Disclaimer: Stop reminding me they aren't mine ;.;! -cries a river-

AN: This chapter is kinda from Tezuka's view, like the last one. The next ones in Fuji'sview...for...um...reasons that you'll see later. Anywho. I HEART YOU ALL FOR READING!

The next morning, Tezuka was shaken awake to a smiling face, and a taunting voice, "Neh, Buchou, you really are hard to wake up! Let's go, I want to get there early! Oh! And I put all your books in your tennis bag already! So let's go!" His glasses were slipped onto his face, while Fuji was explaining and then stood back with his usual appearance. The captain looked over him in doubt; the day before the tensai could barely move. Now he was walking around as perfect as ever. Except he had..."borrowed" the captain's spare uniform. That worried him.

"Syusuke...you can't be serious."

"About what?"

"...You're in no condition to perform in the ranking matches."

Syusuke gave him a blank look, then slowly opened his eyes with a hard glare; one that could rival Tezuka's natural ice glare, "I'm not going to give up my spot. Nor will I risk missing a chance to play against you. Not this time." The tone made Tezuka doubt he was talking to his tensai, and wonder what he was talking about. Fuji had never played him in a ranking match, and he certainly wasn't going to that day...the tensai was only set to play Kikumaru. The tone worried him more than the assumed reason behind it. Even when he'd been angry before, Fuji never had a growl in his voice. It began to worry him again.

"Syusuke, you're not--" He tried to explain, only to get a growl.

"It's none of your concern!" He snapped and turned sharply, heading for the door and took Tezuka's bag with him. The captain sighed, quickly getting dressed and running after his friend. Fuji was waiting for him at the door, smiling once more, as he usually did. It made Tezuka wonder if he had imagined their small argument...maybe he was just too stressed over his friend's behavior. He looked over the tensai, and blinked. He was still holding his tennis bag.

"Syusuke."

"Hai, buchou?" The cheerful voice was back.

"That isn't your bag."

Syusuke blinked, looking at the bag on his shoulder, "Neh...oh yeah Yuuta-chan took my bag for me!" He handed the bag on his shoulder to it's owner, smiling brightly, "Gomen, buchou!"

"Yuuta did what?...Syusuke..." The warning didn't phase the boy at all; he kept smiling as he always did, answering cheerfully, "I called him before I woke you up and asked him to take my things to the club house before he went back to his dorm!"

"...You're serious?"

"Why wouldn't I call--"

"I meant about the matches...you're still limping." He chose his words carefully that time.

"...I can do it. I promise."

Tezuka gave him a searching look. The reaction was certainly different.. Cobalt eyes gave him a pleading stare; one that Tezuka could only shake his head towards. At least he wasn't snapping any more. If he had, the captain definitely would have been worried. With a defeated sigh, he put a hand on the tensai's shoulder, leading him out, "If I see so much as a stumble. I'm taking you out. Understood?"

"Hai! Arigatou, buchou!" Fuji hugged him tightly before he fell back into step. The captain shook his had once more, keeping his arm draped around the thin shoulders. He expected to be pushed aside, or for the boy to twist away; Fuji just hummed and went along with it without a single complaint. Tezuka took it as a good sign and went along with him without problems. Though he continued contemplating the argument. He was certain it had been a hallucination. Fuji had actually glared and snapped at him. While he was fairly sure he deserved it, it hadn't been for what he should have been snapped at for. If it had been about Monday's incident...he would have understood far better. But it wasn't. It was about the ranking matches. They didn't even really matter. Tezuka wouldn't have gone to their final game without their tensai, even if it meant rescheduling the ranking matches. He looked up then, starring at the sky; it looked ready to start pouring. He had a feeling he'd be rescheduling the last half whether he wanted to or not. At the same time, though, he had to admit, he also wanted a chance to play Syusuke. They had been waiting for almost a full three years. And he'd never forget the promise he made. Ever.

Could that have been the promise Fuji had refered to on Monday? he wondered silently to himself, returning his questioning gaze to the smiling boy. He was acting as he always did; smiling at everyone, waving at everyone...that was pretty normal. He still had a slight limp in his step, but Tezuka found it wise not to mention it to him. The last thing he needed was for Fuji to start snapping again. After a few minutes of walking in silence, the tensai made him stop and began to rummage through his captain's bag. He got an odd look, as a bag of wasabi shrimp flavored chips were produced from the bag and the boy began walking once more. Tezuka fell back into step with him, eyeing the product suspiciously, "What are those and why are they in my bag?"

"I left them at your house on Monday. Eiji-chan got them for me last week and said that he thought I'd really like them!" The answer left Tezuka quiet as they continued towards the train station, and took the bag as they boarded. Fuji promptly started whining, trying to get them back, though his captain quickly hid them near the bottom of his bag, where he found more of the interesting chips. He pouted as they began the ride; something that only Tezuka was able to notice.

As the train began crowding, the smaller body cringed, moving notably closer to his friend until he was able to shield himself between the window and his friend's body. Tezuka looked down at him oddly, muttering quietly, "Syusuke? Are you alright?"

"Y-yes...I'm fine. I just...didn't want to get seperated." The reply was breathless, the body shaking lightly and hiding against his friend. Tezuka took a light hold of his shoulders, trying to steady himself when the train took off, and get his friend to look up at him. When it failed, he sighed and dedicated himself to keeping his friend shielded. If Fuji didn't want to be around other people, there would be a problem. Switching classes often involved pushing through crowds, as did lunch. Classes wouldn't be...too bad. He hoped.

Once off the train, he found it increasingly harder to get Fuji to look at him, until he offered him the odd flavored chips once more. The boy squealed and took them back, happily snacking again. Tezuka could only shake his head as they walked into the school, remaining oblivious to everything else until he noticed Fuji had stopped moving-although still munching happily-, then that the courts were dead silent. He looked over the members of the tennis club with his usual iced glare; the regulars were the only ones that didn't back off of the fence, and Oishi was giving him a grateful smile. A sign that Momo and Kaido, or one of the other unlikely doubles had been giving him trouble in the captain's absense, or that someone was missing and he needed help controlling everyone. Probably the latter... His question was answered by a highpitched squeal of delight, "Fujiko!"

Out of instinct, and partial panic, he grabbed the confused tensai's shoulder and quickly pulled him aside, as Eiji divided right at the spot Fuji had once been standing. The red head looked up with watery blue eyes, pouting and lip trembling, "Buchou! That's not fair! It's MY turn to hug Fujiko!" Eiji promptly bounced back up, despite Oishi telling him to calm down, and threw his arms around Fuji, squeezing him tightly. Fuji took a few seconds, his body stiff-something he was sure Tezuka and Eiji noticed-before he hugged his friend back. At first, it was only a light hug, but it was obvious that he had begun to cling to the slightly taller boy. From where they were standing, and how they were positioned, only Eiji or Tezuka could have noticed the tears on the brim of the tensai's eyes. Tezuka began to worry, although Eiji didn't seem to notice, all too happy to see his friend. After a while, Tezuka felt the beginning buzz of a migrain, and threated the acrobat with 50 laps, plus what the team had to run, if he didn't let go of the tensai and get to work. When Fuji had been released, there was no sign at all of the tears. Ryuzaki-sensei even gave the boy a hug, frowning down on him somewhat, but overall glad to see him. Tezuka saw her whisper something to the tensai, who nodded with a reassuring smile, and then wave after her as she resumed her place of watching over practice. He then turned to his captain, and waved just as sweetly, with a taunting, "Buchou, you're team awaits your commands!"

The familiar throbbing vein began to reappear, and the other regulars quickly backed off, though Fuji just waved and went to inspect the board for the Ranking Match line-up. He really could be a handful. Tezuka just hoped it started raining before it got to Fuji and Kikumaru's match.

TBC...

Argh...I'll try to get back in the rythm of updating once a day for all of them, but I'm having a hectic time at home x.x. So, I promise, I'll try to get back in the swing of things, but if it fails, I'm apologizing in advance;;;.