A/N: You know how I said some chapters back that this story will deviate from canon timeline? Well, it starts this chapter. Why? Because if St. Rudolph goes against Seigaku already, that would start them on an epic losing streak...
Warnings: The deviation from canon timeline begins. Mizuki, in many forms. (He sounds more viral every chapter, doesn't he? XD)
Pairings: Hahahahahaha!
Disclaimer: I do not own.
Chapter 7
"Always do right.
This will gratify some people
and astonish the rest."
-Mark Twain
"How are things over there?"
"Fine," Ryoma answered dully, staring straight ahead at the plaster without expression.
He had one finger curled in the wire connecting the phone handle to its cradle, the other holding the device to his ear. The room was empty, the door permanently left ajar as other dorm residents roamed the hallway. The small room was brightly lit but it held only one phone; it was the main form of free communication between dorm residents and their families, especially those who lived overseas.
"Have you made any friends, Ryoma? You've always been so shy..."
"Yeah, I have some," Ryoma answered again. He paused, thinking over what to say. He could make a pre-emptive statement - he already knew where she was heading with this conversation anyway - and the information would please her. "I made it into the Regulars over here. The other Regulars are nice and I hang around with them a lot."
No need to tell her it was by force. He left out his association with Mira and the others as well; they weren't tennis players, after all, and only tennis players would do.
"Are the other Regulars strong?"
Ryoma hesitated, hand gripping the phone tighter than necessary.
What's the right answer, what's the right answer, what's the right answer-
"Yeah, they're pretty strong," he said, voice calm. "But I can still beat them."
"...Then they must not be that strong."
Wrong answer.
"You know you have to play with strong opponents, Ryoma."
"...I know," Ryoma muttered softly.
"You can't become strong if you have a weak foundation."
"I know," he repeated.
"Good. Are you playing in the tournament? Is there anyone strong there?"
Ryoma thought of Ginka's captain - too weak and too slow and so full of himself. "Yeah, but I haven't gotten to play them yet. Mizuki-senpai said the next team we play has some National-level players, so-"
"Make sure you play them, then!"
Ryoma winced, going quiet.
"I don't care what you have to do to get a spot, but you do it! Do you understand, Ryoma? You need to stop goofing around!"
"...yes, mother..."
Routine settled back into the lives of the Saint Rudolph regulars. Following that rather upsetting match against Ginka, Mizuki made sure to choke down any rumors about the frightening talent Ryoma had displayed; tennis club members had been subtly threatened to keep their mouths shut about the freshman prodigy. With Ginka's defeat, that lead Saint Rudolph into their next match against a much more worthwhile opponent.
"Yamabuki Chuugakkou," Mizuki began imperially, sweeping dark eyes over the assembled regulars critically, "Will be far more entertaining than Ginka."
"Their doubles line-up is one of the best around," Akazawa translated effortlessly.
Mizuki nodded. "They also have a National-caliber Singles player, Sengoku Kiyosumi. I've recently learned they've acquired another Singles player of notable talent, one Akutsu Jin." Pulling out files from his backpack, Mizuki shuffled them around until he found what he was looking for.
"Sengoku relies more on his unusually strong brand of luck to win tennis matches, though he is hardly a mediocre player," Mizuki started. "Akutsu, however, displays a tennis style unique to his body type and monstrous ability."
The manager paused in consideration. "Off the courts, he's a hostile guy. Avoid any interaction with him."
Atsushi rolled his eyes in dismissal. "What are we going to do, cuddle him?"
Mizuki glared at the teen. "I mean it - avoid Akutsu off the court at all costs. He put one of his own club members in the hospital."
Silence reigned for a moment, before Ryoma broke out by snorting, "Sounds scary, ne?"
The youngest boy flopped backwards onto the grass, looking ready to fall asleep. Mizuki merely gave him a cursory glance; the boy had been particularly bratty as of late and the manager was starting to feel like he had missed out on something very important.
"I doubt we'll have much interaction with him, anyway," Atsushi pointed out diplomatically. "We're a closed campus, and it's not like we get to go to tournaments unsupervised."
Ryoma perked up in interest. "We don't?"
"Gojyo-sensei was supposed to supervise us when we went against Ginka," Yuuta said. "He just got, uh, distracted, so you didn't get to see him, Ryoma-kun."
Yanagisawa giggled. "Yeah, distracted by the ladies."
"In any case, Hakkai-sensei is supervising us when we go against Yamabuki, so you'll see what we mean," Akazawa interjected before the duck-lipped youth could further corrupt Ryoma.
Kaneda smiled brightly. "Hakkai-sensei is actually your roommate's cousin, I think, Ryoma-kun; he's very mature. What does he teach again...?"
"Chinese literature," Mizuki answered with the pompus air of the all-knowing. "And the warning was just a precaution. If any of you get injured, it greatly affects our chances of success..."
"Your concern for our personal well-being is very touching," Atsushi said dryly.
Mizuki smirked at him. "Don't fret, Atsushi-kun; rest assured, I care very much about your personal well-being."
"It's amazing how you can paraphrase something and still turn it into a sexual innuendo, da ne," Yanagisawa mused.
Yuuta rolled his eyes, standing up and pulling up Ryoma for good measure. "I think that's our cue to leave. I promised to help Ryoma-kun with his Japanese Literature homework."
The fussing third years waved them off, now deep into a debate over sexual harassment. Kaneda bid them farewell with a warm smile, pulling out a Shonen Jump mag to read as he absently listened in on the argument.
Half dragging the freshman off, Ryoma allowed himself to be pulled along as he surveyed the older boy with critical eyes. "I don't remember asking for help with my homework, Yuuta-senpai."
Yuuta smiled at him over his shoulder. "Do you really want to stay there as they talk about Mizuki's long list of harassments?"
"...Good point."
Yuuta laughed softly.
Releasing the boy, the two entered the hallways of the school. Most of the classrooms were empty, as classes had ended half-an-hour previous and those who weren't involved in club activites had either returned home or to the dorms. This was another off-day for the tennis club, though supposedly the Regulars were to reconvene after dinner for a light drill involving the mannequin and some multi-colored tennis balls. (Ryoma was faintly worried by the demonic smile Mizuki had shown when telling them this.)
"Do you want to see what the other clubs are up to, Ryoma-kun?" Yuuta asked, breaking Ryoma from his train of thought. "I heard the AV club was working on a movie-project."
Ryoma gave him a wary look. "What does 'AV' stand for?"
Yuuta glanced at the younger boy, but on seeing the sincere confusion in his face, answered with a small smile. "Audio-visual. The AV club is usually focused on things like movie production, computer graphics, things like that."
Ryoma seemed to relax. It was relieving to know that one of his friends wasn't involved in the porn business, after all, and it made it seem more innocent when Yosuke repeatedly asked him to star in a film. Yuuta forcibly choked back a laugh; Ryoma wouldn't take it too kindly if he were to be laughed at for his ignorance.
The AV club was nested in one of the computer labs on the second floor and the two entered without much preamble. The club president, third-year Kasshu Domon, was a rather surly teen but he allowed the two to look around. Like Yuuta had said, the club looked to be focusing on movie projects.
"We're having a competition," one member explained, fiddling with a movie camera. "Everyone chooses a topic and makes a film about it. The one who has the best content - as voted - wins a prize. Domon-kun hasn't said what the prize is but most of us don't really care. We just want to show off."
Ryoma's attention was drawn to one of the computers another member was working on. The boy had apparently chosen food as a topic, if the countless videos of everything from cheeseburgers to sashimi to some weird type of beef-dish was any indication.
"Ignore Saishi-kun's video topic, he's a gluttonous idiot."
"Shut up, Sando-senpai! At least I'm not doing a movie about fucking roses!"
The two degenerated into an argument that Ryoma couldn't care less about. Yuuta pulled him away from the pair, moving along to other members. The topics were never the same and the polarity was quite astonishing; they saw everything from arcades to traditional gardens to foreign cities.
When Yuuta was distracted by one member's topic of video games, Ryoma moved along to bother Yosuke. The boy was staring unhappily at his own film project, and Ryoma could see why; there were only a few clips gathered and the quality looked rather poor. Ryoma blinked in surprise at the topic.
"You're doing a video on tennis?"
He watched as a clip of last year's tennis tournament played out on the screen. Yosuke glanced up at him, startled briefly, before looking back at the screen with an intense expression. "Well, something like that. It's actually supposed to be about our school's tennis club but the videos from last year suck. I was going to ask for permission to videotape our current matches."
Ryoma gave him a weird look. "Why are you interested in that? Do you just want to videotape Mizuki-senpai or something?"
Yosuke blushed hotly, earning a snort. The AV member pouted at Ryoma, poking him in the sides. "Not just that! I'd like to get videos of Mizuki-senpai, of course - but that's not the only reason!" he interjected as Ryoma started to pull faces at him.
"Why else would you? I didn't think you were that interested in tennis," Ryoma said in disbelief.
Yosuke rolled his eyes like Ryoma was being deliberately dense. "Because you're in it, Ryoma-kun! I love taking videos of my friends! And since you're a Regular, I bet you look cool when you're playing the game, right?"
Ryoma just stared at him in incomprehension. "You want to do your project on that just because I play tennis?"
Yosuke just looked affronted at the other boy's tone. "Sure, why not? Chibodee-senpai chose video games before I could, and I think it'd be cool to see you in action. I didn't get to see your last match but I heard you beat the pants off of the other player!"
"He wasn't that strong," Ryoma muttered derisively, recalling the match in contempt.
Yosuke turned his eyes back to the computer screen. "That's because you're the strong one! I can't wait to see your next match," He flashed a grin at the other boy. "I bet you'll be awesome!"
At the compliment, Ryoma felt flattered - but at the same time, rather sick.
"...Then they must not be that strong."
Yes, he definitely felt ill. "You'll be disappointed."
Yosuke absently deleted the few clips he'd gathered. "I sincerely doubt that, Ryoma-kun."
Self-practice again, Ryoma thought spitefully, tapping his racket against his shoulder as he wandered around the eastern side of campus. Formally, the tennis club only convened once a week - on the day of the captain's choosing - and players were then left to their own devices for the rest of the week. In theory, this allowed them to join other clubs and expand their horizons. While the concept was admirable, it didn't really help Ryoma; if he had wanted to go into art, he would have stuck with a paintbrush, not a tennis racket.
If I had wanted to practice by myself so much, I would have joined a school that didn't have a tennis club, he grouched. Just minutes ago he had been training rather angrilly against a wall, but there was only so much time he could spend rallying against a slab of concrete before he got bored by it. He obviously needed to start developing self-training techniques if he wanted to grow as a tennis player, as all of his clubmates refused to play a match against him.
"Cowards," Ryoma muttered under his breath.
It wasn't that strange, if Ryoma were to be perfectly honest with himself. Even back in America, he had to switch to a different public tennis court every other week - as the more time he frequented one, the less other players would want to go against him. It made him feel slightly better, knowing he could scare people twice his age into submission at his skills, but it hardly helped in honing his current abilites. He'd entered tournaments just so he could have something to weigh his current abilites against, for all the good that did him.
Even in the current tournament, he had to be patient and even allow the chance that he wouldn't be playing; if opposing teams never got past Singles 3, or if he was put in as the reserve player, Ryoma was sure he'd throw a fit. He needed to play, goddammit - how else could he become stronger? The stronger the opponent he defeats, the stronger he in turn will become! It really wasn't that hard to follow; it was a lesson his mother had engraved into him well.
Ryoma scowled to himself, kicking at the wall. It was a childish and petty thing to do, really, but it made him feel slightly better. The black scuff left on the white plaster earned his hard-eyed gaze for a moment before his eyes were pulled away by a low "Nfu fu fu!"
Ryoma rose an eyebrow at the purple-clad teen. Does this guy ever wear the damn school uniform? "What do you want, Mizuki-senpai?"
Mizuki pouted at him. "Don't be so cold, Ryo-chan! Your Haji-niichan is just worried about you!"
Ryoma snorted, pivoting and already starting to walk away. "Go bother Yuuta-senpai or something. I'm busy."
Mizuki's low chuckles met this, but the sound of footsteps shadowing his own made the freshman's unease grow. He couldn't exactly place why the older boy made him feel so insecure; the perverse comments and blunt flirtations were nothing more than things Mizuki did for the reactions he would get, some twisted form of amusement for the senior; Ryoma had long realized this and was already growing used to it. It probably had something to do with his eyes; Ryoma felt like Mizuki had a way of seeing him that was far too invasive for his liking. Ryoma's secrets were his own and he'd never share them with anyone.
"That's too bad," Mizuki said slyly, tone delicate and unassuming. "I just came across a good training method for you."
Ryoma didn't stop walking, but he deigned to glance over his shoulder. "Does this involve the mannequin?"
"Do you want it to?" Mizuki returned with a leer.
Ryoma fought back the shudder at the sudden recollection of their last Regulars-only training session. Sometimes, Mizuki's ideas were just sick. "No."
Mizuki looked inappropriately pleased at his obvious trauma. "Then no, it doesn't. As manager, and with our club's rather unorthodox rules about club meetings, I make it a personal responsibility of mine to create training menus for each Regular. I just finished with Yuuta-kun's last week, so now we can begin on your's. You and I will have to try out some different types of practice to see if we can find the one that fits you perfectly."
"I'd rather just work with Yuuta-senpai, then," Ryoma answered, clearly disliking the idea of being alone with the older male.
"Too bad!" Mizuki practically sang, skipping forward to envelope the boy in a from-behind hug. "I already had it authorized by Yoshirou-kun and our coach! So you either have your training menu made, or you lose your Regulars spot!"
"Then why did you even start off like I had an option?" Ryoma growled, too irritated by being backed into a corner to note in surprise that they had a coach.
"I like the trapped look on your face," Mizuki asnwered honestly, spinning the younger boy free and walking a few steps ahead of him. "Now, shall we get started?"
Their second-and-final District Preliminary match against Yamabuki felt as if it had come too quickly. Mizuki had given them the run down on their line-up order, their expected wins and losses, and the cursory sexual harassment before having them shoved into the school's private bus.
Initially, the tennis club members had been very reluctant to get in, traumatized from their last jaunt, but Mizuki had coolly informed them that they would have a new bus driver - the last one having been transferred into a management position for an up-and-coming band. Their new one was another blond foreigner (Is it some sort of job requirement? Ryoma wondered) but he looked younger than the last two Ryoma had seen.
"Cavallone-san will see you to the tournament safely," Winner-sensei said brightly, ushering them inside the bus.
True to his word, the bus ride was less hazardous and less scream-filled, but the boys hardly felt safe; for reasons yet to be explained, the back of the bus had been inhabited by a few men dressed in dark suits and sunglasses.
"One day we'll have normal bus drivers," Atsushi wished futilely, filing off the bus in total obedience. No one had spoken during the ride, fearing the men in the back would pull out guns or something. "Ones that aren't psychopaths or involved in the Mafia."
"Dream on your own time, Atsushi-kun!" Mizuki said. "We have a match to prepare for!"
He was widely ignored.
"Yuuta-senpai, I want a ponta," Ryoma requested, looking up at the scarred boy. Yuuta nodded, already trailing over to the vending machines with all freshmen club members in tow.
"...duckling syndrome?" Atsushi mused, watching the progression.
Yanagisawa waved him off. "Let's just get to the court, da ne. They'll show up."
Admirably, Mizuki choked down his indignation. "Yuuta-kun! Our match starts in 20 minutes so you better be on the court in time!"
"Okay-!"
"Aaahhh!" Dan Taichi practically screamed, gaining the attention of the gathered Yamabuki regulars. Minami gave the freshman investigator a curious look, the boy's face a picture of terrified concern. "Where's Akutsu-senpai? He took off again!"
Sengoku laughed, ruffling the boy's hair and knocking his green headband off-kilter. "He's playing Singles Two, so he won't need to show up until later. Don't worry about him, Dan-kun."
"B-But...!"
Muromachi snorted. "He won't even be needed. We have a five-star Doubles line-up and Sengoku-senpai! Saint Rudolph isn't even that strong."
Dan pouted, flipping open his notebook. The papers were filled with messy scrawls, all data on other teams and their players. His notes on Saint Rudolph were mostly dependent on their team from last year, so the information was sadly lacking. He had tried his hardest to get new data but he couldn't get onto Saint Rudolph grounds and he'd missed their first match against Ginka; all he had were names, basic stats, and the scores from their first match.
"That was last year! They have five new players, and their newest Regular is a freshman that beat Ginka's captain with a score of 6-0!" Dan rattled off.
"Ginka isn't that strong, either," Muromachi dismissed.
"Senpai~!"
"Dan-kun," Banji interrupted benignly, "Why don't you grab yourself a soda? By the time you get back, the match will have started and you can collect more data on Saint Rudolph, if you like."
Dan pouted, looking close to tearing up, but he steeled himself and nodded. "If I run into Akutsu-senpai, I'll tell him to come to the courts!"
"No, wait-"
"Don't tell Aktusu, Dan, really-"
"There's no need! Just-"
Dan waved off the majority's concern, giving them all a bright smile as he skipped off, sliding his headband back into its proper place. He didn't understand why everyone was so subdued when Akutsu was around; he was so cool! Dan could hardly ever keep calm around the other male, as excited as he was.
The vending machines were populated only by a few wandering teenage girls and a small group of boys dressed in what Dan recognized to be Saint Rudolph's tennis club uniforms. The boys were mostly his age, save one that wore a jersey.
Dan perked up instantly. A Saint Rudolph regular! He couldn't believe his luck! He idled closer, trying not to look too obvious; he didn't know what any of the Saint Rudolph regulars looked like, but since the group seemed to be talking, he hoped one of them would say the boy's name so he'd have a name to put to the face.
"What the hell is a Black-and-Blue Mango Extreme?"
"Do you think we can break this?"
"Tohji, don't!"
"Stop messing with the machine or I'm not buying you drinks!" the Regular snapped, glaring the younger boys back into obedience. The seven freshmen stared back at their senpai with various looks ranging from bored to embarassed.
Yuuta sighed, putting in more coins and allowing Rokujou Miharu his pick. The freshman club member stared blankly at the machine before choosing a harmless can of mango juice, moving over to the side to allow the others to pick. Sawa Rakan chose chocolate milk, with Tohno Tohji choosing the same; Ryoma, as always, picked grape ponta and waited obediently at the side with a small thanks.
Yuuta looked over the last three, feeling rather exasperated. "How did you guys even get those uniforms?" he asked.
Yosuke just grinned at him, picking that mysterious Black-and-Blue Mango Extreme beverage. Mira actually did a little twirl - Yuuta had to bat away the sparkles that seemed to come out of nowhere at the action - before choosing strawberry milk. Souji shrugged at him, choosing vitamin water and adjusting his movie camera more comfortably on his shoulder.
"It helps us blend in," Yosuke said.
"This isn't the time to practice subterfuge," Yuuta pointed out dryly. "And it was Shindou, wasn't it?"
Unrepentant expressions all around.
"I understand why you're here, Yosuke-kun," Yuuta finally stated before turning to the other two. "But why are you two here? And why is Mira-kun wearing a skirt?"
"I'm the cameraman," Souji answered.
"I'm here to support all of you!" Mira exclaimed cheerfully.
"Mira's our appointed cheerleader," Yosuke explained.
Yuuta and Ryoma shared a deadpan look.
"Fuji-senpai, the match starts in five minutes," Rokujou chimed calmly.
Yuuta nodded in acknowledgement, leading the odd assortment away.
Dan grinned triumphantly at his find - so that was Fuji Yuuta!
"So," Yosuke began conversationally, keeping pace with Ryoma as they trailed after Yuuta. The older boy was currently acting as verbal mediator to a minor argument between two of the freshmen members - Rokujou and Tohno, with Sawa on the verge of tears - so only Souji and Mira clued in appropriately. "Do you always have effeminate guys follow you around during the tournament, or is today just special?"
Ryoma really wished he could have feigned ignorance, but there were just some skills you unwittingly developed when at Saint Rudolph. Besides a growing sense of self-preservation, the ability to tell when you were being followed had also made a rise in strength - and Ryoma was sure as hell going to blame it on Mizuki.
"If you ignore him, I bet he'll go away," Ryoma answered indifferently.
Souji snorted. "You wish he'd go away."
"Maybe he's an admirer!" Mira suggested cheerfully.
"An admirer with a clipboard who wears the school colors of Yamabuki," Yosuke pointed out. One could not accuse him of not doing his research. "He might be a spy."
Even Ryoma turned to stare at the boy in disbelief.
"What?" Yosuke demanded, offended. "It happens! I heard most of the seeded teams send out spies to worthwhile opponents to gauge their current abilites! We used to have it, too, but when the entire school got revamped a year ago, they set the closed-campus rule. We're like an impenetrable fortress now."
Ryoma cocked his head thoughtfully. "So no one can enter our school, but theoretically, we could enter their's?"
The idea held merit. Despite the eerily effective tennis menu Mizuki was creating for him, Ryoma still wanted to gauge his current abilities against worthwhile opponents. If he could go to a public tennis court, or better yet - a rival tennis club - perhaps he could play in a match before any of his damned senpai intervened.
Yosuke eyed him warily. "Something like that, except us freshmen. You know we're not allowed to leave campus unsupervised."
Ryoma smirked, tugging the brim of his cap down purely out of habit. "But if I brought a senpai with me...?"
It'd have to be someone not in the tennis club, of course. All members seemed aware of some unsaid 'Ryoma-can't-play-tennis-in-a-nontournament-match' rule, so even if he managed to get one to take him somewhere, he knew they'd stop him from playing. Perhaps he could ask Kubota; his roommate was a senior, and if he brought along his little boyfriend, he'd be suitably distracted from watching Ryoma's every move.
Yosuke shrugged. "I don't see a problem, then. You'd just have to get it authorized by Yuy-senpai."
"I don't mean to interrupt," Souji interjected softly. "But can someone please tell the Yamabuki boy to stop following us? I think I saw him taking pictures."
Ryoma, a lot more light-hearted than before thanks to developing plans, pivoted and went straight towards the tree the Yamabuki freshman had been ducking behind. The boy cried out a little at being found out but before he could get a chance to run, Ryoma leaned close with a devilish smile and come-hither eyes - a trick he'd picked up from Mizuki.
"Keep following us," Ryoma said lowly, making sure to hold the freshman's gaze, "And I'll show you a sport way more entertaining than tennis."
It took a moment for the statement to sink in, get processed, and then have the blood rush up to the other boy's cheeks in a vibrant blush. Dan was left gaping at him, shocked still, so Ryoma took the time to revel in it before turning back to fall into step with the rest of the group.
"Where were you?" Yuuta asked, having successfully reconciled the freshmen.
Ryoma shrugged as the others shot him wondering looks, "Just making friends."
A/N: I decided to deviate from the canon timeline here, as it'd ruin all the fun if Saint Rudolph went against Seigaku this early. They will eventually, of course, but not after some other teams. I still need to work up some Prior Experience between Ryoma and Seigaku. What can I say? I'm a suspense-whore. XD
On Ryoma: Like any other person, he's influenced by those around him. Mizuki-influences are no exception. (Mwahaha!) And Yosuke's movie-man role? It is totally a plot point. A vital one, almost, but I won't hint anything further~ I'm just amazed I managed to seal up a plot hole with it. XP
On Mizuki: To be honest, I thought canon!Mizuki was a perv. That one time when he was cajoling Yuuta into training with him sounded like he was seducing him into sex. (Maybe it was just me? Dammit. XD) So now I've realized I made him this way, but honestly, I'm going to keep Mizuki's blatant pervertism. It makes me happy. If he was subtle about it, he would be Fuji. XD I'm just surprised I managed to finally get a handle on his character. I have almost everyone handled now, with the exception of Kaneda and Akazawa. The latter is slowly becoming easier for me, but Kaneda is being too damn difficult...
A last note: I've decided to include omakes, or "filler chapters." Like filler episodes, really; just humorous background shots. They will, of course, be centered on the Saint Rudolph regulars (either in general or a character specifically). I felt I needed to do this because as more of Ryoma's history comes to light, the more depressing the story will become; this will just make me feel better as I write it out. XD
