A/N: Yes, this is a horrid attempt at a sick!fic… It might have turned out better had I not a) had not one, but TWO extremely long breaks in the writing of this – I wouldn't be surprised if you can tell where my writing styles change XD – and b) been sick for 2 of the instances I was writing this… Though I suppose sickness is what inspired this gargantuan fic to be born… (yes, for me, writing something over 1500 words is HUUUUGE… especially a oneshot.)
I'm not really sure whether I'll be continuing this thing or not… part of me wants to wash my hands of it, and part of me is like, hmmmm… OK, so maybe I'm not at my most eloquent after pulling an all-nighter to get this finished, typed up and uploaded: it's almost 7AM XD

Disclaimer: If I'm posting it up on this site, there really isn't a need to tell you that I'm not Takeshi Konomi, and sadly I don't own Prince of Tennis.
Warning: sick!fic and maaaaaaaybe slash if you squint. I'm not even sure, really.

"Eh? Where is Ochibi-kun?" Kikumaru wondered aloud. "Momo-chan, have you seen him?"

Momoshiro looked up from tying his shoes. "Huh, what? Echizen? Sure, sure, I picked him up this morning, like always."

"Idiot," Kaidoh hissed from behind him, "he mean recently. As in, 'the last time you saw him'."

"Shut up, you stupid snake!" Momo turned to glare at his rival. "I know what 'recently' means!"

"Stop calling me that!" Kaidoh grabbed a fistful of Momoshiro's jersey.

"Kaidoh! Momoshiro! Twenty laps for excessive arguing." Tezuka ordered.

"But Kaidoh –"

"Thirty laps."

"Idiot…" Kaidoh grumbled as he shoved Momoshiro out of his way. Momoshiro moved to lunge at him and tripped on his still-untied shoelace, falling into Kaidoh and knocking them both to the floor.

Click!

"Perfect." Fuji smiled down at the pair on the floor, waving an undeveloped Polaroid at them.

"Oooh, let me see, let me see!" laughed Kikumaru, having temporarily forgotten Echizen's absence.

Tezuka sighed as the chattering and bickering started up again, looking over at Oishi and Inui. "Where is Echizen?" Oishi asked him, a worried look creeping onto his face.

"Echizen's class has cleaning duties today," Tezuka reminded him.

"Ah! That's right…"

Inui retrieved his notebook. "Generally Echizen arrives 10 minutes late on cleaning days."

Tezuka nodded and stood up. "Practice will start in 15 minutes," he announced to the locker room. "Everyone will have warmed up by then, of course."

There was a mad rush to the door as the team hurried out.

Kikumaru became more and more distracted as practice wore on, jumping elaborately to both return the ball and scan the courts for his Ochibi.

"Saa, I'm sure he's fine," Fuji said after the fifth time Kikumaru added a 360-degree spin before returning his shot.

"But, Fuji –"

"You're only making yourself dizzy that way," he said as Kikumaru wobbled after his return.

"…he'd better come today…" Kikumaru mumbled under his breath.

I can't believe it! He didn't show up!" Kikumaru whined at Ooishi in the locker room.

"Who?"

"Echizen!" Momoshiro said as he tossed his practice clothes in his bag. "Ditching when burgers are his treat…"

"Echizen never came to practice?" Ooishi asked, his tone becoming increasingly worried. "Horio and the other freshmen said he didn't show up for cleaning duty today…"

Tezuka looked up at Ooishi's last remark. 'Hmm. I assumed the cleaning went longer than usual, but if Echizen didn't go, his absence from practice is inexcusable… Still, it's not like him to skip practice…'

Tezuka sighed, straightening his tie as he gathered together his things. 'Knowing Echizen, he may have just forgotten. I'm fairly certain the upperclassmen haven't been giving him trouble again, so he's probably fine.' Making a note to assign a good number of laps to Echizen on Monday, he headed off to the student council meeting.

A mind-numbing 2 hours later the meeting ended, and Tezuka wasted no time getting to his locker to collect his things. 'I can't believe it took that long to sort that out, it's nearly dark already.' As he was putting on his jacked, Tezuka saw a book lying in the middle of the hallway. For a moment, he considered just leaving it there; unfortunately his conscience would not allow it, and so, with yet another sigh, he picked it up and began walking to the school library.

'Just in case my had hadn't been long enough, I am now walking in the opposite direction I wish to be going.' When he reached the library, he was surprised to find the door unlocked, but at least that meant he wouldn't have to find the janitor. Tezuka set the book on the return desk and turned to leave, when, out of the corner of his eye he saw a patch of white in the darkness. Looking more closely, he could make out the outline of a person wearing a hat…

"Echizen, what are you doing?" Tezuka asked, his voice quiet but firm. There was no response, so, with a sigh, he walked over to wake the freshman. "Come one, the school is closing for the weekend." He shook his shoulder gently in an effort to rouse him.

"Meh, bouchou…" Echizen murmured, finally opening his eyes. "Bouchou? What–"

"It's time to leave. They'll be locking up the school soon."

"Oh." Echizen stared at the hand in front of him, seeming confused for a moment before grasping it to let Tezuka pull him to his feet.

Tezuka didn't let go immediately though. 'His hand seems unnaturally warm,' he thought. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, wrenching his hand away and turning to leave. "…thanks."

"Echizen, wait; your bag –" Tezuka managed to catch him before he hit the floor.

"Heh… nice reflexes, Bouchou…" Echizen mumbled sleepily.

'His whole body is burning up!' Tezuka looked at him more closely now, taking in the flushed cheeks and his hazy, unfocused eyes. 'He could have been here all weekend like this!'

"Hey." Echizen glared weakly at the captain. "Put me down."

Instead of answering, Tezuka merely shifted his weight so that he could grab Echizen's bag as well. Then he began the long walk to his home.

"Bouchou, put me down."

No answer.

"Put me down, now."

Tezuka sighed. "If it didn't work the first two times, what made you think it would work the third time?"

"Bouchou… I'm fine. Put me down." His eyes moved around distractedly, searching for an escape – and not finding any.

Tezuka stopped walking momentarily to look down at Echizen. "You are not fine. Even you know that." He tightened his arms around him, just in case he tried to make a break for it, and shouldered his way through the door.

The sun had completely disappeared over the horizon at this point, and Tezuka was glad he had thought to bring his jacket. Echizen continued to protest his situation as they slowly made there way to the school gates. Tezuka ignored him, hoping against hope that Echizen would stop. He nodded to the custodian as they left, the old man kindly shutting the gate behind them.

Fallen leaves went skittering down the sidewalk on a passing breeze, and Echizen abruptly pulled out of his ranting. Just as Tezuka opened his mouth – though whether to ask him if something was wrong, or if he had finished being childish, he wasn't sure – a series of shudders wracked Echizen's body.

Tezuka barely refrained from smacking himself in the head. 'I'm an idiot. Of course he's cold – not only does he have a fever, but he's not even wearing a jacket!' Briefly he considered his options before setting Echizen down, praying that the cocky prodigy didn't try to run off. However, Echizen merely huddled closer to his captain, crossing his arms tightly across his chest in an effort to stay warm. He jumped slightly as Tezuka draped his jacket over Echizen's shoulders. The freshman stared blankly at Tezuka, who was now readjusting their school bags across his shoulders once again.

"W-wait…" Echizen protested even as he unconsciously wrapped the jacket closer, "I c-can't t-t-take this… This is… this is y-your jacket, Bouchou."

Tezuka ignored him, instead picking up the shivering boy and picking up the pace. It was quite brisk out without his jacket… he could only imagine how it must have felt to Echizen.

"Hey!"

No answer.

"B-bouchou!"

Tezuka continued to ignore his protests.

"Hey! Listen to me!" Aggravated, he began poking Tezuka's face.

Not even bothering to stop and look down at his belligerent passenger, Tezuka calmly stated, "Even if I wanted to take back my jacket – which I don't – setting you down again, taking off the bags, putting the bags back on again, and picking you up again, it would be pointless, considering my house his at the end of this block." He nodded towards the small, stately house just ahead of them.

"Oh." Echizen's hand fell back to his waist. It took a few seconds for him to register what his Bouchou had said, and then he exclaimed, "Wait! Why am I–?"

"My house is much closer to the school than where you live," Tezuka interrupted, cutting off Echizen before he could begin to protest in full. A minute later, they were at his door. Tezuka shifted Echizen to one arm momentarily, the other hand reaching into his jacket pocket for his keys. Only when the door was locked behind them did he put Echizen down.

"Now then…" Tezuka shifted, trying to decide what to do with his sick kouhai. "…you should probably notify your parents as to your whereabouts."

"Doesn't the kidnapper usually make the ransom call?" Echizen muttered under his breath.

Tezuka looked sharply at Echizen from the foot of the stairs. "Echizen."

"Fine."

"The phone's down the hall." He gestured towards a small table and watched to make sure Echizen did as he was told before heading up the stairs to his room.

"Hopefully I still have something small enough to fit him… though I guess anything would be warmer than his school uniform." Rummaging through the back of his wardrobe, he was able to find a couple of shorter drawstring pants, as well as a long-sleeved thermal. Satisfied, he laid them out on his bed.

"Echizen?" Tezuka called as he came down the stairs. "There's some spare clothes in my room if you felt like changing –" he cut off as he reached the bottom with the other boy nowhere in sight. "Echizen?"

A small pile shifted near his duffel, and answered back. "Hey…" Echizen said half-sprawled on the floor, his arm propped up on the duffel while his head rested against the wall.

Tezuka pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up to the level of his furrowed eyebrows. "What– why…?"

Turning his head to look at his sempai, Echizen cracked open one eye. "Got tired… sat down." The clouded glare he leveled at Tezuka dared him to challenge his chain of events.

Tezuka noted that Echizen was pointedly turning away from the duffel – as much as he could without slipping off anyway. Looking over at it, he felt a small warmth spread through his chest at the sight of his jacket folded neatly on top of the bag. "Okay," he said, a (very) small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he extended a hand to the freshman.

Echizen didn't even object when Tezuka proceeded to pick him up, slinging his are over one shoulder and his legs over the opposite arm. As they slowly made their way up the stairs, he mumbled, "Nobody home… left a message…"

Tezuka was unable to elicit further responses from the boy, except a murmured "thanks" as he helped him sit up on the bed to swallow some aspirin. Looking down at the fevered body on his bed, he was extremely aware of his inexperience in dealing with sick people. 'He looks so small and helpless,' he thought as he stood next to the bed, eyes darting about for some clue as to what to do next.

Suddenly his gaze fell on the foot of the bed, where the clothes Echizen still lay. Tezuka shifted uncomfortably – the plan had been for Echizen to change himself, not this…

'You change together in the same locker room every day, so there's no reason for this to be any different…' He nodded to himself and reached for the clothes. Holding them in his hands, he paused awkwardly. 'No, it is different… Normally he wouldn't need help to change… normally, he wouldn't be so vulnerable, and fragile-looking…' Shaking his head to stop his train of thought, he began to unbutton Echizen's top.

Echizen's shivers became more pronounced as he went, and Tezuka hoped he was doing the right thing. Sliding his arm behind Echizen's shoulders, he awkwardly maneuvered his arms out of the sleeves as quickly as he could. Then he slipped the thermal over his head, finding it a bit easier to work Echizen's arms into the sleeves of the too-large article of clothing. Setting his torso back against the mattress, Tezuka folded his school shirt and placed it to the side.

Then Tezuka began unbuttoning his slacks, trying not to think about what he was doing. It didn't help that the thermal he was now wearing kept getting in the way, making the whole process take much longer than it should have. After undoing the last button, he tugged the slacks as gently as he could to get them past his hips before pulling them smoothly off his legs. Tezuka swiftly slid the sweats up his legs, lifting his lower back to get them up to about his waist. He then retreated quickly off the bed, taking Echizen's school uniform with him and setting it neatly on the dresser before finally pulling the bedcovers up to his shoulders.

Tezuka let out a sigh of relief. He went to the bathroom to get a drink, bringing a second glass for Echizen in case the boy woke up. He thought about going to sleep in the guest room, but he couldn't bring himself to leave him alone in this state. After an internal struggle, he ended up on the bed – on top of the covers, sitting up with a pillow to cushion the headboard.

As the night passed, Tezuka found himself drifting closer and closer to sleep… He jerked awake as he felt Echizen stirring furiously in his sleep. Suddenly he woke up and began struggling to remove himself from under the layers of bedclothes.

Tezuka quickly grabbed him before he could stumble from the bed, holding him close to keep him from moving. "Echizen, it's okay. It's just a nightmare, go back to sleep… Shh… You're going to be okay, Ryoma… Please be okay…"

After Echizen had calmed down and drifted back to sleep, he situated him back under the covers before settling back into his previous position.

Echizen shifted a little in his sleep, and Tezuka absent-mindedly began moving his thumb in soothing circles on his forearm.

'Don't worry, I won't leave you, Ryoma… You can go to sleep.' Tezuka's eyes drooped as he watched his sleeping kouhai. "Shh… I'll stay here, right by your side…"

A/N2: Aww, isn't that sweet… Feel free to review, comments and criticism welcome!