Me: I don't own Prince of Tennis! I just own the OCs

Chapter 79 – You don't understand!

When Ai had won, the crowds went wild. The fans for the British team clapped for the team for all the effort while Japan's cheered and howled until the whole stadium shook. The girls beamed and the guys were also clapping their hands; the girls' team had come so far from their old stereotype. Yukimura Seiichi, wincing and collapsing over, managed to prop himself up when he suddenly saw his sister dash towards him. Ai had been gasping and breathing heavily after her match and from the looks of it, she didn't care if she just came from a match.

"Are," she panted and rested her hands on her knees, groaning in fatigue. "Are… you … okay?"

She… rushed her game for me?

Seiichi looked at his sister, seeing the concern flicker in her lavender coloured eyes. She looked exactly like him; of course, save for the more effeminate features. He didn't know why they just didn't clone him. Having a another him wouldn't be too bad. But then again, he smiled to himself while propping himself up on the bench. Having a sister wasn't so bad either. He hobbled his way to her and shook off the daze, placing his hands on her shoulder. Ai looked at him in surprise as a smile curved up her brother's lips. It was no ordinary smile either; but a genuine one that showed that he really cared. Much to everybody's surprise, he threw his arms around her and hugged really tightly. The younger sister couldn't do anything but stand, frozen in her place. Her trembling hands and arms wrapped around her brother as tears began to spill from her eyes.

"I'm… I'm so sorry," she heard her older brother say. "You must have suffered so much…"

Ai was speechless; her hands limply dropped to her side when she heard her brother's apology. Something inside her began to well up and made tears form at her eyes. What is this, she asked herself. It was a warm feeling… Her body shivered as her heart began to throb. It's not painful, Ai wondered to herself. Was this what heartbreak felt like? Was this what love felt like? It didn't make any sense! All her life she had been trained to be nothing less than perfect. Yet, it was this one little emotion whirling inside her mind that she couldn't understand. Her body trembled as Yukimura continued hugging her.

"I… It's not your fault," she softly whispered and slowly began to sob.

"You were always there. You took the fall for me when I couldn't," Yukimura added.

He didn't know where all that was coming from. But everything in his mind, suddenly started to spill out of his mouth. He never realized how his sister was often used as organ donor and his life-support when he needed it. When his Guillain-Barré had no cure yet, his organs began failing one by one. So they needed to find an organ that had no Guillain-Barré relation so that it would work. Or so the theory was, he thought to himself. He placed his hand on his back, remembering that one of his kidneys had failed long ago. The only way to fix it was to have it replaced by another kidney. Where else to look than to his own younger sister?

"Mom and dad… they really don't care about me," Ai began to whimper and buried her face into her brother's shoulder. "Do they?"

Yukimura didn't know what to say. He had never seen his younger sister break down. She always had a vibrant smile and was laughing while running around the house. But he did notice how they were cold to her or at what he phrased more as "emotionally dead" to her. When she got good grades and got into the tennis team, they just waved it off. Even her captaincy, they just waved it off and walked away. When he became captain, the house was abuzz and they even called the other relatives. When she had scratches and wounds, they just wiped it with medicine and told her to "walk it off". When he fell, they nearly called a hospital and an emergency first aid crew.

The difference of being a wanted child and a child that was just meant to serve a purpose…

"Don't worry, I'll make mom and dad love you," Yukimura simply said; he refused to let his sister live like that.

As the British Team gathered at the net, the Japanese team soon followed. Natasha stood in front of Ai who had a bright red face and swollen eyes from crying. She smiled before looking at Azola, remembering what Ai had told her during the match. She was the elder one; that's why her parents stopped being so soft with her. She was the tough one; the one who was responsible for her sister and responsible for her own destiny. She didn't need her parents to tell her anymore that they loved her. Both teams bowed to each other and began shaking each others hands. When Nerissa passed Shizuru, the brunette smiled and shook hands with her.

"You're a really powerful player," Nerissa beamed. "I have never had a match so exhilarating in my life!"

Shizuru smiled and nodded. "Ah, thank you for the wonderful match."

"No, thank you. I hope to see you in the latter rounds!"

Shizuru nodded as she walked away from the British Team walked off. Shizuru smiled as the Japanese team walked away from the tennis courts. It was a hard battle but now they won. At that point, that was all that mattered to any of them. They wanted to secure one spot at least for their team and now, they would have time to rest. But, Shizuru looked at her hands. She couldn't help but wonder about what had happened to her. The sudden burst of power, the sudden intuition of knowing exactly what to do – where did those abilities come from? She followed after her teammates as the Japanese fans cheered loudly and had their cheers and hoots thundering in the stadium.

After they left the stadium, the members of the Japanese Team piled into their buses to head back to the training grounds. The ride was completely uneventful as they were all tired. Ayane plopped her head against the chair as she looked out the window. Rin on the other hand slung on two jackets as she looked at her wrist, measuring it by using her hand. She frowned as she wrapped her thumb and pointer finger around it; it still barely managed to touch each other. She rubbed some of the makeup off her face and pulled out a compact powder set with concealer to fix her face. The moment she flipped her compact powder, she saw Hitomi standing behind her which suddenly caused her to yelp.

"Ah, Hitomi," Rin slapped the compact powder shut and giggled nervously. "Wh-what do you need?"

Hitomi frowned at the black haired acrobat; Rin wasn't normally that jittery. She looked over to see that Rin's bag had been stuffed loaded with make-up kits and some medicine mats inside. She narrowed her eyes to try and get a clear view only for Rin to suddenly just throw it to the other chair with a nervous smile. It was then she could see what Kajimoto meant. She could see Rin's cheek bones being more pronounced and her collar bones were starting to peek out. When did she shrink down a size, Hitomi could see her jersey hanging loosely on her currently bony shoulders and even her hands lost their fat.

"Rin, when was the last time you ate a proper meal," Hitomi raised an eyebrow.

Rin laughed nervously. "Um… this morning?"

"And when I mean "proper", it's defined as "rice, meat and, some vegetables". Please don't tell me you just ate a slice of bread."

"I didn't! I had… two slices of bread."

"Rin! That's not enough!"

Now that Hitomi had raised her voice, all the girls suddenly turned to Hitomi and Rin who were about to yell at each other. Rin's dark eyes flashed as she stomped on the bus floor and stood up, meeting Hitomi eye-to-eye.

"Since when did you care," Rin screamed back moodily. "All you care about is your stupid data and your stupid notebook! If you look at your damn data, it should show there that I'm freakin' fat!"

"Hey, that notebook contains all the data I need to make sure you don't kill yourself," Hitomi growled coldly.

Now this was a first for the Hyotei Team, Hitomi normally kept to herself and wrote down things in her notebook only to report them later. Rin on the other hand was usually bubbly and laughing, throwing jokes here and there. But now that she stood up, even the other teams like Rikkai Dai and Seigaku had begun to notice Rin's sudden loss of weight. Her legs had lost a lot of mass and seemed to have become more like a stick than muscled. Her shirt looked more like a curtain that was attached to a curtain rod and her cheeks had sunken into her face. Fuuka even noticed that she wore three layers of jackets and her fingers seemed to have a tinge of blue with her face being a splotchy yellow colour.

"Kurenai, not to be nosy but," Fuuka whispered to the brunette. "What in blue blazes happened to her?"

"I wish I knew," Shizuru shook her head and kept her voice low. "I didn't notice at all."

"I totally blame our other discipline's lives for that."

"No kidding."

Rin shouted and shoved Hitomi back. "Just stay the hell away from me, Hitomi! You don't know me, you… you alcoholic!"

"At least I just drink and not starve myself to death," Hitomi scolded and clenched her hand tightly, feeling her nails cut into her palm. "Rin, what is going on!?"

Suddenly, the bus stopped and the hissing of bus door opening caused the girls to stop. Rin scowled and grabbed her things roughly before storming off, leaving the rest of the Hyotei team shocked with what happened. Momo, who had just recovered, glanced at Hitomi who just grabbed her own things and stormed off. Haruka could only gawk at what happened; when did Rin suddenly start obsessing about her body image? Where did that come from, Haruka pondered as she got up and looked to her captain.

"May I," Haruka asked and looked hopefully at her captain.

Shizuru nodded. "No need to ask me. Go."

Whispering a small "thank you", Haruka gathered her things and bolted after Rin.

After storming off, Rin burst into a fountain of tears. How could she say those things to Hitomi? Hitomi was the one person who could have probably helped her figure out what was wrong with her body! She always found it either too heavy or too fat. Her stamina had dropped considerably and she couldn't even fight some big guy who blasted her with a tennis ball! Ayane was taller than her and even if she didn't appear to be muscular, she was sure that Ayane could have punched a hole through him! Tears began to freely fall from her eyes as her legs began to run as fast as they could carry her. She didn't care that some of her things were already falling from her bag. She wanted to tear her hair out, scream and, most of all – she just wanted to stop eating all together. She looked at her calloused knuckles before sighing to herself. She limply dropped her bag on the floor before plopping down on the bench.

"I," she buried her sobbing face into her palms "I should be happy. We won! We won against Britain and we're 2 wins short of moving to the next stage! Why? Why? Stupid food, that stupid bread must've had something in it to make me feel this way!"

Suddenly, a voice called out for her. "Rin?"

Rin looked up only to see the Pearl Dragon of Hyotei watching her. Instead of her calm expression, Haruka had concern written all over her face. Rin knew she could trust Haruka but ever since she had focused more of her efforts on the team, things had begun to spiral out of control. She looked away and embraced her skinny and frail body; Haruka didn't need to see this! In fact, she didn't want Haruka to see it at all! Rin inched away from her partner, clutching all her things close to her body .

"N-No, stay away from me," Rin burbled with more tears pouring down her face, only to drop the pills on the ground. "Ah!"

As the medicine mat fell on the ground, Haruka inaudibly crouched down to pick it up only to find the label "Leptoprin" on it. The pale pink haired female frowned; even if she wasn't a genius in chemistry or medicine, she didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know that Rin had been downing the pills like candy. Why else would she have three mats of it in her bag? She looked up at Rin again whose tears had already soaked up her jersey, making it cling to her body. Haruka could only stare in disgust as the shirt clung onto Rin's skinny body. Is that, Haruka looked closely. She wasn't even sure what she saw was just a fold on the shirt or a part of Rin's rib cage.

"Rin, why are you taking this," Haruka raised an eyebrow. "And, why do you have four mats of it?"

Rin shook her head vehemently. "Four? I only have one! It's the one you have!"

Haruka frowned and pulled out three other mats she had found. "How do you think I knew where you were?"

Rin froze and paled at the sight of the other medicine mats, jumping off the bench and roughly trying to grab it from Haruka. "Give it…!"

"Rin," Haruka blocked her with her arm as Rin began to struggle in trying to yank her arm away. "Rin, what is wrong? What are you not telling me!?"

"JUST SHUT UP AND GIVE IT TO ME," Rin screamed.

"Rin! This is a drug! You're not supposed to down it like candy!"

"I need to because I'm fat! I still have my work out to do tomorrow!"

"Rin, you didn't listen to coach again! We have the day off tomorrow!"

Rin bawled out and began hitting her instead. "HARUKA, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! JUST GIVE IT…!"

"Then make me understand," Haruka finally exasperated, raised her voice over Rin's screaming. "Rin," – she shook her head, lowering her voice into a whisper. "I don't like scolding you as much as buchou. But if you keep screaming at me or not telling me what in the world is going on then, I am going to scold you over and over until you tell me what's wrong."

Rin stopped and saw the concern flickering in Haruka's chocolate brown eyes. She wanted to break down and cry but she shook her head.

"Haruka, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm just," she tried to stop herself from sobbing. "I'm just trying to keep my body in its best shape…"

"Rin, you were already fine," Haruka pointed out and helped her sit down next to her. "You were doing just fine until you started taking those pills. How long have you been on them?"

Rin hung her head shamefacedly. "Ever since… I joined the gymnastics team…"

Haruka gawked; that was really far back! Rin had joined the Hyotei gymnastics team when she had entered Hyotei as a freshman in middle school and that was when she had joined the Debate Team. Haruka couldn't believe it; how could she have not noticed? Then again, Haruka reasoned out with herself. It was only now that the effects of her taking the drug began to appear. Years back, Rin had a fair skinned complexion with rosy pink cheeks. In fact, among all the members in the team – she was considered pale compared to the others. Haruka couldn't help but quietly berate herself; why didn't she notice this happening with her partner?

"Rin," Haruka looked at the tear-stained face of her partner and shook her head. "I'm not going to weasel it out of you now."

Rin suddenly brightened up; she wasn't going to nag her?

"But," Haruka firmly added. "I want you to promise me that you will tell me when you're ready. Okay?"

Rin looked into Haruka's pleading eyes; how could she keep her promise without telling her? If she told her then, it would spread to the other team members and that was the last thing she wanted to do! She bit her lower lip and looked away from the Pearl Dragon's eyes. Rin hung her head and looked at her purse full of make-up and pills along with some that she thanked God that Haruka and Hitomi haven't found yet. Slowly, she nodded but not before sitting on her hand that had her fingers crossed.

"I promise," she weakly smiled.

After the whole debacle, the whole Japanese team were already celebrating and whooping in delight. Kiyone grinned as she ate her favourite wasabi-flavoured potato chips while Ai had her box of Twinkies sitting right next to her. Shizuru was smiling and laughing, talking to Mai again. Momo couldn't help but beam at the sight of Shizuru and Mai talking again. A lot of things happened to them, Momo smiled nostalgically. If anything, Shizuru had become more open with Mai now. Telling her everything including her mood swings and her lapses in memory – that was a start for both of them. She didn't hold it in anymore, unlike before. She looked at Ayane and Marui who were talking over some cake and snickered.

"Damn it, Bunta," she shook her head. "You're really weird."

"Says the one who's talking to herself," a familiar voice drawled behind her.

She turned around only to see her best friend back in Elementary School. "Well, well, if it isn't the Most Troublesome Asshole in the world," she grinned with a fold of her arms.

Niou scratched the back of his head with a smirk. "Heh, says one of the Most Violent Women in Rikkai Dai."

"That was years ago. You're still a troublesome bastard."

"I know. I screwed up a lot."

Momo noticed a different look in his blue eyes, especially when they were cast towards Isane. They had a softer expression on them as if he were really watching her enjoy herself. Isane began chatting away with Zanshoryuu Hikari from Jyosei Shounan while Akutsu took a smoke outside. She smiled at her best friend; thank goodness Isane finally came out of her shell, even if it was by an inch. She didn't expect though Akutsu to have the patience to yank her out of it nor did she expect Isane to stand his crude and crass mannerisms.

"I gotta hand it to, Isane," she laughed softly, looking distantly at her best friend. "She does have a sense of tenacity."

Niou nodded. "Definitely. Akutsu's one crazy damn brute and she's one of the few who could stand him without running away on sight."

"Or maybe she's just too nice to tell him that he could be a jackass."

"Probably that."

Momo however noticed a huge bruise on his forearm. "Now where the hell did that come from?"

Niou shrugged. "Meh, just fell down."

The Shinigami nearly hooted out in laughter. "You? Fall down? Get real, Niou. Even I know you're lying!"

"Take it or leave it," Niou raised his arms up in surrender. "I did fall down."

Yeah, when Shishido decided to punch me in the gut and beat the daylights out of me.

He didn't expect the Dash Specialist of Hyotei to hit that hard. Then again, rage-fuelled strength was another concept that he could never understand. It worked for some but it didn't work all the time. The brat is definitely like that, Niou recalled how Kirihara would suddenly have his skin turn red and become some bloodthirsty demon. He leaned against the wall and joined Momo in the celebration as people started passing out sodas from the coolers. Niou glanced at Sanada who sat next to Fuuka and the two seemed to be getting along. He also saw Yukimura Seiichi talking with Ai and happily indulging her as she told her stories. However, the bigger surprise was Inuzuka Miaka sitting next to Ohtori Choutarou. Miaka had more violent outbursts than any woman he knew and could probably give Akutsu a run for his money. Yet next to Choutarou, she visibly tamed down.

"By the way, how's your wound," Niou glanced at Momo's wounded back. "Taking a shot to the kidney's pretty fatal you know."

Momo placed her hand on her bandaged waist, wincing. "Ugh, it's better but I've been better. I'm not used to getting shot."

"No one will ever be."

"Yeah, especially by a yandere. I thought yanderes were more into knives?"

Niou shrugged. "At this point, I don't think it matters for Sengoku's sister. As long as she gets you out of the way, she will use any means necessary to do so."

Momo nodded stiffly. "Yeah… Speaking of which," she looked around only to see both Sengoku Kiyosumi and Sengoku Tohru missing. "Where are they?"

Niou looked around as well only to see that neither of the Sengoku siblings was there. "Huh, maybe they're in the bathroom or something."

While the Japanese Team was celebrating, Sengoku Tohru had darker ideas. She was in her room where she had all sorts of cases with all sorts of things inside. There were vials that were labelled with words such as "cyanide", "gasoline" and, many other things. A cruel grin curved up her lips as she started mixing them under a dim yellow desk lamp. She gently tapped the vial and let the contents slip into another vial that was full of liquid. On the right side of her bed, Tohru kept her AWM Sniper Rifle hidden in the darkness. She knew that it was illegal to bring in a gun but knowing how to dismantle it into several pieces and hiding it amongst her underwear was one way she could sneak it in. No one would want to check her underwear bag! She gleefully giggled to herself and began mixing more dust into the liquid.

"This time, for sure," she evilly cackled. "I will protect my brother from that lying, conniving bitch…"

"Who happens to be his loving girlfriend that is getting attacked by his deranged sister," a male voice suddenly spoke in the dark.

She gasped and turned around when the lights suddenly flashed on, revealing Sengoku Kiyosumi with a disappointed expression.

"K-Kiyo, what are you doing here," she laughed nervously, fearfully trying to hide all the substances she snuck in.

"I wanted to check on you," he admitted mildly. "You've been acting strange lately."

Tohru forced out a smile and frantically began to swipe the papers and vials off the desk, ignoring the shattering glass on the ground. "Strange? Nothing strange has been going on, Kiyo. It's just me being me… haha…"

Sengoku wasn't sure what to feel for his sister anymore. Pity? Mercy? Their childhood messed things over and it didn't help that his sister was always the one desperately trying to protect him. Sure, he appreciated that but now it's gone too far. He then began to wonder; if Momo went through this and he didn't notice it until she got hurt, what more Amakusa Ryuna? She must've been devastated! He remembered how she cried and cried when they got into an argument. It was only the next day that he heard that the Chemistry Lab in Shitenhouji caught fire and Amakusa Ryuna had been trapped inside. He paled; wasn't she related to Amakusa Natsuki?

"That fire," his lower lip trembled as he clenched his fist tightly. "That fire in Shitenhouji – you caused that, didn't you?"

"Fire? What fire are you talking about," Tohru smiled with sweat visibly pouring down her face.

"The one in Shitenhouji," Sengoku pressed on, advancing towards her. "You knew that Amakusa Ryuna had a chemistry project that day…!"

Tohru staggered back, seeing the accusatory stare in Sengoku. Tears began to brim in her eyes and years ago, she knew her tears would have moved him. He would have rushed to her side and embraced her, just like those many years ago when they were under their parents. She remembered her father's fists flew and made contact with her skin. Her mother's condemning screams as she bashed her with anything she could get her hands on. Now, she was cornered by the very thing she wanted to protect. I will not cry, I will not cry, she repeatedly chanted to herself.

However, instead of attacking her or getting angry – Sengoku threw his arms around his sister. He knew she had suffered enough; the beatings, the breaking of objects and the loud attacks. He remembered the screams of terror which he had muffled his ears from (under the advice of Tohru). But it was because of her he had some sort of normal childhood. It wasn't the best but she did it with everything she had. He wondered if his father even remembered bashing and beating Tohru. The moment he threw his arms around her, Tohru broke down into a fit of tears.

"Tohru-nee, you need help," Sengoku gently reprimanded his sister, carefully moving the wrench away on her table. "You can't just go attacking people just because they became friends with me…"

Tohru's tear-streaked face stared at him back. "B-but they'll do nothing but hurt you…!"

Sengoku nodded. "That's true, people do that. But sometimes, they don't mean to do it. True, that one time – Momo-chan did appear to hurt me but I saw what happened after. She was really hurt and depressed. Heck, she roped in Niou to try and help her convince me that she didn't cheat on me. To which, I should have believed her. Momo-chan isn't someone who would cast me aside just like that. Being from a samurai family, Momo-chan would definitely say something along the lines of 'death before dishonour'."

Tohru looked at her brother before running her fingers through his orange curls with a soft smile. My precious little brother, Tohru beamed in her mind as she remembered him always smiling and always trying to explore to learn new things. His green orbs stared back at hers as she began to let her hand explore her brother's face and slowly his body. Because of that, Sengoku suddenly jumped back away from her.

"Nee-chan, what are you doing," Sengoku stared aghast at her.

She pulled her hand back immediately and shook her head. "N-nothing, Kiyo. I… I just wanted a hug."

However, to Sengoku – the touch felt like something else. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

With that, Sengoku shrugged and smiled. "Then it's okay!"

He rushed into his sister's arms and embraced her. Tohru wrapped her arms tightly around her brother and tears began to freely fall from her face. She buried her face into her brother's shoulder before a devious smile curved up her lips. Without any warning, she suddenly clamped her teeth onto her brother's neck which sent Sengoku reeling back. The boy yelped as he covered his neck only to see his sister not crying anymore but instead having a twisted smile curving up her lips. He shook his head; this wasn't the sister he knew! Tohru would never suddenly try to suck his blood!

"Tohru," Kiyosumi staggered back. "W-wait…"

Tohru remained silent before faintly whispering. "You're mine."

"What?"

"You're mine," she repeated softly before chanting louder with renewed vigour. "YOU'RE MINE! YOU'RE MINE! YOU'RE MINE!"

The crazed look in his sister's eyes was the only signal Sengoku needed to know he had to run. He tried to push the door open only to realize it wouldn't budge. He gawked; the door was able to open awhile ago! He was pretty sure he didn't lock it on his way in! Sengoku shuddered as he could hear his sister's maniacal laughter behind him with her hands suddenly clamping onto his shoulders with an iron grip. He looked back only to see a possessive flame light behind his sister's brown eyes as she ripped him from the door. Sengoku tumbled back and crashed into the wall as his sister started sauntering towards him. Sengoku paled and his body froze; his sister was never this maniacal before. Now that he saw his sister's psychotic episode at a front row seat, he finally understood why women were afraid to touch him. He shuddered as she gently began to caress his face.

"Kiyo, Kiyo," she began to burble and mewled.

A chill ran up from behind Sengoku's calves all the way to his neck. He looked around the room to find a way out only to realize that he had backed into a window. He looked at the other things in Sengoku Tohru's room; where were her roommates? Oh right, they're partying outside, Sengoku groaned. He knew he should have confronted his sister with someone. Seeing that his sister didn't have a knife with her or at least anything that could kill him, he looked at the door and decided to give it another go. He ducked and rolled past her before leaping for the door. Tohru's eyes widened as she let out a bloodcurdling scream when Sengoku had finally wrenched the door open and bolted down the hallway.

Unknown to Sengoku, all the tennis team members had picked it up while they were partying. The partying stopped as Momo began looking around frantically; where was Sengoku and where the hell did that scream come from? Florence jumped out of her chair and Atobe held onto Ayane protectively, checking if there were any serial killers on the loose. Shizuru and Mai stood back to back immediately as if waiting for something to lunge out and attack them. Florence immediately turned to Tachiwara Miho who was sitting next to her.

"Miho, seismic sense," Florence ordered.

Miho nodded before stomping her foot on the ground. In her blindness, she could feel the vibrations and the distortions as they resonated from her stomping. She gave it another hard stomp as the sound waves travelled farther into the training area only to feel someone running through the hallway with heavy breathing. The other members of the Japanese team waited impatiently as her ears began to twitch with René looking at her doubles partner impatiently. Her eyes widened as she glanced at Florence.

"Florence, it's Sengoku," she gasped in surprise. "He's being chased!"

That report got Momo running. "Haru! Bunta!"

The two Rikkai Dai regulars jumped to Momo's command as they bolted after her. Atobe glanced at Ayane who shrugged. Shizuru and Mai nodded at one another before running after their senior. Kiyone glanced at Shiraishi who was still recovering from his blows from Osiris and Set as he let her bolt after Momo. Isane jumped after her best friend without questions with Shishido and Akutsu following her. The members that had bolted after Momo found Sengoku running before he crash landed into Momo.

"Sengoku, what the," Momo then saw a bite mark on his neck. "Should I even ask what the hell happened to you there?"

"Tohru. Insane. Tried. To. Suck. My. Blood," Sengoku gasped between breaths.

Momo blinked; she knew Tohru was crazy but sucking blood seemed a little far off. "Uhm, first of all – I don't think she was trying to suck your blood…"

"Sengoku, I think she was trying to brand you or something," Niou pointed out.

It was then they heard Tohru's scream down the hallway. "Kiyo!"

Momo felt the shivers run Sengoku's spine as she saw his face pale considerably. Momo looked up and she could hear Tohru's footsteps thumping through the hallway. She knew Tohru had a bolt loose but she didn't expect her to try and rape her own brother. The Shinigami could clearly see the terror splashed all over Sengoku's face as she held his hand tightly, turning to both Niou and Bunta who nodded at her. She quickly pushed Sengoku behind her as Niou stood next to her with Marui.

"Momo, you better have a plan because I don't," Niou pointed out as he winced at the ringing of Tohru's screams.

Marui shuddered. "Momo-chan, you do realize that Niou and I are kinda useless here right?"

Momo groaned. "Then don't do anything then!"

"Lucky for you, we're not," Mai suddenly stepped past Marui with Shizuru stepping past Niou.

Momo saw both her captain and the genius teaming up again. She smiled and soon saw Tohru storming through the hallway. The moment Tohru however came into the clearing, someone else grabbed her only for both Momo and the rest of the players to be shocked. There, they found Haruka and Rin holding both of her arms to prevent her from running. Soon, the commotion attracted all the coaches as well when they found Tohru kicking and struggling against Haruka and Rin.

"What?! Let go of me," Tohru snarled and growled at the Twin Dragons of Hyotei. "Gah!"

She started kicking and screaming, bursting into a fountain of tears. Sengoku didn't want to look at her and Momo rushed to the orange haired Yamabuki regular's side, burying his face into her shoulder while leading him away. The coaches glanced at Banji who could only look at disappointment. She tried to swing herself out of Haruka's and Rin's grip as she broke down into fits of screaming before whimpering and succumbing to the fact that she was bound.

"I'll call her parents," Banji prepared to walk off and get the phone.

"No," Sengoku suddenly shouted.

Everyone turned to him as Tohru looked at her brother expectantly, beaming. Maybe he could save her! Maybe he was going to let her stay. However, Sengoku's eyes said differently. She paled when all she saw behind his eyes was a pang of sadness and pity. Her chest tightened as she looked at both Haruka and Rin who didn't relent on her grip. She tried to look for her teammates but all stared in fear, retreating behind the other members. She then saw the entire tennis community staring at her, watching her have a mental and psychotic breakdown.

"We need to get her admitted," Sengoku suddenly said.

Everyone stared at Sengoku as if he grew another head.

"But, Sengoku," Coach Ryuuzaki shook her head.

"No, coach," Sengoku hung his head shamefacedly. "My father and mother were the reason why she's… well… like this. I'm not completely free from the blame either…"

Tohru began to hiss and whimper as she collapsed on her knees, sobbing. She was no longer the calculating sociopath that wanted her brother to be safe. She let out a feral scream and crumbled under the weight of her despair, sobbing and wailing loudly throughout the entire facility. Sengoku quietly walked to his sister and crouched in front of her, brushing her bangs out of her face. The moment he did that, her feral growling and snarling just stopped as she looked at her brother. She whimpered at the sight of Kiyosumi as she remained restrained by Hyotei's Twin Dragons.

"She needs help," Sengoku repeated and stood up, looking at the rest of the members of the tennis community. "Bringing her back home is just going to make things worse. I'd rather have a hospital help her."

Tohru whimpered and shook her head, violently screaming. "No… No! There's nothing wrong with me…! They're going to hurt you, Kiyo! Don't you see? Especially that, that," – she glared at Momo. "That lying, conniving samurai whore!"

Sanada growled and stomped forward. "How dare you…!"

Much to his surprise, Momo put her hand out and stopped him with a shake of her head. She walked towards Tohru who hissed and glared at her.

"You filthy peasant," she screamed with bloodcurdling rage.

As much as she wanted to strike Tohru for shooting her in the kidney, she couldn't. She could feel her blood boiling and her fingers began to ball tightly into a fist. Her knuckles paled and she tightened her fists to the point her nails had cut through her palms. Drops of blood began to drip from her palm as she exhaled sharply, trying to keep herself calm. Tohru was just trying to protect her brother and after hearing Sengoku's story, she finally saw the crack in Tohru's psyche. She stood up and glanced at Shizuru.

"Shizuru, do you remember what you did with me before," she asked.

The brunette blinked several times with a tilt of her head. "Huh?"

"The one where you managed to calm me down by just holding my head," Momo explained. "Do you remember that one?"

Shishido frowned. "Momo-san, Shizuru-chan isn't a Vulcan."

"I know but I know she has the ability to at least soothe the mind," Momo pointed out and glanced at Tohru. "Do you think you can help her?"

Shizuru swallowed nervously and shook her head. "I-I don't know, Momo-senpai. The only reason why I was able to do it with you is because innately, you trusted me… I think."

Momo facepalmed and stared at her captain, slack-jawed. "You think?"

"It's a theory, how else could it have been so easy?"

Mai drummed her fingers on her lower lip for a moment before glancing at Momo. "Momo, what did you say her history was?"

"The "too-long-didn't-read" version is she came from an abusive set of parents," the Shinigami explained as Tohru shrank back with a feral hiss, still having tears stain her cheeks. "What does that have to do with anything?"

It hit Shizuru what Mai was planning. "Everything."

They all turned to Shizuru as she glanced towards Isane. "Isane, can you create the illusion of someone you have never faced on the court before?"

The silver blue haired Sniper shook her head. "I'm not sure. I've never tried."

Sengoku pondered for a moment until he realized what Mai was getting at. "What if you had a picture?"

Isane saw the expectant looks on everyone's faces before nodding meekly. "I-I could try. Won't make it worse, though?"

"That depends on the image we're using," Mai pointed out. "Sengoku, sample please."

Sengoku nodded and pulled out a picture from his wallet to hand to Isane. "It's the only good picture of her I have."

Isane took the picture gently and began tracing the woman's features with her fingers. She inhaled deeply while trying to keep herself together. The image began to appear in her mind and she could see how the person would act. She saw a gentle smile and a guiding hand that was gently leading her. The moment she took it however, the image suddenly shattered into many little pieces with it becoming angry and screams resounded in her mind. The smell of crystal meth and drugs wafted into her nose as she heard a disgusted laughter and screaming. Isane shook her head as the image cracked before her, suddenly dropping the picture.

"I-I can't," Isane shook her head vehemently. "I'm sorry. It's… It's just…"

"It's just what," Momo snapped impatiently.

Isane whimpered at the tone of Momo's voice. "I-I saw what she was capable of."

Shishido scowled and threw his hands up in the air. "How in the fucking hell would that happen? You're just copying her image!"

"No, she isn't," Niou pointed out.

Everyone turned to Niou who sighed. If he began to explain the mechanics of the Illusion skill, he'd probably be giving away his own weakness. However, the sight of a feral and crumbling Tohru made him hesitate about not wanting to say it. He knew he had to tell them otherwise they were just going to pressure the hell out of Isane who would most likely crack from the stress. If she couldn't do it then, Niou mused to himself. It had to be something about the person's character that terrified her. He shrugged; well, back to the drawing board for better techniques to come up with.

"To be a great Illusionist you have to be so convincing that you are almost the real thing," Niou explained and looked at the picture. "Being a woman means also being more emotionally adept in taking on the image and form of the person. The guys have that problem which is why I only have images and physical capacity. But if you're asking for emotional prowess, that's what Isane can do. However, by adapting the illusion – she also has to be the person and by the looks of it, she must've been one crazy bitch."

Sengoku sighed deeply and glanced at Mai. "Do you have any better ideas?"

Mai pursed her lips and shrugged. "I'm drawing a blank."

"I could try," Florence remembered her prism ability and then glanced at Shizuru, earning a nod from the brunette. "Shizuru and I being both empaths, I think we can balance it out to calm her long enough to allow people to help her."

Fuuka shrugged. "There's also punching her daylights out of her."

"Fuuka, ya can't beat the psychosis outta here," Natsuki rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Are ya lackin' a bolt o somethin'?"

Atobe looked at her and pulled out his cellphone. "Ore-sama will arrange for the best psychiatrist to help her."

Sengoku nodded gratefully. "Thank you. That will be very helpful. The better if she can be treated here."

While she held Tohru down, Haruka glanced at Rin who looked sadly at Tohru. She noticed her grip weakening on Tohru's arm as well as she saw some red marks of fingers on the arm from the Black Dragon's grip. Despite all the make-up, Haruka could still see the tears and the depression behind Rin's eyes. The concealer couldn't cover up the black bags that were under her eyes nor did the lipstick cover the cracking skin on Rin's lips. However, Tohru suddenly regained the renewed vigour and threw both she and Haruka off to slam both dragons against the wall.

"Haruka! Rin," Momo yelled as Tohru bolted off. "Damn it…!"

"Florence," Shizuru bolted after Tohru with the Jyosei Captain.

Sengoku wasted no time at all to bolt after his unstable his sister. He watched her run as fast as her legs could carry her. When did she ever run that fast, Sengoku wondered to himself. He tried to remember his sister when she wasn't howling and yowling like some rabid animal. She smiled and laughed like any normal teenage girl; where had this part of her come from? When did the past suddenly decide to rear its ugly head? There were many things could have happened. But it also explained a lot; it was why girls stayed away from him, it explained why boys stared at him as if he had grown another head. But most of all – it explained why people gave him this weird look whenever he said that his sister was a "loving, kind and, understanding" sister.

The moment they got outside, Tohru was already gone. She had vanished into the dark streets and nobody could catch her. Sengoku looked out to the misty roads as the rain began to fall. His jersey and hair soaked up the rain while he desperately tried to find his sister. Did she know the consequences of what she was doing, Sengoku wondered to himself. It was then that he figured that nothing else mattered to her but his safety. It was her devotion to him as his sister that turned her mad. It was the same devotion that nearly got Momo killed. He clenched his fist tightly and looked down on the ground, sighing to himself.

"I have to look for her," he looked up determinedly. "I can't leave her out there alone!"

"Well, we can't go out now," Florence pointed out. "The rain's going to mess up our vision and even if we do go out, she seemed like she didn't want to be found."

Sengoku whirled around to face the British-Japanese captain and growled. "What do you know about having a sister?! She needs me!"

"It's exactly her need that nearly got you and Sanada killed," Florence snapped back. "And I mean Momo, your girlfriend! If it were the male Sanada, boy this would have ended a whole lot differently!"

"So what do you want me to do!? Just stand here!?"

"Quite the contrary actually," Florence cooled down and turned to Miho. "Miho, can you use your seismic sense to find her?"

Miho shook her head. "Not in the rain, the pitter patter of the raindrops are messing up my hearing so I can't find her."

Florence pursed her lips and turned to Atobe. "Atobe, you have the money. Have the police go find her or something."

"Ore-sama already did and he doesn't need someone like you to order him around," the king of Hyotei grumbled only to be elbowed by Ayane. "What?"

"Be nice, Atobe. She's trying to help Sengoku," Ayane chided. "Florence, maybe we should just all go. If we get the police, it might make too much of a scandal."

Kiyone tapped her chin before walking over to Sengoku and tugged his wet jersey. "Say, do you happen to know what she does when you're not around? Like, maybe her hobbies and stuff? For all we know, she probably headed back where it all went crazy!"

Sengoku shook her head. "I don't know anymore. I knew her as someone who liked boy bands and collected their posters. I never knew she was paranoid and constantly believing that the world was out to kill me."

"Or maybe anything or anywhere that you two shared as children," Shiraishi asked and placed his hand on Sengoku's shoulder. "Sengoku, we need you to tell us so we can find her. That way there will be less chances of her getting – I don't know, heaven forbid, run over by a car, shot down in a hit and run…"

"Shiraishi," Kiyone gawked. "Really?"

"Sorry. I have a tendency to call it like it is, sometimes."

Sengoku pondered for a moment before looking at the city horizon, wondering where Tohru could have gone off to in the vast metropolis of Tokyo. She could be anywhere now, Sengoku sighed. Until he remembered what Kiyone said, something that they did together as children or something they shared. He knew they had abusive parents but would she go that far? He remembered seeing the vials in her room full of all sorts of substances. How in the world did she manage to sneak that in? Never mind that, he shook his head. But suddenly, a butterflies began skit around in his stomach when his blood ran cold.

"She's going back to where it all went crazy," Sengoku repeated the words and turned to Kiyone, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "Kiyone, you're genius!"

Kiyone yelped as he shook her enthusiastically. "Uh-uh-uh-uh, t-th-th-tha-thanks!"

Sengoku then let her go before turning to Atobe. "Atobe-san, please tell the police to head towards Sakura Homes – number 16B."

Atobe threw his hands in the air. "Ore-sama is not some-!"

"Atobe, just do it," Ayane snapped at him moodily. "We don't have your diva and drama!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Sengoku turned to Momo. "Momo, I need you stay here. Who knows what she's going to do? I don't want you to be in the line of fire when it happens."

Momo glared. "You're not going alone."

"Momo, I need you safe! This doesn't concern you!"

"Well, guess what, Sengoku? It does! So, tough shit!"

Sengoku glared at Momo for a few moments before Miaka shrugged. "Glaring at her is not going to help. Sanada's are known to have skulls that are so thick that C-4's aren't going to make a dent in them."

Sanada scoffed at the Rikkai Dai sophomore. "This is said by the one who bites people just because they're an eyesore."

"Hey," Miaka snarled back at the Emperor. "If someone stole your lunch and your favourite cap – you'd probably beat them shitless with whatever you got!"

Fuuka grabbed Sengoku's arm. "Sengoku, your sister's a freakin' psychopath! You can't just jump in without a plan!"

"The better question would be if you even had a plan," Florence folded her arms. "How do you intend to stop your sister?"

Sengoku bitterly hung his head before shaking it. "I don't know. But I'm hoping to talk some sense into her. Maybe that way, that way – I can finally have a psychiatrist help her!"

Momo glanced at Isane. "Isane, call Itachi and tell him to send a squad over to Sakura Homes, #16B."

Isane nodded before grabbing her cellphone, her jacket and, umbrella. "You're not going alone, Momo-chan."

What Isane did next got everyone gawking. She ran back into the room to grab her tennis bag only to pull out two 9mm Glock guns that she had stashed away in her shoe bag. She locked and loaded the cartridges into the magazine while popping open her umbrella with a smile.

"Best friends stick together," Isane nodded with a grin. "No matter what!"

Momo gaped; when did Isane carry 9mm Glock guns in her bag? She knew that Isane had been training to be a police officer for some time now but seriously? She carried guns in her bag? Momo wanted to yank her hair out and threw an accusatory glare at Akutsu who shrugged. She looked at Isane and examined her from head to toe. What happened to the old, sweetie pie Isane? Never mind that, Momo shook her head before sighing in consent.

"Whatever I say isn't going to deter you at all, is it," she conceded with a sigh.

Isane nodded. "Nope."

"Fine, you're coming."

Hitomi opened her laptop. "I'll see if I can get a lock on her cellphone so I can track down her movement. Maybe that way we'll be able to get her even before she plans to go to that house."

Momo nodded as Haruka glanced at Sengoku. "By the way, what is in Sakura Homes, #16B? I thought you were a dormer."

Sengoku nodded before cryptically smiling. "Just because I'm a dormer doesn't mean I don't have a home nearby."

Tohru ran all the way from the Tokyo Tennis Training Camp back to a white walled house with a bright blue roof. The flowers bloomed at the front porch as she stood in front of the soaked wooden gate. There was no wooden plank indicating who was there other than a metal number on the white wall. The street lamps lit up the foggy night sky as her bright orange hair fell flat on her face. She pushed the door open while clenching her fists tightly. She knew there was only one way to end it all.

"And it's for the best that Kiyo doesn't know," she murmured before sullenly looking up at the glass windows that had white curtains.

She sauntered and made her way to the door, quietly taking off her shoes. Her skirt was soaked as the rainwater dripped on the doormat that read "home sweet home". The door creaked open as Tohru stepped in. She smiled at the family photos that decorated the hallways and were mounted over their shoe cabinet. She walked into the dining room and remembered the times she and her brother sat down for dinner. She remembered the laughter that once filled the room and the many cartoons that had been playing on the TV during those days.

Hi Tohru! You're home early!

Suddenly, Tohru heard a voice and snapped around only to see a woman with exactly the same orange hair standing behind her. "Wh… What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to greet you when you came home," her mother smiled softly.

Tohru growled. "Don't lie to me! You think… you think I took dad's attention away from you… You hated me…"

"No, I don't hate you, Tohru," the woman gently tried to coax her. "I love you."

At the sound of that, tears began running down Tohru's eyes. How she had longed to hear that from her own mother! But something inside her snapped as her hand suddenly went to the picture frame on the table before throwing it against the TV. Fair enough, she shattered the glass of the TV as the breaking of the glass echoed throughout the entire house. She then began cry before falling on her knees, weeping bitterly. The frame on the ground had splintered into pieces as well as the glass that covered the photo of their family lay amongst the shards of glass.

"Hello," someone called out from upstairs. "Is someone there?"

Tohru suddenly froze and stopped crying. She slowly rose up from the ground before darting to the kitchen. She saw the stove and began unplugging things, not really carrying where they were. She turned on the faucet and let the water run and overflow as something began to hiss from all around. She went through one of the drawers and began digging it out. The cooking utensils scattered on the floor and clattered until Tohru finally found something she could really use. Her hand was on the trigger and a huge smile curved up her lips.

"Tohru? Is that you," another voice called for her.

Tohru slowly swivelled her head around to face a middle aged man wearing a traditional Japanese house robe. He stared at the mess she put herself in as she flung the fridge open and splattered all the food on the ground. The man's eyes widened with horror as he saw the faucet running with all the water spilling onto the marble flooring, flooding the kitchen. However, he didn't notice that the hissing was no longer coming from the kitchen but erupting all over the house. The moment Tohru heard the hissing get loud enough, she smiled with tears in her eyes.

"I love you, little brother."

She pulled trigger and the moment it sparked, the whole area suddenly had been consumed by flames.

Despite all the running he did, Sengoku realized he was too late.

The moment he got there, the house was draped with howling and roaring flames despite the raindrops pouring down. People gasped in terror as they saw the house burning and the neighbours ran out in terror. Some of the people who had passed by already had pulled out their phones and began to take pictures. Sirens could be heard from a distance as Sengoku fell to his knees. The flames danced in front of his bright green eyes and he couldn't believe what in the world just happened. Momo and Isane managed to catch up with him only to meet the same sight he saw. Firemen rushed past him and all the sounds had faded away into his mind.

"Tohru… why," he murmured.

Momo shook her head as she sat right next to Sengoku, unable to say anything. She looked at the roaring flames as Isane stood next to Momo and Sengoku, unable to say anything. It was then for the first time after so long, Sengoku found tears forming at his eyes. He slowly turned to Momo who simply opened her arms to let him fall. The Yamabuki vice captain wasted no time at all falling into Momo's arms and let out a loud sob of despair. Pretty soon, the images flew all over the net with facebook showing nothing more than a picture of a house being consumed by flames with whatever caption the photographer put.

That's Chapter 79! I'm sorry it took so long! Please don't forget to review!

Ok, I'll be blunt honest:

I've been losing my interest in writing this story because of a lot of things. Because, one: I've been writing my own original novel. Two: I started working on a guild wars 2 fanfiction. Three: I'm working in a video game design company so, a lot of my former passion for Prince of Tennis went down the drain. Nonetheless, I'll try to finish it (since I hate leaving novels unfinished) and also fix some of the chapters like Chapters 39-48 since that was completely out of whack and out of its original plan because I did get bored with it.

So, yeah – I'm sorry if I update a lot more slowly now. OTL