Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis? Not mine. Got that? Great.
A/N: I apologize again for the really late update. It has been a hectic month for me, and now classes have started. *sighs*
I dedicate this super late chapter to Artic-Fox 14 and KiTtEn18sMiLe!
Warning: There will be OOCness due to circumstances invented by my imagination. Very little shounen-ai.
Here it is, the twenty-eighth chapter!
Chapter 28: I just forgot.
The eighteen teens, plus one cat, walked back towards the mansion in peace, at least for the first few minutes. They were lead by the two females and Ryoma. "How did you know I was at the lake, nee-san?" Ryoma suddenly asked. "Funny enough, Kirihara-kun was sure that you were there." Izumi answered thoughtlessly.
"Akaya." The freshman said in a dark tone as slowed down to keep in pace with the junior. "Yes, anata?" Kirihara squeaked out nervously, not noticing what he had actually said.
This scene caused a very peculiar – but hilarious – scene to appear in the other teens present. Needless to say, it was Ryoma (wearing a dress) scolding a very nervous Kirihara (much like what he appeared to be at that moment) in a home setting with the freshman holding a very lethal cleaning equipment or roll of newspaper (dependent on the person imagining). How it came to that, none of them had a clue.
"You have lots of explaining to do when we get back." The freshman gave a stern look at the junior before increasing his pace and went side-by-side with his maid and self-proclaimed sister. When Kirihara was sure Ryoma was distracted, he let out a dejected sigh.
'Yeah, totally like a married couple.' The others thought, but their reactions varied depending on the person. All of them either had a smile or a passive look on their face. Kirihara did not notice this as he was too busy with his thoughts.
For the rest of the walk back to the mansion, the teens were enveloped in a comfortable silence, well not so for Kirihara though. They made it back faster than when they left with Ryoma knowing the way and all. Everyone, in exception of the coaches, was assembled in a random meeting room. Izumi did most of the explaining though, knowing which things not to mention and what to cover-up.
"As nee-san had said, Akaya had a certain feeling that he knew where I was. Though this is long over-due, he has some explaining to do to all of you." Ryoma said before giving the green-eyed junior a stern look, much like earlier. Nervously laughing all the while, Kirihara stood up and walked to the front.
"I am a Creature too."
A chorus of shocked gasps and surprised shouts erupted from the room for a few minutes before they all calmed down again. "If you could sense Echizen, why didn't you tell us in the first place?" Eiji asked. "That, sempai, was a gut feeling. It had nothing to do with my powers." Kirihara answered.
"You could've fooled me, Akaya." Ryoma sarcastically replied. This let everyone know the junior was hiding something from them. "Why are you hiding from us, Akaya?" Yukimura asked as a dark aura surrounded him. Though it wasn't as dark or evil as Ryoma's, it was just above average, but it still made Kirihara cower in fear.
"I can only sense his presence if he's within a certain range, but it is a little vague when he's farther. My limit is the main mansion itself, so I sensed if he was even here or not. I have two reasons for not telling all of you. First, I have nothing solid to back it up to you guys because you were not aware of me being a Creature." Kirihara paused for a moment.
"Second, I can't let everyone search outside. The forest is dense, as the others who went with me might know, and the only person who can track Ryoma is Sachiko, the only known person who has powers, but she has limits. Hanabi-sempai had to heal her halfway into the forest." Kirhara ended.
"So why did you let us waste our time looking here then, Bakaya?" Niou asked in an annoyed tone. "I did it to distract you all." Kirihara answered. "Why would you do that?" Marui asked, also annoyed. "Do not let Kirihara-san's decision blind you all. You were all told that venturing to the woods is forbidden." Sachiko said before Kirihara could reply.
"Sachiko is correct. Otouto did tell you all of that. Letting all of you go to that forest would be suicide, because of its denseness. It is easy to get lost, more so if you have a big group." Izumi backed up. "Why are we forbidden to go there anyway? Why could you guys go?" Kamio asked.
"Like I said, it is easy to get lost there. Naturally, we shouldn't even go there except otouto, since he's familiar with the place and all. We were able to go there with no problem because of Sachiko's powers which she used for tracking, but even then she lacked to go on the full trek. I had to heal her halfway." Izumi replied solemnly.
"I think we're forgetting an important point here!" Kintarou exclaimed, getting everyone's attention. "Kirihara-sempai still hasn't told us why he even kept being a Creature from us even when we knew Koshimae and Sachiko are." The redhead continued. Murmurs were heard from most teens before they all stared at Kirihara.
"Actually, I just forgot." Kirihara nervously told them. The teens before him did not know how to react. They felt a cold wind enter the quiet room, but no one reacted. They expected something different, and more valid, than just forgetting. How can someone forget what kind they were, mostly if they were different from most people and even had their own world?
A few seconds later, chuckles and laughs were heard in the room, mostly from Niou and Marui. 'Same old Akaya.' Marui and Niou thought as they clutched their stomachs as they laughed. The others were more controlled, or did not feel the same intensity of the humor the two teens did.
The two females, Ryoma and Kirihara did not laugh but all had smiles on their faces. "That went on pretty well." Kirihara whispered to his boyfriend. "You're just lucky they didn't ask more questions." Ryoma's reply was snarky and bratty, but he could sense the relief in the freshman's words. Inside, he was relieved as well. He assumed the same for the two females with them.
Afterwards, the rest of the day was spent trying to find out some of Kirihara's skills, or at least which skills he used his power on. Ryoma, they had noticed, usually used it in enhancing his speed or power, and teleportation. Sachiko rarely used her powers, but from what they've seen, they were viewing memories, and tracking using memory trails. Izumi, as she had mentioned earlier, did healing, but there was that time when they first met Sachiko, which Izumi had told them was Stun Charm.
Over the small free time they had, they found out some of Kirihara's preferences on using his power. He used it on doing searches (the presence detecting thing) and, like Ryoma, enhancing his speed or power. He also told them that they – Izumi, Sachiko, Ryoma and himself – couldn't just use their power carelessly or they will tire out easily. Using their powers requires focus and energy. Some skills or tricks they might be able to do sometimes require a lot of energy mostly if they aren't used into using that particular skill often, much like Sachiko's trailing earlier.
In the end, the day started eventful but ended uneventfully. The rest of their training days were spent doing a similar routine before all the commotion started. The only changes worth mentioning were their food, as their training regime alternated every other day. On the last day of actual training, they were told that the coaches had already left for Tokyo.
"The coaches had to go back ahead because of our month's worth of schoolwork. It would be harder for Seigaku, Hyotei and Rikkai Dai if our schoolwork were received too late because the whole tennis team for these schools – plus me on Seigaku – attended the training." Izumi explained to them.
"The last day of training is under my supervision anyway. I hope you guys haven't forgotten that I kept all your little gadgets and your precious rackets before training started." Izumi told them in a teasing tone as she had a very Fuji-like smile on her face. She scanned their faces to see that some of them were embarrassed, confirming her assumption for some.
"While you were sleeping last night, I snuck in to all your rooms and placed your things there. Don't ask how I know whose things are theirs, I just do." She has a shark-like grin on her face when she told them that. Most teens in the dining room suddenly had blushes on their faces. She forced herself not to chuckle as she remembered the funny sleeping faces and positions the teens were in.
"Anyway, there is a twist. You have to search for your stuff in the room. I hid them in good hiding places, so you better start there." She informed them. She received nods in response. "You have half an hour to look for them. The clock starts now!" She exclaimed and in an instant, all the males in the room had run off.
After half an hour, all of them had found their stuff and were summoned outside. "Now that we finished your warm-up, we'll be getting to business. I'm sure that some, if not all, had noticed the paper I wrapped around the handle of your rackets." Izumi watched them remove the papers.
"Written in those papers is your training regime for today. I made it by the hour or half hour so that all of you would not take breaks or have problems." Izumi gave them a bright smile. "The training will start on eight o'clock and it is already two minutes before the assigned time. Go to your stations, and only start at the given time." She informed them.
For the next few hours, all the males were busy with their assigned training regime. They all had a break for lunch then resumed training. All of them had a chance to see the effects of the training with assigned practice matches. By six o'clock in the evening, they were done and tired. They all stayed at the main lobby, too tired to find a random meeting room to hang in.
"Dinner is ready!"
Izumi and Sachiko had done all the chores usually assigned to them even if they were training so they could focus on their scheduled training. All of them were grateful and had said their thanks to the two females when they could. They shuffled tiredly to the dining room, quietly going to the tables with their silently-agreed-upon group. After dinner, all of them, even the girls, slept early for the night.
The next day, they were all woken up by Sachiko. They had breakfast then fixed all their stuff. They were going back home, and even if they were excited, they were a little depressed. During the training, they all made (and broke) bonds with one another. They discovered things about people from other teams (mostly about Ryoma).
Even with the heavy atmosphere among them as they all gathered in the main lobby with their stuff, they still acted like they did for the previous three weeks in the mansion. This was heavily noticed by the red-haired female. She, too, made some bonds with them (friendships and acquaintances alike), and was also saddened that they needed to part. With that in thought, she cleared her throat, calling their attention, which was given fully.
"For the past month, I know that all of you had undergone serious training, and with such, had encountered problems and complications about yourselves and others," she looked at their faces in silence for a moment, "but now, this is the last afternoon together for us forty-two teenagers. Knowing this, I know that some of you, if not all, are saddened by this fact. I know I am." Izumi gave out a small chuckle.
"This month-long training has been hard on us, and gave us situations that were problematic and tiring, even depressing. The thing that would depress me the most, though, would be if we ignore what we learned here, not as athletes, but as a person, as a student, and as a friend." She paused to look at her proclaimed brother.
"And so, to finalize our last afternoon together before we leave, let us hear a speech from the dear owner of this mansion." There was no clapping or any merriment, only silence as Izumi sat down and Ryoma took her place in front of them. He stared at them for a few seconds before he spoke.
"As Izumi-sempai has said, we had encountered problematic situations, but that fact vexes me. In my opinion, it is not the situations that confuse and trouble us, but the choices we make and what they bring." His voice was monotone, but the way he spoke got to them. He spoke of the truth, and he, as he usually would, bluntly told it to them without warning.
"We all had made mistakes. These mistakes are in the past and could never be reversed or changed. There is nothing we can do but to learn from them, but that is false." His stare on them changed, but they didn't know how. "It is only when we ponder and reflect these mistakes – what we did, what we felt at that time, why did we feel that way, what do we feel at the moment when we think about it, and what is the lesson we learned from that mistake – do they really matter." What he said bore deeply into their minds, telling them things they already knew but rarely, at least for some, acknowledge.
"When we leave this mansion, take that time to think about those mistakes. We cannot always make amends to those we wronged, but that should hinder us on being regretful about it. Regret is the first step, followed by forgiveness. We cannot always be forgiven in the instance we ask for forgiveness, but we should also learn to forgive ourselves." His voice was solemn, thoughtful.
"Forgive yourself for being weak, for being careless. Accept that you cannot always do everything, and might need to ask for help. Forgive yourself for hurting others and yourself. Bullying yourself for failing or being something you never wanted to be helps no one. Do not be foolish. We are human, and are flawed by nature." His voice was stern, but hearing him say those words, they felt light.
"Have the wisdom to know the difference between which situations are in your power to change and which are not."
He stared at them few a few seconds before sitting down. Silence was among the teens for a couple of moments until Sachiko stood up and went in front. She, like Ryoma did earlier, stared at their faces for a few moments in silence before speaking.
"In trainings like this, one expects to grow better in the field they are training upon, but always leaves with what we expected to gain. Knowledge, one thing we received in abundance, and should not take advantage of." She slipped a glare at the curly-haired senior of St. Rudolf.
"Young Master Ryoma had addressed you in accepting in mistakes after Hanabi-san addressed you in appreciation. I will make myself clear in what point I want across." She grazed her eyes over attentive faces. "I want you all to acknowledge your limits. Accept your human, and know your limits. Take the risk and find out. Appreciate and thank the people who helped you grow." She paused for a few moments to take a deep breath.
"These limits can or cannot be overcome. Have the guts to test it and accept the outcome."
With that, she sat down. Her master had already said what she wanted to say, not that she was upset. She knew he was more knowledgeable on the men before her. He knew them longer and knew better on how to tell them. In her heart, she was thankful for them. They helped her master grow, and made him happy.
'Thank you, everyone.' She thought with a smile.
A/N: Okay. I was being a little reflective on this chapter. Some lessons I mentioned here I learned during my senior year (high school) retreat. Absolute thanks to that priest (though he won't know I actually mentioned him here).
Anyway, I hope I didn't make the characters too OOC. Please tell me any typos and inconsistencies, even grammar mistakes (being the "Grammar Nazi" that I am).
Constructive criticism is appreciated in the form of private messages and/or reviews.