Summary: The Seigaku regulars never believed in fairy tales but what happens when they find out the truth about Ryoma. This is a story about how magic and demons infiltrate our human world and force a group of friends to choose what's really important to them and what's important for the world.

Warning: There will be some bad language, violence and innuendo. Possibly slight Yaoi, definite Shounen-ai but no smut. Don't actually have a plot set out yet, I just plan to go with the flow.

A/N: Okay, so this is my first Fanfic, please bear with me if it's not very good or if there are mistakes, gomen in advance, I'm still learning. If you don't understand anything please feel free to ask and I will try to answer by the time the next chapter's up. Umm... I know the first chapter is a little confusing but everything will be explained in later chapters (I hope!) so if you get lost, tell me so I can fix any mixups next time.

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own the rights to Prince of Tennis and I am not making money from this story.

That's about it so time to say enjoy the story!

The Real Prince

Chapter One

Echizen Ryoma was a very difficult person to wake up, this Karupin knew well. Today, however, Ryoma proved to be more stubborn than usual and Karupin was forced to dig out the pampered and hardly-ever-used claws to wake the young boy.

"Gah! Karupin... What the Hell?!"

Although his master shouted at him, Karupin could only purr happily, knowing that his job was done, that his master would never hit him and that as soon as Ryoma was gone he would have the whole bed to himself. Bliss.

For Ryoma the morning only meant getting ready for school and as winter was fast approaching it meant that soon there wouldn't even be any tennis for him to look forward to, the only thing in his opinion that made school worth going to.

He went for a quick shower and then back to his bedroom to put on his uniform. He looked in the mirror and felt a sudden tingle down his spine, a shivering premonition of what was to come. Finished dressing he collected his tennis gear and started to go downstairs when he remembered that Momo-senpai couldn't pick him up today. Looking at the clock in the hall he groaned realising he was going to be very late to the early morning practice session.

Walking through the kitchen he ignored the western-style breakfast, grabbing only a piece of toast which he popped into his mouth and made his way to the front entrance to put his shoes on. Standing up to open the door, Ryoma was stopped by the gruff voice of his father calling out to him.

"Yo, boy... be careful today, alright?"

"Che, why so worried now baka Oyaji? You don't normally care!" Ryoma replied opening the door but pausing again at the uncharacteristic seriousness on his usually perverted father's face.

"I'm serious Ryoma! It's almost time for-"

"Aa, I know. I'll be careful." Ryoma cut in smiling sadly while exiting the house to stop the conversation going any further.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

On the way to school, Ryoma kept seeing dark shapes flit in and out of his peripheral vision and hearing the lightest crunches of someone or something sneaking across the leaf-strewn ground. Ryoma creased his brow in frustration and growled inwardly as more and more dark shapes fluttered around his walk to Seigaku. What the hell? It's too early for this to happen! What's going on?

It didn't get much better when he actually arrived at school. For one, he was given 30 laps to run by Tezuka-buchou for being late to practice and while running a shiver ran along his back as he sensed more than one set of eyes watching him. All through his lessons, whenever he looked out the window something always shifted in the trees and he heard invisible laughter. Ryoma was starting to become uneasy with the realization that he was being followed, no, scratch that, he was being stalked. But you know how you think something can't get any worse but then it inevitably does? Well, that happened while Ryoma and the rest of the tennis team were in afternoon practice.

As the tennis prodigy stepped out on the court to play Momo-senpai he couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be a lot more 'fans' surrounding the playing area. Echizen's eyes widened as he came eye-to-eye with one of the newcomers and recognised the pointy-eared red-head for what he really was. None of the other club members seemed to notice the boy who was staring avidly at a very worried Ryoma.

"Oi, Ryoma! Pay attention or you'll get hurt!"

"Huh?" Momo's loud voice had pulled the younger boy out of the staring contest and made him remember that he was supposed to have a practice match against the dunk-smash specialist.

"Sorry Senpai. Give it all you've got and you still won't beat me!" Echizen yelled back cheekily, sending a fake smirk to his opponent. He could still feel the strange boy staring at him.

"Cheeky bugger! I'll beat you for sure this time!" Momo shouted, a tick plaguing his forehead.

10 minutes later and Ryoma had won the game 6-3. Putting his treasured tennis racket in his bag, Ryoma groaned quietly, still feeling a set of eyes on his back. Turning around, the prodigy wasn't exactly surprised to see the red-head standing in the same place as though he hadn't moved throughout practice staring at him. Again, no-one seemed to see the pointy-eared boy, or so Ryoma thought...

"Oi Ryoma. Do you know that guy?" Momo-senpai's loud voice said from right behind the boy's left ear, scaring him half to death.

"Eh... You can see him?" Ryoma asked eyes wide in surprise.

"Saa... We all see him. How could we not when he's been goggling at our precious kouhai the whole of practice." Fuji replied, appearing from nowhere on the prodigy's right.

"Nya, could he be ochibi's boyfriend?" Eiji squealed 'glomping' Ryoma in the process.

"Eiji...senpai...oxygen... becoming... an issue!" Echizen gasped out turning blue. (A/N whoot for the buffy quote :P)

"Eiji! Let go, you're choking him!" Oishi cried, coming to Ryoma's rescue, as expected of the club's mother hen.

"Well, is he your boyfriend?" Momo asked again when Oishi had finally managed to drag Eiji-senpai away from the coughing boy.

"Fsssshhhh"

"Ii data."

"SHUT IT!" Ryoma yelled, flustered by the sudden interest in his so-called 'love life'. "No, he's not my boyfriend. I don't have a boyfriend. I've never even seen him before."

In fact, how can the regulars see him? He's obviously isn't in a human form because the other members can't see him so how is this even possible?

"Saa...Does that mean that we still have a chance, Ryo-chan?" Fuji asked, beautiful cerulean eyes actually open as a delighted look shined across his almost feminine face.

"Wha..." Echizen looked astounded at his senpai-tachi. All of them had the same look on their face as Fuji standing in front of him. Even Tezuka-buchou, who hadn't looked interested in the conversation, seemed to be relieved by Ryoma's denial of a relationship.

What the heck is going on? First I'm being followed, then that guy who is still staring at me and now this? I'm really not in the mood for all of my senpai-tachi to tease me like this! Even for buchou to go this far.... Did they really expect me to fall for such a ludicrous trick?

Blushing deeply and furrowing his brow, Ryoma opened his mouth to shout at his teammates when the wrinkled hand of Ryuuzaki-sensei squeezed his left shoulder.

"Practice has now ended, why are all of you not getting changed?"

"Nya, we're just talking to ochibi ab-"

"You should know better than to tease another teammate. Now go and get changed before..." Ryuuzaki-sensei stopped mid-sentence when she caught sight of the same boy who'd stared at Ryoma throughout practice. Her eyes twitched and a black aura started to ooze from her person as she too recognised the kid for what he truly was.

"Sensei?" Tezuka asked, the first thing he'd said since the end of training.

"Minna go change, Ryoma-kun, please come with me. " The coach ordered, still glaring daggers at the boy near the gate.

Ryoma noticed the pressure on his shoulder increase slightly as the old woman twiddled the fingers on her left hand in circles. He knew he wasn't the only one to see the movement, Tezuka and Fuji's sharp eyes narrowed (A/N even more?!) as they caught the gesture. Unlike him, they didn't know the reason behind the movement or the fact that Ryuuzaki-sensei was silently chanting spell words at the same time. Jutting her fingers forward to release the power that she had built up the boy ran off, quick as a flash, as though he was on fire.

"Hai Sensei." Ryoma said smirking.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

After watching Ryuuzaki-sensei walk Echizen away, Tezuka made sure that the old woman's order was carried out by threatening the team with laps. Changing into his school uniform the tennis captain wondered why the coach had waved her hand in concentric circles and then walked Ryoma towards her office.

"Saa... Tezuka, why do you think Ryuuzaki-sensei wanted to speak with Ryo-chan?"

The taller boy turned to face the brunette about to answer when he realized he couldn't. He didn't know why Ryuuzaki-sensei would want to talk to only one person on the team and in private at that. Fuji seemed to know that his captain couldn't give him an answer because he just smiled innocently and went back to changing.

I'll go talk to her and see what she wanted with our Ryoma. I'll also ask her about her hand movement.... Wait! OurRyoma? When did it become our Ryoma? Hell, when did it become Ryoma?

Forcibly shutting his locker door and leaving the nearly empty changing rooms, Tezuka didn't see the tensai's evil grin which said he had managed to manipulate the captain exactly as planned. Humming lightly to himself, Fuji Syuusuke followed his buchou out of the room and towards the tennis coach's office.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Weaving through the silent and empty corridors, the buchou and tensai stopped at the raised voices echoing from one of the rooms nearby. Recognising the heated voices as those of the two people they were looking for the two stood still listening closely to a conversation they soon realised they shouldn't have heard.

"...didn't do anything to grab their attention!" The prodigy shot back venomously.

"Well you must have done something! Why else would they send scouts here?" Ryuuzaki-sensei nearly screamed, just as deadly as her student.

"I thought you and Oyaji set this place up so that even if I did do anything they wouldn't, couldn't find me here!"

Tezuka and Fuji looked at each other, startled, thinking the same thing. What's going on? When did Ryoma learn how to hiss? And why is sensei allowing him to talk to her like that?

"I was assured that the only time I could be gotten to was on the way to and from Seigaku! If I'd have known otherwise I would've insisted on home schooling!" Ryoma continued, using words that unknowingly cut his senpai's hearts to ribbons.

"Don't say things you don't mean! Your father and I told you the risks and about how the shield around the school wasn't foolproof. You agreed to come here because of tennis, not because of the safety net that was provided for you." Ryuuzaki-sensei seemed to have calmed down slightly and at her words so did Ryoma.

"Of course I didn't mean it. It's just... I just don't know what to do." Tezuka and Fuji were shocked and pained when they heard Ryoma speak. They could very clearly hear the tears and fear in his voice.

"I love being at Seigaku. I... I love playing tennis here. I-I even l-l-love my senpai-tachi. Everything here i-is so imp-portant to me and I can't bear to l-lose it. Why d-do I have t-to g-go?"

"Oh, Prince, come here." The two in the hallway heard the old woman choking back her own tears as she took their kouhai in her arms. Their hearts were breaking listening to the racking sobs of their beloved when their sensei started speaking again.

"I'm sorry, Prince. But you will have to go soon. They may have started the search too early but that doesn't change the fact that it's nearly time. You must take up the mantle as destined. You are our only hope for-"

"Yadda, I'm too young for it, I'm not ready. What will happen if I become one of them? According to your shield, I'm already incapable of controlling it. What if I turn out to be like my predecessor and –" Ryoma was babbling, even his senpai-tachi knew he was babbling and they hadn't a clue what the conversation meant.

"You will not be like him! You are better than him, Prince. Stronger than him. You cannot and will not fail where he did." Ryuuzaki-sensei interrupted. Fuji frowned. That's the third time sensei's called Ryo-chan 'Prince'. She never calls him that during training so why now?

"But you can't be sure!" Ryoma thundered. Suddenly the room was filled with the echoing beep of a phone alarm. "Shit! I'm late... Oh, Kami-sama, it's already getting dark. I have to go Sumire-san."

Ryoma burst from the room just as Tezuka and Fuji managed to slip unnoticed into an empty classroom. Barely a second later the office door slammed open as Ryuuzaki-sensei skidded (A/N yes, actually skidded) in the now empty hallway.

"God damn it, Prince. It's too dangerous for you to go out at night. I better call Nanjiroh." The tennis coach sighed when she didn't see Echizen.

"Saa... Why did you call Ryo-chan 'Prince' sensei?" Ryuuzaki-sensei turned to face the two tennis players who had snuck out of the classroom they'd been hiding in. The old woman gasped wondering how much they had heard.

"More importantly, why is it too dangerous for Ryoma to go out at night, sensei?" The tennis coach saw the worry flash across both boys' faces when Tezuka asked her that question. She sighed.

"It's not for me to tell you the reason. You'll have to ask him." Ryuuzaki Sumire walked back to her office, the boy's followed her. "In regards to your other question... all I can say is that Ryoma isn't just the Prince of tennis."

Inside the office, the old woman picked up the phone barely amused at the astonished and confused look on the faces of Seigaku's top players. Pressing the first speed dial, Ryuuzaki-sensei waited patiently for the other end to pick up.

"Moshi-moshi."

"Nanjiroh, it's me. We have a problem."

"What is it old woman. Has that idiot son done something?" Came the gruff reply from the Samurai.

"He's only just left the school, without a guard or shield spell to protect him."

"Shit, I better go look for him before the darkness comes."

"That's not the only problem we have..." Looking up at the two standing by her desk she sighed. Why hadn't she felt it before? Why did it take Ryoma to be in trouble that she would finally notice?

Ryoma had been right; it wasn't he who had weakened the shield. The whole time, she and Nanjiroh had assumed that there would be only one Magic wielder at the school other than the tennis coach. They never anticipated the existence of a further eight.

Dun Dun Dun...

A/N: whoa not that bad considering by the time I finished writing this I've been up for 27 hours straight 0_o

So, who exactly is Ryoma and why doesn't he want to be like his predecessor? Why is it dangerous at night? Who or what is the pointy-eared stranger? And how come the other regulars have finally revealed their powers?

Please Read and Review, tell me what worked? What didn't work? How to improve? Glaring mistakes? Please let me know so I can write better stories for you to enjoy.

Arigatou,

munchkin-chan