And another Prince of Tennis fanfic by yours truly (: This one might be a little weird, though..
Still, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Konomi's, not mine, unfortunately..

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I can't remember much about what happened... Only fragments...

His voice. Calling me. I remember that, and feeling a pair of hands on my back, pushing me.

Crash.

Screams.

I raised my head, and looked behind me.

There were glass and alluminium shards everywhere. A car crashed into a lamp post nearby, too, wrecked in pieces, smoke coming out of the engine.

He was lying on the sidewalk. There was a lot of blood. I don't know what I did, but I think I screamed his name. I ran to him. My life felt like it was going on slow motion.

I can't remember anything else...

...Or maybe I just don't want to remember.

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"Eiji!!" Oishi Syuuichirou screamed, calling his doubles partner, trying to get an answer. Please don't be dead. Please... "Eiji!" He repeated. People were staring. He heard one tell them to call an ambulance. "Eiji!!" Finally, Kikumaru Eiji opened his eyes just a bit.

"Oishi..." He whispered, but his fukubuchou shook his head.

"Shh, Eiji, don't speak... Save your strength..."

"I needed to... The car, it was going towards you... I... Oishi... I need to tell you something..."

"Eiji, please, don't speak. You'll be alright. You can tell me whatever you want to tell me when you're okay." The red haired acrobat smiled.

"I'm...Oishi, I..." He tried to finished his sentence, but his last breath escaped his lips before he could do so. He closed his eyes, his head falling back limply, supported by Oishi's hand.

"Eiji?" Syuuichirou called, shaking him ever so slightly. "Eiji?" He repeated, shaking him harder. "Eiji!!"

The ambulance arrived, and took Eiji. Oishi went to Seigaku, to tell the others what has happened, telling himself Eiji had just fainted. But his life was over long before they reached the hospital, and Oishi knew that, he felt that, but couldn't stand that fact. He didn't want to accept it. He started running, tears started falling. He arrived late for practise, panting, tears mixed with sweat.

"Oishi. 10 laps for being late. And if Kikumaru doesn't arrive anytime soon, he'll have to do 50." Their buchou said, blissfully unaware what had happened to their acrobatic player prior to Syuuichirou's arrival. The fukubuchou didn't move. "Oishi?"

"...He's gone..." He whispered. Tezuka raised an eyebrow, not catching what his friend had said. "He's gone!" He shouted, throwing his head back, falling to his knees. "Eiji... Eiji's gone!!"

"What do you mean, Eiji's gone?" Fuji asked. The regulars joined them, wanting to know what had caused Oishi's behaviour.

"He's... Eiji... They took him to the hospital..." Syuuichirou explained what happened, and they all left practise to go check on Eiji at the hospital. A doctor soon came to talk to them.

"I'm sorry for your friend... We did all we could, but..."

But. Just that one word. Three little letters. It was all it took for them to know that Kikumaru Eiji would no longer be playing tennis with them. They would never see the Golden Pair's performance again. They would never see Eiji's acrobatic tennis again. They would never see their friend again. Oishi fell to his knees again, and Tezuka placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. Ryoma covered his eyes with his cap, not letting them know that he too was about to cry. Kaidoh, Momoshiro and Inui, they all showed their sorrow, each in his own way. Fuji leaned against Kawamura, both of them with tears in their eyes. They all got out of the hospital together, deciding to tell Eiji's family what happened in person.

"It's my fault..." Oishi whispered, lowering his gaze to the ground in front of him. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I wasn't paying attention, and Eiji's gone because of that. Because of me... All in all, I killed him..."

"Oishi..." Fuji started, but he was cut off by his buchou.

"It's not something you could control, Oishi."

"...Makes you think if there really is someone up there watching, no? And if there is...why did Eiji-senpai had to go? The good ones always go first... What kind of world are we living in?" Momoshiro said to nobody in particular.

"You're not helping, Momo-senpai." Ryoma said, finishing their conversation for the time being. Untill Kaidoh stopped in the middle of the street, staring in shock at a spot on the air in front of them.

"Kaidoh?" Inui called, but his kouhai didn't move. If anything, he started to shake, his breaths getting deeper. "Kaidoh? Are you alright?" The data tennis player repeated, still getting no answer.

"Hey, guys!! Guys!? Guys, why are you ignoring me!? ...Kaidoh? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Kaoru took a few steps back. Was he seeing and hearing things? He was dead!

...Then why was Kikumaru Eiji staring straight back at him? "Kaidoh!! What's going on?"

"What's wrong, Kaidoh?" Oishi asked.

"E...Eiji-senpai..."

"Kaidoh..." Inui started, placing a hand on Kaoru's shoulder. He just kept staring at the acrobatic tennis player while the redhead followed Inui with his eyes. "I know it's hard... It's hard on all of us... But... Kikumaru's dead..." If he was dead, why were his eyes widening at Inui's last two words? Why was he turning to Kaidoh like he knew what what going on? What was going on?

"Is this some kind of prank? Tezuka-buchou, tell them to quit it, please, they're scaring me!" Kaidoh watched as Eiji went over to Tezuka, but the captain didn't seem to notice him. "Buchou!! They even got you to tag along? I..." And so Eiji ran away. When he was out of sight, Kaidoh rubbed his eyes.

"...I must be seeing things..." He whispered, following his team mates to the Kikumaru residence, to explain what had happened to his family. Much to Oishi's surprise, Eiji's mother didn't blame it on him. Her younger son had died to save someone else's life, she had said, and that made her proud. But the fukubuchou noticed the tears about to shed on Eiji's mother's eyes, so they left, to let the family have some time alone.

"When do you think the funeral will be?" Fuji asked.

"I don't know..." Oishi said. A while after, they each parted ways, going to their respective homes. Tezuka had cancelled the next day's training session, and they all were thankful for that. Kaidoh got home, threw his bag towards his bed, and sat on a corner of his room, sighing, thinking about what had happened that day. He wrapped his arms around his knees, resting his forehead on them.

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"Kaidoh..." He knew that voice. Somehow, he knew, that if he were to look up, who would be standing there. "Kaidoh." The voice repeated, more determined to win the other's attention this time. He looked up to meet Eiji's stare. "What did they mean? Why are you the only one who actually acts like you can see me?" Suddenly, his mother opened the door to his room.

"Kaoru-chan... I just heard what happened on the news... I'm sorry for your friend..." She said, walking over to her son to hug him, walking right through Eiji. A while after, she left.

"It's not possible... It can't be! I mean... I'm here, right? Right??" Kaidoh turned on his TV. Eiji's death was all over the news. "National-level tennis player Kikumaru Eiji dies in a car accident". Kikumaru's eyes widened, looking at the screen, and back at his kouhai. "What does this mean?"

"It means you're dead." He said, harshly. If he was seeing things, why was he answering to an illusion? Why was he seeing Eiji in the first place? Why was he asking these questions? Shouldn't he be remembering things about him, instead of making this up? And why did he feel like he was really there? Like he could touch him?

"But...I'm here! You can see me!! Why can't the others see me?" He asked.

"Leave me alone!! You're dead!! I'm seeing things!! Go away!!" He screamed, putting his hands on his ears. He was scared.

"Kaoru-chan?" His mother knocked on the door, opening it. "What's wrong, honey?"

"...It's like he's haunting me..." He whispered, causing his mother's eyes to widen.

"Oh, honey..." She said, wrapping her arms around him. "Come... I want to tell you something." She said, leading him to the living room, where his younger brother, Hazue was.

"Sorry about your friend, Aniki." He said. Kaoru just nodded, sitting next to him on the couch, while his mother kept looking for something. Then, she showed him an old photo album.

"Here. Recognize her?"

"...It's Grandma..."

"Right. Look, I should've told you this sooner... Your grandmother, she...she could see ghosts. She called them earth-bound spirits, said they had unfinished business with the living so they were stuck on Earth, and they went to look for her for help, help to cross over, to go towards the light. She thought you, as her oldest grandson, might have inherited that ability..." Kaoru's eyes couldn't be wider.

"Are you serious?" Was all he could say.

"Yes. Sometimes children can see these ghosts, but lose the ability when they grow up. In your case, the death of your friend might have triggered it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I heard you screaming."

"..." He got up, and walked back to his room without another word. He was there. He knew he would be.

"Kaidoh..." Eiji repeated.

Kaidoh went back to the door and called out. "Mother... How do I know if it's really an earth-bound spirit?"

"...You'll feel what they feel." He nodded, and slammed the door shut, staring at Eiji.

"You're sad." Kaidoh simply said. Since Eiji didn't reply, he continued. "Why are you here? Why don't you just go to the light or something?"

"I need to do something first."

"Then just do it and go!"

"I can't. I need your help to do it. Without you, I'm stuck here." Kaidoh sighed, sitting in his bed, elbows resting on his knees, head buried in his hands. This was going to be a long day.

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"What do you need?"

"...Do you know what day today is?"

"Tuesday?" Eiji sighed in defeat.

"...Maybe I should just tell you what happened." Eiji walked over to the window and gazed at the sunset and the beautiful colors it painted the sky with. "I finally got courage. I was going to talk to Oishi. I spotted him, so I started running to him. Then I saw that car... Oishi hadn't noticed it. I called him, ran, and pushed him out of the way. The car hit me. I tried to tell him when he was holding me, before the ambulance came, but I couldn't... Then it's a blank... I remember just coming down the street to meet you guys, when you were...ignoring me."

"What did you want to tell Oishi-sempai?"

"...Do me a favor. Gather the rest of the team, tomorrow, in the clubhouse. I want them all to hear." And then he was gone, along with the rest of the warmth coming from the window, heating the room with the last beams of sunlight, it went out like a candle in the wind.

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To be continued! : D Reviews are love, suggestions to make this better are even more love, flaming will just help entertain my pyromania x'D