Disclaimer: Me no own…

Chapter 2

Simple Times

In the ambulance, Ryuzaki watched over Ryoma, who was currently wincing in pain that was coming from his abdomen. The ambulance attendant had confirmed that he may have broken a rib. He would have to stop playing tennis for a few months before it healed, if it indeed proved to be broken.

Ryuzaki watched as Ryoma's mask of cockiness slowly broke and the pain showed how he really just a little kid; him and the other kids at the Invitational Camp. They all had matured beyond their years, developing their own style of tennis and devoting themselves to it. She worried about Ryoma. The others all had hobbies and actual lives outside of tennis, but to be truthful, Ryoma didn't. His whole life revolved around tennis and the determination to surpass his father.

How would he react if he couldn't play for months? He would be confined to a bed until his rib healed. Ryuzaki couldn't help but feel resentment towards Kirihara. He had no right to go and injure Ryoma like that. The ambulance came to a stop before the hospital as Ryuzaki realized that she had been lost deep in her thoughts.

The back doors to the ambulance opened and the ambulance driver helped the attendant wheel Ryoma's stretcher in. Ryuzaki followed the men into a white, sterile hospital room. Ryoma was lifted carefully and placed on a hospital bed. Ryuzaki watched as a doctor ran in, wearing a tag "Dr. Ito" it stated in bold Katakana letters.

She bent over Ryoma and carefully peeled the bandages off the boy's leg.

"What happened?" she asked suddenly.

"He was playing a tennis match and his opponent injured him." Ryuzaki replied automatically.

The nurse threw the bandages in the garbage as the doctor prepared a kit with a needle, surgical thread, and syringe. Dr. Ito then grabbed a pair of tweezers and cotton balls doused in anti-bacterial liquid. She dabbed the wound with it. She took the syringe and poked it through Ryoma's skin, near his knee.

"It's to get rid of the pain a little." The doctor explained as she saw the coach's questioning look. She grabbed the needle and threaded the surgical thread through it. She then proceeded with stitching his skin together. The nurse quickly cut the thread with a pair of scissors when she saw that the doctor was finished. She then grabbed the kit and put it aside. Dr. Ito left the room, causing the tennis coach to yell out after her, "What about his ribs?"

"I'm going to have to take an X-ray later of it, but not right now. I have another patient waiting and Ryoma still needs to wait for the pain in his knee to settle down a little more. I'll come back in about half an hour to take the X-ray, meanwhile you can sit next to him and fill out this form."

She handed Ryuzaki a clipboard and a pen. The form was basically about Ryoma's personal information. Deciding that she could not fill it out, she walked out of the room and towards a payphone. Pushing in the required change, she dialed a number. After two rings, a woman picked up. "Moshi moshi. Echizen residence."

"Ah, Rinko, it's been a long time. Is Nanjiroh there?"

"Ryuzaki-san. Nanjiroh is here, please wait while I get him." Ryuzaki waited patiently with the phone and heard loud noises in the background.

'Ah! Anata! You shouldn't read these dirty magazines!'

'Noo... Give me back my books!'

'Nanako, can you throw these out?'

'Hai, obaa-san.'

'Nanako! Give me those back!'

'Anata, Ryuzaki-san is on the phone. She wants to talk to you.'

'That old lady? What does she want?'

"Ah, Sumire- baa-chan. What's up?" Ryuzaki heard the lazy voice of the dirty pervert who was once her student.

"I'm at the hospital."

"Do you want me to bring something to you?" Even with the seriousness of the words, Ryuzaki knew that Nanjiroh was laughing at her.

"I'm not the one that's hurt. It's Ryoma."

"Huh? What did that brat do this time? Walk into a door?" Ryuzaki sighed as she tried to calm herself and tried not to yell at Nanjiroh.

"He was playing a match against one of his fellow tennis players and got hurt. One of his ribs might be broken."

At that, Nanjiroh's voice seemed to become serious, "I'll be right there."

"Wait -" Ryuzaki was cut off as the signal tone could be heard. "I didn't get a chance to tell him which hospital we're at."

A car sped down the road, and it seemed as if the driver was either reckless, crazy, drunk, or a combination of the three. The driver happened to be the Echizen Nanjiroh, retired superstar of the professional tennis world, now a lazy monk. Father of Echizen Ryoma, husband to Echizen Rinko, and a dirty pervert.

Usually, he was a funny, joking man, but now he was serious, like when he used to play pro tennis. But at the moment, he isn't playing tennis; he's rushing to the hospital where his injured son lay. Next to him in the car, his wife Rinko sat and in the backseat, his niece, Nanako, with Ryoma's beloved cat, Karupin.

"Anata! Slow down, we won't be much help to Ryoma if we're dead." The silence was broken with the sound of Rinko's voice. Obviously, she did not like riding in a car at such high speeds.

Nanjiroh didn't respond as he concentrated hard on getting to his son. Rinko smiled sadly at her husband. Even if they did seem like they hated each other, the father and son really did love each other a lot. They liked to show their affection and appreciation in…odd ways.

Rinko was shaken out of her thoughts as the car stopped abruptly. She looked up and saw that they were finally at the hospital, in the parking lot. Before she got a chance to calm her heart, Nanjiroh had already pulled her out of the car and was already running to the entrance. Rinko looked back and saw Nanako carrying Karupin in her arms, running to catch up to them. Nanjiroh ran to the front desk, signing in and checking the room that Ryoma was in.

Luckily, he had driven to the correct hospital... after several tries. He then proceeded to run up the stairs, and when asked about the elevator, he responded with, "The elevator takes too long." As much as Rinko liked the concern that Nanjiroh held for their son, she really wanted to sit down and catch her breath. The last time she had actually done some kind of exercise close to what Nanjiroh did was after the match between him and that American man, Coach Smith. Don't get her wrong, she was also worried for her son, but she wasn't crazy... most likely because she didn't know much of what was going on. The only thing Nanjiroh had told her was that Ryoma was in the hospital.

When they had reached the third floor and ran out into the hall, the first thing they saw was Ryuzaki sitting outside their son's room. She turned her head and noticed the three people and one cat standing there.

"Nanjiroh, Rinko, Nanako-chan. Ryoma is resting in the room, the doctor is going to be back to take some X-rays in a while. She wanted me to fill this form, but I think that you should." As she said this, she bent down to rub Karupin behind the ears.

"X-rays? Anata, what is wrong with Ryoma?" Ryuzaki glanced back up at Nanjiroh, sighing.

"You didn't tell her yet? What kind of husband are you?" Ryuzaki turned to Rinko, "Ryoma was playing a tennis match against one of the tennis regulars from Rikkaidai junior high. The regular has a vicious way of playing, and Ryoma badly hurt his knee and one of his ribs might be broken..." she trailed off as she watched Nanako and Nanjiroh comfort Rinko, who started asking questions frantically.

As Rinko calmed down, Nanjiroh took the form and started filling in information about his son. As soon as he finished, Ryuzaki led the family into Ryoma's hospital room.

A/N: So, this week, I'm going to put the author's note right here so that hopefully, you guys will actually read it. The reason I'm not updating much:

Not many reviews… I'm not being encouraged so much

School… Since I'm going to 8th grade this year, I have to prepare like hell for the high school test

Laziness and my sis is hanging around…

Hopefully, I'll be updating more, but I want more reviews, (maybe 10?) I see all you people reading it, but not even reviewing! If you don't like it, please then review me telling me what's wrong. And it'll get more exciting soon, for those who think it's rather dull right now… Alright, back to the story now…

Gold eyes blinked tiredly and watched as four people and a cat walked into the room. One of the four people rushed over to him, and bed-ridden patient told himself who it was. "Baka Oyaji," were the first words to slip out of his mouth. The worried face relaxed into a soft smile as Nanjiroh turned to the others, "If he can insult me, I think the gaki is well enough."

He turned back to Ryoma and comforted him with soft encouraging words, telling him to sleep and relax. The hearts of the three other visitors melted when they watched the love between a boy and his father. Rinko, in particular, felt rather proud at how the usually disgusting pervert could swallow down his pride and show his love publicly. As the boy fell into a dark abyss of sleep, Nanjiroh watched at how the arrogant teenager could turn into a cat-like boy in a matter of seconds.

In his sleep, Ryoma seemed to be perfectly innocent... which was far from what he was like when awake. Awake, Ryoma almost made him cry... always calling him "oyaji," he wasn't even that old! And his reactions stopped being cute… Nanjiroh sniffed…

Meanwhile, Ryoma was lost in memories almost forgotten, but still visited in dreams…

A five-year-old Ryoma is wearing blue overalls, a red shirt, and his trademark hat – a little too big for him. In his small hand, he grasps a large tennis racket, and in the other, a ball. The ball drops to the ground with Ryoma when he swings too late. As he gets up, he hears an annoyingly familiar voice. "Oi! Chibisuke!" His older brother, Ryoga runs up to him and musses up his hair, thoroughly aggravating Ryoma.

"I'm not that small," Ryoma makes an attempt at defending himself, but fails as his brother laughs.

"You're tiny! You can't even hit the ball right! It's supposed to be like this," and Ryoga demonstrates his tennis abilities to Ryoma. The ball disappears into the street and Ryoma glares. 'Just because you're older than me by four years, it doesn't mean that I'm not going to become better than you.'

"Well, Chibisuke, kaa-san wants us to eat dinner now. You better come in," with that, Ryoga turns and leaves the small five-year-old standing on a tennis court. After a while, Ryoma runs after Ryoga and slows to a walk when he reaches his side. Ryoga grabs Ryoma and pulls him up on his back, giving him a piggyback ride back into the house. As the two walk into the house, the scene changes…

Ryoma is now standing on a tree branch, cursing his height as he tries to reach for an orange. He turns as a voice startles him, "Oi! Chibisuke!" The figure throws up a tennis ball, effectively hitting it towards the orange and bringing the poor thing tumbling down the tree. As it falls, it hits Ryoma's head and his oversized cap falls off his head. Hurriedly, Ryoma crawls back down the tree with his short legs.

"Give it back! My orange!" The figure, revealed to be Ryoga, bounces the pained orange up and down on his racket.

"Yours?" he questions, "Is your name written on it?" Yes, Ryoga loved to tease poor little Ryoma… As he takes a bite out of the orange, Ryoma glares at his older brother, his orange was just eaten… As he daydreams about how he would feel when he could finally beat his brother at something, the scene changes again…

Ryoma and Ryoga are standing face to face… well, more like face to chest, on their tennis court. "Well, Chibisuke, you've come pretty far… but you still can't beat me!" Ryoga sticks his tongue out at Ryoma and when Ryoma is about to respond, he cuts him off, "But you know, one day, you're going to have to beat me… Practice everyday and drink more milk." He uses two of his fingers to poke Ryoma's head.

"Oro?" Poor Ryoma is very confused…

"You'll understand sometime soon." He turns away and walks away with his racket, "Well, I'm off!"

Ryoma runs up to his brother and stops him, "Where are you going?"

Ryoga shrugs and continues his walk, "Just somewhere, Ja ne!"

Ryoma is left standing on the tennis courts, watching his brother get farther and farther away from him…


"Ryoma! You slowpoke, come on! We have to meet Ryu at the park soon!" A young girl tightly grasped Ryoma's left hand, running through the busy streets of New York. She wore a long baseball tee, red on the sleeves and white on the rest of the shirt. Around her neck was a leather cord, holding a small pendant hidden under her shirt.

"He can wait a little…" Ryoma pulled down his cap and picked up his speed, pulling his hand out of the painful grasp of the girl's. Ryoma wore his trademark hat, and his black wristband. In one hand, he carried a can of grape Ponta, drinking from it now and then. Ryoma wore a black hoodie, unzipped slightly, revealing a leather cord, identical to the girl's, but his pendant showed, a small guitar pick hanging from the leather cord.

"You're so lazy, Ryoma. I don't know how you play tennis. Let's see if you can catch up to me." After saying this, the girl sprinted ahead, looking back only to stick her tongue out at Ryoma.

"Mada mada dane…" Ryoma pulled his cap down further and ran towards and past the girl, reaching the park easily. He stood there, waiting for the girl, who ran in panting slightly.

She looked up, past Ryoma and yelled out, "Ryu!" She ran towards the boy, Ryoma trailing behind as she talked to the boy, Ryu. He wore slightly baggy pants, and orange T-shirt and the same cord as the other two around his neck.

"Ah, you two have finally gotten here… took you guys a while."

"It wasn't my fault! It was Ryo's, he is such a slowpoke." The girl defended herself, and put Ryoma in the blame.

"…" Ryoma stayed silent through the exchange, not bothering to get tired from defending himself.

The boy laughed as the girl pouted from being laughed at. The three walked towards the center of the park, one drinking from a can of Ponta, one making fun of the girl, and one yelling at the other two…

Thanks to all those who actually DID review and my editor, Spr1te Zer0… Check out some of her stuff…