A/N: I'M BACK!!
Replies:
Klyc: Thank God you finally registered. Welcome to FanFiction dot net!
CrazyGirlofManyNames: I just love scaring Momo. I scared him a lot during my first Amazing Race, as a matter of fact.
Hao is hot: Actually, Momo-chan's the only guy in the group. That's a big "OUCH" on his part.
Saemi: YES! You and Momo-chan have a high amount of reiatsu! Hehehe… And don't worry. I'm in Episode 3 of BLEACH now. I'm sure I can add some of the other characters in the future.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Naruto, Ouran, Prince of Tennis, Shaman King, and Yu-Gi-Oh.
»» THE AMAZING RACE: ANIME EDITION ««
»» CHAPTER 4 ««
7:28 p.m.
Team 4 (Manta, Inui, Kaidoh, Honey, Neji)
"Don't you think that the joke you played on Team 6 was a bit too mean?" Neji asked, shutting the door of the theater on their way out.
"I only wanted something enjoyable for the show," Yamazaki Megumi said innocently.
"Is it because of that or is it for your own personal amusement?" Manta asked suspiciously.
Megumi grinned mischievously. "Sure!" she said. "Let's go with that, too!"
Inui approached Ichigo and handed him the amulet. "We've completed the task," he said. "What's next?"
Ichigo stuffed the amulet in his pocket. He took out an envelope and handed it to Inui. "Here."
Inui opened the envelope and started to read the clue. "Head to Taal Volcano and look for a red Route Marker."
Kaidoh looked a bit appalled. "A… volcano?"
"There's nothing to be worried about, Kaidoh," Inui assured, opening his green notebook. "The volcano hasn't been active for years now, and the chance of it exploding at this moment would be 3.1 percent."
"That's right." Megumi nodded, although she was wondering on where exactly Inui got that information. "Besides, would we really make you go someplace dangerous?"
That statement made perfect sense, so Team 4 decided to change the topic – their mode of transportation.
"The Taal Volcano is in the city of Tagaytay, which is an hour-and-fifteen-minute ride from here if we ride an FX," Inui explained, reading from his notebook. "It's a van that functions as a taxi," he added once he noticed the others' curious stares.
"Ii-chan, what does FX mean?" Honey asked curiously(i).
At that, Inui frowned and closed his notebook. "I have no idea…" he replied.
As Team 4 walked away from the theater, they heard a bloodcurdling scream that caused all of them to jump and turn around.
"That sounded like Momoshiro and Saemi-san," Inui said, adjusting his glasses.
Kaidoh looked at Megumi doubtfully. "Is that your doing, too?" he asked.
"Oi, the Grim Reaper prank was the only prank that I planned!" Megumi said defensively. "I had nothing to do with why they're screaming right now!"
Team 4 remained silent for a moment. "Maybe they saw a real ghost," Manta assumed.
Silence again. Then, they all shook their heads, thinking that Team 6 was pranked by another team, then left.
»» WOOT! ««
9:58 p.m.
Team 2 (Jou, Mokuba, Tezuka, Mori, Naruto)
"I thought you said the ride would only take an hour and fifteen minutes!" Jou yelled.
Kawaguchi Natsumi shrugged uncaringly. "Hey, the ride would only take an hour and fifteen minutes if there wasn't heavy traffic."
The FX ride was exceptionally dreary for Jou. It was very quiet and he wanted to talk to somebody, but Naruto and Mokuba were fast asleep, Natsumi was playing with her Nintendo DS (and she wouldn't share), and – as much as he tried – Mori and Tezuka weren't talking. AT ALL.
Worse, they didn't stop for something to eat, so Jou guessed that if the rumbling in his stomach would ever be an earthquake, any Richter scale would probably be broken.
"Oh, look!" Natsumi cried, causing Mokuba and Naruto to wake up. "We're here!"
They looked out of the window and saw a volcano amidst the darkness. "It's kinda underdeveloped for any normal volcano," Naruto remarked.
Mokuba nodded. "Yeah. But it looks really cool, don't you think?"
The FX stopped and they stepped out. After Tezuka paid the driver, a cool breeze suddenly swept past them.
"I need… my jacket!" Naruto cried, his teeth chattering.
"You didn't bring any jacket, remember?" Jou pointed out.
Suddenly, another FX stopped in front of them, and Team 4 – plus Megumi – stepped out.
"TAKASHI!" Honey squealed. He was about to run forward but unfortunately, Megumi grabbed him.
"You're not supposed to talk to your opponents during the race, Honey-kun," Megumi told him. "Well, unless you're insulting them, then that's fine with me," she added as an afterthought.
Honey sniffed, but he nodded anyway.
"I think we're allowed to talk to each other in this occasion," Tezuka spoke up, causing Jou to almost jump, realizing that Tezuka actually talked.
"Uh… why?" Manta asked.
Tezuka held up their clue, which contained a green circle. "This in an Intersection symbol," he explained, "which means that we can team up with another group."
"Wow…" Jou said in awe. Tezuka actually made use of fifteen words in a sentence!
"Which means that you want us to be impermanent teammates, Tezuka?" Inui asked, smirking.
Tezuka nodded, although his expression was blank. "Precisely."
"YAY!" Honey squealed, running to Mori once more. "TAKASHI! I haven't seen you for a long time!"
Megumi sweat dropped. "It's been only nine hours, Honey-kun," she pointed out.
"Look," Kaidoh said, pointing to the shore. "There's a huge boat we can use to get to the volcano."
They all went to the water's edge, pushed the boat to the water, climbed on, and then Mori and Kaidoh started rowing.
"I'm hungry…" Naruto muttered, rubbing his stomach.
"Me, too…" Jou said feebly, and his rumbling stomach supported his statement.
Megumi opened her bag. She took out a pack of junk food and handed it to Jou. "Here."
Jou looked at the pack. "Oishi Prawn Crackers…" he read(ii).
"It's oh-WEE-shee," Megumi corrected. "You're saying the name as if you're talking about the guy from Team 1."
Tezuka raised an eyebrow. Oishi (the junk food) sounds like a pretty unusual name for prawn crackers. Now that he thought about it, Oishi's hairstyle looks similar to the prawn in the pack. But he wouldn't say that out loud, of course…
"Oh, look! I can see Rukia-san from here!" Natsumi cried, waving to a girl by the port.(iii)
"Rukia-san!" Megumi cried as they hopped off the boat. "Did we keep you waiting?"
The girl named Rukia shook her head. "Not really," she replied. "Team 5 just finished the challenge, and to tell the truth, it gave me a lot of enjoyment."
"Baka, I'm forgetting my manners!" Megumi cried. "Guys, this is Kuchiki Rukia. She's Ichigo's friend. You know – the guy from the theater?"
Teams 2 and 4 greeted Rukia, and then she cleared her throat. "I'll now explain the mechanics of this challenge," she said as she went through her bag and pulled out a drawing pad. "This challenge involves the cooperation between two groups. The two groups will tie a rope around them, and they must go through an obstacle course in this volcano without breaking the rope. You must also collect a red, blue, black, and white flag. Any questions?"(iv)
"I have one," Manta spoke up. "Is it really necessary to illustrate the mechanics using teddy bears and bunnies?"
"Well, it makes the explanation more comprehensible, doesn't it?" Rukia said imperturbably.
"Rukia-chan's drawings are kawaii, too," Honey spoke up, making Rukia grin.
"Anyway," Rukia said, handing them a bunch of rope, "organize yourselves and tie this around your waists. Wait for my signal."
Tezuka tied the rope around his waist then handed the rest of the rope to Inui. Inui did the same, and that procedure continued until Manta and Mokuba were tied up as well.
"Man, we're gonna have a troublesome time with us tied up together," Jou remarked.
"Oh, don't worry," Natsumi said. "You'll do fine."
"Are you ready?" Rukia asked, taking out her whistle
Teams 2 and 4 nodded.
"Ready… set…" And Rukia's loud whistle pierced throughout the area as both groups – led by Tezuka and Inui – walked rapidly towards the red flag. Inui quickly grabbed it and they continued to walk rapidly, almost stumbling on a stone on their way.
A few minutes later, they already collected the first three flags. Unfortunately, the white flag couldn't be seen anywhere.
"Oh, great," Jou muttered disconsolately. "Now what do we do?"
Naruto brightened up. "I got it!" He rummaged for something in his pocket, pulled out a white handkerchief and a stick. (No one dared to ask why Naruto had a stick in his pocket.) Then he tied the handkerchief on the stick, making it look like a white flag. "Ta da!"
"Is this even legal?" Kaidoh and Neji asked at the same time.
"Not really," Inui replied. "But the camera crew isn't filming us, so why should we complain?"
Tezuka nodded. He didn't really approve of breaking the rules, but he didn't really want to be in this reality TV show in the first place. It was Fuji and Inui's idea. He just wanted everything to get over it.
And so they walked rapidly to the Finish Line where Rukia, Natsumi, and Megumi were waiting.
"We've completed the task," Tezuka said, handing the flags to Rukia.
Rukia looked at the flags circumspectly. "Yeah, everything seems to be in order," she said. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to Tezuka. "Here's your clue."
"'Head to Boracay,'" Tezuka read.
Honey brightened up. "Really? Boracay?"
"You've been there, Honey-san?" Manta asked.
"Not really…" Honey replied. "But Takashi and I were supposed to go there next summer."
"Then let's not waste time," Tezuka said. "Let's go."
Rukia watched the Group 2 and Group 4 – plus Megumi and Natsumi – leave the island before looking at the flags again. "I see…" she said to herself. "So they decided to make another flag, huh?" She took out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Kasumi-chan? It's me. It looks like you'll be giving your first penalty."
»» WOOT! ««
9:39 a.m. the next day…
Group 3 (Yugi, Chocolove, Eiji, Tamaki, Sasuke)
The Group 3 was taking a boat ride to the island of Boracay. While there, they were irritated because of Chocolove's jokes and they had no other food to munch on except for Oishi (oh-WEE-shee) Bread Pan, Oishi (oh-WEE-shee) Prawn Crackers, and Oishi (oh-WEE-shee) Pillows. Blame Eiji for buying junk food with a brand name that reminded him of his doubles partner!
"Isn't there anything else to eat besides Oishi (oh-WEE-shee)?" Tamaki asked. He had to admit that his first taste of junk food was very enlivening, but eating the same junk food was making his taste buds numb.
"Hmm…" Nomura Shizuka rummaged through her bag. "As a matter of fact, I have something here other than Oishi (oh-WEE-shee)…"
Yugi and Tamaki brightened up. "Really?"
Shizuka took out another pack of junk food. "Ta da! E-aji Chips with Cheese Dip!"
Everyone sweat dropped, except for Eiji. "That's so cool, nya!" he exclaimed, grabbing the E-aji chips from Shizuka. "There's a pack of junk food named after me, too!"
"Actually it's E-aji, not Eiji," Shizuka said. "But it's close enough."
The boat finally reached the shore and they climbed out just in time to find the Amazing Race flag nearby with Kasumi and the other groups already standing there.
"Aw, we're last place?" Chocolove groaned as they approached Kasumi.
"Technically, yeah," Kasumi replied. "But, unfortunately, the Team 7 just withdrew from the competition because Seto-san had to be rushed to the hospital."
"The cuisine wasn't that bad," Lee piped up. "Maybe he was just being over-the-top about it."
"Even so, Seto-san filed a form of withdrawal from the competition, so we have nothing to do about it," Kasumi said. "So that still leaves you in last place."
"Aww…" Chocolove said sorrowfully.
"BUT!" Kasumi cried, causing the groups and the camera girls to jump. "Our secret cameras in the Taal Volcano have just witnessed a violation of the rules!"
Teams 2 and 4 gulped as a spotlight suddenly focused on them.
"These groups," Kasumi continued, "has made a makeshift item for them to continue with the race. And do you know what happens to those who break that certain rule?"
Everyone remained silent before Kasumi continued. "It's a one hour penalty, which means that Team 4 is in last place, and Team 2 is in fifth place."
Teams 2 and 4 just stood there and didn't complain – they deserved it, after all.
"So, it's reward time," Kasumi said. "For a day, you're going to have a day of relaxation here in Boracay!"
"Yay!" Eiji and Tamaki cried at the same time, hugging each other.
"You'll all be staying in Casa Camilla," Kasumi explained. "After the relaxation is over, the team in first place – Team 5 – will head at this exact same spot two days later at exactly 9:39 a.m. So, have fun!"
»» WOOT! ««
ENDNOTES:
i I have no idea what FX means either.
ii Ah, the Oishi Prawn Crackers… Pretty coincidental, isn't it? Actually, there's another junk food in the Philippines called E-aji, and I started to think, "Ooh! Oishi and E-aji! It's like the Golden Pair! Only it's junk food… Hey! Maybe we should call it 'The Golden Pair Junk Food!'" Excuse my randomness…
iii Kuchiki Rukia is another character from Bleach. She has a habit of drawing bunnies to explain or illustrate a situation.
iv This was inspired by the Amazing Race activity that the clubs in our school did – as luck would have it – Fort Santiago. Note: We won second place!