This fanfiction has been sitting in my mind for a long time, a very long time. My story on paper is nothing like the ones in my head. I'm sure we've all had it where we can't get the words on paper.

So please don't come complaining to me saying you don't like the fic okay.

Disclaimer - (I seriously don't get the point of this. If I were the owner I wouldn't be writing fanfics now would I.)

Oh the OCs belong to me and my imagination though.

Enjoy~

"Ne Ryoma..."

"Hmmm"

"Would you cry... if any one of us were to die?"

"What type of question is that?"

"No Ryoma, seriously would you..?"

"Ummm, this is awkward. Well I guess I would... I mean you are my friends after all, who wouldn't cry"

"That's good.. Let's go back its gonna rain soon."

"Wait! Why did you even ask that question for, you're weird you know that."

"Oh, says the one who likes trying different bath salts as a hobby!"

"Urusai yo"

"Anyways we should hurry Ryo, Merry-nee is gonna scold us... again"

"Wait for me"

Ryoma opened his golden cat-like eyes and took in his surroundings by slowing moving his head from his right to his left. "What the hell was that weird dream?" He thought as he fought to keep his eyes open. The room he was in was dark the only light it got was from the slightly parted curtains, he could see a lump in the corner of his room which he quickly distinguished as his older brother Ryoga - his roommate. Trust Kiko to practically beg their captain for the Echizen brothers to be together just in case Ryoma got a nightmare and needed someone to calm and comfort him . He glanced at the clock on the far corner of the room, he was actually quite glad it was digital so he could actually see it without straining his eyes too much. The clock read 02:17, too early, Ryoma needed his sleep. Ryoma lay back down onto his bed and closed his eyes. He tried to sleep but he kept on hearing the same words over and over again. Getting fed up he got up and went to wash his face in the shared toilet of the room careful not to wake Ryoga otherwise he would be all over him teasing him for weeks for having a nightmare which he did not. Ryoma entered the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. What shocked him wasn't the fact that his face was paler than usual but the fact that he had two beads of tears rolling down his cheeks. "What the hell is wrong with me, first that stupid dream now the tears?" He called out in a frustrated yet quiet voice still aware that Ryoga could awake any second.

Meanwhile in another hotel not that far from where Ryoma had his emotional upset, Tokugawa Kazuya had a similar wake up call. Whereas Ryoma had his dream surrounded in darkness with audible speech and a conversation, all Tokugawa heard was a baby's cries and someone screaming "No! Stop it, don't you dare take him away, he's my brother, my Younger Brother!" Tokugawa like Ryoma was also as confused by the dream, he had no idea where the dream came from yet alone the significance of it. He decided to let it go as he reaffirmed his position on his bed and sleep soon enveloped him due to the intense training the day before.

"Chibisuke, oi chibisuke wake up" Ryoga called, dragging the covers off Ryoma exposing him to the cold yet gentle breeze coming in through the open window of the room. Ryoma snuggled deeper into his pillow moaning and whining to Ryoga to give him 5 minutes. "Not five minutes, now" Ryoga cried clearly annoyed. Who wouldn't be, he spent the last four minutes trying to get his younger brother out of his bed with no avail. Alas, after another 2 full minutes of dragging and screaming of Ryoga's part, Ryoma finally decided to sympathise with his brother and got out of his bed. "Man, what's with you? Its like you never slept a wink, chibisuke." Ryoga called after Ryoma who was trudging his way to the bathroom mumbling inaudible speech. Hearing Ryoga's comment Ryoma called out "If only you knew, Ryoga." before shutting the toilet door on a very confused Ryoga.

Tokugawa Kazuya was not one to forget things easily but that particular dream he had was wiped clean of his memories. His day went surprisingly well, although he could not get an uneasy feeling out of his chest. He, along with the rest of the All-Japan team had their morning practice as usual whilst their head coach decided on the groups to take part in the upcoming first round of the U-17 World Cup. Byoudouin glanced at Tokugawa once during the training session. What he saw shocked him enough to almost miss a lob from Oishi who happened to be his training partner for the session. Tokugawa held a slightly pained and unsettled look on his face which soon disappeared as he concentrated on his own training partner in front of him. Byoudouin did not especially care for Tokugawa but he had known him for quite a time enough to tell him when the boy was unsettled by something. Before Byoudouin could contemplate more on the boy's unnatural facial expression, Coach Saito had come out signalling the end of the practice. No sooner had practice ended all the coaches including coach Nyuudo came out and held the announcement.

"Everyone is to get changed and get into the bus, we are to head off to the Melbourne Arena to watch a friendly between Germany and America's Pro National Women's Team as per the U-17 head organiser's request. All participating teams will have to attended." Coach Kurobe called and sighed as he finished clearly upset that training had to be cancelled. "It's not all bad, they could learn quite a bit from watching them play." Coach Saito said a he turned to go back inside with all the coaches following, leaving a bunch of perplexed teenagers murmuring amongst themselves. "Eh... Buchou why do we have to go to watch some women play tennis. I mean women suck at tennis don't they?" Akaya whined turning to face his buchou. "Now now Akaya, women don't suck at tennis, there are some really good female tennis players in the world, some better than men too." Yukimura said turning to face Akaya with a gentle smile plastered on his face. "Eh... Really" Akaya said tilting his head to one side, still contemplating on what his captain had said. "Sou, sou Akaya, women aren't all that bad and scary like our mothers" Marui called from the huddle of the sweaty 27 youngsters. One by one the teens went off to get ready for the matches.

Tokugawa watched as everyone else went their ways and sighed. He didn't know why but something seemed off. Tokugawa although Japanese had not much faith in the superstions but he was starting to feel as if it was a bad omen of some sort, whilst being completely oblivious of his previous perplexing dream. Whilst absorbed in his inner turmoil he did not notice his rival/captain Byoudouin looking at him with eyes filled with a hint of confusion and another emotion one can not describe in words. He soon like the rest turned to leave leaving Kazuya to contemplate on his own thoughts.

Back at the American training grounds everyone soon had the same reaction after their captain had spilled the beans too. Ryoma inwardly groaned. It's not like he thought women's tennis was weaker than men's tennis, its just that he wasn't feeling that up for it considering his lack of sleep due to his annoying dream which he still had no idea what it was about. Whilst everyone was happily chatting with the other members Ryoma slipped up to his captain.

"Captain"

"Yes Ryoma?"

"Do we all have to go? Can't I stay here and practice?"

"Afraid so, it was a request from the Cup's officials. We have to go. Try thinking it as a form of training."

"Fine I'll go but I'd much rather have stayed here."

"I know, but anyway go get changed, we're leaving at 2."

"Okay"

Ryoma stalked off mumbling something about "Stupid Cup Officials" whilst Ralph stared at him with a bemused look gracing his features. Ryoga who had lingered behind had heard the conversation between the two young men approached Ralph and gently swatted him on the back of his head. "Try thinking it as a form of training." He mimicked in Ralph's voice. "Ryoga" Ralph called out warningly. Truth be told, Ralph was not looking forward to the friendly at all. They also followed their team back inside in preparation for the match.

The seats filled in quite quickly, all around him Ryoma could see all the opposing teams coming in. Some crazy damned idiot had casually decided to arrange seating plans for them and put teams right next to one another. Ryoma took a glance to his right and saw the England and Australian teams sitting next to each other on the same section. It didn't take a genius to figure out they were on bad terms. They were practically breathing down each other's necks. The Japanese team were only a team away from Ryoma, he didn't even need to strain his ears to figure out what they were saying. A smirk came to Ryoma's lips as he distinctively heard his former teammates whine about coming here.

The matches went by swiftly. The games were not as intense as one would like but nevertheless there were some good moves, which made Akaya start screaming "Sugoi Sugoi" out everytime the ball was served. Sanada clearly annoyed at Akaya's antics tried to silence him whilst Yukimura bemusedly chuckled behind them. The games soon ended up with a score of 2 all and it was finally time for the last match. The last two contestants were called up. From the German team a tall bulky brunette came out, from America a slender, yet well built,silver haired teen.

"From Germany we have Cecilia and America's representative Merry!" The announcer boomed out through his microphone. "Merry eh.. Same name as they person from my dream. ...Merry-nee is gonna scold us...again" Ryoma thought as the two contestants entered the pitch. Ryoma stared intensely at the silver haired teen. She looked so familiar yet Ryoma could not understand why. As soon as Merry entered the court, murmurs filled the arena.

"Shiraishi, what's everyone talking about?" Kintaro said turning to face his buchou.

"One second."

Shirashi listened intensively to the spectators. "...Didn't you hear..?" "..it's her, right?" " ...murderer.." "She shouldn't be allowed..." Murmurs filled the arena. Everyone was turning to each other and whispering with fearful eyes.

"I think they're talking about the American player, the girl called Merry." Shiraishi said still trying to make out what they were saying.

A voice erupted from the crowd. "Get off! You don't belong! You're a filthy criminal! Get the hell out you murderer!" The crowd also started jeering and yelling. Drinks were being thrown out onto the pitch. The U-17 were as confuse as ever. Only a few glanced at the girl with sympathy.

"Murderer? What are they talking about?" A worried Oishi voiced.

"According to my data, the girl Merry on the court right down there, has aparantly just been released from a youth offenders institution. She had been accused of killing a multitude of people including her own father and younger brother." Inui said.

"She was released 2 months ago after she was found not guilty but many claims she has connections which she used. Even though she has been cleared and her criminal record has been wiped clean people still have doubt." Renji had finished off.

"She's a murderer!" Akaya screeched.

"Bakaya, weren't you listening, she's been cleared." Niou said, slapping Akaya on the back of his head.

"Itai..." Akaya cried

"Well, whatever she is doesn't matter. What matters now is that she's a player on the court and things might turn ugly." Atobe pointed out.

Sure enough, the crowd were starting to move in on the girl. Merry was standing immobile with a blank expression on her face as if she did not care whether the whole world hated her or not. Her blank eyes gave no sign of fear nor hatred, it just reflected emptiness. With all the commotion going on no one noticed Swiss Pro Amadeus leave his seat and quickly walked towards the court. Ryoma who was watching suddenly had a strange vision. Images started flashing before his eyes. He saw himself standing in front of a huge building with a sign reading Raver's Tennis Camp. The scene was flashed forward where Ryoma was seeing himself drowning in a pool filled with darkness. He saw hands reaching out to him and he tried to grab on to them but he kept on galling deeper and deeper into the pool of darkness. He then heard a voice...

"Oh, don't worry. We won't hurt them. The only person doing the killing will be you, Ryoma."

Ryoma was snapped out of his stupor when a voice rang over the arena. Everyone became silent as their eyes travelled to the source of the sound. There standing in the middle of the court was Amadeus. Mic in hand he continued.

"How dare you? For a tennis player, a court is sacred. Have you no respect? This girl over here is a player whether you like it or not." He cried pointing towards Merry. "You say she was a criminal, a murderer! I don't give a damn. Whether she's killed a million people or not in the past it doesn't matter, nothing matters when you're on the court. This is Tennis! So have some respect and let her play. That's what she's here for, that's what you're here for, right?"

Amadeus ended his speech with a glare which many cowered away from. He watched as everyone started retreating back to their seats. Feeling satisfied with this, Amadeus returned the mic and he also ascended to his seat. Ryoma who was listening, silently thanked Amadeus for getting him out of his vision. More confused than ever Ryoma bore another glance at Merry and sighed. "Does she know why?" He said oblivious to the fact that he had just voiced out his own thoughts. The French Pro Camus, who had been sitting a mere few seats away from Ryoma heard what the boy had said. He turned to look at him, Camus's eyes filled with an emotion of remorse and sorrow. His emotions were quickly overwritten as he shifted his attention to the court where the match was soon to be resumed.

By the time the umpire had reaffirmed his position the crowd had quietened down ad the match was resumed. "Are you ready? Let the match... Commence" the umpire called out before the whistle was blown.

Hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 2 coming soon. Ignore any grammar or spelling mistakes please.