As the sun rose in the sky the following morning, Fuji rolled onto his side to see Ryoma peacefully sleeping next to him. Gently, he tapped his finger against the young boy's cheek causing him to reach his arm up to smack him away. Fuji giggled and continued to poke Ryoma.

"Time to get up," Fuji voice was soft to Ryoma's ears.

"Five more minutes," he mumbled as he tossed over on his back.

"Come on, Echizen, you have to get ready for school."

"Tired…"

Fuji sat up in the bed and began to tug at Ryoma's arm. "You can sleep later."

"I want to sleep now," he groaned.

"Echizen," Fuji's voice became stern as he hung his head over the other boy.

"Hn…" Ryoma's eyes fluttered open as he made contact with the icy blue eyes that stared down at him.

"Morning," he pinched Ryoma's cheeks and then quickly got off the bed. "Hurry up or we're going to be late for school."

Ryoma didn't reply, he just removed himself from the bed and wobbled his way to the closet where his uniform hung. He pulled the clothes off the hanger and proceeded back towards the bed. Laying the uniform onto the bed, Ryoma pulled his shirt off half way and let it dangle around his neck. He let out a sigh as he tugged at the elastic on his pants.

"Echizen?" Fuji tilted his head at the boy as he unbuttoned his pajama shirt. "What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed," Ryoma continued to pull at his pants. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Playing," Fuji, after getting his uniform, moved back towards the bed and picked up Ryoma's white, button-up shirt. "Do I have to dress you myself?" He grabbed Ryoma's arm and placed it into the shirt.

Ryoma flinched and jerked away. "I can do it myself."

"Right. I'm going to go to the bathroom. You should hurry up," he went for the door and left without looking back.

Slowly, Ryoma trotted up to the cacti in the room. He found himself drawn into the one he had dropped what seemed so long ago. Grabbing for it, he held it carefully in his shaking hands. He bit his lower lip as he went to touch his finger to the small thorns. Shaking his head and knowing what it would bring, he instead he lightly brushed the pot and placed it back down. He returned to the bed where he rushed to get dressed as he heard footsteps coming back towards the room.

"Echizen, are you dressed?" Fuji knocked on the door before opening it. "Echizen?"

"I'm ready," before running towards the hallway, he took one more look at the cacti and moved around Fuji. "Lets go or we're going to be late."

Fuji eyes up the cacti and noticed one was slightly moved. He stopped himself from going to them and quickly left the room. He ran after Ryoma who already had his shoes off and was heading out.

On the way to school, there was only silence between the two boys. When the arrived to the building, Momoshiro, Tezuka, and Eiji were there waiting to greet them. Eiji fought off the urge to run up the small boy and grab hold of him, but he didn't want him to run in fear.

"Morning, Echizen," Tezuka looked down at the short boy with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face.

"I'll be prepared for practice this time, Tezuka-buchou," as the words slipped from his lips, he moved around Tezuka to Momoshiro who stood behind him. He scanned the older boy and went for the door. "I'm sorry."

"Huh? Echizen, wait up," Momoshiro attempted to go after him but was stopped by Eiji's arm.

"Maybe it's best that we just let him walk away and not question his actions," Eiji bobbled around. "Lets see if he'll go out with all of us for a bite to eat after practice. Not just us but all the regulars."

"Fuji?" Tezuka looked at the shortest boy in the group.

"I think that's a good idea. We should get to class," Fuji softly smiled and walked into the school.

"Wait up, Fuji!" Eiji called and chased after him.

"Momoshiro," was all Tezuka said before going inside himself.

Without waiting any longer, Momoshiro followed behind and thus the school day began.

"Morning Echizen!" Horio bellowed as Ryoma sat down in his desk.

"Morning," Ryoma dug in his bag for his notebook and pencil. He only half listened to Horio's chatter as he prepared himself for the day's lesson. His head nodded with the words that the boy said despite him not overly knowing what he was saying.

"Oh, and there's that English test today."

"English test?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure you'll do fine. You always do in English," Horio chuckled as the teacher came into the room.

"Right," Ryoma sighed as his teacher began to talk to the class. He couldn't keep himself focused on the lesson and even found himself fighting off falling asleep. Luckily, every time his head tilted to the side, Horio jabbed him with his pencil. At first, it was a bit uncomfortable, but he remembered that Horio was just doing it to keep him from getting into trouble.

As the minutes drifted into hours, the school day came to an end. Ryoma scurried out of his classroom, through the halls, and out towards the clubhouse. Standing outside, his heart began to beat rapidly as he started to fear going into the room to change.

"Ochibi!" Eiji's arms wrapped around the young boy, but he quickly pulled away. "Oh, sorry."

"It's fine," Ryoma looked up at him. "Where's Fuji-senpai?"

"He had to do something after class, so he's going to be a little bit late," Eiji noticed that Ryoma was shaking; almost as if he was scared to be without Fuji. "Don't worry though; Fuji will be here for practice. We can go in together. Hey, and Ochibi."

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget that we're not here to judge you. We want only the best for you."

Ryoma blinked a few times, nodded, and headed into the clubhouse. "I think I'll be okay with a little support."

"And you have plenty of it," Eiji whispered as he followed behind.

In the small room, Ryoma began to pull of his clothes and get into his tennis outfit. No one stared at him or questioned anything. He sensed the safety of being surrounded by these other boys. They weren't there to hurt him; they were there to protect him from those who wanted to treat him harshly. Ryoma wasn't completely convinced that he could leave his guard down, but at least he was starting to understand things better. If these fears would ever leave him, this was something he was uncertain about. Everyone started to leave the room right as Fuji stepped in. He looked down at Ryoma and nodded contently as he went to change his clothes. The fact that Ryoma was doing fine without him calmed his heart, though, at the same time, Fuji feared it as well.

After a few laps around the tennis courts, all the members joined together. Tezuka talked about the day's practice and working hard together as a team. He broke everyone into pairs, and just about everyone was a bit surprised how he didn't place Fuji and Ryoma together. Instead, Ryoma was paired with Kaidou while Fuji was with Oishi. To Ryoma's dismay, it was said that they would be playing doubles. With a few complaints here and there, the teams made their way to the court they were assigned to.

"Don't think I'll treat you any different, Echizen," Kaidou hissed. "And don't hold me back."

"Shouldn't I be the one to say that?" Ryoma pulled at his cap and stood in his side of the court.

"Cocky little brat," he grumbled as he noticed Fuji and Oishi standing on the other end of the court.

"Lets do our best everyone," Oishi cheerfully smiled as he prepared for his serve.

"Should we go easy on these two?" Fuji softly giggled.

"Not a chance," Oishi tossed the tennis ball up into the air and let it make contact with his racket. "Ha!"

Kaidou, who was in the upper corner of the court, hit the ball back towards Oishi. It continued back and forth between those two until Fuji pushed himself into the game. Ryoma instantly swung forward and caused the ball to fly towards the back of the other end of the court. Somehow, he managed to play the game decently; that was until both he and Kaidou decided to run for the ball at the same time.

"Ow!" Ryoma fell to the ground and his racket dropped from his hand. "Maybe you should watch where you're going."

"Maybe you should learn how to play doubles!" Kaidou growled and threw his hand forward. "You going to give up?"

Ryoma took his hand and stood back up. "No way."

"Then get your racket and pick up the pace."

He only snickered and grabbed his racket. They continued to play, and even with their better teamwork, they lost. In the end, they all agreed playing doubles wasn't Ryoma's thing.

With practice over, the regulars somehow managed to drag Ryoma off for something to eat. At first, he was a bit against it, but didn't mind once Tezuka said he'd be paying. They conversed about school and tennis and how they had to do their best to come out on top. It was filled with a chaotic peace that allowed Ryoma to forget everything and just enjoy himself. Being surrounded by everyone reminded him that there is hope. No matter how dark the past was, he had to continue forward until the very end.

When they had finished their meal, everyone parted ways. Fuji and Ryoma were left to walk back alone with the setting sun their only company. Just like when they walked to school, there were no words spoken; just silence. Every once in awhile, Fuji would look next to him to see Ryoma staring down at his feet. As they arrived back at the house, Ryoma walked in first and took off his shoes. He let out a yawn and wobbled his way towards the stairs. Neither of the two boys had homework, so they left their bags by the front door and proceeded to the second level of the house.

"Fuji-senpai," Ryoma unbuttoned part of his shirt and threw himself onto the bed. "Do you think we could start that new beginning?"

"What do you mean?" Fuji sat down next to the laying boy.

"Well, there's already been a lot of drama, so I thought it would be best to start with a new beginning now. I'm scared of the future, and it's hard for me to admit it," Ryoma covered his face with his hands. "My father raped me, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't live my life. Right? I shouldn't allow this to continue to cause me so much pain. It's hard though…even with everyone around me, I still feel alone at points."

"We all have fears, Echizen. It's not just you who is scared. Every one of us have cried for you, pleading that in the end you'll make it through. You're getting there though, and it seems like you no longer need my help."

Ryoma quickly sat up and with tear filled eyes stared right at Fuji. "Don't say that."

"It's true though."

"Senpai…" he bit his lip. "Maybe I'm just stupid, but I don't think I would have been able to push through without you…"

Fuji grabbed for Ryoma's shaking hand. "I want to talk to you about something serious. I know that it might be a bit soon, but I don't want to lose you. It's now or never, I guess."

"What are you talking about?"

"Echizen, I worry that you'll leave me, and that is a painful though because I'm falling…"

"Falling?"

"No, I've already fallen," Fuji leaned in close as their lips met. "I love you, Echizen Ryoma."

Ryoma quickly pulled himself away as his cheeks glowed red. He couldn't control his crying as a rush of emotions poured through him. There was an urge to yell and scream and tell Fuji to not touch him, but as his heart was beating rapidly in chest, he shook everything away. His body fell into Fuji's arms and he dug his head deep into his shirt. Without another thought, he just sobbed. There were no words he could say at the moment because he had yet to understand what was really going on.

"I'm sorry," Fuji mumbled as he wrapped his arms around Ryoma's quivering body. "It was too soon."

"No," Ryoma's words were no more than a soft whisper. "I want it…this warmth…"

"…Echizen…"

"I came to you because I trusted you the most. I don't know why, but I just knew it…I knew you'd be there for me. I'm not fully healed. I still need you, so please don't let me go. Let me just stay like this."

"I won't ever let you go because knowing that you had been put through all this pain is the worst thought in the world," Fuji sniffled as he tried to hold back his own tears.

"Fuji-senpai…I love you…" his voice faded as his eyes closed. The tears that dripped down his cheeks slowly dried. Ryoma had finally found the peace he longed for in Fuji's loving arms.

End.

NOTE: On January 10th, 2010, the first chapter of "An Unknown Disaster" was published. Now, on November 10th, 2010, the final chapter is here. It's been a long ride, but I'm content with the end. Thank you for all who have stuck around until the very end. I hope that I have done a decent job at writing this fic. Hopefully I will be able to bring even better fics someday for you all to read.

Wait! Why does it say it's incomplete though? I have an epilogue I will be writing for this fic. I doubt it'll come out until after November is over though. Lets go with December 10th at the latest, alright? I do have it planned out, so I hope you'll come back to read it. Until then, I thank you for reading this fic and for the many wonderful reviews. Thank you~

I hope to see you around for my next fics to come.