A/N: I do not own Inazuma Eleven.

A word about the setting: they are back in Japan but still training together as a team.

Turnabout

If there was a phrase to describe the present situation, it would be: sheer, absolute chaos.

Gone were the civility, friendliness and discipline that Inazuma Japan usually displayed at all times, replaced instead by aggressive intimidation, wicked scheming and childish trickery. And throughout it all, one incriminating word rang loud and clear…

"KOGURE!"

However, instead of the usual "Ushishishi!", an unexpected response arose during this occasion…

"I DIDN'T DO IT!"

The prankster backed into a corner, staring up at the livid and furious Tobitaka and Fudou with wide, fearful eyes. The usually silent pair rarely unleashed their wrath, but when they did, things didn't turn out pretty.

When both decided to take it out at the same time on the same person, sometimes such things didn't survive to the end at all.

A baby pink Barbie comb threatened to crack under Tobitaka's right clenched fist while flimsy, sticky Barbie stickers crumpled into a gluey ball in his left from where they've been scraped and torn from his mirror. He had woken up to find his usual comb missing, said comb in its place, and his mirror covered in said stickers.

Fudou was sporting a rather noticeable bruise on his forehead and he was walking around in his socks. Not far behind him lay his shoes, with laces tangled tightly and tying one shoe to the other. If one looked at him from behind, one would find heart-shaped and glittery tattoos at the back of his head proclaiming his love life to the world.

Needless to say, the humiliation and rage drove them to the current situation: threatening bodily harm to the team's prankster.

"I swear, I didn't even go into your rooms at all!" Kogure cried frantically, pressing himself against the wall as Tobitaka and Fudou loomed dangerously over him.

Outside the room, Toramaru and Kidou watched on with amused expressions, silently giving each other a quick high-five behind their backs. They broke apart hurriedly when Megane ran through the corridor, between them and crashed into the door behind.

The impact didn't faze him one bit, and he quickly picked himself up to run back the way he came, screaming "HOT!" with fire spewing out of his mouth. Toramaru picked up his spectacles that he had dropped after the painful collision with the door and was about to call him back when Kidou snatched it from his hands and examined it. Apparently, the lenses were made of glass.

Kogure caught the act from the corner of his eye. Knowing at least one of his pranks worked, his fearful expression cracked and he unconsciously let loose a round of snickering. Unfortunately, Tobitaka and Fudou took that as a confession to his crimes, and cracked their knuckles menacingly.

Fubuki whistled cheerfully as he walked down the hallway, heading towards the cafeteria for a snack. Passing by Kabeyama's room, he cocked his head to the side in curiosity when he heard strange sounds coming from behind the door. Deciding to investigate, he knocked politely and waited.

A few moments passed with no response. Against his better nature, Fubuki turned the doorknob and took a peek inside. He blinked repeatedly at the odd sight before him.

Kabeyama's room looked like a tornado had torn through it. His belongings were all over the place and even his bed was overturned. The defender appeared to be searching frantically for something, digging under piles of clothes and searching through other miscellaneous items. He was currently on all fours, sniffing at his pair of soccer shoes.

"Err… Kabeyama? What are you doing?" Fubuki asked tentatively with one eyebrow raised.

The other did not seem to hear him, and continued to rummage through his belongings, pausing to smell the air occasionally. Fubuki cocked his head to the side in confusion, but his eyes widened as he caught a whiff of something in the room… something smelling oddly like…

"Where is it? I know it's here somewhere!" came the defender's muffled voice as he dove into his closet to search his uniforms.

Sweatdropping, Fubuki chose to make his exit and softly closed the door without alerting the other to his presence. Leaning against the opposite wall, he chuckled.

"Food scented spray, huh? It really smelled like I walked into a food hall loaded with Kabeyama's favourite food. Kogure sure outdid himself this -"

"AAAAHH!" A piercing scream made the striker jump in shock. Whipping his head towards the source, he made his way towards Hiroto's room and yelped in surprise as the door slammed open, missing his face by a few inches.

"Hiro-"

"GET THEM OFF GET THEM OFF GET THEM OFF GET THEM OFF!" screeched the redhead, leaping out and flailing in fright as long brown snakes hung off his body and dropped onto the ground from under his shirt and shorts. Letting out a loud shriek, he fled down the corridor and out of sight.

Slightly stunned, Fubuki did not move for a few seconds. Then, a flash of white caught his eye and he looked down, where a handful of toy rubber snakes were scattered on the floor. One of them still had its price tag attached. Sighing, he picked it up and tugged on it, smiling playfully as he did so.

"Looks like I missed one. Oh well," he shrugged, tossing it back onto the ground and continuing towards his original destination.

"Mmm… that smells good! I didn't know you knew how to cook, Gouenji."

"I don't. This is just a little something Fuka-san taught me when I was bored last week."

"… Let me guess. Kogure?"

A smirk. "Just giving him a taste of his own medicine… literally."

His companion laughed. "I didn't think you had it in you to do something like this." Gesturing to the concoction, he asked, "so what, is it loaded with spices?"

"Not quite. You'll see in a while. By the way, how did yours turn out?"

"Pretty well, considering I made a little mistake of forgetting to remove the price tag on one of them. Luckily, Hiroto was too freaked out to notice."

"The snakes or the tag?" Gouenji raised an eyebrow.

"Both, actually," grinned Fubuki. "It was quite hilarious."

"Remind me again why you did it?"

"Just a little payback for what he made us do to perfect 'The Birth'. I know it was for the best that we mastered that Hissatsu technique, but I felt he went a little overboard."

"Was it really that bad?"

"Ask Kazemaru if you don't believe me. He'll tell you he saw Gran and Atsuya practicing on the field."

The four managers of Inazuma Japan stared at the scene being played out in the cafeteria. Aki and Otonashi looked ready to blow, Natsumi was massaging her temples and counting to ten while Fuyuka looked on thoughtfully.

Kogure's facial expression was like a movie. One spoonful of his meal doused in Gouenji's special sauce made his mouth stretch to the sides as salt assaulted his tongue, then pull into a frown as a wave of bitterness washed over, before puckering up with his eyes bulging as sourness pierced his taste buds and finally, bursting open with fire spewing out.

"HOT!" he cried, leaping out of his seat and running circles around the cafeteria.

At another corner, Hiroto was visibly jumpy, muttering to himself and speculating the possible culprits behind his not-so-pleasant wake up call. He was eying Kogure, smirking in satisfaction as the prankster was pranked, but occasionally let his suspicious gaze land on Endou and Kazemaru. Fubuki's deliberate air of innocence strangely did not rouse his attention.

Tobitaka and Fudou were sulking in their seats, apparently not appeased by Kogure's punishment. Megane and Kabeyama sat dazedly, the former massaging his bruises and the latter drooling uncontrollably at the thought of all the food hidden in his room. Kidou had stolen a sample of Gouenji's sauce and was inspecting it with Toramaru, trying to guess the ingredients that went into it.

Such a scene would not have caused the above mentioned reactions from the managers, if not for the fact that Tsunami stood up suddenly and declared a food war. Only then did all hell break loose.

The only ones with enough sense to hide under the tables and avoid the flying food were Kidou, Gouenji, Tachimukai and Tobitaka. Everyone else, plus the entire cafeteria, turned into a total mess.

Finally snapping, Aki and Otonashi screamed.

"ENOUGH!"

All movements halted at once, with everyone's heads turning simultaneously to face the two furious girls. As they switched into lecture mode, Natsumi sighed and went to help Kogure, who was still running around and suffering from the effects of the sauce, while Fuyuka continued to survey and analyse the situation in deep thought.

"- disappointed! You are Japan's representatives and yet here you are acting like a bunch of children with not a sense of -"

"Aki…" Fuyuka spoke for the first time, cutting off the other manager's angry rant as she turned to look at her.

Clearing her throat, the coach's daughter stepped up to address the team.

"Everyone, I understand that this is a day for mischief and fun, but please be more mature about it. Turning against and pranking one another is such a poor display of the teamwork that you always show. We had really expected more out of you." The other three managers nodded in agreement.

"Therefore," she continued, "to make up for this, you will assist us in our tasks for today as well as clean up the entire cafeteria. Is that clear?"

Silence reigned for a few moments as Inazuma Japan processed their words. Kidou was the first to speak. "Exactly what tasks are we to help you accomplish?"

It was Natsumi's turn to speak as she moved forward. "As managers, first and foremost our job is to ensure the team is functioning well, and this cannot be done without teamwork. Secondly, we are to see to your welfare, to ensure the team's needs are met. It seems that we need to do something to restore your sense of cooperation, and we feel that this can only be achieved by giving all of you a common goal to work towards."

"That's right," said Otonashi. "We have organised some activities for you to complete. They will definitely help to rebuild your team spirit and let you vent your pent up energy at the same time."

Aki clapped her hands loudly. "All right everybody! We don't have much time before afternoon practice starts. You'll be split up into groups to complete your tasks. Leave the cafeteria as it is now, you'll clean it up after practice ends."

Fuyuka chuckled as she sank down into a chair. "That went better than expected," she chirped, smiling at her fellow managers. The cafeteria had long been emptied, with Inazuma Japan going about with their work.

"Of course it did," smirked Natsumi. "Our plan was flawless, except for the fact that they pranked one another first and caused a disaster in the cafeteria."

Aki laughed. "At least they agreed to do their assigned tasks. I'm sure they'll be extremely satisfied later."

"I still can't believe they didn't think of this sooner. Do we have to plan everything for them?" sighed Otonashi.

"That's what we're here for," stated Natsumi. "Wherever would they be without us?"

Hibiki's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. He couldn't find his favourite spatula. Scratch that. He couldn't find any of his usual cooking utensils. His food and ingredients seem to have remained untouched, but the tools to prepare them were missing.

He growled in annoyance. No one touched the things in his kitchen, not even his helpers. Speaking of whom, he wondered if Toramaru and Tobitaka had anything to do with it…

A sigh escaped him. He had no choice but to use forks, spoons and butter knives to cook. As his eyes scanned the new recipe he was trying out, one hand reached for the bottle of pepper and he shook a good dose of it into a bowl of chopped meat. Without his eyes leaving the recipe, another hand retrieved the soy sauce and with practiced skill, he poured in exactly two tablespoonfuls of the substance into the bowl.

Just as he made to put his hands in to marinate the mixture, a strange smell hit him. Looking down, he saw pieces of meat covered in white and black. Moving his face closer, the smell of vinegar hit him. Twisting open the cap of the bottle of pepper, salt greeted his eyes.

Passersby outside Rairaiken whipped their heads towards the shop at the loud sound of curses streaming from inside.

Hitomiko sighed in content as she stepped out of the hot shower. Changing into a new set of clean clothes, she walked into her room and removed the towel on her head. As she headed towards her dresser to retrieve her comb, her foot trampled on something hard. She looked down.

A piercing scream sliced through the tranquillity in Sun Garden.

Ulvida and Desarm were the first ones on the scene, followed by Gazel, Burn and a handful of the other Aliea Academy players. Their caretaker was standing precariously on a chair, brandishing a broom at the floor which was littered with bugs, and shrieking at them to "GET THEM AWAY GET THEM AWAY GET THEM AWAY GET THEM AWAY!"

Instead of the expected response, her audience screeched in shock and surprise, pointing at her head. Hitomiko's first thought was that there was something in her hair, and she paled in fright, reaching up hesitantly to touch it. She felt nothing out of the ordinary; her hair seemed fine… until she withdrew her hand and spotted a strand of pink hair.

All it took was a glimpse in the mirror to make her fall onto her bed in a dead faint. The toy insects lay forgotten on the floor.

Kudou stared silently at the empty space before him. The school grounds were deserted save for his lone figure at the side of the soccer field. He looked at his watch for the fourth time.

Inazuma Japan was sixteen minutes late. He would make them run eight rounds around the field for that. Tapping his foot impatiently, he waited. And waited. And waited…

The ringing of his cell phone broke the silence. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled it out and answered it.

"Yes?"

"Coach? Where are you?" came Aki's puzzled voice.

"At the school field, where I believe the team should be sixteen - no, seventeen minutes ago," he answered, trying to sound patient.

"Eh? But yesterday you told us to go to the field next to the river to practice! We've been waiting for you and got worried when you didn't show up…" she trailed off.

Now there's a thought. Did he say that? Kudou thought for a moment. Strange… he distinctly remembered telling them to meet up at the school's soccer field…

"Coach?" It seems like he took too long to answer. He cleared his throat.

"My apologies. I'll head over at once." Ending the call with a forceful push of a button, he turned on his heel and marched out the school gates, typing a message on the way.

The three converged outside the meeting room. Nodding at one another solemnly, they opened the door and stepped in.

Kudou placed a freshly brewed pot of coffee and three cups on the table as Hibiki wheeled three chairs over. Hitomiko fidgeted uneasily as they turned to face her.

"Why are you wearing a sun hat indoors?" asked Hibiki.

Growling, she tore off her hat to reveal her hot pink hair tied into a bun. "Because of this!" she yelled. Whirling around to face Kudou, she snarled. "Your team needs more discipline! I cannot believe they would resort to such childish, juvenile tricks!"

"You're not the only one," he grumbled back. "They stood me up during practice, said I told them to meet somewhere else instead of in the school."

"Hah! You think that's bad?" retorted Hibiki. "They stole and hid my cooking utensils and switched my ingredients! I had to close the shop early to get everything sorted out properly!"

Staring at one another in silence, Hitomiko spoke up. "I believe this calls for some serious disciplinary action. What do you say?"

"Agreed," said Kudou.

"Yes," nodded Hibiki as he poured out three cups of coffee and handed them out.

Smirking, Hitomiko continued. "Well then, let's get started…" She took a sip of the coffee – and spit it out into Kudou's face.

"What the - !" she choked, eyes wide.

Kudou looked less than amused and reached for a piece of tissue before taking a sip as well, apparently oblivious to the danger sign. The coffee flew from his mouth to the table.

This time, Hibiki caught it. Sniffing at the coffee, he dipped a finger in and tasted it. "Salt," he realised, setting down his cup. "I should have known."

"That's it!" yelled Hitomiko, slamming her hands on the table. Together with Kudou and Hibiki, she grabbed a chair and they sat down together…

...only to find themselves on the floor staring upwards.

Three pairs of eyes blinked up at the ceiling, but missed the security camera tucked safely away in a hidden corner, watching with a flashing red light.

A/N: If anyone is confused, here's a quick summary:

- Toramaru replaced Tobitaka's comb with a pink Barbie one and covered his mirror in Barbie stickers.

- Kidou tied Fudou's shoe laces together, making him fall on his head when he tried to walk. He also used removable tattoos on his head to announce that he and Otonashi are an item.

- Kogure put hot sauce into Megane's food and replaced his spectacles lenses with glass. There's no degree in them, so he couldn't see where he was running and crashed into the door.

- Another victim of Kogure, Kabeyama had his room sprayed with some scent smelling of his favourite food, making him tear apart his room trying to look for them.

- Fubuki bought lots of rubber snakes and dumped them onto Hiroto for him to find when he woke up.

- Gouenji rigged Kogure's food such that it tasted salty, bitter, sour and spicy all at once.

- Toramaru and Tobitaka hid Hibiki's cooking utensils and switched the spices and other ingredients.

- Fubuki supplied the toy bugs and Natsumi provided the pink hair dye while Hiroto snuck into Sun Garden to get the dye in Hitomiko's shampoo and the toy insects scattered in her room.

- Kudou was ditched, simply put. The team left him alone at the school's soccer field and went off somewhere else to practice, pretending that he told them to go there instead.

- Gouenji added salt to the coffee beans to make salty coffee and Kidou rigged the meeting room chairs so that they collapsed and fell over when someone sat on them.

Take care during this day of pranks and mischief. Happy April Fools' Day.