Take Two
Description: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo
Chapter VII: Mission Impossible!
Mountains
It had been days since the incident concerning three high schoolers and Echizen Ryoma. The situation has been dealt secretly and fairly with justice after reporting it to coach Mifune soon after they confined the unconscious boys inside the storage room. Mifune addressed the incident with utmost significance once he heard what had occured.
He was livid, something that Ryoma, Momoshiro, Kaidoh, Yanagi, Inui, Hiyoshi and Sanada did not expect from the old drunkard. The moment they had come to approach him in the middle of the night and told him about it— he was merciless.
...
After imprisoning the unconscious perpetrators inside the storage room temporarily; Sanada, Yanagi and Inui left Hiyoshi and Momoshiro along with Ryoma to stay on guard outside the door while they went to fetch the sleeping coach inside his personal cabin.
The three third-years made a stop and Sanada took the liberty to knock on the door. The first few times, the coach didn't answer; and honestly it infuriated the Rikkai fukubuchou. After having witness such a thing almost happen to someone he and the others have grown fond of; it wasn't something they could take lightly.
Refraining himself from shouting atop his lungs, Sanada punched the door twice, earning half-assed protest from both Data Masters behind him. After all, what could he do? He can't shout in order to get that drunk asshole's attention, or else the cat might as well be out of the bag and he would be doing the opposite of what Ryoma wished for.
'Ryoma…'
"Genichirō, calm down." Yanagi's calming voice tried to soothe him, knowing full well what the his teammate was feeling.
"I know—" Sanada breathed, knocking heavily on the door once more.
Before he could attempt at another hit, the door swung open to reveal a sober man who did not looked too pleased at being awoken from his slumber.
"What do you want?" He asked in a quiet but threatening voice.
The three boys grimaced at the intimidating aura he was oozing off but steeled themselves as they remembered their purpose for even awake so late.
"You all should be asleep by now." He gruffed out, looking down on them with calculating eyes.
"Something serious happened…"Sanada started slowly, finding courage to look at him straight in the eye. This earnt a quirk by Mifune's eyebrow.
"What is it?" He asks, voice dropping as he anticipated. Seeing their serious expressions with hidden rage beneath their calm eyes irked his curiosity.
"Our teammate, Echizen Ryoma was attacked by some of the high schoolers." This time Inui finished the sentence, finding it unnecessary to waste time idling around and hesitating.
"Attacked?"
"Sexually assaulted, to be exact." Yanagi corrected.
This time, Mifune was definitely awake. His shoulder tensed ever so slightly and this did not go unnoticed by the middle schoolers.
"The girl?"
"Hai…"
What surprised them next was that Mifune threw his beloved gourd to the wall and it landed on his bed. The look of silent animosity in his glinting green eyes honestly gave them shivers, but they wouldn't admit it.
Mifune stormed out of the cabin and asked them where the teenagers were. Yanagi helpfully led him towards the storage where they explained how they used it to temporarily imprison the three before any further judgements were to be made.
Upon arriving at the scene, Mifune simply gave a tired looking Ryoma a glance and a grunt as he passed by. He slammed the doors open, right in time that the boys came to a few minutes ago.
What happened next was even something they had not expected. He grabbed each of them and punched them straight across the face.
"You fucking idiots." He grits out, throwing the last one onto the ground harshly.
"You shitheads are over. Your sports career are over." He says, crouching down at them.
"This might be the mountains where rules do not apply, however I do not condone such acts. This is still part of the training camp and I will be reporting your crimes to the board." He stands up, walking to the side and fished out a rope from the wooden storage.
Before he would do anything though, he looks at them and said,
"You kids go and rest. I won't be going easy on you later this morning even with this incident; so I suggest you all get sleep." He grunted, turning to the whimpering attackers.
"Now go," he looks over his shoulders to peer at them.
They all gulped in nervousness, knowing well how terrifying the drunkard's temper could get when they don't obey quickly to his orders. Therefore, Sanada placed a hand on Ryoma's shoulder.
The Rikkai fukubuchou frowned a little when he felt her tense shoulders for a second before it sagged. He noticed the slight release of breathe from his contact and he concluded that she must still be shook.
He couldn't blame her. He could imagine how terrifying and horrible it must have felt to be under such a situation— even if it was Echizen Ryoma; she was still a girl after all. He didn't want to imagine what would have happened had they not arrived on time or never at all.
"Let's go...Ryoma…" he softly says, pressuring her shoulder to follow his lead and she did.
The rest followed closely behind, all discussing how to cover up the story.
…
Sanada glances at the girl a few feet away from him with discretion, subconsciously observing her from the corner of his eyes as they ran uphill with the buckets full of water in hand. One of the many usual drill they do every morning.
Many of them may have been fooled by that smirk on her face, her playful taunts and snarky replies, but Sanada Genichirō was no fool. Despite the fact that Ryoma herself assured them she was fine, he knew the girl too well.
Her acting was great, but nothing escapes Sanada's watchful eye— even if it was Echizen Ryoma; no, because she was Echizen Ryoma.
Sanada doesn't miss the weary glances she sends the older group whenever they approach, the slight tensing of her shoulders and that guarded expression on her face. She was still arrogant and snarky, probably to keep the act believable to him and the others, but she would not allow herself to be alone with any of the high schoolers and often notices her beside him or her Seigaku seniors.
Sighing softly to himself, he contemplates about what to do. Several days, yet he has not found it in himself to confront her on what she really felt despite knowing her discomfort with the whole event.
Perhaps it was the fact that she was uncomfortable that Sanada did not want her to remember such a horrible incident. However, should he really let it be? Should he really stay quiet and allow Ryoma to recover on her own because he did not want to remind her of anything?
He and Yanagi had discussed it amongst themselves; surprisingly enough, even Momoshiro came to them as well on Kaidoh's behalf in regards about what transpired. Both revealed they were also lost and didn't know how to approach Ryoma about it, obviously they wanted comfort her— let her know she could depend on them emotionally as well.
Yet here they were, stuck between two choices.
Sanada inwardly shook his head, perhaps they was thinking too much into it.
"Ryoma! Slow down your pace, you're way ahead of us!" Sanada calls out to her.
The girl simply looked back at him with a smirk and refused to decrease her pace. "Mada mada suyo!" She yells out as Kintarō rushed past her with a howl of laughter.
"HAHA! Koshimae, your speed is too slow!"
"What did you say Kinta?! SPEED?! If this is about speed then I can't lose!" Kenya shouts from behind and began to accelerate to the front.
"NO SPEED, NO LIFE!"
"Eh?!"
"Geh! They're getting way ahead!" Momoshiro stated good heartedly,
"as a senpai, I can't lose to my kouhai's eagerness, I just can't!" So Momoshiro followed the front.
"Fshuuu, no you don't!" Kaidoh growls out and races in front of Momoshiro.
Due to this, the Seigaku second years began their mundane quarrel whilst racing each other; magnificently they had increased their pace whilst doing so— too quick that their figures got smaller until they recede into the distance, leaving a trail of smoke in their wake.
"...and there they go…" Shishido stated flatly.
"They're such kids." Gakuto huffed.
"It's so nice they have it easy...always fooling around even during training, are they even serious? Those two keep on arguing every single day, there is also a hot-head beside me who is just as childish as they are, Echizen-kun is improving drastically though...I can't have that, I need to catch up…" Ibu rants under his breath quietly, unaware of the looks he was getting from the rest.
"Hoh~? We can't lose this race! Kabaji, let's go!" Ryoma smirked when Kabaji grunted in agreement and quickened her pace even more as the emotionless hulk followed her steps.
"Ugh, whatever— count me in this 'race'." Hiyoshi muttered.
"LIKE HELL I'M LOSING EITHER!" Tanashi hightailed pass them.
"Pupina." Niou mentally snickered at Sanada's ticked off face.
"The probably of Genichirō snapping in a matter of seconds, 95.30%" Yanagi uttered beside the trickster.
"No, make that 97%, Renji." Inui smirked, amused at the Rikkaidai vice-captain.
Sanada's head was bent down, eyes covered under the shadows emitted from his cap but they could see his lips thin out. Veins started popping and finally…
"YOU FOOLS!" Sanada screamed, dashing quickly towards the bunch. He rushed by the others in a flash and ended up being the first one to arrive at the makeshift Tennis court above the cliff.
Ryoma, Kintarō, Kenya and a few others who reached the destination afterwards felt small under Sanada's intense aura.
"W-What happened to him?" Kintarō stuttered.
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO POINT OUT WE HAVE TO LEARN CONSERVE ENERGY?! AND STOP ACTING LIKE CHILDREN—"
"Genichirō-san...you're the one oozing out of energy." Ryoma pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone.
"We aren't acting like children too." Kintarō pouted with a sideways 'che'.
Sanada felt a vein pop once again at the two freshmen's statement, "As I was saying, learning how to conserve energy is also a learning curvature for this type of training." He says calmly, but one could see he was trying hard not to lose it once again.
"Che." Ryoma averted her eyes, having no comeback for that.
"Sure sure, dad." She said aloud, turning back and picking up her empty bucket which one of the high schoolers already drank.
"D-DAD—?!" Sanada turned white and felt an arrow struck through his chest.
Kintarō laughed out loud and the rest snickered to themselves as they saw life escape Sanada's ajar mouth.
"Cause, you act more like a father than my baka oyaji." She snickered then dashed away before Sanada could give another protest at her.
Evening came by quickly, it was now about ten o'clock in the evening and it was both lights out for everyone. Unlike before, those who knew of the incident hadn't let Ryoma out of their sight and the least she could be away from them at nighttime or changing was about five meters away as they stood guard—although they always tried to be less obvious about their sudden cautiousness regarding the girl to the others; thankfully, no one noticed yet.
As they prepare to go to bed inside the cave, a loud banging of something solid against a can ricocheted against the cave walls, causing them to groan and get up.
They turned to the source of the disturbance only to see their drunk coach.
"Practice starts now!" He bellowed.
The announcement earnt grunts and whines of misbeliefs from the middle schoolers as they protested that it was midnight and they should be rested for tomorrow's regime as well but the coach didn't bother to listen and ordered out for them to get up and grab hold of their racquets to do 10,000 swings.
"T-ten thousand?!" Shishido exclaims, questioning himself if he heard that right.
Mifune nods at them, "Aa, do that and once you're finished— you may go back to rest."
The rest of the middle schoolers looked flabbergasted whilst a few selected quickly went to position with their racquets in order to begin.
When Ryoma was just about to do the same, she heard the coach call for her, Kenya and Tanishi. Upon turning to him who just beckoned for them to come closer with his finger, the three exchanged looks before doing so.
"You three will be doing something else." He started, taking out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Ryoma.
"You will be procuring those items on the list."
The three began reading through the list of items to procure and wondered; just how were they going to get these? They sent the coach a questioning stare who seemed to have caught onto what they were thinking and he spoke,
"Go deeper into the cave," he pointed behind him with his thumb and threw three drawstring bags at them.
"You'll find instructions there." He grinned cunningly and Ryoma did not like that glint in his eyes. She knew this man had an agenda. Whatever was in store for them can't be good.
However, a task was a task.
With a nod; the only female amongst the middle schoolers left deeper into the cave wordlessly, causing Kenya and Tanishi to scamper after her.
"Oi, Ryoma— you can't be serious about getting these stuff right?" Kenya asked as he caught up.
The girl stayed silent until she saw something up ahead. They stopped in front of a rock that had a letter and a gourd that probably only belonged to one person.
"This must be the instructions he was talking about." Ryoma mumbled, picking up the paper.
Tanishi snatched it out from her hand and tore the envelope apart, taking out the letter inside and began mumbling as he read through the letter.
"What's it saying?" Kenya asked.
"This mission is very dangerous…"
"Uhuh, I figured so." The Kansaijin nods to himself. "Then?"
"We gotta go to the camp...and...fetch...bottle…" He didn't even get to the middle part and he was obviously having a hard time trying to read the paragraphs in Kanji.
Meanwhile Kenya was getting impatient and snatched it away from Tanishi, shoving the letter into Ryoma's hands.
"Echizen! You read it!" Ryoma blinks and sighed.
"Let's see…" She mumbles, grazing her vision across paragraph of characters before she began reading out loud for the two.
"The following is your mission. First off, mission one, you will sneak into the camp and acquire the following items from the storage shed. 100 tennis balls, 50 bar soaps and 10 bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Afterwards, you will go to the staff bar lounge in the dorms and acquire high quality sake. Make this special mission to acquire sake your top priority over the others, I have provided two maps for you three to use in case you have troubles navigating your way and it should be inside one of the bags." The three face faulted at the last part of the letter.
"Basically he just wants us to steal sake for him." Ryoma deadpanned.
"That drunkard." Kenya sighed exasperatedly.
"But why choose us three though?" Tanishi voiced out.
"There's more though…" Ryoma says, continuing the letter. "You may be wondering why I chose you,—"
"—Wha?! Is he psychic?!" Kenya commented.
"—when selecting you, your ultimate balance of personalities, physical abilities and flexibility, and quick decision making in dangerous situations were not deciding factors, but rather, you three just happened to be there." This statement made Ryoma's eyebrow twitch.
'Is he serious?' She thought.
"That's it?!"
"Incidentally, if you happen to fail this mission and get yourselves into trouble; it's none of my problem. Best of luck." She finished.
"Is he for real?!" Kenya fumed, their coach was unbelievable!
"But mah...I guess we have no choice…"Tanishi says unsurely.
"Ah, wait—" Ryoma trails off once she noticed there was a sentence she forgot to read. Narrowing her eyes to focus her vision,
"Also...this letter will self-destruct?!"
"EH?!" Ryoma hastily lets go of the letter as if scalded and all three jumped away from it cautiously.
A few seconds in, nothing really happened so they relaxed. However; it was too soon to do so when they began to heard cackling from the deeper side of the cave. Sounds of flapping were heard and later on, they all freaked out when bats flew towards them aggressively
"This is probably what he meant by self destruct!" Ryoma grits out as she hightailed towards the right fork where it was clear.
"But bats?!" Kenya yells, running beside her.
"I-I'm bad with bats!" Tanishi stammered.
"Anyway, let's just run!" Kenya yells.
Ryoma's eyes widened by the time her eyes fixated on the dimmest light coming from somewhere above the ceiling of the cave and saw an abrupt end to their path.
"WAIT!—" She skidded to a stop. The two boys did as was told and realized why she had done so.
"A DEAD END?!" Tanishi exclaimed nervously, freaking out when the bats neared them.
"That!" Ryoma points towards the pillars in the middle of the river; "we can use that to get across." She says, hopping over the pillars easily and successfully landed on the other side.
Tanishi had no problems mimicking her actions and in no time he was beside her. Ryoma glanced at the heavy boy and comments, "You're quite agile aren't you? Despite everything."
Tanishi pouted and retorts, "What's that supposed to mean?!"
Before Ryoma could answer, Kenya's surprised yelp gained their attention in time only to see the Kansaijin falling towards the water but ended up running…on top of it.
"When it comes to speed I won't lose! But my sense of balance is terrible!" Kenya grinds out as he quickened his pace in an attempt to move to the other side.
"On the contrary...what you're doing is even more amazing…" Seigaku's pillar flatly commented as she watched Shitenhouji's Oshitari running on water.
"Wow, is Oshitari a ninja?" Higa's big bang user blinks in astonishment at the sight before him. "I thought only ninjas and Jesus can do that."
His face turned white, "don't tell me— is he Jesus?!"
"There's no way he is, ahou." Ryoma sent the huge boy a blank look, left hand on hip."With all the things happening around us, is this really something to be freaking out about? You people train martial arts…" she trails off.
"We do but Kite-buchou can't even walk on water!"
"Well, he's….running, not walking." Ryoma nonchalantly points to the struggling Speed Star.
"Oi— you two stop talking and help me out!" Kenya yells from below.
"Ah." Tanishi bends down, stretching a helping hand towards Kenya; yet just an inch away— he completely froze and fell into the water.
"Don't give up in the middle!" Was all Ryoma could muster when she herself has been dragged down by Tanishi in a desperate attempt to hold onto something when the edge cracked under his weight, resulting his fall into the water as well.
'These idiots!' Ryoma mentally screamed to herself, getting washed away by the strong water current.
It turns out that the river they were being washed away in was a waterfall connected to another river just outside the U-17 camping grounds. All three of them were fine thankfully enough and nobody seemed to be suffering from injuries at all. As they stepped onto land, Ryoma inspected the area closer to the dormitories.
Upon surveying the first area, Ryoma ran back to the other two and led them towards the camp. She paused once her eyes caught sight of a security a few meters ahead and ordered them to hide behind the bush.
"The security is insane!" Kenya hissed in a hushed tone, almost as if complaining whilst his eyes darted at the opposite corner of their destination, seeing five securities each with doberman on leash and another three at the direction they were headed.
"Un...It will be difficult to get past them undetected." Ryoma muttered, lowering herself into the bush.
"If they find us, we're surely dead!"
"I change my mind, let's leave." Tanishi mumbled.
"No, we aren't." Ryoma hissed at him. "We're seeing this mission through."
"But Echizen, this mission doesn't even have anything to do with friggin tennis!" Kenya retorts, trying to knock sense into the girl.
"Still— it would be embarrassing just to go back and tell him we chickened out." She shots back, hitting them right in the gut.
"Or do you prefer to be chickens?"
The two boys narrowed their eyes, "We ain't chickens."
She smirks, "Then a few Dobermans shouldn't be a problem." And taunted.
The boys gave her a pointed look and sighed, "fine." They grumbled simultaneously in defeat.
"Yosh." A half grin stretched across Ryoma's face as she motioned for them to follow her when she noticed the
security moving away from their vicinity.
"Kenya-san, Tanishi, do you have the maps?" She whispers to the elder boys. Kenya's head perked up as he remembered the sack that the coach handed him before they went into the cave. Both of the boys checked their own bags and Tanishi gave up halfway through, signalling he didn't have the item.
Fishing out the piece of paper from it's protective plastic covers,Kenya spreads out the paper as they huddled together.
"That drunk really thought this through huh?" Kenya muttered, half bewildered at the precautions the man made.
"I think he predicted we'd fall into the water, that demon." Tanishi grunted.
"We're close." Ryoma muttered, navigating between their current location and the surprisingly decent hand-drawn map of the camp.
A few minutes of snooping here and there, the three finally caught sight of the storage room. As they approached, Kenya opened the door and surprising it wasn't locked. The trio exchanged looks for a brief moment before shrugging, honestly they couldn't care less— it only made their mission easier.
"Lets go. Kenya-san, get the shampoos and conditioners, Tanishi you go and get the balls; I'll take care of the soaps." She instructed.
The boys nodded and scattered towards their respective assignments. Ryoma bagged in the soaps and regrouped with the team by the entrance. Seeing the full bags, the girl mentally checked the lists off in her head
"Mission one: complete!" Kenya proclaimed with a lopsided grin.
"Now we need that sake…" Ryoma murmurs, glancing at the direction where they just came from, trying to remember if there was an entrance they could use to get inside the dorms.
"Do you guys know anywhere we could get inside?" She asked the two.
"Inside huh…" Kenya mumbled, cupping his chin in thought.
"Hnnn….." Tanishi crunched up his face trying to think as well.
"Ah," The Speed Star's eyes lit up, bumping his right fist onto his other palm.
"Anything?" Ryoma asked curiously.
"How about that entrance by the courts?" Kenya suggested, "That's usually not locked since the others go in and out using that to practice during the evenings, remember?" He grins.
"Good thinking, Kenya-san." She smirks, "it's worth a try."
"Un!"
"Let's go." They hastened towards their new goal.
…
Courts
Running a hand through his short wavy hair, his fingers latched onto the piece of cloth constrainting around his forehead and yanked it off; crumpling the piece of cloth under his grip and used it to wipe off the tickling bud of sweat threatening to drop from his chin. His own pants filled the silent environment; the only sound he hears aside from the erratic thumping of his heart.
He heaves an irate sigh— heavens he's been restless lately. Ever since that incident regarding Ryoma, he found himself wallowing in sleepless nights more often than he should have despite the fact he knows that she is indeed safe and nothing happened to her, there were many things keeping his mind awake.
Fuji being the sadistic bastard that he is, only vaguely informed him of the incident. It wasn't specific but enough to understand that something horrible had happened— but was prevented in any case.
The ever so smiling brunette had taken amusement relishing his veiled irritation from his lack of knowledge about what's been happening. Unfortunately for him, both Sanada and Yanagi has been unreachable as well as Niou and Jackal. Although he doubted that the latter knew of anything that happened— there was a possibility but it was highly unlikely. Knowing Ryoma and how prideful the girl can be, she would not let anyone else know of it unless if the situation called for such measures; henceforth, Yukimura stuck to Sanada and Yanagi whom he knows was there during the incident.
In spite of their rivalry for a certain emerald haired tennis player however, the two came into an agreement to keep this quiet as well.
That was the first and main reason. Yet also, he could not rub off any feeling of alertness inside him. His protective senses had been very active because of the recent happening and could only wish that his compeers would be there to keep a watchful eye on her.
His shoulders sagged, and he slumped onto the bleacher agitatedly. Relying on his teammates yet again, for a moment— after being released from the eerie white confines of the hospital, he thought he could finally do things himself without relying on his friends to do anything for him alike that time in the Kantou Championships. He hated the feeling; although now, it was on different terms, Yukimura could not help but feel it was still a familiar predicament.
'If looks could kill, I bet she'd already had killed me with her glare if she knew what I'm thinking.' Yukimura thought grimly with a half-assed attempt of cheering himself up from the image of a pissed off Ryoma.
Regardless of his worries; Yukimura had a feeling Yanagi would do the job for him if not Genichirō. After all, Rikkai's data master had been long aware of his affections for Seigaku's female regular. He had an inkling feeling that Yanagi would protect her in his stead.
'There's also Sanada.' Yukimura wasn't blind. He knew his best friend held feelings for one Echizen Ryoma but as of now, he couldn't really speculate how deep it went, especially after being rejected unsuspectingly by the dense girl.
Oh it had been a sight to see for all Rikkai and Seigaku regulars that afternoon when they had followed the Emperor and the Princess of Tennis.
Yukimura chuckles quietly to himself, throwing his head back, resting it on the elevated bleacher behind him; his gaze glazing over the starry sky above him. For a brief moment he took a second to admire how clear the sky was then wandered back to a certain girl.
Just then, he caught something moving at the corner of his eyes. Curiosity piqued, Yukimura straightens himself as it was followed by faint footsteps of what seemed to be more than one person.
His deep sapphire eyes widened when he caught sight of dark hair that shone of emerald under the moonlight. It was only a glimpse but he saw a female stature wearing white shorts and shirt and he could never mistake the shoes that trailed behind before it disappeared into the ajar entrance he once came from.
'It couldn't be— Ryoma?' Yukimura thought, scampering to his feet and headed off to where he saw them disappear off to.
Inside
"Kenya-san, enter the numbers while I read it." Ryoma ordered him.
"Okay." Kenya sent her a nod, giving a thumbs up to signal her.
"Four, nine, four, eight, five, three." She recites, each number being put in by Kenya.
The door lets out a soft ping as the red light turns green upon verification and the metal door opens apart for them. The trio gave each other a high-five as a short celebration for clearing the stage, finding the password took time but thanks to Ryoma's good eyesight and thinking; she concluded the password was within the abstract painting beside the door.
"Still— who would go through all this trouble setting these up?" Kenya mentioned distastefully.
"Probably someone who loves these kinds of games." Ryoma quipped.
"Ugh, I wonder who." Kenya shot sarcastically.
"Let's gooo." Tanashi tuned them out and went ahead, followed by Kenya.
"But don't you think it's kind of fun?" Ryoma stated with a smirk, trailing behind as her eyes darted left and right on alert if traps may come unexpectedly.
"What is fun about this?!" Kenya hissed quietly at her.
"All the sneaking...and we could probably get caught at any time." She didn't hide the amused tone in her calm voice.
"Plus, It's a challenge. Always wanted to try out things like these in real life, although I may not look like it." She added dismissively.
"Heh~." Kenya hummed, eyes narrowing slyly.
"I never knew you were that kind of girl, Echizen." He inwardly sniggered at his innuendo, hoping to see an embarrassed form of the usually stoic girl.
However, his hopes were lost when Ryoma simply blinked at him and shrugged. "Spy scenes are cool, what can I say." She says promptly.
"If I were to choose one of our team outings, I'd probably prefer Laser Tag or Paintball wars out of Pool or Bowling, I suck at those." She frowned, remembering the times where she fell victim to Inui's beverages due to the fact those games were her first time trying out. It was just unfair.
"And none of Inui-senpai's juice would be included if one were to lose." She growls to herself, she just detest that damned torturous drink!
"Ngh...Somehow I'm glad I'm not in Seigaku…" Tanishi and Kenya chorused, feeling sick to their stomach as their taste buds faintly recalled the horrible aftertaste the drink provided.
All of them now groaned and hunched, clutching onto their stomachs, as their body reacted subconsciously just by the thought of the drink.
"Though— I can't imagine you playing anything other than Tennis for pass time, Echizen." Kenya commented.
Ryoma shrugged, "It's my only passtime aside from Tennis; most of my friends— acquaintances," she corrected herself, "—back in elementary never played Tennis. So being invited to events or outings, I would only go if it was either paintball or laser tag. At least it trains my body to be more agile."
The boys looked blankly at her, "I knew there had to be a catch." They muttered to themselves, shaking their heads at the tennis obsessed freak.
"What?" Ryoma quirked an eyebrow, finding nothing wrong with what she said.
"Nothing." They chorused dryly.
"Che." She almost pouted, almost,
"Mada mada dane."
"You are." They pointed at her and she blinked at them innocently wondering why it was her that was 'mada mada'.
Kenya took out the map once again, focusing on the task at hand. Having only stayed inside the dorms for one night; they weren't quite familiar with the whole place yet, let alone being able to maneuver around the perimeters without any guidance.
"Let's see, let's see…" Kenya mumbles quietly to himself as he deciphers their location.
After awhile, he concluded that he really wasn't fit for the job. So he calls to the only one in their group ever being intelligent enough to actually read a blueprint of the dormitory.
"Oi, Echizen—" he stops midway as he spots no one where the girl should be.
"—eh?" Kenya looks around as Tanishi begins to realize that the girl has disappeared, again.
"Ah, she was just here a second ago." Tanishi blinked.
"—WHERE IS SH—mphh!" Tanishi quickly clams him up in order to prevent getting caught.
"Oshitari! Shhh!"
"Pwahh!" Naniwa's Speed Star gasps for air the moment Tanishi released him.
"Huwaah...hahh...I swear….that girl has to be Type B…hahh…" He griped out between pants, his complexion turning back to a healthier colour.
"In any case...she's always like that. Just like the last time." Tanishi scratched his cheek, "let's just continue, maybe we'll run into her after we get that Sake or we can look for her afterwards."
"For once you're thinking smartly." Kenya agrees with a sigh.
"I don't know if I should feel proud or insulted…" Tanishi grouched.
…
Somewhere
In a dark corner, Ryoma flailed continuously after being dragged away swiftly from Kenya and Tanishi by strong arms. She didn't see who it was since everything happened so quickly and for once she wondered who the hell would be 'kidnapping' her at this hour. At some point; her senses became alert upon remembering what happened a few days ago, however, she concluded that this person held no ill intentions by the way his grip on her was gentle; although strong.
It was just intuition.
Still, she did not like being held close for too long against this tall individual's chest. Her peripheral vision could only make out a light blue shirt, albeit damp as well which made Ryoma think that this person was probably out training on his own.
"Mrphhh!"
"Shh!" That voice was familiar. Struggling to look up, Ryoma managed to catch a glimpse of dark wavy hair. There were only two people she was familiar with that had such hair and Kirihara's was definitely more curly than wavy plus the height depicted obviously enough that it wasn't Kirihara. This person was taller.
"Mphhshi?!" Her muffled exclaimed resounded throughout the empty corner.
"Mrrphhhuhh!" She tapped harshly on his hand over her mouth which he got the gist of and released her.
"—What the—Mmhhff!" He covered her mouth again.
"Calm down and don't be loud." He whispered quietly. She relaxed and stopped her protests, remembering she shouldn't even be caught.
Seeing her relax, he slowly removed his hand and gave her a sheepish smile.
"Hey." Glare.
"Hey yourself." She coldly said, wiggling out of his hold and pushing him away lightly, trying to gain space between them.
"You're not...pissed are you?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Dragging me away like some kidnapper so suddenly—" she looks up at him straight in the eye— which she silently cursed— by the way— due to the fact she had to tilt her head about ninety degrees upwards because of the lack of distance between them, "—tell me, what am I supposed to feel, Seiichi-san?"
Yukimura looks down at her with a thoughtful look and nonchalantly answers, "Mah, gomen gomen."
"You're not a least bit apologetic are you?" Ryoma gave him a deadpan look.
"Not really." He gives a half grin which only made the girl sigh in dismay.
"Why are you up so late? It's already almost two in the morning." She asks him in a hushed tone.
"Aa, I couldn't sleep— so I found myself training instead." Yukimura scratched his right cheek lightly, giving her a sheepish look.
"I see." The girl mumbled, nodding.
"By the way, Seiichi-san…" Ryoma trails off, averting her eyes to the side, still trying to wiggle off some space but failing.
"Hm?"
"...Can we get out of this spot?"
Hearing her request, Yukimura recalled that they were between a pillar connected to the wall. Needless to say, their bodies were pressed up— in which Yukimura could honestly admit that he didn't think through. All he wanted was to snatch the girl away before the two could notice and hide her because he had a lot of things to ask her as of now.
He jerked slightly away, heat suffusing his face when he realized his torso was pressed against her chest. Fighting back any immoral thoughts about this being his chance to steal a kiss or two, Yukimura clears his throat and slides out of the space first rather stiffly; looking away, hoping that the dark environment could hide the growing heat around his cheeks. He wouldn't live it out if anyone knew Yukimura Seiichi could be flustered.
In all truth, he wouldn't bat an eyelash if it was just any one of his fangirls back in Rikkaidai; still, no girls ever got too close to him due to the fact that despite his gentle facade, he made sure that they wouldn't feel it was easy to just hog him down. He liked his own space, thank you very much.
But this was the Echizen Ryoma.
The only girl to have every caught his attention and affections. The only girl who didn't act like any mainstream shoujo manga protagonist that his younger sister always reads.
This girl was different. She was strong and determined, cocky yet unthinkably charming and charismatic in her own ways. His type of girl to be exact. Strong.
"Sorry about that." He mumbled, coiling his right hand over the nape of his neck, eyeing her at the corner of his eye.
"...It's okay." Ryoma murmurs quietly, looking away awkwardly as well.
Deciding to break the silence, Yukimura finally asks, "what are you doing here?"
Ryoma blinks at him, finally meeting his gaze.
"Ah...Wait, aren't you surprised to see me here?" She quirked an eyebrow.
"I am, but not as much. I had a feeling you would come back, but not like this." He gestured to her damp clothes.
Ryoma continues to raise her eyebrow at him because of the gesture. "...this." She gestures to herself dryly.
"Yes, I mean— snooping around." He corrects.
"So you also know that the others and I are training," Ryoma states impassively, completely avoiding his question. "I thought only Shūsuke-senpai knew…" she trails off.
Yukimura's finger twitched slightly at the mention of Seigaku's tensai and her being in first name basis with him as well. He still somehow finds himself jealous whenever the brunette's name escapes her lips.
"I do— in fact, I was the one who told your captain and him." He says.
"How?"
"I happened to overhear coach Saitō and the head Director talking after the matches."
"Ahh.."
"Anyway," Yukimura heaves a sigh, "Mind telling me why you're here at this hour with Shitenhouji's Oshitari and Higa's Tanishi? You three aren't exactly the first trio I would imagine together." He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ah...about that…" she combs her bangs over her head and exhaled, "we're on a mission."
"Mission?"
"Uisu, we were ordered to procure something for our coach, so here we are." She deadpanned.
"Stealing?"
"...I'd prefer you don't call it that," She looks away, "we've no choice. No Sake would mean he won't train us—that stupid drunkard." She mumbled the last part.
"Mm, you're stuck in quite a predicament. A drunkard for a coach eh?" Yukimura hums.
"Tell me about it." She snarkily replied.
"A weird ass drunkard." She clicked her tongue, remembering the times he gave them hell.
Then he remembers something, "ah, right— Ryoma." He starts.
"What, Seiichi-san?" He leans down, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I was aware of what happened a few days back...I want to know how you are…" He says, albeit unsure if he should have or not. However; all doubts were washed away when she have him a sincere smile.
"I'm fine, nothing bad happened."
"Really?"
"Yes...Thanks to Gen-san and everyone else who helped me that time." She says softly.
For what seemed like eternity, Yukimura released a breathe he didn't knew he was holding and slumped on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her.
"I see...that's good to know."
"But Seiichi-san, how did you know? Did Shūsuke-senpai tell you? Wait— does everyone know?" He could sense the panic in her voice and he only held her tighter against his body.
"No, only me, I promise. It was Fuji and I that alerted Inui about your whereabouts. Child of God, maybe I am—" he joked sardonically to himself, "—to be somehow blessed of being relieved from my anxiety these past days."
Ryoma did not really understand what the older boy was saying; but she understood one thing— Yukimura had been worrying about her. Honestly, she felt touched— not that she would really voice it out; it was too cheesy to put it verbally.
Instead, she relaxed into his touch and allowed him to stay like that until he felt like letting go.
"I don't really know what's going on, but it's okay, Yanagi-san and Genichirō-san along with my senpais are looking out for me in the mountains." She informed, somehow thinking it might comfort Yukimura even if she didn't know why he was so worried about her in the first place.
'Because you're friends.' A voice at the back of her head told her and perhaps that was actually the case because if the roles were reversed, she would also be worried about her friends as well— even if she didn't prefer to be showy and vocal— she'll be there finding a way to look after them silently.
Yet somehow, a traitorous voice doubted her reasoning.
"Aa, that's good enough for me." Yukimura's voice vibrated against her neck. One last affirming hold, Yukimura finally straightens and looks at her with his usual serene smile.
"I have a lot to ask— but I think I held you off long enough." His statement suddenly reminded Ryoma of the task at hand.
Her eyes widened, and on cue; a bright red light lit at the far corner of the hallway where she came from. "Ah! Those idiots!" She griped but calmed when the alarms hadn't gone off yet.
"The timing couldn't be any more just." Yukimura commented with a disappointed sigh.
"I guess I'll have to go to them; who knows what they might do without my supervision." She mutters and the Rikkaidai captain nods.
"Alright."
"Jaa— I'll catch up with you once I returned for real with everyone else, Seiichi-san." She gives him her usual cocky smirk that Yukimura grew fond with before turning on her heels to head to the direction of the red lights, yet pauses on her tracks when Yukimura holds onto her wrists.
"Wait—"
"Hn?" She looks back at him curiously.
"You know, Ryoma...call me 'Seiichi' from now on. Cut off that suffix." He told her with finality in his voice and a small grin.
Blinking for a second, Ryoma wondered for a bit what brought it up but shrugged it off. She didn't have any problems omitting suffixes; after all, it was the supposed type of culture she grew up with in America. Smiling at him, Ryoma nods.
"Jaa...see you soon, Seiichi."
And with that Yukimura allowed her to go with a content smile on his face. How his name sounded so natural escaping her lips was a memory he will never get tired of relishing.
"See you soon, Ryoma."
A/N: Hey! Finally I had time to update. Apologies for I have been a bit too busy with life itself that I could not find time to update any of the stories. On the side note, I really appreciate everyone who has made their interests in my stories known, so don't hesitate and drop by a review ;). I love you all! 3
