"The object of this event is to bike to the very end of the path." Sakaki narrated. "And when you get there, you will meet up with the Pets and they will finish up the race from there."
"GOT IT!" said all the Brothers.
"And don't forget!" Sakaki went on.
"This has nothing to do with tennis." The others droned.
"Very good," said Sakaki, wiping a tear from his eye. "I'm so very proud of all of you…"
They were all wearing the correct protective gear suggested for biking, including helmets, knee pads, elbow pads and even those gloves that kids feel cool in when they cut the fingers off. And yes, they did feel cool. As well they should… they're nice and safe.
"There you are, Fuji." Said Marui as Fuji came strolling up. "We didn't think you'd make it back in time. Where did you even go?"
"Oh, nowhere in particular." Fuji replied as he reapplied his helmet.
"Seriously, now I'm SO curious." Said Marui.
"Well, if you must know…" Fuji said slowly. "I went to make sure Taka won his event."
"That's it?" Marui looked disappointed.
"What were you expecting?" Fuji asked.
"I don't know…" said Marui with a shrug. "Something…evil?"
"Oh." said Fuji. "Maybe next time, Marui. Maybe next time."
Marui looked scared.
Kabaji was just standing there like a moron magnet. But he looked silly because everyone had to pick their second hand bikes at the beginning and he had been slow at picking and he had ended up with the tiny one that was pink and had streamers.
Everyone took turns laughing at him because they knew he couldn't defend himself. But that fact alone made it even better.
"I hope I don't collapse while I'm riding…" Yukimura said weakly.
"It's all right, Yukimura, I'm here for you all the way." Said Sanada.
As it would happen, there was one two-person bike and Sanada made sure to grab it and put Yukimura on the back.
"I don't want to burden you…" Yukimura said.
"If you feel too weak, then I will do everything!" Sanada said.
"Oh Sanada, I burden you so much…" Yukimura said.
"Wait, how is that going to work?" Itsuki asked Sakaki. "When do they start? When Yukimura's teammate gets here or when Sanada's teammate gets here?"
"Hm…" said Sakaki. "BOTH of their teammates have to be here before they may start!"
"That could end up being detrimental to one of their teams." Akutsu said. "But that's good. More of a chance for ME to win."
He clenched his fist so tightly that his palm exploded with blood.
Jackal flinched at this gesture and decided to move his bike as far away from Akutsu as he could.
"It looks as though the first swimmer is here!" Sakaki said.
Everyone spun around to see who it would be. Out of ALL randomness, it was Hiyoshi!
"Go!" Hiyoshi said, giving the baton to Yukimura.
Yukimura only sat there.
"GO." Hiyoshi said in an elevated tone.
"We have to wait until Tetsu gets here." Sanada said. "We're riding this event together."
Hiyoshi raised a finger to argue a very good point, but then he realized it was useless, and he wasn't about to start saying that Yukimura was in good enough condition to be riding a bike for a set distance.
"Fine…whatever…" Hiyoshi walked off looking dejected.
"I'm burdening you so much, Sanada." Said Yukimura.
"Don't ever say that, Yukimura!" said Sanada. "This time around, it is I who is burdening you!"
Before anyone could tell them to stop being so annoying, Momo and Sengoku came whipping around the corner going at top speed as if they were the running event people.
"ME FIRST!" Momo yelled as he pushed Sengoku out of the way.
"NO ME!" Sengoku HOLL-ered as he grabbed Momo's arm and pulled him back.
Both of them tumbled to the ground before they reached the biking area, and Kirihara came dramatically leaping over both of them, literally from NOWHERE.
"I'm so proud." Said Fuji with a smile.
"Hurry, we can still win!" Kirihara said, desperately giving the baton to Fuji.
Fuji looked at Kirihara and then at the baton.
"Thank you." He said calmly as if he wasn't in a race and Kirihara wasn't SO exhausted that he was about to collapse. He then took the baton and slowly began mounting his bike.
By this time, Momo and Sengoku had sprinted up to Marui and Itsuki and passed off their batons. Marui and Itsuki disappeared down the path as Fuji kicked up his kickstand.
"I'll see you all at the finish line!" Fuji waved them all off, ringing his bell as he departed.
A cold shiver ran down everyone's spines.
"When is Oshitari going to get here?" Akutsu demanded as he grabbed Jackal's shirt collar and shook him violently.
"I don't know!" Jackal said, covering his face to protect himself.
"That's it, break it up you two!" said Sakaki came in between them. "I believe Oshitari is rounding the corner as we speak."
"No, I'm already standing here." Oshitari said, holding out the baton.
"YES." Said Akutsu as he grabbed the baton and mounted his bike, speeding off faster than the speed of light.
No sooner had he gotten out of eyesight of the starting line for the bikers, he noticed that there was a wreck on the ground that was composed of a familiar looking bike, and then he notice that Itsuki was underneath it with swirly eyes so you know he's hurt but not SERIOUSLY.
He dismissed it as Itsuki just being foolish and crashing his bike, and decided that he would never allow that to happen to HIM.
But that's when he happened to come by another bike wreck, and this time with Marui underneath it.
Now, Akutsu would have dismissed that as a foolish accident as well if not for the fact that he saw Fuji peddling seemingly innocently. And very slowly. As if he didn't have anywhere to be.
Akutsu's eyes narrowed as he came up closer to Fuji.
Just when he was about to pass him, Fuji suddenly swerved right in front of him, causing his bike to go out of control and almost crash. Thankfully, Akutsu caught himself and regained control.
"FUJI SHUUSUKE!" yelled Akutsu.
Fuji's head whipped around, and he was now officially in Scary Creepy Fuji mode. "So, I see you managed to dodge." He commented.
"I'll kill you for that!" Akutsu yelled.
"Is that so?" Fuji said.
Fuji continued peddling, and then he spotted a small yet sizeable rock that was on the ground. He went right over to it and hit the rock in such a wonderful and special and GENIUS way that it went careening up into the air and sailed back to Akutsu, hitting him in the middle of his forehead.
"AAAAAAHHHUUUURRGH!" Akutsu yelled as he put his hands on his head but of course that gesture caused him to lose control of the bike and crash it into a tree.
Fuji only continued to peddle as if none of that had even happened.
And it wasn't long before he was confronted again. This time, by Jackal.
"Nice day for a bike ride, isn't it?" Fuji said as Jackal passed him.
Jackal tried to avoid eye contact. "Uh…yeah!" said Jackal nervously. He had seen all the other bike wrecks as he got closer to Fuji and come to the same conclusion that Akutsu had.
He constantly looked back over his shoulder, but Fuji continued being totally content with remaining just a bit behind him.
The anticipation of Fuji's evil acts was totally stressing Jackal out.
And, as he turned his head to look at Fuji to make sure he wasn't doing anything evil, Fuji merely pointed forward.
Jackal turned around to discover that he was riding right off the edge of the path and into the woods. It also came with quite a large drop that was probably quite hazardous.
Fuji only smiledcheerfully as he rounded the corner that Jackal had failed at, and behind him a giant mushroom cloud formed.
"Only three more…" Fuji said to himself.
Running
"The only thing you guys have to do is run all the way back to the tennis courts where we will transport the rest of your teammates to see you cross the finish line!" said Banji. "And don't you DARE use this conditioning to make you better at tennis!"
"Don't worry, we won't!" chimed all the Pets.
"Oishi, it's been so long since you and I have been together!" said Eiji as the two of them stood REALLY close to each other. "I'm so glad we're both the Pet!"
"Hm…I'm not so sure, Eiji." Sighed Oishi. "Being the Pet in MY family is quite troublesome."
"What do you mean?" Eiji asked.
"Our family seems to have come at the general consensus that whoever is the Pet is officially… AN OUTSIDE PET!" Oishi answered.
"OH NO!" Eiji practically fainted.
"I did not get enough sleep…" complained Mizuki as he walked around like a zombie. "I'm too tired…"
"Why didn't you get enough sleep?" Ryoma asked.
"Because I stayed up all night because I was sure that Fuji was going to kill me." Mizuki answered.
"Ah, yes." Ryoma nodded, knowing exactly what Mizuki was going through.
"And then when I tried to sleep today, everyone made me get up put on this collar." Mizuki went on.
"I had the same experience, except I wasn't trying to sleep." Said Ryoma.
"I'm not tired at all!" said Jirou, already in the running ready position. "I'm ready to go! I'm ready to run! I could run a hundred miles, I'm so excited! I just hope my teammate gets here really soon!"
"That's funny, Jirou, usually you are the one who likes to sleep a lot." Atobe commented as he stood there looking as though no one could ever make him run anywhere. Anytime.
"You're just jealous." Said Jirou as if that made sense.
"I wonder if my team is doing all right…" Tachibana said, looking worried. "I noticed Tezuka was acting a little strange this morning and holding onto his shoulder… could it be…! No!"
"What?" asked Ryou because he was the only one who wasn't in a conversation already and that made him sad.
"I hate to think that Tezuka's recurring shoulder injury has once again come back to haunt him!" Tachibana said.
"Well, look at it this way." Said Ryou. "If your team loses, you'll at least have a better chance at winning the individual award and you'll get to reassign the families and make him the Pet."
"I think you're missing the point." Said Tachibana. "I'm worried about him because he'll be stressing an injury."
"Oh." said Ryou. "I thought you were upset because you could lose, and I was just pointing out that you would win the individual—"
"I know, I heard you." Said Tachibana. "I was there."
"Okay, okay," said Ryou. "You don't have to bite my head off."
"I didn't." said Tachibana. "I was explaining to you very calmly—"
"WHATEVER." Said Ryou as he walked away.
"Oh look, here comes Fuji!" said Mizuki.
"Eh…" said everyone else, looking less than thrilled.
Fuji came slowly biking up, still without a care in the world, and came to a stop in front of Mizuki.
"The baton!" Mizuki said, holding out his hand.
"The baton…" Fuji repeated, checking all his pockets. "Where did I put that thing…? I swear I had it somewhere…"
He patted down his pockets some more and then chuckled to himself.
"Oh yes!" he took the baton out of the basket in front of the bike and then handed it to Mizuki.
"Wow, Fuji, you were certainly going at a casual speed!" said Oishi. "Your team must have had a really big lead before you even started, huh?"
Fuji looked at Oishi and did not change expression: he just kept the same smile he always has. "Sure." He replied. "Of course."
"Scary…" Eiji said, clinging onto Oishi for protection.
Fuji set up the kickstand and let go of the bike.
"Well, our teams will catch up and we'll still win!" said Jirou confidently.
"It's still too early for you to win against me." Said Fuji as he struck a really sinister pose.
Meanwhile, Mizuki was jogging while also being half asleep. He had quite a distance to go until he got back to the tennis courts. But he had two motivations for getting there; the first one was to be closer to the courts so he could feel closer to tennis in general. The second was to put more distance between him and Fuji, which was VERY important.
So he decided to GO ALL OUT and sprint like there was no tomorrow. He had no idea who was behind him or far ahead he was. So he would just go as fast as he could until he arrived.
That's when he saw the tennis courts ahead of him.
"TENNIS!" Mizuki started running in slow motion. But not ACTUAL slow motion. He's just so tired that it pretty much looked like he was running in slow motion.
Then, as he literally was two feet away from the finish line, he collapsed.
"I…must…win…" Mizuki said as he dragged himself closer and closer and closer. The people from the swimming event and the three legged race event were all there cheering him on.
"COME ON MIZUKI!" cheered his team.
"FALL ASLEEP MIZUKI!" yelled all the other teams.
Mizuki stretched out his arm towards the finish line and finally looked like he was at his limit.
"HAH!" laughed the other teams.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" yelled Team One.
"Wait!" said Ryuuzaki as she went over to Mizuki and checked his hand. "It seems as though his longest finger is ever so slightly over the line!"
"What?" demanded Kaidou as he stomped over. "I demand a photo finish!"
"You don't need a photo finish." Said Ryuuzaki. "He hasn't moved."
"And besides, it's not like anyone else is coming." Choutarou observed.
Sure enough, Mizuki crossed the line EVER so slightly so Team One was officially declared the winners! HUZZAH!
Meanwhile, at the biking station, Aoi and Tetsu had finally eventually arrived and sent off the team of Yukimura and Sanada as well as Kabaji.
They peddled through the wreckage that is Fuji's work, and reported the damage to the runners when they reached that area. All of the runners and the bikers went to the finish line and told them the travesty that had occurred.
Everyone used teamwork to collect up all the bodies and give them the finest treatment available.
"How could this have happened?" wondered Banji as he looked upon Marui, Itsuki, Akutsu and Jackal, all of which were currently unconscious.
"How curious." Fuji agreed, trying to hold back his diabolical laughter. Luckily he succeeded.
"Well, I think it's pretty obvious that Team One wins!" said Ojii.
"Awwwwwwlll RIGHT!" cheered Team One, jumping up and punching the air.
"And after that, it doesn't really matter so we'll not even bother distinguishing that." Ojii finished.
"When you go back to your house, Team One, you will find your special prize." Said Sakaki. "And tomorrow morning, everyone will receive letter tomorrow morning telling you who the individual winner is!"
"HURRAY!" cheered everyone as they all went back to their houses. Yes. Just like that, they all went back to their houses.