Disclaimer: I don't own anything seen here. The characters belong to Konomi-sensei. "2.B.A. Master" is a song featured in the Pokemon first gen soundtracks and I put it in, since Ishida Gin was nicknamed the 'Master' and everything. The Street Fighter franchise also does not belong to me.
In the OVA's, the Seigaku Regulars aren't shown returning to their school once the Nationals started. This is why this doesn't take place at Seigaku, but at some random benches near the tennis courts they're playing in for the Nationals.
~ooo~
2.B.A. Master
By: Twisted Calamansi
It was a bright and sunny morning that greeted the Seigaku regulars one day after their gruelling match with Shitenhouji during their Nationals campaign. Seigaku had won and since they didn't have any game scheduled for the rest of the day, they chose to hang out and relax by some benches near the same tennis courts they played in yesterday.
But their peace was short-lived; in fact, it had lasted precisely until Momoshiro Takeshi walked up to his senpai, Kawamura Takashi, and raised a very important concern.
"Ne, Taka-san," Momo started, carefully approaching his still-injured senpai. Some of the wounds on his body were still fresh, and it was because of this the rest of the team still found it hard to forgive Ishida Gin for all the damage.
Kawamura looked up from examining his bandaged right hand and acknowledged his kouhai. "Momo?"
But Momoshiro took quite some time to answer and the nervousness was so evident on his features, that Kawamura took it upon himself to reassure his underclassman. "It's alright, Momo," Taka-san smiled at him. "What is it?"
Momo looked up from his inner debate and addressed his senior again. "Ne, Taka-san… After your match with that Ishida Gin guy…"
Taka-san looked back at him expectantly. So did the rest of the regulars.
"Since you defeated that guy they called 'Master' and the number one power player in Japan…" Momo scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. "Shouldn't you be calling yourself the 'Master Slayer' or something by now?"
Nothing could be heard for a full two minutes as the other regulars took some time to let Momo's suggestion sink in. Only the proverbial crickets were heard, along with the strong gust of wind that passed by them. In fact, it was so quiet, any random passer-by would think that the Seigau regulars were praying and thanking the Good Lord for their fortunate win over Shitenhouji.
But since the Seigaku regulars weren't Catholic in the first place, that random passer-by would be wrong in guessing that they were actually praying. However! Since you are not a random passer-by, you should know why the regulars were so quiet. And since I am not a random passer-by either, then allow me to tell you what happened afterwards.
Because a second year had asked that question, another second year saw it fit to break the silence his batch mate had so foolishly caused.
"'Master Slayer,'" Kaidoh muttered after the full two minutes of silence. "Fssh. Baka, that's stupid, even for you."
A vein burst in Momo's head and he ripped his curious gaze away from Kawamura to fix a hot, furious glare at his rival. "What did you say?" he demanded, raising a fist. Of course, Kaidoh also prepared his fighting stance, eager to try out some of the moves his little brother had displayed during a game of Street Fighter. "Baka mamushi, say that again!"
"I said 'Master Slayer' sounded stupid, even for you- fssh!"
"I don't see you coming up with anything better!" Momo yelled. "You asking for a fight or something, mamushi?"
"Fssh! Bring it on!" Kaidoh yelled back and positioned himself in what he remembered as the Shoryuken.
"Saa, saa," Fuji smiled peaceably, which immediately prevented the two second years from mauling each other in the middle of Seigaku's Nationals campaign. "Momo brings up a very good point there, Taka-san. Haven't you tried to make up your own nickname since you beat Shitenhouji's Master?"
Fuji had stopped referring to Ishida Gin by name because of what he did to Taka-san. In fact, it would even be safe to assume that Fuji Syuusuke was already thinking of the one hundred and five ways to beat Ishida Gin in an official match in a way that didn't involve cold-blooded murder. But seeing as he was a tiny shrimp compared to the monstrous Ishida Gin, Fuji's plans of revenge were going to take a while.
"Both Momoshiro and Fuji are correct, Kawamura," Inui spoke up. He'd already whipped out his green notebook and was scribbling in it furiously as he made his way to where Taka-san was sitting. "Almost everyone here is known by a unique nickname, except you. For instance: Fuji is known as Seigaku's tensai, Kikumaru as Seigaku's acrobat, myself as Seigaku's data man, Oishi as Seigaku's doubles expert, Kaidoh as Seigaku's mamushi, Momoshiro as Seigaku's rascal and Echizen as Seigaku's Prince of Tennis."
"That's a stupid nickname," Echizen whined, as Momo proceeded to make fun of the first year upon finding out about his embarrassing nickname- just like what any good senpai would do.
"But I'm already known as Seigaku's power player, aren't I?" Taka-san asked hesitantly. Even with everything he's already accomplished, he still wasn't sure if he was deserving of such a nickname. That's just the kind of humble guy he is.
"True, but Fudomine, Hyoutei, Rokkaku and Shitenhouji all have power players of their own," Inui said, trying to break the truth to his friend as gently as possible. "Frankly, Kawamura, you don't stand out."
Talk about gentle.
"Now Inui, I wouldn't say that," Fuji closed his eyes again (he opened them when Inui broke the news to Taka-san) and from the way he was smiling, anyone could tell that he was already thinking of the one hundred and five ways to skin Inui alive without getting caught.
"Besides," Eiji bounced into the discussion, eager to share his opinion. "Hyoutei and Rikkaidai have tensais, acrobats and data men on their teams too. Isn't that just the same as Taka-san's case?"
"It doesn't matter," Inui said quickly in an attempt to cover up the hole that Eiji found in his reasoning.
"And another thing nya," Eiji went on, clearly not yet done with his questioning. "Why doesn't Tezuka get a nickname?"
Everyone then turned to look at their stoic captain, who in turn, looked over at Inui. Inui consulted his notes.
"Isn't it obvious, Eiji-senpai?" Momo looked up from his Echizen-noogie and grinned at Eiji. "Tezuka-buchou's way too good for a nickname, you know. Way too good."
Everyone nodded their approval at Momo's answer- including Tezuka himself, although deep down inside, he felt a little bit sad that he didn't have a special nickname all to himself. Being known as just Seigaku's captain was a little lame, since all the teams had their own captains as well and quite frankly, Tezuka thought, he just didn't stand out.
"But I don't really want a nickname of my own," Taka-san shook his head, reminding everyone why they were even talking about nicknames in the first place. "And besides, if I call myself 'Master Slayer' or something like that, then Ishida Gin-san and the rest of Shitenhouji might get offended."
"So?" Momo looked up again from his Echizen-noogie (much to the freshman's relief). "Can't you just beat him again? I mean, you already did that, didn't you?"
"Baka," Kaidoh hissed angrily, remembering how hard Kawamura worked to win that match. "Don't you remember how hard Kawamura-senpai worked to win that match?"
Momo dropped Echizen to the ground angrily and drew himself to his full height to face an equally-angry Kaidoh. "Oi mamushi, are you asking for a fight?"
"Fssh! Bring it on!" Kaidoh yelled back, getting ready to perform the Shoryuken.
"Itai!" Echizen groaned from the ground. "Momo-senpai, you oaf!"
"I know, Taka-san!" Eiji bounced happily, eager to share his suggestion. "How about 'Burning Heart' Takashi, nya? That sounds like a good nickname, right?"
"'Burning Heart' Takashi…" Inui wrote the name down in his notebook. "That's a good one, Kikumaru."
"Or!" Eiji was clearly on another one of his sugar highs and Tezuka silently blamed Oishi for spoiling the acrobat's sweet tooth once again. "Or! What if you name some of your tennis moves after some sushi recipes, so we can call you 'Burning Sushi Chef' Kawamura?"
"That's too long, Eiji," Fuji pointed out. "I think 'Burning Wasabi' will suit Taka-san just fine."
"But Fuuu-ji," Seigaku's acrobat pouted. "You're just calling him that because you like wasabi."
"'Burning Wasabi' sounds good too," Inui wrote that name down as well. "But doesn't it sound a little redundant…?"
"Hoi!" Eiji yelled at Seigaku's data man once he sneaked a peek into his notebook. "Nya, Inui, why didn't you write down my suggestion?"
"But I don't want a nickname," Taka-san tried to explain calmly, but unfortunately for him, this only fell on deaf ears.
"Mada mada dane, senpai-taichi!" Echizen yelled at his everyone- he was still a little bit sore about all the Echizen-noogies, you see- and ran off to search for some Ponta to keep his mind off his stupid senpais.
"Everyone!" Tezuka barked sternly. "Thirty laps around the tennis courts now!"
But nobody was listening to him.
Tezuka could only look on in horror at the once-respectable Seigaku tennis team and wonder just how things got out of hand so very, very quickly. Inui, Fuji and Eiji were gathered around in a small circle with Kawamura in the middle, each trying to suggest a nickname worthy of their power player's usage. Meanwhile, Kaidoh and Momoshiro were in another one of their heated arguments, wherein the former was attempting to do what looked like the Shoryuken and the latter was yelling something about "mamushi thinking he was the only one who played Street Fighter around here." Echizen was nowhere to be found.
Tezuka rubbed his temples and tried to find out where his loyal fukubuchou had disappeared to. He then glanced to his right and frowned slightly as the empty space reminded him that Oishi had gone off to see the doctor that morning, since his wrist was bothering him again. Tezuka then started to contemplate the possibilities of bringing Oishi to Germany for some rehabilitation once the Nationals were over. No doubt Oishi would want to pursue tennis as a future career (because Tezuka was so sure his best friend was also married to the sport like he was) and no doubt Oishi would be needing that wrist in his future endeavors. It wouldn't do any good for the Moon Volley practitioner to play with an injured wrist the rest of his life, Tezuka mused. He would be letting his guard down and everyone knew that that just wasn't good for Tezuka.
He nodded with finality at his decision. That was the answer. Oishi would have to go to Germany for rehabilitation and Tezuka would be accompanying him. In the meantime, he could leave the team in Fuji and Inui's hands.
"Ne, Taka-san, what about 'Great Burning Baby?'"
"E-eh? Fu-Fuji!"
"Nya, Fuji, that's stupid! How about 'Hadoukyuu Monkey?'"
"Kikumaru, that doesn't sound good either."
Apparently, the rest of the third years had taken to suggesting nicknames related to the random English gibberish Kawamura had a habit of yelling out while in Burning-mode.
Tezuka shook his head irritably. Leaving Fuji and Inui to handle the team while he was gone? What was he thinking? Momoshiro and Kaidoh were obviously the more logical choices for the matter. Leaving the team with the second years while he and Oishi were recuperating in Germany would give the two valuable leadership experience they could use once they became third years. Besides, they were bound to become leaders anyway in the near future, so why not let them start now?
"Baka mamushi! You think you're the only one who plays Street Fighter, aa?"
"Fssh! Get ready to see my Shoryuken, you peach bastard!"
Tezuka shook his head again. No, definitely no.
But who else was left? Kikumaru was obviously out of the question, while Echizen had displayed some very excellent leadership skills that day when he chose to abandon the team in their time of turmoil for a can of Ponta.
"Everyone!" Tezuka barked sternly. "Sixty laps around the tennis courts now!"
And again, nobody was paying any attention to him.
Tezuka felt an uncomfortable shiver in his bones. This was a first for him; his team had never ignored him before! Sure, he'd gotten rebellious glares whenever he'd assigned too many laps (Kikumaru, Momoshiro and Echizen), evil smirks of doom when he had to drink that horrible Penal-Tea (Fuji and Inui), resigned looks of obedience (Kaidoh), disapproving sighs when he'd been too hard on the team (Oishi) and even a racket to the head at some point (Kawamura). Tezuka had been treated in a number of different ways, but- never in his entire career as Seigaku's captain- never has Tezuka Kunimitsu been actually ignored by his own team!
He thought about approaching Ryuuzaki-sensei to help regain some control of his once-respectable, now-chaotic tennis team, but seeking out the coach for help was a serious blow to his pride and self-esteem as the team's captain. If he himself couldn't control the people in his own age group, then what did that say about his self-respect as a fourteen year old Japanese junior high student?
Not only would he be letting the entire Tezuka clan down by refusing such a challenge- he would be letting his guard down as well. And everyone knew that that just wasn't good for Tezuka.
But he needed to make the rest of his team mates behave soon; people were already starting to stare.
"Ne, Taka-san, what about 'Black Belt Baby?'"
"Fu-Fuji! What is it with you and babies?"
"Nya, Fuji, that's stupid! How about Seigaku's 'Hadoukyuu Monkey?'"
"… You already said that, Kikumaru."
"Here it comes, mamushi! Get ready to taste Momo-chan's Dunk Hadouken!"
"Fsh! Bring it on, you peach bastard!"
Echizen, a can of Ponta in hand, skulked behind some random passers-by in an effort to look as if he didn't belong to the same team. Of course, given that the first year had forgotten to take off his Seigaku jersey, this didn't really work.
It was during trying times like these that Tezuka wished he was still in Germany and that Oishi would be here to handle the five year old children they had for players.
Tezuka felt his head throb and even if his vice-captain was known for his sudden bursts of mother hen-like worry, Seigaku's captain was now holding fast to his original belief that besides himself, Oishi Syuichiroh may be the only sane man playing for Seigaku's tennis team. And because he was never one for blaming anyone else, it became clear to Tezuka that his rehabilitation in Germany might be the immediate cause of his team's behavior today. Of course- without him to guide them throughout their journey in the Kantou Regionals, Seigaku had fallen apart like a house of cards. It was all obviously Tezuka's fault for not being there for the team during their most difficult and stressful times. Tezuka then resolved to give himself fifty laps as punishment for this grave mistake as soon as he got home.
So upright was his sense of pride, that he never thought of blaming Oishi for being so lax and allowing the team to act like this during his absence.
"Everyone!" Tezuka barked sternly. "One hundred laps around the tennis courts now!"
Ignored again.
Giving out an uncharacteristic grunt of exasperation at his team's behavior (because really now, this was the nationally-ranked Seigaku?), Tezuka went over to the team's tennis bags and thrust his hand into one of them, despite the strict rules Seigaku had that called for each player's respect and privacy.
But desperate times called for desperate measures, and Tezuka reassured himself that everyone had to break the rules sometime.
His team went on with their antics, unmindful of the world and Tezuka used their ignorance to his advantage. He then pulled his hand out of Kawamura's bag, finally satisfied that he had found what he was looking for: the power player's glorious yellow racket. And then, with all the force the wearied captain could muster at the moment, the racket was shoved into Kawamura's hands, never mind that they were still bandaged from his death match with Shitenhouji's Ishida Gin.
"Moeruze, BURNING!" Taka-san leapt to his feet and began to wave the racket around with his uninjured hand. "GREAT-O! WHAT ARE YOU ALL TALKING ABOUT, BABY? ISN'T THE NAME KAWAMURA TAKASHI ALREADY ENOUGH TO STRIKE FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF ALL TENNIS MONKEYS? ORA!"
The rest of the third years could only gape at him in surprise at the sudden outburst.
"How about 'Great-o Tennis Monkey,' nya?" Eiji whispered to the stunned Inui. Fuji in the meantime, had his eyes wide open.
Tezuka breathed an audible sigh of relief.
He nodded to himself, silently approving of his decision. Of course, next to Oishi, Kawamura was one of the most reliable members Seigaku had, and Tezuka had to praise himself for remembering that.
"AND YOU!" Taka-san pointed his racket towards the brawling second years. "HEY, YOU! SECOND YEARS!"
The two immediately froze and looked up at him with wide eyes, expecting a scolding from their burning senpai.
"IS THAT STREET FIGHTER I SEE YOU TWO PLAYING OVER THERE?"
And with that, Taka-san leapt right into the middle of the pair, determined to show them that their senpai was also well-versed in some of the fighting stances he'd seen in Street Fighter.
"Ehhh, so that's what you two were playing!" Eiji beamed happily. "I wanna join too! Let's go, ochibi!"
"But Kikumaru-senpai I don't-!" But Echizen never finished that statement, as he was now being dragged by a hyperactive Eiji towards the brawling trio.
"Ii data de janai," Inui continued to mutter to himself and walked towards the group, notebook and pen in hand once again.
Fuji walked up to Tezuka, eyes closed, now that the initial shock of Taka-san going Burning-mode so suddenly had worn off. "We have such a lively team, ne Tezuka?"
Tezuka looked over at the not-so-innocent smile Seigaku's tensai had on his face and he wasn't sure, but he had a sinking feeling that perhaps Fuji had somehow planned this all out himself.
Meanwhile, the rest of Seigaku was now setting up Street Fighter-like matches on their own (Kawamura was forced to sit this one out, on account of his injuries) and had somehow also talked Fudomine and Hyoutei into participating as well. Rokkaku would be joining them in five minutes.
Seigaku's frazzled captain let out an audible groan of defeat and waved his hand in a general direction- any direction- in an effort to make Fuji and his growing headache go far, far away.
~ooo~
Epilogue
"E-eh? What's this?"
"…"
"These are tickets to Germany!"
"…"
"But Tezuka, what about the team? And you're doing this in the middle of the Nationals too!"
"Hn."
"And what is that supposed to mean? Did something happen while I was away?"
"…"
"But you're supposed to be our captain. I don't understand why the rest of them won't listen to you."
"…"
"Don't give me that look, Tezuka. I'm guessing you want me to go back there and fix this?"
"Hn."
"Did somebody get hurt this time? Momo or Kaidoh? Echizen? Eiji?"
"… I'm not sure."
"I'm sure my wrist has something to do with this, but we're not going to Germany, Tezuka. We can't leave the team behind during the Nationals. Come on, we're straightening things out. Which court did you say they were at again?"
"Oishi."
"Tezuka?"
"The tickets… They weren't for your rehabilitation. They were for our… vacation."
~ooo~
Poor Tezuka and Oishi can never catch a break. Seigaku should be ashamed of themselves, forcing their captain to fetch their injured vice-captain from the doctor's just to deal with their mess.