Kicked Out of the House!
Chapter 5: A Night With Seaweed Head
Kirihara Akaya was known for playing aggressive tennis, especially when he unleashes his demonic form that can jeopardize the health of other players. Sanada sometimes gets worried when the health bills are racking up like crazy and that so many players ends up going to the nurse's office.
Yukimura-buchou on the other hand will try to take preventive measures to put a stop to Kirihara's dangerous stunts because as captain, he sometimes have to make sure no one gets hurt. But today, that's all about to change.
His phone started going off.
"Hello?"
"Saa, Yukimura-buchou, this is Syuusuke, how are you?"
"Oh, it's you Fuji. Nice to hear from you. I'm doing great so far thanks, how about you?"
"I'm great! In fact, Echizen stayed at my house last night."
"Really? How did that go?"
"I found him fascinating! In fact, he practically enjoyed being in my company."
"I DID NOT ENJOY IT ONE BIT!" shouted Ryoma.
"Ouch! Looks like someone's a little upset." Chuckled Yukimura.
"You're telling me. But all in all, I had a lot of fun with him."
"I am sure you did. In fact, I got something planned as well."
"Tell me."
"Our little demon Akaya is feeling a bit lonely ever since Niou tricked him into borrowing his music CD collection and ends up not getting them back on time. In fact, I got a call from his father after practice was over."
"I see. What did he tell you exactly?"
Flashback
"What do you MEAN I have to stay at Akaya's house?"
"You heard me. He needs someone to look after him because his parents are getting worried that their devil son might destroy their property."
"Isn't Akaya like 13 or something? He's old enough to take care of himself."
"Yes, but even if he is older than you by a year and two months, he doesn't feel safe in his own home."
"Why me? I thought I was supposed to be the one to be looked after."
"Sorry brat! But this time, Yukimura-buchou gave you specific instructions to meet up with Akaya at his house pronto!"
"Are you taking orders from that sadist?"
"Maybe. Besides, forget about eating dinner at home. Akaya wants you to eat at his place."
"Why would I do that? I don't want to intrude on their dinner time."
"Seishounen you are not intruding. Besides, Akaya's family are really nice people and they would love to have you over. Now then, get packing!"
End Flashback
"So, that's the whole situation, Syuusuke."
"Saa, this should be interesting. I think Ryo-chan will definitely agree to keep Kirihara company for a little while." Laughed Fuji.
Upon hearing this, Ryoma immediately dropped his tennis gear on the ground and dashed out of the tennis courts to where Fuji was and snatched the phone away from him.
"Excuse me, Fuji, but when did I EVER say I would agree to baby-sit a seaweed head like Akaya!?"
"Saa, you didn't even let me finish my conversation with Yukimura." Pouted Fuji.
"Sorry to disappoint you. But you can't deceive my eyes."
"Oh dear. Looks like you have exposed my true plan." Smirked Fuji. Unfortunately for him, Ryoma had a devious smile on his face before frowning at him.
"Call off the invite right now."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ryo-chan."
"Why not?"
"Yukimura-buchou's orders. He got the approval from your father and we all worked together to make sure you follow through with our plan. If you fail to comply, Yukimura- buchou will surely make you suffer the worst kinds of torment he could think of at his house." Said Fuji meekly.
"Hasn't he already tormented Akaya long enough? I don't want to be in his shoes right now."
"You haven't seen the kinds of punishments he gets. And frankly, if I were to call Tezuka-buchou right now, he will be more than happy to assign you laps if you don't cooperate."
"I will get you for this, Fuji Syuuske!" growled Ryoma.
"Don't worry, me and Yukimura will be observing your progress through the walkie-talkie. And also you need to wear this earpiece as well." Said Fuji as he handed Ryoma the listening device.
"You are really going to stalk me while I am at Akaya's house? That is an invasion of privacy."
"Hmmm…. You say it is stalking, but as your sempais, we have to constantly monitor your progress."
"Well, I don't like it."
"Too bad, you have to follow our orders or else." Warned Fuji.
Ryoma just sighed as he placed the listening device on his ears and set off towards seaweed head's house. A few hours later, the tennis prodigy rang the doorbell and waited patiently.
"Who is it?" asked the voice.
"It's me, Ryoma. Open up please."
As soon as Akaya heard the voice, he opened the door and sees the tennis prodigy from seigaku,
"What are you doing here?"
"I came here on behalf of my perverted father and my sadistic tensai. They forced me here to baby-sit you."
"Is this some kind of a joke!?" shouted Akaya. "I'll have you know that I am old enough to take care of myself!"
"Well, if you think this is a joke, it's not." Replied Ryoma. "Even if you tried to kick me out, Fuji and Yukimura will torment me to no end. So you have to bear with me."
"They said that? Seriously? And what's up with the listening device on your ears?"
"Fuji asked me to wear these so that he and your captain can closely monitor us while I am here."
"Really? Now they are trying to listen in on our conversations? Isn't that a breach of privacy?"
"I know! I tried to talk them out of it, but they simply forced me into this situation. And it has to stay that way for the next 24 hours."
Akaya just groaned. He literally wanted to give Fuji and his own captain a piece of his mind after this is over. Why would anyone want to force a kid from Seigaku to spend a night with a demon-possessed tennis player from Rikkai? Everyone knows that Akaya would probably Niou-proof his house until it is safe. But since Ryoma was here, Akaya fears that the tennis prodigy could probably tear the place apart.
"Fine, just get in here."
Once Ryoma got inside, he rested his hand on Akaya's shoulder and said, "Relax my friend. I would never endanger your place of residence. But you do have a nice house."
Akaya looked at him and smiled nervously. "Thanks, it's…. it's all right I guess."
"You don't mind if I took a quick look around?"
"Go ahead, but don't touch anything in my room though."
As Ryoma looked around the place, he discovered that the walls were plastered with photos of Akaya from his childhood years. He looked so cute back then. Furthermore, there was a stereo system and a record player as well, including old record cds piled up neatly off to the side.
"If only my father were collecting old school records instead of porno magazines, I would have loved to enjoy the music from my younger years." Sighed Ryoma as he looked at Akaya.
"Yeah, these records are an antique collection that my family kept since then." Said Akaya. "And did you say that your father likes naked women?"
"Yup. He keeps those dirty magazines all over the living room."
"How gross! My family would ground me if I ever kept a collection like that."
"Che! You are telling me."
"Does your father ever make you read them?"
"Even if I wanted to read them, I would have burned them all to a crisp." Smirked Ryoma evilly
"That's good to know. At least you are not a pervert unlike Yanagi-sempai."
"You mean that data master? I always see him and Inui-sempai working together to conjure up more disgusting elixirs for our teams. Those things make me sick to my stomach if I keep drinking them."
"You have no idea! I have nightmares just thinking about it!" cried Akaya.
Ryoma thought that over for a bit before smiling again.
"Do you want to practice a bit of tennis in the street courts?"
"Sure, but don't think I will go easy on you just because we're friends."
"You're on, seaweed head!"
"Stop calling me that!"
Both boys gathered up their tennis gear and headed over to the street courts while two mysterious figures from afar watched with smiles on their faces.
Just then, Ryoma could hear voices on his headpiece as he answered it.
"What is it, sempai?"
"Way to go, Ryo-chan! I am happy to see that you are starting to bond with Akaya!"
"Yeah, so? I am just getting to know him better."
"Saa, Ryo-baby. You got to do more than just knowing him. May I suggest planting a little kiss on his cheeks?"
"What!? You know I can't do that! Are you planning something, Yukimura-buchou?"
"Oh my! I have been exposed. Um… Good luck with your new housemate!"
"Wait a minute, Yukimura! I'm not done…" but the line was cut off before Ryoma could finish his sentence. He sighed in frustration and then placed the headpiece back into his pocket before entering the courts.
"So, you ready to lose again?" smirked Akaya
"Not today! I will spare you the agony of defeat as long as you go easy on me."
"You wish!"
As the two prepared their equipments, Ryoma asked his opponent, "Rough or smooth?"
"Smooth."
Once the racquet lands right side up, the raven haired tennis player said, "You serve."
Akaya picks up the ball and serves it. Ryoma somehow returned the serve in an instant without any problems. As the process repeated, both players are not giving up.
"You have improved ever since the nationals, sempai."
"That's because I am going to take on the nationals again next year and win the championship. You might have bested my buchou, but I promised myself that I would defeat you."
"You can certainly try. I will take you on anytime!" smiled Ryoma.
"You're on!"
As the match continued, Ryoma was starting to fall behind a bit as Akaya picked up game after game. Damn, the seaweed head was good. It seems his strength and courage must have gotten him to the top of his game now.
"You're good. I guess all that training paid off." Said Ryoma as he stopped to drink his water.
"What can I say? My buchou and fukubuchou pushed me to be at my very best."
"Want to go again?"
"Yeah? You ready to lose again?" said Akaya sarcastically.
The game continued again and Akaya managed to score another point, making his opponent unable to catch up to him. It went on like this until Akaya won the final set.
"Game and match! 5 games to 3!" called the referee.
"Thanks for a great game sempai!" said Ryoma as he shook Akaya's hand.
"Of course. But a word of caution: I will not rest until I take back the win in the next national championship!"
"Yeah, keep dreaming!"
"What did you say? You want to be pummeled?"
"Bring it on then!"
The two rivals stared at each other for a few minutes until they laughed.
After the match, both boys returned home sweating profusely. They took a shower first before sitting down at the dinner table.
"Man, I creamed you in tennis. You should have seen your face!" laughed Akaya.
"Yeah, but that was only a practice run. Just wait though, seaweed head. I will beat you next time." retorted Ryoma.
"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?" shouted Akaya.
"But you are still a seaweed head." Chuckled Ryoma as he ruffled Akaya's head.
"Will you knock it off?"
Soon, laughter could be head from the family as dinner went on without a hitch.
Afterwards, Ryoma took a seat on the couch and grabbed a tennis magazine from his bag and started reading it. Just then, Karupin started curling up onto his master and snuggled down onto his chest.
"Not you again, Karupin." Sighed Ryoma.
The cat just meowed at him.
"Are you hungry?" said Ryoma cutely as he got up and took out the cat dish and the treats from his bag and sets it down in the corner of the kitchen floor. He then poured the contents inside the dish before sealing it up and placing it back into his overnight bag.
"That should keep you occupied for a while, Karupin."
Ryoma returned to the couch and resumed reading his magazine.
As for Akaya, he started having some frustrations with his math assignments. No matter what he did, he just couldn't figure out how to solve them. He then went over to the couch and tapped Ryoma's shoulder.
"Yes?"
"I need your help with my homework assignment."
"What kind of assignment?"
"Mathematics of course! We are starting on coordinate geometry and I need help with calculating slope."
"Really? It's not that hard to do. Let me see the problems." Said Ryoma as he placed the tennis magazine onto the coffee table and followed Akaya into his room. Once inside, Akaya showed Ryoma the five problems that were assigned to him with the use of the slope formula.
"It's quite simple actually. You have been given two coordinates with X1, Y1, X2, and Y2. Just do Y2 minus Y1 over X2 minus X1 and then simplify to get the final result."
"Really? I had no idea."
"Well, I can see why you are frustrated. But still, just take your time with it. Furthermore, sometimes the slope of a line is undefined if the zero is in the denominator."
"Is that so? I guess you do learn something new every day. Thanks for your help, Echizen."
"No problem."
Ryoma returned to the couch and picked up where he left off on the magazine. But then, his earpiece picked up again.
"What is it now?"
"Saa! I couldn't help but notice that you have taken an interest in helping our Akaya with his math homework. That's so sweet of you."
Echizen just sweat-dropped.
"Maybe you should come and help the rest of the club members with their assignments."
"No way! Why should I do that?"
"Because Yagyuu-san and Renji-san are always asking me to help when I am so busy with my own school life. Only you can save me from my impending doom."
"Oh my god! Why don't you ask Sanada-sempai to help you? I can't just go around and do everyone at once!"
The sound of Yukimura's voice turned deadly.
"Echizen, are you defying the child of god? Because if you are, I will be more than happy to give you something you're not going to like."
Echizen immediately knew where this was going as his face was trickling with sweat. "F…fine!"
"That's better. Meet me in the Rikkai school tennis courts tomorrow."
The line went dead afterwards. Ryoma took off the earphones and threw them in the wastebasket before lying back down on the couch.
"Damn that sadist! Does he have to be such a slave driver?" thought Ryoma to himself.
The Next Day…
Ryoma arrived at the Rikkai tennis courts and waited patiently on the bench as the players finished up their rally as usual. Then, he noticed the teammates looking at him with prying eyes.
"Ah, so the seigaku pillar is here at last, puri."
"Chances of him successfully completing our assignments is 80 percent at best." Said Renji
"Looks like Echizen isn't ready to say goodbye just yet." Added Marui
Just then Sanada arrived. "What's going on here? And who let that boy in?"
"I brought him here, Sanada." Said a sweet voice.
"Yukimura? Why did you do that?"
"Because I asked him to babysit you guys for the day!"
"WHAT!?" shouted Sanada at the top of his lungs.
"Is Yukimura really kidding?" asked Marui
"Oh this is going to be good, puri."
"I don't want a babysitter!" cried Jackal
"Guys, quiet down. I only asked him here to do all your homework assignments in the clubroom because Echizen is pretty smart."
"Why are you asking him to do it for us?" asked Jackal.
"I can easily do my own assignments without any help." Said Yagyuu
"That's because you are lazy." chuckled Niou.
"Knock it off, Niou."
"Why am I letting a brat doing my assignments?" said a frustrated Sanada. "This is unacceptable! He doesn't even go to our school!"
"Saa, I know. I asked him here because Fuji and I came up with this idea together." Laughed Yukimura. He then turned his attention towards renji and said, "If you could, start collecting all the papers from each of the club members please."
Renji then rummaged through everyone's backpacks and took out all their papers and stacked them all up in a nice, huge pile and headed inside the clubroom.
"Niou, Yagyuu, please escort Echizen into the clubroom."
They both nodded as they walked over to Echizen and lifted him up by the arms and dragged him towards the clubroom.
"What are you guys doing! Let go!" complained Ryoma
They immediately set Echizen down on the chair before handing him scrap paper and pencils.
"Is this really necessary guys? Why did I have to come here anyway?"
"It's pretty obvious." Answered Niou. "You need guidance on completing these papers for us."
Ryoma flinched since he cannot find any other comebacks. It was true that he has a task to complete for Yukimura but with so much paperwork here, he wasn't sure how much time he has to complete them all.
As ryoma scanned through the papers, he can see most of the paperwork were Japanese literature, geography, math, Japanese history and so forth. These were the same kinds of assignments that Seigaku would almost get on a daily basis.
"So this is pretty much what I have to do?"
"Yup. And you aren't leaving till all of them are finished." Said Yukimura. "Renji, lock up the door."
"Why do you all need to be here?" asked Ryoma. "Don't you guys have other things you need to do?"
"Nope, we are pretty much done for the day." Stated Niou proudly. "We are free to do whatever we like to you."
"And that includes watching over how well you do on these papers." Added Marui
"Just so you know, Echizen. I am getting my payback on you for sleeping on my bed."
"I did no such thing, Sanada-sempai."
"I got all the proof right here." Said Yukimura as he took out the cellphone and showed Ryoma the proof. "Oh and Renji."
"Yes buchou?"
"I need to go make some tea since Fuji-san is upstairs waiting for me. Keep an eye on Echizen while I am gone."
"Right away." Renji opened the door and watched Yukimura depart from the clubroom.
Ryoma suddenly felt an uneasy feeling up in his spine as he got up from his seat to make his getaway, but unfortunately, Sanada closed the door and locked it.
"Damn it! Did Syuusuke put you up to this?"
Sanada didn't say anything as he motioned for Echizen to take a seat.
Back in the classroom, Fuji and Yukimura were chatting and laughing while sipping their tea.
"Really? He actually helped Akaya with his homework?"
"He did. And now that he is here, I will not have to worry about taking care of all the paperwork."
"Saa, you are a genius, Seiichi!"
"I know. I have everything I need to make my team comfortable in more ways than one."
"Just as long as they are not being a burden on you."
"Oh trust me, they are very well-behaved."
As Echizen continued working on the papers, he was becoming increasingly agitated. "Why am I being bullied and victimized here? Can't I live a normal life and just kick back and relax for once!? DAMN YOU FUJI AND SEIICHI!"
Ryoma was never going back to Rikkaidai ever again. Those guys were sadistic and possessive.