Team One
"The mail, the mail, the mail…" Kirihara awoke at the crack of dawn and ran out to the mailbox. He just KNEW he had won the individual challenge from yesterday's challenge simply because he had been SO determined and SO awesome and he tried as hard as he could…
He flung open the mailbox so intensely that the hinges came off and the door dropped to the ground.
But he didn't care. He reached in, grabbed the envelope and then read the name on the front.
"Fuji Shuusuke."
Kirihara dropped to his knees. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he yelled dramatically in a style reminiscent of Darth Vader.
This caused everyone else in the house to awaken as Kirihara trudged back inside.
"What is it?" Fuji asked as Kirihara handed him the letter and moped.
"As if you don't know!" said Kirihara.
"That's a good point." Fuji nodded as he opened the letter. "Oh look! Because of my outstanding performance in the challenge yesterday, I have the opportunity to switch around the family today."
"Do they know that you took out everyone in your event, or did they think you were just that good?" Mizuki questioned.
Fuji glared at him as Scary Creepy Fuji.
"I think you will remain the Pet, Mizuki." Fuji said, folding the letter up and putting it on the table.
"Well, I expected it." Said Mizuki.
"That's too bad, because the shock might have killed you." Said Fuji plainly. Then he looked at the remaining family members. "Well, Taka, you can remain the Dad since you seem to like it so much."
"Really?" said Taka. "Thanks!"
"Anything." Fuji said, and suddenly Taka didn't feel that happy anymore. "And… well, I want to try my hand at cooking so…and the Parents' bed was so much more comfortable…"
He removed the Brother hat he was wearing.
"I will be the Mom." He said.
"You know, I don't really mind all THAT much if you switch me, being the Dad isn't really that much fun…" Taka tried.
"Let's see…" Fuji held out his hand and accepted the Mom apron from Yana, and also took Kirihara's bow. Then he handed the bow to Yana. "There you go. You're the Sister now."
"Aw man." Said Yana sadly.
"So I guess I'm the Brother then?" Kirihara sighed as he held out his hand to take the hat from Fuji.
But Fuji didn't move. "Our family is going to have two Pets today." He said.
"WHAT?" yelled Kirihara irrationally. "You can't do that!"
"I can't?" said Fuji. "I just did."
Kirihara looked like he was going to explode with rage, but Taka came over to hold him back. "It's all right!" he said. "Just accept it! There's nothing we can do about it!"
"Yes there is!" said Kirihara. "I am SICK of bowing to his every whim! I am going to do something about it!"
Kirihara then grabbed a chair and hurled it at Fuji.
Fuji stood there for a second and then batted the chair away with the back of his hand as if it weighed nothing so it went careening towards Mizuki and knocked him over.
Kirihara's eyes were bloodshot and he was breathing deeply and scarily. Fuji was only standing there, his eyes still open and scaryyyyy.
"Yes." Said Fuji, offering him the Brother hat. "I can't help but respect that."
Kirihara tore the Brother hat away from Fuji and put it on as if nothing could thrill him more.
"WHAT?" said Mizuki, pushing aside the rubble of the chair. "All we have to do is throw a chair at him?"
"I wouldn't recommend it." Fuji smiled, going back into Pleasant Mode.
Team Two"So how did everyone sleep?" Momo said cheerfully as the four "human" members of the family sat around the kitchen table. Eiji was off frolicking and playing the Eskimo way. Or angsting. Either one.
Gakuto, Choutarou and Marui all looked depressed.
Momo hesitantly took another bite of his omelet du fromage.
"…What…?" he said. "Or…do I not want to know…?"
"I miss –insert name of doubles partner here--." Gakuto and Shishido and Marui all sighed.
"Hey!" said Momo. "Do you guys EVER think about ANYTHING else?"
"I think about the dolphins." Choutarou sniffed. "But nothing else."
"Nothing." Gakuto and Marui admitted.
Just then Eiji entered in a less enthusiastic manner than he had the previous morning with the mail. Only Momo looked as though he might break into the Mail Time song, but he wasn't going to do it ALONE. That would just be annoying.
"It's for you, Ootori." Said Eiji. Choutarou stood and Eiji sat down in his seat.
"Oh, I'm the individual winner again." Choutarou reported. "They say, 'for literally carrying your team forward—'"
"That was my idea!" complained Gakuto. "There was no other way to do it!"
"So now I guess I have to change the family." Choutarou said.
"I think maybe you should put yourself into a male role." Momo suggested. "Just because you're taking this Mom thing too seriously."
"You don't think I make a good Mom?" Choutarou said, his eyes welding with tears.
"No, no, no!" Momo said as he ran over and comforted Choutarou. "I never said that! It's just…you probably make TOO GOOD of a Mom."
"Besides, Ootori's the only one who can cook." Marui added.
"Good point." Said Momo. "You should stay the Mom, Ootori."
Choutarou wiped away his tears and nodded. Then he looked around the room. "Well, I don't want everything to stay the same…"
"You should make me the Dad!" said Momo. "Wasn't I a great Dad?"
"But you've already had a turn." Choutarou reminded him.
"So?" said Momo.
"I have an idea!" said Choutarou. "I'll make EIJI the Dad!"
"WHAT?" Eiji practically shrieked as he jumped to his feet. "Make ME the Dad? Why? I love being the Pet!"
"You might love being the Dad too!" said Choutarou.
"But I don't…I don't…I miss Oishi!" then Eiji threw his collar across the room, burst into tears and ran out.
"What about the rest of us?" Gakuto asked.
"Oh it doesn't really matter." Shrugged Choutarou. "The rest of you can stay what you are."
"But Eiji's what I am now." Gakuto pointed out.
"Then you be whatever Eiji was." Choutarou explained.
"The PET?" Gakuto gasped.
"Sure." Choutarou shrugged.
"Hey, Ootori, if you win again, can you make ME the Dad?" Marui asked.
"Of course!" said Choutarou. "You're the only one who hasn't gotten a turn."
"Hurray!" cheered Marui.
Momo sighed sadly. HE wanted to be the Dad. He also thought he had done pretty well in the challenge and almost felt like he should have won. He went over to the refrigerator and opened it up. "I'm hungry…" he said.
"You just ate an omelet." Gakuto said.
"We don't really have anything to eat." Momo said.
"Who's fault do you think that is?" Gakuto continued
"Maybe we have to go food shopping…" Choutarou concluded.
Team Three"I can't BELIEVE our coaches awarded Tezuka as the individual winner of yesterday's challenge!" griped Tachibana.
"I know!" said Aoi. "What is the deal with that? I mean, just because the race was pretty much over by the time I got my turn doesn't mean I didn't try my hardest and do really well! Have you ever heard of anyone who swam five laps of a full length pool in under thirty-five seconds?"
"And it is all Tezuka's fault that we lost." David said. "He injured his shoulder in the middle of the race."
Then David started chuckling.
Tachibana and Aoi stared at him and tried to figure out what the pun was.
"GET IT?" laughed David as he slapped his knee.
"…No…" Aoi and Tachibana raised their eyebrows.
"You had to be there, I guess." Said David but that just didn't make sense.
"And Tezuka's such a jerk too." Tachibana went on, deciding to ignore David all together. "I mean, the least he could have done was made YOU the Pet and made ME the Sister!"
"I think he likes you being the Pet." Said Aoi.
"Yeah but his plan is to keep the both of us as the Pet and the Sister so he could have switched us or something." Tachibana said.
"The only one here who should be offended is ME!" said David. "Tezuka chose… KABAJI… over ME!"
David buried his face in his hands and started to cry.
"There, there, David." Said Aoi. "I know you loved wearing the apron, but you'll get used to the Brother hat."
"But I bet Kabaji has fleas or something!" David whined, scratching his head.
"Speaking of Kabaji, where is he?" Tachibana said.
The three looked at each other.
"The doghouse." They all said together.
"All right, look." Said Aoi, slamming his fist down on the table. "We all have to band together and whatever the next challenge is, we must sabotage Tezuka and make sure he does NOT win the individual challenge."
"That's a good idea…" said Tachibana. "Why didn't we think of it before?"
"Guys, think about it." Said David. "Tezuka is the reason we lost the challenge yesterday yet he still won the individual part of it. What could we possibly do to make him look worse than he did yesterday?"
"I think they just gave him the win because he tried so hard or whatever." Said Tachibana, rolling his eyes.
"We have to make sure he doesn't work well with us and messes up when it's REALLY important!" said Aoi.
"Even if it means losing the challenge!" agreed Tachibana as he put his hand out. "Are we going to make this our personal mission?"
"YES!" cheered David and Aoi as they put their hands in the center as well and they all jumped up into the air.
Then they stood there silently.
"Do you guys feel randomly compelled to go into the Parents room?" Aoi said to the others.
"Damn Tezuka and his stupid Zone…" Tachibana said as they all went into the Parents room where Tezuka was glowing (cause he was in his Zone in case you didn't get that from Tachibana before) snuggled up under the covers.
"What do you want?" said Aoi.
"Could you shut the door?" he asked. "You're all being too loud and I want to take a nap."
The three looked at each other and slowly shut the door.
"Do you think he heard what our devious plan was?" David said nervously.
"Does it matter?" said Tachibana. "There's nothing he can do to stop us as long as we come up with a strategy!"
"Let's go out on the back porch this time, though." Aoi suggested.
"YEY!" they all cheered, doing their little jump again.
Team Four"Did you expect anyone else to win?" Hiyoshi said as he adjusted his brand new tool belt around his waist. "After all, the rest of you guys did nothing or were totally average."
The rest of the family watched him enviously. THEY wanted that tool belt. But especially Ryoma.
"Didn't you skip one of your laps?" said Saeki as he applied his new bow.
"No." Hiyoshi snapped. Other than the simple switch, no one else changed.
"Wow, this is like a DIVORCE!" said Sakurai to Saeki. "It's the first time we haven't been the Mom and Dad."
"Part of me feels sad." Said Saeki. "But not REALLY…"
"Yeah…not really." Sakurai agreed.
Then everyone folded his hands and stared at each other.
"Guys," said Ryoma. "About what Hiyoshi just said. About our team doing nothing or being average. I think we have to change that."
"I just don't feel motivated to do anything." Said Sakurai. "I… well, it's embarrassing… but I miss Tachibana."
"Tachibana?" Yukimura inquired.
"My coach, of course!" said Sakurai. "But he's so much more than a coach. He's like a best friend and a brother and an inspiration to everyone around him!"
"Sounds like you have a crush on him." Said Hiyoshi.
"No!" said Sakurai. "I just idolize him. Don't any of you miss your captains?"
"Miss our captains…?" the others repeated.
"Yeah." Said Sakurai. "Miss training with them all the time… hearing their words of wisdom… facing each new day and new challenge head on with their guidance and support…? You know, that kind of stuff."
"Ahhh…" said Hiyoshi with a nod. "No."
"Eh." Said Ryoma with a shrug.
"Not really for me." Said Saeki. "I always kind of resented the fact that Aoi was our captain because he's a first year."
"I AM the captain." Said Yukimura with horseshoe eyes. "And I don't think my team misses me because I'm gone all the time anyway."
"Wow…" said Sakurai, looking shocked that they would have that kind of reaction. "I can't imagine a world in which I had a captain that WASN'T Tachibana. What do you have against your captains that makes you not miss them to the extent in which I miss Tachibana?"
"Well…have you met Atobe?" Hiyoshi leaned in.
"No, not really…" Sakurai answered.
"Then of course you couldn't understand." Hiyoshi said, looking out the window wistfully. Then he opened the window so the wind could blow his hair wistfully as well.
"And I don't really have anything against my captain." Ryoma said. "It's just I'm not in love with him like you're in love with Tachibana."
"I'm not in love with him!" whined Sakurai.
"Yes you are." Said Saeki.
"What the hell?" said Sakurai. "That is the LAST time I'm going to go out on a limb and share my feelings with you guys!"
"Don't feel that way." Said Yukimura as he put his arm around Sakurai. "You should be able to share everything with us. After all, we're your fake family. And if you can't share your feelings with your fake family, then who can you share your feelings with?"
The wistful wind from Hiyoshi's wistful window blew on Yukimura and made him look wistful as well. And there were sparkles.
But then Sakurai politely drew away.
"You're not contagious or anything, are you?" he said nervously.