Ryoma

The bell signalling the end of school had just rung, and I was walking with my sempai-tachi (Oishi, Eiji and Taka of course) towards the tennis courts. I had butterflies in my stomach, I was so nervous.

"Nya, ochibi-chan! Are you okay?" asked Eiji, throwing his arms around me worriedly.

"I'm fine," I said, brushing his arms away. Then, hesitatingly, I admitted, "Just a little nervous."

Putting his hand on my arm, Oishi said, "Ryoma-kun, if you don't want to play, you don't have to."

Looking over at him, I smiled weakly. "Maybe it's just me being too trusting again, but you know, I'm so tired. Tired of being mad. If they're really sorry, maybe I'll forgive them." I blinked back tears. "I just want to be together with everyone again. I miss being a team, a family. Is that wrong?" I asked, looking back at the three of them.

"Aww, that's not wrong, ochibi-chan! That's just being human!" said Eiji, throwing his arms around me again, and this time, I didn't resist, instead leaning against him, taking comfort from his warmth. Closing my eyes, I felt a hot tear roll down my face. Immediately, I wiped it harshly away.

Looking worried, Taka asked me, "Are you okay, Ryoma-kun? Do you want one of us to play for you?"

I shook my head no. "I can do this myself. Let's go."

After putting my hat back on, we resumed our trek back to the courts. When I caught sight of the courts, I felt as if I had been transported back in time. The courts looked just like the ones at the junior high, and there were many tennis team members scattered around one of the courts, awaiting the upcoming match.

As soon as everyone spotted me, a loud cheering broke out, and I heard a familiar, "Ryoma-sama!"

Turning around, I caught sight of Tomo and Sakuno, still looking relatively the same. I flashed them a smile and Tomo started squealing happily.

Walking onto the court, I saw that Momo was already there and smiled in anticipation. Out of nowhere a referee, probably a freshman, appeared and started the match.

"Three games all!" called the referee. I was about to serve when we were interrupted.

"You two underclassmen! Unauthorized use of the courts is not permitted!"

Turning around, I saw a third-year I didn't recognize who was wearing the tennis teams regulars jersey. He was about as tall as Oishi-sempai, had short, curly, black hair; and dark brown eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.


Usui(OC)

"Show some respect, brat. I'm the fuku-buchou," I said in reply to his question.

The freshman looked at me disbelievingly, then turned to Momoshiro. "How did someone like him become fuku-buchou?"

Momoshiro shrugged and said, "Well, since Oishi-sempai, Eiji-sempai, and Taka-sempai refused to stay on the tennis team after you left, we needed three replacements. Naturally, they aren't anywhere near as strong as you guys, but they're the ones that won the ranking tournaments."

"Why didn't one of the others become the fuku-buchou?"

"Fuji-sempai finds it boring, and Inui-sempai is too busy."

By this time, I was fuming. "Fifty laps around the field!" I shouted at them. When neither moved, I was about to shout again but was interrupted.

"And since when do you have the authority to do that?" asked a voice from behind me and I froze.

Turning around, I saw Tezuka and said, "These two were using the courts without permission. I was just giving them a suitable punishment."

He just glared at me, then said, "Ten laps."

I blinked in confusion. "What?"

"You heard me," he said. "Ten laps. Right now."

"What? Why!" I shouted. Fuji, who was standing behind him, shot me a glare and I felt a shiver run down my spine. Without a word, I turned around and began my laps.

When I finished, I went over to Arai, another of our team's regulars, and he looked at me with a weird expression on his face.

"You should have just left them alone," he said. "You don't know because you went to a different junior high, but the guy that Momoshiro was playing against was Echizen Ryoma, he was one of the regulars that brought Seigaku to the nationals three years ago in junior high."

"What? Him? But he's just a freshman!" I nearly shouted.

"Yes, but he's possibly the strongest of them all," said Arai, shocking me. "In his freshman year of junior high, he defeated Momo, Kaido, and Inui-sempai in the ranking matches. Even back then he was considered to be on par with Fuji-sempai and Tezuka-sempai, and has been studying in America these past two years. He's undoubtedly become much better."

I just stood there, staring at Arai with my mouth gaping.

"Looks like we might lose our places as regulars," I heard a voice say from behind me and turned to see Natsume behind me. The redhead was frowning.

"The Golden Pair and Kawamura-san were back there too. Are they all joining the tennis team?"

"Of course not!" I said, a slight bit hysteric at the thought of losing my place as a regular. "Right?" I asked, turning to Arai.


Ryoma

"What do you guys want?" I asked Tezuka, not looking him in the eyes. Despite what I had said earlier, I still wasn't ready to forgive him or Fuji-sempai yet. I had respected them both a great deal and it had come as a great blow to me when I had found out that they were just using me, especially since the two of them seemed to be the ones behind everything.

"Students not of the tennis team are not permitted to use the facilities," said Tezuka in his usual strict voice. "Echizen-san, this time is a warning, but please do refrain from doing this in the future." Turning to Momo, he said, "And you, Momoshiro-san, know full well other students are not to use the courts. The penalty is twenty laps around the field."

Momo looked from me to Tezuka, seeming unsure of something, but then looked straight at Tezuka-sempai and said, "Sumimasen, sempai, but I can not do that."

"And why is that?"

Taking a deep breath, Momo said, "Because, as of this moment, I wish to resign from the team."

I stared at him, my eyes wide, as he bowed once to the speechless Tezuka, then walked away. I was about to chase after him when Kaido, who had been quiet during this whole ordeal, walked up to Tezuka and said, "I, too, would like to resign from the team, buchou. I apologize for the short notice." Bowing once, he walked towards us and put his hand on my head in an affectionate gesture I had never seen him perform. "Accept this as my apology, brat."

I stared at him, unable to talk. Then, turning my eyes to Momo, I saw that he was smiling. When he noticed me staring at him, his expression quickly became serious and he bowed low in my direction, leaving me flustered. Coming out of the bow, he looked up at me and said, "Ryoma, I know I can be really stupid at times, and don't always mean what I say, but please believe me when I tell you that I didn't mean a thing of what I said that day! Sure, at the beginning I was pretending, but over time, I really did begin to like you! A lot!"


Momo

Finishing what I had to say, I cast my eyes to the ground, not able to look him in the eyes. I expected a refusal, but instead, I heard a laugh. Looking up, I saw that it had been Ryoma that had laughed, and this confused.

"You know, Eiji-sempai said nearly the exact same thing." He gave a little laugh, saying, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you guys were plotting together."

Looking up, I began, "No! I really mean-"

I broke off when I saw the expression on his face. He was attempting a smile, probably trying to make a joke, but his eyes were full of tears.

"Ryoma-kun," I said, reaching out to him, then pulling my hand back, hesitating.

I was unsure of what to do, but Eiji interrupted, shouting, "Group hug!"

Before I was able to respond to this, Eiji had pulled both me and Ryoma into a tight hug. Hearing Ryoma laugh, a real laugh this time, I knew I had been forgiven and I crushed him in a bearhug I hadn't used for two years now. A hug reserved especially for him.


Kaido

As Eiji and Momo unleashed another of their glomp attacks on an unsuspecting Ryoma, I hesitated, standing back, unsure of what to do. Obviously, Momo had been forgiven, but that didn't mean I had as well.

As soon as the two of them let go of him, Ryoma turned to me, and smiled.

"Ne, Kaido-sempai, would you like to come over to my house some time? Karupin really misses you."

Trying not to let my relief show, I turned my head to hide the smile that was creeping onto my face. "Che, I guess it wouldn't hurt."


SkyeSyren: Yay! A relatively long chapter! Didya like it? Didya didya didya? Review and tell me what you thought! Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I update ^_^.