Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I can only dream about a harem of tennis players. Sigh…

Warning: May contain spoilers for the latest manga chapters. Shonen-ai fic.

Pairings: Tezuka Kunimitsu X Echizen Ryoma. Depending on how you interpret it, it might be an OishiKikumaru fic as well, though the main focus is only TezuEchizen

(This chapter tallies with chapter 2 of Echizen, Our Buchou)

A/N: This is a companion fic to 'Echizen, Our Buchou'. It is recommended that you read that one first. For all those who have read 'Echizen, Our Buchou', this fic would further explain some of the scenes. Some scenes may overlap, but others are new. Would be written mainly on the point of views of the seniors. Note that flashbacks are in Italics.

May be a little bit more romantic as compared to the other fic. I feel that Tezuka is more of a romantic type as compared to Echizen. XD

Summary: Seigaku had won the Nationals, and one year later, Echizen became the new captain of Seigaku after he was appointed by Tezuka. But how are Tezuka and the others doing now that they have left Seishun Gakuen?

Life After Seigaku

By: Gwynhafra

Chapter 1

A year ago

"Tezuka. It is time." Oishi said softly.

Tezuka nodded to show that he understood. It was the end of their last practice session, and now both he and Oishi would be announcing the new captain and vice-captain for next year.

Oishi clapped his hands twice, bringing everyone's attention to him.

"Members! Assemble at once!" Tezuka ordered.

He waited until all of them were lined up according to their years, while the regulars made a straight line before him.

Subconsciously, he found his gaze wandering over to a short freshman standing between Momoshiro and Fuji. Apparently Echizen was looking at him as well.

He looked away hurriedly and gave his speech before anyone caught him staring, though it seemed that Fuji had already caught him, the smiling tensai was giving him a knowing look, even though his eyes were still slits.

"As you all know, today would be our last day together. I wish to thank all of you for your support. Thanks to everyone, we have managed to get into the Nationals, and even won it. I hope that you will carry Seigaku's fighting spirit in you, even after we third years have left this school."

Tezuka felt that he was done with his speech. He was not the type to speak much, and as long as he gets his point across, he would stop speaking after that.

Oishi took over next. "I thank you all for the support you've given us during our time as captain and vice-captain. Winning the Nationals was our greatest achievement, and I've thoroughly enjoyed our time together. You guys would have to defend our championship once we're gone, and I have faith in all of you. Who knows, we may meet up with each other again in the future…"

As Oishi was speaking, Tezuka's gaze wandered off to Ryoma again, only to find the first year staring at him blankly. Tezuka frowned slightly. Why was Ryoma not paying attention to their parting words? Then again, perhaps Ryoma was keeping his attention focused on him? Tezuka felt his heart leap with hope at that thought.

Everyone clapped as Oishi finished his speech. Ryoma jumped as he was brought back to reality. Tezuka felt his heart fell. So the first year was only daydreaming after all. To think that he had gotten so hopeful. Tezuka turned away from the boy. He noticed that Fuji was grinning openly now, and knew that the tensai must have guessed his feelings for the green-haired prodigy.

As Tezuka did not speak, Oishi cleared his throat and continued. "Alright! The captain and I will now renounce our positions, as we will be graduating. We have our successors in mind. Tezuka?"

Seigaku's stoic captain got the hint. He had already made up his mind on his successor since way back, and now, he spoke with confidence.

"For the position of Captain of the Seigaku Tennis Club, I have selected Echizen Ryoma to take over my post."

He had chanced a glance at the boy, who didn't look too happy even though everyone around him was clapping. A twinge of fear bit Tezuka's heart. Did he make the wrong decision in choosing Echizen? Ryoma pulled his cap down, covering his face. "Usu." He said.

While Momoshiro and Fuji fussed over boy wonder, Oishi spoke up next.

"As for my position, the position of Vice-captain of Seigaku, I find that the best person to fit this is Momoshiro Takeshi."

Momoshiro's reaction was immediate. "Eh???" he exclaimed.

For a while, some of the members had their jaws hanging open, then applause broke out again. Oishi was glad that they had no objections to it.

Tezuka had no idea what happened, but one moment, Momoshiro looked like he was about to protest or reject the position. The next moment, however…

"I accept that position! I will become a vice-captain who is a good as Oishi-senpai was!"

As Oishi started chuckling beside him, Tezuka had a faint idea of what caused Momoshiro to act this way, seeing that he and Kaidou were now having a glaring competition. He considered marking his last day as captain by making them run laps, but decided against it soon enough.

"Alright. That's all for today. You're all dismissed." He announced.

Everyone gave their thanks and left, all eager to go back home. Tezuka noticed that Ryoma made his way to the locker room.

"You guys go on ahead. I would like to have a last word with Ryusaki-sensei." Tezuka said.

Oishi nodded. "Alright then. See you tomorrow, Tezuka." He had barely finished his sentence when Eiji grabbed him by the arm.

"Nya! To think that we'll be graduating soon. After that, holidays! I'm so happy!" Eiji practically danced around his doubles' partner.

Oishi laughed. Eiji's optimistic ways were contagious. "I wonder which high school would we be going to. Say, Eiji. Wouldn't you be sad leaving Seishun Gakuen?"

Eiji stopped dancing around for a moment. He frowned. "Of course I'll be. I will not be able to see my classmates anymore, and all the sensei, and all the tennis club members. Mou…I'm going to miss Momoshiro, Kaidou and Ochibi. Especially Ochibi. I'm not surprised that he's made captain though." Eiji laughed at that and started bouncing about again. Seigaku's acrobat never had a lack of energy.

"It is a sad thing indeed, but graduating is also a happy thing. We would be entering high school, and we would be meeting new friends, wouldn't we? Taka-san. Which high school are you targeting?" Fuji asked.

Kawamura looked embarrassed. "I'm not going to high school."

"Hoi?" Eiji stopped bouncing to stare at him.

"I've mentioned before. My dream was to make it to the Nationals, and to play tennis with all my heart. We've won the Nationals, and I have no more regrets. I can now focus on taking over my father's shop, like what I promised him. I'll make Kawamura Sushi the best in the region." He said proudly.

Fuji nodded with understanding. Eiji looked sad, while Oishi patted Kawamura's shoulder. "I'm sure you will. Go for it." The mother-hen gave his encouragement.

Inui was busy writing down some things in his book. As the four of them approached him, he looked up, his glasses glinting slightly. "There is a 100 percent chance that you're going to ask me which high school I'm going to." He stated.

"Hey Inui. Which high school are you…hoi?" Eiji realized what Inui had said.

Fuji, Kawamura and Oishi laughed as Eiji's face turned red with embarrassment. Inui grinned and wrote down some more data. Oishi caught the words 'easily embarrassed. Blush spreads to 45 percent of his face'.

"There is a 95 percent chance that you are not going to the same high school as I am." Inui stated.

"Do tell us which one you are going to." Fuji said.

Inui adjusted his glasses. "Rikkai Dai. I've decided to join the same school as my old pal Renji."

While most schools only catered for junior high education, and students would have to change to another school to receive senior high education, Rikkai University catered for both junior high and senior high.

Fuji's eyes opened at that. "I see. So you would most likely be one of our opponents in the future matches."

Inui's glasses glinted. "Of course. Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you were my former teammates. I have all your data with me."

Eiji clung onto Oishi as a shiver ran through him. Inui was a very scary opponent to fight with. Not to mention once he was reunited with his ex doubles partner Yanagi, they would become more powerful than the golden pair. Who knows, they might have to come up with a new name for them, like the Shining Pair or something.

"Now all I have to figure out is how to achieve Synchro like the golden pair…" he muttered to himself.

Kikumaru felt his hopes lift. He had completely forgotten that both he and Oishi reached the highest level of doubles in the Nationals. Synchronization allowed both of the doubles partners to move as one, and their every move coordinated perfectly. It was as if they could read each other's thoughts.

Inui looked at his watch. "I would take my leave now. Was hoping to utilize the school's chemistry lab to the fullest and finish my Inui's Hyper-remix Cow-dung Juice before I graduate. If any of you want a taste, be sure to look for me in lab 5."

"We…we'll pass. Ah, look at the time. We'd better go and change." Oishi grabbed Kikumaru's arm and fled towards the locker rooms. Inui turned his attention to Kawamura, who fled too. Lastly, Inui looked hopefully at Fuji, who was the only one with some resistance to his drinks.

To his dismay, Fuji gave him a hawk's stare. "Sorry, Inui. Not this time." He said, his smile gone. Inui noted that Fuji had paled and made a mental note to add it in his notebook.

"Ah well, that's too bad. I was hoping for that 5 percent chance that you might help me taste it. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." Inui walked off.

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"So Oishi, which school are you going to?" Eiji asked as he changed into his uniform.

Oishi placed his Seigaku's jersey in his locker and closed it. "About that, my mother was hoping for me to enter Kanto High. After all, that school is known to produce the brainiest graduates."

"That school would be difficult for me to enter, nya. I heard that the entrance exams are disastrous." Eiji pouted.

Fuji gave a smile at that. "Saa…you may never know until you try, Eiji." He tried to cheer up his best friend.

"I'll revise with you during the holidays, then we'll take the exams together. What do you think, Eiji?" Oishi suggested.

His partner brightened up immediately. "Definitely! I want to go to the same school as Oishi, and the Golden Pair would be revived again! Let's aim for Kanto High!" he pumped a fist into the air.

With that said, he turned towards Fuji. "Fuji! You must come with us to Kanto High as well!"

"I'll think about it. I wonder which school is Tezuka going to enroll in?" Fuji said.

Right at that moment, Eiji's stomach grumbled. He gave an embarrassed laugh as the others chuckled.

"Alright then. Let's all go to my dad's shop for dinner." Kawamura suggested.

"Hoi! Hoi! Let's go!" Eiji said happily. Like Momoshiro, Eiji was a glutton when it comes to food. It was a surprise how he still kept his lean frame.

"You want to come along, Echizen?" Kawamura asked.

"Echizen?" the other three echoed in surprise before looking around the room. It was only then they realized that Ryoma had been seated on the bench all these time, and had probably been there even before they entered the locker room.

Ryoma held an unopened can of Ponta in his hand, with his eyes fixed upon it. He looked to be in a gloomy mood, and they have never seen him to be so quiet before. Even though the anti-social never spoke much, it was never to this extent.

Eiji was not as sharp as the other three when it comes to this. He turned to Oishi.

"Does Ochibi need to look at the expiry date that long?" he asked.

"No Eiji. Echizen is deep in thought. Let's leave him alone." Oishi said sagely, taking his doubles' partner's hand and steering him out.

Fuji usually could read others like an open book, but this time even he did not know what was going on in his junior's mind. He was the last to leave the room as he gave one last look at Ryoma, who did not seem to notice their presence in the first place.

Eiji was happily going "Sushi! Sushi!", while Oishi was laughing at his childishness.

As Fuji made to follow them, he caught Tezuka coming from the opposite direction. The former captain had made sure everything was in order and the courts were cleaned first before heading for his locker.

"Tezuka!" Fuji jogged up to his classmate.

Tezuka looked at the tensai questioningly, his expression unchanging.

"We're going off to Kawamura Sushi now. You are free to join us if you'd like. However, I think you might want to have a talk with Echizen in there. He has barely moved at all since we went in, and seemed to be depressed."

That caused a slight change as Tezuka's mask slipped. He looked worried. "I understand." He hurried to look for the boy.

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As Tezuka entered the room, he saw what Fuji meant immediately. Ryoma made no indication that he was aware of someone coming in. In fact, his hand still held an unopened can of Ponta. If Ryoma wasn't drinking his favourite drink immediately after he bought it, it was a sign that something was VERY wrong with the boy.

Tezuka felt a twinge of guilt. Ryoma had been like this ever since he announced that the boy was the next captain. Perhaps he should have consulted the prodigy about it first before making this decision.

Tezuka walked up to Ryoma and stood before him.

"Were you that troubled by my decision to make you captain?"

Surprisingly, the boy looked up. "Buchou…" he muttered almost inaudibly.

Tezuka sat down beside the boy. He wondered if Ryoma was going to pull out from this. Next to him, Ryoma was staring at his can of Ponta again.

"Buchou…was it really a wise idea to pick me as captain?" Ryoma spoke up suddenly, his voice filled with uncertainty.

It was only then when it hit Tezuka. Ryoma was having cold feet about this. He nearly laughed in relief at that realization. He smiled as he was reminded of the time Yamato-buchou picked him as captain. He had repeatedly asked the captain if he had made the right choice, to the point that Yamato-senpai had threatened to force feed him wasabi if he asked the question again.

"I have no doubt about it, Echizen. When you first came to the club, you were unlike any other first year I've seen, with such outstanding skills you could even fight against adults. However, you lacked the spirit and determination to win, as all you thought about was beating your father in tennis."

Tezuka paused, recalling his match with the boy under the bridge. He had beaten Ryoma then, and found out the reason why Ryoma played tennis. It had been the wrong reason, and Tezuka felt that it would be a waste of talents if someone did not show Ryoma the true meaning of tennis. It was then Tezuka decided to guide Ryoma to becoming Seigaku's pillar of support.

"You have changed. In just a year you have grown to become one who loves tennis for what it is, and not just to beat a single person. You too have learnt what the meaning of responsibility is, seeing how you were so determined to not let your teammates down during all the matches. I have faith in you, that you would become a great captain. You should have more confidence in yourself as well."

Ryoma became silent at that, and Tezuka wondered if the boy had gone into a slump again.

Slowly, he reached out and took Ryoma's hand, trying to reassure the boy. He was glad that Ryoma did not shake him off, so he might have a little hope with the boy after all.

Both of them sat in silence, for even then, they communicate quite well, being the types who do not speak much.

Tezuka spoke up first. "I'll be leaving Seigaku to you then, Echizen."

"Usu." Ryoma gave his reply, and Tezuka felt the boy give a gentle squeeze, causing his heart to leap.

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Two weeks later, the holidays started. On the last day of school, as Tezuka walked home with Echizen, Ryoma had mentioned that he would be going back to his U.S. home during the holidays.

Tezuka sat at his study table, looking at the small slip of paper in his hand fondly. He did not know what had possessed him that day, but after Ryoma had said that, Tezuka had immediately asked for his e-mail address. He wanted to make sure that they could keep in contact.

To his delight, Ryoma gave it to him, and so they exchanged e-mails quite frequently.

Tezuka logged in to his account and saw another new message in his inbox. Surely enough…

From: Echizen Ryoma

Hey, it's been a really busy day here. That baka oyaji is now making me play tennis daily; I wonder what's wrong with him. Okaa-san mentioned that it was because he had at last found his true opponent. I managed to beat him in one game, 6 games to 3, and all of sudden he went into Ten'i Muhou no Kiwami mode. After that, I lost to him for 3 straight games before I went into the same mode and managed to beat him.

Tezuka chuckled. Ryoma's messages were always short and sweet. He could almost picture the boy typing this with a smug grin, especially when he mentioned about beating his own father.

Tezuka gave his reply, updating Ryoma about Inui taking the entrance exams to Rikkai Dai, and passing it without any problems. Kikumaru has been going to Oishi's place frequently, as the entrance exams to Kanto High were just around the corner. The ex-teammates met up frequently at Kawamura Sushi, where Takashi was training under his father. Even Inui joined them. Momoshiro and Kaidou too made that place their favourite hideout, though the two rivals tend to end up in a food fight.

Currently, Tezuka too had to prepare for his entrance exams. He never told the others, but he was heading for Kanto High as well. It had been his first choice, considering he wanted to be a doctor, and this place's education was the most renowned in the whole region.

TENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNISTENNNIS

A month later, Tezuka found himself in front of his targeted high school. Kanto High was a very huge place, with very good facilities for studying. After checking the list and making a mental note to where he would be taking the exams, he made his way to exam hall 5.

He had barely sat down when he heard a familiar voice. "Tezuka!"

Oishi came jogging up to him, looking absolutely delighted.

"What a surprise. You're coming to this school as well. I can't really find any familiar faces in this school, but it looks like only you and I are in this exam hall. Fuji is in hall 3 while Eiji is in hall 9, the last hall."

Tezuka's eyes widened slightly. One hall was enough to hold nearly a hundred students. 9 halls?

Oishi noted this, even though it barely showed on Tezuka's face. He had known Tezuka long enough to interpret even his expressionless face.

"Ah, I know. This place is very sought after, considering its reputation. The competition would be great. I've revised a lot with Eiji, but I hope his nerves do not get to him first."

He didn't have much time to say anymore, as the examiner had entered and all of them hurried back to their seats.

A few hours later, Tezuka picked up his bag and packed his stationary. Eiji and Fuji came over to their hall. Eiji was looking white and rather shaky, "Oishi! I'm not sure if I can make it into this school. The questions were so hard!" the boy wailed. Fuji on the other hand looked relaxed, and by the looks of it, he must have breezed through the questions, as Tezuka himself had.

"Hmm, Tezuka. You're coming into this school as well? That's good." Fuji sounded delighted. At least four of the regulars were here then.

All of them made their way to Kawamura Sushi to tell Takashi, Momoshiro, Kaidou and Inui about the exams. At the sight of food, Eiji had cheered up immediately and was even fighting over the last pieces with Momoshiro.

"You know, I haven't seen Ochibi at all during the holidays. I wonder where is he?" Kikumaru spoke up with a full mouth.

Momoshiro nodded. "Every time I go to his house, there seems to be no one in it."

"He had gone back to America." Tezuka stated casually.

All eyes turned to the former captain.

"Eh?! How can that be? Isn't he supposed to be the captain next year?" Momoshiro protested.

"He'll be back just before the holidays end. Echizen is just taking this opportunity to visit some relatives who are still in America." Tezuka explained.

Eiji snorted. "That Ochibi. Why didn't he tell us anything about it? Also, how is it that you know so much?"

"Saa…I wonder too." Fuji said, his voice hinting that he knew the reason why. Inui gave a cough and buried his face behind his notebook. Oishi had turned red.

"He just told me about it before the holidays. That's all." He preferred not to talk about it anymore.

For a while, the topic was focused on Ryoma, and Tezuka fidgeted slightly. Eventually, the talk turned towards the exams, and Eiji was all upset again. When he realized he had gotten a lot of the same answers Fuji had, however, he brightened up.

Tezuka absent mindedly reached for a rather large sushi and popped it into his mouth without looking. Fuji had been trying to reach for the same sushi as well, and as he stared at Tezuka chewing, he looked highly amazed.

"Tezuka. Are you aware that you've just eaten Kawamura Sushi's spiciest Volcanic Wasabi sushi?"

Tezuka was aware of it, as the flavour had exploded in his mouth upon contact. Still, his perfectly trained mask did not break, even though his tear bags were screaming to release their fluids.

"So?" he asked casually, glad that his voice did not betray the fact that he was actually choking.

Everyone applauded, even Kawamura, the culprit who made that sushi. Tezuka sipped his tea with a lot of self-control, so that he wouldn't end up gulping it down. He had a reputation to keep. At least the tea helped to ease the spicy flavour from his mouth. Inui noted this down in his book.

Once Tezuka was done, he set the cup down. "Gochisousama. The sushi was delicious. I had better head back now. See you all again."

He left, and once he was far away from his friends, his eyes streamed. It was a miracle how he managed to hold on when he was with them. That wasabi sushi was a killer. He made a mental note to use it as a punishment, should he ever become captain again. Now, it was time for him to give Ryoma an update.

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Their e-mails were getting more frequent. Tezuka always felt a sense of delight every time he found a new message from Ryoma. He didn't want to delete any of the messages, and his inbox was getting quite full.

He had just updated Ryoma two days ago about his successful admission into Kanto High, as he had scored distinctions. Fuji had the highest score amongst all the examinees. Oishi was somewhere in the middle and Kikumaru had just managed to scrape past. So it was, that all four of them were now students of Kanto High.

He opened the next mail from Ryoma.

That's great! Give the others my congratulations as well. Oh yeah, today I met up with Kevin Smith, I think you still remember that boy. The one with blonde hair, and had copied my skills during the friendly match against the U.S.

Tezuka remembered him alright. He could never forget the friendly match. Before that, when Ryoma did not make it into the list of players, Kevin had challenged him and Ryoma gladly accepted the challenge. When Ryoma got stubborn, Tezuka had slapped him to get him back to his senses. It was something Tezuka regretted till now.

Anyway, we had a match, and while he was still able to copy some of my skills, like twist serve and tornado smash, he was not able to copy the more difficult ones, like cool drive and Echizen zone. I won the game 6 to 4.

That's good. Tezuka thought, sipping on his coffee. As he read the next few lines, however, he spat out his drink.

I'm not too sure, but later Kevin said something along the lines of me becoming his. I'm not an item. I can't become his! Or was he referring to my skills? Maybe he wanted my skills? Then Kevin kept clinging on to my arm, it was difficult to walk. Honestly, if I hadn't known better, I'd say he was flirting or something.

He WAS flirting! Tezuka thought furiously. Ryoma really was too innocent. Before he knew what he was doing, he had dialed the number to Ryoma's U.S house so fast that his fingers were a blur.

The person who first picked up, however, wasn't Ryoma.

"Ah, Jasmine-chan! I'm so sorry about putting down the phone so fast, but my wife was looking at me." A man's voice had said over the other end upon picking up.

For a while, Tezuka was tongue-tied, not knowing how to respond to that. He forgot what he had called for, but remembered soon enough.

"Urm, excuse me. I am Tezuka Kunimitsu, Ryoma's friend. Could I speak to him please?

The man on the other end, most likely Ryoma's 'baka oyaji', suddenly changed his tone upon realizing it was a man on the phone, and not 'Jasmine-chan.'

"Eh? Ryoma. Eh, alright. Tezuka you said? I've heard Ryoma mention your name quite a number of times. You're his buchou, aren't you? Hope my Ryoma hasn't been giving too much trouble…"

"Oyaji! Who are you talking to?" Tezuka could hear Ryoma's voice somewhere in the background.

"Oh, you're here already. Here." The man had handed the phone over to Ryoma.

The prodigy picked up the phone. "Hello?" he asked.

Tezuka's heart skipped a beat at how different Echizen sounded. His voice was no longer boyish, and was now deeper, like a man's. Then again, Echizen should be having a growth spurt by now.

"Echizen, it's me." He replied.

"Buchou?" Echizen sounded surprised.

There was an awkward pause. Tezuka was bad with words, as he hardly spoke. On the other end, Ryoma was obviously waiting for him to speak.

"Er…I was just wondering…how are things over at your side?" Tezuka began lamely.

"Same as always. What about your side?"

"Oh, same here too."

Had anyone been listening in on them, this has got to be the weirdest phone conversation as the topics switched from the weather to the news to the flowers and trees, and it was a whole 15 minutes before Tezuka finally gathered his courage to ask about Kevin Smith.

"Urm…after what you e-mailed to me, he didn't do anything else, did he?" he asked.

On the other end, Ryoma snorted. "He was really persistent. He kept saying that he fell for me after the US-Japan match. I rejected him though."

Tezuka's heart did a victory dance, but he realized that might mean Ryoma wasn't interested in men, perhaps not even in the slightest bit, and he felt nervous again.

"Echizen…"

"Nani?" the boy asked.

It was a full minute before Tezuka posed the question.

"Will you go out with me?"

Tezuka had completely forgotten that the person at the other end was Echizen, the innocent, absolutely clueless Echizen. He remembered soon enough, as Ryoma's reply came from the other end.

"Go where? I hope you haven't forgotten that I'm all the way in America, and you're in Japan."

Tezuka sighed. With Ryoma, he had to be more direct.

"Is it alright if we starting seeing each other?"

"That depends. Do you have webcam?"

By now, Tezuka wondered if he really wanted to start dating boy wonder who could be really thick about these kind of things.

"I mean that, I would like to date you."

This time, a long pause. Tezuka wondered what Ryoma would be saying to this. To his surprise, Ryoma seemed to have caught the message this round.

"You mean…like us becoming boyfriends?" Ryoma asked uncertainly.

"Yes." Tezuka affirmed.

Another long pause. By then, had Tezuka been Inui, he would have said something along the lines of "there is a 65 percent chance that Echizen would reject me"

"Okay." Echizen gave his reply.

The answer was so unexpected that Tezuka couldn't believe his ears. "What?" he asked stupidly.

"I said okay. I wouldn't mind dating you."

Echizen's voice was without feeling, so Tezuka couldn't quite guess what the boy was thinking. Then again, this was Echizen, so a flat tone was a normal thing. It was his reply that mattered.

"I see." Tezuka had trouble keeping the happiness from his voice.

Ryoma seemed to have detected it though. He chuckled. "I'll be back in Japan soon. The holidays are ending anyway. Will tell you more with e-mails. By the way, isn't this a long-distance call you're doing?"

Tezuka remembered it just as Ryoma mentioned that. "You're right. I'll see you when you return then."

"Good night, buchou." Ryoma said, his voice with just a hint of gentleness. Tezuka put down the phone, feeling that even if the world ended tomorrow, he would die a happy man.

Now, he was even looking forward to life in senior high…provided he survived the day the phone bill arrives…

To be continued…

A/N: To think that I've written a whole chapter based on flashbacks only… I hope it's alright with you people.

Gah, after rereading the story, I wonder if I've repeated too many of the conversations. My greatest worry for this companion fic was that there would be quite a number of repetitions, especially the conversations. It would be weird if the characters said one thing in this fic, and said a completely different thing in the other fic altogether.

Will try to drop unimportant scenes from either of the two fics. The main focus for both of the fics is their school life after all.

Alright, the next chapter would be back to present time. If at any time I need to add flashbacks, I would be using Italics.

By the way, about the Ten'i Muhou thingy, the explanation is done in chapter 2 of 'Echizen, Our Buchou' There would be a lot of major spoilers too though.

P.S. My fics would be following mainly on the plot of the manga, though I've also included the US-Japan match episodes, which are not found in the manga.

Please read and review.

-Gwyn