Yasouka Seven
Thank You
This is the last chapter! Including an afterward. It's very short, and I apologize. I also meant to have this up sooner, but school's gotten in the way of that. But it's before the end of May, so I'm pleased. I hope you will be too, with this chapter. =)
"Ochibi! Ochibi, stop!" Stuttering screams echoed from the surrounding area. The tensai's sharp eyes strayed back and forth, straining to find the source of the sound.
The retreating back of Seigaku's redhead sounded an alarm in his head. The shrinking silhouette of the freshman ahead of him started a panic. Fuji's bright blue eyes grew wide with fear, and his small mouth opened to yell.
"Whatever you do, while you're there, don't let him in to the forest."
He started after them. The panicked warnings he needed to yell wouldn't come out. They needed to know. They needed to stop. Everything needed to stop. Right now. Before it was too late. It's almost too late.
"Eiji! It's dangerous! Stop him!!" His gentle voice screamed, with all that he had. The brunette's message echoed past the house, past the trees, and in to the forest.
"Yeah!!" Kikumaru yelled in return. As a true acrobat, Eiji leaped on to a tree stump. Using his height as a boost, he flew over the rookie and landed amongst the trees. A heavy weight collided with his body. A relieved smile snuck on to his face.
"Kikumaru-senpai," Echizen breathed slowly. "Kikumaru-senpai, it's not his fault. She's been waiting this whole time. He never realized, she's right there. She's right there, waiting for him."
Fingers, like that of an older brother, stroked his head. "Hush, hush," he sighed. "It's okay, Echizen. It's okay."
Fuji slowly made his way to the couple. With a tender hand, he led the two back to the rest of the team, waiting for them, in to the house.
The sun was sinking by the time the regulars could catch another train back home. Echizen's hands were clenched as he walked away, never looking back towards the house. Inui, the last to leave, had closed the door for the last time. A secure locking sound clicked as closure. The eight students all took their seats on the empty train. It wasn't until a soft snoring from the first year that anybody spoke up.
"You know," the data man's deep voice began, "it's a good thing you two stopped him from going in to the forest." Inui's eyes, shielded behind his glasses, fell to Echizen, who was sleeping on Momoshiro's shoulder.
"Hm? Why's that?" Kawamura asked politely.
Inui, in response, adjusted his glasses. "It's apparently well known that Mrs. Rosalind kept a garden by their house. Her favorite flowers were poppies, and they've quite quickly taken over the forest. Not to mention, in close to their house is very loose soil. If he'd taken a wrong step, Echizen could've fallen and broken his leg. Or very easily his neck or skull, I'm sure."
"Mrs. Rosalind loved flowers?" Oishi sighed. "How sweet."
Eiji's shoulders sank. "Mm. I bet she was nice," he murmured.
Kaidoh grunted in agreement, looking up at Fuji as he opened his mouth.
"He'd been waiting for her in the house. Mrs. Rosalind was supposed to be with the racket. They were a pair – a tennis ball, and a tennis racket. He'd been waiting for her, confined to that ball for so many years, alone, waiting for her. For a long time, she's been gone. For a long time, he's been trying to find her, unknowing that she'd already gone," Shuusuke explained. "He had no idea. But, I know, that I saw him leave. He went in to the forest to find her. There, in the forest, they could finally sleep together, in peace."
"Ironically, from that same forest they longed to be together in, came the opium that the villagers used to kill them," Inui finished.
All the eyes in the car turned to him.
Kaidoh gaped, "Inui-senpai, that's not…"
"A happy ending. I know," sighing, the bespectacled regular twiddled with a pencil. "Unfortunately, they don't get a happy ending."
This time, Momoshiro cut in. "Maybe they do."
Just as the acrobat was about to ask what in God's name gave him that idea, the second year held out a crumpled piece of paper. Kikumaru recognized it instantly. Fuji frowned.
"Momoshiro, it's in—"
"I know it is. That's why," he urged the paper toward Kawamura, "please, Taka-san. If you would."
Cautiously, Takashi took the paper and gave a questioning look.
"A note. From Mr. Rosalind himself," Fuji explained. "It's in English. Can you translate it, Taka-san?"
A weak smile forced its way in to the power players' expression. "I'll do my best." He read slowly the letter from the dead.
"Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Things did not turn out as I wanted them to. I didn't want years apart. I didn't want my efforts to be for nothing. I just wanted to be together with her. I never wanted this. None of this. I didn't want the trouble, the pain, and the loneliness. Even God wanted us apart. But with your help, we are together. I can hear her calling me from the forest. I want to be with her. Things did not turn out as I wanted them to. But all I want is to be with her, and that could never happen. But thank you, thank you, thank you. And I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We'll be together forever, thanks to you. Thank you. For seeing this to the end. Because I never could."
A heavy aura took on the rest of the ride home. Not one of the regulars said another word for the rest of the ride. The train filled the closer they got to home, but the entire trip was silent.
Fuji, alone, was smiling to himself. That quaint little smile.
Afterward
"How is your arm doing?" was the usual greeting from Honshu, with a cheerful air. But today was different. Instead it was, "oh, hi, Tezuka," when he answered the phone.
The captain squinted his eyes out his window in to the morning light. "Mm. Good morning, Oishi. Is there a particular reason you called today?"
"Oh. How's your arm? Are you doing well in Kyuushu?" His vice captain's voice sighed through the phone.
"Everything's fine down here. And the team?" Tezuka's curiosity rose. If his team wasn't doing well, that was a problem. They had to win and get to the nationals. If something was wrong, it needed to be fixed. As captain, maybe he could help with that.
"We're all doing alright. Though Inui's come down with a cold, and Echizen's been a bit depressed. Fuji's sister assures me that everyone will be better by Monday's tennis practice," he answered.
"What happened?" Tezuka demanded.
"O-oh! Nothing, Tezuka! Please don't worry about it. It's taken care of and it will get better. We just had a run in with," the familiar voice stopped for a moment. A groan escaped him before he continued, "with a lost tennis player."
Instantly, the ghost of Kirihara Akaya floated to his mind. "I see," the captain returned understandably. "I'm sure you dealt with him fine, Oishi. It's not the first time, after all."
"I-it isn't?" The doubles specialist stuttered in surprise. "Oh… oh, oh!! Yes. It's not… the first time."
Tezuka frowned in confusion. Something seriously wasn't right. "All right, then," came from his mouth instead of a question asking for the truth. "I'm sure with your help, everything's all right."
On the other end, Oishi smiled. The deep voice of his captain, though far, was reassuring. "I'm glad I could help. I'm glad I could do anything to help. Though it was mostly Fuji and Eiji, I think we all played our part in helping the poor guy. I'm glad."
An ambivalent silence passed between the two phones. "What?" Tezuka finally said.
"Nevermind, it takes a lot to explain. But it's not going to be a problem for anybody anymore. Everyone's happy," another smile passed through Oishi's face.
"Oh," Tezuka spouted suddenly. "Sorry, Oishi. I have work to take care of here. Good luck with the team."
"Thank you, Tezuka. Good luck with your work. Bye." The vice captain hung up. Tossing his phone on to his bed, he opened the windows to a clear blue sky. He took a deep breath and sighed as he closed his green eyes. Oishi opened his eyes to the reality of a perfect day and smiled, a happy and honest smile.
Well, that's it! Obviously, my horror, my action, and my characterization needs work. Hopefully, you can help! Just post a review telling me what you thought or what I could improve on! I'd love it. Tezuka's a bit random here, but I wanted him there. X3 And I did my best to tie it in at the end! I hope it's not too deus ex machina or anything. But please, let me know!