A Fish Out Of Water

A BeKami fic

By Jaelle

Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rating: PG-13, leaning towards an M. Rated for a whole lot of swearing.
Notes: Seventh in the Prince and the Pauper series.

Author's Note: Written because Hiyoshi missed out on being in Meet the Family, and I do love the little mushroom-head.

Warning: This story quite heavily references earlier parts in the series, in particular the stories Beat Them, Join ThemMeet the Family. If you haven't read those two, you may be somewhat confused. You can find them at the link provided above.

Sections in *asterisks* are thoughts.
Section in italics is a flashback.

Vocabulary:
Gekokujyou roughly means: the lower classed people will rise up to defeat those above them. (Definition taken from Wikipedia's entry on Hiyoshi.)

Kamio took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped forward.

Nothing happened.

Cautiously, he cracked one eye open, and took another step.

Still nothing.

He had just entered the gates of Hyoutei High School, undoubtedly the ritziest and wealthiest high school in all Japan, and the walls were still standing.

He looked up at the sky, just to check that it wasn't about to fall on his head.

The sun shone back at him cheerfully.

Sighing, he tugged at his school uniform collar. Well, if the buildings WEREN'T going to be obliging and collapse simply because Kamio Akira, formerly of Fudoumine Junior High, was attending the school as a student, then he was just going to have to get over the fact and go to class.

Damn.

**

Slowly he trudged down a corridor filled with chattering students, most of them wearing as hair accessories and other jewellery items which probably cost more than his entire wardrobe, and made his way to classroom 1-A. He'd made a point of locating it yesterday after the welcoming ceremony and orientation sessions for new students, so that he wouldn't fall prey to any misdirecting tricks. He didn't trust Hyoutei students one inch.

And now he was one of them.

Gloomily, he slid the door open and mooched over to an empty desk, throwing his bag onto it and claiming it as his own. He glanced out the window and briefly allowed himself to enjoy the view from the second storey window. Not bad. In fact, this was a pretty good seat. Hopefully the teacher wouldn't rearrange them all and he could keep this desk all year.

Assuming he didn't get expelled or go insane and destroy the school before then, of course.

He could still hear Atobe and Oshitari-sempai laughing at the suggestion, which he'd put forward for the first time during his uniform fittings.

"Kamio-kun, Hyoutei has withstood years of the kind of mayhem that only extremely rich people with too much time AND money on their hands can generate," Oshitari snickered. "I seriously doubt that one..."

"Two!"

"Sorry, sorry," Oshitari rolled his eyes. "Two scholarship students from a public school, even ones as... unique as yourself and Ibu-kun, can cause that much damage."

"Don't say it like that, he'll only take it as a challenge," Atobe reproved his friend, smoothing his hands over Kamio's shoulders to check the fit of his school blazer. "In all seriousness Kamio, everything will be fine. After all, once everyone knows that you're with me..."

"WHAT??" Kamio exploded. "Fuck that! I don't need your protection!"

"But... Akira..." Atobe looked surprised. "I thought..."

"NO! I mean it, Keigo. I'm not a coward, and I won't hide behind you! You have to promise me you won't throw your weight around on my behalf. In fact, promise me you won't even tell anyone that we're a couple!!"

"What? Akira, you're being ridiculous!"

"Now who's set him off with a challenge?" Oshitari murmured.

"That goes for you too!" Kamio pointed a finger sharply at the older boy. "And all the other Regulars. I'm totally serious about this. No one is to know about me and Atobe!"

"But..."

"NO! You got everything else the way you wanted it, so you give me this or the whole deal is off!" Kamio fixed his boyfriend with a steely glare. "I'll go to Hyoutei, I'll join the tennis team, I'll dedicate myself to it and win for you, live in the off-campus dorms with you, and I'll even wear this god awful uniform, but I will succeed, or fail, ON MY OWN MERITS!!!"

Kamio clenched his fist as he remembered his final shout. That's right, he would get through this by himself.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as someone slammed their hand down on what he was just beginning to think of as "his" desk, and, still somewhat psyched by his flashback, he turned to shoot them a glare. "What?"

A tall boy loomed over him, his hair bleached and spiked up on end, and a sneer on his face. "You're sitting in my seat, punk."

Kamio gave the other boy a quick once-over and scowled. "I didn't see your name on it."

The guy sneered at him. "Maybe you weren't looking hard enough."

"Maybe you're just blowing smoke out your ass."

The classroom fell silent.

The other boy bristled and drew himself up to his full height. This probably would have been impressive to someone who didn't find themselves hanging around with Kabaji on a frequent basis. Slowly, he shrugged off his school jacket and shirt (no tie, Kamio noted resentfully), revealing an elaborate tattoo on his chest and shoulders.

"I'm Higuchi Morihiro," he said, slowly. "Now, do you want to move, or do you want to get hurt?"

Well, that had happened a lot faster than Kamio had expected. Looked like it was time to start setting his mark on this place.

"Fine by me," he said, getting to his feet and loosening his tie. "You wanna fight, then we'll fight."

Higuchi looked startled. "What? You're actually going to fight me?"

"Obviously," Kamio debated simply rolling up the sleeves of his blazer or taking it off altogether. *Gonna need free movement through my shoulders. Off it is.*

"You think a scrawny little punk like you can stand against me?" Higuchi recovered from his surprise and flexed his muscles menacingly. "Don't think I'll go easy on you!"

"Like I need you to," Kamio replied, bringing his fists up and lashing out suddenly.

"What? Hey! WAIT!" Higuchi back-pedalled hastily to avoid getting hit as Kamio threw a couple more punches. "TIME OUT!"

"What? What the hell are you talking about? There's no time out in fistfights!" Kamio stared at him blankly.

"I... uh... I just..." Higuchi babbled. "Take the stupid seat! I don't want it now that you've, uh, contaminated it. I'll just, uh..." He paused, turned, and ran.

Kamio watched the guy flee, and wondered what the hell had just happened.

"That," a female voice behind him spoke up confidently, "was SOOOOOO cool!"

Kamio blinked and turned to see a rather pretty girl grinning at him.

"I'm Nakajima Mayumi," she said, holding out her hand to shake. "Pleased to meet you."

"Kamio Akira," he replied, taking it unthinkingly and responding with firm pressure. "Nakajima, huh. Like the make-up company?"

She laughed at him. "That's hilarious! You're so FUNNY, Kamio-kun."

It was? He was? Kamio blinked and let go as a small crowd gathered around the two of them.

"That was excellent, man," another boy thumped him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "It was great how you saw right through that poseur. I thought he was going to start crying when you actually tried to fight him!"

"Uh..." Kamio felt a flush start across his face as he realised most of the other kids were grinning as well.

"You really showed THAT loser," another guy added. "He won't dare show his face to any of the rest of us for a while."

"If ever," Nakajima sniffed. "Idiots like that have no place at Hyoutei anyhow. If you haven't got the skill and guts to back up your talk, you're worthless. Right?"

"Mmm..." Kamio wondered how on earth he could extract himself from this mess.

"I'm Ishihara Nozumu," the guy who'd punched his shoulder introduced himself. "I haven't seen you at Hyoutei before, Kamio-kun. Have you been studying overseas?"

Kamio stared at him for a long moment, wondering what kind of weird alternate universe he had fallen into. "No, I..."

There was a loud snicker and another boy joined the crowd. "You're behind on the latest news, Ishi-chan," he sing-songed. "Kamio-chan comes to us from the 'glorious' Fudoumine Junior High. He's here on an athletic scholarship." The boy sipped from his water bottle ostentatiously. "Alas, it appears that everything I've heard about his bad habits and fighting are true. One really needs to keep up to date on what's what and who's who, you know. Or else who knows what could happen?" He smirked.

Kamio snarled as the boy drank from his water bottle again triumphantly, then blinked and returned the smirk with a vicious one of his own.

"Listen buddy, I don't know who you are and furthermore, I don't care. But tell me one thing - if you're supposed to be so damn cool and swanky and up to date, then why the hell are you drinking 3X water? NOBODY drinks that anymore!"

The boy went pale as everyone looked at his water bottle, and then moved away from him slightly.

"He's right," Nakajima said, tossing her head. "Seriously uncool Ryuuji." She turned a thoughtful look on Kamio, who was now wearing a horrified expression.

*I can't believe I said that. I can't believe I knew that. Stupid water and damn lessons on it! THIS IS ALL ATOBE'S FAULT!!!*

"So," Ishihara coughed. "You're an athlete? What sport?"

Kamio blinked and noticed that the group was now regarding him somewhat warily.

*Probably put off by suggestion that I'm violent. Yeah well, tough shit.*

"Te..." he started.

"What's going on here? Is something interesting happening? Oh, Kamio-kun, THERE you are!"

Kamio blinked as the group turned to greet the newcomer. "Ohtori?"

Ohtori Choutarou gave him a big grin. "Hi Kamio-kun! I saw on the class lists that we were in the same homeroom. Isn't it great? I finally have someone I can talk to about tennis during break times! Hey, have you picked a seat yet? And if so, is anyone sitting next to you? If not, do you mind if I do?"

"Ohtori-kuuuun..." Nakajima threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly in relief. "You're in our class? Thank goodness! I didn't know HOW I was going to get through music this year."

"The same way you always do, Nakajima-san," Ohtori disentangled himself gently. "With your beautiful voice. Nakajima-san is a wonderful singer," he directed the last comment to Kamio. "Oh I'm sorry, I haven't introduced you yet."

"We've already met," Nakajima said, casting a quick look at Kamio. "But I didn't know you two knew each other. Is he a friend of yours, Ohtori-kun?"

"Oh yes," Ohtori smiled cheerfully. "Kamio-kun is A..."

Kamio erupted into a loud fit of coughing.

"Ah, that is to say, Kamio-kun is a fellow tennis player. He's really good. He captained the school that won the Nationals last year," Ohtori said hastily. "And he's a really nice guy too."

Kamio was impressed by the speed at which the tension drained out of the group. Clearly it was a good thing to have the Ohtori-kun Endorsed Stamp of Niceness.

"And Ishi-kun, you're here too?" Ohtori laughed, spotting the other boy. "This is great!"

"Says you," Ishihara groaned. "You're not the one who's gonna be held responsible by Shishido for knowing where his tennis partner is all the time!"

"Shishido-san and Ishi-kun are related to each other," Ohtori explained to Kamio, who was looking confused.

"Distantly related, thank you very much," Ishihara added. "And I try to get even more distant every time I see him coming!"

"Shishido-san's not so bad," Ohtori protested. "He's just a little impatient."

Kamio and Ishihara snorted in unison, looked at each other in surprise, and then grinned.

"Ohtori, that's like saying that At... that Kabaji's a little tall," Kamio swallowed his initial urge to compare Shishido's legendary short-temper to Atobe's equally-legendary arrogance. *Better not mention it. I don't want people wanting to know why I know that.*

"Exactly, exactly!" Ishihara nodded. "Shi-chan has no patience for anyone who isn't you, Ohtori."

"And why the hell should I be patient with people who aren't Choutarou? AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHI-CHAN, YOU BRAT???!!!"

Ishihara jumped a foot in the air and spun around to see a glowering Shishido approaching menacingly. "Ohtori, Kamio, help!" He squeaked, hiding behind the redhead.

"Why are you asking ME for help?" Kamio demanded. "He's YOUR relation!"

"Distant relation!" Both boys chorused.

"Shishido-san!" Ohtori hastily intervened before there could be bloodshed. "What are you doing here?!"

Shishido glared menacingly at Ishihara for a few more minutes before thrusting a sheet of paper at Ohtori. "Tennis practice schedules," he growled. "We're starting training today after school. Orders from above," the sarcastic tone of his voice and accompanying roll of his eyes made it perfectly clear who he was referring to. "It appears that someone's keen to get going this year," he continued, staring meaningfully at Kamio, with a familiar expression of "can't you DO something about him?" on his face.

"I'm sure you can handle it," Kamio replied coolly, shooting Shishido his usual return look of "he's YOUR team-mate". The faint smirk on the other boy's mouth reminded him that this excuse no longer applied. "Shishido-sempai," he added.

Shishido scowled as Kamio passed the responsibility back to him. "Fine then," he grumbled. "In that case, be a good kouhai and pass THESE copies onto Kabaji and your buddy when you see them." He thrust extra copies of the schedule at Kamio. "I have to get back to class. Oh, and here's one for Hiyoshi, too."

The smug look he sent at Kamio had the younger boy fuming, but there wasn't much he could say in response. Still, he only had to track down the three other boys. Shishido had to deal with Atobe and all of HIS problems. Speaking of which...

Kamio gave him an angelic smile. "Of course, sempai. I wouldn't want you to be late for homeroom. I hope you wound up in a good classroom with ALL of your long-time friends."

He had to bite back laughter as Shishido shot him a furious glare, and then stormed out of the room. It appeared that the Atobe-and-Shishido-eternal-classmates curse was still very much in effect.

Ohtori coughed, his face pinking as he tried to cover up his own amusement. "That wasn't very nice, Kamio-kun," he said.

"No, but it sure was funny," Kamio grinned.

The final warning bell rang and in the resultant scramble to get ready before the teacher arrived Kamio found himself seated back in his original desk with Ohtori beside him, Ishihara in front, and Nakajima behind. The other three chatted to him cheerfully in-between each class, and Kamio felt himself relaxing a little as he felt their acceptance.

*Huh, I guess not all Hyoutei students are rich, elitist snobs. Who knew?*

**

"Ah, my favourite class of the day," Ishihara said happily, stretching. "Lunch!"

Kamio grinned, and couldn't help agreeing. He shook out his aching hand and looked at his pages of messy notes. "This is gonna be harder than I thought," he muttered, then grimaced. "But it doesn't matter. I will do it."

"That's the spirit!"

He jumped and looked up into Nakajima's grinning face. "I can't stand boys who back down from a challenge," she explained cheerfully. "So, why don't we get some food to fuel your fighting spirit!"

"Fuel my fighting spirit?" Kamio echoed weakly. "Where do you get this stuff?"

"Television!"

"If you want to go get lunch, then I'm happy to go find the others and give them their schedules," Ohtori offered.

Kamio blinked. "Ah damn it, almost forgot." He fished the sheets out of his bag. "It's okay. I need to get used to finding my way around this place anyway."

"I'll come with you and help!" Ishihara volunteered. "Odds are they probably all went to the cafeteria anyway."

"I dunno," Kamio looked dubious. "Shinji probably would've brought his lunch." He certainly had, feeling fairly sure that he would be unable to afford any food sold in such a place.

"Well, there's no harm in trying," Nakajima said stoutly. "And I want to get something to eat. Anyone want something? My treat."

In the end, they all went, trailed by a few other members of the class whose names Kamio promptly forgot. They all seemed to be friends of Nakajima or Ishihara anyway.

"How the hell are we supposed to find them?" Kamio demanded, staring at the mass of humanity in the corridors. "This place is huge!"

"Not that huge, look!" Ohtori pointed. Kamio followed his finger and grinned.

"YO! KABAJI!!!"

He felt everyone go suddenly still in the wake of his roar and flinched internally. Apparently Hyoutei students didn't shout each other's names out in the corridors.

Down the hallway, Kabaji turned in response to his shout and waved, then began making his way towards him. Beside him was another familiar figure.

"Oh. My. God." Nakajima breathed. "Who is THAT? Kanako? Reiko? Do you know?"

Negative sounds from the girls around, as well as several sighs.

The boy walking with Kabaji nodded at the group as they approached. "Kamio. Such a relief to find you, this place is too big and too full of people." He glared at the people surrounding his friend. "Who are these guys? Are they being nice to you?"

Kamio opened his mouth and felt Nakajima's fingers dig into his arm as she wrapped her hands around his bicep. "Kamio-kun, why don't you introduce me to your friend," she said sweetly.

"Ahhh..." Girls were scary, Kamio thought to himself. "Nakajima Mayumi, meet Ibu Shinji. We both went to Fudoumine together."

"Oh, then you must be here on a tennis scholarship too!" Nakajima said happily. "That's SO impressive. I'm very pleased to meet you, Ibu-kun."

Shinji blinked at her. "Ah... yes. Hello. I'm pleased to meet you too, although really I've only just met you so it's a bit early to be making decisions about whether it's actually a pleasure or not."

Kamio winced.

Nakajima laughed delightedly, "Well, I certainly HOPE you'll eventually be pleased that you met me," she said. "Although of course, for you to make a decision about something like that, you'd need to get to know me a little better."

Shinji thought this over. "True..."

"Then why don't you come with us to the cafeteria and we can get started?" Nakajima reached out her other hand to grab hold of one of Shinji's arms. "After all, the sooner we start, the sooner you'll know."

"Okay. That makes sense," Shinji agreed.

"It does?" Kamio said incredulously.

"It does to Nakajima-san," Ohtori gave him a rueful smile.

With a friendly shove from Ishihara to get him moving, Kamio and the rest of the now-considerably-larger group made their way to the cafeteria. The group swirled around the two new students, chattering (with the exception of Kabaji) and asking questions. Somehow in all of this, despite clearly having his lunch with him, Kamio found himself standing with the others in line to get served. It was an unusually fast-moving line, so he very soon found himself standing in front of a cheerful looking attendant.

"What'll it be?"

Kamio took a quick glance at the ridiculously large options from the plates in front of him, the menu written on the wall in flowing calligraphy, and the bulging clear-glass door fridges behind the woman and gulped. About the only thing he recognised were some of the brands of water, a fact that immediately depressed him. Then he remembered a similar situation he'd been in once before.

Kamio smiled archly. "Have you got lychee jelly bubble tea?"

The woman beamed at him. "Getting in before the rush, hmm?"

Kamio blinked at her.

"One moment," she turned and barked an order. Instantly two sleekly uniformed men appeared and began performing an intricate dance around a blender and bubble tea mixtures.

Kamio felt his mouth hanging open again and forced himself to close it.

"Oh, good call," Ishihara said. "That's the most popular flavour in the school?"

"Really?" Kamio asked weakly.

"Of course!" Ishihara said in surprise. "It's Atobe-sempai's favourite flavour!"

Kamio turned beet red. *It is? Since when?*

Ohtori gave him a teasing smile as Ishihara began ranting about the fantastic Atobe-sempai and how amazing he was, with occasional interjections of "Yes" from Kabaji.

"It seems someone converted him to the drink last year, and now he's a fan," Ohtori murmured quietly.

Kamio went even redder.

"Naaahh... but I like blueberry better," a sleepy voice said, accompanying its words with a gentle poke to Kamio's elbow. "Make them make one for me, Kamio-kun."

Kamio started and half-turned.

"Akutagawa-sempai!" Ishihara stared at the new addition to their group.

"What are you doing here?" Kamio blurted out.

Jirou yawned widely. "Getting you to order me bubble tea?" He gave Kamio a plaintive look. "Please?"

"Err... uh..." Kamio turned to order again, and found that two bubble teas were sitting on the counter. "Ah. Here you go then, Ji... Akutagawa-sempai."

In the ensuing confusion of wallets, bubble teas, and other food orders, Jirou attached himself firmly to Kamio's side, and leaned against him when they finally took their seats.

"You know, for someone who's never been to Hyoutei you certainly know a lot of people," Ishihara said, watching the way the older boy draped himself freely over Kamio.

Jirou woke up a little. "Oh, that's because of..."

"Tennis!" Kamio half-shouted. "It's because of tennis! Isn't that right, Akutagawa-sempai?"

"Oh," Jirou looked disappointed. "I suppose. Does that mean you're not going to call me Jirou-chan anymore?"

"I NEVER CALLED YOU THAT!!"

"You didn't? Oh. But you could have, if you'd wanted."

"Thanks Akutagawa-sempai," Kamio said firmly. "But this is fine."

"What about you, Ibu-kun?" Jirou turned his attention to Shinji, who was apparently listening intently to something Nakajima was saying. Kamio caught the words "flying dragon leap" and blinked, wondering if he'd misheard.

"Nakajima can be pretty scary when she gets going," Ishihara said with a grin, catching his befuddled look. "She's very focused. When she sees something she wants, she just goes for it. Your friend doesn't have a girlfriend or a manager or a fan-club president or anything, does he?"

"No."

Ishihara smirked. "He does now." The boy looked at the appalled expression on Kamio's face and lost the smug attitude. "Oh man, I'm sorry, I didn't think... don't tell me you were interested in Nakajima?"

"What? NO!" Kamio shook his head violently. "I already... I... that is... um..."

"Kamio-kun already has someone he likes," Ohtori said quickly, and Kamio shot him a grateful look.

"Yeah. So Nakajima can't have him," Jirou added, yawning again.

"Oh really," Ishihara looked at Kamio curiously. "What's her name?"

"Uh..." Kamio tried to think of a way out of this conversation.

"Kamio has someone? That's wonderful!" Nakajima's head snapped round and she smiled at him. "Perhaps we could all double-date?"

Shinji glowered and Kamio breathed out in relief, while trying not to think about what a horrendous disaster that would be. "No, uh, you see... Shinji doesn't like that person," he said quickly. "So it's probably not a good idea."

"Exactly," Shinji nodded emphatically. "That person is... double-date? Are we going on a date? I think I would have remembered that." He turned to Nakajima in confusion.

She smiled at him cutely. "Oh, I just decided. You don't mind, do you?"

"Well no, but you really should ask first. It's terribly rude to just decide something like that without even telling the other person. Still, I suppose you're like that, here at Hyoutei. Probably spoiled, like that Echizen."

"I am a bit," Nakajima admitted. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm a bad person, does it?"

"Well, no, I suppose not..."

"Great, so it's a date then!"

"... Yes?"

"YAY!"

Kamio decided then and there never to introduce Nakajima to Ann-chan. The two of them together would take over the world, and he already had enough trouble in his life.

"Well, I should probably go look for Hiyoshi," he said, trying to think of a way to extract himself from this confusion. "Uhmmm... If you could just stop leaning on me, Akutagawa-sempai?"

Jirou snored loudly and snuggled against his shoulder, fast asleep.

"Oh hell."

**

In-between afternoon classes Nakajima (who had bullied both Kamio and Shinji onto a first-name basis before the end of lunch) kept up a seemingly endless stream of questions about the pair of them, with particular emphasis on Shinji. She wasn't the only one. At least half the girls in his class, by Kamio's rough estimate, were either hanging on his every answer, or actively adding to the interrogation. Some of them were taking notes.

"Don't worry," Ohtori reassured him in an undertone. "They're not always like this. It's just because you're new. Since Hyoutei's an elevator school, we all tend to know each other by this point, so new people are kind of exciting and interesting. It'll pass."

"He's right, so just relax and calm down. You look completely freaked. Haven't you ever had to put up with this before?" Ishihara asked. "What, was your friend a late bloomer or something?"

"I'm just a little surprised," Kamio admitted. "I don't think Shinji's ever even been on a date."

"What? Were the girls at your last school all blind?" Nakajima exclaimed, a chorus of girls chiming in agreement with her.

"Were they crazy?"

"But he's GORGEOUS!"

"His hair is so beautiful, I just want to run my hands through it!"

Kamio tuned the rest of the comments out for the sake of his sanity.

"Well, he is a little... odd." He said, once the outcry had died down. "I mean... he talks all the time..."

"Good, I can't stand guys who just stand there like lumps and don't hold up their own end of the conversation," Nakajima said firmly.

"And he's obsessed with tennis... not that there's anything wrong with that."

"It's good for partners to have separate hobbies. Time to do your own thing in is important!" Another girl said.

"He trains a lot."

"We're ALL busy with stuff!" Another voice chimed in.

"And some of the things he gets into his head are just... weird."

"Different points of view and ways of seeing the world are mind-broadening," Nakajima demolished his final argument with an airy wave of her hand. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, I guess it was just the strangeness that put them off really," Kamio admitted. "I mean, he's my best friend but even I know he can be a bit... odd."

"He won't be odd here," Nakajima said firmly.

"I don't think going to a different school is going to change him that much."

"Oh, I doubt it too. He just won't be odd here, that's all," Nakajima grinned at Kamio. "OTHER students are odd. HYOUTEI students are eccentric. And I come from an old family of eccentrics. Trust me, he won't be considered odd here. And anyone that calls him odd will taste my flaming fists of justice!!"

Kamio watched the rest of the students in the class enthusiastically applaud Nakajima's speech, during which she had clambered up onto her desk and punched a fist into the air. Many of the other girls shouted out loudly in agreement.

"A whole family of eccentrics?" He asked weakly.

"They're really very nice," Ohtori assured him.

"Your friend would fit right in," Ishihara grinned. "And look at it this way – better him than you."

"FLAMING FIST OF JUSTICE ATTACK!!!"

"Nakajima-san, stop trying to kill Ishihara-kun in class! At least wait until after school!"

**

When the final bell rang, Kamio let out a long sigh of relief.

"Was it really that bad?" Ohtori asked in amusement.

"No... well, everything except the Greek." Kamio regarded his notes with dislike. "Why exactly do we need to learn this?"

"Greek is an important part of a traditional, classical education," Ishihara recited. "And should be treated with the respect it deserves."

Kamio looked at him oddly.

"I, uh, had to write that 200 times when I failed my midterm in it last year," Ishihara confessed.

Nakajima giggled. "Yeah, 100 times in English, and 100 times in Greek!"

"Just for failing the midterm?" Kamio raised his eyebrows.

Ishihara blushed as the rest of the room began to laugh.

"Go on Ishihara, tell him about what you wrote about Plato," one of the other boys urged.

Kamio laughed at his new friends' embarrassment, but declined to hear the story. "Tennis practice," he reminded them all. "And I still haven't found Hiyoshi to give him the schedule."

"I'll come with you!" Nakajima said cheerfully. "I want to see Shinji-kun again."

"Hiyoshi-kun will probably be at the tennis courts by now anyway," Ohtori mused. "He's very dedicated. So we might as well start there. That way we might be able to save time."

"Oh good," Kamio said. "I was getting worried about being late for the first day's practice and winding up running laps all day. Not a great first impression."

"With the way we've been bumping into Regulars who treat you like an old friend right, left, and centre, I doubt you have to worry about it much," Ishihara pointed out, joining them for the walk to the courts. "Do you know Hiyoshi too?"

"Not really," Kamio replied. "I mean, I've played him. I know what he looks like. We were both on the Junior Goodwill Team last year too, but I think I could count the number of words we've actually exchanged on the fingers of one hand."

"That does sound like Hiyoshi," Ishihara admitted. "He's a bit standoffish."

"Yeah, uh..." Kamio fidgeted. "He's not the type to carry a grudge, is he?"

"Depends. Why?"

Ohtori laughed, "Kamio-kun beat Hiyoshi-kun in the National quarterfinals last year. It's his fault Hyoutei didn't advance to the final round."

"Hey! Don't make it sound like it was luck!" Kamio glared at the other boy. "Fudoumine was a great team, and we worked really hard to get where we..."

Ohtori was holding up his hands in surrender. "Peace, peace! I know you had a great team. I played against you, remember?" He pulled a face and turned to Nakajima. "Ibu-kun completely flattened me in Singles 3." He turned back to Kamio, mock-scowling. "And it was extremely sneaky of you to put him there, by the way."

Kamio smirked. "But tricking Hyoutei in Singles 3 is traditional!"

"Oh dear," Ohtori struggled not to laugh. "Don't let Shishido-san hear you say that!"

The group arrived at the courts, and Kamio was startled to realise that nearly half the class had tagged along with them. *I hope they're not gonna follow me everywhere.*

"I'll go check up round the back by the practice walls, he might be warming up there," Ohtori offered. "Why don't you check the changing rooms?"

Kamio cast a quick look at his classmates, but they seemed happy to chat to each other. *Phew.* "Yeah, okay."

Separating from the group, he wandered over to the (ridiculously-large) clubhouse/changing rooms and pushed the doors open.

"'Scuse me," he started, "But I'm looking for..."

The group of boys clustered in the centre of the room paid him no attention, save for one who glanced at him, noted the badge which denoted his status as a first year, and snapped, "Out!"

Kamio's eyes narrowed as the boys continued shoving and pushing amongst each other, ignoring him completely.

"Hey, where I come from we have these things called manners, you asshole," he said, striding towards the group. "Usually they start with introductions. My name is... Hiyoshi?"

The group were not pushing and shoving amongst themselves, he suddenly realised. They had formed a circle around the other first year and were taking turns throwing him across it violently, cuffing and kicking at him as he went past.

"Hey, HEY! Cut that out!"

"Get lost, nobody," one of the boys, all third-years, Kamio realised. "We're taking care of an unwanted pest. Go outside and guard the door - tell everybody to wait until their superiors are done. Or else."

A particularly violent push sent Hiyoshi to his knees, and before he could stand up again, another boy had grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. "Do you really think you could show your face here again, you failure?"

Hiyoshi snarled at him. "Gekokujyou..." he panted. He was already sporting several visible bruises, and his uniform was messy and torn, indicating that this had been going on for a while now.

"I'll show you an uprising..." the boy drew his fist back, intending to drive it into Hiyoshi's face.

Kamio slammed through the circle and crash-tackled him to the ground, punching him twice as they fell. Satisfied from the moaning sounds that his foe was sufficiently incapacitated, he twisted to his feet like a cat, stomping firmly on the boy's stomach as he did so. No point in being careless, after all.

Hiyoshi gaped at him. "Fudoumine's Kamio Akira??? What are YOU doing here!"

"I go here, idiot!" Kamio pointed angrily at the school badge on his blazer. "You think I'd wear this stupid uniform if I didn't have to?" He put up his fists and glared at the boys surrounding them. "Okay you fucking cowards, bring it on!"

"Who asked YOU to get involved?!" Hiyoshi snarled, struggling to his feet. "I don't need your help! And what do you mean you go here?!!"

"GET THEM BOTH!!"

"Argue with me about it later!" Kamio yelled. "Watch out behind you!"

The circle closed in on them with a roar, and Kamio fought savagely. The other boys were all older and bigger than he was, but it wasn't the first time he'd been in this situation, and he was damned if he was going to let sempai stomp all over him again.

Hiyoshi and Kamio fought furiously in the melee. Kamio caught glimpses of the other boy's technique out of the corners of his eyes and thought he recognised some of the moves from the tennis matches they'd played together. Hiyoshi was trained, smooth, and disciplined, like a samurai out of the past. He flowed through the battle, chopping with the edge of his hand, grabbing and throwing and kicking out to knock his opponents off their feet.

Kamio stomped on one guy's toes, elbowed the guys closing in on his other side, spat in the eyes of the person in front of him and then took advantage of their momentary blindness to kick them backwards into another group. Someone grabbed his arm and he turned around and kicked out, but they didn't let go. So he lunged in and bit them instead.

"AHHH!!!! GET THIS CRAZY KID OFF MEEEEE!!!"

Kamio let go, breathed in deeply, and launched himself at another boy, feeling a savage grin paint itself across his face.

"Tell me to get out will you?" he panted, remembering every single slight ever delivered to him by those who considered themselves his "superiors". "Not fucking good enough for your precious school, am I? Well FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!!! YOU GET OUT, YOU USELESS FUCKERS!! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUTGETOUTGETOUT!!!"

Kamio drew a deep breath, and screamed directly into the ear of the boy he was fighting.

"GET OUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTT!!!"

Deafened, the boy let out a wail and scrambled to get loose.

All around him, the third-years broke and ran. Howling like a banshee, Kamio chased them as they went, screaming at them with all of his pent-up frustration, anger and nerves.

"THINK YOU FUCKING OWN THE WORLD!!! WELL NOW I OWN YOU. SO GET OUT!!! OUT! OUT! OUT! OUT!" Kamio paused in the doorway, his voice cracking and beginning to fade into hoarseness. Adrenalin still burned in him though, and he glared at the third-years, who had now re-grouped a little way away, and were eyeing him nervously. He was dimly aware of other groups of people watching, but he didn't take his gaze off his enemies. "In other words," he coughed and swallowed hard, feeling his throat and lungs burn. "FUCK OFF!!!"

The third-years glanced among each other and seemed to regain a little bit of their spine. One of them opened his mouth.

"You heard him. You're not wanted here."

The voice was arrogant, cold, and sexy as hell, but it wasn't the one Kamio wanted to hear.

"Oshitari!" The third-year spokesman stared at the other boy with hatred. "Stay out of this!"

"No," Oshitari Yuushi smiled at him coldly. "I don't believe I will, Takase-sempai."

Kamio was oddly impressed. He hadn't thought anyone outside of his old team had been able to say "sempai" in such a way as to make it sound exactly like "bastard".

"Kamio-kun," Oshitari's eyes flickered towards him. "You made good time. I honestly hadn't expected you to get down here so quickly. I was under the impression you'd still be looking for Hiyoshi-kun."

There was a flurry of in-drawn breaths from the third-years, and Oshitari's eyes narrowed. "Ah. Now I understand. And where exactly IS the dear boy?"

"MOVE, Fudoumine," Hiyoshi's voice snarled from behind Kamio.

Kamio looked over his shoulder and then ducked out of the way as Hiyoshi physically threw the tall third-year who'd been knocked down at the beginning of the fight out of the clubhouse. He then joined his fellow first-year in glaring at their former opponents.

"Oshitari, you can't let them get away with this!" One of the boys was arguing. "They're FIRST YEARS for crying out loud! Do you want to undermine the social structure of the whole school?!"

"Only if I think it would be entertaining enough to justify the effort involved," Oshitari smirked. "But I don't think they're undermining it by throwing you lot off the tennis team. That's not defying authority, that's simply, ah..."

"Taking care of unwanted pests," Kamio spat.

"Precisely." Oshitari gave him a pleased smile. "Well-said." He turned his attention back to the seniors. "Now, I think you should all leave." His glasses glinted menacingly as he adjusted them.

"I'd do it if I were you," Gakuto said, wandering across the courts to stand beside Oshitari. "You're starting to irritate him, and he's vicious when he gets cranky."

"And so are we," Shishido added, striding towards the group with Taki in perfect step next to him and Jirou bouncing along behind them both.

"Are these losers still here?" Taki yawned. "Take a hint and get lost already."

"Yeah! Go away!" Jirou waved a fist in a not-particularly threatening manner. "You suck!"

The third-years looked concerned, but Takase stood firm. "You can't do this!"

"Oh yeah? Bet you we can," Gakuto shot back.

"Who's going to stop us?" Taki laughed.

"Certainly not the coach," Oshitari listed potential threats on his long, elegant fingers. "Nor the principal or any of the teachers."

"And the other third years won't help you either," Jirou pointed out. "You guys lost face big-time! They're not even gonna TALK to you after this!"

"So, as Kamio put it so nicely, fuck off!" Shishido said menacingly. "Walking or crawling, it's all up to you."

"Yeah! And don't come back!"

"If we catch you losers hanging around here again, there'll be hell to pay!"

Accompanied by jeers and catcalls from Gakuto and Taki, the third years finally turned and fled the tennis courts. As they vanished around the corner, spontaneous cheering broke out all around.

Blinking, Kamio leaned against the side of the clubhouse and watched as Nakajima jumped up and down, waving her arms and yanking on Ishihara's arm as she shouted after the defeated seniors. Ishihara was cheering loudly and grinning at Kamio, while beside him Ohtori was applauding politely, a wide grin on his face and his eyes fixed on Shishido in look of fondness and possessive pride. Behind him, Kabaji was gently restraining Shinji from going after the third-years (and hang on, hadn't Atobe said Kabaji was quitting tennis this year?), while a gaggle of girls (and some boys) clustered around him attempting to be reassuring.

Had the whole world turned upside down?

A hand fell on his shoulder, and he turned to see a familiar face.

"What did you think you were doing?" Hiyoshi spat in fury. "I told you not to interfere! There was no need, I would have been fine! I can take whatever they dish out!"

"Don't interfere?" Kamio repeated incredulously as the courts fell silent around them and everybody turned to watch them. "Don't INTERFERE???!!! What kind of moron ARE you?"

"There's a way we do things here!"

"Well your way sucks!" Kamio shouted back. "What the hell are you thinking? What happened to gekokujyou?"

Hiyoshi blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

Kamio glared at him. "You say that you want to rise up and defeat all those above you, but instead you're getting all side-tracked! No way were THOSE losers worthy of being considered serious competition! If you'd let yourself get injured by them, how would you have ever proved that you're better by defeating your TRUE opponents?"

Hiyoshi stared at him for a long moment, and then grabbed Kamio's hands in both of his own. Kamio blinked in confusion, and then found himself caught by the fire burning in Hiyoshi's eyes.

"I understand," Hiyoshi's face was a study in intensity. "I never thought I would meet another person here who I could truly call worthy. I admit it, I dismissed you before this because you were dating Atobe. Kamio Akira, from this moment on, we are rivals!"

"... What?"

"WHAT??!!!" The silence of the courts was broken as Nakajima shrieked.

"AKIRA-KUN IS THE ONE ATOBE-SEMPAI IS DATING???!!!"

"Oh fuuuuckk..." Kamio moaned.

"I don't believe it," Ishihara said into the stunned silence following Nakajima's shout. "Kamio-kun, YOU'RE Atobe-sempai's secret snugglebunny? The love of his life, the light of his days, the King's most precious of jewels??!!"

Kamio's jaw fell open in horror at this list of titles and he shot an appalled look at Shishido, who shrugged and mouthed "Gakuto" at him.

"Oh wow, I just can't get over this," Ishihara was still staring at him in open admiration. "This is so amazing, Atobe-sempai's boyfriend is IN MY CLASS!"

"No wonder you were being so mysterious!" Nakajima said, clasping her hands together. "You transferred here to be together! United eternally in bonds of honour and love! It's the great romance of the century!!"

Judging by the nauseated expression on Shinji's face, Kamio suspected that while one romance may be out in the open, another one had ended without ever getting off the ground.

Hiyoshi snorted and let his hands fall. "Don't pay any attention to Nakajima-san," he muttered to Kamio. "She's always like that."

"So I'm told," Kamio said weakly, as the noise level rose and everyone stared at him. "I take it you've encountered her before?"

"He went on a date with her once," Oshitari said, walking over and inspecting the pair of them closely. "No one's sure how she managed it, or why, but I'm told it's difficult to say no to her. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. She sees whoever she wants now, but everyone knows the engagement between her and Ishihara-kun is iron-clad."

"Ishihara and Nakajima?" Kamio felt disconnected from reality as Oshitari tutted over him and tried to straighten his clothes.

"You didn't know? You've never heard of Nakajima Cosmetics?" Oshitari's eyes gleamed with amusement. "I suppose all you've heard of Ishihara is his distant relationship to Shishido too? Really Ohtori-kun," he shot the younger boy a look as he ran over to them. "It's not nice to keep secrets."

"I thought he might get nervous if he knew," Ohtori said, looking apologetic. "And they really do like him."

"Of course they do," Jirou said, beginning to look sleepy again. "Kamio-kun's a nice person. And who really cares that Nakajima-san's family is the second-richest out of all the first-years, or that Ishihara-kun is personally related to the Imperial Family?"

Kamio choked.

"Why are they all making so much noise?" Hiyoshi grumbled, as the audience continued to squeal about Kamio and Atobe, growing in volume with each new participant. "None of this is important. I'm going to get changed. Kamio-kun, I would appreciate it if you would be my warm-up partner at practice today."

Kamio managed a nod, although it was more of a convulsive jerk.

"Excellent." Hiyoshi spun on his heel and marched inside the changing rooms.

"Hmm..." Oshitari watched him go. "Did anybody remember to tell him that it was supposed to be a secret relationship?"

"I thought you did it."

"Oh dear."

"I want to go home," Kamio whispered.

"What on earth is going on here?"

Silence fell again and Kamio felt his eyes start to water. Slowly, he turned to see the one person who'd been weighing on his thoughts all day, but whose presence had been strangely absent.

He hadn't realised until right now just how much he'd missed it.

"Atobe..." he whispered.

Atobe gave him a very brief glance.

"And you are?"

Kamio went pale and swayed, biting his lip. *I will not faint. Boys don't faint. I am not a goddamned weakling. I just took on a bunch of seniors and won. This was my stupid idea. I wanted things this way. I. Will. Not. Faint!*

Warm arms engulfed him. "Oh for pity's sake, don't LOOK at me like that," Atobe begged, clutching him tightly. "I can't stand it! I'm sorry, I tried to stay away and keep up the pretense, but if you're going to INSIST on looking like a hurt kitten then I simply cannot..."

"It's alright," Kamio sobbed out a breath. "Everybody knows anyway."

"Oh thank goodness," Atobe sighed into his hair and hugged him closer. "Who slipped up?"

Kamio sobbed again, just barely keeping back tears. "Me. I did. It was a stupid idea. It was just... stupid. M'sorry."

"There, there..." Atobe patted his back gently. "It wasn't stupid. It was brave and admirable and honourable. Which more or less equates to being stupid, actually, but never mind."

Kamio laughed briefly. "I wanted to see you," he whispered.

Atobe's arms tightened around him.

A few seconds later, the couple disengaged, and Atobe examined his boyfriend closely. "You look terrible. What happened? Who hit you?"

"Takase and company," Oshitari spoke up. "Apparently they had issues with Hiyoshi-kun being kept on in the tennis club after losing the National semi-finals last year, while they were removed for being defeated by you just this morning. However it turned out that our first-years were more than capable, and routed the lot of them."

"Oshitari-sempai and Shishido-sempai and everyone helped," Kamio added hastily, shooting a grateful glance around. "They showed up just in time."

"Oh did they?" Atobe's voice was very quiet.

Several things clicked in Kamio's head. "You... you CHEATED!" He said incredulously, pointing a finger at Atobe. "YOU'RE the reason I kept bumping into all the others! You've been having them keep an eye on me!!!"

"Actually, in this case you're incorrect. Oh, I admit that I did try to set things up that way, but they all refused when I made my request," Atobe replied, still gazing at his year-mates evenly.

"Then why did I keep seeing everybody?" Kamio demanded suspiciously.

Atobe's eyes narrowed. "I would also like to know that."

Oshitari smirked. "Atobe, we only said we wouldn't check up on him for you. We never said we wouldn't check in on him for ourselves."

Jirou nodded. "We were going to do it anyway. We like Kamio-kun."

"He's the only thing that makes you bearable some days," Shishido said with a wry grin.

Atobe glared at his so-called friends, who were all nodding in agreement. Kamio tried not to laugh.

"Thank you all very much," he said frostily. "I assure you all that I'll do my very best to think of a suitable way to repay your kindness."

There were scattered groans and a few snickers at this.

"In the meantime," Atobe raised his voice. "Would everyone who is not a member of the tennis team please leave, and the rest of you get to practice!"

"Yes, Atobe-buchou!" The entire crowd chorused loudly, before laughing and beginning to move.

"Captain? You really got to be Captain? In second year? I know we talked about it, but I thought you were just kidding," Kamio said in confusion.

Atobe coughed. "Well, it was almost certainly going to happen anyway..."

"But they didn't really have any alternatives left after he beat half the third-year Regulars before school this morning, and the other half - who included Takase by the way - at lunch time," Oshitari drawled.

Kamio looked at Atobe and raised an eyebrow.

Atobe looked a little embarrassed. "I had a lot of frustration to work off."

Kamio grinned.

Behind them both, Hiyoshi emerged from the clubhouse and stared at him meaningfully. "Come along Kamio-kun, we've got practicing to do!"

"Er, sure!" Kamio gave Atobe one last smile and dashed off. "Be right there!"

"So, since you lot have all been keeping an eye on Kamio-kun of your own free will, why don't you explain to me exactly what all this mess was about?" He heard Atobe asking as he left. "In detail please. Leaving nothing out."

Kamio winced.

**

Epilogue

Later that evening, Atobe was still laughing.

"R-rivals..."

"Oh shut up," Kamio fumed. "How was I supposed to know he'd react that way? I thought he wanted to beat YOU more than anything!"

"Ahaha… ahahahaha..." Atobe continued to chortle. "He does, but I guess he's decided to go through you first." He wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "But you'll protect me from him now, won't you, Akira?"

"Screw you! Defeat him yourself!"

"Already have," Atobe replied smugly. "Many times. And... did you REALLY not pick up on Nakajima's family?"

"I ASKED her if it was like the make-up, and she thought it was FUNNY!" Kamio yelled.

"Oh, but it IS!" Atobe responded, and burst out laughing again. "Everyone thought you were SO clever."

"Shut up."

"And so cute."

"I said, shut up!!"

"You know they've already formed a fan club for you. You're the most popular first year at Hyoutei High."

"AAAAHHHHH!!! SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY!!!" Kamio shouted, clutching his head. "How can this be happening to me?" He wailed. "I'm a class traitor. I'm a sell-out! I RECOGNISED UNFASHIONABLE WATER!!!" He pointed a finger angrily at Atobe. "And it's all YOUR FAULT!"

Atobe clutched at his stomach, nearly convulsing in laughter. "P-poor baby... never mind... I p-promise I'll take responsibility for making you so irresistible," he choked out in-between laughs.

Kamio regarded his howling boyfriend in annoyance, and then smirked as a thought hit him.

"You know," he said sweetly. "I wouldn't laugh about it so much if I was you." Kamio bared his teeth at Atobe.

"After all, at the rate I'm going, I'll soon be even more popular than YOU are!"

Atobe snapped abruptly upright and glared at him.

"That's NOT funny!"

End

**

Author's Notes:

Ugh... This, my friends, was the Prince and the Pauper story that WOULD NOT END. It is the largest chapter in the series so far, being several pages longer than the previous champion, Meet the Family. Clearly the Hyoutei bunch are a bad influence on me.

As I stated at the beginning, it was originally written just so that I could have Kamio and Hiyoshi properly meet, as I am actually very fond of the dear boy. In fact, the scene at the end where Hiyoshi proclaims Kamio his rival was the first complete scene written. But then somehow it just kept... growing.

Partly that was because I wanted to show Kamio's whole day, and have various different people interacting with him. And partly it was because I couldn't resist throwing in several series in-jokes, like the water and the bubble tea.

And a certain part of it was also due to Ishihara and Nakajima, AKA the original characters who ran off with large sections of the story, and I'm still not entirely sure how that happened. Ishihara was added in to provide the lines and reactions that Ohtori either wouldn't say (because he's a nice boy) or wouldn't have (because he already knows about Kamio and Atobe), and to generally provide additional comic relief. Nakajima's sole purpose originally was to be impressed by Shinji (thus ensuring Kamio's continued growth in popularity by being best friends with one of the prettiest boys in the school), but the next thing I knew she was bullying her way into the rest of it with cheerful abandon and melodramatic pronouncements. She's basically the Hyoutei equivalent of Tachibana Ann (a fact I wound up acknowledging in the story. Ha, Kamio cannot escape strong-minded girls who walk all over him).

I think that's about all I have to say about this one, other than I hope you all enjoyed it.

Oh, except that this time, I actually made up the brand of water (3X), rather than picking something already in existence. Didn't want to slander anyone. :-)

As always, comments and criticism are welcome.


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