The Rat of Tennis
Identity
Kiyami: …Strange thing is…this was originally intended to be an Inuyasha/Prince of Tennis crossover. Oh well…Furuba fits what I have in mind MUCH better.
Fine, fine yell at me. I'm basing this off the dubbed version because I haven't found the time to see the subbed.
…Expect Shigure and Tezuka to meet…because I find it funny that they're voiced by the same person. Perhaps I should arrange a meeting with Nanjiroh and Shigure too…In the distant future!
Yuki will be referred as Yoh only when speaking.
Pairings: Hm…Nothing major, just hints of several ones. The main one is probably TohruxYuki.
Disclaimer: I do not own neither Tennis no Oujisama or Fruits Basket.
Italics mean thoughts.
"Huh? Are you alright?!" Oishi's voice shouted to break the morning's silence.
He was found, broken and beaten. Blood flowed smoothly out of several open wounds and dark bruises covered his pale body.
"Oishi, what's with the noise?" The coach asked.
Violet eyes were closed in his blissful unconsciousness.
"We have to get him to the hospital!" Oishi again.
Naked with blood staining his pale complexion.
"Tezuka, Oishi carry him to my car!"
Broken bones and a shattered spirit.
"Nya? Where's everyone?" The lovable tennis player asked at the sight of the empty courts.
"Hm?" Fuji looked at the sight of empty courts.
Tezuka, Oishi, and Ryuzaki were usually the first ones here. It was necessary for them to be here. Oishi had the keys to the clubroom and the club could easily go into disarray without the coach or captain.
"Hoi?" Eiji ripped off the piece of paper stuck to the clubroom door.
"Practice is cancelled today? I wonder why." Fuji looked over his friend's shoulder to read the neat writing of Tezuka.
"It says they're at THE HOSPITAL?!" Eiji shouted.
The regulars of the tennis club arrived at the nearest hospital. Ryuzaki had called to tell them that everything was all right. Eiji had suggested going to the hospital to find out what had happened. He was unable to keep in the curiosity any longer.
"Nya what happened Oishi?!" Eiji barged into the room, but everyone had tried to get in all at once that they all ended up in a pile.
Oishi looked up from the seat he had pulled up next to the sanitary white bed. Tezuka was standing by the window and Ryuzaki was nowhere to be seen.
"We found him in the morning at the tennis courts." Oishi indicated the sleeping form of the boy on the bed.
"Really? Who is he?" Eiji got up from the floor and crossed the room.
"We don't know. He's been out all day long. The doctors said he nearly died. Internal bleeding, several broken bones, and whip marks all over his back. He was a mess when I got there this morning." Oishi looked sincerely concerned for the broken boy.
"He's not from around here either. I just spoke with a doctor. There are no records of someone fitting his description. Great timing as usual too with that tournament coming up and all." Ryuzaki spoke from the doorway. By that time everyone had found their respected places around the room.
"We'll just have to wait until he wakes up to find out who he is."
"Momo-senpai…That one's mine."
"No, that one was your's. This one is mine."
"I'm thirsty. Go get me a Ponta."
"No! Get it yourself!"
"Quarrelling in a hospital?"
"Ah! Buchou! When did you get here?"
"Nya! We all came!"
Voices. I can…hear voices. Who were they? Who was talking?
Eyelids began to retreat to reveal violet eyes. Almost immediately they shut once more to hide the amethyst eyes. The light was painful. Everything was painful and soon his brain registered all the pain that had been inflicted on his body.
"He's awake!"
The voices. They were there again…Who were they?
"Doctor! Doctor!"
Someone ran out of the room. I wonder who the person is.
"Hoi, hoi! What's your name?"
Name?
"Eiji, be gentle. He's still injured."
"Ah gomen."
Eiji? I knew an…Eiji?
"Anou…I wonder who he is…"
"Maybe he can tell us."
…How can I tell them? I didn't even know who me was.
Five days had passed since the mystery boy had woken up. Tomorrow he would leave the hospital, but the problem was…he had no place to go.
Everyone didn't have much room available at home except for Taka. Taka volunteered to bring the amnesiac boy home with him. His parents didn't mind much since Taka had promised to do extra work around the shop to help pay for the injured boy.
He was a mystery. He didn't who he was. He didn't know who had made him lose his precious memories or how he had came to be near death. All he could remember was the face of one girl. A pretty girl about his age with long dark brown hair and blue eyes. Besides that everything was blank.
The regulars who had found him eagerly made it their duty to care for the boy. During hospital visits they would take turns to watch and talk with the violet-eyed mystery who had stumbled into their lives. The tournament had even ended very quickly for them. The anxiety for the mystery kid had been converted into raw energy. Their victory had been swift.
"…We're going to call you Yoh from now on, nya." Eiji grinned while he shoved the tray of food towards the now dubbed Yoh.
Leek soup. Oddly it looked so familiar. Something about leeks seemed significant in his life.
"Um…Remember my dad and I are going to pick you up tomorrow."
"…Thank you. Thank you for all you've done. I'm…grateful."
"Visiting hours are over…We have to go now. Bye!"
"…Bye…"
"Here, I got some extra clothes for Yoh." Momo ran up with a bundle of clothing in his hands. Taka took them happily.
"Uh thank you."
"Hoi? Momo…these don't look like they fit you. It looks like…Ochibi's clothes?"
"Ah! They're mine! Really, they are!"
"But why does it have an R stitched onto it?"
"Shut up!"
"Ahem…"
"Buchou!"
Yuki watched dully at the comical scene unfolding before him. He felt too weak to even consider a smirk, but he felt happy. Finally he was leaving the hospital, which had a thick aura of sickness surrounding it.
"Yoh? Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah."
"He he Yoh-Yoh! We're all are going to visit you tomorrow! Count on it!" Eiji gave one last hug before hopping away from the fragile Yuki.
"That'll be great, Eiji."
And that was how he came to enter the lives of the Seigaku regulars. He who had been renamed Yoh. Kawamura Yoh, taking the surname of the family whom generously took him in.
"Where are they?!" A voice screeched from within the room.
"We don't know…Forgive us."
A vase crashed onto the wooden floor before the voice shrieked at them to leave.
The tiger and the sheep stood outside of the door, listening to Akito having a tantrum.
"Hiro?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's sissy?"
"Who cares?"
"I-I miss her…And Uncle Yuki."
"It's none of our business. Come on…"
Outside it had already become dark. The evening lights turned on and the neon glow of the street signs illuminated the streets. A car parked neatly outside the sushi shop that the Kawamura family owned.
"Takashi, help Yoh out of the car. I'm going to go check to see if the bed has been made."
"Hai." Taka got out of the car and opened the door for Yuki.
Thankfully Yuki had no broken leg bones. The finger bones of his left hand were all broken, but that was mostly it. The rest of his body was covered in horrible bruises or the thin lines created by a whip.
Taka grabbed what possessions Yuki had. Somehow the entire population of Seishun Gakuen had heard of the near dead boy found at their school. Most of the stuff he had now were balloons and stuffed animals.
"Come on…I'll show you your room." Taka smiled gently towards the amnesiac boy.
Yuki nodded and gratefully followed Taka into his new home. He was introduced to Taka's strict mother while promising to do everything he could to lighten the burden he had them carry. His room was small and it was hardly ever used. It was right next to Taka's, that Yuki was happy about. Taka was a familiar face.
Yuki dropped the small bag he was carrying when a flash of his memory struck him. That same brown haired girl…there was a landslide…a tent…a mother…a picture…dig…rats…stay. The sudden flashing of images did nothing more, but frustrate Yuki.
What was the meaning of it?
Two days had passed without anything interesting happening. Yuki helped as best he could around the sushi shop. It was his first day at Seigaku. Since they didn't even know what grade or even what his age was they thought it was best to stick him with Fuji and Eiji. After all Fuji and Eiji had classes together and Yuki needed familiar faces.
Especially after arriving at school.
"Sakuno! Did you see the new kid? He's with Ryoma-sama!" Tomo caught up with her best friend.
"Who is he?" Sakuno turned to look at Tomo.
"You mean you didn't see him?! He's as cute as Ryoma-sama! I say we should go on a double date. I can go with Ryoma-sama and you can go with the new kid!"
By third period almost the entire female population were already daydreaming about the new kid. It came to such an extreme that Yuki even borrowed one of Kaidoh's extra bandanas to cover his noticeable hair. The girls were crazy and they tracked him down like bloodhounds.
Strangely he felt used to the behavior coming from the female population.
"Uwah…Yoh-Yoh is so popular with the girls." Eiji commented while teasingly ruffling up Yuki's hair. The green bandana was neatly folded in his hand.
"On his first day too." Fuji added.
Yuki sighed with frustration.
"Is there something wrong?" Fuji lightly touched Yuki's hand.
"Nothing really. I'm having a hard time remembering. All I see is blurriness."
"Take it easy. I'm sure you'll remember eventually." Fuji reassured with a smile.
"In the mean time Yoh-Yoh can come with me to buy food." Eiji grabbed Yuki's good hand, the other being severely broken, and dragged him through the thick wall of obsessive fangirls.
"It's all my fault." The orphaned girl wiped away the tears streaming down her face.
"Hey, it'll be alright. Just stay here with Kazuma. I'm going to go find Yuki." He was concerned for her and even the missing Yuki.
"We don't know where he went though. He could be dead or something. I have to go with you!" Tohru protested through her crying.
"Akito's out to get you. It's a bad idea. Kazuma's going to hide and protect you. Don't worry." Kyo squeezed her hand tightly with the black and white beads clicking against each other.
"I don't want to hide. I have to go to Sohma House. It's my fault all of this happened." Tohru muttered.
"Just stay here…I'll be back soon." If a stranger saw Kyo now they would never believe he was the same person as the short-tempered, leek-hater. He was different. Not as angry, not as lonely. Kyo had grown up.
"I can't stand it! Sitting here all cooped up! I have to find him…I have to find my brother. It's the least an older sibling should do." Ayame paced around the room he was in. Shigure and Hatori sat calmly by a table.
"It won't be a good idea." Hatori lit a cigarette.
"But I just can't wait! He's my brother! Hatori, would you just sit here and wait if Kana was missing and injured!" Ayame slammed his hands on the table which he regretted doing later.
Hatori closed his eyes and went silent. Even remembering her cheerful smile and her laughter couldn't brighten his mood. He was faced with some of the bigger problems. Mainly taking care of Akito.
Tohru had caught Akito in a horrible mood. In the midst of his anger he had ordered Tohru gone from the Sohma's lives. Of course Yuki and Kyo refused and protested. Hatori was faced with the horrible decision to decide whether to erase the memories of Honda Tohru or to go against orders.
Hatori refused to erase Tohru's memories.
Yuki was the one who paid. Akito dragged the rat off into a secret room. The sounds of his screams and the obvious sound of a whip cracking echoed all around the quiet building. Hatsuharu and Kyo stopped Akito from doing any more damage although Yuki was near death by then.
By the time they went back for Yuki, he was gone. There was only a trail of blood that led out the main door.
"Well even if we did go to look for him there's Akito. Don't you remember? He's letting no one out of Sohma House." Shigure sighed and visibly slouched.
"I'll find Yuki or my name's not Sohma Ayame!" Ayame declared and opened a door and stomped in. After five minutes did the snake discovered that it was a closet he had walked into.
"Idiot…"
School ended and Yuki was very thankful for Kaidoh's infamous psychotic glare. It scared away most of the fangirls. Perhaps it would be best to stick with either Tezuka or Kaidoh next time.
Anyway he was with the tennis club after school. He found their very wide variety of clubs to be intriguing and even considered trying tennis out himself. The only problem was the bad condition of his body. It seemed coming to school so soon was a bad idea. All day girls randomly groped him. Surprisingly he was able to dodge glomps and hugs even in the thick wall of girls that usually surrounded him.
"I think the courts were this way…" Yuki muttered to himself while he awkwardly ran with the cast plastered onto his arm.
POOF!
Yuki ran right into a girl with two long braids. Smoke rose from where they crashed.
"W-what was that?" Sakuno asked to herself as she stared at the pile of clothes in front of here. "I wonder whose clothes are the-AAAH!" Sakuno screamed and backed away from the rat lying in front of her. She feared rats.
"Hoi? What was that?" Eiji let the yellow tennis bounce by him.
Birds flew from their perches on the trees. It went eerily quiet after that shrill scream.
"Sounded like something screaming. Maybe someone's hurt. We have to go check!" Oishi was already starting towards the direction of the scream.
Soon practically everyone were making their way towards the scream.
What do I do? What happened? Why is everything so small?
The rat looked around frantically. Then he noticed the clothing next to him.
My clothes! I'm naked! Shimatta! A girl! Hide!
Luckily the tennis clubroom was only a few feet away. He ran towards the door and squeezed through the crack separating the floor and the door.
Clothes! Clothes!
"Sakuno! What's wrong?" Oishi shouted at the freshman girl.
"A-a…R-rat!" Sakuno pointed to the spot where she had seen the rat.
"These look like Yoh's clothes." Ryoma commented as he prodded the pile of clothing with his tennis racket.
"Nya?! Yoh's streaking?!" Eiji shouted as he already came to conclusions.
"We should probably find him. What if those crazy girls took his clothes away? Sakuno, will you be all right?" Oishi looked worried.
"Mhm." Sakuno nodded and shakily got back on her feet.
"Ryoma and I will check the clubroom!" Momo shouted as the regulars broke up into pairs to search for the possibly naked Yuki.
I'm still…this thing! Help!
Yuki stopped in his tracks when he heard the doorknob begin to turn.
Oh no!
He ran towards what seemed like the best hiding spot. A corner.
"Oh? Momo-senpai…Look a rat." Ryoma pointed towards Yuki who stopped dead in his tracks.
"Gyah! Catch it Ryoma!" He pushed the freshman forward. It seemed like Sakuno wasn't the only one afraid of rats.
POOF!
Kiyami: Yes, you'll just have to wait and see what happens. If you're curious about what happened with Akito and Tohru…well that'll be coming up soon as in chapter three.
Forgive me if I have confused you! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! –Goes into Ritsu mode-
I hope I can clear a few things up I n the next chapter.
Read and Review, please? Every time a reader doesn't review, Kyo is force fed a leek.