Disclaimer: Bah, I own my computer and that is all... -.-
"Fuji will you solve the problem on the board, please?" The teacher tapped his ruler on to the board, with a complicated Math problem.
Fuji turned his head towards the board and smiled at the teacher. He gently stood up from his chair and walked calmly to the board. Everyone in the class knew that Syuske Fuji was a child prodigy, excelling in all the things he tries. Nevertheless, the whole class, even Kikumaru who had raised his head up to actually look at Fuji, stared in awe as Fuji solved the problem in a nanosecond. When Fuji was done he turned his head to the class and particularly looked at Kikumaru. When Kikumaru felt Fuji's smile piercing through his skin, he immediately bowed his head down again to hide his blushing.
"Very well done, Fuji. You may sit down." The teacher ushered Fuji back to his seat when the class bell rang. "Don't forget do the remaining problems on your book." The teacher, like the students, was more than eager to go to lunch.
Kikumaru quickly grabbed his lunch and dashed to the front door, jumping over the desks and students. Gomen Fuji! He didn't really mean to avoid Fuji. It was just something he felt he had to do. Everything was getting too awkward for him.
Fuji just watched Kikumaru fight his way out of the room, with an amused smile on his face. Ah, so my Neko-chan wants to play hide-and-seek huh? He giggled softly and also grabbed his lunch. The other students watched Fuji giggle to himself as he exited the room. When he had reached the door of the classroom he turned his attention to the staring students behind him. "Ah, my Neko-chan wants to play hide-and-seek. Isn't he quite adorable ne minna?" He left the room with everyone's mouth open and a baffled expression on their faces.
Kikumaru arrived at the cafeteria gasping for breath. He did run in quite a distance and in super speed after all. What now? If only it wasn't raining outside! He scanned the room looking for someone to eat lunch with, besides Fuji or Oishi of course. Fortunately, neither one of the two were there yet.
"Oi, Echizen! Why aren't you eating lunch with us?" Horio, the boy with two years of tennis experience, yelled out behind Kikumaru, as he bumped into him
When Horio noticed Kikumaru looking down at him he started to repeatedly bow his head. "Gomen nasai, Kikumaru-sempai!" He turned to Katsuo behind him, who was looking around for a table. "Baka! You made me bump it Kikumaru-sempai! If the Buchou was here he would've made you run 400 laps in the rain!"
Kikumaru laughed a little at the two freshmen arguing. "Ah, don't mind, don't mind, Horio. I'm okay, no harm done nyaa." It was as if the two freshmen didn't even hear him, so he decided to chase after Echizen instead.
Echizen was already in a corner by himself, with Sakuno not far away blushing at the very sight of Echizen. Kikumaru took the seat across Echizen and unwrapped his lunch as if Echizen wasn't staring at him with a confused look.
"Not to be rude or anything, Kikumaru-sempai, but what are you doing here?" Kikumaru's head shot up, which kind of surprised Echizen. "Where's Fuji-sempai? Don't you two usually eat lunch together?"
Kikumaru swallowed the dangling fish from his mouth and put his chopsticks down. "Well, Ochibi..." He thought for a moment, scratching his head. "Nyah, don't you want to spend time with me Ochibi?" He grabbed Echizen and gave him a hug.
Echizen pulled away and gave Kikumaru a perplexed look. The redheaded kitten continued to gobble down his lunch. "Kikumaru-sempai..." Echizen would've still been in complete awkwardness if Oishi didn't come.
"Echizen," He gave him a pat in the back with his free hand and lifted his head up to Kikumaru, who looked like a little kid enjoying his bag of candies. "Eiji..." Oishi said rather silently.
Kikumaru was completely wide-eyed when he saw Oishi standing in front of him. He took a sip of his Ponta to clear his throat and was able to mumble something out. "Hoi."
Echizen's head turned from Oishi to Kikumaru as they looked at each other without a blink. What a day... "Oi, Oishi-sempai, is there anything you need?" He managed to ask while he poked his Vice Captain.
The trance between the freshman's sempais' was broken and Oishi shook his head a bit before answering. "I just wanted to share lunch with you two." He coughed right after saying, as if he didn't want it to sound too obvious.
Kikumaru slipped a little from his position when he heard Oishi's request. Why is this happening to me today? He looked at Echizen with a sort of pleading look in his eyes, hoping that Ochibi can save him from this once.
"Sure."
Obviously, the dazed freshman took the wrong message from Kikumaru's pleading eyes.
Oishi took the seat next to Kikumaru and gave him a shy smile after looking at him. Kikumaru didn't know how to react so he just returned an unsure smile. Are the gods punishing me for eating Nee-san's cake last night? Nyaa!
The lunchroom was filled with the students' chatters and gossips but the three couldn't even mutter out a single a word. The only sound coming from their table was the clicking of their chopsticks. The Golden Pair's eating habit was rather impressive. They both lifted their hands up in perfect timing and the clicking of their chopsticks was in perfect harmony.
Echizen obviously noticed this impressive behavior. "Eh, as expected from the Golden Pair." He said with a playful smirk on his face.
The Golden Pair turned to each other in wide-eye and blushed for a second and then went back to their food. "Heh..." Oishi replied silently.
Fuji had entered the lunchroom with Tezuka, who was trying to keep his focus, besides him. The stressed Captain looked around with the serious look on his face but a sweat drop on his forehead. Damn you Fuji... How can you make me feel so... distracted. Tezuka cleared his throat to get some kind of communication between the two of them.
Fuji's arm slowly lifted up and his index finger lifted up and pointed straight ahead. "There. I want to eat lunch with my Neko-chan." He faced Tezuka and smiled at him.
Tezuka tried to say something, but Fuji grabbed his arm already and dragged him towards Kikumaru's table. The moment Fuji's hand touched Tezuka's arm, his muscles sort of stiffened for a bit. Just the slightest touch of Fuji sent Tezuka's brain in disarray.
"F-Fuji..." Tezuka tried to stop Fuji, but they had already reached the table.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cafeteria were Momoshiro and Inui.
"Here," Inui handed Momoshiro a piece of paper. "It's your new training menu. There is a 95% chance of you improving to your greatest potential if you follow this." He said as he pushed his glasses up.
The loud, Second Year Regular lifted his hands up and looked at the paper with a rather cocky look. "Eh, I don't think I really need this, Inui. I'm doing fine with my other training menu. Besides it's only 95% chance right?" He gave Inui a self-assured smile.
Inui didn't seem to be the least bit disappointed. He just once again adjusted his glasses and walked away mumbling to himself.
After Inui left a mob of screaming girls rushed towards Momoshiro. They were all tugging all over his shirt and screaming like mad.
"MOMO-SAMA!!!! PLEASE SIGN MY BOOK!!!" A redheaded First Year screeched out. She held up a notebook filled with Momoshiro's name and hearts.
"MOMO!!!!! YOU'RE THE BEST TENNIS PLAYER EVER!" More girls screamed out random fan-girl phrases and Momoshiro loved the attention he was getting.
"Easy girls! I'll sign all of your things just don't step all over me!" Momoshiro flashed his cocky grin and all the girls practically fainted.
"Hmph, just all talk..." Kaidoh hissed and scowled at the sight of the loud, screaming girls.
Momoshiro obviously heard Kaidoh's remark and fought his way out of his fans. "Oi mamushi! What did you say? All talk?! Take back what you said or I'll wipe your face to the ground!" Momoshiro's voice was so loud that everyone's attention turned to him.
Kaidoh didn't even bother to reply. He just hissed and left the room.
"Inui-senpai! Give me that training menu and I'll show that mamushi!" Momoshiro chased after Inui, who was conveniently heading towards Kikumaru's table.
Fuji, Tezuka, Inui and Momoshiro all stood before Echizen with their lunches in hand.
"Go ahead..." Echizen simply said with a bothered tone.
They all grabbed a chair and cramped themselves up in the table. Kikumaru was pressed between Oishi and Fuji's shoulder. Echizen on the other hand was squeezed between Inui and Momoshiro, both talking back and forth of the poor freshman's ears. Tezuka sat beside Fuji, still a little tensed and bothered that Fuji's attention was all on Kikumaru.
Kikumaru tried his best not to look at both. The two suitors asked Kikumaru questions after another. He would just simply give short answers to avoid more conversation. It wasn't that he hated Fuji or Oishi; he just didn't feel right when his friends were competing...over him! Nyaa! I really shouldn't have eaten Nee-san's cake last night! I need to get out of here before they both squeeze me to death.
Fuji was just staring at Kikumaru and ignoring his lunch while Oishi was trying to keep up. Ah! How does Fuji do this? Staring at Kikumaru without even turning the slightest shade of pink. Oishi had to bow his head down once in a while to prevent his cheeks from burning.
"Are you doing anything after school, Neko-chan?" The smiling, suitor asked out of the blue.
His smile made Kikumaru even uneasier. It made him feel like Fuji knew something about himself that he didn't. Stop staring at me Fuji! Kikumaru's mind raced and his palms became so sweaty that his chopsticks slipped.
Fuji picked up the chopsticks and took something off his lunch and fed it to Kikumaru. "My Neko-chan is just simply adorable!"
Everyone turned their attention to Fuji as he referred to Kikumaru as his Neko-chan. They didn't find the Neko-chan part odd but the fact that Fuji claimed Kikumaru disturbed the table. Inui, Momoshiro and Echizen watched Fuji's melting stare towards Kikumaru. They turned their heads to Oishi, who was gritting his teeth and turning red. They all shifted their heads to Tezuka, who still looked calm and collected but his forehead had sweatdrops like crazy.
"Very valuable information, indeed..." Inui took out his data notebook and started scribbling fast.
Momoshiro and Echizen turned to each other and tried to look for a word to describe what they just saw.
"So are you doing anything after school, Neko-chan?" Fuji repeated.
The three all watched the situation with eager eyes, as if it were was some kind of soap opera in its climactic event.
Kikumaru looked as if he was going to faint. He closed his eyes and wished that he could somehow disappear into dust and escape the situation.
Oishi finally opened up his mouth and stuttered out. "E-Eiji...Do..Doyouwanttohaveicecreamwithmeafterschool?" Oishi did say it all in one quick sentence, but with everyone's attention focused on the situation it was hard to not miss a word.
Kikumaru's eyes widened and turned to Oishi, who had his head down now, and then turned to Fuji, who was still gazing at him with a plastered smile on his face.
"Eh...Umm..You see...Umm..Oishi...." Oishi's head shot up when he heard Kikumaru mention his name. "Fuji..." It went back down when he heard Fuji's name.
He looked to the three other spectating team members and tried to search for an answer. Momo...no. Inui..AH NO!...OCHIBI! Kikumaru's eyes brightened up and grabbed Echizen by his collar.
"You see...I can't go with either of you two!" Kikumaru said rather, proud of himself. "I have to tutor Ochibi here! He's doing a little terrible in some of his classes so I volunteered to help him out!"
Everyone all looked up to Kikumaru, with Echizen around his arm. They all had confused expression on their faces, even Tezuka whose face contorted a little.
"Kikumaru-sempai...Tutor?" Momoshiro asked, baffled. "No offense Kikumaru-sempai, but you're not exactly the model student eh?"
The bouncy redhead boy frowned at Momoshiro and stuck a tongue to him. "Says who? I can handle Ochibi here!"
Echizen, still surprised by the situation, pulled away from Kikumaru's grip. "Kikumaru-sempai..."
Kikumaru threw a wad of paper at Echizen's head to make him shut up. Everyone's eye practically popped out from Kikumaru's sudden reaction.
"I'm going to tutor you, REMEMBER?" Kikumaru put so much emphasis on the last word that it almost scared Echizen.
Everyone's head turned for Echizen's reply. "Ne...I can't do anything now huh?"
Fuji patted Kikumaru on the head and said. "Ah, my Neko-chan is so helpful and nice ne minna?"
Everyone once again looked at Fuji with a baffled expression. "Kowai..." Momoshiro whispered to Echizen.
Oishi looked so dejected in his corner but rather relieved that Kikumaru didn't pick him...or anyone for that matter.
Kikumaru glanced at his watch and said. "HOI, HOI! Look at the time! I have to go now. I need to get some books out from the library. I want to be a super sensei for Ochibi over there eh?" Kikumaru quickly wrapper up his lunch and squeezed his way out of the table. "Gomen minna!"
Everyone at the table watched Kikumaru walked backwards, continuously bowing his head down apologetically.
"Gomen, gomen, gomen!" Kikumaru repeated over and over again, walking backwards. While looking back at the table, Kawamura was walking behind him with his lunch.
BOOM!
Kawamura's lunch fell to the floor and so did his racquet. Kikumaru, shocked and horrified, helped to pick up Kawamura's lunch.
"Ah! Gomen Taka! I didn't mean to!" Kikumaru picked up the food and put it in his tray.
"It's okay, Eiji. It was my fault I wasn't looking where I was..."Kawamura picked up the racquet he dropped. All hell suddenly broke loose at the cafeteria. "BURNING!!!!!!!!!" Kawamura raised Kikumaru up and pointed his tennis racquet at him. "SORRY?! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY EIJI. BURNING POOOOWER, BABY!" Kawamura swung his racquet but Eiji managed to duck and crawl his way out.
Unfortunately for Kawamura, he had just hit the Principal in the face with his burning power. Realizing what he just done, his racquet dropped and his eyes were in complete horror as his saw his Principal's face red with the racquets markings.
The whole cafeteria went crazy and all the teachers rushed to help the Principal while Kawamura was frozen in his place.
Nyaa! Why is this day turning out so bad?! Kikumaru crawled his way out the crowd. He had managed to escape the crowd and looked back to see if the others are still looking at him, and they were. In panic Kikumaru dashed to the exit.
BAM!
Of all luck, Kikumaru had just crashed into the lunch lady delivering a cake for a teacher. The crowd's attention turned to the cake flying in the air, all their mouths hanging open. The cake dropped in an instant at a student with a green bandana. NYAAA!!!
Kaidoh's face turned red in rage and he hissed as he wiped off the icing on his nose.
The whole cafeteria fell silent and watched Kaidoh's face turn from red to purple.
From a corner Momoshiro bellowed in laughter at the sight of Kaidoh in icing. Soon the whole cafeteria fell into laughter. It was soon filled with so much that Kaidoh couldn't take it anymore and screamed out. Momoshiro walked towards Kaidoh, gasping for breath from too much laughing.
"Hahahahahaha! Is that a new bandana mamushi?" He gave Kaidoh a hard pat on the back causing his face to fall flat on the table. Momoshiro just kept laughing and laughing without realizing what he has done.
"Chikosho..." Kaidoh's head was fuming with anger. He took his tray and dumped it on Momoshiro's spiky hair.
Kikumaru decided to leave before they realize he caused all of it and before he causes any more chaos. Wah! Nee-san must've put a curse on that cake. It wasn't even that good! He crawled out of the crowd and made it to the exit, without any accidents this time. He sprinted back to his classroom while he mutters out prayers to the gods.
Back at the Regulars' table, they watched Kikumaru ran out the cafeteria in a nanosecond. They were all awe-struck on how fast he could really run.
"Ne, Eiji has been acting really odd today huh?" Inui commented as his glasses got stained with some icing.
Momoshiro and the mamushi have been chasing each other all over the cafeteria, throwing food at each other. The whole place was a mess, all the girls were screaming and the teachers were all in panic.
Fuji avoided a flying rice ball by shifting his head to the right. "Who would've thought my Neko-chan could be so clumsy?"
Echizen took his lunch and stood up. "Mada mada dane..." He effortlessly got pass the crazy mob.
With Echizen gone, and Momoshiro in a chase with Kaidoh, only 4 were left. Inui shouldn't really count because he was so caught up in his data that it felt like he wasn't even in the same dimension as the room.
Oishi ducked to avoid a tray that was about to hit him and looked at Fuji. "Fuji..." The smiling Regular turned his attention to Oishi. That...Smile. "About...Eiji..." He paused, as Fuji's expression remained the same. How does he do this? He should at least flinch a little. "W-What exactly are your...Intentions to him?" Oishi tried to make eye contact with Fuji, but the smile just wouldn't go away.
Fuji thought for a moment and turned to the mob behind him. "Well, my Neko-chan is precious to me." Oishi felt a sudden blow in his insides as Fuji's words came out. "I would do anything to make him mine."
Tezuka's, who was still rigid besides Fuji, shuddered a little bit as he heard Fuji's statements. His palms started to feel clammy and more sweatdrops were forming on his temples. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath.
"Feeling sick, Buchou?" Inui asked looking at the tensed captain intensely.
The Captain simply nodded and crossed his arms. "Hm...I have to go." Tezuka pushed the chair away and walked away from the table.
"Hm...Precious data." The eye-glassed, data fanatic, also stood up from the table and left with his head on his green notebook.
The surprised Vice Captain couldn't believe what he just heard. He didn't even notice Tezuka leave. Fuji's words still ringed in his mind. He shuddered at the thought of competing against Fuji. Oishi looked at him with a serious look on his face. I'm not going to give this up easily, Fuji. With a little confidence in him, he grinned at Fuji.
"I won't give him up that easily either, Fuji." Oishi declared confidently.
Fuji didn't look the least bit worried about his friend's sudden gain of confidence. He just looked at him with his smile. "Ah, this is going to be great, Oishi." He extended his right arm to Oishi.
Oishi hesitated for a bit, but eventually took Fuji's hand and as the world around them was in chaos, Fuji v. Oishi has started. Both their grips on each other's hand were filled with hidden strength hidden between the expressions on their faces. "Let's go all out for this eh?" The Vice Captain challenged with a cocky grin.
Fuji was the first to let go of Oishi's grip and opened his eyes. He gently picked up his chopsticks with his graceful, slim fingers. "Rough or Smooth?" Fuji poised it up with the pointed edge on the table. His thumb and index fingers held it by the tip of the chopsticks.
"Smooth." Oishi looked straight into the ominously, glimmering, blue eyes of Fuji.
Fuji spun the chopstick and the two focused on the chopstick, as it spun never endingly. When it started to slow down, Oishi clenced his hands in a fist. As if in slow motion, the chopstick dropped silently in front of the two. Oishi's face squinted a little from what he saw. The 'F' was plainly upside down. Fuji's eyes went back to a smile.
"It looks like it's my serve huh?" Fuji wrapped up his stuff and stood up from the chair. "Ah, Oishi, ganbatte." He left Oishi with a humiliated look on his face.
The rally between Syuuichiro Oishi and Syusuke Fuji has begun with both players going all out for the prize of winning Eiji Kikumaru.
Boy is this chapter long and kind silly eh? WOW! So many reviews! Arigatou minna ^^. Ah, sorry if the grammar is messed up and the story got a little weirder ^^;;. Don't you just love food fights? XD I also made it longer just for the fun of it. If there are any Jap. words spelled wrong it is because I am too lazy to look them up. Hmm..Let's see...What else is there to say? Watch more POT kids ^^;;. Aaaaand.....Eat more Pocky!!!
Next Chapter: Eiji's tutoring session with Ryoma! ^^
