Inui's New Delux Penal Tea

Disclaimer: Not my characters. Though I'd kill to own them TTTT cries

AN: Me and my friend came up with this at lunch, just like we did with A Small Fall. What can I say? We had a LOT of free time on our hands during lunch. So we came up with a load of crack fics X3 hehehehe..enjoy

Chapter 3: A Small Problem...

Before any of them had a chance to hide, the door swung open to reveal their coach, looking fuious that they were still here and then confused as to where the noise was coming from. Looking down, she found her answer with a group of nine kids clinging together, that seemed to resemble her players, sitting on top of the Seigaku starter jerseys. She blinked, kneeling down. She wasn't sure if they were her starters, but there was a definite way to find out. "Now how'd a bunch of kids get in here...?" She wondered aloud, looking over them suspiciously, "Those boys really are irresponsible."

While they had mutually agreed not to say anything to her, the word 'irresponsible' went straight to Tezuka and Oishi, and both took up a defense immediately, with a half squeaked reply from Oishi, and a hiss from Tezuka, "We are not!"

The aging woman looked down at them, obviously shocked. So she had been right, the look of surprise was slowly fading to worry, then anger. Eiji and Fuji had covered the two's mouths and were looking up with a nervous smile, "Sumimasen, Ryuzaki-sensei..."

"What...happened?"

All nine visibly flinched at the woman's reaction, and turned to Inui to explain. Inui sighed, and pushed his glasses up once more as he explained the situation and the plan to their coach, "There was a small accident with the Penal Tea. I'm not exactly sure why, but it caused us to...well. Reverse in age. It would appear we all stopped at six years old, even Echizen," the freshman growled at the comment, but was drowned out by the data player's matter-of-fact tone, "but I'm fairly sure I can reverse it with the proper drink. We were thinking of staying with a few of the rival schools-Fudomine, Rokkaku, Rikkai Dai and Yamabuki to be precise- until then. It should only take a couple of days, with Renji-kun's help. Respectively, Oishi, Kikumaru, and myself will stay in Rikkai Dai, with Sanada-san, Yukimura-buchou, and Renji-kun, Tezuka, Kaido, and Echizen, will stay Fudomine, with Tachibana-buchou, Kamio-kun, and Ibu-kun, Kawamura and Momoshiro will be in Yamabuki, with Akutsu-san and Sengoku-san," Momoshiro made a whimper as he was reminded of his misfortune, and Fuji finished for Inui with a smile, "And I'll be staying in Rokkaku, with Saeki-kun." She'd sat through it quietly enough, though it was blatantly obvious how mad she was. At the end of his explaination of their plan, she struggled to keep a level voice, "And how exactly were you planning on getting to these places? Some of the schools aren't even in this region! Why didn't any of you consider St. Rudolph? It's close and it has dorms to keep you away from home."

"Originally we were planning on taking the bus. But now that you know," Inui nodded, "I think we'll be relying on you for the transportation."

"And St. Rudolph is flat out of the question," Fuji added with a glower that no one dared argue with. They knew he would rip Mizuki apart if he got the chance, but only the other 3rd years, and maybe Coach Ryuzaki, knew he'd do so even as a child. The two 2nd years, and the freshman, just stared at him, then slowly backed off from the mood-swinging tensai. So far, he had been amused, aggitated, miserable, amused again at the thought of Tezuka being fought over and that he was the only one staying in Rokkaku, nervous when Ryuzaki sensei came in, apologetic when Tezuka and Oishi had taken offense by being called 'irresponsible', and now looking very murderous.

Ryuzaki twitched once more, starting to resemble their captain and causing all of them to back off a bit, save Fuji and Tezuka, "And what do you plan on telling your families? You're lucky I don't call them right now!"

"That we went to a training camp, again. And there isn't much you could tell them, you know." Everyone looked at Inui. Either he had planned for them to turn into kids, or he was just real good at impromptu. They gave their coach a hopeful look, praying that she didn't leave them to suffer, or tell their parents what had happened; she looked ready to call every last person in their family, cellphone in hand. She looked over them, her glare hard, until it fell on a certain tensai, who was giving her the most pitiful, whimpering, puppy dog eyed look ever. Eiji was right next to him, looking just as ready to break down.

Fuji had his eyes open, looking absolutely terrified that she would call. There were tears on the edges, too. He'd cry if it meant keeping Mizuki away from him. If the coach called his family, Yuuta would rush home, Mizuki would follow to see what had the younger Fuji so distraught, and then he really would never live it down. His mother always did like dressing him up when he was younger. Even if he did manage to kill the manager, the point was he would have seen him, and with Yuuta there, and him being so much smaller now, the chance he would get to attack the manipulative bastard wasn't likely. Therefore, reputation immediately down the drain, with Mizuki harbouring the greatest blackmail in the known universe. The very thought made Fuji's lower lip quiver, before he right out started crying. He'd forgotten how vulnerable he was at a younger age.

Eiji on the other hand, wasn't worried about Mizuki, or anyone at Rikkai Dai-ok, maybe Kirihara-, rather his siblings. They already picked on him for being the baby in the family, with the fangirlish obsession with The Chocolates, and the insane obsession with his giant teddy bear. If he went home like that, his mother certainly wouldn't mind-she might try to avenge him by targeting Inui, but that wasn't new- and his father would only shake his head, and remind him that he had been warned not to drink the vile creations no matter what. His older brothers would immediately launch themselves into babying him for embaressing blackmail, while his sisters tried to increase his feminine side. Not that he needed to be any more feminine. He, too, soon started to cry, about after Fuji did. It just wouldn't have been fair if their coach called their parents. The scene caused the other regulars to stare, but it did the trick.

Ryuzaki had sighed and put her phone back in her pocket when the tensai started crying. That wasn't normal. When Eiji joined in, she couldn't help feel guilty as Oishi comforted him. It didn't take long for him to calm down, though Fuji was a different story. She just shook her head, looking over the children, as Oishi, now with Eiji's help, continuously tried to calm Fuji down, "Very well. I'll write the letters out. Tezuka and Oishi, I want you two to make sure they're fool-proof, no mistakes. Fuji, Inui, I want you two to take care of contacting the captains of the teams you're all staying with; make sure you have their consent. The rest of you...get whatever you want from this room together. Move it."

They all sighed in relief, most of them dispersing to gather their tennis racquets. They found that their t-shirts were far to big on them, but their Starter jackets made the perfect cover up, most of them sweeping over the floor at their ankles, but keeping them decently covered. As soon as Fuji had calmed down, Eiji bounded for his tennis bag, thoroughly amused that he could now comfortably curl up in the bag, though Oishi dragged him out. Kawamura had pulled some extra suishi out, that had been left over from lunch, and offered it to the rest of his team; thankfully sedating Momo's recent whining of being hungry, and keeping Echizen occupied. Kaido retreated to a corner to fix his bandana, and make as much distance as possible between himself and Momoshiro. Tezuka kept an eye on his team, still giving Fuji an akward side glance. Said tensai just sniffled, wiping his eyes on the back of his hands as he followed Inui over to their respected tennis bags and dug their cellphones out to make the calls. Best start with Tachibana. At least he wouldn't freak out...er. Too badly.

Fuji went through his contacts, sighing when he pushed the green call button on Tachibana's name. It rang, and he began to feel nervous. Especially when the ringing finally stopped and was replaced by the captain's deep voice, "Moshi moshi?"

"Moshi moshi, Tachibana-kun." Fuji tried to sound cheerful, surprisingly pulling it off. He just hoped he sounded like himself.

"...Fuji-kun? What's wrong with your voice?" Of course he didn't. Fuji sighed, finding it best to explain right away, "It's a long story, but I need I huge favor. Could you possibly get Kamio-kun and Ibu-kun to meet us at the street courts? We need a favor from them, too."

"Of course...what's wrong? Did something bad happen?"

"Er...depends on your definition of 'bad'," Fuji laughed, a bit nervously, "We'll explain in further detail on the courts. If you see a few other people there, it's alright, we need to talk to them, too."

"Who should I look out for? I can call them if you want."

"I've got it," he reassured, thankful Tachibana was so resonable, "But, if you see anyone from St. Rudolph there, please, please, please, call me. I really don't want anyone from St. Rudolph knowing about this...um...problem."

"Well, then why not meet at my house? I won't mind, as long as there aren't too many other people."

Fuji felt his heart jump, and he half squealed, causing everyone in the room to look at him, "Thank you so much! That would make things so much easier! ...Oh! I should probably tell you who all's going to be there. Um...Yukimura-san, Sanada-san, Renji-san, Akutsu-san," he heard Tachibana cough a bit, and began to feel guilty, "Sengoku-san, and Saeki-kun. ...Along with Ibu-san and Kamio-san, if it's alright with you?"

"Of course. I'll just bear in mind to keep Akira as far from Akutsu-san as possible." He heard the chuckle on the other line, and relaxed, laughing a bit himself, "Thank you, Tachibana-kun!" He turned to the others, noticing they were still starring, although in Tezuka's case it was a glare. He blinked, "What?"

"Since when did you and Tachibana-san become so friendly?" Momo grinned, prodding his sempai. Fuji blinked again, raising a brow. That's what everyone was starring about? They really were dorks. He shook his head, going through his phone once more, "I'm not obligated to answer that. Especially to you Momoshiro. You were there when it happened... Ah, Yukimura-san? I have a favor to ask..."

This. Was going to be one interesting gathering.

TBC

...Ehm...Yes. I'll update another chapter as soon as the storm's over -sweatdrop-