Love is Just a Word
Chapter 8:
"The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves."
~William Penn
"Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary."
~Mark Twain
--
Show me how to lie, you're getting better all the time
And turning all against one is an art that's hard to teach
Another clever word sets off an unsuspecting herd
And as you step back in the line a mob jumps to their feet
Ryoma had sat, quietly stewing half the night, unable to sleep for the dreams but too exhausted to do anything but lay in bed.
Now dance, fucker, dance, man, he never had a chance
And no one ever knew it was really only you
Of course he wanted to fight, to do something, but what could he do? His enemy was his best friend and they were fighting for something he lost a long time ago. He knew he shouldn't care, but he did! He felt like he was losing again, but this time it was right before his eyes.
And now you steal away
Take him out today
Nice work you did
You're gonna go far, kid
So he had found the energy to roll out of bed, turn his large boom-box around toward the wall and switch the volume on to a deafening level. He then grabbed a Ponta out of the mini-fridge, cracked it open, took a sip and pointed the remote at the stereo.
With a thousand lies and a good disguise
Hit 'em right between the eyes, hit 'em right between the eyes
When you walk away, nothing more to say
See the lightning in your eyes, see 'em running for their lives
He thought he might have heard a small scream over the music, maybe a couple of barks or howls, but otherwise, he couldn't tell if she was getting the message.
Slowly outta line and drifting closer in your sights
So play it out I'm wide awake, it's a scene about me
There's something in your way and now someone is gonna pay
And if you can't get what you want, well it's all because of me
This pissed him off even more.
Now dance, fucker, dance, man, I never had a chance
And no one even knew it was really only you
He turned up the volume to his stereo to the top-most notches. He hoped she was as miserable as him.
And now you'll lead the way
Show the light of day
Nice work you did
You're gonna go far, kid
Trust deceived
--
Sakuno was miserable.
With a thousand lies and a good disguise
Hit 'em right between the eyes, hit 'em right between the eyes
When you walk away, nothing more to say
See the lightning in your eyes, see 'em running for their lives
She was stuck in an uncomfortable position, with Momo uncomfortably close, hidden uncomfortably under a pillow, because the owner of the house was uncomfortable with her sleeping arrangements.
To say the least, she was not comfortable.
Now dance, fucker, dance, he never had a chance
And no one even knew, it was really only you
So dance, fucker, dance, I never had a chance
It was really only you
She expected Ryoma to not take kindly to the news of her and Momo sharing a bed, and she wasn't disappointed.
She was surprised however when he did not throw the volcanic temper tantrum that she had expected. He just gave her a look of anger and hurt that made her blood freeze and her heart stop. Without another word he led her and Momo to a room right next door to his own.
She tried to talk with him. "Please, Ryoma, it's not what you think." She tried while placing a soft hand on his shoulder.
He didn't even dignify her with a glance before shrugging off her hand and going next door to his own room.
She and Momo had wordlessly gotten ready for bed, each taking turns in the private bathroom attached to their room. Then they both got into the large bed, which was the center of the large room. As they wished each other good night and settled themselves in, Moose jumped up and rested at the foot of the bed.
Maybe it was the jetlag, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep. She spent the first half of the night looking around and observing the finer points of the room where they rested. The ceiling was very high; she doubted Momo could even reach it if he jumped on the bed. The walls were a strange, blue-grey the seemed to fill the entire room with a blue fog. This fog turned anything it touched a light blue which surrounded them and seemed to bleed the true color out of everything. Momo had opened the large bay windows before bed because of the heat, so the air flowed freely into their room. The sheer blue curtains swelled inward and outward with the wind, giving the room the illusion of life by its light and sleepy breath.
Did Ryoma pick this paint job? Did he realize how creepy it was? What was he doing right now? Was he sleeping like Momo? Or was he wide awake like herself?
She got her answer unexpectedly as an explosion of sound ripped through the room. She jumped a foot in the air and gave a cry of fright. Moose, who was startled both by the sound and her movement, rolled off the bed in surprise and began a chorus of bewildered howls, with his hair standing on end. Momo remained, astonishingly, asleep.
She realized quickly where the music was coming from and steadied her racing heart beat. She soothed Moose into silence before beckoning him back onto the bed. She patted him until his fur settled and her hands stopped shaking. She tried to ignore the sound after that, knowing that Ryoma was trying to provoke her into going over there and starting a fight.
She refused to comply; he wouldn't even understand why she was upset. No, he would never understand the memories he had just brought back.
She hugged Moose close and he licked her cheek in silent understanding.
--
Ryoma stomped down the stairs toward the large dining room, where his breakfast already awaited him. He nodded to a butler, who stood dutifully in the corner.
He looked away a bit peevishly.
Any other morning Ryoma might have asked why he was in a bad mood, but he was too tired to care. He collapsed into the large chair at the head of the table. He smacked his forehead on the table in exhaustion.
Stupid woman. Why did she have to keep him up? This all could have easily been settled if she just slept in her own room, without Momo, or better yet, his—
No. He was being stupid. He shook his head for emphasis and then dug lazily into his breakfast.
He was nursing a second cup of coffee when he heard a loud pounding coming from the stairs. A second later Moose trotted happily into the dining room and headed straight for the tennis prince. Ryoma was more than surprised when the dog stuck his large head in his lap and began sniffing. He pushed the large head away in embarrassment as he saw the butler snickering in the corner. "No, bad dog!" He said firmly.
Moose sat back on his rump in response and looked up at Ryoma with his sad blue eyes. The star athlete and Wimbledon champion was helpless against the heartbreaking stare and tossed the dog some scraps from his plate.
"Moose! No begging!" A familiar female voice called behind him.
He turned and saw Sakuno, with a stern expression adorning her face. She was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and red sweater with the name of a popular store written on it in Japanese.
Her eyes met his and both of them said nothing. After a minute or so of awkward silence Sakuno walked up to Moose and clipped a leash onto his collar. She turned to him, refusing to meet his gaze. "I have to take Moose out…is there any place I could go?"
He hesitated for a second, deciding weather or not to continue ignoring her. He saw the butler step from the corner toward Sakuno while rolling his eyes.
That was when he realized how childish he was being, he was giving her the silent treatment for Christ's sake!
The servant tapped her on the shoulder and began speaking politely in English. "Miss, if you want to take out your dog, you may—" Sakuno had a very bewildered look on her face that made him wonder weather or not she could comprehend any English.
"Take him out back where the other dogs are." Ryoma interrupted, giving Sakuno a break and bringing Japanese back into the conversation. She and the butler both turned to him, one looking grateful while the other looked mildly taken aback. "The door is through the kitchen, I'll show you." Ryoma said as he rose from the table.
Sakuno followed him with Moose in tow, a bemused, but relieved expression on her face.
--
It was awkward, and Sakuno could barely take it.
She and Ryoma sat together on the back porch and watched as Moose ran around the huge back yard with Ryoma's dogs.
She had tried to start a conversation, really she had. He had merely offered her grunts or nodded in response, so she had given up. Just as she felt she was going to go crazy, he broke the silence.
"How'd you sleep last night?" Ryoma said with such a passé tone she almost believed he knew nothing about the music.
…did he seriously just ask her that? Did he really not know how she slept, when he had blasted music into their room till dawn!? So that's how he wanted to play it.
"Not so well, actually." She said with a sugary sweet voice.
She saw his mouth turn upward in a small smirk. "I'm sorry to hear that. Anything I could do to help?"
She felt her eyebrow twitch in aggravation. "Maybe you could turn down your music a bit?" She questioned boldly.
"You heard that? I'm so sorry! I was doing my normal midnight workout; I didn't think anyone could hear me!" He said with a regretful tone, and she noticed he was barely containing a smirk.
There was a scoff behind them and they both turned. A new butler that Sakuno did not recognize stood in the doorway to the kitchen, holding a pile of dog bowls. He stomped out to the yard and laid the food bowls on the ground as the pack ran up to him eagerly. "I had the cook arrange one for Moose too, Miss Sakuno." He said in perfect Japanese.
"Oh, Th-thank you!" She said in surprise. She thought that the staff could only speak English.
He gave her a kind smile. "I'm Alfred, come to me if you need anything. I'm the only staff member here who speaks any Japanese, so I'll help you out." She smiled thankfully. That had been something she was worried about since her English skills were not up to par at all.
Alfred suddenly turned to Ryoma, a mean look in his eyes. "Master Ryoma, if you don't mind me saying; I think you should forgo your 'normal' midnight workout. It's keeping the staff awake and sleepy workers are not happy workers." He finished with a sneer. Neither Ryoma nor Sakuno missed the way he emphasized 'normal'.
Ryoma glared and replied. "I think I will Al, thanks for your advice. Don't you have some dog shit to pick up?" He sneered in return.
Al grabbed a pooper scooper and walked out to the yard with as much dignity as a person could have in his position.
"I could pick up after Moose." Sakuno called, suddenly getting to her feet.
"No, no, Miss." Al said serenely. "This is what I'm paid for." She frowned but sat back down on the porch. She felt bad for taking advantage of his hospitality.
Silence returned between them so Sakuno got a better chance to observe the guard dogs. There was a German shepherd, an American Pitbull Terrier, a Boxer, two Akitas, a Doberman pinscher, and two Rotweilers, one female and one male. All of the canines represented powerful breeds; each bigger and meaner looking than the next. They were police dogs, guard dogs, fighting dogs; the kind of dogs you see mauling people on TV. But they seemed harmless; as soon as they saw Ryoma they had run up to him and demanded belly rubs. They took to her and Moose immediately and her Great Dane began running around and playing with them in the backyard without pause.
"Are all of these your dogs?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah." Ryoma answered blandly. "Why?"
"Well, they seem so nice, for guard dogs, that is." She said tentatively.
"I hand-picked them as puppies and trained them myself. I wanted them to look intimidating, not to actually be vicious." He said looking out over his little family of dogs.
"When did you get them?" She questioned.
"About three years ago, when reporters started hanging out around the house." He said as if it was an everyday occurrence, which for him it probably was. "It was also after Karupin died." He added wistfully.
"He died? I'm so sorry Ryoma." She said sadly. He loved that cat, and she was sad too. They spent many a day at his house dangling cat toys in front of Karupin's face.
"Its okay; he was over twenty years old. It's not as if he was taken before his time." Ryoma forced a chuckle. "Besides I have eight dogs that I've loved since I bought them." She could tell he was changing the subject, which was fine with her.
"Except for Lady; I didn't buy her; I rescued her from off the streets." Ryoma then pointed to the female Rotweiler. "She was sort of tricky to train; she bit a lot, probably because she was abandoned. She was still a good dog though, so I couldn't give up on her. She was the perfect addition to the family too, because Bear, the other Rotweiler, was kind of anti-social. She got Bear out of his shell. Those two are inseparable now." Sakuno's eyes widened. He rescued a dog? That was so nice. He also had the patience to train her and didn't give up because his other dog liked her. That was more like the sweet Ryoma she remembered.
"Moose was a rescue dog too." Sakuno admitted carefully. "Momo rescued him and his brothers and sisters from an abandoned Puppy mill." Momo was a police investigator, so when a squad was called because of a lot of howling coming from a warehouse, he followed the call to the scene of the crime. When he got there he saw the hundreds of sickly dogs stuffed into small cages and he helped rescue every single one. "Momo gave him to me….after..." She hesitated, why couldn't she say it? She took a deep breath.
--
"After what?" Ryoma questioned.
"After…Momo busted the owner." She finally said and looked away.
There was more, he could tell. She wasn't telling him something and it bothered him.
He was about to question her further, when the door from the kitchen burst open and out walked Momo.
"Here you guys are! I knew Sakuno was taking Moose out, but I had no idea where you were Ochibi." Momo said with a nervous laugh, obviously trying to cover his discomfort.
"Sorry man, I was just showing Sakuno the dogs." Ryoma apologized. He had forgotten, Momo was a wreck right now and they weren't supposed to leave his side.
"So what's up for today? You want to hop in the pool? Go around town? Buy me a brand new car?" Momo said with a smirk.
"Can't today; I have work to do. Unlike some people, I'm not on vacation." With that he stood up and brushed off his clothes. He gave all of his dogs a couple of pats on the head while turning to Momo and Sakuno. He saw Momo looking nervous again and Sakuno, who still wouldn't meet his eyes at the moment.
"Did you guys want to come with?" As soon as he asked he saw Momo's entire face light up.
"Can we?" Momo cried excitedly.
"Yeah, no problem." He said with a smile.
No problem, sure, easier said than done.
--
They had pulled up to the studio and Ryoma was already sick of Momo. He had bounced off the walls ever since Ryoma had said he and Sakuno could come with him to the Photo Shoot he had today.
He had called his manager and said that Sakuno and Momo would be attending the shoot with him. Strangely enough Bobby then said that he couldn't make it. That was weird for him; he usually never missed an opportunity to network with other possible clients.
"So," Momo interrupted his ponderings. "What's up for today? You mentioned a photo shoot?"
"I have an advertising shoot with Crazy Chrissie and then practice after four. You and I can play a few matches if you think you can handle it, Momo." He said with a smirk. Momo immediately got fired up in response.
"Just because you're a professional doesn't mean I can't wipe the floor with your scrawny ass!" Momo crowed in delight.
Ryoma was about to reply, but he was interrupted by the soft voice of the third member of their group.
"'Crazy Chrissie'?" Sakuno questioned tentatively as the three of them walked through the doors to the entrance of the studio.
"RYOMA MY PET!!" A screech of joy echoed around the studio. Suddenly he was pounced upon by a rainbow colored blur. He stumbled and just barely managed to keep his balance. He was wrapped into the vice-like grip of one of the best photographers in the advertising business, Chrissie Thomas. She was dressed in color from head to toe. She had on neon orange, high-top Converse Shoes and rainbow-striped, thigh-high socks. These socks just barely reached her lime green short shorts. Her shorts were half covered by a red tutu that was held up by rainbow-striped suspenders. As if that wasn't weird enough, she wore a pair of sparkling, neon-purple wings on her back; which looked like they had been stolen from a child's Halloween costume. The suspenders were over a white, T-shirt with the words 'Life in Color' written in every color in the rainbow spectrum. To top it all off she wore a rainbow-striped wig and a pair of sparkling, gold, 'deely-boppers' which were bopping very close to his eye at the moment.
He groaned before turning to Sakuno. "Yes, Crazy Chrissie."
He then switched to English so Sakuno could no longer understand him. "Why are you dressed like Rainbow Bright, Chrissie?" He asked while carefully prying the photographer's arms and legs from around his waist.
"Chrissie woke up and ate a bowl of Lucky Charms for breakfast. She saw those cute little marshmallow rainbows and decided that today she would pay tribute to those delicious little rainbows with her body." She said this all as if it was totally obvious and that he was an idiot for not thinking it sooner. He rolled his eyes at her third-person speak; it must be another thing she woke up feeling like. She flipped the hair of her rainbow wig behind her shoulders and looked in his eyes. That's when he saw the false, rainbow eye lashes she had put on and the rainbow stickers she had stuck to her cheeks and forehead.
"Sure, whatever makes you happy." He said with a roll of his eyes. At least it wasn't as bad as the last time he had a shoot with her; she had just watched the movie 'Bedazzled' and she showed up at the set wearing only a red bikini and a live Python.
"Yes, because Chrissie's happiness is essential to the awesomeness of the shoot!" She said a bright grin adorning her face. "Now, TO THE PRECIOUS, THE CAMERA!!" She shouted importantly with a fist pump. Then with the same suddenness as her entrance, she did a back flip away from him and cart-wheeled down the hall toward the set.
Ryoma was about to follow her when he remembered Momo and Sakuno. He turned and saw two very confused and bewildered people. Both stood there with wide eyes and mouths agape.
He smirked. Chrissie tended to have that effect on people.
--
"A little higher…A little higher…ok, now turn a little…THERE!"
Flash!
Chrissie loved that part, the flash. Chrissie loved watching everything light up for a second and knowing that she had just captured a moment in time.
"Ok, pet." Chrissie said in her usual Chrissie sweetness. "Now Chrissie wants some without your racquet."
Her pet, (a.k.a.: RYOMA ECHIZEN! SQUEE!) dropped his racquet and rolled his eyes with his normal 'grump-ness' and offered her a few poses. Her pet had excellent poses as he always did. Chrissie always thought that he could have been a model. The only thing was he always had the same face!!
Okay, Chrissie exaggerates, it wasn't exactly the 'same', but it was very controlled and cool. She did like her cool pet. But she wanted to see her pet act sorta human-ish at least once in awhile. He was always like a smexy toy. He did whatever Chrissie told him to with that cold, un-alive-ish way. Chrissie said 'smile' and he smirks, she says get mad and he glares. It was all very dead-ish.
But Chrissie was determined! She wouldn't give up on her pet! She would work until she captured a picture of her pet that was very un-dead-ish! ...But not in the Zombie way because Zombies scared Chrissie.
Chrissie soon became distracted with thoughts of Zombies and what her pet would look like as a Zombie. So she began to adjust her precious camera's tripod to try and get an interesting angle that would sell lots and lots of 'pet merchandise'.
Chrissie dropped the tripod way low on the ground and began shooting, making her pet look really tall. After some time she noticed that her pet was distracted, he kept looking over to the side, where her make-up and wardrobe crew seemed to be harassing a petite, auburn haired, Asian woman.
"Sakuno, you are super cute, let us give you a makeover! I promise you'll like it and if you don't, we'll fix it— I totally promise!" Chrissie heard. She liked what she heard because she taught her crew to take advantage every time they saw something beautiful.
"Uh, p-please…I am…not need…clothes…thank you, no." Chrissie listened as the woman struggled to speak. Chrissie guessed she was one of those foreign models. She was probably her pet's new 'chew toy' which was why he couldn't take his eyes off her.
Chrissie sighed, that poor girl; her pet had as many 'toys' as dogs had fleas and Zombies had maggots.
Chrissie again became distracted by the thought of Zombies and what her pet would look like as one while she adjusted her camera, absently listening to the conversation between her pet's chew toy and her make-up crew.
"No need for clothes? You're a lingerie model? That's fine we have some very sexy pieces, would you not like to try them on?" Chrissie heard her crew's devious tone and the way they used the double-negative in the question. How very sneaky.
"Please, no." The chew toy responded innocently.
"You will? Oh goody!" Chrissie looked around in time to see the crew pounce and bully their prey, the poor chew toy, into a changing room. Chrissie rolled her eyes and returned to her precious. She was in the middle of squatting on the ground and popping a new type of lens on her precious camera when she heard it.
A snort. Chrissie's head immediately shot up, looking for a cute, little piggy. But what Chrissie saw was much, much, much, better!
Her pet, THE RYOMA ECHIZEN (SQUEE!), was laughing!
Yes, he was definitely laughing. His hand over his mouth, his shoulders trembling, his golden-y eyes alight; laughing!
Then he did something even better; something that made Chrissie want to 'SQUEE' until she died from lack of oxygen.
He removed his hand and smiled! SMILED! And it was the most, handsome-ish; most, gorgeous-full smile she had ever before seen in the history of forever! His smexy smirks were nothing compared to this.
Chrissie could hold back no longer and let out a squawk of delight and began snapping as many pictures as her precious camera could hold.
Unfortunately for her, her pet was not stupid so he quickly noticed the flashing light and glared at her with his normal, scary, grump-ness.
"What the hell are you taking pictures of?! You know I get paid per frame right? I suggest you think before you start snapping pictures of anything you want." Her pet growled before grumping himself right off of her set and into his changing room.
Well, Chrissie might have made him mean, but she had just gotten something better than anything she could have hoped for.
Sure Chrissie had snapped it quickly without focusing, sure he wasn't posing or really selling the clothes like he was supposed to and sure he would probably come after her in the dark of some night like some sort of Zombie.
But she had her shot.
Chrissie became distracted for a third time by thoughts of Zombies and what her pet would look like as one while she took apart and cleaned the various lenses and bulbs on her precious camera.
But Chrissie didn't forget the reason she had a large grin on her face or the fact that she was the first photographer to ever get a picture of THE RYOMA ECHIZEN (SQUEE!) smiling!
--
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis /Tennis No Oujisama. I do not own 'You're Gonna Go Far, Kid' by The Offspring. I do not own pooper-scoopers. I do not own Converse. I do not own Halloween or Deely Boppers (well, I do own a pair; but I didn't invent them). I do not own 'Rainbow Bright' (this reference might be a little old for some of the children reading this) or Lucky Charms. I do not own 'Bedazzled' (but I love Brendan Fraser (who I do not own))
--
A/N: So what do you think? Is it Awesome-ish? Horrid-full? Blah-worthy? Ha! I'm kidding!
Two quotes today, I thought they both applied nicely so I couldn't help myself.
I have wanted to put in a strange-ish character like Chrissie for a while, so yeah, there she is. Don't expect her to play a big role, cuz her time is pretty much up. But I wanted to move the story along and this was the way I wanted to do it. Well tell me what you think! I want reviews! Please!! Ta ta for now!