Thank you sooo much for your amazing support guys and I'm so sorry for being late again! It's just that I got stuck AGAIN on my other story that was proclaimed to be my main story so I can't exactly update it any less frequently than other stories. It dragged all of my other stories with it. I'm so soooooooooorry! T_T
I do my best to make the wait(s) worth it though and I hope you enjoy this chapter~
DISCLAIMER: I WISH I Own Prince of Tennis
…
CHAPTER 7: Alphas
PUBLIC COURTS
Pak
Sanada Genichirou was playing against a wall, again, since he was not in the mood to play tennis with any living being at the moment. He was actually playing against a wall that had been receiving his shots since he was a kid. It was hard to contain whatever was showing in his eyes, so he'd rather not have anyone on the other side of court. Not that anyone would be playing with him that time of night, of course.
Pak!
Now that he thought about it, he paused and hit the incoming ball upwards to the air and caught it by hand. He looked down his watch. He blinked. Had he taken this long to realize the time before? Not that he remembered. So he let out a deep breath, hoped that his grandmother didn't suddenly go home before planned (next to impossible that she would, but if she did she would definitely have a heart attack due to worry). He shook his head in self-disapproval and started packing up.
But as he walked farther from his wall- amongst the silence the night gave and the quiet rustle of the leaves as they danced with the cold gentle breeze- he heard a very familiar sound that he didn't quite associate at that time of night. He followed it without batting a thought.
Pak!
A strong shot hit a poor wall head on. It was so strong that just seeing the impact made his feet halt. As the ball bounced back to where it came from, so did his line of sight. His eyes widened.
It was Echizen.
Pak!
A beautiful form— so beautiful that he didn't understand why he wasn't able to see it, even in the boy's slightest movements. The ball once again bounced back to him as if it was alive. Sanada gulped unconsciously and watched Echizen hit the yellow ball with all his might.
PAK!
His brain might have exaggerated, but the wave the ball caused when it hit that wall was very… enticing.
Doki
It was then that the boy suddenly turned his head towards his direction. Their eyes widened simultaneously, and they took a disconcerting amount of time to return to their stoic selves.
"Sanada?"
His ears perked at the sound of his name, which sounded oddly nicer when Echizen said it, and cleared his throat. "Echizen." Was all he could utter at the moment, after all. Not that anyone would have noticed.
"What are you doing here?" They asked at precisely the same time. Even the shakiness of their voices resonated, making them step back in surprise.
Sanada kept quiet, and it was Echizen who spoke first. "I was playing, obviously, since you were rudely watching me."
"And there I thought you didn't like playing tennis." He threw back. And Echizen's eye jerked immediately.
"I… don't."
"Ha. So you're playing here to annoy yourself?"
Echizen glared at him and Sanada, as always, kept his cool even when it was a little harder with this particular boy. "Don't you have anywhere to go to?" The raven-haired boy asked, "Aren't your parents worried? You didn't go home since earlier didn't you?"
He nodded and saw that he was wearing his school uniform. He then looked back at the boy who had already changed to a more casual attire. "What about you?"
"I told mother I'd be home before midnight."
He raised a brow. "And Yukimura?"
"He was already asleep when I left." He mumbled, slightly tilting his head away. "He was… tired."
"Are you tired?"
"No. I just got here. Unlike you." Echizen said the last part with a sarcastic tone. "What have you been doing all these hours?"
"Doing what you were doing."
"That long?" The boy blinked and his eyes widened for a second at what seemed a realization he had forgotten. "Oh, right. I'd like to apologize to my master's behaviour. I know it was sudden but don't mind him."
Turns out he was right.
"What are you hitting the wall for, Echizen?" He replied, hiding the disturbance well. Sanada knew that earlier that day, his losing the position he held on for so long was was the issue that bothered Echizen.
It made Sanada quite… pleased, really… and he was actually looking forward to their confrontation. But now that he saw that the boy forgot about the captainship issue, he couldn't help but feel worried for the boy. Especially, when his mind suddenly replayed his wall-hitting and saw the boy's expression.
"Echizen." He called again. The boy wasn't responding. "I'm fine, really. What about you?"
"I don't see why you'd reach the conclusion of me not being fine." Echizen said, arrogantly crossing his arms. "And you're fine? Spending a few hours hitting balls to a wall makes you look okay?"
"Hai." He said, eyes twinkling with a smile even when his face said otherwise. "I'm fine now. Let me repeat my question. Are you alright? Seeing you play tennis even when you 'hate' it."
And with that, Echizen's eyes twitched adorably again.
"Well—"
'Wait a minute- what was with that last thought?', he mused, and he automatically stared at the boy who was rummaging his head for excuses.
"Echizen."
"What?" he said with the same tone as if he said 'What the heck is it this time?'
"Wanna have a game with me?"
RIKKAI HIGH, The Next Day
It was a wonderful spring morning in the land of the rising sun, especially since it was living up to its name. Although it wasn't exactly dawn, some of the members actually got there at that time. The overtly excited trio of Niou, Marui, and Kirihara to be precise. Apparently, Marui convinced the two that they should get there earlier so they would still have time to rest as well as make sure their extra laps didn't disturb the actual practice schedule.
So there they were, slumbering under a large tree, being watched by their teammates.
Fortunately for them, they (themselves) were the only ones who would dare do things like taking pictures and writing God-knows-what on the sleeping faces. So after being told by Sanada to go train, everyone dispersed and went on with what they were doing.
Well, aside from Sanada and Yanagi, who was writing vehemently on his brown notebook. "I wonder what they're here so early for?" Rikkai's data player asked, tilting his head slightly towards the former captain.
"Yukimura assigned them extra laps for disturbing him in his house yesterday." He said, slowly turning away to join the rest of the team. Yanagi only nodded and let out a very small smirk.
"I see." He uttered and stopped Sanada's movements due to his tone-of-voice, that even Sanada had to say was quite intimidating. After all, it always made Yanagi look like he was planning something. Sanada stared at him guardedly.
"What is it?" This was probably what Echizen felt last night.
"I'm curious as to why you know this though."
"I have my sources." Sanada said dismissively then proceeded to the center courts. It was the court zone without fencing and where most of the tennis team stayed. Yukimura seemed to have arrived a minute prior and was then telling the team about his new regime.
Yanagi and Sanada, upon meeting eyes with Yukimura, went down to his side. "We will have longer practice sessions from now on. Weights would also be slightly increased if we see that you could take it. And…" he looked at the energetic trio, "Extra laps for those who deserve it."
"Oh, that's right." He added after a second of silence, and looked at him and Sanada, "We now have a fukubuchou. Sanada-kun?"
'Sanada-kun?' Yanagi chuckled mentally. How that name, and tone, probably made the new fukubuchou cringe.
"Hai."
Yukimura held out his hand and smiled congenially, or so most thought. "I'll be looking forward to working with you." They then went for a handshake. "You're not exempted with my orders such as my laps though."
"Of course."
And only the regulars could see the lightning between them.
…
Morning training started not long after that, with the segregation of the regular, non-regular upperclassmen, and the freshmen seen rather visibly as they were distanced apart by zones. Overseeing the zones for the freshmen was Yanagi, Yukimura, and Sanada.
Actually, Sanada wasn't supposed to have been there. Yukimura said something like 'Please look after the regulars.', but Sanada made some excuse that as the former captain, he wanted to accompany his successor in his first appraising tour. It was true, of course, but he also wanted to know why this person disliked him so much.
That thought inevitably went to his hater's body guard. The loyal, and seemingly uncaring, Echizen Ryoma. That boy… he was not like any other he had met. Him having the same last name as his idol was beside the point. Why would someone like him, and someone so young, would be a body guard… and forbidden to play tennis, too, just because of his duties.
He could help but feel a twinge of pain for the boy. It wasn't quite pity. Echizen didn't need it. He really just wanted to help relieve the boy's burden. He was so young.
And charming.
He coughed by reflex.
"Is there anything wrong, Sanada-kun?"
"No."
Yanagi shrugged, and proceeded to whatever he and Yukimura were probably talking about. "His swings aren't bad. In fact I have to say his swings—and overall form—is actually quite good."
'Who are you talking about?' He asked Yanagi mentally, since it would reveal he wasn't paying attention. So he just looked at where they were looking at. It was at Echizen Ryoma.
"Potential, eh?" Yukimura said coolly, and habitually placed his hand under his chin in ponder. "Too bad he refused to play, then."
"Are you sure he doesn't play? That form. He's probably pretty good."
"Maybe."
"Ah." Sanada agreed, and that moment his and Yukimura's eyes met.
'You have no idea.'
…
Ryoma sighed mentally as she swung her racket continuously for several minutes straight, somewhat oblivious to the stares as she was too deep in her daze.
Ugh. How boring this was…
Such basic, basic, movements. It was annoying—especially after her heated match with Sanada. She could recall that match as if it happened 2 seconds ago.
Boink
Boink
Boink
The only sound she could hear at the moment was her dribbling, and her breathing. She was actually looking forward to this—more than she would like to admit.
"You're a south paw?" Sanada asked as she did so, and she only nodded.
"Hai." After all, she knew when to use her left hand immediately. This person was probably one of the best players in their age group.
"Here I come." She said, and Sanada quickly hardened his stance. And Ryoma couldn't help it; she knew this would be an all-out match from the start by instinct. Especially now that she barely played with other people, she was beyond hyped-up. She already used one of her best moves: The Twist Serve.
Sanada stood frozen, barely avoiding a direct hit. He then turned to the server, a barely traceable hint of amusement visible in his sharp dark orbs. "I don't understand why you want this hidden."
"I don't want Seichi to see."
"Were you forbidden?"
"In a sense."
"Ah, being ambiguous on purpose Echizen?"
She frowned and served. He missed it again. "Get your head in the game, Sanada."
"Ah."
And the next serve wasn't an ace, anymore. "I'm already used to a similar shot. It's only more violent."
"Kirihara's knuckle serve?"
He smirked. "That's right."
"Mine's sharper though."
"And more accurate."
"And better looking." She added. She could swear he chuckled at that. And for some reason, she saw him let his guard down for an instant and took advantage of it.
PAK!
She made a return ace.
"40-Love." She smirked, arrogantly pointing her racket to him. "Keep this up and it will be very embarrassing."
…
Sanada and Yukimura stared for a very long second before Yanagi intervened. "Have you tried asking him to play before?"
"I think that's already implied, Yanagi-san."
"I see… Too bad he refused, then." He said, obviously intimidated as the other two would see considering the unusual furrow of his eyebrow. The bocchama's presence and mood would really take a while to get used to for them. Sometimes they wished they weren't so sensitive and observant so they could act as if he wasn't mad and didn't feel like he was going to kill them. Like Marui and Kirihara, their denseness could be lifesavers from time-to-time.
"Well, how long before have you tried? I don't mean anything by this, but this thought is for the team."
"I haven't asked him in years."
Yanagi blinked in surprise while Sanada remained stoic, which the other two did not take notice since he was always like that.
In truth though, he knew very well the master-servant pair did not challenge each other in tennis for the past few years.
"Keep this up and it will be very embarrassing." Echizen smirked and so did he. You know, in his standards. Under that pompous stance of Echizen, Sanada kept his stern one.
After all the third… or rather fourth time was the charm, right?
Echizen seemed to have taken the challenge and served his amazing serve once more.
PAK!
He let his reflexes take over and he stepped back, using his extremely quick swing to hit it without his opponent noticing it was already on his side of the court.
Echizen blinked and his stance softened before gaping at him. "Eh…" he muttered, sounding quite impressed.
Sanada could not help but smirk. He was feeling quite elated at the moment, and he decided to push his luck. "Echizen." He paused. "If I beat you. Will you tell me?"
"..."
"You're my teammate now."He added as a-matter-of-factly before the boy could say anything else. It was his service game now, anyway, and he made it clear with his posture that he wasn't going to start if he didn't agree.
"Fine." Echizen said, after a long moment of silence. "It wasn't really a secret anyway."
"Good." He said and started dribbling the ball. His attention was caught by Echizen adding an apathetic 'Wait'.
"What's in it for me?"
He paused his serve and stared. He tried to think of what this boy would want—which was actually quite hard since he didn't seem to care about anything other than tennis and… his master. Obviously, he wouldn't use Yukimura on anything so that would leave tennis.
"If you beat me… I can let go of this Yukimura-business and him purposely taking away my place."
"You realize that's none of my business."
"But you do… care, don't you?" He added. Kami, how he changed when he was with this boy.
"Che. How low." Echizen added and proceeding to his receiving stance. "But only because Seichi's my responsibility and I would rather not have him have so many enemies."
And with that, Sanada threw up his tennis ball
PAK!
"Of course."
PAK!
Ryoma returned the serve. It was a very quick one, and he was obviously ready for it as he saw it with his and Yukimura's game already.
"I won't hold back. Even if you're playing for hours." Echizen said, obviously aware of his handicap.
"It's fine. I'm not that tired. I was only making light exchanges with the wall, anyway."
PAK!
This time, Sanada used all his strength. And he earned himself an ace.
Ryoma flinched at how quick that swing was and silently admired it. It didn't take long for her to get used to it, even with the dark. Actually, it was fortunate it was dark. She wouldn't focus so much on the swing- but the sound that it made.
Thank goodness kami gave her amazing hearing. It had gotten rusty, but still very impressive. All these years, she had only played with either her father (whom she still stood no chance) and the wall (which was, well, boring to play with). Playing with someone around the same level as you was exhilarating.
And as Sanada hit a ball past her, she smirked—as if she wasn't the one who lost a point.
"Mada Mada Dane."
…
Ryoma sighed as her racket hit air.
She lost that game 6 games to 4. She lost to a relatively tired Sanada. She really did get rusty hadn't she? Maybe it was time to start playing with others again. Playing with Sanada had been quite some fun.
Then it all came back to the issue that she lost.
She had gotten used to his amazingly quick shots. But his control and his instincts surpassed hers, simply because she lacked the experience of battling various types of players. He said it could have gone either way. Maybe if she played again for a few months she'd probably beat him.
Tap Tap Tap
"You sound like a fisherman." She said. After all, he was luring her to play for the team now.
They were walking back at the time, and somehow Sanada got her to agree of him walking her home. "I do? I happen to like fishing." He said with a hint of amusement hidden well in his tone. "Besides, I don't think your reason is reason enough to let yourself get so rusty."
Yes, she had already told him her reasons.
"It had been a while since I played with someone I could beat. It was always either with my father or with a wall." She said, pretending to agree.
"I'd try not to take that as an insult." Sanada nodded. "So how about it? Even if you didn't beat me, you can be a regular if you beat 2 of our main members. I'm certain you can do that."
"What faith in your team you have."
"I know they wouldn't lose to anyone outside the team." She looked down as a smile crept up her face.
"Speaking of your team. The three bakas went to us earlier and begged for your position." Sanada paused.
"What?" And yes, he knew precisely who she was referring to.
"Seichi managed to convince them though. You're the fukubuchou now."
"Ha…" He said and went silence for a second before bowing like the traditional Eastern Asian that he was. "I apologize for the trouble they may have caused."
She smiled mentally at how sincere Sanada seemed to be all the time. She was always sincere, herself. Sincere as in blunt. And so her type of sincere wasn't quite as touching. In the end she shrugged and walked a step closer to Sanada to get his attention. "It's fine. They were assigned a nice amount of laps anyway."
"Ah." Was all he uttered and they continued on their way. They were undergoing a comfortable silence since then and before they knew it, they arrived at the Yukimura's gates. Sanada actually looked mildly impressed.
"Thanks for the walk home." She said, interrupting his gaping of the house, and went inside without further ado. "Ja."
And, after she walked several meters from the gate to the door and the opening was finally closed to the outside world, Sanada realized that the topic never quite made it back to Ryoma becoming a regular again.
…
The rest of the day was relatively normal. As usual, classes were too easy and thus made time run extremely slow. So when lunch came, Ryoma found herself seriously relieved even when she didn't show a hint of it. They ate their lunches quickly so they could still have a short game to push the food down.
Seichi was challenged by Kirihara and he accepted, since there really was no reason to refuse. Kirihara had been bugging him (Seichi) endlessly throughout that morning- -all the way til' the practice ended and even during the recesses. The teachers who asked Kirihara to go back to his year's corridors weren't enough to stop him.
She barely noticed him not bugging her at all, which was unusual since he never quite failed to find an insult like 'small fry', 'little one', or 'Chibi-monkey' every single day.
Seichi decided to teach him a lesson due to his stubborness, and was thus crushing the sophomore once more.
"And I thought my training was Spartan." Sanada said out-of-nowhere behind Ryoma. They were slightly apart from the others, and they easily ignored the curious stares of Yanagi and Yagyuu.
When Kirihara hit the knuckle serve, they shared a brief moment of mutual amusement that only their type of people could sense.
"Echizen." He whispered and as she looked at him, they were interrupted by Marui challenging his doubles partner for a match. The bald man agreed, and soon Rikkai's unbeatable pair joined in—battling each other.
"It's amusing to see doubles partners battle each other."
"Hai. They know each other well. One's partners is one's greatest opponent."
"Other than oneself."
"Hai." Sanada nodded. "Have you played doubles before?"
"Ie."
"You're missing out on a lot, Echizen." He said but the boy didn't answer. He mused that maybe he didn't like speaking of his secrets in such public place. So he sighed. "Want to go for a walk? Your master's pretty well taken care of, anyway."
"I don't mind." She just answered and followed him as he turned away from the courts.
They soon ended up in a balcony where they could still see the matches, though. And this made her smile. Sanada knew her well.
"Is this a good spot?"
"Hai." She admitted and proceeded to watching the games again. She watched him play and how he turned inside the court. Actually it was his true self. It was why she loved seeing him in the courts, and a reason why she (in a paradoxical way) disliked even thinking of her being on the other side.
Even when a part of her wanted to play with him, another part knew it just didn't feel right. He was pushing her away, and her seeing that part of him so directly just seemed… awkward.
"He could be quite terrifying once inside the court. Does he have a split personality?"
"No. That's how he really is. He was just trained to look gentle on the outside, he's genuinely a kind person though. Most of the time." Maybe it was why he became so serious on the court, because he was so limited outside of it.
"Do you see it often?" he meant this 'kind' demeanor, the sincere one. He didn't like how Echizen said it, but what could he say?
"I haven't seen it at all for years." She answered sardonically making him flinch. It was then that she suddenly changed the topic. Rather unconsciously, mind you, considering how she tended to blabber things when she suddenly got nervous.
"He loved tennis, very much. But well, to Seichi, Tennis is like a battlefield." Plus, the very first tennis training he had was from her dad. And he had to pound quite a bit of things during the few weeks he was teaching.
"We have similar views then." Sanada answered, earning himself an unknowingly pretty—and yet sad—smile from the other.
"Uhn. You two should get along." She said, and she saw Sanada's eyes to twitch at the statement.
"To him, losing is unacceptable." He had only lost to Nanjiroh, and she was certain that like her he was aiming to beat the monk.
"Same with me, then." He repeated before firming his gaze. "What about you? You like tennis don't you? Isn't it obviously time?"
She sighed. Ryoma already told him that her father forbade her to play with Yukimura at first because it was, well, rude. Their skill levels were too far apart then. Nanjiroh said something about waiting for a fair match. And although the man didn't lie, she was certain it wasn't the complete truth either.
But at the time… she didn't have the right to refuse.
So she agreed, and eventually got used to the idea of just watching Yukimura grow. But when that 'time' finally came, they had already been far apart. They both loved tennis so much, that their relationship—as it was- rendered them unable to seek the other out for a challenge.
In a sense, it was an awkward tension whenever they consider it… and yet, not quite. The dilemma rooted a little deeper than that mere awkward feeling that indicated a want leaning for self-preservation.
So, with that they entered yet another silence. But it wasn't as comfortable as it usually was anymore.
Sanada stared at the smaller figure beside him, rummaging his mind for a good topic. It was hard, really, since he was never the talkative type. When nothing came, he just decided to let his mind wander until the tension had disappeared. He flatly watched the game and so did Echizen.
Mentally, he sighed. The thoughts tended to return to issues regarding his current companion. He couldn't help but try and analyze the boy's situation and try to find out how he could help. He had always been the one who kept problems to himself, and was not quite the empathic type. But, he somehow knew that this 'awkwardness' could be fixed if those two just spoke their wills out.
"It was awkward, I know, but didn't you try to make it work?"
"Oh we did. But why are you focusing on this? Aren't you supposed to fix your relationship with him? The buchou and fukubuchou are supposed to get along." Echizen said and Sanada mentally shook his head at his attempt to change the topic.
"So are a master and his body guard."
"Che. But that's kind of beside the point." He replied, as if he didn't try to go beside the point himself. Sanada sensed this wasn't going to be easy, so he let his sight go back to the game. The bluenette was crushing his kohai again, but he just took it as yet another lesson in humility for the team's next pillar of support.
"That bocchama hates me, it seems." He just said, stating a rather obvious truth.
"Because he called you, Sanada-kun?"
An invisible smile crept up his face. "You know what I mean. For some reason, that person hated me too quickly."
"Oh he did."
He then shifted his gaze towards the boy again. "Do you know what he's thinking?"
Echizen shook his head, but tried to guess regardless. "Maybe… it's because you two are both Alphas?"
Sanada could not help but chuckle. It was very quiet, but it definitely happened.
"Echizen." He said, still smiling. "You see us as Monkeys?"
"Baboons, to be more precise."
"Ha. I'm glad you have so much respect for me." He said and he could swear his heart stopped when the boy laughed. Like his, it was abrupt and inconspicuous. But it was beautiful to Sanada all the same.
But before he could utter anything else, Echizen turned to the courts and saw the team's already dispersing. Heck, the bocchama wasn't even there anymore. "Lunch time's ending."
Sanada knew he was no match.
This boy would leave him in the speed of sound when he realized that his master's gone. "..Ah."
…..
Ryoma quickly walked to the courts with Sanada behind her. Their distance increased to a good amount some part of the way since she was really in quite a hurry. Considering the stressful moments these last few days, she would rather not be scolded by Seichi. So she hurried.
"Ah. Your senses have depreciated, not even sensing me here." She paused and turned to where the familiar voice came from. It was Seichi and he was leaning over a wall near the fountain. She reflexively looked behind her and looked at Sanada who was coincidentally pulled away by Kirihara and Marui. She and Sanada were now positioned in a way they couldn't see each other as a wall was in the way. It didn't seem that the troublesome trio noticed her or Seichi nearby, either.
She turned back to her master a second later. "Gomen Nasai." Was all she said. Seichi opened his mouth to speak, expression once again that calm and 'gentle' mask that everyone was too used to see. But before any sound was made, they heard the other three's conversation from behind the wall. Their ears perked at their tones.
"Gomen Nasai, Sanada-buchou."
"For what?"
"It was our fault you lost your position. If we didn't start betting, maybe the bocchama wouldn't get the idea—"
"Nonsense. We're a team and that's that."
Echizen internally smiled at his reply and the conviction that accompanied it. She almost missed the fact that Seichi was already walking towards the three, probably for a confrontation. He had always been like that after all. He disliked being talked about behind his back, and he was going to do something about it if he could help it.
There was nothing wrong with that belief. But those three weren't exactly talking behind his back. They were just apologizing to a friend.
"But—" Kirihara paused, sounding guilty as ever, and Marui was just there sniffing or something. Ryoma quickly ran to her master's side and grabbed his hand to stop him.
"Don't." She whispered and pulled him back to ensure none of the other three would hear her voice. "Please."
"Want to eavesdrop?" He whispered back ironically and she nodded. She was not going to allow him to ruin any chances of reconciling with these people because of his misapplied principles.
It was then that Sanada continued speaking. "We're not baboons, not really. There can be two alphas."
Ryoma realized at that moment that she was still holding his hand. She noticed because his hand perked up at the sound of 'baboons' and 'alphas'. Their hands were entwined too tightly that neither was able to let go. So Ryoma just decided to keep her calm and took advantage to fix things, and to support Sanada's statement.
"There can, you know. You can't always be the only one." She said and this earned her a rather ambivalent glare from him.
"What do you know?" he asked, frowning at her deeply. She didn't get the question—or why somehow it felt out-of-context- but she stood firm, and forced her weakening legs to remain that way as well.
"Why are you being so stubborn? I know you like these people, are you willing to alienate them by being possessive of your position?"
"You're talking back now?"
"I'm surprised I took so long to get started again." She said, with finality, making Seichi's hold on her hand soften considerably. She took the chance to separate from him completely, ignored the slight feeling of disappointment in her gut, and glared.
She opened her mouth to say something else, but she was interrupted (a lot of people got interrupted that day) by the three coming their direction, looking quite confused, anxious, and scared for their lives.
She honestly didn't know what to say anymore so she looked at the four boys alternatively. "Better fix this issue, or the team may lose it's top position." She paused and took as much oxygen as she could. "I'm going back to the room."
She turned, but before taking one more step. "No. I won't get lost."
And with that, she walked away—keeping her dignity intact.
As she liked it.
…
The four boys were left there in silence until Yukimura cleared his throat to go to the changing room. "We're going to be late." He said, and just a few meters away from the others. He heard Sanada faintly say something.
The former captain said: "Make that three." And this made him frown.
Sanada and Ryoma seemed to have misinterpreted the term. Alpha meant 'the best', and there could only be one 'best', that's why it was a superlative term in the first place. Yukimura had been trained to be 'the best'- in anyone's standards (including a certain body guard's)- and truthfully, it hadn't been that hard.
Until now.
But when that surge of annoyance turned to something more negative, he recalled the face Ryoma showed a few minutes prior. That boy was no longer taking things passively anymore, something that was uncharacteristic for him already as it was, anyway, but it still surprised him.
He passively looked at his left hand. The hand still warm from the boy's touch. How ironic that a second after that, the advent of losing the boy suddenly hit him. He felt anxious, in a degree more than he dared to admit.
What if Ryoma finally decided to leave him?
Tap Tap Tap
He continued on his way, only to stop 3 steps later. He mused and soon a deeper frown crept up his angelic face. Why would he care? He had been pushing him away for years now. Considering he was too… considerate to openly fire him, could it be that he just wanted him to resign himself?
Probably. Most likely.
And so he continued on his way, and he dismissed the troublesome line of thought as if it was a fly.
.
END OF CHAPTER 7
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 8: Games
REPLIES TO ANGELS
DragonFire Princess- Thank you. hehe. They will, they will! And about Ryoga... he'll appear again, just not so soon. ^^ thanks for the comment~
Soul Vrazy- Aahaha. I won't tell youuu~ XD And hope the choice of who did see her was fine~ lol. Thank you for the comment~!
TunaForDesert- Banzai for Niouuu! ahaha Ryoga won't be appearing for a while though, and LOL. Mad scientist?! Ahaha. Unusual reaction over there. XD Thanks for the comment!
Guest [11/13/12]- Glad you agree on chibi Ryoma's cuteness! XD And yeah, if you've already read the chapter you'll see your guesses are somewhat right. haha. Thx for the comment~
PurpleScorpion- I know, darned cliffhanger! And late update too! Please kill me. T_T And about the Ryoga thing, I just added it in for a little hint. XD Your confusion is natural. ;) And thanks for the luck~ I knowI'm gonna need it. haha. Oh, thanks for the review!
shanagi95- Got it. Three men it is! That'll be the maximum tho. XD A fight scene seems interesting (and bound to happen with a plot like this) Let's see what happens! haha. thx for the comment. ;)
Natasya Ivashkov- Haha. It's cute you thought of Tezuka when you're thoughts were going to Sanada. XD They're really alike, huh?lol. Thanks for the comment!
Minato-kun Lover- Thank you for the review! And I'm so sorry this was late! It was longer than the other chaps so hope the wait was wooorth it! D:) hehe.
MintLeafeon- Tenennen! You're right! haha. I just can't help myself with characters like Sanada or tezuka. XD for the comment~ (:D
kuragirl93- Eh? *blushes* I'm happy to hear that~! XD Ah, Thanks for reading and sure do hope this update was good enough as well~! Haha. Thanks for the review, too, btw~
Yuki Masaharu-Future twist...? Which one? LOL. I won't, I won't! XD And how can I forget to update with such lovely readers supporting this story?! ahaha. And thanks for the comment!
Wolf D. Dragon- Thank you for the review~! And it is an honor to meet one of Dragon's relatives. haha *bows*
FrancoiseLaraLapis- Lol, yeah! XD Who can imagine those three being awkward for long? Haha. The short story arc on Ryoga won't happen any time soon, though, and thanks for the review!
Mutsumi Ayano- No, no. The Ryoga thing wasn't the only reason she became a guard, it only allowed for the option. ;) And you were dead right about who saw her play! XD Thx for the review~
Kupuuru- Fufufu~ I'll keep Seichi in the dark for a while, ne? I'm liking Sanada for now since I've been a hardcore Pillar pair fan for a while. XD Thx for the comment~
HiBirdSong- It's the guy with the cap! Haha. Sorry it took so long to update. T_T Hope you liked this anyway, and thx for the comment!
WhitewingsFlutter- Glad you thought so, and Yep. Ryoma's a guy name and I've been using Reina on all my fem! Ryoma fics so I got used to that. XD But I do agree Ryoma sounds way better. Haha. Thx for the review~
Darkspider-Others noticed! Oh no- Yukimuraaaaaa. Hahaha. And cool! You have cats! We're not allowed to have one here. T_T. So many possibilities, indeed! I decided to keep it in Rikkai for a bit longer tho. And the wish of more cap pair moments, granted. ;) Thx for the review~
Lilly- thanks for the review! And I'm glad you think so! Sadly,I'd be prolonging Yukimura's obliviousness for a while. XD
Desi- Happy you think it's a good story! I hope you still do and thanks for the review. Aahahha
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Thanks for your time!
But please pause for a little longer, and let me have the pleasure of reading what you thought.
I love reading any sort of feedback from readers~ :)