By: Chiharu-chan
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is copyrighted to Konomi, Shounen Jump, TV Tokyo, Viz, etc.
Chapter: 4
"Bad news." Chelsea crossed her legs, looking at him expectantly as she flattened out the wrinkles on Raine's sundress. "You have a conference next week."
Ryoma paused slightly, kicking his shoes off. "So?"
The girl sighed, picking up Raine as she set her on her lap. "It's in Tokyo. The Japanese news media have scheduled a conference with you to discuss your success. It's good for publicity, so you shouldn't miss is. Also, a lot of sponsors will be there watching you. It'll be ridiculous for you to miss out. It's a win-win situation."
The tennis player paused. "What time?"
"Next Monday." She sighed. "That's four days away from now."
"I'll start packing."
"Ah, but there's a catch."
Echizen raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said it was a win-win situation."
"It is; had they consider something more important." Chelsea frowned. "They only gave us two tickets for you and me. All the interviews and public appearances will take about a week. Who'll take care of Raine?"
"I can't." Kevin deadpanned. "I have roommates, five of them." He paused, as if adding an after-thought. "And I wouldn't trust any of them."
"You're the only one I can ask." Ryoma declared dully, leaving no other space for argument.
"Take her to a goddamn daycare." The blonde glared, setting his pen down. "In fact, ask your manager to do it, then it wouldn't be so suspicious. It's not that big of a deal." He turned his attention back onto the assignment at hand.
"I don't trust them." Echizen leaned over the table, slapping Kevin's textbook closed, earning another look of annoyance from the blonde. "If it's not that big of a deal, why don't you do it?"
Kevin groaned, running a hand through his hair. "I have classes, you know. I don't have the time or energy to take care of her; I can barely take care of myself!"
The Japanese boy remained quite for a moment. He pulled the hem of his hat down –Kevin had no clue why he was even wearing that; it wasn't even sunny out on campus-, almost in a disappointed fashion. "I'll find someone else."
Had Kevin known that Ryoma was dead serious about finding someone, he would've never let the other boy stride promptly across the University Campus, and making Kevin himself feel slightly inadequate for letting him do so.
This became even more evident when he came face-to-face Sakuno Ryuuzaki three days later, when he had finally given up on finishing the remaining of his essay before dawn and made a quick dash out of his living room, paying no regards to the fact that the money he paid for taxi was supposed to be his lunch money for the rest of the week.
The girl –she didn't look a day older than sixteen- smiled unsurely, biting her lip as she stepped aside to let Kevin into the apartment, quickly scanning the halls behind the boy; Kevin had no clue what she was looking for, stalkers? Reporters?
"I knew you would come." Echizen didn't bother to look up as he continued packing, picking up a pair of jeans from the floor with little care. Kevin could see a small line forming on the edge of the other boy's lips, a smirk. "I rethought my position."
"And?" The blonde tapped his feet on the hardwood floor, never mind the fact that his tennis shoes were completely drenched from stepping through a puddle on the way to find a taxi.
"I wouldn't trust you with Raine." The Japanese boy shrugged, nodding towards the girl who was currently looking between the two of them, obviously confused. "So I called her over."
Kevin frowned, turning towards the said girl. "Who are you?"
"Ah!" The brunette blinked, glancing around her to see if the question was aimed at someone else. Kevin quickly came to conclusion that the girl was way to shy; he didn't like her. "Um.. I." She turned over towards Ryoma, as if asking him for a reply.
"Kevin understands Japanese."
"I'm Ryuuzaki Sakuno." The girl bowed, her hair –it was way to long for Kevin's taste- brushed unnaturally against her back. "I'm Raine-chan's mother. Um.. Ryoma-kun's… Um.."
Kevin raised an eyebrow in amusement, eyeing the obviously noticeable ring on the girl's finger as he paused slightly. "Fiancée?"
"Not mine." Echizen quickly mumbled in English, earning a confused look from… Kevin paused. Sakura? Nevertheless, he noticed the slight annoyance in Ryoma's tone from the previous statement. "Sakuno-" Ah, right. "We're just friends. I don't want Fuji-sempai to hunt me down."
"Fuji?"
"She's engaged." The tennis player replied. "To Syuusuke Fuji. Do you remember him?"
"I think so." Kevin folded his arms together. He switched his attention back onto Sakuno, who happened to look slightly relieved form being ignored at the moment. "You're here to look after Raine?" After receiving a hesitant nod, he sighed, leading for the door. "Well, my use here is gone. I need to finish my homework so-"
"Kevin-"
"What?" The blonde snapped, surprising himself. He didn't think he would be this jealous… No, Angry, that's right, angry, from meeting the woman who bore Ryoma's children. The thought itself disturbed him.
"She understands English, but she can't speak it." The raven-hair boy replied. "You have to help her around the city."
"Your manager-"
"Is coming to the conference with me."
"I have class." And it was back to square once. The same excuse, over and over again.
When no one in the room spoke up, Kevin headed for the door. He silently noticed how his step was short and haste, almost as if he was waiting for someone, anyone, to stop this action. His hand traced around the metal of the doorknob, ready to open the door when Ryoma finally cleared his throat.
"Then why are you here?"
"I-"
"Kebiiinnnn." Raine pulled onto the blonde's head, attempting to drag him away from the door as she nearly tripped over the rug in the process, giggling to herself. "Come on!"
"What's your mobile phone number, Kevin-kun?" Sakuno smiled with surprising confidence, gently sliding Raine's hand off of Kevin's arm. "I have Ryoma-kun's cell phone for now, so at least give me your number so I can contact you… Um, in case of an emergence."
And for the moment, Kevin couldn't help but feel the guilt emitting from Ryoma. The way Sakuno's smiled so gently, offering him her complete trust. It made Kevin feel so guilty of leaving such a young woman alone.
At that time, Kevin really thought he could actually understand Ryoma, even for a fleeting moment.
Kevin frowned to himself, rubbing his eyes as he made his way towards Biology. There was a slight dragging in his steps. For one thing, he hadn't slept very much in the last few days. Personally, he blamed Echizen. The blonde sighed, leaning down as one of his textbooks fell out of his grasp.
Looking up, he blinked at a hand stretched towards him, holding out a can of soda.
An Asian girl grinned back at him, holding the soda up to his face. "Here, take it. Press it against your eyes and it'll help with the bags under your eye." She paused. "At least, I think it will. It always worked for me, except for that one time where-" She laughed. "Sorry, I'm rambling."
Kevin stared. "Who the hell are you?"
The girl pouted. "You're mean."
The blonde sighed, running a hand through his hair. He was tired, hungry and thirsty. Reaching up, he grabbed the can of soda from the girl's hand. "No, seriously. Who are you? Do you have me mistaken with someone else or something?"
"Don't you remember me?" She frowned.
Kevin paused, snapped the soda open as he scan through his memory bank. Turning to look down at the girl, he blinked. "You're the fan girl we met last week."
'That's me!" She grinned. "And you're Kevin Smith!"
Kevin nearly choked on your soda.
"I'm not a stalker." The girl reassured him, laughing. "I just happened to remember you from seven years ago! You were in the Jr. tournament, right? You played against Kirihara and Echizen both!" She grinned. "Which is kind of funny since both Kirihara and Echizen are professionals, and you're just a lowly college student."
"What's your point?" Kevin raised an eyebrow.
"Nah, I'm not trying to be annoying." She grinned. "It's just that I've always been a fan of tennis ever since middle school, and Seigaku was always such a competitive school." She paused. "You remember Seigaku, right?"
"Eh.. Who in the world are you, anyway?"
"I'm kind of surprised Echizen didn't recognize me at first, but yeah. I'm Osakada. Osakada Tomoka!"
Kevin paused. "I've never heard of you."
"That's rude!" Tomoka frowned. "For your information, I was the head of Echizen's fan club during middle school!"
"Just middle school?" The blonde raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I moved away during high school." She frowned. "I heard a lot of stuff happened then, but I didn't have a way of going back to Japan at the time, which is horrible. Don't worry, though, I'm not a fan of Echizen anymore."
Kevin blinked.
"I guess, I was." She shrugged. "I lied about my age, but I wanted to see if he would recognize me. I guess he didn't; he was always ignorant like that."
"But you were a fan of him."
"I was." Tomoka frowned. "Until he got my best-friend pregnant."
"Sakura?"
"Sakuno." The girl sighed. "I haven't seen her in years. The poor girl!"
Kevin smirked, flipping his phone open as he scanned through the address there. Coming across Echizen's cell phone number, he look up at the girl. "You're in luck, then."
"Lunch." Chelsea declared, pushing the plate of food towards Ryoma.
The tennis player, in return, lowered his baseball cap before taking a look out of the airplane window. "I'm not hungry."
"Worried about Raine?"
"No. Nothing will happen to her." Sakuno was there, after all. Although she wasn't the most reliable with directions and easily scared, she did give birth to the girl, and Ryoma could at least give her some credit.
"What do you think?"
"About what?"
Chelsea shrugged, opening her bottle of orange juice. "Are you going to visit Sky while you're in Japan?" She paused, eyeing the boy slightly. "You are his father, after all. Besides, it'll give you time to reacquaint with your old friends."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"She looks a lot like him."
"I know." Sakuno smiled, watching as Raine ran across the room.
The room fell quite as Kevin suddenly poked his head out of kitchen. "I'm trying to find some coffee in the kitchen. Eh, do you know where it is?"
Sakuno shook her head while Tomoka laughed. "Does he even drink that?"
Kevin shrugged, heading back into the kitchen.
Tomoka turned towards her long-time best friend. "I'm sorry."
Sakuno blinked slightly. "Why?"
"For not being there when you needed me." Tomoka frowned. "I mean. I heard the rumors, too, you know. Horio told me. I think that was when I was still dating him, but we broke up because I refused to believe him. If I knew it was true then." Her eyes clouded up. "I would've came back to see you, I would have! Trust Me!"
"Tomo-chan." Sakuno smiled as Raine jumped onto the sofa next to her. "I trust you. And none of this is your fault, so please stop apologizing. I think, even if you hadn't left Japan, I would've still loved Ryoma-kun that much." She patted Raine on the back as the girl hiccupped.
"But he ruined your life!"
"What do you mean?"
"You had to drop out of school because of him!" Tomoka frowned. "Then you had to take care of your twins, and… And he ruined your life and your future! And now look at him, still playing tennis like it's nothing! He didn't even ask you to marry him!"
"Don't say that." The calmer girl replied, shaking her head. "It's not true. Ryoma-kun asked me to marry him. But…. I refused."
"WHY!"
"He doesn't love me, Tomo-chan." Sakuno shook her head. "And I don't love him, not anymore. I think, at that time, I was so in love with him, and maybe he loved me too. I don't know, I was too scared to ask him. You know me, I've always been so devoted to Ryoma-kun, and I didn't have the heart to hear him reject me. I was just so glad that he even offered me some sort of affection." She wiped a strand of tears with the back of her hand. "I just wanted to be acknowledged by him. I guess… I was desperate."
"Damn that Ryoma." Tomoka laughed. "Damn him and his good looks and tennis skills and breaking your hearts… Damnit, where does he keep the tissues in this place?"
"Tomo-chan, you haven't changed."
"And you?"
"He didn't ruin my life, Tomo-chan. He gave me more opportunities: for me, for Raine-Chan, for Kai-kun. And.. I don't think I would be here without here." She raised her hand, showing the girl her engagement ring. "See this?"
"Who?" Tomoka gasped.
"Fuji-sempai." Sakuno smiled.
Tomoka tackled her into a hug. Neither of the girls noticed Kevin standing in the doorway to the kitchen, smiling slightly.
"You're here." Echizen grimaced, shooting his manager a look at his manager, who only smiled with a sense of amusement back at him. "You're all here. I told you not to come."
"Stupid. Did you really think you could keep this trip back a secret?" Momoshiro locked him in a headlock, laughing.
"Ochibi! I haven't seen you in a year!" Kikumaru beamed happily, bouncing around like he did in their tennis days. "You've gotten tall. Hasn't he, Oishi!"
"Yeah." The vice-captain smiled. "It's good to have you back, Echizen, even for awhile."
"Let's go for Sushi!" Momoshiro declared! "Taka-san couldn't come because he had to look after the store! But boucho's there, and so is the viper!"
"I-"
"Just be sure not to get drunk." Chelsea grinned. "I'm going to check into the hotel now." Somehow, it seemed that she could actually understand the bond between them. Echizen nodded, watching as she grabbed her bag and headed towards the exit. Maybe it was women's intuition.
"Come on, come on!" Kikumaru urged, grabbing one of Echizen's luggage. "Let's go!"
Ryoma paused, watching his sempais chat happily amongst each other as they headed towards the exit. He promptly looked at Fuji, whose smile didn't falter at all.
"Welcome back, Echizen."
"You and-"
"Ah, so she told you."
"Why wouldn't she?"
"Never mind. Let's go. Kai-kun's waiting there, too."
.TBC
I want to take this time to talk about a couple of things. XD First of all, yes, I am aware of the fact that the title, Evidentual¸ is not actually a real vocabulary world. The closest word it comes to is probably "evidential". Why this, you ask? Well, I can be lazy to admit the fact that I was being stupid at the time when I first named this fic. But, you don't need to know that. Oh wait, you already do.
Also, I'm surprised at the number of KevRyo fans around. At first I really thought I was one of the selected few people who actually liked Kevin, for one. The interaction between the two of them just amuse me to no end.
Also, in the last scene, I was too lazy to italicize all the Japanese, because that was the only language spoken.
Okay, so some of you may have noticed "Sky" and "Kai-kun". I want to talk about this, since, if you remember correctly, "Sky" is the name of Echizen's son, Raine's twin brother. But since Japanese people have a hard time pronouncing the "S" in "Sky", they pronounce his name as "Kai". I hope you won't get confused because of since, since people will refer to him as both "Sky" and "Kai-kun", but overall they're talking about the same person.
Thank you so much for actually keeping in tract with this fic. I know I'm bad at updating, but I'm just happy that there are so many fans of the pairing around. So don't give up on and keep on reading!
Review, please?
