Disclaimer: I don’t own Prince of Tennis. And I certainly don’t own Disintegration.

Warning: I’m not a fan of star trek or star wars. My friend made me watch Star Wars, so I have some idea how their guns/ships/whatever are. If I get any of the terminology wrong, don’t blame me.

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In the mist of the sweltering heat and shambles and disembodied limbs, life continued on in the only way it knew how.

Eat, sleep, reproduce.

They were industrious things, although small and with little thought. Some scurried through the filth in haste while others hovered as a better means of transport. They looked happy enough, that was, as happy as anyone would be able to make out of their situation. There were plenty of food and safe shelters. Predators were of little matters now. Life was good.

Eat, sleep, reproduce.

The landscape was different, they knew. And everything was strange. The town of the big people was gone. The tall stretches of trees that gave them perch and shade were wasted too. In their many treks across the land, they often saw a lonely boy. They would creep up to him out of curiosity, but in the end, they were always frightened away. Sometimes it was by his overly movements, other times by his wails.

But they were simple creatures and understood very little. Creatures ruled by primitive drives like pain and hunger. So they continued to camp close to him, yet away from his wild, wide eyes. That way, they could also huddle together for warmth and company. At least they had each other, and so, they sought comfort in that.

Eat, sleep, reproduce ...

like a mantra.

---

Eiji ran as fast as his legs could carry him while supporting a limp body on his left shoulder. He smiled triumphantly but it soon turned into a wince when he felt the sharp pain from jarring his leg too much. Damn that good-for-nothing captain.

Flashback

It had already been nearly half an hour and the two individuals were still testing each other, trying to pinpoint a weakness that will turn the situation into his favor. Eiji sported a few deep cuts on both legs from sliding on the ground several times. Jackal was nursing a badly twisted ankle and a bleeding arm. Either side did not show any sign of giving up.

"I don't see why you want to keep this up," called Jackal. "As far as I know, you are outnumbered. Even with the remaining soldiers, I will win." He paused a moment to catch his breath while firing consecutive shots at Eiji. "Speaking of which, my soldiers should have your ship surrounded now. It will be you who would be stranded on this dying planet."

Eiji did several back flips along the ground. Thank goodness for those leather gloves or his hands would be sliced by now. He slid on some rubble before coming to a stop. That was a problem too, he noted. He shouldn't be jumping so much on such uneven ground. He might just end up like the limping idiot. Better end this soon. "How kind of you to worry about me. But there is really no need."

Eiji dodged yet another attack. Was firing all this idiot knew?

Jackal raised one of his eyebrows. "Is that so?"

"Absolutely." And Eiji whipped out one of his little knives that he kept in a small handy back pouch, reeled back and threw it at the hand clutching the gun.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Jackal screamed as the knife pierced through his hand. His gun was tossed high and far from the power behind the throw.

There. That should keep him from firing. Eiji was pretty sure that Jackal did not have anymore long-range weapons other than the blaster. He was also pretty sure that he won't be able to chase him while he ran back to the plane.

But just to make doubly sure...

He pulled out yet another knife, ran to another spot circling the crouched figure and aimed.

For his butt.

End flashback

Eiji stifled a laugh. The bastard deserved it. He didn't think that he would ever forget that long, long howl of pain. He ran around another large piece of concrete before approaching the sleek silver jet in the clearing. He carefully leaped over the large circle of moaning bodies surrounding the plane while holding the bundle close.

Bang!

...and nearly dropped the said precious bundle. "That was pretty long, Eiji- senpai." Momo was standing at the door entrance with a pistol in his hand. Eiji gave a rueful smile in return as he entered. He quickly laid the Ryoma on the makeshift bed, strapped him up with the buckles and jumped into the pilot seat. "Is Taka-san still at the communications?"

Momo nodded.

"Then we're all set."

"My goodness, he looks terrible." Said Momo as he did a quick scan on Ryoma. He slid into chair near the bed, strapping himself with the necessary belts. He turned to Eiji. "And are you all right? Do you want me to bandage those gashes? It won't take long."

"That will have to wait. By now, that stupid captain would already have contacted the mothership. We can't waste another second here." Eiji fired up the engine and fitted the headset communicator. "Taka-san? Tell me where the warphole is going to open up."

"Towards the direction of the Pyrin nebula. The coordinates are—"

"It's alright. I know it. Strap up there, will ya? I'm going to do a lot of accelerating." And with that said, he slammed on the petal.

Momo should have known that there was more to the title of Kikumaru Eiji, daredevil pilot extraordinaire. And now, he was witnessing it. He would have thought of some more words to add onto that title if only he could get his brain working. Now, all he could do was to stare wide-eyed at the screen as the surroundings whizzed by. He barely suppressed himself from screaming out loud when he was thrown back into his seat at the sudden lurch of speed. He did a quick check on the kid. Ok, no serious reaction whatsoever. He turned back to the screen. They were already in space.

Things didn't look any better when he spotted some of the enemy fleets firing at them as they approached. The plane rocked from several impacts. Momo's head gave a hard crack against the chair's metal pole when Eiji made a sharp turn.

"Trying to cut me off, is that right?" Eiji mumbled under his breath as he continued to steer the plane in impossible patterns. There was a growing glow to the plane's left, indicating a warphole connection. Eiji performed a tight twist to that direction while causing two enemy ships to collide into each other. "That's it, we're ramming through. Start firing!"

"...who, me?" Momo squeaked.

"Well, I was talking to Taka-san. But sure, you too, Momo." Eiji pushed another button on the console. Momo could only blink in disbelief as he felt the chair move on its own, taking its unfortunate passenger through several doors and eventually stopping and locking in front of a massive blaster rifle controller. He looked around, noting that he was at the right side of the plane. The clear thick glass allowed him an unobstructed view of the battle. One of the three screens branching from the controller showed a streaming video of both Eiji and Kawamura. By the look on Taka- san's passionate face, Momo already knew that he was at the guns and firing. He looked down at the controller in front of him and hesitantly grasped onto them. Never would he have guess that he would end up in this position.

"Are you all right there?" came Eiji's voice. "Just use the controller as a steer, aim and fire. You'll do fine."

Momo gulped as he gave the controller an experimental twist. The chair was apparently locked to a half-circular track that allowed him more than 180 degrees of freedom. What a mess he had gotten himself into. Well, the phrase 'live your life to the fullest' can come in handy at just about now.

Might as well make the best of it, he thought grimly as he tightened his grip and scanned the area for potential targets.

---

It took a while, but the Silverfishy (A/N: don't ask) finally managed to squeeze into the closing warphole. All they had to do was to wait for the 'light at the other end'. The plane was now on autopilot. They didn't need to worry about anyone tailing them because it was pretty obvious that they lost big time. It will be a while before they decide to show their face again. So, in short, they had else nothing to do.

Which was why they were standing in front of a particular unconscious boy.

"What a chibi, nya," commented Eiji as he bandaged his own legs. He watched Momo try to clean as much of the boy's wounds as possible while Kawamura handled the bandaging part.

"He is kinda small." Taka-san admitted.

"Did you even get the right person?" Momo spun around to look at his senpai.

"There you go doubting me again," complained Eiji. "I'm sure it's him. Fuji showed me a picture of him before."

Silence.

"Fujiko showed you his picture?"

"Whoa, hold on there. When was this? From what I know, Fuji-senpai never shows anyone anything. "

"Hey! What are you guys trying to imply here!"

"Eiji, you weren't rummaging through his things again, were you? Fuji only forgives you because you're his best friend."

"I knew it, Eiji-senpai. To think that you have stooped this low."

"What the heck—? " Eiji's eyebrow was starting to twitch.

"You should respect Fujiko's privacy. Just because he isn't the kind of person who would tell people his personal affairs doesn't mean he doesn't care about them spreading."

"...I agree," said Momo after a thought.

"Now, listen." Eiji was trying hard to hold down his frustration. "First of all, despite what you all think, I never rummage through anyone's anything! And secondly, he really did show it to me!"

Kawamura and Momo gave each other a Look™ before turning back to the fuming pilot.

"uhhnnnnn"

All three heads whipped back to the figure on the bed who was watching them with glassy eyes.

"Look, the Ochibi's awake!" Cried Eiji as he rushed to the bed, the earlier situation already forgotten.

The boy was struggling to get up. He weakly pushed himself off the bed and attempted to look around the area. His dull eyes didn't even register the three individuals peering intently before him. Didn't realize the fact that they were blocking his line of view. Momo shivered involuntarily when those dull copper eyes swung in his direction, looking through him. He jumped when the boy's arm suddenly gave way and watched with horror as the body plunged towards the floor.

Or nearly did. Kawamura caught him just in time. The body stiffened and vainly tried to push the very support that was preventing him from crashing onto the floor. Kawamura automatically tightened his grip but that only upset the boy even more. His unseeing eyes widened, and he began to twist in a desperate attempt to get away. "No, get away from me," he moaned in a raspy voice. "Don't hit me anymore."

Kawamura nearly dropped him in surprise. Eiji felt anger boil inside of him as he painfully watched the helpless boy uselessly beat his fists against Kawamura's chest before curling up to cry silently. "Momo," Eiji growled, "remind me to finish off that bastard captain next time I see him."

"That would explain the ugly bruises on his face and arms." Said Kawamura as he tried to comfort the sobbing boy. He wrapped his arms around Ryoma, gently guiding him back onto the bed. Then, all of the sudden, the boy doubled over and began a coughing fit.

"...water," he managed to rasp out between breaths.

Momo hurried back with a cup of water. He watched silently as Kawamura carefully guided the cup towards those dry lips.

"Of course he would be dehydrated. Did you see the conditions he was living in?" Eiji turned to Momo.

"Yeah. The smell alone knocked me out."

"He's pretty tough, having been able to stay alive out there. He did a good job too, at wrapping his cuts before the infection settles in. I don't know about his eyes though, the doctor will have to look at that." Eiji sighed and looked at his watch. "We still have quite a way to go. We should also try to keep his fever down. It's not serious yet but it could grow worse by the time we reach home."

"What's his name, Eiji-senpai? You never told us."

"Ryoma. Echizen Ryoma."

---

Silence is such a strange word, he thought. Even when there is noise around you, there is always the silence at the heart.

Just like how it has been for some time now.

Though Ryoma had yet to regain full consciousness, he was dimly aware of the conversations around him. He couldn't catch most of them, couldn't grasp their importance. They droned on like background noise, like a murmur.

He didn't like that. He didn't like how he could not understand any of the conversations. It wasn't that he couldn't understand the words, but he couldn't make much sense of the subject. And anyway, it gave a bitter reminder of his position in the orphanage and how the other children would talk behind his back in hoarse whispers. He didn't know what exactly what they were whispering about, but he always knew it was about him in some way or another.

Now, the only thing he could pick up from those incoherent moments was one word that was often repeated. Sometimes it was spoken with a reverence, other times with soft concern. He liked it when the word was spoken with concern. It wasn't something he often heard. It gave him comfort even if it was not directed to him.

How strange.

And when the noise died down (which often happened), the silence closed up again. But he knew he wasn't alone. There was often a gentle touch that would brush with lingering care against his cheeks. It wasn't unwelcomed to say the least, but it was baffling. It made him question on things he knew no answers to.

Stop it, he scolded himself. You are imagining ridiculous things. When you open up your eyes again, you will see that familiar battered old lamp by the nightstand, the porous grey ceiling and those tattered beige curtains by the window. All those terrible sights, sounds and smells were just a dream, just as how you are dreaming right now.

But when his eyes could finally bring in light once more, he did not find the worn lamp, the crudely made ceiling or those shabby curtains. Instead, he found himself in a spacious, sparsely decorated room. Warm covers were tucked underneath his chin. The large comfortable bed he was lying on and the soft puffy pillows that supported his dully aching head made him bubble with a kind of unquenchable wonder.

        forever has gone,
        today is infinity
        and yesterday's dreams,
        today a faint memory.

He was quiet, yet tense. He was dressed plainly too, with a checkered flannel shirt and modest cotton pants. The thick book on his lap was ignored while he turned his head to admire the scenery before him. His back had a type of slouchness that reflected fatigue yet stubbornly refused to surrender to the weariness. It was as if there was something inside of him that was desperately fighting a losing battle against the invisible limitations of his body. The wind lightly ruffled his brown hair as the lights of the early dawn shown down in an awkward slant upon him.

Ryoma rose a little from the bed to crane his neck for a better observation of this stranger, but the sudden movement increased the pounding in his head and he gave a soft hiss.

The individual gave a small gasp and turned, revealing a pair of tired blue eyes. He stood up so suddenly and strode across the room with such haste that Ryoma could only watch with wide eyes. He sat down at the edge of the bed and reached out with slender hands. They tenderly felt his head and Ryoma's eyes shone with surprised recognition as those familiar fingers brushed down his sore cheeks. Then, once satisfied with the checkup, the other gently pushed Ryoma back onto the bed, leaned back, closed his eyes and smiled faintly.

"How are you?" The voice was soft and soothing, careful to not shatter such a sacred moment.

Ryoma completely ignored that question. "Who are you?"

The small smile grew wider, as if he was happy to be so rudely countered. "I'm Fuji Syusuke, Echizen Ryoma-kun. An agent in the department of intelligence. Welcome to the planet Earth."

        forever has gone,
        today is infinity
        it's time to move on,
        forever has gone.                   

		-disintegration, by LIA

-----to be continued

A/N: Ahhhhh! Sorry for the late update, but hey(!) I worked hard on this, dammit! If nobody understood the first part of this chapter, I don't blame you, but I still worked hard on it and I hope someone out there appreciated it. And I wasn't turning this thing into a songfic in the last part, but I just wanted to squeeze in something that I thought was appropriate for the occasion, but I don't think I integrated it well. Arg. Give me some slack. On the bright side, Ryoma meets Fuji...yay! Oh, and a side question, any I've fans out there?

Thanks:

Kasugai gummie: well, I figured, when I started this fic, that the almighty muses will be satisfied and die down. Fortunately or unfortunately, it ain't happening yet. (runs up the wall in frustration but soon has to come back down to fulfill muses' biddings ---notice the 's')

Ikedas: waahaahaa! I'm loved! (xxx heart!) ...and it's not THAT good blushes furiously...fujiryo fangirl tendencies? Well, you and me both!

Ikyutakei: yea, because when I realized that, I was shocked. Actually, I shouldn't be that much, but considering that fuji has a plainish kind of hair style, I'm just surprised that Naruto people didn't pick something fancier. Shrugs. But thanks for the comment!

Cheeseburger of Doom: can I call you Cheesie? (lol! Just joking!) Your support is well received! . '

On to Chapter 4!!