*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 36

By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)

"You're in a good mood today," Takahisa remarked to Mizuki on the tennis court as the two of them played a friendly practice match. "You didn't make a snide remark about my serve taking your head off this time."

"Oh, your serve is as lethal as ever," Mizuki said cheerfully. "You're right, though – I am in a good mood."

"Do you want to go out later?" Takahisa asked as he chased after Mizuki's return. "There's a good movie opening, and it's based at a tennis camp."

"That sounds like fun, sure!" Mizuki was delighted. He had disposed of a potential rival and was going on a date with Takahisa. It had been a productive day already and it wasn't even over.

Kouhei listened quietly to everything Terry said, but it wasn't always easy. More than once he wanted to interrupt, but did his best to hold back.

"Mukahi-san just apologized a few minutes ago, and I was really grateful, but I feel like I owe you one as well." Terry turned to him. "I'm really sorry, Kouhei. It was wrong of me to think you or Youhei might have told anyone about my power for even a second."

"It's okay," the blue-haired boy assured him good-naturedly. "I probably would have suspected me, too, given the circumstances. But Terry, you remember that we told you and Tom that everyone was going to find out sooner or later, right?"

"Yes," Terry admitted with a tiny smile. "I guess I just hoped it would be later rather than sooner."

Kouhei grinned. "Well, at least now you know that people WILL understand." He sighed. "I don't know what gives with Mizuki, though."

"Me either! I don't think I've been here long enough to do anything to offend him."

Kouhei rolled his eyes. "It doesn't take much! He's my Captain's boyfriend, and sometimes I think he hates Youhei and I because we can speak so easily with Buchou, but we're on the same team, for crying out loud!"

"Well, I'm not going to let a jerk like that get to me anymore," Terry said firmly. "He's the only one here who seems to have a problem with me, but whatever it is, it's HIS problem."

"Atta boy!" Kouhei praised, then blushed slightly. "Sorry, I guess I'm being too familiar with you now."

"Not at all," Terry assured him. "You've made me feel very comfortable here – I appreciate it."

"So," Kouhei said thoughtfully, "what have they said to you about going to school here? Do you know which one it'll be yet?"

Terry bit his lip. "Actually, Sakaki-san said that it was most likely we'd end up being tutored. While Tom and I are better at Japanese than we used to be, we're years behind in some subjects that are standard here. Besides, they think that our being idols would cause trouble with other students and overall safety."

"Are you and Tom going to continue your career here?" Kouhei asked with interest.

"We're going to try, if people haven't forgotten us by now, that is."

Not likely, Kouhei thought, admiring the other boy's profile.

Fuji brushed his hair carefully and paused to consider his next move. "Eiji, do you think a touch of clear lip gloss would look nice?"

"Yeah, but I don't think you need it. You're beautiful enough." Eiji gave his big teddy bear a hug and bounced it up and down on his lap.

"Are you okay?" Fuji glanced at his roommate. "You seem even more hyper than usual."

Eiji gave him a wan smile. "I wish I could tell you, but I'm sworn to secrecy." He put the bear aside and flopped back on the bed. "I hate secrets! What fun are they if you can't tell them?"

"Well, at least you're in a better position than me," Fuji said cheerfully. "You KNOW the secret. I only know that there is one."

"Secret?"

Both boys looked toward the doorway to find Mizuki smirking at them. "And what secret might THAT be?" the St. Rudolph manager asked.

"None of your business," Fuji said bluntly.

Mizuki stuck his tongue out at the Seigaku tensai. "I already heard you say you don't know it, so don't start with me."

"I won't tell you either, nya," Eiji stated.

Mizuki flipped hair off his face. "Fine, keep your old secret. Maybe I already know it, anyway. I find out a lot of things just by walking around here invisible." He turned and left, and Fuji got up and shut the door.

"Unfortunately, he's probably being serious," he remarked. "Whoever was doling out Changechildren powers couldn't have given such a devious sneak a worse one."

"Too bad Oishi can't take it away from him forever." Eiji sighed. "He doesn't deserve a power like that if he's just going to abuse it."

"Oishi wouldn't do that," Fuji said thoughtfully. He opened the door and headed out. "I still have a few minutes before Taka-san and I leave for our date – I need to talk to someone first. See you later, Eiji."

"Hoi? Talk to who about what?" The redhead watched him go, then shook the bear in frustration. "Not ANOTHER secret!"

"This was a great idea, Momo-senpai," Ryoma said over his shoulder. The two of them were sharing Momoshiro's bike as they rode into town.

"Yeah, a great idea, really great," Momoshiro said, although Ryoma didn't notice his lack of enthusiasm. Momo HAD thought it would be a fun day for he and Ryoma to ride to town, get burgers and generally hang out, but that was before….

"I agree with Ryoma," piped up Kevin as he pulled up alongside them on another bike. "It was sure nice of Akira to loan me his bicycle so I could go with you!"

"Yeah, he's a saint," Momoshiro grumbled, making a mental note to kick his roommate's butt later.

Tom listened quietly to what Fuji and Gakuto told him. Youhei, who had been walking with the American player when they were approached, saw the change in his expression when Fuji mentioned he'd found Terry crying.

"I wasn't going to tell you about this, because I thought Terry might not want you to know. But I'm a big brother, too, and am very protective of Yuuta. Mizuki has hurt him before, as well."

"Kouhei is my younger twin," Youhei mentioned. "I understand how you feel, too."

"I have a younger brother at home," Gakuto piped up. "He can be a brat, and I may want to strangle him sometimes, but I'd still want to kill anyone else who hurt him."

"But we have an ulterior motive in telling you this," Fuji admitted to Tom. "Mizuki's power is invisibility, and he's been using it with impunity around the mansion." He gave the other boy a wry smile. "Probably against me more than most, as I'm number one on his black list."

"It looks like Terry is on that list, too," Gakuto pointed out. "For some reason, Mizuki dislikes him enough that he sent me after him on false pretenses." He bowed. "And although I already apologized to your brother, I'll say I'm sorry to you, too."

"I don't blame you, Mukahi-san," Tom assured him. "It sounds like Mizuki is having too much fun at other peoples' expense." He shook his head. "I can't forgive him for making Terry cry. It's been hard for me to convince him we would be accepted here, and Mizuki's words played on his fears."

"Earlier, we were talking about Mizuki's power, and how he abuses it," Fuji said softly. "We can't change what he did to Terry, but we can give him enough of a scare that he might back off of him – and maybe the rest of us – for a while."

Tom looked wary. "I hope you're not suggesting that I remove his power from him. If I take a power, I have to give it to some other Changechild. And if I DO take his power without his consent, I'm justifying the fear people may have had in our abilities."

"I would never ask that of you," Fuji promised, then smiled sweetly. "However, there's no harm in a little deception, hmm?"

Fuji Yuuta was a little surprised at what he was hearing. "Your parents really don't want you and your twin brother to move into the Changechildren mansion? But they let you attend separate schools – what's the difference?"

There was a long enough silence that Yuuta glanced over at the teammate he'd spoken to, Kisarazu Atsushi. "Senpai?"

"If I tell you the truth, will you promise to keep it quiet?" Atsushi asked.

"Of course, if you want me to."

"It's not our parents; they let us decide. Ryoh and I agreed we'd be better off trying to get used to this on our own instead of going with the rest of you."

"But why?" Yuuta inquired curiously. "It's kind of fun at the mansion, with all the different kids. The adults are okay, too, so long as you don't use your powers in a dangerous way."

"I believe you, it's just –" Atsushi sighed. "Well, I'm not sure I trust Mizuki."

"What?! But he's our teammate! Our manager!"

"He's also a manipulator," Atsushi stated, giving Yuuta a direct look. "Please don't pretend you don't know. He does it to you worse than any of us."

"Yeeess," Yuuta admitted slowly. His brother had said the same thing more than once, but he hadn't realized Atsushi had noticed as well. When he told him as much, the older boy laughed.

"Yuuta-kun, look at me." Atsushi tugged on the long, red strip of cloth that he wore as a headband. "I cut my hair and wear this thing because Mizuki told me to, so he wouldn't confuse me with my twin. We all listen to him because he's essentially in charge of our team and has brought us so far. But tennis is one thing – I don't want him to get any ideas about our powers."

Yuuta wished he could argue on Mizuki's behalf, but he suspected that the only reason his manager hadn't taken advantage of his power was because healing wasn't useful for much else. A twinge of fear reminded him that the other aspect of his power – the part that broke Akutsu Jin's wrist – was another matter. But then, who would Mizuki want to hurt like that? He knew he wasn't fond of Syuusuke, but Mizuki must also know that Yuuta would never harm his brother….

"Yuuta-kun?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Atsushi. "You're right. If your powers can in any way be used against someone else, you might be better off keeping them to yourselves for now."

Atsushi nodded. "We've only told family the details about them so far, and that's how it's going to stay for a while. I hope you understand why I can't say anything more."

"I do," Yuuta assured him. "I won't ask anymore questions."

The two boys heard the familiar sound of a tennis ball being hit back and forth and realized they were near the Fudomine courts. They went closer and looked through the fence. Tachibana Kippei was playing against another boy. The opponent wasn't very noticeable in the face of Tachibana's obvious skill.

"He's pretty amazing, isn't he?" Yuuta remarked. "He's a nice guy, too. My brother and he are friends."

"He's at the mansion, right?" Atsushi asked. "What's his power?"

"Wind," Yuuta answered, watching in admiration as the Fudomine Captain leapt high into the air, directing a smash precisely between the feet of his opponent. The ball bounced up behind him before he could move.

The referee announced the match concluded with that point, and Yuuta wasn't surprised to hear that Tachibana had shut out his opponent. The two boys shook hands, then Tachibana spotted the St. Rudolph players and waved. Yuuta waved back as the older boy approached the fence.

"Doing some scouting?" he asked with a smile.

"No, but I'm glad we were here to see the end, that was impressive." Yuuta grinned. Atsushi glanced at his teammate thoughtfully.

"Thank you." Tachibana's gaze lingered on Yuuta's for a moment before he nodded toward Atsushi in greeting. "I'm going to get something to eat before heading back to the mansion. Did you two want to join me?"

"I'm heading back home myself," Atsushi said quickly. "But I'm sure Yuuta-kun will go with you."

"Huh?" Yuuta looked at the Kisarazu twin abruptly, then turned back toward the waiting Tachibana. "I … um … sure. I'd like that."

"All right, just give me a minute to get cleaned up and I'll meet you out front." Before heading off, Tachibana winked at Atsushi, who looked amused.

"What was that about?" Yuuta asked his teammate. "Why'd he wink at you like that?"

"He was thanking me." Atsushi patted Yuuta on the back. "Have fun. I'll see you at our next practice."

Yuuta watched Atsushi walk away and wondered why it always seemed like everyone was clued in except for him. Then he thought about going out to eat with Tachibana, smiled, and decided it didn't matter.

End of Part 36

(2006)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

This fic is not to be re-posted.