Thank you for reading and reviewing. Sorry it took a long time to update. I typed them on my smart phone, but I still had to use MsWord grammar tool for editing. I need 2 hours to edit. If you still find anything wrong, please tell me. I'll do my best to improve.
Chapter 03
... the street where the accident happened was closed from public temporarily. The witness claimed the car crashed right into a telephone pole without even showing a sign of stopping. "It was like that car was planning to hit that thing from the start," a local citizen said. The driver was confirmed died on the spot, while the passenger was actually alive and immediately taken to Hara Central Hospital. The unfortunate girl, Fujisaki Mio, age 15, apparently lived only for a few hours before she passed away. The hospital has yet to confirm any other cause of death. The victim's family demanded an autopsy. The authorities had already...
"Shuusuke, you're going to be late." Fuji Yumiko said as she took the plate in front of his younger brother. Fuji folded the newspaper.
"It's still early, Nee-san." Fuji replied. Yumiko only shrugged and went to the sink. "I'm waiting for someone anyway," he added. She stopped rinsing the plates for a while. That piqued her interest.
"Oh, your date?" she asked. That's new.
Fuji rolled his eyes, "no, it's Tezuka," he told her.
"So? What's the difference?" She replied with a smile, an infuriating meaningful smile.
"Very funny, Nee-san." Fuji looked at the clock, "I think you're going to be late for work." Yumiko had finished doing the dishes, stacking the last plate at the tray. She untied her kitchen apron and hung it on the wall.
"Alright. See you later, Shuusuke." She said and left the kitchen. Fuji exhaled and shook his head. "Oh, and don't forget to say hello to your date for me." Her head peeked cutely behind the door. Fuji quickly turned around to respond, shifting from his chair.
"He's not my-" he raised his voice but his sister wasn't there anymore. He could hear the front door closed, and then the engine started. He sighed and continued to read the newspaper.
"Your bento looks nice!"
"Hey, do you hear the news on TV?"
"No way, for real?"
It was lunch time. Tezuka was walking among crowds in the cafeteria, which was full at moment. There were people chattering everywhere. He hated crowds, so he seldom eating here. But he needed to find his teammates. He spotted Fuji, Inui, Eiji, and Oishi at the far corner of the room. They seemed to talk about something important. Tezuka approached them.
"Tezuka!" They all greeted him as he sat down, placing his bento on the table.
"Tezuka's bento!" Eiji chirped. All attention turned toward the lunch box in front of Tezuka. The captain regretted to eat here immediately.
"What do you bring today?" Oishi asked. Tezuka didn't answer and opened the lid hesitantly. They looked at the dish in astonishment.
"Ii data." Inui said as he took notes using his right hand, and still eating curry with his left. Fuji held back a chuckle.
"How are you going to eat that, Tezuka?" Fuji asked, half teasing and half curious. There were soft rice, potatoes, sauces, chunks of soft chicken, practically a toddler's food. Oishi was still staring at the unusually plain meal.
"No meat, no veggies, no hard textured food. Are you sure you're not having any serious bowel disease?" The vice-captain asked him, genuinely worried.
"No, but my mother claimed it was necessary," he said and picked up his chopsticks, "itadakimasu," he said politely and started eating, determined to ignore anymore comments from them. Fuji smiled beside him and continued to eat his miso soup.
"Ne, there're so many people talking about the recent accident." Fuji commented as he looked around them.
"Well, accident happens. It's regretfully a weekly thing nowadays. But what makes this one rather important is Fujisaki Mio. She is apparently quite famous from what I've heard." Oishi answered. Eiji nodded at that.
"I heard she had just started her debut in modeling. I've seen her in an ice cream advertisement once. She's so pretty, it's too bad she died that way." Eiji whined and started picking on his food. He reached for a soy sauce bottle. Fuji passed it to him, knowing the food must be agonizingly plain, even to someone like Tezuka.
"I read the newspaper in the morning. Her parents asked for autopsy, because they suspect the cause of death. But it has yet to be confirmed, the hospital said." Fuji told them. Inui pushed his tray away and took out his notebook.
"Well of course. Autopsy is an examination needed to identify manner of death. It can be done if there's an order coming from authorities, and usually it is used for investigation purpose. So when there's an unnatural death, there'll be an autopsy performed on the dead body." Inui explained to them, "The hospital may decline if there's no legal instruction for that, regardless of the family's request." he added. They hummed and nodded as Inui spoke.
"But there're rumors about drugs and murders too behind this you know. It seemed that she was involved with yakuza or something." Eiji said in a low voice. Tezuka frowned at that. If anything, he disliked gossip, because those kinds of talks were mostly fabrications and cruel. Eiji noticed the captain's expression and stopped talking immediately.
"Oishi." Tezuka suddenly said, demanding attention from the vice-captain, "I need you to inform the rest of the teammate that I won't be attending practice today. I'll leave the regulars' and the first and second year's training to you."
"Ah, that's fine. I'll do it. But where are you going Tezuka?" Oishi asked, a bit worried.
"I need to do something important, and I've informed Ryuuzaki-sensei," he replied. Before they could add anything else and ask any more questions, Tezuka stood up and excused himself.
"Nya... Fujiko, do you think he's okay?" Eiji asked. Fuji seemed to not listen.
"I'm going first!" The honey haired boy said, suddenly stood up and went after Tezuka. He paused a while to turn around and smiled, waved a little, then hastily turned away. Eiji and Oishi reluctantly lifted their hand and waved back to the now empty spot. Inui tapped the pen he was holding to his chin.
"Ii data."
"Tezuka!"
Tezuka turned around as he heard a familiar voice calling him. It was Fuji, running after him. "Fuji?"
"Ne, are you alright?"
"Aa, I'm fine."
"Where're you going? We're supposed to go home together, remember?" Fuji reminded him.
"..."
"You forgot." Fuji sighed. The captain was afraid if he had hurt his friend. Tezuka stared at the blue eyed teenager, a bit longer and unresponsive.
"I forgot." He finally admitted. Fuji tried to stiffle laughter.
"You forgot?" He repeated with an amazed expression, as if it was impossible for Tezuka to forget something.
"I'm sorry."
Fuji looked at him and smiled again, "it's fine, really. I'm just worried." He said truthfully. "Are you alright, Tezuka?" The captain had to look away from the genuine concern in Fuji's eyes.
"I was going to do a checkup at the hospital."
"Are you hurt? Is it your arm?" Fuji asked again as he stared at Tezuka's left hand.
"No, it's not." He replied. The captain lifted his right hand and held his left elbow. It was pretty much healed already after his treatment in German. It was an unforgettable experience, the injury and the effect it caused to him, and everyone around him. From what Tezuka deducted, his best friend was still holding a grudge against Atobe Keigo.
"So it's the food poisoning then?" Fuji asked curiously. Tezuka tried to ignore him. "Ne, are you hurting somewhere?" he insisted. Tezuka looked at him again. It wasn't going to end until he answered.
"I still have cramps." he admitted slowly, looking ahead as they walked. "My stomach aches a bit." He added. Fuji grinned widely.
"Even you can get a cramp. Ne, are you having diarrhea also?" Fuji was back into his teasing mood. If the captain was capable in expressing more facial emotions, he'd blush in embarrassment. Fuji was still smiling at his side, walking happily beside him. Tezuka let out an almost inaudible sigh and ignored him along the way.
He shouldn't have told Fuji that trivial fact, which only induced more teasings. But Tezuka Kunimitsu couldn't lie to anyone, and in front of Fuji Shuusuke, not only Tezuka couldn't lie, but he also couldn't refuse to answer. He was simply incapable to do so.
"Change courts! Both of you stop fighting with each other!" Ryuuzaki bellowed at Kaidou and Momoshiro. They started bickering again
Fuji watched the entire scene with Echizen by his side. They were sitting on the bench. Both were paired up as practice partner and still recuperating from a vigorous match. Ryuuzaki told them to improve their strength in swinging racquets, not that they were lacking of course, because sometimes power was needed in tennis besides skills.
"Senpai, there's an empty court right there. Let's have another match." Ryoma offered as he served an empty ponta can to a trash can, which earned him a death glare from Ryuuzaki.
"Echizen, your energy is surely indispensable." Fuji said. Ryoma snorted at that.
"Fuji-senpai I know you're not tired yet." The cocky junior pointed out. Fuji smiled at him,
"Smooth, okay?" he finally agreed. Ryoma smiled back and stood up. He picked up his racquet and put on his cap like usual.
Fuji stared at Ryoma's customary gesture and at the same time saw something different. He couldn't help but feeling that disturbing sense of familiarity at the way the white cap rested perfectly on the junior's hat. It was a feeling of deja vu, a repeated memory in your mind, a feeling like you've seen something or you've been in a similar situation before. But he couldn't grasp what it was.
"Fuji senpai?" Ryoma snapped him out of his thought. Fuji didn't know why he was feeling like that every time he saw Ryoma these days.
"Let's go." Fuji picked up his own racquet and walked to the court. He decided to ignore it.
It was pouring hard. The rain didn't look like it would stop anytime soon. Fuji sighed as he walked back to the club room and took out a neatly folded umbrella from his locker. It was a handy umbrella, dark brown with white lines decorating the edge. Fuji didn't like the extra baggage of carrying an umbrella everywhere, no matter how small and convenient it was. Despite being a genius, he was not the type of person who would prepare an umbrella before it truly rained. He believed there'd be shelter out there somewhere. Lucky for him it was raining before he went home. Luck was always on his side anyway.
Fuji closed the locker and picked up his school bag. He stopped suddenly. Inui was standing in front of him, offering a folded navy blue umbrella to him. He recognized that color and whom it belonged to.
"I have mine, Inui." He said, lifting the brown umbrella on his left hand.
"This is Tezuka's," Inui told him. "I borrowed it 2 weeks ago, and apparently forgot to return it." He explained. Unbelievable.
"I know it's his. But why are you giving it to me?" Fuji asked. He didn't move to take the umbrella offered to him. Inui liked to scheme things.
"I heard it from Ryuuzaki-sensei about his checkup today. I thought you're going to visit him." Inui said, swinging the blue thing in front of Fuji.
"Well, I wasn't planning to. How can you be so sure?" Fuji asked the bespectacled teenager. Inui shrugged,
"I'm twenty percent sure you'll visit him straight after this. And there are forty-seven percent possibilities that you'll walk home and decide to take a detour halfway back. The rest will be you're not going at all." Inui explained, smiling at him. Fuji chuckled at that.
"In other words, you're sixty-seven percent sure that I'm going to visit him after this anyway. When the truth is, I wasn't even planning to visit him before you showed up," he told him and took the umbrella. Inui grinned.
"That makes it a hundred then."
"Not really, what if I die on the way there?"
"That's unfortunate." Inui replied to the joke attempt as he locked the door behind them. Fuji chuckled at his apathetic respond. If it was Tezuka, he would definitely scold Fuji for that kind of stupid and irresponsible joke. Maybe he should check on his captain after all.
"See you later, Inui." Fuji said as he walked into the rain. Inui watched until the navy blue umbrella disappeared from his sight.
"I should've waited a bit longer at school." Fuji muttered as he shook the umbrella and put it away. His shirt was a bit drenched, but not entirely, thanks to the umbrella, but it was quite wet. The weather was cold. He went through the automatic glass door and looked around.
The hospital was crowded. No, crowded was an understatement. It was really full to the extent Fuji found it suffocating. Probably because of the rain, visitors were unable to go home. Fuji walked pass the emergency room and into a large corridor. He saw signs on each department he passed. There were 'pediatrics', 'pediatric surgery', 'neonatal care', after a while he realized there were too many kids and babies around him. He must be at the wrong side. He squinted his eyes and read a large sign on the corner beside a large arrow pointer.
Internal Medicine
Gastroenterology
Immunology
Pulmonology
Cardiology
Fuji knew what each of them meant, but he wasn't sure where Tezuka would be. Where would you go for food poisoning? He thought maybe he should have waited at the entrance. He strode through the hall until he saw a bright sign with 'INFORMATION' written in two languages, English and Japanese. He hastily moved toward the place. It was less populated than at the entrance. He walked too fast and someone bumped him from the left. Apparently both weren't paying much attention. Fuji quickly turned around and apologized.
"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" He asked. The person gasped. It was a woman, a very familiar black haired woman in a nurse outfit. She stared at him for a moment in an utter shock. She quickly regained her composure and grabbed his arm, a bit too harshly.
"What are you doing here?!" Her voice was low, harsh, and uneasy. It was Fuji's turn to be shocked.
"I- I was-"
"No, forget it. You should've never been here." She hissed. She was few inches taller than him and had to incline down to deliver that message in whisper. "Leave," she added. Fuji didn't like this at all. What was going on? Why was this lady overreacting when she saw him? He just came for a visit, and this was a hospital.
"But why?" He asked. She placed her other hand on his shoulder. The wet cloth pressed onto him made him remembered that it had rained earlier.
"Listen, I need you to go home now. I'm sorry. I mean-" she was obviously nervous. Despite her apology, her grip on his arm tightened, disturbing yet not too painful. Fuji waited patiently while she tried to calm herself. The only thing that kept him from shoving her away was the fear and frustration in her eyes as she looked at him.
She seemed to realize her desperate clutch on his cloth and quickly released it. "I'm sorry I was overreacting. Trust me. Please, go home. Now." She repeated, a bit desperate in her absurd persuasion.
"Alright then, miss." Fuji replied, forcing a smile to reassure her. The nurse's tone was harsh earlier, but he could feel that she didn't mean any harm. She was not a bad person, just worried about something. Fuji was unable to grasp the situation but he thought it was best to comply. "Thank you for the other day, I'll be going first." He respectfully bowed his head as he excused himself and went away.
The woman exhaled in relief as he watched the boy's retreating back. She was feeling at ease until she saw two men standing by the emergency exit. Both were wearing male nurse outfit, face covered with green protection mask, watching her.
"He was the kid from the video right?" one man asked her. He has a light brown hair, not typical for Japanese, yet he got the oriental feature. She had seen him once or twice around here.
"Yes, it's him." She replied calmly, trying to maintain her composure. But meeting the boy earlier threw her off balance. She didn't know why she was following them to the emergency exit. But she thought it was best if she went there and gave the boy some time to leave.
"What was he doing here?" the other man asked her. She recognized the voice. He pulled his mask down, revealing his face. It was the technician the other day.
"How should I know?" she retorted, clearly annoyed.
"Did he tell you anything?" The technician asked her. Then his companion cut the conversation, "did you tell him anything?" he asked accusingly. She glared at him,
"No!" she denied, still staring in disbelief, "what is wrong with you?" She asked defensively.
"You know that no one should know about our job." The brunet warned her. She rolled her eyes impatiently.
"I know that part, you don't have to remind me. But that kid is as clueless as a baby regarding this matter." She replied. This was ridiculous.
"So what was he doing here?" he insisted, again. She was getting more and more irked.
"Are you kidding me? For god sake, this is a hospital. Everybody has their own reason to be here!" She exploded. Her voice echoed in the emergency stairs. The man hushed her immediately.
"Lower your voice." He warned. They could hear the visitors' footsteps and chatterings behind the emergency door.
"Don't you threaten me, I'm sick of your accusation and paranoia!" She ignored his warning and didn't bother lowering her voice. The man with the mask grabbed her wrist, a bit too roughly.
"I told you to lower your voice," he hissed dangerously. She could feel his grip tightened. The other man, the technician, placed his hand on the harsh grip, indicating his companion to let go. The brunet behind the mask relented and complied. "If you highly appreciate your life, you'll behave." He warned her, releasing his grip with a harsh jerk. She stumbled slightly.
"Hey, come one. Let's go." The technician opened the door and steered his companion away. He threw one last sympathetic at the nurse. Their eyes met for a second. Then he exited the room. She waited until the bright red door closed before she slumped against the wall. She was scared.
On the other side, Fuji was still walking leisurely. He was heading to the entrance where he came from since he left his umbrella there. The large corridors were crowded, lots of sick people and visitors everywhere. He already made his mind to go back home and cancelled his intention to see Tezuka.
Despite his disturbed feeling from the encounter earlier, he decided not to run and rush back home. Fuji looked at the yard from the window. The rain came down in heavy torrent he could barely saw anything. All white, and no pedestrians. He wondered if this continued, they might have to cancel tomorrow's practice.
Fuji was understandably tired. After the strenuous activity earlier with Ryoma, walking all the way here, and standing for almost hours, of course he would feel exhausted. He was so lucky his body was trained excellently at sport, because if he was another person, his legs would've given out earlier. Fuji looked around for vacant seats and found none. There was one at the corner but a mother holding a baby was staring at the place also, so he decided to look elsewhere.
He heard a loud cry from behind him. A toddler was crying in his mother's arm, and beside them, an old woman was coughing violently, and it looked like she would fall any time soon. What disturbed Fuji were the nurses not far from the old woman. Both were male, wearing a white nurse outfit and protection masks. One was a brunet and the other had a jet black hair. Instead of helping the old lady, they were only standing there, staring intently at him. When their eyes met, Fuji quickly looked away.
He had the urge to turn around but decided against it and continued to walk slowly. Though he couldn't see them clearly, they were practically burning holes through his back. It was weird, and he knew they were still watching. He wasn't sure if they were following him. But in case they did,
"Excuse me," Fuji said as he opened the door to a random room. There were kids, knee-high toddlers looking up at him curiously.
"Yes?" A voice answered him. A kind looking nurse wearing a pink uniform strode toward him, a bunny clip hanging on her breast pocket. Fuji concluded he might be in one of those pediatric rooms.
He was still standing on the doorway and holding the handle. "Ah. I..."He tried to find words to say and failed due to his scattered concentrations. He dared to steal a glance behind and saw the two male nurses tailing him, making their ways through the crowd. Fuji quickly let himself in shut the door.
"Can I help you?" the nurse asked again. He forced a smile at her.
"No, I-I'm in the wrong room, sorry. I got lost." Then he noticed a door at the other side of the room. "Can I use the other door? It's too crowded out there." He asked, and briefly glanced through the gap on the blind. Both men were looking left and right, obviously searching for something. When the unmistakable fact dawned on him that it was him they were looking for, he couldn't help but shuddered a little. The nurse didn't take his uneasiness as anything weird. She nodded and smiled, treating him kindly as she treated all the patients around here.
"Yes, you can. It's a small corridor, leading to public rest room. If you turn left and then right, you'll be in the main lobby." She told him. This time he offered her a relieved and gratified smile before quickly exited the room.
Fuji walked past the rest room, which showed 'occupied' red symbol on the knob. He followed her instruction earlier and turned left. It brought him to another spacious corridor. He was about to step out when he spotted a white uniformed male nurse. He quickly retreated into the narrow space and leaned heavily on the wall. He could hear the sound of blood rushing in his ear, and he knew he would faint soon if his heart kept on jumping inside his ribcage. He risked to peek and looked at the male nurse, only to find that it was an entirely another person. The male nurse was alone, holding a box of what looked like fluid bags on his hand. He was not the person from before.
Fuji covered his mouth with his right hand, sighing into his palm. He felt really stupid and helpless at the moment. What was he afraid of? He didn't even know if the men were truly after him or not, but the earlier encounter with the nurse made him so self-conscious. He tried to catch his breath. Even though he didn't run, the whole situation could easily make him hyperventilating. He stepped back toward where he came from. Suddenly a hand touched his shoulder from behind.
"No!" He quickly jerked away and turned around, trying to evade the hand that was touching him. He panicked.
"Fuji!" the other person said, both hands rested on his shoulder now, calming his anxiety. Of course he knew this voice.
He looked up and saw the familiar face of his best friend. "Tezuka...?" His voice was soft and a bit desperate, as if he was trying to make sure that it was really his captain. Fuji was so relieved his legs almost gave out. Tezuka noticed the tense shoulder under his hand gradually calmed. "It's you." Fuji said. The captain couldn't dismiss the obvious relieved tone in his friend's voice.
"What happened?" He asked that instead of 'what are you doing here'. Fuji shrugged.
"Nothing. I was just surprised. You snuck up on me," he replied and looked away.
"I didn't." Tezuka replied, eyes still fixed on his slightly agitated feature. His hands were still on the shorter boy's shoulder. Fuji lifted his head and looked at him. Even though Tezuka's facial expression showed his usual passiveness and indifference, Fuji could see a glint of worry in his eyes.
"Then I must've been spacing out." He forced a smile, only realizing a moment ago that he failed to smile like he always did. "I'm alright, just a bit tired." He assured. If Tezuka was unconvinced, he didn't push it.
"Why are you here?" The captain finally asked, lowering his hands from the shorter boy's shoulder.
"I was looking for you. Inui gave me your umbrella. I left it outside." He answered. Tezuka only nodded. "Are you done? Can we go now?" Fuji asked and immediately cursed inwardly at the slight desperation in his words.
"Aa," was Tezuka's only reply and he let Fuji dragged him outside.
Tezuka didn't make any comment after that. Though Fuji was gradually eased and relaxed as they walked, Tezuka couldn't help but feeling worried. They had been best friend for years. Even though they were pretty close, they rarely touch each other except for a mere calling gesture on the shoulder, handshakes after match, accidental brushes, and other trivial touches. Tezuka never touched anyone unnecessarily and so did Fuji. But now Fuji was dragging him out of the hospital, gripping Tezuka's wrist strongly with his smaller hand.
Despite the unfamiliar feeling, Tezuka didn't shake the hand away and let Fuji led him further before finally letting go. He wasn't going to assess whether he hated the gesture or not, at least not right now, because at the moment his attention was focused on Fuji and what had made his friend this way.
The weather was still unfriendly, and it was obvious to him that the wind would blow waters if they leave now. But Tezuka still picked up his own umbrella and followed Fuji outside. Together they walked home silently under the heavy rain.
Next issue: 'They' were still looking for the light haired boy with only a single clue, the blue jacket. A sudden appearance of a suspicious stranger outside the court alerted the regulars. Ryoma showed his dislike, Oishi was worried, Inui watched, and Tezuka confronted.
