Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Trapped ❯ A year gone by and still fresh tears ( Chapter 5 )

Trapped

 

By. Enzeru

 

Disclaimer. Everyone here knows how much I don't own POT, right… And I don't own Katzutaka Muraki or Oriya. **Cries**

 

Chapter five.A year gone by and still fresh tears

 

America 1 year after the incident.

 

Ring…Ring…Ring..

 

“Hello.” Came the tired answer.

 

“Hey Kevin it's me.” The voice sounded sad.

 

“Hi. What time is it?” Kevin said as he rubbed at eyes that were already raw from a night of rubbing them continously.

 

“It's six am. Were you sleeping?” The voice spoke slowly and carefully.

 

“No. I've not been able to sleep all night. How about you?”

 

“No not at all. I just…I needed to hear your voice.” Kevin felt the exact same grief as his boyfriend did but today was worse than the rest.

 

“You want me to come over?” He could hear a muffled sob in the background.

 

“Yeah I would like that. Thanx Kev.” Kevin felt a tear slowly fall down his own cheek as he heard the small sobs from the older teen.

 

“All right I'll be there in an hour okay? Try to relax in the mean time okay?”

 

“Yeah. See you then. Love you Kev.” Kevin smiled.

 

“Yeah I know. I love you to Ryoga.” They hung up and Kevin rushed to get ready to go home to his boyfriend's apartment. It was their one year anniversary but they could not celebrate it, they could not find it in them to see anything good with this day. One year since the disappearance of Ryoma Echizen. He and Ryoga were the only sources of comfort for each other. Nanjiroh and Rinko were so wrapped up in their own things and were traveling back and forth between America and Japan.

 

They had been going out for a year but had not once spent the night together. They had decided they were still not ready for something like that. Well Kevin wasn't, he was still so young. But they spent all the time they could with each other. They had both lost someone of great importance to them. Even tough Ryoma and Ryoga hadn't met much they had forged a brotherly bond during the time they actually had spent together. And he had already lost Ryoma once before of his own choice and it was horrible to have to go through that again.

 

Kevin had never really had any friends before Ryoma and when he first heard of Ryoma he saw him as a big rival and played tennis learning Ryoma's moves in order to win against him. He lost and his rivalry turned in to admiration as he entered the US Open. Then when they started hanging out that admiration turned into a very strong friendship bond.

 

Kevin had now started talking to the Seigaku regulars also as a way to keep them informed but also it was the only way he could still be linked to Ryoma he thought.

 

As he reached Ryoga's apartment he entered and was immediately enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. He hugged right back and they both cried in each other's arms. It was the one-year anniversary and still no clues whatsoever concerning the whereabouts of Ryoma. Now the police was no longer prioritizing this case even though it was still open.

 

Thanks to the tape recorder that was found on the scene they had at least gotten Ryoma's name cleared of any suspicions, even though there would always be people who would never stop believing the rumor that he had taken drugs. But still no Ryoma was found.

 

Kevin and Ryoga had with the distant help of the Seigaku regulars made a homepage on the Internet telling their story and showing pictures of Ryoma. They asked for any information anyone at all could have but not much of a reply was given. Mostly people just wrote them in sympathy. They knew it was a long shot but they felt they had to do something not to feel worthless.

 

Kevin and Ryoga had called Fuji yesterday and with the speaker on they had talked about the one-year that had gone. They walked down memory lane for a moment and just shared a few laughs at the memory of the match between Japan and America. And with slight regret in his voice Ryoga talked of the time on the cruise when he had met the Seigaku team. They all shared the memories as if that helped deal with Ryoma's absence.

 

But nothing could compare to having the real anti social little arrogant brat close to them.

 

Japan 1 year after the incident.

 

During this year all the regulars had been sad but the most obvious ones were Momo and Eiji. They all felt sad this day and you could not find any of them alone. During school they were all quiet and none ate their lunches. After school they all gathered in the sushi shop to just be together. No one had protested this, it was never up for discussion they all just seemed to go there on their own and now they all sat in a corner together.

 

Eiji who was always so emotional over everything sat leaning into Oishi's chest and cried silently. Eiji and Oishi was now an official couple and they looked very cute together. Momo was not much better off than Eiji, he to had tears run down his face. He would also need some comfort but since his relationship was a secret there was nothing he could do. Kaidoh who sat to Momo's right glanced down at him and silently wished he could lean down to hold his secret boyfriend but he was not that kind of open person. He was not prepared to show his emotions so openly.

 

“It's been a whole year now huh?” Taka said quietly.

 

“Aa. A year and not one clue as to where he is.” Tezuka confirmed.

 

“I got a call from Kevin yesterday; he and Ryoga are not dealing with this so well.” Fuji said.

 

“As time moves on this case will be less and less of a priority. I just wish there was something we could do.” Tezuka said. He was as upset as the rest, he had lost all of his composure and his face showed his concern and frustration.

 

“But we can't since we're nothing more than children still. There is absolutely nothing we could do in order to help, so let's not think of it.” Kaidoh was dealing with things his own way; he got mad and easily annoyed.

 

“Yes that is true. All we can do is to have hope.” Oishi said quietly. The others nodded in agreement.

 

“Hey let's not sit here all gloomy. Let's eat some sushi and just enjoy this, try to bring some light to this day.” Fuji said in a positive tone. Momo snapped up at that.

 

“Light? How the hell are we supposed to have fun today of all days. Do you think we can just forget what this day is?” Fuji opened his eyes to small slits and glared at Momo.

 

“I have NOT forgotten what day it is. But Ryoma would never want us to be depressed because of him. He would feel bad for doing that to us, even tough he would never admit it.” Fuji spoke slowly but with a hint of anger in his voice. He would never forget what this day was and he would never lose hope for his little friend. But he would not disrespect Ryoma and act all depressed all the time either. He would hold his head up high and keep his hope up for Ryoma. And he knew Tezuka did the same as well.

 

They sat there for a few hours while talking and eating. Eiji soon smiled to as they joked and talked of what they would do when Ryoma finally came back home.

 

But as evening became late they said bye and went on their ways. Momo walked with Kaidoh and they argued as long as everyone else could hear them but as they reached Kaidoh's home Momo walked him to the door. Kaidoh invited him in for tea and as soon as he closed the door after his guest he pulled Momo in for a hug. They held each other tightly just showing the comfort they needed. Momo understood that this was Kaidoh's way to apologize for not comforting him in the sushi shop. They went in and had tea with Kaidoh's parents and just enjoyed the moment.

 

Fuji and Tezuka went home together through a park near their homes.

 

“Ne Kunimitsu, do you think he will come home again? I think I'm really starting to loose hope here.” Fuji's face shoved nothing other than his trademark smile but Tezuka could hear in his voice the tiny shiver that showed his real sorrow over loosing Echizen. Tezuka knew Fuji had feelings for the younger tensai, even tough Fuji himself really wasn't sure what they meant.

 

“He'll be back. Don't loose hope, for his sake.” Was Tezuka's short answer.

 

“Aa, you're right I know.” Fuji wanted to cry but would not do that, but as he felt Tezuka's arms wrap around him he buried his face in his chest and cried silently. The park was not very populated at this time so no one really noticed the embracing couple.

 

Fuji had felt something special for the boy ever since their game at school. Ryoma had opened his eyes and Fuji had seen something in the boy that he didn't really understand. Tezuka also missed the young boy dearly but he wanted to stay strong for all their sake. He was the old pillar of Seigaku after all and since they all still spent time together he kept that role and as such he was the support needed to keep them all standing.

 

Soon they pulled apart and silently walked on until they had to split up the rest of their ways.

 

*

 

Fuji came home and wished for nothing more than to go to bed and sleep this day away, but as he got to his house and was about to open the door it opened before him and inside stood his younger brother looking straight at him.

 

“Alright aniki, what's going on. Nee-san called me and told me to go home and keep you company today since she and our parents are away this week, she claimed that you would be in a very dark mood.” Yuuta looked at the face of his brother and frowned as he saw what he thought was dry tear tracks on his brothers cheeks.

 

“Why don't you come in and I'll make us some tea and you can tell me what's going on okay?” And without waiting for an answer Yuuta walked into the kitchen and started making the tea for them. He was surprised to get this kind of request from his sister and he was even more shocked by the appearance of his brother. Had he been crying? Did Syusuke cry?

 

Syusuke walked in and knelt silently on a small at the low dinner table. As the tea was done they sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity until Syusuke chose to break the heavy silence.

 

“You know, it's a year today. It's been 52 weeks, that's 365 days which is about 8 760 hours that comes down to 525 600 minutes and that ends with over 30 000 000 seconds and still not one single word.” Yuuta's head swam with all those numbers but he said nothing only let his brother speak. There was something with his voice that told Yuuta that he was about to crack at any minute and he wasn't sure if he should be happy or not that his brother finally lets himself show someone how he feels.

 

“He's been gone for so long it feels unreal. It's like I've been floating through this year with my head buried in cotton or something and today it suddenly became real again. I feel so lost, I've never had this feeling of helplessness before and it's bothering me greatly. I want to do something but I can't do one single thing to help.” Syusuke had started trembling by now and Yuuta bit his lower lip and inched over to his brother just as the flood that had been collecting in Syusuke's eyes flowed through the barrier and poured in floods down his face.

 

“I just miss him so much, No-one even knows if he's alive. What if he's dead, what do we do then?… What do I do?… I want to help him but… I..can't… I can't help him. I can't help anyone.” Yuuta threw his arms around his brother as he collapsed into a boneless shell and just cried in agony. Yuuta cried as he watched his held his brother. Syusuke's spirit was slowly breaking and he didn't know what to do to help him . He did love his brother even though he had distanced himself from him. This side to Syusuke was new to Yuuta and he really didn't know how to handle this. All he knew was that his brother needed comforting now and Yuuta would not leave his side.

 

 

It had been a year and still nothing. They knew there was nothing they could do but it was all so unfair. They would hope and maybe their feelings would give Ryoma the strength he needed to find his way home.

 

TBC…

 

XxXxX POT XxXxX

 

AN. Thanx for the reviews I got, I love them so much.

 

So here it is chapter five and I'm so tired today after a workday with soooo much to do. It's been crazy as hell. It's only 19:00 PM but I'm feeling tired enough to go to bed already but I'll get onto revising chapter five and hope to have it up this weekend if you're lucky, We'll see.

 

I can't really let the regulars have a hand in saving Ryoma other than the idea of the web page, I mean let's face it they're only kids yet and in school in Japan. There would be no way that they could go out and search the entire world for their lost friend. That's why they get to angst so much. It's sad but that's how it goes they are still in for a few more rough years.

 

It is stated in the teaser how long he has been in captivity and I was wrong when I wrote five years in the last AN. But if you read the teaser again you'll see that Ryoma states the time he has been in captivity, and the teaser is when this story is in present time.

 

Remember to review.

 

Ja mata ne

 

Enzeru