FD: OH, I failed my promise: Crying: I try to focus on my other stories, but this fan fiction is just dying to be written out. : Squeeze pillow: I like this one best of all my fan fictions!

FD: It's 1am as I type this out. I just got the inspiration for this chapter and is finally able to finish what I had started weeks ago.

Disclaimer: I don't own prince of tennis. I do own Kumara Hikari though.

………………….

Chapter nine

Morning

Ryoma, who only woke up early with Hikari's unique wake-up calls, had done the impossible. He had woken when the night sky had lighted into a soft gray. The sun hadn't even risen yet!

Ryoma rubbed his eyes; dark shadows circled them. Last night had been the most tiring night he had ever had. All night, he shifted on his bed; unable to find the rest he seeks. In his mind, their fight played out repeatedly in low motion. He could feel the pain and hurt as if the time has froze for his heart right at that moment.

He clenched his fists and his lips pursed into a thin line. He fiercely pushed those weak emotions to the back of his mind, unwilling to dwell on them anymore. Ryoma is sure if he lingered on them longer, he will wallow into his own self-pity soon. After all, he had spent last night doing exactly that. Though not the whole night was spent that way, a great part was spent directing his fury to the girl resting in the room next to his.

Ryoma rubbed his tense shoulders gingerly and cringed at the sharp sparks of pain accompanied with the action. He felt he had not rested at all and the face of the clock's slow moving hands seem ever so familiar to him. After all, he had been staring at it for the past hour. Ryoma glanced out of the window; the sky had just begun to lighten. This is way too early, but he cannot stand to remain in this room any longer.

Ryoma dressed himself in a zombie like manner and opened the door. No one seems to be awake. He tugged the collar of his shirt and breathed deeply. His eyes lingered at the door of Hikari's bedroom before firmly established themselves to the bathroom.

'Don't think about Hikari. Don't think about Hikari.' He chanted in his head like a mantra. He schooled his features, masking himself with the familiar indifference. He almost succeeded, but his inert eyes showed his true feelings.

Nevertheless, a new day has begun.

………….

Contrary to what Ryoma had believed, there is one other who was awake.

Hikari stared at the ceiling as the soft steps ceased. She left out a soft sigh and squeezed her pillow. The ragged pillow had seen its better days after the abuse Hikari had put it through. It had been the substitute for Ryoma's face for most of yesterday's night.

Like Ryoma, Hikari had been brooding over their big fight all night too. It was their biggest and most serious fight yet. They had never being so hostile to each other before. All the companionship and warmth that had existed in their relationship had dissipated in their fight, leaving only anger and hurt. Hikari shifted uncomfortably and sat up. Only one night and she found herself missing the comfort of their friendship. After all he is her best friend and rival. She doesn't like this; in fact she hate this. She had even contemplated the idea of apologizing just so everything would be normal again. However she quickly pushed that idea out of her mind. Why should she apologize anyway! It's Ryoma's fault for being so distrustful!

Hikari clenched her pillow tightly as the anger swept back into her. That's right! It's all his fault! He should trust her more. Why did he jump into those ridiculous conclusions anyway?

However despite her attempt to hold onto the anger, she cannot help but remember the way Ryoma had looked when he spew out his accusations. The way his face wavered in hurt and disbelief made her physically wince. Was she wrong then? Hikari didn't know anymore. She sighed heavily and rested her hand over her heart. Was Ryoma as hurt as she was? She remembered her shock as Ryoma spit out those hateful words. She remembered the disappointment and fury that consumed her at the coldness of his voice. But she also remembered the way his voice lightly cracked at the last sentence. She rubbed her temple; this is giving her a major headache right now.

Hikari got up quietly; she needs some cold water.

…………

Nanjirou and Nanako exchanged worried glance at the two youngsters' behavior. Ever since they came back to the house yesterday, the two had not even talked to each other. They now sat silently at the breakfast table. The other sound was the soft crunching that's coming from their mouth.

Nanjirou scratched his head; this is getting worrisome. The two had never acted like this before. Sure, they fought before. In fact they fought a lot before. But those fights consist of two of them screaming into each other's face and it would be quickly forgotten the next minute. It was never like this, both of them silent and angry. Nanjirou shifted uncomfortably, all these tension is killing him.

"Seishunen, "Seishunen, were your clinging finally made Hikari-chan snap?" Nanjirou dearly wished he could stop his tongue because two icy glares immediately shot daggers at him.

PAH!

Ryoma slammed his chairs against the table. His eyes held a layer of frost as he glared at his dad. Admittedly, Nanjirou-san had always been very crass when it came to his parenting, but that had just been unbelievably cruel. Ryoma clutched the straps of bag tightly, showing the white of the knuckles as he glowered at Nanjirou.

Hikari sat in her chair, anxiously glancing between the two Echizens. She was not hit in the core by Nanjirou's comment. She had been angry but guilt had quickly overwhelmed her. Nanjirou-san comment was strangely similar to what Ryoma had said in their fight. Had that been what others had perceived her action to be?

She could almost hear Ryoma's venomous voice spiting out his accusations. "Best to saddle this brat with someone else so he wouldn't bother you again." Was she wrong then? Was she wrong to do those? Had she hurt him that much with her involvement in his affair with Ryusaki-kun?

"Ryo-Ryoma?" She called out, surprised at the sounds of her own stuttering. She ignored the embarrassment that threaten to peak and turned to face him. She wants to so badly to confirm her theory; to confirm that those words he tossed out last night were just angry bluffs. They need to talk!

Unfortunately, Ryoma had not conceived the most motion when he meets her eyes. Stunned and hurt by his father's offhanded yet accurate comment, Ryoma is not in a position for rational thinking.

'Is that pity in her eyes?' Ryoma stiffened and his nails dug into his palm. He felt himself hit once again by the object that had been tormenting him since their fight. The last thing in the world he would want is her pity. Squaring his shoulder back, he spit out. "Mada mada dane." He said quietly, eyes stayed on her, "why would I want to even stay around someone like her?" he lowered his head so their faces are inches apart and spoke the words slowly and firmly. He felt himself cringe in disgust at his own behavior as he stared into her shocked emerald eyes. He quickly turned away, unwilling to see his reflection from her eyes.

Hikari let out a silent gasp as Ryoma turned quickly away from her, but not quickly enough to stop her from seeing the look of disgust passed over his face. Her own hands clutched her school pants tightly. Forget about all her guilt theories! She felt herself raging as she panted softly. She stood up abruptly, "You took my line." She said monotonously, then grabbed her school bag and raced out of the house.

……………

"Oi, oi, what happened to those two?" Arai pointed at the two freshmen who are practicing in the court. Ryoma is facing Momoshiro while Hikari is practicing with Kaidoh. Even from their position, Arai could feel the cutting tension that enveloped both of them. He found himself shivering lightly at the force of the hostility, and he is not even one of the targets.

Miyasaki Akira panted heavily as he wiped beads of sweat dropping down his chain. "Don't know, but it's definitely something big. Echizen had been fighting like a crazed killer this morning." Miyasaki shivered involuntarily at the remembrance of Echizen's harsh eyes as he annihilated him. It had not been a practice match. Echizen had obliterated him with such force that he felt his legs go weak just thinking about it. He took another swag of his water bottle.

Arai nodded vehemently, "and not just Echizen, Kumara had also totally slaughtered Yamizaki too. He said that the way she looked at him is like she is looking at her hated enemy. Several times, he was tempted to check behind him to see if there's another standing behind him."

Miyasaki winced slightly, "I would not want to be Kaidoh or Momoshiro right now.

Arai nodded vigorously, "Yeah! Not for anything!"

………….

The following few days had been most horrible to Seigaku students. Instead of making up like they had hoped, Echizen and Kumara had grown worse. At the beginning, they completely ignored each other. The atmosphere was tense enough to cut. They had destroyed their practice partners one by one in such force that Tezuka-buchou gave them laps just so they don't traumatize any other tennis members.

Then things proceed to go downhill from then on. They had not cooperated even once since that day. In fact that was an understatement, they seem to try to be contrary as possible. In a few days, it has evolved from silent antagonism to full-scale war. They had lashed out on each other repeatedly, uncaring for the hurt that would appear in each other's eyes. They drew blood and scars and such only increased as days go by.

What even made it more depressing is that there had been chances that might motivate them to make up. More than several times, the Seigaku members caught the two sending hurt glances at each other. They each had tried more than once to reestablish their past, but whenever such thing happens, the other would be in a mood that he or she would completely devastated such effort. Then the one trying to make up would attack back and the resentment would build.

The tennis members were becoming extremely concerned about the two freshmen. However their effort to try to reunite the two had crumbled into dust.

……………

"OH! What are we going to do!" Oishi clutched his head and paced back and forth. "They are hurting each other! This will leave enormous emotional scar if they are not fixed…" Oishi ran off in worry at the future scenario. As Seigaku's mother hen, he had been worried sick for Echizen and Kumara.

"But what can we do? Nya?" Eiji said, pouting as he hugged his knees to his chest. It had been so horrible seeing those two like that. He knew he wouldn't be able to stand if his friends ever have a fight like theirs.

The Seigaku regulars had gathered in a spare classroom to discuss the solution to Echizen and Kumara's problem. So far none of their effort even seem to improve the situation by a little bit.

"We need to help them!" Kawamura declared anxiously from his seat. He was quickly accompanied by Momoshiro.

"Yeah, those two are tearing each other's apart." He agreed vehemently. Echizen is his friend and as a friend, he needs to aid him when he's in trouble. "We can…"

"Do not do anything." A sudden voice interrupted Momoshiro's new plan. Seigaku regulars watched in surprise at Ryusaki-sensei entered the room. "There's nothing we could do. They need to solve this themselves." She said sagely, but her clutched hand revealed her anxiousness.

"Then we shall not interfere." Tezuka-buchou said firmly and stared hard at the protesting mouth. "However if they cannot solve this by the Prefecture tournament, then we cannot afford to let Echizen play. In his current emotional condition, he is no shape to compete in the tournament."

Silence reigned the room as the regulars considered Tezuka's decision. What now?

……………..

FD: what do you think! You probably all hate me because I made Ryoma and Hikari had such big fight. However it's actually important they have this fight.

Next chapter will be their healing.

Please Review!