Here's chapter 3...and it goes places...lots of places. Happy and sad and mad places. But places nonetheless. So enjoy. Btw, none of this is beta-ed and I'm sick as a stick so...
Chapter 3:
Tezuka caught himself and quickly wiped the smile off of his face. He carefully folded the letter up and put it in the smallest pocket of his bag before heading off to practice. His head was still buzzing with this latest revelation. How had she fooled everyone for so long? He couldn't let this distract him though and focused on the members of the tennis team.
The members of the tennis team, Regular and not, noticed that something was distracting their captain despite said captain's effort to not be so preoccupied. He was extremely lenient, at least compared to his other days. He ordered a ten-lap race where the first seven were spared Inui's new juice.
Fuji let Katsuo race ahead of him and he licked his lips as Inui gave him a cup of his juice. He sipped it, smiling at the nice flavor. "Delicious as always, Inui."
Inui just nodded in thanks, writing down his observations. He walked off moments later, leaving Fuji to his thoughts. The Tensai zeroed his eyes in on Tezuka. The slightly younger male was talking to Ryuuzaki-sensei with a stern look on his face. She laughed him off and walked away. Fuji had a hunch that it had something to do with Ryuu's 'not-his-letter'. From the color of the paper, it was a love confession. Fuji knew he could be wrong, but this was Fuji and he was confident that he was right.
He spent the rest of practice with his blue eyes trained on Tezuka. The letter came from someone that lived with Ryuu that obviously knew Tezuka. The only person left was Ryoma. 'So,' Fuji smiled to himself, 'Ryoma has a little crush on Tezuka.'
But Fuji had to pause. That was some seriously girly paper Ryoma had. He chuckled to himself as he humored the thought that perhaps Ryoma was a secretly a girl. He chuckled once more and turned to face Eiji.
Eiji yelped and ran behind Oishi. "Fujiko is scary, nya." He whined and ducked his head. "So scary," he whispered, shaking.
"Fuji! Eiji! Oishi!" Tezuka barked. "Get back to practice!" Tezuka's sudden outburst startled him, he'd admit to that easily enough, and he jumped a bit in surprise before nodding and going back to taking on the Golden Pair.
'I don't even know if Tezuka is gay or not, but it is nice that someone is showing an interest in him. Saa, but he best not let his guard down. I have plans for you, Tezuka Kunimitsu,' the genius chuckled to himself once more.
When lunch came around, Tezuka was wary of Fuji. In fact, he had wary of the brown haired player since that morning. He had been quietly chuckling to himself all day, stealing glances at Tezuka and his bag. Fuji chuckled again and Tezuka had had just about enough.
"Excuse me, I have some notes to review," he excused himself and grabbed his belongings, heading back to his classroom. He was not fleeing. Contrary to popular belief, rulers and leaders never flee. They call it a strategic retreat. That was what Tezuka was doing, strategically retreating.
He sat down at his desk and took out Guests of the Ayatollah, his latest reading adventure. It was a copy his father had picked up in America and he enjoyed reading in English more than he did in Japanese. He continued reading for twenty more minutes before the bell rang. He sighed quietly and put his book away, ready for his World History class.
A mile away from the school, Ryoma sat on the couch, idly flipping through the television channels. There was absolutely nothing to do today. Karupin wouldn't wake up for anything. She had hit a few balls against the wall out back earlier this morning. She even cleaned and made lunch for herself. She shifted into over ten positions in five minutes. She sighed tiredly. She sat up straight from hanging upside and ran her hands through her hair, screaming in frustration.
She began to pick at her soft pajama bottoms. Her period had ended last night and she sighed in relief, no more cramps. She idly traced the fuzzy tennis balls printed on the pants. She was dressed plainly in one of her dad's old white tees that hung off of her lithe body.
Rinko and Nanjiroh were out somewhere that day and Nanako was away at class until that night. She screamed in frustration once more. Who knew suspension was this boring? Ryuu should have warned her about this. The poor girl was going stir-crazy.
She got up and retrieved a Ponta. She stood in the kitchen, wondering what she could do next. She ended up going back into the living room and flipped through the channels. There was an endless sea of corny game shows that made no sense, soap operas, and talk shows. She sighed, wishing she were back in America suddenly. The game shows were really entertaining, the soap operas were filled with who had sex with who and who fathered whose baby, and the talk shows were just real life soap operas with a lot more cursing and fighting. She missed Judge Judy.
'Screw it,' she hissed to herself. She ran upstairs and grabbed her tennis bag. She was going to the courts to pummel some unsuspecting fools. She opened the armoire she had just for her tennis clothes and a scream ripped from her throat before she could stop it. All of her shorts and polos were gone, replaced by tennis skirts and flashy sports tops. Even her socks were exchanged for cute ankle socks. What was this? She saw a post-it from her mom.
Ryoma,
Now that Ryuu is here, you can wear cute clothes!
Love,
Mom
PS, Ryuu's room is locked so you can't steal his clothes.
She hissed and rummaged through the new clothes, hoping against hope that her mother forgot to grab something. She looked at everything hopelessly. Her mother was very thorough. Most of the clothes were white skirts, pink skirts, and brightly colored tops.
"No," she shook her head and reached into the armoire and pulled out the darkest thing she had in there. She swallowed nervously. It was the dress she wore during the mixed doubles match. It was a dark steel gray that stopped above mid-thigh. The front was conservative enough but her back was completely exposed, save for the strap around her neck and a medium width band across her back with the built-in sports bra was.
She groaned. It was either this or no tennis at all. She quickly changed into it and put on some socks and shoes. She combed her hair quickly and jammed her cap on her head. She grabbed her long hoodie and put it on, zipping it up. It completely covered her dress, falling a little below the knee. She grabbed her bag and then tucked Karupin into her bed. She jogged downstairs and grabbed her phone, wallet, and keys. She went out the front door and was almost to the gate when she stopped.
"I should write a note," she murmured to herself and ran back into the house and grabbed a post-it from her mom's office and wrote a quick note, posting it on the fridge.
Tezuka sighed as he walked by the street courts. He was on his way home that afternoon after cutting practice short. Now that he looked back on it, it was a horrible act of judgment on his part. He shouldn't have lost his temper like he did. But it was really Fuji's fault.
Tezuka sighed tiredly. It was his fault. He should have been keeping a closer eye on that close-eyed freak.
Fuji smiled as he walked past Momoshiro. "Momo, Kaidoh called you a smelly, rotten peach-butt!" He said lightly. Of course, Momo didn't even realize that Fuji was baiting him on. Tezuka was in the locker room, doing his random monthly locker check. It was a precaution to ensure that nobody had any contraband and whatnot. He heard the ruckus outside and saw Momo and Kaidoh in a legitimate fistfight. He ran outside and onto the courts, pulling them apart. Both boys almost hit him because they were swinging their fists blindly.
He noticed a moment too late that Fuji had run into the locker room and came out with a familiar envelope. The genius opened the letter and his eyes popped open in surprise before he grinned evilly.
"Fuji!" Tezuka shouted over Momo and Kaidoh's cursing and the other boys' cheers.
"Copies!" Fuji sang and ran towards the school building. Tezuka released the fighting boys to run after Fuji. Momo clipped Tezuka's right arm as he began to run to the gates. Tezuka growled but hunted Fuji down. His temper was already short for he had gotten into a disagreement with his father and then the two of them got into a disagreement with his grandfather that morning. He didn't need a major fight breaking out and then have Fuji steal his things.
He grabbed Fuji's arm in a vice grip once he got close enough. They had done a few laps around the vicinity. Tezuka jerked Fuji back and landed a solid punch to the Tensai's surprised and shocked face.
"ENOUGH!" He had shouted. "MOMOSHIRO, KAIDOH! YOU TWO ARE SUSPENDED FOR THE NEXT THREE MATCHES!"
The boys looked on in surprise and in a bit of horror at their captain. Even Ryuuzaki-sensei was shocked into silence. They had never seen Tezuka so riled up. Fuji was on his knees, clutching his face.
"I'M TIRED OF THIS SHIT." Tezuka shouted once more and everyone jumped. "NEXT PRACTICE, EVERYONE IS RUNNING THE ENTIRE TIME!"
Oishi swallowed. "But Tezuka, that'll have us running for four hours straight."
Tezuka glared at him. "I. Don't. Care." He grabbed the letter and stormed off.
"What about today's practice?" Oishi called out. Tezuka didn't stop or slow down as he entered the locker room.
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!"
Everyone jumped once more, not used to Tezuka cursing. Eiji looked on the verge of tears and huddled close to Oishi.
Tezuka sighed once more. He would be home three hours early today. He stopped short. Or maybe not…was that Ryoma?
The Ryoma-look-alike stopped when they turned their head. Hazel eyes met wide gold eyes and the person stopped and ran across the street. Yes, it was definitely Ryoma. Tezuka looked at her – it was still odd for him to think that – and nodded in greeting. Ryoma looked up and smirked.
"Ne, Tezuka-buchou, what happened to practice?"
Tezuka found it unbelievable that she could casually strike up a conversation with him after she broke his nose. He said nothing but continued to walk. Ryoma was left behind for a moment before she caught up.
"I asked Buchou a question but he won't answer me," she pouted, a smirk gleaming in her eyes. Tezuka took a deep breath, willing a headache to not come.
"I cancelled practice today," he answered finally. Well, he didn't cancel it exactly. He just stormed off. Ryoma's eyes widened at the news in surprise. This was shocking.
"Why?"
"Because – " Tezuka cut himself off; he did not need to explain himself to her even if she was there. And she wasn't.
"'Because' is not an answer, Buchou," Ryoma supplied. "I don't know about you but that's certainly not an answer in my book."
"I can cancel practice." They continued to walk. They ended up inside of the park, walking towards the tennis courts on the other side.
"You can cancel practice because you are the buchou."
"Yes. Captains have that power."
"Oh," she said shortly and readjusted her bag. "Did Ryuu give you the letter?"
"Ah. It was nice to know what you thought of the incident."
They turned right at a fountain and continued walking. Ryoma smiled up at him.
"It was your fault. But don't worry," she stretched her arms above herself and folded them behind her head. "I forgive you."
"I'm honored," Tezuka deadpanned. Ryoma gasped in shock and looked at him in surprise. Her surprise morphed into annoyance.
"Ora, I'm the only sarcastic one here. Got that?" Tezuka shook his head, scoffing at her quietly and suddenly turned left, away from the courts.
Ryoma followed behind him, an irritating grin on her face.
Tezuka stopped and turned to face the significantly smaller girl. "Why are you stalking me?"
"It's not stalking," she waved him off. "I'm merely following out of curiosity."
"The law calls it stalking," he set off again.
"You're awfully talkative today, buchou."
"As are you."
"Ah I see, you like having the last word."
"No," Tezuka drawled. "I just love hearing myself speak."
"You're full of surprises," Ryoma said as she watched Tezuka sit down on a bench. She sat next to him. They sat in silence for a while longer, about ten minutes. They simply listened to the birds and the sound of children at the playground. Tezuka leaned back and stretched his arms out.
"Why did you not tell anyone?"
Ryoma started a bit, mouth open to answer. She closed it with a snap. "I suppose I didn't want to ultimately. I originally came here, to Seigaku, because my brother can't take school seriously enough. He failed most of his tests and so we left him with our grandparents in the US to finish up his remedial classes. He already had a spot on the team, Ryuuzaki arranged for it, and it had to be filled. When he couldn't come on time, my dad went to the Tennis Board and they agreed to let me join in his place.
I've always been a tomboy, I hate skirts and shit, and Ryuu already had the uniform. I was supposed to go to Hyotei since their girls' team is pretty good but I cancelled my registration there to come here. It was just easier to be known as a that 'freshman that could beat the senpais' instead of that 'girl that could beat the boys'."
Tezuka nodded. "That was surprising to read."
"Eh?" She looked at him, surprised. "Ryuu didn't tell?"
Tezuka merely shook his head. "He's been very quiet about you. All he does is play during practice."
Ryoma smiled lightly. "He has his moments where he's a very good brother. They're rare and far between; but he has them." She got up and turned to face Tezuka. "I do give you permission to tell the team about who I really am, buchou, if you want."
"Iie," she looked at him. "You'll show them on your own terms." Tezuka stood and put a hand on her shoulder. "Please remember though, as a pillar, you must always remain strong, even if it means being weak."
Ryoma nodded. They gathered their things and walked back towards the tennis courts. They didn't want to say anything to disturb this peaceful moment, but an elderly couple beat them to it.
"What a lovely couple," the woman said. She waved at them. "They're so cute together."
"Hm," her husband hummed in agreement. "You don't see young love like that anymore."
"Good luck in your relationship," she called.
Tezuka and Ryoma blushed and looked away, walking a bit faster. That was embarrassing! They didn't dare look at each other in fear of what their faces would be like. Once they got far away enough, they coughed awkwardly.
"I won't if you won't," Ryoma said.
"Agreed," Tezuka nodded. They found the courts and found them to be empty except for a man and woman playing on a far court. They set their things down and Ryoma took off the hoodie. Tezuka didn't change out of his tennis uniform so he just took out his racquet. He saw Ryoma dressed in something gray in his peripherals but thought nothing of it. He went onto the court and finally turned to face her.
'What.' His brain decided to speak for once. Ryoma finished stretching a little and walked onto the court, her skirt lifting slightly with every step she took. Tezuka could definitely see the young woman she was growing into. She had a developing waist and bosom that made Tezuka wonder how she hid it so well.
"Ready, buchou?" She called.
"Ah," Tezuka grunted and served an underhand. They were doing some light hitting to warm up, no tricks or anything, just standard moves. They found themselves enjoying the other's company as they continued to rally back and forth.
A few blocks away, Ryuu was talking to Momo and Eiji. "Ryoma said 'tennis courts', but there are so many parks!" Ryuu said, exasperated. Momo nodded and took out his cellphone.
"We'll find Ochibi, nya," Eiji cheered. Ryuu worried his bottom lip.
"Ah, what's this about Echizen-kun missing?" Oishi asked once everyone arrived ten minutes later.
"Ryoma left this note but I don't know which courts."
The other Regulars read the note. They huddled together.
"Let's try Kakinozoka Tennis Gardens first!" Kawamura suggested with a soft smile. They agreed easily and caught the train. Turns out, the tiny freshman wasn't there. They made their way back to the park they met by.
"These are the last street courts Ryoma-kun would be at," Inui noted. They walked to the entrance on the side of the park that the courts were on.
"Ara!" Kaidoh drew attention to himself. "Tezuka-buchou," he cocked his head to the side as he saw their captain walking to the nearby diner with a small girl wearing a revealing gray tennis dress, white visor, and a black tennis bag. Ryuu's eyes narrowed. He knew that dress from anywhere.
"Let's go."
He left no room for anyone, as he was already halfway across the street. They hid behind a couple of cars and watched the couple. They were seated in a booth and the team had a clear view of them.
"Ry-Ryoma!" Oishi gasped as the girl took off her visor. She was smiling at Tezuka and talking to him.
"Ryoma's a girl?" Momo asked, confused.
"You and Eiji-senpai always hug her and you never noticed her boobs?" Ryuu asked.
"No," Eiji and Momo answered together. Ryuu rolled his eyes.
"Yes, she's my twin sister. Why is she with Tezuka?"
"This is good data!" Inui exclaimed, frantically writing. Everyone nearly fell over when Ryoma said something and Tezuka chuckled openly.
"What is happening?" Oishi cried. "First he gets angry and runs out during practice after cursing us out and then he's on a date with Ryoma!"
"It's not a date!" Ryuu snarled. Everyone quieted. The younger boy was watching the two carefully. This was not happening.
Inside the diner, a waitress came and took their orders. Ryoma pointed to the menu.
"I'll have the double cheeseburger, chicken quesadilla, chicken noodle soup, two club sandwiches, the grilled chicken sandwich, the BBQ burger and a slice of chocolate cake." The waitress wrote the order down with a comical look of disbelief on her face.
"And you, sir?"
"I'll have the Monterey chicken," Tezuka sighed.
The waitress left with one last dubious look at Ryoma. Ryoma waved to her with a sickening smile.
"Stop teasing others," Tezuka frowned.
Ryoma stuck her tongue out at him and laughed. "So, why did you cancel tennis?"
Tezuka shifted a bit to get more comfortable before diving into his tale. By the time he was done, he was blushing in embarrassment and Ryoma was clutching her sides, she was laughing so hard. She fell sideways into the window and curled into a ball.
"Oh my gosh! I would've killed to see that! Does Fuji-senpai have a black eye?"
"I would assume there would be one, yes. I did hit him very hard."
"Oh buchou," Ryoma sighed as she calmed down. "That was gold," she wiped her tears away. They continued to talk for a little bit longer and then their food came.
Tezuka swore, he swore, that he blinked once and the two burgers were gone. "Do you normally eat this much?"
"Ah," Ryoma nodded. "I have to eat a lot because I play so much. I need the energy."
Tezuka nodded and sipped his water. He eyed the food cautiously before swiping the slice of her quesadilla.
"O-oi! Buchou!" Ryoma cried as he ate her food. He had closed his eyes as he bit into it and opened one to look at her from the corner of it. "That's mine!" She said as she chewed her club sandwich.
"I somehow got tricked into paying for this, I might as well enjoy the food I'm buying."
"Ah, buchou is so mean," Ryoma pouted but continued to each whatever food Tezuka wasn't swiping. She reached over and took some of his mashed potatoes. He looked at her like she was crazy. "Ryoma can be mean too." She opened her mouth and showed him her half-chewed food. He retaliated, though he would never admit to it, by taking most of her fries. Eventually, their early dinner became a shared feast.
"Ah, they're really on a date," Fuji commented. He kept his bruising eye closed but his other one remained open. Ryuu glared at him but said nothing. They watched as Tezuka paid for the whole meal.
Ryoma was at home, lounging on the couch with a hand on her still full belly. That early dinner/late lunch really hit the spot. She couldn't but think about how much she laughed and smiled with Tezuka. Her buchou also seemed rather relaxed, chuckling here and there and offering small smiles. As uptight as he was, Tezuka was actually a funny character with a sarcastic and dry sense of humor.
And what made it even better was that Ryuu had not appeared at all. She would have thought he would have gone looking for her if he came home and saw she wasn't there but apparently not. She smiled to herself; it seemed like Ryuu was finally beginning to trust her to take care of herself.
It's not that she didn't like how protective he was. It was nice. Ryoga was protective of her as well but Ryuu got a bit too protective sometimes. She turned over on the couch as she remembered when Ryuu made her quit tennis when they were seven because the boys kept trying to look up her skirt.
The front door opened and Ryuu stormed in, face red and pinched and eyes blazing. Ryuu sat up and looked at him worriedly. She stood up to her full height when he kicked her tennis bag.
"What is your problem?" She demanded hotly. Ryuu turned on her and pushed her into the couch.
"Why were you with him?"
Ryoma looked scared but Ryuu couldn't bring himself to care.
"With who?"
"With Tezuka! Why were you with Tezuka?"
"We played tennis at the courts! That's it!"
Ryuu growled at her and shook her hard. Ryoma cried out as he gripped her arms tightly.
"Stop lying to me! What else did you do?"
"We ate some food! Why?"
"What did I tell you?" Ryoma looked through her bangs, eyes watery. "What did I tell you, Ryoma?" He shouted angrily.
"Don't go out with boys by myself," she whispered brokenly.
"What did you do?"
"I –," Ryoma cut herself off and glared at him. She pried his hands off of her. "I went out to play with buchou! You didn't seem to care that I went everywhere with my team before!"
"That's because they thought you were a boy! Now they know that you're a girl!"
"So what? They're still my friends!"
"But they're teenaged boys, Ryoma! Don't you see? They just want to use you!"
"No Ryuu! That was once and that was in America! We're here now; things are different," she paused to look at him.
"I know that," he snapped. "But it's you I'm worried about."
"Why? You think I can't handle myself?"
"Yeah!" He shouted. Ryoma stopped, eyes wide and mouth open. She sneered and slapped him once.
"I'm stronger than I was before. I can handle myself just fine, Ryuusuke." She stormed up the stairs and slammed her door closed. Ryuu slumped onto the couch, heavy tears pouring out of his eyes. He really screwed up this time. But why didn't Ryoma see it? He was just looking out for her! He didn't want a repeat of what happened shortly before the family moved to Japan. He didn't want to see his sister being held down by two large teens and have another one try to feel her up. When that happened, Ryoga was there as well and they had their tennis equipment. Next time…he shuddered, next time she might not be that lucky.
Ryoma fell onto her bed, her pillow soaking her large tears up. She tucked her legs under her body, holding them close as shivers racked through her. She knew where Ryuu was coming from. But she didn't want to remember that day at all.