Clichés (oneshot) and Like the Moon and the Stars (oneshot)
Title: Clichés
Summary: Bevause the events in their lives that happen, are all out of some sappy movie.
Category: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Oshitari Kenya x Zaizen Hikaru
Other Characters: Shiraishi and Gin
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Romance/Drama
A/N: Written for Zaizen's birthday this year in July!
Zaizen Hikaru walked into the locker room sluggishly, suppressing a yawn and pulling his headphones out of his ear. Oshitari Kenya was right behind him, poking him in the shoulder.
"You're pretty tired today," he observed.
Zaizen sighed. "Senpai, it's seven in the morning. I'm suppose to be tired."
Kenya ruffled the second year's hair, grinning. "Well you better wake up, Shiraishi said today was a hard practice."
Zaizen muttered some sort of profanity under his breath before going to his locker and pulling out his things. As he pulled his shirt off, he saw Kenya already dressed and leaning against the lockers.
"You really aren't a morning person, huh?" Kenya remarked. Zaizen shot him a glare and finished changing, slamming his locker shut.
"No one changes as fast as you, senpai," Zaizen retorted, standing up and walking to the door. Kenya grinned at his bitchy attitude and headed to the courts with his friend.
"You're late," Shiraishi said as the two came out of the locker room. The regulars were already warming up on the courts with simple rallies, while the first and second years were doing basic training.
"Blame Sleeping Beauty here," Kenya stuck his thumb out at Zaizen.
"Way to sell me out," Zaizen muttered. "And I am not Sleeping Beauty."
"Both of you, twenty laps," Shiraishi ordered before going off to help some first years.
The doubles pair started their laps around all of the courts, Zaizen glaring at Kenya who kept finding ways to annoy him.
"So how are your classes going?" Kenya asked, changing the subject as they finished another lap.
"Why do you even ask senpai? You get the same answer over and over again," Zaizen replied. "They're fine."
"All of them or the ones you go to?" Kenya smirked, ignoring Zaizen's question.
Zaizen sent his senpai an angry look, not answering the question. Kenya picked up the pace, but Zaizen kept going at his own speed.
"Too slow to keep up?" The Speed Star teased. Zaizen sped up slightly, but otherwise ignored him.
"Once again, no one is as fast as you, senpai," he said.
The two continued running until the final lap when they sped up, racing each other.
"You won't win this~" Kenya grinned, running ahead.
Zaizen glared at him and was about to catch up when there was a shout and a loud thwack. Zaizen found himself on the ground, his head throbbing and vision blurry.
"Zaizen!"
"Hikaru!"
Zaizen clutched his head and tried to sit up as footsteps approached, but the pain kept him from doing so.
He heard voices whispering and murmuring but he couldn't understand what they were saying. His vision was totally black now. Was he unconscious? No, he could feel but barely because his senses seem to be astray.
"Move!" Shiraishi ordered, pushing past the rest of the members. He kneeled down next to the second year. "Zaizen? Zaizen can you hear me?"
Zaizen didn't answer.
"Kenya! Gin! Take Zaizen to the infirmary!" Shiraishi ordered before turning back to Zaizen. "Can you hear? Feel?"
Zaizen's moved his head up slightly to answer but instantly regretted it as a sharp pain went through his skull. He hissed and closed his eyes, hoping the darkness would help even though he was already blind. He tried to focus on who was talking.
"Shiraishi, we should take him to a hospital." Kenya.
"Do that. Did I say stop? Go back to your training! Rui, twenty laps for not controlling the ball." Shiraishi.
"What should we do?" Gin.
"Now, I trust you two to get him to the hospital?" Shiraishi.
"Alright, you ready Hika-"
But before he could hear the rest of what Kenya was saying, he felt the pain take over and slipped into unconsciousness.
Kenya stayed in the waiting room, pacing back and forth. He had already went to the drink machine four times, bathroom twice, and called his mom to tell her the situation.
"Wake up already, Hikaru," he muttered to himself as he sat down. He couldn't believe Zaizen got injured. How could the boy be so careless? The boy had fantastic reflexes and since he trained with a speed star, fast things weren't too hard to avoid. But no, he just had to go and get himself hit with a damn tennis ball.
"Oshitari Kenya?" A nurse called, holding open a door. Kenya stood up and hurried over to her.
"How is he? Is he okay?" Kenya questioned anxiously.
"He is but the doctor says there's..." she trailed off.
"There's what?" He pressed.
"Just follow me," she said before disappearing through the door she was holding open. Kenya followed, easily keeping up with her. They walked through multiple hallways until they came to the end of the hall. Kenya read the name on the little name plate on the door: Zaizen Hikaru. He shivered; never had he ever wanted to see that name anywhere in a hospital.
She motioned for him to go in and he did so. Kenya paused as he saw Zaizen, dressed in a hospital gown and sitting up with a bored look on his face. He had bandages around his head and the blond felt his heart ache.
"Hikaru!" Kenya exclaimed, hurrying over to the boy. "Are you okay?"
Zaizen blinked and look at Kenya, confusion written all over his face. What he said next made Kenya's breath hitch.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
Zaizen looked expectantly at the boy, examining him. He was wearing the same jersey that the nurse had said he was wearing, had blond hair and dark blue eyes but Zaizen couldn't pinpoint who he was.
"Y-You don't remember m-me?" The boy asked, shocked. "It's me, Oshitari Kenya! Your best friend and doubles partner?"
Oshitari Kenya? That name did sound familiar but... he still couldn't remember the boy.
"Um, I don't," Zaizen answered truthfully.
"Oh..." Kenya trailed off, heartbroken. Or rather that's what Zaizen thought he looked like. His lip quivered and his hands were slightly shaky. His face was twisted into an expression of shock, despair, and confusion.
"Memory loss huh?" He muttered.
"Memeory loss?" Zaizen asked. "What are you talking about."
Kenya blinked. "You don't remember that either?"
Zaizen shook his head. "I don't know how I got here."
"Well, you see..." Kenya went on to explain the situation, having calmed down a bit from the initial shock of being forgotten. Zaizen nodded as he listened, trying to piece together everything he was told. Apparently, he was a part of a tennis club, where he was the only second year and a genius. He disrespected his elders and always had his iPod on him.
"I sound so... cool," Zaizen said, smirking.
"You are cool," Kenya corrected. "You're still you, even if you forgot... us," he trailed off sadly.
"But if I don't know anything about myself, how can I be myself?" Zaizen asked.
"I just told you who you are," Kenya stated, ruffling his kouhai's hair, making sure not to touch the spot where the second year was hit.
"You could be lying," Zaizen remarked. "How can I believe that?"
"You just have to trust me, like always."
After talking for a while about what Zaizen was like, Kenya stood up. Throughout all of the talking, his heart slowly kept cracking every time Zaizen asked something he should have known. How could the boy forget everything they had gone through?
"Are you leaving?" Zaizen asked and Kenya nodded.
"Yeah, but I'll be back tomorrow," he replied, faking a smile. "Rest up and dream up some of your old memories."
Zaizen kept frowned. "I'll try."
"Night, Hikaru," Kenya said before slipping out the door, closing it behind him. He leaned against the wall next to the door before sliding down to the ground. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to understand everything that had happened.
Zaizen got hit with a tennis ball in the back of his head at morning practice. He and Gin took the boy to the hospital. Zaizen woke up with amnesia.
"God, it's like a cheesy movie," Kenya muttered, laughing at the situation. "Hopefully he will regain his memories soon."
And if he didn't, well they had a long way to go. But Kenya would be by his side the whole way, doing whatever he could for the boy he loved.
Title: Like the Moon and the Stars
Summary: It's been two days since he's lost his memories, and he stares up at the moon while searching for that rope to guide him out of the darkness.
Category: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Zaizen
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Angst/Friendship
A/N: This is the sequel to Cliches, the story above. I wrote this a few days later for a friend's birthday. ^^
The moonlight flooded the unlit hospital room, illuminating a long figure staring out the window. It had been only two days since Zaizen lost his memory, and he was growing frustrated with himself. He could only remember the basics of himself, such as his name, age, the names of his family, and what school he attended.
Over the past two days, unknown anger pumped through his whole being. He hated the fact that he was completely clueless about himself. Yeah, he knew the basics, but he didn't even know how he was supposed to act. He didn't have any memories except the ones he had acquired these past two days.
Everyone he apparently once knew was completely gone. Wiped from his memory. He felt like a zombie because he couldn't find himself. He was just a walking shell of his old self. He didn't care if he had only had amnesia for two days - those two days he had run himself in circles trying to recall anything from before the accident. He was mentally exhausted and also angry at the fact that his attempts were futile.
Why couldn't he remember? Why?
The doctor had explained it to him, but he'd zoned out. That fancy medical talk did nothing to sooth him; in fact, it only made him feel worse. He didn't like the feeling of not knowing. It made him feel helpless and useless.
His 'friends' came to visit him, telling him stories in attempts to help him remember. He didn't even want to imagine what they were going through. To be forgotten by one of their own must be painful, very painful. He didn't understand why they kept trying to help him, especially after what he'd done to them. Did he really mean that much to them?
Zaizen clutched his head, trying to block out his own thoughts. He didn't know anything anymore. Everything was so confusing - he just wanted answers. He wanted knowledge and to find a way out of this darkness of the unknown. He wanted to talk to people and actually know what they are talking about. He wanted to remember everything he once knew and actually be somebody. Be himself.
As a slight breeze blew in from the half-opened window, Zaizen remained the same. He was numb, hollow, and empty. He was just an empty shell of his old self. Until he got his memories back, he was nothing.
He looked up at the moon and reached towards it, hands being captured by the moonlight. The moon was so free, drifting about in the sky while being surrounded by countless stars. It was beautiful, how it lit up the sky like there wasn't a care in the world.
He was just like the moon. Without knowing who he was, he could start over and be free, be whoever he wanted. However, the moon didn't have all the freedom. It could only shine for a certain amount of time before it was pushed away only to return within a day's notice. The moon was in a cage of it's own.
He could do whatever he wanted, but without any knowledge he had just as much of a disadvantage as he was an advantage. Yet, this disadvantage was stronger, larger. He could only do so much because he didn't know anything else. He didn't know anything about the world and was in his own cage.
And the stars. The stars were just like his friends. Surrounding him and helping him shine brighter, but after a while they would disappear before reappearing along side him again. He wished it would be night forever, so they would come back.
He felt lonely, so lonely. He wanted something to grasp, something to make sure that this was reality and he wasn't in some other world, doomed to be by himself forever. To know he wasn't alone, that's all he truly wanted.
His so called 'friends' told him he wasn't alone, but he couldn't bring himself to believe them. What if they were lying? He couldn't trust anybody but himself, even though he didn't really know who he was. In certain terms he did, so being the only one he sort of remembered meant that he could only trust himself.
Trust was a tricky thing, wasn't it?
Zaizen leaned back against his pillows, his gaze never leaving the moon. He really hoped things would get better and he would recover his memories because he hated living in the dark. Actually he wasn't living, he was just crawling. He was scrambling for some sort of light, some sort of rope that he could grab onto and pull himself into the light.
If he could find that rope, maybe he could get his memories back. But where would he look? Where would he begin? There was so many things to think about even without his memories, and he thought his head was going to explode. Maybe he should buzz the nurse and ask for some medication.
After a few moments, Zaizen shrugged and closed his eyes, deciding that he would let the pain wear off and that the medication could wait until morning. For now, he had a lot to figure out and a lot to recover.
He prayed to whoever was out there that they could give him some sort of chance to escape this awaiting darkness.
Disclaimer: I own nothing~