Title: This Again?!
Summary: Well, we have to talk it out sometime right? Or else nothing is going to work out between us all. He's kind. He's caring. And you can see that he loves us. What more proof do you need? Holy! Okay seriously… what is with this holiday and cars?!
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. The anime and its canon characters belong to their rightful owners.
"Stop glaring at me would you!" Ryoma snarled as he sat across Fuji and Tezuka with Sanada by his side.
Ever since their little dispute about two weeks ago, the entire group of four had been split up. Tezuka and Fuji were on one side of the argument with Ryoma and Sanada on the other.
"You didn't have to keep it from us Ryo-chan," Fuji said, narrowing his eyes further.
"Oh come on. We all need a little surprise in our lives," Ryoma tried to reason. "Besides, I needed to see his feelings for myself considering he never really approached the two of you," he added.
"That doesn't mean you keep it a secret from us and do things behind our back like this Ryoma," Tezuka said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"And usually you are the one telling me not to let my guard down," Ryoma muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth as he stared at his two boyfriends while tightening the hold he had on Sanada's hand.
"Calm down Ryoma," Sanada said, glancing at Ryoma from the side. He was also keeping an eye on the other two, hoping that they weren't too mad at Ryoma for keeping him a secret. It's true that his intentions toward them all were unclear, so he could see why Ryoma would try to keep everything a secret until everything was sorted out.
"My Kami-sama, I
need to talk to someone else about this…" Ryoma muttered, letting go of Sanada to rub his forehead. "Where's my phone?" he asked, getting up from his seat and searching around the table and the cabinets for it.
"Over there." Sanada pointed out the cell phone on top of the shelf nearby.
"Thanks," he said, nodding as he picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Hey kid. Yes, there's a problem. No it doesn't mean anything bad for you. Can you just come over? Thanks kid. I'll introduce you to someone too. Yes, it's that same person from the New Year's Festival. Right. Thanks. Bye."
"Who did you just call Ryoma? Is it another person that you've been with behind our backs?" Fuji said, narrowing his eyes further and clenching his fists.
"For the love of Kami, you know the girl!" Ryoma said over his shoulder. "Why is it that when we aren't arguing you aren't like this, but as soon as I start hanging out with other people, you get territorial?"
Fuji and Tezuka stopped glaring and blinked for a few minutes. What Ryoma said was completely true. They were never this overprotective of him when Ryoma was just hanging out with them, but as soon as Ryoma had started spending more time with Sanada, they had gotten more protective.
"Who are you talking about?" Sanada questioned, blinking in confusion. It was obvious to him that Fuji and Tezuka knew the girl that Ryoma was talking about, but who was she?
"It's an old friend from two years ago," Ryoma said before remaining silent as he stared at the door, almost as if he was waiting for someone to show up.
It was only twenty minutes later than the doorbell was heard, and Ryoma stood to answer it.
"Coming!" he called out, opening the door and nearly being tackled into a hug by a familiar girl. "Hey Hanako."
"Hey Echizen-kun," the girl called out with a smile before letting go and being led inside by Ryoma. "It's been a while Echizen-kun. I don't think I've seen you in person since New Years. What did you call me here for anyway?"
Walking into the room, Hanako spotted the other three in the room. "Okay… Hello Tezuka-kun. Fuji-kun. And who might you be?"
"Sanada Genichirou," he introduced himself with a nod of his head.
"Oh hey, now I remember you. You were staring at Echizen-kun, Tezuka-kun, and Fuji-kun at the New Year's Festival." She got a nod in response. "I see that you finally made yourself known. But… why do Tezuka-kun and Fuji-kun look like they are going to kill somebody?" she asked with a sheepish smile.
"They're mad because I've been making plans behind their back about Sanada possibly joining us," Ryoma explained, crossing his arms over his shoulder.
"Is that so?" Hanako questioned, pouting a bit as she raised a finger to her chin in thought. "How about we go for a walk hmm? Get some fresh air. Clear our heads. Try not to kill each other?"
She earned nods from all four males, three of them being more hesitant than the first.
As soon as the group of five had left the Echizen household, they began to walk down the streets without a destination in mind. All that Hanako was trying to do was make sure they weren't sitting around as they talked.
"So Echizen-kun, what made you think about letting Sanada-kun join the group?"
Ryoma hummed before answering. "He's caring as you can see, not to mention he's probably had feelings for us for a bit. You saw him at the festival and how he jumped to my rescue… literally."
"Oh yeah, the stampede," Hanako drawled out with a sheepish look on her face.
"But you both went behind our backs to plan this," Fuji reasoned, trying to make Hanako understand their part of the situation as well.
"That's true Echizen-kun. Perhaps it was a bit much to keep them completely out of the loop like that," Hanako said, trying to pacify both sides.
"I wouldn't need to if they had been paying more attention to everything that was happening," Ryoma replied, narrowing his eyes just slightly at the ground, not wanting to look up.
"That's true," Hanako said before the group started to argue between themselves.
Ryoma would make one point that Hanako would agree on and then either Fuji or Tezuka would say an opposing point that Hanako would also agree on. They both had arguments that made sense in her point of view, and it was tough to try and see who was in the right and who was in the wrong in this situation.
"Why can't you just see what I see?" Ryoma yelled, turning away from his boyfriends and crossing his arms over his chest. "He's kind. He's caring. And you can obviously tell that he loves us! It's so clear, yet you can't see it!"
"It's just not that simple Ryoma!" Fuji yelled back, walking around Ryoma to try and look the younger in the eyes. "You really should not have gone behind our backs with this stunt!"
"Oh this again!" Ryoma whined, rolling his eyes as he glared at Fuji. "It's not my fault that I had to do it behind your backs! You've been leaving me alone for so long! I can't just wait around for you to come back!"
"Now you know we don't mean that Ryoma," Tezuka tried to pacify the younger.
"Like you can say anything about it! You've been leaving me alone just as long! I know you both are busy with school and everything, but do you really have to leave me alone all the time unless it's for a holiday!"
"Echizen…" Sanada whispered.
"Just call me Ryoma… You've earned that much at least…" Ryoma sighed, taking a deep breath to try and calm down. "More than these two have recently…"
"Ryoma, you can't mean that," Tezuka said, eyes dropping a bit at the statement.
"I know you both are busy… I know you both have obligations…" Ryoma started, turning away from them with a sad look on his face. "But I thought that we were in a relationship. I thought… I thought that meant spending time together…"
"It does Ryoma, it does," Fuji said, trying to reach for the other only for Ryoma to pull away.
"It doesn't seem like it…" Ryoma admitted, grabbing Sanada's and Hanako's wrists in his hands before turning away.
"Echizen-kun! Where are we going?" Hanako yelped as Ryoma started running with them, Fuji and Tezuka rushing to catch up to the two.
"Ryoma wait!" Fuji and Tezuka both called after them.
Ryoma grit his teeth, clenching his eyes shut as he started to run toward the park.
"This is not good at all," Hanako groaned, getting a nod of agreement from Sanada. "You really all should just talk it out calmly."
"Well you can see that it didn't work at all!" Ryoma snarled back, making Hanako widen her eyes.
Realizing who he had just snapped at, Ryoma stopped on the spot at an intersection.
"I'm… I'm sorry Hanako…" Ryoma apologized, dropping his head down to his chest as he let go of the two's wrists and stared at the ground.
Hanako just gave him an understanding smile before ruffling his hair. "Just take a deep breath. We'll figure this out. We all will. You can't keep avoiding each other forever."
"Hanako's correct," Sanada agreed. "If I had known that this would cause so much trouble, I would have let my feelings be known much more simply."
Ryoma looked up at the two before nodding after a few moments of silence. "I guess… I guess I could try to talk it out civilly."
"Good because I was worried that we would have a massacre soon enough," Hanako chuckled, earning a scoff from both males.
"We should probably go back before the other two worry for you even more," Sanada suggested, gently pushing Ryoma back. They could all see Fuji and Tezuka looking around frantically, looking for Ryoma.
Hanako chuckled before widening her eyes as she heard a screeching sound. Turning her head, she screamed. "Sanada-kun! Echizen-kun!"
"What?" Ryoma questioned, turning around only to see a speeding car followed by police cars heading down the road.
"Look out!" Sanada yelled, pushing Ryoma and himself out of the way of the speeding cars as they turned the corner, practically jumping the curb and just barely missing them.
"Ryoma!" Tezuka and Fuji both yelled, seeing what had just happened and ran over.
"Oh my Kami-sama, are you two alright?" several people nearby yelled in worry for the two males.
"Ju-Just fine…" Ryoma stuttered, blinking his eyes several times as he took several deep breaths to calm down along with Sanada.
"That was close you two! Do you need to see a doctor? Should we call the paramedics? Should we take you to the hospital?" People were asking question after question, overwhelming the two males.
"Enough!" Tezuka yelled, making his way to the front of the crowd along with Fuji and Hanako. "We'll take them to the hospital. No need to worry," he reassured the crowd.
It seemed that it worked because the crowd started to dissipate and go back to what they were doing, worried glances going toward the two males every few minutes.
"Thank goodness you two are alright. Well as alright as you two can be," Hanako sighed in relief, putting a hand where her heart was.
"Thank you Sanada, thank you," Fuji cried, hugging Ryoma close to him. "Thank you so much for saving him."
"It was no problem. I'd do it again if I had to," Sanada admitted with a small smile toward Ryoma.
Ryoma smiled back before reaching over and gently gripping Sanada's hands. "Thank you Sanada… for everything."
"Of course," he responded with a warm smile toward the younger.
"Well… it looks like we can finally decide this entire situation," Tezuka said, making everyone turn toward him with a curious yet worried look. "Sanada…"
Sanada gulped before standing up along with Ryoma and Fuji.
Sanada and Ryoma dearly hoped that Tezuka wouldn't outright reject Sanada after what happened, and if Fuji admitted it, he was worried for that as well.
"Sanada Genichirou… welcome to the group," Tezuka finished with a small smile.
Ryoma beamed before jumping onto Tezuka in a hug. "Thank you!" he yelled before clinging to Fuji as well yelling the same thing.
"Did you hear that Sanada? Or should we call you Genichirou?" Fuji chuckled, hugging Ryoma and smiling at the dark-haired male.
Sanada chuckled before answering, "Genichirou is fine."
"Gen-chan then," Ryoma decided, earning chuckles from everyone.
"I do have one thing to say though," Hanako interrupted, making everyone turn toward her.
"Yeah?" Ryoma questioned.
"What is with this holiday and cars?"