THE MESSAGE

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from 'the Prince of Tennis'.

Warning: Spoilers for the last chapter of the manga.

A/N: Well. This wanted to be written. Might add a second chapter later on, but for now it's on its own.

Summary: Echizen left for America. Momoshiro misses him. Spoilers. Oneshot.

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"Momo-senpai?" Momoshiro's head shot up. One of the new first years was standing in front of him, shyly playing with the hem of his shirt. Momo blinked stupidly, before beaming down at the small kid.

"It's Momo-chan! So, what is it?" He nudged the kid playfully with the tennis racket.

"Uh, is there anything else? Or are we dismissed?" Two other first years were standing a few metres away.

"Huh, you cleaned the courts already?" The kid nodded. "Nah, that's all then. Good job, midgets!"

"Thanks for today, Momo-chan, senpai!"

Momoshiro waved at the first years as they exited the courts, laughing and talking. When they were out of sight he sighed depressedly, looking around for something to do. He didn't want to go straight home, but most people had already left. He'd already asked Kaidou to have a match with him, but he had declined. Sighing again, Momo juggled a ball on his racket frame as he walked towards the changing rooms. It was all empty, and he lay down on the bench in front of the lockers.

It had been a month now, since Echizen left for America. With all the exams and practise going on, he didn't have time to miss his old sempais. Echizen, however... Momo groaned and bounced his head against the bench. Nostalgia was useless. He sometimes hung out with the guys in his class, including Kaidou, but it just wasn't the same. His best friend moved to America, and he was stuck at Seishun gakuen. Sitting up, Momo didn't bother to change his clothes, but simply locked the door and 

fetched his bike, slowly leaving the school grounds.

Momo was lost in thoughts on his way home, and didn't realize he'd taken one right turn too much until he looked up and realized that he was standing outside his and Echizen's usual hamburger place.

"Eeh? What am I, some kind of idiot?!" He exclaimed, making people look at him funny.

This wasn't the first time his feet unconciously led him here. A couple times he'd went inside to eat by himself, but he soon realized that downing five big meals wasn't as fulfilling without Echizen keeping him company. Besides, sitting there all alone felt too much like he was comfort eating, so he stopped going there completely. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he turned around and walked back, this time keeping his thoughts on the road.

Later that night, Momo was having trouble going to sleep. No matter how he twisted and turned, he couldn't relax his brain, which kept drowning him in fond memories of him and Echizen. Finally deciding that he'd had enough, Momo decided that if ignoring the nostalgia didn't work, then he'd just confront it head on. So he flipped over so that his feet rested on the pillow, and slumped down in his soft covers.

That day at the Regulars' practice, he'd kept looking for Echizen. Every time someone entered the court, every time someone wearing a cap walked past him, every time the door to the locker rooms opened… logically, he knew Echizen was miles and miles away, but his subconscious wouldn't accept it, and his eyes kept looking for him every time he entered the street courts.

"So, what's really the problem here…" he muttered to himself. Well, he missed Echizen, obviously. That was hardly a secret! He had known he'd miss him already when Echizen first had told him he was moving back to America... But there was nothing he could do about it, really. What could he have done? The last week, they had gone on just like usual, playing tennis, hanging out at the street courts, eating burgers, just the usual... Then all of a sudden, he no longer had anyone to pick up in the mornings. The first three days, he'd biked past Echizen's house by force of habit. The sight of the empty house had done nothing but make him notice Echizen's absence even more, and so he now took care not to pass it on his way to school.

What had Echizen thought about it all? Well, he hadn't really said. Momo knew he looked forward to some big games in the US… But did he miss Momo, at all? He couldn't know for sure, but he liked to believe Echizen didn't just go and forget about him. Momo rolled over to his side. Now that he thought about it, had he ever told Echizen he missed him? None of them were big on talking on the phone, so they hadn't really talked since Echizen left, but… surely he knew Momo missed him?

"Of course he knows!"

Momo started at the roof. Two minutes later, it had started to eat at him.

What if Echizzen thought Momo forgot about him? Well, he couldn't have that! Scrambling to sit up, Momo reached for his cell phone that was lying on the bedside table. "So what do I write?" he muttered, playing with the phone in his hands. Looking at the time, he realized he really needed to get to sleep. Quickly pressing some buttons, he designed a short message that he immediately sent to Echizen, before lying down again. This time, he fell asleep within a minute.

The next morning, he was just about to throw the phone into his bag, when he noticed a new message. Quickly dropping the bag, he flopped down on the bed, opening the phone. As he stared at the monitor, a smile made its way onto his face. With a toothy grin, he put the phone into his bag, and raced downstairs to get himself some breakfast before he had to get to school.

Today was going to be a good day.

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Owari. End. Plase review after reading.