The Changes In Me
By
JacqueLoveLess
Chapter I
"France, huh?" the voice of a very bored teenaged boy cut through the silence.
"Yes sir." The man in a black suit replied. He looked at the young man sitting in on the window seat in the mansion family room. The dimming sunlight cast a shadow across the face of the young man. The emerald in his midnight black hair was subtle yet present due to the red cast of the falling sun. The butler watched as the perfectly chiseled face of the young man fell back against the wall, and the eyes, that the butler knew from experience would be a molten golden olive, slide closed, as if the young man was in pain.
"Do you think I should go?" the question quietly spoken was whispered into the dimming room.
"I…I think it would be good for you." the butler replied. He watched as the young man exhaled slowly then opened his mouth to reply.
"Please RSVP to Headmaster Blasé. Tell him… tell him I'll see him on the 7th of September." the butler's soft spoken young master said.
"Yes sir." the butler replied before turning to leave.
"Thank you, Mathews…Please inform my father as well."
"Yes sir."
The butler left the room and the young man sighed. He opened his golden eyes and cast a look out the bay window. He continued to sit on the comfortable window seat before rising and leaving the room to walk up the pristine marble stairs up to his room.
'France, huh?' He thought as he shut the door.
---
"Really? Paris?!" Kikumaru Eiji squealed into his double partners ear, his arms wrapping securely around Shuichiro Oishi's neck.
"Eiji! Calm Down!" Oishi scolded lightly as his doubles partner began to bounce around and squeal. The Seigaku Club House was buzzing with excitement. Even the stoic captain of the tennis team was smiling ever so slightly.
"Yes. Paris. Apparently they're inviting the best around the world to go to the school. Now. These are the forms you need signed. These forms explain that your still getting the academic requirements that you need to pass this year, and everything you'll need to bring. This trip and tuition is free, so no worries there." the Seigaku high school tennis coach continued, completely oblivious to the silence that swept the club house. "Okay, now make sure these get signed by your parents as soon as possible. We'll be leaving on the 10th of September and I need time to mail these back and get plane tickets… Anyway, dismissed." He called before turning and leaving the young men standing solemnly in the club house.
"Do…do you think he'll be there?" Takashi Kawamura asked timidly.
"Probably." Sadaharu Inui answered quietly.
"Yeah…" Eiji muttered.
"So? W-who cares! He left! What do we care about him!" Takeshi Momoshiro blurted out, his face angry and betrayed.
"Momo…" Syuusuke Fuji said softly, his ever present smile slipping.
"No! What do we care? I thought we were past all of this! He's gone! He left us! So what do we care?!" Momoshiro asked, angrily.
"Momo! Don't talk about O'chibi like that!" Eiji whined, his voice tight.
"Enough." Kunimitsu Tezuka said, his voice full of authority, "If Echizen is there, then we'll simply be polite."
"But!"
"No buts!" He replied, "Now, go home and get your forms signed. I'll see you all tomorrow." He said before grabbing his tennis jacket and his bag and leaving the club room with his slip in hand.
"I suppose he's right." Fuji said softly, slipping his smile back into place. He grabbed his stuff and left as well. The tennis club began breaking up and heading home, each, with one Ryoma Echizen on their mind.
---
'She called me up today just to let me know
That she found somebody better and she's letting me go
I've never been one to be on my own
At least that's what she thinks not what my past has shown
Maybe you'd think twice if you had known
Every kiss I hope it tastes like me
and every single night I hope it haunts you in your sleep
I hope it gets so bad that all you want is to forget
I cant wait to be your biggest regret.
I'm done with rehearsal for calling you out
if its you know exactly who I'm talking about
I'll write a hook so big you wont forget
So enjoy my voice and all the bitter things that I said
over and over and over in your head
Every kiss I hope it tastes like me
and every single night I hope it haunts you in your sleep
I hope it gets so bad that all you want is to forget
I cant wait to be your biggest regret.
I'm sorry
Forgive me
It's just too easy
Because you need me.
Every kiss I hope it tastes like me
and every single night I hope it haunts you in your sleep
I hope it gets so bad that all you want is to forget
I cant wait to be your biggest regret.
Every kiss I hope it tastes like me
and every single night I hope it haunts you in your sleep
I hope it gets so bad that all you want is to forget
I cant wait to be your biggest regret.'
The young man of 14 adjusted his studio headphones as the song came to an end. He sighed and looked out the window of the cab he'd called to take him to Blasé Bourbon Tennis Academy. He midnight black emerald kissed hair hung over his forehead, and into his golden eyes. He looked across the seat and adjusted his duffle bag and the medium sized cat carrier that sat next to him.
The cab jostled as it came to a stop. The young man didn't move.
"Hé, le gamin, nous sommes ici." 'Hey, kid, we're here.' The cab driver said, turning around in his seat.
"Merci. Combien vous dois-je ?" 'Thank-You. How much do I owe you?' the young man replied, pushing his hand into his back pocket to pull out his leather wallet.
"Vingt-cinq dollars" '25 dollars' the cab driver replied, stretching his hand out to receive the money the young man had taken out.
"Merci. Ayez un Jour Agréable." 'Thank-you. Have a nice day.' he stepped out of the cab, grabbing his belonging and heading up the short walkway.
'Welcome to Paris.' he thought to himself.
----
"Come on! Hurry up! We don't want to be late!" the Seigaku tennis coach yelled above the commotion on the airport. He was surrounded by about 52 tennis players all from Seigaku or the surrounding teams. Some of the rival teams bickered at each other and groused about having to ride the same plane as that team but other than that everyone was pretty quiet for 5 a.m.
"Let's go." Hyotei's tennis coach called to his team. The coach rounded up their teams, and did a head check. "Okay. Now, everyone get on the plane." he called.
"Hai!" the boys said, lining up to be admitted.
'This is going to be fun…'
---
"Hé, tête assoupie. Bonjour!" 'Hey, sleepy-head! Good morning!' Carel said cheerfully to Ryoma.
"Vraiment ? Qu'est-ce qui est si bon de cela ?" 'Yeah? What's so good about it?' Ryoma replied, mildly amused at Carel's hyper-ness.
"Beaucoup de choses!" 'A lot of things!' Carel said, practically bouncing from the plastic chair he sat on.
"Comme que ?" 'Like what?' Ryoma questioned, quirking his perfectly shaped eyebrows
"Les autres équipes de tennis nous rejoindront!" 'The other tennis teams will be joining us!' Carel said, practically giggling at the idea,
"yay ?" 'Yay?' Ryoma smiled, his tone mildly sarcastic. He'd met Carel about two days ago when he first came to Blasé Bourbon Tennis Academy. He'd learned that Carel was very enthusiastic about just about everything.
Pourquoi ne sont pas vous vous êtes extasiés! Je ne peux pas attendre! Nous finissons apprendre un bouquet de choses d'autres pays!" 'Why aren't you enthused! I can't wait! We get to learn a bunch of things from other countries!' Carel cried, smiling a huge grin.
"Vous savez, Carel, quand les équipes arrivent ici, pas beaucoup parleront le français. On m'a enseigné à un jeune âge donc je sais comment, mais quand j'ai vécu au Japon, presque personne savait qui parler n'importe quoi autre que le japonais." 'You know, Carel, when teams arrive here, not many people will speak French. They taught me a youth therefore I know how, but when I lived in Japan, almost nobody knew which to speak anything other than Japanese.' Ryoma said as he began eating his breakfast.
"Aw! Aucune foire! Je peux seulement parler le français et l'américain!" 'Aw! No fair! I can only speak French and American!' Carel pouted.
"Je crois que vous serez parfaits. Il y aura des traducteurs dans tous les sens." 'I think you'll be fine. There will be translators all over the place.' Ryoma said, puling his crimson red studio headphones and his black iPod Touch from his messenger bag. He set them in place, efficiently cutting off the conversation as he chose a song.
'Late
night, driving home together
and at red lights we press our lips
together
and we're holding tight now
slow it down now
Let's
take our time
let the moment last
until it feels right
holding
back
and not getting to carried away
let the music fade
Cause
you are the brightest star
I'm in love with who you are
And you
are the brightest star
I'm lost without your love
We are in
each others arms
just like a movie scene
cause as we're
leaning in
the light decides to turn green
Me and you
together
this is getting better
just butterflies won't do
I
don't want just red lights
I want more of these nights
cause
baby I love you
You and me is what matters most
It's not
the intimacy that brings me
closer to you…'
'I wonder… just who will be here.' The youngest Echizen thought, as he listen to the music play.
----
'Bonjour. Nous devons arriver à l'Académie de Tennis de Bourbon Blase. pouvez-vous nous prendre là ?" 'Hello. We need to get to Blasé Bourbon Tennis Academy. Can you take us there?' the translator asked the cab driver. Each team was assigned a translator and a van cab. The teams piled in and the translators would ask where to go.
"Oui. Nous serons là dans environ 20 minutes." 'yes. We'll be there in about 20 minutes.' The cab driver replied.
"Merci" 'thank-you.' the teams settled back laughing and talking until the cab came to a stop. The translator paid the cab driver and the teams climbed out.
"Sugoi…"Eiji said.
"Yeah." Oishi replied. The teams stared at the beautiful school.
"Excellent! Everyone is here, correct? Good! Good! Please follow me!" a small, rather enthusiastic man rushed out talk in perfect Japanese to them.
"Oh. Thank-you." The coaches replied. The teams followed him inside the gorgeous school.
---
The halls were far from silent as teams arrived. There were teams from all over the world. A mixture of babbling words and different face filled Ryoma Echizen's mind as he stood two stories above the ruckus, leaning lightly against the balcony. He'd noticed Carel, his new platinum blonde friend, bobbing through the crowds, trying to suck in as much 'culture' as possible. Carel had told him that he was going to find someone who spoken a bunch of languages and see if they'd teach him. So far all he'd found was Ryoma, who turned him down.
Ryoma watched as the teams got room assignments and watched as the young men laughed and smiled as if there was nothing in the world wrong. Ryoma sighed and slipped his vanilla white studio headphones into place.
'I
knew all along
That I was right at the start
Bout the seeds of
the weeds
That grew in your heart
Self satisfaction for the
factions
Who formed to tear us apart
Well I gave you the Midas
touch
Oh you turned round and scratched out my heart
Oh
what did you expect?
Oh tell me what did you expect?
To lay it
on my head
So is it all upon my head?
Bang bang you're
dead
Always so easily lead
Bang bang you're dead
Put all the
rumors to bed
Bang bang you're dead
I knew all along
But
I was loathe to believe
There was nothing but spite
Fury and
lies
Of the words that you weave
An illusion to a
conclusion
And oh its oh so tawdry
When you put it to bed
Kick
it in the head
Oh wont they just let it be
Bang bang you're
dead
Always so easily lead
Bang bang you're dead
Put all the
rumours to bed
Bang bang you're dead
Oh what did you
expect?
Oh tell me what did you expect?
To lay it on my head
So
is it all upon my head?
Bang bang you're dead
Always so
easily lead
Bang bang you're dead
Put all the rumors to
bed
Bang bang you're dead
Bang bang bang bang you're dead'
The beat died down, switching songs and 'Fur Elise' began to play slowly through the headphones. Ryoma sighed, his hair falling even more into his face as he leaned away from the railing and began to walk back to his room. It was best to be in your room when your roommate arrived…
---
On the eight floor of the academy Ryoma Echizen turned to room 800, and slide his key through the old fashioned key hole. He gave it a quick turn before removing the key and pushing the crème white door open. He feet was cushioned under navy blue carpet, and his skin illuminated by the soft sunlight streaming through the window and reflecting against the pale crème white walls.
Ryoma walked over to his bed and laid back against his pillow. He'd tossed his black messenger bag down beside him on the jet black comforter. He glanced sideways at the wall his bed was pressed against. It was covered in band posters. Bands from all over the world. 'Courage Call', 'Dirty Pretty things', 'Boys Like Girls', 'Fine Frenzy', 'Paramore', 'Between the Trees', 'Rolling Stones', 'The Animals', 'J.Geils Band', 'Extreme', 'Beethoven', 'Simple Plan'. The poster were vibrant and overlapping in a messy, yet nice fashion. Next to his bed was a simple pearl white wooden desk. Then another desk next to it, obviously for his roommate.
Ryoma had placed his laptop case down on the desktop, right next to the small table lamp the academy had supplied. He'd left his sketch book out on the desk, and his art kit next to it. He shifted up off the bed and grabbed his sketch book and art kit and set it in the middle drawer. Sighing, he picked up his guitar and slid it under his bed with his emptied duffle bags. His clothes were all put away in the dresser on his half of the closet.
He laid back down, adjusting his headphones as another song drummed through the speakers.
'Dear
Jamie I've got a letter I would like to send
It's lacking strings
of words with punctuation at the end.
Should I trust this dialect
to convey the right effect?
Dear Jamie I've got some things
I'd like to set in pen
I would have used a pencil but lead's just
not permanent.
Should I trust my printer's ink to express the
things I think?
Every time I tried my best to think of
something to contest
With inside jokes and all other folks who've
got much more to say
Dear Jamie this envelope will represent
my heart
I'll seal it, send it off and wish it luck with its
depart.
This stamp will be every action that carried my
affection
Across the air and land and sea
Should I trust the
postage due to deliver my heart to you?
Every page I tried my
best to think of something to contest
With inside jokes and other
folks who've got much more to say
Every page I tried my best to
think of something to contest
With inside jokes and other folks
who've got much more to say
Give you all I can
A flower and
a hand
I hope this helps you see
Signed, Sincerely me.'
As the song faded the door was opened and in it's mist stood Ryoma Echizen's new roommate.
---
"Buchou! Buchou, who's room are you in?" Akaya Kirihara asked his captain.
"Um… mine's on the eighth floor. Room…" Seiichi Yukimaru began but was cut off by the Rikkai Dia baby.
"But Buchou! All of our rooms are on the seventh floor!" Kirihara whined.
"I believe I can explain." they turned at the sound of the voice. "We've put captains and the single player on floor eight." a man stated in perfect Japanese.
"Oh… but… wait. Did you say single player?" Yukimaru asked. That caught the attention of the other Japanese teams as well.
"Ah. Yes. Well, there was one… He's from America. He's a prodigy, and he doesn't belong to a team… but our headmaster, quite the tennis fan, decided that he'd like for him to attend. So he's the only one here without a team… so we put him with the captains on the eighth floor." the man said a slow smile appearing on his face.
"Oh…" Yakima said, his smile slipping back into place. "What's his name?"
"His name? Well… I'm not entirely sure. He's not the social type. Doesn't come down from his room much and the headmaster won't say who he is…just that he's very happy he could make it…" a small look of puzzlement crossed the man's face.
"Ore-sama demands to meet this mysterious man!" Atobe cried, clearly upset that someone was specially chosen, and that that specially chosen person wasn't him.
"Well, I'm sure you will. He's on the same floor as you and he'll probably be in some of your classes… According at the headmaster the boy is taking junior English, sophomore math, and senior science… he's not in any freshmen classes, like he should be… But then, he is a prodigy…"
"He's fourteen?" Tezuka asked.
"Yes,
apparently so. I would tell you to go find Carel on the French Team
but… He only speaks French and American…"
"Why would the
Carel guy be able to tell us more about this boy?" Kippei
Tachibana asked.
"Well, from what I heard the boy spends a lot of his time with Carel…Oh, excuse me… I believe I'm needed over by the Brazilian team…" With that the man left, leaving the teams to wonder just who was this boy.
---
Seiichi Yukimaru stepped out of the elevator and glanced down at his room assignment.
'Room 800' He thought to himself. 'I wonder who my roommate is. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be roommates with this mystery boy?' He chuckled to himself as he side his key into place on room 800's door. He pushed the door open and walked into the room.
He stood there a second, noticing his new roommate. The young boy sat on black and white clad bed, his midnight black emerald kissed hair was brushed sideways over the boys closed eyes. His face a pristine pale, almost alabaster pale. It was finely craved and Yukimaru couldn't help but think that the gods had been good to this boy. He had a nice body, his muscled arms showed bare under the short sleeve muscle T-shirt. The shirt advertised what Yukimaru assumed was an American band called 'The Scene Aesthetics'. In his hand was a black iPod Touch that had vanilla white studio headphones attached, which covered the boys ears. At the angle the boy was at Yukimaru could see the double pierced right side of the boys firm lip. The boy's body was relaxed, his black cargo jeans fitted loosely to the obviously muscled legs of the boy. He had one leg bent, resting on his mattress, while the other just lay flat out, his sock-clad foot tapped to the music that played through the studio headphones. The boy's hand moved and Yukimaru noticed the blue and black wooden bracelets on his wrist. Yukimaru's gaze strayed from the boy to the rest of the boy's side of the room. Band posters were pinned to the wall, a thin laptop sat on the desk, a black messenger bag with buttons on it rested on the bed next to the boy.
Yukimaru didn't notice that that boy's eyes had opened, revealing the molten golden olive eyes, until his gaze made it back to the boy. His eyebrow was cocked up and an amused look was pasted on the boys face.
"A-ah. Hello. I'm Seiichi Yukimaru." Yukimaru said in his best English.
"Hello, Yukimaru-san. I'm Ryoma Echizen." the boy said in fluent, perfect Japanese. He was removing his head phones, which now rest on his neck.
"You speak Japanese!" Yukimaru exclaimed.
"I'm half- Japanese, so, yes, I speak Japanese." Ryoma stated.
"Oh! Well, that's nice." Yukimaru said a smile sliding onto his effeminate face.
"Yes. I suppose it is, but then I speak several languages so I suppose it wouldn't matter much. Are you my new roommate?" Ryoma asked.
"Uh… As long as this is room 800, then yes." Yukimaru said.
"Well, this is Room 800, so I suppose you are. It's nice to make your acquaintance, Yukimaru-san." Ryoma said with smooth politeness.
"Likewise, Echizen-san." Yukimaru said, placing his stuff on his bed.
"Please, call me Ryoma." Ryoma said.
"Oh. Okay. Then you can call me Seiichi."
"Very well. There is two dressers in the closet. I used one, the other is yours. There's also an area to hang up your stuff. That desk there is yours, if you need it." Ryoma pointed out when Yukimaru looked confused as to where to put his stuff other than his bed.
"Oh, thank-you Ryoma." Yukimaru said.
"Your welcome. There's going to be a big dinner tonight around eight. They've informed me that they would appreciate it if we dressed 'nicely'" Ryoma said, shifting into a sitting position.
"Okay. Thanks. So…Where are you from?" Yukimaru asked.
" I'm from America." Ryoma replied.
"Oh, so are you the American team captain?" Yukimaru asked.
"No. I'm not from a team. I'm a single player." Ryoma said simply "Though I'm sure you already knew that, Seiichi." He smiled, and quirked his finely shaped eyebrow.
"Well…I thought so." Yukimaru said, flushing slightly.
"I figured I was a topic of gossip." Ryoma smiled lightly. He brushed at his hair, tucking it behind his right ear.
" You not only have you lip pierced but you have three earrings?" Yukimaru asked s he caught sight on Ryoma's ear.
"Yes. I also have my hips pierced…" Ryoma stated.
"You hips? Doesn't that hurt?"
"Only for a bit…"
The boys continued they're conversation while Yukimaru unpacked.
---
A/n: Okay so that's chapter one. And now for a couple disclaimers;
I disclaim the songs in this chapter. They belong to (in this order);
Your Biggest Regret- Courage Call
White Lines and Red Lights- Between The Trees
Bang Bang You're Dead- Dirty Pretty Things
Dear Jamie…Sincerely Me- HelloGoodbye
Also, I have other disclaimers and then to continue on with the Authoress note.
I disclaim the characters used in this story.
Now that that is done, I would like you to be nice and review (or message) me. I would love to know what you think of the story (re-write). I also would like to point out that, yes, I used French dialogue, but that's because French dialogue will be a big part later. Any mistakes, grammatical or spelling, please let me know. Anyway, Ja Ne. JacqueLoveLess.