Hello anybody reading this!
Blufox- Yay! Evil Fuji Glare Of Death! -Laughs.- Anyway, please read the note at the bottom and reply! Thanks!
Shimizu Miki- Glad you liked it! Please read the note at the bottom of the page and reply! Thanks!
KaL KeY- Yep, the ball is coming soon, but I need some readers' input before I continue. Please read the note at the bottom of the page, and reply. Thanks.
KiriharaAkaya- Okay, so it's like this-- Tezuka, Fuji, and Ryoma are all of the people with extra powers. Simple. Now, this part of the story is kind of based on the theory of 'equivalent exchange', in other words, in order to get something, you have to give something of equal or greater value. So, the boys go through different kinds of pain to compensate for their powers. If you need more explanation then that, just ask!! Oh, and read the note at the end please! Thank you!
Skyblue147- Yeah... I hate it when they do that... Poor, poor Momo. I felt really sorry for him, writing that. (So why did I? I don't know.) Please read the note at the bottom of the page and reply! Thanks!
P.S.- I've said it... -counts- Five times already, but for those who didn't review this time (Or read, but don't review) PLEASE read the NOTE at the END and REPLY! I need answers to that to keep writing, so please reply as SOON as POSSIBLE. Thank you!
Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis
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"Ah, Shishido-san..." Choutarou whispered it into the dark room from where he stood in the doorway, not really expecting a response. For the first time since moving into the dorms, Shishido had gone to bed early, after Choutarou, but still before he normally would. Choutarou couldn't sleep, so he had heard Shishido go back to his room after ten thirty. It was eleven now.
"Yes, Chou?" came a mumbled reply. Choutarou was relieved, but then realized that he had probably woken the older boy up. He started to panic.
"N-nothing, Shishido-san, I'm sorry to bother y--" Choutarou started, and started closing the door as well, when he heard Shishido growl his distaste.
"Stop apologizing," Shishido said, and Choutarou stopped moving.
"Sorry..." Even in the darkness, it was evident that Shishido was glaring at him with black horse eyes. Choutarou smiled apologetically.
"What is it, Chou?" Shishido asked softly, his glare evaporating. "Don't worry, you didn't wake me up. Come in." He patted the bed beside him. And Choutarou saw it in the dark. Leaving to door open to let a little light into the room, he did as Shishido asked.
"It's nothing, Shishido-san," Choutarou assured him, "I just couldn't sleep."
"Ah," Shishido said, smiling kindly. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Would you like to sleep in here?"
"Iie, Shishido-san! I could never... I..." Choutarou stuttered.
"If you don't want to, that's fine," Shishido shrugged, "I just thought it might help you to have someone else near."
"No, it's not that I don't want to!" Choutarou exclaimed, not wanting any misunderstandings so soon after getting into a relationship with his favorite person. "It's just that... When I'm really close to you, sometimes, I want to... Take advantage of you, Shishido-san." Choutarou was blushing like nobody's business, and knew it.
"Who says I don't want you to?" Shishido asked, his voice thick with sudden lust. His eyes were clouded with it when Choutarou looked, and as soon as he turned his head, Shishido had captured his lips. He pushed Choutarou back onto the bed and climbed on top of him. Oh, Kami-sama, how had he not realized until just then that his senpai was only wearing a shirt again? Oh, and boxers. Darn...
"You should be more worried about yourself, Choutarou Ohtori," Shishido growled. His hair was long again, and his horse ears were smoothed back against it.
"O... Oh!" Choutarou practically cried out as Shishido's clever lips moved for his neck, licking, kissing and, oh... Yes, he was biting him now, softly. His horns were out, he didn't need to check. Oh gosh... Shishido's hand snaked it's way up Choutarou's shirt and began playing with one of his nipples. Shishido sat up, sitting on Choutarou's legs, and tugged at Choutarou's shirt.
"Off," He said, and Choutarou got the message. "Off. Off." Shishido repeated, and started to help Choutarou pull the shirt over his head. Shishido grunted, satisfied, for the moment, and began to attack Choutarou's already sensitive nipple with his mouth, moving to caress the other with his hand.
"Ah... Shishi... Oh..." Choutarou moaned out loud. Just then, Shishido seemed to get control of himself. He sat up, leaving a breathless Choutarou very confused.
"Yuushi and Gakuto's room is right on the other side of that wall," Shishido whispered, pointing to the far wall. "If you moan like that, they'll hear everything." He could attest to that. He heard all sorts of things he didn't want to through that wall.
Choutarou's face flushed. "Yeah," Shishido nodded, "I figured you'd react that way." His lopsided grin appeared, "Besides, tomorrow is Atobe's ball, and if you want to go with me so bad, you'd better get some rest tonight. This weekend, we can do whatever you want. In your room." Choutarou's room shared a wall with Jirou's, but since Jirou spent most nights in Atobe's room, no one would hear them unless Shishido decided to try and make Choutarou scream. Hmm... That was an interesting idea. He decided to store that away for later.
"Alright," Choutarou said, still blushing, he acted like he was going to leave, but Shishido still had him pinned down.
"No, Chou, stay here. We're going to sleep, but you can still stay here. Choutarou smiled, and Shishido moved so that they were both on there sides. "Better?" Choutarou nodded, smiling, as Shishido wrapped his arms around him. He did the same, and tried to slow down his breathing. They were both quite for a moment, "Hey... Chou? Love you." Shishido said sleepily.
"Yeah, love you too..." Choutarou said, and Shishido smiled before going to sleep. "Ryou..." Choutarou smiled, and went to sleep himself soon after.
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"Hmm... Did you hear that?" Yuushi asked, a grin coming to his face.
"Hear what?" Gakuto said sleepily, rolling over in bed. Yuushi glanced at him from where he sat at one of the two desks in the bedroom they shared. Their room was bigger then most, but they had to share a room. Yuushi had actually figured that Atobe put them in this position on purpose. Not that either he or Gakuto minded. The second bed had never been used., so the second bedroom would just be wasted.
"Nothing," Yuushi smiled slightly to himself. Perhaps Atobe should have put Shishido and Choutarou in a shared room. Perhaps it would have sped things up a little. He was positive that the moan just now was Choutarou's, but there was a chance...
"Do you think it's Choutarou, or is Shishido just jerking off?" As always, Gakuto had such a subtle way of saying such incriminating things about other people. Yuushi's smile widened a bit. A lot of people didn't realize that Gakuto was a lot smarter then he acted. He had a keen insight into other people. Kikumaru Eiji from Seishun was like that too, though Gakuto always argued that they had nothing in common. Riiiight, anyone watching the two for more then five minutes, would believe that...
"Choutarou, probably," Yuushi said, and Gakuto whistled softly.
"It's about time," He said, moving up in the bed a bit. The covers slid down, as if to remind Yuushi that Gakuto was waiting for him to go to sleep. Yuushi knew the red-head was tired, and it was late, but he had to get this done now, so that they would have the entire weekend to have fun. He was working on an assignment for an extra-curricular class that he had ended up taking by sheer willpower from the teacher. It hadn't mattered before, but right now it was starting to annoy him.
Gakuto shifted in the bed slightly again, as if Yuushi hadn't noticed the first time. Yuushi decided that he would just do it some morning, and let Gakuto sleep in for a change. He closed the reference book he had been using and turned around in the chair. He smiled in a sexy way, and removed his glasses. Gakuto's ears were out, ah, he was excited. "Hello, Lover, been waiting long?"
"Not long, just a lifetime or two," Gakuto answered with a smirk, and pulled the covers back for Yuushi to climb in.
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As always, Eiji was up before anyone. Coming from a large family, you learned to wake up early, so that you could beat everyone else to the showers and breakfast spread. If you didn't, you would have to wait a long time while everyone else went through, using up all of the hot water, and nearly starve from lack of food. So, Eiji had developed a kind of 'inner alarm clock', which woke him up early each morning.
Then again, Eiji had no real reason to get up early anymore. Most of the people in the house showered after morning practice, which made sense, and so Eiji was able to get the upstairs bathroom almost completely to himself in the mornings. The downstairs bathroom was used for getting ready and brushing your teeth, and the upstairs for showering, in the mornings. Eiji would shower and wash his hair in the mornings, and then take a shorter shower after practice. Also, Kaido and Inui had a bathroom in their room, which Eiji had originally proclaimed as unfair, but stopped when he was forced to think that Inui was probably working on his famous Inui Juices in there. It sent a shiver up his spine, and he was happy to avoid sharing a bathroom with the data player.
Still, not having to rush for the bathroom was only part of it. They always had enough breakfast, because it seemed, most unexpectedly, that Taka and Ryuzaki enjoyed getting up early to make a big spread. Again though, that wasn't it. Eiji had no reason to get up early anymore, and, glancing down at a particular roommate of his, he didn't really want to.
Contrary to common belief, Oishi loved to sleep in. He hardly ever got to, because they were always busy with practice, school and other things, but he would never get up early if he didn't have to. Unless, perhaps, Eiji asked him to. They were in the same bed again, Oishi and Eiji, and it was actually a good thing that Eiji always woke up early, because---
"Boys!" A flip off of the bed and into his own, pulling the covers quickly over himself, kept his earlier position a secret from Ryuzaki as she opened the door. She did this every morning. And, every morning, Eiji was just a little bit faster. "Good morning, Eiji-kun."
"Good morning, Ryuzaki sensei," Eiji said, even looking up from the book he had strategically places by his bed the night before. Ryuzaki gave him a suspicious look.
"I'll see you at breakfast," Ryuzaki finally sighed, "See to it that Oishi-kun gets up soon."
"Hoi, Sensei," Eiji smiled, and Ryuzaki closed the door before heading down the stairs. She checked on them every morning, because they didn't have their parents' consent. Still, Eiji was fine going through this ever morning. It was a lot better to do this then to even think about telling their parents. That would be so much worse.
Actually, Eiji was certain that his parents wouldn't mind. They were just excepting like that, but Oishi's... To put it bluntly, Eiji thought that Oishi's father was a motherless, traditional jerk who had no idea just how great his son was. Oishi's weird hair? Yeah, that was all his father's fault. He had shown Oishi a picture of a summer when he had grown his hair to about Fuji's length, but different, because Oishi's hair curled slightly when it was longer, and it looked drop-dead gorgeous on him. Not that Oishi could ever really be called ugly. Anyway, it would seem that his father didn't like that, and said it made him look 'gay' and immediately had it shaved off.
Eiji was angry beyond belief at that, but there was nothing that could be done right now. Once he graduated, Oishi wanted to grow his hair out like that again, but for the time being it was safer to just do as his father said. A bald Oishi was not a happy Oishi. That was only the beginning, however. Oishi was forced to toe the line in whatever he did. He was to be excellent, but not stand out. He was to get top grades without actually being the top. In other words, he was expected to be second in everything he did. Even when Oishi knew he could take the prize in something, he usually held back and let someone else take it.
And it was all that stupid jerk's fault. It didn't help that Oishi's father hated Eiji almost as much as the later hated him. Not that Eiji had done anything wrong. He had gone over there for the first time, and acted on his very best behavior, being polite and calm, and even tried to keep up an intelligent conversation with the man. Eiji had decided that that was where he went wrong.
Eiji was smart, even if most people didn't think so. Fuji had told him not long after they met that Eiji had 'keen insight'. After which, he had made a cryptic remark about insightful people not living very long, but Eiji still took it was compliment. Upon meeting Oishi's father, Eiji had used his insight to counter everything that was said. They were always intelligent answers, but not all of them sided with the man, because Eiji simply didn't agree with him on most points. Yeah, he probably should have just been quiet and polite, but Oishi had told him later that he was very proud of him, and Eiji decided that that made it worth it.
Those reasons, as well as quite a few others, were why Eiji fought so desperately to keep their relationship from the eyes of Oishi's father. Oishi had told him before that he would tell his father, if that made Eiji happy, but Eiji had just smiled and shook his head at the time. Sure, it would be nice to not have to hide it, and occasionally be open about their relationship, like Fuji and Tezuka sometimes did. Stuff as simple as holding hands and... Not being bothered in the mornings. Still, Eiji was too... Afraid.
That's right. Eiji Kikumaru was scared to death of the consequences of coming forward. He wasn't afraid for himself, because of his family's nature, but Oishi... There was a good chance that Oishi's father would send Oishi away. That was his favorite threat. Oishi told Eiji that he had been threatened with that since he was little, and his father meant it. Oishi hadn't thought so, at first, but when pushed too far, his father would actually start making up the paper work. The only way Oishi had gotten to stay the last time, was because his normally timid mother had pleaded on his behalf. Eiji seriously doubted that she would be any help this time. Not with how angry Oishi's father would be.
That was what Eiji was afraid of. He couldn't even think of Oishi having to leave now. Oh, Kami-sama, it made him want to cry. If Oishi ever--
"Was that... Ryuzaki just a moment ago?" Ah, ever reliable Oishi. It was as if he had a special message service that told him the perfect time to interrupt Eiji's thoughts.
"Hoi," Eiji smiled, crawling back into the bed he preferred.
"Hmm... She didn't catch us, did she?" Oishi asked, and Eiji's smile widened.
"No, never," Eiji said, nodding comically, but it was a vow of sorts.
"Good," Oishi smiled, and his eyes started to close again. Eiji laughed. How could Oishi's father not see how wonderful this boy was? He was perfect. Eiji chuckled to himself. Other then his hair. Still, that could be fixed. As soon as they graduated. And then, they would move in together and not have to hide from anyone.
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'Today is the day,' Taka thought with a sigh. He was making a Western-style breakfast for today. He flipped another egg, but that did nothing for his mixed feelings. Today was Atobe's ball. Today, Fuji and Tezuka, and Taka insisted to call him Tezuka, even in his mind, would really act like a couple. In front of other teams. That hurt. It hurt rally bad.
Not that Taka could do anything about it. He was happy for Tezuka, and even Fuji. He was glad that they were happy, if nothing else. Even if it meant that Tezuka was with someone else, Taka was glad that he was happy. That was the sole comfort he gathered out of the situation. He had thought, at first, that he could make himself stop loving Tezuka, knowing that that was what was best for the buchou. Still, he couldn't just stop. When he tried to stop, it just left a void in his heart where those feelings used to be. In all honesty, Taka wasn't sure if this was actually love. It felt like love, and he knew that his feelings for the other senior were strong, but to use the words 'love' and 'Tezuka' in the same sentence seemed to sound strange and foreign.
"Takashi?" Ryuzaki's voice said, as she started to open the kitchen door. She poked her head in without entering all of the way.
"Hai, Ryuzaki-sensei," Taka smiled, flipping a few pieces of bacon. "What is it?" This was strange. It was Taka's day to cook, and normally Ryuzaki, and everyone else, for that matter, kept out of his way while he was cooking.
"Um..." Wait... Was Ryuzaki blushing? "Something came for you today." Taka wondered what it could be. His family wouldn't send him something. At least, not something that would make his 'seen-it-all' coach blush.
"Oh?" he asked, wiping his hands off.
"This was brought to our door, this morning, a delivery," she opened the door all of the way, and Taka could see a bouquet of roses. Alright, that might make her blush. A middle school aged boy, receiving roses on an otherwise normal Friday morning. Taka blushed furiously.
"Are you sure it's for me?" Taka laughed nervously, "Maybe it's one of Fuji-san's or Tezuka-buchou's more eccentric fans."
"The man who delivered it said it was for you," Ryuzaki shrugged, "There's a note too, but it didn't make much sense to me."
"Ah, thank you Ryuzaki-sensei," Taka said, taking the roses, and putting them in a vase on the table.
"I'll talk to you later then," Ryuzaki said, starting to close the door, stopping only to say, "By the way, your hash browns are burning." With that, she closed the door all of the way.
"Oh no!" Taka exclaimed, the roses and note temporarily forgotten while he tried to salvage the hash browns.
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Fuji was up earlier then normal, much to his own annoyance. Sleep had been an off and on thing, more off then on, and he felt more tired now then when he had originally gotten into bed. He looked down at Kunimitsu, who was actually sleeping well for once, and decided that waking him now would be a bit too evil, even for Fuji.
Instead, he slipped out of the bed as carefully as he could and scribbled a note, just in case Kunimitsu did wake up. It seemed stupid to write a note when they were still in the same house, but Fuji didn't want any misunderstandings. After that he got dressed quickly and slipped out the door.
Most people were sleeping, but Fuji knew someone who was bound to be up and around. He felt that he should talk to Taka anyway. They hadn't spoken much since Fuji had started dating Tezuka. Walking into the kitchen, Fuji was surprised to see that Taka was happy to see him.
"Fujiko!" Taka said, "Oh, good, I was hoping to ask you something, but wasn't sure I'd be able to catch you alone." Fuji froze slightly, his eyes closing and his smile widening. It was all a habit. With his parents, this was the best thing: never let them know you feel threatened.
"Oh? What is it, Taka?" Fuji asked, his voice smooth as it always was.
"These roses," Taka gestured, and Fuji noticed the dozen or so red roses in the vase on the table.
"They're gorgeous, Taka. Are they yours? Who are they from?" Taka nodded in response to the first question.
"I don't know who they're from," Taka said, a bit sheepishly, "I was hoping you could help me. Who are Abelard and Heloise?" He was holding out a note.
"Abelard and Heloise?" Fuji pondered. Why would Taka want to know about them? "May I see that note?" Taka nodded again and handed it to the tensai.
Love is a bit stranger then I first let myself believe. I've made a fool of myself in doing it, but I do believe I've fallen for you. Still, love is love, and that is what I must achieve. I'm hopeful that one day you'll be able to say you love me too. I don't know you, and you don't know me. Not really. Still, I want to know you, and I want you to know me too. So, for now, I will try to tell you who I am, and perhaps tonight, I'll get your answer. I believe in you, you're more clever then you will let yourself believe. For now, I'll call you my Heloise, and I will refer to myself as Abelard. On hint for every gift. Fair? I hope to talk to you face to face, soon, Lovely One, but for now, I bid you adieu.
Yours if You'll Take Me,
Abelard
Fuji finished the note and sighed. "Looks to me like you have a secret admirer." Fuji said, "Abelard and Heloise were lovers who were split by fate. They fell in love, but their love wasn't excepted, and Heloise's uncle sent her away to a convent. Not long after that, Abelard became a monk, but the two continued to love each other. Their love letters are known world wide." Fuji was quite impressed by this admirer's knowledge. Choosing Heloise and Abelard was an interesting, but effective choice. A forbidden love, that would last forever nonetheless.
"Oh," Taka said, as this sunk in. "Do you know who it could be?"
"No," Fuji shook his head, looking over the letter again. He didn't recognize the handwriting. "But I believe it's a guy, not only because the said person chose to be Abelard, but because it's a story of forbidden love. It's probably not someone from Seigaku, but..." '...Perhaps tonight I'll get your answer'. "They're probably a positive from another school." Fuji looked up at the blushing boy and smiled, "That's all I can tell you from this letter. Very interesting though." He handed the note back to Taka, who carefully folded it and put it into his pocket.
"Thank you, Fujiko," Taka said, smiling, "Can I come to you with the next clue?"
"I'd be very sad if you didn't," Fuji replied, then glanced at the clock. He had better go get Kunimitsu up. "See you later?"
"Yeah," Taka said, "Thank you again."
"That's what friends are for," Fuji said, quite glad that they could still be friends. With that, he headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
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There was a small commotion in the locker rooms that morning. As the regulars made their way into the locker room, they saw several club members checking out what looked to be a small mountain of chocolates. Whispers and guesses went around the room, and as soon as they saw Taka, they pounced.
"Who are they from?"
"Who sends a guy chocolates?"
"You lucky dog, Taka! You'd better share!"
"What's a 'Heloise'?"
As mixed shouts bombarded him, Taka blushed furiously. Fuji sighed, and then put on his sadistic smile, frightening off the people close to him. Kunimitsu knew that this was a sign for him to step in.
"If you're not changing, get out on the courts!" Kunimitsu barked, and every member other then the regulars shuffled to get out of there as quickly as possible. Fuji and Taka moved towards the pile of chocolates, looking for the note. Eiji was much more interested in the fact that Taka had been sent a years worth of chocolate in the first place.
"Nya? What is all of this, Taka?" Eiji asked, picking up a wrapped box and examining it.
"I found the note, Taka," Fuji said, "Here." He handed the slip of paper to Taka, who read over it carefully.
"Don't ignore me!" Eiji huffed, crossing his arms in a childlike gesture. Oishi chuckled slightly, but did nothing to help or restrain his boyfriend.
Fuji glanced at Taka, who was blushing over something the note said, and decided that there was no harm in telling the red-head. "Taka has gotten himself a secret admirer," Fuji informed him, "The person is leaving gifts and clues, to help Taka find out who she, or he, is."
"Ahhh," Eiji said, understanding.
"Um," Taka said, fidgeting a bit under his teammates' stares. "Fujiko, it says that he's not very talkative."
"And he goes to another school," Fuji nodded, doing calculations in his head about the probabilities of people he would expect. When he noticed Taka giving him a confused glance, he explained, "'Abelard' didn't know where your locker was. Any admirer at Seishun would probably already know." Fuji's smile changed slightly, "Could I see that note?"
"Um... Not this time, Fujiko," Taka laughed a bit nervously under Fuji's gaze. Eiji's smile twisted to match.
"Why? Something dirty?" Eiji asked, making to snatch the paper from Taka's hands.
"N-no!!" Taka exclaimed, moving the note out of reach.
"Kikumaru, ten laps," Kunimitsu said, right on cue, and Eiji started protest, the object of the note pushed farther back into his brain, "As for everyone else, finish changing quickly." It wasn't until then that Fuji realized that Kunimitsu himself had already changed. He discovered that he had mixed feelings about that.
Taka glanced back at his newest note, reading the words again.
Dearest Heloise,
I'm not one to talk much, but if someone asked me to describe you, I doubt I could ever stop speaking. Even then, all of the those words combined wouldn't be enough to really explain how wonderful you are.
Yours if You'll Take Me,
Abelard
Taka sighed softly to himself. He knew that his mystery person wasn't who he would immediately wish it to be, but they were certainly a romantic. He blushed slightly, realizing how much he was waiting on the next note. Something about this person... He couldn't even explain it. He continued dressing and headed out onto the courts with he others.
NOTE:
Hi everyone, thank you for reading chapter seventeen, and now I need your help. The Ball will probably begin in the next chapter, but before I can type that, I need to know some things--
1. What people do you want to see at the ball? I have several picked out already, but I still want to know who YOU want to see!
2. What pairs? Again, know some, not so sure on others, and hoping to get a little help!
3. Any schools/people/pairs you DON'T want to see? This is very important to me!
If you all could help me with this, it will make the next several chapters all the better! Thank you!