Summery- Ryoma lost family when he was 4 and is adopted by Takashi's family. How will things change? Will he even continue tennis? Pairing undecided, will be Shounen-ai.

Declaimer: OMG I OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS!!!!....Okay, I lied. I don't own PoT but I can dream can't I? Takeshi Konomi owns PoT so there.

A/N: I'm alive…o.o…oh and for those who still waited for this, Thank you for not giving up. I was reading through some new (actually they were old but I hadn't checked my email for ff in months) and I must say that they really pushed me to publish the waiting chapters. So expect some mire chapters in the future ^.^.

Pairings: Still undecided. Could be anyone really…but still keeping Ryoma x ? Strictly slash.

Published: October 11, 2009

Revised:

-Recap-

And as always, ignoring the mumbles that came out of his sensei's mouth, Ryoma walked to his dorm, sliding his ID at the door and plopped himself on his bed.

"Meorw?"

Glancing at the side Ryoma stared at the fur ball whom was previously sleeping on the bed before he had disturbed it.

"Karupin, sigh, if I go will they let me take you too? I've never been on a plane before." Karupin blinked, "Meorw."

Ryoma nuzzled his face into his fur softly.

"I'll look at them tomorrow." He whispered, drifting off to sleep.

-Ch.4-

Takashi got up from his seat and hurriedly stuffed his papers into his backpack.

"Geez Takashi you're really excited huh?"

Looking up from his things Takashi grinned at his friends as they headed out.

"Hai. It's been 5 days already and Ryoma-kun is coming home today."

His friends laughed. "Just remember to tell him that we want to pop by sometime."

Nodding his head as they separated Takashi sped up his pace a bit humming happily. He already had the whole weekend planned out. Arriving home he dropped his things and removed his shoes.

"Ohayo!" he called.

His father smiled. "Ohayo! Your mother's out at the shop."

Nodding Takashi started to head upstairs. "Ah, Takashi where are you going?"

He stopped and smiled, turning to his father.

"I'm going to ask Ryoma-kun to play with me in the park!" his excitement was already showing through his voice.

His father frowned. "Eh? Ryoma-kun isn't home."

Thinking that his ride must be stuck in traffic Takashi sat himself down in front of the counter.

"Okay, I'll wait until he arrives then."

His father scratched the back of his head. "Takashi, Ryoma-kun isn't coming home for the weekend."

Looking up in shock Takashi could only make a pathetic confused

"Eh?"

His father cut the fish he was preparing neatly before continuing, "His teacher called and said that Ryoma requested the weekend there. I'm not sure why but he's a smart boy for his age. I'm sure he knows what he's doing."

Feeling his mood immediately disperse Takashi laid his head his arms in a tired fashion.

"I really wanted Ryoma-kun to see a new movie with me too." he mumbled, feeling a pat on his head.

"It's not fair. He said he would come back." He grumbled remembering Sunday night.

"Ah I'm sure Ryoma wanted to hang out with you as well Takashi. He'll be back next weekend."

Though that was true, how would his father know if Ryoma would or would not stay in school next weekend too? Pouting, Takashi followed the pattern of the woodened counter with his index finger.

-Ryoma-

Ryoma sat patiently in the meeting room for the other teachers to arrive. He trailed his vision towards his sensei and frowned at his slight twitching and shifting in his seat. Turning back to face forward Ryoma let his mind drift into thought of the Kawamura family. Though he wouldn't say it out loud he kind of liked the family and his new big brother.

He liked how the father would always make good food and would let him try to attempt the same with a big smile. He liked how the mother would point out the most obvious and silliest things, her energy kind of keep him on alert since she had a tendency to be very clumsy when full of energy. And he liked how his new brother was stronger than he looked.

Remembering his first impression of his new brother as a weakling and remembering the shock at the sudden outburst and strength from his brother on that one Saturday brought a small quick smirk across his face. Another shift from his sensei brought him back from his thoughts and he scrunched his face in annoyance.

Finally having enough he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted when the door opened. He closed his mouth and watched as the teachers filed in and sat down at the grand round table.

The principal was the last to walk in and sat across from his sights.

"Ohayo Ryoma-kun. I must say I was a bit surprised that you personally called for this meeting."

The teachers watched him carefully and Ryoma turned to his sensei who stood up.

"Umm Ryoma-kun has felt the need of this meeting because he is turning down the offer to skip a few grades in exchange for something else."

The principal raised an eyebrow. "And what is this that you are proposing?"

Ryoma could feel his sensei hesitate, turning to him but ignored it, keeping silent eye contact with the principal.

"Well…Ryoma-kun here wants…ano…"

As his sensei explained what he had in mind Ryoma watched the shock run through every person's face, letting a small smirk escape for all to see.

-Sunday-

Ryoma sat under the big tree watching the clouds go by slowly. Everyone in school was probably at home enjoying their time with their family.

Ryoma closed his eyes at the thought of his late family.

If they were still alive at the moment his stupid father would probably be challenging him to a match and his mother would be making his favorite breakfast. His cousin would be trying to get rid of his father's perverted books and humming her favorite song. Feeling tears rise at the thought of never seeing them again Ryoma quickly put on a strong face and tried to wipe away his tears.

He removed his hat and stared at it, tracing the logo R. His memory flashed to his new family, whom were friends with his father before. He really did like them, and though they were quieter than his late family he really did enjoy when they were energized. After the fire burned most of his things, Ryoma didn't possess a lot of things left. This hat was one of the few things that his father ever gave to him.

"Hey let's sneak out to the lake!"

Ryoma looked up quickly at the sound of another voice that didn't belong to an adult as he put his hat back on. He spotted three kids walking around the corner and towards his spot. Noticing that the three were taller than his other classmates he figured they were older and decided to ignore them. Letting his eyes close and tuning out their voices he slowly fell into a deep sleep.

But not even 5 minutes later a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him. He could hear voices telling him to wake up, and though he tried to ignore them, the shaking only got harder and the voices only got louder.

Acting on his instincts he slapped one of the hands on his shoulders away.

"Ow-y! The kid slapped me!"

Deciding that ignoring them wouldn't solve his problems he opened his eyes to stare up at the 3 older kids he saw earlier.

The first person he noticed was a boy with purple hair that was cut into a weird bob. He had almost cat-like eyes like his own and was maybe a head taller if Ryoma stood up. The boy was cradling his right hand to his chest whining to another boy who, to Ryoma, seemed like the same age.

The boy had brown hair and weird up tilting eyes making it look like he was sort of glaring, though Ryoma could tell from his calm aura he was only staring and trying to tune out his purple headed friend.

The last one had messy brown locks and stood in a slouch letting out a yawn. He was taller than Ryoma but shorter than the other two.

"Hey kid!" he turned his head back to the purple head.

"Ehhh? He looks like a cat." The one with the slight glare said.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, he does! Hey kid is your name Neko-chan?" the purple kid asked smiling.

Twitching at the weird name, he glared at the purple headed older boy. The said boy yelped in surprise and jumped behind his friend.

"Ah! Neko-chan's glare is scary!"

The slouching boy yawned and sat himself down next to him.

"This spot must be good. Can I sleep here too?" Confused a bit at the different personalities between the friends Ryoma nodded his head a bit finding this one quite to his liking since they seem to both like to sleep during the day.

"Nooo! Jirou we didn't come to sleep! We're sneaking out to the lake remember!" the purple head pouted and pulled the sleeping boy known as Jirou up and started to drag him away.

"Sorry about my friend. He's always has extra energy. My name is Wakashi Hiyoshi. The sleepy one was Akutagawa Jirou, and the hyper one was Mukahi Gakuto."

Ryoma pulled his hat down and tried to close his eyes again.

"We're gonna sneak out and play at the lake. We were wondering if you wanted to come and play with us since no one else is staying in the school besides us."

Sighing in annoyance Ryoma concentrated on ignoring his surroundings once more and promptly fell asleep.

-Monday-

Ryoma heard the bell ring and started to pack his stuff, a shadow crossed his desk and he looked up lazily at his sensei whom was smiling widely.

"Ryoma-kun I'm so glad the meeting yesterday was a success! It's too bad about next year though."

Shrugging his backpack on, he waited until his sensei moved out of his way. Taking note, his sensei took 2 steps to the side and he walked out the door. Though he wouldn't show it, he was also glad the meeting went well, he didn't want his new parents to have to struggle to pay for both his brother and himself. (1)

"Neko-chan!" twitching at the sound of a familiar purple head and 3 pairs of jogging footsteps, Ryoma quickly sped up his pace a bit.

"Ah, Neko-chan! Matteyo!"

Ryoma tried to speed up again but a hand suddenly caught his shoulder. Freezing and relying on instincts he slapped the hand away.

"Ow! Mukahi wasn't lying when he said you slap hard!"

Sighing in defeat Ryoma turned around to see Hiyoshi rubbing his hand, blowing at it carefully.

"Neko-chan you shouldn't ignore us!" Mukahi pouted while Jirou just nodded.

"So you're only in kindergarten." The slouching boy observed, staring at his yellow pin.

Ryoma glanced at the red button on Hiyoshi's uniform and the green buttons on the other two's uniforms, observing that Hiyoshi was only a year older than him and Mukahi and Jirou were 2 years older, just like his brother.

Hoping that the three were satisfied Ryoma turned around and started to head towards the dorms for his room. But in a matter of 5 seconds he twitched in annoyance when the three followed happily chatting and telling him on how great the lake was. He wanted nothing more than to tell them off, but that would mean raising his voice and his throat, though healed, still hurt if he over did himself.

He heard Hiyoshi laugh contain a small slight wince and glanced down at the boy's hand. At the sight of the red imprint turning into a slight purple Ryoma felt a small string of guilt wrap around him and in turn glanced at Mukahi's hand only to see the appendage sporting a big dark purple bruise which only thickened the string of guilt that wrapped itself around him. Even though they were a bit annoying Ryoma knew they didn't deserve to be slapped as he had inflicted, even though part of the action was out of pure instincts.

Reaching his dorm he stuffed his hands into his pockets, trying to find his ID card.

"Oh! Is this your room?" Jirou asked, straightening a bit and blinking.

Obviously-- Ryoma resisted from rolling his eyes as he slide his ID through the scanner. The door unlocked itself and Ryoma walked in, leaving the door open.

"Eh? Is he inviting us in?" Mukahi asked as the three slowly stepped in.

Ryoma walked into his kitchen and opened his mini freezer putting a few cubes of ice into 3 little plastic bags. He walked back into his room to see the three older kids staring at his late family picture.

"He has the same eyes as his dad!" Hiyoshi said pointing to the picture.

"Neh Neko-chan, are your parents on vacations too? You know, since you were here for the weekend like us." Mukahi asked.

Ryoma kneeled down next to them and grabbed Mukahi's bruised hand, putting a bag of the ice on top of it. Grabbing his other hand he motioned Mukahi to hold the bag into place. The purple headed boy blinked and did so before Ryoma did the same to Hiyoshi's hand, motioning Jirou to hold the bags for him.

"My parents…" he started as he looked through the drawers for his mini first aid kit. "….died in a fire about one and half months ago."

Turning and ignoring the shocked looks from the others he started to rub some healing cream on Hiyoshi's hand. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before he felt a hand land on his shoulder, but quickly removed itself before he could slap it away.

"So who are you staying with? Is the school watching over you?" Jirou asked quietly as he wrapped bandages around Hiyoshi's hand and turned to Mukahi to do the same.

"I got adopted into another family." He said as he finished and put the things away.

When he sat back down he watched as the three stared at various objects in the room in thought. Finding the silence comfortable and a burden suddenly lifting Ryoma closed his eyes to relax. His ears picked up the sound of the clock on the wall ticking with each second.

"…Neh Neko-chan, do you have a pet?"

Ryoma opened his eyes to look at Hiyoshi who was staring at a bowl with the name 'Karupin' painted on it.

"A cat. He's taken care of while I'm taking my classes. He should be here in another hour."

Hiyoshi gave a small nod.

"You know…this is the first time you ever said a word to us." Jirou said smiling a little as he traced the pattern of the floor with his finger.

Ryoma notice the other two perk up as well.

"That's true! You know, you have a nice voice." Mukahi said in a thoughtful manner.

"And you even bandaged our hands." Hiyoshi observed.

Mukahi nodded energetically. "Yep! You're nicer than you act!"

Jirou nodded in agreement.

"Does that mean we're friends now?" Hiyoshi asked as the three exchanged glances before staring at him to see if he approved.

Ryoma tilted his head a bit at the thought of friends. He wasn't one to be social but he supposed that his other classmates were sort of friends, that is…until the fire, he stopped talking to his classmates after that. Glancing at the three and noting the hopeful glint in their eyes he wondered why these 3 wanted to befriend him so badly.

Thinking back on the meeting on Saturday he sighed, he might as well, it wasn't like he would have a forever friendship with these three since he wouldn't even be in this school for his next year, and there was only one month of school left. The three seemed like they could provide some excitement in his bored school life. Slowly he nodded, watching as the three broke out into big grins.

"Yay! Neck-chan said yes!" Mukahi exclaimed suddenly latching his arms around Ryoma's neck.

Twitching, Ryoma tried to pry off the 2nd grader but found to his horror that the boy's grip wasn't relaxing and instead tightened the hold.

Jirou, suddenly bursting with life, laughed. "Ha ha! You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Hiyoshi sighed and tried to pry the hyper Mukahi off, and though succeeding, Jirou immediately took his spot, latching even harder than the purple head.

Ryoma sighed and wondered if he just signed his death warrant.

-Line-line-line-line-line-line-line-line!

(1)Okay so a reviewer pointed out about Ryoma's backing from his parents—like a trustee fund or something. So for anyone else who is also wondering about that you're gonna have to think along the lines that Ryoma is still 4 (no matter how mature he tries to act) and so we'll just say that he has one but he doesn't know it exist. I already typed out a lot and I don't want to change it over that detail (it's actually pretty important that little detail doesn't come into play—you'll see in the next chapter why).

So yeah, I'm back. I hopped on the Harry Potter train for a while but the reviews pulled me back on the PoT train. Hope people are still enjoying this.

R&R.