A/N: I will not be having enough time to do this fic. That is because Junior Year in high school is coming up. This fic has waited long enough (I started it in my freshman year) but I never seem to get around to posting it. And so, however hectic my schedule may get, I will strive to finish this. That is, if I know someone is reading this. Even just one. Yes, I know I'm getting all sappy, but bear with me; I'm feeling very moody.
This fic was revised. I deleted the previous one and reposted it as this. And so, if someone messages of reviews that they like it, I'll continue. If not, then it's safe to assume that absolutely no one is reading this and that I should discontinue it.
As I said: MOODY.
Dream Come True
Prince of Tennis
Niou MasaharuxOC
Chapter 1: Retreat Gone Awry
"Name, Akuma Youji. Nickname, Ijinkou." Zhanyne looked up from the ream of papers she was holding. "Isn't this a bit too much?"
"Why?" Jolina asked. "What do those words mean?"
"Akuma Youji means demon child. Ijinkou means the devil's child," I replied, having authored the story they were reading.
"Why is it that these two are so addicted to Japanese?" Aleen asked.
"Because Japanese stuff rocks!" Zhanyne and I chorused. We laughed lightly and knocked our fists together.
"I wonder...what if I make a story on Gokusen with you and Shin? Watcha think, Zeije?" I asked Zhanyne, using one of the many nicknames of the latter. Just on a whim, I would do that for her. But then again, I did do an on-the-spot oneshot of her and the protagonist of Gokusen 2.
"I'd be ecstatic," she answered, spooning some chicken into her mouth.
"Grabe, pare-pareho na naman tayo ng ulam," (Wow, we have the same food again.) Jolina remarked. "That kinda happens a lot ever since we met."
"Jolina, Jolina," Aleen called. "What do you get when you cross Japanese, manga, Jadorama, anime, internet, Prince of Tennis, and Gokusen?"
Jolina's mouth was full so she just pointed her answer. The two Japanese addicts (aka Zhanyne and I) were listening to ZJs iPod, Puranetariumu or Planetarium, one of the songs of Hana Yori Dango. Then, a tune startecd to come from the paging system, alerting the students that it was already twelve noon. Hurriedly, our foursome started packing their lunches back and scurried to our classroom, waaaaay up the fifth floor.
"I don't get why we hurry so much. We still have another thirty minutes," Jolina stated when they had caught their breaths.
"Yeah...well...we..." ZJ – another of Zhanyne's nicknames – panted. "We just...I actually don't know...Hey, did any of you get the number of stair steps? We need it for Health, remember?"
"Eighty-four. Maybe were too time conscious?" I suggested.
"Maybe."
"Did you know that most Japanese are time conscious too?" ZJ asked.
"Eto na naman po tayo." (Here we go again)
…
"Why do we always get dismissed late when there's TLE?" Jolina asked irritably as they descended the stairs.
I adjusted my red skirt-like bag as I answered, "It's because our teacher's not aware of the time."
"Yeah, and she takes too much of it," ZJ put in.
"Cri~selda~~." I looked at ZJ. Whenever she would use that singsong voice of hers, it would only mean that something was coming up. "I have a couple of shows I think you might be interested in."
Slowly, a grin began to form on both our faces.
"Sure thing," I said with a smirk. This head-on answer earned a couple of raised brows. "Eh? What?"
"Aren't you even going to ask permission?" they questioned. I answered with a smirk.
ZJ shook her head. "Ibang klase ka, Criselda." (Youre one of a kind)
Smiling, I said, "Shempre, ako pa." (Me? Of course.)
…
The two girls opened the door of their classroom that was nearest to the stairs. "Ohayou Gozaimasu!"
"So, did you guys enjoy watching my Prince of Tennis OVA? How about the movie?" Aleen asked.
"Yeah," Zhanyne answered. She continued, putting her hand to her mouth and looking at me, "But someone there keeps pausing and rewinding it to write it down!"
I stuck part of her tongue out. "You do the same thing with Gokusen."
"Yeah, but at least that was only three DVDs," ZJ countered. "Yours were two OVA DVDs, Prince of Tennis Live, Prince of Tennis Movie Anime, and Bleach episodes 90-155."
"Hoy, excuse me, I don't pause and rewind for Bleach," I grinned.
Forty-five minutes later, the usual tune began playing on the paging system, telling the students to go back to their classrooms. I looked at the clock at the back of our room. Six-forty. Five more minutes and the assembly will start. After morning prayers, oaths, national anthems, school hymns and the rosary, some announcements were made.
"Announcement: Please be prepared for your retreat two weeks from now. This is a retreat. I repeat, this is a retreat. Generally meaning we will be there for five days and four nights. Please secure permission from your parents. Wait for further announcements as to where the destinations and the proper procedure for this are. The schedules per class are to be announced at a later time."
"Next, all YFC members, you are to have a general assembly right after these announcements. We are requesting teachers to please excuse them for a few hours. For all special clubs in the high school level, election of lower officers is later, at the club meetings. Regular club officers, special club officers, and Student Council officers are to have their oath taking at the First Friday Mass tomorrow. Old members of the Glee Club and Knights of the Altar, you have a meeting later at dismissal at the Classroom of 1-A. That's all, have a good day."
The long string of announcements was followed by the silence bell and the chattering of students.
"I wonder where we'll have our retreat," Jolina wondered out loud.
"Wonder later." ZJ and I were already fumbling with our bags, getting our YFC notebooks and pens. "We're YFC, remember?"
…
"Goshers! Di nga?" Zhanyne whispered, awed. (Really?)
"Bulacan?" My jaws were also slack.
" Grabe, sosyal! Resort? (Gosh, fancy!)" That was Jolina
"O, what happened in your YFC meeting?" Aleen asked as they met her down the St. Lorenzo Hall at recess. Yeah, all the meetings took that long, two hours.
"Were going to have our retreat in Bulacan!" the three burst out. "And we'll be doing it in a resort!"
"Seryoso? (Are you guys serious?)" Aleen was amazed. There were some things that the YFC organized, and that is why they know in advance what the activities are. The gals sat down. It was too much. One: a retreat in Bulacan, which had a lot of nice places and was near Laguna, a place known for its hot springs. Two: YFC High School High, an annual event that includes lots of popular local bands and would last way past midnight.
"The question is, will your mother let you join." ZJ looked at me, who, for some reason, was all smiles.
"Of course she will." ZJ raised her brow at my esoteric reply. Grinning, I added, "Because my brother's with me."
"He actually agreed?" Jolina asked, incredulous. Her cousin, Maryhill, was my brother's classmate and she had a general idea of his attitude.
"At a price," I replied nonchalantly.
"Which is?"
"Both of us will act like we don't know each other." As I said this, I fixed my things. Thus, I missed the incredulous looks that were thrown my way.
"Dude, you and your siblings are really freaky," Zhanyne sighed in exasperation.
I smirked. "Of course we are; it'd be boring if we were one and the same."
…
"You look preoccupied," ZJ commented as we were having lunch at our usual place.
"S'nothing," I answered absentmindedly. "My former school requires my presence in its halls once more. For what reason I do not know."
"Ano ba naman yan, Criselda, mag-Tagalog ka nga! Nino-nosebleed ako sayo!" (Geez, Criselda, could you speak in Tagalog? I'm having a nosebleed because of you!) For added effect, Jolina wiped her nose with her backhand. (1)
"Wala tayong magagawa, mas gamit English sa bahay nila eh," (We can't do anything about it, they use English more often in their household) Liana, a classmate of ours, said in the defense of her "oniisan", as she called me. "But you could at least use less formal English."
I stuck my tongue out. "I'll try."
…
I blinked as I got the thick brown envelope that the school representative was handing me. My brain worked quickly, assessing the estimated amount in the envelope I held. 'Roughly...232 500!'
It took all the restraint I had not to jump around screaming "Holy shit!"
I stole a glance at Miss Christy (she's married but the students keep calling the Science teacher 'Miss' as with most married teachers) and was reassured by the smile. The thirteen-year old exited the building in a daze. I had expected something like convincing her to study there again but this…
"I need to call Zhanyne," I declared as soon as I exited the school's village. "Scratch that, I'll go to her house."
With that, I crossed the highway and hailed a Public Utility Jeep. (2)
…
On the day of our retreat, the foursome was chatting away about Japanese, anime, Jadorama and other things at the backmost seat of the bus.
ZJ checked her cell and looked at me with a raised brow. "Is this your number?"
I nodded absentmindedly, still not quite able to digest that I had just received a such an amount. "Yep, both networks so I can text anyone."
"Nice," the three commented. Today, our group was composed of the usual trio of Zhanyne, me, and Jolina. Aleen was not with them, as she chose to be with her other peers, but Liana took her place.
"At last, you now have a cellphone!" ZJ laughed with the rest of them. "Nakaraos?" (Nakaraos literally means 'survived' or 'finished something' or 'pulled through', but the way it was used here, it just means 'Finally')
"Yeah, finally." I shook my head with a smile on in place as I recalled the cajoling it took before my mother agreed to buy me a cellphone.
It was the one my mother "bought" (not technically. I still had to pay her back) for me. It was a pretty old model but it was colored and all. Actually, it was the oldest model of colored cell phones. The mischievous smirk on my face was all Zhanyne needed to see to know I had another one, a much recent version, that I had bought with my newly-acquired fund– which she also knew I hadn't told my family about yet.
"Did you bring your flash disk? Can I duplicate some of your stuff?" the curly-haired, tan-skinned, sort of outlandish girl (aka me) Zhanyne was observing asked.
"Yeah, both." ZJ produced a black and a yellow flash disk and handed them to the taller girl. "Hanep, pati laptop meron ka na rin! Nauunahan mo pa ako!" (Cool, you even have a laptop! You got one sooner than I did!)
"Yeah, thanks to Miss Christy." Grinning like an idiot, I opened the window, leaned out and hollered, "THANKS MISS CHRISTY!!"
I leaned back in grinning like a Cheshire cat high on pot. I slid the window closed, not even sparing a glance to the people who were raising their brows at me or whispering.
I was aware of Zhanyne's sort of admiring gaze. On a sappily-oriented open forum, she mentioned that one of the things she liked about her newly-acquired 'best friend' was that I wasn't usually afraid to go all out and be different. I don't actually care what most people think of me, just when it's affecting my relationship with the so-called friends that believed the rumors more than what they see. Unexpected from the stern-looking, un-talkative, and apparently nonchalant girl she sat to on the first day of classes. Or so she said.
Jolina was too busy listening to my metallic silver iPod to care; Liana was too occupied in watching the DVDs I brought along; I was doing goodness-knows-what on my laptop; and Zhanyne was taking pictures of the scenery and of our group. Then –
"EARTH TO LIANA AND JOLINA!!"
"Huh?" The younger two of the group looked up, blinking in confusion. Jolina took as far as pulling the headset from her ear.
"That's what you guys get for not listening to our concert!" Once again, the two Japanese addicts were speaking simultaneously, with the same intonation patterns and all.
We ended up receiving an "Eh?" from Liana, and a raised brow and a "Huh?" from Jolina.
…
"Nice naman! We got put in the same cabin!"
The three of us, with the addition of a hyper kid (Liana), were walking along the stone steps to the cabin we were to share with other people from other year levels. The path was wet and muddy, but being the boyish group that we are (sans Liana), we could care less - as long as our clothes weren't stained.
"That's what happens when your brother is an HPV." (3)
I stuck out my tongue. "I never asked him to do this."
"Aww, how sweet!"
"Che!" I gave ZJ a mock glare/irritated look by crossing my arms in front of my chest. "It's just the registration...At least that's what he said."
"Campfire at six sharp!" someone from outside announced, interrupting our conversation. Zhanyne and I both made faces.
"Sucks to be official patrol leaders, doesn't it?" Jolina grinned. "Why don't you try looking at me? I'm not the official patrol leader, but I'm the one giving orders."
"Whatever, iitaking ka namin jan eh!" the two chorused before going out. (Whatever, we're going to cut you with an itak; Itak is like a heavy knife that people in the Philippines use for different reasons…Like for wars, and chasing people they're mad at ü) "Itak!" (4)
…
I cursed as I slipped from the boulder I was standing on. ZJ, my buddy in the hike and in real life, caught my arm. "Careful. Didn't you hear that the stones are damp and slippery?"
"I do now." I straightened myself and thanked her.
"Let's go here!" Jolina was once again acting like a child as she entered one of the caves found in their location.
The rest followed suit along with some others. From there, the kids formed different groups, friends sticking together, and explored different parts of the cave. At first, it seemed fine. Until our foursome noticed that the group that had been tailing us, a group of our male classmates, had disappeared. Then our flashlights all turned dim, and there seemed to be a different kind of atmosphere.
"What the hell!" I exclaimed. "I just took the batteries out of the packaging!"
"Same here."
"Ditto."
As per usual, Zhanyne and I were in front, leading the way as we were not scared of the dark (usually), trying to find our way back. All of a sudden, I slipped again. (Well I'm sorry for being such a klutz T.T) ZJ tried to catch me and succeeded only in grabbing my arm. There seemed to be a force that pulled us into the vast expanse of nothingness underneath. A tangle of limbs, flailing arms and screams were of course the most natural of reactions from frightened twelve- and thirteen-year-olds.
The other two tried to help but their fingers held on to nothing as they were also pulled forward. We fell with great speed, none knowing when we will stop. Jolina reached out and was able to grab on to something.
"Guys, reach for something! Anything! There's always something in any direction I grab on to!" she hollered to her friends. The rest of us were all too eager to follow.
Liana reached out and was able to grab Jolina's outstretched hand. She grabbed ZJ who was still holding on to me.
"Guys hold on!" Jolina strained with all her might to heave the rest up. "I hear the boys coming!"
ZJ's face showed pure horror as I seemed to get pulled into the dark void. ZJ hung on to me with all her might, but it was causing her to slip from Liana's fingers.
"CRISELDA!" she screamed. Not being able to take the strain anymore, Zhanyne's fingers slipped from Liana's grip. Both of us were sucked into the dark void, earsplitting screams erupting from our lips.
1. Nosebleeds can and usually indicate the use of excessively formal English, or just plain English which, whether or not the others perceive as "deep", always earns some sort of teasing, mockery, or taunting (depending on the group of people) from the others.
2. Public Utility Jeep or simply Jeep for short. Main means of transport. Like an elongated owner-type jeep. Is divided into two parts: the driver's seat and the "mass passengers" space at the back. The "mass passengers" space is composed of two long seats positioned on both sides of the jeep. Can hold up to 8-11 passengers on each side.
3. HPV, or high school program volunteer, are college students who organize certain YFC activities.
4. On the day of their recollection, a whole day religious activity, Dexter, Jolina's supposed crush, was mad at her and chased her through the corridors of the fourth floor. Since then, Jolina has been linked to him in a romantic way by the other three. Kind of shallow but you'll find out why when and if the story progresses.
