Crumbling

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

Author's Notes: Frequently updated. Haha…sorry about that. xD I'll try harder to update sooner but I have so many other story ideas splurging all the time that I can't seem to focus on one! But as I said before, no matter what, I'm completing this story. So no worries. :D

Warnings: The chapters will be short but will be updated frequently. I'm not very well with Japanese as Prince of Tennis is one of the few anime's I've watched, so forgive me for misspelling stuff or saying the wrong words. I suck at writing Echizen's dad, so apologies for that.

"Ryoma?" Nanjiroh's fingers clenched and unclenched at his side.

Shifting, Ryoma stepped slightly closer to Tezuka, his eyes wide and panicky. He already knew about the problem that was going to break out soon, but nothing could prepare him for it. His hands trembled and he put them behind his back, rocking on the heels of his feet. I wish I could disappear.

"Kid…what…what happened?" Nanjiroh lacked words to say, which was unusual for him. He couldn't even try to act like he wasn't concerned, because as his eyes wandered towards the dark bruise on the side of Ryoma's face, his worry rocketed in spurts.

Ryoma shrugged slowly. "Nothing, really."

Fuji folded his hands behind his head. Tezuka glanced at the boy. "Echizen, don't be stubborn. You have to tell your father what's happening if you won't tell us."

"Of course." Fuji said smoothly. "We'll all sit around the kitchen table and have a nice conference."

Ryoma glared viciously at him, before creasing his brow and staring at the tile floor. He never thought he could be so boiling mad at someone as he was right now. How could Fuji-senpai trap him like that? At a table, with questions shooting at him, questions he didn't want to answer….

"You can't…" Ryoma cleared his throat. Something inside of him snapped. He was Ryoma Echizen, tennis prodigy, and master of the twist serve. He didn't listen to nobody, and he did what he wanted. He had to stop acting like a little child, agreeing to everything they were saying. He wasn't a wimp, he wasn't a little kid, and he definitely wasn't going to spill everything just because they ordered him to.

"You can't." he said, more firmly this time. He smirked. "You can't make me talk."

Nanjiroh narrowed his eyes. "Oh, boy, you'll talk alright. I wanna know everything. You can't just go around getting yourself hurt like this and then refuse to talk!"

Fuji nodded, pulling out a chair and sliding onto it. "And we can sit here all day if you want."

Tezuka grabbed an empty chair as well. "You'll have to speak eventually."

Ryoma frowned. Geez, they were all ganging up on him. He was tired though, and his muscles ached, so he relented to sitting down. He crossed his arms petulantly. Sitting down. That was all they were getting out of him.

"So," Fuji said after a moment. "Want to start talking?"

Ryoma didn't answer.

Fuji pressed his lips in a thin line. He wanted to get to the bottom of this, and Ryoma was being stubborn. Fuji's usual smile was utterly strained at this point. "Fine," he said. "I didn't want to do this, but if you aren't going to explain, I guess we're just going to have to give our assumptions on what happened."

Ryoma's eyes widened and he bit his lip. What were their assumptions? They couldn't possibly know-

"We believe that someone in Echizen's family is-"

"Stop." Ryoma shivered, his eyes begging Fuji not to go on. His voice cracked, and he smoothed it out. "Don't say anything."

Nanjiroh stared at Fuji. "What were you going to say?" he demanded.

Fuji's eyes swivelled to Ryoma. The boy almost shuddered. He had never seen the tensai's eyes look so merciless. "I was going to say that-"

"Stop."

This time, it wasn't Ryoma's voice. It was Tezuka's. The captain of the team adjusted his glasses, before staring into Fuji's piercing gaze with clear, fearless eyes. "It isn't your place to say this. When Echizen wants to tell us, he will."

Fuji blinked. "Tezuka, if we wait, he'll never tell us."

Tezuka knew that maybe Fuji was right. It was true, if they waited, they could be here all night and Ryoma wouldn't even say a word. He was stubborn like that. But seeing Ryoma look so helpless, so desperate to stop Fuji from speaking had overtaken his senses. He didn't want to see the boy in such a tight situation.

"It's his decision. We'll wait, and he will speak eventually." Tezuka said.

Fuji titled his head slightly, studying the captain. "Alright," he said after a moment. "if you say so."

Nanjiroh scoffed. "Che, this isn't only about you two. This is about my son. I kinda wanna know what's going on with him."

"Then Ryoma will speak when he is ready." Tezuka said in his 'and that's the final decision' voice. He slipped his hand under the table and felt for Ryoma's fingers, squeezing the boy's hand gently. Ryoma looked up in surprise, but his heart felt warmed by the gesture. Maybe someone was on his side after all.

"Thank you." He whispered softly, so quietly that only Tezuka could hear. He leaned his head sleepily against the chair, resisting a yawn. "Can I go to sleep now?"

Fuji's eyes flashed.

Nanjiroh's mouth dropped open as he began to protest. "No way kid! You can't sleep right now!"

Ryoma smirked. "I'm not going to say anything so you might as well let me sleep."

Fuji nearly smacked his forehead. Tezuka had given Ryoma more confidence in his determination to not say anything, and now it was probably going to take a year until Ryoma confided in them.

"I think…we should let him sleep." Tezuka said hesitantly. "After all, he's tired, and maybe in the morning he'll be more willing to open up…"

Again, Fuji's eyes shot to Tezuka in surprise. Something was definitely up with their captain. Tezuka never liked leaving unfinished business until the next day, unless…an amused smirk danced onto the sadist's face. He really does care about Ryoma, doesn't he?

And as he watched Ryoma and Tezuka share a soft, special smile with each other, his suspicions were confirmed.