By Dyaoka
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Prince of Tennis
Notes/Warnings: I’m a loony bin, I know. I couldn’t
help it. And I believe that Ryoma came from Los Angeles, California. I think
this was stated in Chapter 0 of the manga. Not sure…for all I know, he could
have came from New York (scenes from one of the anime opening).
Part Two of Three
Practice was over. Ryoma had never more wished to be able to run. But that was cowardly. Ryoma is not cowardly. But having to face the questions and scrutiny of so many people were enough to make him…her want to run.
“Echizen-chan, how did that happen?” Fuji asked, mirth barely concealed in his voice.
“Oi, what did you mean that I was the one at fault?!” Momo exclaimed.
“Echizen, if you wouldn’t mind, tell us what happened?” Inui had his pencil and notebook at ready and poised.
“Ssss…You weren’t doing something that you shouldn’t have, were you?” Even Kaido had something to say.
“Though as interesting as it is,” Ryoma gritted through her teeth. “Kindly leave me alone.”
“Not until you tell me how was I the one at fault!” Momo exclaimed yet again.
“You gave me that stupid drink yesterday!” Ryoma
snapped, swinging her school bag over her shoulder. She leveled a glare at Inui
as well.
“Well, you didn’t have to take it, you know!” Momo argued. Ryoma turned her glare to Momo.
“Well, then, someone else must have been practically forcing it down my throat” Ryoma said, her tone dry and sarcastic. “I’m going home.” As true to her words, she quickly left the school premises…but not without several of the other members following her.
“Inui, how long do you think the effects will last?” Fuji was asking Inui. Ryoma’s ears perked at this.
“Hm…I wouldn’t really know. I think I might have given Momoshiro the wrong cup yesterday…After all; it was only suppose to be a vegetable juice that Echizen drank. Obviously, it was the one that was still in testing” Inui said, his pencil never leaving his notebook as he continued to write. “I would say that the effects would last about a week, more or less.”
“A week?!” But it was not Ryoma that exclaimed that. It was Eiji. There was a slightly evil grin on his face. “Nya, Ochibi-chan! Did you hear that? One week! Can I dress you up?”
“No!” Ryoma snapped, glaring at her red headed upperclassman that was grinning.
“Why not?” Momo countered, also grinning like a madman. “It’d be fun!”
“Fun?” Ryoma made a face. “No, it wouldn’t be fun. See you on Monday, sempai-tachi” she said before turning the corner to go home. Ryoma had never been so grateful that it was a weekend.
~*~
Ryoma yawned and pushed the covers off of him…her (as she must keep reminding himself), eliciting a yowl from Karupin, who had been resting on top of them. “Ah…sorry, Karupin…” Her cat only sent a sleepy glare before settling down on the pillow, going to sleep in almost an instant. Ryoma chuckled and stroked Karupin behind the ears before getting out of bed. For some odd reason, she just couldn’t sleep that night…though it was almost sunrise. Her old man would probably already be up, since he would have to go and ring the bell.
“What are you doing up so early…boy?” the old monk asked, snickering at Ryoma’s predicament when she came downstairs. Ryoma just leveled a glare at her father before walking into the kitchen to get something to eat. The old man would never change, Ryoma thought to herself as she heard the man leave to go to the temple.
Grabbing a cup of milk, Ryoma settled herself down onto the couch and turned on the television. There was nothing on that was particularly interesting, Ryoma mused as she turned it off. “Why did this happen to me…” Ryoma muttered to no one in particular. Soon, the half finished cup of milk sitting on the nearby table was forgotten as Ryoma was lulled to sleep by the diminishing chirps of the crickets.
~*~
“Ryoma-sama!” came a soft gentle voice. Golden eyes blinked into focus as the boy-turned-girl eyed her cousin, Nanako. “Ryoma-sama, you’d better get changed out of your sleepwear. You’ve got guests.” Nanako smiled at her as she quickly ushered her younger cousin upstairs. “Don’t take too long now!”
Giving a brief wonder on who it could be at such a time, Ryoma looked over at the clock. It was exactly ten o’ clock. Who in the world could it be? As Ryoma changed into a t-shirt and jeans, discarding the thought of wearing her regular shorts, the golden eyed girl walked down the stairs tentatively, rather afraid of who was downstairs. Of course, that was all with good reason too.
“Nanako!” Ryoma hissed as the moment she saw her cousin walk by the hall.
“Ryoma-sama?”
“Get them out of here!” Ryoma snapped. “Why did you let them in?”
“Now, that’s not very nice” Nanako scolded. “They’re your friends! And…what are you wearing?”
“Clothes” Ryoma deadpanned. Nanako looked rather mortified at what Ryoma was wearing.
“This doesn’t suit you at all! This color is horrendous, go change your shirt and I’ll consider your request” Nanako said, ushering the girl back upstairs. A few moments later, Ryoma appeared again, in a different shirt. He glared at Nanako, who had not acquiesced to his request. “I said I would consider it” Nanako said with a wink. “Now, go greet your guests. You’ve been keeping them waiting long enough.”
Ryoma, more or less, stomped into the living room. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Ryoma asked.
“Echizen! That’s not very nice!” Momo exclaimed with a bright grin. All the Seigaku regular members were there…minus Tezuka and Kaido, of course, both had declined to come to this…occasion. But the one that he did not expect to be there at all was…
“What are you doing here?” Ryoma asked the only other girl in the room. Ann only smiled back cheerfully.
“You’ll see!”
Inui had his pencil tucked behind one ear and his notebook was in his lap. There was an evil grin on all of their faces, except Ann and Taka’s, who were just platonic. Actually, Oishi seemed a bit…commiserating. Ryoma wanted to hide.
~*~
“This! This! This!” Ann was exclaiming, holding up a rather perplexing looking outfit.
“No!” Ryoma was frantic and trying to run away at every turn. Unfortunately, Fuji and Inui seemed to always be blocking her whenever she tried to run.
Currently, they were at a shopping mall. And one Echizen Ryoma was the dress up doll.
“Hey, that one would probably look nice on you!” Momo said, snatching the outfit from Ann and placing it into Ryoma’s arms. “Go try it!” Ryoma shook her head vehemently.
“I’m not doing anything!” Ryoma exclaimed. “And put that away!” Ryoma snapped, looking over at Fuji who had a camera dangling around his neck. “Why do you need that for anyway?!”
“Blackmail” Fuji answered serenely with a chuckle. Ryoma briefly wondered why she was always surrounded by idiots.
“That’s an invasion of privacy” Ryoma hissed.
“No, it’s not. It’s blackmail” Fuji countered, a
smile never leaving his face. Ryoma glared. Fuji was undaunted and continued
smiling.
“Fuji, I don’t think telling him any of this would get him to wear the outfit” Inui said.
“Why don’t we just leave him alone and go home?” Oishi asked, looking over at the pile of clothes and Ryoma sympathetically. Taka gave a nervous laugh, but didn’t say anything. It seemed like he also didn’t want this occasion to end…yet.
“Because, nya! It won’t be any fun! Right, Ann-chan?” Eiji looked over at the Fudoumine junior. The light haired girl gave a grin in return.
Before Ryoma could even protest, Ann had steered her towards one of the changing stalls, grabbing the other outfits they’ve chosen from Fuji. “W-wait! No!” Ryoma was saying, but Ann closed the curtain around the changing stall and suddenly, it went silent. Maybe that was a good sign; maybe that was a bad one. Who knows.
“Fuji-san, if you would be so kind, could you get a smaller size for this?” Ann asked, moments later, tossing one of the shirts over the curtains. Fuji caught it before it touched the ground.
“Sure” Fuji said, checking the size of the shirt before walking off. He’s gone shopping with his older sister before; he knew what it was like. Poor Ryoma.
~*~
Ten outfits and six pictures later, they finally exited the store. Ryoma had only bought two of the outfits, and that was only due to Ann’s nagging and “you can also wear this as a guy, you know.” The other one Ann bought for her…and made her wear it out of the store. Ryoma wasn't too happy, needless to say. But, one could say that Ann had a taste in clothing…much better tastes than Ryoma’s own abysmal predilection.
Inui had been scribbling something down for a moment now, and Ryoma didn’t want to know what.
“Hungry?” Inui asked, eyeing at the freshman. Ryoma nodded absentmindedly, still wondering why she needed new clothes. Girls could wear guy’s clothes, right? That’s what a lot of the girls back in California did…
“Pizza!” Momo immediately exclaimed, running towards the food court.
“No! Let’s have pasta!” Eiji argued, smacking Momo in the head with the package he held. He had also bought something from their previous store, but he wouldn’t show them what it was.
“Pizza!”
“Pasta!”
“Go get your own food already!” Ann said, pushing the males away from the two tables that they claimed. “We’ll stay here and watch your stuff for you. Oh, and Momo, get me and Echizen-chan a slice of pizza too.”
“O-of course!” Momo said, running off.
“Nya, Oishi, pasta! Pasta!” Eiji said, looking up to his green eyed other.
“Yes, yes, pasta. Let’s go” Oishi said, gently
tugging on Eiji’s sleeve with a smile upon his lips.
“We’ll stay with you two. It’s not safe for two beautiful girls like you to be alone” Fuji said, taking a seat next to Ryoma. Taka took a seat next to Ann.“It’s just like waiting for a bomb to explode.” He gave a slight wave to Inui as the taller youth walked off, still buried in his data book and mumbling something under his breath.
“Thank you” Ann said cheerfully at the compliment while Ryoma scowled. “Don’t be like that, Echizen-chan!”
“Don’t call me that” Ryoma said. But she knew it was
a lost cause. Ever since they (they being his sempai-tachi…yes, even Ann,
considering that she’s a grade higher than Ryoma), they’ve been calling him
‘Echizen-chan.’ Fuji, Ann and Taka just sniggered at her. Well, actually,
only Ann sniggered. Fuji’s smile became a bit wider and Taka just laughed and
told ‘Echizen-chan’ how adorable she was.
“Yes, isn’t she? We should do this more often…” Fuji said airily, tapping his camera. Ryoma scowled and glared, but blushed nevertheless.
“Eh? Ann-chan!”
The group looked up to see Kamio, Shinji and Tachibana (Kippei) sitting several tables over. Upon seeing her friends and brother, Ann waved. “Onii-chan! Shinji-kun! Kamio-kun!”
“Weren’t you going over to a friend’s house?” Tachibana asked, giving his sister The Look.
“Yeah. Then we came here” Ann answered with a smiled angelically. Tachibana sighed; he loved his sister—but sometimes, she can be a handful… “Come sit with us!” Ann said, then sheepishly turned to Fuji and Taka. “They can, right…?”
“Of course!” Taka answered with a smile. “Let’s put the tables together so we can fit everyone.”
After much scraping noises of chairs and tables, three tables were pushed together and extra chairs were pulled in, the Seigaku and Fudoumine students were just about to sit down again when—
“You!”
Kamio looked up to see Momo.
“The bicycle-thief!"
“I’m not!” Momo exclaimed, setting down the three plates of food he held in his hands, balancing them with miraculous skill. He handed Ryoma and Ann the extra two plates, keeping one for himself.
“Thank you!” Ann said happily as she bit into her pizza. Ryoma barely murmured a ‘thanks.’ She seemed…vaguely depressed. Kamio glared at Momo, then turned back to Ann.
“Don’t accept anything from him!”
“Why not?”
“He’s a thief! And God knows what other bad things he’s done!”
“Hey! I resent that!” Momo exclaimed. “Stop going around accusing people of things they’ve never done! And I was only borrowing your bike! And I returned in good condition!”
“Good condition? HA!”
“Tell him, Shinji, he stole my bike and returned it in a beat-up condition!” Kamio said, turning to his friend. But Shinji’s attention was elsewhere. He was staring…or rather, scrutinizing Ryoma. Ryoma was trying to squirm away from the scrutinizing stare, but to no avail.
“Ah…Echizen-kun. I knew I recognized you. But I didn’t think you were a cross dresser, dressing like that. Is it a hobby? What a strange hobby. I thought your hobby was playing tennis…But why would you be dressing like a girl? What fun is there in that? Playing tennis is much more fun. Dressing as a girl can get you into trouble…” The rest of Shinji’s mumbling was incoherent to Kamio as he gawked at the dark haired girl that sat next to Fuji.
“Echizen?! Echizen Ryoma?!” Kamio had nearly shrieked loud enough to catch the entire food court’s attention.
And said Echizen Ryoma wanted to die.