Okay, Pair Puri and the fan books…Pure awesomeness. I swear, every little tidbit I learn makes me love the series that much more. Although this one fact made me feel so bad for Marui. According to these two scales, Marui is overweight for his height. It said he was in danger of being obese. Poor Marui, the only other person also on the list was Tanishi. He'll still be his normal, not obese self in my mind. Besides, Konomi-sensei doesn't draw him as looking fat. And apparently, Tezuka is in danger of malnutrition.
Fangirling aside, I'd like to say thanks to all my reviewers, subscribers, and favoriters. You guys are awesome.
Disclaimer: Oh god I wish I did. But most, most unfortunately, I do not…*tears* WAHHH!
Chapter 12: RikkaiDai, Talks, and Thoughts
A light rapping of wood on the sliding classroom door alerted the people still in the room to an outsider's presence. Some of those people just so happened to be Fuji and the Echizen brothers. A nervous looking Taka popped his head in and looked around the room. He was about to leave when his eyes landed on the tennis players in the back.
"Ah, Echizen-san," Taka's way of addressing Ryoga, Ryoma was just Echizen. "Momo has to stay here to make up an English test he failed and Inui isn't allowed to participate in matches since he was banned because of the Inui multi-mineral juice incident yesterday, so Ryuuzaki-sensei said that you're coming along with us to Rikkai for the practice matches." Taka then waved slightly at Fuji and left.
Ryoga grinned and ruffled Ryoma's hair. "Guess that means I'm going with you Chibisuke." The two began walking out of the classroom; Fuji could only hear one last thing before the door slid shut again. "Sooo…who's Rikkai?"
Fuji quickly contained his irritation at being left behind before following the two out of the classroom.
-"Hajimari wa Ecstasy"-Shiraishi-
Tezuka sighed. He was a patient man by nature but this was really tugging on his, already slightly frayed, strings. Both the elder Echizen and Fuji were fighting over who would sit next to the younger Echizen. And it was getting on the last of his nerves.
"I'm sitting next to Chibisuke!"
"You got to sleep with him last time so I get to sit next to him!"
"…what, nya?"
"Those aren't even related! Besides, if you wanna be like that, you slept with him for the past few days!"
"Eh, Ochibi?"
"Yes, but I didn't have anyone to share him with so your point is moot!"
"Why I oughta-!"
"ENOUGH!" Tezuka was done. This was ridiculous, fighting over Echizen like small petulant children arguing over cheap candy or a favorite toy. They should be ashamed of themselves. "Echizen-san, next to Oishi. Fuji, next to Kawamura. (Does Tezuka call him Taka-san or Kawamura?) Kikumaru, sit next to Echizen." (Hm, does Tezuka call him Eiji or Kikumaru? I'm no good with Tezuka. DX)
"Yay Ochibi!" Eiji plopped down in the empty seat next to Ryoma and wrapped his arms around the younger's shoulders. "Now, can you explain what they meant by slept with, nya?"
-"Bible"-Shiraishi-
As soon as the regulars plus Ryoga got off the bus, they heard the sounds of balls hitting rackets and feet hitting pavement. Ryoma sighed, finally tennis. The only place he was comfortable.
Ryoma stepped forward a bit only to have someone's chest pop up right in front of him. The freshman stumbled back and looked up to see a fairly tall and slim boy with feminine features and blue hair. The boy he almost ran into was wearing a green headband and had his jacket resting on his shoulders, a soft, gentle smile played on the boy's lips.
"Saa, you should be more careful next time young one, you never know who you might bump into." Ryoma shivered and nodded. This guy had the same aura as Syuusuke. He'd make sure to be cautious around this guy. "Great, now to introduce myself, I'm Rikkai's buchou, Yukimura Seiichi. Yoroshiku."
Ryoma pulled his cap down slightly, "Echizen Ryoma, Yoroshiku." Ryoma hated being younger than everyone, he was always the only one to have to do introductions when they went to different schools.
Fuji, seeing adorable Ryoma's pouty face, quickly walked over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Ah, Seiichi, good to see you again. How have you been?" Fuji had his eyes open and both sadists' gazes were locked. They seemed to be having a mental conversation with each other. After a few silent moments, both closed their eyes in small, content smiles and whatever had passed between them was forever lost.
"I'm doing fine and I see you are too." A pointed look at Ryoma. "Oh, what am I doing? Silly Seiichi." Yukimura lightly smacked himself on the head and turned to face the awkwardly waiting regulars. "You came to play tennis, not watch me and Syuusuke exchange pleasantries. Follow me." With that said Yukimura flicked his wrist and began leading the way to the courts.
"We've already picked who's going to play who, so now it's all a matter of picking which court you want and who's going first."
"Oh, nya. What are the match-ups?" Yukimura smiled at Eiji's question but allowed a randomly appearing Yanagi answer.
"Kikumaru-Oishi pair vs. Niou-Yagyuu pair in doubles one. Kaidoh-Sadaharu- Oh I see he isn't here, well your replacement shall do- pair against Marui-Akaya pair in doubles two. Kawamura vs. Kuwahara in singles three. Echizen vs. Sanada in singles one. And lastly, Tezuka against me in singles two."
Yukimura clapped his hands, "Now, who wants to go first?"
-I LOVE YOU MARUI!XD- (I'm just sayin')
A few moments had passed and everyone was well into their matches leaving Fuji and Yukimura to chat and catch up on the new things in each others lives. And boy was there a lot to catch up on. Yukimura was particularly quick to approach the topic involving Ryoma and Fuji and how they were now a couple.
"Ne, Syuusuke, speaking of new stuff, tell me about your new relationship with Ryoma. Specifically why you didn't tell me you had finally gotten together with your long time crush."
To brief glancers, they would have seen a blue-haired boy casually smiling and asking a question, and continued on their way. To people who were closer and knew the purple-eyed pretty boy better, they would hear the slight edge in his voice and the slowly forming black aura surrounding him, and run away in fear. To people who were like said pretty boy, that is if you are Fuji Syuusuke, you would hear the cold steel and see the massive black aura that promised pain and suffering, and would casually smile back, completely ignoring the deadly threat.
"Saa, Seiichi, I was wondering when you would get around to asking me that. It's actually a pretty recent event. It happened…hm, two days ago? Saa, with all the drama with Ryoga, it feels like it's been longer." Fuji put a finger up to his lips in thought. Meanwhile, Yukimura looked confused and slightly upset that he had been that far out of the loop.
"Ryoga's the older brother right?" Fuji sighed and nodded.
"Yeah and he's been making things difficult for me. I can't even talk to Ryo-chan without him butting in and stealing his attention away from me. At least he's sleeping in the guest bedroom now but that means that now whenever I sleep over, he's going to be watching me, seeing if I'll make a mistake." Fuji lowered his head to stare at the smooth ground, clenching his hands into fists and obscuring his eyes with hair.
"…so, he's like you with Yuuta then. Although I don't think you would get in between Yuuta and his lover if you were really sure that they were in love. Do you see what I'm getting at?" Yukimura leaned forward and tilted his head a bit to look into his friend's deep blue eyes.
"…"
"He's just being a good big brother and protecting his little brother. I'm sure you would be doing the exact same thing to Yuuta if you weren't sure it was real. I mean, wouldn't you want to make sure it doesn't end in disaster and end up hurting Yuuta?"
"…yes…"
"I think it's a bit selfish of you to only look at this from your point of view. I don't know the entire situation but he has his reasons, of that I'm sure." Yukimura gave him a reassuring smile and Fuji smiled back.
"Thanks Seiichi. I guess that was a bit unfair of me. You always know what to say to make me feel better don't you?"
Yukimura's expression turned fond and his smile warm, "It's a gift. Besides, I'll always be here to help if he gets to interfering and you need some…assistance." Yukimura's smile lost all its warmth. Fuji's smile mirrored his.
"Saa, I'll be sure to remember that." Fuji started walking away to congratulate a victorious Ryoma. He waved slightly and said one last passing comment to end the conversation. "And Yuuta's not dating till he's at least thirty-two."
Yukimura chuckled and watched from the background as his friend approached and teased a flustered Ryoma. A puzzled Kirihara and a curious Marui walked behind him and looked questioningly at their captain.
"Whatcha lookin' at Mura-buchou?" Yukimura smiled and turned around, ruffling Kirihara's hair while answering his inquiry.
"Oh, nothing, nothing. Now, I do hope you two won."
Marui smirked and blew a bubble, "Of course. With a tensai like me and a devil like Akaya, what did you expect?" Marui then slung an arm around Kirihara's shoulders but it looked awkward considering the second-year was taller than him.
"Geez Marui-sempai. You're so short."
"SHUT UP! I'M OLDER THAN YOU!"
-"Speed Star"-Shiraishi-
Once all the matches had concluded, (Ryoma and Tezuka were the only ones to win) and all their gear had been packed, Seigaku loaded up the bus with promises of rematches at nationals in their minds. Tezuka, too lost in thought about training regimens to use before the next tournament, forgot to assign seats to the two quarreling third years. Fuji, who noticed first, plopped down in the seat next to the drowsy looking first-year and proceeded to ignore the loudly protesting Ryoga.
"Nya, Ochibi's aniki, just give it up. Fujiko's not moving anytime soon. He's like a rock when he gets like that, nya." Ryoga huffed and sat down next to the somewhat subdued red-head. A few awkward moments later and Ryoma was blissfully asleep, unaware of the tension in the bus. Ryoga was about to nod off too when his seat partner spoke up.
"Ne, Ryoga." Once he saw Ryoga was looking at him he continued, "I know you're just trying to protect Ochibi and I appreciate that but…" Eiji bit his lip in thought.
"But?"
"But Ochibi doesn't need your protection anymore. For years, Fuji has been filling the spot you left in his heart and even now, all the regulars see him as…an adorable, bratty, little brother. I'm sorry to say this, but you've lost your chance. You have to stop seeing him as the five-year old you once knew. He's grown up, become his own person." Ryoga had never seen the senior this serious. It made him really stop and think about why he was doing this. Did Ryoma really need his protection? Did he really miss his older brother over all those years? Did he really care that he was gone? Was he needed? Wanted?
Did Ryoma need him or did he need Ryoma?
'Why am I really here?' Ryoga leaned forward, hands locked and under his chin, and he didn't say anything for the rest of the trip. Eiji just looked on in pity before turning his head to look out the window and at the slowly setting sun, ignoring the small streams flowing from the green-black haired male next to him.
Meanwhile, Fuji solemnly looked down after having eavesdropped on their conversation. Seems like he wasn't the only one wondering about the older Echizen sibling's sudden appearance. Fuji had never seen his friend that serious in all the years he'd known him. It was harsh but true; Ryoga needed to figure out for himself why he had come back.
'I hope you find your answer, for Ryoma's sake.' Remembering how Ryoma had been made Fuji close his eyes and grip the slumbering boy's hand. 'I don't think he can go through that again and come out unharmed.' The grip on the boy's hand tightened in anger. 'If you leave him again Ryoga, I will personally hunt you down and strike you wherever the hell you stand. This time, Ryoma's pleading won't be enough to change my mind.' Fuji's eyes opened in determination, cerulean orbs burning with a fiery intensity. 'This time I will protect you.'
-"Prayer"-Shiraishi-
O.O So much light angst. This is so unlike how I first started writing and envisioning this story. Sniff, I think I'm improving. Grow my little story, bloom into a magnificent fic. Flourish under the many reviews I'm hoping to get this chapter. (Hint hint)
Bet ya didn't think Eiji could be deep, well he can. The way I see it, when he's serious, he doesn't play around and say Nya all the time. No, serious Eiji is badass Eiji. He can screw with your mind. Oh, well that's probably just me that thinks that.
And guess what, this update is over 2,000 words. Finally, I wrote a chapter that broke the 2,000 word limit. I promised myself to make it long to make up for such a long wait and it wasn't even hard. I pretty much wrote this much naturally. I guess I really got into the conversations between characters. And I really liked the short part with the Rikkai peeps because I looove Rikkai. They're all so cute! XD
I guess this shall count as both a Christmas present and a gift for Ryoma's b-day. MERRY CHRISTMAS/OTHER HOLIDAYS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYOMA!
REVIEW! Please, I wants ta know what you guys think about why Ryoga's there and the chapter in general. Reviewers shall get Kenya and Oshitari Plushies. (I love these cousins. Did you know that they call each other every three days?)
P.S. Did you catch my hint as to what Ryoma was like when Ryoga left?
P.P.S. My dad's laptop's battery is screwy so beware.