"Managerial Mayhem"

SUMMARY: Wanted! A manageress for Hyoutei's Tennis Club. Applicant? Ito Himawari, an ambitious girl who wants to be anything but normal. What to expect: Headaches, sore legs, angry fangirls, flying tennis balls, and maybe even… love?

DISCLAIMER: The Prince of Tennis was created by Konomi Takeshi. As usual, the characters in the franchise do not belong to me and belong to their respective owner(s). Aside from the characters I create, I do not mean to infringe on any current copyrights on the series. Thank you and have fun reading!

CHAPTER SEVEN: The Manager is a Spy

The Hyoutei tennis court today was a fluttering mass of activity. It always was, of course, but there was a certain air of franticness that hang over it this particular day. After all, the ever-famous tennis club was holding a practice match with some school named Karahawa and it was clear to everyone with two eyes that they were dominating.

"GAME! 5-2! Change court!" The referee's voice pierced through the air.

"Aan~?" Atobe was sitting on something that looked too expensive to be a bench. He was watching the practice match with subtle disinterest. "It looks like Karahawa isn't that much of a threat after all. Disappointing."

Gakuto whistled then smirked, "Yeah, Choutarou's really on fire today. Look how he's pulverizing the team's captain!"

"Manners, Mukahi, manners," Oshitari reminded his doubles partner. "Their captain is quite good too. After all, he didwin two games."

The practice match started innocently enough. Karahawa brought the big guns right away and sent their strongest players to the tennis battlefield. Meanwhile, Atobe selected a few non-regulars, plus Choutarou and Hiyoshi, to meet their opponents. Hyoutei lost on the first doubles match, but quickly regained momentum when they got back on their feet and won the next matches. The Captain, who was supposed to graciously accept defeat, demanded that he play a match against Atobe Keigo. His request merely fell on deaf ears.

"You want to play a match with Ore-sama, aan~?" He cockily remarked at the captain. "Prove your worth then."

And that was the reason why Karahawa's captain was now struggling to win in his match against one of Hyoutei's star members.

"Ikyuunyuukon!" Choutarou said as he positioned himself and gave the Karahawa captain a healthy dose of the Neo Scud Serve. The ball went flying across the court and though Choutarou's opponent managed to slightly return the ball, his serve was so weak that it didn't even make it past the net.

"Game and match to Hyoutei's Ohtori Choutarou! Six games to two!"

Loud proclamations of Hyoutei's greatness erupted as the rival school's captain cried, er, manly tears.

"ATOBE-SAMA! ATOBE-SAMA!"

Himawari cocked her head and turned to the mammoth crowd of women surrounding the tennis court. They all had matching golden brooches pinned on the collar of their school uniforms. Obviously, they were members of Atobe's Fanclub. She refrained from rolling her eyes.

"Of course, ladies everywhere can't seem to get enough of Ore-sama," Atobe flicked his hair. Himawari saw him do that countless of times before ever since she became Hyoutei's manager. For her, it was one thing for a girl to take pride in her hair, but a guy? The "diva" must be coming out of the closet. "Ore-sama should go and expose them to my glorious presence."

"Of course Atobe-san!" Himawari brightly chirped as she focused her energy on giving a radiant smile. As Atobe went off to mingle with his lovestruck fangirls, Himawari pointedly glared at his back. Another black aura started to slowly leak around her. Her eyes twitched when she saw a bold female clutch Atobe's arm and place it between her chest. She snorted in disapproval.

'Why can't the Atobe Fanclub be renamed Atobe's Harem? Hmm…'

"Oi, Himawari?" Shishido's voice broke Himawari's reverie.

"Why hello Shishido-san!" Himawari turned around so fast that Shishido thought that she might lose her balance. "What brings you here?"

On his part, Shishido couldn't help but feel that their new manager might indeed be possessed or something.

"Shishido-senpai just wants to know when the next practice match would be," Choutarou helpfully supplied when it was clear to him that his doubles partner wasn't going to respond. He didn't know why, but Shishido always seemed to be uncomfortable around Himawari-senpai when it was clear to him that their new manager was a very cheerful and responsible person. Shishido even insisted on saying that Himawari was surrounded by "a vaguely noticeable dark aura" and warned him of her. Really, Shishido-senpai could be so paranoid!

"Ah, the next practice match?" parroted Himawari as she gave another one of her infamous smiles. "We'll probably have to wait for a few more weeks. Atobe-san and I are still making arrangements."

When Choutarou saw her facial expression, he turned to his senpai with a look that could be read as 'See? She's not so bad!'

In return, Shishido gave his junior a 'What are you talking about? She's clearly insane!' kind of glare.

Himawari didn't say anything else. She was having too much fun watching these two stare at each other. Now, Himawari did not know if the two were busy telepathically connecting their minds, hearts and souls or if they were just demonstrating the proverbial "losing one's self when looking at a certain person's eyes," but she was enjoying herself nonetheless since it was a rare form of entertainment.

"OHTORI-SAMA!"

Everyone then stopped on their tracks. The voice was loud and annoyingly ear-piercing that it was impossible for anyone to ignore it.

"Ah!" A girl wearing an unfamiliar uniform squeaked as she shyly placed a hand on her mouth. "I'm like, soooo sorry! I just wanted to get Ohtori-sama's attention."

"Way to make an entrance," Himawari heard Gakuto say from behind her.

Her emerald eyes scanned the crowd. When her eyes landed on her target, she didn't even have a moment's hesitation as she sprang animatedly to pounce (yes, the most accurate term is pounce) on her victim, bringing to mind how a cheetah would catch his prey.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WOMAN?" It was Shishido who looked scandalized by it all. Choutarou was far too much of a gentleman to protest or shove her away and he suddenly felt the need to demand an explanation from this woman.

Especially after this.

Especially after she had jumped on Choutarou and made the poor boy land on the ground while she was on top of him. (Hmm. Er, yummy?)

"Hiyoshi," Oshitari broke into a Cheshire Cat grin. "Take a picture of that pose."

"Right," Hiyoshi obliged since he always had a handy dandy disposable camera with him in the first place. He wasn't part of the newspaper club for nothing.

"Yes, Ore-sama also wants to know what is going on," Himawari's heart jumped ten feet up in the air when Atobe suddenly appeared out of nowhere beside her.

"Of course!" The girl stood up and let out a giddy schoolgirl laugh. "I'm like, a student at Sakurahana High and I'm like, Ohtori-sama's biggest fan ever! I've always wanted to meet him and I'm like, so caught up in the moment that I didn't know what I was doing even though I'm, like, so totally in love with Ohtori-sama and-"

"Stop," Atobe raised a hand in front of the girl's face. "You are not making sense."

"I think you should also get off of Choutarou-san," Himawari pointed out.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm totally sorry! I really didn't mean it! Like, totally!" The girl cried out when she realized that she was standing on top of the very same person she just proclaimed was her loved one. She tried to help Choutarou but Shishido roughly pushed her aside and pulled Choutarou away from the girl.

"Hey! That was so, like, totally rude!" The girl proceeded to put her hands on her slim waist.

"Ooh! Rude! Totally rude!" Gakuto mocked as he imitated the girl's style of speaking. Chuckles erupted from the crowd.

"Maybe you should first introduce yourself to us," Oshitari suddenly interrupted before a battle to the death between Shishido and the mystery girl could commence. "I do not recall you telling us your name, Miss."

"Like, I totally forgot!" She stuck a tongue out and gently hit the side of her head. "I'm like, the sweet and beautiful Nekozawa Mayumi and I'm like Ohtori-sama's biggest fan ever and you know, I totally wanted to meet him ever since I was in junior high and I'm totally totally totally in love with-"

"I think that we've already established the fact that you are in love with him," Shishido cut off, a visible vein popping on his temple.

"Yes," the girl had a dreamy look, "I also think we should have a date this Saturday!"

All of the Regulars as well as their manager looked at this Mayumi girl as if she had just grown two heads. "EH?"

Mayumi childishly crossed her arm and frowned at the Regulars. They all looked like on the verge of throwing up, "I'm, like, so totally not kidding and everything! I'm like really serious and if Ohtori-sama wants to, we can go off to the sunset and ride ponies while we express our deep conne-"

"HELL NO!" Shishido yelled. He is thisclose to lunging for her throat for even suggesting of such a thing. What is this perverted woman planning to do to his kouhai?

"Now, now, Shishido… There is no need for vulgar language," Atobe smirked as he gestured at Ohtori Choutarou who hasn't even spoken at least one syllable since the entire ordeal. "Ore-sama believes that it is Ohtori's responsibility to answer this young woman himself."

"Thank you, Atobe –san," Choutarou replied and then turned to Mayumi with a resolved look. "I appreciate your feelings, Mayumi-san, but I do not think I am ready for a relationship yet."

The girl then flushed scarlet.

"Uh, I'm really sorry Mayumi-san," Choutarou continued consoling.

"B-B-But…" Mayumi sniffed, her mascara running.

Choutarou quickly tried to prevent the drama from happening. The last thing he wanted to be accused of was that he made a woman cry. "Ah! But don't worry! I'm sure you'll find someone else! Maybe we can be friends or…" He trailed off when he saw Mayumi's eyes brighten up considerably.

"Then can we have a date, Ohtori-sama? I really want to have a good discussion with you."" Mayumi looked too hopeful and Choutarou decided that he just gave the wrong impression. He nervously turned to Atobe. His buchou! Yes, if there was one person in the group who was experienced when it came to women, it would certainly be their captain! Unfortunately for him, Atobe just shrugged and all Choutarou could do was gape at him wordlessly.

"Look here pal, Choutarou would be- HMF!"

"Delighted to go on a date with you!" Oshitari finished for Shishido when Gakuto placed a hand around the other boy's mouth. Dates were so rare in the Regulars' schedules that he was absolutely ecstatic with the idea. After all, it would give him a good reason to spy on his teammate.

"FMMF! HMFFF!" Gakuto and Kabaji were trying their best to restrain the raging Shishido. The acrobatic tennis player also wanted to know what was going to happen if Choutarou and that insane girl would go on a date. He smiled as he envisioned an embarrassed Choutarou awkwardly holding out a hand for that Mayumi girl.

"Saturday, you say?" Atobe was rubbing his chin. "Very well, Ore-sama shall cancel our morning practice if Choutarou has to go on this appointment. Ito, take note of this."

"Of course, Atobe-san!" Himawari happily wrote something on a small notebook.

"YAY!"

"WHAT!" Shishido bit Gakuto's fingers and gave a look of pure disgust when he saw the girl looping her arms around Choutarou's neck.

The sound of silver cutleries reverberated throughout the entire room as Himawari happily chewed her food. "Hmf! Sho thwis is twaki steak?"

Her father immediately brightened up and sauntered gaily towards the dining table while he clapped his hands. "I am sooo glad you asked Papa-san! That Taki steak was imported directly from the Ryukyu Islands! The rich texture and exquisite taste of this meat goes quite well with a Malbec Meritage, but I don't think you can handle it yet. Anyway, before it is cooked, the raw steak is hung in a climate-controlled chamber to cause enzymatic changes in the meat and-"

The raven haired girl gave a muffled giggle.

Ito Tomohisa, believe it or not, was an underground bass guitarist for a heavy metal band some few years ago. Food was his real passion though and pretty soon, he was working on exclusive restaurants and hotels as a dedicated cook. Since then, he took on the challenge of becoming the head chef and manager of various Japanese restaurants, including the Miyako Hotel in Kyoto, which was famous for being one of the most expensive hotels in the country. His desire to express his love of food and constantly chase after exotic flavors in an environment that could offer the best cuisine with a fun, creative and approachable environment made him a sort of superstar in the Japanese culinary world. Currently he worked for The Century.

"I get it," Himawari said just to cut off her father's fervent speech. "Another serving please."

"Ooh! Buta-chan really has a fine appetite! Just like a mountain boar!"

"Papa!"

Himawari's owllike eyes rolled heavenwards. That was the reason why she had the nickname "Buta-chan." Really, it wasn't her fault that she was blessed with such an unladylike appetite. And it also wasn't her fault that her father's skills didn't pass on to her. The kitchen would burn to ashes the minutes she tries to cook even a simple dish! This is why her place in the kitchen was behind the refrigerator.

Was it such a crime that her cooking skills were only slightly better than horrible?

"So, Buta-chan," Tomohisa suddenly lurched forward, meeting his daughter's eyes. "What's your problem?"

"P-Problem?" Himawari gently laughed and put down her fork. "What are you talking about, Papa? I am fine and I certainly do not have any problems."

"But you look so out of it! Papa-san is very worried!"

Said with enough drama to warrant the role of a Broadway actress.

"Papa, you are being delusional. Did you take your medication?"

Said with enough defiance to make any deadpan snarker proud.

"You fell down the stairs the other day."

The raven haired girl pursed her lips. There was that.

Despite Tomohisa's outward foolishness and childlike tendencies to get into trouble, he was a very responsible father. He knew quite well how to read Himawari's moods and he would never be fooled by her acting. From time to time he may unobtrusively lend a hand and he was always open to giving advice, even if he was usually disappointed that his only daughter doesn't come to him for help whenever she would probably need it. Therefore, it was only natural that he sensed that Himawari was troubled by something.

Meanwhile, Himawari felt her eyes dart back and forth-an exercise in futility, to be sure, as there was clearly no avenue of escaping her father's little interrogation. "I was just distracted at that time. And please, for the last time," she struggled to give her voice a bit more force. "I do not have any problems, okay? Sheesh."

"Is this about some boy? Oh my! Is your heart finally going on Doki Doki Mode?" Tomohisa ignored Himawari and gushed in a way that most males would find too feminine. "My adorable daughter is all grown up! Hurrah for hormones!"

Much to Himawari's dismay, her father was also the kind of parent who drove everyone around him insane by going on at length about the wonderfulness of his one and only daughter. In fact, he encourages dating and finds it amusing to tease Himawari because of her lack of relationship with the opposite sex. More frightening is his visions of the future; he apparently wants to be a granddad already.

"I think you're insane."

"And methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Before Himawari could respond, the phone rang. Tomohisa got to his feet immediately and sprang animatedly towards the living room. "I'll get it!" He chirped brightly, although there was no reason for him to shout out his intentions because he was already holding the receiver. "Hello?" Himawari curiously watched as her father gave a frown before he lighted up again, all in the span of a second. This wasn't good. "OH! I see. Yes, yes. Of course! And on a Saturday too, how convenient! Buta-chan! Come here and talk to your boyfriend!"

The girl almost choked on her own saliva.

"This is flying bird to Kansai cupid. Over."

"…"

"Kansai cupid, I could not hear you. Over."

The tensai of the group gave a resigned sigh and snatched the walky-talky from his doubles partner, ignoring the latter's cries and whiny commands to give the device back to him. "Gakuto, you're making a fool out of yourself. I'm one meter away from you."

"Well," Gakuto puffed his chest out. "Codenames give off a feeling of stealth and sets the mood even more, you know!"

"I can't believe I was asleep when this happened!" The Sleeping Beauty of Hyoutei remarked as he took a Pockystick. "Oh boy! Choutarou going on a date! You should've woken me up! Mou!"

"Senpai, you sleep like a log," Hiyoshi stated. Why was he here? Of course, gossip was beneath him but Oshitari insisted that if he took a shot of Choutarou's date, then maybe one of his photographs could finally be published in the campus newspaper.

Everyone wanted a piece of hot gossip. Why can't more people be interested in the current events of the world today, Hiyoshi silently bemoaned.

"Nothing is happening," Himawari stifled a yawn. Currently, they were hiding behind a bush and stalking Ohtori Choutarou. Truthfully, she woke up extra early that day to do some mental workout (to bring down Atobe hahahaha!), but instead she was dragged by Oshitari and his fellow paparazzi wannabes to spy on poor Choutarou.

Oshitari was the one at fault really. Telling her father that he was her boyfriend! How shameless!

Speaking of the tensai, he had a very bored look on his face as he watched over the targets. "They just walked around in this particular neighborhood. Nothing exciting even occurred. And here I was, expecting an embarrassing moment, or an accidental kiss or maybe a sexy moment that would later leave the both of them hot and bo-"

"Choutarou would not do that," Shishido mumbled when he heard Oshitari's scandalous remarks. Honestly, what would you expect from a guy who reportedly loved the Twilight series?

"Jealous that your wife's going to be taken by someone else?" Gakuto teased, knowing fairly well that he just hit a sensitive spot.

"CHOUTAROU IS NOT MY WIFE!"

"YEAH RIGHT!"

Himawari shot them a curious look. "Why do we even bother hiding here? You two are loud and a moving bush isn't really what I'd call inconspicuous. Look, Atobe-san is out in the open and Choutarou does not even notice him…"

True enough, their great captain was in plain view of the whole world. He did not like the idea of hiding behind foliages and such, because of course it would not be befitting for a person of his status. He wore sunglasses, but that did little to avoid his presence from being known since his trusted companion Kabaji stood right beside him.

"Yes, it is a bit odd that Choutarou did not notice him…" Oshitari's glasses gleamed as he watched Ohtori and Mayumi. "Probably, he is just too nervous to even notice his surroundings. First dates often do that to a person's nerves. His reaction, however, is not that surprising. After all, this is Choutarou we are talking about."

"You seem to know a lot about this dating thing…" The manager gave the tensai a suspicious look before he returned it with a devilish grin.

"Look! They're moving someplace else!" Jirou excitedly pointed out a finger at the two's direction. "Let's follow them!"

Hiyoshi muttered something under his breath as he followed the others and got on his feet. He did not get why the senpai-tachi are so enthusiastic about this date. It's not like it's gonna shake the whole foundation of tennis. Despite his unwillingness, he stayed with them though because let's face it, no one can resist a hot piece of gossip!

They struggled to trail the two teens as they passed by streets and narrow corners. After what felt like an hour, they finally stopped and went inside a building. The group all huddled together and hid behind a cardboard stand to avoid being seen.

Shishido almost knocked over the cardboard stand. "Where are they going?"

Himawari's eyes squinted. "I cannot see, Shishido-san!"

Jirou was casually standing on his tiptoes. "Mou, I don't understand why you're hiding behind that poor cardboard guy! Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier if you just stand up?"

"Love hotel."

All eyes turned to Oshitari.

"Love hotel," he coolly repeated again as he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "The flashing enormous sign on the side of the building is already a dead giveaway. Choutarou and that girl are going inside a love hotel."

This time, Shishido really knocked over the cardboard stand.

"Well, what a surprise!" As usual, Atobe appeared out of nowhere with Kabaji in tow. Himawari secretly wondered if they had the power of teleportation. "Ore-sama believes that Choutarou should be given more credit; this is certainly something."

"Kami-sama, even Atobe is impressed!" Jirou looked as if he was waiting for a shaft of heavenly light to suddenly engulf them all.

"And the plot thickens," Oshitari dramatically announced as the atmosphere around them began to darken.

Shishido, meanwhile, looked like a total wreck. He was pacing back and forth, sweating bullets. "This is bad. What the hell did that woman do to force Choutarou to come with him? I bet she would make him do this and that..."

"Your imagination knows no bounds," Oshitari quipped

"You should be happy that your doubles partner is finally turning to a man now!" Gakuto joked.

The capped boy's jaw dropped in shock. Why were they all so calm? Did they not even care about Choutarou's innocence? He craned his neck to the only person who might salvage his sanity.

"Well, this is a pretty interesting development," Himawari shrugged as she proceeded to give another one of her nauseatingly sweet smiles.

"Sick!" That was the only conclusion Shishido could come up with. "You are all sick!" Has the whole world gone mad? None of them were taking this seriously and even their buchou looked calm and collected as he inspected his fingernails. Kami-sama, who in the right mind would look at his manicure at a time like this?

"If it makes you feel any better, you could go inside and spy at them," Oshitari suggested.

"Right," Shishido was back to Earth now, firmly grasping his resolve. "Go there at that place. Right."

He stared at the group awkwardly.

"Ahem," he pretended to cough as he gave a meaningful look at Atobe.

Atobe didn't pretend to misunderstand Shishido's questioning look. He raised an eyebrow and waited for Shishido to speak.

NOTES:

-A love hotel is a popular short-stay hotel in Japan and as the name suggests, it is designed exclusively for clients who are couples that want to have a private room all for themselves.

-If you haven't guessed already, Oshitari was the one who organized the "Stalk Choutarou!" campaign.

AN: I promise, I'm not writing an R-rated fic. This is like filler, and not a lot of things are going on in here but at least I gave you a dose of Himawari's father. There are some things in the next chapter that would be very important to the plot, so this mini arc is kinda important too I guess.

(Also, I already wrote the next two chapters but they're not yet polished and I'm too lazy desu~ /shot)

To all of those who are asking about Himawari's character, I guess you can say that she enjoys being praised and faking things. Honestly, there are many people like that. It made me laugh when a reader commented that Himawari's actions are too extreme, that she is forcing herself too much to be accepted. Well, you guys can do your own character study of my Himawari-chan. As long as she's not a Mary Sue (AAAAGHHH!), then it's fine with me.

Oh, and I wrote this chapter a long time and forgot to edit it. So if you spot some mistakes, feel free to point them out for me.

~Invade my inbox's vital regions baby~