disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 2

It had been a strange pair of boys that went from school court to school court, the blonde of the pair always bowing and apologizing while the green haired one just looked on apathetically.

It was even stranger for the recipients of those apologies to see the object of hatred walking calmly along the blonde haired devil that had beaten them all just to get to him. They were curious about it, but none of them dared to approach the well known freshman about it.

The only one daring enough to speak to Echizen was surprisingly a student at Echizen. I saw your match yesterday, well done. What brings you here?" Fuji Yuuta asked friendly. "Looking for a match?"

The friendly grin froze on his lips when cold, blazing golden eyes looked at him.

"Iie, I'm with him." Ryoma nodded into the American's direction.

"That's a surprise; it didn't look like you were friends before."

His only answer was a half-shrug, and then a blonde bundle of energy jumped onto Echizen from behind.

"Finished. Now let's go talk to your parents."

Not even acknowledging the existence of the student, Kevin dragged his rival off. He really wanted the green haired boy to be near him. They were similar in their talent and he just knew that they could catapult each other to as of yet unknown levels of skill.

"Do you think your parents will agree? You haven't been here for long after all. Living arrangements wouldn't be a problem of course. I already called my mother and she said you could live with us; there are enough empty rooms at the mansion. School wouldn't be a problem either, mother has already asked and they'd be delighted to get another star player to attend.

It's a private school, so it will be pretty posh, but we will spend most of the time on the courts anyway, so that won't be a problem, either." Kevin babbled happily. Secretly he wondered how Ryoma had been before the hitting incident. Had he been as silent, as unable to smile? As hard to reach emotionally?

Yes, Kevin wanted his rival to come with him, to get him away from those that had hurt him so badly. He just knew that if Echizen stayed they would damage him further. Seeing how deeply changed the greenhead already was it was frightening to imagine what further damage would incite.

"Anyway, that guy back at he seemed pretty friendly. Who was he?" The guy had seemed harmless and honest. If Ryoma wasn't allowed to leave, perhaps he could steer him into that guy's direction.

"He's a member of their tennis team. He lost to me." was the monotonous answer.

Ryoma's voice still sounded weirdly lifeless.

"A willing victim then." That got him a raised eyebrow. "Well, he'll want a re-match, right? So, you'll still have someone to play with. Actually I bet there are tons of people who burn to play against you. You won't be short of opponents and training partners any time soon, ne?" He nudged Ryoma playfully and was rewarded with a tiny smile in a face that was devoid of life.

Later that night Ryoma was lying on his bed, utterly exhausted. The conversation with his parents had been trying. Since Ryoma adamantly refused to talk about the incident his parents didn't see any reason to let him leave the country just yet. They wanted him to wait at least till he finished this school year before even thinking about it.

He could understand it; they were only acting rationally after all. All they had seen was a new friend, who had publicly sworn to destroy their son in a match, and a childish wish to not part just yet.

They didn't know that just thinking about Seigaku made his mind sink even deeper into the ocean of his soul. He felt physically ill every time he thought about his former team mates. Yes, former team mates, because he had already put his written resignation from the tennis club on Ryuzaki sensei's desk and put his sweater in his shelf in the clubroom.

He would still play; he just wouldn't do so at school. It was as Kevin had said; he wouldn't be short of opponents. The only difference would be the location and he could live with public courts.

It was strange that he felt closer to Kevin whom he had met just two days ago than to any of his former team mates. Then again, they were made of the same wood, so perhaps it wasn't that strange after all. Kevin had known, without asking a single question, what Ryoma had lost that day.

And after thinking about it non-stop for two days straight, Ryoma had finally figured it out, too. It was the child in him that had been broken. It had been as fragile as glass and it had only been ready to come out after he had been accepted and welcomed by the team. It had finally found a parental figure that it could trust and respect, unlike his perverted father and his never present mother.

He had known that it was very fragile and yet, he had been stupid enough to entrust it to the buchou. He had been so glad to finally be accepted, to finally be integrated, that he'd thrown caution in the wind. Yet, here it was, a broken child, broken beyond help.

So, he had come to the decision to revert back into what he'd been before. Only that the child was now non-existent instead of only well hidden.

No one could force him to react, to interact, to speak after all.

And if that didn't help, well, Seigaku wasn't the only school. Kevin had suggested and he trusted the other boy's judgment. The blonde had been dead sure that the guy they'd met there would never let anyone hurt Ryoma again. It wouldn't be too hard to change schools, he was sure he could make his parents agree to that little change, should it become necessary, with little effort.

Well, tomorrow would come soon enough. He'd better get enough sleep, it was sure to be an eventful day after all.

The first sign that not all was right with the Seigaku tennis team was the notable absence of one freshman regular. Echizen never missed training sessions, ever.

While his team mates had speculated that Echizen might be ill, he had had a light fever at the day before yesterday after all, Fuji had noticed a carefully washed and folded sweater in Echizen's shelf. If he was ill, why should he have gone to the trouble of bringing his sweater to the clubroom?

The only others to not speculate on simple illness, he noted, were Tezuka and, surprisingly, Kawamura. Taka, who looked suspiciously reproachful at their buchou. It seemed there was another source besides Tezuka he could wring an answer out of if needed.

Yet, there was no reaction from Tezuka at their freshman's absence that varied from his reaction to anyone's absence. Smile fading Fuji decided to wait till afternoon practice before investigating the issue more closely.

The moment Ryoma entered his class, he was accosted by three curious classmates who asked, no demanded to know about his whereabouts at morning practice. He didn't even look at them.

At lunch he was hunted down by Momoshirou, who asked if he had overslept or was feeling ill. He seemed honestly concerned, too, so, just at the end of lunch time Ryoma said in his lifeless voice: "I quit." Then he walked to his next class, leaving a petrified junior in his wake.

After his last class he made sure to be out of school grounds faster than anyone else. He would go home, collect his rackets and then go to the public courts. Nearly every time he'd been there some members of rival tennis teams had shown up. He was sure today wouldn't be an exception.

Momoshirou practically ran to the clubroom after classes. What Echizen had told him at lunch had been a joke, right? It had to have been a joke. There was no way the Echizen he knew would quit tennis. The boy practically lived of the sport.

The clubroom was still empty and it didn't take him long to discover Echizen's regular sweater, neatly folded in an otherwise empty shelf. Suddenly feeling weak in his knees he sat down on a bench. Thinking back to their lunch conversation, more like monologue he realized now, there had been no joking tone in Echizen's voice. There hadn't been anything in the freshman's voice. And the younger boy hadn't looked at him even once.

"Oh god, it wasn't a joke. It wasn't." he murmured.

"What wasn't a joke, Momo?" asked an entering Eiji.

Momoshirou looked up, shock still evident in his eyes and voice. "Echizen."

"Ochibi? Was he at school? Did he oversleep? And I was so worried that he was ill, too!"

"Eiji."

"Well, where is he? Don't tell me he thinks if he misses both practices everyone will think he was ill and he won't be punished, nyah."

"Eiji!"

"What?"

"He wasn't ill and he won't be coming to practice. He quit."

"Whaaaat?!"

While Eiji was still in shock, Momoshirou left the room, moving like an old man. He didn't want to believe it either, but Echizen wouldn't lie. He could only wait for Tezuka-buchou and Ryuzaki-sensei. Those two would know.

Just as the other regulars arrived, Eiji came out of the stupor and screamed: "Ochibi quit?"

At the astonished look on the others' faces Momoshirou tiredly closed his eyes. He wouldn't say one more word till Tezuka-buchou or Ryuzaki-sensei were there to either deny or confirm Echizen's claim. He still wasn't sure what he'd do when they confirmed it though. The arrogant younger had become dear to him.

Tezuka didn't know what to make of the resignation he had been informed of by Ryuzaki-sensei. He was pretty sure she didn't know either.

Should he tell the others? Or should he just ignore the matter? They had to concentrate on the finals and didn't need this drama. Slowly anger started to burn in him. How immature could one get? How selfish of Echizen to cause such strife when they needed all their concentration for the finals.

He had been right after all. Echizen was still much too immature to play on national level. Well, there wouldn't be an open place in the regulars after this stunt anymore. He would see to it.

It didn't help his anger that all the regulars were still loitering in front of the clubroom when he got there.

"What are you doing? Warm up and start practice!" his voice was cutting and curt.

His only answer was a challenging glare out of unusually opened blue eyes and a softly asked question, that wasn't any less cutting than his shouted order had been. "Tezuka, where is Echizen?"

It was highly unusual for Fuji to be so openly confrontational. For some people it had been the last thing they had seen, ever.

"What about him?" he decided to play it safe.

"Did he really quit the tennis club?" there was no giving in the tensai's voice at all, only determination and a thinly veiled fury that hadn't even been fully kindled yet.

"It is true, Ryuzaki-sensei informed me just now. I don't know anything else, so please stop asking questions and continue with your training. We still have finals to play."

Echizen basked in the feeling of freedom he experienced on the public court. He had been playing without a break since he arrived. Just as Kevin had predicted he wouldn't be short of people who wanted to play against him any time soon.

It was after his fourth match that he encountered two of the Fudomine team members, Kamio and Ibu, if he remembered correctly.

"Hi, Echizen! Where is that idiot that usually hangs around you?" greeted Kamio.

"He should still be at practice." he answered tonelessly. Then he looked up at Ibu. "Do you still want a re-match? Those guys need a break before playing against me again."

"Ah, Echizen?" asked Kamio surprised.

"Hm?"

"If the idiot is still at practice shouldn't you be there too? It doesn't look like you're injured, so…"

"Iie, this is my training. I don't play for Seigaku anymore."

"Don't tell me you didn't make the regulars."

"Iie. I quit the tennis club."

Both Fudomine team members stumbled at the news.

"That's a joke, right, Echizen?" Kamio's were wide and his voice wavered unsurely.

"Iie."

Seemingly having decided that their conversation was over, Ryoma moved to one side of the court, patiently waiting for Ibu to move to the other one.

"I don't care about that…at least I can play against him now…I wonder what happened…they don't have a chance without him…someone should tell Tachibana-san…he seemed to like that Fuji character…"

Taking his cue from Ibu's ramblings, Kamio took his cell phone out and called his buchou. Trouble seemed to brew for one of their strongest opponents in the finals after all.

TBC