A/N: I am using Fuji for Fuji Syuusuke but I'd be using 'Syuusuke' when his other siblings are present.

Starting here, we would be going 3 years back before the prologue and refer it as the present time to finally start the story and see what really happened.

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'thoughts', "dialogs", past


Thousandth Paper Crane

Rated: T (but it is safer than T as of now)

Summary: They met when they were kids then got separated by a tragedy. Reunited by fate. Only to be separated again, now by time. Playing against life and death, can they win? Now everything lies on the one thousandth paper crane and Fuji's last wish.


Chapter 01

3 years prior…

"Are you sure about this?" his father stood by the doorframe, watching his son getting ready for his flight back to Japan that day.

Grabbing the white cap, he finally faced Nanjiroh. "Old man," he frowned.

"I got it! I got it!" Nanjiroh immediately replied when the annoyance was clearly written in Ryoma's face. He did not want to argue with his son anymore, anyway they had talked about this for more than ten times already. "But still—"

Ryoma glared at his father. Seriously, his old man was getting more and more annoying as seconds ticked by. "I thought you've told me before that I can decide on where to attend college?"

"But I did not know you were considering going to Japan! Especially after Fuji-kun—"

Ryoma raised his hand to stop his father from saying further. He knew what his father was pointing. They were just worried for him, yes. But he's already eighteen and can do things on his own. He was the independent type, after all. He sighed. "Keigo is there to pick me up. I am also attending the university he's in so you can rest assured."

As Ryoma thought, his father calmed down. He actually did not like to say that he would be with Atobe in Japan because he knew how his parents persistently pushing them together after that incident despite the fact that Ryoma just looks at Atobe as a very close friend. But if it would silence and relieve his father, saying it was of worth.

"Ryoma! It's time," his mother called from downstairs.

"Come, Karupin," said Ryoma as he walked passed by his father.

"Take care then."

"Aa…"

thousandthpapercrane

Ryoma was leaning against the wall, watching the crowd fill the hall of the mansion of his father's friend.

"This is boring," he muttered and wandered out of the hall into the garden at the back of the mansion. He closed his eyes and felt the cool breeze against his skin. He shivered a little but he did not mind, he liked the coolness instead. 'That damn old man,' he quietly thought as the memories of how he ended up in the party flashed through his head.

2 hours earlier…

"Seishounen, hurry up! We're leaving!" Nanjiroh was knocking at his son's room's door.

The door creaked opened a little, revealing a dazed Ryoma who was obviously just got up from his bed. He scratched the back of his head. "What is it, old man?" he said through a yawn.

"You brat! Hurry and change now! We'll be late for the party!"

"Party what?"

"Were you not listening last dinner? I said we're going to Fuji's mansion."

"Fuji who?"

"Fuji Souta. A teammate in tennis when I was younger. When he heard that I came back from America, he organized a party or something like reunion."

"Ah. Have a safe trip then," Ryoma attempted to close the door only to be stopped by Nanjiroh by slipping his leg into the space between the door and frame.

"IT HURTS!"

'Stupid old man.' Ryoma frowned. "What now?"

"You're coming." With that, he grabbed his son.

Back to his time…

'Seriously,' Ryoma sighed. He then let his eyes wander around the garden, finally taking in its European style beauty. It matched perfectly the Victorian mansion, but something was off. Something was out of place. Approaching the huge tree, he looked up to see a tree house. An amused expression lit up his bored face. 'Great! It is my first time to actually see one.' Without any second thought, he climbed up.

The tree house was just small. And it was actually fenced, it even had balcony. To Ryoma's estimation though, only three to five small kids can fit inside. Carefully, Ryoma entered the small door that was not actually closed.

"Wow," he did not hide the surprise in what welcomed him. Inside the house were origamis hanging all over the place. Flowers made of paper were on several small jars, butterfly with sticks were placed near them. There were paper angels, swans, and many more scattered along the area.

Caught into his own world, he did not notice the pair of cerulean eyes watching him from the door.

"This is…" Ryoma muttered.

"Origami," the boy answered with an amused voice.

Startled, Ryoma turned around to see a beautiful kid, a bit taller than him. He had brown hair and his eyes were half-closed, smiling at him. He was so beautiful that he almost thought he was a girl. Looking down though, noting that the other kid was also in a small tuxedo. He frowned. "A boy."

Though Ryoma just whispered it to himself, the other boy still heard it. He laughed at that. More amused than ever. "What? Disappointed that I am a boy?"

"Aa…" Ryoma did not need to hide the truth. It's all out in open anyway.

"Was I that beautiful?" said the boy.

'Great! A narcissist.' Ryoma looked out of the window. "Not really."

The boy then just put back his usual smile. "What are you doing here?" he walked towards him, putting the newly folded paper crane at the small table near Ryoma.

"Did you do that?" Ryoma quickly brushed off the question and focused on the object at the table. He sat and watched it with the others of the same kind arranged in rows. It was not like Ryoma was ignorant, it was just that origami was more popular in Japan than America that he had barely seen one before there. Little kid he was, he found that just a piece of paper being folded to form another object was interesting. "Did you do everything around here?"

"Not all, but most of it," the boy sat beside Ryoma, "Some were created by my Mom and Nee-san."

Ryoma then looked at the boy. "Ne, teach me," he commanded.

The boy chuckled once more.

'I miss his laughs.' Ryoma's eyes shot open. He blinked once before closing his eyes once again. 'A dream from 11 years ago, huh.' He relaxed his body and looked outside the plane. The Japan was already in view, and not long later he would step onto the land that he had not visited for almost eight years.

thousandthpapercranes

At some random cafe near Tokyo Daigaku...

Fuji stared blankly outside the café through the transparent glass wall. He was watching the orange cat playing with its own fur at the side of the road. He then got his prized camera and took a shot of the cat with the greatest angle possible, not minding the invisible wall between them.

His friends sighed.

"Fuji, are you even listening?" Shiraishi asked.

Yukimura elbowed the friend at his right side gently, finally snapping Fuji's attention back to them.

"I am listening," Fuji smiled at them. "Oishi finally asked Eiji out, right? That's why they are not here."

Shiraishi frowned. When could he ever catch Fuji off guard? Even though he was already sure that Fuji's attention was not on them.

Fuji smiled at Shiraishi's frown. He leaned closer and poked his cheek. "Too bad ne, Kura-kun?" he teased as if he was reading what was Shiraishi was thinking.

Everyone then turned at Atobe when his phone started to alarm.

"You have plans?" Sanada asked. They already know everytime Atobe's phone alarms but having something scheduled was rare for the diva, especially when their group was out on an afternoon snack after school.

"Ah, yeah. I'm going to fetch someone," said Atobe. Everyone noticed the spark in their friend's eyes.

Yukimura, Fuji, and Shiraishi did not bother to stop their giggles while Sanada just smiled a little and Tezuka did not react.

"What?" a frown appeared in the diva's face. He really did not like it when his friends started to chuckle, especially Fuji and Yukimura.

"Who is this someone, Atobe?" Tezuka asked.

"Yeah, who is this someone who can make our diva's eyes sparkle?" Fuji repeated.

Atobe just smiled. "A close friend I met in America several years ago. Actually, he will start attending Todai tomorrow. The name is Echizen Ryoma."

"Oh? Now that's interesting," Fuji commented.

"I look forward to meeting him," Sanada added.

"Now, I gotta go. I don't want to be late at the airport. He's short-tempered, after all," with that, Atobe left the others at the café.

"Echizen Ryoma," Tezuka muttered.

"A worthy rival appeared, ne Tezuka?" Fuji teased his long time friend.

Tezuka just stared at him. His expression, not changing. Everyone in the group knew, except Atobe of course, that Tezuka was interested with Atobe. But at the same time, they also noticed that Tezuka was indecisive of who to pursue because he had developed an interest to Fuji as well.

"You need to hurry up, based on Atobe's looks, Echizen Ryoma is a step ahead of you," Fuji added as he looked outside once again, watching the disappearing car of Atobe.

Silence.

"Is that his way of saying he's already dumping Tezuka?" Shiraishi whispered finally to Sanada but was loud enough for everyone to hear. He garnered glares from both Yukimura and Sanada on this while Fuji and Tezuka acted like they never heard a thing. "Joke!" he immediately said as he was quickly shrinking at the glares he was receiving. The former captain and vice captain of Rikkaidai were no jokes.

Another silence followed. They looked at Fuji. They really don't know what's going on with his head sometimes. Comprehending how a genius's mind works…they already gave up on that. Was he doing this on purpose? Their friends knew that Fuji was not oblivious of Tezuka's feelings about him. So why was saying those?

Fuji sighed inwardly as he felt the stares of his friends at his back. Should have been better if he had not said a thing? But he meant it. 'Being indecisive is not always good, Tezuka. You need to choose before losing both, because you can't have both at the same time.'

Yukimura, on the other hand, felt like he knew what Fuji was thinking. Being his dorm mate last year and friend for a long time, he had somewhat traced the pattern of Fuji's mind. Set aside that they almost think like the same sometimes. 'Syuu-kun, you don't need to be so harsh.'

'Echizen Ryoma.' Fuji repeated in his mind, remembering the familiarity he felt when he heard the name. 'Rings a bell, where did I hear it before?'

to be continued...