Author's Note: I am so sorry for not updating sooner but I had major writer's block! Sorry. Anyways, thank to all the people who reviewed.
Disclaimer: I don't own PoT/TnO.
Chapter Twelve
"Ah, Tezuka-san," Oishi said. Tezuka looked at his bedridden friend, silently signaling him to go on. "My parents... I don't think they know that I'm at the hospital."
"They will be informed," Tezuka assured.
"No…they're out of town," Oishi said. "It's better they don't know. I won't have to worry them with these." He indicated to the hospital bed and the bandages.
"Just rest," Tezuka said. Oishi nodded and lied back down on the bed, giving Tezuka another smile before closing his eyes.
Tezuka stayed with Oishi until the latter fell asleep. He looked at Oishi's sleeping form, resting peacefully against the pillows that cushioned his head. How serene and peaceful Oishi looked in his slumbering state. Quietly, not to disturb Oishi, Tezuka opened the door and stepped outside where his team was waiting for him.
Standing a ways from his team, Tezuka saw Atobe casually leaning on the walls of the hallway, talking to his team. 'Hyotei is not only our enemy on the courts.' Tezuka mentally noted.
"Buchou," Momoshiro spoke first.
"He is resting," Tezuka said, looking back to his regulars. He could see the relief on their faces. "Everyone should go home and rest."
"Hai, Buchou," the team chorused.
"Where are Eiji and Fuji?" Tezuka asked.
"Kikumaru-senpai and Fuji-senpai went with Kawamura-senpai," Momoshiro answered.
"Hn," Tezuka acknowledged. "Let's go."
The rest of Seigaku followed their captain to the exit of the hospital. As they passed the Hyotei team, Tezuka came shoulder to shoulder with Atobe.
"He will remember," Tezuka whispered to Atobe before walking past the Hyotei captain and out the door. The rest of his team just glared at their opponents as they walked by and in turn, Hyotei glared back at the Seigaku regulars.
Atobe turned to stare at Tezuka's retreating back and smiled. 'We shall see, Tezuka.' Atobe mentally directed at the other captain, his eyes flashing. 'Ore-sama will make sure Oishi stays with Hyotei.'
:A week later:
All the Hyotei were gathered around Atobe, afternoon practice was about to begin. They were waiting for Oishi to come back to practice. The doctor specifically said no strenuous activity since Oishi was still recovering from a head injury meaning that Oishi couldn't practice with the rest of the regulars.
"Oishi-fukubuchou," Ohtori called out, seeing the vice-captain walking to the courts. "Are you well enough to play?"
Walking up to the regulars, Oishi smiled. "I'm fine," he said.
"You aren't going to faint on us, are you?" Shishido asked.
"Shishido-san, be nice," Ohtori reprimanded his doubles partner.
"Che," was all Shishido had to say to Ohtori's comment.
"Now that all regulars are here, this is the format we will play in," Atobe said. " Doubles pairs will play matches against one another on Court C. Singles will have movement practice on Courts A and B."
" 'Movement practice?'" Oishi echoed.
"Observe," Atobe said. "Kabaji!"
"Usu!"
"Feed!"
"Usu!"
Atobe stood on right side of the court, preparing himself to receive the ball Kabaji was hitting to him. 'It shouldn't be that bad.' Oishi thought. Atobe nodded his head slightly and ordered Kabaji to hit the ball. The ball was hit to the left side where Atobe was already standing, his arm back ready to hit the ball back. Just as Atobe finished with one stroke, another ball was flying to the opposite side of the court, causing Atobe to rush to the right and hit the other ball back.
Atobe moved towards the left again but the third ball was hit to the right again so Atobe had to slide to a stop and proceed to hit the third ball. A fourth ball was hit immediately after and it was a short ball that reached to the halfway mark of the service area. Atobe sprinted up the net to return the ball and then sprinted back to the baseline to hit a groundstroke. "Enough," Atobe ordered. Kabaji halted motion, a ball at the ready to hit again at Atobe's command.
Oishi gulped. 'On second thought…this might be a worse than I thought.' Oishi thought remembering all the sudden changes of direction Atobe was forced to take. 'No,' he shook his head. 'This is training for Zenkoku, it must be done.' Oishi gripped his own racket and walked over to Atobe.
"Ready?" Atobe smirked.
Oishi nodded, his emerald eyes set and shone with determination. "Hai," Oishi said.
"Ore-sama will feed," Atobe said, moving to the opposite side of the court. 'No doubt Seigaku will make it to the final round. He must be ready in order for Hyotei to win.' Atobe thought, looking at Oishi. "Kabaji!" he called out.
"Usu!"
"Feed to Jiroh," Atobe ordered.
"Usu!"
Kabaji moved to the other court, where Jiroh was sleeping and carried him to the baseline of the court. Jiroh yawn and stretched, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What's happening?" he asked groggily. "What's going…" A ball was suddenly flying towards him. His eyes opened wide and he managed to duck before the ball made contact with his skull. He looked to Kabaji who was hitting another ball towards him.
"Kabaji," Jiroh exclaimed. "You almost hit me!"
The tall junior remained silent, just hitting the balls.
"Kabaji almost hit Jiroh," Oishi exclaimed.
"Jiroh should have been awake," Atobe commented.
"Stop him," Oishi said. "He's going to hit Jiroh."
"Focus more on your training," Atobe said. He purposely hit the ball hard towards Oishi.
Oishi braced himself and hit the ball back to Atobe. Atobe countered with a second ball that was hit in the opposite corner of where Oishi stood. Oishi ran up to the ball and hit that one back also. Not missing a beat, Atobe hit the third over Oishi's head, where it bounced in the transition zone. Oishi tried to run to it but couldn't reach it in time. The ball just touched the edge of his racket. 'Two more steps.' Oishi thought.
"You are not moving fast enough," Atobe said. "Again."
Oishi took a deep breath and readied himself again. He willed his body through all the times that Atobe ran him around the court. Even with his protesting muscles, Oishi forced the ache away and solely concentrated on the drill. By the time Atobe said "enough," Oishi's legs were jelly and he was sweating profusely. Making his way to where the water bottles were, Oishi gulped down all the water in his.
"I'll be back," he said to Atobe, who nodded his understanding.
He made his way to the water fountain and splashed the cold water on his heated face. 'Zenkoku.' He thought. 'Tezuka-san said I made a promise with him. That flashback showed me when we made that promise….but…Tezuka-san is playing for Seigaku while I am with Hyotei…It makes no sense.' Oishi thought on it some more. 'Tezuka-san also said that I went to Seigaku before…but my parents transferred me here…after my accident. But how did I get into that accident?' Pain shot across Oishi's skull, harshly reminding him that he was still recovering. Oishi sank to his knees, his hands on his head, trying to alleviate some of the pain. After a few moments, Oishi felt the pain subsiding, retreating to its own hiding place until Oishi strained himself again.
"It makes no sense," Oishi whispered. "Everything is so jumbled. Why was Tezuka-san…Was he involved in the car accident? How…" Oishi stopped himself when he felt the pressure in his head again. Picking himself up off the ground, Oishi leaned against the water fountain. "I'll worry about this later." He splashed his face with the water again, reveling in the feel of the cool liquid on his head, gently soothing away the pain. Then, Oishi made his way back to the courts.
:Seigaku:
It had been a week since Oishi's accident but all the Seigaku regulars couldn't help but wonder about how Oishi was doing.
As practice came to a close, Tezuka gathered his regulars. "Dismal effort," Tezuka scolded. "Everyone will start tomorrow's practice with laps."
"Tezuka," Fuji called. "We can't help it if we're worried about Oishi."
"Tezuka's mean, nya," Eiji said.
"Kikumaru-senpai," Momoshiro called, hoping that his senpai would not anger Tezuka and make them run more laps. He was still recovering from the two hundred that Tezuka had assigned to him and Echizen and he didn't think his legs could take it.
"Kikumaru," Tezuka addressed.
Eiji lifted his head stared at Tezuka. "I'm just worried about Oishi," Eiji cried out. "Is it wrong, nya?
"You don't need to worry," Tezuka said.
All the regulars stared at the captain, their eyes widened at what Tezuka had said. How could he not care? "Buchou," Ryoma called out.
"Before we left, Oishi remembered his promise he made with me when we were freshmen," Tezuka announced. The regulars could practically hear the smile in Tezuka's statement although his face displayed nothing. A sudden change went through all the regulars.
"Oishi remembered?" Eiji asked. Tezuka nodded. Eiji jumped up and down, a bit of his former self was returning. "Hoi! I knew Hyotei couldn't take Oishi!"
"Tezuka, how did Oishi remember?" Fuji asked, looking to the captain.
"I only prompted him on the promise he made,'" Tezuka said.
"I believe that the prompt was what helped him remember," Inui said. "The probability of Oishi remembering because of the prompt…85 percent."
Silence filled the air as everyone took in this statistic. Could it be that Oishi was not lost to them? Could it be that Oishi could come back? Eiji was the one that broke the silence.
"Oishi's coming back!" he announced cheerfully.
Fuji gave a warm smile, happy that Eiji was finally returning to normal and that Oishi could come back. The role of Fukubuchou was much more fitting to Oishi than it was to Fuji anyways.
"Tomorrow's practice begins at 7," Tezuka announced, slipping back into Buchou-mode. He started walking to Ryuzaki-sensei's office.
"Tezuka," Fuji called out. "Where are you going?
"To make a phone call to Hyotei."
Author's Note: So how was this chapter? Good? Bad? Horrible? Please let me know!
Read and Review! Arigatou!
