Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis was created by Konomi Takeshi. Not me. Please don't sue.

Warning: the result of cin on too much msg. Run for the hills, minna.

Sleuthing challenge: guess who the victims are before they're revealed. Although minna who know cin should already have a good idea.

Comments and criticisms welcome. Enjoy.

Cuffed!

By Cinpii

Chapter 1: Stuck with you

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's the moment you've all been waiting for. The great Horio Satoshi, with his two years of magic experience, will now perform his most outstanding feat yet," the tawny haired boy paused, luxuriating in the expectant awe of his audience. He inhaled, and with an elaborate whish of his wrist, executed a series of taps with the tip of his wand upon the metal bracelets that bound his participants together.

"Aburakadabura!"

Silence reigned as nothing happened.

Blinking at the oddity, Horio pursed his lips in thought. Hm, maybe he didn't say it right. It was a strange word to say. He tried it again.

"A-bu-ra-ka-da-bu-ra!"

Again, silence reigned as nothing happened. Feet shuffled as his audience grew impatient.

"Now that's odd. I'm sure that was the correct command," the first year mused, scratching his chin. Maybe he should have read the manual before performing this trick, but he had two years of magic experience, damnit. Surely someone as experienced as he did not need to lower himself to such bothersome trifles.

Besides, the instructions were in English, and Horio was failing that subject. He couldn't make sense of it even if he wanted to.

"Ano, perhaps Horio-kun should try a different command?" a soft-spoken suggestion piped up.

It wouldn't hurt, Horio consented. Drawing in a breath, he waved his wand again and executed his taps.

"Alohomora!"

"This isn't Harry Potter, you nitwit," an irate voice berated.

"Ah, senpai is right," Horio sweat dropped. Thinking furiously, he scrambled for any other English commands he knew.

"Open sesame!"

Blank faces.

Throwing all poise out the window, Horio tried to ignore the beads of perspiration dampening his unibrow. Ryuzaki he wasn't worried about. She was sweet and good-natured. It was the other three members of his audience that would inflict bodily harm. He had promised them a good show, and he was not delivering.

Peering out of the corner of his eyes, Horio took in the un-amused expressions of the rest of the group. The daunting expression on his senpai's face made his knees want to knock together. He really should have practiced this trick before performing it. Too late now. Time to start praying for a miracle. Desperate, Horio's high-pitched voice cracked halfway as he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Release, your master commandth thee!"

Echizen Ryoma twitched and internally winced for his abused ears. In normal circumstances, he would have just left Horio to solve his own dilemmas, but seeing in how he had a personal stake in this situation, Ryoma decided it was high time to step in. This was cutting into good naptime, after all.

"You've been saying it wrong. It's 'abracadabra'," he enunciated, tone flat and matter-of-fact.

"A-bu-ra-ka—," rolling the foreign word around in his mouth, Horio shook his head. He would never be able to pronounce that. But before letting himself wallow into the depths of despair, he perked up as an idea dawned. "Echizen, say it again."

"Abracadabra."

With a triumphant grin, Horio raised his wand. This would work. He could feel it.

tap tap tap tap

There was a pause as five expectant gazes looked upon the magical cuffs. Five breaths were held in anticipation.

And five breaths were released in a disappointed whoosh when nothing happened. The metal binds shined innocent and new in the bright sunlight.

"Ano…"

"Tap harder?"

"Okay. Echizen?"

"Abracadabra."

Tap Tap Tap Tap

"It's not working," an exasperated voice stated.

"Fss. First years are so weak. Give me that wand." Not waiting for a reply, Kaidoh Kaoru snatched said object out of Horio's grasp. Looking at Ryoma, he nodded.

"Abracadabra."

TAP TAP TAP TAP

Eyes narrowed in unison as nothing happened.

"Harder?"

"Okay."

"Abracadabra."

tap tap tap tap

Kaidoh frowned as he looked upon the unresponsive shackles. What was with these stupid cuffs? He drew his arm back further. The tendons of his lean muscles strained against the confines of his uniform sleeve. "Again," he repeated.

Ryoma acquiesced. "Abracadabra."

Tap Tap Tap Snap

"Un-oh."

"Ano…"

"…"

"Cheap piece of—"

"You broke my wand!"

Three identical glares focused on the offended boy. Concerned reddish brown eyes swiveled from Horio and the rest of the group. This situation was going to get ugly.

"Horio-kun, if you don't fix this right now, I'm going to hurt you. This isn't funny anymore," Osakada Tomoka threatened as she took an intimidating step forward.

Kaidoh said nothing. He didn't have to. Horio could read the promise of pain in his senpai's eyes. The boy shivered and took an instinctive step away. Palms up in a defensive position, he turned around and ran. "I'll go home right now and find the manual," he yelled over his shoulder as he hightailed it off the school's campus.

"Konoyarou," the oldest of the group cursed softly, looking at the figure diminishing into the distance.

Overhead, the school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period. Without a word, Ryoma started walking off, tugging Sakuno along.

"A-ano, Ryoma-kun?" her soft voice chimed, eyes large with confusion as she tripped after him. "The buildings are that way."

He didn't stop walking, didn't turn around. Instead, he raised their connected wrists. "You want to go to class like this?"

The cat-eyed boy had a point. They belonged in different classes first of all, and second, it would be hard to explain their situation to others. Sakuno bit her lip. She had never skipped class before. She hoped it would be okay. If she got into trouble, obaachan would surely understand, right?

Tomoka shrugged and followed, unwilling to abandon her best friend in such a dire predicament. The tennis prince did have a point. In light of their situation, waiting it out was probably the best course of action. She looked over at her companion. His expression was dark, but he followed suit.

What else could he do? He was handcuffed to her, after all.