Nya, sorry this came kinda late in the day. I was busy watching my sister and mother playing Just Dance 2. That reminds, did everybody have a nice Christmas? Was everybody good and get nice presents from Santa?

IMPORTANT: I have very important exams in January that fall around when I'm supposed to put the next chapter up. As a result, the next chapter will be very late, probably appearing sometime around the beginning of February. Also, the next chapter will be the last chapter. Sorry if this causes any inconvenience!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince Of Tennis.

Chapter Five

Akaya woke with a start. He had no idea what time it was, though he knew it was early since Jackal was still asleep, and he had no idea what had woken him. Deciding that there was no point in just lying there and doing nothing, Akaya got up. He quickly got dressed and went to unzip the tent flap. The flap fell open and Akaya stepped out-

SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!

-just as three water balloons came flying towards him. They all hit him in the face, drenching him. Akaya moved the sopping wet hair from his eyes and glared at Niou who was rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Niou-senpai!" He roared, rushing towards the chibi. His yell woke everyone else up and they came running out of their tents. Yagyuu and Jackal quickly held Akaya back as Marui picked Niou up, holding him protectively. "Lemme at 'im, lemme at 'im! Let me have my revenge! Niou-senpai deserves everything thing that he gets!" Akaya was about to yell more but stopped when Niou started to sniff, his eyes becoming watery.

"I'm s-sorry, Akaya. I w-was j-just really b-bored and w-wanted to have s-some fun. I th-thought you would f-find the pr-prank funny." Niou stuttered out before beginning to cry. Marui glared at Akaya as he comforted Niou. The seaweed head looked guilty.

"Sorry, Niou-senpai. I'm not angry at you, honest. It's just that it's early and everything annoys me when it's early, even myself!" Akaya apologised hurriedly. Niou's tears only calmed down a little bit. "Um, um, um, you like chocolate cake, right? Right? Tell ya what, I'll go and get you some right now!" Before anybody could stop him, Akaya quickly ran off.

Marui went back to his tent to get dressed, still carrying Niou. As soon as the front was closed, Niou stopped crying. Marui looked at him in surprise and confusion before slowly smirking in realisation.

"You fake it, you little Trickster!" He laughed as he ruffled Niou's hair. Niou stuck his tongue out evilly and laughed as well. Akaya burst in at that moment.

"Liar!" The second year yelled with a pout on his lips. Marui and Niou jumped in shock.

"Akaya? I though you went to town!" Marui exclaimed.

"I forgot my wallet." Akaya explained before looking annoyed again. "Niou-senpai, you liar! You got everybody mad at me and I ran all the way to town! Do you know how many weird looks I got for running without my shoes on and how many times I stubbed my toes?"

"You ran all the way to town in less than five minutes?" Marui asked, looking and sounding impressed. Akaya glared at him.

"Marui-senpai, that isn't the point! The point is that Niou-senpai is a liar and that everybody is mad at me because of him even though I didn't do anything wrong!" He shouted. Marui's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Akaya, 'Haru is a Trickster! What do you expect? And nobody's mad at you, though they should be since you tried to attack a little kid!" Marui yelled at Akaya.

"That isn't a little kid! That's Niou-senpai and he deserves to be punished!"

"He's trapped in a five-year-olds body! That is close enough!"

Niou watched with worried eyes as the two argued, the fight starting to turn physical when Marui and Akaya grabbed each other's shirts. Niou snapped.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! Stop fighting!" He shouted, tears dripping down his cheeks as he ran out of the tent.

"'Haru!" Marui shouted, running after the Trickster. He tripped over the tent's entrance and fell to the ground heavily. By the time he was on his feet again, Niou was out of sight. Marui growled. "Goddamnit…"

"Hmph. I bet he's just faking again." Akaya said crossly as he folded his arms. Marui spun round to face him, grabbing the front of his shirt angrily.

"He isn't faking it!" He yelled at Akaya. He suddenly slumped forward against Akaya, like his anger had robbed him of all his energy. "He isn't faking it… I know he isn't… I should've remembered… I should've…" Akaya blinked in surprise when he felt his shoulder becoming wet.

"Marui-senpai?" He asked uncertainly as he wrapped his arms round the redhead.

"'Haru hates seeing the people he cares about fight… I shouldn't have shouted… How could I…?" Marui cried softly. Akaya pulled him down so that they were just sitting in the tent's entrance.

"Marui-senpai, why was Niou-senpai upset?" Akaya asked quietly. Marui wiped his eyes quickly before answering.

"When we were younger, 'Haru's parents kept fighting. We were sure they were going to split up. Now 'Haru hates it whenever he sees people he cares about arguing." The violet-eyed boy explained as he pulled his knees to his chest.

"Split up? You mean a divorce? But I thought Niou-senpai's parents were together? They definitely were when I last saw them." Akaya said bewilderedly.

"We tried to run away. His parents got really worried and promised not to fight anymore." Marui told him.

"'We'? And how do you try to run away? You either do or you don't." Akaya said bluntly. Marui's lips twitched slightly.

"Fine, I'll tell you…"

Flashback

"I'm running away." Niou announced suddenly as he and Marui made their way to the school gates after school. Marui looked up at him in surprise.

"Masaharu-san?" He called out uncertainly, shifting his grip on Kuma-chan and timidly putting a hand on Niou's shoulder.

"Kaa-chan and Tou-chan keep fighting. I hate it. I'm running away." Niou repeated, raising a hand to wipe away his tears furiously. In doing so, he accidentally knocked Marui's hand away. The redhead flinched slightly but before he could shrink away, Niou grabbed his hand. "Run away with me, Bunta-chan! I don't wanna go by myself but I can't stay here!" Marui bit his lip.

"Masaharu-san…"

"Please, Bunta-chan!" Niou pleaded, looking into his friend's violet eyes beseechingly. Marui's eyes darted about and he shifted from foot to foot nervously. His eyes settled on Niou's and he nodded hesitantly. Niou smiled at him and hugged Marui tightly. "Thank you, Bunta-chan!"

"It's okay, Masaharu-san. After all, we're friends, right?" Marui smiled weakly. Niou pulled back and nodded exuberantly. He took Marui's hand and tugged on it gently.

"Come on, let's go. There's no time like now." Niou said as he began to lead Marui away from the school and in the opposite direction of their houses. Marui nodded slightly as he followed his friend.

The two walked for what seemed like hours to their little legs but was really only just over one. Marui and Niou talked quietly as they walked, their breath coming out in small pants. Marui looked up at the sky.

"Masaharu-san, is it me or is getting darker?" He asked, a small amount of fear creeping into his voice. Niou looked up as well and saw black clouds creeping across the sky.

"It looks like a storm's coming, Bunta-chan." Niou answered worriedly, both boys moving closer to each other. Marui tugged on Niou's hand slightly.

"Masaharu-san, maybe we should head back." Marui suggested quietly, shivering slightly as the wind picked up. Niou shook his head stubbornly.

"No! I said we're running away so we're going through with it!" Niou said loudly. Marui shied away and nodded. Niou felt guilty for forcing his shy friend into doing this but he couldn't stay with his parents fighting all the time and he didn't want to run away by himself. Niou hugged Marui gently before taking his hand again and pulling Marui along.

They walked for another half an hour. By this time, the rain had started and was coming down heavily. Niou and Marui were shivering non-stop.

"Masaharu-san…" Marui whimpered quietly. Niou looked at him before tugging the redhead under a tree, hugging him tightly and rubbing his arms to create some warmth. There was a sudden crash of thunder and a flash of lightning and both the boys screamed. Marui burst into tears. "Masaharu-san, I wanna go home!"

"I want to too, Bunta-chan, but I don't know where we are!" Niou was beginning to cry as well. Niou and Marui clung to each other as they sank to the ground, crying and shivering in each others arms. Niou didn't know how long they sat there for but after a long while a police car pulled up in front of them. A policewoman got out and went over and knelt down in front of them.

"Is one of you Niou Masaharu?" She asked softly. Niou nodded, rubbing his eyes. She smiled at them and held out a hand. "Let's get you home, Masaharu-kun. Your parents are really worried about you." Niou looked up at her.

"They're worried about me? They aren't fighting?" He asked. The policewoman nodded and Niou felt happiness surge through him. He stood up and pulled Marui to his feet as well. "Come on, Bunta-chan, we can go home now." Marui nodded, sniffing quietly as they climbed into the police car. The policewoman turned round to make sure that they had buckled up their seatbelts.

"Is this your friend, Masaharu-kun? He has to be a very good friend to agree to run away with you." She commented. Niou nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, Bunta-chan's my best friend." He said as he hugged Marui tightly. Marui hugged him back, snuggling into the slight warmth that Niou provided. The policewoman smiled at them as she turned back round.

Niou's parents were waiting worriedly in the doorway as the police car pulled up. They ran up to their son as he climbed out of the car, picking him up and hugging him tightly.

"Oh Masaharu! We were so worried! Why did you run away?" His mother exclaimed, kissing Niou all over his face and practically squeezing the breath out of him. Niou bit his lip lightly.

"You and Tou-chan kept fighting. I don't like it when you're arguing." He whispered, hiding his face in his mother's shoulder. Niou's father wrapped his arms round the two.

"Son, we're sorry. We've sorted it all out. We promise we won't fight again, we promise. Please don't scare us like that again." His father said. Niou sniffed as he put his arms round both his parents' necks. The policewoman cleared her throat and the family broke apart slightly.

"Sorry but I was just wondering about this little one." She said, putting a gently hand on Marui's head. Niou's father went over to pick Marui up.

"Oh, Bunta, did you go with Masaharu?" Niou's mother cried out softly, shifting Niou in her arms so she could stroke Marui's hair. "Bunta often comes over to play after school. We'll drive him back." The policewoman nodded and left. "Come on inside, we'll give you some of Masaharu's clothes, Bunta." The small group made their way into the house. As they made their way inside, Marui caught Niou's hand and smiled at him. Niou grinned back.

"…and they lived happily ever after." Niou's mother finished reading the story just as her husband walked into the bedroom. He had just got back from dropping Marui off. He walked over to the bed and sat next to Niou, the boy close to falling asleep. "Welcome back, Masaru."

"Hey Misaki, Masaharu." He greeted as he kissed his wife's cheek and Niou on the head. "How's my little boy?"

"Happy." Niou answered with a smile as he snuggled under his duvet, each hand holding one of his parents'. They both smiled gently at their son as he fell asleep. Just before he drifted off completely, Niou whispered one last thing. "And they lived happily ever after…"

End Flashback

"'Haru's parents kept their promise and they've been one big happy family ever since." Marui finished. Akaya squeezed his hand lightly.

"I'm glad Niou-senpai's parents sorted it out. I'll apologise to him as soon as he gets back." He promised. Akaya frowned slightly as he noticed that, despite it being still early morning, it was getting darker. There was suddenly a pitter-pattering sound as rain began to fall. "Ah, Jackal said yesterday that on the radio they said it would rain today." Marui stood up abruptly.

"'Haru hated storms when he was a kid. I need to go find him." Marui said shortly before quickly running off in the direction that he had seen Niou go in.

Marui ran for ages, shouting at the top of his voice. After a while he had to come to a stop, bending forward and putting his hands on his knees as he panted heavily. He stood up and cupped his hands round his mouth.

"'HARU!" He yelled at the top of his hoarse voice. Marui heard a small sob from nearby and quickly ran in that direction. Marui found Niou curled up under a tree, crying quietly. "'Haru!" Niou looked up in surprise.

"Bunta…" He whispered as Marui ran over and hugged him fiercely.

"'Haru, I'm so sorry!" Marui apologised sincerely, pulling back slightly so he could look Niou in the eye.

"Bunta, it's not your fault! It-" Niou started but Marui cut him off.

"No, it is. I know what it's like to be chibi. I know how all your memories from when you were younger become clearer and how all the fears that seem stupid now suddenly don't seem so stupid. I know all that but I still fought with Akaya. I'm sorry." Marui said as he stood up with Niou in his arms. "Come on, let's go back." Niou immediately began struggling.

"But Bunta! You're back!" Niou cried out as he futilely tried to escape from Marui's grasp. The redhead just pulled him closer.

"Masaharu, stop!" Niou instantly froze. Marui only used his full name when he was serious. "You need to stop protecting me so much, I can look after myself. You are much more important than my back."

"But-"

"Masaharu, I know what you said yesterday but doesn't change the fact that you are trapped in the body of a five-year-old. You are restricted to doing what five-year-olds are able to do so I need to help you until you're your real age again, not the other way round. Right now I am a lot older than you and therefore am responsible for protecting you." Niou didn't say anything as Marui finished his small speech, instead just wrapping his arms round Marui's neck gratefully as they ran back to camp.

Marui practically dived back into the camp, quickly setting Niou down and zipping up the tent. He turned round and saw that their clothes and some towels had been set out. Marui smiled slightly and sent a mental thank you to Akaya as he grabbed a towel and began drying Niou off.

"Hey, I just noticed, you're still wearing your pyjamas." Niou suddenly spoke up from under the fluffy towel. Marui stopped and he looked down to see that he was indeed still wearing his favourite green pyjamas with little red apples and strawberries, albeit a little damper than they had been.

"Yes I am." He said before laughing, Niou chuckling along. They stopped after a while, Niou pulling the towel down so he could smile at Marui.

"Thanks, Bunta." Niou said softly. Marui wiped the last of the tears of laughter from his eyes and smiled gently at the chibi Trickster.

"It's okay, 'Haru." Marui said as he hugged Niou. The chibi clung to him, burying his face in the redhead's chest. "Sorry again." Niou shook his head, sniffling a little.

"No, it's fine. It's just that I can't wait until I'm back to normal. I didn't get to say goodbye to Kaa-chan and Tou-chan." Niou sniffed quietly. Marui hugged him tighter.

"Don't worry, 'Haru, you'll be back to normal soon. I promise." He said soothingly. Niou pulled back and looked at him slightly sceptically.

"How can you promise?"

"I'll threaten Yanagi using your blackmail." Niou snorted and Marui laughed softly as well as he helped Niou to change into some dry clothes. As soon as Marui had changed out of his saturated pyjamas, Niou moved back into his arms.

"Thanks for helping me, Bunta." Marui hugged him gently, blushing lightly as he replied.

"Anytime, 'Haru. I love you."

A/N: Nya, the flashback came out longer than expected! I hope I didn't hurt anybody's eyes with all the italics... Sorry if I did!

Sorry once again about the change in schedule for the next chapter. Until February! Bai bai!