Chapter Eleven: Fool's Gold
Disclaimer: I still don't own Prince of Tennis. … so, uh, don't sue me?
Author's Note: Here's chapter eleven! Remember, the complete Author's Note for this fic is posted in chapter one. But here are the warnings, summarized for your convenience: May contain spoilers/ shonen-ai/ not-shonen-ai/ please review/flamers will be barraged with tennis balls. Lol.
Thanks so much again for all the reviews. (Especially Solanum Dulcamara, whose review absolutely blew me away. Thank you so much! I'm honored! -bows low- I hope you really enjoy this chapter!) Ah, and to answer a question from another one of my wonderful reviewers… It is true that we are at a climax of the story. (There will actually be two climaxes, to be honest, but the second one is much closer to the end…) And that said, people are starting to wonder how long this story will be. Well, if I'm completely honest, I can't say for sure. Beyond the second climax, I'm going to be going on instinct when it comes to where I end the story. But my best guess is it will be 20 to maybe 25 chapters at most… Err, well, that's my best guess, anyway. Hopefully I'll be able to keep you all interested that long! I CAN say with confidence that we're coming to some of the best parts, in my opinion. Okay, now on with the fic! Let me know what you think of chapter eleven!
"I am being cruel to be kind."
I hate it when people say that.
I still hate it now, because like it or not…
That is why I must be cruel to you.
…
"Hey, Eiji-senpai."
Momo had already walked all the way back from the second floor of the hotel out to the nearby parking garage, after making sure that the newcomers were taken care of and that Ryoma had made it back to his room. He didn't like to be suspicious of his senpais, but that had long since ceased being an option, from his point of view. And that was especially true in light of Fuji's recent threat...
What exactly did Fuji-senpai mean by that, anyway?
Shrugging off the thought, he came up alongside Eiji's bright red convertible and gave his roommate a casual wave, which was greeted only with a slight smile. Momo didn't expect more than that, though, not tonight.
Opening the car door, he slid into the passenger seat and looked carefully at his friend. Eiji looked very unsettled, much like Ryoma had looked when he'd left for his own room, but other than that, Momo couldn't read his expression.
"Are you okay, Eiji-senpai?" he asked finally, putting one hand on the redhead's shoulder.
There was a slight pause, and then Eiji nodded.
"I'm fine," he said, as convincingly as he could. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you seemed uncomfortable back there," explained Momo quietly. "Not that I really blame you."
Eiji sighed a little and rolled his eyes, almost exasperated.
"It's just the same old story anyway. Tezuka's been moping around and Fuji's been doing God-knows-what… I mean, sure, they're in college, but it's like they just won't let high school go already."
Momo said nothing for a moment, thinking to himself.
"It's not like we're any better," he said at last, catching Eiji's attention. "We didn't let high school go, either. We just stayed here, waiting for answers, waiting for them to come back to us…"
"We did not!" Eiji interrupted indignantly. "At least, I didn't. I was always going to attend college here. Everyone knows that. Because I'm too stupid to get some fancy scholarship that'll take me halfway around the world just so I can run away from my problems…"
"So instead you're in a cycle of bad relationships and you hardly bother attending class," Momo cut in, with a cold tone in his voice that caught Eiji off guard.
For a moment, the redhead was completely still, staring at Momo like he'd just received the worst shock in the world.
"Momo!" he finally exclaimed, with a reproachful look.
"What? It isn't the truth?" retorted his roommate, avoiding the gaze of those dark blue eyes.
Eiji just stared at him for a moment, eyes sparking. Then, without a word, he grabbed his keys and started the engine, stepping hard on the gas as the car sped out of the garage and onto the street.
Momo gazed straight ahead, feeling the wind whip past his face, but he hardly saw what was in front of him. His mind was far away, thinking through a hundred memories, trying to remember the sequence of five years that had held more secrets than he could count…
And so he was surprised when Eiji finally spoke again, sounding unusually tense.
"You know, Momo, you don't have to go around and try to fix every stupid little thing that ever went wrong. I don't want to fix it. I didn't want to see them again, okay?"
Eiji's voice was shaking now, and Momo suddenly noticed that his roommate's hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white.
"It's just easier to pretend they were never my friends, anyway."
Eiji was glaring straight ahead so intently that he didn't even notice that the traffic light had turned green until the car behind him starting honking.
"Oh, alright already! Idiot…" he muttered as he hit the gas pedal again.
Momo waited for a moment, looking at the lines of frustration around his friend's forehead, and the grimace that was etched on the redhead's face.
And he thought to himself, if the fact that the most carefree person he had ever known had learned to grimace… If that fact alone didn't condemn the pain that these five years had brought them all, well, then he didn't know what did.
"Eiji-senpai," he said at last, very calmly. "I understand why you're upset, but…"
"I am NOT upset!" Eiji yelled, swerving slightly in the lane as he did so.
"Eiji-senpai, it's a red light," Momo interrupted quietly, jerking forward as Eiji slammed on the break. He looked over to see his roommate covering his face with his hands in frustration.
"Eiji-senpai, I can drive, if you want…"
"No, it's fine. I'm alright," said a muffled voice, as the redhead took a deep breath. His hands slipped down again, and his face was calmer. But Momo didn't like that blank look in his eyes, all the same.
The light turned green again, and Eiji stepped on the accelerator, more smoothly this time. It was a good five minutes before he spoke again, but when he did, it was in a much softer tone, one that Momo had to listen carefully to hear.
"I just don't like being anywhere near them. It scares me. They're nothing like they used to be, and it's scary, okay? And to be honest, I'm mad at them. I'm mad at them for running away, and for doing really stupid things… I mean, why does Fuji smell like cigarettes and alcohol now? You know, I hate it when people smoke… I always have, and…"
Eiji's voice trailed off then, and his eyes grew distant.
"I don't know. I just don't know them anymore," he said finally.
Momo didn't reply. He would have, but he knew that he would probably find himself saying something else that would set Eiji off. And they still had to get back to the apartment in one piece, after all.
Besides, Eiji was refusing to say a single word about the one person that Momo knew was really upsetting him.
Eiji was completely aware of that, too, and he knew that Momo knew. But he just couldn't say anything about that person. He couldn't. Not when just looking at Oishi had made his heart feel like it was being crushed. And he resented the fact that Oishi hadn't even said a word to him at the hotel. He resented it so much that right now he wished he could just smash something. But he couldn't. He had to drive home. And so there was no way he was going to mention that person, certainly not out loud.
And frankly, if Oishi was going to play that game, fine. He would play along. If Oishi didn't talk to him for the rest of the trip, so be it. He wouldn't either.
So there, Oishi. I can ignore you just as easily as you can ignore me.
So much for the Golden Pair, you big jerk.
Eiji frowned to himself, tossing his head slightly with a flippant expression, and then signaled carefully as he turned into the side street that was the address to their apartment.
- - - - - - - -
Ryoma was staring at the television, only vaguely comprehending that those dim colors and indistinct sounds meant anything at all, when he heard a hesitant knock. Surprised, he got up from the bed, where he'd been sitting, and walked over to the door.
He paused for a moment to glance through the keyhole, and then promptly turned the knob, only to find one of his former teammates standing in the doorway.
"Oishi-senpai, what are you doing here?" he couldn't help asking, confusion in his eyes.
"Ah, Echizen, I…" For a moment, Oishi looked as though he had forgotten what he was going to say, and then he laughed, almost absently. "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. Are you busy?"
It was a silly question, Ryoma thought. Why would he be busy? Didn't his senpai know that the only reason that he was in Japan in the first place was to see him? All of them?
Still, he answered the question, silly or not. "No, I'm not busy. Come on in."
He opened the door a bit wider and gestured for Oishi to come inside, but the former vice captain held back. "Oh, no, I don't want to impose…"
"Oishi-senpai, come on in," Ryoma said again, looking him straight in the eyes. Oishi just nodded, somewhat weakly, and stepped inside so Ryoma could close the door.
"Do you want something to drink? I'll pay for it," Ryoma suggested amiably, pointing to the refrigerated snack bar in the corner. But Oishi shook his head.
"Thanks anyway. Those things are expensive."
"Oishi-senpai," Ryoma couldn't help interrupting, looking slightly exasperated. "I pay the rent for my parents' apartment. Even if the soda in there cost 10,000 yen, I could afford it. So if you want something, you can have it. Really." (1)
Oishi laughed at that, raising his eyebrows. "Honestly, you're that rich? I had no idea. Still, I'll pass. Thank you, though."
"Suit yourself," Ryoma said with a shrug, sitting back down on the end of his king-size bed. He watched for a moment as the former vice captain glanced toward the large window in the room. The curtains were still pulled back, and all of Tokyo was sparkling beyond the glass, bustling with activity even so late at night.
But while Oishi gazed at the cityscape, Ryoma examined his senpai, frowning. He still couldn't put his finger on it, but Oishi really did not look well.
"Oishi-senpai, have you been sick?" he finally asked, distracting the former vice captain from his admiration of the view.
"Hm? Oh… no. No, I haven't," Oishi replied readily enough, but his smile didn't quite look genuine.
"You don't look well," Ryoma couldn't help protesting, not liking the expressionless look in Oishi's dull green eyes.
"I'm alright," Oishi insisted quietly. He then quickly changed the subject. "Echizen, I didn't want to take up too much of your time, but I thought I should mention something to you…"
He had begun firmly enough, but his words trailed off for a moment. He looked as though he was trying to decide exactly what to say.
Ryoma waited patiently, trying to read those blank eyes, trying to decipher the message behind that calm tone of voice. But he completely failed, and suddenly he understood what Eiji meant when he had said that Oishi no longer existed. The Oishi that Ryoma had known, after all, had been transparent and passionate, and this person no longer seemed that way at all.
"I guess what I wanted to say is, just be careful," Oishi said at last. "I know that everyone is really glad that you came back. And I wouldn't want something bad to happen to you, just because Tezuka decided he wanted to see you…"
"Buchou wanted to see me?" Ryoma interrupted, looking startled.
"That's right. But it probably wasn't the wisest decision," Oishi sighed, sitting down on a chair near the window. "I can't say too much about it, because it's not my place. It's just that… Well, Tezuka isn't quite the same person he used to be."
"Oishi-senpai, you do realize that everyone else has said exactly the same thing to me over and over again, don't you?" Ryoma pointed out, somewhat annoyed. "I won't know what you mean unless you say more than that."
"You're right," Oishi agreed slowly. "I don't mean to confuse you. But I'm sure the others would have told you more if they could have…"
"What about you, then? Can you?" Ryoma asked. But even as he said it, the expression that suddenly appeared on Oishi's face made a chill run down his spine. And in that moment, he remembered something that Momo had said, just the night before.
…
"None of us here know anything about it, right? But there is someone who knows…"
…
"Oishi-senpai, do you know?" Ryoma asked, the tension in his voice breaking the heavy silence. "Do you know what happened? What went wrong?"
Oishi didn't answer, instead getting up again and walking toward the window, turning his back to Ryoma.
"Oishi-senpai…"
"Echizen," Oishi spoke up suddenly. "Whatever you do, stay away from Fuji, okay?"
Ryoma felt his heart stand still for a moment.
"What---?"
Even though he tried to voice the question that lingered in his mind, his throat had tightened up and he couldn't speak.
He watched in uncomfortable silence as Oishi reached out and put the tips of his fingers on the windowpane.
"Tezuka would never try to hurt you, Echizen," Oishi said finally, gazing at the myriad of lights outside. "But Fuji will do whatever he wants to do."
"Oishi-senpai, I thought you cared about Fuji-senpai," Ryoma finally protested, completely shocked. What in the world could Oishi be implying? That Fuji wanted to hurt him?
Oishi sighed again, still staring out the window.
"I do care about Fuji. And that's why I'm telling you this. Don't do anything that would drive Fuji into a corner."
"What do you mean, drive him into a corner?" Ryoma demanded, standing up suddenly. "I don't even know what you're talking about…"
"Echizen, I'm going to say something to you that I would never tell anyone else."
The serious look in Oishi's face as he turned back to the tennis star made Ryoma feel as though he had been frozen into place.
"The person that changed Tezuka is Fuji. Tezuka himself is hardly even aware of it. But it's the truth."
There was a pause, as Oishi stared into Ryoma's eyes, and Ryoma was sure that he could hear the frantic beating of his own heart. Why was it beating so fast---?
"How?" he finally managed to say, almost gasping it.
"How?" Oishi repeated softly, his eyes growing distant as he turned away again. "How did he change Tezuka? That's a good question, but I'm afraid it's a question without an answer."
He paused a moment, thinking to himself about another question, a question of his own, one that also had no answer.
"How do we affect other people? Sometimes we don't even realize our own power over others, Echizen. And that's what happened with Fuji and Tezuka."
Ryoma didn't understand. How could he, with cryptic answers like those? And yet, suddenly, he felt as though the answers he wanted were just below the surface, as though they were right in front of him, if only he could figure them out…
… How could he figure them out?
…
"I heard a rumor a few months ago that even his parents don't know exactly where he is…"
"The truth is, they're not the same people you knew. Not anymore."
"It's one thing if you want to see us, but not them. Something's not right about them. Understand?"
"Fuji-senpai didn't leave because of a girl."
"Tezuka doesn't play tennis anymore."
…
No. It was just under the surface, but there was something missing. There was a piece of information that Ryoma still needed, one that just might bring all the pieces together.
And he was going to get that missing piece. No matter what.
"Oishi-senpai," he spoke up suddenly, firmly. "Does Buchou still play tennis?"
For a moment, Oishi looked surprised, and then he smiled a little. But it was a horribly fake smile, one with no mirth in it.
"Oh, did you hear a rumor about that? No, he doesn't."
Just like that. Oishi said it in such a matter-of-fact tone that Ryoma was absolutely aghast. How could Oishi just say something like that?
"Oishi-senpai, why would he---?"
"I can't say anything more about that, Ryoma. It's Tezuka's choice whether he wants to tell you about it or not. But I would ask one thing of you, Echizen." Oishi took a few steps toward Ryoma and looked him in the eyes, very carefully.
"Don't ask him yourself. Don't make him tell you."
"Why not?" Ryoma couldn't help asking, but only in a whisper, trying to avert his gaze from those dull green eyes.
"It will break your heart."
It was said so softly, so seriously, that Ryoma almost thought he had imagined it. And yet, even though he had no idea what the former vice captain was talking about, he felt a sharp pang in his chest, like a foreshadowing of the very event Oishi was warning him against.
"Oishi-senpai…" He wanted to ask him more about Tezuka, try to understand what he was hearing, but somehow, he couldn't. And so he asked something else instead, another question that kept echoing in his mind every time he looked at his senpai, every time he saw those vacant, colorless eyes.
"Oishi-senpai, why did you leave Eiji-senpai?"
He saw it. He saw those eyes shatter for a moment, letting something of their former emerald glow flash behind the dim facade. But Oishi walked away, quickly, heading toward the door, before Ryoma could even attempt to read the emotion in those eyes.
"Oishi-senpai!" He followed right after the former vice captain, reaching out and grabbing onto his arm before he could leave.
His senpai didn't struggle or try to break free. But he didn't look at Ryoma, either. He just stood there, completely still.
"Oishi-senpai, tell me the truth. Eiji-senpai says you hated him, that you didn't even look at him when you left. What happened?" demanded Ryoma insistently.
Oishi laughed then, a slightly hollow laugh that made Ryoma shudder.
"Did Eiji say that?" he asked in a low tone. "That's so like him…"
…
Suddenly, Ryoma wasn't so sure that gold could shatter after all.
If gold could shatter, then why had Oishi said Eiji's name with such tenderness, as though it were a sacred word that he could hardly bear to say out loud?
"Oishi-senpai…" Ryoma felt his arm fall back to his side, but Oishi didn't try to run away.
"I don't hate him," said that quiet, tense voice.
…
Later that night, Ryoma would lie awake in his bed for hours, with his thoughts rambling a mile a minute. He would wonder more than once if he had just imagined what the former vice captain had said to him before he had left the room. But the more Ryoma questioned it, the more he was sure that it couldn't be questioned.
No, Oishi really had said it, with so much emotion in his voice that it had to have been the absolute truth.
…
"I love him. I'm in love with Eiji. That's why I left. Because he could never love me."
- - - - - - - -
Inui sat in front of his laptop, trying for the millionth time to re-enter the data, trying to check the assumptions for any errors. He kept thinking that there must be errors, that the data had to be a mistake, but it wasn't.
And he simply had no idea what to make of it.
"What are you doing, senpai?" Kaidoh came up behind him, taking a look at the screen for himself. But he couldn't make any sense whatsoever of the seemingly random numbers and the corresponding analyses.
"Oh, Kaidoh." Inui turned and accepted the glass of water that his roommate held out to him. "Thank you. I was just trying to analyze the probability of some assumptions… It's nothing very important."
"Uh, I see. Well, I'm going to go work out now. Give me a call if something comes up."
For the most part, Kaidoh had long since given up trying to comprehend how Inui's calculations worked. So he figured it was best not to ask and headed for the door instead.
"Alright, I will," Inui responded after a moment, somewhat absently, almost too late for Kaidoh to hear it as he shut the door behind him.
Inui hesitantly tried to change a few of the formulas, but he gave up and erased the changes, instead closing out of the program and sighing to himself.
"The logic is flawless. I can't find any reason to doubt the conclusions."
He frowned.
"The signs all point to extremely poor health. But how can that be without external causes?"
He thought for a moment, cupping his chin in his hand with a thoughtful expression.
Just as he was about to open up the document again, having changed his mind about one of the assumptions in that last formula, the phone rang.
"Hello? Oh, Momoshiro, it's you. So, what's the plan for today? … Yes, I believe so. Alright, we'll be there as soon as we can."
Inui hung up the phone again, thinking to himself for a moment. And then he turned off his laptop and slipped it back inside his travel bag.
"It doesn't do any good to analyze it anyway," he said to the empty room. "There's nothing I can do about it. But maybe it will be alright. Echizen's here, after all."
- - - - - - - -
Having lunch with everyone together had been awkward, at least from Ryoma's perspective. He still hadn't gotten the hang of acting like everything was normal, like all of them sitting together after five years and talking of trivial things like classes and old acquaintances was something to be expected. And yet, beyond a few meaningful glances from Momo and a few failed attempts to steer the conversation into more dangerous territory, the chatter really had been nothing but commonplace.
Ryoma was starting to wonder if it was something about the group setting that was doing it. After all, he only found out the most important things when it was just him and one of his senpais talking together, out of the earshot of others. When they were all together, no one bothered to say anything that mattered.
Ryoma couldn't help asking himself why that was.
Maybe they're scared. They're scared they'll break something if they go too far.
They went five whole years without talking about it, after all. Why not avoid it for another day?
"Hey, Echizen." A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts as he walked along. Ryoma looked up to see Momo's violet eyes smiling down at him.
"Uh… yeah, Momo-senpai?" Ryoma was somewhat inarticulate, having been startled out of his train of thought.
"You aren't busy this afternoon or anything, are you?"
There's that question again. What, do they think I came back to Japan to go sightseeing?
Seriously, mada mada dane.
"No, I'm free," Ryoma said, trying to be polite anyway, even if the question was ridiculous.
"Well, Fuji-senpai was saying something about hanging out together for the rest of the day," Momo explained cheerfully. "And of course we can't all be together without you, you know!"
At that, Momo took it upon himself to grab Ryoma by the neck and muss his hair, just like old times.
Well, it should have been like old times, Ryoma thought, but something about it made him decidedly uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that Momo just seemed so carefree, in spite of the fact that it felt like the whole world was falling apart all around them, and really it was just so ridiculous…
For whatever reason, Ryoma found himself pulling away from those strong arms, and all of a sudden, his face felt hot and he couldn't look at his senpai.
What in the… What was wrong with him?
"Ah, Echizen---?" For a moment, Momo looked perplexed, and then he just shrugged a little. "So, you'll tag along, right?"
"Yeah, sure," Ryoma mumbled, still avoiding the gaze of those purple eyes. Whatever was wrong with him, he certainly didn't want Momo noticing it.
"Hey, Fuji-senpai, Ryoma's gonna come too!" Momo called out, running up ahead to catch up with the tensai, who was walking at the front with Tezuka on one side and Taka on the other.
"Oh, is that right?" Ryoma heard that beautiful voice respond amiably, his usual mask of a smile visible as he turned his head toward Momo.
But for a split second, that mask dropped when Momo wasn't looking, and suddenly those stunning blue eyes were staring right at Ryoma.
And Ryoma was positive that Fuji, who up until now had looked so angelic to his unaccustomed eyes, was absolutely smirking at him.
…
"Echizen… whatever you do, stay away from Fuji, okay?"
…
Ryoma blinked in surprise, chills running up and down his spine. But the expression had vanished instantly, and the tensai wasn't even looking at him anymore.
… Had he just imagined it? Maybe Oishi's warning last night had gotten to him.
Oishi.
Now there was another thing he couldn't get out of his mind.
For what felt like the thousandth time, he glanced over at the former vice captain, who was trailing behind the group and looking very alone.
Ryoma had already decided that the secret that Oishi had told him the night before must have been the truth. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. It was shocking, certainly. But it was Oishi-senpai, after all. Oishi may not have been a cold person, but he was certainly selfless. And to lock away his own feelings and avoid Eiji for fear of hurting him? That was exactly like Oishi, no matter how Ryoma looked at it. If Oishi really did love Eiji, then that was something he would do, without a doubt. Ryoma was sure that must have been why Oishi left for England. He had been in love with Eiji, and he couldn't bear to tell him, and so… he left Japan. He left Eiji. For Eiji's sake.
Oishi-senpai… you said if I asked Tezuka-buchou what happened, it would break my heart.
… But what kind of heartbreak have you gone through, all by yourself?
Ryoma knew now, of course. He knew why Oishi looked like he had been sick. It sounded so overly dramatic, like something out of a soap opera, but the former vice captain had been suffering from heartache. Even if it was cliche, that had to be why. Ryoma was sure of it.
But there was something Ryoma wasn't so sure of.
… Was it really the best thing for Eiji, for Oishi to never tell him how he felt?
Especially if gold couldn't really be shattered after all…?
Quietly, Ryoma came alongside Oishi and looked at him for a moment. Then he spoke up calmly, addressing his former teammate.
"Oishi-senpai, are you okay?"
Oishi looked surprised, as though he hadn't even heard Ryoma approach him, but he just smiled and answered, "Yes, I'm fine, Echizen."
Ryoma quickly glanced around at the rest of the group, but they were all absorbed in their own conversations. And Ryoma figured he should probably make the best of this coincidence.
"Oishi-senpai, you should say something to Eiji-senpai," he said firmly.
"I can't," Oishi protested in a low voice, looking around for himself to make sure no one was listening. And Ryoma suddenly felt deeply sorry for him, seeing his senpai so obviously depressed about the whole subject.
"Why can't you? Eiji-senpai was really upset when you left. You should at least let him know you still care…"
"I know he was upset," Oishi interrupted, still very softly. "But don't you understand, Echizen? That's why I had to leave. It's easier if I never make amends, if he keeps on hating me for it… because otherwise he'd keep relying on me like he used to, and…"
Oishi paused a moment and coughed suddenly, to Ryoma's surprise.
"Oishi-senpai, are you actually sick?"
"No, no, I'm fine. It's just allergies…" Oishi frowned for a moment. "Or maybe I'm getting a cold. I don't know…"
There was a fragile kind of pause.
"What was I saying?" Oishi said out of the blue, looking confused.
"You were saying something about Eiji-senpai, about how he relied on you," Ryoma offered, still unable to ignore the fact that Oishi looked really pale in the bright sunlight.
"Oh, right… and that, that is, I couldn't stand that… Because, you know, when he and I were so close in high school… Well, at first I was happy, but then I realized that he didn't really care about me… At least, not like that, and anyway, I could never actually say that I…"
He coughed again, and Ryoma was starting to feel somewhat alarmed at the unfocused expression on Oishi's face.
"HEY, OCHIBI!"
Ryoma felt as though his heart had actually leaped out of his chest when two arms suddenly grabbed him from behind.
"Uh… Eiji-senpai? What are you---?" Ryoma couldn't help feeling confused. What was Eiji doing, glomping him like that out of nowhere? After all, he'd just been talking about him, and besides, Oishi was probably uncomfortable…
"I wanted to show you something. Come on, look at this store over here---!"
Eiji was about to drag him down the street in his usual forceful way, when Ryoma finally managed to voice some kind of protest, inarticulate though it was.
"But, Eiji-senpai, I was just talking with him…"
There was a pause, but it lasted only a moment.
"Him who?" Eiji asked coldly, not even looking at his former doubles partner.
… It had been such a cold voice, without any feeling at all…
For a moment, Ryoma couldn't breathe. The strangest feeling came over him in that instant. It was as though he suddenly felt that it was his own heart that was aching, that it was him that Eiji was rejecting. It was as if, for a moment, he saw through Oishi's eyes, and suddenly he understood everything.
Absolutely everything.
What it would be like to slowly fall in love with someone for five years, and to know full well that they didn't love you back…
To watch helplessly while that person flirted with other people, trying to catch the wandering eyes of others, completely uninterested in your own affection…
To get so desperate about it that you just couldn't stand to be near them anymore, that you had to escape from being so close to them, every single day…
To have to lie to yourself and tell yourself that they would be just fine without you, that it would be better if you went away for good…
And then to actually have to learn to live without them, knowing that they were miserable too.
It happened so quickly that Ryoma thought maybe he was dreaming, when he turned back to Oishi, to tell him that he understood now… and saw the former vice captain lying on the ground.
"Oishi-senpai?" The blank tone of Ryoma's voice caught even Eiji's attention, despite the fact that the redhead had sworn that he was going to ignore Oishi for the rest of the trip, despite the fact that he was angry at Oishi and was never, ever going to forgive him…
Despite that, they both gazed with the same muted horror at Oishi, who had collapsed on the sidewalk.
"Oishi-senpai… Oishi-senpai…!" Ryoma wrenched himself away from Eiji's grasp and fell to his knees, gently shaking the former vice captain, trying to revive him.
Eiji just looked, staring at that face. Oishi was so pale… he looked like he could be dead…
Was he actually dead?
Oh, God…
No… please, no…
…
"Don't cry. You know it'll be fine, right? I'll write you all the time. You'll even forget I'm gone before long. I know you'll be just fine. Really, you will. Just wait and see."
…
Eiji could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. Why? Why was he crying? He was mad at Oishi. He hated Oishi for leaving him… he wasn't going to cry, but…
Liar! You liar!
Oh, God… Oishi…!
"NO!" he yelled, not caring who heard him, lunging at the fallen form that had once been his doubles partner, his best friend, the person who had meant so much to him… he caught that person up in his arms, and he held him, and he could feel those tears starting to pour down his face, and well…
He didn't care. He didn't care who saw. Because it was Oishi, and Oishi hadn't really been dead, after all. He hadn't really gone away forever when he left for England… He couldn't have, because otherwise the idea of Oishi leaving him for good wouldn't make him cry like this…
Ryoma vaguely understood that Eiji was holding Oishi next to him, and that the others had realized what had happened and were gathering around them.
"What happened?" a voice asked somewhere above Ryoma's head. He thought maybe it was Momo's.
"It looks like he fainted," Inui's voice observed, almost too quickly.
Suddenly Ryoma saw someone kneel on the other side of Oishi, and the tennis star found himself face to face with Tezuka, who was looking at Oishi with a great deal of concern in those sharp amber eyes.
"It's probably exhaustion," he said quietly. "Oishi hasn't slept for two days straight, and he wasn't feeling well on the plane…"
The former captain reached out to feel Oishi's forehead, but Eiji suddenly slapped his hand away.
"Don't you touch him!" the redhead scowled, eyes still watering. "I don't want you anywhere near him! He doesn't need you! Go away!"
There was a pause as everyone stared, shocked.
"Eiji…" Tezuka gazed at him, looking as though he wanted to say something. But Ryoma saw Fuji come up from behind and grip Tezuka on the shoulder. And just like that, Tezuka stood up again and backed away.
But Ryoma couldn't tear his eyes away from the captain, and in that moment, Tezuka glanced back at the teenage tennis star, and their eyes met.
And for the first time, Ryoma could see a tiny piece of why those golden eyes were so shattered.
There was guilt in those eyes. Guilt for what had happened to Oishi.
… But why? What had Tezuka done to Oishi?
Even though the world seemed silent in Ryoma's ears, he was vaguely aware that people around him were moving, trying to help Eiji hoist Oishi up from the ground.
The next thing he knew, he could hear Momo saying something to Eiji, as the power player lifted his unconscious senpai with his own strong arms so that he could carry him.
"… Could take him back to our apartment. He'll be alright if someone keeps an eye on him."
"Let me go along," Ryoma pleaded suddenly. "Just for a little bit."
They all looked surprised to hear the tennis star make such an offer out of the blue. But Eiji glanced at Momo and then he nodded.
"You can come if you want, Ochibi. I don't mind."
"But, Eiji…" Taka started to protest, looking very worried, when Momo interrupted.
"Okay, we'll take Oishi back to our apartment so he can rest. We'll meet up with you guys in the shopping district later. I'll call Taka's cell when we're on our way back."
And with that, Momo gave a general nod to the group and started carrying Oishi back down the street, with Eiji and Ryoma right behind him.
Those who were remaining looked almost stunned, but after a few moments glanced at each other and started heading the opposite direction, not knowing what else to do.
As they walked along, Ryoma saw the way Eiji wiped the last few tears from his eyes, and the way he couldn't take his eyes off of his former doubles partner.
And finally he knew it for a fact.
Gold didn't shatter.
It just didn't.
-end of chapter eleven-
Useless Footnote: (1) 10,000 yen is about 100 US dollars. In case you were wondering, lol.
A/N: Yay! I actually got this chapter done when I promised I would! Well, some pretty big things certainly happened in this chapter, didn't they? O.O Wow. Oddly enough, it was a very Golden Pair-centric chapter… That wasn't entirely planned when I started it, but I realized it was the best way to fit in the sequence of events. But fear not! The bet between Fuji and Momo is in the next chapter. And that's certainly going to be interesting… XD
My plan is to have Chapter 12 up sometime during the weekend. (Probably on Saturday, although I'll try for Friday, if possible. Since I know the suspense is killing everyone!) Well, I hope you enjoyed Chapter 11. Please let me know what you thought of the new chapter! But the best is yet to come, of course… ;)
(By the way, I think I got a couple more questions in the reviews last time, but I need to post this asap so I'll answer those questions in the next chapter. Sorry about that! XD)
Coming Up Next: Oishi wakes up from his state of unconsciousness to find himself in Eiji's apartment, and Ryoma rejoins the rest of the group in time to discover that Fuji and Momo are planning to do something very out of the ordinary…