A/N: Sorry Guys, I'm late once again and who do you think is at fault? Right, my stressful life. It gets more and more complicated with my studies and I really am sorry for updating so late. I still hope you like the next chapter, nonetheless. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

~~ Irrevocable ~~

~~ 10. March, Early Night ~~

Nobody spoke. The ticking of the clock on the wall was the only sound inside the infirmary. Seiichi didn't mind. He had no desire to speak to any of those three. The only person he wanted to speak with was sleeping in the bed standing beside him. From his position on the bed's right side and the wall behind his back, Seiichi was able to watch everybody secretly from the corner of his eyes.

However, they had no interest in him as well. All their attention rested on the person that was lightly thrashing in the bed. Their gazes were thoughtful, questioning even. Keigo was surprisingly silent too, not interested in being the center of attention. A fact which didn't go unnoticed by the bluenette. Seiichi knew all those expressions, having seen them quite often in the past. Genichirou always wore this thoughtful expression, like being in a kind of trance, whenever he was weighting something down. Whenever he was uncertain if something was worth mentioning and discussing it or not. Seiichi frowned in confusion.

What was going on in his best friend's mind?

He had reacted so directly and quickly after Ryoma fainted, not asking any questions about the teen's well-being or what was happening and why it was happening while Seiichi had felt... helpless and uncertain. His best friend had simply rushed over to keep the teen's body from making direct contact with the ground. Tezuka had been the same, reacting without hesitation and not making any kind of comment about Ryoma having been careless.

The two had even carried Ryoma into the infirmary as soon as they had hindered him from falling, not having left his side since the nurse left them alone after being satisfied with the answers which Genichirou and Tezuka gladly offered. They simply told her he fainted from getting pranked. Seiichi had wanted to slap his forehead for such a dumb answer but the nurse had just shaken her head, smiled in pity at Ryoma, then scolded and left them alone to buy some more bandages due to the sudden rise of the bandage consume. The bluenette guessed it was thanks to Akaya. His youngster had surely provoked his new so called team mates and probably started a fight before changing houses.

Nevertheless, it was simply strange seeing both of them so ready to help and actually protect someone they barely knew.
Or did they grow to know him better than Seiichi did in such a short time?
What had happened while he had left them alone, drowning in their betrayal and in his own rage and sadness.
Or had this happened before their trip? But if yes, then when?

Genichirou had nearly always been beside him... It just didn't fit!
Their reaction and behavior, their way of concern... nothing fit with their usual characteristics. Also their current position didn't fit. The two were leaning against the wall opposite the bed, frowning slightly but still watching the lightly thrashing teen in concern and concentration. Both had their arms crossed over their chests, waiting patiently.

Fuji had also reacted quite quick, somehow blocking Ryoma from anybody's view and ordering Keigo around. Keigo being ordered and agreeing to it without hesitation had been the top of the cake and if Seiichi hadn't been so utterly confused and paralyzed by the whole situation, he would have fumed by the thought standing behind this action. The four must have grown quite close if Tezuka and Genichirou understood each other so well to lie together without having spoken about it before and Keigo, the diva who only gave orders, accepting orders from Fuji, who was currently sitting on the opposite chair on the bed's left side, also frowning with open blue eyes.

It was also irritating to know those four knew more about the situation than he did and none of them would tell him.
Seiichi gritted his teeth. He wouldn't ask. His pride wouldn't let him and he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of him giving in and looking like he begged for their forgiveness when they had been the ones being wrong!

The door opened after a short knock. "Ah, Ore-sama thought to find you all here."

"Keigo." It was surprisingly Tezuka who spoke first, using to Seiichi's dislike his ex-boyfriend's first name. So they really had an affair with each other! How shameless could they be?! Presenting their lovely affair right in front of him! "Have you sent her away?"

"Ore-sama had no need to do so." That gave Keigo all the wanted attention from everybody, even Seiichi. The bluenette could only guess about the girl and why they had wanted her to leave the camp but his guess was most probably wrong.

They all waited patiently for the diva to continue as they all already knew his antics. Seiichi had learnt from experience not to reply to those certain questions. It had earned him Keigo in full Diva-mode and that had cost him nerves and a lot of time. "The girl wandering around was Ryûzaki Sakuno, one of our coach's granddaughters. She had been asked to come and help out in the kitchen."

"So it wasn't her…" Fuji mumbled, his eyes still open.

"Only a matter of time." Tezuka mumbled as well, their focus going back to Ryoma.

The question, who they all awaited, lingered on the bluenette's tongue but he wouldn't ask.
No, he wouldn't ask! Never!

"Saa, his reaction was then completely without reason." Ocean blue orbs pierced the thrashing Ryoma as if the brunette would somehow receive a reply by doing so. "At least now we know for certain that his cousin is one of the reasons for his nightmares."

The bluenette frowned, his focus going back to Ryoma as well.
Nightmares about his cousin? The young woman whom he had seen more than once clinging at Ryoma? It would at least explain the irritation in his expression and his strong discomfort whenever she had been around him. And hadn't there been this discussion about this topic on their way to the camp about Ryoma having nightmares and sleeping with Tezuka…
What had it been about and something else was missing here.

"Nightmares? Plural?" Seiichi asked, his curiosity having the better of him. He wanted to slap himself as soon as the words left his mouth. Shit!

"The two last nights went on in a pretty much similar pattern. We go to sleep, Ryoma wakes up in the middle of the night, we wake up from it, Ryoma climbs into Mitsu's bed and continues sleeping peacefully with Mitsu often clinging at him."

"Syusuke!" Fuji chuckled, glancing at Tezuka. "What's wrong with telling? It was pretty cute."

"You did this on purpose because of what we said the last time about you thrashing around." Tezuka blushed, really blushed and cleared his throat by his sudden burst.

"I would never do that." The fake smile was so visible, it was a question whom the brunette wanted to blend with it.

"Ore-sama hadn't woken up."

"No, you snored peacefully in your bed." Fuji retorted with a smiling face, chuckling again. Even Genichirou and Tezuka smiled a tiny bit by the words with Tezuka's blush fading.

Since when had they been so close to each other?
Genichirou and Keigo too... The closeness was sudden and completely unexpected, especially between those two. Seiichi felt more than uncomfortable. His best friend was smiling right in front of him, acting carefree as if everything was fine… as if nothing had happened. The bluenette suppressed the rage rising inside him. His best friend too...

The thrashing from Ryoma grew stronger, more frantic in an instant. His breathing turned harsh but shallow, his head swinging from one side to the other, his hands slamming around, trying to force something away from him.

"Another nightmare." It wasn't a question from Fuji but a statement because even Seiichi was able to see it. What nobody saw coming was the earsplitting shriek, chilling the air and echoing from the walls only seconds later. Everybody froze, getting goose bumps by the bare sound.

Totally confused, Seiichi searched for the source by gazing at the other four. However, neither Keigo or Genichirou nor Tezuka or Fuji looked as if they had made the heart-wrenching noise. Fuji and Keigo searched for the sound as well, looking at the others in question. Only Genichirou and Tezuka looked suspiciously composed, sighed and shut their eyes or in Tezuka's case, pinched the bridge between nose and forehead.

What?

Seiichi frowned, not clearly understanding what was going on.
Keigo and Fuji followed his gaze, turning their attention at the two and obviously being confused too.

Ryoma jolted up in a sitting position within milliseconds with his hands grabbing his head and hair in desperation. A raspy and unknown voice whispered and pleaded: "Please… don't… please… I don't want this anymore… please…"

Seiichi's confusion grew with each word. Could it be... no... or maybe...
Was he seeing and hearing right?!
Was this unknown voice really… Did it really belong to... but how?!

His body was still frozen, watching how his best friend and Tezuka went straight to Ryoma, pushing Seiichi and Fuji out of the way, so they could approached the young teen better and without any hindrance. The bluenette couldn't hide his stunned and surprised self. Keigo and Fuji couldn't too. He didn't know who whispered "What's going on?!" but he couldn't care less.

The pleading turned into rusty sounding whimpers and winces.
"Echizen, wake up. It was only a nightmare." Genichirou put his hand on the teen's left shoulder, resting it there and lowering his body to be on eye level with Ryoma. He called the teen more than once, receiving no reaction in return. Tezuka tried next, calling out and putting his hand at Ryoma's other shoulder, leaning down to be on eye level as well. The same result. Ryoma was completely out of his mind... in a way. Not reacting to anything, only wincing and pleading in his rusty voice.

"Kunimitsu? Genichirou?" Fuji blinked at the two like the rest of them. "…You…knew…" The brunette spoke the exact words Seiichi wanted to say too but was still too stunned to do so.

The stoic duo glimpsed at one another, nodding and shrugging their shoulders. "It's not the first time we heard him, just the first time he really spoke and not just screamed."

"When?" Fuji asked, his eyes growing sharper with a slight hint of anger in them.

"Yesterday's night, when you all were outside." Genichirou answered while Tezuka said: "When we had the sleepover at your house."

"What?" The three turned to Tezuka, Genichirou now seemingly being stunned and clueless like they were.

"I have only thought about it now but back then I had already believed to have heard something right after he had gone back to sleep after the first nightmare in the middle of the night."

"You mean the night where you two slept in the same bed for the first time?" Fuji grinned and caused the other brunette to blush another time who solemnly nodded and cleared his throat. Tezuka began to shake Ryoma lightly, trying a new tactic to wake him up. However, he ended up with only scaring the whimpering teen more. Ryoma curled himself together like a hedgehog when it noticed danger.

Seiichi was still too shocked, overwhelmed by the whole situation to react in any way and by another glance at the others, Keigo felt the same. Simply Fuji was snapping out of his daze, nodding at nothing and seemingly thinking hard for a moment before he sat down in front of Ryoma on the bed and holding the teen's cheeks lightly in his hands by pulling his arms a bit away from his head. "Ryoma, look at me."

The brunette caressed the skin softly with his thumbs, urging him gently to follow his instruction by not letting Ryoma's cheeks out of his grip. More hoarse whimpers reached their ears. Pleas followed suit. The sight alone of those tears streaming and falling down brought Seiichi a chill.

"Look at me and tell me who I am." Blue orbs met golden, though Ryoma had still his hands covering most of his head and therefore hiding most of his face. The brunette held Ryoma's glazed stare, speaking after being sure he got his attention. "It was just a nightmare, nothing else. You're safe, she isn't here. Just a nightmare." Seiichi believed Fuji wouldn't get any reply either when suddenly he did.

"Nightma-" Ryoma jerked violently by the sound of his own hoarse and rusty voice. His eyes steadily growing huger, his hands wandering from in front of his face to his lips and throat. Seiichi could only watch like the rest of them how realization set in. The shake of the head began once more, his body next. More tears streamed down the now always paler growing cheeks.

"Don't worry, Echizen, we won't tell anyone." Tezuka pulled Ryoma's face out of Fuji's grip, forcing the teen gently to see him. Genichirou put his other hand at the other now free shoulder where Tezuka's hand had rested before. His best friend pulled the teen a tiny bit closer to his own body, giving him strength. When had those two learnt to react like this?
Fuji had always been unpredictable but Keigo and Seiichi himself felt useless, completely overwhelmed. Well… by a second glance… Fuji was slowly but surely getting overwhelmed too, his expression revealing his worry and distress. "It's safe with us. She won't get inside this camp and nobody will know from us about what happened here."

Ryoma shook his head in denial, his hands flawing around himself to loosen the different hands from his body and rocking his body back and forth. His breath grew more and more shallow, reaching an unhealthy rhythm and sorrowful sobs echoed from the walls again, just louder.

Genichirou, Tezuka and Fuji gave him space, looking at each other and asking silently about a new plan to calm Ryoma down. The distressed expression on everybody's face, even Genichirou and Tezuka, showed their cluelessness. Seiichi felt the same until two distant memories reached his consciousness. Something he had done for his grandmother whenever she had fallen into one of her depressions after the loss of nearly her whole family. Only them, his grandmother and him, were still alive. His parents and uncle had died at the day of a strong earthquake, buried alive under the ashes and ruins. The rescue came too late, the damage too large to save many people.

His grandmother had come to him, telling him the horrible news and consoling him. She too had cried hard, but she had almost immediately stopped after the funeral and Seiichi had wondered how someone could suddenly stop the tears and emotions going wild in the matter of a day. Her smile hadn't returned afterwards but the sadness had disappeared out of her face, back then only visible in her eyes.
Seiichi understood only after finding her crying herself to sleep in her bedroom one night that she had stayed strong for him, not wanting to bother or remember him of the great loss, not able to get over the fact herself that her precious family would never return.
The sight had broken a piece of his heart and Seiichi had done the only thing standing within his reach – he had hugged her and spoken soothingly nothingness in her ear, trying his best to calm her down and take away a little bit of her pain. They hadn't talked much but hugged each other often to show they were still a team, surviving the big world together. It had gone on like this nearly every day but with the weeks passing by, a routine between them formed and the realization set in slowly.
She managed to grow in mental strength and her smile returned after a long time. The need for hugs turned occasional and she would visit friends whenever she was alone at home, not liking the quietness and loneliness inside it when no one else was there. Something which calmed Seiichi and reassured him about his grandmother's strength and that he could be absent for a few days like now without worrying.

The other memory was about him and Genichirou. About what his best friend had done for him once when he had cried endlessly after hearing about his disease and the operation. The distant memory alone sent coldness and chills over his skin and body. He would never forget this hopelessness, the feeling of uselessness and the ending of a life he had gotten used to, had made plans for. Seiichi had been devastated, screamed and cried at the hospital until Genichirou's method had calmed him… It was the only time were they had been intimate with each other.

Could it help Ryoma too like it had helped his grandmother and him?

Without losing any more time, Seiichi leaned forward, put his right hand at Ryoma's neck and the other at his right cheek, leaning closer till their lips met softly. The room erupted in silence immediately after a short gasp. No more sobbing sounds echoing from the walls.

Ryoma's lips were soft, salty from the tears and cold from the shock. Huge golden eyes watched him in surprise and didn't dare to close. The lithe body vibrated mildly instead of shaking violently. The shock and surprise were clearly visible. Ryoma swallowed once with the last tear streaming down his cheek, his eyes still wide open and unblinking, his lips unmoving. The kiss didn't last long with Seiichi leaning over and pulling Ryoma in a loose embrace and whispering soothingly: "Your secret is safe and sealed away with a kiss. Friends are there to help each other, right?"

Seiichi didn't wait for a reply, stepping back entirely and watching the incoming reaction from the teen. From the corner of his eyes he saw Genichirou's surprised as well as confused and hurt expression. Keigo was frowning, certainly not having guessed his ex-boyfriend would have ever done something like this. And usually he was right, Seiichi hadn't really thought through his actions, having done something he hadn't for a long time - Reacting without thinking. Tezuka was looking stoic and composed as usual, his eyes wandering the tiniest bit between him and Ryoma.

That stoic mask…. He had seen it so many times in the past, therefore understood the meaning behind it. The brunette was thinking hard, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together without anybody noticing. Tezuka would never admit to ever feel helpless or not in control but sometimes he couldn't stop his mask from slipping, just like Fuji. Fuji was glaring at him openly, obviously not liking his method to calm Ryoma down.

Good, no matter what had happened, he was still on his trip of getting revenge. He hadn't kissed Ryoma for this reaction but really to distract him from whatever was cruising through his head, causing this mental breakdown. Their reactions were just the icing of a big cake.

Seiichi watched, waited. He was no expert in the category mind and soul but he got the impression his new young friend would need mental help soon if he couldn't get a grip in the near future.