Chapter Five: Meet the Cat
After walking for a few miles with Sakuno on his back, Ryoma almost wished he were already inside his room sleeping. Twenty minutes had passed as he walked the next fifteen miles with a 53-kilogram girl in his back and it was getting heavier by the second. The strength and endurance training he received from Inui – Senpai since his freshman years was beginning to wear off. Maybe he needed another 100 laps or a tank full of Inui – Senpai's famous vegetable juice. On second thought, maybe it was a bad idea.
Sakuno shifted on her weight, leaning her face in the space of his neck and shoulder. She gave a small sigh of contentment as she buried her face in his neck. Her breath brought chills to Ryoma's spine and he flinched as she nuzzled more against him.
'Damn, is she sleeping?' he drastically thought. He looked over his back and noticed her face was relaxed, her eyelids closed and her mouth slightly parted. He sighed as he began to focus his attention to the road.
Yup, definitely sleeping. And it would be a bad idea if he makes a slight movement and wake her up. He walked for another ten miles then made a loud, resounding sigh. Finally, after two hours of excruciating journey, he was home. He quickened his pace as he neared his house and was contented as he grasped the black – painted bars of their front gate.
He let out a sound of happiness as he managed to swing the gate open using his feet. He automatically kicked the gate shut with his feet again and dashed madly to the front door. He wiggled his left hand free while using his right to support Sakuno as he pried open the door. His golden cat – like eyes began to grow wide twice its size when he could not open the door. He went to the window and peeked inside. There was no trace of movement inside the house.
Oh no.
'Damn, I've been locked out! In my own house,' Ryoma thought wildly, as he sweat dropped. This couldn't be happening. First his hand got burned in the oven, now he was locked out of his own house. And the worst part of all, he was carrying a heavily sleeping Sakuno in his back. He straightened his back, ignoring the soreness as he began to formulate a strategy.
'I'll just go to the back door and see if Okaasan or Nanako – san left it open,' he contemplated as he entered the back porch. The whole Echizen home was eerily quiet. Ryoma walked nonchalantly along their wide garden showing a whole view of the temple at the end of the street. Probably, his Oyaji was still not done ringing the bells.
Ryoma finally reached the back door and clamped his hand around the doorknob. He gave a slight twist and he was in near celebration when it turned with a soft click. It was open!
Giggling like a girl in spite of himself, he opened the door and was surprised that there was no one inside the house. He set Sakuno first down the couch as he relaxed his tired muscles. He plopped down next to her, watching her sleep.
'I can't believe she still sleeps deeply at a time like this…'
He was about to close his eyes for a nap when he heard a clinking sound coming from outside. His head shot up as he heard the fumbling of keys from the front door. He craned his neck to look outside the window and his jaw dropped as he saw his cousin Nanako enter the front gate, a bag of groceries in her arms. He glanced at his still sleeping girlfriend and groaned.
'If Nanako – san sees Sakuno with me, who knows what gossip she'll say to Okasan…and to Otosan…I'll never live this one down…'
He began to lift Sakuno in his arms and grudgingly, head to the stairs to where his room is. She mumbled a few words then resumed sleeping, her arms hanging freely along his sides. Ryoma finally reached the end of stairs and turned in the direction of his room. He opened the door, and entered it gratefully. He went to his bed, and placed Sakuno in it, his knees finally gave in and he collapsed on the floor beside her.
Ryoma stared at his girlfriend's peaceful face for a few minutes then stood up. He head towards his closet and pulled out a blue oversized T – shirt over his head. After running his hands through his hair in attempt to straighten it out, he looked at Sakuno quietly as she was taking her time slumbering. He needed to distract Nanako – san in order to divert her attention from Sakuno. He opened the door to his room and closed it discreetly.
Unknown to him, a white and black furball sneaked inside his room just as when he closed the door.
Meino Nanako, Ryoma's cousin stared at a pair of leather shoes carelessly tossed in the living room. She shook her head in a motherly way as she picked up the shoes and set it neatly next to hers.
'Ryoma – san is already here,' she thought as she entered the living room and headed to the kitchen. She was halfway to the door when Ryoma came stepping down the stairs. She smiled at him. "You're back early, Ryoma – san. I guess tennis practice is over, right?"
"Uh…right." He avoided her gaze, focusing it in the brown paper bag she's clutching to her chest. "You went shopping?"
Nanako nodded and gestured to her groceries. "Yes. Obasan told me to shop for supplies on my way home from work. Ojisan is going to be late tonight. Something about fixing the temple bell I suppose."
'Fixing temple bells? More like finish reading those magazines to me,' he soundly thought. He began to glance around the room as if searching for something.
"Nanako – san, have you seen Karupin?" he asked.
"No, I just got here. Have you seen him in your room?" she answered, following it with a question. Ryoma shook his head as he began to head to the kitchen. That was strange. Usually, Karupin would just sit and hang out in the Living Room and wait until he comes home from tennis practice. He waved a 'thank you' gesture to Nanako before heading outside the house to look for his cat.
"Ne, Momo who did you say Ochibi is going out with?"
"Old hag's granddaughter, Eiji – senpai! And stop pushing me, Mamushi!"
"I'm not pushing you, idiot!"
"This will be a very good data."
"Inui, don't you think it's a very bad time to do your research?"
"Taka –san is right, Inui. Consider Echizen's feelings whenever you pry into his personal life!"
"I don't understand why I tagged along with you."
Momoshiro placed a finger to his lips, signaling his 'reconnaissance team' to be quiet. You see he called the past regulars of Seigaku including Tezuka – bucho, who was only there for a vacation with the exception of Fuji who went out for a tennis game with his brother Yuuta. Momo ushered them into a sitting position that only Tezuka thought was ridiculous. He stared at Echizen who suddenly went out into the garden and was in the process of searching something or someone.
"So what's the plan, Momo? I never thought that Ochibi would do 'that' to the coach's granddaughter," Kikumaru commented giddily. He was excited about some certain events regarding their baby boy.
Kaidoh let out a grunt and a hiss. He didn't really want to go along with their antics but he was with Inui when Momoshiro made his call. He glanced at his data – gathering senpai and began to sweatdrop. As always, gathering more personal information.
Taka – san, being his kind self (without the racket) was telling Inui to stop gathering data about Echizen. "Inui, stop that. It's not fair for Echizen if you write something between him and Ryuzaki – chan."
Inui, as if possessed by a mad beast continued writing as if there's no tomorrow. Sighing, Taka – san looked to Oishi asking for support.
Oishi, the so – called "Seigaku no Okasan" was so deathly worried of their situation that he lectured Inui that snooping into other's business was bad. Tezuka, on the other hand was watching his fellow regulars like some kind of wild children fighting over at the sight of food.
They were past their senior years, and yet they acted childishly. As they have repeatedly explained and rammed into his brain that their Baby Boy had finally reached Puberty and was planning to make out with a girl. And that girl happened to be the old hag's granddaughter and one of his fans, Ryuzaki Sakuno.
'Which is why I don't understand these idiots why sneaking up on Echizen's private life is enjoyable,' Tezuka thought smugly as he continued to watch his Seigaku regulars bickering like children.
He sighed as the bickering continued on and on and on. This was going to be a long day.
"Karupin! Geez, where did you go?"
The soft rustle of the leaves and the humming of the breeze clearly stated that there was no sign of the Himalayan Spotted Cat in the garden. Ryoma sighed as he searched further, looking at the fishing pond twice before moving to another. It was strange.
Did he go outside? No, the gate of the house was locked, he couldn't get out at that time. Oh man, where is that troublesome cat anyway…? Grrr…
"Karupin!" he called out again, louder this time. That cat of his was wandering off somewhere, he just couldn't point a finger where…
The violent rustling of the bushes nearby caught Ryoma's attention. Curiosity piqued his interest as he walked towards the offending plant, thinking there might be a lurker nearby, the media first popped in his mind. Well, no one can blame him he was famous. The second one it might be his cat Karupin.
Momoshiro sweatdropped heavily as he saw Echizen walking towards their hiding spot. 'This is not good…not good at all…' he muttered to himself as he glanced to his 'team' shooting weird looks. If they were going to get caught here, it'll be the end of their heads.
"Ryoma –san!"
Ryoma was almost near the bush when Nanako called him. Muttering a low curse, he turned to his cousin holding green onions and a knife. She waved gaily at him.
"Nani?" he asked curtly.
Nanako smiled an innocent smile. "I need help in slicing these onions. Would you do it for me?"
He crossed his arms. "I'm still looking for Karupin. Do it yourself."
"Dinner hour is almost near. It'll be bad if Obasan goes home and finds out there's no dinner cooked yet. And you know how Ojisan will react when he sees no food in the table now, right?" Nanako explained and stared far into the garden. "Besides, Karupin will return no matter where he is if he's hungry."
Ryoma stared at her for a few minutes, weighing his decision. Since there was no way out, he sighed in utmost defeat. "Alright."
Nanako smiled as she went back inside the kitchen, Ryoma following her. It was surprising though, Ryoma would just leave the house before she could call out to him and ask for help. She stared at the clock hanging in the kitchen wall. 'Two hours left before Ojisan and Obasan to come home.'
Meanwhile, back to the 'reconnaissance team', Momoshiro let out a sigh of relief. "Whew, if it weren't for Echizen's cousin, we're doomed."
Kaidoh scoffed. "If it weren't for you dragging our Ass here, I could've send you to Hell for sure!"
"What did you say Mamushi! Want to fight?" Momo snapped.
"Want to go at it? Hissssss…." Kaidoh taunted.
Oishi stepped in between of his two teammates. He held each of them by the shoulder and pried the two apart. "Stop it, you two! We might get caught!"
Taka – san let out a sound of uneasiness. Spying Echizen may be fine but when you have a case of no cooperation especially with these two, they will eventually be found out by Echizen himself or worse make them run 100 laps since he's the current bucho of the Tennis club.
Kikumaru was still giddy. "Ne, Momo aren't we supposed to look out where the coach's granddaughter is? Since Ochibi's cousin is there, he won't do anything stupid right?"
Momo focused his attention to his acrobatic – playing senpai. "That may be a possibility, senpai. However, there may be a chance that Echizen will hide Ryuzaki – chan in a hidden location which is far away from his cousin."
Tezuka let out a bored sigh. "Are you saying that Ryuzaki – sensei's granddaughter is now being held hostage, Momoshiro?"
"That's right!" Momo clasped both of his hands in affirmation.
Tezuka stood up from where he sat and rubbed his temples. "That's it. I'm going."
Momoshiro and the others grabbed Tezuka back down, each holding him by the arms and legs. Out of surprise, Tezuka tried to free himself from his teammates' vise – like grips. He tried another tactic and was about to scream when Kikumaru placed a hand above Tezuka's mouth and grinned evilly.
"Oh no you don't Tezuka! You're not going to miss this very important event in Ochibi's life. Even if it takes your pride to go down the flat zone," Kikumaru said as he watched Tezuka's surprised but angry expression. The others grinned too. Who would've thought that they could finally pull this to their ever-serious Tezuka – bucho? They must've got their strengths from the Inui – juice that they've drank a few hours ago…
"Anyway," Momoshiro began, bringing all of their attention once more. "The best way we can do is to keep surveying Echizen's place. If he does a single thing to harm Ryuzaki – chan, we'll storm inside and save her!"
"An atrocious plan Momo! But what are we going to do with Ochibi if that happens?" Kikumaru asked.
"If that happens then we're going to teach Echizen a very hard lesson about youth!" Momoshiro answered defiantly, one fist flailing out to emphasize his point.
Sweatdrops appeared in the back of the heads of his 'reconnaissance team'.
"Achoo!"
Nanako stared at her cousin who was busy slicing the onions. Ryoma sneezed again and she handed him her handkerchief, which he gratefully accepted it.
"Ryoma – san are you sick? Did you catch a cold?" She asked worriedly.
Ryoma shook his head and sneezed into the handkerchief. That was odd, pathogens don't have an effect on him and now…somebody must be talking about him. He glanced at the kitchen's clock. One hour. He had to return to his room.
Sakuno might be beginning to wake up soon.
Sakuno stretched out her arms languidly and began to open her eyes. She sat up abruptly as she realized she was no longer on the road in Ryoma's back. She was…in a very untidy bedroom. Her nose crinkled with a severe case of Cleaning Syndrome. Whoever room is this needs a bulldozer to tidy this whole place up.
She rubbed her eyes. 'Where was Ryoma – kun anyway?'
Scrutinizing the entire room again, Sakuno stood up from the bed and walked towards the desk next to the bed. A surprised look crossed her face, as she finally knew who the room's owner is.
"Ryoma – kun, what a very untidy person," she smiled despite of her boyfriend's well – kept secret. She ran her hands on the smooth surface of the desk and began to ponder. She should look for him now and ask him where is Nanjiro – san. And also to find out where the cake disappeared.
She headed straight into the door and was about to grab the knob when she suddenly stopped. Shivers ran through her spine as she felt something rubbing dangerously close to her and she slowly turned her head to see what it was.
A loud shrill cry echoed into the entire Echizen household.
The Momo Reconnaissance Team gaped in horror as they heard the deafening sound from the house. They immediately stood up from their places and they recognized the owner of the scream.
"It's Ryuzaki – chan!" Momo growled.
"Holy cow did Ochibi…? Oh the poor girl! That was her first," Kikumaru yelled in exasperation. Tezuka and Kaidoh shook their heads in annoyance while Inui kept on writing.
"What an interesting data. Echizen finally released all of his pent – up frustrations in life. He's now a man," Inui stated, his glasses sparkling as he continued to write in his notebook.
"Inui, you better not write that," Taka – san commented.
"Inui!" Oishi scolded.
Momo wasted no time. He ran in the direction of the house.
"Everyone! Let's go! Let's stop Echizen from his perverted self and save Ryuzaki – chan!"
"Eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?" the team wailed.
Tezuka rubbed his temples. This is going to be one heck of a reunion…
Author's Note: There you have it, Chapter Five! The raving lunatic acts of the Seigaku team will continue! Please feel free to offer suggestions and reviews you are most welcome! For the previous reviews, thank you thank you! I would never improve this much without you!