Kirihara, Momo, Aoi, Hiyashi, Sengoku, Oshitari, Tetsu and Bane were all waiting at the end of the pool for their Moms and Dads to come to them with the batons.
"As a review," Ojii said. "You must go back and forth five times, jump out of this pool and then run to the bike path that is down the road."
"GOT IT!" said all the sisters, giving him a thumbs up.
"And remember, you're not allowed to apply this to anything that has to do with tennis either." Ojii reminded them.
"Aw…" said everyone sadly as they bowed their heads in shame.
"I am going to win this challenge and continue to move up the ranks as the Dad of the household." Kirihara said as he did WAY intense stretching. He was wearing a specially made green bathing suit because it is SO hard to find bathing suits that match your hair. Even though it's black.
"HA!" said Momo as he pulled on the drawstrings of his orange bathing suit with pockets. "That's funny because it is going to be ME who wins this challenge and moves up in rank as the Dad of the household."
"Weren't you the Dad before?" Kirihara questioned.
"Yes." Said Momo sadly. "And after you've tasted the sweet, sweet authority of the Dad, you simply cannot go on being subdued as the SISTER!"
Momo wept into his arm.
"Well think of me." Said Kirihara. "I was the Pet before this. Being the Sister is a perk for me. But I still want to be the Dad."
"I am going to be the one who wins!" Aoi called down to the other two as he stood there equipped with his bathing suit that pretty much was his Rokkaku tennis uniform EXCEPT IT WAS A BATHING SUIT. "I am under so much pressure that I couldn't possibly lose! I mean, I've completely run through a month's supply of Arrid, THAT'S how under pressure I am!"
"That's weird…" said Kirihara and Momo together.
"I hope something happened to my teammates so I don't have to race." Hiyoshi sighed. His bathing suit was one of those ones that looked like a Hawaiian shirt. You know, only the COOLEST kids get to wear THOSE bathing suits.
"I can't wait to race." Sengoku said, already in ready position with his red bathing suit that had a vivid green lining—like a watermelon! "I am so going to win this and become Dad of the household. I've already got all the plans in my head on who's gonna be what family member."
"Oh do you?" said Hiyoshi, looking slightly interested.
"Yup." Said Sengoku. "That's how confident I am about my winning ability. So I can only hope that my team is one of the ones in the lead!"
Hiyoshi reconsidered his previous strategy. "Okay." He said. "I want to win then, too."
"That's the spirit!" said Sengoku.
"Maybe it would have been better to just let him not be enthusiastic." Oshitari said. He looked the funniest out of everyone because he had on his prescription goggles and one of those absurd one piece candy-cane MAN'S bathing suits. And the only reason why no one was making fun of him at that exact moment was because they had already done that when he had come out of the changing room.
"It doesn't matter." Said Sengoku. "I happen to know that my team is going to be in the lead."
"Oh?" said Oshitari. "And why is that?"
"Cause my team is…in the rhythm." Said Sengoku.
"Dear God, NO!" said Oshitari dramatically. Then he stopped. "Wait, what is that supposed to mean?"
"You'll see." Said Sengoku.
"Psst," Tetsu said to Oshitari. "It's just that he's got Kamio on his team."
"Meaning…?" Oshitari questioned.
"Kamio is probably the fastest guy currently playing tennis at our level right now." Tetsu answered. BTW, Tetsu was wearing swimmies and a bathing cap. His bathing suit had been poorly planned by the designers because they put a big dinosaur on it with its mouth open towards… YOU KNOW… that area… so it kind of looked like the dinosaur was taking a big bite out of… YOU KNOW.
Oshitari looked Tetsu up and down. "Were you wearing those swimmies the whole time?" he asked.
Tetsu looked ashamed. "I don't know how to swim…" he admitted.
"Aha." Said Oshitari overconfidently.
"I don't want to let down my team…" Tetsu said helplessly. "I mean, I'm only a second year."
"I know what you mean." Said Bane, putting his hand on Tetsu's shoulder. "Right now, our team is relying on two second years. And everyone knows that anyone below a third year is incompetent."
"HEY!" yelled every single person down the line except for Sengoku and Oshitari who went over and slapped him five.
"Oh what's this?" said Kirihara as he jumped up on his diving platform. "I believe I see MY team coming into the area!"
Everyone turned around and saw the trail of fire getting closer and closer to the pool area.
"Isn't that cheating…?" Momo whined slightly since he knew exactly what had happened.
"BUURRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNING!" Taka screamed as he and Yana came towards them at top speed and practically threw the baton at Kirihara.
"All right!" said Kirihara as he caught it while he was diving into the water.
"COME ON! COME ON BURNING!" Taka continued to scream as he swung his racket around while Yana was still attached to him and crying for help.
Momo grabbed the racket right out of Taka's hand, and Taka stopped in mid swing.
"Oh." said Taka, looking around. "Let's get untied."
With that, he pleasantly bent down and started untying Yana from his leg, while Yana was just lying there with this face that suggested he was saying, "NEVER AGAIN!"
"Damn it…Team One already has such an advantage!" angsted Sengoku. "I wanted to win this…!"
"No, it's better this way!" said Aoi. "If I'm under pressure, I perform better! The further behind Tezuka and David are, the better I'm going to perform!"
"Here comes two more teams!" Ojii announced.
Everyone turned around to that there were, sure enough, two more teams coming towards them. The first one being the totally in sync (or in the rhythm if you so desire) and the other being a single person running while holding a smaller person.
"Oh good, my angsting was unnecessary!" Sengoku cheered as he held out his hand to receive the baton from Shishido and Kamio.
"They're practically even!" Momo said, looking ready to get his baton from Gakuto and Choutarou.
After the pass offs were complete, Momo and Sengoku dove into the water and joined Kirihara doing laps.
"Yay!" cheered Choutarou as he ran over to Shishido and gave him a big hug while still dragging Gakuto around like a fool child in the split position. "We ended up tying! How perfect could that have been?"
"Choutarou, come on…" said Shishido, looking around embarrassedly. "Do you have to do that right here and right now?"
"Oh…sorry…" said Choutarou, backing away from Shishido.
"FINALLY." Said Gakuto as he untied his leg from Choutarou. And then he ran over to Oshitari. "Don't worry, Oshitari, your team isn't far behind!"
"That's good to know." Said Oshitari, getting himself pumped up.
"I wonder what Tachibana is doing…" Kamio said randomly.
"Oh look, here comes another one, and the next team isn't far behind!" Ojii called.
"Faster, faster…" Oshitari mumbled. The team in front was Kaidou and Atsushi, and Kirihara was already on his third lap, while Momo and Sengoku had just finished their first.
"Hurry it up!" Kaidou yelled as he threw the baton the remaining distance that was necessary and then Oshitari started swimming.
"Us too!" Saeki and Sakurai agreed as they threw the baton dramatically. But they threw it kind of short so Hiyoshi had to get off the starting block, pick up the baton and THEN dive in.
"Why are you stopping?" yelled Yana as Kirihara held onto the side of the pool to take a rest.
"I'm tired!" Kirihara yelled at him. "I used too much energy in the first four laps!"
"The others are going to catch up…" Taka observed as Momo turned to start his third, while Oshitari approached the wall to start his third as well.
"Come on, just one more lap!" Yana pleaded with Kirihara. "Don't you want to be the Dad?"
Kirihara took a deep breath and looked determined, and then took off swimming again. Yes. He DID wish to be the Dad.
"Where are the rest of the teams?" cried Bane, Tetsu and Aoi.
And exactly when they said that, Yuuta and Shinji came around the corner.
"YES!" Bane said enthusiastically as he took the baton from the clearly feuding pair and he was in the water.
"We COULD have done so much better if Shinji hadn't been being such a douche bag." Said Yuuta with a scowl.
"There you go again, it never ends…" Shinji collapsed on the ground, his posture suggesting he had just been beaten with a stick.
"Wow, he's acting more like a bitch than you two." Said Momo to Choutarou and Gakuto.
"How dare you!" they both said as they slapped him.
Momo sniffled a little bit.
"Hey, wait a second, why aren't you swimming?" Gakuto asked.
"I finished." Momo shrugged.
Gakuto looked at the baton in Momo's hand. "You're supposed to take that baton to the next person!" he yelled.
"To the bike path!" Ojii reminded him.
"OH NO!" Momo exclaimed as he ran off, following Sengoku who was lamely starting to run towards the bike path. Kirihara was also getting out of the pool, but at a much slower pace.
"Almost…done…" Oshitari gasped as he started the last lap.
Sengoku's speech probably inspired Hiyoshi or SOMETHING because he didn't even look tired as he jumped out of the pool and made his way towards the bike path.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Did he skip a lap or something?" Saeki wondered out loud, but Sakurai hit him over the head and told him to HUSH!
Oshitari was climbing out of the pool as Bane started his second lap.
Tetsu and Aoi were still waiting for their teams to arrive.
"Why didn't Tezuka just use the Tezuka Zone?" Aoi cried. "I'm under so much pressure! I NEED MORE ARRID!"
That's when they noticed another team was approaching. But, much to Aoi's dismay and Tetsu's glee, it was Inui and Renji.
"Hm…it seems as though that was not a shortcut." Said Renji to Inui. "We are further behind than we were before."
"My data was incorrect." Inui took out his book and erased something. "Correction: there is a zero percent chance that that route was a shortcut."
"You two can untie yourselves from each other now, you know." Said Kamio.
Renji and Inui both looked at Kamio, then at each other. Then they shrugged. They didn't mind.
"This is just a LITTLE too much pressure!" Aoi admitted as he pounded the ground dramatically as Bane got out of the pool to run towards the bike path.