Keep Me In Your Fading Thoughts

Just a small detail before you read. The current ships in this are as follows:

Sanayuki.

Tezufuji.

Oisheiji.

Momoryo.

Inukai.

Silver pair.

Sweet pair.

Niou x Yagyuu.

Tachibana x Chitose.

More will come later.

Prologue

It was a perfect day for the Seigaku Regulars. The weather was cool, a light breeze hung in the air and very few clouds floated above, drifting and floating through the sea above the heads of the many tennis players. It had been a nice day all day and to a certain prodigy, it had felt like a warning and he just had a small feeling in his gut that something would happen. It could have been nothing though; and Shusuke was quick to brush it off, but the feeling had lodged itself deep inside of him, becoming dormant in his mind while he walked off into the locker room.

It had been time to finish for the day, it was an early summer's day so the sun had not shown signs of decreasing into the horizon line. Momo and Echizen had already left, taking Momo's bike and making their way to their favourite burger restaurant. They had left Momo's bike outside and walked inside, Momo striding in first with Ryoma following closely behind with a small smirk plastered gently on his face, it was Momo's turn to pay today after all.

They had ordered the usual, Momo having at least six burgers and Echizen sticking with just two, he wasn't as hungry as Momo today and decided to only make a small dent in his wallet, surprising himself slightly at his caring implicit gesture, even if Momo was too dense to realise he was trying to be nice.

"Hey Echizen, don't you think that Fuji-senpai was acting a little weird today. He wasn't acting like himself." Suddenly hearing Momo's voice, Ryoma had to quickly remember how the genius had acted during practice. He had to admit though, Momo was right about something for once and he definitely didn't smile like he normally did today. It looked as though he had something heavy in his mind, weighing him down, maybe it was nothing. Then again, this was Fuji, when was he ever wrong about a sinking feeling?

"He could have been, but maybe it was your imagination senpai. You never notice when something is wrong so maybe you just want to seem perceptive." Ryoma stated with a smirk and a playful expression towards his sempai. Of course Momo looked very livid with that comment but decided to keep quiet, knowing the younger boy would only say something even more insulting.

"If you've finished eating, we can go and play in the street courts for a while." Ryoma told the purple eyed boy before abruptly getting up and walking outside to where Momo's bike sat waiting patiently for its owner. Said owner frowned, it was not like Ryoma to just walk out, maybe he did wonder if there was something wrong with Fuji. He could have been fighting with Buchou, however that seemed unlikely. Those two were rather close and Momo knew deep down, like every other Regular, knew that those two held strong feelings for each other and wouldn't just have some silly argument like he and Kaidou. It was just up to them to realise said feelings. With a sigh the Seigaku Regular stood up, and followed in Echizen's footsteps out of the fast food restaurant, tightening his hold on his tennis bag.

Although tennis practice was over, a lone figure practiced against a wall with a single ball. Oblivious and believing that everyone had gone home for the day. However not every other member had gone home, Fuji watched as Tezuka ran back and forth to hit the ball against the wall. He had kept his eye on his Buchou for quite some time and Fuji knew he was feeling what Eiji felt for Oishi. From the way his heart raced when Tezuka looked at him with a small smile, the way he wished that Tezuka could win every tennis match and never wanted to see him defeated, the way he would always feel the most genuine smiles befall on his face when he spoke with him. Tezuka Kunimitsu was someone he always wanted to be with and the only person who knew that was his best friend, Eiji Kikumaru.

The senior suddenly felt an urge to stand outside of the shadows and walk over to him. Without thinking, his muscles reacted and he was walking a slow pace to stand closer to him so Tezuka could sense his presence.

Tezuka caught the tennis ball with ease when it came back to him and turned around, he stood facing Fuji who had his ever-present smile on his face. The smile that Tezuka thought was very endearing, however never mentioned this to anyone, not even Oishi.

"I thought you would be at home by now?" The captain asked with his stoic expression still in place.

"No, I stayed behind for a while to get some extra work for me and Kikumaru since he wasn't here today." Tezuka seemed to accept this answer. The real reason was that he felt the nagging feeling in his heart again, telling him to be cautious and to keep everyone safe; he had immediately thought of the Buchou as he had come to hate not being in his presence. He wouldn't ever say to any of the other that he preferred their captain and would make sure he was ok first, after all he was one to look out for everyone.

It was a silly though really, no one was really in any danger and if they were in any sort of trouble, then that could easily be sorted out. His lack of sleep recently was what he blamed this feeling on.

"Hey Tezuka." Fuji started.

"Hm?"

"Do you wanna play a match?" Fuji was still in his tennis clothes and Tezuka obviously was. He watched the face of the man he loved change into a slight smile and he felt his heart float again.

"Sure." Tezuka was a man of few words but Fuji never minded, it was a though he could always tell if Tezuka was happy, and that was all that mattered to the young genius.

They walked to the nearest tennis court and Fuji took his bag off and dug into it to find one of his rackets. He stood on one side and for old habits, both men shook hands as if it were the Nationals again and they were on opposite sides.

They had both started playing seriously, neither wanted to lose and although Fuji knew that there was a greater chance that Tezuka would win, he would not go down easily.

There was no way to fully explain their relationship with each other, they both appreciated each other's presence, especially when Momo and Kaidou were constantly bickering with each other. Fuji felt secure even if he only snuck a glance at the captain when Kikumaru was off with his doubles partner. No one would have known Fuji had felt slightly insecure, but he never intended it to be a known fact.

Tezuka activated his Tezuka Zone, bringing Fuji's ball back to him instead of to the corner where it was previously aiming for. Fuji knew what was coming next and in a rally that consisted with the prodigy running to the sides, Tezuka finally landed a Zero Shiki Drop Shot that hit the floor and ceased to bounce; instead it rolled back to the net. Fuji stood with a smile on his delicate features, it was a good game, even if he did lose to Tezuka for a second time. It had felt good to play with him. Then again he never felt bored playing against the Buchou.

Marui had left practice as soon as it had finished, he didn't wait to get a shower as there were so many people, he wondered if everyone would actually get hot water. Practice was a bore today, he had been so out of focus that he felt like slapping himself and making himself run at least 200 laps so that Buchou was satisfied and so he was satisfied with himself. It didn't feel right though, somehow it felt as though no one had noticed him act the way he did, Jackal sure didn't and they were doubles partners. Yukimura probably did though, which confused the redhead greatly as he would have ordered him to run laps, which would set Sanada off on a lecture about slacking off. It wasn't his fault though, he tried to stay on focus. However it was extremely difficult when you had a certain 3rd year known as Sleeping Beauty nagging your mind all day.

Marui didn't even know he thought about the kid that much, he was adorable though. With his unruly orange hair that urged Marui to run his hand through it and his brown eyes that always had a sparkle in them, he also shared his love for sweet foods. A love that his teammates had thought he should cut down, albeit the oldest Regular had told them it helped him with his slight lack of stamina.

The serve and volley player walked down the usual narrow path he took to the park that was a to his house. However stepping into the open park, Marui found his eyes had settled upon the boy who had taken up 90% of his conscious thinking. The boy was laying on a bench, most likely asleep as usual. Marui secretly hoped he was getting enough sleep, even though he was called Sleeping Beauty, he would never sleep if he got the chance to play a match or hang out with the redhead.

The boy who was just shy of him by 4cm stood in front of him with his usual smile. Marui felt a slight flutter inside, knowing that he had caused that very smile to appear on the Hyotei boys face.

"What are you doing here Marui-kun?" He asked as if everything the Rikkai member did left him in awe.

"I'm going home." He replied shortly, blowing a bubble with his bubble gum like he always did. He didn't show it either but he wished that Jirou would ask him to play a tennis match or hang out. He always knew how to make Marui feel content wherever he was.

"Oh, did you wanna hang out. Maybe go to that new sweet shop that had recently opened up?" Marui inwardly grinned, he didn't miss how Jirou looked down ever so slightly that most people would think he didn't move at all, or the way he had a slight colour appearing on his cheeks, almost matching Marui's hair colour. Marui smiled at the younger boy, eyes full of gleam; just like when they had that friendly match a long time ago.

"Sure, do you know where it is though?" One look at the orange haired boy and Marui could instantly tell he had no idea where it was "it's good that I do, come on let's go." Marui turned and walked away, knowing Jirou would catch up and take up his step.

Yukimura Seiichi felt all inhabitants leave as he sat in the locker room of Rikkai tennis club, his jacket hung over his shoulders as it did every time he played a match. His head was tilted down slightly as he thought about today's practice. The Freshmen were a mess, the seniors were slacking off, the only ones who looked like they were training were the Regulars; and even then it was only he and Sanada who had given it their 100% focus and attention.

It didn't surprise him in any way to see the vice captain completely focused, when did he ever take a break willingly? Marui was off in wonderland, no doubt thinking of that Jirou kid from Hyotei, Jackal's eyes would wander throughout every game he played, no doubt thinking of what he should get his girlfriend for her birthday. Yanagi was at home as he couldn't attend today, Niou was messing around and impersonating as the captain to mess with the Freshmen, Yagyuu had decided that today he would leave his doubles partner to his own devices and simply watch him from the benches, but the thing that had unsettled his mind the most was that even Kirihara looked out of it. The young demon kid was never 'out of it' when it came to a match, no he would pursue his dream until his dying breath to beat Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi. He had no time to not pay attention.

Thinking back, the Child of God wondered if he was giving it his 100% attention, normally he wouldn't deal with the crap that happened today, and would simply order everyone to do 100 laps; or however many it took before they fell to the ground with jelly legs. The bluenette smiled slightly, maybe he should have been running laps around the tennis courts as well. Though he brushed the simple thought off and blamed his uneasy thoughts on his headache we had been dealing with all day. Kirihara was partly to blame for that. Although he had been not focusing correctly, he was shouting at Niou who was constantly tricking him when he saw him.

Yukimura stood up, still feeling his jacket on his shoulder blades, he took it off and folded it into his bag, he would walk home in his tennis attire, he thought as he didn't want to deal with the cold water that turned on immediately after 6pm. It was already 6:20 and he couldn't get home until 9 since his family were out and though he was a senior and the captain of the tennis team, his mother never wanted him to stay home alone. Probably because of my illness he thought with a slight grumble, it wasn't that he hated his mother's worry, it was that he didn't need it. He was fine.

After locking the doors and making his way outside, with the sun directly in his peripheral vision, Yukimura felt not completely alone, looking around he saw no one. But that hadn't settled his mind at all, and the blue haired Buchou wondered if he should get to sleep earlier today to get rid of whatever he was feeling completely. Walking down the familiar path he would always take to school, he was conscious of the space next to him as Sanada was not with him. The stoic fukubuchou had gone home early and didn't wait for his captain. Yukimura had felt dejected, however not enough to spend his time thinking about it.

Now that he thought more about Sanada, the bluenette had wondered if something was on his mind also. The stoic expression on his face seemed to hide anything, but Yukimura knew Sanada like the back of his hand. He would never show it if something was wrong. He couldn't sense anything troubling Sanada but it had been Yanagi who was with him for most of practice while he was watching matches against the seniors.

He sighed again, a wave of uneasiness floated in the air, and it didn't feel like it was going away anytime soon.

So that's the prologue, but don't fret there's more! Please tell me what you think and I have a question, who should be with Kirihara? An or Yanagi? I'm leaning more towards An but I want to hear what you guys think. :)

ヴィック