Disclaimer: Eh… You know the drill…

Two months without posting an update might have taken away any edge I might have ever gained in terms of fanfiction writing.

I can focus on writing for a while since I have no other responsibilities for the upcoming summer. I'll make up for lost time by uploading a few more updates, and maybe two or three new series…

Chapter 5: YOU GOT GAME? Donna SPEED no naka mo… (You got game? In any speed…)

"That's weird…" Taka said. "What are they saying?"

"It's not Japanese…" Fuji remarked, his eyes, surprisingly, open, revealing his blue irises.

"It's German, I think" Echizen remarked suddenly.

Everyone looked at the freshman with surprise.

"Not quite…" Tezuka told him, garnering a greater surprised look from everyone, including Echizen. "It's actually a mix between German and Gallic. It's old European"

"What are they saying, Tezuka-kun?" Kippei asked him, and everyone listened intently as the golden-haired captain of Seigaku cleared his throat to speak.

"To our great creator, Burihelum, and the Queen, her highness, I am grateful for this modest feast" he translated for them.

"Saa, sounds like a prayer…" Fuji remarked.

"They're praying?! Like to Buddha?!" Momoshiro asked, surprised.

"No" Kamio replied, sounding very much like Kaidoh.

"It's Itadakimasu in Japanese" Echizen corrected his senpai. "Or rather, that's what it means, anyway…"

"They're eating a feast? Oishi-kun!" Eiji, with a huge grin on his face, grabbed Oishi by the arm and started to drag him towards the ornate, double wooden doors. "Let's join them! Nya!"

The two of them went down the spiral staircase that Kaidoh had run through last night. They went out of the tower and started crossing the fresh, green grass of the lawn just outside of it. Kaidoh was following Louise closely to the place she mentioned that they were going to have breakfast in.

As they did so, for one brief moment, an unpleasant wave of nausea had surged through Kaidoh, and he had almost fallen face first into the grass, with only his quick reflexes saving him from the fall. He had remembered the feeling of being levitated and tossed from side to side. He hated the unnatural feel of that action and at that point, he swore to himself that he would repay the person who levitated him with a whack on the head.

Louise looked back at her familiar when she noticed that he had stopped walking. Kaidoh, with one knee on the grass, was glaring off into space, his snake-like eyes seemingly giving a blank look.

At first, curiosity and concern danced on her face, but those emotions were quickly replaced with annoyance. She slowly walked towards her familiar and ordered him loudly.

"Oi! Hurry up!" she commanded, unhesitant, which jostled Kaidoh from the unpleasant interruption.

He stood up, and they continued walking to their destination, a building with ornate, double wooden doors, which was just across the lawn.

Inside the building was a grand dining hall, with four grand dining tables across it. Along the length of the tables, students were seated in a relatively orderly manner. They were in line, but they were chatting happily with the persons beside them. Some were laughing boisterously, and others were doing so quietly. There was a general air of laughter and glee among the students as they gathered for the beginning of breakfast.

When Louise and Kaidoh entered the building, many students stopped what they were doing to look up and stare at them. After a few seconds, they resumed their cheerful chatter.

Kirche and Montmorency were talking loudly about Louise just seconds before she entered the building. They took to whispering as she walked into the building with her familiar, Kaidoh.

"Here she comes" Kirche said. "The rumored runaway familiar and its master…"

Louise walked past the two, steadily moving through the grand dining hall, making her way to the single empty seat near the middle of the grand dining table to her left, with Kaidoh silently following behind her, sensing that it wasn't the right time to talk to the irritated girl in front of him.

Louise stopped abruptly in front of the empty seat, and looked at him expectantly. Kaidoh got the message, and pulled out the seat for her. He knew enough of foreign culture to know that it was a gentlemanly gesture to do so.

As she sat down, Kaidoh noticed that the grand dining table was laden with expensive porcelain dishes at every seat. Everything was gloriously prepared, a luxurious feast at every place at the table.

There was a large, freshly baked piece of bread to start with, and then an enticing tea-colored broth to the side. The main course was a gourmet, choice-cut, juicy steak with a rich brown sauce, topped with a sprig of mint and two small pieces of potato on the side. There was an extra dish of lasagna, coated in a beautiful layer of tomato sauce and cheese, with some white ranch sauce on top. Desert was a slice from a sugary-sweet strawberry cake. Then, to top it all off, a light champagne in an expensive wine glass.

The mere sight of the food made his stomach growl unexpectedly, and it solicited a small sigh of agreement mixed with a small hiss of disapproval from himself.

Louise gave him a look that silently screamed at him with her disapproval. He looked downwards mock-humbly and to his surprise, found a small, cracked plate on the floor. Curiously, he whispered a question to Louise.

"Why is that there?" he asked her.

"Only nobles are allowed to sit at the tables" she said in reply.

Kaidoh gave her a blatant look which showed his utter confusion, but she hissed at him to sit down on the floor as the last students entered the dining hall and soon, they were about to start eating.

"To our great creator, Burihelum, and the Queen, her highness, I am grateful for this modest feast" they simultaneously started chanting, blessing the food with their palms together in benevolent prayer.

Behind Louise's chair, on the floor, Kaidoh was also blessing his humble meal, a single piece of stale bread, with no complaint. He had a deep-rooted respect for food and the people who prepare them. He always has, because it was his way of showing deep gratitude. He did this ritual on every meal, since he was so used to doing it whenever his mother, Hozumi Kaidoh, would give him one of her famous home-made lunches.

"Eiji!" Oishi tried to restrain his hyperactive friend. "Taka-san, help!"

Taka and Oishi just barely managed to keep Eiji from bursting through the doors.

Meanwhile, Inui was talking to Ann. Both of them were looking at the fresh, green grass of the lawn at the far west side of the castle-like structure. More specifically, Ann was looking at a clear footprint on the grass while Inui was furiously scribbling down notes in one of his green notebooks.

"Puma…" Inui noted. "Kaidoh's shoes."

"And they're headed towards that building, the same one that those caped people went into" Ann said, surprised.

Momoshiro, who was quietly analyzing their environment just like when he gets serious in a tennis match, looked up at her as she said this. Kamio also looked up. Both of them had just arrived to the same conclusion.

The group gathered around Inui and Ann as they started explaining a plan of action to most of them. Echizen was beside Tezuka, who was discussing some serious matter with Fuji and Tachibana under the shade of a tree. Taka and Oishi were still holding onto Eiji, though it was unnecessary, since he was not trying to get into the building anymore, but instead, was listening intently to the plan.

"We should observe what happens for a while" Inui said. "It is not a good idea to rush into the building."

"It will cause a commotion" Ann added. "I don't think they are used to foreigners barging into their buildings… They might not even understand our language, as far as I can tell."

"Then, we'll make them understand!" Momoshiro loudly cut in. "Right, Kamio?"

"I agree!" Kamio replied. "We came to get Kaidoh, and he's in there… We're going inside!"

"Don't be so reckless!" Ann scolded the two, while the others either ignored the three or gave a great sigh of surrender at the start of another loud bickering discussion.

Momoshiro and Kamio looked at each other, and both put on a big grin. Ann looked at their curious behavior with contempt, and got a light pat from both of them on her head.

"You worry too much, Ann-chan" Kamio reassured her.

"It wouldn't matter if we barge in now" Momoshiro added.

"Why not?!" Ann threw the question at them, getting all the more confused and annoyed by the two, who frankly, were not making much sense to her at all.

"Because they're about to come out, right about… now" the two of them explained.

As they said this, the ornate wooden double doors opened suddenly, slamming into Eiji's face and knocking him as well as Taka and Oishi onto the stone wall, nearly crushed by the wooden doors. Oishi and Taka muffled Eiji's cry of pain. Meanwhile, most of the members of the two tennis teams scrambled to hide behind the bushes and overgrowth near the stone walls. Inui, Ann, Momoshiro, and Kamio were already positioned out-of-view to begin with. They just had to duck to be invisible to the ones passing through the doorway. Shinji walked calmly to the bushes and ducked next to Kamio. Tezuka, Fuji, Tachibana and Echizen just stood silently where they were and they went unnoticed, the same tree that gave them shade became their hiding place.

A man in a white, long-sleeved shirt was slowly backing up through the doorway. He was carrying what appeared to be a round, white, steel table with two chairs stacked above it. As he exited the building, the other end of the table came into view, being carried by another man in white. They looked very much like kitchen personnel, which they most probably were, based on their chef hats. Following them was a young lady in a maid's uniform. Her short, straight, black hair blew freely in the breeze, not being a hindrance at all. She was carrying a metal platter with a few dishes on it. Her sweet scent was that of tea and cake, and it wafted into the air as she passed the two teams. There were about fourteen other pairs of people carrying tables and chairs that followed them, and four other maids carrying metal platters and dishes. They were setting up the tables on the west-most lawn just behind the building for some sort of casual gathering. Within ten minutes, they were finished. The men in white went back into the building, relieved after finishing the hard work, whilst the maids stood at the ready near the tables. As the double doors finally closed again, Eiji, Taka, and Oishi were able to walk slowly back to their companions

Both the Seigaku and the Fudomine teams observed the preparations silently. Shinji, who was muttering earlier, had gone dead silent. Ann noticed it and she tapped Inui, Kamio and Momoshiro on the back, and then pointed to Shinji.

"What's wrong, Shinji-kun?" Kamio asked his friend.

Shinji was not looking at the preparations and the maids. He was staring blankly to the side, his jaw hanging loose. Kamio turned his heads to look at what Shinji was staring at, and his jaw dropped loose as well. Thoroughly confused, Ann and Momoshiro turned their heads as well, and what they saw made their jaws drop.

A half a dozen meters away for the tables, a gathering of a different sort had already occurred. A strange array of even stranger creatures was gathered near the side of the building. Variedly colored creatures all together, creatures of magical and demonic affiliations, creatures that shouldn't possibly be gathered, were waiting at the side. Some were ordinary animals, while others were variedly colored versions of animals. Some were mythical creatures, while others looked as if torn between alternate dimensions. Amazing creatures of all shapes and sizes were gathered, unmoving, as if obediently waiting.

All the other tennis players were also staring at the creatures now. They all looked to Inui for an explanation, but Inui was just as dumbfounded as they were. That did not stop him, however, from furiously scribbling descriptions of the creatures onto one of his green notebooks.

Soon, a few more people, younger than the ones before, came out of the building and started walking out into the lawn, towards the tables and seats that were prepared for them. They were all wearing black capes, the same as the ones that the two teams saw earlier. The creatures started joining them, one by one aligning itself beside a single black-caped person. Every person had a creature that acted familiar only to him or her. They all went to a table of their choice, and each person started interacting with either the creature that they were with, or other persons and their creatures.

"Weird…" Momoshiro commented as he hid in the bushes.

"Those creatures…" Ann said, "…are they real?!"

"They can't be…" Kamio remarked.

"It's illogical…" Inui added, "…this entire situation is illogical, on the other hand, this place might have different fauna… hmmm… this is good data."

"Inui-senpai, don't you ever think of anything besides gathering and using data?!" Momoshiro asked, exasperated.

Just then, their conversation was interrupted by a loud bicker getting nearer their position. They ducked for cover, as two people came out through the doorway. Most of them could not see the two's faces, since they were too busy hiding their own selves, nor could they understand a single word of the incoming conversation, but they could tell that it was a young lady who was speaking. She was speaking rapidly in the old European language that Tezuka translated for them. Once in a while, the other person would reply in a deep, hoarse voice in the same language. It seemed that the other person was half-hearted in his responses, otherwise bored.

Tezuka took a brief look at the two, and he was surprised, though he didn't make a sound, nor did he show it on his face. Echizen, Fuji, and Tachibana also looked, and they had the same reaction. They kept silent behind the thick tree trunk that they were using as a hiding place, waiting until they could rejoin the rest of the group.

Louise stepped out of the building and onto the grass of the nearby lawn, followed closely and nonchalantly by Kaidoh.

"Really, during a meal, Familiars are supposed to be on standby outside." She told him. "It's a special request for you to have been next to me."

"What are they all doing there?" Kaidoh asked suddenly, completely ignoring Louise's statement. He was looking at the gathered other students

Though thoroughly annoyed, Louise let it slide and answered him.

"There are no lessons for the Second Years today; it's to start communication with the Familiars they had just summoned" she explained.

"Oh?" a voice cut in from behind them.

The two started to turn around, curious as to the purpose of the interruption. Kaidoh let out a small hiss…

Fshuuuuu…

To his surprise, he got a reply…

Fshuuuuu…

They were met by the crimson head and glowing yellow eyes of a strange creature. It had three ridges at each side of its head; two were framing its sharp, snake-like eyes; two were at the side of its face, and two were positioned at its jawline, making its appearance all the more menacing. It had a wide, open mouth that made it look as if it was giving them an evil, toothless grin. It was standing on all four, clawed feet. It was a deep crimson on its back, and a pale red under its belly. It had a massive tail, at the tip of which was a bright orange flame. Kneeling beside it was Kirche, her red hair being a perfect match with the creature's scales. She was gently stroking it on the back.

Kaidoh blinked twice, his face showing a look of surprise. He stared deeply at it, taking in the strange sight. Meanwhile, Louise was glaring, annoyed, at Kirche and her smug grin. She gave a small laugh at their reactions.

"Is this the first time you've seen a salamander?" Kirche asked Kaidoh. "Don't worry. A contracted Familiar is absolutely obedient to its Master; You won't run away… Right, Flame?"

The "salamander" wagged its tail cheerfully, as Kirche smiled even more smugly than before.

Kaidoh immediately noticed that Kirche was making a direct attack at Louise. He had just tried to escape from the strangeness of this world the previous night. He realized that his actions must have humiliated Louise, being the person that everyone thinks is his master. He looked at Louise, who was getting extremely annoyed.

"Mind your own business!" Louise retorted angrily.

Kirche stood up and looked Louise directly in the eyes.

"Hey, you probably just grabbed a commoner that was walking by, didn't you?" Kirche asked Louise just to annoy her even more, which she succeeded in doing. "You deceived us quite well with that explosion."

"You're wrong." Louise said. "I made a proper summon and he just came out!"

"Well, he's just fitting for you, isn't he?" Kirche declared in her face. "Louise the Zero" she added with an annoying high-pitched laugh.

She walked away, still laughing, leaving Louise in a horrible mood.

"What's up with that girl?!" Louise asked no one in particular, clenching her fists in anger. She immediately turned on the closest living thing to her and took out her anger on it. In this case, it was Kaidoh. She took a deep gasp and then screamed at him.

"Don't just stand there! At the very least, get me some tea!" she ordered him and then turned around and stormed off.

Kaidoh was left there, dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events. It took ten seconds for his brain to register what the furious young lady had just ordered him to do. He let out a long, drawn-out hiss…

Fshuuuuu…

After two months of putting it off, I finally finished this chapter...