This is Nithila again. I found this plot idea in one of my old writing notebooks, and decided to continue writing it. I hope you like it.
Kikumaru and Ryoma both sat huddled next to the door of the clubroom, peeking through the keyhole. Well, technically, Ryoma was peeking through the keyhole, and Kikumaru was pestering him.
"Ne, Ochibi, is he gone yet?"
Ryoma sighed, shaking his head. "No, senpai, he's right here."
Kikumaru groaned dramatically. "Doesn't Tezuka ever get bored? He's so mean, nya!"
Ryoma silently agreed.
They had been late by three minutes. Only three minutes. They had planned to run on to the courts when Tezuka wasn't looking, but Tezuka had determinedly placed himself right at the door, waiting for them to come out so that he could murder them with his ultimate weapon: 'Thirty laps NOW!'
And so they were stuck inside, waiting for him to get distracted.
Another minute passed.
"He can't stand here all day, nya!" Kikumaru cried desperately.
Ryoma ignored him, and instead concentrated on staring through the keyhole. Just then, the keyhole turned black. As he was contemplating the possible reasons as to why, the door swung open-
-hitting both of them in their faces-
-and sending them tumbling over. Tezuka stood in the doorway, arms crossed, surrounded by an angry, red aura.
"You two. Have wasted. Seven minutes of practice. Thirty laps NOW!" he ordered.
The two of them fled outside.
"Tezuka is so heartless," Kikumaru said mournfully. Ryoma inwardly agreed. They would have only wasted three minutes if their captain hadn't blocked the doorway.
Back inside the clubroom, Tezuka sighed and rubbed his temple. Practice had barely started, and he already had a headache. The joy.
He turned and was about to leave, when he noticed an envelope sticking out of a locker.
Tezuka was, by nature, not a nosy person. So he opened the clubroom door and was about to step outside when he realized that said locker was his locker.
Slightly embarrassed by his forgetfulness, he hurriedly went back inside and pulled the envelope out, reading it quickly. By the time he had finished, his eyebrow was twitching violently.
'Atobe…'
"Everyone, dismissed!" Oishi called, clapping his hands for attention. "Freshmen, pick up balls! Regulars, assemble here!"
Ryoma raised an eyebrow. The holidays started two days later, so this wouldn't be about a match. Then…?
Curious, he followed the other regulars to where Oishi, Tezuka, and Ryuuzaki-sensei were standing.
Oishi smiled at them. "Everyone, Atobe-san of Hyotei has decided to invite us and Rikkai Dai to his Christmas party."
This one sentence was enough to cause chaos.
"Eh? Atobe?"
"A Christmas party?"
"Rikkai Dai?"
"Us?"
Oishi sighed, and then held up a letter. "Here, I'll read it for you…" he cleared his throat.
"Dear Tezuka, be honored that Ore-sama is writing to you. On Christmas eve, that is on the day before Christmas, or rather the 24th of December-"
"Well, duh."
"Momoshiro!"
"Sorry, sorry…"
"-rather the 24th of December, Ore-sama is hosting a Christmas party at his house. Apart from Seigaku, Rikkai Dai is the only other team invited. The party will continue until the next daym that is, you will be staying the night. Be awed by Ore-sama's generosity."
Someone snorted. Oishi ignored them.
"Ore-sama expects ALL of the regulars at the mansion by 10:00 am positively. No excuses. Also, please tell your team mates to bring a present each, for a gift exchange. On Christmas eve, as per tradition, we will place the presents under Ore-sama's Christmas tree-"
Ryoma twitched violently, and Momo looked at him in confusion.
"-and will open them in the morning. Signed, your only rival, Atobe Keigo."
There was a moment of silence.
Ryoma was the first to speak. "I'm not coming," he stated matter-of factly.
Everyone looked at him.
"You have to," Momo said, just as simply.
"I don't want to."
"You have to."
"I don't want to."
"You have to."
"I don't want to."
"You have to."
Momo got an idea. "You don't have to," he said. This trick worked on everyone. Now, Echizen would-
"Exactly. So I'm not coming." Ryoma said, smirking.
Momo looked at him. "You're not as stupid as you look," he said genuinely surprised.
Ryoma opened his mouth to retort, but he was interrupted.
"All those who don't attend will have the honour of testing my new juice." Inui pulled out a pitcher of…something. Something…terrible.
Ryoma weighed his options, and decided to take the less painful form of death. "I'll come."
Throughout the conversation, Ryuuzaki-sensei had been eying Ryoma strangely. Now, she laughed. "Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA!"
Everyone edged away from her slightly.
"Oh, ha HA!"
"Erm…Ryuuzaki…sensei?" Kikumaru said tentatively.
She calmed down a bit, panting hard. "Then she pointed a finger at Ryoma. "You," she chuckled.
Ryoma pointed a finger at himself, clearly asking, 'Me?'
"Yes, you. Your mother, hee hee, told me about, ha ha, your father and your Christmas…beliefs….ha ha HA!" She shook her head and walked away, still chuckling madly.
Ryoma's face went pale. Slowly, his eyes narrowed, and he glared daggers at Ryuuzaki-sensei's back, before turning and stomping towards the clubroom.
The remaining regulars looked at each other and blinked.
"Um…what just happened?" Taka asked.
Fuji opened his eyes and smiled brightly, practically radiating happiness. "Saa…I have no idea."
'But I will do anything to find out.'
Momo and Kikumaru looked at each other in sheer terror, and silently agreed that it was about time they ran for their lives.
Ryuuzaki-sensei was just about to get into her car when a voice spoke up from behind her.
"Ryuuzaki-sensei?"
She turned towards the speaker in confusion. "Fuji? Shouldn't you be home?"
Fuji smiled. "I needed to ask you something."
"You've waited for…" Ryuuzaki checked her watch. "…one and a half hours?" She had always known that Fuji was determined, but she wouldn't have expected him to wait for her so long. "What did you want?"
Fuji's smile widened dangerously. "Well, I wanted to ask you about what you said about Echizen's…Christmas…"
Ryuuzaki mentally face palmed. 'I knew I shouldn't have said that in front of this boy.'
She sighed. "Well, I can't tell you the whole story without his permission, but...I suppose I could tell you most of it."
Fuji's smile would have widened, if he hadn't widened it to an impossible degree already. He laughed evilly inside his head, and resisted the urge to rub his hands together.
'Perfect.'
To be Continued.