Ryoma sat in the small, white room of the doctor's office. As the doctor walked in, Ryoma looked up in anticipation. The news he was going to receive would change the rest of his life.

"Your speech has slightly improved, but you're still lacking the ability to function like you once did. You're no longer reacting to things as fast as you used to. From what we can see, you'll never play tennis again," the doctor wrote some notes on a piece of paper. "You should give up on it. Maybe you can find a different hobby…like collecting stamps."

"What?" Ryoma was confused by the doctor's words. "Can't I learn? Can't you make me better?"

"It's impossible. Give up. It's not worth fighting any longer. You'll just get yourself hurt."

"I can't just give up!" tears began to form in the young boy's eyes. His emotions were taking over. "What am I supposed to do now? What'll everyone think? If I can't play tennis, I have nothing…nothing!"

"You're still young. You'll figure it out."

Ryoma began to shake as he pulled his arms around himself. His sobs became uncontrollable, and he no longer felt himself. "No…I won't…"

"Aaaahhhhh!" Ryoma's scream echoed through the house. "Dream…" He looked around the room and pulled his left hand up to touch his cheek. Tears had already stained them. "Why…felt…so real…?"

"Kaidoh-kun," the teacher looked towards the boy. "Do you know the answer to the problem?"

"Seven," Kaidoh mumbled as he pretended to be paying attention.

"…no…"

"Ten."

"This is Japanese history not math," the teacher tapped the question written on the board. "You're not even paying attention."

"Sorry," he quickly apologized.

"Start paying attention, please," she continued the lesson.

I haven't been able to pay attention since last week. Ever since we learned more about Echizen's condition…or the theories we have…I've been too worried about those things. This is ridiculous. I shouldn't be worrying so much. That idiot will come back to school and be perfectly normal, Kaidoh thought as he scribbled noted down.

"Momoshiro, if you're eating again…" a male teacher walked by the boy's desk. He was shocked when he didn't see food stashed behind his books. "You're lucky."

Momoshiro sighed as he continued to look at the book. The teacher hadn't noticed that he wasn't reading a book for that class. He was looking a notebook Inui filled with information about the different conditions Echizen could have.

Echizen might end up with a lot of problems. It's ok though, because I know that he'll somehow make it through all of this ok. He's our fighter! Momoshiro smiled as he thought. He quickly flipped the page and continued to read.

Fuji sat at his desk and began to eat his lunch. Eiji, who sat next to him, peered over to see his friend's food.

"Take it," Fuji picked up the small cupcake he had.

Eiji took it and quickly ate it. "Thanks, Fuji, you're the best."

"I wouldn't say th―" he stopped when he noticed Inui and Kawamura walk into the classroom.

"What are you guys doing here?" Eiji wondered.

"I was double checking things last night. I came across some information that Fuji might want to see," Inui handed the boy a piece of paper.

"Hmm?" Fuji quickly looked over the paper. "This is about aphasia. Don't you think we've read enough about this?"

"There's a possibility that it could be transient aphasia. That means his speech problem might only be temporary," Kawamura explained.

"We haven't talked to Ochibi in a week, so his speech might be all better now," Eiji giggled from his happiness. "That's great!"

"Of course, there's still the chance that it's not temporary. We'll just have to go visit Echizen and see," Inui nodded as he fixed his glasses.

Fuji stood up as a soft smile formed on his face. "I'm happy to know that there's a chance that Echizen will be able to talk normally."

"Of course you would be…you love him…" Eiji mumbled.

"You shouldn't say things like that with such confidence, Eiji. It'll be your downfall."

"Right, right," Eiji began to sink down in his chair from his friend's words. Sometimes, Fuji was a little too scary for his taste.

The school day had once again ended meaning it was time for tennis practice. Tezuka told everyone to run twenty laps as warm up. Everyone, besides him and Oishi, began to run around the outside of the courts.

"What do you have planned for today?" Oishi questioned his captain.

"It's a surprise," Tezuka said as he looked to see how his teammates were doing.

"A surprise?" the vice-captain was slightly worried about Tezuka's idea of a surprise.

"You'll see," he walked up to the group that had finally finished their laps. "I have some news for you guys."

"News?" everyone looked around. They always became worried since the announcement of Echizen's accident when he had something to say. What did the captain have to tell them this time?

"Echizen's father called Ryuzaki-sensei. It was said that he should be coming back to school next week."

"Echizen's coming back?" Kaidoh towards the other Regulars.

"Ochibi!" Eiji grabbed onto Fuji. "He's coming back! He's coming back!"

The whole team seemed to cheer at the good news. It had been odd with out Echizen around. The team just wasn't the same with his overconfident, cocky attitude.

Oishi sighed as he turned away from the group. "Just because he's coming back doesn't mean he'll be able to play tennis."

"I know. Lets just keep that from them for a little bit longer," Tezuka decided.

NOTE: This was an interesting chapter for me to write. It started of with Ryoma's dream (which will become significant later on) and ended with the announcement that he'll be returning to school. This chapter also slightly touched on how Kaidoh and Momoshiro are taking Ryoma's accident. I'm looking forward to writing the return of Ryoma to school. Of course, there are a few other things I have write about before I can do that.

Thank you for continuing to read this fic. I hope that everyone will stick with me until the very end of it. I'm very grateful for all the reviews. I hope that everyone will continue to read this fic and supporting it until the end.