(no subject)
I totally forgot to add this. *hits herself* x____x Big credit for nightshade09 for beta-reading this chapter AND the prologue. I can never live without that woman. <3!! XD!
Insomnia (Chapter 1 )
The road trip wasn’t very pleasant for Ryoma. He ended up sitting next to Momoshiro, who babbled mindlessly about a random topic. Usually, he wouldn’t mind listening to Momoshiro’s conversations. He often ignored them and learned to drown out his sempai’s continuous chatter. Today, however, it annoyed him. For once, he wanted his best friend to simply shut up and give him a few hours of silence. Even better, he could leave him alone for the whole day. To make the situation worse, Momo-sempai was trying to drag him into other people’s conversations and he wasn’t in the mood to talk.
“Nya, Ochibi! You don’t look so good today.”
...not to mention that he sat close to Eiji, the other hyperactive talker in their team.
“Ochibi, is there something wrong?” Eiji asked while poking his side. Ryoma sulked. He had barely managed to get to school on time, partly because he was exhausted due to the lack of sleep. By the time he arrived, he had missed most of Ryuzaki-sensei’s explanation about the camping trip. He came in time to be told that the road trip would take almost four hours (“three hours, fifty-six minutes and twenty-three seconds; to be precise,” said Inui). Ryoma decided to use those hours for sleep so he could be energetic by the time the bus arrived at the campsite. Unfortunately, being surrounded by loud, hyperactive talkers prevented him from doing so. He desperately needed energy now. He didn’t want to give out a bad performance in front of the team, especially to Tezuka-buchou and Fuji-sempai. Ryoma suddenly paled when another thought sunk into his head.
If he couldn’t come up with a solution sooner or later, he would have to endure this for four hours......four hours damnit!
“Nya, ochibi! Say something!” Eiji whined, obviously unsatisfied that Ryoma was too lost in thought to give him a proper response. Before Ryoma could even open his mouth and utter a word, Eiji had already jumped out of his seat. He then launched his infamous, most deadly attack---the bear hug.
Ryoma gasped for air, trying to pry off Eiji’s arms around his neck with his small hands. But the older sempai’s grip was too strong and he clung onto him firmly. “Eiji-sempai, hanase!”
“Eiji! Let go of Echizen,” Oishi luckily came to the rescue and tried to pull Eiji back to his seat.
“No! I won’t let go until Ochibi tells me what’s wrong,” Eiji protested He pulled Ryoma even closer.
“Ah, Kikumaru-sempai! Echizen’s face is starting to turn purple!” Momoshiro exclaimed and helped out as well.
“-Unya?” Eiji loosened his grip and looked down at the 2 kouhai, who was now gasping for air. He looked horrified, realizing that he almost choked the younger boy to death. “WAH! Ochibi! Gomen ne, nya!” Eiji apologized and was about to pounce on him again. Fortunately, Oishi restrained him from doing so.
“What’s the commotion back there!” Ryuzaki-sensei, who was sitting at the front and close to the bus driver, turned around to stare angrily at the four. “Keep the noise level down! It’s disrupting the bus driver. Settle down and go back to your seat,” she paused and averted her gaze to Eiji. “Especially you, Kikumaru.”
Eiji pouted, but complied to the command. He sat back down and crossed his arms, glaring the back of Kawamura’s seat, who was sitting in front of him. Oishi sat next to him, doing his best to cheer him up . Ryoma rubbed his neck with both of his hands, relieved that Eiji wasn’t bugging him anymore.
After a few minutes of silence, the bus was once again filled with chatters and laughter. Eiji, already cheered up and back to normal, was talking animatedly with Oishi. He sometimes dragged Kawamura into their conversation as well. Momoshiro was now engaged with a heated argument with his foremost rival, Kaidou. Inui was too engrossed in jolting down notes on his notebook to converse with the other team members. Ryoma decided that this would be the best time to leave, knowing well that Momoshiro would be too distracted to notice the absence of his presence.
He slipped out of his seat and sauntered forward to where Tezuka and Fuji were. He took an empty seat next to Tezuka, who merely glanced at him before his eyes returned back to the novel he was reading. Ryoma let out a soft, weary sigh that Fuji heard. “Saa, Echizen. Did you have a rough time back there?” Fuji asked, looking quite amused.
“Hrm,” was all Ryoma could mutter as he closed his eyes and curled up in his seat, ignoring the rambling noises coming from the back. Fuji let out a soft laugh, placing the magazine he was reading onto his lap and studied the tired look on the younger boy’s face. “You should get some rest, Echizen. There’s still a long way ahead.”
“I’ll try,” Ryoma managed to let out a weak reply, feeling lightheaded. He vaguely felt something draped over his shoulders before he drifted off to sleep.
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“Echizen, wake up.”
Ryoma felt someone gently shaking his shoulders and let out a soft groan. He lazily slid his eyes open, slowly tilting his head up to meet sapphire blue eyes staring back at him. Fuji stood beside his seat, his hand still resting on his shoulder. “Fuji-sempai?” Ryoma asked with a curious expression.
“We’re here,” Fuji announced, closing his eyes and smiled. Ryoma blinked, then looked out the window. Most of the Regulars were outside with the exception of Fuji and himself, already heading to an enormous cottage up ahead. Beside it were a few empty tennis courts, an area where the team would probably spent most of their time at during the trip. Everywhere else were mostly covered with deciduous trees, rocks, and narrow sandy roads that led deeper paths into the forest.
“C’mon, let’s catch up with them,” Fuji said and slung his tennis bag over his shoulder. Ryoma nodded. As he stood up, something soft slipped off his arms and fell almost soundlessly to the floor. With curiosity, he bent over to pick up a jacket, labeled “SEIGAKU” in bold letters on the back. Obviously, it wasn’t his. The size of the jacket was twice as big as he was and besides, he was already wearing his own. He looked up, realizing that he was the last one on the bus. Not wanting to be left behind, he ran out of the bus, tucking the article of clothing in his arms.
“Fuji-sempai!” he called out when he caught up with his teammate, showing the jacket that one of the tennis members had left behind. Fuji smiled, instantly recognizing who it belonged to. “ Saa, Echizen. You’ll have to give it back to Tezuka the next time you see him.”
“Buchou?” Ryoma questioned, raising both his eyebrows with an incredulous look. Tezuka seemed to be the least expected person to leave anything.
Fuji chuckled at Ryoma’s expression and smirked. “Ah. I was a little surprised as well when Tezuka let you use it as a blanket while you were sleeping.”
Ryoma simply gawked, vaguely remembering the event. He turned away from Fuji, feeling embarrassed and flustered. He began to walk away from the tensai, not wanting be teased by Fuji further.
Unfortunately, Fuji wasn’t ready to let him off the hook. “By the way, Echizen. While you were sleeping, we decided who our roommates were going to be,” he added.
“What!” Ryoma shrieked, stopping dead on his tracks and whipped his head around to face Fuji.
Fuji casually smiled. “Oh, we didn’t want to wake you up. You looked too adorable-“ Ryoma growled. “-to be disrupted about such tiny details. So we decided to pick a roommate for you,” Fuji finished with glee as he clapped his hands together.
“……So who am I paired up with?”
“Hn..I tried to convince everyone that you could pair up with me….”
Ryoma forgot how to breath.
“…but they voted for Momoshiro instead.”
Ryoma sighed in relief…..then groaned loudly. “Great, just the perfect roommate,” he drawled sarcastically. Having Momoshiro as a roommate meant that he wouldn’t be getting enough sleep for the rest of the following nights. The last camping trip he was on, he recalled the sempai’s snoring was loud. Really loud.
“You know, if you’re not satisfied with the decision, I don’t mind asking Momoshiro if we could switch. Afterall, I’m sure that he wouldn’t mind rooming with Taka-san and you could room with me,” Fuji suggested and crossed his arms, purring the last few words.
“I think I’ll pass,” Ryoma mumbled, knowing attentively well, like the others, about Fuji’s devilish personality. Rooming with Fuji wouldn’t solve the problem. He feared the mischief Fuji could pull during the night. He continued walking down the road, ignoring the quiet snickering from behind. Damn Fuji……Damn teammates……Damn roommate……Damn it all.
Ryoma wondered if the day could possibly get worse.
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Tap…Tap…Tap…
The five year old boy bounced a tennis ball in a strict rhythmic pattern. Golden eyes looked around the deserted playground, hoping to find someone to play with. He was sitting down on a swing as he swung idly while he waited.
The tennis ball slipped from his grasp, causing the boy to glance at the yellow round object. He watched the tennis ball bounce freely on its own for a bit before rolling away from him. He stood up and walked towards the retreating object, unaware that someone else was watching him attentively.
The ball slowly rolled out of the pavement and onto the grass, where it finally stopped, resting on the tangled locks of green grass. But before he could reach out to pick it up, a pale hand grasped firmly onto it and took it away from his sight. His eyes widened in surprise and he looked up to see who the stranger was. But after seeing the stranger’s face, his face instantly lit up and smiled.
“Onii-san!” he greeted cheerfully.
His older brother grinned at him, strands of sea green hair covering half of his face. He held out the tennis ball in front of his brother, smirking. “Wanna play?”
The younger boy didn’t answer, but only reached out with both hands to touch the tennis ball and his brother’s hand.
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Ryoma woke up in a middle of the night, his heart beating wildly against his chest. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, taking deep breaths to calm himself. For the first time, he could remember what happened in his dream. Every single detail. Yet, it didn’t felt like something randomly made up by his imagination. It felt more like a flashback. But it couldn’t be real….just couldn’t. He didn’t recall having an older brother. He was the only child in the family….right?
/ He left you……you and your family to live somewhere else in the United States to pursue his own dreams……/
Ryoma shook his head, not wanting to ponder about it any longer. He debated trying to get back to sleep, but his mind had now woken up, and he could feel himself becoming more alert. He softly sighed. He quietly slipped out of the bed, not wanting to wake his sempai up, who was sleeping on the other bed across the room. Rooming with Momo-sempai wasn’t that bad as he thought it might have been. After a hasty lunch, they had a five-hour training session of heavy, exhausting workout, taking fifteen minute breaks from time to time. Following that, they all relaxed with dinner. By the time Ryoma entered his assigned room, he immediately fell onto one of the beds face forward without discussing with Momo-sempai who should claim which. This, of course, caused Momoshiro to loudly protest that he happened to have claimed the bed close to the window. However, his protests didn’t last very long, though it did wake Ryoma up long enough to slip under the covers and lie down with a more comfortable position.
He stood up and yawned. Maybe a glass of water or milk might help. He tiptoed across the room, reaching out for the doorknob and slowly twisting it. When it couldn’t be turned any further, he gingerly pulled the door open and snuck out of the room, closing the door as quietly as possible. But before he could turn around and head for the kitchen, someone spoke to him from behind.
“Echizen.”
He almost jumped, but involuntarily made a funny squeaking sound from his throat. He whirled around and found him face to face with Tezuka, who was eyeing him warily.
“Echizen, what are you doing in the hallway where you’re supposed to be in your room, sleeping?” Tezuka asked with a stern look, crossing his arms. “I remember instructing everyone that no one is allowed to wander around the place during the night.”
He silently cursed to himself. He totally forgot about that. He couldn’t tell him that he was having trouble sleeping for the past few days. That would be…embarrassing. So instead, he told him half of the truth. “I wanted to get something to drink.”
Tezuka seemed to be contemplating the excuse for the moment, deciding whether to accept or reject it. He was starting to become awfully tired of waiting for Tezuka to say something. His impatience must’ve shown clearly on his face because the captain seemed to get the message. Ryoma was ready to receive a punishment, but what Tezuka was about to say next was unexpected. “Go to my room.”
“W-what?” Ryoma stuttered, staring at him bewilderedly. He must be hearing things.
Tezuka sighed and gestured the other to follow him as he walked down the hallway. Ryoma, with no other choice, obliged and followed behind. When they reached near to the end of the hallway, Tezuka took out his keys and unlocked one of the doors, twisting the doorknob and pushed it forward. He moved away, waiting for the other to get in. Ryoma hesitated for a moment before stepping into the room. When he didn’t hear the other’s footsteps, he blinked and turned around to find Tezuka still standing beside the doorway.
“Wait here. I’ll go get something for both of us to drink downstairs,” Teuzka replied. Ryoma merely nodded, feeling a bit uncomfortable of staying inside the captain’s room. Before Tezuka shut the door, a thought popped into Ryoma’s head as the younger boy pointed an accussed finger at him. “Wait a minute. How come you were wandering in the hallway when you said that no one was allowed to leave the room during the night?”
Tezuka raised an eyebrow. “I just finished having a meeting with Ryuzaki-sensei and Oishi about tomorrow’s session. I wasn’t wandering around the hallway. I was about to head back to my room.”
“….Oh,” was all Ryoma replied. He had a tiny spark of hope that Tezuka finally broke a rule, though he knew it was highly unlikely. He began to wonder why he didn’t bump in Oishi as well. Maybe he left earlier than Tezuka…
“Echizen, lie down for a while. You haven’t been looking well for the past few days,” Ryoma lowered his head, almost reddened by the comment in embarrassment. He heard a firm ‘click’ of the door shutting and the footsteps that were getting fainter every step. Waiting until he couldn’t hear the retreating footsteps anymore, he walked over to the empty bed and sat down on the bed. He thought about leaving and heading back to his own room, but decided to stay and do what he was told.
Luckily for Tezuka, he was able to claim a private room for himself while the rest of the members had to pair up. He was jealous, yet grateful that Tezuka had his own room. The less people that knew about this, the better.
He laid down and felt something pricking his lower back. He pulled out whatever was beneath him and realized that he was holding onto Tezuka’s jacket. He must’ve lain down where the zipper was. Early during the day, he gave the jacket back to Tezuka when he was sure nobody was looking, muttering a quick “Thanks,” before running back to the tennis courts. As he tugged the jacket, the uncomfortable feeling of staying in the room was beginning to ease away. At least he wouldn’t be alone for a while. His eyelids became heavy and tiredness began to take over his body. He closed his eyes, unconsciously hugging the jacket close to him.
While he waited for Tezuka to come back, he eventually fell asleep.