Title: The Collar Challenge
Author: Halu )
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Tezuka/Fuji, Oishi/Kikumaru and some others
Summary: Wherin someone steals Inui's special drink, Momoshiro calls Fuji ugly names, Oishi will confess his love to Kikumaru in three weeks and Tezuka gets punished...
A/N: Unbeta-ed. First PoT fic. It's a crack fic. Just laugh along and go with it.
Disclaimer: PoT not mine.

The Collar Challenge

It was another delightfully sunny afternoon at Seigaku Junior High School as the regular members of the Seigaku Tennis Club started their practice. Tennis practice started out innocently enough with twenty laps around the court, twenty star jumps, forty sit-ups and forty push-ups. Then Tezuka stopped the warm-up and allowed Inui to explain the training for the day.

Inui stepped up to his usual spot beside the whiteboard and his spectacles shone brightly in the sunlight for a moment. "We are going to play a little game in pairs today. There will be three cones, red, blue and yellow at the baseline opposite the net. Your job is to hit each of the different-coloured balls to each cone. Red ball to red cone, blue ball to blue cone and yellow ball to yellow cone."

"No problem, Inui-senpai!" Momoshiro declared, waving his racket around like a samurai.

"To give you an extra incentive to work harder: if you miss any shots, you will have to drink a glass of my Special Deluxe Power Drink version 2.4."

Momoshiro dropped his racket. Kikumaru blanched and became a shade lighter. Takamura gulped and Ryoma pretended he did not care while Kaidoh hissed rather depressingly. Fuji simply smiled.

Tezuka raised an eyebrow while Oishi was somewhat confused. "Inui, didn't you just inform buchou that someone stole your Special Deluxe Power Drink version 2.4 during lunch break today?"

The regular members of the Seigaku Tennis club were torn between relief and pity; relief at having escaped the stomach-turning liquid that Inui was so fond of pouring down their throats but pity for the poor, unknowing soul who had stolen it.

"Yes, it was stolen. No matter. Someone else provided another alternative for you," Inui turned slightly to his left and his spectacles shone brightly in the sunlight for a moment. Everyone, except Tezuka and Fuji, shuddered. Running through everyone's mind were several blood-chilling and extremely disturbing 'alternatives'.

Inui held up a black, leather dog-collar.

"I'm not eating that!" Kikumaru cried out in great distress while the others stared in a horrific silence.

"You are not eating that. You are wearing that. "

"Inui-senpai, what is that?" Momoshiro picked up one of them and inspected it with a certain amount of shock.

"It's the punishment for today. This is a collar. Each one of you has your own personal one. Your name is stitched on it. If you miss a shot, you will wear this for the rest of the practice." Inui took out his digital camera and his spectacles shone brightly in the sunlight, "After I take a photo of you, of course."

Everyone, except for Fuji and Tezuka, gulped at the potential black-mail material that Inui was going to have after the practice session.

"Buchou, there's one with your name on it too," Inui added.

Tezuka gave Inui a Look and he wisely kept quiet while filing away the data for further analyzing.

Kawamura was paired with Fuji and he was the first to miss a shot. Kawamura was downright miserable when Inui gave him the collar.

"Smile for the camera," Inui said.

Kawamaru frowned instead as the flashlight went off.

Ten minutes later, everyone heard screaming from the golden pair, or more accurately, from Kikumaru. Resigned to his fate, Kikumaru put on his collar.

"I must look stupid. Oishi, do I look stupid?" Kikumaru pouted unhappily.

Oishi took one long look at Kikumaru and stammered, "Um…n…no. You…um…look…fine…"

"Oishi, are you feeling alright? Your face is all red." Inui pointed out while Oishi nodded nervously.

"I'm fine. Let's continue," Oishi mumbled without looking at Kikumaru.

Unfortunately, all Oishi could concentrate on was how pretty Kikumaru was in that black, leather collar. Oishi was back for his collar in two minutes' time and Kikumaru insisted that the Golden Pair should take the photograph together.

"Ah…I wonder who will be next? Do you think it will be ochibi?" Kikumaru asked Oishi as they stood at the sidelines and observed the Seigaku players who have yet to suffer the same fate as them.

Kikumaru tugged at the leather collar around his own neck, rubbing the skin around it.

"You shouldn't tug at it. Your skin will turn red and it will hurt," Oishi explained as he took hold of Kikumaru's hand and carefully inspected the skin underneath the leather collar with his other hand. Then, the vice-captain brushed his fingers gently against Kikumaru's soft skin. Kikumaru stopped breathing for a moment.

Oishi's long, tapered fingers caressed the irritated skin soothingly.

Like a kitten being petted, Kikumaru tilted his head to one side to allow Oishi easier access.

"Ah…Oishi is the always so gentle," Kikumaru murmured while trying to remember how to breathe. A faint blush spread across Oishi's cheeks as he gazed into Kikumaru's eyes.

"Kikumaru…I…"

"Oishi!"

Inui's voice broke the daze that both boys were in.

Both boys flushed from the tip of their ears to their feet as they quickly took one step away from each other. "Oishi, please practice with buchou in court A. Kikumaru, practice with Echizen in court C."

"Yes, Inui! I will take good care of ochibi!" Kikumaru grinned at Oishi. Oishi could not help but return it before walking towards court A.

Then, something tugged at his hand.

Oishi looked down and belatedly realized that he was still holding Kikumaru's hand. Both men dropped each other's hand immediately and blushed again. Inui pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose and regarded the golden pair for a moment.

"Three more weeks…" He muttered and entered the data in his book.

"Three more weeks till what, Inui-kun?" Fuji questioned with his usual smile.

"Se-cre-t."

"The regulars are working really hard today," Tezuka commented to Inui after he finished his first round of practice with Oishi. It was a perfect score as expected from the captain of the Seigaku team.

"Thank you, buchou."

They heard an angry hissing sound and turned to see Kaidoh shuffling reluctantly towards them. Kaidoh hissed threateningly as he grabbed one of the collars. Inui's spectacles gleamed almost gleefully in the sunlight. Tezuka looked at them with an almost undetectable spark of curiosity in his dark brown eyes.

"Kaidoh, that is my collar." Inui said matter-of-factly.

Kaidoh dropped it immediately, a faint blush on his face. He twitched when Inui picked it up from the ground and passed him the correct one, his fingers brushing against Kaidoh's hand.

"Do you need me to help you put it on, Kaidoh?" Inui asked politely.

Kaidoh stiffened but did not protest.

Tezuka had an uncomfortable feeling that he was interrupting something beyond his ability to understand. Not that he particularly wanted to understand. He inclined his head slightly to Inui and made his way to where the rest of the team was practicing.

"Ochibi, you need to be faster than this! Momo-chan is catching up," Kikumaru whined as Ryoma smashed the blue tennis ball straight into the blue cone.

"Yes, sen-pai," Ryoma said absent-mindedly. Then he noticed that Kaidoh was shuffling towards Kawamura who was waiting for him to start the second round of practice. He was wearing the black collar and a "talk-to-me-and-you-die" look on his face.

"Kaidoh missed a ball," Fuji called out in the court beside Kikumaru.

"Mamushi! Looking good with that collar!" Momoshiro taunted. Fuji's smile widened. Kaidoh snapped and charged towards Momoshiro.

"Ryoma! Look out!" Kikumaru cried out.

Ryoma realized too late that he was right in the path of the infuriated Kaidoh. Kaidoh crashed down to the hard tennis court ground with Ryoma. Ryoma lay on the ground, his whole body aching with the impact of the crash and could only look helplessly as the red tennis ball rolled happily past his left ear.

"Echizen, are you alright?" Momoshiro asked worriedly and reached out his left hand to him. Ryoma gritted his teeth and ignored the helping hand that Momoshiro extended to him. He got up slowly and walked with as much dignity he could muster to receive his undeserved punishment.

"Fuji-senpai, Ryoma is still angry with me. It's not even my fault" Momoshiro sighed as he gave a side-long look to the young player standing at the byline of the court with his usual can of Ponta juice.

"Give him some time, he will get over it," Fuji reassured Momoshiro as he served another blue tennis ball to the second year.

"Stupid Mamushi," Momoshiro muttered under his breath and returned the serve with ruthless accuracy into the blue cone.

"Hmm…Momo-chan, I have to say this though. Ryoma looks good with that collar. It emphasizes Ryoma's long, slender neck. The black leather heightens one's awareness of how delicate Ryoma's skin is.," Fuji described in a voice that made Momoshiro feel a surge of heat rising in his body.

Startled, Momoshiro met Fuji's blue eyes. He was at a loss for words at the sudden interest that Fuji-senpai had in Ryoma. Fuji was actually opening his eyes to study Echizen Ryoma.

"Especially when he tilts his head just like that," Fuji breathed out.

Lured by the sensual image that had formed in his mind, Momoshiro could not help but discreetly turn his head to study the first year player as well.

"It makes one envy the leather collar caressing the soft skin of his neck," Fuji smiled.

Momoshiro caught himself almost nodding his head in agreement. He flushed with embarrassment. Shaking his head of all the disturbing thoughts in his mind, he gripped his racket tighter.

"Fuji-senpai, let's concentrate on the practice before buchou makes us run ten rounds. Give me your best shot now."

"Momo-chan, I already did," Fuji smiled sweetly at Momoshiro. It triggered all sorts of warning bells in his head and an impending sense of doom.

"Eh?"

Fuji's arm rose and he pointed to the red tennis ball at Momoshiro's feet. How did that ball get there?

"I served and you missed it when you turned to drool at Echizen."

Tezuka was not shocked like the rest of the regulars when he heard Momoshiro screaming words like, "Evil, cunning wily fox!" and "Reincarnation of the devil himself!" at an innocent-looking Fuji.

There were times where he felt like screaming the exact same words at Fuji so he allowed his lips to curve upwards slightly. However, he was unable to prevent a slight twitch when he heard the next few sentences.

"Using underage Ryoma as distraction! Ryoma is only twelve!"

That threw Tezuka off a bit and he wondered with a fair amount of curiosity what Fuji had done to make Momoshiro this incensed. He decided that not knowing what scheme Fuji had been up to was much safer. Ignorance was bliss, he had heard.

That lasted for one minute.

Momoshiro suddenly tried to pounce on Fuji. Kikumaru managed to grab hold of his arms before he succeeded. Fuji smiled at his rescuer and Oishi tried desperately to calm the infuriated second year. The vice-captain looked pleadingly at Tezuka for help.

Tezuka played with the idea of stepping in to help Fuji before recalling how Fuji had tortured him on several occasions. Tezuka changed his mind and ignored Oishi's frantic arm waving.

Fuji did not need a knight in shining armour. After all, Fuji was hardly the innocent damsel in distress. More like the evil, scheming villain trying to take over the world and corrupt the innocents.

"Yes, completely evil."

"Did you say something, Tezuka?" Inui inquired and received a look from the stoic buchou. Inui scribbled furiously into his data book instead.

"Revenge. I want revenge." Momoshiro repeated it over and over again like a mantra as he touched the collar around his neck distastefully. He glared at Fuji-senpai opposite the net.

"You are going to have a taste of my Super Dunk Smash!" Momoshiro shouted as Fuji gave him an especially bright smile and prepared for the first ball.

"Does Momoshiro remember that one of Fuji's three special serves can deflect the smash?" Kawamura said in a loud whisper to the rest of the regulars who had gathered to watch the practice.

"According to my data and calculations, Fuji has an 85 chance of deflecting the serve," Inui predicted, "if he wants to."

Before anyone could contemplate that strange statement, Momoshiro threw the tennis ball high up into the air and followed it with a spectacular leap into the air. Then he smashed down hard with his racket. The tennis ball whizzed past the net with an incredible speed and right past Fuji's left arm.

"Sorry, Momo-chan, I missed your shot," Fuji said with an apologetic smile.

"Complete bull-shit," Ryoma stated and the others, except for Tezuka who had to maintain his stoic image, nodded in agreement.

"Maa, Ryoma-kun, for someone so young, you are quite cynical. I really did miss it. Momo-chan is just too strong today. I will have to accept my defeat and punishment gracefully." Fuji smiled as the somewhat dense Momoshiro boasted about defeating the No. 2 singles player in Seigaku to a disgusted Kaidoh.

"Inui, this collar seems to be a bit tight," Fuji smiled as he glided over to where Oishi was serving balls to Tezuka and Inui was taking down data.

Tezuka smashed the red tennis ball sharply into the far left of the court, giving a perfect example of one-hundred percent attentiveness.

However, his eyes slide over to where Fuji was standing. The black, leather collar seemed to enjoy playing hide-and-seek with the Fuji's collared shirt. He had not been able to get a good look at it for the past five minutes. It simply teased him by giving him tantalizing glimpses of the black, leather and creamy white skin, distracting him. Pretty much like Fuji, actually.

Tezuka quickly glanced away before he was distracted. However, he missed Fuji's trademark smile morphing into something calculative before resuming its usual mask. Then Fuji tugged the shirt collar down and bared his slim, long neck to Inui.

There were a few minutes of silence, just like the calm before a storm. Then, Inui said, "You're wearing Tezuka's collar. See, you can see his name etched here."

All movement on the courts stopped.

Losing control of his body, Tezuka whipped his head around to stare at the golden letters of his name etched into the black leather collar that kissed the cream-coloured skin of Fuji's neck. And that distracting curve of the neck where it met the shoulder was begging to be touched, caressed gently, have kisses dropped gently on it…

Even with his iron-clad will, Tezuka barely managed to drag his eyes away from that captivating and strangely satisfying sight of Fuji wearing a collar with his name on it.

Then he made the mistake of meeting Fuji's eyes.

Tezuka was caught by the stormy-blue eyes that were usually closed in a smile. Fuji's dark blue eyes stared at his brown ones with a heat and desire that made him burn. He let his gaze drop automatically to Fuji's soft, rosy lips that were slightly parted. The reckless part of him that only Fuji could bring out, wanted a taste of his sweet lips, to have those lips swollen from his kisses. And then, those lips moved to form words that sent heat spiraling down his body.

"Yours, Tezuka…"

Fuji's voice held things that words didn't even hint at. Silken whimpers in the small hours of the night; promises whispered in darken rooms, under cool sheets…

Tezuka missed his next ball completely.

"Tezuka-kun, you missed your shot." Inui cleared his throat and announced loudly.

All movement on the courts stopped again and everyone stared at the normally calm and collected buchou appear…almost flustered for a second.

Tezuka cleared his throat to get rid of the lump that had suddenly developed. "I am not wearing that. I will run forty rounds instead."

"But…Te-zu-ka…" Fuji called out deliberately and the buchou gave him a look. Fuji's lips curved into a sensual smile and he pointed to the black, leather collar around his neck with Tezuka's name on it.

"Don't you want your collar back?" Fuji smiled even wider as Tezuka dropped his racket and escaped from the court as though the hounds of hell were on his heels.

However, the images and words followed Tezuka out of the tennis courts as he ran his forty rounds, like velvet rubbing along his spine and refusing to go away.

The next day on the way to school...

"Good morning, Fuji."

"Good morning, Inui."

"How was the Special, Deluxe Power Drink version 2.4, Fuji?" Inui asked casually.

"I think it needs more wasabi, Inui."

"I see. I will add more wasabi for version 2.5. I will make an extra set for you as well. Otherwise you may just take it from my bag without my permission again."

"Thank you, Inui."

"So, Fuji, where did you get the collars?"

Fuji smiled wickedly,"Se-cre-t."

Owari