It's been a long time coming, but finally chapter 2 is out! Wohoo!!
Once again, no comments, no updates due to potential motivational problems. ^__^ Cheers!
Title: Dreaming on the Radio
Genre: General/Romance
Ratings: U
Pairings: MomoshiroRyoma
Length: 1,712
Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.
Summary: Annoyance is obviously the start of a beautiful relationship.
Previous chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1
“On the edge, but it can go either way~” singing filtered through air; the sound smooth, the tone raunchy. “DJ, I’ll give you a record to pla—” Ryoma cleared his throat, and clicked the radio off. He wasn’t sure this type of music was really the direction he would be suited to go in, sexy and raunchy wasn’t exactly his style. Though using it occasionally could increase his fanbase…apparently. He shrugged to himself, and pulled some crumpled scores closer.
Aside from singing slightly differently, his producer had wanted him to write a song for Valentine’s Day. It was still only just November, but he needed to finish writing the main tune by next week, since he’d be busy recording his new single over Christmas. His manager was actually coming over today to explain the Christmas-New Year timetable with him. If he played his cards right, he might be able to get some free time from her for once.
Speaking of which, she should be here by now. Echizen looked out of the window, and sighed a little to himself. She got lost again, didn’t she.
-
“And then he said: ‘Well if you were using your brains then that wouldn’t have happened would it?’ I mean, the nerve of that guy!”
“Hnya, he must really annoy you, if you go on about it so much,” Eiji yawned as he and Momo walked down the street. According to Fuji, this Ryuzaki Ryoma was quiet and polite; but with the way Momo goes on about him…you’d think he was the devil incarnated or something.
And as much as he likes to be a good friend, hearing someone complain about a person he’s never even met gets rather tiring. And Eiji’s never been known for his stamina.
Hn, wonder if that girl’s lost, nya, Eiji thought when he noticed a relatively cute girl staring at the city map of Senbatsu, fidgeting nervously as she wavered on the spot. Having nothing better to do, and looking for any excuse to pause Momo in his ‘Ryuzaki’ tirade, Eiji bounced over to her.
“Need help, nya?” he asked, even as the girl shied back a little at a total stranger talking to her.
“U-um, can…can you please tell me how to get to Seishun Street?” the girl asked timidly, her brown plaits bouncing beside her with every movement.
“Seishun? Yeah sure, you visiting a friend or something?” Momo asked as he walked over. Eiji-senpai could be so rude sometimes, but he had been going on about Ryuzaki for a while. Guess I could forgive him for getting bored.
“Ah, um…er…yes” The girl curled in on herself some more. Eiji made sure to smile reassuringly, all the while wondering who’s girlfriend she was as Momo pointed out the right directions. He knew most people on Seishun Street, and only a handful of them had girlfriends that didn’t go to their uni.
“She was cute, nya!” Eiji smiled as the two headed for the supermarket. “It’s rare to meet such a cute girl.”
“She’s most likely taken though,” Momo said with a slightly forlone sigh. “And in case you’ve conveniently forgotten, Eiji-senpai, you already have a boyfriend.”
-
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTT!
Echizen flinched as their buzzer-like doorbell sounded through the house. Getting out of his chair with a groan, he had been doing well with the new song before being interrupted, Ryoma opened the front door.
“Good afternoon,” Sakuno smiled as she bowed an apology, “sorry I’m late, I got lost on the way here.”
“As usual,” Ryoma turned and headed back upstairs, letting Sakuno close the door behind her. Going through schedules and being told he had to be here and there at whatever time was definitely not the perk of his chosen career. “It’s because your hair’s too long.”
“My hair being long has nothing to do with getting lost!” Sakuno said, even as she hurried after him. “But enough of that, there’s been a slight change of plans tomorrow so you might have to sleep over at the studio. Oh and…”
And the list of duties went on.
-
One day off. One day off tomorrow; and then going to the studio every single freaking day up until the 24th. Part of Echizen wondered if that went against some sort of slavery law.
“It can’t be helped Ryoma-kun,” Sakuno tried to reassure him as he led her to the door. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to even get her to give him a day off. “Grandma, I mean, the producer has some problems with your next single. We have to plan for the worse case scenario. If you have to re-record it then-”
“We’ll do it during the sessions we’ve already booked, I know, I know,” he said, watching her zip up her coat. “You sure you don’t want me to walk you to the station?”
“It’s fine,” she smiled at him, before turning to open the door, “you should use this time to relax. We’ve got lots of work ahead, and…um…”
The sudden lax in conversation caused Echizen to frown at Sakuno’s back. Shifting slightly to the left, he found that his manager was having trouble unlocking the front door. He sighed to himself, it was amazing such a complete klutz was such a helpful manager. “Here, let me do it,” he said, reaching forward.
Before he even touched the lock, however, the handle twisted and the door swung inwards, nearly hitting Sakuno in the face. Thankfully her reflexes were just fast enough this time.
“Ah, sorry sorry,” a loud, familiar, not to mention annoying voice boomed across the doorway. Echizen had to fight his urge to cover his ears. Annoying as ever I see.
“Hnya! It’s you!” An equally loud person called out, the urge grew larger. “I didn’t know this was the house you wanted to get to!”
“Ah…um…hi,” Sakuno replied shyly, curling inwards the way she tended to do when reunited with someone whom she met under embarrassing circumstances.
She must have asked them for directions, Echizen smirked to himself.
-
Momoshiro was experiencing a slight mixture of feelings as the girl with the plaits greeted them nervously. On the one hand, he was rather pleased with himself that he managed to guess right and the girl was here to see her boyfriend. So many long distanced relationships broke up recently it was getting rather depressing. On the other hand…Ryuzaki has a girlfriend. Ryuzaki has a girlfriend. The same Ryuzaki who was snarky, cold, anti-social and downright unpleasant at times; managed to get a girlfriend whilst Momoshiro, whom regarded himself as a pretty decent and attractive guy…didn’t.
There was something seriously wrong with this world.
“Hnya! You leaving already? But you just got here.”
“A-ah…um, my-our, our grandmother isn’t feeling too well today so I’ve got to hurry back,” the girl stuttered, fidgeting with her hair and practically twitching from, Momshiro assumed, all the attention. Wait, our grandmother? Does that mean-
“EH?! YOU’RE MARRIED!” Eiji-senpai exclaimed.
Ryuzaki growled. “She’s my cousin.”
Really, trust Eiji-senpai to jump to the wrong conclusion. But cousin, not girlfriend; inwardly, Momshiro sighed a breath of relief. The world was not ending after all.
“Well, um, I better go,” Ryuzaki’s cousin, now a brilliant shade of red, no doubt thanks to Eiji-senpai, said. She turned to Ryuzaki, “I know it’s going to be hard, so enjoy your free time tonight.”
Momo moved out of the way, but Eiji-senpai was still too curious for his own good. “Eh? You gonna be super busy this week or something?”
“Looking after grandma,” Ryuzaki answered smoothly, and rather nonchalantly. Honestly, if his grandmother was ill, Momo was sure he’d never be so relaxed about it.
“Ooh, such a modelled citizen,” Eiji-senpai sniggered, “you deserve a prize. Yosh! I, Kikumaru Eiji, that’s my name by the way, shall invite you to come to the student union bar with us tonight!”
WHAT?! “Eiji-senpai!” Momoshiro hissed, Kikumaru did not just invite the most annoying person on earth to go out with them. “Are you crazy, you can’t just invite someone you’ve never met before to a night out between friends. The others might get annoyed.”
As expected, Eiji waved that excuse away. “It’ll be fine it’ll be fine, besides, it’s karaoke night at the bar, and the more the merrier I say, especially on karaoke nights!”
Unbeknownst by them, Ryuzaki and his cousin stiffened slightly at the word ‘karaoke’. Sakuno gave Ryoma a meaningful glance, which Ryoma scowled at.
“But Eiji-senpai!”
“So how about it?!” Eiji continued, ignoring Momo’s protests easily.
Something passed between the cousins, but Momo barely noticed, let alone figure out what it was. Finally Ryuzaki spoke, “sure.” And Momo wanted to punch his senpai.
“Great! We’re leaving at around nine, so we’ll knock on your door or something, ‘kay?”
Ryuzaki nodded, and Momo’s urge to punch only increased.
Grr, how can I impress Ann-chan properly when there’s a damn eyesore in the way? Not that Ryuzaki was particularly ugly or anything, it was just that he was such an annoying guy, his mere presence induced frustration. And if he was so unpleasant and cold now, Momo didn’t dare think of how horrid the first year could get if he became drunk. Perhaps I should exchange his beer for water with food colouring or something…like spiking his drink in reverse.
Before that thought went anywhere though, Eiji-senpai was pulling him towards his room. “Hnya! So where was this poster you were talking about?”
The click of the lock was the only clue that the cousins have left the house.
-
“Are you out of your mind?!” Sakuno whispered frantically as soon as the door closed behind them. “What if they find out?!”
“They won’t find out if I don’t sing,” Ryoma retorted. “Besides, it’s my night off, shouldn’t I be able to do whatever I want?”
“Not at the risk of your career!” Sakuno whined, “oh please be careful tonight, Ryoma-kun.”
Echizen didn’t seem to particularly care, edging to open the gate for her in an obvious gesture to get her home. “Stop worrying so much,” he said when she didn’t so much as move, “it’ll be fine.” With that, he gave up on holding the gate and went back inside.
To be continued~
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So, the 'Ryuzaki' finally gets explained, told you there was a reason. And karaoke next chapter! XD Why do I get the feeling everyone already know what's going to happen?
