Elsewhere at the school carpark, the Seigaku regulars were dashing towards the honking bus. The driver was clearly pissed at his tardy passengers; however, his frown softens upon looking at Eiji's bright sunny smile.
"Gomen, uncle! Thanks for waiting for us!"
"Tskk... just hurry up and get in"
When the regulars were all accounted for and seated properly at their seats, the bus engine roars into life, ferrying its inhabitant into another part of the island.
"What do you think just happened-nya?"
As usual, the hyperactive boy just could not stay put for a moment.
The whole team immediately thought about the same thing and started putting on their thinking cap.
Oishii started first. "Well, I know that Tezuka is pretty upset over something... he was frowning for the entire week... but I have completely no idea what happened as well..." He trailed off with a sigh.
Inui pushed up his glasses, while Kaidoh simply hissed.
"I have no idea what happened to Fuji as well-nya... ahh they are just so weird, i almost choke in their presence for the past week" Eiji shivered at the thought of Fuji's face, his hair on his skin raised like a threatened cat.
"Haha, Kikumaru-senpai, if you are going to behave like a cat you gotta beware of the big fat snake who's just sitting right behind you!" Momoshiro burst out laughing. As usual, he is really dense and bad at reading the atmosphere. Perhaps that's why he is relatively unharmed by the threatening aura emanating from Tezuka and Fuji for the past week.
"Psssshhhhh... You looking for a fight?"
"Bring it on, Mamushi!"
"Guys, please do not fight!" The vice captain tried to keep his -as usual- volatile team under control but to no avail. As if fights are contagious, soon enough, the whole team had burst into a ruckus.
"What you guys lacked is…. FIREEEE! BURNNN!" Taka screamed his head off as he cheers for both Momoshiro and Kaidoh. Yes indeed, fights and fire makes a man.
"A great mystery like this is dying to be solved! We need to get to the bottom of this somehow-nya!" Eiji stood up from his seat, shouting it out loud with utmost conviction as he tries to get the team's attention.
"Curiosity killed a cat." Inui snidely replied.
"But satisfaction brought it back! Mou! Of all people i thought Megane-kun would be the most interested in this matter!" Eiji shouts back at him.
"THE WHOLE LOT OF YA SHUT THE HELL UP!" The bus driver had reached his boiling point, his ears could hardly tolerate the incessantly screaming and yelling anymore. Didn't they had already graduated from pre-school?!
Oishii sighed. If only Tezuka is here.
While finally peace had been restored.
This time around, Inui cleared his throat and pushed his specs up again. Clearly, he had something rather important to say.
"Inui, do you have any idea what's going on with the two?"Oishi asked.
The rest of the team looked up at the Seigaku-brain eagerly.
"Well… I am not sure if I was right…. This is just a theory…. It sounds rather far fetched….but… I am not really confident… -"
"Just spit it out already, mou, you are really killing me with this suspense-nya!" Eiji eyes almost teared.
Kaidoh's face had crunched up so tightly, almost forming an ugly snare. He too, is dying to know what's going on.
"Well… I believe Tezuka and Fuji have always been weird during this season of the year."
"Huh? Is that so?" Momoshiro raised his eyebrow. He's pretty sure both of them were always weird throughout the year though.
"While, I know it may be hard to discern this since…. Tezuka and Fuji don't exactly have the most normal personality amongst us-"
'Yea right' Oishi thought in his head.
Inui reached out for his bag and fish out a few old notebooks.
"This is the notebook I used to record all my observations and data during my first year and that's the notebook for last year – "
He flipped through the notebook with practised ease and soon found the page he was looking for.
"You see, the dates are pretty much similar. It's all in the month of April."
The team stared at the notebook, eyes wide open.
A cheeky grin took over Eiji's face. "We have now our first concrete proof, we are gonna get to the bottom of this!"
Inui closed his notebook with a sigh. "I did warn you guys. Curiosity killed the cat."
"But satisfaction brought it back!" The rest of the team shouted in unison.
"I SAID SHUT UP THE WHOLE LOT OF YA!"
They have to be the worst passengers the bus driver had ever ferried in his entire life.
xxx
I am dying to write this story and I cant wait for december, so here it is! BTW, I know that Ryoma's birthday is on the 24th of Dec. But for the sake of this story plot, we shall keep it at the beginning of the school term, which is April in Japan. And as mentioned earlier, the newer version of this story will diverge from the older version, so it's gonna start from this point in time! I have decided to give the rest of the team a more active role in this story and perhaps Sakuno too..? meh, do let me know what you would like to see in this story and who knows, i might like your idea and follow it haha. Last but not least, please review and follow! i reallyyy loved hearing from you guys! (Cant emphasis this enough)