"Logic Game"

Summary: The early birds for Saturday afternoon practice Shiraishi, Oshitari, and Zaizen were waiting outside the tennis courts because coach Osamu is late and court doors are locked. Now they're stuck with the logic game started by Chitose, who happened to pass by.

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This is my third The Prince of Tennis fan fiction! Why is this the only one I have so far? Actually, I've already started my first two that has my OCs in it but I have writing problems so I might start them again… .;; Well anyway, let's make this my first official fanfiction for TeniPuri.

This is based on one of the logic games my family and I had last night while eating at Aveneto Pizza, we had so much fun then. I thought about making/posting this fic really hard since I'm giving out the answers to those who haven't figured this out but… I can't help it. XD

I don't own any of the characters from the Anime or Manga, but I own this fan fiction. The original Tennis no Oujisama characters belong to Konomi Takeshi.

Enjoy~! :3

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Shiraishi budged the doors for the nth time. He sighed and finally gave up.

"Why on earth is coach late today…?" he asked to no one in particular.

The Shitenhouji captain came about thirty minutes early, since he has to fix up things like match-ups for today's practice and the day's practice menu. Their coach usually comes earlier than he does, so Shiraishi figured that maybe he has some matters to attend to and he should just find a way to get in instead of wait.

Dropping his things on the ground, he took out his phone and typed in a text message to see if any of the regulars, who usually comes earlier than the others, to help him out.

Guys, Osamu-sensei hasn't arrived yet to unlock the court gates.. will any of you be able to come come early?

—Shiraishi

He waited for a moment, then he received a reply, which was from Koishikawa.

Sorry, i'll be late today, i have something important to do.

—Koishikawa

Shiraishi sighed and texted back.

I see. i guess i'll wait for the others then.

A few minutes pass and Shiraishi gets a new message.

Zaizen and i are on our way.

—Kenya

Sighing in relief, Shiraishi sits on the ground for a moment to wait for his teammates. A couple more minutes later, he sees Kenya and Zaizen popping out of a corner, running towards him.

Kenya slides himself to a stop. "I win! Woohoo!" he shouted, pumping his fists into the air.

Zaizen came up to them and stopped, catching his breath. "No… fair… you… wheeze… always win."

The Naniwa Speed Star laughed and faced Shiraishi. "Well, how are you? Having fun being locked out?"

Shiraishi smirked. "Shut up and help me get this door opened."

After Kenya and Shiraishi took turns shifting the door, the second year gave it a try and pushed it a couple of times, but to no avail. "Why don't we just climb over the walls?"

"We did that before, didn't we?" Shiraishi said as he stood up from the ground. "We got scolded by the gardener when the old man found out. So we'll have to find another way."

"Like dig an underground hole to get in there?"

"Genius, Zaizen!" Kenya swung his arm behind Zaizen's neck and locked the boy in his grasp. "Maybe we could, if we have shovels and digging material. Or if you could dig a tunnel with your hands in half an hour."

"Ow, get off, sempai!"

"Well in any case, I have to get in there." Shiraishi glaned at the doors. "I still have something to do."

Kenya freed Zaizen and put his bag next to Shiraishi's. "Let's just wait for coach," he suggested and sat on the ground. "besides, it won't be long until he gets here."

Shiraishi and Zaizen sat beside Kenya. The three of them sat quietly for ten minutes, until a familiar person walked by.

"Hey guys," Chitose greeted them as he went to them, breaking the silence. "what are you guys doing here outside?"

"Hey." Kenya and Zaizen greeted back.

"Coach isn't here yet, so we got locked outside," Shiraishi explained. "well what brings you here?"

"Nothing, I thought I'd drop by to see how everyone's doing," Chitose said. "I even came early."

Zaizen patted the space next to him. "Well. Come join us."

As Chitose sat on the ground, Kenya rested his head on the doors. "Can you guys think of anything else to do—or maybe, do you have something to eat? I think everyone will be late today."

Zaizen placed a hand behind his back. "How many fingers do I have behind my back."

"Boring."

Shiraishi sighed. "Four?"

"Five." Zaizen took out his hand. "And yeah. It's boring."

"Well, how about a game? A logic game," Chitose suggested.

"I don't know any," Zaizen said. "Besides, Shiraishi-sempai only has logic and Kenya-sempai doesn't have neither of the two."

"I have one," Chitose smiled as Shiraishi and Kenya jokingly smacked Zaizen on the head.

"Listen carefully. A captain of a ship from the Japanese army was murdured," Chitose began as the three listened intently. " There are a four suspects: The crew, the cook, the navigator and the janitor.

The crew says he couldn't possibly kill the captain since he was at the flag pole at that time because the flag was upside-down. The cook denied because he said he was busy cooking in the kitchen. The navigator said he didn't do it either since he was operating the ship. The janitor also said he didn't do it because he was busy mopping the floor. Now, which one of the four killed the captain?"

The three boys began to think.

Kenya smiled. "I know! The cook, definitely," he said.

"The cook? Why?" Chitose asked.

"Because the cook's the one with the knife."

"But the cook was busy in the kitchen," Shiraishi pointed out.

Kenya slumped his shoulders. "Speaking of kitchen, I really want to eat."

"Is eating all you ever think about?" Zaizen asked sarcastically. "Anyway, I think it's the janitor."

"Why, because it can kill the captain with a poke of a mop?"

"No, because even while mopping the floor he can still move around," Zaizen replied curtly.

"Nope. Wrong answer," Chitose smiled. "think again."

"I think I know," Shiraishi said. "it's the navigator."

"Okay, why?"

"Well, isn't it usually the captain who operates the ship? Maybe the navigator took the wheel from him or something."

"Nice try, but no."

"So it's the crew then," Zaizen said smartly.

Kenya smirked. "Care to explain, my little kouhai?"

"Hn. Well he's the only one left, right?"

Chitose shook his head. "No, you have to clarify. Why do you think the crew killed the captain?"

"I know a good reason," Kenya said blandly. "probably because the captain left him hungry and decided to kill him, just like what I'll do if Shiraishi ever leaves me hungry."

"Oh, so you'll kill me with the poke of a flag pole when you're hungry," Shiraishi said ironically.

"Exactly."

Chitose sighed. "You really can't get it? I already told you what the suspects were doing," he leaned his chin on his hand. "You still didn't get the clue? I'll say it again: the crew says he didn't do it because he was at the flag pole fixing the upside-down flag, the cook said he didn't either because he was cooking, the navigator said he didn't because he was operating the ship, and the janitor didn't either because he was mopping the floor."

The three stared at him blankly.

"Looks like you guys give up."

"No, I haven't," Zaizen said. "I know it's the crew, I just can't tell why."

"Bah!" Kenya wailed. "I have no idea anymore. I gi—"

"Oi, what are you guys doing out here?" A voice said.

The four boys watched their coach walk towards them. They stood up to greet him.

"Coach, you're late!" Shiraishi said in exasperation.

"Huh? Why are you mad?"

The Naniwa Boy Genius pointed to the tennis court doors. "We couldn't get in."

Osamu glanced at the doors, then at the boys. "Why didn't you climb over the walls then?"

Kenya and Zaizen glowered at the surprised Shiraishi. Chitose just laughed.

"Man, and we got stuck with Chitose's logic game…" Kenya rubbed his head.

"What logic game?"

"All right coach, solve this," Chitose said. "A captain of a ship from the Japanese army was murdered, and there are four suspects: The crew, the cook, the navigator and the janitor. They all denied. The crew said that when it happened, he was at the flag pole fixing the upside-down flag. The cook said he was busy in the kitchen. The navigator said he was operating the ship, and the janitor said he was mopping the floor. Now who do you think killed the captain?"

The coach shrugged. "It's the crew, right?" He asked.

Kenya grinned. "Okay, why?"

Osamu scratched his chin in thought. "Because… even if you turn our flag upside-down, nothing's gonna happen to it right…? He didn't have to fix the flag."

Chitose laughed again and looked at the other three boys. "That's right! Now you get it?"

Kenya opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't think of a comeback.

Zaizen just stared and said, "Oh."

Shiraishi picked up his things and stayed quiet.

Osamu placed his hands into his pockets. "Now let's get to practice, shall we?"

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~* Edit [11.9.2009] - I just HAD to share this. When my friend Jen why she thought it was the crew, she said: "Maybe the flag pole fell on the captain while the crew was fixing the flag?" XDD *~

…well? Did you know from the beginning or you just found out from coach Osamu-san? This is actually one of the easiest logic games we had~ XD

Um, also, I'm getting confused by 'senpai' and 'sempai'… I read 'senpai' in the manga but then I hear something like 'sempai' in the anime. Which one's right/wrong? Are they the same? XD;;

What's making me frustrated about this is... it's so... short. :/

I'll be making another fic like this one~ just not now. I'll make it longer, promise~ ;D

Thanks for reading my fic!

Don-don-don-Shitenhouji~

Patrengkee . TheGirlNamedPK