Title: Inverted Hourglass

Author: iyris

Fandom: Prince of Tennis

Pairing: Fuji Syuusuke/Echizen Ryoma

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended. Several parts of plot also not mine.

Synopsis: Fuji called but he did not turn back, he kept on walking away from him. Little did he know, though, that it would be the last time he would hear Fuji calling him because the moment he finally looked back, Fuji was gone.

Inverted Hourglass

Chapter 03

"Fuji-kun?"

Fuji sat still, staring blankly outside the room, watching the leaves the falling from the trees.

"Fuji-kun?" the teacher called again but he did not hear it. "Fuji?"

Eiji decided to poke his friend now. Fuji turned only to find his friend's worried look.

"Sensei has been calling you for more than three times now," said Eiji.

"Ah." Fuji faced the teacher. "Sorry about that sensei."

"Are you alright, Fuji-kun?"

"Aa…" Fuji nodded.

The teacher sighed. He knew exactly that even though Fuji looked fine, the emptiness of his eyes was undeniable. "Go and wash your face for now," the teacher ordered which Fuji obliged.

"Will he be alright?" the teacher openly asked once Fuji had left the room.

"Hopefully," some of his classmates whispered. "Echizen's death must be a shock to him."

"Fujiko-chan…" Eiji muttered.

Fuji acted like the same in front of everyone. If they didn't know about Echizen's death two weeks ago, Fuji's acquaintances would not even notice and the regulars or his close friends might not even notice. Fuji still smiles, does pranks once in awhile, and his sadistic side has not fade a bit. But there were times that he would suddenly space out and would not notice what was happening around him. There were times that he would look like just a body without soul.

"What should we do?" Eiji asked his other teammates one afternoon. "Fuji can't keep on going like that."

"I'm worried," Oishi said.

The others looked down.

"Echizen…what should we do?"

Fuji stood in front of the grave, unmoving still, frozen in his place. He just stared and did nothing more.

Rinko stood not so far away, watching the young lad. Fuji must be tired, he had been standing there for almost three hours now. Finally, she sighed and looked at the box she was holding. She was curious as to what Fuji would like be when left alone in front of the grave of her son but she didn't discover anything since the brunet just stood. She walked towards him and tapped his shouder.

"Aren't you tired yet?" Rinko asked.

"Ah?" Fuji did not even feel when a hand landed on him. He just knew the other's presence when she talked. Seriously, Fuji was not like him at all. "Rinko-san."

The woman smiled tenderly. Her hand reaching up to wipe the silent tears of Fuji. "Don't blame yourself, Syuusuke-kun. It was not your fault. It was Ryoma's choice."

Fuji nodded. Yeah, it was not really his fault when Ryoma suddenly pushed him out of the way and took his place. But of course he would feel guilty, he has a conscience and being guilty is a normal thing. Especially to humans.

"You would do the same if you were in Ryoma's place, right?"

Fuji did not answer. His silence was enough. I bet he would do the same. That's how they love each other, willing to die for the other.

"Here." Ryoma's mother gave the small wooden box to Fuji.

"This is?"

"Those are some of Ryoma's treasured belongings. Since you are his boyfriend, I thought that you deserve to have his things."

"Thank you very much."

Rinko lightly shook her head with a gentle smile to Fuji. "Take care of them."

Reaching home, Fuji opened the box to find only few things that were mostly about them. Fuji's gift on his birthday, some pictures of them together. And another smaller box. Carefully, he opened it. An hourglass with a note.

"Save him and win against your fate…that is, if you can."

He was curious at first. Why would Ryoma have such thing? He knew well that the boy was not time conscious. Ryoma even hated his alarm clock for waking him up early every morning. So what's the use of a time measurer, and addition to that, even an hourglass. Something Fuji could not easily imagine Ryoma can have. And what was the note?

"Fate," he uttered.

Fuji scrutinized the hourglass. I was not sure anymore what was he thinking by the moment but then slowly, he inverted the hourglass once more.

I smiled to myself, knowing what was to come. The time has started again.

Just like the previous days, Fuji was spacing out again as he made his way to the tennis courts. He wasn't sure why Eiji was so loud from the inside but sure he could not really make sense of what Eiji was talking about.

"Ochibi! How mean!"

Was Eiji messing up with him? Quietly he entered and there, someone with Ryoma's hair, Ryoma's figure, Ryoma's tanned skin, Ryoma's cap, was standing in front of Ryoma's locker.

"Fujiko-chan! Ochibi is scary today!"

"What did you say?" Echizen whispered and turned around, his eyes unbelieving.

Fuji couldn't notice Eiji now. He did not even notice how things were actually so familiar that it looked like he was on a replay. Not when someone so familiar was standing in front of him and all his focus was just for him."Ryoma."

"Syuusuke." Ryoma trembled.

It indeed was him. He approached him, touched his face carefully, afraid that what he was seeing was just an illusion, but it was real. Everything was real.

"This is not a dream," Fuji said, almost to himself. Ryoma shook his head.

Fuji embraced him, so tight and Ryoma did not complain about that. Instead he gave it back, as tight as possible. Then they were sealed with a kiss, an intense and passionate one that it seemed like there would be no tomorrow. There was no need for words. They were together and it was all they needed.

The other members couldn't move. They could not even make a sound. They were frozen with their eyes wide and jaws dropped. I mean, who would not be surprised when the couple you knew was just fighting the past few days, when they saw each other, suddenly hugged and started to do a hot and melting kiss. Disregarding each and everyone of them.

Finally, Tezuka found his throat and cleared it. "Fuji, Echizen, 50 laps!"

I laughed, laughed my heart out. I was happy. Well, since they both what would happen on that day, they might as well stay on the road side forever.

"Contented?" Death sat beside me.

I smiled. "Yeah. They proved me how powerful their love can be."

"They even won against me." Yukimura frowned and I raised a brow on that.

He immediately smiled. "But I am happy for them."

"I know."

And yeah, who am I? Haven't I introduced myself yet? I am consistent, never stopping and continuously moving forward. I may live a thousand years but I never grow old. I stay as it is. I witness everything. Whatever you do, I am there. I can be your greatest advantage but at the same time the harshest enemy. I can be crueler than Death and harsher than Fate.

"I am…"

The hand of the clock started to tick again.

A/N: Overused plot? It was used on Philippine telenovela 'Chances', movie 'If Only', and even in the MV of Korean singer Hongki. And probably the plot was used on other stories and fanfictions too. Yeah, I know. I am sorry about that. Just that it was my favorite plot and wanted to try using it on my POT fave pair. Trying won't kill me anyway.

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