So this is another chapter! I've reread my chapters and found them somehow depressing and mediocre. Haha, it's the hidden perfectionist in me! BEWARE! IT WILL EAT YOU ALIVE! Lol, yes so I've become a bit unhappy. Even though this is an apology, I'm sucha attention loving person that I can't help becoming starved for reviews either. That will be a problem later, or even right now. SO to interrupt my stupid ramblings, A NEW CHAPTER!

- blah - - flashback

blah - emphasis or thoughts

The hospital smelled like flowers. Fuji figured as much. When someone is sick, everyone naturally thinks 'flowers!' To confirm, he saw about half people in the sitting area carrying flowers of some sort. He became particularly attracted to two white lilies a girl his age held. They were beautiful. They weren't bunched together in masses like roses or tulips. Yet they held their heads high in their solitude, the slender green stalks fragile but strong. It reminded him of the tranquil strength that he admired so much.

The girl holding the flowers turned toward his direction. He smiled. Her eyes became two round marbles filled with hesitation. Slowly, she smiled back. To be polite, he decided to ask about the lilies, until he was stopped short by a nurse.

The nurse was tall with a slightly muscular frame. Her dark brown hair was tied tightly to a bun. She looked at his face thoroughly.

"Are you Fuji Syuusuke-kun?"

Fuji smiled apologetically to the girl before facing the nurse. "Hai."

Without wasting time, the nurse led him into a hallway lined with offices. "Your mother was waiting for you." Fuji nearly choked. His mother?! He was tempted to tell the nurse that his mother was currently vacationing in Europe with his father, but decided not to. He could tell the nurse was one of those people who did not like to be wrong. An apology or a surprised, frustrated face would be nice. However, he shouldn't be torturing strangers. An amusing thought though.

The nurse opened a door marked 'Wanazuki Keshime'. He saw his sister's brown hair, the face being blocked by the nurse's arm.

"Wanazuki-sensei. He's here." The nurse motioned for him to go in. He thanked her and shut the door.

"Please sit here."

Dr. Wanazuki was a tall man, even when sitting down. His olive green eyes pierced into Fuji. Fuji felt the corner of his lip twitching; his eyes were so much like Echizen's. And like the freshman, the doctor continued to fix his gaze on the 3rd year until he sat down on a stool facing him.

For a moment, Fuji was spared from the eyes when the doctor turned to grab his clipboard, but was soon the object of glaring again. Beside him, he felt his sister tense up. He looked at her. She was crossing and uncrossing her fingers busily. She looked up when she felt Fuji's stare. She smiled.

"Fuji-kun."

The said person looked up. The doctor looked at him seriously. "My name is Doctor Wanazuki. I'm going to ask you to perform some things for me. Is that okay? I've already gotten consent from your parents."

Fuji looked at Yumiko. She nodded; she had called them even before she had come to see the doctor. It's just like her to call them even though they are all the way in Europe.

"Hai."

And so, the tests began. At first, he was told to walk back and forth in the office with bare feet. He nearly fell once, which received a dark look from the doctor. After, he was to balance on one leg. Surprisingly, it was difficult. He was sure he looked like a derange flamingo; the Seigaku prodigy had no sense of balance whatsoever. Fuji found it amusing, though the doctor didn't. Next, he had to touch his fingertip to the doctor's fingertip and then touch his nose. The speed gradually increased; he missed the finger almost every time while never quite touching his nose. He was secretly glad though that he never quite touched his nose. He felt a little silly doing all these things. And Yumiko's anxious look was scaring him.

Of course, then the doctor just had to shine a light into his eyes. Furthermore, he was to follow it with his eyes only. Fuji saw purple stars once that was done.

Fuji let go of the air he was holding inside his lungs. Just simple tests, basic coordination tests.

However, he couldn't suppress his fear anymore when he was told to go into the MRI room.

"An MRI?"

Fuji held up the hospital gowns he was given to wear for the scan skeptically. The doctor nodded. "It's necessary Fuji-kun. Now, the nurse will help you. Your sister and I will be in the next room." Fuji looked at his hands. They had turned cold. Trying to ignore it, he observed the machine with forced curiosity until the nurse locked him into giant clamp for the MRI. He briefly wondered what medieval torture device this was based on. Probably a mix of sticking someone's head in a furnace and a drowning machine.

Fuji purposely closed his eyes so that he wouldn't see anything. But he could hear humming from the inside. It was impossible for him to block his ears. The small table he was on began to move. The humming grew closer. He couldn't help but think that it was a little irritating. He tried not to fidget. The nurse had told him carefully that they would have to do it again if he did happen to move. Fuji stayed as still as he could while having the strange sensation that he was being put out for a dangerous animal head first. He clenched his fists. It was just a piece of equipment with nothing inside. Completely hollow. He wiped his mind of anything that could make him panic. Once he found he wasn't thinking about anything, he hummed. He pleased himself with the thought that the machine was trying to hum with him but could only let out a monotonous sound. Trying your best right?

The thought stayed with him until the scan was over.

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"I will call to let you know when the results come back in. Until then."

The Fuji siblings bowed. "Arigatou Wanazuki-sensei."

The doctor didn't even grunt in acknowledgement. The brother and sister walked out quietly. Once outside Yumiko looked back at the door they had come out of with a look of interest. Fuji looked back also.

"What is it nee-san?"

Yumiko immediately turned back to Fuji with a cheerful expression. "Nothing Syuusuke! I just thought… the doctor's a little strange don't you think?"

His sister adopted a thoughtful look. Out of habit, Fuji chuckled. "Maa… I guess a little." He walked side by side with his sister. When they reached the waiting room, he scanned around for the girl with the lilies. Seeing no one that resembled her, he turned away. Saa… I guess she left…

Unexpectantly, a small crunching was heard. Fuji stopped. He looked down, half expecting chips of some sort. A lily was there. He lifted his foot off of the lily. It was a white lily, just like the one the girl held. Cautiously, he bent down and picked it up. The flower drooped unsteadily on the stem. It was broken.

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"Aniki?! What happened to you?!"

Fuji laughed. Yuuta's face was so incredulous; someone would have believed Fuji was indestructible.

"Saa… do you still believe that your aniki is impenetrable? I thought you would grow out of that point of view soon."

Yuuta turned a deep red. "Shut up! Of course I know that! I'm just concerned that's all!"

Fuji smiled. "You do care for me Yuuta! I knew it."

That just sent Yuuta into a greater fit of frustration and embarrassment. Fuji watched his antics with pleasure. He wished he had entertainment like this everyday.

Just then, Yumiko poked her head into the living room. "Now now, you two. Quiet please. Dinner's ready. Gomen, but I couldn't cook a Western style dinner today. So it will be a Japanese dinner! We haven't had that in a while right?"

The two brothers both nodded. It was true, even for Yuuta who rarely came. They barely ever had a Japanese style dinner. It might be due to the fact that his father lived in Europe; the whole family wanted a sense of being with their father by eating what he would usually eat.

All of them chatting, they sat around the dinner table. Yumiko sat next to Yuuta, who sat across from Fuji. The temporary family of three began dinner.

"Itadakimasu."

As expected, Fuji immediately dunked his fish into a homemade sauce made from horseradishes. Yuuta shivered from just the smell of it; much too spicy for him. Yumiko quietly ate her rice.

Having recovered from the horseradishes, Yuuta grabbed a little flesh off of the fish. Popping it into his mouth, he began a conversation.

"Ne, aniki, all of the regulars from your school are going, right?"

Fuji looked up from his spicy sauce and nodded. "Hm. Probably. Who is going from your school Yuuta?"

"Going? Going where?"

"Gomen. I guess we forgot to tell you nee-san. Our schools are both going to be going to the Junior Selection Camp next week. We won't be coming back home for a while."

Yumiko looked down into her rice. "I see…" She at once brightened up and grinned. "Then I won't have to come back and cook for a while! I'll be staying with my boy friend than."

Both brothers laughed. Her boyfriend was… in the least interesting. Fuji looked at Yuuta, signaling him to continue.

"Ah… well Mizuki-san is going as well as Kisarazu. I'm going too."

"Hm… sou ka…" Fuji said thoughtfully. He again reached for the fish. The chopstick didn't pluck the fish properly. He lined them up before trying again. It didn't pick up a single piece of bass. Fuji felt slightly perturbed.

"Oi… aniki. You're chopstick skills suck."

Yuuta looked at him oddly. Yumiko looked at him too. Having no other reaction, Fuji laughed.

"Maa… I guess so. I haven't used them in a while after all. I guess it's time to practice." Still smiling, he tried to move his chopsticks. One fell from his hand and rolled off the table. No one laughed.

"I'll get a fork for you Syuusuke."

Without any other warning, Yumiko stood up abruptly and nearly ran to the kitchen. Fuji and Yuuta sat in silence, not sure if they should continue the meal or wait for her. The older of the two broke the stillness.

"Saa… Yuuta… tell me about school…"

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Yumiko leaned against the cupboards. With almost aggravating slowness, she inched down until she sat on the cool kitchen tiles. In the complete silence of the kitchen, she realized she was breathing fast. Fast? For what? Because my brother needs a fork?

She got up quickly, making herself dizzy. Faintly panic-stricken, she held onto the sink. The ominous feeling when Syuusuke dropped the chopsticks… She couldn't ignore it. It had hit her powerfully; it was like getting hit with a hammer whose owner held godly strength. Yumiko rummaged through the drawers, pulling out a nice silver fork. It glinted.

-"Pardon me sensei?"

"Does Fuji-kun drop a lot of things at home, or outside of home?"

Yumiko paused. The dishes. Most of her mother's precious collection of dishes had been broken.

"Hai… but he's been tired lately. Final exams were coming up after all."

"How long has this been going on?"

"About half a month or so…"

"Does he seem to have difficulty walking?"

Syuusuke… difficulty in walking? No… he always walked gracefully. Today was the first time she had seen him stumble.

"No. I don't remember seeing that."

"Does he have difficulty swallowing?"

"No. Of course not. Why? What is it doctor?"

The doctor didn't say anything. He wrote something in the clipboard. Yumiko waited. Finally, after about ten minutes, he looked up again.

"I don't think it is useful to tell you now. My suspicions could be very well proven wrong. It will only be clear once the results are in."

Completely put down, Yumiko turned back to the MRI room silently. She could see Syuusuke's limp body going into the dark tunnel. She shivered. -

The sinister eyes of death, they always glint with malice and joy. Her grip on the fork tightened. She knew she shouldn't have taken up tarot card reading. Ever since, her sixth sense had been heightened, and the cards would always be a reference to something.

She closed the drawer gently. For once, maybe, her cards could be wrong.

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"Here you are Syuusuke. Make sure you practice using chopsticks next time. How will you be a proper Japanese boy if you can't use chopsticks?"

Fuji smiled as gently as always. He took the fork from his sister. "Hai hai nee-san."

He had patiently waited for it, Yumiko noted. His rice was left untouched from the last time she had seen it. Yuuta meanwhile had dug in without holding back; his rice was nearly gone and half the fish was eaten. She didn't blame him. Tennis practice was probably very tough; also she had made him walk since she was in the hospital with Syuusuke.

"Nee-san, aren't you going to eat?"

Her younger siblings looked at her. Yuuta with curiosity and Fuji with laughter permanently etched onto his brows. She realized, she loved her family. So she would protect them, no matter what.

"Of course I am. My fish is pretty good isn't it?"

Giggling childishly, she stole a piece right from Yuuta's chopsticks. This of course started a disagreement. She only laughed.

As long as this family is happy… I will be happy.

YAY YAY YAY! This chapter is done! And are you guys ready for it?!?! You get to know what Fuji has in the NEXT chapter! That's right! (seems like I'm bribing you, doesn't it? lol) yes, ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! So review review please!