Rating: T
Genres: Humour
Characters: Kirihara Akaya, Niou Masaharu, Marui Bunta
Warning(s): Some swearing
Summary: Kirihara falls prey to the vile contraption hidden on the tennis courts.
Tickle-Tackle-Tussle
This was not how he visualized his first official tennis practice at Rikkaidai to be.
Kirihara Akaya had a rumble of an earthquake trying to show off his prowess a few weeks back. It wasn't until a few days ago was he officially accepted into the boys tennis club by none other than the Three Demons. Kirihara had whistled a joyful tune on his walk, or rather, skip to school, eagerly awaiting the paragon that would be tennis practice.
Unfortunately, one step onto the courts and Kirihara found himself dangling upside down by the foot; a thick cord tethering him to a branch of the large oak tree, a manifold of feathers tickling his entire body. Above his own shrieks and giggles, Kirihara could hear the roaring of laughter from the other club members who had the pleasure of watching a skinny first year tortured to the inch of his life.
His maniacal laughter aside; Kirihara Akaya was not a happy boy.
Wriggling like a worm, he desperately tried to steer away from the feathers, but it proved difficult, attacking him from all angles. His breaths became short, his laughter turning into gasps of oxygen, and Kirihara would bet his entire fortune—of a measly nine-eight dollars, if lucky—that his face was as red as a tomato.
Next thing he knew, he was face planted onto the ground.
The tension in the rope must have gotten too large, and snapped it cleanly into two, dropping the young boy down from his rather weak prison.
Kirihara was able to enjoy ten blissful seconds of tickle-less moments, using them efficiently to take in as much oxygen as he could, before he was yet again, attacked by the dreaded piece of scrap.
What in hell was that anyway?
Some sort of robotic mutant with dozens of feathers as arms, Kirihara observed through blurry, teary eyes. He rolled on the floor; left, right, left, right, left, left, left…to get away from the monster, but it followed him, like a dog to a bone, it chased him and Kirihara could do nothing but fear for his life. Perhaps he'd laugh himself to death. That would be something interesting to put on his gravestone.
Kirihara Akaya, death by laughter
Heck. He might even make the news.
But…heavens no! He still has a lifetime career of professional tennis, and no way he'll drop dead before he even steps into the professional circuit!
With a sudden boost of energy, Kirihara flailed his hands in the air and latched onto the—leg?—of the robot mutant…thing. Pulling with all his might, Kirihara toppled the machine over and it fell clumsily onto the ground, arms still moving the feathers viciously around in the air.
Kirihara panted, swiping the back of his hand over his mouth, uncovering a large grin.
His silent celebration was short-lived however.
A hard shove to his back and Kirihara was sent back to the reach of the tickle monster. Human atop machine, Kirihara tussled with the thing, desperate to emerge the victor. He, after all, really, really didn't want to die then and there; no matter how close death seemed to be. He was Kirihara Akaya and he'd put up one hell of a fight, dammit!
"Fuck," Kirihara heard a muttered curse. "Sanada's going to come in a bit."
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," another voice answered frantically, "stop that thing. We have to get it out before he comes."
"I can't find the off switch," the first voice said.
"Oh my god, we're dead. We're so dead." Kirihara rolled his eyes at the second voice after landing a well aimed punch to the machine—head? He was the one at the risk of death here! "Quickly, Niou!"
"Alright, alright, got it," Niou triumphantly said and seconds later, Kirihara could breathe normally again, his stomach in horrifyingly tight knots from the intense workout. Forced laughter with no end was a dreadful workout, alright?
He shut his eyes and basked in the sunlight, unable to stand up just yet. Kirihara felt a feet prod him in the shoulder and squints open an eye. Bright red hair enters his vision and a loud pop echoed—that second year…Marui-senpai?
"You okay, kid?"
"No thanks to you," Kirihara replied, recognizing Marui's voice to be the second one earlier.
"Yup, you're fine." Marui smirked in his direction before vanishing from his narrow vision. "How long more do we have, Niou?"
"Maybe a minute."
"Fuck, come on. Let's get this out of here."
Kirihara slowly sat up, blinking owlishly around. The two second years were wheeling the robotic mutant across the courts, towards the exit. Kirihara grimaced just looking at it. He could still feel the feathers on his body. Just before the two went out of hearing range, Kirihara heard Niou speak to Marui.
"I got to thank the robotics club for this. Best thing I've seen in a few months."
Kirihara swore to get revenge on the, now, very much hated club from that moment on—or, rather, Niou Masaharu for launching it on him. It was the easier option after all.
A/N: Just completed my exams, now fully done with high school. Whew. Horrible as I felt the exams to be...it's over. Results await me in like a month or so? So...
Anyways, now that I'm free, I'm going to try to update more frequently. Short drabbles here and there perhaps. I have a tumblr by the way, the link's on my profile. I blog miscellaneous stuff relating to my fandoms/fanfic writing etc.