A Forgotten Promise

By FP298

Chapter 1 : The Shocking News pt. 1

A/N: Hey guys, this is NOT the next chapter. This is a rewrite of the first chapter because my friend thought I could do better with writing this. So here it is. I am working on the next chapter as you are reading this, but I would like to know whether you want me to continue this chapter or the one I previously published. Thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

After defeating Yukimura Seiichi of Rikkaidai Fuzoku, Echizen Ryoma returned to the United States, to further hone his tennis skills, and to fulfill his father's dream of achieving a Grand Slam. Before his departure, he made a promise. To return in Seishun High and to once again go to the Nationals with their old team. However, the new term has started, and 3 months later, the Prince has yet to make his appearance.

Streets of Tokyo, 7:25 am, Thursday (I'm going to assume classes start at 7:30...)

"I overslept, nya!" A redhead sped through the streets, trying his hardest to convince himself it wasn't his fault he didn't wake up in time. Though, it really was. "Eh?" Third year Kikumaru Eiji spotted a familiar friend. "OISHI!" He pounced and hugged his doubles partner.

"Eiji?!" Oishi Syuuichiroh gasped as he was attacked unexpectedly by his best friend.

"So you're late too, nya?" Eiji said quickly. "Yokatta! Sensei isn't going to kill me! Oishi?" He asked, as he had no reply from his friend. He noticed Oishi was turning blue from a lack of air. "OISHI!" He let go. "SPEAK TO ME, NYA!"

"-Choke-... -gasp-...-choke-.... Eiji..." He began, trying to regain his breath. "...school starts late today... you asked me to meet you here... remember?" When he finished, Oishi took a large gulp of air and fully replenished his air supply.

"Hountou ni, nya?" Eiji put a finger on his chin. "Ah! Now, why did I want to meet Oishi, nya?" Eiji stood rooted to his spot, wondering why on Earth he called Oishi here. "I can't remember, nya!"

Oishi sighed. That was so typical of him. "In any case... Tezuka and the others are already here, so maybe it will come back to you after some practice."

"...nya..." Eiji said absentmindedly, still thinking.

Shaking his head, Oishi grabbed Eiji's wrist and dragged him into the direction of the tennis courts. The sound of balls meeting rackets and bouncing off the floor met their ears. In Court A, Kaidoh and Momo were dueling it out, a match that began from an argument. In Court B, Kawamura and Inui were stretching and swinging, and in Court C, Fuji and Tezuka were playing a warm-up game.

Oishi looked around for their youngest member, before remembering he wasn't here anymore. 'One more year...' He reminded himself. 'Echizen will come back for sure... then we'll go to the Nationals again. For sure.'

Brring!

The bell signaled the end of a typical school day.

Typical, in the Seishun High dictionary meaning 'with disaster, dueling, and assigning laps.'

"Yes!" Leaping out of his seat, Momo hurriedly began shoving his papers and books into his bag, not noticing the stares and snickers that were passing around the classroom.

"Momoshiro." A deep voice appeared behind him.

"Hai, sensei?" Momo answered pleasantly, still packing, not even realizing he identified the person standing behind him. Suddenly, intelligence struck him. "GAH!" Momo instinctively took a step backwards, seeing his sensei breathing down his neck and successfully landed NOT so gracefully on his butt. The class laughed.

"Momoshiro, since you are SO excited about our newest project," The teacher continued sarcastically, as if he hadn't been interrupted by his outburst not two minutes ago, "You can show me another page of research by first bell tomorrow." He answered pleasantly.

"Demo, sensei-" The teacher shot him blank stare. Believe me, although it wasn't as scary as a normal glaring teacher, his blank stare did wonders.

"H-hai."

"NOW you may go, Momoshiro." He turned on his heel and returned to his desk, grading papers.

"Kono ya-"

"Did you say something, Momoshiro?"

"B-betsuni, sensei."

"I thought so." Another bout of sniggering and laughter rippled through the class.

Keeping his head carefully down so as to hide his red face, Momo left the class and proceeded on down to the tennis courts. As the pit-pat of his footsteps sounded in his ears, someone walking behind him fell into step with him, and followed him the rest of the way to the tennis courts.

"Oi, Mamushi." Momo called to the person right on his heels, without turning around. "Stop stalking me, will ya?"

"Fsuuuuuuh... baka, we're in the same club, on the same team. I thought you had enough brains for that, but I apparently... fsuuuuuh... was wrong."

"What was that?!" Momoshiro whipped around and came face to face with his eternal rival, fellow second year and regular. Meet Kaidoh Kaoru.

"You heard me, teme!"

"Why, you-!" Momo clenched his fist and brought it in the general whereabouts of Kaidoh's face.

"Momoshiro. Kaidoh. 20 laps." The cold, deep voice that was familiar to the two juniors startled them as it seemingly came from nowhere.

As usual, their captain, Tezuka, was on time. Momo silently cursed in his head. Momo and Kaidoh fighting + caught by Tezuka = Laps. Many, many laps.

"D-demo, Tezuka-buchou..." Momo weakly tried reasoning with him, although he knew it was hopeless.

"40 laps. Go."

"H-hai!" Without hesitation, hoping to get away from their stoic captain, they dashed off, leaving a puffy cloud ball behind.

"Look what you did now, baka Momoshiri!"

"Urusai!" Continuous arguing could still be heard during their running.

Impassively looking after them, Tezuka rubbed his temples slightly with a finger and opened the door to the locker room.

Five pairs of eyes flickered towards the door as the clack sound noted them of another's arrival in the room. Noticing it was only their captain, they quietly resumed their huddled conversation in the middle of the locker room.

"What, may I ask, are you all doing? We have practice."

"A-ah... gomen, Tezuka. We were discussing something of... importance."

"The district tournament is next week. You should be preparing. What is so vital that you require to skip practice?"

Oishi looked up, as if to say something, as his mouth opened slightly, but closed it and turned away. He quietly mumbled something under his breath.

"Pardon, I did not hear, Oishi."

"-zen."

"Par-"

"Echizen!" Oishi finally stated loudly. "Echizen! Something has happened to him! All of us can feel it! Especially after yesterday's news..." Oishi trailed off, and being the over-concerned mother hen that he was, he paced back and forth in the narrow space of the locker room, ranting as he went on.

"Tezuka, we are a little concerned." Fuji cut in, letting Oishi walk the length of the room. "Echizen would normally send us an email or call us once a month, yes? We have not received either in the past three months. Don't you think that's a little strange?"

"Fuji, he could just be very busy with another tournament."

"I knew you'd say that." Fuji reached into one of the cubbies, and let an article in a paper written completely in English land with a 'tump' on one of the benches.

"Read that." Fuji gestured at it, inviting Tezuka to pick it up.

Bending over, Tezuka lifted the newspaper from the bench with nimble fingers, and scanned through the English article easily, being the honor student that he was.

"Death of Former Tennis Pro... Echizen... Nanjiroh?" Tezuka put the newspaper down. "Yes, I am aware of the fact that Echizen's father is a former tennis pro. How is this relevant?"

"Read there." Fuji pressed his thumb down in the middle of the article.

Bending over, Tezuka read the words. "-Nanjiroh's son, Ryoma Echizen, winner of four consecutive junior tennis tournaments has been brought in for questioning. However, nothing new was discovered pertaining to the case. His whereabouts are currently unknown. However, it is believed that he has returned to his home country, Japan, to recuperate from the loss of his parents." A look of surprise passed briefly over his face before he straightened. "However-"

"Tezuka, did you not see yesterday's broadcast?"

FLASHBACK

The cuckoo chimed for 7. After chirping seven times, the cuckoo withdrew into its quaint little home of wood and twigs.

"Ara, I guess I've been studying for too long." Fuji stood up, pushing his chair back before stretching. "I was planning to go for a walk..."

"Syuusuke!" The sweet voice of his elder sister sounded from downstairs. "Dinner!"

"Tadaima!" A deeper voice sounded right after his sister's calls faded out.

"Ah, Yuuta! Nee-san is so happy you are home! We cooked your favorite foods as well, today! What a coincidence!" Fuji heard his sister say cheerily.

"This was set up, wasn't it..." Yuuta grumbled from downstairs. Other voices sounded from below, indicating that someone had turned on the TV.

Fuji, with his eternally closed eyes, chuckled happily before leaving his room, shutting the door behind him with a click. He descended down the stairs, where he was greeted with a scowling Yuuta.

"Yuuta, good to see you. How is school?"

"Manipulative family..." Yuuta grumbled under his breath.

"Hahaha..." He pat his younger brother on the back. "Welcome home."

After exchanging short, friendly greetings with his family members, he moved towards the refrigerator with the intent of getting a drink to keep him awake for his brief mock test in school the following day.

"In other news," The reporter's voice carried through the busy bustling of the Fuji household, "Middle school tennis pro, Echizen Ryoma, has announced his retirement from the pro world due to unreported circumstances!"

A crash resounded throughout the house. The family members quickly halted their activities and rushed to the source of the crash. What they did not expect was a shell shocked Fuji, his hand gripping nothing, staring with open eyes at the TV.

"O-oi, Aniki, what's wrong-?" Yuuta stared at the screen before realizing the cause of his brother's reaction.

A familiar 15 year old appeared on the screen. "This is Kevin Smith, I'm hereby announcing... Ryoma's... retirement..." Kevin noticeably clenched his teeth and fists before continuing. "From the pro tennis circuit." A loud chattering of voices from the television indicated several questions being directed at the tennis player. "I will not intend to release any circumstances of his sudden decision. That is all. And if I find even a single reporter or article on the internet with questions or opinions regarding this... trust me on the fact that you will not be regarded kindly by the tennis association."

END FLASHBACK

"Buchou!" A loud yell came from outside, interrupting the tense silence. Everyone recognized the voice belonged to Momo, Seigaku's number one rascal in an instant. The door flew open with a bang.

"Momoshiro... I believed I assigned you laps?" Tezuka stated calmly, adjusting his glasses.

Momo panted heavily, as sweat ran down in beads from the side of his face and dripped on the floor. "I already finished them."

"..." Tezuka looked outside where he still saw Kaidoh jogging around the courts. "Oh?"

"Okay, okay, fine." Momo scratched his head when he thought about all the laps he was going to be running from lying to his captain. "But... someone wants to talk to you. Says they know where... Echizen is." A heavy silence met Momo's words.

"Who?"

"His cousin. Meino Nanako-san. I know her since I used to pick Echizen up every day... but..."

"..." Tezuka briefly considered the request before nodding stiffly. "Minna, get back to practice. Whoever is standing around doing nothing whatsoever will be running a 100 laps when I return." Tucking his racket under his arm, he halted Momo on his way out as the regulars filed past him. "Momoshiro, where is... Meino-san?" Momo absentmindedly pointed towards the school gates.

"Arigat-" Tezuka stopped as he noticed the distant, sad look in Momo's eyes. He laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You need closure." He said as a statement, rather than a question.

Momo chewed on his bottom lip silently before nodding slightly.

"I will let you know. Now, go."

"A-arigatou, buchou..." Momo trailed off then ran in the direction of the tennis courts, no doubt to finish his laps. Tezuka's eyes followed him leave, before he went off to the direction that Momo had pointed out. He heard a sigh.

A young woman, about in her twenties' was leaning lightly against the school gate. She had long, dark blueish hair, let loose, floating gently in the breeze. She sighed again.

Tezuka cleared his throat to make his presence known. The woman looked up.

"You must be Meino-san. I am Tezuka, the captain. Yoroshiku."

"A-ah. Pleased to meet you. Please, just call me Nanako."

"Nanako-san, Momoshiro says... you know where... Echizen is?" Tezuka asked, getting right to the point.

She frowned slightly. "Momoshiro? Ryoma-san's friend? I.... did see him... but I don't recall telling him that I knew where Ryoma-san was..." However, her slight frown didn't add much to her already downcast face. "He must have overheard me talking to myself."

"You do know where Echizen is, though?"

"Hai. I do." She crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but I need to ask you a request regarding my young cousin before I tell you and your teammates the full story.

"And that is...?"

"Please, take care of him."

"?" Tezuka's creased eyebrows spoke volumes.

"Ryoma-san... isn't... in the... best state right now."

"Recuperating? Fuji showed me the article."

Nanako looked up, surprised. "A-ah..."

"Did he sustain any physical injuries?"

"Even worse than that... it may also be impossible to undo the damage."

"Is the circumstances of his retirement from the pro circuit related to this?"

"Yes, indefinitely... what they didn't show in the article, or rather, what they didn't know was-"

POV Switch

Nanako muttered an incoherent word to their captain. Unknown to Tezuka, despite his orders, all were concerned about the whereabouts and condition of their cocky kouhai. Tezuka's eyes widened very noticeably.

"... that's... again?" Was all the sound Tezuka was capable of producing at that moment.

"Yes, unfortunately. The doctors say that if there was a source that could help him recover, they could be restored. If not... they could be gone forever, and..."

"Ne, ne, Oishi, what are they talking about?" This was one of the rare occasions that Eiji forgot to add 'nya' to the end of his sentences.

"I... I don't know."

"Should I inform my teammates?" Tezuka's voice continued.

"Fujiko?" Eiji pressed.

"No... no, not yet. I have to tell him first. I know I can't ask this of you, but please, just keep silent on this for now-"

"Saa, who knows?" Fuji answered quietly.

"Nya! Fujiko knows! Tell me! Tell me, NYA!" Eiji's last nya caught the attention of the conversing captain.

"Please excuse me for a moment, Nanako-san, I believe my teammates have returned to their old habits." Tezuka inclined his head slightly.

"Oh please, go ahead. I'll tell you the rest later. Please come by our old house later, though, Tezuka-kun."

"Arigatou." Bowing slightly, he spun on his heel and marched towards the hidden regulars who were... well, not so hidden anymore.

"Eiji!" Oishi tried to quieten the wailing cat. (How'd it get to wailing, anyway?)

"Minna..." Came a monotone, but full of deadly, deadly venom voice.

Everyone gulped (except Fuji and Inui) and slowwwwlyyyyy turned their heads around. There stood Tezuka, in his almighty aura complete with sinisterly glinting glasses.

"I believe I told you not to slack off? And I believe eavesdropping is very rude. Inui," The data player looked up at the mention of his name. "-please fetch two buckets for each regular and fill them to the brim. You are to all run 100 laps around the courts carrying these buckets in your hands under 1 hour and 40 minutes. If not, Inui," The data player's glasses glinted. "-will be testing his latest juices on you."

The regulars gaped. Their jaws dropped and hit the ground (don't think Fuji or Inui would react this way... and maybe Kaidoh and Oishi...), not only because of the ridiculous task that was set for them, or that their stoic captain muttered continuously for a minute.

"Nani, minna?"

"I-ie... n-nandemonai..."

"THEN GET TO IT!"

"H-HAI!" The regulars dashed off in fear, leaving behind a small puffy smoke ball.

Tezuka rubbed the bridge of his nose. 'Echizen... what have you gotten into this time?'