Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ To Sedate ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

All disclaimers apply. This is an extra long chapter, since it's been so long since I updated. Enjoy, and please review.

 

 

To Sedate- Chapter 8

 

“I want to show you something,”

 

“Tenshi, what is it?”

 

“You'll see. Follow me.”

 

That day, Fuji didn't know why he followed so blindly without asking any more questions. Since when he'd come to follow somebody so closely, he didn't know. But a fifteen-minute's walk from his home led him to a cemetery. Not just any cemetery, either, but a foreigner's cemetery.

 

“Why are we here, now?” Fuji had asked, raising an eyebrow in a questioning manner. Tenshi sat Indian-style net to a tombstone of what was probably a Russian foreigner. In English lettering, it read “Alexei Zhivago.” Below, there was a proper Russian spelling, although Fuji wasn't able to read it.

 

“This is one of my favorite places to come,” he mentioned. Fuji could only guess that this was where he went when he wasn't around him, which wasn't a lot.

 

“Why?” Queried Fuji.

 

“I don't know. It's peaceful here, though. Considering it's right by the street it's so quiet. Has a calm feeling about doesn't it?”

 

“Okay…” his voice trailed off, with a slight questioning tone to it. Maybe Fuji would've been more at ease if it weren't where dead people were buried, since many westerners preferred the ritual of burying the dead rather than cremating them. Not that Fuji had anything against it, but it was a little bit of an odd feeling about being around a place like this. After all, people loved to tell horror stories about creepy graveyards at night. Not that Fuji believed in ghosts or was scared, of course, but still…

 

“Sit,” he said to Fuji. Cautiously, the light haired prodigy sat, careful not to lean against the tombstone that Tenshi was sitting right by. He looked up to the sky. Maybe Tenshi was getting at something, saying this was peaceful. One could forget about this being a cemetery, and the peacefulness quelled Fuji's usual worries.”

 

“See, it is nice, isn't it?”

 

“Yeah, I guess so.”

 

“How've things been going with Tezuka,” he asked, testing the subject carefully since Fuji seemed to be pretty sensitive to it as of late.

 

“I think it's going pretty well. He hasn't said anything about how I kissed him.” A gust of wind blew a few stray bangs into his field of vision, and Fuji didn't bother to brush them away. Shrugging of his thoughts slightly, he continued. “It's just like he simply…” Fuji paused in order to find the right word. “Forgot.”

 

The sun set within an hour, and they were able to see the stars above. “Dazzling, isn't it Shuusuke?” asked a calm, kind voice. Their deep conversation taking place for the time being had quieted to idle chat, and pensively, Fuji looked up towards the sky and hugged his knees to his chest.

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

The day Tezuka, Fuji, and all the other third years would finally graduate came to an end as spring progressed, and with no more than a week of school left, they were all preparing to switch to new schools. “Parting is such sweet sorrow,” would go for most of them. In the three years that they had been together, all the regulars had developed strong bonds. Fuji, at the last minute decided to switch to a closer high school to save the commute, although his school was still thirty minutes' train ride from home. As a plus, Tezuka was going there. After all, the school was known for its excellent tennis coach, along with the fact the club was very large with around a hundred members.

 

It was a good school, Fuji supposed. He couldn't complain about it at all, in fact. His main motive for going there hadn't been for that. Nowadays, everything seemed to be for Tezuka. Emotions didn't last; at least, that was what Tenshi had told him once; the school would get him where he needed, though. Happily, he would go there. The temptation of going overseas to study, though, was a temptation. Somehow, Fuji felt like he needed to get out of Japan. That would be a much-needed break from all these stresses.

 

On the last day the third years would be attending practice, it was as normal as anything would have been. They ran warm-up laps; Tezuka was reprimanding some of the freshmen for fooling around and then being ordering them to run punishment laps. Behind closed eyes, Fuji smiled, not at all affected by anything around him that day.

 

Practice had gone downhill, though, today. With his head turned down, eyes wide open, and a cool frown on his face, he didn't appear to be quite normal. Rather, he was slightly ruffled. Already, he'd missed quite a few shots that he should've been able to return. Kaidoh, bouncing the ball on the opposite court, hissed. The second year was able to sense that Fuji should've been able to return volleys, but wasn't succeeding in doing so. However, it would've been off-topic to mention it during practice matches, especially since he should assume that Fuji was just having a bad day.

 

Kachiro and Horio had paused in their activities to watch this, Horio with his hands on his hips talking about which person had the upper hand in the match. Really, it shouldn't have matter, since these weren't ranking matches. However, something was wrong with the picture.

 

With his stance slightly off-balance, one might've had the impression that Fuji could only see out of one eye, or had limited vision in both. The way he strained to see, squinting against the sunlight for a minute in order to get a better view of Kaidoh was so unlike him that it attracted Tezuka's attention. Behind him stood Echizen, bouncing a tennis ball up and down with his racket. Clear golden eyes observed Fuji for a moment, but seeing as Tezuka was occupying enough attention on Fuji already, he went back to what he had been doing.

 

A second, sweeping glance at Fuji would tell even those not familiar with him that he was a little too focused than he usually was. Their practice match wasn't competitive at all, though it would've been different had Fuji been Momoshiro. One more acquainted with him would say he should be smiling, looking more carefree. Fuji didn't get serious until he was actually competing, or something was put at stake. Had he been able to focus long enough, he probably would've ended up slamming the ball so that it landed squarely next to the net on Kaidoh's side. Now, the tennis ball seemed to evade his reach. Keeping his racquet close to his chest, he dashed forward towards the opposite side of the court where he judged the ball would end up. When he swept his racquet for a backhand, though, it met only air. Dimly, he recognized the feeling of the ball skimming his shoulder; it bounced twice before rolling off in another direction.

 

“Don't let your guard down,” Tezuka called over to him. Obviously, the captain had been surveying their match closely without the two knowing. It was Kaidoh's serve, and this time Fuji made a mad dash for it, probably running faster than his legs were able to carry him. Heads turned at the audible sound of the tennis racquet coming into contact with the ball. This time, Fuji had put far too much power behind it, because it simply whizzed over Kaidoh's head and sailed clear over the fence before landing far off on the school lawn. The tensai, at the same time collapsed to his knees with his right hand trembling slightly. Kachiro, taking a glance at his senpais, went to retrieve the ball from the lawn while Horio stared wide-eyed at Fuji and Kaidoh.

 

“Fuji, come here!” Groaning mentally, Fuji picked himself up to his feet and gathered his thoughts. Trotting over to Tezuka, he smiled.

 

“Na, buchou, is there something you would like?”

 

“I want to talk to you,” he said. “Echizen!” he called over to the freshman that had previously been training with the captain. “Go and practice with Kaidoh for now.” Large, catlike eyes blinked back. Echizen lowered his cap a fraction and went off in the Viper's direction.

 

“What is it, Tezuka-kun?” Fuji asked, in almost too pleasant of a voice for Tezuka's ears. The tone seemed like nails on a chalkboard to him, he frowned and winced visibly. Sometimes, it made Fuji wonder. He'd always been very good at concealing his emotions with smiles and pleasant expressions. Only on the court was he allowed to show his competitive edge, where he could either have fun with the match, or defeat the person totally and completely if he wished it. Tezuka led him in the direction of the clubhouse, excusing himself politely when he passed Ryuuzaki-sensei.

 

“Fuji, you've been acting odd for a while. You've been letting your guard down,” Tezuka began carefully. Now, he wasn't the best at expressing his thoughts in words, but he'd decided that he needed to try it. This odd behavior of Fuji's had gone unnoticed for too long, and now it was affecting his performance. Tezuka wasn't one to pry, but he worried not only for Fuji's tennis, but also for Fuji's health. With the lack of success in performance, Fuji made it up by pushing himself harder. Only those who had known him for a long time and were looking closely could tell that he was lagging.

 

“I think you're imagining things, Tezuka.” That was a complete and utter lie. They stopped by the door entering into the clubhouse. Tezuka opened the door and motioned for him to go inside. His terse silence told Fuji enough, that the captain didn't believe it. To defend himself, he said, “Well, I've been a little ill. You know the springtime. Everybody gets sick at one time or another.

 

“Why won't you tell anyone what's wrong?” Fuji almost clenched his fists in anger and screamed. What Tezuka said was uncannily like what Suzuki-sensei told him time after time again, enough to make him want to punch Tezuka in the face. It was so unlike him, too. The only time Fuji ever got violent towards somebody was during a match. Lowering his head slightly, he said nothing for just a minute. Distantly, he felt like something had snapped. He broke off with a reply, bitter and cool, so unlike him in every way that Tezuka was frightened by it.

 

“It's always `why' and `what',” Fuji said, his voice ice cold. “So, I have something to ask you: Why don't you leave me alone. Maybe I don't want people to know what's bothering me. Who said you were entitled to know, anyways? After all, you aren't exactly the one to talk about your problems.” If he hadn't seen Fuji's mouth move, Tezuka wouldn't have believed Fuji would ever say something like that. He must've struck a nerve, and struck it hard. Fuji's words cut him worse than expected although it didn't really show visually. He did shift slightly backwards, though.

 

“Fuji…” He said, evenly, occupying himself by cleaning his glasses. He swiped the lightweight cleaning cloth over the lenses by memory, with his eyes closed lightly as if he was reminiscing something. “It's my job as the captain to keep everyone together.” You've been growing farther and farther from everyone. We need to be teammates. There was nothing in reply to that the prodigy was able to say that. It was Tezuka's job to help maintain a team structure. However, it wasn't his job to meddle. He wanted to tell him that, but his mouth remained in a firm, straight line instead.

 

Was it because of the kiss that Fuji grew farther apart from everyone in the first place?

 

Tezuka had never mentioned the kiss to anyone, not even Fuji. He wanted to be able to deny it, and discussing would just be bringing it up again and again. He didn't realize how callous it seemed not to even mention anything about it to Fuji afterwards, although there wasn't anything to talk about. It had been a kiss, and they shouldn't have done it. At least, Tezuka thought they shouldn't have done it. He wasn't sure of anything about Fuji anymore. He remained staring coolly at Fuji. Obviously, he wasn't planning on letting the boy go until he had answers. Fuji only remained firmly stubborn for a few minutes, before he felt a need to break the extremely uncomfortable silence between them. Fuji couldn't stand it, though Tezuka seemed to be coping with said silence just fine.

 

“I've been a little distracted. With applying for high school and everything I've been really stressed about things. I'm going to miss junior high.” So, this was part of the truth, but it wasn't the truth Tezuka sought. He sought the truth that Fuji hadn't told everyone else, the truth that just wasn't a mask to cover the one that he didn't want people to see. Really, he didn't think that Fuji did it on purpose. Like his appearance of being emotionless, he thought of Fuji's masks just as something habitual. However, habits could be one of the most bothersome things sometimes. More silenced passed between them, then…

 

How had Fuji Shuusuke, the strong, talented young man he'd gotten to know in his three years of attending Seishun Gakuen reach this point? Tezuka didn't want to believe it simply because this wasn't the Fuji everyone knew. This wasn't the Fuji that he wanted to know.

 

“You didn't hurt yourself when you tripped, did you? Maybe you should go to the nurse just to be safe.” He added, on a lightly concerned note. Fuji chuckled slightly.

 

“No, I'm fine. There's no need for concern, Tezuka. The worst I will have is a slight bruise.”

 

“I must've had the wrong idea. My apologies, Fuji.” Tezuka turned to pick up some forms on the desk Ryuuzaki-sensei had asked him to retrieve when he was done with his conversation. “Come out whenever you're ready. Just don't take too long, and don't let your guard down again.” That sounded a little bit more like normal Tezuka. Not having expected that Tezuka would believe it, since nobody else who had asked seemed to, he blinked for a moment, stunned.

 

Like a rope, tugging him towards Tezuka, Fuji unwillingly took a step forward. “Wait a minute, Tezuka.” Remembering Tenshi's advice, Fuji paused. They would be going to a much larger school next year, so if Fuji needed to avoid them, he would be able to, even during tennis club. Tezuka turned back to him, watching him carefully. “There is actually something else I'd like to talk to you about.” Fuji paused, looking round the room as the smile he normally wore returned to his face.

 

“Can you walk home with me? I'd like to talk to you about it then. We should probably be getting back to practice anyways, shouldn't we?” Swallowing softly, he watched as Tezuka nodded. At least that was the good thing about Tezuka. Unlike with his demand for laps, he didn't seem very demanding on this subject at all. It wasn't in Fuji's style to procrastinate, if what he was doing could even be considered as procrastination. However, in a struggle to find a proper way to really saying it without giving Tezuka a great shock, he thought about how he needed more time.

 

“Very well, then.” The atmosphere was warm today, and all the trees were a beautiful green. That was why Fuji loved the spring. It symbolized new beginnings. The sakura were gone, and Fuji felt a sadness fill him. Unlike how he'd hoped to be able to go see the sakura with him, it never happened. Perhaps it was just that he procrastinated always when it came to his feelings with Tezuka. That needed to come to an end, he though. Eiji was waving off to him in the distance, practicing with his doubles partner, Oishi. For once, standing at Tezuka's side, he was able to let go of his worries and smile without a care once again.

 

Tezuka gave him a look backwards. “Remember never to let your guard down,” he added once again. Tezuka's face was always straight-set, but for just the fraction of a second, he was able to swear that he saw just a tiny inkling of a smile on Tezuka's face. This was a rarity indeed, and in his three years of knowing Tezuka, he'd only seen the boy smile once.

 

The rest of the practice was uneventful, with Fuji straining his eyes for signs of Tenshi. The man appeared a little bit before practice ended, and Tezuka dismissed them. “Fuji,” he called a little after most everyone had filtered off the courts and into the clubhouse to change. He seemed not to want Fuji to ignore the fact that they'd agreed to walk home together.

 

“I'm going to miss the tennis club when we leave, Tezuka,” Fuji mentioned as they walked. Today Fuji chose to take the long way home, by walking. It would take a lot longer of a time than taking either train or bus, but sometimes it didn't matter. Today, he supposed, just once more, he could take extra time to speak with Tezuka. Their school would be larger when they went to high school, so there was no guaranteeing that they would see each other very often. Tezuka must have sensed it, too. “What about you, Tezuka? Are you going to miss it?”

 

“Yeah, I suppose,” he replied, pensively. That was Tezuka, never saying much more than was needed. They paused at a crosswalk as the cars passed, waiting for their turn to cross. Something odd caught his eye, a flash of color at the top of a building, perhaps. Unconsciously, he ventured forward slightly. Tezuka, with his eyes focused ahead, didn't seem to notice him.

 

Reality hit him, almost like a ton of lead right in the center of a chest. Fuji's gaze snapped forward. Distantly, a woman screamed, and Tezuka leapt forward. In slow motion, Fuji felt the collision; almost too painfully as everything feel silent. There was the sensation of weightlessness, before he collided painfully with the pavement, fast and hard. The crowd could only watch as the boy, only a random stranger, skidded some ways across asphalt before coming to rest just before the intersection began.

 

Yet, to Fuji a process that took only seconds was slowed. There was a searing pain in his side to start out with, and there was a force that pulled him backwards. As he sailed through the air for just a minute, he couldn't breathe nor move. He hit the pavement harder than he expected to, skidding painfully across it. A splitting pain tore across his head before enveloping his entire body. Though feeling the need to scream, his voice was caught within his throat. The last thing his eyes focused properly on was Tezuka, before his vision blurred and he came to a stop, his breathing shallow and erratic. He coughed explosively, red blood dotting the street. While he flew, Fuji could've sworn he heard a voice cry above the crowd. “Shuusuke!” Nobody seemed to notice it, but the sound nearly split Fuji's eardrums.

 

“Fuji, what the hell?” Doing probably the stupidest thing he'd ever done in his life, he raced past the cars now stopped, looking disbelievingly at the teenaged boy who had ventured into the crosswalk and had been hit as a result of it.. Dimly, he was aware that the pavement was dyed a sticky red. Fuji lay in a crumpled heap, only barely conscious. His shirt was torn where the car initially hit him, and already, the area was a sickly yellowish-green, with the traces of black blue already beginning to appear at the edges. Fuji's head, which must've hit the pavement hard, had a large cut from the forehead to the back of his left ear, bleeding like crazy. His arms, scraped and bruised from the weak attempt to protect himself with, looked to be in pretty bad condition as well. Tezuka surveyed Fuji. How could he still be conscious? With his teeth clenched and a heart-wrenching look of pain on his face, it was obvious that Fuji was very much hurt by this. For once, was begging Fuji to say something, anything, but the only time Fuji's lips moved was when he struggled to take a breath.

 

A car door opened, and the women who hit Fuji stepped out. Tezuka gave her a look. She stumbled slightly, pressing a finger to her lips and looking at the bloody scene before her, when all of the sudden she began to sob. She was just a young one, probably just out of high school. “I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to; he stepped right out in front of me and I tried to stop… but… but…” She stammered and broke into tears, coming closer to the boy while the crowd stared at her. Clutching the air, she faltered and stumbled a little, looking as if she was about to faint. Hiding her face with her hands, she collapsed to her knees, still crying. It was obvious that she wasn't very talented at all when it came to handling emergency situations.

 

“Someone take action,” a man was saying, while the women sobbed hysterically.

 

“Is there a doctor here, is there a doctor?” A crowd was growing around Fuji, and all traffic had stopped. A silence fell among them, and Tezuka reached out to touch Fuji to see if he was able to get a response from Fuji. There was a pained groan, and Tezuka quickly withdrew his hand.

 

“Somebody call an ambulance! The boy is hurt badly!” Tezuka, at this point thought he was going to crazy, that with all the yelling, and the women sobbing in the background about how it was all her fault. God, this had to have happened to a friend, a teammate. Tezuka's fist slowly clenched. All of this was such a blur to Tezuka that he wondered if Fuji was able to here any of it, or if he was too much in pain to notice anything else. Somebody was on the phone with the hospital, but Tezuka could already tell that the ambulance would never make it with traffic backed up. Yet, it was a risk to move Fuji, and it would be hard to get traffic moving again with him there.

 

“Shouldn't we move him so he isn't on the street?” a teenaged girl asked a man. The man sighed and rubbed his temples, probably getting a headache from all the chaos.

 

“No. If he has broken bones it isn't a hard thing to make the injury worse. Moving him should be left to the professionals so that he doesn't get worse. The kid's in a bad enough shape already”

 

A man came up to Tezuka and touched his shoulder. “Excuse me, young man, do you know him? Do you know his phone number so that we're able to contact his family?” With a rather dry throat, Tezuka nodded to the man, only receiving a sympathetic gaze from him. “He's your friend, isn't he?” Words didn't need to describe it, and he knew. “Try and have faith. Here, you can call his family if you want to. I will, if you'd rather not.” He was being offered a cell phone, and Tezuka took it, nodding slightly.

 

“Thank you,” Tezuka's voice was calm, but his voice felt so dry, and he felt so desperate. It took him a few seconds to remember Fuji's number, but soon he dialed and put the phone up to his ear. Yet after a few rings, it seemed hopeless, nobody was home and Tezuka only got an answering machine. “Fuji-san,” Tezuka began, feeling enormously burdened making this call. “This is Tezuka Kunimitsu calling to let you know that you son's been hit by a car… Fuji Shuusuke. He'll be taken to the hospital, but I don't know what they're going to do with him. If you'd like to know what's happening, please call the hospital. Thank you. Goodbye.” Even after he gave a polite farewell, it took Fuji a few minutes to hang up the phone.

 

Traffic had started moving again, aside from the lane Fuji lay in since they weren't able to move him. There was a delicate silence, the woman sobbing, and people seeing what they were able to do to help. Some others stayed huddled together, horrified by seeing the boy actually be hit by the car. That wasn't a sight that anyone deserved to see or experience, ever.

 

“Fuji,” Tezuka said under his breath. He wondered if Fuji was even conscious or not. His breathing was very hard to detect. It came in soft, shallow bursts, and his chest didn't seem to have much of a rhythm to it. To iterate, rather than the normal rise and fall, the breathing was labored, and Tezuka was very worried.

 

Fuji winced slightly, but Tezuka would claim later he turned his head ever so slightly towards Tezuka. “Te… Te-zu…” Truthfully, Tezuka wasn't able to tell if Fuji was speaking his name. The `zu' was so soft that it sounded more like `suu' than anything, fading into the gentle spring breeze. Letting his breath go, Tezuka's eyes fell shut. Fuji's voice was racked with pain, and it really did a number on him, seeing his friend like this. Tezuka wanted to beg Fuji not to speak, because he could see tears brimming Fuji's eyes at the attempt. For some reason, though, he didn't.

 

“You okay?” Tezuka knew there was nothing okay about the situation, but he was just trying to make the best of the situation.

 

Fuji, felt he'd die. His body, racked with pain, was badly damaged and it would be a miracle if he were to live. Not that he expected to, though. All he really was glad for was that Tezuka was here. Now if only Tenshi could be… He tried to smile, but the muscles in his face didn't seem to be working.

 

“Love ya,” his voice, weak and soft, collapsed to the point where he couldn't speak anymore, and finally, Tezuka got the thoughts from Fuji, the thoughts that he was truly going to die. His hand went down to Fuji's shoulder in a tight grip, his teeth gritted harshly. His voice, caught in his throat, beckoned him to say something, but whenever he tried his throat constricted painfully. Fuji didn't seem to mind, but this time he wasn't smiling, but he hadn't given up attempting to. Why was that?

 

I'm going to die…

 

“Fuji!” Tezuka felt the need to curse.

 

Sirens broke over the noise of the crowd. Somebody must have called an ambulance, because it was here. Coming to a stop right near the middle of the intersection and thus halting the flow of traffic once again, the paramedics rushed out with a stretcher. The crowd dispersed, all except for Tezuka. “Can anybody here give me the kid's name?” one of them asked.

 

“Fuji Shuusuke,” he said, making them look over to him.

 

“Would you like to come with him to the hospital? Are you his friend?” Tezuka hesitated slightly for a moment. He really should've been heading home, because his parents were probably expecting him. Then again, he could always contact them at the hospital, and he really felt like he needed to come with.

 

“Yes. May I?”

 

“You may.”

 

The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever, with Tezuka gazing out the window darkly. When they got there Tezuka was made to sit in the waiting room while Fuji was wheeled off somewhere to be evaluated, but Tezuka was even more so worried. Fuji was having trouble breathing. The paramedics already said he certainly had at least a few broken ribs and a sprained ankle at the least. However, they did mention the damage could end up being a lot worse, and for once in his life, Tezuka was truly frightened for it. What was going to happen to Fuji?

 

Fuji's mother, Yuuta, and Yumiko came filtering through the door, all at once. Tezuka tried not to make eye contact, his eyes dark and grave behind his glasses. “Tezuka-kun…” A soft voice made him look up, to see the women he knew to be Fuji's mother standing before him, tears in her eyes.

 

“Thank goodness you were there, Tezuka-kun.” A sob escaped her mouth, and she slouched next to him, putting her arms around him. Tezuka didn't stiffen nor say anything. She was going through a rough time, and so was she. He didn't have the heart to push her away.

 

“Thank you so much, I am glad that at least… At least…” She paused to blow her nose with a tissue from the box on the side table. “At least he wasn't alone. He cares about you, you know.” The statement hit him hard, and with his head lowered, he said nothing. Throat and mouth dry, he nodded. “Thank you for calling us, too.”

 

“It was the only thing I was able to do,” he said softly, while she cried on his shoulder. Tezuka wasn't able to do anything to comfort her. Yumiko looked very upset, and on the verge of tears herself. Even Yuuta, the brother that seemed to despise his brother from overshadowing him, was obviously shaken up and extremely worried.

 

“Fuji-san,” a nurse called to her, walking out into the waiting room with a clipboard in hand. “I'd appreciate if you and your family would come with me and speak about your son's condition, please.” Tezuka tried to follow along, but the nurse stopped him. “I'm sorry, but this is patient confidentiality. We're only allowed to tell family. It is Fuji-san's choice if she wants to tell you or not. Not showing his dejection, he went back to his previous seat, with his sleeve still soaked from Fuji's mother's tears.

 

She came out, and the family filed out in silence. “Tezuka-kun, the nurse says that we may go visit Shuusuke now. Would you like to come with us?”

 

“One minute, I need to call my parents,” he said to them. He'd seen a payphone outside, and luckily he'd brought with him the phone card his parents had given him in case of emergencies. With shaky fingers, he dialed his home number.

 

“Moshi moshi, Tezuka residence.” The voice on the other line answered. It was his mother's voice.

 

“Mother, I'm at the hospital right now. I wanted to let you know I won't be home for a while at least.” There was a pregnant pause, then his mother's panicked voice across the phone.

 

“Kunimitsu, what happened? Is something wrong?” Tezuka hesitated, trying to find words for what he was trying to say.

 

“My friend Fuji was hit by a car. The nurses are allowing us to visit him first, and if it isn't a problem I'd really appreciate if I could visit him for a while before coming home. I don't know how he is now, but earlier…” Tezuka took a deep breath. “He was in bad shape earlier.”

 

“Your friend Fuji? Oh, I'm so sorry, Kunimitsu.” The voice was softer over his ears, more concerned. “Yes, you may stay. Tell you what; I'll pick you up in two hours, okay. Visit with your friend until then.”

 

“Yes mother. Goodbye.”

 

“Goodbye.”

 

Tezuka hung up the phone.

 

“Excuse me, miss?” He asked at the main desk. She turned and smiled toward him. Tezuka didn't have Fuji's room number, and he needed directions. After all, this was a very large hospital. “Can you please tell me which room Fuji Shuusuke is in? I'd like to see him, if there isn't a problem.”

 

“Sure, give me a minute.” She typed a few things into her computer, and answered a few minutes later. “Fuji Shuusuke is in room 301. Take the stairs until the third floor, and his room will be right there in front of you.”

 

“Thank you.” Tezuka answered, following her directions.

 

It was an odd scene before him, since this was probably the first time in his life that Tezuka had ever needed to deal with emergencies firsthand. It gave a shock to his heart, and he felt like he could've done something to prevent the picture before him. Seeing Fuji actually get hit by a car was something that would be burned into his memory forever. Swallowing, he took a seat at the bedside. Fuji was still unconscious, but at least straightened out a little bit. On his side, he had a heart rate monitor and an IV, running to his wrist. Really, he'd never seen Fuji this weak before. It was almost frightening, suffocating. Before him, Yuuta was holding Fuji's hand, looking as if he'd forgotten past anger.

 

“Tezuka, you would still like to know what exactly is going on with Shuusuke, right?” Fuji's mother asked after a few minutes of silence.

 

“Yes.”

 

“They're going to be moving him up to ICU in ten minutes. They need a doctor to see him soon, but from what the nurses are telling me, he at least has three broken ribs and damage to his right lung.” So, that was probably where the difficulty breathing came in. “He's probably got other injuries, too, but they're mostly worried about internal bleeding and such right now.” She paused and wiped her eyes. “That car must have hit him fast… what was… what was he thinking?” She put her hands up to her eyes and sobbed softly, and Tezuka could see the gravity of the situation easily, why everyone was so worried. She needed not say that there was a good chance Fuji would either be permanently injured from this, as long as he didn't die. Tezuka had always been a mature person, but now he cringed at death, and prayed that Fuji would be spared from it. Please… he's too young to have this happen to him. Perhaps the begging wasn't going to help, but Tezuka had nothing else to do. He wanted so badly to do something to help; yet, all he could do was watch Fuji while he lay there. It was maddening.

 

“Tezuka-kun, thank you so much for being there and coming to the hospital with him,” She said. “I don't know if you think it matters, but Fuji was always so friendly… even when he was in pain, I think he was glad that he had a friend there, at his side.” She tried to smile, but failed. Now Tezuka knew where Fuji inherited the smiling mask. “That's what really should matter, right? As long as Fuji is happy… we should be glad for him.” Tezuka didn't know he'd like that. Even if he had to see Fuji cry once, it would make up for seeing him lying in a bed like this, in extreme pain and on the brink of death.

 

“I guess so…” His voice showed that he didn't really believe it. Brushing a hand over Fuji's lightly bandaged head, brushing a few light-colored bangs way, he sighed. Fuji didn't' even respond under his touch like he hoped him to. God Fuji, why are you doing this to me? Just wake up and be okay. I don't want to have to see this anymore. I don't want you to be in pain; I don't want you to…

 

His thoughts stopped abruptly, and he removed his hand from Fuji's forehead. Licking the roof of his mouth lightly to moisten it, he paused and looked to the side of him. For just a second, just a second he could've sworn that there was somebody standing right next to him, a person whom had mimicked his thoughts completely. He must've really been going crazy, because nobody was there, and none of the Fuji family seemed to notice, either.

 

Fuji, please don't die…

 

 

I'm not very proud of this chapter at all, but this was supposed to have happened for a while. I'm not taking victims of this lightly at all. I'm sorry I didn't update sooner. Last weekend, I was visiting extended family. It was a four-hour train ride to get there and I was too busy spending time with family to do anything. This week, I had all kinds of band practices and a concert. So, apologies to everyone, and thanks for all your kind reviews.

 

A few quick notes:

Maybe it seems like I exaggerated the reaction of the crowd, but it's true. When you see somebody get hit by a car, or you see the reactions of loved ones is enough to affect you for life. Trust me, if you see somebody get hit by a car right before your very eyes, you're not going to forget it, even if you never met this person in your life.

 

ICU- Instant care unit; in hospitals, people in critical conditions or unstable conditions are placed here for appropriate care.

 

The injuries- I don't personally know about injuries to humans in the event of being hit by a car. I used a lot of my knowledge on animals for the subject and just applied it in that way. If anyone spots any sort of discrepancy, please tell me so that I can fix it.