Alright, I've received some reviews amazingly. Unfortunately, I've seem to come across some problems. I got an email from lil'mi1 about my fic resembling her/his fic "Never Ever" I've also been accused (implied) of plagiarism

I meant no offense to her/him and I didn't make this fiction by copying that one. Honestly, I never seen that fan fiction before, until the email came and I looked it up. It really saddens me to have something like this happened. And although this chapter was typed before what I'm typing now, I'm going back to edit some things so that it doesn't resemble as much. But I'm afraid that this chapter still has much resemblance to it. There's really nothing I can do to change it, because if I change one part of the beginning, the rest behind it won't fit together.

Although I had yet to receive her permission, due to the fact that the email was just sent back a couple of minutes ago, I will giver her credit.

This chapter does have parts that resemble lil'mi1's fic "Never Ever". So if you see anything that resembles anything from that fic, just know that it was lil'mi1's idea first.

I'm really sorry about this, everyone. But I assure you that the rest of this will not be the same.

Chapter 1 is now up. Thanks to all who reviewed! Really appreciate!! (hugs all reviewers) Now let's hear some of my rambling before continuing. Since I'm typing this sort of ahead of time, I don't really know if anyone guessed right who Kikumaru's close friend is. But I can tell you that it's ironic I made this person his friend. Maybe next chapter I'll find out.

My writing still sucks, I know. Please bear with me. I read fanfics everyday to examine and learn how to write better. But of course…none of them I read are TeniPuri…I'm still in a Golden Sun phase!

Back to Kiku-chan's friend! I'm not revealing him yet! I wanna see if you can guess! YA HEAR ME!? GUESS!!! (smiles innocently) Onegai?

I don't own TeniPuri or the guys. Or anything else for that matter.

Now I present to you, chapter 1.

Remembering to Breathe

Chapter 1: Azure Eyes

"Baka no otoo-san…" A golden eyed boy clad in red and white made his way down the street. In his hand...a lunch box. "Can't even take care of himself. Why do I have to be the delivery boy?" Ryoma continued to have an annoying face that basically said 'I'm ranting in my head so go away'.

Shortly he stopped in from of the local hospital and headed inside. He just walked straight in, not even bothering signing in or saying hello to the receptionist. He was sure she recognized him from all the other times he had to deliver lunch for his father dearest. So onward he went and took the stairs on the left. Which floor was it…?…the 5th…no, 6th…

The hospital was considerably an old one. It's been running since World War II. The place never had elevators. How he wish they did…they didn't have them at the time and people today want to keep it as close to the original as possible. Damn history freaks…..

Ryoma had barely even broken a sweat when he reached the 6th floor. He stopped at room 604 and went it. "Oi, old man! Lunch's here." As he set the bento on the table, his father just looked up from his…ahem…magazine and grinned.

"Yay…room service." Ryoma just stared at him with the blandest look on Earth. His expression said 'shut up' all over. The man snickered and opened the lunch box, curious of what his wonderful wife made for him. The boy just continued to stare with bored eyes and took a seat in the chair next to the bed. "What's wrong with you? Are you really that bored that you just sit there and watch me eat?" Ryoma watched his father talk while taking big bites of his favorite noodles. How is this disgusting old man who looks at porn magazine his father? How am I his son…?

"I'm bored beyond god knows what." He just continued to stare at his father eating the noodles like a pig, with some slurping as well. When he finally decided that watching his father was enough, he stood and headed for the door. "I'm going for a walk…"

Nanjiroh didn't bother to look up from his magazine and noodles. "Sure, just don't get lost." The reply he got was the sound of the door closing.

Ryoma just walked slowly, his mind still being haunted by images of his dad eating. If I continued to watch him, I'd probably lose my appetite for a month. He kept walking till he reached the stairs and headed down. But something caught his eye before he stepped down. He noticed that there was dust on the staircase up to the next floor. Not that this place was so clean that a speck of dust would scare everyone to death, but it had a terrifying large layer of it that you might think dust bunnies would pop up at any time.

He turned back and started up the stairs instead. Ryoma had a feeling that he shouldn't go up there, but curiosity got the better of him. As they say, 'Curiosity killed the cat.' (A/N: that's soooo old) As he reached the top, he found the sight that met his eyes were just…unbelievable. This whole floor looked at least a decade older than the others. Maybe they didn't renovate it. With uncertainty, he continued down the hall. One thing he noticed was that all the rooms had no signs, no numbers…

It was until he reached the end of the hall when he saw a door that did have one. …615…how come…? Just standing there, he wondered why this one had a number, while the others didn't. After pondering a while, his hand finally took the knob and twisted it, opening the door. The room inside was just like the hall, even worse. There was dust everywhere. He took a few steps in, being as silent as he could be.

Abruptly, he stopped his foot from taking him any further. …Breathing……there's someone in this room?! Taking another look around the room, more carefully, he spotted a shadow behind the curtains around the bed. Though it's rare from him, he stood there in shock. Why would someone even be in this place? His nervousness made his breathing heavier, heavier than he wanted it to be. The shadow shifted slightly in its sleep, practically scaring the daylights out of the youth. A soft yelp accidentally slipped out of his mouth, causing the shadow to stop in its place. A long silence filled the room, neither willing to say anything.

The silence kept on until finally, the mystery person asked, "W-who is that?" Ryoma's throat tightened, not knowing whether to respond or to run. The shadow seemed to have lost some tension and went on saying, "Oro…? Are you there?" The youth was still registering the sound of the other. The voice was light, with a childish hint to it. Soon enough, he summoned enough courage to say something, which wasn't much.

"Who…who are you? What are you doing…in a place like this?" Knowing that this person was nothing more than a kid, like him, he became less tense and soon back to himself. As he headed over to the bed, the shadow replied.

"Nyaaa…that should be my question. No one ever comes up here." The reply had a hint of sadness in it. Ryoma just stood there blinking a few times.

"…Sorry, I'll leave if that's what you want." This caught the other's attention. At first Ryoma just walked to the door without any objections, but before he could leave through it, the shadow called out for him.

"Wait…that's not what I want…Ochibi" Ryoma stopped in his track, slightly annoyed. He didn't stop only because the kid called for him to, but who calls him 'Ochibi'? He didn't like it. "Gomen ne…it's just that…because no one comes here, it gets really boring. I haven't talked to many people for a really long time. Only one other actually…but he's not here. Can't you stay, Ochibi?"

Ryoma's brow twitched slightly at that name, but other wise, just took the seat next to bed. He sitting caused a bunch of dust to fly! How much dust does this place have?! Now his clothes were dirty……great…

This made the other child laugh. "Ochibi-chan's face looks funny! Is it because of the dust?" He went on talking, giggles coming in every couple words. "I wasn't kidding when I said no one comes up here. It hasn't been cleaned for so long!" He laughed some more, but realized that Ryoma's silent. He felt his stares on him and asked, "Nya…what's wrong, Ochibi-chan? Are you angry at me?"

Ryoma blinked at this and just went out with whatever was on his mind. "Iie…What are you doing here? You really shouldn't be here. We should get you downstairs so that they can help you." Another silence passed. Ryoma was wondering why the shadow hadn't responded.

"Help me with what?" This made Ryoma blink some more. His voice was completely different. It was deeper, lower. It was…more dangerous. "There nothing they can help me with…even if they tried. Besides, I can't leave this room."

"What? Why…why can't you leave?" The youth just stared at him some more with an annoyed look on his face.

"I was told not to. I can't leave unless he says it's ok."

"…unless he says…it's ok…why do you listen to him…whoever he is? He probably just wants to keep you in here for his own needs." This was really turning like one of those movies.

"No! He has a reason! He doesn't…he doesn't want me to be hurt…" Instead to replying, Ryoma stood, eyes directly on the shadow. Then he decided to change the topic once more.

"Ne, what's your name?"

"My name…?" Ryoma nodded. "My name's Kikumaru…Kikumaru Eiji."

"Kikumaru…Echizen Ryoma desu…" Kikumaru seemed to have perked up a bit. He went back to his old self.

"Echizen…Ryoma…That's a cool name, Ochibi." The tennis prodigy twitched some more. Why did he insist on calling him 'Ochibi', when he even gave him his own name? He was starting to get annoyed. All of sudden, Kikumaru tensed. Silence passed for a while, when he finally said, "Ochibi, leave! Now!" This surprised Ryoma. Why was he telling him off? "Leave! You can come some other time, but please leave now!" The golden-eyes boy just backed a few steps, not sure what to do. "Please!!" It was then when he caught a glimpse of Kikumaru. Azure eyes as blue as the sea, that seemed to be tainted with much sorrow. Seeing this, Ryoma immediately left and closed the door behind him.

His heart was beating…fast…What frightened him to have his heart beat so fast? He gave the thought of staying and listen through the door, but instead headed back for the stairs. Though he left, his mind never once stepped out of that room. Nor did he ever leave Kikumaru's eyes. His mind was still drowning in that azure sea full of sorrow.

Kikumaru sighed as he saw Ryoma leave. He heard soft footsteps that eventually made it to the stairs. I hope you come back tomorrow, Ochibi…

"Eiji…? Something wrong?"

Kikumaru looked the other direction, only to see that his friend came back. He shook his head and replied with a smile, "No, only thinking." The other had a face of uncertainty, but believed him. There was a comfortable silence for a while, as they both just look at one another. Kikumaru then asked, "So…why are you back so early today?"

The other just looked at him, expressionless, and then smirked. "I wanted to make sure that you stay out of trouble." At this, Kikumaru gave a cute pout.

"Ahhh….that's mean, ya know. Are you implying that you don't trust me?" After think a while, the other smirked again.

"Yea, that's right, I don't trust you." Kikumaru pouted yet again. A whimper or two fell out as well. "Ya know, keep doing that, and you'd be stealing my signature pout." A smile broke onto Kikumaru's lips.

"That's the point!" Of course, now it was his friend's turn to pout. A laugh escaped Kikumaru's mouth and soon the other joined in. Once they finished, silence took over again. "Ne…how long do you think it will take this time?" A slight frown was pasted on the other's face.

"I'm not really sure. The time span keeps changing every time, so…it's kinda hard to say."

With a sigh, the redhead said, "I hope it won't take long…I don't like being like this anymore." The other youth looked at his friend with sympathy. He always wondered why that boy had to suffer like this. He wanted to do something to cheer him up. Something to make him happy now. Whether he'd be happy in the future, he didn't know. He only cared about his happiness now.

"Hey, Eiji. How about after it's done, we go to America and take a look around." This caught the redhead's attention.

"Honto wa?!"

Nodding, he said, "Yea, sticking around here forever ain't gonna do you or me any good. We should travel and see the world. I've always wondered what America would look like now." Now Kikumaru was practically jumping everywhere. Happy to see him cheer up, he smiled and watched him in his happiness.

All I want is for you to be happy, Eiji. To pay back for all the things that happened to you. It was my fault in the first place. And though I'm not really the sentimental type, I really miss being able to touch that face of yours…and I really regret not being able to do so when…those …

…those…tears were running down your face…

Ha! There! I finished! (smiles) Soooo? How do you like it? I really hope it's at least okay. I don't really like disappointing people, and I really hope I'm getting better. EDIT: And I tweaked it some after seeing that someone already had a similar idea.

Anywho, the mystery friend is in this chapter. Surprise, surprise. I didn't give away his name, another surprise. I still want you people to guess! (smiles more) I gave some hints on his personality. He might be a bit OOC compared to his PoT self, but none the less, the main idea of it is still there. Though one part of his personality is completely changed in this. In TeniPuri, he's not best of friends with Kiku-chan, and here he's his closest friend and probably only friend…at the moment. Ryoma-kun is gonna change that.

This chapter wasn't really any longer than the prologue. (sweatdrops) It's like…a half page longer. Hopefully the next will have a bit more in it, but as they say, quality is better than quantity. All right then, I hoped you liked it. Chapter 2 shouldn't take too long to finish. I'm already like…40 done. Soooo, yea……I seem to have a lot of motivation to write that fast. And the work quality in my opinion is not that bad either. (smiles AGAIN)

Alright then! Till next time!

Review! Please and thanks!

Hitori a.k.a. Suki