Title: I am waiting

By: Amy

Pairing: Echizen Ryoma x Kikumaru Eiji

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis Characters.

Notes: This will be for mature audiences later in the story. I am not sure how long I will make this fanfic either. R and R are appreciated. Please forgive me if this goes OOC. These two seem kind of hard for me to write. xx

Now on with the story

Ryoma grunted as he walked off the Seigaku tennis courts towards the club house. He was extremely irritated and not in a good mood. Today's practice had been almost unbearable, to start with. Just what the hell had gotten into Tezuka buchou? First, the regulars had to run 200 laps in the scorching heat with Inui-senpai threatening those that lagged behind with one of his nasty and scary drinks. Then, it was off to practice with just the regulars. Ryoma had played all the regulars but the two he wanted. Fuji-senpai and Tezuka-buchou. It seemed like those two got a kick out of making him wait to play a match. Those two were such a challenge for him and he wanted to play them. He scowled once again and shook his head. During his match with Momo-senpai, he had to tell Horio-kun to "shut the hell up", because he was being obnoxious and loud as usual. And Tomo-chan, she would always be a pain to him. Constantly yelling out "Ryoma-sama!" I mean really. Is she stupid or something? Didn't she have classes or something? Oh wait, it was after school practice. But still, even during school hours, she always seemed to be there. He couldn't stand the girl and her squeaky voice. Because of those two idiots, he smashed a ball straight at Momo-senpai, hitting him square in the face. The older boy fell flat on his back yelling out, "Echizen!" Ryoma could only pull down the brim of his hat to hide his face and say, "Sumimasen." After that, Tezuka-buchou had stopped practice, telling everyone to go shower and head home. Ryoma was livid.

"Che…No fair, buchou." He grumbled.

"The game isn't finished yet. Momo-senpai is winning by one game."

Tezuka crossed his arms across his chest and studied Ryoma.

"Echizen!" he yelled out.

"Just go take a shower. Momoshiro can't even play anymore with your last attack and it hitting him in the face."

Tezuka sighed and walked over to Ryoma, placing a hand on the freshmen's shoulder.

"Besides, you're not focusing on the game. You seem out of it and irritated."

Ryoma look up at Tezuka from beneath the rim of his hat and glared.

"I know the reasons, Echizen." He stated.

"I won't mention them, but we will need to work on a solution or two." With that, Tezuka-buchou dropped his hand from Ryoma's shoulder and walked away.

Ryoma stood there for a few moments, watching his captains back disappear into the club house. He was getting ready to head towards the club house when he heard the two annoying voices again. He closed his eyes and swore under his breath as Horio-kun and Tomo-chan came running up to him. Would they ever just let him have some peace and quiet? He sighed as Horio asked him what was wrong. "Betsuni" he mumbled. "Sorry, I have to go." And headed off to the club house. He was in no mood to deal with them. He shuttered as he heard Tomo-chan whine "Ryoma-saammaaa?"

"Idiots" he thought and walked into the room. He had noticed that room was empty, but could hear at least one shower going. It looked like nearly everyone had left. He sighed as he took off his hat and threw it down on the bench. Moments passed as he stripped off his practice clothes and draped a towel around his slim waist. He was still lost in thoughts, when he felt a wet but warm body drape over his back.

"Ochibi-chan!" he heard.

Ryoma groaned softly as he knew who it was leaning on him. Kikumaru Eiji.

He would always know that voice. He shook his head slightly and mumbled for Eiji to "get off him." The older redhead refused.

"Mou Echizen! What's bothering you?" he asked. "You don't seem like yourself today."

Ryoma shook the obnoxious redhead off of him, blushing, walking towards the showers saying, "Nothing."

Kikumaru stood there confused, watching Ryoma disappear into the showers. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. He decided to leave the boy alone today. He got dressed and left for home.

When Ryoma was thru with his shower he walked out into the now quiet room and sat down on the bench. He leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and sighed. He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Tezuka was gently shaking his shoulders. "Echizen? Echizen? Wake up or you'll catch a cold." Ryoma opened his eyes and noticed that it was almost dark in the club house. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at his captain. Tezuka stood there for a moment and then walked over to his locker.

"Echizen, you need to rest this weekend. We won't be having any practices, and there are no games, so rest up." He stated.

Ryoma stood up and started getting dressed, muttering, "Fine, whatever."

He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Tezuka stood there watching him for a few moments, then leaned down and grabbed his own stuff.

He motioned for Ryoma to head out and said, "See you on Monday, Echizen."

Ryoma grumbled and walked out into the now darken night.

Kikumaru Eiji spent the entire practice watching a certain freshman. He could tell that Echizen Ryoma was irritated today; far more than he normally was. Even during school hours and lunch, Ryoma was rude and hostile with everyone that he came in contact with. During after school practice, Eiji decided to keep a close eye on the chibi. When they ran their 200 laps, he listened as Ryoma muttered obscenities and grumbled to himself. As they finished their running, Eiji leaned up against the chained fence and watched as Ryoma dropped to the ground, panting and sweating. Ryoma was never truly out winded after running laps like he was today. Eiji watched as Ryoma took off his white hat and wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. He pushed away from the fence, determined to talk to Ryoma to find out what was wrong, when Tezuka-buchou came out onto the courts with a clipboard in his hands. He called for all the regulars to come over to where he was and asked for the non regulars to go practice their swings else where. All the regulars stood in front of their captain, wondering what other hell torture he would put them thru. Tezuka eyed the members once and then let his eyes fall on Echizen Ryoma.

"Echizen grab your racket and get on the court. Kaidoh, grab yours and play Echizen." Tezuka commanded. Ryoma sighed and got up, walking out onto the court. He stood there waiting for Kaidoh-senpai; his racket resting on his left shoulder. He began to get irritated, tapping his shoulder with his racket. He glared out from underneath his hat in the direction of his team mates. Kaidoh-senpai and Momo-senpai had gotten into yet another argument.

"Oi, Kaidoh-senpai!" Ryoma yelled out.

"Can we get this over with?" he asked rather rudely.

The Seigaku regulars all turned their heads towards Ryoma with their mouths dropped open. They gawked at him rather shocked at his attitude. Kikumaru blinked, pointing at Ryoma, he whispered, "Ano, what in the world is wrong with our chibi today?" He turned his head towards his doubles partner Oishi. "He has been like that all day." He whispered. Oishi just shook his head and turned to look at his friend and captain Tezuka.

Tezuka never showed any signs of worry, as he turned to Kaidoh and ordered him to stop fighting with Momoshiro. Kaidoh hissed and walked out onto the court, glaring at Ryoma.

"Oi!" he started. He stared at Ryoma for just a moment, before finishing.

"Learn to respect your senpai's you bastard!"

Ryoma continued to glare and said, "Whatever."

Kaidoh hissed as Ryoma started the game with his twist serve. The ball went flying across the net, hitting the ground right in front of Kaidoh, and bounced back up, straight for Kaidoh's face. The ball missed his face by a fraction of a centimeter. The members looked on in shock as Ryoma hit another and another, not giving Kaidoh time to get himself together. After what seemed like an eternity, the game was over and Ryoma had won the match.

Eiji looked on in pure shock, not believing how Ryoma was acting.

"Fujiko?" he whispered.

Fuji stood beside Eiji, with his arms crossed and his eyes opened.

"Hai?"

"Ano, do you know what is going on with Echizen?" the redhead asked.

Fuji watched as Tezuka told Oishi to get out on the court, and soon there after Kawamaru.

"Fujiko?" he tried again.

Fuji sighed and looked over at his friend. "No, I have no idea." He said softly.

Something was wrong though. Fuji could see that Tezuka knew or at least had an idea of what it could be. The matches continued with everyone losing to Ryoma. When Ryoma turned and snapped at Horio-kun, his friend, their mouths dropped open again. Soon there after, Momoshiro was laying flat on his back yelling at Ryoma. Eiji decided that he would talk to Ryoma after practice. He hated seeing the freshman like this. Tezuka yelled that practice was over and the regulars left to shower. Kikumaru took his time showering hoping to have some personal time to talk to Ryoma. Ryoma never showed up in the shower room. He walked out with a towel draped around him and stopped dead in the doorway. Ryoma was standing there with his back to him, getting undressed. Eiji blushed slightly as he watched Ryoma wrap a towel around his slender waist. Ryoma looked deep in thought as he shook his head slightly to remove the blush on his cheeks. He moved towards the freshmen quietly.

"Ochibi," he said softly as he draped his wet body across Ryoma's back.

"Kikumaru-senpai, get off me," the boy mumbled. Eiji refused as he made out a blush staining Ryoma's cheeks.

"Mou Echizen! What's bothering you?" he asked. "You don't seem like yourself today." Eiji stated. Ryoma shook him off, "Nothing." Eiji stood there confused as he watched Ryoma walk into the showers. He shrugged and decided that he would leave him alone today. But tomorrow he would talk to him. Eiji grabbed his things and left.