This was the result of a prompt phrase. The phrase is stated at the end of the fic.
Drive to Win (Prince of Tennis)
By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)
The Hyotei tennis team Regulars were in trouble.
"I can't believe this!" Gakuto exclaimed. "We've only got half an hour to make it across town to register for the tournament, and we have no transportation!"
"Sakaki-sensei didn't know he'd be called into that emergency staff meeting," Choutarou said reasonably, even as he wrung his hands in worry.
"Yeah, but he was gonna drive us there!" Shishido stated, glaring in the direction of their Coach's car, which now seemed to be mocking them silently.
"The bus will arrive too late," Atobe remarked. "And even if I called for my limo, there wouldn't be enough time for it to get here and take us to registration before it was too late."
"If only we were old enough to drive," Yuushi lamented. "Sakaki-sensei might have loaned us his car at this time of need."
Hiyoshi looked up suddenly. "Jiroh can drive!"
His teammates glanced from him to the slumbering teenager over Kabaji's shoulder. "Jiroh's only fourteen." Atobe frowned.
"But he knows how to drive, he told me," Hiyoshi insisted. "His cousin showed him how when he visited him in the country."
"Sure, there was nothing to HIT there!" Shishido snapped.
Gakuto piped up, "He'll probably fall asleep at the wheel! It's suicide!"
"Besides, even if he could do it, Sakaki-sensei wouldn't loan his car to a fourteen-year-old unlicensed driver," Choutarou pointed out.
"He would want us to get to the tournament, right? It's what we've been practicing for," Yuushi said casually. "And I happen to know of a bad habit that our Coach has where his car is concerned." He reached over and opened the driver's side door. "He forgets to lock it."
Atobe raised an eyebrow. "What about starting it without a key?"
"Um, _I_ can do that," Shishido admitted, turning a little red. "No questions, okay?"
"We don't have time to discuss this anymore," Atobe decided. "Let's go."
Shishido dove under the steering wheel and began fiddling with the wires while Gakuto and Yuushi tried to rouse Jiroh. Choutarou was extremely distressed.
"This is theft! Grand theft auto! We could be arrested and go to Juvenile Hall! Do you have any idea what happens to cute teenage boys in jail?!"
"If we get to registration in time, Sakaki-sensei won't be angry – he'll thank us," Hiyoshi assured him.
"Did you say 'thank' or 'spank'?" Choutarou asked wryly.
"Got it!" Shishido announced and moved out of the way.
"You want me to do WHAT?!" Jiroh demanded in a squeak, finally aware of his surroundings and the situation.
"We're out of options, into the car!" Atobe pushed Jiroh into the driver's seat and they all piled in. It was a tight squeeze.
"Choutarou, why am I sitting in YOUR lap?!" Shishido cried. "Can't you at least sit in mine?!"
"But I'm bigger than you!"
"Quit your whining, I'm getting squashed!" Hiyoshi complained. "Hey, Gakuto, you're small enough to fit in the trunk, right?"
"Stuff it!" Gakuto snarled, adjusting himself in Yuushi's lap.
"Can't Kabaji at least sit up front with you, Atobe?!" Hiyoshi pleaded. "There's no room for SIX people back here!"
"I do not sit in another's lap," Atobe remarked from the front passenger's seat. "On the other hand – Kabaji?"
"Usu." The huge Sophomore pulled Hiyoshi onto his lap so that he was no longer being flattened, but was instead highly embarrassed.
"Kill me," he groaned.
"Don't SAY something like that when we're about to take what is potentially the last ride of our lives!" Gakuto warned.
"Jiroh, drive," Atobe ordered.
The car left the parking lot with a screech of tires, echoed by its passengers.
"Take the next left – WAIT FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE!"
"AUUGH, we're gonna DIE!"
"Oh my God, that was close!"
"Gakuto, if you squeeze me any more tightly, you'll cut off my air."
"Kabaji, I apologize in advance for crapping myself on you!"
"Off."
"There's nowhere to GO!"
"This street is one way, Jiroh. That sign said 'no entry.'"
"Don't confuse me, buchou!"
"Shishido-san, in case we don't make it –"
"Yeah, I know, me too –"
"In the case of an imminent crash, I expect all of you to throw yourselves over me as a shield. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten."
"Usu."
"FORGET IT!"
The Seigaku Regulars looked up at the sound of squealing tires approaching. They had just finished registering for the tournament and were wondering why Hyotei was late.
"That's Sakaki Tarou's car," Coach Ryuzaki remarked with a frown.
"Is he drunk, nya?" Eiji asked worriedly as he clutched Oishi's shoulder, half-hiding behind him.
"I don't know," their Captain, Tezuka, remarked slowly. "But … he's coming this way."
"HE'S NOT STOPPING!" Kawamura cried, pulling Fuji Syuusuke out of the way while the other team members dove for safety. The car sped past them and came to a stop in front of the registration tent.
"Sakaki!" Ryuzaki yelled, stomping toward the car only to stop in stunned amazement when the Hyotei boys tumbled out of it. Atobe went quickly to the registration table.
"Hyotei … eight to register," he told them. He looked up as Tezuka appeared next to him.
"Are you completely out of your mind?" the other Captain asked him. "Your team is hardly in shape to play now."
Atobe glanced back toward his teammates. Choutarou and Shishido were clinging to each other, faces buried in each other's shoulders. Gakuto kept trying to stand up, but his shaking knees repeatedly gave out on him. Yuushi had his arms folded on top of the car, his face buried in them, shoulders shaking. Hiyoshi was kissing the pavement. Kabaji attempted to pry Jiroh's white knuckles off the steering wheel without success.
"Give them ten minutes, they'll bounce back," Atobe remarked, meeting Tezuka's intense gaze with a confident smile. "After all, we ARE Hyotei." His cell phone rang. He pulled it out and saw Sakaki's number in the readout.
Tezuka studied the other boy's face, watching it gradually drain of colour. "You're going to throw up now, aren't you?"
"Quite possibly. Please excuse me." Atobe didn't run, but speed-walked toward the bathrooms, shoving his phone into Ryuzaki's hand as he passed. She looked at it, then at Tezuka.
"What am _I_ supposed to tell him?!" she exclaimed.
"Just what Atobe said," Tezuka replied wearily. "'After all, they ARE Hyotei.'"
(Prompt phrase – Transportation)
(2005)
Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.
This fic is not to be re-posted.