WtLB
"Bold" English for dialog
"Normal" Japanese when used for dialog
"Italics" Flashback, Important Stuff, Locations, etc
Recap
The tensai of Seishun Academy found himself getting something he hadn’t had for a long time.
A headache.
“FUJI-SENPAI! GET IN HERE NOW!”
Twitch. “Saa… are you sure, Echizen-kun?”
When the Line Breaks
By Sweet Obsidian Rain
Chapter Nine: Summons
Morning (Cont.)- 7:30 A.M.
“What are these?” A hand gestured at the bandages.
Fuji sighed inwardly as he stared into confused and blazing eyes. “Maa… Tell me, Echizen-kun,” he paused, mind racing to find a solution. It didn’t take long. “Do you often make a habit of ending up at the door late at night with bloodied clothing and injuries?”
Ryoma remained quiet, but there was a pink tint on his cheeks. Was he embarrassed? Frustrated? Angry?
The tensai gave the boy his usual smile, hoping that his plan would work. “Are you feeling alright? Do you need to take the day off?” ‘Maybe I need to take a day off. I’m the one that has been troubled after this little brat came into my life…’
“No, I’m fi…ne,” the boy tried to stifle his yawn, but Fuji could clearly see the exhaustion on the boy’s face. Suddenly, Fuji realized how much pressure and stress Ryoma was probably under. After all, he came all the way to Japan from the States with two governments after him. Added to that, he had to deal with the responsibilities that came along with being a leader of the Samurai Demon. ‘Both of us need a break.’
“Fuji-senpai?”
“Hmmm?” The tensai peered down at Ryoma, silently pleading for the boy to leave their earlier conversation be. The boy started putting out his uniform, having brushed his teeth before his discovery.
“I know I’m tired, but I have a reason. Why do you have bags under your eyes?” Fuji twitched. Why did this boy have to be so difficult?
---
“…Why do you have bags under your eyes?” When the words had left Ryoma’s mouth, the shorter boy instantly regretted it. He knew he was walkingon dangerous ice, but something in him wanted to see how far he could push Fuji. He blamed the action on his loss of sleep for slipping up. He had done that a lot lately, and it was quite frustrating that he was losing his touch.
Ryoma knew he was in trouble when he brought his eyes up to meet cautious cerulean blue ones. “Ne, are you really alright?” There was an unspoken challenge in that voice.
The boy nodded.
“Then instead of talking about me, I would like to know where you were so late last night while I was up waiting for you. And what did you do?” Fuji’s tone was sharp, allowing no objection.
“I… I was…” Ryoma was lost of words; he could feel his heart pounding as Fuji stared at him. There was no way he would tell the truth. By now, it was either Fuji knew what his identity was or he didn’t.
Assuming that he did would be a wise choice, but if Fuji did know of his identity among the organizations, it would be best to stay oblivious. ‘It would be safer that way,’ Ryoma found the ‘Prince’ side of his mind thinking. ‘I don’t know what he will do if I expose myself to him willingly. However, I do not-' think he will kill me just yet because he could have done so already if he wanted to… I better have a talk with everyone soon.’
“Ahem.”
Ryoma blinked. So he was still stuck without an answer.
“Fuji-senpai…”
Suddenly there was a loud crash and both of the boys could hear the familiar voice of Momo cursing. “I’m going to be late!”
The exclamation caught Ryoma’s and Fuji’s attention before they registered the meaning. Giving a yelp, Ryoma flew out the door, still buttoning his jacket with Fuji right behind him.
The two stopped before Momo and all of them stared at one another, each noticing the heavy bags under the other two’s eyes. All three males in the hall had an aged look on their faces. Without saying a word, all of them bolted out the dormitory exit, racing to get to the school before class started.
Thankfully, Fuji, Ryoma, and Momo did make it to the school in time with less than three minutes to spare. They stopped in front of their math room and gave themselves a brief look over (or rather, Momo did) before dragging themselves into the room.
Current- Math, Room 241, 7:46 A.M.
Tatsuya Koji honestly wondered if he had made the right choice to become a teacher at Seishun Academy as he stared at the three students who were knocked out cold. Perhaps Inui fed them another one of his creations?
SNORE…
…Or not.
Judging from whom the students were and their habits, it would be near impossible to wake them without disrupting the whole school. Momoshiro and Echizen, from past experience (or of what he knew of Echizen from these last few days), would be as good as dead until they got at least an hour’s worth of time to nap. Fuji, however, was different. The tensai had never fallen asleep in class before, but Tatsuya was sure that the boy could be wakened easily with a good shake or two.
Provided that the person who woke him didn’t mind being tortured until the honey-haired boy was satisfied.
The teacher shivered as he remembered the past events that had happened to various people when they had crossed the sadist. To be truthful, he didn’t really care if it was a student- or anything else beside himself for the matter- who woke the boy up. It was the headache and mess he would have to deal with that made him stay clear of the tensai.
Any observant student could see a vein throbbing on his head; he would have to look for Atobe for some aspirin later. The teacher sighed and decided to let the boys sleep. Tatsuya was a kind man, and he would tolerate this as long as his student passed his classes.
“Kaidoh-san, Sei-san, could you pick Momoshiro up from the floor and gently set him in his chair?”
Obediently, the two students helped put Momo back into his rightful place, although Kaidoh did it non-too-gently. There was a thonk as the snoring boy’s head collided against his desk. Momo made no sound of objection, though, and slept on like a log. Silently to himself, Kaidoh bowed his head and mumbled, “Rest in Pieces, peach butt.”
“Class, turn to page 346…”
And so… It was another normal class of math… As normal as anything can get in this school.
U.S. Special Cases- Private Jet: Miami, Florida to Tokyo, Japan 8:16 P.M.
Yuuta felt himself sweating next to Mizuki. He stomach gave another lurch as the jet flew higher into the air; his grip on the armrests tightened. By now, his face was entirely drained of color and he was a pale as newly fallen snow. He was slowly turning green though. He shifted again before groaning, “I’m going to be sick…”
Mizuki snorted and leaned away from his partner. “You’re already sick. And stay away from me if you’re going to regurgitate what you had for dinner earlier. I had repeatedly told you to stop stuffing your face, Yuuta.”
“It’s your fault for not telling me when we were leaving! I though we were going tomorrow or something!” The boy protested and attempted to make some rude gestures at Mizuki, but fell back when another wave of vertigo hit him. “Arg…”
Sighing in defeat, Mizuki turned to Yuuta and stuffed something into his mouth. “Suck on it. We’ll be in Japan in approximately 16 to 15 hours.” He moved away from the boy again. “It’ll help keep your food down,” he added after seeing his partner scrunch up his face.
Yuuta nodded and made a sound from the back of his throat. Mizuki assumed it as a ‘thank you’; if it wasn’t, well, there went the last of his dried orange peels…
(1)
Cafeteria, 11:00 A.M.
“Nya! Ochibiii!!!” A certain (extra) hyperactive acrobat bounced up to Ochibi, and pulled him into a tight hug.
The boy whose new nickname was “Ochibi” was jolted out of his still half asleep state when the sudden weight hit him and he once again found himself suffocating. Except his body was sore and it hurt this time. It hurt a lot. “Kiku…ru…pai,” the boy managed to gasp out while glaring the best he could at Eiji. “Let… go.”
Thankfully, Oishi had arrived in time before the boy could die from lack of oxygen. It took a few attempts for the boy to separate his doubles partner from Ryoma, but he was eventually successful. However, Ryoma’s wish of being left alone (to catch up on sleeping) was not answered, because now Oishi was fussing over him, muttering under his breath. (“Are you sure you don’t need me to go to Atobe-sensei for an oxygen mask?”)
Off to the side sitting in a chair, Fuji was chuckling in amusement. The golden-eyed boy turned his glare to him, which only made the tensai laugh more. Huffing slightly, Ryoma finally snapped at Oishi to stop worrying and that he definitely did not need to be connected with some oxygen machine. Although it was a bit rude, Oishi let the boy have his space to eat his lunch and turned to fuss over Momo (who was still sleeping while drooling on the table) and Kaidoh (who was staring quite intensely at his rival). The fussing boy was having difficulty though, for Eiji was now hanging off his back.
Fuji was still chuckling quietly to himself when the incident was over. It was always entertaining to watch his friends interact with one another. Although he was a bit concerned for his roommate's wound, he knew that Echizen could take care of himself… To a certain extent. He would’ve interfered earlier with Eiji’s attack if he did not think that the boy was capable. (Or it could just be that he knew Oishi was going to break apart the two in time.)
The tensai turned his head to observe the other people around him. As always, the group he was with was the one that attracted most of the attention, although most were probably used to it. He raised an eyebrow at a few people who seem to be staring at Echizen with hatred or jealousy. They turned away quickly once they noticed the infamous sadist looking at them.
Fuji wondered if the others of their little group were aware of it, but the readied and friendly acceptance of Echizen into their circle of friendship had made many other students feel jealous and resent his roommate. It wasn’t that the boy wanted all the attention (because he didn’t), but there was clearly something about him that drew people. Even Fuji had to admit that he, himself, was drawn to Echizen Ryoma. (If not only because he was a Prince of the Samurai Demons.)
Shrugging, the Fuji smiled widely to himself. Ah well, he would have to keep an eye on Echizen even more then. The blue-eyed boy pulled out of his thoughts and nodded at Tezuka as the brunet settled across from him with his tray lunch. “Saa… Tezuka, how was your day so far?”
The captain grunted, “Well enough,” and started eating. The two lapsed in a somewhat tensed silence, and Fuji, who had finished his lunch sometime during that silence, had an amused smile on his face as he watched the captain of Seigaku eat.
Tezuka finally gave into the silent battle and looked up, “What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you had notice the number of eyes that have been on Echizen lately. Quite the new idol, isn’t he?” Fuji said this with an innocent expression on his face, but both knew the message. Keep an eye on him.
Tezuka nodded, a bit confused on why someone like Fuji would want to warn or help him. He was someone who was under the command of their enemies; could the tensai be trying to deceive him? No… He had known Fuji for three years now. Although they were on opposing sides, and still are, they had never bothered to actually harm one another, but nor did they help with each other’s assignments. They had become friends of sorts.
Speaking of which, Fuji had probably figured out who he was and what he was doing. The boy was resourceful, more so than others. Only two others knew of his real purpose here.
Catching himself getting sidetracked, Tezuka went back to pondering his previous train of thoughts. Now why would Fuji Syusuke, supposed heir of MO, help him, an agent from an opposing organization? The creases on Tezuka’s forehead creased even more, and his lips pulled down to form a familiar frown.
Fuji’s light voice interrupted his concentration and he found that he really needed to stock up on aspirin. “Tezuka, if you frown and crease your forehead even more, you will grow old very quickly. Although you probably already are…” The tone used was teasing, the one used when Fuji wanted to create trouble, and Fuji said the last line with a slight giggle.
Tezuka heard barely suppressed laughter around him. People who had heard Fuji’s little joke were having are hard time not to laugh, mainly because it was something that they would not hear everyday. No one ever dared to push the stoic boy’s buttons intentionally with the exception of Fuji, the resident sadist. Unfortunately, the joke only made Tezuka frown more, “ Fuji, please refrain yourself from making such comments.”
“Hai, buchou.”
Although Tezuka was sure that he heard someone mutter “Mada mada da ne” under his breath.
U.S. Samurai Demon’s Headquarters
Ryoga threw himself onto the giant beanbag chair he had in his room after slamming the door shut. Ryoma owed him big time for dealing with Nanako. The older Prince wondered if he should’ve gone with his brother instead of staying here in the States.
There was a knock on the door and the 19-year-old sat up. “What?”
“Pardon me, Your Highness, but there is a package for you from Inui-san, desu.”
“Come in and set it down on the table.”
“Hai, desu!” The door was pushed open and Dan scrambled in with a plain box in his arms. The boy set his burden onto the wooden table in the middle of the room before stumbling out. He didn’t want to disturbed Ryoga when the older boy was in a bad mood.
Ryoga slowly forced himself to get up and walk over to the table. Opening the box cautiously (it was from Inui, after all), he stepped back when he found a compressed container filled with Inui Juice.
Attached to the lid was a note, and being the curious person he was, the boy reached for the envelope. As he tore opened the flap, a slip of paper fell out.
This is the new Juice that Ryoma tried out on his first day at Seishun. Thought you might want to try some. Please do tell me how you like it- for data’s sake. Take care. -Inui Sadaharu
…On a second thought, Ryoga was glad he didn’t go with his baby brother.
Friday, Home Base/Break, Room 213, 1:33 P.M.
Kirihara Akaya and Kaidoh Kaoru were quite surprised when their Prince settled near them and carefully made the hands gesture for summons. The boy had only been here for three days and he was already summoning all the agents in the school for a meeting? Well, whatever the reason, both signaled back that he had gotten the message. Kirihara and Kaidoh glanced at each other and nodded, having already decided which one of them was going to get the third years.
A few minutes later, Ryoma stood up and signed out of the room, no doubt heading towards the nurse’s office.
The other two in the room followed out soon after. One taking a detour, but still heading towards the nurse’s office nonetheless; the other headed towards the third year classrooms.
Kirihara curved around a corner and knocked on the door to room 237. “Come in,” a preoccupied voice said. The boy opened the door, and saw that the teacher in charge, Inui, was absorbed in his notebook. The man lifted his head and nodded to Kirihara. “Yes?”
The second year spoke while making hand gestures. “I would like to borrow Jiroh-senpai and Oshitari-senpai, please.” The Prince has made summons… In Atobe-san’s room.
“I see.” Inui skimmed the class for the two students before raising his voice to call out, “Oshitari-kun, please wake up Akutagawa-kun, and go see what your kouhai needs.” Heads turned towards the two, but Oshitari ignored them and stood up.
He started to shake Jiroh to wake the boy, but it became evident that he was having trouble. Leaning close to the boy’s ear, Oshitari whispered a few syllables. The effect was immediate, and Jiroh was wide awake the next second. “Ehhh!? Ne, ne, Yuushi, do you really mean what you said? Do you? Do you?”
Everyone blinked at the energy the formerly sleeping boy was showing; it wasn’t very often that Jiroh was alert and hyper. “Hai, hai. Jiroh, come on. We’re needed right now.”
As the three walked out of the room to find Gakuto after signing out, Inui took out his cell phone and typed a brief message to the other agents in the school (teachers). The time has come for the Prince to see us in the White Room. (2)
Not long after, he sent an e-mail to the office asking for a substitute to take his place. Inui cleared his throat, “I have some matters to take care of, a teacher will be here shortly to watch over you. Please do not cause any trouble.” He glasses glinted, and the students nodded mutely, too scared to say anything.
Inui mumbled to himself in satisfaction before walking out the door towards the destination the others were heading to.
---
While Kirihara had gone to get the other members of the Samurai Demons, Ryoma arrived at the entrance of Atobe’s office. He didn’t open the door though, because what stopped him from opening the door was the conversation he was hearing.
“Saa… Keigo, are you sure you don’t need help?” the gentle voice of Yukimura asked Atobe. It was slightly out of breath though.
“Seiichi, I’m telling you…I’m fine.”
“But,” Ryoma could imagine the frown on Yukimura's face as the man said this, “Aren't you sore? I mean after what we did…”
“Fshhhuuu…” The boy jumped and turned around to find a blushing Kaidoh behind him. Ryoma hurriedly covered the other boy’s mouth.
A sigh. “You had your part, Seiichi. It’s my turn now… Ah, could you shift over a bit?”
There was the sound of movements and both could hear the bed sheets rustling. “Is that better?”
By now, both Ryoma’s and Kaidoh’s faces were bright red. They were never going to look at that mattress the same way again.
“Yes.” A grunt came from Atobe. “I-”
There was a sudden shout and before he knew it, Ryoma found himself under five people. The door to Atobe’s office had been pushed open from the crash as well. A few groans came out of someone, before they all looked up to find a shirtless Atobe glaring heatedly at them.
“What is the meaning of this?”
T.B.C.
1. ...I heard that sweet and sour things are suppose to keep you from throwing up. xD (It worked for me when I had to take nasty herbal medicine. )
2. Speaking in code. 'The White Room' because it's the medical wing. You know how hospitals are white? xP There you have it.
First Unrevised Version 10.28.07
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