Never Ever

By: Dyaoka

Disclaimer: I don't own the Prince of Tennis.

Notes/Warnings: Yes. Last chapter. Rejoice. My back is killing me. So is my shoulder and my knee. Not to mention my bicep muscle…and triceps. Dunno why.

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Part Five

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"Earlier today, when I was coming up the stairs from the fourth floor," Ryoma begun. "I heard you singing."

"That's impossible, nya..." the red head protested with a frown. "You can't possibly hear me from the fourth floor."

"I did. It's probably because that this room is at the end of the hall and it produces echoes...and your singing echoed all the way down to the fourth floor's staircase. If we make lots of noise, it might be heard down to the third floor."

"Nya...I don't think so, Ochibi-chan," Eiji said. "Look...you see the parking lot from here." He pointed out at the window somewhere and Ryoma leaned over to get a look. Indeed, it did look out into the parking lot...and it was empty. Ryoma sighed. There went that plan. He seriously didn't want to stay any longer in the hospital if it was helped. Hell, he didn't want Eiji staying any longer either. "Why don't you try the door?"

Ryoma rose from the bed, walking over to the door and trying the knob. It wouldn't open. "Locked," Ryoma informed. Eiji shook his head.

"It's never locked. The door knob is always loose and it turns...but the door never opens, nya. Try turning the knob both ways."

Ryoma did, but the only thing that happened was that the knob started to rattle. The dark haired youth abruptly let it go, stumbling backwards over to the bed. The knob continued to rattle and then, just as abruptly, it stopped.

"Ochibi-chan...be quiet," Eiji said, pulling Ryoma against him and drawing the curtains around the bed. A strange feeling overcame Ryoma...and it wasn't a pleasant one. "Look out the window."

There was heavy pounding on the door and shouting. Loud shouting.

"Is someone in there?! Hello?"

Ryoma was tempted to answer, but from the way that Eiji was shaking out of fright, he almost changed his mind not to. "Yes! There is! Help!"

The pounding ceased and the door was kicked in. A security guard stood there, looking at the dusty and old room. His eyes were wide in surprise as he quickly walked over to the curtained bed and opened it. Eiji flinched at the sound the curtain made when it was pushed back. "Oh my god..." the officer said. "Come with me."

"You will not be going anywhere," a old, cracked voice said. It was the old nurse again. "You saw them...I told you..." the old nurse walked slowly towards the security guard, her eyes shining oddly in the dim light. Lightning flashed outside as the small rain drops changed to be large droplets of water. The low rumble of thunder was heard several moments after.

"A storm is brewing..." Eiji said, still looking out the window. Something seemed to have caught his interest since he was no longer shaking and quivering, but looking out at the sky rather intently.

"I'm not listening to your crap, lady. Can you move?" the security guard looked over at Eiji and Ryoma.

"He can't," Ryoma said, pointing at Eiji. "He needs help. I think his legs are paralyzed."

"Alright," the security guard said, looking strangely at Ryoma, but nevertheless, he gently pushed Ryoma off the bed so he could carry Eiji. The red head didn't say anything, nor did he give any protest. The old nurse still stood at the doorway. The security guard sneered at her and purposefully stroded through the door way after Ryoma. He never made it through.

The security guard had froze in midstep and dropped Eiji to the ground with a small 'thud.' Eiji barely gave complaint, but just pulled himself into a sitting position. The security guard fell over a moment later, dead. A scalpel was dug deep into his back, a growing pool of dark red stained his shirt. The old nurse stood over the man, looking at her hands which was stained red by blood. "Eiji..." Ryoma suddenly remembered. Scampering quickly over to the immobile red head, Ryoma scooped him up into his arms and ran down the opposite direction of the hall.

He didn't bother to look back if the old woman was following. In fact, he would have prefered it if she wasn't following.

Down the stairs he ran, flight after flight after flight. It wasn't until he was out of the hospital did he come to a stop. The heavy rain came pelting down on them, soaking through their clothes and hair. Ryoma fell to his knees, but in his arms, he still clutched the malnutritioned boy. Eiji peeked out at Ryoma behind his dripping red locks.

"Ochibi-chan? Are you ok?"

Ryoma looked over at Eiji who was leaning against his shoulder. "Why...how...are you so calm? She just killed someone!"

Eiji frowned. "What do you mean? I know it's a bad thing, nya, but I see it all the time. She does it all the time too." Ryoma looked at Eiji credulously.

"She...does it all the time? How do you know this?" Ryoma was starting to feel more than a little uncomfortable in the presence of the red head.

"I see it; I saw her do it. She lures her prey, like a venus fly trap, and then kills it. She keeps the bodies as trophies...she keeps them in her attic at home. I see it all the time. What's wrong, Ochibi-chan?" Ryoma was starting to inch away from Eiji, but the other had a firm grip on his waist. "Ochibi-chan...are you scared of her?"

"She tried to do that to you, didn't she?" Ryoma asked softly. Eiji looked up at Ryoma, his deep azure eyes staring into Ryoma's golden ones.

"But I am saving them; all of them," a old, cracked voice said. "They will never age, yet they are still alive. Their spirit is free, yet away from God's hand and the Devil's wrath. They are trapped, but free...boy..." the old woman trailed off. In her hand, she brandished the same, bloody scalpel that was used to kill the security guard.

"Holy crap..." Ryoma was quick to pick up Eiji and rush to his feet, ready to run again. However, the rain has made the ground slippery and Ryoma fell. Eiji hung on tightly to Ryoma as they went crashing to the ground. The old woman walked up to them, landing a hand on Ryoma's shoulder.

"You have beautiful eyes, boy. I have to make sure that they're intact with the rest of you." The scalpel was raised as Ryoma fought to get out of the old woman's grasp. But the attempt was futile...he couldn't get out. The old woman was strong.

However, deep azure eyes flashed before his vision as Eiji somehow pulled the old woman to the ground. Grabbing the bloody scalpel, Eiji took it from the old woman before she could do anything else. Wordlessly, he brought it down upon her. Blood splurted everywhere. Again and again, he brought the bloodied scalpel down. Ryoma watched from the side as his new found friend became a murderer.

Lightning flashed in the sky as the rain came down harder than ever, making it an almost deafening sound. The piece of metal was dropped to the ground next to the bloody mess that use to be the old nurse. Eiji rolled over, to face Ryoma. Blood stained his hands and face.

"I like you, Ochibi-chan. I don't want you to die," he said finally. Half-lidded deep azure eyes looked up at Ryoma. "But it's ok if I die."

Slowly, Ryoma crawled over to his friend, unable to say anything. He did his best not to look at the corpse next to Eiji. The red head smiled sadly at him and lifted one his his hands from his chest, showing a wound. "It's ok if I die." Reaching out tentatively, Ryoma pulled Eiji into an embrace. The dark haired boy was still too shocked for words, but was only able to comfort his friend through a hug. He didn't know what to do about the wound...Hell, he probably couldn't do anything about it. Ryoma was about to let go of Eiji to examine the wound, but Eiji held fast. "It's ok, nya. It's ok," the red head whispered. "I killed her...and it's a bad thing. So it's ok if I die."

The only thing Ryoma felt that he could do was hold Eiji until the warmth in his body passed away.

Lightning flashed in the distance as the rain seemed to fall harder than ever. Thunder boomed moments later.

The blood, tears, and rain mixed.

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Complete

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Ah-HA! How was that for an ending? Yes, it IS KikuRyo, hence all the hints. But nevertheless, it can also be viewed as a friendship fic. OOC? Yup. Not like I could do much about it- I'm trying to portray them with HUMAN emotions. It's not like they're superman you know? If you had a psychotic killer after you, wouldn't you be scared? I can't imagine Ryoma NOT being scared...but I can imagine him saying that he's not scared. -.-;;;

STAY TUNED FOR THE EPILOGUE!