Yasouka One
The Door That Almost Opened
This is my first PoT fanfic, and my first fanfic in over half a year. This is also my first horror story. So many things I've never done before, but I'll work hard! I'll try to avoid shounen-ai, for those of you that don't like it. But some pairings are just so cannon, I write them in character and gay comes out. My apologies.
I don't own Prince of Tennis. Wish me luck, I'll do my best!
He smiled to himself. That quaint little smile that only served as his natural expression. His blue eyes watched the rain fall, covering the green courts and the world as it splashed on the ground. Everyone outside was slipping, but they wouldn't give up. The poor first years had to wait until the two regulars finished their match. He absent-mindedly began to dry his light hair, smiling again as he recalled what his sister told him earlier.
"Be careful after school." She paused, and frowned, " It's going to rain."
Momoshiro and Kaidoh entered the locker room finally, a sour look on both their faces. The first years got tired of waiting in the rain, and forced the two rivals off the court so they could clean up and get home. The viper won the match, having more points than Momo when they were forced to come to an end. "We'll finish this another time, Mamushi!"
Kaidoh Kaoru frowned, wringing out his green bandana, and hissed. "Any time, I'll beat you, rain or shine."
Inui smiled from his spot on the bench as Oishi worriedly handed his two kohai towels and politely asked them to please change before they got sick. "It's not good to stay in cold wet clothes, and we were supposed to have practice tomorrow! But now, instead all weekend I want you guys to rest, okay?"
Kaidoh gave an embarrassed nod, snatching the towel and drying himself off. Momo smiled and thanked him, but took care to remind their replacement captain that he was a "big boy" and he "could take care of himself". A laugh came from the corner of the bench, earning glares from the tall second year.
"Are you sure about that, Momo-senpai? Remember when earlier, you forgot your money for lunch and came to ask me?" A smirk made itself at home on Echizen Ryoma's face.
"Shut up, Echizen! That and this are totally different!" He yelled in his own defense.
"Is it? How so?"
Kikumaru's laughter filled the room as Kawamura stuttered and, in a weak voice, ordered them to stop fighting. Fuji's laughter joined the redhead's as he handed the sushi master a tennis racket. "BURNING!"
The ah-un pair jumped and stared at Seigaku's number one power player. "You guys! Stop fighting, or you'll be running laps!!" He swung the racket madly above his head, fire burning in his hazel eyes.
"W-we're sorry!" The two boys stuttered in unison.
"You'd better be! Now, apologize to each other!!" He dropped the racket. "I mean… It's got good to be fighting, after all, " He smiled shyly.
The seigaku regular's howled with laughter. A clap of thunder hushed the eight teenagers, all falling silent as they listened the rain pitter-patter on the rooftop. Eiji grabbed a hold of his partners cold hand. "I think the storm's getting worse," he mumbled.
Oishi nodded. "We should all get home as soon as we can," he glanced up at the window before returning his gaze to the darkness. There was a flash, and a loud rumbling sound, like that of a sleeping lion, threatening to wake up and shred you for disturbing it. Blue eyes watched a single horror of his come back with each flash. The acrobat tightened his grip on his friends' hand. It wasn't until a particularly loud clap, shaking the whole building and blocking out even the rain for the moment it spoke, did the lights begin to flicker. A clicking noise echoed throughout the small locker room as the lights flashed off.
Then flickered on.
Then flashed out.
They came on a final time before finally buzzing and fading out for the last time. It was then that everyone jumped as someone gasped as if they were about to die, a final intake of air.
"Eiji, that hurts!" Oishi's voice cut, like a small knife, through the silence. Everybody released an involuntary gasp, hearts racing against their minds, trying to figure out what was going on.
"S-sorry, Oishi," another knife, this time, Kikumaru's shaking voice broke the ear-shattering silence.
"What are you guys doing? It's too dark to see. There's children in the room, you know," Fuji's voice rang out. He was smiling, as always – you could hear it in his voice.
"Ew," Momo chimed accidentally, covered by Echizen's, "I'm not a child," knowing he was being referred to by the tensai. Kaidoh hissed, probably, underneath the other's comments.
"Eiji won't let go of my hand."
"I'm sorry, Oishi!"
"In any case, we should all get out of here and get home. I'm sure our families are worried."
"Good idea, Inui."
"Somebody open the door, we'll have some light then."
Kaidoh hissed, and presumably threw open the door. A dull thunk stopped the door from swinging open. Not a sound could be heard over the silence as they all stared, wide eyed and open mouthed, at the door that almost opened. Rain began invading the doorway, making the puddle on the tile bigger and bigger with each drop, reflecting the things you never wanted to see outside. Somebody shifted. Everybody's eyes raced across the room, trying to figure out who it was.
Inui stood up and walked over to the door.
"Inui-senpai, what are you doing?" Kaidoh's voice was an obvious act, like a children's play, meant so that one would know it wasn't real. Although Kaoru was really doing his best to sound tough like always, Inui smiled and chuckled at how he was so scared.
"The chances of it being something scary are 0 percent," he said calmly. He stepped outside, an arm above his head to keep the rain from getting on his glasses, and reached around the door. It was wet. It seemed to almost bend when he tried to grab it. "The chances of my glasses getting wet: 100 percent," he mumbled to himself as he took a step in to the mud to reach behind the door. A large, cardboard box sat shamelessly in the mud. The writing on the label was impossible to read at this point, but Inui brought it inside with him, soaking wet like he was during practice.
"A package?" Kikumaru finally released Oishi's hand and took to tracing the tape with his finger. "I can't read who it's from, Inui."
Fuji stole the box from under his best friends hand and ripped it open. "It might say inside," was his excuse when Kawamura pointed out that it was wrong to open somebody else's mail without their permission. He took a small note out. "I can barely read it. I think it says: 'Please return to the Rosalind house.' It's not written very clearly, anyway," he handed the note to Inui.
"Rosalind? That's a western name, isn't it?" Oishi asked, looking over Inui's shoulder to look at the note.
"Sounds like it to me," Kikumaru meowed, scratching his head. He dug his hands in to the packaging before Fuji had a chance, and pulled out an old tennis racket. "Huh? Oh, it looks really old!"
"Is there anything else in there, Eiji?" Fuji asked. When answered no, he dug his own hands in. "Why would you put a racket in packaging like this?"
"Who knows? Some people are just like that, Fuji-senpai," Momo offered half-heartedly.
"Either way, we can't just not return it. Tomorrow morning, those of us who are well enough," Oishi eyed the second years and glasses wearing data man, "will go and return this."
"I'll research it tonight, and find out where the Rosalind house is," Inui offered, ignoring his replacement captain's stares. The stares intensified. "If I can't go, I won't tell you where it is." And to Kaidoh's great dissatisfaction, "Kaidoh should come, too. And Momo. We can make it a training weekend after we deliver the racket."
Oishi sighed. "We'll see, Inui. For now, let's all get home and rest up. Who wants to take the package home with them?"
It seems as though another several minutes of heavy silence passed.
Finally, like a beacon of light, breaking up the calm, "I'll take it home." It was Fuji, smiling that quaint little smile.
Edit'd thanks to some great critiques, yo.