Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own Prince of tennis

Chapter 11: Let's get it started in here!

Saturday…

Seishungakuen was flooded with students wearing navy blue shorts, white polo and red/ white cap, accompanied by their siblings, parents or relatives.

While the principal made an introductory speech, I quickly spotted my parents, who didn't work on weekends, and Tezuka's parents. I waved slightly to avoid getting the principal's attention and proceeded to stand with the other students.

The first event was tug-o-war. In the match 1st year against the 2nd year, 1st years were no match compared to the tall matured kids. Tug-o-war concluded with the 3rd years in the first place, 2nd years second and first year was last. The score cards on the window of the sixth floor showed that the red and white team was tied since the third years were divided between red and white teams. Next event was 100 meter dash relay. This was too simple of an event but we had fun cheering on our teammates. 100 meter dash relay was a race against three other people where you run 50 meters to one side and come back and give the baton to the next person. I got up to line up and stand in ready position. The people I was competing against were Hitomi(One of my best friends in seigaku) and two third-years and a second year. The first person that came back handed his baton to the second year and off she went.

"Come on Tsutomu Kun!" I urged as he got closer to my line. Tsutomu roughly handed me the baton, panting heavily and I took off in. While I ran, Hitomi was catching up to me. Since she was on my team, there was no penalty for being slower than your teammate. However I am one competitive person. I increased my speed like a jet engine and almost caught up to the second year that had an earlier start. Just as I got halfway and changed my direction to head back, my left forearm began to seize uncontrollably. I wondered if I should stop but seeing the second year further ahead caused me to catch up with her. Running uses legs, not arms. Fortunately, the seizure lasted only about 20seconds and I increased my pace to the full extent, beating the second year and successfully handing the baton to my line first.

I hope no one saw that I slowed down because of a seizure…People might start asking me what type of illness I have…

Near the end of the line…

"Eiji did you see that?" the owner of two sky blue orbs asked softly. The blue orbs were clearly in sight today and they seemed to absorb all the sunlight into it to sparkle.

"You mean when Mina-Chan slowed her pace??" A red head responded immediately, not as bouncy as usual, serious was the more rightful adjective this time.

"Mmm-hmm." Fuji seemed astonished yet curious at the same time.

"Yesh Fuji. Nya… I though it was only me. I saw her arm shake when she changed direction. I would have thought her arm was shaking because she was running but then she slowed down and grabbed her arm but it wouldn't stop shaking."

"Yes, Seigaku's best doutaishiryoku (I'm sure you know this from the anime.) I don't think we should mention anything though." The creamy white face did not hold its usual smile but instead was replaced by a frown.

Moving on to the next event: Tail extracting

I feel insecure about this…Tezuka sighed as he inserted two long strips of red cellophane in between the elastic of his shorts and his boxer.

Tail Extracting is basically pulling out the tail from the other team and at the time limit the total of tails are counted. The rule players must follow is :the only way to avoid getting your tail pulled is to run, not tug on your own tail.

"Do I make a cute cat?" Kaga purred while shaking her butt.

"Too cute!!" I cooed, amused at how playful she is.

"Yeah, can I take a bite out of your round butt cheeks?" Miyuki said sarcastically and Hitomi was laughing so hard she had to clutch her stomach.

"Hey don't you guys feel insecure about people trying to pull a tail? What if you get some pervert trying to touch your ass?" Hitomi whispered when she was finally able to calm down.

"Yeah, especially Mina's in danger. People's gonna be trying to touch her instead of pulling the tail. Hey let's run in groups. Mina's in the middle." Kaga was especially protective of me.

"You mother hens. Don't worry I'll slap any guys that dares to come near me wait no that's against the rules… But anyways, just run where most girls are and that should be safe." I answered, grateful for their concerns.

We started to jog lightly but then our plan to run in groups didn't work as Hitomi was being chased by a tall athletic second year. There goes one of her tails. I predicted since he was fast and quick.

I was used to running in tennis so I jogged around and caught about 4 tails when the time was called. Unfortunately, I lost one of my tail unconsciously when I was busy running. Oh well better than having perverts targeting your butt right?

The referees counted up the red and white tails and the total score was 173-195. My team was down by 22 points.

Next event: Flag Catching

"Assemble!" The principal called out and students rushed to form 4 lines which were separated according to teams and genders. Tezuka paced himself to the end of his line. He wasn't just lining up; he was looking for the right partner. He caught a glimpse of his ideal partner heading toward the end of her line so he rushed to the end of his line. However… misfortunes sure can happen at bad times…Tezuka thought as he fumed when Mina paused to wait for her friends. If she had just rushed to the end of her line, she would have been his partner. Instead, she was the partner of the person behind him, who was…Fuji. What luck…Tezuka stared ahead, fuming continuously.

"I guess I'm your partner again." Fuji reported as he gave a smile toward me. "Oh, Tezuka-Kun, you're back here? I thought you would have been at the front." Don't talk about unnecessary things Fuji…Tezuka barked in his mind."Hnn" was all he said in spite of his feelings. Even with Tezuka's poker face, nothing can get away with the tensai's analytical eyes.

"Hey Tezuka-Kun?" The smiling prodigy inquired, "Hnn?" Tezuka grunted with a interrogating tone. He didn't bother turning around. "I need to talk to Ishida-Kun for a moment regarding our club meeting. Do you mind switching with me?" Careful not to express anything, the bespectacled boy solemnly stood aside as Fuji stepped in front of him.

"Oh then Tezuka-Kun, Yoroshiku!" I chimed, noticing that he was my new partner. He nodded and proceeded to look ahead at the game. Once again, my friends and I cheered on top of our lungs and it was Fuji and Miyuki's turn.

"Ganbatte Miyuki!!" Hitomi, Kaga and I encouraged as she hopped on on the delicate looking back. Like a divine wind, Fuji's speed allowed him to head back in a second.

Tezuka looked at me as though urging me to get ready. This is hard…I whined in my mind. Touching any body part of a stern person might set an alarm off. "Mina hurry Miyuki is almost back!" Hitomi insisted, seeing my hesitation. I hopped on nervously and my hands squeezed his shoulders as Miyuki reached the line. Tezuka held onto my legs to stabilize me and began running. His hair's really soft…I thought as my cheeks rubbed against it. My arms encircled his milky white neck and breathed in his detergent smell. A moment later, I yanked the flag out of the tree and enjoyed the rest of the bumpy ride. I gave a smile towards Hitomi as I reached the line and Tezuka unloaded me cautiously off his back. I headed toward Miyuki when I landed, not taking notice of Tezuka's gaze on me.

Did she prefer Fuji as a partner? She hesitated to get on my back and she didn't say anything afterwards. With Fuji she was laughing…Tezuka pondered while he stood stoically.

"Wow you're back, that was fast." Miyuki looked up with one hand placed across her forehead to block the sun.

"Yup, it's Tezuka-Kun the perfectionist, do you think he would like coming back slower than you guys?" I questioned, not expecting an answer.

"He you know, you guys are actually cute together. Seems like you're missing a bitter side and he's missing a sweet side. Sweet plus bitter equals perfect."

"Is that why you got a B on your last math test?" Kaga joined the conversation with chuckles after her rough ride, "Math needs logic and what you just said has zero logic sense…"

They began to debate continuously while I was dazed in my thought. I felt rude for not saying anything after he gave me a piggy-back. I felt my heart thump pretty loudly when I was on his back that I was embarrassed to say anything. What's wrong with me? I was fine when I practiced with Fuji-Kun.

After flag catching ended our score was 380-385. Okay we're catching up we could win this. I encouraged myself. But before another event, it was lunch time. I quickly spotted my mom waving me spread out with food, dad, and Tezuka's parents. They set up a picnic near the grass field along side the lake that was in our school. (You can see it in episode where Momo is ditching tennis because he lost to Inui in the ranking tournament.)

"Hi mom, dad, Tezuka- san." I greeted, "Tezuka-Kun isn't here yet?" I questioned noticing an empty spot that his parents reserved for him.

"No, can you go find him for me, Mina chan?" his mom said pleadingly.

"Sure! And also I'll call my friends over here to sit with us."

I skipped around happily and stretched my arms. I don't get to relax this often. Tezuka was easy to find with his height and his chestnut brown hair.

"Tezuka-Kun!" I called and four heads turned around. The heads belonged to Fuji, Kikumaru, Inui and Tezuka.

"Wow there's four Tezuka-Kun now?" I laughed while Tezuka glared at the rest. "Your parents are over there near the grass area and they're waiting for you."

Tezuka nodded and in a moment, I found Miyuki, Hitomi and Kaga with their parents. "Hey guys, do you want to join me near the grass area? It's cooler." I said while panting.

"Yeah! My parents came later so they couldn't get a spot there." Hitomi exclaimed, earning guilty expressions from her parents. The four of us raced toward the grass field and my friends spread out their own picnic mat as I settled with my parents. Tezuka was already sitting there and he was eating a sushi roll.

"Mina Chan eat up. I made extra." Tezuka's mom said as soon as my eyes looked down on the huge spread of food. Everything looked delicious from the heart shaped meat balls to the crab meat filled sushi rolls. My parents chatted with Tezuka's parents joyfully and I was conversing with my friends. I couldn't help to notice that Tezuka was just eating slowly and silently. I should have invited Kikumaru and the rest. Knowing Tezuka, he wouldn't invite any one to sit with him. I pulled my friends towards Tezuka and I sat down next to him. He looked up with his usual stoic expression.

In order to avoid an awkward moment, I started up the conversation. "Tezuka-Kun, do you think we'll win? We're so close but I don't know how we'll do on the last event."

"Hnn." Was the answer I received, which was ordinary.

This is uncomfortable…Tezuka thought. Usually, he is never around girls, except being around Mina. Any girls that he walked by would usually freeze, stare, drop her books or something which led to him never being around girls. It's good that Mina's friends treat him as an actual human being but he prefers to sit by himself.

"Hey Mina, I'm going to drink water I'll be right back." Kaga said and stood up. Miyuki said she needed to go see the score cards and Hitomi said she wanted to go see the school pets. And here I was again with the silent one.

Not knowing what to do, I continued eating the strawberry I was holding. For about 25 seconds, I felt Tezuka's gaze on me. Is he dazing out??? To stop his gaze on me, I turned around and pressed a strawberry against his lips.

"Tezuka-Kun, if you want a strawberry you can just ask." However, this was unsuccessful as he had his lips shut tight and the strawberry was half smashed, coloring his lips. Oh boy, there is never an ordinary day with him. I thought. First, we go around putting whip creams on our faces and now we end up with strawberry fight.

I smiled guiltily as Tezuka reluctantly opened his mouth to eat the half smashed strawberry. It's not that I wanted a strawberry…Tezuka sure wasn't staring at the strawberry. He was watching the luscious lips that pressed against the red fruit.

"Tezuka-Kun you should eat more. You only ate a couple bites!" I grinned mischievously, "Or do you prefer me to feed you?"

He shook his head instantly and picked up his chop sticks to eat a couple more sushi.

He sure is cute…his stiff figure and his stoic attitude made him unique around other boys. You can never know what he's thinking and that's the fun about Tezuka Kunimitsu.

After the lunch break…

I hate this event…I sighed as I found myself reluctantly picking up red plastic balls off the ground. I just can't aim right and I can't find Fuji-Kun right now. I wasn't the only one with misses into the basket. Miyuki, Hitomi and Kaga were having the same trouble. As I watched my third miss into the basket, I saw five balls thrown into it perfectly. I traced the throw back to the thrower, expecting it to be Fuji, but I saw a bespectacled freshmen.

"Tezuka-Kun can you help me throw these in??" I pleaded as I rushed towards him with arm full of the plastic balls. He nodded and five by five, he placed the balls perfectly in to the basket. Our team members watched in awe as he did this. This process was fast and productive, therefore, in a second, everyone picked partners and something similar to an assembly line was formed. The ground that we stood on which was filled with red dots began to clear up as though a vacuum cleaner had swept through it. When the time was called, we finished picking up all the balls from our side while the white team had about 30 balls left. As the score cards changed, the red team hollered with jubilance as we saw that the score cards read 495-470.

The events were finally over and the day was to be concluded by the class dances, which was not scored. It was something for the whole school to enjoy.

And there we were, dancing to Oh Johnny oh. Just as I finished dancing with my last partner, my teacher announced, "One more time now with a random person. You guys can pull in anyone, including spectators!" I thought of pulling my dad but since he was a bit further than I would have wanted to walk towards, I caught Tezuka's arm and linked my arm with his. Without any words, I just smiled and promenaded. Tezuka wasn't bad at dancing when he knows what to do. And the best thing about being his partner is that you don't have to be afraid of him trying to touch you!!

Wheew That was a long day right?! Anyone care to have sports day at America?? Thanks so much to WhiteAlchemistTaya for her attempt to re-review my chapters!!! Sorry I didn't update for two weeks!! I'll write the next chapter as soon as I can!