Hey guys! Long time no see! I had originally wanted to upload every Friday, but well college had other plans for me.

I didn't realize that I would actually have this much work to do this year.

And I'm behind on numerous homework assignments. (I still have to do Moral Theology, Parapsychology and Pseudoscience, History of Mexico, and the History and Systems of Psychology...) It's going to be a long night. Plus: I have lifting Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 6 am and practice every day and conditioning every day.

So as you can see. This leaves little room for updates :( And Fridays I just kind of... pass out in my bed. The life of a Division I college athlete...

Anyways... I feel as though I have been neglecting you guys. I sincerely apologize. That's why I'm taking a break to get this chapter out!

I'll do my best to update again soon!

P.S.: Thank you to:
slacker4life for adding my story to your Alert!
Fallen-Autumn-Leaves also add my story to the Alert thing
Anna Snowfields for correcting my mistake :)
hanonmm for favoriting the story
and finally... Syahra for adding my story to your Alert
If I missed anyone, I apologize.

Hikari and I thank you for your support!


Sleep, sleep lazy fool

You've fought to long
And now you're free to tool
Don't wake blind maiden

Sleep, sleep small child
There are terrors to come
You won't sleep forever
Cause you'll never be done

Sleep, sleep little blossom
Because that's all you can do
Sleep, the sleep of dreamers
And wake again a new

- Eric Andrew James

Jirou continued to pull Hikari away from the tennis courts. In fact, when she looked back, all she saw were trees. Everywhere was just trees and Hikari had no idea where they were going. It was a little nerve wracking to be dragged around like this. "Jirou-san!" Hikari yelled breathlessly. She hadn't ran this fast, this much, in a long time and it was starting to show. He didn't respond. "Where are we going?" She was really starting to get tired. She knew that if she kept running at this pace, her knee would eventually give out. Not many knew about her knee, and she really didn't want to have to talk about it now.

The only people that actually knew were Syusuke, Yuuta, Yumiko, and Oshitari. Oshitari found out because like all tennis players he knew the name Fuji. He took the liberty to look in the past to find out more about her. He eventually came across information on her accident. But she couldn't complain, that information was part of the reason they became such good friends.

"Jirou…" Hikari said breathlessly. She was starting to reach her limit and she could feel her legs getting weaker. Before she complained again, Jirou suddenly stopped causing Hikari to bump into him slightly. "Ah… Sorry…" She mumbled.

"Here we are!" Jirou said happily, but it slightly annoyed Hikari that he wasn't out of breath what so ever. Hikari bent over at the waist and put her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Jirou turned to her with a bright smile. It was only then did Hikari notice just how tired he really was. His face was happy, but his eyes were exhausted. He frowned when he saw how tired Hikari was. "Are you okay?" Hikari could only nod. "I ran a little too fast didn't I?" He asked as he rubbed his head slightly.

"Just a little… but I'll be fine…" She said as she began to catch her breath. She stood straight and placed her hands on her hips. "So… where are we anyway?" She asked as her curiosity got the best of her.

Jirou just smiled as he stepped to the side and motioned to what was behind him. "Do you like it?" He asked.

Hikari's mouth dropped open in surprise. She had been in these trees numerous times to take naps after school, but she had never come across this place. It was a small clearing no more than twenty feet in diameter. There were trees and bushes that surrounded it. In the middle of the clearing was a smaller tree compared to the ones around it. Unlike the surrounding area, light touched the ground and grass was able to grow instead of just moss. There were even flowers growing around the lone tree. It was so simple yet filled with so much beauty. It made you feel relaxed with the scent of flowers that filled the air.

"It's so beautiful." She said in awe. She walked passed Jirou and into the clearing. "Where did you find this?" She asked looking back at Jirou.

Jirou shrugged. "When I was a first year, I skipped practice a lot and eventually found this place." Jirou explained. "It's pretty much my own little sanctuary." He seemed so proud of it. Hikari chuckled slightly. "What's so funny?" He asked as he walked into the clearing also.

Hikari waved her hands in front of her defensively. "Nothing!" She exclaimed. "But… do you really think that no one knows about such a pretty place like this except you?"

Jirou frowned and thought about it. "Well… I almost always come here to nap and I've never seen anyone else here. So I just figured that I was the only one to that knew about it."

"But you know someone could come here while you sleep." Hikari wondered. "You would never know if you are always asleep."

Jirou stared at her for a while contemplating it but ended up shrugging. "Mah! It doesn't really matter as long as no one says anything to me." He said as he walked over to the tree and sat down. He leaned against it and looked up at Hikari. "As long as it's just Hikari-chan and me then that's all the matters, right?" He was sporting one of the softest smiles Hikari had ever seen.

Hikari smiled back at him. She never felt so happy. She even had that feeling of butterflies in her stomach, and it took her all to keep her face from turning red. She had always had guy friends, but none of them had ever said anything so kind to her. It made her a little nervous. Jirou patted the spot next to him and Hikari nervously walked over and sat next to him.

Jirou looked at her with worried eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked confused when he saw the slight frown on Hikari's face. For once, Hikari didn't know how to answer. She had never felt so tongue tied. "If you're upset about something, we can go back." Hikari shook her head 'no' as she tried to clear her thoughts.

Jirou didn't say anything. He simply just waited for Hikari to speak again. "Thank you, Jirou-kun." Hikari looked up at him with a big smile and Jirou returned it with a soft smile of his own. She looked at the clearing around them. "Thank you for showing me this place. It's very nice." Hikari waited for him to respond, but nothing came. "Jirou-kun?" She asked. She went to turn to look at him, but his head fell on her shoulder. Hikari was confused until she heard the quiet snoring coming from him. She sighed and let him stay like that. She knew that he was very tired from not napping all day, and she figured that she should let him have a little nap before they walked back. It couldn't hurt.

She looked at all the flowers that were around them. They were sporadically placed around the clearing. She plucked a small blue flower and held it in front of her, taking in its scent. She knew that no one else knew about this place. If someone had planted them, they would have placed them in closer clumps and more arranged than this. It looked like Jirou really was the only person who knew about this little place. Who would have thought that a place like this would naturally come to be?

As she looked around the clearing, her eyes began to feel heavier. Now that she thought about it, she usually took a nap after classes were done. She was really starting to feel more and more tired. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Mm…" She mumbled. "Maybe just a short nap…" She closed her eyes and drifted off.

When Hikari finally fell asleep, her body shifted away from Jirou. However, his body weight ended up pushing her over. She fell on to her side and Jirou fell behind her. In his sleep, Jirou could feel Hikari's body and out of instinct he reached out to pull the warmth to him. In doing so, he ended up pulling Hikari to him and holding her tightly.

Half an hour passed and the two continued to sleep until Hikari's phone started to ring. Hikari continued to sleep through the annoying ring, but it stirred Jirou from his rest. His eyes were still half closed, and it was apparent that he was not quite awake yet. However, he picked up the phone that was lying next to Hikari on the grass and answered it.

"Hello?" He asked with a slightly slurred voice from sleeping.

"Hikari…?" The voice at the other end asked confused.

"No…" Jirou answered still with a slurred voice.

"Where is she?" The voice practically demanded.

"Right here…"

"Can I talk to her?"

"No she's sleeping right now…" Jirou said as he looked at the sleeping figure beside him and yawned. If he had been fully awake, he probably would have woken her up and moved away from her. However, in his half sleep state, everything seemed like dream.

"Who is this?" The person finally asked.

"This is Akutagawa Jirou…" He asked closing his eyes and leaning back on the ground. "Who are you?"

"Fuji Syusuke… Hikari's cousin…" Fuji said sighing. It was obvious that he was getting frustrated. "Can you please wake her up? I need to talk to her."

"No…" Jirou said frowning. "I'm sleeping…" He hit the end button on the phone and dropped it back in the grass. He rolled over and continued to sleep next to Hikari.

Fuji frowned at Jirou's last comment. He took the phone away from his ear and looked down at it. The screen read 'Call Ended.' His eyebrows furrowed as a sigh escaped his lips. He was slightly annoyed at what was going on. Hikari hadn't told him that she wasn't going to be at his practice, and he was starting to get worried. He looked up at the sky. At least she was with someone he knew… well someone he knew of. She should be fine if she was with Akutagawa. He seemed like a good person. The problem was that she was supposed to go home with him since Yuuta was coming home again.

He flipped open his phone again and redialed Hikari's number, but no one answered. He hung up and glanced at the time. "I guess I should go to Hyoutei and pick her up." He said to himself as he looked back up at the sky with a sigh. He couldn't have her walking around late by herself, so he started heading toward Hyoutei.

"Hey! Fujiko!" Fuji turned around to see Eiji running up to him with his arms flying everywhere. Fuji noticed that his face looked worried.

"What's wrong Eiji?" Fuji asked the red head who was out of breath.

"I'm fine." Eiji said blinking. "Are you okay?" Eiji asked regaining his breath. Fuji frowned at the question. "You seemed worried all through practice. I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Fuji's smile returned as he chuckled at his friend. "I'm fine Eiji, really." He replied. "I was just a little worried about Hikari."

It was Eiji's turn to frown. "Are you heading home then?"

"A-ah…" Fuji answered trying to sound honest.

"But your house is in the other direction." Eiji noticed as they walked.

Fuji didn't think that Eiji would notice so fast, but he did. "Well… I have to go get Hikari." He tried to explain. "She's still at Hyoutei."

"Hoi! Hoi!" Eiji yelled excitedly. "Let's go get her then Fujiko!" He grabbed Fuji's arm and started to pull him along to the bus stop.

Fuji laughed at his hyperactive friend. He could tell the Eiji liked being around and talking to Hikari. It was quite obvious. Eiji had said that he liked how Hikari always seemed to take in everything around so she wouldn't miss anything. It was like she always looking for small details around the important and large things. Fuji smiled. Eiji was right. Hikari knew what it was like to lose something and never get it back. She wanted to remember everything and not take anything for granted.


Oh another P.S. so I guess it would be a P.S.S.? Today I literally just made a tumblr account specifically for my obsessions with Prince of Tennis and other animes. It will also be a good place to ask questions about the story or Hikari in general. :) Please come visit me! .com :D