Hyoutei's First Date
By: NarutoandBleach
When Ryoma gets word that the Hyoutei Captain has become obsessed with him, everyone knows that something is up and Ryoma is keeping secrets from his friends. Are they really dating each other or is this simply a plan to bring two rivals together as one?
Disclaimer: The original manga, Tennis no Oujidama, is the work of Konomi Takeshi. Characters and settings have been adapted without authorization or approval, and I am making no profit from their use.
[Bachelor's Dream]
Once Gakuto has gotten the message from Yuushi regarding the short-pants kid starting a one-on-one date with each of the tennis club members from various schools, this could make the headlines for the front page newspapers. Furthermore, the red haired kid was starting to get a headache after hearing his captain about the plan he issued for Ryoma. Furthermore, the silver pair are in the courts practicing their serves with some freshman year students when they saw Gakuto racing towards them.
"What is it Gakuto? Is something troubling you?" asked Choutaro.
"You're not going to believe this. But Atobe has turned Echizen Ryoma into a bachelor! In other words, he is asking him to start one-on-one dates with every single member of the tennis club from various schools!" He paused to catch his breath before resuming.
Shishido was shocked after hearing this since he had never seen his own captain doing something as crazy as this. "You're lying right? Since when did our captain has asked that brat to start one-on-one dates with the club members? He could get into a lot of trouble for that!"
"Well, I guess Atobe has his reasons since he is still clinging to that bet because he likes to see Echizen fulfilling his requirements to pass this test in order to see if he is worthy to be one of us. Honestly, this madness will be our captain's downfall if he pursues it any further." Continued Hiyoshi.
"What the hell is wrong with him? If this is another one of his schemes in order to get Echizen to join the club, I will not be a part of it! Sorry, but this is just too much." Groaned shishido as he resumed tennis practice. Furthermore, Ryou is the only person around here that is mature enough not to fall for Atobe's tricks since he would not be a part of Ryoma's one-on-one date. As for the others, they couldn't help but laugh since they know their captain has become even more tenacious than they first thought. Even if Ryoma was a bachelor contender, he had no idea what he is going up against this time around.
Elsewhere, students at Rikkaidai were starting their usual morning routines when they got a message on their phones from Atobe regarding Echizen as a Bachelor. This shocked many of the teammates, especially Marui and Jackal since they never have been on dates before. As for Kirihara, he couldn't help but laugh. "Ryoma Echizen, a bachelor? Don't make me laugh! This is probably another one of atobe's stupid tricks in order to try and get him to single handedly date everyone on the tennis team. This is going to be so good!"
Jackal and Marui sweat-dropped at him and said, "No wonder seaweed head doesn't have a girlfriend yet. Sometimes he can be so stupid trying to play these sort of jokes on other people."
Kirihara vein popped at that response and raised his fist. "What was that baldy? And you bubble gum boy! Don't act like you know everything about love! I can prove to you that I have a girlfriend!"
"Oh really? Who is this girlfriend that you have?" asked Yagyuu.
"Her name is Catherine. I always hold her tightly at night when I sleep and… "before he could finish his sentence, he can see the group snickering at him, including Niou and the captain.
"What's so funny?" asked an indignant Kirihara.
"Your girlfriend is a teddy bear!? Oh my god, you are such a riot, seaweed head! The rei sno way that you can be so popular at school since you are not like Echizen Ryoma. Furthermore, Atobe has bigger plans for you since he has sent that kid out on his first mission to date our tennis club. It's time we showed you what love truly means!" continued Yagyuu.
Over by the courts, Sanada wasn't even sure what to say to Ryoma since he was named as the bachelor by the captain of Hyoutei. Furthermore, he did try to kiss that kid during the Cinderella performance because he was good at acting. However, this was much more different now because he was not prepared for a one-on-one with Ryoma yet.
"Something troubling you, Genichirou?" asked Yukimura as he approached him.
"No, it's nothing. I just couldn't even understand why Atobe chose us to go on this one-on-one date with him. I'm sure he is asking that kid to play tennis with us, but on the other hand, he could be asking that kid to do daily activities at our houses. I mean look at this schedule that we got." Said Sanada as he handed the piece of paper to Yukimura.
"Let me see here. Go to Sanada's house and play shogi with his grandfather, visit yukimura's place and water his plants and flowers while in the process of attending ikebana sessions, visit Akaya and go shopping with him, hanging out with Marui at the arcades, buy some ingredients for Renji's special juice, watch comedy movies with Niou and Yagyuu, and tutoring Jackal with his homework since he slacks off too much. Wow, and here I thought you were scary, but this is just too much for all of us to handle. But, I will be more than happy to accompany Echizen Ryoma to the Ikebana convention. Have him meet us outside of the Rikkaidai gates." And with that he dropped the paper on the ground and prepared for his one-on-one date.
"Yukimura-buchou, I've never seen you so happy before. But I just don't know how good that brat is with Shogi, so I will need to consult with my grandfather first." Thought Sanada to himself. However, he was more concerned with Atobe and his ambitions since he never realized how that lunatic came up with a devious plan such as this in order to put him at Hyoutei. Furthermore, he had no choice and decided to comply with that man's wishes.
Somewhere in the city, a foreigner stopped by and eyed the city of Tokyo and thought o himself, "This is such a magnificent place to visit, and the miso soup tasted so good. Speaking of food, I wonder where my rival Echizen Ryoma is since I have not heard from him in such a long time." He then looked around and saw the fudomine tennis club walking by and decided to follow them into the restaurant. Once inside, he sat down next to a young red short haired kid named Kamio and said, "Excuse me, do you know where Echizen Ryoma is?"
Kamio looked at him for a second and started to remember him from the national tournament. "Wait a minute, you must be that guy named Krauser right? It's so good to see you, what are you doing here?" he then shook the blonde's hand and smiled at him.
"Wow, you really figured out my name the instant I arrived, how very observant. Anyway, I was looking for Echizen Ryoma, do you know where he is?" asked the foreigner with his thick American accent.
"I'm sorry, but I don't speak English. But I can have my captain help you." Said Kamio as he headed over to where Kippei was sitting.
"Tachibana buchou, there is someone named Krauser that is looking for a brat named Echizen ryoma." Said Kamio.
"really?, where is he?" asked Kippei.
"He is sitting about a few rows down sipping on tea. I do believe he is an American since he needs help in finding where Ryoma is." Continued Kamio. And with that, Kippei immediately grabbed a pen and paper and sat down next to the foreigner.
"So I see you are looking for Echizen right? Well, it seems that he is been called the bachelor. In other words, he is dating Keigo Atobe and now, that lunatic is sending that kid out to date every single tennis club member from every single school and now he is going after us as well." Said Kippei.
"A date? You mean like two people a boy and a girl going out with each other to movies, dancing or a drink at clubs and that good stuff? I see, so who is this Atobe guy?" asked Krauser
"He is a strong narcissistic captain from hyoutei with a hair that looks like a monkey, though Ryoma does nickname him the Monkey king which annoys him to no end. He is the captain that does almost anything he chooses to do since he spends too much time hanging out with that brat. Sometimes I couldn't understand why that lunatic has started seeing Echizen, I mean really, what is so special about him anyway that causes such attraction?"
"Well, it seems that when I met Echizen for the first time, he told me that he hasn't seen anyone attracted towards him and none of the girls in New York would want to date him because he was being called a weirdo and a pervert. And surprisingly, he actually taught me on how to get a girl to get attracted to me. And when I asked for directions to Hyoutei, they simply pointed me into the direction of Tokyo and so, here I am." Continued Krauser.
Everyone was shocked. "Seriously!? When the hell did Atobe and Ryoma teach you about dating?" asked Kamio in a casual tone.
"Like I said, I wanted to know more about love thanks to the romance novels that I borrowed from Yuushi earlier since these books have taught me the meaning of love and romance." Continued Krauser.
"That guy is seriously weirder than Shinji since both of them are too quiet and serious about tennis play. Now, this guy just comes over here and asks us for knowledge on how to date people? Sometimes, I can't even understand what goes through the minds of Atobe and his lover." Thought Kamio to himself. However, he could notice that Shinji was giving him a death glare after hearing those words.
"Shinji, when did you get over here? I thought you were over at the doubles partner table." Said Kamio nervously.
"Kamio-kun, don't get me involved in that brat's love life because whether or not I am interested in him isn't your business." Said Shinji in his monotone voice, causing his teammate to shudder in fear.
The others looked at him with sweat-drops and decided not to interfere since they know that Atobe was up to something big here.
After school was over, Ryoma had a couple of things to drop off at his house before leaving for his one-on-one date. Once he fed his cat and organized his tennis gear, he went out the door and could notice that his father waving a flag that had a picture of his son on it with the words 'Good luck my dear beloved bride' printed on the top. He couldn't even believe that this had to happen and vein popped. "Oya-ji! Are those words really necessary!?"
"It's perfect for you, brat! I've saved it on your phone. Have fun with your matchmaking date tonight!" grinned his father evilly.
"Sometimes, I can't even stand you, baka oya-ji!" groaned ryoma as he walked off towards the train station heading over to Sanada's house. He couldn't even believe that Atobe and Fuji had set him up for this one-on-one date with the entire school tennis club teammates and backing out now would be a terrible mistake. As Ryoma approached Sanada's residence, he could see a little kid annoying his big brother all over the yard of his residence because he took the hat away from him.
"Baka Sasuke, give me back my hat!" yelled Sanada.
"Sorry, uncle Sanada, until you give me a piggy back ride, I won't give you the hat!" she said while sticking her tongue out at his brother.
Sanada twitched in annoyance as he tried his best to take the hat away, but it was no use. Just then, he sees Ryoma in front of his lawn and said, 'Ah, Echizen Ryoma! So good of you to come by today, what brings you here?"
"Hello Sanada, I came by for our one-on-one date since Atobe has asked me to play shogi with you. Although I have no idea what evil atobe was thinking, this will be a good chance for me to boost my skills in other games while playing tennis.
"So, looks like Atobe has set you up for a little chess session with me eh? Follow me!" said Sanada as he leads Ryoma inside his house. Once they entered, Ryoma could see how clean the entire place was and was amazed by the amount of photos on the wall. He feels that this house looks exactly like Atobe's place and much bigger. Once he arrived at the dojo, Ryoma could see Genichirou's great grandfather waiting for him.
"Ah, so this must be the famous tennis prodigy that you met at the courts today, eh my grandson?" said Gen'emon
"Yes, grandfather. Allow me to introduce you to Ryoma Echizen. Ryoma, this is my grandfather." Said Genichiro. Ryoma quickly walked over and shook the old man's hand and bowed. "Pleasure to meet you, gramps. I assume you know why I am here today?"
"Yes, I heard from Atobe that you were dating my grandson, this is so wonderful! I think you two are going to be a cute couple!" smiled Gen'emon
Sanada quickly placed his hand over his grandfather's mouth to prevent him from speaking out about this date that they are having. "Tarundoru! Grandfather, how many times do I have to remind you that Echizen is only here to play Shogi? I am really not dating him since Atobe put that pipsqueak up to this!"
"I am sure that man had his reasons for putting that whippersnapper up with you! Give him some pointers for Shogi. Anyway, are you ready, Ryoma?" asked Gen'emon.
"Yup, definitely ready!" he said, As the match went on, Ryoma seems to be using his tennis moves to go on the offensive and captured almost 10 of his opponent's men using drive B and the samurai drive shots. Furthemore Gen'emon was pretty impressed at how well the youngster played and turned to his grandson, "Look at that, I am amazed at how well-taught he was in this game. Do you think his father took it upon himself to teach his son the basics of shogi?"
Sanada paused for a moment since he never had seen a tennis prodigy play shogi before and this was the first time that he used his tennis methods for this game, just like when he used it in pool and bowling. Even he was impressed at how well this kid had done in sports, but outside of tennis, he had never seen Ryoma surpass people in other games like poker or Shogi.
"Echizen! Where on earth did you learn how to play shogi?" asked Sanada begrudgingly.
"Well, if I had to take a guess, my father probably taught me the basics and even my so called boyfriend called me up on the weekends and we practice pretty much all night in order to get me better at it. So I probably inherited it from my family or so. I just never realized that this would be real." Continued Ryoma.
"Wow, for a tennis prodigy, you sure are good at this game. How many more moves do you think you need to beat my grandfather?"
"About 10 more. I think shogi is like chess almost since it does involve strategy and concentration without exposing your flanks of troops to defend your general in battle. So, since it is my first time playing shogi, I think I should probably read more about the defense part later on." Contined Ryoma as he captured two more of his opponent's pieces before focusing on his general. As Sanada watched carefully, Ryoma made a few careless moves, but decided that he will face the prodigy next round. After all the pieces have been captured, Ryoma is left with a few commanders and several in training forces to take the general out and within a few short moves, "Checkmate!" said Ryoma as he surrounded his opponent's general and defeated him.
"That was pretty good, shorty!" smiled Genichirou.
"Thank you, fuku-buchou! And also thanks for a good game tonight, gramps!" said Ryoma as he bowed gracefully at him.
"No problems, but next time, I will find a way to beat you in shogi! However, I still need to owe tezuka a game later on." Continued Gen'emon.
"Now then, Ryoma. Shall we begin our date? I think we have a little tennis match today." Said Sanada.
"Yup, let's get started." Said Ryoma as the duo grabbed their tennis racquets and headed towards the backyard. As the game began, Sasuke stared at them and smiled. "Ryoma nii-chan, you and Genichirou make a cute couple together!" she called.
Sanada vein popped at that remark and thought to himself, "Tarundoru! I need to slap my nephew for that! How dare he think that I and that shorty am a couple! I am betting that Atobe had sent her a message about this!" As the match continued, Echizen is putting everything the line to beat his opponent since he isn't holding anything back, but Sanada decided to call off the game since they are at their limit now. Once the game stops, Ryoma and his opponent lied down on the grass and said, "You know, you are not half-bad. But seriously, I will beat you in a game of shogi soon." Said Sanada.
"I look forward to that, fuku-buchou. Now then, Sasuke. Come over here." Said Ryoma.
"You're going to show me how to play tennis? That's very nice of you, Ryoma nii-sama!" said Sasuke as he glomped the tennis prodigy.
"Tarundoru! Sasuke! You know better than that! Get off of him!" shouted Genichirou.
Sasuke immediately hugged his little brother Ryoma and said "Uncle Genichirou is so mean that he cannot control his temper. You are such a bad uncle!" He then stuck his tongue out at genichirou, causing him to chase his nephew all over the yard while vein popping.
"Get back here! You will pay for insulting the emperor of Tennis! You will address me as your big brother and not by my first name!" shouted Genichirou as he chased after his nephew while Ryoma and Gen'emon sweat-dropped.
"Are those two always this dysfunctional?" asked Ryoma
"Believe me; my grandson inherited that trait from his father so he sometimes snaps for no reason. He does have a soft side for you and his nephew so I am sure he will calm himself down after running so much." Smiled Gen'emon. Anyway though, you must be exhausted. I think you should stay here for the night before you travel again for the day ahead."
"Thanks a lot, gramps." Smiled Ryoma as he entered the house for dinner. Furthermore, he knows that Genichiro's mother would always welcome guests to the house as long as they are friends. As she met ryoma for the first time, she sees that he also plays tennis as well and like Genichirou, they are both fierce competitors.
"It's so nice to meet you, Ryoma. My son told me a lot about you and how well you did in Shogi and to be honest, you are pretty good. I understand that you have beaten my son at tennis a while ago right?" she asked him.
"Well, it was actually a friendly competition since he doesn't feel bitter about losing. However, Sanada will always ask me for a rematch and I will give it to him because I feel that the emperor still has a long way to go." Said Ryoma as he looked at Sanada who was feeling embarrassed, but didn't take much action. Even with an annoying little nephew like Sasuke pestering him, he still cares about him and wants him to focus more on his own work instead of other things. But for now, Sanada and Ryoma are going to have a little one-on-one concentration game of putting seeds in a jar after dinner since that game can help regain their confidence.
"Echizen, after dinner, I want you to play a little concentration game with me because I want to see how many seeds you can put into the vase without dropping any of them. I've done this many times before, but it's very challenging. So I urge you to try this if you want to succeed at tennis." Continued Sanada.
"Of course Fuku-buchou, but this is actually my first time doing this so I will give it my best shot." Said Ryoma.
"Look at how well those two are getting along, right honey?" smiled the mother.
"No doubt that they will make a great loving couple together." Grinned the father.
"Tou-san! Me and ryoma's relationship are not as couples, but as friends! Atobe is the one that set him up on the one-on-one date with me. But again, thank you for the dinner, we enjoyed it." Saod Sanada as he and ryoma took the dishes to the kitchen before heading off towards the family room, leaving the parents laughing.
"Whew! That was too close. You didn't tell my parents about the whole date thing, did you?" asked Sanada in his serious tone
"No, I didn't say a thing! I heard your nephew mention it many times before, so I think that exposed our secret." Whispered Ryoma.
"I see, so I will need to teach my nephew a lesson about humility later on for interfering. Anyway, are you ready to begin?"
"Yep."
Once the game began, both competitors grabbed the chopsticks and slowly picked up the seeds one by one and placed them in the vases in front of them. They placed over 90 seeds in the jars but they still have 25 left to go and it won't be easy since their hands are getting numb. Overall, this is a game to test their speed and limits to their bodies in order to see who will remain standing once the last seed is in the vase. At this point, Ryoma and Sanada are both sweating like crazy and can't go on for much longer since they placed 105 seeds in the jar and stopped.
"Well, we didn't hit the world record, but at least this will be our best effort for tonight." Said Ryoma.
"You're right, looks like we are both tied here and it seems we cannot determine who will win. Let's call it a night and do something else shall we?" continued Sanada.
Just then, Sasuke entered the room and said, "Uncle Genichirou, its time for me to do a piggyback ride with you!"
"my body is too tired from playing this concentration game earlier. Let ryoma be your horse for tonight." Said Sanada.
Ryoma was shocked, but decided to comply as Sasuke climbed onto the shorty's back and they rode around the room like crazy, leaving the kid no chance to rest at all. He feels that this game is putting too much pressure on him and he barely had time to rest. After a while, Ryoma collapsed to the ground once sanada took his nephew off the kid and sent her to bed. Afterwards, he scooped up Ryoma and took him to the guest room for the night.
The next day, breakfast was waiting for Ryoma as he prepared for his next one-on-one date with Akaya since he knows that seaweed head was probably not ready for this. But Ryoma feels that it was time for him to gather a shopping list that akaya needs and decided to ask Sanada for advice.
"Well, my subordinate needs some new tapes for his tennis racquet since his old one is falling apart. Second, he needs water bottles, ankle weights, ponta, and pencils and pens because he always loses those writing implements even before school starts." Said Sanada.
"I see, looks like I might have some fun with Akaya for a little while since everyone else seems to be getting him a lot of things." Said Ryoma.
"Yup, that's why Akaya seems to be smart enough to save his own money while spending ours like water. I just don't get him sometimes, you know? Why doesn't his own parents buy him anything?" wondered Sanada.
"His parents are probably going through financial trouble and they just don't have the money for it." Continued Ryoma as he finished his milk and breakfast before heading out the door.
"Good luck with your one-on-one date with seaweed head, I will see you after you accomplish my teammates' tasks." Said Sanada as he headed to the backyard for his meditation session. Once Ryoma entered into the city, he meets up with Akaya at the store and waved at him. "Yo, Akaya-chan! So good to see you here at the store. I had a feeling I would find you here."
Akaya was surprised to see Ryoma here as well. "hello there brat! I don't suppose Sanada sent you here to do some shopping with me right?"
"Well, yes actually. But it was Atobe who told me to go shopping with you since you're my next person to date. So what do you need from the store?" asked Ryoma.
Akaya took out his backpack and opened it to show him the paper containing the items that they need. "Let's see, pencils, pens, water bottle, ankle weights, tapes for the tennis racquet. This is a pretty decent list! Let's go!"
As they went inside, they managed to get the items that they need, but they noticed that the ankle weights were all sold out and thus, they had to try a different store two doors down. "This is weird, isn't it? How can ankle weights sell out that quickly?" said Akaya.
"Well, we cannot give up now; I think the sports store should have some." Said Ryoma as they headed inside and to their surprise, they found some on the shelf and made their purchases before leaving since Ryoma made the save for his date.
"you caught a lucky break there, kid. If it wasn't for you, I would not be able to practice tennis without the ankle weights and I would end up running laps." Said Akaya.
"Hey! mada mada dane. Besides, as your date, I had to save your ass back there or else we would never have completed our shopping spree. Furthermore, Atobe sent me here to do our one-on-one date and so my mission was to go shopping with you." Said Ryoma.
"You are never going to give up on Atobe, are you? I guess not. But seriously, are you the bachelor here? Why are you dating me instead of that narcissist?"
"Well, Atobe told me to date you guys one by one before I move on to other people in order to see if I am worthy enough to be a part of Hyoutei and thus, I must keep on hanging out with people for my one-on-one date. Anyway, now that we are done shopping, shall we check on Jackal? I see he is struggling with homework since he cannot find his math book." Said Ryoma.
Akaya paused for a moment and decided to take the brat to meet with the bald member of Rikkaidai since he knows that jackal will fall behind in class on Monday if his assignment is not completed. As they arrived at his house, Jackal was surprised to see Ryoma and Akaya and decided to lead them inside. Once there, Ryoma rummaged around the house and sees a book hidden underneath the coffee table and surprisingly, it was the math book.
"Jackal, I found your book under the coffee table! I think we have saved your skin. Now then, shall I help you with your assignment?" said Ryoma as he took jackal's paper and pencil and thoroughly looked over the math problems and managed to solve them all without any problems and then handed it back to Jackal.
Jackal was surprised that Ryoma had this amazing ability to do school work without cramming anything the night before. "Seriously? If you know all the answers to the math problems, why do you sleep in class?"
"Well, the teachers always give me a good passing grade since I am just good at what I do. I could be a tutor or so if you like that." Smiled Ryoma.
Jackal looked at Akaya for a moment and said, "Akaya-sempai, have you seen this kid? He is really a whiz at school subjects I mean, how does he do it?"
"I think it's probably his brain and how it is actually functioning. Furthermore, I've heard from his teachers that he is able to solve difficult problems without any issues and even they are in shock as well. Honestly, I think you might be right about ryoma being a coach in math." Said Akaya.
"I see, well then, I would need help with my English essay, can you fix up my writing because I am just not too happy with the draft. Let me know what exactly is going on with my paper." Said Jackal.
"Let me see, you've got a lot of grammar errors and a lot of sentences with dangling modifiers. Allow me to fix them." Said Ryoma as he grabbed a pen and wrote down the corrections above where the sentences had errors in them. Soon enough, all the corrections were shown above and it was given back to Jackal. "I think you should have no problems in turning in your assignments now." Said Ryoma with a smile.
"Damn you! I guess I am going to have to count on you to help with school related issues. Thanks again, Ryoma! I owe you big time!"
"Anytime jackal! I will be more than happy to help you with anything you need." Said Ryoma. Just then the phone chimed and a message was sent to the Seigaku kid telling him that the ikebana festival was set for today and that he has to meet Yukimura at the bus stop. Once Ryoma left Jackal's place, he crossed out the completed tasks and went to the bus stop where Yukimura was waiting for him.
"You've just made it! So good to see you here, little brother." Smiled Yukimura in a soft tone.
"Good to see you too, Yukimura-buchou. So I guess you are my next one-on-date right?" said Ryoma.
"Yup, so are you ready for some flower arrangements?"
"I've never done it before, but I am more than happy to do it since Shiraishi and Fuji needs some for their homes and classrooms later on. Let's get started!" continued Ryoma as he and Yukimura headed off to the convention for what seems to be a fun-filled day of activities and competition since Yukimura was a huge fan of flowers and plants. Although he had a few plants at home that died out during a hot summer day, he needed replacements for them and so this next date would ensure that the captain of Rikkaidai gets his wish.
