A/N: All the words in italics are in ENGLISH and the rest are in Japanese ^^
Elena dropped her English books on the teacher's table, giving a bright smile to the Hyotei Regulars occupying the seats, facing her. For some reason she could not fathom, Atobe had told her that he will allow her to date Moo-chan on the condition that she would be an English tutor the regulars after class, just before practice. It was for Moo-chan; and it was English so how hard can it be?"
"Alright guys, I have asked you all to prepare a sentence in English so I could gauge how well you know the language. The questions I will ask—or most of them—will be in English so you could practice your comprehension. Since most of you are in your senior years, I think this will be a breeze, right?"
A wave of chuckles arose from them, all of them confident and obviously aiming for the top spot. Only Shishido looked nervous, despite the bravado and the smile that he was trying to put up.
"Alright, we'll start with Akutagawa-senpai. Can you please stand in front of the class?"
Jiro skipped to the front of the class, excited. "Alright! Here I go-I am ready to do the dead!"
Elena raised an eyebrow, staring wide eyed at him. "So, you're a necrophiliac, Akutagawa-senpai?"
"Ehh? Of course not, Rena-chan! Where did you get that weird idea?"
"…Senpai, it's 'deed', not 'dead'."
" Oh sorry-I forgeted."
"I 'forgot'."
"Eh? What did you forget, Rena-chan?" Jiro blinked at her as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Nothing senpai—can you give me your sentence?"
Jiro opened his mouth enthusiastically—then closed it again. He frowned as he looked up, scratching his head. "I forgot my sentence…My brain is nothing."
"Are you telling me that there's nothing in your brain or that you forgot your sentence?"
"Ah yes! That one!"
"Which one?" Elena stared at him, wanting him to just spit it out and save her the torture.
"You don't have to be mean, Rena-chan. I just forgot what I was going to say." He pouted at her. By the time Jiro sat, Elena was looking at Oshitari with hopeful eyes as he stood in the middle of the room; she knew that the tensai of Hyoutei would be decent. She looked at the empty seat at the back and turned to Oshitari.
"Where is Kabaji-senpai?"
Oshitari adjusted his glasses, their lenses reflecting the light as he lifted his head to answer her query.
"Kabaji is absenting today. He have neckache for forth day."
Needless to say, Elena was shocked as she stared at him, not knowing what the hell was going on. "A-A neckache? I'm afraid I don't understand."
"A neckache." Oshitari placed a hand on his neck and then pointed at his throat. "You understanding me?"
"You mean to say that he has sore throat?" Elena wasn't sure if she should ask how he knew seeing that her Moo-chan barely says anything anyway. "So senpai, can you give us your sentence?"
"In contest, I portraited Gakuto not good so I am on a hard place. I am under the first place."
Gakuto suddenly laughed. "Oh Yuushi, you're so punny!"
Elena couldn't find anything funny—hell, she hasn't even started on how to make heads or tails of what Oshitari said. And Gakuto actually got it right: Oshitari made a pun. A very painful pun.
"Oshitari-senpai, you're saying that you entered a contest and painted Gakuto, but it was not so good so you only got second place, right?"
"Yes. I said that."
"You should have said 'During a contest, I did not draw Gakuto that well so I got second place.'"
Oshitari adjusted his glasses. "I see."
She took another deep breath before turning to Choutarou. "How about you, Ootori-senpai, could you please stand in front and deliver your sentence?"
Choutarou smiled sheepishly while scratching his head as he walked towards the front of the classroom that they reserved just for the tutorial that afternoon. Elena couldn't help but smile at him as she forgot her growing exasperation—one can't really stay stressed once they have gazed upon his 'nice guy' smile.
"Alright senpai, begin."
Choutarou smile before opening his mouth. "Today is many raining-it is pouring cat and dog!" He turned to Elena, grinning. "How was that, Rena-chan? I used an idiom!"
It took all of Elena's willpower to keep herself from banging her head on the table. "Anou, senpai?"
He looked at her so earnestly that she didn't have the heart to tell him that only one cat and dog fell from the sky. "That was…a good attempt, senpai. Next is Shishido-sen—"
Shishido held up his hands, sweat trickling down his forehead as his eyes gave her a glare that was probably meant to intimidate her—if he didn't look like he was terrified that she was going to eat him. "Don't english me! I'm panic!"
Hiyoshi scoffed. "If Shishido is too scared to take his turn, then I suppose I could humour him and go ahead." He stood and confidently strode to the front, taking Elena and the other regulars aback. "I did not prepare a sentence—however, you may ask me any question and I will answer."
"A-Alright." Elena smiled despite herself. Maybe all hope wasn't lost after all—everyone was sure, after all, that the one who would inherit the captaincy after Atobe graduates would be him. "Can you tell me what 'to inherit' means?
Hiyoshi smirked, as if amused that she didn't come up with a harder question for him. "To inherit. Thats means is get money from dead people
Everyone just stared. "So…senpai, if I rob a grave of a dead person, that means I inherit his possessions?"
Shishido burst out laughing. "What the hell, Hiyoshi? I thought you were good at this!"
"At least I tried—I'm not panic."
Choutarou held up his hands, coming in between them. "Now now calm down—Do not brother other. Hyoutei is family, yes?"
Hiyoshi glared at Shishido, his ego hurt. "You look family, but I am not."
Oshitari sighed, fixing his glasses. "Always fighting—this happen forth times already."
"Don't helping them Yuushi, let it mother call Sensei."
Elena, exhausted and drained of willpower, hit her head repeatedly on the blackboard.
The sound of the water gushing from the faucet near the courts calmed her as the cool liquid touched her face. She had just excused herself from the tutorial to go freshen up, unable to stand the insanity; the session wasn't over since she still had to listen to Gakuto's sentence and roughly 45 more minutes.
She wiped her face with a tissue paper as she walked dejectedly back to hell. As she reached the front entrance, she stopped as she came face to face with the man that she loved—dragging two racket bags around as usual. He had also stopped and was quietly watching her as she finally reached him.
"K-Kabaji-senpai. I heard from Oshitari-senpai that you had sore throat? How are you feeling?"
He stared for a while before giving her a nod—an indication that he was just fine.
Elena blushed as she stared up at him shyly.
"This is the first time I've been to Hyotei Gakuen-I'm looking forward to it to tell the truth. But are you sure this is a good idea?" Takashi Kawamura turned to his companion, worried of the consequences of their 'quest'.
"Even if the data provided by Mizuki is dubious, it's still worth checking out." Glasses glinting in the sunlight, Sadaharu Inui stared at Hyotei Gakuen, filled with purpose. "You don't have to come with me if you're so worried." He walked past the gates with Taka-san hurriedly following to keep up with him.
"If I'm so worried, then all the more reason not to leave you alone!-" he bumped Inui who had just suddenly stopped in his tracks. Before Taka could ask what was wrong, he found his eyes following his team mate's line of sight—and saw one of his rivals, the Copy Monster, standing in front of a pretty girl. One would think that they were in the middle of the conversation, save for their silence and the contact that their eyes made with one another.
"Is that…her?" Taka blinked in disbelief.
"Seems so." Inui already had his notebook open and was scribbling coolly in it.
Kabaji gave her one last nod and a grunt before he made his way to the courts to prepare for practice. After seeing him, Elena felt energized, fisting her hands in front of her and nodding to herself. "Yes! I can do it! All for Moo-chan!"
"Excuse me." A voice from behind startled her, making her jump. She turned, irritated but her remark died in her throat. "Y-You're from Seishun Gakuen."
"Yes. I would just like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind." The man in glasses coolly told her as he poised his pen over a page of his notebook. "What is your name and how long have you been going out with Kabaji Munehiro?"
"I'm not going to answer that!" Elena felt the blood rise to her face—she couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment.
"It's rude to ask those kinds of questions, Inui—" a couple of girls ran past Taka, taking him by surprise as they bumped his shoulder and made him spill his racket on the ground.
Elena bent down to pick it up, touched by his kindness. She remembered that he was the player who sent Moo-chan to the hospital; although she harboured a grudge against him because of that, she couldn't deny the fact that he was a nice guy and probably had little choice at that time. "Here." She handed the racket to Taka.
Inui gaped. "W-Wait a minute-"
"MOERUZE, BAAHNING!" Taka was suddenly like a different person—but Elena didn't pay the switch in personality any mind. There was something else bothering her as she reached her breaking point.
"It's BURNING, not BAANING. Enunciate your R's properly!"
"GRAATO SPIRIT!"
"It's GREAT! Not GRAATO!"
"WHAAT? I CAN'T UNDASTAND!"
"What' there to undERstand?" Elena stormed off but was followed promptly by Kawamura.
"DON'T ANGGURY!"
"Don't be ANGRY!'
"I'M NOTSU ANGGURY!"
"Why am I even bothering to correct you? AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Elena ran all over campus with a Taka-san in burning mode right behind her.
Inui, seeing that Kawamura is not going to leave Elena alone anytime soon, placed a call to Fuji. "Send Momoshiro and Kaidou immediately. Kawamura just entered his burning mode."
"Where's that girl?" Gakuto pouted. "I haven't even given my sentence yet!"
Oshitari was about to say something before the door burst open-Elena ran in, followed by Kawamura with a racket.
"What is Seigaku doing here?" Shishido was instantly on his feet.
"Leave me ALONE!"
"Not until you admit I HABU GOODO ENGRISH!"
"NEVER!"
"COMU ONO BAYBEE!
"Kawamura-senpai!" Takeshi Momoshiro ran into the door with Kaoru Kaidou right behind him.
"What's the meaning of this?" Shishido demanded as Momo and Kaidou took each of Kawamura's arms, trying to drag him away. Echizen was right behind them, standing just outside the door.
"Come on Senpai—stop it already!" Momoshiro shouted as Oshitari smirked.
"Well well, so you're here. How about you call Kikumaru and we have a rematch, right here, right now?"
"Ehh? Talking big even if you and your partner lost to me and Kikumaru-senpai?"
Kaidou on the other hand was glaring at Shishido
"Ha, you came here to take your loss back, Sune—ku?"
"Psssh! I'll make you taste my Boomerangu Sune—ku."
By this time, Momoshiro was shouting at Oshitari. "I'll take you on by myself-you'll bow before my Dunko Smashi!"
"IT'S DUNK SMASH!"
All of them almost jumped out of their shoes as they face a very pissed off Elena.
"And it's Snake, not SUNE-KU!"
"What's up with her?" Momoshiro whispered to Oshitari, who just shrugged, as perplexed as the next guy.
Echizen smirked, pulling his cap low. "You stiru habu lotsu to go."
"It's 'You still have lots to go'! Are you sure you grew up in the States?" Elena shouted at him before marching out of the room, leaving a shocked audience behind her.
I wanted to scream. Now I know why that self-obsessed diva had so insisted on tutoring his lackeys-he wanted to make me crawl on my knees and kill myself by banging my head on the table. I marched towards the courts, wanting to see him to calm myself before I broke the 5th commandment. As usual, he stood out like a mountain in a landscape of humans, loyally at his so-called master's beck and call. I stared at him, waiting for him to notice, pouring my will into my stare as my heart called out to him silently. Whether he heard my quiet cry or through sheer coincidence, he looked at me. And miraculously, he placed one foot in front of the other, startling the demon, Keigo Atobe, as if Moo-chan was an inanimate object that suddenly moved on it's own free will. He stopped right in front of me and I saw my vision of him blur as the tears stung my eyes.
Seeing my distress, he lifted a hand and placed it on my head, warming me to my very toes as he uttered six little words that served as the my lifesaver just as I felt myself sinking to the bottom of the sea:.
"Hold on. You can do it."
The enunciation was perfect; the accent was British.
A/N: I didn't mean any offense nor discrimination when I wrote this piece so no flames please ^^ English is also my second language—the inspiration came from my time as an English tutor for other ESL students haha. This is strictly for everyone's enjoyment!
