Author's Note: Wai! I'm back with a new chapter. Whew...I didn't expect this sotry to take so long. I originally wanted to keep it under fifteen but here we are at chapter seventeen. I think this might go on for another three chapters but I'm still not sure yet. Thank you to all those who continue to support this story.

Reviewer Responses: (Thought it was time I'd do this)

Adobo-chan: Thank you very much for wishing me luck on my tests. I'm so happy they're over! Thank you very much for the support on the story too!

Risa-Chan: Thank you for wishing me luck on my tests too! Also thank you for all the helpful suggestions, I really appreciate them!

yoshiko-chan: I'm glad you liked how I portrayed Oishi. Sometimes he's a little hard to write.

Hakugei: I'll try to update faster! Promise!

dimonyo-anghel: Oishi reallyneeds to stand up to people more!

dragon-shadows: I'm glad you like the story!

LiTOSWTAZN: Yeah, finally Oishi is free! Glad you liked it.


Disclaimer:I don't own PoT/TnO...so what else is new? Chapter Seventeen

"What are you doing here, Oishi-senpai?" Ryoma asked.

Momoshiro quickly whacked Ryoma on the head. "Be more respectful," Momoshiro said.

"Itai!" Ryoma exclaimed.

Momoshiro ignored the freshman and turned to Oishi. "How did you get here, Oishi-senpai?"

Oishi smiled a small smile. "I took the bus," Oishi said.

"You remember the way here?" Ryoma asked.

Oishi gave a gentle smile. "No," he admitted. "I asked for directions."

"Does Atobe know you're here?" Momoshiro asked quietly.

Oishi's eyes hardened for a moment as Atobe's name was brought up. "No," Oishi said. "I came here by myself. No one else knows I'm here." He stared at the two Seigaku regulars, his eyes softening. "Why were you two running?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Baka Momo-senpai got Buchou mad," Ryoma said before Momoshiro could answer the question.

"Oi, Echizen, if you hadn't hit me with the water, we wouldn't be in this mess," Momoshiro said, glaring down at his kouhai.

"Che," was Ryoma's response.

"Oh, Oishi-senpai, you probably want to talk to Eiji-senpai right?" Momoshiro asked.

Oishi nodded. "I'm worried that he's still sad over what happened at Hyotei," Oishi said. "I hope he's okay."

"Eiji-senpai is Eiji-senpai," Momoshiro said. "The courts are over there if you want to talk to him." Momoshiro pointed behind him at the fence-enclosed courts where the other regulars were currently still cleaning up. Oishi looked towards the courts and the familiar feeling right when he was about to remember something hit him. 'Another memory?' Oishi thought.

"Come on Echizen, we're supposed to be running laps," Momoshiro said, grabbing the smaller boy and leading him back onto their designated running track.

"Yadda," Ryoma grumbled.

"If you don't want to run laps, then respect your senpai a little more," Momoshiro growled. "Oh, Oishi-senpai, you can go ahead. We have to finish running first."

Oishi nodded but continued to stare at the two, who started bickering again. "Don't overexert yourselves," he called as the two started to race each other. Shaking his head, Oishi made his way to the courts, he could hear each regular's voice as he approached.

"Nya," Eiji said. "Why do we have to clean?"

"Eiji, Ryuzaki-sensei was kind enough to let us off this easily," Fuji could be heard saying.

"Hoi, hoi," Eiji said back.

"Fsssh," Kaidoh piped in.

Oishi slowly walked to the corner of the courts and stopped. This was it, just around the corner and Oishi would be that much closer to having his memories back. All he needed was to summon the courage to walk out and face the Seigaku regulars. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Oishi steeled himself and walked around the corner.

At first, no one noticed he was walking towards them because they all had their backs facing him. It was Fuji who was the first to notice, but the tensai didn't reveal it immediately. Oishi could tell Fuji noticed he was there by the slight stiffening of the shoulders before they relaxed again.

"Eiji, I know you're still upset over what Atobe has done," Fuji said.

"Hoi," Eiji said sadly.

"But I'm sure we'll meet Oishi again," Fuji said, placing a comforting hand onto the acrobatic player's shoulder.

"You think so Fujiko-chan?" Eiji asked, turning to face Fuji. And as he did, he spotted the said Fukubuchou standing there. "OISHI!" Eiji screamed, running over to the emerald-eyed player. All the other regulars turned too, at Eiji's exclamation and all of their eyes widened.

Tezuka felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Oishi standing there. Was it real? He wanted to ask himself and others but refrained from doing so. His normally stoic face relaxed the slightest bit as he watched Eiji hug Oishi, confirming that the other boy was real…was here at Seigaku. He took steps forward and walked ever closer to Oishi.

"Oishi!" Eiji cried out. "How…why…what…" The poor acrobatics player was at a loss for words over this event.

Oishi just stood there, unsure what to do next. All his questions flew from his mind as all the other regulars formed a circle around him. Oishi looked around at the other players until his gaze locked onto Tezuka's. The stoic captain's expression was still unreadable, but the tiniest glint in his eyes betrayed his feelings inside.

Easing himself out of Eiji's death grip, Oishi walked to Tezuka and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry," he said.

Tezuka merely blinked and continued to stare at the Fukubuchou. "Iie," he finally said. "It wasn't your fault."

"We knew what we were risking," Fuji said from behind him.

Oishi straightened up and looked back to all the regulars, who were standing there, smiling at him. No one had any look of malice or resentment towards him.

"What are you doing here Oishi? Does Atobe know you're here?" Tezuka asked.

Oishi turned back to Tezuka and let out a small sigh. "I don't care if he knows," Oishi said firmly.

"You are Hyotei's Fukubuchou," Tezuka said, not bothering to hide the bitterness that permeated the sentence.

"Not anymore," Oishi answered quietly.

"What?" Eiji exclaimed. "You're not?"

Oishi shook his head. "Just after all of you left, I quit as Hyotei's Fukubuchou," Oishi explained. "Atobe crossed the line when he called your coach and ratted you out."

Nobody spoke for a few moments after Oishi had made this announcement. Oishi was never the type to just walk away from anything. He was the type who would talk it out and let his feelings be made clear before making a decision.

"So you came here after you quit as Fukubuchou," Fuji said.

Oishi nodded. "I needed to," he whispered.

Eiji ran over and latched onto Oishi's arm, a big smile adorning his face. "Nya, now I can help Oishi remember!" he said.

"Kikumaru," Tezuka said. "You already had your turn."

Eiji's face quickly turned into a pout and whined. "But…but…"

"It's Momoshiro's turn, right?" Fuji asked.

Tezuka nodded. "Since Momoshiro is occupied at the moment…"

"I still get to go!" Eiji cut in happily.

"…I will go," Tezuka finished.

"Saa, Tezuka," Fuji said, the barest hint of blue could be seen from under the tensai's closed eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Aa," Tezuka said.

It was now or never for Tezuka. He was fortunate to be able to have this chance and though he was reluctant to do it, he knew the time had come. Oishi shouldn't have to wait anymore and it was past time to give him a worthy explanation of why he acted the way he did. Ignoring the flutter in his stomach, Tezuka started walking towards the dressing room and motioned for Oishi to follow him.

"Fuji, continue cleanup," Tezuka rapped out.

Fuji merely smiled and started to direct the others back onto the courts to finish their assigned duties. 'This may be the only chance you'll have.' Fuji thought as he looked towards the dressing room.

Inside the dressing room, Tezuka moved to sit on the bench. Oishi looked around, the familiar sense once again coming to him.

"Oishi," Tezuka's voice brought him out of his trance-like state.

"Hai?" Oishi answered.

"This is where it all began," Tezuka said.

Oishi looked at the buchou confusedly. "Where what began?" Oishi asked.

"Everything," Tezuka answered.

"I don't understand," Oishi said.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Tezuka braced himself before moving on with his explanation. "Your amnesia," Tezuka said. "It all started here."

"How?" Oishi whispered, his hear thudding. It was almost as if his body was afraid of what the answer would be. He went to sit next to Tezuka.

"You told me you wanted to speak with me after school," Tezuka said. "It was after school that you…" Tezuka trailed off, not sure if he wanted to go on or not.

"I what?" Oishi asked. He was anxious to know, anxious to find out what had caused him to end up in the hospital in the first place, how he came to have amnesia.

The flutter in Tezuka's stomach increased and he hesitated. This was it, the moment he had been dreading. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Tezuka looked Oishi directly in the eyes. He wanted to be able to see the emotions that would surge through Oishi when he found out that Tezuka was the one who caused him to lose his memory. Tezuka was the one who brought all this misery to him. 'Would Oishi hate me?' Tezuka wondered.

"You told me you were in love with me." These words seemed to force themselves from Tezuka's mouth.

Oishi's eyes widened with shock as these words hit him, hard. The mental block that had been plaguing him, all of the sudden, burst open.

"Ano...Tezuka," Oishi began.

"I...I..." Oishi stuttered. A raised eyebrow from Tezuka. "I love you!" Oishi blurted.

Tezuka roughly pushed him away and said with a clearly angry face. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Oishi found his breath coming faster as he was forced to watch Tezuka harshly push him away and he saw the tears that splashed down his face. 'How can this be?' Oishi thought. 'Tezuka…he…'

Tezuka ran to towards him, so focused him that he didn't see the car speeding down the road, right towards him. The car "beeped" at Tezuka, who just froze, his body would not obey his commands.

Oishi saw the car coming closer and closer to Tezuka. Tezuka just stood there, unmoving. "Tezuka!" he screamed.

"Oishi?" Tezuka called out.

Oishi's whole body was trembling. "That's what happened," Oishi said shakily. "So that's how I lost my memories…I…" He looked to Tezuka, who's eyes were filled with worry, concern and guilt.

"Oishi," Tezuka called again, reaching out to put a hand on said Fukubuchou's shoulder.

Oishi jerked away from Tezuka and stood up. "I…you…" Oishi couldn't put a coherent sentence together to save his life, at that moment. At that moment, it seemed that all the wounds came back, all the pain associated with the memory. It was as if Oishi's heart was being shredded for the second time, left again to scream in agony. The lost pain and anguish seeming to double in strength, as if to make up for lost time. Oishi felt the hot tears stinging his eyes again and he quickly turned from Tezuka, who reached out again towards his friend.

"It's coming back," Oishi said quietly.

Author's Note: Yeah, went back to the angst...oh man. I almost cried on the last part of this chapter too. So how was it? Good? Bad?

Read and Review! Arigatou!