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Child's PlayPrologue
- Fuji Yumiko -
"Oh, but you are too kind!" replies Fuji Yumiko, reciprocating the warmth of her colleague, since it would be considered impolite to say "Of course he is!" honestly.
For her little brother is, indeed, perfect. Unrivaled intelligence, ethereal looks, flawless manners, Fuji Syuusuke has it all. How can anyone not love him?
Imagine her shock, then, to find little Syuusuke cornered, by three boys from a near-by school, on the way home many years ago.
Of course she had sensed it all along! The horrible feeling was what made her leave school early in the first place! But never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that! Syuusuke! Charming, angelic Syuusuke, bullied by boys twice his age! No! No! How could something like that happen to her beloved little brother? Oh, how she butchered those hooligans with her umbrella! She didn't even know she had a violent streak. But then again, how dare they touch her brother?
Naturally Syuusuke wasn't happy with her telling Mom and Dad. But what could she do? She was barely fourteen at the time! She had to let their parents know that Syuusuke was in danger! And of course Mom absolutely refused to let Syuusuke go back to that damned school or play soccer any more. She agreed too. Those kids on Syuusuke's team had serious problems. Just because Syuusuke was great at soccer, (and brilliant at every subject taught in class, and favoured by teachers and coaches and cafeteria ladies and parents and girls and everyone else,) they thought they had the right to ask their big brothers to bully Syuusuke. So much for good sportsmanship.
Fine, maybe banning soccer was a bit of some over-protectiveness on their part. But everyone was afraid that it'd happen again. They only wanted to keep Syuusuke safe.
It pained her to see him so disappointed when Mom brought him the news. Poor Syuusuke had never been so depressed. Yuuta, too, hated moving, and simply shut himself up for two whole hours (which brought Mom to the verge of tears, since Yuuta needed food every hour back then, when he was awake that is). Yuuta didn't know what really happened though. He was too young, for God's sake, and Syuusuke made her swear not to tell.
Anyway Mom was determined, so they did move. The three siblings transferred, and Syuusuke had never touched a soccer ball since. They didn't pay for the injuries she caused with her umbrella though. Beaten up by a girl, the bullies wanted little attention.
Even to this day, she finds it odd that it was Yuuta who cheered Syuusuke up and not the other way around. Perhaps Syuusuke's passion for soccer was greater than anyone had thought possible. Otherwise Syuusuke wouldn't be down for so long. The truth is, Syuusuke is quite cheerful by nature. Some people find his ever-smiling face creepy, but as his older sister she knows better. Syuusuke is simply always amused, because he has a knack of finding entertainment out of everything.
It was lovely how Yuuta brought everything back together, without knowing that was what he did. (Really, her brothers always amaze her.) Yuuta, who had been sulking one day, came home with two small tennis racquets and chattering non-stop the next. It was unexpected. It was wonderful. Syuusuke's smile became, once again, genuine; he had always loved playing with Yuuta.
Mom thought tennis was okay. The players were separated by the net, after all. It was not exactly the sport where coaches could (or would) send out huge players to get those from another team. Besides, Mom loved the sight of her cheerful boys; she didn't want to strip them of their happiness. And after all, nobody thought Syuusuke was serious enough to join a tennis team (indeed he hadn't, not until he went to Seigaku anyway). But then again, how could anyone tell? Syuusuke had won some tennis tournament and casually filed the certificate away with all his other random papers into a shoebox as if it wasn't of any importance. (Now, what did he do with the trophy? She can't remember.)
Had he been serious about tennis back then? Had he? Yumiko rakes her brain for an answer but is rewarded with none. There was no sign. Or was there? Syuusuke's transfer to Seigaku was sudden, but did it really mean something? It is impossible to tell. Even she, Fuji Yumiko, with all those psychic powers that she is so proud of, has only sensed a trace of uncertainty, (so small it was that she can't even remember when it occurred,) before deciding to push it away as something negligible.
o0o the beautiful divider o0o
I still have to figure out how to use this website. Please review. I know my tense is all over the place. Can anyone please help me with tenses? I'm struggling.
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Haku