Author's Notes: Ohhhh, lookey at all the wonderful beautiful reviews I got. –is giddy- I couldn't ask for more. Keep reviewing and it'll chase the nasty writers block away This chapter made me cry the whole time I was writing it. Just to do this ahead of time –bows- sorry. Gomen. I had to do it. No flames or I'll use em for marshmallows.
Disclaimer: Don't own. Not even a little bit. Grr grr hiss hiss. There. I said it.
Ryoma's Plan
Chapter 2
A man with short brown hair stepped lightly off the plane. The heat blew scorching hot wind toward the man, but he seemed to not notice it. He had his eyes closed and his smile seemed glued on his face. The people rushed around him in a hurry to reach cool air, but the man seemed in no hurry at all. He slowly reached above his head and pulled down his sunglasses, looking at the raising sun. The wind returned, blowing across his bare legs and arms. He was wearing very fashionable light tan shorts with an ice blue shirt.
Someone walked up to the man. He was a lot taller then the man with the short brown hair. He wore glasses and seemed the total opposite of the other man in that he had a frown glued to his face. His hair was darker brown and a bit longer. The presence he carried was very hard to not notice.
"Fuji, what are we doing here?" the taller man asked the shorter one.
"Saa, I could say we're taking a vacation." That smile never faltered.
The frown deepened. "You could, but you'd be lying."
"Hmm, I wonder if that would really be true."
"Fuji…" The tone was warning.
"Saa, you're being impatient, Tezuka." Fuji waved a finger in front of Tezuka's face. The smile then faltered a little bit. "I'm bored."
"Bored?" Tezuka repeated, crossing his arms.
"Mmhm. I've painted all that I could, taken photos of the most beautiful scenes, done everything I've felt I needed to and I've made millions doing it. There's nothing left for me."
"That doesn't answer why we're here," Tezuka pointed out, when it looked like Fuji wasn't going on.
Fuji's grin widened. "Well, when one gets bored, one finds a hobby."
A light bulb went off. "Tennis."
"Saa, now you understand." Fuji looked at the sun again. "I'm going to have Echizen re-train me. With him and you in the court, I would never be bored. Perhaps I will also get my inspiration back as well." He clenched his right hand into a fist. "And perhaps I will let the past go," he whispered.
Tezuka turned toward the building and started walking. "Your manager is going to be mad, but I'm not going to stay here and roast while I argue with you."
Fuji caught up, again relaxed. "You wouldn't argue because you've thought the same thing. You want Echizen to train you too."
A tiny smile played at the corners of Tezuka's mouth. "Perhaps."
Fuji turned his face up sideways at Tezuka. "You wouldn't have followed me if you didn't."
Tezuka stopped and bent down and brushed his lips lightly across Fuji's before going to his ear. "I could have followed you because I would have missed you."
"You'd be lying," Fuji said with a small, real smile.
Tezuka drew back and looked at the sun. "Maybe not."
Fuji glanced up sideways at his lover. "You've changed," he mused.
Tezuka frowned. "So have you. That change is what I'm most worried about. Are you sure you want Echizen to train you?" He looked pointedly at Fuji's right hand.
Fuji gripped his right hand with his left and frowned. "I'll be fine. Come on. Let's go into the airport." Before Tezuka could say anything, Fuji walked off.
The rush of cool air as they stepped into the air-conditioned airport was a relief against their hot skin. Tezuka would have let out a sigh of relief if he had allowed it. He reminded himself that he had to be the calm and controlled one so he could be there for Fuji. The entire reason why he hadn't gone off to the pros was Fuji. Tezuka worried about him daily. No matter what anyone said, he loved Fuji from the bottom of his heart and would willingly throw his life away for him. Fuji would hear nothing of the sort, but that didn't stop Tezuka from thinking about it.
Impatiently, he brushed away those forbidden thoughts. He would deal with those later. Tezuka laughed mentally. He remembered once, five years ago, when he'd said the exact same thing to himself at Atobe's Christmas party. Such a wonderful time. Why couldn't things stay like that forever? Again, unhappy thoughts. He brushed those away.
To steer himself away from such dangerous thoughts, he took a look around the airport. People were bustling around, running to catch their flights. Once in a while, there were walkers who actually got to the airport on time, but they were few and far between. Fuji and he kept walking, neither talking but each thinking. Tezuka's eyes roamed over the various people. There were people of all ages and nationalities running around. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw two people standing next to a shop.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. They looked like Oishi and Eiji, but they couldn't be. Both of the men standing there were too thin. Even Tezuka could tell they were too thin from his distance. They were both nothing but skin and bones. He met the taller one's eyes and it seemed to strengthen his opinion. Those eyes were the eyes of war veterans or those who have seen someone close to them die. Nothing like Oishi's eyes used to look like. The Eiji look-alike was standing there, not bouncing around like the Eiji in Tezuka's memory would have done. No, those two people couldn't be Oishi and Eiji. Besides, those two were halfway around the world. It would be a huge coincidence if they all met here in this airport at this time. Not possible.
The two men started making their way over to Tezuka. He felt a jab in his side and looked down to see Fuji watching the two approaching men like Tezuka.
"Hey, Tezuka, don't they look like Oishi and Eiji?"
There was something in Fuji's voice that made Tezuka look down at the smaller man. There was a faint amount of horrification in Fuji's eyes, probably the same amount that was in his own.
"Aa," he agreed.
He quickly suppressed any negative emotions he felt. He was sure those two men would be able to tell what he was feeling if he didn't. The two men arrived and there was nothing but silence between the two groups. They were assessing each other with guarded eyes. Suddenly, the taller one smiled. It looked strained, but he smiled nevertheless.
"Tezuka? It's been a long time."
Tezuka gulped down the gasp. It was Oishi!
"So it has," he said instead. "You're looking… well." He stumbled over the word, but Oishi seemed to not have noticed.
"I'm glad. I've been working out to keep my weight down." He switched feet that he was standing on. In Tezuka's opinion, it looked painful but again he guarded his feelings.
"I've been working out too. I go to the tennis clubs and sometimes teach. It keeps me in shape."
"Ah, so you're still playing tennis. Good. What would tennis be without you, eh?" Oishi laughed but, like his smile, it seemed forced. "Fuji, you're looking well."
Tezuka noticed that Fuji had put his mask on, something he did only when he was very rattled. This scenario must have shocked him deeply.
"I'm doing fine, thank you," Fuji said calmly.
"What are you two doing here?" Eiji finally spoke up.
Tezuka nearly jumped when he heard Eiji's voice. It was very soft, but it cracked as if he had screamed his voice to death. It sounded so tired that Tezuka almost winced in sympathy. He'd noticed that Eiji hadn't smiled once since arriving. There was something totally wrong with this situation, and Tezuka didn't like it. In the old days, Oishi was his best friend. He would rely on Tezuka for advice about everything, and in turn Tezuka would trust Oishi in everything. Something in his life had to have gone terribly wrong for him to act this way.
"We're headed for Echizen's house. You two?"
He'd noticed that Fuji hadn't said a word, relying on him to answer. Tezuka knew how he felt. This was the first time in his life that he wished there was someone else other then him to talk. He was so afraid of messing things up with these two. He felt as though he was walking on an impossibly thin wire. He hated feeling like that.
Oishi answered. "We're headed there as well. Why don't we travel together?"
Tezuka just nodded, trusting Oishi to interpret the motion. Oishi turned and walked away, Eiji in tow. Tezuka hung back to talk to Fuji.
"I don't like this," he whispered.
"Me either." Fuji's eyes were wide open and he had a frown on his face. Tezuka was right; this situation really bothered Fuji.
"Let's see if Echizen knows anything about what happened." Fuji just nodded, putting his mask back on.
The taxi trip was the coldest trip Tezuka had ever taken. No one spoke and no one smiled. The only one talking was the cabbie, and even she shut up after the first two cold responses. When they entered Echizen's neighborhood, the cabbie let out a whistle.
"Wow, this is a ritzy place. Are you sure your friend lives here?"
Her eyes traveled over the huge mansions. Most of them were quite a distance from each other so their eyes had time to take in all the wonders of the houses before going to the next. The streets were well paved and well kept up. Street cleaners must have visited this neighborhood more then all the rest. No trash littered the sidewalks or streets, the grass was well manicured and the trees all had fences around them to keep dogs and cats from them. It was by far too ritzy for people calling a cab to be coming to. Her doubts rose the further in she got.
"This is it." Fuji pointed out the window to a mansion.
The cabbie gasped, her eyes as round as they would go. The road leading up to the mansion had to be a good half mile long. There was a circular driveway with a fountain in the middle. The fountain was of two merfolk raising water lilies in the air. The mansion easily had to have had over 100 plus rooms. There were gorgeous gardens in front for people to see. Off to the right, a little more difficult to see, were tennis courts. The cabbie could count around fifteen before they went out of view. There was also a tennis court house. It was as if the cabbie's dreams had come true.
Fuji calmly got out of the car as the cabbie gawked at the area. He pressed a button and immediately a voice came on.
"Yes? Who are you and what is your business? Are you expected?"
"We're not expected. At least, I don't think we are. My name is Fuji. I'm a good friend of Ryoma's. With me are Tezuka, Oishi and Eiji. My business is to speak with Ryoma," he told the intercom calmly.
"Ah yes," the intercom squawked. "You all are expected. My master told me to expect you four."
All five of them heard a buzz and a clank, and the gate started opening up. Fuji hurried back into the car. As he was getting in, Tezuka saw a flash of a question in Fuji's eyes before he settled himself. Tezuka knew exactly how he felt. This entire trip was turning out to be a mystery. They didn't even know they were coming here until they got to the ticket counter. The car lurched, disrupting his thoughts. He looked out the window to see the beautiful gardens, but they couldn't detract him from his worrying thoughts.
It took almost no time to arrive at the front door. The four of them stepped out of the cab and stretched. Tezuka, Oishi and Eiji waited for Fuji to pay the driver before walking up the stairs to the front door. Before any of them could knock, the door opened. A middle-aged man stood in the doorway with a smile.
"Welcome. One of the young masters will be here shortly. This way, please." He spread an arm to the left, in the direction they should take.
None of them said a word but followed the middle-aged man's directions. They entered what seemed to be a waiting room. They all chose a seat to sit in silently. Oishi and Eiji seemed to choose seats that were very close. Tezuka chose a chair close to Fuji.
When they heard footsteps, they turned toward the door. It opened to admit two people. Or, rather, one person wheeling someone else into the room. This time Tezuka didn't mask his surprise, didn't even have a choice. The one sitting in the wheelchair was none other then Kaidoh. The one pushing him was Inui in his ever-present glasses. He was wearing a white lab coat, buttoned up professionally. Kaidoh was wearing sweat pants and a white shirt. The pants didn't hide the impossibly thin, malnourished legs, just as the lab coat didn't hide Inui's thin state. Kaidoh's eyes looked dead. Tezuka couldn't see even a hint of life in them.
Tezuka glanced at Fuji and wasn't surprised to see that he was gaping like a fish out of water. He was sure all of them were. Fuji's eyes were wide open in stark terror.
Inui pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Ah, didn't know there was anyone else in this room." His voice sent shivers up Tezuka's spine.
"It's been a long time, Inui," Tezuka remarked, trying as hard as he could to mask his earlier surprise.
There was a start of a smile playing at the edges of Inui's lips. "That it has."
The exchange was enough to give everyone time to put up their masks. It reminded Tezuka of something Fuji had said so long ago
"What masks are we buried with when we die? Does it really matter?"
That night, he had used the moon as an example. With the moon, the water and the romantic atmosphere, Tezuka couldn't answer those questions. Now, maybe he could. There were so many masks in this room. Tezuka could say for sure that it did matter what mask people were buried with. It would tear Tezuka to pieces if Oishi or Eiji or Inui or Kaidoh were buried with their current masks. It made him want to go up to them and rip them off of their faces.
He looked down at his hand and was startled to see it shaking. In fact, his entire body was shaking. It took him a few minutes to calm himself down. By the time he did, everyone was sitting down. An uncomfortable silence reigned through the room. No one was willing to talk. Inui was busy fussing with Kaidoh's wires. He had his clipboard out and was jotting down something when they heard footsteps again.
The door opened again. This time Momoshiro entered the room. His tall frame was intimidating at first, but his warm smile calmed everyone down. Tezuka was amazed at the change in Momo's attitude. He still looked like a powerhouse but now it was more like it was restrained power. Dangerous power on the tennis court. His presence was, in short, amazing. Tezuka hadn't expected Momo to ever have this kind of presence. The thing Tezuka most appreciated, though, was the genuine smile. It seemed as if the years hadn't affected him one bit.
"Hey everyone. Welcome to Ryoma's and my house. We've been expecting you." Something in that sentence rang just a little bit wrong, but Tezuka waved it away. "Ryoma is elsewhere right now, but you'll all be able to see him soon."
He walked over and pulled up a chair to the group of them. He looked at them all as if counting.
"Hmm, there's still one missing. Well, I'll brief Taka when he gets here." He waved his hand in dismissal. "Now, on to more important business. Ryoma knows that you all have come seeking for him to train you. He told me to tell you all that before he agrees to train you, you will all have to throw away your demons. He's booked you all flight plans to various places, all thoroughly researched. You go to these places to learn. When you come back, Ryoma will see what you all have learned. If it is enough then he will agree to train you. If you haven't learned the lesson he wants you to learn, then you're all out of luck."
Tezuka was sure they were all gaping again. This was very unexpected.
"What do you mean, 'lesson'? How does he want us to learn our lesson?" Inui asked.
Momo looked at Inui with a grin. "Well, you will all be sent in pairs to various cities. You'll be given a list of the hotels you're staying in and enough money to survive in those cities. You'll also be given a map of all the tennis courts in that city. The courts will be marked with different colors, and you'll have to figure out the color code yourself. When you have visited every one of those courts, you're allowed to return. We'll give you a book so you can keep a journal of sorts and you'll turn that in when you return. Kind of like homework." He winked at the group to calm them down.
"That's it?" Tezuka asked, suspicion in his voice.
"That's it," Momo confirmed with a grin. "In pairs. I'll give you a day of rest, so that you can all prepare and so that Taka can show up. The pairings will go this way. Taka will be taking over Kaidoh's treatment and will be his partner for this short time." He ignored Inui's indignation. "Tezuka will be accompanying Oishi, while I will be traveling with Fuji. That leaves Eiji with Inui. I will give you all the letters Ryoma wrote to you before you leave."
Everyone was protesting so loud that Momo had to roar to be heard over them all.
"If any of you have any problems with this arrangement, then you're all free to leave. There's the door. Ryoma told me to tell you all that he has no time for wimps." When no one raised to the bait, Momo nodded in satisfaction. "Good."
"I have a question," Inui stated, standing up. Momo motioned for him to go ahead. "What about Kaidoh's treatment? If anything goes wrong, then something bad could happen."
Momo raised a brow. "So you're saying that you don't trust Taka to take good care of Kaidoh?"
Tezuka raised a brow in amazement. That was a very neat trap. Inui would be backed into a corner either way he went, and Inui knew it. He was silent for a long time before he sat back down.
"Okay. The maids will show you all to your rooms, and you can rest and freshen up there before dinner and bedtime. It really is good to see you all again." He smiled at them once more before turning and leaving.
Tezuka rethought his earlier comment about Momo not seeming to have changed. No, he was wrong. They had all changed, but Momo had changed for the better. He was in more control of himself, and he now possessed a quality that Tezuka had once had. The ability to be a leader, to control everyone with just a few words. Momo had become an amazing person.
As they followed the maid up the stairs, Tezuka thought about Echizen and how he hadn't seen him for over five years. If Momo had changed so much, then it was a given that Echizen had as well. Tezuka was also sure that Echizen had thought up this plan. For what reason Tezuka didn't know, but he knew that it had something to do with everyone's abnormalities. 'Throw away your demons,' Momo had said. He glanced around at the others and grimly admitted that there were a lot of demons to throw away. He wasn't sure it could be done in just one trip. After a quick mental debate, Tezuka decided to trust Echizen. He had to trust the pillar of Seigaku. If one pillar is taken down, then it's up to the next to support them all. Instinctively, they had all turned to Echizen. Instinctively, they all knew Echizen was their last hope.
Tezuka prayed to whatever deity there was that Echizen's plan would work. Like threads in a woven blanket, if one thread was taken out, the pattern would be destroyed. Dark thoughts, but these were dark days. Tezuka sent all of his hope to Echizen. Please save us. I can't.
Author's notes: what do you know… finished another chapter. -winces at all the trash being thrown- Nooooo, I'm only torturing the boys because it's needed! Really. I'll make it all better. Ryoma glares- Ok ok. Geeze. Ryoma will make it all better.
