A/N: SO this fic is veryy old... and not so good considering it's my first fic with my sis yukifangirl31295! We made and edited it together and I hope you'll enjoy it!
Chapter 1
"Uwaah! As expected of summer in Japan, it's so hot!" Momoshiro said as he and Ryoma came out of the convenience store.
"You talk as though you've gone to other countries already Momo-senpai." Ryoma said as he licked his ice cream.
"Oi Echizen! Don't tell me you think I haven't gone abroad yet! You're insulting me and that is so not right!" Momo said as he frowned at his first year companion.
"I am saying that you haven't gone abroad yet." Ryoma answered back sharply.
"Why you-!"
"Hey, it's Echizen." Both Seigaku regulars looked up at the sound of Ryoma's last name.
"Ah! Fuji-senpai's little brother! Yuuta!" Momo exclaimed, a vein popped in Yuuta's forehead.
"Oi! Who are you calling Fuji's little brother!" Yuuta said as he glared at Momo.
"Ah…" Ryoma said as he looked Yuuta up and down.
"What?" The younger Fuji raised an eyebrow.
"Fuji-senpai's brother." Another vein popped.
"Shut up already. I have a name. It's Yuu-ta!" He said to the two.
"Oh, what do we have here?" A malicious voice sounded. Ryoma and Momoshiro looked up.
"Mizuki-senpai!" Yuuta said as his senior from St. Rudolph approach them.
"Mizuki, what are you doing here?" Momo asked the manager of St. Rudolph's tennis team.
"We're here scouting for a place to do our summer tennis training." Mizuki said and when he saw Momo flush in embarrassment he added in a leer. "Oh? Don't tell me, Seigaku has no plans of getting stronger this summer? At this rate, St. Rudolph will catch up to you in no time."
"Oi, we didn't say-"
CLANG! CLANG!
"Come all and try your luck at our lottery!" A lady shouted to passer bys. "The first prize is a free stay at a summer house in Osaka beach!"
"We've actually come here to try and win that. We plan on having our tennis retreat at that beach and a free summer house sounds good." Yuuta explained to the two who nodded.
"Oya, so you're club's short on funds?" Momo said with a teasing smile. This time it was Mizuki's turn to flush.
"I-It's not! We're just saving that's all. It's useless throwing away money when we can have the summer house for free!" Mizuki said. "Anyway, I've already given the lady some money so we can try our luck… Let's go Yuuta."
"Oi! Wait! Seigaku will win that prize not you!" Momo said and Mizuki turned to glare at him.
"Challenging me, Momoshiro?" Mizuki said his eyebrow twitching.
"Let's settle this with tennis…" Momo said as he rolled up his sleeves.
"Ano…" Yuuta said as his eyes followed Ryoma who went up to the lottery stand.
"You roll this around right?" Ryoma asked the lady who nodded.
"If you get a gold ball you win first prize." The lady said.
"Wait Echizen-!" Yuuta called out.
"Let's go to the tennis courts!" Momo challenged.
"Ah, the prize isn't going anywhere any way." Mizuki stated as he twirled his hair. "But if we win, you promise to give us Echizen Ryoma."
"No way!" Momo argued.
Ryoma started to roll the contraption as he listened to the two fight behind him. After a few turns he stopped and…
"WE HAVE A WINNER!"
"Eh?" Momo and Mizuki turned while Yuuta sweat dropped. Ryoma smirked as he tugged his cap down.
"Mada mada dane."
"And so in the end…" Momo sighed as the Seigaku arrived in front of the summer house.
Ryoma gave a low whistle as he looked at how big the summer house was.
"Good job Echizen. Winning the lottery seems like something you would do." Fuji said in approval. "And as a bonus, you got Yuuta to come too!"
"Well, we couldn't settle who would take the prize." Yuuta sighed. "It was Mizuki-san's money but the one who made the winning roll was Echizen."
"It doesn't matter. Seigaku doesn't mind sharing." Tezuka said as he crossed his arms.
"Luckily we got enough tickets for everyone, neh Echizen?" Momo turned to Ryoma who merely yawned.
"But isn't it a coincidence?" Taka spoke up "That the amount of tickets were exactly the same as how many we were?"
Fuji gives them a creepy smile "But there's no such thing as a coincidence… unless…"
Taka gulped and backed away a bit.
"Fuji! Stop that!" Eiji suddenly popped out of nowhere and glomped Ryoma
"S-sempai…" Ryoma struggled a bit in Eiji's hold
"E-Eiji! You're suffocating him!" Oishi tries to break the two apart
"M-Maa, maa…" Momo nervously said, he then looked back at the summer house "So… this is where we'll be spending our summer huh?"
Suddenly, he caught a dark figure by one of the windows. What the-
"Momo-sempai… you're spacing out." Momo immediately turned to his kouhai "Oi Echizen, did the pamphlet say anything about maids living with us?"
Ryoma raised an eyebrow "Maids…?"
"Yeah… Cause look! Someone's over…" Momo trailed off when he noticed no one was by the window anymore "A-arre…?"
"What's this…? Are you trying to scare us? Momoshiro dane?" Yanagisawa approached the two
"What? I was only talking to Echizen!" Momo retorted
"Hmph." Yanagisawa shrugged "Just trying to let you know that we're the only ones who'll be living here. No maids, or butlers, dane."
Ryoma could only stare at the two before turning to the entrance of the door. He was surprise to see an old man standing by it. When did he get there?
"There's an old man." The prince bluntly stated
Everyone immediately went silent and all attention went to the old man that slowly approached them. Tezuka approached the old man first "You must be the manager of this house." The captain held out a hand.
"Yes… I am. Nice to meet you. And I suppose you're the people that will be living in this house for the summer?" The old man shook his hand, and Tezuka was surprised at the coldness of the other's hand.
"Yes, that's us nya!" Eiji said with his usual bright smile.
"Eiji!" Oishi scolded his doubles partner.
"Anyway, shall we all go inside?" The old man proposed and behind him, the door automatically opened. Everyone's eyes widened and some exchanged looks at the creepiness.
"Oh, it's automatic?" Mizuki said as he clapped his hands together." As expected of me, to win something as great as this summer house."
Everyone sweat dropped. But then suddenly there attention was called back by the old man who already went inside.
"Everyone, grab your suitcase and let's go." Tezuka ordered.
"Don't lose to Seigaku." Mizuki stated as everyone grabbed their bags.
Ryoma was the last one to enter the house as he picked up a fallen book. He stared at it and sighed.
Flashback…
"Shounen, for winning the trip you also get this." The old lady in the lottery said as she gave a book to Ryoma.
"This is?" Ryoma asked as he accepted it.
"It's a book about old houses and their history. The summer house you're staying in is featured in it as well." The lady explained.
"Oh. Thank you" Ryoma said as he pocketed it. Behind him, he could hear Momo and Mizuki arguing about who really won the trip.
"Be careful neh, shounen?"The old lady said as she waved off Ryoma and his companions."
"What a creepy old lady." Momo stated.
End of Flashback
"The old man is kind of creepy." Yuuta commented, effectively rousing Ryoma from his thoughts. He saw that he wasn't the only one left outside, Yuuta was with him.
"Let's get going, neh Echizen?" Yuuta said as he lifted his things.
"A-Ah…" Ryoma said as he followed the other into the house. However when he and Yuuta took a step inside…
You can't get out anymore…
Golden eyes widened as Ryoma felt a shiver run down his spine. The young tennis prodigy dropped his things as he looked around for the source of the voice.
"Oi Echizen? You coming or not?" Yuuta called out and Ryoma looked up to see that the other was already faraway.
To respond to the question, Ryoma merely tugged his cap down, picked up his suitcase and walked towards the other in silence. Sighing at the other's aloofness, Yuuta just shrugged and went ahead.
"I still can't believe will be spending our time in this old summer house." Atsushi stated as he looked up at the dark and musty ceiling. Yuuta and Ryoma had already caught up with the group.
"The summer house doesn't seem that old." Akazawa stated as he looked at the new curtains. "What I can't believe is that we'll be spending our summer with them." He said as he gave a pointed look to the Seigaku members.
Kaidoh and Momoshiro were fighting as always as Taka tried to referee them, Fuji was fooling around by making Tezuka smile and poking him, and Inui was forcing Eiji to drink his new and 'improved' Inui juice while Oishi convinced him this was not a good time.
"Nonsense, this is an opportunity for us to gather their data." Mizuki said with the usual malicious glint in his eyes.
"By us, you mean only you right?" Yuuta stated. Mizuki turned around to answer him but he was cut off when the old man began to speak.
"So, this is where your rooms will be at. Here are the keys and the blueprints of the house." He said extending the objects which mysteriously appeared in his arms.
"Neh, was he carrying those earlier?" Eiji whispered to Kaidoh who gave a nervous hiss.
"Inui." Tezuka said and Seigaku's manager stepped forward to take the objects from their caretaker.
"I'll be going then. Please stock the kitchen unless you want to die of hunger." He said in a queer voice before leaving. Everyone raised their eyebrows.
"What a weird old man." Momo said and Kaidoh nodded in agreement.
"Anyway…" Mizuki said, turning the attention back to him. "I have already made room arrangements."
Hmph, be impressed by my readiness. Mizuki thought smugly as he took out the paper for room arrangements.
Mizikui's inner thoughts
"Wow! As expected of our manager!" Yuuta said proudly. The other St. Rudolph echoes his statement.
The Seigaku began envying the St. Rudolph.
"This is impressive Mizuki." Fuji's eyes opened seriously. "I want to play another match with you. I think I won't beat you this time though."
"Ahaha! I'm glad to see that you know that Fuji!" Mizuki stated.
End of Inner thoughts
"Wow, thanks this'll save us a lot of trouble." Momo said as he took the paper and everyone began to surround him.
"Good work Mifuni." Fuji stated before going to Momo.
Mizuki's face visibly cracked and he felt his teammates pat him in the back. Yanagisawa was snickering.
"Good job dane, Mifuni-kun." Yanagisawa said before turning to Seigaku. "Oi, who am I rooming with?"
"It's okay Mizuki-senpai." Yuuta comforted the other.
"Wha-? Mifuni? Who the heck calls someone Mifuni?" Mizuki began to complain.
"That Fuji is harsh." Atsushi commented.
And so, the room arrangement s went like this:
Tezuka and Nomura, Fuji and Mizuki, Ryoma and Yuuta, Oishi and Eiji, Yanagisawa and Atsushi, Kaidoh and Momo, Akazawa and Kaneda, and Inui and Kawamura.
At Atsushi and Yanagisawa's room…
"Hey, Yanagisawa do you think this house has a scary history?" Atsushi asked as they were unpacking.
"What do you mean, dane?" Yanagisawa said as he paused and looked at his roommate. He was a person who was easily scared.
Atsushi shrugged as he folded his clothes. "Some old houses I know often have a haunted past."
"Ah, r-really?" Yanagisawa gulped. "L-Like for example?"
"Well, remember when we visited my grandmother's house last week? She said her house was haunted by a little girl…" Atsushi narrated.
"L-Little girl?" Yanagisawa paled. "You m-mean that little girl w-who handed me the towel at your grandma's house wasn't-"
"What are you talking about Yanagisawa? There's no little girl at my grandma's house. She lives alone." Atsushi said.
Yanagisawa looked up at his roommate but then he paled even more when he saw a girl pass by the window outside.
"Oi, are you alright? You look pale." Atsushi asked.
"D-Dane-?" And Yanagisawa fainted.
"Oi!" Atsushi caught the other as he shook him. "Hey, what's wrong?"
But then Atsushi sighed in relief when he saw that Yanagisawa only fell asleep.
"He fell asleep, huh?" He sighed as he let go of Yanagisawa who fell to the floor. "Maybe he didn't sleep last night from over-excitement. I can totally see that."
Knock! Knock!
Atsushi got up and opened the door. It was Akazawa who greeted him.
"Lunch will be served soon." And then Akazawa saw Yanagisawa and he raised a curious brow. "What's wrong with Yanagisawa-san?"
"He fell asleep." Atsushi shrugged.
"Okay, wake him up and go to the dining room. You head straight and turn right. You'll see the double-oaked doors at the end of the hallway." Akazawa waved before leaving.
"Thanks."Atsushi said as he closed their door.
At Fuji and Mizuki's room…
"Hey Fuji…" Mizuki said as he turned to the prodigy once he finished unpacking. The older of the Fuji siblings ignored him as he continued to fold his clothes. Mizuki popped a vein. "FUJI!"
"Hm?" Fuji stated as he removed the earphone he was listening to. Mizuki sweat dropped.
Mizuki cleared his throat as he tried to regain his composure. "So what do you think about transferring to St. Rudolph-?"
"No." Fuji said and Mizuki popped a vein as he froze.
The St. Rudolph manager cleared his throat as he ran a hand through his hair coolly. "But your brother, Yuuta-"
"No." Fuji said but then he stopped what he was doing and looked at Mizuki in a puzzled expression. "By the way… Who are you again?"
Mizuki anime-fell and sweat dropped. You're just like that Echizen-brat. He thought as he got up and a vein appears in his forehead.
"Was it Mizuki-san?" Fuji stated and then there was instant revival from Mizuki who got up with a triumphant smirk.
"I knew you'd remember me! I'm pretty unforgettable after all-" Mizuki began.
"No. I saw your tennis bag and your name was written on it so…" Fuji pointed out. Mizuki's vein popped again and he clenched his fist to get himself under control.
"N-Never mind." He said and Fuji stood up.
"Saa… Let's go for lunch now. I'm sure Yuuta and the others are already on their way." Fuji said completely ignoring the other.
Damn you, Fuji!
Meanwhile…
Yuuta and Ryoma were walking down the halls in silence and the young Fuji looked at the other uncomfortably.
"Hey Echizen, why don't we play a match later-?" Yuuta asked trying to remove the silence.
"No." Ryoma answered as he read the book the old lady from the weird lottery store gave him.
Yuuta immediately noticed the book but decided to ignore it "What? Why?"
The young prodigy puts the book down and stared at him "Because you're weak. Maybe when you get stronger… I'll reconsider."
A nerve popped as the taller teen glared "W-what was that?" However, his anger was interrupted by the serious look that Ryoma was directing to him "W-what's up…?"
"When sunset comes…" Ryoma shuts his book and tucks it in under his arm while shoving his hands inside his pocket "It's dangerous."
"Huh?" Yuuta looked at the other that walked away
"Mada mada dane…" Ryoma spoke out
"O-oi Echizen!"
At lunch...
Oishi chased Eiji towards the dining room "Oi Eiji! Give me back my racquet!"
Eiji just laughed childishly and sped up "You'll have to catch me nya!"
"Eiji!"
And thus, started the havoc at lunch time…
Momo and Kaidoh were already sitting on their seats while fighting with each other.
"Stupid! You spilled your drink on me!" Kaidoh yelled at his teammate.
"You think I didn't notice?" Momo retorted as he crossed his arms.
"Are you trying to pick a fight?"
"Saa, both of you calm down… or Tezuka might give you laps." Fuji sat next to them as he looked at the table.
"Speaking of which, where is Tezuka?" Inui sat across the tensai
"He's preparing the food with Taka-san." Momo replied
"When did we have food?" Atsushi and a pale looking Yanagisawa approached them and sat next to Inui
Nomura then appeared and soon joined the group. He heard the question Atsushi asked and answered "Tezuka-san prepared some food before arriving here. Although he actually didn't know how much to prepare so he just packed a few food choices. After lunch, he said he'll go grocery shopping with Inui."
"Ah I see…" Momo then remembered the warning the old man gave them and shivered. He couldn't shake the feeling of doubt about the strange old geezer.
"Fsshh… what's wrong with you?" Kaidoh asked as he noticed how silent Yanagisawa was
Atsushi looked at Yanagisawa then at Kaidoh "He kept ranting about seeing a little girl. Though I'm sure it was just a dream."
"B-but… I really think it wasn't a dream dane! I saw the girl with my own eyes dane!"
"Maybe you're just hungry and seeing things." Momo assured.
"But I wasn't!"
"What's with all the noise?" They all turned to the duo that appeared by the doors.
"Yuuta." Fuji smiled at his younger sibling
"Echizen! About time you came here!" Momo exclaimed as he got up and walked towards the freshman.
Ryoma tugged his cap and sat next to Kaidoh while Yuuta sat next to Fuji. Yuuta then noticed Mizuki looking rather gloomy "Neh aniki, what's wrong with Mizuki-san?"
Fuji looked at Mizuki and shrugged "Saa, who knows?"
Yanagisawa snapped from his traumatized state and smirked as an idea came up "Maybe his girlfriend broke up with him." He whispered while Atsushi could only sigh
"W-what? He has a girlfriend?" Momo whispered back as he joined the gossip.
"Nani? Nani?" Eiji soon joined in by once again, glomping Ryoma from out of nowhere "What are you talking about, nya?"
"They said that the St. Rudolph's manager has a girlfriend…" Kaidoh replied to his senpai.
"Ehh? No way!" Eiji said in disbelief
"Maa, maa… it's not good talking about other people like that…" Oishi scolded. Especially since that person is only a few seats away. The mother hen turned to the still sulking Mizuki and sweat dropped.
"E-Eiji-senpai… let go…" Ryoma tried to squirm away from the other's hold
"Ah! Gomen ochibi~!" Eiji grinned before taking a seat next to him. He then saw the book on Ryoma's lap and grabbed it "What's this~?"
"Eiji-senpai!" Ryoma groaned and tried to steal back the item, but Eiji only held it higher "Grow taller and you might get it… ochibi nya!"
"What's with all the ruckus?" Akazawa and Kaneda then came in.
Eiji was immediately distracted by the appearance of the two, and with this, Ryoma managed to grab the book from the acrobat.
"Hey! Ochibi that was cheating, nya!" Eiji pouted
"Mada mada dane…" Ryoma pocketed the book and as if on cue, Tezuka and Taka soon came out with trays of food in their hands. Oishi and Kaidoh stood up to help.
"After eating we'll be cleaning the tennis courts by the backyard." Inui said while adjusting his glasses "There are over grown grasses and weeds to trim."
Everybody groaned at this.
"Now, everyone you know we came here to train in tennis." Mizuki said as he regained his usual narcissist self.
"Easy for you to say, senpai. You'll probably just be ordering us around." Yuuta said and the St. Rudolph team glared at him.
"Let's talk about that later, for now let's eat." Tezuka said as he sat down with Inui on his right side.
"LET'S EAT!" Everyone chorused except for Ryoma who just dug in.
As they were eating (more like food fighting in Momo and Kaidoh's part) the door to the dining room suddenly creaked open. The first one to notice it was Yanagisawa who dropped his spoon. The noise attracted everyone's attention and they turned to look at what caught the St. Rudolph student's attention.
"I heard your noise from the halls." The old man said as he stayed in the dark part. Everyone found it creepy that he wouldn't step forward into the light.
"You were wandering around in the halls?" Oishi said worriedly.
Creepy. Momo and Eiji thought to themselves.
"Sorry, were we loud?" Fuji asked kindly.
"Yes, and you shouldn't be noisy when it gets dark." The old man said mysteriously. "You don't want to disturb the others in this house, do you?"
Everyone felt a shiver run down their spine.
"O-Others?" Kaidoh repeated.
"This sounds bad, captain." Kaneda said to the captain of St. Rudolph, Akazawa.
"Calm down, he's just fooling with us." Akazawa said quietly.
"But we're the only ones in the house. What others could there be?" Nomura asked as he adjusted the glasses on his face obnoxiously.
"Could it be the maids I saw earlier?" Momo asked but the old man didn't answer and turned around to leave. "Oi wait!"
Momo ran up after the old man but his eyes widened when he reached the door. No one was by the hallways.
"Momo-senpai?" Ryoma called out to the other. Momo looked back his facial expression puzzled and frightened.
"H-He's gone…" Momo said as he went back to his seat.
"Huh? You could've chased him if you were that desperate…-"
"I couldn't because he's gone." Momo frowned. "He's not in the hallways. I couldn't find him."
Silence.
"Nya, Momo is just teasing us. He's just angry that he wasn't fast enough to catch the old man." Eiji said as he crossed his arms. Momo opened his mouth to protest but then-
"I don't think Momo-senpai was teasing." Ryoma said as he continued to read his book. "I think the old man really did vanish. He seemed the type to vanish at a blink of an eye."
"See! Echizen believes me!" Momo said in triumph as though having Ryoma by his side was a sure win.
"Well there's no point in discussing this any further. We'll see the old man again soon enough." Inui said as he adjusted his glasses. "Why don't Kaidoh and I clean up and everyone head over to the tennis court to start cleaning the tennis courts?"
Everyone stood up in defeat as they head off to the courts.
"The captains of each team will be responsible and assigning their teammates what to do." Tezuka said to everyone. "I saw a shed outside, I'm sure we can find some tools there."
"And what about the groceries for our food?" Mizuki asked.
"Fuji will be the one representing our team. And yours?" Texuka asked.
"I-" Mizuki was about to say.
"I'll go, senpai." Yuuta stated and Fuji smiled.
"Saa… let's go now Yuuta." Fuji said and he looked at Tezuka who handed him the Seigaku budget. Yuuta did the same to Mizuki who also gave the budget of St. Rudolph unwillingly.
The two left, leaving the others to decide on what to assign who.
"Neh, where's ochibi?" Eiji said noticing that their cocky prince was not there.
"Ah, that's right! Echizen!" Oishi said looking around for the little prince.
Meanwhile…
In the dining room reading a book all alone was Echizen Ryoma. His golden eyes were narrowed as his hands clenched around what he was reading. He had finally reached the part about the old summer house.
"This cannot be good." He muttered under his breath as his eyes stayed glued to an article about the house.
Deaths in the Summer House at Osaka Beach.
End of Chapter
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