Hubbub
by: RoyaleDeuce
Disclaimer: TeniPuri is not mine.
Warning: C-R-A-C-K. Do not it take seriously to enjoy.
It was an incredibly hot afternoon, the sun mercilessly radiating such blistering heat. And anyone who came across Ryuzaki Sakuno would have patted her on the back for a job well done of surviving tennis practice under a whopping temperature of 40 degrees Celsius! The said girl was currently located near a deserted shed as she perseveringly tried to hit the tennis ball with a backswing and then a forehand.
"...forty-seven!" For Ryoma-kun! she thought with unwavering resolve.
...but Sakuno wasn't the only person who had to endure the heat of the day.
"I can't take this anymore!" A guy attempted to enter the locker rooms, but was immediately blocked by Sumire who had her arms crossed and a monstrous sneer on her face.
"Suffering under this heat is part of the training! Go back to the courts, stand there and don't move!"
The boy instantly scampered on his feet and did what he was told.
The Seigaku tennis club was currently under strenuous practice matches that afternoon. Just running around the courts and returning heavy balls was enough torture! But even those in the sidelines had incessantly complained about their condition even if they just had to stand, watch the on-going matches, and do nothing else.
"Kami-sama, spare us from the heat, nya!" Kikumaru was on the brink of tearing his shirt off when Tezuka's glare stopped him from doing so. He settled on wrapping his hands around his body. "Oh no! My tummy hurts, Tezuka! Nature calls—"
Tezuka did not even blink. "No."
"Uhm... Tezuka. You see," Oishi stepped forward quite hesitantly as his doubles partner presently sobbed in a corner and grew mushrooms after rejection. "Frankie... You know Frankie, right?" Tezuka merely stared at Oishi. "Well, he has this tendency to swim upside down in his aquarium when it's really hot like this... so-so I have to transfer him in the toilet—"
Tezuka suddenly glared. "No."
Oishi joined Kikumaru in growing mushrooms.
"Buchou! Buchou!" came Ryoma's voice. Tezuka watched the Seigaku's pillar of support approach him with a look of worry. "Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai!"
Upon following Echizen, Tezuka was actually expecting to see a fight. But what greeted him instead was Momoshiro and Kaidoh wriggling on the ground as if they were being suffocated with bubbles oozing out of their mouths. Tezuka glanced at the tennis courts. Inui was still in there. This couldn't have been the doing of the disgusting concoctions.
"I think it's a heatstroke. Maybe I should accompany them to the clinic and get them out of this heat..."
Tezuka's eyes narrowed. Echizen worried of his senpai-tachi?
"No," was his immediate reply before heading back to watch Inui and Kawamura's practice match.
As he left, he heard several shouts of 'You made me gurgle water with toothpaste for nothing, porcupine-head!', 'Well, what do you expect of your incredible acting skills, mamushi?!', 'This fight is just adding to the heat you know, senpai...' and 'Shut up, brat!!!' at the area where he left Echizen, Momoshiro and Kaidoh. It seemed like it was going to be a brawl at the end of their group effort after all.
At his return, Kikumaru and Oishi were still growing mushrooms. Then he realized that it was only Fuji who still hadn't pestered him of escaping the cruelty of the sun. The Seigaku tennis genius currently had an odd look on his face. Was it boredom? Tezuka wasn't sure. But all he knew was that he should not let his guard down. He took his place beside the silent Fuji Syusuke and watched the on-going match.
"BUUURNING!!!"
A tennis ball left a trail of smoke in the air as it blasted off from Kawamura's racket. It entered the thicket beside the supposedly deserted shed. A loud oomph was heard right after.
Fuji was instantly perked from momentary stupor. "I'll see what happened," his voice held much suppressed excitement.
Could Seigaku's tennis genius be more sadistic? Someone may have already been hurt at Taka's Hadokyou and he still had that stimulation in him? The scorching heat really can do weird things to the human mind.
"Twenty laps after ten minutes," was Tezuka's warning before Fuji headed out to the deserted shed.
Fuji never expected that the ticket out of his boredom (and heat!) would be his sensei's beloved granddaughter.
Upon seeing her lying on the ground with a red mark on her forehead, he of course, had grown worried. He decided to bring Sakuno to the infirmary and have her under the nurse's care. Even if what happened hadn't been as entertaining as he anticipated, the best he could get out of the situation was being spared from the heat of the sun for at least five minutes. He then positioned Sakuno on his back for a piggyback ride towards the infirmary.
He would have stayed with Sakuno in the infirmary for the entire practice duration, but remembering Tezuka's warning, he shuddered at the thought of running laps under such heat. If only he could think of something that could either make him skip practice or do something fun aside from tennis. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
Carefully, he lay Sakuno down on the ground as he headed to get a bucket of cold water.
SPLASH
The girl jerked awake and began to cough turbulently.
"I apologize for that, Ryuzaki-san." Fuji said calmly. "I hope you're alright? Well, I was hoping you could do me a favor..." he started quite reluctantly.
"Ryuzaki-san?" The wet girl's eyebrows furrowed as she sat upright. "Who is Ryuzaki-san?"
And at that, Fuji's hesitance instantly dissipated as he stared at the bewildered expression of the girl before him. This was even better than he expected.
A sadistic smile slowly crept on his face. "You don't remember?"
The rest of practice ensued without any difference. Seven of the regulars were currently lying on the ground like dying fishes as they awaited the team's tennis genius to pop up for the practice matches to recommence. Tezuka was already twitching at Fuji's lateness that he was just itching to make him run laps. After a few more minutes of no-show, Tezuka walked out infuriated.
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the presently silent courts.
"Dear God, Fujiko! What took you so long?! Tezuka looked ready to kill, nya! What happened anyway?!" Kikumaru whined and was about to glomp his teammate when he froze the next instant.
Everyone was taken aback at the entrance of the unexpected newcomer.
It was Ryuzaki Sakuno in a bikini.
"Mou... Syusuke said that the swimming pool over here..." she muttered to herself, still oblivious to the set of wide gazes and gapes she was receiving from the entire tennis club.
Almost instantly, seven hands with Seigaku jerseys had stretched out towards her direction. She merely blinked at the reddening regulars as they all tried to block her from the possible emergence of Sumire. What a fit she would have if she learned that her granddaughter was in a bikini in the midst of the boys' tennis club.
Oishi was starting to hyperventilate. "Ryuzaki-san! What are you doing here in a b-b-biki-biki-bikini?!"
Instead of answering, Sakuno smiled as her gaze diverted to the tomato-head vice-captain. "The guy with the weird hairstyle! So you are the chicken Syusuke was talking about!" Sakuno's eyes twinkled.
Everyone gasped.
"It seems like he was right about you fussing over even the smallest of things... Mou... I'm just a girl in a bikini you know..." And then she grabbed Oishi's hand and placed it on her chest.
Oishi looked ready to explode as everyone was just left gaping.
"Oh, and that bandanna! Aren't you the snake of the group?" she pointed at Kaidoh who was on the brink of an outburst. "Syusuke really was right... you do look and act like a snake. Mamushi is what you are called if I'm not mistaken?"
Momoshiro barked out in laughter as Kaidoh was restrained from pounding him by Kawamura and Inui. "I do not know what's with the sudden change in you... but that was a good one, Ryuzaki-san! Hahahaha!"
"The guy with the spiky black hair and loud outbursts!" Sakuno grinned ever so wide. "Momo-senpai! It's good that I am not retracted from you! Syusuke mentioned that you were the girl repellent of the group!" she giggled.
"WHAT?!"
It was Kaidoh's turn to bark in laughter this time. And that caused Momoshiro to lunge at Kaidoh; thus, the start of a brawl.
But everyone's attention was still on a bikini-clad Sakuno who resumed her chatter.
"The one with the band-aid!" she pointed at Kikumaru. "You're the adorable cat, aren't you?"
Kikumaru sparkled and cuddled Sakuno. "Yes! I'm the cat, nya!"
Echizen was about to head out to buy a drink of Ponta and escape the ongoing absurdity when he accidentally brushed against Sakuno. The girl turned to him with a look of horror. "Eep! The one with the piercing golden orbs! You're the pervert!"
Echizen blinked.
"Yes! I'm a cat, nya! Nya!" Kikumaru bounced up and down enthusiastically when he crashed on the frozen on the spot Echizen.
The Samurai Junior's face landed on something soft and squishy... and upon opening his eyes, realized that he was currently using Sakuno's chest as a pillow. He instantly pulled away with a dark blush.
"Sorry—"
"P-P-PERVERT!" Sakuno screamed.
"There is a 99.99 percent chance that Ryuzaki-san has gotten into a bit of a misfortune and is currently experiencing memory loss. Another probability of my calculations is that a vile creature may have forced false information on her to have her assume such notions about us." Inui flipped a page of his notebook and pushed his glasses towards the bridge of his nose. The entire tennis club was currently in total chaos as it was only he and Kawamura who still remained sane.
"I'm a cat! I'm a cat! Woo!"
"In short, someone took advantage of Ryuzaki-san's memory loss," the powerhouse of Seigaku remarked softly. "But who?"
"Ryuzaki! What's wrong with you?"
"100 percent Fuji." Inui said bluntly. "Ryuzaki-san had repeatedly mentioned 'Syusuke' if you have noticed..." he replied to Kawamura's questioning gaze.
"Who are you calling mamushi, girl repellent?!"
"How could he! But it makes me wonder how Ryuzaki-san lost her memory in the first place..." Kawamura muttered.
"Pervert!"
"I have a theory," Inui blurted out. "But you're not going to like it."
"I touched a girl's chest! I touched a girl's chest! How can I?!"
"Let's still hear it, for the sake of curing Ryuzaki-san..." Kawamura said determined.
"Oh look, mamushi! You repel me, don't you? Does that mean you're a girl too? Hahaha!"
"The Hadokyou that let you finish our previous match with a score of 6-4 reached the far-end side of the deserted shed, right? According to my calculations, it is 79 percent possible that your shot landed on the area where Ryuzaki-san had her daily practice of wall-tennis. I assume that your ball hit Ryuzaki-san's head which caused her temporary memory loss." Inui ended rather calmly. "So you're the one to blame."
Kawamura paled. "M-Me?"
Inui nodded. "Yes you."
Kawamura fell on his knees. "Noooooooooo!"
"WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?!"
Tezuka appeared like he was about to commit bloody murder at the sight that greeted him upon entrance. Momoshiro and Kaidoh were wrestling on the ground. Oishi was walking back and forth in a corner while repeatedly muttering to himself. Kikumaru was bouncing about while ejaculating, 'I'm a cat, nya!' at the top of his lungs. Kawamura was kneeling on the floor while shaking his head. Inui was grinning mischievously while stirring a pitcher of blue goo. Echizen was quietly seated on the bench like stone. And Sakuno... His eyes grew a fraction wider at the sight of her.
Tezuka averted his gaze towards the tennis club. "What is this entire hubbub...?" His voice was calm and showed no taints of anger. But his eyes said otherwise. "Someone explain." His eyebrows were twitching when nobody dared answer him. "Twenty laps for everyone."
"Uhm... T-There is no need to punish them because it was entirely my fault..." Sakuno stated as firmly as she could. "If only I hadn't mistaken this place as the swimming pool, everything wouldn't have gotten out of hand..."
Tezuka twitched when some of the regulars sighed in relief. "Someone explain or else..." Everyone gulped. "Thirty laps."
Sakuno approached Tezuka and clung to his arm... which caused him to twitch even more. The others dreaded whatever would happen next. "Oh, please! Don't do this! Syusuke said that you are a crazed tyrant, but I never knew you were this bad!"
Tezuka twitched. Syusuke? "Forty laps. And where is Fuji?!"
"Oh, you wouldn't hurt poor, poor Syusuke too, would you?" Sakuno gasped alarmed. "True that not everyone may accept you for who you are, but being insecure shouldn't be the cause of your anger towards everyone."
A look of plain 'what' was on everyone's face as Tezuka merely twitched even more.
"Fifty."
"Ryuzaki-san, stop!" everyone called.
"Oh, come on... don't be shy." Sakuno smiled warmly and ignored everyone's pleads. "Perhaps it will lift a heavy burden after you tell everyone the truth. I'm sure everyone will still love you for who you are..."
There was a fleeting pause.
"...even if you are gay." Then Sakuno hugged Tezuka.
Everyone ran for cover.
"A HUNDRED LAPS!"
And it was at that given moment that Fuji Syusuke chose to enter the courts. The grin on his face was as bright as the morning sun. "What is the cause of this hubbub?"
"YOU!!!" everyone cried and had their pointed fingers directed towards him.
Fuji plastered on an innocent face. "What are you all talking about? Someone was hit by Taka's Hadokyou and I tried to cure it. Saa... You couldn't possibly blame me." He pouted. "Everything was done out of goodwill."
"Mou... Syusuke! You said that the swimming pool was in here! I wore this bikini for nothing..." Sakuno exclaimed with puffed cheeks.
Fuji smiled. "Don't worry... you look good in that bikini, Ryuzaki-san." Sakuno blushed. "And don't you find it comfortable in such a hot day? I merely did you a favor."
Tezuka's glasses fogged. "You made Ryuzaki-san appear like a guinea pig for your entertainment, Fuji. What will we do if sensei finds out about this?"
At Tezuka's voice, it was like hell froze. There was silence.
"Why is everyone just standing around?!" roared a nerve-shattering voice.
Everyone instantly got on their feet as the regulars panicked and ran around like lunatics.
"Oh my gosh, sensei's here!"
"We can't let her see Ryuzaki-san like this!"
"Hide her! Hide her!"
"Just covering her with a jacket is fine!"
While everyone was busy deciding on what to do with Sakuno, Inui took that as the opportunity to sneak behind the auburn-head.
"Why is everyone panicking?" Sakuno muttered.
"They're worried about you," Inui replied. "...and for their lives..." he muttered to himself. "Anyway, don't you find it incredibly hot today, Ryuzaki-san?" he started quite casually. Sakuno nodded. "Well, would you like something to drink?" Sakuno nodded again. Inui handed her a glass of blue liquid.
"Oooh! Blue lemonade!" Sakuno cried with joy. At the next moment, the glass was emptied in one gulp. "Thanks-"
...and then she fainted.
The first thing Sakuno saw upon opening her eyes was the sun. She instantly covered her eyes from the light and tried sitting up. She was still by the deserted shed where she previously practiced tennis that afternoon. But surprisingly, she was leaning on one of the trees and was under its cool shade. What happened? She looked at her outfit. She was wearing a shirt and a skirt. No bikini. From a short distance, she could hear the resounding 'poks' in the courts. Practice was still in progress.
Had everything just been a dream?
"Ryuzaki-san... you're awake."
Sakuno turned to where the voice came from, only to find herself face to face with Fuji-senpai. She instantly blushed and backed away.
"Y-Yeah..." she cleared her throat. "What happened?"
Fuji placed a bucket of water beside her. He grabbed the towel floating on the surface and began dabbing some liquid on Sakuno's incredibly red face.
"You got hit by Taka's 'Hadokyou' and fainted..." Fuji explained patiently as he went on with his work. His touch was feathery light that it soothed Sakuno. "I found you lying on the ground unconscious... I was worried."
Sakuno sighed. "It's good that hubbub did not happen at all..." she muttered.
"Did you say something, Ryuzaki-san?" Fuji opened his eyes and curiously gazed at his blushing kouhai.
"N-Nothing, senpai! I-I just remembered something..." She smiled and instantly dismissed the topic. "Uhm... I'm sorry for having to keep you from practice, senpai..."
Fuji returned her smile. "Don't worry. I wasn't doing anything productive anyway." He dropped the towel on the bucket and helped Sakuno get up. "It's good that you're alright now."
What happened next had Fuji taken aback. Sakuno tiptoed and shyly pecked her senpai on the cheek. "Thank you."
Sakuno hitting her head plus Fuji being bored didn't add up to hubbub but growing affection after all. Everything had just been in her head. But it didn't stop Sakuno from wondering the things that would have ensued if she really lost her memory and Fuji was so bored to the point of making her his guinea pig... Hubbub it was indeed.
A/N: So, what do you think? Was it good? Bad? Please review!
