Me: Hi, it's Scarlette Shizuru again! And I just wanted to say thank you to all those who subscribed to this story and my writing [as an author] and listed this as your favourite story. I'm glad that I'm making progress with this story even if this is my first Prince of Tennis drama story. So, I wanted to place a little action into this so you guys wouldn't be so bored out there and wonder why the plot is just playing over and over again. I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter because this one is going to be more on explosion side, kind of like Time Crisis 4. Frankly, I found myself wondering why we should only place tennis and although it is a tennis fic, it doesn't mean that other forms of action is forbidden right? XD I'm also going to try lowering the Flesch-Kincaid reading ease because when I researched about it – the higher it is, the easier or the more childish the story is so I'm going to step up my game a little. By the way, I don't own Prince of Tennis!

Kyouei_shurei: Don't worry, it will all happen soon. It has to fall into place after all. XD

Thanks to chillybean, Ayane2996 and the people who added this story to their alert list. XD

*Mumiyo – I got this term from the manga "Kandachime". It literally means "no name".

Chapter 42 – In the Belly of Greed

"Fuuka," Florence watched the girl open up her tennis bag. "Don't tell me you kept something there that...?"

The red haired Seishun Gakuen tennis captain grinned while tossing the girls a few boxes. "Yep, I did. I didn't think we'd need it ever again. You're lucky I even bother to keep our craps."

Natsuki rolled her eyes at the spiky red haired female. "Aw shucks ya didn't have ta but never mind."

"Shikabanehime," Fuuka threw a box at Shizuru with a smirk. "I hope you're willing to draw that thing out again. Frankly, we all are. You're the only one with a combat problem."

Florence rolled her eyes at Fuuka. "I dare say that more like you're the only one who has no problem, we're not savages like you."

Fuuka narrowed her eyes at the half-British Jyosei Shounan captain before grabbing her collar. "You wanna say that to my face?"

"Sure, you're the only savage among us," Florence repeated bluntly which nearly earned her a punch in the face if not for Ai's intervention with a cheerful smile.

"Come on~, we can't fight now," Ai cheerfully smiled at the two which sent shivers down their spines, making it a sing song. "After all, we have a big day ahead of us~."

Natsuki face palmed at the three girls before taking out a holster and a gun. "Ai, didja have ta sing it like a song?"

Ai tilted her head innocently to the Shitenhouji captain. "Why~ is it bad?"

Marui gulped when he saw Yukimura Ai smiling like that. Everyone knows that this girl can be bad as buchou when not given what she wants.

Kirihara jumped up and down excitedly. "Oh oh, this is gonna be like Time Crisis right? You're going to shoot people and bugs?"

"It's not as exciting as it sounds, seaweed head," Fuuka snorted causing the said Rikkai Dai ace to glare. "I forgot; you've been stuck in water for awhile so you haven't faced a gunpoint yet now have you?"

Shizuru pulled out a small rod which extended into a full-length double edged naginata, making the others cower back in fear. Fuuka pulled out a rod which extended into a huge mallet, shocking everybody until she shrank it back. Ai grinned as she revealed her maracas while shaking a little tune whereas Natsuki reloaded all the bullets into the gun and Florence shined her needle fingers before taking a good look at them.

"You're really going to wear all that," Mai widened her eyes at Shizuru who nodded.

"Yeah, I used to wear this all the time."

Fuuka pulled out a black latex suit and threw it at Shizuru. "You're lucky I even kept spares. Honestly, how did you manage to lose yours? What do you think your uniforms are anyway?"

"This thing just gets me all choked up jus' lookin' at it ya know," Natsuki scoffed while looking at her weapon and polishing it. "To think this ain' our first rodeo with these guys. Besides, ah kinda grew a peg or two."

Shizuru twiddled with her thumbs. "I always kept tearing up mine so they always had to make a new one..."

"I use them as pyjamas," Ai jumped into the air as Florence shrugged.

Fuuka twitched while curling her hand into a fist as they turned white.

"JESUS CHRIST, ALL OF YOU GUYS ARE DUMBASSES," everyone was thrown back by the loudness of Fuuka's snap.

The four other females soon had bumps on their heads while Fuuka tapped the floor impatiently with her foot. As Shizuru suited up in hers, Mai dropped her jaw when she saw how body hugging the suit was. Atobe smirked as he looked at the five girls get ready while opening the interface to a satellite on his cellphone. Natsuki grabbed her regulars' jacket and hauled it over her shoulder as Shizuru left all her gear at one corner of the house as to not clutter it up.

"Atobe-senpai," Shizuru bowed gratefully. "Thank you for letting us use your house."

Atobe smirked at Shizuru. "Just take him down. Never let it be heard that Hyotei Gakuen had a horrible sense of security, Kurenai."

Ayane gave Shizuru a 'thumbs up' with an eccentric grin. "Show them who's boss, buchou!"

Shizuru chuckled lightly as Oishi turned to Fuuka. "Souma-san, who exactly did you call?"

"The only one who could get us information without ever moving from his spot," Fuuka grinned before stepping out the door. "Are you ninnies coming or what?"

"Ore-sama will have the satellite interface open for you, Kurenai," Atobe narrowed his eyes at the brunette. "You better make sure you can make good use of it."

Shizuru nodded before following after the other girls. "It shouldn't be a problem, senpai."

"Shizuru," Hitomi pulled out her laptop and palm pilot. "If you need anyone to hack into anything, give me a holler."

The auburn eyed captain closed the door after them with a faint smile, leaving the others to contemplate on their next move.

"Great, we have the role of babysitters," Kirihara slumped down the couch. "This is boring!"

Kiyone grinned at Ayane childishly, kicking her legs alternately. "Whatcha gonna do now, Yane?"

Ayane stroked her chin while taking a look at the situation. Oishi, being completely devastated, did not dare move from his spot and kept on focusing on the little dust bunnies on the ground. Atobe remained silent [for once] almost the entire time, analysing the situation in whatever point possible. The air loaded itself on everybody's moods and the silence became very deafening.

"Ore-sama can't take this anymore," Atobe stood up in frustration, stomping his way to the telephone.

Momo folded her arms while tucking her sword away. "We can't do anything. These people are beyond the control of the police. Atobe, you're not going to get anywhere."

"Ore-sama was planning to get info about that organization that Kurenai works for," Atobe glared at the Shinigami as he started hitting buttons. "She's not the combative type."

Momo sniggered at Hyotei's King. "How sure are you?"

Sengoku dropped his hand on Momo's shoulder with a sheepish grin. "Maybe you guys could at least tell us – seeing that... well, you guys are her teammates."

Hitomi activated her laptop and made it appear on the projector in the study. "L.X.A or League of Extraordinary Alchemists is a group of scientists and military specialists that work for the government. Most employees are either teenagers or young adults. Their daily needs are sustained by the government but in return, they have a life-long commitment to the organization itself."

"That's freaky," Kirihara shivered while thinking about it. "It's like you have Time Crisis 4 and then you have to blow up the dudes before they get to you!"

Niou rolled his eyes at the devil ace. "So, this ZODIAC group of psychopaths – the girls have to duke it out with them or something?"

"That's how it works," Hitomi theorized as she revealed a huge chart. "The organization itself has more than 200 members but there are 12 significant ones which are deemed as princesses thus, allowing us to conclude that their top members are all female."

Marui nodded, blowing up another bubble. "So, you're saying that these people are the head honchos of taking out the serial killers and stuff?"

"Precisely that," Hitomi flashed to another slide. "They are the ones who take down things that are beyond the government's control. In other terms, they are what people call the government's 'shadows' or 'watchdogs'. They are to fight without questioning the intention of the government."

Haruka shook her head. "That's terrible; how do they even manage to act normal anyway?"

"According to my other sources," Hitomi opened a few videos. "They are given acting classes to make sure they can easily blend in. So, even then – we are not sure what their real personalities are."

Atobe found a little paper boy walking around, handing out a newspaper. "Isn't that... Kurenai?"

"Very observant, Atobe," Hitomi paused the video and zoomed in on the image. "Yes, that person is the buchou that we have all come to know and love in the form of a paper boy."

Sengoku looked at the other videos, gaping at the very vivid picture. "That one looks like Fuuka... in a..."

"As quoted by one of Shizuru-buchou's favourite characters in the manga called Claymore," Hitomi sighed as she showed the videos of the three other captains. "They can laugh like an aristocrat and smile like a prostitute. They are taught to act in so many different ways in order to achieve their goal."

Ayane nodded silently while looking at the floor. "I'm going to stay outside for awhile okay?"

Everyone stared agape at Ayane who seemed less loud than usual as Atobe followed after her outside the garden. The tangerine haired girl embraced herself tightly while biting hard on her lip as Atobe silently made his way towards her. Though he preferred gaudy entrances, Ayane's silence shut that plan down instantly.

"Ayane," Atobe let her first name slip out but masking his worry with his usual arrogance. "Kurenai's not a baby. She'll survive."

The vice captain sighed, completely dejected. "You're pretty relaxed."

"Because if Kurenai can make three middle school martial arts student weep for their mothers," Atobe smirked as he leaned on the fence. "Then, ore-sama knows she can make a psychotic killer cry."

"That's not very comforting," Ayane rolled her eyes at the king.

Atobe resisted the urge to pull out his cellphone and scream at Shizuru for making all her friends worry. Ayane sadly tapped her fingers on the fence while watching the droplets dance on the leaves. Watching the once loud and obnoxious vice captain keep quiet made Atobe's heart drop rock bottom before coming up with plans to strangle the captain for making his queen worry. He couldn't think of any other way to cheer the violent girl but telling her that her captain would survive somewhat did slight work.

Honestly, that woman may be an empath but she's the worst at it.

"Atobe," –Atobe swivelled his head towards the vice captain with a puzzled stare as she snickered at him. "Thanks but you're better off goading people."

The king grunted at her before throwing his arms behind his head. "That's no way to thank ore-sama."

Ayane then flicked his forehead with a grin. "You're lucky that your garage is at the other end of your mansion."

"Or you don't carry around skillets," Atobe chuckled fondly. "You weren't exactly a fairy now were you?" Finally, she remembers!

The tangerine haired fukubuchou scoffed at Hyotei's king, giving him a droll stare. "What? Fairies work well in all fields and that includes food!"

"What are you, Tinkerbelle?"

"Oh cork it, mole diva!"

Upon glaring at one another, the two then started bursting into small fits of laughter. Atobe chuckled lightly while Ayane grinned childishly at him, as if remembering what had happened between them. All of a sudden however, the tangerine haired vice captain sadly hung her head while averting her eyes away from the male captain.

"Why," her lips began to quiver, causing Atobe to cease his laughing. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving...? Most of all – did it ever cross your mind to even say good bye to me?"

Because leaving Japan would have been unbearable for me if I saw your cheerful face fall as my last memory of you...

The male captain's arrogant mask fell through with a bitter smile etched upon his lips. His hand literally cemented itself to his side despite Atobe forcefully telling himself to try and comfort the girl. A pregnant pause wedged itself in between them while Ayane shook her head.

"Oh well," Ayane faked a cheerful chirp, waving her hand dismissively. "What's done is done."

Atobe narrowed his eyes; if there was someone he believed Ayane should not consider a role model, it was her very own captain. "Kobayagi Ayane, you're officially a horrible actress."

"Oh shut up," Ayane scowled as she wrinkled her nose at him. "You wouldn't know a talented actor even if he exploded in your face!"

Atobe smirked, gloating back at her. "At least ore-sama can wing some dramatics, unlike you."

"Ugh, whatever! You're impossible," Ayane surrendered with an annoyed squawk.

Upon hearing the yelling outside, Kiyone puffed up her cheeks as she started shoving more food into her mouth. Mai chuckled as she looked through Hitomi's web pages, seeing a whole line of dresses. Flowers were on one side while Momo and the others were sighing at the two masterminds' plan.

"Have you chosen the venue yet," Mai grinned sardonically at Hitomi who had a business smile plastered on her face. "The colour has to match with the place after all. Ayane's favourite colour is purple and it sure matches her boyfriend's hair. Even the flower arrangements have to be perfect, all the processions and everything else has to be perfect."

Kirihara scratched his head while letting out a grunt. "Geez, aren't you worried about Kurenai-san?"

Suddenly, the cheery atmosphere died down as Mai balled her hand into a fist. Hitomi hung her head before shutting down the program. Everyone remained silent as they remembered where their captain had disappeared to. Although it was better than knowing nothing, the mere thought of her fighting without their help frightened them. Haruka snapped her mouth shut, knowing that her rants about Shizuru would not help. Ayane had left the room and had Atobe to deal with and Kiyone innocently continued to wait, like a little child waiting for Santa Claus to eat his milk and cookies.

Marui deliberately slapped the upside of Kirihara's head. "You idiot, you're not supposed to make them worry even more!"

"I suppose you're right," the crimson haired tensai chuckled darkly, balling her hand into a fist. "We're always so useless when it comes to situations like this... Frankly, I'm done feeling this way..."

Sengoku leaned back before sighing. "I hate to be the bubble popper but... how are we gonna help them? We don't even know what we're up against."

Momo stared aghast at Sengoku, shaking her head in disbelief. "Who are you and what have you done to Sengoku?"

"Wha- I'm the real one, Shinigami Momo-chan~!"

Momo face palmed before sighing into her hand. "Yep, that's him. It's funny how he sometimes uses his head and in some other crucial moments he doesn't."

The whole room soon erupted into a huge fit of laughter with Sengoku pouting childishly. However, the boisterous noise soon stopped as Ayane and Atobe walked in with a smirk splashed across the king's face and Ayane letting out a frustrated snort. The moment the vice captain saw the arrangement on the blonde Mastermind's laptop, everyone realized that she was the signal for Armageddon to begin.

"WHAT WERE YOU GUYS PLANNING," Ayane screeched before staring in horror at the screen. "Senpai, what is this!"

Hitomi gave her a business smile with an evil glint in her eye. "It's simply what it shows."

Ayane pouted while folding her arms, leaving Atobe to kick back against one of the easy chairs. "So, where do we begin?"

Mai gave a dark and sardonic grin towards Atobe, causing the king of Hyotei to slightly shudder. "Atobe, you have the most connections. Time to make good use of your persuasion skills."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I didn't know that ZODIAC constructed another laboratory within five months," Shizuru bit her lower lip while looking at the huge infrastructure in front of them. "Ai-chan, did you get all the security layouts?"

Ai nodded before opening it in her cellphone only to reveal a picture of a sleeping Akutagawa Jirou instead which turned Rikkai Dai's captain tomato red. Florence stifled her laughter whereas Fuuka face palmed while Shizuru and Natsuki raised their eyebrows at the photograph. The younger Yukimura sibling fumbled with her phone for a moment before showing the whole blueprint of the facility.

"The security's tight at the second floor and first floor," Ai tapped a few buttons on her iPhone. "The third floor has a secret passage through the air ducts but unless you're as tiny as a guinea pig – cross that entrance out or if you have the malleability of a snake."

Fuuka and the other three girls snapped their heads towards the Shitenhouji captain's direction.

"What," the female kansai captain exchanged glances with the four before letting out a sigh. "Guys, ahm not gonna be squeezin' myself into that itty bitty ring."

Florence darkly sniggered at the angel from kansai. "We weren't suggesting that but your idea sounds good too."

Fuuka grunted at the two girls. "Keh, why don't we just waltz in and beat the crap out of them one by one?"

"We're trying to do this as inconspicuously as possible," Shizuru reasoned out with the Seishun Gakuen captain while sighing in defeat. "We can't just blow things up. There might be innocents inside the complex and doesn't anyone remember how much our bill cost because of property damage?"

The L.X.A princesses felt the tension plummet down on them after realizing how long the list of complaints was the first time. Their handlers nearly had an aneurysm and a stroke when they found out that the total amount for the property damage caused [although the team blamed mostly Fuuka for her brashness] resulted into eight zeros. The only way to pay it back was to rebuild everything that the said Seishun Gakuen captain had destroyed. Since then, the council had decided only to send Fuuka when she was sent somewhere to a desert to deal with guerrillas like Afghanistan or any place that has less chance of having innocents running around the battlefield. However since ZODIAC had raised the level of their security, Fuuka normally became the tanker while the others simply walked in.

"Fuuka's insanity going to have us meet Death one day," Florence smiled wistfully at the four. "It's only a matter of time when they will try to stop us with a tank or an automatic machine gun."

The red haired captain snorted at the half-British Jyosei Shounan captain. "I'm not armalite proof!"

"Before anything else," –the four girls glanced at Shizuru who started surveying the premises. "Who's going to disperse the guards?"

Fuuka rolled up her sleeves with a cocky grin. "I'd be insulted if you didn't ask."

"Ah'll go with her," Natsuki offered reluctantly before seeing Fuuka's shoulders sag. "Ah gotta make sure that the government don't get all worked up and find out that Fuuka decided to go around like a buckin' bronco."

Florence nodded while pointing to Ai and Shizuru. "You guys are the least destructive but the most accurate so, we'll have Fuuka run berserk first then we go grab the evidences."

Ai gulped while watching Fuuka and Natsuki sneak in whereas Florence stayed behind with the two. "By the way," –the honey haired female grinned sardonically at Ai. "Why do you have a picture of Hyotei's resident volleyist in your phone?"

Ai didn't seem intimidated but the flush on her face gave Florence the recognition of a jackpot. "W-well, it's just that I needed it for Yanagi-senpai. He said he needed pictures of people to classify some of his files so that it wouldn't be so hard to locate them."

"But don't files have file names and locations in computers," Shizuru raised an eyebrow at Ai who blushed even more out of embarrassment. "Also, wouldn't he have labelled his notebooks if he were handwriting most of the trivia and data?"

A loud explosion caused them to jump as a huge gray cloud of smoke wafted into the air. Florence heaved in defeat while Shizuru and Ai could only smile sheepishly at the situation at hand. Alarms blared off with more men yelling something in another language to attack some intruders that managed to crush the security defences. The three remaining princesses passed a signal to one another as they moved in through the confusion. Gun fires echoed around as Florence kicked down another soldier and snapped his neck. Shizuru quickly knocked them out after hitting their pressure points and Ai managed to dance around them, forcing the guards to slip and fall on each other.

Looking at the fallen soldiers, Fuuka grinned arrogantly before tossing back her short red hair. "Just the way I like it: dumb and ugly."

"That purdy sure was easy," Natsuki lightly kicked the body of one of the soldiers, scratching the back of her neck. "Ah can' understan' how they manage to run free like vermin on steroid!."

Florence shrugged while walking past the other corpses. "Well, that's ZODIAC Company for you. Who's scheduled for collection duty today?"

Ai grinned while shaking her maracas in which an earthquake soon followed. As a result of the small rattling, a huge mole burrowed out of the ground while smiling cutely at the Rikkai Dai captain and shocking the other four who stared in a completely bewildered way. The blue haired female brushed the nose gently of the mole with a childish laughter while pointing her maracas at the building.

"Construct an entrance please," she giggled to which the mole readily complied and created a gaping hole in the wall.

"I thought I was scary," Fuuka sweatdropped at the youngest of the captains.

The four girls wordlessly followed after Yukimura Ai when she flashed a small beam of light on their way in. The flashlight barely illuminated the hallway while they all kept their guards up, flinching and wincing at the slightest creak of wood or screech of iron. Their backs glued themselves against one another as they warily checked their surroundings, waiting for something to pounce from the darkness. Electrical wires sparked with small bits and bursts while rats and insects crawled and crept along the ruins and debris that Fuuka and Natsuki managed to create.

"You guys should be part of a demolition squad," Florence shook her head in dismay. "You guys do better than any destruction team I know."

Shizuru tensely snapped her head at every nook and cranny before slowing her breathing. "Guys, don't you think this is a little too convenient?"

"Yeah," Fuuka growled deeply before analysing the demolished structures. "It looks like we have someone with high expectations of us."

Shizuru smiled before bringing out her naginata. "Then we shouldn't fail them, no?"

"I love the way you think," Florence grinned as her claws extended into sharper nails. "Slice and dice, ladies."

Fuuka brandished her mallet with an evil grin. "This is gonna be so fun!"

Steel beams were slashed apart as the Seishun Gakuen captain pounded through the walls like a jackhammer, leaving Shizuru and Ai to search other areas for any hostilities. The place quieted down once more and sent shivers up the girls' spine until they heard a low hiss coming from behind the fallen debris and clogging smoke. Smouldering flames slowly died down while revealing a broken tube with spilled fluid contents all over the floor. Ai slowly traced her finger on the metal plating, taking a sample of the liquid that sprayed itself all over the floor. Fuuka kicked over some overheated fuse boxes and found some carcasses lying at her feet, causing her to wrinkle her nose in disgust.

"This defeats a rundown pigsty any day," Fuuka let out a disgruntled snort before kicking one of the metal pieces over. "All that's left are dead bodies of kids who have gone missing..."

Natsuki examined the bodies carefully before checking the lacerations and scars. "The problem would be more when ya dunno when things are gonna get ugly."

"The only thing we can expect is that there would be more dead bodies showing up," Florence started checking through whatever was left of the database. "We can't even predict the attacker's movements as long as there's no common denominator between these victims."

Shizuru checked the name plates lying by the capsules, feeling out the engraving on the metal pieces. "I may not know most of these people but there's one thing I can probably make as an intersection between the experimental subjects."

"What would that be," the red haired senior turned to the brunette with a sigh. "I know they're all girls but the ZODIAC organization barely got itself involved in rapist cases."

Shizuru pinched the bridge of her nose before pulling out a list. "Don't you see? Most of these girls were specialists in different fields. Oishi Haruhi if Yamaguchi-senpai told me right belonged to the National Math Team. If she was trained well enough in statistics and other kinds of tactical math, she would have been a valuable asset to them since probability would be more of her field. None of us can do that kind of work unless we're like Yamaguchi-senpai and company which we are not."

Ai shivered while flashing the light towards the wall. "Guys, I don't think the girls were being trained to be our counterparts..."

As the team gathered to where the Rikkai Dai captain stood, a whole blueprint showed papers attached to the wall at which they stared at for a few moments. Profiles of the different dead girls appeared and remained nailed to the wall without any lines for connections or whatsoever.

Fuuka pulled her hair in utter annoyance. "This is insane! ZODIAC doesn't seem to show any signs of world domination or any kind of those psychological disorders! I haven't even gotten a chance to beat the crap out of their elites! Argh, none of those pictures or killings makes any sense at all!"

Ai accessed the digital camera she had stashed before looking at the others. "Well other than that stuff attached to the wall, there's nothing here."

Tick tock tick tock tick tock

"Did anyone start up anythin'," Natsuki froze at the sound with beads of sweat trailing down her face. "I dun think this is from my mama's shop?"

Florence abruptly swivelled her head towards a red beeping timer with numbers quickly counting down.

"EVERYONE, GET OUT!"

As the whole facility combusted into a huge inferno, all four captains rolled out on a small pad of grass while sparks of fire dissolved into dying embers. Each girl dusted herself and although Fuuka found herself spitting out some grass and dirt, the evidence was locked in Yukimura Ai's digital camera. The bluenette managed to snap a few photos of the crime scene and most of them were of the bodies and the dilapidated facility. As the team went through it, another picture of a hyper Akutagawa Jirou appeared on screen which caused a flustered Ai to throw her camera into the air and smash against the pavement.

"Again," Florence sighed before rubbing her temples as the Hyotei female captain bent down to retrieve the memory card. "We see another picture of Yukimura Ai's deadliest and darkest secrets."

Natsuki raised an eyebrow at Ai, shaking her head with a smile. "Ah dun worry about it, Sugar Cube. He's as cute as a possum but he dun know the meanin' of aggervated. Ya put him next to a mine and still he won' geddup."

"But he's so adorable," Ai dreamily sighed while having an image of Jirou laughing with her popping into her head. "I mean, how can you not want to ruffle those curls of his? Kyaaaaah~, he's the cutest thing on Earth! You people know nothing!"

Fuuka groaned before slinging her arm around Ai and dragging her along. "Come on, we have a whole night of research ahead of us."

"I guess we head back to the Atobe Estate no," Florence sighed before looking at the fumes of smoke rising into the air.

A slight change in the wind caused Shizuru to snap her head towards the clump of trees, sending the other four on high alert.

"Hey, what's it with you," Fuuka slapped the brunette at the upside of her head. "Quit acting cool and let's go!"

I thought there was someone there.

Shizuru menacingly gazed at the abyss before her, noticing a slight lash out from the wind against her frame. Her vermillion orbs darkened while trying to isolate the ominous presence but to no avail. The four girls also stopped in their tracks as branches and twigs suddenly began to snap out of nowhere.

"We've got company," Fuuka let out a wolfish grin while brandishing her huge sledgehammer. "It's eradication time!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Hey Shiraishi," Kenya sauntered in as he popped open a soda can. "I met up with Kiyone-chan the other day."

The bible of Shitenhouji let out a good natured chuckle. "So I heard - you two nearly got squashed by a truck?"

"Accidents seem to follow her wherever she goes," the Naniwa Speed Star shrugged before kicking back against one of the chairs. "Kantou sure has a lot of surprises in store."

Shiraishi, upon hearing Kenya's statements, leaned against his arms while staring at the ceiling. The sandy blonde haired freshman appeared in his mind while giving him this innocent grin while running around. He couldn't help but smile at the emptiness of the ceiling until the door echoed with a loud bang and in came Tooyama bawling and freaking out about Zaizen stealing his favourite manga in which the sophomore had vehemently protested that the red haired jungle boy had probably kicked it under the bed again. However, to those who knew the Shitenhouji tennis team – Zaizen's words remained unheard. Tooyama's wailing overrode everything else and sent the whole crew into a dysfunctional roller coaster ride.

"I DID NOT STEAL IT," Zaizen snapped before plugging his ears again to listen to some tune on his MP3 player.

"Shiraishi-buchou, Zaizen stole my manga," Tooyama whined even louder than ever to which Zaizen threw up his hands in total surrender.

Shiraishi, being the understanding captain that he was, simply pat the red haired freshman on the head whilst trying to calm down the wild boy. "Don't worry; I'm sure Zaizen will be a good senpai and even help you find it, no?"

Zaizen's eyes widened until he met the "just-help-him-look-or-something-may-go-wrong" look coming from the Perfect Tennis player. "Alright, alright, get your damn ass here. Let's go find your useless comic so you can spare the world from your incessant ringing voice!"

Watching Zaizen begrudgingly walk out the door with a gleeful Tooyama, Shiraishi relaxed once again before resuming his thoughts.

"I was thinking of," Kenya's voice cut through his thoughts again. "I don't know – maybe asking Kiyone-chan out. The girl beats the maturity level of most girls and makes Tooyama look like a three year old, that's for sure. Besides, we do have similar interests. What do you think?"

"Other than being tennis players and having an ardent passion for animals," Shiraishi's voice became a little harsher and more glacial than intended. "What else do you have? You know nothing about her."

"Whoa," Kenya raised his hands in surprise while raising an eyebrow in bewilderment. "Dude, you alright? That's a first coming from you. Normally, I would think that someone skimped out on your training menu but since we just finished and Osamu-kantoku said we're pretty much finished with our quota for the day – I highly doubt that's the reason."

Where did that come from?

The Bible of Shitenhouji also started questioning himself; when did he started spewing venom at Kenya for choosing to date the small girl? Sure, the female volleyist had this way of being "innocently sadistic" as his other teammates had but the captain had his whole mind whirling with thoughts. A smile crossed his features when he held his hand high into the air and saw a smaller hand over his.

She's so adorable, cute and, Shiraishi continued daydreaming until a flying tennis ball whacked him on the head, revealing the comedic pair running amuck again.

"Koharu, how could you ogle at our captain like that," Hitouji faked his distress while falling to the ground with comical tears. "I've always been your lover~!"

Koharu ran to comfort his fallen doubles partner. "Oh Hitouji, you know I don't look at him like that~! It's just quite amazing how he looks when he smiles!"

Upon noticing the change of mood in his captain, Kenya snickered while hanging over his head. "Do you know how many women you can kill with that expression? You can probably win a battle of the bands single-handedly by smiling!"

Shiraishi chuckled good-naturedly while scratching his head bashfully. "Well, I haven't tried that yet but maybe I should."

"Getting back to the matter at hand," Kenya plopped himself on Shiraishi's bed while grinning with confidence. "I really want to ask her. Thing is... how do I do that?"

"Let me play Devil's Advocate first," Shiraishi quickly sat up from his cushion while taking a seat next to the speedy senior. "Do you think they'll let you pass?"

Kenya repeated the emphasized word at the captain in confusion. "They?"

"Kobayagi-san can humiliate a sumo wrestler on his best days," Shiraishi snickered a little when he saw the colour drain out of Kenya's face. "Sanada-san well – that's self explanatory. Hikifumi-san and Shimohi-san aren't that defenceless either. Kurenai-san may have a bewitching smile but we know and have heard from the rumours what she can do. Nagisaki-san is a tensai, enough said. Yamaguchi-san can 'accidentally' poison you just to make sure you stay away. The girl you're going after happens to be their beloved 'baby' from the team... Besides, there are probably countless men out there who are just waiting for Getsugan-san to blossom and she's not doing it slowly either. Do you know how many competitors you're going to have?"

Yeah, one of them including me.

The Shitenhouji quickly cancelled that thought from his mind while forcing out any other rash and mundane thought that could enter his head. His mind screamed out in jealousy to murderously tell Kenya to back off but being the mature man he was, Shiraishi killed the chances of him snapping at his best friend.

What in the world is going on with me?

Shiraishi's mind swirled itself in a whirlpool of emotions as he tried to sort himself out in a futile attempt to stop the blood of rising to his head and boiling at the mere thought of Kenya and Kiyone – dare he say or think it, dating. Despite only knowing her and meeting her in a few encounters, Kiyone magically sent all that stress in being a captain of these incredulously insane teammates he had away in an instant. Again, Shiraishi subconsciously found himself in a prison created by his own mind.

Getsugan Kiyone, going out with his best friend...

Getsugan Kiyone and Oshitari Kenya, laughing and going exploring together...

The female Hyotei Tennis team actually agreeing to let their beloved underclassman date Oshitari Yuushi's cousin...

All sorts of irrational thoughts flooded his seemingly empty mind as he vehemently shook his head in disgust at one single image.

Getsugan Kiyone, accepting Oshitari Kenya's confession and not even knowing how he felt...

Shiraishi soon started feeling a devil's tail now growing at his butt and a pair of horns sprouting at the top of his head. If jealousy could affect physical appearance, the Shitenhouji captain was certain that his eyes would be glaring daggers and would have been greener than his shirt. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Shiraishi slammed his face into the pillow before letting out a muffled groan.

"Hmmm, jealousy I sense in you," a cheeky chuckle came from behind him, imitating the speech mannerism of a certain Star Wars character. "Are you falling into the Dark Side, young Padawan?"

"Go away," Shiraishi responded with a muffled grunt and groan. "Go bother someone else, Chitose. Finish the whole Star Wars saga for all I care."

Chitose sat on another chair, imitating a psychologist with a pen, paper and a calculating stare. "So what seems to be the driving force of your miserable state, Shiraishi?"

"Use your Saiki Kanpatsu," Shiraishi snorted while grabbing another pillow to cover his face with.

"Number predictions are the only things possible with the Saiki Kanpatsu," Chitose frowned a bit before turning to the Naniwa Speed Star. "Did he watch some sappy Korean soap opera or something?"

Kenya shrugged his shoulders once again before grabbing off one of the pillows piled on their captain's head. "I don't know; I just mentioned going out with Getsugan Kiyone and then bam – he went into complete 'I-need-to-eat-cheese-risotto-until-I-stop-being-gloomy-Gus' mode."

Kenya, if denseness allowed to be given an award, you would have won the 'most-dense-to-the-point-he-doesn't-get-romance' prize.

His mind weighed down with a pounding headache and heartache as the thought of them going out again crossed his mind and sent him on another Amityville Misery roller coaster ride. All of a sudden, a specific sandy blonde girl smiled childishly in his mind as his heart raced wildly inside of him. A relaxed smile lazily appeared on his lips until he found someone behind her that made the whole dream become pitch black.

Kenya, standing beside her, beckoned him to come over and started confessing to the captain that he had been seeing her for awhile now.

Shiraishi pounded the pillows against his face while shoving that ridiculous dream from his mind. He called it 'ridiculous' in a sense that why should he be jealous of his best friend who was planning to bring out the small girl? Nothing intimate was going to happen; after all, Shiraishi knew what would happen if the said Speed Star would violate Kiyone's privacy and personal space.

If this is really jealousy then, this has to stop.

While deep in his thoughts, a peculiar black haired tensai roughly tossed all the pillows aside and shoved a pair of ear plugs in his ears.

"What the hell, Zaizen," Kenya stared incredulously at Zaizen scrolling through his playlist of songs. "Making him deaf with crappy music isn't going to help!"

Zaizen gave no response but Shiraishi started hearing another song blare through his ears.

Oh you could just pretend to be with her all day

Remember the feeling when you first held hands today

Imagine her in your favourite white dress

Smiling at you as if she thinks that you're the best

She tells you you and me, sitting on a tree,

K-I-S-S-I-N-G. You tell her

Baby hear me out will you marry me tonight

We're in this make believe reality

And baby it's just you and me

Shiraishi soon started moving his head to the techno beat as the song continued playing.

Coz when tonight she holds you tight

You wonder if this fantasy is right

Coz when reality comes to play

You realize you couldn't make her stay

A pang of bitterness shot through him while recalling the wild peculiar fantasies he started having of Kenya and Kiyone dating one another. He chuckled sheepishly to himself; jumping into conclusions like that and it was only one date. What could one get-together do to them anyway? Unless Kenya was the 'sweep-off-her-feet' type which the captain knew that the latter couldn't even compare to his more romance-oriented cousin, Shiraishi knew that the get-together couldn't produce instantaneous results as far as he was concerned.

Hey Daydreamer

You gotta be prepared to leave her in your fantasy

Coz when it's over, you gotta make sure

That it's you who'll be with her

Kenya noticed a sudden shift in the captain's mood, exchanged glances with the two. "What did you do?"

"Music always had mysterious healing abilities," Zaizen folded his arms with a triumphant smirk, seeing that Shiraishi somewhat moved out of his miserable mood. "Kenya-senpai, you're so dense – I bet if denseness were a category, you would have won it hands down. Your cousin should have at least added a little sappiness into your thick head."

Despite the loud bickering in the background [insults mostly coming from the sophomore], Shiraishi found himself addicted to the tune of the song. "Zaizen..."

The Naniwa tensai diverted his attention to his captain. "Yep, Capt.?"

"What song is this," Shiraishi couldn't help but have an amused smirk plastering itself on his face. "It has a catchy tune."

Zaizen shrugged his shoulders with indifferent stare. "Hey Daydreamer – the song is by a Filipino band called "Somedaydream". Apparently, the tune remains stuck in your head after hearing it a few times. You have to admit though; it does have a really good set of lyrics and song mixture. I don't normally listen to something with electronic techno instruments but this one actually has a nice blend."

"I remember the last time I let him listen to Daft Punk," Kenya ruffled the hair of the Naniwa sophomore while laughing good-humouredly. "He told me it reminds him of something he would have been on the Star Trek Official Soundtrack Album."

Shiraishi didn't bother responding anymore; his imagination had dragged him off somewhere else for the meantime.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Hyotei Female Tennis team stood agape with some of the male tennis player staring disbelievingly at the state of the five girls. Fuuka came back with the sledgehammer hauled onto her shoulder and her hair in an even bigger mess that it already was. Florence smiled sheepishly despite the mud and soil decorating her like a human chocolate cookie whereas Ai had leaves and twigs tangled in her hair, Natsuki had one whole sleeve of her latex suit torn off and Shizuru's suit already revealed the lower part of her torso and half of her legs were already seen.

"What did you guys do," Ayane screeched, making the five captains wince visibly at the volume. "YOU GUYS DIDN'T REVOLT AGAINST THE RUSSIAN POLICE DID YOU?"

Shizuru calmly retaliated to Ayane's screeching, plugging her ears in case of another outburst. "Ayane, we just had some slight trouble and interferences on the way. The injuries aren't fatal..."

"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOU HAD US WORRYING OUR BUTTS OFF," Ayane continued to nag them, scolding them like an angry mother. "I want you guys in the tub, right now, right this instant! I expect those hairs of yours to be combed out of any crap, dirt and knots! Straighten your posture, buchou – you're going to get scoliosis that way! Souma Fuuka, if this escapade ever happens again, getting yourself beaten up by savages will be the least of your problems!"

Fuuka found herself paralysed by the nagging alone, wondering how Shizuru managed to survive in Hyotei with this kind of terror. "Y-yes, ma'am!"

Seeing Fuuka's fearful frozen state, Ai giggled childishly until Haruka stalked in front of them with folded arms while tapping her foot. "Oh..."

"I may not have a ten decibel level volume," Haruka wrinkled her nose at them as she continued to chide the three, wagging her finger in front of them. "But, that doesn't mean you rambunctious children will escape unpunished."

Natsuki choked on her breath while clinging onto Florence for dear life. "My God, ta think ah thought mah mother was the only one who can make one of those big men cry..."

Marui glanced at Atobe who didn't seem to be disturbed by the loudness of Ayane's hollering. "Aren't your neighbours going to wonder about what's going on?"

"Ore-sama does not have a death wish nor does he want to shatter his eardrums," Atobe gestured to the Rikkai Dai self-proclaimed tensai. "But you're welcome to try calming her down."

"Sorry, going deaf early isn't really a priority," Marui cringed at the thought of being in the five girls' position.

Niou decided to cut in before the nagging and scolding escalated to a whole new level. "What did you girls do anyway? You got into some animal rampage or something?"

Kirihara chortled at the ridiculous predicament the angels of Japan landed themselves in. "I bet they tried to wake up a hibernating bear..."

Fuuka, glaring holes into the green eyed Devil ace of Rikkai, gritted her teeth begrudgingly before subjecting herself to Ayane's coaxing and scolding. "How do you survive this madness? It's a miracle that you haven't gone into a mental breakdown and meltdown," –she managed to sneak a whisper to the brunette.

"Tuning her out is the only remedy I have," Shizuru sighed helplessly only to get an apologetic look from her friends. "No one here knows how to survive it. Atobe probably does because he argues with her half the time but these are the rare instances that she can actually murder us with voice alone."

"This is more agonizing than the suffering coming from the Inuzuka's attacks and her special Wild Ball technique," Fuuka shook her head in defeat, realizing that she would rather suffer from Vera's crazy rants on how hot either Fuji or Tezuka was. "I seriously pity you."

Atobe had his maids shove the five girls into the bathroom, regardless of their objections. As soon as they were forced to clean up, Atobe revealed a list of names on a small pad which Hitomi quickly snatched and started calling up more web pages with information about them.

"Atobe," Ayane inhaled sharply after yelling at the five. "You're..."

Atobe cockily grinned at the tangerine haired freshman, raking his hair back. "Magnificent? Genius? Amazing?"

"Don't get your hopes up," Ayane scoffed at the purple haired senior, pursing her lips. "You're highly talented in the art of persuasion."

Atobe chortled at Ayane's poor attempt of a compliment. "Ore-sama knows you're awed by his prowess."

"Again, Andromeda still loses in a contest of ego," Ayane rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what do you have there?"

Hitomi accessed the databases from her computer. "These are the companies based on L.X.A's directory who are assisting ZODIAC in their conquests and dealings."

Oishi silently hung his head throughout the entire ordeal while stopping his palms from becoming cold and clammy. How did Haruhi suddenly become that thing? A shiver ran down his spine as he remembered her demonic lash out and how Shizuru ruthlessly and effortlessly put the girl out of her misery. The Seishun Gakuen vice captain turned to find Hitomi working hard as the light from her screen refracted off her glasses. His eyes widened in amazement and anticipation; the only other person capable of pulling off a feat like that would be Inui. However, seeing Hitomi made another blush creep up his face and another glance at Ayane made his mind abandon its common sense.

Why is it I like two girls now?

Oishi sunk into the chair before sighing at his situation and although Eiji would have been the first person he would have confided him, the acrobat had no volume control or mouth control either. Then again, the hyperactive acrobat always made an exception for him and would staple his mouth shut regarding his best friend's secrets. However, Oishi knew his worrying didn't get him anywhere but it became a lose-lose situation in which he loses his mind both ways.

"There is another way to draw them out into the open," Hitomi tilted her glasses before opening another few windows. "It's impossible to have their administration admit their black market dealings so we'll have to do this the other way; the unorthodox way."

They all turned to Hitomi who then held out an advertisement in front of them.

"Is anybody ready to enter an Urabutousatsujin?"

A deathly silence descended on them once again, having gory images flash into their minds. Atobe knew what happened down there due to some of his uncles getting involved in the betting process and most of them – didn't end with both fighters standing and congratulating each other with a job well done. Half the time, the fighting stadium remained splattered with former fighters' blood and howling audiences who just wanted to have more violence.

"Yamaguchi, you're insane," Atobe snapped moodily at the blonde Mastermind. "Those fighters are not human; they're animals that have abandoned whatever sense of humanity they have!"

Hitomi rubbed her temples before massaging the bridge of her nose. "Unless you have a better idea on how to expose them and make the public believe them then, say so now."

Nobody could object to Hitomi's proposition; these organizations disguised their tracks so well that it had the police hunting them for the last thirty years. Many people have tried and utterly failed for many of them had contract killers running about. The shadows knew more than they did; after all, they were only middle school students. Why was this any of their concern? However, curiosity did kill the cat after all.

"It's obvious that I'm in the line-up," everyone's heads swivelled towards a dripping Fuuka who started wringing her hair with a towel. "If it's anyone who could match their bloodthirstiness and their ruthless cold unfeeling souls, it's me."

Florence stepped down from the staircase, smugly grinning at the idea. "Being born with a horrible set of lungs doesn't mean I'm required to fight with a handicap."

Shizuru, shaking her brown hair dry, changed her bewitching smile into a more confident and determined smirk. "Those imbeciles don't understand their places."

Ai jumped up whilst clapping her hand in delight. "You usually need more than three in a team!"

"Ahm concludin' that because ah got the most years under mah belt," Natsuki gestured to the other five captains. "Someone needs ta babysit all these loose cannons before they blow up Tokyo, no?"

Again, the girls gained stares from the others which mostly spelled "have-you-guys-lost-your-common-sense" but no one dared to defy them after hearing and seeing what they were highly capable of. An angel again passed through the room until someone's cellphone started ringing.

Momo groaned before muttering. "Hello?"

"Momo, can I please speak to your captain?"

Momo frowned a bit at the 13th head of the Sanada family's tone. "What do you want?"

"Something you shouldn't be nosy about," –she could sense the annoyance emanating from the phone and speaker. "Let me talk to her."

The Shinigami scowled with a dark aura surrounding her, causing anyone standing near her to slowly inch away. "No."

"Momo, you are in no position to make choices for her."

The lavender haired female bore holes into the door and if shooting daggers from one's eyes were a super power, Atobe knew that his parents would be dialling up the repairman at that moment. "However, I can still filter out the bad influences before she becomes a sociopath like you."

"Momo, do you even know what sociopaths are," Sanada questioned her from the other end.

"I don't know exactly but I know you fit somewhere there in that category," Momo hissed venomously on the phone while the surrounding witnesses noticed her knuckles becoming white. "First you weasel yourself into my lifestyle and now you're trying to snatch Shizuru under everyone else's nose."

The moment the second year captain heard her name, she tapped her upperclassman on the shoulder while giving her an all-knowing look. With a defeated sigh, the female samurai begrudgingly handed her cellphone as the captain smiled apologetically at her senpai.

"Hello," she politely responded. "This is Kurenai Shizuru."

A silence came for a moment on the other end until she heard a distinct clearing of a person's throat. "... Kurenai-san, do you happen to be free on September 5?"

Shizuru ran a mental check on her schedule, finding no special event for that specific day. "Yes, why?"

"Rikkai Dai is planning to hold an Autumn Ball and Yukimura suggested that we all bring dates," –Shizuru imagined a very beet-red faced Sanada who was trying to make a futile attempt to cover his face with his usual black cap. "I was wondering if I can bring you..."

Shizuru had an ghostly smile but everyone noticed how red her face now became. Fuuka poked her and only to have the said girl as stiff as a statue. Florence noiselessly chuckled while shaking the sophomore captain but inherited no response. Ai bounced over to her while waving her hands in front of her face which usually generated a serene smile that spelled "stop-that-or-else" but somehow, the brunette remained completely petrified.

"Kurenai-san," a deep voice shook the female out of her dazed stupor. "I hope I didn't call at a bad time..."

"No," Shizuru almost yelped but snapped her mouth shut again to control her tone. "And about being your date, sure..."

Nobody in that same venue could imagine how delirious or how relieved Sanada was to hear her reply. "Ah, I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Yes," Shizuru nodded vigorously, ignoring the horrified look on Momo's face. "That's perfect..."

As both of the Zenokoku Taikai players cut the line, Momo slumped onto the couch. "Shizuru-buchou, did something hit your head or have you taken leave of your senses?"

"Momo-senpai, I see nothing wrong with accompanying Sanada-san," Shizuru reasoned out with the Shinigami, knowing how touchy the lavender haired female was with the topic. "However, I am very capable of disabling him or terminating him if he tries anything scrupulous."

"Sanada's not an idiot, Kurenai," Atobe chuckled from his easy chair. "That man barely has hormones running through his body."

Mai pointed out to Shizuru another focus. "You're forgetting someone."

Shizuru, puzzled by Mai's statement, sifted through the dancing genius' implications. "Who?"

Slapping her own forehead, Mai chuckled while glancing at Oishi before going in for the kill. "There's a man named Tezuka Kunimitsu who is clearly the rival of this man... Obviously, this is the perfect opportunity to get some significant reaction from the other statue."

Upon hearing his name, Shizuru heard her heart pounding loudly in her ears while blood rushed instantly up to her face. From the confident and calm captain, Shizuru reverted suddenly back into the timid girl that the tensai had gotten used to in First Year and Second Year middle school.

Shizuru gulped while she started stammering. "M-Mai, please don't say anything..."

"Mai," Oishi couldn't believe how Mai had calmly without even showing a hint of restraint on her straight face when she had spilled Shizuru's secret affection. "Are you serious?"

Niou checked the flicker in Shizuru's eyes before tossing another dart at Atobe's dart board. "If Nagisaki lied, Kurenai wouldn't be holding her thumb and hands near her mouth. Secondly, her face is as red as Atobe's carpet. Finally, who else knows the captain better than the tensai herself?"

Shizuru could have lunged and slapped Mai's mouth shut but the girl violently trembled from where she stood as she felt all eyes pierce through her. Most especially Fuuka who upon hearing that had started crushing the staff of her gigantic mallet. Ai covered her mouth in shock while Natsuki whistled at the impossible predicament Shizuru got trapped in.

"Actually," Oishi meekly admitted and at that moment, Fuuka felt like she wanted to die. "Tezuka did tell me he started... well... liking her."

Fuuka knew what kind of emotion could come from the stoic captain of Seigaku however, her mind completely denied it. Finally, something in his head finally clicked. BUT I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S THAT DAMN BLIND!

Shizuru however instead of being happy bitterly dismissed Oishi's words. "I highly doubt that. Souma-san seems to have a better chance than I ever will. She has a much more pleasing personality than I ever will and would probably be the perfect girlfriend whereas I'm completely... opposite."

Fuuka's ears perked up at the brunette's words; was she actually giving up on him? There was no hint of sarcasm in the younger captain's voice. "Are you a dumbass!? What kind of idiot doesn't even notice that he's been trying to get your attention!?"

Shizuru drew back, quite surprised by the red head's outburst. "S-Souma-san, what are you talking about?"

Fuuka jabbed her finger at the brunette, narrowing her eyes into a beady glare. "The man's trying to talk to you, I'm even surprised he actually allowed his boys to play against you guys. Isn't that enough? You guys even went on walks together for crying out loud! Besides, if you're not going to move - I WILL!"

"Tezuka-san could just be being friendly and polite," Shizuru furrowed her eyebrows, clearly annoyed by Fuuka's screaming at her. "Souma-san, do you realize you're becoming the very thing you detest?"

Fuuka sneered back at her, this time gripping firmly onto Shizuru's loose wet shirt. "That's because you don't know him the way I do. Secondly, you already have Hyotei Gakuen's Oshitari Yuushi, Shishido Ryou and Ohtori Choutarou wrapped around your finger! Stay within your school!"

"Frankly," Niou cut in smoothly before the bitch fight could erupt into something bigger. "I don't mind dating a girl from another school. I mean – girls from other schools are usually better because they can't fawn over you like some brain-dead fan girl. One concrete example, my leading lady Isane."

The tall Sniper would have fainted if not for Haruka standing right behind her. "N-Niou-kun, maybe we should..."

"Sure fukubuchou can get really prissy," Niou shrugged nonchalantly while throwing another dart accurately onto the middle. "But you have to remember one thing: he has a lot more firepower than Tezuka right now."

Everyone focused their attention on the Trickster who stared at them dully. "Unless you guys haven't heard about what Yukimura-buchou can do despite being as frail and sickly as he is?"

Everybody felt the air grow colder as their spines shivered at the very image of Yukimura Seiichi dominating the world. Horror immediately seized them while inching a bit away from Niou. Despite Yukimura being sickly and handicapped, everyone knew that behind that face was a man who could make Hitler look like a child. The name "devil" somehow should not have been given to Kirihara but more to the serene faced Rikkai Dai captain who made the tennis world worship Rikkai Dai.

"Who said that he won't be getting help from me either," Niou sniggered, knowing the exact reaction of everyone in the room. "Bluntly put, I think fukubuchou needs someone to make him stop being a slave driver. I think Kurenai-chan's got the treatment for it no? I don't see Isane plopping and fainting on her bed the moment she gets home. Most of my weekends are spent sleeping because of him."

"He's a chauvinist," Momo scoffed at Niou completely cutting Shizuru off. "He won't even last a day with Shizuru. He's too slow."

The Trickster cast a wary glance at the female cousin before letting out a stressed sigh. "Trust me, fukubuchou has a hard head and wouldn't believe in something unless it explodes in front of him. Another concrete example, when we were in first year – he wouldn't believe things could spontaneously combust until Yukimura played with some Manganese on some trash and flashed a camera at it. He practically set that thing ablaze."

Fuuka however continued to keep a steely gaze towards Shizuru who didn't even inch away from her former spot. Both girls refused to step away from one another as the two of them glared holes into one another as a dark silence weighed upon their shoulders. The tension dropped down on everyone and people near them could feel their mouths running dry and their lungs choking desperately for air.

This game is not over, Shizuru!

I do not intend to lose, Souma-san and neither do I believe that you should win with that kind of conviction.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Wow, this chapter was LOADED with drama. XD I won't be able to update as fast as I usually do anymore since I have my studies to focus on but I'm still working on those oneshots. Another is that I've been having some thoughts about pairing some of the other girls so if you don't mind – would you pass around some suggestions? For example, there can be AiJirou or FlorenceYagyuu and then state your reason why. It can be any of the female characters. I'd love to hear your comments.

I love SomeDayDream now! They're so amazing~!

Please review!