Whazzup everyone? How ya' doin'? I hope everyone has been well. Sorry about updating being all weird. I'll try to get this chapter out by midnight and if not, I might wait another day before uploading. But don't worry! If I do, I promise that there will be awesomely-awesomeness!
I'm taking the ideas of the camp from what I did at my sixth grade camping trip :3 I hope everyone will like the things I have in store. Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and special thanks to PurpleScorpian for giving me the basic summaries of the Hyoutei regulars! Love you guys!
Hope that everyone is enjoying the story so far. I really don't have any idea what I'm going to after this chapter, or for this chapter for that matter. Stop stalling! Start writing! Yeah, yeah whatever.
I swear, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis but if I did, ohhh, all the things I'd make them do.
Chapter 5. Enjoy!
Choutaro sweat dropped. "O-Oi Echizen-kun!" Echizen started to walk away without him. "Help me! I can't carry him and his bags!"
"He's your sempai."
"Mattaku! Jirou-sempai, okiru! We need to get to the cabin! You can sleep there!"
"Mmnph… five more minutes…" Jirou mumbled
"No, now!" Choutaro lifted his arms and placed them around his shoulders. "At least keep a grip on your bags. Echizen-kun! Matte!"
After about an hour or so, Atobe sent a message to everyone telling them what the schedule for the rest of the day was. Apparently, their day consisted of things like hiking, fishing and swimming. Even though Echizen liked camping and all of those fun things, they didn't seem as appealing when he did it with his teammates and rival school.
He enjoyed the fact that he shared a cabin with Choutaro and Jirou. Choutaro was the type of person who knew when to be serious at the correct times but he was also a kind-hearted person, much like Oishi. Jirou reminded Echizen of himself and Kikumaru. He and Kikumaru were happy most of the time while he and Echizen slept most of the day away.
Echizen was laying on his bed thinking about all the things that Atobe said that they would do and all the possible scenarios that could happen. Somehow, in all of them, he was humiliated one way or another by Momo, Fuji, Kikumaru or Ryoga.
"Echizen-kun, are you alright?" Choutaro had noticed a sour look on Echizen's face. "You look a little pale."
"I'm fine." Echizen rolled over to the other side and faced his back to Choutaro.
"Mou, you remind me of Atobe-san."
Echizen flinched then sat up and almost knocked his head on the ceiling. "What?" he asked in an 'are you really going to say that?' tone. "I'm nothing like that Monkey king."
"I think others would say different." Choutaro paid no attention to Echizen's attitude but saw his scowl and decided to have some fun. "I mean, you're both very skilled at tennis, you speak English quiet well, became regulars your first year, not to mention arrogant, rude, cocky…"
Echizen's scowl turned into a total death glare.
"…think you're better than everyone else, you both need to work on your people skills and have a nickname." Choutaro caught Echizen's eye. If looks could kill. "But, then again, there are a lot of things in which you are total opposites so maybe you aren't similar at all." He looked at Echizen and smiled. Echizen shot daggers at him from his eyes.
"Mmnph… *yawn*… ohayou." Jirou woke up from his bed in a rather uncomfortable looking position.
"Jirou-sempai, ohayou." Choutaro said as he turned from Echizen's death glare.
"Why are you awake?" Echizen stopped his glaring at Choutaro.
Jirou looked around. "Where are we?" he asked completely ignoring Echizen's question.
"We're at camp Jirou-sempai. Don't you remember yesterday? You were really excited to come."
Jirou looked at him with sleepy eyes then a light bulb went off in his head. "Ah! We're at camp!" Jirou jumped up from his bed, fully awake now. "Yatta! I forgot that we were here!" his stomach growled.
'I guess that's why he's up.' Echizen thought.
"Yosh! Time to go get some food!" Jirou ran for the door and ran outside towards the front of the campsite with the cabin that held the food.
"Ah, Jirou-sempai!" Choutaro started after him. "Echizen-kun, I'm sorry. I need to catch him. Last time he almost ate everything we had for the whole week! Gomen!" he ran out the door after Jirou down the trail.
Echizen sighed. He got down from his bed and shut the door. He was glad that both of them were gone. He could finally fall asleep in peace, or so he thought. Before he could get back on his bunk, there was a knock on the door. Annoyed he climbed down the ladder and went to the door expecting Oishi or Taka coming to see how he and his bunkmates were doing.
He opened the door to see no one and nothing except for an envelope left on the first step. He took the envelope and opened it. His eyes grew greater as he read the single line on the paper.
"Don't think that you've gotten rid of me that easily, Echizen Ryoma."
"Why are they taking so long? Ore-sama does not like to be kept waiting." Apparently, with the message sent to everyone about what they were going to do, Atobe also sent a message that said that they should all meet and actually discuss how it was going to go.
"Be patient Atobe. I'm sure that they're coming right now." Oishi said.
"Saa, but with Echizen and Jirou, they are probably making it difficult." Fuji said with a smile.
"Fsshhh... they might have not even gotten the message." Kaidou hissed making a good point.
"Or they're just ignoring it." Momo said.
"They wouldn't do that. Even Echizen would give some sort of reply." Oshitari said.
"How could they ignore a command from the great Ore-sama?"
"Nya, if it's Ochibi that's most likely what happened." Kikumaru said.
"There they are." Ryoga said pointing towards Jirou and Choutaro coming down the path.
"It's about time. Ore-sama was beginning to get annoyed."
"Jirou-sempai, matte!" everyone could here Choutaro yelling for Jirou.
"I don't see Echizen with them." Hiyoshi said.
"Ah, what are you all doing here?" Jirou finally stopped.
"J-Jirou-sempai, please- don't run- off like that." Choutaro said trying to catch his breath.
"Do you know how long Ore-sama has been waiting?" Atobe stood in front of them and started tapping his foot impatiently.
"What are you talking about?" Jirou asked.
"Didn't you get a message saying that we're going to have a meeting about the activities we're going to do?" Gakuto smugly asked.
Choutaro and Jirou gave them confused looks and then checked their phones. "Ah-" they both had one unread message.
"I guess we didn't here with the things that were going on." Choutaro said.
"What things? And where's Echizen?" Inui asked while writing in his notebook.
"Ah! I left him in the cabin when I chased after Jirou-sempai." Choutaro sweat dropped.
"It can't be helped. Atobe-kun sent him a message, so either he didn't get it or he's ignoring us." Ryoga said as he took out his phone and dialed his brother's number.
"Can't we just leave him?" Shishido suggested. All of the Seigaku regulars gave him a look causing him to sweat drop.
"Chibisuke, come down to the main campsite. We're going to-" Ryoga stopped in midsentence as he heard his brother speak on the other line. "Ah. Ah. Alright." He hung up his phone and put it in his pocket. "He's being stubborn again. I'll go get him." He started off in the direction of his cabin but not before Momo and Kikumaru caught up with him.
Fuji and Tezuka gave each other a look that caught Atobe's eye.
"What is it? Is there something wrong with the gaki?"
"Saa, not exactly…" Fuji opened his eyes slightly as he began to tell the Hyoutei regulars about what happened at school a few days prior to coming to the camp.
"Ne Eiji-sempai, do you think something's wrong?"
"Nya, I hope not."
Kikumaru and Momo were walking up the trail to Echizen's cabin with Ryoga. Well, more like they were following Ryoga. He was walking at a much faster pace like he was worried.
"Ryoga-san." Ryoga stopped and looked behind him to see Kikumaru and Momo with confused and worried expressions. "Is something the matter with Ochibi?"
He looked at them with an apologetic smile and sighed. "Let's hope not."
The rest of the walk to the cabin was silent. Momo and Kikumaru kept looking at Ryoga and giving each other worries looks. When they arrived, the cabin gave off a sort of dark ora that made them feel uncomfortable. They knocked but there was no answer.
"Chibisuke?" Ryoga slowly opened the door to see Echizen sitting on his bed with his back on the wall. "Chibisuke, come on. You're making everyone wait."
"Oi Echizen." Momo climbed the ladder to meet Echizen's eyes. He saw fear reflected in them. "Echizen, are you alright?"
"Ochibi, what's wrong?" Kikumaru was hanging on the side. "What's this?" he saw a letter by his side. He took it and went back down to Ryoga and Momo followed.
"What's it say Eiji-sempai?"
"Don't think that you've gotten rid of me that easily, Echizen Ryoma."
Ryoga frowned. He took the letter from Kikumaru's hands and read it again. "That bastard."
"What are you talking about Ryoga-san?" Kikumaru asked.
He didn't answer but hopped up onto Echizen's bed and started talking to him in a low tone.
"I think that it's the same person who gave him the tennis ball from before Eiji-sempai." Momo said with disconcert.
"Eh? How did he get up here?"
"He probably followed us. Kuso!" Momo clenched his fist in anger.
"Nya, if that's the case, we need to tell everyone to watch out for someone! There's no way I'm letting him get to Ochibi!" Ryoga and Echizen climbed off the bed. "Don't worry Ochibi! We'll protect you!" Kikumaru said as he embraced him with a great hug.
"Ah! Echizen, we'll be with you the whole time we're here!"
"You can't." Echizen seemed to return to his normal, cocky self as he pushed Kikumaru off him. "This isn't your cabin."
"Echizen, you can't expect us to know that that weirdo is here and we're going to leave you alone!"
"I won't be alone. Choutaro-sempai and Jirou-sempai will be with me."
"Ochibi! Don't be stubborn! We're not leaving you!" Kikumaru hugged him tighter.
"It's no use. Once he sets him mind on something, you can't change it." Ryoga said with a 'it's no use' look on his face. "Well just tell everyone to keep an eye out."
"There's no need for that. I can handle it." Echizen finally got away from Kikumaru and headed for the door. "There's no need for everyone else to be involved with my business."
"Chibisuke, this is one time where it doesn't matter if you can handle it yourself and whether you like it or not, we're getting involved." Ryoga's tone was more forceful than it normally was.
Echizen turned back to face them. "Che. Then do what you want." He opened the door and went out.
Ryoga sighed. "There's just no pleasing him."
"Echizen wait!" Momo ran after him.
"Ochibi matte!" Kikumaru followed.
Ryoga smiled. "At least he has friends that worry about him." He closed the cabin door and caught up with them.
"Are you saying that Echizen is being targeted by someone?" Shishido asked.
"All logic points to that." Inui said as he flipped thought a few pages of his notebook.
"We've done what we can to try and see who's behind it but so far we have nothing." Oishi said.
Everyone was silent for a moment, deep in thought.
"Whoever this person is, there is no way that he can get into Ore-sama's camp." Atobe broke the silence. "As of right now, the gaki should be safe here."
Everyone looked a little surprised. Atobe was actually thinking of someone other than himself but they were glad. He was right. No one really knew their way around up there except for the Hyoutei regulars. There was no way that any could find Echizen while he was there.
"Oi Echizen, Ryoga-san matte!" everyone turned to see Momo and Kikumaru chasing after Echizen and Ryoga. "Help us!"
"Yadda! It's your own fault!" Echizen shouted as he started to run faster.
"Ryoga-san, it's itchy!" Kikumaru shouted.
"Please keep your distance Kikumaru-kun!" Ryoga shouted back.
"Oi, what's going on?" Oishi asked as Ryoga and Echizen ran past them.
"Don't let them touch you!" Ryoga yelled.
"Echizen-kun, what's wrong?" Choutaro asked as Echizen ran behind a tree.
"Those two bakas walked through poison ivy." Echizen said as he caught his breath.
"Fsshhh, baka! Don't bring them over here!" Kaidou hissed.
Everyone looked at the two running towards them. Not wanting to be touched, they did as Echizen did and hid behind trees. Tezuka rubbed his temples in displeasure. Pretty soon, Kikumaru and Momo were chasing everyone around complaining about how itchy they were. Several veins popped on both Atobe's and Tezuka's foreheads.
"Kabaji." Atobe was very annoyed.
"Usu." Kabaji proceeded to grab the back of Momo's and Kikumaru's shirts and held them in the air so their feet weren't touching the ground.
"Waa! Oishi, make the itching stop!"
"I think I might scratch my skin off!"
"Calm down you two!" Oishi went up to them but stepped back when they tried to touch him. "Ah, Atobe-san, is there-"
"Kabaji."
"Usu." Kabaji started walking towards the food cabin.
"There is a first aid kit in there. It should have calamine lotion in it."
"Arigatou." Oishi, Taka and Inui ran off after Kabaji. Taka went because they might need to be held back from scratching and Inui figured he could get some data from it.
"Ore-sama feels pity for you having to deal with them." Atobe said to Tezuka. Tezuka gave him an annoyed sigh.
"Saa, it makes everything so much more fun." Fuji smiled.
"Tezuka-kun, we have an issue." Tezuka, Atobe and Fuji turned to see Ryoga behind them.
"What is it Ryoga-san?"
Ryoga looked over his shoulder to Echizen who was lying on a table trying to sleep while surrounded by the Hyoutei regulars being hounded by questions about the attack in the club room. Echizen glanced at Fuji and glared. Fuji merely gave him a smile in return. Ryoga took the letter out of his pocket and handed it to him. Tezuka's and Atobe's eyes narrowed while Fuji's opened.
"Where did you get this?" he asked at Atobe took the letter from his hand.
"It was with Chibisuke when we went to go get him."
"Do you mean that he had it when we came up?" Fuji asked.
"No. He said that there was a knock on the cabin door after Choutaro-kun left to chase after Jirou-kun. He assumed it was someone from here but he opened it and found this."
"Are you saying that the person who planted the bomb in his locker has infiltrated Ore-sama's camp?" Atobe asked.
"Ah." He turned to Tezuka. "Tezuka-kun, we need to be careful. That person already knows where Chibisuke is staying and we've only been here for a few hours."
"Ah. If this person was able to follow us and locate Echizen in such a small amount of time, he must have spent a considerable amount of time in a forest." Tezuka said as he crossed his arms.
"Saa, what do you think we should do?" Fuji said.
"He should be safe if he has someone with him all the time. Choutaro and Jirou should be able to handle it." Atobe said.
"Saa, we should all be cautious. We don't know what will happen now." Fuji turned to look at Echizen. "He shouldn't be alone. Even if Choutaro and Jirou are with him, I still think that we should take turns with him."
"I don't think that doing that will work." Ryoga said. "We already talked to Chibisuke about it and he said that he didn't want anyone involved. Plus, if we all took turns staying with him, the person might get wise to what we're doing and try something drastic."
"Ryoga-san has a point. The best way to protect him may be to act like nothing happened at all." Tezuka said
Everyone, despite not liking that idea, decided that it was the best way to keep him safe. They all turned when they suddenly heard laughing. They saw Echizen laughing and smiling with all the other as they saw Momo and Kikumaru walking towards them with their faces, arms and legs covered in pink spots. Kabaji, Oishi, Inui and Taka were following behind them.
When Echizen started commenting about how funny Momo looks and how the spots were an improvement, Momo ran at him and put him in a head lock. Oishi immediately ran to his aide and everyone was smiling and laughing. Tezuka, Fuji, Ryoga and Atobe all had small smiles cross over their faces.
"I think we should joy the peace while it lasts." Ryoga said.
"Saa, we might not know when we have this chance next." Fuji agreed.
"Ore-sama would hardly call this peace." Atobe said.
Tezuka smirked. "Minna, yudan sezu ni ikou."
The four older boys joined everyone in the happiness. Who knew when it would be over and things would possibly get dangerous?
Little did everyone know, as they were enjoying the moment of joy and cheerfulness, there was a figure watching all of them from a tree.
"Echizen Ryoma, you're mine."
How about that? What the hell? Stupid figure! Stay away from my Ryoma! Yeah, I feel that way too.
Did you like it? Leave it to Kikumaru and Momo to walk through poison ivy. I've walked through it, not fun at all. Itches like a beotch.
Sorry for the late update. I'll try to get back to the normal schedule tomorrow. Things have been a little hectic in the house right now. It should all be back to normal tomorrow :p
Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, favoriting and correcting me with how all the character are. Love you guys! You give me the strength to go on!
Please forgive stupid mistakes!
That's all for now. See ya tomorrow!