A Royal Vacation

Chapter 26: The Festivities Continue

Ryoma was feeling good about coming back to the mansion after being away in Hokkaido for several days because he has missed out on Keigo's home cooking. But what is really going on today with those boyfriends of his? How on earth did Keigo arrange out that many chairs inside his house?

As the tennis prodigy looked around him before eyeing Sanada and Keigo, he was starting to develop a headache. These loving boyfriends of his are starting to act like immature children now when they should be growing up. Furthermore, dealing with these guys hasn't been easy for Ryoma because all they like to is watching him suffer. Even Taka was feeling sorry for his kohai as well.

Before Ryoma could say anything, Momo was the first to speak, "Are there more sushi to eat this time around? Taka-san was more tha generous enough to bring some from his father's shop."

Once Ryoma heard that voice, he could notice the rest of his teammates from Seigaku standing outside of the dining room chatting away. Unfortunately, he was too focused on the group inside the dining room.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here, Syuusuke?" said Mizuki as he snuck out behind Momo. Geez, this guy is still as annoying as ever, always stalking other teammates from various schools. As always, Mizuki has a habit of twirling his hair while smiling.

"Ah, Yuuta-chan what are you doing here?" smiled Syuusuke as he approached his younger brother while ignoring Mizuki.

"Well, it was all my…." Before Yuuta could finish his sentence, Mizuki suddenly interrupted him.

"It's like this. We were on our way home when we spotted Momoshiro. He said that this luxurious mansion was having a party so we had to come." Smilied Mizuki. Unfortunately, silence reigned from across the room as no one seemed to be interested one bit in the data freak from St, Rudolph.

MIzuki sweat-dropped as he looked around him. "Why am I always being constantly ignored?" he thought to himself.

Once Syuusuke pulled his brother inside, Mizuki just followed him inside, the seigaku regulars followed suit. Furthermore, other people were outside as well.

"How did you all get here?" asked Sanada as he eyed, akaya, Marui, Niou and Renji.

"Probably at the request of Momo if I am not mistaken?" added Yukimura as he smiled angelically. Unfortunately, the rikkai captain's smile only brought fear on the four teammates.

"It was actually Sadaharu-san that invited us here," stated Renji. His heart was beating faster than before because he fears that Sanada's rage could explode at any moment if they angered him. As for yukimura, he would leave no trace of corpses if he is angered. These guys are in real danger if they try to piss off their own captain and vice-captain. Although Yukimura didn't say anything else, he just nodded at his teammates because they are only trying to satisfy Yukimura as long as possible. Whatever these guys were thinking, he wouldn't want to know. Now that they're all here, there is no going back.

As the four teammates from Rikkai breathed a sigh of relief, they ventured inside the mansion and took a seat on the couch for their own safety.

How about you guys, Jiroh and Gakuto?" asked a smiling oshitari. It seems that they are getting a full house here. As for Jiroh, he was still smiling while eyeing the sugar freak.

"Well, since we saw the arrival of Marui-sempai, we decided to come here because Keigo's house has a lot of delicious food."

Gakuto didn't have much to say either since he knows there was no way that he could rely on sleeping beauty after he brought him here. If Keigo finds out, they are dead for sure. As for the rest of them, everything seems to have been resolved. All students from their respective schools are getting along peacefully, even Fuji was satisfied as well.

As the sadist observed Ryoma eating his lunch, he managed to give his baby brother a napkin to clean his mouth before chugging down a cup of water. Even Tezuka himself had to pour some more juice into Ryoma's cup even after he finished drinking one cup of water. This sort of action has made Echizen satisfied, but it didn't last as Kikumaru proceeded to embrace echizen yet again

"Ne, ne, Ryoma Try some of this lentil soup!" smirked Fuji as he scooped up a bit of the soup from the bowl and fed it into the tennis prodigy's mouth. It was pretty good.

"Thanks Fuji-sempai, but I can finish the rest of this stuff on my own."

"Saa, no! Allow me to feed you." Said Fuji evilly. "Or do you want me to give you some Inui juice?"

"Fuji-sempai, I know you must be kidding about the juice, can you please let me try to eat on my own without too many interruptions?" said Ryoma indignantly.

"You wound me Ryo-chan, and here I am trying to show you my concern for your health." Pouted Fuji.

"Your concern is duly noted. Howeve, like I said, it would be best if you let me handle this on my own without having to be babied by you guys."

"Nya, Ochibi! You are too cute when you say that!" laughed Eiji.

"Ryoma-chan you might want to try some stringed beans." Said Yukimura as he picked a handful from a plate and placed them in Ryoma's rice bowl.

"arigato, Yukimura-buchou."

"Ore-sama still thinks the filet salmon are good too."

"Stringed beans have more vitamins and calcium." Added Sanada.

"Tomatoes are much healthier than either of those two veggies combined!" interjected Tezuka

"Are you insulting ore-sama's knowledge of food?" shouted Keigo as he got up from his seat before eyeing Tezuka directly in his face. However, Tezuka didn't even move a muscle. Just then, Yuushi stood up and went in between both captains and pushed them aside.

"All right, let's all calm down. Let Echizen-kun decide what foods are best for him." Suggested Yuushi.

All of the students from Hyotei Gakuen and Seigaku applauded at Yuushi's enthusiasm and quick thinking, especially ryoma.

"Ne, Oishi-sempai, don't you think you should give up your mother hen position to Oshitari? I think he will take pretty good care of our beloved Ochibi." Suggested Eiji.

"Kikumaru, if anyone has the ability to look after Echizen it will be me, but I won't give up if I lose to Oshitari. Furthermore, I know that Ryoma has been getting along very well with the students at Hyotei and I feel that only they can move him." Added Oishi.

"That's the spirit, Oishi-sempai." smiled Ryoma. He then got up and placed an arm around Yuushi's shoulder. "That was such a great speech, Oshitari-sempai. Perhaps I should let you spend more time at my house. You could always look after Karupin for me when I am at school."

Yuushi was surprised at that suggestion as he looked at Ryoma's cute little face and smiled serenely. "Ryo-chan, you know I will always be available at any time. You got my phone number on your contacts list. Just ring me up and I will be there in an instant." He then ruffled Ryoma's hair affectionately.

"Thanks, sempai. Now then, it doesn't matter what veggies or fruits I eat. They are all good to me as long as they all have a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals for my body. I will eat just about anything."

All of a sudden, everyone's eyes were glued to Echizen's face as they heard his response. Even seigaku had to move back a bit because they are scared that their beloved Kohai would fall victim to other schools' pranks.

"What is the matter with these people today?" thought Ryoma to himself.

Jiroh was staring straight into the eyes of Marui while smiling at him as he continued putting more sweets into his plate. Gakuto and akaya were busy arguing about something while Renji and inui were talking about something in private. As for the silver pair, they immediately got up and took a seat in between Ryoma.

"Che! Listening to our buchous arguing is just a waste of time." Muttered Shishido.

"But you have to be proud that Echizen-san made a decision that he would eat healthier from now on. Shall we help him with that?" asked Choutaro.

"I don't see why not. After all, it is up to us to ensure that Echizen-san has the proper nutrition he needs." Said Shishido.

They both agreed with each other whiule the golden pair started at then awkwardly.

Meanwhile, Echizen looked at the eyes of his teammates before an idea glimmered up in his head. "Hold on a second, let me get you guys some juice from the fridge."

Before the gang could answer, Ryoma got up and went over to the kitchen, opened up the fridge and took out apple juice and seltzer water for the team. None of his teammates were aware that he was going to do that for them and some were just suspicious of the boy's intentions.

"You know, now that I think about it. I think various veggies are good because their tastes are different. I think you all should put your faith in me and Oshitari so that way, we won't be moping around in circles." Smiled Echizen as he delivered the juices to each of the students.

For some reason, the boyfriends seemed to agree on Echizen's input as they all took the juice boxes from Echizen's hands.

"All right, let's propose a toast to Keigo. We should thank him for inviting us here!" they all said in unison as they raised their glass before drinking it. Soon smiles lit up on everyone's faces as they drank the apple and orange juices. "So delicious!"

Ryoma breathed a sigh of relief as he gathered his belongings and went upstairs towards Keigo's bedroom in order to catch up on his reading. As for the others, they stood there silently not knowing what just happened. All the other schools were dumbfounded at what Echizen did. But they just shrugged it off knowing that the boy is in good hands.

The next morning, Echizen woke up bright and early as he went downstairs for a jog. He dressed up in his tennis gear and then grabbed a water bottle from a nearby box before leaving the house. Yup he definitely needed a good exercise to start his day because the energy he had last night was completely drained out. Furthermore, he still needs a bit of training done so that breakfast will be waiting for him.

Just as he was about to close the door, Echizen nearly jumped at the sight of Fuji Syuusuke sneaking up from behind him.

"Saa, Good morning, Ryoma." Smiled Fuji as he snuggled his face on Echizen.

"G… Good morning Fuji-sempai, and of course to you too buchou."

"Good morning. What are you doing up this early in the morning?" asked Tezuka.

"I was just out for my morning run. I just really need it after a night of partying. I also have my water bottle prepared in case I get thirsty."

Tezuka and Fuji both looked at each other and smiled at him. What do they meant by do that to Ryoma? Was it some sort of payback? We never saw them make any sudden movements. Unless there was some sort of a punishment in store for Ryoma? No one said anything to the kid.

"If you guys don't have anything else to tell me, I should be on my way for training. See you guys later." Said Ryoma as he rushed out of the house and closed the gate behind him.

"Oh yes about the juice last night, thank you for that." Called Fuji.

That sort of talk would seriously wound Echizen's pride as his body started cringing again.

"Oh and by the way, why don't you run at least 40 laps during your jog." Added Tezuka.

But Echizen was already long gone even before he heard Tezuka giving that order. Both of them watched with smiles on their faces. "He is still a child who hasn't reached maturity yet. But he is still too cute even for us." Thought Fuji.

"Tezuka, you are truly a reliable captain." Continued Fuji.

"We should also start jogging as well." Stated Tezuka. He feels that Ryoma has become a little bit naughty lately even though they do still care about him a lot. Furthermore, they still don't know what to do with him. As for Echizen, he still doesn't know what those two are really thinking or doing because he still has a headache from last night. Even though he didn't attend the opening ceremony for the nationals, he still felt pity on himself. Furthermore, being together with his sempais is already good enough for him despite making it into the regionals and the nationals altogether.

"Hey brat! Wait up a minute. I never got to thank you for that delicious juice last night." Called Keigo as he chased after the brat who was almost 2 miles ahead of him. He even grabbed a Gatorade from the fridge before he left for his usual jog.

"Hey glad I could help you. I am so glad I didn't even listen to Inui sempai or else I would be in trouble, monkey king."

"Please do not call me that in the early hours of the morning, brat." Said Keigo. He could feel a headache coming on.

"if you give me a good luck kiss, I will call you Kei-chan again."

"What is it with you and your nicknames? Just stick with the ones that you like the most." Boasted Keigo.

"All right then, how about this? How about let's race to see who can run the longest. If I win, I promise not to call you monkey king for a while. But if you win, then you have to promise to treat me to dinner later on." Suggested Ryoma.

"You got yourself a deal brat! And why didn't you tell me you were going out for a jog. What do you think would have happened if you got lost? I could have called the police on you!"

"That's all in the past, monkey king! I didn't tell you because I didn't want to wake you up this early. I thought you were still asleep."

"Oh come now! You know I am close by! You've insulted ore-sama for not waking me up. Well now, it's time for a little payback." Smirked Keigo as he ran right up towards Ryoma and scooped him up bridal style before carrying him towards a park. "Do you think I love you too much?"

"Are you confessing to me?" asked Ryoma as he took a step back from Keigo.

"Yes, now just admit that you love me!"

"I love you with all my heart! Are you happy now?" asked Ryoma. His face was blushing yet again as he placed his foot on keigo's jogging pants.

"This feels so much more comfortable with just the two of us together. Don't you wish it was like this daily?" said Keigo

"I agree with you, Atobe-sempai. No one will bother us now."

"Oh really? You better think again, little Ryoma." Said a voice.

Keigo looked up to see Yuushi standing right in front of them. He was also going for a jog as well when he spotted the two lovebirds resting here underneath a tree. "people are going to be watching so you guys better return to your jogging laps." Said Yuushi as he tapped his captain's shoulder to wake him up.

"What are you doing here, Oshitari? I thought you were busy taking care of clubroom duties."

"I got out of doing that stuff since it was my day off. Anyway, allow me to stay with Echizen for a little bit."

"Ahn, I see you had to sneak away from the club room when ore-sama is not around? Very well then, I;'ll be back for him." Said keigo as he got up and resumed his run.

That's our yuushi, he knows how to comfort Echizen since he can stop arguments before they even start. Seripously though, keigo can be so babyish sometimes.

Just then, Yukimura arrived and saw Yuushi holding onto Echizen as he was reading a book. "Saa, what's this? It seems that you are interested in Echizen as well, Yuushi." He then walked over and sat down next to Echizen while snuggling his body like a teddy bear.

"It seems that we are all interested in him, Yukimura-kun. Are you out for a jog as well?"

"No not really, but I am making sure Sanada gets his morning routine finished before breakfast." Mused Yukimura.

"Looks like you guys are early birds now. Gakuto-san isn't a morning person, but usually I am the one to get him up for a little jog before we sit down to breakfast."

"Speaking of early birds, Ryo-chan, why didn't you answer my call when you went out this morning? What happened?" asked Yukimura. Ryoma looked up and saw the rikkai captain looking down at him with that smile plastered on his face.

"I forgot to charge up the battery." Said Ryoma. The pressure was on him now since his lovers are here as well.

"Oh, I see. Has it been a few days since you last charged up your phone? I see I should have given you a better charger. My bad." Continued yukimura.

"Nah, its fine." Said Ryoma as he adjusted his cap back on his head and resumed sleeping on Yuushi's shoulder.

"Ryo chan," said Yukimura as he planted a kiss on Ryoma's forehead, causing him to blush. He reached out and slowly moved Yukimura's hands onto his chest as he continued sleeping.

Just then, Tezuka and Fuji arrived on the scene and saw what was happening. They too tried not to laugh as they took a seat on the bench. Fuji immediately took out his camera once again and snapped a few photos for his scrapbook because he always finds this scene to be cute. As for Tezuka, he just watched with interest without doing anything. He then noticed a can of ponta on the ground and immediately took it away without waking Ryoma up. Unfortunately for him, Ryoma opened one of his eyes and took the ponta back.

"Will you stop taking my ponta away, buchou?"

"Ryoma, you need to learn to control your obsession with ponta. Remember when you had stomach pains from drinking that juice?" said Tezuka sternly.

"Come on now buchou, don't treat me like a kid. I am old enough to know what is healthy or not healthy to drink, okay?"

"Saa, Ryo-baby, I would listen to Tezuka if I were you. Unless you want me to tell the world that you were sharing make up with Ryuzaki sakuno?"

"You wouldn't dare, Fuji-sempai!"

"Fuji, stop teasing him. We don't want to cause a scandal around our beloved kohai." Stated Sanada.

"Che, Mada Mada Dane!" said Ryoma as he took the ponta away from Tezuka and drank it up in order to boost his energy after a short run. He needed some strength after a jog. The others looked at him and just smiled.

"If ryoma wants to challenge us to a marathon, be our guest." Stated Yukimura.

"Of course." Said Ryoma. As long as Yukimura doesn't keep going after the cell phone issue, then everything will be okay. Furthermore, he just wants to make sure his sempais doesn't keep pressuring him into doing things that he doesn't want to do. If that continues, then ryoma will have some difficulties in dealing with his boyfriends.

By the time the morning jog was over, Ryoma and his lovers returned to the mansion to eat breakfast. There was also coffee brewing as well since Keigo needed that in order to start his day just as he would prepare for a school week. As for Yuushi, he was busy reading his novel while sipping on his coffee.

"Since when do you all drink coffee, my dear lovers?"

Sanada looked up from his phone and said, "Echizen-san, coffee is an essential necessity to keep us awake. I am sure your father drinks a lot of it in the morning if I am not mistaken?"

"Sanada-san is right, Ryo-chan. You see, when I wake up in the morning, I always drink a few cups of coffee if I want to perform my duties as a captain. Otherwise, I would be very crabby and upset. You don't want to see me like that, do you?" said Yukimura in his monotonous tone.

Ryoma immediately fidgeted. He would not want to cross the rikkai buchou like that when he is in a bad mood. He will have to learn to steer clear in order to avoid having a conflict. As he looked at Keigo, he only made a few hand gestures and shook his head telling ryoma not to do anything stupid in the mansion. He sighed after returning to his seat. "Geez, are these guys really that sensitive about what they do on a daily basis? I mean I'm just asking to make sure they don't drink too much of it." Thought Ryoma.

"So, was there something you need?" asked Yuushi.

"Um, no, I was just about to you know, pour myself a cup of milk." Said Ryoma nervously.

"Allow me to do that for you, Ryo-baby." Said Fuji as he took the cup from Ryoma before handing it to him again after the milk was poured in.

"Thanks, Fuji-sempai."

"Don't mention it."

"Do you need me to do some warm ups with you?"

"No, I think I got this handled."

"Ah ah, nope, you can't go out there by yourself. It's too dangerous. Besides, we will all be worried sick about you if you venture out there alone."

"Che, it seems you haven't gotten over this, Fuji-sempai." thought Ryoma to himself.

"So what do you want from a sadist like me?"

"You are a genius of seigaku, aren't you? And how come you don't know what I want from you?" smiled Ryoma.

"Saa, I see. You want to date me, is that right?"

Ryoma sputtered indignantly as the milk flew out of his mouth and onto the floor, causing him to choke. Luckily, Yuushi managed to rub his back and handed him a glass of water to clear his airway. Once that was done, Ryoma recovered once again and returned to his seat.

"What makes you think I will want to accept your proposal?"

"Saa, it's just a thought for consideration. Take your time to think about it."

"All right then. But isn't it time for tennis practice now?"

"Saa, I'm coming. I will beat you this time!"

"Don't count on it, sempai."

Ryoma didn't even care how confusing the tensai of Seigaku was. He grabbed his tennis equipment and went out towards the backyard tennis courts. Fuji only smiled at Ryoma's retreating back since he wants to see what sort of game his precious little kitty was going to play next.

That ends the chapter. So glad it was over and done with. I nearly had a writer's block on this one, but luckily I didn't. Still I couldn't resist Fuji Syuusuke since he is the sort of guy that can trick people into believing his schemes. Nothing gets by him. It seems that Fuji is immune to just about everything while Ryoma is more vulnerable to his mockery and tricks. We shall see how well he can fare against the sadist and everyone else in tennis. Next chapter will be the last one!