Fanfic100 - Middles
Title: Caught in the Fight between Good and Evil
Fandom: Prince of Tennis: Fudomine Chuugaku
Characters: Tachibana An, Tachibana Kippei, Fuji Yuuta, Fuji Syuusuke, Ohtori Choutarou, Shishido Ryou, Kisarazu Ryou, Kisarazu Atsushi, Okasada Tomoka, Ryuuzaki Sakuno
Prompt: 002 - Middles
Word Count: 2063
Date finished: 08/20/2007
Rating: PG
Summary: An finds out exactly who is on her brother's other team.
Author's Notes: YAY! I am SO excited about this. Seriously. I can't even remember where I got the idea, but it hit and boom. I have my crossover! Yes! It's a CROSSOVER, and it even works (mostly). Yay!
Disclaimer2: Power Rangers owned by... Disney? Saban? Again. Not me.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.
Tachibana An gave up on yelling down the hallway and turned around to face the people who shared her cell with her. She hadn't actually looked all that closely before, too angry about her own capture to really pay much attention to who else was there. She was a little surprised to find that she recognized almost everyone, and from their presence she could guess the identity of the rest of her brother's team.
Fuji Yuuta looked as resigned as she felt - and as annoyed. Considering what she'd seen on TV, from the news coverage, it was his brother, not the manager, who followed Kippei. And the resignation? Oh, he knew why he was there, which meant, he knew his brother was on the team. Interesting.
Osakada Tomoka flashed between confusion and anger, but the loud first year from Seigaku was quiet, now. Maybe she was here because of.... An's brain balked. No way was Echizen on the team! Not with the kind of teamwork they had to pull off.
That left one she didn't know that well, a tall second year in an Hyotei uniform, and one she'd never seen before, a boy with long black hair and a red cap. His school insignia was unfamiliar and too far away for her to read.
"You're Atsushi's twin, aren't you?" Yuuta broke the silence that had gone on too long anyway.
The boy in the cap looked up. "Yes," he said. "You are?"
"Fuji Yuuta. I'm on the tennis team with Atsushi."
Recognition flared in the boy's eyes. "Ah, yes. Saeki's mentioned you and your brother. Kisarazu Ryou."
The boy from Hyotei looked up, something in the exchange catching his attention. "Maybe the rest of us should introduce ourselves?" he asked. "Ohtori Choutarou." The introductions went around the cell; with the exception of Ryou, they all at least knew of each other. "Where are we?" Ohtori asked when An had finished introducing herself.
"Zarak's ship," An said. "At least, that's my guess."
"Why are we here?" Tomo asked, and An could barely hear her. Strange... usually, no one could miss her.
"Probably bait," Yuuta said.
"Bait for who?" Ohtori asked.
"Who is he trying to catch?" Tomo asked, almost at the same time.
"The Power Rangers," An said.
Ryou started. "Wait. I thought that was a hoax!"
The rest of them stared at him. "Where are you from?" An asked, stunned.
"Chiba," Yuuta answered.
"Ah," Tomo said.
"No. Not a hoax," Ohtori said. "But I don't understand. Why would we be bait?"
An glanced at Yuuta, to find he was watching her. She lifted an eyebrow in question; he shrugged. "Zarak thinks we're connected to them," she explained.
Ryou stared at her, eyes wide. "You're suggesting my brother is a Power Ranger?"
"My sister can't be," Ohtori said.
"No," Tomo said, "but Shishido could be, Ohtori-san."
An's eyes widened in surprise, and she couldn't keep from laughing. Oh, she knew that name! She also knew exactly which Ranger Shishido was, considering the clash between the Red and Blue Rangers when the team had first appeared.
"What's so funny?" Tomo asked.
"Just... things make sense, now," she said, knowing full well she was being vague.
"Like what?" Ohtori asked.
"Ranger dynamics." Which didn't explain anything.
Apparently, she'd even managed to confuse Yuuta, but he shrugged it off faster than the others. "Do you know the whole team?" he asked, leaning forward.
"I think so," she said, and indicated herself. "Red. Blue." She gestured next at Ohtori.
"Yellow," Yuuta said before she could guess.
An grinned. "Good. That leaves Green for Ryou, and Pink for Tomo." Which meant Sakuno. The poor girl must be terrified out of her mind!
"Atsushi's the Green Ranger?" Ryou stammered, incredulous. An had to sympathize; it was one thing to find out that what you thought was a hoax was true - and something else entirely to find out your twin, no less, was up to his eyeballs in it.
"Can you think of any other reason you'd be here?" Yuuta asked.
Ryou stared at him. "No," he said faintly.
"Pink?" Tomo asked. "You mean… Sakuno?" Tomo looked like she wanted to faint.
Ohtori looked at An. "Your brother, then?" he asked. "His name is Kippei, right?"
An nodded.
Ohtori laughed. "That does make a lot of sense!"
"Why?" Ryou asked as Yuuta and Tomo merely smiled.
An grinned. "It has to do with the Prefectural tournament," she said, and explained what had happened.
Ryou laughed when she'd finished. "That must have made it difficult to work together," he agreed.
A more comfortable silence fell, then. "I think we should keep it quiet that we know," Tomo said after a moment. "They don't need an extra worry."
"We're an extra worry by just existing," Ohtori said.
"Actually, she's right," Yuuta said. "It's one thing to be worried about us because Zarak can grab us - which I bet he doesn't do again - and another thing completely to be worried because we'll let that information out."
A yell followed by a nasty crunch made them all fall quiet. "The cavalry has arrived," An muttered, and it must have been louder than she thought, because Yuuta snickered.
Ryou moved first, getting to his feet and going to the door.
An saw him reach for it. "Don't...."
"Ouch!" He jumped back, shaking his hand.
"...touch it," she finished. "Electricity."
"Yeah. Thanks." He gave her a wry grin and stepped up to the door again - and froze. "Oh."
An turned; just opposite Ryou stood the Blue Ranger. "Step back," he said. The voice was mechanical, sexless - not that the spandex hid much. Ryou did so, then again as the door buckled and collapsed. The rest of them scrambled to their feet. "One more cell he won't be using," the Blue Ranger muttered, then he looked over the prisoners. "Everyone okay?"
"We're fine," Yuuta said, sounding like he was amused and trying to hide it.
"This way, then," the Blue Ranger said, indicating that they go to his right. Yuuta led the way, and the rest followed. Tomo fell into step with An and took her hand.
"Why aren't you scared?" she whispered.
"Because I know that Zarak is now regretting ever having captured us," An said softly. "Getting caught in the middle, between his own desires and the Ranger's anger, can't be fun. At all."
"Quiet," the Blue Ranger urged, and they fell silent.
The group crept down the hallway to a junction, where the Yellow Ranger met them. He led them to the left, into a small room where the other three dispatched the last of the guards.
"Is this all of them?" the Red Ranger asked.
"Yeah," the Blue Ranger said.
"Good. Let's go." He took An's arm - it even looked random - and she noticed each of the Rangers grab a hostage before the ship and everything disappeared. When her vision cleared, An stood in a small grove of trees, her arm still in the Red Rangers gentle grip.
"Wow," Tomo enthused. "That was cool. Not the whole getting captured part, but the rest."
"Yes," Ryou said, staring around, wide-eyed. "That was... cool."
"I'm glad." Even with his voice altered, An could hear the dry tone in the Blue Ranger's voice.
"Where can I take you?" the Red Ranger asked An.
"Fudomine," she said automatically. "My books are there, and my brother's probably worried sick."
He nodded, and the small grove vanished again.
Epilog: RED
Kippei met her as she left the gates of the school. "Where have you been?" he demanded. "I thought you'd left!"
An smiled. "Zarak decided I'd make a good prisoner," she said.
His eyes widened. "Are you okay?" he demanded.
"I'm fine. The Rangers came and got us before he could do anything. Thankfully," she added.
"Us?" But it wasn't as sharp as it might have been, which meant he was calming down.
"There were five of us," she said - and resolved to get in contact with each of them, so they could have a support group. They'd have to get Ryou's number somehow; maybe Yuuta could get it?
Kippei shook his head. "That thing is so weird," he muttered, and started toward home. "Tell me exactly what happened," he said as she fell into step with him.
Epilog: BLUE
Choutarou put his racquet away and turned to his doubles partner. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Shishido looked up at him from the bench where he was tying his shoelaces, trying to look innocent and failing miserably. "What?"
"You've been watching me all day, like you're afraid I'll vanish."
Shishido stood up. "In case you've forgotten," he said acidly, "you did vanish yesterday, Choutarou."
Choutarou sighed. "Nothing happened. I didn't even see Zarak. We sat around and convinced the boy from Chiba the Power Rangers weren't a hoax - and their appearance helped. You're going to drive me crazy," he added at his partner's dubious look. "If something happens to me, the Rangers will be there to get me out of it."
"Good thing," Shishido muttered. Choutarou turned away to hide his smile.
Epilog: YELLOW
Getting into Atsushi's bag to get his phone and get his twin's phone number was difficult at the best of times, Yuuta decided the next afternoon. When Syuusuke was hanging around, it was impossible. "What do you want?" he finally snapped at his brother.
"Is it so odd that I want to see how you're doing?" Syuusuke asked.
"Yes!" But then he softened; his brother was just worried that he was okay. "Why now?" he asked.
"Tomoka said you were there, on Zarak's ship," Syuusuke said, his eyes opening a little.
Yuuta shrugged - but couldn't suppress a shudder. "I was. Nothing happened to us, Syuusuke. The Rangers came in time."
"Thank goodness for that." The sliver of blue vanished again.
"Yes," Yuuta agree fervently.
In the end, Yuuta had to ask Shinya for help; Atsushi's roommate and doubles partner got Ryou's number from the phone while Atsushi was in the shower.
Epilog: GREEN
A hand fell on Ryou's shoulder and he flinched, startled out of his thoughts. "Your mind is somewhere other than the courts," Saeki Kojirou said. "Ojii said to send you home. You nearly got brained, and I don't think you even saw the ball."
Ryou stared at him, then turned to look at their coach, who waved good-bye at him. "Uh, yeah. Okay. Thanks."
He quite literally cursed Chiba with each step, frustrated at being so far away. He'd checked the news from Tokyo before going out to practice, and had seen something he'd never expected. Zarak had targeted Atsushi that afternoon. Oh, Ryou knew it was the Green Ranger Zarak was targeting, but still.
His phone rang, and he dug it out of his bag. The text message on the small screen made him stagger in relief.
A is fine. Attended practice. Yuuta
Shaking, he sank down on the bench at the bus stop, phone clenched in his fist. It was a complete relief to have friends - how Yuuta had gotten his number, he couldn't imagine - willing to reassure him. It was a few minutes before he could send back a thank you.
By the end of the day, he'd gotten three more messages - from Ohtori, Tomo, and An. Maybe he could survive this.
Epilog: PINK
"Ryoma-sama!" Tomo called, but the cheer was only half-hearted and done out of habit. Next to her, Sakuno didn't flinch.
Oh, Tomo had noticed how she'd changed. Sakuno still blushed when Ryoma noticed her, but there was more confidence in her schoolwork and her tennis. Tomo had also noticed that she'd become friends with Fuji. Tomo was glad; she suspected that was also a part of her friend's new-found confidence.
"Are you recovered?" Sakuno asked after a moment.
Tomo looked at her in confusion. "From?"
Sakuno looked at her with rare intensity. "From Zarak."
Tomo smiled. "He didn't do anything to me," she said, turning back to the match. "He wouldn't dare." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sakuno look at her in confusion, but didn't look back, pretending her whole attention was on the match before her.
"How is Echizen-kun doing?"
Tomo turned to Tachibana An, grinning her welcome. "He'll win, of course," she said.
"Tomo-chan," Sakuno said, blushing, and An winked. Tomo laughed.
Fudomine
Fandom: Prince of Tennis: Fudomine Chuugaku
Characters: Tachibana An, Tachibana Kippei, Fuji Yuuta, Fuji Syuusuke, Ohtori Choutarou, Shishido Ryou, Kisarazu Ryou, Kisarazu Atsushi, Okasada Tomoka, Ryuuzaki Sakuno
Prompt: 002 - Middles
Word Count: 2063
Date finished: 08/20/2007
Rating: PG
Summary: An finds out exactly who is on her brother's other team.
Author's Notes: YAY! I am SO excited about this. Seriously. I can't even remember where I got the idea, but it hit and boom. I have my crossover! Yes! It's a CROSSOVER, and it even works (mostly). Yay!
Disclaimer2: Power Rangers owned by... Disney? Saban? Again. Not me.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.
Tachibana An gave up on yelling down the hallway and turned around to face the people who shared her cell with her. She hadn't actually looked all that closely before, too angry about her own capture to really pay much attention to who else was there. She was a little surprised to find that she recognized almost everyone, and from their presence she could guess the identity of the rest of her brother's team.
Fuji Yuuta looked as resigned as she felt - and as annoyed. Considering what she'd seen on TV, from the news coverage, it was his brother, not the manager, who followed Kippei. And the resignation? Oh, he knew why he was there, which meant, he knew his brother was on the team. Interesting.
Osakada Tomoka flashed between confusion and anger, but the loud first year from Seigaku was quiet, now. Maybe she was here because of.... An's brain balked. No way was Echizen on the team! Not with the kind of teamwork they had to pull off.
That left one she didn't know that well, a tall second year in an Hyotei uniform, and one she'd never seen before, a boy with long black hair and a red cap. His school insignia was unfamiliar and too far away for her to read.
"You're Atsushi's twin, aren't you?" Yuuta broke the silence that had gone on too long anyway.
The boy in the cap looked up. "Yes," he said. "You are?"
"Fuji Yuuta. I'm on the tennis team with Atsushi."
Recognition flared in the boy's eyes. "Ah, yes. Saeki's mentioned you and your brother. Kisarazu Ryou."
The boy from Hyotei looked up, something in the exchange catching his attention. "Maybe the rest of us should introduce ourselves?" he asked. "Ohtori Choutarou." The introductions went around the cell; with the exception of Ryou, they all at least knew of each other. "Where are we?" Ohtori asked when An had finished introducing herself.
"Zarak's ship," An said. "At least, that's my guess."
"Why are we here?" Tomo asked, and An could barely hear her. Strange... usually, no one could miss her.
"Probably bait," Yuuta said.
"Bait for who?" Ohtori asked.
"Who is he trying to catch?" Tomo asked, almost at the same time.
"The Power Rangers," An said.
Ryou started. "Wait. I thought that was a hoax!"
The rest of them stared at him. "Where are you from?" An asked, stunned.
"Chiba," Yuuta answered.
"Ah," Tomo said.
"No. Not a hoax," Ohtori said. "But I don't understand. Why would we be bait?"
An glanced at Yuuta, to find he was watching her. She lifted an eyebrow in question; he shrugged. "Zarak thinks we're connected to them," she explained.
Ryou stared at her, eyes wide. "You're suggesting my brother is a Power Ranger?"
"My sister can't be," Ohtori said.
"No," Tomo said, "but Shishido could be, Ohtori-san."
An's eyes widened in surprise, and she couldn't keep from laughing. Oh, she knew that name! She also knew exactly which Ranger Shishido was, considering the clash between the Red and Blue Rangers when the team had first appeared.
"What's so funny?" Tomo asked.
"Just... things make sense, now," she said, knowing full well she was being vague.
"Like what?" Ohtori asked.
"Ranger dynamics." Which didn't explain anything.
Apparently, she'd even managed to confuse Yuuta, but he shrugged it off faster than the others. "Do you know the whole team?" he asked, leaning forward.
"I think so," she said, and indicated herself. "Red. Blue." She gestured next at Ohtori.
"Yellow," Yuuta said before she could guess.
An grinned. "Good. That leaves Green for Ryou, and Pink for Tomo." Which meant Sakuno. The poor girl must be terrified out of her mind!
"Atsushi's the Green Ranger?" Ryou stammered, incredulous. An had to sympathize; it was one thing to find out that what you thought was a hoax was true - and something else entirely to find out your twin, no less, was up to his eyeballs in it.
"Can you think of any other reason you'd be here?" Yuuta asked.
Ryou stared at him. "No," he said faintly.
"Pink?" Tomo asked. "You mean… Sakuno?" Tomo looked like she wanted to faint.
Ohtori looked at An. "Your brother, then?" he asked. "His name is Kippei, right?"
An nodded.
Ohtori laughed. "That does make a lot of sense!"
"Why?" Ryou asked as Yuuta and Tomo merely smiled.
An grinned. "It has to do with the Prefectural tournament," she said, and explained what had happened.
Ryou laughed when she'd finished. "That must have made it difficult to work together," he agreed.
A more comfortable silence fell, then. "I think we should keep it quiet that we know," Tomo said after a moment. "They don't need an extra worry."
"We're an extra worry by just existing," Ohtori said.
"Actually, she's right," Yuuta said. "It's one thing to be worried about us because Zarak can grab us - which I bet he doesn't do again - and another thing completely to be worried because we'll let that information out."
A yell followed by a nasty crunch made them all fall quiet. "The cavalry has arrived," An muttered, and it must have been louder than she thought, because Yuuta snickered.
Ryou moved first, getting to his feet and going to the door.
An saw him reach for it. "Don't...."
"Ouch!" He jumped back, shaking his hand.
"...touch it," she finished. "Electricity."
"Yeah. Thanks." He gave her a wry grin and stepped up to the door again - and froze. "Oh."
An turned; just opposite Ryou stood the Blue Ranger. "Step back," he said. The voice was mechanical, sexless - not that the spandex hid much. Ryou did so, then again as the door buckled and collapsed. The rest of them scrambled to their feet. "One more cell he won't be using," the Blue Ranger muttered, then he looked over the prisoners. "Everyone okay?"
"We're fine," Yuuta said, sounding like he was amused and trying to hide it.
"This way, then," the Blue Ranger said, indicating that they go to his right. Yuuta led the way, and the rest followed. Tomo fell into step with An and took her hand.
"Why aren't you scared?" she whispered.
"Because I know that Zarak is now regretting ever having captured us," An said softly. "Getting caught in the middle, between his own desires and the Ranger's anger, can't be fun. At all."
"Quiet," the Blue Ranger urged, and they fell silent.
The group crept down the hallway to a junction, where the Yellow Ranger met them. He led them to the left, into a small room where the other three dispatched the last of the guards.
"Is this all of them?" the Red Ranger asked.
"Yeah," the Blue Ranger said.
"Good. Let's go." He took An's arm - it even looked random - and she noticed each of the Rangers grab a hostage before the ship and everything disappeared. When her vision cleared, An stood in a small grove of trees, her arm still in the Red Rangers gentle grip.
"Wow," Tomo enthused. "That was cool. Not the whole getting captured part, but the rest."
"Yes," Ryou said, staring around, wide-eyed. "That was... cool."
"I'm glad." Even with his voice altered, An could hear the dry tone in the Blue Ranger's voice.
"Where can I take you?" the Red Ranger asked An.
"Fudomine," she said automatically. "My books are there, and my brother's probably worried sick."
He nodded, and the small grove vanished again.
Epilog: RED
Kippei met her as she left the gates of the school. "Where have you been?" he demanded. "I thought you'd left!"
An smiled. "Zarak decided I'd make a good prisoner," she said.
His eyes widened. "Are you okay?" he demanded.
"I'm fine. The Rangers came and got us before he could do anything. Thankfully," she added.
"Us?" But it wasn't as sharp as it might have been, which meant he was calming down.
"There were five of us," she said - and resolved to get in contact with each of them, so they could have a support group. They'd have to get Ryou's number somehow; maybe Yuuta could get it?
Kippei shook his head. "That thing is so weird," he muttered, and started toward home. "Tell me exactly what happened," he said as she fell into step with him.
Epilog: BLUE
Choutarou put his racquet away and turned to his doubles partner. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Shishido looked up at him from the bench where he was tying his shoelaces, trying to look innocent and failing miserably. "What?"
"You've been watching me all day, like you're afraid I'll vanish."
Shishido stood up. "In case you've forgotten," he said acidly, "you did vanish yesterday, Choutarou."
Choutarou sighed. "Nothing happened. I didn't even see Zarak. We sat around and convinced the boy from Chiba the Power Rangers weren't a hoax - and their appearance helped. You're going to drive me crazy," he added at his partner's dubious look. "If something happens to me, the Rangers will be there to get me out of it."
"Good thing," Shishido muttered. Choutarou turned away to hide his smile.
Epilog: YELLOW
Getting into Atsushi's bag to get his phone and get his twin's phone number was difficult at the best of times, Yuuta decided the next afternoon. When Syuusuke was hanging around, it was impossible. "What do you want?" he finally snapped at his brother.
"Is it so odd that I want to see how you're doing?" Syuusuke asked.
"Yes!" But then he softened; his brother was just worried that he was okay. "Why now?" he asked.
"Tomoka said you were there, on Zarak's ship," Syuusuke said, his eyes opening a little.
Yuuta shrugged - but couldn't suppress a shudder. "I was. Nothing happened to us, Syuusuke. The Rangers came in time."
"Thank goodness for that." The sliver of blue vanished again.
"Yes," Yuuta agree fervently.
In the end, Yuuta had to ask Shinya for help; Atsushi's roommate and doubles partner got Ryou's number from the phone while Atsushi was in the shower.
Epilog: GREEN
A hand fell on Ryou's shoulder and he flinched, startled out of his thoughts. "Your mind is somewhere other than the courts," Saeki Kojirou said. "Ojii said to send you home. You nearly got brained, and I don't think you even saw the ball."
Ryou stared at him, then turned to look at their coach, who waved good-bye at him. "Uh, yeah. Okay. Thanks."
He quite literally cursed Chiba with each step, frustrated at being so far away. He'd checked the news from Tokyo before going out to practice, and had seen something he'd never expected. Zarak had targeted Atsushi that afternoon. Oh, Ryou knew it was the Green Ranger Zarak was targeting, but still.
His phone rang, and he dug it out of his bag. The text message on the small screen made him stagger in relief.
A is fine. Attended practice. Yuuta
Shaking, he sank down on the bench at the bus stop, phone clenched in his fist. It was a complete relief to have friends - how Yuuta had gotten his number, he couldn't imagine - willing to reassure him. It was a few minutes before he could send back a thank you.
By the end of the day, he'd gotten three more messages - from Ohtori, Tomo, and An. Maybe he could survive this.
Epilog: PINK
"Ryoma-sama!" Tomo called, but the cheer was only half-hearted and done out of habit. Next to her, Sakuno didn't flinch.
Oh, Tomo had noticed how she'd changed. Sakuno still blushed when Ryoma noticed her, but there was more confidence in her schoolwork and her tennis. Tomo had also noticed that she'd become friends with Fuji. Tomo was glad; she suspected that was also a part of her friend's new-found confidence.
"Are you recovered?" Sakuno asked after a moment.
Tomo looked at her in confusion. "From?"
Sakuno looked at her with rare intensity. "From Zarak."
Tomo smiled. "He didn't do anything to me," she said, turning back to the match. "He wouldn't dare." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sakuno look at her in confusion, but didn't look back, pretending her whole attention was on the match before her.
"How is Echizen-kun doing?"
Tomo turned to Tachibana An, grinning her welcome. "He'll win, of course," she said.
"Tomo-chan," Sakuno said, blushing, and An winked. Tomo laughed.
Fudomine