Ryota Echizen

Quitting

Ryota's POV

"Mmm...." Furrowing my eyebrows slightly, I open my eyes a bit to see light streaming in the unrecognizable room. Laying there, I struggle against the grogginess of sleep, trying to remember what had occurred yesterday. After gazing around the semi-lit room, my memories start to return until I feel my heart hurt at the betrayal. Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling the tension leave my body.

'No use crying over it.....'

Sitting up slowly, I squint as the sun shines on my face. Rising out of bed, I walk over to the attached bathroom, I see that Akashi left me a towel, soap, and a toothbrush on the counter. Smiling softly, I turn the water on and hop into the shower. After relaxing under the warm spray of water, I get out and wrap the towel around me. Walking into the bedroom, I change into my clothes from yesterday and make my way downstairs.

Walking downstairs to the kitchen, I hear humming coming from the room. Entering the brightly lit room, I can't help but smile at the sight of Akashi standing in front of the stove singing. Suppressing a laugh, I make my way to the table and take a seat and watch as he continues to make breakfast.

After a few minutes, the red head turns around only to jerk backwards against the counter at the sight of me. Holding a hand against his chest, he takes a deep breath and gives me a mock glare. "Oh my God, Ryota! Warn a guy! You nearly gave me a heart attack just then!"

Laughing, I give him a smile. "Sorry, Akashi. I didn't want to interrupt your performance."

Rolling his eyes, he sets the plate of chocolate chips pancakes in front of me. "Mhmm." He snaps his fingers and gives me a silly look. "I know, I'm awesome like that."

Giggling at his antics, I take my fork and start to eat. Akashi grabs his own plate and sets it down after placing two glasses of milk onto the table. Sitting down, he digs in himself. "Did you sleep well last night? I made sure to turn the heat up a bit."

Smiling, I nod and continue to eat. "Yeah, thanks for letting me crash here."

Shrugging, he takes a sip of milk. "It's fine." Setting his glass down, he looks over at me hesitantly. "I called Ryoma last night." I stop in mid bite and stare at my plate. "I told him I would take you home whenever your ready." Not responding, he sighs and leans over a bit to get a good look at my face. "Ryota...."

Shaking my head, I finish chewing my food. "I'm fine, we can leave after breakfast." I can feel his gaze on me as I continue eating, he then goes back to eating.

Once we finish eating, we head out to the train station. Sitting in comfortable silence on the train, we both look out the window at the passing scenery before us. Once we arrive in town, we then head home.

Walking up the steps, I reach in my pocket and unlock the door. Stepping inside, I open my mouth to call out when I'm immediately ambushed by two brothers. Ryoma and Ryoga came rushing down the hallway after hearing the door open and pulled me in between them, giving me a bone crushing hug as they buried their faces against my hair. Shocked, I stand there without reacting for a bit before reaching up and hugging them back.

I feel Ryoma pulling back a bit and I look up to see him giving me a serious look. "I'm going to kill that bastard."

Ryoga pulls back as well and gives me a supportive smile. "Nobody messes with our little brother and gets away with it."

Staring at them, I give them a weak smile and pull back fully from them. Shaking my head, I smile at them sadly. "Don't, I don't want to make things any worse than it already is..." Turning around, I give Akashi another smile of my own, despite the serious look on his face. "And please don't do anything rash at school tomorrow. I just want to survive school long enough before leaving for Wimbledon."

Ryoga gives me a shocked look and steps forward. "Are you sure you want to go? It's an important decision to make."

Nodding my head, I give them all a reassuring look. "I don't want to stay here where it hurts to remember everything that's happened." Hesitating, I shrug. "I might even enjoy being in America for a while." Turning, I give Akashi a worried look. "Is it alright with you if I go?"

Smiling reassuringly, he walks over and ruffles my hair playfully. "It's fine, I'll support the both of you from here." He gives Ryoma and I a grin. "Just be sure to kick their butts while you're there."

I give him a smile and pull him into a hug with the others. "Thanks you guys for being so supportive of me."

Ryoma smiles and kisses the top of my head softly. "You can't get rid of us that easily, no matter how hard you try."

TIME SKIP-The next day

BEEP....BEEP....BEEP...BE-SMACK

Sighing, I stretch my arms above my head and moan at the satisfaction of undoing the knots in my back. Sitting up, I blink a couple of times and get out of bed. Walking to the bathroom, I dress myself and head towards Ryoma's room.

Walking over to his bed, I flop down on it and cuddle against Ryoma's back. "Onii-chan, time to get up." I mumble sleepily as I close my eyes and feel his warmth wash over me.

Letting out a huff, he turns around slowly and pulls me against hist chest while burying his face in my hair. "Bu' I don' wanna..."

Smiling, I peek an eye open at him and laugh a bit at his disgruntled face. "But you have to get up." In return, he just opens his eyes while sighing, giving me a pout as well. Rolling my eyes, can't help but grin. "The sooner you get up, the sooner you can play tennis."

And just like that, Onii-chan bolts out of bed and rushes to change into his uniform while combing his hair. Rolling over onto my side, I prop my head up on my hand and watch with a raised eyebrow. "Why have I never used this before....?" I mumble to myself, but I'm cut off when Ryoma grabs my arm and starts pulling me downstairs.

"Come on, Ryota! Hurry up! We're going to be late for school!" He yells while pulling me down the stairs all the while. Rolling my eyes, I laugh at the turn of events.

Finishing breakfast, I grab my bag and head out before Ryoma as usual. After buying my ticket and taking the train into the city, I then make my way to school. When I arrive, there aren't many student milling about in the hallways, the majority starting to walk through the main gate. Taking this chance, I head to the sports wing of the building. Walking through the hallway, I pass by multiple offices until I reach the one that reads "Tennis". Hesitating a bit, I reach up and knock on the door smartly. Waiting until I hear a "Come in", I make my way inside determinedly.

Atobes POV

The day went by quickly, I could barely focus on anything during classes, the look of utter betrayal on Ryota's face from the night before haunted me the whole day. Flinching at the though, I shake my head and continue to mark the progress of the others as they run their warm up laps. They're halfway done when Coach Sakaki walks up to me and hands me a slip of paper.

"You might want to know about this, Atobe." He started, as he too watches the other working.

Glancing at him, I take it and unfold it. Reading it once, twice, three times, I stare at it. On the outside I seem calm and composed, but on the inside I'm an utter mess.

"Do you know anything about this?" Sakaki asks, not sparing me a glance.

Staying quiet, I shake my head slowly. "It's probably for the best....Ryota wouldn't get anyway if he stayed in Japan all his life..." I finish, continuing to the look at the note with unfocused eyes. I hardly notice Coach Sakaki leaving my side.

'It's for the best he leaves....Ryota needs this...It's better this way...' Squeezing my eyes shut, I clench the note with my fist until my knuckles turn white.

'No matter how much it hurts me....'