DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS. PRINCE OF TENNIS BELONGS TO TAKESHI KONOMI AND IT'S AFFILIATES

AUTHOR'S NOTES:: : Please remember when reading this work of FAN-FICTION that characters are Very likely going to be OOC . Things are going to be shaped and twisted this author's way.

WARNING: This will be Yaoi / Shounen-Ai– Pairing; Meaning BoyxBoy / MalexMale. Will also have R-rated language. SMEX; POSSIBLE MPREG (depends on whatever comes up) Turn back now if this offends you.

The setting will set place in High School instead, so that I can change their ages to be 15 for the first years and 16 for the second year and 17-18 for the third years. So instead of 12 in manga/anime, he joins Seigaku in High School first year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS TO ALL!

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet,

regardless of time, place, or circumstance.

The thread may stretch or tangle,

but it will never break."

-------an ancient Chinese belief--------

For as long as Ryoma could remember, he can see strings on people. Some have it around their ankles, some on the wrist, pinky, almost anywhere on the body. There were many different colors, white, red, blue, brown,orange to name a few. When he was little, he had asked his parents about it, but they thought it was just his imagination. He soon learned that not anyone he knows can see the strings. Later in life, when he can read and understand the meaning of it, he read up on it and found an ancient Chinese legend about the 'Red String of Fate.'

It is said that the gods tie these red strings to the people so that are destined to be together. He guess it was kinda like being soul mates. The two that has the red strings connected to each other will one day marry each other and love only each other until death do them part, or until the next reincarnation.

He often wondered why his parents strings were not red then, since they are married to each other. Instead his parents strings were more of an orange-red color, more orange than red. He had asked when he was young if they really loved each other and they both had laughed and said yes they did. But if so, why were there strings not red? He gave up wondering about his parents' strings, because rarely do he ever see a couple that are together that has their red strings attached.

As Ryoma grew and saw more threads and colors, he found that there were a lot of people that are married or dating that are not tied to each other at all and never did or will. He also saw a lot of couples that started out not being tied to each other, but then later another string would appear between the two. The original red was still there for each of them, but there would also be another string, a very thin one, almost like a single strand of spider web between them, clear at first, then color would fill it, it never become that vibrant red like that one string, but color do fill it. A golden yellow was the most common. He guessed it means that they are really good friends. He's not quite sure, since he can never find anything about other colors, so he just made guessed on his own about what they mean.

Like white. Not a clear color, but just a solid white string that shines so bright, it is glowing, this string usually come out of the heart. He only sees this on babies. So he guess that means their heart is pure. Rarely do he ever sees it on an adult.

Black pretty much explains itself, especially when it comes out through the heart, a black so murky in color that the character of the one that it wraps around usually reflects it. He's seen it on serial killer on the news. There was this one rapist thought that he could not even see the face of. Those dark strings wrapped around the person from head to toe, that he barely make out the face of the man.

Blue comes in many various hues. Baby blue, cerulean, and so on. A blue strings between two people, means that they are a couple, but are not at all happy together. Sometimes he sees a blue string between a couple as well as the red string. He guess they are soul mates that got into a fight or an argument, since if he do see them again, the blue would be gone or is faded a bit. Like his teachers in elementary school. They were a one of those rare ones that are a couple attached by the red strings. One day they came in with a dark blue string attached as well and it threw him for a loop. He heard through gossip later they had a fight, but when they came in the next week after, their blue string had faded in color somewhat and in the next few after that, their blue string was gone. He categorized it as a fight or an argument string.

He's never seen anyone with more than one red strings, but he has three of them. He has one on his left wrist, a nice light red color, one on right his wrist, a darker color red and one coming from his heart. The one on his heart is the most vibrant of red, like a dark blood red, but at the same time, it shines. He loves to play with that one the most. When he feels sad or lonely, just touching that one near his heart soothes him, a warmth would spread through his body, giving him the feeling of being loved by something unseen. When he feels scared, he would twirl the one on his right wrist, and that gives him courage. When he feels tired and frustrated, the one on his left wrist helps him concentrate.

He would wonder who these strings were attached to. Did this mean he has more than one destined love? Maybe it means he will have three loves in his life. Maybe if something happens to one, the other would appear? Not that he was all that eager to be dating, since tennis is what he is focused on right now, but he wonders. Would she be attractive? Would he even like her? What if he hated her and they were tied together like this? He suppose he could just avoid her and like someone else instead? Every now and then, he had tried to tug off the strings, cut it, burn it and stuff, but the string was indestructible.

The first time he felt his strings moved .. well it twitched was a few months ago his dad suggested they move to Japan, so he can start school here at the same place he did. Seishun Gakuen. He had looked down in surprise when he felt his right and left wrists jerked. move, then the tugging at his right wrist and heart. First, he thought it was his imagination, so he had concentrated at the strings, staring at it. Each time his dad mentioned Japan for the next few weeks, they would jerk. The one at his heart was the one that jerked and tugged the hardest, actually causing him pain there. He took it to mean that his destined ones were in Japan and had balked, not wanting to come. His parents of course thought it was because he didn't want to leave his current friends and the familiarity of their home in New York to move to Japan.

Ryoma scoffed. First, he has few friends in New York. If they are called even that. Acquaintances, teens that he hang out with every now and then because he was bored, but not actual friends. Most just wanted to get to know him at school because he won 6 National championship at his age. None of their strings were tied with his at all. Once he stepped foot onto Japan, the string stopped twitching and yanking. He wondered if the person that it was attached to had moved or something? Or found someone else? Not like he cared at all.

He rubbed his right wrist, looking around, while walking to the tennis club. His teammates had seen him done that a few times and at first thought his wrist were hurting, but he had assured him that it does not. That it was just a habit. And indeed it was. It's now a few months that he have been here and so far, no one at school had the string that was attached to him. It's not like he went looking, he was just getting familiar with the new school is all.

" Echizen!" Ryoma looked ahead of him at the awful noise that came out of the uni-brow kid running his way, his two lackeys not far behind. Ryoma stopped and braced himself for it. Usually when that awful screech sounded, another was not far behind.

"RYOMA-SAMA!!!" And there it is. The pig tailed screech of the girl version of Horio and her lackey, following a few steps behind, and quietly muttering, " Ryoma-kun." He wanted to sigh and rub his ears so that the pain those awful noises the two made would go away, but that would ruin his image, so he gave them his usual cool look, not saying anything.

" Ano.. Ryoma-kun, are you going to the tennis club?" He gave the girl that asked that a look. The 'are you stupid, of course I am look.' Which Horio translated into words.

" Ryuzaki, of course he is. Where else , eh!" The girl reddened in embarrassment and her friend laughed out loud, nervously trying to cover it up.

He's not blind and can see that Ryuzaki Sakuno likes him. Okay, that is an understatement. He knew she was head over heels in love with him, practically worshiping him, actually, but he ignores it and pretends he doesn't know. It is better that way. If Momo or Kikumaru knew that he knew, they might try to set the two up. He already gets teased about it enough. Besides, her red string is not attached to him, it is attached to Horio. He pity Sakuno, having to be tied to Horio of all people. Well, he would pity her a lot more if he just didn't find it so amusing. The quiet one and the loud one. If he couldn't see the strings, he would say that Tomoko and Horio would be more suited to each other. Hmm, oh well, maybe Sakuno's quiet nature will rub off on Horio.

" ECHIZEN! If you just dwaddle, we'll be late for practices." Okay, maybe not.

" Echizen, you're late!" As soon as Ryoma walked into the changing room, his friend, Momoshiro got him in a head lock, knuckling his head. Then the hyper red head of the group gave him a death grip hug until Oishi rescued him. Finally breathing again, his captain, Tezuka ordered that he run 15 extra laps for being late.

Running around the courts, Ryoma watched his yellow strings. It wasn't there when he first came, but now, there were strands of yellow attached to Tezuka, Oishi, Kawamura. Even Kaidoh and Inui. There were 3 brilliant gold attached to Momoshiro, Fuji and Kikumaru. Even if he do admire Tezuka a lot , he guess that just means he have a deeper friendship with the three than the others. How Fuji's that gold color, he has no idea. The sadistic tensai sometimes just creeps him out.

Ryoma ran around the corner and saw that Fuji and Tezuka stood side by side, conversing. Fuji with his eyes closed and that smile on his face. Tezuka with his arms crossed, sometimes nodding to something that Fuji said. The two are dating and he wondered for how long have they been a couple. Since no one ever said anything, he assume that it is not widely known that Tezuka and Fuji are a couple. It was just chance that he knew and it was not because of their red strings. He had seen them kissing in the locker room once, when he went back in to get something he had forgotten. He didn't think they had seen him, since they never said anything to him.

He wouldn't have known, if he hadn't seen them kiss. Their destined red strings did not lead to each other at all. Instead, they have that orange , reddish one like his parents. They look really good together, he thought, as he watched them, still running his laps. He hopes they do stay together.

His extra 15 laps completed, Ryoma wiped off his sweat with a cool towel, then went to Court C to play a practice match against Kaidoh.

Happy Birthday Ryoma!!!

Okay, so here's something that came out .. an idea, kinda. It started when me and my friends were speaking about soul mates and stuff. And I mentioned that for Asian, it is believed that a red string ties people together or something, just stuff we spout off. And well this idea started. Not sure where this is going, but thought I would post this up.

Updated 12/24/2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS TO ALL!