Prince of Tennis: Ibu Shinji, 039: Taste
Title: Toxic Avenger
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Ibu Shinji, Tachibana Kippei
Prompt: 039: Taste
Word Count: 497
Rating: G
Summary: First cooking experiments are usually a disaster, right?
Author's Notes: If you’ve seen Atobe’s Gift, then you know exactly what kind of dish I am referencing. I can only assume Tachibana’s cooking got better. In terms of timeline…consider this during “canon” timeline, within a couple weeks prior to Atobe’s Gift
I wanted to get this up in time for Tachibana’s birthday on the 15th. Then I went away over the weekend. Happy belated birthday!
Main table can be found here and here.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Shinji had felt fear many times before, in his short life. He’d feared bullies, losing friends, and losing tennis matches. After their car accident, he’d feared that one or all of them would prove to be badly hurt. But never, not in all the time he’d known them, had Shinji ever feared his teammates. Especially not Tachibana.
But as he looked at his captain, fear was the only emotion coming to Shinji’s mind. When Tachibana said he was going to cook them all a lunch to remember, somehow, Shinji had thought that would mean something edible. Not this…unidentifiable mass in a bowl. He was sure that the color, texture, and scent weren’t of Earthly origin.
Shinji didn’t even want to hazard a guess about how it would taste. Suddenly, he wished that he hadn’t been the only one available that afternoon, if only so he’d have company for this…experience.
“Well?” Tachibana stood before Shinji, his expression unbearably proud of himself. “Dig in and tell me how you like it.”
Shinji picked up a spoon slowly, having a feeling that he was meeting his own demise. Is this how Echizen feels about those juices he’s mentioned? He poked at the bowl, not feeling at all reassured when it seemed like something was grabbing his spoon and pulling it down. And should the spoon be smoking like that?
“Shinji?” Tachibana’s expression began to fall, and Shinji blinked.
“I’m sorry, Tachibana-san, I was just looking at it and wondering how you managed to make something like this….”
Tachibana seemed to cheer up upon hearing that. “Just a little of this and a little of that.”
“So…there was no recipe?” Shinji wasn’t exactly heartened to hear that.
“Nope. Just a little old-fashioned creativity.” Tachibana smiled. “Taste it…please?”
Great…. Shinji tried to think of an excuse, but he couldn’t; and besides, he’d never been able to deny Tachibana anything before. How bad could it possibly be? was his last thought before taking a small bite.
The next thing Shinji knew, he was staring up at Tachibana from the floor, feeling uncomfortably damp. “Tachibana-san…?”
Tachibana held up an empty glass, which at least explained the wetness. “Sorry, but you weren’t waking up.” Shinji could hear the worry in his voice. “I thought I’d killed you.”
“If I’d had more than a bite, you may have.” Shinji slowly pulled himself off the floor, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice. “Tachibana-san may be an excellent tennis player, but as a chef he’s terrible, and I don’t think that can even be called food, it’s more like something from a toxic waste dump, and I hope he’s not planning to serve that to anyone else….”
“Shinji, I’m sorry!” Tachibana hastily dumped out his “creation”. “Maybe next time, I should use a recipe?”
“That may help.” Shinji nodded slowly, satisfied that he hadn’t suffered any lasting damage from the experience. “And if you buy me ice cream.”
Tachibana chuckled. “Sure thing, Shinji. Let’s go.”
--The End--
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Ibu Shinji, Tachibana Kippei
Prompt: 039: Taste
Word Count: 497
Rating: G
Summary: First cooking experiments are usually a disaster, right?
Author's Notes: If you’ve seen Atobe’s Gift, then you know exactly what kind of dish I am referencing. I can only assume Tachibana’s cooking got better. In terms of timeline…consider this during “canon” timeline, within a couple weeks prior to Atobe’s Gift
I wanted to get this up in time for Tachibana’s birthday on the 15th. Then I went away over the weekend. Happy belated birthday!
Main table can be found here and here.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Shinji had felt fear many times before, in his short life. He’d feared bullies, losing friends, and losing tennis matches. After their car accident, he’d feared that one or all of them would prove to be badly hurt. But never, not in all the time he’d known them, had Shinji ever feared his teammates. Especially not Tachibana.
But as he looked at his captain, fear was the only emotion coming to Shinji’s mind. When Tachibana said he was going to cook them all a lunch to remember, somehow, Shinji had thought that would mean something edible. Not this…unidentifiable mass in a bowl. He was sure that the color, texture, and scent weren’t of Earthly origin.
Shinji didn’t even want to hazard a guess about how it would taste. Suddenly, he wished that he hadn’t been the only one available that afternoon, if only so he’d have company for this…experience.
“Well?” Tachibana stood before Shinji, his expression unbearably proud of himself. “Dig in and tell me how you like it.”
Shinji picked up a spoon slowly, having a feeling that he was meeting his own demise. Is this how Echizen feels about those juices he’s mentioned? He poked at the bowl, not feeling at all reassured when it seemed like something was grabbing his spoon and pulling it down. And should the spoon be smoking like that?
“Shinji?” Tachibana’s expression began to fall, and Shinji blinked.
“I’m sorry, Tachibana-san, I was just looking at it and wondering how you managed to make something like this….”
Tachibana seemed to cheer up upon hearing that. “Just a little of this and a little of that.”
“So…there was no recipe?” Shinji wasn’t exactly heartened to hear that.
“Nope. Just a little old-fashioned creativity.” Tachibana smiled. “Taste it…please?”
Great…. Shinji tried to think of an excuse, but he couldn’t; and besides, he’d never been able to deny Tachibana anything before. How bad could it possibly be? was his last thought before taking a small bite.
The next thing Shinji knew, he was staring up at Tachibana from the floor, feeling uncomfortably damp. “Tachibana-san…?”
Tachibana held up an empty glass, which at least explained the wetness. “Sorry, but you weren’t waking up.” Shinji could hear the worry in his voice. “I thought I’d killed you.”
“If I’d had more than a bite, you may have.” Shinji slowly pulled himself off the floor, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice. “Tachibana-san may be an excellent tennis player, but as a chef he’s terrible, and I don’t think that can even be called food, it’s more like something from a toxic waste dump, and I hope he’s not planning to serve that to anyone else….”
“Shinji, I’m sorry!” Tachibana hastily dumped out his “creation”. “Maybe next time, I should use a recipe?”
“That may help.” Shinji nodded slowly, satisfied that he hadn’t suffered any lasting damage from the experience. “And if you buy me ice cream.”
Tachibana chuckled. “Sure thing, Shinji. Let’s go.”
--The End--