A/N: hey guys its been awhile since I updated this story, sorry about that. Although I did warn you in advance about the random updates. anyhoo i have gotten some inspiration to write up some more for this story thus todays update. hope you all like it :)

first though I would like to respond to a guest review that asked about how Ryoma does not know he's actually a girl. My answer is this.

Ryoma whole heartedly believes that he is a boy. Plus with his bored and uncaring personality he never really notices that his body is that of a female. Ryoko also takes over during the day, night, and any other time she needs to shower or change. Its mainly about modesty. Ryoko does not want a boy to see her body, even if its Ryoma. So really Ryoma is never given the chance to discover for himself that he is not actually a boy. There is also the fact that Ryoma is an alter developed by Ryokos mind. If the alter is a male, no matter what proof that says otherwise the alter will always believe them to be male. Of course I don't know enough about Dissociative identity disorder (or multiple personality disorder) to be completely accurate, but this is an A.U so please bear with me.

I will try and explain Ryoma/Ryoko's situation more further into the story but I thought that I should answer that question now. Hope that helps a bit. tho if anyone has any other questions feel free to ask and I shall answer them to the best of my ability.

Anyway Moving on :)

Fuji went straight home after the celebrations, he had a lot of things on his mind he needed to think about. He didn't even acknowledge his sister or parents, just rushed into his bedroom and flopped onto his bed. Honestly Fuji's mind was still trying to come to terms about Ryoma. Wait no, he can't call him that anymore. He can't even say he's a he. Ryoma is a girl. A girl named Ryoko. Oh how he wished this was all just a dream. That he would wake up and it be the day of the competition. Sure it would mean that his team had not won the championship but at least he would still have Ryoma. His Ryoma, the boy he fell in love with. Yet sadly he knew this was all real. He knew that there was nothing that could make things go back to the way it was. But that wouldn't stop him from trying to make things right.

Fuji knew he wanted to help Echizen. He figured out pretty easily that Echizen's mental state felt the need to develop an alter for protection. Now protection from what exactly? The father was clearly involved that much was true based on the conversation with Ryoga earlier, but that was not enough proof. There is also too little information go on. Fuji can't help if he doesn't have all the details and methods to cure Echizens mental disorder.

So first things first he needs to find a way to gather information. The best solution to this is to get it from the source. Fuji needed to gain Ryom- sorry Ryoko's trust. Although if Ryoko managed to stay hidden from everyone for so long it would certainly be difficult to get a chance to even talk to her. If Fuji can not even get her to appear then forget about ever gaining trust to learn anything. Ryoga did say names usually help, maybe just calling her name would get her to appear. Maybe if Fuji found a way to get Ryoma alone and corner him, he could try and call Ryoko out. It will be hard to trap Ryoma. The boy always did know when Fuji was scheming and always managed to stay away. That's something manageable though, Ryoma can not avoid him forever.

Wait.

Ryoga also said Ryoko decides whether or not she wants to come out. Meaning even if Fuji calls her name there is a change she will not even appear. If that were to happen Ryoma will defiantly get weirded out by Fuji calling him a girls name while cornering him. Fuji, if possible, would like to avoid his object of affection thinking him insane at all costs.

Fuji buried his face further into his pillow. This is all beyond frustrating. He is a genius for goodness sakes, he should be able to come up with a decent plan to talk to Ryoko. If not then forget about helping Ecizen like he wants, he can't even talk to a girl, let alone help someone with a mental problem. Oh well. Fuji was tired right now anyway, so he will sleep now and hopefully figure something out in the morning.

~241~

When Ryoma got home he was exhausted. His teammates take a lot of energy to handle, especially Eiji-sempai and Momo-sempai. He tired to drag himself through the house in order to get to his room to rest, but ended up bumping into his father on the way.

"Brat how was the championships?" His father, Nanjiro asked.

"We won." Ryoma responded with a grin on his face.

Nanjiro smiled and pat Ryoma on the back "that's my boy!"

Ryoma nodded and moved past his father, who was super happy mumbling things to himself, to go up to his room. On the way up, now out of his fathers sight, his steps started to have more of a bounce to them and his once bored eyes shone with mischief and happiness. it was obvious that the bored, cocky, tennis loving boy was no longer here and instead an energetic girl took his place. Ryoko was once again in control.

As soon as Ryoko reached the door to her bedroom she smiled sadly, and pushed the door open. Her room was just too boyish for her liking. there were several tennis related stuff sprawled out everywhere, and the room color was just too plain. Its not like she completely hated tennis or depressing colors it was just not her cup of tea. She preferred more elegant and bright things, like music. Speaking of which. Ryoko's eyes lit up and she bolted to the back of her closet. It may be risky with her father currently awake downstairs but she wanted so desperately to play. So she moved all the tennis things away and uncovered a black violin case.

Ryoko took the Violin out of its case and sat down at the edge of her bed. Slowly she grazed her fingers along the strings of her beloved violin. Oh how she missed this so much. She lost herself in the familiar feel of something she loved and was about to start a song when a crash from downstairs stopped her in her tracks. Quickly she snapped her head towards the door of her room with wide eyes filled with fear and dread. Then she stashed the violin back into its hiding place as fast and quietly as she can and buried herself in the bed under the blankets pretending to be asleep. It really was too risky to play here at the house after all. Maybe she could go to the park in the morning to play like how she used to in the past.

With that thought in mind Ryoko slowly fell asleep, but her body and mind were still on guard in case anything happened during the night.

~241~

In the morning Fuji woke up in a bad mood. He could not come up with anything to solve the problem last night, the one about finding a way to try and talk to Ryoko. So to calm down he decided to get a breath of fresh air by going out for a walk in the park. When he got there the first thing he saw was a large crowd gathered in one spot. Curious he got closer and heard a soft sound getting louder the closer he got.

Was someone performing.

It wasn't uncommon for inspiring musicians to play in the park. It was a good way to practice in front of a crowd or to experiment on what got others attention and what didn't. It also was a great way to try to get acknowledged and known. Fuji loved to listen to people playing music in the park, so much so that he knew all the regulars. Although this sound was not someone he knew, it was defiantly someone new. And it was absolutely beautiful. So Fuji got closer weaving his way through the crowd to get to the front. He wanted to hear the music better and see the person who could make such a wonderful tune. When he reached the very front he froze. The world ceased to exist around him and all he saw was the person playing the music.

There in the center was a young girl playing the violin with shoulder length raven-black hair wearing a light-blue sun dress and a white lace jacket tied around her waist. Fuji thought she looked absolutely stunning, and wanted to berate himself for thinking about someone other than his Ryoma in this way. The girl moved her body slightly but enough for Fuji to get a look at her face. She had her eyes closed and a small sad smile, and sometimes he noticed her face would scrunch up in pain. Which was understandable. From the way the song flowed and sounded it was obvious the song was about pain and sadness. Fuji could feel the girls feelings through the music, it was a testament to how skilled she truly was. No wonder the crowd was mesmerized and hasn't made a single sound in fear of disturbing the song.

The music started to change slightly and Fuji realized that the song was about to be at its end. As the last notes played the girl slowly lowered her bow and opened her teary eyes gently. Fuji stared at her wide eyed. Her eyes. Her beautiful golden eyes reminded him so much of the one he loved. The girl blinked several times before smiling shyly and giving her audience a curtsy thanking them all. Then she moved and knelt down by an empty black case next to her, beginning to put her violin away. It seemed as if the girl was so lost in her playing she never noticed that a crowd began to form around her, and started to get a little nervous. The crowd clapped and complemented her but eventually started to disperse once they realized she was not going to play anymore. Fuji took this chance to approach the girl. Why he felt compelled to speak with this girl he doesn't know, it just felt like something he should do. So once he was within a distance where she could hear him he spoke.

"You were amazing! How long have you been playing the Violin for?" he asked

The girl quickly jumped up surprised at his sudden appearance.

"Sorry did I startle you?" he said worried, he honestly didn't mean to scare her.

"No its fine." she replied and looked directly into Fuji's eyes. "Thank-you, and I started learning to play a couple years back."

Fuji smiled, but her voice seemed a little familiar to him. oh well. "That's impressive. I'm Fuji Shusuke by the way, nice to meet you..."

The girl smiled brightly and did a small curtsy. "Ryoko, and likewise Fuji-san."

Fuji stared. "Ryoko... as in Echizen Ryoko?"

Ryoko furrowed her brows and looked at Fuji weirdly for a moment. "Wait... I've met you before?"

Fuji nodded. How should he explain this. "At the restaurant last night."

Ryoko formed an 'o' shape with her mouth as things began to click in her mind. "Right with aniki." she smiled at him again. "Any friend of aniki's is a friend of mine."

Maybe talking to her and gaining her trust was not as hard as Fuji first thought. She seemed to be ready to open up to him as soon as he found out he knew her brother. Things were finally going to go Fuji's way, even if this was purely coincidental.

Ryoko was staring at Fuji expectantly and did a small cough to gain his attention. Whoops he hadn't realized he was just staring at her weirdly for awhile now.

"Riht uh.. are you busy right now?" he asked once he got himself composed.

She looked towards the sky for a moment in thought. "I guess I have some time to spare."

"Wonderful, care to join me for a walk?" he asked smiling fondly.

Once gain she gave him one of ,what he's sure is, her signature bright smile and responded. "Sure, I would love to."