everything comes with a price

Chapter 24: Two more victims of Inui Juice!

There are times when Jude, the champion swimmer, wants to just disappear. You would not have believed what just happened. It so happened when he walked out of his room to get breakfast, and there was Atobe and Ryoma, with Pakura and Ryoga sitting at the table eating pancakes! Atobe, Ryoga and Ryoma were wearing T-shirt and short pants, looking like they have just woken up! And Pakura was in a dark blue flannel nightie! When Ryoma saw Jude, he choked on his pancake. "Jude, what are you doing up so early? I thought you usually won't wake until an hour later." He wished he had. He wished he had chosen to sleep in and never had to look at them in shorts and T-shirts looking like they had just woken up. He could have lived a full and happy life without ever having seen that. If Atobe and Ryoga looked like they had just woken up, it meant that they spent the night in the captain's and vice-captain's rooms! He was taken aback. Why did the vice-captain allow someone, especially a boy, to spend the night in her room? He sat down next to Ryoma, collected his breakfast and started eating, while the other champions slowly came out and joined them. After breakfast, all of them changed into their training gear. Today, Coach Levi was in charge of the practice matches. At some point, Pakura laced her head on Ryoga's shoulder and fell asleep. When things get even a little bit boring, she will fall asleep, pretty much like Ryoma. He shifted so that her head was resting in his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. Pakura smiled. Her head felt really good there, as if his chest had been made to fit the exact shape of his head. In fact, Ryoga had to wake her up for lunch.

Unbeknownst to them, Seigaku had a plot against the champions. Fuji stood up, with a bottle of Inui's Juice (Improved Super Royal Inui Juice Z) in hand, went to the gymnasium. He went to the water bottle marked, "Ryoma" and another unmarked one, and emptied the water bottles in the water cooler. He then filled the bottles with Inui's juice. He replaced the water bottles, smiled, and went back to lunch. They intended to get Ryoma and another champion to forfeit his match (due to bad stomach) so that they can laugh at him of being a coward and then the players would know that believing Seigaku is the right move, and also prove that the champions are not as good as they thought after all. Also, this juice can knock out someone for a week (proven once during practice at some point) , perhaps they won't recover in time for their light version of the ITM matches. After lunch, the players returned to the gym. The next match was Pakura against Kite, and she won 6-0 in 20 minutes flat, without using her left hand. She went to the bench where all the water bottles were placed. Unfortunately, she didn't bother to read the label on the water bottle. Meanwhile, Eiji tapped Fuji on the shoulder. "Fuji, we have the wrong victim. Look!" he pointed to Pakura, who was actually taking a sip. And the label on the bottle read, "Ryoma." The next second, Pakura paled, and vomited all over the gymnasium floor on one of te courts, and fainted. "Pakura!" "Princess!" "Vice-captain!" most of the champions shouted in horror. Ryoga ran over to Pakura's fallen body, and flipped her over. Coach Levi also ran over. "What happened?" said Coach Levi. All the players, including Seigaku, shook their heads, indicating they don't know what's wrong. "Send her back to her room, now." ordered Coach Levi. Ryoga picked her up bridal style, and carried her out of the gym.

"What happened, Ryoma?" said Atobe. Ryoma frowned, and picked up his water bottle. He touched the surface of the juice, tasted one drop, and immediately grimaced. It was very sour, worse than vinegar. He looked at the water bottle. It was labeled with his name. Pakura must have taken the wrong water bottle, and she didn't even bother to check. He looked at the other water bottles belonging to his fellow champions. He hoped Seigaku only meant to target him. However, after Philip's match against Oshitari Yushi (they took the court furthest away from the vomit covered one), within minutes after he drank his water bottle, without even asking the coach, he ran towards the elevator, only to faint after taking 20 steps. Ryoma grimaced as the second victim of Inui's Juice is being carried back to his room. Due to two of the champions unable to practice and the vomit needs to be cleared up, the training was cancelled. At the twelfth floor, Ryoma slumped on the couch. "What's wrong, Ryoma?" said Atobe, wrapping his arms around Ryoma's waist. Ryoma sighed. "Because of me, two of my champions are currently not in the condition for training. This is my entire fault." Atobe patted his hair gently. "The champions don't blame you for this. I am sure they know the whole situation, and Seigaku is bound to have targeted them, I am sure they are prepared for their counterattack themselves." Ryoma looked up, looking miserable. "I know! But why can't they target me instead, since I am the only enemy after all?" He cradled his head in his hands. Atobe said, "Don't worry. We do have the other schools on our side. Your champions will recover soon enough in time for the matches."