July 3, 2007 to July 4, 2007 (REFORMATTED May 1, 2010)

Disclaimers: I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.
Summary: Thanks to the source of Tomoka, the Regulars find out that Ryuzaki Sakuno always went alone to the fireworks on July 4th. The Seigaku Regulars devise an unknown plan so that Echizen Ryoma must take a stand and spend his July 4th with her. Enjoy! And don't forget to review please!

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Part Two
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Early next morning, Echizen Ryoma woke up as a certain somebody was dancing and yelling around cheerfully downstairs. He had a headache and changed, showering before eating his breakfast.

Sitting down on the table, he noticed something different: his breakfast was JAPANESE FOOD, not WESTERN FOOD. Inside him, he sighed with happiness and began to gobble it down. As he stuffed the rice in his mouth, Echizen asked his cousin why there was a Japanese breakfast today.

Nanako replied cheerfully as she checked on the miso soup, "Oh, Obaa-san found out about your date with Sakuno-chan on July 4th from Ojii-san, who found out when you left that ticket on your desk." She giggled for a moment before returning to the cooking.

Ryoma gave a glare at his baka oyaji, who was reading a newspaper (technically, a magazine). Finishing the crumbs of his last Japanese breakfast in the entire year, he grabbed his bag and headed out the door.

As he walked to school, he thought to himself:

Himself: Why did I ask Ryuzaki out on a date on July Fourth? I have better things to do.

Good: Because when you saw her innocent face, you couldn't help but to let her in.

Bad: You Good Conscious, you're trying to corrupt this guy! He only needs tennis in his life, and nothing more. No lovey-dovey stuff – very annoying stuff Ryoma.

Himself: She's only a puppy who follows me around, that's all.

Good: But if you are able to grasp her heart, then you'll have the best life ever!

Bad: Lies, lies…you want to know what love is? Huh? Huh?

Himself: Um…

Bad: Exactly! You are perfectly fine the way you are! You don't need this love stuff to complicate your life – it'll block out your tennis life! And would you do THAT? I don't think so!

Good (eyes shimmering): But love is exquisite! Love is all about a romantic mood, a fine delicacy, being together with the one you li – no, love! It's a beautiful sight, a pretty gift, something to be received and happy about, something that –

BACK-HAND SLAP!

(Good flattens to a piece of paper and flutters down to the ground)

Bad (eyes burning): Love, shmove. Who needs those kinds of things? Right now Ryoma, (patting him on the shoulder), all you need to focus on is tennis, and breaking this promise off!

(Good reaches out his hand, shaking his head) Good: Don't do it, Ryoma-san! If you do, you'll break her heart, and nothing will ever be the same aga… (Good dies and disappears)

Bad: MWHAHAHHAHA! I HAVE REINED OVER ECHIZEN RYOMA NOW! SO LISTEN TO ALL MY COMM–

(Big boulder comes out of nowhere and rolls Bad Conscious flat)

Bad: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Huh," shook Ryoma, as he rubbed his temple. He found himself facing a wall, with a plaque reading, "Seishun Gakuen Academy". "Oh," he said with a tint of surprise, "I'm here."

He proceeded to the tennis courts and found that the regulars were bunched up in a group. He could hear them laughing their heads off real loudly, which annoyed him. So the freshman dug through his tennis bag and performed a Twist Serve.

The tennis ball sped through the crowd and hit Momoshiro in the forehead. The orb came to a sudden drop and rolled to the second year's feet. A vein pop grew in his head, and his eyes wandered to find a first year tugging down his white cap and walking away.

"ECHIZEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Momo jumped on him and began strangling him with a headlock.

"Momo-senpai," choked Ryoma, grabbing on to his arm and trying his hardest to pull away.

"Nya, Momo, let him go!" laughed Kikumaru Eiji.

"Eiji-senpai, demo!" protested the powerhouse, releasing Echizen as he breathed heavily, clinging on to his throat.

"Saa, Momo, we've got better things to do. More planning to be done, so let's get going," said the prodigy, Fuji Syuusuke. He gave a sadistic grin at Ryoma before turning his head back to the group.

At the freshman had left the group, the buchou came striding in. His glasses flashed in the sunlight before he spoke, "Everyone here, fifty laps!"

After the freshmen of the tennis club cleaned up and parted their separate ways back home, Ryoma gave a thought about what his senpai-tachi were doing, and why they left so abruptly right after practice. They would usually stay behind a little longer…

Making a right turn at the intersection, a green bush which stood out from the rest rustled. Echizen's attention focused there, as his eyes wandered to observe that odd thing. He shook his head and moved on. The bush rustled again, and a sigh could be heard.

BUZZ…"Viper to Porcupine, Viper to Porcupine, over…fshhhhhhh," hissed Kaidoh Kaoru, who held the walky-talky close to his mouth.

"Porcupine to Viper, Porcupine to Viper, AND DON'T CALL ME PORCUPINE, DAMN IT! Over," was the response, as Kaidoh drew the device away from his as far as possible.

"Viper to Porcupine, Viper to Porcupine, the victim is coming your way, fssshhh, I repeat, the victim is coming your way, over…fshhhh," replied the second year, as he turned off the gadget and stuffed it in his pocket. He broke out of the bush and ran off.

"Excellent…Ii Data," mumbled the Data Man, Inui Sadaharu. He scribbled down some notes in his secretive notebook before scurrying after Echizen.

As the rookie player walked down the road, he noticed that the trees were…er, trees, I guess. They looked like trees, and they didn't look like trees. It seemed a little…odd. So he went over and began poking the trees, realizing that they were the usual bark and trunk.

Walking away, he stepped on something rubbery and soft, yet hard. Echizen observed it closely, and stepped on it again. He kept on trampling that thing until he was satisfied. Smirking, Ryoma said aloud, "Mada mada dane," before leaving the trees alone.

Appearing behind the real trees, two men watched the boy wander off deeper into the street. One of them buzzed their device and spoke, "Acrobatic to Data Man, Acrobatic to Data Man, over." The other one was dancing around on one foot.

"Data Man to Acrobatic, has the victim gone by already? Data Man to Acrobatic, over," noised the machine.

"Nya, yea! And Acrobatic to Data Man, over."

"Eiji-senpai! How can you be talking with Inui-senpai when your partner here has a throbbing foot!" complained Momo.

"Nya, hoi hoi!" started Eiji, flipping before returning to his standing position, "We've got to observe Ochibi! Now hurry up and let's get to his house before he does!" The acrobatic began to run into a dark alley.

"Eiji-senpai, matte!" wailed the second year, as he held on to his foot and hopped into the dark alley along with him, tripping on a rock before crawling into the place.

Out from the wall appeared Inui with his notebook. He grinned and murmured, "Ii Data," before moving on to his next destination, talking into the walky-talky as he went.

The boy yawned and stretched his arms in the air. He silently continued on walking and made a turn at another corner. Almost home, and then I can let out all my frustration about this July Fourth thing and the senpai-tachi on baka oyaji.

Echizen began humming to himself as he paced and strolled slowly. His eyes were closed and he could feel the gentle breeze blowing into his face. His ears heard the sound of rustling leaves in the trees, the birds bidding each other adieu, and squeaking poles.

Squeaking poles?

His head jerked one way and another, glimpsing of the sight of a moving electric pole. But none were found, so he sighed in relief and continued on ambling.

However, Ryoma didn't notice a certain pole that was shaking all over. The fuka-buchou, Oishi Shuichiro, was trembling just by grasping on to the diameter of the stick.

"I wondered why I even agreed to suspect Echizen from the pole. It's dangerous, someone could get hurt! And what if this pole falls down and hits somebody! That's even more dangerous!" he scolded to himself, suggesting many 'what ifs'.

"Echizen humming to himself when he walks, precious Ii Data," murmured Inui, as he scribbled his notes into the book.

"INUI!" yelled Oishi, "Don't startle me like that! You could scare someone, you know! And…OH MY FREAKIN' GOD!"

Oishi sweat-dropped as he gaped at Inui's position.

"What's wrong, Oishi? Ahh," the Data Man said, "You must be surprised at my current stance. Well," he began his analysis, "I wouldn't be too surprised. It was an 89 percent that you would be afraid and worrying your head off when I'm like this."

The sneakers' shoelaces that Inui wore were hanging, tied to the electric pole. However, because of his heavy, strong body structure, the shoelaces were hanging on by a thread or two.

"Ah, but don't worry," reassured Inui, "Although my shoelaces are hanging by a thread or two, I'll last about three minutes and eighteen seconds more. And also the percent chance of me falling before my P-P-P-P-R-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-D-D-D-I-C-C-C-C-T-T-E-D-D-D-D T-T-T-T-T-OUCH!-I-I-I-M-M-M-E I-I-I-I-S-S-S A-A-A-B-B-B-B-B-B-O-U-U-U-U-T-T-T-T-T-T S-S-S-I-X-X-X-X-X-X-T-T-Y-Y-Y-GAKKKKK!-Y-Y S-S-S-S-S-S-E-E-E-E-V-V-E-E-E-E-N-N-N-N P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-E-E-E-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-C-C-C-C-E-N-N-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-AAAAAAH!." Sadaharu sighed in relief as he used his left hand to wipe of some sweat and black marks off his glasses.

"Daijoubuka, Inui? You're stuttering quite the bit," asked the motherly hen.

Steam burned off from his head, and Oishi traced closely. "I'm fine, Oishi. It's just that because I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I A-A-M-M-M-M-M-M C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-O-N-N-N-N-N-E-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-T-T-T-T-T-T-E-E-E-E-E-D-D-D-D-D T-T-T-T-T-T-O-O-O-O-O the pole without any rubber, the electrical S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-H-H-H-H-H-H-O-O-O-C-C-C-C-K-W-W-W-W-W-W-A-A-V-E-S-S-S-S-S-S burn me each tim-E-E-E-E-E-E S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-O-O-O-O-O-M-M-M-E-E-O-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-E-E-E-E U-U-U-S-S-S-S-S-E-E-E-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S T-T-T-T-T-T-T-H-H-H-H-H-E phone EKEKEK!"

His entire body was covered with soot and black marks so much that you could barely recognize him. Inui gave a cheesy grin to Oishi before writing down some notes.

"IDDDDSSSSSOOOOOHHHHHHEEEEEDDDDDDDOOOOOOOOIIIIITTTTTTEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNOOOOORRRRRRRRRBBBIIIIINNGGGGGGSOOOOOCKKKKDDDDDIIIIIILLLLLLLIIIIICCCCKKKKKKIIIIICCCCIIIIITTTEEEEEEEEE…"

The Data Man's body continued to fidget and twitch around as the shoelace threads began to loosen more. Oishi, seeing this, gulped and swallowed before taking a deep breath. He reached out his hand and said, "Inui! Grab hold of my hand!"

Inui stretched his arm out, but their fingers simply skimmed each other. Oishi extended his hand, and at last grabbed his hand. However, the phone lines had to come at the wrong time.

"AKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!" screamed Oishi as his body shook in midair and shuddered all around. After a while, the waves had stopped coming and he fainted, loosening his grip with Inui and falling downwards.

"Oishi!" exclaimed Inui in surprise, trying to reach out his hand. But the extra force against gravity snapped the shoelace thread, and he went tumbling down into the ground as well.

SPLAT!

"Hn?" turned around Ryoma in confusion, looking behind him to see black steam rising from the street he had previously turned a corner from. Echizen tugged down his cap and shoved his hands into his pocket, walking back home.

"Ii Data," uttered the roasted and burnt Inui, as he tried to speak into his device, but fainted.

"Where are Inui-senpai and Oishi-senpai?" asked Kaidoh wonderingly, hissing afterwards.

"Be patient, baka mamushi," retorted the powerhouse, Momoshiro.

"Urasai!"

"You wanna fight?"

The two second years bashed their heads and glared at each other menacingly. The rest sighed and waited for their arrival.

"Where could they be, nya? OISHI!" Kikumaru yelled, cupping his hands to his mouth, "WHERE ARE YOU?"

A zap came from the machine.

"Ah! It must be Inui-senpai!" cheered Momoshiro, turning his head away from the fight.

"Ii Data," mumbled the speaker.

"Saa, I wonder what that means," the tensai said to himself, smiling.

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Owari
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A/N: Happy Independence Day! This is part two out of three, so the third one will be out by night time (for me that is). So please be patient, thank you! And to answer someone's question about why Japan is celebrating Independence Day, it's because I'm crazy. Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!