Yukimura and Yanagi were watching the practices, while Yanagi made suggestions for improvement. Sanada was helping the first-years with their serves. Marui was playing a match against a regular, Juzaburo Mori.
Saitou-sensei walked past rows of boys practicing their swings, while eyeing the Regulars' that were practicing. She spotted a blue headed boy talking to a taller, dark haired, boy and made a beeline for him.
"Excuse me, Yukimura-kun," Saitou-sensei tapped his shoulder gently.
"Yes, sensei?" Yukimura turned away from Yanagi, his eyes bright with curiosity.
"About your newcomer, Marui Bunta," Saitou-sensei began.
Yukimura nodded wordlessly. He could already see where the topic was going towards.
"Is he really going to be alright? I see him playing against Juzaburo-kun. Playing while chewing bubblegum isn't very safe," she said, looking worried.
Yukimura smiled, "Don't worry sensei. When he first joined, I asked him to get rid of the bubblegum. And when he got rid of it, he played a match. Then he choked."
"So he did choke on his gum!" Saitou-sensei gasped. "Yukimura-kun! How could you be so irresponsible to let him chew his gum while playing?"
"No. He did not choke on his gum." Yukimura sighed, recalling the spectacle Marui had caused.
Marui walked into the boys' locker room, chewing gum and popping it constantly. Yukimura walked up to Marui, smiling cheerfully, and in a voice that didn't match his smile, he said, "Marui-kun, I will not allow my players to chew gum, or take any food onto the courts. Please spit it out."
Marui scowled irritably, "Who are you?"
"I'm Yukimura Seiichi, and I'm the captain of the tennis team," Yukimura informed him sweetly. "Now if you'd please throw the gum away."
"Tch. You'll all be awed by my genius, anyways." Marui spat out his gum, and walked onto the court, calling, "Who's my opponent anyways?"
"Nishiki-senpai, will you please play a match with Marui-kun?"
Everyone stared. "Oi, Buchou, don't you think that's a little harsh? Nishiki-senpai's a regular. That kid was just bragging anyway."
"That's alright, Nishiki-senpai wanted to play him yesterday, but it was raining," Yukimura tilted his head and smiled coldly. No one protested after seeing that smile.
Marui stood on the baseline, and served. All the tennis club members had their eyes trained on the redhead who claimed to be a genius.
Yukimura wasn't impressed at all. Yanagi watched carefully when Nishiki started a vicious rally. Sanada looked interested. That confidence has to come from something... So what is it? It hit Sanada, and he realized: Yukimura had found a volleyer. And it appears to be a specialized volley too. Now why wasn't he volleying?
Yukimura's disinterest in the match deepened when the score went from one all, to 4-1, in Nishiki's favor. Where was all that arrogance he had seen in the locker room? Yanagi's eyes widened when Marui doubled up and started hacking and coughing. People started to panic, while Sanada scowled and demanded, "What is he choking on? Is he eating on the courts, Yukimura?"
"He already spat out his gum though," Yukimura replied.
Yanagi stared, "There doesn't seem to be anything in his mouth though."
Niou sauntered up to the Troika, pointing at the choking redhead, and smirked, "Poor kid, he's choking on nothing. You think I should give him back his gum?"
Yanagi nodded, looking slightly worried, "It's worth a shot."
Niou walked over to the beet red Marui, who was now gasping for air, and stuck a piece of gum into his mouth. Marui, who had been looked oxygen-deprived, instantly stopped choking, and started to chew his gum vigorously.
"All right! Time to show you my real skills and genius! Ready senpai?" Marui got into position, as Nishiki served. Another rally started, and after five minutes, Marui called, "Ready!"
Yukimura, who was now extremely frazzled, growled. Gum, on his courts. This was clearly getting out of hand. Sanada was already grumbling under his breath, at the sight of gum on court. Yanagi sighed, all the tennis club members would want to eat on courts now. Soft mutterings could be heard already.
Sanada stopped his grumbling when Marui's return hit the net. His eyes followed the ball, which had hit the cord and was neatly rolling along the top of the net. Then it just dropped onto Nishiki's side. Marui winked. "How that for genius?"
The match ended 6-4, Marui's victory, to everyone's amazement. The boy who choked on nothing, and revived after chewing gum, had won against a regular. A Rikkaidai regular. Boy, if that wasn't something.
Yukimura was delighted with Marui. Even when Marui had cheekily asked, "So, Buchou, the absence of my gum, has proved to be a disadvantage towards me. Even though it looks like it bugs the hell outta Sanada-fukubuchou, can I keep the gum? Oh, and ain't I a genius?"
Yukimura was delighted. A volleyer that was a candy addict, was a small price to pay, if he was better than a Regular. Marui Bunta had proved that he would be a strong addition to the team.
"You're on the team, Marui-kun. Welcome to the Rikkaidai Tennis Team," Yukimura smiled warmly.
"Do I get to keep my gum?" Marui repeated nervously. He popped his gum, while Sanada twitched irritably in the back at the noise.
"Yep. Keep annoying Sanada, don't get it stuck in anyone's hair, and it's a deal." Yukimura beamed, and Sanada's shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Deal!" Marui beamed, striking a victory pose, and shook Yukimura's hand.
"Yoroshiku! Weren't you all awed by my genius?" Marui chirped, facing the Regulars.
"So how did he choke?" Saitou-sensei inquired. This made no sense.
"He choked on nothing, claiming the absence of his gum had choked him..." Yukimura trailed off, seeing Marui pause his match.
"Excuse me?" Saitou-sensei blinked.
"Yep. He choked on nothing." Yukimura smiled sunnily, turning back to Saitou-sensei.
Saitou-sensei was speechless. How did one choke on nothing?
"As to why I allow him to chew his gum? It drives Sanada crazy when he pops his gum, so I allowed him to keep it. And, he chokes without his gum, and it helps his stamina. Somewhat. Will that be all, Saitou-sensei?" Yukimura inquired politely.
"Oh yes! Sorry for keeping you away from practice, I was just worried about Marui-kun-Oh my God. Is he eating a cake?" Saitou-sensei looked positively terrified for Marui.
Marui was chomping on his cake with one hand, while rallying with another member of the tennis club. He saw Saitou-sensei staring, and saluted his with his racquet after executing a perfect Iron Pole Strike. Then he took another huge bite of his cake and returned his opponent's serve and dashed up to the net.
Yanagi whispered something into Yukimura's ear, and walked off to supervise the first-years that were practicing their serves.
"Sensei, you look a little pale," Yukimura tilted his head, "maybe you should take a seat and watch Marui win the game? Sanada will be there in roughly ten seconds, to shout at Marui to get rid of the cake, according to Yanagi."
Saitou-sensei gulped and rubbed her eyes. She was definitely seeing things...or not.
Sanada walked onto the court shouting at Marui to put the cake away. Yukimura sighed. No one had managed to persuade Sanada to allow Marui to eat cakes on court. Only bubblegum was allowed. For now.
Yukimura's train of thought was interrupted when Marui tearfully protested, "That was a deluxe cake made especially for a genius like me! Ain't I a genius? Hey! Are you even listening to-Give it back fukubuchou! No, no, not the trash can!" And Marui's wails of despair continued long into the day, driving the rest of the club insane. Until Sanada ordered laps.