Author Notes: My deepest apology to anyone who is still waiting for this fic to be updated. I will explain later at the end of this chapter so I don't have to waste many spaces up here. I hope you'll still enjoy the story!
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. I only own the plot.
WARNING:
For the entire story: (read in the first chapter)
For this particular chapter: Between G and PG.
Italicized words mean the words are somehow important.
/Italicized words in here/ represent the character's thought, whose thought it is I think you can guess.
'Italicized words in here' are words written in e-mails.
Unattainable
Author: SIB
Chapter Nine: Hailstorm
Central Hospital
October 13 – 08:33 p.m.
As soon as the car stopped at one empty slot in the parking lot, Fuji jumped out of the car and slammed the door closed. Looming in front of him was a bright lamp-lit building of the Central Hospital, standing haughtily under the night sky in its silent magnificence. Most of its many windows had their curtains closed and light on, suggesting of exactly how busy one of the most prestigious hospitals in Japan was. And behind one of those windows lay Momoshiro, a patient of a shooting incident and also his friend, whose injury was caused by the tensai himself. What a way to be a friend.
"Let's go." Tezuka's calm voice helped him to regain his much-needed self-control. Fuji followed his taller friend to the hospital's entrance, a pair of transparent glass sliding doors which automatically flung open at their presence. Behind the doors was a vast air-conditioned lobby, elegantly furnished in bright colours that was probably purposed to lift up every patient and visitor's mood. It was a perfect irony, at least to Fuji, that this merry place was a hospital, a dwelling of those who doubted their remaining life span, a sanctuary which had more deaths than any other place in the world. Deceiving, so much like himself.
Quietly he made his way through the sea of visitors and staffs dressed in pure white, following Tezuka to the receptionist desk. A middle-aged woman in nurse attire greeted them politely from behind the desk, an official smile was painted on her face. Her answer of the shooting victim's whereabouts was fast and efficient. The quick surgery had already been finished and Momoshiro Takeshi-san was currently placed at room 504.
The journey to the fifth floor was passed in silence. Fuji was grateful that there were still many people both in the elevator and the alley leading to room 504 they were heading for despite the late hour, or else the silence would have been even more uncomfortable. He didn't feel like talking, especially now when fear began to gnaw the inside of him, dreading that Momoshiro's wound would prove to be lethal.
Still speaking no word, they stopped in front of a white-painted door with 504 number embedded on its spotless surface. Tezuka remained silent but since the tensai was also a guy with few words, he understood far more of why his captain had stepped in front of him and entered first. The simple seemingly-insignificant action roared more support than the loudest scream could and it planted a smile on Fuji's lips. Because it was Tezuka.
The door was pushed open, revealing a room which very much resembled the one Fuji had been in a while ago. Sitting on the hospital bed with his back being propped up with several pillows was Momoshiro. His face was a paler shade compared to his usually vigorous red-faced expression and the smile that he still wore emitted an air of weariness. Echizen was sitting on a chair beside the bed, face all sulky and grumpy. The two were talking –or rather arguing– when Fuji stepped in and abruptly stopped their conversation.
"Buchou and Fuji-senpai!" Momoshiro exclaimed his astonishment with a slightly unstable voice. He was trying to sit more upright when his younger friend's hand held his shoulder in place.
"Sit back, Momo-senpai," Echizen stated sternly. "Either that or I'll find a rope and tie you up to the bed."
The Seigaku rascal was obviously in a horrible condition since he didn't pursue the issue of 'tying him up to the bed' and merely grinned weakly at his annoyed kouhai. Sighing in defeat, he smiled apologetically at the two visitors. "Don't mind him. He has been that fussy for a while."
"At least I don't get shot and lose one fourth of my blood," the youngest regular shot back irritably.
Maintaining a slightly shaky smile on place, Fuji approached the bed and placed a hand on Momoshiro's arm. The skin was unnaturally cold, convincing him that the blood loss was that extreme, and yet the injured guy still could smile. The tensai knew, unlike him who tried to smile at every given condition, Momoshiro used to display his true emotions rather palpably. Yet when it came to being the weak one, they were very much alike, trying their best not to worry those around them, no matter how serious the state actually was.
"How is your wound?" was the only question Fuji could bring himself to ask.
"Oh, not too serious," Momoshiro answered cheerfully but his small voice was rather contrary to the answer. "I managed to dodge the bullet from hitting any critical point. It went through my shoulder though. Luckily it's left."
"You should be sleeping if you lost that much blood," Tezuka said unemotionally
"Hai, Buchou," the second-grader replied meekly. Then he smiled at the tensai, as if trying to convince the other that he was alright.
Fuji felt Echizen's eyes on him and glanced at the youngest regular. Almost as immediate the latter averted his gaze to his injured senpai, still the tensai knew better. Echizen was sharp enough to begin questioning if the incident had anything to do with Fuji, but wisely he chose to wait. Setting back his stare at the smiling Momoshiro, the supposedly responsible prodigy felt that he was about to cry.
He was prepared for the worst of wraths, for the most obscene of insults, for the deepest of hate, but he wasn't prepared for this. Forgiveness and understanding weren't things that he was used to and to receive them from someone who knew he was a murderer who should be detested was beyond his logic.
"The Solff is waiting, Fuji. We have to go now," Tezuka's voice interrupted his thought. The tensai looked up at his captain, wondering if the taller guy somehow knew his silent thoughts. Yet Tezuka wasn't even looking at him. The sharp brown eyes behind the spectacles were pinned on their injured friend as he said seriously, "Have a good rest. We need you at the tournament."
"Yes, Buchou," Momoshiro nodded. Tezuka glanced at Echizen who was still standing beside the bed, receiving a quiet nod from the youngest boy. He knew Echizen would do anything to keep the injured guy in bed, even tying him up with a rope if it was necessarily so.
The two excused themselves and walked back to the car in complete silence. The hospital was quieter than it had been before since the night had grown old. Some of the doctors that they met on their way nodded respectably to Tezuka, obviously recognizing the First Vice of I2. The owner of the Central Hospital was Oishi's father, so everything quite made sense to Fuji. It also explained why I2 seemed to rely so much on this hospital's service in most of its cases.
They still maintained the silence until they had back in the car. As soon as Fuji had closed his door, his captain in the driver's seat started the ignition and spoke up, "The Solff wants to meet you tomorrow morning at six."
It caught the other off for a while before he responded, "I thought we were going to see the Solff now."
"I lied."
Had the situation been less dire, Fuji might have rolled his eyes.
Tezuka drove out of the parking lot and the car flied through the night road in its quiet elegant way. The traffic was scarce that he could leisurely go at a quite high speed, halting only before traffic lights. His friend sat in silence, looking out of the window at lines of trees swiftly passing in a run. It was obvious that the other was waiting for him to ask.
"Was it you who saved him from the blast?"
The bespectacled guy glanced sideway, looking for any reaction but his friend only stayed still. The answer came nevertheless, in a quiet short monosyllable. "Aa."
"The black stallion?" he pressed on.
"It was a nickname he gave to his car," Fuji answered slowly, a wry smile ghosting over his lips. "He said it was wild, like a proud stallion loping the earth haughtily."
Another silence reigned. Perhaps Tezuka was not a person of many words but he still found this silence rather unsettling, which led him to wonder if something had finally changed between them. Either it went for the better or on the contrary, descended into a state where love was doubtful and untrustworthy, he could not tell. And so, no more conversation was attempted between them as the car soared into the night.
--- ---
I2 Headquarter; Phone Line
October 14 – 06:37 a.m.
"I2 Head Office. May I help you?"
"Do you know Fuji Shuusuke?"
"Pardon me, Sir?"
"Do you know Fuji Shuusuke?"
"The newly recruited agent for extraordinary cases, I believe. Do you wish to speak with him? I'm sorry, but currently he has a meeting to attend. Will you leave a message, Sir?"
"Recruited agent?"
"Excuse me?"
"He has always been a great actor, I'm not surprised that you are all fooled. Don't you know that he is a murderer?"
"I'm sorry, may I know with whom am I speaking now?"
"With me, of course, are you stupid or what. I just want to ask how a person with such questionable background can be easily accepted in I2, a worldwide-known esteemed organization? Is it because the First Vice?"
"Wha-"
"Love conquers all, doesn't it? I can't believe you guys hold such a ridiculous ethos."
"Excuse me, Sir, but-"
"If I'm not mistaken, one of your agents was shot last night. Why do you think it happened?"
"Sir-"
The line went dead.
--- ---
I2 Headquarter
October 14 – 07:56 a.m.
"I cannot believe it."
In a darkened room accompanied by the soft hum of an operating projector, the Solff was pacing back and forth, face crinkled in disbelief. It was still pretty early for an hour to discuss about homicide cases, but Hakodate could not wait, else another murder might have taken place before I2 could react. Fuji, who was sitting behind the long table next to the projector looked at the leader of I2 impassively.
"It is my hypothesis," he said with a nonchalant tone. "This girl saw her victims eating her favorite Black Forest, which she could not enjoy due to her diet. Then she killed them. Of course you may have your own assumption, Sir."
"This is unbelievable," the Solff muttered as he slumped himself into an empty chair beside his First Vice. "Because of a diet??"
"Not particularly," Fuji replied as he shoved a one-inch-thick report filled by the details of the Hakodate case across the table. "In that report you can see that she has a quite hard life. Bullied by her friends just because she is fat, famous parents who obviously think she is more of a burden than a daughter just because she can't have the top rank at her school, dumped by his boyfriend because she ate too much. One mounted after another made her suffer emotionally and brought her to this cumulative point. She is a regular guest of this La Peinture cafe and the thin line which connects all of the victims are that they had visited this cafe at least once."
No one spoke for a moment as the Solff took his time to consider the rather absurd theory Fuji had surmised. Nevertheless, the facts put before him seemed to support the ludicrous theory, as much as he wanted to deny it.
"Very well," eventually he decided. "I think-"
A train of knocks at the door stopped his words. As soon as he declared a 'come in', a lower-rank agent who obviously was trying to catch up his breath walked in brusquely. Fuji recognized him as the one he saw guarding the building's entrance that morning when he and Tezuka arrived. The agent's eyes moved frantically until they rested on the First Vice.
"Sir, your agent..." he started between his audible inhalations. "Kawamura Takashi-san. He's injured, bleeding all over his body..."
"Where is he?" Tezuka cut the rambling sharply.
"Infirmary room, Sir," the answer came promptly. "Oishi-san is taking care of him and he asks me to look for you, and Fuji Shuusuke-san too, if the two of you are not in a meeting now, but-"
"You two can go," the Solff dismissed them, his eyes were grave, not surprised, as if he had been expecting the incident. "I'll take care of the rest."
After a swift bow to The Solff, Fuji followed his captain rushing out of the room in quick paces. There seemed to be a stir among the agents as they hurried through long corridors; half were scuttling away to the same direction as them while the rest formed small circles, conversing something quietly with wary glances thrown at the tensai's direction. He could have cared less, Fuji knew that, but the guilt mounting inside of him barely allowed him to do so.
When they arrived at the infirmary, a number of agents were congregating in front of its door, trying to crane their necks as long as possible to have a little glimpse of what was happening to their coworker. A loud hiss suddenly erupted from within the room, driving out many of the snooping agents as a moment later an annoyed Kaidou emerged from the infirmary, wearing a terrifying scowl. His stern expression diminished when his eyes caught the sight of his captain and immediately made a way for both of his senpais.
Inside the infirmary, sitting beside a very pale-faced unconscious Kawamura was the anxious Oishi. His visage lightened up a bit at the coming of his best friend as he tried to smile.
"How is he?" Tezuka asked with a low voice.
"Not too good," his vice-captain answered gravely, "he suffers a pretty extreme blood loss from so many cuts and slashes, some of them are fatally deep. From the variety of the wounds, I assume the attackers were more than three people. Well, at least he is not in a critical condition that hazards his life as long as he stays at a rest like this."
A long silence followed Oishi's words, even the eavesdroppers outside ceased their unnecessary murmurs. Kawamura Takashi was among of the outstanding agents known for their strength, which was considerably inhuman compared to others. If even such agents got to be badly wounded, topped with Momoshiro –who about was equal to the burning guy– injured from a shot presumably given by the same assailant, obviously the others had more things to do than lying around or peeking into the infirmary.
Fuji took several steps forward, taking a better look at his unconscious friend. He had long losing his perpetual smile as he stared at the bandage-covered body, limp without its usual vigor enflaming the atmosphere around him. Anger was sizzling inside the prodigy's veins, almost eclipsing the drone of his vice-captain who was elaborating more about the injury.
Oishi stepped closer to Tezuka, voice dropping into a whisper audible only for the First Vice. "On the katana's hilt there is an engraving of a family crest. I guess you know which family I mean," he said, looking ascetically at his best friend who merely stared at him back and said nothing in return. They had dreaded for this to happen and the attack on Kawamura confirmed all suspicions.
And they knew it was yet to over.
"Murderer!"
The sudden shout froze all four Seigaku members in the room. Standing at the threshold with a livid expression was a man at his late twenty, Tezuka recognized him as one of the field agents. He was looking straightly at Fuji who at the other hand wore a mask of total indifference. As if he was intimidated by the cold azure eyes, the older agent shouted again, "You murderer! You're trying to kill us all!"
A bewildered voice interrupted him, "What are you talking about? Fuji-san was having a meeting with the Solff when Kawamura-san was attacked. He couldn't-"
"It could be his friends," the man sneered, anger was all over his face. "Look at him! Suddenly appears out of nowhere, pretending to help us while he is stabbing us in the back! Ask Okata! He received a phone call this morning saying that that Fuji was a murderer! It explains all! He is trying to-"
"That is enough!" A sharp dangerous voice came from the First Vice. With an audible gulp, the provocateur took a wary step back, his blasphemous audacity shrunk under the gaze of two seething brown eyes. The First Vice was notorious for his coldness and few words, but rare it was for anyone to see his wrath. If anything, no one would request to see him in that particular state if it was indeed still avoidable.
Tezuka stepped forward, eyes boring into the man's cowering ones as he enunciated sternly, "This will be the last time I hear that kind of indictment until the truth is discovered. I will not have an unfounded accuse put on any agent without a clear, proper evidence submitted to the Elite Board. Do I make myself clear? Or do I have to put you under probation for your incapability to follow this simple rule?"
Lowering his gaze obediently, the agent mumbled a low 'no'. He might be older, but he had neither the authority nor bravery in himself to challenge the First Vice in his irate state. Then with a loud clear voice, Tezuka announced, "Dismissed!"
After no more agents hindered the infirmary door from being closed, Kaidou closed it, leaving the four Seigaku regulars along with the unconscious Kawamura alone within. Tezuka turned to his vice-captain who was wearing a small smile on his face. "You never fail to amaze me with that charm of yours," Oishi remarked with a slight chuckle.
The bespectacled captain shot him a sour look. Yet before he could intone a retort, the infirmary door had been pushed open hastily from the other side, collapsing Kaidou to his knees in process. The same agent who was previously rushing into their meeting room came in a moment later, slightly wary at Kaidou who was glaring at him from the floor. Inclining his head slightly to the First Vice, he informed, "The Solff summons you, Tezuka-san. An urgent matter to be discussed privately." At the end of his words he gave a sideway glance to Fuji.
Tezuka, of course, hardly missed the glance. Inwardly he was of the same mind with the Solff since the matter they would talk about was far from pleasant for the tensai, as inevitable as it was. The last thing Fuji needed now was to see or hear his lover defending him from those much more superior than them. He might be a portrayal of utter lies and deceit at the moment, his situation was highly disadvantageous, but Fuji, being the proud person that he was, hated both weakness and pity no matter what state he was in. And to jeopardize the spot of the First Vice in order to defend him was the best, most effective attempt to show pity.
Sparing a look at his prodigy, the Seigaku captain muttered, "Wait in my office," and immediately took quick strides back to the meeting room. There were murmurs along the corridors, which at once lowered into a silence once the sound of his footsteps could be heard approaching. Obviously the news of their First Vice's rare and sudden outburst in the infirmary had spread and no one was inclined to test their audacity with facing the incensed Tezuka judging from their cautious looks and firmly locked mouths.
Still occupying the seat same as before, the Solff greeted his trustful subordinate with a nod to have a seat. His face was grave, implying the heaviness of the burden he had to bear, which seemed to keep escalating since Fuji set his feet on his doorstep.
"I've heard of what occured in the infirmary," he began after Tezuka took his seat, voice steady as usual if a little jaded. It always amazed the First Vice of how fast news reached the Solff, as if he had both his ears and eyes lodged at every wall in the headquarter. "We cannot let this to continue. You do know what is actually happening, don't you?"
The First Vice chose to stay silent since he sensed more –unlikable ones– would follow next. The Solff had his eyes set on him, sharp and wary, as he resumed in a lower tone, "I'm afraid we have to release him from his duty."
Unfortunately, gracious words were not decent enough to mislead Tezuka, let alone in a case which strongly affected Fuji. Immediately reading what actually lay beneath the words his superior offered, he narrowed his eyes. "Put him in a prison?"
The Solff sighed heavily. "If that is how you want to put it."
"I thought it was you who offered him this second chance when he decided to disclose the truth," he shot back evenly, submission currently the last thing on his mind.
Another sigh hummed in the quiet room, a clear assertion that the Solff hated his decision no less than his subordinate. "I was, I will not deny that, but we cannot jeopardize our agents' lives for his sakes only."
"No life has been lost yet."
That one short statement stunned both leader and vice for the sense and tone was too blunt for one with a level of calmness as advanced as Tezuka. The Seigaku captain had always hated egoism and he was one of those persons his friends would pronounce as farthest from describable as selfish. He might be strict, cold, even terrifying at times, but never selfish. Yet selfishness it was, what he was attempting to carry out right now, where probably at the first time in his life he was inclined to bow before his selfishness. It had always been hidden, suppressed to the darkest nooks of his heart at normal times. But because of that one person...
The older man said nothing to reprimand the other for his insolence in questioning a Solff's decision. As aloof as a leader should be, he recognized love when it was presented before his eyes. While it was not declared out loud in blatant words, in Tezuka's case, brief simple sentences were pretty flagrant, not to mention the unrelenting attitude he usually displayed only in order to defend someone's life.
The Solff stared at his subordinate for a while, evaluating the eighteen year-old with a hint of fatherly sympathy. Anyone knowing the young man in I2 would know the person Tezuka had always demanded himself to be, a devoted agent who over and over again put his life at stake for missions relentlessly, yet never asked for more than what had been given to him. It was the first time that the leader of I2 heard him to request –as un-request-like as it was– something not for the sake of many. Adding it to every sacrifice the younger agent had contributed all the way, his request proved hard to be discarded.
"He has helped us much," finally the Solff opened his mouth, voice careful as if a word error could set an imaginary time bomb at work. "There are and will be cases which need his unnaturally deep and long sight."
Tezuka remained silent when his leader paused, sensing that things had eventually turned to his favor. Wise deep eyes of the Solff caught his gaze as if to emphasize the significance of the words which would follow as the older man added with a somber voice, "Perhaps the many lives he can save worth the danger he brings us, at least for now."
For the Solff to show so much compassion was a thing unheard of, but Tezuka wasn't about to question this rare gift. A wave of hand from the leader of I2 dismissed him and with a curt nod, the First Vice took his leave. He had to tell Fuji as soon as possible.
As what he had worried before, things hadn't quieted down yet outside. He had to make his way through many glances and murmurs but Tezuka simply couldn't spare more care. Fuji might look strong, untroubled by his actually hard life, but the captain knew better. He feared that this train of accidents would push the tensai beyond his reach. A probability that someone might be brave enough to storm into his office and confront his friend made his pace go quicker. He knew only too well how dangerous Fuji was if he was cornered, to others and to himself.
A crowd which was gathering in front of his office door dispersed at once at his arrival. Tezuka closed his eyes as he took a grip of his doorknob, trying to collect his patience before he involuntarily burst out for the second time that day. He would deal with them later. Now he must-
"Go to hell, you murderer!"
An utter silence followed the shout, not even an intake of breath could be heard. Inside the office, Fuji was leaning to the window, perfectly immobile, as if he was unaffected by the foul accusation. Quietly Tezuka stepped in and closed the door. The shout was loud and to miss it required two deaf ears, which Fuji obviously didn't own. It was either the tensai had a great immunity to mockeries or he was just tired of being accused that he said nothing.
Whatever the reason was, it was best to distract his friend from the indictment for now. He was about to tell the judgment made by their Solff when the prodigy turned around, a weak smile gracing his lips. Then with an equally weak voice he murmured, half to himself.
"It is a past I cannot erase."
The words which were about to spill jammed his throat as Fuji's voice withered, leaving the two in stillness. The captain found neither reprimand nor comforting words he was able to say right now. He felt –once again– powerless, an emotion he had learned to bear since Fuji entered his life. Silently, as he slumped back to the door and listened to the rising murmurs outside, he questioned himself how many more days left until he would finally give up believing in love.
--- ---
Tezuka Residence; Tezuka's Bedroom
October 14 – 07:13 p.m.
'Because when you love somebody, that person will bring peace and joy to you.'
Tezuka stared at the words typed on his computer screen, eyes blank. It was an e-card he received from a pen-friend due to his birthday, and on that card, those words were written.
At normal times, he had never really paid any heed to those 'beautiful words written on cards' as long as he knew who the sender was. However this one managed to raise a question in him. Or probably it was just him feeling off-balanced today.
Truth to be told, he had never felt peace and joy coming from Fuji. What he felt was purely attraction, intimidation that someone had managed to catch his attention not only in tennis department. As the result, he tried to know more about the tensai until they came to this point, where neither of them was able to let go of the other. That was how their relationship grew and it had made them forget their innumerable differences. How it supposed to be comparable to many others which, as the card said, were able to bring peace and joy?
A train of knocks on his door urged him to move his pointer and close the browser. A moment later, Fuji appeared at the threshold, his typical smile placed as usual on his lips.
"Tezuka, may I borrow your computer?" the prodigy asked as he stepped into the room. The normal smile, however, seemed strange to the captain's eyes, as if Fuji was determined to keep it on place no matter what. "I've just had an idea that my sister may try to contact me via e-mail since we can't meet face to face without my mother knowing. Just for a few minutes."
"Of course," the taller guy nodded and he stood up, deciding that his friend might need some time alone to read whatever waiting in his mailbox. Excusing himself without many explanations, the captain closed his bedroom door. Fuji waited until the sound of Tezuka's footsteps began to wane before he started, smile still stubbornly playing on his lips even though there was no one left to deceive in the room.
It was not quite what he was waiting for, but nothing he had never dreaded before. Instead of an e-mail from Yumiko-nee-san, one entitled 'What Are Friends?' sat at the top of his inbox lists. It was needless to think twice who the owner of ' was.
Again, the content of that mail was nothing which had never crossed his mind before. But to imagine and to actually read was clearly two different things.
'What are friends?
I ask my mother and she says 'someone you give your love to'.
I ask my sister and she says 'someone you care for'.
I ask my cousin and he says 'someone you will protect even from yourself'.
I ask them what if I imperil their lives with being their friends.
And they say 'what are friends then?'
P.S.: How are Atobe-san, Momoshiro-kun, and Kawamura-san? I wish them the best of luck.'
Fuji knew better than to pay it the smallest heed, but it was just the perfect nudge to send him tumbling over the cliff since all which were happening today. The little glow which was left inside of him, which convinced him that he indeed belonged there with his friends, dimmed and died. Mizuki might be evil but his words were nowhere near wrong. Vacant eyes staring at the screen, Fuji reread and reread those sentences, asking helplessly to himself if his and Yuuta's freedom worth that much of price.
All of a sudden, a hand came into his view and turned the monitor off. Still taken aback by the e-mail, Fuji barely moved from his seat; he didn't even resist when someone pulled him up only to force him sitting back on the bed.
"Look at me."
The same hand was now cupping his cheek, compelling him to look at a pair of brown eyes. They were piercing, as if searching for something in his blue ones. It was when Fuji realized that the guy kneeling before him was trying to guide his sidetracked mind back, to save him from drowning further and lower.
Crying was not his thing and his difficulty to spill tears seemed to have developed as the number of missions his mother gave increased. But Tezuka didn't let him become a machine with no remorse or emotion and sometimes Fuji despised him for that. It was when his tears were about to fall, just like now, that he felt his old self was much better, because the assassin couldn't feel weak.
"Why is it always me who need you?" his voice was hoarse, full of self-loathing.
Being the person that he was, Tezuka didn't try to answer it, even if he knew the answer. He merely leant in, settling his forehead against the other's shoulder. Fuji was not the only one who needed comfort for the Seigaku captain as well, was going through a hard stage of his life. Slowly, his arms moved downward, encircling the smaller body of his friend as he tried with all he might that it was him who needed the hold. The words he read before in his e-mail rang still on his head, remained unanswerable.
Shouldn't the presence of someone you loved bring peace and joy to you?
To be continued
Ramblings: Time for apologies. I'm really sorry if it seemed that I have abandoned this fic. To be honest, my interest in Prince of Tennis is waning. You may have noticed it from my writing style, I think it's worsening. But I have decided that I will finish this story no matter what, mainly because of the supports my reviewers have given to me. Thanks for you all! So, please tell me if you see any error and I'll try to fix it.
One more thing, I won't update my other fic 'Symphonies of Life' for a while because of the same reason, at least until I finish 'Unattainable'. I only ask for more patience since now I'm handling more stories that I've ever had before.
Thank you for still reading, I'm really grateful! Comments will be much appreciated!
My replies: I'm sorry but I can't reply for all of you now. I'll try on the next chapter!
firefly: Atobe will make an appearance in the next chapter and it is both horrible and saddening... T.T Hope I can write it well.
Regatto: Thanks for your endless support! As I have said up there, something really bad will happen to our dearest Atobe, but well, that's how the story goes... XD
Nekocin: I truly hope you don't start to hate this story now. I think I lose the tension in this chapter, so I hope you will tell me if you think so because you're one of my most analytical reviewers XD And it means good! I always appreciate your reviews!
Maxwell: I only want to say that your review is one of the most encouraging because I started to write this chapter right after I read your review. Thanks so much!
Zeto: First of all, I thank you greatly for reviewing nearly ever chapter in a row. Thanks! They are very encouraging! As for a happy ending, I agree with you that they have gone through too much angst, but we'll see... XD