Deafening Silence ( prince of tennis) (#wattys2016)

30

Idiots, Yanagi's drink made you burn up your stamina before you even realised it. Roko mentally sighed as he crossed the line, completing his final lap and grabbing first place. Yanagi was stood there and nodded to him with a small smile.

"Congratulations, Echizen. You passed the test, which means you won't be drinking the Penal Tea #2" he said, and Roko frowned.

"The point of this test was to conserve stamina" Yanagi added helpfully when he noticed his frown.

Oh, the real point of this exercise wasn't speed, but maintaining your stamina under pressure. Roko understood now, and distantly felt sorry for the others who had thrown themselves into their own demise without realising.

Actually, he wondered if he should get his phone so he could take pictures and remember this moment, as he watched the crowd of regulars trudging towards the line, with Jackal in the lead. He thought for a moment before deciding and quickly running to the clubroom to get his phone, turning on the camera before running back, just to see the regulars cross the line. They all instantly collapsed, and Roko smiled and lifted his phone, taking the first picture.

Snap.

Beautiful, he thought, scanning his new memory on his phone of his half-dead teammates on the ground.

"And now, for the rest of you, you get to drink the Penal Tea #2" Yanagi declared, and the regulars on the ground looked up in astonishment.

"EEEEHHHH!?"

Roko smiled widely as Yanagi poured five glasses of Penal Tea #2. This would make some beautiful photos. Maybe he should make a collage of his dead teammates for Yukimura to cheer him up. He thought about it, and then smiled widely.

Yes, he would definitely take some wonderful photos for him later, as Yanagi passed the first glass to Yagyuu, who took it hesitantly.

Snap.

Kanagawa General Hospital

Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

A neurological disorder that affects the peripheral nervous system.

Symptoms include weakness in feet and hands, as well as dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system.

It is a life threatening illness that causes paralysis in the limbs and can affect a person's respiratory tract and eventually kill them.

The disease can be cured by major surgery, but the survival chance is only 50%.

Yukimura Seiichi was the Child of God. He was the captain of the Rikkaidai tennis team, and he was the figurehead of the entire school, and as such, Yukimura Seiichi did not cry. He refused to cry.

The doctors had only gotten the results back this morning, after three weeks of waiting. According to them, samples of Yukimura's blood had to be sent abroad for analysis, including reports of various tests and procedures performed, and here were the results.

He didn't quite understand it, but he felt excited when the doctors came in with the results. He supposed that it meant progress was being made, that the three weeks of him sitting here in a hospital bed doing nothing was not in vain. But he felt like an idiot all of a sudden for ever considering being excited, because now he realised that for three weeks he'd been waiting not for the day he could leave, but his chance of survival.

50%

The operation was complex, and various tests had to be performed for the next few months in order to establish the severity of his disease before it could be done.

The next few months.

Yukimura Seiichi did not cry. He raved, he shouted, he wailed in anger, but he did not cry. He would sooner die than have someone take pity on him because of tears.