Chapter Four: Fallen to Pieces

Disclaimer: I still don't own Prince of Tennis. Dangit.

Author's Note: Here's chapter four! Hope you like it! Remember, the complete Author's Note for this fic is posted in chapter one. But here are the warnings, summarized for your convenience: May contain spoilers/ shonen-ai/ not-shonen-ai/ please review/ Kaidoh will hiss menacingly at flamers. Lol.

Many thanks to all my wonderful reviewers. I'm not sure if you can tell who the pairings are yet, since the last chapter was so vague. But you should be able to start noticing some of the hints by this point. Well, maybe… I hope. I'll try to start being more obvious, but sometimes I get caught up in hinting at things as subtly as possible, lol… Either way, enjoy the new chapter! And please let me know what you think! I'll love you forever! XD

I remember the days before all of this happened, before it all fell apart.

Do you remember those days?

Promises meant something back then. Friendships were forever. Dreams weren't impossible.

Yes, I remember those days sometimes…

And then I wake up.

…

Momoshiro Takeshi woke up to the sound of someone calling his name.

"Momo. Momo!"

There was that sound again. Whose voice was that? He turned over, pulling the covers over his head, and tried to ignore it. It was still dark. There was no way he was getting out of bed before dawn, no matter who was calling him at this godforsaken hour of the night…

"Hey, MOMO!"

The voice sounded more agitated now. Suddenly Momoshiro found himself in a fight for his bed sheets, and he was losing. He ended up with his body only halfway on the bed, and with the sheet wrapped around his ankles, still being pulled repeatedly by some annoying…

"Eiji-senpai!" he groaned. "What do you WANT?"

"It's the phone, stupid." Rolling his eyes, Momoshiro's roommate tossed him the receiver. Momo managed to catch it with one hand, despite his currently fuzzy grip on reality.

"Ehhh… hello?" he mumbled into the wireless hunk of plastic. There was a loud reply on the other end.

"Oh. Horio. What's going on?" Momo paused for a moment and then switched to a much more irritable tone. "Wait a second… Do you know what TIME it is? It's ONE in the MORNING! Well, I don't really CARE what in the…"

Momo was abruptly silenced by something said on the other end, which caught Eiji's attention as well.

"You said… Did you just say what I think you said?"

There was another pause. While the voice on the other end babbled on, Momo glanced at Eiji meaningfully.

"We'll be over there right away."

- - - - - - -

Kawamura Takashi was standing with his back to Ryoma, using a damp rag to wipe down one of the countertops. It had been at least five minutes, and he still hadn't responded to Ryoma's question. The silence was starting to grate on Ryoma's nerves, a sensation he'd never experienced before. But then, he supposed he'd never really cared very much whether someone spoke before.

"Kawamura-senpai…" Ryoma was about to repeat himself when Taka suddenly spoke up.

"You heard all about it, didn't you, Echizen?"

Taka's voice was even kinder than Ryoma remembered it. It was a very warm voice, but at the moment, it held its own kind of sadness, too. And it was the sadness that caught Ryoma's attention.

"Yes… I mean… you mean about the---?" Ryoma felt his own voice trail off without actually forming a sentence.

"About them leaving? Yeah, that's what I meant." Taka actually sighed, slowly folding up the dishrag and placing it in a drawer underneath the counter.

"It's not really news anymore, though," he continued. "It's been more than a year. And it wasn't all that strange to begin with. Right?"

Ryoma couldn't even guess what that feeling was that he could hear in Taka's voice, but he knew that it made him uncomfortable.

"That wasn't what I heard," the young tennis star said at last. "I heard it was very strange. That people were talking for months."

Taka finally turned around and faced Ryoma, and there was a distinctly darkened expression on his face. He nodded seriously.

"Right. They were. You probably heard some of the rumors already," Taka replied. He was frowning. "You were talking to Horio, weren't you?"

"The rumors…" Ryoma thought for a moment.

…

"He got a scholarship to THE Oxford University in London…"

"… just decided at the last minute that he was going to that art school in Paris…"

"… even his parents don't know exactly where he is."

…

"Yes, I heard some of them," he answered, trying to sound quite normal. "It was… unexpected. Right?"

"You might say that. But, then again, it wasn't so unexpected, really." Taka was silent for a split second.

"Echizen, the truth is…" He took a deep breath.

"The truth is, they're not the same people you knew. Not anymore."

…

"I don't know why… But I can't do it. I can't go on like this. It no longer has any meaning for me. I don't know when, but… Somewhere along the way, I lost it. I lost my purpose in life."

"There's no way I'm staying here for another four years. Do you seriously think I'm just going to watch his back for the rest of my life? No. This time, I'll be the one to walk away. And he'll follow me. You'll see… He will…"

"So I'm lying. But I can't tell him the truth! I can't tell him why I'm really leaving… He'd try to keep me here. He'd try to say it's okay. But it's not. It's not okay for us. We'd never be happy like that. Because I'll never be happy until I get something I can't have…"

…

"Kawamura-senpai, I don't understand," Ryoma confessed. "I could tell something happened. But what? Why aren't they the same?"

"What happened?" Taka repeated slowly. He shrugged his shoulders a little. "Who knows? You're right, though. Something went wrong after you left. It was fine for the first few years. We were all going to Seigaku High. You heard that much, didn't you?"

"I did…" Ryoma recalled Sakuno's words earlier that day.

"Well, that wasn't bad. They were all in the tennis club, too, just like in junior high…" Taka let his words trail off, glancing all around him for a second. "Of course, I wasn't playing anymore. You remember how my sushi chef training was supposed to start in high school. So I didn't do any clubs. But I was glad that they were all playing tennis. It seemed right, like the old days, you know?"

Ryoma nodded, listening carefully. So far, it sounded like the friends he remembered.

"But it wasn't quite like it used to be, either," Taka continued. "High school teams are much more competitive, of course. And not everybody was making the cut. Even by the end of my second year, some of them still weren't in regular spots on the team. And that's when I started to notice it."

"Notice what?" prodded Ryoma, not liking the look in Taka's brown eyes.

"It wasn't like old times at all," Taka said finally. "They weren't themselves. Well, of course Tezuka was crushing every opponent he came across. Because he's Tezuka. And around that same time, Inui started playing really well all of a sudden. He's always been good, but I guess he just really hit his stride during high school. But Oishi and Eiji… Well, they were having a hard time beating the senpais, and the coach said he thought their teamwork was off. After Eiji heard that, he started getting pretty frustrated… Because, you know, Eiji was always really proud of their teamwork."

"Wait… The Golden Pair was off? Is that what you mean?" Ryoma looked confused.

"They were. And you know what else? Momoshiro and Kaidoh weren't fighting anymore. They just started ignoring each other. I never found out why."

"Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai… not fighting?" Ryoma asked incredulously. "But, Kawamura-senpai…"

"That wasn't the worst of it," Taka added. "The worst part was at the beginning of my third year, when Fuji quit the club."

There was a pause.

"What?" Ryoma had heard him, but he couldn't believe it.

"Fuji quit the club," Taka repeated. "He quit tennis. For good."

"But why, Kawamura-senpai?" exclaimed Ryoma, suddenly rising to his feet. "Why would Fuji-senpai quit tennis?"

"I don't know for sure. I can only tell you what he told me," Taka said calmly. He took a few steps toward Ryoma and placed his warm, rough hand on top of Ryoma's fingers, which he had unconsciously pressed against the countertop in surprise.

…

"I'm quitting because I hate tennis."

…

"That's what he told me," explained Taka, looking Ryoma straight in the eye. "But what he meant by that… Your guess is probably as good as mine."

Ryoma felt himself slowly sit down again, still feeling that hand on top of his own.

"I… I have no idea. Why would Fuji-senpai---?"

His voice was soft, hesitant, even hurt. Fuji-senpai quitting tennis? To Ryoma, it was unthinkable. For him, he could still feel the rain in his face, the chill against his skin, the wind in his eyes… For him, that day when he faced Fuji on the court would always be unforgettable. Fuji-senpai quitting tennis? If he remembered the rain, if he remembered him… How could he possibly quit?

Taka looked at the young man in front of him for a moment. It was true, what the articles said, he thought. Echizen Ryoma had grown up, and he was just as attractive as all the Japanese reporters raved. But to Taka's eyes at least, he was still very much the boy he remembered. He was still on the small side, for a teenager who had probably already had a big growth spurt. And this fact, coupled with the expression of distress on that youthful face… Well, it made Taka wish he could protect the boy from a few certain truths that he knew…

"Kawamura-senpai." Ryoma's voice startled Taka out of his thoughts. "What about Buchou? Where is he? What happened to him?"

Taka couldn't help sighing one more time. Here came the tough questions…

"Tezuka's going to college in Germany, just like you heard. But it's only part-time. He's been traveling all over Europe. Or so I've been told, anyway."

"But why? Wasn't he supposed to go to college in Osaka?" Ryoma inquired, trying to understand why Tezuka, of all people, would be wandering around that particular continent.

Taka looked as though there was something he was loathe to bring up.

"Tezuka had a tough time during our last year of high school," he explained hesitantly. "As you probably guessed, he was the captain of the tennis club again. And, well… The team didn't do very well during tournament season. They were eliminated in the first round of the Kantou Regionals."

Ryoma felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. This wasn't anything like the tennis club he'd known. Confused, distracted, broken up… losing? What in the world…?

"How did they lose?" Ryoma said, barely louder than a whisper.

"It was just a bad coincidence, really. But even if things hadn't happened like they did, they probably still would've lost. Oishi was eliminated from the regulars the week before the tournament, and it caused a real problem in the lineup," Taka replied. "Kaidoh and Inui played in first doubles and got the only win in the match-up. Eiji was put in third singles, and the pressure was just too much for him. Tezuka never even played."

For a moment, they were both silent.

"It was a shock, I guess you could say," Taka spoke up again. "Tezuka lived and breathed tennis, you know. Suddenly all the third-years had to resign, and there was nothing to think about except college. I think he must have wondered what had gone wrong. And he probably never forgave himself for the loss, even if it wasn't his fault. It was nothing like junior high, after all."

Ryoma knew that much. It had been very different in junior high, right until the very end. The fact that his old teammates had pulled off a National Championship in his absence had been his pride and his comfort for five years.

But what about this new information? That only three years after that, they had completely fallen apart? It was surprising enough to blot out the happiness of that achievement. And it was shocking enough to send a million questions racing through his mind, questions that were still unanswered.

In high school, some of them never even made it to the regulars.

Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai stopped fighting.

Fuji-senpai quit the club.

Kikumaru-senpai and Oishi-senpai were out of sync. Before the Regionals, Oishi-senpai was eliminated from the team.

Inui-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai were the only ones to win a match during the round that eliminated Seigaku from tournament competition.

And that was it? That was all there was to it? That didn't answer anything. But it did confirm Ryoma's suspicions. Something had gone wrong while he was away. Very wrong. And he wanted to know what it was.

He glanced at his senpai, who met his gaze only for a moment and then turned away. In that instant, Ryoma realized what that look was, hidden somewhere in those honest brown eyes.

"You know, don't you?" No reply, only silence.

"You know more than you're telling me, Kawamura-senpai!" He clenched his hands, feeling almost frustrated. "You know why they---"

The sudden sound of an opening door startled both of them. Ryoma's head turned involuntarily toward the entrance of the sushi restaurant, and there stood…

Two men?

No… wait…

They were…

"Kikumaru-senpai?" His voice slowly faded to a whisper. "Momo-senpai…"

He just stared at them. He knew that there was something he should be saying. But whatever it was, it was stuck in his throat. Why was his heart beating so irregularly?

…

"I'll tell them that I KNEW Ochibi… I mean, that I knew Echizen Ryoma… before he was all that and on top of the world and the best tennis player EVER, nya!"

"Promise me, Echizen. Promise me that you'll come back. … Promise me!"

…

Echizen Ryoma was being completely smothered.

"It really is you! It's our little Ochibi!" an almost unfamiliar voice was saying, while two arms squeezed the life out of him.

"K-Kikumaru-senpai…" Ryoma gasped, trying to breathe. His redheaded senpai was somewhat stronger than he remembered.

"Uh… Eiji, you're going to strangle him," Taka's voice was saying, somewhere over Ryoma's head.

"Aw, he can take it!" that voice responded, echoing inside the chest Ryoma was being pressed against with gusto. "He's a big shot now, right? All that and on top of the world, too! I saw you win Wimbledon for the fourth time last week, you little troublemaker! You're making all the big tough pros cry!"

Just as suddenly as he'd been taken into Eiji's vice grip of death, he was pushed backwards so the redhead could look him in the face. Ryoma was starting to feel dizzy.

"And you're even cuter than in all the magazines!" Eiji declared, sounding surprisingly like a mother hen clucking over one of her chicks. "You're ADORABLE! And you've grown, too! You're not just four feet tall anymore!"

"Kikumaru-senpai, I was not just four fe---" Ryoma tried to object, but Eiji rambled on.

"In fact, if you have another growth spurt, you might actually get taller than me! Now that would be something! I'd still call you Ochibi, though. And don't you forget it!" Eiji fondly mussed the tennis star's dark hair. "Once our Ochibi, always our Ochibi. Got that?"

"Got what?" Ryoma wanted to ask, but he gave up trying to get a word in edgewise as Eiji talked on. Instead, he looked at the two newcomers for a moment, trying to comprehend what five years had done to change their appearance.

It hadn't been all that much, he decided. He had recognized them without any trouble. And they were still taller than he was, he noted almost regretfully. He wondered for a split second if he'd always be the short one when it came to his senpais. But in thinking that, he noticed the first change. Momo was taller than Eiji now. Yes, that was different…

But that difference didn't bother him. And it was true. Something was bothering him.

He was going to interrupt Eiji again when he glanced at Momo, and suddenly, their eyes met. Momo's eyes… Ryoma had forgotten how purple those eyes were…

"Hey, Echizen," was all Momo said. Just a simple greeting, and a familiar smile.

In a way, it made Ryoma feel better. It was still the same smile, after all.

"Hey," he said, smiling back. That was it. But he did feel better. Really, he did…

He swallowed, and the choking feeling left. Yes, something was bothering him, but it didn't matter…

"Hey?" Eiji repeated suddenly, looking almost annoyed. "Hey? We see THE Echizen Ryoma, our Ochibi, for the first time in five years and all you have to say is 'hey'? Gosh, Momo, of all people, I didn't expect YOU to go all quiet on me at a time like this! Really!"

"Well, I didn't want to interrupt you, Eiji-senpai," laughed Momo. "You were on a roll, after all."

"Yeah, well, I thought you'd jump in at some point!" Eiji tossed his head, waving his hand almost dismissively. "Anyway, I was excited. Unlike YOU, apparently. You know, you never used to be so calm about WORLD CHAMPIONS showing up after five years at Taka-san's place completely out of the blue and…"

Ryoma blinked. Suddenly something clicked.

"That's what you sound like," he said, forgetting that he was interrupting Eiji's rant.

"Huh?" Eiji stopped babbling. Momo looked equally confused. "Sound like what?"

"The two of you sound like a married couple," he said calmly, pointing at Eiji and then Momo, in that order.

There was a pause. Taka started laughing.

"Well, they are roommates now, Echizen," he said, confirming Ryoma's suspicions.

"Oh, I see." The teenage tennis star smirked. "So you are like a married couple."

"Ochibi!" Eiji was aghast. "We are NOT! I just took Momo-chin under my wing, you know. He's my little brother, after all, and I couldn't have him starting his first year at college completely lost and alone…" (1)

Ryoma wasn't quite sure how he did it, but Eiji managed to get the taller Momo in a patronizing head lock and was currently occupied in giving the nineteen year-old an affectionate noogie.

"Eiji-senpai, I didn't actually…" Of course, Eiji interrupted whatever Momo had been about to say, still keeping him in the head lock.

"Anyway, we've only been rooming together a few months."

"Ah, I see. So you're not like a married couple?" Ryoma tried to sound innocent.

"You're teasing us!" Eiji exclaimed, looking appalled. "Really, Ochibi, you're as bad as Fuji! And I'll have you know that I have a girlfriend!"

"You do?" Ryoma couldn't help sounding surprised, though he couldn't quite explain why the possibility hadn't occurred to him.

"Yeah, another one…" Momo mumbled, also catching Ryoma's attention. He seemed almost annoyed about something, Ryoma thought, but what could…

"What was that, Momo?" Eiji inquired threateningly.

"Nothing, Eiji-senpai." Momo just rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I do have a girlfriend," Eiji continued, after shooting one last glare in Momo's direction. "And she would be shocked to hear you say such things, Ochibi!"

There was that feeling again. It was really starting to bother Ryoma, but he didn't want to think about the cause of that sinking feeling, that ugly worry somewhere in the back of his mind…

"What IS all that racket down there?" a voice demanded from the stairway, breaking into the conversation. "Takashi, it's two o'clock in the morning!"

"Ah, sorry, Mom!" Taka answered somewhat loudly. "They were just leaving!"

He turned back to his friends, shrugging almost sheepishly. "Sorry about that, guys. Looks like I'll have to lock up now."

"Oh, it's okay, Taka-san," Eiji said, suddenly sounding much calmer than he had upon entering the restaurant. It sounded almost bizarre to Ryoma's unaccustomed ears. "It's late, anyway."

"Sorry about intruding, Kawamura-senpai," Momo added. "We'll see you later, okay?"

Taka nodded. "Call me if anything's going on. You know…"

Whatever the sushi chef-in-training had been about to say, went unsaid. He just shook his head.

"Well, call me," he concluded with a smile, glancing at both Eiji and Momo in turn.

"We will," Eiji assured him, waving goodbye with a small, understated gesture. And with that, he turned and walked out the door, with Momo following close behind.

Ryoma looked unsure as to what he should be doing, but he was prevented from figuring it out for himself by the feeling of Taka's hand on his shoulder.

"Go ahead, Echizen," he said. "It's okay. It's you, after all."

Instead of giving him time to make sense of those cryptic words, Taka gave the teenager a very slight push toward the door. Ryoma looked back, but Taka was already getting to work again, cleaning off the tables.

With that, Ryoma walked out into the cool night air and found himself standing right next to his two senpais. He suddenly felt almost awkward, an emotion that up until that point had been completely unknown to him.

"So, Ochibi, where are you staying?" Eiji asked as soon as Ryoma had shut the door behind him.

"Staying---?" Ryoma repeated. "Oh. It's this hotel near the airport. I don't remember the name…"

"Okay. Well… Maybe we can see you again tomorrow?" Eiji looked at Momo suggestively.

"Yeah, sure," Ryoma agreed, wondering for the thousandth time what all these looks meant. After all, didn't his senpais know that the only reason he'd come back in the first place was to see them? Why were they even asking?

"How about you come by our apartment in the morning?" offered Eiji, digging in his pocket for a pen. "We'll go out to lunch somewhere, or something."

"There's a definite plan for you," Momo chuckled.

"I don't see you offering any suggestions, Momo-chin," Eiji retorted, taking Ryoma's slender hand and scribbling something on it. Ryoma flinched a little, not so much from the sudden gesture as from the tickle of the pen across his skin. It seemed like Eiji was writing a lot…

"Okay, that's the address. It's the second floor, third door to your right. See you tomorrow!" Eiji gave one last wave, grabbed Momo by the arm, and started walking down the street with his roommate in tow.

"Bye, Echizen!" was all Momo said, but he looked back at Ryoma for a moment before turning to Eiji to protest at being dragged along like a suitcase.

Ryoma meant to say something, but he didn't know what to say. Instead, he raised his hand hesitantly, in a kind of half-wave, almost not realizing what he was doing. He lowered his hand again, glancing down to read what was written there. Sure enough, it wasn't just an address…

904 W. Central (Apt. #207)

Thanks for coming back, Ochibi.

He knew it. It hadn't been his imagination after all. But it wasn't like him to be bothered by nothing. No, he'd seen it for sure. He'd seen it on his senpai's face, as plain as day.

The thing that had been bothering him?

That smile on Eiji's face…

That smile was fake.

And Momo and Taka both knew it, too.

"Kikumaru-senpai," he whispered. "What are you trying to hide?"

-end of chapter four-

Footnote: (1) There are two separate anime references in these sentences. First, the "Momo-chin" nickname is a pet name Eiji actually used in episode 56. I thought it was cute, so I had him use it again. Second, the "little brother" phrase refers to an episode during the camping arc (it's either 111 or 112, I think) where Eiji randomly declares that Momo is his "little brother." He uses a word that's actually mafia slang, which I find amusing. I think it's 'shotai' or maybe 'shotei'? I've forgotten the spelling. I usually try not to use Japanese words in fanfics because it gets confusing (and I only know a few words!). But if I do, I promise I'll use a footnote.

A/N: I'm so sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter! This past week was my first week at college, and things were crazy. But I'm so happy I was finally able to finish it! Finally most of the set-up exposition is out of the way, along with a couple of interesting surprises having to do with the tennis club… Don't worry! All shall be explained in time. I really will tie up all these strange loose ends.

In the meantime, these chapters are getting more and more fun to write. I just hope you all are having fun reading them. Please let me know what you thought of chapter four! And go ahead and scold me for keeping you waiting, if you like. Seriously, my bad… I'm already working on chapter five, though, so you won't be waiting too long for the next one! Promise!

Coming Up Next: You'll be going straight to the source of the angst, as well as to an entirely different continent, to meet a certain threesome that's been at the center of attention in this fanfic. Yup, Tezuka, Fuji, and Oishi are finally getting some face time! Plus, Ryoma visits Eiji and Momo's apartment.