Painless
Summary: Fuji is 'Pain' and Atobe is 'Agony'. Their target is Tezuka Kunimitsu. But will their love for him get in the way? Or is it love for each other?
Warnings: Shounen-ai
Pairings: Atobe/Fuji, Tezuka/Fuji, slight Yuki/Fuji, super slight Fuji/Ryoma
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.
This is the last real chapter, sadly. There is an epilogue, though! So please don't stop reading after this! I had fun writing it, and I hoped you all had fun reading it! Thank you for sticking with this fiction! And please read, review, and enjoy.
Chapter 10: Dreamless
For some reason, Atobe felt compelled to go to Germany. Without Fuji there to keep him in line, Atobe did whatever his instincts told him to. And this time, it was going to Germany. Atobe called for a private jet, even though it was 11:30 at night. But Atobe still always got whatever he wanted.
That night, Atobe dreamed of the said tensai. Atobe was standing in a cold, snowy forest. It was dark, extremely dark, and Atobe couldn't see anything. He found that he had a thin jacket, a scarf, and a hat. The scarf was Fuji's, the one with the cacti printed all over it. Fuji carried that scarf to every mission he ever was assigned, so that Yuuta and Yumiko would be able to recognize him. But Atobe felt that there was another hidden reason behind the scarf. He had no idea why he had it, but he felt the strongest need to return it right then. Only he had no idea where he, or Fuji for that matter, was.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew the scarf right out of Atobe's hands. He tried to jump and catch it, but for some reason, he couldn't. So he stood there frozen in place as he watched pale, fragile hands capture the scarf. Atobe looked at the owner of the hands. It was Fuji. He was surrounded by a gentle, blue light. "Thank you for my scarf back, Keigo," Fuji was saying. Atobe was thrilled to see Fuji again and tried to embrace him. But when his hand touched Fuji's shirt, Fuji suddenly disappeared, and again Atobe was shrouded in darkness.
Atobe woke up then. His need to go to Germany was stronger than ever. He ordered the pilot to go faster.
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Tezuka had started his rehabilitation again that day. He had finally accepted the fact the Fuji was gone. He hadn't called his teammates, fearing that they would ask him about Fuji; what would he tell them then? He couldn't explain the situation to them, because he didn't even get it himself. But they didn't call him either, which was a relief.
But even while he was training in the harsh summer heat, he couldn't get his mind off of Fuji. His smile, his words, nor the way the wind would blow his hair. Suddenly, Tezuka felt his mind clog up. It felt like when he was swimming, and he had stayed under water too long. Or when he was mountain climbing and he breathed too deeply too quickly. Except he had to take those two, add them together, and multiply them by ten, and that's what it really felt like.
He felt like he couldn't breathe or think, and he fell to his knees. His physical therapist, Hannah Essenheimer, rushed to his side. Tezuka felt a throbbing pain in his head, and finally gave in and blacked out. The last thing he heard was Hannah's voice shouting in German, "We need an ambulance right now! This is an emergency!"
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The first thing Atobe planned to do was visit Tezuka. He couldn't explain the need to travel to Germany, but to see Tezuka would be a good enough reason for him. He got off the bus, but was not greeted be Tezuka obviously, but rather another familiar face.
"Echizen?" Atobe said.
"Atobe-san?" Ryoma said back, just as shocked. "What are you doing here?"
Atobe nearly turned blue. "Why don't you tell me?"
"I came here to see Buchou," Ryoma replied brusquely.
"Ah, same here." Atobe was relieved that his voice did not quiver to give away his lie.
Echizen, though he didn't want to admit it, was also lying. For some unknown reason, he had felt a need to come to Germany that very day. Normally, Ryoma would've ignored it, but this time, the need was so strong, Ryoma had to obey. The only person that could ever get him to feel something like that was--Ryoma's thoughts were cut off by Atobe's voice.
Atobe walked up to a person who looked like they worked there. "Excuse me, but may I ask where Kunimitsu Tezuka is?" he asked, in almost perfect German. He barely remembered to put the given name first.
The person's face literally turned white. "Kunimitsu is in the hospital. He collapsed today during training."
This time, it was Atobe's turn to turn white (Ah, Atobe is colorful today...). Had this been the reason why he had felt so compelled to come to Germany? He ordered the first taxi he saw and it rushed him and Ryoma to the nearest hospital. He knew it had something to do with Fuji. Or what Fuji used to be.
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Tezuka opened his eyes. He felt the worst pain in his head, but he still willed himself to sit up. He was alone in the hospital bed. He couldn't seem to remember why he was in the hospital. All he could recall was that the sun was beating down harshly on him, and the temperature was far above normal that day.
He suddenly heard a knock that blurred his vision. His ears were extremely sensitive at this time. Someone was still knocking at the door. He wanted to just shout at them, but he knew that that would give him a worse headache and he already had. That was the only thing, though, that stopped him from just exploding right then and there.
Tezuka barely had the strength to get up, but he managed to somehow, because he was just amazing like that. He walked to the door, and was surprised to find not a nurse, but rather Atobe and Ryoma. Why the hell were they in Germany?
"Echizen, Atobe," he greeted them. They nodded in response. Voicing his thought in a more curt manner, he asked, "Why are you here?"
"We just wanted to see how you were doing," Atobe replied. Tezuka nodded, which again nearly gave him even worse of a headache, if that was possible. They just stood there, staring at each other for a while. It was an awkward silence, considering the intensity of the last event that the three of them had experienced together.
Atobe's eyes suddenly widened. Ryoma's followed. They looked like they had seen a ghost, and they pretty much had. Neither of them were the type to become so shocked so unexpectedly, so it must be something important, Tezuka concluded. Even with a little dizziness, Tezuka still had one of the sharpest minds in Tenipuri. He turned around. It took Tezuka a little while to comprehend what was happening. A pale, blue light shimmered in his room. It became stronger and stronger, to the point that they felt like they should be blinded. But there wasn't pain in the light, nor was their a stinging feeling in either of their eyes. It was just light.
A familiar figure started to appear before them. First, the cerulean eyes shone like the ocean, and then the light brown hair appeared. The room was silent as the three watched their angel become visible. It seemed like the tensai had come back from the dead.
Ryoma was the first to speak. "Fuji-sempai…?" he whispered, barely audible. He almost couldn't believe his eyes.
Fuji smiled. The smile was completely genuine. He felt that whenever he smiled now, it would be genuine, since now he knew that he shouldn't take the feeling for granted. He had materialized completely in the room. It had only been a week, but Fuji realized that he had missed his friends like it had been a century. That was how involved he was getting into this life. But this time, he didn't regret it. He welcomed it. He welcomed what it felt like to finally be free to have feeling again.
"Yes, Ryoma-kun?" Fuji replied. He smiled sweetly, like he always had before. It was good to be home again. And yes, Fuji did consider this home. It wasn't the place that he considered home (because Fuji couldn't be in the heavens or Japan at the same time), it was the people around him and the feelings he felt for them. To Fuji, this was already heaven. He felt like he had died and been reborn into a perfect life, with the perfect people.
Ryoma ran up to him and hugged him fiercely. His arms fit right into Fuji's waist, and the familiar smell of the tensai enveloped Ryoma. He had already experienced the pain of watching a loved one 'die' right in front of his eyes, and he didn't need to see it again. He clutched on to his sempai like the world would end if he let go.
Atobe walked up next. "Is this a dream?" Atobe stroked Fuji's hair, half expecting him to disappear right in front of his eyes again like in the horrible nightmare he had experienced that past night. "Syusuke…I was just dreaming about you last night…it was—" Atobe was cut off but Fuji's finger. He had managed to release his right arm from Ryoma's death grip.
"You will dream no more of me, because the dream will always be true," Fuji said, still smiling. The words were said to Atobe, but they were directed at all of them. Atobe then hugged Fuji tightly, and Tezuka joined in. It was then that they all realized how much they cared for each other and how important they were to each other. It was through this painful phenomenon that they had learned, the hard way, not to take any feeling, emotion, or most importantly, person, for granted.
Done! But there is an epilogue!!!!! So please stick with this fiction for one more chapter! And don't forget to review!
Next chapter: Epilogue! The real end of the story!
