…What?

"He ran all the way to Tokyo after missing the Shinkansen." Her friend explained with a munch of his sandwich. Wait, what? The Shinkansen? Wasn't that impossible?

"Are— Are you sure?" She asked quietly as if her seat mate was mistaken. Zaizen only nodded his head. "There's also a senpai who's bald and does skits with this guy who relies on animal instincts in the wild, and the Captain wraps bandages around his arm and likes poisonous plants." He finished and took another bite of his sandwich, eyes downcast towards his smartphone as he swiped the screen.

At this, Ieyasu narrowed her eyes carefully. "Uh…"

"I'm not lying." He said.

Okay, so apparently he wasn't lying.

"But—" The brunette paused. How was she supposed to continue this conversation? She didn't actually expect his response to be so… unique. All she did was ask: "What're your club members like?". It was an innocent question that had come up after he brought up how he couldn't come with her to the CD store they usually visited after school because of an impromptu training session.

So, why was his response so…

…Was he maybe messing—

"I'm not playing a joke on you." Zaizen clarified. So, he wasn't messing around with her. Also, she had to remind him to stop the answering questions before they were asked.

But he was most likely telling the truth especially since she knew how much Zaizen didn't care for jokes or gags. He had told her in their first year that if had known that Shitenhouji was a school that put so much emphasis on comedy he wouldn't have enrolled. So, despite the strong disbelief tugging within Ieyasu, she decided to accept his answer.

"Ah… okay." With those concluding words, Ieyasu picked up her chopsticks and took the lid off her bento. The two ate in comfortable silence for a couple of seconds before Zaizen's phone beeped, pulling both their attentions towards the device.

He frowned his usual displeased frown when he read the message as Ieyasu returned to eating her lunch. She watched him swipe the lock screen open from the corner of her eyes and found him replying with a rather exasperated look on his face. "Is everything alright?" Ieyasu asked.

"Senpai." Was his only answer and Ieyasu couldn't help but wonder. Which one? The Shinkansen-senpai, poisonous plants-senpai, bald-senpai or animal-senpai?

"Do you have to meet with them now?" Asked Ieyasu and the boy nodded with a grimace. "Ah… then I'll see you later." She watched him grab the remainder of his lunch and his phone before he gave her a lazy wave and walked out of their classroom. Quietly, she simply continued to finish her meal, trying to quell the curiosity stirring in her mind. She knew their school wasn't exactly 'normal' so it wasn't surprising to have such a unique student body.

But… to have upperclassmen like that… surely there was a limit to how weird they could be…?

Swallowing her food, she closed the empty container and stored it back in her schoolbag. Well, it wasn't like she knew them anyway so it should be fine…. right?

.

.

.

Oh.

'I forgot my bag. — Zaizen'

She glanced to her right and indeed it was still sitting there on the hook. He must want her to bring it to him. Well, it wasn't like she had anything to do since they weren't going to visit the CD store anymore. Reaching for her own bag, Ieyasu bade farewell to her other classmates who waved at her as they left. She made her way to Zaizen's desk and pulled her own over her shoulder as she grabbed her friend's bag.

Holding it in her hands, she exited their classroom. After reaching the first floor she asked some passing students about the where the tennis courts were when she realised she never did ask her seat mate. She thanked and bowed when pointed to the right direction and broke into a light jog.

When she got close it was easy to spot with the large Japanese entrance that reminded her of some shrine gates she saw in Kyoto once. Hesitantly, she approached the gates and quietly peeked inside. Ieyasu found several other club members standing around or getting equipment out, backs turned to her.

"Uh… excuse me?" Her voice wavered a little when she notified them of her presence. Zaizen had said that besides one other first year and himself, the rest of the regulars were third years.

A taller teen with pale brown hair was the first to notice her slip through the entrance and was also the first to approach her. Ieyasu's eyes fell to the bandages wrapped around his arm (it was that poisonous plants-senpai!) and then to the racquet he was holding.

Ah… she was hoping she wasn't disturbing their practice…

"Can I help you with anything?" He asked. She snapped out of her little trance, a bit embarrassed that she was staring at his arm before looking around the courts for a bit but found her classmate missing. "I… This is Zaizen-kun's bag." Ieyasu held up the schoolbag and the upperclassman in front of her seemed to understand.

"Oh, thanks for that. Sorry, he's actually getting some water right now. If you want I can take it off your hands?" He offered with a smile.

…Eh? This upperclassman didn't seem as weird as Zaizen had described. He was kind of refreshing in a way.

"Ah, then, I'll leave it to you. I'm sorry for disturbing your practice." The brunette bowed apologetically and the boy only reassured her it was fine. Now that she had fulfilled her duty, Ieyasu straightened up and gave the upperclassman a nod before turning on her heel to leave the courts. However, before she could even comprehend what was going on her face smashed into someone's chest and found herself being flung backwards with the sound of yelling the only thing entering her ears.

Her head was spinning and her vision went black as her eyes fluttered closed from the sudden impact. She felt arms catch her when she fell and panicked screaming before she blacked out.

.

.

.

Zaizen narrowed his eyes at the sight. Oshitari had basically mowed down his classmate and was now panicking ("Someone call the ambulance!") as their captain shifted the unconscious girl in his arms and tried to calmly check if she wasn't dead. At this point, Konjiki was half-yelling, half-scolding Oshitari for being so reckless and killing a girl (she wasn't dead) and Hitouji was frowning beside Konjiki as if he were Oshitari's father ("I'm so disappointed in you, son.").

The screaming and the unconscious girl attracted the attention of their vice-captain, Koishikawa, and their Coach. After a panicked explanation from the speedster about how he ran into her the coach ordered Shiraishi to carefully move the girl to one of the benches whilst Koishikawa ran to get a first-aid kit.

Zaizan was still standing behind the assailant, water bottle in hand as he noticed his schoolbag on the ground where Shiraishi had dropped it in order to catch the girl. He turned to Oshitari and then back at his classmate. He gave his upperclassman a dry look.

"…Senpai, I can't believe you ran over her." He deadpanned.

"Zaizen, stop!"

Author's Note: ...I finally published it...! I've been trying to figure this fic out for a while and finally I have it! (I'm trying to publish the first chapters of all planned new stories). All that's left is the final story in the Rikkaidai 'traditional' series... Ah...

Anyway, here's Shitenhouji and this is definitely without a doubt going to be more light-hearted then 'Canvas of Words' and 'A Touch of Spirit'. Furthermore, it's my first time writing for a love triangle so explicitly. Thanks for reading any support would be lovely! (Also, I find Shitenhouji is so underrated or is that just me?)