Disclaimer: Do not own PoT

Chapter 2: The Old Mission

Now Inoue stood in front of the stone façade of an Egyptian temple. Once they arrived in Egypt they spoke to the British Embassy and to some Cairo journalists. They all said that Tora Tezuka resided in a temple in a town just outside the North Delta region of Tel-El-Basti.

"Inoue-sempai," Shiba came up beside him, staring at the statues that guarded the entrance. Inoue did notice a tabby cat splayed on the ledge at the feet of one of the statues, staring at him intently.

Inoue took a deep breath, "Let's go." It took both Inoue and Shiba's strength to open the stone doors. Once opened they both were taken aback. It lead to a long dim passage, gas filled sconces lighting the way. The walls were lined with hieroglyphics and relief etchings. Shiba fiddled with her camera.

"No, Shiba," Inoue stopped her, "This is a temple. It is not polite to take pictures without permission."

Slowly the made their way down the hall, but stopped when they heard approaching footsteps from the opposite end. A tan-skinned bald man wearing a white drapery wrapped securely around his body like a toga, approached them, "Is there something I can help you with?" The older man looked curious as to why these two strangers were here. "You must excuse the barrenness of this place, a few of our dervishes and priests are absent."

"Do you know where they are?"

The man answered, "They went to Japan."

Inoue felt sick all of the sudden. "Japan? Why? Do you know?"

"They gathered a team to play tennis at the Japanese Invitational."

No way! Inoue and Shiba looked at each other. "Excuse me, but do you know if Tora Tezuka was among them?"

"Tezuka?" the man stared back at them, "Yes, he left with other players…Are you unwell?" He addressed the sudden paleness and discomfort he saw in Inoue. Inoue began sweating profusely and loosened his collar, "No, I just need some water."

"Hmm. Wait here," the man retreated back down the hall. Inoue and Shiba waited in silence, unsure of what to say or how to react. Soon enough the man came back with a basin of water and a ladle.

"Thank you very much," Inoue dipped the ladle in the bowl to scoop some much-needed water out and placed the ladle to his lips.

"Tora…"

Inoue stopped his drinking to hear what the man had to say. "Tora has helped the town by building a tennis court. It provided entertainment for the priests and by having the kids get involved in tennis it reduced their chances at getting involved in drugs or violence."

"Wow, he made a court?" Shiba repeated.

"Courts. And a basketball court. "

Inoue got up and bowed, "I'm sorry for disturbing you, but thank you for the information." He and Shiba both turned to leave but the man caught them with a few more words, "I'd be careful when seeking Tora, though. You have no idea what you are getting into."

**

Nanjiro picked up the ringing phone seemingly annoyed. Ryoma sat at the table with his cousin and mother.

"Yeah what is it?" Nanjiro huffed.

"Nanjiro-kun I have something to ask you," came Ryuzaki-sensei's voice.

Ryoma watched as his father's face grew solemn and he noticed something else in his face. Was it fear? "Yes," his father said sternly. He didn't say anything after that, but hung up after a while. He sat back down with a sigh and noticed his son staring at him. "What are you staring at?" he snapped.

**

It was a mild afternoon at Seishun High School and after a sharp bell rang, hundreds of uniformed students filed out of the school building. Only a few staying behind. Momoshiro Takeshi and Eiji Kikumaru walked to the tennis courts together, thoroughly excited about the new tennis season. Last year, the Seigaku High School regulars took the Nationals by storm. Pro-scouts and University scouts swarmed to see Japan's best at work. Now that Ryoma Echizen his high school career, confidence was high that Seigaku would win the Nationals again.

Momoshiro stopped in his tracks at the girl's court. "What is it Momo?" Eiji asked. Momo was staring at one girl in particular. She was beautiful, Eiji couldn't deny that. The girl was shapely with full lips, green eyes, and long wavy brown hair.

"Oh, her," Eiji shook Momo out of his trance, "She's a transfer student from Italy, I believe. Maria Lucia."

"And boy is she…" Momo whispered. Eiji piched his arm, "An-chan would be furious if she found you ogling another woman. And I'd hate to see what Tachibana would do to you…"

"Alright, I get the point…" Momo groused tearing body away from the fence.

"Well from what I hear Maria is the school trainers' assistant. She helps take care of all sports related injuries. Kaido met her once when he sprained his ankle and he gave her nothing but praise, which is odd…"

"What! Snake-man got to her before me?!"

"Would you focus? Anyway, she's vice captain of the girls' regulars this year. The girls' team is looking good," Eiji patted Momo on the back before sprinting ahead into the locker room. "Let's hurry. Ryuzaki-sensei says she has a surprise for us."

The Regulars did basic warm-up and conditioning that session. Shuichiro Oishi met with the captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka. "Everyone's here, Tezuka-san, Ryoma's doing well as usual and Kaidoh's strength has improved."

Oishi received a silent nod, yet something worried him. Oishi knew not to express his worries to Tezuka. Even if it did involve him.

"Regulars! Gather around!" Coach Ryuzaki's forceful voice called out.

"So Ryuzaki-sensei, what is this 'big surprise' you told us about?" Kikumaru smiled.

"I'm getting to that. Some officials of the Japanese Invitational have contacted me a few days ago. As a reward for winning Nationals they are inviting us all to see the Invitational."

Momo hollered his pleasure, "Alright!" Kikumaru embraced his doubles partner. All of the regulars seemed as excited as their respective personalities would exhibit.

"This is a chance to see tennis pros from all over the world compete," Ryuzaki stated, "Now clean up. Practice is over."

Many of the regulars helped clean up the balls and organize the equipment but Oishi stopped Coach Ryuzaki, "Sensei."

Ryuzaki spun around. "Is there something wrong, Oishi?"

"I'm worried, sensei," Oishi said in an undertone, glancing over at his captain. Tezuka was carrying two baskets of balls to the shed. "Captain Tezuka. He is unwell isn't he."

Ryuzaki's expression became open yet solemn. "I do not think he is sick per se. It could be just fatigue…"

"From what? He has been balancing schoolwork and tennis well, until now. Is there something else?" Oishi did not rule out fatigue or stress. The circles under Tezuka's eyes revealed possible lack of sleep. Anyone else would chalk it up to difficult course work and the responsibilities of the captain of the tennis team. Oishi knew there was something different.

"It is not for me to answer, " Ryuzaki seemed somewhat worn with Oishi's questions. This made him even more uneasy, but did not rebuke. He was excited to tell his family about seeing the Japanese Invitational in a few weeks.

**

It was well past dark, but Maria Lucia remained in the lighted court practicing against the tennis wall. All of her teammates were excused and left a while ago and boys' regulars had left as well. She figured she was alone, and kept her focus on her training. She had little idea that someone else walked by…

"Excuse me," came a deep sharp male voice. Maria stopped, slightly annoyed. "Yes?"

She turned to find a tall young man in the school uniform standing by the fence. He had brown hair and glasses that covered piercing eyes.

"What is it?" she asked as politely as she could force herself to. Who dares to interrupt her training? Once she's in the zone, it's hell to get her out.

"I was going to ask if you could turn off the lights and lock the equipment shed when you finish," the man entered the court. She found that she was shouldering a tennis bag.

"Normally, I would wait for everyone to finish up, but I must return home…" he had very little expression in his face or in his tone.

"I'm sorry for keeping you out so late," Maria apologized half-heartedly. The young man however answered, "It's nothing to worry about Miss…"

Maria looked away from him in slight disdain and embarrassment. She realized that the sweat was soaking her white tee. "Maria Lucia," she said. "And you must be the Tezuka guy everyone's been raving about." She didn't mean to sound so harsh. All the guys she met at this school were all he same. Ogling over her like she were some exotic dancer. She took small pride in creating an opening in the boy's expression that led her to believe that she was correct about his identity.

"Well, I'd admit you are kind of cute, but your reputation precedes you," her hands were on her hips, "It seems you are just as unsmiling as they say." She took another glance at this Kunimitsu Tezuka and she noticed something. "Are you okay? You don't look so good-" she reached up to touch his face but he backed away. "Wow you are paranoid," Maria murmured, crossing her arms. Tezuka held out some keys, "Here are the keys." Maria took them with a smile before holding out her hand, "Thank you. It's been nice meeting you, Tezuka-kun." He hesitantly took her hand, "The honor was mine, Lucia-san."

Maria stared at Tezuka's back as he walked away, thinking about how good it felt meeting a guy who didn't act like a pervert towards her. In fact, Kunimitsu Tezuka, acted like a true gentleman.

**

Tezuka stepped off the train and started his route home. He got to the familiar desolate sidewalk that he would take to his house. At first he didn't notice the three to four cats all sitting in a row along a wall ledge that separated the street from the forest and few homes. A sharp 'meow' got his attention. He stared up at the cats, mainly the black and silver one in the middle. Its unblinking yellow eyes stared back at him, seemingly interested. In his mind he knew it was odd to see a group of adult cats together. He had little choice in deciding what he should do. The silver and black cat was too well groomed for it to be a common stray.

Tezuka followed his judgment and continued walking, but he found the cat walking beside him along the ledge. Tezuka was not one to be surprised easily but this case was different. The cat wanted something, but what?

A/N: Yep. Some OC character. I don't plan on her being a major character. This story is more or less about Tezuka's journey through hell. Or is it? Who knows what will happen. The title of this chapter is a song from Hurt. I am going to use a lot of their songs as chapter titles, mainly because they are so damn good and I listened to some of their songs while writing the draft. Please Review!