Hello anybody reading this!
Purplerainn- Yay! Yay! Updates today! (Sorry, feel like being lame today.)
Blufox- Don't worry, I laugh when I feel bad for people too. It's normal. (Then again, I'm not normal, so consult a professional before taking my word on that.) I love Marui and Kirihara. They're adorable. They also go well together with a lot of people. Strange, but I like them best paired together. (Though I like KiriharaYukimura too. And BuntaJirou.) Okay, I'm done rambling now. I seem to be rambling a lot this chapter...
FireDragonGirl- Um... No, Shusuke and Keigo are not together. It was only chapter twenty one that they danced. Or am I misunderstanding you?
Sushi.Squisher- -Serious face.- El Tango De Roxanne is love. -Laughs.- All of my life, I have wanted to be writer, but sometimes, I wonder if it will just gain me a crazy stalker. Like in Stephan King's Misery. Oh, sorry, just talking to myself there. Please read on.
Dovaly- Whether or not Ikasu-san likes Kirihara, I'm not sure, but I can tell you that he appreciates that Kirihara treats him like a real person. Okay, I'm updating now.
ForbiddenStars- I give you the same advice I do D'cute, so please read the first half of the review below. However, you could always watch the episodes too. -Shrugs.- Thank you very very much for the compliments, and please continue to read Trivial Pulse!
D'cute- I used to have a lot of problems reading stories where people used characters I didn't know. I suggest that you go to Google and search for an image of Marui Bunta, and any other characters you don't know. That way, even if you don't know who he is, you can still envision him. That's just my advice though. As for Tezuka's power, it has been developing all along. It's not overly obvious, but while his power started out as just the ability to make people invisible, it's actually more like he can control the senses of others, making the said person he is making invisible 'disappear' for the sight of others. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear enough, but please remember that none of the powers are final, and they are constantly growing for each individual person, not just Tezuka. Sorry again!
Wistful-Dreamer- Don't worry, it's fine! Sometimes, Fanfic does that. It's annoying, but what can ya do, ya know?
RaiPheonix015- First of all, I'm glad to have you review! That really makes me wonder about who reads and doesn't review though. Ne, Que sera sera. I'm really glad that you like and support my work! Please continue to do so, and I would be most grateful. I just hope that I don't let you down!
Shimizu Miki- I thought you were talking to me, but if you want to talk to yourself, that's fine too! This chapter might be a little short too though, so sorry. (And I'm not sure chocolate works like that. If I have too much chocolate, I get a headache. -Sigh- I love chocolate, but it doesn't love me... Okay, now I'm just rambling...) And about the powers, I'm not sure yet. Some might. I know that most won't. This is it for the time being. Also, don't worry about it being a long review. I like long reviews, it means that the reviewer put a lot of thought into what they wrote.
DarkDemonCat- The reason Bunta is the only one with a split personality is because I have his thing for crappy puns. You see, because of his ice power, I thought it be amusing if he had a 'cool' side that came out whenever he used it. I wasn't going to do it at first, but it gave me some great scene ideas, so I did. Fun fun.
SkyBlue147- Yuushi's power... -Laughs.- Honestly, every time I imagine him using it, I see Roy Mustang from Full Metal Alchemist, with Yuushi's head. It's a strangely amusing and fitting image... Sorry, if that made no sense to you.
KiriharaAkaya- I fully admit to being a fan of Changechildren. I love that fic. I was actually nervous about putting them all in the same house because I figured someone would compare it to Changechildren! I don't have the confidence to compete with such a great fic (Yeah, I live on false bravado... How sad.) so the ties are coincidental, and necessary to the plot. Ah, now I'm making excuses. How sad. I seem to do that a lot anymore. You catch me too often, Hara-san! (-Is now preparing to get slapped for calling you that.- -Laughs.-) Hmm... I see what you mean about Harry Potter too. I'm an old time fan of that, since WAY before the movie (-Is upset about the stereotypes there are now.-) . Anyway, please enjoy the next chapter.
AnimeFan06- Kirihara has no power, at least, not yet. I'm not sure if he will develop one later. About the powers, anyway, the people who demonstrated powers in the last chapter, are the people with power, for now. As I said, some people may develop powers later, but for now, those are our guys.
Alaena Flame Dragonstar- Non probleme, no problem! Hectic, anyway, is fun to write! Thank you for reviewing!
P.S. Sorry it took so long this time. For some reason, Fanfic wouldn't let me upload the document. Did anyone else have trouble lately? It was sad.
Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis
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Ryuzaki looked around the room, where both of the Fuji's, Kamio, Ibu, and Tachibana still waited. She also had a feeling that Tezuka was just outside the door, probably waiting for Fuji. She took one preparatory breath, and addressed Shusuke and Yuta, "I just thought that you two might want to know that we are going to be considering Yumiko your guardian, seeing as it is quite difficult to get in touch with your parents. That's all." She smiled kindly at Fuji, "You had better go before Tezuka-kun begins to worry."
"Arigatou, Sensei," Fuji smiled, and left, followed by his brother. Kamio and began to fidget, and Shinji wordlessly took his hand. Kamio glanced at his boyfriend and remembered then that Shinji hadn't said a word since they were outside.
It always worried Akira when he stopped talking like that. It made him think of before, when he was lucky to get two words out of Shinji, and even then with a lot of prompting, and only when they were alone. Shinji squeezed his hand at the perfect moment, and Akira tried to relax, giving Shinji's hand a squeeze as well. Perhaps Shinji was frightened, for what was about to happen to them now.
"Kamio-kun, Ibu-kun," Ryuzaki said with a look of compassion coming to her eyes. Akira hadn't expected that. He had expected her to continue chastising them about their earlier activities, or perhaps his attitude towards her after said activity. "I also wanted to talk to you two about your guardians." Now Akira really froze up, and Shinji gave him a look of concern.
"I told her," Tachibana whispered, a step behind them. "Fudomine business isn't only Fudomine business any more."
"Buchou... It wasn't your decision to tell," Shinji said quietly, but hearing him say even that sent a rush of relief over Akira. He squeezed Shinji's hand a bit again, and gave the other boy a grateful look. Shinji looked a bit confused, but also pleased.
"I know that, Shinji," Tachibana said, "But perhaps it's better this way. You don't have to forgive me if you don't want to."
"Actually," Ryuzaki said, "You may want to thank him. If you two are interested in staying on the property..." She looked between the two boys. "Then Aoi and Tarou-san have offered to serve as your guardians."
Now both Akira and Shinji were stunned, though Shinji recovered more quickly, and went to mumbling about how they didn't even know him and Akira.
"Do your current guardians know any more about you then we do?" Aoi countered, and Akira had to laugh.
"Honestly, you probably know more," he chuckled. "I don't even know when I last said more then one word to my parents in a conversation."
"And when we say we'd serve as your guardians, we mean we each plan to adopt one of you," Tarou said, and Akira was stunned back into silence.
"I... Do have parents you know," Akira said as he recovered, "And you can't adopt me unless you can get them to let go of me first. It's not like you can get them convicted for child abuse."
"We can get them on child neglect however," Aoi smiled at him. "Is there a way we can get ahold of your parents?"
"... I can give you a number to call, but whether they'll pick up or not, I don't know." Ryuzaki nodded, and handed him a piece of paper and a pencil.
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'When people are in trouble, they band together,' Ryoma noted, as thoughts from the minds of the people still in the other room ran over his mind. It wasn't that he was trying to listen in, it was just that the stronger the emotion was behind a thought, the harder it was to tune out. He knew that Momo could see him dealing with this, and had been doing a wonderful job all evening keeping Ryoma occupied.
"Hey," Momo said then softly, "What do you think of the property idea?"
"I don't think we have a choice," Ryoma said, though he already knew that that wasn't what Momo was asking.
"..." Momo kept silent for a moment, "What did you think about rooming together?"
"...We'd have to tell our parents." Ryoma said, knowing all the while that Momo had already thought about that. Ryoma had made it a habit to ignore Momo's thoughts when they were speaking to each other, but every once and a while, whether it was his power or because he knew the junior so well, some thing would slip through.
"I know," Momo said, "But I'm willing to if you are." He took Ryoma's hand and for once the freshman didn't resist. For that moment, the rest of the room didn't exist. "I mean, it's risky, and I don't know how my parents would react, but if you want to tell them about us, so that we can keep rooming together... I'd do it in a heartbeat."
'I do want to room with you,' Ryoma thought to him, and Momo smiled as he heard in his head, 'But I don't know what my Baka Oyaji would do. I don't think it would be too drastic, but... You never know with him.'
"My parents will probably wring my neck first, and then maybe except it," Momo winked, "If only because it's you." Momo's mom adored Ryoma. She had ever since he had first come over. For some reason, around Momo's parents, Ryoma was always innocent and polite. Momo liked to think now that it was because the younger boy had been trying to gain their favor.
And maybe he had. That thought made Momo smile even more. "I think we have a chance. If we can convince your dad, I mean."
"It might be..." Ryoma was unable to finish his sentence, as he was tapped on the shoulder at that moment. He turned, to see three people, a middle aged couple and... Saeki.
"Do you know where Kippei is?" Saeki asked, smiling politely. His conversation with Momo currently set aside, Ryoma went to explain.
"He's talking with the teachers," Ryoma said, only to receive a slightly shocked look by Saeki.
"Is he in trouble? That isn't like Kippei..." He glanced back worriedly at the older couple, obviously his parents.
"He's not in trouble," Ryoma assured him, "It's actually Kamio-san and Ibu-san that the teachers needed to talk with."
"Kamio and Ibu?" Saeki looked confused. "What's going on?"
"What is going on in there, Ryoma?" Momo asked, turning to the other boy with a curious look on his face. Ryoma dutifully shook his head.
"It's not my place to say," he told them honestly. "If you need to talk to Tachibana-san right now, however, I'm sure I could get him to come out here." Momo was surprised at how understanding and cooperative Ryoma was being. "I don't think they need him too badly."
"I would appreciate that," Saeki said, still looking a bit confused, but now mostly concerned. Ryoma let Momo give him a small hug, not even struggling, before crossing the room, heading towards the strong thoughts that still tried to reach out to him.
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"Who needs a son as useless as you anyway?"
"You can't be our son."
"We were just never good enough for you, were we, Akira?"
The mirage of hateful words hit Kamio hard, and he flinched as each painful statement slapped against his soul and mind. This clearly hadn't been what Ryuzaki and the others had had in mind when they asked him to speak to his parents, but he had known this would happen all along. This was why he never spoke to his parents. It hurt too much.
Kamio knew he was starting to shake by now and there was no doubt that his eyes had widened in pain and shock. Even though he expected this, each fresh hurt brought upon surprise like this. Shinji clearly saw this, apparently, because just before they managed to break him with another deadly insult, Shinji took the phone from Kamio's hands, handing it over to Aoi.
Shinji then moved to sit right there on the floor, and pulled Akira down into his lap, his arms encircling the other boy protectively, and his lips brushing against his ears as he spoke to him in soft, comforting words. Kamio was really shaking now, but Shinji's presence and his slender, tennis built arms around him made Akira feel safer. This had never happened before. He had never spoken to his parents, even one of those little one word conversations, in front of someone before. When things had gotten bad like this, he had always been alone, and would let himself curl up into a tight ball on the floor, wherever in his house he might be, and just let his broken soul, mind and body shake uncontrollably like this, until he felt that he had to get up and try to pull the pieces back together again.
This felt safer. This felt better. This made Akira feel loved.
"You're causing your child tremendous amounts of psychological trauma. Do you realize that?" Akira forced himself to listen, and wondered for a moment when Tarou had gotten the phone, because he remembered Shinji handing it to Aoi. Instead of worrying over the fact that he had been spacing out, he snuggled closer to Shinji, and the other boy kissed his cheek lightly.
"That's not what I'm saying," Tarou argued into the phone. Akira had never seen the Hyotei coach like this. Granted, he didn't know the Hyotei coach much at all, but he had gotten the distinct impression that Tarou was a hard, but chivalrous man. Now, the older man seemed much more fierce, arguing about whatever thoughtless things Akira's parents had said. "You don't have to do anything but sign some papers to release him from your custody. We'll take care of everything after that." Tarou, now seeming a bit more patient and in control of himself, "If this boy is as terrible and worthless as you say, then you'll have no problems handing him over, I'm sure. I, on the other hand, think that this is a boy with potential. He has great potential as a tennis player and as a person, and I think he deserves a better chance than what you are currently giving him." Tarou was silent for a moment. "Yes. That would be best. Good bye."
"Everything will be fine," Shinji whispered in Akira's ear softly, "I promise it will, Aki. I promise." Akira slowly felt himself relaxing into Shinji, his helpless trembling temporarily shoved aside in favor of straightening himself up a bit, feeling a bit ashamed of being seen like that.
"I'll... Be fine," Akira said once he'd found his voice. Shinji stood up, helping Akira up after him, but continued to hold the cheetah-boy to himself in a possessive and comforting manner.
"Ibu-kun," Aoi smiled softly, "Would you like us to call your foster parent or the adoption agency first?" Shinji went to answer when Ryoma entered the room.
"Tachibana-san," Ryoma said, pretending not to notice the position Akira and Shinji were in, "Saeki-san is here to see you. His parents are here with him."
Tachibana's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced around the room. Shinji nodded that they would be fine, and Ryuzaki assured him with a smile that he could go.
"Alright," Tachibana said, feeling a bit nervous about meeting Saeki's parents. "Let's go then." He followed Ryoma out.