AN: Hello again! Just to remind you all, I reposted this entire fic! Crazy, huh? Hehe. So I've been typing random things here at my corner! haha! Just kidding! I hope you REALLY enjoy this fic! (I'll never get tired of saying that!) Read away! XD
Chapter 4:
Ryoma almost puked at the amount of burgers they ate the other day. Honestly, what type of person would eat 10 burgers in one seating. That Momo has a really big stomach to be able to squeeze in that amount of food all at once. Ryoma, himself only ate four because he was challenged by Momo to an eating contest. He ended up consuming only four. Oh, his poor stomach… He will never eat that amount of greasy food every again. Those kinds of foods shorten your lifespan.
That night, Ryoma was not able to sleep peacefully because his stomach would ache in the middle of the night or he would feel the urge to use the toilet. He swore that he would never go out to eat burgers with his sempais ever again. Or at least not in a long while. He tends to eat a lot with them. Although it was free, it was not really worth the trouble it caused afterwards.
Ryoma sighed as he recalled the events two days ago. Currently he is waiting for the last bell to ring, signaling the end of their class and the start of club activities. He stared at the clock. Ten more minutes.
He stared at his seatmate, Sakuno, who was still listening to the lesson of the teacher. He sometimes wonders how she manages to stay awake during class hours even though the teacher was really boring. He watches as Sakuno takes down notes about the topic discussed. He then glances at the clock. Two more minutes.
The teacher now announces the last reminders and informs them that they will be having a long quiz about the last two topics they discussed. Finally, the bell rang and Ryoma quickly fixed his things and prepared to head out of the room. He waited for Sakuno to finish fixing her things since she, too will go to the tennis courts.
After that, they walked briskly towards the tennis courts and separated ways as Sakuno headed for the girls' team while Ryoma went to the locker room to change his clothes. He quickly changed, grabbed a racquet and went out. He joined his fellow regular members as they did warm ups.
Tezuka finally entered the court with Sumire and Inui. He announced that they will be running laps today and asked Inui to tell them about the rules. There will be a specific time limit per lap and whoever exceeds will have to drink the Penal Tea. Right at that moment Inui showed the entire tennis team a mug of red liquid that emitted purplish-grey smoke. Everyone gulped and sweated rapidly.
Everyone took their position and waited for the signal whistle. When they heard it, everyone started running quickly. After almost 15 laps, almost everyone fell victim to the disgusting and very spicy taste of Penal Tea, since the time limit is constantly shortened with every lap they run. All the regulars were the only ones left running. Inui announced that the time limit for the final lap should be only 60 seconds and that whoever was the last one must drink a whole pitcher of the drink. Everyone wildly ran. Eiji jumped and took the lead but then both Momo and Kaidoh sprinted faster not wanting to lose from each other. Ryoma took a racquet lying at the side of the court and handed it to Taka.
"BURNING! GET OUT OF THE WAY!", he shouted as he passed through everyone, with Ryoma following him closely behind.
"Whoa! Echizen that's cheating!", shouted Momo.
"Che! Mada mada dane, sempai.", he answered back giving him an evil smirk
It was the final turn and everyone saw that Ryoma was leading, but the rest were at his back. In the end, all of them finished the lap at the same time. Since it was a tie no one was required to drink the Penal Tea.
Just when they thought that they were taking a break after the tiring run, coach Ryuuzaki came and told them that they will be having a practice match.
"Ryoma and Fuji! Go to the court and do a practice match. Let's test how well your stamina is.", she said as she watched the two take their positions on the court.
"One set match, Echizen to serve.", Tezuka, who was acting as an umpire, called.
Ryoma, although panting slowly, bounced the neon ball with his left hand and did a twist serve. Fuji was able to return it back easily. Ryoma tried doing a drop shot but it was returned with a lob. He ran back and did a smash but the shot was nullified by Fuji's Higuma Otoshi. The ball went all the way back near the base line. Ryoma was not able to return it.
"It seems like you are able to return any kind of smashes with that technique of yours.", commented an amused Ryoma. He was thrilled to play with a strong guy like Fuji. He truly lives up to his sadistic tensai reputation.
Fuji kept on giving Ryoma chance ball, and Ryoma continuously smashes them back. Unfortunately, it was all returned by his Higuma Otoshi. The game count was 3-4 and Fuji was leading. He still was not able to defeat Fuji's technique. He felt very thrilled and he wanted badly to defeat that technique of his.
It was Ryoma's turn to serve again. But suddenly, he feels a sharp pain in his chest slowly increasing and he feels a bit short of breath. He ignores it because still he wanted to play. A bad choice, he will realize in the end. He took a deep breath and did a twist serve. It scored. He then prepared to serve again, all the while feeling the pain in his chest increasing. He clutches his chest momentarily, shuts his eye a bit, and then breathes deeply. Fuji notices this and frowns a little. Ryoma serves and Fuji returned it with a lob. Ryoma smashes it and the ball hits the top of the net. When Fuji returned it with Higuma Otoshi, it went outside. Ryoma smirked as he landed on the ground. He defeated Higuma Otoshi.
Suddenly, the pain in his chest increased tenfold. He gasped in pain and clutched his chest. He dropped his racquet and fell to his knees still holding on to his chest. He breathes heavily and notices that everyone else came rushing at him.
~~~~hohohohoho~~~~
When Fuji saw Ryoma clutch his chest with a pained expression, he knew right away that something was wrong. He watches as Ryoma breathes deeply before bouncing the ball and doing a twist serve. He returned it with a lob and Ryoma smashes it. He did a Higuma Otoshi and it landed outside. But instead of hearing an arrogant comment from the lad, he hears a gasp from his direction. He sees Ryoma on his knees with a very painful expression. He seems to be clutching his heart and seems to be having a difficulty in breathing.
"Echizen!", the rest of the regulars shouted as they saw Ryoma fall to the ground, clutching his hurting chest.
As they saw this, they immediately rushed to the fallen player.
"Echizen are you alright?", asked the worried Momo.
"Isn't it obvious, baka? Why don't you shut up and think of something to help with the situation?", said Kaidoh, a bit irritated because of the loud voice of his rival.
"T-Teme…", Momo glared at Kaidoh.
"Would you two stop it? We need to take Echizen to the infirmary.", said the very worried Oishi.
"Uwaaa! Is Ochibi in pain? Oh no! It's because of Inui's very exhausting training!", said the teary eyed Eiji.
"Echizen is supposed to be able to withstand this kind of training. There is only 5.79% chance that this would happen.", Inui explained as he rechecked his data book, looking for any possible mistakes.
"Everyone, calm down.", said the very worried Taka.
"Saa…Taka is right.", said Fuji, who was also worried about his opponent. He was really enjoying their game just now, but even though he noticed that Ryoma was already pale during their game, he still continued and was not able to prevent this from happening.
"The rest of the team, go back to your training. We'll take care of this matter.", ordered Tezuka, who noticed the slowly increasing crowd around Ryoma.
Sumire panicked a little when she saw Ryoma fall down and clutch his chest. She never expected Ryoma to have an attack toady. She calmed down for a little and went to his bag to get him his medicine. She found a bottle filled with white pills. She took it and brought it to Ryoma.
"I-it h-hurts…", Ryoma silently said as he caught sight of his coach ,whom he mistook for his mother, approach him. He looked at Sumire with pained eyes as if pleading to her to make the pain go away. Coach Ryuuzaki immediately placed a tablet inside his mouth and let him drink from a jug. The medicine seemed to be only doing a little job in helping him get better. He ordered Momo to carry him to the infirmary while she calls Ryoma's parents. Momo immediately agreed and carried the boy towards the infirmary. The rest of the regulars followed, feeling worried at the youngest regular. The rest of the tennis club were also worried but just decided to return to their own practices in fear that they might be punished because of slacking off.
Momo let the Ryoma lie down on the bed. The nurse was not around so they could just hope that help would arrive soon. He hears Ryoma's silent pained grunts. Ryoma still seemed to be in pain as he turns in his bed and still clutching his chest. He seemed to be out of breath and was breathing heavily.
"What do you think happened to Echizen?", he said in a panicked voice as he helplessly watched his kohai.
"We don't know that yet.", said the calm Tezuka. "Why don't you go get warm water and a towel? Echizen seems to be having a fever right now.", he added as he felt Ryoma's warm forehead.
Momo immediately grabbed a towel and got warm water. He gave it to Oishi who was stroking the back of Ryoma.
"I-itai…", they hear him say. They are now really worried. Aside from the mysterious pain in his chest, he is also running a fever.
Oishi immediately placed the wet towel on top on Ryoma's forehead. Ryoma grabs the towel and takes it away. Even though he is already sick, he still acts stubborn. He did not want anyone to take care of him.
At that moment, Sumire enters the room with Ryoma's mother, Rinko. She rushed to his son and felt his hot temperature. She grabbed the hot towel and placed it on top of his forehead. Ryoma sees his mother and quietly said as he clutched his chest painfully, his eyes slightly teary, "Oka-san, make it go away. It hurts." It sounded like a little boy pleading to his mother.
"I know, dear. Now drink your medicine so that you'll feel all better.", she said as she took out a bunch of bottles from her bag. The eyes of the regulars widened as they saw the amount of medicines that Ryoma's mother brought out.
Ryoma drank all of them and slowly, the pain goes away. He is now breathing evenly, although he still has a fever.
"Didn't I tell you not to overdo it. Do you want me to forbid you in playing tennis again?", Rinko asked worriedly. The regulars were surprised to hear this. Surely they didn't want their young rookie out of the team. But they were also worried about his health.
"No. I won't overdo it again. Please don't forbid me.", he pleaded.
"Okay. But promise me to really take it easy this time."
"Hai, Oka-san.", Ryoma said as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
Rinko sighed in relief. She stroked Ryoma's hair and faced his teammates who were watching the whole scene all the while.
"I'm sorry for troubling you, Coach Ryuuzaki.", she bowed to the old lady in front.
"Not at all. I was worried about Ryoma as well. I didn't expect him to have an attack since you said that he is getting better."
"Yes. I didn't expect it as well. I'll just leave his medicines to you. Force him to drink that when he wakes up. I need to return home now.", she said as she gave coach Ryuuzaki the pouch containing Ryoma's medicine. "Thank you as well for helping my son.", Rinko said as she turned towards the regulars.
"It was nothing.", they said. Rinko gave them a kind smile before heading out.
"What's wrong with Echizen, coach?", Momo asked in a worried tone.
"I think it would be better if Ryoma will be the one to tell. I'm not in the position to tell you anything. Besides, he might not like it if I told you.", Sumire said as she watched the resting boy.
"Momo, Kaidoh, go get his things. And Tezuka, dismiss the team early. I need to talk to you all about this."
Momo and Kaidoh returned to the court and got Ryoma's tennis bag. Then they retrieved his clothes from the locker room. Tezuka went back to the court and dismissed the team, saying that Sumire has a meeting with the regulars. The rest of the regulars went to the locker room and changed back to their school uniform. After that they went back to the infirmary.
Ryoma was still sleeping peacefully and they noticed that Sakuno was also there standing at one corner, looking at his sleeping form with a sad expression. Coach Ryuuzaki was seated at one side of the bed. She asked the regulars to go near them. They obliged.
"Coach, will Ochibi be okay?", asked the gloomy acrobatic player.
"Yeah. He just needs to rest. Nothing to worry about.", responded Coach Ryuuzaki.
"That was so scary! Echizen suddenly fell down and he seemed to have a very pained expression too.", said Momo in a not so very quiet voice.
"Shut up, Baka. You're too loud. Fshhhh..", said Kaidoh.
"What did you say, Mamushi?", said the pissed powerhouse.
"Calm down you two. You might wake Echizen.", said Oishi.
"Too late, Oishi-sempai. I'm already awake. Thanks to those two.", Ryoma said as he sat back up. His face was still red due to his slight fever and his eyes were half closed. He looks really tired.
"How are you feeling, Echizen?", asked the worried Taka.
"Fine.", Ryoma answered.
"Ryoma, now that you're awake, you should drink these. Your mom told me to make you drink these as soon as you wake up.", Sumire said.
"What? Not those disgusting stuff again!", complained Ryoma with his tired voice.
"Saa…Echizen, you should drink that. We don't want you getting sick.", said Fuji.
"Whatever.", he said as he turned to the other side of the room, averting his eyes from the rest of them.
"Ryoma-kun, you should drink them. You'll get better if you do.", Sakuno said silently.
Ryoma was surprised that she was also there, but he just shrugged it off. He stared at her and then looked outside again. "No, I won't.", he said in a slightly depressed tone. The rest of them were shocked to see that Ryoma is acting this way. It was really not the kind of brat they got used to.
"You should rest, Echizen. And you should not attend the practice tomorrow just to make sure you will perfectly recover.", said Tezuka.
"You're not taking me off the team now, right?", Ryoma asked as he looked back to Tezuka.
"Of course not.", he said. "Be careful and don't let your guard down.", he added.
Ryoma smirked a little and grabbed the medicines. He took a deep breath and drank two tablets at a time. After drinking all of them, he made a bitter face and coughed a little. Sumire reached out and attempted to stroke his back. But Ryoma pushed it away. He didn't want to be pitied and he told himself that he could take care of himself.
Sumire sighed and said, "Why don't you go home now and rest. Sakuno, accompany him to his house. And return these for me." She grabbed the pouch with the medicine and handed them to Sakuno.
"Hai, Oba-chan.", said Sakuno.
Ryoma tried to stand up. He stumbled a little but regained his balance as Momo held him still. He slapped away his hands. He grabbed all his belongings and headed for the door with Sakuno following him silently. Momo watched the seemingly depressed freshman leave the infirmary. He couldn't help but be curious as to what the real situation Ryoma is in.
"Coach Ryuuzaki, what happened to Ryoma today? He doesn't seem to be acting normal.", he asked.
"Maybe it's just fatigue. Now all of you go home and I'll be expecting you tomorrow for morning practices.", Sumire answered.
"Hai.", they said as they exited the infirmary one by one.
~~~~hohohohoho~~~~
Sakuno followed Ryoma silently as they walked slowly towards his house. Ryoma was not really talking a lot. Sakuno is really worried about her friend. When she heard that Ryoma collapsed a while ago, she immediately went to the infirmary to see if he was fine. Although he was now somehow feeling better, he was too quiet.
Finally, they arrived inside the Echizen residence. Ryoma invited her to come inside. She accepted and waited inside the living room. Rinko came from the kitchen holding a tray of snacks and some tea.
Ryoma silently went to his room without both the girls noticing. He brought out his cello and played for a while. He really likes playing the cello at a time like this. It makes him calm down and it somehow gives him peace of mind. He ignored everything around him and just intoxicated himself with the beautiful sound.
From the living room, Sakuno and Rinko heard Ryoma playing his instrument. Sakuno was impressed that Ryoma was able to produce such a beautiful sound.
"Does Ryoma play the cello frequently, Echizen-san?", she suddenly asked Rinko.
"Please call me, Rinko, Sakuno-chan. And no, Ryoma seldom plays his cello recently. But I know that he often plays it whenever he is sad, depressed or if he has something to think about.", she answered.
"Oh… I see. Will he mind if I go to his room, Rinko-san?", she asked.
"No. I don't think he will mind that at all.", Rinko said with a kind and encouraging smile. Sakuno nodded before walking towards Ryoma's room upstairs. She slowly opened the doors and sees the back of Ryoma seated on a chair while playing the cello.
"I didn't know you play that well, Ryoma-kun.", she said silently. Ryoma was surprised to hear someone inside his room. He turned his head sideways to look at Sakuno. His face a little flushed in embarrassment.
"It's nothing. Thanks.", he said as he turned away from her, trying to hide his blushing face. He was still embarrassed that someone heard him play during rare times like these. But somehow, after playing the cello, he felt better. Although slightly disappointed in himself, he just said to himself that there are people who would not turn their back from him and would always support him.
AN: So how's the story so far? A bit of drama included. (If you call that little scene drama. haha. kidding again!) Anyway, I'm trying my best to keep the story interesting in all of the chapters! So I would really appreciate it if you review right about... NOW! haha!