This was the result of a fifteen-minute word challenge. The challenge word is stated at the end of the ficlet.
You're Out (Prince of Tennis)
By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)
Momoshiro Takeshi ducked a little further behind his textbook and carefully opened the lid of his bento. For a moment, he simply gazed at it reverently. He was in math class, and it was still a while before lunchtime, but he just couldn't wait any longer. He brought out his chopsticks and snapped them apart under the desk.
The teacher paused in his writing on the blackboard to scan the room for the source of the sound, as did the other students. Momoshiro pretended to scan, too, until the teacher turned away once more.
For a couple of blissful minutes, Momoshiro was able to sample choice tidbits from his lunch without interruption. Then a shadow fell over him and he looked up, a piece of fish hanging from his lips as his teacher glared at him.
"Eating in my class again, Momoshiro-kun?" he said. "That's strike one. If you reach strike three before class ends, I'll give you detention."
Momoshiro gulped and put his bento away.
For the next ten minutes, everything was fine, but then the teacher caught him gazing out the window. It wasn't fair, he thought. He'd only really taken a quick glance, and then had seen the squirrel running across the yard, so he sort of followed it with his eyes. In any case, he had earned himself strike two for inattention.
"All right, class," the teacher said, "we're all to go to the auditorium for a brief assembly before lunch. Let's all proceed in an orderly fashion and no talking."
Momoshiro obeyed and went with his classmates. Other second-year classes were converging in the hall on their way to the assembly, and it happened that his teammate and rival, Kaidoh Kaoru, ended up walking beside him. They exchanged a look.
"You have rice on your face," Kaidoh grumbled.
Momoshiro hurried to brush it off. "Yeah, well, no rice would stick to YOUR scary face, Mamushi!"
"Momoshiro-kun, I said no talking!" his teacher snapped. "That's strike three. Detention after school!"
"Fssshhhuuu." Kaidoh shook his head in disgust. "I'll give your lame excuse to Ryuzaki-sensei since you'll be missing tennis practice. Idiot."
Momoshiro sighed, but couldn't help a wry smile. Leave it up to a Viper to deliver the final strike.
(Word challenge – Strike)
(2005)
Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.