Chapter Summary: Kippei is injured during his match against Kirihara, and An goes to visit him in the hospital. She runs into Yukimura while she's there.

Notes: I can't say I like this chapter too much... I'll try to write the next one faster to make up for it. Yukimura might seem somewhat feminine, but... I never could see him as a boy. He's just too pretty.

Chapter Five

It was the Kantou Regional Tournament, and An was watching horrified as her brother played against Kirihara Akaya. She had heard the comments from his teammates, could see what was going on. Kirihara was deliberately trying to injure her brother. Finally, Kirihara served one last time, and Tachibana fell to the floor. An gasped, shooting out of her seat and running to the fence along with the rest of the team.

It turned out that Tachibana's ankle was hurt and he would have to be hospitalized. Fudoumine lost to Rikkai that day, but the defeat was nothing compared to the concern the team felt for their captain.

An was allowed to ride in the ambulance with her brother, though the rest of the team had to stay behind, promising they would go visit as soon as they could. While he was being taken care of she called her parents to tell them the news, then she called Fuji, and left him a message because he was in the middle of a game himself.

Then she had bought fresh flowers for Tachibana, who looked even more sullen then usual.

"It's okay," An said, in the most comforting voice she could, "you'll be well in time for nationals. Then we can beat Rikkai for sure."

Tachibana nodded, although he didn't say anything. An sat down beside him on the bed, fluffing the pillows behind him a bit.

"You'll be okay, Kippei."

"I know, An." Tachibana looked over at his sister and smiled, his hand coming down to ruffle her hair.

"Hey, watch it, you'll mess it up."

"Sorry." Tachibana chuckled. "You don't need to stay here, you know."

"I don't mind."

Tachibana raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have homework to do?"

An eeped as Tachibana made a threatening face, and then hit him with a pillow. "Fine. I'll go home to do my homework. Are you happy now?"

Tachibana lowered the pillow, his smile in place. "Immensely. Now go."

"Yeah, yeah. But you know I'm only agreeing to leave because mom will be here soon to keep you company."

"Obviously," Tachibana laughed.

An smiled at her brother one last time before she skipped out of the room and into the hallway. She knew Tachibana would be alright, and she knew that they would defeat Rikkai in the finals. She absolutely detested that bastard Kirihara though... he was so cruel. Even An could see that he was skillful enough to win the match without injuring Kippei, yet he had targeting him. For what? Did he enjoy hurting other people? An figured, if that was the kind of player that came out of Rikkai, Yukimura Seichi couldn't be as wonderful as every one said.

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when she saw said boy through the doorway of a hospital room. She could only see half of his profile, but she was certain that it was him. His face was turned towards the window, a small, sad smile touching his lips, the hospital curtains hanging around him. As he felt some one staring at him he turned, and faced An with an inquisitive expression.

"Hello," he said, his voice soft and breathy.

"Hi." An wanted to hate him. She wanted to hate this boy who was so obviously important to the one person in Hyoutei who had been so kind to her.

"Won't you come in? I don't get many visitors this time of day and I have to admit I'm feeling lonely."

An hesitated, but, for some reason she wasn't quite sure of, ended up padding slowly into the room, taking a seat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs that the hospital set out. Maybe it was morbid curiosity, or maybe a streak of masochism, that made her want to know more about the boy.

"You can sit on the bed if you want. Those chairs are horrible to sit on."

"No, it's okay. I couldn't."

Yukimura nodded and smiled. "My name's Yukimura Seichi. What's your name?"

"Tachibana An."

"Oh! You're Tachibana Kippei's younger sister! He's an amazing tennis player."

An started at the fact that some one like Yukimura knew who her brother was. No one really cared to research the Fudoumine team, since they were new and all. An realized, looking at Yukimura, his genuinely kind smile beaming up at her, that she couldn't hate Yukimura Seichi.

"Is Fudoumine doing well this year?"

An nodded, smiling. "Yeah, we made it to nationals. Except my brother just got injured in a game."

An frowned at that as she remembered, then noticed Yukimura frowning as well.

"Fudoumine was playing Rikkai today, weren't they? Was your brother playing against Akaya?"

An nodded.

"I see. I'm very sorry about that. Akaya, well... he doesn't know when to stop sometimes."

"Oh."

Yukimura smiled again, and An thought maybe his smile had lit up the room just a little bit more, that was how perfect he seemed. "Will he be well for Nationals?"

"Yeah, the doctors said he'd be fine."

"That's good, I'd love to see him play."

"Will you be healthy for Nationals as well?"

Yukimura's smile faltered a little, but he didn't hesitant in his answer. "Hopefully."

An felt very rude all of the sudden. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, no, it's okay," Yukimura laughed, "I'm happy you're so curious about my welfare. Actually, I have to go though surgery, but after that I should be fine."

An frowned at the word surgery. "Is it serious?"

"I'm afraid it is. It's okay, though. I'm determined to play in Nationals, so I know I'll be fine."

An smiled and nodded. "I'm sure you'll be fine, Yukimura."

Yukimura laughed at the girl's eagerness. "You're such an exuberant child."

An blushed at being called a child. She was only one year younger than Yukimura... well, she guessed that might be considered young. There seemed to be a huge difference between thirteen and fourteen some times. She knew for a fact that Tachibana, at least, still saw her as a child.

"Do you go to Fudoumine with your brother?"

"Actually, I go to Hyoutei."

"Hyoutei?" Yukimura looked vaguely surprised, but brushed it off with a small laugh. "What do you think of their tennis players?"

An made a face. "I think Atobe is very pigheaded. Shisido and Ootari are nice, even if Shisido does act like a playboy. Mukahi's a bitch. Jirou is..."

An's voice faded when she saw Yukimura's expression become glazed over as she mentioned Jirou.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned Jirou."

Yukimura's smile softened gently at the corner, and her eyes looked a little emptier. "What makes you think I don't want to hear about Jirou?"

"I don't know... Atobe mentioned something about you and Jirou once... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."

Yukimura laughed, although his sad expression never changed. "My, you apologize so often. It's all right. So you don't know what happened between Jirou and me?"

An shook her head.

"Would you like to?"

An hesitated, but then decided it wouldn't be rude to answer. "Only if you want to tell me."

"I don't mind. It's not often I find such a good listener to talk to this about. Well, where to began... I knew Jirou when we were very young. Our families were friends, so we often played together, along with Atobe. Jirou would always fall asleep somewhere, and I'd have to find him, because Atobe wouldn't be bothered by that kind of thing. I always felt like I was his mother, even when we were only five. The three of us were inseparable. Then, when we were seven, I found Jirou beneath some mulberry bushes in my neighbors' yard. I didn't have any idea how he had gotten there, I don't know why I thought to look there... when I woke him up he didn't know how he had gotten there either. He was so cute. He looked up at me, and smiled, and said, 'Yuki-chan, you're so good at finding me. I want you to be the one that finds me for the rest of my life.'

"I laughed, and I asked him, 'Are you proposing to me?' All of the sudden he looked completely serious, and he answered me. 'Only if you'll say yes.'

"So I guess you can say we've been going out since we were seven. And even though we went to different schools, and became busy, we always made time for each other. And even when we didn't, it was okay, because it was enough, just knowing that he was there.

"Then, last winter, I collapsed. The doctors told me I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome. They told me I would have to go through a round of surgeries, or I might be left paralyzed for the rest of my life. But the surgeries are risky themselves... and it isn't sure that I'll survive them. I didn't want... I couldn't let Jirou worry. I knew he'd be devastated, that he'd be hurt, and he'd spend his time concerned with me when he should be living his life. So I broke up with him."

"That's just stupid." An was shocked that she had burst out like that, and Yukimura looked shocked as well, looking up at her with wide, unblinking eyes. But it was true, Yukimura was being stupid. "Don't you think that choice should be made by Jirou? You know he's just as devastated now that you broke up with him... he still worries about you, I'm sure."

Yukimura still looked shocked, though now he seemed somewhat confused. "And how exactly would you know that? Has he said anything to you about it?"

"Well... no."

"Then I think you shouldn't jump to assumptions."

"Yukimura? Is everything okay?"

An and Yukimura looked up to see a tall boy with a baseball cap at the door. Yukimura smiled, though he obviously seemed a little unnerved.

"Ah, Sanada, this is my friend An. An, this is Sanada, my vice captain. He's so devoted, he comes here every day to give me news of the team."

For an instant, An saw a sad look pass through Sanada's eyes, the same sad look that Jirou had when he saw Yukimura's picture on the magazine, and the same sad look that Yukimura had when he was talking to Jirou. But then it was gone.

"An. You're from Fudoumine, aren't you? I saw you at the match today."

An nodded, thinking that it would be easier than to correct Sanada.

"I'm sorry about your captain."

An didn't feel like accepting the apology from Sanada, so she just nodded. They three made somewhat companionable conversation for awhile, although it was slightly awkward at times, and An couldn't help but notice that Sanada snuck glances at his sick friend any time he thought no one was looking. Soon enough visiting hours were over, and An and Sanada were forced to leave the hospital room.

"An, would you like a ride home?" Sanada asked politely. "My mother can drive you."

"That would be nice, thank you."

The two walked down the hall, out of the hospital. Sanada made a call on his cell phone while they walked, though An was lost in her own thoughts. That is, until she saw the number that Sanada had just dialed displayed on his cell phone.

"Were you talking to Jirou?" She was shocked. What connection could Sanada have with Jirou? From what she had seen in the hospital room, Sanada seemed to adore Yukimura.

"Akutagawa? You know him?"

An nodded her head. For some reason she didn't care that she was being rude right now. Yukimura was some one she could respect. Sanada... well, she didn't know Sanada, but she hadn't gotten a good impression of him at the match. She saw Sanada hesitate a little before deciding that he would tell her.

"Akutagawa... I call him every day. To tell him how Yukimura is."

For the second time that day Sanada had shocked her. "Why? I thought that you liked Yukimura."

That stopped Sanada in his steps. "But that's exactly why I do this. Because Yukimura is in love with Akutagawa."

Sanada started walking again, and An made the connection herself. Sanada cared for Yukimura enough not to want him to lose someone that precious to him.