"Did you fall off the edge of the earth? Because if you didn't, I'm sure we would have gotten a chapter update by now. I mean, don't you care about your fans at all? They, including me, are all waiting to see what happens with Yuki and her big brother. Don't be like other writers who just leave some stories to rot."

Firstly, I'm angry at the person who wrote this. I don't really think I have the right to be angry but I am. I'm sorry I haven't updated. I got got busy and truthfully I lost interest. I wrote another story but even with that I got too busy with exams and projects. All my free time was to let me rest. Truthfully, even now I can't guarantee when I 'll next update but I'll try my best. I know many of you want to read what happens but it isn't easy to write stories. I want my story to be able to convey the feelings to you. I have many ideas but putting it into words takes time. It needs to flow. I refuse to have a story that has less than 3000 words. I like reading long chapters and that's why I want to have long chapters. So please understand it isn't easy to write a story. Each chapter is filled with many hours of not sleeping. Some of may never have written a story so please understand that it isn't easy. Even though I am kind of angry at that person who wrote the above, everyone (including me) needs to be thankful to that person because if she had not written that I would have never started again. So please refrain from scolding this person.

Please don't be too angry if I don't update as fast as before because I still have exams and I've become a volunteer for orientation so there is training and I still have my other story to complete. I will try to get a chapter up every month. If you feel bored you can read my other story on called 'Broken Wings'[.net/fanfic/ryuusei/]. Its about DBSK.

But still I have to thank everyone. Thank you so much for all you've done. For continuing to support me and reviewing. I'll do my best to not disappoint you.

So please, enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own prince of tennis.


CHAPTER 12

-FUJI POV-

I had just finish lunch with Asahina-san. Things weren't going well. She wanted me to spend more time with her and go on dates because she feels that I don't think she's very important. I'm not too sure what see means by that though.

I slid open the class door to see Yuki staring at me in her seat. I didn't talk to her after our conversation yesterday. I was afraid that I might say something and make her get upset again.

The next thing I knew was she walked towards me and grabbed my hand. Her hand was hot but it felt comforting. I was happy that she was the one who reached out to me. She was obviously nervous. She dragged me away to a deserted corner of the school.

I saw her take a deep breath to calm her nerves before she spoke. "Syusuke."

"Hai?" I replied happily. It was a good sign if she wanted to talk to me.

"We need to talk."

"About?" I asked trying to act innocent. Of course I knew what she wanted to talk about.

"Us."

"What about us?"

"Stop playing with me." I if didn't take this seriously she might get mad at me again. So I opened my eyes and looked straight into hers. I could see that she wanted answers. "What are we? What was yesterday? Also what was with the MY Yuki thing?"

Before I answered her I had something to say. "I'm sorry about the fight."

"I'm sorry too."

"I hope we are still friends." I was hopeful.

"I guess." Not quite the answer I expected but it was better than nothing. It would be best not to push her.

"Well, yesterday you were in danger so I couldn't let you get hurt." I was reminded of how important she was to me. I didn't want to lose her. I just wanted to hold her in my arms and not let go. So I did. Then I whispered in her ear "I realised that I couldn't stand seeing you hurt. You're important to me." She was definitely heating up. I wanted to see the blush on her cheeks so I released her and held her by the arms instead.

She was still waiting for my answers so I continued. "Regarding the MY Yuki situation, I just wanted people to think you belonged to me so that they would stay away from you. Including Tezuka. You shouldn't stay so close to him. See what happened yesterday. Only someone who would love you and care for you forever should be allowed to be near you."

Her eyes were downcast. "Let go off me" I could her say softly. I was confused. Then she looked straight at me and shouted. "I said let go off me." I instantly let go off me. Her voice was filled with spite and her eyes brimming with anger. I was confused. Did I say something wrong?

What she did next answered my question. I saw her raise her hand. The next thing I knew I could feel the pain from where her hand had collided with my cheek.

Was what I said wrong? I didn't have enough time to go through our conversation in my head. I saw tears in the corners of her eyes. "You asshole. How dare you? You have no right! You think you can decide my friends. You have no right. Tezuka is a hundred times better than you. Don't you ever talk to me again!" She quickly broke into a run. It took a few seconds before I could register what had happened.

I quickly called after her and ran after her. But I lost her. I looked around but I couldn't find her. I went back to class hoping that she was there but she wasn't. I was about to leave the class to try to find her but I was stopped by the teacher who was coming in for class.

I sat down on my seat wanting the class to end. I looked at Eiji and there was an accusing look in his eyes. "What did you do to Yuki?" He voice was firm and angry.

"I...I..." I didn't know how to reply.

"Fuji, Kikumaru stop talking." shouted the teacher from the other side of the room. I turned to look to the front. My body was present but my mind was somewhere else.

I remembered her hateful expression directed towards me. I wonder which was worse. The pain on my cheek or the scornful words directed to me. I think its the feeling that I had lost her.

When classes ended she didn't return. Instead, Eiji took her stuff and handed it to Tezuka. I wanted to follow him but he gave me his usually stoic look. It was the same look but you could see the slight anger and frustration in it. "Fuji, she doesn't want to see you. Don't bother her." I didn't want to be told that by him. It made me feel irritated. It felt like he took over my place in her life. I didn't want that, I wanted to be with her. To be by her side. I wanted her to want me. To want me to be with her. I can't live this way. I can't let her leave me.

I had to skip practice. I needed to see her. I would do anything to make her see me.

I called her. She ignored them. I messaged her. She never replied. I went to her house but I wasn't let in. I wanted to push my way in but each attempted was thwarted by her aunt. I thought that maybe if I let her calm down for the night she might be willing to talk to me. I could hardly sleep that night. It felt like an eternity till the next morning. My life wouldn't be complete without her in it. She eventually had to come out. I waited outside her house the next morning but she didn't come out. I waited till I had to leave. After practice I rushed to class hoping to talk to her before class started. The problem was that she wasn't there. She only came in just before the teacher. In between classes she surrounded herself with people leaving no openings for me. Lunch, she fled to Tezuka.

How could I let this happen? I needed to grab her by the hand and not let her go.

I ran. I ran to catch up to her. I passed through masses of people. I came out of the school building. There was a slow moving crowd. In the centre stood my Yuki. With her a tall man with black hair wearing sunglasses. The first thing that came to mind was that she was in danger. I couldn't let her get hurt. I saw the tears flow down her cheeks. I needed to hurry.

But I stopped in my tracks. She had rushed forward and was hugging the male with all her strength. That scene made my heart twist. It was unbearable and I was in pain.

-YUKI POV-

"Are you real? If this is a dream don't let me ever wake up." I somehow managed to sob out these words into his chest.

"Of course I'm here. You're squeezing me right. You know you should let me go."

"I don't want to. If I do, you'll leave again."

"I won't leave and you should stop crying you're making my shirt wet and filled with snot squirt." I just gave a small laugh as a reply. I gave him one final squeeze with all the strength I could muster which wasn't a lot before I let him go. But I still held on to a tiny bit of his shirt like a little child afraid that he might break his promise and leave. "You still are a monster. You look horrible." I just smiled. I felt like both my birthday and Christmas had come early. I was just so very happy, like my life was complete.

Without thinking I hugged him again. In a quiet voice I told him "Onii-chan I love you."

He returned the hug and whispered in my ear. "I love you too, Yuki." At that very moment I felt at peace. My life was almost perfect.

-EIJI POV-

Ah! Practice was tiring today.

I picked up my phone to see one unread message. 'Eiji come over for dinner today. Around 7pm. I have a surprise today. Ask Tezuka, Oishi and Inui to come too. Yuki.'

I was starting to feel excited. I loved surprises. I wonder what it was. Ah Inui and Tezuka are leaving.

"Tezuka, Inui." They both turned to look at me. "Yuki is inviting us over for dinner tonight. Will you go? She has something she wants to show us I think."

I looked up to the both of them since they were both taller. I kept turning my head looking at each of their faces looking for some sign.

"I have some data to process but I think I can make it." said Inui.

I turned to look at Tezuka. I saw him take a small sigh before saying "What time?"

"7." I quickly answered.

They both left and went to look for Oishi. I knew he should still be in the clubhouse since he would be the last to leave seeing as how he had to wait for everyone to leave before he could lock up. I saw him sitting on a bench tying his shoes.

"Oishi! Yuki-chan invited us to go for dinner tonight at her house nya. Will you come?"

He turned to quickly look at me. "Eh? Why so sudden?"

"She has something she wants to show us."

"I guess I could if its not too much trouble. My parents will be back late today so I was supposed to make own dinner."

"Oh course not. She specifically asked for you."

"Alright. See you at 7 at her place. Bye bye nya." I ran out off the clubhouse sprinting home hoping to change quickly and race to her house. I couldn't wait to see the surprise."

-YUKI POV-

When I reached back home, my aunt told me that they were surprised that onii-chan appeared this morning. "Onii-chan why are you here?"

"Ren only called Ryu yesterday. He couldn't have contacted you so fast." said my aunt.

He turned to me and said "I'm here to bring you back with me to America."

"Eh?" I was surprised.

"I know about the tumour, I saw your file. The doctor doing the operation is one of the doctors I'm under for my residency at the hospital. I found out even before Ryu-oji-san contacted me. By the time he did, I was already at the airport. The doctor said he would do the surgery so I'm here to bring you back with me. And its not just for the operation. I want you to live with me in America."

"Onii-chan I'm...I'm..."

"Takumi this is so sudden."

"But...my friends, my life is here."

He came to sit next to me and he took my hands in his. "Yuki, I don't want to be apart from you. You're my family. The reason why I hardly contacted you was because I was afraid, afraid that I couldn't protect you. When Otou-san and Oka-san passed away I didn't know what to do. I wanted to be able to be a good brother to you and support you. The only way I could think of was to earn enough money to support the both of us. Ryu oji-san, Ren oji-san and Reiko oba-san, they've done so much for us. I didn't want to be a burden to them."

"Oh Takumi, the two of you were never a burden to us at all." Said Oba-san.

"I know you feel that way but it still didn't feel right. I'm really thankful for all you've done for us but I can't keep counting on you. Ryu oji-san already paid for all my medical tuition fees. I guess I wanted to be a big brother to Yuki. The one I was never able to be especially after the accident."

"Onii-chan, you were always a big brother to me and you still are. You were there when I couldn't stop crying to comfort me. You were always there to catch me when I fell. And you always protected me if anyone bullied me."

"But Yuki, I could never make you stop crying when you were sad. All I could do was sit there and watch you cry. I was never able to make you stop crying and smile like Otou-san and Oka-san did. Whenever someone bullied you, I was always too late and all I could do was beat the kids who bullied you later."

"Onii-chan…"

"So I just had to concentrate and work hard. Finish medical school and become a doctor. I couldn't meet you until I had at least done this much. I needed to be sure before I could see you. I guess in a way you acted as a form of motivation to finish as fast as I could. I'm sorry if I've hurt you in the process. I just want you to know that I'll be by your side whenever you need me. "

"Onii-chan, I'm really happy that you came back. I always thought that you blamed me for Otou-san and Oka-san's death, that's why you hardly ever talked to me."

"Yuki, it's not your fault. It never was. If someone's to blame it should be me. I should have been looking after you instead of going for that soccer camp."

"I'm so happy that you don't hate me." Tears were rolling down my eyes from the relief and happiness. He stroked my hair calming me down.

After sometime my tears soon stopped. "Yuki I don't want to rush you but I need an answer soon."

"Onii-chan, I don't think I can stay with you in America. I really don't want to be apart from you but my life is in Japan now. I will go with you to America to do the operation but I can't stay there forever. I want to come back here."

"Yuki can't we work something out."

"Onii-chan, I know I'm being selfish but why don't you stay in Japan too? We can live together this way too."

He lifted his hand to my face to wipe the tears away and told me "I'll think about it."

"Arigato onii-chan."

With a smile on his face he cheekily asked "So what has the monster been up to these days?" With that I knew life couldn't be any better.

Slowly, I told about all my friends about Eiji and school. About what I wanted to do when I got out of the hospital. My dreams. I didn't know how much time had gone but we were interrupted by the doorbell.

"You sit. I'll go get it." So I just sat there while onii-chan went to open the doors. I started to hear onii-chan talking rather loudly. There seem to an argument going on so I walked towards the door to see the only person I didn't include in my talk with onii-chan.

-FUJI POV-

Today was a horrible day. First, she totally ignored me. Next, Asahina-san confronted me about not spending enough time with her.

My brain couldn't seem to register anything else. That heart-wrenching scene.

I couldn't let this go on anymore. I needed to know.

I rang her door bell hoping that she would be the one to open the door. But it wasn't it was the male she was with just now. It just felt like a huge blow to the face.

I stood firm and asked "Is Yuki home?"

The guy stared at me not very happy at who I was looking for. "Who are you?" he rudely asked.

"Who are you then? You don't live here."

"Who told you that? I do live here."

"I've never seen you here before."

"Are some stalker? What do you want with Yuki? If you don't leave I'll call the police."

"I'm not a suspicious person. But I'm not leaving till I see her."

"I think you should leave." He stepped forward egging me on to leave." But I just stood my ground unmoving.

I was shorter than him but I could still see into the familiar house.

Then she came into view.

"Yuki."

-YUKI POV-

"Syusuke."

"Yuki, I need to talk to you."

"Syusuke I have nothing to say to you. Just go."

"But Yuki I..."

"Didn't you hear her? She just told you to leave." My brother said angrily.

"Yuki please. I'm begging you. Just two minutes of your time. That's all I ask for. Just hear me out" I looked at him. This was the first time today that I looked directly at his face. He was desperate. He looked like he was about to break down at any moment. I saw the bags under his eyes. Did he sleep at all? Seeing him this way, my heart felt like it had been smashed a million times over. I wanted to reach out and tell him that it was alright. But was it? If I did tell him that would I get hurt again? Would I be able to bear it?

I probably couldn't. I just couldn't stand it anymore. "Syusuke I'm sorry but please leave. I can't talk to you." The tears were threatening to fall.

"Hey kid she told you to leave. So why are you still standing here for."

I was at my limit. "Syusuke get lost. I don't want to see you again. I don't want you to be a part of my life anymore." With those final words, I quickly ran up the stairs and into my room. Even before reaching the top of the stairs, I could feel the wetness on my cheeks.

I lay on my bed sobbing into my pillow. I just couldn't stop myself. I didn't want to hurt him but each time he appears before me it feels as if a knife is going through my heart. I don't think my heart can take it anymore. I knew what I had to do, I had to end it.

A knock on my door made me turn my head towards it. It was Onii-chan. He walked towards me and sat next to me on my bed. "Are you alright?" he asked as he stroked my hair. "What am I saying of course you're not. What am I thinking? But seriously who was that guy. He looked really desperate to talk to you. Did something happen between the two of you?"

I just ignored his questions. I really didn't want to talk about it now.

"Yuki come on. You can tell me."

"There is nothing. He's no one." I said in a soft voice but loud enough so that he could hear.

"If he made you to cry, I'm sure that he isn't just anyone." He just sighed and said "But I guess you don't want to talk about it now. Why don't you just rest, take a nap. You'll feel better when you wake up. I'll wake you up before dinner." I just nodded my head. He kissed my head and with that he left. All the crying had made me so tired that I could feel myself drifting off to sleep.

-TAKUMI POV (Before meeting Yuki)-

I really didn't know what I was going to tell her. I was really scared. She probably thinks I'm a horrible brother. She wanted to go to Japan and wanted me to go with her but I refused. Ren oji-san and Reiko oba-san would already have their hands full looking after her so I couldn't intrude on them as well. I wanted her to be well-loved and she wouldn't get that if she stayed with me. I was 8 years older than her. I was only still in high school. I studied hard and tried to graduate high school as early as possible. And when I did I moved out from Ryu oji-san's house. He paid for my medical school fees and I worked on the side to support myself. She tried to find me but I didn't let her, leaving Ryu oji-san as the only form of communication between us. I guess she soon gave up since I didn't hear anything from Ryu oji-san. Soon the distance between us grew. When I became a resident I thought that I should call her since I was earning enough for both of us. I thought it would finally be alright to call her but it was so hard. Would she talk to me? Would she hate me? Would she understand? I was too afraid to find out. I passed my days immersing myself in my work, trying my best to put her out of my thoughts. I somehow managed to do so but when I came across her file, I couldn't do it any longer. She might not want to talk to me or even hate me but I just needed to know she was alright and do all I could to help her. I couldn't procrastinate anymore. I persuaded the doctor to do the surgery and I decided to go to Japan and bring her back with me. I may be selfish but I wanted the best for her and I guess myself. I couldn't wait any longer. Whatever the consequences were I would accept it.

-FUJI POV-

"Syusuke get lost. I don't want to see you again. I don't want you to be a part of my life anymore."

Those words just kept being replayed in my head. I couldn't move, I couldn't think, it even felt hard to breathe. My heart felt empty as if there was a great big hole. I couldn't believe it, my best friend of six years wanted to cut all connections with me. The person who was always there, the person who comforted me when I was sad, the person who made me laugh, the person who knew me best, they all wouldn't be there anymore.

I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what I should do.

-TAKUMI POV (After Takumi leaves Yuki's room)-

I waited. Then I saw her running out of school. I was glad I she could still recognise me. When she hugged me, I felt that it was all worth it. But I knew something was wrong even though I hadn't seen her for so long. It felt as if she was too happy to see me. Not that I was complaining but I just didn't like seeing her hurt. I thought the tumour was causing it but I was wrong. I finally realised it was the guy who came to the house looking for Yuki. Once I had set eyes on him, I knew he was bad news.

With one last look at her fallen form, I closed the door. I wish she would tell me about what happened. But I knew I couldn't force it out of her. As much as I wanted to believe that everything was alright between the both of us, I knew it wasn't. A part of her had lost trust in me. Our relationship was never going to be the same. Without the both of us knowing it had become broken.


Thank you.