Chapter Nine: Make Believe
Disclaimer: I still don't own Prince of Tennis. … -sniffles-
Author's Note: Here's chapter nine! Whew! Remember, the complete Author's Note for this fic is posted in chapter one. But here are the warnings, summarized for your convenience: May contain spoilers/ shonen-ai/ not-shonen-ai/ please review/Horio will exposit for hours at flamers. Lol.
Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews! They all mean so much to me… and seriously, you guys are so smart. O.O You have insights about my plot that I thought no one in their right minds would notice yet. Oh, and to answer a quick question: Oishi was home alone at Fuji's apartment in the last scene of chapter 8. All three of them are getting on the plane to Japan at midnight, so all three were "killing time," so to speak, until then. Just to clarify, since I didn't actually say where Oishi was in the last scene… Anyway, on with the chapter! Let me know what you think of chapter nine!
I remember sitting by your side at sunset…
That day, you told me a secret.
A secret about what you wanted, more than anything else…
I just wish that you had wished for me instead.
…
"We're home!" Eiji's voice said cheerfully as the creak of a door sounded in the darkened apartment.
"Kikumaru-senpai, who are you talking to?" Ryoma couldn't help asking once they'd entered the living room and Momo had begun turning on the lights. But just as soon as he'd said it, he felt something brush by his leg and charge straight toward Eiji.
He looked to see the redhead picking up a snow white kitten, who began happily mewing and rubbing against his chest.
"Hey, Shuuko-chan, that tickles!" Eiji laughed, gently scratching the cat behind its ears.
"You have a cat?" Then Ryoma remembered that he'd seen a litter box in the apartment earlier. "Oh, right…"
"Yes, we have a cat," Momo answered for Eiji, rolling his eyes. "Eiji-senpai saw it at the pet store and it was love at first sight. He wouldn't take no for an answer. And so now… we have a cat."
"Well, it's MY apartment, Momo," Eiji said with a toss of his head. "You're only paying a third of the rent. Anyway, Shuuko-chan is adorable. Aren't you? Yes, that's right. Nya, nya, nya…!"
While Eiji proceeded to talk to the kitten in nonsensical cat noises, Ryoma couldn't help noting, "Isn't that a weird thing to name a cat?" (1)
"Well, that's what I said, but Eiji-senpai has strange ideas about naming animals." Momo just shrugged. "He insisted that was her name from the moment he saw her. Even though we didn't even know if it was a 'her' to begin with…"
"Momo-chin! How can you say that?" Eiji demanded, indigant. "Of course I knew! Right, Shuuko-chan?"
He again proceeded to snuggle with the housecat, who purred right back.
Ryoma watched for a moment, and then he suddenly remarked, "Well, I should probably get going back to the hotel…"
"Oh no, you don't!" Eiji exclaimed, shaking his head. "You're at least staying for some cake. I've been trying to finish off the strawberry one so I can make another flavor."
"Cake?" Ryoma looked confused. "Since when do you cook, Kikumaru-senpai?"
"Actually, Eiji-senpai's always been a good cook, even since before I knew him," Momo explained, kicking aside a few books and sitting down on the couch.
Eiji grinned, setting the cat back down on the floor, who nevertheless continued rubbing against the redhead's legs. "Well, I don't like to brag, but I do make some mean desserts, if I do say so myself. Anyway, you have to at least have a slice before you go. Let me go get some."
And with that, Eiji disappeared around the corner into the kitchenette.
Ryoma just sighed and sat down on the couch opposite from Momo. "He never quits, does he?"
"Not really," chuckled Momo. "But Eiji-senpai's a good guy, you know."
Ryoma watched as the white cat slowly crept up to where he was sitting, and began sniffing around his ankles.
"Yeah, I know." He paused for a moment. "Does she usually like strangers?"
"Who?" Momo looked confused until he noticed the cat, who was by this point rubbing Ryoma's leg affectionately. "Oh, the cat. Actually, she's pretty shy most of the time. She must like you."
Ryoma bent over and gently picked the cat up, setting it on his lap. He started petting it on the back, working his way up to behind its neck. The cat instantly began purring, and he couldn't resist a smile. It reminded him somehow of his own cat, Karupin, who was still in America.
"You have quite a way with cats," Momo observed quietly, purple eyes fixed on the way Ryoma's slender hands ran up and down the kitten's white fur. He faintly recalled the fact that Ryoma had owned a cat when he went to Seigaku, and that one day it had gone missing…
"Well, cats are easy to please," Ryoma murmured. "They don't expect much from you. I've always thought cats were easier to understand than people, honestly."
He laughed a little. "I guess that's weird, isn't it?"
"Not really." Momo shook his head slightly, resting his chin in his hand as he gazed at the boy. "You know, Echizen… I've been thinking… Maybe…"
Ryoma looked at Momo with curiosity gleaming in his golden eyes, but whatever Momo had been about to say was interrupted by a fuzzy voice coming from around the corner.
"What's that?" Ryoma whispered. "It sounds like a girl."
"Oh, it's the answering machine," Momo answered after listening for a moment. "Eiji-senpai must be checking it for messages."
They both fell silent, and in that instant, they couldn't help wanting to hear what the girl was saying…
"…So, Eiji-kun, I'm sorry. You're a really sweet guy. But I don't think we're right for each other after all. If you want to talk about it in person, give me a call, but I'll be out until late tonight. With him. I'm so sorry, Eiji-kun. Really. And I hope you find someone who's much better for you than me. Maybe we can still be friends? I hope so. Goodbye, Eij-kun."
There was a beeping sound, and then nothing but silence. Ryoma looked back at Momo with a stunned expression.
"Was that just now---?"
"Number seven," Momo replied before Ryoma could finish, looking almost disgusted. Ryoma blinked in surprise.
"What?"
"Number seven," repeated Momo, almost too calmly. "The number of times Eiji-senpai's been dumped by a girl he's been seeing for at least a month since entering college. A really bad success rate, don't you think?"
Ryoma didn't know what to say. He felt the kitten cuddling up against him, but he had stopped petting it by this point.
"That's terrible," he whispered. "Kikumaru-senpai must be…"
"Hey, Ochibi, I've got your cake!" said a light, cheerful voice, interrupting Ryoma's train of thought. Eiji came back into the room with one of the best fake smiles Ryoma had yet seen, handing the teenage tennis a paper plate.
"Sorry we don't have fine china or anything, but Momo-chin is really bad about doing the dishes," Eiji teased, also handing Momo a plate and then sitting down with his own. The cat jumped off of Ryoma's lap and went to lie down by Eiji's feet.
"Hey, come on, now, Eiji-senpai!" Momo protested, his grim expression completely gone. It was painfully obvious to Ryoma that both of his senpais were just playing along, pretending that nobody had heard the message.
And so he didn't say anything. But he did take the bright yellow plastic fork and break off a piece of the fluffy, sugary cake in front of him. He hesitantly put it into his mouth, even though he usually didn't like sweets that much…
"Hey, this isn't bad," Ryoma said, surprised. Eiji just grinned. "Why, thank you, Ochibi. I'm honored."
Ryoma never remembered afterwards what it was they talked about in that half hour. It seemed to him like nothing was really being said, but he tried to join in anyway. Still, he was consciously aware that every word spoken was just a decided effort to avoid what was really on everyone's mind. It was Ryoma's first time participating in a completely shallow, fake conversation. And it decidedly bothered him.
Which was why, the next thing he knew, he slowly remarked, "I should probably get going now. I have a long walk to the hotel. Thanks very much for the cake, Kikumaru-senpai."
He set the empty plate carefully down on the cluttered coffee table in front of him and stood up.
"Oh, okay, then, Echizen," nodded Momo, getting up himself. "Here. I'll get the door for you."
They both walked down the tiny hallway in silence. But Momo turned to him just before opening the door and muttered, "Don't worry. I'll talk to him."
Ryoma nodded, heading through the doorway. He looked back for a moment. "Good night, Momo-senpai."
"Good night, Echizen."
When Momo shut the door behind him, he stood there for a moment in silence. He tried to remember the last time Eiji had broken up with a girlfriend. He couldn't even remember what her name had been. He remembered the first time Eiji had broken up with a girl, though. He would never forget that night. Eiji had called him, in tears, saying that he was sorry for waking Momo up like that when he knew that Momo had to go to high school the next day, but that he really didn't know who else to talk to, and that he was so lonely…
Silently, he walked back into the living room, looking at Eiji, who by now had set down his own plate and was just staring off into the distance.
"Eiji-senpai…" Momo didn't quite know where to begin, but he was interrupted by his roommate.
"Ochibi heard it too, didn't he?" His voice sounded empty, defeated, but not really devastated.
Momo just nodded, slowly.
Eiji laughed a little, but it sounded hollow. "I thought so. He's even worse at pretending than I am. But, you know, it doesn't matter that much to me. I'm used to it."
Even as he said it, Momo could see Eiji's eyes began to water.
"Eiji-senpai…" Momo kneeled by Eiji's chair, putting one hand on his roommate's shoulder. But Eiji shook his head, gripping Momo by the arm and hiding his face in Momo's left shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I'll be okay," the redhead whispered, voice shaking a little. "I'm being stupid. I mean, I knew this would happen. And I told myself I'd be okay with it when it did. And I was… but…"
Eiji's muffled voice paused for a moment.
"It's just that… when she said that thing… you know, that she hoped I'd find someone that was right for me… it's just…"
Eiji was actually crying now, Momo knew. He could tell by the way he sounded so choked up. He put one arm around his roommate, gently patting him on the back.
"There's no one right for me," Eiji managed at last, sniffling a little. Momo didn't say anything, but he looked at the top of Eiji's dark red hair in silence, eyes knowing.
No, Eiji-senpai…
There IS someone right for you…
But you let him get away.
"Ah, I'm sorry, Momo," Eiji laughed suddenly, pulling away and wiping a few stray tears from his eyes. "I'm being such a baby. I'm okay, really."
"Are you sure, Eiji-senpai?" inquired Momo, unconvinced. "You know you don't have to hide anything from me."
"Yeah, I know," Eiji said bravely, standing up and grabbing the plates. He took a deep breath. "But I'll be okay. And that's all there is to it, really."
He vanished around the corner for a moment, and Momo heard the noise of something being crammed into the garbage can. Then Eiji came back around the corner, rubbing his hands together dismissively, and completely changed the subject.
"So what were you and Ochibi talking about while I was in the kitchen?"
"Huh? What were we talking about?" Momo looked confused. "Well, actually, we were talking about the cat…"
"Really?" Eiji looked decidedly disappointed. "I thought maybe the two of you were… you know… getting along."
He chuckled slightly, further perplexing Momo, until a realization dawned on the younger of the two.
"Eiji-senpai, you don't mean it that way, do you?"
"Well, I don't know. I thought you meant it that way," observed Eiji innocently. "You keep giving him this look… I thought you and Ochibi were just friends."
"We are," Momo insisted, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's not like that."
"Oh, alright then," Eiji said in a suggestive tone. "If you say so, Momo-chin."
"Eiji-senpai!"
Amid an ensuing round of protests on the part of Momo and teasing on the part of Eiji, the white kitten wandered around the clutter of the living room, ignoring the noise. It suddenly perked up, as if something had caught its attention, and hopped onto one of the shelves. In doing so, it just barely brushed by one of the photographs, the one Ryoma had recognized from the night on the mountaintop…
The frame teetered on the edge of the shelf for a moment, and then fell to the floor, cracking the glass into several pieces.
- - - - - - - -
Tezuka stood in the terminal of the airport, gazing out the window at the airplane that was going to take him to Japan in a matter of hours. It was an almost lonely sight, that smooth white plane standing by itself in the darkest hours of the night, waiting for the expected departure time. He watched as the service attendants inspected the plane from top to bottom, and he felt almost as though he too should be inspecting himself, trying to remember why it was that he was so far away from Japan in the first place.
Though, as to that, he only dimly recalled the night that he had sealed his own fate…
"Tezuka." That voice that always entered his consciousness like a seductive broken record interrupted his thoughts yet again.
"Yes?" He didn't bother turning away from the window. He could see a perfectly reflected image of the tensai against the glass pane, shining with the light that was inside the terminal. He could see that subtle smile, that mask that told him nothing of what it was that its owner was actually feeling. And so he could find no real reason to look at that face directly.
Besides, when he did look at those blue eyes directly, when they appeared from behind the mask…
… That was the one thing that always managed to undo him…
"I was wondering if you thought it best that we give the others a call," Fuji answered at last. "They have no idea that we're coming, after all."
Inwardly, Tezuka cringed at the notion, hoping against hope that whatever happened, they wouldn't actually come to meet them at the airport…
But, nevertheless, he nodded to Fuji in reply. The tensai was right, after all. It wouldn't do them any good to get to Japan and then just waste time trying to track everyone down.
"Alright then," Fuji agreed, taking his cell phone from his pocket. "I'll try Momoshiro's number."
Still staring at the reflection, Tezuka watched as the deceptively fragile figure of the tensai turned around and began walking away from the window, holding the mobile phone to his ear. He faintly heard that voice murmur a greeting to someone on the other line, but he was instantly distracted…
… He could have sworn that he saw the faint image of a shining, golden figure slide across the glass, right in front of him…
Its accusing eyes cut him to the heart.
- - - - - - - - -
Did you forget? Did you? Answer me!
ANSWER ME!
…
Ryoma woke suddenly from a nightmare, breathing hard and in a cold sweat. The bed sheets were twisted all around his body, and for a moment, he felt as though he was bound like a prisoner, unable to escape the strange vision that refused to fade away from his memory…
And those eyes… he could still feel them staring right into his soul…
Oh, God…
No, it was only a dream. Just a dream.
After a moment, he had calmed down enough to patiently untangle himself from the pale white sheets and sit slowly up in bed, looking around the dark hotel room. He checked the time on the alarm clock nearby, but it was only three in the morning. … What in the world was he doing up at three in the morning, anyway?
This was ridiculous, really. Echizen Ryoma never had nightmares. In fact, he couldn't even remember a single nightmare from when he was younger…
Except he did recall one, one that he had experienced about five years ago, when he'd just made it through the primaries for the U.S. Open.
But that one was different. He'd taken care of that. He'd returned to Japan, and he'd faced Tezuka, playing against him one last time before leaving for New York for good. Yes, that was over and done with.
… Wasn't it?
The more Ryoma thought about it, the more he realized that the eyes that had glared at him in the nightmare were the same eyes that had been in that dream, five long years ago.
But he had already faced Tezuka on the tennis court. That was over with. And he had kept his promise and returned to Japan, too. It was Tezuka who hadn't even bothered to wait for him.
No, he'd done what he promised.
… Hadn't he?
Ryoma found himself staring into the darkness, wrestling with his own thoughts, trying to face the dream and forget it at the same time. After all, it was just a dream. It didn't really matter. What mattered was that he had done what he promised, and he was in Japan now.
Yes, that was what mattered.
Besides, that dream… that dream that screamed with the noise of an oncoming train, and cried with tears that wouldn't stop dripping down the walls, and ached with the pain of a broken heart…
That dream made no sense. It couldn't possibly make sense.
No, that nightmare wasn't real.
Ryoma knew it couldn't be real. And that was all there was to it.
Ryoma collapsed back into bed, his head sinking into the pillow, and he closed his eyes. But for the longest time, he couldn't get the blurred images of the nightmare out of his mind.
… Especially those betrayed, accusing eyes.
- - - - - - - - -
It was late. It was very late. Momoshiro was completely aware of that fact, even faintly aware that he could no longer call "late" what was quickly becoming "early," what with that faint morning light that was staring to show between the curtains…
But still, he couldn't get to sleep, and he wasn't even about to try, not at this point. He continued flipping through the channels on a muted television, not even really seeing what was on the screen but knowing it couldn't possibly hold his interest. He glanced at the occupied space on the couch next to him, and smiled silently to himself at the sight of Eiji curled up, fast asleep, with the cat asleep next to him.
For a while, they'd both been awake together, admitting that for some reason, sleep was impossible on this particular night. Especially when they'd found the broken picture frame on the floor, the one the cat had accidently knocked over... Something about the sight of the cracked glass had unsettled them both. But by this point, Eiji had finally nodded off, and Momoshiro was secretly glad, especially because he knew his roommate could be particularly grumpy when he didn't get enough rest.
But as for Momo, his mind wouldn't stop running ahead of itself, propelled by a vague feeling that something was about to happen. And when he couldn't stop thinking like that, he couldn't get to sleep. It was that simple…
For this night, anyway, he wasn't going to sleep at all.
His mind was too preoccupied with a thousand things for that. Concerns about the future. Guesses about things that he could feel were about to happen. Plans about what he would do about those things that were about to happen… hopes that it wouldn't all shatter into pieces, like the glass...
And as he glanced at his cell phone, sitting on the coffee table in front of him, he wasn't the least bit surprised to hear it start to ring.
Reaching over, he grasped it in his hand, flipped it open, and held it to one ear…
"Hello?"
"Is this Momoshiro?"
It was a voice he knew well. Very well.
"Hello, Fuji-senpai," he replied quietly, knowingly.
"Hello, Momo. I'm calling to tell you that Tezuka, Oishi, and I are going to be on our way to Japan within a few hours… And also to tell you that you can do whatever you like with this information… at your own discretion."
That voice sounded almost defiant, as though it was daring Momo to do something. Or at least, that was what it sounded like to Momo's ears. He smiled grimly.
"I see. Thank you for calling, Fuji-senpai. What time will your flight get in?" he asked, trying to sound unconscious of the hidden threat that he knew lay somewhere in those words.
"It will get in at about 6:30 your time."
"Alright then. Do you want us to meet you at the airport, Fuji-senpai?" Momo couldn't help trying to decipher the tone of Fuji's voice, trying to guess what the tensai felt about the whole thing.
"No, don't worry about that. We'll go straight to the hotel, the one right by the airport. You can go there instead."
"Okay then. I'll remember," was all Momo said. He managed a few polite words as a goodbye, and then hung up the phone.
Perfect. It's even the hotel where Echizen's staying.
It's almost too perfect… But…
No. It's okay. Everything will be alright.
Momo glanced over at his roommate, who had stirred at the sound of the phone ringing. Eiji sleepily forced open one eye and mumbled, "Wha whazzat?"
"Nothing, Eiji-senpai," he replied softly, smiling as the redhead shifted a little and then fell asleep again. He looked at his catlike senpai and let a little bit of what he was feeling creep into his eyes then. Those violet eyes became filled with compassion, compassion and also regret…
Nothing at all, Eiji-senpai. Except maybe… maybe just a little bit of hope for us.
If he can come through…
But I know he will. For you, Eiji-senpai. For all of us.
- end of chapter nine -
Useless Footnote: (1) The cat's name is Shuuko, which is a female Japanese name. I don't know Japanese cultural standards in naming cats, but it can be a little unusual to use a person's name for a pet, in my own American experience. In any case, this name also happens to be a female form of the male first name 'Shuichiroh'… not that I'm implying anything… Noooo, of course not… XD
A/N: Whew! Sorry this chapter is abouttwo days late from when I wanted to finish… This weekend was a surprisingly busy one for me. But I finally finished it! Sorry it's a bit shorter and a bit less eventful than other chapters… It's the final building of suspense before the Seigaku Regulars are officially reunited! I'll have that chapter up by this weekend, I promise. And then things will really start happening…
By the way, in answering a question from one of my reviewers, yes, Tezuka and Inui are both family names/last names. Their first names are Kunimitsu and Sadaharu, respectively. In fact, I feel now is as good a time as any to point something out… My system of naming in this fic is only 100 percent accurate and consistent in the dialogue. I use only what each character actually calls another character in the anime, unless otherwise noted. However, when I use names of characters within the actual description, I just try to use the shortest and most familiar versions of the names possible. This usually means I use the last name (e.g. Tezuka, Inui, Fuji). The three exceptions are Eiji, Taka, and Ryoma, all for various reasons… One other note on naming choice: I normally refer to the complete Japanese names in the Japanese way. Example: Echizen Ryoma, where Echizen is the last name and Ryoma is the first name. HOWEVER, I changed this when the characters were in an English-speaking setting, like in America, where obviously Ryoma's manager would use Ryoma's first name, with no honorific, and would say his first name before his last name. I wrote the fic assuming people were familiar with the naming system, so I'm sorry if I confused anyone! XD My bad!
And, by the way, for anyone who's curious… Because I am a geek, flight length and time zone differences in this chapter were checked for accuracy. Yes. I AM that lame. Lol. XD
Anyway, thanks again for all your support, everyone! And please let me know what you thought of chapter nine!
Coming Up Next: The Regulars are finally reunited, and tension from the memories of the past starts to surface instantly. Can Ryoma sort through all the secrets and the lies and get to the real heart of the matter? Or is he even prepared to discover for himself the source of the problem that broke up the Regulars after he left?