I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 2: Stunned

I stopped just before the school gates, brushing the beads of sweat of my forehead. I blinked and he was still there. So it wasn't my imagination. I heard a screech of the brakes and realized that Momo had also stopped, beside me. He looked from the gates and then back to me, obviously wondering the reason I had stopped. But of course, he wouldn't understand because he was never in my dream.

"Hey shrimp." He said, looking back to me again. "Why the sudden stop?"

I turned to him, my eyes wide with fear and confusion. He blinked and got off his bike.

"Hey Shrimp! Ryoma! What's wrong little fellow?!" he voice was stern and serious now. He started to shake me, but I felt no impact. I was deep within myself. My eyes darted lastly to the man standing at the gate, his eyes dark with a faint tint of red. A splinting headache suddenly came and then, the strength within my body left. Momo caught me before I hit the ground. Why, why was this happening again?

-

I opened my eyes; the bright light from above temporarily blinded me and forced me to shut my eyes again. I heard someone dash and yell, "He's finally beginning to stir!" This time I was ready. I opened my eyes more carefully this time, as I knew the blinding light would welcome me once more. I let my eyes adjust and I looked around at my surroundings. Everything in here was pretty much white. The curtains, sheets and pillows, this was the school hospital.

In the distance a bell rang. Perhaps the bell indicating it was time for the next class to start. My eyes searched for a clock and I spotted it, above the doorway and it too was white. The black hands pointed to the ten and twelve. So it was ten o'clock, I've been out for four hours. The headache was still there, but not as bad. It tingled faintly inside my skull as I rubbed it. Turning my head to the right, I stared out onto the tennis courts. Some people were playing now, but not the tennis team. At least that was a relief. I decided to get out of bed, but as I moved my head, the pain soon returned. Sighing, I leaned back onto the bed. The soft cotton pillow cushioned my head.

"Hey, little guy!" Momo said walking through the curtain. I turned my head to face him.
"Hey," I said. Momo sat down on the bed and looked at me. I could see that he was worried. Nothing like that ever happened to me before.

"So, are you okay? Do you need anything?" he asked. I shock my head, only to make the pain that was there worse.

"No," I said meekly. "I don't need anything." Momo looked somewhat relieved. "Hey," I said. "Don't look so worried, it makes wrinkles form on your forehead."

Surely this would lighten the mood. To my dismay, I looked at Momo and saw him cradling his head with his hands.

"I'm sorry little guy. It was all my fault and I feel so bad." Momo begin to explain. I stared at him, was he serious? He really thought that he caused me to collapse?

"I forced you to run and maybe you weren't ready. I mean, you weren't feeling that good this morning anyway. You shouldn't have pushed yourself." It was his turn to glare at me. "If you didn't feel well, then you should tell me!" he explained.

"Momo, you have it all wrong. It wasn't you or the running. It's just I stopped suddenly and I felt really dizzy, that's it okay? Now stop worrying and get back to class." I ordered. I thought for a bit before I spoke again. "You have math next, right? Do you want to fail that course because you missed a class visiting me? I mean I already beat you in tennis; you don't want that to be math as well. Please go, it feels as though I'm on my death bed." I finally got what I wanted. Momo's frown slowly curved into a small smile. It was faint, but sure enough, it was a smile. I sighed in relief; he was back to normal.

"Little squirt, like I would ever let you beat me in tennis and math!" He got up and headed to the door. He stopped on the doorway and turned to face me. "Just hurry up and get better, or we are going to lose this game." And with that, he left, the plain white curtain flapped as he walked away.

"Me lose in tennis?" I said to myself, "That's a first." I closed my eyes and fell into a light sleep.

-

"Ryoma! Ryoma!" voices called out to me, but I was so relaxed, I didn't want to open my eyes. No, I thought, just a little more. I want to sleep a little more.

"Ryoma." a single voice called out. I sighed. That voice was unmistakably the voice of the Kunimitsu Tezuka, the present captain of the tennis team. I opened my eyes slowly. I was surprised to see the whole tennis team in my ward. They all looked relieve as I woke up.

"Hey." I said plainly, looking at all of them. "Just how long were you guys here?"

"Not long." Shusuke Fuji said smiling. "You had us worried there for a moment."

"I know." I said. "Without me, the team wouldn't be able to win another tournament."

"Hey don't get cocky!" Momo said, patting my back a bit harder than I expected. I thought for a minute and realized that the pain in my head was no longer there.

"What time is it?" I asked. I tried to glace at the clock, but there were too many people around me that I had no hope of even getting a glimpse.

"It's two-thirty." Eiji announced, looking at Oishi's wristwatch. He glanced up at Ryoma. "You play in one hour Ryoma, do you think you can make it?"

I smiled.

"Of course," I scoffed. "This isn't going to prevent me from playing tennis!" slowly, I got out from bed and placed my feet on a white, warm carpet. I sat there for a few seconds, thinking, but then remembered that the whole team was watching my every move. Probably finding an excuse to prevent me from playing. I got up and walked around. I felt fine, in fact, from resting all day, I had extra energy to use up. I walked towards the doorway.

"I'm going to warm up guys, don't worry about me." I assured…and blinked. I stared at the group of tennis players. Their attention was fixed on the cards and chocolate that was left at my bedside. Honestly, it didn't take much to amuse them.

"Whoa, how come the little squirt gets all the candy? I mean when I was sick, I didn't receive squat!" Momo said, leaning over to take a closer look at my candy.

"Hey Ryoma, can we eat this?" Eiji said only to obtain being elbowed by Oishi. "Oww… I mean if you don't want it that is." Eiji corrected himself as he massaged the place where Oishi has elbowed him.

"Sure," I said bluntly, "I don't even like that type of candy." I turned and walked away from the excited group of teenagers, fighting for some chocolate.

"No Takashi, I want that one!" Eiji complained in the background.

"Eiji, calm down." Oishi's voice echoed through the hallway.

"The probability of this turning into a food fight is 62%." Sadaharu announced.

"Shut up, it's not like we care." Kaoru snapped back. I continued to walk, but couldn't help mutter "Mada Mada Dane." As I left, I began to concentrate. The hallways were pretty much deserted. There were a handful of students left, but they were heading out. They probably stayed because they had some club practice or meeting of some sort. I went down the stairs and hit the main floor. It was even more deserted. It was kind of creepy I had to admit. It was like one of those horror movies when you feel something is behind you and every time you look around, nothing is there.

Except something is there.

I didn't sense it at first, but some hairs at the back of my neck pricked up, as if trying to warn me of something. I turned around and as usual, nothing it there. I continue to walk. My footsteps were irregular as they somewhat echoed through the hallway. Suddenly I turned around again and I saw the person I suspected. The black haired guy I saw earlier at the gates and the same guy who appeared in my dreams. He was slender and tall. He also wore all black with a thin black cloak around him. Almost like a death god. This time though, I was ready. I don't know why, but I wasn't going to pass out like the last two times. This time it was going to be different. I'm going to find the reason why he is stalking me, and I'm going to put a stop to it.

I looked directly into his eyes. My head began to tingle a bit, but I ignored the insufficient pain. His eyes glared back at mine. They were pitch black, as if they dug further and further into his soul, into the pits of darkness. A smile made it's way up his face as he continued to stare at me. He crossed his arms and leaned on the doorway. He wore all black, a black fleece sweater and black dress pants.

"What do you want?" I demanded, "Who are you and how do you know me." I glanced at my watch again, and to my dismay, it was not present—just like in the dream.

"You won't find you watch there." He spoke in a deep tone, but it was gentle, like a father trying to explain to his son the reason he was in trouble. Probably by my perplexed expression he went on. "Right now, you are not present in time, or shall I say, you have been taken out of time. You're watch is gone, because right now, you are in a zone where time is not present and hence, cannot coexist with you." He explained.

"What are you talking about?" I answered back. "I'm in school and I'm about to play a tennis match. What you are saying is utter rubbish." I turned my back to him, only to find him in front of me again.

"You will not play today, Ryoma. I am your everlasting opponent and you have not seen the last of me until you defeat me."

"I WHAT?" I yelled. This was clearly pointless. He was wasting my time on his ideas of 'time'. I didn't have time to waste. If he wanted to fight me, then he'll have to come back later. "Sorry, I'm leaving." I turned around, only to find that he wasn't there. I felt a trickle of wetness run down as something cold itched against my throat.

The man looked down on me, his foul breath flowed down my neck as he gripped a shiny blade against my skin.

"You can't escape me." He sneered and vanished as if he didn't want to. I stood there, as if my body didn't want me to move. I blinked and I realized that for once in my life, I knew what true fear was. I wiped the beads of sweat of my forehead. How could I play tennis when I was in this condition? I glanced down at my wrist to see my silver watched glistening as if it was always there. I felt my neck and there was no cut, no blood was present.

This may have sounded crazy to everyone, but I knew that it was true. I knew that for some reason he disappeared and it wasn't on his own free will. Something else in the room had erased his presence, but what? A sense of dread ran over me, as I knew that he would return again. I had to get out of here. I know that everyone would be disappointed in me, but I had to cancel the tennis game. Angry with myself, I kicked my leg against the wall, only to realize that it brought more pain to myself. No, running away wasn't part of my ego. Tennis was my life and I wasn't going to lose because some mysterious guy threatened me. I would play, then I would go home and think. A lot.

I dressed in my tennis uniform and made my way to the tennis courts. A good size crowd was waiting in the stands. There were about 300 people surrounding the nets, talking to each other waiting for the next match to start. My match. I realized that for the whole time, I was tense. I breathed in and allowed my muscles to ease. I had to concentrate. Losing was not an option.

"Next up is Echizen verses…" The announcer said over the speakers. Ryoma zoned out. He didn't even catch whom he was playing against—all he knew that he had to win.

'But you can't' his voice cracked in his head. 'You can't do anything while I'm still here.'

"Damn you." I muttered under my breath. Anger rushed through me and I hit my first serve. I know it wasn't very wise, playing tennis was about concentration, not strong emotions like anger and hate. I somehow felt like this anger was from a long time ago, slowly building up inside of me.

"Reserve!" The umpire said to me. I tried to avoid everyone's eyes, especially my teammates. I breathed out and forced myself to concentrate.

"C'mon Ryoma! You can do it!" I turned around to see Sakuno cheering in the stands.

"Sakuno…" I whispered. Did she really have that much faith in me? Yes. I had to have faith in myself too. I can do this!

'No you can't Ryoma.' The voice hissed.

'Die.' I though back to the voice.

I raised the ball into the air and I blinked as my racket smashed the ball. The ball flew over the net to the other side and as my opponent desperately tried to return the ball, his racket flew out of his hands. Everyone was quiet and looked up, but wasn't because I smashed the ball over the net, it was because he was standing in the middle of the court, smiling, with a gun pointed directly at my forehead.

Well that's it for now, I know, sorry, but I love to leave chapters in suspense! Review please! It encourages me to write despite my laziness. That's for waiting, I really appreciate it! From,

Itachianimefan