Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis!

Chapter 8

Extinguished

Mizuki stalked through the halls in search of where Yuuta had run off too. Frankly he was terrified that the younger would do something he'd regret. After all, as much as Mizuki hated to admit it, the two brothers had been extremely close, especially as of late.

Luckily, the hospital was relatively small, so it didn't take long for him to spot the drenched and soaking tennis player. Yuuta sat at the bottom of a flight of stairs, his head hung low, and his sodden hair covering his face. Despite this, Mizuki didn't fail to notice the faint tremble of the younger's shoulders that indicated he was indeed crying.

With careful steps he made his way towards the sobbing teen, silently taking a seat next to him.

"Yuuta," Mizuki murmured, trying to get the teens attention. Although, when Yuuta raised his head to look at him, Mizuki wished he hadn't.

The boy looked completely and utterly broken. The fire that had once lit up his eyes was now extinguished and replaced with a silent waterfall of tears.

"My brother's dead," Yuuta whispered, his voice filled with nothing but grief.

What disturbed Mizuki the most, was that it was if Yuuta was trying to convince himself that this was actually happening. That it wasn't a dream.

"There's nothing you could have done to prevent this," He replied immediately. As cliché as it sounded, Mizuki needed to make sure Yuuta understood this. And as much as Mizuki hated to admit it, he wasn't exactly all that skilled when it came to comforting people.

When Yuuta remained silent, he decided to continue. "I understand you must be feeling-"

He was cut off as the younger stood up, suddenly livid. "You understand nothing!" He spat.

Mizuki froze, stunned by the sudden burst of anger. So much so that he could do nothing but sit there shocked, unsure of what to do next.

Yuuta stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening ever so slightly before he slumped back down onto the step, looking utterly defeated. "Gomen" He whispered.

Mizuki just shook his head. "No, it's fine. You don't need to apologize…"

"It's just, when I was younger, I hated me brother so much," Yuuta began, tears once again falling from his eyes. "I hated how he always seemed to steal the spotlight, and how he always seemed to be better than me at everything. But most of all, I hated how it seemed like all our parents ever cared about was him, and not me."

"I…I despised him so much that I would….I would wish that he would just die." Yuuta paused for a moment, as if debating whether to go on, but continued anyway, with Mizuki listening silently. "I thought that if he died, it would solve all my problems, that I would finally be able to be able to be happy…"

Yuuta finally broke down into racking sobs, and without missing a beat, Mizuki brought the younger teen into a hug.

"That's not your fault either."

A grown filled the otherwise silent hospital room. The room was empty save for a young boy who laid shrouded in blankets. With a sudden burst of energy, the boy forced his exhaustion ridden eyes open.

Tezuka stiffened in shock. Around him lay what looked like a hospital room, the steady beeping of a heart monitor filling the otherwise silent room.

Without warning the door to the room opened and in stepped a young nurse. The woman's eyes widened in shock and she froze, staring down at him in surprise.

"Ah you're awake!" The young nurse gasped, quickly pressing the button on the wall that would call the doctor.

Tezuka eyed the stranger in confusion. "Who are you?" He asked bluntly, eyes narrowed as he studied the stranger.

The woman seemed to pause for a second, before a smile lit up her face. "My name is Mei, but the people here tend to call me by my last name Naomi."

Tezuka nodded his head in greeting, unable to do much else.

"Do you remember what happened?" Naomi questioned.

Tezuka nodded his head, and with a grunt, struggled to push himself into a sitting position; His chest felt like it was on fire.

Noticing the young man's struggles, Naomi simply sighed. "You're lucky you know," She murmured, eyes downcast. "Of course, a couple broken ribs aint nothing to celebrate over, but at least you're alive, which is more than I can say for most of the others."

Tezuka froze.

The others.

His team.

What had happened to his team?

"Sir! Sir please lay down!" Naomi exclaimed, rushing over to the boy currently in the midst of rising to his feet. Tezuka ignored her, and with shaky steps made his way towards the door. Just as he managed to grasp the handle, the door itself swung open, nearly knocking him off his feet.

After he had managed to regain his balance, he turned his gaze towards the doorway in order to take a look at the person who had nearly sent him crashing to the floor. Needless to say, when he came face to face with Atobe Keigo, he froze immediately.

"Ore-sama demands you sit down and stop causing a commotion in Ore-sama's hospital!"

N/A

Please review and tell me your thoughts!