Prologue

It was not true. It had to be a lie. It had to be another stupid publicity stunt pulled to draw more fans. Raito swallowed deeply, frozen in his place besides the 50-inch plasma screen TV. His fist began to tighten in anger as his brain refused to process the blatant truth before his very eyes. Instead, the young, popular music icon began to conjure up excuses for what the channel 8 news was reporting. Tears streamed down his pale cheek.

Momoshirou, whom more familiarly known as just Momo, had just returned home from the street courts. He had decided to go find some friend to play some good old tennis with, seeing, as his usual best bud was no longer around anymore. To say he missed the brat was just the surface of it, in truth, what he really felt was loneliness. Honestly, he could not even understand how he had gone about living before he met the kid. Now he had to accept the lack of presence whenever he played tennis or went out to eat burgers. 'Little miser.' Momo suddenly thought bittersweet as he recalled all the times the Fila, cap-wearing boy would mooch off him for food. Yes, certainly he would never meet another arrogant, cocky, brat like Echizen.

The moment Momo entered his home he could tell something was not right. It was quiet—too quiet when he had his little siblings who were always running around the house like miniature devils. He removed his shoes before declaring that he was home. His voice only echoed throughout the house as if it were a hollow cave. Confused, he walked into the living room. He spots his parents and little devils siblings, huddled together with stunned expressions and eyes pasted to the screen of a medium sized TV. He called out to them, but in vain. Whatever it was that held their attention on the screen shocked them. Without another thought, he turned his own attention to screen of the television finally to see what caused them to be like that. His entire body went numb one his brain noticed what the news was saying.

It took both parents to restrain and try to keep calm their thrashing son from destroying the place. His younger siblings were chased from the room by the scene and ran up stairs.

Oishi and his doubles partner had decided earlier to have a movie night at his place. They even decided it would be fun to invite Taka since he did not really have any one to hang out with these days. Taka had quit the tennis team just as he had planned. These days he focused entirely on making sushi. That is why he felt happy about meeting with his pals since they did not get to do so as often like in the past.

Oishi had taken to cooking while Kikumaru and Taka was in the other room preparing a movie. After they had everything set up, Kikumaru decided to go see his lover in the kitchen. Taka, with a sense of knowing, remained seated and switched the TV to the news until it was time to watch the movie.

"Hoi, what'cha doing?" Kikumaru chuckled over his boyfriend's shoulders. Usually, most people would prepare popcorn for nights such as these, but Kikumaru knew that Oishi just wanted to impress him with his culinary skills. That is why he decided to make some hand-made pizza, instead of ordering one like normal. He could clearly see his boyfriend slicing up some vegetables for toppings, but being Kikumaru, he felt the need to ask anyways.

Oishi blushed a bit at the contact, and then smiled. "It's pizza toppings. I know you'll lo-"

Kikumaru began to nibble on his ear while adding a bit of a seductive purr until his azure eyes began to lower with lust. "Ne, Oishi, I know what would taste even bet-"

"K-Kikumaru!" Oishi exclaimed as a red hue began to creep deeply across his face. "We can't! We have a guest." Oishi chastised.

"But-" Kikumaru began to whine with his usual adorable pout but was cut off when a shrill cry erupted from the living room.

"TAKA!" Both boys cried in unisons. Normally Taka yelling would have been normal if he had been holding a racket, but considering the amount of time that passed since he quit the tennis club, and the fact that they were in Oishi's house, that would be near impossible. In a fit of worry both boys ran into the living room to find Taka with his eyes full to the brim in tears and rapidly shaking the TV set.

"W-What's wrong?" Kikumaru said trying to calm the boy down, gesticulating soothingly.

Taka would not speak. It was the first time either Oishi or Kikumaru had seen the once power player look so damn distraught. After finally succeeding to pry Taka from the TV, both players tried to see what might have alarmed the boy. Their faces paled ghostly white as they absorbed the information flashing across the screen. Both their hearts burned like a dagger impaled them. Hot tears ran down Oishi's cheeks and he heard nothing, although Kikumaru had now joined Taka in loud anguished wails.

Sanada rarely watched anything other than the news and tennis, and maybe a little martial art shows. However, tonight he would not be watching anything on the television. He was exhausted from practice and needed a good bath and some rest. As he made his way upstairs, the phone downstairs began to ring. With a sigh, he turned towards the noisy device. He was in no mood to converse with anyone now. Of course, this was one of the many reasons people thought he was boring, except maybe two. It was because he did not enjoy sitting around and just talking to people about random things. The first person who did not regard him as tedious would be Yukimura, his best friend. The second person was a certain chibi that attended Seishun Gakuen. The two of them fell into the category of the few he felt strongly for, both for two opposite reasons.

"Genchirou," said a soft voice.

Sanada, already recognizing it, answered.

"What is it Yukimura?" He sounded grumpy and tired, which was exactly how he was feeling.

"Turn on your TV to channel 8, watch the news, I'll be there soon, don't do anything stupid." Then Yukimura hung up. There was no explanation—nothing. What did he expect? This was Yukimura after all.

Well, as it appeared Sanada would be watching the news tonight. He sat in his chair and reluctantly turned on the TV, completely oblivious to the shock that awaited him.

Atobe could not believe it. He would not believe it! He had received several shocking phone calls already, but he had to know for himself. He turned on the news where they had been repeating the story for the last hour.

"HOW THE FUCK DID THIS HAPPEN?" he exclaimed slamming down his remote. He sucked back the impending tears from his eyes, although he knew they would come. It was just another lost to him because he was not the type to cry so easily. Why did this happen? Did the world really hate him this much? What had he done to deserve this? He was, after all, an Atobe! Atobe's never lose! They always get what they want, right? Then why was did this happen?

Atobe viciously wiped the escaping tears from his face then stormed out the room. He would find whoever was responsible. He would find them and make then pay!

It did not matter the cost.

Fuji had seen the news earlier. It made him imagine the faces of all who saw it. The shock and hurt caught him off guard. He did not think it would feel this painful for him. Yet in spite of the agony, somehow, he could not bring himself to cry. Maybe it was due to his poor unrequited love. How wrong of him. It was so wrong. He should not feel this way at all. At least, if he cried, he could consider himself human. A small mirthless chuckle escaped his lips. Maybe this was fate. Certainly, if anyone asked, he thought it well deserved. It was not as if that person was still the same anyways, just a shallow construction of his past self. It was such a bittersweet feeling. The tensai, who had been sitting in his room alone, after watching the news, was now starring out the window into the cool night.

"Saa, I wonder, how are you taking this Tezuka?" Fuji asked softly to himself as he silently willed his tears to come.

There, on the TV, broadcasting for the entire world to see was a cold, lifeless, body lying in a pool of dark crimson. Tangled limbs rested beside the foot of a large luxurious bed. There was broken glass on the body and floor, creating a terrible mess. It was quite clear the scene was the result of a lot of aggression. The lifeless body had pale skin, with emerald-tinted ebony hair hanging concealing the face. Odd black rosé petals festooned the body. Pieces floated in the pool of blood like cherry blossoms on a pond in spring.

Dead, the person was dead.

"Tonight, the nation is in morning for its beloved icon, Shotori Sono, who had a quick rise and fall from stardom." A blond reporter woman says on the news. A few clips from the scene. She then continued on to give brief details into the case.

"Shotori Sono was found dead earlier this evening."

Echizen Ryoma was dead.

Okay, Hello everyone. I know its been a while, and I am deeply sorry for the long ass hiatus I put this story on. The truth is, I was working on next chapter while dealing with finals. And during that time, I was not focusing much on this story. Unfortunately, due to that I was not paying attention to the life of the chapter that I had writing, and so I ended losing the doc. Ofc I was too stupid to save it else where and so, I kind of ended up losing some interest and not wanting to rewrite everything. Sorry about that. Anyway, I am currently in the process of rereading and editing these chapters. Summer is coming up, once again, and this time I hope to at least get that next chapter done. If your still interested in this story I will try my best to get this done.