Dependence, a prince of tennis fanfic

Notes: I use - for sections and --- for a completely new part. Italics are used for flashbacks and thoughts. But you should be able to differentiate (I hope). Author's notes at the end if you have parts you don't understand.

Thanks: Much thanks to my betafor surviving my horrible grammar and tense, and for actually editing out all my mistakes.

It took his brain approximately 5 seconds to register the pain.

His kouhai was staring at his fist, and when he looked up, Inui couldn't read his expression at all.

There was a 20 percent chance it was due to anger, 30 percent chance that he had been hurt and a 50 percent chance that it was purely caused by a reflex action.

At least his kouhai's hand had relaxed considerably.

Inui wished he would stop processing data, and just let him be, but he did it out of sheer habit anyway.

"So… Sorry, Inui-senpai!"

The words were out of his mouth before he had registered the fact that he had punched his senpai, who was now on the floor, glasses askew.

Maybe he had over-reacted. Maybe Inui didn't deser-

Who was he trying to kid.

Still reeling from the force of Kaidoh's blow, Inui tried to say something, but somehow he couldn't find the words to explain himself. He wasn't even sure if Kaidoh wanted to listen to him anymore.

He let his half-raised arm fall back silently to his side, Kaidoh's face imprinted in his mind – those dark unreadable eyes; his expression seemingly explaining everything and yet not really saying anything.

---

Inui stared at his schoolbooks that were spread over the desk, with the familiar green notebook placed in its corner. He knew he was supposed to be reading the next chapter in advance, but somehow he just couldn't concentrate. Every time he attempted to complete a question, Kaidoh's face would appear before him.

He fixed his glasses properly on his nose.

Inui had expected to feel relieved and to be able to concentrate on other things, but now that he had finally done it, he was actually more preoccupied than ever.

But, he had to do it, hadn't he? That was the logical reasoning while he had been debating with himself over the matter, even though he had not wanted to. It was just plain selfish of him. As a senpai, he should have been thinking in the best interests for his kouhai, even though Kaidoh was techically no longer his kouhai.

Sometimes he wished he would not analyze things so much; a simple mind would make life so much more bearable.

Those dark unreadable eyes…

"Probability that Kaidoh hates me right now: 80 percent…"

Inui shook his head in frustration. He had Kaidoh on his mind again!

He slammed his physics book shut. This was not a good time to be looking at equations and formulas; they were just making his head spin even more.

This was impossible.

The coolness of the water against his face felt so good to him.

Inui watched the water droplets slide slowly down the sides of the sink. He lifted his head, staring at the mirror, at his water stained face. Staring, as the water droplets left a trail down his cheek…

No! He, Inui Sadaharu, does not cry. He had not cried since he started middle school, not even during his graduation last year. But here he was, defying all his data, and he did not care.

Dark green eyes looked back seriously at him. Those eyes that were usually hidden behind thick lenses, never revealing what he was truly thinking about, what he truly felt.

He blinked, they blinked. Were they laughing at him?

He was just like everyone else, maybe a little sadistic at times, but everyone had their own sense of humor.

He cleaned his face, wincing slightly as the towel brushed against his cheek, where Kaidoh's fist had connected with his jaw.

It hurt.

Inui had been reading the same sentence over and over again. The same numbers floated up, as though they were mocking him. He considered washing his face again; after all, it appeared to have helped; or making a cup of coffee to refresh his mind, but the probability of him not being able to sleep after that was 88 percent.

Then he would get into more trouble in school for oversleeping.

Inui forced himself to finish the last question, he might have had made up a formula somewhere, before finally collapsing on his bed, exhausted from the day's events.

And suddenly he couldn't sleep, he was wide awake.

Now that he didn't have anything to focus on, his mind wandered back to the few hours ago. Kaidoh's face haunted him; it had been haunting him ever since he had returned home. Those eyes, widening as Kaidoh heard the words come out of Inui's mouth.

It was almost 12am, but Inui decided to risk it, even though the probability that he was still awake was only a mere 40.

Inui was more distracted than before, he had been staring at the ceiling for the past 1.5 hours. He needed to talk to someone who would understand.

The phone rang, but there was no response from the other end. Inui sighed; he had been hoping he was wrong. He wanted to be wrong, but after all, his data hardly lied.

A neatly folded piece of paper fluttered gently onto the floor as Kaidoh pulled his bandana from his locker shelf. He didn't take particular notice of it; after all, it could just be some random piece of scrap paper.

The shadow next to him bent down and picked it up.

"Kaidoh-senpai, it's addressed to you."

He grunted, but took the paper anyway. He felt his heart leap, just for that moment; he could have recognized that neat precise handwriting anywhere.

"Fshuu."

Kaidoh tossed it back into the locker.

Echizen looked at Kaidoh's retreating back. "Momo-buchou, Kaidoh-senpai looks crankier than usual."

That was before morning practice.

Momoshiro hardly bothered about Kaidoh; Kaidoh wasn't one who needed taking care of in the first place. But today, Kaidoh was so indifferent during morning training that he couldn't help but feel just a little bit concerned.

Not that he'd ever tell Kaidoh that, ever.

Echizen concluded that Kaidoh was just more irritated than usual; their fukubuchou had been handing out laps for the smallest reasons, even more than when Tezuka had been their buchou while at Seigaku. And it continued until Momo couldn't sit back and watch anymore, and had thrown out ten laps at Kaidoh.

No, Kaidoh was not himself today. Come to think of it, Momo had not been in a fight with Kaidoh, or a verbal argument; Kaidoh hadn't even threatened him yet, not even when Momo had yelled "Kaidoh, 10 laps!" at him. He had just shrugged and went off to run.

He watched Kaidoh toss something into the waste paper basket as he was exiting the clubhouse, and noticed that Kaidoh paused mid-step, and picked it up again.

It was most unlike the Kaidoh he knew.

Momo thought the "To: Kaidoh" on the paper looked familiar, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen it before.

"Inuiiiiii... What ever happened to your face? It's a lovely purple, nya."

That was the tenth time someone had asked him that, not including the teacher. Kawamura had mentioned it briefly to him while they had passed each other in the hallway that morning, and so had his classmates. But coming from Kikumaru, Inui didn't feel as exasperated.

"That looks painful, Inui," Oishi added. "You should get it checked."

Inui grimaced. He should have put something over it before going to school. But he just had not expected everyone to gawk at the purpling bruise.

Kaidoh wasn't prepared for what he was experiencing now; that huge rush of emotions he did not know to control.

Thank goodness he had not opened it during school hours.

For the first time since their senpais had graduated, Kaidoh skipped that afternoon's tennis practice.

Inui felt terrible; terrible because the bruise was killing him, terrible because of the reason behind it, terrible because he had barely slept the night before, terrible because Kaidoh probably hated him right now and would never want anything to do with him again.

"Feels terrible, doesn't it, Inui," a gentle voice said in his ear.

"Probability that he never wants to see me again: 100." Inui slammed his locker shut, startling a few girls at the opposite side of the hallway.

"I'm not so sure about that…"

Inui looked up. What did he mean? But he was already heading down the corridor, throwing a casual wave behind at Inui.

"I forgot, sorry for not picking up last night. You understand, don't you?"

Yet more riddles – it was giving Inui a headache. Fuji laughed lightly.

"Don't worry about it, you will in time. Good luck, Inui."

---

Even if you were hurt by some words, and your heart was hurt, the day when you can talk about it with a smile will surely come. Therefore, until then, I hope you won't stop searching.

Kaidoh felt even more horrible than he did yesterday. Maybe it was because the reality of it all hadn't sunk in yet, or maybe he was just hadn't admitted it.

He stared sullenly at the ceiling.

And his little brother bounced onto him.

"Nii-san, why aren't you at school? Did something happen? Don't you have tennis today? Aren't you supposed to meet Inui-san for your new training menu today?"

Kaidoh hissed fiercely at the mention of his name. That bastard.

"Hazue, get out of my room, now," he growled. He was not in the mood for questions; he wasn't in the mood for anything.

Hazue's eyes widened at Kaidoh's tone of voice. His brother was really in a horrible mood to have skipped practice. And Kaidoh had never, ever demanded him out of the room before. He slid of Kaidoh's lap, and slunk meekly for the door.

Kaidoh stared at the closing door.

This is all Inui-senpai's bloody fault.

"Kaoru, is everything alright?" Kaidoh's mother asked. "You seem rather different today."

"Ah? Yeah, I'm fine," Kaidoh mumbled.

His parents exchanged a glance with each other. "Kaoru, if there's anything bothering you-"

"I'm fine."

Couldn't anyone leave him alone? He was fine, wasn't he?

Kaidoh let out a hiss and looked for a towel. Maybe a run would help take his mind off things.

There was a meek knock on his door.

"What?" Kaidoh snapped, irritated.

The door opened a crack, and Hazue's face appeared. "Err… Just… Just checking to see if everything's okay. Nii-san's been acting strange all day… Since yesterday…"

Kaidoh's expression softened. He stepped out of his room in his training attire, standing next to Hazue. He ruffled Hazue's hair gently.

Just like how Inui-senpai used to ruffle his hair…

Kaidoh shook his head. Hazue tugged at Kaidoh's shirt, looking up at him.

Sorry, Hazue.

---

The last person Kaidoh expected to meet on his running was, of all people, that idiot. Momoshiro was standing, at the entrance of the part, like he had been expecting Kaidoh to turn up for the past hour or so. Buchou or not, Kaidoh was not even interested in him.

How the hell did Momoshiro know where he usually ran anyway?

"Move," he growled, so low that he wasn't sure if Momoshiro had heard him. He probably hadn't because that idiot was still there, arms crossed, looking eerily like Tezuka-buchou when he was not pleased with one of the team. Kaidoh hissed, and started off in a different direction.

Momoshiro had him in a death grip.

"What the hell?" Kaidoh snapped, trying to pull away. "Let go of me, you bastard!"

"Kaidoh!" Momo grabbed his shirt. "Oi, mamushi! Shut up and listen!"

"Fshuu," Kaidoh snarled. He glared at Momoshiro. Get lost you idiot.

The next thing Kaidoh realized was Momoshiro's fist connecting with his cheek. It was not hard, but it hurt enough.

"What the hell's wrong with you? You're acting weird, so very weird," Momoshiro muttered.

"Inui-senpai?" They hardly trained together anymore, blame it on their clashing schedules, but he had felt pleasantly surprised when Inui-senpai had came down on that day. Inui-senpai usually called if he wanted to train when it wasn't scheduled.

Inui-senpai didn't say anything; he just climbed down to the riverside. Inui-senpai was definitely acting strange – not talking to him. Had he done something wrong?

Kaidoh couldn't stop wondering about that, it had been nagging him ever since yesterday. It was the feeling that the only reason why Inui had acted like that was because Kaidoh had made an unforgivable mistake.

Momo watched Kaidoh's eyes change. It was no longer frantic nor faraway like it had been that morning, it was a much saner Kaidoh.

"Why did you miss tennis practice? You knew we were going to have mock matches today."

"Sorry."

"I asked Fuji-senpai if he had seen you, but he gave me this look and told me to ask Inui-senpai. He was kind enough to tell me that you run by this park."

Kaidoh made a mental note to change his running route. He definitely did not need people like Momoshiro stalking him.

"Inui-senpai? What's this?" He looked pointedly at the notebooks Inui-senpai was holding out, and the few computer disks.

"Your data."

"My data? Why are you giving them to me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" To Inui, perhaps. He didn't understand. "I have no more need for them. You'd benefit more by looking through them yourself instead of depending on my opinion."

By himself? Was Inui-senpai insane?

"Senpai, what are you talking about?"

"This is your data, not mine. So I'm returning them to you." Inui-senpai placed the items on the ground. "I am sorry, we have to end things here."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can no longer help you like I used to, so it's for the best if we just end things here. Of course, it is perfectly acceptable for you to ask me on occasion if you require any assistance."

How could Inui-senpai sound so detached? He wanted Inui-senpai to break into a smile and say it was a joke, anything but leave him on his own; he, if Inui-senpai didn't already know it, depended on him…

"It's not good to keep things bottled up inside, not good at all." Momo waved a hand in front of Kaidoh's face.

Kaidoh's gaze dropped.

He finally waded out of the water and walked up to Inui-senpai. Those glasses hiding everything that Inui-senpai felt. He was in a daze; what caused Inui to give up on him? Was Inui-senpai finally tired of gathering data on him? Was he so predictable that Inui-senpai no longer required anymore data?

Why?

"What happened between you and Inui-senpai?"

Silence. Kaidoh was still looking away from him. How had Momoshiro figured it out?

"Inui-senpai had a big purple bruise on his left cheek. Why did you punch him?"

Was Momoshiro reading his mind?

"Well, if you don't want to talk, fine. But talking does take your mind off things."

Kaidoh finally looked up, and Momo was shocked by what he could see in Kaidoh's eyes.

He had apologized automatically, but there had been no heart behind the apology.

Inui-senpai just didn't understand…

Kaidoh had not managed to finish his run, having bumped into Momoshiro. But that guy wasn't so bad after all, even though he had to keep picking fights with him. Momoshiro was in fact a very good buchou, as good as Tezuka-buchou had been before he graduated and went overseas – maybe Momoshiro was even better.

"Well, mamushi, whatever Inui-senpai did, he had a reason."

What damn reason could Inui-senpai have had? Was everything that he told Kaidoh a lie?

"I'm sure Inui-senpai feels terrible too. You are, after all, his favourite kouhai."

"Were." Kaidoh had said flatly.

"Are. You should have seen him when I asked him where you could be this afternoon, and when I told him that you had skipped practice. He looked ready to run to look for you."

Kaidoh stopped and turned back towards the park. Why couldn't Inui-senpai have done that instead?

Momoshiro had left.

Kaidoh would never let Momoshiro know, but he was sure Momoshiro would anyway.

Thank you.

---

Inui looked at his cell phone. Sometimes he wished he was not an only child; it was lonely at times, having no one to talk to, no one to have fun with, even no one to bully. He wondered how Tezuka managed it, it must be even more lonely by himself overseas. But knowing Tezuka, he would have no problems, not like Inui.

He admit, he missed having Tezuka to talk to, even though Tezuka listened more than he talk, but it was better than nothing.

It was a Friday, and he usually went training with Kaidoh once Kaidoh called, but there would be no phone call today.

"You understand, don't you?"

What was he supposed to understand? Inui wished Fuji would be more direct, instead of going around in circles. He wondered if Kaidoh had read his note; it was written half-heartedly anyway.

Inui picked up his cell phone and dialed a number once again. He wasn't expecting much, and was 75 certain that he would reach the voicemail again.

Kaidoh was training at the river again. He should know, Kaidoh's routine was embedded in his head; there was a 99 chance that Kaidoh would be at the river at this time.

"Inui-senpai?"

Kaidoh sounded surprised. Inui was not supposed to turn up today. He climbed down to the riverbank, holding out the items he had carried carefully the whole way there.

He had to do it now, or he would never be able to bring himself to do it later.

Inui left his seventh voice message. Fuji would call back once he was free, but at least he would know that Inui thought this was a serious matter.

That's how he felt anyway.

Inui looked back to his homework. He had plenty of time now and besides, he was used to waiting.

"Inui-senpai? What's this?" Kaidoh seemed incredulous.

He glanced down briefly at the items, and took a breath to steady himself. "Your data."

He wasn't expecting those two words to be so hard to say.

"Why are you giving them to me?"

He had not calculated Kaidoh to be so persistent in his questioning. "Isn't it obvious? I have no more need for them." He never needed them anyway; he knew Kaidoh so well, better than the others, and it was always a pleasant surprise when Kaidoh defied his data. "You'd benefit more by looking through them yourself instead of depending on my opinion."

"Senpai, what are you talking about?"

He couldn't look at Kaidoh. "This is yours, not mine. So I'm returning them to you." No matter how much I want them to be. He stooped down and placed the notebooks and computer disks on the ground before him. "I am sorry, but we have to end things here."

Kaidoh wouldn't understand; Inui had never wanted to do this. Helping Kaidoh was something Inui enjoyed doing, regardless of how little time he had, but there was no way he could explain this to Kaidoh.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaidoh sounded angry.

He noticed Kaidoh's hand curl into a fist. He had been expecting that; there was a 73 chance of Kaidoh getting angry. But Kaidoh's face was an expressionless one, not allowing Inui to see past his outermost layer.

Inui looked down at his notebook, eyebrows relaxing. He was not one for art, but somehow, he had absent-mindedly doodled a little angel on the side margins. He smiled ruefully to himself.

That wasn't in the data.

He watched in silence as Kaidoh waded out of the water and headed towards him. All he did was watch him, a thousand thoughts running through his mind. He didn't understand either; Kaidoh was more than just a kouhai to him, ever since they had first played doubles against Hyotei, all the way to their final win together in the Nationals.

He had always felt happiest whenever they were with each other; even though they did not do crazy things like Momoshiro and Echizen, but just simply enjoying each other's company; that was how he liked it. And yet he discovered that it was due to this that he was distracted from everyday work.

He had spent the entire week going through how he should do it. He had considered just redrawing the line in their relationship, but they were no longer the senpai and kouhai they were during the Kantou Tournament – or he just wasn't the senpai he used to be anymore.

The silence in the apartment was really grinding his nerves. His parents were never around, the rest of his family were scattered. Inui wished he could have someone to talk to, someone who understood; there was always Renji, but he'd probably be helping Kirihara with his English homework.

Damn you, Renji.

Inui scratched out the angel.

Kaidoh finally found what he was looking for. He glanced over at this cell phone.

Kaidoh punching him had not been in the data. It had been such a low possibility that Inui had not seriously considered it. Kaidoh had apologized, but Inui had concluded that it was automatic for someone of Kaidoh's nature.

He supposed he deserved it. He wanted to tell Kaidoh why he really did it, but seeing Kaidoh's expressions, he realized that he probably would not be able to find the correct words to tell him. That Kaidoh was causing him to fail high school? No.

Kaidoh's brow was furrowed, but Inui noticed his hand was no longer clenched. It just dropped limply by his side.

Inui was not looking at the scratched out angel anymore, but he was gripping the pen so tightly that it hurt. He didn't want things to end that way.

Kaidoh…

He wanted to swap places with Renji. Renji, who probably never needed to worry about his grades or struggle to pass his subjects with the excuse of having no time; Renji, who certainly had no reason to stop tutoring Kirihara; Renji, whose family –

Inui had drawn another angel next to the original.

Yet he could not see it clearly.

If he could have another chance…

His cell phone finally rang.

---

"Hello?"

"Inui-senpai."

"Kaidoh."

"Meet me by the river in 20 minutes. I have something of yours."

When it came to Kaidoh, Inui was always wrong. He was early, but it was because he couldn't stay in the apartment any longer.

Kaidoh jogged slowly towards the river.

"Well, if you don't want to talk, fine. But talking does take your mind off things."

"No." Go to hell, Momoshiro. This concerned him and Inui-senpai, and Kaidoh will deal with it himself.

"Well, mamushi, whatever Inui-senpai did, he had a reason," Momo shrugged.

That reason was probably him.

"Try and listen instead of punching him."

It was not that Kaidoh didn't want to listen, Inui just didn't say anything.

"I'm sure Inui-senpai feels terrible too."

Kaidoh was the one who felt terrible. But Momoshiro seemed to know exactly what had happened. His ability to read people wasn't just confined to the tennis courts.

"You are after all his favourite kouhai."

Was he?

"He looked ready to look for you."

Baka, Inui-senpai.

Why was he listening to Momoshiro anyway?

Inui realized he had forgotten his cell phone. He could run back and get it, but he didn't have the chance.

"Inui-senpai."

"You're early."

"I didn't feel like waiting at home."

"Momoshiro told me you missed practice today." Why?

"I apologise." So he still cared. "You didn't have to tell him my running route."

"I was worried. Besides, there was a 97 chance that Momoshiro would have checked up on you." Although I could have been the one to do that.

"He did." Why didn't you go instead, senpai?

"So, Kaidoh. What did you want to return me?"

Kaidoh hadn't thrown the data Inui have given him away, that was quite surprising. He had been so mad he'd just tossed them into a corner. His mother had just left them as they were.

Kaidoh realized that he never really knew what kind of data Inui-senpai collected of him.

His hand paused over the cover of the first book, with his name 'Kaidoh Kaoru' written neatly in the center. Inui had given them to him, yet he felt that they never really belonged to him anyway.

His finger brushed against a small mark near his name. Kaidoh smiled as he made out what the doodle was.

Momoshiro was right.

Kaidoh held out the bundle to Inui. "There were yours… No, are yours, senpai."

"But, Kaidoh –"

"Momoshiro told me to listen to you, but you never told me anything."

Inui looked at Kaidoh directly for the first time since he received the punch.

"Why?" Kaidoh asked again.

Inui couldn't say anyway. Why was it so hard to swallow one's pride?

"Senpai."

His mouth twitched at a corner. "I failed last term, because I was spending most of my time elsewhere..."

Kaidoh was still waiting.

"And even though you might not understand - as your senpai too." Inui chuckled sadly. "I was being selfish, I suppose. I had to sacrifice something." Even though I still haven't figured out why I picked you.

Kaidoh glared at a smiling Inui.

"You bastard!"

"There is a 77 percent chance of you punching me." Inui stood still, the smile still on his face.

Kaidoh's fist stopped centimeters from Inui's already swollen cheek.

"But there is also a 93 percent chance of you knowing that I trust you enough to not hit me again." Inui covered Kaidoh's fist with his hand, and pulled him into a hug.

Inui-senpai could be such a dork at times.

Kaidoh knew Inui wouldn't move, because Kaidoh would never punch someone without a reason. And Inui had given him a reason to not punch him.

He let himself be pulled into Inui's gentle embrace. Kaidoh never expected a second hug since the one he gave Inui at his graduation last year. He let his fingers brush Inui's bruised cheek.

"Sorry about the bruise."

Inui noticed Kaidoh's expression wasn't so unreadable now. The bruise didn't hurt anymore – it was just a fading scar in his memories.

"I should be the one apologizing."

Kaidoh was close enough to Inui to see right through those thick spectacle lenses. Dark green eyes that looked as serious as Inui usually did. But right now, they were smiling softly at him. He let his fingers linger for a few moments more.

"Baka, Inui-senpai." Kaidoh finally smiled. "All you had to do was tell me."

Inui ran his hand through Kaidoh's uncovered hair.

"You know you can depend on me, senpai."

And solve our problems together.

---

Kaidoh opened the door quietly. Hazue had fallen asleep doing his homework again. Not wanting to wake his brother up, Kaidoh looked around the desk and found what he was looking for.

A minute later, Kaidoh crept out silently. Hazue would see it when he woke up.

Hazue had not been fully asleep. He opened an eye as Kaidoh closed the door behind him. Smiling, he picked up the piece of paper Kaidoh had left behind.

Sorry Hazue.

Nii-san was back to his normal self again.

Hazue heard a faint distant sound of the front door opening, then closing again.

Inui opened his room door just as his cell phone stopped ringing. He knew he shouldn't have left it at home.

Someone had left a voice message.

Inui keyed in his voice mailbox number. There was no number recorded, but even if Inui did not recognize the voice, there was a 84 chance he would still know who had left it – his data was hardly wrong after all.

"Congratulations Inui. I see you finally understand. All the best."

Inui smiled to himself as he heard Fuji's message. He still had uncertainties, but as Kaidoh had said, they would solve it together.

Inui's hand knocked into the pile of data Kaidoh had returned to him. All the data from the day he had lost to him, to when Kaidoh first hit his boomerang snake, to when they first played doubles, how Kaidoh had trusted him to take all the data on the Shishido-Ootori pair and he knowing Kaidoh would not let him down, to their unbeaten doubles streak during the nationals, to when Inui had finally graduated from Seishun Middle School.

Inui looked at the cover of the first book. Squinting a little, he noticed a figure he had never seen before. He smiled as he noticed an addition in Kaidoh's handwriting.

I see you finally understand…

He looked out of the window and saw a figure running by the apartments. He paused as he stood in front of the bookshelf, still holding onto the books. He thought for a moment and returned with the books to his desk.

I finally know the reason why I picked Kaidoh. It's because he would be able to understand as he had always depended on me.

Inui's fingers brushed the little angel and stopped on Kaidoh's additional word. He looked out of the window – the figure had stopped. Inui raised a hand in a half wave, but the latter probably wouldn't be able to see anyway. Inui lifted his finger off the word.

Next to the angel, in Kaidoh's handwriting, was the word "Senpai."

Inui watched the figure turn and run off. He placed the books in a corner and switched off his desk light.

And that I depend on him.

-END-

Author's notes: I apologise if you read this fic and decided that it was a complete flop, but I hope you enjoyed my Inui as much as I liked writing him. I know I left quite a lot of unanswered things, but hopefully you actually managed to figure it out, because I have no fixed ending, it's up to you to decide; and I had hell forcing an ending out, although I really liked the last section (and Inui's 2nd section) quite the most. The original ending line was 'And solve our problems together', but it was an even worse ending that what I squeezed out - actually I wrote Kaidoh's part really early during the writing process, but not Inui's. And now I present my inspiration for this fic - Fairytale by Guang Liang. I did put in some sections from the song without typing out the lyrics, maybe it isn't that obvious.

And if you did not understand the whole Renji part, please rest assured that my beta did not either, so here is my explanation: Inui was jealous of Renji, who had everything he did not; that's how Inui felt anyway. When Inui scratched out the angel, it's because he had no idea on what to do, and that he cannot salvage what's left of his relationship with Kaidoh, even though he wants to. That was my idea when I was writing that section, it might not be what you feel though.

I hope you got the idea that Tezuka has left to study overseas. And Fuji is being mean, but he wants Inui to figure things out by himself, hence very few sections with Fuji. Also needed him to push Inui on with his thoughts. Momo had a bigger role in the end, which wasn't what I was aiming for at first, heh. :D I hope you were able to piece the whole story together, and I apologise for my horrible writing skills.