*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. Some chapters contain corporal punishment.

Changechildren (Prince of Tennis)

Part 25

By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)

The Changechildren spent more time formulating their escape plan than doing their homework that night, but when the time came, they were ready.

The first to act had to be Tachibana. Roughly half an hour prior to their planned mass exodus, he started up a breeze outside and gradually built upon it every few minutes. Finally, it was enough to make noticeable random sounds from wires, tree branches, rustling leaves outside the house, and soft creaking around the mansion itself. The noises were meant to help cover up any sound their leaving might produce.

As predicted, the final bedcheck on the boys was done just before eleven p.m., then each of them got up, already wearing the clothes they had been hiding with blankets pulled up to their necks. Youhei and Kouhei positioned themselves in the hallway, listening for any sign that a grown-up might be approaching. Then it was Yuushi's turn to get to work.

The Hyotei tensai wasn't sure he could pull it off, having never done anything on such a wide scale, but intended to try his best. He went from room to room and cast an illusion of its occupants asleep in their beds. It had been determined that any attempt to go down to the second floor exits would double their chances of getting caught, but thanks to their powers and careful planning, they didn't have to. Therefore, Yuushi finished his illusions with Atobe's room, because that was where his assigned group was preparing to go out the window.

Atobe himself leaned out the window enough to see his objective, then summoned his power to form a slide of ice that extended all the way from his windowsill to the ground below. "I'll test it first," he said to the others. "Remember, avoid coming into contact with Yuushi for as long as possible or his illusions will dissipate." He started to hoist himself up onto the sill, but a heavy hand fell on his shoulder.

"I'll go," Kabaji told him. "If it holds me, it's safe for all of you."

Atobe opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't argue with that logic. "All right, but be careful," he said, and moved aside so the younger, larger boy could crawl out the window. They all watched as Kabaji slid safely down to the ground and nodded up at them afterwards.

As the others began sliding down after him, in two other rooms, the second and third groups were preparing to go out their own windows.

Gakuto was heading his bunch, using his gravity power to lift each person down one at a time. Ryoma was in that group, and since the power didn't work on him directly, the younger boy had to climb onto Momoshiro's back and wrap his arms around his neck while Gakuto used his power on the Sophomore instead.

Outside the third room, Takahisa had raised a staircase of earth and rock that rose up under his windowsill much like Atobe's ice slide. The kids were able to walk down easily, and at the end came Takahisa himself, flattening the staircase behind him and pushing the earth back down when it came from so that all looked normal again.

Atobe couldn't leave his ice slide there, either, but wasn't sure he could manage getting rid of all of it alone. Kawamura stood by, ready to flame it if necessary, but Atobe wanted to try himself first. As he'd done before, he gently blew on his ice, focusing on that part of his power that could revert it back to water. To his immense satisfaction, the ice began to melt rapidly. Experimentally, he spread his arms to encompass the entire slide and watched the melting process spread even faster.

"I guess I wasn't needed here, after all, Atobe-san," Kawamura murmured with a grin. "You've got it under control."

"But of course," Atobe replied in a soft tone, smiling. "Still, as we know from tennis, it never hurts to have an alternate." He patted Kawamura on the shoulder. "Besides, we'll all need your help once we get to the lake."

The last two boys to leave the house were the Tanaka twins, having heard the others exit successfully, they were good to go themselves. From where he now stood on the ground, Gakuto lifted both of them down as gently as he could manage.

What followed was a mad dash across the grounds and into the woods, with everyone trying to move as quickly and quietly as possible. Kaidoh turned into an owl and flew on ahead while Eiji teleported himself and Oishi directly there. Choutarou went insubstantial and made good time running right through all the trees, bushes and even people who got in his path, until he reached Momoshiro, who was still carrying Ryoma on his back. In his haste and excitement, Choutarou forgot about Ryoma's power and attempted to go through the pair, but bounced backwards off the twelve-year-old and caused a domino effect in the kids right behind him.

"What happened?" Momoshiro glanced back at the pile of boys all griping at Choutarou, who was at the bottom.

Inui jogged up alongside the pair. "Ohtori-kun found out the hard way that he couldn't run through Ryoma."

"He tried that?" Momoshiro gasped and yelled back, "Ohtori-kun! Don't run through people, that's creepy! Creepy!"

"Over-this-under-that-whoops-a-rock-hey-a-mouse-think-we-scared-it-hi-Momo-see-ya-there!"

"Bye, Kamio-san," Ryoma replied, but the other boy was already gone.

"Was that talking blur Akira?" Momoshiro asked, then chuckled. "I guess to you he's going at normal speed. Man, I can barely negotiate these woods at night at normal pace, let alone as fast as he's running!"

"Luckily the moon is bright enough to give some light." Ryoma looked overhead. "I think the wind's dying down; the leaves aren't moving so much."

"Tachibana-san was only keeping it going while we were sneaking out," Momo replied. "It'll be too cold when we're wet if he doesn't cut it out before we reach the lake."

"It's not far now!" Youhei grinned at Momoshiro as he ran by him. "We can smell it!"

Ryoma frowned slightly, watching the twins dodge around branches and rocks as easily as Akira had, although nowhere nearly as fast. "Smell it?" he said. "I can't."

"Me neither," Momo told him. "But from the sounds of yelling up ahead, some people have already found it!"

When he ran into the clearing around the lake, Momo let Ryoma get down and they admired the look of it with the moonlight shining on its surface as the others were doing.

"It's so pretty," Fuji said.

Eiji had rolled up his pant legs and was standing ankle deep in the water. "It's colder than I expected," he admitted.

"Is that why you aren't in there swimming yet, Kikumaru-senpai, since you got here first and all?" Ryoma taunted.

"I wanted to wait for everyone else!" Eiji protested. "It wouldn't be fun swimming alone!"

Oishi cleared his throat and Eiji gasped, "Oh, sorry, Oishi! Of course, you were here, too, nya. It's just –"

"It's just that the water is cold right now," Atobe said and looked toward Kawamura expectantly. The other boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, blushing.

"I forgot that doing this would mean I'd be first one stripping down," he admitted.

Fuji touched his arm. "I'll go first then. I don't mind."

"I do!" Kawamura looked horrified, then embarrassed at Fuji's surprised expression. "I mean … I'm not crazy about everyone seeing you at all, but for you to be FIRST …."

"For Heaven's sake, _I'll_ go first if it will get us into the water before sunrise!" Atobe stated and began to undress. He handed each piece of clothing to Kabaji, who had just deposited the sleeping Jiroh onto the grass nearby. He folded Atobe's clothes neatly and set them atop a rock beside their towels.

Tezuka tried to maintain his taciturn expression as he watched his boyfriend get naked in front of almost two dozen witnesses. Typical Atobe, the Hyotei Captain wasn't phased in the least, but instead seemed to enjoy the attention as he always did. He made a languid show of sliding out of his pants, despite his earlier complaints about being kept waiting, and deliberately threw a wink over his shoulder at Tezuka as he revealed that he wasn't wearing underwear. The Seigaku Captain couldn't help smirking just a little. Atobe had 'un'dressed for the occasion ahead of time.

"All right." Atobe stretched his arms overhead, his nakedness obviously not of concern to him. "Kawamura-san, if you would, please? There's a chill in the air leftover from the earlier wind."

Kawamura nodded resolutely and undressed, blushing harder at knowing that Fuji was there, despite having shared locker room space with him for over two years. When he was done, he walked into the lake, activating his power as his flesh met the cold water. Instantly, the cold wasn't bothering him anymore, and the further in he ventured, the more he increased the heat surrounding him, pushing it gradually outwards and away from himself until he was waist-deep. Then he concentrated hard on extending the heat to the outer edges of the lake in one great shove.

To the shock of everyone watching, bubbles rippled across the water surface briefly, then a gentle rise of steam rose toward the moonlight.

"I hope there weren't fish in there, nya," Eiji breathed.

Fuji dipped a toe in and smiled. "It's like a hot spring now!"

The kids all cheered for Kawamura, who still appeared bashful about his success, but pleased as well. Clothes started flying off in all directions and most of the boys charged in without further hesitation while some of the more reserved ones took their time. Someone awakened Jiroh, who seemed surprised to find himself there, but eagerly began to disrobe. Momoshiro elbowed Ryoma and nodded back to where the Tanaka twins were heading for the water behind them. "What do you know?" he whispered mischievously. "They ARE boys!"

"We heard that!" Youhei shot back. "Pervert!"

Kouhei reached the water before his twin and yelped as soon as he ran in. He quickly jumped out again, grabbing his brother. "Don't, it's too hot!"

Takahisa looked back at them, already deep in the water with Mizuki. "What's wrong?"

Youhei experimentally bent down and touched the water with his fingers, yanking them back and wincing. "It's boiling! How can you all stand it?"

"It's hot, but not scalding," Yuushi told them, then gasped as Gakuto leapt on him from behind. "Gaku, you know you've just ruined my illusions back home, right?"

"Ask me if I care!" the acrobat replied, grinning at his boyfriend from over his shoulder. "There was no WAY this party was gonna happen without my touching you!"

Yuushi smiled and turned in Gakuto's grip so he could kiss him properly, his hand dipping under the water out of sight. Gakuto moaned into Yuushi's throat.

The twins gazed at each other helplessly on the shore. The rest of the boys began splashing, screaming, and tackling each other, or just swimming if they were lucky enough to avoid the more rambunctious amongst them.

"This is really nice," Choutarou remarked, swimming up alongside Inui and looking back toward the Tanakas. "What do you suppose is wrong with them?"

"I'm suspecting that like with Yuuta-kun, another aspect of their power may have manifested," he replied.

Shishido came up behind Choutarou and slid an arm around his naked waist. "Whose power is doing what now?" he asked.

"Youhei and Kouhei find the water too hot," Inui told him. "On the way here, I heard them say that they could smell the lake, and that was well before most of us could even see it."

"Their powers are supersight and hearing, though, right?" Shishido queried. "And that telepathy thing they've got between them, but what could that have to do with –"

"The senses!" Choutarou piped up suddenly. "Sight, hearing, now maybe scent and … touch?"

"That would leave taste," Inui nodded slowly. "We may have to experiment with that later, but I believe you have guessed it, Ohtori-kun."

Shishido snorted. "If they have supertasting abilities now, just don't give them that Inui Juice of yours. I've heard of that stuff - you'd kill them both!"

"What about the telepathy that Shishido-san mentioned?" Choutarou asked. "What does that have to do with the senses?"

"Perhaps it's a sixth sense," Inui suggested, then smiled. "Or maybe it's just a twin thing that the rest of us can't understand."

Shishido nodded toward the two boys on the beach. "They're coming in now, I guess the water is cooling off."

"I hadn't noticed, but you're right," Inui said and began swimming toward his teammate. "I'll go ask Taka-san if he can maintain a more or less steady temperature without making it too hot for the twins."

Shishido and Choutarou watched him go, then looked at each other. Shishido fingered Choutarou's hair. "Would it be totally corny of me to say that your hair is the exact colour of the moonlight right now?"

"Maybe," Choutarou breathed, "but I still like it."

Shishido moved closer until their lips met softly.

"It looks like everyone's having fun," Tachibana remarked to Tezuka as he took a break from being drenched by random splashing boys. "I have to admit, I am, too. Maybe I was wrong to worry so much."

"I wouldn't say that; it's never wrong to be cautious in situations like these," Tezuka said, watching Kaidoh and Momoshiro engage in a water fight that seemed to produce more laughter than anger. "But I can see that we all needed a chance to cut loose like this. Ever since we all learned about our powers, I think there's been more underlying tension than we've wanted to admit to." He sighed. "I wasn't even sure I should get into the water. What if I lost control of my power and electrocuted everyone?"

Tachibana grinned. "Then the remaining schools would have a lot less competition."

Mizuki had been having fun with Takahisa, but the Jyousei Captain had just deserted him to confer with Inui about some unimportant theory regarding the Tanaka twins' power. Okay, so the pair had some trouble getting into the water at first; they were there now, and having fun, so what was the big deal? Probably they just wanted attention, as if being twins and their neon hair didn't gain them enough most of the time! A tiny smirk formed on Mizuki's face. If that was what they wanted, he could give them some more. He dove under the water and turned invisible, making his way toward the two boys.

Youhei's piercing shriek stopped all conversations and activities, and Kouhei hollered right afterwards.

"OW, that HURT!"

"Something BIT me on the butt!"

Bit, no, Mizuki mused, having surfaced several feet away. Pinched, yes, although I suppose if you're that sensitive right now, then it may have felt like a bite ….

"There's nothing in this lake that would bite," Atobe called out before the entire group could make a frantic swim for shore.

"Are you two all right?" Takahisa asked the twins.

Red-faced, the two rubbed their backsides and pouted. "I guess so," Youhei said. "Whatever it was, it really hurt."

"What a pity," Mizuki purred. "Perhaps you both would be safer on the shore; you don't seem to be having much luck tonight." He gently steered Takahisa away by the arm, giving the Tanakas a triumphant look over his shoulder.

"I think we've been had," Kouhei muttered. "And I'll bet I know by whom. What does Takahisa see in that guy?"

"An easy lay, probably," Youhei replied bitterly. "Come on, let's swim. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of getting out now even if sharks were in this lake!"

Echizen Nanjiroh was sound asleep and having a nice dream. It involved Ryoma admitting that his father was the wisest person in the universe and he could only dream of being half the man he was someday. Then not only Ryoma, but all his little friends bowed down in awe of his magnificence. For some reason, they were all facing the other way, but they were wearing tennis shorts, so it was okay.

A jarring noise wiped the dream away in an instant and while Nanjiroh struggled to get it back, the telephone was more insistent. He fumbled to grab hold of the receiver. "Yeah?" he murmured sleepily. "Echizen here."

"It's one a.m.," a strange voice said softly. "Do you know where your Changechildren are?"

End of Part 25

(2006)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

This fic is not to be re-posted.