I feel like the emperor's new groove these days. Anyhow, this has been a long overdue update and I honestly like this fic but lots have been happening so I wasn't able to continue writing fics for quite a while.

Pairing: SanadaXRyoma E.

Summary: After having been hit on the head with a fastball from his father, Ryoma has found himself in a coma shortly afterwards. Upon hearing the noisy whispering of his classmates and fellow teammates, Ryoma has woken up, but he is not the same boy they all knew as their tennis player.

Later on, Ryoma finds himself wanting to be with Sanada Genichirō, a man from Rikkai Dai's tennis team. Just by a dream, Ryoma has gotten into a large mess with playing tennis and Mizuki's evil schemes. Will Ryoma figure out what the dream means before making his abrupt decision?

Warning: This fic contains boyXboy love/shounen-ai and is rated M, so if you're not old enough for this you should not read it.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis.

Growling like an angry tiger, the stomach had its own mind and it said 'food'. Ryoma had been under house arrest by his father for lying to his parents about him not knowing about tennis and for spending a few nights with Sanada. Nanjiroh had seen Ryoma without a shirt on at another tennis player's house. It raised questions the truth of what happened between Ryoma and Mizuki. His father had decided not to bring the young man to court, as it would have given reporters more news to focus on about the ancient Samurai of tennis. He certainly did not want Ryoma to go through anything, which would remind him of his rape.

The doorbell rang throughout the house and so far, the only ones home were Nanako and Ryoma. His cousin wanted to let Ryoma go outside but Nanjiroh had instructed everyone that he was not to go outside unless it was for tennis purposes. In this case, it was school and the tennis team. The same team he had quit. Lying on the bed with a bed sheet covering his entire body, Ryoma tried to get some sleep but was awaken by the sound of his stomach.

He did not want to eat today but Nanako had left a tray in his room with some toast and eggs. Ryoma gave in to the smell of food and decided to eat. Getting out of his bed, Ryoma made his way to his desk and picked up the toast from the plate. Before he could bite down however, Nanako knocked on his door. "Ryoma-kun, Sanada-san is here." The name 'Sanada' clung to the sides of his mind. How he longed to hear that name despite them having seen each other just a day ago.

"OK, I'll be right down!" Slowly his memories were coming back to the point the old Ryoma was returning. Deep down, he did not want to lose the feelings he had for the other man and hoped the old Ryoma would not return.

Nanako left and went back to cleaning the floors downstairs. He heard footsteps coming toward his bedroom door. His heart clenched and his head felt dizzy with questions as to what he should do after realizing what he said to his tennis captain. Ryoma felt bad for saying something he did not mean but at the same time, he thought the tennis had only brought him misery. He munched on some of the toast before opening the door.

"Sanada-senpai…" Ryoma's eyes began to water. Feelings of regret washed over him as he ran into his arms. The elder man hugged Ryoma, resting his chin on top of the boy's shoulder.

Still crying, Ryoma buried his head into Sanada's chest. "I'm sorry, Ryoma. I thought I was doing the right thing to ask you to try tennis before quitting right off the bat. That time you helped Kaidoh get back his memories of tennis by playing so…I thought it would help in your case. This might sound mean, Ryoma, but I don't want you to be the old Ryoma."

Worried his father would come home soon; he pulled Sanada into his room and let him sit on his bed. 'How do I tell him I quit just yesterday…' Ryoma thought to himself as Sanada glanced around the room in curiosity. He was wearing his favourite cap along with his team jersey. He looked like he had been playing tennis for most of the morning before coming to see him.

"I quit the Seigaku tennis team yesterday but I…I don't want to quit the sport that the old Ryoma used to love. What should I do, Sanada-san?" Ryoma was shocked to see Sanada look so angry. Rather than lash out at him, he was clutching his knees with his over-sized hands.

Sanada let out a small sigh and smiled up at Ryoma. "I'm sorry Ryoma, for what I am about to do. I promise I'll love you even after the old one comes back." The young boy did not know what Sanada meant by that but soon found out when he found his body being embraced by Sanada.

The elder man held onto Ryoma tightly, holding Ryoma's head in his hands. Before Ryoma could say anything more, Sanada punched but not as hard as to force his brain to bleed but big enough so that his memories might come back. Ryoma slumped to the floor despite Sanada trying to hold him up in his arms. He made his decision and he wanted Ryoma to play tennis again. Even if it meant that Ryoma would forget all about the time spent together.

Sanada laid Ryoma on his bed, picked up one of the pieces of toast that Ryoma was eating, and took it with him as one last kiss from Ryoma. Tears streamed down his face as he left the room and quickly stepped down the stairs without saying anything to Ryoma's cousin.

With all that had happened with Ryoma and playing tennis with him on occasional days, he had not even dreamed that he would feel so bad for leaving a boy to his own life. He did not feel wrong about his feelings but he was certainly upset about the events that came with it; was he not permitted to have feelings for Ryoma? As fate seemed to keep interrupting, he felt the decision had already been certain and that it was a 'no'.

'I'm so sorry, Ryoma.' Sanada thought as he raced to get back to his school and to begin his daily routine of tennis with his teammates.

Clouds crowded the sun and left no room for it to shine. Throughout the entire day of school and tennis matches between his team, it had been a dark and gloomy day for Sanada and everyone he knew or knew him, could see it. Seiichi was also concerned for Sanada's well-being. He heard what had happened with Seigakus' freshman and knew only some of the details but he knew something else must have been going on with Sanada for the man to act so aggressive during their practices.

Sanada sat down after a small match between him and another teammate. He wanted to go home for the day and bury his head in a bag. He felt guilty about what he had done in Ryoma's room and was now just waiting for someone to come rushing to his side to tell him about the boy. Sure enough, news spread and he soon saw Momoshiro Takeshi running to his school tennis court at full speed. 'That was unexplainably fast…' Sanada thought as he stood up to greet the man.

Instead of punching him, yelling, or even saying anything to him, Momo started dragging Sanada off the courts. After he was off the school grounds entirely, it began to rain. Seiichi got everyone to pack up and to get the equipment inside the gym storage room.

"Where is San-san going?" Kirihara, a member of the tennis club, asked Seiichi.

Seiichi said nothing and shook his head in reply. He did not know where the man had been off to but he knew it was probably going to be resolved eventually.

At the hospital where they had admitted Ryoma just previously after his first blow to the head, Nanako was sitting by her cousin's side, crying. She was just finishing the rest of the floors and kitchen counters when she saw Sanada rush off in a hurry and out the door. She questioned it but thought they might have had an argument. Then she found Ryoma lying on his bed, completely knocked out unconscious. She did not have the proof that it was Sanada, who knocked him out, but she felt that the man did not have any ill feelings toward her cousin.

Rinko and Nanjiroh both had to stop their shopping to come to the hospital along with some members of the Seigaku tennis club, who also took time off to see Echizen. The boy looked peaceful as he slept but inside was probably a nightmare to him. The doctors had told everyone that he was merely unconscious and not in a coma this time. Everyone was calm after that and felt reassured. All except the tennis club and his father.

"Echizen-kun is not in a coma, right, Inui-senpai?" Horio and the other two boys that came to see Ryoma, asked. Inui pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and continued looking down at Ryoma. "No. The doctors even said so, you were not listening, Horio-kun." Horio blushed from embarrassment and kept his mouth shut afterwards.

"Oi, I'm going to get a few drinks and something to eat, Rinko. You want me to get anything?" The said woman gave her husband a slight nod in agreement and continued to sit by her son's side. Nanjiroh smiled softly before leaving the room.

Later that day, Rinko, Nanjiroh and Nanako, all left the hospital to go home and feed Karupin as well as getting some rest from the day-to-day struggle with Ryoma's condition. The tennis club also left to practice back at school along with Horio and the others.

Ryoma woke up shortly after Momoshiro had dropped off Sanada. He did not know the other man was there but assumed he was alone in the room. 'My head is killing me. Where am I?' The boy looked around and realized the kind of room he was in. 'A hospital, huh? Dad must have done something to me this time.'

He sat up but quickly noticed that it was a mistake to move so quickly. He grabbed his head in pain as his brain pulsed along with his heart. With each throb his heart moved, each time the pain was noticeable. "Are you alright, Echizen?" Ryoma opened his eyes and peered around, finally landing on Sanada. He remembered something he had forgotten but it was very faint.

"What are you doing here?" The cold and dark tone in Ryoma's voice was back just like Sanada had wanted. But it felt so lifeless and hurtful for him to hear it.

"Momoshiro got me to come. He wanted me to tell you when you woke up. About things you may not remember." Ryoma's glare was unsympathetic.

"I won't be needing you for that. Thanks." Ryoma sat back against the hospital pillow and glanced out the window, not paying any attention to Sanada's face.

Sanada shocked by the words. They stung more and dug deep than the last time that he had spoken to the old Ryoma a few days ago. It was the same, cold, dark feeling that he felt. Was there really a cheerful side to Ryoma that he never let out? Sanada did not know but the answer was obvious that he got what he wished for; He wished for Ryoma to remember tennis even if it meant severing his relationship with him.

Sanada rose from the seat beside the boy's bed and took off his cap, placing it on top of Ryoma's head. Without anything more said, Sanada left the room. 'He gave me his hat but…why?' Ryoma asked himself in his mind and felt the cap. It was like his other caps but this one was a bit larger than the regular ones he wore.

Ryoma felt something deep down and remembered the dream he had.

Flashback~

Sanada was walking away from Ryoma's outstretched hand. The elder man was naked from head to toe, and was not wearing a ball cap. His muscular figure was walking slowly but to Ryoma, it felt as though he was watching an endless reel of a movie of his lover not wanting to come back to him. No matter how many times Ryoma called out to Sanada, the man would not turn around or even stop. What was he doing here anyhow?

'Why won't he listen to me? Come back, Sanada-senpai…' It was weird that he felt such strong feelings for a man who hardly would think of him as even a friend. It tugged at him.

Finally, Sanada turned around to face Ryoma. "Echizen, I love you." Ryoma could feel his body shaking with emotions. He also noticed that he too was naked and that his body was visible for Sanada to see. He tried to cover himself up with his arms.

The other man smiled at Ryoma and walked back to him, crouched to Ryoma's level and embraced him. Ryoma realized that they were now wearing their clothes again. Was he remembering something that had happened between him and Sanada? But it was not possible for he never paid any attention to Sanada-san before or after liking tennis, so why was he dreaming of this?

'His arms feel so gentle and safe. Sanada-senpai, please don't leave me!' Ryoma hugged Sanada back but when he did, the man disappeared from his arms. Then everything went black.

~End Flashback

"Sanada…senpai." Sanada walked in to hear Ryoma say it aloud. He had forgotten his tennis racket behind after Momo had dragged both him and it with him to the hospital. Sanada saw a tear roll down the boy's cheek.

Was the new Ryoma coming back? Sanada tested it. "Echizen." Startled, Ryoma looked up from staring out the window.

"You came back…Sanada-senpai!" Ryoma was clearly both the new and old in one body. What the new Ryoma had experienced, the old one was remembering. Before Sanada could ask Ryoma a question, the boy pushed him onto the hospital floor and squeezed him around his waist.

The dream seemed to have become true. Sanada had walked back to him just like the dream showed. "Echizen, I have something to tell you." Ryoma stared at Sanada's face and saw the hints of red at his cheeks.

"'I love you, Echizen.'" Sanada looked up at Ryoma in shock and disbelief. How had Ryoma known what he was thinking of saying next?

Ryoma smiled and kissed Sanada on the cheek. With everything that Ryoma's body had remembered and everything that happened after Mizuki, there was one thing Ryoma came to realize. He loved Sanada of Rikkai Dai. Still blushing, Sanada took Ryoma's hands into his own and kissed the boy back. "I love you, Ryoma, my beautiful Echizen." Sanada hugged the boy tighter.

Epilogue~

Ryoma Echizen had re-applied to be in the Seigaku tennis club again and knowing what the new Ryoma had experienced along with what the old him knew. He could both play tennis as well as remember his feelings for Sanada. The rest of his school life was fun and enjoyable. Soon enough, Ryoma and Sanada moved to the U.S. and moved in together in order to play side-by-side on the same team.

A/n: Leave a review if you like, this was not in any way rushed I honestly had the urge to write the last chapter for these two and I will continue on making fics for these two but that's future talk. If you have any questions about the fic I'll be happy to answer them!