Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.

Uh… Hi? –ducks from flying rocks- I’m sorry for not updating so long. I haven’t exactly been in a writing mood… Anyway, this chapter moves the story onto the next stage. It might be some confusion because the first part continues from where I left off, and the second part is two days later (read: time skip). So... uh… MORE THRILL ACTION COMING. I promise! (And some annoying obstacles…)

Oh, and it has been decided that this is the story I will be focusing on. To the people who voted, thank you! My gratefulness to Shinsei Tsukiko (for throwing bricks and helping me pick a ringtone), awin-chan (who took an extra stepped and nagged me with bricks), and ChibisukeGirl (giving advice about my vocab) for helping!

"Bold" English
"Italic" Thoughts, dream, flashbacks, important stuff, etc.
"Normal" Japanese when used for dialogue.

“Listen to him, Marui. I’ll be fine.” Yagyuu interrupted, his voice slightly cracking.

Glancing at Yagyuu, then back at Fuji, and then at the door, Marui nodded and took his leave, feeling two pairs of grieving eyes boring into his back.

When the Line Breaks

By Sweet Obsidian Rain

Chapter Twelve: Deal

In the comfortable sanctuary of Yukimura Seiichi’s office, one could find the said man at his desk, looking at the TV screens on the wall to his right. Each screen showed videos of different places in Seishun Academy (which included all buildings that were part of the facility), some replayed what had happened hours before while a few showed the present. Yukimura, though, was focused particularly on the monitors that viewed the dorms. After scanning through ten little boxes that showed the (now) quiet hallways of dormitory one, a pair of blues eyes rested on a screen that showed a honey-haired teen talking into his phone in a panicked manner.

Picking up the remote control on his desk, he pressed a green button and the number twenty-four. Instantly, the whole wall of TV screens changed into one big display that re-played the video of Fuji talking into his phone. The sound system was turned on, making the other occupant in the room, Echizen Ryoma jump up, startled. His concentration broken, the boy got up from his warm seat in the corner by the giant blue penguin, and walked over to Yukimura with the laptop he was using in his arms.

The Fuji in the video sat up from reading manga on his bed, and picked up the phone on the desk that he shared with Ryoma. “Moshi—?” The sound of someone desperately shouting on the other line could be heard, but Ryoma and Yukimura cold not make out the words said.

The duo watched as Fuji’s eyes snapped open, “He’s what?!” The boy’s face was rapi—

Yukimura frowned and pushed the replay button, turning up the volume while doing so. It was loud enough to faintly hear what was being said from the caller, but soft enough so that the two did not have to wince and damage their ear drums.

Fuji sat up and dog-eared his manga before putting it down. His phone continued to play the song he had set as its ringtone; the desk it was sitting on vibrated along with it. Picking up the silver device, he flipped it open and spoke with a smile, “Moshi— ?”

“Fuji! Niou’s condition has gotten worse. He’s being rushed into the emergency room right now,” a familiar voice immediately said, interrupting the tensai.

“He what?!” Fuji’s eyes snapped opened, and his face was rapidly paling. “I... I’m coming. Meet me on your way there.” Fuji moved swiftly to the door, putting on his shoes as he spoke in a neutral tone.

“Are you sure? That boy is with you, isn’t he?”

“Aa…Yes,” Fuji answered, glancing up at the top of the bunk bed to see Ryoma watching him intently.

The voice on the other line sighed. “There’s no stopping you now, is there? Marui and I are going to meet up with you along the way.”

“Okay. See you there,” Fuji confirmed briefly, flipping the phone shut. The honey-haired boy shoved his phone into his pocket and reached down with both hands to adjust his shoelaces before standing up.

“Fuji-senpai, are you okay? You look like you’re about to faint anytime now,” Ryoma said. The camera that was filming only caught the Ryoma’s head as the boy peeked out from his bunk at the top.

The honey-haired boy had his head bowed slightly; his hair fell across his face, making it impossible for anyone to see his expression. “I’m fine, Echizen-kun. Go back to your reading.”

The slight tremble in Fuji’s voice gave it away though. Ryoma was not convinced, but he complied, though not before asking, “When will you be back?”

“I don’t know. Later in the evening, I think. Sorry, you’re going to have to go eat without me,” Fuji said curtly. And with that, the door was flung open and slammed shut; Fuji’s fading footsteps could be heard through the camera…

Yukimura paused the video as the screen started to show Ryoma frowning then burying his nose back into the book he was reading. Both had the same thought going through their head before a sudden alarm sounded in the room.

Ryoma jumped up and immediately went to check his laptop. On the screen, a penguin holding an exclamation sign flashed something that the read “Hacking Alert!” The dark-haired boy clutched his fists tightly before slowly flexing him, his eyebrows twitching. He could not believe Yukimura would go as far as putting a blue penguin as the symbol of warning when someone was trying to hack into the database. Taking slow breaths, the boy began typing away codes and commands to counter the hacker’s attacks.

Ryoma’s eyes narrowed in concentration, his earlier irritation forgotten. The computer continuously made beeping sounds, and numbers scrolled across the page. Smirking, the boy typed in one more code to call up an anti-hacking program that the Samurai Demons’ technology and defense department had designed. Holding one finger up, the boy slowly brought it down on the enter key to activate the program. “Mada mada dane.”

Yukimura turned to his own computer, and got into the security window right away, looking for traces of the hacker and searching for his or her identity. Tracking people was his specialty. The counter-hacking or whatever he could leave to Ryoma (and some other people) to take care of. Scrolling through the system log, he searched for anything that did not belong to the SD Database. What he caught stuck out like a sore thumb, and it had him gaping at the screen in an un-Yukimura-like manner. “What the fuck…”

A small symbol was shown on the list, and it was what caught his eye at first. The logo was, Yukimura had no doubt, a small samurai penguin (it was blue and had golden eyes) being whacked with a wooden sword by a… bear dressed in… was that the school’s (as in Seishun) uniform?

His attention slowly transferred to the words next to the small icon as he recovered from the surprise. Smirking amusedly, the blue-haired man read softly, “A little gift from an unknown ally.”

“Maa… This is certainly interesting,” Yukimura commented, processing the information. Ryoma had already moved next to him to see what was going on. The boy, though, did not take the icon as well as Yukimura did.

“What the hell is that? Is this some kind of joke to test our security system?” Ryoma growled, showing his irritation as his aura became murderous. “Yukimura-san, I do not want to see another penguin in your room, again. Ever.”

Chuckling, Yukimura only winked, and turned back to the screen. Ryoma never said he had to get rid of the penguins; he only didn’t want to see one in is room. Besides, the man thought, Gen-chan needs something to brighten up his room more.

“So? Did you find him?”

Running a search on the tracks he found, Yukimura’s eyes moved back and forth as he read through the codes. “No…“ he paused, frowning, “I think he hacked into someone else’s computer, and used it to get into ours. A common thing.”

“You can at least track down the computer he’s using, can’t you?” Ryoma asked, impatient.

“Yes, I can. I’m running a search right now,” the man replied, using the organizations tracking program to examine the tracks.

Why the hacker would call himself an unknown ally, he had no idea, but he certainly was curious. From what he had gone through, the person made no effort to cover up where he had been to, only hiding his location and anything that could lead to his identity. To say the least, the hacker basically had no specific reason in hacking their system, except for, most likely, entertainment. But…

Beeeeeeeeeep.

Ryoma jumped and turned to the laptop he was using to check on the problem. The screen flashed once before the e-mail page appeared. Looking for the sender, he found no one’s e-mail in the box; it was an anonymous message.

To: syukimura(a)samurainet. com

From:

Dearest Samurais,

I am obliged to inform you of something that you should be aware of. A long on-going war that has been far longer than the one you have with the Midoriyama Organization is about to make itself known. The war was thought to be over for years, but the organization that was defeated had been secretly planning for years- they still are. As part of this group, my responsibility is to request for your help when the time of need has come.

Our identities will not be revealed until the brewing plan has reached its climax. Please consider this offer, and another message will be sent to you when you are needed. We hope you decide to aid us against the infamous Midoriyama Organization.

Best Regards,

MO

-

Miso Soup! Miso ‘Op!

You and me

Are happily drinking miso soup

That Okaa-san made.

There was silence as both Yukimura and Ryoma finished reading the e-mail. Neither spoke for a while, lost in their own thoughts until Ryoma decided to break it. “MO? But didn’t the e-mail just say that they were going against MO?” There was a frustrated frown on his face.

Yukimura hummed, trying to process what he just read to come up with a sensible answer. “Yes… But maybe the MO-san here is an abbreviation for something else?”

“But what then? And what was with that weird poem at the bottom of the message?”

The blue-haired man brought his hand up to play with his hair as he answered, “I don’t know, Ryoma-kun. Those words do sound familiar though,” Yukimura said, his mind somewhere else. Ryoma was sure that the man was onto something. “But I’m wondering how this guy even sent the message, first of all. The system was supposed to redirect e-mails sent to this account unless it was sent from another account that’s part of the inner circle, or someone with special privileges. I suppose he could have hacked into one of our computers and sent it, but the chance of that happening isn’t very likely.”

That was true. The e-mails that were hosted by the Samurai Demons were specially designed by their technology department. The e-mails were strictly for people of the inner circle, save for a few who were unusual cases. The system, as Yukimura had said, was programmed to redirect any e-mails that weren’t part of the circle. So the e-mail they just got was supposed to be redirected. While the hacker could have gotten into one of the inner circle accounts, the e-mail was sent without a return address.

Sure, the hacker could have hacked into the system and changed the programming, but the program was written in an entirely different code that only the most trusted people of the organization could read and interpret them. It was highly impossible for the hacker to be able to send the message… Unless… Unless…

The message was from someone inside the organization. Someone who was among the most trusted.

Ryoma’s eyes widened slightly as he reached the conclusion. “You think…? But… How?”

“It’s a direct challenge to us.”

“That doesn’t—“

Yukimura shrugged. “Ryoma, this has never happened before. I’m going to call for Gen and Keigo.” With a glance, the man picked up his cell phone and called up the two other people supposedly in the building.

“Awah! Buchou sure knows how to make us work, threatening us with Inui Juice,” Momo exclaimed, as he walked in front of four others back to the dorm. They had just finished with tennis practice, and were worn out, hoping to reach their dormitory for a good shower and sleep. Never mind getting dinner. If they woke up in time, then they would be lucky enough to get some proper food; if they did not, then the snacks they stored in their rooms would do.

Besides, the Inui Juice that Tezuka and Coach Yukimura had used as “punishment” was enough for them to stomach. The only one that wasn’t affected was Fuji, who was also the least weary of them all. The tensai was walking along with the group, a strained smile on his face, but it was a smile nonetheless. “I don’t know how you all think Inui Juice is horrible. I admit, the one Inui made today wasn’t as good as the one I drank before that, but it was nice…”

Hiyoshi glanced at the honey-haired boy and shuddered. Whoever could stand up to any of Inui’s concoctions was someone to fear— not that the deadly genius was not one to fear already. One day… Just one day… he would be able to beat the guy and stomach Inui Juice properly…

Beside Fuji and Hiyoshi was Ryoma, who had been strangely silent (not that he talked very much, because he didn’t) since practice ended. Something was bothering him, the rest of the group could tell. Coach Yukimura had pulled him aside before practice started, and everything after that was like a zone for the boy. Most of them assumed it was because he was reflecting over his match with Kaidoh, which ended with a score of 7-5, Ryoma winning.

Little did they know, Ryoma’s mind was preoccupied by a certain incident two days ago and the simple message Yukimura had said to him before his match.

Humming to himself while making noises when something caught his attention (which was very often), Eiji brought up the rear. His mind was flickering from one thing to another. Of course, Eiji had wondered why his Ochibi was acting so weird, but then his attention was caught by a drifting leaf that was in the shape of a heart shape. And then Momo suddenly tripped over a small branch, to which Eiji laughed hysterically at before helping the boy up.

“Unya?” The redhead then was about to turn to the other three, wondering why they weren’t reacting to the incident when he stopped to ogle at a flock of birds flying south. Yep, the boy had the attention span of a fly.

“R-Ryoma-kun!” a feminine voice said out of no where. Well, actually, it was from behind them, but that wasn’t important. The five students of Seishun Academy whirled around to see a girl about Fuji’s or Eiji’s age with long black hair running towards them.

Momo and Eiji immediately turned to the youngest of them all with raised eyebrows, though Momo’s expression was not as amused (but no one saw it except for the observant Fuji). Ryoma only stared in shock at the two figures that were running slower as they got closer to them. “N-Nanako? And…”

Panting slightly, the girl stopped in front of the group, and leaned over a bit to catch her breath. “Ryoma-kun… I… finally found you…”

Behind the girl, a boy around nineteen or so (who looked a lot like a certain individual) caught up and stopped, sending Ryoma an apologetic look. Ryoma looked from the girl back to the boy before taking a step forward and looking at the girl in the eye. “Nanako, what are you doing here?” He was completely ignoring the older boy.

Off to the sidelines, Eiji and Fuji watched with intrigued faces (though the former was about to burst from excitement). Hiyoshi shrugged, and watched along with the rest with distanced interest. Momo though, was staring at Ryoma and the girl—Nanako— with curiosity and something akin to jealousy. Fuji seemed to have figured out who the two strangers were already and was smiling his all knowing smile as he once again made different observations on the people around him.

“I came to find you, you left all of a sudden and—mfmfmfffmm!” Heads turned to look at the boy whose name had not been mentioned yet (though Fuji found that the resemblance gave everything away), as he scrambled to cover Nanako’s mouth.

“Sorry, Ryoma,” he apologized, “She ran away, and I had to come after her.”

Ryoma sighed and dismissed the apology. “Whatever. Find somewhere to stay for today and then go back home.”

“No! I’m not leaving until Ryoma-kun goes back with me or let me stay near him,” Nanako said stubbornly, biting the boy’s hand (“Ow! Watch it, woman!”) to get him to let go.

The boy frowned, not pleased with the answer he got. Clearly annoyed, Ryoma tried his best not to snap. “Nanako, I only think of you as an older sister, and nothing more. Please go back with Ryoga. Oyaji and Okaa-san will bug me if they find you here.”

But the girl only shook her head, and walked closer to Ryoma. “No, that’s not true! Ever since we were little, Ryoma-kun always took care of me. You promised to continue doing that when we got older.”

Ryoma took a step back, trying his best not to bring his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose to show his frustration. “Nanako, I said go back. I do—“

“Did you forget, Ryoma-kun? You said you would marry me when we got older!” the girl interrupted, desperate. “But as we grew, you just started avoiding me! I’ve had enough, Ryoma-kun. Let me stay with you.” She ran up to the boy and tried to throw herself at Ryoma.

Try, being the keyword. No sooner than Nanako could touch Ryoma, Fuji stepped in front of the boy and caught Nanako by the shoulders before pushing her back gently. Stumbling back, the girl studied herself and glared. “Who are you? This is none of your business.”

Fuji smirked and stared Nanako down. “You do not need to know who I am. I only request that you leave the boy alone as he has an important job here, and does not need distractions.”

“I only want to stay with Ryoma-kun. I won’t be a distraction!”

“Does that mean you will not back off?” Fuji asked his eyes opened with challenge, promising many threats to any human being that dared defy him. The audience around him—excluding Nanako— shivered.

Ryoma tried to intervene. “Fuji-senpai, you don’t—“ But Fuji shot his kohai a glance that made him shut up instantly.

The black haired girl ignored the glare, too blind to see any danger. “Ryoma-kun belongs with—“ Suddenly, Nanako’s eyes rolled and the girl’s body fell back. Ryoga easily caught her from behind with one arm as he held the other up to show that he was the one who knocked Nanako out (though it was obvious that he was the one that did it).

The older Echizen grinned apologetically. “I’ll take care of her for now, Ryoma. Go on with your studies here.”

Ryoma raised an eyebrow, not letting his brother off so easily. “Why didn’t you do that earlier? It would have saved all of a lot less trouble.”

“I…” Ryoga looked like a deer caught by a headlight. He sighed resignedly. “Do you have any idea how scary Nanako can be at times? Especially when it comes to you?”

“And? So why did you do it now?”

The question only made Ryoga bow his head in guilt. “Everything was getting out of hand… And I broke our promise, so I thought I’d better fix it up a bit before it gets too obscure.”

“Promise?” Ryoma echoed, now confused.

“’Aniki, keep Nanako out of trouble and away from me while I’m away, would you?’ That’s what you said before you left. And you made me promise you to do it.”

Realization dawned on the boy, making him feel guilty as well. “…Oh.”

There was an awkward silence before Eiji broke it, “Hoi, it’s getting late and we all need to rest. Why don’t we go back now, and let Ochibi’s Aniki take care of his… sister?”

Fuji chimed in, his friendly smile back in place, “Yes, if we don’t go back soon, we won’t be able to get dinner after getting a shower.”

“Eh—ya—yeah.” Momo gave the older boy a nervous smile, trying his best to appear like a good student. He needed to make a good first impression.

Ryoga gave the group a half-smile, replying in a casual manner, “She’s our cousin, actually. It is getting late, so we better head back to the hotel we’re staying at. I leave my Chibisuke in your care then.” He gave Ryoma a nod. “We’re using the hotel you stayed at when you got here, visit us… Er… Well, visit when you can, I guess.” He didn’t want his brother to go visit him, only to get Nanako worked up again.

Ryoma turned, throwing a ‘See you’ over his shoulder before resuming his walk, as if nothing had happened.

The rest of the group followed, with Eiji and Momo waving enthusiastically at Ryoga as they walked.

Ryoga watched the back of his brother and his friends, noticing how a certain honey-haired boy moved closer to the shorter boy. The kid looked strangely familiar, though he couldn’t place his finger on it. Wait, didn’t his brother call the boy Fuji-senpai? Fuji… As in Fuji Syusuke?

The older Echizen’s eyes widened as he caught Fuji glancing back at him with a smirk. A smirk that clearly said, ‘We will be seeing each other soon.’

Something big was definitely going on, Ryoga thought.

He didn’t know how right he was.

Fuji Syusuke watched as his roommate entered the bathroom for a shower, sitting on one of the two office chairs in the room. A towel hung over his head, soaking up water from his wet hair. The tensai made sure to listen to Ryoma’s actions behind the door closely, waiting until the shower was turned on, and the boy had gotten in.

Counting to thirty, Fuji shifted a bit to reveal his right hand slowly. In it was his cell phone, the address log was already set on a certain number, and all he had to do was push the green call button. Pursing his lips slightly, he slowly reached out to the green key and pressed it, bringing the phone to his ears, and pasting his smile back in place.

The line was silent for a short moment before the dial tone rang, confirming that the phone was indeed connected and trying to reach the number he was calling. There was a click on the other line before a deep voice spoke. “Yanagi Renji speaking.”

“Renji,” Fuji greeted lightly, calling the man by his first name when they were talking about private matters.

There was a sigh on the other side. “I know that tone. What do you want now?”

“Hmmm... I was wondering if you could get me some information.”

“Information? On what?” Yanagi was now curious, wondering what Fuji was up to this time.

“The whereabouts of Echizen Ryoga,” Fuji answered bluntly, smiling when he heard Yanagi cough to cover up his surprise. A short pause followed. “Well?”

“…I understand. I trust you. Do you want the data now?” Fuji heard speedy fingers flying across the keyboard of Yanagi’s laptop in precise, well-practiced taps.

“Yes, please.”

Another silence, with a few clicks heard from over the phone. “Ah. Got it. He’s currently at Tokyo International Hotel (2), residing on floor two, room 250.”

Fuji beamed quietly, shooting a glance at the bathroom as he heard a bang and muffled yells through the door. “So quick?”

“I was lucky. I only had to go through a few records before I got to Echizen… Ryoga’s name,” Yanagi answered, tagging on the older Echizen’s first name when he remembered who roomed with Fuji. “What about the other boy? He’s not there?”

“Echizen-kun is here, just not in the room.” Fuji chuckled, picturing Yanagi with his brows raised while staring at his monitor screen, cell phone in hand. “He’s showering.”

“I see,” the man answered, sounding reluctant to ask something. “Fuji…”

“Yes?”

“What are you planning to do with that information?”

Oh, nothing. I’m just going to scout out a few things,” the honey-haired tensai answered, sounding amused when another crash from the bathroom was heard. He could hear his roommate cursing louder. “I need to go now. Thank you.”

Bringing the phone down from his ear, Fuji brought his eyes up to look at the NewS (3) poster on the opposite wall, a predatory look on his face. Hearing Ryoma turn off the shower, Fuji’s friendly smile took over, and the older boy turned to scrawl a small note on a post-it, putting on his shoes and heading out afterwards.

The post-it slowly peeled from the side of the desk lamp Fuji had stuck it to, landing on the cream colored carpet as Ryoma opened the bathroom door.

Something came up suddenly. Sorry; just go to dinner without me. –Fuji

Ryoma stepped out, eyes immediately scanning the room for Fuji before seeing the neon colored post-it. “…Fuji-senpai?”

Fuji yawned lightly after finishing his quick dinner (which consisted of melon bread and milk). Looking up at the tall building in front of him, the boy gave it a quick inspection. He asked himself, “Maa… shall we get started?”

A figure stole cautiously into the hotel, getting into the elevator with grace. There was a ding, and Fuji got off, glancing at signs to lead him to room 250. It took him a few minutes, but the tensai wasn’t one for nothing, and located the room in less than four minutes. Taking out his mini collection of lock picks, Fuji glanced around before sticking a pick in the keyhole, unlocking the door after a few tries.

Slipping in the room stealthily, Fuji observed from behind a wall that created an arc, leading to the “living” room of the hotel room. The boy barely held in a gasp of surprise when he saw Nanako tied up and gagged to a chair, struggling to get loose. Stepping out from his hiding place, Fuji walked silently behind her, his smile widening when the girl tensed up. She had probably sensed his presence. Oh well, it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be able to see him.

In a blink of an eye, Fuji had his fingers on the back of the girl’s neck, applying pressure on the one point that would knock her out. Fuji turned back to survey the room, carefully entering the empty “bedroom”, closing the door behind him. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, making the boy turn around just in time to block a punch delivered his way.

Grunting, Fuji pushed his attacker away, before starting his own attack. Looked like any chance of a nice chat with the older boy would come after they fought. Left-hand punch. Left-foot kick. Elbow. Dodge. Roundhouse kick.

The struggled continued on for a few more minutes, both sides occasionally receiving painful bruises. Finally, after feinting a punch, and instead kicked at Fuji’s right knee, Ryoga had the honey-haired boy in a headlock. “What are you doing here?” the boy immediately demanded to know.

“Well,” Fuji started, bringing his leg up from behind to kick Ryoga in the back of his head, “I thought I would pay you a friendly visit—“ He broke loose and ducked under to get around Ryoga to chops at the back of Ryoga’s knees, making the boy fall. “And have a nice chat with you.” Fuji twisted Ryoma’s arm behind him and locked the older Echizen in place. He made sure to use his foot to apply pressure on both of Ryoga’s bent legs, keeping them in place.

Ryoga leaned his head back to glare at Fuji. “Nice chat?”

“Yup!” The tensai pushed Ryoga down without warning, sitting on his back, hands still holding Ryoga’s arms in place. Fuji was now straddling Ryoga, and to any outsider who suddenly popped into the room, it was a very suggestive position. “So why don’t you listen to me for a bit?”

“Why should I?” was the rude reply back. “You were the one who broke in here. And you’re Fuji Syusuke.”

Fuji gave a dramatic sigh, “Does my name really make you hate me that much? Maybe I should change it, ne?”

“Che. You’re just trying to get information out of me. I won’t tell you a thing. After all, I—“

“What would you say if I said I could get that girl off your brother’s back for you?” Fuji cut Ryoga off, not caring if he had interrupted Ryoga in mid-rant.

“What?”

“I said I could get Nanako-chan off Echizen-kun’s back for you,” Fuji repeated. “For an equal exchange, of course.”

Ryoga scoffed, “And I should trust you because?”

“Because you have nothing much to lose,” he paused, grinning mischievously. “And because I said so.”

“…Tell you what. I’ll let you talk, but that doesn’t mean I’ll agree,” the older boy growled unwillingly, suspiciously.

“Good enough.” Fuji smiled in satisfactory, still not getting up from his seat on Ryoga’s back. “Now, where should I start?”

“How about with what you’re going to do to my brother and my cousin?”

“Well, I thought I would just come up with a believable lie, and tell it to Nanako-chan the next time she comes. It’ll be enough to get her to go back.”

Ryoga blinked slowly, “Nanako isn’t that stupid. She’s even more stubborn than Ryoma.”

“Then I’ll have to make the lie very believable and very convincing,” the honey-haired boy said slowly, a sadistic glint in his eyes.

“What,” the Crowned Prince snapped, “are you planning?”

“Don’t worry! I promise it won’t endanger the two, though Nanako-chan might be heartbroken.”

Ryoga fell silent for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. Whether or not to agree with Fuji’s plan was his choice, though he still hadn’t heard what he had to do to even out the bargain. If he agreed, he would be putting his life, and possibly a few others’ at risk, but on the other hand, he knew Ryoma didn’t need more troubles. And he couldn’t always keep an eye on Nanako. He sighed, frustrated.

“Well?”

“…Fine. But what do I have to do first?”

“Come to our side,” Fuji said in a carefree manner, though his eyes were opened and staring at the back of Ryoga’s head calmly.

1. The song, “Flower”, by GiGS.

2. The hotel Ryoma stayed at in the beginning of this story

3. I thought I should give the characters more depth by showing that they are indeed teenagers and have idols. xD I do not own NewS or any of their songs.

Yes! Done! –dances- Now I won’t have to worry about bricks getting thrown at my head. xD This originally was only going to be about 2000 words, but then I would feel bad after making you all wait. And my last failure at writing a long and interesting chapter ate at me. So I tried again, but I’m still not all the way satisfied (especially with how Nanako turned out). Oh well, hope you enjoyed it!

Now, you see that plain blue button down there? I know that it’s not very pretty, but won’t you click on it and leave me a review (since my birthday is today (the 17th)? xD

Second Revised Version 2.17.08