Hey everybody, this is chapter 14 of RTT!

So, continuing what I was saying last chapter, *SPOILERS YO* the most likely yaoi pair would be Pillar Pair, while the second and third most likely pairs would be Edo pair (Tokugawa/Ryoma) and Bicycle Pair! So yeah, but for any hardcore yaoi fans, I'm sorry but this won't meet your standards XP T rating stuff's ok, but it's not going anywhere near the M section XD And for those wondering, "How is this a spoiler?"...Pillar pair...yeah...

Hope you enjoy!

I meant to update earlier, but a few days ago my teachers gave me an avalanche of hw, so that ruined everything...XP

Chapter 14: Red skies in morning, sailor's warning

Previously:

Akechi laughed. "Not just that. It's me, Kabuto."

Ryoma was stunned. "…Are you serious?"

Kabuto took out a pair of glasses and put them on after removing a pair of contacts from his eyes, revealing them to be not blue, but amber brown. "That help?" he asked, grinning. "You look so bewildered. Don't worry, my hands were clean." he added jokingly, storing the contacts away.

Ryoma blinked, then shook his head in mild disbelief. "But how?"

Kabuto smiled, taking a seat beside him. "You guess."

"…The high schoolers came back from the mountains?"

"Nope. Not so soon. C'mon, put two and two together." Kabuto probed.

Ryoma looked at him, a suspicion rising up. "Could you be…"

Kabuto gave him a thumbs up. "Yeah! I'm a middle schooler!"

Present:

"But…" Ryoma started, still confused. "There were only supposed to be 50 middle schoolers…"

Kabuto shrugged, brushing his blond bangs out of his eyes without success. "Yeah, but aren't there 52 of you? With Hikaru-kun and Yuuji-kun? I didn't see much argument over those additions…Oh, never mind, 51, since Tezuka-san's gone, but you get my drift."

"But you were in the high schooler group…" Ryoma pointed out. "Not to mention the losing group."

Kabuto looked embarrassed. "Oh, that. You see, we got kicked out for being late."

"We? And what?"

"Ah, Yugito, Himura, Akana, Kei, and Daisuke are all middle schoolers too."

"You know," Ryoma sighed. "You could have told me."

Kabuto sniffed, giving Ryoma a sad face that made him flinch. "I tried to before our match, but then you walked away and ignored me and I died a little on the inside."

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not ignoring you now."

Kabuto took a deep breath. "OK! It all started out when the coaches gave out the invitations. They gave them to Seigaku, Hyotei, Shitenhoji, Rikkaidai, and Higa. They also put in a few members from St. Rudolph, Fudomine, Yamabuki, Rokkaku, Makinofuji, and St. Icarus. All the schools sent their forms back and sealed in a spot…except for one."

Ryoma looked at him expectantly.

Kabuto chuckled. "Higa. Their coach didn't want to pay the fare to get them to the camp."

Ryoma smirked. "For some reason, that's not surprising." It really wasn't. The coach didn't really show a love for his team. Well, maybe he did. But it sure didn't show when it came to transport fees.

"The coaches at U-17 assumed that Higa wasn't going, so they needed a new school ASAP. They decided to poke around and see what they could find. Anyways, I'm from the school with the most foreigners, the one I didn't mention before."

"…Nagoya Seitoku." Ryoma finished. "…I think that was it." he muttered, surprised that he actually remembered.

"Yup! I never had the chance to talk to Liliadent-kun though. He's a little scary…"

"…But you weren't on the National team." Ryoma pointed out. "Right?"

Kabuto sighed, pursing his lips. "Wasn't on the tennis team at all."

"Then how could you get selected if the coaches didn't see you play?"

"The six of us didn't want to play on a tennis team because, well, we didn't feel like it." Kabuto didn't offer more explanation to it. "But one day our schoolmate's father wanted us to go to his tennis club and help out, since he needed help coaching some little kids. Well, we agreed because we were good friends with the schoolmate, and we hadn't played in a while. I expected to be a ball boy and maybe demonstrate a few swings, but we ended up having to play a full blown match for 4 hours!"

"You never got the details for the job, did you?" Ryoma said, raising an eyebrow.

Kabuto groaned. "Anyways, we played against each other, and wouldn't you know it, Coach Saito walks by while we're playing. Apparently he helps out there occasionally."

"So he decided to get you guys in?"

Kabuto nodded. "He was even happier when he learned we were from Nagoya Seitoku, a school already on the interest list. So we got our forms and all was good. We were nervous, of course, but Coach Saito assured us we were good."

You think? Ryoma thought, making a face. You got onto Court 1!

"I invaded Court 1 and took some random dude's spot, if you were wondering." Kabuto added, reading the look on Ryoma's face. "So did Yugito. The rest of the guys are on Court 4 for now."

"Ok." Ryoma replied. "And then…"

"Right." Kabuto continued, his voice taking on a sour tone. "This part sucked. First of all, Higa got a last minute ride. I think someone said it was something involving a pirate raft, but I probably heard wrong. Anyways, they handed their forms in the same time as us! U-17 sent them a letter saying they weren't interested anymore, but it didn't reach them since they had already left."

"…So…" Ryoma said, taking in the info. "Now they had accepted too many people."

"That wasn't the real problem," Kabuto continued. "Coach Saito assumed we were on the tennis team in Nagoya Seitoku, but that we hadn't been seen by them because Nagoya Seitoku changed their line-up so often. Well, were they wrong!"

"So what was wrong?"

"The coaches sent a letter to the big dudes telling them that they were only having 50 middle schoolers. Well, it wouldn't have panned out right, but it would have been close to 50 if we had gone and not Higa. It was getting late when they asked us to come so I think they stopped caring about it. But the main reason was because we weren't known in the middle schooler band."

"So basically, the middle schoolers had to stand out…" Ryoma muttered. "With something like the Nationals."

"You got it. They couldn't let us in as middle schoolers because we were too unknown. Coach Saito thought he could get us in by saying we were on the team of the school in the semis, but that didn't work after we said we weren't on the team at all. But, Coach Saito got us in in the end by saying we were just another group of high schoolers to the big guys. You see, you just have to be a good player to be accepted as a high schooler! No need to be in a major tournament and such."

"But..." Ryoma started. "How did you get in as a high schooler if everyone knew your age?"

Kabuto beamed. "Fake ID!"

Ryoma raised his eyebrows and Kabuto laughed. "I'm just kidding. Only the coaches knew our ages. When they sent the final report of all the U-17 players to the big guys, after everything was finalized with us, Coach Saito raised our age up by a few years as an apology for the trouble. I mean, sure, they could check. But I don't think they'd go through all the trouble, cuz, well...high schoolers. So if a high schooler or anyone asks you, I'm 17!"

"Geez." Ryoma sighed. "That's so confusing. I don't get how they didn't check."

"...I heard there was a huge argument about whether or not the middle schoolers were even going to get accepted in the first place." Kabuto replied, changing the subject. "Having around only 50 middle schoolers was the compromise they worked out."

"Yeah." Ryoma replied. "But why didn't you just stay here, at the camp? You said the high schoolers only had to be good to be here."

"You see," Kabuto said, tapping the wooden bench they were on with his fingers absentmindedly. "The road our cab was on was blocked because of an accident, so we arrived late. Really late. So late, that they had already sent down the balls and kicked the people who didn't get one out by the time we came."

"You didn't go with Liliadent-san?"

"I don't think he knows we exist. He hitched a ride with Sakata-kun."

"And?"

"None of it was our fault, so the coaches said we could go to the mountains and train." Kabuto said, grinning. "Which we took! I honestly think they felt a little bad."

"Hmm." Ryoma said. "So what are you now?"

"Uh..." Kabuto started sheepishly. "A high schooler, I guess. Anyways, that's enough about me. Get your dorm key and go to bed." Kabuto continued, standing up. "Super Rookie-kun."

Ryoma smirked. "Good night. And…"

"Hm?"

"Welcome back!"

Kabuto laughed. "Right back at you!"

Over at the dorms:

"YEAH! YEAH! I'M IN A ROOM WITH KOSHIMAE~!"

Everyone within a 5 mile radius of Kintaro plugged their ears and winced as Kintaro's voice rocketed around the hall. All of the middle schoolers had gathered (save Ryoma) after the match with Court 2 to get their new dorm number and key. Many people were shifted around to accommodate the 27 new players, but it had all turned out fine in the end.

By now, most people had gotten their keys and left for bed and now only all of Shitenhoji, Yuuta and Mizuki remained to get their keys or just to chat.

"Kin-chan…" Shiraishi started, hand on Kintaro's head. "Use your inside voice, alright? You're disturbing everyone. Most have a dorm in this hallway, you know."

"Hai…" Kintaro said, keeping a wary eye on Shiraishi's bandaged arm. For some reason, no one had ever told him that the bandages covered a bar of gold, not a poison arm, though both stories would have probably pleased him. Also, Shiraishi probably didn't need the threat to keep him under control. He was just Shiraishi that way.

"But it's great, isn't it?" Kintaro asked, eyes shining. "I can hang out with Koshimae more!"

Nearby, Yuuta looked dismayed at his room number. It was the same as Kintaro's. "…Mizuki-san…" he whispered to Mizuki. "Think I'll live?"

Mizuki chuckled, though deep down he was relieved he hadn't gotten a room with anyone noisy. "You should be fine, Liliadent-kun will be there too. He's a calm one. While you're there, try and get some info on their weaknesses, ne?"

The mentioned first year was in his dorm room at the moment, savoring his last few moments of freedom before it was all taken away from him.

Yuuta looked a little happier. "Yeah-"

-WHAM!

"AAAGH!" Yuuta went flying as a white brick slammed into his head. Another soon followed, knocking out Mizuki, who fell to the ground. The other middle schoolers spun around in shock before dropping to the ground on instinct, on the alert for the assassin.

"Crap!" Kenya yelped, covering his head with his hand. "We should've spent the match time reviewing what to do in an emergency! What do we do during a Code Red situation?!"

"Doesn't it depend on the situation?" Zaizen asked, kneeling beside Kenya with a sleepy yawn.

"When there's a killer around!" Kenya hissed. "Isn't that obvious?!"

"Evacuate?" Zaizen offered.

"Don't you want to stay inside if there's a killer lurking around?" Kenya retorted, edging towards a door. "Idiot!"

"Why would you do that, Kenya-san?" Zaizen asked. "You'll be stuck with the killer, right?"

"BUT-"

Shiraishi retreated out of the dorm he had jumped into and put a hand on Kenya's shoulder. "Just keep calm, Kenya. I think it was nothing...much."

Shouldn't you have hidden in one of the dorm rooms and locked the door if there was a killer, Kenya? Gin wondered, retreating from his own dorm to join them, but kept it to himself. He had a feeling Kenya would scream at him if he mentioned it.

"He's right, I-I don't think anything's up." Yuuji said, clutching onto Koharu nervously. "But should I imitate an alarm?"

"Where'd the white things go?" Kenya asked, looking around the seemingly empty room, save the other people, who had by now all popped back out of whatever room they were hiding in. A few other middle schoolers from the dorms were there too, confused over the sudden yells.

"Maybe a light fell?" Shiraishi offered. "Or two?"

"BURNING!" Everyone's jaw dropped as Taka stormed into the hall, wielding another white thing before throwing it. Their eyes went even wider when they realized the 'white thing' that K.O'ed Yuuta and Mizuki with a single hit was actually a pillow.

A pillow.

"What in the world is in that stuffing…?" Shiraishi mused, picking up the pilllow Taka had just thrown. "Looks like a normal- WHOA!"

He jumped into his dorm room as a stampede entered the hall, followed by everyone else. Akutsu was raging, hurling pillows left and right, while the people he was chasing (mainly high schoolers) tried in vain to defend themselves. Shiraishi sighed and decided to just stay inside his dorm room, where peaceful people like Yukimura and Fuji were.

"What's going on?" Yukimura asked, turning away from the plant he had been discussing with Fuji. "It's been awfully loud ever since you jumped in here."

"Pillow fight." Shiraishi replied with a grin. "You guys want to go?"

"Hm, I think I'm fine." Fuji replied with a smile. "I need to water my cactus."

"Well..." Shiraishi started, smiling innocently. "Yuuta-kun got knocked out by someone."

"...I'm going out for some exercise." Fuji said, his frozen smile sending a dark chill down Shiraishi's spine.

~o0o~

"108th HADOKYUU!" Gin roared, bashing a nearby high schooler into a wall. A few random high schoolers had gone downstairs to complain about the noise, but now severely regretted it.

"SOBAGARA!*" Ryo yelled, popping out from behind a door to a dorm room. From the door Eiji and Oishi also appeared, using Synchro and avoiding the flying pillows with ease.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" A U-17 staff member yelled, running into the hall. However, he was barely noticed.

"…Looks like my peace has been destroyed." Liliadent murmured, picking up the pillow from his bed and stepping out of his room, aiming it at Ryo. "Southern Cross!"

"Wah!" Ryo leaped out of the way and the pillow hit the staff member, pinning him against the wall and causing a few dents and cracks. "H-Hey! No need for that stuff!"

"I missed." Liliadent sighed. "The power and range of these pillows are quite weak, compared to the ones at home. Guess I'll have to try again."

"Laser Beam!"

-BAM!

"GAAH!" This time Harukaze got the blow, crumpling to the floor.

"Hmm." Hiroshi started, pushing up his glasses. "I suppose only people like Sanada-kun could avoid a Laser-"

-WHAM!

"AH!"

"Puri." Niou smirked, having replicated the Laser Beam into the back of Hiroshi's head. By now, most people had left their rooms to join in the fight. Then again, it was pretty hard to not notice a pillow fight in the hallway outside of your own room.

"Too bad you can't defend against your own-" Niou suddenly crumpled to the ground, along with about 3 other people, causing the rest of the middle schoolers to freeze, this time really looking for an assassin.

"Well, it certainly looks like it worked." Yukimura mused, stepping into the hall. He had been standing in the doorway for most of the fight, but finally decided to join...with a little welcome surprise.

Yips?! The middle schoolers realized. How fair is that?! And how is it possible in the first place?!

"It's not bothering anyone, right?" Yukimura asked cheerfully. Everyone glared in response.

"DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!" Sanada rushed into the hall, joined by Renji and anyone else who wasn't there. Now every middle schooler was either in the hallway, or the dorms surrounding it. "GET THEM!"

Yukimura chuckled, lightly tossing a pillow. "Looks like I can't have a simple pillow fight, eh?"

"Wizardry…Tightrope walk!"

"OW!"

"Sixth counter…Hoshi Hanabi!"

"AGH!"

"..." Ryoma peered through the peephole of his dorm door, out of sight and wondering why his sempais were always so much more immature then he thought. Heck, Sanada and Kite were at each other's necks now, wielding pillows as if they were knifes. But by the way half of the middle schoolers were unconscious on the ground, it might have been true.

"DORIA!" Momo yelled, Dunk Smashing a pillow at Kaido, who avoided, fsshed, and replied with a Snake. The pillow caught on a light fixture and a shower of feathers and sparks filled the air as the pillow ripped.

"HAH!" Shiraishi yelled, catching a pillow Fuji threw and throwing it back. To his surprise, the pillow stopped before even making it halfway.

Fuji smiled. "Gate of Hecatonchires."

"Not fair, not fair!" Shiraishi laughed good-naturedly. "I'll just-"

"URAAH!" Akutsu yelled, still on his rampage. He had left for a few minutes to gather more pillows, and was now hurling them at everyone again. Shiraishi ducked back into his dorm room, followed by Fuji, deciding that it wasn't worth the risk anymore, and it wasn't just about the danger.

"This is quite the fight, isn't it?" Liliadent remarked, protected from behind his door as Yuushi fell victim to Akutsu's onslaught next, before Akutsu himself was taken out by Ryoma, who was standing next to Liliadent. Ryoma stood in the doorway and popped out to attack anyone who wasn't on guard before ducking back inside the dorm.

Smart. Liliadent thought. It's good to stay hiding so we don't get caught, but we do need to take down our enemies. Ryoma's battle strategy is well thought. I will take note of it in the future.

"You know..." Liliadent started, the edges of his mouth tilting up. "You remind me a bit of a sniper, Ryoma."

Atobe stepped into the hall next, wearing a deep purple robe over his silk pajamas. "Kabaji!" he ordered, the said middle schooler emerging from his room. "Get me a mountain of pi- Kabaji?!"

To his surprise, Kabaji ignored him and walked in the opposite direction, approaching none other than Niou, who had imitated him after recovering from Yukimura's attack. Unfortunately for Atobe, Kabaji had seen Niou face to face first.

"Kabaji!" Niou/Atobe said, smirking. "Go get me a mountain of pillows!"

"Usu..."

"Ha ha!" Kintaro laughed, picking up a pillow and racing towards the heart of the action. "Who forgot about me?!"

Not again! The middle schoolers, mainly the ones who had been in the snowball fight thought.

"EVERYBODY RUN!"

"SUPER ULTRA GREAT DELICIOUS, DAISHA-"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Everyone froze mid fight. They stood, half of them unconscious on the ground, others poised to throw a pillow, with feathers floating around and littering the ground, as a group of U-17 staff stood there in shock, including dorm manager Tsuge. A broken light fixture and a few sparks also added a nice bit to the effect.

"Er…i-it's not what you think it is…" Kenya said shakily, holding up his hands.

"We…" Marui started, bubble gum falling out of his mouth. "Were…"

Tsuge's face raged and turned as red as a tomato.

"GO SIT THE SEIYA* RIGHT NOW!"

~o0o~

Well…Ryoma thought, still hidden out of sight behind his door. I guess it was a good thing I didn't get too into it. He shared a grin and high five with Liliadent.

"Mada mada dane!"

The next day in Room 206:

"RISE AND SHINE ~!"

Oh god no. Ryoma thought, burying his face into his pillow. He could hear the groans from Yuuta, who was in the bunk bed opposite him, and a quiet huff from the bed above him.

"C'MON, C'MON! THE SOONER YOU GET UP, THE SOONER WE CAN GO OUT AND PRACTICE!"

"We have all day for that!" Yuuta yelled sleepily, voice muffled by his pillow. "It's barely bright out!" I knew this was going to be bad! he thought, fuming. Alright, info piece for Mizuki-san number one…never sleep in the same room as Tooyama Kintaro!

"…." Liliadent quietly pulled the blanket over his face, blocking out the dim but bright-to-sleepy-eyes morning sunlight. "Please draw the curtains, Tooyama..."

Kintaro stopped, looking at them unhappily. "Why are you guys so low energy?!"

"What's there to be energetic about?" Yuuta snapped, turning over to face the wall.

"KOSHIMAE~!" Kintaro yelled, hopping over to Ryoma's bed. "C'mon, what about you? Play a match against me~!"

Ryoma scowled at him before pulling the blanket over his head as well. "We're at a tennis camp, Tooyama. Like Yuuta-san said, we have all day for this."

"…" Kintaro pouted. "Ok, but all of you owe me a match later!" He ran off in search of an opponent, his footsteps echoing loudly in the hall.

"That guy…why did fate have to give me a room with him?!" Yuuta grumbled, snuggling back into his warm blanket. He was snoring within seconds.

"Ryoma…" Liliadent asked sleepily. "What time is it?"

Ryoma rubbed his eyes blearily and grabbed the clock on the bedside table. "…7."

"We should get up at 8:30 for breakfast." Liliadent yawned, then went to close the curtains. "Mornings better not always be this way, or I'm requesting a single again."

"So late…" Ryoma muttered. Guess that's cause of people like us who like to sleep. "Ok." Ryoma replied. "Thanks."

"Umhmm."

Ryoma slept for another hour before crawling silently out of bed and going out, not being able to go back to sleep for long. He was too restless over yesterday's events. He grabbed a sweater, shirt, and a pair of shorts to change into, heading into the nearest washroom to change.

The halls were completely empty, giving it a creepy but peaceful feel. Ryoma kept going until he reached the courts. He was feeling restless about the 1st stringers. And besides, there was nothing like a good morning practice in the crisp, fresh air. Maybe he would go find Kintaro, though by some yells down the hall, it would seem some angry middle schoolers had already found the energetic redhead.

8:45:

"Itadakimasu~!"

"Kintaro, try this!" Momo encouraged, stabbing a morsel of steak with his fork. "It's dripping in-" he froze, looking warily at Oishi, who had visibly tensed up at a nearby table. He had exploded the day before when Momo had said that the beef was dripping in its juices. "Er, it tastes good!"

"Thanks, Momo-chan-sempai!" Kintaro replied, grinning. "This is…" Kintaro stopped mid-chew, frowning. "…Not that good…"

"Ah? You serious?!" Momo then tried a piece himself. "You're right! It's a little dry today…" he agreed, making a face. "Maybe they had a problem-"

"Ohayo, minna-san!" Coach Saito walked into the cafeteria before stopping short in surprise. For the first time, he had actually remembered to duck when going through a door. Before he could take another step, a U-17 staff member ran up to Saito and whispered urgently in his ear.

"Hm?" Saito asked. "Ok, I see." He sighed, making his way back out and somehow remembering to duck again. "Huh..." he muttered. "That's weird." I'll take it though! he thought, whistling. No need for my daily ice pack today!

"So later on, will you train with me, Yukimura-buchou?" Akaya asked excitedly, turning to the blunette sitting beside him. A few members of Rikkaidai (not Sanada) were sitting with him. They were basically his support group after Sanada had...taught Akaya a lesson the day before. Long story short, it had been a long day for Akaya.

"All right, why not?." Yukimura replied, sipping a cup of green tea. "It'll be a good warm-up."

"Nh?! J-Just a warm up?!" Akaya said, making a face.

"Don't get your seaweed head all worked up, Bakaya. Buchou was only joking." Marui replied, rolling his eyes. He then sighed and pushed away his half-eaten slice of strawberry cake wearily.

"Marui?" Jackal asked, looking at his partner. "You're not finishing your cake? That was only your first slice!"

"Hm…" Marui said, laying his head down on his arm. "I don't have an appetite for sweets right now…"

His table members looked at him worriedly. Even Yukimura looked worried. It wasn't like the sweets resident of Rikkaidai to turn down cake, especially the first ones of the day. At first, it was only his way of keeping his stamina up, but Marui had long ago grown to adore sweets since. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah…" Marui sighed. "Just no sweets for me today."

~o0o~

"Yanagi-san! Inui-sempai!" Momo called, running over to the data people's table just as they were standing up. "Will you train with Kaido and me? Kaido wants to see if he can improve the power of his Tornado Snake, and I want to improve my Super Ultra Great Momoshiro Smash!"

Why don't we start with improving the name… Renji thought, exchanging a look with Inui.

Inui smiled, pushing up his glasses. "Chances of you asking that-"

"45%."

"-82%"

"…What?"

Renji and Inui looked at each other, bewildered. Their data never differed from the other's so much. Inui flipped through his notebook, making some quick calculations on a piece of paper.

"We were both wrong. It was 61%..." Inui said, frowning.

Renji opened his eyes, surprised. "Our data was wrong…?"

"…" Inui pulled out a bottle of something from his bag, a sense of dread running through him. "Drink this, Momoshiro." he ordered.

Momo looked at it suspiciously. By now, he was beginning to regret going to Inui. "…What's in it?"

"…Orange juice."

"What's really in it?"

"Orange juice."

"Then what happened to it?!"

"...Nothing..."

"I can hear the hesitation in your voice, sempai!"

Inui sighed impatiently, waving the bottle at Momo. "Just try it, Momoshiro. I guarantee you won't die."

"What's in it for me?!" Momo yelped, edging away from it. "And I want a guarantee that my tongue won't die too!"

"A buffet voucher at Kawamura's." Inui replied, handing him one from his green notebook. He had been using it as a bookmark. "Taka gave it to me a while back, and it doesn't expire."

Still looking suspicious, Momo grudgingly took a sip of the drink, half expecting his tongue to burst into flames. Surprisingly, it didn't.

"Hm? It's really orange juice!" Momo said cheerfully, relief washing over his face. "Sempai, Kaido's probably waiting, so I'm going. Come to Court 2 when you're ready!"

As Momo walked off, whistling, Inui frowned.

"What's wrong, Professor?" Renji asked.

"….That was my newest Inui Juice recipe." Inui replied, poring over his notes. "The fact that it had no effect means the ingredients didn't set properly. It was a dud. And that never happens…I must figure out what went wrong…"

Renji sighed. "Something's off today. And why are your Juices so necessary?"

~o0o~

At another side of U-17:

"Mizuki! Hit a lob!"

"Wah! Chotaro, behind you!"

"Hey! Do you not know how to cooperate, Atobe-kun?!"

'Hmph! Don't talk to Ore-sama that way!"

"Ah…Nothing like a spirited game of tennis." Chotaro said cheerfully, who was rallying with Eiji against Atobe and Mizuki. They had done it once before with table tennis a while ago, but now that the Black Jerseys were back and they were all happy, they were at it again, for old time's sake. Ryoma, Yuuta, Oishi, and Akaya were watching the match, offering bits of (sometimes unwanted) commentary.

"C'mon Mizuki-san!" Yuuta cheered, punching the air. "You've got this! Hit it to their weak spots! Apply your knowledge!"

"Eiji! Apply your training to this!" Oishi said seriously. "Focus!"

"Mada mada dane, Monkey King." Ryoma said, smirking as Atobe glared at him frostily.

"Ooh!" Gakuto yelled, joining the audience from out of nowhere with Jiro and Yuushi. "Tennis match! I'm next!"

"I'm sleepy…" Jiro said, yawning.

"Go take a nap, then, Jiro." Yuushi said, while watching the match with an entertained smile. "I'm going to see the results of this time's match. If I remember correctly, Atobe, Mizuki, Kikumaru and Chotaro once played table tennis against each other. I'm interested in seeing the pairs play once again."

"Huah!" Chotaro yelled, swinging. "I'll return this even if it kills me!"

"Ahn?" Atobe said, hitting it back with a confident smirk. "It won't be that easy, Chotaro."

"They're taking this match too seriously." Gakuto commented, jumping up and down. "Hey! Carrot head!" he yelled to Kikumaru. "Use your acrobatics, idiot!"

"No!" Kikumaru yelped. "I can't use acrobatics nya! And you're the idiot, Carrothead! And the Carrothead! Wait, what? I meant you're both an-"

"0-15!"

"AH! YOU DISTRACTED ME NYA!" Kikumaru yelled, hopping up and down furiously as Gakuto stuck his tongue out. "GO AWAY NYA!"

"C'mon, Kikumaru-san, let's do this!" Chotaro said, getting ready to serve with a grim determination. "We must win! I…kyu…nyu…kon!" However, though the serve was fast, it didn't come close to its regular speed.

"IT DIDN'T WORK NYA!"

"Ugh!" Mizuki said, barely getting the ball. Even though the shot's initial effect didn't work, the timing was still good. "So fast! Atobe-kun, use-"

"15-15!"

"Kuh…" Atobe muttered, shaking his head and stopping for breath. "This isn't as easy as I thought it would be…"

"Oh?" Kikumaru said playfully. "Is Monkey King having difficulties with this game? We're gonna win~!" he chanted cheerfully.

"Hmph." Atobe snorted. "Don't expect your luck to keep going for much longer. And do not use that accursed nickname!"

Ryoma smirked. "So I can? Monkey King~!"

"Keh!" Atobe glared. "Shut it!"

Yuushi sighed. "Say what he wants, Atobe can't use World of Ice. How can he win?"

"Monkey King's timing is also lacking today." Ryoma commented, smirking as Atobe glared at him yet again. He seemed to be hitting a nerve. "Guess it's not his day. But Mizuki-san is quite good."

But this match isn't following my script! I must have calculated the angles wrong… Mizuki seethed, hitting a sharp slice. According to my script, we shouldn't have lost the second point because of Atobe-kun! In fact...Atobe-kun shouldn't be playing this badly at all!

"…He'll just have to make do." Gakuto replied, clenching his fists. "Come on, Atobe!"

"30-15!"

"...Maybe you're jinxing him, Gakuto?" Yuushi asked, earning a glare and slap from Hyotei's redhead.

Hmph. Mizuki thought, turning to Atobe. "Atobe, why don't you use your Insight?"

"I was just about to, couldn't you tell?" Atobe huffed. Atobe was obviously in a horrible mood by then, so Mizuki decided to let him be, though try as he might, he couldn't figure out what was annoying Atobe so. The Ice King rarely lost his cool, hence the name.

"...Kikumaru-san, it's only going to get harder from here." Chotaro said, turning serious.

"Don't worry!" Kikumaru said, jumping up and down excitedly. "We've got this!"

"I can see all your weaknesses." Atobe said triumphantly, hitting the ball to Kikumaru's weak side. Yes! he thought, grinning. I did it!

"Uwah!" Kikumaru said, barely hitting it. As it was, the ball was lobbed.

"Oh no! Kikumaru-san, Mizuki-san's going to smash it!" Chotaro yelled, gritting his teeth. The audience fell silent in anticipation. "Get ready! Use a special move! Counter it with offence!"

"Take this!" Kikumaru yelled. "POWER HAMMER!"

"Game, set and match, Mario and Yoshi pair!"

"YEAH! WE WON NYA!" Kikumaru cheered, swinging his Wii remote around until he accidentally hit Oishi. "Wah! Gomen, Oishi! But we won~!"

"Hmph." Atobe huffed, looking away. "It was simply a video game. Don't get so excited."

"You were the one who challenged them, Atobe-san…" Yuuta pointed out. He sweat-dropped as Atobe glared at him darkly. It was about the fourth or fifth time he had done so during the game already.

"Is Mario's special move really called a Power Hammer, Kikumaru-san?" Chotaro asked, after high fiving him.

"Um…probably?"

"What are you doing?" Niou asked, popping his head into the TV lounge along with Yukimura, Sanada and Renji.

"Playing relatable tennis." Jiro answered.

Atobe fumed silently. "Ore-sama has had enough Mario Power tennis to last a lifetime. Ore-sama will go outside now and practice real tennis."

"It's almost dinner time, buchou!" Jiro piped up, sniffing the air and smelling the mouthwatering scent of multiple culinary delights. U-17 sure knew how to make food smell good. "Go tomorrow!"

"…Jiro, how are you even awake?" Gakuto asked. "You're even on that comfy couch and all."

Jiro blinked as all eyes went to him, shifting around on the plush blue couch he was on. "I…I tried to, but couldn't. I don't know why, but I can't sleep at all today."

"..."

"Is the world ending?"

At Court 1:

-BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

-BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

-BAM!

"…." Tokugawa frowned, having missed a ball yet again. Actually, it was more missing 5 balls than just 1.

"…Yo, Tokugawa…" Tanegashima said, catching the balls with his racket and approaching the net. "Are you ok? Your playing's off. We've only been at it for 10 minutes, and you've been missing every other ball."

"…I'm fine. Thank you for training with me." Tokugawa said stonily. He grabbed his bag from the bench and stormed off without another word.

Tanegashima sighed, shaking his head. He could practically see the storm cloud over Tokugawa's head. "The atmosphere sucks today…" he said, walking down the path and breathing in the cool evening air. He closed his eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet, with the occasional sweet melody from a passing bird. He, for one, was having a good day.

-PFTRP!

"Huh?"

-PHHBRT!

"…?"

-HHRBBBBT!

Tanegashima plugged his ears, wincing. "The heck?" That wasn't the beautiful bird song he was listening to. It seemed to be coming from a music room on the first floor of the camp, and Tanegashima slowly made his way towards the door.

-PHTTBR!

-PFFTT!

-FFFFT!

"….Is someone playing an instrument? Or…trying to?" Tanegashima muttered, testing out the door and finding it unlocked. "Hey!" he yelled, walking in. "Whoever you are, you're killing the song! And my ears!" he added. "I'm begging you, please shut up!"

"Ah, Shuu-san, gomen."

Tanegashima stared. "K-KANATA?!"he yelled, eyes widening in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Kanata asked innocently, standing up with his saxophone in the middle of the room. An array of sheet music lay perfectly organized on his sheet music stand, and a few music books were propped up on a bed. It had once been a dorm room, but was now used for miscellaneous things.

"…Uh…" Tanegashima still stared. Normally he never got shocked, but long story short, Kanata was U-17's resident musician.

Kanata sighed. "My saxophone playing's been off today...I don't know…maybe it's broken."

Tanegashima shook his head in disbelief. "What's going on? Everyone's having an off day. Tokugawa was playing horribly just before, the chefs keep burning anything and everything, about 200$ of damage has resulted from cups cracking, and I've seen enough broken shoelaces to form a rope long enough to go around the Earth twice! Why is this?"

"…Well…" Kanata said thoughtfully. "Maybe this is tension from the 1st stringers coming."

"…You think?" Shuuji asked thoughtfully. "I guess it'd explain Tokugawa, but what about everyone else? This didn't happen last year. I mean, if anything, shouldn't people be playing better?"

Kanata chuckled, putting away his saxophone and clearing his sheet music. "That's because everyone was too busy worrying about the Tokugawa Terror back then."

"Oh yeah! That was classic!" Tanegashima laughed. "I remember! Tokugawa started challenging everyone until he even knocked down someone from Court 1. At first, no one took him seriously because he was from abroad, but boy, did that change!"

"Some people even stayed holed up in their dorms all day because they didn't want to risk facing him." Kanata added, smiling. "He wasn't friendly, either."

"If it weren't for Byoudouin crushing him, I wonder what would have happened." Tanegashima said. "Would people still have hidden in their dorms like they did?"

"Maybe you or I would have challenged him."

"Hm, probably."

"But don't worry, Shuu-san. It's also probably because of the commotion from the middle schoolers. This has been a very unique year. It'll wear off soon. Let's go for dinner."

"Hope so. Geez, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an explosion or something!"

-BOOM!

"…"

"…"

"W-What was that?"

At Inui's dorm:

"I-It's not working! My Inui Juice recipes aren't working! It exploded my blender! How will I make Inui Juices now?!" Inui stammered, looking over a pour of molten who-knows-what dripping off his desk and onto the floor, sizzling. "NOOOO!"

The next day:

Ryoma stood on Court 1, practicing during the first sunlight rays. It was isolated, making it one of the more peaceful courts. He didn't often go to practice this early, but he had felt oddly motivated that day. Or was it motivation? He wasn't sure. He had even gotten up earlier than Kintaro (and that was saying something). He paused mid swing as he noticed the sky was glowing an eerie red. He frowned, remembering an old saying.

Red skies in morning, sailor's warning.

"...Why do I have this bad feeling...?" he muttered.

Owari

~o0o~

Don't have much to say here…But yeah, this was chapter 14, fun to write ^^ Chapter 15's gonna be a pain...that's my preview :p ...And I know there are a few plot holes with Kabuto's story, but they're there for a reason. I'll cover them next chapter, or in the next few chapters...

Lol, sorry for making Liliadent sound like some battle warrior guy.

By the way, please don't kill me. I know sunrises are usually red, so I don't get it . Apparently if a sunrise is red, it foreshadows an approaching storm.

*Seiza is a method of sitting that kinda hurts and is difficult for young people to do (gotten from chapter 49 of NPOT on mangafox)

*Sobagara is something used for pillow construction, some thing of buckwheat-I-don't-know. There's Google if you want to know in detail. I only added it because Ryo threw it :p and I wanted it to be somewhat like the manga (though I kinda botched it XP)

Thanks for reading!

Omake: Relatable Tennis

"Buchou…" Akaya said, picking up a Wii controller and swinging it around like a racket. They had been playing the game for a while after dinner, as had many other people, as the afternoon match had started up a frenzy. "Do you think hammers would really be allowed during a match? I mean, isn't it against the rules to have a transforming racket?"

"Hmm…" Yukimura said, sitting down onto a couch. He watched Akaya practice with an amused look on his face. "I think Niou could do it, after some practice. After all, he can already transform himself. It would be useful, wouldn't it?" he said, smiling. "It would certainly surprise the opponent."

"I think it'd be really cool if we could do stuff like them!" Akaya said excitedly. "Maybe like that really cool fireball move of Bowser's?"

"Doesn't Sanada already have that with his Ka?" Yukimura asked, chuckling.

"Then…" Akaya said, biting his lip. "That Shy Guy's lightning shot! Lightning Spear was it?"

"Sanada's Rai?"

"Waluigi's Whirlwind shot? Whirluigi or something?"

"A similar effect can be created easily. For instance, Echizen-kun's Cyclone Smash. In fact, I believe Cyclone Smash has more power."

"…Um, how about Diddy-"

"Kaido-kun's Snake."

"Peach's love shot?!" Akaya paused. "Wait, no...It's not really a love shot. Well, is it...? It does make the opponent dizzy and distracted with love, so..."

"..." Yukimura chuckled slowly, though his eyes seemed mischievous. "I believe it's not, but wouldn't it be interesting if it was a shot that made one lovestruck? Now that would be scary. Hmm, perhaps my Yips could have that effect some day? What do you think, Akaya?" Yukimura asked, smiling innocently.

Akaya paled. He imagined Sanada playing against Yukimura, and Yukimura using Love Yips. It didn't put a good image into his mind. "Er…Uh…"

"Who said lovestruck? Has the captain of Rikkaidai fallen for someone?" Yukimura and Akaya looked up as Rin, Kite and Tanishi walked in.

"Wah?! Yukimura-buchou isn't in love with anyone!" Akaya said. "At least, I don't think so…" He looked at Yukimura hesitantly, who shook his head in amusement. Akaya sighed in relief. It seemed as if "Love Yips" weren't going in action...yet.

"Ne, Kite-kun…" Yukimura started, a gleam in his blue eyes. "I heard a rumor that your team came to this camp on a pirate raft. Is that true?"

Kite and his team instantly paled.

"What?" Akaya asked, interested. "How could you guys go all that way in a raft?! Cool! Oh wait, wait! Didn't you guys come to England the same way?"

"It certainly saves money." Yukimura said. "Was it a pleasant ride?"

Kite sighed, looking green. "If only you knew...I've had enough of princess rescues by now."

"Wait, what?"

Over at another TV lounge:

"Game, set and match, Yoshi!"

"GAAH!" Atobe yelled, throwing the Wii remote on the floor. It was obvious he had been the other player. He had been playing Mario Power tennis for the last 3 hours without success.

"How can Ore-sama be so bad at this?! I must practice! Losing to this game to Tezuka 34 times last month was bad enough, but to lose to Chotaro, Kikumaru and a player on the intermediate CPU?! But..." he said, stopping with a sigh. "At least I'm not playing the easiest CPU anymore. This is a vast improvement."

"Atobe?" Gakuto popped his head in. "Ooh! Mario Tennis! I'm so good at this! But Atobe, why are you only playing against the easiest CPU? What? What do I mean? I know it used to be on intermediate, but Jiro changed it about 3 hours ago, and it's still on easy. See? It says so right there! Hey, you lost? HA! No wonder you lost to...Uh, A-Atobe?!"

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!"