Title: Between Ice-creams and Tranquilizers
Summary: Marui Bunta hated the dentist, Jackal and the anesthetics, but not the dentist's assistant.
Disclaimer: Keisuke Cloudberry does not own Prince of Tennis, it rightfully belongs to Konomi-sensei-sama-dono.
Warnings: Ice-cream plot overuse. Not really. lame title.
A/N: Birthday gift to self XD Yes, I know I should be writing my OTP but this, you ask? Dunno really. Anyway just read the fic and if you have two minutes to waste, review as well. And also happy birthday to iPurpleberry-san! I'm soo sorry that I haven't uploaded your request yet, Allana-chan. But I will! Preferably tomorrow or the next day.
Between Ice-creams and Tranquilizers
"Marui, stop it," Jackal Kuwahara, known to be Rikkaidai tennis team's defense wall, told the infamous tensai of the said team. The latter could only look at him with innocent yet sly-looking eyes.
"Stop what?" He asked, taking a bite off his sweet strawberry cake. Jackal sighed at his question, obviously displeased with his doubles partner, Marui Bunta.
"Eating. Sweets. It's not good for you, you know. You're taking too much of it, it's sickening," he answered abruptly, taking one glance at what his partner was eating with a bit of disgust.
"Who are you? My mom?" Marui scowled, obviously provoked. "I'm eating what I love and no one can tell me otherwise."
And with that, he took one strong bite from the cake…
"OOWWWW!!"…And his tooth gave a sudden burst of pain to him.
Jackal sighed once more, empathy visible in his voice. "No one except the dentist."
"Jackal, my tooth," The tensai murmured between faint 'owws'. "It hurts."
"Looks like somebody going to have a trip to the dentist this weekend," the Brazilian took a loud sip from his iced tea. Loud enough for the resident tensai to get irritated and storm out of the shop, squeezing hard on his cheeks and muttering 'screw you' to him again and again. The other could only shrug and continue on sipping his drink.
"Calling on to Marui Bunta, The dentist is waiting for you!"
Marui Bunta looked over the magazine he was reading, (or hiding out of embarrassment, more likely.) only to find a shorthaired brunette calling out to him, a feeble, yet abrupt 'huh?' escaping his mouth.
"Be right there," he replied with a bit of boredom and sarcasm apparent in his voice, as he returned the magazine to one of the racks. Suddenly, a lacerating sting was felt from the depths of his mouth, which immediately made him grasp his cheeks out of pain.
"Are you okay?" The same brunette asked him worriedly as she guided the tensai into the Dentist's room.
"Aah," Marui answered, still holding his cheeks tight. After the short walk, the girl opened the door and let him enter, with her following close behind him. As they entered, they found a small boy whining because of the tooth the dentist had just removed. The assistant smiled, and neared one of the counters and opened a jar full of sweets, then offered some to the boy.
"Sho-chan, now that your baby tooth is removed, you can eat sweets again! Isn't that great?" She told the small boy, which effectively made the latter smile.
"I can eat them again?" The boy said with glistening eyes, obviously happy with the news. The assistant nodded and handed some to him. The tensai, though, was only watching the scene unfolding and was a bit, just a bit, awed, by how the girl instantly comforted the whining kid. He couldn't even do that to his younger brothers, Marui Bunta only lived to make them suffer anyway. But this girl, she was all kids' haven, which was truly opposite of him.
"Marui Bunta, I presume? Mizushima," a new voice broke his trail of thoughts, effectively making him turn to the owner of it. His eyes then caught sight of a woman, clad in a long white professor dress and smiling at him.
"Ah," was his immediate response, which made the other nod. The dentist then offered him a seat in the special chair. Marui immediately followed, his eyes catching sight of the small boy leaving before he lay down. The dentist made Marui open his mouth and then used a small round mirror to explore his mouth. She then narrowed her eyes on to one tooth on the tensai's lower jaw.
"Ah, I see," She muttered, then called on the assistant to take down a few notes. "Marui-san, we need to fill a cavity."
"Oh," Marui responded with a bit of uncertainty. That's okay, filling a cavity never hurt, at least, that was what he thought.
"Ann, hand me the anesthetic," Mizushima the dentist told the aide, pointing to a white drawer near the girl. Ann blinked a bit then did the task.
Marui, however, did not like the sound of the word. Anesthetic. Pain-killing drug. Anesthetic. Needle. Anesthetic. Injection. PAIN. Nope, he didn't like it one bit. The infamous tensai sternly rose from his seat, backing away as the aide neared them. Two pairs of eyes gave him an eerie stare.
"No," Marui said, a tinge of fear was trembling together with his usually confident voice. "It's only a cavity right? No need for those things."
"But this is essential, Marui-san," The girl, who was named Ann according to Mizushima, told him. "It would sting more if we don't inject it to your gums."
"I don't want it," he persisted. The dentist got the anesthetic from Ann and pressed it a bit, squeezing out some of its contents and effectively scaring the tensai more. There was one thing Marui Bunta hated the most…injections…and the dentist.
"This is why I hate the dentist…." He sighed, which made a vein pop on Ann's head.
"How could you hate dentists?" She scolded him. "Dentists perform the art and science of diagnosing, treating and preventing diseases of the tooth, jaws, and surrounding tissues of the mouth! How cou—"
"In short, they make lives of little kids…and mine, unhappy," He quipped. Ann could only puff her cheeks and do a pout at his summarization.
"You're acting like a little kid, you know," She crossed her arms and sat down beside him. Mizushima could only giggle at the both of them.
"Now, now, Marui-san, we will finish the job more quickly if you can sit still and open your mouth really wide," Mizushima said as if it was a daily occurrence (which it really was).
Marui frowned at first, then later gave in. He sat back down and let the dentist do her job. Mizushima smiled, then injected the anesthetic in his gums, which surely, stung.
Now, they started on cleaning the hole on Marui's tooth with a drill. A buzzing sound, which came from the drill was heard all over the small room as Marui endured the stings coming from it. He suddenly took hold of Ann's hand, which was laid beside him. Although a bit surprised, Ann let him be.
As Mizushima continued on with the drilling, Marui winced more, then he tightened the grip on the other girl's hand. Now, Ann was feeling a bit queasy as she thought that he was somehow, overreacting.
"What are you? Going through labor or something?" She questioned him sarcastically as a sweat dropped from her forehead. The other could not answer though, for he was busy struggling from the pain he was feeling at the moment.
Mizushima was about to ask help from her assistant, Ann, but seeing the glaring war the two were going through, she decided to mix up the paste to be used herself. She could only smile at both of their actions towards each other.
"Shut up," Marui finally said while Mizushima was mixing up the paste. Ann then removed their entwined hands, which Marui soon realized. Since when was he holding hands with the dentist's assistant? The latter then stood up and walked out of the room, not telling the other two left inside where she's heading to.
"Ann?" Mizushima called out to her, which made the other turn and wave her hands, asking permission to go out. Getting the point, Mizushima nodded and returned to her work.
"Marui-san, let's continue."
After the pasting, Mizushima scrapped off excess paste and made it smoother. Mizushima removed her mask and smiled at him. "It's done, Marui-san! Good as new," she announced happily.
Marui rubbed his cheeks gently, and the pain had already long gone. A relieved sigh escaped his mouth as all his burdens were lifted up. He then smiled back at Mizushima and muttered gratitude. The redheaded tensai rose up from the seat, only to find a shorthaired brunette standing in front of him, shoving a cone of strawberry ice cream on his face. Marui blinked once. The girl blinked back. Marui blinked twice. And Ann sighed.
"Do you want it or not?" She snapped, waking Marui up from his short reverie. The latter then stood up to receive the cold treat.
"A-ah," Marui muttered, then got the cone from her hands. "Thanks."
"Ann, why don't you take the time off right now? I can handle the rest here," Mizushima smiled at her and eyed both of them.
Ann's eyes sparkled with delight, "Thanks, Mizushima-san!"
"Why don't you take Marui-san with you as well, Ann?" Dentist Mizushima suggested.
"Eh?" Ann gave her a dumbfounded expression. "Why would I hang out with a pregnant man?"
"Hey!"
"Run along now!" Mizushima chuckled, then pushed the two out of her small workplace. Both teens could only blink at each other as they were dragged out.
"Thanks for the ice-cream…uhh…" Marui seemed to be lost of words, or maybe he just couldn't recall her name.
"Ann. Tachibana Ann," She answered, licking a small portion out of her own ice-cream. Marui nodded and continued on walking. Marui thought for a minute that that name seemed somewhat familiar.
"Why are you working with a dentist anyway...umm…Ann…chan?" Marui queried, each word thought out carefully.
"Mizushima-san is my aunt," She replied, pausing for a second. "She asked mom if I can work with her part-time here in Kanagawa…Mom, didn't mind though, so yeah, I'm here."
"Oh."
Silence prolonged the area, with no topic going around. They barely knew each other after all, Ann was just a dentist's assistant and Marui…he was just a patient. They never really had anything in common, well, they really didn't really know but they stuck to that idea.
"Say, you aren't really going through labor, are you?" A question brought by Ann almost broke the eardrums of the tensai, well, not literally but it was somehow deafening and weird for the guy.
"Hell no!" Marui replied grimly, assuring her that he wasn't as she thought he was. "I'm a guy, you idiot. Are you on drugs? Those anesthetics must have gotten to you."
"No way! And I was only kidding!" She yelled. Marui then finished his ice-cream and got a stick of gum from his pockets, opened it, and ate it. Ann blinked once at what he was doing, then heaved a sigh.
"Now I know why you always get cavities," Ann mumbled, watching him blow a small bubble out of his gum. Ann's deep blue eyes suddenly widened in surprise. This guy now seemed really familiar.
"Oww, mouth's still numb…" Marui randomly said as he chewed on his gum. Ann sighed then suddenly thought of a question to ask.
"Hey, Do you by any chance, know Rikkai Dai?"
Marui's lips curled up into a smirk, realizing that this was a chance to brag about his godly tensai skills. Braggart.
"Shikuyoro! Marui Bunta, Rikkai Dai Fuzoku's super tensai, smart and skillful, that's me," he told her proudly as he did his infamous pose, which made her a bit annoyed.
"Now I remember!" Ann concluded, then pounded her fist on to her other hand. "You're the ones who had a match with Momoshiro-kun and Kaidou-kun in the Kanto Finals!"
"Eh? You actually know tennis?" Marui got a bit surprised though he was still thinking who the hell Momoshiro-kun and Kaidou-kun were. Although the Kanto Finals, could be enough evidence that she knew them. Weird. Tennis and dentists were too far off subjects. Ann nodded in agreement.
"Yup! I'm Fudoumine's Tachibana Kippei's sister!" She introduced herself once more and winked at him. Marui nodded back and gave her a smirk.
"So that's why you seem so familiar…" He mumbled as he stroked his chin. "You're also that girl who made our ace fall off the stairs right?"
Ann puffed her cheeks yet again and became crestfallen. "Kirihara Akaya fell off on his own."
"That's what he said," Marui told her, reminiscing the day their ace explained to them what caused his injuries. Unfortunately for Kirihara, Yanagi Renji was there, packed with all the details that happened during the camp.
"And it's true," Ann continued, crossing her arms as a sign of exasperation.
"Oookkay hothead," Marui shrugged and stopped walking and paused in front of the girl. Ann could only give him a small glare, not quite sure what he's going to do next. Maybe stick his gum on his hair? Or tell her she's so infuriating…or…
"Thanks," He muttered in her ears, which obviously made the other flush. Then, Ann tried to give him a slap, which the redheaded tensai easily dodged.
"Now you're planning to slap the whole team?" Marui joked, then reached to his pockets then got a few coins and threw it to Ann, which the latter caught in her arms.
"What's this for?" Ann intrigued, looking at the coins that was now in her hands. Marui sighed and waved his goodbye.
"Payment for the ice cream. Next thing I want to be is a man who's indebted to the dentist's assistant," He answered then walked away from the girl, still waving as he walked. "Or if you want to think of it as a tip, then do so."
"What?!" A vein popped on the girl's forehead as she watched him go.
"I'll be seeing you again, Assistant Ann…"
"Take care of you damned tooth you bastard!" She fumed. She then tightened her grip on the tip she just received from the tensai. "I never want to see you again!!"
She breathed hard, then finally sighed. "Anesthetic's not enough for that guy, he needs a tranquilizer."
He smirked.
She smiled.
"Jackal! My tooth!" Marui Bunta shouted to his doubles partner. The latter could only sigh.
"I think I need to go to the dentist," the tensai told himself, pretending that his tooth was aching.
"Good luck with that," Jackal told him. Marui stood up and headed out to the same shop and went directly to Mizushima the dentist.
And thus begun Marui's weekly trip to the dentist.
Never Ending.