With The Beatles
Summary: A Day in the Life of Dr. Tezuka, the history professor, and M.J. Kennedy, his teaching assistant. There's Something strange in what She Said She Said. [AU Tezuka/OC
Disclaimer: I do not own Tezuka or Prince of Tennis. Nor do I own the rights to any Beatles songs or lyrics—though I have seen with my own eyes the actual piece of paper on which Paul McCartney jotted down the words to 'For No One' (The stuff they have in university libraries…!)
With The Beatles Notes: This goes with the rest of my "Tezuka Zone" AU stories, and takes place an (as yet) indefinite amount of time after "Prince & Prejudice." I hope this story still stands on its own; however, for those of you who haven't read the others, it does use an OC and circumstances I've established previously.
Miss Kennedy walked into the office humming one day, pausing only to give him an extraordinarily cheerful "good morning, good morning."
Tezuka frowned, but from contemplation, not annoyance. His assistant had never hummed before—or sang for that matter—that he could remember hearing. He guessed a lack of talent had probably made her self-conscious, since he could not distinguish any kind of tune.
"Miss Kennedy?"
She glanced at him inquisitively.
"You are humming?"
She ceased.
He sighed. "I do not mind if you want to hum… I was curious as to why you were doing so today."
"Because…"
"Because?" He hoped he sounded merely encouraging and not as if he was prying.
She thought a moment, then shrugged and smiled. "Good day…sunshine."
It was a sunny, beautiful day outside, and almost warm, especially for the middle of winter—her speech had been oddly abbreviated, but the answer satisfied him. He asked if she wanted anything in her tea today.
She bit her lip in that particular way that she had when she had amused herself with one of her wordplay poems, then said in a slightly strained voice, "Please please me: a taste of honey."
He stared at her before complying with her request. She was still using a bizarre cadence, which prompted him to ask, "Are you all right?"
She smiled again, this time with a definitely mischievous twist. "I feel fine."
"If you say so." He felt doubtful.
Her smile stayed. In addition, she began humming again, though more softly than when she came in, as she turned on her computer.
As she became more engrossed in her work her humming gradually trailed off, so he thought everything had returned to normal. Yet when he got up to go to a meeting and said casually, "I'll be back," she raised her head sharply and gave him a speculative look.
"Yes, Miss Kennedy?"
He figured she had looked at him oddly due to his use of a contraction—he did not think he had gotten the famous Schwarzenegger inflection right yet—however she watched him intently as she said, "No reply."
"So what was the look for? If I caused it, please tell me why."
She grinned at first. But when he continued regarding her sternly, she replaced it with a frown. "I don't want to spoil the party?" she said eventually, tilting her head inquiringly.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused.
Her shoulders slumped a little in visible disappointment. "I want to tell you…" she started.
He waited patiently.
But she closed her eyes, sighed, and said mock-forlornly, "Let it be. I'll cry instead."
Her decision to give up on him only made him more determined to learn the cause of her strange behavior; otherwise he would start worrying that she was delirious from fever. "I could just stand here until you make me understand."
She blinked her eyes open again, then a hint of humor returned to her expression and tone as she said, "You can't do that."
"I can, and I will," he threatened stubbornly.
Her eyes narrowed; she said in her I'm-going-to-be-equally-stubborn voice, "Think for yourself…things we said today…"
He crossed his arms and tried staring her down, but she raised an eyebrow at him—indicating she believed she had provided him with a significant enough clue.
Once upon a time, he would have felt the need to continue the battle of wills until the other person surrendered, no matter what or with whom. Yet he knew she was refusing to explain because she trusted his ability to reason it out on his own: just as she knew down to a science when he would prefer the challenge of doing so.
Tension in her facial expression distracted him from the sudden, fierce surge of emotion he felt toward her. This was just as well, since they were not yet in a situation where they could indulge their feelings for one another—and lately he was finding it harder to re-suppress them after moments such as these.
Therefore he merely nodded his acceptance of the challenge, which caused her to relax once more despite its curtness, then he strode off; he had not really intended to risk being late, anyway.
♫♪♫♪♪
'Things we said today.' Her words echoed in his head. Since she had used the phrase at the time she bit her lip, he typed "please please me" into the search field on the library computer.
It turned out to be the name of a Beatles song. A glimmer of suspicion formed in the back of his mind: this solidified into certainty as he mentally replayed the rest of their conversation and recognized 'Let It Be' as a title too. He pushed up the bridge of his glasses with a forefinger, typed in "Beatles songs" to search next, then scrolled through the alphabetical list at the first promising website…
…and was very thoughtful (as well as relieved) by the time he had reached the end.
That she had become deliberate about the references meant she knew, somehow, that he had recently developed an interest in the Beatles' music while researching the group as cultural context for a new history class topic. The additional evidence of her perceptiveness did not surprise him, and Tezuka felt his lips twitch: she would appreciate the pun that they were rather attuned to each other by now indeed.
♫♪♪♫♪
"Maybe I'm amazed," he informed her when she returned from her lunch. "Every little thing? I should have known better."
Her face lit up as she halted half-way to her desk; she even laughed aloud, just as he hoped she would. He truly did love her laugh, among other things.
He saw her notice his print-out and could not resist adding, "With a little help from my friends."
Still smiling, she crossed the room and sat down. "Act naturally."
He glanced down, checking. "All right," he agreed. "We do have work to do."
She put the back of her hand to her brow and said dramatically, "A hard day's night, eight days a week."
"…"
Her impishness had returned full-force. "When I get home, I'm so tired. It's all too much."
Those were all on the list, also. "Very funny," he said dryly, but because he was truly amused he decided to continue the game with her a little longer. "At least you should have golden slumbers, then."
She shook her head sadly. "Good night, Mr. Moonlight: here comes the sun!"
That got him to chuckle, which obviously pleased her. She gave him one last smile and turned her attention to her computer screen.
For the rest of the day, Tezuka remained more light-hearted himself; never before had anyone reached this comfort level with him. He still maintained his self-control enough to keep his professional demeanor—such that no one commented on his unusual mood. However Miss Kennedy did wink at him after hearing him unintentionally use the phrase "we can work it out" with a student; he had to cover his mouth with his hand to suppress his smile.
As they walked back together to his office, he asked her, "So, do you have any other supposed complaints about work, since we were talking on the subject earlier?" He had been surreptitiously studying the song list throughout the afternoon and remembered that 'Chains' and 'Misery' were both on it.
"You never give me your money. Money, that's what I want," she said instead, after thinking for a minute. Her lips quirked.
"Ah?" He knew the answer to that one, though the gentle inflection in which he said it came dangerously close to breaking their unspoken agreement not to push each other past the breaking point: "Can't buy me love."
Her glance flashed to his face and away again; he observed that her knuckles whitened as she gripped the shoulder strap of the projector case.
♪♪♫♪♫
Breaking the mood seemed to have been an irreparable lapse in judgment on his part. Instead of resuming their usual easy companionability, they both spent the last few hours of the workday distracted and disconnected. And when Tezuka looked over at his assistant around the time they normally started wrapping things up, he was dismayed to find her staring out the window into the darkness with a pensive frown.
"Miss Kennedy?" he asked quietly.
The ensuing silence stretched for what seemed an eon before she said absently, "You really got a hold on me."
There had been no reproach in her voice, no complaint or unhappiness—just statement of fact. He hesitated before speaking also, unsure of her intent in referring to their predicament more directly than they ever had previously, yet still not with complete openness. Finally he answered her as calmly as he could, "If it is time to go, you are … free as a bird."
She started a little and turned to meet his concerned gaze. After she assessed him for several moments, a faint but unfathomable smile curved her lips; it vanished quickly, however, and she stayed silent.
There was nothing more he could say, one way or another; he caught himself staring blankly at the neat stacks of paper on his desk. Impatiently, he set them to the side without organizing them as he did ritually every other night and stood up to put on his coat… taking one last glance at Miss Kennedy.
What she saw in his expression, he could not guess. Yet she squared her shoulders as if having made a decision, and said, her face paler than usual: "Wait. Do you want to know a secret?"
He sat down again. Seeing the intensity in her eyes, his breath caught in his throat; she drew in hers audibly. "I've got a feeling…" she said significantly, stopped, then exhaled.
A serene, pervasive joy washed through him, cleansing him of his anxiety.
It would not go down in the history books as the most romantic love confession, certainly, particularly since they both had deduced how the other felt a while ago. Nevertheless, that she had chosen to take that next step—stating it specifically, even if couched in the context of their shared joke—meant something. He could allow himself to hope that the wait would be over sooner rather than later, now.
He gave her his best smile, which came more easily than it ever had before. "As do I. So that makes two of us." Then he added, "It is a good thing?" There… aside from reassuring him, a confirmation of sorts if she could give it, that also set her up nicely.
She smiled back. "Yes, it is."
♪♫♪♫♪
CODA
Although Tezuka shared her disinclination to hum or sing, he did have some musical talent, including the ability to carry a tune. He felt it was only fair to warn her—and to return the favor of confessing first—so he took to quietly singing George Harrison's song 'Got My Mind Set On You' every now and then once they returned to work the following Monday.
He derived great pleasure from the various expressions he evoked on Miss Kennedy's face, especially during the verse "'But it's gonna take money….'"
A/N: So it's not the most original idea in the world. So I've succumbed to the fan-trait of giving a character a liking for something despite the lack of evidence for it in canon. And I've allowed Tezuka to be somewhat of a singer because I love the singing voice of his seiyuu, Okiayu Ryotaro. I hope you enjoyed it anyway; love me do? There's a place you can go to let me know the answer to that question, should you be kind and inclined. :)
FYI…within the story, there were 40 Beatles song titles and 1 Paul McCartney song title included in conversation, plus 3 Beatles song titles and 1 George Harrison song title used in other contexts. Because it's my story and everything counts, the 3 that were in the summary, the 1 that was in the disclaimer, and the 2 that were in the previous paragraph bring the grand total to 51 (however, I did not include repeats or any incidental titles in the text like 'The End'). In case you were wondering and/or wanted to see if you found all the ones I put in intentionally.