Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ The Clan Echizen ❯ the GrakuenKaizer himself ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Disclaimer: I own nothing!! Wah!!
Author's note: gah. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Legend of Zelda minish cap stole my brain for a while… ^^ I'm back now.* Nya! I know that Ryouma's name is spelled Ryoma… I just like spelling it Ryouma! It sounds smoother to me that way with the u in there. ^^ sorry `bout the confusion if it caused any.
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Ryouma struggled as Kikumaru heaved him up out of the bed.
The paralysis had run its course, but his limbs were still tingling with numbness.
He wanted freedom, and had been trying to gather all of his strength into one attack so that he could escape from the strange bandits and their GrakuenKaizer leader, but unfortunately they cared little of his strength.
It undignified him to be carried from the bed, but Kikumaru seemed amused by the action more then anything.
Kikumaru grinned, hoisting Ryouma up into his arms as if he were carrying his bride off to the honeymoon.
“ Ochibi should be take a bath before he sees Atobe-boss. If he sees you not in the outfit he instructed you to wear, we'll all pay dearly!” Kikumaru spun around and gracefully carried Ryouma to a small alcove in the room where a small bath had been set up. Sets of yellow and pink robes were nestled against the large paper screen that blocked out the bath from the rest of the room. Ryouma saw a pair of small black satin slippers seated there as well and shuddered inwardly.
Kikumaru pulled the screen open and set Ryouma down on the floor, grabbing a towel from a hanger beside the new clothing.
He laughed sheepishly at Ryouma and scratched his head.
“ Ok then. Time to undress! No time to be sheepish now Ochibi - I'm the one person you've got no need to be worried about. No one here would touch you without the GrakuenKaizer's permission; you can trust that.”
Ryouma stared aghast at Kikumaru.
“ You expect ME to just strip down and start bathing - “ he snarled, ready to spring into attack.
Kikumaru sighed and shook his head.
“ Look Ochibi. It's not like I'm going to try anything - I'm just here to make sure you don't drown in the bath water. You're body isn't fully recovered yet from the spell and I don't want anything to happen to you. I'll just stand outside the screen, all right? And I won't peek.” The thief gave him thumbs up and pulled the screen into place, leaving Ryouma to his thoughts.
Ryouma sighed and looked at the clothing with dismay.
It was true that he could use the bath; he could still feel the grime of his training peppering his skin.
He looked into the clear steaming bath water, seeing his reflection bouncing up at him.
He had never considered himself attractive enough to be worth kidnapping. His eyes were a light cinnamon colour, framed with dark lashes that stood out against the pale flesh of his face. His hair was curled around the base of his neck and around his ears, tucking courteously against his cheeks.
It occurred to him that some would find him beautiful…
Fuji-sensei had said so himself when they had been little; he had taken it as a reason to keep others from his contact.
Fuji-sensei had told him that he was `elegant', with slender limbs worthy of admiration…
Suddenly Ryouma wished that he looked like the backside of a camel.
Perhaps if that had been true, he would have been able to live his life in relative peace.
He sighed and trailed his fingers through the water, marring his reflection.
For the first time in years he wished that he could change places with Momo or Kaidoh.
“ Ochibi! Hurry it up in there or I'll have to bathe you myself! Atobe-boss isn't going to wait much longer for you to join his meal and he certainly isn't going to receive you well if you show up looking like a slob. Believe me when I say this, but it is for you own good that you make yourself presentable; he'll have you beaten if you don't look up to his standards…” Kikumaru exclaimed with a laboured sigh.
Ryouma scowled and crossed his arms, tucking his knees into his chest.
“ He can beat me all he likes, but it won't make me do anything that he says! I'm not going to be pushed around by a fool like him - “ Ryouma growled softly.
The screen was yanked away and Kikumaru stalked in; he seized Ryouma by the shoulders and forcibly began to yank the clothing from Ryouma's body to the startled youth's dismay.
Ryouma struggled, but his limbs refused to obey.
He watched helplessly as he stripped of all dignity and was pushed into the warm steaming water.
Kikumaru pushed him under the water, dousing Ryouma's head until all of his hair was coated in a light sheen of liquid. He knelt beside the struggling and horrified youth, grabbing a bar of soap from a tub beside the bath. He filled a sponge with water and furiously rubbed the soap against it.
With one hand, he dragged Ryouma and pulled him into a standing position; scrubbing him until the youths pale skin was a rosy red.
Ryouma felt closet to tears.
He wrapped his arms around his waist, desperate to shield himself from the touch and gaze of the thief.
How dare he touch him!?
Kikumaru sighed and moved away from the bath. He squatted beside the screen and shook his head sadly.
“ Look, I'm really sorry Ochibi, but it's not just you that will get beaten if you refuse to obey Atobe-boss's orders. There are many, many people that follow Atobe-boss's word and they will be punished just as readily with any mistake made. I have to protect my friends as I have to protect you; you may as well enjoy yourself in there while you can because it might be the last time before he deflowers you.”
The thief crossed his legs and looked up at the ceiling, sighing to himself with despair.
Ryouma's body went stone cold.
Deflowered…
That was what he had feared all along.
Such perversion was common practice in the new world; Oishi-sensei had told him tales about the practices of ownership with slaves and marriages.
He shivered and ducked down into the steaming water until only the top half of his head was above water.
His nose picked up a delicate lavender scent wafting up from the bathwater.
The sponge floated by, bobbing as it ricocheted off of his shoulder blade and continued to float to the other side of the bath.
He could feel the cold marble beneath his feet and knew at once that this room had been designed with luxury in mind. It was ment for someone that was to fit into the perfection of the room itself…
Ryouma turned and cast a cold look at the room past Kikumaru's seated form, desperate to find a way to contact the outside world to tell them of his presence.
He saw no windows.
Kikumaru seemed to have caught his glance and nodded knowledgeably to him.
“ There are no windows in this part of Atobe-boss's main house and the only ones that come in this direction are the thieves and allies of the GrakuenKaizer. There's no use in trying to alert anyone.” The thief grinned and winked at Ryouma.
“ Ochibi has a sharp mind. You must have had very attentive tutors back in your old home.”
Ryouma turned away and fixed his gaze on the stonewalls beside the bath.
The heat began to seep into his body, loosening his stiff muscles. In a few minutes he would be capable of launching an all out attack on the thief. A dark smile flittered across his lips.
He would escape.
This was not the end.
The rustling of clothing caught his attention and he looked out of the corner of his eye to see what the thief was doing. He frowned when he saw that the man was folding up his clothing and tucking them under one arm.
“ I'll leave you to finish your bath Ochibi. You will wear the clothing that Atobe-boss has had picked out for you.” Kikumaru snapped his fingers and the door to the room flew curtly open. A tall man with shoulder length nary blue hair and dark eyes stepped in. This man was imposing and frightening, but seemed oblivious to the fact that his dark clothing and pale skin added a somewhat sinister attitude to him. He looked up at Kikumaru, awaiting orders.
“ Shinji-kun, keep an eye on him, will you? I'll be back in a little bit to collect Ochibi for dinner with Atobe-boss. Don't let him get out of your sight. He was trained by Tezuka-kun and Fuji-oni… he's likely quite well equipped to try to escape. Nya, see you later.” Kikumaru turned and waved good-bye to Ryouma before slipping from the room with a fast movement that seemed impossible.
The man Kikumaru had called Shinji turned and fixed his eyes on Ryouma, crossing his arms.
“ Why did he pick me to be left here with Atobe-boss's bride? Isn't he capable of taking care of a brat himself?” He grumbled.
Ryouma turned away, keeping his eyes on the reflective water, hoping to use it to see weakness in the new guard.
To his surprise, the man began to talk again, answering what Ryouma had thought to be a rhetorical question himself.
“ Yes. He probably wanted to go check if everything had worked out all right with the return. It's just like Kikumaru to check up on others. I should be doing that as well. Why didn't he just send me to check up on it? Maybe he thinks that I don't know what I'm doing. No. He just likes to make sure that things are done the way he likes them to be done. That's true. Hm. I wonder if Kamio-kun knows anything about that guy we're setting up? Maybe. He might know. It would probably take a while to coax it out of him. Hm.” The man tapped his chin in deep contemplative thought, totally unaware that he was talking to himself.
Ryouma sank lower into the water, letting the perfumed water seep into his skin.
It was clear that this guard was incompetent.
Why on earth would someone leave a fool that speaks to themselves in charge of important hostages?
Obviously the group of thieves were borderline moronic.
So intent on picking up on a flaw in the thieves already flawed self was Ryouma that he didn't notice that the man had stopped taking to himself and had crept forward to stare nonchalantly at him.
The man reached out and prodded Ryouma in the shoulder, startling Ryouma so badly that he almost lept from the water out of pure shock.
“ Hey, you wouldn't happen to have trained with Tezuka-Sensei, would you?” Shinji asked.
Ryouma hugged his chest and glared into the man's eyes, refusing to answer.
Shinji seemed uncaring that he was unresponsive.
“ Of course you trained with Tezuka-Sensei. Tachibana-Sempai told me all about that. He said that Tezuka-Sensei used to train Jirou when they were growing up in the same village. Do you know anything about Tezuka-Sensei and that creepy guy Fuji-Oni?” Shinji asked blandly.
Ryouma remained silent and turned away again, putting his back to his captor.
Unaware that Ryouma was not interested in talking any more, Shinji continued to ramble off to himself.
“ Fuji-Oni was supposed to be very high ranked as a Bandit Hunter in his day; he could probably find us if he was to try to track us down. Mind you, I don't think he would try to get involved with the Hunters anymore. They kicked him out for something bad - do you remember what it was? No. Neither do I. What about Tezuka-Sensei? I heard that he got injured and had to retire from service in the Seigaku army. I wonder if it's true…”
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Kikumaru returned after what seemed like hours to Ryouma.
The thief looked sullen and withdrawn, but seemed to perk up when he saw Ryouma dressed in the clothing that had been set out for him (no matter how horrible it looked.); He had dressed himself after Shinji had begun to talk about the different types of pine beetle living in the forests outside the main house in vivid detail, hoping to escape the incessant blabbering. He did pick up some useful information, but he would never want to obtain it through the same means again.
Kikumaru marched over to Ryouma and began to check him over for missed details.
The thief's hands smoothed out wrinkles that Ryouma had missed and re-buttoned buttons that had been forgotten.
After a few minutes of being patted down to make sure that no weapons or makeshift manor had been hidden in the flimsy dress, Kikumaru declared that dinner would be served and that Ryouma was to follow him obediently.
They slipped out into the hallway and slid down a great hallway filled with expensive looking art and mirrors. The floor was made of the same type of marble that the bath had been made of; it made a pleasant whooshing noise as Ryouma's slippered feet graced its presence.
Ryouma looked around as he followed Kikumaru's lead; a few fearful but pleased faces peeked out from the doors as they passed by. He saw a several maids and butlers polishing silverware and candlesticks as they slipped by what Ryouma assumed was the cutlery room.
The area reeked of excessive wealth and spoiled mannerism.
Kikumaru led Ryouma to a large set of wooden doors that towered up high to the ceiling about forty feet up.
The thief nodded to the two butlers standing guard at the doors dressed in black robes with pale white masks donned to hide their faces.
The butlers gave a long and elaborate bow and pulled open the doors with a short and dedicated struggle.
The first thing Ryouma saw as the large doors parted was the crystalline sparkle of a chandelier dangling breathtakingly above a large and spacious dining table that seemed to stretch on and on to the other side of the room.
There was a soft clinking of sophisticated dishes and crystal glasses as they were placed on the polished mahogany table; two seats were set up, one across from the other. A large throne of a chair was standing with glamour and regality. It was furnished in plush purple velvet and seemed to be larger then anything else in the room.
Kikumaru turned and leaned towards Ryouma, locking eyes with him.
“ I should warn you now. Don't say anything to him unless he speaks to you first. Atobe-boss is very particular about being the head of the table - so don't try to upstage him, even if it's just by being nice to the servants. Oh -“ Kikumaru looked over his shoulder, very nervous.
“If you need to find me again after, just ask one of the maids and they'll find tell me.” He took Ryouma by the shoulders, like a pleased parent presenting their child to an award ceremony.
“ Play nice.”
With that said, Kikumaru turned and slipped from the room just as a flourish of maids and servants streamed into the room, following a man Ryouma knew instantly to be the GrakuenKaizer himself.
It was Atobe Keigo.
The man was tall and refined looking; his clothing hung from his shoulders as if it was worshipping him. The black silk of the robes seemed to catch his every curve with splendour. His hair was sort and shimmering chestnut; it framed is face was it were curtains bordering the greatest masterpiece of all time. A mole rested on his right cheek, just below his eye. Lidded lashes, crème skin.
He walked as if he were floating across the marble floor instead of treading on it.
He smiled, the look not of pleasantry but of narcissistic glee.
“ Well, well, well. I finally have you. Ryouma Echizen… the pillar of Seigaku. How delightful that you couldn't keep away from me! I find you just right for the part of my wife.” Atobe casually strode toward Ryouma.
He reached out and took Ryouma by the chin, lips curling in delight.
Ryouma's eyes narrowed into slits of fury at the act, but found that Atobe was not even looking at him.
The GrakuenKaizer reached up and took a lock of Ryouma's hair in between his fingers, stroking it. He leaned closer, brushing back Ryouma's bangs.
Chastely, he kissed Ryouma's forehead before he turned and clapped his hands at the servants. In a flurry, the workforce assembled, bowing down before their beloved leader.
“ Seat my dear Echizen-kun, will you? Oh, and get the fine wine out. I want my victory to be celebrated with panache, not with normalcy. A victory over Tezuka Kunimitsu proves my greatness a thousand times over!” Atobe strolled around the table and seated himself in the large chair, leaning back as to stare vigilantly at Ryouma as he was `seated' by the crowd of over zealous servants.
Ryouma sat rigid in his seat, glaring at Atobe with all of his fury unbridled for full force.
A few of the servants that were hovering behind him frowned, but began to serve his food with grace.
Plates descended from above faster then Ryouma's own servants could muster. It was as if they had great fear of punishment from their master.
He turned his attention away from the GrakuenKaizer and looked up at the chandelier, watching the light of the windows up above dance through the unsullied glass.
It was not to be.
With one snap of Atobe's fingers, one of the servants seized Ryouma by the head, ` readjusting' his view to look at the most magnificent thing in the room.
Atobe smiled, gathering one hand to his chin where the fingers spread to support his slightly pointed chin.
“ Ryouma, I can see your weaknesses. You can hide nothing from me. I don't know if that fool Kikumaru told you anything about me, but let me clarify some things for you myself. When at the dinning table, there is to be no looking at anything other then your food or myself. The maids and servants are of no interest to you. Neither are the decorations or the windows. I am to have your wholehearted attention whenever I am in the same room with you, and when you are not in the same room with me you will think only of me. Not of ways to escape or to alert your pathetic bodyguards, which I might add, are not looking for you.” Atobe flipped his hair and snapped his fingers again.
The maids released Ryouma and scurried out of the room while one of the male servants poured wine for both their master and his captive.
After the wine was served, the last servant fled from the room.
Atobe sighed and plucked the wineglass from the table, holding the stem with delicate fingers. He smiled harder, over the top of the glass and sipped the crimson liquid, swirling it with in the glass with a twist of his wrist.
“ I suppose you know why you are here then, Hm?” He asked after a pause.
Ryouma locked eyes with Atobe but refused to respond.
Atobe seemed appalled by the attitude and shook his head.
“ Treating your Husband and master with such contempt - let alone daring to treat me, Atobe Keigo, with disdain is a matter I should have resolved with a beating.” The GrakuenKaizer hissed.
Ryouma remained rigid in his seat, unspeaking. His fists clenched underneath the table, wanting to grab one of the knives on the table top to tear out the man's eyes.
Atobe snapped his fingers again.
The doors were thrown open and a tall hulk of a man who resembled something prehistoric and violent.
He had a familiar red headed man trapped in his tree trunk arms.
Ryouma's eyes widened.
Atobe smiled.
“ Kikumaru-kun, I'm afraid that he's been bad; and of course you know the rules.”
Kikumaru's eyes widened.
“ Nya! Atobe-boss - he doesn't know the rules well enough yet! He's sorry for whatever it is he did and he won't do it again - “
Atobe snapped his fingers.
“ Kabaji - hurt him.”
Ryouma's eyes widened.
Atobe wouldn't dare, he thought fiercely, to hurt one of his own subordinates.
Kabaji (presumably the man that had Kikumaru apprehended.) struck down, sending Kikumaru flying down toward the hard, cold marble. The thief lay coughing on the floor, struggling to stand up. The monster of a man yanked Kikumaru back up from the ground by the throat and threw another blow - he connected viciously with the thief's stomach and a dribble of blood slipped from the side of Kikumaru's mouth. Kabaji threw Kikumaru down; foot lifted up, ready to stomp -
Ryouma threw himself in the way, holding his arms out to protect Kikumaru -
Atobe snapped his fingers.
Kabaji froze.
“ Ryouma-kun, Ryouma-kun, Ryouma-kun. Now do you see what your rudeness gets you? I wouldn't dare mar your beautiful body with bruises and broken bones. No, no. The beatings will be directed toward your weaknesses - “ Atobe smiled like ice.
“ And your weakness is the people you care for.” He held up one hand and put his index finger and middle fingers underneath his eyes in the shape of a v.
Ryouma's eyes narrowed.
“ Kabaji, take Kikumaru back to wherever he was hiding. Ryouma-kun, sit back down. We have lots to talk about.” Atobe said softly.
Kabaji nodded and hauled Kikumaru up with one hand. He lumbered out of the room and the doors closed.
Atobe waved a hand leisurely at Ryouma, motioning for him to take a seat.
Reluctantly, Ryouma complied.
Atobe sniffed disdainfully.
“ Now that we have all of the trivial details worked out, I will ask you again, do you know why you are here?” he asked.
Ryouma shook his head.
Atobe's eyes glinted.
“ You can't lie to me - you at least know why I wanted you out of the millions of others I could have had, don't you?” the GrakuenKaizer growled, setting the wine glass down on the table with a click.
Again, Ryouma shook his head.
No.
Atobe's fist collided with the tabletop making the cutlery beside his plate dance.
“ I wanted you because you were the perfect piece for my collection - things that are irreplaceable. Unique pieces that can only be used as decorations - things that everyone wants but cannot have.” Atobe sneered at Ryouma.
“ And now you are my crowning achievement. Even after five thousand years have passed it is still the Echizen family that has the most power - the most wealth. But not now! Now that her ladyship Echizen is pregnant with her second child there is no need to continue protecting the first so stalwartly. You are the first to be captured and stolen away under the watchful eye of a Kaidoh… You are a trophy; something that I will not give up easily. Which means, my dear Ryouma, that I will do everything in my power to keep you. You are mine.”
The GrakuenKaizer collected himself and began to eat his meal without another word.
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The meal finished in relative silence, with Ryouma following the two rules he had been given.
His eyes never left Atobe, but not for the reasons Atobe had specified.
Ryouma knew in his heart that he would find a weakness in the GrakuenKaizer's shell of strength. The power that had been given to Atobe had to have some flaw - something had to have been affected.
Shinji had escorted Ryouma back to the room he had woken up in for the night and the next morning he was forced into breakfast with the irritable narcissist.
Again, Atobe was in the most gleeful of moods, which put Ryouma off of food.
So far he had only been able to choke down a few bites.
His stomach did not seem to be able or willing to take in more then a mouthful of food at a time.
It was worry, he told himself, worry for Kaidoh and Momo; worry for his mother and father. Worry for himself.
This was the first time that he had nothing planned out for him.
There were no lessons, no teachers, only the constant chatter of maids and guards that haunted him wherever he was sent. He was constantly wary of anything he walked past.
Now a week had passed and Ryouma was becoming worried.
No one had come to look for him. He had heard no word and had seen no one of familiar face since the day of his capture.
The room he occupied had become his cell and sanctuary.
On occasion he had found himself hiding from the maids and guards by crawling behind the screen in the bathing area just to get some peace and quiet.
Atobe's words were beginning to get to him.
`Not of ways to escape or to alert your pathetic bodyguards, which I might add, are not looking for you'
Were Kaidoh and Momoshiro really not looking for him?
Had his mother and father not sent out a search party to locate their heir and only son?
He bit his lip and wrapped his arms around his knees, burying his face in the soft fabric of his robes.
His body was tired after a full week of eating little to nothing.
A soft knocking echoed into the room.
The door opened and someone slipped in.
Ryouma held his breath, huddled behind the screen. His head ached pitifully.
“ Ryouma-kun, get out here this instant or I'll have your favourite guard beaten again.”
It was Atobe.
Ryouma struggled upright and slipped out from behind the paper screen, remembering to keep his eyes on Atobe at all times.
Atobe seemed different somehow…
Ryouma repressed the urge to rub his eyes and continued to stare fully into the GrakuenKaizer's eyes.
Atobe frowned and reached out, taking Ryouma's face in his hands.
“ What have you done to yourself…”
Ryouma tried to pull away -
Darkness bubbled up from inside and blinded him.
He blacked out; the last thing he saw was Atobe's startled face.
His body was aching.
Ryouma struggled to open his eyes and found his limbs deadened. The strength had fallen from his body. It was as if he had been captured all over again.
He wished that it had all been a dream - that he had fallen asleep in the library and Kaidoh had carried him back to his bed to catch up on some sleep.
He felt a warm hand touch his face and the blankets were lifted up a little by something that had been lying beside him. Someone nude.
Ryouma turned his head to get a better look at what it was, thankful that he was wearing a nightgown.
Atobe sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
“ You should have said something about not being able to eat.” The GrakuenKaizer said softly.
Ryouma's skin began to crawl.
The creature had been lying beside him, possibly sleeping with him in the same bed -
He tried to rise once more and couldn't.
Atobe brushed the unconscious tears out of Ryouma's eyes and leaned over the bedridden youth.
“ You're going to sleep here with me from now on - now you have to eat something.”
Atobe smiled softly, narcissistic as usual, and kissed Ryouma impassively before propping his captive up so that one of the maids could spoon-feed him chicken broth.
When the maid was sure that Ryouma had consumed enough for the day, she took her leave, vacating as quickly and efficiently as was possible.
Atobe rolled over and sighed, propping himself up on the pillows so that he could look at Ryouma without obstruction.
“ I demand that you tell me why you can't eat. The doctors I brought in tell me that it is likely because of stress and depression, but I want the reason to come directly from you. Why are you so against eating food prepared by my house?” he asked.
Ryouma flushed, but kept his eyes locked on the GrakuenKaizer's face.
“ I miss my family.” He managed to come up with. There wasn't really a reason he could explain to the man that would make sense. Inwardly he added that it was because he was in isolation and had nothing to do but follow the rules or end up having the only person he could trust beaten to a pulp.
Atobe sneered.
“ That's a pathetic excuse for not eating. You aren't a baby you know - or is it that you are so used to having your bodyguards following you around that you can't figure out what to do with your life? I can easily fix that you know.”
He reached out and stroked the side of Ryouma's face with relaxed movement.
“ My dear little Ryouma…”
Ryouma shuddered and pretended that he was shivering because of the cold.
Atobe slid closer, running his hand down the side of Ryouma's neck, settling on the youth's chest.
He wrapped his arms around Ryouma, tucking him against his bare chest with only the fabric of the nightgown separating them.
“ Just get some rest… you're going to need it.” Atobe murmured softly. He ran his fingers through Ryouma's hair and smiled to himself as Ryouma's face pressed against the flesh of his neck.
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T.B.C