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.

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Changechildren (Prince of Tennis)

Part 74

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

--

“This is the life, isn’t it, Smith?”

“You know it. Atobe, bring me a fresh drink!”

The Hyotei captain ground his teeth together as he took the empty glass from Smith and headed for the kitchen. He passed by Sanada, who was on the way back in with another glass for Baker. The two boys exchanged a look that clearly said what they would have liked to do with the drinks.

It had only been a few hours, but Smith and Baker had already become comfortable in their roles as lords and masters of the eight kidnapped boys – far too comfortable as far as their slaves were concerned. While Atobe and Sanada were forced to fetch and carry, Ryoma and Akaya were standing over the men fanning them, In the meantime, Sengoku and Yuushi were made to be human footstools for them.

“We’re geniuses, you know that?” Smith commented to Baker with a grin. “By now the police are probably finding that van we dumped, and figuring it’ll bring them right to us.”

“But they don’t know that the Organization gave us TWO vans so that we could switch them off after we stole the kids.” Baker laughed. “The one that everybody saw at the kidnapping scenes never came anywhere near this place, so there’ll be no tire evidence.”

“And no prints from us, since we wore gloves.” Smith nodded. “We’re just too smart for them.”

“We should celebrate.” Baker clapped his hands together. “Fuji, Kikumaru, front and centre!”

Reluctantly, the two Seigaku players stepped forward.

“I couldn’t help but notice when we arrived to pick you up that the two of you were putting on quite a show for an audience,” he said with a disturbing smile. “I want the two of you to dance for us now. Echizen, go turn on that radio over there and find a dance station.”

Ryoma scowled and tossed his fan onto Baker’s lap before turning to head toward the radio.

“Just one moment!” the man interrupted, picking up the fan. “You just threw this at me!”

“I put it down,” Ryoma disagreed.

“You THREW it,” Baker insisted. “And now you’re arguing with me. That calls for punishment.” At that moment, he saw Atobe and Sanada returning with the drinks. “Good timing – come here, Sanada, and give me that.”

The two boys shared another trepidatious look but approached the men and handed them their drinks. Baker put his aside. “Echizen just gave me attitude, so you have to turn around now,” he told Sanada.

The Rikkaidai Vice-Captain shot Ryoma a dirty look and the younger boy had the grace to look apologetic. Sanada turned his back to Baker as directed.

“Bend over.”

While his usual serious expression didn’t change, Sanada’s face began to flame red as he obeyed and Baker gave him a hand whack on the behind, causing Smith to laugh and the other boys to wince.

“I’m taking it easy on him this time, Echizen, but next time it’ll go worse for somebody, got it?”

“Whatever,” Ryoma replied automatically, then froze. Rather than get angry, Baker chuckled.

“I’ve seen enough of you to know that that’s your usual way to agree, so I won’t take it personally. Get the music on.” He looked over at the other man. “How’s the drink?”

The boys had already learned that the men wouldn’t both drink or eat anything that they served at the same time in case they’d attempted to poison them. Smith took another noisy slurp and nodded. “It’s good. He actually got the right amount of sugar in it this time. Lean down here, Atobe.”

None of the boys liked getting any closer to the men than they absolutely had to, and Atobe had a hard time keeping the distaste off his handsome face as he obeyed. Smith reached up and gave his head a condescending pat.

“Good boy,” he said.

Akaya snickered and Atobe glared at him.

Ryoma knew his teammates weren’t anxious to start dancing for the entertainment of those men, so he took his time going through the radio stations. When he found one that played classical music, he paused and glanced over, barely hiding a smirk.

“Not THAT one!” Baker told him in annoyance. “Something peppy that they can dance to.”

“Ballet dancers can dance to this,” Ryoma said simply.

“Ochibi-chan …,” Eiji warned, not wanting anyone else to get hurt because Ryoma couldn’t keep his mischievous side in check.

“Come to think of it, he’s right.” Baker nodded slowly. “It’s not what I had in mind, but it would be fun, anyway.” He smiled nastily at Fuji and Eiji. “So dance, my ballerinas.”

The pair looked at each other nervously, feeling miserable but knowing it would only give the men satisfaction if they showed it. Resignedly, they began to move to the classical music, feigning ballet as well as they could manage.

Baker had figured that their attempts would be embarrassing beyond belief and provide them with some laughs. However, while Eiji clearly wasn’t comfortable with that style of dance, he persevered determinedly. Fuji, however, moved gracefully, as if he were born to it naturally. The two men gave each other approving nods.

From his all-fours position under Smith’s feet, Sengoku murmured to Yuushi, “How long do you think they’ll keep this master/slave stuff up?”

“Too long,” was the answer.

“This guy’s feet are heavy. And they stink.” The Yamabuki player shifted position slightly. He turned his head to observe the dancers. “They’re not bad.”

Yuushi followed his gaze and watched for a few moments. He found himself following Fuji’s fluid movements with admiration. “Is there anything that guy can’t do effortlessly?” he wondered out loud.

“Yeah. Escape.” Sengoku sighed.

Yuushi wasn’t the only one who was focusing on Fuji; Baker’s concentration was now fully occupied by watching the tensai’s motions. Atobe noticed and it gave him a disturbing chill. Tezuka was far away, and he felt it was up to him to watch over his boyfriend’s teammates in his absence. The hungry look Baker was casting on Fuji had nothing to do with food, and had to be interrupted quickly. He took a step back behind Smith’s chair, motioning to Ryoma and silently mouthing, “Change the station, NOW!”

Ryoma got the idea and gave the dial a hard turn. Heavy metal music blasted into the room, causing everyone to jump and Smith to spill his drink all over himself.

“You little brat!” he yelled at Ryoma, bruising Sengoku’s back with his heels as he struggled to get his girth out of the chair.

“It was an accident,” Ryoma told him. “I bumped the knob too hard while trying to get the station in more clearly. I’m sorry.”

The boys all looked up in shock. When was the last time any of them had ever heard Ryoma apologize for anything?

“Hmmph!” Smith snorted as he took off his wet shirt, subjecting the poor children to a view of his hairy chest and paunch. “Well, now this needs to be washed. Atobe, take care of it.”

“And change that station, Echizen!” Baker ordered. Ryoma obeyed, finding a regular dance station while Atobe took the wet shirt from Smith. The two boys exchanged the triumphant look of warriors who had won a small victory.

--

Nanjiroh sank into a chair and rubbed his eyes. Aoi walked around behind him and began to massage his shoulders. “They’re going to be all right,” she said, trying to sound positive.

He patted her hand. “I hope you’re right. They’re tough kids, the whole bunch of them, but who knows what kind of situation they’re in ….” He shook his head. “They’ve come to depend on their powers. So have the others. It’s making them nuts that they can’t contact them or bring them back.”

“They’ve been working together to compile a list of suspects; maybe that will help. Sumire is consulting with them over their findings now.” Aoi sighed, looking up as Tarou entered the room. “Anything new with the police?” she asked.

“One thing,” he said. “A van fitting witness description and the license Oishi saw was found, abandoned. No fingerprints in it other than those that are probably the boys’, as they were in the back, along with a few different hair samples. They’re taking dirt scrapings from the tires to see if it’s been driven anywhere out of the ordinary.” His phone rang and he murmured an apology to the other two as he answered it. “Hello? … Oh, Ritsu.”

“Tarou, I hope you don’t mind me calling like this,” Ritsu said shyly. “I wanted to invite you to dinner here at Shigure-niisan’s tomorrow night. He said it would be fine.”

“I wish I could, my dear, but we have a serious problem here at the mansion,” Tarou told him. “Several of our boys have been kidnapped, and we haven’t heard anything about ransom or any other kind of demands.”

“Oh no!” Ritsu gasped. “Tarou, that’s terrible! Is there anything I can do?”

“Right now there isn’t much any of us can do, I’m afraid. The boys are gathering a list of suspects, and the van they were stolen in was found, but we’re still waiting for word on what clues there might be with it.”

“Well, please keep me informed, and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help!”

“If the police don’t come up with anything on the van, I’ll let you know and we’ll see where we can go from there. Thank you, darling.” Tarou hung up just as Sumire, Inui, and Mizuki walked into the room. “Come up with anything?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Sumire said. “From what the boys have been able to compile between cross-referencing lists of suspects with grudges against the kidnapped players, the only name that keeps coming up in all categories is Richard Baker.”

“Baker?!” Tarou exclaimed. “That man who coached the American team ….” He paused, shaking his head. “Of course! Dan Taichi said that Sengoku-kun seemed to recognize one of them, and he would know Baker from the games!”

“But there were TWO men involved – who is his accomplice?” Aoi asked.

“That we aren’t sure of yet,” Inui admitted, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Since Baker’s base of operations has been in the States for so long, there’s not a lot of information on his private activities available here in Japan.”

“If we could find somebody around here who recognizes a picture of Baker as someone they’ve seen recently, maybe they could describe his accomplice – if they’ve been seen together at all,” Mizuki suggested. “But we aren’t sure where Baker might have been hanging out, so we don’t know where to start showing his picture. The whole thing is a longshot.”

“At least it’s something we can give the police to follow up on,” Sumire said. “We’ve already faxed a picture over to them and explained the boys’ findings.”

“They’ve found the van, as well,” Tarou told her. “No evidence to implicate who the kidnappers are, but they’re certain the boys were in the back of it.”

“The van …,” Inui said slowly, then snapped his fingers. “That’s it!” He turned to Mizuki. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I’m way ahead of you!” The two of them ran from the room, leaving four baffled adults behind.

--

“So, is your boyfriend coming tomorrow night?” Shigure looked up from his newspaper as Ritsu entered the room.

“No,” he said quietly, wiping moist eyes. “Something terrible has happened, Shigure-niisan! Several of Tarou’s boys have been kidnapped, and there’s been no ransom demand!”

Kyo and Yuki looked over from where they’d been finishing a snack. “’Several’?” Kyo repeated, frowning. “Why would anyone take a lot of kids at once?”

“I don’t know,” Ritsu admitted, kneeling by the low table. “He says the van was found, but there may not be anything in it that will help lead them to the boys.”

“Wow,” Yuki said softly. “Those poor kids.”

“I wish there was something we could do!” Ritsu declared and turned desperately to Shigure. “Isn’t there any way we can help? I know I’m weak and not very clever, but surely there must be SOME way!”

Shigure put the newspaper down and took off his reading glasses. “You said when you came home from your date that you told him you’re a man; did you tell him anything else?”

“You mean about the curse?” Ritsu shook his head. “No, of course not.”

“There may be ways we can help,” Shigure cautioned him. “But it would mean revealing our secret to not only Tarou, but possibly those around him, as well. We’d have to be prepared for that if we get involved.”

“I’ll do anything I have to do to save the boys!” Ritsu said firmly. “Even … even if it means Tarou learns EVERYTHING about me!”

Shigure looked toward his younger cousins who both nodded their concurrence. “Then it’s settled,” he said, smiling encouragingly at Ritsu. “Call Tarou back and tell him we’re offering our ‘unique’ resources to aid in the search.”

--

End of Part 74

(2008)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

This fic is not to be re-posted.