Author's Notes (1): Still takes place before Hyotei arch, but we're getting closer!

Author's Notes (2): This section is dedicated to Yvie, who was kind enough to tell me what they (students) can do at school bazaars.

Author's Notes (3): No real hard Japanese words used and my Japanese still sucks, but I think I've already explained that. Anyway, my eyes and brain started hurting when I looked up the recipes, so I used the English translated names of the dishes from my cookbooks. Oh, and I used: sazanami: ripple.

Author's Notes (4): The recipes I mentioned here are real and I've used them myself.

Title: A Bazaar Morning

It was just a little before seven when Sumire Ryuzaki yawned sleepily as she walked into the kitchen on autopilot.

"Morning, Obaachan!" Sakuno sang out as she looked at her grandmother with bright eyes. She immediately placed a cup of warm tea in her grandmother's hand, knowing that her grandmother would not fully awaken with out the hot beverage in her system.

Making her way towards the kitchen table, Sumire grunted a greeting before she sat down, cherishing the hot cup in her hands. Cautiously drinking a few sips, Sumire sighed in contentment as the drink started to work its magic.

As her grandmother sat drinking her tea, Sakuno resumed what she was doing since the dawning hour: packing bentos for the St. Rudolph Mini-bazaar. Humming a merry tune as her chopsticks quickly placed the gingered pork, beef sukiyaki and grilled mackerel in their aluminum containers, Sakuno looked over at the stacks of bentos she already made.

Using her fingers, she managed to count off all the dishes she made: five bentos of gingered pork with rice and vegetables, five bentos of beef sukiyaki with daikon salad, five bentos of grilled mackerel with sweet potato rice and daikon-carrot pickles, five bentos grilled unagi-don and sesame spinach; five bentos of chicken teriyaki with mild Korean kimchi; five bentos of miso simmered vegetables and inari-sushi; five bentos of homemade yam soba noodles with various toppings, five bentos of mabo-dofu and rice, five bentos of assorted tempura with spicy Korean daikon kimchi, five bentos of crispy mackerel with salted pickles and daikon rice, five bentos of assorted yakitori with red bean rice, five bentos of tonkatsu with fresh vegetables, and five bentos of homemade somen noodles and assorted toppings.

As she finished packing away the last of the bento, she made sure that the dishes for the auction were well sealed. After all it just wouldn't do to have the salt-grilled red snapper, grilled shrimp and fish kabobs, beef, pork and vegetable kabobs, phad thai, futomaki-zushi, Korean-style grilled beef and chicken, lasagna, manicotti, kushiage and tri-flavored rice, chicken satay and assorted chicken wings, yose-nabe and oden be all mixed up. She wiped her forehead as she looked at the assorted breads and mini-cakes she made the night before. At least she wouldn't have to worry about those not selling, everybody loves baked goods.

She bit her lip as she counted off the assortment of onigiri she made and wondered if ten each of the sixty types were enough to feed the St. Rudolph tennis team. Letting out a deep breath, she decided that it was not, so she started to julienne the lettuce leaves, aojiso leaves, basil leaves, mint leaves, vinegared daikon, carrots and button mushrooms with her steak knife.

"What on earth are you making now, Sa-chan," Sumire demanded as she grabbed her granddaughter's hand as she reached for more lettuce leaves. She knew better than to startle her granddaughter while she was slicing food. "And why are there so many bentos? I thought you only had to make fifteen dishes?"

Sakuno turned to look at her grandmother and smiled brightly. "Good morning Obaachan! Did you sleep well? How was your tea?"

"I slept just fine, it was the walking up to this that has me confused," Sumire said as she waved a hand at the piles of bentos. She blinked just to make sure hat they were really there. "I thought it was agreed that you only had to make fifteen dishes! What is all this?"

"Well, ah, this is really only twelve dishes, Obaachan, just put into five bentos," Sakuno said as she bit her lip.

"THIS is only twelve dishes?" Sumire repeated faintly, stunned.

"Hai, I only managed to make twelve," Sakuno said a bit anxiously. "Do you think Yuuta-oniisan and Mizuki-san would mind that I didn't make the fifteen? I decided that I didn't want to make fifteen because that's such an odd number and it's really bad to have an odd number- so I decided to only make twelve dishes and put them into five bentos each. Is that bad of me?"

"Not that I know of," Sumire said faintly as she looked at her granddaughter. "So if you're done making all the bentos, what are you making now?"

"Lunch," Sakuno said simply. "I don't think that the onigiri are enough so I'm getting ready to make fresh spring rolls. Do you think that they'll have access to hot water to soak the rice paper wrappers?"

Shaking her head, Sumire sighed. "I'm sure that they will, Sa-chan. If not, it can just be a very healthy salad. Did you eat your breakfast?"

Sakuno shook her head. "I've been nibbling at everything, but I made you some grilled mackerel with rice and some Plum-Konbu soup. And you can have that after you have your yogurt."

Sumire lifted an eyebrow. "Yogurt? Since when do I eat yogurt in the morning?"

With a militant look in her eye that was not unlike the one her Obaachan occasionally got, Sakuno lifted a small chart and pointed to the column that said, 'Must have Daily'. "Since Sanada-Bachan emailed me this yesterday." She looked at her grandmother sternly. "She also said that you need more fruit in your diet, so I got some peaches, raspberries and blueberries for you. You can use them to flavor the yogurt. And she said to cut down on your coffee and that you have to get at least an hour's more rest."

"Wonderful," Sumire sighed as she shook her head. "Let me take a shower before you and her make any more changes In my life- are you ready to stay at Azami's? She said that she would pick you up straight from St. Rudolph's today."

Her braids bobbed as Sakuno nodded her head happily. "Hai! I am ready for Obaasan! I will not be chained! Hear me roar!"

"Azami will not chain you, Sa-chan," Sumire said with some amusement. "She's just going to watch over you."

"And get the whole dojo to do that too," Sakuno said with conviction. She lifted up her hand and thumped her chest. "I, Ryuzaki Sakuno Marie, will not allow her esteemed self to be chained! I will escape the foul bonds of my ineptitude and directionally challenged self and I will rise above being babysat by all known creatures on this earth."

"And before that, she must have a very healthy breakfast to start the day or else she will never rise above her bonds," Sumire intoned. She looked at her granddaughter and tapped her nose. "Sazanami will never turn into a tsunami unless it is fed, especially this Sazanami. Understood?"

Sakuno pouted slightly. Her grandmother sure knew how to deflate a dramatic scene. "Hai, Obaachan. This sazanami will eat my breakfast."

"And I, Ryuzaki Sumire Josephina will take a shower so that the chains of dirt will not bound this old woman down," Sumire announced as she lightly thumped her hand on her ample chest. "Is anyone coming to help pile these things in the car?"

Sakuno looked at the clock on the wall. "Ah, Yuuta-oniisan and Syusuke-oniisan will be here in about an hour. Everyone else will help set up the stand."

"Good," Sumire nodded as she headed towards the living room. "Okay, I'm off! You- finish up and we'll eat together."

"Hai!" Sakuno nodded before she went back to her cutting board. She bit her lip as she made an inventory of the vegetables. "Ah! I forgot to get the alfalfa sprouts!"

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Sakuno looked at her feet as Yuuta-oniisan's eyes nearly bulged out of his eye sockets. "You made all of this?"

"My, you were certainly busy this morning, Sakuno-chan," commented Fuji Syusuke as he scratched his head in wonder. Not only were the bentos neatly stacked and labeled in four cardboard boxes, the auctioned foods were beautifully arranged on take-out platters and neatly stacked in their own individual boxes. The assorted breads and cakes were in three other boxes made to just hold baked items. Plum-Konbu soup was in four huge thermoses, held together in a milk crate. Three ice boxes were also on hand to be transported. "What do you have in the ice boxes?"

"That one has the various broths for the dishes, the other has the mango ice cream and chocolate banana sticks I made for dessert and the last ice box is keeping cool the fresh spring roll fillings," Sakuno said as she pointed to each ice box.

Bemused, Yuuta looked at his brother before her. "What's a chocolate banana stick?"

"It's a banana on a stick," Sakuno said. At his still puzzled look, Sakuno explained further. "You halve a banana and then put a stick inside it. And then put it in the freezer for twenty minutes while you melt some chocolate. After the chocolate's all melted, you dip the banana in and put any topping you want on the banana and then freeze it again. I made about thirty since I bought fifteen bananas."

"Ahh, they look so good," Syusuke marveled as he looked at the different flavored banana sticks. "Yuuta, it's filled with the toppings you like: smashed Oreo cookie, peanut crunchies, smashed mini-rice crackers, colored sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, and gummy bears."

Yuuta looked over his aniki's shoulder then looked at Sakuno. "Ne, Sakuno-chan, can you save me an Oreo cookie and a colored sprinkle banana?"

"Ano, I saved Yuuta-oniisan's and Syusuke-oniisan's lunches in that cooler over there," Sakuno said as she pointed at the prettily decorated ice box. "We have spicy grilled shrimp; unagi kabayaki; grilled Korean-style pork; grilled king oyster mushrooms and I made wasabi and fish cake rice for Syusuke-oniisan and fried rice and yakisoba for oniisan. But I didn't make any different kind of dessert, so I put in four chocolate bananas. And I put in some limes so we can have some sparkling limeade."

"You are so cute! You take such good care of your real hero, Sakuno-chan," Syusuke said as he lightly pinched Sakuno's cheek then wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Yuuta, aren't you glad for a little sister like Sakuno? If only Yuuta would treat me with such love!"

"Baka Aniki, I'm always happy for Sakuno-chan to be my sister," Yuuta growled as his cheeks grew red. "Now come on and help me get these things inside the car. We're going to be late."

"Ah, such a pushy hero!" Syusuke lamented cheerfully as he started to load the minivan. "No, Sakuno-chan, you did all the cooking. So you just stay put while we load up the car."

"Ano, do you think this is too little?" Sakuno asked a bit anxiously as she watched them load the minivan. She twisted the hem of her sweater as she tried to calm herself down. "I only made twelve dishes of the bentos and the foods for the auction, oniisan. I was too tired to make anymore." She smiled hopefully. "But I did make a lot of the breads and cakes Mizuki-san said to make. You think he'll be mad?"

Fuji Syusuke smiled brightly as he put his hand on Sakuno's shoulder. "I'm sure that he'll appreciate whatever you made, Sakuno-chan. And I believe that this is more than enough bento to raise money for the tennis team. Right, Yuuta?"

"Of course it is!" Yuuta said stoutly as he smiled at Sakuno's worried face. "And don't worry- I'm sure that a lot of people will buy up everything that you made and a lot of people will stop by. Right, Aniki?"

"Sure they will and I know for a fact that Tezuka and Oishi will definitely stop by," Fuji said brightly as he patted Sakuno's head. "And the others said that they would if their schedules would allow it."

Sakuno's eyes grew wide. "Really, Syusuke-oniisan?"

"Yes, really," Fuji nodded. "Even the Freshmen Trio said that they might be able to stop by- Momo's even picking up Echizen-"

"Ryo-Ryoma-kun's coming?" Sakuno's eyes went even larger. "He isn't going to buy any bento will he?"

Stopping from putting the third cooler into the minivan, Yuuta looked at Sakuno puzzled. "Why wouldn't he buy your bento?"

"Because he doesn't like my cooking," Sakuno said as she twisted the hem of her sweater even more. "He called it 'mada mada dane' when I made him a bento. So I don't cook for him when he teaches me tennis. I get him something from the stores."

Scowling, Yuuta looked at Sakuno. "What do you mean he called your bento 'mada mada dane'? When was this?"

Recognizing the signs of displeasure on his little brother's face, Syusuke coughed, "Echizen really didn't mean it, Sakuno, Yuuta."

"Mean it or not, that was a bad thing to say," Yuuta retorted with a militant look in his eye. He looked back at Sakuno. "When did this happen?"

"It happened about almost a couple of months ago, at the start of school," Sakuno said as she bit her lip. "I think that I've improved in my cooking but-"

"But nothing, Sakuno-chan, your cooking is great," Yuuta interrupted and he gave her a stern look. "Trust your oniisan on this, Sakuno-chan. Okay?"

"Ha-hai!" Sakuno said with a nod.

"Are you all ready to go?" Sumire called out as she came out from the house. "Do you have everything, Sa-chan? We still have to pick up Tomoko!"

"We're ready, Sumire-chan!" Syusuke called out from inside the mini-van. Yuuta and Sakuno stared at him, their eyes bugging. "Ah?"

"What did I say about calling me Sumire-chan?" Sakuno's grandmother demanded as she pinched both of Fuji's cheeks. "Ah?"

"Ittai-ittai-ittai," Syusuke said through his widened mouth.

"Baka Aniki," Yuuta muttered as he grabbed another ice chest and put it inside the minivan. "Sensei, we're all done!"

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"Whaaaa? You made so much, da-ne!" Yanagisawa shouted as he looked at the back of the minivan with Atsushi Kisarazu, his doubles partner. He looked at Yuuta's little girlfriend who was hiding behind Yuuta again. "This all looks so good, da-ne!"

"Um, ano, th-thank you, Yanagisawa-san," Sakuno stuttered as she held on to Yuuta-oniisan's shirt. "I hope that you can sell all of it."

"Are you kidding, da-ne?" Yanagisawa cried out rapturously. He brought his face close to hers, not noticing the way she shrank even further into Yuuta's side. "I'm sure that we can sell all of it, da-ne!"

Yuuta was confounded by the fact that Sakuno was trying to melt into his side in an effort to stay away from Yanagisawa-sempai while the same sempai was trying his best to get closer to her. "Ah, sempai-"

"I'm glad you can, Yanagisawa," Fuji said as he placed a hand on the taller boy's shoulder. He tightened his grip and pulled him away from Sakuno. Any closer to Yuuta and the two would topple over. "So how about some help in getting the food out?"

"Sakuno, you stay still since you cooked all of this," Tomoko ordered as she popped out from behind Fuji. She frowned as she looked at the way that her friend was hiding behind Yuuta-san. "Why are you there, Sakuno? Come on and let's get that limeade started! It'll be hot today and everyone will want to drink after the set up!"

"Oh, okay, Tomo-chan!" Sakuno called out as she came from behind Yuuta-oniisan and went quickly towards Tomo-chan's side, avoiding Yanagisawa-san. "Do you think it will really sell?"

"Of course it will sell," Sumire Ryuzaki said as came out from the driver's side. "Everything that you've cooked is absolutely delicious." She looked down at Sakuno and noticed that she was really glommed on to Tomoko's side. "Why are you hiding behind Tomoko? Have you decided to become a Siamese twin with her?"

Embarrassed, Sakuno shook her head. "Ah, no, Obaachan."

"Since you made it, Ryuzaki-chan, I'm sure that it will all sell well," Atsushi Kisarazu said warmly as he looked at her. She looked really cute trying to melt into Yuuta's back in order to stay away from Shinya and she looked even cuter as she tried to avoid Shinya by staying near her friend. He grabbed a few boxes. "You should see our stand- it's going to be doozy. Come on, let's go see. Sensei, would you like to come?"

"Why not?" shrugged Ryuzaki-sensei as she patted her granddaughter's head.

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When they reached the tennis club food station, Sakuno and Tomoko gaped as they looked at it. Like the other stands, it was tented and had a pull up entrance for those that wished to go into the tented area. Unlike the others, there was small gated area in front of the tent, complete with a trellis decorated with colored paper flowers and green ribbons. Inside the gated area that was no bigger than three tatami mats, there were three white garden tables each with two chairs. On the tables were batches of paper flowers as centerpieces with a pink tablecloth.

"My, you boys did an impressive job," Ryuzaki-sensei commented as she looked at the station.

"Thank you, sensei," Atsushi bowed politely.

"Well, what do you think, da-ne?" Yanagisawa asked as he bent over and looked at Ryuzaki-chan. "Isn't this the best station ever, da-ne?"

"A little less volume, please, Yanagisawa-kun," Ryuzaki-sensei said as she placed a hand on the loud boy's shoulder and pulled him up and away from her granddaughter who was backing into Tomoko again. "My old ears are just a tad bit sensitive right now."

"Ah, sorry, sensei, da-ne," Yanagisawa apologized as he backed away.

"So what do you think, Sakuno-chan?" Yuuta asked as he looked at her. "Tomoko-san?"

"I think this is really great, Yuuta-san," Tomoko announced as she looked at Fuji-sempai's younger brother. "It looks totally cool."

"It is so pretty," Sakuno said in wonder, her eyes so big that they looked like they took over half of her face. "It looks like a café."

"The people are going to be eating out here, while the food is in the tent on top of the tables we have in there," Atsushi pointed towards the tent. "And way in the back, we have the small private area set up complete with a mini-refrigerator and a portable gas range that you wanted."

"We also made a display for all your breads and cakes and the foods for the silent auction, plus," Akazawa said as he came out from behind the counter of the tented area with Kaneda and Nomura. He motioned at them and they both came out carrying a huge sign. "We named it Sakuno's Special Tennis Café right after you."

"Really?" Sakuno's eyes went huge as she stared at the tall St. Rudolph tennis captain. Her face went red in less than a second. "But I don't think- I mean, it's an honor, but I don't-"

"Sakuno, just say thank you," Tomoko said cheerfully as she patted her friend's shoulder. "It's great that they appreciate all the hard work that you've done."

"Indeed, you should get a lot of the credit for making their stand a success, Sakuno-chan," Fuji said cheerfully.

"Isn't that the truth," Yuuta said as he patted Sakuno's head.

"Thank you very much for the honor!" Sakuno cried out as she bowed low to Captain Akazawa.

"No, thank you," Akazawa chuckled. She looked like a chibi when she blushed like that and was so cute when her braids bounced around, too bad she was had a couple of Fuji guardians around her. He cleared his throat to get away from that thought. "Yuuta-kun, your costume is ready."

Yuuta looked at his team captain. "My costume? What costume?"

"The ones we have to wear," Kaneda said glumly as he looked at Yuuta.

Nomura nodded. "You wouldn't believe what happened after you left yesterday."

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"HELL NO!" Yuuta shouted as he glared at his costume. "There is no way that I'm going to be wearing that-that-that thing!"

"You will have to wear it," Mizuki said nonchalantly as he looked at the colorful blue-and-pink kimono he held up. "Or would you like this one?"

Yuuta stared at the tan kimono that had a lively pattern of goldfishes then threw it back on to the large pile of kimonos. "Hell no, I'm not wearing that one either!"

"Yuuta-kun, you have to wear something, we're all wearing one," Mizuki said as he lifted up his own white kimono with purple lilacs. "It's all a part of our team spirit."

"How the hell is wearing a kimono a part of our team spirit? Why do we have to wear it?" Yuuta demanded as he glared at his sempai.

"Because Mizuki and Nomura got into a fight with Mugen and Kido yesterday while we were finishing up the booth," Akazawa said as he glared at the two culprits. "And they all made a bet that nobody can welsh on."

Groaning at the names, Yuuta shook his head. It was a well known fact through out the school that both Mizuki and Kido had a long standing rivalry with each other. It was also a known fact that Mugen and Nomura, though cousins, were both very competitive with each other. Yuuta looked at his sempai-tachi suspiciously. "What bet?"

"On who makes the most money in this bazaar," Atsushi said grimly as he looked at Nomura who was pretending to look at a green kimono. "It seems that Kido bragged that he had his cousin, who happens to be on vacation from the Culinary Institute, help them make the food for their booth. And that their food was going to be better than any meal made by a little girl."

Yuuta's eyebrow started to twitch. "Is that so?"

Yanagisawa nodded as he folded his hands behind his head. "And Nomura said it didn't matter if their cook was from the Culinary Institute or the Crappy Institute, Sakuno's meals were better than any dish their chef can dish up, da-ne."

Yuuta's eyes widened like saucers as he stared at Nomura-sempai. "Nomura-sempai, you really said that?"

"There was nothing wrong with what I said," Nomura said defensively as he looked at Yuuta. "For someone her age, she makes the best foods."

"Yep, he said that," Atsushi nodded grimly as he glared at Nomura. "And it would've been better if he left it like that- but he also had to say that Sakuno's cooking for our booth would beat out theirs by a mile."

"And we will, as long as you put on your costumes," Mizuki said impatiently as he shoved a robe at both Yuuta and Kaneda. "Hurry up."

Yuuta held on to the robe as he glared at it then demanded, "But where the hell does our wearing this fit into our booth?"

His haw hardening as he put on a yellow kimono with blue and red flowers, Akazawa glared at Nomura. "It's because Mugen took offense at the comment and somehow everything escalated into somebody saying the insult, 'Yeah, well, we can beat your booth even if we were dressed like a bunch of girls by the drama club' and the other idiot responding 'Hah, even if you were dressed like a bunch of pretty girls and coached by the drama club, that's the only thing you'd have- your looks! You can dress up our club and we'd still sell more than you!' Baka."

"And since the drama club was there, da-ne, they felt it was them that was being insulted, da-ne," Yanagisawa said as he glared at Nomura. He started to put on a dark blue kimono with pink and yellow chrysanthemums. "So they decided to clothe the both of us in kimonos and make us both sell in our booths wearing them, da-ne. If any team member is out of their kimonos, then the other team automatically wins the bet and loses twenty percent of the club's earnings to the drama club and the other club, da-ne."

"But that's not the worst of it," Nomura said as he scratched his head. "The losing team has to act as the servants for both the drama club and the winning club for three whole weeks, including weekends. I just can't serve Touya- I'll never hear the end of it!"

"Serving your cousin is the least of it, Nomura. Anyway, the drama club told the rest of the school about the bet," Atsushi said morosely as he fastened the belt for a simple beige kimono with red trimmings. "You think that Mizuki can send out gossip fast? He's got nothing compared to them."

"So we've got to wear this," Kaneda said grimly as he glared at the red kimono with green bamboo shoots. "Because the drama club will be sending out its members to spy on both clubs, just to make sure that we're not cheating."

"Oh, hell," Yuuta grimaced as he looked at the kimono. He held it up and tossed it back at Mizuki. "If I have to wear the damn thing- I want one that's either blue or silver."

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"So this is what you do, Syusuke-oniisan," Sakuno said as she placed the cut-up limes on the bottom of the pitcher. "Then you take some sugar, more if you want it sweeter, and use this pestle and crush the limes like this."

"Here's the hot water," Tomoko said as she placed the water kettle next to her friend. She looked at Fuji-sempai. "Then you melt the sugar with a little hot water, and then add ice, some cold water and some seltzer water."

"And presto! You have sparkling limeade!" Sakuno beamed as she presented the pitcher to Syusuke-oniisan. She poured him a glass. "Taste, please!"

"I want some too!" Tomoko demanded as she practically danced in place. She stopped when Sakuno handed her a glass.

As Tomoko took a huge swig, Fuji took a cautious sip of the cold drink. His eyes widened in surprise. "It's like lemonade- but with limes and it's bubbly."

"Hai," Sakuno beamed at him. "Would you like some more, Syusuke-oniisan? I like this better than the sparkling lemonade."

"I want- Yuuta-san?" Tomoko gasped as she stared at Fuji Yuuta. "Is that really you? Why are you dressed like that?"

Sakuno and Fuji turned to look at what caused Tomoko to squeak like that… and they stared.

"Oh my," Fuji said as his eyes opened wide at sight of his younger brother. "Oh my, you didn't have to dress like this for Neesan, Yuuta."

Yuuta threw a fuming glance at his brother before he stomped over towards the tennis team's food station.

Sakuno's eyes widened as she saw Yuuta-oniisan. "Ano- Yu-Yuuta-oniisan- you're- you-"

"He's what, Sakuno-chan," Fuji prompted as a wicked light gleamed in his cerulean eyes.

His face feeling extremely hot, Yuuta lifted up a hand and glared at his brother. "Not a word more, Aniki. Not a single word."

Fuji's eyes danced with amusement as he studied at his brother, dressed in a blue kimono with a silver shooting star pattern and a long wig with braided pigtails. "But Yuuta, you look-"

"Not a word, Aniki," Yuuta glowered menacingly at his brother.

"Indeed, it would be nice if you don't say anything at all, Fuji-san," Kaneda said as he came from behind Yuuta. Fuji heard a strangling noise from both Sakuno and Tomoko as they saw the rest of the St. Rudolph tennis team: All of them dressed in kimonos and all of them wearing a wig with braided pigtails.

"Why are you all dressed in kimonos? And wigs?" Tomoko demanded as she looked at the tennis team. "Why are you cross-dressing? Is this a cosplay booth? Because if it is, you can look a lot prettier if you want to look like Sakuno."

"No, it's not and thank you, I think we look pretty enough as is it," Akazawa said as a strangled noise came out from Yuuta and Kaneda. "We're doing this as a lesson in team spirit. Isn't that right, boys? Nomura? Mizuki?"

The team muttered a weak affirmation as they looked away, their cheeks extremely red. Mizuki nodded curtly as he smiled brightly. "Of course it's a lesson in team spirit, Akazawa. What else could it be?"

"A successful attempt to scare away customers so you can eat Sakuno-chan's food?" Fuji said as innocently as he could.

Yuuta glared at his brother. "We're not that desperate."

"You know, I never thought of doing that," Nomura said as he scratched his chin. "Ittai!"

"Don't think of that," Mizuki snapped as he flexed the hand that bopped Nomura on the head. "Think only of Kido and Mugen. We must unite our spirit defeat them!"

"Right," Nomura said with a sharp nod. He walked over towards the front of their stand. "Bento- delicious bento for sale! Support the tennis club!"

Mizuki looked at his eternal rival smugly. "See, Fuji-kun? It's a promotion of team spirit."

"Or a promotion of a very bad cosplay," Fuji smiled. He smiled wider as Mizuki merely threw him an irritated glare before he smartly turned to his teammates. "Let's sell everything! Atsushi! Kaneda! Let's go! The rest of you- Finish setting up!"

As Mizuki, Kaneda and Atsushi left to advertise the tennis food station, Tomoko and Sakuno looked at each other. Sakuno cleared her throat to ask, "Ano, Yuuta-oniisan, how does dressing like girls help promote team spirit?"

Yuuta stared at Sakuno as she looked at him with a puzzled look. "It, uh, well, it's like, well-"

Clearing his throat, Fuji smiled brightly at Sakuno. "It's like this: Wearing kimonos help support team spirit because they're all wearing kimonos as a team."

Tomoko frowned. "But why don't they just wear their team uniforms?"

"Because the more they do different things together, the more spirit it creates together," Fuji answered with a smile. "Isn't that right, Yuuta?"

"Uh, yeah, that's right, what Aniki said," Yuuta said gratefully as the remaining St. Rudolph team looked at Fuji in wary admiration. He looked at Sakuno's innocent eyes and flushed as guilt ran through him. He savagely beat it down as he said gruffly, "Doing different tings makes different spirits, understand, Sakuno-chan?"

"Ano, I guess so," Sakuno said as she bit her lip. She looked up at Yuuta-oniisan. "So diversity together creates a stronger team spirit?"

"That's right." Fuji proudly beamed at her. "So what do you say to your Yuuta-oniisan?"

After thinking for a second, Sakuno raised up her hands high. "Banzai, Yuuta-oneechan! Banzai! Yuuta-oneechan! Banzai!"

Author's Notes (5): Last note I promise, since this was a REALLY long chapter, I broke it up into parts. Hope you like!