NOTE: First, thank you for stopping by. Second, I do not own these characters or the Prince of Tennis. Third, I would like to mention that this is a revised, rewritten, and reworked version of "You're Not Strong Enough". This fic should hopefully be a lot better. I do plan to have at least a little bit of romance in this fic…that means a FujiXRyoma fic. Happy reading~!
(The genres may change to something more fitting later on...)

Abuse Me

How long will people continue to move forward in this world? How long will I be left behind?

"Ah!"

I can't hold back these tears. No matter how strong I pretend to be, it's not enough. Why are you doing this to me?

Ryoma placed himself away from the other tennis team members. He watched as they changed out of their school clothes into their tennis uniforms. Fuji gracefully slipped into his jacket while Kaidou tightened the green bandana around his head. Ryoma's body refused to move from that spot as the older boys left the room. Standing up, he let out a sigh and unbuttoned his white shirt. On his skin, marks of purple, blue, and brown rested along with red scars. His hold body quivered from thinking of how they were placed on him. Quickly replacing his clothes, he rushed out of the room and towards the tennis courts.

If I pretend to be okay, will you not ask questions? I fear what people might think if they were to see these marks. I'll continue to hide them until there is nothing left of me. These scars will be my secrets…these secrets will never be told.

"The sun sure is making it hot out here," Oishi unzipped his jacket it along with the other regulars. They left them all in a pile out of the way.

"Ochibi~!" Eiji grabbed hold of the small boy and let his hand reach for his zipper. "You should take your jacket off too."

Ryoma quickly pulled himself away and held his jacket tight around his neck. "I'm fine like this."

"Get back to practice!" Tezuka pointed to the empty courts.

Momoshiro threw one of the tennis balls he held high up into the air and hit it across the court. He was shocked to see Ryoma frozen in his spot; allowing the ball to fly pass him. His small frame shook before falling to his knees. The fears he held were building up inside his mind and taking control.

"Echizen!" Momoshiro jumped over the net and placed himself beside the boy. "Hey, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ryoma flinched as the other boy's hand touched his shoulder. "It's still your serve…"

Momoshiro returned to his side of the court. Once again he served the ball towards Ryoma. This time, even though his movements were uncertain, Ryoma ran to hit the ball back. His breathing was heavy, but he didn't want to give into the pain. He didn't want to seem weak.

After practice ended, Ryoma waited until the others had already left before stripping himself out of his clothes. He placed his pale hand onto one of the smaller bruises near his left wrist and flinched. When he heard the door to the room open, he fumbled to put clothes back on his body.

"Oh, Echizen, you're still here?" Fuji's smile disappeared when he noticed Ryoma racing to get clothes on.

"I'm leaving," Ryoma threw his bag on his shoulder and walked pass the older boy.

"Echizen?" Fuji let his eyes open to see the small brown mark on Ryoma's neck. "Echizen!" Even if his voice would have reached Ryoma, he wouldn't have turned back. The last thing he wanted was one of his teammates to see what was happening to him. "What has happened to him?"

"I'm home!" Ryoma dashed up the stairs of his house only to be stopped by his father, Nanjiro. "Is Mom home?"

"She went out. I thought we could play a little tennis today," Nanjiro tossed a ball into the air.

"I have homework to do."

"It won't be that long, Ryoma. Just a few serves."

"But I―"

Without being able to finish his sentence, Ryoma was being dragged towards the door and out to the back. Nanjiro didn't let go of his wrist until they were at the tennis court.

"Just one match," Nanjiro laughed as he served the ball.

"I'm not ready," Ryoma looked around for a racket to use, but before he could grab it, the ball made contact with his face. "Ouch…"

"Your reactions are slow today, boy," he once again tossed a ball in the air and swung his racket forward. "Come on, Ryoma, put up a fight!"

"Stop…" as Ryoma looked up, he let out a scream as rocks flew towards his face. As the touched his soft skin, they sliced small cuts all over his cheeks. Salty tears mixed with the crimson blood causing him to cringe from the stinging feeling.

"Seems like that's all you can handle, Ryoma," Nanjiro scoffed as he headed back towards the house.

I never wanted to give into my fears. Did you know you used to be my hero? When did this happen? When did you turn so cruel? I thought you were my father…I thought you cared. What did I do to cause this to happen? One of these days, you're going to be the one to kill me.

NOTE: I didn't want this to be the next fic that I wrote, but I couldn't help but start it. As stated before, this is a completely reworked version of "You're Not Strong Enough". I rewrite it because it had a good concept, it just lack in so many places. I hope you will be able to enjoy this fic. I do plan on placing a dash of romance in this fic. The pairing is probably obvious…FujiXRyoma. I know that Ryoma dies in "You're Not Strong Enough", but that doesn't mean he will in this fic. It really all depends on how things end up going.

I feel like the subjects I write about are becoming more and more depressing. I'm sorry that I have to abuse Ryoma so much within my fics. I just enjoy seeing him in pain…I mean, I like to see him cry. That's not what I meant to say. I…I have no excuse.

I hope you liked this chapter and will come back for more. Thank you so much for reading. Hopefully I'll see you for the next chapter~!