Chapter 1
"Sayonara!!" Eiji said while walking away out of the tennis clubroom followed by Oishi, Kawamura, and Fuji.
"Tezuka, aren't you going home?" Oishi asked Tezuka, who seemed to already packed all his stuff, but still stood in front of the announcement board. "And you too, Inui, Kaidoh, Echizen?" He turned to Ryoma who is still sitting on the bench with his racket beside him and a towel upon his head then to Inui and Kaidoh who are still busy packing.
"We'll finish soon." Inui said, zipping his bag closed and waited for Kaidoh in his place for a moment.
"Echizen?" Oishi called, looking concerned at Echizen, whom usually is energetic but is now sitting silently and unmoved on the bench. "Are you ok?"
"Uis." Answered Ryoma quietly, sounded like telling Oishi not to worry about him. That made Oishi turned back to Tezuka.
"I'm still finishing some stuff here." Tezuka answered.
Inui and Kaidoh now walked to the entrance, ready to leave the room if Oishi didn't stood there blocking the doorway. "Sa, Tezuka, Echizen, we'll be going." Inui said.
"Well then, see you." Oishi said and left, leaving the door opened for Inui and Kaidoh which both hasn't left the room. Kaidoh, the last person whom came out, closed the door behind him after silently taking a slight glance towards Tezuka and Ryoma, which both are used to stay in silence.
"Echizen looked strange today," Kaidoh commented to Inui who walked beside him.
"He's probably sick," said Inui.
"How did you know?" Kaidoh asked, surprised though he exactly know that Inui is an unexpected person. "He didn't seem to."
"His breathing was short, not as the usual." Inui started explaining. "And his cheeks didn't flush as usual if you are doing sport."
"Do you think he'll be fine?" Kaidoh asked, looking slightly concerned.
"He's the type who forced himself. But he'll be fine. At least we didn't leave him alone."
"You mean?" Kaidoh asked again, "Buchou?"
"Uhuh," answered Inui solemnly. "Tezuka will make sure he's fine." He then gave a smile to Kaidoh. "Now, let's concern about us." He said and Kaidoh could felt his cheeks flushing as he avoided Inui's eyes.
--
Though Tezuka was more concerned at the notice board, writing about the cleaning duty shift and the training list, he couldn't help but to start feeling worried about Ryoma, who seemed very reluctant to move. Tezuka stole come glances out the corner of his eyes and towards Ryoma who sat on the bench and is very unwillingly putting his racket inside his bag.
"Echizen, daijobu ka?" Tezuka asked, turning back to Ryoma.
Ryoma looked up to Tezuka's eyes and sighed deeply, as if hardly breathing. "Uh… I'm fine." He answered weakly. The towel he had placed on his head slide down to his neck and fell into his hand. He shoved it inside his bag then zipped it closed and stood with a hard effort.
"Are you sure?" Tezuka asked, looking more concerned than before. He walked away from the notice board and moved closer to Ryoma.
"Yeah, just a cough." Ryoma lied. Not that he wanted Tezuka to be worried about him, but he is the type of person who doesn't like others to know about his condition. He pulled his bag over his shoulder and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Can you walk?" Tezuka asked again, feeling completely distrust of what Ryoma said before. Ryoma's condition exactly showed that he is not okay. "Why don't you call the people in your house and tell them to pick you up?" He suggested, thinking that letting Ryoma walked home in the way he is now won't be a good idea.
"No one is in my house. They are off to Kyoto for a few days." Ryoma answered. "I'll be fine though." Then he walked to the door, passing Tezuka silently.
But with Tezuka having his nature as the captain of the Seigaku Tennis Team player didn't let Ryoma go away just like that. He quickly rebounded and pulled Ryoma's arm slowly not wanting to be rough. His little mind told him to accompany Ryoma home since anything could happen to him on the way back. "I'll accompany you. Just wait." He said then pulled his bag over his shoulder, completely abandoning the notice board he'd been working on before.
The usual Ryoma will say 'yadda' or something like that. But he didn't and on the contrary, he only stood silently against the wall, waiting for Tezuka. His breathing started to feel painful again.
Tezuka having finished adjusting his bag very quickly and had soon stood beside Ryoma, opening the door for him. "Let's go."
Ryoma looked at Tezuka for a moment. The light that spread through the gap from the door felt unusually strong for his eyes. It gave him a sudden dizziness and he shut his eyes closed in respond. And before he realized it, he lost his awareness and fell towards Tezuka.
"Echizen!" That's the only word came out from Tezuka's mouth before he abruptly reached forward to prevent the gravity pulling Ryoma to the ground. And when Ryoma's skin made a contact with his, he felt it was burning hot. "Echizen!" He called again as he turned Ryoma's face towards him and checked his forehead for the temperature. It felt a complete contrary than his cold skin.
Tezuka eyed Ryoma's pale face for a moment while thinking about what to do. The suggestion to accompany him home is now eased from his mind, replacing with a thought to bring the unconscious Ryoma back to his house instead, since no one will take care of the boy in Ryoma's house. His short breathing from before has now started to become even again.
After a pausing for a while, Tezuka finally made a stern movement. He put one of his arms under Ryoma's back and his other under Ryoma's knees then he pulled Ryoma's body up. Ryoma won't be approved of the idea, but he has no other choices left. And with that, he made his first movement back to his house.
--
"Tadaima." Tezuka said as he opened the house entrance with difficulty due to Ryoma's body upon his arms.
"Okaerinasai." Haru's voice, Tezuka's older sister, greeted him as he went inside, stepped out of his shoes and took Ryoma's shoes off too. "Do you want to eat ramen for dinner?" She asked then appeared from the living room in front of Tezuka and was of course, greatly surprised to see what Tezuka brought home that day. "Kunimitsu, who's that?"
"My team freshman," He answered, hardly breathing as he walked deeper inside his Japanese-old-fashioned-house.
"What's happened to him?" Haru asked, paced closer with a worried face.
"He's sick and fainted after practice." Tezuka answered simply. "He got a high fever."
Haru's eyes widened. She had lots of questions in her head and was about to ask if only his brother's face didn't look so concerned, she realized it's not the right time to ask, so she swallowed them all and offered to help her brother. "I'll get ice for you to compress him."
"I'll bring him to my room." Tezuka informed as he vanished to the path that lead to his room.
With Ryoma upon his arms, Tezuka pushed aside his room's Japanese door and went inside without considering closing the door again. He laid Ryoma's body on his bed and then threw Ryoma's and his bag against the wall. He stopped for a moment, sighed deeply from exhaustion after having bringing Ryoma's body non-stop from school to the house.
Ryoma stayed unmoving when Tezuka stared upon him. Something in Tezuka's mind kept him staring at the smaller boy. His pale face that he never showed to anybody reflected distinctly, giving Tezuka a slight strange feeling.
"Kunimitsu," Haru's voice came following with her appearance on the door. She came in and handed a cloth with some ice-cubes wrapped inside it to Tezuka. "Need anything else?" She asked while staring Tezuka putting the cloth on Ryoma's forehead.
"No. I'll call you if I need something." Tezuka said. Under the touch of the cold cloth, Ryoma winced uncomfortably. "Arigatou."
"I'll make some food for him to eat when he wakes up." Haru said. "After taking care of him you better change your clothes quickly and eat your dinner." She reminded him before leaving the room.
Tezuka continued compressing Ryoma's forehead and neck for a while before finally stopping after his instinct told him that it was enough. He walked out from his room after checking Ryoma's degree along with the wet cloth on his hand and headed to the kitchen where his sister is cooking.
"Did he wake up?" Haru greeted Tezuka as he opened the freezer and put the cloth inside.
"Not yet. He'll probably sleep until later in the night." Tezuka explained while taking a seat on one of the dining room chair. "Or even until tomorrow morning."
"How did he faint like that?" Haru asked, serving a bowl of ramen in front of Tezuka and another bowl across him for herself.
"He forced himself to practice even though he is sick." Tezuka answered then muttered 'itadakimasu' for himself and started to eat. "That's always Echizen."
"Echizen? His name?" Haru asked, serving herself the same as Tezuka.
"Echizen Ryoma." Tezuka added. "The regular freshman in my club."
"Is he that good?"
"He is good." Tezuka said solemnly. "Just play with him and you'll understand."
Haru smiled in a slight astonishment. It's really rare for her younger brother to give such a compliment. Echizen Ryoma must be a great player in her opinion. "Anyway, where will you sleep tonight? I suggest you to add an extra bed in your room since he might wake up in the middle of the night. After all he is your patient now." She gave a grin towards Tezuka.
As usual, Tezuka only showed a slight change of expression and that gave Haru a chuckle of amusement. "Thanks for the food." He said to Haru and stood up, taking the empty bowl and the used chopsticks to the sink before heading back to his room.
"I put the spare food in the refrigerator. Just warm it in the microwave if your patient wakes up and if he asks for some food." Haru's voice came from the kitchen, teasing Tezuka who is ready to take a bath again.
--
TBC
--
A/N: Tee-hee… I got FLAMES! Hehehe… it's not from this story but from my other story (it's not Tenipuri anyway). It's a bit shocking I must admit. But let just forget it, hahaha… :P I hope I can learn more from those flames (which are mainly tell me about how bad my grammar is) and improve my English. Huahaha…
Well… about this story… what do you think? Review me, pls!!! It's fine for me if any of you want to give me flames as long as it's constructive. Not just "Your story is sucks" or "You are just wasting my time". If you want to flame me, please tell the reasons so I can learn from my mistakes. Everyone wants to get better from their failure, right!?
Okay then… don't forget to read the next chapter! What will happen to those two lovely bishonen when they sleep in the same room? Just in the next chapter…!!!
Now… REVIEW!!!