Letting go

by akiyume kye

Disclaimer: Until the day I become Takeshi Konomi, I will not own pot.

Pairings: TezuFuji

Chapter 9: Panic in the Dark

He dusted off the dirt on his arm and cringed when some sand went into the cut he had gotten.

Looking at Fuji, he was exasperated to find the tensai peacefully leaning against the wall.
Anger and bitterness clouded Eiji eyes, and he failed to see how pale and weak his best friend was.

"Fuji! How could you just rest here when I was looking for you? sniff.. Do you know what Oishi did? I saw him and… Nyahh, Fuji! Are you even listening to me?"

Angry that the tensai wasn't responding, he pushed Fuji out of frustration, stood up in a huff and turned away, folding his arms.

"Even you don't care anymore!… sniff… All of you are so mean. I hate all of you! I hate all of… eh?… Fuji?"

The red head spun around.

Fuji was on the floor, skin deathly pale, unmoving.

Eiji gasped.
"Fujjjiiii!"

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"RRRIIING! RRIINNGG!" The phone rang.

He waited. No one picked it up.
Just as he was about to put it down, somebody answered.

"Moshimoshi?"
It wasn't Eiji.

Swallowing his disappointment, Oishi politely greeted the red head's mother and asked for him.

"Eiji? He isn't home yet. That playful boy… I'm sure he's with Momoshiro-kun and his other friends eating somewhere. Why don't you call back later?"

Defeat was written all over his face.
"It's ok. Arigatoo."

Sighing, Oishi pressed the "stop" button and put the phone down.

It wasn't like Eiji to be out so late. Besides, he had an important test the next day to study for.
The red head had failed his other tests, and he couldn't afford to fail this one too.

Oishi wanted to go over to help his doubles partner in his work, but now…

His eyebrows crinkled in a frown.
Picking up the phone again, he dialed Eiji's number.

"Sorry, but the number you have dialed is not available. Please try again later."

The usually calm and composed fukubuchou glared angrily at the phone, as if it had been the cause of his annoyance at the red head. Throwing the phone against the door of his room, he collapsed into his bed and sobbed his wretched soul out.

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His heart was beating fast. His mind was racing but he couldn't think of anything he could do.

Eiji held the unconscious tensai in his arms and cradled him gently, as if that could wake him up.

Panic bit into him and he broke out in cold sweat.
What was he going to do?
Where was he going to bring Fuji?

Seeing his best friend in this state scared him.

Fuji had never fallen sick.
He was thin, and he was delicate, but Eiji had never seen him like this before.

He bit his lip and trembled visibly.
Shaking Fuji with all he had, he called the tensai's name again and again.

But there was no response.

"Fuji! sniff.. Fujjjiii! Wake up! Fuji…" Tears were streaming down his face and Eiji wept in despair.

Fuji's body was getting colder and colder, but still, Eiji didn't know what to do.

Oishi! Oishi can help! He thought.
Pushing aside the painful events of the day, he reached into his pocket and turned on his phone.

Gingerly dialing his doubles partner's number, Eiji fervently prayed that the tensai was alive.

He tried to feel for a pulse, but he could find none.
Fuji was so pale that Eiji thought he was a ghost.
His hair was in a mess, his arms freezing cold, his lips cracked and dry.

The phone rang, and the red head wished that Oishi would pick it up quickly.
It rang and rang until he reached the answering machine.
"Sorry, but we are unable to answer your call now. Please leave a message aft-"

Eiji's battery died out and the call was cut off before he could even say anything.
He stared at the useless phone in his hand and gripped it tight in anger.

He knew that Oishi was at home. The fukubuchou never went out at night.

Oishi… you did that on purpose, didn't you?

Struggling to hold back his tears, the red head threw his phone aside in disgust and tried to lift the unmoving tensai up.
Eiji was tired, and he hadn't eaten his dinner.
His strength had depleted and he collapsed back onto the ground with Fuji.

"Fuji! Fuji... please wake up! I'm scared… Fuji…"

Eiji shook his best friend and waited for a response.

But it never came.

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Sitting at his desk, Ryoma wondered why he had even bothered to take out his textbook.
The test tomorrow was English and he could ace it easily with two eyes closed.

Restless, he sauntered lazily down the stairs to find his father for a quick game of tennis.
The living room was empty and neither was he in the kitchen.

"Ah! Ryoma-san! Oji-san is asleep in his room. He's had a rough time doing his odd jobs today, you know." Nanako told Ryoma.

Nodding nonchalantly at her reply, the young tennis regular bent down to scope Karupin in his arms. The Himalayan cat meowed contentedly as Ryoma cradled it slowly.

He got himself a glass of cold milk and sat himself down in the kitchen.
This is going to be a long, boring night, he thought.

Karupin snuggled up onto Ryoma and purred softy, wanting some milk to drink. Smiling, he picked the cat up and brought it near his glass to have a sip.

Suddenly, it wriggled out of his grip, knocking down the glass of milk and disappeared out of the cat hole of the main door.

"Karupin!" Ryoma cried out after the cat.

Ignoring the mess that Karupin had created, Ryoma quickly slipped on a pair of shoes and chased after the cat, leaving poor Nanako to clean up the spilt milk.

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He took one step, and then another.

"Nyah! I can't do this!" Eiji whined in frustration.

Bracing himself again, he heaved Fuji onto his back and tried to walk a step further.

It was hard work, carrying the tensai back to the tennis club room in the dark, chilling night.

His back was aching and they had hardly moved from the spot Fuji was at before that.
One step… Two steps…

They fell to the ground again. Eiji grimaced at the cuts he had received from the falls and winced in pain when he touched them. He had taken great care to make sure that every time they fell, Fuji would fall onto him. After all, it had always been Fuji, allowing Eiji to fall onto him, catching him, protecting him…

Eiji's eyes grew misty at the sight of Fuji's pale face.

Fuji…

A tear trickled down his cold cheeks and fell onto Fuji's. Quickly, he used his shirt to wipe off the tear on Fuji's face.

As he did that, Fuji stirred.

The red head pushed himself away out of shock but promptly rushed back to the tensai's side.

"Fuji! Fuji can you hear me?"

The blue eyed boy's eyes remained closed as he mouthed something inaudible. Eiji strained to hear what he was saying and vaguely made out the words "bag" and "medicine".

It was then that something struck Eiji.

He remembered the day when Oishi was telling him about what he had seen in Fuji's bag.

-

Eiji, has Fuji told you anything confidential lately?

Nyah? I don't think so.

You're sure?

Eh? I'm sure. But why are you asking?

Eiji… is Fuji sick? Really sick?

Sick? FUJI IS SICK? How come I don't know about it?

It's just a guess. Tezuka was looking into Fuji's bag and he took out packets and packets of tablets.

Are? Why does he have so many of them?

That's what I want to find out too.

-

Those tablets! Eiji gasped.

-

Eiji… Is Fuji sick? Really sick?

-

He looked over at Fuji.

-

Tezuka was looking into Fuji's bag and he took out packets and packets of tablets.

-

Fuji…

Could it be true? That all this while, the tensai was suffering from something as deadly as this?
That it would leave him almost dying, pale, and barely breathing?

Was he hiding it all this while? Was he running, and suffering in silence?

Swallowing down the truth, he quickly assured Fuji that he would get his medicine from his bag and return to him soon.

He ran, as fast as he could to the tennis club room. He turned the knob and…

It couldn't open.

"NOOOO!"

To be continued…
How was this chapter? Gomen. I guess I kinda strayed from my initial story line so bear with me. :D

Spoilers:
The door is locked; Fuji is left out in the cold, and… Eiji gets mistaken for a burglar trying to break into the club room.
That can only mean one thing: BIG trouble.

Ok this is fun so I'll try it again. :D

Eiji: I'm hungryyy!

Me: Cheh. Like I'm not.

Eiji: Nyahh! And now I'm going to be a burglar!

Me: (tries not to laugh) heh… well…

Oishi: Eiji! How can you think of stealing? No, no, no, no, no… (pulls out his hair (not like he has much))

Eiji: KYE-CHAN! Tell him I'm not talking to him!

Me: Oishi, he is not talking to you.

Ryoma: (rolls eyes at the ridiculous conversation) Neh, can you just tell me where Karupin is?

Me: It… (drammmmaaatic pause) … died.

Ryoma: WHAT! YOU…

Me: Heh… Joking! (cheeky grin)

Fuji: Ahem. And I'm left out there in the cold? Thanks a lot.

Me: Making you suffer is part of my plan. (evil laughter)

Fuji: (shows his scary face)

Me: erm.. and then again…

Fuji: Take that back or suffer my wrath.

Me: Ii yaada.

Ryoma: Hey! That's my line.

Me: (sticks out tongue) Too bad, I'm the author here.

Fuji: If you don't…

Oops, Fuji is starting to sound a little psychotic so I had better stop here. :p

Please R&R!