You'll have to earn the next one, Syusuke.

Fuji smiled. It was seductive, the way she used his name. Of course he'd have to earn the next one. It wasn't as if he expected to just kiss her silly and have her in the palm of his hands.

No, you haven't quite got it.

Okay, so maybe there'd been that naïve bit of hope, but still, he'd known it was unrealistic. Even if at one point he'd had girls practically throwing themselves at his feet, he had managed to choose the one girl who had absolutely no reason to do so.

You think you do, but it's not that simple.

That girl, she was much too smart. She had more experience in these matters than he did, after all. She'd been through more.

In fact, Fuji realized, she was older than he was. Which was rare, even if, in a sense, he'd only had four birthdays to speak of. Not many of his classmates had birthdays before the last non-existent day of February, after all.

Ah, his birthday. Some people had superstitions about being born on the leap day. Fuji didn't know whether he believed any of them or not, but certainly his parents had run through a few when he was younger, something about being unlucky or immature or something of the sort. Of course, there were the positive theories too, especially the one he'd cultivated about it making him special. Well, he hadn't quite cultivated it per se. He hadn't so much as spoken about it since he'd heard it, but he had certainly played off it.

Then again, didn't he play off of a lot of things? In fact, he was still playing off of his past deeds and reputation as being a tennis tensai. Fuji couldn't help but wonder how much the rumors had added to or even facilitated his victories over his opponents. Certainly it had been quite devastating to that one character who'd thought he'd figured out all of his weak points. Fuji couldn't quite remember the fellow's name, but he did remember that the bastard had used Yuuta shamelessly, giving his precious younger brother a move that could have permanently injured him.

Of course, the whole charade had been planned out as soon as he'd found out what that bastard had done. Such circumstances couldn't have been accidental, after all. But that was about the extent of the malice anybody seemed to see in him, and even then, of course, they brushed it off because he had done it for the sake of his brother. Some even seemed to have forgotten the incident entirely.

That unsettled Fuji. It was as if nobody in the world could keep a grip on what the real him was like. They weren't even capable of hanging onto the clues. The evidence just slipped right passed them. Like their eyes slid off of his mask and looked at what they wanted to see, instead of really looking at him. They were looking at their own illusions. It was as if his mask had a reflective quality, a strange quality that didn't just reflect images, but the wishes, hopes, and expectations of the viewer.

Or maybe it wasn't his mask doing it at all. Maybe it was this glass world he was living in. Somehow, he'd trapped all the people he knew in this glass maze of his. Some were trying to reach him, wandering in that maze that was his existence. Some were just on the edge, a long distance away, just trying to get a peak at him in passing interest. And in the center of it all was Fuji. Fuji who was completely stationary as the rest of the world relative to himself moved without him.

She'd been right. It wasn't quite as simple as he'd thought.

And what about her? Where was she relative to this glass maze of his? Somehow, Fuji really didn't know. She couldn't possibly be in the maze, because his world shattering certainly wasn't going to cut her the way it would his family and friends. But she wasn't one of those other people only taking a cursory glance at him on their way to live their lives in ignorance.

No, she was something else. Perhaps, she'd stopped a safe distance away and was watching him in amusement. Laughing at him even.

Fuji couldn't think of any other reason why she'd have stopped to take a look. She certainly wasn't going out her way to see him, except for that one time she had confronted him about staying in the classroom during lunch. Maybe it was just that she understood his situation, so that when she did stop to look at him, she seemed to look right through the tinted glass of his maze and straight to his soul.

No one had ever done that before. And quite frankly, it unnerved him. It made him feel vulnerable, knowing that she could see the wicked darkness that he was capable of. And for some reason he felt the need to hide his true self from her the most.

What frustrated him the most, of course, was that even after having such a frightening affect on him, she could turn away and behave so innocently. For all that she was not quite the same as before, and for all that he couldn't even tell if she was wearing a mask anymore or not, she was still hiding something. She knew what he was, so why didn't she tell anybody? What was she waiting for? She had the power to ask anything of him, and instead of asking for something, she'd taunted him instead.

What's more, despite all her taunts, she could continue to talk to her friends like she didn't know a thing. Like there wasn't something wrong with him. Like- Like she didn't even care.

He hated it.

He hated that she could walk away so easily while he was still trapped in this glass world of his. Hated watching the world pass him by. Hated watching her walk right passed him.

He'd been watching her. She had been just like him, hiding her true self behind illusions. Smiles that hid malice, laughter that hid pain. So much like him, he felt he understood her well. Yet she understood him so much that it scared him. And yet, despite all those illusions and fakery, she was free now, and he wasn't. He watched as she laughed with her friends, not even sparing him a thought, for all that she knew the situation he was in. He watched her from inside his intricate glass maze, and he felt that she was well and truly free.

And he wanted that.

-

"Syusuke," Fuji was surprised to hear her voice whisper his name. The classroom had emptied ten minutes ago, and with the rest of his classmates, she had been carried away by those friends of hers. Great, that was the last thing he needed, more proof that he was going insane.

A feminine chuckle and he felt hands slide over his shoulders and down his chest. A weight leaned itself against his head and shoulder blades, telling him that he wasn't just hearing things. He instinctively supported the weight by pushing back on it.

"Syusuke." Her voice played with the pronunciation of his name and dragged out the first syllable in a coaxing tone. He'd have almost described it as whining, but that wasn't it at all. Her quiet and calm tone told him she was trying to get something out of him, but that she didn't really care either way. Like she'd said before, he had no right to think he had anything she wanted.

Fuji swallowed audibly. He felt her tighten her hold on him.

"Syusuke, you must be so lonely, sitting here all by yourself." She nudged the side of his face with her own. He relaxed his body to take in the feeling of her being so close, only to open his eyes as she gradually lessened the warm embrace.

His brief feeling of disappointment vanished, however, as she moved to stand beside his desk, smiling warmly down at him.

"Not anymore, I'm not." Fuji realized the truth of his words only as he spoke them, feeling as if she had filled a void that he hadn't known existed. It seemed, to Fuji's utter annoyance, that as of late he'd been encountering an abundance of new things he didn't know existed before.

Her smile took on an ironic twist, showing her appreciation for his implied compliment. "Have you eaten lunch yet?" She'd obviously noted that he'd been just sitting there. Perhaps he really ought to start taking out a book to at least have the appearance of doing something. After all, woolgathering wasn't the impression he was out to make on others.

"You haven't, have you. You don't even want to eat." It was a statement, not a question. She put her hand behind his head and leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. "I'll make you lunch tomorrow." Her fingers ran through his hair as she brought it back to her side.

Fuji smiled. That was completely unnecessary. But he appreciated her concern. It meant that he was worth something at least.

"Don't waste your effort on me."

She smiled and shook her head. "Well, if you're that afraid of my cooking, I'll consider being merciful. In any case, you won't be sitting here alone tomorrow, understand?" She raised an eyebrow pointedly, indicating her disapproval of his self-imposed isolation.

"I guess you'll just have to join me then." Fuji smirked.

This time, she laughed, setting her eyes a sparkle. "We'll see, Syusuke. We'll see." With that, she gave him one final kiss on the cheek and left him alone in the empty classroom once again.

Strangely enough, he didn't feel lonely at all.

-

Syusuke restrained himself from sighing. When Miyano Yuuzuki had told him that he wouldn't be spending lunch alone today, she'd been right. Just- not in the sense he had hoped.

Fuji turned his head and watched as Eiji devoured his food enthusiastically.

This was not how he had wanted to spend his lunch.

Apparently Eiji's girlfriend, Kanami June, had earned her way into an art contest and was now displaying her art at the Tokyo Convention Center. Oishi was studying for college entrance exams with Kokawa, so Eiji had opted to keep Fuji company instead. But for some reason, despite having looked forward to lunch all day, Fuji now found that he couldn't wait for lunch to be over.

"Na, Fujiko-chan! Isn't June-chan so amazing? She said she wasn't even done with that one! But sensei submitted it anyway!" Eiji was boasting between bites. His eyes shone brightly. And well they should. The picture was, after all, a charcoal sketch of him on the tennis courts, mid-acrobatic play.

Despite his recently melancholy isolation, Fuji felt that Eiji's presence was suddenly an intrusion. He may have been surprised at the idea that his melancholy mood had driven Eiji from his side, but now that he was back, Fuji felt- smothered.

"Of course," Eiji continued on his own, swallowing a mouthful of rice. For the first time, Fuji found his best friend's eating habits rather distasteful, especially while Fuji felt that Eiji's presence at all was an intrusion on his personal space. "She made sure to finish it before the actual judging. She still hasn't let me see it though."

Well, Fuji thought as he averted his gaze, at least he didn't have to do the talking. Eiji seemed perfectly happy to talk enough for the both of them.

Despite Kanami's refusal to favor Eiji with a preview of her work, Eiji was unperturbed. After school he was going straight to the convention center to see for himself. Fuji forced a smile and responded appropriately while Eiji expressed his excitement about being able to see Kanami later.

Suddenly, Fuji couldn't wait for Kanami to come back and take Eiji away.

-

Walking home after school, Fuji found himself warily watching for his former teammates. Eiji had already rushed off to meet Kanami, so Fuji was quite alone. Instead of regret, however, he felt an unusual sense of relief. The oppressive atmosphere he had been feeling since lunch was gone now, and he could breath easily again.

It seemed that after all that time spent without Eiji's presence, Fuji had grown used to the solitude. And now, he rather preferred the quiet. It was so much easier to think without having to socialize as well.

After that lunch with Eiji, Fuji came to realize that he didn't want to spend lunches with his old friends anymore. Somehow, their friendship seemed superficial. In fact, if it weren't for the tennis club, Fuji realized, he probably wouldn't have made friends with them at all.

It seemed to him that his relationship with the tennis club had only been as a tennis tensai, and not as a person at all. Only Tezuka and Echizen were able to see past his reputation and meet him as equals. The others, like Eiji and Kawamura, who for some reason chose to address him as 'Fujiko-chan' –Fuji now realized that he had been determinedly overlooking the nickname- only saw him as the tensai with the amazing tenipuri counters and the fearful fascination with extremely flavored food.

To them, like to the rest of the world, he was Fuji Syusuke, the tensai no tenisu. He was a figure to be revered for his talent, a person to be feared for his sense of justice, and not at all a boy who just wanted his loved ones to be happy.

That was the point, wasn't it? He did well in school for his parents. He played tennis for his brother. And he smiled for his friends. It was all to make others happy.

Wasn't that all he had ever wanted?

And yet, despite that, it hadn't been enough. Somehow, in his quest to please, he'd managed to hurt one of the people he'd wanted to please the most. Poor Yuuta. He hadn't meant to cast the boy in shadow. He'd just been so caught up in all the praise that he didn't realize how much his fame had oppressed his younger brother.

There was nothing to be done though. Even if he had wanted to, there was no way he could take back his actions. No way of convincing the public that he wasn't the tensai they'd made him out to be. What was done is done. He had no other choice but to continue to live under this label of his.

And poor Yuuta. After he had moved out, Syusuke found that the only thing he could do for his brother was to smile kindly and coax him into coming home every once and a while. It was no use trying to talk him out of transferring to St. Rudolph. The tensai claims were not unfounded, after all.

Fuji wasn't stupid. He knew for certain that leaving was the best thing for Yuuta. If Yuuta hadn't left Seigaku, he'd have been smothered by Syusuke's shadow. Even Syusuke had heard the way people had referred to Yuuta as 'Fuji's younger brother'.

So while Syusuke wasn't happy that Yuuta was living away from home, he made no attempts at changing the situation. Nothing he could do now would make the situation any better. All he could do was mark a goal for Yuuta to chase after.

There was nothing that he could do.

There was nothing that hurt him more.

-

"Mo, daijoubu, Fuji-san."

Syusuke was startled out of his thoughts not only by her sudden appearance beside him, but by her words as well. "Ah― Miyano-san…"

She smiled cheerfully up at him, giggling at his surprised expression.

"You'll be alright," she smiled innocently. "I promise."

-Apparently, I was missed. So since I had this sitting around, despite the extent to which I glared at it over the past year, here it is. The third chapter isn't completed yet, so don't expect anything for yet another long while. It gets more OC-centric from here. And unfortunately, I'll be shifting in and out of Fuji's perspective. I'm trying my best to develop characterization skills, so please bear with me!