Date-O! Date-O! Arc - Middle School Years - 01

by Wind Chijmes

++++++++++

"Oi, Echizen...OI!"

"Huh?" Echizen Ryoma blinked large amber-coloured eyes as he looked around him dazedly. "Oh, Momo-senpai."

Grinning and obviously in a good mood, the strapping, spiky-haired sophomore waved a hand at him. "Penny for your thoughts?" Momo stretched out a hand as if to ruffle the younger boy's hair.

"Too cheap." Echizen dodged neatly, customary blasé expression firmly in place on his boyish features.

Momo's violet eyes widened in mock dismay. Then he dropped that pity-me act and grinned. "What about hamburgers?"

The frown eased from the freshman's brows. It was nothing short of amazing that the word 'hamburger' could single-handedly transform the Echizen's trademark don't-touch-me-I-bite expression into a radiant, twelve-year-old grin. Freaky.

"Momo-senpai is paying for the hamburgers, *right*?"

Freaky and calculative.

"NANI, NANI?! Did someone say 'hamburgers' nyaa?!"

Both Echizen and Momo jumped like they'd been electrified. The first to recover, Momo spun around and glared crossly at the uninvited speaker. "Eiji-senpai! Stop popping up out of nowhere! It's hella scary!"

If anything, Momo's indignation only goaded the impish third-year student into more antics. Beaming like an irrepressible ray of sunlight, Kikumaru Eiji flung his arms around the rather hapless Echizen. "Ochibi looks depressed, nya! What's bothering you? Tell me! Tell me!"

Momo swung around in surprise. Depressed? He stuck his face into Echizen's and stared so hard he nearly got cross-eyed. Hmm...he tried to get some insight as he studied those boyish features now gathered into a startlingly adult-like scowl. Maybe Echizen was even more reticent than usual...maybe those huge amber eyes looked a tad more dazed than before...and those pursed lips pouting even more impetuously than usual too...Hmm...

"Momo-senpai," Echizen spoke levelly, but something in his tone clearly threatened death by tennis. "Are you *quite* finished?"

"Che," Momo snorted in disgust as he removed his face with an airy gesture. "There's nothing wrong with Echizen, Eiji-senpai. He's just as grouchy as ever."

"Nothing wrong with Momo-senpai either. Just as annoying as ever."

For the next minute, Kikumaru Eiji found himself flopping his arms rather futilely as he tried to pacify two glaring, bristling kouhai. If anything, Kikumaru was certainly *not* cut out for mediation. "Uwaa, guys, guys!" The flustered redhead shook his fists in the air. "Stop fighting! What about the hamburgers, nya?!"

It actually worked. Cackling violet and simmering amber eased off, and the two younger boys glanced up at Kikumaru in all wide-eyed junior innocence.

"You're paying, RIGHT? Eiji-senpai?" Momo grinned.

There was a pause from Echizen, before the he tilted his head up at Kikumaru with a decidedly shrewd smirk on his lips. "It's so nice of you, senpai."

++++++++++

By Momo's third cheeseburger, it was pretty clear that Kikumaru had been uncannily accurate about Echizen's mood. There was something off about the kid. Momo shot a look at Echizen from the corner of his eye. The freshman had barely touched his burger, taking absent-minded bites between intervals of staring distantly into space. Plus, he would break into fits of staring at his watch or his mobile phone like they would leap up and bite him unawares.

All this little out-of-character behaviourism was highly suspicious. Firstly, Echizen *never* miss out on cheeseburgers. Secondly, nothing distracted Echizen, unless it was tennis. Which all lead to the third point. Hardly anything about tennis could distract Echizen either. There weren't many players in the junior-high circuit who could even come close to *thinking* about winning Echizen. Momo wondered if he should ask Echizen again what was bothering him.

Still caught between senpai-concern and the uncomfortable knowledge that Echizen's tongue was always sharper when he was in a bad mood, Momo was lost.

"Ok, I've HAD it!"

Momo choked on his mouthful of half-masticated burger. Echizen still stared into space.

"OCHIBI!" Kikumaru's face was set in a petulant scowl. "What's WRONG with you?!"

Way to go, Eiji-senpai, real smooth. Momo snickered inwardly. Trust Eiji-senpai to pounce on Echizen first and be so brutally blunt about it too. Seated next to Momo, Echizen sighed audibly as his refocused on a very peeved Kikumaru. Of all their seniors, Kikumaru was the hardest to shake off once he had decided to cling on and never let go. And he did the clinging thing *too* often.

"Nothing." Echizen replied flatly.

"USO~TSUKI!"

Echizen closed his eyes as if to deny the existence of Kikumaru altogether. "I'm full. And I'm leaving."

"Where're you going?!"

"Somewhere."

"Could it be...a...DATE-O!" Kikumaru cackled jokingly.

The conversation came to an abrupt as Echizen unceremoniously spun on his heels and stalked out of the fast-foot outlet. Momo and Kikumaru both found themselves gaping at Echizen's back as the freshman disappeared. There wasn't even so much as a backward glance at his two gawking seniors. Ok, something was definitely very wrong. Echizen wasn't exactly the warmest person, but even his odd behaviour for the day was unsettling.

"Eiji-senpai...that was weird."

Kikumaru nodded his flouncy red head in agreement. "Very weird! I wonder what set him off, nya!"

"...hmm...He lost a tennis match, maybe?"

"School!"

"Bullies!"

"Pocket money!"

"Puberty!"

Then they both paused, before flashing thousand-wattage grins at each other. "PUPPY LOVE!" they chorused in unison.

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Echizen found himself walking circles. He'd circle the bowling alley, then look up and realise that he had been circling it, then he'd wander off and circle the pool hall, then look up and frown when he realised he had been circling it too. At this rate he was going, there wouldn't be too many buildings left for him to circle. Several times he'd catch himself heading in the direction of the street tennis courts, then he'd freeze in his tracks and quickly scramble back to the starting point - the traffic junction that he had been circling even more than the bowling alley and pool hall added together.

He had been obsessing over it for more than several days already, until he couldn't put it off any longer. Today was the day. Wednesday.

With those ominous words still reverberating around his mind, Echizen's head snapped up as he realised something even worse. This...this meeting on Wednesday thing. Did this mean...that...this...was...a...DATE-O?! That was what Kikumaru-senpai said, right?

Oh, he *knew* that word of doom. It was something he heard often from his assorted senpai. A sigh escaped him when he thought of those bunch of crazy, colourful and altogether too hormone-charged guys. Then his snicker turned into a long-suffering groan when he also remembered the kind of teasing they were capable of. If they so much as got a *whiff* of his predicament, they'd be on his case till...the next century!

Suddenly alarmed, Echizen straightened and whipped around. He stared this way, and that, gaze darting all around his surroundings. Passers-by, shops, students, office-workers...but no grinning and leering Seigaku senpai in sight. Unconvinced, he checked and scanned every possible hiding place that could contain a whole Seigaku regular team. Still no senpai in sight.

Remembering to breathe again, Echizen finally managed to somewhat get a hold on his turbulent thoughts. He decided that reason and logic were the best way of dealing with this rather...unexpected circumstance. He *had* to deal with it; he didn't like unexpected circumstances. They made him feel lost and inadequate and edgy like he had been feeling for the past few days.

Okay, step by step. He could do this step by step. Firstly, Dan Taichi was just someone.

//You taught that SOMEONE tennis. You TAUGHT him.//

Echizen concentrated on his exercise in logic, determined to shut out that little mocking voice in his head. Secondly, Dan Taichi was just naturally enthusiastic.

//So enthusiastic that he used you for a pillow! You CUDDLED him!//

Echizen's boyish features distorted into a rather ugly scowl at that. He didn't *cuddle* anyone. Echizen Ryoma did not *cuddle* anyone! Thirdly -

//Denial!//

*Thirdly*, Dan Taichi probably just wanted to ask him something about tennis. Yes, that was all! Tennis. As if in agreement, Echizen's heart calmed almost immediately at that thought. Tennis was familiar. Tennis was comforting. Tennis was *his* playing field.

Etching that thought firmly into his mind and using it as a mental support of sorts, Echizen moved, feet finally obeying him for the first time that day. He would go to the street tennis courts, meet Dan Taichi...and...

He would decide when he got there.

++++++++++

"Echizen, you say?"
"Uhn, Echizen. I feel a little bad that we're following him like this..."
"But I'm sure you'd agree that it's...fun."
"...I'm bringing a camera."
"Hoh. This would make for very interesting data, indeed. Very interesting. Where did you say he was heading?"

"Echizen? Are you sure?"
"It's a SOLO date, nyaa!"
"Oh no, a solo date. This is bad, this is really bad. More serious than I thought. This means he would invest even more of his feelings into the relationship than what's safe at this point! What if he gets his heart broken again? He's still only twelve, he won't be able to cope...He won't be able to concentrate on the next upcoming match! He'd need counselling! He - "

"DATE-O?!"
" Don't disappoint me. I will be waiting."
"You...you'd be waiting?"
"Oh definitely. It's a solo date. Solo. I'd be waiting."
"...ma...matte, senpai! Don't hang up - SENPAI!"

"It's Echizen. We're sure he's going on a solo date. It seems serious. As this concerns the tennis team on the whole, I think you should come along with us to investigate."
Click.
"...He hung up..."

++++++++++

And so there they were, nearly the whole tennis team from Seishun Gakuen Jr. High, hot on the tail of their youngest member. Even affable and occasionally pyrokinetic Kawamura would have been present if he could leave the shop. If there was anything Seigaku could boast of that no other team possessed, it was sheer senpai *concern*. Everyone wanted a piece of Echizen Ryoma and his mysterious date.

There was only one tiny, tiny problem.

They lost Echizen.

"MOMO!" Kikumaru was shaking his fists for the second time that day. His wide eyes flashed azure fire "You were supposed to be following Ochibi while I call everyone! How can you lose him!"

Momoshiro winced at his senior's outburst. Eiji-senpai could be *so* loud. Yeah okay, it *was* his fault for getting distracted by this wonderful stall selling a whole assortment of heavenly-smelling snacks and not noticing that Echizen had disappeared around a street corner. By the time he had realised and near gone cardiac at trying to sight the elusive freshman, the rest of the guys showed up and Eiji-senpai flew into Kikumaru-rage.

"Maa, maa, Eiji..." Oishi soothed as he tried to prevent a homicidal Kikumaru from killing the team's smash-specialist. He still had a lovestruck, might-get-his-heart-crushed Echizen to worry about without having to clean up Momo's remains from the street. This was getting to be a very trying day.

"Oh come on, Eiji-senpai," Momo tried to explain anyway, holding up his hands placatingly. "I'm *sorry*, okay? I didn't mean to get distracted!"

"By food, of all things."

Momo whipped around, violet eyes glaring at the latest speaker - a rather sullen-looking Kaidoh who seemed like he'd rather be elsewhere or *anywhere* but here. "You have a problem with me, Mamushi?!"

"If you have a problem with me!" Kaidoh hissed in retaliation. He was clad in jogging gear, obviously having been in the midst of a punishing run when he had been coerced into this group outing. The black tank-top was still sweat-dampened and it clung to his sculpted torso as he folded his arms across his chest huffily. "I should be running, not doing *this* - "

"You have a problem with *this*, Kaidoh-kun?"

Even Momo shut up at the sheer weight in the deep, smooth baritone, but he had the secret pleasure of watching Kaidoh squirm as the Mamushi found himself blinking up at strangely-gleaming spectacles.

Inui-senpai, already too tall and his presence too overwhelming, pressed his point further with just the slightest leaning down towards Kaidoh, invading his space and sending a slow burn crawling over Kaidoh's cheeks. "Hmm? Kaidoh?"

"N...no, Inui-senpai..." Kaidoh shook his head meekly.

Oishi made a mental note to thank Inui for helping out with crowd control, although there was a part of him that was highly suspicious of Inui's intentions. It wasn't like the data-specialist to be so...*helpful* unless it served his purposes. At any rate, Oishi had his hands full with a Kikumaru still seething over the lost opportunity to tease the hell out of Echizen and his Date.

"... so don't you think you should be here?"

Oishi broke away from a wriggling Kikumaru to shoot a puzzled glance in Fuji's direction. Looking a picture of honey-brown and cerulean sweetness, Fuji was talking smoothly and softly into his phone. Oishi could feel his eyebrows raising. The tennis prodigy had been unusually quiet the whole way, only smiling enigmatically and charmingly whenever someone tried to engage him in conversation. No wait...not the *whole* way. Only after Inui had put away his mobile phone after failing to get their Buchou to tag along for this excursion.

"Saa, think about it. Under such circumstances, it is most advisable that you are present, do you not agree? Tezuka?" Fuji was saying, lips curled into a fairly...disturbingly persuasive smile that seemed to be able to work its usual spell despite his not being face-to-face with the Seigaku captain.

"Tezuka?" Kikumaru snapped out of his childish sulking to exclaim.

A soft click and Fuji calmly kept his phone. When he turned to the several pairs of widened eyes staring at him, he appeared only mildly surprised by the attention on him. "He'd show up in two hours' time," he said as nonchalantly as if he was announcing what he just had for breakfast.

From somewhere behind Oishi, Inui suddenly appeared. "Two hours?" he said slowly, pushing up his spectacles. He appeared to be thinking hard as usual. "The excursion would most possibly be over in two hours."

Fuji flashed him a smile meant to look breezy but it was betrayed by the gleam in his sharp cerulean eyes. "Exactly."

The situation descended into sad chaos after that. Momo made the mistake of grousing about the failed excursion and everyone was suddenly reminded that they were stuck on some street without Echizen in sight and with possibly no hope of catching the boy with his date, with *no* food and they were all getting terribly hungry as well. And of course, all the blame went round until it settled on Momo. Again.

"Oh, SEIGAKU!"

Six pairs of different-coloured eyes swivelled around at that loud exclamation. They recognised the two newcomers instantly, which was none too difficult considering that one of them sported crimson bangs and the other with that longish raven-violet locks that cast a near-feminine edge to his face. Fudoumine's Kamio Akira and Ibu Shinji.

"What are all you guys up to?" Kamio demanded loudly. Next to him, Ibu's head was tilted as if he was pondering that question too.

The Seigaku regulars glanced at each other sheepishly without answering. Who was going to own up that they were spying on the baby of their team?

"...it seems weird to have Seigaku wandering the streets like this...maybe they're up to no good...they have so much time to spend on such wasteful activities...but of course...they don't have to worry about tennis like we do...they're lucky, naa...but why are they all here...maybe it's a conspiracy...do we need so many people in a conspiracy...do we......"

"SHINJI!"

"Sorry."

By now, all of the Seigaku regulars were sporting identical stupefied expressions at having witnessed the strange exchange between very spaced-out Ibu and a rather long-suffering Kamio.

"Anyway," Kamio spoke up before his companion had a chance to again. "We just saw your ichi-nen brat, Echizen. And - "

"YOU DID?!"

The redhead jumped, a tad alarmed by the vigorous response from the rival school.

"WHERE?!"

Eyeing the Seigaku members with no small amount of trepidation like they had all gone loopy, Kamio pointed behind him. "Street tennis courts."

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Nervously, he bounced his weight from his right leg to the left, then back to the right again. Then he rocked himself on the balls of both feet. Back and forth and back and forth. If there were any curious gazes on him, they would have seen a small, insignificant boy worked up into a state of feverish anxiety. They might think him to be up to some childish venture, and frankly, he wasn't quite in the mood to care.

All his energies and thoughts were concentrated on one single image - that of Echizen Ryoma, the coolest junior-high player *ever* and a freshman like him! When Akutsu-senpai had left, it had crushed him like nothing else ever had...but in Akutsu-senpai's place, he had been given Echizen-kun. In this way, he could keep trying because he knew there was someone there for him to catch up to. Besides, and this was what made his heart swell, Echizen-kun might look kinda grumpy, but he was really so nice! He blushed when he remembered how safe it felt like to be near Echizen-kun.

So, he told Echizen-kun exactly how he felt...at least, he thought it was how he felt. A crush. Although...he wasn't *too* sure what a crush was. He had very nervously stammered his questions to Sengoku-senpai, who seemed to be the most well-versed in such things...although he hadn't seen Sengoku-senpai been successful in his love life. Sengoku-senpai had been *so* embarrassing about it too. Dan blushed even more fiercely when he recalled the line of teasing and interrogating that senpai had subjected him to. Did he like that 'someone'? Did he want to be near that 'someone'? Did his insides turn to jelly when he thought of that 'someone'? Did he want to ki - kis -

Anyway, he had said yes to all of them...except the last one. That was too embarrassing! Dan's hand flew to his mouth. He decided resolutely that he could have a crush on Echizen-kun, without...without any kiss-u! Kissing was as gross as strawberry milk!

A more worrying thought suddenly came to his mind and Dan stopped his fidgeting. How would Echizen-kun react to his letter? Would he be angry? Would he...hate him? Dan's jumbled thoughts didn't get very far when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.

Heart leaping, he spun around on his heels, the words 'Echizen-kun!' on his tongue. Then, he faltered.

Three ugly and fierce faces grinned down at him.

"Look what we have *here*, Sasabe." One of them sneered. "Another little squirt."

~*~ fin ~*~
Chapter 1

On to Date-O! Date-O! Arc - Middle School Years - 02