Summary: Though no one thought it was still possible, Echizen actually shrinks and becomes a five-year-old after drinking Inui Juice. There's really not much difference in height, but can someone restore our prince to his 12-year-old self?
A/N: I got the idea for this fic when my mom asked for my help to make my baby sister drink fever medicine. and as soon as the darling little baby saw what my mom was holding, all hell broke loose.
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Say Ah!
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The sun's orange rays quietly fell into the somewhat dusty floor of the club room through the partially opened door. Inside, tennis bags and other related paraphernalia were haphazardly placed hither and dither while the regulars were gathered around their youngest member, discussing something in hushed voices.
"Eiji, if you don't stop your stomach will hurt." Oishi mildly scolded.
Eiji's face was red as he tightly held his stomach. He had been laughing since afternoon practices ended, and that was already half an hour ago. "Because!… Ochibi doesn't look any different at all!"
He pointed to the little figure until said figure automatically bit his offending finger.
"Oishi!!! Ochibi bit me nyan!" Eiji latched on to his doubles partner, with tears brimming his eyes.
"There there." Oishi patted his partner awkwardly. "Anyway… Tezuka, what are we going to do about this?"
Oishi looked at their youngest member warily. "Really… what did Inui put into his special juice this time?" He rubbed his temple, feeling the beginnings of a headache.
Today's afternoon practice was nothing less than catastrophic.
---
Eiji was dancing around, gleefully chanting "I beat Ochibi! I beat Ochibi!" in a sing-song voice when a tennis ball whooshed by with unbelievable speed, narrowly missing his face.
"Nya! Ochibi is being a bad boy, Inui! Make him drink it now!"
Inui adjusted his glasses, which glinted quite ominously. "This is made up of fifteen percent Akazu, twenty-five percent Aozu, eight percent Hyper Remix Inui Juice and fifty-two percent Penal-Tea. You're very lucky, Echizen, because you're the first one to try it."
Ryoma inwardly cringed.
"Don't worry, it's a very healthy drink. Saa Echizen."
Eiji mused that Inui looked strangely... happy- almost eager- as if he was anticipating something big to happen.
"Che." The shorter boy reluctantly took the glass and gulped everything down in one go before promtly dashing out of the tennis courts.
Twenty minutes later, when Ryoma still didn't come back, Momo started to worry. He asked their captain if he could go check on Echizen, and was pleased that he was given the go signal without a second thought. He immediately ran to the nearest water fountain.
When Momo came back, Echizen wasn't with him. Or so the regulars thought, before they took a closer look at the child Momo brought along, who was unmistakeably no older than five years old. Under his white cap, the kid was wearing the scowl that they recognized all too well.
"ECHIZEN!?"
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Tezuka heaved a deep sigh. "Anyhow, Inui is working on the antidote in the chemistry lab at this very moment. He said he'll be back in twenty-three minutes and fifty-seven seconds."
Momo snickered. Hearing Tezuka repeat Inui's words in verbatim flashed a mental image of their captain wearing square glasses in his head. But he immediately stopped when the subject of his thoughts sent him a warning look. Momo coughed and grinned sheepishly.
At the corner of his eyes, he noticed Kaidoh rummaging through his bag. Curious, he spied on the Mamushi.
After Kaidoh found what he was looking for (Momo squinted to get a better view but couldn't see what it was because his rival was clutching the object tightly), he zipped his bag and walked towards his kouhai, then shoved it into the latter's hand.
"Here."
When Ryoma looked down at what was placed in his palm, he pouted.
"Kaidoh-senpai, don't treat me like a baby."
Everyone peered in and saw what it was.
It was a lollypop.
Laughter erupted and filled the entire room. Even Tezuka's lips slightly quirked upwards.
Kaidoh scowled and muttered something about ungrateful brats.
"Thanks, anyway. At least this'll get rid of the after-taste." Ryoma unwrapped the sweet and popped it into his mouth.
---
The chibi had long finished his lollypop when Inui came back, bearing a test tube half-filled with… purple stuff. Bubbling purple stuff. And there was a similarly violet-colored steam coming from it.
Ryoma gulped.
"Oh, is that the antidote, Inui?" Oishi clapped once, looking absolutely delighted. "Finally!"
Fuji eyed the beaker with a look of longing on his usually serene face. "Hm… I wonder how this one tastes like."
"Fuji, that's for Echizen, okay?" Taka-san patted Fuji's head sympathetically.
Inui carefully approached the now five-year-old freshman who was looking at the data tennis player suspiciously. "Now, drink this all up like a good boy, Echizen, and you'll be back to your old self in no time."
Echizen hesitantly took the 'antidote' from Inui. While drawing the creepy concoction closer to his lips, he paused midway and mentally debated whether he should still trust his senpai after what had happened.
He shrugged. It was worth a try. And anyway, it was better than to remain in his current form for the rest of his life.
A tense atmosphere engulfed the entire club room as everyone watched the purple slime slowly slide from the bottom of the upturned test tube towards Echizen's lips (Momo and Eiji's mouth were partly opened).
The liquid touched Ochibi's tongue for barely two seconds before he started to spit violently.
"Echizen, what's wrong?" Oishi asked worriedly.
"It's bitter." The child stuck his tongue out, looking disgusted.
Kaidoh hissed.
"Don't be such a brat! Just drink it up so we can all go home!"
"Iya da!" Ryoma retorted, eyes closed and chin up.
"Echizen." Tezuka sighed, rubbing his temple much like Oishi did a while ago then said with a stern voice. "Please drink it."
Everyone waited with anticipation. Surely, if Tezuka said so, then Echizen would…
"Iya da."
Inui's glasses glinted. "That's it. Kaidoh! Hold him down."
"Eh?" Kaidoh blinked, looking at Inui questioningly as the latter walked towards the little one and snatched the test tube back. "I see. Leave it to me, Inui-senpai."
Echizen's eyes widened as he realized what his seniors were planning to do. He quickly jerked up, ready to run for it, but he was too late. Kaidoh caught him and pinned down on the bench. "Got you!"
"Let me go!!!" The little one struggled.
"Echizen, say 'aah'!" Inui loomed over him with the dreadful concoction on hand.
Ryoma tightly pursed his lips and looked anywhere but at Inui.
The more he struggled, the harder was Kaidoh's hold.
"Ouch..." He grimaced.
That startled Kaidoh. He loosened his hold, not wanting to hurt his kouhai.
Ryoma smirked. His senpai fell for it.
The brat quickly bit Kaidoh's hand.
"Fsssshhhhuuuu…!"
He ducked and crawled between Inui's legs and made a dash for the door. "Mada mada da ne, Inui-senpai!" He stuck his tongue out. "And Kaidoh-senpai too!"
He slammed the door behind him before running off to who-knows-where.
Oishi immediately tended to Kaidoh's hand.
"Looks like he didn't bite you too hard. They're shallow, so the teeth marks won't leave a scar. They'll be gone in a while."
"At any rate…" The regulars all turned to Inui, who had just spoken. "We should make Echizen drink this before midnight. Otherwise…"
"Otherwise?" Fuji asked, worried.
"The antidote will expire. And since the chemistry lab is already closed, I can't make another one until tomorrow morning. So we must make him drink this now... Unless one of you'd be willing to take care of little Echizen until tomorrow?"
"NO WAY!" All the regulars answered in chorus.
They ran out of the club room and scattered themselves all around Seishun Gakuen to look for their runaway baby regular.
to be continued!?
Disclaimers: Tennis no Oujisama belongs to Konomi Takeshi-sensei.