"When will he wake up?" Tezuka asked Dr. Oshuma.

It was early in the morning, and Yumiko, Yuuta, Eiji, and Oishi were all sleeping in Fuji's room. Tezuka had woken up very early, for some strange reason, and he couldn't seem to go back to sleep. The sleep he had gotten wasn't very good anyway.

Dr. Oshuma sighed and rubbed her temples. She hated giving bad news to people. Unfortunately, that was apart of her role as a doctor.

"Well, right now, he is in a coma. He could wake up at any time. He could wake up in a day, or a week. A month, or a year.."

"A year?" Tezuka frowned and sighed. He was frustrated. There was nothing he could do for Fuji..and he hated not being able to care for his teammates. Tezuka might be seemingly emotionless..but he truly was a caring person. He especially cared for his teammates. They were like his second family. Even though Tezuka knew Fuji would never be able to play tennis again, it still felt as if they were teammates. Nevertheless, they were still companions at the least.

"There is nothing you can do to help him wake up?" Tezuka asked emotionlessly.

"I'm afraid not, I'm sorry."

Life went on, despite the fact that Syusuke was in a coma. Inui had taken Fuji's place as a regular. Seigaku still played and won tennis matches, but it just wasn't the same.

Things were different outside of tennis, too. Eiji seemed less bouncy and happy, and that only caused Oishi to become more stressed from worrying about him. Everyone missed the tensai and his always smiling face.

Then, one day, 5 weeks after Fuji had been shot, his hand began to twitch. Yumiko had been beside him when it happened. At first, she didn't notice it, for she was busy talking to her brother, telling him everything she could think of. Then, when she looked down to brush Fuji's honey-colored hair out of his face, she saw his hand move slightly. Her eyes widened, her mouth dropping open. After she recovered from the shock of seeing him move, she began to shout with joy.

"My baby brother is finally going to wake up! Oh kami, finally he will be able to smile and laugh again! I'll be able to hear his voice!"

Every person in the hospital could hear her shouts, including Dr. Oshuma. So when she heard the young woman's yells of happiness, she came rushing in. At first, Dr. Oshuma was startled when Yumiko began shaking her violently, shouting all the while that Syusuke was going to awaken. But then she smiled brightly at the girl, and went over to examine Fuji.

Little by little, his whole body began to twitch until finally, his eyes fluttered open. Yumiko froze when she saw her brother blink a few times.

"Syusuke?" She whispered softly.

"Y-Yumiko?" Syusuke stuttered. He kept blinking his eyes, like a person would do when they're trying to adjust their eyes to light. "W-where am I? What happened?" Suddenly, he sat up with force. "The man- he had a gun, he--"

"Sshh, Syusuke," Yumiko said gently, walking over to him.

"Yumiko? Where are you? All I see is..darkness," Syusuke told her weakly. When Yumiko got a closer look at him she nearly started to cry. His eyes- his beautiful crystal blue eyes- weren't there anymore. They had been replaced by blank pools of gray.

"Syusuke, I have bad news. You're blind," she replied quietly.

For the longest moment, Fuji didn't say anything. He simply stared in front of him, his eyes wide, as if trying desperately to see what he couldn't.

"Blind?" He asked, his voice softer than a whisper. Yumiko had started to nod when she realized that Syusuke couldn't see her. That realization made her want to cry more, but she held back the tears.

"Yes."

Syusuke's granite eyes closed, and a crystal tear slid down his cheek. Yumiko began to stroke his arm comfortingly.

"I'm sorry, Syusuke..I love you." She felt an invisible hand squeeze her heart.

His sister was startled to see a smile form on his pale face. "I love you too, Yumiko. Don't worry about me- I'm fine. Is..Yuuta okay?" He asked hesistantly.

Yumiko smiled to herself. 'Even when Syusuke's in the worse of conditions, he still thinks of his brother.'

"Yes, he's fine. Do you want me to call him and inform him that you've woke up?"

Syusuke nodded. Yumiko kissed him on the cheek and said she would be right back. When he heard the door close, he began to shake uncontrollably. The tears began to fall against Fuji's will. The word "blind" kept echoing in his head. He decided to close his eyes, figuring there was no need to have them open anyway.

'I guess this is what I get for being nosey,' he thought bitterly. Oh, how he wished he hadn't went in his neighbor's house to investigate. Maybe then he wouldn't be sitting in this hospital bed, his eyesight lost. No, he would be outside playing tennis with his friends. He'd be having a good time, no worry or care in the world.

'Tennis..something I will never be able to play again...,' he mentally told himself. More hot tears streamed down his cheeks.

'Stop crying, Syusuke,' he scolded himself. 'It could be worse..you could've died..you were actually quite lucky..' He shakily wiped the tears from his face and took a deep breath. Slowly, the smile he always wore formed on his face again. He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself. Syusuke heard the door open and his eyes snapped open, staring in the direction the sound had came from. It was only when he saw that black wall did he remember he was blind.

'From now on, I will have to rely on my sense of touch and hearing,' he told himself.

"It's me, Syusuke. Yumiko."

Fuji relaxed when he realized it was only his sister. "Did you get a hold of Yuuta?" Fuji questioned her.

"Yeah, he said he would be here as soon as possible," she informed him. "Also, I called your team- um, your friends. They said they were coming too," she added.

Syusuke smiled softly. "Arigatou, 'nee-san."

"Are you okay, Syusuke?" She asked, a hint of worry in her voice. "You look like you've been crying. Did you?"

Fuji's mouth opened in slight surprise, but his smile quickly snapped back in place. "Don't worry so much. I'm fine, I promise," he assured her.

"No you're not," she whispered. "You're blind. That's not fine."

Fuji didn't know quite what to say. "Blind but alive," he said finally.

She sighed. "That's true. But..you do know that..no tennis?" She asked softly.

Fuji swallowed hard and let out a shaky breath. "Yes, I know 'nee-san. But..at least I'm alive," he said cheerfully.

Once more, Fuji heard the door open. He didn't bother to turn his head this time, for he knew he couldn't see anything anyway.

"Aniki? I'm here now," he heard Yuuta say.

"Yuuta." Fuji smiled brightly. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to wake up."

"It's okay, aniki," Yuuta stated. Fuji could hear him walking towards his bed. After much hesistation, Yuuta asked, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, and very pleased that you're here."

Everyone was quiet as an awkward silence set in. Yuuta nor Yumiko knew what to say. They both knew that Syusuke couldn't be as cheerful inside as he let on. All 3 were silent until they heard a loud "nya" outside Fuji's door. Yuuta got up quickly and opened the door only to reveal all the Seigaku regulars standing there. Syusuke could hear all the chatter and knew very well who everyone was. His smile grew wider and brighter.

"Nanjaro hoi, hoi!" He heard Eiji's voice exclaim.

"Eiji," Syusuke said, grinning.

"Nya, Fuji! I missed you!" Fuji felt arms go around him and he knew right away that Eiji was hugging him. He embraced his friend back warmly.

"Fuji, oh, I'm so glad you're alright and awake, we were all so worried about you," a voice told him that Fuji instantly recognized as belonging to Oishi.

"I'm glad you all care enough about me to come see me," Fuji stated.

"Of course we care, nya!"

Syusuke felt the weight that had been on his heart lift. Having his friends and family here made the burden seem more bearable. Then, an unfamiliar voice that Fuji had never heard before spoke and everyone went quiet.

"I believe it will be okay if he goes home now," the voice told everyone. Everyone took a moment to let this sink in, then the chatter started back up again.

Syusuke wanted much to be apart of the excitement, but he still felt a slight pain in his heart. Oishi and Eiji were talking, he could hear. Fuji heard other voices talking to one another, and he could all identify them quickly. The only voice he didn't hear, however, belonged to a certain buchou.

'Where is Tezuka?' Syusuke thought, puzzled. Certainly he had come with everyone else..hadn't he? Just before Fuji was about to get worried, he heard Tezuka's emotionless voice say his name.

"Fuji."

"Tezuka?" Syusuke asked, squinting his eyes even though he couldn't see.

"It's me." Fuji felt someone touch his hand, and guessed it was Tezuka.

"How are you doing, Fuji?" Tezuka questioned him with hints of worry in his voice.

Fuji smiled. "So far, most everyone has asked me that. I'm fine, arigatou."

Tezuka's voice was hoarse and dry. "Fuji..what happened?"

Syusuke was silent for a moment. Tezuka could clearly see that he didn't want to talk about it, and was about to change the subject when Fuji answered, "He shot me."

A spark of anger shot through Tezuka. How could anyone possibly be so cruel as to shoot each other? It was something Tezuka may never understand.

"Who? Who shot you? Do you know?"

Fuji swallowed hard and shook his head. There was silence among the two when Tezuka asked, "Fuji. Open your eyes. I want to see..."

As commanded, Fuji opened his eyes to reveal hollow, gray orbs. Just looking at his eyes made Tezuka wince. Those beautiful cerulean eyes that he had loved so much..they were gone..all because some bastard.. Right then and there Tezuka promised himself something: That he would help Fuji catch that bastard and make sure he was locked away for the rest of his life.

"What do they look like, Tezuka? Can you describe them for me?" Fuji asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Unknown to them, everyone else in the room and stopped to look at Fuji's blank stare.

"They're gray and..empty," Tezuka told him, his voice equally soft.

Syusuke smiled sadly. "Gray..a color I will never see anymore.."

Just then, Tezuka did something very unlike himself. He embraced Fuji tightly, making the boy open his mouth in shock. Syusuke quickly relaxed against him, shyly hugging him back. Fuji was warm in Tezuka's embrace, and it made him feel as if nothing in the world could harm him anymore. However, Tezuka let go far too soon for Fuji's liking. Still, it made the boy happy to know that Tezuka would do that for him just to comfort him, especially while they were out in public.

"Come on, Syusuke," his 'nee-san said warmly. "We're going home."

A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter. Did I keep everyone in character? I tried, but I'm not sure if I did. Review, please! Constructive criticism welcome, but ONLY constructive. Please, no flames.