A Matter of Memory

            class=GramE>“Moshi moshi?style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Ah Tezuka… 
Yes I’m at the school with Eiji and Taka…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  What?! 
How?  Where?...style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Yes of course…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Where do you want us to startclass=GramE>?...  No those are
good places to start…  We’re closer to
his parents’ house so we’ll check there… 
Momo went to the arcade with Kamio and Ibu?...style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Yes I heard he wanted to try that game
too…  No he was talking about it with
Eiji the other day, they were supposed to go after practice today…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  What about the courts that Kachiro’s father
works at?  He’s been there a few times
and he sometimes helps him coach…  class=GramE>Nanako-sans boyfriend? 
Why would he do anything to Ryoma?...style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Yes he does strike me as odd and Ryoma has
been complaining about how he treats him but I don’t think he’d…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Yes I can see that…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  No actually it strikes me more as something class=GramE>else, I can’t really put my finger on it…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Yes we’ll go right now…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Try the courts I was talking about.” Oishi’s
conversation into his cell phone had the other two looking at him strangely.

            “What’s
going on Shuichiro?  What’s this about
Ochibi?” Eiji asked as he stepped off the court from his smash practice with
Kawamura.

            “Ryoma’s
missing!  We need to head to his old
house to see if he went there.  The
others are also looking for him.”

            “What do
you mean Ochibi’s missing nya?  We have
to find him!  He could be in trouble or
hurt or… or somebody could kidnap him! 
NYA!  Ochibi might be kidnapped!style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  We can’t let them Shuichiro!” Eiji yelled
becoming slightly hysterical.

            “Ryoma’s
been kidnapped!?  Oh No Thank You!style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  We gotta find him
baby!  What are we waiting for?style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Let’s go!” Taka yelled as he came up to them
still holding his racket.

            “Taka-san
we don’t know if he’s been kidnapped, Eiji was just speculating.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Ryoma’s just missing right now.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  I’m sure he’s fine…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Though it is a possibility considering how
much media attention he’s had since he started playing in the Grand Slams and
if anyone wanted to go after Atobe then Ryoma would be a likely target…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  We need to find him right away!” Oishi said
failing to calm the other two down as he entered a deeper stage of worry class=GramE>himself.

One would think he’d be used to this after all these years
or that the team would have matured into more serious students, but fate had
decreed otherwise.  Sure there had been
changes over the four years since the team was completed by Ryoma’s entrance,
but much was still the same.  Taka still
burned when he held a racket, Eiji still bounced and jumped to conclusions,
Kaidoh still hissed and fought with Momo, Momo still ate far too much and acted
a little childish at times, Fuji still smiled and terrorized, Tezuka was still
a rock for the most part, Ryoma was still cocky, and Oishi was still a mother
hen.

A minute or two later Oishi had his two friends just barely
calm enough to set out towards Ryoma’s parents’ house to see if Nanako had seen
their youngest teammate.

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Inui and Kaidoh arrived at the school courts barely missing
the other three players by five minutes.

            “We’re in
luck, no one’s here yet.  Or, most
likely, Tezuka already contacted them and they’re all out looking for Echizen.”
Inui said as the two headed for the court lockers/change room to drop off
Ryoma’s bag. 

Once done they headed back to the gate to decide what to do
next.

            “Where
should we look Sadaharu?”

            “Let me
call the others to see where they are looking. 
We can cover more ground if all our groups go in different directions.”
Inui replied then proceeded to make several calls.   

“Ok the others are checking specific
destinations.  Oishi, Kikumaru, and
Kawamura are checking Ryoma’s house, Momoshiro teamed up with Kamio and Ibu
from Fudomine to check the arcade, and Echizen’s boyfriends are checking the
Seichundai Tennis Club where Kachiro’s father coaches.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  We’ll head downtown to see if he’s wandering
down there.  I’ll call the local
hospitals and clinics on the way to see if he made his way to one of them.”

“Sadaharu what if we can’t find
him?  What if he gets on a train?” Kaidoh
hissed in fear imagining the things the others would do to him.

            Kami-sama class=GramE>forbid.  I don’t think
he would have but he’s impossible to predict with no memory, we’ll check just
in case.  We’re supposed to keep in
contact with the others but its better if you don’t talk to them or you might
accidentally give something away.”

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Even without his memory fully intact Ryoma was not
dumb.  When he got to a busier place he
tried asking people for directions to the hospital.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Unfortunately he had only managed to get one
couple to talk to him and they had been foreigners who didn’t know where it
was.  Most of the shops in this section
of the city weren’t open quite yet, so Ryoma was currently sitting on a bench
at a bus stop.  He figured that if he
couldn’t get someone to just tell him then maybe he could have someone take him
there.  He had some money that he’d found
in his zippered pocket, he just hoped it was enough.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  He was slightly startled when someone
suddenly sat down next to him.

            “Echizen-san
how pleasant to meet you here this fine morning.” An old man with a creepy
smile said.

            “Are you
talking to me?” Ryoma replied.

            “Of
course.” The old man’s smile widened.

            “And you
are?” Ryoma asked getting the feeling that he shouldn’t reveal much to this
strange man.

            “Of course…
I had heard that you tend to forget people that don’t interest you.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  I’m Banji of Yamabuki coach.”

            “I see.”
Ryoma said though he wondered what this man coached exactly.

            “So are you
interested in playing for Yamabuki?  The
team is even stronger than in middle school, and I can offer you quite a few
perks.”

            “No.” was
the only word Banji got out of the teen before Ryoma got up and left.

Ryoma sighed to himself as he rounded the corner.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  First that hissing boy had disappeared after
saying he would take him to the hospital and then some creepy old man who
wouldn’t stop smiling propositioned him to play for some sports team.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  At least, he hoped it was for a sports team…

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