Title: Reminiscence
Author: Cloudy Moonshine
Rating: T
Summary: Several years have passed. Things have changed. It's hard to remember the past. They used to be a team who could rely on each other through the darkest times. Can they be that same team again?
Dedication: To my friends, all of them.
Disclaimer: I don't own prince of tennis.

"Ne nee-san." Fuji said the next day during dinner. He smiled gently at her. "Sorry for not telling you earlier, but I have to take a trip to Japan for a couple of weeks."

Yumiko smiled back. She had long golden hair, the same color as Fuji's but longer and wavy. She had an easy smile on her face and sweet eyes framed by long eyelashes. "Good. You need a change of scenery, and maybe you'll finally capture that inspiration that's been running away from you for you photography projects."

"Gomen nee-san." Fuji looked apologetically at his sister. He had been restless the past of couple of weeks, pacing around the house, leaving for hours on end just walking around San Diego, completely lost in thought. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much his sister had worried for him. "Would you like some souvenirs?"

Yumiko grinned at the gesture. However it slowly fell of her face. She asked hesitantly, "Syuusuke. Could you get in touch with Yuuta?"

Fuji froze. "Y-yuuta?" That wasn't a name he had heard in years. His otouto and him - everything between them, every ounce of their bond was destroyed. Any hope to salvage that relationship, to Fuji, was nonexistent. But he would rather not think about it. "Ano, nee-san..."

"Please. Just find out if he's doing well." Her eyes looked at him, pleading. He felt like they were tugging at his heart.

"A-Alright nee-san." Fuji couldn't deny her, no matter how much he wanted to.

Yumiko looked down at her plate of food, eyes shining. "If you want, Syuusuke, I'll come with you."

"No! I mean…" Fuji's eyes widened as he bit his lip. The tone of desperation was a little surprising. However he didn't want anyone with him in case his mask broke. "It's ok. I'll find him." 'Demo…'

Flashback

"Aniki," Yuuta asked brokenly. "Who are you?"

"I don't know. I-I don't know."

End Flashback

That was the last time they had spoken to each other.

Since then, Fuji had avoided everyone. The only reason he was still with his sister was because she was too stubborn to let him go. Maybe she had known that between him and Yuuta, he was more broken and torn apart inside.

Fuji didn't know whether he should be mad or partly grateful. She was possibly the only reason he was still partially sane. Not fully because… even now he still didn't know where inside himself his true self was. It had been bugging him since Seigaku. He had distracted himself with tennis and friends. However nationals really opened his eyes. And the stuff after…

He shrugged off the small frown on his face in favor of his usual smile. "So nee-san, I hope, while I'm gone, you'll spend more time with your boyfriend."

The reaction was instantaneous, exactly what he had hoped for. As a small blush slowly spread on her face, she tartly replied, "That is none of your business, Syuusuke."

The atmosphere returned to its normal, friendly self. Yet despite that, Fuji inwardly feared the changes to come. And he really hated change.

Echizen Ryoma growled. There were few reasons that would make him emit such a fearful noise. Yet most of those reasons stemmed back to the present reason to do so: his father.

"Baka Oyaji. Why do you have to come with me?" Ryoma was not pleased with this turn of events. He thought returning to Japan would be the perfect reason to get away from his father for a couple of weeks. After all, his father could follow with their luggage and kaa-san instead of leaving kaa-san with Nanako. Now here he was, at the airport, with his father grinning lecherously at the women passing. The embarrassment at having to acknowledge this man as his father had no boundary.

"Urusai, seishounen. She's my sensei too. Besides," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Another way in the quest to annoy you has presented itself."

Ryoma huffed and turned away to hide the small smile on his face. Despite his extreme dislike towards his father, he knew the presence would help him against the shock that would come at seeing his close-to-death sensei. And it would be a shock. All his memories associated his sensei with words like discipline and strength. The possibility of seeing her at death's door frightened him, though he would be loathe to admit it.

As he turned to look at the time on the flashing board, his eyes caught on to a pair of sharp blue eyes. The moment those eyes met his, everything seemed to stop. Memories were filling his mind, special times that had been seen by his eyes, those blue eyes, and seven other pairs. Was it possibly that the reunion would begin sooner than expected?

His father, noticing his stiff, rigid posture, asked, not with concern since that was not his nature but something close to it, "Oi, gaki, what is it?"

Nanjirou followed his son's gaze to see a familiar figure. One of his brat's former Seigaku teammates. And said teammate was walking this way, the familiar smile painted on his face.

"Echizen," Fuji smiled happily. Fuji was dressed in a blue dress shirt that matched his eyes and black slacks. The sight of the camera in his hands and the smile on his face guaranteed that this was indeed Fuji. Ryoma was displeased to see that he himself was shorter than Fuji by an inch. "It's been a while."

"Aa." Ryoma pulled his cap down to cover his eyes.

"So," Fuji continued brightly. "Where are you headed to?"

Ryoma looked back up at his sempai's face, slightly curious about the changes he might see. He was disappointed to see Fuji looked the same as always, though there was a hint of dark circles under his eyes. Otherwise he looked to be at the peak of health. Though his pointless questions also had remained the same. "Where are you going?" The best defense is to answer a question with a question. And Ryoma liked the irritating effect that accompanied it.

Fuji just tilted his head to the side, still smiling. "I see you won't answer. I'm returning ho—to Japan."

Fuji's sudden switch at the end provided the easy knowledge that something did change. That glint of curiosity in his eyes roared into an open flame for a need to know. A challenge. Just what he had been hoping for. "Aa, me too. So you heard about sensei?"

Fuji's smiling dimmed down to almost neutral. "Hai," he replied softly. "I hope we make it in time."

Silence fell as they pondered their current predicament. Until, of course, the third member of their party chose to speak. "Hoi, seishounen. It's time to board the plane. And, I believe, your friend is on the same flight as us so you can catch up later. The flight from San Diego to Tokyo is long, and," a glint appeared in his eyes. "There are too many beautiful women to see in too little time."

Ryoma rolled his eyes while Fuji let loose a small laugh. Definitely one person who had withstood the tests of time was one Echizen Nanjirou.

Eiji was sitting on the airplane, fairly bored. He had tried to convince his aniki to come with him under the pretense that he needed someone to be with him when he met sensei. Of course that wasn't entirely true. Honestly, he had not wanted to dwell on the current state of affairs. However the long flight would inevitably force him to think, something he didn't enjoy doing.

He would be seeing his team again. He didn't need any confirmation from anyone, though he had received a short email from Fuji saying that he was on his way. If Fuji was sparing time to go to a place that he had never wanted to return to, then everyone on the team was coming. And sensei was probably the only reason anyone would return. Other purposes would have been blissfully ignored without another thought.

Tezuka. Fujiko. Taka-san. Inui. Kaidoh. Momo. Ochibi. Oishi.

He missed Oishi the most. Or rather, he didn't know how about the present Oishi, but maybe the Oishi of the past and the relationship they shared. So much friendship in a single bond. Before his brother, Oishi was at the top, even above his family in the area of trust.

Eiji shook his head, wiping his eyes to stop the flood of tears that would destroy him. He couldn't do this anymore. After that happened, he had to be strong for his family and show them that they needn't worry about him. He was the youngest, but he was resourceful. He had his success to prove it.

"Excuse me, sir, are you alright?"

Eiji looked down to the seat next to him and forced a smile. Of all his luck, he was sitting next to a young boy, around ten years old. Why did he always sit next a child who could easily detect his emotional state? For the last hour or so, with his emotional rollercoaster, the child had been caring and tried to start small conversations. Eiji had tried to indulge the boy and himself, but his heart wasn't in it. Whenever he looked at the boy, he saw a miniature Oishi with a smile on his face. The boy's haircut didn't help much either.

"I'm fine," he responded weakly. "Sometimes the memories just don't stop."

The kid put a hand on his arm with the most Oishi-like look that it scared Eiji. "Sir," the kid smiled cheerfully. "We still have a long flight. Can you help me choose a movie to watch? I've never heard of any of these."

"Movies?" Eiji perked up at the thought. A distraction. A fun distraction. "Sure, but you'll have to show me the options." Forgetting those memories that had disturbed him earlier, he puffed up his chests. "Everyone says I'm a movie buff. I'd like to see that menu try to show a movie I've never seen." After a second, he added, "English or Japanese movies, of course. I'm still trying to learn French."

The rest of the flight was full of distractions. Exactly what he had wanted.

Many many hours later, a groggy Ryoma and an ever-so-cheerful Fuji exited the airplane, in Japan one more. When Fuji poked the tired Ryoma forward, Ryoma growled at him, glaring with anger. "Fuji-sempai," he growled. "You didn't let me get any sleep on the plane. Leave me alone."

Fuji just smiled once more. "Ne, Echizen. Doesn't that redhead over there look familiar?"

Ryoma followed Fuji's gaze. "…Kikumaru-sempai?"

The redhead in question turned upon hearing his name. He put a hand to his chin, studying the two in front of him. "Fuji to…Echizen." He gave a tired smile. "It's a surprise bumping into you at the airport."

"Eiji." The warmth in Fuji's voice was unsurprising, though his gaze was relentlessly scrutinizing every detail. "How have you been?"

While the two discussed the past and lost connections, Ryoma took the chance to really look his sempai over. And what he saw surprised him deeply. He thought he wanted to identify the change, but this was completely different from when he spotted Fuji-sempai.

The ever bright happiness that had been constantly present was dimmed down to an atom-size twinkle. Also the random nya! That usually appeared at the end of his sentences were gone. All that was left was a hint of formality and seriousness.

"Hora, let's go!" Apparently Nanjirou was done staring at women and wanted to move on the next location. "Oi, seishounen. Which hospital is she at?'

"She's not at a hospital."

"Heh?!" The three turned to Eiji, eyes wide open. "Is she crazy?"

Eiji shook his head. "When I called Taka-san, he said she didn't want to stay at the hospital. Apparently there was too much white and no good food."

"Baka-baba," Nanjirou muttered. "Never does anything right. Oi, boy, lead the way."

Ryoma rolled his eyes and pulled his cap down. "Oyaji, urusai." He started walking before noticing the others weren't following. "Oi," he called out irritably. "Are we going or not?"

Fuji smiled amusedly. "Echizen, the exit is the other way."

Ryoma pulled his hat down and walked back the other way, hiding his red-stained cheeks. He looked at his father warningly. "Not another word." Heading towards the exit, he thought 'When will the embarrassment end?'

Thank you for reading!