Re-cap: Fuji, however, remained deathly silent, staring with wide-open eyes at the unconscious body on the pavement as he held his breath back in disbelief.

"T-Taiya-san.....?"

----

Nobody moved.

It wasn't possible since everyone was preoccupied with their thought-to-be male team-mate who suddenly had a gender swap and was now a girl with shoulder-lengthed hair lying unconscious on the pavement, white hat a few inches from her.

Unconscious.

OH CRAP!!

"Quickly, everyone!" Ryuzaki-sensei shouted, first to break out of the daze. "This person is extremely sick- we need to get her to the hospital!!"

"But, sensei, that person is...." Momoshiro started but was cut off by Oishi.

"It doesn't matter now; we can talk about that later. Right now our top priority is the health of others."

"Quickly, somebody call the ambulance."

"Yes, buchou!"

----

Dark.

What the...

Fuji?

Wait- Oishi?

No....buchou?!

Dream...huh? Where everyone I tricked will probably one day trick me....maybe they are all girls....?

Pfft...what am I thinking...

A faint beeping sound was off somewhere. I didn't know what it was. It's probably part of this dream that I can't get out of...don't tell me I'm asleep?! Did I fall asleep on the benches...?

I couldn't open my eyes for some reason... they were heavy, and I was tired. It seemed like a hopeless war.

But the beeping was really irritating....

Slowly, my eyes opened…

-

Fuji Syusuke and the rest of the Regulars were seated outside the room where their 'team-mate' laid, supposedly unconscious. Even Tezuka the captain of the team came along with the rest of the group to hear the explanation of 'that girl' which she would, no, SHOULD, tell after these 2-3 months of grouping with the team.

It was a fine Sunday morning- a day after the matches.

Nobody said anything as they waited; they had come at 9am- the time Fuji said he usually woke up on Sunday mornings.

Fuji himself was eerily quiet after that event.

Who would have thought a team-mate in your tennis club- the males division at that- was female?

Even though that one friend strangely resembled a girl and was constantly bagged, but yeah, who would've thought?

Fuji's expression was as though he was in a deep state of thinking, although his face was still as calm and passive as usual, although more forced than natural. The prospect of seeing Taiya in place of her 'brother' Tai was all that sustained Fuji's mind over the day.

The very thought of it, for some reason unknown to himself, had seized him up in a rare state of pure astonishment. People actually cross-dressed nowadays...?

Who does it now?!

The shuffling of hasty nurses and doctors were all around, with a single nurse in the ward Taiya was held in. All of the Seigaku team strained their ears to see if there was any movement or sound 'Tai' would make, so that they could immediately get the answer they want to know.

".....Why am I in the hospital instead of at the tennis courts?"

Oishi gave a jolt in his seat, before Eiji jumped up and prepared to rush into the room and question his 'friend' about what had happened the previous day. They trooped into the room (Eiji nearly skidding as he tried to reach his friend) and neared the end bed near the window where they noticed her head rotate around at the sound of their footsteps.

Her half-lidded lazy eyes seemingly widened at the sight of 9, no, only 8 Seigaku Tennis players pushing past the drawing curtains which hung around the hospital bed.

Taiya felt her hope crash down like a waterfall; Fuji wasn't amongst these Regulars.

'Dammit....and I thought Fuji was different....'

Oishi was reassuring the nurse in charge of Taiya's bed, and told the smiling lady that it would only be a short visit and they wouldn't be there too long to harass the workers. Tezuka seemed to tower over the smaller-looking Taiya, a shadow casting over her.

'Buchou....'

She couldn't shake the feeling that even while he was wearing a light purple shirt, he could still look surprisingly intimidating. As expected of a National-level tennis player.

All of those around her stared at her with questioning eyes, and she felt her head subconsciously sink lower until she stared at her knees, the bed raised up to meet her back like a chair.

"Um..."

"First of all, who are you?" Momoshiro cut in while Kaidoh hit him across the head with a sharp whack.

"Ow!"

"Idiot, you interrupted her telling us the reason."

"You wanna start something, you stupid Viper?!"

"Stop it, you guys." Oishi scolded, heaving a sigh before turning his attention back to the girl in the hospital bed.

"My name is Sanzushi Taiya, a student from China. Gender: girl," she said, and they could here a hint of bitterness in her voice. "What else...would you like me to explain?"

There was a pregnant pause as her question sunk into each of their minds.

"Why....what happened....well...you know..." Oishi trailed off awkwardly, unsure of how to react. Though all of them held quite a bit of irritation towards the fact they were deceived, it seems that most of them were much like Oishi- very uncertain of how to deal with the situation. It certainly didn't come in their everyday lives a lot, now did it?

'Simple question, just hard to answer, eh? Dammit, now that I think about it....my reasoning is quite poor.'.

Curse her and her stupidity, letting them all know about her.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"I....just wanted to try....it's my personal way of proving something."

"...Prove something? In this sort of way?" said Taka-san, mildly surprised.

Taiya sighed. "It's a personal thing. My dad, Sanzushi Ryu, had died 7 years ago. He was a tennis player. My brother left to study in Australia 3 years after that. He too was a tennis player. And..." She paused. "Simply put....it as improving for my pride."

Silence greeted her words, as though asking her to continue.

"The first step was to get in the team. And then it was to head to the Nationals again. The standards of tennis are higher in Japan than in China, of course. And when my brother came back, I don't want him to see me as a failure."

"Wait a minute, Tai- Taiya-senpai; you were in the Nationals before?" Momoshiro said disbelievingly, speaking as though to clear something out.

"Yes. It was China's Nationals for Middle schoolers. Instead of staying in China, I headed to my second ethnic background; Japan. I was initially planning to head over to America instead, but due to....certain...language barriers..." She gave a cough. "The reasoning doesn't sound very convincing, but I'm not here to try to convince you or make excuses."

Silence greeted this.

"But that doesn't fully cover the reason why you came to Seishun Gakuen."

Collecting her voice again, she said, "I only heard that Seishun Gakuen was a great school with a great tennis team that promotes team-work as well as honing the individual skills of a player," explained Taiya in a much stronger voice. "Also, it was a more negotiable school for my mum since she had also studied here, as well as my dad a long time ago. It was only natural."

"What about the girl's team? We're not sure if we can allow you to still be in the team anymore..."

"And it's nearly the next tournament...."

"What will happen with the school...?"

Taiya's throat constricted at those words; she may have cost the team something big. And indeed with the tournaments so close up, she also had caused a major distraction for them.

"I'm sorry..."

The Regulars all looked at her. "Huh?"

"I'm so sorry for lying to you guys." Her voice was almost inaudible due to her mumbling. "I actually debated whether I should have continued doing this or not, but...." Taiya suddenly stared at Eiji, enormous guilt welling up in her when she saw his expression. "I'm sorry, Eiji. I know it must have been a shock to know your classmate wasn't a guy." 'I really liked this guy...I'm a bad person, ne, dad?'

Eiji blinked. Taiya was silent. But then she saw a small grin seep onto his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"...?

"You weren't just a classmate! You were my friend! Me and Fuji's classmate and friend!" he exclaimed, while Taiya inwardly sweat dropped.

'He's fast forgiving....'

"Hey, speaking of which, where is Fujiko-chan?" Eiji said, peering around the small ward. Taiya lowered he face once for the umpteenth time, still with an uneasy smile flickering on and off on her face.

"Don't worry, he probably doesn't really wanna talk to me now, ya know? No tensai would like to be deceived," she made a sad attempt at a joke as she let out a sigh. 'Now it's all up to buchou to decide my fate. I wasn't careful enough.'

Oishi placed a hand on his chin, already in a deep state of thinking. "How did you even make it into the school? You would have had to include your reports from your previous school to see your record, and you can't change the names-"

"I did."

They all looked at her and she gave a very meek smile. "Well, technically my friend did, not me. He changed names, records, and we replaced text on the copies. The picture on the other hand, was a picture of me...in my freshman year." Taiya flushed.

"It could actually pass as a boy's picture..."

"As expected of Taiya-senpai....na...?"

"That must have taken a long time, neh, Tai-chan?" Eiji gave a kind smile, resting his head into his arms. Taiya felt strange hot around the collar and shifted slightly. Despite feeling slightly warm, she felt relieved with Eiji's presence so nearby. She dipped her head, averting Eiji's gaze. 'What's up with Eiji? He's acting a little weird.'

"N-not really...well...erm..." Taiya looked away uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry, but there are too many visitors here at a time."

An elderly nurse said, bustling in with a small clipboard containing several sheets of paper. She flipped a sheet to examine the paper underneath, reading through her horned-rimmed glasses before she looked up, still holding the piece of paper. She smiled gently and kindly added, "But you can visit her again some other time maybe in smaller groups if you wish."

"No, it's fine. We shall leave now; we are sorry for disturbing you," Tezuka said to the nurse in his deep voice. He turned to face the girl. "We'll continue this discussion later. Your consequences will be considered until you come back to school. Until then, rest easy. Even though we're not sure if you're in the team, it's best to still stay healthy; you were part of Seishun Gakuen's Tennis team, after all."

'What does he mean "we're not sure if you're in the team"....isn't it his decision if I have to be dropped out and humiliated?!'

The old nurse continued smiling gently, letting the slip of paper drop back down neatly in it's clamped stack on the clipboard. "We'll, Sanzushi-san, I shall ready your medication in 15 minutes, so please prepare yourself," she said, disappearing from view. Taiya was sitting up in her seat, gulping with a horror-stricken face.

"What...? Prepare myself....?" she whispered in horror.

"It seems you have to face punishment here as well," Oishi smiled, sighing as though he had removed a heavy burden from his shoulders. Taiya ignored the fact her team-mates found out about her 'true identity' and instead pondered about her fate. "Not needles....."

"Ahem, well, thank you for your reasoning, Taiya-san, or shall I say 'Tai'," Oishi said with a kind smile, making the mentioned person blink. "We'll go inform Ryuzaki-sensei about it and try help figure this out- it's quite a mess you have gotten yourself into," he chuckled.

Taiya felt guilt wash over her heart. She lied to them without even a good excuse, and they were still helping her try sort things out.

"But, Oishi- I mean, Oishi-san," she started rather awkwardly, not used to adding the honourific at the end of the name. "I have already caused enough trouble for everyone- I can handle this school business myself. I thank you for your generosity and kindness you have given me all this time." She sat up more upright before dipping her head in a polite bow. "I know you all must feel slighted....nobody likes to be lied to...."

Oishi blinked before he gave a soft laugh. "Well, here's something that might make you rest assured; I'm sure it's something we might think about for a while and have difficulty digesting, but we'll eventually get over it. We're not unreasonable people, after all. I hope you get better soon; you're still a team-mate despite the, uh, sudden event." He gave a parting wave before exiting the door.

"What the?"

As everyone had already left the room, Eiji suddenly walked back to her. Then she felt herself getting embraced in a big and surprisingly strong hug. He was so close that she could smell the familiar tingling deodorant he commonly wore, and felt, despite the embarrassment, rather shocked.

"E-eh, Eiji, what are you....?"

"Tai-chan," he said, letting go of her and staring into her eyes with his arms resting on her shoulders. "It's all going to be okay. Even if you weren't really a handsome boy (Taiya twitched), you still are basically the same person, nya?"

Taiya, unsure about how to respond, kept silent. Eiji gave a bright smile. "Anyway, Tai-chan like this is much cuter!"

.......

'I think that's about the first time I've been called cute....as a girl that is. Maybe Eiji just accepts anyone....' Taiya mused in her head.

"We like 'Tai' not because he was a boy," Eiji emphasized the two words, letting a small smirk cross his face. "But because you are you. So don't worry- everything is going to be alright! I'll try make sure you stay in the team- I don't want you to go!!" he pretended whine childishly while Taiya laughed for the first time that day. He gave one last clap to her shoulder before giving a quick wink, walking away.

Eiji stopped at the doorway, resting his hand on the door frame and he turned around to bid a last farewell. "See you at school, Tai-chan!" She gave a small wave with an unsure smile, before letting her arm drop to her side.

"What have I done....?"

----

"Fujiko!!" came a disapproving voice.

Fuji lifted his head from his hands, wearing a confused expression.

"Eiji?"

"Fujiko!!" Eiji repeated his name again, now landing right in front of the seat Fuji sat in, hands on hips. "Mou, why didn't you go inside to see Tai-chan? If you had heard her reasoning, you would-"

"I heard," Fuji said, lowering his head once again to his hands. "Yeah.....I heard," he continued in his soft voice, nodding slightly, as though reassuring himself.

"Then why?" Eiji exclaimed dramatically. For a split second, Fuji was unsure of how to respond, and instead he placed his mask like face on again with a small smile.

"I'm just thinking, Eiji. Don't worry about it. I'll go in to see her now. I'll see you guys Monday, okay?" Eiji's frown was quickly replaced by a large smile as he bounced over to his best friends and hugged him happily.

"Yay! There's the kind and caring Fuji I know!!" Eiji let go of the honey-brown coloured hair boy before striding off with the rest of the Regulars in his light red shirt. He turned and gave a wave. "Ja ne, Fuji!"

Fuji lifted his hand to wave. "Yeah...ja ne, Eiji."

----

Taiya stared off at the wall in front of her, as though a T.V. had just magically been molded into there. But when hearing the sound of foot steps enter the room, she could only freeze in fear. It was either Fuji, or the nurse; both were bad choices. Not knowing why her body won't react, she felt herself dread the figure approaching through the empty ward she stayed in; the tensai himself had come.

She stared at his face, confused as to why there was a normal smile worn there. Then, remembering he was a master of hiding his true emotions and thoughts, she immediately tensed up.

"So...how are you doing, Taiya-san?" Fuji said slowly. Taiya, even though she knew she didn't have the right to, felt herself grow annoyed. His deliberate idle talking- 'It pisses me off!!'

"I'm well....Fuji-san," she replied rather coolly. Two could play this game.

It was now Fuji's turn to be slightly off phase, but his face didn't betray him in any way- he was the master of keeping his emotions under control.

Although the situation now it was kind of pushing it.

There was an uncomfortable silence, and the surroundings were brooding with a heavy atmosphere. Staring at Fuji until he wished to speak again- probably to poke fun at her whole conscience and pride- Taiya finally saw the tensai stop with his back facing away from her.

"When did you plan to tell us?"

His question didn't surprise her. He was Fuji afterall- a young man that can let his facial expression remain the exact same for days on end. "When the time was right, I would have eventually-"

"Eventually?" Fuji gave a small chuckle. "When was the 'eventually' going to come; we're already onto playing our third or so tournament, and only by chance we knew of....your secret?" Fuji turned around. Taiya was confused; she expected Fuji to be more...acceptable, understanding and...not so innocently harsh? What drove him to say things like that....? It wasn't like him.

Did she do something to him in the past to make him own an attitude reserved for herself?

Did she...hurt him?

'Heck no, not possible.'

"Taiya-san...of all people, I never would have thought you were actually a student at Seigaku, in the very tennis team I am in," Fuji gave her a smile, in which she returned half-assedly. "Did you think of Eiji? How it would have affected him?"

Now Taiya was confused; why is he talking about Eiji?

"Eiji is generally a nice person. But even he has his limits," Fuji said. His voice was carefully tinted with a hint of coldness. "Even though he has let this slide past....it would be a good experience for you to know what he really felt inside, right?"

Taiya frowned, not knowing what he was getting at. Although he was- she felt- sliding off the topic which laid between him and her personally. Why is he avoiding it? Taiya thought, agitated.

"This wouldn't have been much of an issue if you had told us maybe a little earlier."

Taiya trembled underneath the sheets with slight irritation.

"I really don't know whether you were toying with Eiji and the rest, with their emotions-"

That's it.

A sharp slam sound was heard.

Startled and wide-eyed, Fuji turned and saw Taiya staring at him with hard eyes, her hand slapped against the hard surface of the bedside table.

Through gritted teeth, she said, "Stop avoiding the real topic and dragging Eiji into the picture. I will talk to him personally, as he would to me, instead of having you talk for him. That goes for all of the others too."

When Fuji remained silent, she continued, trying to calm herself down; her short-temper has always been a problem for her in school and home.

"I understand what I have done, maybe more so than even you, tensai Fuji-san," she started slowly, voice trembling. "I already understand the consequences! I understand the fact that all the actions I have done these past 2 or so months might have affected people around me! Do you think I really am that dense to not know all this? To not come prepared?!" Even though Taiya knew she was on the wrong, she can't stand letting people having a go at her; zero tolerance.

Fuji's eyes flickered in surprise. That was something he wasn't expecting. But then again, he wasn't expecting Taiya to suddenly bawl on her hands and knees for forgiveness; he knew the tom-boyish Taiya didn't swing that way.

"I'm glad to know that then, Taiya-san."

Taiya stared right into his eerie blue eyes, which were usually always so warm and friendly when she hung around him and Eiji. "It's very nice to know that someone who made it into Seishun wasn't a fool. Coming prepared is important, yes?"

Knowing that he wasn't finished, she held her tongue. Fuji started pacing the room again, this time letting his hand slide along the smooth, metal surface of the bed post. "I have actually, even though I didn't show it, been suspecting something was a little, let's say, awkward whenever it came to the topic of the two Sanzushi siblings." This time Fuji let a small smile creep onto his face, once again igniting Taiya's fear of clowns.

"What do you mean? Enlighten me with your observations," Taiya asked pleasantly, a smirk tugging at her lips. The atmosphere felt like it had loosened up slightly, and Taiya didn't feel like she was going to be attacked from all sides now, although it seemed as though things weren't going to end smoothly for a while. Fuji once again closed his eyes, giving him the image of a very friendly passerby.

"First we can take consideration of your appearance."

Taiya listened intently, trying to spot out her mistakes taken in by the 2nd best tennis player in Seigaku. "Too dainty for a male, obviously, but there are possibilities of being born premature. You were very fragile looking, yet at the same time surprisingly strong when playing tennis- your expertise sport," Fuji remarked. "You are roughly 8cm taller than Echizen-kun, which is strange for someone of your age, considering you were a boy, and your endurance is very good for a female, but not very impressive for males."

Taiya scoffed. "I guess it's that much of a difference then." 'Shoot, why do I talk so sarcastically when with Fuji?! I'm not all nice and polite like before for some odd reason! Damn you, Fuji!' "Please continue."

Fuji dipped his head in a mock bow. "As you wish. Well, as we all should know, a female body has less muscle development compared to males, yes? Your physical fitness development was slower than a guy's average, and each time, I saw that the training was becoming increasingly harder for you to maintain."

Taiya mentally cursed. 'He got that right.'

"And also, those coincidental events where you would disappear and Sanzushi Taichi would suddenly appear, only to have his sister up in her room studying? Although you gave very plausible excuses, it becomes a tad obvious after a while, don't you reckon?" Fuji inquired, a glint of mischief in his eyes. Taiya ignored his sarcastic remark. "And then...the weights. Why would Tai's sister be wearing his weights for training? Then suddenly burst into the house and come back out with nothing at all. It wasn't a noticeable feature, but I am an observant person, Taiya-san. Your actions were suspicious, and that is what caught my attention."

"And as a side note, I realised that you like taking your time to pack your things and all even if it was late, before going to the change rooms. Was it just me, or did Taichi always come in when everybody else had left?, I thought to myself. Unless you were hiding something."

"And until yesterday, you finally confirmed your suspicions," Taiya finished for him wearily, slumping back onto the pillows. "That was mighty observant of you, Fuji Syusuke."

Fuji gave another pleasant smile. "Oh no, I think many people would have realised this, seeing how poorly you rendered yourself into the plan. But nice going, lasting 3 months."

Another baited silence followed after Fuji's long explanation of how Taiya had screwed herself over.

"Well, it might seem worthless now, but.....I'm sorry, Fuji-san." Taiya bit her lip slightly as she stared down at the white sheets. "I had come, prepared to have very loose-end ties with people around me. I didn't want to befriend anyone so much that it became such a trouble. But now that I have....I don't want to lose the bonds I've made with everyone, regardless of the short amount of time spent. I really want things to go back the way they are."

So soap-opera like. Why, oh why, was it like a soap opera?

A badly written one?

But instead of hearing another sarcastic or crude statement shot against her, she instead heard a slight chuckle. Looking up, she saw Fuji politely chuckling into his hand.

"You really are interesting, if I may say so, Taiya."

'Great, he dropped the -san.'

Fuji turned to leave. "I can dwell upon those seemingly feminine words of yours which I wouldn't have thought I'd hear with such sincerity- 'I'm sorry'," he imitated, giggling again before Taiya realised he had dropped his air of the 'cold prince'. "We'll see how time can heal this over. I can't necessarily say my entire trust is exactly back 100 percent, seeing as you had to take after your foolish actions, but....I can let this slide for now. I'm a nice person, after all."

'That was a joke, right?' "You've been using the word slide a lot, Fuji," Taiya have a half-smirk. Fuji himself gave one of his own before heading out the door.

"Ah, I'm going to get a drink; I'll come back later. Until then, have fun with the nurses."

His sing-song voice sent chills down her spine.

She almost sagged down and suffocated herself in the hospital blankets.

'Nurses.....

....and friends. How 麻烦(troublesome).'

-----

A/N - Wow, the internet wouldn't let me post up chapters. Meh.

I know, this whole ordeal and how it was dealt with was pure crap, but I'm not too bright at thinking, nor do I have many good ideas. But....there it is. Hmmms, Fuji and Taiya's

Corrected and looked through briefly on May 2009.