A Prince of Tennis Fanfic
These faithful days
Chapter 1: Feeling Hot
Joliesme
Disclaimer: I do not own P.O.T. All the dialogues in bold are spoken in English.
Edited on 10/12/2013: Several mistakes and whole paragraphs changed.
Echizen Ryoma walked down the stairs, clutching his head. He stumbled on the last few steps and grabbed onto the wooden railing to steady himself. His knuckles turned white too fast as he sat on the last step, panting hard.
Why am I so weak today?
"Young Man! You ought to get your butt out of the bed or else your fish is all gone!"
Ryoma cursed under his breath and asked the spotted Himalayan that trotted past with an air of silkness, "Why is the wretched man my father?"
Ryoma managed to walk (or stumble) over to the dining table without collapsing and he was getting worried for himself. Ryoma muttered a curse as his hand reached out to his forehead and felt a tinge of warmness that was not supposed to be there. His cousin eyed him while fiddling with her apron.
"Where's mum?" Ryoma asked, munching on his fish, a little slower than he usually would.
"Out," an old man answered, not looking up from his newspaper.
Ryoma sighed and fiddled with his food. Nanako glanced in his direction once more before moving on to wash the dishes, "Don't play with the food."
Ryoma did not answer as he took another bite of fish. He brought the bottle of milk to his lips and downed the bottle in a matter of seconds.
Echizen Nanjirou glanced up from his newspaper (or so others would have thought) and eyed his son with his piercing eyes. The young man with those navy coloured locks looked rather pale for a moment. Said boy looked up and glared at Nanjirou with the cat-like eyes of his and Nanjirou shrugged, stuck out his tongue with a playfully and went back to his newspaper.
Ryoma was definitely feeling weird. He felt his body getting hotter and there was a slight warm feeling just above his eyes. However, it was not just him getting hotter but the wind seemed to chill him off and he shivered, rather unconsciously.
A pale, cool hand touched his forehead and a tingling sensation went down his backbone. Ryoma glanced up and saw a pair of worried eyes.
"You are rather hot, Ryoma," Nanako said.
Ryoma shrugged and waved her off, "It's the weather."
Nanjirou put his newspaper down and took a nice long look at his son. There was faint redness on those cheeks of Ryoma as if he was blushing slightly. He was also shaking and shivering slightly, perhaps due to the summer winds. But, summer winds were hot and warm and not cold. He should be cursing and not shivering.
Nanjirou reached out with his hands and attempted to press his cool fingers against Ryoma's forehead, only to be swatted off by a seemingly angry young boy and the boy stood up, swinging another bottle of milk, downing it.
" I am fine," Ryoma said and when he was about to be protested by a worried Nanako, a voice rang from outside the house.
"Echizen, I am here!"
Ryoma was almost happy that his senior was here to fetch here. Almost.
Ryoma quickly grabbed his tennis bag slung over his broad shoulders, as he rushed out of his house, stepped into the sports shoe. He waved a hand to show he understood and quickly climbed onto the bicycle and the duo rode off.
Nanako shouted after Ryoma, "If you feel sick at any point of time, hurry and come home!"
Nanjirou sighed as he watched his son rush out of the house in such a hurry. That young man is definitely sick Stubborn. He took a glance on the table where Ryoma just sat and let out an inaudible gasp.
The young boy did not finish his Japanese breakfast for once.
/
Whilst on the bicycle, Momoshiro turned and looked at Ryoma. The boy was sleeping and lying against his back. He furrowed his eyebrows in worry as Ryoma had never slept on the bicycle before. Momoshiro let out a gasp as his eyes wandered to his wristwatch and stepped doubly hard on the pedal.
The bicycle jerked to a stop and that awoke Ryoma. Ryoma rubbed his bleary eyes and struggled a little against the huge weight on his shoulders. He looked around and realised that they had not reached school. He gave a huge yawn again, and placed his lukewarm forehead against the back of his senior.
"Hey, Echizen, you alright there?"
Ryoma answered with a small yawn.
"Are you sure you are alright?" His worried voice must have annoyed Ryoma greatly as Ryoma simply grunted a "yes" and went back to sleep.
As if on the cue, Ryoma shivered a little as a warm wind grazed the two men and Momoshiro could only curse. Perspiration beads slid down Momoshiro's face. Just then, Momoshiro realised then Ryoma had shivered and not like his usual self and shivered instead. He was about to shake Ryoma up but the green light indicated the traffic to flow and the senior had no choice but to follow on.
/
When the duo screeched to a stop in front of the tennis courts, they were greeted with nothing but "good mornings".
Ryoma rubbed his eyes blearily when Momoshiro hopped off the bicycle and chased him off it as well. He felt extremely cold yet hot. He glanced at Momoshiro again and he thought he saw two of them. He shrugged and walked towards the club house with much effort.
"Momoshiro, to the courts."
Ryoma heard a loud groan from behind him but could not bother to even turn his head.
"But, buchou!"
"Do your warm-ups before proceeding to Inui's regime."
The man who spoke wore spectacles and could easily pass off as a teacher in the school. However, he was wearing the Segaiku Tennis Club jersey and holding a racket. He tutted at Momoshiro and gestured towards the court when Momoshiro protested.
As Momoshiro was already in his tennis attire, he could not do anything but obey his Captain. He glanced once again at the unsteady fellow that was walking towards the tennis club house. Momoshiro then ran towards the courts to do his warm-ups.
/
Ryoma changed into his jersey and yawned. He sat down on the empty bench and leaned his head on the windowsill. He could feel his head becoming heavier with each blink and slowly, he was drifting off to sleep.
His Captain, however, entered the room and Ryoma was startled awake. He jolted up and made his way out of the club house, rather embarrassed that he almost dozed off during morning trainings. As much as he wanted to stay on the bench and sleep, he was too afraid of his captain.
/
After all the warm-ups, Ryoma was already feeling very light-headed. He could almost feel himself embracing the floor until a cool hand supported him, pulling him up.
"You alright, O-Chibi?" A youngster with cat-like eyes and red hair asked, his voice full of concern.
Ryoma simply nodded his head and walked off towards where the Captain was asking to gather. Kikamaru Eiji could not shake the feeling that his precious O-Chibi was not alright. He quickly caught up with the staggering footsteps of Ryoma's and attacked his cap. He first removed his cap and fiddled with the navy blue hair, making it into an awful mess.
Unlike his usual self, Ryoma commented nothing and continued to walk forward. Kikamaru was even more suspicious now and was going to say something.
"Kikamaru! Echizen! Double up!"
Kikamaru looked around before smiling sheepishly, pushing the little boy forward, shouting, "Buchou's asking us to hurry up, nya! O-chibi, hurry hurry!"
/
Ryoma was paired with Fuji to play the very last match of the entire morning. After enduring through the hour of tough (suddenly) trainings, Ryoma was rather reluctant to even play a match at all.
Tezuka Kunitmitsu was frowning at the actions of their youngest regular for became slightly weird today. Was it just him, or Ryoma had radiated heat and has a red tinge on his cheeks. He looked rather pale as well.
Oishi appeared beside Tezuka and asked, " Was it just me, or Ryoma had radiated heat and has a red tinge on his cheeks. He look rather pale as well."
Tezuka frowned at Oishi's words. He was not the only one.
The match was the last of the morning and since everyone have finished their matches, they were all looking at this match. This was a nice pairing to end the morning.
Fuji the Prodigy versus The Prince – Ryoma.
Ryoma was sweating, very profusely in fact. He could feel the cool drops of water slide down his hot cheeks and he felt very sick. Ryoma was feeling rather dizzy and he thought that he saw two Fujis walking over, towards him.
Fuji eyed his cautiously and when Ryoma approached the net for a friendly handshake, he asked, "Are you alright?"
Ryoma simply nodded his head and walked back towards the baseline, totally forgetting the handshake.
Looking at this weird scene, Inui and Momoshiro both frowned and asked at the same time, "Is he really okay?" Then, the two looked at each other and Inui spoke first, "He could not be alright."
A figure of a man stood behind the two and let out a small hiss. Inui allowed his eyes to wander behind him as he saw a Kaido Kaoru staring at the match intensely. However so, a small part of Inui knew that Kaido noticed that their youngest regular was slightly off.
Ryoma bounced the tennis ball with much strength and hit a nicely aimed Twist Serve. The ball hit the ground and swerved towards Fuji's face. But, having quick movements, he avoided the ball and hit the ball back with a full swing. Unexpectedly, Ryoma ran towards the ball and used two times the strength (much to his own surprise) and almost scored at the baseline near the right of the court. Fuji, being the prodigy had anticipated the swing and hit the ball back with a high lob which forces his opponent to search the sky for the ball, much to Ryoma's dislike due to the glaring sun.
The ball hits the ground with a thud right beside Ryoma's right leg and he groaned.
"15-love!"
Ryoma could feel his head protesting. His headache was screaming in his face and he could see yellow spots dancing in front of him. He felt hot but yet cold. He could feel his legs giving up on him and he shuddered. His fingers loosened and the grip on the racket was released. A small thud was hurt as the racket hit the ground. Ryoma could see the world tilting. He could feel the world tilting. He saw people rushing towards him but that did not matter anymore for he embraced the darkness which welcomed him with opened arms.
/
Fuji saw the jerk in Ryoma's knees as they buckled. Everything seemed to happen at once. Ryoma's hands released the racket as he fell backwards; his cap slid off his navy locks.
"Ryoma!"
"O-chibi!"
"Echizen!"
"Echizen!"
The regulars rushed forward towards the still boy. The first to reach was Fuji and his eyes were open, unexpectedly, glancing worried looks to the boy on the cold hard floor.
Ryoma's eyes flickered open but it was unfocused. Then he closed it back again, his breaths coming in short gasps and perspiration beads slid down his neck, dotting the hard tennis court.
Fuji reached his rather lukewarm hand towards Ryoma's sweaty forehead and felt the heat attacking his fingers. He instinctively removed his hand and muttered rather loudly that the youngster was having a bad fever. A very high fever.
Momoshiro cradled the young boy as his reached his hands under the neck and the legs and lifted the little boy up. Kawamura reached for the racket, not releasing his burning mode and placed it safely by the side before rushing after Ryoma.
As much as Tezuka and Oishi would prefer following the youngster to the infirmary, they had to dismiss the other members.
/
Ryoma's eyes flew open and he heard nothing but silence. A woman whose hair was tied back into a bun stared at him with longing eyes.
His throat was hoarse and the place reeked of medicine. He crinkled his nose just when the door budged open and the woman, who was already facing the door, moved.
The Captain and all his seniors walked in.
Ryoma asked, hoarsely, "Where…"
The woman turned quickly, so fast that Ryoma blinked twice, stopped in mid-sentence. She then press her index finger to his lips, telling him not to speak.
Ryoma nodded his head, suddenly realizing that his throat was hoarse and allowed the seniors that are approaching him to touch his forehead, one by one. He did not protest in any way, either by speaking or by actions. It was not because he liked them doing so, or even feel it was right to, but simple because of the fact that he had no strength.
Momoshiro could see his junior on the hospital bed, laying there just pretty pale. He could literally see him shivering and looked towards his right where the machine lay. His heartbeat was normally but his breathing rate was only 10 breaths a minute.
He glanced sideways at Kaido and Kaido hissed. He may look rather unconcerned but he was pretty much worried. His eyebrows were creased together slightly more by a friction and his lips was pursed, perhaps a bit more tightly than before. His muscles seemed tensed up and Kaido was tapping his feet impatiently as he leaned on the white wall.
Kawamura was looked at the ER machine. He was concerned with Ryoma's breathing rate but yet… He glanced to the bottom right of the machine and saw something he did not like. Ryoma was running a fever of 106 Fahrenheit (41 Degree Celsius). His fever was really high and if he was not treated soon, he might suffer from brain damage.
Tezuka was worried. Very, in fact. He touched Ryoma's forehead and flinched rather hard. His temperature was so high! Tezuka muttered a quick sorry and rushed out to find the doctor, followed by the mother-hen Oishi.
/
Ryoma wanted to sleep so badly. He can literally feel the heat radiating off his body and he was tired. Like really tired. He did not have the strength to move. He could not move. He did not want to move. His head felt so heavy and he was having a terrible headache. He felt as if there was screwdriver screwing a nail right through between his eyebrows. His muscles ached. His bones hurt. His throat hurt like hell.
Kikamaru whispered softly into the little boy's ear, "Just go to sleep."
/
When Ryoma woke up again, he felt slightly better. Just slightly slightly better. He turned and looked at the ER machine. It stated that his temperature was 104 Celsius (40 Degree Celsius) which was better than before. Just a slightly better but at least an improvement.
He did not know how much he had slept and for how long and he looked up at the white tiled ceiling.
A man that looked seriously familiar walked in from the door and was stunned when he saw Ryoma was awake. Ryoma was amused at the man's reaction at how he stopped and gasped. He started to walk forward a little then tripped at the edge of the bed. Although Ryoma really wanted to smile, his jaw muscles felt so overworked that he was tired. Ryoma then felt his own eyelids fluttering and the darkness collected him once more.
/
"-wake!"
Peeling his crust that formed on his eyes, Ryoma opened his eyes. He saw a man with brown hair standing over him. He smiled in relief and Ryoma felt relieved.
"Buchou…"
Tezuka reached his hand over to Ryoma and stroked his hair softly. His head still ached, no, everywhere ached but surprisingly, he felt much better. Ryoma smiled slightly. He wanted to speak and was suddenly conscious of an oxygen mask that covered his own mouth. Bemused, he looked up at the worried eyes of the captain.
Just then, Kikamaru and Momoshiro strode in with Momoshiro starting with the sentence "Has he…" and their eyes lit up when they saw Ryoma awake.
Kikamaru rushed over and yelled in delight, "Finally! You were in a coma for a week because of your extreme high fever, nya!"
Momoshiro was obviously relieved. He smiled with tears in his eyes and said, "Thank the gods you are alright. It was all my fault. I should have realised that you were sick that day…" His hand reached out to his face in an attempt to swipe off the falling tears, "You stopped breathing… Twice!"
Ryoma smiled despite of all this and said, "But… I am now alright, ain't I?"
The door opened once again, and a few people came in. A nurse followed behind, tutting loudly, "3 minutes!" The door closed after the nurse and several conversations picked up.
"Echizen, you're awake!"
"Oh my! Echizen!"
"My data here says…"
"Fssh…"
Ryoma gave a tight smile to all his seniors, "Just keep your mouth shut, can't you?"
"You're being extremely rude!" Momoshiro exclaimed, giving the pale boy on the sheets a playful slap on the shoulder.
"What day is today?"
Fuji, who had just finished placing roses into the vase, replied, "Tuesday. Why?"
"Don't you guys have training?"
A silence fell over the rest of them while a brunette with spectacles spoke, with much authority, "Ah, I have almost forgotten."
A smiling boy looked up at the ceiling as glares burnt into him, which he gladly ignored.
"Mada Mada Dane."
Chapter 1: Feeling Hot – Fin
I thank you if you added These faithful days into your favourites or followed it. Please review if you think that there is much improvement to be made or simply to express how much you feel about this chapter.
I rewrote this! Simply because I could not help flinching when I was reading through this previously, however so, I do not think I will rewrite the second chapter (Momoshiro's racket) as I do not really like that chapter. I will, however, write another chapter, soon enough, after that chapter, so do look this through again.