BP: I spent the whole day learning spelling yesterday and today. So that's why there's no new chapter for yesterday. I am just too busy! Anyway, I know, but I promise the light version of the ITM would happen within the next few chapters. Anyway, I am already in a bad mood, please, don't aggravate me. Oh, I know about doing new paragraphs when I want a conversation, but I was simply too lazy to make a new paragraph. Yeah, I am a lazy person, deal with it!
William regained consciousness after 4 days, but Pakura developed a high fever that would not go down. She has been fading in and out of consciousness, and her fever was so bad, she had to stay in bed. The champions usually brought food to her room. Now, they were plotting their next move (or rather, their next prank that guarantees revenge) against Seigaku. Philip grinned as he thought of one. "What are you grinning about, Philip?" said Tyler. Philip said, "I know what we should do." The champions perked up. "Really? What?" said Ryoma. Philip smiled. "You'll see…Derek, this time, I am counting on you to pull this prank…." Derek perked up when he heard his name
Next day, after training, Derek found himself carrying a box that Ryoma and Atobe prepared. He found the Seigaku loitering at the corridors. He ran towards them, and purposefully bumped into one of them. "Hey, watch it!" Momoshiro cried. Derek got up and apologized. "I'm sorry! I just need to deliver this box to the vice-captain! But after that, I had to meet Philip for lunch, and I am already late for the lunch appointment!" Fuji was intrigued. "If you like, I can pass it to her myself." Derek smiled. "Thank you!" and passed the box to Fuji. Fuji smiled, and carried the box back to his own floor, followed by his teammates. "Go in, Fuji, open it." said Kikumaru. Fuji complied, and found a cake full of icing and chocolate rice. "Are you sure the vice-captain can finish that all by herself?" said Inui. "Judging by her size, I don't think she can even finish three slices!" Momoshiro nodded. "I agree. Let's take a slice each. Maybe she wouldn't notice. I'm hungry, anyway." With that, he took the knife provided and cut the cake. However, as soon as he did, the balloon containing all sorts of foul ingredients (which God knows where Atobe and Ryoma got it from) exploded, showering the Seigaku regulars with the foul (and stinking) ingredients. The best part, as soon as the foul substance touched their tongues and they instinctively swallowed it, they passed out. Meanwhile, at the twelfth floor, the champions are laughing away. They heard the explosion and the thuds that followed and deduced that Seigaku has probably cut the cake. Ryoma smirked. "Knowing those regulars, instead of taking it to Pakura, they would have opened it themselves, thinking it was some evidence that they are the betrayers and they want to destroy the evidence. However, they found the balloon cake and Momoshiro would be hungry for a slice, so he would cut the cake."
"You're a smart one, Ryoma." said Atobe, kissing Ryoma on the lips.
"Why, thank you, Keigo." said Ryoma. "I want to see the vice-captain now. Let's go, Keigo." With that, they left for Pakura's room. They went in to see Ryoga replacing the cloth on Pakura's forehead. Her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily. When Ryoga saw them, he shook his head. "She's been vomiting a lot as well, and I can't seem to bring down her fever." Ryoma looked at his vice-captain. He hoped she would recover soon enough. He bit his lip and nodded. "Take care of Pakura." He said, before leaving with Atobe. Once outside, Ryoma sighed. Atobe placed a hand on his shoulder. "She will recover. She still had her promise to fight alongside you for this." Ryoma nodded. "I hope so." He said, before going to the dining room for dinner. Tonight they served cream of chicken soup, mashed potatoes, beef casserole, salad, and for dessert, chocolate chip scones. Although the food was as appetizing as ever, without the vice-captain, they might as well be eating cardboard. Meanwhile, in the penthouse, Pakura opened her eyes. Everything seemed….fuzzy and blurry. "You're awake." said a voice. Pakura turned to Ryoga. "What time is it now?" Ryoga checked the clock. "It's 7pm now."
"Aren't you going to have dinner?" she said. "I'm taking care of you. I can't let you out of my sight, can I?" Pakura widened her eyes slightly. "I'm sorry."
"It's no problem, Pakura. Everyone gets sick once in a while. Here, take this fever pill." He handed her the fever pills found in her first-aid kit and a glass of water. He raised his brow when he noticed his girlfriend putting away the medicine and glass of water on the bedside table.
"Aren't you going to drink that?"
"I drank that before when I had a fever once. It tastes so awful that it will be the death of me."
"That's why it's called medicine," Ryoga retorted, and reached for the glass of water and pill. 'Is he going to force it in my mouth or what?' Pakura thought.
Pakura's face remained impassive as she watched Ryoga pop the pill into his mouth and take a mouthful of water from the glass. To her surprise, Ryoga pressed his mouth against hers, mouth-feeding him with the medicine. She had no choice but to take the medicine. 'I am surprised he managed to outwit me.' She thought bitterly.
After that, it turned into a kiss that is controlled but passionate. After a few minutes, Ryoga broke away. "Since when does medicine taste awful?" Ryoga teased. Pakura sighed.
"You shouldn't take flu so lightly Ryoga, it's contagious."
Ryoga shrugged. "I never catch a cold anyway, so I am fine."
Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." said Ryoga. The door opened, revealing Ryoma and Atobe. They were carrying a bowl of soup. Ryoma set the tray on Pakura's lap, and handed her a spoon. "It's cream of chicken today." He said. Pakura nodded, before starting on her soup. "So, what did you guys do today?" When she saw Ryoma's and Atobe's smirk, she knew what they were about to say. "Ryoma got Derek to give Seigaku a balloon cake we filled with all sorts of foul substances. We also added a strong dose of a certain drug that immediately knocks people out once they swallow it." Pakura whistled. "Not bad." She said, drinking her soup. Ryoga handed her a thermometer. She put it in, and a few minutes later, it beeped. She removed it and read the number on the thermometer. "39.6 degrees." She sighed. "I am not feeling any better, it seems." Ryoma and Atobe nodded. "I'll get Marie to cook you some ramen." said Atobe. Marie is the name of one of the cooks in the Training Center. Pakura has seen her before. She is beautiful, but in a different way than her. She actually used to be a model, but she quit when she got married. Now she doesn't get to meet all the interesting people she used to meet when she was modeling. She once stayed in the same hotel as Prince Charles and Princess Diana. She told Pakura that they slept in separate bedrooms. And that was on their honeymoon!
No wonder things didn't work out between them.
"Sure, go ahead." said Pakura.
Once they were out, they met Tyler at the lounge. "So, how is Princess?" Ryoma said, "Well, her fever isn't going down. We're going to get Marie to make some ramen for her." Tyler nodded. "I see. Well, I hope she recovers from her fever soon."
"Me too." said Atobe, picking up the phone provided on the lounge and dialed the number.
Half an hour later….
The door opened, reappearing with Ryoma holding a tray, which has a bowl with steam above it and another glass of water, followed by Atobe. "Here" said Ryoma, placing the tray on Pakura's lap carefully. He said while handing the chopstick to Pakura. Pakura looked at the amount of ramen. "So much?" she grumbled. "It'll just come back up again."
"You don't have to finish it all, just eat some of it." Atobe replied.
Pakura took the chopsticks from Ryoma and started eating it. It was beef flavored. Under the stares of three people (does her eating ramen look like a show?), she reluctantly ate the ramen until she finished the whole bowl. When she did, she handed the chopsticks and tray back to Ryoma. "You should take some rest. Drink that glass of water, though." Pakura reluctantly complied and handed the empty glass back to Ryoma a few seconds later. "Well, have a good rest, Princess." said Ryoma, as he carried the try back out, followed by Atobe. As they placed the empty dishes on the dining table (the servers would collect it later) Ryoma kissed Atobe on the lips. After the mayhem of two of the champions being temporarily done away, they did not really have time to have an alone time together. Atobe returned the kiss fervently, wrapping his arms around Ryoma's waist. They were interrupted, however, when someone coughed. They turned in alarm, only to find one of the servers that is currently tending to them as long as they are in the Training Center. "Erm, can I collect the dishes now?" Ryoma and Atobe smiled sheepishly, and said, "Yes." before going to Ryoma's room.
Once in the safety of their room, Atobe sighed. "Next time, when we have an alone time, make sure it's somewhere anyone can't walk in on us, like your room." Ryoma nodded. "I agree." With that, they climbed into bed and fell asleep, wrapped into each other's arms.
The next day, they went down for breakfast, to find a surprise. Pakura was eating breakfast with Ryoga! "Princess, you've recovered?" said Atobe. Pakura smiled, and nodded. "Yup. It went down this morning, Poor Ryoga's been up all night taking care of me." She said, nodding towards the boy next to her. Ryoga smiled. "It's no problem staying up all night if it's for her." Pakura smiled. She is a pretty, she is smart and athletic, she may not have a family, but she has fabulous friends who care for her, she lives in New York City, the coolest place on the planet, but most of all, she had Ryoga.
What else could a girl ask for?
Omake (Why is Jude a playboy)
Hello, everyone. My name is Jude Harrison, and I am the playboy, as Pakura calls me. You may wonder why I am the playboy. Well, to tell you the truth, it was to hide my pain from the ITM. No, I am not Pakura, whose lover died in the ITM. My first love was a girl named Penelope Greengrass. Yes, she's pretty, smart and to me, she's perfect. However, she dumped me for a popular guy in my school.
Every time I see her with her boyfriend, I felt an ache in my heart. She was taunting me as every time she sees me in sight, she would display public affections to her boyfriend. Then, she was chosen for the 68th ITM. Yes, it was the ITM Pakura participated in. At some point in the ITM, she ran into Pakura. Yes, they battled it out using tennis. Pakura, because her love already died, she vented all her anger, her hate on her. Unfortunately, that was Penelope's third loss, and she was electrocuted by her tracker. She died nearly instantly. I watched as Pakura took her supplies and moved on. Since then, I went out with many girls because I hoped one of them would help me forget about Penelope. I dumped them because Pakura beats them up. I trusted her to find the perfect girlfriend for me. I gave her that very task.
I felt a hand touch my shoulder. It was Pakura. When we are alone, she would comfort me, not threaten me or beat me up, like I asked her to, because I didn't want the others to suspect. She empathizes with me because she knew what it's like to lose a loved one. She gave me her jacket. "Here, if you want to think, at least wear a jacket." With that, she left. I knew although she berates me in front of others, she cared for me after all.
A/N: I may reveal the others' own stories in the omakes. Please review! (I didn't get 10 reviews for the last chapter, so I am in a bad mood) I was watching Beezlebub while writing this, so it may be bad!