Title: Prince of Purity
Summary: It is a truth universally acknowledged that an Echizen Ryoma in possession of purity and heterosexuality will be in want of a Momoshiro Takeshi after drinking Sadaharu's Juice of Love 0069.
Pairing: Ah-Un Pair, Emerald Pair, Golden Pair
Disclaimer: HELL YES, my fandom is awesome :D But I don't own it ^^;
Warning: shounen-ai, Ryoma being awfully similar to those innocent ukes on yaoi mangas ^^; There are more but I don't know what to say. You can expect this to be very similar to a yaoi manga, complete with the denial and cheesiness. And did I mention that the chapter titles are named after Asian dramas aimed at impressionable teenage girls? :D
Prince of Purity
Chapter One: It Started with a Kiss
Ryoma adjusted his cap, and thought of the things he wanted to complain about.
Like the way it was so hot and he was so thirsty. The soda machines weren't working either. Ryuuzaki and her friends won't leave him alone. He was sweaty and he felt dirty. He wanted a bath. But if he took a bath and buchou noticed, then he would have to run laps because according to Tezuka, it was considered running away from his responsibilities.
And to add insult to injury, everybody else didn't look so affected by the heat.
Ryoma was seriously considering seppuku with his tennis racket. He felt really pathetic.
"Ano… Ryoma-kun… are you all right?" said Sakuno, blushing.
Ryoma waved her away and looked around boredly, trying to find something to entertaining to do and make it look like it would help him with tennis… or maybe something to quench his thirst.
Salvation came in a bottle with (what seemed like) grape juice. He picked it up, drank it-
And fell to the ground.
...
Fuji laughed nervously. "It seems Ryoma-chan drank Inui's juice by mistake," said Fuji.
Tezuka's glasses gleamed.
After a minute of meaningful silence, Tezuka finally spoke. "Inui," said Tezuka. "I want this…" he looked at Echizen, "fixed by the end of the day."
Inui opened his notebook and muttered, "Difficult, very difficult…"
Oishi panicked.
"The side-effects of the juice can last for three days, at maximum. We don't have a lot to worry about, I can assure you that. Nothing will change in Echizen… much."
"Inui," said Oishi, "we have a match tomorrow." Oishi sounded different from usual, almost venomous. "Are you telling me that Echizen will be in this state during tomorrow's match?" Oishi's voice was even, but at the same time, commanding… and okay, maybe even kind of scary.
"Nya, Oishi!" Eiji said. He tugged at his partner's sleeve in an attempt to calm him down, but it only riled Oishi up even more. "I'm sure Ochibi will be okay! Right, everyone?"
Everyone else nodded.
"Inui won't let that happen to Echizen-kun," said Kawamura, trying to comfort Oishi. "Ah, here's my racket," muttered Kawamura. And then- "JUST KIDDING! POOR LITTLE ECHIZEN RYOMA WILL BURN BABY!" yelled Kawamura, swinging his racket in random motions.
"…"
"If I may ask, Inui-senpai," said Kaidoh, kind of afraid. Inui craned his neck so fast, that… man, would that have hurt, "what are… the side effects of the juice?"
Inui's glasses gleamed.
"Sadaharu's Juice of Love 0069 will make the drinker develop homosexual feelings to someone of his gender that he feels strong emotional bonds with. Anyone who drinks Sadaharu's Juice of Love will feel strong emotions and he will tend to be… very intense in expressing those strong emotions," said Inui. "The drinker, no matter how hard he may try, could not hide how he feels, with this juice. The drinker may also become more…" Inui paused, trying to find the correct word. "flirtatious."
Momo was horrified. His best friend becoming gay? No, it can't be. Besides, what will happen then? He and Ryoma won't be able to eat burgers properly, because his kouhai would probably be too fixated on him. Momo knew he wasn't bad-looking, if the amount of girls who had crushes on him from his class were anything to go by.
And Momo knew he was so irresistible and all that, but the idea of Echizen liking him was just… wrong.
"Damn it, Inui-senpai, why couldn't you just leave our sexual orientations alone?" said Momo. His voice wasn't carefree like usual. He was very frustrated and annoyed. (Well, of course.)
"Saa… I think Inui never meant to use it on Echizen," said Fuji, thoughtful. And then his smile turned teasing.
At that, Inui was speechless. Fuji couldn't possibly be…
"Maybe he wanted to use it on someone a little closer to home," Fuji opened his eyes, his smile becoming teasing.
Kaidoh was shocked. "Y-You like someone, senpai?" said Kaidoh, trying to make sure that his words were even. He wasn't jealous, really. He was just shocked. Yeah, that was it. Not jealous.
Instead of having a smart, mysterious (or a downright weird) comeback, Inui was speechless. Inui gulped, hoping that the blush on his face wasn't evident.
...
Eiji looked at Momo, who was gazing at Ryoma on the bed. He was hoping that any minute now, Ryoma would wake up and then they could eat burgers like they used to again.
"You know," said Eiji, "I think among all of us, Momo's the one who's going to be affected the most."
Oishi nodded. "Yeah, I don't know what I'd do if I lost my best friend," said Oishi, looking tenderly at Eiji.
Eiji winked at Oishi and made a peace-sign. "You don't have to worry about losing me, nya!" said Eiji. He glomped Oishi and giggled.
Oishi laughed and ruffled Eiji's hair.
Unknown to them, Momo could actually hear Oishi's and Eiji's conversation well. He was jealous. He and Echizen didn't do the things that Eiji and Oishi did, like ruffle each others' hair or play doubles with each other. Well, sure, they only did that once, but he doubted it would happen again.
But then it was better than having people say that you're in love with your best friend.
...
"You'll be staying here, Momo-chan?" asked Kawamura.
Momo nodded. "I asked my parents and they said it's okay," said Momo.
Kawamura smiled comfortingly at Momo. "Echizen must really mean a lot to you," said Kawamura, and he left.
Tezuka looked at Momo hard, and said, "It is really dark and frightening at night. Do not let your guard down." He gave Momo a katana. "Use this to defend yourself."
"Nineteen words, Tezuka... That's a new record," said Fuji, amused.
Tezuka just stared at Fuji, wondering why he would be so amused about something so trivial.
Momo felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and looked up to find Kaidoh giving him… a comforting look? Hey, was Kaidoh trying to smile?
Before Momo could acknowledge Kaidoh's presence, Kaidoh flicked the back of his middle finger at Momo's forehead. "Baka, everything will be alright. Inui-senpai won't let us down," said Kaidoh. The admiration and trust he had for Inui was evident in his voice.
Momo had to admit Kaidoh's words were comforting, but they became even more so, knowing that they came from Kaidoh.
Inui's glases gleamed when he told Momo that he would do his best.
"Well then, we should get going now," said Fuji, waving at Momo.
And then they were gone.
...
Momo sighed and gazed at Ryoma's corpse.
Wait, Ryoma's corpse?
The corpse tugged at his jersey and said, "Momo-senpai?"
Momo decided it was time to stop thinking that Ryoma was dead. "E-Eh?" said Momo.
Before Momo could even process his thoughts, Ryoma was already sitting down and leaning very, very close to him. "Senpai is so good-looking." Ryoma's voice was octaves higher, but it was still the same.
Ryoma let a dainty finger ghost over Momo's chest. Momo shuddered. "I wonder just why I didn't notice it before," whispered Ryoma softly.
Momo looked at his friend. He was very, very horrified.
And anyway, who wouldn't be afraid if his best friend came on to him, right? Especially if his best friend was a guy, who was younger than him... and a guy.
Which was exactly what Ryoma was to Momo. Momo loved Echizen, he could admit that much, but that love can only be a platonic love (like master and slave, teacher and student, doctor and patient, and so on - it was all professional). It wasn't the disgusting, sickening… sweet sort of love like Inui's and Kaidoh's. Or Eiji's and Oishi's.
"E-Echizen, look-" said Momo. He tried to sound commanding, but instead he sounded afraid.
"But, Momo-senpai, I am looking," said Ryoma. There was a smile on Ryoma's face which Momo never saw before. Momo really wasn't sure whether he wanted to see it more or not. "And trust me, I like what I see," he murmured. Ryoma touched Momo's pecs. "Ooh, firm,"
Momo flinched away.
Momo tried to change the subject. "I should get you home," said Momo.
"You'll walk me home? That's so sweet, Momo-senpai," teased Ryoma.
Wait, did Ryoma just bat his eyelashes?
Maybe the brat wasn't teasing him after all.
…Crap.
...
The walk was silent and awkward, with Ryoma trying to hold Momo's hand and with Momo trying to walk a step ahead to avoid Ryoma.
"So we're here," said Momo. Man... yesterday, walking his best friend home wouldn't have been this awkward. Why did this have to happen to his best friend?
Ryoma looked at Momo and said, "Aren't you going to kiss me 'goodnight'?" asked Ryoma. He was pouting.
If it had been yesterday, Momo was sure he would have laughed with Ryoma, slapped his best friend on the shoulder, and then reminded Ryoma to drink his milk before going to bed and after eating his breakfast.
"Oh, for the love of…" muttered Momo, shaking his head.
Momo didn't notice his best friend standing on his toes with his hand on Momo's neck, and was shocked when Ryoma's lips were pressed to his.
Ryoma's lips were soft, and Momo couldn't help but think that his and Ryoma's lips fit perfectly. And fine, it felt good. It felt even better when Momo opened his mouth and tilted his head just a little and-
And then Ryoma pulled away, uncharacteristically blushing.
"I-I should go back now, Momo-senpai," said Ryoma. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah,"
With that, the freshman ace went inside his house and left Momo stunned, wondering just what the hell happened.
Momo spat and wiped his lips. Oh well, at least nobody else saw, right?
Wrong.
Hidden behind the trees was no one other than Fuji Syuusuke, with his trusty camera in hand. "You're so naïve, Momoshiro Takeshi," said Fuji. He opened his eyes.
I wrote this a long time ago, but never really got around to finishing or publishing it. I'm not exactly sure if this should be continued, so I want your opinion. :P And thank you for reading. I appreciate it. ^^;