Author: CrisscrossAnime

Title: Desires

Chapter 4

"Hey, the kid over there in the uniform!" A shout came from the guy who was playing in that doubles courts.

'…? Is he speaking to me?' Ryoma turned around to look at the person who yelled.

The guy jogged towards him and grinned before offering his hand. "Want to play?"

Lifting both his eyebrows, Ryoma asked wryly. "Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself first before asking such a thing?"

"Fukawa Kimiyoshi, nice to meet you. You are?"

Ryoma took the extended hand and replied, "Echizen Ryoma."

Realizing that the kid in front of him isn't intending on saying anything else, Fukawa tilted his head sideways and jabbed his arm towards the courts. "I noticed that you were looking over at our game for a pretty long time. Want to have a shot?"

His eyes widened by a fraction at being caught, even if his facial expression showed no other changes. "You and that partner of yours just reminded me of someone. That's all."

"Really? Is it someone important to you?" A girl piped up from the side, asking.

Immediately after, she gasped when she realized how rude she sounded to the new guy before introducing herself. "Tachibana Ann, pleasure to meet you. So, was he?"

Feeling a little uncomfortable at the questioning, Ryoma just nodded. He then hefted his bag deciding it was time he should head home.

That movement didn't go unnoticed by either Tachibana or Fukawa. "Surely a game wouldn't hurt? It'll only take a while." Fukawa grinned at Ryoma.

But before he could reply, a pink racquet was shoved into his arms by Tachibana. "Stop hesitating and act a little more decisive!" Tachibana lectured the shocked Ryoma. "You look a little sad when you were sitting on the stands. I'm sure that this game would cheer you up!"

"So doubles or singles?" Fukawa continued where Tachibana left off, they never seem to give Ryoma a chance to turn down the offer.

Looking from Tachibana to Fukawa, Ryoma decided it'll probably be faster if he just gave in now. He had the feeling at Tachibana Ann was a girl whose stubbornness could rival his mother's.

"…Singles." Ryoma muttered, for once wishing that he had something like a hat to cover his face.

Giving the racquet in his hands a few experimental swings, Ryoma couldn't help but wonder how long has it been since one of those has been held in his hands.

'Baka-Chibisuke! Tennis isn't about just hitting the ball. You've to be careful of your footwork as well. Look, see how I'm standing…'

Giving Fukawa who was already standing on the other side of the net a small grin, he nodded to signify that he was ready.

His opponent was to go first; his heart thumping in excitement, Ryoma tightened his grip on the racquet. It felt oddly comfortable in his palm.

Then, it began. The yellow tennis ball was tossed up into the air and in collision with the graceful arc of the racquet, it flew over the net.

Instincts that Ryoma forgot he ever had took over as his feet moved automatically in the direction of the ball. The racquet coming from behind him, hit the ball with all he got and sent it shooting back to Fukawa.

'Ryoma, look at me. Don't just attack, but think. Think about which way the ball would fly next, what spin would be put on the ball. Attacking isn't everything Chibisuke, despite what baka-Oyaji may say.'

"Not bad! Let's see you try to return this!" Fukawa smashed the ball back to his side of the court.

'Chibisuke, I'm the one teaching you right now. If you are going to copy anyone, copy my style. Not Oyaji's!'

But even before the ball even left Fukawa's racquet, Ryoma's mind already ran through the multitude of possibilities before heading towards the net, both hands gripping the racquet tightly, intent on returning the ball once it starts it's ascend after bouncing off the ground.

"15-0!"

"Echizen wins! 6 – 5!"

Ryoma laid panting on the ground, his breaths occasionally coming out in coughs. Sweat matted his hair right down to its tips and he could literally feel his muscles crying out in agony after all the work he put it through.

"Not bad, Echizen-san!" Came Tachibana's cheer voice from somewhere to the side.

"But you need a lot of work on your stamina, kid. It's almost pathetic." Fukawa commented.

"Only 'almost'? Shouldn't it be really pathetic?" Another voice directed his question to Fukawa, a voice that he couldn't put a name to.

'Damn… I've really neglected all those runs ever since Aniki disappeared…'

"Yea, 'almost', and that's only because he actually managed to beat me. I would be an even greater loser if I called his stamina 'extremely pathetic' despite losing to him." Ryoma could hear the grin and exhaustion just from Fukawa's voice.

"Well, if you hadn't played so many matches before playing him, this may not have turned out this way."

Unable to take it anymore, Ryoma forced himself to sit up and growled. "I'm still here you know… If you really want to call my stamina 'pathetic', at least say it to my face, instead of the two of you acting as if I've already gone home."

Tachibana giggled at the annoyed face Ryoma made while saying that.

Fukawa and his friend just smirked in reply.

"Name's Izumi Tomoya. The person you just beat is my usual partner in doubles." The other guy said while pointing his thumb nonchalantly at Fukawa, ignoring his disgruntled expression.

Taking a look at the guy who was criticizing him on his stamina, Ryoma decided it wasn't worth the effort and flopped back down to the ground, murmuring. "Whatever…"

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him. Reopening his eyes, Ryoma heart could be heard thumping in his ears when he saw the face right before his eyes.

"GAH! Get lost!" Ryoma's palm slapped across Fukawa's face without a single moment of doubt, his eyes shot wide open. He then stumbled a few more steps away from that freak before feeling safe enough to turn around.

"Couldn't you just call my name to get my notice like any other normal human? Why in the world did you put your face so close to mine?!"

More snickering could be heard from where Izumi and Tachibana stood.

Fukawa was frozen in his original position where Ryoma slapped him before gaping. "I was worried about the ball I shot that hit your shoulder just now! I was only going to check if its okay and you slapped me?!"

"What were you going to do? Strip my shirt off of me to check?" One of Ryoma's hands went to touch the sore, and possibly bruised, area where the ball landed. Although it does hurt, there was no way he was going to take off his shirt in front of that many people!

"Of course not! I was just going to pull your collar down a little. Just so I would be able to see the spot where the ball hit."

Ryoma blushed.

Izumi howled in laugher from the sides, joined by a few other guys who were attracted by the racket that the two of them made.

After a promise to return to the street courts some other day to have a game with Izumi and a rematch with Fukawa, as well as getting directions from Ann in order to find his way back home, Ryoma finally begin walk back home. A yellow tennis ball lay in his bag, a souvenir from Ann when he finally admitted that he hadn't played the game in years.

The sky has long since changed from the auburn red to the deep velvet blue, with only the streetlights lighting both sides of the streets, Ryoma couldn't help but grin as he thought back to his first game in years.

That then reminded him about how he should be resuming his runs, to at least gain a little stamina before the club activities start.

One hand clutched onto the directions that Ann had written on, while the other hand occasionally rubbed the sore spot on his shoulder. He was sure it was going to bruise; just a quick glance a while ago after he had left the courts had proved that. That patch of skin was a dark mix of blue and purple then.

Stopping at the turn just before he reached his home, Ryoma tried to straighten out his uniform the best he could. To at least make it look as if he hadn't ran a marathon and rolled through a dust cloud.

What he didn't notice was a pair of golden eyes watching from across the street. The pair of eyes glinting dangerously when it saw the winces Ryoma made when he accidentally stretched a muscle a little too much or lifted his arms a bit too high.

Echizen Nanjiroh wanted answers.

What he saw today after he was sent out by Rinko to buy some extra ingredients worried him.

So Nanjiroh quietly slipped into Ryoma's room when he was certain his son has fallen asleep, the soles of his foot hardly making a sound as it crossed into the room. His cat-like eyes looked around the darkened room and spotted his youngest lying haphazardly on the bed. Rolling his eyes at his son's attire which was the same Hyoutei Uniform he wore to school that morning, Nanjiroh approached the bed, intent on tucking him in, not unlike a child.

"Reeoow…" Karupin meowed as he woke up, staring at the annoying man approaching his master.

Freezing instantly at his son overprotective, possessive, annoying feline, Nanjiroh widened his eyes as he started making 'shush'-ing sounds at the Himalayan cat.

Karupin lazily regarded the crazy man in front of him who was making all sorts of weird noises and movement wit his paws. Deciding that he is not a threat to his master, despite how his master always gets annoyed when in the presence of this man, Karupin flicked his tail towards that man once, as if dismissing him, before lying down once again to sleep.

It didn't take a genius to translate Karupin's actions into words.

Nanjiroh twitched. 'And to think I came here to tuck my son in out of the kindness of my heart. And what happens? I get insulted by his PET cat.'

Growling, Nanjiroh wondered how barbequed cat would taste like… After all, the people in China ate dogs, don't they?

He was really tempted take a picture of Ryoma, lying on the bed drooling, as revenge for because of this, but eventually- after a long mental debate- decided against it.

Looking at his son in the crumpled school uniform of his, he couldn't help but sigh at how spoiled Ryoma is. Nanjiroh took lifted Ryoma's upper body off the bed in one swift motion and prepared to slip him into his pyjamas when he heard a whimper coming from his son.

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Nanjiroh carefully lifted the shirt. Both eyebrows shot to his hairline as a dark bruise near his collarbone could be seen, even with only the light of the moon to brighten the room.

Anyone looking at his eyes in this point of time would be able to see the boiling anger shown within those golden silted orbs. A part of his mind was already furiously thinking of ways to transfer him out of Hyoutei while others just focused on how much pain and torment he could inflict on his son's tormentor before that guy dies, painfully.

But all thoughts of revenge were quickly shot to hell the moment his mind registered the familiarity of the shape of that bruise on his son's body.

'..-the fuck?'

Narrowing his eyes, Nanjiroh scanned around the room, looking for the item to prove his suspicions.

Catching a small bulge visible on Ryoma's handheld bag, he carelessly tossed the items out one by one until he found what he was looking for.

When his hand finally found the item he was looking for, he felt as if his breath was caught in his throat as he heard Ryoma mumbling incoherently on the bad. Luckily for him, Ryoma went silent again soon after without waking.

Grasping the tightly around the tennis ball he found, for once, he felt his heart lighten at the thought of his future. The first time ever since Ryoga left…

A grin spilt his face from ear to ear before he placed the ball and all of Ryoma's items back in their original position.

A/N: Here's the next chapter! Hope you guys like it!

I woke up with a splitting headache today after staying up late last night watching the stocks fluctuate… Stupid assignment… It was purely by chance that I recalled I was supposed to post this chapter up today… Hehe…

Thank you for all the reviews!

The next chapter will be up on next Wednesday. Let's see how long I can keep up the weekly updates…

As usual, please read and review!