A/N: I completely forgot to thank Yuka Hara for your review! I know that was a while ago, and I meant to reply ASAP. I just don't know how to reply to reviews on FF.N unless it's through an A/N in the story, so please forgive me for the late response. I'm glad you're liking the story, hope you're still enjoying it! :)

"Oshitari Yuushi, I swear if you touch me one more time I will personally see to it that your hair be dyed a sickening shade of green." Hitomi backed away from Oshitari and pulled her wrist from him.

The bespectacled boy didn't even bother making a witty counter as he continued walking. His pace quickened, and Hitomi hurried slightly just in time to hear his advice.

"Follow quickly."

The girl complied, curious as to what could have gotten the Okinawan tensai so worked up. Could someone be in trouble?

A crowd formed around Hyotei's tennis courts. Usually, there was nothing special about that, but this time Hitomi could hear the cries of the teenagers.

"Fight! Fight!" "Ganbatte, Hyotei!" "The winner will be Hyotei!" "Fight-o!"

The crowd of students parted as soon as Oshitari came by, and Hitomi would've been swallowed up by the lot of them if she hadn't hurriedly run through.

She gasped as she got a clear view of the fight.

Shishido pushed a boy down. Once the fallen boy got up and fought back, Hitomi could easily recognize him.

"Otto." Hitomi's eyes narrowed.

"Come on, kid, take a swing at me. I dare ya!" Otto laughed.

Shishido's voice came out in a low growl, "Bastard, you have the gall to come back here and think you can just own the place?!"

"Ryo!"

Before Hitomi had known it, all eyes turned to her. Then she saw the others. The rest of the Hyotei team was surrounded by other high schoolers. A big burly boy, a boy with brown hair and glasses, a maniacal pyro she had met before, a boy standing on his hands, and a rather sympathetic looking boy.

The only one missing was Kenji.

They surrounded all of Hyotei's tennis club, and Hitomi noticed that a certain captain had gone missing as well.

"I told you not to hurt them!" Hitomi yelled, "I told you to stay away!"

"I grew up in a family that disobeyed rules." Otto smirked when he noticed her.

"I don't care about your family, you bastard! Stay away from mine!"

Suzuki saw from the crowd how Hitomi's eyes narrowed, "Hitomi-chan, wait!"

Hitomi ran down the stairs, ignoring Suzuki and running towards Shishido, not thinking twice as the big burly boy let her through. She held onto Shishido's arm and pulled him away from Otto, pleading desperately for him to turn away.

"Ryo," She looked up at him with worry, "Stop fighting!"

"They keep messing with you and-"

"Don't fight for me." She glared, pulling him again because he resisted, "Stop fighting!"

"It looks like it's time to reel in the catch."

Shishido noticed Hitomi's grip on his arm tighten, her nails had begun grasping through the shirt and to skin, and he looked over to where Kenji stood, alongside Atobe.

"Atobe-kun," Kenji crossed his arms as he smiled smugly at Hitomi, "I thank you for letting us use your courts."

"Letting them...?" Hitomi whispered to herself, she loosened her grip on Shishido's arm, stepping back- farther away from the two captains.

Atobe let this happen? She glared at the Hyotei King as well. Did he really hate her that much?

"This is low," Hitomi couldn't even be angry, because all she felt was disgust, "Even for you, Atobe."

Atobe ignored Hitomi and promptly threw a glare at Kenji, "Ore-sama has said this many times before: no outsiders are allowed on the court."

"Yea, yea, we'll get off your precious tennis courts once we get this chick over here to be a good, cooperative little girl." Otto disgustingly teased, he reached over to pet Hitomi's head.

Shishido stood in front of Hitomi, using himself to block Otto from her as he stood in a defensive stance. The black haired boy lowly punched Shishido in the stomach, kneed him, and punched him in the face, sending Shishido at least four feet away from where he'd been originally standing.

"Shishido!" "Shishido-san!"

"Ryo!" She ran over to his side. Hitomi had no idea what to do at the moment, everything was happening too fast and all she wanted was for it to stop. It's all she could think of.

"Come'ere." Otto grinned wildly at her, and Hitomi realized that he was approaching her- and quickly.

Her eyes widened in visible fear, and, for the first time in anyone's life, they saw Hitomi panic. They could see how vulnerable she was, because at the moment she couldn't gather up the strength to stand tall in front of Otto. Her dilated pupils remained fixed on the figure approaching her with such threatening motives, but all she could do was remember to stand in front of Shishido, because she didn't want him to get hurt again.

"N-no! Stop!" She cried, she saw Otto's arm pull back to strike her, and though it was against what her mind told her body to do, Hitomi instinctively closed her eyes and feared for the worst, not realizing that she was already flinching, "Just leave them alone!"

"Don't even touch her!"

Hitomi heard Shishido yell, the momentary distraction Shishido made gave her enough time to realize she could get away.

"Hitomi!"

Oshitari's voice was the most familiar to her, so she ran as fast as she could to him, her eyes shut tight so that tears wouldn't escape. Before she knew it an arm jut out in front of her and pulled her in. At first she struggled, eyes still closed in her panic and those nearest her could hear her slight whimpers of desperation begin to form as she weakly tried to fight off the one holding her. Any touching at all scared her.

"Hitomi..." She heard Oshitari repeat her name. The girl could even hear the shock in his voice, because, for as long as anyone could remember, they never once saw Hitomi cry; not unless she was acting. She finally relaxed long enough to bury her head into his chest, releasing the cries that she held in because of the crowd.

"I don't want anyone to see me cry... It hurts. He hurts." She whispered desperately, her tone of voice begged and pleaded, "I don't want them hurt. Please don't let him hurt anyone because of me. Don't let him hurt them. Make it stop."

Her body shook violently as she cried, and her breathing was staggered so much that she felt her lungs were about to burst with the improper amount of oxygen. She felt the arms around her begin to support her, because she found her own legs too weak to stand. One held her by the waist, the other stabled her head against the chest she cried on.

"I'll say this once before I have every police officer in Tokyo looking for you: get out of here."

Hitomi took in one, large gasp, and she held her breath as every muscle in her body froze.

'N-no... Ato-... Keigo is standing up for me? He can't be! But...?'

Hitomi grasped the forearms of the arms supporting her, and as she turned her head she opened her eyes. And saw Oshitari standing next to her. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on.

"You're not moving." A very terse Atobe spoke, she could feel his angry breath above her head.

Kenji gave a small snort of a scoff and began exiting the courts, "I can see you've got your hands suddenly full. We'll be going."

Hitomi was still in shock, unable to move as her brain slowly re-processed the events that had just happened. It wasn't until she heard her name that she let out the breath she'd been holding ever since she found out she was in Atobe's arms.

"Hitomi?" Oshitari's voice expressed concern, and he tried to comfort Hitomi by placing a hand on her shoulder.

Her hands bunched together reflexively around Atobe's arms and she gasped slightly, surprised by the sudden contact; the fear of being grasped was visible to both boys. Hitomi realized then that it was just Oshitari, so she eased up on her grip and stepped away from Atobe, ashamed to look up at him.

"Ah..." She paused, eyes intensively staring at the ground while she crossed her arms in a guarded fashion, "About what I said..."

"Ore-sama doesn't remember you saying anything." Atobe smoothly went along, understanding immediately of her discomfort.

Hitomi couldn't help but smile, despite the situation. 'There he goes with the ore-sama...'

"Thank you, Keigo-kun."

"Niichan!" Kamiko laughed delightedly as she ran up to Yuuta after Seigaku's tennis practice.

After a long glance at the courts of Seishun, Yuuta turned to Kamiko and nodded, even going so far as to smile with the utmost sincerity when she grabbed his arm.

"I want to invite Seigaku-chan to my match tonight. You won't be so lonely then, niichan!"

Yuuta's smile disappeared, but he nodded all the same, "If you want them to watch something like that."

"It'll be great!" Kamiko exclaimed as she dragged him towards the courts, "And this way you and Fuji-chan can bond."

"No."

Kamiko almost fell back once Yuuta stopped, frozen in his tracks because of that one person. A person that he should have a strong bond with. She frowned, "Yuuta-nii, Fuji-chan is great! You two would get along more often if you just bonded."

"Kamiko, that's enough. I'm not spending any time with him!" Yuuta furiously pulled away.

It was loud enough for the Seigaku regulars to hear in the clubhouse. Oishi worriedly glanced at his friend, and Kikumaru tapped Fuji on the shoulder.

"Fujiko, Yuuta's just saying things," The redhead encouraged, "Watch, Kami-chan will make it all better!"

"Saa, well she doesn't have to go this far. Yuuta shouldn't be pushed into anything he doesn't want to." Fuji nodded, his ever complacent smile hiding his true emotions.

"If you don't come to my match then I'll... I'll..."

Yuuta smirked triumphantly. These were the few times when Kamiko being scatterbrained came in handy, "You can't think of anything cause you're always doing something stupid anyway."

"Mou, Yuuta-nii, I would forfeit my spot if you don't come."

"You wouldn't." Yuuta tried to call Kamiko out on her supposed bluff. She shrugged and smiled wide, "Forfeiting would mean you wouldn't play tennis for a year. At least in that circuit."

"There are plenty other matches to watch with Seigaku-chan. I just won't play! And when Mi-chan asks why I'll just say that Yuuta-nii wouldn't come watch."

"Kamiko!" Yuuta exclaimed. He didn't want to be the person at fault if Hitomi was involved. That girl already went through so much to retire, if she had to go back to Gladiator Tennis and find out Kamiko was distressed because of something as simple as that... well, Yuuta would need to leave the country, "That's not fair, I don't wanna go! They're not even my team!"

"But you promised you'd watch!"

Yuuta glared at her, "That was before you started inviting teams to watch! When you had no one to go with!"

Yuuta could remember Hitomi's retiring match clearly; he had scrambled to get off the second floor, because Hitomi had decided to break the walls of both floors in the spirit of showing off to Hyotei.

"You're gonna break our promise?" Kamiko asked with a pout. A pout that she knew Yuuta would falter at. The younger Fuji avoided looking at her altogether, and opted to look at his own reflection in the clubhouse window. He was met with the opened eyes of his brother. Yuuta remembered then one of the most important things in his life.

'I promise one day I'll defeat you, aniki!'

'Saa, I look forward to it,'

"I'll go," Yuuta told Kamiko, his eyes never left that of his brother's, "I never break my promises."

"Are you sure it's alright for us to be here, Kami-chan?" Oishi asked nervously as he walked through the warehouse of people.

Kamiko nodded fervently, and smiled as encouragement, "Of course it is! You're with me, Oishi-chan!"

"They're only staring cause we're the youngest ones here." Yuuta informed logically, "Everyone is either high school or college level."

"Mi-chan and I are the only middle schoolers playing!"

"What kind of sport is this exactly...?" Kawamura evaded an injured high schooler, who's eye was bleeding and arm was broken. The deeper they walked into the warehouse palace, the more dangerous it started to look.

Yuuta rolled his eyes when Kamiko practically bounced around the warehouse, asking for updates, checking for injuries, replacing racquets and water bottles and whatnot, "Gladiator Tennis."

Kamiko, in between all the activities, separated from Seigaku and Yuuta. She was supposed to be meeting someone that the Fuji family would know, and she wanted to surprise the two brothers. That is, until Sai had brought Kamiko back to her friends and began ushering them out.

"Tonight's not the best night to be here," Sai said, nodding to the new middle schoolers, "Yo. I'm Sai. Pleasure to meet you."

"Sai-chan, what's happening?"

"Kenji's here. He just came from Hyotei with his whole team; and he freaked Hitomi out so much she cried." Sai whispered the last part to Kamiko; the two knew how prideful Hitomi could be about her own strength, and crying was a sign of weakness to the girl. Kamiko began to worry.

"Hyotei is involved?" Momo asked Kamiko, she didn't get a chance to reply before she and the regulars heard a familiar voice call out arrogantly.

"Mada mada dane, Kenji."

"Echizen!" "Ryo-chan!"

"Sh*t." Sai muttered as he realized he'd been ushering out only nine kids instead of ten. The shortest of them all had been the one with the biggest ego, and they found Ryoma standing in the middle of the arena, racquet in hand as he pointed at the brown haired boy in front of him.

"It's been a while since we've played, right?"

"We've had a lifetime's worth of matches. I'm done with you." Kenji chuckled, looking directly at Kamiko, "I just want her."

"Yeah well you're not getting near her!"

Yuuta stood in front of Kamiko, glaring at Kenji. Kenji smirked in response, and ignored Ryoma until the first year stood in front of Yuuta and the company of his teammates.

"Echizen, you shouldn't be playing!" Oishi yelled.

Ryoma didn't bother listening, and lifted up his hat to reveal a playful glare that was evident whenever he came across a worthy opponent.

"Excuse me, Ryoma-kun, I believe you're stepping into boundaries you have no control over."

"Lily-chan!"

Lily Demmer's ponytail of red violet hair swung over her shoulder as she turned to Kamiko, and she greeted the group with friendly hazel-green eyes and an even friendlier smile.

"Hallo, Kamiko."

"Ah great, another girl." Sai's friend mumbled.

"She could still kick your a**"

Kamiko frowned, looking back at the girl who crossed her arms, "Mi-chan!"

"Hitomi-san." Tezuka greeted.

Fuji chuckled, "Hello, Hitomi-chan."

The third years seemed to acknowledge each other easily, leaving their kouhai confused.

"She's from Hyotei!" Momo said.

"You've got quite the brains for a second year, don't you?" Hitomi shook her head, "I'm not here as a student there, and I'm not here as a rival to you. I'm here to see this through, because I'm done having Kenji and his crew mess with me and my schoolmates."

"Then why don't you come down here and fight for yourself?!" Otto called out from the other side.

"That's a bit rude, now isn't it." Lily's friendly smile soon turned sympathetic as she shook her head at Hitomi, "I'm sorry I have to step in."

"If Kamiko trusts you, then I do too." Hitomi replied.

"But Mi-chan, I didn't think Lily-chan would be playing! She hates tennis!" Kamiko actually grinned, "Ryo-chan, move! Lily-chan never plays, I want to see!"

"I dislike it; that's different." Lily replied for herself. She smiled slyly as she stood in front of Ryoma, "And while I dislike tennis, I hate people who abuse it for their own bullying purposes more. That's the only reason why I'm doing this."

"Please do. I have to go and convince a megane tensai that I don't need to be coddled." Hitomi nodded and walked into the crowd, headed towards the exit.

Kenji scoffed in disgust, "Tsk. It's a shame, I don't have any interests in playing a weak little brat or a disgruntled redhead who doesn't stop smiling. I only came to confront the small little girl hiding behind her new friends."

"I said you weren't getting-"

Yuuta stopped speaking when he and everyone else saw a tennis ball headed in his direction; and it would have hit Yuuta in the face if a steady hand hadn't caught it.

"You're quite rude for an American, aren't you?"

"F-Fuji-senpai..." Even Kaidoh had to back away; fearing the tone of voice that Fuji had used. It was threatening, and it provoked Kenji enough for him to be interested.

"So there's a reason why Kamiko is here, after all."

"If there's a reason, it's that she doesn't need to be hanging around people who use tennis to hurt people." Fuji replied, blue eyes showing a furiously protective expression. No one threatened his friends, nor did they threaten his brother, without him getting involved. That was a silent promise Fuji managed to make to himself, and he was intent on keeping that promise.

Otto stepped forward, stepping onto the concrete to jump onto the court, but he was stopped by Kenji.

"Give'em time. Knowing that Echizen, she hasn't given them the proper amount of attention for them to succeed."

"Oi! Stop insulting her!" Momo, Kaidoh, and Yuuta all looked at each other after they'd said the exact same thing; Kamiko wasn't sure who to calm down and who to stop. It seemed like the tension in the area knew no bounds.

"That's enough. If you're not here for a match, then you've no right to be here at all. There's more of us than you, anyhow." Lily made Sai bring Ryoma to his team, and she crossed her arms, "I suggest you stop interacting with Hitomi too. She's got nothing to do with this place anymore, and this place is the only way for you to get near Echizen Kamiko."

"Heh. Looks like we're teishu's about to boil some kocha for the shokyaku." The boy with glasses next to Otto smirked when he noticed Lily's smile falter for a second.

"Till next time, Kamiko." Kenji pocketed his hands and walked towards the opposite exit, with the company of his seven friends.

"Kamiko-chan," Lily was the first to speak after the eight Americans had left, "It's about time you explain to us what's going on."

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/plot/etc., of the PoT manga/anime.