I edited the story. Cheers :)

"Whoa!" the girl in her tennis uniform landed unceremoniously face-first in to muddy ground of the tennis' team running track.

She sat up groggily, her limbs lacking their usual strength. It seems that the culprit was a stray cross bar the height of her knee. Some how it had managed to aligned itself with her running path without her knowing or seeing it. 'Damn the stupid piece of metal. It's not going to keep me from practicing', she thought.

She grunted as she brought herself up in to a sitting position. Examining herself she found that her white and blue top was now smeared brown, looking like a five year old's paint job with chocolate mix and a hammer.

A giggled sounded behind her and she turned around to see her best friend and sempai jogging up to her. Her best friend, Momo-senpai, giggling like a school girl with chocolate for his valentine. The other person was her team captain, at least he had the decency to not laugh in her face. Though she wasn't surprised because none of the regulars ever seen him laugh, much less smile. She fear if his stoicism were to break, a satellite might come crashing down on all of us and start an outer space arson on earth.

She struggle to get herself up again and was reminded of the face that she seemed to be out of it lately. Her headache was still present and annoying as ever. How long these invisible pulsing has been happening, she doesn't remember, but the occurrence has been increasing and so does it's intensity. Maybe she was getting sick after all.

"zen... Echizen" Came the loud sound of her best friend over her thoughts. He was waving his hands over her face looking half way between amused, confused and worried. Finally it settled at amused and he reach out a hand to help her get up. She was glad because she was starting think that her best friend sprouted two other heads, each containing a different emotion.

"Hey a you all right? You've been looking weird lately. I hope you're not sick because I thought that idiots can't catch a cold." He said grinning. She gave him a glare and stood up, ignoring his hand and grunted in her mind. Her joints were making her feel like an old lady! Could practice have been that harsh that she keeps getting muscle ache and joint pains? But the training program didn't differ much from what they usually had normally. Was she herself been lagging behind the other regulars? No way, she should step up her training then. Can't possibly loose to the half-brain boys in the regular tennis team.

Tezuka, the team captain, was looking at his first year regular, contemplating why his charge was performing poorly the past week ever since the Nationals. He can't bring himself to give punishment to her more than he already did since now she looks like she can't even stand by herself. (ahem, somethings need to be mention for the readers. Tezuka sighed inwardly, could the girl not introduce herself properly? What it is, is that they were keeping her gender as a girl a secret since girls can't normally join boy's tennis team for tournaments. But Echizen has gotten an exception since her dad is quite influential in the tennis world.)

"Echizen, go home today and rest. Get better and then come back later. For now, you are suspended from practice." Tezuka said stoically. As always, his expression reveals almost nothing. His close friends might be able to see the hint of worry in his eyes, but for the young first year girl, she missed the signs of worry from her captain.

She was hurt that the captain suspended her from practice. Had he thought that she needed to rest while the other 'boys' didn't need to because she was a weak girl? The 'girl' with short black hair with emerald tinted hair wig huffed indignantly and ignored her captain's order to rest and started running again. Not before saying that she would practice harder to live up to the team's standards and turn herself stubbornly away.

Momoshiro Takeshi, aka Momo-chan senpai to his kouhais, look worryingly at the receding figure of the 'boy'. He had seen his best friend's condition in the past week or so too, even he would admit that the girl look dishevelled and bone tired coming to practice each day. He ask his captain, "Buchou, should we do something? That fall wasn't normal I tell you. The thing was big and obvious and right in front of her and she still managed to trip over it. This is the seventh time the week she did that. She looks sick, if we don't do something soon Oishi-senpai might faint from all the worrying he does each time he sees her."

Everyone in the tennis team could see the evident change in their rookie star player. First was the bags under his eyes and his sickly pale appearance, then the increasing amount of time he slept in the classroom. Not that it was surprising, Echizen Ryoma was a known figure in this school to sleep through almost every class and manage to keep his top scores.

But now it was different because he's begun to sleep through bells and break times hours on hours until the tennis team found him after school and tried effortlessly for almost half an hour to wake the girl up. Might as well be talking to a rock in that situation because the girl did not budge an inch through the commotion. She seemed to be tired all the time and her mood swings like a mad woman having PMS. People have been keeping well away from the girl, knowing that they would receive a death glare if they interfere. It was also a known fact that Echizen Ryoma is a very stubborn person.

Tezuka Kunimitsu sighed and rub his fingers on the bridge of his nose. The girl was stubborn and everyone knows that fact. It would be hard to convince her to stop practice, even for a day. The team love tennis, they all played with their heart. But Echizen lives for tennis. She could never abandon it, forced or not. He decided that if this kind of situation happens again, the girl would be staying home in her bed and take a rest and he'll make sure of it himself or they would all go mad with the increasing amount of time Oishi and Kikumaru worrying about their kouhai very loudly to their ears. Oishi was worried Echizen still hasn't fully recovered from the incident where she lost her memories during the Nationals.

Not too long after her unfortunate fall, she was subjected to Oishi-sempai's fussing over her appearance in the locker room. Normally the team would change first then let their only girl team member change behind them to hide (Just in case if someone comes in to the locker room, but not very likely since the regulars always keep on practicing after hours. You can never be too careful.) from the other non-regular teammate (if it were to happen) sans for Inui Sadaharu who was their data collector/training menu creator/ regular/substitute player who knows about Echizen Ryoma being a girl.

Oishi had insist that she change first since she was covered in mud. He offered to get her regular jacket soak in warm water first to rid it off the drying mud. The weather had been dry and cold enough for them to wear long trousers and jackets, they were entering winter soon. Ryoma grudgingly oblique to her sempai's mother hen mode since it would shut him up for a while. Her head was ringing and the noise didn't help her head ache at all. She felt clammy and hot but it must have been her sweat and heat from after practice. She gave it no thought as she slid off her jacket and hand it over to the tennis team's mother hen.

Fuji Syuusuke was the first to notice that something was terribly wrong with Ryoma-chan. Not the fact that she looks half dead, but when his cerulean blue eyes caught the first sight of bruising on the girl's arm. His eyes opened wide. After him was Oishi who screamed and was starting to hyperventilate at the sight of bruises lining the girl's arms and legs once she slipped her trousers off to reveal her shorts.

By then, the whole top players of the Seigaku tennis team was staring wide eyed at the confused and extremely self conscious first year. Ever so blunt, she asked them "What are you staring at me for? Did my head split in half or something? Because I certainly do feel like it right now." She said and started to sway dangerously. "Urrgh, my head is killing me." Ryoma has never felt so exhausted in her life.

Kikumaru, the fastest on the team, jumped to catch her before she falls and hits her head. He was tearing up at the sight of his Ochibi-chan looking so vulnerable. Now, all her teammates for flocking over her asking questions ranging from 'Are you feeling alright?', 'Who did this to you?', 'Where did all the bruises come from?', to 'We need an ambulance!' From Oishi, 'I'm going to kill who ever did this' from Momoshiro and a long aggressive hiss from the team's viper Kaido Kaoru.

Ryoma's head was spinning. At one point she was standing now somehow she ended up lying on Kikumaru-senpai's lap with very very loud noise everywhere. She tried sitting up but her joints were disagreeing with her, insisting that she stay motionless for a while. Finally the noise receded and she notice in more clarity that everyone was looking at her and it was creepy. Silence followed the captain's order to shut it. Now everyone was waiting for answers.

"What are you staring at?" She asked, annoyance weaved in to her tired voice. Momo was the first to speak, if you could say that spluttering was an intelligible way conversing. "Wha?... Echizen! The bru...bruises!.. How?...Who! Whatthewhydidntyoutellus. Arrfgsfjgh!"

See? Totally unintelligible. Wait. Bruises?! She lifted her head to look down at their bare arms and legs to see in horror that it was actually covered with bruises. Bruises that she never remembered getting. Sure she had a couple of bumps from practice, but the blue and purple one the size of a tomato on her leg looked like it must have hurt lot. She never remembered getting such a hit on her leg or on her arms.

Now it was her time to splutter "What the hell?! Since when?...How did... Huh?" She now sat up on the bench and took another look at her skin on her upper legs and stomach to reveal even more discolouring on her skin. "Shit." She said aloud and that summed up her situation perfectly. Oh shit alright.

That evening, some of the regulars walk together to the Echizen household with their kouhai sleeping on Momo's back after falling into an exhausted sleep right there on the bench on the locker room.

Everyone was worried, even Taka-San who normally flips once he holds a tennis racket merely said "burning... I hope Echizen gets better soon" in his normal voice before separating to his house. Momo didn't missed the fact that Echizen was ridiculously light, even lighter than she usually is and he now can't help but notice the thinner legs and arms and the small petite body of his best friend on his back.

Kaido, Inui, Fuji, Oishi Kikumaru left soon after, placing their precious kouhai in the hands on her best friend and captain as they made their way back home. Tezuka and Momoshiro made their way to the Echizen's house in silence. Tezuka carrying Echizen's bags.

She was still in her practice clothing since non of them were going to intrude in the girl's privacy even if the wet clothes might make her sick. They simply put her long trousers back on and wrap her up in about three jackets lent by the worrying Oishi and the sniffling Kikumaru.

Tezuka rang the bell of the big traditional Japanese house on top of the hill. It was strange enough the first time he came here to see that the Echizen house hold is set in a shrine and the stone stairway in front of the house didn't help change his opinion of Echizen Nanjiro's weirdness on why a person would ever decide to build his house in a shrine.

Nanako came though the door and ushered them in when she saw the state of her little cousin. She fussed at Ryoma and ask the boys to put her in her bed room and wait. Rinko, Ryoma's mother came in a minute later and was explained about the conditions of her daughter.

She was horrified, if that was even enough to say, about Ryoma's condition once she knew about the bruises and that her daughter never mentioned anything at home.

"Echizen-San, I want to mention that she said that she didn't noticed it herself how she received those bruises. And I believe it was the truth. If she was bullied she wouldn't have given the reaction we saw." Tezuka said quietly, not wanting to disturb Echizen from her sleep.

"I insist you take her to the hospital sometime to get a better look even though she would definitely going to argue. She looks so tired as it is and we all suspect that she was unwell for a while now. She was so stubborn about it. However, we are all worried so please refrain her from coming to school tennis practice until she gets better." Said Tezuka.

Momo was amazed at the long speech his captain gave. It was so rare that he would speak a sentence, a paragraph was even more rare. He must be really worried about Echizen who wouldn't? Their kouhai was looking like she would drop dead any minute, she was so pale.

Nanako came in with a bucket and towels and a change of more comfortable clothes for Ryoma and the boys took it as a sign that they should leave. Rinko thanked the boys and saw them off as Nanako clean her cousin off from the grime, and winced at the amount of ugly looking bruises on her skin.

She really hope that Ryoma-san wasn't being bullied at school or some place else. Little did she know that this was just the start of something big and unexpected that would flip their world upside down.