Author's Note: I'm back. Sorry for the wait. After much debate, I've decided that this chapter will focus on Fuji. I promise Ryoma will come back soon, and Saeki/Yuuta will most definitely develop more, but poor Fuji was being so neglected. Well, onward!

Disclaimer: Nope, they don't belong to me; I'm just borrowing them for amusement purposes.

Replaced

Chapter Six: Tears of an Angel

Summary: YAOI. Fuji begins to fall apart, and Tezuka wants to help, but will Fuji be able to let go of the past?

Pairings: Tezuka/Fuji, slight Atobe/Ryoma

Echizen Ryoma was almost to the locker room when he heard the car pull up. He let out a frustrated sigh and decided that he would pretend he hadn't noticed the car. His teammates were starting to mutter amongst themselves. Correction, attempt to will away the white limo in the school parking lot.

"Ryoma-kun, Ore-sama requests your pleasurable company for the evening!" said a vaguely amused voice from the limo.

Ryoma briefly wondered why this sort of thing always seemed to happen to him, and how likely it was that Atobe would just go away if he ignored him. He took a few steps towards the locker room, and was almost sure that he was going to get away, when Atobe spoke again.

"Ryoma-kun, please hurry, we have a dinner reservation."

At this, Ryoma finally turned to look at Atobe. The black haired prodigy grimaced slightly at the smiling face in the car window before stomping off to the locker room.

When Fuji had heard that cocky voice calling across the courts to Ryoma, his blood had run cold. But as he watched their young prodigy stomping through the changing room, a little flash of hope went through him. Maybe Atobe wasn't really going out with Ryoma; maybe it was all in his head.

As Ryoma slammed his locker shut Fuji edged closer. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he was close enough to talk to him. He leaned against the lockers, hoping he didn't look as nervous as he felt.

"Ryoma-kun, can I talk to you?" he said, barely loud enough to be heard.

Ryoma's eyes caught a glimpse of their captain standing against the opposite wall, frowning at the two of them. Anger shot through him as he realized that their captain was assuming that he was being stubborn and Fuji was just trying to calm him down.

"If you make it quick, I have a date tonight." He said, loud enough for the whole locker room to hear.

All of the regulars turned to stare at Ryoma. Inui's pen was slack in his hand and his notebook had flopped onto the floor. Tezuka had merely raised an eyebrow.

"Echizen, if you and Fuji are having issues, get over it. I won't have my players fraternizing with the likes of Atobe Keigo." He said curtly.

"I'm sorry, but I consider finding your boyfriend in bed with his little brother's boyfriend an event worthy of dumping. And Keigo and I are none of your goddamn business." Ryoma replied, before stomping back out of the locker room.

A moment later, a car was heard driving away.

By the time Tezuka had turned away from the door, Fuji was gone. Stifling the urge to go check on him, the stoic captain walked down to the coach's office to work on the charts for the ranking matches.

After throwing out his third attempt at a lineup, Tezuka was about ready to give up. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Maybe he was just getting dehydrated. The air conditioning was broken, and he didn't feel very well to begin with. He reached into his bag, searching for a water bottle. After emptying his entire bag, he realized he must have left it in the locker room.

Dragging himself out of the chair, he started down the hallway towards the tennis courts. He was halfway across the courts when his vision started to darken. He blinked a few times and continued towards the locker room.

By the time he had reached his destination, he had completely lost the will to move. As he slumped to the floor, he grabbed at his water bottle. It clattered to the floor along with a basket of tennis balls. He glared feebly at them and took a long drink from the bottle.

Taking one last drink from the water bottle, he sat up. He glanced around the room, and then his eyes snapped back to the corner. Fuji's school things were lying in a heap. Something was definitely not right. Fuji would never leave his things behind. He got up and started to walk down the hallway.

He stopped when he saw a sliver of light under a closet door. Trying to shake a growing feeling of uneasiness, Tezuka opened the door. Fuji was sitting huddled on the closet floor amongst a mess of racquets and old jerseys. Tezuka blinked a few times, trying to process what he was seeing.

"Fuji, what are you doing?" he said softly, setting a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder.

The shorter boy jumped as if he had been burned. He looked at Tezuka for a long time before he finally spoke.

"I didn't want to go home." The shorter boy mumbled, almost too quietly to hear.

Tezuka sighed and sat down on the floor outside of the closet door.

"What happened?" Tezuka asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

Fuji looked down at the floor.

"My parents are fighting again. They found out about Yuuta being gay and father told him he had to leave. Mother wanted him to stay, but when she told father, he started yelling at her. That was a week ago, they haven't stopped yet." He said in a flat monotone.

Tezuka took a deep breath, pushing back the urge to pull the smaller boy into his arms and hold him forever, so he never had to be unhappy again.

Fuji looked straight at Tezuka and continued.

"All I ever do is make mistakes and live lies. I'm so tired of it, Mitsu. I've driven everyone who cared about me away. And Atobe is bent on making my life miserable. Every time I find even the slightest chance of someone caring about me, he snatches it away. And I didn't mean to let Mizuki do that, I just kind of lost it. I'm so stupid." He finished miserably.

Tezuka couldn't push his feelings away any longer. Fuji had used his pet name; it had to mean that he still felt something. He pushed away the rest of his doubts and pulled Fuji into his arms. Fuji stiffened for a minute, and then relaxed. Tezuka let out a sigh of relief and leaned over to whisper in Fuji's ear.

"I care about you, Suke. I always have. We should really leave, we need to get some sleep." He said softly.

Fuji's head snapped up, his eyes full of fear.

"Mitsu, I-I can't. I can't go home." He said pleadingly.

Tezuka pulled the shorter boy's head gently against his shoulder and held him tight.

"It's okay. It's fine. We can go to my house." He said soothingly.

The tension melted from Fuji's body and he nodded slowly. Tezuka gathered him up and helped him to his feet. If they hurried they could catch a bus. As Fuji's hand slid into his, he smiled.

They could worry about the rest of the world tomorrow, but for tonight, it was just the two of them. Tonight, they could go back to before, back to when they didn't have so many problems and the world was simpler. Back when love was all they needed.

The problems would still be there in the morning, for now, they could just enjoy being together again.

Author's Note: Argh! That turned out rather sappier than intended. Serves me right for ignoring poor lil' Yuuta. Points and laughs at her cranky, boyfriend- less Mizuki muse. So long for now, hang in there for the next chapter!