Hi everyone~ So this is the conclusion/sequel to Destruction and I decided to be nice and make a sequel... It is NOT continuing, so don't bother as- pfft, I'll probably end up continuing it eventually. I am working on Rebirth, but I had sudden inspiration and had to write this. I tend to do that, don't I? ._. *sigh* I'm sorry everyone. I'm just a very fast-paced thinker and whatnot. This was inspired by a dream I had. This is (again, like always), unbeta'd, so all mistakes are mine~
Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis...
Just a by the way, you might want to read Destruction first before reading this. It may or may not make sense, depending on if you can catch on directly from here.
Dull blue eyes swept lifelessly over the empty tennis courts, the wind blowing through his caramel hair. Voices echoed in the boy's head as he sat on the courts, a lifeless hand holding the racket loosely across his lap. Suddenly, there was a voice behind him. "Fuji-senpai?" The said boy turned around to see their team's first year prodigy. Ryoma looked shocked at the state of Fuji. The tensai was paler than normal, almost ghost-white, his cheeks were sunken in, as if the teen had lost weight recently, and his usual smile wasn't there. What caught Ryoma's attention the most were his eyes though. Those blue sapphire eyes, normally so bright and full of life, looked betrayed, hurt and in a world of hell. The large, black bags underneath the pair didn't help at all, but instead gave Fuji a more human look. Yet he was still beautiful. He looked like he had been through hell, but he still looked like an angel.
"Hi Echizen. What brings you here?" Fuji asked, turning away to stare out onto the courts again.
"I saw you sitting here and I thought you would like some company." Ryoma dropped his tennis bag. "Would you like to play?"
"… I haven't played since…" Fuji's voice trailed off. The first-year looked sideways to the other boy and saw that his hand had tightened on the racket handle and his eyes were clenched shut, a crystalline tear threatening to fall from the corner of his eye.
"Come on. Let's play." Ryoma unzipped his bag and took out his usual red racket and a few tennis balls. He held out a hand and let the third-year take it before hoisting him up. "Here, you can serve." He handed Fuji the balls and jogged lightly to the other side of the court to stand on the right side of the baseline. In comparison, however, the other boy trudged and dragged his feet to the right side of the baseline on his side of the court.
"Zero serving zero. Love-all." Fuji called in a hollow tone before throwing the ball up and brought his arm up to hit the yellow sphere. The ball hit the net. The tensai took out another ball and repeated the action; however, this time the ball soared over the net and landed in the doubles alley.
"O-out." Ryoma called shakily, looking at the spot where the second serve had landed. "Fuji-senpai, are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine." Fuji replied. "Come on. Love-Fifteen." He was already at the left side of the baseline. Ryoma followed his actions. Fuji served again and this time the ball landed in, although the path of the ball was off as it curved into the court instead of flying in a straight line. Ryoma hit the ball back easily and a light rally began. Fuji won this point as he hit a ball to Ryoma's far backhand and then gave the raven-haired boy a drop shot.
"Nice point, Fuji-senpai." Ryoma smiled gently at the other boy as he hit the ball back over for Fuji's serve. He cradled it with his racket and took the ball off of the strings.
"Thanks. Fifteen-all." The tensai bounced the ball once, twice and then served. Ryoma hit a forehand ground shot back before Fuji lobbed it towards the net. The prince charged towards the net and took the lob out of the hair, slamming it down in a smash, before he remembered the tensai's famous counter. However, Fuji did not execute a technique, choosing instead to return it with another lob, except this time it was over Ryoma's head. Ryoma ran back to the baseline and hit the lob with an in-between the legs shot that barely skimmed over the net. However, this ball was low and Fuji's return hit the net.
"Fuji-sen-" Ryoma stopped when he saw Fuji cupping his hand underneath his nose. "Fuji-senpai!" The first-year ran up to the tensai, jumping over the tennis net between them just in time to see red blood trickling from Fuji's hand. Wrapping an arm around the bleeding boy, Ryoma led him off the courts to sit on a bench. He pulled out a towel from his bag and threw it to Fuji. Blue eyes eyed him warily. "Use it before you bleed all over yourself."
"Call… 1… 1…. 9…." Fuji gasped through his mouth, struggling to breathe. Ryoma did as he was told and after he spoke rapid instructions to the person who picked up, he looked at his senpai, worry and concern etched on his face.
"Fuji-senpai…" Ryoma began to speak, but stopped when Fuji shook his head slightly. Blood had begun to trickle down the tensai's pale arms, staining his shirt. The first-year fell silent and contented himself by looking down at the ground. A few minutes later, the wail of an ambulance could be heard and Ryoma looked up in relief, but that relief quickly turned to panic when Fuji fell, face-first, onto the ground.
"I need two units of B blood stat!" The EMT looked down at the pale teen lying on the stretcher, who now held a blood-red towel in his hand, and was covered in his own blood. He was breathing lightly, his chest barely rising up and down. "We've got someone needing blood! Hurry!" A nurse hurried over and directed the team to an empty bed. They lifted Fuji and placed him on the bed. The attending doctor in the emergency room rushed over, an IV bag full of crimson blood in her hands. She quickly slipped the bag onto the IV pole and then screwed on the tube and the needle before slipping it under Fuji's skin with well-practiced precision. The blood began to flow through the tube and into the boy's skin. Another nurse had placed a stat monitor onto Fuji's left ring finger.
Fuji continued to sleep, his breath still coming hard to him and his body drenched in the red life-liquid that still flowed from his body.
Ryoma looked at the tensai, eyes wide in shock. He refused to believe that it was his senpai lying there, on the brink of death. Fuji-senpai was strong. This had to be a joke. Fuji would sit back up with a smile and then show Ryoma what the blood was really made out of. Strawberry syrup, ketchup, fake blood, anything. But Fuji did not move. Ryoma stared at him and held back tears. Fuji Syuusuke was not weak… He was so strong… He was the strongest of his senpai. Fuji always was there in the background of the team, but he held the team together. He was the pacifist to Tezuka's insane punishments. Tezuka… Speaking of the captain, Ryoma made a decision. Gripping his cell phone, he dialed a phone number.
"Fuji-senpai…"As the phone rang, he reached out a hand and brushed the older boy's pale forehead, just to make sure he was real and not a ghost.
"Hello?" Tezuka picked up the phone after three rings. "Echizen?"
"Buchou, you. IDIOT." Ryoma snarled harshly into the phone. He looked towards Fuji's stat monitor screen.
"Echizen, what is this about?" Tezuka asked impatiently.
"Do you really have no idea?" The prodigy didn't care that this was his respected captain that he was scolding. Golden eyes scrolled down the numbers on the right side of the screen. "Fuji-senpai's lying in the hospital now."
"…" Tezuka remained silent.
"It's YOUR fault, buchou." He shot the accusation at the other in a very ruthless tone.
"I'm sorry to hear that Fuji's in the hospital." The stoic boy did not sound sorry at all. "I hope he gets better soon."
"He's not going to- ARGH!" Ryoma ignored the few nurses who were staring at him as he snapped his phone shut.
"Excuse me?" The first-year turned around to see the doctor who had done the blood transfusion on his senpai. "Are you the one who brought Fuji Syuusuke in? I'm Dr. Sayuki, the attending doctor in the emergency room."
"Yes. Is h- Will he be all right?" Anxious eyes turned to the boy. The doctor's eyebrows furrowed.
"Fuji-kun lost a good amount of blood… He started to have a major nosebleed… And he seems to have many bruises over his body. Do you know anything about this?" She asked, her voice kind. Ryoma shook his head rapidly. "He now has a fever that's rising very rapidly now as well, uhm…" She paused, indicating for Ryoma to introduce himself.
"I'm Fuji-senpai's teammate, Echizen Ryoma." His voice was dull and disbelieving.
"Echizen-kun… These symptoms all point to leukemia. I'm not sure what type, but I need to conduct some blood tests." She held up a vial of blood labeled 'Fuji Syuusuke- Type B'. "I collected this blood before the transfusion began, so it's clean. Can you give us Fuji-kun's parent's numbers?" She held out a pad and pen for Ryoma. He flipped through his cell phone and wrote down his senpai's home phone number.
"When will the results be in?"
"In about two days." She replied and began to turn away, but Ryoma caught her elbow.
"How long?" He heard himself asking the question. "If… If Fuji-senpai does have… leukemia…" He whispered the last word, not believing himself. "How long does he have?"
"It all depends. But either way, it's hard for everyone. I'm sorry." She bowed her head and walked away. Ryoma's hand hung limply at his side. The hospital monitor continued to beep at a steady pulse.
"Fujiko has WHAT?" Eiji's voice was very distressed as he dropped his racket. "What was it?"
Ryoma grimaced. "Acute lymphocytic leukemia. It's cancer in his blood." The acrobatic player let out a distressed noise and the tears began to fall.
"Will he be all right?' Oishi asked, enveloping his doubles partner in his arms.
"It's Fuji-senpai! Of course he'll be all right!" Kaidoh declared, but turned to their first-year uncertainly. "He WILL be all right, won't he?"
Ryoma closed his eyes and shrugged. "T-The doctors aren't sure. They're going to start Fuji-senpai on chemotherapy as soon as possible… I believe his first treatment is later today at 4." Everyone checked the clock. They just finished morning practice and it was 7 now.
"We should go see him." Kawamura commented softly. But they all knew that unless Tezuka allowed it, that visit would not be happening. Currently, the said captain was discussing the next line-up with Ryuuzaki-sensei. Ever since Fuji left, they had put Ryoma in singles two and rotated singles three.
"Screw Tezuka." Eiji scowled as he untangled himself from Oishi's arms. He never bothered to hide his intense dislike for the captain anymore. "I'm going to see Fujiko before his treatment whether that jackass," he hissed the word and a collective gasp of 'Eiji!' or 'Kikumaru-senpai' rang through the room, "gives me his permission or not."
"Eiji, you know he'll have you running so many laps for missing practice…. Not to mention this close to a tournament!" Oishi said worryingly.
"Don't care." Eiji responded stubbornly.
"What's going on here?" A shadow fell on them from the doorway. "Why are you all still here?'
"Tezuka-buchou…" Ryoma froze.
"We were just discussing some plans, Tezuka." Oishi said hastily.
Tezuka gave them a sharp look. "Just keep me out of it." He snapped, obviously irritated. The team could tell that Ryuuzaki had harped about Fuji again. She had been on his case about the tensai ever since he left a few months ago.
"Fuji-senpai's in the hospital." All eyes turned to Ryoma, who was now standing up.
"I already know that." Tezuka responded evenly as he took things out of his locker.
"He has leukemia." The captain paused in his movements before looking at the prodigy. "According to the doctors, if they don't get him treated soon, he's going to die." Gold eyes met hazel brown eyes.
"I…" He hesitated, unsure of himself. "How long?"
"If he doesn't go through treatment, the doctors estimate a year." Tezuka began to visibly tremble.
"Why do you care, Tezuka?" Eiji had sprang up, his dark blue eyes shining with tears. "You hurt our Fujiko! You hurt Fujiko! He…" Eiji faltered, took a breath and continued. "He was CRYING, Tezuka. Fuji… I've never seen him cry before."
"I…" Tezuka couldn't speak.
"Tezuka, chances of Fuji wanting to fight the cancer now is 30%. He wants to die." Inui said calmly from where he was sitting on the bench. "But if you were to… see him and apologize and make amends, the chance of Fuji wanting to fight the cancer would be 50%."
"Only 50%?" Momoshiro asked, raising his face from his hands.
"Unfortunately. Fuji believes that he has nothing left to live for." Inui said this quietly. A foreboding silence fell amongst the team.
"W-When does h- Fuji start treatment?" Tezuka asked, turning to the youngest team member.
"Today. His first treatment is at 4."
The captain nodded before addressing the entire team. "We're canceling practice this afternoon to see Fuji. I will go inform Ryuuzaki-sensei of this." He turned around and left the locker room, leaving a group of speechless regulars.
"Did he just say what I think he said?" Oishi asked, looking around to make sure he did not mishear. The others nodded, but hesitantly, as if unsure whether or not this was a dream.
"Fujiko!" Fuji looked up from the book he was flipping through to smile at the energetic redhead. He was surprised to see the entire team though, all dressed in the blue gowns that were required for a patient in isolation.
"Hello, everyone. You really didn't have to come to see me." He smiled.
"You're still part of the team, Fuji-senpai." Momoshiro grinned as he set down a vase of flowers. It was a bouquet of carnations with a single yellow tulip in the middle. The tensai reached out to pluck the tulip from the bouquet. His eyes showed endless sorrow as he gazed upon it. "Eh? What's wrong?"
"A yellow tulip…" He smiled sadly, then put it down and shut his book. Momoshiro saw that it was a scrapbook. "So how is everyone?"
"I think we should be asking you how you feel, Fuji." Oishi commented. "Are you okay with this?"
"I knew that I couldn't be healthy forever, Oishi. Don't worry too much about me." Suddenly, Eiji began to sob again and he flung himself across the boy on the bed.
"Fuu-ji-k-ko!" Fuji petted Eiji on the back as he kept sobbing. Oishi came forward and pulled Eiji gently off of the tensai. "You ca- hic- You can't die!" He exclaimed.
"Kikumaru-senpai!" Ryoma looked appalled.
"Eiji, come on, I'll buy you some ice cream from the cafeteria." Oishi pulled Eiji out of the room with a quick 'sorry' to the others. Fuji looked around to the rest of the team. Kawamura held a small gift basket which he also put down on the table next to the bed.
"Fujiko, please get well soon… And come back to the tennis team. We miss you." The power player confessed softly. "The team's not the same without you."
"We'll see what happens, Taka." Fuji replied in an even softer voice. "But for now, just concentrate on helping your dad and tennis. Don't worry about me." Fuji gave a small smile.
"I have to go now, Fujiko. But please… Get better soon." Kawamura patted Fuji on the hand before walking out as well.
"Was this planned?" Fuji demanded. "Each of you are leaving one by one."
"Haha, sorry, Fuji-senpai, but we cancelled practice for this." Momoshiro gave a nervous chuckle. "And because of that, many of us want to practice."
"Oh… Well, if that's the case, then shoo." Fuji laughed. "It was great seeing you guys though. Thanks for thinking about me."
"We'll come visit you again, Fuji. See you." Inui said, before walking out with Kaidoh. Momoshiro followed them after making a victory v at Fuji and wishing him the best of luck in getting well. Ryoma hung behind though.
"Fuji-senpai… Why are you hiding behind your smile?" He asked, walking to the bed.
"Don't you want to practice, Echizen?"
"Stop playing, Fuji-senpai." Ryoma's voice was lower and more serious than usual. "I can see you're hurting so much." Fuji's eyes snapped open to reveal dangerous blue eyes. The other boy felt a small chill run down his spine.
"Don't worry about it, Echizen. Please… Leave me be." Fuji requested softly, closing his eyes again and looking away towards the windows.
"Fuji-senpai… Please get better soon. I still have to beat you." And with those final words, Ryoma walked out of the room, leaving the white room empty. Fuji sighed when the door closed. All of a sudden, the door swung open again and Fuji stiffened when he saw who was standing there, still looking as regal as ever in the blue gown.
"T-T-Tezuka?" He squeaked out the captain's name. Tezuka took in the room, looking around, inspecting the white room before his eyes landed on Fuji and he started near the bed. Fuji whimpered a bit and curled the blanket tighter around him. When Tezuka reached the bed, he stood by it before reaching down to lightly brushing Fuji's hair aside from his forehead. Fuji's eyes opened again. "W-why are you here?" He whispered, as if almost not daring to believe it.
"… Fuji…" Tezuka sat down on the bed and looked into Fuji's eyes. They were filled with fear, hurt and betrayal. He looked away.
"Haven't you hurt me enough? Are you here to gloat?" Fuji's voice held a slightly hysterical note. "You… You ripped me apart. Go away please… Please, Tezuka, just let me die." Tezuka's eyes widened before he turned his head to face Fuji and then grabbed him into a bone-crushing hug. This time, Fuji's eyes widened and the tears he had held back began to fall.
"Fuji… Fuji… Fuji…" Tezuka murmured, burying his head in Fuji's shoulder. The tensai could feel liquid seeping through the thin hospital gown he was wearing. "I'm so sorry Fuji… I'm so sorry…"
"Tezuka?" Fuji asked hesitantly. He looked towards the ceiling.
"Please forgive me… Syuusuke…" Tezuka's broad shoulders shook with sobs. "I never meant to hurt you…" Fuji ran his hands through the dark brown locks gently.
"I don't understand, Tezuka." Fuji whispered. He felt so conflicted right now.
"Fuji Syuusuke, I love you, I always did, I was just… so afraid of accepting your feelings. I was afraid of being with you." Tezuka drew back. He still looked so handsome even with the crystalline tears pouring down his cheeks. The sick boy caressed a wet cheek. Tezuka's hand shot up to cover Fuji's hand.
"I don't know what to say, Tezuka…" Fuji whispered quietly. "You put me in a world of pain."
"I'm sorry, Syuusuke." Tezuka closed his eyes as he held his and Fuji's hand against his cheek. "I was just so afraid to be with you that I just completely severed all ties."
"You made me want to die, Tezuka." Fuji stated simply. Tezuka opened his eyes to look at Fuji's sapphire blue eyes brimming with tears. He leaned forward and kissed those tears away as they began to fall. "I… I was so afraid of losing you."
"It's all right, Fuji, I'm here now. I'm never going to leave you again. Ever." Tezuka hugged Fuji again, resting his head on top of Fuji's head, and whispered sweet little nothings to the tensai. Fuji felt a dam inside him break and all of his emotions flowed out. Undying and eternal love for Tezuka and unbridled joy filled his body and he smiled.
"Tezuka Kunimitsu, you never fail to turn my life up-side down." The comment made Tezuka smile slightly.
"And you, Fuji Syuusuke, always does something to confuse the crap out of me, so I wouldn't be talking." Tezuka pressed his lips onto Fuji's for a quick kiss. When he drew back, he wrapped his arms around Fuji's waist and held him.
"I love you, Kunimitsu… Please never put me through that pain again." The quiet voice and words of the tensai made Tezuka tighten his grip on the boy. "Tezuka! I… It hurts!" He panicked for a few seconds after loosening his grip, making sure that Fuji was all right.
"I'm sorry, Syuusuke. I will never do that again." Tezuka muttered into Fuji's ear. Both of them knew the double meaning behind that apology. All of a sudden, a knock on the door startled both of the tennis players. A tall, male doctor stood there with a clipboard and looked at Fuji expectantly.
"Fuji-kun, it's time for your first chemo session." Fuji looked imploringly at Tezuka, who nodded and urged the other to get up and follow the doctor.
"You can do this, love. Get better for me." Tezuka smiled. "I'm going to go out for a little bit, but I'll return in a little while, I promise."
Fuji muttered something that sounded like, "Don't make promises you can't keep," as a shadow of doubt flickered across the beautiful face. But then that shadow disappeared as Fuji winced in pain trying to stand up. The doctor easily crossed the room and slipped an arm around Fuji's waist, supporting the thin genius. Tezuka gave a small eyetwitch at the doctor's intruding arm before Fuji broke from the doctor's grip and toddled over to the captain. "Doctor, I'd prefer if Tezuka helped me. Is that all right with you?"
"… I suppose so, Fuji-kun, but he's not allowed in chemo with you, you do understand, right?" The doctor peered over his half-spectacle glasses. Fuji nodded his assent. Tezuka slipped a possessive arm around the tensai and walked slowly with the boy, supporting him. Fuji could feel Tezuka's body warmth emanating onto his body and he leaned further into the other, wanting to feel more of that warmth. When they reached the door, Fuji looked back and saw something on his bed stand that made him smile broadly.
The yellow tulip that the team had brought lay on the ground, forgotten, but in its place in the bouquet, a red rose shone.
Yeah, I know, it's a crappy ending, with all the fluff, but I'm sorry, I just couldn't stand to make Fuji unhappy in the end. D: I love Fuji way too much to let him be unhappy. So a few questions you may have. Yellow tulips signify hopeless love, while red roses (obviously, I really do hope everyone knows this) signify love. Tezuka's also a bit out of character, but this is what happened in my dream, so I am going to stick with it. Yes, this story was inspired by a dream, but obviously it was a much better dream than Stephenie Meyer had that gave birth to Twilight. *shudder* All right, so please, everyone, review!