Chapter LI- "Oishi! It's Not What It Looks Like!"

It was silent for a very long time. Probably about the equivalent of ten months, give or take a few days. Then they all awoke from their comatose states and looked around, bewildered as to why that pause had taken place.

"Why did that pause take place?" demanded a very angry tennis player.

"Let's not dwell on that right now!" said Ryuuzaki. "It's important for us to capitalize on this moment and get through as much as we can!"

"YEAH!" cheered everyone.

"So first up is Kabaji and Taka from Beanstalk Rhapsody versus Atsushi and Eiji from Switch Trick Play!" announced Ryuuzaki. "The four of you should take the courts."

"This is a great match too!" said Eiji to his partner as they got on their side of the court. "It's kind of like the big crazy Rokkaku match."

"Why is that?" Atsushi asked.

"Well, because me and Taka are both on Seigaku," Eiji started. "And you and Kabaji are..." Then he paused and reconsidered his thought process. "Oh. Wait. Never mind. But it's STILL a great match!"

"Who were you confusing me with?" Atsushi said.

"No one," said Eiji obliviously.

"I'm used to people confusing me with my brother," said Atsushi. "But I really don't look like anyone on Hyoutei."

"It was an honest mistake," Eiji said defensively.

"Hey you two, stop having a lover's quarrel and get to the game!" commanded Sakaki into a megaphone.

Everyone who hadn't been paying attention quickly ran over to see who was supposedly having the lover's quarrel. Upon arriving, Oishi gasped and fainted.

"Oishi!" Eiji yelled as he managed to sprint across the court and catch his true doubles partner before he fell to the ground. (You know, since Eiji has the ability to go so fast that it looks like there are two of them there by himself.) "It's not what it looks like!"

"Eiji..." said Oishi dramatically as he looked like he was about to die.

Everyone who was standing idly by just raised their eyebrows skeptically in response and they all decided they were bored.

"We're bored," everyone decided.

"Let's get to the tennis match then," said Ojii, looking annoyed.

So Oishi and Eiji stopped being drama queens and finally everyone who was actually involved in the match ignored the pointless interruption and got ready to start a fun game of fake tennis.

"Oh yeah, I forgot for a minute that it was fake tennis," said Taka to his doubles partner who happened to be Kabaji. We all know how talkative Kabaji is, so we'll just say Kabaji had a more or less generic response to Taka's remark.

As the match began, the teams on the sidelines were becoming anxious to have their own opportunities to play tennis. Choutarou and Gakuto were contemplating various moves they could use which they had developed while at practice (since they're actually on Hyoutei unlike Atsushi) and also establish effective formations because, as they would constantly point out, this is not their usual doubles situation so therefore they were at a bit of a disadvantage since Gakuto would rather be playing doubles with Oshitari while Choutarou would rather be playing doubles with Shishido. Well duh.

Anyway, while that was occurring, Tetsu was only standing there by himself, secretly hoping that Atsushi and Eiji would lose so Gakuto and Choutarou could win so that he would get a chance to play tennis even if he would have to play against Sanada and probably lose. Unfortunately, Tetsu didn't have much else to think about beside his own helplessness and tennis.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Bane, Renji and Sanada were actually all watching the match. This team is quite the underdog team when it came to teamwork skillz and they were, surprisingly, being very supportive of Kabaji and Taka who were holding their own against Atsushi and Eiji. The match itself wasn't so interesting...just the fact that everyone had different fans, but that would be true for any match.

"Thanks to Oishi forgiving and supporting me, I was able to win!" Eiji exclaimed.

"Congratulations Eiji!" Oishi said.

"Thank you, Oishi!" said Eiji.

And they might have performed some sort of "BFFL" Ritual right then and there and gone into SYNCHRO and all that jazz, but no one felt like paying anymore attention to them so they were dismissed, or at least told to have their party elsewhere.

"It's all right," said Sanada as Kabaji and Taka came over, defeated.

"I feel like you two should have won easily," Bane said, trying to lean over and check Renji's databook. "You both excel in the powerhouse department."

Renji was very protective of said book as he stood up. "Tennis moves displayed by Atsushi and Eiji would have been impossible for Kabaji to immitate," he reflected. "Perhaps my original suggestion for the formation would have been ideal."

Renji didn't give Sanada an opportunity to bitch slap him because he just walked away all dramatically with his eyes closed. Bane shrugged it off and frolicked after Renji since the two of them were up in the next match.

"Renji and Bane from Beanstalk Rhapsody!" said Ryuuzaki. "Versus Gakuto and Ootori from Switch Trick Play!"

"If we don't win this one then we're out," said Taka.

"And I won't get to play tennis," said Sanada, crossing his arms with a frown. For some odd reason, they both decided to look at Kabaji for his addition to the conversation.

"Usu," said Kabaji.

"Wow, this is an interesting match!" said Atsushi to Eiji and Tetsu. The two just looked confused. "Well, because Gakuto and Ootori are both on Hyoutei while Bane is on Rokkaku and Renji is on Rikkai Dai!"

There was quietness.

"Are you making fun of me?" Eiji inquired.

"Yes," said Atsushi.

"Well don't," said Eiji. "It makes me feel bad about myself!"

"Fine," said Atsushi.

"And, if you took a second to look at the match, then you would realize that it is an interesting match," said Tetsu.

"Why?" said Eiji and Atsushi quizzically.

"Because all four of them are good tennis players with exceptional serves!" Tetsu announced.

"Yes, but we have to figure out a commonality between all four of them," said Eiji, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah, now I feel as though it's our duty," Atsushi agreed.

The unlikely partners in crime collaborated everything they knew on the four players while Tetsu just sat by and sobbed because they wouldn't listen to him when he said they were all good tennis players, which was their commonality.

"Now's our service," said Gakuto as he threw the tennis ball to Choutarou. "If you make sure they don't even get a chance to return any serves, then we win the match and we move on to play against the 3rd Years! And I want to crush them so bad..."

"Why?" Choutarou asked.

"Because they're so cocky!" Gakuto answered.

The two of them looked over at Respect Your Elders as they all just sat around laughing and slapping their knees. Perhaps to a casual onlooker, they were only having a joyous time watching the tennis match, but to a competitive eye, they were judging everyone else.

"You're right!" Choutarou agreed.

"Plus, they're the ones who are probably in the front running for going to this tennis camp since they did well in all of the challenges," Gakuto continued. "We can't let them be the ones who go, right?"

"Not with attitudes like theirs," said Choutarou.

"Yeah, so let's do this using that as our motivation!" Gakuto announced.

"I'll put all my heart and soul into it!" Choutarou said as he threw the ball up into the air and served it.

Gakuto and Choutarou's playing increased basically a hundred thousand fold because they were so sparked with the need to take down the 3rd Years who were acting cocky. Bane and Renji didn't even know what hit them!

"What just hit us?" Renji inquired.

"Try opening your eyes," Bane suggested.

"Pfft," said Renji.

"Winners!" Ryuuzaki announced. "Switch Trick Play!"

"YAY!" cheered the team of doubles players as they all ran to each other in a group and hugged like they were being paid for it.

"Oh well," said Sanada. "I find it annoying that I don't seem to get to play tennis ever...but I'll get over it somehow."

"Yeah, when we're at the tennis camp," said Bane enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit!" said Taka gleefully.

"Did you find a commonality for all four of the players?" Tetsu asked Atsushi and Eiji.

"That is so last page," said Eiji and Atsushi.

"Aww..." said Tetsu, feeling ultimately left out.

"Congratulations!" said Ryuuzaki. "I believe that ends this round! With only four teams left, this is getting more and more exciting by the moment! The tension is palpable! You could potentially cut through this tension with a knife and serve it as a tension cake!"

When she noticed everyone was looking upon her with concern for her mental health, she decided to move on.

"Achilles' Heel will play against Entrepreneur in the first match," she said, reading off her handy-dandy clipboard. "And then we'll have Respect Your Elders against Switch Trick Play. You all remember where you're supposed to be?"

"And I suppose those of us who failed to be associated with a winning team should just sit back and watch, am I correct?" Atobe questioned.

"Yes," said Banji. "If anyone leaves then that person automatically disqualifies his entire team! Which means, yes, Team FRESHMAN was disqualified. We're still debating on whether Pillars should be eliminated based on Yukimura and Tezuka's required trip to the hospital..."

"They didn't leave because they wanted to," said Atobe. "They were so dedicated and intense about going to this tennis camp that they injured themselves."

"If anything," Tachibana chimed in. "We should receive brownie points for their dedication."

"We'll consider it!" said Ryuuzaki. "For now, we're going to move onto the next match, and it's a doozy! Will Entrepreneur and Achilles' Hell please take to the courts!"