhh," the solemn and indescribable murmur of sound at the heart of a deep and terrifying cave, and into it went the noodles, folding over themselves in a doomed tangle.

"GYAAAAHHHH!!"

Kite's attention snapped away to the student in the seat on the other side of Tanishi, and Tanishi, in turn, lowered his chopsticks in alarm. They looked at the student, whose face was overflowing with tears and batting dishes off the competition table in his blind and groping search for a glass of water. The principal rushed over, just in time to catch a second pained scream in the mic receptors, and the whole of the audience plugged their ears with frantic fingers until the effects crew could cut the mic. Both students, sitting on the far side of Tanishi, were frothing at the mouth, bent double over the competition table and heaving. The principal yelled -- a dull sound compared to when he had the help of the mic -- and more health committee members ran onstage and started to lift the two students out of their chairs. The babble that lifted from the audience started to mention -- Practically only Higa Chuu are left!! -- How come nobody from Higa have dropped out? -- Surely, it's obvious Higa are behind this!! -- and Kite heard the worst of them, just as the principal was waving at the effects crew to reconnect his mic.

Kite stared hard at Tanishi's spiked plate, but Tanishi had stopped eating. His frown was a deep furrow on his brow, and sweat was glistening over it. The edges of his mouth were dropped down and quivering. "Maybe somethin' IS wrong with the food!" he said, sorrow and fear in his voice. Kite clicked his tongue and turned his head. He waited to catch Shiranui's eye, then drew his finger through the air in front of him in a horizontal line. Shiranui's eyes widened, and his jaw stopped mid-chew. Then he opened his mouth and let gravity help the food tumble back onto his plate.

He gave a weak and trailing scream, more like someone who was both surprised and interested to discover a spider in their hair than the horror movie-worthy efforts given out by the other students. Then Shiranui made a vague attempt to look for water, picking up empty glasses and putting them to his lips -- and pulling the glass back away from him and shrugging at it. Finally, he took a deep breath and planted his face right into his half-regurgitated champloo and waited. Someone in the front row of the audience screamed for him, and Kite smacked his own forehead as he watched.

"As you can see, folks, that's another three drop outs!!" The principal said, "the last of those was a 2nd year student from our very own Higa Chuu, poor Shiranui Tomoya-kun!" He took extra care with the words, our very own Higa Chuu, and moved the mic away to breathe a little relieved sigh that only Kite was close enough to notice. Tanishi pursed his lips and held his noodles up in his chopsticks, scrutinising them. "This really is unprecedented in nearly 50 years of running this competition! But I have word from the school nurses that none of the drop outs so far are ill, they simply--"

And one of the assembly hall doors opened with a loud squeak. Kite grit his teeth. Hirakoba. He was slouching with his hands in his pockets, one foot in the air, still braced lazily aloft after kicking open the door. The principal seemed to have been caught off guard by his entrance, and in the silence of the mic's speakers, the audience turned toward the doors and began their muttering. Hirakoba planted his foot back on the ground and strutted through the centre aisle of the audience seats. The effects crew wheeled the spotlight off the principal and onto Hirakoba, and the dramatic cast of the beam made his smirk dark as it curled up his weasel face. But Hirakoba stopped at a row of seats near the front, with an empty chair one removed from the aisle. He took his hands out of his pocket to shove the student in the aisle seat out of his chair and sat down in his place. The audience coughed, and a few seconds passed.

"Uhh, they simply," the principal said, starting over, and the spotlight moved back over to the stage, "ate something that disagreed with them… nothing dangerous, just that they didn't enjoy the food." Hirakoba swung a leg over his knee and chewed -- gum, perhaps -- with his mouth open. "But I have to say on behalf of the cafeteria staff here at Higa Chuu, our lunch menu is one of the best, most bountiful you can find in middle schools in Okinawa!! And our students say t-that everything is… everything is, quite delicious…" he looked around the room for some validation, but didn't get it. "I-in any case, since we have concluded that no students are in any danger, the contest should… resume… I suppose?" He shrugged. The other principals shrugged. Tanishi shrugged, and put the noodles he'd spent so long deliberating over into his mouth.

This was it.

Kite shuffled in his seat, sitting forward, leaning in towards Tanishi with his fists and his teeth clenched. His eyes flicked over every line, every pore of Tanishi's face as he chewed. He watched his little shining eyes and waited for them to water, he watched those soft lips for any sign of frothing, he watched the brow for any creases, but they didn't come. Tanishi gasped, and then, those cheeks seemed to warm and become rosy, and a smile spread out over Tanishi's face as he chewed. The sweat on Kite's back, on his forehead seemed so cold in comparison to the heat in his face. How was this possible? Tanishi finished his mouthful and dug his chopsticks in for another. How was this even possible? And the terror -- no, the disbelief? The disbelief thudded in Kite's chest as he watched Tanishi finishing his plate. And Kite smiled with disbelief as Tanishi sighed with satisfaction, and grinned at Kite through eyes squished closed, and said, "That was sooo good! You were right, it did need a kick, but that plate was just spicy enough!" He licked his lips. "Another plate I had before was that much more tasty, too. I wonder if they forgot to season some of them?" He blinked at Kite, and Kite could only murmur and shrug at him, before turning away.

It was impossible all along. Kite stared at the grease rolling off his now-cold plate of champloo and bit down on the insides of his cheeks to fight off tears. Why shouldn't Tanishi Kei, his esteemed and worthy rival, enjoy true Okinawan cuisine through and through? Why should he be repulsed by goya or koregusu? That was the mark of your Hirakobas, your worthless and ungrateful youngster, the kind of person who made today's generation look bad in the eyes of their long-lived ancestors. Kite's fist was balled on top of the table, and he tightened his grip. Tanishi Kei was not that kind of man, of course not. Tanishi Kei would not be afraid to bare his fangs in the face of a snarling Shiisa! How else did such a man make such an easy fool of Kite? Kite raised his eyes -- of course, Kite was no sitting duck. Kite was the one laying the targets, and Kite was the one knocking them down. And so long as there were still targets to be knocked down…

He angled his head sharply at Kai, who had been sitting by the end of the table on Kite's right, slurping up his noodles without a care. Kai's cheeks were puffed full of food when he noticed Kite, and he wiped a greasy hand on his school pants and showed Kite a merry little wave. And then went back to eating. "Kai-kun!" Kite hissed through his teeth, eyes darting around to make sure nobody noticed him. Kai looked up, eyes rounded with surprise, the end of a noodle flopping out of his mouth. "The--" Kite tried to motion to his wristband by moving his hand up to stroke his fingers through his hair and then nodding to it.

"The what?" Kai said, at an ambient volume, loud enough to carry to the teachers and staff who were seated on the stage behind them. Kite mouthed --The -- sauce! -- and Kai frowned, so Kite tried again -- Use -- the -- sauce! -- Kai shook his head slowly.

"Use it!" Kite said, exasperated, but in a whisper. Kai frowned, and looked down at his plate, and then he frowned back at Kite. He took his pendant out of his school shirt, and instead of his usual ring, there was a little bottle charm filled with a shiny red liquid. He held up the chain towards Kite. "Yes!" Kite said, but Kai frowned at the bottle in his hand.

"But I don't think it tastes good, Eishirou?" Kai said, in his best hushed tone, which was a little more generous than a stage whisper in volume.

"No! On--" Kite pointed wildly, waiting for Kai's head to turn in the right direction, "Yes!! Him! Go!!"

"Oh!" Kai said, suddenly all smiles and knowing nods, and he unscrewed the cap of the bottle. Kite exhaled and patted the sweat off his forehead underneath his fringe, and glanced around to check if anyone's suspicions had been aroused. There was no indication, nobody stared back at him, nobody pointed. Even the staff on the stage were chatting politely amongst themselves. "Aihyaa…!" Kite looked back at Kai. Kai was holding his hand against his hat, and clenching the fist of his other hand. He bit his lip and turned to shrug at Kite.

"What happened?" Kite mouthed, but from the oncoming clamour it was easy enough to tell.

"T-teacher!!" The student next to Kai leapt up out of his seat, "Stop the competition!! Teacher, this guy just tried to pour something into my food!" Kite averted his eyes quickly, and took up his chopsticks. Amazing how hungry he felt all of a sudden.

"What's going on!" Kite heard the Principal approach Kai's end of the table, "oh my God! This is--" Kite held his mouthful of food between his teeth and listened. A pause, and then a spluttering, frantic, noise of disgust, "Koregusu!?" The principal wheezed, and the mic buffeted over the loudspeakers. Kite chanced a look, and saw Kai patting the principal's back lightly. Kite looked away. "Get your hands off me! And pass me that water, yes," the speakers in the hall glugged and Kite found himself gulping his food in sympathy. "It's clear what's been going on with this contest," the Principal said in a strained voice, "the reason why so many of our finalists have dropped out! This young man," Kite heard Kai yelp, but Kite propped his face up with his hand, flattening his palm to make a good barrier between himself and the action, "this scoundrel -- from our very own Higa Chuu, no less! Thought it would be a good idea to sabotage the contest by spiking his opponents' plates!!"

A hushed murmur rippled over the (largely Higa Chuu) audience, along with pockets of applause, some whoops and one wolf whistle. Kite frowned out at them and turned to Kai -- who was being held aloft by the principal, gripping at the back of his shirt collar -- and Kite saw Kai wink and give a little salute.

"As we all know," The Principal's voice seemed forced as he pressed his teeth into every word he spoke, "we do NOT tolerate cheating here at Higa Chuu--" here he was interrupted by a large burst of laughter from the audience, and Kite's lips puckered and twitched despite himself. And Tanishi noticed him and let his mouth, still full of food, gape open in feigned shock and gestured towards Kai with a nod and a slip of his eyes. Then, Tanishi's mouth snapped shut, and he chewed with the corner of his lip curled up in dedication to a grin. "Considering these developments," continued the Principal, "I have no choice but to… disqualify Kai Yuujirou from the contest!!"

The audience exploded into a mixture of laughter, whistles, applause and the chant, Off! Off! Off! The principal gave Kai's shirt collar a little tug and forced him around the side of the table towards the stage steps. Kai's arms wheeled as he tried to balance his steps. "Wait!! But I didn't do nothin'!" Kai said, turning and shooting Kite a desperate look. Kite grit his teeth and turned away. The principal released Kai's collar and harrumphed into the mic. Kai dusted his shirt in defiance.

The principal gingerly held up the tiny bottle of red sauce and waved it in front of Kai's face, "Isn't this yours?"

Kai blinked and then he smiled, "Oh yeah, that's mine!"

"And weren't you trying to use it to spike your opponent's plate?"

Kai narrowed his eyes, and Kite winced and shaded his glasses with one hand. "…Yes?" Kai answered. The principal gestured to the audience, who resumed their Off! chant, and Kai looked around quickly, "wait, was that the wrong answer?"

The principal said, with the air of a showman, "For this reason, Kai Yuujirou will be disqualified!!" and the Off! chants stormed the hall. Kai narrowed his eyes and then, just beneath the roar of the audience, Kite heard him saying,

"Ohhhh, THAT. No, that's fair," and Kai shrugged and sloped off the stage into the waiting clutches of the disciplinary committee.

"With that settled," The principal said, into the mic a number of times before his voice dampened the fervour of the audience, "the competition will resume as before!"

"Wait!" It was the student who had been Kai's target, "Shouldn't the competition be cancelled? I found evidence of cheating!"

"Yes," said the principal, "and the cheater was disqualified and so now we can all get back to the contest!"

"No!" the student said, disgusted. He got to his feet, "I-if you're not going to put a stop to this, to this FARCE, then I quit!!"

The principal shrugged, "He quits!!" The audience cheered and the student shook his head and left the stage. "Only three remain!!" The principal roared, his arm shooting up in the air, feeding the crowd's energy. "And it's a Higa chuu-only heat! Who will be our champion? I can see, looking around this stage that it--" the principal turned his head to take in the reactions of the others on the stage, and caught the looks of the other principals over in the corner. The principal faltered, lowering his mic to his side as he looked at them. And Kite could see the flicker of death-or-glory in the principal's eyes as he furrowed his brow and raised the mic once more. "Looking around this stage, it's anyone's guess who will take the gold!!" He turned his back on the other principals, enjoying his time in the spotlight, however brief it would prove to be.

The crowd was baying for blood -- well, vomit -- and Kite's lips curled. His moment had finally arrived, the moment when Tanishi Kei would learn once and for all the pain and humiliation of complete and utter defeat at the hands of one's true rival. The Tanishi who, as Kite turned his humourless sneer upon him, was still slurping up noodles with a merry smack of his lips, would soon have that formidable jaw locked open in awe at Kite's superiority, unable to eat -- eating would be futile, yes, because by then, Kite's victory would be decided. The only thing left for Tanishi Kei to eat would be his pride.

Kite tore his eyes away from Tanishi (who had just raised his eyebrows in recognition of his being watched) and looked past him, down the long table at Chinen. Kite opened his mouth--

"Oi, Chinen!!" and Kite heard the slurred, undignified version of his words rising from the aisle of the audience. He felt his eyelids twitching as he snapped his attention back to Hirakoba, who was standing just above the rabble of the crowd, cupping his hands around his mouth, "Chinen, do it now! Go for it!!"

Kite frowned, and parts of the audience gasped with shock or wonder, and Kite followed the line of the excited yelps and pointing fingers. Chinen's spine started to straighten, though his face was motionless. His right arm juddered uncomfortably at the elbow as he moved his chopsticks towards the nearest plate, like a motorboat engine puttering into gear. Then the sharp strike at the plate -- the tips of his chopsticks smacking at porcelain -- and the way his arm sliced the air as he brought the food to his lips, angular and to all appearances engineered. Something in the metallic grinding of Chinen's teeth made Kite gulp hard. And the motions got easier, Chinen sped up, joints oiled on the grease from the Champloo, and soon he was a large and eerie perpetual motion machine, downing plate after plate. Kite's mouth dropped open but it took some time before the words came.

"C-Chinen-kun, what are you…?" Just in front of Kite's eyes, Tanishi looked up from his plate and then turned his head to see the far end of the table. For a moment, Tanishi and Kite were united in their shared shock and horror at Chinen's speed and precision with his chopsticks, and then Tanishi pound his fist upon the table, clattering the dishes.

"AWRIGHT BRING IT ONNNN!!" Tanishi roared, and the audience raised their voices in reply.

Kite's eyes flicked from the audience, to Tanishi, to Chinen. He bobbed his head to catch Chinen's eye behind Tanishi's head, "Chinen-kun!" he hissed, "Chinen-kun, we had an arrangement!"

"Alright, Chinen!! Let's go, you got this!!" yelled a voice from the audience. Hirakoba was still standing in front of his seat in the audience. He raised his hands over his head and clapped out a rhythm, "C'mon Chinen!!" he yelled at intervals, and gradually the audience around him took up the chant. Kite shot his snarl at Hirakoba, but Hirakoba's lips were curled up, and the force of every syllable from them sounded like a defiant, mocking laugh.

Kite felt the sweat on his forehead as he turned back to Chinen, "Chinen-kun, forefeit!! You're supposed to forefeit!!" but Chinen's hand moved unrelentingly, and his tally of dishes eaten continued to rise. Kite grit his teeth and clenched his fist around his chopsticks. He lifted a dish to his face, imitating Tanishi's strategy, and tried to shovel food into his mouth. The lukewarm noodles and pooling greasy sauce hit the back of his throat, and he felt his windpipe closing. Kite screwed his eyes shut, forcing food down his gullet, and feeling every lump and kink of every noodle. He blinked the tears out of the corners of his eyes and groped about for a glass of water, and in the audience, Hirakoba was yelling,

"Look! Look at Eishirou! He looks like he's gonna hurl!!" and his laugh cawed and screeched like a circling bird of prey. The principal, who had been busy keeping up commentary for Chinen's sudden change in strategy, wheeled around to Kite's portion of the table.

"Oh no! Look at this, could Kite Eishiroh-kun, Higa chuu 2nd year, finally be at his limit??" Kite's disgust was in his eyes as he glared at the principal, but it was also in his throat, in his stomach, and reflex made him gag and trap the sudden up-rush of air in his cheeks, inflating them. "Oh!! I think he's gonna!! Where is that sick bucket!!" and the audience where clapping and whooping, encouraging Kite to throw up.

Kite swallowed. He shuddered as he felt himself force his stomach to be still. And then he took up a glass of water and sipped it, calm and slow. The excitement faded from the principal's face, and the audience shifted their attention back to Chinen and Tanishi's rivalry. And Kite's eyes slid towards Tanishi. Tanishi Kei was grasping huge handfuls of noodles off his plate and squashing them into his waiting mouth, but his eyes still seemed to twinkle with fight. Or, not fight, but enjoyment. Tanishi followed each handful with a grateful lick of each fingertip, before reaching for his next plate.

Yes. Kite felt a smile spread over his lips, and he laughed and nodded to himself, yes. Of course. This was always going to happen. The roar of the audience hushed in his ears, as if he were now under the waves with water surrounding him. Their tally boards up ahead, yellow scorecards, flipped over the bar with each completed plate, already announced what Kite now had to accept. What he should have accepted last year. Kite put his chopsticks to his plate and scooped up another mouthful of champloo. He lifted it towards his mouth and watched the way the light shimmered over the sauce-covered noodles. And his stomach churned.

"What, what's this! Kite Eishirou-kun is raising his hand in the air, could this mean--!?" The principal turned his mic to Kite's lips, and the room fell silent at once.

Kite opened his mouth, "Principal, I hereby fo--" but half-digested noodles fought their way past his words and up, over the microphone. The principal gagged and dropped it with a muted whine, but not before a resounding gargle, amplified by the silence of the room and the loudspeakers in the hall, flooded the room and squirmed its way through the audience. And one by one, audience members puffed out their cheeks and bit down on their tongues, hands covering their lips or their stomachs. And as Kite threw his lunch up, first over the table, and then into the bucket waiting at his feet, his bleary eyes caught sight of Hirakoba, doubling over, clasping his hands over his mouth, and shuddering.

Kite pushed his lunch tray over the silver shelf, and looking up he met the eyes of Tanishi Kei.

"Whaddaya-- oh! It's you, from the eating contest!" There was a warmth (and an unidentifiable scrap of food) in Tanishi's bared teeth.

"Congratulations on your victory, Tanishi-kun. It was… It was well-deserved," Kite's eyes flicked to the floor, wounded pride warming his cheeks.

"Thanks! Congrats to you, too!" Kite blinked up at him, and was surprised by the earnestness of Tanishi's laugh, "Man, it was a brutal contest! Placin' third's pretty amazin', too!"

Kite opened his mouth, but then, Tanishi Kei would never know that the brutality came solely from Kite, from his designs, from his pride. Tanishi had stuck his latex-gloved hand out over the sneeze-guard, waiting for Kite to take it. And Kite frowned, and shook it. "Thank you. I-it was, I worked very hard to get there," he said, only becoming aware of how true it was as he heard himself speak.

"And man, I was disappointed in the weird robot guy! I thought he was gonna be real competition, but then the moment they mark you out for the count, he just quits?!" Tanishi scowled, beating his fist on the perspex, "What a waste!"

Kite sighed and rubbed at the centre of his forehead with his fingertips. "Yes, I shall have to have a word with him concerning that."

Tanishi leaned over the counter and cocked an eyebrow, "friendda yours?"

"An acquaintance," Kite said in a crisp correction. He pointed to one of the lunch options with his fingertip pressed against the glass of the counter, and Tanishi started and dished up a serving of it. "Friend of a--" but he couldn't knowingly describe Hirakoba in such chummy terms either, "he's joining the tennis club, that's how we know each other."

"That your club?" Tanishi said, and then, want anything to drink? And Kite tapped another place on the counter to indicate his choice.

"Yes. And I'm favourite for captain next year, so he'd do well to listen to my criticisms," and he smirked up at Tanishi, but Tanishi could only frown and nod slowly.

"Well, good. I'd like to give the guy a piece of my mind, too!" Tanishi's latex gloves squeaked when he clenched his fists. Kite put his hands on the grips of his lunch tray, lifting it slightly off the shelf, and then… hesitated. "Forgot somethin'?" Tanishi said, looking around in anticipation of another food order.

"Tanishi-kun, how would you like… That is, why don't you give Chinen-kun a piece of your mind, after all?" Kite left a pause, but then spoke again before Tanishi could reply, "Come to the tennis club after school. Chinen-kun will be there." Kite lifted his tray, "As will I," and he turned sharply enough on the tiles that his heels clicked, and marched to his usual table.