Disclaimer: I do not own PoT. Period. :)
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Chapter 6
"Dull Knives"
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"BASTARD!!!!"
Seigaku stared, surprised at the sight that had befallen on them. A drunken man, in his fifties, had been kicked out of a small restaurant by a familiar pigtailed girl, who was followed a by a meek girl, who wore an apron over her clothes. It seemed like the apron-wearing girl was trying to keep the pigtailed girl from kicking the heck out of the man.
But failed miserably at it.
"BASTARD! How dare you criticize Tsucchi's cooking and not paying for your meal!" the pigtailed girl shouted, making the Seigaku stop from walking, not wanting to get into trouble of course.
"Tsucchi?" Kikumaru murmured, "Could it be…"
"There's a 67 chance that she would be one of the girls we've met last week." Said Inui, looking over his green notebook.
The girl in apron walked up to the pigtailed girl, "Mai-chan… you don't have to do that, you know…"
"NO! This man… this perverted, debt-loving man… Harassing your costumers like that! UNACCEPTABLE!" she shouted, punching the scared man squarely on the left eye.
"So it is them after all." Said Kawamura.
"Please stop, Mai-chan… he's still a costumer." Said Atsuyo, her hands inside the apron.
Mai looked back to her friend, "Kya, Tsucchi, we still have to take his payment for the meal!"
"He's getting away." Pointed Fuji, who seemed to enjoy whatever was happening at that moment. Tezuka remained silent.
"WHAT?!" Mai whirled back to where she was looking, and found that the man had already started running. She removed her heeled Mary Jane and flung it into the air, sending it like a boomerang. Unfortunately, it didn't hit the man on the head, and instead, just scratched a bit on the lower part of his pelvic bone. The man laughed hysterically afterwards.
Kikumaru looked surprised as he watched Mai walk towards where her shoes landed, Ryoma tugged his cap down. Atsuyo looked a little worried as Mai picked up her shoes and wore it.
"Oi, that's too bad, you didn't hit the guy." Momoshiro said, when Mai returned.
A wicked smile curled on Mai's lips as she took out something from her pocket. Atsuyo gasped.
"She wasn't aiming for the man." Kikumaru said, "You were aiming for the wallet, weren't you, nya?"
The rest of the Seigaku looked surprised, while Mai threw the wallet in the air.
Atsuyo frowned at her friend, "Mai-chan! You d-didn't have to do that!"
"It's OK! We're just going to take his payment for the meal that he bought, nothing more, and nothing less." She handed the wallet to the stuttering girl, and then turned to Seigaku, "We're having a buy one, take one today, would you like to eat?"
"Fsshhhh…" hissed Kaidoh, making Mai back down, shivering.
Atsuyo bowed, "I insist. Please."
Mai looked mildly surprised, but then followed the other girl's actions, "Please."
Momoshiro's stomach grumbled, so did Fuji and Oishi's.
"I guess it wouldn't be bad, right, Tezuka?" said Oishi, glancing at Tezuka, whose face still bore the seriousness that the kendo club's captain didn't like.
"Fine then."
The two girls cheered.
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"Here you go!" said Mai, bringing the last of the food trays to be served for Seigaku, "Please enjoy your meal!"
The food looked delicious, smelled delicious and add the fact that they were hungry, Seigaku had begun to wolf down the food. (Although, it wasn't sure whether Tezuka was kidding or not, but before they ate he said that they shouldn't get careless)
It was until Kawamura noticed something different with the way the food was made.
"I mean, the sides of each naruto (a topping for ramen) they look sort of ragged, don't they?" said Kawamura, looking at the white topping.
Momoshiro then took out a carrot from his plate and asked Mai, "Hey, Sachimi-san, why's this ragged?"
"Huh?" Mai looked back; she was talking to another costumer who was paying for the food at that time.
"Eh… sorry."
It was then that Seigaku had noticed that it was a recurring similarity of the ragged sides of the food that was served. Oishi, though, told them to just eat the food, before they go cold. It was odd though, that even though the food seemed to be rough on the sides, it was really, really good. Ryoma noted mentally of how Atsuyo seemed to stare at them from the counter, and then entered the kitchen when she saw him staring at her.
Mai then went to the table, "Ano, Momoshiro-san…"
"I told you, Momo-chan is OK!"
"Well, okay, whatever… Momo-chan, you called earlier?" she asked, "Anything I can do?"
Momoshiro picked a piece of carrot, "We were wondering why these have rough sides."
The friendly question, though, seemed to be a little offending to Mai, for when she answered, her tone hinted of coldness.
"It's because the knives are dull."
"Dull?" Fuji whispered.
"Yes, dull. So what if the sides are rough-"
The door opened, a young man in his late teens, and probably even going twenty entered the restaurant. He wore a blue turtleneck sweater, black slacks and a black sling bag dangled from his shoulder. He had a messy light brown hair that stuck up on the back.
"Oi, brat, you're scaring the costumers away!" he said, in a rather cocky voice.
Mai looked up and showed displeasure at the man, "Eh? You're here, Higashi-kun?"
Higashi walked to the counter, "Oi, this is my house too, brat. And you're supposed to say, "Welcome", not glower like that. Where's Tsucchi?"
Mai looked back at Seigaku, bowed, and then left to the counter, scowling.
"Oh, Higashi-nii!" exclaimed the girl who had just come out from the kitchen, "You really came!"
"Eh? Why not?" he said, "I'd like to order the usual. Don't worry, I'll pay for that."
"Wow, that's news." Mai stuck out her tongue.
Higashi then sat on the table next to Seigaku, he noticed their uniforms.
"Seigaku? You must be tennis players, then." He said, starting a conversation, "I'm Nozomi Higashi, Tsucchi… I mean, Atsuyo's brother. I used to play tennis too when I was still in Hyoutei."
"Hyoutei?!" Seigaku looked surprised.
"Were you a regular player?" asked Inui, taking a pen.
Mai answered it for Higashi, "He was their captain during his time, unfortunately he got injured and had to stop playing tennis."
"Permanently." Added Higashi, but changed the topic, "How do you find my sister's cooking? Was it weird?"
"O-Onii-chan!" stuttered Atsuyo from the counter. Mai whisked back to Higashi.
Reluctantly, Kawamura started to say all of the things he thought were weird with Atsuyo's cooking, from the way the sides were ragged, how the noodles were cut, how the vegetables were cut.
It was then that they remembered what Mai said.
"It's because the knives are dull."
Fuji watched Higashi, looking for reactions, and said, "The knives are dull."
Higashi smirked, "BINGO!"
"Higashi-kun, you…!" Mai was finally ticked off.
Higashi shrugged, "If I am not mistaken, these people hasn't been here before." He coolly leaned on the chair, "That means that they just happened to enter this restaurant, or they were invited to go here."
Fuji watched Higashi like a hawk, there was a reason why he was Hyoutei's former captain. Even Tezuka was eyeing him closely.
"The possibility of such players coming here by coincidence, it would be roughly… twenty percent. The fact that Seigaku is a little close here would be the main reason why. But since there are a lot of fast food chains, burger stations, and not to mention, residential houses nearby, decreases the possibility of an encounter."
Inui noted that Higashi wasn't using data on that, he was merely calculating the possibilities using obvious facts.
"The fact that they came here as a team would mean that it was either they had planned, a coincidence or someone invited them to come here. For that to be planned is stupid, unless they plan to have a sleepover at a member's house, but that too is highly unlikely. A coincidence and having someone invite them to be here are the only choices left."
Kikumaru noticed that Higashi seemed to say those things indifferently, meaning it could be because he was used in that kind of reasoning.
"But the fact that you've invited your kendo club once to eat here increases the chance that you know these people. It doesn't matter if it's in the public sphere, intimate sphere or personal sphere." Said Higashi, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hand, "You knew my sister and this brat from before, am I right?"
"Your point?" asked Inui, in a rather serious tone.
"My sister is aichmophobic." Higashi smiled relieving the tense atmosphere and reverted it back to normal, "That's why there are rough sides. But they taste good, don't they?"
Seigaku nodded. They found it odd though, that he answered them after saying those weird things. Fuji thought that he thought he knew why.
Mai shook her head and went inside the counter, and proceeded to the kitchen. She was then followed by Atsuyo afterwards.
Higashi stretched a bit, "My sister's been cooking since she was seven, and highly skilled at the age of ten. She could even make that stuff; you know, that variety of seemingly hard food to cook, shown on TV. But she couldn't make proper-looking food because she's aichmophobic."
"I see…" mumbled Kawamura.
"Nya, Higashi-san, what's Sachimi-chan doing here?" asked Kikumaru.
"Oh? You mean that brat?"
A plastic plate was sent flying from the kitchen, hitting Higashi at the back.
"OI! Brat! Watch where you're throwing at!" Higashi scratched his head, "Eh, sorry about that. Ayashi's really rubbing off on those kids… where was I? Oh yeah. The brat."
SWEATDROP.
"Well, she's been friends with my sister ever since elementary, how they met, I have no idea, and how they got along, I don't know, and I have no intention of knowing."
"This is odd, because from what I've heard earlier," Fuji thought, "He can calculate things even from very small pieces of facts…"
"All I know is that she's been helping my sister ever since elementary, and that's enough for everyone in our home to welcome her in the family." Shrugged Higashi.
Ryoma tugged his cap down; he didn't know what they would benefit from knowing such things.
Momoshiro piped out, "Don't her parents worry about her? I mean, correct me if I am wrong, but she stays here with you during weekdays because of their classes."
"Yeah, she does." Higashi answered, "Her parents know about this, so we don't have to think too much about it. Besides, even if she's a brat, she still helps here. Oh, it's getting late; don't you have to go home?"
Oishi looked at his watched. It really was that late.
"Should we go?" he asked Tezuka, who nodded in response. They gave the payment to Higashi, who stood and walked up to the counter and placed the money in the cash register.
When they were about to leave, Mai's head popped from the kitchen and shouted, "Oi! Wait!"
"Eh?"
They heard muffled voices from behind the counters, and saw Mai dragging the timid Atsuyo, who was holding a small plastic bag.
"C'mon! They might go!" they heard Mai say.
Higashi watched gleefully as the two girls walked up to the tennis players, "Aren't you going to say something?"
"Ano, y-yes…" muttered Atsuyo, then with shaking hands offered the Seigaku regulars with 9 small muffins shaped like a tennis ball, "I know we were asking too much of you last time…"
"And these won't be enough to pay you back for trying to help us." Continued Mai.
And in unison, they bowed, "Please accept these as our personal thanks."
Tezuka gave a whoosh of air, and took a piece. Oishi smiled at the captain and took one. After each regular took one, Atsuyo and Mai beamed when they saw that they really accepted the muffins.
And for the first time, without blushing, Atsuyo smiled and said, "Thank you, Seigaku."
Mai looked at her friend and smiled, "We'll be watching your matches from now on, so don't lose, OK?"
Kikumaru replied, "Of course we won't. We're going to the Nationals and win the championship, right?"
"Yeah." Everyone said.
Fuji handed a racket to Kawamura, "YEAH!!! BUUURNNIIIINGGG!!"
"Eh?!" the two girls sweatdropped.
When they left, Higashi went to his sister and Mai.
"They're going to be Seigaku's best team for years." He said, smiling.
Atsuyo replied, "They will be. Their styles have not been perfected yet, but, I think… they will definitely win the championship."
"You're from Hyoutei, and yet, you're cheering for Seigaku, isn't that fraternizing with the enemy, Higashi-kun?" Mai asked playfully.
"Does it matter? Even my perfectionist little sister says that they will be champion," he glanced at his timid little sister, "There's no reason I can doubt that."
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A/N: WHOA, just, WHOA… I'm in the sixth chapter already! WHOOHOO!!!