Sengoku, Oishi, Itsuki and Kamio were all sitting at the kitchen table minding their own business when suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Don't get it." Said Sengoku. "It's probably Shishido."
"Yeah, he probably just wants us to let him in." Kamio agreed.
"What if it's NOT Shishido?" Oishi said as he stood up and went to the front door.
"If it's Shishido, don't let him in!" Sengoku called.
Oishi opened the door a tiny bit and looked around. He didn't see anyone right away, but when he looked down, he saw a strange sight.
"Um…" Oishi said slowly. "Guys?"
"What?" they all yelled irritably from the other room.
"It's Shishido." Oishi answered.
"Don't let him in!" Sengoku said, getting up and coming over to the door.
"But…" Oishi opened the door and pointed.
Sure enough, it WAS Shishido. Except he was all tied up with duct tape and he appeared unconscious.
"Dear god, what happened!" said Itsuki. "We have to get him inside!"
"WAIT." Said Sengoku, leaping in front of then and spreading his arms out to take up more space. "It's all a ploy! He's just TRICKING us into letting him in!"
"He could be hurt." Oishi said, pushing Sengoku out of the way and bending down over Shishido. "Well, he smells like chloroform."
"It's all a trick!" said Sengoku.
"Oh really?" said Kamio.
"Yes!" said Sengoku. "First he tied himself up and then he chloroformed himself so that we'd bring him inside!"
Everyone stared at him.
"If he tied himself up, which I don't know HOW he could, then how would he chloroform himself afterwards?" Itsuki questioned.
"Fine, then he chloroformed himself first." Sengoku tried.
"Shut up, Sengoku." Said Oishi. "Let's get him inside and untie him."
They all worked together AS A FAMILY to lift Shishido up and take him into the bathroom. They dumped him in the bathtub, untied him and then waited for a few seconds.
"Now what?" Kamio asked.
"Let's turn on the shower." Said Oishi as he reached for the knob.
"Can't we just leave him like this?" whined Sengoku.
"We have to find out what happened." Oishi said as he turned the shower on the coldest setting.
And then the whole family dove out of the room as Shishido awoke, thrashed about and yelled about how he hated everything in the world. Being ever so disoriented, it took him a while to figure out where he was and how to stop the cold water from offending him.
Meanwhile, the rest of the family just stood outside the door chuckling.
"WHAT THE HELL?" he yelled, standing up, getting out of the bathtub and then slipping, falling on his face. "TODAY IS NOT MY DAY!"
"Shishido, are you all right?" said Oishi as everyone came in.
"How did I get here?" Shishido said, looking up at his saviors.
"What happened to you?" asked Itsuki.
Shishido sat up and scratched his head. "Last thing I remember…" he said slowly as he pieced everything back together in his head. "I was at Team Two's house and Momo had everyone tied to chairs and was trying to hypnotize them into believing that doubles wasn't all that great!"
"Please excuse us one second." Said Sengoku as he pushed everyone else out of the bathroom and shut the door. "He's gone totally nuts! He never did that! He's having a mental breakdown!"
"That's true…" said Oishi as he went into the kitchen and got a chair. "We should keep an eye on him until we can contact some professional help!"
Oishi wedged the chair under the doorknob.
Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, Shishido sat up when he heard that noise and knew right away what it was. "HEY!" Shishido ran to the door and started pounding on it. "Let me out of here! I promised I'd save Choutarou!"
"He's hallucinating!" said Kamio to the others.
Team Six
"So you
guys refused to move the furniture back outside and Akutsu started
throwing the furniture at you instead?" Kaidou said, staring at
everyone in disbelief.
They all nodded and sniffled. They were covered in bruises and cuts and other terrible injuries. But nothing SERIOUS.
"Can't you guys stand up for yourselves?" Kaidou said.
"We TRIED to do that, but he just starts throwing stuff at us." Said Oshitari.
Kaidou stared at him and then grabbed his helmet. "Stop wearing these!" he yelled as he ripped it off his head and threw it across the room. "You're just giving him power!"
Atsushi and Ryou continued to sniffle as they removed their helmets as well while Kaidou paced back and forth.
"What should we do?" said Ryou desperately.
"Yeah, what should we do?" said Atsushi eagerly.
"The only thing we CAN do!" Kaidou said, standing firmly. "We have to…" he turned around and looked at the twins and Oshitari. "…KILL Akutsu!"
The other three blinked.
"Uh…" they said.
"What?" said Kaidou.
"I bet there's another way to do it." Oshitari said.
"I don't hear you making suggestions." Kaidou pointed out.
"I'm just SAYING…" Oshitari began, but then he stopped when he heard footsteps approaching.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Ryou and Atsushi as they quickly put their helmets back on and winced.
"He's got you all living in fear, so we have to kill him!" Kaidou said as if there was no other possible way to solving the problem.
Akutsu rounded the corner, and Oshitari cleverly sidestepped so he was standing behind Kaidou. Kaidou looked briefly at Oshitari and shook his head with disappointment, then he looked back at Akutsu.
"Well, well!" said Akutsu. "It's about time you got back!"
"Yeah." Said Kaidou. "And it's about time you—uh…yeah! You better believe I'm back!"
"So what?" said Akutsu. "You wanna fight?"
Kaidou looked at Atsushi, Ryou and Oshitari who were both frantically shaking their heads.
Then Kaidou looked back at Akutsu.
"Yeah." Said Kaidou. "Maybe I do."
"Kaidou, don't." said Oshitari. "Look at him. He probably weighs thirty pounds more than you, not to mention the fact that he used to take karate and tends to be very violent and short tempered…"
"Oshitari, be quiet." Kaidou ordered. "He made me the Pet. And I just can't forgive that."
"Let's rumble tonight then." Said Akutsu. "At midnight. In the backyard."
"Why not now?" Kaidou demanded.
"Because." Said Akutsu. "It'll be more intense that way, and we'll be waiting for it all day."
"It's a trick!" exclaimed Ryou.
"Fine." Kaidou agreed.
"Fine." Said Akutsu.
Even though their fight wasn't for a while, that didn't mean they couldn't have a glaring contest until it took place.
And that's exactly…what… they did.
Team Seven
Jirou was
sleeping on the couch like he always was, when Inui walked into the
living room. He gazed out the window.
"Hm…" he said as he looked up at the clouds and then closed the window. "There is an eighty-seven percent chance of rain tomorrow."
He went over to the television and turned it on. He went to the couch while recording data in his book and booted Jirou off of it, then he sat down. He picked up the remote and changed it to the weather channel and waited patiently.
"There is an eighty-six percent chance of rain tomorrow—" the weather man said.
Inui sat there in silence. "Eighty-seven." He repeated.
"—so you should probably wear a raincoat and bring your umbrella." The weather man went on, when suddenly he touched the plug on his hear. "Oh, excuse me. This just in. There is actually an eighty-SEVEN percent chance of rain."
"Yes." Said Inui as he wrote more in his data book just as Renji entered.
"Inui, I've been pondering something ever since witnessing Jirou's performance in the challenge yesterday." Renji said as Inui turned the television off and gave Renji his undivided attention.
"As have I." Inui agreed. "Surely you came to the same conclusion I did."
"I believe I have." Renji replied as he looked at Jirou and sat in the comfy chair. "Jirou's sleep cycle is irregular, that much is clear. But I do believe that he somehow absorbs all the information he hears throughout the day with some sort of osmosis."
"I agree." Inui said. "It is as if he is some sort of osmosis absorbing…"
Inui paused and looked at Jirou.
"THING." He said finally.
Renji nodded as Sanada walked in.
"I almost wish another challenge would start, I am SO bored." Sanada said as he sat next to Inui on the couch.
"Tomorrow there is an eighty-seven percent chance of rain." Inui reported.
"Oh." said Sanada. "Good to know. You would make an excellent weatherman."
Inui raised one eyebrow and didn't know if that was a compliment or a personal jab, so he chose to ignore it.
Then Tetsu came in.
Everyone stared at him as he stood there looking awkward.
"Hey guys." Said Tetsu, waving foolishly.
They all silently waved back at him.
"Do you want something?" Inui questioned.
"Oh…" Tetsu lowered his head. "I just want to be involved in the conversation, that's all. I'll sit on the floor if there's no other places to sit…"
"We're not really talking about anything interesting." Renji confessed. "Just the weather tomorrow."
"Oh." said Tetsu. "Well, it beats sitting by myself in the other room."
"Do you not like sitting by yourself?" Inui asked, raising his data book.
"Do tell." Said Renji, raising his data book as well.
"I don't have a data book." Said Sanada as if Tetsu had asked him.
"Um…I don't really care…" said Tetsu as he came over and sat on the floor. "Hey! I've got it! Let's watch a movie!"
"I'm going to check the mail." Said Inui, standing up.
"I'll come with you." Renji joined him.
Tetsu looked sad.
"I'll watch a movie." Sanada shrugged.
Now Tetsu was happy as he jumped onto the comfy chair and turned on the television with the remote. They started looking for a good movie but they eventually had to leave the room because Jirou was snoring so loudly and they simply couldn't stand it anymore.
When they left, Jirou opened one eye and looked around.
He realized everyone was gone, and he instantly became as happy as a clam. He jumped up and ran over to the light switch and turned it off.
"DISCO BALL!" he screamed as the disco ball illuminated the room.
Then he realized a second later that screaming that would of course bring attention to him so he turned it off, ran back over to where he had been before and pretended to be sleeping.
Everyone else poked their heads in just as Jirou took his position.
They looked at him suspiciously, and then left.
Jirou WOULD have gotten up and turned the disco ball back on, but he accidentally fell asleep. OH JIROU!
Team Eight
"I despise
not having a television." Jackal said as he turned the lawnmower
off and leaned on it.
"I know." Said Bane. "It's forcing us to be outside, get exercise and be active."
They all stood there for a second.
"We miss tennis." They all said at the same time.
Just then, Atobe appeared at the back door. "Good news," he called to them. "We have mail. And lots of it."
Everyone crowded around him and came inside to see what the mail was.
"We each got a package." Atobe said, gesturing to the kitchen table where there were five small, unopened packages.
"Wow, I'm surprised you didn't open them already." Yuuta said.
"I do what I can." Said Atobe. "But I did open the letter than came with it."
Yuuta took it away from him. "Greetings Team Eight," he read. "There is another challenge coming up very soon. Each of you has received a package that contains a pair of shoes that we request you bring with you to the challenge or else you won't be able to participate. Thank you and have a nice day."
The team slowly looked at the packages.
"Suddenly, I don't want to open them." Shinji said.
"Well, mine was empty whence I opened it." Atobe said, showing off his empty box.
"We can only be so lucky." Said Yuuta as he picked up the one marked 'D' and shook it. Unfortunately, it made a sound.
"I suppose this means I am permitted to wear whatever footwear I desire." Atobe decided as he strutted around like a tool. Cause he is one.
"Let's just do it." Said Jackal as he opened up the B box and moved the tissue paper aside. He pulled out a pair of sneakers. "Hey! Score! I got some sneakers!"
They all watched as he put the sneakers on and then jumped up and down a few times.
"All right!" he cheered. "Just my size! These feel great!"
Everyone stared at him and then opened their appointed boxes as well.
"What is this?" said Shinji, holding up a pair of high-heeled shoes. "WHAT IS THIS. What is this?"
He looked at Yuuta.
"What is this?" he repeated.
"High-heeled shoes." Said Yuuta. "The kind women wear." He pulled out a pair of dressy shiny black men's shoes. "Well, I guess this isn't that bad."
"LOOK AT THIS." Said Shinji, practically shoving the high-heeled shoes in his face. "I am not wearing these AND an apron. I could live with the apron. But I refuse to wear these."
"You have to or you'll be kicked off your tennis team." Said Yuuta.
Shinji gave a heavy sigh, and thought of Tachibana. He didn't want to disappoint Tachibana.
While everyone was distracted with Shinji's controversial angst as he fought internally about wearing the shoes, Bane reached into his box and then pulled out a pair of ballet slippers.
The tumbleweed from Team One decided to visit Team Eight, and subsequently it blew by at this time.
"Always have to top me, don't you?" said Shinji, putting his hands on his hips. "I got the apron, you got the bow. Now I have the high-heeled shoes and you have the ballet slippers."
"I don't want to be the sister anymore…" Bane whined.