Title: Cage

Characters: Tezuka, Fuji, Atobe

Warnings: TezuFuji-centric. Possible OOC-ness for the sake of the story.

Disclaimer: PoT and its characters belong to Konomi-sensei, but Tezuka and Fuji belong to each other.

A/N: Happy birthday Tezuka-buchou.

Chap 1: Nightmare

Fuji looked around nervously. He was in a big room with traditional design: tatami flooring, sliding doors, a low table in the middle with four cushion on two sides. There was an alcove behind him in which sat a skillful sword stand with three swords in different length, behind the stand hung a painted scroll of the clan's emblem. On the left side, an arch had been cut into a partition ornately carved from teak wood, forming a narrow corridor leading to more private chambers and one the right side, a screen preventing him from seeing farther but Fuji could still see the sliding door on this side was opened, probably lead to a beautiful garden since he could smell various scents of flowers. A small chandelier illuminated the room with yellow light.

How could he end up being here, Fuji still felt a bit unreal. Yesterday, he was at his house, preparing for his upcoming study abroad at one of the most famous university about photography in the world and today he was in the house of the most powerful yakuza in Japan.

Flash back

"Suysuke, I need to talk to you.", his mother said as she closed the door. Her face was so pale and though she was trying to be calm, her red eyes and shaking hands told him very clearly that she had just cried hard.

"Mom, what's wrong?", Fuji immediately stood up and reached out to hold both his mother's hands, "Did something happen with father?". His father was on a business trip and they still hadn't heard anything from him.

At that, his mother broke into tears. Fuji awkwardly wiped them with his sleeve while trying to comfort his mother.

"Mom, please don't cry. Everything will be alright. Let me know what happened first, okay?"

Yoshiko grabbed her son's hand tightly and managed to said between sobs: "Suysuke, do you remember your father's business problem two years ago?" Fuji nodded, two years ago, his father's business was in big trouble. How he managed to save his company from bankruptcy was still a mystery to his family. Even now, it was struggling with many competitors to survive.

"He..he borrowed money from yakuza Suysuke. Today, they came to our house and said that since he had ran away, we would have to pay for his dept."

Fuji's eyes widened. His father owed money to yakuza and now he abandoned them. It couldn't be. "Mom, is there a mistake?"

"No, Suysuke, no. Believe me, I've wanted badly this situation to be it but every papers they has is true and I couldn't reach your father by phone. When I came to his company, I found it was closed a month ago, just like they said." Yoshiko said in trembling voice, desperately held back her tears.

Fuji inhaled deeply to calm himself. Though he and his father didn't get along well, he still respected and loved him. At that moment, he couldn't help but feel betrayed.

"Suysuke, there's still one thing I need to tell you.", his mother suddenly looked straight into his deep blue eyes; pain, helplessness and guilty filled in her ones made Fuji have a feeling that whatever his mother was going to say, it must be the worst.

"They demanded us to pay for a half of his debt tomorrow. But the money is too much, we couldn't afford, not in such a short time. So..so they said they would take one of us as replacement. Their young master needed a slave. And the chosen person would have to serve him for..a lifetime", Yoshiko choked out the last word and turned away, unable to looked at her son anymore.

Fuji immediately understood what she referred to. Of course, they wouldn't choose his mother since she would be the one working to pay for the debt. Yumiko got married one year ago so she was out of question. That left only Fuji and Yuuta and as an older brother, Fuji would have no choice but become the sacrifice. It's not a matter though, Fuji mused, he's willing to do that to protect his family.

"Mom, I understand. I will go with them.", he said determinedly.

Yoshiko cried out as she hugged his son tightly: "I'm sorry Suysuke. I'm so sorry. Yuuta is too honest and innocent, he couldn't stand a life like that. But you, you are smart, thoughtful and imperturbable, you could..", she was cut off as Fuji pulled away and smiled to her slightly: "I understand mom and I'm voluntary too. So please don't blame yourself anymore. You just do what you have to do."

Yoshiko cried even more and it took a long time for her to calm down with much coax from Fuji. "Please keep it a secret from nee-san and Yuuta. Tell them I have to go sooner than expected and don't have time to say goodbye.", Fuji said sadly as his mother wiped her tears away. It would be the best.

"I know.", she nodded and before she left, she turned to look at his son, this time with love and sadness: "I love you, son."

"I love you too.", Fuji smiled genuinely. From now on, he might not be able to smile like that anymore so he wanted to do it the last time for the person he loved very much, "Good night."

End flash back.

A single crystal tear escaped from Fuji's deep blue eye and he hurriedly wiped it away. His new life had just begun; he had to be strong, he had to survive no matter what so that one day, if he was lucky, he would be able to see his family again. The sound of the door being opened pulled Fuji out of his thought and he looked up to see who was about to enter this room. His deep blue eyes widened as he stared at the young man in front of him, followed by four big men in black.

"T-Tezuka?", Fuji exclaimed in disbelief. Why was his best friend (in both junior high and high school) here? Could it be...could it be he was like him too, had to sell himself to pay for debt?

"Hey new slave, bow to your master!", one of those men yelled at Fuji and he looked around bewilderedly. Who was his master? There were just he, Tezuka and those men in this room, was there anyone else he failed to notice?

"Tezuka, what are..." before Fuji could finish his words, a strong hand slapped him hard on his face making he reeled backward and fell down on the floor. Cupping his swollen cheek, Fuji looked up to see Tezuka stared down at him with cold and cruel brown eyes that made him shudder involuntarily.

"A slave isn't allowed to say his master's name. You must call me master.", the stoic boy said coldly, emphasized the last word.

Fuji, stilled stunned by the rough treatment, just stared back at Tezuka, unable to comprehend his words. Was this really Tezuka, was this really his best friend? Tezuka was always stoic and stern but he cared for Fuji a lot and most of the time, the other boy was gentle with him. Tezuka would never hurt him or treat him violently like that. "Tezuka..", he whispered unbelievingly.

Tezuka's brows furrowed slightly, a sign that he was getting angry. The next thing Fuji knew, he was being lifted from the floor as Tezuka strangled him with one hand. Fuji gasped desperately for air and struggled to get rid of the firm grip but the stoic boy was too strong.

"I am your master and you are my slave so call me master. Understand?", Tezuka said, his voice was even colder than before. Fuji nodded, tears began to well up in his eyes but it seemed that Tezuka wasn't satisfied. "Answer me.", he said in a low and menacing tone while his grip loosened a bit so that Fuji could manage to choke out his words: "Ye..yes, mas..ter."

As soon as he uttered those words, Fuji was dropped to the floor, coughing and breathing hard while Tezuka turned toward those men behind him: "Take him to shower and get him something to eat. When everything's done, take him to my room."

"Yes, young master.", twos of them bowed and stepped forward to pulled Fuji on his feet. Before being dragged out of the room, Fuji turned his head to look at Tezuka's firm straight back. Tears fell from his beautiful eyes and ran down his cheek but this time, Fuji didn't feel the urge to wipe them away.


This is my first attempt to write a multi-chapter fic so please let my know your opinions.