Chapter 5

Fuji was lying on his bed, his brown hair still slightly damp from his shower. Besides him on the bed was a small dish of cookies. Upon arriving back at his own home, he had asked what was in the hamper. Yumiko had opened it to find cookies nestled in folds of white cloth. He and Yuuta had each retreated to the sanctuaries of their own rooms, each with a small dish piled high with the snack. Yoshiko had frowned, telling them not to spill any crumbs although there was a light note in her voice.

He rolled over onto his back, staring up at his ceiling, picking up another cookie and munching on it. She must have added honey to the batter. There was that certain sweetness in it. And in the center, an evenly melted bit of chocolate from which she had folded into the snack. Eiji would like them, he thought, putting the rest into his mouth and chewing.

His door opened and his mother poked her head in. "Syusuke? You're still up?"

Fuji pushed himself up into a sitting position and turned his smiling face towards his mother. "Hai, okaa-san."

Her smile widened as she let herself into the room. Fuji moved off his bed, transferring the dish to his desk were it couldn't get knocked over on accident, and then returning to perch there, next to his mother. "Was that girl a friend of yours?" she asked.

"Aa-chan?" he asked, before slapping a hand to his mouth. There went his promise to use the pet name next week.

Yoshiko's eyes opened, the brilliant blue eyes that he had inherited sparkling with amusement. "Such a name?" she mused. "You know her well, then."

Fuji shook his head. "Iie… I'm not really sure," he muttered. "She just transferred over here two days ago. She's alright, I guess." Indeed, she was interesting, mysterious in her own way that was so like him.

His mother seemed to read him like an open book, no matter how successful he was at hiding it from his friends. "It's nice that you've helped a new student," she said simply. He let out his breath, not even aware that he had been holding it in the first place. She stood, as did he, and walked towards the door. "Get some sleep, Syusuke," she chided her oldest son, planting a kiss on his forehead before walking out. He nodded, shutting the door and then sitting cross-legged back on his bed, absentmindedly popping another cookie into his mouth.

The clock read 11:30 PM. Had he really been up that late? No wonder his mother worried. Shutting the blinds, he climbed under his covers and stared at his ceiling once again. He didn't know why, but he had the sudden urge to call Eiji and listen to his friend's senseless chatter. These past two days were taking their toll on him. He sighed and curled up on his side, pulling the blankets tightly around himself. It was beginning to get cold, now that fall was slowly turning into winter. He'd have to dig out his winter coat later. Perhaps when the weekend came?

Letting his mind wander from subject to subject, he gradually fell asleep, one hand creeping out of his covers to rest on his pillow.

***

"Morning practice today," Fuji stated, rubbing the last of sleep from his smiling eyes as he munched on a piece of toast. A glass of apple juice was also present besides his plate, and the hamper of cookies was in the center of the table. "I might also be a bit late coming back," he announced, finishing the rest of his toast and draining his cup of its contents. He didn't elaborate, and his mother didn't ask for a more thorough explanation.

"Just be safe!" she called after him as he left the house. He gave a wave of his hand in reply as the front door clicked shut.

He paused when he was in front of the Ijuuin house, staring at the gate with a contemplative expression on his face. His thoughts were interrupted when someone asked, "What are you doing, aniki?" He turned to see Yuuta walking towards him, hands in his pockets.

"Nothing," was his answer as he waited for his brother to close the distance between them.

Yuuta frowned, clearly not buying his older brother's excuse. Sometimes it was bothersome when your younger brother knew you so well. "Really, aniki, what are you doing?" Of course, Yuuta didn't really care about what his older brother was up to. Why on earth would he care about what he was doing? He was simply asking in order to fulfill his role as the younger brother, if younger brothers were supposed to ask their older ones what they were doing.

"Nothing," Fuji said again, beginning to walk forward on his way to school, when the front door of the house slammed open and footsteps hurried down the path. The gate creaked open, and both Fuji brothers turned to see who was exiting. It turned out to be Asa, who was currently shutting the gate before turning to face the street, rubbing her eyes tiredly with the back of her hand. Her schoolbag and another bag were in her hands as she started walking forward, head down and eyes staring at the pavement. "Good morning, Ijuuin-chan," Fuji greeted when she got closer.

"Eh? Oh, good morning, Fuji-san." Yuuta raised his eyebrows in mild surprise while Fuji continued to smile. Both boys fell into step besides the girl, flanking her as they made their way towards Seigaku.

"I'll be going, now," Yuuta announced when they reached the school gates. Fuji's unasked question of 'Where are you going to go?' was answered when Yuuta continued on, saying, "Mizuki was going to practice with me for a bit this morning. I'll definitely beat you soon, aniki!" Having finished his little 'speech,' Yuuta turned and walked off, seeming cheerful at the fact that he was going to beat his older brother.

Asa turned to face Fuji, noticing the frown on his face ever since his brother had mentioned the name 'Mizuki.' "Fuji-san?" she ventured, only to get her wrist grabbed by said person and then being subjected to the action of being dragged across the schoolyard. "Fuji-san?!" she tried again, and got no reaction. Now she began to worry. At this rate she did not see herself escaping anytime soon. "Fuji-san!" Her voice had risen slightly as Fuji continued to march across the school yard, the subject of multitudes of curious stares. She sighed mentally. When push comes to shove… She seriously did not want to become the subject of all of the fan girls' gossips.

Transferring her bags to the hand with the wrist that was imprisoned in Fuji's iron grip, she reached up and whapped him across the back of his head. In her present position it could do nothing serious, and she had the fleeting instant of panic when her mind brought up Eiji's comments about Fuji's sadistic side. Please, please, please, Kami-sama, she begged quietly under her breath. Please make me survive the last day before the weekend.

Fuji had stopped when his head had been hit by something. Twisting his head around his shoulders, his eyebrows rose in surprise at the stunned expression on Asa's face. A quick glance around the courtyard told him that he had succeeded in dragging her nearly halfway across it. Ah… Letting go of her wrist, he looked as bashful as he could muster. "Gomen, Aa-chan." Her brow quirked upwards and he found himself stuttering out an explanation twenty seconds later. It was rare for him to stutter, he mused as he did a retake on what he was saying. It was funny how some people had the ability to bring out certain aspects of you that others couldn't.

Take Tezuka, for instance. The captain of the Seigaku tennis team just couldn't help but draw out his more playful side, the side that also tended to play lots of jokes in the attempt to get a different expression on that stoic face. Fuji Syusuke was not one to back down from challenges, and he took the job of making Tezuka smile, or laugh, as a very serious challenge. Unfortunately, he had yet to succeed, although he did manage to get a tiny smile once. He would have to work harder.

Then there was Eiji and Echizen. While he mainly acted as a mentor towards their team's youngest member, he found himself to be unusually protective of him, just as he was with Eiji and Yuuta. Perhaps it was simply his older brother instincts kicking in.

"Fuji-san? Are you alright?" He returned to the present when his name was called. Looking down, he found himself staring into frowning blue eyes. "You're acting strange... are you sure you're not ill? People should never be stupid enough to run down the street in the pouring rain," their owner grumbled, stretching up to press her forehead against his. Startled, he tried to take a step backwards but failed on account that she held tightly to his wrist.

"No fever!" she said brightly a moment later, stepping back onto the balls of her feet and with a cheerful smile on her face. Fuji blinked, the brilliant blue of his own eyes showing for a second, before feeling heat rush up to his cheeks. "But honestly," Asa berated him as they began to make their way slowly towards the courts, him turning his face slightly away as to try to hide his slightly flushed cheeks. "You really should take an umbrella next time," Asa continued, not seeming to notice. "You'll be miserable if you get a fever. Are you even paying attention, Fuji-san?"

"Hai. I'm all ears, Aa-chan." This time, the pet name came out without the slightest bit of hesitation. Hey, if she didn't mind doing a head check for a nonexistent fever, than the least he could do was tease her with a nickname, right?

Unfortunately, it did not quite produce the desired effect, probably because she was already used to Eiji. Or probably because she hadn't heard him, since said redhead suddenly bounced out of seemingly nowhere, beginning his morning rituals of steady glomping, first with Asa and then with Fuji. "Good morning, Eiji," the two of them said dutifully, which he returned with enthusiastic bouncing as they continued on their way.

"Oh, Eiji-kun!" Eiji cocked his head to the side with a cute expression of childish curiosity. "This is for you." She handed him a box which he took happily, opening it and exclaiming with delight at the biscuits inside. Instantly, one of them was in his mouth and an expression of bliss crossing his face. "It's not that good," Asa murmured. "Kurumi and I decided to do a little experimenting with the oven. Okaa-san was working late yesterday." They stopped at the door to the locker room, and Asa stopped Fuji before he could go in. "Here; it's your jacket. Thank you for letting me borrow it."

Fuji accepted the garment with his usual smile. "Thanks," he murmured before vanishing into the locker room with Eiji. Standing for a few seconds with her schoolbag, she smiled briefly before making her way to one of the sakura trees lining the path to the courts. She had time to spare, so why not watch them practice?

When Fuji ran to return to return the ball that Inui had served for him, his gaze shifted to the side of the courts, where that lone figure leaned against the smooth bark of the tree. She looks a lot like Kurumi-chan, he thought as the gut of his racket connected with the ball and he returned it to a waiting Inui.

The manager of the Seigaku team turned in surprise when Fuji marched purposefully up to him. "I have to ask you something," the genius said abruptly, much to his surprise. So all of the regulars found themselves being dragged to the center of the court (even Tezuka, much to his dislike) where Fuji was waiting with a faint look of impatience on that angelic face of his.

"What?" Tezuka asked shortly, while Oishi looked worried and asked, "Is something wrong?" Fuji almost burst out laughing. It was so like the fuki-buchou and buchou.

"I have something to ask you all," he said to the assembled regulars. The eight boys leaned closer to him so that he could whisper into their ears.

***

Asa put the last of her books that she didn't need for morning classes into her locker, and then proceeded to shut the device. I hate mornings, she thought miserably, her hand straying on the cold metal. Honestly, what sane person would want to wake up early for school? Couldn't they hold it an hour later?

Of course, if they did, she would probably still complain.

Her hand leaving the locker's surface, she turned to start heading to class, only to find her way barred by nine tennis players. She was silent, stunned, while they stood and looked quite serious.

"I-is… something the matter?" she stuttered out. She couldn't help but feel faintly intimidated by these nine people, especially when they surrounded her and her locker in a semi-circle. "C-can I help you?" she asked, gaze shifting from one face to another.

Tezuka cleared his throat. "We've heard about your condition from Fuji," he began. A slow blink, followed by an expression that was half a glare and half a look of pained sorrow. "And we've decided," he continued in his deep voice, shooting a look at Fuji that seemed to say 'Fuji decided for us,' "that we'll be here if you ever need anything," he finished.

Her head tipped to the side in mild confusion before a faint smile crossed her face. "Ah… thank you," she said sincerely.

Tezuka gave a faint nod and then turned as if to leave, only to find Fuji having materialized besides him. One slender finger poked his side, and the captain turned around, expression still perfectly stoic. "Oh, and," he began.

"Fuji-san put you up for it, right?"

Fuji pouted slightly from behind Tezuka's shoulder. "Oh… you know, then?" he asked, feigning defeat.

Asa frowned slightly. That's because I'm quite sure that no matter how well Tezuka-san's intentions are, he wouldn't drag his whole tennis team to make this little announcement, she thought, although she did feel quite touched that he had went through with all this. "Thank you very much, minasan."

And she glanced at those nine boys and flashed a genuine smile. She was faintly surprised; Fuji and Eiji weren't pushing her away like some kind of freak after she had totally embarrassed herself. Mai no shainingu tenshi, she decided.

My shining angel.

Times nine.