A/N:
Hey all, just watched this episode of aiyoriaoshi, where aoi went and sold green tea at the bunka sai …. A little exaggerated in the sense that everyone who drank the tea went "oooh. O-I-Shi-I". How oishii can green tea get anyway? Any how, just wondered what would happen on the Seigaku bunka sai … therefore this little story.
Still in a lazy mood, Tuesday is less than half done, n it's a FujiSaku(Ryo), so a little troublesome to work on. N my usual half-baked ideas are more like medium rare these days …. Haven't got the energy to think them through.
Cin: thanks for the note, I will edit my last fic to suit the timeline …someday … soon, I hope P
Anybody out there has time to proofread for a struggling fanfic writer? My English gets from bad to worse …
In the following text, you will be reading about 15 year olds, i.e. 3 years from the anime. This is such that I can keep all the senpais and yet add assorted beings into the plot )
Disclaimer: the usual
Title: Of steamed eggs and tennis balls
It would be Seigaku's School Carnival in one month's time. All the school population was busy over one form of preparations or another. Each class and each club had to contribute to the carnival in some way; the type of activity for each had been long decided by drawing of lots.
Ryuuzaki Sakuno's class was given a food stall to organize. True to form, the boys in the class made loud noises about the lot they drew. After making vague promises to help out with the menial work, they made themselves scarce with amazing stealth. The girls were abandoned to the more demanding tasks of planning and making some real decisions.
"Doushiyou? What exactly will our stall serve?" the secretary of the class committee , Rin, voiced her foremost concern.
Class Chairperson Yukino applied her well-known logic and asked the crucial question which would lead to a reasonable plan," Ne, how well can each of us cook?" She looked around at the female half of the class, a total of 16 girls, most of which burned their cake-projects at cooking class just the week before.
Logic stated that since "most", not "all", of them made fuel out of their cake mixtures, it followed that someone among them could actually produce edible stuff out of flour and eggs. There was hope for them yet.
The task on hand was to root out this divine soul. The girls tittered among themselves as they recalled their last cooking class.
"Sou desu ne. Let's take stock of our culinary skills and write down a list of dishes that each of us are confident of," Rin piped up again. She believed in checklists, packing lists, name lists, and could organize almost any information into 2 neat columns. Lined paper and ballpoint pen appeared magically in her hands, "Dewa, I'll go first. Let's see now … Edogawa Rin," she carefully wrote down her name on one side of the paper, and soon her pen was floating over the other half of the sheet of writing material. "Eto … nan darou …. Ah! Souda! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!" Rin was eagerly transferring her bright insight onto the paper when a soft-spoken voice started hesitantly.
"Anou … Rin-chan, would it be better to serve traditional cuisine at the 'bunka sai'?" (lit. culture festival, a.k.a. school carnival in this story)
Fifteen heads turned to look toward the outer ring of the gathered group. A blushing heart-shaped face, bent down at an angle which facilitated avoidance of other people's direct gazes, framed by soft-looking tendrils of brown hair, made distinct by the two long braids that extended from below the ear to infinity. Ryuuzaki Sakuno, cutest girl in the class, and reputedly the shyest Ryoma-Fan in the whole of Seigaku, kept her eyes to the floor in front of her shoes while her cheeks quickly rose up the Blush-Indicator scale. Her embarrassment at speaking up was terribly obvious.
"Sou desu ne," it was painful to watch, Rin decided. " Sakuno-chan, thanks for reminding me." She smiled at the top of Sakuno's head, it was rare for the tennis club member to say anything at all at class meetings, perhaps it was better that the boys had made their escapes, giving the girls full control of the planning of their stall.
"Iie," Sakuno shook her head. She seemed to be debating her next words.
Yukino eyed the Sakuno and suddenly snapped her fingers, making the pig-tailed one jump in surprise. "Ne, ne, Sakuno-chan! You make your own bentous, right? And I've heard from the others that the food you make is absolutely delicious, hmm?" A 1000-watt smile was on Yukino's lips, the one that she reserved to con some of the more uncooperative boys into doing their clean-up duty.
The smile said, "There is something you can do for me, and if you refuse without good reason, I guarantee untold misfortune for the rest of your (short) life."
Sakuno gulped and hurriedly look away from her scary Iinchou. She had been debating whether or not to volunteer to cook, but didn't want to appear too confident of her own culinary skills. Even though she had the intention to help, it was not for her, little Ryuuzaki Sakuno, to brave the Chairperson's beaming face head-on. She mumbled acquiescence to her shoes while fiddling with the hem of her skirt, and gave a soft breath of relief when Yukino eased up on the wattage and gave Sakuno several small happy nods.
"Um-um, dewa, Sakuno-chan, what dishes do you suggest we prepare for our stall?" Yukino looked ready to grab and run with whatever idea Sakuno could come up with.
Sakuno eto-ed and anou-ed for another half minute or so, forcing Yukino to cool her heels for the royal decree.
Sakuno really didn't expect to have to come up with the list of dishes for the stall; she had only wanted to offer to help with the cooking itself. Yet, all of a sudden, 15 anxious faces were looking in her direction, 15 pairs of ears were straining to hear her soft voice. The expectancy in her Iinchou's face was the worst form of peer pressure.
"Eto … how about Chawanmushi, miso soup, ramen …. "
With the urgency on hand, Sakuno didn't have much time to think, and before her brain caught on, her tongue had already rattled off the names of several Japanese traditional treats, top of the list being Chawanmushi. No guesses there where this list came from, or what common theme linked the several dishes that escaped her lips.
Luckily for Sakuno, she was more than familiar with the recipes for such dishes, since she often prepared them for a certain tennis player. It could have been worse; in her confusion she could just as easily have listed Fuji-senpai's favourite foods instead.
"Good ideas! Hey, you know, there will definitely be some other classes doing Yakisoba, Takoyaki and the like, we can be a little special if we do only steamed, cold or soup dishes!" Rin exclaimed. A fresh piece of paper appeared in her hands and it was soon divided into two columns, one headed "Steamed dishes", the other labeled "Soup dishes".
"Let's see now, what would be convenient to eat and quick to prepare for a carnival," Rin chewed the top of her pen while frowning at the paper in her hand.
Yukino, secretly a Chawanmushi fan, nodded her head sagely and pronounced that Sakuno had very good ideas and the class should just follow her suggestions. She assigned Rin to help Sakuno with the planning and purchasing of materials, and gave the secretary freehand in assigning tasks to the rest of the class.
That said, the meeting was over within the next 5 minutes, leaving Rin and Sakuno alone in the suddenly deserted classroom. The former held a list in her hand and an evil glint in her eyes while the latter simply looked bewildered.
"Ne, Sakuno-chan, let's make some lists ….."
The tennis players were gathered in the clubroom, all in various stages of preparation for the afternoon's training. Tezuka Buchou had asked them to assemble there for a quick meeting before training starts.
The tennis club had drawn the lot to set up a game stall for the school carnival, the members were already chatting excitedly about what game to present even as they made to change into their tennis whites. Of course, the usual exceptions were simply minding their own business. Minna were mada mada dane…. Fshuu ….
A hush fell over the boys when Tezuka stepped into the clubroom, followed closely by a smiling Fuji. The Buchou quickly stated the first order of business for the day: the club members were to think about the game stall during their breaks from training that afternoon, and at the end of that day, the club would gather again to finalize their plans for the school carnival.
Echizen Ryoma spent the afternoon playing against Kaidou Kaoru, since the two found in each other the only other sane tennis player in the courts that afternoon, not counting the Buchou or the resident Tensai. Everyone else had their minds on the carnival most of the time, and no one other than Ryoma and Kaidou really noticed how peaceful and quiet Fuji was that afternoon.
The eerie calm before the horrors of the impending storm.
The storm tore through the tennis clubroom neatly and quickly that early evening. Within 5 minutes of starting the meeting, Fuji had everyone agreeing to follow his carefully thought out plans. The players were dismissed in quick order, and as they stepped towards home and hearth, each realized in quick succession that no one really knew what Fuji was planning.
Oishi crossed his fingers and hoped that Tezuka's uncharacteristic heavy sigh after Fuji got his way with the club did not bode evil for his teammates.
"Gomenasai! There was a class meeting about the carnival next month …"
"Betsuni. Let's go."
"Hai."
"What are we having for dinner?"
"Sou desu ne... Is Katsu Don alright with you?"
"Un."
"Ah! I think I will be making Chawanmushi too. The class is selling that for the carnival, I should make some for practice before the day itself."
"Hontou? You haven't made that for me in a long time."
"Sou desu ka? Demo, I recall that I made a lot for you just a week ago, and you finished everything on the same day …"
"Ah, we can never have too much of a good thing. Especially since it's You making Chawanmushi for me!"
"Mou, Ryoma-kun tara!"
The sun looked down cheerily from the azure sky, it was having a great time watching the tiny people on Earth bustling around in a hive of activity. Somewhere on the earth, there was a happy and noisy carnival going on.
The colorful tents seemed to grow out of the earth overnight, and they lined the walkway from the front gates to the school building itself, and even scattered around the campus like random daisies out of the ground.
At the tennis courts, a large area was sectioned off for the game planned by a certain Tennis tensai. There were so many girls gathered round, it was scaring the resident Viper out of his Bandanna.
Girls equal trouble, at least in Kaidou's dictionary. And the worst thing was that no one knew what Fuji had in mind for the games as yet. The tensai had asked the regulars to help with the preparations, but everything he asked was specific and, more to the point, no one but him knew the big picture up to this last minute.
There was a colorful backdrop hanging on the fence, and a rolled up banner secured to the top. Fuji stood under this, holding the immediate future of the regulars in his hand in the form of a long piece of string that would unveil the tensai's plans for this day.
Fwapp! With a snap and a whooooosh, the banner revealed its contents. "Tennis Club Games Stall. Partner up with our players and join the no-hands race to transport Tennis balls from Point A to Point B. Winner gets to have dinner with all the Regulars in a cosy restaurant!"
SHRIEK! SCREAM! "Fuji! I love you!" "Tezuka, please pair up with me!" "Ryoma-sama! Ryoma-sama!"
The crowds went wild, but their high-pitched voices fell on the deaf ears of several Tennis players who fainted dead away after reading the banner. Tezuka Kunimitsu grunted once and calmly pushed his glasses back up. He was wearing a badge that said "Judge" and would relate to anyone who dared ask that Judges were not allowed to participate in the game itself. He silently congratulated himself on the brainwave, and felt that his survival of this day was well worth the time and effort spent to create this badge late the night before.
The tennis prince was one of the few still standing after the surprise sprung by Fuji, but from the tilt of his lips, one could hazard a guess that he would not cooperate anytime soon. He eyed his Buchou in resentment, receiving nothing more than a cool gaze that did nothing to improve his mood. How was it that Tezuka Buchou would let Fuji senpai get away with anything, and it was really ANYTHING, but would keep such a stern eye on him? He seldom caused trouble for the team; being late for competitions now and then was nothing compared to making clowns of the entire Regulars team, at least in his opinion.
Ryoma stopped thinking about ways to get back at Fuji after thirty seconds, and quickly started to calculate how he could get out of the current situation in one piece. Self-preservation instincts were wonderful things.
The girls were forming a line in front of the registration desk manned by Horio and gang; some Regulars were still woozy from their fainting spell and muttering about visiting the Health officer; others (read: Momo) were jumping around and waving enthusiastically at the girls; Tezuka was safely enthroned in a corner of the courts, a smiling Fuji at his elbow.
Now, if he could just step out of the line of sight of his Buchou, and then slowly move toward his right, he could possibly escape without drawing the attention of the other senpais. Well, all except one. Ryoma had a bad feeling that Fuji was keeping watch on errant Regulars. Perhaps no one would survive this day without being horribly scarred for life…
Sakuno strolled along the path leading away from the school building, carefully holding up a tray of steamed eggs in plastic cups. Her class had been selling Chawanmushi and other treats since morning. Business was good, and Sakuno had been busy all the way, skipping lunch herself to make more food for her hungry customers. Finally, the crowds thinned and she could take a break from the endless food preparations.
With some time to her self, Sakuno decided to drop in on the tennis players. She had heard rumors that the tennis club was setting up a special game that would only run for an hour in the afternoon. Ryoma had no concrete information to supply her with, saying only that Fuji senpai was taking care of things. Sakuno felt that she had to go give them some support. She knew for sure that more than a few happy faces would greet her and the food in her hands.
As she stepped near the tennis courts, she was quite surprise to hear enough noise to rival the previous chaos in her classroom-turned-snack shop. There were lots of screams and cheering. It sounded like that was some kind of competition going on. Sakuno thought to herself that it was just like the tennis players to put on an exciting match for the school carnival, but how would that help with their income? She sincerely hoped they were not taking bets or anything illegal like that. Justifiably worried, she quickened her approach.
She blushed when she could finally see the tennis players. A few of the senpais were involved in a game with some girls as partners. Each pair was transporting tennis balls from one side of the court to the other by holding the spheres between them.
Oh look! No hands! An embarrassed Oishi senpai was having trouble even walking with his partner as the girl was stuck all over him. Momo senpai was having better luck with the competition as he and his partner decided to hold the tennis ball between their backs and crab-walk all the way. It was just as well that Momo senpai couldn't see his partner making eyes at Tezuka Buchou the whole time.
Sakuno would have been frozen in embarrassment for much longer if Ryoma's voice didn't reach her over the noise of the crowds. She looked over to where Ryoma and Fuji were engaged in a discussion.
"Yadda!"
"You have to pick at least one girl from here to partner with, I assure you that doing so is less painful than having each and everyone of them jumping you at the same time," Fuji coaxed, lightly shaking a box in his hands that was overflowing with slips of paper.
"I said no. You can go ahead and pick one for yourself, senpai," came the resentful reply.
"What are you afraid of? These are your fans; they have supported you at numerous matches before. And if playing a game with one of them is the most you can do in return, you should be honored to do so."
"Yadda!"
"Hmm, are you afraid that your girlfriend would get angry?"
Ryoma narrowed his eyes at that remark. He had been going out with Sakuno since their last year in junior school, and he knew that the team knew. But school policy stated that boy-girl relationships were forbidden, hence they were never together openly in school. Hundreds and thousands of female fans were kept in the dark about his relationship status, and his desk and shoe cabinet continued to flood with confession letters every now and then.
In Ryoma's opinion, there were two possible reasons that Fuji would pressure Ryoma into publicizing his relationship with Sakuno. First, Fuji had always had a soft spot for Sakuno, he might be trying to get Sakuno angry and then to break up with Ryoma so he could get together with her. Two, Fuji wanted the Ryoma-fans to know that their tennis prince was attached to someone else and they could stop harboring secret hopes and perhaps stop coming to his matches as well.
Ryoma would rather break his own bones than let the first instance occur, the latter however, he didn't mind. He only needed Sakuno to be at his matches after all. She was the only one he noticed among all his fans.
So he confidently answered Fuji, "She won't but that's not the point. I don't want to partner strange girls for your silly game."
"No strange girls hmm? So how about that one over there, the one holding the delicious-looking Chawanmushi? I'll just go help her with that tray and ask her to participate," Fuji made to approach Sakuno.
"Fuji senpai!" Ryoma called after his senior in vain. He quickly moved to catch up before Fuji could say strange things to Sakuno.
"Sakuno-chan, konnichiwa! Are those for us? You are such a gem, we are all feeling hungry after working so hard." Fuji smiled gently at the pig-tailed one.
Sakuno smiled sweetly in reply and offered the tray to Fuji. Ryoma stood protectively beside her, casting his golden gaze over the Regulars slumped on the ground panting in exhaustion. They had all worked very hard, alright, even more than when on a special training schedule prepared by the resident data genius.
"Thank you, Sakuno-chan. Say, can you stay a little longer? We are starting another race soon, I would like you to join us."
"Eto, I have the time, but …"
"Dewa, it's decided! Sakuno-chan shall take part in the next race!" Fuji's smile widened a little more.
"Eh! H-Hai …" Sakuno glanced uncertainly at Ryoma, who could only shake his head in defeat. At least if his partner was Sakuno, he had no qualms about taking part in this strange competition Fuji thought up.
"Ja, mata ato de ne," Fuji stepped away with the tray of food and soon his voice could be heard calling for the attention of the crowds gathered.
"Ladies! The line-up for the next race is out. In lane one, we have our Kikumaru Eiji from third year and Ms Sachiko from Class 2-9." An ecstatic scream was heard, and several disappointed sighs.
"In lane two, second year Kaido Kaoru and Ms Kanto from Class 3-4." The reluctant Viper emitted a low "fshuu", but apparently he didn't dare cross his Fuji senpai.
"In lane three, Ms Ryuuzaki Sakuno will partner yours truly, Fuji Syuusuke." Several moans greeted this announcement, and a very loud "NANI?" came from the tennis prince.
"Doushita? Any problems there?" questioned Fuji in concern, his blue eyes well hidden.
Ryoma grabbed Sakuno's hand and dragged her towards Fuji. "You will not partner this girl." He gritted out. Sakuno tripped along after him, and finally caught her balance by grabbing his arm. Her face was flushed from the sudden movement and the position she was in. She quickly straightened and moved aside, then spent fruitless minutes trying to get Ryoma to release her hand.
"Demo, I promised to let Sakuno-chan join in this race. There might be a problem if I can't partner with her," replied the tensai.
"I don't see any problem here. She partners me. You can choose someone else," the prince wasn't about to let Fuji get that close to his girlfriend. He tugged back on Sakuno's hand, urging her to stay close. Giving up, Sakuno moved to stand right behind his shoulder, trying in vain to hide the fact that the Prince of Tennis was holding her hand in front of so many witnesses.
"Hmm, is that alright with you, Sakuno-chan?" Fuji looked towards the girl in concern.
"H-Hai, I am alright with that," came the shy reply.
"Hmm, alright then. I announce that the line-up for lane three is changed to this pair of lovers before me."
The crowds tittered among themselves on hearing this update. Several Ryoma-fans started crying, others took to glaring at poor defenseless Sakuno's back.
"Will the participants please get ready? We are starting in 2 minutes."
That's it? Ryoma was knocked slightly off-balance. He smiled wistfully at Sakuno and whispered to her, "I think we have just been had. Sorry for dragging you into this."
Sakuno shook her head, objecting his quiet apology. "It's alright. It's not Ryoma-kun's fault."
"Saa, on with the show!" exclaimed Fuji, the ultimate victor.
That evening in Kawamura Sushi, the team was gathered once again. The special guest for the day was Ryuuzaki Sakuno, for the winners of the race was none other than the RyoSaku pairing. They were the only ones with the advantage of being familiar with each other after all. Ryoma knew very well how to pace himself with his girlfriend of almost two years.
The tennis players lounged around the low tables in the restaurant, taking their fill of their favorite sushi. They sat recalling the horrors of the events of the day, laughing at each other's antics and being laughed at in turn.
Ryoma and Sakuno shared a table with Fuji and Oishi. Outside of school, Ryoma had no qualms of staking claim on Sakuno. He kept an arm about her, enjoying her closeness. Sakuno pampered him as was her way on such occasions, she served his food, and even fed him a few times.
"Demo, Fuji, you could have at least given us some warning of this game you planned. None of us was prepared to get so up close and personal with the female students. And, now that I think of it, the school might not approve of what we did today. Oh dear, what if the Principal calls us to his office tomorrow …" Oishi was venting all his anxiety on Fuji who was calming partaking of his favorite wasabi rolls.
Ryoma silently cheered Oishi on and reserved a special taunting gaze for his incorrigible Fuji senpai. He turned to his girlfriend and whispered loudly, "Mada mada dane, ano Fuji senpai wa." (lit: mada mada dane, that Fuji senpai)
Sakuno lightly chastised her boyfriend for being rude to a senior then fed him his favorite sushi. They started talking quietly of other things, and soon other conversations drowned out their words.
Outside, day flowed into night, and it was the end of another eventful day for the Seigaku Tennis Club Regulars.
The End.
Wasabi Sushi, anyone?
A/N: ah-hah! I can hear pple asking why was Sakuno cooking dinner for Ryoma on a regular basis. Hmm …. Because he didn't like his mother's western cuisine? Because he didn't like his father's company at the dining table? More like the latter, but who cares? I enjoy the domestic feel in that convo section, so there … (Flashes her creative license)
Anyone has time, please volunteer to proof my works ) Thanks !