Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Lady Monozuki: Wow, I am overwhelmed at the response I got from everyone. Thank you very much for the reviews everyone! I appreciate every one of them. I do apologize for not getting this out on time. Life doesn't like me and I'm running off nothing except my sheer will to stay awake and post this. Anyway, on with the story

Chapter Two: Guilt

Something had happened. At first, he tried to push away the feeling inside of him, but it kept growing. For some reason, he wanted to go see Ryoma. He looked at Kunimitsu and Gen, they wouldn't come with him. They were afraid to disobey Keigo's orders. Fuji did not care about disobeying orders, especially when it came to their youngest, most precious lover. That thought made the smile on his face disappear, they did not deserve to call him their lover; they didn't deserve him after the way they had treated him.

Perhaps that's why he rushed down the hallway to where the pathetic room that Ryoma lived in. Fuji had once confronted Keigo about giving Ryoma a better living space and had paid for the suggestion. He was unable to walk for three weeks. The violent outbursts should have been enough to warn him about their relationship; or rather their non-existent one. They had tried to pass of their relationship as normal, but it became evident too quickly that Keigo wanted one thin, sex. For several years, he had contemplated leaving their five-some and starting new, but he could not bring himself to do so after what happened last year.

Though he did not know the full details, something happened to both Ryoma and Keigo that caused their already-strained relationship to tear. He had gone along with the diva for the first few weeks, but quickly got bored of the façade. He couldn't even mention Ryoma's name without suffering some sort of repercussion and when he went to check on their abandoned lover and Keigo found out, he would be met with physical pain or locked away for days at a time.

Kunimitsu and Gen saw this and never dared to question their rich lover, which made him wonder when they all became so afraid of Keigo. No one dared to stand against the diva, except him. He was constantly made an example of because of his rebellious attitude, but he was never one to be tied down. The past few days had been painful to deal with. Keigo had kept him under tight security to make sure that he couldn't visit Ryoma. It was a miracle that the diva had even left for the office that day.

He hated being kept on such a short leash. Fuji realized that he did not want to put up with Keigo's behavior anymore and wanted out. However, he wanted to take Ryoma with him. He wanted to go back to their happy relationship before this mess and enjoy their life without worrying about offending other people. They knew each other best and could tell moods without even speaking. He just hoped that he wasn't too late.

Fuji stopped in front of Ryoma's room. He knocked, but didn't get a reply. He frowned. Today was the one day that Ryoma didn't have to go to school and there was no way that he would come out and risk running into the diva. He knocked once more before turning the knob.

"Ryoma?" he called out. No answer met his call. He saw the lamp in the room turned on.

Perhaps he's studying and didn't hear me.

He rounded the corner and gasped. On the floor was their youngest lover. A small pool of blood was formed around his hand. He felt himself shaking and standing there in shock. His Ryoma had cut his wrist. He twitched and rushed over to the unconscious man.

"Oh my god, Mitsu, Gen!" he shouted. Though there was some distance separating them, he knew that they would hear his call. They always seemed to know when something was wrong. He walked toward Ryoma's limp figure and leaned down. He had read somewhere that if you put pressure on the wound that it would slow the bleeding. If he had any hope saving Ryoma, he would have to do that. The sight of blood usually made him feel sick, but for some reason he tolerated the sight.

He placed one hand on the frail wrist and used his fingers to press against the wound. The blood didn't seem to stop and he could not help but worry about Ryoma's health. There was all ready so much blood on the floor. A bang in the hallway caused him the look up. He saw Kunimitsu and Gen looking slightly disheveled in their appearance. Their eyes went wide at the sight before them. He tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke, but couldn't control it like usual.

"Gen, Mitsu, I need you to call for help. I'll stay here until the paramedics arrive."

The other two did not hesitate to move. He let the tears that had been forming in his eyes fall.

"We really screwed up, Ryoma. I ignored all of the signs and you suffered in all of this. I'm sorry, Ryoma. I'm sorry for leaving you all alone. P-please don't leave me. I want to make this right. I want to make everything up to you. You don't deserve to live with this pain. We should have been there for you. I'm sorry, please, I love you. We were stupid. You went through hell last year and we went along with Keigo's antics. Why did we do so in the first place? What did we gain out of this?"

He faintly heard a siren in the distance. He could only assume that it was the help that Ryoma needed. Fuji waited for them to come. He stared at the pale face of his lover. He had played a part in all of this. He had noticed the signs and pretended that everything was fine. Now, he ran the risk of losing the one person that understood him best. He wished that it would not end like this.

If you live, I will spend the rest of my life apologizing to you over again. I convinced you that this was a good idea and look at you now. I'm sorry, I will not leave your side from now on. Please fight to live another day for me.

He heard the sound of footstep approaching even against the padded carpet. Fuji watched the door eagerly and saw three paramedics burst in the room. He moved aside to let them do their work.

"This doesn't look good," one of them muttered.

"We need to get him out of here now," the other said. "If we can't get him to the hospital in thirty minutes, we'll lose him."

He trembled as they loaded him up on a stretcher. It all seemed to be surreal. He tried to convince himself that this was not happening, but the scene before him was too real to ignore. The blood, the bandages, the paramedics wheeling away their loved one, everything was happening.

"We can take one of you with us to the hospital, but you have to decide fast," one of the paramedics said.

"I'm going," Fuji announced. He didn't even bother to ask his other lovers.

"But Fuji, what about Kei—?"

"I don't give a damn about Keigo and his rules!" Fuji snapped. "I'm going and it's up to you two as to whether or not you are going to follow."

He exited the room without another word. He hadn't prevented this from happening, but he sure as hell would try to make up for the mistakes that he had made. Fuji stepped into the ambulance and watched them continue their work. Time knew no end and neither did his thoughts. The numerous "What ifs" never left his mind; he wanted to shut off his brain or somehow managed to convince himself that everything would be all right. The words of the paramedic echoed in his mind. In twenty minutes, Ryoma would be dead. Would they make it in time? Would he recover from the wound?

Stop worrying, Syuusuke. Everything will be fine, you found him in time. He will be all right.

He didn't realize that they had stopped. He watched them unload Ryoma and got off as soon as they were finished. They wasted no time in bringing him to the emergency room. He watched the doors close in front of him. Fuji sank into one of the chairs nearby. He buried his head into his hands. The situation reminded him of what happened last year, except he didn't have to see the scene. All he saw was the aftermath.

He recalled when they first received the call. They were worried since Ryoma had not called them after his match. Usually their youngest lover would make sure to tell them the outcome, even if they had already watched it on television. At first, they brushed their worries aside, telling themselves that he probably fell asleep after playing in such a long match. That brought peace to their mind long enough to sleep. However, an unpleasant call had woken them up. The truth as to why their favorite uke had missed their call shocked all of them. Somehow, they all ended up on one of Atobe's private jets bound for America. In the flight, they all expressed their concern.

However, Keigo kept silent. Upon arrival, they found themselves separated. Keigo went to a business meeting while they went to visit Ryoma. They couldn't understand the diva's behavior, but brushed it aside all the same. After a long two weeks, they went back to Japan. At first, their younger lover didn't open up to them as much. He was afraid, which they all understood as to why. Being as stubborn as he was, he kept pushing himself to different levels. One night, Ryoma had wanted to get over his fear of being touched once again.

Pain tore at their hearts when they tried. Ryoma tried hard to get over the fears, but could not erase the memory of what happened from his mind. They begged for him to stop, but he wanted to keep on trying. Somewhere, Atobe lost his head and pushed him out of the room, telling him to leave them alone and get some sleep. The abuse after that grew steadily worse.

On those sleepless nights, he wondered if Ryoma felt the same way when Atobe was through with him. Tears rolled down his cheeks. They had really screwed up on so many levels. They hadn't even tried to help Ryoma. They had discarded him without a second thought.

The time seemed to tick by so slowly. He wondered if they had forgotten about him. Every minute was agonizing and allowed for several questions to fill his mind. His doubt continued to grow. Perhaps they didn't save him? At great length, a person walked out with a white coat, he looked weary, perhaps from too many shifts.

"Are you the one who accompanied Echizen Ryoma?" he asked.

Fuji nodded. "How is he?" he asked in a small voice.

"We got lucky. Had he arrived any later, we would have lost him. He managed to cut into the artery, but we managed to stablize his condition. Right now he's resting in the ICU. I can take you to see him right now."

He got to his feet and headed down long halls. Fuji disliked how long the corridors were in the hospital. He wanted to be in Ryoma's room, holding his hand, and begging for him to come back to them. He didn't deserve him, but he wanted him. After a few minutes, he walked into a large white room. The first thing he noticed was tubes everywhere. Blood dripped from a bag and made its way through a tube into their younger lover's arm. A bandage covered half of his arm, hiding the cut, but not making it gone forever. Ryoma's pale features made him feel even worse. The person lying in the bed looked similar to death. If not for the sound of a beep, indicating his heart rate, he would have presumed so.

He drew in a shaky breath and reached for the nearest hand to him, because he knew that he couldn't handle this on his own. The sight was proving to be too much to bear alone. The usual steady figures he was used to having around him were absent. They had driven Ryoma to this point; they rejected him so many times that he couldn't recover. This whole situation fell on them.

He dared to touch the hand of the person lying in front of them. He wanted to hear the cocky voice once again. Even though he wasn't dead, it felt that way. He felt as though he had lost a part of his heart and that nothing would ever be the same again. His hand made contact with the other. He flinched at the coldness that emitted from the fragile boy.

"Don't give up, Ryoma," he whispered.

I am waiting for you to come back. I want you to forgive me and come back so that I can make amends with you.

Fuji leaned in and gave a soft peck on Ryoma's forehead.

"I won't ever abandon you again. I love you."

To be continued…