Not gonna lie, I was being really lazy and didn't start typing this until 10:16pm last Monday night. Sorry for late update but I always take longer when it's the end of the story because I'm actually spending time on it and making it awesome.

Hey guys! What's up? Hope you liked the story all the way until the end. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the chapters and gave me helpful information! Love all of you!

For all of you that were wondering, don't worry. I do not like death flicks and that means that I will not kill off any characters.

Last time until I start a new story, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.

Second to final chapter. Enjoy!

"Ryoga-san." Choutaro was concerned.

Ryoga gave Choutaro a small smile. "Gomen. I'll take my leave," he walked over to the door but before he had a chance to do anything, he felt weak. He swayed for a moment then began to fall back. He could hear his name being called by Choutaro but didn't have the strength to do anything. He thought that he was going to hit the cold, hard ground but instead felt hands catch him.

"You can trouble us with your company for the night." He looked above to see Jirou looking back at him and gave him a smile.

"Gomen."

Jirou and Choutaro took the liberty of making up a bed for Ryoga and calling Kikumaru so he wouldn't be worried. The day that followed wasn't much better than the previous. The wind and rain had let up slightly but still, no one could see more than two feet in front of them.

When each cabin awoke, they went to see how Echizen was doing. Unfortunately, there had been no change. He hadn't moved, let alone said anything since the previous day. Ryoga was feeling much better though. His fever was gone, he no longer had double vision and it no longer hurt to breath but he still felt a bit dizzy.

Group by group, everyone came to see them. Oshitari had bags under his eyes and everyone assumed that Inui did too. They stayed up all night trying to figure out what was in that bag that was on Echizen's things. They had deduced that it was made up of two or more types of plants native to that part of the mountain that cause hallucinations, fevers, dizziness, sore mouth, throat, eyes and other various things. They figured that they would go looking for the plants when the storm cleared up. Hopefully, for Echizen's sake, it would be soon.

Two days went by and the camping trip was just about over. The storm finally seemed to be calming down a bit. Echizen hadn't moved, Ryoga either. He refused to leave his brother's side until he showed signs of getting better or even life for that matter. Everyone took turns bring him food and asking if he wanted a break. He barely touched the food and declined the breaks, wanting to stay by Echizen's side. Oishi and Choutaro were getting more worried by the minute.

"Ryoga-san, you really ought to take a break." Oishi said.

"Everyone is worried about you." Choutaro added.

Ryoga looked at Echizen then the two worried boys in front of him. "Iya, I don't feel like he's safe."

"Demo, this isn't good for your health." Oishi turned mother hen.

Ryoga turned away from them and looked back at Echizen. "Until the bastard who did this is found, I'm not leaving him"

Choutaro and Oishi gave each other nervous looks.

"Ah well, we're all going out to look for the plants that were used to make the substance in the bag. Kaidou, Hiyoshi and Gakuto will be in their cabins if you need anything." Choutaro said.

"Arigatou you two. And to everyone for caring about him so much." Ryoga gave them a smile.

"Of course. He's our teammate and friend. To most of us, he's also a little brother. We know how you feel Ryoga-san." Oishi returned the smile. With that, Oishi and Choutaro left and joined everyone else in the search of the cause and cure for Echizen's sickness.

Ryoga was left alone in the cabin once again. It was quiet. He rewet the cloth on Echizen's forehead. He wished his brother would wake up.

"Chibisuke, please wake up soon. "

Inside Echizen's Head. Echizen POV. All of the talking will be in quotes otherwise Echizen is narrating.

Mattaku. Stupid alarm clock. I hate that imprudent thing. Every single morning, it's the same stupid beeping. I don't know why Buchou needs to make practice so early. But, I guess it's not totally his fault. If school started later, that would be fine.

It's the same boring routine every morning. I got woken up by my annoying alarm and/or Karupin then got changed and went downstairs to find either Kaa-san or Nanako making breakfast. I ate it while my baka Oyaji pestered me about if I'm going on a date or not. I still can't believe that he really thinks that I would get up that early for a girl.

Halfway thought my less than appetizing American breakfast, Momo-sempai started calling for me, shouting that Buchou would make us run if we were late again. Hastily, I grabbed my things and met Momo-sempai outside.

"Echizen, you're the reason that we're always late!" he yelled as he peddled down the street.

"Why is it my fault? You're never at my house on time." I yelled back.

"Don't try to push the blame to me!" he retorted at we neared the school. "If we have to run, you're treating the next time we go to The Burger Joint."

"Che." I hopped off of his bike and went towards the tennis courts. I could hear the sounds of the balls hitting the ground, the racquets and the nets. It was all bliss until Momo-sempai ruined it by shouting at me to wait.

"Echizen, Momoshiro, 20 laps." Buchou shouted a command at us and we hadn't even stepped on the courts yet. We weren't even that late this time, only about twenty minutes. Sometimes, I think he does it just to make us suffer. We went to the club room to start changing when I felt a sudden pain in my hand and gasped in agony.

"What's wrong Echizen?" Momo-sempai looked at me as I clutched my hand. I slowly took my hand away from the other to reveal that the throbbing one was painted red with blood. "What the hell? How did that happen?"

I looked just as confused as he did. How did it happen? I didn't injure it in any way, shape or form but there were lots of deep cuts on it for some reason. Momo-sempai got a towel and pressed it to my hand to try and stop the bleeding. We both couldn't believe what had just happened. The bleeding wouldn't stop.

"Echizen, we need to go to the nurse." Momo-sempai said as he pressed the towel to my hand.

I flinched. I thought about denying it but I saw that the towel was soaked with blood. Before we could leave, we heard Kikumaru-sempai shouting at us in a sing-songy voice.

"O-chi-bi! Mo-mo! If you two don't hurry, Tezuka will make you run double!" he came in the door with a big smile on his face. "Ochibi, Momo, what's taking you-" he stopped his playful singing when he saw the blood drenched towel around my hand. "What happened?" he ran to me and looked at the towel in horror and disbelief. Momo-sempai carefully removed the towel from my hand to show Kikumaru-sempai all the gashes that had mysteriously appeared.

"Waa! Ochibi's injured!" Kikumaru-sempai ran out of the club room screaming that I was injured and bleeding to death. A few seconds later he came running back in with Oishi-sempai by his side and all the other regulars following after him.

"Echizen!" Oishi-sempai ran to my side and examined my hand. "Dear God Echizen, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything Oishi-sempai." I said with a cringe as he touched my hand.

"Don't lie to us Echizen." Kawamara-sempai said with a worried expression.

"Saa, this is very serious." It felt like Fuji-sempai's eyes were staring into my soul.

"Fsshhh, did you punch a window?" Kaidou-sempai knelt down to look at the wounds.

"That is highly illogical for Echizen to do. His arm muscles are 27% too weak for that." Inui-sempai said as he looked up from his notebook.

"This is no time for jokes Inui. Echizen, tell us what happened." Buchou's stoic look had a hint of concern in it.

"He's telling the truth. He really didn't do anything." Momo-sempai said in my defense. "Everything was fine until we came in here."

"What do you mean Momo?" Kikumaru-sempai asked.

"Uno... I don't really know how to explain it. One minute it was fine, the next it was all bloody." Everyone looked at Momo-sempai with confused faces. I could tell no one knew what he was talking about. I don't even think he knew what he was talking about.

I sighed. "It was fine this morning, nothing was wrong. I don't know what happened." Everyone gave me their worried eyes. "I'll go to the nurse's office. I'll be fine."

"Momoshiro, go with him." Buchou said as Oishi-sempai got a fresh towel and pressed it to my hand.

"Hai." Momo-sempai got a towel and wiped my blood from his hands.

"Keep pressure on it until you get to the nurse." Oishi-sempai always did know what to do and say.

"Hai." I clenched the towel around my hand and Momo-sempai and I left for the nurse's office. As we left the room, I could feel everyone's concerned eyes watching me and wondering. I too was wondering what had happened. I wish that I could have given them an excuse not to be worried.

When we got to the nurse's office, we discovered that the nurse wasn't there and waited. Momo-sempai went rummaging through some of the cupboards and looked on the shelves to find something to stop my hand from bleeding.

"I can't believe there's nothing here. How can she treat you if there's nothing here to treat you with?" Momo-sempai asked as he looked on a shelf.

"You're looking in the wrong place Momo-sempai." I told him.

"How would you know?" he turned back to him. "You look pale Echizen. Go lay down. I'll keep looking for something."

Figuring that I could catch up on lost sleep, I went and laid down on a bed. My hand was throbbing. I couldn't believe that it was still bleeding. Were the cuts really that deep? How did I get them? Why did this happen? Dozens of questions were flowing into my head. I didn't understand any of it. I tightened my grip on my hand despite the pain. All I wanted were answers to my questions. I was tired and soon drifted off to sleep. The last thing I remember hearing was Momo-sempai complaining that he couldn't find anything.

Wake up… you need to wake up…

I opened my eyes to a bright light and the sound of a bell. I sat up in bed to see the nurse searching through a drawer. I caught a glimpse of the clock.

"It's the beginning of fourth period." I said to myself. I guess I had been asleep for a few hours. It didn't feel that long, only a few seconds. I heard a voice in those few seconds telling me that I should wake up. I guess my subconscious wanted me to be awake and woke me up.

"Echizen-kun. How are you feeling?" the nurse asked me. I looked at my hand. It didn't hurt as much as it did before but it still stung. "Better I hope. Those where deep cuts. Why didn't you call someone?"

I gave her a confused look. "Call someone?"

"For the broken light bulb. You should have called someone other than pick up the pieces yourself." She gave me a 'you should have known better' look. I had no idea what she was talking about but figured that Momo-sempai probably stayed here until she came and told her a story for how I hurt my hand.

"I took the liberty of bringing you some oranges and juice. You need to keep yourself hydrated and have plenty of vitamin C. From what Momoshiro-kun told me, you lost a lot of blood. It would be better if you went home."

I took some of the orange slices. "I can't go home. I have practice and we have a match this weekend."

"No buts Echizen-kun. You need to go home and recover. I bet you can't even see straight right now." She gave me a confident look.

She was right. I couldn't see straight. I felt sort of dizzy and my vision was a bit hazy. "If I go home and skip practice, Buchou will-"

"I will take the blame for whatever your captain says or does. You need to go home. I've already told your teachers that you will not be attending your classes today. You're free to go home."

Figuring that there was no way for me to win, I sighed, took some more orange slices and told her that I would go home. Someone must have visited while I was asleep because all of my things were in the room. As I gathered them up and headed out the door, the nurse stopped me.

"Oh Echizen-kun before you go, this is for you." She handed me an envelope. "A red haired boy came and asked me to give this to you when you woke up."

"Domo." I took the envelope from her.

"Go straight home Echizen-kun. I'll know if you don't." she gave me a smile. I thanked her and walked out the door.

I walked out of the school and down the street on my way home. My chest started to hurt. I realized that I hadn't looked at what was in the envelope the nurse gave me. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. I opened it and found a letter with one sentence on it.

'You need to wake up.'

Why would someone tell me to wake up when I am awake reading about them telling me to wake up? It made no sense. I paid no attention to it and shoved it back into the envelope and put it back into my pocket. My hand started throbbing again and my chest got tight. I didn't know what was happening and to be frank, I was scared. I hurried back to my house to see someone standing in front of it.

"Who are you?" I asked the hooded figure in front of me.

"You need to wake up Echizen Ryoma, before it's too late." The figure replied.

"What?" I didn't understand. My chest suddenly constricted. It felt like I had been stabbed. I fell to my knees in unrelenting pain, squeezing my stomach. I looked at the figure in some hope that he could do something. He removed his hood to reveal red hair and an foul smile.

"Wake up Echizen Ryoma. You won't last much longer." He spoke something after that but I couldn't tell what it was. My hearing and sight had failed me and then I blacked out.

You need to wake up! Wake up! Everyone's worried! Wake up!

"That same dream again." I woke up to Karupin licking my nose. I looked at the clock and discovered that I only had a few minutes to get ready before the first bell rang. My hand felt a great deal better than it did yesterday. I jumped out of bed, changed and ran downstairs. I gathered my things, took a piece of toast and ran for the door.

"Oi seishounen, a letter came for you in the mail." Oyaji grabbed the back of my collar and shoved a letter into my hands.

"Baka! Let me go! I'm going to be late!" I took the letter and broke out of his grasp and ran out the door towards the school.

When I neared the school, I lessened my pace a bit and took out the letter that Oyaji gave me. I read the sentence and came to a full stop.

'Time is running out. You need to wake up.'

I didn't understand anything that was going on. This was the second time someone told me to wake up while I was awake. I stared at the letter in my hand for a few seconds until I heard the bell for class.

"Shimatta!" I shoved the letter in my pocket and ran for school.

I arrived at school but something seemed different. I didn't see any other normal late comers running for class or any others at all. It seemed to be like I was the only one. I made my way to the tennis courts. Everything was quiet. I didn't hear the normal sounds of balls hitting the ground or racquets. I didn't hear people yelling at others. I didn't hear Buchou threatening people with laps. I didn't hear anything.

I was in front of the courts when I saw someone in front of the gate. My chest got tight again and my hand started throbbing. I noticed a touch of red from the figure. It was the same person who was outside of my house yesterday. What did he want with the school's tennis courts?

I looked through the fence and was horrified. My sempai-tachi were lying on the ground, gasping for air, trying to breath. I ran past the person at the gate and ran to the closest person on the ground who happened to be Fuji-sempai.

"Fuji-sempai!" I was scared.

His eyes opened. "Echizen."

"What happened?"

"Saa, who knows." Fuji-sempai's voice was calm but shaky and full of fear and confusion. He coughed and a small stream of blood came from his mouth.

"Fuji-sempai!" I didn't know what to do. My mind went blank.

"Echizen, this will be the last time that we speak." Fuji-sempai became quieter and his voice more raspy. "I don't know how this happened but know this, we will never leave your side." He gave me a smile then shut his eyes.

"Fuji-sempai!" my chest became tighter and my hand started to ache. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. I looked around to all the other regulars. They had become like Fuji-sempai. Their bodies where there but their presence wasn't. Tears started rolling down my face.

"Echizen Ryoma, time is slipping. You need to wake up." The red headed figure walked onto the courts. "You should have listened to me and woken up before this had to happen."

I turned my crying face from Fuji-sempai and glared at him. "You did this. What did you do?" I was angry.

"You're the one that caused this. You should have woken up."

"I don't understand you!" it became hard to breathe. "I am awake! I'm talking to you while I'm awake!"

"Echizen Ryoma, you need to wake up."

"I am!"

Wake up! Soon it will be too late!

"What?" I held my head. "What was that?"

"You need to wake up."

Hurry! Times running out!

"Wake up."

You must wake up!

The pain in my chest became excruciating.

"Echizen Ryoma, wake up."

Everyone needs you! You need to wake up!

"Wake up."

Please! Wake up!

"Wake up."

Chibisuke! You must wake up!

My head felt like it was going to burst.

Ochibi! Wake up before you no longer can!

"Echizen Ryoma, find me if you can." The figure started walking away.

"Come back here you bastard!" I coughed up a small amount of blood.

Echizen! Wake up!

"Take a look at everything around you. This is your doing." The figure said from over his shoulder. "And soon, you will be joining them.

Gaki, how long do you plan on keeping us waiting? Wake up.

"This is your fault."

CHIBISUKE! WAKE UP!

"I AM AWAKE DAMN IT!"

Back at Camp. Normal POV

Ryoga never left his side. He kept a close watch on Echizen for any signs of improvement. Echizen had been asleep for three days. He hadn't moved once since that time nor had he made a sound. The rain had stopped for a little while but it seemed to be starting back up.

"Chibisuke." He was so worried and angry. He wanted to do something to help like go out and find the plants but he didn't want to leave his brother's side. He felt so useless. "Please wake up."

Ryoga laid his head down next to Echizen and just looked at him. He could see a pained expression on his brother's face and wanted to change it. He couldn't bear to see a member of his family in pain. He changed the cloth on Echizen's forehead again, wishing for some sign that he was alright.

"Please Chibisuke. You need to wake up." Ryoga started to get glassy eyed. "I don't know what to do. Please." The rain started to fall heavily again. Ryoga's mind ventured away from Echizen for a moment and thought about the others, wondering how they were and if they were covered but his mind quickly returned to his brother.

"Chibisuke, wake up." He couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "You're making everyone worry." Ryoga was sobbing in one of the blankets. "Please. You're a fighter. Wake up." He was full on crying. "Please… please Chibisuke… wake up… WAKE UP!" He was crying into the side of the bed. He couldn't help it.

"I AM AWAKE DAMN IT!" Ryoga jumped at the sudden voice and picked his head up to see Echizen sitting up in bed.

"Chibisuke!"

"That bastard." Echizen hopped out of bed and ran to the door.

"Chibisuke, what do you think you're doing?" Ryoga jumped up and grabbed his arm. "Are you alright? You shouldn't be moving!" he pressed his hand to Echizen's head. "You're still burning up!"

"That doesn't matter. Let me go!" Echizen managed to shake off Ryoga's grip and ran outside.

"Chibisuke! Where the hell are you going?" Ryoga ran outside to try to follow but the wind and rain were too much and he lost sight of him. "Chibisuke!" he started shouting for him. "Chibisuke!"

"Ryoga-san!" Ryoga heard his name being called and could barely make out the figures of Kaidou, Hiyoshi and Gakuto running towards him.

"Ryoga-san, what are you shouting about?" Gakuto asked.

"Chibisuke! He- He ran off!" he replied.

"What do you mean he ran off?" Hiyoshi asked.

"We need to find him! He still has a really high fever and isn't thinking straight!"

"You need to calm down Ryoga-san." Kaidou placed his hand on Ryoga's shoulder. "We won't get anywhere by panicking. Do you know where he would run off to?"

"I-I don't," he was panicked and couldn't think straight. "He could have gone anywhere! I don't know why he-" he suddenly remember that Echizen was acting strangely when the storm very first began. "The river. He's probably headed for the river."

"Why would he go there?" Gakuto asked.

"Ryoga-san, we'll go fine the others. You go after Echizen." Kaidou said. He could see the concern in Ryoga's eyes.

"Hai!" Ryoga ran off in the general direction of the river.

"Why send him alone?" Hiyoshi asked.

"Fsshhh, being an older brother is difficult." Kaidou could speak from experience.

"Who would have thought? Kaidou Karou is so caring." Gakuto teased.

"Urasi!" Kaidou blushed.

"Shouldn't we be looking for the others?" Hiyoshi pointed out.

"Where would they be?"

"Who knows." Gakuto went inside of Echizen's cabin and took out his cell phone. "Oshitari, where are you?"

Echizen went running through the forest, stopping every so often to catch his breath. It was heard enough to breathe normally but seeing that it was raining and the wind was relentless, not to mention he could barely breathe anyway, it made it all the harder. He didn't care though. All he wanted to do was find the person responsible for making him that way.

He ran through the trees and passed boulders, through the wind and rain, making his way to the river, the last place he saw the hooded figure. The dream he had frightened him. He didn't care if he himself was hurt but if his teammates were injured and it was his fault, he didn't know what to do. Somehow, he thought that his dream would become reality. If he didn't find the person responsible for the attack on him, he would walk onto the courts one day and see his teammates all lying on the ground, motionless, with blood dripping form their mouths. He stopped one more time and felt his forehead. Even from the cod, wetness of the wind and rain, he was still burning up but he didn't care. He just didn't want his dream to become reality.

After what seemed like hours but was really only a few minutes, Echizen arrived at the river. He felt like he was going to pass out again. He caught his breath for a moment then began walking upstream to his fishing spot. He arrived to his spot and peered across the river. His sight was blurry and his head hurt. He steadied his sight and as his vision got a little clearer, he saw a figure duck behind a tree. He focused his eyes on the spot then carefully hopped down into the river. Normally, the river only went up to his shins or a little higher but since it was storming, the water was well past his chest and the current very strong.

Echizen crossed it with some difficulty and ran to where he saw the figure. The rain was a little lighter on the opposite side of the river. Perhaps the storm was ending or there were more trees for cover. Whatever it was, it help Echizen be able to see better. He rushed through the trees and come out into an open field. He examined the field and saw a hooded figure sitting in the center. He caught his breath and walked up to the figure.

"Who are you?" he asked in an unamused tone. "Why have you been attacking me?"

The figure turned and gave Echizen a chilling grin. "Echizen Ryoma, because of you, my family was ridiculed and laughed at and you will pay for it." He removed his hood to reveal his red hair and purple eyes. "Does this face remind you of anyone?"

"Is it suppose to?" Echizen said as he put his hand on his hip in annoyance. "It looks like a face that would annoy me."

A vein popped. "You bastard. This is the same face as my brother, Kuroki Tagura. You humiliated him in front of thousands."

Echizen gave him a puzzled look. "That still doesn't answer my question of who you are."

"I am his brother, Kuroki Taiga." Taiga took a breath. "Echizen Ryoma, I will make sure you suffer, just like he has suffered."

"What did I do exactly?" Echizen's face was totally bored.

"You still don't remember?" he gave a small chuckle. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore; his humiliation or your life."

Echizen's eyes widened as Taiga lunged at him. Seeing that he wasn't fully aware of what was happening, Taiga was able to tackle Echizen and pin him to the ground.

"How about now? Does having a close up jog your memory?" Taiga placed his face inches away from Echizen's. "You need to work on your long-term memory." Taiga took both of Echizen's hands and held them to the ground above his head. "Too bad. This was getting fun." He reached into his pocket and pulled out switchblade.

Okay, it's been a long week of anticipation and I know that you all have been really patient with wanting the end of the story to come and I love you all for it. Buuuuuut, I decided to split the last chapter into two! I figured, 'Eh, why not? They all love cliffhangers so much anyway.' *dodges all the things* Yeah, yeah, you hate me but would you rather wait longer for the last chapter or have more chapters and this not be the last one? For me, I would rather have more.

He's finally awake! Yeah Echizen! We all knew you were a fighter but now you have encountered someone who means you harm! What will you do? I still have to ask myself that. Part of the reason why I'm splitting this chapter up. Idea's need to start flowing!

Forgive mistakes!

Anyways, next chapter will be last. Promise. Have fun waiting for it! Bai!