Disclaimer: I own no Prince of Tennis characters.
Okay, I know I'm pretty dumb. I'm so busy that I don't even have the time to update Sin of Ignorance and I actually went to start a new fic. But I really have to do something about this growing ideas of mine, and what better way is it then to pen it down? :D
Anyway, for those who read Sin of Ignorance, I'm almost finished with chapter 6 so it should be out in a couple of hours.
Chapter 1: Damaged and decision
It was sunset; the skies were painted with shades of orange and red.
In a dark corner of a university in England, three shadows could be seen towering over a figure that was kneeling on the floor, right hand grasping her left wrist. Her facial expression clearly screamed the word "pain" and her eyes were full of tears that refused to be spilled, not in front of these people who would resort to such dirty tricks.
She looked up to glare at the three smirking people.
"Now then, little girl, that should have taught you to know your place. This place isn't for little girls like you to fit in." One of the three people spoke up.
"Maybe you will return to this place again, but not now, especially not with the condition your hand is in now. Hopefully, by then, will you know your own place, girly." Another one continued.
"Come on, let's go. There's no point in playing with the kid anymore." The last one spoke with clear disgust in her voice and started walking away. After smirking at the figure on the floor one last time, the two others followed suit, with one of them dropping a hammer dripping with blood onto the floor right in front of the kneeling figure
After they disappeared into the corner and she couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, the lone figure finally let out the tears that were hold in for so long. She looked down at the bloodied hammer and at her bleeding hand, "Damn them. What have I done to deserve this?"
8 months later, at a hospital in England.
A guy with blackish-brown hair and blue eyes was walking down the corridor of the hospital with a basket of fruits. He stopped in front of the door at the end of the corridor and knocked on it. He heard a soft voice responding and took a deep breath before opening the door and walking in.
In the room, was an empty bed. There was a girl who was beside the window, looking at whatever was outside that has her interest, with her back towards him. As soon as he approached to place the basket on the table, she turned to look at him.
He could feel his heart break when he saw her, she looked so shattered. Her brown eyes looked dead and void of emotions, her face expressionless. Her left hand, that was heavily bandaged, was left hanging by her sides. Her black hair reaching to her mid-back was extremely messy as though they weren't cared for at all.
"Alto," She greeted, a small smile forming. "Welcome back. How did it go?"
Alto nodded in greeting, "First place. There wasn't a lot of competition."
The girl seemingly rolled her eyes, "And you'd think that there would be more worthy competitors at the home country."
He shrugged, before turning to her with serious eyes, "And how was your operation? It was a month ago wasn't it?"
The girl looked at him for a moment before raising up her left hand to chest level and looking at it sadly, "The operation was a success. And through rehabilitation, my hands can finally move again now. But the doctor said that my hand reaction will never be on par with an average human anymore," She looked up at him with that very same sad expression. "Because my nerves are badly damaged."
She then dropped her hand back to her side and looked down on the floor, "I'll never be able to play the piano again, Alto. And even if I can, I'll never be at the same standard that I was at in the past." She looked up at him, again. With tears in her eyes and a completely broken expression, "I'll never be able to be your competition, again."
To say that Alto was upset was an understatement; both he and the girl in front of him were rivals in music and very close friends. They were known as prodigies in the music world and are capable of on par with experienced musicians. To lose such a wonderful rival was like losing a part of his reason to play music.
Despite that, he knew that it hurt the girl in front of him more than it hurts him. For one, the girl sacrificed time with her family and her childhood to be able to play music at such a high level. For her to lose one of her hands was like close to killing her.
He walked over to the short figure and wrapped his arms around her small shoulders. "You may not be able to play as well as you can, but it doesn't mean that you cannot be my competition. Your skills are anything but poor, so I'm sure you'll find a way through this. I'll be waiting for you." He looked down at the small figure, "And besides, the piano isn't the only instrument you can play, right?"
She pulled back from the hug and looked at him straight in the eyes, "Yes, I still have my right hand left, so I can still play the trumpet after my left hand is recovered enough to lift it up." She then looked downwards, "But about that, Alto, I'm planning to return to Japan."
Alto could feel his heart drop, 'Why?' was the only question running through his head.
The small figure seemed to understand what was going through his mind and replied to his unspoken question, "Like you said, I only have my right hand left. And if I were to continue staying here, something like this will definitely happen again. That's why I'm going home, to protect my only hand that is capable fulfilling my dreams."
"And besides, you know that I don't have a childhood and my only friend here that is close to my age is you, although you are still two years older. By going back home, I can attend the same middle school as my brother and mix with friends around my age, something that I have never done before." She continued.
Alto could feel his head coming up many objections to the decision that the girl made, but after listening to her reasons, he half-gave up trying to convince her to stay. "But will you be returning?"
She smiled, for the first time since he had stepped into this room, he saw a genuine smile, "Yes, I've already spoken to the principal about it, and he said that I can return after my hand is healed. He is very apologetic about what happened so whether or not I can play up to standard, I'll still get the scholarship that I have earned when I return."
He returned her smile in understanding, a smile that wasn't forced for the first time since he came into the room. "Then very well, I'll be waiting for your return to the musical stage, 'Kira."
"Anyway, when will you be leaving?" Alto asked after a while.
'Kira thought for a moment before replying, "Probably in a months' time? I have to go for another three weeks of rehabilitation and one last checkup before I can leave the hospital. Then I have to return to the dorm and pack my things."
He nodded. Suddenly, a thought came into his mind, "How are you going to tell your family about this? You've been hiding this from them for 8 months. I can still remember you begging the principal not to contact your parents when you first came into the hospital."
"The principal said that he wants to apologise to my parents to my parents directly, so I told him to call around one to two weeks before my return. I don't want them to worry so much." She replied.
Alto frowned, "You do know that by suddenly telling them that you've been in the hospital for the past nine months without them knowing, it'll be much more worrying for them?"
She shrugged, "But it's better than disrupting them for their schedule to come visit me. My parents and older brother are very busy people."
Alto knew that it wasn't the real reason, but decided not to press further.
It was already dark out when Alto decided to go home. After saying their goodbyes, and watching him leave, 'Kira sat on her bed looking out of the window again. After a while, the her facial expression returned to that of the one she had when Alto first came in, broken and voided of all emotions. The only difference was that tears were flowing down her cheeks.
She reached out her right hand to take a photo frame from the bedside table and looked down at it. There in the picture were two couples, the older couple was seated on chairs while the younger couple was standing behind them, the lady holding onto a baby. And in front of the old couple were two kids, one was a girl with black hair and brown eyes and the other one was a boy with black hair and green eyes.
She gently touched the young boy in the picture as she continued crying.
"Hikaru."
So how was it? :D
With that you know who the brother is, and i guess it's no longer a secret who the partner is, right ? ;D
