CHAPTER ONE: You have been summoned

DISCLAIMER: PoT does not belong to me.

-oOo-

They all awoke in rather awkward positions; some on the floor, come on a chair, some on the table, and some were just too weird a pose to mention. None of them remember what happened before they got there, or why they were there. And they seriously wanted to get out of there as quick as possible.

"Hmn. Where are we?" Echizen asked to no one in particular.

"I think we're in a confined space, I don't even know where. Why did I have to be here with all of you? And why were we all asleep? This place is really cramped. And it's too small to be holding these many people. I'm pretty sure we've been captured. But I'm sure it's not my fault." Ibu began to mumble out loud irritating Echizen who was seated next to him on the floor.

"Are we dead?" Nomura asked in a very terrified tone.

"Who are you?" Hiyoshi asked the bespectacled boy across from him in the table.

"Dyed. So when we get out we all have different coloured hair." Amane who was also known as Davide joked. No one laughed; they just gave him strange stares.

"Ah! This sucks! Why do I have to be stuck here with you people?" Kirihara complained putting his arms in front of his chest.

"Who told you we wanted to be stuck with you?" Zaizen responded to Kirihara.

"You still haven't told us who you are." Hiyoshi repeated his question for Nomura.

"A-Ano, Nomura Takuya des, from St. Rudolph Gakuin." Nomura answered.

Everyone looked at him with puzzled expression, surely no one remembers him. "I still don't know you." Hiyoshi answered then turned his back on the bespectacled Fuku-buchou from St. Rudolph.

"How long are we going to be stuck here? It's really cramped and you're all complaining. Not that I am complaining that you're all complaining, it's just that we're in such a small space and you're complaining, and it's kindda noisy." Ibu continued to mumble out loud.

Echizen was staring at him badly.

"You better climb up; Echizen is stair-ing at you." Amane commented to Ibu, again no one laughed.

"Ibu-san is so noisy." Kirihara complained.

"Like you're not?" Zaizen snapped at Kirihara.

"You're complaining are too simple compared to Mukahi-senpai and Shishido-senpai's complaints." Hiyoshi mumbled.

"Did we seriously die? And why did I end up with you guys?" Nomura asked.

"How can we possibly be dead?" Kirihara replied then slapped Zaizen.

"Itte! What'd you do that for?" Zaizen complained holding his cheek.

"Did that hurt?" Kirihara asked.

"Yah think?" Zaizen replied.

"See, we're still alive!" Kirihara concluded.

"If I was dead I would never want to end up with you people." Echizen commented pulling his cap down a little.

"No one ever said they wanted to be dead and stuck with you Echizen-kun, I personally don't mind, but, if I was stuck with you I guess, that would also be bad." Ibu initially replied then began to mumble out loud.

"So where are we?" Nomura asked fear evident in his eyes.

"Who were you again?" Kirihara asked.

"Nomura des, from St. Rudolph." Nomura replied.

"Oh, yeah, right, that."

"Where do you think we are?" Nomura again asked, anyone, anyone who would answer him.

"If we knew we wouldn't be stuck here, we would have gotten out already." Zaizen commented.

"You're all a bunch of scaredy-cats. Mada mada dane." Echizen commented laying his head comfortable on the backrest of the couch.

"And you're not?" Hiyoshi retaliated.

"Why are you scared- the-cut, don't you go to the barber?" Amane joked, again no one reacted, and he was getting frustrated.

"I'm really nervous you guys, who knows how long we've been here." Nomura began to panic.

"Nomura-kun, aren't you a senior, or something?" Ibu asked, without mumbling after, Echizen was shocked, he was practically waiting for the next set of phrases that would follow the question, but there was none. Who would have thought Ibu could ask a question without adding a million complains after.

"A-Ano, Hai." Nomura replied.

"So being the senpai, shouldn't you be more…braver about this." Ibu replied shocking everyone, but he did have a point.

"A-Ano…" Nomura began to look around and noted that indeed he was the senpai. Echizen was a freshman; Ibu, Hiyoshi, Amane, Kirihara and Zaizen were all juniors.

"Well, senpai?" Ibu answered coldly.

Nomura bowed his head in frustration, there was nothing he could do, he was indeed the senpai and he was the most worried and scared of all. "Gomennasai, mina."

"Will all of you just shut up!" A gravelly voice said from behind the couch, starting Echizen and Ibu who were seated there.

"Who was that?" Nomura jumping on to Hiyoshi's back.

"Nomura-san, that hurts, and weren't you supposed to be the senpai?" Hiyoshi complained.

"Gomen Hiyoshi-kun." Nomura slowly stepped away from Hiyoshi.

"You're all a bunch of sissies!" the gravelly voice shouted.

"I know that voice from somewhere. I can't remember where." Ibu began to mumble again.

"Show yourself!" Kirihara demanded, while hiding behind Zaizen's back, who was hiding behind Amane's Back, who was hiding behind a chair.

"Why are you hiding behind me?" Zaizen snapped at Kirihara.

"Why are you hiding behind him?" Kirihara pointing at Amane in response to Zaizen's question.

"Hmn." Echizen simply rolled his eyes; he knew who that voice belonged to.

"Don't tell me what to do brat!" Akutsu getting up from the floor behind the couch and staring at Kirihara's direction.

"Ah!" Amane, Kirihara, Nomura and Zaizen screamed all-together after seeing Akutsu suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"It's just Akutsu-san, why are you all panicking?" Hiyoshi coldly asked the four.

"We we're caught by surprised, it's not like we're afraid of him or something." Kirihara confidently replied.

"You're not afraid of me brat?" Akutsu began to eye Kirihara and stepped closer.

"N-Not that I don't respect you, Akutsu-san." Kirihara shakingly replied before pulling Zaizen in front of him.

"Again with the hiding behind my back." Zaizen complained.

"At least I'm the only senpai, anymore." Nomura commented.

"Are you calling me old?" Akutsu eyed Nomura.

"I-I-Iie, that's not what I meant Akutsu-san, n-n-not want I meant. R-r-right guys?" Nomura looking at his kohais for help.

"Not what he meant." Ibu responded.

"Totally not what he meant." Kirihara second.

"Far from that." Hiyoshi added.

"Really far." Zaizen added.

"They we have to get it close; we need fur, to keep up warm." Amane joked, everyone eyed him, no one was in the mood for jokes, especially bad ones.

"That's lame." Akutsu finally broke the silence of the staring down contest.

"Mada, mada dane." Echizen commented after Akutsu.

Everyone fell silent. They all sat around, staring each other down, they were all hungry and didn't want to be there. Neither did they want to be with each other. No one said a word, especially when Akutsu was giving them an eye each time they try to even open their mouth, or move their lips. It was getting boring and they all wanted to get out of there.

"You have all been summoned." A voice suddenly said causing everyone to jump out of their seats, except Akutsu of course.

"W-w-who's there?" Nomura asked the air.

"We are in-charge of this event." The voice answered.

"We?" Echizen asked.

"Event?" Kirihara added.

"You have been chosen from your respective schools. To serve as commentators for a certain event." The voice explained.

"Commentators?" Zaizen repeated.

"What event?" Amane added, without adding a pun to it.

"The tennis clubs from all your school have been summoned to come up with the best presentation to deliver in a special assembly." The voice answered.

"Assembly?" Hiyoshi repeated.

"All the tennis clubs?" Nomura added.

"A-Ano, then, why is Akutsu-san here? He quit the tennis club of Yamabuki right?" Ibu said without fear. Everyone gasped, yes, even Echizen. He knew Ibu was thick, but did he have a death wish or something?

"Say that again, brat!" Akutsu shouted holding Ibu's collar, making all the colour flush out of Nomura's face, Kirihara to jump behind Zaizen, Amane to grab hold of Hiyoshi's arm and Echizen to freeze where he was sitting.

"I simply asked, Akutsu-san." Ibu replied without fear, or, rather emotionless as he usually is.

"Violence will not be tolerated!" the voice shouted.

"Are you trying to tell me what to do? Do not tell me what to do!" Akutsu putting Ibu down and turning to the air, because obviously he didn't know where the voice was coming from.

"Everyone shut up!" a female voice shouted.

"E?" Echizen recognized the voice. Ryuzaki-sensei? Everyone else was frozen. Yes, even Akutsu.

"You have all been summoned, because you have been selected from your teams to serve a very special purpose for a very special event. Now get a hold of your selves and pay attention!" the female voice commanded.

"A-Ano, may we know who you are?" Nomura asked the air.

"It doesn't matter who we are, what's important is that you listen to what we are about to say." The male voice replied.

Hiyoshi's eyes widened, he recognized the voice. Sakaki-sensei?

"Now everyone was selected from their respective teams because you guys, are the most frank and out spoken members of your team." Another male voice spoke.

Zaizen had little self-control unlike the other two who recognized their coach's voice, "Watanabe-sensei?"

"Geez, Zaizen, you're no fun to fool around." Watanabe-sensei replied followed by a deafening sound from the speaker, and a door opening.

"Yo!", a male voice greeted them, and true enough the coaches from Seigaku, Hyotei, Yamabuki, Rokkaku and Shitenhouji appeared.

"It was you guys who kidnapped us?" they all said in unison, except Akutsu, who just stared at them vehemently.

"Well, being the stubborn people that you are, we were sure you wouldn't be up to coming with us cooperatively." Ryuzaki-sensei answered.

"A-Ano, I would have come peacefully had I know the real reason." Nomura replied.

"Except you Nomura-kun." Ryuzaki-sensei replied.

"Che." Ryoma stated pulling his cap down.

"So, sensei, why were we selected? For what purpose?" Kirihara asked.

"You will serve as commentators or judge in a competition that will be held a week from now." Banda-sensei answered.

"Commentators?" Ibu repeated.

"Judge?" Hiyoshi repeated as well.

"Competition?" Zaizen added.

"Your team members are in separate houses as we speak, preparing for a presentation, each grouped specifically based on certain traits and qualifications that we have selected. They too are secluded from the rest of the world, like you guys. Don't even try to escape, you can't, and even if you do, we'll be able to bring you back, so don't bother." Sakaki-sensei explained.

"Wait a minute!" Amane interrupted, "Why are we not in the competition?"

"Because you guys are better off being the judges than the contestants." Oji replied. Everyone was shocked to hear him speak.

"Why is that?" Echizen asked trying hard to sound as respectful as he could towards the sensei.

"Do you really want us to answer that Echizen?" Ryuzaki-sensei replied.

Echizen looked around him, "Iie. I think I already know why. Mada mada dane."

"And what if we refuse." Akutsu half-shouted.

"You will not be permitted to hold a racket, or compete." Watanabe-sensei answered.

"Then, I refuse." Akutsu answered bluntly.

"A-ano, in my team, I don't really get to hold a racket much, nor compete." Nomura also replied.

The rest of them who were tennis freaks shut their mouths, they couldn't argue with that condition.

"Nomura-kun, this is your chance to say what you want to say to your team mates, since they don't really listen to you." Sakaki-sensei replied.

"That's a good point." Nomura answered with his thinking face on.

"And Akutsu-kun…well, you are not allowed to refuse, you specifically, are not allowed to refuse!" Ryuzaki-sensei answered giving Akutsu an eye.

"Hmp. Whatever!" Akutsu replied crossing his arms in front of him and leaning on the wall.

"It's settled then, you will all be the commentators and judges for the competition one week from now." Watanabe-sensei concluded.

"What exactly is the event?" Zaizen asked.

"Well, a rich professional tennis player is hosting a tennis based event and we have all been invited. He heard of how you have all performed well in the past competition and this will be a sort of gift for him." Sakaki-sensei explained.

"You could have just told us, instead of kidnapping us." Hiyoshi complained.

"Like you would have come voluntarily if we did?" Banda-sensei answered.

"Most likely not." Ibu replied, then started mumbling things that everyone else just ignored.

"Why did we have to be abducted one week before the event?" Kirihara added to the unending questions.

"Because we want you to bond." Ryuzaki-sensei replied.

"Bond?" everyone said in unison, it was obvious that this group of people were not those who would want to bond with each other.

"Stop complaining and just live with it!" Ryuzaki-sensei replied pinching the bridge of her nose, she was seriously having a migraine.

"They're a handful aren't they?" Oji commented.

"As expected, that's why they were grouped together." Sakaki-sensei added.

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" the group asked in unison.

"Anyway, here are the mechanics for the event. The tennis clubs were rumbled for this event, they were divided into 9 groups: the commentators, you guys; and 8 other groups which you will discover on the day of the competition. Also, we have picked out 3 players from Yamabuki and 1 from Fudomine to serve as ground staff. Mori-kun and Dan-kun will serve as emcees. The first years from Seigaku as well as Tachibana Ann have also volunteered to help with the preparation. The eight of you will stay in this house for the rest of the week, start thinking of how you will act together as commentators and judges." Watanabe-sensei explained.

"Think of this as your chance to say anything to them, without having any punishment after." Banda-sensei added with a sly smile.

"We will contact you if we have further instructions. That is all. Itte Yoshi!" Sakaki-sensei concluded before the coaches exited the room and closed the door.

"E, this will be fun." Echizen commented first.

"Does that mean I can say anything to them and expect no punishment in the end, including Sanada-fukubuchou?" Kirihara asked with an evil-face on.

"No punishments eh?" Zaizen said with a weird look in his face.

"If commenting is the job to be done wouldn't Shishido-san and Mukahi-san be a more appropriate representative from Hyotei?" Hiyoshi complained.

"Really Hiyoshi-kun? Really?" Amane sarcastically asked Hiyoshi.

"But wouldn't they punish us after the event, even if the sensei said they wouldn't. How about Fudomine? We don't have a coach; Tachibana-san might make me run a thousand laps after. Does that mean I have to be careful with what I should say?" Ibu mumbled.

"Like that's gonna happen." Echizen commented.

"What do you mean by that Echizen-kun?" Ibu looked at Echizen dryly.

"Nothing, really." He replied.

"E-eto, I understand the reason for every one of you being chosen as commentators, but why me?" Nomura joined in the discussion.

"Because you suck!" Akutsu commented.

"That's harsh Akutsu-san." Nomura replied.

"You have a problem with me?" Akutsu stepped closer to Nomura.

"I-Iie." Nomura replied shaking.

"You all suck!" Kirihara stated, "Obviously I'm the best commentator around here, and the best tennis player as well."

"Let's not forget who the National champions are." Echizen stated.

"Don't get ahead of your self Echizen-kun; I can be a good commentator as well." Amane interrupted.

"Your jokes are lame, just as lame as your comments Amane-san. Shitenhouji is a comical tennis club; I think I would be a good commentator." Zaizen proudly stated.

"Exactly, that is just it, you're a joke. I will gekkokujou all of you with my comments." Hiyoshi joined the discussion.

"This is pointless, why do we need to argue on whose better at commenting? I'm pretty sure I would be the best at commenting." Ibu mumbled.

Everyone looked at Ibu, they all had to agree, Ibu was the best at saying things with a straight face and just endlessly comment about it. But of course no one would admit it, after all they were all had makezugirai attitudes. This started a series of argument between the eight of them, which mostly revolved around who was the best commentator amongst them.

"I think they're having a good practice for the event, don't you think?" Watanabe-sensei commented to the other coaches as they were watching the boys from the camera hidden in the room. Everyone had to agree.

"Sa, let's go visit the next group." Ryuzaki-sensei decided and they went off leaving the commentators' group.

-oOo-

Sorry about this, I don't think I'm very good at comedy. Hehe. I think I'm better at tragedies. Please don't kill me for this.