I know. The last chapter was weird and confusing but it done and you'll never have to read it again… unless you want to. I re-uploaded chapter one if anyone cares.
Haven't done this in a while, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.
Okay enough blabbing. Let's get on with the story!
"Echizen, what's happening?" Inui asked.
They all stared at the huge black mass in front of them. It started twisting and turning, molding itself into a form.
"Fsshhh… Echizen, what is that?" Kaidou questioned with a bit of fear in his voice.
Echizen was just as startled and frightened as the rest of his teammates. One word managed to escape his lips. "Chimera."
The upper half of a lion and lower half of an ox. The head of an eagle and tail being a snake. It was completely black except for the eyes, they were a bright red.
"What?" Tezuka asked with his voice a little shaky.
"A rare creature of the underworld." Echizen said taking a step back. "I remember Ryoga telling me about them. They are supposed to be one of the strongest and most vicious creatures you'll ever meet. I've been in this room plenty of times and I've never thought that this would ever appear."
"Saa maybe Tezuka was too much for this room to handle." Fuji said with a small smile. Tezuka shot him a glare.
"Do we need to defeat that thing?" Taka asked pointing to it.
"Fsshhh I'll take it down with one punch." Kaidou took a step forward and cracked his knuckles.
"There is a 100% chance that would not work." Inui said checking his notebook. They all watched the beast take a step closer and growl.
"Saa what now Echizen?"
It lunged at them. Echizen took the insinuative and expanded his wings and lunged at the creature. "Go sempais. I'll hold it off!" He yelled.
"But don't we need to defeat it?" Taka asked.
"Iie! This isn't part of the trial! Only low level creature should be able to materialize in here. Now go!" He took out his sword and began to fight the chimera.
"What about-"
"Just go! I'll catch up."
The five regulars reluctantly started to run and left Echizen to fight the chimera. After a few minutes of running the regulars stopped to catch their breath.
"Do you… think Echizen… is alright?" Taka asked between breaths.
"He's a strong person." Fuji answered.
"This place really does seem like it goes on forever." Kaidou hissed.
"Again that is highly improbable." Inui said adjusting his glasses.
Tezuka looked around for any signs of an exit but everywhere was white. There was a sudden explosion. They all looked back to see Echizen flying towards them; the chimera nowhere in sight.
"Echizen!" They all called in unison.
"Are you alright?" Taka asked.
Echizen flew to them and landed in front of them. "You're beginning to sound like Oishi-sempai, Kawamara-sempai." He said with a smirk.
"What happened to the chimera?" Tezuka asked.
"I managed to stun it but I'm not sure how long it will last. We need to leave."
"How do we do that?" Kaidou questioned.
"Normally you would be let out when you got your wings but seeing as that thing is here that will not be possible." He said putting his hand on his side.
"Can't we leave like you've been doing?"
"That's easier said than done Kaidou-sempai. When I leave it doesn't take much power to open a doorway but when escorting a group it becomes more difficult." He stood away from them. "I'll try but I don't know if it will work." He stood about three feet from them and tried to conjure a way out. There was a snarl.
"Echizen! Habuni!" Everyone shouted as the chimera appeared out of nowhere and launched itself at Echizen. Noticing too late and not being able to react quick enough, the chimera jumped in front of Echizen and struck him to the floor. He yelled out in pain as he slid across the ground on his back.
"Echizen!" The cries of his teammates could be heard as he came to a stop. The all began to run to their fallen kouhai.
"Don't!" He tried to hoist himself up but the chimera was there and pinned him down. The paw on his chest was crushing his lungs making it difficult to breathe. "Don't… come any… closer!" He gasped out. The chimera then dug its claws into his chest causing him to let out a blood curdling scream.
"ECHIZEN!" They ignored his command of staying away and sprinted behind the huge beast.
"Let him go you bastard!" Kaidou yelled. The snake posing as its tail came to life and swept all the regulars back sending them flying.
"S-Sem…pai-s." Echizen managed to squeak out a plea to see if his sempais were alright before screaming in pain again. They all hit the ground with a thud.
"Kuso." Kaidou said wiping his mouth. They all got back up and ran at the beast again only to be thrown back again.
"S-Semp…ai… Stop… i-GAAAH!" Echizen let out another scream as the chimera deepened its claws.
"Echizen!" They all shouted getting up from the floor yet again.
'That bastard! I need more power!'
'If only I were stronger!'
'Echizen, we will find a way to stop this!'
'Even if the percentage is small, we will save you!'
'We will become your support Echizen!'
The regulars all started to glow. The chimera took its paw from Echizen's body causing him to let out a small whimper and gazed at the glowing beings in front of it. There was a mixture of colors and flutter of feathers. There they were. The owners of the crimson, gold, maroon, hazel and white wings all stood with weapons in their hands and lunged forward at the beast, propelling their weapons into it. It let out a screech of pain and started to disintegrate.
"We are guardians and this is our prince. Touch him and you will be disposed of." They all seemed to be oblivious of what they were saying; all in a sort of a trance but quickly snapped out of it when they saw their young teammate lying on the ground motionless.
"Echizen!" They all ran and knelt down beside him.
"Se…mpai-s look so off…ici…al now." Echizen managed to say as he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
"Echizen! Hold on!" Tezuka was a little panicked. "We'll get out of here and get you help!"
"No… need bu…chou." He held his hand up. "I c…an't die in a… place like…this…" The regulars watched as Echizen's hand fell to the ground and he remained motionless.
"Echizen!" They all shouted.
"Echizen this is no time for jokes." Fuji said as his eyes shot open.
"E-Echizen…" Kaidou looked like he was going to start crying. Taka and Inui were speechless. Tezuka just looked at his blood cover kouhai in front of him unable to comprehend what just happened.
There was a small light radiating from Echizen's pendant. It got bigger and bigger until in engulfed his body. They regulars started with amazement and confusion. Echizen slowly rose off of the floor until he was above everyone else's heads. They watched as the holes in his clothes and blood slowly disappeared. He was placed up right and lowered to the floor. Inui, Fuji, Taka, Kaidou and Tezuka watched, waiting for something to happen.
"Echizen?" Taka took a step toward him. They heard a mumble but couldn't make out what he was trying to say.
"Echizen what just happened?" Fuji's eyes narrowed. Again they heard a mumble but couldn't hear what was said.
"Echizen are you alright?" They all stood.
"ITAI!" Echizen shouted at the top of his lungs causing everyone to jump back, even Tezuka. "THAT HURT LIKE HELL!"
"Echizen what happened? Are you alright?" Taka was starting to sound like Oishi.
"You really are starting to sound like Oishi-sempai. I'm fine Kawamara-sempai." He looked at all of them. They all had looks of relief and horror. "What are you so surprised about? Did you think I died? I told you I can't die in this place. None of it is real only a simulation." A vein popped on each of their heads.
"Oi didn't you say that that thing wasn't part of training?" Kaidou said while glaring at Echizen.
"Technically it wasn't. I didn't plan for it to show up but I thought that it was a good opportunity to make training go by faster." He placed his arms behind his head. Several more veins popped.
"Echizen how do we get out of here?" Fuji tried to keep a calm and cool composure.
"The door." He pointed to a door that appeared out of nowhere.
"How long has that been there?" Inui asked.
"The whole time you have been in here." He turned and started walking towards it.
"E-CHI-ZEN." He heard the angry sempai behind him. He turned to see the level of annoyance in their eyes rising and figured it was a good idea to start running.
"Haah." Oishi sighed. "This is harder than it looks." He was now with Ryoga learning how to fly while Eiji and Momo were with Leon. Eiji was practicing little spells while Momo was sparring with Leon.
Momo's sword flew out of his hands and landed on the floor. "Gah. Not again. This is hard." Momo scratched his head.
"Don't worry Momoshiro-kun. You'll get the hang of it sooner or later." Leon said tapping his sword on his shoulder.
"Hopefully. Was Echizen ever like this?"
"Bocchan? I'm actually not sure. When we were reunited years ago he was just as perfect a swordsman as he is today… Ryoga."
"Hn?" He glanced down at them. "Nani?"
"Was Bocchan ever incapable with a sword?"
"Heh. Nope. He's had a natural talent for swordplay ever since he was able to lift one."
"Nya where is Ochibi?" Eiji said looking around the room.
"He's been gone for a while." Oishi said with a touch of mother hen in his voice.
"He probably still training with the others. He should be back soon." A door appeared out of nowhere. "Speak of the devil." Oishi and Ryoga lowered themselves to the floor and joined the others. The all watched Echizen come flying out of the room.
"Yo Chibisuke, how'd it…" Echizen ran past him. "…go?"
"Ochibi!" Eiji tried to confine him in a hug but knowing that letting him would seal his fate he brought his wings out and flew to the ceiling. "Nya Ochibi, what gives?"
"Urasi Kikumaru-sempai!" He quietly shouted.
"Haa? What are you talking about Ochibi?" Eiji then turned to face the doorway and saw three sets of red eyes glaring at him. "Nya! Kowaii!" He ran and hid behind Oishi.
Just then Kaidou, Taka, and Fuji stepped from the door followed by Inui and Tezuka.
"Where is he?" Kaidou, Taka, and Fuji not so much asked but commanded them to tell. The others all hesitant to answer looked at each other wondering what had happened in the other room.
Tezuka adjusted his glasses. "Tell us where he is or you will all run 40 laps around the building." They all sweat dropped and pointed above them. The five looked up and saw Echizen hovering just below the ceiling. "Echizen, come down here." Tezuka ordered.
"Yadda." He got closer to the ceiling.
"I have a new juice for you to try Echizen." Inui pulled a bottle from God knows where.
"Saa we just want to talk." Fuji had on a sadistic grin. Taka couldn't say anything. He was too busy trying to repress himself from going burning.
"Fsshhh… if you don't come down then we'll come up." Kaidou unfolded his wings and flew at Echizen. Fuji and Taka followed.
"Waa! Sugoi!" Eiji was entranced by the sight.
"How'd this happen?" Momo asked with a smile.
Inui and Tezuka proceeded to tell of what happened in the mirror room but were constantly interrupted by Echizen's screams from what his teammates were doing to him. When the story was over Fuji, Taka, and Kaidou returned to the floor with Echizen who looked more than a little traumatized.
Tezuka stood over him. "Echizen, 100 laps around the estate." Not saying a word Echizen got up and left to start his laps.
"What did you do to him?" Leon asked. They all just smiled.
By the time Leon and Ryoga had finished explaining and showing how the training was going to work for the next week it had gotten dark and was time for dinner.
"Waa. That was hard. We have to do this for a whole week?" Momo complained.
"Saa, that's not too different from what we do during tennis." Fuji said. They all sweat dropped. 'How is learning how to fly, using magic and sword fighting not different from our normal practice?' They all went inside and noticed that Echizen must have been cooking because it smelt like fish and rice.
"That smells good Nya." Eiji said smelling the air.
Ryoga made his way to the kitchen. "Oi Chibisuke." He stopped and looked but saw no little brother in sight. "Where are you?"
"Shizukani Ryoga." Leon whispered rather loudly from the living room. Echizen was passed out on the couch with Karupin on top of him.
"Kawaii." Fuji said. "Ne, Tezuka?" Tezuka didn't answer but looked at him with his stoic stare.
"Hey, is this for us?" Taka shouted from the dining room.
They all ventured into the dining room to discover that plates had been set in eleven places where their dinner was waiting for them. Ryoga went to his seat and found a note with four words on it. 'Yes they're for you.'
He smiled and set it back down. "Ah minna. Chibisuke made us dinner." The regulars all gladly sat down and started eating. Ryoga looked at the note again. 'He's always thinking of others.'
The remaining time that was spent at the mansion-house was consisting of Echizen waking up before everyone to make breakfast, relaxation for about an hour or two, running around the estate per Tezuka's orders then into the training grounds. The inside was different every day. First day it was completely white. The next it was completely black and a few days later, it looked like one of those old dojos that samurai train in. Ever since Tezuka, Fiji, Taka, Inui, and Kaidou got their wings the training has consisted of learning how to fly properly, being able to call for simple offensive and defensive spells and sparring with Leon and Echizen.
It was now Friday and seeing that they were all leaving Sunday morning Echizen figured that it was time for a different kind of training. As usual the morning started out with Echizen making breakfast for everyone. He set out the food and was getting the drinks when he noticed a jug of orange juice.'I don't remember buying this.' He thought. 'I wonder how long it's been in here.' Wanting to see how fresh it was, he took a swig of it. That was a mistake.
Everyone else had awoken to the smell of Echizen's cooking. They all came out of their rooms and met at the top of the stairs. They all greeted each other and went downstairs to the dining room. Karupin was eating his breakfast next to the opening.
"Waa! Ochibi always out does himself when he cooks." Eiji said sitting in his seat.
"You wouldn't even think that this was made by someone his age." Oishi smiled and took a seat next to him. They all took their seats and started to eat.
"Where is Echizen?" Kaidou asked.
"Saa, maybe he's still making something." Fuji said.
"Ara? There are no drinks today." Momo pointed out.
"Ah. I'll get them. Bocchan probably forgot." Leon got out of his chair and headed to the kitchen.
"Arigatou Leon-san." Taka said.
"It's nothing." He gave a wave and walked into the kitchen. "Bocchan, you didn't set out the- Bocchan!" Everyone heard Leon's shout and went to the kitchen to see an unconscious Echizen on the floor with Leon kneeling besides him.
"What happened?" Oishi asked turning into the mother hen.
"I-I don't know. I came in to help Bocchan with the drinks and he was just lying on the floor."
"Hn? What's that?" Kaidou pointed to something.
Ryoga went to see what it was. "It's an orange juice container… I don't remember buying this the last time we went to the shop." Inui's glasses gleamed.
"Aah! What if that was put here by the enemy and it was poisoned and Bocchan took a drink of it and know he's dying?!" Leon started to panic with tears forming in his eyes.
"Nyaa, I don't want Ochibi to die! Oishi!" Eiji started to sob on Oishi's shoulder.
"Saa, I don't think that's the case Eiji." Fuji took the container from Ryoga. "Ne, Inui?" They all started at Inui. He adjusted his glasses.
"Inui-sempai, don't tell me, that's…" Momo looked horrified.
"Ultra Special Deluxe Bronze Remix Inui juice. It's good for the body and replenishes strength faster." He said taking the container and drinking a big gulp. Everyone sweat dropped.
"Poor Echizen. He probably thought that it was orange juice and drank some unsuspectingly." Taka said.
"I wonder how long he's been out." Momo said scratching the back of his head.
"Not long enough Momo-sempai." Echizen placed his hand over his eyes.
"Ochibi!"
"Bocchan!"
Echizen got up and placed his hand on his head and glared at Inui. "Inui-sempai please do not store your experiments in juice containers."
Inui adjusted his glasses again and pulled out his notebook. "Ii data."
After carefully dispensing of Inui's concoction everyone returned to the dining room and finished breakfast. All but Echizen. He went to lie down on the couch to try to recover from his horrible experience.
When everyone was done they followed Echizen to the temple like training area. They went inside and discovered that once again it had changed. The inside was black with green lines making it look like they were all in a computer.
"Waa! This is cool!" Taka said with amazement.
"What are we going to do in here when it's like this?" Inui asked.
"Simple Inui-sempai. You need to get from here," He pointed to where they were standing. "To there." Then cross the room.
"Is that all?" Momo said clapping Echizen on the back. "Here I go!" He took off to the other side of the room.
"There is one small thing Momo-sempai." Momo glanced back and saw Echizen smirk. "You must do so while dodging these." Echizen placed his hand one the wall and a square pillar appeared in front of Momo, which he crashed into.
"Itai!" He said rubbing his nose. "What the hell Echizen?"
"That's not all." Echizen grinned. Another pillar came from the wall and almost crashed into him. Then one from the ceiling. Not wanting to get crushed Momo began running back to the group. "There are these too." The floor opened right in front of Momo almost causing him to fall into it. Luckily he managed to jump over it and make it safely back to the start.
"Echizen!" Momo ran to him and placed him in a headlock. "What the hell? I could have died!"
"You're fine! It's your own fault for not waiting for the rest of the explanation!" He managed to escape Momo's grasp.
"Fsshhh… baka."
"Nani? I'd like to see you try to get through that, baka Mamoshi!" With that Kaidou then took off to the other side but unlike Momo he expanded his wings and flew over.
"Hmph. That's cheating Kaidou-sempai." Echizen expanded his own wings and flapped them in Kaidou's direction making his wings disappear. He landed on the ground with a thud and jumped out of the way of a pillar coming straight for him.
"What was that for?" He asked in an aggravated voice.
"You need to raise your agility without using our wings. There will be some cases where it would be better to be on the ground and not in the air. We'll work on special flight training later." He looked at his teammates. "Well, get going."
"Eh? We have to go out there?" Eiji pointed to Kaidou running and dodging as pillars that threatened to crush him.
Tezuka, Fuji, and Inui took off to join Kaidou in his quest to the other side.
"They always were the ones to take action first." Oishi sweat dropped.
"I don't know. I'm a little nervous." Taka scratched the back of his head.
"Hai, Kawamara-sempai." Echizen handed him a racket that he formed from a feather.
"WOAH! BURNING! I'LL GET TO THE OTHER SIDE SUPER QUICK BABY!" Taka had transformed into burning mode and ran onto the field.
"Taka-san… Echizen you'll never get me back out there!" Momo protested. Echizen went behind him and kicked him causing him to fall right over a hole. "Aah! Echizen you bastard! Help me!"
"Momo!" Oishi couldn't stand to see his teammate in danger so he ran out to the field and pulled Momo out of the hole. Eiji kept looking from the field to Echizen. He didn't know which was worse; staying with Echizen or going out onto that field.
"Kikumaru-sempai if you don't hurry you'll be the only one left."
Eiji looked in Echizen's eyes. He could tell that if he didn't go out to the field that something much worse would befall him. "Nya, Ochibi's so scary!" He ran out to the field with his hands raised high, running and jumping over obstacles in his path.
After about an hour everyone finally made it to the other side of the room.
"Gah. That was harder than I thought!" Momo gasped as he fell to the floor.
"I'm never doing that again." Kaidou said leaning on the wall.
"Sempais you can't rest now." Echizen was now on the other side with them.
"Wa? Echizen how'd you get over here?" Taka asked out of burning mode. The racket disappeared halfway through.
"That doesn't matter. You need to get over to the other side." He pointed to the other side.
"Eh? But we just got came from there." Oishi complained.
"Seeing that over there is the only way out, you don't have a choice."
"Saa, this should be fun." Fuji said with a smile. Everyone sweat dropped.
"Well, let's get this over with." Momo side walking back to the field.
"Wait Momo-sempai." Echizen stopped him and went to the field himself. He went a few feet in front of them and held out his hand. It stated to glow and the field started to change. The floor under him vanished and he was floating over abyss.
"Echizen how are we supposed to get over with no floor?" Momo looked at him with annoyance and confusion.
"Hn. Easy Momo-sempai." He dropped into the abyss below.
"Waa, Echizen!" Everyone watched as he dropped farther down into the darkness.
"You must-," They heard Echizen's voice. "-jump across-," They saw a pillar rise up with him on it. "-the pillars." It went well over their heads and could barely see the top.
"What do you mean Echizen?" Tezuka asked stretching his neck to see.
"You must get to the other side by jumping across on the pillars." Most pillars appeared stopping at various heights.
"Nya, this seems like it's easier than the other way." Eiji jumped out on to a pillar.
"Eiji! Be careful!" Oishi was in mother hen mode.
"Nya, its fine Oishi. It'll be fun." He tried to jump to another pillar when it suddenly grew. He just managed to catch the edge of it.
"Waa, it moved!" He said trying to pull himself to the top. "Ochibi, what is this?" He whined.
"I can't make it too easy. What would be the point of that?" Echizen smirked and hopped to another pillar. "This is a good chance for everyone to get used to summoning their wings in a tight situation. If you fall summon your wings and fly back to the pillar but you can't use them to fly to the other side." He made his wings appear and tried to fly to the end but they disappeared causing him to fall onto a pillar. "Or less that will happen."
They all sweat dropped, hesitant to go. They all watched as Echizen was jumping from pillar to pillar and made it to the other side in no time. They all stood in amazement. He got to the other side in a matter of about three minutes giving the size of the room it was about the size of a football field.
"Try to hurry sempais." He yelled to them from the other side. "I'll be in the house making the next meal." He said and walked out the door.
"Echizen matte!" Taka tried to shout to him but he was gone.
"Don't worry. We won't let anything happen." Ryoga placed his hand on Taka's shoulder and Leon gave him a smile.
"Nya, hurry up and come out here!" They all heard Eiji call for them.
Still reluctant to go Tezuka took the initiative and got them motivated. "Minna, get out there now or 30 laps." The remaining regulars all hurried and jumped out onto a pillar. Tezuka, Leon and Ryoga followed.
They had been in that room for longer than they thought. When everyone was finally out, the sun was starting to set.
"It's already sunset? It doesn't seem like we were in there for that long." Oishi commented.
"Saa, time flies when you're having fun." Fuji said with a smile. Everyone gave a sarcastic laugh and sweat dropped.
"Well, let's get inside and eat." Momo said placing his hands behind his back.
"Fsshhh, is that all you think about?" Kaidou hissed.
"What was that Mamoshi? You wanna go!?"
"Bring it on Peach butt!"
"Calm down you two! Let's just go inside and eat." Taka said prying them apart.
"Let me go Taka-san! He's insulted me for the last time!"
"Momoshiro, Kaidou, stop or 10 laps." Tezuka belted out. Not wanted to run they stopped and headed to the door quietly. The ground suddenly began to shake.
"Eh? Nani?!" Eiji held on to Oishi for stability.
"What's happening?" Inui holding onto his notebook.
"Minna, look!" Taka pointed to the training grounds. Everyone turned to see it slowly began to sink to the ground.
"Why is that happening?" Leon asked turning to Ryoga.
"Chibisuke's stamina must have run out." He replied falling to the ground.
"Saa, what do you mean?" Fuji asked as the shaking stopped and the building was no more.
"Being able to summon something that size and for a week straight requires a lot of concentration and power and puts a great strain on the body. I'm surprised to see that he was able to keep it standing for so long without a problem. I don't even think that the top mage in the angel world was able to do it for that long."
"Do you think something happened to him?" Oishi asked very worriedly. Ryoga just stood there thinking. He didn't know what to tell them. There was no real reason that it should have collapsed without warning.
"OCHIBI! DAIJOBOU!?"
"BOCCHAN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Eiji and Leon both went yelling into the house.
"Oi sempai matte!" Momo yelled as he ran after them. Everyone but Tezuka, Fuji, and Ryoga followed.
"Maybe…" Ryoga mumbled under his breath.
"Hm? What is it Ryoga-san?" Tezuka saw that Ryoga looked troubled.
"Ah, it's nothing. Let's go see what's happening." He walked into the house with a small smile. Tezuka and Fuji inside they joined with Oishi, Taka, Inui, Momo, and Kaidou who were standing at the entrance of the living room. They were all watching Leon and Eiji fuss over not finding Echizen.
"Where is he? He's always in here!" Eiji shouted looking under a pillow.
"Bocchan! Doko ikuno?!" Leon yelled as he started moving the couches to look under them.
Ryoga sighed and put his hand on his head. "Leon please don't move the couches and please put the pillows back properly Kikumaru-kun. Did you two even bother to look in his room?" They both stopped and looked at him then at each other glaring.
"OCHIBI!"
"BOCCHAN!" They both ran out of the living room and ran up the stairs. The rest calmly followed.
Despite the fact that they were very loud and noisy downstairs, they quieted down when they got to the top of the stairs. They went to Echizen's room to see him lying on the bed with an arm and leg hanging off with the other leg on the bed and arm on his eyes.
"Ochibi/Bocchan!" Eiji and Leon both yelled when they saw him thinking that he had collapsed.
"Hn? What?" Echizen lifted his arm from his eyes and looked at them.
"Ochibi/Bocchan! You're okay!" They both jumped on him.
"Eh?! L-Let me go!" Echizen tried to escape their grasp but failed miserably. "O-Oishi-sempai! S-Save me?" Everyone had reached the door when Echizen called for help.
"Oi! He's turning blue! Let him go!" Oishi rushed into the room and pried the two off.
"What's with you?" Echizen asked rubbing his neck.
"The training ground disappeared and we thought Bocchan was in trouble." Leon said in a worried tone.
"You of all people should know that it's normal. There's nothing weird about that." He said lying back on the bed. "Go eat your dinner before it gets cold."
"Demo, Ochibi are you really alright?" Eiji said turning to the door.
"Hai. I'm fine. Just go eat."
"Come on Eiji. Let's leave him. He's probably tired." Oishi said pushing him out the door. The others all followed. Echizen could hear their conversation as they left.
"Yatta! Finally food!" Momo practically ran down the stairs.
"Momo be careful or you'll trip." Taka said following him.
"You go too. I'm not making you something else if all the food down there gets eaten." Echizen motioned for Ryoga to leave the room.
"Chibisuke, let me see your pendant." He said in a stern voice walking to the bed.
"Why? It's not like-"
"Let me see your pendant." Ryoga practically yelled at him. Echizen had never seen his brother like this. Unwillingly, he took the pendant from his shirt and showed it to this brother. Ryoga's eyes widened with concern and then shut. "Why didn't you say anything?"
He put the pendant back in his shirt. "It's nothing." He said avoiding Ryoga's eyes.
"What do you mean nothing?" Ryoga took him by the shoulders. "You know what happens when the light goes out. Why would you let it get that close?" Echizen didn't look at him but was embraced in a hug. "We've already lost too many. I don't want to lose you too."
Echizen hugged him back. "Gomen…"
"Don't scare me like that. I don't know what I would do if you were gone." He hugged him tighter. "Don't leave me."
"Ah. I won't."
Ryoga smiled and pulled away from the hug and ruffled Echizen's hair. "Come on. Let's go eat."
"Yadda. I'm tired and want to sleep."
"You need to keep your strength up." The hand on Echizen's head got tighter.
"I already ate."
A vein popped.
"If you're not going to eat it then I will!" Momo said taking a shrimp from Kaidou's plate and shoving it into his mouth.
"I was going to eat that you baka!" Kaidou yelled.
"Maa maa, you two, calm down." Taka said. "Here Kaidou you can have-"
"YOU'RE SUCH A LIAR!" Everyone heard Ryoga shouting upstairs. "YOU ARE COMING TO EAT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!"
"Yadda! I told you I already ate! Baka Aniki!" Echizen shouted in response.
They all turned to see Ryoga dragging Echizen out of his room and down the stairs. Luckily for him Echizen grabbed hold of the railing. "Karupin! Get him off of me!"
Ryoga's eyes widened as he heard a growl behind him. He turned to see Karupin ready to pounce. He let go of his brother in fear of being sat on. "Che. Fine then but you're going to eat with us tomorrow." Ryoga said as he went down the stairs.
"Whatever. Come on Karupin." Echizen and Karupin went back into his room while Ryoga went down stairs. Everyone downstairs at the table was silent.
"Ryoga, what were you and Bocchan doing?" Leon broke the silence.
"Ah, nothing. Just discussing family business." He said with a smile as he sat down and began to eat.
Echizen basically collapsed on the bed. "Baka Aniki." His chest hurt. He used up too much of his power. He almost collapsed when they were at the stairs. All he wanted to do was sleep. Karupin jumped on the bed and looked at him with unease. Echizen put his hand on Karupin's head and gently pet him. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere until this whole thing is over with."
NOTE THIS: This is chapters eighteen and nineteen from the previous story.
Let's not waste any time… any more time and get on with the next chapter! That's all I'm going to do tomorrow. No Xbox and no friends. I'm going to stay in my room all day and finish this story!
Forgiveness for mistakes!
See you guys hopefully on Monday!