Sara: Hello everyone! This is my first multi-chapter fanfic! I'm very nervously excited right now, so... I'm not sure what to say.

Sky: Start with the disclaimer. Prince of Tennis does not belong to us, it belongs to Konomi-sensei. And by the way, why are you so nervous?

Sara: Because this is my work, Sky. It's different for you, you only have to edit.

Sky: But they can totally flame my editing, though. Like if I didn't catch a mistake or something. Now, is there anything else you want to point out?

Sara: *sighs* Oh yeah, in some of these chapters there will be a quote in the beginning that is inspired by a song. Sky and I are very musically oriented, so the titles will have some sort of music/pop culture reference too. We also add a good amount of Japanese in this story, since the entire anime is in Japanese, so we will add notes at the bottom with translations. And I'm sorry for making Tezuka seem very un-Tezuka-ish in some parts. Gosh, I'm so excited I'm babbling. Since my chapters are pretty short, I'll try to get them up as fast as I can. What I do is I write the entire story first and then edit and publish as I go. I'll be starting school soon though, so it might be hard, but please bear with me... I hope this is good ~

Sky: Yeah... so while Sara frets about what you all will think of this, let's get into the story, ne?

Sara: *Sticks tongue out at Sky* Read and review, kudasai (please)~

Living Hell
Chapter 1: Prologue: To Hell and Back Again
What he sees when he dreams hurts like hell and back. ~ Waiting Game, Yellowcard

"WHAT THE HELL, ECHIZEN!" Horio screeched loudly, making Tezuka Kunimitsu want to cover his ears. He kept his expression unchanged, though, lest anyone dare comment about it.

"ECHIZEN GO EASY ON ME!"

"Yadda."

Tezuka wished Echizen would just beat the kid. They were both beginning to get on his nerves. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a migraine start to pulse at his temples. He had a freaking migraine and it was only morning practice. Suddenly, he wished he could escape to the infirmary for a while so he could have some peace and quiet.

Someone small sidled up next to him, hands folded behind him as he rocked back on his heels.

"Ohayo, Tezuka," Fuji Syusuke said brightly, his usual close-lipped smile plastered on his face. Sometimes Tezuka wondered how his best friend kept on smiling, even when conditions were miserable.

"Why aren't you practicing?" Tezuka replied evenly. His nerves were nearly stretched to the breaking point from watching Echizen and Horio's match, Kikumaru's constant glomping of Oishi, and now Momoshiro and Kaidoh decided to argue about some bad line call.

"Twenty laps around the courts, Momoshiro, Kaidoh!" the captain barked irritably to the two regulars, tearing his eyes off of the two freshman players. With much grumbling, the bitter rivals complied, still managing to snap at each other while they ran. No matter how great at doubles they were together, outside of matches they were nothing short of unbearable.

"Saa, no morning greeting? You're annoyed today, aren't you?" Fuji commented, still watching at the one-sided match.

"Ah. I'll be assigning laps to everyone soon. And you, too, if you don't get back to practice. You shouldn't let your guard down this close to the finals."

But Fuji didn't move as, once again, Echizen hit a Drive B towards Horio and, once again, the idiot boy failed to return it.

"You know, you shouldn't be condoning an unscheduled match between the freshmen?" Fuji noted, even though he was relishing in the Horio boy's distress.

"You're enjoying seeing that freshman struggle, aren't you?" Tezuka realized and nodded toward Horio, avoiding Fuji's question. He frowned, a usual expression for him. Seeing Fuji's smile widen by a fraction, he assumed that that was a yes.

The match finished with a flourish (6-0 to Echizen, no surprise there), and Echizen uttered his infamous catchphrase, "Mada mada dane."

Fuji laughed. "That kid never changes." Then, his expression turned utterly serious.

"Fuji?" Tezuka said. It was uncommon for the tensai of Seigaku to be so solemn, especially when he wasn't playing a match.

"Ne, Tezuka, do you believe in heaven and hell?"

"…"

The question caught Seigaku's Pillar of Support off guard, which was rare; he didn't know what to say. But Tezuka quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat.

"That is an inappropriate question for practice, Fuji. Now if you don't have anything important to ask me, then get back to practice before I assign you laps."

"Hai, buchou." Seigaku's tensai grabbed his racquet and took a swig of water. His movements today seemed stiff, forced, unlike his normally graceful demeanor. Before striding away, he lingered for a moment and turned to face Tezuka again.

"I find that life is everyone's personal hell."

And with that, he turned on his heel and went back to practice.

./. .\.

"Practice is over!" Tezuka called over the din of the tennis team at the end of the afternoon's practice. "You may change and go home."

"Hai, buchou! Thank you for your hard work!" everyone chorused, and there was a rush to see who would get to the showers first. Only Fuji lingered behind, and Tezuka didn't really want to talk to him.

Ne, Tezuka, do you believe in heaven and hell?

The question radiated through Tezuka's mind for some reason, as well as Fuji's vague statement. While caught up in his thoughts, he hadn't realized that Fuji was beside him. If he weren't so used to keeping his emotions in check, Tezuka would have started, but he kept his usual expression on his face. Fuji chuckled anyway.

"Saa, Tezuka, aren't you going to shower?" he inquired, looking up at his captain innocently.

"Ah. I just don't want to be in there when it's so crowded."

"Saa, me too. I just wait until everyone's gone." Fuji hummed to himself as they waited for the clubroom to empty, and he watched thoughtfully when the regulars came out last.

"Oi, Echizen, wanna go out for a burger?" Momoshiro shouted to the puny freshman.

"Yadda."

"C'mon, Echizen, your sempais will pay for you if you don't have any money!"

"Aren't you my sempai?"

"Why you – hey, Kikumaru-sempai, you'll pay for us today, won't you?"

"Nya, nani?" Kikumaru whined, checking his wallet for his allowance. "I always pay for you two!"

"But Kikumaru-sempai, that's how sempais should act," Echizen countered slyly.

"Nya, yadda!" Kikumaru shouted. He latched himself onto Oishi, who staggered at the unexpected weight.

"Eiji!" the fukkubuchou sighed in exasperation. "Fine, I will pay for all of you today. So come on."

The seven regulars began to walk off, before spotting Tezuka and Fuji.

"Ne, Tezuka, Fuji, do you want to come with us?" Oishi called as he continued his attempt to pry his best friend off of him.

"Nya, it will be fun!" Kikumaru sang as he jumped off of Oishi and clung to Fuji. "Come with us, Fujiko, nya!"

"Gomen, Eiji, but I have to get home today. I have some… things to take care of," the tensai said. It seemed that only Tezuka noticed the slight hesitation in his voice.

"Nya, okay, next time Fujiko!" Kikumaru gave his best friend another rib-cracking hug before rejoining the group. Fuji neither confirmed nor denied this statement, but just waved goodbye to his best friend.

"And you, Tezuka? Will you come?" Oishi asked hopefully. The captain hadn't spent much time with the group since he had come back from Germany, so they all wanted to get together more often before the end of their senior year.

But Tezuka shook his head. "My mother is expecting me home for dinner "

Perhaps Oishi looked disappointed, but Tezuka may have been imagining it. "Okay, next time then."

"Ah."

The regulars left, leaving Tezuka and Fuji behind.

"Saa, I have to find a textbook that I left in a classroom before they lock up. I'll see you later, Tezuka," Fuji said with a vague wave as he turned to leave.

"Good night, Fuji. Lock the clubroom when you're done."

"Hai."

The tensai took off running, and the Pillar of Support went to shower. He let the hot water course over his sore muscles, easing his headache just a bit. Steam enveloped him and followed him around like a shadow as he wrapped a towel around his waist and got dressed.

As he was walking home, he realized with a groan that he had left his history notebook in the clubroom. Hoping that Fuji hadn't locked up yet, he half-ran back to school and skidded to a stop in front of the clubroom.

He could hear noises inside, so he assumed that Fuji was still in there. Opening the door just a bit, intending to duck out again if he saw Fuji changing, his eyes rested on a dreadful sight.

Fuji Syusuke sat on the bench, his clothes folded next to him, water pouring down his lean body into the towel that was wrapped around his waist. He was shaking, trembling from head to toe, and he clutched his chest like he was having trouble breathing.

Fuji was sobbing. The strong, smart tensai was sobbing. Tezuka saw drops of moisture roll from his eyes to his chin, mixing with the water from the shower. He was shaking because he was sobbing so hard that he couldn't breathe. Tezuka had never seen the boy cry, never even imagined it.

But the most shocking thing to Tezuka were the wounds that covered Fuji's back and shoulders, his chest and arms. Bruises, cuts, scars adorned the boy like a pattern. Red, blue, purple, black, red, blue, purple, black. Tezuka shivered to think of who had done such things to his best friend.

Tezuka wanted to comfort Fuji so much, but he thought that he only would make it worse if he stumbled over his words. So instead, he shut the door quietly and walked away, like the whole thing never happened.

Japanese Translations/Author's Notes:

Yadda: Don't want to

Ohayo: Good morning

Mada mada dane: Echizen's catchphrase. Roughly translated it means "You still have a ways to go"

Hai: Yes

Buchou: captain

Sempai: someone who is older than you; it is an honorific to show respect? at least that's how Sara takes it

Nani: What

Fukkubuchou: vice captain. Forgive us for the spelling. Sky isn't so great at phoenetic Japanese.

Gomen: Sorry

Tensai: Genius. Also Fuji's nickname

If you need anything else explained please let us know! Thanks for reading! Review and give us some constructive criticism, kudasai ~