Title: New Beginnings
Author: Watoshimi Kairou
Fandom: Inuyasha / Prince of Tennis
Characters: Higurashi Kagome, Echizen Ryoma
Rating: Mature
Status: Incomplete
Summary: After the well sealed itself, Kagome couldn't bare living in a shrine house that easily brings back unwanted memories. Moving in with her cousin, Kagome finds herself thrust into a world where nothing makes sense anymore.
For some reason, I had never been a fan of crossover FanFictions but lately I have gotten into Prince of Tennis and Inuyasha. Of course, most of the FanFictions around this site is not what I was looking for. So I decided to create my own and because this type of challenge is new to me I hope I manage to make the characters stay in character despite the challenge this story will prove to be.
Also, this FanFiction is going to be pure crack. Seriously. Not crack as in funny but crack as in 'there is no way this type of situation could happen no matter how you look at it. So, if the first couple of paragraphs make your eyes bleed, I apologize and direct you towards the back button. Thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, Inuyasha or any of their characters.
New Beginnings
[1] To Live
Moving back to Japan in time for Ryoma to start his first year at high school at Seishun Academy High was probably the best decision Nanjirou had ever made. As a matter of fact, it was such a good decision that Ryoma decided not to rip up Nanjirou's soft porn magazines into Karupin's litter box for a week.
Nanjirou noticed, of course, and managed to tease his son about it for three days straight before Ryoma got his revenge by burning said magazines during the Echizens' going-away barbeque party. Rinko only smiled softly as the two Echizens argued, not once regretting the weeks it had taken her to beg her boss for a transfer back to Japan.
Nanjirou's only regret was being reduced back to reading porn magazines rather than his preferred babe-watching on the California beach. And while Ryoma didn't think he had ever seen his father so heart broken before, no one really gave it much though.
Life didn't change all that much for Ryoma upon his return to Japan and entrance to Seigaku High as a first year; everyone was still the same and for that, he was glad. Glad because he couldn't imagine if Kikumaru stopped calling him Ochibi, if Inui stopped collecting data, if Horio stopped being... well, being Horio. He was glad that he had his old teammates back (his American team had been and would always be mada mada), minus Taka-senpai who, while still on the tennis team, dedicated most of his time on his family's business and was not a fellow Regular.
Taka-senpai had been replaced by Sasabe-senpai who was, by the way, not at all related to the idiot Ryoma had twist-served to the face when he first came to Japan for middle school. Sasabe-senpai was lankier and had more soft curves than any self-respecting teenage boy should have but had perhaps one of the most powerful hits in the high school tennis world which makes everyone question where he hid all his muscle in what looked to be skin and bones.
(Inui-senpai was especially curious as to why he had never even heard of Sasabe before this year; his data on his fellow third year was disappointingly lacking).
Despite his power, Sasabe-senpai would never replace Taka-senpai; he would always be mada mada to Ryoma because he doesn't have split personalities nor does he yell out random English phrases when given a racket. When the names of the Regulars were first called out, Ryoma knew that it would be a long time before he got used to Sasabe-senpai.
He could handle that particular change though.
However, a couple weeks into rediscovering his freshmen tennis prodigy position, Ryoma found out that everything he was used to was going to change and it was all because his cousin was coming to live with his family for a while. It wasn't as if he had anything against her—Really! He didn't—but her moving back meant seeing her friends again. And he really, really, really didn't like her friends.
Especially that loud one.
Kind of like Kikumaru-senpai, he compared silently. Except Kikumaru-senpai was the happy sort of loud unlike his cousin's friend who was more angry than anything else. He was ten the last time he saw them and he really wasn't sure he wanted to deal with that again.
Presently, Ryoma found himself staring at the picnic table where his teammates were currently sitting around and silently debated with himself whether or not he should sneak away. After all, if he did so now, he might still be able to catch his old man before he drove off. With a firm resolve, he pretended he didn't see an excited Kikumaru-senpai waving at him while simultaneously jumping up and down. He swallowed, his hand automatically flew up to the brim of his cap to pull it down. Ryoma spun around, ready to walk away from the overexcited aura surrounding his teammates only to be jerked back roughly.
Damn, so close.
"Momo-senpai—" he managed to choke out before Momoshiro's hard arm muscles flexed and wound up around Ryoma's neck, effectively stopping him from talking, or even breathing, actually.
"You can't just pretend you didn't see us," Momoshiro said cheekily. "You can't!"
Ryoma ceased his struggling once he felt another pair of arms wrapping themselves around him. It was impossible to struggle against both Kikumaru and Momoshiro-senpai, after all. He was also probably going to die anyway. The two older boys pushed Ryoma onto the bench and stood in front with large grins on their face.
Ryoma wrinkled his nose. "Che," he said softly and pulled down his cap again. Apparently, he really wasn't going to be escaping the get-together.
It took Inui exactly five seconds to figure out there was something wrong with Ryoma. "Echizen is exactly thirty-six point two-five percent quieter than usual," he muttered but his words were still loud enough for those around him to hear. "There is a seventy-two percent chance that Echizen just woke up and a remaining twenty-eight percent that he is actually upset about something."
Ryoma scowled; he wasn't ready to deal with Inui-senpai and his data so early in the afternoon. "Leave me alone," he mumbled, ignoring the glare Tezuka shot his way since what he really wanted to say was, "Go to hell, senpai."
"Eh? Ochibi is sad?" Kikumaru asked, looking as if he was about to cry himself. "Why is ochibi sad? Tell senpai and senpai will make it all better, nya!" He fluttered around the younger boy, trying to catch his attention. Or, more specifically, trying to get some positive attention from Echizen who was glaring at him but also refusing to speak.
"Tell us," Kikumaru whined. He pulled Ryoma's arm and shook it while attempting to look like a kicked puppy. "Tell us! Tell us! Te—"
"Are you sick?" Oishi interrupted, worried. "Hurt?"
"Need some tennis?" Momoshiro asked. "That always helps."
Ryoma frowned and couldn't help but think that he sounded awfully a lot like his old man. And him, of course—because tennis is the answer to everything—but it wasn't something he would ever admit out loud.
"Hungry?" Oishi continued. It was already noon and if Echizen had just woken up—no surprise there—he probably wouldn't have had the time to eat yet.
"Had a wet dream?" Fuji asked, deciding to throw his own two cents in.
Silence.
Everyone turned their head around to stare at Fuji in silent shock and-or horror, except for Tezuka, whose only reaction was a slight twitch of his left eyebrow and a gleam of his glasses. And Ryoma too, actually, who was already used to perverted comments at the most unusual of times (courtesy of his father, thank you).
"No," Ryoma responded because he knew that perverted comments would only get worst from there. And because he didn't want Oishi-senpai to have a heart attack from thinking the worst, he elaborated, "My cousin's moving in."
Another small hush fell around the group, "Isn't that a good thing though?" Momoshiro finally asked. "I thought you liked living with Meino-san!" And, more importantly: "I mean, she cooks for you!" he practically screamed out. "What more do you need?"
"Not Nanako," Ryoma said, rolling his eyes as if it was obvious. "Kagome."
"Whoa!" Momoshiro exclaimed again, this time in surprise. He jumped back, knocking into an equally shocked Kikumaru. "You got another cousin?"
Ryoma looked up at him and gave him a look. Are you stupid? His raised eyebrows seemed to ask.
Unsure whether he should actually feel stupid or just simply annoyed, Momoshiro settled down with laughing nervously. "So, you don't like your cousin or something? What's wrong with her?"
Ryoma scowled even harder and hoped that scowling so much wouldn't leave a permanent mark on his face. He already told them why he was in a bad mood; why did his teammates insist on poking into every single detail of his life? "I don't have anything against her," he answered after much debate with himself. "It's just some of her friends."
They didn't get it. "Who are moving here too?" Kikumaru asked hesitantly.
"No," Ryoma said. "They already live in the city." At least they did when he was ten, they could have moved away for all he knew.
"Right," Momoshiro said. Then: "I don't get it."
Ryoma sighed. Forget permanent scowl marks, he hope he doesn't loose his voice from overusing it. "Kagome used to visit us whenever we were in Japan for vacation. I think I was ten the last time I saw her." He frowned, recalling memories he rather leave alone. "She had a group of really close friends that used to visit her whenever she was here."
"So..."
"If Kagome comes, they'll start coming over again," Ryoma answered. Stupid, remained unspoken but Ryoma's expression said it all.
"You could just ignore them," Fuji answered helpfully.
"Yeah!" Kikumaru said. "Like you do with people you don't like."
"Or us," Momoshiro offered, nodding his head in agreement.
Ryoma bit his tongue just as Fuji chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you could lump that in with "people Echizen doesn't like.'" His grin grew when Echizen made no move to correct him. His grin only grew when Echizen made no move to correct him.
"Well," Oishi said slowly, ignoring Fuji. "Think about it this way: It's been so long, maybe your cousin lost contact with them. They couldn't have been that close."
Ryoma looked up again and glared.
"Oh," Oishi said softly. "They were thatclose, weren't they?"
"Closer," Ryoma replied. "Probably still are."
"So," Fuji asked, "why don't you like them?"
"They're weird," Ryoma answered back automatically. He paused, gave his teammates a good long look and then added: "Hmm..."
Weirder than all of you, seemed to remain unspoken.
Fuji chuckled.
"And one of them..." Ryoma surpassed a shiver as he thought of cold, amber eyes and long silver hair. "Actually, he's a bit like—" he cut himself off when his gaze met Tezuka's and looked away. "Never mind. He was my sponsor so I guess seeing him again won't make that much of a difference."
"Sponsor?"
"When I was competing in America, he decided to sponsor me. But I haven't seen him since." Ryoma shrugged then, no longer wanting to continue the conversation. He reached up to pull down his cap for good emphasis.
Inui scribbled something in his notebook and looked up. "I am very interested to meet this cousin of yours, Echizen. And her friends, of course. It's not everyday that—"
"No," Ryoma interrupted, voice flat.
"Oh!" Kikumaru said, clapping his hands together, completely ignoring the younger boy. "That's such a great idea! We can make her feel right at home!"
Ryoma stared at him, horrified.
"Kikumaru," Tezuka said softly, speaking up for the first time.
"Yes!" Kikumaru responded at once and jumped up and around. "Tezuka agreed! Let's do it!"
Tezuka most certainly did not agree. And rather than meeting Echizen's cousin, they could all be practicing instead; after all, they had their first official match coming up within the next week and a half. However, those who were going were members of the tennis club and therefore Tezuka's responsibility. He wasn't about to let Echizen embarrass himself in front of his cousin because Fuji couldn't keep his hands to himself. Or because Kikumaru and Momoshiro couldn't stop teasing their super rookie.
"I apologize for any inconvenience we may cause you," Tezuka said politely as he bowed.
Kikumaru ignored the obvious glared directed at him and continued trying to keep Echizen in a headlock.
No wonder he was so short, Tezuka thought. He probably would have been too if he had someone hanging off him like that.
"Don't be silly," Echizen's mother said brightly. Tezuka could tell she meant it. "Kagome-chan was so nervous coming back here and I'm sure she'll feel welcome with so many people here just to greet her.
Like hell, Tezuka thought uncharacteristically. He looked back at his teammates and frowned.
Rinko turned towards her son. "Aren't you excited Ryoma?"
"No."
"Don't be such a brat, kid," Nanjirou said. "I remember when you were younger... you used to chase her around naked yelling, "Kaggy-chan, Kaggy-chan!'"
Tezuka had to hide a cough as Echizen's scowl deepened. Everyone else began laughing, not bothering to spare the tennis prodigy his pride.
"That was a long time ago," Echizen muttered.
The walk to the train station was relatively short but Tezuka had the distant feeling that the only reason they were walking was because there were so many people tagging along. He decided that he was going to make his teammates carry Higurashi-san's luggage for all the trouble as punishment. Of course, he could always them run laps but...
"So," Momoshiro asked in a low voice while they were all standing around, waiting for Ryoma's cousin. "Is your cousin hot?"
Echizen gave him a flat stare. "The last time I've seen her was when she was ten."
Momoshiro was not fazed. "Okay, okay. But was she cute then at least?"
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Oh!" Rinko suddenly called out. "She's here!" She waved her hand wildly in the air and ran towards the onslaught of people getting off the train. "Kagome-chan!"
"Whoa," Kikumaru said. "Your mom really likes her, eh?"
"Not as much as my old man," Ryoma added disgustingly. They watched as Nanjirou—famous Nanjirou—threw himself into the air towards a pretty, wavy-black haired teenager who was walking towards them.
"So," Rinko said, pulling her husband off her niece. "How was your ride?"
"It was okay," Kagome answered, laughing softly as they made their way back towards the group. "It was a little long though."
"I'm just glad you're here."
"Yeah," Kagome said softly. "I just needed to get away." She looked almost sad for a moment before brightening up when she saw Ryoma. "Hey!" she squealed out happily. "Ryoma! I haven't see or talked to you in forever!" She moved to hug him and Tezuka watched as Ryoma tensed up. Kagome pulled herself back before actually touching her cousin. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I forget myself sometimes."
"Hmm..."
"The brat's shy," Nanjirou said, cutting between his son and niece. "Those," he pointed around, "are his teammates. They heard you were coming so they wanted to come along too to pick you up."
"Oh!" Kagome's eyes were wide with shock, noticing them for the first time. "Thank you, I'm Kagome, by the way."
With so many people around, not raising her hand to shake their was no surprise but it didn't stop Fuji from grasping her hand and raising it towards his lips. "A pleasure to meet you," he said with a warm smile, kissing her knuckles. He turned his head towards Ryoma slightly and gave him a small wink.
Ryoma scowled.
Kagome shuddered and wondered if she just met another version of Miroku. God knows that she had enough of that in her lifetime. But... but it wasn't as if she would mind if Miroku was still... no. Kagome frowned inwardly and scolded herself. She wasn't supposed to be thinking of them anymore. She promised herself she wouldn't. It was the entire reason why she had begged her mother to let her stay with the Echizens in the first place. Stop living in the past, Kagome, she told herself. It's time to live in the present.
Noticing that she was just standing there, lost in thought, with her hand still in Miroku the second's own hand, Kagome flushed. "It's nice to meet you too," she said tightly, pulling her hand away. Or at least, attempted to, but he had a tight hold on it. "Um?"
"Fuji." Tezuka's voice was cutting. Here was damage control, stop Fuji from embarrassing Echizen.
"Oh, sorry," Fuji said, not sorry at all. "I'm just shocked that Echizen has such a beautiful cousin."
Kagome flinched visibly as Nanjirou hummed in agreement in the background.
"Fuji!"
"Yes, yes." Fuji gave another bright smile, dropping Kagome's hand and giving Ryoma another wink. "My apologies, it won't happen again."
Like hell it won't, Ryoma thought.
Kagome frowned. She would have thought that the guy was attempting to make a fool of her, but she had noticed the silent exchange between her cousin and his friend. It was quite a surprise, actually. Even as a young boy, Ryoma had always been a no-nonsense kind of kid. Kagome was surprised that he even stuck around despite his annoyance.
"So, Higurashi-san, do you play tennis?" Momoshiro asked after all introductions have been made and they were making their way back to the Echizen House. Tezuka had, of course, made most of his fellow Regulars carry around her luggage despite her embarrassment and protests.
"Tennis?" Kagome asked, completely confused. "Why would I play tennis?" She took in the shocked expressions for a moment before it hit her. "Oh!" Kagome exclaimed. "Sorry, I keep forgetting." She giggled nervously. "I'm not much of a sports person. I'm too clumsy for that, actually."
"Aw," Momoshiro said, dejected. He had been looking forward to two super rookies (even if Higurashi couldn't play on their team). "That's too bad. Will you be attending school with us though?"
"Seishun Academy High, right?"
"Yep! That's the one!"
Kagome smiled. "I guess I am then!"
"You should come and watch us practice sometime!" Kikumaru said good-heartily.
Tezuka pressed his lips into a thin line. Practice, he wanted to tell the redhead, along with everyone else who was nodding in agreement, is not a show for random audiences. It should be taken seriously. Of course, he was also tempted to send his teammates out running laps but he didn't think that would be polite in front of the Echizens.
"...of course. It's been so long since you've stayed with us but your room's in the exact same spot," Rinko continued.
"It's totally fine if you want to continue sleeping with uncle too," Nanjirou cut in cheekily.
Kagome flushed again but managed to keep herself from slapping her uncle silly. "I don't think that's appropriate, uncle."
"Non—"
"Enough, old man!" Ryoma snapped, aiming a kick at the back of his father's knees.
"Hey!" Nanjirou cried out as he stumbled forward. He managed to catch himself in time before he face-planted into the ground. He whipped his head around. "You ungrateful little shi—"
"Nanjirou!" Rinko said firmly. "That's enough."
Everyone fell into a tense silence but Tezuka noticed Echizen giving his father a satisfied smirk when Echizen-san wasn't looking. A brat through and through, Tezuka thought almost fondly. He didn't really want to admit it but he rather missed Echizen's bratty attitude the years he had been in America.
It took a couple minutes before they fell into another comfortable conversation, although it lacked the usual childish excitement one usually feels when being surrounded by the tennis Regulars of Seigaku High.
Everyone followed as Rinko opened the gates to the house. She looked back at Ryoma and his teammates with a smile on her face. "You guys should come in and stay for dinner. Kagome-chan deserves a welcome party."
Kagome flushed. "Oh! You don't need to—"
"Don't be silly," Rinko said. "Of course we do."
Tezuka frowned. "I wouldn't want to interrupt—"
"We would love to stay, nya," Kikumaru interrupted happily, utterly oblivious to the fact that his captain was currently tallying up the number of laps he would have to run later.
"You won't be interrupting anything," Rinko said to Tezuka as she pushed everyone into the house. "If I didn't want you guys to eat with us, I wouldn't have asked." She looked at Momoshiro who was carrying most of Kagome's luggage. "Feel free to put those over there," she said, pointing to the open area, "and I'm going to start making dinner."
"Need me to help? I'm pretty good at cooking," Kagome said, silently adding, I can make a mean cup of ramen, as Ryoma rolled his eyes and began making his way up to his room, completely ignoring that his teammates were at his house.
"No, it's fine," said Rinko. "Why don't you invite your friends over too?"
Kagome paused. "Um, my friends?" she asked, confused.
"Yes, that's right. The ones that you had always hung out with whenever you were here, remember?" Rinko frowned. "Don't tell me you lost contact with them." She shook her head in disappointment. "That's too bad, you guys used to be so close."
"Eh?" It was Kagome's turn to frown; she couldn't remember having any close friends when she lived here for a summer all those years ago. And Ryoma didn't have the easiest personality to get along with so it wasn't as if she could have hung out with any of his friends. Although... there was that.
"You really did lose contact with them?" Rinko asked. "That's such a shame."
"I—uh—well..." she paused. How would she say it without sounding completely crazy? "I... I never really had any friends here, Aunt Rinko..."
That made more than one person in the room pause. "Sure you did," Nanjirou said, speaking up for the first time in a while. "I used to see you and the brats run yourselves silly here."
Rinko gasped. "Oh!" she cried, alarming the young priestess. "Don't tell me..."
"What?" Kagome asked, panicking. "Tell you want?"
There was silence for a few moments. Rinko and Nanjirou looked at each other nervously and the Regulars shifted around uncomfortably. This was obviously a family thing and no one wanted to interrupt.
Ryoma, who was standing on top of the stairs, surprisingly, was the first one to speak up. "When we called," he said. "Grandfather said that you fell down the well, hit your head and got amnesia or something."
Kagome felt her face go red in anger. "When was this?"
Ryoma shrugged.
"I guess that must be it then," Kagome said, laughing nervously. Inwardly she wondered who in the world her friends were because she certainly could not remember them and she most definitely did not have amnesia. Had the whole world gone crazy? she wondered. Or is it just me? The well had sealed itself only a couple of weeks ago but already, it felt like a dream. Maybe it really was a dream. Maybe I did fall down the well and got amnesia. Maybe the federal era really was just a dream. Am I the crazy one?
She curled her right hand into a tight fist. Her priestess powers shot up to the surface of her skin and crackled with energy as it came in contact with the air. Kagome looked around, making sure that she wasn't drawing anyone's attention and sighed. Definitely not a dream. She couldn't help but feel relieved but it only lasted a moment before she remembered. Who in the world are my friends?
Kagome has officially entered the world of tennis princes. Stay tune and watch as other Inuyasha character comes in… because trust me, they will!