Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis.
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Teams Meet up
Sakuno finished changing her clothes and waited for Miyu who was talking to another girl in their tennis club. After she had finished, the two girls walked towards the entrance of their school.
They were talking excitedly about tomorrow's sleepover. Well, Miyu was talking excitedly about the sleepover because this was her first time and Sakuno listened.
She had not seen such a child-like, excited Miyu before and she was happy that she was getting to know more about her friend. Miyu made her comfortable and she felt that she could share everything with her.
They were almost at the entrance when Miyu's phone rang. They stopped and Miyu answered. It was her brother.
Sakuno stepped away a bit to give her some privacy; even if they were friends, this would be the polite thing to do. She wondered what Yukimura-senpai could be saying because Miyu looked serious and then worried.
She did not notice the boy who was coming towards her until he called out in a rough voice, "Ryuzaki!"
She turned towards the voice, wearing her usual gentle but friendly smile. She did not know this person… though he seemed more familiar as he came closer and closer and stopped in front of her.
Something about his eyes or was it his face mesmerized her and she unconsciously let go of her bag to lift a hand to brush away the untidy hair that was preventing her from taking a good look at his face.
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At this moment she was not aware of anything else, not Miyu who had stopped talking on the phone and was now talking frantically again, not her bag which had dropped to the ground and not even this boy's hand on her arm.
She was only aware of his face which seemed so familiar. She murmured, "Who… are you? Do I know you?"
Ryoma was stunned at her words and he grasped her shoulders, speaking in a slightly frantic tone, "I'm Echizen, Echizen Ryoma! What do you mean do you know me!"
He had a sense of dread; a stone that was getting heavier in his stomach. He was rarely afraid but he was starting to feel afraid now.
He had the feeling of impending doom; the feeling that something was not right; he felt that he was about to lose something important to him that he did not even know was important.
Suddenly, Sakuno's headache returned at full force, striking her fiercely and she clutched her head in pain.
She was attacked by so many images at the same time that she could only hold her head tightly and she knelt down and wanted to curl up as tightly as possible, hoping instinctively that it would lessen her pain.
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Miyu saw what was happening and she ran to her friend and pushed the boy away.
She had known who he was from a picture that Yanagi had shown her. She wrapped her arms around Sakuno protectively, glaring at this intruder. She heard footsteps from two directions.
The Rikkai regulars had been gathered together after a quick search in the school to ensure that Echizen had not yet arrived. Yanagi had asked Yukimura to call Miyu and tell her the news.
They were talking and when Miyu had yelled to her brother, she had been so loud that everyone had heard, "He's here at the entrance."
They had raced to the entrance only to see the Sakuno curled up against Miyu, her arms around her head and her expression was one of pain. Miyu was looking angrily at Echizen, as if daring him to closer.
At the same time, they saw the Seigaku regulars run in.
They stopped as soon as they caught of Echizen and then, with shock, Sakuno in Miyu's arms.
They went towards Ryoma and Tezuka said even more solemnly than usual, "She lost all memory of us… and you when she woke up in the hospital after the accident."
He did not know if the boy heard him but he went on anyway, "Ryuzaki-sensei sent her away as soon as she recovered and we only found out this week where she was: here."
Ryoma said without turning around, "She… forgot me?" His voice was low and those short words were filled with suppressed emotions. Momo would have put his hand on his friend's shoulder but when he heard Ryoma's voice, he hesitated and dropped his arm back to his side.
Oishi, Eiji and Kaidou were staring at Sakuno; they did not think they had ever seen such pain before.
Fuji and Inui, though they had a taste of it, were still shocked at the depth of pain that seemed to be breaking the young girl apart.
Not one of them had any thoughts of fighting now; the Seigaku regulars were standing there in shock and the Rikkai regulars were too worried about Sakuno.
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Akaya, Bunta and Niou had rushed forward, frantic to reach Sakuno's side. The others were just behind them.
Yukimura suppressed his feelings for the moment, knowing that he needed to talk to Tezuka.
He went up to the other buchou, "Tezuka, although it is one day early, let us go to my house where we can have some privacy."
Tezuka nodded, "Thank you, Yukimura." They both knew that this was not the time for polite greetings.
Tezuka turned to his team and told them that they would be going to Yukimura's house as planned.
Yukimura turned and was about to do the same thing when he saw Echizen standing there, not moving, obviously in shock.
He went up to him and his face was coldly expressionless. He slapped the younger boy across the face sharply; the sound attracting everyone's attention.
He said, "Pull yourself together if you care." With that he walked back to this team.
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Everyone was shocked; they had never seen Yukimura slap anyone, he never needed to. People would just do what he told them because he had that charisma and power.
Even Miyu was scared by the expression that was not on her brother's face. She had never seen him so angry before.
She was stilling holding Sakuno who had passed out because she was hurting too much. Niou was about to pick her up when Yukimura showed up. They glared at each other.
Miyu thought that Niou-senpai was very brave to not be afraid of her brother when he was like this.
Sanada ignored the both of them and gently gathered the girl in his arms.
Sakuno looked so small and seemed so fragile against his much taller and muscular frame. She gave the image of a broken doll.
Her protector looked at her gently before saying to Yukimura and Niou, "I'll carry her, lead the way, Seiichi."
They got up and started to walk silently.
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After being slapped, Ryoma had jerked out of his shock and had followed behind Momo without a word.
Along the way, Bunta, Akaya, Miyu and Jackal hovered around Sanada, wanting to be with Sakuno but afraid of crowding her.
The Seigaku regulars did not feel as if they had the right to be near Sakuno and they kept their distance.
When they got into Yukimura's house, he showed them into the living room and everyone sat down somewhere.
It could have been an unconscious decision on everyone's part because they ended up dividing themselves into two groups facing each other from across the coffee table.
Miyu had led Sanada upstairs to her bedroom and they put Sakuno onto Miyu's bed, covering her with the blankets so that she would not be cold.
Miyu did not come down with Sanada; she wanted to stay with Sakuno. She did not look as if she was peaceful; there was a frown between her eyebrows and Miyu was sad for her friend.
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When Sanada went into the living room, he saw all faces turned towards him. They were all waiting for him to say something about Sakuno.
He looked back at them and said, "She's still not awake. Miyu's with her."
He went in and sat down next to Yukimura. No one was speaking, not that they wanted to because it was still strange with so many lively people around.
Yanagi got and said to no one in general, "I'll go and make tea." He was familiar with the Yukimura kitchen and did not wait for Seiichi's permission.
Inui said, "I'll help Renji." He got up also and Oishi, not trusting these two not to poison everyone, unintentionally of course, got up after them.
Yagyuu deemed it his duty to help and he also went to the kitchen.
The silence was now broken and Eiji said worriedly, "I hope Ryuzaki-chan's alright, nya."
Akaya smirked angrily, "I'm sure she's fine; after all she just collapsed, right, Kikumaru-san?"
Eiji looked abashed and Sanada snapped, "Akaya! Watch your tongue!"
Akaya turned away insolently; he was worried and angry and he did not care if he was being rude.
Momo did not like Akaya's attitude towards Eiji but he could not say anything because he felt that the Rikkai people had the right to be mad. He rubbed the back of his head, not used to keeping quiet.
Kaidou, on the other hand, had no problem being quiet. He just stood at a corner, hands in pockets.
Fuji was without his usual smile and he said neutrally, "I wonder if they need help in the kitchen."
Yukimura looked at him and answered, making polite conversation, "They should be alright. I should apologize for being a bad host and not asking earlier but is anyone hungry? Maybe we should order some food while we wait for Sakuno to wake up."
If the Seigaku boys were surprised at Yukimura's free use of Sakuno's name, they did not show it.
Tezuka answered, "No, that would be fine, thank you. We ate on the train." At the same time, Momo had said, "Oh yes, please, I am a bit hungry."
Tezuka snapped at Momo directly, "Momo, we just ate on the train!" Momo looked embarrassed, "Uh, hai, buchou. Gomen-nasai, Yukimura-san."
Yukimura smiled neutrally, "It's fine, I will go and order some food anyway; we still need to eat." He got up and they could hear him ordering pizza and some Japanese ramen.
Bunta was leaning against the back of the couch, looking upwards silently, well, without a word because he was blowing his bubble-gum and popping it occasionally. He ignored the Seigaku boys, just worrying about Sakuno.
Niou was also silent but he was off by one side because he was smoldering inside; torn between wanting to go and be with Sakuno and wanting to trash the place in anger.
He did neither, not wanting to show anything in front of these Seigaku enemies, especially Enemy Number One – Echizen Ryoma. After this, he swore to himself that he was going to get back at this Enemy Number One, just to work off some spite.
Sanada looked towards the kitchen thinking that making tea should not take that long. However, he thought that since there was no noise, it meant everything was fine.
He did not know that he was far from right.
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When the four had gone into the kitchen, Yanagi had gotten the tea cups and tea-pot out. He had also gotten the tea leaves and some other ingredients.
Inui knew at once what they were for. They had worked out a new recipe over the net a while ago and had not tried it yet.
Oishi, who was familiar with Inui's little expressions, asked Yanagi what he was going to do with the extra ingredients.
Yagyuu was quick to catch because he had also tried the famed Penal-Tea and knew them to be highly toxic to the mind and taste-buds.
He tried to step forward and put the 'extras' away but Inui stepped in front of him, saying logically, "We were so quiet and lifeless in there. We need this Extra Special Waking up the Mind and Body Tea. Yagyuu, this is not Penal-Tea; it is simply a normal green tea with some added ingredients that can be found in any kitchen."
Yagyuu did not know how to counter that and he looked at Oishi for help. Yanagi was looking at them, waiting for the water to boil.
Oishi said, "But Inui, I'm sure everyone's fine; we can have your tea another time, right? Besides, I'm sure that everyone's too worried at the moment to drink tea that has…" He glanced at the 'extras' and tried not to shudder, "…that has wasabi, lemon juice, black pepper, salt, sugar, onions and honey in it"
Inui tsked and shook his head, "Oishi, you don't understand the brilliance of it. Renji and I spent half the night at our computers talking to each other, trying to work out a simple recipe that everyone can make with ingredients that are cheap, healthy and easy to find.
The Penal-Tea that I usually make contains ingredients that are hard to find and have to be hand-picked and fresh. This one is much less lethal on the taste-buds, I promise."
Yagyuu and Oishi looked skeptical and Yagyuu asked politely, "Then, can you two explain what these simple ingredients would do that is so amazing?"
He was still trying to find a way to avoid the inevitable.
Yanagi smiled, "I was waiting for that question, right, Sadaharu?"
Inui nodded and Yanagi continued, "First, while we are boiling the water, we put the tea leaves into the tea-pot. We then add the sugar into a bowl. The number of teaspoonfuls must be the same as the number of people that we are making tea for.
Since we have sixteen people in the living room, ah, no, we must not forget Miyu and Sakuno, eighteen people; we will add eighteen teaspoonfuls of sugar. This is for energy, one teaspoonful for each person.
Then, we add half that amount of salt, to lessen the sweetness because this is tea after all. Nine teaspoonfuls of salt."
As Oishi and Yagyuu listened in sick fascination, they did not notice that while Yanagi was speaking, Inui had been following the instructions that Yanagi had said.
Yanagi went on, "Then we add five heavy shakes of black pepper into the mixture. The black pepper is for its aromatic purposes, to add flavour to the tea in terms of smell. This is to help wake you up.
With the wasabi, we first mix it with hot water to make it less dense and more watery. How much you add depends on the person you want to wake up because some people react easily to it and some people don't. In this case, we shall add a generous dose because everyone's much too lifeless in there.
After we pour hot water into the tea-pot until it is half-filled, then we add the mixture together with the watered-down wasabi. The wasabi is for both for smell and taste. It is essential for the waking up process.
Then we add three spoonfuls of honey and add more hot water. We put the lid back on to let it steam a bit. The honey is meant to give more energy and add a bit of unique sweetness to the tea. That is our hope that people will recognize our tea by taste alone, like a brand.
Meanwhile, we dice the onion, not too much and then add it to the steaming tea. It is to add a unique spiciness to the taste.
Lastly we add one spoonful of lemon juice into the tea to tone down the color. It adds a certain translucent texture to the color of the tea and makes it appear more alluring."
By the time he had finished the explanation, Inui had also finished making the Extra Special Waking up the Mind and Body Tea and was putting the cups and tea-pot onto the trays that Yanagi had taken out.
Oishi was speechless at Yanagi and Inui's performance; Yagyuu had taken his glasses off and was wiping them repeated, stunned that anyone could come up with such an invention.
They were both determined not to drink the tea and already pitied the ones who would drink it. Yanagi and Inui took the trays into the living room and Oishi and Yagyuu followed, both worried at what would happen.
Author's Warning: The recipe for the 'tea' was purely fiction so don't try it!