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...

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Epilogue

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"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."

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Epilogue End

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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.