It All Started With a Bet

Vanishing Hope

Hye! I am back with the new chapter. I am not going to say anything anymore. I hope you like this. Domo... :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis and never ever will.

Chapter 17: Vanishing Hope

Chapter Summary: Hope was the only thing she had. It was the only thing she could hold on to. She feared that the last thing she could depend on was slowly vanishing from her grasp.

It had been thirty minutes since the teachers pulled every student from the activity because of the sudden rain that night. Almost students who started the test of courage finally made it back to the starting point except for a few of them. Fuji and the rest of the team were worried because among of the students who weren't there yet were Ryoma and Sakuno. The tensai tried calling the girl but it was useless. He was thinking of two options why he couldn't reach her. The place where she was would probably be out of coverage or her phone would be soaked in the rain as she ran for a shelter.

Cursing inaudibly, he looked around as he continued searching for the auburn braided-haired girl in the area. He spotted a teacher who just entered the lobby of the hotel and approached him.

"Sensei, how's the search?"

"Too bad," The teacher said dusting off the raindrops from his coat, "The rain's not going to stop any minute now. A pair found a shelter in the forest and we were able to contact them. We told the pair to contact the rest of the students who walked ahead and instruct them to go to their location."

"What about Echizen and Ryuzaki-chan? Are they in the shelter?" Fuji's hope began to rise when the teacher said that.

"The pair is in the middle of contacting the other students. I hope they can contact all of them."

"I want to search, sensei," Fuji said, "Let me search for them."

"No. You know that's dangerous to go out there now," The teacher said, "And that includes you two."

Fuji looked behind him just to see Momo and Eiji both scratching their heads.

"We haven't saying anything yet." Momo said standing beside the tensai.

"Yeah, we haven't told you anything yet." Eiji agreed standing to Fuji's other side.

"I know what you were thinking and my answer is no," The teacher said firmly, "Let the teachers do the job and stay in your rooms, now!"

They couldn't do anything but follow the teacher's order. Fuji was the one who worried about Sakuno the most. He looked at the window outside where the rain was falling non-stop outside before he turned around and walked back to their rooms.

Ryuzaki-chan, I hope that you are alright there.

Meanwhile:

The sound of the water dripping from something hard made her gain consciousness. She could feel cold down her spine as she looked above. The ceiling was dark and cold and she could feel the cold in the air. She felt cold all over knowing that she was soaking wet. The water she was hearing a while ago was coming inside of the cave. Yes, she realized that she was in a cave.

And that she was not alone.

Turning to her side, she spotted Ryoma lying on the ground next to her, on his stomach, which half of his body was covering hers. His arm was wrapped to her waist as if saving her from something. The boy was unconscious and soaking wet all the same. Despite the cold, heat was invading her system the moment she realized how close she was to the boy.