Disclaim: I don't profit from this.
It was only after Kirihara Akaya's undisputed defeat at the town tennis club that the regulars of Rikkaidai middle school have arrived. The tennis champions, Rikkai Dai Fuzoku, approached their second year ace with one of them supporting a supposed boy regular from their next opponent, Seishun Gakuen, for their title as the champions of the national tennis tournament among middle schools.
"Kirihara-kun… I want you to reflect over what you've done…" said Yagyuu Hiroshi.
Marui Bunta, blowing a bubble with his bubble gum, continued, "The most important thing for us, Rikkai Dai Fuzoku, to accomplish right now is to win a 3rd straight national title! However…"
"Losing is not acceptable," Yanagi Renji voiced unyieldingly
Niou Masaharu added his two-cents, "Duh!"
"You must not lose," Sanada Genichirou, the vice-captain of the Rikkai was last to comment, "Even if it is not an official match, that is the law of the Rikkai Dai Fuzoku!"
A heavy silence dawned upon the eight young men shouldering the pressing sense of duty for their Captain, Yukimura Seiichi. He was the Child of God. They were the undefeated champions. In the absence of their Captain, they vowed to bring the third consecutive victory in the national tournament before Yukimura's surgery. It was after a meaningful moment of silent reinforcement of their determination they decided to address –quite literally– the current problem at hand: the enemy school's young regular unconscious on Yanagi's back.
They were clueless as to what to do with him, as to seeing how the school was obviously out for the day.
"I suggest we leave him," Akaya eagerly volunteered with his hand up like a school boy, but Sanada's glare shut him up immediately.
"This boy must be sent back to either his house, or their school. We might be held responsible if something happens to him afterwards. Any suggestions?"
"Puri," Niou popped his bubble gum, "Put him in the black bag over there and shut the lid. Safe, warm, and no effort, puri."
"…That's a garbage can, Niou-kun," the Gentleman stated, "It is not considered 'safe' to put a live person in a trash can; they might pick him up over night, and transport him to a dumpster."
Niou raised an eyebrow as if to ask, 'So what?'
"Dumpster is very far. If the boy gets lost and doesn't make it to the game, the people who saw your match today might suspect that we did something to him. If that happens, we'll be disqualified."
"Then what do you think we should do, Yagyuu? I'm not taking that kid home, if that's what you're suggesting."
"No, that is not at all what I'm suggesting," Yagyuu pushed his glasses up, "What I'm saying is that we should hack into Seishun Gakuen's network," for a second, Akaya thought that he saw Yagyuu's glasses flash in a very creepy manner. "We'll find this boy's file, search his address, and then drop him off." Sanada's vein popped.
"'We will not be raiding any security network, Yagyuu'…is what you would probably say, Sanada."
"…Yanagi…"
Yanagi Renji smiled at the vice-captain. "Is there any reason why no one is suggesting that we try waking up the boy?"
There was a brief silence among everyone. As if they'd promised, they looked at the sleeping boy's face before Sanada decided to break the silence.
"It is very unlikely he would recover that quickly, Yanagi. He won't wake up for a while."
'After all, the State of Self Actualization takes quite some time to recover from…' thought Sanada.
"Here's my suggestion, then," Marui put his hand up. "Let's take him to Seigaku and then leave him there! Someone that knows him will take him!"
"I don't care either way if someone who doesn't know him picks him up, puri."
"That's considered kidnapping and we'll have to call the police, Niou."
"Pupina~" Niou smirked.
"I got it," Marui hit his palm lightly with his fist. "The boy shall be taken home…"
"Oh, you're volunteering, Marui?"
"…By Bakaya!" Marui pointed at Akaya. "After all, if it wasn't for your reckless match, we wouldn't be discussing this in the first place. It's your responsibility, Bakaya. As the saying goes, you reap what you sow."
"EHHH? HOW DOES IT COME TO THAT, MARUI SENPAI?" Akaya jumped.
"Well… It is Akaya's fault…" Yagyuu seemed convinced.
"H-Hey, we shouldn't put Akaya on hot spot all of the sudden like that…" Jackal sweat dropped.
"Do you have any other ideas, then, Jackal?" Sanada inquired.
"Errr… Don't you know his address, Yanagi?"
Akaya carefully glanced at his upperclassman, "Jackal senpai, even if Yanagi-senpai knows everything, he can't possibly know everyones'-"
"I do know everyone's addresses, Akaya."
'Eeep!' Akaya internally gaped at his senior, 'He's a total stalker!'
"And I'm not a stalker." Akaya froze at his closed-eye smile. "I don't have this freshman's address, though, unfortunately. He's a completely new addition to Seigaku. We just started on gathering information on him."
"Does that mean we really have no idea where to bury- I mean put him? Do I really have to take him home?" Akaya whined in disbelief.
"Though I'm sure," Yanagi interrupted, "Sanada knows their captain Tezuka Kunimitsu's number, right?"
Sanada blinked at the sudden mention of his name. He was thinking of what would happen to their next match if he snapped all of the sudden and were to be sent to the hospital from all the headache input, special credits to his teammates. "Y-Yes, I do have Tezuka's phone number… Ah, good idea, Yanagi."
Finally, they managed to call the captain of Seigaku. Well, their house anyway, because they realized that Tezuka was not in town. So they had to resort to calling the magazine company that always seemed to be following their team, and received the address of the source of their trouble. When they were asked why they would need Echizen's address, Niou, who had volunteered to make the call, replied: "We found a body of a first year student of Seigaku with a white Fila cap. We would like to return his remains to his family." The writer hung up immediately.
In the mean time, Akaya, being helpful for once had found Echizen's contact information sewed onto the inside of his tennis bag. They, for the last time, managed to deliver the body and the remains of Echizen Ryoma to his house (Niou was smacked several times by everyone in the team sans Akaya). Funnier thing was that the mother didn't even bother them as to why her son was knocked out, being carried by a group of guys, and they knew their address. She actually thanked them for being friends with their son and invited them in, but they refused as it was getting late.
It was the fateful day, the Kantou Tournament Finals. All Rikkai Dai regulars stared at the shortest Seigaku's freshman regular as if it had been rehearsed.
"Hm?" Everyone averted their gazes as soon as Echizen looked up.
"Echizen, those guys seem to be staring at you. What did you do to them?" Momo whispered.
"I didn't do anything…"
Summary:
Akaya: ...I lost?
Sanada: Unexceptable!
Everyone: Yo, what're we doing with that kid?
Niou: Dump him.
Yagyuu: Stalk his address.
Marui: Jackal.
Niou: *Phone* Hey paparazzi-reporters! We have your star!
Yagyuu: I found the address.
Later...
Momo: More fans?
Echizen: No.
The End.