It was noticeable to most people at the early morning practice but they had left until after school to see if it was just a morning thing, it didn't seem that way right now. It had not been clear at first; it steadily became noticeable when they were practicing. The glances over his shoulder towards the school gates, the buchou having to repeat everything twice, the lack of change when he picked up the racket and more the most noticeable thing was that he wasn't returning any of the balls that were served at him nor was he serving within the time period allowed. It was slightly amusing for Oishi as he was winning the match which would normally prove difficult against the power player but it was also concerning at the same time.

"Taka-san, I'm going to win this match with this next ball if you don't start playing," the score was currently 5 games love with forty points on Oishi's serve. The tall power player was jerked back from where ever he had been and gave a long frown seemingly consternating on the ball but without the occasional out bursts of English from the power player it was all for nothing as Oishi won the match with a gentle underhand serve that most people should have been able to get without problems. Oishi let his shoulders sag slightly as he walked around the net, to stand next to the power player.

"Taka-san" he asked, placing his left hand on the boy's shoulder. "Taka-san are you okay?" he asked again after the first question obviously went in one ear and out the other. However the next question did catch his attention and bring Kawamura down from wherever he seemed to like wandering off to this morning and during this practice as well.

"Huh? Did you say something Oishi?" Kawamura said startled by the sudden presence of nearly everyone on the regulars looking at him, how had he not noticed that? He had been so distracted since the appearance of Eiji and Fuji only yesterday evening and how much it had almost broken him that they just didn't remember him. He had lain out pictures of the times that they had been spent together or on the Seigaku regulars around the flat, hoping something would inspire something in them. He had slid a message and a spare key to the flat under Kevin's door before he left this morning for school, saying to contact him if there were any problems to leave a message on his mobile. He had found himself constantly checking in class every ten minutes to see if there were any new messages, half hoping there would be so he could excuse himself and go and see if he could do anything more for Fuji and Eiji, yet half of him was hoping not because it could mean something terrible had happened. The time spent doing tennis practice was the longest he had gone without checking his phone for any new messages.

He watched as Oishi raised an eyebrow and Kawamura felt the racket being taken from his grip. He looked surprised; had he been holding a racket? He couldn't remember anything at all about this tennis practice.

"Let's go Taka-san" Oishi said placing his left arm around the boy's shoulders and lead him towards where the tall first year captain stood arms crossed. Kawamura bowed his head quickly in a way of an apology. "Tezuka Buchou" Oishi called out to direct the attention of the stoic faced boy towards their way. "I think Taka-san should probably go home, he hasn't been himself."
"Gomen" Kawamura said softly.

"Be on your form tomorrow Kawamura. Dismissed" was all the reply that Kawamura got and it was all he need to dart off from the court, leaving Oishi behind on the courts holding his racket. He grabbed hold of his school bag as soon as he could and pulled out the little mobile phone that had been given to him by his parents as a leaving present. His face fell into a frown when he saw a single message had been left only a couple of minutes ago and the time it was. He didn't realise that so much of the day had already passed without his knowledge. Opening the text, he paled at the message that was placed out before him.

'You didn't tell me that the Kikumaru house was empty!' Loud and clear, Kawamura could almost imagine Kevin shouting those words to him. He mentally kicked himself, how could he forget that the house was empty? The family had been gone long enough.

He didn't realise there was another person in the room until he looked back and Oishi was standing within reading distance of the text, i.e. straight over his shoulder.

"Oishi!" he said, placing a shaking hand over his wildly beating heart.

"Gomen Taka-san; I was going to return your racket to you and you weren't answering. I didn't mean to read the text." Oishi explained holding up Kawamura's racket. There was an awkward silence as Oishi went over to Kawamura's open tennis bag on the bench and placed the racket inside. Kawamura didn't know what to say and Oishi was the one who broke the silence. "Why do you need to get inside the Kikumaru house?" the vice-captain didn't look back at the power player. Kawamura rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Erm … well …" in that moment he was seriously tempted to tell Oishi about Fuji's and Eiji's return even though Kevin's words echoed in the back of his head. However that moment passed and the temptation was gone. "I kind of left something there which I really need now my parents have moved out and I asked one of my friends to get it, but I forgot when telling them that the family have moved." Oishi seemed relieved after that explanation and turned back to face Kawamura.

"How badly do you need this thing?" He asked giving a brief flash of a smile. Kawamura found himself thinking of how badly he wanted his friends to give genuine smiles again; well maybe not from Tezuka that boy ever changed his facial expression. To hear them all laugh and enjoy tennis as a team once more. Echizen, Momoshiro and Kaidoh had informed them that they were all applying to stay on to the high school section. Kawamura gave a shrug indicating a so-so kind of answer.

"I thought they told you that they left a spare key hidden in the outhouse." Kawamura looked surprised, he had forgotten about that as well! Eiji's and Fuji's return must have really blown it out of him. Kawamura bowed and grabbed his stuff quickly.

"Thank you Oishi!" he called as he hurried out and away from the tennis clubroom, busily texting Kevin about the spare key. Maybe something in the house would reignite something; he remembered that Fuji and Eiji used to spend a lot of time at each other's house and when the Kikumaru family had moved, Yuuta had said that they had left a lot of Eiji's things behind in his room.

Hmmmm tired again ... how am I so tired this weekend? Gah and it doesn't help that Fanfiction is being a pain (it's basically coming up with an error if I try and click on this story in my stories), oh well I found a way around it. Hope this is okay as a chapter, its a bit smaller than most ... so so tired ... going to sleep after this ...

eijikikumarufan01: I think Oishi would probably the worst effected in the regulars and Eiji doesn't have a chance to see his mum :( I have a good idea for the next chapter though ... and it won't be pretty ... and it's up to you whether or not you like Kevin. I don't particularly like him but he was the most handy character avaliable.
Midori-Emmi: It's not so hard to forget something you've known for your whole life. If your mind registers you are in danger if you remember thinking about things then it will find a way to make sure you can't remember. It's happened to me on a few occassions. What kind of apocalypse by the way? XP
yume229: Next chapter up for you! I don't know about what to do with Smith yet ... he may reappear ...
ElementalCat: Yep, your a real life personality like Momoshiro ... I've decided ...
demoncat13: No you cannot. I may still need him for this story and if you kill him now then you won't be letting the regulars have their share of wanting to kill him ... especially Momo, Oishi and Yuuta (I know he isn't a regular but never mind)

Reviews please ... and I am going to fall asleep at my computer ... Oyasumi Nasai