tanithryudo: (Golden Pair)
[personal profile] tanithryudo
Title: Toil and Trouble - A Kanto Semifinals Story
Series: Psidai AU
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1870
Pairings: Inui/Yanagi, Golden Pair, Sanada/Yukimura, InuKai
Warnings: OOC-ness, bit of Rikkai-bashing

Timeline: Takes place in high school with the same lineups as current continuity in junior high.

Summary: It’s Seigaku versus Rikkai at the Kanto semifinals. Yanagi, being on alternate, had found himself with free time on his hands. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong hobby to pick up with that time.

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and all associated characters belong to Konomi-sensei, not me.


Toil and Trouble
A Kanto Semi-finals Story


“You’re on alternate?”

“Aa,” Yanagi replied flatly as he turned to face his childhood friend. “You sound shocked, Sadaharu.”

Inui adjusted his glasses. “Well, I suppose I am. I’d calculated a 75% chance that you would be put with Marui on doubles.”

“Yes, it would have been nice to have our rematch, even if it was in doubles,” Yanagi mused. “But then, I’d calculated a 75% chance that your Kaidoh-kun and Momoshiro-kun would be on the Doubles 2 slot, and our Jackal-Marui pair would be sufficient for them.”

“I have played doubles with Kaidoh before,” Inui pointed out stiffly.

“Only once of note, and you lost to Hyotei’s Doubles 1.”

“We won against Higa in junior high and Kakinoki this year.”

“Like I said – only once of note.”

Inui sighed. There was just no arguing with Renji. “Fine. But it’s still disappointing not to be able to play against you again.”

Yanagi was about to agree when he was interrupted by Marui suddenly leaning over his shoulder with a pouty glare.

“Oi! Don’t dismiss us so easily! Jackal and I whupped your Kaidoh and Momoshiro pair 6-1 last time.”

Yanagi calmly shrugged the perky tensai off of his shoulder. “That is true. Marui and Jackal have improved in the past two years. You should worry more about playing them than not playing me, Sadaharu.”

Inui quirked a grin. “I have no doubt you’ve all improved, Renji,” he said. “But you’re not the only ones to do so.”

But before the testosterone-laden verbal throw-down could continue, the announcement declared the beginning of the Seigaku-Rikkai match.

“Doubles 2 please step into the court. Seigaku’s Inui-Kaidoh pair versus Rikkai’s Jakkaru-Marui pair.”

Indeed, it appeared at first that the pair with the tensai on it held the definite advantage. However, between Inui’s freaky data gathering and Kaidoh’s stubbornness at chasing every impossible shot down, Seigaku’s doubles pair was able to hold their own and then even up in the second half of the game. By the time they’d reached tiebreaker, Marui had also neared the end of his stamina. Two hours after the game began, the Inui-Kaidoh pair won the match 7-6.

Doubles 1 came next, with Rikkai’s Yagyuu-Niou pair determined to erase their humiliating defeat from the previous year. But after a strong start, they lost the second and third games to Seigaku’s Golden Pair, who were certainly not going to back down from the challenge.

Then, at the court change after the third game, an unthinkable horror occurred.

The first sign that something was wrong was when Niou suddenly dropped to the ground and began twitching violently. Before Sanada could tell him to knock off whatever prank he was playing, Yagyuu also began to choke, dropping his thermos as he did so. The bottle plunked onto the ground and the lid popped off, revealing a slow stream of viscous liquid that seemed to glow a bright magenta.

“GYAH!” Eiji ducked behind Oishi out of reflex and clutched at his partner. “It’s INUI JUICE!”

Oishi immediately checked the label on the water bottle he was just drinking out of, and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that it was the bottle of plain water he had brought from home.

Everyone else stared at Inui, who sweatdropped.

“Why’s everyone staring at me?” he protested.

“Jousei Shounen,” Momo reminded him darkly.

“I learned my lesson after that,” Inui insisted. He pointed at the Platinum Pair still shaking with seizures. “That wasn’t me.”

“Saa, if Inui-kun says so, then it must be true,” mused Yukimura. “What do you think, Renji?”

But Yanagi had already jumped onto the courts and was examining his teammates’ bottles closely, mumbling softly under his breath.

“Wait a moment. This-this is… oh… oops.”

“Oops?” Sanada echoed, suddenly next to him. “What do you mean, ‘oops’?!”

“Etou…” Yanagi carefully moved so that Yukimura was between him and his fukubuchou. “They grabbed the wrong bottles from the wrong case,” he said, pointing at the cooler box that held several normal-looking water bottles.

“But what is that stuff?” Kirihara asked, pointing at the glowing liquid spreading on the ground in apprehension.

“Well, I’ve been trying out some recipes I got from Sadaharu…” Yanagi began.

“HA! I knew it! It’s Inui Juice!” Eiji crowed from behind his human shield. “You can’t fool my eyes!”

“Anou, but if Yanagi-kun made it, shouldn’t it technically be called Yanagi Juice?” Oishi pointed out reasonably.

“Ah! It’s spreading!” bemoaned Momoshiro, who was still recalling his unforgettably painful experience in the Jousei Shounen match. “This is not cool, Inui-senpai. Not cool at all.”

Meanwhile, Kirihara was similarly spazzing out at the Rikkai stands. “Yanagi-senpai, how could you?! Just because you were on alternate and didn’t get to play Inui-san doesn’t mean you should take it out on the rest of us!”

“But that’s not--”

“Saa, I’m sure Renji didn’t mean to poison Niou and Yagyuu on purpose,” Yukimura interjected. “But since it’s happened, I suppose we have no choice but to forfeit Doubles 1.” He rose from his seat and walked toward the referee.

Yanagi knelt to pry Niou’s water bottle from his quivering hands. “It’s not like they would’ve won anyways,” he muttered darkly under his breath.

“What was that, Yanagi?” Sanada was suddenly beside him again, dropping the familiar ‘Renji’ as a clear sign of his displeasure.

“Betsu ni.”

“Singles 3,” called out the announcer before the situation could degenerate any further. “Seigaku’s Echizen versus Rikkai’s Yukimura.”

“Go Ochibi!” Eiji cheered as he bounced off the court. “One more match and we’ll win!”

Echizen shrugged at his senior’s enthusiasm and approached his opponent at the net.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Genichirou, Echizen-kun,” Yukimura murmured with a smile. “I’m glad I got to play you this time. This should be an interesting experience for both of us, ne?”

“Hn,” Echizen muttered. He turned to shoot a look at Sanada, and smirked. “Mada mada dane,” he snarked, then turned back to Yukimura. “I hope you’re better than him.”

Sanada twitched where he sat as the bench coach, his hands clenching into fists.

Over at the Seigaku stands, Momoshiro snickered aloud. “That’s our Echizen,” he declared fondly, “still such a brat.”

Yukimura was still smiling obliviously. “Why don’t you find out, Echizen-kun?”

True to his words and reputation, the Rikkai buchou took the first three games without too much trouble. But Echizen was undaunted as ever, and was gearing himself up for a counterattack after the court change break, as was his wont. Unfortunately, he was never given the chance to do so.

It was Kirihara who noticed something wrong first. “You’re frowning, Yanagi-senpai. That’s not a good sign.”

“Aa,” Yanagi murmured absently as he rummaged through the box of his concoctions that had been taken off the court. “I’m missing one of the bottles.”

There was a fearful silence among the rest of his team. Everyone, in unison, looked toward the bottle that Yukimura had just set down on the bench as he walked back onto the courts. With a slightly shaking hand, Sanada picked it up so that everyone could see the label on it.

It read “Sample 12D.”

The horrified stares now turned to where Yukimura was readying his serve. The ball went up…

…and dropped unhindered onto the ground. A racquet followed it. In a motion as graceful as Fuji under the influence of Aozu, Yukimura swooned in a dead faint.

Sanada leaped off the bench.

“YUKIMURA!”

Yanagi decided that now was a good time to start running.

Seigaku won the semi-finals with one win and two forfeits. The only one who was unhappy about the result was Echizen, who sulked about not getting a chance for a comeback from his 0-3 score.

And Yanagi, but he was rather too busy hiding from certain members of his team.


~* OMAKE *~


Inui was roused from deep sleep by a loud pounding in his head, though he was quite sure he hadn’t ingested anything alcoholic at the celebration for winning the Kanto semi-finals earlier that night. But it wasn’t until his sleeping partner snatched the pillow from under his head to bury under that Inui realized that the pounding actually came from his door.

With glasses askew and still not quite awake, Inui stumbled down the stairs, wondering who would be calling at four in the morning. Swinging the door open, he blinked owlishly at his childhood friend standing on the doorstep, looking rather frantic.

“Sadaharu! You have to help me!”

“Ah?” Inui blinked some more behind his glasses, trying vainly to kick his brain into gear. He automatically noted the uncharacteristic desperation in Yanagi’s voice, though his foggy mind couldn’t seem to churn up any functional analysis of the observation.

Yanagi took a quick nervous glance backwards. “Hide me!” he hissed, then pushed past the still half-awake Inui and quickly disappeared up the stairs. Inui heard his bedroom door slam open, and then the fainter sound of his closet door slamming close.

After a moment of failing to comprehend what just happened, Inui shrugged and closed his front door out of having nothing else to do. He was about to head back up to his comfortable, warm bed and pretend nothing strange had just happened, when he was halted by another round of pounding at the front door.

“Don’t answer it! I’m not here!” came the faint yell from upstairs, presumably from his bedroom closet.

But it was too late. Inui had already turned the handle on the door, and it was slammed open the rest of the way by his second uninvited guest of the day.

“Rikkai’s… Sanada?” The identity of his new visitor was the only thing that Inui’s sleepy brain could dredge up at the moment.

Sanada gave him a short, respectful bow. “I apologize for the intrusion, Inui-kun.”

And then the Rikkai fukubuchou brusquely pushed past Inui and resolutely stormed up the stairs. He walked into the bedroom and immediately spotted the huddled form under the pillow and blankets. Walking up to the side of the bed, Sanada was just about to yank the sheets off the hidden figure, when Kaidoh sleepily poked his head out from under the covers.

“Mmm…senpai?” mumbled the Seigaku second year, still more asleep than awake.

Sanada snatched his hand back. He paused for a moment awkwardly, before abruptly turning and yanking the closet door open.

Yanagi barely let out a tiny “yeep” before his wrist was seized and he was dragged out of the room, and then down the stairs, then out the door.

Inui was left staring blankly after the disappearing duo, one of whom had let out a final “Sadaharu, save meeeeee…” before his voice faded into the distance. He finally gave up on getting his thought processes to boot up and decided to just leave the analysis of what his memory had automatically recorded to the morning.

Closing his door firmly, Inui stumbled back upstairs and into bed.

“Was that Rikkai?” Kaidoh mumbled sleepily beside him, “or a weird dream?”

“I’m not sure, Kaoru,” Inui yawned, reappropriating his pillow and slipping an arm around his kouhai. “Ask me again in the morning.” He was asleep a scant moment later.

“Fssshhhuuu.”


~* OWARI *~




Author’s Notes: Damn plot bunnies. I know [insanejournal.com profile] cashew wanted to get Sanada poisoned, but I figured the better way to torture Sanada was to have Yukimura be the one conked out by the juice. Plus Yukimura hasn’t really suffered in any of our ideas/plans, has he? What better way than have him go out the Fuji way? ^_^

It also took me a while to decide whether to put Yanagi with Marui on Doubles 2, ‘cause if he were then I’d have wanted Yanagi to win his rematch against Inui, even if it’s in doubles. But then, I also wanted InuKai to win a doubles match too. So in the end, I decided to just use the vanilla Rikkai D2 pair. And for those who want to know, S2 and S1 were Kirihara and Sanada vs Fuji and Tezuka, respectively. So it’s not like Seigaku wasn’t going to win anyhow. But I didn’t want to waste space with matches I didn’t care about, so I guess Seigaku gets to sweep this 3-0. Poor Rikkai. I’d almost feel sorry for them… almost.

After like 3 different names, I'm currently settling on "Toil and Trouble", from the Shakespeare line from MacBeth ("Double, double, toil and trouble / Fire burn and cauldron bubble").

Translations:
Betsu ni = Nothing

Addendum: Edited for grammar

Nike Dunk High

Date: 2010-08-24 05:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] llklkl.insanejournal.com
In reality awesome educational webpage posting right here and I just
planned to comment & thank you for posting this. I’ve bookmarked youi
blog and I’ll be back to read additional inside the long term my
friend! Also nice colors on the layout, it is extremely easy on the
eyes.Nike Dunk
High
(http://www.nikedunksairmax.com/nike_dunk_high)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-09-16 09:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xinqing.insanejournal.com
The straps of our Rolex replica Cartier (http://www.classic-replica.com/cartier-watches.html) are made out of genuine leather. As well as the cases, the straps feature all the necessary markings inside.All Rolex replica Cartier Watches (http://www.classic-replica.com/cartier-watches.html) available at our online replica Replica Cartier (http://www.classic-replica.com/cartier-watches.html) store have the same weight as the original Replica Cartier Watches (http://www.classic-replica.com/cartier-watches.html) .

(no subject)

Date: 2010-09-16 09:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xinqing.insanejournal.com
you can buy a great Franck Muller (http://www.classic-replica.com/franck-muller-watches.html) for yourself or you can make a fantastic gift for your friend. Consider Rolex replica Franck Muller Watches (http://www.classic-replica.com/franck-muller-watches.html) when looking for a gift for the one whom you love!Rolex Deep Sea is the Replica Franck Muller (http://www.classic-replica.com/franck-muller-watches.html) model that was released in the middle of the 20th century. First of all, this was an innovative dive Replica Franck Muller Watches (http://www.classic-replica.com/franck-muller-watches.html) model.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-09-16 09:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xinqing.insanejournal.com
The IWC (http://www.classic-replica.com/iwc-watches.html) together with Trieste descended in the Mariana Trench in Pacific Ocean. In this great experiment the Replica IWC (http://www.classic-replica.com/iwc-watches.html) that was fixed to the outside of the bathyscaphe withstood extreme pressure of 1,150 atm. your IWC Watches (http://www.classic-replica.com/iwc-watches.html) is as precise as on the surface.” Last year at Baselworld 2008 Rolex presented its new Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller Deepsea Replica IWC Watches (http://www.classic-replica.com/iwc-watches.html) for professional divers who want to conquer new extreme depths.

Nike Dunk Low

Date: 2010-10-16 12:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kemimily.insanejournal.com
I was really happy to locate this web page.I wanted to give thanks to you against this great go through!! I absolutely enjoying each little bit of it and that i have you bookmarked to take a look at new stuff you article.Nike Dunk Low (http://www.nikedunksairmax.com/nike_dunk_low)

Nike Dunk Low

Date: 2010-11-10 01:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hunakly.insanejournal.com
Thanks to your good posts to us,and hope to become better then,and good luck!I'll abide by your new posts,and so pleasure for making you as my excellent pal!.Nike Dunk Low (http://www.nikedunksairmax.com/nike_dunk_low)
Page generated Jan. 5th, 2026 03:49 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios