Author's Notes: I didn't plan on writing this. But then suddenly, inspiration struck me and this came to life. Two of my favorite characters are featured here and it's my first time to crossover TeniPuri with another anime. I hope you like it.

Disclaimers: Flame of Recca and all its characters belong to Nobuyuki Anzai. Tennis no Oujisama and all its characters belong to Konomi Takeshi. Only the plot is mine. Oh, and the doorman as well.

-Mirror-

"Konbanwa, Syusuke-kun. Long day at court?"

"Yanagi-chan, konbanwa. Yes, it was a long day. What about you?"

"The kids played with the crayons again. The floor was full of colorful drawings."

"At least the hospital nursery doesn't need to put those colorful sponge bob play mats anymore, ne?"

A light laugh.

A soft chuckle.

Hanabishi Yanagi.

Fuji Syusuke.

Two different individuals, two separate people.

If you didn't know these people, you would agree with the prior statement. Yet, if you knew them and saw beyond the surface, you would disagree.

I know I would.

Hanabishi-san bowed slightly to me and Fuji-san gave a little nod as they both passed by me. I smiled back, watching them as they entered the elevator. It had always been like that ever since they first met here in this same condominium.

And it had been ten years since that.

Yet, nothing has changed in them.

I laughed. If Fuji-san heard me, he would laugh too at how I sound much like an old man. After all, he was older than I was. But that I am and I have seen so many lives cross over the years that I have been employed here.

And none of those lives that had accidentally crossed were as interesting as Hanabishi-san's and Fuji-san's crossed paths.

Ten years ago, I would've said that there wasn't anything that could be similar between them. Yet now, I know better.

They met here, in this same lobby. It was a very cold February night and little Kenrei was waiting for his mother in the lobby. He just stood in the middle of the lobby, eyes fixed on the door – waiting for it to open and reveal his mother, cheeks stained with tears.

I offered him candy but he just politely shook his head. I could not do anything but watch him silently.

Then the doors opened. Kenrei's round brown eyes widened in anticipation. But it was in vain as the doors revealed Fuji-san.

All at once, tears flowed from his eyes again.

I could remember how Fuji-san immediately gathered him up in his arms, all his brief cases forgotten and scattered on the floor. They had never met before and Kenrei, as I knew, wasn't the one to trust anyone quickly. Yet the boy just surrendered into Fuji-san's arms and cried as the older one's soft voice tried to calm him down.

"Dad?"

Fuji-san turned around and smiled at the boy behind him. He was Kouya, Fuji-san's adopted child. I had never met Fuji-san's partner, but I was sure Tezuka-san was a good person as well. They would have never raised such a wonderful child if he wasn't a good father as well.

"Kouya, could you get Kuni-chan upstairs?"

The teenager's eyes widened but he just bowed and obeyed his dad anyway. He gathered up his father's things and went straight to the elevator. A few minutes later, he was down again, this time with a big teddy bear in hand.

"Thanks, Kouya," Fuji-san said. Kouya just nodded, ready to hand the humongous bear to his father.

He turned to the crying boy in his arms. "You're Hanabishi-san's Kenrei, ne?"

The little boy nodded, trying to wipe his tears.

"She's not yet home?"

Kenrei shook his head.

"You know when I was a little boy…"

Kouya rolled his eyes. "Dad, that didn't happen when you were a chi…"

"… I used to cry a lot, too. But one day when I was sitting on my porch waiting for kaasan, a boy passed by and saw me crying. The boy walked up to me and asked me not to cry anymore and handed me a bear…"

"Dad, just go straight to the point."

Blue eyes turned towards the teenager, smiling – seemingly amused. "Sometimes I wonder if it was Mitsu and I who raised you or it was Ryoma. You have Ryoma's inability to be patient."

Kouya just raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Ne, what happened next?" Kenrei tugged at Fuji-san's shirt.

He turned back to the child, eyes closed once more. It never failed to amaze me how he could do things with his eyes closed.

"Then the little boy gave me this," he said, gesturing to the bear in Kouya's hands. "He told me to hold this close whenever I wanted to cry. And it wouldn't seem that I was alone anymore."

"Hontou?"

"Hontou. And now, I'm giving him to you."

"Dad! Tousan gave you this bear…"

Fuji-san just smiled at him, handed the bear to Kenrei and then held Kouya's hand.

"Kenrei needs him now, not me. I already have you."

Kenrei fell asleep in Fuji-san's arms as they waited for Hanabishi-san to come home that night. It was a moment so unexpected; a moment that forged the bond between the two forever.

"Konbanwa, Okaida-san. Is Dad home already?"

I smiled at Kouya. He was already in early twenties and has grown to be such a fine and good-looking man. He was now a college sophomore, following Fuji-san's footsteps.

"Yes. He just got home a few minutes ago."

Kouya nodded. "Thank you."

Of all the similarities that Hanabishi-san and Fuji-san had, Kouya and Kenrei were the most obvious of them all. Both only had one child, a son who they were proud of.

"Aniki! Matte!" It was thirteen-year old Kenrei. Even though they were not of the same blood, he had always treated Kouya as his older brother.

"I am not your 'aniki', Kenrei. How many times should I tell you that?"

"Mou… such a meanie." He turned to me. "Yo, ojisan! Kaasan's home?"

"Yeah."

"Aniki! I told you to wait for me!"

Physically, Hanabishi-san and Fuji-san had a lot of similarities. They both had honey hair, both had soft features, both had gentle voices. If you only looked at their physically attributes, you would never have thought that they had gone through so much. You would never have known that they had so many scars underneath those smiles.

They were lions underneath. They were people who survived the death of the one closest to their hearts; people who stood after falling. People who knew how much they needed to be strong for their sons. People who now dedicated their lives to serving others.

One was a doctor, the other a lawyer.

"Hoi, hoi! Okaida-san, is Fujiko and Yanagi-chan in already?"

I nodded, smiling at the redhead. "Kouya-kun and Kenrei-kun have arrived as well."

More people gathered in the lobby. Friends and family of Hanabishi-san and Fuji-san. Was there a special occasion that all of them gathered here?

"Birthday," said Mikagami-san. "Yanagi-san celebrated hers on the 26th and we purposely acted as if we had forgotten. But the truth was, we had planned to…"

"To combine her birthday celebration with Syusuke's since he won't be celebrating his birthday this year. Y'know, no 29th after all."

That's when I remembered another similarity. They were both born on late February – the lady earlier by three days. Fuji-san was born on a leap day.

"I don't think it was proper for you to interrupt me, Saeki-san."

The silver-haired shook his head, laughing. "You're so stiff, Mikagami. It's a wonder how Raiha can stand living with you. Plus," he added, before the other could interfere. "Getting on your nerves is something fun to do. You never seem to lose your cool."

I just had to snicker. "Now I know why you and Fuji-san are such good friends, Sae-san."

He just grinned.

"Momo-sempai, stop drooling. You'll get drool on all the food!"

"I will when you stop calling me 'Momo-sempai' and start calling me by my given name!"

"Ara, Fuuko-neechan? Are you sure that you're comfortable wearing a skirt?"

"Koganei! You won't get away this time!"

"Oishi-san, we need the lights off! Aniki will be down any second now!"

I nodded at the silent request from Oishi-san, smiling. It wasn't a wonder why those two have survived the worst. They had their sons, they had these people to help them get through everything. Another thing that they had in common.

The elevator chimed, signaling their arrival.

I honestly would never forget the expressions they both had. Hanabishi-san was in tears, Fuji-san was speechless. Everyone was singing a song, Echizen and Koganei both holding the three-inch cake.

If there was one thing I was proud about this job, it was witnessing these kinds of events. Witnessing how lives were touched, changed. Witnessing how bonds were formed, how they were strengthened through time. There was nothing more rewarding than to witness them all.

Hanabishi Yanagi. Fuji Syusuke.

Two separate lives, two different individuals.

Yet amidst those differences were similarities. Similarities that forged a bond between them.

A friendship that would last a lifetime.

.owari.

:28Feb05:11:21p:1457 words: