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.
[Forgiveness and a Fresh Start]
As Ryoma arrived at Seigaku, he could see Horio and the rest of his friends still working on picking up tennis balls while Arai and Ikeda were focusing on training some newbies who could barely even hit balls let alone practicing. Furthermore, Oishi and Fuji immediately changed into their jerseys before settling down on the tennis courts to warm up for a little bit. At this rate, they are already aware of what Ryoma has been doing with Atobe these days and they fully understood why Ann has decided to take over what that rookie couldn't finish. However, Ryoma was going to let this slide for now since he is the sort of person to receive forgiveness.
Right now, Ryoma is currently practicing his serves within the tennis courts with Momo and Eiji observing him since they have never seen him this focused on the sport after going out on so many dates. But above all else, Ryoma feels that Atobe made the right call in dating Ann since he knew that his time with the brat didn't last very long because his teammates feel that it was time for him to start seeing other people instead of just Ryoma because there is no way that the Seigaku Rookie should keep the spotlight to himself since he has to share it with other people even if it means that he has to double date again later on. Just then, Taka and Inui approached the group and said, "Echizen Ryoma, we are proud of you for taking your time off from dating to focus on tennis. But what made you change your mind at the last minute?"
"Well, you see. Oshitari and his cousin convinced me that Atobe has changed his schedules around since they made the right call not to let him spend every single day of his life with me which I can totally understand. Although this is a bit nerve-wracking, I cannot deny Ann the chance of dating him because I have to let her take over for me since she is willing to forgive that diva for all the trouble he caused her previously.
"How do you know that will happen? Did she text you or something, O-chibi?" asked Eiji
"No, but she wants me to trust her judgment this time since she made up her mind about dating Monkey king. At this rate, I feel that Fuji the matchmaker has made the right call as well." Replied Ryoma.
"You are trusting Fuji on this one? Tch! You traitorous monkey lover!" screamed Momo as he chased after the sniggering rookie.
"Yes, I do. So don't blame me for trying to send them to hell." Finished Ryoma as Momo paused to catch his breath since he couldn't catch up to the kid fast enough. As for Fuji, he just resumed practice with a satisfied look on his face while Oishi gave an exasperated sigh at the scene.
~/~
Back at Hyoutei, Oshitari Yuushi was just getting ready for classes when he sees Atobe down the hall smiling and humming crazily. He doesn't know what was going on and decided to take a look.
"Atobe, what are you so chipper about this early in the morning?" he asked.
"I am going to have a little practice match with Fudomine if I am planning to date Kippei's sister since we are not going to suffer from our humiliating defeat last time." Replied Atobe.
Shishido was probably thinking about getting himself stronger instead of that humiliating defeat because he knows that nothing good came out of that last match.
Shishido couldn't even believe at what he just heard with that look of disgust on his face, but Atobe has made up his mind about this match. "Today, Gakuto, you will be paired up with Choutaro and Shishido will be paired up with Yuushi. Kabaji, Jirou, and Hiyoshi will do singles. I expect each and every one of you to do your best not to embarrass my new lover out there." Smiled Atobe.
"Seriously? Why are you trying to pair me up with the silver pair? You know me and Yuushi are a perfect doubles pair together." Protested Gakuto.
"I have to agree with Mukahi-sempai on this because I want to know the reasoning of why you are trying to let the blue hair sempai work with me and mukahi is left with Choutaro." Questioned Shishido.
"Ore-sama knows what he is doing and you have to trust me on this one." Stated Atobe as he leaves his teammates without a word.
"What a pompous jerk." Said Shishido as he gritted his teeth.
"Gakuto, I am sure you will do just fine without me because I don't want to put you under a lot of stress today." Replied Oshitari.
"But sempai, you are not putting me under any stress at all. Are you not even that upset that we will not be pairing up together for the next match?" pouted Galuto.
"Why would Yuushi be upset at this? I think he seems to be happy with playing singles for a little while. Besides, he respects Atobe's decision and would never question it." Commented Hiyoshi.
"I don't fucking believe this shit! Yuushi, you would seriously abandon our partnership after we worked so hard to get this far? How could you do this to me?" shouted Gakuto as he marched out of the locker room in utter despair.
"Wait, Gakuto! I can explain! Please don't leave." Yelled Yuushi. He then turned his attention towards Hiyoshi." You really need to keep those comments to yourself, mushroom head!"
Flashback: (From two weeks ago)
Keigo, what's up?" asked Ann
"Nothing, I am sure Gakuto is trying to slander my character and making false accusations on ore-sama." Replied Atobe as he tried to clear his mind of the migraines.
"I hope your team understands what a great buchou you really are." Said ann as she quickly leaned on Atobe's shoulder and gently rubbed his arms and massaged his hair.
"Ann, I think it's time that I made Gakuto someone else's responsibility." He smiled.
"I assume its Yuushi right?" replied Ann with a grin.
"You are so observant, just like my other lover Ryoma." Replied Atobe with a satisfied smile.
"I have an idea that might prove to be useful for your team. Next week…."
End Flashback
"That baka Yuushi, evil Atobe, bitch Ann….." complained Gakuto.
"Ummm, Mukahi-sempai, what does Ann from Fudomine have to do with all of this?" asked Hiyoshi.
Gakuto stared at Hiyoshi for a moment as if he had asked the most obvious question and in the red-haired acrobat's mind was, "anyone that spends that much time with An Tachibana cannot be considered normal or sane. I mean just look at that woman, thinking that she has so much potential to join our school and she ends up dating that pompous jerk."
Actually, I have to agree with Mukahi since Hyoutei isn't exactly what I would call normal. I mean we have an egotistic buchou, a narcoleptic, a guy that cannot speak more than two syllables, and a bad attitude slash bad temper acrobatic except for me and Shishido since I am betting that something in the tennis balls is making them act nuts.
Hiyoshi, are you still listening?" asked Mukahi.
Hiyoshi looked a bit embarrassed for a second and said, "Sorry about that, I was just…."
Gakuto immediately interrupted him since he was impatient. "Never mind about that now. Let's win against Fudomine."
"Mukahi-sempai, you might have misjudged Fudomine. They have three or more good players which means that they are going to let three of their best players to take the singles spot because Atobe wants to give the doubles a good light workout." Replied Hiyoshi.
"Well, that makes a lot of sense." Replied Gakuto.
"How is that not obvious to you? Anyone who was paying attention would have thought of that from the very start." Said Hiyoshi.
"Hey! I resent that. Besides, if you know that they are going to win, why are you still upset with the lineup anyway?" asked Gakuto with a look of curiosity on his face.
"because if I was to take the number 1 singles spot I would have a better chance of winning. Unfortunately, Yuushi took the doubles spot instead since he likes playing doubles." Replied Hiyoshi with a frown.
"I on the other hand, would like the match to be over and done with since without my doubles partner, the game would not be fun." Finished Gakuto.
"Can you please stop thinking about playing doubles for a second and focus on working with Choutaro?" asked Hiyoshi.
"I guess I never thought of that before. All this time, I was only thinking about myself and no one else. But it makes sense to me to play doubles with choutaro for a while. I wonder how good he really is." Replied Gakuto
"Did you even ask Yuushi about what he wanted?" asked Hiyoshi out of the blue.
"What does he want the most from me?" replied Gakuto.
A few days later, the Fudomine team arrived at Hyotei's tennis court and they were awed at the differences between the teams. Furthermore Ibu and Akira were surprised that the lineups were changed. "Figures that Atobe was up to something when he changed his teammates around a little. It's pretty obvious that they got the advantage since they have the opportunity to practice. I wonder if our captain could change our lineups for a little bit. I mean it isnot like we are asking him to build parking lots and what not, but I feel that our own team has been faltering a bit and …"
"Seriously? You need to stop drawing attention to yourself, you are scaring the Hyoutei tennis players." Replied Akira. "besides, that pompus diva is still dating our Ann and this whole thing was her idea from the start."
"Is that a bad thing, Akira? I mean Ann has guts to date a guy like Keigo. Besides, scaring off our opponents is supposed to be a good thing." Finished Ibu.
"Just focus on the match, will you Shinji? Anyway, your opponent for today is Hiyoshi, the kendo master and gekokujo specialist." Replied Kamio.
"He doesn't look so tough. I mean didn't Ryoma crush him in a humiliating defeat and talked down about him previously?" stated Ibu.
"True, but the key word here is Syusuke Fuji since Jiro defeated his brother Yuuta in like a few minutes."
"Not so tough for me." Replied Ibu.
'It will be very hard to look threatening when he uses his special mov." Said Kamio.
"Of course, but I am not going to lose to Wakashi. Besides, you make very valid points." Stated Ibu.
"Hey, what do you mean by that? I always make great observations as I go along. I mean after all, Atobe always likes to call things the way he sees them." Finished Kamio in a defensive tone.
"All right then, everyone line up. We are facing off against Hyoutei and unlike last time, they are sending some of their toughest players so do not let your guard down." Announced Tachibana.
I think Tachibana has spent too much time with Ryoma Echizen from Seigaku.
"hey Akira, did you notice that our buchou has been spending too much time with that brat Ryoma from Seigaku?" asked Ibu.
"I don't know, Ibu! I saw Ryoma dating our captain previously since they had a grand time together at his house. Besides, his sister welcomed that kid into the captain's house for a little drink and I think they had some intimate time alone together." Finished Kamio.
"What I do with Ryoma isn't your business. Besides, I only invited him because Atobe asked me to look after Ryoma for a while. We were not dating each other if that's what you are getting at." Replied Tachibana.
"Buchou! We didn't realized that you were in love with the brat." Said Kamio.
"Who said I was in love with him? We are just best friends that's all. Anyway, let's begin the match." Finished Tachibana.
As the match begins, it was quite obvious that Hyotei had the upper hand while Atobe was quickly beaming when he saw that his team had won both single matches with only one loss.
I am beginning to think that Hiyoshi has what it takes to be a captain. However, I can't believe that Jirou has lost again. But well, his punishment will be pushed back for a while. Right now the most anticipated match of the day will not be delayed.
Next up was Kabaji vs Tachibana.
"Kabaji, I didn't know you were playing singles." Said Tachibana.
"Usu." Said Kabaji,
Elsewhere, Shishido was glaring at Tachibana and wished that he was taking over Kabaji's spot so that he can get his revenge for the humiliating defeat last time. As the match continued, both are equally tied. However, Kabaji proved that he deserves the title of Tensai when he tricked Tachibana with his special move. Furthermore, Tachibana was surprised that Kabaji was able to focus on the sport with his mind turned off to other things.
There is no way that I can read Kabaji's moves since he can play without thinking of other things. I have to admit, he is truly an opponent that must not be underestimated.
At that moment, Atobe was stunned and he realized that he made the right choice in letting Tachibana fight kabaji. Once the match was over, Yuushi and Shishido mmoved up and faced off against Shinji and Akira and even their match was one sided with Yuushi dominating the whole game in his favor.
Maybe I was wrong about Yuushi, but I never realized that he has that much spirit for tennis. Maybe Atobe was right in putting him up with Shishid since I always dragged him down.
Once everyone congratulated Oshitari and Shishido on a job well done, he decided to step out of the tennis courts in order to find his doubles partner. By the next day, Gakuto was standing in line for the bowling match when he felt someone tapping him on his back.
"Yuushi! What are you doing here?" asked a surprised Gakuto.
"I thought you might want company." Replied Oshitari casually.
"How did you find me here anyway?" asked a suspicious Gakuto.
"A little bird told me where to find you." Replied Yuushi as he picked up a bowling ball and aimed it at the pins.
Gakuto was a bit disappointed before Oshitari continued. "I know you always come here to clear your mind of those unpleasant images when you are upset. When you and I first played doubles, you always take me here to celebrate after our win and said that bowling helps to clear the brain of headaches. I think your words are making me happy."
"I can't believe you still remember all that stuff from long ago." Said gakuto in disbelief.
"Gakuto, I remember everything you told me in the past." Finished Yuushi with a smile.
"Everyone, please gather up your partners to set the next round of the bowling matches, we are going to do two on two matches with your opponents." Announced the manager.
Oshitari smiled and picked up the ball again before knocking down more pins to get a strike and spare. As for Gakuto, he finally got a clear picture of why he likes to play doubles with yuushi so much.
Elsewhere Atobe took his binoculars and asked, "ann, what do you have on your brother?"
"Oh it was nothing really, I just happened to took pictures of Tachibana wearing a leotard when he was four. It was so sweet to see how his mother used to dress Tachibana in girls clothes. I guess, he must have done the same with Ryoma before they had me in their life.
The two of them laughed and shared a drink together since they do make a perfect couple together. However, in the bushes, Tachibana was flushed and flustered since he was really starting to get annoyed at his sister always invading his privacy. Furthermore, he immediately took a weed whacker and shredded the photos before grabbing a lighter and burned the rest of them. "I will show that upstart. How dare she choose Atobe keigo over me? I bet that sadist Fuji is behind this!" he thought to himself.
I know this is not my mother's fault, but I understand the pain that she must have felt when she gave birth to me and not Ann. However, why did my sister have to dress me up in such tawdry clothes in order to please my mom's desires? And worst of all, why did she take pictures of it with Ryoma? She knows for sure that he doesn't want to see me like this. Finally, why did she take Atobe's hand for a date? Ryoma was the perfect person for him!
That night, oshitari decided to have a little talk with his captain.
"Keigo, I have been thinking." Announced Oshitari out of the blue.
"About what?" asked Atobe.
"I was reading this article on love and apparently, some professionals seem to think that the best couples are made from people who had good partnerships with tennis players that played doubles together." Said Yuushi.
"Oshitari, you are plotting something, aren't you?" Asked Atobe with a smile.
"For the good of conscience, I think we shall test that theory out on you and Ann since you both never played doubles together for a long time. Furthermore, I do believe your little scheme with Ann seems to be bringing you guys closer together." Finished Oshitari.
"Oshitari, Ore-sama feels that your hypothesis is completely blatant with no proof. After all, me and Ann have already made the date official since we are a perfect couple together." Commented Atobe.
"I know that! But there are doubles players having a strong connection with their significant others that never played doubles before." Said Oshitari with a sadistic smile.
"Your idea does sound very interesting." Replied Atobe as he started considering Oshitari's proposal. "So, who did you have you mind?" asked Yuushi eagerly.
Atobe continued with his wide grin since it is not often that he gets to see his tensai friend s excited while hanging on to every word. "Oshitari, my friend. I think it's time we paid Tachibana a visit at his house again since we have the perfect guinea pigs for this experiment.
"Atobe, you don't mean…" begain Oshitari.
"Oh yes, in fact. I have been planning this for quite some time since I am certain that Ryoma and Ann will be perfect for each other." Announced Atobe with his sadistic smile.
"keigo, your mind is filled with dangerous plots." Said Oshitari as he shook his head before high-fiving him.
In the meantime, Ann and Ryoma were getting themselves ready for a little time of their own with their families. However, strong winds are picking up and a wave of dark cloud appeared out of nowhere. Now, Ann was not a big believer of superstitious things and decided to ignore the vibe that was overwhelming her senses before she continued her warmup exercises.
During that time, her brother looked up into the sky with tears in his eyes. "What are Atobe and Oshitari up to this time?"
"You will see soon enough, brother. Besides, I have Ryoma here waiting for the signal." Replied Ann with a smile on her face.
"What's going on? What are you talking about? And how did you invite Ryoma in my house?" asked a confused Tachibana.
"Like I said, check your phone." Said Ann as she went upstairs.
As Kippei checked his phone, he could hear a beeping sound. Furthermore, he realized that it was indeed from Yuushi Oshitari and after a second of consideration, he decided to sacrifice one of his managers and his best friend.
Ann and Ryoma, may god bless your poor soules, I am sorry, but this is for their own good because we need them to go to the devil himself.
Ryoma immediately starred at the giant mansion with Ann in town and wondered why Tachibana-buchou wanted him to come all this way to deliver a package to Atobe-buchou opf Hyotei.
Shouldn't the captain deliver this to the post office himself? I cannot question my friend because I trust him completely. If he wants me here, then he has his reasons for it. After all, I am thinking too much aout the situation since it is not like tachibana buchou to send me all the way down here towards the doorstep of that devil himself.
Ding Dong!
"Please come in, Master Atobe has been expecting you guys." Announced one of Atobe's servants.
"Umm, Thank you very much." Said Ryoma as he entered atobe's big mansion.
Wow, this place is huge! No wonder Atobe is such a rich man. I mean look at how spotless this place is. I don't even want to know how many servants this place needs to keep it tidy.
"So, you must be that queen of tennis from Fudomine that I dated from before." Said Yuushi casually as he walked down the stairs.
"Thank you very much master. I can't believe how handsome you really look today. By the way, you already know my name as Ann Tachibana. Pleased to meet you." She said as she shook the blue haired tensai's hand.
"yes, I do remember you from Fudomine and you played a little bit of tennis with that buzzsaw kid from Seigaku." Said Yuushi.
"What does this have to do with Momoshiro?' asked Ann suspiciously.
"Nothing, really. Besides, Ryoma is just spending some quality time with my captain right now." Said Yuushi.
"Who is your captain?" asked Ann.
"You mean you dated him and still cannot remember his name? It's Keigo Atobe since he still has not left Ryoma despite calling him his boyfriend." Announced oshitari.
Oh god! Ryoma must be inside Atobe's room being tortured right now. I must save him.
"I hope you are treating Ryoma fairly up there." Said Ann doubtfully.
"Of course. It's not like my captain will take his life away." Replied Yuushi.
"Yuushi, How much longer do we have to walk before we reach Atobe's room?" asked Ann.
"not for much longer. It's just down the hall and to the left." Said Yuushi as he leads the girl towards his room for a few more minutes. Once there, Ann was stunned when she saw Ryoma and Atobe in bed together watching television and drinking juice. However, she was stunned to see ryoma wearing Atobe's pajamas and her eyes were wide open.
"Ann! What are you doing here?" asked Ryoma who was horrified.
"Ryoma, I was about to ask you the same thing. And why are you wearing Atobe's pajamas?" asked Ann.
"Well, he invited me here for a little fun time since there was nothing to do in my place. Besides, I was getting bored of my father always grilling me with tennis. Besides, I couldn't leave you all alone with your brother right?" replied Ryoma.
"Ahh Ann! How nice of you to join us. Come on in, we got plenty of space here." Said Atobe casually.
"Wow, you sure know how to put on a good show, Atobe. But still, I must ask, do you still love me?" asked Ann.
"Yes of course, I also love Ryoma as well because I had to make him dress up in the pajamas since he lost to me in the game of ping-pong. Therefore, it is customary for me to make sure he is properly secured with good looking clothes." Replied Atobe.
"yes, but I didn't know about this. I mean the only reason why I was here was to deliver a package of candy for you and…" started Ann.
"yes, exactly, I was supposed to drop off some care packages for you as well." Said Ryoma.
"Oh, thank you very much you guys. If you could, please put them on the table next to my nightstand. Now then, we shall continue our game since I need a winner here. And also Ann, my love, you are going to be mine forever!" said Ann.
Ryoma immediately groaned since this was not in his repertoire. "Tachibana-buchou! We trusted you and this is what you put us through? How could you do such a thing to us!" he thought to himself.
Atobe looked at Ryoma and shrugged his shoulder for their overdramatic display. "How many times do I have to tell you that we are gentle giants?" commented Atobe. "I just need you guys to fill out this questionnaire about love and then you are free to leave."
"Oh, of course." Said the duo as they grabbed the paper and pencil like their lives depended on it before filling out the form. As they scribbled the answers down to the last question, Ann glared at Ryoma for a moment before looking away.
"Here you go. Thank you very much for your patronage." Said Ann.
"No problems. But Ann, you have to spend the night at my place while I have one of my servants take Ryoma home." Smiled Atobe as he immediately grabbed Ann by her hand and dragged her into his bed.
"wait! Why do I have to sleep with you tonight? Won't my brother find out about this?" began Ann.
"Nah, don't worry. Tachibana Kippei is already aware of our little intimacy together so therefore, we are going to have a lot to do together as lovers." Replied Atobe as he unlocked the door for Ryoma as he changed clothes. Once that was done, Ryoma immediately dashed out of the door and walked into a car before it drove off. On the other hand, Ann was looking quite uncomfortable as she laid down on Atobe's bed in her pajamas despite not letting Ryoma look.
"I see, okay then. I forgive you for all the trouble you caused me previously and I can let this go. Now then, let the games begin!" said Ann as she grabbed Atobe by the collar and kissed him.
Fortunately, Ryoma arrived at Tachibana's house just in time and realized that he was the only on here. "Ryoma, I need to wash your clothes since there is no way you can get back home like this. Why don't you stay here for the night?"
"Sure, if it means for me to get away from Atobe for a while then I will do it." Replied Ryoma.
"Wonderful! Feel free to use the pajamas that you got from Atobe and we shall settle in for the night." Said Tachibana.
Back in the mansion, Ann immediately looked at Atobe with one eye and said, "I look really pretty, don't I?"
"You sure do. Looks like we might just be able to keep our relationship together as one." Smiled Atobe.
"You sure love to make girls fall for you, don't you buchou?" groaned Oshitari.
"I told you, tensai. All this time I am searching for love and I have found it. But still if Ryoma wants me to go for him, it's still his choice. I decided to have a little fun with him since the questionnaires are just a test to see if they are really compatible with one another." Finished Atobe.
"Yeah, but I think Ann is much more comfortable around you." Stated Oshitari as he tossed the questionnaires in the trash can since they already got the data they need on these two tennis players. Furthermore. Ann finally realizes that the people at Hyoutei wasn't so bad after all since she might consider giving Atobe another chance at love.
As for Ryoma, he didn't know what the point of the survey was and decided not to pursue the matter any further since he is certain that the guys at seigaku are planning to grill him with all sorts of questions in the weeks to come because he was certain that Fuji and Atobe must have planned this scheme together.
"Just you wait, Syusuke Fuji! I promise I will get you back for what you did to me. Mark my words!" thought Ryoma to himself as he fell fast asleep on the futon.
