A Royal Vacation
Chapter 21: Everyone Wants Echizen
Now that Fuji Yuuta and his teammates have arrived, things at the inn are going to get very interesting now. Furthermore, Ryoma now has his work cut out for him since he still has no idea who to choose as his lovers yet. Furthermore, Fuji has chosen his own brother to act as Ryoma's date for today and it seems Yuuta can hardly say no now.
"Welcome to Hokkaido, Yuuta-sempai. What brings you here?" asked Ryoma.
"My annoying sadist Aniki asked me to come here on my own volition. Somehow, my teammates also wanted to tag along and I can't say no to them." Sighed Yuuta.
"Nya! Does Fujiko always have to play the dictator around here?" asked Eiji.
"Eiji, quiet!" ordered the mother hen.
"Sorry, but still I want to see if Ryoma will sleep with me tonight or just date me for that matter."
"What? Are you gay for the gaki as well?" snorted Gakuto.
"Nya! Who said I was gay? I just love hugging people." Huffed Eiji.
"Eiji-sempai, do you know that your hugs only hurts people even more? I like being hugged by other people instead of my own beloved kitty-sempai."
"Mou! Ochibi, are you saying that you do not want me to hug you anymore?" pouted Eiji.
"It's not that! Quit being such a drama queen! The brat only said that he likes to be hugged by his other friends other than just you. So in other words, he wants to give you a break from hugging him. Is that clear enough for you?" asked Shishido.
Eiji just nodded and settled back down in the chair.
"My darling Yuuta-chan, it's so good to see you. I've been trying to convince ryoma here that he would be more than interested in dating you."
"Aniki, how many times do I need to tell you that I do not have a love interest in Echizen? I am seriously going to leave if you are here to waste my time."
"Mou, it's not like that. I like teasing people because it's my specialty!"
"Your tricks only makes you a bad influence on others." Added Yuushi.
"Saa... I thought you were my best confidant, Mr. tensai of Hyotei."
"Enough! I am here on vacation and I do not want it ruined by my aniki. Now then, will someone please show me the room where I will be staying at? And trust me, I do not want to go anywhere near my brother."
"But Yuuta-chan, you should spend more time with your dear beloved." Smiled Syuusuke.
"You are too creepy, Syuusuke. This is why no one wants to sleep with you in the same bed."
"Saa… I'm hurt Yuuta-chan. And here I thought Ryoma finds me enjoyable in bed."
At that moment, Ryoma realized what that meant as he dashed behind Yuushi for comfort.
"Oshitari-sempai, remind me not to sleep next to Fuji in the same bed ever again. I'd rather sleep with either you, Seiichi, Sanada, or Keigo or anyone else other than Syuusuke."
"May I suggest a little lullaby to soothe you at night?" asked Seiichi.
"Classical music always helps me too." Added Keigo.
Ryoma paused for a moment. He realized music was good, but a lullaby wouldn't do much since it won't put him to sleep. When he was younger, his mom used to sing him to sleep. However, that is not the case here now.
"Come on now guys. I am not a baby." Said Ryoma.
"To us, you will always be our baby." Said Tezuka.
"Tezuka-buchou! I thought you wouldn't call me that anymore."
"Brat! You belong to us so it's only fair that we call you "baby Ryoma."
"Che, my parents still calls me their baby. I get tired of being called cute. Do you know how annoying that is?"
"That's not what Nanjiro-sensei said to me when I met him the other day." Said a voice.
"Who's there? Who are you?"
"Have you forgotten me already from the US open? I'm kevin Smith, a friend of Echizen Ryoma and I have known him for a while now. I do believe you guys are his boyfriends?"
"Good to see you kevin, I hope you did not miss your entrance."
"Very funny, Echizen. For a moment, I thought you were kidnapped. What are you doing all the way out here in Hokkaido?"
"We are actually vacationing here thanks to Keigo-sama. And now I end up sleeping in the same bed as my boyfriend. Also, Fuji Syuusuke called his brother Yuuta here to join us. Are you staying here as well?"
"I was just visiting because I was worried that you wouldn't be coming back to America anytime soon. But now that you are here, it seems that I was worried for nothing. But seriously though, you really need to let me know where you are so that I know how to track you down without losing you."
"Are you a stalker or just another one of echizen's obsessed fan? That's quite an unhealthy habit from you." Said Shishido.
"If I was an obsessed fan, then you must be quite a ladies man." Smiled Kevin.
Shishido just blushed at that remark while the others laughed like crazy. Ryoma then placed his hand on Kevin's shoulder and pushed him over to one of the couches. He didn't want anyone else to find out about his lover's private life since there was no way that he would just let it continue spreading like crazy.
"Kevin, please do not say anything about my love life anymore. This is going to get out of control."
"Come now Echizen, you are my best friend. I would never let this go out in public. However, I do advise you to be careful on whom you choose as lovers because you might never know who might trick you."
"I've been down that path before, kevin. Earlier, I was being tricked by Fuji-sempai because he wanted me all for himself instead of letting me falling for Tezuka. I was nearly ready to punch fuji, but I decided to let Keigo handle it."
"Geez, and here I thought you didn't have enough punishments to go through. Why must you suffer at the hands of your own sadistic sempai?"
"You thought I had it hard? Tezuka-buchou almost broke up with me. Luckily I managed to convince him to give love a chance and eventually, he decided to give up on Fuji's tricks and took love a little more seriously. It took our buchou a while to open up to me since Syuusuke's tricks nearly destroyed our vacation time together."
"I'm so sorry, Echizen-san. I had no idea that your sempai would do something this stupid. But have you tried to ignore Fuji Syuusuke?"
"Ignoring the sadist will not work because he has other ways to torment me and his own brother. Therefore, nothing he says will be trustworthy enough. So it is in your best interest that you keep it to yourself."
"Will you relax, Echizen-san? Geez, don't get your panties in a bunch. Your secret is safe with me. Furthermore, you know that none of your teammates could stop Fuji-sempai if they wanted to. Although I haven't suffered any torture from your sadistic friend that you call a sempai, I can guarantee that he will be getting a lot of laps later on."
"That's for sure. And also, I still haven't decided on whom really to choose to fall in love with yet because with all the teammates here, I am seriously at my wits end."
"Well, what about asking them to face off against each other in tennis or ping pong?"
"I haven't thought of that yet. Perhaps that will take their minds off Fuji for a little while."
"Well, go ahead and tell them to face off against each other in those sports that I mentioned. Don't hesitate!" finished Kevin as he pushed Ryoma out of the bedroom door.
Once Ryoma took Kevin's advice, he went downstairs and into the living room where everyone else was gathered. He then went in front of the audience and cleared his throat before talking.
"Attention, everyone! I have a little announcement to make. Yes that includes all of my boyfriends and buddies of mine that I have beaten at tennis in the past. This is important so I need you all to pay attention."
"What sort of announcement, Echizen-kun?" asked Yuushi.
"We were just about to watch a movie, so please make this quick." Added Marui.
"Che, I am thinking this was going to be a waste of time, but here goes. If you all still think you can win my heart, then you got to earn it with a competition."
"Wait, what do you mean by that, Echizen?" asked Oishi.
"I mean, if you want to woo a cute little guy like me, all you have to do is see how good you guys are at tennis and ping pong. In other words, I want you all to play against each other fiercely and competitively."
Everyone became silent at that response until Keigo got up and leaned forward, pressing his face against echizen's cheek.
"Really brat? You want to see which one of us is good at those sports? Well then, you got yourself a deal! Remember, you will be mine forever if I win this."
"Not if I can help it, Keigo-san. Ryoma's heart will belong to me because he will be a part of Rikkai." Added Kirihara.
"Now hold on just a minute! Ryoma is our kohai, you can't just force him to join Rikkai right now!" put in Momo.
"Momo! It's Echizen's decision, let him take care of it." Reprimanded Tezuka.
Amazingly, Momo took a seat on the couch without inflicting further conflict. Tezuka sure knows how to keep his teammates under control even before he could start a fight. Echizen breathed a sigh of relief as he directed his attention towards his sempais.
"In order to keep score, I have asked someone to assist as a judge. So, Yuuta-sempai, what say you?"
Yuuta looked at him for a moment while scratching his chin. "Sure, I guess I could act as a referee. But remember, Echizen; you still owe me a tennis match since we never got around to it."
"Definitely, I look forward to the day we have that match. Anyway, shall we head downstairs into the basement?"
Yuuta nodded as they both departed from the living room and towards the basement with the other teammates following close behind. They had no idea who arranged this competition but that should ease people's minds for now after what Fuji did.
Upon arrival in the basement, the tables were set up as usual by the servants and everything was in perfect order. The first match was between Marui and Jirou since they were close friends that had known each other since grade school.
"Sugoi! I knew that you and I would meet today in a ping pong match! I am so happy!" cheered Jirou.
"Jirou, this is an unofficial match and don't you already have a boyfriend?" asked Marui.
"But I want you more than Keigo!"
"Mou! Jirou-sempai, is that really necessary? You wouldn't even last a day at my house!"
"We shall see about that, won't we, Marui?" smiled Jirou as he served the ball towards his lover, but Marui managed to send it back with ease. The game continued until the ball flew past Marui and onto the wall behind him.
"15 love." Said Yuuta.
The game was starting to get intense now as Marui and Jirou continued battling in order to win Ryoma's heart. Scores were tied at 30 each as both players were starting to get tired.
"Hey, Marui-sempai."
"Yeah, Jirou?"
"let's take a break and drink some water before resuming."
"Good idea."
They both took a seat on the couch as Kabaji and Niou handed them their water bottles. After a while, both resumed their game as if nothing had happened.
"If you already know, Ryoma-chan has Keigo as his boyfriend, but how what if he was in love with us? Do you think he would spend more time with us?" asked Jirou.
"I don't know Jirou, you have to ask him yourself. Besides, you've already defeated the tensai of Seigaku because that didn't pressure him too much. You;'ve given Ryoma the edge to defeat his rival."
"I know that, sugar freak! Besides, Ryo-chan would be much better off with you since he feels better around Yukimura and Sanada. After all, didn't Ryo-chan tell Yukimura to think of enjoyment in tennis?"
"I hadn't thought of that, but you are right. However, I don't know how am I going to deal with a cute little tennis prodigy from seigaku since he is too much to handle for me. But, I might just try him out and see." Smiled Marui.
Echizen looked at the strawberry haired student from Rikkai and gave him a thumbs up before handing him a ponta from his tennis bag. He then took a seat next to Yuuta and resumed judging.
"30-45" said Ryoma as the ball flew past jirou.
Keigo and the others watched with amusement. He knew that that brat's plan would work out with a little sports activity here in the inn. The match continued until the ball flew past marui once more, leading to Jirou's first win.
"I will defeat you next time, Jirou-sempai." said Marui as he shook the boy's hand.
"I look forward to that rematch." Smiled Jirou. They then turned their attention towards Ryoma.
"So, now that you have seen our match, which one of us do you want to try and date this time?"
"I'll go with marui for now and Jirou I will catch up to later on in the afternoon." Said Ryoma.
They both looked at each other and nodded.
"All right, who's next?" asked Yuuta.
Just then, Gakuto and Eiji stepped up and said, "We will be facing off against each other. After all, we are both rivals from our respective schools and I hate to see Ryo-chan feeling left out from this."
They then looked at each other for a moment until Eiji spoke again, "Nya, Just a minute, what do you mean Ryo-chan? He's my ochibi!"
"Your ochibi? He may be an ochibi but he will soon be mine for hugging." Said Gakuto.
'You better think again, red-haired Acrobat."
"Bring it on, Kangaroo boy!"
They both had a stare down with each other until Oishi and Oshitari both restrained them and settled them down at both ends of the ping pong table. Even Ryoma had the urge to punch some sense into his sempais in order to prevent them from fighting again.
"If you guys are ready, let's begin!" said Ryoma.
As the match began, gakuto and Eiji were playing furiously without giving each other advantages. They both were equally matched as the scores rose up to 40. Neither one of them were giving up. As Shishido and Choutaro watched, they were amused at how strong both players were.
"Choutaro-san, if you and I were playing against each other right now, who do you think will win?"
"I don't really know until the time comes, Shishido-san. But I think that will be a great match. Besides, you know for a fact that Echizen likes us both as friends right?"
"Yes, I do know that, but why did Ryoma even request that we have a little table tennis match anyway?"
"Well, apparently, he wants to try and pair up with us individually for dates to see how comfortable he feels around each one of us."
"I see. But still, it's not surprising that Echizen-san would come up with an idea like this."
"Still, you got to give him credit for coming up with such an ingenious plan." Smiled Choutaro.
"Che! It's lame, but still I admit that the brat has guts pairing us against each other in table tennis in order to find out who he is madly in love with. What exactly is this going accomplish anyway?"
"I guess he is trying to start up relationships with all the tennis teammates because I think he wants more friends instead of enemies. Furthermore, he needs more people to make him feel better in life."
Shishido just smiled at him as they continued watching the match. "Come on Gakuto-sempai, kick the annoying cat's ass!"
"Nya! Why don't you come down here and pair up with me, short-hair!" called Eiji.
"You wish! My only partner is Choutaro because we will be the next golden pair!"
"Mou! Whose side are you on anyway, Shishido-san? I thought you were my favorite teddy bear to hug for today!"
"Who said I was your teddy bear, you red-haired freakshow? Focus on the match!"
Eiji pouted as he continued serving the tennis ball.
"30-30." Said Ryoma. "And to think Eiji's bone crushing hugs are hurting me, I wonder how much hugging Mukahi will do for me?" he thought to himself.
The match went on until the scores reached 100-100. After a while, both players were too tired to continue and stopped the game.
"Yuuta and Ryoma, we are too tired to continue so we will call this game a draw. So, Ochibi, who do you think will be a better hugger for you?"
"Well, that doesn't matter as long as I can get used to both of you hugging me. I think you both could act as kitty cats for me even when I don't have karupin around all the time when I am in bed." Said Ryoma.
Both acrobats were surprised as they looked at each other before turning their attention towards the tennis prodigy.
"Are you sure about this echizen? How will you sleep at night with both red haired sempais at your side?" asked Oishi.
"Oh don't worry about that, I can survive a night of snoring as long as both of you guys snuggle me tightly so that I don't feel alone." Smiled Echizen.
"Nya! Ochibi loves us both! I feel so appreciated!" cried Eiji. His anime tears were showing as the rest of the team sweat-dropped.
The rest of the matches went on without a hitch since many of them were just to test their skills in the game itself. Still though, Echizen made a great plan for his teammates today in order to avoid Fuji Syuusuke. And to think it actually worked in his favor. No wonder Keigo has taught Ryoma so well in the art of payback.
"That was a very smart move from you, Echizen." Said Tezuka.
"Thanks, I think that should get the sadist off my back for a while."
"Now that you had us compete for your love, which one of us do you think will be more compatible for you?" asked Sanada.
"That's easy! All of you are compatible for me. I don't want to be picky here, but I do love every one of you dearly. It's like having a lot of brothers around, you know?" smirked Echizen.
"Brat, you are so unpredictable, you know that?" said Keigo as he ruffled the boy's hair.
'What can I say, Keigo-sempai? I should have done this sooner." Continued Ryoma.
"Saa….you think you can easily outsmart a sadist like me? Oh, you naughty little boy!" said Fuji evilly.
"That's what you get for trying to deny me the right to kiss Tezuka."
"Are you saying that I should not kiss you anymore? I thought I was your boyfriend." Said Fuji as he fake pouted.
"Get over it, sadist! I played you already so try to outsmart me some other time. Excuse me while I go get a drink from the kitchen. Come on Yuuta-sempai, I bet you are thirsty or so."
Yuuta immediately stood up and followed Ryoma out of the basement and into the kitchen area, leaving a smirking Fuji behind. He couldn't believe what just happened. But he will try and think of a way to outsmart Echizen later on.
Back in the living room, all of the teammates from the respective schools were busy changing back into their casual clothes after a good exercise in the basement. Many of them were very happy after playing table tennis because they all felt so rejuvenated since that game will help stimulate their minds.
In the kitchen, Yuuta and Ryoma took a seat at the table and drank their waters respectively.
"Now that you have won your bet, how about a little tennis match?" asked Yuuta.
"Sure, I don't have much to do anyway. Besides, I can't play tennis without you around, sempai."
"I'm glad you are seeing things my way." Said yuuta as he grabbed his tennis bag and went towards the outdoor courts while Mizuki and the others watched with interest.
"Nufufufufufu! This shall be some interesting data for me to collect. I wonder how well Echizen will do against Yuuta this time around. I have already seen how well the Momo/Kamio pair had done against the Echizen/Ibu pair so this time, I will not fail." Thought Mizuki.
"Are you up to something again, da ne?" asked Yanagisawa.
"Mizuki-sempai is always having delusional thoughts." Added Kisarazu.
Mizuki immediately turned his attention towards his teammates and said, "I do not have delusional thoughts! I am simply expressing my opinion on my teammates' growth spurts."
"Growth spurts?" asked Marui.
"That's not cool, Mizuki-san. A data man like you should not be a stalker." Added Yagyuu.
"Oh really? What makes you think I am a stalker? Oh, I see. You think I have a relationship with Fuji's brother, right? Well, you are only half right since Yuuta is now my property."
"Your property? But Syuusuke will kill you if he finds out about that." Sighed Jirou
"He's right, teammates are not considered private properties so please rethink that." added Oshitari.
"Just kidding! Besides, we shall see if any of you can make my yuuta more lovable." Replied Mizuki.
The others looked at him worriedly since they knew something was up with him the moment he arrived in Hokkaido. But they decided to shrug it off and focus on watching television in the living room.
A/N: Well, this was a very interesting chapter. I have turned Echizen's love affair around since he wants more people closer to him. I guess cuddling is always an option here. Still he is a good sport about it so there is no way he could say no. Besides, this is a good example of team bonding with a tennis prodigy. Hope you all can drop a review for me and remember: no flaming! See you all next week!