Warning/s: Non-squicky violence, fluff, and a bit of crack. ...Maybe a little more than a bit.

Disclaimer/s: I don't own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I am not making profit off of this. I'm just a sad, sad little monkey pounding away at a keyboard. :(

I also don't own Kai Para.

Theme: #021; violence, pillage/plunder, extortion
Title: Kai Para

It was an annoying battle. The enemy just wouldn't give up. Clangs of metal on metal met Eiji's ears; his sword hitting the armored demon on one side and Oishi hitting it on the other. The thing was so monstrous that he couldn't even see his partner on the other side. If it were a tree, it'd take at least thirty people with outstretched hands to hug it.

They weren't doing much damage. Monstrous claws attached to barely-humanoid hands sliced and slashed at the air angrily. They were all alone against this beast. Their comrades had fallen long ago.

Dammit! If only they could surprise it somehow! But the thing had two heads. How did you sneak up on something that could cover its front and its rear?

Fierce red skin glowed under the plated armor. Shit.

"Oishi!" he called desperately to his partner. He hoped to God that he could hear him. "It's going to do that again!"

Eiji ran for cover. He didn't think he'd make it. A loud stomp and an ear-piercing, heart-stopping scream was all he heard as he pressed his back to a tree in fear. He'd only just gotten himself safe.

Malicious purple flames flicked and lashed at the air around him, feeding gluttonously on the grass. It devoured everything it could. It would have devoured him, too, had he been caught in it. They couldn't reach him here.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Chancing a peek around the giant sycamore only after he was sure the onslaught was over, he hoped and prayed that Oishi had made it to safety before the disgusting blazes got there first.

His heart leapt into his throat. A form lay unmoving on the battlefield.

"Oishi!" he screamed the name loud enough to make his throat hoarse with the effort. A steady pounding penetrated the silence as he ran to where his partner lay. The demon didn't matter. Eiji didn't matter. All that he cared about was reaching the satchel on his bag and pulling out his—

"Eiji!"

Deep blue pools blinked in confusion. "E-eh?"

"Don't be so loud! I have my headset on, you know."

Smiling bashfully, Eiji's cheeks colored a pale shade of pink. "S-sorry! Guess I got a little drawn into the game, huh?"

"Is that what happened?" Oishi's voice sounded amused over his own headset.

"D-don't laugh, Oishi! Seeing you—even if it's just your character—lying there on the ground like that…."

His partner's voice took on a gentle note. "I'm sorry, Eiji." After a brief moment of silence, he added, "Looks like we failed the mission, huh?"

"We were so close, too!" Eiji complained loudly. "I knew we shouldn't have gotten into a party with Momo and o-chibi!"

"Oi, oi. We can hear you, you know," said underclassmen stated simultaneously.

"Sorry, sorry!"

Eiji was getting ready to say his goodbyes and log off; he was exhausted from their tennis practice that day and he didn't really want to play this anymore after such a huge failure.

Luckily, he didn't. He wouldn't have gotten the message that sent him to bed with a smile on his face if he had.

Private Msg from CoolShuuichiro:

I'm sorry I worried you, Eiji. Don't be upset, okay? I'm not going anywhere. …Chuu.

The last word, in typical Oishi fashion, was followed by the blushing emoticon.

I'm not upset, Eiji replied. You know I can't stay mad at you. Chuu!

In typical Eiji fashion, this was, of course, followed by a heart.

"Goodnight, everyone! See you at practice tomorrow!" He smiled at the chorus of goodbyes he heard as he hit the log off button in the lower-left corner, but only one of those stood out from the rest.

A/N: Just because I know someone will ask: "chuu" is the Japanese equivalent of "mwua." It's a kissy noise. Why not use the English equivalent? I think it sounds stupid. I'd just do "kiss" as an action (in asterisks, for example, since they are chatting online), but FF.N is a silly fickle beast and doesn't like that. So, the Japanese.

Also, as far as I'm aware, Kai Para is not a real game. It's the game that Eiji and Oishi were supposed to be playing together in one of the PairPuri episodes. So if it looked familiar, that's why! :) Hope you enjoyed! :D