I finally found the inspiration to write something again. Thanks to POT. It's been a long time since I last sat down and let my fingers create a story.
Friends, I do not own POT. I just want to borrow the characters for some fun.
Chapter 1
"Inui Juice Vegetable Cola"
It's six in the morning, a time on a weekend when everyone is supposed to be sleeping. And yet, there they were – the boys' tennis club of Seigaku – doing early morning practices. Everyone was already there warming up for the day's long and hard training. However, the freshman seems to be missing. Who knows what his excuse again would be.
"Ne Oishi," Eiji said while doing stretching exercises, "O'chibi is late again, nya!"
"Yeah," replied Oishi, who was also doing warm-up exercises "I guess he overslept again. He probably got really tired yesterday after playing against Taka-san."
"Still," Inui interjected. A second ago he was writing down some notes in his notebook and now he was butting in another's conversation. "Still, it is not an excuse to be late. And for him to become disciplined he must be castigated!" He flashed his conniving grin that sent chills down the Golden Pair's spine.
Eiji and Oishi exchanged troubled glances and returned to Inui, who was once again writing notes in his notebook. "Sadaharu, what are you planning this time?" Oishi inquired in his usual worrying tone.
"S-E-C-R-E-T" was the only reply Inui gave before he wandered away, still energetically scribbling down some notes and from time to time muttering "Ii data".
Eiji and Oishi just finished their stretching exercises when Tezuka suddenly called everyone's attention. All of the Seigaku regulars gathered around their captain and greeted him.
"As you know the next tournament is just around the corner," Kunimitsu announced in his own commanding manner. "Do not let your guard down and win!" He paused for a while so everyone could answer with their ebullient agreement. "everyone, 100 laps around the court" After giving his command, Kunimitsu walked away and resumed his consultation with Coach Ryuzaki.
It was after Tezuka's last statement that Ryoma arrived, drinking Ponta. He seemed to be unaware of the time and of his tardiness. Everyone was already preparing to run laps around the courts.
"Echizen!" Momo called out to his friend. "You're late." He grabbed the freshman and pressed his knuckles onto the younger one's head, to which Ryoma could only complain and say "It hurts, stop." In spite of the complaints Momo continued the torture anyway. "You never learn. But you're lucky that the Captain is busy with the Coach. Or else…" He trailed off.
"Yeah, Echizen," Inui interrupted yet again. "you're really lucky. You'll be the first person to try my New and Improved Vegetable Cola." With that, a large mug of black bubbly liquid suddenly materialized in Inui's hands.
"Inui-sempai," Ryoma answered, suddenly backing away from the imposing junior. "It's too early in the morning for that." The usually stoic and apathetic boy seemed frightened, "I cannot practice when I'm out cold. Right Momo, sempai?" He looked at the sophomore for support, only to find him gone. He already ran ahead for fear that Inui might enlist him in today's experiment too.
"Too bad Momo is not here to support you," Inui shifted his eyeglasses up his nose. This movement caused a flash of resulting from light reflected from the lenses. He was slowly stalking towards Ryoma and almost ready to shove the vile drink into Ryoma's throat when Tezuka called out to them.
"You should be running laps. What are you doing? 150 laps for both of you!" And then he resumed his conversation with the coach in one breath as if nothing happened.
Inui, without a word, turned and started running laps. Ryoma, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief, put down his can of Ponta on a nearby bench, and started running laps too. Strangely though, he was happy that the Captain gave him this punishment. It was a million times better than having to drink Inui's death drinks. "mada mada da ne," Ryoma was saying as he ran to catch up with the other regulars.
Little did Ryoma know that he was not yet safe. When he thought Inui had already run ahead when Tezuka interrupted them earlier, the data player was merely hiding behind a bush. With his sly smile plastered on his face again, he took Ryoma's can of Ponta and spilled its contents. In its place he put the vegetable cola he was bragging about earlier. Sorry Ryoma, he thought. You were already chosen for this one. With that done, he ran ahead to catch up with the 150 laps he had to do.
The sun was already high up in the sky when the regulars finished their running around the courts. Echizen and Inui, on the other hand, were not yet done as they were tasked to do 50 more laps than the others. While they were running around, Tezuka announced the pairings of singles practice matches for the day: Momo vs. Kaidoh, Kawamura vs. Oishi, Kikumaru vs. Fuji. That left Inui vs. Ryoma later when they finished their laps.
When the two had finished running, they cooled down for a while. Ryoma reached for his Ponta, but to his surprise it wasn't where he left it. He looked around and saw that Kikumaru had it.
"Kikumaru-sempai," Ryoma yelled, a bit annoyed. Eiji was in another court, readying for his practice match against Fuji. "Why do you have my Ponta?"
"Nya O'chibi!" Kikumaru replied rather cheerfully, "I'm just taking a sip. I forgot to buy my own can earlier. Hehe." He gave a cat-like smile, with the pleading eyes no one can refuse, just like the way Puss in Boots does.
"Che," Ryoma said, rather unaffected by his sempai's act. "You can have it if you want to." And then he returned to his preparations for the practice match with Inui.
To this Kikumaru reacted with too much joy. "You're too nice, O'chibi. Thanks!" And then he downed the contents of the can until he felt rather weird. "This smells different, nya," Kikumaru realized, "it tastes different too." He looked at Ryoma and started to see double. He looked at Inui and saw three of him. Before he realized what had really happened, he fainted and fell on the clay court.
Oishi saw what happened and, just like a real mother, ran towards Eiji to check if he was alright. "Eiji wake up," Oishi was rousing Kikumaru but to no avail. It seemed like Kikumaru was really dead to the world.
The other regulars also noticed the commotion and approached the source of it all. They gathered around the fallen Kikumaru and the worried Oishi.
"What happened?" Momoshiro inquired, rather curious.
"He fainted after drinking Echizen's Ponta," Fuji remarked. He was supposed to be Eiji's opponent so he was nearby. Luckily he witnessed everything that happened. Fuji took the almost-empty Ponta can and smelled the studied the contents. "It looks different," he muttered.
Ryoma and Inui, who were in the other court, also noticed the commotion and gathered around the people. "What's going on?" Inui inquired, unaware that his plan hadn't worked.
"Eiji-sempai drank Ryoma's Ponta and fainted," Momoshiro answered rather queerly, pointing at the fallen acrobat. He seemed humored by the incident.
"What? He drank Ryoma's Ponta?" Inui exclaimed, surprised.
Fuji, on the other hand, momentarily forgotten by everyone, became really curious with the can of Ponta. He sniffed at the mouth of the can and warily took a sip of the strange juice.
"But that was not Ponta!" Inui cried aloud. "It's Inui Vegetable Cola!"
When Fuji heard this, it was already too late. He had already taken a swig from the remaining contents of the can. If this had happened a long time ago he would have been unaffected by it all. Besides, he considered himself as having strange preferences in things. He would even have been pleased with being able to taste Inui's juice like this, since Inui's plan to make Ryoma drink it was totally sadistic and evil. However, since the day he was knocked-out cold by Inui's special concoction during a special bowling day, he had been cautious about anything that Inui made. Upon learning that what he was drinking was Inui juice, Fuji started choking and made gasping sounds, which everyone heard.
Everyone turned to Fuji and saw him gagging. "Syusuke!" Oishi cried, "what's happened?" He saw the can of Ponta in Fuji's hands and suddenly went ballistic.
"Inui! Look what have you done!" Oishi was nonplussed and frantic with worry that he began pacing back and forth, nagging at Inui. "You've knocked two people down. When Tezuka sees this, he'd be furious with us." Oishi darted from Kikumaru to Fuji, pulling at his bangs. He didn't know what to do and kept muttering to himself about First Aid and Oxygen, apparently already lost in his own world.
On the other hand, Kaidoh was jolted from his normal apathetic self and questioned his sempai, "Inui-sempai, what was that all about?" He was scared since even Fuji fainted from the juice.
"I designed a juice that tasted like Ponta," he answered without a hint of contrition in his voice. "That prototype was supposed to be tasted by Echizen here, since he's the one who knows its taste best." He looked at Ryoma, who avoided his eyes and just glanced away. "It's supposed to be the best-tasting Inui juice ever. I don't know what happened." He took out his notebook and started scribbling down some notes once again, leaving the others in a more befuddled state than before.
"I guess we just have to inform Tezuka about this," this suggestion came from the shy and usually quiet Kawamura, who had been there listening to everything all this time. He was worried about what the Captain might give them as punishment if he saw all of them slacking off like this. "Besides Fuji and Eiji are practice partners for the day, so we won't be affected much about their loss for the day."
Just then, someone handed Taka-san his racket, much to everyone's dismay. "Yosha! Burning!" the sushi-master yelled at the top of his lungs, not without aggression. "I will the Captain directly!" He was swinging his racket wildly now, "just wait here. Burning!" And he darted off towards the Captain's and the Coach's general direction.
"Inui, sempai," Ryoma muttered, while they were returning to their court for the practice match. The others were also doing the same, so that when the Coach and Captain came they wouldn't witness the regulars not practicing. "I'm glad that I wasn't able to drink that horrible juice of yours," Ryoma confessed with a bit of humor in his voice.
To this, Inui only answered, "Ii data."
It was already about sunset when Eiji and Syusuke regained consciousness after almost a half day spent in the infirmary. Good thing there was a nurse in the school clinic that day, although it was a weekend. The two fallen Seigaku Regulars were given necessary and sufficient medical attention for them to be able to recuperate in just half a day. Normally, drinking Inui juices meant passing out for 24 hours. Thankfully it was not the case today.
"Nya, Syusuke," Eiji complained as he was trying to get up from bed, "what happened?"
"You fainted," The genius replied, his smile already pasted again on his face. That Inui, he thought, making such a horrible concoction again this time! He made a mental list of the things he would do later to punish the data player.
"Me? Fainted nya?" Eiji was confused, "I remember drinking O'chibi's Ponta. . ." he trailed off. And then he suddenly remembered the events that followed. "Hoe!" he exclaimed. His head was still hurting, and his eyes are not yet done with refocusing. "That Inui, sly as usual! He got me!"
Just then, the nurse came into the room and checked the tennis players' condition. "Good afternoon," she greeted them sweetly, "I see you are already both well."
"Yes, ma'am." Eiji replied rather obediently. Fuji, on the other hand, was still immersed in his world while imagining the tortures he would have to do to Inui afterwards.
"I heard that Sadaharu did it again," the nurse commented while removing the IV injected into Eiji's temples.
"Nya! You know Inui?" Eiji asked curiously. "I didn't think Inui was popular with women." He scratched his head and looked expectantly at the nurse.
The kind nurse smiled at Kikumaru's comment and continued his ministrations to the hyperactive boy. "Well, Inui and I have been neighbors since we were children," she replied. "I've seen him pull a lot of pranks in the neighborhood children when he was still young and playing with them."
"He?" Kikumaru was curious at this statement. Even Fuji, who had been lost in his own world earlier, was now listening intently at the conversation going on. "So you mean Inui has been doing this juice invention since he was young?" Kikumaru had thought that Inui only started making his horrible juices when he entered Seiguaku, in his desire to become stronger.
"Inui used to do this when he was a kid," the nurse replied, "so the neighborhood children always avoided him and never wanted to play with him again." There was a bit of sadness in her voice. It was as if she was feeling pity for Inui. "I guess that was the reason he stopped making juices for the neighborhood kids. I just learned he resumed in making them when he entered the tennis club."
"I suspected as much," the genius replied, finally breaking his silence. "Inui is just a creepy guy." The smile momentarily disappeared from his face to reveal his icy blue eyes, "So his entering the tennis club is just an excuse to make more of his concoctions." What a sadistic guy. And here I was thinking that I'm a lone sadist. The smile slowly returned to his pale face.
"There you go," the nurse said as she finished removing the IV from both Kikumaru and Fuji, "you can now go back to practice." She smiled at both of them and added, "I think they're not yet done for the day."
"Thanks, Miss - " Kikumaru suddenly realized that he didn't know the kind nurse's name. "Nya, what's your name again, miss nurse?"
"Himura," the nurse replied warmly. "and it's my job to take care of kids around here. Take care!"
And with that the two Seigaku Regulars went on their way to get back to practice.
Back in the Seigaku locker room, Horio and his minions – Kachirou and Katsuo – are cleaning up the mess left by the regulars, who were still practicing although the sun was already setting. Of course, as is their usual ritual, they do things while gossiping.
"Hey Horio-kun," Kachirou asked while picking up the used towels around him, "is it true thatInui-sempai made the Regulars drink his awful juice again?"
"True, True," Horio replied in his usual air of self-importance, "I overheard Oishi-sempai earlier ranting to the other players about Inui's ploy this time. He said something about this is not the right time since the next tournament is just around the corner."
"Sou ka," Katsuo muttered in sudden realization, "so that's why I hadn't seen either Fuji-sempai or Kikumaru-sempai today." He was sweeping the floor and applying some wax to keep it shiny. "I thought they were skipping practice, but I also knew that was highly unlikely to happen."
Just then Echizen Ryoma entered the locker room, beaded sweat falling from his temples.
"Oh, Echizen!" Horio greeted him. "Are the practices done for today? It's almost 5:30 pm already."
"Mada mada da ne," was all Echizen said in reply. He was wiping his face now with a fresh towel handed to him by Kachirou when he entered the room.
"By the way, Ryoma," Katsuo said, momentarily halting his assiduous floor polishing too approach Ryoma, who was resting on the bench. "I heard Kikumaru-sempai and Fuji-sempai were sent to the school clinic earlier when they drank Inui Juice."
"Ah, yeah." Ryoma was not looking at his companions. Instead, he kept his face buried in the towel.
"Really?" Kachirou also stopped what he was doing and approached Ryoma. Soon, even Kachirou joined the group as they all gathered around Ryoma. Kachirou and Katsuo were surprised to hear about their sempai's being sent to the school clinic even though he already heard about it from Horio. At least now they were sure of the veracity of the news, since most of the time Horio is unreliable when it comes to information like this. "But why were they made to drink it?"
Ryoma smiled but the other couldn't see it since his face has concealed by the towel, "let's just say that Eiji-sempai got his karma for stealing my Ponta." Underneath the towel his smile widened, "and that curiosity killed the cat. Although I cannot say that Fuji-sempai is anything feline."
"Eh?" Horio, loud-mouth as ever, voiced out his confusion, "but you said Kikumaru-sempai drank Ponta."
"Che," Ryoma said, finally throwing away the saturated towel and revealing his face, blushed from a long day's tennis training, "it's because that sly Inui-sempai replaced the contents of my Pont with his Vegetable Cola."
"Ah," Kachirou and Katsuo said at the same time. "Then the juice was mainly intended for you consumption!" Horio said rather happily. "But you weren't harmed because Kikumaru-sempai drank it."
"And then Fuji-sempai, as curious as ever, drank the juice to know why Kikumaru-sempai fainted from Ponta!" Kachirou and Katsuo simultaneously added. Somehow the analytical skills of this threesome are improving, much to Echizen's surprise. However, that can only be said when it comes to gossiping. When it comes to other things… oh well.
The trio would have bugged Ryoma and asked for more information regarding the issue, hadn't Kikumaru and Fuji entered the locker room. Fuji, as always, had his eyes closed and a huge smile pasted on his face. Kikumaru, on the other hand, returned to his old jolly self saying "Hoi hoi" as he greeted the freshmen.
"Fuji-sempai! Kikumaru-sempai!" The three lower classmen greeted their seniors with an abrupt bow. Ryoma, on the other hand, remained seated and just said a mere "oi" to his sempais.
"Ano," Horio started to ask the seniors about the early morning incident, "sempai-tachi, is everything okay? Are you supposed to play already?" He looked genuinely concerned and not merely pushing for more information.
"Yeah, we're okay now, nya!" Eiji replied with his normal enthusiasm. "But that Inui… so meanie! I will tell Oishi to punish him." Eiji lighted at the prospect of his doubles partner reprimanding the data tennis player. "Right, Fuji?"
Fuji just smiled. His smile, however, was bigger this time. Moreover, it looked ominous.
Uh-oh. Ryoma thought. Fuji-sempai is up to something. I better get as far away as possible from him. I better not get involved in his tricks. Ryoma was about to sneak out of the room, when Fuji noticed his actions and called him.
"Ryoma-kun," Fuji called, the smile not faltering from his face. "Where are you going?"
"Practice," Ryoma fibbed. "I better return to the practice match with Inui-sempai or else I would have to drink that juice you had earlier."
At the mention of that early morning incident, Fuji's smile disappeared. His icy blue eyes became visible; they were as sharp as a newly honed blade. "Ryoma, come here." The older genius commanded Ryoma.
Ryoma was too frightened to disobey his senior when he was serious. He acquiesced and returned inside the locker room. "What?" he asked rather impatiently.
The other tennis players inside the locker room got curious as well. What could be Fuji planning now? It is quite obvious that he wants to get revenge from Inui. He had fallen prey to the dreaded juice twice already. Fuji was not the type of person who gets fooled twice.
"I want you to help me get back at Inui," Fuji was dead serious, and it was obvious in his tone of voice. "Besides, you were the intended target. Eiji and I were just innocent victims." He looked expectantly at his kouhai, waiting for his answer.
"Che," Ryoma finally answered after a few seconds of considering things through, "Do I have a choice?"
Fuji smiled at the freshman's answer and gave the younger boy a playful pat on the head. He was pleased that Ryoma was being compliant. However, he also felt a bit regretful that he was not able to torture Ryoma into yielding had he decided to be stubborn about the proposition.
"Inui," Oishi called out the data player who was sitting in the corner, scribbling some notes and once in a while muttering something to himself. Inui looked up from his notebook and greeted back. "Is there a problem, Oishi?" He asked, simultaneously pushing up his glasses.
"I just noticed that you seem to be making more and more of your juice," he sat down beside his friend and tried to take a peak at the Inui's notebook. "And you're more diligent in making everyone drink them."
"Is that why you worry?"
"Yeah," Oishi admitted, "I just thought that if you have problems you could talk to me." He was silent for a moment, as if thinking out his next words very carefully. "I will be more than willing to help. And I think that it is not normal for you to do this almost everyday. It seems as if you're cramming for a deadline or something."
Oishi had expected Inui to laugh at this incredulous remark. But instead, Inui kept silent. He had on a poker face, so it was difficult to guess what Inui might be thinking.
After a long minute of silence, Inui finally replied. "Thanks for the offer, Oishi." He picked up his things and started to put them inside his tennis bag, "but I do not have a problem." He stood up and left the confused Oishi behind.