Haruka's Fanfiction

*NOTE* Alternate Universe wherein I shamelessly borrowed/altered ideas from various media sources and even threw in some of my own. If anything is canon here, it’s probably an accident. Some chapters contain corporal punishment. Yaoi warning.

Earlier chapters can be found here.


Changechildren (Prince of Tennis)

Part 72

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

--

Sengoku Kiyosumi wasn’t really listening to Dan Taichi. He probably should have been, since their team manager was coaching him on important data concerning an upcoming match. But he had been having an uncharacteristically unlucky day, and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He’d been late to school, forgotten his lunch, and was turned down by a girl he’d asked out. All things considered, he was due for a turnaround.

“Sengoku-senpai, did you hear me?”

“Huh?” He looked at Taichi and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, no. I will from now on, though.”

“Well, we can do this later.” The twelve-year-old put away his notebook. “Have you seen Akutsu-senpai today? I looked for him at lunch, but didn’t find him.”

“He wasn’t in class this morning,” Sengoku told him, deciding not to add the sentiment that it was just as well. Everyone was more on edge in class when Jin was there, including the teacher.

“Hmm,” Taichi said with a thoughtful frown, “I hope he’s okay. He’s been behaving strangely lately.”

Sengoku laughed and ruffled the younger boy’s hair. “Don’t you worry, Jin’s ALWAYS okay. It’s the people around him who have to worry!”

Taichi adjusted his perpetually-loose headband which Sengoku had knocked down across his eyes and looked about to respond when he paused. His orange-haired teammate followed his gaze, glancing back. “Something wrong?”

“Probably not,” Taichi said slowly, “but if I didn’t know better, I’d think that van was following us.”

Sengoku took another look. A blue van drove past and turned the corner ahead of them, disappearing from sight. “It’s gone now.”

“Not really. At least I don’t think so,” Taichi admitted. “That’s the third time he’s gone around and circled back behind us.”

“What?” Sengoku turned to watch the corner at the end of the block behind them. The van came into view and turned to come up alongside them again. This time, Sengoku caught a glimpse of the man behind the wheel. “I think I --”

There was no chance to finish. The van stopped suddenly and a different man wearing a mask jumped out.

“HEY – MMF!” Sengoku struggled against the hands that grabbed him, but the one that went over his nose had something strong-smelling in it that weakened him.

“NO!” Taichi tried to stop the man from putting Sengoku into the van, but the kidnapper didn’t seem to notice the smaller boy flailing at him with his fists.

“Sengoku-senpaiiii!” Taichi screamed, chasing after the van as it drove away. He had no choice but to finally stop, out of breath, watching the vehicle disappear with distance.

--

“It’s beautiful here, Tarou,” Ritsu said truthfully. The house on the beach was impressive, and the ocean waves lapping at the shore were inviting.

“I’m very glad you came,” Tarou said with a smile. “I left Atobe in charge of the tennis practice so I could bow out early, and this time we know where the boys are so they won’t have followed us.” He removed his beach cover-up, and Ritsu admired his muscular, well-defined upper body. “Please,” Tarou extended his hand, “come swimming with me.”

Ritsu held his breath. There was no escaping the truth now. “Before we go, Tarou, there’s something I need to tell you –“

The music teacher took his hand. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not as bad as that worried look warrants. Tell me.”

“M-Maybe I should just show you,” Ritsu said unhappily. Tarou was so sweet and kind; he had been cruel to deceive him like this until now.

Tarou watched while Ritsu slowly untied the cover-up and opened it widely. For a brief moment, he scanned the smooth skin for a tattoo or scar or some other disfigurement, but then he realized at once that not only was there none, but the canvas was flat. Completely. It wasn’t as muscular as his own, but it was definitely a MALE chest.

“Ritsu?” He stared into the other man’s eyes. “You’re … why?”

Tears glittered in Ritsu’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Tarou. I’ve always felt more at ease in women’s clothing. I don’t have the confidence of my cousins, and there’s nothing special about me.” He lowered his head. “I’m not a very good man, but people don’t expect me to be strong as a woman ….”

A gentle hand touched Ritsu under the chin and lifted it. Tarou met his eyes. “You’re wrong on two counts. The first is if you think women aren’t strong – my ex-wife and Ryuuzaki-san are examples of that. The second is that you’re wrong if you think that you being a man will change my feelings for you.”

“B-But, didn’t you only date women before?”

“Yes, and truthfully, I never considered dating a man,” Tarou admitted. “But how hypocritical would I be if I was suddenly less interested in all the qualities about you that attracted me just because you’re male?” He drew forward and kissed him. Ritsu’s tears overflowed from relief and joy.

“Oh, Tarou,” he said as they hugged, “thank you for understanding. You’re every bit as wonderful as I told my cousins you are.”

“And you’re still the most beautiful, sweetest person I could ever hope to go swimming with.” He held out his hand and smiled. “Shall we?”

Ritsu nodded, and dropped his cover-up on the sand, leaving it behind.

--

Atobe walked past the courts, studying the play taking place on them. He’d arranged for his teammates to take each other on in singles’ games and the results were pretty interesting. Gakuto and Shishido, Choutarou versus Hiyoshi, Yuushi against Jiroh – none were the usual match-ups, but it was good practice for them. Kabaji walked behind Atobe, taking notes as his Captain directed.

“It looks like Jiroh’s ready to go back to sleep,” he told the younger boy dryly. “Yuushi’s not up to snuff today.”

“Usu,” Kabaji agreed.

“I wonder if something’s wrong with him,” Atobe murmured thoughtfully and called out to the court, “Hey, Yuushi! Come over here. Kabaji, you take his place and see if you can wake Jiroh up.”

“Usu,” Kabaji handed him the clipboard and headed for the court.

“What is it, Atobe?” Yuushi asked as he approached, wiping his neck with a towel.

“I know Jiroh doesn’t usually wake up for anyone but me, but I would have expected you to prod him now and then. What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing much,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I didn’t sleep well last night. I had some bad dreams.”

“Ahn?” Atobe raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re starting to catch Jiroh’s power.”

“No.” Yuushi smiled wanly. “I watched a horror movie with Gakuto last night against my better judgment, but HE didn’t want to watch it alone. So he slept like a baby, and I had all the nightmares.”

Atobe headed for the water fountains around the corner and Yuushi fell into step beside him. “Maybe we should cut practice short and find out what Sakaki-sensei is up to. I’m sure he left me to head practice in order to avoid us.”

Yuushi gave him a ‘you’ve-got-to-be-kidding’ look. “If he catches us spying on him again, I don’t think we can count on another miracle to stop him from spanking us. I’m afraid you’ll have to count me out.”

“Hmm, you’re probably right.” Atobe frowned. “One close call was enough.”

While Atobe leaned over to get some water Yuushi heard a van door slide open nearby. He turned just as something sharp pricked him in the shoulder.

“OW!” he gasped.

“What?” Atobe stood, catching Yuushi just in time as he fell over, unconscious. A painful prick hit his hip, and just before he went down, he saw a blurring figure approach and thought, “Not AGAIN ….”

--

Fuji and Eiji gave each other broad grins as they spun, jumped, turned and slid. The two of them were enjoying some after-school street dancing in the park, and they’d gained quite an audience. Two of those watching were Taka and Oishi, and they beamed with pride to see the reception their boyfriends were getting.

“They’re fantastic, aren’t they?” Taka said. “Fujiko moves like a dream.”

“He definitely has natural grace,” Oishi agreed. “And with Eiji’s bubbly personality and enthusiasm, they make a great combination.”

Fuji caught Taka’s eye briefly and winked, making him blush and Oishi chuckle.

Everyone was so busy watching the Seigaku pair move in close precision that they didn’t notice the van pull up or the two masked figures jump out. However, they all heard the shot ring out, and although it had been fired into the air, panic broke out.

The men approached fast, and as the kids scrambled to get away, Taka and Oishi struggled to try and reach Fuji and Eiji in the center of the fray. Too late they realized that their boyfriends were the targets.

“NO!” Taka yelled as he saw Fuji flung over one man’s shoulder and the other knock Eiji over the head.

“EIJI!” Oishi protested, trying desperately to catch up once they’d bypassed the human obstacles. Taka raised his hands to use his Fire power, but realized he couldn’t without risking Fuji or Eiji. Unfortunately, the crowd had slowed them just enough that the men reached the van, dumped the boys and began driving off just as the two tennis players made it there.

“I’ve got the license number, let’s hurry!” Oishi said and pulled out his phone.

“Fujiko,” Taka said softly, watching the van steal his love away.

--

“Whoo-hoo, that was a great practice!” Bunta declared, throwing his jacket in the air as he and his teammates prepared to leave the Rikkaidai campus.

“For the most part, it was,” Yukimura remarked, glancing toward Akaya. Sanada picked up on it and put a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder.

“You all go ahead. We’ll catch up.”

“All right,” Yukimura agreed. “Come on, boys.”

Akaya watched unhappily as his other teammates moved on, leaving him with his Vice-Captain, who apparently had a problem with him. That was never good.

“I WON my game,” he blurted out defensively, hoping to avoid a whack in the head for losing.

“I know you did,” Sanada assured him. “This isn’t about that. It’s about the way I saw you behaving in school today.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Sanada glared. “Will you at least let me accuse you of something before you get defensive?! I can TELL when someone’s lying to me, remember – you don’t have to worry I won’t believe you!””

Akaya lowered his head. “Sorry.”

Sanada nodded acceptance. “What I’m talking about is that today I saw you … how do I put this … being NICE to people. You held doors, complimented them, carried books, were respectful to teachers in the hallway … what’s going on?”

The younger boy frowned at the pavement as they walked. “I was telling Bunta-senpai about how I don’t have any friends outside the team and he said I should be nicer to people. I’m trying it out.”

“I suppose it can’t hurt,” Sanada remarked. He wasn’t the friendliest guy in the world, either, but it didn’t bother him that he had no companions outside the team. Akaya was younger – maybe it was harder on him.

The curly-haired boy looked up at the blue van that pulled up alongside them and began matching their speed. “Senpai,” he said, “do you think those people want directions or something?”

Sanada turned and paused to see if the people in the van would wind down their windows to speak to them. When instead one of them jumped out in a mask and lunged for Akaya, he swung his book bag to block him and knocked him over. That’s when the tiny dart hit his neck.

“Sanada!” Akaya cried as his Vice-Captain fell over. The man who’d been knocked down was up again and trying to grab him. The thirteen-year-old ran for it, but another dart brought him down almost instantly.

--

Sumire was trying very hard to stay calm but knew she was close to failing. Oishi and Taka had come home after talking to the police about Fuji and Eiji’s kidnapping only to find out that Atobe, Yuushi, Sanada, and Akaya had all disappeared without a trace. Add to that what the police had told them about Dan Taichi reporting Sengoku’s abduction, and everyone was close to panic. It wasn’t much better once Sumire and Nanjiroh had gathered all the kids who were home and started making a head count.

“Aoi has all of hers still at Jyosei; their practice ran late,” Sumire said. “But Seigaku, Hyotei, Rikkaidai, Yamabuki – they’ve already been targeted. Who could be next?”

“Well, we’ve got all the Changechildren from St. Rudolph, Fudomine, and Rokkaku here,” Nanjiroh assured her, looking around at the milling mass of kids. “And we’ve alerted the guardians or coaches of their teammates, just in case.” He shook his head. “Couldn’t reach Tarou to tell him what’s going on – he isn’t answering his phone.”

“There’s just no pattern to any of this!” she said in frustration. “The numbers don’t match – two from each school except for Yamabuki? And it can’t be that they’re just after Changechildren, because Sengoku-kun is NOT one.”

“Not likely ransom, either,” Nanjiroh commented. “Most of those kids’ families aren’t rich.”

“Sensei!” Ryoh called out. “Atsushi wants to try and Summon the guys back here!”

Sumire and Nanjiroh went over to the Kisarazu twins and the other kids gathered around.

“We don’t know that all of them are together,” Sumire said. “It might be best to try one at a time.”

Atsushi nodded. “Okay, I’ll give it a try with Atobe first.” He focused on his Summoning power and tried to bring Atobe to him. Nothing happened. He looked at the adults. “I don’t get it, it won’t work.”

“I’ll help,” Kabaji said and put his large hand on Atsushi’s shoulder, offering his power of Enhancement. The smaller boy nodded and once again activated Summoning toward Atobe.

Both boys suddenly cried out in pain. Kabaji staggered with it, catching Atsushi before he could keel over.

“Atsushi!” Ryoh gasped, rushing to his twin’s side. “What happened?”

“I – I don’t know,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “But it was bad.”

“Kabaji, are you all right?” Choutarou asked worriedly.

The thirteen-year-old nodded. “It felt … like lightning.”

“Do you want to risk trying someone else?” Nanjiroh said. “Maybe this is particular to Atobe.”

Atsushi steadied himself with his brother’s assistance. “I will, but without Kabaji. When I tried alone, I couldn’t do it, but at least it didn’t try to kill me.”

Everyone watched while he focused again on Summoning, this time aiming it at Sengoku. His brow knit in frustration, until finally, his shoulders sagged.

“I’m sorry,” he said sadly. “I don’t know why it isn’t working, but I can’t do it.”

“Maybe I should try Banishing someone TO them?” Ryoh suggested.

“No,” Sumire told him. “It’s too risky, and I’m even less confident considering what’s happening with Atsushi.”

“SENSEI!” Inui pushed his way through the worried Changechildren. “I’ve figured out the pattern of the abductions!”

Everyone fell silent at once as he reached the teachers. “What is it, Inui?” Sumire asked anxiously.

“Don’t you see the only thing all of the kidnapped boys have in common?” he asked incredulously and ticked them off on his fingers. “Atobe, Sanada, Yuushi, Eiji, Sengoku, Fuji, Akaya! They were all members of the team that played in the Goodwill Games!”

Sumire gasped. “You’re right, why didn’t we see that!”

“If that’s the case,” said Tezuka, who had been silent since the abduction of his boyfriend and teammates, “there’s one left.”

Nanjiroh went pale. “Ryoma.”

“Where is he?!” Sumire demanded and everyone looked left and right for the diminutive rookie.

“He’s not here!” Kevin told her fearfully. “He and Momo went out for burgers. They invited me, but I had a lot of homework.”

“Contact him!” Sumire ordered. “Use your telepathy and warn him!”

“It won’t work with Ryoma,” Kevin insisted. “I’ll try Momo.”

“Tell them to stay among people!” Nanjiroh ran for the exit. “Contact me with their location and I’ll go get them –!” He stopped in front of the door as it opened, and a frantic, tear-stained Momo gazed at him helplessly.

“We were biking home,” he said, his tone reflecting disbelief, “a blue van … it ran us off the road. A man with a mask grabbed Ryoma before I could get untangled from the bike … they … they took him.”

Nanjiroh sucked in his breath and Momo’s face crumpled. The former tennis pro pulled the distraught boy into his arms and looked back at Sumire grimly.

--

End of Part 72

(2008)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

This fic is not to be re-posted.