This chapter sucks. Forgive me.
Rikkaidai Fuzoku Main Hall
Roko mentally sighed in relief as he finished his solo cello piece for the concert, resting his aching fingers. It never really occurred to him until a few days ago that he would be playing the entire concert, so he would perform 11 pieces including his solo. Aside from his solo he only had to add background notes and occasionally strum the strings, so there was no real challenge in learning the ten, extremely repetitive pieces, but his solo was a challenge. He'd composed it himself, like he always did, but after the ten pieces his fingers felt like they were going to drop off and he tried not to wince at how much his fingers burned by the end.
There was a small, slow clap, and Roko looked up to Yamura-sensei who was sat before the stage with a huge grin on her face as she continued to clap.
"Brilliant, Echizen. Your piece is wonderful, you'll do wonderful in the concert" she stated positively, and Roko nodded in thanks before picking up his cello carefully and leaving the stage. Rehearsals were over so the other music club members were already backstage packing up their instruments, so they didn't hear Roko's solo at all, which was good in his opinion. It meant that he would attract less attention for now.
He put his cello back into its case on the ground and picked up his bag, taking out his phone. He noticed he had a message, and quickly opened it.
Do you want to meet at the usual place for some noodles after school?
From: Tachibana Ann
Ah yes, Roko forgot he had her number. He'd developed a pretty good relationship with Fudomine, talking to them every time he saw them when he went to watch Ryoma play. He didn't remember when exactly he got her number, but it had happened. He liked the team, they were mostly nice, especially the captain, and didn't ask any kind of annoying personal questions that Seigaku did. In fact, he was pretty sure that was all Seigaku said to him, except the chirpy leader of Ryoma's fan club and her friend, who thought it best not to intrude on Roko's life.
I'll be late, since I have to take the train back to Tokyo first
From: Echizen Roko
Roko put his phone down and closed the clasps on his cello case, carrying it back to the music hall to collect later. It was lunch time, which meant the regulars would be waiting for him under the largest sakura tree. He smiled, putting his bag on his back.
Rikkaidai Fuzoku School Grounds
Eh? You don't live in Tokyo?
From: Tachibana Ann
Oh yeah, Roko had never mentioned what school he was from, and looking back on it he distantly wondered why they never asked themselves. He mentally sighed and replied quickly, still walking towards the sakura tree.
I do, but I go to a school in a different district
From: Echizen Roko
His phone chimed almost an instant later.
Ok then, I'll meet you there then
From: Tachibana Ann
Roko smiled softly, he liked that about Fudomine, they never pressed for questions, Ann especially, which is why they were far better than Seigaku in his opinion.
And then his phone disappeared from his hand, and Marui was suddenly next to him looking at his phone with curious intensity. He scanned the name once and then turned to Roko. Roko moved like a blur, suddenly enraged at the kidnap of his precious phone.
"Echizen, who's-" he stopped and yelped in surprise at how quick Roko snatched his phone back, and quickly pocketed it with a scowl. Roko noticed the rest of the team was sat by the tree sharing surprised looks, and Roko rolled his eyes and moved to sit down, and sat next to Niou, Marui plopping down on his other side, and he leaned closer to Roko.
"Ne, Echizen, who's Ann-chan?" he asked curiously, and the rest of the team frowned, while Roko's forehead twitched in annoyance.
"Who are you talking about, Bunta?" Jackal asked, and Marui's smile grew.
"When I snatched Echizen's phone I got a glance of the name, I saw 'Ann' but I didn't get her last name" he explained, and Roko mentally groaned at how the eyes of Kirihara, Yanagi and Niou suddenly shone with mischief that he recognized.
"Oh, Echizen has a girlfriend?" Niou asked teasingly, and Roko shook his head in response. As if almost on cue his phone chimed again, and the entire team smirked, and Roko scowled, digging out his phone.
By the way, it won't be a date
From: Tachibana Ann
Roko's eyebrow promptly disappeared into his hair, and the team seemed to notice this, and Niou leaned forward, reading the message quickly.
"He's going on a date" he stated, his voice filled with amusement, and Roko glared daggers at him, and fortunately Niou had already suffered enough times at his hand to back off, but the rest of the team had already heard. Yagyuu and Sanada seemed to not care, but the rest of the team - even Jackal - were grinning like cats.
"Eh!?" Kirihara cried, "Echizen's going on a date!?" Before Roko could shake his head Jackal leaned forward, his caretaker complex visible on his face.
"Echizen, you're way too young to be going on dates" he said, much to Roko's annoyance, "Don't you think you're rushing things?"
"Jackal!" Marui scolded, "Don't put him off his hot date!"
Roko could feel himself twitch, and Sanada thankfully noticed this.
"Leave him alone" he stated once, and the entire team turned to him incredulously, except for Roko, who quickly replied to Ann's text while no one was looking.
I know. And thanks for that, my friends now think I'm going on a date
From: Echizen Roko
"But Sanada!" Marui cried, "Our kouhai's going on a hot date! We have to know what's going on!" he protested, and Roko was suddenly thankful that he was meeting Ann in Tokyo rather than Kanagawa, where his team could potentially follow him. He shuddered at the thought.
"Marui's right, you know" Yanagi added calmly, much to Sanada's confusion, "If our kouhai is indeed going on a date, the least we can do is chaperone him" Roko may have imagined it, but there was the tiniest grin on Yanagi's lips as they made eye-contact, and he glared daggers at Yanagi, whose face did not falter, probably due to his years of experience with Sanada.
"He's right, Sanada" Niou added with a large grin, "Our kouhai will need all the support he can get" Niou wrapped his arm around Echizen protectively for emphasis, and Roko just glared at the arm like he was going to bite it off, and Niou quickly got the idea and moved it away.
He tried to ignore their conversation, and Roko opened his bag and dug out his bento box, opening it and quickly digging into the food.
"Ne, Echizen, where are you going with Ann-chan?" Marui asked, and Roko didn't make eye contact or change his expression, continuing to eat his food like he hadn't heard him. Marui frowned and leaned forward.
"Oi, Echizen, don't ignore me" he demanded, and Roko continued to ignore him.
And then his phone chimed again.
Suddenly the team were grinning like cats again, and Roko irritably retrieved his phone, looking at the new message.
Oops! Sorry about that, but I wanted to make it clear. If it makes you feel any better my brother would think the same if I told him about it. Sorry :(
From: Tachibana Ann
No, that doesn't make me feel remotely better, Roko thought irritably as he put his phone back. So he basically got the shorter straw, wonderful.
"Echizen!" Marui whined, "What are you saying to Ann-chan?" Roko mentally sighed and made signs to Sanada.
"Can you get rid of them?" his hands asked, and Sanada frowned before holding up his hands and replying in signs. They'd decided a while ago that any conversations they'd have around the team would be in sign language so they could discuss important issues any time without the team intruding.
"How could I get rid of them?" his hands replied, and Roko scowled before making more signs. The team were all narrowing their eyes in confusion, and Marui looked very irritated at their secret conversation.
"Oy, don't exclude us from your conversation!" he demanded, but was ignored.
"Because you're the tennis club captain" his hands replied bluntly.
"Solve your own problems, it's not my fault you have a date" Sanada replied, and Roko glared at him. Sanada was an annoying character, since when they were alone he was rather soft and approachable, but when around the team, even if no one could understand them, he was still back in his stoic captain personality.
"You could at least make them run laps" he replied.
"I could, except we're not in tennis practice" Roko scowled irritably and turned back to his food, continuing to eat it like nothing had happened.
"Sanada, what were you saying?" Yanagi asked curiously. Roko looked up and glared at Sanada, daring him to say a single word, mostly because he was now irritated with him. Sanada seemed to get the point and didn't respond, eating his own food like Yanagi hadn't said a word, and the team frowned.
"Oh come on!" Marui whined again, "At least tell us something!". Sanada looked up irritably, and Roko could see he had decided something.
"We were talking about how many laps you will run in tennis practice, and we agreed on 100" he stated annoyed, and Marui's eyes widened in shock while the rest of the team smirked, effectively ending the conversation.
Streets of Kanagawa
Following Echizen was far more of a challenge than it appeared to be. For starters, four people following him all at once was a challenge in itself, since all four of them moving fast enough to dodge Echizen's glance was very risky. Secondly, the fact that Echizen apparently had a very fast walking pace, probably walking to the rhythm of the music that was blasting out of him earphones, and so it was difficult to keep up whilst being subtle at the same time.
Finally, the fact that they all had no idea where Echizen was going. They didn't know where he lived or where he was meeting this 'Ann-chan', so no one could say how long they would be following him for.
They followed him for about five minutes before they noticed that Echizen was heading to the train station, and Yanagi frowned curiously.
"Echizen takes the train to school?" he wondered out loud.
"Wonder why he does that" Marui mumbled next to him, and the conversation ended. They all proceeded the casually walk into the station, blending into the crowd the best they could. Yanagi's face faltered as he noticed Echizen was standing in front of a ticket booth, tapping the screen and inserting money into it, and Yanagi realised he'd forgotten one important detail.
"Ah, it seems we have to pay if we want to follow him" he muttered, and the other three scowled.
"And how do we know which train he's going on? Puri~" Niou asked. Yanagi frowned.
"Doesn't Echizen's brother go to Seigaku in Tokyo?" Kirihara added helpfully, and the other three looked at him completely shocked, and Kirihara frowned.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing" Yanagi replied quickly, not interested in getting into an argument whilst tailing their kouhai.
They quickly paid for a ticket to Tokyo station each, finding the next train would arrive in ten minutes, selecting that one and quickly receiving the tickets. They then proceeded to the platform, for a moment forgetting Echizen was standing a few feet away from them before they all quickly dove for cover, except for Yanagi, who was far too stoic to dive for cover, and so he moved like a blur instead.
The train quickly arrived afterwards, and they waited for Echizen to step onto the train before they entered a different part of the train, and sat down on the seats with open excitement.
"This'll be great" Marui claimed, "We get to see Echizen's hot date". The others nodded in agreement, and Yanagi could only smile at the delicious data he would collect.
Streets of Tokyo
Ann was waiting patiently for Echizen to arrive, glad that she'd managed to play off the excuse to her brother that she was going shopping. In truth she had organized this because she just wanted someone to talk to aside from the team, since she knew she spent way too much time with them. She didn't want to say anything important, she just wanted some change.
She was sat at the window seat of the noodle bar playing with her phone when Echizen arrived, and Ann looked up surprised, since she expected him to be much earlier.
"Echizen" she called softly and Echizen nodded once in acknowledgement, taking the seat in front of her and depositing his bag on the floor next to his chair. He just looked at her for a while, waiting for her to start, and Ann smiled softly despite herself.
"I asked you to come here to talk, just because I wanted to be away from the team, you know?" she asked, realising how awkward she sounded, but Echizen nodded like he perfectly understood.
"So you do understand?" she asked, to be certain, and Echizen made signs.
"I get sick of my friends a lot" his hands replied, and Ann smiled widely.
"The ones who think we're on a date?" she asked, and Echizen nodded grimly.
Why does he seem so horrified by the idea? She thought irritably, but quickly pushed the thought out of her head.
"Thankfully they don't know I live in Tokyo, so they won't have followed me" his hands replied, and Ann chuckled at that.
"That's good, it would be awkward if they followed us" she replied.
And about twenty feet away, the four sneezed in unison, and looked at each other curiously.
"It seems someone is talking about us" Yanagi noted, and Niou shrugged, looking back through his binoculars again at the two freshmen in the noodle bar.