For Ryoma-kun
Tezuka and Ryoma
match friend winner
I'll always be here waiting.
The written words made Tezuka's eyes sting as he read over Echizen's letter again. He felt alone sometimes, having travelled all the way to Germany after injuring himself in the match with Atobe; and there were times he wished he could just go back home.
He'd never really thought he'd think of Ryoma as a friend persay, but somehow the small freshman had wormed under his skin and made a nice little nest in there. He wasn't quite sure what it was about Ryoma maybe he just reminded Tezuka of his younger self and Tezuka had decided that this was the right person, this was the person who would become Seigaku's pillar of support.
I'm looking forward to coming home to a winner, Echizen. Tezuka had written back. Ryoma flopped back on his bed, rereading the letter over and over as Karupin curled up on his stomach. A tiny smile touched the edges of his lips as he folded the letter and stowed it away before bedding down for the night.
He'd be playing Rikkai in the morning, and he wasn't going to let Tezuka down if it killed him.