Disclaimer: I do not own PoT.

Description: Everything is against him. He never imagined the day where he would be alone, trying to prove himself on a different level. What he doesn't know is that someone is trying to help. So why does help hurt so much? Starts off Pillar pair, eventual Thrill pair.

Lady Monozuki: Well, this is one of my new multi-chaptered fics. It's nothing like my one-shots, which are more "humorous". In spite of that, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: Beginning

Fuji always took pride in being one of the most observant people on the team. He knew that from the beginning, their newest addition to the Regulars held an unknown attraction to toward their captain. Everything from his body language to the way he talked to the captain was an indicator. You didn't have to be a genius to pick out that the younger person was flirting. The sight often brought him amusement. After all, you had an awkward twelve-year-old tennis player trying to seduce an expressionless buchou.

He couldn't laugh completely. Somewhere along the line, Tezuka had fallen for the younger prodigy. In spite of their feelings for each other, the two of them danced around each other for three years. At times, he wanted to lock them in a closet until they told each other their feelings. There were other times where he wanted them to stay apart. He never did understand why he felt that way, until recently.

Not too long after Echizen entered high school, Tezuka finally confessed his feelings. They started going out as a couple, making him happy and depressed at the same time. He brushed off his depression, telling himself that it was because someone mad him mad that day. However even after they got together, the two of them kept their relationship a secret.

He found their entire relationship amusing. No one else on the team would guess that their usually stoic captain and brattiest player would get together. He had to admit that the idea sounded a funny. In addition, there were never any indications of them actually going out. They never displayed public affection and they always addressed each other by "buchou" and "Echizen". They seemed distant at times, but he could imagine their relationship being strong. In spite of their personalities, they both cared about their relationships with other people deeply.

Well, Tezuka more than Echizen.

Every time he saw them exchange glances, he felt his heart ache. At first, he brushed it off as loneliness. After all, most people want someone who will stay by their side despite situations. Then he slowly came to realize that he was in love with his best friend's boyfriend. As much as that pained him to admit, he could not deny his feelings. Slowly, he started hanging around Echizen more, planting a support system in case something went wrong. He knew that he shouldn't do so, but he was never one to ignore his feelings. He watched as the couple left the tennis clubhouse together, hands linked and looking pleased.

A frown formed on his face. His chest tightened at the sight. He reminded himself once more that Echizen belonged to Tezuka and that he had no right to interfere with their relationship. With a sigh, he walked away from his hiding spot. Even with these constant reminders, he did not know how long he could keep denying his feelings.

A yellow ball bounced toward him and he returned them based off of instinct more than anything. His head hurt from dealing with annoying fan girls, his father, and the frustration that he could not remember what had happened last night. With a frown, he hit the ball harder than he meant to, causing it to go out.

"Thirty-fifteen," Oishi called out.

"Nya, Ochibi's not concentrating on the game!" he heard from the sidelines.

The consistent chatter from the sidelines and the noises on the courts made his head ache all the worse. Echizen bounced the ball against the ground, trying to get his head in the game. He needed to score three more times to end the game. If he asked nicely, he was sure that Tezuka would let him sleep in the clubroom. Today he felt unsettled for an odd reason. He couldn't say why, but somehow he imagined that his day would only get worse.

He tossed the ball in the air and prepared to do a twist serve. However, a wave of dizziness washed over him, causing him to miss the ball. That alone brought the silence that he had been wishing for since he had walked on the court. His vision blurred for a few seconds and he felt himself feeling faint. He blinked furiously, he would not walk off this court without having completed the match. A scowl formed on his lips and he retrieved the ball.

"Ne, let's continue," he said. The chatter instantly picked up. He tossed a glance at Kunimitsu. As he had suspected, his boyfriend had not believed that he missed the shot just because he felt like it. If he wanted to take that nap in the clubhouse later, he would need to do a lot of explaining first. And even then, there was a chance that the captain would refuse. A sigh escaped his lips as he bounced the ball once more. He used a high-speed serve, causing his opponent to blink in surprise.

Obviously they had been preparing to receive a twist serve. He preferred to mix things up a little.

"T-thirty-all," Oishi said after a few seconds. He started to bounce another ball. Noting the position of the other player, he could see that he was still expecting the twist serve.

Mada mada dane.

He tossed the ball in the air and made contact with his racquet. At the same time, another bout of dizziness washed over him, making the shot weaker than he had meant. The other player caught up to it easily. He cursed softly before making a hasty return. After a pushing himself until he just about passed out, he scored the point. He took out another ball and started to bounce it against the court. His hands shook as he did so.

What the hell?

He had been experiencing on-and-off dizziness all day, but it hadn't acted up during tennis practice—until now. He noticed that his breathing was heavier, much more than it should from having to run to opposite sides of the courts.

Just one more point and you can be done.

He tossed the ball in the air and served.

-◊-

Tezuka felt himself twitch when Ryoma had first missed the ball. He had wanted to call off the match right then because he knew something was wrong. The freshman would never admit that, but he knew. After he saw that glance, his thoughts were confirmed. Something was bothering his boyfriend. It explained why he was more anti-social than usual and even forgot to meet him up on the roof. Of course, he did not make a big deal about it. He figured that something had prevented him from coming and didn't press the issue.

Ryoma's movements were getting more lazy and he knew that his boyfriend was having a hard time playing. Has much as he wanted to call off the match, he could already imagine how his boyfriend would respond to that. He did not want to have to deal with his boyfriend being mad at him because he interfered with one match. He did reconsider when he saw the next serve. The power was no longer there. He could see every strained movement.

Something was very wrong indeed. These shots were not hard in comparison to some of the ones he knew the prodigy had gone against. So why was his boyfriend having a hard time? He didn't know. He tore his glance away from the game for one second, looking at the Regulars. All of them had fixated their stares at the court. He doubted any of them could believe what they were seeing. Not that he could blame them, he was even doubting his own eyes.

At the call of forty-thirty, he hoped that his boyfriend would make it through this last point so he could pull him aside. His gaze returned the prodigy, whose face looked just as confused as he felt. Ryoma tossed the ball into the air. His racquet made contact with the ball, yes. However, they weren't watching the match anymore. He instantly moved as soon as he saw the legs start to fall.

"Echizen!" he shouted. He didn't hear the others that had shouted along with him.

The other Regulars had moved to not long after him. He stretched out an arm to catch the prodigy and managed to do so in time. His heart was racing faster than he ever thought possible. The sweat-covered body in his arms was breathing, that at least made one of his fears go away. However, he wanted to know why the freshman had fainted in the first place. Oishi placed a hand on Echizen's forehead and shook his head.

"He's not running a fever," he stated. "Maybe he's sick from something else. There are a lot of things that he could pass out from. However, we should get him to the nurse's office sooner rather than later."

Tezuka nodded, but found it hard to move. He caught glance at the tensai, noting that the other's eyes were open. In that moment, he saw something that he had long suspected. Although it was barely noticeable, he saw the jealousy.

I'll deal with that later.

The body in his arms twitched.

-◊-

He remembered rain falling on his face, but he felt too numb to get up. He didn't know where he was or even how he got there. Everything from that afternoon was blurry. A bright light caused his head to hurt. He flinched, but then looked in the direction of the light. A man looked down at him, a scowl formed on the other's face.

"Oi gaki, what are you doing out here? Do you have any idea what time it is? I thought I told you to be—"

The complaints stopped there. The other man's eyes widened at something. It took him a while to remember the name. Without another word, the person picked him up and pulled him into the house.

"What happened?" the other man whispered in a low voice.

He remembered. "Oyaji," he croaked. Why was his voice so hoarse?

"What did you do? Is that yours or someone else's?" Echizen Nanjirou demanded.

He frowned and then looked at the front of his clothes. His eyes widened.

Oh god, what had happened?

-◊-

He jolted awake after remembering that piece. His breathing was more ragged than before and he wondered why. A shiver ran down his spine as he felt several people staring at him. He looked up to see numerous pairs of eyes on him. Feeling uncomfortable, he leaned into the person who was holding him.

Wait!

Ryoma looked at the person who was holding him in their arms. A sigh of relief almost came out when he saw that it was Kunimitsu. His relief was short-lived when he realized exactly what had happened. A frown formed on his face and he closed his eyes. He didn't need to deal with this.

"Are you all right?" his boyfriend asked.

He opened his mouth to respond. However, the words never came out. He noticed how badly he was shaking. No wonder his boyfriend was worried. He tried to remember the images that had played while he was unconscious for the brief moment. His head throbbed even more.

"I don't know," he muttered.

I don't know what is going on.

To be continued...