Okay, here's the next installment of my story.

Yeah, yeah... I know you all hate me for taking so long with an update, but I get busy with college classes, 2 jobs, and homework. I have holiday break right now and thought I'd give an update or two. I am not abandoning this story, just being slow on updates… sorry, but I will try to finish it with the free time I do have.

Anyways, hope you all enjoy and review at the end.

Pairings: mainly TezFuj, some OishEiji, & maybe other minors implied...

Warnings: Shounen-ai, yaoi, whatever you want to call two boys in love... If you don't like it, how the hell did you get this far in my story...?!? Also, some swearing... And, OOC (out of character-ness --- characters not acting how they usually do in the series)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just chucked out several hundred for my college textbooks for next semester and I am now officially poor. sigh...

Last time . . .

After they were down the stairs once again and in the living room, Tezuka and Oishi turned toward Eiji.

"You will tell us what is going on." It was not a question. Eiji knew that after yesterday that they would not be able to keep things from the tennis team for long despite Fuji's plans of concealment and denial. Now, it seemed was the moment of truth. It was sooner than he had thought, but here it was.

"Yeah, I guess you deserve to know."

Settling down on the couches, Eiji sighed and began their story.

Chapter 8: Weakness Revealed

"Fuji and I met when we were real little," Eiji began. "Our fathers are business partners and our mothers, best friends. Our families have always been close.

"I have an older sister as does Fuji. Fuji also has a younger brother, who you've met, Yuuta."

Recalling the young boy with sharp grey eyes who had came to pick up the two boys yesterday, Tezuka and Oishi nodded. They were sitting together on a couch in the Fuji's living room and were determined not to move until they got the full story from Eiji.

Eiji sighed. "Fuji and I loved to play outdoors when we were little. Our personalities then are very similar as they are today. I loved to run about, jumping from one thing to the next, always laughing. Fuji was always with me, but he could often be found just sitting under a tree reading. At times like these, I'd curl up nearby and take a nap."

Oishi smiled at the obvious fondness Eiji had for these memories. They seemed to have such a happy childhood. But, where is he going with this?

"We discovered tennis one day at the park where we saw some older boys playing. Fuji was immediately intrigued – he had his eyes open and fixed on the game." Eiji laughed. "Yes, Fuji's little trick with always keeping his eyes closed is a long habit. It started as a joke when we were small that he could sense where things were around him, but I guess it just stuck with him. He has kept them closed ever since, though nothing seems to get by him. He always is aware of his surroundings. I think I only ever see his blue eyes now when he is truly intrigued or shocked about something."

Hmm, it is as I suspected. Tezuka thought. But, I guess the last two days have been a bit interesting for him as I have glimpsed his beautiful blue eyes several times.

"It is so rare to see them open now, that when he does open them it is quite a shock." Eiji chuckled at that. "They have become quite sharp and added to the fact that he is a genius, it is kind of scary. Besides, I think he likes the air of mystery he gives off."

Shaking his head, Eiji's smile dimmed a bit as he continued. "Anyways, we both began learning and our parents encouraged us. We became quite good over the years. I had been taking some gymnastics classes as had Fuji for a while, and we experimented ways of incorporating the moves to my tennis play. Fuji developed his own style that was less acrobatic, though, he can perform many of the moves I can."

Eiji paused then turned to Tezuka. "Do you remember yesterday when I was going to say something about Fuji and then he interrupted me?"

Tezuka nodded.

"Well, Fuji is a prodigy." Silence. "Oh, so you're not shocked by that?"

"I kind of guessed it already." Tezuka replied. "After seeing Fuji play and you commenting that he had developed some of those moves years ago, I thought he must be some time of prodigy. Then I remembered how you almost said that word before Fuji cut you off. Why didn't he want us to know?"

Sighing again, Eiji rubbed a hand through his hair before continuing. "Well, that is kind of linked to the whole thing about us not joining the team and why Fuji and I couldn't last more than three games in a match."

Eiji glanced to the side, fiddling with his hair as the silence stretched on.

"Eiji, just tell us." Oishi stated.

"Alright…" Eiji paused again. "Fuji and I . . . we have asthma."

Oishi gasped while Tezuka just stared. His eyes widened a bit, though, in surprise.

"We've had it since we were young. As I said, we loved to play out doors. That was where we were most happy. But, that happiness had a limit and that limit was our bodies themselves. We cannot overstrain ourselves when doing physical exercise. We get tired quickly from running about and lose our strength. We get short of breath and could faint, collapse, or worse if we did too much.

"That is why we put stipulations on our games yesterday. We can only play for so long before collapsing. Our families have been very careful over the years and have let us continue to play tennis which we love above all else. But, we take precautions. As you have already seen, we watch out for each other and know the other's limits on the court. We make sure we have water, towels, and our inhalers. We have a cell phone on us at all times in case something happens.

"Today, Fuji thought it best that we avoid you guys for a while. But, I knew that it wouldn't be long until you confronted us. We tired ourselves out with the running around after school trying to escape. Fuji was already stressed out and had slept little last night. Then, all that running about and he collapsed. Before you guys ran into us, he was really worrying me because he was having such trouble breathing." Eiji broke off here, glancing up at the other two boys.

Oishi was looking at Eiji with a concerned face. He is so kind, already worrying so much for us. Eiji thought. Tezuka, though… Looking at him, Eiji blinked. Tezuka looked like nothing phased him about what he just said. Did he guess that too? Eiji thought. No, he couldn't have. . . Wait, what's that? Tezuka's jaw was clenched and his hands fisted at his sides. He was glancing towards the stairs every minute or so. Hmm.. so, he's not so unconcerned as I first thought. He seems very worried, in fact.

"Fuji is actually more fragile and weak than I am." Tezuka's eyes snapped to Eiji at this point, demanding him to continue. "He has a worse case than I do. While he could probably last longer than I normally would in a game, all his special moves and the concentration that goes into them take up a lot of energy, mentally and physically. Besides that, he is very observant of those around him and add that to being a prodigy, he uses up a lot of mental power throughout the day. He can become stressed quite easily. This does not help his condition anymore than my own personality does. We are both aware that our personalities worsen our limits, but there is only so much we can do to still enjoy the life we have."

There was silence for a few minutes as the two captains digested the information.

"So, that's why you can't join the team." Oishi said. "You would not be able to play a full 6-game match."

"Right. Back at our old school, we never joined the team. We would just watch the matches and maybe have a small scrimmage against a player every once in a while. We mainly play each other because we can gauge each other's physical condition so well that we can tell when the other needs a break or is overdoing it."

"But," Tezuka broke in. "You'll never improve much further if you do not play other people. You need to be challenged to get better."

Eiji laughed. "Well, I think in that case I am in a better position than Fuji. Fuji is several levels above me, though I have no idea how he got there. It's probably because of his own genius."

Tezuka frowned. Fuji is a tennis prodigy. I cannot just let him or his talent wither away. He needs to be pushed to play his best and improve. Yesterday he was putting on a 'show.' I noticed how he calculated his shots before hitting them. He was definitely holding back. But, how much? He must be amazing once he goes all out. Tezuka was getting excited at the possibility of playing such a strong opponent. But, his physical disability is a problem. Is there some way that it can be surpassed? Hmm… I'll have to think on it later.

"I was amazed with the moves he showed yesterday," Oishi was saying. "as were the rest of the team. Everyone was anxious to talk to you two today at lunch, but we couldn't find you."

"Yeah, sorry about that. We didn't want you guys to find us, really. It's just… after seeing us play, we knew you guys would get excited and want us to join your team. But, we can't and we didn't want to disappoint you."

"Eiji . . ." Oishi whispered, touched at their concern.

"But, you guys found us anyways." Eiji said, smiling.

All of a sudden, Eiji yawned. "Sorry. I'm a bit tired from today myself."

Oishi jumped to his feet, hovering over Eiji. "Oh, I'm sorry. We kept you up, huh? You should go rest. Go take a nap or something."

Eiji smiled gently at Oishi's concern.

"Come on, I'll walk you guys out." Eiji said, getting up and directing them to the door.

They walked outside, Eiji turning to the right, heading for his own house. The other two boys followed him before stopping at his door step.

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, Eiji. You go take a nap and rest." Oishi said, still looking worried.

"I will. I just need a short cat nap to get my energy back."

Waving to them both once more, Eiji walked into his house and shut the door.

Oishi and Tezuka turned around and headed down the street, both lost in thought. They had a lot to think over tonight before they saw the other boys tomorrow.

To be Continued

Next chapter will be up in a few days, hopefully. Remember, I am still on holiday break and so I have some free time.

Please review. I will listen to all suggestions, though I might not actually follow them. I hope everyone is enjoying the story and I realize it has been kind of slow so I am trying to speed it up to a storyline of some sort. Let me know what you guys think as you are the ones reading this.

Thank you and don't worry. I am already thinking about the next chapter and plan on starting it tomorrow. Hopefully it will be finished and posted up soon. I really want to finish this story because I have several other stories swimming in my head, begging to be written. But I am worried that if I start them, I will forget about this one. So, I am trying to finish it soon so I can start the others. I have a couple Harry Potter slash stories in my head as well as two Gundam Wing ones and a Yuu Yuu Hakusho and Hikaru no Go story planned.

Anyways, please review and any ideas for upcoming events, please let me know. If you want to see something happen, your input is welcome though I won't guarantee I'll use it. See you all later!