The Great Kouhai Exchange

"I just wish Akaya would stop being so immature," Yukimura said, "I think we're babying him too much. If only he could grow up,"

"You're lucky! That's better than having a kouhai who's too serious! 'Gekokujyou,' my ass," Mukahi realized that what he said sounded a little... weird, so he added, "Whatever you're thinking, that's not what I meant!"

There was an awkward silence until Fuji spoke up, "Echizen needs to lighten up. He's always so down, and it gets us worrying. He could at least pretend to be happy whenever we're planning a surprise for him. He only says that it always leads to trouble, so we shouldn't bother."

"Well, Shinji can't shut up." Tachibana said bluntly.

"I have an idea!" Mukahi declared, and the three gave him wary looks. Why should they trust Mukahi, of all people? He did a lot of stupid things, enough said. "Let's have a kouhai exchange for three days! Didn't you say you need someone who's mature, 'Mura? Maybe we can trade! It's perfect! Nothing could possibly go wrong!"

Hey, that didn't seem to be that bad of an idea.

They didn't give much thought about the whole thing, and just agreed. It was a great way to get rid of their kouhais, anyway.

"Wait, who'd get who?" Tachibana asked. Wasn't that important? After all, how would this plan work if no one knew which kouhai to 'adopt?' Wouldn't that be epic fail?

"Well, I'm getting Kirihara." Mukahi said before anyone could say anything, thinking people wanted Kirihara a lot because he was fun and he beat Hiyoshi.

"That's fine by me," Fuji said.

"Even more fine for me," Tachibana said.

Mukahi realized that Tachibana hated Kirihara for beating him and for giving him injuries that were too embarrassing to be mentioned and that Fuji hated Kirihara because Tachibana hated Kirihara and because Kirihara tried to injure him, too. He snorted. At least Kirihara had some personality, unlike Hiyoshi. "Well, whatever. Who's getting Hiyoshi?"

Fuji, Yukimura and Tachibana raised their hands.

What.

The.

Eff.

(And why in the world did Fuji want Hiyoshi? He was even more annoying than the kid he was trading off!)

"Um, how do we settle this?" Mukahi asked uncertainly. "Oh, I know, I know! Whoever knows Hiyoshi's first name will get him!" How were they supposed to know what Hiyoshi's first name was? Heck, he didn't even know what Hiyoshi's first name was!

"Madison," Yukimura said, "Hiyoshi's first name is Madison."

And because no one really knew the name of Hiyoshi, Yukimura got it right, simply because he was the first one to make a wild guess (and because there was absolutely no way Mukahi would ever admit he didn't know what Hiyoshi's first name was).

"So all that's left is that Tachibana-san and Fuji-san switch." Mukahi said.

Of course, they agreed. But on one condition, "Wait, if the team has, like, a match, you can 'borrow' your kouhai to play and then give him back, okay?" Mukahi said.

"Oh, yeah," they all said.

X

"Hey, Hiyoshi, do you remember the time you wished that you just studied at RikkaiDai because Atobe wore a frilly shirt to a match with another team and made us all wear matching shirts and you were forced to wear a pink tutu?" Mukahi said.

"Yes," Hiyoshi said warily.

"Well, for three days, you're going to study at RikkaiDai!" Mukahi said, trying to make it sound like Hiyoshi won in the lottery.

Hiyoshi was silent.

And then- "...WHAT?!" Hiyoshi shrieked. Maybe Hiyoshi was getting a personality.

"You did say you wanted to," Mukahi said, and Hiyoshi was just silent. "What's your first name again?"

"My first name's Wakashi," Hiyoshi said through gritted teeth.

'I knew it. Madison's a pet's name. Damn Yukimura,'

X

"Fuji, you did what?" Oishi said. "But... why?"

"Relax, Oishi," Fuji said, "it's only for three days, and besides, you also get a substitute!"

Oishi had to wonder why Fuji was oddly cheerful and why pretty much everyone was absolutely all right with the whole thing. "Echizen's not a thing, and... what if he gets injured? Who'll pay for the hospital bill? And, uh... what if he can't reach something on a tall shelf, who'll get it for him?" (Ryoma scowled at this.)

"Tachibana," everyone said.

"I'm confident that little Ryo-chan can take care of himself." said Fuji.

Ryoma took a sip of his Ponta. He was never going to let anyone know how hurt he was that they wanted to choose that rambling dude (who he so crushed) over him. They really didn't know what they were thinking... It was like trading tighty whities for boxers! It was plain wrong!

"You're okay with this, right, Echizen-kun?" Kawamura said.

Ryoma just took another sip of his Ponta. "Whatever,"

He hoped that by swallowing Ponta, he could swallow his sadness too and get over it.

X

"Akaya, you always said you hated classes, right?" Yukimura said. "Well, guess what? We found a way for you not to have classes here in RikkaiDai!"

Akaya looked at them happily. "Really?"

Yukimura nodded. "Yes. Right, everyone?" He said cheerfully.

They all nodded quickly.

"You're going to a tennis seminar for talented tennis players! You know the way to Hyotei, right? Just go there for three days instead of RikkaiDai. Be sure to see Mukahi-kun," said Yukimura.

Akaya pouted, "Huh? You guys aren't going?" He said. "I don't want to go without you guys! It would be no fun at all! And you guys are really talented, and you all deserve to go to the seminar too! I can't possibly go..."

For a moment pretty much everyone felt touched, but then decided to go along with the plan.

"You're young and you have seen your limits Akaya," Sanada said, "so we're sending you to the tennis seminar to overcome them and be a better player because you're RikkaiDai's future captain."

Akaya seemed hopeful. "Really?"

"...Yeah,"

"Yay! I won't let you guys down, I promise!"

X

"And I don't get why you don't want me around. Okay, maybe I do. It's my skin, isn't it? It's always my skin. Or is it my hair? I'll get a haircut soon, but I'll have to convince my mother to let me go to a real barbershop. You shouldn't really judge me with how I look, because I'm not a book. I'm just me-" Shinji trailed off.

"Shinji!" Tachibana hissed, before he could feel any guiltier.

"How about we go get ice cream and go to an amusement park, guys?" Kamio suggested, although he did want to see Shinji and Tachibana get into a fist fight.

"Well, why not? I suppose it would be lovely. Ice cream is always so lovely and I-"

"What the hell, lovely?" Kamio said, and wondered how this guy could even be his 'best friend.'

Shinji just snorted. "What's wrong with saying 'lovely'? It's perfectly all right and you-"

"Let's just go," Tachibana said.

TO BE CONTINUED

Expect an update soon... meaning someday. But seriously, I'm working on it.

This is a challenge by amaya no shiori.