A/N: Woot! Another chapter done and all beta'ed as well. Wonderful! I is happy. I already have the last two chapters done and being beta'ed. All that's next is the next chapter and I'll have em all out to you fast, fast, fast. Hope you all like.

Ryoma's Plan

Chapter 5

New York was bustling so early in the morning. People walked up and down the streets as if they did so every day. They probably did, Eiji thought, as he bleakly watched the commotion from his hotel window. People in this city were horrid. They went about their daily lives with no thought of any of the people they walked next to or by. Such thoughtless creatures. Such thoughtless, heartless, horrible creatures.

Eiji roughly shoved the curtain back over the window and stared at the now darkened room in silence. He knew he was brooding, but he didn't care. He didn't care about much anymore. His marriage to Oishi wasn't going well at all. His career was going down the drain and it was all thanks to…

He roughly threw those thoughts away. He didn't need them. In fact, he didn't need anyone or anything. Dimly, he noticed the door opening and Inui arriving with a tray of something. Eiji didn't move a muscle. He was used to Oishi's babying. Inui didn't have a thing compared to Oishi.

Inui moved over to Eiji and set the tray on the table next to him. Now he could see what was on it. A sandwich and a couple of crackers with a carton of milk. Not too extravagant, but not bird-sized either, and that was the only way Eiji took his meals.

He used to eat normal meals because of Oishi's incessant blabbering, but he had quit that almost immediately. Oishi would stay with him even if he went to the bathroom, so there was no time to puke it out of his system. So, he had just refused to eat. Then Oishi had gone on a diet, and from then on there hadn't been much food in the house. Eiji knew the real reason why Oishi had gone on his so-called diet. Oishi was worried about him. Eiji's brain filed it away as a fact, but did nothing more about it. The fact that he was being guilt-tripped into eating made him angrier than anything. He didn't feel guilt at all.

In fact, he felt nothing. No, his emotions had been burnt from him since that day. Yes, that horrible day was the last day he had felt anything resembling peace. Since then, he'd had nightmares that haunted him even while he was awake. He would lie awake at night to keep the nightmares at bay. He refused to eat, wishing to die.

Inui must have been reading his thoughts, because a hand shot out and grabbed on to his. Inui gently pushed back his sleeve and fingered the scars on his wrist. His glasses hid his eyes, so Eiji couldn't even begin to know what he was thinking.

Yes, he'd even tried killing himself. Death was a sweeter mistress then life. Oishi had had to place 24/7 around-the-clock surveillance on Eiji. The only thing that had saved him was probably that and painting. He never sold his paintings to make a living, though. They relied on Oishi's writing to get them by and it had. Oh, it had a million or so times over.

He'd learned to paint when he'd finished high school. It was a hobby at the time, but he could tell that he was really very good. What had gotten him into painting was that time at Atobe's Christmas party all those years ago. Echizen's smile had stayed in Eiji's brain and played itself over and over in his mind. Ever since then, he'd wanted to paint that smile. He felt like it was something he had to do.

Roughly, he jerked his arm from out of Inui's hand and shoved his sleeve down. No use crying over spilt milk… or blood, as the case may be. He turned to look at the covered window, ignoring Inui to the best of his ability.

He returned to thinking about Echizen's smile. The mystical smile that had once kept Eiji awake at night. Now it was the nightmares that kept him awake, but that smile seemed to chase away the nightmares. If he could just hold onto that image of that smile, than he could keep the nightmares away. So he painted. He'd ripped apart painting after painting after completing them, because it just wasn't the same. Every painting lacked something, leaving a void that made him howl in despair. Why? Why wasn't he able to recreate Echizen's smile? Why wasn't he able to chase away his personal demons? Why! Damn it! WHY!

His body shook with the intensity of his thinking. A hand was placed on his arm and his body immediately calmed down. He looked over and Inui sat there, still looking at him. Eiji glared at him. Oishi would usually leave him alone and go work on his writing. Why was it that Inui had to be different?

"Can I tell you a story?" Inui asked with his soothing voice.

Eiji didn't reply. He knew that if Inui wanted to say something then he'd say it. Silence didn't affect Inui, he'd learned. As he thought, Inui went on.

"Do you know how Kaidoh lost the use of his legs?" Silence. "I thought not. No one knows. I killed his legs."

Eiji was surprised, but he let none of it show on his face. Inui? What the hell? Even though he didn't it want to, his curiosity was getting peaked. Unconsciously, his body leaned a bit toward Inui.

"We were at the Pro Tournament, and it had been stormy the past couple of days. We'd seen Tezuka and Fuji there, but they left in the middle of it. I don't know why nor did I ever check in on it, but they just weren't there anymore.

"We were one match away from becoming pros, both of us. But the ground had turned icy overnight. We drove onto a patch of black ice, and our car spun out of control. It hit a wall and smashed in half of our car… the half that Kaidoh was in. It smashed his legs in and they nearly had to amputate his legs to save him. I was the driver."

He cocked his head as if this were something that had happened to someone else. Eiji was amazed for more than one reason. One was that Inui could keep a straight face through all of this. If it were him, he'd be angry with self-righteousness. After all, it wasn't Inui's fault. Just bad luck... For another thing, there was the crap that Inui had been forced to go through. With his imagination, he could imagine everything taking place. To survive a wreck as bad as the one Inui was explaining was amazing. A third thing was that Kaidoh could love someone as seemingly emotionless as Inui. Eiji couldn't see how.

"I came out of the wreak with only a scratch, but Kaidoh came out with barely his legs whole. I left him to get my medical degree. I wanted to be able to heal the one I loved. Unknowingly, I left him when he needed me the most. When I got back, he was sick, bitter, and resentful." He smiled bitterly.

"I wanted nothing but to help him, and he turned me away. If it wasn't for the fact that I was his lover, he would have thrown me away."

His eyes had a far off, distant look in them that Eiji knew all too well. It was a look that he, himself, wore most of the time.

"I think," Eiji managed, his voice cracking. "I think it was because you were lovers that he agreed for you to stay. I wouldn't want anyone who I didn't know trying to heal me. I would want to feel as safe as possible in that situation."

He knew that he couldn't listen to that story without saying something. Damn Inui. Why'd he have to tell him? Then he saw Inui smile, and he was at a loss for what to really say anymore.

"I think so now. Thank you. I hadn't thought of that."

Eiji cocked his head like Inui had earlier. "Why not? You're one who thinks of all the possibilities. Why'd you not think that way?"

"Probably because my mind couldn't think that way for a long time. Kaidoh hates me for not being there for him."

"That's selfish," Eiji blurted. "You were by his side even when you left. How could he not understand?" He was truly confused. "You sacrificed everything for him. Your life, your career, your very existence. He's just selfish for always thinking of himself and not you."

"Is that so?" Inui remarked, his glasses glinting. "He reminds me of you."

That simple statement rocked Eiji's world. Was he really that simple-minded, to blame everything on Oishi? He looked back on the past and how he had treated Oishi. In the end, he had to admit it was true. He was a horrible person. He'd been too locked away in his depression to even think about another person.

Oishi had sacrificed everything, just like Inui. He had wanted to reach Echizen, as a goal once high school was out. It was the same for all their friends with the exception of Momo. Momo had disappeared after that Christmas party and never returned to complete high school. But, the rest had had Echizen in mind when they went their separate ways.

Eiji looked at Inui and decided it was only fair to say something back. He didn't have to voice the worst part of his life… just something.

"When high school was over," he began. "We all had Echizen as our goal. You, me, Oishi, Tezuka, Fuji, Kaidoh, we all believed our life was tennis and to be together." He paused, because thinking of the past was bringing back too many good memories. "You, Kaidoh, Tezuka, and Fuji went to the Pro Tournament, while Oishi and I decided to wait. We shouldn't have… I now realize that, but it's too late for should haves.

"My oldest sister called us one day and told us that she was getting a divorce. She wanted us to take care of her oldest son. Her youngest was a baby and still needed his mother. We agreed to take care of my nephew for however long it took her to get settled in." He bit back the tears that he was sure were forming. Just saying 'nephew' was hard for him.

"My nephew's name was Seth. He had an American father. He came to live with us, and he never really left. Her divorce took years. The father waged a huge case against her, and she had to use everything she had to keep the boys away from him. He was horrible. He would beat Seth when he came over, and Oishi and I had to nearly shoot him to leave. He was a monster… But he had money. My sister didn't. In the end, she won, but it was harsh and she lost nearly everything she had. She had to live with Oishi and me for a long time before she got back on her feet." He hugged himself. This was harder than he thought.

"What happened to the boy?" Inui asked.

Eiji smiled warily. "She decided to let him stay with us, because he didn't want to leave. Somewhere in the two years he was with us, he came to believe that Oishi and I were his fathers. He called his real father 'that bad man'. He was two when he began living with us and was four when the divorce was settled. With Oishi's and my help, we were able to videotape him beating Seth and showed it to the court. He lost all parental rights to both boys."

Inui smiled. "Good. I would hate to see what would have happened if he had gotten any parental rights. As a doctor, I would have been subject to turn him in."

Eiji smiled ruefully. "Yeah, I think I would have fought for him at any cost if that had happened. No child deserves that."

"So? Then what happened to him?"

Eiji winced. He hadn't meant to go so far already. He hesitated about going further. He liked his friends. He didn't want them to blame him… Maybe he did. This was all his fault, after all. If he just hadn't…. Eiji decided to go on. No harm in it.

"Seth was like our son that we know we can never have. He treated us like the father he never really had. It was a perfect match, and my sister thought so as well. Seth wanted to be like me. I taught him my special jumps. We were out walking, him and I, and it was crowded, because it was rush hour when everyone was getting out of work. I thought we were safe. All of a sudden, he did a flip that he was still practicing, and he tripped and fell… into the middle of the road. A car didn't see him, and…" He couldn't go on.

The tears were falling unashamed from his face. Inui placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but nothing more. He didn't offer meaningless words. He didn't try to smile and say it would all be okay. He just sat there and waited patiently for Eiji to go on.

"The doctors told me that he had died instantly. There wasn't anything they could have done to save him."

"I see," Inui said matter-of-factly. "And now you see yourself as the one responsible for Seth dying."

Eiji glared at him. "Wouldn't you?" he snorted, before Inui could answer. "How could you? You wouldn't know my pain and suffering. You couldn't know."

Suddenly, a hand grabbed him and forced him to his feet. He had only a second to acknowledge that he was standing before Inui took off. They went down the elevator and went to the street. Inui hailed a cab and gave directions to some place.

"I realized that you were definitely right. I don't know the pain you are going through," he said calmly.

For the rush Eiji was just put through, he'd expected Inui to at least be out of breath. Life just wasn't fair. It didn't take long to get where they were going. Inui pulled him out of the cab and paid for the trip and off they went. Eiji didn't even have the time to think, let alone retaliate. Inui walked with a purpose to his step. When he was this way, Eiji found it was easier to just go along. He, if no one else, remembered the exact taste of one of Inui's strange drinks.

Eiji nearly stopped in his tracks. It had been years since he thought of Inui and his crazy drinks. It was even less since Seth died. He hadn't thought of anyone but himself. What did that mean?

He wasn't given a chance to answer himself. He was gently pushed down onto a bench and, before he knew it, was left alone. He gathered his wits about him. Sometimes he thought that Inui was stronger mentally then Oishi.

When he gathered his wits, he nearly jumped. He wasn't as alone as he'd thought. He was sitting next to a woman. A very pretty woman, actually. She turned and smiled at him.

"Hello."

"Hi," he croaked.

His voice was raw from a lot of talking. He looked around and saw that he was in a park of some sort. It was pretty. He wondered why Inui had dragged him out here.

"It's very pretty here," she said, voicing his thoughts.

He jumped, startled. "Yes, it is." He inhaled deeply. "Pretty enough to get lost in," he remarked.

Now it was her turn to look startled. "Lost?"

Her eyes were disturbingly familiar. Then it was gone in a flash, and Eiji wondered if he had just imagined it.

"I'm sorry," he said without thinking. "Did I say something wrong?"

She smiled prettily. "No. Not anymore." He cocked his head when she didn't go on. She seemed lost in her thoughts. "I'll tell you because you look like a handsome young man," she said with a grin.

"Five years ago, this week, I brought my daughter here to play. She was such the social butterfly. Every person in this park could tell you a little about her." Her eyes still weren't looking at him. "I came here one day, like all the other days, to let her play as usual. Nothing seemed wrong. It was a beautiful day, and everything seemed to be just right. I was in school at that time, so I brought a college book to read while she played." Her smile was tight, as if she had to force it.

"It seemed only minutes had passed but, when I looked up, she was gone. I called her name, but to no avail. She didn't come running out to me. She wasn't hiding. No one seemed to know where she was. I had the entire park staff looking for her. Then someone found her, a little ways away in an alley." Then she looked at him, and it was like he was looking into a mirror. It was disturbing.

"She'd been stabbed to death." That sentence seemed like it took everything she had in her to say. Her shoulders shook with barely contained tears. "I remember the people's horror around me, I vaguely remember everything else. The sirens, the police, my husband, everything seemed like one huge blur."

He knew what she was talking about. It was like that with Seth. The police, the ambulance, the doctors, Oishi, had all seemed like a blur. Then he knew… this woman knew him. Not as a person; but through experience, she knew him perfectly.

She gurgled out the next few sentences. "My husband blamed me for her death, and so did I. If I'd paid more attention to her, then she wouldn't be dead. I told that to myself for a long time. Then someone snapped me out of it. A man got to know me, and nearly slapped me. He yelled at me for the longest time about needing to care. Somewhere in there, I saw how I was and I hated myself for being that way. I hated my husband for helping to make me that way. The next few months I got myself the help I needed. I got myself on anti-depressants, and I got myself a divorce." Eiji was startled, and she smiled. "It's okay now. I realized that without our daughter, our spark had died out, and he was harming me more then he was healing me. He agreed with me. It was mutual.

"Through counseling, I learned that it wasn't completely my fault. It was a collective of bad luck that had piled on me all at once. I worked through everything, and now I'm able to return to this park again." She smiled and looked at all the people in the park. "You see, she's not dead." She pointed all around the park. "They still remember her. She's alive in their hearts, as well as mine." She looked at Eiji. "Yours is still alive in your heart as well. I'd heard that the Japanese set up memorials in their own homes to remember the dead. I hope you did that for whoever you lost."

He was startled again. How did she know? "How'd you know?" he wondered, voicing his thought.

She smiled. "Your eyes look just like mine did: lost and alone. I wanted to show you that you're not alone. Even I wasn't alone. There have been many parents who lose their children for one single lapse of attention. You're not alone." She looked at the sky. "Well, it looks like I'd better get back home. I have dinner to make." He cocked his head to one side, and she seemed to know what he was asking. "I got re-married to the man who snapped me out of my depression. Turns out he was in love with me for the longest time. I think this marriage is a hundred times better then my last marriage." She turned. "I wish you happiness and love around every corner. You have good friends, never forget."

With that, she was gone. Tears were falling down Eiji's face, but he didn't care. He had never cared who saw his tears. He wasn't ashamed.

A pair of envelopes dropped into his lap and he looked up to see Inui walking away. He picked up the first envelope and tore it open. He pulled out the letter and began to read…

Eiji,

Get well, Eiji. Become half of the Golden Pair once more. There are no two people like you and Oishi. I'll be waiting to take on the Golden Pair when you're well again. Don't make me disappointed. I want to play the famed Golden Pair and beat them, but it's not the Golden Pair without you, Eiji. I'll be waiting.

Ryoma Echizen

His hands shook. Echizen. His goal. He was calling a challenge to Eiji. He tore the second letter open more gently.

Eiji-senpai,

Yo, get well. I have a date with you at an all-you-can-eat burger shop when you get back. Don't make me go there alone. Maybe we'll even drag Ryoma with us. I can't let him win the all-you-can-eat contest. I'll even take you on any day, Eiji. Don't make me take on Ryoma alone. Best buds don't do that to one another. You know I can't put up a fight against him.

Your pal,

Momoshiro

Eiji gurgled a laugh. How like Momo-chan. He laughed mentally. It'd been years since he'd thought like that. It'd been years since he'd felt like this. That woman was right. He did have the most wonderful friends in the universe.

At the thought of friends, he looked up and saw Inui standing a few feet away. He smiled his first real smile.

"Inui, nya. What do you say we go out to eat, nya? How long do we have, nya?

Inui's smile was from ear to ear and made Eiji feel all bubbly inside. "Echizen told me we have a year."

"Hmm, a year. Do you think you can out-eat me in burgers in a year? Seems like I have a date with two men and a burger shop in a year."

"I don't know," he said, seriously thinking about it. "I say we go and gather data on the subject. I'll even fix you a special Inui Special Drink for you."

Eiji's face contorted into a horror-stricken, pain-filled expression. "NYA! I am so not drinking one of your drinks, INUI!"

He made a dash with Inui right behind him, intent on catching up. Eiji's smile split his face from ear to ear. Maybe things were going to be better after all, was Eiji's last thought before he had to think of some way to lose Inui and his mad ideas.