I apologize for the late update…but college life really is driving me crazy (I don't know how many times I have repeated this) and I got two tests in the coming week. But I know that if I don't start writing again I never will.

Yet I have to clarify first…recently my mind is more into the darker side of human mind. Re-reading Bitter Virgin again, my recent reading on Shitsurakuen plus my own research online for darker topics really made me lose all sense of humour. So if you find this chapter, or even this story, lame and stupid…I guess I can only apologize for that.

Thanks for those who had read and/or reviewed on previous chapter and on my one-shots, The shy, the protective and the unpredictable and Whatsername. And special thanks to some reviewers who provided some ideas and opinions about my stories.

Disclaimer: Screw college. I wrote this anyway.

Chapter 3

He knew it. He just knew it. He thought he could grasp everything, neglecting his horrible morning, but things just kept on getting worse.

Dashing down the hallway and stairs, he did not dare to miss a single second. 'Damn those girls…' It was a cycle of recycled events: a girl approached him without screaming out his name loud, but just wanting to be friends. He could find an opposite sex to communicate with. The girl was treated very, very well by them. The girl was afraid to approach him. He confronted the gang. They tried to act cute. He ignored them and apologized to the victimized girl. The girl accepted his apology but would keep a safe distance from him onwards.

The fifteen-year-old sighed. Playing against that Monkey King or the Child of God was more relaxing than dealing with these mobs. For the past three years, whenever he could find a girl who: he could really talk to; was not completely obsessed with him; just wanted to be friends; did not mind if she did most of the talking part; the above cycle would happen again. It was as if they wanted him to turn homosexual and not talk to girls for the rest of his life. He had no idea why.

Third floor…third floor…noticing the sign, he ran as quickly as possible to reach his destination. Damn those stupid girls…always causing trouble for me and others….

He flung the door open. A male student opening the door of a female washroom was quite a scene, and practically everyone in the school knew who he was, but fortunately it was late already and nobody was in sight in the hallway. Further, it was just a washroom, right? It's not like he'd see anything inappropriate. It'd just be quick: open the door, get her out, close the door. Done.

No one was watching anyway.

His gaze turned back to find his target.

'Where is that baka?' Momoshiro complained. Fuji was half-way through his match with Inui and Echizen was nowhere to be seen. It was a good thing that Tezuka was asked by the teachers to help in some stuff, so the strict captain was not supervising the practice right now. But if Buchou found out that Echizen had been skipping practice…he gulped. He rather drank Inui's juice than to think of the consequences.

'Echizen?' Taka walked towards his kohai, wiping away his sweat on his forehead. 'I saw him running towards the campus building a while ago.

'Why would Ochibi go back to school campus now?' Eiji popped out of nowhere, sipping his energy drink. His expression turned into a wide evil smirk. 'Meeting some girl perhaps?'

'Speaking of which, where is that girl? You know, the one with long blue hair?' Momoshiro looked around and found no trace of her. 'Even Sakuno-chan is missing.' Eiji added. True, Momoshiro could not see the usual silent cheerleader of their favourite kohai around the court.

The spike-head thought of what happened today. Firstly, they found out Ochibi had a girlfriend older than he was. That was stunning. Secondly, he showed emotions, and it was a hug. That was a first. Thirdly, the green-haired skipped practice. That was also a first, neglecting the time he got punished by teachers. Lastly, the certain figure that watched them practice for three years had gone missing.

Today was a strange day.

Ryoma rushed into a nearby empty classroom, closed the door and hid himself behind the doors. He could hear sounds of hasty footsteps and screaming outside, and his inhaled rate increased more. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. That was certainly unexpected.

'What are you doing to –'

He stopped, jaws on the floor. It was obviously not a scene he expected.

Many, or in fact, all heads turned to look at him. It was as if time had slowed its pace. At that moment, he somehow managed to recall that the female's washroom on third floor was, actually, a changing room commonly used by female sports teams after their practice. And today, he remembered hearing Horio say that the girl basketball team would have extra practice today.

Crap.

Dozen pairs of eyes focused on him, the renowned cold 'Ice Prince' of Seigaku High. Ryoma could not help but allow his hormone to roar. Half the girls inside were just in their underwear. Some were just covering themselves with towels. The remaining, which he gave a short, very short, really very short, glance at, exposed themselves completely, seductively to his vision. Those attractive figure, the delicate skin, the water droplets on their arms and legs…

Thinking about what just happened just made his face hotter, and he shook his head furiously to clear his mind. He had no idea if he was too shocked or too immersed in paradise not to have moved an inch. All he could remember were high-pitched screams, shouts of 'PERVERT!', shampoos thrown at him, and himself gaining back consciousness, desperately running away from the scene. Judging from the stomps outside, they were probably tracking him down.

He calmed himself down. He still needed to locate where Nanako was, or his maniac fangirls would do crazy things again. He opened the door slowly and peeped. Not a single person in sight. He swiftly moved to the stairs and tried another floor. If she was not in this floor, where was she?

Pearl violet-eyed blinked.

'Didn't you girls say that we're to do some sign-in stuff?'

Cold glares responded her confusion. 'Yes.' The tall girl looked at them as if they were insane.

'And this is a storage room.'

Before she could respond, the three teenage girls who accompanied or half-dragged her to the place left her side and jumped towards the door. A wicked grin was showed on each of their faces.

The operation was simple. Trap the irritating girl in the storage room or washroom, either one would do. Turn off the light. Lock her inside. Allow nobody around the area. Let her stay for the whole night. Simple yet effective in chasing away Ryoma-sama's filthy pursuers.

They heard stomping and yelling from upstairs, but decided to ignore it. They got more important things to do. Right after they stepped outside the room and pushed the door towards its initial position, they did not hear the sound of the rusted door colliding with the floor. Instead, a pair of hands prevented it from shutting her off.

'Seriously, you girls,' she flashed them a smirk, 'think that I would not have noticed this obvious act?' I've been to high school too, she mentally noted. She pushed the door wide open and stood triumphantly in front of them. The girls were taken aback: this girl was not like that Ryuzaki girl or others that they had dealt with before.

'I suggest you to back off now,' she stated while tidying her uniform. 'It won't be good if the school finds out you do such thing to a foreign student.' The blue-haired emphasized on the last two words, turning her back against them and started to walk away.

The girls gritted their teeth hard. How dare this girl insult them twice today? First she hugged Ryoma-sama, then she treated them as idiots. This could not be tolerated. The blonde girl of the group eyed a bucket of water nearby. It was filled with water, probably for cleaning the washroom on the other end of the floor. She quickly grabbed the bucket, and moved behind her enemy.

Nanako wasn't stupid. She knew the girls would do something again, so she glimpsed through her shoulder and noticed the impending event. Just as she moved aside to dodge the attack, her eyes fixed on the panting figure in front of her.

'What are you doing here?' Both exclaimed at the same time.

But she could not stop her movement. She had evaded the water from reaching her, but it just landed right on the teenage boy who was standing there.

'Oh my…' the blonde girl gasped, covering her mouth with one hand. The empty bucket now dropped on the floor, its sound echoing along the corridor.

He had no idea what just happened. He managed to find her, only to be greeted with plenty of cold water. Not to mention the smell. No matter how flexible or agile he was at the tennis court, finding his cousin in no way linked with a warm greeting of old janitor's bucket of water.

The atmosphere had never been any tenser. Ryoma blinked in surprise, while water droplets falling from his soaked hair. The frightened girls fled almost immediately, while yelling 'forgive us Ryoma-sama!' or simply screamed in panic at top of their lungs. Nanako looked at the junior in awe. In the first place she did not know why he was here when he should be practicing with his team. And secondly, the stupefied countenance on his face was priceless. Her uncle would die a happy man just to have seen that look for a split of second.

'Hey, are you alright?' She broke the silence and walked towards him, shaking him slightly. Ryoma, who was now very aware of his condition, could not find the right phrase to say. Thanks to you I got myself into this?

'Echizen, why are you here?'

And as if things were not good enough yet, he heard the stoic voice of his buchou echoing in his mind behind his body. What perfect timing. 'You should be practising at the court.'

Sighing heavily, he turned to face his captain. How many laps this time? Fifty?

'I also received complaints from the female basketball team members that you sexually harassed them. Peeking into the female changing room is quite an act, Echizen.'

He froze. He was doomed. Ruining his reputation originally would have been a minor thing, but to be recognized as a pervert, like his father, was something he could not accept. Tezuka inspected his kohai from head to toe. Shocked? No. He still kept an indifferent face, but gave a short sigh.

'It seems that you let your guard down a lot today, Echizen. Go home.'

Well, fifty laps were expected. Wait.

What the heck did he just say?

He looked at Tezuka disbelievingly. There was no way this was the captain he had known for years. Tezuka ignored his suspicious stare and turned to Nanako and bowed politely. 'I'm sorry for all the trouble he had caused, and if you may excuse me.' Nanako bowed back and watched as the shadow of the tall figure withdrew from their vision.

'Echizen. Tomorrow. One hundred laps around the school campus.'

That snapped Ryoma back to reality. He groaned but knew it was futile. He could swear Tezuka must be smiling now. The captain really spent too much time with Fuji-senpai together.

He looked at the girl next to him. He had pretty good guess of why she was here, dressing up as a high school student, but he would confirm that later. 'Wait for me near the tennis court. I'm going to take a shower and change my outfit.' He stated plainly and started to move, only to find her eyeing him back.

'What?'

She could not suppress her wide grin.

'Peeking into the girl's bathroom?'

The green-haired adjusted his soaked white cap. Hearing this from her did not make him feel any more comfortable.

'Like father like son, I guess.'

He cursed, or more likely lowered his head in defeat. This was definitely not his day. Definitely.

-End of Chapter 3

I guess this did not turn out so bad, did it? Well…that's for you to judge. Oh, and I just realize Sakuno did not appear in this chapter…actually that was just because I did not want to put her in this yet. This is still a RyoSaku fic, I promise, and the next chapter will have lots of Ryosaku moments.

Again, reviews and criticism are always welcome.

The next is going to be the last chapter of Dear Cousin. Questions you have from reading the previous chapters will, hopefully all, be explained in next chapter, so please stay tuned!