I did some research on the Internet and after going through dozens of websites (just kidding, actually I only went through ten) I found several diseases that can happen to the eye. The description was pretty complicated since science was never my type and I forgot all about the structure of the eye. I had to find a detailed chart of the eye to understand everything.
Anyway, this chapter is when we get to hear some secrets about Shinji and what happened to his eyes. Thank you Risa-chan for pointing out that error in Chapter 1. Sorry to leave you hanging! Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: DON'T. OWN.
WARNING: OOC-ness, chance of shounen-ai popping up somewhere
Chapter 2Kamio Akira tried to get to sleep in his comfortable bed, but he couldn't get the image of Shinji lying on the hospital bed and his now blank eyes. The eyes no longer had those dark orbs that gave Shinji his personality.
'Masaka…he just can't be…' Kamio's mind chanted over and over again. He could never get what happened at the hospital out of his mind. It kept playing over and over again in his head like a movie in his head.
Flashback…Kamio Akira was staring in shock at those blank orbs that now replaced where Ibu Shinji's eyes once were. He whipped around and looked at his best friend's parents. Both were staring back at Kamio. Shinji's mother was crying while her husband was comforting her.
"Ibu-san, what's wrong with Shinji?" whispered Kamio. Shinji's mother pulled out of her husband's embrace and put a hand on Kamio's shoulder.
"Akira, you deserve to know," she said. "Come with me." The woman led the boy out of the room and outside where they both could talk quietly while a doctor starting wrapping bandages around Shinji's eyes.
"Akira, first of all, I don't know if Shinji ever told you this, but he has Glaucoma. Glaucoma is when the transparent fluid inside the forward part of the eye does not drain normally and excess pressure is built up within the eye. If the pressure is not controlled, the delicate structure of the eye is increasingly damaged, resulting in blurred vision, a narrowed field of sight and eventually total blindness."
"Wasn't it detected early?" asked Kamio still shocked about the fact that his best friend had an eye problem.
"Yes, it was, but it wasn't so serious as to the point when he needed surgery. Shinji's eyes were slashed with a knife when he was attacked so I think that made his eye condition worse." Kamio couldn't get most of this, but he could make out one possibility.
"W-Wait, t-that means-"
"Hai, Akira, I'm truly sorry, but…I'm afraid won't be able to see again…"
End Flashback…'I still can't believe he's blind,' thought Kamio as he turned over in his bed. 'Will he ever be able to play tennis? Can he manage through school?' With those words sleep and the redhead finally found each other.
Shinji felt like he was wide-awake now even though it seemed like he wasn't. Today was officially declared the worst day of his life. First he's late, then it rains during practice, then he gets attacked by the most notorious gang in the country, has to go to the hospital, and now he's blind for good!
His mother told him that he had to stay at the hospital for another three days before he could be discharged. This was going to be long. In the meantime Shinji would try and get used to the dark. It was an unpleasant feeling to wake up after who knows how long and suddenly found out that you can't see anything even after you open your eyes.
He already knew that he had Glaucoma, his mother already had dying eyesight, but that cursed knife had sped up the process of his shriveling eyesight so now he had to face blindness at an early age. He wasn't supposed to have faced it until he was an old geezer for heaven's sake!
It was so boring in the hospital. He could no longer read a book, and he didn't feel like sleeping. So much happened in one day and how he was going to face the bleak future was way beyond him. Shinji scratched near where his bandages were wrapped tight around his eyes. They itched too much to ignore.
'Stupid bad luck,' thought Shinji. 'Why me?'
Life continued to march on without the presence of Fudomine's second-year genius. The regulars continued to practice every day and work hard in school. Only this time the atmosphere was even tenser. Back at school everyone seemed shocked at what happened. Sure the high school gang had been caught, but now even more people were frightened of walking home alone.
During the time Shinji was hospitalized many people came, but only Tachibana, Kamio, and Shinji's family came frequently. Shinji couldn't see what they were up to, but judging by what he heard all of them were awfully worried.
Even though he never got rid of his old bad habit of muttering and rambling he seemed so different now. It might have been his blind eyes or maybe for the fact that he was in the hospital and looking slightly paler than before from blood lost.
Finally, Shinji was allowed to go home and return to his normal life. However, he still needed to be careful for without his eyesight anymore he would have difficulty getting to class and up any flights of stairs.
"Will one of you accompany him to class?"
"I can," said Kamio. "We're both in the same class anyway."
"Don't worry, sensei, Shinji will be all right with us," said Tachibana.
"Yeah, leave Shinji to us," said Sakurai.
To Be Continued…
Kind of a corny ending for a chapter, but the genre is angst so there's got to be some. Next chapter, Shinji goes back to school. How's he going to manage it? Review kudasai! I already said I break down on flames.