#3 Deficiency

Eiji gasps deep, shuddering breaths all the way down into his lungs, and the floodlights of the court glow coldly in the darkness. The sound of harsh breathing cuts through the silence and for a second Eiji thinks someone else is there, but it's only himself.

Oishi played Tezuka.

He stands there by the bench, drenched in sweat and alone. The pain of the metal he gripped tightly with his fingers lingers, and he remembers Oishi losing set after set after set. The breath catches in his throat. His lungs seize, and he slumps down on the bench, rests his head in his hands.

He knows it's immature. He knows the anger he feels is irrational, though it's now shifted into a mix of loneliness and betrayal and sadness. When he had gripped Oishi's shirt between his fists tight, yelled at him, had felt tears spilling down his cheeks and hadn't bothered to dash them off - that had been anger. It's gone now, like most of the few times he had ever been angry at Oishi, gone after a flash of fire.

His lungs still contract painfully, and Eiji knows he's pushed himself. After everyone had left, he'd ran and ran around the school and the courts, letting the anger pound out with his footsteps. He'd ran for a long time.

Now that he thinks about it, Oishi had only done the right thing. Oishi always thinks things out more than he does and sees the causes and effects, while Eiji deals with feelings, and they'd always balanced each other out that way.

Eiji wonders what Oishi's feeling right now. The bench is suddenly cold and hard under him, and he gets up. He gathers his things and checks the time on his cellphone. His legs are shaky, and his breath is still coming hard.

He plans to go to the gym tomorrow. He plans to work on his stamina, and fix his new step. When Oishi comes back, he'll show Oishi that he understands now. He won't hold Oishi back, and they'll be okay and golden and perfect again.

Eiji walks away, but he doesn't see Oishi standing by the court in which he played against Tezuka, smiling.


AN: Based around Eiji's Singles match in Genius 265-269. Been busy with school lately, and I'll really write other characters. Really. Really!