This story is posted for this challenge:
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Chiquita Pair Week Day 1 prompt: Black Eye

It was as if everything happened in slow motion. Tachibana just wanted to show off the special move he had recently developed. Tachibana hit the ball with the throat of his racquet and ten times the number of balls would return to his sparring partner Chitose, all except one were illusions.

Chitose happened to hit the wrong ball with his racquet, and got hit in the eye with the right ball.

Chitose's racquet flung off his grip in shock and hit the ground with a resonate clang. Tachibana stood frozen watching his friend collapsed to his knees, trembling and gasping for breath. Chitose was clinging onto his damaged eye in vain hope to soothe the agony. The court was absolutely still.

It was not until his friend forced a glare at Tachibana that he snapped out his shock. What was he doing, he reprimanded himself. He wasted no more time and ran to find a teacher.

Chitose was then sent off to hospital. The teacher, fearing that some sort of brawl had occurred between the two best friends, forbid Tachibana from accompanying him despite Tachibana's pleas. Tachibana angrily went home, slammed his room door shut and tossed his bags to one corner. He was breathing heavily. The fire in him was burning madly, wanting to destroy anything in sight.

With the strength Tachibana always put to his shots, chances of Chitose surviving unscathed was extremely slim. His friend couldn't possibly play tennis anymore with only one good eye. It was the end of his tennis life, all because of him!

Clenching his right hand to a tight fist until his knuckles turned white, he hurled it to his right eye. It was only fair, an eye for an eye.

He couldn't.

His fist stopped inches away from his shut lids, shaking. He couldn't bring himself to do the same horrible thing he had done to his friend. He was too afraid of the consequences.

With a heart-wrenching roar, Tachibana swung his fist to the wall behind him. He could hear his knuckles cracking and it was cold until pain rushed over in a split second, the feeling of his bones being hammered. Tachibana turned to face the white wall. The image of the incident flashed before him, a boy with long blond hair standing over a boy with black hair crouching in pain. And he punched and pounded the wall until he could no longer feel his own fists.

Both of his knuckles were bleeding. He was growing dizzy with pain and exhaustion. If he had been actually punching the blond boy in the picture he forecasted, the boy would be badly bruised and bleeding on the ground now. But even then Tachibana was not satisfied. It was nothing compared to what he forced his friend to suffer through. He was guilty and he had no idea how to make up for it.

Tachibana continued to crush his numb fists against the wall.

His prediction was true. Chitose's eyes were so badly damaged that he would not be able to play for the team anymore. His tennis instructor had told him that Chitose would be forced to switch club. Upon hearing that, Tachibana decided to also resign from the team. Without one, there was no Two Wings of Kyushu.

Chitose had returned to school the day after the incident, much to Tachibana's dismay. When Tachibana walked into the class, his friend was surrounded by his classmates who were curious about his eye patch. Chitose noticed Tachibana and his bandaged hands immediately.

"What's with those?" Chitose pointed out loud. The questioning style was typical of the casual Chitose. Tachibana sought for any contempt or grudge or fear in his eye, but he only found the usual nonchalance. It was as if nothing had happened between them. Tachibana felt his chest constricted.

He was on edge. Just one wrong word would set Tachibana off and he still had perfectly healthy legs to go on rampage. Tachibana turned and stormed out of the class before he did something he regretted, ignoring the confused gaze from his classmates.

He spent the next two days at home to let his knuckles recovered. Whenever the uncomfortable feeling in his chest resurfaced, he would clench his knuckles, letting the pain dilute the feeling. It worked well in distracting him until his knuckles healed completely.

Staring at the faint crack he had made on the wall, Tachibana decided against renewing his wounds. Even if he was going to stop tennis altogether, he still needed his fists intact for most things. He needed to vent it on something else, and if he could not figure it out he intended on using his feet to get the job done.

As Tachibana scanned around his haphazard room, he caught a glance of his reflection on the dark screen on his television. Those long blond locks…Tachibana had grown them because of Chitose. They had always been very close since primary school to the point they were rarely seen without each other. Their classmates jokingly called them 'twins'. How cool would that be, Tachibana had thought, and he tried to grow his hair to match Chitose's.

"Cool~ We got similar hair." Chitose had remarked when his blond locks finally reached Chitose's length. Standing facing each other, Chitose twirled his finger around Tachibana's hair. "If you dye it black then we'll be exactly the same."

"I think I'll keep it." Tachibana had replied. "You can try dying your hair blond instead."

Both of them had laughed.

His friend was obsessively fond of his hair after he had grown it, constantly playing with it whenever he got the chance, braiding, twirling, or running his hands as if he was combing his hair.

When a samurai cut their top knot, it was due to them deferring from their responsibility for whatever reason. Tachibana had failed to be Chitose's friend. He thought it would be apt to cut his hair in the same manner.

He dyed it black too, because the short blond hair reminded him of what he used to have and it would make his chest hurt. Not that it helped though, for the ache persisted anyway.

"It's been a while!" Chitose greeted Tachibana who had just reached the classroom door. "Now you got new hair?"

Tachibana left the class room before he even entered it. He couldn't deal with this, with how his friend behaved as if Tachibana was innocent and everything was fine. He couldn't look at the eyepatch without feeling like punching a wall. He could not stand it for one second, let alone an entire three years.

Tachibana was forever thankful that his father agreed to transfer him away. What he needed was a fresh start. No Chitose, no tennis, and hopefully no more hurting.

In Fudomine, Tachibana caught himself in a situation where he started a fight against the tennis club's coach. After the drama he had stirred just because he could not stand by and watch the oppression of such promising freshmen, it was only fair that Tachibana took up the responsibility of the team. So he ended up picking tennis again.

It was not because he disregard his friend, he told himself. He had robbed tennis from his friend. Now he was fighting to allow the future generation in Fudomine to play tennis. It was his attempt at redemption, Tachibana reasoned. Though it still pained him that he was playing tennis and his friend could not.

When Tachibana heard Chitose had started playing tennis again, Tachibana was beyond ecstatic. Memories of their exciting games rushed back, of the happy days he wished to relive. At the same time he was afraid to see the consequences of his action reflected in Chitose's game. When he heard that he was slaying his opponents in matches, Tachibana was greatly relieved.

Tachibana decided to stop dying his hair black. The gesture was becoming meaningless now that both of them were playing tennis again.

Fate dictated them to meet once again, this time in Nationals Quarterfinals. Tachibana and Chitose were standing on the opposite sides of the court. Tachibana shivered. It was a familiar view that had haunted him. Tachibana would hit the ball and it collided and Chitose collapsed onto the ground.

"My eye is fine." Chitose assured him before the match. "Give me your full strength."

But Tachibana couldn't. He couldn't shake off the replays of their match a year ago. Even as Chitose was standing there with a laid-back smile, all Tachibana could see was his friend crouching in pain.

Chitose began his serve. Tachibana deliberately moved to let it hit his eye.

The pain shot up immediately to his head, but it was not so excruciating that he could not remain standing. Tachibana tried to see through that eye. His vision was slightly blurry, but he easily regained his focus after blinking several times, Besides the phantom ache, he was seeing just fine. Chitose had held back his power considerably on his serve.

"If you do that again I'm going to forfeit the match." Chitose threatened across the net.

"An eye for an eye." Tachibana countered. Though the pain was bearable, he had no intention of doing it again. It did nothing to sort his guilt.

"More like an eye for your knuckles, your hair, then your eye." Chitose counted using his finger. "I've forgiven you right on the day itself. When will you forgive yourself?"

The question rang in Tachibana's head throughout their match. He was still feeling guilty and it showed. He was actively avoiding Chitose's blind spots. He was not giving his all, even though his team relied on this match to stay in the tie.

He lost, 5-7.

Even so, Tachibana did not think he was playing easy. Chitose had grown in strength tremendously despite his injury. It was a fair match, and Tachibana was satisfied with the outcome.

"Your knuckles, your hair, your eye then you deliberately giving yourself handicap." Chitose told him after the match outside the court. "You almost make me hurt you too."

Chitose softly ran his thumb along Tachibana's closed lid, over the eye that he had nearly been forced to injure. "I've been through this. I know how painful it can get. I don't want you to go through the same thing."

Tachibana smiled, leaning onto the touch. "I'm sorry. I know how hard it is to live with the guilt of hurting your friend. I'm sorry for trying to put you in the same position."

Chitose beamed with a grin and pat both of Tachibana's shoulder. "You finally say sorry!"

Tachibana stared at him wide-eyed. Chitose ignored it and pulled his friend into a hug. "You're forgiven. I will tell you this again and again and again until you're sick of hearing it. I forgive you. If you still can't forgive yourself, fine. But no more hurting yourself."

Tachibana wondered why he had never thought of apologizing. But that did not matter anymore. He was still guilty of hurting his friend in the past and he would never forgive himself no matter how hard he tried. But if his friend was willing to, then Tachibana should not be exacting revenge on his friend's name. It did nothing other than hurting both himself and his friend, and he had hurt his friend beyond what he allowed himself to in a lifetime.

"I promise."

"So will you grow your hair again?" Chitose suddenly asked.

"Nah." Tachibana quickly dismissed, inwardly relieved at the change of topic. "It's troublesome to maintain it."

"But I like it~" Chitose's hand shot up to ruffle Tachibana's short blond locks. Though Tachibana gave a displeased face, he did not try to avoid it.

"Well too bad then." Tachibana smirked, letting Chitose had fun with his hair. It had been a year after all.

He had sworn on those blond locks back then. Just like how Chitose could never return to his uninjured self, Tachibana would never let himself become that person that could injure a friend ever again.

That's got to be the longest title I've used!

About the pair: the name Chiquita is so cute!
Besides that…I know nothing about the two. I have the wiki constantly open as I write this. If there're some inaccuracies…well…blame the wiki!