Hidden Past

Written by: Namikaze Naruto, tenma no ouji

Standard Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and all the characters, including the original anime/ manga plot, belongs to Konomi Takeshi. So I own nothing of it, obviously. I do own everything else including any original characters.

Warning(s): Occasional Language, YAOI (Shounen ai, Slash, Boys Love, MxM...), Genius! Ryoma, Neglectful! Nanjiroh and Rinko, AtoRyo brotherly relationship, mentions of rape but it won't go into detail, mentions of abuse and bullies.

Pairings: Pillar. Many one-sided/Ryoma, Atobe/Jirou, Golden, Emerald, Taka/Fuji, OC/Momo, Kabaji/OC, Dirty, Silver, OC/Hiyoshi, ?/Yuuta (Any suggestions for Yuuta) (Cannon or OC?)

Story Time line: It begins in America where he is four. Than later when he is twelve but because he is going to start off in Rikkaidai and meets his opponents differently. He later transfers from Rikkai, deciding Rikkai just wasn't for him, and the story is AU as well.

Chapter Details: Ryoma just left Rikkaidai and is going to start attending St. Rudolph, what kind of people will our lovable cat-eyed boy encounter this time around.

The news

and

Ryoma's new start

With Kisuke's help, Sable was able to get into contact with the Echizen family lawyer and he hoped the workaholics at least remembered to leave a will encase something were to happen to them, and to their relief they did. Echizen Ryoma, sole heir to both the Takeuchi and the Echizen empire will inherit the companies and the money when he turns eighteen, It was also stated that should anything happen to them before Ryoma turned that age, then he was to have a monthly allowance of five hundred dollars to get him by.

Kisuke glanced at Sable with a sad smile, "They left the guardianship for Ryoma blank. This is your chance to ask the boy if he'd mind you adopting him, Kami knows the both of you already consider each other family so there isn't any harm in getting it legalized."

Sable blinked, "Your right." he closed his eyes, "Ryoma's not going to take the news well at all, when it's all said and done, they were still his parents and he does love them, despite neglecting him all the time." Ryoma's caretaker opened his eyes and stared at Kisuke. "I'll let Ryoma know the news when he gets home from school."

Kisuke nodded his head. "Be sure to expect Keigo. I'll be telling him the news as well. He'll want to be here for his little brother." the Atobe head smiled. "Make sure you and Ryoma come visit soon. I haven't seen that boy in years, it's about time for a reunion of sorts." Sable nodded and watched as the man left the house with a sigh.

Atobe didn't know how long he stood leaning against the wall, eyes trained upon the boy he considered a brother. He wanted to prolonged having to tell Ryoma the news he had just received. He watched as the small boy leaped into the air and slammed the borrowed racket against a ball, earning the point and the game. "Game, set and match, Echizen Ryoma 6-2." the chair judge recited.

"Wow your good, dane." Yanagisawa stated offering his hand. Ryoma smirked and shook his opponents hands, with a nod of his head. "But, I'm more of a double's player anyways, dane."

Ryoma turned just waved and walked off the court, wanting to see what Yuuta was capable of. He had heard people whisper about Yuuta being good, earning himself the moniker of 'The lefty killer' and wanted to see what that was about. Yanagisawa followed wanting to cheer for his partner.

Mizuki smirked as he twirled his hair, eyes turned from the match that just ended towards the ongoing game between Yuuta and Atsushi. His smirk widened every time the younger Fuji sibling utilized the twist spin shot. "Very good Yuuta, your getting really good with that technique."

Golden eyes narrowed as he stared at Mizuki before returning his stare towards the match going on. When Yuuta once again used the twist spin shot, Ryoma approached the teams manager, "You do know it isn't safe for Yuuta to be using that move so much, don't you." Mizuki glanced at the new kid and narrowed his eyes, his eyes gleamed but he didn't bother to say anything which confirmed his suspicion.

Ryoma shook his head. He thought St. Rudolph was going to be a good school especially with someone like Fuji Yuuta but he was wrong. He liked the school well enough, and he'd stick the month out just for that and to hang out with Yuuta since he seemed pretty cool and down to earth but he didn't think he could join a team where the manager would purposely try to injure his player for the sake of winning a game. He would tell Yuuta the risk of using that technique especially since Mizuki wouldn't.

"Ryoma!" everyone turned at the sound of the voice calling the new student's name and they gaped at the sight of Atobe standing their, a smirk gracing his lips, "Let's go home already Ryo. I have something I need to tell you as well."

Frowning, the boy gave a nod and handed the racket he was holding to Yanagisawa, thanking him for letting him borrow it. "Alright aniki." the boy called out, turning towards the courts he waved towards Yuuta, "See you tomorrow Yuuta."

Yuuta blinked, surprised that the boys older brother was Atobe Keigo, they were nothing alike, for one Atobe was beyond cocky and arrogant, but then again Ryoma had that trait as well but the boy was really down to earth as well. He shrugged, "I'll see you tomorrow then Ryoma." he suppose not all brothers were the same, take him and Syuusuke for example.

"Huh, I didn't know Atobe had a younger brother and they have different surnames. I wonder what that's all about." Mizuki stated, twirling his hair. "Oh well, let's get back to practice." he called out, "Akazawa, I want you to play against Kaneda, get going."

The mentioned boys nodded towards their manager, grabbed their rackets and headed towards the court Ryoma and Yanagisawa were playing on a while ago.

Ryoma sat across from Atobe in the limo, eying the older male in curiosity, "What's going on Keigo?" the catlike golden eyes narrowed, "Are you hurt? Bad day?" Atobe shook his head and placed his elbow against the door and resting his head in the palm of his hand, blue eyes closed.

"Nothing of the sort, otouto." opening his eyes the Atobe heir eyed the younger boy, and despite trying to hide the sorrow in his gaze, Ryoma seen it which caused his eyes to narrow further. "How is St. Rudolph? Did you have a good first day? Made any friends?"

Ryoma nodded his head, "Fuji Yuuta seems nice, I get along with him well enough. Kaneda-senpai, Atsushi-senpai and Yanagisawa-senpai are nice as well. Akazawa-senpai is, eh, well I didn't talk with him long enough to come to a good conclusion about him, the same with the other double pair, I don't even remember their names, but I can safely say I don't like Mizuki, he's ambitious and isn't afraid to use his teammates to further his own goals, even if the outcome could severely damage his team." he crossed his arms, replaying the image of Yuuta utilizing his twist spin shot.

Atobe nodded his head, "That sounds like something Mizuki would do, ahn." he paused for a while, "Ryoma, I have something I need to tell you, alright. I don't know how you'll react to the news but wait until I'm finished to say anything, alright?"

Nodding his head in agreement, Ryoma settled into his seat and focus his attention on the older male. "Not to long ago, someone called my phone. I didn't recognize the number right away and was about to dismiss the call until I remembered that was the number for our mansion in England." Ryoma frowned, but held his tongue, "I answered the phone to the hysteric rambling of the maid, she wasn't making any sense, and I guess whoever was with her agreed for they took the phone and began telling me the reason for the call." Atobe paused, "There was an accident at the England airport last night. The flight holding several important business tycoon and their wives were blown up. At first I had no clue why they were telling me this and I was about to question them when they finally got to the point."

Moving from his seat, Atobe wrapped his arms around Ryoma, "two of the casualties in that accident was Echizen Rinko and Echizen Nanjiroh. They called me, so I could let you know and they express their sincere condolence's for your lost."

Ryoma blinked, shocked by the news, "Nande?" he whispered, lower lip trembling when the words registered. "Nande!" his voice picked up volume. Atobe wrapped his arms around the boy, as tears soaked his shoulder, soft sobs escaped the 'princes' lips as he clung onto the older male, "I don't even know why I'm even crying for them? Why does it hurt so much? I've never spent more then a couple of hours with them at a time."

The Atobe heir brought the smaller boy closer to his chest, "It's because despite everything, they were still your parents and you loved them." a hand ran up and down his back, "You wanted to beat your father in tennis. You did every thing you could possibly do to earn their attention but nothing worked. When you heard about your father's prowess in tennis, you focused on the sport in hopes that if and when you made it to the top, you'd finally gain your fathers attention." Atobe rocked the crying boy gently, "You loved them and that's the reason your so upset now."

"I wanted to make them see me." Ryoma cried out, "I wanted them to acknowledge me and love me the way you, Sable and Kisuke do. I wanted..." he trailed off, but the sobs that escaped the boys throat tore at Atobe's heart and the only thing he could do was hold the younger one as he cried.

A few weeks later, the day of the funeral came and went with a lot of his parents business party offering their sympathy and their best wishes. Some even telling him how much they'll look forward to working with him in the future which earned them glares from Atobe, father and son as well as Sable while Ryoma showed no reaction, most likely not even hearing the comment.

As the caskets were being lowered into their holes, Ryoma dropped to his knees, sobs pouring from his throat. "I hated them. I hated them for never being there for me, for always neglecting me and casting me off to the maids and servants when I was younger. They were never there for me. I hated them, so why am I so hurt."

Keigo knelled, bringing the smaller boy into his arms, "Hush now Ryoma," blue eyes glanced at the newly made grave, "It's alright to cry, they were your parents no matter how they treated you. Even though you hated them, with every right, there was still apart of you that longed for their attention and approval, but now that they're gone, you'll never get it." arms tightened over the trembling boy, "But you also gained another father didn't you. One that has always and will always love you no matter what."

Ryoma sniffed, wiping at his tears, golden eyes turned and glanced towards Sable who smiled at him, "Yeah." he whispered allowing himself to pulled upwards again. He slanted a look towards the graves and bowed, "Thank you for giving me life, but I won't be sad for you anymore. I'm going to start living for me now, so please, watch me as you never did in life." he whispered rising and turning from the grave he took Atobe's hand allowing the older male to lead him away from his parents and towards a better future.

Ryoma was finally back at school after being missing for nearly three weeks. Yuuta cast concerned look towards the younger, wondering what had happened and if the younger was alright, but he didn't want to pry encase it had been anything to personal. "You wanna play a game?"

Glancing from Yuuta towards the courts and back again, Ryoma hummed and shrugged his shoulder, "I didn't plan on joining the team so I didn't bring my racket bag with me." the younger boy looked a bit disappointed though.

Yuuta handed the racket he was holding to the younger boy, "You can borrow that one, just let me get me grab another one." Ryoma gave a nod of his head and walked into the courts while stretching out his arms, his sides and his back before bouncing in place.

"Maybe we should run twenty laps to warm up before we start?" Ryoma turned to see what Yuuta thought and smiled at the nod he received. Placing the racket against the fence, Ryoma waited for Yuuta to do the same before they both started their laps in companionable silence. After their laps, the duo began hitting balls back and forth to warm each other up, once that was done, they started their match.

"Hey look Yuuta is playing that new student. I heard he was good, he even beat Yanagisawa-senpai." a second year stated towards his friends. "Who do you think will win? I mean Yuuta is good but the new student is good as well."

One of his friends gave a shrug, "It might be close."

"With Yuuta's rising shot and his twist spin shot, that first year doesn't stand a chance. Another tennis member stated, "Besides I heard the new student was taking an attitude with Mizuki-senpai."

The three whipped their attention towards the speaker, "What do you mean by that? Why would the new kid take an attitude with Mizuki-sama. I mean Mizuki-sama is simply amazing so why would anyone want to argue with him."

"I don't know, but I heard them talking when he first came here, after his match with Yanagisawa-senpai, he went to watch Yuuta's match with Atsushi-senpai, that's when I heard him. The new kid doesn't like Mizuki-senpai at all."

"Oi, quite down you four, not everyone kisses that idiot Mizuki's ass, so just shut up and leave it alone already." A white haired male crossed his arms as he stared at the four briefly before turning his attention towards the ongoing game between Yuuta and the new kid. He was tall, about 181 cm (about 5'9) with broad shoulders, lean built with a narrow waist and a permanent scowl attached to his face.

One of the male's glared, "Shut up Hatsuharu. No one understands why you hate Mizuki-sama so much but..." the guy was interrupted when three others walked over, two of which were the same build as Hatsuharu while the last was shorter and a lot more slender then his companions, but in no way was he girly.

"What's going on here?" a brunet question, flashing a smirk towards the four boys who were well known Mizuki lovers, "Are you defending you precious 'Mizuki-sama' again, Misaki." green eyes rolled.

The slender male smiled, "Whose the kid playing against Yuuta-kun?"

"New kid. They were saying the boy gave Mizuki attitude, so he can't be all that bad if he would stand up to he self proclaimed king of St. Rudolph. I swear Mizuki is trying to channel that Atobe of Hyotei." Hatsuharu stated.

A dark headed male snorted, "Atobe has the skills to back up that mouth of his, Mizuki can only predict the outcome of a match based on data his collected on the opponents but data can always be changed, what will happen if he gathered the wrong information and challenged an opponent then. He'd lose and not only humiliate himself but St. Rudolph in general."

"He won't lose..." one of the Mizuki lovers trailed off when all attention turned towards the court to see the new kid scowling towards the gates opening where Mizuki stood. "Look he's glaring at Mizuki-sama."

Haru snorted at that, "Kids got guts, give him that. I wonder what Mizuki did to piss the boy off so much."

Ryoma was actually having fun. The score was 5-3, his lead. He was about to score the winning shot when out of nowhere Yuuta used that techniques. The twist whatchamacallit, earning him the point. He scowled and glanced towards the gates that just opened to reveal Mizuki which deepened the scowl as he glared towards the older male.

"You two having a practice match, very good." Mizuki praised them, unaware or ignoring the glare being drilled into his head by Ryoma. "Whose winning?"

Ryoma crossed his arms over his chest, "I thought I told you to tell him not to use that move anymore." he stated, golden eyes spitting fire, "Or at the very lease you should warn him about the dangers and the risks he faces should he continue to use such a technique." Yuuta looked confused and voiced it. "I told Mizuki several weeks ago about the flaw in you using that technique like you do, and his attitude concerning his teammates is the main reason I refuse to join the team, after all how can I trust a manager who cares nothing about my safety, whose only real goal is to win at whatever cost, even if the cost is a long lasting injury to a teammate."

Mizuki narrowed his eyes.

"What are you talking about Ryoma-kun?" Yuuta questioned.

Ryoma pointed the racket he was holding at Yuuta, "That technique of yours, the twist spin shot, is not a move I'd use if I were you. It's a really strong attack, and you utilize it well, but you risk damaging you shoulder if you use it that way you have." the younger stated, "And that move won't work on me anymore, I saw you use it several weeks ago and I've already found a way to seal that move of yours. And as you already know, your rising shots won't work as well."

Yuuta stared, "Damage my shoulder?" he questioned, glancing towards Mizuki, "Is that the reason you taught it to me, Mizuki-senpai?" the youngest Fuji sibling frowned at that before glancing towards his friend, "You said you sealed it?"

Ryoma nodded his head, a smirk, "I have and I can show it to you but this will be the last time you will use that twist shot of yours, deal?" Yuuta nodded his head and walked towards the baseline, "Alright let's do it."

"I knew that Mizuki was a snake." The dark headed male stated, "But to hurt Yuuta like that is unacceptable." Kyouya had a crush on the younger male who only had eyes for Mizuki, but hopefully with this revelation, Yuuta would forget about the slime ball once and for all.

The slender male nodded his head, "I agree Kyou, maybe now you stand a chance in wooing the oblivious boy." Yusei smiled, flashing a row of white teeth at his friend.

Several minutes into the match, Yuuta was given the chance and used his twist spin shot. Ryoma smirked and ran forward before he vanished from sight. Astonish whispers broke out as people wondered what was going on.

"His sliding under the ball." Yusei called out pointing towards the boy as he leaped up and smacked the ball, "Hey it's a home run." he added with a chuckle, but to the amazement to all, the ball dropped in the middle of court before rising and bouncing again near the baseline, forming a 'B'.

Ryoma smirked, "Congratulations for being the first to see my drive B."

Tsuzuku

(To be continued)

Longer then I planned. Because he's meeting a lot of people earlier on, his going to be developing his arsenal early as well. In the beginning of the chapter he saw Yuuta's twist spin shot and devised a way to seal it. But he will also help Yuuta develop the 'w spin shot' to compensate the lost of his twist spin shot.

Hopefully this chapter is good, I tried not to make it a cliffy. I want to thank all of you who reviewed, I made this chapter extra long for you guys. I was surprised and quite pleased by how much of you guys reviewed. So many thanks, I love hearing your comments.

Tenma