Author's Note: Ahh, my loyal readers. So many of you have made very good predictions..let's see if they are accurate shall we:) Thank you for the reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own PoT/TnO
Chapter Eleven:
Oishi slowly drifted back towards consciousness and stared all around him. Familiar looking white walls, white sheets, white… everything greeted him.
"You're awake."
Oishi turned his head to look at the person who had spoken. "Atobe," he greeted.
"You should feel honored that Ore-sama has stayed in this place with you," Atobe said.
"How long have I been unconscious?" Oishi asked.
"Two days," Atobe answered. "You did manage to hit your head on the ground."
"I remember that," Oishi said.
Atobe narrowed his eyes a little. The doctors told him that Oishi had suffered a concussion but they didn't know the extent of the damage. 'Could this mean he regained his previous memories?' Atobe wondered. Almost cautiously, Atobe asked, "Do you remember anything else?"
Oishi thought for a moment. "We were playing a match against Seigaku, were we not?" he said. "And…"
Atobe waited for him to go on. "Do not keep Ore-sama waiting," Atobe snapped. He wouldn't admit it, but Atobe was a little nervous about Oishi remembering. If Oishi remembered, he might also find out that Atobe had used him against his best friend. Then, Oishi might transfer back to Seigaku and Atobe wouldn't have the edge over Seigaku anymore or over Tezuka.
"I was playing against Tezuka-san," Oishi finished.
Atobe breathed a sigh of relief. 'Tezuka-san, not Tezuka.' His mind said. The formal suffix that Oishi added to Tezuka's name calmed Atobe's sped up heart rate. "Do you remember anything else?" He ventured to ask this question one more time.
"You only allowed the singles 1 match," Oishi said. Atobe nodded. Oishi looked around the stark room. "Where is the rest of the team?" he asked. "I hope I didn't worry them too much."
"They are outside," Atobe said. "With Seigaku. Everyone has been here, waiting for you to wake up."
"Everyone is here?" Oishi asked. "Oh my, hopefully everyone called their parents to tell them where they are." Oishi couldn't help being worried, it was part of his nature and somehow, it didn't bother Atobe as much.
Standing up, Atobe went to open the door and announced that Oishi was awake. A flurry of footsteps crowded around the door and a hum of voices drifted towards Oishi. He listened as Atobe commanded them to be quiet and then allowed the Hyotei regulars in first. Who could blame him for picking his team over Seigaku?
All the Hyotei regulars stood around Oishi. "Oishi-senpai," Ohtori called.
Oishi smiled a little. "Sorry for making you worry," he said.
"Baka," Gakuto muttered.
Oishi stared at the Hyotei redhead. He sweatdropped. "May I ask why you call me that?" he asked.
"You should have seen the ball," Gakuto said. "If you had, you wouldn't be here."
"It is his way of saying he was worried," Oshitari said.
"Yuushi! I was not worried!"
The Hyotei tensai looked to his doubles partner. "I beg to differ," he said, adjusting his glasses. "You were pacing up and down the hallway all day after the incident. If you had been worried a bit more, I think I would have been jealous." Gakuto blushed a little at Oshitari's words.
"So, how are you feelin'?" Shishido asked, thinking he should at least be a little more polite. After all, Oishi wasVice-Captain and, he hated to admit it, Oishi's caring personality won him over.
"My head throbs occasionally but nothing more than that," Oishi said. He didn't want to admit that he had a killer headache. 'Well, I did hit my head on the ground.' Oishi thought.
A muffled shout was heard from outside. "Oi, you guys finished in there or what?"
"Momo!" came the chastising scolding from Kawamura.
Oishi chuckled a little. "They were worried as well," Gakuto said, rolling his eyes.
"Then I should tell them that I am fine," Oishi said.
Atobe nodded and practically pushed all his regulars out the door. Every regular was trying to taunt the Seigaku regulars by saying that they were never going to leave their Fukubuchou's side. It would have been heartwarming had the voices not escalated to shouting and the occasional kicks to the door.
All the Seigaku regulars came streaming in, every one of them trying to voice their concern.
"Oishi, how are you?" "Senpai…" "What…" "Are you…"
Oishi raised a hand to his head as he tried to decipher where one sentence ended and another began.
"Silence!" The confusion ended at once as Tezuka glared at his regulars. "Be quieter or else everyone will run two hundred laps!"
Not a sound issued forth after that. Oishi noticed the tension in the air and tried to dispel some. "Thank you for staying," he said. "I'm sorry to have bothered all of you."
"Mada mada dane," Ryoma said.
"Echizen, be a little more respectful!" Momoshiro said.
"I am," the freshman prodigy retorted.
"You…" Momoshiro started to reach for the freshman. "Momoshiro, Echizen, two hundred laps when we go back," Tezuka stated, as stoic as ever. "Leave."
Momoshiro started to complain at the prospect of running two hundred laps. "It's all your fault, Echizen," Momoshiro muttered.
"You started it Momo-senpai." Ryoma said.
"You…" Momoshiro glared daggers at Ryoma.
"Out!" Tezuka ordered.
The two players wasted no time in following orders. Tezuka sighed and looked back towards Oishi. His heart twisted when he saw the bandages around Oishi's head and the IV in his arm.
"Na, Oishi," Fuji's soft voice called out.
Oishi turned to Fuji. "Hai?" he asked.
"Do you…remember anything?" Fuji asked, his smile plastered on his face.
Tezuka heart skipped a bear. Maybe Oishi did remember, maybe they could go back to Seigaku together, maybe…
"Atobe asked me the same question," Oishi said.
"And what did you answer?" Fuji pressed.
"I told him I remembered what happened at the match," Oishi said.
Fuji's smile faltered just slightly. 'It seems what Tezuka hoped for has not happened.' He thought sadly. "There is nothing else? Nothing prior to…"
"Nya, Oishi!" Eiji cried out. "You still don't remember me? Or Fujiko-chan or Ochibi or Tezuka?"
Oishi shook his head. "Did I happen to know you prior to my transfer to Hyotei?" he asked.
Eiji just stared at him and so did all the remaining regulars. Oishi caught the stares and quickly added. "I would be happy to make your acquaintance again if I did know you."
"Stupid Oishi!" Eiji cried running out of the room. Fuji chased after the upset Seigaku player.
"Have I said something wrong?" Oishi asked. "Perhaps I should apologize…"
"Oishi-senpai," Kaidoh spoke up. "Get well soon."
With those words, Kaidoh left the room in a hurry, Inui in pursuit, still muttering. "Ii data."
"Tezuka," Kawamura called.
"Hn," Tezuka answered.
"I will go make sure we have a ride home," Kawamura said.
"Aa," Tezuka answered.
After Oishi, Kawamura was the most caring person in Seigaku… except when he got hold of a racket. Tezuka turned back to Oishi, his throat suddenly constricting.
"Tezuka-san," Oishi called out.
Anguish swept over Tezuka at the sound of the formality in Oishi's voice. 'No!' he wanted to scream. 'You memories still elude you. This is unjust!' "Hn," he said instead, not trusting his voice. He looked to his best friend.
"Are you upset?"
Tezuka did a double take. Oishi was asking if he was upset? Tezuka would have laughed out loud if he was an expressive person, but he wasn't so he just shook his head. "Why would I be upset?" he asked, careful to mask the hurt from Oishi's lack of regaining his memories.
"We never finished our match," Oishi said. "From what Atobe told me, you are competitive and you never like to leave matches unfinished."
'Atobe should not be telling you about me.' Tezuka thought. 'You should know.' "Aa, it's true," Tezuka said. "This was special circumstance."
"When I get out of the hospital, we should finish our match," Oishi said. "It would be rude of me not to."
Tezuka didn't say anything. He moved closer to Oishi, painfully aware that Oishi was not the same Oishi and yet, the concern and selflessness were all the same. Nothing about Oishi had changed, other than the fact that he was missing memories. And finally, Tezuka cracked. All the worrying and hoping that the old Oishi would come back just came pouring out like the dam Tezuka had built to keep everything in broke, just broke. The guilt washed over him and threatened to drown him. He needed Oishi to take it away, to soothe him like typical Oishi would. Then in a totally un-Tezuka-like manner, Tezuka grabbed Oishi by the shoulders and said. "Why can't you remember?"
Oishi's green eyes clouded with confusion. "Remember what, Tezuka-san?" he asked, a bit frightened of the glare Tezuka gave him.
"Remember me, remember Seigaku," Tezuka bit out. He was beyond caring at this point. He just wanted Oishi back and he was tired of waiting. He was tired of standing idly by as Atobe and Hyotei slowly changed him, became part of him. He didn't want Oishi to have anything to do with Hyotei because that would mean that they were now rivals. "Remember the promise you made with me."
" 'Promise?'" Oishi echoed.
"Zenkoku," Tezuka said.
The single word triggered something in Oishi's head and he was forced into a flashback.
:Flashback:
"I believe it is possible for Seigaku to go to Nationals."
"You'll be able to lead us, Tezuka. Lead us all the way to Nationals. I know you can andwill."
"Hn,"
"I'll help you! Together, we'll take Seigaku all the way!"
:End Flashback:
"When we were walking home," Oishi whispered.
"You remember," Tezuka said, his eyes widening.
"A little," Oishi said. A spasm of pain went through his head and he clutched at it.
"Oishi," Tezuka called.
"I'm fine," Oishi said through clenched teeth. "Perhaps I just overexerted myself trying to remember." He looked back to Tezuka and smiled.
"Rest," Tezuka said, his heart seemed to lift a little. 'Perhaps if I keep giving him prompts, Oishi will eventually remember.' His mind said, but his heart argued. 'And if he remembers what you did to that made him lose his memory in the first place?' Caught between the two, Tezuka didn't know who to listen. And for that brief moment, Tezuka didn't care. He only cared that Oishi managed to remember something before his accident. It was a start and Tezuka had to make sure Atobe and Hyotei didn't have a permanent hold on Oishi.
Author's Note: Did it surprise some of you? Were you disappointed? Shocked? Annoyed? Please tell me!
"Buchou"(Yiyi): Were you surprised? ;)
Read and Review! Arigatou!
