Out Of Sight

Fall From Grace

Yara, what are you doing, posting a new story when you haven't even finished Still and Warped yet?

I just had this idea and it was really, really tempting. So I wrote it. Hope you guys like it!

Anyway, enjoy~!

~'0'~

It hurts.

That's the only thing he knows.

It hurts, it hurts so unbelievably much.

He only realizes that someone's screaming when it stops, and then he distinctly comprehends that it was his own voice that screamed.

''TENMA!''

Then everything goes black.

''I'm sorry, but you won't be able to play soccer anymore.''

~'0'~

The hospital room is filled with presents and cards, flowers standing on the nightstand to give everything some color. The boy in the bed is sitting upright and staring out of the window, his eyes fixated on the cloudy sky.

It's getting colder, he absentmindedly notes. Autumn is ending soon.

''-and then we...'' the voice trails off. ''Tenma...''

The brunet doesn't look away from the window.

A sigh, and then the rustling of clothes. Footsteps, and someone enters his sight. The brunet keeps his eyes fixated on the sky.

''Tenma, look at me. Please.''

The brunet clenches the bedsheet tightly and finally moves his gaze to meet the brown one directed at him. Shindou looks at him sadly and sits down on the edge of the bed.

''Please,'' he says softly when the younger boy moves away from him. ''Please, I...''

Tenma looks away. ''Tsurugi didn't come today either.'' It's the first thing he said during his friend's visit.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Shindou wince. ''You know how he feels about this,'' whispers the game maker carefully. ''His brother-''

''I know.''

A hand is placed over the brunet's and Tenma stills. ''You can't blame him- after Yuuichi-san, he can't stand to see another person he cares for like...''

Like this.

There's so much Tenma wants to say.

But he's my best friend. I need him. Why isn't he here?

He doesn't.

''...how's the team?'' he whispers instead.

I haven't seen them in a while either.

Shindou hesitates. ''They're... focusing on the exams,'' he says after a few seconds. ''Especially the first-years are stressing out, though the rest of the team is trying to help them through it.''

''What about the match next week?''

The game maker pauses.

Neither of them speak for a while.

''We're... training, for it. It's going well,'' says the older boy finally. And that's that.

The only contact he has with the team is through their group chat and every once in a while, a private message. Shindou is the only one who still visits him.