Eternal.Angel
July 9, 2007 to July 10, 2007 (EDITED August 13, 2007)

Disclaimers: I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis, and some magical terms are Angie Sage's, so I do not own those words either.
Summary: Sleeping over at Fuji's house could be one of the worst choices that the Seigaku Tennis Club Regulars and Freshmen have ever made in their entire lives! Being sucked into a video game that was just being played with, the regulars and freshmen must find a way out by saving the entire world! But…how? Enjoy! And don't forget to review please!

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Escapade Five: Lying the Way Through

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"NANI?! SAKUNO IS SICK BECAUSE OF INUI'S JUICES?!" yelled Sumire over Fuji's phone.

"Hai, Ryuzaki-sensei. Don't worry, Yumiko-nee-san will be taking care of her for the next few days. She'll be just fine by then."

"Thank god," breathed the coach, "Then I'll leave Sakuno in your older sister's hands."

"Hai, ja ne."

Fuji snapped his cell phone shut and gave thumbs up. Everyone cheered wildly around the breakfast table.

"Hmm…Ii Data. That covers step one of the plan. Tomorrow, we have to address to step two." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Let's eat!"

CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST!

The next morning was tennis practice. But it was much, MUCH more unusual than the usual.

"NEH? Tezuka and Kaidoh were also sick by Inui's Juice just last night?!" hollered Ryuzaki-sensei in surprise.

"Ah, hai, Ryuzaki-sensei," answered Oishi, "You see, we had a contest about…"

"Nya, about whoever could be the most serious! The losers had to drink Inui's…"

"My Aozu Deluxe," finished the Data Man as he held a large pitcher of it, his glasses gleaming in the sunlight, "And the winners were rewarded with my Penal(tea) Improved! Hahahaha…"

Everybody pretended to barf by placing their hands over their mouths and inched away from Inui.

"And I'm assuming that my granddaughter lost while Tezuka and Kaidoh won but received the worst drink ever, Inui?"

"Hai, Ryuzaki-sensei, but it's not the worst drink ever, it's the best drink ever. Would you like to have some?" He plastered on a grin.

"Uh, no thank you," replied the coach.

"I see," sighed Sadaharu, "Ii Data."

"Anyhow!" ordered Ryuzaki-sensei, "We'll continue our training in aim for the Nationals without Tezuka and Kaidoh. TRAIN EXTRA HARD!"

"HAI!"

CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST!

"Whew," sweat-dropped Eiji, "We got away with that, didn't we, Fujiko?"

"Saa," replied the tensai, "But I'm not sure whether this will last for long."

"Fuji-senpai! Don't curse us like that!" Momo exclaimed with annoyance. "I don't want Obaa-san to find out that we were lying."

The group of Seigaku Regulars were walking home together that night and spending another night at Fuji's house. There was much, much more planning to do.

Once they reached the Fuji household around five thirty, Syuusuke called out to his sister, "Tadaima, Nee-san."

"Ah, Syuusuke!" cried Yumiko in surprise, "Your friends are here too!"

"Yes, they'll be staying here after dinner as well. Do you mind?"

"Not at all! I'll be glad to cook for all of you! Oh and Syuusuke, Yuuta is home today, so if some are sleeping over, make sure you have room for them."

"Hai, Nee-san."

Fuji directed his classmates to drop off their bags by the closet.

"Ah," started Oishi as he walked over to the woman, "Arigatou-gozaimasu!"

"Iie!" bowed back Fuji's sister, "It's a pleasure to feed and have you all try my food, neh, Syuusuke?"

"Hai, Nee-san," complimented Fuji before leading the regulars upstairs to his room.

"Fuji, your room is sure small," commented Momoshiro, blowing a low whistle afterwards.

"Well, only one person sleeps in here, right?"

"Hmm…Ii Data," murmured Inui as he madly scribbled into his notebook.

"And why am I here?" asked Ryoma as he sipped on his recently bought Ponta.

"To discuss the next step on Operation: Lying to Ryuzaki-sensei," bluntly answered Inui as he wrote more and more notes down.

"So our next step is to go back and play the game until we find Tezuka, Kaidoh, and Ryuzaki-san and bring them back?"

"Yes," replied Inui, "It is the only way. We must come here everyday after school and play as much of the game as possible and try to find them."

"Does that mean, er, we have to go back into the game?" asked Oishi worringly.

"No," answered Fuji, "We can just play according to controls. It's not necessary for us to actually go into the game and play."

"You're right, nya!" agreed Eiji wholeheartedly.

"Ring, ring," went off Fuji's cell, and immediately he picked up.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Fuji! Glad you picked up!" sounded Sumire's voice over the cell.

"Hai, Ryuzaki-sensei?"

"I'm coming over to your house to see Sakuno right now. And are Kaidoh and Tezuka at their houses or somewhere else?"

"Ah, Sakuno-chan is right here…" started Fuji, when he noticed that Momo and Eiji were making 'cross' signs with their arms, then cosplaying Tezuka and Kaidoh.

"…and Tezuka and Kaidoh are not here, and not at their houses either, but rather…" Then the second year dropped dead to the ground, and Eiji, quickly dressed as a doctor, began doing operation to him.

"…at the hospital in the emergency room as we speak right now. Echizen and the Freshmen Trio are waiting for their results," finished Fuji.

"Ah, I see. Well, when Echizen gives you a call, tell me how they're doing. And I'll be over to see Sakuno-chan after dinner, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, Ryuzaki-sensei! We'll see you after dinner then!"

"All right then…" replied Ryuzaki, when Momo screamed from the thorn on the cacti which Eiji used: "KYAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" demanded the coach.

"Oh that, umm, that was just…" Eiji pretended to be Sakuno laying on the couch and gripping Momo really hard. "…Ei – , er, Sakuno having a bad dream and gripping Momo's hand tightly."

"Ok, please take care of her," pleaded the coach.

"We will," promised the tensai.

"Ciao," closed Sumire before hanging up.

"Mada mada dane, senpai-tachi," smirked Ryoma as he took a final sip from his Ponta before throwing it into the trash can.

However, the can bounced against the edge of the trash can and flew towards the window. Momo ducked his head, and it smashed against the glass, then towards the cacti plant, which fell to the ground with a loud clunk.

Fuji immediately ran over to properly care for it. He noticed the deform shape of his cacti, and a vein pop grew on his head. Slowly turning around and facing the rest of the regulars, he said, "G-g-ge-t-t-t o-out-t n-n-o-w-w-w…" A large aura loomed over the sadist, and his eyes wrenched open.

"Ii Data…Ii Data…" mumbled Inui before running down the stairs with his fellow classmates.

CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST!

"Dinner's ready!" called Yumiko from the kitchen. A whole horde of boys came tumbling from upstairs, and they propped themselves into their seats.

"Eat, everyone!" cheered the regulars, especially Momo and Eiji, before gobbling down the wonderful cooking of the oldest sister.

"Arigatou, Fuji-san," thanked Oishi properly.

Yumiko blushed before replying, "Iie, I'm glad to cook for all of you."

"This cooking is so much better than my sushi," commented Kawamaru as he picked up some lobster and began eating out the meat.

"Syuusuke, why don't you call…"

Before Yumiko could finish her sentence, the group cleared their plates away and ran back upstairs to Fuji's room.

"…Yuuta right now," finished Yumiko, feeling uneasy of the sudden rush of dinner. It was just then Fuji Yuuta came out from the shower.

"Ah, Yuuta!" exclaimed the woman, "Have some dinner now, would you? I also have dessert which is your favorite!"

"Hai, Nee-san," answered Yuuta, as he picked up his chopsticks before eating.

"I'll go take out dessert now," said the woman as she stood up from her hair and walked to the refrigerator, taking out several pie pans of different flavored pies.

"Sugoi, Nee-san! You baked my favorite pie too!" praised Yuuta, putting a smile on his face before continuing to eat his rice.

"Saa, it was nothing," said Yumiko, as she hummed a tune to herself while unwrapping the plastic from the plates. "I'll go upstairs and ask Fuji and his friends whether they want some dessert or not, so stay here."

Meanwhile, in Fuji's room, the regulars nearly had their plan complete. But one main question: who was to be in place of Ryuzaki Sakuno?

"We definitely need someone small and knows her well, like Osakada-chan!" thought aloud Momo, grinning at his own idea.

"Ochibi, ochibi," called Eiji, "Do you have Osakada-chan's number?"

Echizen threw his cell phone at his senpai and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. Kikumaru began browsing through his phonebook to find some startling numbers.

"NYA?! Ochibi, you have Sakuno-chan's phone number?!" yelled Eiji as he practically threw the phone into the air.

"Oo, let me see, senpai!" requested Momo eagerly as he grabbed for Ryoma's cell phone, and he blew a long, low whistle, "Echizen," smirked the second year, "I never knew you had a thing for Sakuno-chan."

Ryoma's face was painted with a faint red, and he turned his head away, "I don't have a thing for Ryuzaki. Now hurry up and call Osakada."

"Hai, hai, lover boy," mocked Momo before dialing Tomoka.

"Moshi moshi!" answered Tomo-chan as she picked up the phone.

"Konbanwa, Osakada-chan. Momo-chan here," he replied.

"Ah, Momo-chan-senpai! Genki…ARGH!...desu?" asked the first year.

"Osakada-chan, is something wrong on the other side? And call me Momo-chan!"

"Hai, Momo-chan-se-, er, Momo-chan ARGH! Gomen, ARGH! but if you're asking ARGH! me to come over right ARGH! now, I ARGH! can't because my ARGH! parents are out and ARGH! I ARGH! have ARGH! to ARGH! take ARGH! care ARGH! of ARGH! my ARGH! brothers ARGH! ARGH! right ARGH! now ARGH!" She hung up afterwards, leaving a bead of sweat trickling down the second year's forehead.

"Damn it! Osakada is too busy, what are we going to do?!" burst Momo, as he pounded his fists on the floor. A knock came upon Fuji's door, and it slowly creaked open.

"Sorry for the interruption, but would you like some dessert?" Yumiko asked.

Momo's current disposition of worry blanked out from his mind, and he smiled broadly, "What's better to clear out your worried mind than with Fuji-san's best baking!!" he cheered, as he rushed down the stairs. Everyone followed suit, leaving behind a very puzzled and confused Fuji.

"Hm? I wonder what kind of friends Syuusuke prefers to have…" she wondered, smiling before heading back downstairs.

The regulars caused another disruption towards Yuuta's peaceful dessert, and the entire table shook as the group of high school students rampaged towards the culinary room.

"I'm trying to eat some of Nee-san's pie here, and then they're coming to take it all away!" Yuuta complained, as he stood up and headed towards the living room before he got ran over by the pack.

Without thanking the Fuji sister, the regulars began swallowing and picking out pieces of different flavored pies from the pans and stuffing it down their throats.

"Oishii!" cried Momo as his eyes welled with tears.

"Hn? Momo, something wrong?" asked Oishi as he turned his attention towards the second year.

"Ignore him, Oishi-senpai," said Ryoma, as he forked a piece of blueberry pie into his mouth, kicking Momo-senpai at the same time, "Momo-senpai is just a baka-senpai."

"What did you say, Echizen?!" bellowed his senpai before taking another slice of pie from the middle. "If you're so smart, why don't you try thinking of something for our crisis with Obaa-san!"

It was just then Kawamura sparked the tensai's mind, "If there is no other person that we can call available, maybe we should just use one of us to be Ryuzaki-chan."

The sadist smiled and looked directly at Echizen, "What do you want, Fuji-senpai?" carelessly asked the freshman.

"Echizen, for ruining my cacti, I have a special surprise in store for you." As if in sync, the rest of his senpai-tachi grinned evilly at him.

"Oh god…" nervously mumbled Ryoma, as he seized the chance to escape the kitchen and out the door. But his senpai-tachi were just too good for him, mada mada dane.

CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST!

"Ding-dong," went the doorbell.

"Hai!" called Yumiko cheerfully as she opened the door, "Ah, Ryuzaki-obaa-san! Welcome!"

"Hello, Yumiko-san," greeted back Sumire.

"What brings you here?" wondered the Fuji woman as she closed the door and offered to take her jacket.

"Well, I would like to thank you for taking care of my granddaughter, Ryuzaki Sakuno, when she was terribly ill from Inui's terrible concoctions," explained the coach.

"Huh? Your granddaughter?" questioned Yumiko dumbly, "I don't…" Her younger brother, Syuusuke, came up and gently brushed aside his sister as he finished the sentence, "Nee-san means that Sakuno has been feeling better now, that's all."

"Hn," snuffed Sumire suspiciously, "Now let me see Sakuno."

Fuji nodded as sweat formed on his head. He breathed and sighed quite heavily before leading his tennis coach into the living room. There was Sakuno, lying innocently and peacefully on the coach as she watched the television.

"Oh Sakuno! You're fine!" cheered the grandmother with happiness, as she bent down to hug her granddaughter tightly. She coughed and wheezed from the tightness of the hug.

"Huh, Sakuno? Say something, speak to me. And your cough sounds much more odd than usual," said Sumire as she blinked in confusion. Everyone sweat dropped for a moment before Oishi stepped in.

"Ah, Ryuzaki-sensei. We forgot to tell you: you see, Sakuno can't speak because that's one of the side effects of Inui's Juice, so she can only cough in a hoarse manner." He twiddled his fingers behind, hoping that his explanation would work on his tennis coach.

Sumire sighed before speaking, "I see. Too bad, I really wanted to talk with her again. It's quite lonely to not have Sakuno at home cooking and smiling." Everyone of the regulars froze in their positions, hoping that she wouldn't ask…

"Ne, Sakuno, can you smile for me once before I go home?"

It was as if a large stone that hung by a single thread had snapped just then. Sakuno particularly felt uncomfortable, and turned her head away.

"Come on, Oc-er, Sakuno-chan! Ryuzaki-sensei has lots to do and wants to see you smile, nya!" egged on Eiji.

Kawamura also came in to support his friend, "Ryuzaki-san, please do it for you Obaa-san."

The timid girl sighed lightly before turning to face her grandmother. She closed her eyes and slowly, her mouth made a tiny smile.

"Sakuno, you know your obaa-san will be very busy and unable to tend you for the rest of the week. So please, at least, give the best smile you can to your grandmother, wouldn't you?"

"Hai, hai, go and smile Echizen," said Momo loudly, before covering his mouth.

"Echizen?" asked Sumire suspiciously, "I thought he was at the hospital."

"Saa, he is," replied Fuji. "Momo…"

"…was just…" continued Eiji.

Oishi helped, "…saying that…"

"…Ryuzaki-chan should…" contributed Kawamaru.

"…smile for…" the second year participated into finishing their statement.

Everyone looked at Inui with nervous looks to finish the sentence. The Data Man shoved his glasses up his nose before stating, "…Echizen, 89 percent." All the regulars and Sakuno sighed in relief before facing the grandmother.

Ryuzaki-sensei stared at them with a strange expression before turning her eyes towards Sakuno. The freshman smiled even more than before, but not as wide as her usual.

Eiji jumped in front of the couch and pulled her cheeks, "Itaii…" mumbled Ryuzaki under her breath, and she slapped her senpai on the hands before holding up her true smile.

"That's my granddaughter," smiled back the old woman, "I must go now. Please take care of Sakuno, Fuji-san. I appreciate your kindness!" She grabbed her coat and headed out of the household, closing the door.

All the regulars slumped down from their positions to the floor, and breathed in relief. Sakuno as well sighed before averting his attention towards his senpai-tachi. Throwing off the crappy wig and tearing off the pink, frilly top and white skirt, his eyes glowered in anger, "D-o n-o-t d-o t-h-a-t t-o m-e n-e-x-t t-i-m-e…"

"But Echizen," pleaded Fuji innocently, "You were the one who killed my precious cacti." He placed on a sad frown before chuckling to himself.

"Ii Data…" muttered Inui, scribbling down some notes.

"Syuusuke," asked Yumiko, appearing out of the kitchen, "What did she mean by taking care of Sakuno-chan? Who is this 'Sakuno'?"

"Nothing, Nee-san," replied Fuji cheerfully, "Nothing."

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Owari

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A/N: How'd you like this chapter? Next chapter, I will move on to obtaining someone back hopefully! So thank you for reading, I appreciate it! 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!

Eternal.Angel