Note: Not meant to be taken seriously, just a fun fic that was originally an RPG post.

Initiation (Prince of Tennis)

By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)

"That's it for today!"

I looked up at Tezuka-senpai's announcement and headed off the court. It had been a good practice, especially considering I hadn't made any errors requiring the intake of Inui's horrible juice as punishment. Most of the other guys were packing up their rackets, joking around and getting ready to leave. Kaidoh-senpai had started doing stretches in preparation for jogging the million-or-so kilometers he usually does after practice.

"Echizen," Tezuka-senpai said. "Give the other Freshmen a hand cleaning up the balls on the court. It won't take long."

I was startled, and somewhat offended. Granted, it was the job of Freshmen to pick up the balls and put things in order after practice was done, and I _am_ a Freshman, but I'm also a Regular. I had just put in a long, hard practice session with the upperclassmen, as I did every day. Had I done something wrong after all?

But one doesn't argue with the Captain of the tennis club, so I just gave him a long stare before putting my bag down and heading back to help my classmates.

My teammates filtered off in ones and twos – I didn't really pay attention to who went where, other than seeing Kaidoh-senpai jog off. The other Freshmen chattered about the practice and our upcoming games, but I didn't feel like talking to them anymore than I usually did, so I kept quiet. Just as the last ball was dropped into the bin, I heard my name being called and looked up to see Kawamura-senpai waving from the locker room doorway.

"Echizen-kun, come here!" he called.

I headed over there, surprised to see that he was still there, but mostly glad to leave the rest of the clean-up to my classmates. "What is it?" I asked and walked into the room, stopping abruptly.

First clue that something was suspicious: All the Seniors; Kawamura, Tezuka, Oishi, Eiji, and Fuji, were standing in a semi-circle looking at me. Second clue: All but Kawamura-senpai had their hands behind their backs.

"Echizen," Tezuka-senpai said, "you've been a Regular for a while now, but it has been brought to our attention that we've deprived you of your proper initiation ceremony."

"My what who?" I repeated. I didn't have the foggiest notion what he was talking about, and wasn't sure that he did, either.

Then they all brought out ping-pong paddles from behind their backs. They were painted to look like tennis rackets. How cute.

NOT.

I played it cool, as always. If I didn't let the panic show, I thought I might be able to find a way out of it. "Are we going to play table tennis?"

"Nope!" Eiji-senpai said, his grin obvious now. "Unless you think of your butt as the ball!"

I hoped they didn't notice I had broken out in a sweat. "So what's Kawamura-senpai going to do, hold me down?"

Fuji-senpai looked toward Kawamura and snapped his fingers. "I knew I'd forgotten something!" He pulled another ping-pong paddle from his back pocket and passed it to our teammate. "Here you are, Taka-san."

Oh _NO_!

The moment his fingers closed around the handle of that ping-pong paddle, it had the same effect as when he gets hold of a regular racket. The timid, gentle look in eyes disappeared and Kawamura-senpai became my worst nightmare.

"ECHIZEEEEN! Your backside will be BUUURRRNNNINGGG!"

To HELL with being cool! I pivoted on one foot to charge out the door, only to find that Inui-senpai had arrived with his own paddle in hand and was barring the way.

"Remember!" I heard Oishi-senpai say behind me. "We can each only swat him once – we don't want to _really_ hurt him."

That was just like our team 'mom', to express concern for my well-being. Maybe I'd feel all warm and fuzzy if he weren't still holding a paddle!

"You heard him, Echizen-kun," Tezuka-senpai said. "Be a man and bend over and we'll make this quick."

"I notice you didn't add 'and painless'," I remarked dryly. Inui-senpai was approaching now, and if I was lucky he might just leave an opening in the doorway for me to get through if the others didn't grab me first.

"We could always offer you a choice," Inui-senpai said. "If you'd rather skip the initiation, you could be the first to sample my new version of Penal-Tea, the power-mix variety." He pointed toward a huge clear jug on the bench that was filled with a dark red liquid. Big bubbles were breaking on the surface, making horrible 'blooping' noises.

"Ecch! No thanks!" I darted around him. Not fast enough – Inui-senpai must have spun around and followed through at the same time. He landed the first swat with the paddle before I made it out the door, making me yelp out loud. I heard the others cheer for him just before the pursuit began.

If I tried to out-run them, I'd probably be out of luck. I was fast, but their legs were longer. I decided to try and hide until they had left the area, and I ducked down on my hands and knees behind the low sink trough inside the tennis court.

I didn't hear any footsteps, so I peered around the edge. The coast was clear.

*WHAP!*

"OUCH!" I cried, turning to see Eiji-senpai crouched behind me, waving the paddle and winking.

"Mengo, mengo, Ochibi-chan!" he said, not looking sorry in the least.

I got up and ran back toward the school – maybe I could hide in a classroom or something –

*WHAP!*

Damn, I should have known better than to go past a corner without checking first! Fuji-senpai had nailed me with a good one, the ever-present smile never leaving his face.

"You don't want to go that way," he advised me.

I didn't know whether to believe him or not, but in the end I decided to ignore the warning and ran for the doors.

Big mistake! I'd no sooner charged through them when I was whacked not once but TWICE in succession! Tezuka-senpai and Oishi-senpai had been on either side of the double doors.

I turned to glare at them, rubbing my rapidly-tenderizing backside. "You guys have all lost your minds!" I yelled.

Oishi-senpai's green eyes filled with concern but Tezuka-senpai's serious expression didn't change. "Kohai shouldn't speak to their senpai that way." He waggled the paddle suggestively. "Perhaps another swat …?"

I didn't wait for him to finish. I was already flying out the back doors.

Tezuka, Fuji, Eiji, and Oishi – only Kawamura-senpai remained, and if I was lucky, he might have put the paddle down and reverted back to his gentle, shy persona. The way my luck was going so far, though, I doubted it.

This time, I peered around the corner of the building before just rushing into the open. There were a few students wandering around, but none that I had to be leery of. I hurried to leave campus but suddenly Kawamura's booming voice was everywhere.

"THERE'S NO ESCAPE, ECHIZEENNN! FEEL MY BURNING PADDLE!"

"YAHHHH!" I cried, nearly jumping out of my skin. A lot of the other kids who hadn't expected the shout screamed as well, then huddled together and focused on me as I ran for my life toward the gates. It must have been a treat for them to see the normally calm, cool, and collected Echizen Ryoma running like the devil was after him. Which pretty well describes Kawamura-senpai in 'BURNING' mode, anyway.

He slammed me with the paddle before I even saw what direction he came from. Six years of martial arts had taught him some agility and speed, and tennis gave him an extremely strong forearm. Which my poor bottom learned when I was lifted right off my feet by the impact of the swat.

"OWWW!" I yelled, the outcry forced out of me and I felt tears sting my eyes. This wasn't funny anymore! (okay, it never was, but now I was beyond panic and was getting angry.) I turned on Kawamura-senpai and jerked the paddle out of his hand. The crazed look softened and he gave me a worried gaze.

"Echizen-kun, are you all right? You look upset."

Only because he was my senpai and teammate did I not hurl the paddle into his face. Instead I dropped it and continued on my way off Seigaku grounds.

When I went through the gates I saw Kaidoh-senpai returning from his jog. He passed by me and just as I wondered why he'd come back this way when he'd usually be on his way home, it hit me. That is, the paddle that he'd been hiding did.

"Kaidoh-senpai!" I exclaimed, one hand flying to my rear.

"Fsssssh," he hissed, stopping to wipe his face with the towel around his neck. "What, did you think the Seniors would get to have all the fun?"

Then that meant there was still one more of them to get past between school and home.

I set off at a run. If Momo-senpai had any ideas about swatting me, he'd have to catch up to me to do it!

Apparently, he had realized that fact for himself. I was jogging along at a good pace when I heard the 'ding' of a bicycle bell behind me. I looked over my shoulder and gasped. Momo-senpai was after me, all right, pedaling steadily, holding his handlebar with one hand and one of those accursed ping pong paddles in the other.

I picked up speed, but so did he. "Leave me alone!" I yelled back at him.

"And be the only one who DOESN'T get to initiate you?" He laughed. "No way, Echizen!"

I should have known better than to try reasoning with him – getting home before he caught up was my only hope now.

And I'd just like to take this opportunity to say that traffic lights suck.

I'd have been fine if I hadn't had to stop to cross the road. I seriously debated taking my chances with dodging the cars, but in the couple of seconds it took for me to decide against it, Momo-senpai's bike bell 'dinged' again and I felt the eighth sting of a paddle since tennis practice ended.

I shot him a dirty look while people around us snickered at my predicament. Momo-senpai patted my head cheerfully. "Don't be that way, Echizen. It's all in good fun."

"Sure, for YOU guys!" I growled. "But I suppose you and Kaidoh-senpai were thrilled to be able to do this to someone else after you went through it yourselves."

His dark purple eyes danced. "I don't know what you're talking about. This is the first time there was ever an initiation in the Regulars." He gave me a wave and rode off, leaving me with my mouth hanging open.

The first time? Why now? Why _ME_?!

I was sore, tired, and frustrated by the time I reached home. Oyaji was laying on the front porch, reading one of his girlie magazines as usual. He looked up as I approached, rubbing my tender backside. "Ah, you're home, boy. How was practice?"

"Painful," I retorted, stepping over him to get to the front door.

"Anything _unusual_ happen?" he asked.

His tone was a little too casual. I stopped at the open doorway and turned slowly to look down at him. His back was to me, but somehow I knew he was smirking. I slammed the door shut again.

"What do YOU know about what happened?!" I demanded.

"Oh, I called Tezuka-kun and told him that in my day there had been a proud tradition of initiating new Regulars in the tennis club," Oyaji replied without looking at me. "I said I would appreciate it if my son could get the FULL experience of becoming a Regular in that way."

"You LIED!" I accused. "There never was such a tradition, was there?!"

"No, but Tezuka-kun seemed to think it was an interesting idea. Maybe it will be a tradition from now on."

I walked over to stand above him. "Why did you do this?"

Oyaji turned enough to be able to look up at me. The smirk was still in place. "Remember the other day when your mother told you to clean your room? You still haven't done it." He faced his magazine once more. "Next time, young man, do as you're told _when_ you're told."

For the second time that day, my jaw dropped. "You …," I sputtered. "You're unbelievable!" I stomped toward the house once more. "Too lazy to spank your own kid, so you coerce his teammates into it! Geez!"

"Hey, it worked out great!" I heard him call after me. "The boys had fun, you learned a lesson, and I got a laugh out of it!"

That laughter followed me all the way inside.

I _did_ clean my room, finally, chalking up yet another victory for Oyaji that I will one day have to pay him back for. The list is getting WAY too long.

(2005)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

This fic is not to be re-posted.