Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ The Sound of Two Heads Crashing ❯ Ch. 6: My Experience As A Stalker: Part 1 ( Chapter 6 )

Okay. I wasn't going as fast as I was for the other ones with this one so I'm sorry for the wait. And this chapter was actually getting a little long so I've decided to break it into two. I hope you like it.

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Chapter #4: My Experience as a Stalker: Part 1

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“So are they together?” Eiji asked, pouncing on Fuji the moment he appeared in the clubhouse behind Momo and Ryoma.

“I'm not sure,” Fuji replied honestly, watching Momo and Ryoma interact. Both were focused on their lockers and getting changed and they hadn't said anything at all to each other on the walk over there. Momo in particular seemed to be keeping a certain amount of distance between him and his younger friend. But that could just be nerves or something. Maybe they were uncomfortable in their new relationship or didn't want to show affection in public.

Of course it could also mean that they weren't together. Fuji would have to make sure.

“I have an idea,” Fuji told Eiji after a moment. “Why don't we follow them?”

Hearing this, Eiji smiled “You mean do some good old-fashioned stalking?” he asked, barely thinking about this idea for a second before saying, “Sure!” Eiji looked genuinely excited by the prospect. There was a reason he and Fuji were best friends. “I'll go tell Oishi!” Eiji said and bounced off to tell his boyfriend of their change in plans.

Going back to watching Momo and Ryoma, Fuji smiled.

 

 

Nobody mentioned the closet incident at practice, Ryoma completely over it and not caring that much, Momo still too upset by his revelation while trapped to even think of it, and nobody else wanting to suffer Tezuka's wrath. So everyone escaped having to run laps for the incident. None of them had been late and none of them had acted like anything different was happening. As far as Tezuka knew, there was nothing that they had done wrong.

Fuji, Eiji, Oishi, and Inui were spending a lot of time watching Ryoma and Momo though so Tezuka was still somewhat suspicious. But he still couldn't find anything to fault them with so he was forced to let it go.

That didn't mean he wouldn't be watching though. He'd be watching closely. Very closely. Fuji was up to something again and he knew it. He remembered how Fuji had tried to get him involved with his Truth or Dare scheme. He just couldn't figure out what Fuji had done this time and that irritated him. So if he was a little less lenient when Eiji got overexcited or when Momo seemed distracted then that was his business.

But it was when break came around that he really knew something was up. Eiji was chattering away at Fuji as usual, but Fuji was obviously barely listening. He was nodding his head at all the right moments, but all of his attention was really on the pair by the bench.

Oblivious to this attention, Ryoma sat on the bench, slowly sipping his water bottle like everything was normal. But it was Momo that worried Tezuka. Momo sat by Ryoma with a stubborn expression on his face, hands clutching at the bench till his knuckles went white. He looked like he was physically forcing himself to stay seated. Ryoma, it seemed, was content to ignore his friend's strangeness, but Fuji was frowning, obviously displeased.

“What did you do?” Tezuka asked, coming up behind him.

Fuji turned on him with a smile. “What makes you think I did anything?”

“I know you,” Tezuka replied seriously, glaring down at the shorter boy. “What did you do?”

Fuji waved his seriousness off, turning back to the boys on the bench. “Nothing harmful.”

“But you did do something,” Tezuka said, his suspicions confirmed. Glancing back at the pair on the bench to find them sitting in much the same way as before, Tezuka turned back to Fuji with his eyes narrowed. “Momo looks like he's about to run away screaming.”

Fuji laughed at that. “I hardly think he's that traumatized.”

“Fuji . . .” Tezuka said warningly. Fuji knew that in some cases his scheming ways were okay, even cute, but he also knew that this was only when the consequences didn't affect important members of the team in a way that affected their tennis game. Momo had been too distracted all throughout practice and Tezuka didn't like it.

“You worry too much,” Fuji said, determined to not see the bad of what he was doing. “Everything will turn out fine.”

“Just make sure that he isn't like this next week,” Tezuka said sternly. They had a tournament coming up and they would probably need Momo to play.

“He'll be back to normal by Monday,” Fuji promised then looked up with another smile. “In fact, I would say he'll be better than normal.”

What ever that meant, Tezuka didn't want to know. Just so long as Momo stayed mentally and physically unscarred, he'd be fine.

 

 

Need to be cool, calm, at ease. Need to act normal. Think normal. Be normal. Remember to blink.

Don't stare. Don't act jumpy. Don't look afraid. He'll notice it.

Be a man. Don't run away. Don't scream. Even if he touches you.

And for God's sake, no matter what you do, don't say a thing.

Momo repeated this like a mantra in his head, trying to follow his own advice and act like everything was just fine. It was hard when all Momo wanted to do was scream like a girl and run in the completely opposite direction.

“Momo-senpai?” Ryoma asked, coming up to him after practice. “Are we— Ryoma started and Momo quickly went through his mantra again. Need to act normal. Think normal. Be normal. Don't run away. Don't scream.

Ryoma's question went unanswered, so he tried again. “Momo-senpai?”

Act normal. Think normal. Be normal. Don't run away. Don't scream.

“Momo-senpai,” Ryoma said, now getting irritated.

Don't run away. Don't scream. Be a man. Act—

“Momo-senpai!”

“I—Huh?” Momo asked, blinking over at Ryoma as he was forced out of his thoughts.

Ryoma glared at him. “Are we going to get burgers today? I don't want to go home. The school probably called and told our parents we skipped class.”

They probably had. “Oh yeah . . .” Momo said, looking off into space. He had to decide quickly. Did he hang out with Ryoma, the source of all his current problems, or did he go home and face his parent's wrath? Momo winced. He could already hear his mom's screaming. She was really serious about school and would not be happy to hear that he had skipped. She probably wouldn't believe him if he told her he'd been locked in a closet all day either.

Momo turned back to Ryoma. “Let's get burgers. And let's be really slow about it too, okay?”

That sounded just fine to Ryoma. He nodded and the two of them went off to get Momo's bike and start the walk to the burger place.

 

 

“Do we go in?” Eiji asked, watching the burger place worriedly. They had followed Momo and Ryoma off the school campus all the way to this burger shop and now they waited outside as Momo and Ryoma went in. He turned back to his fellow stalkers to say, “We'll lose track of them out here.”

“Won't they notice us?” Oishi asked.

Fuji smiled at him for the worry. “I'm sure if we stay back and out of the way they'll be too busy eating to look around.”

Oishi didn't look convinced, but Eiji nodded, taking the matter out of his hands as he said, “Alright then let's go!”

The three of them walked casually into the burger place, careful not to draw attention to themselves. They stealthily camouflaged themselves in groups of people and hid behind plants, ignoring the weird looks this drew, until they slipped into a booth that had a good view of Ryoma and Momo's table but was out of direct sight. It was a little far away, so they couldn't hear what was being said, but they figured they would be able to tell what was going on by Momo and Ryoma's actions alone. So far, the two younger boys had gotten their piles of food and had just started eating.

“It shouldn't take them too long to eat,” Eiji said, knowing from past experience, “They pretty much just shove the food in.”

Oishi and Fuji nodded and the three settled in to wait. An hour later they were still waiting. There had been a few false starts, the three of them thinking Momo and Ryoma were done only to have one of the boys get up to buy another burger or shake. It was frustrating and Eiji had long since gotten bored and was slouched over in his seat, propping his head up with a hand. “Are they done yet?” he asked dully, not really expecting a positive answer.

Looking over at the two younger boys, Oishi shook his head. “They're still eating.”

Groaning, Eiji let his head fall down to hit the table. “Why?” he asked the world miserably.

Fuji patted him on the back comfortingly and smiled. “I'm sure they'll be done soon.”

Finally, after what seemed like forever to Eiji, Momo and Ryoma seemed finished, but then they had a short conversation that Oishi, Fuji, and Eiji couldn't hear.

Eiji looked frustrated at this. “We need to get closer.” Despite what they'd thought, Momo and Ryoma's actions weren't telling them anything.

Oishi shook his head. “Any closer and they'll notice us.”

Frowning, Eiji turned to his boyfriend. “But if we don't get closer then how will we be able to tell if they're together? We won't be able to hear.”

“But if they see us following them then that won't matter,” Oishi pointed out. “We need to stay hidden or this will all be over before we can find anything out.”

“But we can't find anything out if we can't hear,” Eiji argued.

“But if we get any closer then they'll see us,” Oishi countered, now frowning himself.

“But we need to hear,” Eiji insisted.

Ignoring the developing fight next to him, Fuji had kept his eyes on the younger boys and nodded as Momo and Ryoma stood up to leave. “Let's go,” he said, cutting into the fight before Oishi could respond, “They're leaving,” he explained when they turned to look at him in confusion as he stood up to leave. Quickly looking in the direction of the two younger boys, Oishi and Eiji shut up, nodding in understanding as they stood to follow behind.

 

 

Momo may have eaten a little more than he should have. He felt a little sick. “Maybe I shouldn't have had that seventh burger,” he groaned, holding his stomach as he and Ryoma walked to the manga shop they liked.

“You're an idiot,” Ryoma told him bluntly, looking up at Momo briefly as he walked alongside the older boy. He felt perfectly fine, but then he hadn't eaten as much as Momo had. He'd started to feel stuffed around the fourth burger and completely stopped eating after the fifth.

“Shut up,” Momo grumbled and gave Ryoma a half-hearted glare, not wanting to hear it. It was getting easier and easier the longer he was in Ryoma's company to ignore the strange new thoughts and feelings that the younger boy produced. This was probably helped along by the fact that Ryoma wasn't acting any different then normal. Momo could fall back into usual patterns of behavior and pretend ignorance for a few short hours. So as long as Ryoma didn't touch him or do anything weird or cute or provocative in any way he would be safe.

They walked along in silence for a few moments, Momo's attention more on his hurting stomach than anything else, when Ryoma's eyes suddenly went wide and he abruptly grabbed Momo's arm. “Momo-senpai!” Ryoma exclaimed.

“Ah!” Momo freaked out, jumping back and quickly shaking Ryoma's hands off of him. “Don't do that!” he nearly screamed.

Ryoma backed off and gave him a weird look. “I just touched you.”

“You grabbed me!” Momo corrected, holding his arm close and looking almost violated. “Don't do stuff like that!”

“What?” Ryoma said, starting to look evil. “Like . . . this?” He slowly reached out to touch Momo on the arm with one finger.

“Ah!” Momo freaked out again, jumping back a whole foot. “Echizen!” Momo protested.

Slowly, a small, evil smile was growing on Ryoma's face. If Momo freaked out with that, what would happen if he did . . . this? Quickly, before Momo could react, Ryoma reached out and poked him in the chest.

“Hey!” Momo protested, moving back a step.

Starting to grin, Ryoma stepped forward and poked him again, this time getting his stomach.

“Hey! Stop that!”

Ignoring him, Ryoma just grinned and poked him yet again.

“Okay this isn't funny, Echizen!” Momo said, now almost backed into a wall and trying to ward off the other boy, “Stop it!”

Thankfully, Ryoma took pity on him and stopped, looking at Momo with some amused disbelief. “What's wrong with you?”

“Nothing!” Momo said loudly, despite all evidence to the contrary. “You just won't stop poking me!”

“I'm only poking you because you're freaking out,” Ryoma explained simply, looking like this should be obvious and it kind of was.

Momo straightened and tried to regain his dignity, patting down his shirt and not looking at the younger boy. “So?” he finally said. “You shouldn't go around grabbing people like that.”

“I was just going to tell you something,” Ryoma said blandly.

Oh, Momo thought, feeling kind of stupid. “What was it then?” he asked, determined not to show how embarrassed he actually was feeling. Because what the hell had he been doing? Why had he freaked out so badly? He thought he'd been doing okay. Apparently not.

“I thought I saw Fuji-senpai hiding behind a bush,” Ryoma told him.

Momo turned to him, looking a little surprised. “And you grabbed me for that?”

“Well obviously I didn't think you were going to start screaming.”

 

 

Eiji, Fuji, and Oishi fit almost comfortably behind the bushes lining the sidewalk across the street from Momo and Ryoma. Passersby could still see them hunched together and gave them weird looks, but they were ignoring that. As long as Momo and Ryoma couldn't see them then things were fine.

“What are they doing now?” Eiji whispered, leaning closer to Fuji, not daring to move his head above the safety of the bush.

“I think they're . . .” Peeking his head above the foliage, Fuji squinted to make sure. “Yes, they're poking each other.”

“Still? Boring. When are they gonna get to the good stuff?”

“I don't think there's ever going to be any “good stuff”,” Oishi said, putting a hand over his eyes to block the fading sunlight and squinting across the street like an explorer at the two younger boys. “I really don't think they're together.”

“No. They have to be together,” Eiji said, “Didn't you hear what Fuji said? Ochibi was sleeping on Momo.”

“So?” Oishi replied, finally turning to look at his boyfriend with a frown. “They do that all the time on the bus home from tournaments.”

Eiji couldn't argue with this. It was true. Not liking that he could be wrong, Eiji pouted and changed the subject. “Well we still can't hear anything.”

Fuji and Oishi both ignored him, going back to watching Momo and Ryoma. Ryoma had finally stopped poking Momo and now the two seemed to be talking, Momo standing there with as much dignity as he could manage.

“What do you think they're saying?” Oishi asked.

Fuji frowned. “I don't know . . .”

Now Eiji dared to peek his own head above the foliage and squinted across the street at the two younger boys. Momo seemed to be laughing nervously, putting a hand behind his head as Ryoma gave him a look. Finally, Ryoma just shook his head and the two started walking again.

“Oh man,” Eiji complained, not looking forward to the sneaking that was coming. “Can't they just find a spot and stick to it?”

Oishi smiled at his complaints, but turned to usher him on. “Come on. You're the one who wanted to follow them. Let's go.”

 

 

“Hey! Look at this one.”

Ryoma came over to see Momo's find. Seeing the bright colors and images of men in various fighting poses on the cover, he shook his head. “Stupid.”

“What are you talking about?” Momo asked, defending his find. “Stupid. It's not stupid.”

“It's stupid,” Ryoma repeated before turning and walking off deeper into the manga shop.

“Don't know what he's talking about,” Momo muttered to himself, rereading the back of the manga in his hands. “This is cool.”

Ryoma wandered deeper into the store, not really looking for anything, just kind of browsing. Maybe he'd find something interesting but he wasn't really there to buy anything. Hearing the sound of giggles, he turned down the next aisle to find a group of three girls huddled together in front of a display, collectively looking at one manga that the middle girl held in her hands. Seeing the bright pink of the display, bubbles surrounding the forms of two rather pretty boys with their arms locked around each other, Ryoma blinked. Wow. He was seeing this gay thing everywhere now that he knew about it.

But what were those girls doing reading about it?

Not seeing anything else interesting and deciding he was curious about those girls, Ryoma wandered back out into the front of the shop. “Hey, Momo-senpai?” he asked, tugging on the older boy's sleeve. “There are some girls back there reading gay manga.”

“What?” Momo asked distractedly, not looking up from his manga. “Oh . . . oh yeah,” he mumbled absently, turning the page, “Those are yaoi fans. Just ignore them. They're weird.”

Ryoma nodded, accepting this, then moved on to his next question. “Are you ready to go?”

Now Momo looked up. “What?” he asked as though unable to believe Ryoma had actually asked him that. “No way. I'm not going home until I absolutely have to. Here.” Momo grabbed a random manga from the shelves and held it out to Ryoma. “Look at that one. It looked interesting.”

Taking the manga from his friend's hands, Ryoma turned it over to look at it. There on the cover was the drawing of a man seated in the middle of a deserted wasteland, seeming to be screaming at the sky. That not looking bad, Ryoma turned it over to read the back. The story was some over used, over-clichéd trash about a man and his woman on an alien planet. Boring. He placed the manga back where it came from and picked up the one next to it. This one was better, but still not something he would want to read.

Momo, meanwhile, finally put down his manga to put it on the pile of others he was planning to buy and moved on, grabbing the manga next to the one Ryoma had grabbed. “Oh this one's cool too,” he said happily.

Putting the manga he had in his hands back into its place, Ryoma grabbed one of the same manga Momo had grabbed and turned it over to read, wanting to see what was so cool. Yet another fighting manga. Always the same storyline. Ryoma really had to wonder about Momo's taste sometimes.

The sound of giggling coming closer, Ryoma looked up. It was those same girls as before, emerging from the shelves. And, having noticed them, Ryoma went back to the comics only to wince as the giggles seemed to only increase as the girls got closer. Looking up again, he was surprised to find them looking his way, one of the girls even pointing at him and Momo before hiding her face behind a hand and giggling profusely. If he listened he could hear various phrases like, “So cute,” “Awww,” “He's so pretty,” “I love them!” and “He must be the uke.”

What's an uke? Ryoma wondered, right before wondering why they seemed to be talking about him. They were looking straight at him.

Quickly, Ryoma nudged Momo sharply with an elbow, trying to get the older boy's attention. When that didn't work he did it again, harder this time.

“What?” Momo asked, sounding disgruntled as he looked down at Ryoma. “I'm trying to read here.”

Ryoma ignored his complaints. “It's those weird girls that were reading the gay stuff,” he said, pointing in their direction.

Momo looked in the direction he was pointing. “Oh,” he said, not sounding all that interested. “What are they doing giggling like that? And what's “so cute”?”

“I think they're talking about us,” Ryoma said, sounding confused. Because why would they be talking about him and Momo? They hadn't been doing anything overtly gay, had they? He didn't think so. Unless reading manga next to each other was now a gay activity.

Momo's eyes went wide. “Us?” he breathed, sounding horrified.

“Yeah.”

“But - but I haven't done anything!” Momo cried anxiously, “How could they know?!”

Looking up at his friend, Ryoma repeated that last question in his head. How could they know? But that meant . . . “You're gay?” Ryoma asked, looking at Momo in disbelief. “I thought you said you weren't.”

“What?” Momo turned to him and seemed to realize what he had just said. “No. No! I didn't mean that! I meant . . . I meant . . . Why would they think that? That's what I meant.”

That was the stupidest attempt to throw off suspicion that Ryoma had ever heard. Ryoma gave Momo a flat, unimpressed look and repeated, “You're gay.”

“No!” Momo denied loudly, shaking his head frantically, hands close to wringing the manga he held in his hands. In the background, the girls' giggles just got louder.

“I heard you, Momo-senpai,” Ryoma said, still looking up at the older boy flatly.

“I . . . I . . .” Momo quieted, looking torn. Then, finally seeming to realize that there was nothing he could do, he hung his head. “Yes. I am.” Momo looked up with an almost sad smile. “I guess you're going to be the only straight Regular now, huh?”

Ryoma blinked at him for a moment, processing this, and then looked down, tugging at his hat. “Yeah . . . I guess . . .” His reaction to the letters still hung in his mind, but that didn't necessarily mean he was gay, did it? He'd never really thought about sexual preference. It had never been important. He'd always just assumed boys went with girls and that was it. And he'd never really been interested in girls no matter how much his dad wanted him to be. They were just too . . . girly. He didn't get what the big deal was. Their hair was too long and most of them couldn't swing a tennis racket to save their life. And they were always wearing too much perfume and they giggled too much and he just didn't get why the other boys in his class nearly drooled when a girl with big breasts walked by. He'd always imagined breasts would just get in the way and be annoying.

But the circumstances of the last few days were really throwing his thoughts on sexuality into question. Maybe it was an important thing to figure out. Maybe it was weird that he wasn't interested in having a girlfriend. He'd always just been content with it being him and Momo hanging out and had never wanted to interrupt that time.

Not liking where his thoughts were going, Ryoma tugged on his hat one last time and looked up at Momo. “Are you ready to go now? We can go down to the tennis courts.”

“Yeah,” Momo said, looking down at the manga he was almost wringing in his hands. “Just let me buy these and we can go.”

TBC