This will be fast since it's 1 in the morning here and I really need to sleep, damn it!!
BTW…since I'm here, I'm gonna announce that all of my fanfics are on an INDEFINITE HIATUS because of two reasons: first, freaking MENTAL BLOCK, and last, this is gonna be my last free summer vacation since next year I'm gonna have my summer classes (since I'm taking up Nursing…)…so, that would be time when I can't do anything free… (BTW, I have two upcoming fics, which I haven't even typed due to laziness…ampff…I really hate myself…)
Hope you enjoy this one… (Forgive if I'm not so oriented today…)
This one is based on a song (a folk-song, to be exact…)…which is the basis of a new film here (which will be shown worldwide mid-May) from where I'm living…
PoT…again…
DISCLAIMER
…I DO NOT OWN TENNISEU-UI WANGJA-SANG…
One deep night in Japan, Echizen residence…
Despite the deep slumber enveloping the whole house, the snores of a middl-aged man filling the corridors round his room, the rustling of the leaves of a nearby tree, the occasional ticking of a couple clocks, the silent breathing of a feline in the headboard, Ryoma still couldn't sleep.
Even though he tried to close his eyes, he still couldn't sleep. Even more so when he tried to make up a dream, the recent memories of the past months still bothered…and depressed…him…
Ever since Blue Spring (1) Academy bid farewell to its captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu, en route to Germany for resuscitation for his left arm, life for Echizen Ryoma had not just been hard (meaning more intense training), it has been more of an era of depression. For little does the tennis club know, Kunimitsu and Ryoma were more than just tennis partners and, friends; they were more than that. Even before their match with the Ice Emperor (2) Academy, they had been a hidden couple, sworn together never to abandon nor forget each other even in times and tides of separation, after months of hiding their true feelings to each other. But the worst came when Kunimitsu injured himself due to Atobe Keigo. Ryoma swore (with Fuji Syuuske's help) revenge to Keigo someday, but in a later day.
Nearing departure time, at the airport, it was a sight to behold. The couple embraced each other before Kunimitsu took his flight, much to the team (minus Syuuske)'s surprise and amazement. When the plane took flight and flew away, Ryoma was not himself anymore, even after they left the airport, and even when he returned home that day (with Nanjiro commenting "I bet that brat was turned down by some idiot of a girl…")
Everytime Ryoma remembers this incident, he couldn't help himself cry. Now that he couldn't sleep, now that he rememebered the incident, he found his eyes and his cheeks sodden wet by the sudden outpour of his tears. He wiped some of them, he stood up, and went to the window, as he pulled a chair to sit himself.
The full moon was as its brightest glory, the heavens were at its darkest shade of blue, with none of the stars twinkling, reminding him of his separated love.
He tried to remember their last days together, when life (and love) was so much happier…the moments when they had each other…and then something hit him by surprise…
He remembered their very last day together, the day before Kunimitsu left for Germany. Then, he remembered something: Kunimitsu's voice!! He finally remembered that moment when Kunimitsu taught him a new song…
Ryoma sat by Kunimitsu's side, both of them at Kunimitsu's room, both of them staring at the night, when the full moon was at its brightest, with the stars twinkling quite contentedly with the brightness of the moon.
Then, when their nighttime viewing was done, Kunimitsu faced Ryoma, who by then had his head by his right shoulder. Unbeknownst to Kunimitsu, Ryoma was already shedding his first tears of loneliness.
"Ryoma, tomorrow I would be leaving for Germany…" "WHY?! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE YOU WHO WOULD BE TAKEN AWAY FROM ME?! WHY?!…" followed by a series of sobs and sniffs.
Kunimitsu, who couldn't resist in seeing Ryoma lonely, moreover Ryoma crying, quickly came to his aid, saying, "Didn't you remember why we swore to each other that day. We swore that we would love each other, even when this love was put to test and even when we were separated…" "I Know, Kuni-chan, I know, but I couldn't bear myself for not seeing you for, who knows how long!! I just couldn't take it…" followed by another round of sobbing and now hiccups.
Then, Kunimitsu said, while wiping Ryoma's tears away, "Ryoma, listen to what my mother said to me about relationships, moreover when it comes to separation. Separation hurts because you've loved and I've loved, either of us loving more than the other. And suddenly one relationship ends with either of us not ready for it. And in every relationships that end, either of us gets more hurt…"
While saying this, Kunimitsu couldn't help shedding a tear. "One time, my mother asked me randomly, 'If you've loved, but you're not with him/her everyday, and you're also not sure if ever he/she will return for you, what is that called?' Then, she answered, 'That is loving and being loved…because the one that loves and being loved, trusts in the other…'…"
With that statement ending, Kunimitsu was the one crying, with Ryoma wiping away his lover's tears, while saying, "I rememberd once, isn't it nice to think that since you are the most hurt, it is because you are the one who most loved…That is because everything has its reason…" while remaining in their positions, reminiscing and really making their last days as lovers as worthwhile as possible.
Then, while Kunimitsu was whiling away his last tears, he suddenly faced Ryoma and said, "I'm going to teach you a song. When I first heard about it, I asked my parents if they knew the song, and they knew about it. They grew up with their parents occasionally humming the song under their breaths, even themselves growing up with the song, with both of them meeting each other. It goes something like this:
Sakurako
Full of kindness
Your love, Sakurako
Your love which is enchained
Farewell, Sakurako
If you may, if you will
I will walk away
Towards a faraway land
Sakurako
I am very poor
I cannot leave anything
Of our memories
I have neither gold
Nor I have money
I beg of you, Sakurako
Please think of me
Sakurako
Please have faith in me
Truly inside me
These words I am saying
Mark it on stone
Wrap it on silk
Never shall it fade
Even though I am no more
When Kunimitsu ended, Ryoma was once more crying. "Don't cry anymore. Remember what I've said to you. Relationships are built on trust. If you trust me, and if you trust our relationship, let me go, let me to Germany, and I promise, I will come back for you…"
As his last word ended, Ryoma moved closer to him, placed his hands upon Kunimitsu's nape and kissed him, more than any other kissed they've done. With the with blowing and the leaves rustling, it was their last (and best) kiss they've ever had, in the spilling light of the moon…
Then Ryoma remembered that Kunimitsu gave him something before he disappeared within the confines of the terminal. Randomly he rummaged through his notebooks, since he remembered stuffing it in there in a fit of teary outburst. At last, he found it in his English notebook. As he read Kunimitsu's final message of love, tears anew welled upon his eyes, dropping and wetting also the paper as Ryoma said, "I will never forget you, even if I have to wait an eternity for you…" As he finished, he sang a song similar in melody to that of his beloved's song, with tears in his eyes:
Ryoma
I love you very much
Your love, Ryoma
I wish it is mine
Farewell, Ryoma
I hope you will, I hope you may
I will go away
I will go on a foreign land
Ryoma
On my departure
There should be nothing left
My memories of you
I have no gold
I am poor like everyone else
Begging, Ryoma
Just wait for me
Ryoma
I am promising
From my heart
I hope you trust me
Mark it on stone
Wrap it on silk
It shall never fade
Forevermore shall it be
Singing their song as he lay down his bed, sleep finally came unto him, as the last noted of the song stammered from him. And from there he slept, while clutching his beloved's note, which said, "Remember my parents' song, now our song to each other, named to you…Sing this when you remember me sadly, sing this to the tune of my parents' song…"
"…Aishiteru…"
Like it? Or not? Just tell me so…
Whew…finally, after nearly 2 and a half hours, it's done!!
Reviews, please…
(1) Literal translation of the kanji/hanja of Seishun/Cheongchun/Qingchun (whatever you want it…): sei/cheong/qing blue, shun/chun/chun spring; Blue Spring Academy (at least, even the French wiki article names it…). When combined, they make a phrase meaning youth/adolescence…
(2) Translations Galore!! Hyotei/Bingje/Bingdi: hyo/bing/bing ice, tei/je/di emperor; Ice Emperor
(3) The song which Tezuka and Ryoma are singing is based on the Cuyonan folk-song "Ploning" (where I've placed Sakurako and Ryoma). "Ploning" is a folk-song which originated in Cuyo, an island in Palawan. It tells of a girl's steadfast love for her beloved, who is far, far way from her.
(4) BTW, Tezuka and Ryoma's sayings are translations of the original Cuyonan (with matching Tagalog subtitles) dialogues. They came from a newly-realeased film here, "Ploning", based on the folk-song (see (3)).