Another one! I have too many uncompleted ones. XD

Anyway, sorry for all the grammar and vocab mistakes I might make. I am a muddlehead when it comes to grammar, I am still trying my best.

By the way, this fic mostly makes Ryoma the emo guy here, so i doubt he'd be much out of character in his actions and words. His thoughts might be slightly looser though, and might just veer away from Ryoma's supposed Personality. So... enjoy this angsty fic anyway. I'd describe it as 'Ryoma trying to make Seigaku love him again' fic, and the 'true Ryoma' XD

Brring. Brrrriiing. Brrring.

"Oi, Ryoma!" Nanjiroh called above the noise of the ringing phone. "I'm not lying for you anymore, you better pick up the phone!" Nanjiroh stared at the ceiling above him, where he knew his son's room is. "..." Nanjiroh waited for a reply, but none came from above. The ringing stopped, and Nanjiroh looked back to his newspapers, sighing. He was worried. Ryoma had been like this since 3 days ago, and Nanjiroh wasn't sure what happened. According to Momoshiro, who calls about 5 times a day now, Ryoma had lost a match. But that wasn't like him at all. If Ryoma Echizen lost a match, he wouldn't be so depressed… he would have tried his very best to own that bastard's ass the next time they meet.

Nanjiroh always believed in his son. Ryoma could handle everything. Nanjiroh let that thought run through his mind several times before looking back into his newspapers. "Oh, hey, sexy."

Ryoma's Room. 7:34 PM

Ryoma lay on the bed, staring up into the ceiling. He wasn't happy at all. Losing to that new kid made him mad. That kid just popped out of nowhere, and just beat Ryoma so easily was making him flare up, even when he was lying peacefully on his bed and was thinking about it. Ryoma sat up in bed. He remembered the looks on his senpai's faces, and how the captains from other schools focused all their attention on that new boy. It wasn't fair.

Or maybe it is.

Ryoma was always the strongest amongst all of them. Because of his skills, he often stood out from the rest of the first years (like Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo). But this time, a strange transfer student had totally outshined him. How was this possible? And what's more, in the match he played against that new first year, he sprained his ankle while trying to smash the ball. Ryoma sat up, and pulled the covers off his small body, wriggling his toes. It stung, and Ryoma winced. While everyone was fussing over the new boy, he was left to tend to his wound himself. He had never felt this left out from the team before. And he might lose his Seigaku Regular Position. So what if they kept calling? Ryoma wouldn't pick the phone up. All they do is to fake compassion, and ask how was his ankle even though they don't really care.

The phone downstairs rang again. Ryoma plonked back down onto bed and pulled the covers over his head. "Echizen Ryoma, you get down here this minute! Momoshiro is on the line!" His mother's voice sounded muffled through the cotton quilt. Ryoma sat up and limped over to the door, opening it. He winced at the light coming from the corridor that shone into his dark room. "Tell him I don't want to talk to him!"

"Ryoma, you better take his call, I am not going to let you neglect your friend like this!" His mother hollered below him. Ryoma groaned and limped down the stairs, snatching the phone from his mother's hand. His mother shook her head, and she went into the kitchen again. "What do you want?" Ryoma asked. Somehow… he felt that he was still going to get angry even if Momoshiro showed any sign of concern…

"Are you coming back? You didn't turn up for the past 3 days," Momoshiro said over the phone. Ryoma frowned, and made an annoyed sound. "…I am not going. Anyway, you have the new boy right? What's his name…"

"Rei Asamura," Momoshiro reminded him, his voice suddenly joyful. This made Ryoma all the more angrier. He was just about to retort, when Momoshiro cut him off suddenly. "Oh, if you don't want to come back anymore, that's okay. You sprained your ankle I heard, and the next Tournament is at the end of this month, which is in 3 weeks time. I think you wouldn't be of any use. Tezuka told me to tell you this. Anyway, we met Rei for dinner, so I'm going to be late soon! Your mother just won't convey my message to you. Bye!"

Before Ryoma could even reply, Momo had slammed down the phone, and all that Ryoma heard now was the dial tone that followed after Momo's last word. "…" Ryoma stared straight ahead of him, his eyes wide. That was impossible. Momo never spoke like that to him. He was a treasure! A treasure of Seigaku! And now, he was being treated like this. It was as if… as if he had been outcasted…

Dinner…

Ryoma slammed the receiver back down and limped up the stairs as quickly as possible, and changed into fresh clothes, before limping down to the front door. Nanjiroh watched with much interest at his son hurrying somewhere else. "…Ryoma, where are you going at a time like this?!

"Dinner… at Kawamura's Sushi Restaurant." Ryoma replied before closing the house wooden gates behind him.

It took him a long time to get there. By the time he got there, it was already 8:30 PM and Ryoma wondered if they had left already. His head was hurting, and his swollen ankle was too. Ryoma exhaled deeply, and wiped away the sheen of sweat that covered his forehead from the effort of getting here. It seemed like there are still customers inside the restaurant.

Ryoma opened the door a fraction, gazing in with his golden brown eyes. His team members were all seated at a large table, laughing and shoving each other around. Rei was sitting with Momoshiro, and Momoshiro had his arm around that new boy. Ryoma's facial expression tightened, and he looked over at the rest. Tezuka was as usual, quietly sipping tea, but he seemed to be pleased, like the others. Eiji was poking that young Rei on the forehead and calling him Shin-O-Chibi. Ryoma almost growled. Who the hell was the 'New O-Chibi'?! Ryoma opened the door fully, standing in clear view of everyone. Everyone inside fell silent, and looked up at Ryoma with a shocked expression on his face. Ryoma stared back at him, not sure what he should say or do now that he had caught their attention.

"…Echizen-kun?" Someone finally spoke. It was Kawamura's father. Ryoma looked over at the counter, where Kawamura's father stood. Ryoma nodded his head as a form of greeting. "…h-hello." Ryoma said in a low voice before turning his attention back to the group.

"You should rest at home you know, with your injury," Momoshiro said, unsure. Rei Asamura was a small boy that is about as tall as Ryoma himself, with medium-length black hair and big, hazel brown eyes. "You should, Echizen-kun… Just leave the tournament to me, it'd be alright!"

"Yeah, Rei is right, you should. Just leave it to him," Kaidoh said, sipping his tea and not even giving one look at Ryoma.

Ryoma stared at his teammates, speechless. It wasn't fair. That cute new kid had just taken over his teammates completely. Just a month ago, Ryoma was among them, and now he had been cast out of that group. Ryoma had never thought much about taking the team for granted, for he knew that their team spirit was strong… and…

This could never have happened.

Rei stood up and Ryoma stared a little too fiercely at that new boy as he stepped ahead and shyly nodded. "R-Ryoma-kun, I hope your ankle is fine…" Rei said uncertainly, his hazel brown eyes shining. "Would you like to dine with us?" Ryoma stared at Rei with his golden brown eyes, feeling a hint of anger sparking in his chest. He didn't like to be angry, so he kept a straight face.

"I'm not hungry," Ryoma said in his same low voice which he always used. Seeing them eating so happily made Ryoma despise them and the food so much. Usually, he loved eating loads of food together with his best friend Momoshiro, but now… it just turns him off. "I'll be going. Bye." Ryoma said, turned and left without saying another word. If he stayed on longer, he swore he'd had been unable to control his anger.

As Ryoma limped home, the chaos and joyful cheers ensued inside Kawamura's Sushi Restaurant. Ryoma wanted to just smash their windows and show how upset he was, but that would show that he really liked them and needed them, and that would make him appear childish. Ryoma let this thought run through his mind, then he stopped, leaning against a lamppost. "… that was a really childish way of thinking," Ryoma told himself, scratching his head. "But… why does it…" Ryoma put a hand to his chest, where his heart was beating hard.

Why does it feel so painful… to see myself be replaced by another… and senpais are really having fun with that Rei guy… am I really not good compared to the new guy? Ryoma thought as he stumbled his way into his house, and up the stairs into his room. He sat on his bed, and stared at his red racket bag lying at a corner of his room. The black handle of one of his Dynabeam Grandeas was sticking out of the open mouth of his bag. Ryoma's golden brown eyes softened at the sight of his weapon of joy and pride. He was sure he could win Rei at that time. But why did he make that mistake?

"Ryoma!" Ryoma looked over at his door when he heard his stupid father calling him from the living room below. "Oi, Ryoma!" Nanjiroh yelled again, patting the frame of his old tennis racket on his shoulder. He was getting impatient. "You can't sit around all day like this! You've got to work yourself even when you're injured! Afterall, its just a small injury! Come on, Young Man, get down here and show your old man some spunk!" Nanjiroh said as he walked to the base of the stairs, staring up at the door of Ryoma's room. "Ryoma!"

The door opened. Nanjiroh sighed. "Ah, that's my boy-" Then something flew down the stairs and slapped into his face, and the door above slammed shut. Nanjiroh groaned, peeling the book off his face. "Eh?" Nanjiroh looked down at the book.

It was a tattered and over-used book called 'Doubles for Beginners'.

"…isn't this his book when he just started playing doubles? He used to treasure it a lot…" Nanjiroh muttered, then placed the book on the table, sitting down in front of the television again. He didn't manage to get Ryoma out of his room… yet again.

As usual, please Read and Review!!