PoT Fic: Recombinant Chapter 11
Here's Chapter 11, a little sooner this time since I'll be pretty busy again this weekend. :) And I finally made myself a new icon! I'm not good with those fancy paint programs, so I always just use pics of my dolls as my icons. ^^; This time I used a pic of my SD girl, Ryoma, who is based off of the same character from Prince of Tennis. <3 It seemed fitting!
Title: Recombinant
Author: Dolly (universal_doll)
Rating: PG to PG-13
Characters: Echizen, Tezuka, Fuji (primary); Tachibana An, Tachibana Kippei, Momoshiro (secondary); and the rest of Seigaku.
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, AU (or rather, Alternate History/Timeline)
Summary: “Why couldn't you have been magical girls?”
Full Story Notes & Previous Chapters
New Chapter:
Chapter 11
The timing had been good this time, at least; though he hadn't been able to avoid a nasty scratch on his forearm from the latest creature that had come after him that Tuesday morning. Still, he would have had to face his teammates in girl form eventually anyway, so it was just as well that it had happened on the day that they'd all planned to get together at An's house for practice. It was getting late, and they'd probably be arriving soon.
Closing the book he was reading, Ryoma reluctantly left the confines of An's room and padded downstairs to wait.
~*~
“Welcome! Come in,” Tachibana An said pleasantly, showing them into the house.
“Hi, An-chan!” Momoshiro greeted her, causing the rest of the regulars to look at him strangely.
“Oh, you two know each other?” Kawamura inquired politely.
“Sure do,” An answered with a grin. “We play tennis together with Ryoma-kun sometimes.”
“How interesting,” Inui commented. “Though not unexpected.”
“Echizen couldn't make it today.” Tezuka resisted the impulse to frown as he wondered where their freshman was now. Echizen had been absent today, again, and he was beginning to find it rather worrying.
“My brother's waiting for you all out back.”
As the eight of them stepped outside, Tezuka nearly stopped were he stood as he recognized who Tachibana was talking to at the far end of the yard. For an instant he thought he saw someone else, but despite her sportier clothing he quickly recognized her as the girl that was the tenshi.
“Ochibi!” Before Tezuka or the others could stop him, Eiji bounded across the yard and tackled the girl in an enthusiastic hug from behind.
“Eiji! That's not--” Oishi started as he chased after his partner.
“We thought you were sick and . . .” Eiji trailed off, and he froze before suddenly jumping back off the girl; and, given where his hands had been, it wasn't too hard to guess why. “Unyaa! I'm sorry, kawaii-chan! I thought you were someone else!” Eiji said, looking horrified.
“I don't care about that,” the girl said shortly. “And maybe I am someone else.”
By now, they had all gone over to the far end of the yard, where Tachibana stood looking rather amused. “You shouldn't be so nice when boys put their hands on your chest, Ryo-chan,” Fuji said pleasantly. “We'll have to do something about that.”
“Stop calling me that,” the girl said irritably. “You know my name, Fuji-senpai.”
“Of course, Echizen-kun. But Ryo-chan sounds so much cuter, don't you think?”
“No.”
Fuji just kept smiling, and there was a long moment of shocked silence before Eiji finally broke it with a surprised wail.
“Iyaa! Ochibi's the tenshi!”
“E-echizen?” Oishi stammered, eyes wide. His expression of surprise was mimicked by Kaidoh and Kawamura, and the three of them simply stood there gaping for a time.
“Ah . . . that would explain the gender issue,” Inui muttered, eyebrows raised higher than Tezuka had ever seen them.
“Hey, at least we don't have to worry about keeping it a secret anymore, right Echizen?” Momoshiro said with a grin, slinging his arm around the girl's - Echizen's?-- shoulder and ruffling her hair.
“Momo-senpai,” she complained.
“Ah, I forgot, your hair's too long now,” he said as he removed his arm, looking apologetically at the now-tousled long green hair. He received a put-out look in response.
“Sss. Impressive.”
“What, Snake? That I was the first one to find out about Echizen?”
“No, that you managed to keep it a secret,” Kaidoh replied flatly.
“Hey! I can keep a secret!”
“With your loud mouth? Fshh . . .”
“Statistically, it is more likely that Momoshiro would be unable to keep such a secret for an extended length of time, however . . .” Inui started recounting various examples as the two second-years continued to snip at each other.
“Are we going to start soon or not?”
She certainly had Echizen's attitude, at least.
Tezuka moved closer, and looked scrutinizingly at the small girl that stood in front of him. She blinked back in surprise, then stared right back at him. Just like Echizen would have. And though Echizen had much shorter hair and was perhaps not quite this small, upon closer inspection the resemblance was obvious. Not to mention disconcerting. Echizen was a girl, but still himself, a fact which Tezuka was finding quite difficult to assimilate.
“You should have told us,” Tezuka said quietly, only a hint of reproach in his voice. Though he wished that Echizen would have come to them with this, he really couldn't be upset with him for keeping it a secret. Echizen was just like that.
“Yeah! You should tell your senpai things like this, so we can help,” Eiji chimed in. “But, Ochibi, why'd you run away from us?”
“I didn't know you were Guardians,” Echizen muttered. “And I didn't want you to recognize me like this.”
“Ooh, so that's why you were wearing a girl's uniform. You look so cute in it though!”
“It certainly is a good disguise,” Fuji added, a chilling sense of delight in his voice. “Though I don't think its very appropriate.”
“I'm sure Echizen doesn't want to wear a girl's uniform, Fuji,” Oishi objected. “And what's wrong with it if he actually is a girl?”
“I think its a wonderful idea for Echizen to wear a girl's uniform. But we can't have one of our teammates walking around dressed as a Fudomine student, don't you agree? Besides, Seigaku's uniform is much cuter,” Fuji said sagely, and Tezuka suppressed a sigh as he realized how interesting Fuji found this.
“No way,” Echizen said flatly.
“Well,” Oishi began tentatively, having regained his composure. “That certainly explains why you've been absent so much lately. Do you have someone to bring you your school work? I hope your studies aren't suffering.”
“That's not a problem,” Echizen replied confidently. “I can't blow things up like you guys can, but I can leave my body. So I can still go to school, even if I'm not really there.”
“Fascinating. Tell me, Echizen, have you noticed any other special abilities?” Inui asked, pen poised above one of his ever-present notebooks.
“Not sure.”
“Don't forget about what you did when you confronted that white-haired demon,” Fuji reminded him. “It was like an incantation or a spell, though I didn't understand it at all.”
Echizen frowned. “I didn't do anything like that. I just told him to leave you alone.”
“Maybe its the language that's in your book,” Tachibana suggested, and Tezuka shot him a questioning look. “Speaking of which, Echizen, why don't you find the section on the Guardians again and help everyone else figure out their powers as well.”
Echizen nodded, and five pairs of eyes looked over at him expectantly. “Come on.” He grabbed the book from the patio table and began paging through it. “Eiji-senpai, do you want to try first?”
Eiji, who was was practically vibrating with anticipation, literally jumped at the chance. Echizen, wisely, began giving him some suggestions for how to call on his powers only after he had sent him to the other end of the yard. Which was quite fortunate, given the strength of the blast of heat that Eiji let loose.
“Wow! Did you see that, Oishi?” Eiji exclaimed in awe. “I wonder if I can make fire too, nya!”
Unfortunately for the Tachibana's rose bushes, Eiji could indeed make fire.
After a few tries, Momoshiro and Kawamura discovered that they also had powers like Eiji's, while Kaidoh and Inui shared Fuji's power to generate cold energy and to freeze things. And with their unseen energy pulses and shielding, Tachibana, Oishi, and himself seemed to have powers unlike either of the other two types.
But Echizen's powers were another matter entirely. Besides astral projection, he seemed to be able to use a variety of spells or incantations, some by instinct and others that he found in the book. But Echizen's attacks were weak in comparison to theirs, which Tezuka found particularly worrying since he seemed to be the most likely target for demons.
Everyone practiced using their powers for awhile, though it was difficult to do so without destroying the Tachibana's yard, much to everyone's frustration. Momoshiro and Kaidoh were arguing again, and Oishi was trying to talk Eiji out of trying to see what would happen if he and Inui used their powers on each other. Meanwhile, Echizen was trying to escape from a very pleased looking Fuji, and failing miserably.
At least no one had given Kawamura a racket, yet.
It was definitely time to be done for the day, before anything else went up in flames that wasn't supposed to. Exchanging a quick glance with Tachibana, whose patience was obviously wearing thin, Tezuka called out, “That's enough for today. Everyone go home.”
As if by magic - though certainly not their kind of magic - the Seigaku regulars and their manager stopped what they were doing and, after a few token protests, headed back inside with Tachibana An, chatting animatedly amongst themselves. All except for Echizen and Fuji, that is, who remained under the tree that Tachibana was leaning against. Which was just as well, as Tezuka needed to speak to Echizen anyway. Racking his brain for a good way to talk to the younger player about his safety, Tezuka started over towards them.
~*~
“Echizen,” Tezuka began, looking rather uncomfortable. “About your living arrangements. I don't think its a good idea for you to stay at home like this. It may not be safe.”
“I haven't been. I've been staying here with An,” Echizen said bluntly.
“I see.” Tezuka's eyebrows raised ever so slightly, and Fuji could tell that Tezuka was just as bothered as he was by the fact that Tachibana, somehow, had been the one that their freshman had gone to first for help. “Good.” But of course, Tezuka was too restrained to say anything about it, leaving it to Fuji instead.
“You've been very kind to take our tenshi in, Tachibana. But now that we know, we can take care of it,” Fuji said politely.
“It's no problem, really,” Tachibana said unconcernedly. “Echizen's one of An's friends and would probably be over here often anyway.”
“But we just couldn't leave the responsibility all on you,” Fuji persisted. “Right, Tezuka?”
“Mmm.” Outwardly, Tezuka showed little sign that he cared either way, though Fuji recognized approval when he saw it. “We'll take turns among those of us whose parents will allow it.”
“You can stay at my house tonight then, Ryo-chan.” Fuji nearly beamed, pleased by the thought of having such an entertaining guest.
“Don't I get any say in this?” Echizen grumbled, pouting cutely.
“Is there something wrong with my house, Ryo-chan?”
“Ah . . . no, Fuji-senpai,” Echizen finished hastily, though Fuji noticed him giving Tezuka a pleading look.
“Saa, it'll be just like a sleep over," he said in an effort to reassure the freshman. "And I'm sure that Yumiko will love to meet you.”
Echizen, for some reason, still didn't look happy. Though Fuji supposed that was understandable, given that he was being hunted by demons. But some quality time with Yumiko and her excellent fashion sense would surely provide a fun diversion.
~*~
Chapter 11 Notes:
As for the Guardians' powers, I tried to have them suit their personalities so they are easier to remember:
~ Tezuka, Oishi, and Tachibana have the ability to create invisible shields and pulses of energy. Their powers are best for protection, which seems to fit as two of them are used to being in charge of their teams, and Oishi is always concerned about his teammates' well-being.
~ Momo, Kawamura, and Eiji have fire/heat based powers, and these three have more fiery personalities to match. Momo has a hot temper, Eiji is easily excited, and Kawamura . . . well, we know what happens when he gets a racket!
~ Fuji, Kaidoh, and Inui have ice/cold based powers, and these three tend to have cooler and more subdued personalities. Inui is very calculating, and Kaidoh is also quite subdued and he just had to have powers that are the opposite of Momo's. ;) And Fuji, well, it just seems to fit!
Yumiko, in case you didn't know her name, is Fuji's older sister.
Thanks again for reading, you guys! ^_^
Title: Recombinant
Author: Dolly (universal_doll)
Rating: PG to PG-13
Characters: Echizen, Tezuka, Fuji (primary); Tachibana An, Tachibana Kippei, Momoshiro (secondary); and the rest of Seigaku.
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, AU (or rather, Alternate History/Timeline)
Summary: “Why couldn't you have been magical girls?”
Full Story Notes & Previous Chapters
New Chapter:
Chapter 11
The timing had been good this time, at least; though he hadn't been able to avoid a nasty scratch on his forearm from the latest creature that had come after him that Tuesday morning. Still, he would have had to face his teammates in girl form eventually anyway, so it was just as well that it had happened on the day that they'd all planned to get together at An's house for practice. It was getting late, and they'd probably be arriving soon.
Closing the book he was reading, Ryoma reluctantly left the confines of An's room and padded downstairs to wait.
~*~
“Welcome! Come in,” Tachibana An said pleasantly, showing them into the house.
“Hi, An-chan!” Momoshiro greeted her, causing the rest of the regulars to look at him strangely.
“Oh, you two know each other?” Kawamura inquired politely.
“Sure do,” An answered with a grin. “We play tennis together with Ryoma-kun sometimes.”
“How interesting,” Inui commented. “Though not unexpected.”
“Echizen couldn't make it today.” Tezuka resisted the impulse to frown as he wondered where their freshman was now. Echizen had been absent today, again, and he was beginning to find it rather worrying.
“My brother's waiting for you all out back.”
As the eight of them stepped outside, Tezuka nearly stopped were he stood as he recognized who Tachibana was talking to at the far end of the yard. For an instant he thought he saw someone else, but despite her sportier clothing he quickly recognized her as the girl that was the tenshi.
“Ochibi!” Before Tezuka or the others could stop him, Eiji bounded across the yard and tackled the girl in an enthusiastic hug from behind.
“Eiji! That's not--” Oishi started as he chased after his partner.
“We thought you were sick and . . .” Eiji trailed off, and he froze before suddenly jumping back off the girl; and, given where his hands had been, it wasn't too hard to guess why. “Unyaa! I'm sorry, kawaii-chan! I thought you were someone else!” Eiji said, looking horrified.
“I don't care about that,” the girl said shortly. “And maybe I am someone else.”
By now, they had all gone over to the far end of the yard, where Tachibana stood looking rather amused. “You shouldn't be so nice when boys put their hands on your chest, Ryo-chan,” Fuji said pleasantly. “We'll have to do something about that.”
“Stop calling me that,” the girl said irritably. “You know my name, Fuji-senpai.”
“Of course, Echizen-kun. But Ryo-chan sounds so much cuter, don't you think?”
“No.”
Fuji just kept smiling, and there was a long moment of shocked silence before Eiji finally broke it with a surprised wail.
“Iyaa! Ochibi's the tenshi!”
“E-echizen?” Oishi stammered, eyes wide. His expression of surprise was mimicked by Kaidoh and Kawamura, and the three of them simply stood there gaping for a time.
“Ah . . . that would explain the gender issue,” Inui muttered, eyebrows raised higher than Tezuka had ever seen them.
“Hey, at least we don't have to worry about keeping it a secret anymore, right Echizen?” Momoshiro said with a grin, slinging his arm around the girl's - Echizen's?-- shoulder and ruffling her hair.
“Momo-senpai,” she complained.
“Ah, I forgot, your hair's too long now,” he said as he removed his arm, looking apologetically at the now-tousled long green hair. He received a put-out look in response.
“Sss. Impressive.”
“What, Snake? That I was the first one to find out about Echizen?”
“No, that you managed to keep it a secret,” Kaidoh replied flatly.
“Hey! I can keep a secret!”
“With your loud mouth? Fshh . . .”
“Statistically, it is more likely that Momoshiro would be unable to keep such a secret for an extended length of time, however . . .” Inui started recounting various examples as the two second-years continued to snip at each other.
“Are we going to start soon or not?”
She certainly had Echizen's attitude, at least.
Tezuka moved closer, and looked scrutinizingly at the small girl that stood in front of him. She blinked back in surprise, then stared right back at him. Just like Echizen would have. And though Echizen had much shorter hair and was perhaps not quite this small, upon closer inspection the resemblance was obvious. Not to mention disconcerting. Echizen was a girl, but still himself, a fact which Tezuka was finding quite difficult to assimilate.
“You should have told us,” Tezuka said quietly, only a hint of reproach in his voice. Though he wished that Echizen would have come to them with this, he really couldn't be upset with him for keeping it a secret. Echizen was just like that.
“Yeah! You should tell your senpai things like this, so we can help,” Eiji chimed in. “But, Ochibi, why'd you run away from us?”
“I didn't know you were Guardians,” Echizen muttered. “And I didn't want you to recognize me like this.”
“Ooh, so that's why you were wearing a girl's uniform. You look so cute in it though!”
“It certainly is a good disguise,” Fuji added, a chilling sense of delight in his voice. “Though I don't think its very appropriate.”
“I'm sure Echizen doesn't want to wear a girl's uniform, Fuji,” Oishi objected. “And what's wrong with it if he actually is a girl?”
“I think its a wonderful idea for Echizen to wear a girl's uniform. But we can't have one of our teammates walking around dressed as a Fudomine student, don't you agree? Besides, Seigaku's uniform is much cuter,” Fuji said sagely, and Tezuka suppressed a sigh as he realized how interesting Fuji found this.
“No way,” Echizen said flatly.
“Well,” Oishi began tentatively, having regained his composure. “That certainly explains why you've been absent so much lately. Do you have someone to bring you your school work? I hope your studies aren't suffering.”
“That's not a problem,” Echizen replied confidently. “I can't blow things up like you guys can, but I can leave my body. So I can still go to school, even if I'm not really there.”
“Fascinating. Tell me, Echizen, have you noticed any other special abilities?” Inui asked, pen poised above one of his ever-present notebooks.
“Not sure.”
“Don't forget about what you did when you confronted that white-haired demon,” Fuji reminded him. “It was like an incantation or a spell, though I didn't understand it at all.”
Echizen frowned. “I didn't do anything like that. I just told him to leave you alone.”
“Maybe its the language that's in your book,” Tachibana suggested, and Tezuka shot him a questioning look. “Speaking of which, Echizen, why don't you find the section on the Guardians again and help everyone else figure out their powers as well.”
Echizen nodded, and five pairs of eyes looked over at him expectantly. “Come on.” He grabbed the book from the patio table and began paging through it. “Eiji-senpai, do you want to try first?”
Eiji, who was was practically vibrating with anticipation, literally jumped at the chance. Echizen, wisely, began giving him some suggestions for how to call on his powers only after he had sent him to the other end of the yard. Which was quite fortunate, given the strength of the blast of heat that Eiji let loose.
“Wow! Did you see that, Oishi?” Eiji exclaimed in awe. “I wonder if I can make fire too, nya!”
Unfortunately for the Tachibana's rose bushes, Eiji could indeed make fire.
After a few tries, Momoshiro and Kawamura discovered that they also had powers like Eiji's, while Kaidoh and Inui shared Fuji's power to generate cold energy and to freeze things. And with their unseen energy pulses and shielding, Tachibana, Oishi, and himself seemed to have powers unlike either of the other two types.
But Echizen's powers were another matter entirely. Besides astral projection, he seemed to be able to use a variety of spells or incantations, some by instinct and others that he found in the book. But Echizen's attacks were weak in comparison to theirs, which Tezuka found particularly worrying since he seemed to be the most likely target for demons.
Everyone practiced using their powers for awhile, though it was difficult to do so without destroying the Tachibana's yard, much to everyone's frustration. Momoshiro and Kaidoh were arguing again, and Oishi was trying to talk Eiji out of trying to see what would happen if he and Inui used their powers on each other. Meanwhile, Echizen was trying to escape from a very pleased looking Fuji, and failing miserably.
At least no one had given Kawamura a racket, yet.
It was definitely time to be done for the day, before anything else went up in flames that wasn't supposed to. Exchanging a quick glance with Tachibana, whose patience was obviously wearing thin, Tezuka called out, “That's enough for today. Everyone go home.”
As if by magic - though certainly not their kind of magic - the Seigaku regulars and their manager stopped what they were doing and, after a few token protests, headed back inside with Tachibana An, chatting animatedly amongst themselves. All except for Echizen and Fuji, that is, who remained under the tree that Tachibana was leaning against. Which was just as well, as Tezuka needed to speak to Echizen anyway. Racking his brain for a good way to talk to the younger player about his safety, Tezuka started over towards them.
~*~
“Echizen,” Tezuka began, looking rather uncomfortable. “About your living arrangements. I don't think its a good idea for you to stay at home like this. It may not be safe.”
“I haven't been. I've been staying here with An,” Echizen said bluntly.
“I see.” Tezuka's eyebrows raised ever so slightly, and Fuji could tell that Tezuka was just as bothered as he was by the fact that Tachibana, somehow, had been the one that their freshman had gone to first for help. “Good.” But of course, Tezuka was too restrained to say anything about it, leaving it to Fuji instead.
“You've been very kind to take our tenshi in, Tachibana. But now that we know, we can take care of it,” Fuji said politely.
“It's no problem, really,” Tachibana said unconcernedly. “Echizen's one of An's friends and would probably be over here often anyway.”
“But we just couldn't leave the responsibility all on you,” Fuji persisted. “Right, Tezuka?”
“Mmm.” Outwardly, Tezuka showed little sign that he cared either way, though Fuji recognized approval when he saw it. “We'll take turns among those of us whose parents will allow it.”
“You can stay at my house tonight then, Ryo-chan.” Fuji nearly beamed, pleased by the thought of having such an entertaining guest.
“Don't I get any say in this?” Echizen grumbled, pouting cutely.
“Is there something wrong with my house, Ryo-chan?”
“Ah . . . no, Fuji-senpai,” Echizen finished hastily, though Fuji noticed him giving Tezuka a pleading look.
“Saa, it'll be just like a sleep over," he said in an effort to reassure the freshman. "And I'm sure that Yumiko will love to meet you.”
Echizen, for some reason, still didn't look happy. Though Fuji supposed that was understandable, given that he was being hunted by demons. But some quality time with Yumiko and her excellent fashion sense would surely provide a fun diversion.
~*~
Chapter 11 Notes:
As for the Guardians' powers, I tried to have them suit their personalities so they are easier to remember:
~ Tezuka, Oishi, and Tachibana have the ability to create invisible shields and pulses of energy. Their powers are best for protection, which seems to fit as two of them are used to being in charge of their teams, and Oishi is always concerned about his teammates' well-being.
~ Momo, Kawamura, and Eiji have fire/heat based powers, and these three have more fiery personalities to match. Momo has a hot temper, Eiji is easily excited, and Kawamura . . . well, we know what happens when he gets a racket!
~ Fuji, Kaidoh, and Inui have ice/cold based powers, and these three tend to have cooler and more subdued personalities. Inui is very calculating, and Kaidoh is also quite subdued and he just had to have powers that are the opposite of Momo's. ;) And Fuji, well, it just seems to fit!
Yumiko, in case you didn't know her name, is Fuji's older sister.
Thanks again for reading, you guys! ^_^