The exam's coming in a week. I'm really glad I manage to update before it! For those who've waited for so looong, thank you for the wait! After scraping and thinking over the plot several times, here I present you the latest chapter. It sounds rather depressing in the beginning but it'll get much better later! (Btw at first I was about to write some cliché title: Save me, My Romeo! but I glad I changed my mind XD)

For those who had reviewed but didn't get any reply from me up until now, I'm really sorry! I lost count on whom I've replied to and whom I haven't ^^;

Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis. Hey, have you watched the new ova? ^o^

Bad English, typos and some lyrics at the end of story.

Ch14: When We're Together

He tossed around in bed for the zillionth times. He couldn't sleep, but he didn't want to get up either. The shocking news he got yesterday made him didn't want to do anything. He just only wanted to forget everything. He gazed at the ceiling. It was supposed to be white but it was dark grey now because of the lack of light in his room. The light was turned off ever since he had entered the room and the sunshine was blocked by thick curtains on the windows.

He heard someone knocked at the door.

"Hikaru-jichan, let's have lunch together." His nephew Mitsuhiko said from the other side of the door.

Zaizen didn't reply. He turned around so that his back was now facing the door.

Just leave me alone.

"Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten since last night. Grandma says you need to eat something or else you'll get sick," Mitsuhiko said again. "Hikaru-jichan…"

After five minutes, the little boy gave up and left.

"Where's your uncle?" Zaizen could hear his mother questioned Mitsuhiko downstairs.

It was the fifth attempts his family had made to get him leave his room. First it had been his mother that had tried to wake him up because he had been late for the school. His brother Akira had tried to get into the room but it had been locked. Then Azusa had come to ask whether he had been sick or not. Lastly it was his father who had come and scolded but then the old man had given up because Zaizen was too stubborn to listen.

No one in the family knew what was wrong with him. The last time they had saw him had been when he had got home from the school the day before and walked straight to his room, shine then he hadn't left his room. They knew that something was wrong with him but didn't have any idea what it was. They were also worried that he had been sick. What if something happened with him when they couldn't get into his room?

His family cared about him so much and Zaizen knew it the best. But for the time being, he only wanted to be alone. Was it wrong? Well, actually it was because he did it the wrong way, but he was being stubborn and selfish for once and isolated himself.

They actually didn't need to worry because he was physically fit thanked to the amount of sport he did every day. The problem was with his heart and mind. He couldn't get rid of a certain thought… a certain event in his life when she had said that she had been going away… That they wouldn't have met again…

He really wouldn't have minded if she had rejected him, if she had said that their relationship had been impossible…

But to have her suddenly disappear from his life…

The pain was unbearable.

His phone that he had been kept beside his pillow rang. At first he wanted to ignore it, but it rang again and again to the point that his favorite ringtone had become so annoying.

He sighed and picked it up.

"Zaizen~ finally you answer." A cheery voice was heard from the other end of the line. He knew the best whose it was and regretted that he had answered the call.

"What?" He deadpanned.

"Well, you showed up neither at practice nor during the class so that I decided to give you a call." Kenya said matter-of-factly. "What's up? Are you sick?"

"No, I'm fine. Just didn't feel like going to school." He didn't feel like talking to the senior either.

"What's wrong with you then? It's rare for you to skip school."

'Nosy.' Zaizen rolled his eyes.

"It's because Yamato, isn't it?" his heart suddenly ached when he heard Tsubaki's name. "You looked ever since you talked to her. AH! Don't tell me she rejected you?"

"…I'm hanging up." He said coldly.

"WAIT! Wait, Zaizen I'm joking! Sorry!" He could hear Kenya pleaded faintly when he put away the phone from his ear. He sighed as he decided to give the senior another chance, while mentally noted that he would really hang up if this guy talked another nonsense.

"Sorry about that." He was slightly stunned by the sudden change of voice. It was now Shiraishi who talked to him. The saner captain most likely decided to take over the phone before Kenya did something stupid that could make himself killed. (Well, actually Shiraishi wasn't sane either, but he was sometimes better than Kenya, at least not as annoying as that idiot blonde.)

"He's worried about you for real though," Shiraishi began. "So are the rest of us."

"Well, thanks." Zaizen replied monotonously.

"Are you really okay?" Shiraishi asked in concern. "I don't want to sound pushy, but you can talk to any of us if you have problem. That's of course, if you're really willing to."

"…" Zaizen didn't know what to reply. He did appreciate his team's effort but on the other hand he still reluctant to tell them his problem because he thought they might not completely understand what was going on if he didn't tell them about Tsubaki's family. He had promised to her that he would have never told anyone about her brother's secret.

"I know you're thinking that we might not be able to understand you, but I hope we can help even though just a little." He was surprised when he heard it. It was as if Shiraishi could read his mind. "Were're friends, right?"

Friends? The corner of his lips slightly curved upward.

"Thanks, senpai."

"Anytime."

He looked at his phone as they ended the call. Friends were supposed to help each other. It sounded really cliché but he admitted that it was true. Just like his friends wanted to help him, he also had wanted to help Tsubaki realized her little dreams. That was why he felt guiltily as he knew that he might have been the reason why she moved out.

Was she happy by everything he had done?

Was she angry to him because he had been such a nosy?

What did she think about him? What did she feel? He had never had a chance to confirm them.

I know you're thinking that we might not be able to understand you, but I hope we can help even though just a little.

He felt the same. Was there anything left that he could do for her?

Tsubaki sighed as she gazed at the large window next to her. A lot of people passed outside the train but she couldn't see any familiar face. She and Tsubasa were leaving today but no one sent her. Well, that was obvious as she hadn't told nobody but Zaizen and the teachers that she was moving out. She hadn't even told him that she was departing today. Well, she couldn't have. She couldn't have said anything after she had seen his expression at that time. He had been shocked. He had been hurt.

"I'm sorry." She repeated that words again and again, even though she knew that it wouldn't ever get to him.

Just when she had thought that she could have been lived like a normal girl beside him, she was dragged back to the reality.

Her mother didn't allow her to date any boy yet. She thought it was too early for her. She thought it would bring bad influence to her. And Tsubaki was powerless against her mother's will. She knew that her mother did this for her sake. Her mother was worried about her wellbeing and she appreciated it. That was why obeying her was the best for her.

Still, how high she thought about her family, there was a part of her that didn't want to accept her mother decision. A part of her that contemplated whether it was really the best for her.

"Finally. I've always thought that big city wasn't a good place to stay from the very beginning," her mother's voice broke Tsubaki's chain of thought. "This time your father and I will be more careful."

"How about a place near our hometown. That way we can go home more frequently." Tsubasa suggested. Unlike Tsubaki, he didn't look sad at all even though he also got separated from his friends. She wondered why he managed to do so. Didn't he feel sad at all? Or was he only pretending in front of their mother?

Suddenly there were loud banging sounds on the window. This caught her attention. She turned around and was really surprised to find Zaizen there.

"How?" Tsubasa gasped as he saw his classmate right outside their compartment.

"Tsubaki-san!" Her mother tried to stop Tsubaki as she got up but she was too late and she had ran to see him.

At the time she arrived at the nearest exit door, he had been waiting outside. "Why are you here?" was the first thing that escaped from her lips. "How do you-"

"I asked your teacher," he explained, panting. "Thanks God I'm not late."

Had he run all the way to the station? She wondered. Why would he do such a thing? After all the cruel things she had done to him.

"So you're… here to send me off?" She asked hesitantly.

"No." His answer puzzled her. He then took a deep breath then continued. "Do you really need to go?"

She bit her lower lips. "I do," she tried to be as firm as she could. "It is my parents will so I-" Her explanation was cut when he asked another question.

"Do you really want to go?" The question caught her off guard.

"I… I…" Of course she didn't want to go. She really wanted to stay, but it was against her mother's will. There was nothing she could do. No matter how sad it was to part with her friends and her life here. No matter how painful it was to leave him.

There was really nothing she could do, wasn't it?

"If you don't want to then don't go." Why could he be so sure? He didn't even understand about her and her family's situation at all. He was raised differently from her. His family never restrained him. He could do anything he wanted. He never had big responsibility on his shoulders to the point that he had to give up his own desire and dreams.

"You might be thinking that I don't understand anything," his voice was really calm and his eyes never left hers. "Well, maybe I really don't understand, but I'll try to. That's why; you can tell me what you actually want."

At that time, the bell suddenly rang. It was a sign that the train she board was about to depart and the door will be closed shortly after the ringing ended.

"Why? Why would you do to such an extent?" She asked. Her weak, trembling voice was barely heard among the crowd.

He smiled and replied with a rhetoric question. "Aren't we friends?" He then offered her a hand. "Well?"

Right before the door was closed; she jumped off the train. Fearing that she would lose her balance, he caught her in his arms. They unintentionally hugged. He quickly realized and was about to let her go when, instead of shoving him away, she clutched at his shirt and sobbing on his chest. He knew he had forced her to make a difficult decision. He could tell it by how fast her heart beat.

She thought she must have gone crazy. It was the first time in her life she opposed her mother. Her mother must be really mad right now. But somehow…as she felt his warmth, as his hand gently patted her head, she felt that everything would be okay.

Like this, just the way we are right now. If you are by my side whatever hardship may occur I can win over it.
When we're together everything becomes alright, painful memories disappear.
When we're together I get happy again, without knowing, I put on a smile.

The song is entitled "Together", sung by Jiyeon (T-ara) and JB (not Bieber, mind you). It's one of the sound tracks of Dream High 2. It is in Korean and the lyrics above are the translation with some changes here and there so that it doesn't really look like a copy-pasted lyrics. Anyway, I recommend the song!

As I've said before, the exam's coming. Wish me luck and leave a review. I think I can update faster once the holiday starts :D