*NOTE* Alternate Universe wherein I shamelessly borrowed/altered ideas from various media sources and even threw in some of my own. If anything is canon here, it's probably an accident. Includes corporal punishment.

Changechildren (Prince of Tennis)

Part 11

By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)


Nanjiroh wasn't sure how he got saddled with the first of these power practice sessions, but figured it had something to do with the fact that the other three were teachers and would have to get up to go to work soon. As it was, the kids weren't happy about having to rise early for this either, although Nanjiroh knew Ryoma had gotten up for pre-classes tennis practice plenty of times.

"Okay, gang, listen up!" he announced to his group of seven, counting Ryoma, his powerless wonder. "We're not going to have a lot of formality to this. Like the rest of you, I'm doing this for the first time. Really, our intention is just to have you be able to test out your powers with as little risk as possible to anyone else, and to get more comfortable with them."

"Why's Ryoma here?" Gakuto asked.

"He wants to take part." Nanjiroh shrugged. "Even if it's just observation."

Ryoma yawned. "That was before I knew I'd be scheduled for the before-breakfast group."

"Next question," Momoshiro piped up, waving toward Mizuki. "Why is HE here? I didn't want to look stupid by admitting I don't know what his power is when everyone else has been obvious about theirs, but I can't pretend any longer, I can't!"

Nanjiroh regarded Mizuki with humour while the boy could barely conceal his own grin. "Well, that's the thing, Momoshiro. We adults finally figured out that NONE of us actually knows Mizuki's power or even registered him here – we all thought each other had done it. In reality, he just walked in off the street! Nice going there, kid."

Mizuki giggled. "Thank you!"

"Of course, now you realize that you'll have to reveal your big secret, if you actually have one," Nanjiroh pointed out.

The St. Rudolph manager heaved an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose it had to happen eventually, but honestly, Echizen-san –" everyone stared as Mizuki disappeared in front of their eyes, "I already have perfect control of my power!"

"Oh, wow," Momoshiro breathed. "Invisibility! Wow!"

"Mizuki Hajime with Invisibility powers?" Kawamura said nervously. "Fujiko won't like this."

"Mizuki-senpai …." Yuuta stared.

Ryoma was frowning slightly. "Hmm. Interesting."

"He's there, but not there," Shinji murmured. "Or is he really there at all?" He reached out until his finger poked something solid.

"Ouch! Of course I'm here!" Mizuki re-materialized. "Tah-dah!" He beamed. "It's really very easy, and as you can see, I have no trouble managing it."

Nanjiroh's mind was still reeling with all the fearsome possibilities Mizuki's power must have been providing the boy when he remembered to answer him, "Oh, well, yeah, but while I'm sure you've already been working hard on it, it can't hurt to make certain by practicing with the rest of the kids."

"If you insist," Mizuki replied in a bored tone.

"Okay, then let's get organized."

The first practice session was taking place well away from the mansion on the expansive back lawn, which Nanjiroh figured was once either a golf course or horseback riding pasture. Here the kids could spread out and not interfere with each other if they wanted, or they could work together.

Ryoma, who had no obvious power yet to practice with, and Yuuta, whose only opportunity to practice his ability would occur if someone got hurt, mostly just assisted the others where they could.

Nanjiroh's attention was caught by Gakuto, who had Yuuta's help playing guinea pig. The St. Rudolph Sophomore allowed the Hyotei acrobat to use anti-gravity so that he would float a few inches above the ground. Then Gakuto would immediately switch to increased gravity so that Yuuta not only came down, he came down hard and couldn't raise himself again. Nanjiroh watched this repeat process three times, then finally said, "Yuuta, are you all right with this?"

"I'm fine, Echizen-san," Yuuta assured him, brushing himself off. "It seems I can trigger my power to heal me instantly when I get hurt, and even if I don't trigger it on purpose, it starts the healing pretty soon on its own."

Nanjiroh nodded. "So long as you're fine with it, I am, too." He moved on to where he saw Mizuki and Shinji playing a sort of game involving various inanimate objects from their pockets. Mizuki would hold the object and Shinji would touch it lightly, then Mizuki would turn invisible, and the object along with him. Shinji would then test to see if he could both hear the object's voice and animate it while it was in the invisible state. From Mizuki's squeal when a pen squirmed in his invisible hand, Nanjiroh assumed that yes, he could. It seemed like a safe enough way to play with their powers, so he let them be.

Kawamura was the only one who couldn't be paired up, not due to uneven numbers, but because his inflammatory powers were just too dangerous. He was quietly practising creating fireballs the size of tennis balls in his hands.

"Kawamura," Nanjiroh said, "can you throw those away from yourself or does the power need the flames to be touching you in order to stay lit?"

"I don't know," Kawamura admitted, and looked down at the fireballs he held. "I've been afraid to try it - I don't want to damage Atobe's property."

Nanjiroh patted his shoulder. "Atobe told us that it's okay - whatever we have to do out here in order to practice, his parents are fine with it. After all, he'll be throwing his ice power around out here, too, and that could cause damage as well. So long as it's way out here and not directed toward the house, it's all right."

Kawamura nodded. "Okay, I'll try it then." He waited until Nanjiroh had stepped back, then tossed one of the fireballs away from himself. It stayed lit, and when it hit the ground, it spread out and began burning the grass. Nanjiroh used one of their water bottles to put out the flames.

"Not bad at all!" he approved. "Now you know you can do it. Try it with a bigger ball – we've got plenty of water here, so don't worry about that."

"Okay." Kawamura grinned. He took the remaining fireball that he was still holding and fueled it with more of his power. It increased enough to be about the size of a soccer ball.

"Now throw it as far as you can and we'll see if distance makes it go out before it can hit the ground. I'll go after it with the water, just in case."

Kawamura nodded and concentrated as he drew back his arm. He launched the fireball with a mighty heave. The moment it left his hand, Karupin shot across the grass from out of nowhere, directly into the fireball's path. "No!" he yelled, and everyone spun around.

"KARUPIN!" Ryoma screamed and charged after his cat, heedless of the danger to himself. Gakuto threw his power at the younger boy in an attempt to lift him out of harm's way, but Ryoma kept going and dove for Karupin, shielding him from the blast of fire that engulfed them both.

Everyone ran toward them but none so fast as Nanjiroh, who immediately doused both boy and cat with water as soon as he reached them. "Yuuta!" he yelled. "He'll need healing! Hurry -!" Nanjiroh stopped as Ryoma grabbed his arm with a wet hand.

"Oyaji, I'm OKAY!" he insisted, gold eyes boring into his father's. Nanjiroh's racing heartbeat slowed as he took in the full picture of Ryoma, still holding a wet and disgruntled Karupin. There wasn't a mark on either of them – not even Ryoma's clothes were singed.

"Ryoma, I'm so sorry!" Kawamura was saying, looking as if he might cry. "I didn't see the cat until it was too late, and then you –"

Ryoma got to his feet and shook water droplets out of his hair. "Geez, Oyaji, what did you use, a fire hose? I'm soaked!" He looked up at Kawamura. "I'm fine, Kawamura-senpai, really. Karupin is, too, see?"

"Mrroow!" Karupin emphasized loudly.

"But you were hit with the fire!" Nanjiroh exclaimed. "I just lost ten years of my life, so I know I didn't imagine it!"

"Not just the fire!" Gakuto told them. "I hit him with MY power dead on and he just ran through it!"

Ryoma looked not at his father or Gakuto, but at Mizuki. He smiled knowingly at him, and the St. Rudolph manager felt his stomach sink.

"You little fink, you do have a power, don't you?!" he accused. "You're immune to OTHER peoples' powers!"

The twelve-year-old's smile turned smug. "Looks like it, doesn't it?"

Nanjiroh caught his son's shoulders and turned him to face him. "Did you know about this? Because if you did, you could have clued me in on it so I wouldn't have a stroke watching you seemingly risk your life!"

"I didn't know!" Ryoma retorted. "Not for sure. I knew something was weird when I could see Mizuki-san when no one else seemed to be able to –"

"And you saw through Yuushi's illusion last night, too!" Gakuto exclaimed. "When he 'raised' the net during your game with your father!"

"Is THAT what happened to the net? I thought I was going crazy!" Nanjiroh said and turned to Ryoma. "Is he right?"

"The net looked normal to me." Ryoma shrugged. "And you're already crazy."

"I'm so relieved!" Kawamura said earnestly. "Your cat wasn't burnt, either – does that mean your Immunity extends to someone else if you're touching them?"

"How do I know?" Ryoma asked incredulously. "I only just figured out what was going on myself." He looked down at Karupin and rubbed under his chin. "I wrapped myself around him pretty well, though. It might just have been my body protecting him, not my power."

Yuuta frowned slightly. "You know, this may not be all it's cracked up to be. If you're really immune to powers, that means I can't heal you if you get hurt."

"It means Oishi can't nullify his power, either," Shinji murmured. "And that wouldn't really be fair, since all the rest of us are on the honour system or have to have our powers nullified for matches, and in Echizen's case, there won't be anything anyone can do –"

Gakuto rolled his eyes. "Exactly what could the kid do with his power in a match anyway? Immunity isn't offensive, it's defensive!"

"Good point, Gakuto-kun," Nanjiroh told him, then ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "You know what, kids? I think we're done for this morning. My nerves need some serious unjangling and it's time you were having breakfast, anyway."

The group headed back toward the mansion and Ryoma fell into step beside his father.

"So you nearly had a stroke worrying about me, huh?"

"Pfft. Not likely!"

"You just said so yourself!"

"I lied."

Ryoma ducked his head to hide his grin.


News of Ryoma's power spread all over the mansion quickly, and it was the main topic of conversation during breakfast.

"It sounds like a perfect power for Ryoma." Fuji smiled. "Considering all the enemies you make, a little extra protection can't hurt."

"I have enemies?" Ryoma asked innocently. The older boys decided not to answer.

"I must admit, I can't wait to conduct experiments on your power," Inui told him. "You've already said that you were able to see through Mizuki's invisibility –"

"And I wish you could have told us that," Fuji added with regret.

"I didn't know he WAS invisible, I just thought he was stupid," Ryoma replied, munching on a piece of bacon. "Why else would he go in and out of your room all the time when you aren't there?"

Fuji's eyes narrowed. "Maybe you were right the first time. He IS stupid."

"He always comes out with a specific book," Ryoma said. "He puts it back later."

"I KNEW it!" Fuji seethed. "He's been reading my diary! That little –"

"Fujiko!" Kawamura interrupted, putting a hand on his arm. "Don't say something you'll regret."

Fuji relaxed and covered Kawamura's hand with his own. "Don't worry, Taka-san," he assured him with a smile. "I'd never regret it."

Eiji snickered and Tezuka turned to Ryoma. "They're right, though, it's a perfect power for you. Your attitude has always been one of apparent indifference, and now your power is, too."

"Hey, Ryoma!" Youhei and Kouhei appeared behind the younger boy, each one peering around him. "Congratulations on your power!"

"Thanks."

"We were testing it from over there!" Kouhei pointed to a table on the other side of the room. "To see if we could hear what you were saying."

"And we couldn't!" Youhei told him. "You were the only one we couldn't hear, and we couldn't see the same details about you that we could your friends at that distance, either."

"Interesting." Inui nodded. Momoshiro glanced at him.

"Aren't you going to make notes in your book about his new data?"

"I don't have to anymore," Inui confessed and tapped his temple. "My notes are all up here now."

"I guess everyone will get a chance to test their power against Echizen's immunity," Oishi said thoughtfully. "Although I don't think I want to test mine on him."

"At least you shouldn't be FIRST in line, just in case, nya!" Eiji winked.

The others laughed good-naturedly, but Ryoma just continued eating. He wasn't worried about his power one way or the other. So long as it didn't affect the way he played tennis, nothing else mattered.


Yuuta was almost wishing he'd gone to eat breakfast with his brother. Mizuki was in a bad mood and looking for someone to take it out on.

"Of all things for that little brat to come up with, it had to be THAT power!" the older boy groused. "How am I supposed to have any fun with mine so long as he's around?!"

"Poor baby."

Mizuki gasped and glared up at a smirking Takahisa standing over him. "If you're not going to say anything helpful, then you can just keep moving!"

"Maybe I can help," he answered. "I can give you something better to do with your time than take advantage of your power against others."

"Oh, really?" Mizuki sniffed. "I'm not interested in hearing anymore lurid comments such as the last one you made to me."

Takahisa smiled engagingly. "But would you be interested in going out with me?"

Yuuta looked between both boys, holding his breath. He wondered if Takahisa was about to end up with a plateful of scrambled eggs in the face.

Instead, Mizuki surprised both of them. "Fine," he said curtly. "But you'd better show me a good time to make up for the way you've been acting around me."

"Oh, I will," Takahisa assured him. "Tonight at seven. Dress nicely."

"What do you take me for, a slob?" Mizuki called after the other boy as he walked away. "Honestly!" he said in an exasperated tone as he turned back to his breakfast. He glanced suspiciously at Yuuta. "And what are YOU gaping at?"


End of Part 11

(2006)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

This fic is not to be re-posted.