I do not own Prince of Tennis! I only owned Tezuka Kumiko!
Accident Happens
Prince of Tennis/TeniPuri story, EijiOC
"Tezuka, this is horrible!" Coach Ryuuzaki said she ran towards Tezuka who's surveying the freshmen.
"What is it, Coach?"
"It's Kumiko! She… she…!" Tezuka's eyes widened as everyone on the court, especially a certain red-haired acrobat freeze on their spot.
"… What happened to her?" Tezuka said cautiously.
"It was a hit and run! Yukimura just called! They're at the hospital right now!" Tezuka could feel his heart skip a beat as he stared at the ground.
"O-Oi! Eiji! Get a hold on yourself!"
"Tezuka!"
"Kikumaru!"
"Yukimura!" Tezuka called as he saw the Rikkai captain and his team sitting in front of an operation room. The said captain heard the call as he and his teammates all stood up to see their youngest member's older brother and his team running towards them.
"Tezuka."
"How's Kumiko?!"
"Sanada is currently calling your family to come over, I'm sure you didn't as you were in a hurry to come."
"I said how's Kumiko?!" Both of the team, excluding the other captain, had never seen the Seigaku's team captain acting like this.
"She's in critical condition… the doctors are doing what they can for her. She's still inside, the operation haven't finished yet."
"H-How did this happen, nya?" Eiji asked as both of his fists trembled. The Rikkai captain noticed the motion as his team members all looked longingly towards the operation room.
"We were walking together from school. When she went her separate ways from us, a car... sped towards her and hit her…"
"… but how?" Oishi asked as he held his partner's trembling shoulder.
"The road was empty… this wasn't supposed to happen, but the car was so fast… and Kumiko…"
"Enough."
"Bucchou…"
"I knew we should've told her to come with us!" Akaya cursed.
"Kirihara…"
"She should've agreed to come to get new grips with us…" Akaya said as his shoulders started to tremble.
"Poor Kumiko…" Yagyuu said.
"I said enough!" Tezuka yelled as Yukimura glared towards his team.
"I've called her home…" Sanada said as he approached his team.
"What took you?"
"… They took it pretty hard…"
"I see…" Suddenly they heard running steps, but they weren't running towards them… they were running away from them.
"Eiji!" Oishi yelled.
"Leave him, Oishi!" Fuji said.
"But Fuji!" Oishi was stooped when he saw Tezuka started trembling. After few agonizing hours of waiting, the lights on the sign board 'operation' had finally died and a doctor walks out from the door.
"Are you relatives?" Tezuka stood up.
"I'm her brother. How… is she?"
"She's alright for now, we've done everything we can. She lost quite some blood, but luckily she had been brought here right on time." Sighs of relieve and cheers erupted from both of the team. But the happiness was cut short when the doctor coughed to get their attention.
"But sadly, she took quite a hit on her head that she might not wake up for a while. She broke some ribs as well as her legs. Her left arm got a fracture so she needs to use a sling."
"Will she recover?"
"If she went into rehabilitation, she will. But she will have to use wheelchair for the time being. If I remember correctly, she plays tennis?"
"Yes."
"It's unfortunate, but she should stop for a while until her legs have fully recover."
"How long will that be, doctor?"
"It could be few months… it could be years… but…"
"But?" Tezuka said trying not to be rash.
"But it could be permanent… but I hope that doesn't happen. The probability of recovering is higher, if she took her rests and gradually move her leg."
"I see. Thank you, doctor." Tezuka said as he bowed.
"You can see her after she's moved to a ward shortly. Now if you excuse me." The doctor nodded and walked away from the group.
"Thank goodness…" Momoshiro said as he slumped against the wall.
"I'll go and tell Yuuta and my sister." Fuji said as he walks away from the team.
"I'll go and find Eiji…" Oishi said when the genius was nowhere to be found.
"We'll leave after we see her, is that alright with you, Tezuka?" Yukimura asked.
"… She'll like that…" Tezuka said.
"Bucchou, we'll go back first. I'm sure the others might want to know what happened."
"I'll go tell my dad." Kawamura and Momoshiro bowed and walked away, leaving Tezuka, Inui, Kaido, Ryoma and the Rikkai team.
"Bucchou, we'll be leaving first. We'll go back here soon." Kaido said as he and Ryoma walk away.
"Tezuka, I'll leave you alone." Inui said.
"Thanks." Tezuka said as Inui walked away.
"Do you want us to leave you alone as well?" Sanada asked.
"No, I'm sure Kumiko would want you guys to stay for a while." Tezuka said as a nurse led the towards Kumiko's assigned ward. When they opened the door, the Rikkai team couldn't help but freeze on their spots. Their youngest member is lying on the hospital bed, the only visible bandages are the ones on her head, but they know there's much more under the blanket.
"Kumiko…" Tezuka said as he sat at on the chair on her bedside.
"Miko-yan…" Yagyu said using her nickname.
"Now, why don't we all go back? We can visit again tomorrow."
"But…" Niou stopped when he felt Sanada's glare on him.
"She needs her rest, Niou." Yanagi said as he sighs.
"Fine." Kirihara said as he walks out from the ward.
"Hey, wait, Akaya!" Niou said as he followed Kirihara out.
"Well… Akaya's the closest to her… after all, they're the youngest." Yukimura said as Sanada slapped his forehead.
"We'll be leaving. Try and tell us if she wakes up." Tezuka gave a little nod as the Rikkai left.
"Kumiko!" Tezuka's head snap up when he heard his mother's distress call as his family entered the ward.
"Kaa-san. Tou-san. Jii-san."
"Kunimitsu, is she alright?" Kuniharu said.
"She'll be fine, that's what the doctor said. She hasn't woken up."
"My poor little girl…" Ayana said as she cried on Kuniharu's chest.
"Let's just hope she'll be awake soon, Ayana." Kunikazu said.
Outside, Oishi is still running in search for his missing partner. He has always known the acrobat's fondness towards their captain's younger sister. Usually, he found them going together for parfaits or for street tennis. Both of them seemed to have fun with each other, despite the rivalry between their schools. Their captain had been keeping extra eyes on how close the acrobat is to his sister, but it didn't seem to bother them, since they seemed to have fun with each other.
Rumours about their acrobat player dating their captain's sister had spread out like wildfire, which doesn't seem to affect the acrobat himself. But that did make their captain's training towards him even harder. Oishi chuckles when he remembered Eiji's whining to him about how hard their captain is towards him. Even if the rumours had spread out, Eiji still seemed to eat parfait together with Kumiko, which make Oishi even more curious to the truth. Oishi had been thinking that Eiji might not be affected since the rumour was true, seeing how close those two are, they might not realize it, but they may have the same feelings towards each other.
Thinking about those things made Oishi more determined to find his partner even more. He's not going to let him brood this alone, whether he likes it or not. Pain was supposed to be shared together, not burdened themselves with it.
"Oi! Eiji!" Oishi called when his partner is still nowhere to be found.
"Oishi?" Oishi quickly turned his head and saw Eiji coming out from the café he used to see him and Kumiko ate together.
"Eiji! Where have you been?" Oishi said as he approached his partner.
"I brought parfaits!"
"W-What?" Oishi was taken aback by Eiji's reaction.
"I bought parfaits for Kumi-chan when she wakes up, nya!" Eiji said.
"Wha..? How…?"
"Look, they even gave me dry ice!"
"Weren't you brooding…?" Oishi asked as he sweatdropped when he saw Fuji blowing the dry ice.
"Kumi-chan always told me not to brood. She always bought me this parfait when I was brooding when I lost a match." Eiji said as he grinned at Oishi.
"This parfait?"
"It's a berry parfait, nya! Her favourite!" Eiji said as he and Oishi began walking towards the hospital.
"Berry parfait is her favourite?"
"Kumi-chan always said that eating parfaits always cheered her up. But berries have always been her favourite. She said that it's her favourite, but she bought it for me when I lost."
"I see."
"Nee, Oishi, promise not to tell bucchou?" Now this made Oishi curious, what in the world would he hide from bucchou if it got nothing to do with him? Or does it have to do with someone related to bucchou? If he wanted to hide it from bucchou, it means one thing. This thing Eiji's going to talk about must have something to do with Kumiko, since bucchou doesn't seem to care about anything Eiji does except it has something to do with his sister.
"Sure. I won't tell bucchou, what is it?"
"I told Kumi-chan I liked her, nya." Just as he predicted, Oishi said to himself.
"R-Really?" Oishi said trying to be surprised.
"Yeah."
"And what did Kumiko-san said?"
"Nee, Oishi, you should've seen her! Her face was so red! She looked so cute!"
"I'm sure she was." Oishi said like a mother who pretended to agree with her child about something.
"And she told me she likes me too, nya~!" Eiji said.
"Now, better not to say that in front of bucchou, shall we?"
"That's why I told you to keep it a secret, nya!" Eiji whined as Oishi laughed.
"Right. Right. I won't tell bucchou. So, what's been going on after that?"
"Now that I think about it, nothing changed much, we just eat parfaits together, have fun. That's all. We sometimes played tennis against one another like before too."
"You just realized it, don't you?"
"Huh? What do you mean, Oishi?"
"Really, don't you think that before and after you said you like her it's going to be different? It's still called a date."
"Well, maybe you're right. I just don't get it."
"Well, that's just mean you're still good friends, right? And at least both of you had fun."
"That's Oishi for you!"
"But are you sure that parfait will last?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure Kumi-chan will wake up soon!"
"Well, let's hope that's true."
-----
"… Onii… chan…" Tezuka's head quickly shot up when he heard his sister called out to him.
"Kumiko?" Tezuka said softly as he held her hand.
"… Onii-chan?" Her eyes slowly opened as she moved her head to get a clear image of her brother.
"You're awake!"
"What… happened…? My head hurts…"
"It's okay, stay here. I'll call the doctor."
------
"Hey, everyone! Good news!"
"What is it Oishi?" Coach Ryuuzaki said.
"Kumiko! She's awake!"
"Really?!"
"Tezuka just called!"
"Alright!" Momo cheered as he grabbed Echizen in a headlock.
"Momo-senpai, it hurts."
"Alright, well go and pay a visit after practice."
"YOSH!"
"Isn't that good, Eiji?" Oishi said as he saw Eiji grinning at him.
"Yeah."
"Kumi-chan!" Eiji said as he and the others entered the room. Kumiko was sitting up on her bed with a nurse changing her head bandages.
"Whoa, everyone!"
"Kumiko-san, please stay still."
"Ah, my apologies." Kumiko said as the nurse cut the bandages.
"There, finished. Now don't strain your head and don't move your legs too much, alright?"
"Yes."
"Good." Then the nurse walked towards the door but when she saw Tezuka she became flustered and ran leaving Kumiko snickering.
"What is it now, Kumiko?" Tezuka said.
"Datte, datte~ onii-chan might not know, but you're quite a hit on the nurses." Kumiko said as she giggles once more.
"Don't make me hurt you."
"Onii-chan wouldn't dare hurt me, would he?" Kumiko said as she pouted. Fuji saw Tezuka twitched a little and chuckled.
"Kumi-chan! You're okay!" Eiji said as he hugged Kumiko.
"Itai! Eiji-kun! It hurts!"
"E-Eiji!"
"Waa! Gomen! Gomen!" Eiji said as he stepped away from Kumiko.
"Ow…" Kumiko said as she rubbed her legs.
"You still can't move your legs yet?" Fuji asked.
"Just a little bit. Still hurt." Eiji saw something in her eyes for a second and it disappeared as fast as it came. Tezuka sighed and patted her head.
"You'll be alright soon."
"Maa na."
"Hey, did someone come here before us?" Oishi asked when he saw a bouquet of flowers beside the vase.
"Sei bucchou and the others are here."
"They're here? Where are they?"
"Oh they're getting some drinks for themselves."
"Oi, Kumiko! I got Blueberry juice!" Akaya said.
"Arigatou, Kirihara-kun!"
"Nee, you sure you're not going to turn blue from all that blueberry?"
"Shut up! Blueberry is not blue!"
"Akaya, you shouldn't tease her since now you're not the youngest anymore."
"Shut up, Niou!"
"Yagyuu-san, bucchou?"
"He said he better get a check up while he's here." Sanada said.
"I see."
"How did you guys get here first? Bucchou had just called us." Momo said.
"Yukimura bucchou decided to come and pay a visit while he also wanted to go on a check up and we just came with him."
"Nee, Eiji-kun."
"Nanda?"
"Thank for the parfait, though I haven't eaten it yet."
"No problem, nya. It's good that Kumi-chan woke up, nya!"
"Kumiko-san?"
"Nanda? Oishi-senpai?"
"Eiji after seeing you're still in the operation room dashed out from the hospital and bought you the parfait."
"Waa! Oishi, you're mean!"
"Arigatou, Eiji-kun!"
"Oishi!!"
"Gomen gomen."
"Eiji-kun's face is so red!"
"Stop it!" Kumiko laughed and suddenly she coughed.
"Kumiko… haven't I told you to take it easy?" Tezuka said as he gave her a glass of water.
"Sorry, I got too carried away." Kumiko said as she drank the water and gave it back to Tezuka.
"Is something wrong with her?" Oishi asked.
"Her lungs, it seemed that they got hit as well."
"It's not that bad."
"How does cannot talk to much be not bad?" Yukimura said as he entered the room.
"Sei bucchou!" Kumiko said as she coughed once more.
"Kumiko-chan, if you kept this up, I can't let you join the club anymore. So please take good care of yourself."
"Hai."
"Good."
"Just be patient Kumiko."
"How can I? You guys are going to enter the nationals soon…"
"I'm sure you'll be out when the time comes."
"But…"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be alright." Yukimura said as he patted Kumiko's head.
"Hai…"
"Visiting hour is over." A nurse said as she opened the door.
"R-Right, we'll visit you soon, Kumiko-san." Oishi said.
"Mou, it'll be lonely again."
"Patience, Kumiko."
"Easy for you to say, onii-chan." Kumiko said as she stuck her tongue out at Tezuka.
"Bye-bye, Kumi-chan."
"Bye-bye, Eiji-kun!"
"You owe me match, Kumiko!"
"Yes, yes, Kirihara-kun." Everyone left the ward leaving Kumiko alone in the huge room. When the door closed, Kumiko dropped her hand and a tear slid down her face. She placed her hands on her face and cried.
"Why… does this room feel so… big?"
"Someone… help me…"
"Eiji-kun…"
"Oishi, did you call me?"
"No, something wrong, Eiji?"
"I thought I heard someone calling me, nya."
TeniPuri (c) Takeshi Konomi
I do not own anything except for Tezuka Kumiko