Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ There and back again ❯ Searching ( Chapter 16 )

Buahahaha…well, another cliff hanger, sorry. And yes, it did take me two days, its summer and im in china xD

 

Disclaimer - don't own PoT, don't sue me.

 

 

ENJOY!

 

 

Eiji barged through the door, stumbling as his body entered the room. He hardly noticed when a handful of his team-mates burst in after him. Scanning the room, he looked for Miru, ignoring everything that didn't cause her scream, the sickening `thump'. He kept searching, but found nothing. Kept looking, but it was all in vain. The only thing that caught his eye was…

 

Miru ran through the forest, blindly pushing past the bushes, narrowly missing the low hanging boughs. She stumbled and grabbed onto the nearest tree, and then she began to sob.

 

Eiji raced to the open window and flung himself at the curtains. Thrusting them aside, he peered out. Tennis courts, Atobe fountain, forest…again he scanned what was laid out in front of him, and again his stomached flipped, something in his chest heavy when what he was looking for wasn't found. As the curtains cascaded around him, he looked down, and saw where someone had landed.

 

The darkened forest floor was seemingly the only place that she could trust, the only comfort the tree in her arms. As her head was thrown backwards, the world saw her feelings. She looked through the thick branches at the slightest patch of blue, that same blue that had reflected her happiness and openness only moments ago. Her heart was torn in two as she thought about the past.

 

Eiji started out the door but stalled for a moment. Had someone taken their friend or had she left on her own? The hesitation that played on his face was glared at by the sun, and as he stood unmoving underneath it, he knew where she would be.

 

They don't trust me…why else would they follow! And they hid from me…what do they think that I would have done…She slowly dragged herself up with the help of her tree, but fell forward onto it again after a moment. Her knees shook as she chocked back a sob, lowering her head back down to the floor below. Then her comfort came.

“Are you alright?” Miru slowly brought up her head and forced her eyes open, looking at the unknown and uninvited person. The intruder stood in a sunny patch, the light creating a slight halo around an angelic face. A girlish face, a face that seemed trustworthy and compassionate. It reminded her to much of Eiji's.

“I'm…” Miru wiped the water from her eyes, trying not to seem completely helpless, but although the tears had been wiped away more soon took their place. She stood, and again fell. This time, though, she was caught.

“One step at a time…”

The two walked away from her tree, the forest slowly thinning as they continued on. Miru's arm was draped across the boy's shoulders, and though she leaned on him, she felt as though she wasn't as helpless as she should have been.

 

He had put out his maids and most of the house servants to find her, but he had many `why's' for this…Why had Miru run away, she had gotten so emotional over nothing. It disgusted him that she could not handle this, but played so well…Why did he want to find her! Why did he have this feeling in his stomach…?

Eiji ran through the forest, dashing around the obstacles. He didn't know where the place he was looking for was situated at, but he knew she would defiantly be there. He needed to find the Rikkaidai club house, and before anything happened. She would find it, with help, or on her own. Now he just hoped he would too.

 

“That's all…I know it sounds stupid, even looking back on it now, but it just…really hurt me.”

Miru was explaining why she had been found in the forest to the surrounding Rikkaidai players who had been listening. When they, meaning herself and the one she now knew as Yukimura, the captain of the team, had first reached the clubhouse, both it and her didn't look very appealing. Yukimura and Kirihara had shown her to a room where she could rest for a while, and now that she had rested, freshened up and gotten to know the team, the place that had looked like a shack had turned into a castle.

“I should probably head back soon, now that I've calmed down a bit. I'm going to have to work at trusting them again, but everyone deserves a second chance, right?” Miru smiled. The Rikkaidai team was weird, completely different personalities from those others she had, and now still called friends.

“You should make those jerks tell you why they followed you! I think you're to nice, Miru. They don't deserve it.”

And neither do I. I don't deserve trusting friends; they should have followed me, so why did I get so angry? What's wrong with me…?

Miru forced a laugh. Kirihara had gotten defensive when she had told the story, but not for himself, even though he did flush when she retold the score. No, he was defensive on her account, worrying about /her/.

“Well, you all know where to find me when we hit home, and I think I'll see you all tomorrow anyways, ne?!” Miru stood up and laughed, this time for real. This place really /was/ opening her up, or at least playing with her mind. She had started to regret coming to this place. Every one of them where her friends, and they all deserved a second chance. Especially…She reached for the door but paused in front of it for a moment, thinking about how she would ask for their reasons.

The door shot open, revealing two panting and very disarrayed looking tennis players. Both pairs of eyes darted from place to place in a frenzy, not noticing each other, before stopping on Kirihara. “Where is Miru!”

The strange pair hadn't noticed she lay unconscious at their feet.