On Different Terms

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Part 4

Tezuka hurried quickly out the school grounds. It was Friday. He had asked Coach Ryuzaki to cancel practice every Friday so he could have his match with Ryoma. It was an adrenaline rush when he was playing against her. It was as if he was playing against a pro. Plus, he knew that he was probably going to pay for the meal today. He decided to bring some extra yen knowing she might order a big meal. She was one of the few girls he had seen have a big appetite.

He hurried over to the tennis courts at the park. After all, he wanted to warm up a bit, so maybe he had a greater chance of winning.

-X-

Ryoma growled in annoyance as Ryoga and Kevin followed her to the tennis courts at the park. They were making sure, ordered by their mother, that she actually told Tezuka to have dinner with the family. Basically, it was pretty pointless of her to play a match if she had won again. She sighed. She hoped her family would act normal for once without the usual weirdness. But of course, she looks forward to these matches. So really there was no point in not telling the soon-to-be victimized teen of her family's idiocracy.

She spotted Tezuka almost immediately. She quickly pulled both Ryoga and Kevin back before they could confront the guy. She looked them both in the eye, glaring.

"If one word comes out of your mouths, trust me there will be hell to pay." She stated. Letting them go she pushed them down to sit on the bench behind them. She then smiled. "In the mean time, enjoy the show." And walked away.

Ryoga and Kevin glanced at her retreating back, and then looked at each other.

"Did she just threaten us?" Ryoga asked.

"Yeah I think so," Kevin said. "This isn't the first time."

"Lets just watch. I wanna see if she's right that he had improved."

Of course, as always, they watched the game. Their eyes amazed and couldn't be averted.

-X-

Tezuka was tired. After the match, which he lost again, he sat down draining the water from his water bottle. He glanced at his sparring partner do the same. He hoped it wasn't going to be too pricy this time around. His grandfather was already getting suspicious. He sighed.Please don't let it be too much. He thought to himself.

Today was his lucky day.

"Oi, Kuni-senpai, we're going to be eating at my place. My mother wanted to meet you, thanks to those two bozos that call themselves my brothers," Ryoma suddenly said. She looked him directly into his eyes. "You don't mind, do you? It's a free meal. Unless you have something else important to do."

Tezuka thought about it for a second. Well, his mother literally convinced, he didn't know how, convinced his grandfather to let him have these outings on Friday nights. She probably had a hunch and gained a backbone to stand up against his grandfather. But he would probably feel a bit awkward dinning with the Echizen family. He didn't know. From what he heard, he'd be weary of the famous Samurai Nanjirou. Before he could reply she spoke again.

"I don't blame you if you don't want to. The only ones normal are my mother, cousin, and me of course. Just so you know, you're going to leave me with bombarding questions why you didn't come and of course Fuji-senpai would get wind of this by one of those bozos and spread it all over the school. I don't know about you but those-"

"Okay, I'll go," Tezuka finally said exasperated. He didn't want to hear the whole explanation. He knew what could happen. Of course, he immediately regretted it as he finally realized what he said. He was brought out of his agonizing thoughts by being glomped by the girl.

"Thank you Kuni-senpai! You're the best!" Ryoma said, glomping him and lightly pecked him on the cheek. "Let's go!" she said grabbing his bag and hers before grasping his hand and took him off to the streets.

Of course, Ryoga and Kevin had to run and catch up.

Echizen Household…

Tezuka fidgeted nervously. It was barely there but if you looked close enough, you can tell from the movement of his arm connected to his hands, which were moving a lot. Yes, it was nice that the family welcomed him. He was greeted warmly by Rinko Echizen and Nanako. That was until Nanjirou himself came down to greet him. What the three siblings said about their father were true. He watched the comical scene of Rinko confiscating those magazines. Ryuzaki-sensei was also right. He was a lazy ass, a talented lazy ass. He was brought out of his musings of the family by someone grasping his drumming hand. He looked to his right, finding Ryoma's hand attached to his. She lightly squeezed his hand as if to reassure him about it. After a few seconds, he calmed down enough to be relaxed.

"So, Tezuka-kun, you play tennis?" Nanjirou asked curiously. Tezuka nodded politely. He didn't trust himself to speak. "How bout a match? If you score one point against me, I'll allow you to date my daughter."

"Anata/Oyaji/Oji-san!" came the outraged cry of the family except Ryoma who just sighed before muttering, "I knew this was going to happen. Might as well get this over with."

"Sure." Tezuka answered. It didn't really matter. If this was only a farce between them then it wouldn't have mattered. It seemed like Ryoma wanted to make it believable. So they all headed up to the temple while Rinko complained to Nanjirou about Ryoma dating whoever she wants besides playing tennis, or something along those lines. When they made it, Nanjirou decided for Tezuka to serve.

"Bring it on Bouya."

So the match started.

Nanjirou himself was impressed. He watched as the kid actually score two points against him. Haha! Still has yet to beat Ryoga's score of 20. But at least he was good enough. Now he could see why Ryoma thought him worthy. Plus, the guy knew the zone technique. With that, he grasped the tennis ball in his hand, halting the match. He could tell the other was getting too tired.

"You scored two points! Better than Bishojo over there. I give you permission to date my daughter! Now lets eat and have fun! HAHA!" Nanjirou exclaimed walking over to the audience.

"Baka Oyaji." Ryoma muttered pushing down her cap over her eyes.

With that, they walked back to the main house and had dinner.

-X-

Tezuka sighed as he walked home. He stayed a bit longer than he had anticipated. Thus he knew he was going to get a scolding. Better than getting hit. But he had to admit, he did enjoy his time with the Echizen family. Although they weren't traditional, but they did function well as a family. Maybe if his family wasn't so traditional, he wondered if he would've ended up like they were, happy and not so uptight. But it couldn't be helped now. He had a feeling that he would be seeing more of the family as Ryoma's mother did invite him if they were planning to eat next Friday.

For some reason, he was looking forward to it.

-X-

"How can you guys embarrass me like that!" Ryoma exclaimed at her two brothers. "I can't believe you guys did that."

"Oi Kevin, looks like Chibi-suke actually likes him. Ooh." Ryoga commented.

"And she told us the stunt at school was only an act." Kevin responded back.

"I hate you both."

-X-

Tezuka came home to a yelling grandfather. He winced as he heard the rant.

"Where is he? He's late! I told you he shouldn't be seeing that harlot, whoever she is! This is your fault!" his grandfather yelled at his parents.

He felt bad. Perhaps, he should've called before losing track of time. He decided to make his presence known. They turned his attention to him.

"I'm sorry. I lost track of time. After we played a match, I went for a little walk. I didn't think it would take this long." He explained seriously, and formally. He didn't want his grandfather to blame the Echizen's and then forbid him from seeing them, especially Ryoma. He was hurt when his grandfather referred to her as a harlot.

"Alright Kunimitsu. Just this once. Don't do it again," that was all his grandfather said before retreating to his room. The family sighed in relief. His father went to his room while his mom went with him to his room, probably to probe some information out of him.

"So what really happened?" she asked as they were in the privacy of his room.

"What are you talking about mother?" Tezuka asked her.

"C'mon, I'm not as dense as those two. I know it wasn't because of a long walk. Tell me, I won't tell if you won't."

With that Tezuka told her the whole story. Without noticing, his mother smiled at him. To her, he seemed happy with this girl Echizen Ryoma. That was all that mattered. She hoped that his grandfather would accept her too. She had to meet this girl that made her son smile and relax.

Echizen Ryoma, huh?

She smiled.

-X-

It was finally Monday. Sunday took too long, Ryoma thought. She got ready for school, pet Karupin, and studied for her English test while eating breakfast. Kevin and Ryoga spotted this and chuckled.

"Ryoma, why are you studying?" Kevin asked curiously.

"I'm afraid it'll be too easy that I could fail," she responded.

"True. You gonna ride with us today Chibi-suke? Or are you going to walk?" Ryoga asked. "We're betting on who could make it to the school first. You want in?"

"Sure. So what are the stakes?" she asked.

"Loser has to do whatever the two says. Accept?"

"Deal. One of you is going down."

"Ara, why can't you guys do something else besides these bets?" Rinko asked as she overheard.

"Because, it's fun teasing Chibi-suke, since she always loses." Rinko just sighed and let them have their fun. As long as Ryoma doesn't object. Boys will be boys.

The three siblings suited up and put on their roller skates. The waited outside the house for Ryoma who was still gathering her things. She rushed and made it out. With a nod, all three of them sprinted as fast as they could.

They didn't notice Karupin glancing at them from outside the gates.

Ryoma glanced at her side as Ryoga was in the lead since he had longer legs and caught enough speed to surpass her. Kevin was second, but only barely. She couldn't be left behind again. Perhaps, a shortcut was in order. With that, she turned on a certain street. This baffled Kevin and Ryoga, but they shrugged it off. Ryoma could take care of herself. After all, Ryoma took some fighting classes. She could really kick ass with those roller skates. Ryoga and Kevin fell victim to them once. So they never bothered pissing her off when she had them on. They felt sorry for the people that would try and get her.

Meanwhile, with Ryoma, she smirked as she took this way. Tezuka showed it to her while walking her home once. So it was awesome! Which means this time, she won't lose and one of her brothers is getting the brunt of her dare.

"Meow."

Ryoma turned behind her to see Karupin right behind her. Eh? She thought. How did… She sighed. She didn't want to leave Karupin behind. Who cares if she lost to her brothers? Karupin was worth it since it was already far from the house. She picked Karupin up and began skating towards school. She would leave Karupin with Ryoga to take him home. She couldn't speed with Karupin in her arms. She was almost to the school too. She glanced ahead spotting someone familiar.

"Kuni-senpai!"

Tezuka paused in his walk and looked behind him. He was surprised to see Ryoma roller skating with Karupin in her arms and her bag slung around her shoulder. He thought it was a bit dangerous and proceeded to meet her half way and take off her bag or Karupin off her to carry. He wondered why the cat had taken a liking to him. It had been wary of him and hissing at him if he had gotten too close to Ryoma then, after he had pet him, the cat took a liking to him. At least the cat was friendly to him instead of attacking him like he did with Echizen Nanjirou.

"Ryoma," Tezuka greeted. He reached for her bag, "Let me take that for you." She handed it to him. And they began to head to school.

"Thanks. I can't believe Karupin followed me. Now I'm losing this bet again. I hope they don't make me do crazy stuff." Ryoma said with a sigh. "Anyway, thanks for this. It was getting hard to skate." She grasped his right hand. Tezuka glanced down at her curiously. "So I won't get too ahead." He accepted it. It felt… nice. "Oi, Kuni-senpai, did you sleep well last night? You don't look like it." Ryoma suddenly asked.

Tezuka was surprised at the question but thought about it. It was true he didn't sleep last night. But he didn't want to say yes then have to explain to Ryoma that she was the reason he couldn't sleep well last night and the past few nights. He couldn't sleep well since Friday night. He found himself missing her presence. Not that he'd say it out loud.

He just settled for, "I'm fine."

Ryoma frowned at the answer but went with it anyway.

At the school…

Ryoga elbowed Kevin when he spotted Tezuka and Ryoma walking together. They both snickered. So they waited for them at the gates. They did notice Tezuka's usual expression and Ryoma's down expression. She was thinking of her doom. She subconsciously trailed behind Tezuka delaying her punishment. Tezuka glanced at her briefly in question until he saw Ryoga and Kevin waiting at the front with smirks on their faces. Oh, this isn't going well.

"Oi Chibi-suke, looks like you failed again," Ryoga boasted. "And we have the perfect dare for you…" Ryoga and Kevin grasped Ryoma by her arms. Ryoga looked at Tezuka. "Tezuka-kun, you should wait at the courts and tell everyone to warm up until we get there." Ryoma was able to sneak Karupin into Tezuka's arms before being dragged to whatever hell she's gotten into.

Tezuka had a feeling something was going to happen and it wasn't going to go well for the juniors and seniors.

-X-

Fuji was amused to say the least.

It seemed like the Echizen brothers seem to have taken a liking to him, especially when they included him in their schemes against the sister. Which right now, he was being excused from being late for practice for this. But… he couldn't help it. It was too intriguing to pass up.

Plus, Ryoma looked really cute in this outfit.

Tezuka is lucky. He thought silently. He took out his camera.

Snap

Snap

-X-

Tezuka examined the club following all the movements going on and assigning laps to those that weren't doing anything. He noted that Fuji was late. He'll assign the tensai laps when he got there.

Fuji did eventually come explaining to him that the coach needed to speak with him and told him that there was a surprise waiting for him. Not knowing what he meant, still assigned the tensai laps for the way he suggested it. What would be a surprise?

It was then a few minutes later that the whole club paused in their practice. He was going to tell them to run laps until he saw what got them entranced, which got him entranced too.

There, Kevin was dragging a struggling Ryoma towards the courts in a black dress with white lacing, kitty ears, and a tail. Tezuka felt like having a nosebleed right there. She looked like a Lolita. And she was breathtaking. Not that he would admit it. It was hard keeping his self-control. But he was able to still maintain his stern look.

"Stop looking at me! All of you except the regulars thiry laps." Ryoma commanded as she glared at all of them. They quickly went off to run their laps. Kevin sighed.

"You know Ryoma-chan, that this is the result of you losing. So you have to deal with it. Besides it's only for one day! It's not going to kill you," he said.

"I don't know whether to hang you by your toes or kill you immediately. You, Ryoga, and Fuji-senpai." Ryoma stated darkly. She walked off towards Tezuka's direction. She was in a bad mood it was best to let her do what she wants.

After a while, Ryoma yelled out to her group, "Those who can score a point against me, will win a prize. Your serve. Who's up to it, step up."

"Echizen-san, what kind of prize?" one of the members asked.

"You'll find out when you actually do it."

"Saa, does it include us too?" Fuji asked amused. Ryoma sighed. Ryoga did pass them on to her since he had to watch Karupin.

"Fine. Regulars can participate too."

"Hoi, hoi, it'll be fun, ne Oishi?" Eiji stated bouncing up and down.

"Let's start." Ryoma stated with a smirk.

A few tries later…

"She's a monster."

"It's too good to be true."

"So she isn't just all show."

"I wanted the prize."

"I wonder what it is."

The group couldn't get one hit past her. Plus she wasn't even tired. Now it was the regulars turn. Momo decided to be first.

"Go easy on me Echizen!" he stated. Ryoma just glared at him making him step back a little. "I'll just go…" Of course, Momo lost horribly. Then in order went Kaidou, Kawamura, Inui, Oishi, and Eiji. They didn't stand a chance. Fuji went next.

"You look cute, Ryoma-chan," Fuji said to her. Ryoma growled in annoyance.

"Just serve Fuji-senpai."

Ryoma showed no mercy.

"Haha, it seems I didn't get a break with you Ryoma-chan." Ryoma opted for ignoring him. Fuji just chuckled. "Your turn Tezuka." Tezuka went up, he to was curious about what the prize was. After all, he was probably the only one to score against her especially with the matches they play every Friday. He'd give a break to the club and show them what the price was. It would ease his curiosity too.

As usual, Tezuka scored against her. Ryoma was inwardly panicking. She actually was trying to get the point, she actually didn't have a prize in mind. It was just to motivate them. Now what, she didn't know what to do. Damn that Zero-shiki shot. She cursed silently.

Well, there was only one thing to do.

Ryoma walked up to the net, signaling Tezuka to do the same. When he came, she gripped the front of his shirt and smashed their lips together. Everyone was shocked, as was Tezuka. After a full minute of lip-locking, tongue lashing, and saliva changing, she broke it off.

The club was silent. After letting them get out of their shock for a little bit, she yelled. "Get back to practice! We'll have this tournament every week to see how much you've improved."

All, except the regulars got to practice. Fuji chuckled at their enthusiasm. Ryoma could command a crowd.

TBC-------------

BLK Angel of Destruction: Here's a fast update… I hope. Anyways thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them!

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