SHATS vs Playing Doubles With Five People
"Who would have EVER thought that the final match would come down between THESE TWO TEAMS?" said Sakaki dramatically as he pointed at the two teams that were in the finals.
"SHATS!" said Ryuuzaki, pointing at the team that named themselves so very well. "Composed of Fuji and Taka from Seigaku, Mizuki and Yanagisawa from St. Rudolph and Kirihara from Rikkai Dai!"
"This team played against The Prince of Tennis and Friends in their first match, and it came down to an edge of your seat staring competition." Said Banji. "And in their second match, they played against Pillars, and that also came down to an edge of your seat arm wrestling competition! This team is clearly a fan of tiebreakers."
"CLEARLY." Said the whole team.
"And, of course, we have Playing Doubles With Five People!" said Ryuuzaki. "Composed of Momo and Eiji from Seigaku, Ootori and Gakuto from Hyoutei and Marui from Rikkai Dai!"
"THIS team initially played against ii Data in their first round!" said Banji. "They swept the competition in the first three matches, not even having to use their final player! Then, in their second match against The Rhythm, they clinched another win because the other team had to forfeit!"
"This is truly a clash between titans." Said Ojii. "And we can only hope it is as exciting of a match as all the previous ones have been."
"With a total of FOUR Seigaku players, two Hyoutei players, two St. Rudolph players and two Rikkai Dai players…" Ryuuzaki went on, and then trailed off. "One wonders… where is Fudomine and Rokkaku and Yamabuki?"
Ryuuzaki and Sakaki looked over at Banji and Ojii deviously.
"WELL." Said Ojii, crossing his arms. "Keep in mind that you both brought your ENTIRE teams, while we only brought PART of ours."
"Yeah." Said Banji. "You guys had a bigger chance."
"SURE SURE!" the other two chuckled.
"Well, I must say that all of you had amazing speeches and whatnot, but can we get to the tennis already?" Mizuki requested.
"HERE HERE!" cheered the rest of the eager tennis players.
"Oh very well!" said Ryuuzaki as she ran to the referee seat. "Let's get started right away with our doubles match! Ootori and Gakuto from Playing Doubles With Five People versus Taka and Fuji from SHATS!"
Silence blew over the court.
"Hyoutei versus Seigaku…" some whispered.
"Pressure!" said Gakuto to his teammates. "Those two usually play together and we don't!"
Gakuto looked up at Choutarou who appeared EVER so nervous.
"It's all right, though." Gakuto assured him.
"It's not that…" Choutarou admitted. "It's just… I'm worried about Shishido."
"You have to get your mind off of him for your match." Said Eiji. "I know you're upset that you didn't notice that he's been deathly ill this whole time you've been within a hundred feet of him, but we have to pull through and win this!"
"It's important that everybody knows that doubles is the best!" said Marui.
"Besides," said Momo. "I really want to see someone beat Fuji and Taka!"
"Neither of us have ever played against either of them before…" said Gakuto, looking worriedly at the opposing team. "I wonder if we'll do okay…"
Meanwhile, SHATS was having its own discussion.
"Guys, what do you think about this shirt?" Mizuki said. "Is it too much? Is the collar too much?"
"Yeah, probably just a little too much." Yana admitted.
"I don't know." Taka shrugged. "It looks fine to me."
"I think it's ugly." Kirihara said truthfully.
"No comment." Fuji said, pretending to be interested in his fingernails.
"HELLO?" yelled Ryuuzaki. "Could we get this started?"
"SORRY!" said all those who were playing doubles as they rushed to the court.
"Do you really think my shirt is ugly?" Mizuki said to Kirihara.
"Yes." Said Kirihara. "Yes I do."
"Playing Doubles With Five People to serve!" said Ryuuzaki.
"Here you go, Ootori." Said Gakuto, tossing Choutarou the ball, but Choutarou was OBVIOUSLY in a dream world or something because the ball hit him in the face, but at least it woke him up.
"Oh, sorry…" said Choutarou as he retrieved the ball. "I guess I'm just worried about Shishido…that's all…"
"You have to get your head in the game." Said Gakuto.
"I know…" said Choutarou. "I just…I'm worried about him… he was really sick… and I feel like I should be doing something to help instead of playing tennis…"
"There's nothing you can do right now!" said Gakuto. "So let's get through this match, all right?"
Choutarou nodded. "All right." He said, and then he proceeded to fail at serving.
"Double fault!" said Ryuuzaki. "15-0!"
"Come on, Ootori!" called Momo from the sidelines. "Don't worry about it!"
"Yeah!" said Marui. "Just concentrate!"
"…Right…" said Choutarou. "Everyone's depending on me to serve well so we can get an early lead. But then again, Shishido's depending on me too because he's very sick and I should be helping him and…"
"Double fault!" said Ryuuzaki. "30-0!"
Choutarou took a deep breath. "I have to calm down." He said.
Taka and Fuji just looked at each other and shrugged.
"Just try to get it over the net." Gakuto said, trying to sound supportive.
But Choutarou knew that if it was SHISHIDO, he would have sounded MUCH more supportive than that.
"Double fault!" said Ryuuzaki. "40-0!"
"This is bad." Said Eiji, covering his eyes.
Choutarou stood up straight and bounced the ball a few times. "I have to do this right!" he said. "I'll put my whole heart and soul into it, because that's what Shishido would have wanted!"
"That's the spirit!" said Gakuto.
Choutarou threw the ball up into the air and served it again, and it went over the net! Hurrah! But, somehow, Taka returned it quite easily with the TWO HANDED HADOUKYUU!
"BUUUURRRRNING!" he screamed.
The ball bounced right in the court and then out of bounds. Gakuto and Choutarou didn't even have a chance to react because they didn't expect anyone to return it, especially so EASILY!
"Game!" said Ryuuzaki. "Switch courts!"
"What was that all about?" Gakuto said as the two of them went to the bench. "How did Taka return that so easily?"
"Ootori, that serve was very disappointing." Said Sakaki, looking awfully disappointed. "Not to mention all of those faults you got beforehand."
"Aw…man…" said Choutarou sadly.
"You have to get your mind off Shishido's potentially fatal condition!" said Gakuto. "Look at me! I'M over it!"
"I know…" said Choutarou. "But I'm just so worried about him…"
Both teams went back to their sides.
"It looks like they're off their games today." Said Taka to Fuji.
Fuji shook his head. "I don't think so." He said. "It's only Ootori." He gave a sigh. "It's a shame, though. We were never challenged in any of our doubles matches. I was looking forward to having a good game against these two."
"So, do you want to serve now?" said Taka with a shrug.
"I suppose." Said Fuji, taking the ball.
Needless to say, Fuji dominated his service game UNLIKE Choutarou. When it came down to the final point, Gakuto jumped to receive the volley only to miss it. Choutarou was there to hit it back, however.
"I did it!" Choutarou exclaimed happily as he watched the ball sail over the net.
"It's still too early for you to defeat me." Said Fuji as he Tsubame Gaeshied the ball back to the other side.
"GAME SET AND MATCH!" said Ryuuzaki.
"Was that necessary?" said Mizuki as Fuji and Taka returned to the bench. "You two were clearly going to win."
"Of course it was necessary." Said Fuji, looking slightly cross, but quickly covering it up with happiness.
Choutarou and Gakuto were better received even though they had just lost.
"I'm sorry everyone." Said Choutarou, sitting down on the bench and burying his face in his hands. "I let you all down!"
"Don't worry!" said Eiji. "We still have three more matches to make it up in! We're gonna be fine!"
"Really!" said Marui.
"I'm just glad Shishido wasn't here to see what a horrible job I did!" Choutarou whined.
"Well, actually, if Shishido was here then I doubt you would have done a bad job since the reason you did a bad job was because you were worrying about Shishido's well being." Momo pointed out.
"I guess you're right…" Choutarou whimpered.
"Singles 3!" said Ryuuzaki. "Yana from SHATS and Eiji from Playing Doubles With Five People, please take the court!"
"Wish me luck everyone!" said Yana.
"Like you need it." Said Kirihara.
"Aww…!" said Yana, looking happy. "You really mean that?"
"Yeah, duh." Said Kirihara.
"What he means is that you don't need luck because you're obviously going to lose and it would be stupid to waste luck on you." Said Mizuki.
Yana deflated with unhappiness. "Oh." he frowned as he trudged to the court.
"So unfortunate." Fuji commented. "Yet…so true at the same time."
"Well, Fuji, not EVERYONE can be as good at tennis as you!" said Taka.
Fuji considered this. "You're right, Taka." Said Fuji. "As usual."
"SHATS to serve!" said Ryuuzaki.
"Okay…" said Eiji, mumbling to himself. "Oishi's not here to support me and watch me play but I have to be strong for the sake of my team. After all, I'm one of the older students and I have to be sure to set a good example. How can I tell Ootori to focus on the game and not his doubles player if I myself can't even do it?"
Yana served the ball, the Eiji made a dive for it with acrobatic tennis sending it back to the other side with brilliant expertise.
"15-0!" Ryuuzaki announced as the ball went right by Yana.
"Here we go again." Said the rest of the SHATS team as they watched in horror as Eiji used probably every one of his little tricks that he could think of against Yana, though it was hardly necessary. But he figured that since Taka and Fuji had used all THEIR tricks against his teammates when it wasn't necessary, it was only fair.
"Game set and match!" said Ryuuzaki. "Winner: Playing Doubles With Five People! Excellent job, Eiji!"
"Thanks, Coach!" said Eiji.
"Hey, you have to stay unbiased!" yelled Sakaki.
"Whatever!" said Ryuuzaki. "I am just SO distracted by the fact that Taka and Fuji, both of which are on Seigaku, won THEIR match and now Eiji, who is ALSO on Seigaku, has won his match as well!"
"Come off your high horse!" yelled the male coaches.
"I guess you guys were right." Said Yana to his team. "I DID lose."
"Obviously." Said Kirihara.
"It's all right, Yana." Said Taka supportively. "We still like you. As a friend."
"I should hope only as such." Fuji interjected.
Taka wanted to look at Fuji and say, "Fuji, please, you're creeping me out." But he decided against it at LITERALLY the last second.
"Let's continue right along!" said Ryuuzaki. "Singles 2! Mizuki from SHATS versus Marui from Playing Doubles With Five People!"