Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, The Pretender, or PEZ
"SEIGAKU! FIGHT-O! FIGHT-O! FIGHT-O!"
Tezuka observed the team, those three freshmen were slacking off again, he made a mental note to have them run laps when they were done with their other duties. Checking the roster he looked around the courts, one…two….three…four…five… Fuji needed to speak with Coach Ryuzaki, but one regular was still MIA. He closed his eyes in annoyance, sleeping in again no doubt, when that kid gets here he's running ten laps for every minute he's late.
"Hey, Tezuka!" Tezuka turned to see Fuji coming from the building. "Echizen won't be at practice today, he called in sick." Tezuka nodded and returned to the roster. Fuji started into the court, and stopped. "Hey…. Tezuka, want to see something funny?" Tezuka continued looking over the roster.
"Not especially."
"Oh well, I guess you'll just miss out on the fun then." Tezuka glanced over just long enough to see the all too familiar smile on Fuji's face.
"Where is o-Chibi!" Eiji whined, arms crossed. Kawamura glanced at the clock.
"He is awfully late, isn't he? I wonder what's keeping him."
"That slacker, he's probably just skipping!"
"How can you say that Momoshiro! What if something's happened to him?"
"Don't worry so much Oishi, I'm sure he's just fine."
"But…."
"Chances of him showing up late without a valid excuse, 98."
"Fsssssssh"
"My my, Ryoma is very late isn't he?" The group turned to see that Fuji had joined them.
"Eh? Fuji, do you know where he is?" Fuji thought for a moment.
"Well, I can't say with any certainty, but he may have run into some…. 'complications' on the way here. Shame really, he's only been here for a few months and they may have already found him." He looked around the group to see that they were hanging on his every word, and Inui was writing in his notebook like mad. "Oh, so you don't know then? You see, I found out…" Fuji opened his eyes "…the truth about our dear freshman." Eiji, who was now cowering behind Momoshiro, shook his head.
"F-Fuji….what are you talking about?" Fuji closed his eyes again and smiled.
"I believe I've wasted enough time as it is, we'd better get back to practice unless we want Tezuka to notice."
Practice seemed to take much longer than normal that day, perhaps it was because most of the regulars were so distracted, continually looking around to see if Ryoma had finally arrived, and then toward Fuji to see if he would give any more details. As soon as practice ended Eiji, Oishi, Momoshiro, Inui, and Taka all surrounded Fuji, Kaidoh hung back, but remained near enough to listen in, working very hard to appear uninterested. Eiji was jumping up and down.
"Come on, finish what you were telling us earlier Fuji! Where's o-Chibi!" Fuji sighed.
"Unfortunately, I have a family obligation this afternoon. However…" He pulled a box out of his bag "this should be able to explain things, better than I can in fact." He handed it to Momoshiro. "He's one of THEM." Momo looked at the package.
"This is… some American series…."
"And Ryoma is American you moron."
"Who asked you?"
"Fssssssh"
"You wanna fight!" Taka and Oishi jumped between Momo and Kaidoh.
"Stop it you two!" Oishi looked toward Fuji "Momoshiro does have a point though, what does a tv series have to do with anything?" Fuji smiled.
"The purpose of that series was to…. build awareness. Of course, I'm sure that awareness has made things more difficult for both parties… but be that as it may…" He glanced at his watch. "Oops, I'm going to be late if I stay any longer. See ya!" Fuji waved as he left the locker room. Those remaining looked at each other.
"So, whose house is closest?"
"I call sofa!"
"What do you mean you call sofa? There's room for three people on the sofa!"
"Does anyone want something to drink?"
"Who has the dvd?"
"I want tea!"
"I brought my own drink, there's enough to share if anyone else is interested."
"Here it is!"
"Go ahead and start it."
"Are there any snacks?"
"Did they dub this, or do we hafta read subtitles?"
"Make sure the volume's turned up!"
"Shhh! It's starting!"
All eyes were on the tv watching the black screen as blue type appeared.
There are Pretenders among us.
Tezuka arrived at practice the next morning to find Eiji, Oishi, Momo, Taka, Inui, and Kaidoh standing in a circle speaking in hushed voices. He also noticed that Fuji looked extremely pleased with himself.
"It does make sense, doesn't it?"
"I heard that he does really well in his classes."
"He seems to be good at just about everything he does, doesn't he?"
"His social skills aren't exactly the best, either."
"To have had such a terrible childhood, it's so sad."
"And he's still so young, he can't just blend into any work environment yet."
"Has anyone even seen his parents?"
"No, but he does have that cat."
"I wonder if he likes PEZ…"
"Morning." Came a dull voice. Everyone (save Fuji and Tezuka) whirled around to see Ryoma, looking a little paler than usual.
"O-Chibi!" Eiji glomped the returnee.
"Echizen, are you alright?" Ryoma nodded, confused at the reception he was receiving after missing a day of practice.
"Nya, o-Chibi, we were wondering… have you ever been to Delaware?" Now Ryoma was really confused.
"Delaware….yeah, why?"
"I knew it!"
"So that must have something to do with why he was gone yesterday."
"What are you guys talking about? I wasn't feeling well."
"Ha ha, of course, don't worry, we understand."
"Just let us know if you ever need anything!"
"Yeah, we won't let them get you!"
"I've prepared a new juice especially for the Sweepers, should they ever show up."
"Wait, what?"
"Don't worry about it, come on, let's get moving." Momoshiro and Eiji ushered Ryoma out the door, Inui trailing behind with his notebook. Tezuka glared at Fuji.
"You are going to tell them aren't you?"
"And ruin my fun? Besides, Ryoma can straighten them out."
"American he may be, but he probably never watched the show."
"Well, I suppose that is a problem then, isn't it? See you on the court."
"I'm telling you, I'm no "pretender" or whatever it is you keep calling me! I was just sick yesterday!"
"It's okay, you don't have to worry about us blowing your cover."
"But I'm telling you…"
"Then prove it to us, do you know your dad?"
"…."
"Well?"
"…yes."
"Then introduce us to him."
"No way."