AN: YAY! Now I know why so many people love getting reviews. You people are awesome. Thanks so much for your encouragement. This chapter might answer a few questions about Ryoma's condition. But, it won't answer all of them, where would be the fun in that? XD Oh yeah, if the characters start to seem to OOC please tell me. It could take away from the story, so I want to avoid it if possible. So, yeah, here's chapter 2, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Takeshi Konomi's creations or ideas.


Chapter 2: Decisions

"Where am I?" Ryoma asked the darkness that enveloped him. "Oh wait, I remember, Momo hit me in the face." The freshman's thoughts moved around sluggishly. "Am I going to die?" he asked himself. He wasn't sure why he would die, it was just one punch. I'm a healthy teen, he reminded himself, just barely a teen at thirteen, but a healthy one nonetheless. But, he asked himself, do I even want to live anymore? What's the point? I know I'm not good enough to be who everyone expects me to be. My life is, has been, and will always be one big failure. A part of his mind protested at these morbid thoughts, but they hardly registered as Ryoma began to convince himself that he wasn't worth anything and no one would miss him.

He heard voices echo in his mind. "Mada mada daze, Chibisuke!" That voice belonged to Ryoga. Another familiar voice spoke up. "Mada mada daze, Seishounen." This one belonged to Echizen Nanjiroh, ex-pro and father to both Ryoma and Ryoga.

That's right, Ryoma reminded himself. I'll always just be "mada mada."


The regulars converged at the reception desk at in the emergency room. They frantically asked the receptionist where their kouhai was. The barrage of questions frightened the woman as she backed away from the teens.

"Minna! Calm down and be quiet!" roared Tezuka. The other regulars, as one, silenced themselves immediately. The captain went up to the desk. "Excuse me, could you tell me where Echizen Ryoma is currently being held?" The receptionist quietly nodded, relief evident on her face.

"Umm…Oh! Here it is! Echizen Ryoma, room 231A. That'll be on the fourth floor. The elevators are over there," she gestured. "When you reach the right floor, follow the signs to find his room."

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Tezuka replied. "To the elevators! But, be quiet, we're in a hospital and we don't want to disrupt the doctors."

The regulars quickly ran to the elevators, pressed the button and waited. One of the doors slid open, and the eight tennis players rushed in. Thankfully, there was no one else currently in said elevator. As they waited, elevator music quietly playing, they looked at each other. Each teen was just as nervous as the others; all of them wondering whether their precious little kouhai would be okay. The doors opened yet again, and the regulars sprinted toward their destination. However, they were stopped by a nurse right outside the room.

"I'm sorry, but Echizen Ryoma is currently in no condition to see visitors, you'll have to leave and come back later," she said.

"No way!" Momoshiro yelled. "We're getting in there to see Echizen." The others nodded their agreement.

They continued to argue. The nurse realized that she had no chance of dismissing the anxious teens.

"Fine, you may enter his room. However, the doctor is still performing tests, so the curtain will be drawn around Echizen-san's bed. Please be quiet," she said, finally relenting to their persistent pleas. The regulars readily agreed.

As they tiptoed into the room, astonishment was evident on their faces. Even with the curtain drawn, there were several beeping machined recording data. They listened as the doctor performed some tests on Ryoma. Then, the doctor pulled the curtain open, flinching in surprise when he saw the unexpected visitors. He tilted a head toward the freshman, a signal to finally look at their kouhai. They gasped in unison.

Ryoma's face was extremely pale, his lips bluish-gray. However, he seemed to be stable and sleeping peacefully. The doctor then gestured toward the monitor displaying heart rate and brain activity. Fear gnawed at the regulars as they turned their heads. Ryoma's heartbeat was currently at a very low 20 beats per minute. His brain activity level was almost non-existent, a very bad sign. A small whimper was heard from the back. As one, their eyes flicked toward the sound. The sight surprised them.

Momoshiro was sobbing silently, tears coursing down his cheeks. His eyes showed the horrible guilt he was feeling. Although he did his best to keep his grief silent, there were some points when it was too unbearable, hence the small whimper. Eiji put a comforting arm around the junior, steering him out of the room. This mature action from the hyperactive acrobat almost surprised them as much as Momo's sudden weakness. The doctor made a slight cough, effectively regaining the attention of the remaining regulars. With another gesture, they followed him out of the room and to what they guessed was the man's office.

"Hello, my name is Itoshiko Akina," the doctor began. He paused, seeming to be at a loss for words. "As you saw in Echizen-san's room, the situation is far from positive. From my preliminary tests, I have deduced that your friend is currently in a coma." This statement evoked several gasps. "However, if he fights to return to consciousness, he should come to in a matter of hours. On the other hand, if he isn't so enthusiastic about returning to the world of the living…he could die. But this is the worst case scenario," he ensured them, seeing panicked expressions on all but Tezuka's face.

"If I could ask a question," Fuji began. He continued with a nod in the affirmative, "How could something as simple as a punch to the face cause such a drastic reaction?"

"Ah, as to that, I have pinpointed that to three possible causes. The first is that I believe Echizen-san's jaw is broken," his statement again forced some of the regulars to take a few deep breaths. "The second," he continued, "is the possibility that Echizen-san has a medical disorder that would produce such an effect—there are several, so I won't bother listing them. The third, final, and—in my honest opinion—major cause, is that Echizen-san has been suffering from some sort of emotional trauma."

"I see. If that is the case, there is a high probability—roughly a 77% chance—that Echizen is currently debating whether or not to continue living," Inui concluded, recording the entire conversation in one of his notebooks.

"Nani?!?" came a frantic voice from the door. "Inui, please tell me you're joking," Eiji pleaded. When the data man slowly shook his head, the senior visibly wilted, on the verge of tears.

"Eiji," Oishi questioned, "where's Momo?"

"I took him down to the cafeteria and bought him a bottle of water and some ice cream. Hopefully, it will calm him down," Eiji replied, a serious look on his face.

"Thank you, Eiji," Tezuka said, "good job." The acrobat muttered a quiet "Sankyuu," suddenly embarrassed.

"Getting back to Echizen-san's condition," Akina continued as the others returned their focus to the matter at hand, "Inui-san is correct. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing we can do, aside from feeding him through tubes if necessary. This is something that Echizen-san must work out on his own. All we can do is wait and hope he returns to us. If you'll excuse me, it appears that Echizen-san's parents are here, and I must discuss some matter with them." With that, he left the regulars to quietly ponder over the situation.


Ten minutes later, Tezuka made the decision to go see Momoshiro. With a little sign-reading, and under Eiji's direction, the group made it to the hospital cafeteria. When they, arrived, however, they were surprised by the fact that the spiky-haired junior was not there. Eiji's keen eyes spotted a piece of paper on the table at which Momo had been sitting. They rushed over without another word. The paper turned out to be a note. Eiji decided to read it out loud.

"Senpai-tachi and Mamushi," Kaidoh made a small, frustrated hiss at the snide remark, "I'm guessing you will come down here after you talk with the doctor. I decided to go home ahead of you guys. I have a lot of things to sort out. Eiji-senpai, thank you so much for the food and the comforting words, they helped a lot. I'll pay you back sometime, even though you probably don't want any payment for your actions. Tezuka-buchou, I apologize, but I probably won't be mentally able to participate in tennis practice for the rest of the week. I hope one of you will call me to tell me about Echizen's current condition. Thanks for everything, Momoshiro." By the end of the note, Eiji's voice had begun to crack.

"Momoshiro brought up a good point," Tezuka stated. "For the rest of the week, tennis practice will be strictly voluntary, and I'm not sure if I will even be there tomorrow." The others wholeheartedly agreed to this decision. "Now, does anyone need any help getting home?" Everyone was fine in that regard.

"I'll stop by Momo's on the way home," Eiji said. "His house is on the way, so it won't be a problem." With that, the regulars headed their separate ways, their thoughts collectively on the super rookie of Seigaku, whom they had begun to see as their little brother.


Eiji stepped out of the bus and looked around, getting his bearings. He turned right and set off looking for the right street. After about ten minutes of searching, he found Momoshiro's street. He followed the road, stopping as he arrived at the right house. The acrobatic tennis player went up the front steps and rang the doorbell. He waited; nothing happened. He rang it again, getting the same result. Puzzled, he knocked on the door, hoping the problem was caused by a faulty doorbell. Again, nothing. Against his better judgment, Eiji tried opening the door. To his surprise, it opened quite easily.

"What's going on?" he muttered as he warily shuffled into the house. Thankfully, Eiji had been to Momoshiro's house before. He carefully made his way to the stairs, glancing backward every so often to make sure no one was following him. As he approached Momo's room, fear struck the tennis player's core. The door was ajar, something that would never happen on a normal day. He ran to his kouhai's room, desperately hoping nothing was wrong. He gasped; his fears had been well founded.

Momoshiro was sprawled out on the floor, a bottle in his hands. Eiji bent down to get a closer look and was only slightly surprised to see it was a bottle of sleeping pills.

"Damn it, Momo, suicide isn't going to make anything better," Eiji growled, trying to remain calm. He pulled out his cell phone and called the emergency number. After giving them the required information, he hung up. He began to dial a new number; this time he was calling Tezuka.

"Tezuka here," came the expressionless voice of Seigaku's captain.

"Tezuka-buchou, we have a problem," Eiji said, the panic rising in his voice.

"Is it about Momoshiro?" Tezuka asked, with a very tinge of fear evident in his voice.

"Yeah. Tezuka-buchou, Momo…tried to kill himself." Eiji replied.

"He did what?" the captain answered, his voice beginning to rise. "Eiji, what happened?"

"I don't know," the acrobat replied in distress. "When I got to Momo's house, no one answered the door. I tried opening it and it wasn't locked. The house was deserted, so I went up to Momo's room to see if he was sleeping or something. When I stepped into his room, I found him on the floor holding a bottle of sleeping pills."

"You did call for an ambulance, correct?" Tezuka asked, responsible as ever Eiji thought.

"Yep. Tezuka-buchou, what are we going to do? This accident with Ochibi is slowly destroying the tennis team."

"…I don't know Eiji. I suppose all we can do is to support our friends in their time of need. Anyway, call Oishi and tell him about Momo. I'll call the others."

"Arigatou, Tezuka-buchou," Eiji replied. "Bye."

"Good bye, Eiji. Thanks for checking on Momo or we wouldn't have been able to help in time." Tezuka hung up. Eiji dialed yet another number; Oishi's this time. Luckily, his partner's number was on speed dial.

"Oishi here," he answered, eerily similar to Tezuka's greeting.

"Oishi, Momo tried to commit suicide," Eiji stated, not wanting to beat around the bush. In retrospect, it was probably not one of his best ideas.

"NANI?!?" Oishi screamed, sounding as though he was about to faint. Eiji pulled away from the receiver, massaging his ear.

"Ne, not so loud Oishi. Yes, he attempted suicide. He's not dead yet, but he's already overdosed on sleeping pills."

"I wonder what's going to happen to the team," Oishi pondered. "It seems like Echizen's situation is slowly destroying the tennis team," he remarked, echoing his doubles partner's words. "Okay Eiji, when the ambulance gets there, ride with Momo to the hospital. The rest of us will join you as soon as we can."

"Okay Oishi. See ya later!" the acrobat said, hanging up.

Eiji sighed as he knelt down next to the unconscious junior. He felt for a heart beat and found one; faint but strong. Momo was also still breathing; a good sign. Then, Eiji heard the siren of the ambulance. He rushed down the stairs and out the door. He waved to direct the driver over to the correct house. The men hopped out of the ambulance.

"Lead on," one of them said. Eiji, not needing to be told twice, ran back to Momoshiro's room, the other two on his heels. They picked Momo up and put him on a stretcher, reminding Eiji of the events that occured earlier this afternoon.

When they got back to the vehicle, Eiji hopped in and sat next to Momo. The ambulance sped off toward the hospital that Eiji had left a mere hour ago.


AN: So, yeah, I've got school for, what, another 3 days? So, with finals and whatever, I might not be able to update for a little while, sorry! So, yeah, again, review if you want to, if you don't it's fine, but they are much appreciated.