Blood Tennis

Summery: Back in America Ryoma gets caught up in a dangerous type of street tennis called "Blood Tennis". When his parents find out they decide to move the family to Japan to split Ryoma from that scene entirely and give him a "fresh start". Will the Seigaku tennis regulars be able to save him? Does he even want to be saved? And how can they when they don't even know Echizen Ryoma exists?

Disclaimer: If you recognize it I don't own it.

Chapter Five: A Prince is Born

If looks could kill then that piece of paper would have burned to ashes at least three minutes ago under the golden glare that had been staring at it as if willing it's contents to change.

This of course was impossible so the paper neither changed nor burned.

He was so not coming to school tomorrow.

Right then Ryoma was two things, one common and the other... very few could recognize: pissed and scared. When Oyoji had first declared him a Seigaku student (and he had finally resigned himself to that fate) he had looked up and assured himself that first years were NOT ALLOWED to be a regular...

... So why was he now alone on a tennis court?

The emerald haired boy hisses in annoyance and turns to walk off only for the brunet Echo, who he now knew was named Fuji something but that took to much effort to truly remember, to shove a racket into his hands and turn him back around. He was going to refuse to play regardless or at the very least, God have mercy on him for Hawk-buchou surely wouldn't, throw the match...

... But then that thing opened his mouth.

"Let the brat leave Fuji-senpai, we all know I'm going to win this anyway." Ryoma froze, What did that idiot just say? Did he not hear himself? The fool takes the silence as an obvious sign to continue and for once the kitten's grip on a tennis racket holds solidly in one position, something that hadn't occurred in years.

"Besides, this is the Middle School Boy's Team, she should be on Left Campus where the Elementary girls make fools of themselves." Golden eyes narrowed before going blank so fast that only Fuji picks up on it. Thanking the Senpai Ryoma proceeds to step up to the service line (The idiot across the net having given his opponent the first serve "so they stood a chance" before he had found out just who that would be...), forcing the fear away by replacing the brunette with his albino counterpart. Kevin's presence or not he wasn't going to take being talked to like that.

Besides, the mutt wasn't worth the effort to turn his clothes red.

Everyone holds their breath as the 12-year-old serves. He wouldn't lose himself if he made sure to remember reality and he knew just how to do that.

Thus the match starts with Demon's twist serve.

Lost in memories, his body forges a style and personality completely different from the acrobatic grip master doubles specialist he was back in America. He'd always truly be that yes, but that boy belonged to his team...

... And these people didn't deserve him.

- POV Fuji-

Watching the chibi move I'm glad that I convinced Mitsu to put him into the tournament, even though it's obvious he's holding back and hasn't developed his own style yet he manages to crush Arai-kun a little too well.

There's a raw imperial air that wraps around him like a cape reminding me of the first time I had watched Sei-chan and his boy-toy, Mitsu, or Atobe-san play. His feet seem restless, his grip keeps loosening as if he were planning on changing it's position before his fingers tighten once more on the handle almost too tightly, and his movements are stiff but there is no doubt.

He is royalty.

My eyes meet Mitsu's and I see the same recognition that is reflected in my own, paired with the hungry desire that was what made Mitsu so cute. It was funny really how easy it was to see his need to grasp onto another's potential and guide it, pushing them to their limits before coaxing them beyond even those.

Yet the boy himself was clueless about it.

The result of the match doesn't surprise me very much, but the "Mada Mada Dane" at the end is as strange to my ears as it seems to be to his lips and the small sigh of relief the emerald haired boy lets out as he returns the racket, hand almost snapping away from the handle as if the object were disgusting, doesn't go unnoticed. Our Little Prince was hiding something...

... And I was going to find out what...

Hi Everyone! Sorry this took do long but I hadn't thought I would be having uploading problems from this cite. Now that the excuses are done I'll move on to an actual author's note. This could probably be longer and I'll probably write this match from several different perspectives in the next chapter if only to make it really long or something like that, I hadn't thought it was so short until I had finally managed to post it. I know Ryoma doesn't face Arai in the competitions but I wanted to have them face each other and they are the second match in the series (I believe...) but I couldn't do the first since Ryoma wouldn't go to that competition. Which means I've basically screwed over Sakuno's hero worship of him... oh well, any ideas on how to deal with that? Reviews of all kinds welcome as always. Until next time...

...Bye!