-chapter two-

I sat on the bed, staring at the two people opposite me. Why did they accompany me?

Fuji Syuusuke, who still had the five bloody stains on his face, and Shiraishi Kuranosuke, who had a somewhat disturbed look in his eyes. Why did they accompany me?

I watched as Syuusuke place a cup of tea – green tea, I noted absently – into my hands. He smiled, and he sat back down onto the chair beside Shiraishi.

I took a sip, no, a large swallow, of the burning water, and felt with a perverse satisfaction as I felt my throat blister. I could see Shiraishi look startled, and about to reach out when he frowned, and stopped himself. I took another mouthful, but did not swallow, and closed my eyes. I let my tongue swirl the tea around, and I couldn't feel anything with the muscle.

It became numb.

I swallowed, and looked at the two others again. Syuusuke was still smiling. It felt awkward, the room. I didn't want to talk, but…

"Why are you here?" I asked them both, softly, sweetly. How I wanted my life back. The life when I was a free first-year, swinging the racquet with a joy, free of burdens of winning, burdens of caring, burdens of being ill. Free of being the best. Back when tennis was fun- no. It wasn't fun. Sports were only made for winning. And fun was not tolerated within the courts… Right? My grip tightened on the cup as my internal turmoil returned.

"Seiichi, you need some rest." Syuusuke said somewhat bluntly. He pulled the cup from my hands and put it on the table beside the bed. "Lie down."

Shiraishi looked strangely emotionless as he nodded to what Syuusuke said. His bandaged hand flexed slightly as he brushed some of his hair away from his face. "When you wake up, we will be here, Yuki-san… Awake or not."

It was strangely comforting. I was used to making sure everyone was cared for. I wasn't used to having people taking care of me. I didn't make a sound as I pulled my shoes off, and stripped my jacket off. I slid into the blankets, lying down straight.

I could see Syuusuke suddenly snicker softly. I was about to ask what amused him when he reached out to touch my hair. He pulled softly at my headband, and smiled. "I'm going to take this off, Seiichi." I didn't say a word as he did so anyway. He was oddly gentle as his fingers brushed my forehead.

I closed my eyes. And I drifted away into peacefulness.

-x-

Kuranosuke was not a stupid person. Nor was he as intelligent as Seigaku's Inui, or Rikkai's Renji. However, he knew that Rikkai's buchou, Yukimura, was entirely fragile, and of an unstable mindset. He watched with curious eyes as the effeminate teenager slowly drifted off into sleep.

Fuji's hand touched his shoulder.

"Shiraishi-san, we should talk. Outside."

Kuranosuke agreed, and stood up, following Fuji outside of the bedroom. He noticed at outside, he could see Fuji's otouto, Yuuta; look at them both with narrowed eyes, before he disappeared into another room. He could see the family resemblance.

They both went to the living room, and sat down on the couch. "… Seiichi is extremely fragile." Fuji began. His deceptively thin hands rested on his laps.

"I've noticed." Kuranosuke leaned forward, putting his elbow onto his knee. He rested his head on his bandaged hand, and looked at Fuji's closed eyelids. "Why?"

The brunette sighed. "I think… His entire morals, his entire life has been shifted in that match: where Ryoma defeated him."

"How?" Kuranosuke titled his head. "I don't understand how. And why. Being defeated is a part of life, no?"

"Seiichi hasn't been defeated in a long, long time."

That explained it. "Aa. And his morals- the kid, Echizen, said that he was fun in the match. Did that have to do with the break?"

Fuji tensed slightly, but Kuranosuke noticed it. "I wouldn't know about that. But Rikkaidai has a motto… Something about not accepting defeat: to win, no matter the consequences. I think that Seiichi had engrained that into his life."

"… I…" The Shitenhouji captain nodded once. "I believe I understand now. He's shameful. But he shouldn't be. He tried his hardest, didn't he?"

"He doesn't think that."

-x-

I stood on front of a mirror, staring into my own eyes. They were once strong and proud, now they were weak and dull. I changed.

I used to be great. I used to be powerful. I used to be Yukimura Seiichi.

I wanted to destroy the broken person in the mirror, but I knew it was I – that it was me! – who was in the mirror. It was sad. I touched the surface of the metal with my finger, and watched as the surface beside my finger fogged up. I slowly traced a circle onto the clean surface, and watched with morbid fascination at the oily trail my skin left behind. My fingerprint stains on the reflective, metal object.

I relinquished the touch and continued to peruse my face. I'd become slimmer. Unhealthily so. And it had only been three days since my… Defeat. My tongue felt bitter, and I saw as my face soured slightly. It paled, and my eyes burned with a malicious fire. My fingers gripped tighter on the marble sink top, and I took in a deep breath.

"Seiichi?"

Through the mirror, I could see Syuusuke enter the bathroom, holding a towel.

"Alive still?" He asked in his soft voice. He walked towards me until he was standing beside me. I only nodded, and let go of the sink.

"… Thank you."

My pride stung when I realized how much I depended on this beautiful stranger with his hidden eyes. He knew almost everything about me. How much, I did not know, but he knew. Syuusuke smiled again. He pressed the towel into my hands with a gentle force. I took it mechanically, and placed it onto the hanger beside the shower, spreading it out tidily.

His hand touched my shoulder.

I turned to face him, and he touched my cheek. Softly. "You can stay here as long as you like," He mentioned. "Yumiko and Yuuta don't mind. Shiraishi is staying as well."

"I will need to phone my family," I said. He nodded. I smiled, and he left the bathroom to myself. Once the door shut, and the lock clicked, I began methodically stripping myself. Shirt. Pants. Underwear. I took off my headband with a reverence that surprised me. I lay it gently on the pile of clothing on the floor and slid into the shower, staring at the showerhead. I turned the water on slowly, and closed my eyes when the water splashed against my nose. The pattering rhythm of the shower soothed me.

I stood there for God-knows-how-long, and reached out to grab the bar of soap on the rack. As I lathered myself, I could see my vision flickering, left, right, flashes of black… Unconsciousness was approaching, I realized belatedly.

And, oh, how I welcomed it so.

-x-

Kuranosuke was lurking outside the bathroom where Yukimura was in, making sure that he did not decide to cut himself with Fuji's sister's razors. He froze when he heard something heavy fall. His first reaction was to open the bathroom door, but it was locked. He snatched the key that Fuji had placed on the table beside the door and unlocked the door, rushing inside.

"Yuki-san!" He exclaimed, holding the collapsed teenager in his arms. He looked around his worry, in hysteria, but found nothing that could have caused his unconsciousness. He placed a hand on the teenager's head, and felt for his temperature.

It was normal.

He frowned, and slowly put Yukimura into a sitting position. He never noticed it, but Yukimura had an extremely nice body. It was almost like chocolate for the eyes, excuse the analogy. He was almost tempted to run his hands down the teenager's abdominal, just to see if it really was as firm as it looked, but he quelled the urge. It wasn't right to touch-rape an unconscious person, regardless whether you knew them or not.

He pulled Yukimura into his arms and picked him up, taking heed not to stare at his almost-divine chest, and went into the bedroom, placing the teenager into the bed. He put the blanket over the teenager's lower body, and continued to watch his face.

"You're beautiful," He whispered. Kuranosuke stood up, and left the bedroom, to look for Fuji. To tell him what happened to Yukimura.

-x-

I knew I was dreaming. It was a dream.

I was winning the Nationals. Echizen – the kid – never unlocked the Pinnacle of Perfection. I could see him collapse in shock. I was winning!

"Game, Yukimura! Five games to one!"

I beamed. It was my service game, and I shot serve after serve after serve, but he couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel.

"Game, Yukimura! Six games to one!"

I was handed the trophy, and my team ran towards me, yelling happily. We won-

"You cheated."

I looked at Sanada with confusion. His face was dark, and his eyes were like fire, glaring at me. "You cheated. You knew you couldn't play well, so you chose the coward's way out."

"What-"

Akaya glared at me, his eyes tinged red. "I thought you were strong, Yukimura!" I noticed he didn't use buchou like he normally did…

Yanagi snorted, and walked off, not bothering to speak. The others followed him, and the trophy in my hands slowly drooped down. I could hear whispers all around me. They were all about me. About how I did everything wrong, how I did everything without pride, bravery and skill. How I was weak.

The trophy fell, and I heard the sound echo in my ears loudly…

-x-

Syuusuke sat down softly beside Seiichi, and he heard the teenager moan softly, tossing around on the covers. He was dreaming. About something bad, but Syuusuke didn't know about what. He caressed the boy's chin, and looked at Shiraishi, who was standing on the other side of the bed. He was frowning slightly, and he looked somewhat disconcerted.

"Is he going to be alright…?" Shiraishi asked softly, fiddling with his bandages. Syuusuke shrugged, and turned his closed eyes back to Seiichi. The boy was sweating slightly. He pulled his shirt off, and wiped the boy's forehead. He was burning slightly, but it was just a degree higher: 37.9 degrees Celsius. It wasn't exactly a high (38 degrees and above) fever, but it was close enough, and it showed Seiichi's discomfort.

"Seii…" The 'tensai' whispered. He put his hand on Seiichi's cheek again, and sighed. "Wake up…"

Shiraishi was slightly reluctant as he sat down beside Seiichi. "He looks so peaceful… But troubled at the same time."

"Hai…"

"It's sad," Shiraishi whispered. He tugged his bandage again, "how Yukimura-san fell from grace. He's strong, though. The kid was just stronger."

Syuusuke stayed silent. He had a feeling that Seiichi could hear them. "Seii-kun, wake up…!" He whispered again. The boy stilled. He groaned softly, and relaxed into Syuusuke's touch, his breathing ragged. He wanted to see Seiichi's beautiful dark blue eyes open, and he wanted to rid them of their dark shadows. It was weird, as he'd never felt like that before… A barely-noticeable flutter of Seiichi's eyes alerted the tensai to Seiichi's consciousness, and the brunette had a relieved smile.

"Yuki-san!" Shiraishi breathed.

Seiichi moaned quietly, before his blue eyes were revealed. They were groggy with something as he blinked slowly, as if he wasn't sure if he was awake or not. Syuusuke helped him up, his hand lingering on Seiichi's cheek.

"Sleeping Beauty awakens," Syuu murmured teasingly, smiling. "Seiichi, are you alright? Shiraishi-kun told me you fell unconscious in the shower."

He just blinked. "… I did?"