After changing into his tennis uniform, Ryoma stood away from the others. He slightly swayed as he waited for them to leave. Though, when he heard footsteps coming up to him, he quickly lifted his head. Take a small step back, he straightened himself up.

"Echizen, I would like to have a word with you."

"What is it, Tezuka-buchou?" Ryoma stared at the taller boy with his honey-brown eyes. He tried his hardest to make sure he didn't act strange.

"Follow me," Tezuka turned around and walked towards the door.

As Ryoma followed behind him he scanned his surroundings with each step he took. He felt uneasy with being around Tezuka. It was never like this before, but an odd feeling crept up his spine as if telling him something bad was going to happen.

"If you feel like you don't have the ability to continue to play tennis, you should tell me," Tezuka watched as the young boy began to look more and more uncomfortable.

"What are you talking about? Why wouldn't I want to play tennis?" Ryoma's voice was a little shaky but still demanding.

"When tragic things happen, it can become hard to do daily activities. I will understand if you find it hard to play tennis."

Ryoma shook his head and swung around in fear of Tezuka seeing the tears that were forming. "I don't know what you're talking about!" Ryoma ran in the direction where Fuji stood. As the figure grew closer, it became blurry. Stopping, Ryoma placed his hands on top of his head as he fell to his knees with a piercing scream. Pulling at strands of his hair, he could feel himself losing against the pain. Like a video playing back, the memories of his mother walking out of the house flooded his mind following the numerous times his father stripped him bare. With this, his anger grew, and he was completely lost in the flashbacks.

"Echizen!" Fuji was the first to reach out for him, but Ryoma flung his arm forward forcing him away. It shocked him to be pushed away so quickly.

"If Momo-senpai would have come over," Ryoma softly mumbled through his crying. "If Mom wouldn't have left…if Dad was more of a father…"

"What's Echizen talking about?" Momoshiro lightly shook Fuji's shoulder as the others began to gather around the small boy.

Fuji looked over to his left and spotted Tezuka. He knew that he had said something to trigger this reaction from Ryoma. It didn't matter to him though. All he cared about was pulling Ryoma out of the darkness that he fell into. Wanting to comfort the boy, Fuji got onto his knees and proceeded to wrap his long arms around the quivering boy.

Ryoma tried to pull away. "Leave me alone!"

Those words stung Fuji's heart, but he refused to let go. As his grip grew tighter, he tried to fight the tears that formed in his eyes. Seeing Ryoma like this was more painful than he would have imagined. "I promise, Echizen, I won't hurt you. You're too important to me…"

"He's going to get me. Don't let him get me!"

"He won't get you. I won't ever let that man touch you ever again," Fuji softly whispered in Ryoma's ear. "Even if it's just until you can make it on your own…I'll be here for you."

"I…" Ryoma's eyes closed as he passed out from the stress being put onto his body.

"Ochibi!" Eiji yelled out. "Is he alright?"

"We should call for the nurse," Oishi tried to walk away but was stopped by Tezuka.

"Fuji, bring him back to the clubhouse. Watch over him until he wakes up. If Echizen is able to, have him run 10 laps before he goes home," Tezuka crossed his arms as he shifted towards the others. "Get back to practice."

In the clubhouse, Fuji placed Ryoma gently down on the floor. Touching his forehead with the back of his hand, he felt the heat the boy was giving off. His heavy breathing only concerned him more as he unzipped Ryoma's jacket. He could see the pain written all over Ryoma's pale face. Wrapping the jacket he had took off of Ryoma, he bundled it up into a ball. Slowly lifting his head up, he let Ryoma's head rest on the soft cloth.

How much longer will you continue to be like this? Fuji thought as he let out a sigh. With every tear you shed, my heart breaks more. The worst part is, I feel as if I won't be able to pull you out of the nightmare you continue to fall back into.

Lightly, Fuji brushed his hand against Ryoma's cheek. As he did, the boy's eyes slowly opened and stared up at the ceiling. There was no reaction from being touched. All Ryoma did was blink a few times.

"Are you feeling alright?" Fuji retreated his hand.

"Fuji-senpai," Ryoma's voice was shaky. He sat himself up and leaded against the wall as if he wouldn't be able to stay up without the support. "Can we go home?"

Fuji flashed his eyes open from the way Ryoma had worded his question. "Yeah."

"There's something I want to talk to you when we get back…"

He nodded as he helped the small boy off the ground. He took both of their bags because he knew Ryoma wouldn't be able to hold them. As they began to walk out of the room, Ryoma let his head rest up against Fuji's shoulder. Taking his free arm, Fuji wrapped in around Ryoma's waist to help hold up his limp body. With each step they took, Fuji found himself more and more curious about what exactly Ryoma wanted to talk about. Though, he would wait for him to speak up, because the last thing he wanted to do was pressure Ryoma into doing things against his will.

NOTE: Sorry everyone, I'm a day late. Actually, I wanted to have an update on the 28th and 31st. I guess that didn't really happen. As you all should know, starting tomorrow (April 1st) I will be participating in Script Frenzy. I will try to get another update for this fic out. I have no clue when that update will come, so I guess you all will just have to wait and see. I can tell you that it won't be the 1st, 4th, or 10th of April because I will be way too busy those days.

I do want to mention that next chapter will include something about Ryoma's missing mother as well as some other things that I think I'll keep a secret. Oh, and I have to say this because EchizenRyomaLover brought it up in her review. I never noticed how much I use Tezuka to cause conflict (and drama) within my fics. "Need conflict? Add a dash of Tezuka to your fic today!"

I'm going to go. I have to finish the next chapter for "I'm Not Broke" (I'm behind.). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for reading. I'll see you soon (hopefully) for the next chapter~!