DANCE OF DESTINY

Destiny is not a matter of chance; but a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, It is a thing to be achieved.

-William Jennings Bryan

CHAPTER 4

"Didn't I tell you to hide within the secret room whenever … things like this turn up." Ryoma's voice reverberated across the room as she strode forward and helped Ryoga up onto a nearby chair.

"I… the room…" Ryoga stuttered, still trying to recover himself from the frightful experience while his mind tried to think of a plausible excuse in his shocked state.

"Seriously, don't tell me you have forgotten how to activate the door!" Ryoma glared at him as she started demonstrating, then yelped in surprised as the wall slided to reveal its inhabitants, all of which were staring at her.

"You guys?" Her golden orbs widened as she took in the sight before her, the smell of used devil powers invoking her senses.

"… Ryoma?" Tezuka was the first to break the silence. "Since when did you possess such powers?"

"… Since I was borned."

As all of them sat within a circle in Ryoma's messed up living quarters, each silently sipping their drinks and waiting for Ryoma to start her explainations, Ryoma's head started to throbbed.

For one, they weren't suppose to find out her identity this fast. Yes, it was her fault, her miscalculation that had caused this, but seriously how was she supposed to know that they would barge into her house like this so suddenly. For two, this meant that they were dragged into trouble along with her. They weren't suppose to see anything, know anything, be in anything related to her. Knowing them, once the full story was out, they would no doubt foolishly run straight into trouble. For three, it didn't take a genius to know that some had taken this revelation rather badly, like Yukimura for instance. And it spelt big trouble for her.

"Alright, let's get this straight. I'm a seeker. Not a normal human, not a devil, but a seeker. Is that clear?" Ryoma stated. And before anyone could break her train of thoughts, she continued.

"And I work as a sort of agent to destroy the fallen devils, which you have all seen just know."

"What is that 'fallen devils' thing?" Kikumaru enquired.

"Basically fallen devils are devils who, erm… due to some reason, have gone crazy and start attacking people? I don't know. Wait. I'll get Rin to come and explain to you guys, she's better at all these things anyway. So, skipping that question, what else do you want to know?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Fuji finally asked the dreaded question that rendered Ryoma speechless. It was also the biggest question everyone had in mind at that moment.

"… Would it help? Even if I told you all, that is."

"Didn't you trust us? Why? We trusted you!"

"It's not so simple as to whether or not I trust you. Those guys are dangerous! Do you even know how helplessly weak you guys are?"

To Yukimura, who was already angry and aggravated that he was tricked by this female, who in his opinion abused his trust, the mere declaration of them, him being weak was the last straw for him. For once the beast within his took over his logical being and in a flash he pounced on Ryoma, his aura flooding the entire room.

There was instant chaos. The rest of the devils, fearing for Ryoma's life, tried their best to tear Yukimura off Ryoma, Ryoga was screaming, Yukimura was roaring, his conscious mind had yet to kick into action, and only Ryoma seemed to be unfazed. She was shocked at his suddenly loss of control, but she didn't appear to be afraid.

"I'll kill you. I'm not weak!" Growled Yukimura as his hands flashed dangerously across her neck. Yes, he would show her who was the weaker of them two.

"You don't need to kill her to show that you're strong." A foreign voice invaded, and before anyone could respond a blast of silver aura pried Yukimura off Ryoma and restrained him like a straitjacket.

The devils looked upwards to find a girl of around Ryoma's age staring emotionlessly at them, her black hair tied back into a long ponytail. Finally those silver casted eyes landed on Ryoma with mirth as Ryoma impassively picked herself off the ground.

"Rin." She acknowledged.

"You have a new task." Rin simply stated. A glance and a smirk was all it took for both to understand each other's wordless request and thoughts. Ryoma sighed in relieve.

"I'm out. Ask her to explain." Ryoma stated as she jerked a thumb in Rin's direction, before leaving the house.

No one tried to stop her. Rin seated herself onto the floor before she retrieved her aura back to herself. "Are you finally calm?" She questioned Yukimura, and received no response. Shrugging, she glanced at the crowd, drawing their attention to her before she started telling them the entire story.

As all have known, humans with devil like powers were termed as seekers. Even among the seekers, there were different ranking of the powers. Most of these seekers possess weak or basic powers, which could aid them in daily life, but could not be put to use in actually combat. Then there were a bunch of seekers who possess combat fitting powers, which are much stronger and can be used to fight and protect oneself. Out of which, only a handful of them are well trained.

Both Ryoma and Rin belonged to an organisation that trained this group of powerful seekers to control and master their powers. Over time, extremely powerful seekers could then master a skill that is uniquely theirs. These handful of seekers are then sent on different missions.

It was once rather peaceful, and missions had usually include the capture of evil devils that were on the run, or to control devils who had lost control of their own powers. However, recently it seemed as though a new problem had surfaced.

The beings known as fallen devils came into existance. A new evil being had come into existance. Using the devils' wish to become more powerful, it tapped on the darkness within the devils to turn the devils into mindless power sucking killers that would attack any being with powers to absorb the power into their body. It was no longer like the evil devils, these fallen devils were undaunted by death, driven only by their hunger for more power, thus making them extremely dangerous and powerful. After all, one that had abandoned the fear of death had nothing to hold them back.

The pulsing embryo that they all sighted was like a drug that only served to hasten the speed of them falling into darkness. And it had became Ryoma's and her job to destroy these creatures before more people are hurt.

Both were instructed not to let anyone know of their powers, as it would only make them more expose to danger. Partially it was to protect oneself, and the other, to protect those around them.

"But how would this protect us?" Marui asked.

"Simple. When we show our powers, our aura rubs off onto you, and this attracts those fallen devils to consume you and your powers. By not showing our powers before you, it decreases the chance of you being attacked. Ryoma cares about you guys very much, even though she doesn't show it."

"Care? She's just a thieving sly woman who is no different from the rest!" Snorted Yukimura as he exited the room, leaving everyone behind. He was furious, angry at the fact that for an instant he had almost believed in her. After all, all these about protecting them, it was just a lie wasn't it? She had no intention of protecting them at all, and approached them by acting weak and human. He felt betrayed.

A pair of watchful eyes stared at him as he made his way out.

I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS, but I do own the story :D

I haven't updated for a long time, and for that I apologise. I was preparing for my O levels, which is over by now, and afterwards I was in this state of euphoria that I almost forgot about the story! Thankyou for reminding me! Anyway, this is a short chapter, cause actually I'm at a loss of how to continue the story. You know sometimes you plan out how the start and the end goes, but in between you have writer's block. I'll see how! But once again a very big thankyou to all those that are still reading this and supporting me! ^^

Comments are most welcome, and I don't really mind flames if they come with constructive comments. Do tell me what you think of this story I would love to hear words of encouragement and compliments if you find this to your liking. Of course, I mean who doesn't? And comments on how to improve my writing would be nice too!

Life Destiny