DISCLAIMER: I WISH I Own Prince of Tennis
I'm so sorry for the semi-late update! (I updated 3 days late but we all know you people deserve sharp weekly updates! XD) It's just that, yeah, school killed me, but you're incessant support sure did pull me out my despair quickly! xD I was actually not planning on updating anything until March! Haha
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…
CHAPTER XV: Advancement
YUKIMURA RESIDENCE
Yukimura Yuko and her husband arrived on their home in Japan early that morning, just in time for breakfast. As they ate, she noticed that her son was trying his hardest to entice normal conversations with them like he usually did. But..., to her maternal eyes it seemed much too forced.
His eyebags were especially large as well. She let out an inaudible hum and turned her head to her right and stole a glance of a certain cross-dresser. Curiously, the girl seemed to have lost sleep as well. She wondered what happened…
Mah, she shrugged. Yuko's pretty sure she (and her son)'ll probably be going to lose some more sleep soon.
Anyway, she decided to go along with the topics Seichi opened up and reminded her husband then and again of things he should. Yuko had been very used to dealing with her husband's disability now, and it became like second nature to her.
"That's good!" She said, "So the tournaments will start this weekend?"
"Hai."
"Will Ryoma-kun join in as well?"
Silence
"You knew?" Yuko for a moment wondered what Seichi meant. She realized it was about the girl's tennis.
"Of course I do, my son." She said, as calmly as she could. How she regretted it, for Seichi sent Ryoma a glare but the girl remained impassive. Or at least, she acted like so.
"Anyway," She quickly intervened. She did not go back to Japan when Rinko called her in only to make the situation 's not very motherly, and Kami knew these kids' stubborness had gone for far too long.
"How're… the cheerleaders?" Yuuko finally blurted out. It was somewhat random, but it should do.
"Pardon?"
"Cheerleaders of your team."
"Of course there are mother. Being the number one team in Japan for 5 years is bound to get us a few."
"I see. So any eligible females in there you're courting?"
Seichi froze and Ryoma did too. "Why… would I?"
"Well, I just thought you'd finally get a girlfriend after being sent to freedom? I mean you'd have to find someone to spend the rest of your life with soon enough yes?"
"You assume too quickly mother." Seichi sent her that fake smile of his. And his hand was very much suffocating the poor spoon.
"That's good then." She smiled and elbowed her husband. Of course, he didn't remember the conversation so she leaned in to whisper it to him. Just a few words and his especially logical brain already put the pieces together even when he did forget all about the plan.
"We already found one for you."
"...Pardon?"
"She's a great catch, really." Yuko added. "She's pretty, smart, and great at tennis. Her beautiful pinkish-brown hair flows like a supermodel's! She has amazing curves, too." She could not help but add the last part, and as expected—the two kids paled.
Yuuko put up that innocent mask of hers. "Why so silent Seichi? Did you really not find a girl yourself already?"
"…"
"Have you?"
"…no."
"So our decision is fine, right? We do this for you, after all." She said not lying at all, albeit Seichi would probably interpret it differently. "Besides, you can meet her first. You'd probably agree either way though. She's that great." She smiled. "Right, anata?"
"Yes."
"Seichi? What do you think?"
"…I'll... be looking forward to... meeting her, mother."
And Yuko beamed and clapped her hands together in glee. "Good! She'll be arriving here before dinner. So be sure to get here right after your tennis club activities okay?"
"…hai, kaa-san."
And man, did she feel like she was being suffocated afterwards.
RIKKAI HIGH, After School
Tick Tock
Tick Tock
Tick
"Tsk."
Sanada looked at the clock... again.
'They are late.' He mused for the nth time that hour. He looked around and caught some Juniors slacking. "Tarondoru!" he yelled, before looking at his clock again. They didn't have morning practice, so he especially didn't get it.
"Ah~ I wonder where they are… puri!" Niou said as he touched his bruise. Sanada had no idea where he got it from though.
"Where did you get that?" He asked, like he usually would. After all, he cared for his team especially if what they were doing could affect their tennis. Niou shrugged.
"Got into a fight."
"What?"
"With a girl, fukubuchou, don't worry."
"Ah." He said, but before he could completely look away from him again—
"…a girl you know though."
He whipped his head back. "What?"
"You know… a pretty cross-dressing girl with soft raven hair and golden cat-like eyes—"
Sanada cut him off using his strongest glare. "Niou." He uttered darkly, as calmly as he could. Not that it worked. "What did you do?"
"Nothing." The silver-head only said, and frankly Sanada could feel his insides boiling. He knew his team mate, he was not the one to do 'nothing' given such temptations. "Okay, nothing you need to be concerned with fukubuchou."
Sanada sighed heavily. This man must be that bored. "Don't go and complicating her life, Niou."
"Eh?" Niou feigned innocence. "But isn't it already?" It was then that he looked somewhere else. "Besides, they could do that enough by themselves." He said pointing somewhere behind him.
Sanada followed his line-of-sight. And there they were: Echizen and Yukimura. And the tension between them was stronger than ever.
"Niou."
"I didn't do anything they couldn't fix." The trickster said immediately and raised his hand by instinct as he glared. "What? Contrary to popular belief. I was trying to make their relationship move y'know."
It was then that Niou let out his disconcerting,and knowing, smirk.
"What did you do to 'help'?"
…
Echizen was in a daze. She was frowning and her eyebrows furrowed. As Yukimura went and distracted himself with his duties as captain, Echizen stood somewhere and passively stared out into space.
Sometime after she entered a reverie (she couldn't tell how long it had been) she belt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned and looked. It was Sanada. "Want to talk somewhere?"
She could only stare at him as she tried to absorb things, and when she did, she could only nod weakly.
…
Yukimura watched as his team as they trained, desperate to make other, more relevant, things occupy his mind. He could even hear, or rather tried to hear, the conversations a court away. There was one court that was particularly loud though. It was Kirihara, and he was yelling at a fellow freshman.
"If you keep that reluctant, how will you move forward?!" The boy cringed in fear and sturdied his stance.
"G-Gomen Nasai, senpai."
Reluctance. He knew very well it kept a person from succeeding. And yet… how odd it was that words he heard daily and knew by heart suddenly had a different meaning.
His eyes twitched at the recollection of past events... and how many times had it replayed already? He had lost count.
We found a girl for you already!
He frowned further.
…someone to spend the rest of your life with…
And he glowered.
When his mother was saying those things, only a single face came to mind: A face flashing with different expressions, in different angles, but still the same face. And he wasn't even a girl.
PAK!
He was pulled back to reality by a large thump of a ball powerfully hitting the ground.
"Why the hell does it matter?" That was Marui, it seemed, fighting with his doubles partner. "Just do it!"
There he was again, random words carrying different implications for him.
You haven't found a person already, have you?
Once again his mother's voice echoed in his head, every single word bringing uncharacteristic fear inside of him, in contrast to the encouragements and words of kindness they brought.
Yes, he had... found a person already, hadn't he? Otherwise he wouldn't be thinking so much. He simply never dared admit it. There was simply too much at stake that he immediately dismissed the idea. But it never was easy, not with Ryoma.
Frankly he was starting to think it was impossible. Kami knew just how many times he desperately tried to push him away, and yet he continued to stay—just to challenge his sanity every time he did so.
Seichi wondered what was going through Ryoma's mind when they were discussing of that new girl…
Ryoma
Somehow, he imagined their positions switched and-
A second later he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Yanagi, looking worried. "Captain?"
"...yes?"
"Are you alright? You look pale."
"I-I'm fine, thank you." You let out his fake smile once more, but that nausea was hard to push back. "Excuse me." He said and swiftly ran outside of court. He stopped midway and only rested his back on the wall, trying his best not to make a commotion. He raised his hand and dismissed the worried gazes away and asked them to return to their prior activities.
'Oh, God.' He mused as he tried to normalize his breathing. He... never thought about this before, had he? For it was true he never liked Ryoma and Sanada spending so much time together, but he never thought anything... beyond that.
He was going to meet a prospective wife, but imagining Ryoma finding a lover of his own had been beyond his imagination for God-knew-why.
Unconsciously, he looked around.
Where was that boy?
He didn't notice his feet already started moving, and his gut was giving out displeasing feelings to his whole body. He looked around, habitually looking graceful but he was beyond anxious. His sights found a fellow regular, Niou, and decided to ask him if he saw his bodyguard anywhere.
"Where's Ryoma?"
"Dunno." Niou shrugged and looked around as well. "Ora, Fukubuchou isn't here either." He paused. "They're probably together."
Doki
"What could they be doing?"
Niou stared at his buchou for a while, pretending to think. He really was just doing it for effect though. Sanada and he never talked after his little 'challenge' but he knew he touched a nerve there somewhere. Niou knew Sanada would either make a move for the steal or try to help them out.
For the first time though, Niou couldn't tell which one the fukubuchou would pick.
In any case, he decided to finally end the buchou's suffering as he waited. "How would I know?" Niou said, feigning innocence. "All I know is that they're really comfortable with each other."
"…Is that so?"
"Uh-huh."
"Do I look like I'm fine with ambiguous answers, Niou-kun?" he smiled, but even the densest of the dense would sense it was fake. It would send shivers everywhere, really. But Niou, being who he was, did not falter…much. Sweat-drops would be the closest sign of his nervousness.
"No. Hmn… since you want me to be specific…Hmn…"
"You could say fukubuchou's the type of guy who was there for a friend he had feelings for whenever he was needed. Lucky friend, no?"
"Niou."
"It's true though!" he said and then surveyed the surroundings quickly. He saw a familiar ice-cream head. "You!"
"Hai, senpai?" He asked and bowed to Yukimura. "Buchou."
"Seen Sanada and Echizen anywhere?"
"Hmn…" The boy pondered before a light bulb appeared in his head. "I saw them go to the other yard. They're probably hanging around the fountain again."
"Again?"
"H-Hai?"
"Dismissed, Shiita." That was Niou, somewhat mimicking Yukimura's ordering voice. Yukimura was busy glaring. The boy could only flinch in terror and bow to both of them and leave for his life. "H-Hai…!" And he was gone.
"Told'ja." Niou added but Yukimura didn't hear. His mind was already on his way to the fountain. Soon enough, his body followed. And Niou watched their buchou as he walked, or rather stomped, to the direction Shiita told then.
Niou grinned and his hand sneaked into his pit less pocket to check if 'it' was there.
What is 'it' you ask?
Popcorn of course.
Okay, and perhaps some recording device.
…
Ryoma and Sanada reached a relatively isolated part of school, about a few dozen meters away from the fountains where they usually chat outside of courts. Sanada probably knew she had a problem and was considerate enough to make sure no one would hear… right?
"Echizen." He said when they finally reached the destination. It was practically a forest and Ryoma suddenly wanted to climb up a tree and isolate herself there. "Did Niou do anything?"
She stared at him. "He told you?"
"How did he find out?"
"He overheard us yesterday." She said but shrugged. "It was no big deal." What did a kiss matter anyway? She mused bitterly, the events of the previous night was still a tad too vivid. And once again, she was not fast enough to hide it.
"Ryoma." She whipped his head to Sanada's direction. Just what kind of embarrassing expression did she show again? To make him call her with her first name all of a sudden?
"What happened?"
"Too many things to say Sanada, gomen."
"I can make time." He said, with an almost invisible yet all the same reassuring smile.
"To start..," She scratched her cheek and looked at the tree. At the moment, she could only say one thing—for it had been the thought haunting her whole being. "Seichi'll be engaged soon…"
Silence
And it remained that way for quite some time. Sanada, eventually, forced himself to be coherent. "You do realize just telling him you're a girl would clear a dozen confusions out, correct?"
"Hai."
"But then, why don't you—"
"Because I can't." She said and looked away. "You promised not to ask."
Sanada froze, but willed himself to continue. This was not the time to back down. So, seeing she was not planning on facing him for a while, Sanada had no choice but to grab her shoulders firmly and make her look at him. "Ryoma, you have to start moving. It had been years, don't you think it's time to overcome your fears—whatever it is?"
She looked away again and Sanada frowned. He moved his hand up to her warm (and incredibly soft) cheeks. She glared at him and he gulped. It was hard to keep himself back. Sanada wanted to do a lot of impulsive things at the moment. And if Sanada wasn't Sanada, he probably would have done so ages ago.
"Now, what?"
"…Echizen, I—"
"Hello."
They whipped their head to that direction and paled. It was Yukimura, unsurprisingly, and he was wearing an unfathomable expression. But the aura around him was dark.
"You two really had gotten close. How long has it been since you met? One…, two weeks?"
"Yukimura." Sanada uttered, and gently let her go. He looked way firmer than before and this surprised her. Ryoma thought he was so… soft just a second prior after all. Nevertheless, her sights ended on Seichi and by reflex, to avoid herself from feeling any worse, she avoided looking at him and stared at Sanada's large back.
"Why do you keep emphasizing how long you have known Ryoma compared to me?"
"Oh, so you're on the first name basis now." Ryoma whipped her head to his direction. Did his voice just crack?
Sanada nodded. "That's right." And Seichi soon stepped forward closer to them. To their surprise, Sanada placed himself between them.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to my body guard. Anything wrong with that, Sanada-kun?"
"Well no, but we were having a rather personal conversation just now."
"I could see that. What was it about, if you don't mind me asking? You can refuse of course, I was just a curious little soul."
"Ah. We were heading towards my being a homosexual."
Ryoma's eyes widened. What? It was going there?
No, it wasn't.
"Is that so?" Yukimura said, startled, but remained cool just before looking at her. "You seem to be a magnet for homosexuals, Ryoma-kun, despite not being one yourself."
Sanada and she could only stare. What did he mean by that? They mused in simultaneity.
"I assume that you are aware of my... other (homosexual) rivals, Yukimura?"
"Of course." He smiled.
"I am one of them"
…
Ryoma watched as Sanada excused himself. Yukimura seemed startled as well. One time he was in an offensive mode, and the next he was passive. And then he was just walking away... leaving her there with a malevolent Yukimura.
What just happened?
Then their eyes met. 'That went quicker than anticipated' Sanada said, or at least that was what she thought he said, and she could swear there was a sardonic smirk there somewhere. Ryoma's mouth was slightly open as she gaped at wherever Sanada went.
But then before she knew it, her face was already forced to look somewhere else. To Seichi, to be precise, and he was holding her left cheek oh-so gently but his eyes seemed to be in turmoil.
"You look at him too often, do you notice that?"
"No."
"I don't like it."
"Because you're wrong. I don't look at him that often."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." She said. "And can you please let go now? I'm not in the mood for your games."
"What makes you think this is a game?"
"What makes you think I'll believe your little joke?"
Seichi frowned, but she was not going to back down—no matter how much hope was flowing through her. She couldn't let what happened the previous night happen again. She wouldn't be able to take it.
"Are you gay?"
Not this again, "No." she said, frowning, but before she could point out how pointless this was she was shut up—by his lips placed on hers.
...wait...what?
Her eyes widened and she pushed him. "Stop—"
She cut herself of the moment she he looked into his eyes. She was initially mad… but then she saw how much Seichi suddenly had to let go. His eyes… they were unmasked, and so full of emotions.
She was speechless.
"I'm not going to lose." Then… he smiled, genuinely. "You say you're not a homosexual?"
"Then I'll convert you into one, then."
.
.
END OF CHAPTER XV
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER XVI: The truth
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Clavemien Nigram Rosal -(ch13) Yay! I'm very happy that you thought sooo! xDD (ch14) Yes he did kiss her! But you can punch him...to Ryoma's direction perhaps? XDD And I'm really glad you liked the story, the plot, the development! Hope I can keep it up and thank you for the reviews! :DD
BrokenBlackCat- Nyahaha. Indeed! We still love him despite him being an idiot. xD But he didn't insult her family tho, he just said something like the reason she was still working for him was because of her family. ;) And lol-hope I'll be able to 'punish' him enough I guess. xD Thx for the comment~
Natasya Ivashkov- I want both! xD I mean get annoyed and pity him. Hahaha. And yay! Glad I could still make you leave reviews. Hope I can keep it up and thank you for the review~
DT- Nyahahha. Man, she's so lucky... getting consoled by one of those guys you mentioned. xDD I'll tell you why she's so reluctant on telling him she's a girl tho sometime soon. ;) Thanks for the review~
MintLeafeon- lol. Their relationship was not supposed to get better any time soon, as you said. But I couldn't help it! Hahahah. Thanks for the comment btw~ xDD
DemonWolfVampire- You spell 'cliffies' however way you want! lolololol. And really? Are you sure you should say the cliffies are the reason you read this story? *smirks* thanks for the review~
o0VioletPhoenix0o- Nyahaha. Gomen for making you lose some hair. xD I'll explain Ryoma's reluctance further soon. ;) Hope it would remain getting better and thank you for the review!
Yuki Masaharu- Thank you for the review~! And yes~ I'll do my best to keep things pleasantly unpredictable. Ahahaha~
Jogin-Peace- (ch2)Yay~ I;m glad you thought so! It's good to hear that in chapter 2 as (ch6)I'm guessing this was the part where someone saw her play yes? XD (ch10) hahaha. Yes, you should! And I really appreeciate you leaving reviews on several chapters. ;) (ch14) Hahaha. She won't! Not yet.. xD I'll explain why she's so reluctant soon. xD
DragonFirePrincess- Hmnhmnhmn... Depends, what do you mean by 'just like this' when you asked for more chapters like that? XD Thanks for the review~
FranscoiseLaraLapis- Indeed! So many geniuses are so oblivious of love. xD Well, it's fine writing those kind of love stories. *cackles* Thanks for the review and hope this chap satisfied your curiosity~ xD
xDarkxKurokox- Nyahahha. Those two could get quite frustrating at times! hahah. But sad to say, the advancement was about jerk! Seichi. XD Hope I did justice tho~ Thanks for the comment~
Kikumarucat- Indeed! Who else could comfort Ryoma best but the stoic fukubuchou? XDDD Their moment wasn't as lon as I like but I hope it's good enough~ Thanks for the comment! ;)
Shanagi95- The answer to your question is-no. I still haven't decided which scenes to actually write down. xD Thanks for the comment~
aim- I'm very happy that you thought it was good~! Hope I can keep it up and Thank you for the review~! ;)
Yuu- I know! T_T I'll try to make everything else lighter, at least in this chapter, I guess. haha. Thx for the comment. xD
JuRy28- hehe. Told'ja. I'll try to clear some of the loopholes soon. xD Syuu will appear... not so soon though. lol. Thx for the comment~
Shii- Oh, with the support from you guys I'm getting, how can I not finish the story? lololol. Thanks for the review~
WhitewingsFlutter- I know right! Fuji's such a distinct character. T_T And nyahaha-i actually didn't plan the dirty pair's enhanced role in there. They just had lives of their own. xD Thx for the comment~
deadlycute17- Gehehe. No, that bear wasn't I won't tell tho. I guess that'll be a surprise in a few chaps. xD And yes! Tsunderes can be cruel but adorable. lololol. Thanks for the review!
Guest [2/18/13]- (ch5) Oh my~ They are High schoolers now! How silly of me. xD I'd go change it out and thank you for pointing it out~
Guest [2/18/13] (1)- Nyahaha. Feel free to punch Niou. xD I'll just revive him with CPR or something. lol. And hahaha-of course I'd add Atobe. xD What's a harem without him. *cackles* And finally, I love you too and thanks for the review~! Hehe
(2)Sorry! There're two of you Guests that day so I didn't know how to reply/call you in any other way. xD Anyway, I get the feeling! I promise it wouldn't last long. xD I'll reveal the reason behind Ryoma's reluctance soon. ;) Thx for the review~
sweet-Lia- Ahaha. Well, you don't have to wait long for Seichi to know I'll tell you that. xD Thanks for the comment~
TunaForDesert- Nyahaha. Glad you thought so~! xD It was fun to write those scenes but I kinda died several times lol. And whew! The date wasn't stereotypical~ I wouldn't know but, yeah. *cackles* Thanks for the review~! XD
Kupuruu- lol. You sounded like a Tsundere! xD But yeah he is an idiot. haha. Hopefully won't be for too long tho~ ;) Thanks for the comment~! ;D
MysticBlood- 'Balloon to pop' eh? Nice metaphor~ xD Hopefully the 'popping' scenes was satisfactory enough. But you can be honest Gehe. Thanks for the review btw! ;DD
JigokuTenshi834- Ah~ *cackles* but many people react to cliffies and I tend to write the following chapter quicker. Gahehehe. Therefore, cliffies are good! lol. And Thx for the comment. xD
Darkspider- lol same here! I dunno, the internet gods are in a bad mood lately. T_T And agree~ The bocchama's too spoiled...? lololol. And you're right! Who else could that pedobear be? Haha. Thanks for the review, btw~ ;)
...
Thank you for reading~!
Hope you enjoyed but whatever you though I wanna hear(or read, rather) all of them!xD
Again, thanks for the support thus far everyone~