Secrets Kept

I don't own Prince of tennis and you should be glad that i don't b/c it wouldn't be good...

Prologue:

"Echizen seems completely out of it," said Kawamura, as the other regulars watched their freshman having a match against the wall; hitting the centre of the circle on the wall with every shot.

"I agree," said Inui, "His speed has dropped 10, accuracy by 2 and concentration by 50..."

"Echizen!" ordered Tezuka. This caused Ryoma to snap back into the real world and caused him to hit the ball harder than expected. The ball soured into the centre and embedded itself into the brick wall.

"Hai…?"

"10 laps for putting down you're guard," ordered Tezuka. Ryoma didn't say a word as he started his laps; no confirmation that he understood the order or no back talk or complaints.

"Ochibi didn't complain!" exclaimed Eiji.

Ryoma continued to be lost in his own world once again, as he ran his laps, not caring of his surroundings.

"Can you do this for Okaa-san?"

"Hai…"

Ryoma looked up at the sky and murmured, "It's going to be stormy…"

"I need to talk to you… its very important"

"Oyaji… can it wait until after the nationals?"

Like he predicted, the rain came 'unexpectedly'. And the rain came down like buckets.

"Everyone inside!" ordered Tezuka. Ryoma continued to run laps as if everything was normal, as all the regulars ran into the locker room. "Echizen inside now…!"

"I've got one more lap…" said Ryoma as he continued to run.

"Echizen, get inside before you catch a cold!" said Oishi in worry.

"Ochibi is being stubborn again," pouted Eiji.

Moments later Ryoma walked into the club room like any other day and went straight to his locker to get changed.

"Echizen… don't you want a hot shower?" asked Oishi in worry, "You were in the rain for an awfully long time…"

"Iie… I usually take cold showers anyway," said Ryoma, as he wringed his wet clothes in a bucket near by.

"I guess we're stuck here," said Fuji. "I hope the finals aren't like this… don't you agree Echizen?"

There was no answer and they all turned to see Ryoma wrapped in a blanket from who knows where, and he was sitting on the window sill staring out into the storm. His eyes were distant and unreadable.

"I want you to meet someone special, this is Luna…"

"It's only been one week!"

Ryoma's eyes reflected a raging storm; at the same time it was misty and mysterious.

"Let Okaa-san tell you a story of my first love… his name was Takeuchi Ren…"

"Echizen… Echizen…!" Ryoma snapped back into reality as he felt someone shaking his shoulders. He turned to see Oishi shaking him; behind him were the rest of the regulars looking worried.

"Did you need something?" asked Ryoma in a bored tone, this somehow worried the regulars further.

"Are you alright, Echizen?" asked Oishi.

"Why shouldn't I be?" asked Ryoma.

"You seem… distracted," hesitated Oishi.

"I'm fine," insisted Ryoma as he tried to look annoyed. Notice the word 'tried'.

Tezuka looked at him with critical eyes, "Everyone, get some rest…"

"Hai!" answered everyone; Ryoma turned back and watched the storm outside.

"Ochibi get some sleep, Okay?" said Eiji.

"Hai, sempai," answered Ryoma, not moving an inch from the window. They all shared a worried look, but couldn't do anything about it.

The next morning the first to wake up was Fuji; his eyes snapped open to see Ryoma still perched on the window still looking out at the still raining sky.

"Did you not go to sleep, Echizen?" asked Fuji. There was no answer.

"Echizen…! It's bad to stay up all night!" panicked Oishi as he woke up and saw Ryoma.

Ryoma blinked and looked over at the others with a blank look, "Huh…?"

"Echizen… When you go home… go straight to bed," ordered Tezuka. Everyone was surprised, including Tezuka himself, he never thought be would be ordering Ryoma to go to sleep, it would usually be for him to wake up.

"Hai…" said Ryoma in his usual bored tone.

Well thats the prologue... tell me what you think...