Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

December twenty-fourth, he hated that day. No matter how many years went by, he could not force himself to like the very date that he had been born on. Every year it was the same story, he would get up and go down to breakfast, everyone greeted him as the day before and didn't even wish him a happy birthday. His father would occasionally drag him out for a game of tennis in the snow and it would end when his mom dragged them back inside for a lecture. They celebrated Christmas and spent several days preparing for the event. They always had people come over to spend time with them and every time, he was ignored. Instead of recognizing the day he was born on, they celebrated it together with Christmas so that those closest to them would be able to wish him a happy birthday. However, his birthday was far from happy.

He loathed the day and tried to come up with a million and one excuses not to go home. Unfortunately, none of the Regulars could house him for the week and so he was stuck at home. He stared out his window. It was drawing closer to the afternoon and he did not want to go out and face his family. As usual, they had not said anything to him on his birthday aside from the usual greeting. It was as though he did not exist in their eyes. Ryoma had tried to ask, in a subtle way, if they could do something on his birthday to celebrate it; but his parents just chuckled and brushed him off. Even his cousin did not try to do something to cheer him up. This birthday, was far more miserable than the others. Perhaps it was because he had a number of birthdays like this and them ignoring him was starting to fester. He was angry, to say the least, and he didn't know what to do.

He tried to pretend that he was happy, but he couldn't keep on pretending. Today he just wanted to sulk or hurt someone, something. He watched as the snow fell from the sky. Each flake was a different shape and size, he admired the beauty of each one, but that did nothing to lift his spirits. The holidays, everyone was in the mood for the holidays and he was not. He wanted them to be over with so that he wouldn't have to think about it until next year. Ryoma let out loud sigh. No one had bothered to check up on him in his absence, he imagined that they were all getting along fine without him.

It was his birthday and they didn't seem to understand that concept. He wanted to do something special, make the day important, something.He growled, how many times had he repeated that sentence in his mind? It was the same argument year after year, the same expressions, the same excuses. He finally decided to go downstairs. He stepped out of his room and found the place to be eerily quiet. All of the lights were turned off. He turned of them on and realized something. They had left him. He felt tears come to his eyes, he was never one to cry. However, he couldn't help it this time. They had gone without him and he was all alone, on his birthday. They hadn't even bothered to come and get him, they just left. He slammed his fist against the wall, hurting himself more than the wall. He did not care.

They had abandoned him on his birthday, as though it was another day in the year that held no meaning. No gift, cake, or even the stupid song to remember the day by he had nothing but his loneliness. He sighed and walked back up to his room, there was nothing for him to do anyway. He returned to his spot at the window and stared. He didn't even bother to watch the snowflakes, they became a white blur in his vision. He just wanted to end this.

I bet that if I killed myself, they wouldn't notice. Or maybe that would make them pay attention to me all the more.

That gave him an idea. He went down to the kitchen and grabbed one of his mother's cutting knives and stared at it for a while. Maybe he was being stupid, but he wanted this to end. Ryoma brought the knife to his wrist and cut. He gritted his teeth in pain, but dealt with it. The doorbell rang, but he couldn't muster the strength to answer it. He felt his vision swarm and faintly heard the door opening.

~End~

Lady Monozuki: Okay, so I wrote this because it's my birthday today and it's always a depressing time for me 'cause no one in my family cares. So this was written out of my depression. I used Ryoma's birthday because I imagined him being frustrated with no one remember his either. So this might have a sequel just because I want Ryoma's birthday to start off lousy and turn out happy. So please review, it would make my day, seriously.