And it's showtime!!
Chapter 12
"I'm scared, nya!" Eiji was simply full of nervous energy, which was why he was currently occupied with bouncing on the balls of his feet, while managing to get in everyone else's way.
"Fsshhh… who isn't?"
"I never knew you were a coward, mamushi…"
"Baka! Who's frightened?"
"You, obviously…"
Ryoma looked at his two quarreling sempais and tipped his cap further down.
"Mada mada dane."
-----------------------------
"Ladies and gentlemen," The announcer looked at the eager audience. "Now is the moment we have all been waiting for – a historic moment that we are privileged to witness today…"
"Presenting to you," There was a dramatic pause, "The Seigaku tennis club as Tennisella!"
And the stage was plunged into total darkness.
---------------------------------------
Maika pushed them onto the stage.
"You're on!"
Eiji only had time to let out a strangled squawk before his eyesight was assailed with the brightest spotlight he had ever seen.
Maika settled down in her chair.
Now, to see how big a disaster this is going to be…
-----------------------------
Tezuka scowled. This had to be worst night of his life ever.
The spotlights were too bright, the crowd was too noisy (he seriously did not think that it was necessary to scream and catcall every single time he made an appearance on stage) and the whole play was simply ridiculous. Take, for example, what was currently happening on stage.
"Mou, Oishi, could you hand me that earring? I want to look pretty for tonight's – OW!"
Eiji, being Eiji, had inadvertently poked himself with the said earring. And being Eiji, he went hysterical at the sight of dark, crimson blood.
"NYA! OISHI! I'M DYING! HELP ME! I'M DYIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!!!!!!!!"
Maika buried her head in her hands. This was going to be a long night.
-------------------------------
"Fuj – uh, Tennisella! Come here, nya! I need you to help me do my hair!"
Fuji walked in demurely, looking exactly the part. "Yes, Eiji?"
"Hair!" Eiji pointed to his red mop.
The brown-haired boy began to fluff up Eiji's hair. "Eiji-sama? Could I go to the ball? Please?"
"Huh?" Eiji was busy playing with a pink hairclip. "Sure – ow! What did you poke me for, Fujiko?!"
"You're supposed to say no!" He hissed.
Eiji looked at him blankly. "I was supposed to sa – oh! Of course not! No way are you ever going to that ball, Tennisella!!"
Maika-chan is gonna kill me…
Fuji turned to Oishi. "Could I?"
Oishi looked in the mirror and adjusted his wig. "No."
"Please? Just this once?"
"No! You might get married to the prince, and you're still too young to do that – why, you're only fifteen!" Then a shocking idea materialized in Oishi's motherly mind. "Masaka! Don't tell me you're really thinking that? Fuji! Do you know what it could do to your future? Teenage pregnancies… no! Fuji! You can't give up your future just like that! Not even for Tezu – "
In the wings, Tezuka was trying his best not to go up there and strangle Oishi to death on the spot.
----------------------------------
"There is just one thing left to do before your transformation is complete, my child." Inui looked suspiciously like he was enjoying the play very much. Too much, in fact.
"You have to drink this liquid."
There was utter silence in the hall as every gaze became riveted on the pitcher of toxic-looking neon green juice that seemed to belong more to the deepest depths of hell than in an ordinary school play.
There's no way Cinderella could survive that thing…
Everyone watched, partly in horror, partly in fascination as Fuji approached the pitcher without so much as blinking an eyelid.
"Gladly."
He finished the pitcher in a single gulp, and licked his lips.
"Do you have any more?"
-----------------------------
That night, they discovered many facts about each other. Such as the fact that Echizen Ryoma made an extremely slow horse.
Apparently Tennisella a.k.a. Fuji thought so too.
"Echizen, would you mind hurrying up a little?"
"Yadda." Came the extremely stubborn and decisive reply.
A few people in the crowd snickered.
"Echizen, could you please hurry up?" The honeyed voice and extra-sweet smile was a sign of oncoming danger. Unfortunately, Ryoma had absolutely no talent when it came to noticing these sort of things.
"Yadda."
At least, until it was shoved in his face.
"Echizen."
The carriage picked up speed immediately.
-------------------------------
"My prince," Fuji said breathily, doing his best impersonation of a lovestruck young lady.
"My prince," He repeated in a dreamy tone. "Do you really love me? Really, really love me?"
And the extraordinarily socially-handicapped prince replied with no hint of a smile on his face.
"Aa."
It sort of made you wonder what Cinderella ever saw in the prince.
--------------------------
The play was an astounding success, with half the audience giving a standing ovation and the other half too busy laughing to really do anything other than make sure that they stayed upright.
"Anybody who wants to take pictures with the cast can do so for a price of 800 yen." The announcer looked at her next line, and her eyes bugged out. Was she really supposed to say that?
But it was written here, after all…
"However, I am glad to inform you that Inui juice is free and available to the general public at that booth there."
Sure enough, Inui was busy making an extra large portion of Inui juice to feed the thousands of people whom he was sure would flock to his booth. Indeed, it was a brilliant idea to put the juice into the play – such good publicity!
Or perhaps not…
The moment he spotted Maika heading towards him, he disappeared in a hurry. He was not about to let himself be murdered at such a young age.
--------------------------------
"Where's Inui?" Maika wondered out loud. "I could've sworn I saw him there a moment ago… now we can't get the full cast's photographs! Sheesh!"
She turned around, and came face to face with an all-too-familiar face.
"Atobe! What on earth are you doing here?!"
"I was just watching the most hilariously horrendous play on earth." He put an arm around her shoulder. "Your parents are looking for you."
"What's with the arm?" She asked as she began to follow him through the crowded auditorium.
"I just felt like it."
She looked at him suspiciously. "Did you come from a dinner?"
"Yes, why?"
She leveled an accusing finger at him. "You're tipsy."
He immediately retracted his hand. "Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
He blocked his ears and began saying the first thing that came to mind. "I'm not tipsy and I can't hear you and therefore you lose and I'm not tipsy and you are wrong and you are wrong because I say you are wrong and – "
He was interrupted by one of his fingers being pulled out of his ear rather rudely.
"YOU'RE WRONG!!!"
And she shoved his finger back in.
----------------------------
"Good job, everyone!" She smiled at the whole cast.
Tezuka raised an eyebrow. She called that a good job?
"It could have been worse."
Ah.
"Any – " She was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. "Ah, excuse me a minute."
"Hello?"
There was a slight pause.
"What? I can't hear you!"
Another pause.
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!"
More silence.
"I SAID, I CAN"T HEAR YOU, YOU DONKEY!! IT'S TOO NOISY!"
The reply which came through the phone was audible to even the rest of the tennis regulars.
"I SAID, WE HAVE A DINNER TOMORROW SO GET READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The rest was added in a more normal tone, the speaker obviously having run out of voice power. "I'll be picking you up from school tomorrow."
"Whatever…" She slammed the phone shut. "Anyway, where were – "
"Nya, Maika-chan! Who was that screaming at you?"
She laughed nervously. "You don't really need to know…"
"Your boyfriend?" Fuji suggested blandly.
Tezuka choked.
"My boyfriend?!" Maika nearly fell over in surprise.
Fuji shrugged. "Well, he did mention something about dinner…"
"…"
----------------------------------
About the 800 yen thingy, it's a money-making ploy to raise funds for the tennis club... and do ignore the exact amount - I didn't check the exchange rate.
Review, ne?