A/N: Who would have thought I would finish this first than the other fics I'm working on. This is my 3rd POT fic (peace sign). Timeline: somewhere between episodes 140-164. You'll know why as you read on. Hehe.

DISCLAIMER: Good thing I don't own Prince of Tennis. Otherwise I would have Fuji and Eiji together most of the time…goodness, what would happen to the story line if that were the case…I don't own any (nor do you) just the fic, don't sue me.

THE FUJI SYUUSUKE SCRAPBOOK

It was a typical afternoon. The setting sun turned every colored thing orange: the walls, the trees, and the skies.

The Seigaku Team had just finished their practice. Some of the members were retching at one side of the court after drinking mugs of Inui's juice. Some first years picked up scattered balls. Some regular members washed their faces and bodies. Still some decided to go home already. Momoshiro and Echizen fell under the last category.

"The practice today is twice as hard, twice as hard," Momo-chan scratched his nape as he stretched his tired muscles, hitting Echizen's cap askew.

"Be careful, Momo-senpai," Ryoma fixed his cap and looked ahead to the school gates. His sharp eyes saw something unusual. "Hey, Momo-senpai, how many trees do you know have blue trunks?"

"Baka-Echizen!" The older one replied as he intentionally pushed his kohai's cap down to the latter's eyes. "No such tree exists! No such tree. I think your mind is fogged up by Inui's juice. Come on. Let's wash that down with hamburger and cola."

"Then what is that?" Ryoma pointed at a nearby school tree with uncharacteristically blue trunk.

"Kurumi-chan!" Momoshiro exclaimed as he saw the blue haired elementary school girl futilely hiding behind a tree.

"Momo-oniichan!" the said girl revealed herself completely, realizing how ineffective her concealment was. She then approached the two Seigaku regulars and bowed deeply.

"What are you doing here?"

"A—a—anou…" she began, not meeting Momoshiro's eyes. Then, she looked at Echizen as if seeing him for the first time that afternoon. "Ah! Echizen-niichan is here, too!"

Echizen held the tip of his cap. "Fuji-senpai is still at the tennis courts."

The elementary school girl blushed to the roots of her blue hair. "Anou, I didn't come here to see him. I—"

"Eh?" the boys exclaimed in unison as they look at her with wonder.

….

At the burger joint…

"Nani? So you are not Kurumi after all!" Momoshiro said, looking at the girl more closely.

Echizen smiled. "That's why you don't have a braid."

Narumi could only blush and look at the pink soda, swirling before her.

"Is that the reason that you don't want him to see you in school?" Momoshiro asked, a little bewildered at the turn out of events. Sentimental things meant little to him even if he was the most passionate member of the Seigaku team. Confessing affection and spending time with the important person in his life was more important than any symbolic material.

"I thought doing it secretly can mean more. I think it would make her think of how much effort I put into this and she can appreciate it more," Narumi replied. "Please don't tell Kurumi and Fuji-oniichan about this. Onegai!"

"Momoshiro planted an understanding smile on his face. "So desu ne."

Ryoma munched on the last bite of his burger and crumpled the wrapper. "But Fuji-senpai easily appreciates people more than what you think."

"Eh? How so?"

"Well," Ryoma muttered. He wasn't quite used to explaining other person's characteristics aside from the tennis style.

Both Narumi and Momoshiro looked at him, waiting for his daring evaluation of a senpai who had "beaten" him in a match.

"Hardly anyone criticizes Fuji senpai among the regulars, Echizen, hardly anyone. You have to be careful with what you say."

"Could Fuji-oniichan be different from what Kurumi thinks he is?"

"Well…that is Fuji-senpai."

"Nani?" Narumi blinked.

"You haven't said anything yet, Echizen!"

…

"Chu!" Fuji took a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose.

"Nanda? Do you have colds, Fuji?" Eiji asked as he caught up to the sneezing tensai who was on his way home.

"Iie. I think it's just dust."

"Eh? Fuji, Fuji. If you're not feeling well, just tell me about it. I can easily see that Fujiko-chan isn't feeling well," Kikumaru put an arm around Fuji's shoulder and gave him a brief squeeze.

"Iie, daijobou desu, Eiji, but I've been ok until now. Hontou—"

"Eh, nanitenyo, nya? Yosh, Syuusuke-kun, I'll treat you then to some snacks to improve your condition."

"A-anou…"Fuji exclaimed as he felt himself being pushed away from his direction home. "Well, as long as it's your treat. Arigatou, Eiji."

…..

"In order to do that big surprise for your sister, we need more people," Momoshiro offered.

"Hm? I didn't know it could be this complicated. I don't want to bother other people."

"Why don't you simply invite Fuji-senpai to your birthday party?" Ryoma said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Momoshiro nodded and looked at the ceiling, almost lost in his thoughts. "Hai. That is a lot easier…not to mention, romantic once he consents to it."

"I think Narumi-chan wants her sister to appreciate her effort, and not only Fuji's," a serious voice from behind said.

The three turned blue, rooted to the spot and could not move. As they successfully craned their necks to get a good view of the speaker's face, they were greeted by Oishi's warm smile.

"Oishi-senpai!" The Seigaku members blurted. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"I've been here even before you arrived," he said, his eyes gleaming.

"W-what are you doing here?" both said, still in unison, wearing a uniform expression of persons caught red handed.

"I came to eat burger," Oishi replied nonchalantly, stood up and offered a hand to Narumi. "Yoroshiku, Oishi-desu."

Narumi blushed and took Oishi's hand. "Yoroshiku…Narumi-desu."

"Narumi does blush a lot today," Momoshiro whispered.

"Hai. Noticed that too."

"Yosh. Don't worry about me, minna. Your secret is safe with me. I did not mean to drops eave but I couldn't help it when Momoshiro and Echizen aren't really trying to make their voices low."

The second year student looked away guiltily. The first year student looked away, too, but out of respect for his senpai. He didn't want to scorn Oishi face to face. Maybe he could do it later that day, when he would be with Karupin. Since when did he speak so loud?

Oishi, noticing the faces of his comrades, decided to lighten up their mood. "Daijobou, minna. I came here to meet Tezuka since we agreed to study Math together. But he is still talking with Ryuzaki-sensei. He will be here any minute now."

"But how did you know her?" Momoshiro asked, pointing to the quiet girl beside him

"You know Eiji. I heard him tease Fuji for quite awhile."

The three conspirators were trying their best to look straight and to assure him that they believed in him. Of course, they were unsuccessful.

"That's unfair, minna. I never did try to really listen to your conversation," he defended. "And come to think of it, I can be your ally in this project."

"Eh?"

…

"Oishi-senpai, you did not tell us you'll be inviting all the regulars here!" Momoshiro reacted as the rest of the gang invaded the burger place.

Kawamura was already ordering fries and double-patty burgers. Kaido was puffing breath at one corner, listening to Inui as the latter gave a detailed description of players from rival schools. Tezuka buchou was beside Oishi, his math book propped open before him. Obviously, he was more interested on the digits more than what was going about. Echizen and Momoshiro were trying to figure out how Oishi-senpai was able to convince the buchou to join them. Well, there was the alibi of studying Math together…

"The only person missing is Kikumaru-senpai," Echizen observed. Somehow it was quite noticeable since the acrobatic player usually claimed himself as the life of a party.

"So desu ne,"Kawamura agreed. "And Fuji isn't here too."

"Why don't you call them, senpai?" Momoshiro asked Oishi who was looking at his phone, deciding whether to punch the numbers or not.

"They usually go the same way…"

"And?"

Inui's glasses gleamed. "The possibility that Kikumaru will be going here with Fuji is 76%. Eiji is also the most erratic member so there is 60% possibility that he can divulge the secret to Fuji. Not to mention that they are classmates, that adds up 29%. Then there is barely 11-24% that this will be all revealed to the tensai."

"Eh? Why do we have to hide it in the first place?" Kawamura asked between bites of his burger.

"Senpai, it's quite uncomfortable to know that you are being talked about and analyzed, psshhh…"

"This is not so easy…not so easy…" Momoshiro sighed.

"Gomen nasai, oniichantachi," a blushing Narumi bowed before them. Still looking at her shoes, she continued, "For my desire to have a perfect gift for my imotousan, I am now bothering you all."

Everyone looked at her. Kaido stopped breathing through his mouth for a moment. Inui started running his pen across his notebook in a crazy pace. Oishi smiled at her encouragingly. Momoshiro gave her a thumbs-up and a wink. Even Tezuka-buchou stopped reading his book and paid attention to her. Echizen grinned and handed the nearest senpai to him his racket: it was Kawamura.

"Yosh! BURNING! We are going to give your sister a GREAT-O surprise, baby!"

"Mah, they are all here…"

"So da ne, nya…"

Everyone looked at the direction of the voices. To their horror—except Tezuka's, that is—standing at the entrance of the burger chain were Kikumaru Eiji, and Fuji Syuusuke.

"It seems that we're late for the party, Eiji," the tensai cheerfully said. He still had his trademark smile on but his blue eyes hinted danger. Kawamura dropped his racket. Viper, blushing a little, assumed an all too innocent expression. Tezuka's glasses hid his eyes as he "went back to reading" his Math book.

Kikumaru pouted as he put his hand behind his head. "Iie, Fujiko-chan. We're not even invited." Oishi turned blue and he half-imagined Eiji to bring out his racket and twirl it, a sign that the Cat-like member of Seigaku was indeed serious. Momoshiro imagined days without eating after practices as he could often tease his senpai to treat him snacks. Ryoma, as usual, just covered his face with the tip of his cap.

Meanwhile, while these were all happening, Narumi was trying to conceal herself as best as she could. She was looking from left to right when Inui Sadaharu covered her from anyone's sight. She whispered gratitude to the tallest Seigaku player.

"Ikuzo, Fuji. I think I will just ask my sister to prepare snacks for you. I'm not in the mood to be with these people, nya," Eiji said in a hurt voice and he pulled Fuji away from the team and outside the shop. "You better remember this day, Oishi!"

Everyone, yes everyone including the buchou this time, heaved a sigh of relief when the other two were out of sight.

"It's the first time I felt relieved not having Eiji around," Oishi exclaimed.

"But aren't you worried, oniichan, your friends are angry at you now…" Narumi said in an apologetic voice, revealing herself from Inui's shadow.

"Iie, daijobou. Fuji is rarely angry and these occasions mean little to him. And Eiji, before leaving gave me a sign that he understood all."

"Eh? Hontou? I didn't even see a thing!" it was Momoshiro who had been lost for words few minutes ago.

"Baka," Kaido reacted. "It was a sign play. It can only be understood by people who can play doubles!"

"Shut up, Mamushi! I don't want to hear that from you!"

"Minna, from now on, we have to be careful."

Everyone gawked at their buchou. Kaido and Momoshiro stopped giving snide remarks at each other. Their faces showed disbelief and amazement. Tezuka Kunimitsu was involving himself in a child's whim?

"We must not let our guard down. Inui."

Inui stepped forward carrying his "water" container. The rest of the Seigaku members eyed it suspiciously as they knew what promise the container had in store for them. "Anyone caught slipping a piece of information to Fuji will have a week supply of my newest Inui's Vow of Secrecy Juice which is specially prepared for concealing strategies from spies of other schools. This way, the probability of enacting our plans for Narumi and Kurumi is 95%. Even Kikumaru won't be able to say anything to Fuji."

Everyone gulped and silently promised themselves to take the plan seriously. Otherwise, they would spend one week retching all over Japan.

"Does everyone understand?" Tezuka buchou asked.

The other customers in the burger chain heard the loudest "Hai" from the regular members of Seigaku.

Thus began Narumi's project: Fuji Syuusuke Scrapbook. It all happened one typical afternoon. The setting sun turned every colored thing orange: the walls, the trees, and the skies.

TBC

More A/N: Well, I want the team to be complete as they make a scheme. It's better that way. hehe. Reviews are very much appreciated. Flames will receive a well deserved Higuma Otoshi. Ja ne.