"Hey guys." Ryoma said with a grin as he closed his laptop.

"Skyping Rikkaidai?" Shiraishi asked curiously.

"Yeah. Renji-nii and Akaya-nii, not to mention the other Rikkai members, get worried if they don't hear from me so I'm supposed to Skype them at least once a day." Ryoma said, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

Shitenhouji exchanged amused looks and Kintarou glomped Ryoma.

"Koshimae! Buchou wants to play a match with you and I want to do our one-point match. Can we, please?" Kintarou asked from on top of Ryoma. They had both fallen on the floor when Kintarou had jumped Ryoma.

"Perhaps if you will quit straddling me so I can get off the floor." Ryoma said blandly. Kintarou looked down at their bodies and flushed when he noticed that he was indeed straddling Ryoma's hips.

"Sorry Koshimae!" Kintarou said with a laugh before getting up and giving Ryoma a hand up.

"I'll grab my racket and meet you guys at the courts." Ryoma said with a sigh. The others agreed and left the room, which also happened to be the nurse's office as he had not had a chance to get an actual room.

"So Keigo and his team are behind me, but I wonder who will not be. There is no way that everyone will believe me so who will it be?" Ryoma asked himself as he lifted his racket from his bag. With a sigh, he cast away all thoughts of who would or would not believe him and centered himself as he made his way to the courts.

"Which would you like to do first?" Ryoma asked coolly when he walked in the courts.

"We figured that it would be easier for you and Kin-chan to have your match before we have our match." Shiraishi said. "If that meets your approval?"

"Che whatever." Ryoma muttered, adjusting his cap lower over his eyes and moving off to stretch his muscles out. Kintarou grinned and laughed happily before taking his position on the other side of the net, already stretched.

"You can serve Koshimae!" he called over the net.

Ryoma sighed quietly and went to the serving position. He bounced the ball a few times before throwing it high and jumping, smacking the ball so it whizzed through the air.

"There's the Twist Serve." Zaizen said with a small smile as they heard Kintarou gushing over the serve while he returned it.

"Wow Koshimae! Your Twist Serve has gotten quicker! Its angle is sharper too!"

"I've had a lot of time to practice since we last played Kintarou." Ryoma explained in a slight monotone as he easily returned the ball over the net.

"Shall we pick up the pace? Give my team a little show, ne?" Kintarou asked with a full-blown grin stretched across his face.

"An." Ryoma agreed with a matching grin, though his had a lot more mischievousness in it, not to mention the wicked gleam in his eyes. They began hitting the ball to the deep corners each time with a speed that Eiji's keen eyes would have had trouble following. Ryoma was using his special Split Step and Kintarou was utilizing most of the gymnastics moves he knew to keep the ball in front of him.

"Look at how fast they are going! Cool!" Kenya breathed, hardly believing that someone could play tennis that fast. It was inconceivable and he would not have believed it had he not been watching it; hell, he was having a hard time believing it and he was standing there watching.

The match hit the 30 minute mark and Ryoma was beginning to lose himself in the feeling of playing tennis, the motions, and the rhythmic thwack of the ball on the concrete.

"You're worthless."

Ryoma faltered a step, allowing the ball to almost get passed him before hurriedly lunging for it and sending it back over the net.

"Koshimae?" Kintarou asked in concern. He had seen Ryoma falter and was really worried. Ryoma never faltered in his Split Step.

"I'm fine…just stumbled on a small rock." Ryoma reassured, trying to cast the thought from his head.

"We only used you to take the National Championship from Rikkaidai."

Ryoma hit the ball a little too hard and it landed right on the baseline on Kintarou's side. Kintarou felt his worry increase a notch; Ryoma never hits the ball out.

Ryoma shook it off once again and narrowed his eyes when Kintarou came up to the net. He prepared to lob the ball and concentrated so it would land right in front of the baseline.

"Why would anyone want to be friends with a pathetic worm like you? You are unworthy of love or friendship."

Ryoma lurched to a stop and he watched the ball land in front of his feet with glazed eyes. He stared blankly down at his feet, the voices of his ex-team mates echoing in his head. A few tears slipped down his face, unnoticed by all but Kintarou, who was close enough to see underneath his cap.

"Koshimae?" Kintarou asked concernedly. He kept his voice gentle and vaulted the net so he could see what was wrong. He put a comforting hand on Ryoma's shoulder.

"I'm sorry…but I have to go." Ryoma choked out. He shrugged off Kintarou's hand and spun around, running out of the courts and up to the main building as the rest of Shitenhouji's tennis team joined Kintarou on the court.

"What happened? He just stopped." Koharu asked seriously.

"He was crying." Kintarou whispered. "But why…unless…no, that couldn't be. He knows better doesn't he?"

"What?" Chitose asked gently. Kintarou seemed just as distraught as Ryoma had looked when he left.

"Maybe Seigaku affected him more so than I thought. And perhaps they said other things to him than we are aware." Kintarou explained, turning sad eyes on his team.

"You guys had a great match going." Yuuji said, more to break the uncomfortable silence than anything.

"His heart and spirit wasn't in it." Kintarou said. At their blank looks, he elaborated. "Usually he is a lot more fired up than that. His movements are sharper and he never falters. Koshimae never hits on the line and he's usually more talkative than he was today. Something is bothering him."

"Should we go and make sure he is okay?" Gin asked, feeling worry over the teen that Seigaku had hurt so bad.

"No." Chitose said, making his team look at him in shock. "If I was in his place, I would want to be left alone for a little while to sort out some things and let out a few feelings. I wouldn't want people in my face about it all the time. In a few hours, we can go check on him but let's leave him be for now."

"Is that wise? He was a mess when he left here." Zaizen said, looking worriedly at the main building.

"If you want, we can try contacting Rikkaidai and see if they know what Seigaku said to him that has upset him so much that he can't play tennis." Shiraishi said after a moment. "Is that agreeable?"

Looking at one another, the team agreed and they set off for the computer lab to try to contact Rikkaidai. Kintarou felt sick with worry and silently trailed after his team, eyes thoughtful as he tried to figure out a way to help his friend.