Hyotei and the Happy Panda

Chapter Two: In which Ohtori is foiled and Hiyoshi gets some much needed vengeance

A/N: I missed Hiyoshi-kun, so welcome to his cameo segment.

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"Sugoi! Let's ride that one again!" Jirou cried, face flushed and normally wild hair now all the more haphazard. An uncharacteristically soft smile crossed Atobe's face, though he removed it before the others got within range, reminding himself not to behave unseemly in front of them. Gakuto and Oshitari followed, the redhead still loudly proclaiming how idiotic his doubles partner looked on roller coasters. Oshitari did look a little green. Shishido strode next, glowing with satisfaction. The reason for this smirk soon followed.

"That was my damn shoe!" Taki shrieked as he hopped about four feet behind the other regulars, Ohtori helping him none too enthusiastically. Wonderful, Atobe thought. A captain's duties were never done.

Oshitari sighed. "Well then you should have made sure it was tied properly. It's a very simple precaution."

"I did!" Taki snarled, growling at Shishido. "You did this."

Shishido smirked. "Yeah. So?"
Taki's jaw dropped at the unexpected admission. "Atobe--"

Atobe raised an eyebrow at Shishido who shrugged. "What? He pissed me off." The rest of the team, minus Kabaji and Taki, snickered. Ohtori blushed.

"Shishido, kindly save the pranks for a time you are not in ore-sama's presence. Ohtori, the next ride."

"Hai, we could --"

"What about my shoe?"

"Taki, do not interrupt. Ohtori, the next ride."

Taki humphed to himself as Ohtori stammered, "The Sea Dragon is just up the corner, or we could try the Blue Avalanche..."

"Funnel cakes!" Atobe sighed at Jirou's usual lack of decorum as the volley specialist dove towards the concession sign. "Ne, ne, Atobe, we have to get some!"

"You do realize those things actually have a negative nutritional content," Oshitari commented.

Jirou, however, had prepared a defense. "You can put fruit on them." He gestured enthusiastically for the others to join him.

"If you like, Atobe-buchou, we could split up here. Since you don't want to ride the coasters, you could stay here with Jirou-senpai. We could all meet up at the Midway in a few hours." Ohtori's suggestion was tentative, but Atobe sensed a core of steel behind it. He'd been watching Ohtori for the better part of a year. The boy would be a good captain one day provided he remembered his place until then.

"Ore-sama believes you should assist your senpai in locating his effects first. Then, your suggestion is acceptable."

Ohtori nodded, though his lips tightened a fraction. "Hai, buchou."

"You guys have fun," Gakuto cackled. "Yuushi, I wanna ride the Spin Cycle!"

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Ohtori was not supposed to sit by Jirou-senpai. Jirou was supposed to demand to sit next to Atobe, leaving Kabaji to sit by Shishido-san. Ohtori would sit by Taki at least for the next two rides; Taki-senpai was essential to his plan.

But Atobe didn't ride roller coasters, Jirou-senpai attached himself to Ohtori's arm, and now Shishido-san had wandered off, leaving Ohtori stuck alone with Taki-senpai, listening to him yell at the park aides to be quicker about finding his shoe. He had no doubt in his mind that Atobe did this on purpose and was now eating funnel cake with Shishido-san while...

"Here." Ohtori jumped backwards as the 500 yen soda was thrust in front of his face. He did, however, recognize an apology from Shishido-san when he saw one, and accepted the drink without comment. Shishido kept his eyes trained on the search in front of him, giving Ohtori the chance to inch a little closer.

"Shishido-san?"
"Hm?"
"It was pretty funny."

That got Shishido to look at him, smirking that little half smile Ohtori had never seen him give anyone else.

"Shishido! You owe me a new pair of shoes!" Taki shouted, jogging over to Ohtori's other side at something of a limp. "Look at these!" The left designer tennis shoe had a couple of scuff marks and bits of grass sticking out of the laces, but seemed otherwise unharmed.

"Taki, you have more shoes than most of the cheerleaders, so shut up."

Taki's face scrunched up like a nylon doll Ohtori's aunt had bought him when he was four. Ohtori had given the doll to his dog to keep it from staring at him all night. "Do you have any idea what those shoes cost? You owe me!"

"Whatever. So where are we going next?" Shishido looked at Ohtori, expectantly. The second year thought fast; he'd have to jump forward a few steps in the flow chart, but it could still work.

"Pharoah's Tomb," he rushed. "We should ride Pharoah's Tomb."

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"If you're such a tensai, how come you can't read the stupid map?" Gakuto whined, snatching the paper away from Oshitari.

"I could read it if you'd let me look at it," he sighed. "We were at the green triangle, we need to go to the pink octagon, so we took the north path. It's all on the key."

"Then how come we're in PoPo's Magic Jungle?" Gakuto snapped, shrieking as a set of sticky toddlers darted between him and Yuushi. The miniature Merry-Go-Round tune was seriously getting on his nerves.

Oshitari snagged the map back. "Because it's the most direct route. The Spin Cycle is across PoPo's Dream Train Tracks and to the right of --"

"Hey, Yuushi." As usual, Gakuto's tantrum lasted only until he was distracted. Gakuto put one hand in front of the taller boy, pointing the other at the top bleacher of the small bandstand. "Don't we know him?"

Hiyoshi hated being the oldest kid in the family. It meant that once the adults got sick of entertaining his twin cousins, they dropped him off at the amusement park with the order to keep them busy until the place closed. No one needed to listen to the PoPo's Magic Jungle theme that many times. No one. Also, PoPo's Musical Spectacular was running four minutes late, which was three minutes and fifty-five seconds longer than his cousins' attention spans.

"Wakashi-nii, I wanna watch the show! When's it gonna start!" Rika shrieked in the tone only an irritated seven-year old can manage.

"This is boring. I wanna go on the roller coaster!" It really wasn't fair to have two irritated seven-year olds capable of that tone.

"I don't like the roller coaster! Ow! Wakashi-nii, she hit me!"
"I did not!"

Hiyoshi rubbed the bridge of his nose, unsure this day could get any worse until he heard the voice from behind him.

"Hiyoshi-kun! I'm so happy you finally found some friends you could connect with intellectually."

Eyes wide, Hiyoshi whirled around. "Senpai? What-what are you doing here?" Now would be a really great time to ask if Mukahi-senpai had finally found some rides he was tall enough for. A really great time if Hiyoshi didn't want to be on the tennis team anymore.

Gakuto leaned an arm on Oshitari's shoulder. "Enjoying our day off. Yuushi, we should escort our kouhai for a while. He looks like he needs our guidance."

Oshitari-senpai adjusted his glasses. "Gakuto, you wanted--"

"I'm fine, senpai. I'm taking my cousins around. Please, just, go about your day. Please."

"But you look so lonely, Hiyoshi-kun," Gakuto cooed. "And as your-- what is that?"

Confetti burst over the audience as a parade of people in animal suits tumbled out from backstage. PoPo the purple panda led the way accompanied for some unknown reason by a a teal kangaroo and a pink hippo. The three tennis players gaped in horror while the seven-year olds cheered.

"That is simply disturbing," Oshitari mumbled.

"You call that acrobatics? I can do that in my sleep?" Gakuto laughed as the hippo did some loosely executed cartwheels.

"You can not," snapped Mina, glaring up at Gakuto.

Gakuto laughed. "Yeah, I can."

"Can not." Mina stuck out her tongue. Rika turned her head, finding her sister's argument more entertaining than the musical. Hiyoshi reminded himself to get Mina a nice birthday present this year.

"Oh yeah?" Gakuto backed a few steps up from Oshitari, steadied himself, and performed a standing backflip, then dropped to his knees, fingers splayed in two V's. "Whadja think of that -- get off!"

Hiyoshi wasn't sure how Rika moved so quickly. Must have been all the Enbu lessons. "Sugoi," she whispered, one hand locked around Gakuto's hair. "It's so shiny."

Gakuto attempted to disentangle himself without ripping out his hair, only to find a second girl latched to his arm. "Ne, ne! Do that again! Can you show me how?"

"Yuushi..." Gakuto's facial expression suggested he was covered in cockroaches rather than seven-year olds.

Oshitari sighed, bending down on one knee. "Ladies, I would appreciate it if you released my friend. Perhaps I could take you for some ice cream instead?"

"Don't talk like that to my cousins!" Hiyoshi snapped, jumping between them. He didn't know what Oshitari-senpai was suggesting, but it didn't sound right.

Oshitari blinked. "I was only--"

"Yuushi, I wanna leave. Now!" Gakuto tore away from Mina's grip, grabbing Oshitari's arm and spinning away from the grandstand. Hiyoshi blinked.

"Rika-chan. Mina-chan. Let's go."

"Good, this show is stupid. Where are we going?" Mina huffed.

"I'm going to buy you any one of the plushies you want. Come on."

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The EllipsesBandit...'s inside jokes:

1. Sing the PoPo's Magic Jungle theme to the tune of Smoochy's Magic Jungle from Death to Smoochy. If you haven't seen the film, the jokes aren't that funny, but then again if you haven't seen the film, you probably haven't lived.

2. I firmly believe that Oshitari's seiyuu has the ability to make anything sound dirty. Anything.