Whoo! It's October 20, I'm a year older today and after nearly five months, I've returned with a new chapter! After a lot of thinking and a lot of writer's block, it's time to reveal the big weakness Ryoma has! Sorry to make you guys wait so long!

Previously, the Seigaku Princes club were taking a trip to the beach. A fun day in the sun soon turned into a competition where the princes try to discover Ryoma's weakness. But with not one having a single luck, the princes may have given up.

Chapter Seven: Princes at the Beach (Part 2)

That night, after the small incident with Ryoma and the intruders, everyone went to the summer villa that belongs to Kikumaru's family. Since Eiji's family was big, the house was of course huge, way huge. It was dinnertime and a majority of the princes were gathered in the dining room, told that they will have an excellent seafood dinner provided by Eiji and Taka-san and all of the many sea creatures that they've collected on the beach.

"Hoi hoi! It's ready! Sorry to make you all wait!" Eiji announced as he and Kawamura came out of the kitchen with huge platters of cooked lobsters, clams, crabs and oysters that they had just cooked, and yes Eiji does know a thing or two about cooking.

"Wow, thank you Taka-san, Eiji-senpai!" Momoshiro said graciously, his mouth drooling with hunger as he eyed the food, "It looks so delicious!"

"Sorry that there's no servants around in the house", said Eiji as he placed the platter he's carrying on the table, "But I thought we'll make do with tonight without all the people around so I gave them the night off."

"That's alright Eiji", said Oishi, "It does feel better without the staff hanging on the bell for us."

"Sorry that you have to help me Eiji", said Takashi shyly, "Usually as a sushi chef, I do meals on my own, but I needed an extra hand with all this seafood dishes."

But the acrobat merely just shook his head left to right. "It's okay!" he assured, "Back at home, I usually cook for my entire family once every few days since they're always busy. I'm happy to do it. While you guys are here in my family's villa, I'll take care of all of you as a perfect host should!"

From his seat, Fuji gave a pleased smile. "We're pleased Eiji. Thanks for having us here."

Then Eiji noticed that not everyone is present in the dining room and counted only eight people present including himself. "Eh? Dinner's about ready. Wonder where's Ochibi?"

"He went to his room to get changed when I last saw him", said Oishi.

"Maybe one of us should fetch Echizen," Momoshiro suggested, "Someone like Kaidoh."

Kaidoh was already seated at his spot at the table with his arms crossed and waiting patiently. But when his name was mentioned, emphasized by Momo, he stared at Momoshiro narrowly with a hiss. "Oh yeah? And what about you? You hardly did anything when we came into the house", he spat back.

"Huh? Are you saying I'm lazy, Snakey?"

Hearing his name being misused, Kaidoh stood up and went head to head with Momo once again, hissing angrily. "Call me that one more time! I dare you!" he threatened.

"Oh? And what'll you do if I did?"

Sensing a fight arising any moment, Fuji was on the move as he got up from his seat. "Now, now," he encouraged, passing in between the two so they don't clash, "Let's not start again before dinnertime. I'll go and bring Ryoma down."

"Thank you Shusuke!" Eiji called out as Fuji departed the room. Momoshiro ceased the fight and huffed as he returned to his seat. Kaidoh scoffed and did the same, both refusing to look at each other.

...

While they waited for Fuji to return with Ryoma, Eiji took a glance out the window and noticed something different with the weather. Even though it's nighttime, he can see the sky turning darker than usual with clouds nearly covering up the moon and its light. "Whoa...it's getting really gloomy and cloudy outside", he said with widened eyes.

"Yeah", Oishi agreed, looking grim, "It looks like there might be a storm soon."

"It would appear so", Inui confirmed after checking his laptop to view the weather forecast, "We'll be having a thunderstorm later tonight."

"I wouldn't be thinking about that storm if I were you," Momoshiro mentioned pointing a thumb over his shoulder, "We have a storm of our own brewing in this dining room."

Everyone glanced over to where Tezuka was sitting at the end of the table. He, like Kaidoh, was sitting there silent and more stoic than ever.

"Do you think he's still upset at Ryoma for what happened earlier?" Kawamura whispered to the others so the captain wouldn't hear. "It looks like it," Eiji whispered back. As the two continued to look at Tezuka, the captain sensed them staring and opened his eyes. He turned his head so he'd face them.

"...What are you staring at? Is there a problem?" he inquired suspiciously. Eiji and Takashi got startled that they jumped and shook their heads quickly. "Uh no! Of course not!" said Eiji nervously yet trying to smile, "Why would there be a problem?"

Fortunately they were saved from more of Tezuka's uncomfortable silence when Fuji's voice is heard from the entrance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Fuji had returned with Ryoma, who is now wearing an ordinary t-shirt and shorts and left his hat in his room. He also had a gauze and band aid stuck over his brow to cover the cut he got earlier.

"Oh there you are Ochibi! Come in, come in!" Eiji anxiously beckoned, "We're just about to start dinner!"

"More like we were about to start without you Echizen!" Momoshiro teased.

"How's your injury Ryoma?" Oishi, the one who treated Ryoma's cut earlier, asked.

"Thanks to you, it doesn't sting much anymore," Ryoma replied, "Thank you senpai."

But then, the sound of someone clearing his throat interrupted their conversation. All eyes went to the captain, who remained at his seat. To the others' chagrin, Ryoma looked at the captain, who's giving him a still disappointed stare in return before resuming his attention to his front, ignoring Ryoma. "We shouldn't waste a second standing," Tezuka then spoke in his usual stoic manner, "or else the dinner will get cold."

The other boys knew that Tezuka is still holding his word about not paying any attention to Ryoma and it became awkward for everyone that they nearly didn't have the courage to say anything.

"O-kay then!" Oishi finally and bravely spoke, "Come on. Let's all sit and get started with dinner!"

...

Everyone is finally gathered at the table. But now the atmosphere became awkward and silent once again that you can only hear the ticking from the grandfather clock sitting against one wall. The others didn't know whether they should say something or not and kept quiet with awkward glances sent to each other.

Momoshiro would instantly dig into the food the moment it's set out in front of him, but he didn't find the wits to start eating with everyone being quiet. All he did was sit in his seat uncomfortably and give a gulp.

Finally it was Kikumaru broke the silence. "Okay then! Everyone, please dig in!" he insisted with a little hesitation, "Taka-san and I used all of the shellfish we collected today specially for all of us!"

"Please enjoy," Kawamura included, being polite.

All of the boys finally gave thanks for the food together and began to eat their dinner.

Momoshiro was the one who ate his food in haste and in big bites. "So good!" he then said excitedly with his mouth stuffed, "This is delicious! Eiji-senpai, Taka-san, you really are good cooks!"

"Yeah, it tastes really great," Fuji included. Tezuka, Kaidoh and Inui were the only ones who ate their meals in silence without making much comments.

"Glad you like it!" Eiji was happy with his and Taka's own work and was chowing down on his lobster, hopefully to lessen the awkward atmosphere and persuade Ryoma to dig in as well. Fortunately it seemed to work, as Ryoma picked up one crab leg and snapped it in half to eat the meat, which he gobbled down in one bite.

A minute later, the other princes were looking over at Ryoma and got a surprise to see that Ryoma is now continuously eating loads of seafood. Hollow crab legs and empty clam and oyster shells were piling on Ryoma's plate and getting higher.

Except for Tezuka, all of them looked at the youngest prince with wide eyes, bewildered at the way the youngest member eats.

Out of consideration in case he gets sick, Momoshiro started to speak, "Hey Echizen, you might want to slow down there-"

"Momoshiro," Tezuka's voice suddenly spoke, startling Momo, "...I thought I made it clear that Echizen is not allowed to communicate with any of us until he repents for his mistake."

Momo resumed back to his own plate before he could make Tezuka more upset. "Uh...yes sir..." he said timidly.

Ryoma looked at Tezuka with the thought that the captain's acting too serious. He knows that Tezuka still hasn't forgotten about him handling the intruders on the beach by himself and decided to speak just to get it over with. "But really Captain, is what I did earlier that much big of a deal?" he said lazily, "Not to be complaining but you're over exaggerating."

Then everything was quiet when Tezuka's chair moved back a few inches and the captain stood up from his seat. His eyes were focused forward, refusing to look at Ryoma once again.

At first you'd expect that he'd say something serious, but instead, he said, "...I'll be in my room. If you don't mind Kikumaru."

"Uh yeah", said the acrobat, "Your room's on the second floor. 4th door on the left."

As Tezuka started to walk out, Inui wiped his mouth and he too got up from the table and followed the president. "I'll walk you there. I feel like taking a shower at the moment", he said. And with that, the two glasses wearing members left the dining room.

...

Once Tezuka was out of the room, everything became absolutely quiet once again. But Ryoma didn't give a care as he resumed his attention to the dinner. But after a while, Ryoma stopped eating when he noticed that all of his senpais were staring at him and felt uncomfortable with all the staring.

"What?"

"Echizen, I think this has gone long enough don't you think?" Oishi suggested, "Have you not get what Tezuka is trying to tell you?"

Ryoma stared at his plate. "Well if the captain's that serious, then I can just learn martial arts like Eiji-senpai, Fuji-senpai and Kawamura-senpai," he said, still brooding over Tezuka's up-tightness.

Momoshiro and Kaidoh gave exasperated snorts and shook their heads at the point that Ryoma now realized it. "Must be that dunce..." Kaidoh muttered.

Since Ryoma can't seem to figure it out, Momo sighed, "Look, it's obvious that he's upset that you did it all on your own. I mean look at you. No offense, but normally a short 7th grader isn't the type of guy to take seriously when it comes to protecting others alone."

"It's not because we're upset because of what you did to defend those girls," Fuji then said, "But I still feel like you need to apologize for acting rashly on your own."

"Yeah, to tell you the truth, we were all very worried about you," said Kawamura truthfully.

"Momo and everyone else are right," said Eiji, "We all were worried, especially Captain. But I think you should apologize to Kunimitsu the most too Ochibi."

Now Ryoma never expected that his seniors would even be worried over a person like him. But the majority of the upperclassmen have finally made their point as Ryoma found himself beaten. Then Ryoma sighed, "I think I do need to apologize after all huh?"

"You think?" Momo inquired, giving Echizen the you-just-figured it-out look.

Overruled by his senpais' advice, Ryoma decided to finally apologize. "Okay okay...I'm sorry," he said nonchalantly, "I'm sorry to make you all worry."

In response to his innocent apology, Eiji and Momo began to fill up with compassion that they got up and glomped onto Ryoma playfully.

"Aww, we forgive you Ochibi," Eiji said so willingly.

"Apology accepted," said Momoshiro, rubbing Ryoma's head.

Oishi and the others only smiled to show their satisfaction to see everything solved well.

But then the moment was interrupted when the boys noticed that Ryoma was giving a nauseous look as a strange gurgling sound came from his stomach.

"Eh? Hey, something wrong?" Momoshiro asked.

"For some reason…I feel weird…" Ryoma moaned, "I think I'm going to...ugh..."

When they saw Ryoma crouching forward and gripping his stomach, it caused the older princes to worry, convinced that Ryoma may throw up at any moment.

"Ah! Ochibi?" Eiji panicked.

"Whoa, he really doesn't look very good," said Fuji.

"Oi Echizen! Pull yourself together man!" Momoshiro urged.

"Oh see? This is what happens when you eat too much seafood," mother hen Oishi scolded, "Eiji quick! Get him to the nearest bathroom before he blows!"

"Right! Hang in there Ochibi!"

Minutes later, Ryoma was brought to one of the closest bathrooms so he can privately do his business alone. Fortunately Ryoma didn't left any mess after puking. After he recovered from the puke, Ryoma was hanging over the sink with his eyes staring at the running water. Some signs of nausea remained for a while as Ryoma remorsed about the huge seafood meal he just threw up.

"Memo to me...listen to the senpais when they warn you not to each too much..." he groaned.

...

After coming out of the bathroom, Ryoma noticed that the bathroom was actually located in someone's bedroom. Since he was staring at the floor feeling nauseous to look around, Eiji was the one who dragged him in the bathroom, without knowing where in the summer house is he.

"Who's room is this?" Ryoma asked himself as he looked around.

He was hoping he'd find a clue or two to find out who's room he's in when the first thing Ryoma noticed is that lying on the table by the bed is a pair of familiar thick black rimmed glasses. Ryoma could've sworn that he has seen these glasses on a certain someone before. It took him several moments until the answer clicked in his mind.

"Wait a minute...isn't this...Inui-senpai's glasses?"

"Do you need something Echizen?" said a familiar voice.

A startled Ryoma quickly turned around to see Inui at the doorway of the room, having returned from the hot baths located at another part of the mansion. Just as Ryoma suspected, Inui seemed to be missing his glasses, the ones that are lying on the table behind him at that moment. Unfortunately, the towel that Inui is using to rub his hair shadows over his eyes so Ryoma is unable to see the eyes.

"Inui-senpai...I uh..."

"Ah, I see you've found my glasses," Inui said as he walked over to the table where the mentioned object is lying on, "I must've left them here before going to the baths."

That made Ryoma realize that the room he's in must be Inui's. "Oh."

"One moment", Inui requested as he walked over to the table beside the bed and picked up his glasses. Once he put them on in secret with his back to Ryoma, he removed the towel off his head and turned to face Ryoma, eyes concealed once again (much to the freshman's chagrin).

"Rats...And I thought I was going to have a chance to see Inui-senpai without his glasses," Ryoma thought in remorse.

"Well, if you don't mind Echizen, I should be preparing to turn in for the night", Inui then announced as he walked over to the bed and sat down, "So if there is anything you'd like to ask of me, I suggest you say it now."

That was when Ryoma remembered that besides Tezuka, Inui was also absent when he received the talk from the other princes in the dining room. Since Inui was missing during the time Ryoma apologized to his seniors in the dining room, the boy decided to say it to Inui next.

"Um senpai...about earlier today..." he started, "I'm sorry if I caused all of you to worry so much about me."

Inui heard this and accepted his apology. Then he said as a remark, "Well you didn't worry only us that's for sure. The other girl customers were frantic after hearing news that you were tossed into the ocean by bullies. For that, I had to purchase at least $6000 worth of flowers to give to the girl customers in order to calm them down. Please remember that we must keep our guests entertained and happy for this trip. You had cause everybody to worry."

"Really?"

"Yes. For instance, those boys who you confronted, it took myself, Oishi and Fuji a great difficulty to restrain Momo, Kaidoh and Eiji from them. But it got a lot worse when Kawamura accidentally grabbed a tennis racket and it took all of us to stop him. In the end, those punks ended up being sent to the hospital for minor injuries."

Ryoma can try to imagine Momoshiro and Kaidoh angrily beating the life out of the intruders, followed by a furious Kawamura yelling, "BURNING!". Not only that, he can also imagine the scary and rare expressions of angry Fuji and Kikumaru scaring the daylights out of the boys, which made Ryoma shudder at the thought of it.

His imagining got interrupted when Inui spoke, "Oh and by the way, the cost for paying those flowers for the ladies is coming out of your debt. You already know that by know." The data man gave a sly grin, showing his wicked tax collecting side again.

-_-;

Hearing the upsetting news that his debt to the club has increased yet again, Ryoma gave a heavy sigh. "I should've known he was going to say something like that..." he thought.

"Is that everything you wanted to say Echizen?" Inui inquired.

"Uh...yeah. I'm going to my room now," Ryoma stated. He walked towards the door but stopped when he realized something. He slowly turned around to face Inui again to ask a hesitant question that sounds embarrassing.

"Uh...by the way Inui-senpai, you wouldn't happened to know how to get to my room again do you?" he asked. Since he's never been to Inui's room before, it's obvious that he might not be able to find his way back.

"Down the hallway, take two left turns and you'll find the main staircase. I'm sure you'll find your way from there," Inui answered without any problem.

As Ryoma walked to the door, he made sure to say "Thank you."

Ryoma left Inui's room and closed the door behind him.

Thankfully, Ryoma remembered and followed Inui's instructions and managed to find himself back in his room. After all that's happened the whole day, he felt exhausted that he went to the bed and threw himself on his back to lie down.

As he laid there, staring at the ceiling, Ryoma heard the sound of water pit pattering on the window. He turned his head to the side and saw that it had begun to rain just as Inui mentioned earlier.

"It's raining huh?"

Then a thought came into Ryoma's mind. Rain.

For a brief moment, his mind was filled with a kind of long forgotten memory. All he can remember is people screaming, small explosions, flashing flames...and lots of water...

But eventually he shook the thought off and sat up on the bed. Ryoma then felt like going to bed. So he walked over to where his bag is sitting on the floor to take out his pajamas. He unzipped the bag and searched for his sleeping clothes when something inside caught his attention.

"Huh? What's this?"

He reached in and held up an object that looks distinctive to him. It was some kind of toy. A feather attached to a stick. But it also happens to be something very recognizable and partly important to Ryoma.

"Wait a minute...this is...What's this doing here-?" But then his eyes widened and he gasped. "Oh no! If this is here...then...!"

He looked out the window but got even more alarmed at the sight of rain pouring down harder than it was a minute ago. Not only that, but thunder and lightning have arrived to make the weather even worse.

"Not good...!"

With no time to waste, Ryoma dashed out of his room in a hurry to get outside, despite the sounds of thunder heard booming outside.

Now in another hallway in the villa, the other princes were walking together to go to their rooms.

"So Ryoma went back on his own?" Fuji asked Eiji, who was the last person to see Ryoma.

Eiji answered, "Yeah. He was gone from the bathroom when I went to check on him. Inui said that he left a while ago to go to his room."

"Well, it's a relief knowing that he didn't got a worse stomachache", said Oishi, "Why don't we turn in for the night?"

Then Momoshiro had a thought. "You know, for a moment, I thought that Echizen would end up getting lost in this place. I mean in this huge villa, you can get easily lost for first time visitors," he commented.

"Yeah Momo's right," said Eiji, who then had a nostalgic thought, "I remember when I was little, I actually got lost myself while playing hide and seek with my siblings."

The boys then got a little startled by the thunder booming outside and the lightning flashing through the window they are just passing. "Gosh...looks like Sadaharu was right about that storm," said Kawamura nervously, "Sounds big out there."

Suddenly all of the boys froze when they heard a sound in the area. For a second, it almost sounded...like an animal purring. They skimmed the hallway with their eyes and continuously turned around to check their front and back. But they didn't see the source of the sound anywhere.

...O_O...

"Did...Did you hear that?" Oishi said nervously. Everyone else nodded.

"W-Wh-What was that?" Eiji stuttered timidly, getting behind Oishi and holding onto his sleeve.

While still unaware of what the sound is, Momoshiro glanced to his side and noticed that Kaidoh's quivering, acting a little like they are at the moment. "You scared Viper?"

"Sss...No. Of course not," said Kaidoh, trying to hide his fear, "What about you?"

"I ain't scared. *gulp*" Momo stated. Both are lying obviously.

Then, a thought came to Momoshiro. "Uh...Eiji-senpai...just out of curiosity...there wouldn't happen to be some kind of...spooky things living in your place right?" he asked anxiously (though he really hoped that Eiji wouldn't answer the question).

However, after hearing Momoshiro's question, Eiji spoke, "Well...no. But...I do happen to remember this story grandpa used to tell me when I was little. He said that once, before our family had this villa built, there was a strange rumor about a creature that wanders this island on a dark night...like this. No one knows what it looks like, but it has fangs and claws and was an animal large enough to...gulp...devour a human whole."

Eiji's story brought more chills and fright into the others that they instinctively scooted close together.

"D-Devour a human *gulp*...whole?" Momoshiro stuttered.

"W-Well...it's only a story," Kawamura spoke and tried to look at the bright side, "So we can be sure that something like that isn't-."

The lightning and thunder pounded and flashed again. But when the light flashed through the window, Momoshiro suddenly screamed, "AH! IT'S HERE! LOOK!"

He pointed behind the group and everyone turned their heads at the same time and got a scare. When the lightning flashed again, all of the boys were spooked by the sight of a big animal like shadow appearing on the wall beside them. Immediately all the boys gave terrified screams (even Kaidoh) and held onto each other.

Momoshiro didn't waste any time in thinking up a plan that he immediately went to the first thing in his mind. "Must take action! Taka-san, please protect us!" he pleaded as he then tossed the said senior a racket (how he happened to get a hold of one we'll never know).

Once again, upon touching the object, Kawamura changed into his other personality. "WHOA I'M BURNING!" he roared.

He then swung his racket randomly in different directions, still yelling nonsense. "GET OUT INTRUDER! BURNING! COME ON OUT! MONKEY!"

At this rate, Kawamura seemed to be the more danger that scares them than the 'monster' they saw. All the other boys could do is try and avoid getting close to Kawamura as he continued his rampage.

"Nice-work-idiot!" Kaidoh hissed while dodging and avoiding the racket swings, "Now he's-...gone wild!"

"Taka calm down!" Eiji desperately cried out, "You're freaking us out more!"

Nobody realized it, but during the panic and burning rampage, none of the boys paid any attention or caught sight of something not too small running past their legs and made a dash further down the hallway and disappeared.

At the last moment, it was Fuji who managed to charge up to Kawamura and evade the next swing from the racket proficiently so he can openly reach out and grab the racket away from Takashi's hand.

The instant the racket was gone from his grip, Kawamura froze and returned to his normal self. He blinked several times and said, "Uh...Huh? What was I doing?"

All of the boys either opened their eyes or lowered their hands that shielded their faces and were relieved that Kawamura has returned to normal. Eiji, who can calm down, came and hugged and wrapped his arms around one of Kawamura's legs.

"Oh Taka it's good to see you normal again," he praised.

Now Kaidoh nearly forgot about the shadow they saw and noticed that the thing never showed up during their screaming. "Is...is it gone?" he stammered.

In order to confirm where whatever it is they saw is gone, the boys looked around their surroundings. To their relief, they no longer hear or see the thing anymore.

"I think it's gone now," Oishi confirmed. "I wonder what was that thing," Fuji pondered aloud.

Meanwhile, while the boys were getting a spooky experience indoors, Ryoma at this time was running throughout the villa on his end, looking for something important. But after running and searching half the villa, he stopped to catch his breath with no success.

"Not here...Where could she have gone?" he panted.

He was afraid of the worse when the lightning flashed through the window nearest to him and he got a glimpse outside. He spotted something that caught his attention.

"There!"

Again he took off and led himself out the door leading to the back of the villa and ran outside.

...

The storm continued pouring hard and eventually, thunder and lightning arrived to make the weather condition more frightening. But Ryoma was determined to find what he's looking for, whatever it is, storm or not.

He ran through the rain, frantically searching his surroundings. "She shouldn't be here! Where did she go?" he continued asking himself mentally. Now who is the 'she' that Ryoma continues to mention about?

He now arrived at the pool area and continued to search for the thing he saw. But due to the rain in his field of vision and it was night, Ryoma couldn't see a ahead of him that he suddenly tripped over something and ended up falling into the pool. When he realized where he landed, Ryoma helplessly splashed in the water, gasping for breath but his arms and legs felt like they're made of rubber.

"I...! I can't get out...! I can't...!" he mentally screamed in his head but had sunk under the water.

...

Right at this moment, Tezuka came outside having to have heard something earlier and came out to check it out. "For a second I thought I heard someone's voice from out here..." he thought.

He was about to go back inside when he heard the distant sound of a splash from the pool area further ahead. Thinking that someone is indeed outside in this weather, Tezuka ran towards the pool.

Once he arrived on the pool deck, he scanned the area and found no one standing on land. But the minute he saw air bubbles from the pool, Tezuka instantly deducted that someone must've fallen in. Quickly without thinking, he once again tossed his glasses to the side and dove into the water.

Underwater, Tezuka at first had trouble seeing in the water because it was dark. But eventually, his eyes were able to spot Ryoma in the deep end of the pool, unable to get to the surface because he's frozen stiff from shock and sinking deeper towards the bottom.

Without any time to lose, Tezuka quickly stroked and swam towards the figure, hoping that he's not too late.

For Ryoma, just as he found his air supply running out, his mouth opened and all the rest of his air came out. His vision was getting blurry as the only thing he saw was someone swimming towards him and reaching out a hand before darkness came and he went unconscious.

The next thing Ryoma knew, he was lying on his back and breathing fresh air once again. The first thing he noticed was that the rain and storm had stopped and that he was staring up at a canopy.

He tried to think back and remember what just happened before passing out. "What...happened? How did I get out...?"

"Feeling better?"

Ryoma sat up with a start when he heard Tezuka's voice from nearby. He turned around and saw that Tezuka was sitting on a pool deck chair, his clothes now soaking wet and his back was facing Ryoma.

"Oh great...He saved me again..." he thought with remorse, "How am I suppose to hear the end of this now? I bet he's going to remind me that I owe him a lot..."

In his hand, Tezuka was holding his glasses and analyzing them carefully. It turns out that after tossing them to the side twice, one of the lens now has a crack. As for Ryoma, he remembered that he still haven't apologized to Tezuka yet.

"So...are you still upset at me for not apologizing yet?" he dare to ask.

Tezuka didn't answer Ryoma's question after he asked. But instead, he said, "Echizen...you're afraid of swimming aren't you?"

Ryoma was only silent, but his eyes widened.

"I...uh..."

"Don't even attempt to hide it," Tezuka advised, "It was quite obvious the way you acted in the water."

After this, Ryoma closed his mouth, defeated by Tezuka. He hung his head and was silent for a minute or two. Finally, he managed to speak again. "...I guess it looks ridiculous and silly now right?" he mumbled quietly, "...Me...unable to swim..."

Tezuka made no sound or word that showed amusement. He never thought that he'd be the one to know Ryoma's weakness let alone believe that he even has one. Instead, he spoke, "...Would there happen to be a particular reason why?"

Ryoma looked at the ground. It was a little difficult to go through his memory of something he has long kept secret to himself and his family. "...I guess...It started when I was little," he said with difficulty, "...I was invited on a cruise ship to visit my dad in America. But during the cruise, a thief snuck on and caused a commotion. In the midst of trying to escape from security, he managed to break into the engine room and was blocked off there. I...I'm not sure how it happened...but someone told me that the thief accidentally damaged the engine while trying to escape.

In the midst of the chaos, the ship's engine malfunctioned and fire sprang out and water leaked in. While they were evacuating us passengers to the lifeboats, I ended up getting stuck in one of the rooms that was blocked by falling pieces from the ceiling and water was spilling in. The rest is kind of fuzzy to me, but I must've been stuck for a long time in that water filled room before a rescue team came and got me out.

But since then, I guess I never did got over that event. Now whenever I am in water...I just freeze up. I never went to swimming pools much after that."

It all made sense to Tezuka now. Anyone would get terrified if they were stuck in a ship that was breaking down and worse, nearly about to drown. Tezuka also presumed that following that terrible accident, Ryoma's behavior around others have slightly changed. If they were to get that close to him, they would eventually find out about his fear and weakness and consider it to be a bother.

"...Is that the reason why you don't wish to depend on others when you decide to act on your own such as when you took on those punks earlier?" Tezuka inquired, "Is it because you still struggle with your weakness?"

"...I guess. See...my mom...when she was alive, she was there to help me through a lot of things. When my dad is away from home due to work or matches, she was the only other person I rely on. But she died before the incident happened. Even though I was rescued from drowning on that day, I...I never could forget the horrifying experience...and mom who would usually help me overcome something like this...wasn't there anymore. So...I chose to live through it on my own..."

The way Ryoma spoke, Tezuka heard his voice about to break and tremble in some parts.

"Echizen," the captain spoke firmly, "stop forcing yourself to handle things on your own."

Ryoma raised his head and looked at Tezuka.

"Echizen, do you know one of the reasons why I had created the host club with the other regulars? Once I've chosen them to join, I intended to see that all of us would strengthen our bond and teamwork. To do that, I specifically instructed each member to openly share their problems and struggles with the entire group. By doing so, we were able to help each other and develop more ways to help those who request for our help. Do you understand this Echizen? Now that you're a member of the Seigaku Host Club, I expect you to do the same as the others and depend on us more, on or off the court or duty."

The strong encouraging words from the president of the host club had finally sunk in to Ryoma's head. It was no wonder Tezuka had the mark of leadership. After listening to his captain's advice, Ryoma finally showed a smile and nodded. "Yes...Captain," he answered, "And Captain...thank you."

Tezuka, inside, was satisfied that he finally got Ryoma to finally accept his words. With that done, Tezuka then rose from his seat. "Come on. We should go inside and change out into dry clothes or we'll get sick," he insisted.

But before they do so, both heard a sound coming from the bushes bordering the pool at the side.

Tezuka was about to go serious at the thought that it could be an animal or a thief, until

Tezuka raised an eyebrow in curiosity. And before he could ask what it is Ryoma had found, he was interrupted.

"There they are!"

"Ochibi! Captain!"

"Tezuka!"

"Captain!"

The voices of the rest of the princes were heard and they turned around to see the rest of the host club running up to them with worried expressions and catching their breaths. "Hey are you two okay?" Oishi started first, "We thought you guys were in trouble. And then we heard some noise from out here."

Then, the first thing the boys noticed was that Tezuka and Ryoma were completely wet head to toe.

"Huh? Hey, why are you two soaking wet?" asked Eiji curiously. "Don't tell us that you fell in the pool did you?" asked Momoshiro.

"By the way Kiddo, why were you out here in the rain in the first place?" Eiji then asked out of curiosity. Here, Ryoma looked reluctant to answer. But eventually he's able to say, "I...I was looking for something important to me."

"Something important?" Kawamura said curiously, "What?"

Before Ryoma answered, he was interrupted when everyone heard a sound that sounded like a meow. The instant he heard it, Ryoma gasped and suddenly ran over to the bushes, crouched down and searched through the plants.

With the freshman's back facing the upperclassmen, the rest of the princes then heard Ryoma give a sigh of relief. "There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" he said to whatever he found.

"Hey, what did you find already Echizen?" asked an anxious Momoshiro.

Ryoma now rose up to his feet and walked over to the princes with something in his arms. Once he came closer, everyone can now see that Ryoma is holding a Himalayan cat who had its fur soaked by the rain as well.

"...A cat?" said a dumbfounded Momoshiro, "That was what you were looking for?"

"Not just a cat," Ryoma corrected, "It's my pet cat Karupin."

"Your pet?!" the princes said in unison.

"Yeah. She must've snuck inside my bag before we left Tokyo and wandered around the summer house all this time," Ryoma presumed.

The cat looked up at the princes who are looking at him curiously and gave a meow. Delighted by the cat's cuteness, Eiji lit up in happiness since cats are one of the things he loves. "Aw kawaii (cute)!" he exclaimed, "Ne Ochibi, can I hold her for a moment?" He eagerly took the cat from Ryoma's arms and held her out at arm's length in front of his face.

"Hello Karupin! I'm Eiji nya! Let's be friends nya!" he greeted with a beaming smile.

Karupin meowed back delightfully, causing Eiji to meow back as well. It looked almost as if Eiji and Karupin are talking and understanding each other.

"Man, it looks like Eiji-senpai is communicating with your cat well Echizen," Momoshiro remarked.

While Eiji continued playing and Karupin made a sound that sounded very familiar, a thought then came to Kawamura. "Wait a minute...then...was the noise we heard inside...Karupin all along?" he said in disbelief.

And that led the other six princes to realize that Karupin was the source of the animal noise and shadow they saw earlier inside, much to their embarrassment that they have been scared of a cat this whole time.

"So that's what we saw..." Kaidoh muttered under his breath, "I can't believe it..."

They certainly did not plan to mention this to Inui or the other two now or ever.

The next morning, the sky was nice and sunny once again. As for the Seigaku Princes, they were all packed and ready to leave the villa and be on their way home. All of their bags were packed and taken to the limo bus that's waiting outside the front of the house.

"Let's get going," Tezuka spoke, "We need to show our customers a glimpse of the island's sights before heading back to Tokyo." Oh and before I forget to mention, Tezuka was fortunate to have brought a spare pair of glasses with him that he wearing now after his other pair broke.

As the boys walked towards the limo bus that is waiting to take them, Momoshiro remembered something important from yesterday. "So, it's already morning," he said with disappointment, "I guess that means we all couldn't find out what Echizen's weakness is." He and some others were disappointed that all their efforts were for nothing.

"Yeah," said Eiji with a pout, "Though I really would've liked to know what Ochibi's afraid of if we knew."

"Indeed, it would've made an interesting addition to Echizen's data," Inui commented, looking through his notebook that who knows what it holds.

That reminded Ryoma of what happened last night. He looked at the only person in the group who secretly knows the answer to the mystery. His head was filled with worry that Tezuka might mention what happened that night.

Tezuka took a glance over his shoulder to take a short look at Ryoma, who's mentally panicking inside.

Then he resumed his attention forward and said, "Well you all wasted time to discover the impossible. Instead you all should be focused on your tennis and host club duties rather than playing games that bother others' well being."

Momoshiro and Kaidoh sighed and mumbled in unison, "Yes sir."

Realizing that Tezuka has decided to keep his fear a secret, Ryoma gave a quiet sigh of relief. "Thank you Captain..." he thought mentally. If Momo and the others knew about his fear of swimming, he not never hear the end of the teasing or them bugging him.

"Mou that's easy for you to say Captain," Eiji then pouted, "You never even wanted to join the challenge from the beginning."

"Now Eiji, I'm sure Tezuka has his rights to join or not," Oishi reminded, "Besides, games like that never suit him."

"That's true," Fuji added, "Now let's go home."

Taking the last few moments to enjoy the beach environment before heading back to the city of Tokyo, Kawamura sighed, "Well, it was a nice summer while it lasted."

And so in the end, the rest of the princes will never know of the secret Tezuka out of of them discovered during that trip as they all boarded their limo bus and are on their way back home to Tokyo, where their host club duties continues to wait for them.

A/N: Long time no see! Hope everyone's enjoying the story so far! This chapter was difficult because again, our main character is a guy not a girl as how the story plot which this is based on goes and I didn't know what kind of fear Ryoma would have.

Now I would like to thank all of those who have reviewed and sent their suggestions for Ryoma's weakness, but most especially PurpleScorpian and JigokuTenshi834 because of their advice to use Karupin but I also want to thank herseybarrules for the idea of swimming fear so I combined those two ideas. Thank you to everyone else!

I am not entirely sure when the next chapter will be posted, because I'm having trouble deciding which plot to type next. So for now, I'll be on a little break from writing Seigaku Host Club as well as Team Seigaku, until I get some ideas back in my head. So sorry! I'll keep my fingers crossed that an idea will come to me eventually.