Summary: It had been five years since the old regulars of Seigaku had seen each other last and life had moved on. No one had ever expected that the next time they met up again, it would be as wanted fugitives.
I know I have a few other fics to finish… but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone.
The regular fugitive.
Chapter 1
It had started as a normal day, and nothing had suggested otherwise.
Ryoma had dutifully gone to his part time work, being only five minutes late this time before a woman, Aiko had come out of her office.
"Ryoma, we're having an important client today. You have to be on really good behavior," The woman lectured. "His name is Genjo Hiro," Ryoma frowned irritated. He hated having to suck up to people.
"Understand?" The woman questioned sternly and Ryoma heard the threat she wasn't saying. If she wasn't happy with his performance, he would be fired.
"Crystal clear," Ryoma said. Aiko nodded before moving on leaving Ryoma to stare after her.
"Tch," Ryoma hated this job, maybe he really should just deliberately piss the man off to get fired. It was after all his father who got him this job. Ryoma decided the next time he saw that stupid man, he would get his revenge. A secretary of all things! Really?
Only minutes later, a middle aged man walked in, a stern frown on his face, while his eyes were a cold pale blue color. This must be Genjo Hiro.
"Can I help you?" Ryoma asked dutifully.
"Yes…yes I think you can," The man said, his tone grave. His cold blue eyes darted around before slowly slinking in the seat. Ryoma gave the man a sharp look as his instincts told him that something was wrong with this situation.
"Well?" Ryoma said with an annoyed look.
"I…am sorry," The man, Hiro said, almost regretfully.
"For what?" Ryoma said annoyed.
"For what I'm about to do," Hiro answered back. Ryoma's eyes narrowed at the threat before standing up.
"Get out or I'll call the cops," Ryoma stated harshly.
"Uh oh, but I've already called the cops," The man laughed, his cold eyes turned icy. "Help me," The man mimicked. "The secretary… the secretary's going to kill me!" Ryoma felt as though he'd been plunged into cold ice.
"What?" Ryoma said, his eyes wide. Faint sirens could be heard. Hiro stood up and pulled out, to Ryoma's horror, a gun.
"W-What are you doing?" Ryoma backed away, fear rising. This guy was crazy. "They'll know what happened," Ryoma tried to threaten, but his voice was shaky.
"Really?" Hiro uttered curiously before he lunged so quickly that Ryoma could only stumble backwards. He snatched Ryoma's hand and to Ryoma's horrified shock, he wrapped his hand around the gun before the man put both of his hands over his so he couldn't move his hands away. To his shock, the gun was pointed at the man and not at himself.
"What are you doing?!" Ryoma cried out, panicked. The man's finger pressed down on Ryoma's finger which would fire the device. "Stop it!"
"There will always be scapegoats," Hiro uttered sorrowfully. "I… am one, and you are one as well,"
The man's finger pressed hard down on Ryoma's and a large gunshot noise echoed in the room.
Ryoma stood completely still, eyes large and mouth making rasping noises before looking down and cried out, stumbling backwards.
Hiro's body was still, eyes wide open, glazed, blood surrounding him. Staring at the scene, Ryoma instantly turned aside and threw up. Tears streamed down his eyes as he trembled.
Someone was dead… someone was dead…. And he had been forced to kill them.
"Oh god!" Ryoma mumbled, horrified. The sirens were getting closer and Ryoma started as the man's voice echoed back to him.
"I've already called the cops,"
"The secretary… the secretary's going to kill me!"
He… had been framed? Then… the police were going to be after him… The realization hit him in the chest like a punch and Ryoma could only gasp for breath frantically.
He was going to go to jail.
He had to escape.
With a frantic pace, Ryoma grabbed his bag before running down the stairs, ignoring people were shouted or had startled looks on their faces.
Escape.
Escaping was the only think on Ryoma's mind as he walked with purpose out of the building and pulled his hood over his head just as the police stopped in front of the building. Ryoma trembled as he tried to walk casually, the shouts of the police as they ran into the building he had just left.
Oh god… This was really happening.
Ryoma drew in a shaky breath as he tried to look conspicuous and when he rounded the corner, he forgot all pretenses and bolted away, ignoring the startled yelps of people he pushed away in the struggle to get as far away as he could from his work.
The 18 year old did not think nor did he stop as he raced his way towards the only place he could think of at that moment.
The hotel he was currently staying in.
It was in his father's name, so hopefully that would buy him a little time to allow him to think.
Stopping outside the hotel, Ryoma drew in a somewhat steady breath before walking in quickly. He tried to quickly walk past the receptionist without notice but she glanced up with a pleasant smile.
"Hello there, how was your day?" She questioned. Ryoma slowed down slightly and turned to her.
"Good," He forced out. The receptionist looked slightly concerned.
"Are you okay? You… look a little peaky…" She asked, leaning forward. Ryoma leaned away.
"Fine, been a rough day," Ryoma's voice was strained. "If you don't mind…" With that being said, Ryoma forced himself to walk a normal pace, no matter how much his body wanted to run. If he did that, it would be suspicious.
As soon as he rounded the corner and away from peering eyes, the ex-regular bolted, running as fast as he could, quickly jumping up the stairs until the third floor where he finally reached his room. Fumbling with his keys, Ryoma opened the door, gasping for breath.
Ryoma puffed as he slammed the door shut behind him, limbs shaking and eyes wide open.
What had just happened?
It was insane, it couldn't be true, but the memories kept haunting Ryoma again and again, made him see the icy eyes of the man, the feel of the man's hand on his own as he was forced to grip the gun, the echo of the loud gunshot as the man forced him to press the trigger….
Then the blood.
It had been everywhere and Ryoma had just stood there, shell-shocked. The icy cold eyes of the man had faded and were glazed in death, but nothing, not even death could erase that small satisfied look that he held.
He had killed someone….
No! He had been forced to kill someone and now the police were after him. Ryoma slipped down the wall, shaking, his face pale as he withheld tears that so desperately wanted to fall.
Just this morning, it had been like every other day.
Now… he was a wanted fugitive…. He had been…
Set up.
Ryoma's body grew chilled as he realized that was exactly what had happened.
He had been framed.
What could he do? Ryoma felt like screaming, completely overwhelmed and frightened. What were his options?
He could run… or he could hand himself over, yet a voice in the back of his head told him that they would not be interested in hearing his side of the story. They would just be interested in capturing him and putting him behind bars. After all, that man he had just …. Ryoma couldn't say the word just yet, that man had been an incredibly important person. Would anyone even listen to a secretary?
Ryoma wasn't naïve. He knew how the world worked whether or not people denied it. The more important someone was, the more likely they would side with them and the harder they would look to find the person who killed them.
Ryoma stared at his hands with dull eyes. He knew he had to move and quickly before the police found out where he was but where would he go?
His mind jumped to his parent's house, but he immediately rejected that idea. That would be the first place anyone would look, but that did bring in another complication which made Ryoma freeze with trepidation.
His parents might think he had killed that man and Sakuno…
Sakuno
His girlfriend.
How had he forgotten? His good natured and shy girlfriend…
Ryoma felt his heart sting as despair rose up inside of him. Would Sakuno believe in those lies? She knew him though, for six years, was always around him even if he didn't speak to her….
She knew him.
And he knew that he had to talk to her, to make her understand and to make her believe. He didn't know if he could make it much further without the support of Sakuno… he just needed someone to believe in him.
Ryoma took out his mobile and with shaky fingers, he dialed her number.
With worry and fear, Ryoma waited as he heard the ringing.
Once
Twice.
Then there was a beep and then….
"Hello?" Sakuno's voice came out and suddenly, everything didn't seem as bad as it had, not with Sakuno on the line.
"Hello?...Ryoma? Is that you Ryoma?" Sakuno asked hesitantly. Ryoma breathed out.
"Sakuno," Ryoma said with feeling. There was a slight pause on the other end.
"Ryoma! What's going on? I-I don't understand what's going on!" Sakuno's voice was worried, but there was also a slight edge to her tone that Ryoma didn't recognize.
"Sakuno, you have to listen to me!" Ryoma urgently said.
"But..!"
"Just listen idiot!" Ryoma said forcefully. "I... Something's happened and I've been set up,"
"What? Ryoma? What are you talking about?" Sakuno's voice was confused.
"S-Someone forced me to kill them!" Ryoma forced out, his mind going back to that moment.
"Oh god! Ryoma!" Sakuno's voice was aghast, horrified.
"Someone set me up!" Ryoma said again. The other end of the phone was silent and Ryoma started to feel unsettled.
"Sakuno?" Ryoma said slowly.
"Ryoma…" There was that strange unidentified tone in her voice again and for some reason, it put Ryoma on edge.
"Ryoma, turn on the television," Sakuno whispered. Ryoma paused, frowning. It… sounded like Sakuno was crying. For some reason, Ryoma really really didn't want to turn the tv on. He was afraid of what he would hear.
Tensely, Ryoma slowly grabbed the remote and pushed the 'on' button. Immediately, the television turned on and the news popped up.
"On breaking news," The professional woman stated. "Nine simultaneous attacks on Tokyo have occurred which is believed to be all connected to one another," Ryoma watched unthinkingly until nine photo's arose on the screen and Ryoma jerked back horrified, his face paling.
For it wasn't just his face on that screen that he recognized. All the Seigaku middle school regulars were up there too.
Tezuka, his face just as emotionless as it had been.
Oishi, with his gentle smile and his two bangs hanging down.
Fuji, his smile was there and his eyes were closed like usual.
Eiji with his happy and enthusiastic smile, eyes lit up with excitement.
Inui and his glasses looking just as speculative as ever.
Taka with his sheepish smile.
Kaidoh with his scowl and hissing expression.
Momo with his goofy grin and confident expression.
Lastly, Ryoma recognized himself, with his aloof expression and his 'could care less' stance. Ryoma stood frozen as he looked at his sempai's faces, a new horror threatening to overwhelm him.
"We believe these attacks to all be part of something much bigger," The woman said professionally.
The view changed to show that of a man.
"All these people are connected from middle school as Regular's on the tennis team. We believe that they have kept in contact and banded as a group," The man said. Ryoma felt sick. It wasn't just him that was in trouble. Regardless that they hadn't seen each other in years, he could still remember the friendship that they had shared.
"Unfortunately, none of these people have been caught yet, but it is only a matter of time. Currently, they are Tokyo's biggest threat and a major part of our police force is out there searching for them,"
Ryoma sat down numbly, his hands shaking.
All the regulars were thought to be a criminal group and all of them were in the same situation.
If there was one thing he knew about his old team mates, it was that they were not criminals. He knew, just as they probably all knew….
They had all been set up.
"Ryoma?" Sakuno questioned and Ryoma jerked up, having forgotten about the call to Sakuno.
"It's stupid!" Ryoma said furiously. "Why? Why are we the scapegoats! Why did someone frame us?"
"I-I'm sorry," Sakuno stammered.
"Stupid, it's not like you did anything," Ryoma put his head in his hands but froze as Sakuno didn't respond. Something wasn't right. Then Ryoma heard a very quiet voice in the background of the phone. A man's voice, but he could only hear mumbles.
"Sakuno…?" Ryoma hesitantly asked, a deep feeling of dread starting to make itself known.
"Ryoma… you know I love you, right?" Sakuno's voice was on the edge of crying, yet the unknown tone was back again. Ryoma was about to respond when a faint noise caught his attention.
Sirens.
Ryoma tensed, his body reacting to the fear which had started to rise.
"You know… when you love someone, you want what's best for them," Sakuno was crying and it was only now that Ryoma recognised that underlying tone in her voice.
It was guilt.
Ryoma had always been quick to grasp situations and, listening to his instincts, the man's voice on Sakuno's end of the phone and of the police sirens coming closer and closer, it all made sense.
Sakuno hadn't once believed him.
She had betrayed him.
She had been with the police the whole time… and they had tracked his phone. She had been talking to allow them to track his phone.
She had….
Ryoma could only stare, the betrayal stinging his body.
How could Sakuno…. How could she do this?
"Why?" Ryoma asked hollowly. Sakuno gave a small sob.
"Because I want you to get better," Sakuno whispered softly. "I-I don't want you to hurt anyone else, so… so I had too…"
Ryoma could feel the tears start falling. The one person who he had really believed in… betrayed him.
He had trusted her and no matter what her reasoning was, it was still betrayal.
Before, he had believed he needed Sakuno… but now… as he realized that the regulars were in the same situation as he was in, he knew…. He knew…
That he couldn't give up.
"Ryom…" Ryoma hung up the phone before throwing it across the room in a fit of anger. The sirens were getting much closer now and Ryoma ran to the window just in time to see police cars turn into the street.
Adrenaline hit him and he ran out of the room where he glanced down the stairs only to see police run through the hotel. Heart beating quickly, Ryoma changed directions and started running upstairs frantically, ignoring the shouts of the police below him.
Soon, there was a loud bang as the police bashed down his hotel door but Ryoma didn't look down. He just focused on getting away. Ryoma reached the top of the staircase where he banged open the door to the rooftop and frantically looked around for an escape route.
Dread rose up in him before he spotted a a ladder and without thinking, Ryoma ran over to it and looked down. The ladder went down till there was a metal stair case where it then stopped as it reached the ground of an alleyway.
Ryoma quickly grabbed hold of the ladder where he climbed down quickly before jumping onto the staircase and made the rest of the way down fairly easily. A shout from above snapped Ryoma's head up only to see a few policeman up there, one making his way down, the others running back the way they came, probably calling for the others in their team.
Ryoma wasted no time as he ran into the darkness of the alleyway, blindly hoping he would be able to get out.
What was he to do? Where should he go? Ryoma wondered faintly as he turned a corner.
It was a hopeless situation.
He couldn't trust anyone… not anymore… not after Sakuno…
A sudden thought hit Ryoma as he continued to run.
The only people he could trust would be the people in the same situation. That should be the first step, afterwards, they could figure out what to do.
His old friends, his team mates, the regulars….
None of them as of yet had been captured, so he knew that they must all be somewhere in Tokyo as well.
The only problem would be to find them… and he was sure that they would be thinking the same as well.
The obvious place would be Seigaku middle school, but that was way too obvious. There would most likely be policemen all around that area. He hoped the others realized that as well. Some of them like Eiji and Momo were not the smartest of people…yet Ryoma supposed he couldn't really say that, after all, they had managed to avoid being caught.
Ryoma paused as he realized that he was heading out of the alleyway and onto the main streets. Frowning, Ryoma pulled his hood up and casually walked out onto the street in a fast pace, glancing around to try and see if there were any policemen around. It seemed he was finally in luck. No police were around and only a few other people were on the streets at this time of night.
That was good, but Ryoma knew he needed to gain more space between the cops and himself.
So he walked… and he walked. Anytime he heard anything that sounded like a car, he would either duck into a hiding spot or act casual, with his hoody pulled up so they couldn't see his face.
Thinking back on where to find the other regulars, Ryoma frowned in thought.
Where would they all go to meet up? Where was a place where the others would go that would be moderately safe?
Ryoma frowned before his mind only came up with two solutions, yet both of these solutions he had no idea if all his team mates knew about them.
The first was Eiji's and Oishi's spot, on top of a metal box which was on top of a hill. That would most likely be the place both of them would go if they hoped to meet up.
The other was along the river where Kaidoh used to practice his swings. He had seen him there a numerous amount of times and he was sure others had as well.
Unfortunately, Ryoma had no idea if everyone knew of these places, but it was the only option left open to him if he wanted to even speculate on meeting the others.
Which one should he go to though?
Ryoma pulled out a coin from his pocket mentally thinking 'Tails- Oishi's and Eiji's meeting spot', and 'Heads- Kaidoh's spot,'
With a quick flick, Ryoma's coin went up into the air spinning quickly before landing in the palm of his hand.
Ryoma closed his eyes tensely before opening them and glanced down at the coin.
Tails.
Looks like he would be going to Eiji's and Oishi's old meeting place.
*&*&*Ryoma&*&*&*
Well, I hope this is okay! Review please if you like it!