Accepting Commitment by crasseine, fanfiction, Prince of Tennis
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Accepting Commitment
Ryoma was shocked, when a slightly overweighted woman in her sixties, with a spotless white apron opened the door, after he'd rang the doorbell. She didn't look anything like Keigo's mother, not if Ryoma compared her to the picture Keigo had shown him of his parents; his father looked a lot like him, only without the mole or blue eyes and a lot more wrinkles. Keigo's father's eyes and hair were dark brown. His mother on the other hand was a slender, elegant woman with brown hair, and blue eyes, almost exactly the same shade as Keigo's.
But she could have changed. Dramatically.
"Yes?" The woman in the apron asked.
"I'm here to see Keigo?" Ryoma asked, in case he had the wrong house. But it looked exactly like the huge, white, mansion like house he'd been coming to every Saturday.
"And your name?" The woman asked.
"Echizen Ryoma." He swallowed nervously.
"Follow me, please." The woman instructed, after nodding her head once.
Ryoma changed in to house slippers and followed her to the living room doorway, where she stopped and announced, "Echizen Ryoma to see Keigo-kun, Atobe-sama."
"Thank you, Mioka-san." A pleasant, clear voice said.
Mioka-san bowed slightly and disappeared to the kitchen, giving Ryoma a quick encouraging smile when she passed him.
Ryoma peeked in to the living room where he saw a woman that matched the picture Keigo had shown him. She was sitting on the couch, reading a magazine and smiled when she lifted her gaze to Ryoma. "Ryoma-kun. Well you are everything Keigo told me you were and more I would guess. After all, it takes a special kind of boy to keep Keigo's interest." Ryoma was too shocked to answer, or even blush. "Keigo is in his room. I'm sure you know where it is."
"Hnh," Ryoma grunted, bowed quickly and fled towards questionable refuge, Keigo's room.
He entered without knocking, just like Keigo always did when he came to see him.
And then he really wished he'd have knocked, because Keigo was standing in front of the mirror (nothing strange about that) holding a red dress in front of him. There were more dresses on the bed, in different piles. They varied in colour and style, some had lace and others gleamed with sequins.
"Excuse me miss, I'm here to see my 'boyfriend'. Know where I can find him?"
"Very funny, brat." Atobe threw the dress on his bed and picked another one from the pile. "My cousin asked me to help her pick out a dress for her because of my supreme sense of style, and since we have the same colouring, what suits me, suits her."
"You're not gonna wear them, are you?" Ryoma asked.
"Of course not. But I won't put up a fight a fight if you want to try one of them. There's a little black dress that would look gorgeous on you." Atobe smirked.
"Fuck you, Keigo." Ryoma said. "I hope you didn't call me here to help you pick out a dress for your cousin."
"No I didn't. I want you to-" Atobe stopped talking when Ryoma's phone started playing the theme song for Star Trek.
Ryoma took one glance at the phone, said, "It's Buchou," and put it back in his pocket.
"Aren't you going to answer?" Atobe asked.
"No." Ryoma said.
"But its Tezuka," Atobe pushed.
"I don't care." Ryoma moved towards the bed and picked out a dress that looked like it was made out of fish net. "Someone actually wears stuff like this? There's a fishing hook on this thing. Seriously, fashion. Never really got it."
Since he didn't get on answer, he looked back at Atobe, who was staring at him with an unreadable look on his face. "Keigo?" Ryoma asked.
Atobe dropped the red dress on to the floor and advanced towards Ryoma. A bit scared, Ryoma backed away, until his legs hit the bed. Atobe grabbed him by the shoulders, knocked him down on the bed landing on top of him and kissed him passionately. Ryoma recovered from the shock he was in and returned the kiss.
"What was that for?" he asked, when Atobe allowed him to breath again.
"You don't care," Atobe murmured against his lips and kissed him again. Ryoma was a little confused. Usually you got a response like this by doing the exact opposite, by caring, but he wasn't complaining.
"Who's Mioka-san?" Ryoma asked.
"What? I kiss you and you decide it's a good time to ask me about our housekeeper?" Atobe huffed and rolled of Ryoma, to lie next to him, leaning on his elbow, smiling down on Ryoma, who was scowling at the ceiling.
"You have a housekeeper?"
"And two maids a gardener and a chauffeur," Atobe told him.
"How come I've never seen her before?"
"Well, you don't usually come here during the week. The servants have the weekends off. That's why my parents tend to be out of town for the weekends."
"And they just leave you here all alone? How come you don't go with them?" Ryoma turned to look at him.
"Well I use to, but not anymore."
"Why not?"
"I see you on weekends." Atobe smiled.
Ryoma couldn't really think of anything to say to that.
"About your parents… I think your mom knows we're dating." Ryoma said, remembering his first meeting with Atobe's mom just a few minutes ago.
"Of course she does. I told them about us."
"Oh." Ryoma mouthed and returned his gaze to the ceiling. Was it just him, or was it strange for a guy to have his ceiling painted pink? "When?"
"They asked me why I wasn't coming with them to their weekend trips anymore a couple of months a go, so I told them. They were a little surprised that I'd managed to stay in a relationship for so long, but took it pretty well. How did your parents act?"
"Aah… my parents?" Ryoma cringed. "You mean I should've told them?"
"You haven't?" Atobe shouted. "What are you waiting for? An engagement ring?"
"Don't be an idiot!" Ryoma scuffed. "I just… It never really came up."
"You are going to tell them, right?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Ryoma."
"What? You want me to leave right now and go home so I can tell them?" Ryoma sat up, ready to leave, but Atobe grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back on the bed.
"Now who's being an idiot?" Atobe asked, as he smothered Ryoma with another kiss. "You locked the door, right?" He asked, while unzipping Ryoma's fly.
"Darling, does your boyfriend want to stay for dinner? Oh. Maybe I should have knocked?" Keigo's mother asked, as she saw her sons hand down Ryoma's pants.
"You know, ore-sama always locks the door to your room."
"Che. Get your hand out of my pants, pervert. Your mom's watching."
When Atobe admitted that he actually had no reason why he wanted to see Ryoma ("I wanted you to keep me entertained," were his precise words.) he decided to leave and declined the invitation to join the Atobe's for dinner. He really wasn't ready to meet the whole family, even if Atobe's mother had seemed nice.
Once out of the door, Ryoma dialled Tezuka's number. "You had something, Buchou?"
"Nothing important," Tezuka answered. "Just thought I'd let you know that the new indoor courts you wanted to play in the winter need to be reserved in advance and their almost fully booked by now."
"Oh shit! You anywhere near, Buchou?"
"Almost there. I could book a few times for you." Tezuka suggested.
"That's okay, I'll come too. I don't have anything else to do either."
"Oh? Since you didn't answer, I thought you'd be at Atobe's."
"His mom kinda… I'm not ready to meet the family, Buchou, and definitely not with my pants down." Ryoma whined.
"I see." Tezuka said and Ryoma could hear from his voice that he felt uncomfortable, even if it was distorted through the phone. "Well, I'll wait for you outside."
"Yeah, see you." Ryoma ended the call and started jogging towards the sports-centre where the indoor courts were.
He found Tezuka standing next to the fountain just outside the sports-centre, but he wasn't alone. Momo stood next to him. "Echizen!" Momo grinned, and waved at him.
"Momo-sempai." Ryoma said as he stopped. "Why are you here?"
"I asked Tezuka-buchou to get you here so you wouldn't have an excuse, this time. I'm taking you on a double date with me and Ann! We set you up with someone!"
"What?!" Ryoma squealed. He took one look at Tezuka and noticed that his Buchou had an evil gleam in his eyes! He knew he should have avoided Tezuka a little longer.
"I can't come," Ryoma sputtered, trying to excuse himself from the double date Momo had just sprung on him. Since Ryoma hadn't found a good time to tell Momo he was seeing someone already, some one male, Momo had no idea he was already dating and thought he was doing his friend a favour by getting him a hot date.
Why he hadn't told Momo he was seeing Keigo? It was really simple. He was pretty sure Momo, his best friend, hated Keigo. So, it was really no surprise he hadn't told his best friend he was dating someone Momo hated. He didn't revel in the idea of getting scorned by his best friend. He liked his best friend. He was his best friend.
Why he hadn't told his parents was a completely different matter all together. He just didn't want them to bud in. That was understandable, right?
Back to the present; Ryoma stared in desperation at Momo's grinning face, trying to find a way out, while Tezuka stood next to him, trying to suppress a smile? No way! Does he actually think this is funny?
"Why not?" Momo asked him, and Ryoma came up with the perfect excuse.
"I can't. I was gonna play a game with Buchou." Momo knew how much he valued games with Tezuka.
"His hand is in a cast!" Momo shouted, but Ryoma had thought of that too. This was not going to be like before, this time he actually had a plan that worked, and there was no Kikumaru to glomp him, or Oishi to foil his brilliant plans, or Fuji to smile his deceivingly innocent smile.
"He can still do some basic stuff. He needs practice." Ryoma smiled brightly. Hah, take that! I can come up with a good plan! This is way better then getting my racket replaced.
"Does it have to be right now? You can do it later, right Tezuka-buchou?" Momo asked Tezuka.
One glance at Tezuka, and Ryoma knew his plan was going to fail. He shouldn't have left Tezuka alone to face the plague that was Fuji, Inui Oishi and Kikumaru. Tezuka was out for revenge. "I have poky." Ryoma said. Tezuka quirked on eyebrow. Shit! That only works with Kikumaru-sempai.
"Wasabi?"Fuji-sempai.
"Special magazines?" His stupid father. What the hell did Tezuka want?
"Of course we can do it later." Tezuka told Momo. "Call me later Echizen." Tezuka padded his back and left.
"Buchou!" Ryoma yelled at his retreating back, a hint of panic in his voice.
"Don't be shy now Echizen, don't be shy!" Momo grabbed his arm. "You already know Ryuzaki-chan and I know for a fact that she has a huge crush on you. I just can't believe you haven't noticed it."
Actually, Ryoma had noticed. It made him incredibly uneasy, that's why he'd been avoiding the girl for the past few years. He just didn't know how to deal with it.
Sakuno looked at Ryoma sitting across from her, stars in her eyes. This was it! The moment she had dreamed of ever since that day her prince saved her from the bullies in the train. It was so sweet of Ann to arrange this date for her, now she could finally be with her prince and live happily ever after!
"You gonna order something or not?" Ryoma frowned at her.
Sakuno blushed and looked at the list of different cakes the waiter had given her. "Yes, of course. I think I'll take… maybe strawberry?"
"Che, don't ask me. Just get what you want."
"Now Echizen, that's no way to talk to your date, no way at all." Momo reprimanded his friend, but Ryoma just shrugged.
Sakuno didn't mind, though. She knew her prince like no other. Ryoma kept a cold front to protect his sensitive soul. He was probably just as nervous as she was and kept throwing snide remarks to hide it.
"I'm bored. I can't believe Buchou did this to me! I hope Keigo doesn't find out about this." Ryoma thought.
"It's so wonderful how his whole appearance darkens just because he's worried I'm not having a good time." Sakuno smiled sweetly, thinking Ryoma had reacted to Momo's words.
Nanjiroh was struggling with two shopping bags, cursing his wife for making him do the grocery shopping. Why did he have to do the shopping, he wasn't the one who was cooking!
He cursed out loud when the oranges spilled out of the shopping bag once again, and run around the pavement, chasing them, cursing some more when a man in a suit stepped on one of them. He was just about to grab the man by his collar when he noticed something that stopped him in his tracks. His son was sitting in a café opposite a girl, in a situation that looked undeniably like a double date. What's more, Nanjiroh recognized the girl Ryoma sat across from. It was the old lady's granddaughter!
Oranges forgotten, he grabbed the shopping bags and hurried towards his car. He had to tell Rinko that their son was finally dating someone!
Ryoma arrived home relieved that he had been able to get away from Momo before his friend had had time to suggest another double date. Too bad he wasn't fast enough to escape before Ann had sweetly suggested that he should walk Sakuno home. Ryoma had compromised by taking her to the train station.
It had been uncomfortable. Sakuno had walked the whole way keeping her eyes downcast and Ryoma hadn't thought of anything to say. When he'd said goodbye to her when the train came, she had blushed and thanked him. Ryoma had grunted, not sure what to say to that. The thank you suggested that the girl had had a good time and Ryoma couldn't understand how she could come to a conclusion like that.
"Oi kid, why didn't you tell us you were dating?" His father yelled when he stepped in to the kitchen.
"You mean you don't mind?" Ryoma asked, his gaze flipping from his father to his mother. They were both in the midst of making dinner. Well, Rinko was making dinner, Nanjiroh was harassing Karupin with a piece of fish.
"Of course not, Ryoma, we're happy you finally found someone you like," Rinko said, beaming at her son. "In fact, how about a family dinner on Friday? We all know each other, of course, but it would be nice to make it official, don't you think?"
Keigo at least would be happy. He'd just been nagging to Ryoma about telling his parents and now he found out he didn't have to. They already knew!
"That'd be okay," he said. Rinko beamed again and Nanjiroh asked if his son wanted to play a game. "No, I have to go do something." Ryoma said, thinking he could go over to Keigo's to tell him right away.
"Going to see that special someone, eh? Ah, young love! To be a kid again, walk hand in hand, steal kisses under the blossoming Sakura trees!"
"It's October, you idiot!" (1)Ryoma snapped, not at all affected by his father's attempts at painting a romantic picture. And no way was he going to walk holding hands with the Monkey King and you can bet your assess they'd be doing a lot more then just stealing kisses, if they were hiding under a tree.
The housekeeper opened the door again, but this time Ryoma wasn't so shocked and managed to act more courteously. He also didn't have to see any of the family this time, but was told he could go straight to Keigo's room.
When Ryoma opened the door this time Atobe wasn't standing in front of the mirror and the dresses were gone. Instead, Atobe was doing his homework. He looked up from his work when Ryoma entered.
"Family dinner on Friday," Ryoma said as a greeting.
"Seriously, you told them?"
"No, but somehow they found out. So, you're coming?"
"Yes, of course I am. So, do I bring the wine?"
Normal people wouldn't think of wine as the first thing they could bring. They'd bring cake, or something else inexpensive to eat. Buchou had brought a cake his mom baked. "You are unbelievable, Monkey King." Ryoma snorted.
"What? Don't be like that Ryo-chan. Where are you going?" Atobe yelled after him as Ryoma opened the door, ready to leave. "Come back here and help me pick out what to wear on Friday!"
"No pink!" Ryoma yelled as he turned back to face the room.
"I happen to like pink." Atobe told him.
"It's girly."
"It is not! Pink can be a very manly colour."
"Yeah right! Why can't you just admit you like girly things, like that vanity mirror." Ryoma pointed at the mirror on Atobe's desk.
"I'll have you know that's a family heirloom! It was once my grandmother's."
"Who brought it from France, I know. But the thing is, Keigo, that was only two years ago."
"Brat!"
"What, no Ryo-chan?" Ryoma smirked.
The long awaited Friday finally came and Ryoma admitted to himself he was a little nervous when he'd corrected all the paintings in the house at least five times and done the same to Karupin's fur at least ten times. "Don't worry, honey, I'm sure everything will go just fine." His mother patted his head and Ryoma felt the urge to check in the mirror if his hair still looked fine.
The doorbell rang and Ryoma jumped. "I'll go get it!" he yelled. His father snickered and his mother smiled gently.
He opened the door and the first words out off his mouth were, "I said no pink!"
"What? It's just a tie!" Atobe answered, gave him a quick peck on the corner of his mouth, with a pinch on his butt as a bonus and asked, "Well, aren't you going to invite me in?"
"Fine. I'm just glad you didn't bring anything embarrassing like wine or… flowers?" Ryoma stared at the bush of flowers Atobe held in his hand, along with a box wrapped in pink and silver paper, that Ryoma suspected contained chocolates. The roses were shoved on his face, while the box was placed on the side table.
The roses reminded Ryoma about the whole thing with Fuji, over which, come to think of it, they hadn't really argued properly. "Red roses?" His eyebrow ticked. "You couldn't think of anything else to bring? You had to bring fucking red roses!"
"Roses happen to be my favourite flowers. I don't understand why you're so upset."
"Yeah, well you seem to like giving red roses to everyone, huh?"
"What the hell are you talking about? I haven't- Oh! I get it. This is about Fuji, isn't it? You're jealous."
"Damn straight I am! Who the fuck gives roses to someone, when their boyfriend is standing right next to them?" Ryoma asked, fuming.
"Someone who wants to make their boyfriend jealous," Atobe answered truthfully, a happy smile spread on his face. He lifted a hand to caress Ryoma's cheek, making the younger boy blush.
"Oh," was Ryoma's ingenious retort. "Oh," he repeated once more, blushing even deeper. "And the time you were with him in the diner, you know, when those freaks you call friends followed you?" And I hit you. Ryoma thought, but didn't say it out loud. He just placed his palm where he had once bitten Atobe. There was no trace of his teeth marks left and somehow Ryoma was disappointed by that fact.
"We were talking about you and Tezuka. It was just after you had once again brushed me off for him."
"Okay, sorry." Ryoma said and was surprised how easy it was to apologize. He looked in to Atobe's eyes and they shared a long glance. It was filled with warmth and understanding and Ryoma felt a smile spreading on his face. It wasn't a smirk or a grin, just a simple smile telling the world how happy he was. He was content to stay right here forever, touching Keigo, looking in to his eyes. A word that described the feeling he was experiencing popped in to his head. He was preparing to say it when his father appeared.
"What's the hold up, kid? Your mom and I are getting impatient. Bring her in."
"Her?" Ryoma asked, stepping a bit farther from Atobe and dropping his hand from the other boy's neck.
"Excuse me?" Atobe was sure he had heard wrong.
"Atobe-kun, what are you doing here? Didn't Ryoma tell you his girlfriend is coming for dinner tonight?" Nanjiroh asked. "Never mind, I'm sure we can set an extra plate for you. There's plenty of food. Nice flowers." Nanjiroh smirked. He'd never understood how Ryoma could be such close friends with a boy that was so egoistical and snobby.
They all turned to stare at the front door, when the doorbell rang again, but with varying feelings. Atobe was mostly confused and his expression revealed that. Ryoma was almost certain he knew who was behind the door and stared at it with horror written on his face.
Nanjiroh grinned enthusiastically, stepped to the door and slammed it open. "Sakuno-chan! Welcome! Come on in! Ryoma's been like a cat on a hot tin roof all day, waiting for you!"
"Ah, thank you Echizen-san. It's nice to see you again." Sakuno bowed and stepped in. She smiled shyly at Ryoma, blinked in confusion at seeing Atobe, but didn't have time to comment on his presence because Nanjiroh was directing her towards the living room.
"Come talk to Rinko! You boys join us once Atobe-kun takes off his shoes. And maybe you can find a vase for those flowers, kid?"
"Your girlfriend?" Atobe asked in a calm, silent voice, teetering in the verge of rage.
"Shit! Dad must've heard about my date with her and made his own conclusions."
"Your date! You were on a date with her? What the hell are you trying to do to me?!" There was desperation on Atobe's voice.
"It was not my fault!" Ryoma hastened to explain. "Momo-sempai sprung it on me, he thought he was just being a good friend and I had the perfect plan but Buchou abandoned me! He's evil I tell you, evil!"
"Why would Momoshiro set you up on a date when he knows you're already dating someone?" Atobe asked and Ryoma took an interest in the piece of wall that was visible just above Atobe's shoulder. It was a nice, white wall, with a couple of dark smutches that might, or might not have been dead flies. How interesting. "Oh no, I don't believe this! You haven't told him, have you?"
Such a pretty wall…
"Look at me Ryoma." Atobe sounded different. He spoke evenly, emotion void. The voice was so cold Ryoma could almost hear ice crackling. "I am not dating someone who is too ashamed of me to tell his parents or his best friend about me."
"I'm sorry! I'll tell them it was a mistake, that I'm not dating Ryuzaki." Ryoma looked at Atobe's eyes, but could only see his own image reflected in them. Atobe's eyes had become like ice, his gaze was freezing Ryoma. It scared him.
"And you'll tell them we're dating." Atobe stated.
"I don't understand why we can't just keep going like before. What's the point in telling? Things are good, right?"
Atobe shoved the roses at him and Ryoma clutch them instinctively to his chest. "I love you." Atobe said. "I'd be willing to take almost anything from you, which I'm sure I have proven. But this… even I have a limit, Ryoma." He leaned in then, lips hovering over Ryoma's, his warm breath a strange contrast to the icy gaze.
Atobe sighed, backed away and Ryoma panicked. Still clutching the roses in his left hand, he threw his arms around Atobe's neck, keeping the boy's head where it was, pressing his lips against the others, inhaling deeply in Atobe's scent. "Don't," he whispered, not really sure what he was pleading for, but Atobe was scaring him.
"I can't," Atobe answered, whispering too.
Ryoma did not fight, when Atobe removed his hands.
Staring at the closed door, clutching red roses against his chest like some heroine from a paper back romance novel was probably not going to do him any good. But it was all he could do right now.
His mother's laughter reached his ears and woke him from the daze he was in. If he could just get trough dinner then he'd apologize to Sakuno and tell his parents he wasn't dating… anyone. Not anymore.
(1) In Tokyo, Sakura usually bloom from the end of March to the beginning of April.
...
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]