Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

Lady Monozuki: I apologize for not updating in a long while. Gomen! Thank you everyone for reading! Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Lost

Ryoma groaned, wishing that he could just fall back asleep so he would not have to suffer with the pain that tormented his entire body. He had only been here for a week and already, everything had gone wrong. What made it all worse was that he had no idea why he was even in here. He could not recall ever breaking the law. So what had he done to deserve this pain? He could not come up with an answer. It was frustrating that he had to suffer this and could do nothing in order to prove that he was innocent. He shifted slightly and let out a hiss.

Right now, he wanted to curl up on his bed and sleep the rest of the day away, not lie here in silent suffering in a cell that cut him off from the outside world. He could not call someone and the guards had left him food, but did not speak to him. He had barely managed to crawl toward the tray without throwing up. There was no one that he could rely on here and no one he could trust outside of his family to help him get this through this. There was no one who understood what he had been through in the small period of time he was in prison. Even if he could explain it to them, they would not be able to feel how much pain he was in.

All he could do was wait and hope that the day where he could get out of this hellhole would come soon. There was a very good chance that he might be in solitary confinement from now until his release. That was, if he was released. He hated to think on the negative side of things. However, he did not feel as though he had much hope to hold on to considering that he had been on the receiving end of everything bad. He tried to hold back tears. He thought that he could not cry anymore, but apparently he was wrong.

He hated feeling so pathetic and crying so much. It was so uncharacteristic of him. He was always a strong person on the tennis courts, but this was something that he did not know how to deal with. He was alone. It reminded him of the time when playing with Yukimura and he was robbed of all his senses. He was confused at first and had allowed himself to stumble. He overcame that though, but now…now, he was not so certain that he could.

--

Fuji looked at the person sitting across from him. He was silently thanking the gods that they had placed the one person he was certain he could pry information out of in front of him. What confused him, however, was the fact that he had ran into that person in front of the Echizen household. He wondered what business the "Great" Atobe Keigo had with the Echizens.

From the looks of things, though, he would soon find out. He let his smile grow. This was going to be interesting. It would only be a matter of time before the diva revealed what he was hiding. There were hundreds of scenarios floating through his mind as to how he could pry the information. He discarded most of them due to the fact that they required kidnapping the billionaire and he certainly did not want to spend the rest of his life in jail.

"You look happier than normal, Atobe."

"How would you know?"

"Because, you're smiling a lot more than usual," he commented. "Most of the time you strut around with a smirk on your face. However, you're smiling, which is an indication that you are extremely pleased about something that happened."

"Ore-sama do not know what you are talking about."

"Could this have anything to do with Tezuka ending his relationship with Echizen?" he pressed.

"Why do are you so eager to find out?"

Interesting.

"You did not answer my question. However, I get the feeling that you did in your own way. Now, why are you at the Echizen's?"

"Ore-sama have something to do here. Why are you here?"

"I came by to see what progress has been made on getting Ryoma out of prison."

"Ore-sama am working on that. Don't worry, the brat will be released by the end of the week."

Fuji opened his eyes. Interesting, why would Atobe take an interest in this case? This was certainly news to him. He had to wonder why the diva would even bother. From what he understood, Echizen and Atobe were rivals. So why would Atobe even lift a finger to help the other?

Perhaps it was because Atobe did not want to lose an important rival? Or perhaps it was because there was another reason behind this gesture. Whatever the reason, he had a feeling that he was close to finding out. He smiled. He loved being right.

"So, why do you want to help Echizen get out of prison? I doubt it's for some noble cause as you would want others to believe."

"What are you hinting at?"

"I think it's fairly obvious that I am saying that you are only bothering to help because you are gaining something out of all of this."

"Be careful what you accuse people of. Some are not as forgiving as Ore-sama."

"Of course," he muttered. "I should be going. Give my best to Tezuka and tell him that I thought he was better than this."

I won't forgive you, Tezuka. I backed off because I thought that you would take care of Ryoma. It seems as though I was wrong.

--

"I cannot do anything to stop Fuji from prying into our relationship, Atobe."

"Kunimitsu, we're together now, you can call me Keigo."

As true as that was, he could not bring himself to call Atobe by his first name. Not when he still felt so strongly about Ryoma, it was almost saying that Ryoma was no longer important to him. He would not do that, even if they were technically "over".

He sighed. Why did he throw it all away?

It's too late now. He'll hate you forever.

To be continued…