Saa.. I knew most of you would want it to be a threesome. It'd be more interesting that way. Anyway, I was glad that I had the time to type this next chapter! Apparently, there wasn't much work, and my teachers didn't give us any work… at least for the weekend. I meant- it only had been a few days since the last grading period started.
Now, about your reviews, I didn't expect to have six reviews already! ^.^
I wanted to thank Tenisu no Oujou-sama Kagome, edenforest1, EchizenRyomaLover, ryoka-chan, Nina Natsu, and Iyoushi.
Your reviews really meant a lot to me! And good work for those who followed the instruction!
Now, on with the story... enjoy! XD
Previously:
A boy with grayish-purple locks, wearing a gray, white and black combination of jersey, was walking by, when he heard someone cried in pain. He ordered his muscular companion to follow him to see whose voice it belonged to. That voice was excruciatingly familiar, so he was curious. To his utter horror, he saw a young boy, sported in black uniform of Seigaku, lying in the pool of his own blood. "E-Echizen!'' He picked up his phone to call the ambulance. His hand trembled, as he held Echizen with his free hand. "Echizen, open your eyes. Don't you dare die in front of me!"
Chapter 2: Resonance
Then, he looked behind when he heard a group of boys running to their direction anxiously.
"Ochibi!" "Echizen!" They hollered when they saw Ryoma.
"No, we're too late!"
"What do you mean? Ore-sama demands an explanation."
"Atobe?" They were shock to see him there.
"What are you doing here?"
"Answer my question!"
Before someone could react to Atobe's demand, they heard Echizen mutter something, "I-it's my fault…," then he started to breathe really hard because of the alarming amount of blood draining from his body.
"Echizen/Ochibi!"
"No! Echizen, don't die on us!" Fuji pleaded whilst he wore a serious look on his face with his eyes opened, holding back his tears. Eiji held Ryoma's hand, as he tried to drive Ryoma's will to live, and at the same time, he tried to comfort him. Tears started to streak down on his cheeks when he felt his hands cold.
"Be strong, Ryoma. Don't blame yourself. I know you can make this through, like you always do." It was unusual for Kikumaru to not use 'ochibi', but it was not as odd as using his kouhai's first name, but he was really scared of what might happen to Ryoma. He did his best to be strong though, and put all of those negative thoughts aside. If it were Ryoma, he could overcome this and become better. He always did. But still, he just couldn't help but consider that everything will change, and things wouldn't go along as it usually did.
"Why are they taking so long?" Atobe gritted his teeth in frustration. He then felt the younger boy stiffen. "Echizen…?"
Seconds later, a deafening siren could be heard along the streets.
Atobe sighed. He didn't expect this to happen at all. Echizen's teammates tried to call his parents, but unfortunately, they weren't able to contact them in any way.
Everyone was silent. None of them was saying a single word for they were too agitated. Atobe was so confounded, and curiosity couldn't stop irking his mind. Whoever bastard would do something like that, especially to a kid? Not that he cared about the brat; it's just that the current situation felt so surreal.
"Ore-sama demands an explanation." Atobe requisitioned.
"What do you mean?" Momo and the others stared at him.
"You seemed to know something. You wouldn't run so apprehensively to find him if you didn't know something so depraved will happen to him, ahn? Now, ore-sama demands for an answer."
They just looked the other way, seemingly seeking for a way to answer. Atobe scowled. He wasn't very satisfied by this. Afterward, someone finally spoke.
"I'm sorry, Atobe-san, but we didn't know what's really happening either. Momo just called us. He said that we should find Echizen before it's too late. We didn't really expect that something like this would happen to him." Ooishi stated.
The one who called himself 'king' scrutinized the said commoner in front of him. He mused that Momo had known something, and that, he wasn't saying anything. Kikumaru's also doing the same notion. Momo looked at Atobe when he sensed that he was being stared at suspiciously, "O-oi, don't give me a glare like that. I don't know anything much of what is happening either. It's the same with Kikumaru-senpai." Said diva gave him a blank gaze.
"Still, you know something. So please, do the honors and enlighten us, na?" Atobe coerced, and everyone else agreed. Momo sighed and elucidated what had happened before the incident occurred.
Everyone fell into stillness.
A certain brunette stared at the rich kid intently, whilst he noticed his actions. It made the others who noticed it in the room shudder. The tensai was liberating a malevolent aura, "Ne, Atobe-kun… Why're you still here while you worry along with the rest of us?"
Atobe narrowed his eyes, "Just what do you think are you trying to insinuate, ahn?" Fuji chuckled, although, there seemed to be something sinister about it, something as akin to a resentment in it. "Saa… since when did you start caring for our little Echizen that you're still here?" Well, it really was late now that it's past nine p.m. If he didn't really care, he wouldn't be there.
"Can't ore-sama show some of his concern to your little teammate?"
"Saa… so you do care about him."
"Is there something wrong with ore-sama's presence?" Fuji stared at Atobe portentously. The others shivered, feeling the uncomfortable atmosphere and tension luring around them.
"You ARE interested in MY little kitten, aren't you." It wasn't a question. It was more like a threatening statement.
Everyone paused. Did they hear it wrong? Eiji was the first one to react, "Fujiko, did you just call ochibi that?" Fuji turned to his red-haired teammate.
"Do you have any problem with that, Eijiko?" He retorted with another query in a deceivingly sweet and innocuous tone. The red-head shifted uncomfortably before muttering, "N-nandemonai..." and silence aroused once more.
Atobe flicked his magnificent hair expertly. Plebeians. They should be honoured to be graced by his wonderful presence. Then, he thought about what Fuji had mentioned earlier. What was he still doing there anyway? He huffed indignantly.
The first time that they had met at the street courts, the ungrateful brat called him 'saru no taishou'... Outwardly, he looked collected, yet he was fuming inwardly. How dare someone as that commoner hail the great Atobe as by such atrocious epithet as MONKEY? At that mere moment, he met the other's gaze. Those eyes- they looked so alluring. It was like looking at the pair of untainted rare golden jewels- something like a sophisticated rich man like he, would want to be his.
The boy's tresses- although hidden by his cap- he could still see some of them shimmering with the afternoon sun. They looked so lustrous and so fine that it seemed like comparing it to the preeminent silk made by the best in the world. His pristine features composed him overly magnificent whilst combined with the eminence of the two.
He would have looked like an angel if it weren't for the mocking smirk plastered on the brat's face. And when he had his focal point on those perfect soft lips, he settled on ordering Kabaji and the rest of his team to depart when this whole thing was befalling absurd.
The others were getting impatient. Even if they already knew that their dear gaki was strong and too stubborn to die so easily, they couldn't help to worry about his condition and in their mind, they only wished that Ryoma would be alright, and that, the damn doctor had to come out soon!
And finally, as if he were summoned, a man wearing a white suit came out from the E.R. They ran to him and looked at him as if they were expecting some answers.
The doctor couldn't start to explain. How could he when these grating shounen-tachi wouldn't let him because of their frantic questions? One of them was being hyperactive; the other was like a nervous mom, and the other had a loud mouth, and now he was fighting with a snake boy. He sighed. Kids these days- they were so full of energy.
Atobe, Fuji and Inui just kept their mouth locked up, as they patiently waited for the doctor to explain. When the king of the monkeys started to lose his patience, he gritted his white teeth and stood up all of a sudden, which the others didn't notice besides the two. "Kabaji," said the diva in a commanding voice.
The big guy uttered an, "Usu," before walking to the two hot-heads in warfare and lifting them both up with each hand. The others gaped at the monstrosity. Frankenstein was really scary…
"Teme!" Kaidou hissed, as he struggled.
"Aarrgh! Atobe, what's this all about?"
Kabaji eyed his victims, causing them to shut their mouths instantly. After a brief moment of stupor, Atobe snapped his fingers, and the daunting chap released them. Momo and Kaidou were on the floor, noting at how big the guy was, even though he's a year younger than the narcissist, let alone complying with his every infuriating demand.
"Where is the family of the patient?" The general practitioner queried out of the blue after looking around.
"Ah, sorry, but none of them has arrived yet," Ooishi enunciated.
"I see. So I have to explain it to you then… First of all, it was certainly accommodating that you called the ambulance without further delay, just in time for him to not to lose any more blood. Vital organs weren't damaged, apart from his lungs due to the impairment of his fourth and fifth ribs. We recuperated them. Perilous gash made his body lose heaps of blood, thus, putting him in a critical state when our group started the operation, although, there really wasn't a problem to any further extent as the surgery was a success."
When he finished his statement, they heaved a breath in relief, glad that the doctor put it straight to the point. So, the brat would be all right.
"So, can we go see him?"
They stared at him expectantly, though the doctor shook his head, disappointing the others. "You will, after one of our nurses announced to you the room he will be in." He turned his heels to leave but stopped himself almost immediately to say something. "Oh, before I forget, when his family arrives, please, do tell them that they need to fill up some forms regarding the patient's information and the room about to be used," then he resumed to his saunter.
They all went to visit Echizen. They unconsciously discerned that there were all sorts of wires and an IV tube that was connected to the rear pallid hand belonged to the familiar person lying artlessly on the white bed. It's a little hard to deem that the kid who looked so innocent at that moment was the devil they'd been facing on the courts.
But then, they mused about the incident beforehand. When Echizen was unaware of everything around him, he muttered something. Why did he blame himself? Was it something that made someone to feel hatred that the kid ended up like that? Sure, Echizen likes to pester his opponents, but they wouldn't go that far, would they?
And then, something started to ring. "Oh, sorry, that's my phone." Momo smiled half-heartedly, before he glanced at the screen of his phone to see the name of the caller. "Ryuzaki-sensei…?" He undoubtedly caught everyone's attention at the mention of the character.
"Moshi-moshi,"
"…" Momo raised his brows. He heard that someone was crying. "Doushita, Ryuuzaki-sensei?"
"M-Momoshiro…" Her voice was hoarse and broken.
"What happened?" The sophomore was getting a bit edgy and vexed. His instinct was telling him that the matter had something to do with Echizen.
"Momo, what's wrong?" asked Eiji. Momo just shook his head, not knowing what the answer was. Momo now focused his attention to the caller who was trying to explicate what she wanted to say.
"I-it's about Ryoma's parent's… I'm afraid t-that he might get a hard time from now on…" She paused when she felt her heart ache. It's really hard to say it. How would the boy take it after he had regained his consciousness? "I'm afraid that Ryoma's parents are… dead…."
"Why? Why did it end up like this?" Momo burst out. His best friend didn't deserve this! "They were… killed" His eyes widened in horror, as his sensei hung up when she couldn't bear it anymore.
When they saw Momo paled, they rushed to the teen. Atobe made an appearance to demand, for yet, another explaining to do. But it seemed that he was completely out of it. They called out his name a few times and shook him, while mamushi threw some insults on him until finally, he was able to respond. "Momoshiro, you better…" Atobe's voice trailed off when he noticed tears started to form in his eyes. He looked pathetic for some reason. "Momoshiro…"
"It's about Echizen…" They didn't like the sound of that at all. "His parents… t-they were killed…"
Their minds were blank. They didn't know how to think.
A young lad, lying limply on the white bed, gradually opened his eyes, revealing his exquisite set of golden irises, after it was concealed from three days of slumber in recovering his body from the amount of blood that he had lost. He blinked a few times when he couldn't make out what he was seeing, since his vision was blurred. After a few moments, he finally regained his focus.
"Look! He's awake! Wait, I'll inform the doctor,"
Where was he, anyway? It's all too familiar. Almost everything was white, except for the flora sitting on the table near him. The smell was appalling for him, and something connected on the back of his hand. The temperature in that room was a bit too low than normal.
No… it couldn't be that…
His face became grim at the thought. So he was at that place, again. What happened to him that he ended up in there? He couldn't remember.
"…oma-san… Ryoma-san…!"
Said person snapped out from his reverie and gazed, only to see the face of his worried cousin.
"…Nana…ko…" That's all that he could manage to say, as he started to cough. It was as if like that wasn't his voice at all. It sounded hoarse and fragile. His throat felt really dry.
"Ochibi is finally awake!"
"Echizen!"
"Ryoma-san! Oh, here, drink this."
Nanako helped her cousin to drink the whole glass of liquid. It seemed that it wasn't enough, but it would do for the time being. He looked around and was bewildered to find monkey king. Whatever. But something was bothering him though. Certain people were missing.
He struggled to get to his sitting position. Something was wrong. His mind was telling him incessantly like a mantra. Then, he winced when he felt a massive headache and his chest hurt. He suddenly felt nauseous.
"Hey, brat, don't force yourself! You're still recovering," Ryoma tried to look at the owner of that voice, only to see Atobe beside him, helping him to lie down. Still, he ignored the reprimand completely.
He took a deep breath. "W-where are kaa-san and oyaji?" He scowled when he couldn't control his shaking voice.
Nanako stared at him with tearful eyes. Ryoma noticed it. He looked at Atobe and then to the others. They were staring at him, too. He flinched when Atobe's grip on his shoulder tightened a little all of a sudden.
"We're sorry, Echizen, but they're gone… forever… they're dead… we're really sorry…" He heard Atobe say.
His eyes widened at the worst nightmare he had, or at least, he wished that it really were and just wanted to wake up from it right now to see his sweet and loving kaa-san and his pervert, stubborn, childish, worthless and good-for-nothing oyaji, yet a considerate, caring and understanding father despite all the worst adjectives to describe the old man.
This is your fault! It's because of you that he's dead!
Those words again… full of resentment and anger… Was he really the one to blame? The things he'd been through when he was young- No! He didn't want to remember anymore.
Ryoma closed his eyes while the memories of his parents were playing in his mind. Silent tears streak down on his pale cheeks. He never would have thought that he would be crying in that kind of place once more. He didn't even have the chance to thank them for being there all the time when that happened to him a few years ago.
Everyone was silent. What could they say? All they could do was mere thought of letting him be for a while. Their presence was enough to let him know that it's okay to show someone's weaknesses to some people they could trust. It really hurt to see the youngest among them with that sort of sentiment.
They were like that for a little while until the doctor came in to check the patient's status.
To be continued…
Sorry for killing Rinko and Nanjirou, but it's essential for the sake of this story! T.T Well, I hope you still look forward for my next chapter!
Thank you for reading and please review! You know how important it is for all the aspiring authors to get them motivated.