A/N: …continuing…

Disclaimer: I accidentally ripped an inked page of Prince of Tennis. Takeshi Konomi made me draw it again. (Random T_T)

Edit: Continuity issues (14.1.2012)


Chapter Seventy

Fuji walked towards the wall, not caring if the girls watched her or disapproved of it. She opened the gate and took a ball out of her holder. Once she stood up straight, she looked ahead towards the baseline, not knowing that her gaze would unconsciously drift to the right. The place where he stood and watched her practise. She couldn't stop staring at the ground imaging his silhouette in her minds' eye. Someone opened a window nearby, breaking her from her spell and she lifted her gaze. Why did she have to remember that day when he stood behind her?

She wiped her forehead and walked to the line. She no longer thought about how much she wanted to hurt Arai… The heel of her tennis shoes touched the fading baseline and all she could think about was Tezuka. She told herself to stop picturing his face, and couldn't. Once both her feet were on the line she felt his gaze on the back of her neck, so strong that she had to turn around. No one was there. "Get a hold of yourself." She turned the ball over in her hand, as a quick distraction, wanting to start a rally. So why did the ball slowly fall from her hand and roll away from her without the racket even lifting?

"I shouldn't have come today."

Of course, Tezuka staring at her only happened during the evening. In the morning, well, it all came out. She told him about Atobe and he kissed her for the first time. Fuji gripped the racket tightly. She was starting to miss him – she already missed him – she really missed him.

Move. If she didn't move she would start crying, or notice that she already allowed a few tears to surface from her open eyes. That day was the same day he told her he was leaving… the very same day he robbed her of her strength. She gained him and lost him all in one day. Fuji wiped her tears away and scooped up the ball on the racket. Her thoughts of him were stronger than when she was at home only becomes he once stood in this area with her for so long. Keep moving. Do something other than thinking.

She released the ball, wanting to smash it against the wall but there was no desire in her to swing the racket. The ball just bounced several times before rolling away from her for the second time. She was going to get it when the tears began to burn her eyes. She tucked her racket under her arm and wiped her eyes until they were dry.

"Crying won't solve anything."

She turned back. An image of Tezuka flashed in her mind's eye. Her emotions were making her slightly delusional, going so far as thinking she heard his voice. To her disappointment and confusion she saw Ryoma Echizen and he stood in the exact spot Tezuka did, only on this occasion Echizen was behind the fencing. It burnt her that he would be so audacious to stand where Tezauka stood and wanted to tell him to move. Something told her to keep wiping her eyes as he came around to stand on the courts with her. She kept half her face covered with her hand. Echizen's gaze was only half interested, lacking any kind of sympathy. Having seen enough of her red eyes, he dipped his cap down and started his own rally. Fuji watched him for a while before stepping back, off of the white line and into the fence.

"I'm practising. Go away, Echizen-kun." She figured he had come to gloat about something.

He hit the ball by his feet and caught it in his hand. "Didn't think senpai would be here crying." He sounded irritated. "When I saw senpai over here I thought I was going to see something amazing… I'm more disappointed than you are."

Fuji scorned him, but listened.

"Why are you wearing those clothes, senpai?" He asked.

"Because I was asked too."

"Eh? It's that simple, is it? Maybe I'll ask Tezuka-buchou for his captaincy if someone like you would give it up so easily to a lesser team mate." Had he looked at her, he would have been paralysed under her stare. She didn't take too kindly to being made a fool out of. Was he kicking her while she was down? Certainly felt like it! "Not going to let that small incident knock you down, are you Fuji-senpai?"

"Small?" She was tempted to leave, not wanting to be lectured by a kid. "I don't think you understand much Echizen-kun."

"Sai-senpai was humbled by your hands, Fuji-senpai. That idiot won't die. What happened wouldn't even clear 1mm of importance."

Her gaze softened and became curious. "What are you getting at?"

He faced her, going so far as to point his racket at her. "Tezuka-buchou talks about you as if you're his equal, even before Atobe-san and Sanada-san. He believe there's something special about you."

She flinched. "What?"

"Buchou has seen something I haven't. Don't disappoint him, senpai."

Was this boy scolding her? Why does it feel like he's telling her to grow-up and get over everything that has happened? When she was ready to ask him a question, he turned away and began hitting rallies. She pressed her lips together. Something about his word cancelled out all her moaning and sulking. Was it that he cared? Or that he didn't care at all? Fuji patted under her eyes again and stretched her fingers out. So Tezuka talks about her. She blushed a little at the thought. It was a feeling long forgotten but glad to have floating through her. Now she wanted to know the kind of things he would say of her. He thinks I'm special?She had to hold happier tears back. After Sai said she was no longer special in his eyes, she was more then grateful to hear she continued to be special in Tezuka's heart.

She stepped closer to Echizen, curious… she wanted to hear more. "Echizen-kun… why are you telling me this?"

"Fuji-senpai, Tezuka-buchou keeps telling me I'm 'Seigaku's pillar of strength.'"

She thought about it and took a few more steps closer. "Pillar of strength? What did he mean?"

He glanced her quickly and shrugged. "Dunno."

That cute, disinterested look on his face nearly made her laugh. Another emotion she hadn't felt for a while. She stepped closer again. Was Echizen telling her, in his own words that whatever has happened - all of it - it didn't matter? Why didn't it matter? The past was the past maybe, but isn't that too irresponsible? She should at least try and correct things before he came back? Shouldn't she?

"Are you saying, I shouldn't care, Echizen-kun?"

"Senpai, you can do what you want."

She walked up to him and whipped his cap of his head. A mischievous spirit came over her. Another emotion she hasn't felt for so long. His hair fanned down over his forehead. He lowered his head a little, annoyed that she took it off and glared up at her. It soften when he saw a genuine and warm smile from her, one that took him by surprise when she was able to close her eyes with ease. He remembered what Shikawara said over the lunch break, that Fuji has never had them open for so long. He averted his gaze quickly. Before he could turn away Fuji bent down to his eye level and stared at him. Something about Echizen interested her. She wanted to find what it was.

She was calming down. That energy was weakening. She could feel it and wanted to know what about him did that to her.

"Fuji-senpai, what are you doing?"

Her smile grew. "Something about you is just like him."

"Don't treat me like him, because I'm better." He didn't look at her when he said it, which only made Fuji more interested.

If he was so much like Tezuka, she wondered what he would do when she leant forward and kissed his forehead. As Fuji pulled back she was giddy to see his cheeks turned red and how flustered his diamond-shaped eyes had became. This intrigued her greatly. Echizen's reaction was better than Tezuka's.

"You're just like him." She sobbed a little, with joy and a longing.

Echizen took his cap back to cover his eyes completely.

She giggled. She giggled! Fuji touched her cheeks, she couldn't believe what just slipped pass her lips. A giggle! She was even more curious and couldn't let him get away just yet. As he was about to walk away she grabbed him and gave him a hug… a tight one. The more he resisted the tighter her grip around him grew. He gave up and leant his head on her shoulder.

"You're almost as good as him." She whispered in his ear. "but, it's enough."

He signed and closed his eyes. He didn't count on her being so clingy. Where was the senpai that would have made him feel like he had a long way to go? For him it started to get uncomfortable and he wanted to pull away, but she only squeeze tighter.

"You're like a teddy bear."

"Fuji-senpai, you're making me late." He then whispered something else in her ear, a challegne.

The latter part, the part whispered made more sense to her and it explained why he said all that he did. She held him in place until someone came around the corner looking for him. After ten minutes Echizen gave up the fight. He didn't mind, after all, Tezuka told him to look after both teams…

"Oi! Echizen! What are you doing?"

Echizen didn't bother look up, sooner or later he knew someone would come looking for him. What he couldn't understand was why they took so long.

It was Oishi who came for him. You could hear the irritation in Oishi's voice. When he saw Fuji with her arms around Echizen, his annoyance chance to concern.

"Is everything okay?" He walked up to them.

"You need to tell Fuji-senpai off for keeping me back Oishi-senpai."

Oishi shooed him off to the courts, telling him to start running and training. He soon looked to Fuji, who watched Echizen stroll off.

"Fuji-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

She faced him, her eyes opened a little and wouldn't close again. "I think so."

"He wasn't saying anything rude was he?"

The smile slowly faded as Echizen stepped around the corner. "He was telling me off."

"What! He shouldn't be-"

She walked away from Oishi to get the ball. "Don't worry Oishi-kun. He was… encouraging."

She tried to pick up the ball with her left hand, and couldn't grip it. She felt a little inferior but shook the emotion away and took it up in her right hand. "I came here to train on my own." She looked up to Oishi to see that he fellowed behind her with his phone in his hand.

"Since I'm here, I got a text from Tezuka last night. He wanted you to read it."

She looked down to the phone.

"By the way, your sister… is she okay too?"

"Why?"

"She came by the school yesterday and snatched my phone, then throw it up in the air. It's was a good thing Kikumaru caught it."

"Oh," Fuji said slowly. That's how she got the number. Clever. "I'll talk to her when I get home." Oishi handed her his phone.

There was an unopened message left for her. She clicked on it and read over the message.

"Try not to be careless."

Her mood sank greatly. She knew not to get her hopes up. I really hate that part of you, Tezuka.She pressed 'options' and replied to his message.

"Not encouraging; too late for that…"

She hit the sent button. She handed Oishi his phone and walked off the court. If Oishi wanted to ask her anything, she didn't want to hear it. This ruined her climbing-mood. It was almost back down to nothing.

Maybe her brother spooked Tezuka out of saying anything from the heart. But it was typically him to say such things on his own. He could have at least said something sweet. She tucked her racket under her arm. She had no option but to walk back to the courts. She really didn't want to be anywhere right now. She spied the girls training and couldn't be with them, and headed for the changing rooms to clear her head.

Fuji continued to think over what her brother might have said to him, and equally what Tezuka could have said in return. Did his stupid text have anything to do with that conversation or did Tezuka understand something more?

She packed her gear away and started to get changed. Was Tezuka expecting her to be reckless? Over what? Arai? Did he know the two would kick off? Must have… No! He did know! Fuji thought back to the conversation he had with Arai and she remembered him saying it was better to talk to him than Fuji… did Tezuka know something of this nature would happen?

The thought made Fuji motionless. Her hands, she held the hem of her tee-shirt ready to take off. The words from that conversation were played over and over again in her head. Could he see this moment coming? Was he like Yokoishi, knowing things before it happened? That didn't make Fuji feel good at all… If he knew, could he not have told her to not react to it?

"You knew, didn't you?" Yeah, he knew. He had that picture after all! "Telling me to not be careless. What else could I have done? Maybe if I hadn't listened to Yumi I could have ignore it…" She forced her eyes closed.

She suddenly remembered what Echizen told her. It didn't matter anymore. All that had happened, stop looking to it and focus on what's in front of you: she was allowed to play tennis. The team still respected her. Arai kept her distance (unfortunately) and she could still watch the games.

"Handsome, brat." Just thinking about him made her smirk. "It would seem that you've grown a couple of hundred years... I'll let you be my equal for now Echizen-kun. I won't think about anything expect that one thing you whispered in my ear. I'll be looking forward to it."


tbc…

A/N: She got a little cheery from someone else, so why did the right one depress her? What are you doing Tezuka!

Chapter 71:An unwanted person shows their face! What will Fuji do?

Thanks for reading!(^-^)