Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, or anything similar to it. ^.^ ; The personalities of the characters are my friends', and the personalities of the original Prince of Tennis characters are theirs.


Chapter Twenty Eight: Rules

"Eiji!" Sadaharu, Tezuka and Sachi exclaimed at the same time.

"Oh…whoops…" Eiji said, smiling and rubbing the back of his head.

"Um…I'm so lost…" Kyoko said, looking between Sachi and Tezuka in confusion. She noticed Ryoma was glaring at Tezuka, who was staring at the ground awkwardly.

Sadaharu pushed up his glasses. "What Eiji meant was…umm…"

"Eiji, I yelled at you not to tell!" Sachi shouted.

"Is that why you three were off talking at Keigo's party?" Oishi asked.

"It slipped out!" Eiji defended.

"I knew it would! We should have just killed you!" Sachi said.

"Eh? Kill me?! You wouldn't kill your own brother, would you?!" Eiji asked.

"It would have been logical to do that in order to keep the secret," Sadaharu pointed out, pushing up his glasses.

"Can I kill him and take it back?" Sachi asked, looking at Sadaharu.

Sadaharu shook his head. "Illogical," he said. "Sorry."

"Damn it. Eiji, look what you've done this time!"

"At least Momo isn't here. He'd be all mean about it!" Eiji said.

"That doesn't really help that Momo's not here, Eiji," Oishi said.

"You said you wouldn't tell!" Sachi said, stomping her foot on the ground.

Fuji smiled in confusion as Kyoko began to speak. "So…Sachi doesn't like Tezuka…"

"We already knew that," Fuji pointed out as he nodded for her to continue.

"Yes…and then Tezuka likes…wait, I am so confused…"

"It isn't confusing! Tezuka has a crush on Kyoko!" Eiji said again.

"EIJI!" Sachi exclaimed, kicking him in the shin. "Goddamn it! We could have gotten away with it!"

She looked around and noticed that Tezuka wasn't part of their group anymore. "Oh, look, Tezuka vanished. I should find him."

As she pulled out her cell phone and began to text, Kyoko looked around. "Where did he go? I didn't even notice him leave…"

Sachi looked up from her phone. "Kun-Kun says he headed home and it's sort of sad that we didn't notice him just walk off because Ryoma was glaring at him."

Kyoko looked at Ryoma in confusion, but he refused to make eye contact with her.

"I'm sure Chibi-Chan was just taking a break because his eyes got tired," Eiji said. "Glaring is hard! I don't get how Fuji does it so much."

"I don't glare," Fuji said.

"Well, he needed to leave," Ryoma said.

When the team all turned to him, he hesitated and thought out his next words carefully to avert suspicion. "He was…making everything awkward…"

Eiji gasped loudly. "That's our captain, Chibi-Chan! Our CAPTAIN!"

Ryoma glared at Eiji.

"I'm part of your team, Ryoma! TEAM!"

"Eiji…just drop it…" Oishi said.

Sadaharu pushed up his glasses and wrote in his notebook as he looked at Sachi from the corner of his eye.

"Doesn't all of this seem…odd…?" Oishi asked.

"Nah, not really. Remember when Tezuka took her horseback riding when we went to Hawaii? How does it seem odd?" Sachi asked.

"But I thought Oishi made them…" Ryoma said quietly.

"I suggested it! I'm not part of this!" Oishi defended.

"Calm down, Oishi, I'm sure no one's accusing you…" Kyoko coaxed.

"I agree with Oishi-sempai…you three," Ryoma said, meaning Sadaharu, Sachi and Tezuka. "Are up to something."

"What are we up to?!" Sachi exclaimed. "Eiji killed the secret we were all trying to keep so this exact thing would not be happening!"

"I didn't kill anything!" Eiji said, looking at Sachi offended.

"You gave away something they didn't want anyone to know, Eiji…" Oishi pointed out.

"…it was a small mistake!! It was going to come out eventually!"

"According to my data, it would've stayed a secret if we didn't tell you, Eiji," Sadaharu said, pushing up his glasses and staring at him.

"We didn't even tell him! He stole your notebook," Sachi reminded him. "Nothing good can come from stealing that notebook! First it went in the water, then Momo was a hippo…okay, that one was a good thing, but now this! Why would it have to come out Eiji? Why would Tezuka, Sadaharu or myself want someone to know?"

"Because you want to steal Tezuka!"

"That's stupid, why?

"Because he's boring!"

"Where are you going with this Eiji?" Oishi asked.

"Sachi wants Tezuka!! She has for as long as I can remember!"

"For as long as you can remember? How long is that Eiji? Because, as I remember it, I stopped wanting Tezuka when we stopped dating…"

"Liiies!"

"Wait, how would him being boring make Sachi want him…?" Kyoko asked, trying to keep up.

"Because she's not! Or she wants to make him not boring!"

"Why is he shouting all of his sentences?" Ryoma asked.

"Because I want to!!"

"Eiji feels bad for what he has done, but will not admit it, so he is trying to place different blame one someone else," Sadaharu observed.

"H-hey! That's not true!" Eiji objected.

"Then what is, Eiji?"

Eiji paused and looked around wildly. "Uhh…"

"I think we're stressing him out," Ryoma noticed.

"So…since we know the basics, do you want to tell us any more details on this? I mean, did he randomly tell you?" Oishi asked curiously.

"Since the 'cat is out of the bag', I will explain. Tezuka, while he was hiding from Atobe on the beach, came across myself. I, like usual, began collecting data. The conversation took an 'unusual' turn to romance, which was really my skillful planning. After I concluded and accused Tezuka, I could tell he was very stressed about it. So I told him he should confide in a female what his troubles were. He selected Sachi out of trust, I assume," Sadaharu explained.

"Well, that's good that him and Sachi are on good terms of that kind of trust!" Kyoko complimented with a smile.

"And Sachi listened because she wants him!" Eiji added.

Fuji turned and glared at Eiji. "She does not," he hissed.

Eiji pointed at Fuji. "See! You do glare!"

The rest of the group turned their attention to Fuji and Eiji.

"I am not glaring, Eiji."

"Yes you are! You are glaring!"

"Why would I glare?"

"Because you're like Chibi-Chan! If someone says something about the girl you like, you freak out!!"

Eyes turned to Ryoma, who stared at Eiji with a confused look.

"What are you talking about, Eiji-Sempai?" he asked, challenging Eiji's gaze.

"Oh, I think you know!"

The two continued to stare at each other until Kyoko intervened.

"Okay you two…we don't need any fighting…" she said, trying to keep the peace.

"Of course she would be the one to say something, eh, Chibi?" Eiji said, elbowing Ryoma in the side.

Ryoma said nothing, but continued staring blankly at him.

"Aw, you don't want to admit it? Okay, I'll do it for you then!"

"Eiji, we don't need anyone else admitting things today," Oishi said.

Eiji pouted. "Fine…tomorrow then!"

"So, to sum all of this up, Sachi kept the secret really well, but Eiji's the one who spilled the beans," Oishi said.

"Why would I spill the beans?" Sachi asked.

"Because…you're like that," Oishi said.

"I resent that very much."

"Will you just admit you want Tezuka?" Eiji said.

"That would be a lie."

"She's lying! She's lying!"

"You're denying it!" Momo exclaimed, joining the group out of nowhere. "It's finally time for me to get my revenge!"

"Revenge for what, Momo?" Kyoko asked.

"After all this time of her teasing me, saying I like her, I can finally get her back! She wants Tezuka!"

"Where'd you come from?" Sachi asked. "So you DO like me? Because you didn't go with Keigo! So you must like me!"

"What—no…how did you do that?!"

"What? Turn it around? It's easy."

Momo sighed. "My mom wasn't home and I forgot my key…so…I had to come back here…" he explained in a grave tone.

"Sad story, Momo…"

"I was hiding over there until I found the perfect moment to strike!"

"But…since she turned it around on you, it wouldn't matter if you waited later for the 'perfect moment'. You would've lost anyway," Oishi pointed out.

"Stupid, stupid Momo," Sachi said.

"Hmm…" Sadaharu said, fixing his data. "Ah, now I see, there was a way Momo would return to us."

"You want Tezuka!" Momo persisted.

"One, I don't. And two, so what if I did?" Sachi challenged.

Momo paused and thought. "Well…it's easier to make of you when you're not admitting it!"

"So really, he's just looking for an argument," Oishi said.

"No! I just want my revenge!"

"Can we stop talking about Sachi and Tezuka please?" Fuji asked with a smile.

"Fuji feels threatened!!" Eiji exclaimed.

"So, if I admit it, you'll stop?" Sachi asked. "Okay, I want Kun-Kun…"

"Ha!!"

"To be my bestest friend ever!"

"Darn it, that doesn't count."

Eiji laughed and pointed at Momo. "She tricked you!"

"She has to do it over, and follow the rules this time!"

"There are rules?" Oishi asked.

"I don't believe in rules when they apply to me," Sachi said.

"The rules apply to everyone!" Momo exclaimed.

"Have they ever applied to Sachi?" Eiji asked.

"Well…no…but she should start abiding by them!!"

"I make the rules. First rule, Momo is always wrong…that's all so far," Sachi said.

"HEY! I'm never wrong!"

"You're always wrong, Momo!!" Eiji said, starting to laugh.

"Should we go get Tezuka and straighten all of this out…?" Kyoko asked.

"I think that would be a good idea…if it's just you and me, Kyoko. Having the whole group there is not a good idea…"

"Yeah, that probably would be best…" Kyoko said with a quick glare at Eiji.

"What?? I didn't do anything! I'm innocent!"

"So!" Sachi said, clapping her hands together. "Kyoko and I will take off and everyone will…do as they please. We have a human to speak with!"

"Are you…sure a few of us can't go with you?" Ryoma asked quietly.

"Oh, let them go alone, Chibi-Chan! A little competition never hurts!"

Ryoma turned and glared at Eiji.

"Yeah, because you know Tezuka is totally going to make a move…calm down, Ry-Ry. We just need to make sure Tezuka knows it is okay for him to be around us," Sachi said.

"The same can be said for Sachi," Kyoko said, meaning to direct it to Fuji.

She glared at Eiji who had his arm around Fuji and a cunning smiling.

"But keep yourself on your toes! You never know what might happen! …okay, time to go," Sachi said.

"SHE ADMITTED IT!" Momo exclaimed.

"No…she just said…you never know what might happen…" Fuji said.

"And even if she's not teasing, you know there are plenty of girls out there, Fuji," Momo said, putting his arm around Fuji.

"But none of those girls are for you, how sad," Sachi said. "Okay, we're really leaving this time. Bye!"

Sachi spun around, and led Kyoko toward Tezuka's house.

"Okay…so what do we do now?" Oishi asked.

Everyone in the group looked around hopelessly.