A/N: Hiya guys! I'm back again! Sorry it took so long to update. . I've been really busy and I was at Zenkaikon all last weekend. It was awesome though so it's all good. So I would like that thank EVERYONE for reviewing, you all gave me a lot of motivation to keep going with the story. And now I present to you chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, sadly.


Ryoma glanced at Fuji again. He couldn't get the way Fuji had acted that morning out of his head, and it was making tennis practice much less enjoyable than it should have been. After hitting yet another ball out, Ryoma stomped off to get some water. He poured it over his head, trying to sort through his thoughts.

Everyone had reacted in different degrees of surprise when they saw his face. Tomoka had taken one look at him and gone ballistic. One other reaction Ryoma had particularly noticed was Tezuka's. Tezuka had looked like he had already known, but his eyes darkened when he saw Ryoma. Had Fuji told him? Maybe. Fuji and Tezuka were quite close, as far as Ryoma knew, but it didn't explain why they were both so distressed from his injury. He would just have to deal with it until everything went back to normal.


Ryoma walked out of the changing rooms, headed home after practice.

"Echizen."

Ryoma stopped, his eyes warily pinpointing where the voice had come from. Fuji walked towards Ryoma from where he had been standing, waiting for Ryoma.

"Fuji-sempai. What do you want?"

"To talk."

"We can talk another time."

"No."

Ryoma glared at Fuji. After a minute he gave up the fruitless endeavor and said, "Well I'm on my way home. We can talk on the way there."

Fuji smiled, glad that he had gotten what he wanted so easily, and walked beside Ryoma as they headed off of the school grounds. Fuji was content to simply stare at Ryoma as they walked.

Ryoma, unnerved by his intense stare, snapped, "So what did you want to talk about?"

For a moment, it seemed like Fuji had not heard him, then he replied, "I have one question I want to ask you." His eyes burned with and unreadable emotion. "Why didn't you ask us for help?"

"I had no reason to."

Fuji stopped walking. "Like hell you didn't. Someone was hurting you, and I think they still are. The entire team is worried about you. Did you think that no one would notice?"

Ryoma flinched at Fuji's anger, sadness clouding his eyes. "It's just that... none of you would be able to help," he muttered, not meeting Fuji's eyes.

"We would have found a way."

Fuji embraced Ryoma, tightening his hold when Ryoma began to struggle.

"Ryoma."

Ryoma froze in surprise at the use of his first name.

"Ryoma... I won't make you tell me now. I can wait until you're ready to tell me what happened. But until then, just remember this."

Fuji tilted Ryoma's head back, and their faces were inches apart. Ryoma stared at Fuji, surprise and confusion written across his face. Then Fuji tenderly kissed Ryoma, letting his emotions run through the kiss, showing Ryoma the love he had for him.

Slowly Fuji broke the kiss, warmth in his eyes. Releasing Ryoma, he stepped back, saying, "Don't wait too long, Ryoma." He walked away, leaving a stunned Ryoma in the middle of the sidewalk, a vast array of emotions churning through him.


Ryoma walked into his house, greeted by Karupin, his cat. No one else was home. His dad was probably at the temple, reading dirty magazines. Ryoma's mom had died a few years before he entered Seigaku. But his dad had gotten remarried at the beginning of the year. She was at work, and wouldn't get back for a few hours.

Ryoma stumbled to his room and fell onto his bed, letting his emotions overtake him. Karupin meowed worriedly, jumping up to sniff Ryoma's face. Ryoma didn't respond, his mind filled with what had happened. The kiss kept replaying in his mind. Fuji's lips had been soft and warm, and it had felt almost... good. No! If she ever found out about it, Ryoma knew he would never see the light of day again. Ryoma flinched involuntarily, his hand reaching up to touch the scar on his face. He had to make sure that she never found out. He would have to act like nothing had happened. If he could do that, then he could live through everything else.

Ryoma pushed his thoughts about what the kiss actually meant to the back of his mind. He would be able to figure that out later. Ryoma finally noticed Karupin pawing at his shirt. He picked her up, reassuring her, "It'll be ok Karupin," then he muttered to himself, "Or at least I hope it will be."

Suddenly, the phone rang, obnoxiously loud in the silent house. Ryoma jumped, then moved to pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Ryoma-kun. Is your... mother there?" The voice was female, and it sounded almost... menacing.

Ryoma shivered. "No I'm sorry but she's not here right now."

"... That's too bad. I'll try again some other time then."

The line went dead. Ryoma stared at the phone, a sense of dread filling him as he thought about that poisonous voice.


For a week after that day, Ryoma avoided Fuji at school and tennis practice, making up excuses to be somewhere else whenever they met face to face. The strange woman called again, but Ryoma's stepmother had gone on a trip to visit some old friends, and wouldn't be back for a while. With her gone, Ryoma allowed himself to remember what had happened in the middle of the sidewalk with Fuji.

This was exactly what he was pondering while he was walking through the hallway at school when he turned the corner and crashed into none other than Fuji himself.

"Ryoma." Fuji caught hold of Ryoma's arm to steady him. "Are you ok?"

Ryoma jumped back from the sudden touch, blushing furiously. "I'm fine, Fuji-sempai."

Fuji's smile widened. "Good."

"Uh. I-I need to go now... to, uh..." Ryoma stuttered, trying to make his escape.

"Ryoma." Fuji's tone became serious, although he was still smiling.

"You shouldn't call me that." Ryoma's face was beet red, his thoughts focused on how Fuji's lips had felt on his.

"And why shouldn't I?" Fuji's eyes snapped open and he took a step forward, staring directly into Ryoma's eyes.

Ryoma stared dazedly back into Fuji's clear blue eyes. He had never noticed how beautiful they were. "Well, that's because-"

"Did you already forget last week?" Fuji interrupted Ryoma mid-sentence.

"N-No."

"Then you already know how I feel. That is my reason for calling you 'Ryoma' instead of 'Echizen'."

"Wait... You really weren't messing with me?" Ryoma's eyes widened.

"Everything I said and did that day was the truth, Ryoma."

"Oh... uh..." Ryoma's mind raced. If that was true, then that meant...

Fuji leaned closer, and Ryoma was still, waiting. Then Fuji sighed, taking a step back. "I'm still waiting for your response, Ryoma." He walked away. Ryoma wanted to shout, to tell him not to go, but he couldn't, because he knew that if he did, then both of them would be hurt.


Fuji leaned casually on Tezuka's desk. He thought that he would go to see Tezuka after seeing Ryoma. Tezuka looked up, annoyance written across his face. His annoyance faded when he saw that it was Fuji who had disturbed him.

"Syuu. What's up?"

"I think my plan is coming along quite nicely," Fuji said, smiling widely.

"Are you going to tell me any of the details?" Tezuka questioned, one eyebrow raised.

Fuji was smug. "No I don't think I will."

Tezuka sighed. "I might be happier not knowing what exactly you are doing."

"Oh don't worry. I haven't done anything too drastic." Fuji stood. "I'm sure our Ryoma will open up soon." He walked away, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Fuji's last comment made Tezuka fell slightly worried. After all, their definitions of drastic were very different. It hadn't escaped his attention that Ryoma had been avoiding Fuji. He sighed heavily. He would just have to trust that Fuji wasn't driving Ryoma farther away.


Ryoma was walking home after tennis practice, thinking about what Fuji had said. Fuji had been serious, and that made Ryoma secretly happy. His admirance of Tezuka and Fuji had always bordered on the forbidden. But to find out that Fuji actually felt that way about him, made Ryoma feel as though he could cross that line. But he couldn't, not if he didn't want anyone to get hurt. Ryoma smiled sadly. It appeared that Fuji was the forbidden fruit. The fruit that looked so delicious, was so close yet at the same time so far away.

Ryoma sighed tiredly, walking up to the front door of his house. He opened the door and walked inside, closing the door behind him. Ryoma looked around. Karupin was nowhere to be seen, which was very strange. She always greeted him as soon as he got home, unless...

"Hello, Ryoma."


Mwahahahaha. I'm evil aren't I? Anyways, how was it? Please review and tell me what you think! I'll try to put up the next chapter within two weeks so keep an eye out for it!