A/N: I wrote this scene a year ago wanting to try my hand in writing Yukimura siblingship, but then I got busy and didn't get to finish this. I still want to write this as a one-shot, but I'm finding it hard to find the feels I had back when I first wrote this. I thought it would be waste if I let it rot away in my hard drive, so I decided to post this a vignette and add some more chapters when I have the time.
Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi owns Prince of Tennis.
It was that time of the night when the moon would reach its peak, had it been glowing a silver light in full circle or a thin crescent. But it was one of those nights when the moon would be swallowed by the shadows of the darkness, and even the thousand twinkling stars were lost in the sea of black.
The night was dark and eerily peaceful.
She slept. She was tucked under a blanket, a pillow pressed to her chest. She did not dream. There were bags under her eyes; she spent the night late in her makeshift dark room, developing photographs.
Her bedroom was dark, too. The curtains were down, the screen door shut closed. Only the ticking sound of the clock – tic-toc, tic-toc – could be heard. It echoed in the dark, like a steady pulse, like a raw beat inviting accompaniment.
And then suddenly, there it was – a short, faint, unmistakable sound of a gasp; and then another, and then another, and then another. It was soft as a whisper, like a falsetto, like a subdued cry for help.
It was coming from the next room.
Her eyes snapped open at the broken harmony of seconds and breaths, and soon she was out of bed, blanket clumsily thrown behind her. She shivered a little when her bare feet touched the cold, wooden floor, but she paid no mind.
Onii-san...
She slid her door open as quietly as she could, careful not to alert her sleeping parents. And then, she kept her tread light as she made her way to her brother's room.
Her hand found its way to the switch to turn the lights on as soon as she opened the door. Her brother was lying on his bed, his arm covering his eyes. He was biting his lower lip in an effort to suppress more of the tiny gasps that had woken her from sleep.
She fetched the liniment from his dresser, and then gently pried away the blanket from her brother's body. He was contracting his calf muscles in a desperate attempt to feel his legs.
He glanced at her and she caught his eyes.
Not wasting any more time, she reached for his legs and gently rubbed the liniment, before fully massaging the hardened muscles. Her brother gradually relaxed. A few minutes later she was done and carefully tucked him back under the blanket.
"Shigeru-chan."
She stopped short of reaching the door knob and turned to him.
"Sorry for the trouble."
The nightmare was brewing above their heads like an impending storm disturbing a dreamless sleep.