This oneshot was prompted by Sweet Obsidian Rain and based loosely on fanvids. If you're curious, the pairing was Akame, which I recently got hooked on thanks to Rain. Thrill pairing; mild shounen-ai. Rain, I hope you never read this, because it sucks, and I know it. Constructive criticism will be taken to heart.

Italics are flashbacks.

He still remembered those words, uttered so innocently and trustingly.

"I'll never walk away from you and leave you behind."

It was their promise, their unbreakable pledge, one they had made in the foolish throes of blind love. Looking back now, he could see that it could never have worked out, not in the way they would've liked. They were different, so different, yet so amazingly similar in aspects that it had driven a wedge between them.

They were both ambitious.

They were both extremely skilled.

But those very skills were their undoing in the end. Ambition won out over love, as shallow as theirs had been. The hunger to keep improving in tennis had proved to be too much of a siren to resist.

"Ne, Ryoma-kun, isn't the sunset pretty?"

"Hn."

Fuji turned to look at his boyfriend. He linked one arm through Ryoma's, smiling mischievously. "Ryoma-kun is quiet today, isn't he? Is there something bothering you?"

"Why did we have to come all the way to the beach?" Ryoma grumbled, pulling his white cap over slightly mussed green curls. "I hate sand getting into my shoes."

"Well, I thought that since some of us were graduating tomorrow, I wanted to spend some quality time with my Ochibi." Fuji teased, reaching out to brush slim fingers against Ryoma's cheek. "Before I move out."

Immediately, Ryoma's wide golden eyes snapped up in alarm.

"Where are you going?" He asked quietly.

Fuji, who had been admiring the crimson sunset, tilted his head to glance at the boy through thoughtful eyes. "Will you miss me?" He smiled.

"Where are you going?" Ryoma repeated.

Fuji's fingers searched and found the younger boy's hand. "Nowhere far. Just in the next city. I want to take up professional photography."

A frown creased Ryoma's forehead. "The next city? That's like...two hours away by plane."

"I'll come down often to visit." Fuji said laughingly, giving Ryoma's hand an affectionate squeeze. "Are you going to miss me?"

Ryoma frowned at his boyfriend.

"I'll never walk away and leave you behind." Fuji promised solemnly. "It's a pledge, Ryoma. Come on, promise me the same thing."

"Promise what?" Ryoma asked blankly. Fuji laughed. Ryoma could be so dense sometimes.

"'I'll never walk away and leave you behind.'" Fuji quoted. "That was from a book I read yesterday. Nice, isn't it? Come on, say it after me."

After much pestering and a bit of a bribe, Ryoma finally reluctantly repeated the words, making a face as he did so. "I don't see the whole point of this." He complained, rubbing a foot lazily in the warm white sand.

Fuji chuckled. He couldn't help it. Only Ryoma could be so dense and cute at the same time. He leaned over and planted a light kiss on the boy's cheek.

"It's a promise that'll last our lifetimes, okay?"

As he recalled that particular memory, Fuji smiled ruefully. Ryoma had sounded oddly sincere while repeating the promise – so sincere, in fact, that Fuji had almost been inclined to believe him.

Almost.

It hadn't really been Ryoma's fault, Fuji supposed. He himself had been quite absorbed by photography. He came home every spring break, and spoke to Ryoma often through phone calls. But somehow, during the years he had been away, the gap in their relationship began to crack even wider. It took just two years for them to lose touch completely.

They were clinging to an empty promise by then.

One day, when Fuji made one of his long overdue call to Ryoma's home, he was mildly surprised to find that it was Nanjiroh who had answered, not the cocky, bored voice that he had expected.

"Moshi moshi." Fuji said politely. "May I speak to Ryoma, please?"

There was a pregnant pause.

"Fuji-kun? Is that you?"

"Hai." Since when had Nanjiroh needed to ask to find out whether it was Fuji calling?

"Didn't Ryoma tell you?"

"Tell...me?" A sinking feeling appeared in the pit of Fuji's stomach. This did not sound good.

"The brat left for the United States last week. It was part of some company's deal. He got to play tennis, the company got the publicity. Didn't he tell you?"

Fuji's hand felt as if it had been glued to the receiver. "I see. Thank you for telling me, Nanjiroh-san."

"If you need to contact the brat - "

"It's fine. Thank you."

The silence of the room seemed to pound loudly in his ears as he looked around his modestly furnished apartment. Ryoma...was now miles away, in a foreign land where Fuji could not reach him. Why hadn't Ryoma told him?

Fuji flicked his answering machine on. Immediately, he was confronted by twenty one voice mails. As he scrolled through them, he listened to each one, wondering how he could have missed twenty one voice messages. Most of them were from Yumiko, though.

'Echizen Ryoma, 7.8.2007'

"Fuji-sempai, I just received an offer from KBM Company to sponsor me to play professional tennis in the State. They want an answer by next week. Should I go?"

'Echizen Ryoma, 13.8.2007'

"Fuji-sempai, you haven't called at all. You've missed twelve appointed phone calls by now. I've told them that I would go, and I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. I hope to catch you before then."

Fuji looked at his desk calender.

23.8.2007

How could be have missed those important voice messages from Ryoma? Had he really forgotten to call his boyfriend twelve times?

Perhaps it hadn't been Ryoma who had walked away. Perhaps it had been Fuji himself. Fuji was the one who had turned his back on the boy, absorbing himself with photography. He had forgotten that Ryoma had his own life to live. It was no one's blame but his.

"I'll never walk away and leave you behind."

It was an empty promise now. That was when Fuji knew...the magic spell had been broken. Even if he were to go back home, to where Ryoma had been, to places where they had shared so many magical memories...

He would never meet Ryoma again.

xEndx

Short, yes? (Text deleted)

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