Soft. That was all he could think as his mind bobbed back to consciousness. He was lying on something soft. It was a drastic change, considering the last thing he remembered what the hard ground then the feeling of being weightless as if he was flying. He felt dizzy like the world was spinning around him. His stomach churned, a feeling similar to when you're falling.

He could hear beeping beside him and he concentrated on the sound, trying to figure out what it was while his mind fully awoke. As his mind came into more focus, he could hear more sounds and his dizziness slowly began to fade.

"He... Alright..." He could faintly hear voices around him, but they sounded so far away that he couldn't fully make out what was said as his ears only picked up small pieces every now and then. His body was heavy as if gravity was trying to pull him down to the core of the earth. His eyes were also heavy - to the point where he couldn't even open his eyes.

Why did he feel so weak?

Groaning, Tenma finally pried his eyes open. A sense of nausea and dizziness followed, as his body rejected the simple movement. He could hear voices near him, louder than earlier. He could make out blurry figures in front of him, but he couldn't make sense of them. In particular, a grey figure stood out the most, next to the blue figure.

'Shindou, Tsurugi?' Tenma thought but immediately winced as his head banged in protest. He could vaguely feel something oon his wrist but Tenma's mind was so hazy he couldn't make out whether it was pain or a tickly feeling. 'I need to move...'

As if something inside him disagreed with him, pain shot through his body and Tenma let out a whimper before he fell back into the dark abyss once again.

Shindou leaned over the bed a bit, desperately calling Tenma's name as if that would miraculously wake the boy up. Tenma had usually answered the team's calls so maybe, just maybe… He would hear them this time too…

Shindou felt his heart stop. His eyes slowly looked up to see a sight that terrified him. The heart monitor began beating like crazy. His heart rate was increasing at a dangerous rate. The next few minutes were a blur to him as doctors rushed back into the room and one of the doctors pushed them from the room as they started checking Tenma's body. The last thing Shindou saw before he was shoved out the room was Tenma's heart rate reach 116.

"Hurry! We need to slow his heart down before it causes too much damage!" A doctor shouted. Shindou's eyes widened in fear.

"TENMA!" He screamed. Tsurugi grabbed his wrist, yanking him back.

"Calm down. We need to let them do their job. He'll be fine," Tsurugi reassured him, dragging him away. Tsurugi lead the close to hyperventilating to the chairs located a short distance down the hallway. He sighed and sent a worried glance to the room Tenma was currently in. Unsurely, he looked down to Shindou before he steeled his resolve.

"Tenma will be fine. He's strong, you know that."

"I-I know, but... We don't even know wha-what happened! He collapsed so suddenly..." Shindou whispered, trembling slightly. Tears prickled his eyes. Tsurugi, although it was uncharacteristic of him, placed his hand on Shindou's back, softly patting him. Shindou looked up at him, sniffing.

"Sorry," He started, wiping away his tears. "I'm supposed to be stronger than this..." Tsurugi shook his head, silently denying his words.

"It's fine," Tsurugi mumbled, staring down the corridor to the door where Tenma rested. 'What's going to happen now?' Tsurugi wondered.

A week had passed since Tenma's sudden collapse. At first, Raimon had been very shocked but as the hours passed and a new day came, the shock had gradually faded. There was no practice the day after the incident - something the group had been very glad for. The week had slowly passed, taking its time with every single second and minute - taking its toll on each member. No new news had come from the hospital about Tenma's situation, the only information that had been gathered was that he had fell into a sort of coma.

Doctors were frantically searching for the reason as to why Tenma suddenly collapsed. There was nothing physically wrong with the boy, but the doctors had picked up on his brain waves. According to their information, his brain was still very much active and he should be slightly aware of whatever's happening to his body, yet he was not entirely conscious. At first, many doctors had believed it to be Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system.

However, after more research, doctors concluded that that was not the case. His brain activity was high, as if he had been forced into a constant nightmare which stopped him waking up. Doctors had observed on several cases, Tenma crying or whimpering in his sleep - only confirming this weird phenomenon. Doctors had no idea on how to wake him up or perhaps find a way to stop the nightmares, but no drugs were efficient.

Everyone was at a loss and could only hope to find a solution soon or hope for Tenma to wake up on his own. However, as days passed and a week became a whole month, people were beginning to lose hope. His brain activity had not ceased but it also hadn't increased as his mind remained in the same state. More specialists were brought in to help solve the phenomenon, but each doctor met the same fate - a dead end.

The soccer club was no better, slowly its spark as time continued. The club room was much quieter than everyone used to and adapting to the change had been hard. At first, practice had basically been forced, the silent overwhelming. Eventually practice managed to become more natural and the silence was soon filled up, although it was never the same as when Tenma was there.

They could hope - wish, that Tenma would wake up and return to them soon.

~Writer's Note~

Okay, I am aware I suck. I haven't updated this in ages and I'm sorry. But I'm trying now. So, let's see where they goes. (In case you haven't already guessed, I have no actual plan in mind.) It's a bit short and I apologize for that, but I just wanted to finally update. ;-;

RIP me.

And Tenma. Definitely him too. Sucks to be you, Tenma.