A/N: It's slowly taking shape but needs more planning. Anyhow, here is chapter 2!
Disclaimer: If Prince of Tennis belonged to me, and not Takeshi Konomi then Echizen's weapon of choice would be a rake. (randomness)
Chapter Two
Having abandoned the chores Sakuno ordered him to finish and ignored the responsibilities that earned him the great and marvellous title 'Prince of Farming', our humble farmer walked south of his farm for half an hour to find the local pub that belonged to his best friend Takeshi Momoshiro.
Ryoma, on his journey, slowly believed that maybe this was his life, maybe he was married to Sakuno and he did live in a cute house with several acres and a son a.k.a. Karupin, but something just didn't feel right in his humble soul. Once he stepped on the cobblestones of Mo's Pub he decided his older friend might know the answer.
Ryoma stepped into the depressing building and peered around for his friend. Alas, he saw nothing but men with no future, no goals and no desire to live.
"Morning, dad." Ryoma greeted.
"Shuddup… I used to be the greatest farmer in all of Japan. The Samurai of Agriculture they called me. Then I had you!" His, erm… once successful father mumbled in a less humble way...
Ryoma walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the worn stools. His stomach started to grumble. Breakfast was returning. It was nothing a shot of *Jack Daniel's couldn't fix!
"Momo-san. Are you in there?" Ryoma called.
He tapped his fingers down on the bar top as he waited for the barmen to show up. From a small door hobbled Momoshiro, the owner of the place, but even he was a little downcast. Oh, he was so unhappy with life at the moment that he could have drunk back a bottle of sake in all of his dismay. With his walking stick in one hand and a cloth in the other, he made his way over to his good and humble friend.
"I'm not humble!" Ryoma protested to an unknown force. "How's it going Momo-san?"
Momoshiro dropped the cloth on the bar and grabbed for Ryoma's dark blue tunic. "I pour my heart out to you yesterday and you have the cheek to remind me of my sorrows today?"
Momoshiro had the look of a man who wanted to break down and cry… again, apparently. He took up his cloth and started to wipe the spilt ale while hobbling left and right.
That was uncalled for, Ryoma thought as he eased back into his seat and adjusted his tunic.
"Why have I forgotten stuff?" Ryoma asked.
Momoshiro crossed his arms. "That's because you lack interest, so much so that you can forget anything from five minutes to five years. Your poor wife deserves better."
Ryoma sighed. "So she really is my wife?"
Momoshiro could have whacked Ryoma on the head with his stick if he wasn't already on the verge of falling over. Instead, he hung the damp cloth on a rack and slumped down on the bar. His once shiny purple eyes were now as dull as a squished blackcurrant, rotten like a blueberry and sad like a man who whom lost at a game called love.
"I miss An-chan." He blubbered. "If only she listened to me, she wouldn't have foolishly gone to the King's palace."
Ryoma remembered his so-called wife mentioning someone's name. This An-chan was a love interest of Momoshiro, but she had enough common sense to say no to his proposal, and now she may be in serious danger. Unfortunately, Momoshiro was in no fit condition to chase after her or rescue her. Ryoma didn't remember having this conversation yesterday.
"Hay, Momo-san, give me a drink while I'm here."
Momoshiro shook his head. "Sorry Ryoma, after you got drunk off your face yesterday the King gave me a letter saying there will be no under-aged drinking in his Kingdom. He doesn't want his civilians getting careless."
"What? So there's an age limit? To what?"
"You gotta be fourteen, Ryoma, fourteen."
"Darn it. And I really need a drink."
"How about *J2O? It's freshly made and just as overpriced?"
Ryoma slumped down on the bar. "Fine, I'll have the orange favour."
"That'll be 515 yen."
Ryoma parted with his money to enjoy a flat drink with 0.05% alcohol and a straw. In a pub, it just seemed so wrong to not drink a strong spirit that made you forget your so-called perfect life. Ryoma resented that and wished to have words with the King of Seishun.
"So, how are things Momo-san?" Ryoma asked again.
Momoshiro shook his head. He asked himself why he was a friend with this boy. "Didn't you hear me? An-chan is missing. I haven't seen her pretty face in two months!"
Ryoma popped the straw out of his mouth. "I'm not talking about An-chan, I'm talking about you. How are you?"
Momoshiro rolled his eyes. "I am sad because An-chan is not here. Will you listen when people talk to you? Listen!"
"Enough about you. My… I mean, Sakuno kept going on about me being the Prince of Farming. How did that happen?"
Just as Momoshiro was about to whack Ryoma over the head, a scruffy looking boy hovered beside Ryoma. No one heard him open the door and no one really saw him walk through the pub to sit at the bar. He drew his cloak off his head and a miserable, expressionless face was revealed. His stringy blue hair dusted over his neck and he sat between them without a care. Ryoma and Momoshiro looked at each other. Momoshiro took it upon himself to shoo the boy away but the mysterious boy refused to move.
He turned to Ryoma bitterly.
"Your wife is in danger."
"What?" Ryoma said.
"I said your wife is in danger."
"Sorry, I don't know who you're talking about." Ryoma turned away.
The mysterious person paused. "Aren't you the Prince of Farming?"
"…No… no, I'm a humble dog trainer."
The boy paused again and mumbled to himself. Momoshiro asked the person to explain who he was.
"I am Ibu Shinji, the messenger from the Fudomine clan, on the cool side of Tokyo where the cherry blossom's fall all year round… very annoying… and messy, but beautiful nonetheless."
Momoshiro leant on the bar. "I know of that clan. So why are you here?"
"It has been two years since Master-Kippei has heard from the young Mistress."
"And who would that be?" Momoshiro asked.
"I got word that Mistress An worked in his crappy little pub with a three-legged owner. I'm guessing that would be you… I don't know why she wanted to leave. Her life was so much better within the clan… she had many suitors, but she chose his hellish and cold village… the Master didn't want to upset the young Mistress and allowed her to live her life… but I feel that I should intervene." He glanced up and saw the confused looks on both their faces. Shinji merely looked ahead. "Where is Mistress An?"
Momoshiro stared at Shinji. "Why do you want to speak to her? How do I know you're not some paid hitman?"
"I just said that I am a messenger from the Fudomine Clan on the cool side of Tokyo where the cherry blossom's fall all year round."
Momoshiro screwed up his lip. "I don't trust you, I just don't."
Shinji slowly stood up. "I have done nothing to earn your distrust… why are people so stubborn… aren't I important enough to be taken seriously? Maybe that's why Master Kippei made me messenger…" He sat back down and stared down at the bar.
"Yeah, anyway, It might be a little hard to see An-chan right now." Momoshiro told him.
Shinji flicked a look to Momoshiro and Momoshiro leant back. "What did you call our precious Mistress!"
Momoshiro waved his hands around in defence and fear. "Whoa! Wait! Slip of the tongue! Slip of the tongue!"
Shinji warned the two of them. "If you do no presence Mistress An to me I will call the clan to destroy the Kingdom of Seishun… only the cold side, the side that you live in."
"Hold on." Ryoma interrupted. "What was you talking about before, when you said that my w~… Sakuno was in danger?"
Shinji peered over to Ryoma. "I thought you said you didn't know her, so I don't see what it has to do with you."
"No, he knows her. Why don't you tell him Shinji-san." Momoshiro encouraged him.
"My message is only for the Prince of Farming and not a three legged man and a dog lover." He said as he stood up to leave.
"Wait! He really is the Prince of Farming. Tell him if his wife is in danger or not!"
Shinji stared at the humble farmer. He stared into Ryoma's eyes and searched his soul for the answer. Shinji found the truth within the farmer's eyes.
"I don't feel like telling him. After all he did lie to me, causing me to say more than I wanted and stayed here longer than I should have."
"How can we help you if you don't help us?" Momoshiro complained.
Shinji glanced at them with little interest. "I can summon my clan with just a secret word to destroy this place… though I don't think they would appreciate it much… they might be doing something in important so I won't… but don't think that I can't."
"Just tell us why his wife is in danger."
Shinji looked at them again. "Fine, I'll tell you, but if you're not the Prince of Farming than, young boy, you will not live to see… your… how old are you?"
"Twelve." Ryoma answered.
Shinji looked away again. "So young and so successful. That's not right. I'll have to pillage your farm one day."
"Yeah, take Sakuno will ya." Ryoma murmured.
"Can you get on with it, Shinji-san." Momoshiro shouted.
"Fine. On my long and tiresome journey to get here, I heard stories that another lesser clan to my own was looking to cause some trouble in the Kingdom and village of Seishun. As I continued travelling, young boys kept wailing that their girlfriends and wives were missing. The potters of Saint Red Nose wailed, the Milkmen of Yamabaki wished for answers and the… miners of Hyotei were too busy admiring themselves to notice. But it seems as if someone is kidnapping the fair ladies in the Kingdom, and your wife will be in danger, Prince of Farming."
"You mean Sakuno?" Ryoma had to ask again.
"Yes, the one you married five years ago."
"If they knew how useless she is, they would send her right back."
Now Momoshiro whacked Ryoma over the head making him choke on his drink.
"It does not matter, they will be after her, but I have yet to discover the reason why." Shinji said.
"No, she'll be okay. She's only a danger to herself so I have no reason to care - I mean, worry."
Momoshiro turned to Shinji. "You've delivered your message, you can leave now."
Shinji glanced up at Momoshiro again, staring long and hard at him enough to make Momoshiro uncomfortable. "Who said I was going anywhere? My departure is not your business. I still haven't seen Mistress An and won't leave until I do."
"She was kidnapped." Ryoma told him with no sense of sugar coating it.
Shinji paused. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you just say that girlfriends and wives were being kidnapped!" Momoshiro exclaimed.
"Mistress An is neither a girlfriend nor a wife, is she?" Was Shinji's finally question.
"No-you're right." Momoshiro answered quickly and turned on Ryoma. "Ryoma go home and see if your wife's there. If she's not, come back here and we'll figure something out."
"Don't wanna." He drank the last of his juice and pushed it away. Yuck! It wasn't satisfying at all. He could remember vague moments in his life that should really have stayed under the veil of a drunken hangover.
Momoshiro grabbed him again. "Echizen! Go home and wait for your wife and see if she comes back!"
Ryoma had no choice but to go home and wait. Momoshiro would surely bother him if he stayed in the pub for too long and with Shinji there, telling him of terrible misfortunes, he'd rather fall asleep in his fields… speaking of which, he still had to water them.
So off our humble farmer went back home to patiently wait for his beloved wife's safe return.
…tbc…
A/N2: Well Momo wasn't much help. That felt really short… oh well.
*Jack Daniel's: Very strong alcoholic drink. 40% ABV (Think rum or sake! Or vodka!)
*J2O: Orange juice that is sold in clubs and pubs for a stupid price. Somewhat exaggerated in the story! Comes in different flavours!
Chapter 3: Ryoma waits at home…
