After days of planning, the tennis team had finally set up everything for Ryoma's welcome back party. As the school day finally ended, they all gathered around the courts with teams from other schools. All that was left was the star of the party to come.
Slowly, Ryoma made his way to the courts. He didn't even bother changing. He knew that he would end up being dropped from the Regulars, so he didn't even feel the need to be on the tennis team. As he walked onto the courts, everyone gathered around him.
"Welcome back, Echizen!" everyone yelled.
"Huh?" Ryoma looked around. Confusion filled him.
"Ochibi, we wanted to welcome you back with a little party," Eiji smiled.
The younger boy looked around and saw everyone that was there. It was almost overwhelming knowing that they were all there for him. Ryoma didn't think he would have so much support.
"Thank…you," his voice was slow and unsteady.
"We have some presents for you too," Momo pointed to a small table that was set up in the courts.
"Presents?"
"Go on; open them," Tezuka lightly nudged the boy to go forward.
Ryoma stood over the table. He began to open the first gift. As he tore the green paper off, he revealed a can of Ponta. Without even thanking them, he opened the can and began to drink it.
"I guess he couldn't wait," Oishi slightly giggled.
They continued to watch Ryoma open the next presents. The next one was a light blue wrist band from Rokkaku. Then, there were cards from Hyotei and Rikkai. As Ryoma began to read the card from Rikkai, Yukimaru presented him with a small bouquet of flowers. The younger boy was shocked by them, but quickly thanked the captain of the rival team. Moving along, Ryoma opened a package signed from Fudomine. It was a blue and white hat. Looking towards Shinji, Kamio, and Tachibana, Ryoma slightly bowed and placed the cap on his head.
"Thank you," Ryoma bowed again.
"There's one more thing, Echizen," Oishi began to speak. "This is from us to you."
Fuji walked up to Ryoma and held out a Regulars' jacket. "For you."
"But…" Ryoma looked away. "I don't…know…tennis…"
"That's not what matters, Echizen. Take the jacket. Even if you can't play tennis like you used to, you're still a member of this team. Keep the jacket and remember that," Tezuka told the younger boy.
As Ryoma pulled his arms through the jacket, mixed emotions filled his body. He was happy that he was still accepted as a member of the tennis team as well as being able to still wear the Regular's jacket. Though, deep down, he was unsure about everything. Thoughts began to race through his mind again. Finally, the memory of when Eiji, Momo, and Fuji came to visit him flashed into his mind.
"Fuji-senpai!" Ryoma quickly covered his mouth after the words came out. He didn't mean to say that out loud.
"Echizen, what's wrong?" Fuji let his normal grin form on his face.
"…I…" another thought ran across Ryoma's mind of the note he found from Fuji. "The…note."
"Hmm?" the older boy tilted his head to the right.
"Why are you sorry?"
Quickly, Fuji opened his eyes to show the shock in them. He didn't expect the younger boy to remember that. "That's not important."
"Then…play a match against me."
"What?"
"I have to see…" Ryoma looked away from the group. "I need to know…"
"You can't. Echizen, you might get yourself hurt," Kawamura tried to stop his underclassman.
Momoshiro looked at the captain and vice-captain. "Aren't you two going to stop this?"
"There's no stopping it," Tezuka watched as Fuji and Echizen made their way to an empty court.
"Are you sure this is ok, Oishi?" Inui wondered. He began to write things down in his notebook. "If he's not fully ready, he'll get hurt for sure."
"Even though I want to stop it, I won't. Echizen needs to do this…for himself," a concern look fell upon Oishi's face. "Fuji will watch over him carefully."
On the court, Echizen was chosen to serve first. Placing the racket he borrowed in his right hand, he bounced the tennis ball. It hit the ground and was caught three times. Finally, the boy tossed it into the air. Right when he pulled his arm up to swing the racket, he fell to his knees.
"Echizen!" Fuji ran to his side.
Ryoma tightly held his right wrist. Tears began to form in his eyes from the pain. "No…I…"
"It's ok. It's going to take you some time until you'll be able to play again. You should have known not to use your right arm. You knew that it was sprained."
"Because I…was late…"
"That's not what I meant."
"Because I wasn't watching…where I was going…"
"Echizen."
"I'll never be able to…play…again."
"Don't say things like that."
"It's true."
"I'll teach you then."
"What?"
"I'll train with you until you're ready to play again. I'll work with you."
"…but…"
Fuji let his eyes open to show his sincerity. "Tennis is something important to you. I want to help you be able to continue to do that thing that you love."
"Fuji-senpai…" another feeling surged through Ryoma's body. Unlike the other feelings, he didn't understand what this one was. "Thank you."
"Now, if we're done here, lets get back to the others. There's still a cake that needs to be eaten," the older boy stood up and held out his hand.
Slowly, Ryoma's unsteady hand reached up and was taken by Fuji. The two of them made their way back to the group. A happy feeling grew inside of Fuji knowing that he would be able to spend more time with Ryoma. Though, it was still unknown if the special feelings he had would be returned.
NOTE: And…Ryoma has returned~! Ah, I know, I didn't do much with the other schools. Forgive me. They might make a comeback later on. I'm not overly sure yet.
Oh! I've started to make drawings for this story. Well, there's only one so far, but I'm going to continue to make more. Um…I think I'll post the links to them on my profile if you want to check them out. As I said, I'm going to make a series of them just for this story.
Um…let me think…things are turning around, right? Ryoma tried to play tennis, and, now, Fuji's going to slowly help him with tennis. Interesting, interesting. Things are just getting started; there's still a lot more in store!
Thank you for all the reviews and everything else. It means a lot to me~!
