Okay. This story has been written by nila vanathi's sister: me. I actually wrote it ages ago, but I was too lazy to type it up. It only has two chapters, and I'll post the next chapter up soon. Hopefully.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

It was a beautiful morning.

Birds chirped at the tops of their voices, stray dogs decided to bark-along, sunlight streamed through every window, and alarm clocks ran together all over town.

The exact kind of morning that Echizen Ryoma did NOT appreciate.

Beep Beep.

Snore.

Beep Beep.

Blink.

Beep Beep.

Scowl.

Beep Beep.

SLAM!

Smashing his (brand new) alarm clock against the table, Ryoma slowly rolled onto his side to examine the damage.

It was a sorrowful sight. The poor thing would probably never work again. Pity, he'd liked that one...

Beep Beep.

Ryoma jumped to his feet, looking around him wildly. What was that? Hadn't he just murdered his alarm clock?

Beep Beep.

His eyes narrowed. Pushing his hair out of his face, he reached slowly behind him, picked up a pencil, and held it like a dagger. Then, he walked quietly towards the sound.

Beep Beep.

His eyes narrowed even more. This alarm clock had some guts. No one messes with Echizen Ryoma in the mornings. No one. He'd tear that alarm clock apart, piece by piece, tying its hands in knots...

Beep Beep.

Ryoma's eyes widened and he shook himself out of his own stupidity. That wasn't his alarm clock, it was his phone.

He frowned. He'd really have to change that ring-tone...

Beep Beep.

Throwing his pencil aside carelessly, he grabbed his phone.

"Moshi moshi?"

"OCHIBI!"

Ryoma winced and held the phone away from his ear.

"Kikumaru-senpai?"

"Hoi, hoi, Ochibi, we – Nyaaa! Momo! Give it back!"

"Oi, Echizen!"

"What is it, Momo-senpai?"

"Well, all the regulars are going to the park, and so – It's my phone, senpai! Talk to him later! – and so, you should come, too!"

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "It's seven o'clock."

"So?"

"It's too early!"

"All those who do not attend must drink a mug of my New-Hyper-Special-Inui-Juice-Deluxe. Nevr tasted, never tested," said a familiarly evil voice.

Ryoma swallowed involuntarily. "Uh..."

"So are you coming, Ochibi?" Kikumaru asked smugly.

Ryoma made a face. "Fine."

"There was a ninety nine point eight seven percent chance that you would say that."

"Che." He cut the line. First the alarm clock, no this. No one appreciated sleep anymore, did they?

Sighing, he opened his closet door and was looking for something to wear, when he remembered something.

Never tasted, never tested.

That was by far the stupidest punch line he'd ever heard.

"You're late, Echizen." Tezuka pushed his glasses up and gave him a look.

Ryoma scowled in reply.

"Ochibi! You're here!"

Ryoma braced himself for the attack, and, sure enough, Kikumaru pounced on him and he fell face first on the ground.

"Everyone! Ochibi's here! Now we can all play hide-and-seek!"

Ryoma looked at him.

Momo looked at him.

Oishi looked at him.

Taka looked at him.

Kaidoh looked at him.

Tezuka looked at him.

Fuji smiled. "Saa, that's a great idea, Eiji!"

Everyone looked at him instead.

"Is something the matter?" Fuji asked innocently.

Inside his head: Bwahahahahaaa!

"Uh...Eiji-senpai..." Momo said cautiously. "Aren't we a bit too old to play hide and seek?"

Kikumaru pouted. "But I play it with my family all the time, nya!"

The world blinked in unison.

"Ii data..." Inui muttered. "I can find out how good Tezuka is at hiding...Interesting..."

Tezuka's eyebrow twitched.

Kikumaru saw his chance. He slung an arm around Inui's shoulders and pinted at the others accusingly, like the villains who point at the good guys and scream, 'Off with their heads!' The only difference between them and him, was that he screamed, "Anyone who refuses to play has to drink Inui's newest juice, nya!"

Which, now that I think of it, is pretty much the same thing.

Tezuka's eyebrow twitched again.

A few minutes later...

"Eenie meenie minie mo, catch a tiger by the toe – "

All the regulars stood in a big circle. Well, with the exception of Ryoma. He sat crossed-legged in the middle of the circle, scowling and mumbling to himself. His bangs fell in his face, and a very dark aura surrounded him.

After everyone had agreed to Kikumaru's 'request' to play hide-and-seek, the regulars all stood in a nice, big circle, waiting for Kikumaru to start 'Eenie-meenie-minie-mo'. But, before they could, they found Ryoma missing. Determined to find him, they split up and began searching. Finally, Momoshiro found him, and ignoring Ryoma's loud, protesting voice, he dragged him to the regukars.

All was well.

But then Ryoma made his second escape attempt. He didn't get very far. Fuji saw him leaving from the corner of his eye, and so he smiled sweetly, reached behind him, and dragged a rather grumpy looking Ryoma back by hi s collar.

It was now decided that Echizen needed to be punished, so, after he was promised 60 laps, he was put in the middle of the circle, where everyone could keep an eye on him.

Yay.

"-pick the very best and it is Y-O-U!" Kikumaru said, pointing at himself.

He blinked.

Then he grinned. "Hoi, hoi! I get to catch everyone!"

"Aww, Eiji-senpai! I wanted to!"

"I never really liked being 'it'," Taka stated randomly.

"Can we get on with it?" Ryoma snapped, finally looking up.

Fuji smiled at him. "There's no rush."

The longer this takes, the longer everyone will suffer.

Ryoma gave him his best death glare, then returned to grumbling at the ground.

Finally, the regulars finished making their own set of rules (like who had to drink Inui juice) and the game began.

"One, two, three, four, five-" Kikumaru started counting. At thirty-five, he decided to take a peek.

"Kikumaru." Tezuka's cold voice rang out from...somewhere.

"Sorry, buchou!"

A minute later...

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, a HUNDRED!" he shouted. "Ready or not, here I come!"

And so the game really began.

Fuji was sitting up high in an apple tree, grinning sadistically. He could see all of his team mates from up here, and none of them could see him! That opened up a million possibilities.

Momoshiro was hiding behind a ridiculously thin tree trunk, and was grinning like it was the best hiding place in the world. Tezuka, Kaidoh, and Taka were all hiding in bushes. Oishi hid behind a tree, too, but his tree had a more...uh...reasonable thickness. Ryoma was sleeping (obviously), right under Fuji's tree. He'd found a small space between a bench and some bushes, and, thanks to his small size, he was able to fit in it perfectly.

Inui, on the other hand, was so good at hiding himself and stalking people that he was following Kikumaru around.

"AHA! Momo-chan, YOU'RE OUT!"

Momo came out of his 'hiding' place, looking sheepish. "Geez, Eiji-senpai, that just isn't fair..." he shook his head.

"Geez, Eiji-senpai, that just isn't fair..." Momo shook his head.

Speaking of unfairness...

Momoshiro froze, then slowly grinned. Turning to face Kikumaru, he spoke quietly. "Senpai, why don't both of us try to find everyone?"

Kikumaru nodded slowly, still thinking. "They won't stand a chance, nya!" he said at last.

The pair high-fived each other and set off in different directions.

Unfortunately for them, they'd made their super duper plan right underneath Fuji's apple tree.

Well, if they're cheating, there's no reason why I shouldn't.

He picked a particularly large apple and tossed it from hand to hand, scanning the area for a good target.

Aha.

Inui.

Inui was scribbling in his notebook wildly. So Kikumaru and Momoshiro were going to cheat...Interesting...

Whoosh.

Startled, Inui turned around, and found a bright, red apple flying through the sky, sparkling in the sunlight.

It would have been beautiful, had it not been flying for his face.

THWACK!

"Ouch!"

"Inui! You're OUT!"

There is a ninety-six percent chance that this is Fuji's fault, and a four percent chance that it's Echizen's.

Fuji smiled. Mission successful.

"Aaaaaaargh!"

"Oishi, you're out, nya!"

"Fshhh..."

"Kaidoh's OUT! Only four people left!"

Kikumaru rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining in delight. "We don't even have to do anything, nya!"

Plop.

"OW!" Kikumaru his head and looked around, confused. His gaze fell on Momo.

"Did you just hit me?" he demanded.

"What? No..."

There was a rustle in the bushes, and, just for a second, they managed to see a white shirt.

They looked at each other knowingly. "Taka-san."

The two of them slowly tip-toed towards the bush, grinning like lunatics. Then, reaching into the bushes, they grabbed their victim by the arms and pulled him out, throwing him onto the ground, flat on his face.

Their victorious smiles disappeared, and a cold wind blew past them. Murderous, deadly music began playing in their heads.

"That's...not a Taka-san..." Kikumaru finally managed to stammer.

And so they watched, horrified, as Tezuka Kunimitsu pushed himself up.

Fuji chuckled.

Aha! A cliff-hanger! Kind of.

Please review!