A/N: So I have a weird obsession with Hyotei!Ryoma and Rikkai!Ryoma… Royal is my OTP, but Rikkaidai is my favorite school so I really found it difficult to decide which one I should write first, Hyotei or Rikkai? I ended up choosing Hyotei because I've been seeing too many Rikkaidai!Ryoma fanfictions out there and we need something new :D Which is not say that I don't appreciate how much love Rikkaidai is getting, because I really love it.

Anyways, this is another Royal Pair fanfiction. Enjoy~

"Oi, Rinko, we have a serious problem!" Nanjirou hollered from his comfortable position on the living room couch. "A serious problem!"

"What?" A shrill voice called, clearly not happy at being disturbed. "And you need to start packing your stuff for Japan, or I'll burn every single one of those dirty magazines you have!"

"But honey," he whined, "Hyotei just sent me a letter!"

"Hm? Hyotei? Is that the rich academy located in Tokyo? I thought you wanted Ryoma to attend Seigaku, your old school." Rinko hung the washcloth back on its hook before entering the living room, fanning herself. "Although personally, I wouldn't mind if Ryoma attended Hyotei. It'll be good for him."

"Absolutely not, Ryoma will attend Seigaku."

"He's just as much my son as he is yours," Rinko argued.

"But he plays tennis, and my tennis is better than yours!"

"You did not just go there."

Nanjirou cowered slightly under the brunette's terrifyingly dark glare. And then, he straightened up to say, "Anyways, I guess the principal of Hyotei somehow heard we were returning to Japan and sent Ryoma an offer to admit him."

"So?"

"That's not the bad part, the school district boundaries were re-drawn last week and the old house is now not in the Seigaku school district!"

"Hm. That's too bad," Rinko commented, not sounding remotely sorrowful. "It looks like Ryoma will have to attend Hyotei Academy instead."

"He'll suffer!"

"Through suffrage, a true man will be produced," Rinko quoted from the Buddhist philosophy book she had read last week. "He might hate it at first, but it's good for him."

"…You are a terrible parent."

"Excuse me? It's just tough love."

"Are you sure you'll be alright son? Don't feel bad if you fail, my grades were bad when I was in school, and look at me, I'm still- "

"Shut up, not everyone is as stupid as you," Ryoma grumbled, jabbing his father with his left elbow.

"Ryoma, that's not appropriate behavior for someone dressed in a suit," Rinko scolded. "And why won't you just take that white cap of yours off? It makes you look so out of place!"

"Hai, hai," he mumbled, bored. "You guys can go now."

"Aw, look at him Rinko! Afraid we'll embarrass you, Seishounen?"

"Che, get out."

Ryoma got on the train and sat down, pulling his cap lower to hide his eyes. It was going to be a long ride. Before long, he found himself nodding off, the loud noises of the morning rush fading into a low, humming, background buzz.

"Excuse me. Hello? Excuse me." Looking up, Ryoma saw a boy dressed in a uniform identical to his tapping him on the shoulder. "Are you attending Hyotei? The school is the next stop."

"Don't you see my uniform? Of course I'm attending Hyotei," Ryoma grumbled under his breath, irritated at being woken up. However, after seeing the boy's gentle face fall slightly, he decided to make a few amends; "But thanks for waking me up."

Immediately, the silver-haired boy broke into a bright smile. "No problem. So are you new this year?"

"Hn."

"That's nice. A first year, right?"

"Hn." Ryoma was still trying to blink the sleep and drowsiness from his eyes. "And you?"

The boy looked even happier at not being the only one to speak in their rather dull conversation. "I'm a second year. You're on the tennis team right?" He glanced down pointedly at Ryoma's tennis bag.

"Hn. You?" It was falling into a pattern- Ryoma would give some noise of confirmation and then ask the other boy the exact same question he had been asked.

"Yup! All of my friends are too- "

The door dinged before opening, indicating that they had arrived. As he stepped off of the train, Ryoma couldn't help but notice that there weren't many Hyotei students who were on the train- in fact, aside from him and the other boy, there were only 2 other students. "How do people normally get to school?" He asked.

"Huh?" The boy looked slightly flustered at being the one questioned instead of the one doing the questioning. "Oh um… most of the students who attend Hyotei have drivers, chauffeurs, or even helicopters…"

"...Helicopters?"

"Ah… well, I think that's mostly just Atobe…"

This Atobe person already sounded like a rich snob to Ryoma. "Hm. He sounds like a rich snob."

The other boy's face immediately reddened. "N-no, it's not like that-"

"Whatever you say," Ryoma shrugged, not really paying attention.

"S-so, I'm Ootori Choutarou, you can… um… find me if you need anything!" a voice called from behind him.

"Echizen Ryoma. Yoroshiku."

And with that, Ryoma left Choutarou behind, speeding up his walking pace to weave between a few people in front of him.

So maybe choosing not to leave Choutarou behind would have been a good idea, because it took Ryoma a total of six wrong turns, three retraces of his steps, and 35 minutes to find the school's front gate. Which meant that he was already late by twenty minutes.

The good thing about being so late, however, was that all the school grounds were completely empty, which gave him a better view of the facilities. It was obviously a school for rich snobs.

"Hyotei? I thought we agreed that I would be going to Seigaku!"

"Well, uh… you're mother and I decided it would be a great opportunity!"

"…What the hell?"

"Anyways, it's happening, so just get prepared. You need to take a few tests too."

"It's a school for rich snobs, dad."

"Hey, we're not poor!"

"…I don't think we're that rich either."

"But we're not poor!"

"…"

"Look, you're going to Hyotei and that's that, I'm sorry for the short notice."

"…Do they have a tennis team?"

"Of course. It may be a formal school, but there's a tennis team alright. I hear it's competitive."

"Fine."

Ryoma wondered if there was supposed to be an opening ceremony or something of the like. Well, even if there was, it wasn't as if he would be able to find it. He might as well check out the tennis courts. Strolling around for a few minutes, he managed to find the athletics facilities, meaning that the courts were probably close.

It didn't take him long to catch sight of a dull blue fence, definitely indicating the location of the courts. Ha. Found it.

"Huh, not bad, not bad!" He declared, glancing around at the need white rectangular lines and clean blue paint. The hard ground felt solid under his feet, and it gave him a good grip in combination with his white shoes. It would be nice playing on these courts. Stretching and yawning, he shrugged off his blazer, tossing it to the side. It landed messily draped over a pale green rod of the referee's chair. Looking around, he wondered if it would be safe to change into some more casual athletic clothes. His hand was already pulling at the hem of his shirt when he noticed the security cameras.

Ok, never mind, that idea would have to be scratched. Playing in formal wear it was.

He rotated his arm a few times before unzipping his bag and picking up his racket. Pulling out a thin tube of balls, he took one out and bounced it a few times before tossing it up into the air. Before he could hit it thought, a voice yelled at him to stop.

The ball landed cleanly in front of him as he turned around. "What?"

"I said stop. All students should be in the opening ceremony right now. The courts also shouldn't be open. Why are you here?"

"I don't know where the ceremony is being held."

"That is no excuse. I will take you there now."

Opening ceremony? Compared to arriving late in front of everyone and being forced to sit through a boring assembly, he would rather play tennis. Turning around, he simply decided to ignore the man, choosing instead to serve a rather violent twist serve into the other side of the court.

"Do not ignore me." The blonde man's voice had grown darker and more stern, but Ryoma merely yawned, picking up another ball.

Suddenly, a hand was grabbing his wrist. "For such disrespectful behavior, you, young man, will be coming with me."

This day was just full of regrets for Ryoma. So maybe if he'd known that refusing the opening ceremony escort offer would lead to sitting in the office of some man named "Sakaki", he would have taken the man up on his former proposal.

He definitely would have if he'd known that there would be a lecture about responsibility, discipline, and appropriate behavior afterwards.

"Do you understand?"

He was jolted back to reality by the cold voice. "…Hai."

"Would you like to repeat what I just said?"

"…Men must have responsibility. Discipline is important. Behavior in Hyotei should remain appropriate and polite at all times."

Hopefully he said something along the lines of that…

"…Alright. You may now go, the ceremony should just be ending. Go straight to your classroom."

"Hn."

"Excuse me?"

"Hai," Ryoma corrected hastily, already halfway out the door.

Exiting, he let out a slow breath. At least he'd had enough time to grab his stuff before getting dragged off to this guy (whoever he was)'s office. Checking the floor map framed on the wall of the administrative building, he figured out slowly how to reach his class.

"Hm… no home room on the first day… then… my first class should be…"

Advanced Honors English.

How boring. Yawning again, Ryoma entered the literature building and climbed up three flights of stairs, finally reaching his classroom. He was the first one there, so he chose a seat near the very back and decided to catch up on some sleep.

"…Um excuse me…"

Something was prodding his shoulder…

"Excuse me, wake up…"

Ryoma shifted, scowling in his sleep. This thing was really uncomfortable.

"Oi, wake up chibi. You're in the wrong class, and you need to get out of my seat. It's mine."

That woke him up. Blinking, he saw a pink-haired boy standing above him, hands on his hips in a rather feminine pose.

"…Who are you?"

"Mukahi Gakuto. Now can you get up? Class is about to start and I don't want sensei to be mad at me on the first day."

"…" Wordlessly, Ryoma stood up and left the classroom. He checked the sign on the door.

'English: Basics'

Oh.

He must have entered the wrong room. He walked up and down the hallway, checking the fancy golden plaques on the door until he finally found one that said 'English: Accelerated Honors'.

The moment he opened the door, the entire class froze and stared at him. Ryoma scowled. He wasn't an alien there for their entertainment or observation. Casually stepping in, he picked a random seat and sat down. Immediately, the entire class broke into whispers- who said that people in Hyotei were always polite?

Suddenly, a hand tapped him on the shoulder. Turning, he saw Choutarou. "Hey."

"Hi!" The boy smiled. "Are you in English honors as well?"

"Hn."

"That's great! We're in the same class! We almost never get new students, so class gets pretty dull if you ask me…"

"Oi Choutarou. You better tell the new kid to move before Atobe gets here." A boy with long brown hair hissed. Did everyone here look like a girl?

"S-Shishido-senpai…"

The door slammed open loudly, and a silver-haired boy strolled in arrogantly with an aura as strong as if he owned the place.

Ryoma didn't know what possessed him to say it, but before he could set up his filter, the words were already sliding out. "Oh look, the monkey king arrives."

Everyone gasped and froze, looking towards the boy to see what he would do.

He seemed to be trembling in anger- or were those tears?

"How dare you, you ignorant brat!" Ok, definitely not tears.

"…"

"Apologize immediately!"

"Hn."

"Are you even sorry?"

"Hai…"

"Respond properly, or did your parents not teach you how to talk?"

"I thought that was you."

Everyone gasped again. No one treated an Atobe like that.

"Do you know who ore-sama is?"

"…Ore-sama?" Ryoma snorted. "How fitting of a monkey king."

"Why you-"

"Everyone, silence. Why is it so loud? Take your seats," the teacher ordered as she walked in. "Atobe-kun, why are you the only one standing up? Sit down, now. There's an empty seat on the other side of Choutarou-kun, why don't you occupy it?"

Atobe glared. "Excuse me, sensei, but-"

"I said take a seat!" She snapped, clearly irritated. "Seats were never assigned, so everyone is free to sit wherever they so wish. Please refrain from being this disruptive in class again."

The boy, Atobe, sat down, still grumbling slightly under his breath. Clearly he wasn't used to being scolded. Ryoma smirked. He liked the teacher already.

As the lesson began, Ryoma propped a large textbook in front of him. Halfway in, he became increasingly bored, feeling the tendrils of sleep pulling him down, down, down… into a deep… darkness…

"Echizen-kun. Echizen-kun, please read out paragraph five. Echizen-kun!"

Was someone calling him? And what paragraph five? What was he reading?

"Sensei, he's asleep," a loud voice called out. "Totally lame."

"Shishido-senpai, he can hear you!" Ah, that voice was definitely Choutarou…

"Oh no, is he going to be another Jirou?" That was Shishido again… Ryoma just couldn't force his eyes open.

"Another Jirou? No way, no one else absorbs information while not even paying attention like Jirou does. He's just a sponge. Echizen is a black hole." Ok, that was rude. It was probably that Atobe kid.

Ryoma forced his eyes open, waiting for the room to fall into a clearer focus. "Hai, what was your request again, sensei?"

"We are on page fifty-four. Please read out paragraph five and answer the questions about all the previous paragrahs."

"Hai." He groaned inwardly. "With her hands, she kneaded the dough, mixing in all of her mother's ingredients. After that, she…"

He finished reading and shut his textbook.

"Alright, now answer the questions. Start with one, and read out the question."

"Hai. Question one; what is the meaning of the word 'knead'? Well, knead means to-"

"Echizen-kun, would you like to write the answers on the board? Do not bring your book."

Ok, that woman was pure evil- he was taking back everything he'd every thought about liking her as a teacher. He'd have to just guess the answers to any questions requiring textual evidence…

"Question 1. What is the meaning of the word…"

After 10 minutes, he had filled the entire board with answers to the teacher's question. So none of them were actually based on the plot of the text. Thank goodness.

"Would you like to provide a summary of the story so far?"

Yes, she was definitely evil.

"…Not really, no."

Ignoring her surprised face, he took his seat once more, leaning his chin on his hand. It was definitely going to be a long day. Maybe he would be allowed to not wear his uniform if he talked to the principal?

A/N: Mhm I know that this is way shorter than my normal chapters, but this story is kind of a side-project (my main focus is still on 'This Small Town' and my other Royal fanfic that I have yet to post).

Updating Schedule: once or twice a week

Next Chapter: Nov. 12 OR Nov. 16

R&R if you want to :) I will be busy from the 13th to the 15th, which is why if the chapter isn't posted by the twelfth, it won't be until the sixteenth. Although, I don't really have a life, so it might be posted quite early (like tomorrow? Depends.)