Never Ever
By: Dyaoka
Disclaimer: I don't own the Prince of Tennis.
Notes/Warnings: Ah...epilogue. I love epilogues. It means you're finished with
something...
.......
Epilogue
.......
"Ryoma, honey?"
Said dark haired boy awoke to his mother's worrying. He blinked blearily in the
bright light that shone down upon him. Lifting a hand, he brought it to his
head. "Ugh...what happened?" he asked.
"The old nurse happened, that's what," Nanjirou grumbled from the
opposite side of the room. "I knew I didn't like her the moment I saw
her..."
"Old...nurse?" Ryoma blinked. He thought hard about what had
happened...but he couldn't. He barely remembered anything!
"That's alright, honey. It's ok if you've forgotten," Rinko said,
enveloping her son in a hug. "I was worried sick..." She sniffled a
bit as she let her son go to blow her nose.
Ryoma turned to his father, demanding an explanation. "What happened?
Seriously."
"What do you mean what happened?" Nanjirou asked credulously, walking
over to Ryoma's bedside. "You really don't remember?"
The boy shook his head. "Why would I be asking if I knew?" he
retorted.
"Figures..." Nanjirou muttered before bursting out in laughter.
"Well, whatever, boy-"
"Don't...don't call me that" Ryoma said suddenly. The word 'boy' just
seemed to creep him out. Though Nanjirou had always called him that, it just
suddenly held no more of the warm affection it usually did. The word was quite
frightening...and Ryoma couldn't understand why. Nanjirou frowned, but complied.
"Well, anyway...since you wanted to know-"
"Nanjirou! He doesn't need to know!" Rinko exclaimed.
"Stop interrupting me!" Nanjirou growled. "And if he's going to
have nightmares about it, then good grief! He's old enough to know not to wet
his bed!"
"Hey!" Ryoma said crossly. "Are you going to tell me what
happened or not?"
Nanjirou gave his wife a pointed look before continuing. "After we left
last night, the security guard saw you walk out of the door. Of course, he
followed you and guess what? Apparently, a certain old nurse was who you were
heading to! Or something...I'm not sure if you're sane or what...you've always
been a bit out of it, you know. But! From what was seen from the security
cameras, the guard tried to get you out of the room, but that crazy old lady
killed him. You ran for it and ended up outside. Well, what the investigators
could figure out was that there was a third party that inteferred and killed
that old woman. Of course, I guess we're just lucky that you weren't killed
along with that crazy old lady."
Rinko nodded in agreement, a hand on her son's shoulder. Ryoma looked at his
hands, trying to think back to what happened last night...if all the events
happened last night anyway. "Did these things occur...yesterday?"
"You really don't remember, do you?" said a new voice. They all looked
over to the newcomer. On his uniform was displayed a badge that said he was from
the police department. He smiled grimly at the family of three. "Actually,
I'm here to ask the younger Echizen several questions...you wouldn't mind, would
you?"
"Shoot" Ryoma said in a bored tone. He didn't want to deal with
questions that were being thrown his way...he wanted to be the one to ask the
questions.
"First, I want to know if you're able to recollect anything at all from the
incident" the officer asked. "Anything."
"...blood," was what Ryoma could come up with. "Someone's
hands...they were stained with blood...and the room! There was a room...and a
boy. A boy...with blood?" Ryoma shook his head. "I don't know. It's
mostly...a jumble. I can't think straight."
"A...boy," the officer repeated as if it was a foreign word to him.
The recorder that had been set on the nearby table was still running.
"Alright. I think...this is a message for you. From who, we do not know,
except that he or she is the killer of the old nurse." He handed over a
piece of paper to Ryoma. "The actual message was written on the corpse of
the woman- it was the stab wounds."
Ryoma unfolded the pristine white paper and read the short message upon it. His
eyes scanned it twice and his brain didn't seem to register the message.
"'For you...Ochibi-chan?'" Nanjirou read outloud. "Who calls you
that?"
"I don't know" Ryoma said, giving the paper back to the officer who
folded it and placed it back into his pockets. Rinko, who had stayed silent
until that point, walked in front of the officer.
"That is enough questioning for today! Leave, please!" she said,
pointing to the door.
"As you say. I'll be back later, Echizen," the officer said, leaving
the room. However, a few moments later, he reappeared in the room. "That's
right. One more thing...is this yours?" He held up a small, thin cat that
looked rather malnourished. It's fur was dirty and raggedy, like it hasn't been
washed in a long time. Large, innocent eyes looked up at Ryoma. Slowly, Ryoma
reached for the cat, wondering at the familiarity of it. The officer sat it in
Ryoma's lap. "It's been found next to you...at the incident."
Wordlessly, Ryoma scratched the cat behind its ear, eliciting a small 'meow'
from it. Familiar deep azure eyes that almost seemed like the color violet
blinked at Ryoma.
"Eiji."
.......
Epilogue End
.......
Aha...so we conclude the strange, almost plotless fic, Never Ever. Haha...Well,
for those of you who are confused, I had left tiny, tiny hints of...stuff...all
over the place. Also, this: A cat has 9 lives. Now...put one and one
together...ok, kind of hard and difficult...=P
BUT! I think some people here actually get what happened. I'm sure. And what is
Eiji? Hehe...does "kitten" sound familiar? Yes, a cat has 9 lives.
Should have called this fic '9 lives' or something. ::shrugs:: And yes, Ryoma
lost his memories of this incident. Well, not all memories.