Title: "Breakfast of Champions" – Chapter 1: Golden Grahams

Author: YumeKoe

Characters: Oishi Shuuichiro & Kikumaru Eiji

Disclaimer:

"Prince of Tennis" belongs to Konomi-sensi.

"Golden Grahams" is a brand of breakfast cereal owned by General Mills.

Golden Grahams

Oishi Shuichirou arrived early that day at the Kikumaru household to meet his good friend and doubles partner for their usual walk to school. He was greeted warmly at the front door by Eiji's mother, who welcomed him in to wait for her son.

"He's running a little late today and is still eating breakfast," she said. "But you can go into the kitchen and hurry him along if you'd like." She gave him a conspiratorial wink, making her seem a near duplicate of his red-headed friend, before she gently directed him toward the kitchen.

He politely thanked her and made his way into the familiar setting. Knowing Eiji and his large family, he was expecting some kind of grand westernized breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and bacon. Instead, he was surprised to find his partner all alone, happily munching on what looked like standard breakfast cereal.

Upon further scrutiny, not having yet been detected by the happily eating boy, he saw the box of cereal on the counter and his eyes widened. The "Golden Grahams" stood proudly, 'crammed with Graham,' proclaiming their golden honey goodness, making people wonder why exactly 'the Ridges Rocked,' but to Oishi only one thought came to mind.

Is he eating 'Golden Grahams' because of us? Because we're the 'Golden Pair?' His cheeks took on a slight red hue and he cleared his throat which alerted his presence to the other boy.

"OISHI!" Eiji proclaimed happily, nearly bouncing off his chair to greet him with a morning glomp. When had he finished his cereal? "When did you get here? Sorry for making you wait! Let me just grab my bag!" With the usual Kikumaru grin in place, he rushed off to collect his things before there was even a chance to respond.

During their walk to school, in the midst of Eiji's usual cheerful chitchat, Oishi was lost in thought. Should he just let his curiosity out and ask? Find out if there was any significance to the "Golden Grahams" his friend had been so enthusiastically eating? Maybe he was just over-analyzing and his friend just liked the taste of golden honey? Seriously, how did they cram all that graham into "Golden Grahams?"

"Mou~! Oishi~i!" whined Eiji. "Are you even listening?! What are you thinking so hard about? You're so quiet this morning!"

"Eh!?" Oishi stopped, startled. His friend had stopped walking and was now standing in front of him, blocking his path with both hands on his hips and cheeks puffed out in a cute pouty expression. "Oh, nothing important," he said. "What were you saying?"

Eiji gave him a confused look, but then he turned around and continued his one-sided conversation.

Maybe it did mean something. Maybe there was a deeper meaning here that he didn't understand. Had Eiji purposely been eating "Golden Grahams" late that morning so he, Oishi, would see him? His expression was clouding and his heart rate was speeding up. If he didn't say anything, maybe Eiji would take that as him not caring! What if this ruined their partnership? Or even their friendship! All because he couldn't find the nerve to ask him about his breakfast cereal!

"OSHIIIIIII~!" A flick to the forehead by a very grumpy looking redhead knocked him out of his thoughts. "What's wrong? Why are you ignoring me!"

"Eiji, why were you eating 'Golden Grahams' this morning?" The question was out before he could stop it and he waited with baited breath for the answer.

His friend's eyes grew twice their size (which was a feat, since Eiji's eyes were already quite large in an adorable kind of way) and laughter burst forth from him. He clutched at his stomach as if trying not to fall over on the curb with giggles. "HA HA! You were... ha ha ha... thinking about my cereal???"

The red in his cheeks was returning as Oishi stammered out, "Well, they were called… 'GOLDEN Grahams'… and... uh… I thought maybe you were eating them because… well… we're the Golden Pair… and I…" He suddenly thought the pavement was very interesting.

"Awww~! That's AWESOME! I never thought of that before, but you're right! 'Golden Grahams' should be our official cereal now!" He continued forward with a huge smile on his face and a small bounce added to his steps. "Since we're the Golden Pair, 'Not eating them would be a Graham-atical error!'"

"Eiji… that doesn't make any sense," he corrected softly, but his embarrassment was all but gone now, to be replaced with a fond smile as he watched Eiji be, well… Eiji. "So… we're good then?"

Eiji laughed some more and turned to him with a smile like sunshine. "We're not just good, we're Golden!"

General Mills tag slogans:

"You're not just good, you're golden."

"Crammed with Graham"

"With Ridges that Rock!"

"Not eating these would be a Graham-atical error!"

Authors Note: Yes, I realize these brands of cereals are not easily found or consumed by the Japanese populace; however, in my story, the do. XD

Let me know what you think! I hope my boredom will manage to amuse someone.