Chapter 27: Aozu
Ryoma paid for his drink and walked outside of the store with it. As he opened the can and started drinking from it, he was getting a familiar feeling that he's been having for a long while. The feeling was drinking Ponta, and since America does not have Ponta, he's been dying to drink it again.
He heard the sound of a jet plane above him, and he looked up into the sky at it. When his sights fell on the plane, it made him think about Ayame. She was a very bouncy girl, not to mention unpredictable, violent, and somewhat insane. Even though those sides of her often tired him out, Ryoma had missed the insanity that she gave off. Ever since she had left to Tokyo, the hotel room had been very quiet.
The last Ryoma ever heard of her was when Momo called him and told him that she was at the Ocean Festival at Rikkaidai. She was forced to play as the main role halfway through their Cinderella play, and it did not go well for the Rikkai members. While talking with Momo on the phone (smack in the middle of the night, much to Ryoma's annoyance), Ryoma heard Ayame go violent during a kissing scene, and the entire festival soon erupted into chaos because of her. This wasn't surprising to him, as he knew that Ayame loved to create riots in crowded, festive areas. He had to give her credit for ad-libbing the wedding scene though. Despite the fact that there was supposed to be kissing rather than violence, the play was given an excellent review nonetheless.
Dismissing his thoughts about Ayame, Ryoma walked down the street and passed by an alleyway. It was occupied with three teenage boys hanging around, and they were having a conversation.
"Hey," the first one said. "Rick told me earlier that there's this girl at the arcade who's kickin' ass at Street Fighter."
"A girl?" the second one asked. "You serious, bro? What's she like?"
"She's an Asian kid," the first boy replied. "She dun look old enough to look after herself."
"An Asian gal who dun look old enough to look after herself?" the third boy asked.
"Yeah," the first boy said. "She was carryin' a heavy tennis bag on her back while playin'."
"Carryin' a tennis bag?" the third boy repeated. "Could that be Ayame Kanna?"
"You know that chick?" the second boy asked.
Hearing the boys mentioning Ayame, Ryoma stopped to eavesdrop.
"You guys dunno?" the third boy asked. "Back then, she showed up in tennis tournaments and dominated them. She was the youngest female to participate in those tournaments, and she frickin' wrecked everybody in there."
"Well, if you say that she's good at tennis and that she's the one dominatin' at Street Fighter, then she must be one badass chick," the second boy said.
Ryoma walked to the nearest arcade that he could find. He entered and there was a commotion at the other side of the building. Ryoma followed the noise and found a bunch of older boys crowding around an arcade machine. He pushed his way through the crowd and saw a girl with long, jet-black hair playing at the machine, and the game was Street Fighter. She was carrying a tennis bag as she played.
'Ayame...' , Ryoma recognized her.
Watching Ayame play reminded Ryoma the times when they would play a video game together during lunch break back in Seigaku. Often times they wouldn't notice the other freshmen staring at them until they were done with their game because they would get so heated up about their competition that they become oblivious to their surroundings (which makes it very odd for Ayame, as she is almost always attentive to her surroundings).
The boys gathered around the machine watched in amazement as Ayame dominated the game. Finally, she decided to stop playing, and the crowd cleared out. As she turned around, she noticed Ryoma.
"Oh! Hey there, Ryoma!" Ayame greeted happily.
"Chiisu," Ryoma greeted, grinning. "You never told me that you were coming back today."
"Oh, which reminds me, let's go back to the hotel. I swung by there, but you weren't there, so I went out to play some games. I left a little souvenir inside of the room before I came here."
The two freshmen went back to the hotel room and Ryoma noticed a big bag on the table.
"It's in that bag over there," Ayame pointed at the bag.
Ryoma went over to the table and opened the bag.
"Ah, it's Ponta! Sankyuu!" Ryoma said enthusiastically as he took out a can and started drinking from it.
"I figured," Ayame said. "America doesn't sell Ponta, and I know how much you love to drink it. So I bought some before I took a flight back. Though carrying a big bag full of that plus my tennis bag wasn't very easy. Oh yeah, also my dad gave me some more money to use here."
"So what have you been doing back in Japan?"
"I played some of the senpai-tachi. I even beat Tezuka-senpai."
At Ayame's words, Ryoma was surprised... causing the Ponta he was drinking to go down the wrong pipe in his throat, and he started coughing. Ayame snickered at the sight.
"I guess that means there still isn't a counter to Tenimuhou no Kiwami," she said. "But damn, the match I had against the Golden Pair was intense."
"Who was your partner?" Ryoma asked.
"Nobody, I played alone against them."
This time Ryoma spat out his Ponta.
"But I still won because apparently Tenimuhou no Kiwami is better than Synchro," Ayame went on.
Ryoma wasn't sure if he was dreaming or if he actually heard Ayame correctly.
'She beat the Golden Pair by herself?' he thought in disbelief.
"Oh yeah, I got a GREAT idea that would be fun to do!" Ayame said.
"Huh...?" Ryoma snapped back to reality and it took him a second to register what Ayame said. "Oh, what is it?"
Ayame held up a pitcher of blue liquid.
'Oh no, she didn't...' Ryoma thought in horror as he recognized the liquid as a type of Inui Juice.
"While I was in Tokyo, I asked Fuji-senpai about what kind of Inui Juice he wasn't immune to," Ayame explained. "He said that it was Aozu. So then I went to Inui-senpai and asked him for the recipe plus a pitcher. I told him that I'll even take data for those who didn't pass out from the Aozu, so he agreed and gave it to me."
"Wh-what are you going to do with it?" Ryoma asked nervously, clearly terrified of the drink.
"How about we both go to a tennis court and play other people? We still have a reputation here in America, so it'd be natural for better tennis players to want to play us, right? And if any of them loses to any of us, they'll have to drink this Aozu!"
Ryoma sighed in relief, as he initially thought that Ayame was going to force him to drink the Aozu. He remembered feeling the same intense fear when he witnessed Fuji's blackout at the hands of the blue vinegar.
Nobody knows how terrifying the Aozu really is... his thoughts went. That means we'd be claiming a lot of victims...
Ryoma smirked at the thought of watching a bunch of other tennis players pass out from the Aozu. "Let's do it!"
The two freshmen walked to an empty court together. While they waited for other players to show up, they hit a light rally together and played with their weaker hands. After some time had passed, a group of teenage tennis players came up.
"Is that Ryoma Echizen and Ayame Kanna?" one of them asked.
"The Ryoma Echizen and Ayame Kanna?" a second repeated. "You mean the two Japanese kids who entered the U-16 tournaments and easily beat them?"
"They're really good," the first boy said. "Apparently they were also best friends since they were younger. I heard that Ryoma Echizen and his school won the Nationals in Japan."
"Think they'll play us?" the third boy asked.
The three teenage boys and the two teenage girls entered the courts.
"Hey, are you guys Ryoma Echizen and Ayame Kanna?" the second boy called.
Ayame and Ryoma stopped rallying and looked at the group.
"Yes, I'm Ayame and he's Ryoma," Ayame called over.
"Can we play with you both?" the first girl asked.
"We'll play you, but on one condition," Ayame called.
She walked to the bench and took out a pitcher of Aozu.
"If you lose to us, you have to drink this health juice called Aozu!" Ayame announced.
The American teenagers stared at each other. What kind of condition was that? If you lose, you have to drink this health juice? Whatever the case, they were glad they got to play the two Japanese freshmen.
Ryoma and Ayame each ended up playing singles with one of the teenagers. As they were both proud of their tennis skills, they gave the teenagers the handicap of playing with their non-dominant hands.
Ayame finished her game first. She went over to the bench and poured the Aozu from the pitcher into a plastic cup.
"As promised, you have to drink this!" Ayame handed the cup over to the girl she had beaten.
The teenage girl drank the Aozu, not noticing the sadistic look on Ayame's face. The girl shrieked as she dropped the cup and fell to the ground, passed out. The boy playing with Ryoma, distracted by the girl screaming, lost focus as Ryoma got the ball past him.
"Game," Ryoma announced. "Mada mada dane."
Ayame gave the cup of Aozu to the boy who lost to Ryoma. The two freshmen watched with pleasure as the teenage boy screamed and passed out as well. The other three teenagers stared in bewilderment.
"What's in that stuff?!" one of the boys demanded.
"It's a se-cr-et!" Ayame said, grinning. "If you do beat me or Ryoma, we'll tell you what's inside of the Aozu! Otherwise... you'll have to drink it."
In less than ten minutes, on the court were five unconscious American teenagers and two Japanese freshmen who look rather amused at the sight. This caused a bunch of stares of confusion to turn to the two young tennis players. Every once in a while a tennis player who recognized one or both of the two would get on the tennis court to challenge them, but ended up fainting from the wrath of the fearsome Aozu.
After an hour, there were a whole bunch of "corpses" on the tennis court. Ayame and Ryoma looked on, admiring their handiwork.
"Sasuga Inui-senpai," Ryoma remarked. "Nobody could withstand the Aozu."
"That was so much fun!" Ayame said cheerily.
The two freshmen walked back to their hotel room, giving off the vibe like as though they won a war. Ryoma took out another grape Ponta that Ayame brought back and started drinking it.
"I didn't bring back any cherry Ponta," Ayame said. "Too bad I don't get to celebrate with you."
Right then, Ayame's cell phone started ringing, and she picked it up. "Hello?"
"Ay-chan?" a boy's voice answered on the other end.
"Oh, Ryoga!" Ayame said, slightly excited. "What's up?"
"Are you back in America now?"
"Yeah, I came back. I'm still in the hotel room with Ryoma."
"Oh, OK. Well, I'm coming by for a visit."
"OK! I'll see you soon, then."
"What did he say?" Ryoma asked as Ayame hung up.
"Ryoga said he was gonna come by," Ayame answered.
Ayame looked over to the pitcher of Aozu.
"Ne, Ryoma," she started. "Do you wanna do this?"
"Do what?" Ryoma asked.
Ryoma noticed as Ayame's eyes fell on the Aozu, and then to the door.
"You don't mean..." Ryoma started.
"Yep, I do," Ayame said, putting on an evil grin.
Ryoma grinned. "OK, let's do it!"
Both freshmen waited until there was a knock at the door. Ayame got up and answered it.
"Yo, Ay-chan and Chibisuke!" Ryoga greeted.
"Yo," Ayame greeted as she walked back to the table and sat back down in her seat.
"Chibisuke, you're not saying hello to your onii-san?" Ryoga asked as he looked over to Ryoma, who was busy drinking his Ponta. "You're so mean."
Ryoma said nothing, but he looked up to acknowledge Ryoga before he continued to drink his Ponta.
"What's that drink you got right there?" Ryoga asked when he saw the pitcher of Aozu.
"Oh, a senpai made that," Ayame answered. "It's a health drink. Wanna drink some?"
"Sure," Ryoga answered.
Ayame and Ryoma fought a mad desire to laugh. Ayame got a cup and poured some of the Aozu from the pitcher into the cup.
"Here," she said as she gave Ryoga the cup.
Ryoga drank the cup as Ryoma and Ayame watched with intense interest like as if they expected Ryoga to drop dead on the ground. Soon after, Ryoga dropped the cup and started gagging.
"What is this?!" Ryoga demanded.
Ayame and Ryoma stared in bewilderment like as though they saw Ryoga as a ghost rather than a high school boy.
"He didn't faint," Ryoma remarked.
"I guess Ryoga is a lot tougher than we thought," Ayame sighed. "Dammit... Well, he's still affected by the drink somewhat."
Although the two freshmen were disappointed to learn that Ryoga didn't black out from the Aozu, they were amused that it still affected him, so they watched as Ryoga spent the next few minutes gagging to fight the horrible taste of the blue vinegar. Ryoga continually yelled for water, but his younger half brother and childhood friend did nothing to help and instead decided to let him suffer.
Ryoga eventually recovered. "What the hell was that?!"
"Aozu," Ayame answered. "Inui-senpai likes to make this drink called Inui Juice. Ryoma and his team are terrified of it, because it tastes so bad. The only person in the team who was able to resist them was Fuji-senpai. Except Aozu was the only Inui Juice that knocked him out."
"What, so you both decided to play a prank on me to see if I black out from it?!" Ryoga demanded.
"It was too bad that you didn't black out," Ayame said casually. "But it was still fun to watch you suffer."
"You little..." Ryoga looked ready to kill the two freshmen.
"Holy crap!" Ayame screamed, having the expression like as though she was seeing a masked man with a chainsaw. "Run for it, Ryoma!"
Ayame grabbed Ryoma's arm and took off running, dragging him along with her. She opened the door and sprinted down the hall.
"W-wait, Ayame!" Ryoma shouted.
Ayame made it to the elevators, but she suddenly calmed down right then.
"For a second there I thought Ryoga was gonna kill us," she said.
"Can we just go back now?" Ryoma asked, wanting to take an aspirin.
Both freshmen walked back to the hotel room, and Ryoga was still standing where he was before Ayame fled from the room.
"Ay-chan hasn't changed," Ryoga remarked. "Reminds me when she snapped when we stole oranges from the neighbor. Poor Dalmatian dog."
"Why did she beat it up again?" Ryoma asked, not really remembering why she had attacked it in the first place.
"It's because the dog almost bit you, Chibisuke," Ryoga answered. "Ay-chan must've sensed that you were in danger, so she tried to keep it away. But then she realized that she was going to get bit as well, so she attacked the dog."
I was pretty surprised when she attacked it... Ryoga thought. She liked house animals too. But it was nothing compared to when she first showed her violence by kicking Dad. I think Chibisuke and I stared at her for about forty solid seconds.
I wouldn't attack dogs, but I did that time... Ayame thought. I thought Ryoma was gonna get bit... I couldn't let it happen...
"Now that I recall all this, didn't you and Ryoma stare at me for about forty solid seconds after that?" Ayame asked.
Ryoga stared at her. How did she know what I was thinking?
"Ryoga? Are you okay?" Ayame was concerned about Ryoga suddenly going silent.
"Uh... yeah, I'm fine, Ay-chan," Ryoga answered as he snapped back to reality.
"Ne," Ryoma spoke up. "I'm starting to remember a time where Ayame screamed and after that, she didn't visit us for a whole week."
"Oh, right," Ryoga was slightly amused when Ryoma brought up the topic. "That was when you and I stole one of Dad's magazines. We were reading it in secret behind the couch, and then Ay-chan came over. She saw the magazine, and she looked like as though she was seeing a corpse or something. I told her that Dad reads it, and that's when she screamed "hentai" and ran from the house. It was an entire week before she stepped into the house again, but now she kicked Dad every time she saw him."
Ryoma knew that Ayame would often beat up his father because he was a pervert, but didn't remember how she found out that Nanjiroh was a pervert. Apparently she found out through the porno magazines, or so Ryoga says.
"Well, I'm leaving now," Ryoga said. "Take care of yourselves, Ay-chan and Chibisuke."
Ryoga walked out the door and closed it behind him.
"Oh well, even though I said I'd take data for Inui-senpai, I won't," Ayame said. "I only said so just so he can give the Aozu."
"Don't make me drink it..." Ryoma muttered, almost to himself.
"Oh, and since I have the recipe, maybe I'll go make some more!"
Ryoma now had a terrible feeling as Ayame looked as though she met her desire to start an undead army.