A/N: …ohmigosh, I seriously don't deserve you all. I'm sure everyone's been waiting for this story to update, which sadly, has been a longggg time since. Special thanks to my reviewers, who I am going to cry to, because of their loving support! You deserve ice cream!
While I'm not going to respond to everyone's review, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and favorite and alerted this story.
Kris 77 – Can you clarify who you want them to be paired up with? As in, which twin with which regular?
lovelydasom – Any suggestions for Ryoko? Don't leave her behind~ :)
Also, if you have ideas for this story, please let me know! I've only forced myself to update because of all the love from my readers, and the fact that I feel bad in letting them down because I continuously bring the story down and rewrite it. Instead, I'm going to force myself to write; though, I do need some ideas. Thanks, and enjoy!
Chapter One: Lost Addiction
What most didn't understand, Ryoko mused, was the term addiction.
Those who were addicted to video games?
Absolutely not; it was just an obsession, a seclusion to another world where one could be someone else, have powers they couldn't have otherwise, meet and connect with people they couldn't otherwise.
Addiction.
It was a negative term, really.
People addicted to nicotine, alcohol, other substances and drugs, illegal or not – their lives were all ruined. If it didn't end in death, it ended in an extremely slow recovery that had one suffering for months, years.
Addiction.
Could it be used positively? Was hers good or bad?
~0~[Echizen]-!~0~!-[Twins]~0~
It was strange.
After all the twins' attempts, five people had stuck through it all. The group of friends: the obnoxious Satoshi Horio, the timid Kato Kachiro, the optimistic Katsuo Mizuno, the shy Sakuno Ryuuzaki, and the boisterous Tomoka Osakada.
Tomoka and Horio had annoyingly persisted, dragging their friends into the schemes in order to befriend the newcomers, and to which, after about a week, Ryoka and Ryoka finally gave in.
It was strange, because they were stubborn as well, and where had their determination gone? Perhaps…
And while the two considered the five as… friends, at times, there was a limit to how much they could handle from them (mainly Horio and Tomoka, the others were neutral).
"Uwah! That looks good!" Tomoka commented with a grin, staring at the lunch the twins had in their hands.
Sakuno made a noise of agreement, "W-who made it?"
"Okaa-san—" Ryoka replied, taking a bite into her onigiri.
"—and Nanako-nee-chan," Ryoko murmured, biting into the teriyaki chicken.
"She's our cousin," The elder twin added, slapping at Horio's mischievous hand harshly; the brunette clutched at his hand, moaning in pain.
"Can I try a piece?" Tomoka inquired, to which the twins consented at her nice request, even sharing with the three neutral ones. At Horio's gaping and loud complaints, Tomoka mocked angrily, "That's what you get for trying to steal!"
And amidst of arguing with the female, Horio begged, "Not fair Echizens! Give me a piece!"
"Yadda," The two immediately retorted, turning away for added effect in order to finish eating in piece.
Horio continued to plead the rest of the lunch period, to which the twins promptly ignored and ate the rest of their lunch quickly. The bell then rang, leaving to everyone to pack up their lunch boxes, and leaving a complaining Horio about not having time to eat lunch.
(Now whose fault was that?)
This led to another fight between Tomoka and him. Everyone else sighed together.
~0~[Echizen]-!~0~!-[Twins]~0~
Lunch time approached again the next day. The two twins stood, holding their bento boxes in their hands, as they waited impatiently for their friends to hurry the hell up.
They were hungry, dang it.
"It's such a beautiful day today! Let's eat on the roof!" Tomoka suggested with a large grin, and everyone more or less agreed; more or less, because the twins couldn't have cared less and Horio declined, saying it was too hot, but his opinion didn't matter.
Chattering lightly, the seven approached the rooftop. However, upon opening the door, they saw that it was already occupied. The students within – all of which were older than them – settled into a silence, staring back at the freshman.
"Ah! It's—" Horio started, before the other two of the freshmen trio interrupted, "Ah, we're sorry for the intrusion. We'll go now."
"There's plenty of room for all of us. It's fine," A taller senpai with a warm smile on his lips and two bangs in front urged, and with an exchange of glances, the seven entered, heading to the other side of the roof. "Please excuse us."
As they settled, life steadily went on as the five freshman stared curiously at the twins.
"…What?" They chorused, staring back blankly.
"We want to see what lunch you have today!"
The twins blinked owlishly, cocking their heads to the side. "Eh?"
The older students, who had been secretly listening in to their conversation blinked at the action. '…Cute!'
A tall spiky-haired boy with violet eyes perked at the food as the twins opened their bentos; he drooled.
"Hey, what kind of lunch is that?" He inquired, scooting closer to the two, despite his friends' warnings.
"Who are you?" They stared blankly, observing the taller boy, and he grinned, "I'm Takeshi Momoshiro. You can call me Momo-chan-senpai."
The pair exchanged glances, both amused, as they turned back to their lunches. "Not interested."
"Oi…" Momo twitched slightly, and Horio gasped rather exaggeratedly.
"Echizens! Don't you know who they are? They're the tennis Regulars! Extremely popular and talented in tennis! They're the best in the school! And I, with my two years of experience," At this point, the two tuned out their friend's rant, replying with another, "Not interested."
'Rude!'
"C'mon, at least trade me. Is that ootoro?" Momo gawked.
"Yadda!"
The twins refused, bringing their lunches closer to themselves. Darn, with all of the racquet going on and everyone asking for their food, they would never be able to eat in peace.
In the end, the two gave in to his persistent begging (and the fact he bribed them with buying them burgers. Too bad Momo didn't know they had bottomless pits for stomachs!)
…They were going soft.
With that, they were introduced to the rest of the Regulars, who were an odd bunch.
~0~[Echizen]-!~0~!-[Twins]~0~
"Momo-senpai!" The twins chorused, "You owe us burgers!"
"Yeah, yeah," The taller boy waved his hand dismissively, "I'll buy them for you."
What harm was buying two burgers? Granted, they weren't going into his stomach, but it wasn't a completely lost cause! After all, he did have some of that yummy, delicious ootoro…
At the burger shop, however, everyone was in for a astonishing surprise.
"Eto, we'll take six hamburgers, two large fries, and two large strawberry milkshakes please," Ryoko murmured.
Ryoka pointed to their senpai. "He's paying."
Momo gawked. "Hey, what? I thought I was buying you one burger each!"
"Maa, you never said the amount," Ryoka waved it off dismissively, and Momo, sulking, paid.
"Um, Ryoka-chan, Ryoko-chan," Tomoka started, eying the load warily, "Can you… really EAT all that?"
"Of course," Ryoka stated matter-of-factly and Ryoko added. "Mada mada dane~"
"Jeez," Momo groaned, as everyone moved to sit down, "If I knew you guys could eat that much, I wouldn't have offered. You can eat about half of much as I can!"
The twins eyes glinted dangerously, "Is that a challenge?"
"Ii data." Pencil meet paper.
"Momo, perhaps you shouldn't offer before your wallet really empties out," Fuji suggested, an amused smile playing on his lips.
The twins now had a favorite senpai, to which they happily bugged him for more burgers. Filled up with happiness and warmth, they greeted everyone before heading home.
~0~[Echizen]-!~0~!-[Twins]~0~
A lost addiction…
Never did Ryoko believe they would be warped back into the tennis world so quickly.
After all, while… giving up… the sport, all their new friends and senpai-tachi was related to tennis somehow.
It was painful.
What most didn't understand, Ryoko mused, was the term addiction.
The twins' addiction, their loss, was of course tennis. While there was nothing serious about their "withdrawal symptoms," they missed the sport.
They missed the thrill of the tennis racquet meeting the tennis ball.
They missed the pumping adrenaline in their veins.
They missed the feel of the breeze kissing their face and rushing through their hair.
They missed the sweat building up along with the friendly tension when the referee announced the score.
They missed it all.
And while they had refused to go back…
Perhaps Fate won't let them have a choice.
A/N: Yay for filler chapter! :D –is shot-
Sorry for the crappiness! I'll get better! –cries-
Please read the authoress' note at the beginning of the chapter. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
Other than which, please review!
