Pairings: major AkaBun, minor Platinum, minor SanaYuki
Chapter Warnings: strongly implied yaoi/shounen ai, bad puppet humor…
Marui Bunta was resting his head on his backpack, falling asleep for the fourth time in homeroom that week. He could pray for one of two things—for school to end, or for death. He wasn't sure which he would have to wait longer for. Some students were watching the morning news on the television at the front of the classroom. Most of the boys were enthusing about sports tournaments that they were involved in, or what they would do at the beach that weekend. The girls sighed and squealed dreamily about the upcoming formal dance.
Marui tuned them all out—they began to sound like bees buzzing, which only succeeded in making him crave honey. Just as he was about to nod off, the PA system crackled into life on the wall at his side of the classroom.
Ding. Dong.
"Good morning, Rikkai Dai!" exclaimed the voice of his second favorite morning announcer. The girls behind him squealed and gasped.
"Good morning, Kuwahara-kuuun!" they echoed, even though there was no possible way that Jackal could hear them from the broadcasting room. Marui rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, hey everybody!" trumpeted Marui's first favorite morning announcer. This got even more of a reaction from his female peers.
"Kawaii! Kirihara-chan is sooo adorable!" They began to shout and squeal like they did every morning, but they quieted down when the regulars began their announcements.
Marui sighed, nuzzling into his backpack, listening to the calming sound of Jackal's voice reading off the scores of the recent games. Some of the students cheered half-heartedly when they heard their team names being read, but they were, for the most part, indifferent.
"Also," stated Kirihara, obviously eager to butcher the few announcements that Jackal actually trusted him with, "the formal dance is next week, so if you don't have a date, you should probably get one, unless you want to look like a hopeless loser."
Marui smirked, choking back a laugh as the girls behind him burst into a fit of high-pitched giggles. The boys in the room shifted uncomfortably while some rolled their eyes. Quiet arguing could be heard over the PA system.
"Akaya, I told you not to…"
"Oh, don't be such…"
"What did you just call me?"
"Kehehehe…"
"Well," continued Jackal's voice in a slightly nervous tone, "that's all the announcements we have for today, so…"
"Ooh! Jackal, don't forget to tell them about—"
"Why don't you tell them, Akaya? This job is getting so old with you…"
"Oh! Well if that's how you feel, then maybe—"
"Get on with it!"
"There's a special puppet show in the auditorium today at two, performed by regulars of our very own tennis team. The admission fee is 200 yen and goes toward equipment for the team…"
Marui's eye twitched. Puppet show? Why hadn't he gotten this all-important memo? The girl's behind him cried softly this time, seeming about as confused as Marui was.
"Aaand our equipment kinda sucks so… come see the show!"
"Akaya, wrap it up!"
"That's all the news we've got for now, so have a great day!"
There were a few more moments of silence, then the faint sound of an electronic jingling noise.
"That your phone, Jackal?" asked Kirihara. He snorted. "Oh man, did Sanada butt dial you again? Pick up and see if he's doing buchou!"
An eruption of hyper screeches and giggles sounded from the girls behind him, and Marui chortled into his backpack. Their gangly teacher crossed the room and buzzed the office, her face annoyed. "Somebody tell Kuwahara and Kirihara that they forgot to turn the mic off again…"
The whole class burst into laughter as the bell rang. Marui reluctantly pulled himself out of his chair, preparing to drag his barely alive body down the hallway after the rest of his peers, until he felt a slight tug on the sleeve of his uniform. He turned around and stared down at a girl with round glasses and sandy colored pigtails.
He sighed, feeling bad that he couldn't remember her name. "Yeah?"
"Uh, Marui-kun, I was wondering if… you, uh, had a date to the….. uh, the dance… I bought you some, uh… candy…"
"Um," said Marui, pulling the strap of his backpack over his bony shoulder. "I'm kind of… not going."
"O-oh…" He watched as the girl's tiny hands began to tremble, her tears falling to the floor. She sobbed a few times before shoving a box of Pocky into his hands and tearing out of the room. He sighed, feeling kind of bad as he stared down at the candy he was now holding. It was strawberry flavored, his favorite, but he was somehow sick to his stomach. He shoved the box into his bag and walked out of the room and down the hall to his locker. He jiggled the lock clumsily until the door opened, then pulled out his books and closed it, only to see the face of a certain akuma smiling back at him.
He jumped slightly. "H-how did you…"
"Ohayou," he sang cheerfully. Marui couldn't help but notice that his black curls were extra lush and shiny, and he shamefully compared himself to his female classmates.
"Whaddya want, Akaya?" he spat, yanking up his backpack as his kouhai bounced down the hall after him.
"Did ya hear the announcements today?"
Marui nodded. "What's with this puppet show thing?"
Kirihara chuckled. "Are you gonna pay the 200 yen?"
Marui glanced at him, then shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
"Then you'll find out at two!"
They both stopped in the hallway, Kirihara laughing. Marui offered him a smile and rolled his eyes playfully, but even that couldn't keep him from reading his mind. The taller boy suddenly frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked, shifting his weight from side to side. Marui shook his head.
"Nothing. It's just that this girl asked me to the dance, and I turned her down. I feel kinda bad, I guess…"
Kirihara's eyes hardened, but his mouth smiled. "No worries. It's not like it was your fault…"
"Yeah… Wait, what?" Marui's purple eyes glanced up to meet his kouhai's.
The black-haired boy scoffed. "A dog like Fujiwara… I would say no too."
Fujiwara was the name of the girl, but how had Kirihara known that she'd asked him? It didn't matter to Marui. He rolled his eyes. "Do you always have to be such a jerk?" he asked, causing his kouhai to look offended.
"Um, I—"
"Seriously!" shouted Marui, gaining the attention of a slew of surrounding and gathering students.
"Marui-sempai, I just meant—"
He stomped slightly. He felt like crying and he couldn't figure out why. "You know what, Kirihara? I don't even know why we're friends! In fact, I hate you! You're just a big, conceited jerk!"
Marui turned away from the reddening blush on his friend's face. He turned away from the look of shock and hurt in his green eyes. He turned away from his stiff posture and slack jaw. And then he just kept walking to his next class.
okokokokokokok
"Hey, Jackal…" Marui dug through one of the pockets on his backpack, looking for 200 yen to pay his long-time doubles partner with. He was sitting behind a table just outside the auditorium, messing with a lockbox.
"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile. "Wanna hang till the show starts?"
Marui shrugged, then crossed to the back of the table and pulled out a chair. "What's it about, anyway?"
Jackal shrugged back as Marui sat down, unwrapping a cube of banana-flavored bubble gum and thrusting it between his teeth. "Who knows," he commented, leaning forward on the table to accept money from a few girls, bouncing up and down in anticipation. "Yanagi wrote the whole thing…"
Marui watched as the girls rushed into the auditorium squealing. There was another outbreak as Yukimura and Sanada walked down the hallway together, their shoulders nearly touching. When they reached Jackal and Marui, Sanada went through the door without paying, and Yukimura leaned his hands on the desk.
"Hi, buchou," they uttered at the same time, and he smiled at them sweetly.
"Have either of you seen Kirihara-kun?" he asked, staring at Jackal in particular. Marui averted his gaze and concentrated on severing the wad of yellow gum in his mouth. "I know he did the announcements this morning…"
"I haven't seen him since then," said Jackal with a shrug, "but I can't imagine him not showing up for this."
Yukimura frowned. "I see…" he said, turning his attention to Marui. "Are you sick, Marui-kun?"
Marui looked up and blushed. "Huh? N-no, why?"
Yukimura shrugged. "I didn't see you at lunch."
"Oh," he said. "I was making up something for physics in the lab." That was a lie. He'd really spent it in the bathroom, feeling too sick to eat.
Yukimura stared him down for an additional minute, his narrow eyes seeming to rip open his soul and scream, Tell me everything! Jackal glanced back and forth between them, until Yukimura finally let up. He smiled and wiggled his fingers, disappearing into the auditorium. Marui let out a deep sigh, releasing the tension that had accumulated over the past sixty seconds.
"What was that all about?" muttered Jackal as he accepted money from the last few students trying to get in.
Marui shrugged. "The show's starting, I think."
Jackal closed the lockbox and smiled. "You're right."
The two filed into the dark auditorium together and sat in a couple chairs near the edge of the room. Marui shook his head, considering how packed the place was for a bound-to-be-crappy puppet show. The dark blue curtains were closed across the front of the stage, and the crowd murmured. Jackal's gaze was fixed on the mass of navy velvet concealing the stage, and Marui found himself wishing he would say something.
He chewed his bubblegum vigorously as the din rose and fell like the ocean's waves, and he felt the voices swallow him. He was drowning in the hundreds of conversations that were being held on every side of him. Tingly, black haze obscured his vision, and a distinct ringing noise accompanied the endless dialogue. He groaned, placing his head between his knees and taking deep breaths as his stomach twisted itself into knots. The worst thing about all of the voices was that none of them were Kirihara's.
He suddenly felt a hand between his shoulder blades, and he automatically flinched. "You okay, Bunta?"
He sat up as the buzz suddenly stopped and there was movement on either side of the stage. "Yeah," he sighed, hugging himself around the waist tightly. The ringing silenced and the dizziness passed.
The audience broke into a round of applause as the members of Rikkai Dai tennis team's invincible pair walked up the steps on either side of the stage. Niou Masaharu was all sunny and beaming while Yagyuu Hiroshi held his firm expression despite the applause. They met eachother in the center of the stage, where there was a microphone attached to a stand. Yagyuu was dressed in an all black, three-piece suit minus the jacket, and Niou in black skinny jeans and a tight black tee. They both wore completely white sneakers, which stood out painfully from the rest of their dark ensembles.
Marui saw Jackal cross his arms over his chest out of the corner of his eyes. "This should be good," he scoffed. Marui couldn't force a smile, even though he knew Jackal would be right.
"Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our puppet show," fizzed Yagyuu's smooth voice over the microphone. "I'd like to thank you all for coming and contributing to our tennis team's fund for new equipment."
The crowd clapped again, and Yagyuu adjusted his glasses and forced a slight smile. Niou beamed and pressed his visibly soft lips to the microphone. "And give it up for our genius director and scriptwriter, Yanagi Renji!" came his voice, entirely too loud, but his fans all erupted into applause anyway. Niou was stylishly rebellious, and that's what everyone loved about him.
He stepped back from the mic and smiled, and Yagyuu stepped forward again. "Please enjoy the show," he growled over the sound system, his voice like low thunder, a welcome change from Niou's energetic shouting on Marui's aching head. He glanced to Niou for approval, who furtively nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. The bespectacled teen leaned over the mic and uttered an extra-sexy, "Adieu."
The girls in the theater all exploded into squeals as Niou grinned and tugged Yagyuu backstage. Marui shook his head, slightly amazed. There was no doubt that the Gentleman and the Trickster were the perfect juxtaposition. A few moments after they had disappeared, the curtains opened onto a long, tall puppet theater.
"This is so Avenue Q," giggled a voice from behind them, and both of them turned around the see Yukimura and Sanada in the chairs directly behind them. "Have either of you seen Kirihara-kun yet?" pressed Yukimura. Marui shook his head silently, sinking his nose to the top of his chair as their captain began to groom Sanada fussily.
"I'll text him," offered Jackal, digging through his pocket. "Maybe he's sitting with his classmates…"
"Good morning, class," bellowed what was undeniably Yanagi's voice from the stage, and Marui jumped, whirling around and staring at three puppets, illuminated by blinding spotlights.
"Good mooorning, sensei," echoed two more voices in unison.
"Now, who can tell me what the center of the earth is made of?"
"Peanuts?" asked Yagyuu's blue-skinned puppet. The Gentleman was obviously holding his nose.
The girls in the audience giggled at the lame joke, but Marui could hear some of the more sensible members groan. All he could do was stare at the puppets' heads, which had been nearly cut in half. Inside was gaping black fabric and huge felt tongues. It was making him sick to his stomach.
The show went on in this manner, more lame jokes, fairytales, and Sunday school moral lessons until it was finally the last act. The curtains closed again for the sixth or seventh time, and Marui wiped his sweaty palms on his slacks. He'd been sick for the whole show, just trying to keep his consciousness. One last act. He could definitely sit through this.
The blue velvet curtains jerked away to reveal Kirihara, Yagyuu, and Niou in puppet form, wearing their school uniforms. Fanatic screams and laughter arose from the audience. The puppet regulars refused to continue until their public was quiet.
"Look, Yagyuu," began Puppet Niou in Niou's voice, "it's our good friend Kirihara!"
"Why, yes, it is," replied Puppet Yagyuu in Yagyuu's voice. "He looks lonely…"
Faint laughter. Marui raised an eyebrow at the bouncy, grinning Kirihara puppet. Would he be okay with them making fun of him? "We should go talk to him!" declared Puppet Niou melodramatically as he and his puppet doubles partner "walked" over to Puppet Kirihara.
"You look lonely, Kirihara," said Puppet Yagyuu, then continued, in a lower voice, "Do you want to talk about it?"
More laughs. Marui held his breath as Puppet Kirihara opened his mouth. Maybe this was where his friend had disappeared to. "Well," began Puppet Kirihara in Yanagi's nasally Kirihara knock-off, "I'm just upset because I don't have a date for the homecoming dance next week!" Marui sighed as the girls in the audience made "awwww" sounds—the voice obviously didn't belong to the true Kirihara…
"What?" repeated Puppet Niou incredulously.
"Well, don't worry," chuckled Puppet Yagyuu, "I'm sure that someone will ask you soon…"
"Yeah," added Niou. "Probably someone in this very room!"
Puppet Kirihara scanned the room, its wide mouth gaping predatorily. Marui's stomach lurched, and he gagged a little, instinctively slapping a hand over his mouth. Jackal was too busy laughing at the pathetic attempt at comedy to notice.
Suddenly, Puppet Yagyuu dipped below the stage. "N-ne, Niou-kun! Watch where you're putting your hand!" he roared, causing the auditorium to break into wild laughter and fanatic screams.
Niou, however, didn't sound as amused. His puppet replica fell from view as well. "Chill, Yagyuu! It was an accident!" Puppet Kirihara was lowered moments later, and Niou cried out. "S-stop it, get off!"
"Sorry," grunted Yagyuu into his mic, "but there's no room, and I can't see anything!"
"Haa, Hiroshi-kun!" Niou's voice was suddenly high-pitched.
By now, the whole audience was in hysterics. Yanagi had obviously been smart enough to turn his microphone off or otherwise leave the puppet theater. The whole thing was beginning to rock and sway, and it was making Marui seasick. The curtains closed, and Yanagi appeared in front of them, blushing and wearing black slacks, a matching short-sleeved dress shirt under a sweater vest, and the same white sneakers. "So sorry about that, everyone," he chuckled apologetically.
"Ow, Yagyuu, that really hurts!" whined Niou's voice backstage.
"Stop making it sound like I'm—!"
Yagyuu's words were suddenly cut off, and Yanagi breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for coming! Hope you had fun!" he said into the mic on the stand since his had been disabled, along with his co-stars'. He rushed off the stage quickly, and the lights slowly came on in the auditorium. Marui glanced at Jackal, who had stopped laughing to look down at him.
"What's up?" he asked, smudging the tears that were running down his face.
"I really need air," replied Marui, standing up and fanning his face feverishly with both hands.
"Oh," said Jackal, frowning suddenly.
"Look, I'll just be outside for a minute…"
Marui got up and squeezed through the rows of laughing people, then held his breath and rushed out the doors. Once he was outside, he gasped a few times, his head spinning wildly. He clutched a low wall next to the grass outside of the school, then his vision began to blur. His ears were ringing again, much more loudly this time.
He wanted to call for Jackal, but his lips seemed incapable of speech as his whole body broke into a cold sweat. He spit his gum forcefully onto the ground, then dropped to his knees. He heard his phone ringing distantly, and he somehow managed to pull it out of his pocket and glance at the screen. It read, "AKAYA." He tried to hit answer, but instead, he dropped his phone, closed his eyes, and fell onto the ground.
A/N: Eleven pages, phew _;… Rikkai Dai deserves more love… Thank you to everyone who read, please review to let me know your thoughts and feelings, or if you want me to continue this! I want to see your soul! Review now!
Disclaimer: I don't think I need to tell you that I don't own Prince of Tennis. I also don't think you'd believe me if I said that I did.