Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis belongs to whoever is actually making money off of it—Konomi, VIZ, a bunch of other insanely rich corporate people, or something...
Warning: Shonen-ai (see previous chapters for pairings), author's inability to maintain a decent plot, minor exaggeration of character flaws, bashing of many fangirls (all which remain nameless and purposeful-less), and other crimes against humanity.
Author's Note: It's finally OVER. OHMYGOD. After 3 months and 5000 words later, the fourth and final part is finished! I'd originally thought that maybe dividing this into two more parts would be better, but I really didn't want to drag it out any longer. And here's this unbearably long finale as the result. While some might like long chapters, I'd still like to just apologize to those who like things shorter and sweeter... which this obviously isn't.
Dedication to my readers: Thank you all for your support and patience. If it weren't for your feedback and encouragements, I think that this fic might've been tossed into the junk pile a long time ago. Thus said, enjoy this last part of a badly written monstrosity?
Intrigue Part 4 – Grand Finale
by kasugai gummie
Morning came and, in Ryoma's opinion, was disgustingly bright and sunny; not at all appropriate for the disaster that was certain to occur later on in the day.
Mood still sour from the match he lost to Fuji yesterday, and especially after the almost embarrassing situation in the library, he lay in bed, not wanting to face whatever complications his high school life had in store.
However, for once, the desire to huddle into the covers like Karupin on a warm Sunday morning eluded him. Unable to fall back asleep, even though a quick check with the clock told him there was still a good half hour before it would actually start beeping, Ryoma finally stumbled out of bed.
Somehow making his way through the disaster area that was his room, boy wonder glared peevishly at his tousled reflection.
Why had he been ambushed on a consecutive frequency this last month? Why were there more stalking fangirls in general? Why was Fuji spending so much time with Inui-senpai? Why all the annoying public displays of possession? The evening before, he had wanted to corner his enigmatic boyfriend and demand some answers. Unfortunately, it was he who ended up being cornered... and thoroughly molested in the process.
Ryoma frowned speculatively as he got ready.
It wasn't that having a relationship with Fuji was bad or anything. Actually, although he'd never admit to it, he rather enjoyed the other's company. Despite the minor arguments they had from time to time (and in which he'd never figure out how they always ended up with him in Fuji's favorite positions), the opportunities to compete on and off the tennis courts more than made up for the momentary annoyances.
If a curious passerby were to actually take the time to strip away all the nuances of their relationship, they'd find it to be quite simple, really.
In Fuji Syuusuke, Ryoma found an equal in the game he was dedicating his childhood to. And perhaps, even more importantly, he found someone he could somehow depend on. God knows his father most definitely failed in that department.
With that calming thought firmly grasped in mind, Ryoma shuffled into the kitchen where his cousin was already at the stove and mumbled a greeting. Absently he tugged at his collar and hoped the attention Fuji paid to his neck was out of sight. That possessive bastard, he thought without heat as he finished eating and patiently waited for his spiky-haired friend to come ringing down the street. He checked the hallway's clock and noted that there was still fifteen minutes to spare.
Moments later, the sound of someone at the gate alerted him out of his pensive reverie.
"Momo-senpai is early?" Ryoma muttered as he slung his tennis bag over his shoulder and peered out the side window in disbelief.
But instead of Momo waving from his bike, he was surprised to see the fair-haired prodigy he called his boyfriend standing at the gate with a disgustingly cheerful smile on his face.
Surprise melted into confusion, which in turn gave way to exasperation. He stalked out the front door, intent on demanding some answers.
"Morning," was the only acknowledgement (and warning) he got before Fuji closed in to give him a nice long... greeting.
In the back of boy wonder's mind came the belated realization that both his parents were probably already up at this time, and that he'd never hear the end of it if his stupid father caught him in such a compromising situation.
"Oi, Seishounen!"
Speak of the devil...
"Why is your friend so, early to—day...?" Echizen Nanjirou trailed off at the site of his only son doing SOMETHING with another boy.
And he'd be damned if they were merely "telling each other secrets."
Fuji pulled breathlessly away from the Ryoma with what looked to be a very smug smirk. Ignoring the dark glower that promised retribution at a later time, he smiled pleasantly at the pole-axed Echizen senior.
"I apologize for disturbing you, Echizen-san."
Silence.
Then...
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TWO THINK YOU WERE DOING! GETTING UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET? NORMAL PEOPLE AREN'T EVEN UP YET! I THINK I'M SCARRED FOR LIFE!"
Ryoma shot a disbelieving stare at his wailing father.
"MY GOD, MY POOR VIRGINAL MIND!"
Even Fuji looked mildly perplexed.
"... virginal mind? Are you feeling unwell Echizen-san?"
Nanjirou paused in mid rant to take a good look at the person who was previously lip-locked with his son.
"Hey..." He dropped his raving façade in favor for a shrewder expression. "You look familiar."
Fuji waited as the ex-pro trailed off again.
"Oh, I know! Aren't you the prodigy with the triple counters?"
Fuji continued to smile despite the older man's oddity.
Nanjirou grinned a challenge, scratching at his side lazily. "Want to play a game with me?"
The ever-present smile faltered.
"I don't believe this," Ryoma muttered before stepping up to prod his father in the chest.
"You're getting old, baka oyaji," he told the indignant ex-tennis-pro in monk's dress wear. "If you really have forgotten already, Fuji-senpai was just over here last week."
"... Oh... Right." The unshaven man had the grace to look sheepish. "Huh... Then I guess it's okay," Nanjirou allowed as he squinted at the strained smile on Fuji's face, "since you're rather pretty for a boy."
Fuji's smile froze on his face.
Ryoma rolled his eyes. "We're leaving old man," he announced pointedly, hooking an arm through the taller boy's elbow and pulling him towards the opened gate. "And don't forget to find a better hiding place for your magazines if you want them to last longer. Kaasan almost found them the last time you stuffed them down the laundry basket."
Nanjirou spluttered at the retreating backs of his fuming son and his pretty boyfriend.
"Che. Youth these days," he muttered before allowing Ryoma's parting comment to fully sink in. "My magazine's? What does that have to do with the laundry? Never mind that today's laundry da—OH SHIT!" The scraggly-faced monk blanched as his wife's outraged yell suddenly followed his realization in an echo through their compound.
Hearing his father's anguished wails die off into the distance, Ryoma relaxed with a slight snort before letting go of Fuji's arm and falling slightly behind the third-year.
"I hope you don't mind me walking you to school."
They continued to walk in relative silence for most of the way, more or less comfortable with just each other's presence.
Until of course, the younger boy broke the lull with a characteristic challenge to Fuji's most recent actions.
"Why?"
Such a simple question. Yet the potential of it exploding like a can of Ponta under Inui's ministrations was decidedly high.
"Why not?"
Tawny eyes blinked in surprise before the younger tennis player growled in annoyance. "Fuji."
Smiling thoughtfully, Fuji mildly responded to boy wonder's surly demand without rancor.
"Remember when you told me of that gaijin saying? 'Coming out of the closet'?"
Ryoma frowned warily. "... yeah..."
"You could say that I decided to give our adoring fans a little time to brace themselves before doing just that."
"... I see."
"Do you really?" Fuji's smile grew wider at the skeptical stare leveled at him. "The fan club uproars from yesterday were really all just results of their overactive imaginations taking innocent hints and running away with them," he finished innocently, stopping just a few blocks away from the school's main gate.
Turning to face his kouhai, Fuji allowed his smile to slide away and reveal a very serious prodigy.
"Ne, Ryoma."
"...?"
"Do you like to share?"
Boy wonder allowed a quizzical look to pass over his face before turning to look the other way. "... Iyada," he finally muttered. "Not really."
Almost instantaneously, the beguiling smile was back on. "Saa, that's good then."
What Fuji left unspoken didn't need voicing either.
Dating the tensai for a good two years, as well as having been acquainted with him for even longer a period of time, had given Ryoma a relative edge over others when it came to trying to second guess the enigmatic prodigy (which incidentally wasn't a very smart nor productive thing to do in the first place, but still…), certain things became fairly predictable after years of close companionship with the other, no matter how hard boy wonder tried to avoid them.
Certain things like Fuji's "unique" brand of humor, to be exact.
And while Ryoma was self-admittedly not the most attentive person in the world, he was still sharper than the average student; he was able to put two and two together and realize what exactly his boyfriend's twisted sense of humor had cooked up to torment the entire student body with.
Let it be said that Fuji Syuusuke was nothing if not thorough.
Being landed in a shit load of trouble wasn't a new or particularly uncommon occurrence when playing opponents much larger and more vicious than he was the norm. After a while, one tended to become immune to the shocks of unnatural occurrences if they happened on a regular basis.
On the other hand, having to play someone who was out for his blood wasn't quite the same as being humiliated in front of the entire student population, give or take a few faculty members.
It was an entirely different matter actually.
Eyes widening as unwanted realization sunk in, Ryoma stared at the slightly taller boy. "You don't mean..."
Sharp blue eyes glinted wickedly and Fuji hummed noncommittally before reaching out and softly patting his horrified boyfriend on the cheek.
Sliding his hand down the dark haired boy's face in a parody of a caress, Fuji took hold of one wiry arm before pulling the otherwise immobile boy towards the looming school entrance.
"This should be fun."
Now, where had he heard THAT before? Cringing inwardly, Ryoma suddenly found himself with the overwhelming urge to run to the nearest bomb shelter and hide.
It was still relatively early when Inui finished meeting with the president of the Film Club. Sliding the door softly behind him, he smiled, satisfied with the progress of his and Fuji's plans.
While he preferred his own campaign cum relationship with Kaidoh to remain relatively in the dark for a while longer, the situation surrounding Fuji and Echizen provided as good of a data source as any. In addition, drawing in Oishi and Kikumaru was an unexpected but welcomed bonus for the how to on dealing with fangirls and manipulating relationships.
Inui pulled out his cell and speed-dialed Fuji's number.
"... Fuji? It's Inui. I just got the Film Club's support, and they even offered the use of their equipment for minimum payment..."
The majority of the school day went along smoothly enough. Despite the minor public outbreaks of overenthusiastic fangirl-ism, nothing to the extreme left of bizarreness occurred to disrupt the natural flow of high school life.
What went on within the protective boundaries of the coalition of fan clubs however, was an entirely different story.
"Something big is going to happen today! The scandal is finally going to be resolved! I can feel it!"
Tomoka bit back the scathing remark that was on the tip of her tongue. After what might have happened yesterday in the library, it was obvious that something was going on. They'd found her Number Three withdrawn and quietly cowering near a study room, but unfortunately couldn't get any pertinent clues from the traumatized girl.
"Fuji-sama's going to be the one who fixes everything, of course, and—"
"For the love of Kikumaru Eiji, would you just shut up! We ALL know that something's going to happen today. What little we got from Tomoka-san's club member clearly hinted at that. So just shove it will you?"
"Amen," the Kikumaru fan club vice president intoned respectfully.
Tomoka blinked.
In fact, all four fan club presidents blinked at the outburst... excluding the petite redhead Kaichou of Kikumaru's fan club from where the exclamation originated.
The smaller girl scowled at the bleached Number One Fuji Fan before rudely dismissing the other third year girl with a curt toss of her head.
"So, are we all agreed that we should get to the bottom of this as soon as possible?" she asked solicitously, inclining her head specifically in Tomoka's direction. "My girls are getting restlessly because Kikumaru-sama and Oishi-senpai are always found in the vicinity of Echizen-kun and Fuji-senpai these last few days."
Three "un's", followed by a surlier "hmph" met her inquiry.
Tomoka beamed energetically. Finally they were going to get somewhere! "We'll all gather at the tennis courts at the end of school today, okay?" she urged.
Four distinctive sounds of itineraries being flipped opened and searched.
"Ah, no game today."
"Yes, only practice."
"Will we be disturbing them though?"
"Don't mind, don't mind," Tomoka cackled gleefully, leaping from her seat as the bell rang to signal the end of the lunch break. "Our duties as Number One fans state that some comforts need to be sacrificed in order to ensure the most efficient flow of support and love to Ryoma-sama and his senpai-tachi." She flashed a cheeky victory sign, "So I'll be seeing all your clubs after the last bell on the courts?"
"Nicely put, Osakada," the matron-like President of Oishi's fan club nodded approvingly.
"We'll be there."
The last dismissal bell was met by a mixed bag of emotions from a good proportion of the student body.
Some unsuspecting few, mercifully unaware of the brewing conflicts, hurried home. Others who belonged in non-tennis related sports clubs continued blissfully in their own little worlds of after school practices.
A good majority, however, wasn't as carefree when the last class ended.
Inui, milking his skills as a master data-collector for all he was worth, speedily made his rounds to all the Regulars' fan clubs' headquarters. After updating his notebook with what he had dubbed as "The Nuances of High School Politics," he hurried to the Film Club's room to pick up the promised video equipment.
Truth be told, although he was obviously running himself ragged to keep up-to-date with the minute-by-minute changes in Fuji's grand scheme, he was enjoying himself immensely.
The ringing of his cell phone reminded him to hurry up and actually get to the courts before anything important was missed.
"Inui speaking. Aa, Fuji... Yes, I'm on my way. Should I bring anything in particular?... No, I already grabbed the video camera... So that should be it, hm?"
Inui hurried down the paths towards the tennis courts before hanging up the moment he saw the fair-haired tensai wave at him from within the fenced area. Already there was a sizable gathering of spectators, all distinguished by badges and communist-like armbands.
The giant banners hovering above each grouping were kind of blatant too.
Inui smiled in anticipation, checking off a mental list as he made his way towards the smiling prodigy and the team's surly genius.
"Your club's membership has increased by twenty-four percent since last month," he remarked to his shorter teammate.
"Saa... This is going to be interesting. Ne, Echizen-kun?"
Ryoma glanced dryly at his "Fuji-senpai," before turning his attention back to the rest of the non-Regular club members. Boy wonder smirked. It was funny, actually, to see boys older than him gathered a little off to the side because their hormones and sense of public decency couldn't quite come to an agreement.
He'd been watching his teammates the moment the bands of fangirls started arriving. Shock was the first thing that hit Seigaku's edgy tennis team. A mixture of envy and utter confusion generally followed up that initial reaction.
Shock. "Woah... so many pretty girls..."
"Are they ALL here for the senpais?"
"No. I think that chunk to the far left is Echizen's."
Envy. "Aaw man... Lucky brat."
Confusion. "Huh? Why are there so many girls?"
"Dude, where'd they all come from?"
"... Why am I suddenly glad that there's a nice metal fence between them and the senpais?"
And... "Hey ladiiiieees... Are you all here to taste the greatness that is Horio-sama's three years of dating experience?"
... and that would be Horio as a first year in high school.
Some of the gathered fangirls cringed away from some of the more forward tennis club members (namely Horio in all his blown up ego.) However, the majority had their attention focused on the three third-years, two second-years, and one first-year Regular.
They also tried to ignore the evil grin that had surfaced on Inui's bespectacled face.
The noise level rose continuously as their coach oh-so-conveniently called in to tell them that she was going to be late in order to check up on their still incapacitated captain.
Off to the side, Momoshirou and Kaidoh suddenly found themselves uncomfortably close to the tall third-year player.
Watching as the drama slowly unfolded in front of his eyes, the Dunk Smash specialist unconsciously tried to drown out the various octaves of fangirl squeals by talking to his fellow second-year Regular.
"Inui-senpai is scarier than usual today."
Kaidoh only hissed his agreement.
"I wonder why."
Silence reigned in their untouched corner while chaos continued to rampage between the tennis courts and the area beyond the fences.
Finally, in a very detached manner, the spiky-haired tennis player turned to give his older teammate a look of muted horror. "... You're a very scary person, Inui-senpai."
"Hmm?" The glinting glasses didn't look too promising. They never did. "I see. Thank you."
"... that wasn't meant as a compliment."
"Fushuuuuuuu—"
The manic light bouncing off the thick lenses intensified.
"Is that so?"
If there was a list for the people that Momo vowed to never cross for the sake of living, Fuji, Inui, and Tezuka would have been printed at the top in bolded, permanent letters.
"... Never mind."
Momoshirou stared at the off-amusement that twisted the taller boy's smile, before edging away as subtly as he could.
Kaidoh mirrored his actions.
They stopped to simultaneously stare at each other when they reached a distance of three feet away from the analytical tennis player. Nerves already fraying under the suspenseful atmosphere, they suddenly snapped—
"Stop following me around, Snakeboy!"
Kaidoh gave his rival the evil eye as they both huddled away from their data-collecting senpai. "Che. Don't make a scene, idiot."
"I'M not making a scene you stupid snake. YOU'RE the one who's invading my personal space!"
Hiss. "Look who's talking now, you damn monkey. You're noisy either way."
"Shut up!"
"Get out of my face!"
"You get out of mine!"
Once again unnoticed, Inui sighed regretfully. While it would have been nice to update his notes on the High School developmental stages of the two second-years' volatile behavior, he had to give up one opportunity to concentrate on the other situation at hand.
Directing his attention so that he could watch Kikumaru, Oishi, and Fuji chat away amicably with their fangirls (or as agreeably as was possible for the previous two after the uncontrolled ambushes yesterday), he could also see that one particular division of the Fuji Triple AAA club, the what he liked to call "hardcore sector," had yet to arrive.
Therefore, he signaled to Fuji to wait a few more minutes before actually addressing the chaotic gathering.
Fuji had some interesting methods, he conceded privately. In fact, if there was anything reliable garnered off the mysterious boy after so many years, Inui would have to refer to the tensai's unique style of revenge.
Page two of Secret Data Volume # 0010 recorded that vengeance, after harboring a childhood's worth of brother-complexes, was Fuji Syuusuke's specialty.
Page eleven noted that deception was the preferred method, which ultimately ended with a full-frontal smack down.
Page ten of Secret Data Volume # 0297 had written that now the brother-complex had shifted into a boyfriend-complex...
There would be hell to pay.
However, even though he greatly admired and studied extensively the tennis prodigy's actions against unfortunate offenders, Inui believed himself to be just as creative and thorough as Fuji. The combination of an experimental-happy mind and a genuine curiosity, if given the right motivation, could yield extremely interesting results.
Besides, he'd already put his own two cents into the venture anyway.
"Inui-senpai?"
Rectangular frames glanced a little off to the side and down to acknowledge the familiar drawl of one tennis genius.
"Are you and Kaidoh-senpai going to come out of the closet too, after this?"
The surprised blink was hidden behind reflective lenses. Their youngest team member never failed to upset his data sometimes with his completely unorthodox manner of swerving from others' generalized perceptions of him.
"Not yet."
"Mmn..." A deceptively slender hand reached up to tug down the brim of the trademark white cap in mocking acknowledgement. "Good luck on collecting the data of the strange girls then, senpai."
Inui nodded to the younger boy who, despite moving around restlessly, was making a conscious effort to maintain the fence and a good six feet distance between him and the idolizing fans.
"... Ii data."
It took little more than five minutes for the stragglers to reach the already crowded courts.
Inui quietly pulled out the camcorder and activated the machinery with a soft, largely ignored, blip.
Meanwhile, making sure that no teacher would accidentally stumble upon this little scene (and sucks to be them if they did), Fuji finally moved to address his, and the others', followings.
"Good afternoon everybody. I realize that you must all be wondering what has been going on the past few days—"
The core of the Fuji Triple AAA club screamed in elation at hearing his voice.
"—and I must apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused some."
Kaidoh hissed from where he had Momoshirou in a two-way headlock.
"But this really is something that needed to be brought to your attentions."
"WE LOVE YOU FUJI-SAMAAAAAA!"
The speaker nodded vaguely at the direction where the stragglers were still filtering in.
A patented, guileless head tilt. "Maa. Please save your applause until the end, alright?"
"FUUUUUUUUUJIIIIIIIIIIIII—SENPAIIIIIIIIII!"
Fuji continued to smile disarmingly. "You've all seen and have heard rumors of me being in a relationship—"
"I'M MUCH MORE WOMAN THAN SHE'LL EVER BE FUJIIIIII!"
Ryoma twitched, much to the amusement of Inui who was closest to him.
"—but the thing is—"
"I WANT TO BEAR YOUR CHILDREN FUJI-SAMAAAA!"
"MARRY ME FUJI!"
Cat-like eyes snapped in irritation at the onslaught of last-minute love confessions.
Maybe Momo-senpai was right. Maybe he had been spending too much time with the tensai in that he actually picked up some of Fuji's bad habits... like selfishness, for example.
But in retrospect, it wasn't that bad was it?
Turning and walking forward purposefully so that he was facing the unperturbed prodigy, he reached up and fisted both hands into the lapels of Fuji's tennis uniform.
Fuji was HIS dammit!
Barely aware of his surroundings and the slowly dying away sounds of the clamoring fangirls, Ryoma insistently tugged an abnormally docile Fuji down to look the smiling prodigy in the eye.
He hesitated, realizing what exactly he was about to do. This was in his character to be doing this, he realized.
Noticing his boyfriend's reluctance, Fuji took this abrupt change in events gracefully and opened his eyes to regard the younger player steadily.
"Do you like to share, Ryoma?" he murmured gravely.
A pair of ice-blue eyes made contact with burnished gold.
Boy wonder huffed indignantly before closing the almost non-existent distance between their faces and initiated a blatantly possessive kiss.
Of all the onlookers, (which totaled of about eighty-five percent of Seigaku's female population, as was later calculated by Inui), only the Regulars managed to keep their jaws from the ground.
And after what was clocked to be about one and a half minutes, Ryoma tried pulling away... only to find himself held firmly in place. Fuji, who had unobtrusively wound his arms around the smaller boy's waist, smirked into the kiss.
"GO FUJI! KEEP IT UP OCCHIBIIII! BUUUIIIII! PUT THAT PRACTICE TO GOOD USE, NYA!"
"Oh. My. God."
"There you are Tomo-chan! Mou, where were y... R-ryoma-kun...!"
"Ryo... Ryoma-sama... Eeh? Sakuno? I was looking all over for you!... Sakuno! Pull yourself together! Sakuno!"
Needless to say, the reactions amongst the spectators were quite varied.
"HORA HORA, COME ON ECHIZEN! FUUUJIIIII! I WON'T LET ANYONE STAND IN THE WAY OF YOUR LOVE! BUUUUURNING! YOUNG LOVE! SO BEEE-OOOO-TIII-FUUUUURUUUU!"
Ryoma opened an eye to look at the building chaos resulting from his and Fuji's blatantly made public display of affection.
A good many of the girls, regardless of which following they belonged to, were on the ground in graceless, gibbering heaps. Among them, he could also barely see a telltale rope of hair.
Ryuzaki Sakuno?
Mentally shrugging, he shut his eyes again at the sight of Kawamura Takashi brandishing what seemed to be the Culinary Club's standard issue, heavy-duty spatula.
Best to not think on it.
When they finally broke away for need of air, the entire compound was eerily silent.
Fuji curled a possessive arm around his boyfriend's waist, clearly enjoying the distress and denial that raged on numerous faces.
A slap in the face delivered very well, it seemed.
Seconds flew by and only the light scritch-scratchings of graphite on plain notebook paper was heard. "... ten seconds longer than yesterday's session." Inui fiddled with the mechanisms to the electronics equipment before setting it to stand by. He 'hmm-ed' speculatively as he compared time values. Perhaps Fuji has increased breathing exercises?
Not sharing the strange sense of humor the Regulars indulged in, one very outraged third year Kaichou drew herself up angrily, missing altogether the Fuji's not-so-hidden intentions now.
"T-that little bastard... he... he just kissed Fuji-sama...!" She stumbled unintelligibly. "That little first year brat just dashed the dreams and hearts of all the true women in Seigaku!"
Tomoka, ever sensitive to the safety and honor of her Oujisama, and despite being shocked out of ten years of her life, snapped a glare at the incoherent blonde.
"Hey! Nobody calls our Ryoma-sama a brat!" Tomoka poked an angry finger at the (still nameless) kaichou of Fuji's fan club. Scrounging up her face childishly, she blew a raspberry at the still weeping Fuji fan club conglomeration before turning to face the bemused pair.
"No matter who you choose to love Ryoma-samaaaa, the Echizen Ryoma—Seishun Gakuen Senior High no Oujisama—Appreciation Fan Club will always support you!"
The answering wave of cheers from the tear-choked Ryoma fan club was slow in coming, but came nonetheless. And it grew in a crescendo.
"WAAAAAAIIIIIIIII! RYOMA-SAMA!"
"YOU'LL ALWAYS BE THE ONE TRUE OUJI-SAMAAAA!"
"GOOD CHOICE RYOMA-SAAAAAMAAAAA!"
"EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T TEZUKA-BUCHOU, YOU'RE STILL THE BEST ECHIZEN-KUN!"
And et cetera, et cetera.
Suddenly inexplicitly sad, Tomoka let her fellow fans a moment of cheer. But she on the other hand, felt miserable.
Disappointment.
In herself mostly. But also in the so-called president of the Fuji Triple AAA club.
Casting a not-so subtly scornful look at the pole-axed expression the other president sported, Tomoka stood up abruptly and exited the fangirl-press infested tennis courts.
Tomoka fought the urge to run herself into a wall. How long had the two prodigies been dating! Right now, the idea of bawling heedlessly sounded pretty good too. She was supposed to be his Number One Fan! And yet this most important aspect of Ryoma-sama's social life had eluded her for so long—it was absolutely shameful!
Dark brown eyes glinted purposefully as she reached for her cell phone. Well, she was going to remedy that.
Hauling up a groggy and bewildered Sakuno, she dragged her best friend off to a quieter area.
"I need your help if I'm to make this work, Sakuno..."
Sniff. "T-Tomo-chan! But... Ryoma-kun..."
Back within the confines of the tennis courts however, further mayhem was in the making.
"NYAAAAAAAAA, OISHIIIIII! THIS IS GREAT NYA! I can't believe that Ochibi and Fuji just went public! And everybody's so nice about it!" Kikumaru gushed, sparkling at his blushing doubles partner.
"E-Eiji..."
A cheeky grin made it's way onto the sharp face. "Nyaaaa, let's show Fuji real practice, Golden Pair style, na? Don't you think it's about time?"
"W-what!"
"Hoi hoi! Pucker up Oishi!"
The petite redheaded Buchou of the acrobatic specialist's club gaped, the started jumping in place as Eiji proceeded to show the rest of the world just how good his and Oishi's combination was. "I knew it! I KNEW IT!" she squealed, soon accompanied by the Oishi fan club representatives. "OISHI-SENPAI AND KIKUMARU-SAMA MAKE SUCH A CUTE COUPLEEEE!"
"GOLDEN PAAAAAAIIIIIR! FIGHT ON!"
And as the chaos escalated again, left unbothered and to his own vices, Inui started to record once again.
"Heh. Data's data."
It took a while, but somehow the waves of fangirl-press people were persuaded to leave. After all the commotion died down, and Oishi decided that nobody in their right minds could practice under such circumstances, practice was canceled yet again.
However, just before Fuji left with his subdued boyfriend, he sought out the tall data-collector and pulled him off to the side.
"Ne, Inui."
"Hmm?"
Fuji tilted his head to regard the progress of the formation of new fanclubs while addressing his fellow conspirator. "Was it you who arranged for those girls to declare their 'undying love' for me?"
The bespectacled youth shrugged. "Aa. Thought it would give me better data on Echizen's behavior if he were exposed to different stimuli."
Fuji frowned, then smiled ever so slowly. "I see," he laughed softly. "Thank you, Inui."
The dark haired third year smiled in self-satisfaction as he put away his notebook and double-checked his copy of the video recording.
"No problem."
Three weeks later...
((Receiver: Tezuka Kunimitsu))
((Sender: Inui Sadaharu))
((Message: Yo, Tezuka. How's it over there in Germany?
Nothing too drastic has been happening here. Although, I suppose you can say that it's gotten rather active as of late. In fact, the only way of describing what happened was that Fuji staged a coup against the Regulars' fan clubs.
I'm sure that you're absolutely dying to know what happened.
From what I last heard, Osakada has just recently reformed her previous fan club of Echizen worship into a "Fuji-Echizen Mad Love Appreciation Club." Somehow she managed to persuade the majority of Fuji's former fan club to merge and to form sub-divisions that hold counseling and support groups for those who need it. Apparently some of Fuji's and Echizen's fans are still in denial and need all the support they can get.
Oh yes. Incidentally, Ryuzaki Sakuno (remember her?) came out last Thursday to publicly announce her position as vice president of the support-group division. Since Ryuzaki-sensei changed her email address again, I've yet to find a way to inform her of her granddaughter's social status.
But anyway... In case you were wondering, Fuji's previous fan club President is determined to bring down Osakada. Through the school newspaper most recently, but we've all learned to ignore her bad attempts at journalism.
By the way, I'll have you know now, that the tape I sent you is actually a very hot commodity here. Most of the times it's out of stock, but since you're overseas and can't join in the entertainment, I saved you a copy.
Don't play too rough with the so-called "Ore-sama," ne? There's still a thirty percent chance that you can do something to injure your arm in too strenuous of activities. I advise to stay away from yoga until next month.
Either way, best of luck, and do plan on visiting us sometime okay? (Because I don't quite think our current captain is going to last very long... Not with all the offers from no-longer closet fanboys being made.)
Take care.
— Inui ))
Fin
Completed: 06/07/04
Revised: 04/03/05