I am so honoured to get so many reviews! I'm really super grateful to all of you that has reviewed, favourited and followed! It makes me so happy! Which is, in my opinion, contradicting the elements of my story here... Then again, not all is what it seems like, right?

As you probably have noticed by now, the chapters are according to days. Chapter 1 is day 1, the start of Raimon's problem. Chapter 2 is the second day, in which Tsurugi visits Tenma. Chapter 3 is right below, which is the third day ever since Tenma had to be sent to the hospital. Thought I might write it here just in case some of you didn't notice!

Phantom

Chapter 3

There's Nothing To Be Worried About!

Coach Endou watched as the Raimon team practiced with much less enthusiasm than usual. His worried expression only worsened everybody's mood. Today was the third day ever since the incident. Coach Endou closed his eyes and sighed.

Flashback

Endou gathered all of the adults together in a corner. His lips were pressed together – sealed, as another word would describe it.

Kidou, Gouenji, Fuyuka, Aki and Haruna were waiting for him to say something. All of them looked anxious.

The brunet forced a painful smile. "Don't you guys think this situation is familiar…?" his gaze landed on Fuyuka. "Well, not really familiar for Fuyuppe – but still…"

The nurse had her eyebrows raised. What was Mamoru-kun talking about, she wasn't sure. But she was sure that the others knew so she decided to keep quiet –sometimes stealing glances at the Raimon team who were out of earshot.

Kidou suddenly gasped after a moment of silence. "Endou… You're not possibly thinking…" he stared at Endou's face – shocked.

Endou nodded his head solemnly. Gouenji's fist tightened. Haruna looked away. Aki covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes watered. "No way…" she started, "Tenma…"

End of Flashback

His eyes slowly opened. He told Natsumi about this and she too believed that whatever was happening to Tenma – it had happened to the Raimon of ten years ago.

To be honest, when he had told the team to never leave Tenma's side, it wasn't actually an order from the doctor. It was a direct order from the coach himself. He thought it might be better this way – especially after Aki's phone call.

"The doctor said he's fine but he needs to stay in the hospital for another day just to make sure," her voice sounded teary.

"… Is he, you know…?" the worry in his voice never faded.

"I asked Fuyuka-san, she said Tenma spaces out sometimes but recovers quickly after that…" she explained.

"…" he was silent.

"Endou-kun…?" she wondered.

"I knew it…" he said to himself.

Haruna, who was sitting on the benches, wasn't very much of a difference from the coach. She was observing the team of course, but she flinched every time one of them tripped or crashed into each other.

The managers didn't let this go unnoticed. The club's advisor and the coach weren't really themselves today. The three girls exchanged looks. They shrugged soon after. Somehow they had this same gut feeling that they'd know whatever that has been bothering the two adults soon enough. A sudden shout surprised everyone.

"EVERYONE…! I'M BACK…!" a very cheerful first year student shouted from atop of the staircase. He was waving his arms and jumping up and down with the most joyful grin anybody has ever seen. A dark figure appeared behind the brunet – only a few steps away. "T-Tenma, be careful!" the dark figure warned. But he was too late as Tenma ran down the steep hill without even using the stairs. He looked so excited – and just as everyone had predicted, Tenma lost his balance. "A-AH!" and he rolled down the hill.

"TENMA!" everybody shouted – even Tsurugi, who was running down the stairs to the brunet. The navy blue haired teen arrived first since he was technically the closest one in distance to Tenma. His eyes scanned the brunet for any sign of injury. Tsurugi sighed and shook his head. He fell to the ground next to Tenma. "Thank goodness, you're okay…"

"Tenma, that was reckless," Kirino advised in a worried tone as he knelt next to the first year. Tenma just sheepishly grinned back. He was about to get up when a small figure hugged him.

"TENMA! WE WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Shinsuke shouted with tears in his eyes. His grip around Tenma tightened. Tenma gasped. He smiled and patted Shinsuke's head. "Shinsuke…"

The little defender looked up and saw Tenma's smiling face. "Tenma…"

The brunet snickered. "There's nothing to worry about! I'm really fine! See?" Tenma lifted Shinsuke and started to spin them around at high speed. He laughed when Shinsuke did too.

"T-Tenma, I think you should stop before you," Shindou started but he paused when he saw Tenma lose his balance yet again and fall, this time with Shinsuke. He sweat dropped, "fall," he shook his head and smiled. Shindou held out both of his hands for the two juniors – who took the offer gratefully.

"So this means you can practice with us now, right?" Hamano asked with his arms crossed behind his back and a grin. Tenma and Shinsuke looked at each other before turning to Hamano again. The brunet smiled. He was about to say something when Coach Endou placed his hand on Tenma's shoulder. Tenma turned his head around and immediately stood up straight. "C-Coach Endou!"

The adult smiled and retrieved his hand. He then scanned his surroundings, looking at everybody's faces. "Sorry everybody, but Tenma can't play soccer for a few days," he said and crossed his arms. A sad smile was seen on his face.

All of them gasped – except for Tenma and Tsurugi. The brunet had the same sad smile Coach Endou had while Tsurugi only had a blank face. "But why?" Shindou did not know how many times he has asked that question by now. Ten times, maybe? He didn't really kept count. But he knew it was a lot.

"Because the doctor said I still need some rest before I can really play again… A little dribbling should be fine though," Tenma said with a cheeky smile. Everyone looked at him with surprised faces. Tenma noticed the looks they were giving him. "Mou, you guys shouldn't be this worried about me! There's really nothing to worry about! I just fainted the other day, right?! Nothing horrible is going to happen to me!" he tried to lighten up the atmosphere with his famous grin.

It was silent for a while. Tenma's efforts didn't really work. Instead, his words seemed to catch the Raimon team off guard. "Just fainted? Tenma, you're not serious, are you?" Kurama stepped forward. Tenma blinked at him. His grin quickly faded into a nervous smile. The brunet started to scratch his cheek. "Um… Well… About that…"

"He doesn't remember anything that happened to him," Tsurugi answered for the brunet in a monotone voice. His hands were in his pants' pockets and his eyes were staring at Tenma – as if daring Tenma to do something.

Kurama and the others gasped. Their mouths were agape at what Tsurugi had just said. "What?!" the second year forward turned to look at Tenma again. "You don't remember what happened to you?!"

Tenma pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. He shook his head. "I don't remember anything from that day at all…" he opened his blue orbs again. "I only remember waking up for school and that's it," he explained his memory loss again – this time to his teammates.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Tenma from behind and turned him around. Tenma gasped at the sight of a really furious childhood friend. "A-Aoi…?" he managed to say, despite his fear.

"You really don't remember?" she asked in a slightly panicked tone. "You really don't remember? You don't remember what you told me that day? You don't remember all of that?!" Aoi shook Tenma by the shoulders. The brunet was dumbfounded at the girl's words. They stared at each other for a long time. Everybody else was shocked at Aoi's outburst, of course. More or less, Tenma held her hands which were on his shoulders and smiled at her. "Aoi…" his eyes watered. He was really touched at how much his childhood friend cared for him. Whatever he had said, it must have worried her. But right now, he didn't want any of them to worry. "Everything will work out, okay?" he smiled and patted the girl's shoulders. Aoi just stared back at him without giving any reaction. She was still worried about him – no matter what he said to her.

"Stand! Bow!" the head monitor exclaimed once the teacher came in. All of the other students did exactly as they were told. After they bowed they sat back down again. The lesson started. It was just another normal day. But even under this calm atmosphere, Aoi couldn't help but steal glances at Tenma – who was so focused on the current lesson. Once in a while, Tenma would catch her staring and he'd grin wholeheartedly at her while mouthing 'It's okay!~'.

Why did she find that so hard to believe?

After a couple of hours, lunch came and was Kariya ever so glad. He quickly stood up from his seat after he cleared his desk and walked up to Tenma. The brunet wasn't even finished packing when Kariya pulled Tenma out of the classroom without any hesitation. The defender just dragged the midfielder despite his protests and Shinsuke had no choice but to follow them. He was smiling though. Both of them were thinking about Coach's orders actually. So before Tenma ran off, it was probably best to drag him with them.

But due to that, they had forgotten about Aoi in all the hurry. The girl didn't really mind. In fact, she was giggling at how flustered Tenma looked like being dragged like that. His words of protest rang in her mind and she laughed again.

She glanced at Tenma's messy table as she stood up. Might as well clear it up for him, she thought. She took a step closer but then her feet stopped moving when she saw Tenma's notebook. Her eyes widened at the words she was reading – at the words Tenma had been writing in class.

Death

Who is Death

Who is dead?

Phantom

Where is Phantom

Where is the phantom?

The words were so simple – yet they managed to send shivers down Aoi's spine. Aoi's fists gripped together as she asked herself the questions Tenma had written. The girl gulped and quickly shoved all of Tenma's stuff into his bag. Aoi could feel the fear enveloping her – the fear of the unknown; the fear of not knowing what; the fear of not knowing when. She quickly ran out. She had no answers for the questions. She had no answer at all.

"Kariya! Stop dragging me!" Tenma demanded. He had tried to wriggle his wrist out of Kariya's firm grasp but failed. "Not until we reach the cafeteria!" the defender replied as he walked faster, his grip on Tenma's wrist didn't falter one bit and neither did his confidence. "But-" Tenma started – though he was cut off.

"Kariya? Tenma?" Kirino called them from a corner of a hallway. The pink haired senior walked closer to the trio of first years. His eyes were wide with worry. "What's wrong? Why are you guys shouting?"

Kariya rolled his eyes but he made sure that it was only obvious to his senior. Tenma, with teary eyes, pointed at his wrist and said, "Kariya's dragging me to the cafeteria, and he won't let go!"

"Yep!" Shinsuke approved with a grin. He jumped a little to attract Kirino's attention due to his short height. "I guess you can say we're in a hurry!"

Kirino crossed his arms together and smiled. "Is that really necessary, Kariya?" he asked the other defender in a joking tone. Kariya flinched and turned his head away. He pouted a little. "Che," at that, he let go of Tenma's wrist. The brunet quickly rubbed it with the thumb of his other hand. "Thank you, Kirino-senpai,"

"Well, I guess you don't want the cafeteria's limited supply of yakisoba bread then," Kariya crossed his arms behind his head and started to walk away – with a visible pout on his face. Tenma and Shinsuke's faces turned into surprise at Kariya's remark. "T-THEY'RE HAVING THOSE TODAY?!" Shinsuke shouted.

"Duh," the defender replied, almost as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. All of a sudden, Kariya felt like he was tied to the back of a jet as Tenma dragged him to the cafeteria. His eyes were wide and his jaw dropped. "T-TENMA-KUN, S-SLOW DOWN!" he begged but to no avail. The brunet was running at the speed of light for the really, really deliciously yummy yakisoba bread the cafeteria had. Shinsuke tailed the duo, though he was being left behind pretty quickly.

Kirino could only sweat drop. He stood there, not really having an interest in the yakisoba bread. He honestly never understood why that typical type of bread was really popular. He could also never understand what being dragged away by Tenma felt like. He wouldn't want to know either way. The defender felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see a half-smiling Shindou. "What was that about?" the brunet asked his best friend. No doubt he bore witness to everything and wanted to know more. The pink haired defender chuckled. "A rush for yakisoba bread," Kirino replied simply. Shindou himself chuckled. "So I see…"

The two of them were in the middle of walking to the cafeteria, when a panicked Aoi crashed into Shindou. "Sorano-san?" Shindou's quick reflex managed to catch her before she fell. "What's the matter? You look like you're being chased," he asked with much worry in his voice. Kirino stared at Aoi's panicked eyes and noted her unsteady breath. "Did something bad happen?" the defender asked the first year manager. Aoi quickly shook her head. "I… I just… I need to see Coach Endou," she said. The seniors' furrowed their eyebrows. "It's about Tenma, isn't it?" Shindou asked. Aoi slowly nodded. "What did he do?" Kirino didn't realize he had his fists balled up.

Coach Endou's face was in a grimace as he read the notebook that was owned by Tenma. The other three watched as his brown eyes scanned the notebook inside and out. And then they watched him sigh. "Just as I thought…" he said to himself, confusing his students. "Coach, what do you mean?" Shindou took a step backward as Coach Endou stood up from his seat and walked towards his telephone situated on the other end of the table. The adult forced a laugh as he flipped his phone open. "Oh, it's nothing. The three of you are dismissed; lunch is ending soon, right?" he shooed them away.

"But Coach-" Aoi started. The adult cut her off.

"I just need you to keep a closer eye on him, report to me every time he does something weird and spread word to the others if you have to. This is an order, got it?" Coach Endou's eyes were still on the telephone screen, his fingers typing something to somebody. He then turned his attention towards the three again. He smiled. "You're doing a great job so far. Thanks to the three of you, I was able to confirm a few things regarding Tenma,"

Those were his last words before the bell rang and they had to return to their respective classes, despite being bothered by his response.

"Ah, Aoi, there you are!" Tenma greeted Aoi when she entered the classroom. The girl flinched at the sudden call. The brunet came closer to her with a puzzled expression. "Have you seen my notebook? I left it on the table before Kariya dragged me out," he questioned. Aoi's eyes grew wide. She forgot to retrieve the book from Coach Endou. Quickly, she recomposed herself. "I-I don't know, maybe you misplaced it," she lied. She walked past him and sat on her chair, her head turned to the right instead of the left – where Tenma's place was at. The brunet blinked his eyes, still a little dazed, and he sighed. He started to ask his other classmates who had left after him if they had seen his notebook.

Kariya and Shinsuke approached Aoi, questions could be seen tied around their tongues. "We didn't see you in the cafeteria, did you eat somewhere else?" Kariya asked a tad bit concerned. Usually Aoi would sit and eat lunch with them. Today, he didn't even saw her shadow. Shinsuke nodded his approval. Aoi stared at her two friends. She ushered them to bend down closer and she whispered the story into their ears.

"HE WROTE WHAT?!" Kariya and Shinsuke shouted with much shock. Aoi shushed them, fearing the attention of others. Luckily Tenma was engrossed in a conversation with Hikaru from the class next door. Everybody else had their own business to attend to. The two boys quickly shut up. "So… what's exactly happening to Tenma?" Kariya questioned, holding his chin. "What do you mean?" Aoi asked back with eyebrows up. "Well, obviously Coach Endou is hiding something from us… We just need to figure out what," he ended. Kariya's infamous evil grin decorated his face without him realizing.

"Kariya, you look scary," both Aoi and Shinsuke noted with sweat drops. Kariya ended up falling anime style.

During practice, Tenma couldn't do anything but watch them play from the benches. He was pouting, unsatisfied. He knew he was fine, very, very fine, and yet he was ordered to sit down and watch and rest and a lot of other stuff. Even Tsurugi and Shindou seemed to want him to do what the coach told him to do. Maybe it was for the best?

He watched as Tsurugi made goals and Shindou commanded the team efficiently. This was certainly new to him. Watching his teammates play from the sidelines, he realized he now temporarily shared the managers' point of view. As he watched Kirino defend the goal, something clicked in the back of his mind. An image flashed through his mind's eye. It was blurry; he couldn't see the faces of the two people in the image. All he saw were two people in ripped black cloaks. Tenma closed his eyes and shook his head. "What was that?" he quietly whispered to himself. It felt like it came from a dream… or maybe a memory? He tried to remember if there was something similar to the image but got nothing.

"Tenma," a voice came from his side and his eyes shot open. He saw Aoi looking at him with a worried stare. "Are you okay?" she continued. The brunet gave her a smile. "I'm fine. It was just a passing headache," he lied. He didn't really have any idea how to explain to her what his mind's eye just saw. Aoi nodded her head. "If it gets worse, tell me, okay?"

"Okay,"

It got worse.

Later that evening, as the Sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon, Tenma walked back home alone. The street was deserted. The only sounds he heard were the sounds of his footsteps.

Tenma's forehead creased as he slowed to a stop. He felt like… somebody was following him. It was like somebody was behind him. His head turned and he found nothing. There were no places for anybody to hide. He shrugged and continued on his journey again. But the feeling didn't disappear. Instead, it grew stronger.

He abruptly stopped when an image flew across his mind without warning. It was the same image from before but clearer. The faces were barely visible and Tenma caught sight of light pink and teal hair. His eyes widened. Light pink and teal? Weren't those the colours of Kirino-senpai and Kariya's hair? Does this mean the two people in the image he just saw were them? The brunet scratched the back of his head as he chuckled. "That's impossible…! Why would they be wearing black cloaks in the first place?!" he said to himself.

As he laughed, a clear image passed through his mind's eye. He saw Shindou, glaring at him with so much hate. Tenma absentmindedly flinched and his laughter died. His hand gripped his bag tighter. He wasn't expecting that. Shindou would never hate him. Where did the image come from anyway? It couldn't be a memory right? Maybe it was just his imagination.

Just as he thought that, more images came into view. Tsurugi wearing an eye-mask and a black cloak much like the one Kirino-senpai and Kariya had been wearing. Shinsuke staring at him, wearing the same attire Tsurugi donned. An image of Hamano-senpai laughing at him, soccer ball under one foot. Hikaru and Kurama suddenly were stopping him in his tracks; both of them staring deep into his eyes blankly.

He remembered the sensation of running through an unknown forest. He recalled the sensation of fear and caution. And he felt it right now, as his body trembled and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. His pupils were dilated as he stared into what seemed like nothingness. But inside his mind, only God knows what he's seeing. Both of his hands gripped his bag. "No…" he whispered. "T-They wouldn't do that… all of that never happened…" he tried to reassure himself. He was sure these images came from his wild imagination. But even his imagination wasn't this wild. And if he really did make these up, why did it felt so real? Why did it felt like he had gone through all of that?

"Kill him, if all else fails,"

His breath hitched as he remembered those words that were ordered by Shindou. He felt vulnerable and insecure. "That's not… real… He never… told anybody… to kill me…" he pursed his lips. Doubt clouded his mind. What if it really did happen? Tenma closed his eyes and a sharp pain shot through his head. He gritted his teeth and whimpered in pain. His hand was brought up to his head. He still stood with his belief, even when his eyes started to blackened. The brunet dropped to his knees. He rolled onto his side from unbearable pain. Tenma's body flinched. He felt himself dropping into unconsciousness. And all the while, there had only been one thing in his mind.

It never happened.

Endou was terribly tired. When he arrived home a little after eight, he expected to see Natsumi happily greeting him. Instead, he found a frowning wife holding the house's telephone. "Endou-kun, it's for you," she said quickly as the man took off his shoes. Endou asked, "Who is it?" before taking the phone out of his wife's hands.

"Aki," was all she had to say.

"Hello?" the man said into the receiver. "Endou-kun!" Aki replied. The brunet could hear the panic in her voice. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Endou tried to ask as calmly as he could but he had a bad feeling. Something bad must have happened if Aki was behaving like this. "It's Tenma-kun! He's not back yet and I called his cell phone but he won't answer! Oh, I'm so worried!"

Endou momentarily stopped breathing. He frowned. Natsumi could only watch with hope. Her husband pressed his lips and he quickly wore his shoes again. "I'll get Kidou and Gouenji. You stay at home until he comes back. I'll call you later," he said before cutting the line off, not waiting for Aki's approval. He turned to Natsumi after placing the house's phone on the shoe drawer. "Can you go to Aki's place to comfort her? The guys and I will look for Tenma," he said to her. Natsumi quickly nodded and before her husband left she managed to say, "Make sure he comes back safe, okay?"

"I promise!" the man replied with confidence. Natsumi could see him dialling somebody's number on his own cell phone before disappearing around the corner. The woman sighed. Endou had told her what happened to Tenma and she could only hope… it wasn't too late. Natsumi disappeared into their bedroom to grab her purse and she too left the house to go to Aki's. Hopefully the other woman hadn't broken down crying yet. Natsumi hated seeing the other cry. The first time she had to comfort a sobbing Aki was ten years ago, when the same thing happened to…

No, she didn't want to remember that. Natsumi absolutely did not want to remind herself of Raimon's dark days.