CHAPTER 68

Mitsu arrived just in time for the match against Akiyama high school. Ryoma had been quiet the whole time. Even if he won his match he didn't feel like being happy. He didn't speak to anyone and his ponta was now on the bench besides him not even one sip had been taken, in fact the boy didn't want it. He believed he had done something bad and didn't deserve it. Also the fact that in his opinion he had kissed Horio in order to get it and that just made him sound like he would do anything to get what he wanted. They had won the game, but they could all tell someone had given Akiyama school some information on them. It seemed that they had know all of the Seigaku's players weak points.

As soon as it was over Ryoma ran off leaving the ponta on the bench, hoping someone would take it for themselves or throw it away. They watched the boy and it didn't take long for Momo to run after him knowing that whatever world the cat was in at the moment as soon as he snaps out of it he is going to panic when he can't find anyone. The boy eventually did stop, but not on his own accord. He heard a 'Ahh! It's you!' The cat looked up onto a roof of a shelter and saw a orange head pointing at him. Sengoku jumped down and stood in front of the boy. "So you're Seigaku's rookie. Thanks for just leaving me." He pointed at his head seeing if the boy remembered. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked now realizing that the boy had a red tear stained face.

He took a step forwards only for the cat to back away. "Ryoma!" The boy looked behind to see Momo panting as he finally caught up. It took a few seconds for the trickster to get his breath back. He looked up and saw the other. "You're Sengoku Yamabuki's all-star! Ehh, I mean... Sengoku, right? How do you know him Ryoma?" He looked down to see the boys face for the first time. "What happened between you and the captain? You both started to act stranger than usual after we left?" The cat shrugged and was about to leave again when he heard something.

"What's this, Seigaku's team is here?" Momo, Ryoma and Sengoku turned to see Kamio and Shinji. As Kamio and Momo spoke Shinji looked at Ryoma.

"Hey, Echizen. Are you feeling better? I'm surprised you and Momo still hang around considering he left you in the middle of the town on your own." The Fudomine's genius mumbled the last part.

"Kamio, Shinji!" A voice called. "It's time to go." They turned to see Tachibana standing not far from where they were. The cat seeing him ran up and hugged him.

"My hero!" Ryoma called out and smiled as he looked at Kippei.

"Hey, Ryoma." He said going back to what the boy had just said. He felt slightly awkward. Lots of people were staring at them and he felt uncomfortable. "Shouldn't my sister be the hero? I mean she was the one sorted it all out." He saw the cat thinking it though.

"Girls are weird." Sengoku who was still standing there in shock from being completely ignored. "Hey, did you know today I found out I was a virgin." The cat stated as if it was the biggest achievement ever accomplished. Momo grinned. Kippei and his team members all showed some sort of surprise on their faces. Sengoku who had heard what the boy had said laughed at him.

"Haha, Oh god that was the most random thing I've every heard." The orange-head wipe a tear the was threatening to fall. He looked at the boy in amusement only to see Tachibana scowling. "Did I say something wrong?"

"There's funny and then there's being rude." Tachibana spoke in a stern voice. Kippei had after Ryoma got pick up by Gen that time asked his sister if she knew anything about that boy. Him and her being close siblings shared nearly everything with each other. So after they got home he had asked and she told him everything that Momo had told her. Tachibana then confessed to his sister that he had asked the boy about his parents and couldn't help but now feel guilty about it. It also made the same question pop up in his head from time to time when Ryoma's name came to mind. He wanted to know what trauma it was to cause the boy so much damage. To make Ryoma want to hid his appearance in public.

Sengoku realizing what he did looked to the boy in thought. "Why do you wear that hood?" He said randomly.

"Medical condition." He spoke without hesitation like he had done the first time Syu had asked him. They all looked hoping the boy would explain. Momo had just hoped Ryoma knew any conditions that required him to wear a hood because he knew the boy couldn't just casually say he was an experiment and now had cat ears.

"What kind of condition?" Kamio asked since they wouldn't get a reply anytime soon.

"Claustrophobia." Ryoma said as if he knew exactly what he was talking about. They all sweat dropped.

"Umm... Ryoma. That's more of an anxiety disorder. It's a condition still, but it has nothing to do with why you're wearing a hood all the time. Do you even know what claustrophobia is?" The cat looked up to Tachibana again and thought hard. Ryoma knew it had something to do with spaces and being closed in, but other than that he forgot. He thought he had gotten away with it. When the rhythm player asked the boy thought of the first big word that came to mind and then that came into his head. During the scans doctor Oishi did say that it wouldn't be surprising if Ryoma suffered from it.

"I forgot." He answered. Knowing that being truthful was better at this point.

"Claustrophobia is a fear of closed in spaces or really crowded places and so on. To put it simply, it's normally caused if you had a bad experience, like being locked in a room for a long time and not being able to get out." The cat nodded and thought for a second about all the experiences he remembers. 'The room painted in red.' In that moment Ryoma could now see himself in that room. The sound of chains as he tried to move. The burning, the whipping and the walls getting more and more red as the punishment went on.

The cat let go of Kippei's waist and his arms went lip to his sides. His breathing got heavier and he began to shake. Head dropped down so they couldn't see his face. They could all hear it. The boy was panting as if he had been running miles for days. 'No escape. Chains, master, help... Someone... Fire, red, metal, burns.' The Fudomine captain placed a hand on the cats shoulder. Everyone watched in silence. They couldn't move. "Ryoma... Can you hear me?" He got nothing. As he was about to try something, they all turned when someone shouted.

"What the hell have you done to Ore-Sama's brat?" They saw Keigo Atobe standing their with arms folded and glaring at them. Not far behind was Kabaji. The cat hearing the familiar voice snapped out of his thoughts and ran towards him jumping and putting his arms round the others shoulders. In a haste to not drop Ryoma, Keigo put his arms round the boy's waist to hold him up. He heard sniffing and could feel him wiping his face on his shoulder. "What's happened?" As he used one of his hands to rub the boy's back in comfort.

"I got Kunimitsu angry and now he won't talk to me." The cat decided to go for the one problem that he thought most important. Keigo looked to see the others present looking at him in shock.

"Come on, brat. We'll go somewhere else. Kabaji can you tell the others that I'll be back soon I just have something to sort out." With an 'Usu' from Kabaji as they walked away. Keigo used the hand that was rubbing the boy's back to search for his phone in his pocket. Grabbing it he looked though and got Mitsu's number. Hitting the call button he went to the side of a small restrooms so he was out of sight of others. After a couple of rings it got picked up.

"Hello."

"Mitsu... Meet me at the side of the restrooms." He scoffed. "The brat's here with me. Now hurry up. I have matches as well." With that he hung up and rolled his eyes. Sticking the phone back in his pocket he looked at the boy who was now playing with the ends of his hair. "Ryoma, what are you doing?"

"I like your hair." He hugged the boy and squeezed him slightly. "Will he even talk to me? He went really cold and it was scary."

"Don't worry. We'll sort this out." Keigo reassured him and put the cat down so the boy could move more freely.