Summary: Unable to cope with the secrets and lies of his grandfather, Tezuka runs away from home with nothing but the clothes on his back. After he becomes a famous celebrity, Tezuka's involvement with a certain azure-eyed boy draws him back to the life he escaped from.
Pairing/s: Mainly TezukaxFuji, maybe more.
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.
A/N: This is my first fanfic I've written in three years. Bear with whatever stinks.
Nonexistent Bonds
Chapter 1: The Boy and Aftereffects
"I never approved of their marriage. My daughter could've done so much better than marry that man. Even if a frown appears on her face, you know what to do."
It was a bright sunny Sunday morning, a light breeze rustling the tree leaves slightly and the sounds heard were of children's laughter. Some kids ran along the pavement of rocks, others climbed the jungle gym and even rode the swing.
One little boy age of three kept to himself. He sat in the sandbox with a bright green pail and a small orange shovel.
The little boy had his brunette hair covering his eyes as he digs his shovel into the floor of sand he sat on. He lifts the scoop of sand and observes each grain as they race against each other for which grain gets into the pail the fastest. He has a calm and content expression on his face with his eyes seemingly closed. Remembering how his older sister told him he could only play for five more minutes, he poured the last bit of sand out of his pail and placed the shovel into it. He pushed himself up with his small hands attempting to leave the sandbox quickly but immediately tripped over the wall around the sandbox and scraping his knee on the concrete.
He should've been more careful, he thought. A river of tears flows down his cheeks because he's not a genius like everyone claims he is and his knee won't stop stinging.
Hearing the silent cries of this boy, another boy his age came over to his side. This boy wore glasses and was brunette as well but had natural blond streaks in his hair. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wrapped it around the other boy's knee. No words were exchanged, no glances at one another but at the injured knee. Once the boy was done tending to the knee, he got up to walk away.
"Syusuke!" a woman's voice called out from the distance. When she finally found her little brother, she immediately rushed to his side.
"Syusuke, what happened? Are you alright? Talk to big sis, don't cry," she whispered softly into his ear while wiping away any evidence of tears. The little boy whispered almost inaudibly to his sister. She gave her little brother a smile and helped him off the ground. She picks up his pail and holds out her free hand for him to hold, which he takes eagerly. They both walk over to the other boy who helped Syusuke.
The other boy's father, Kuniharu, sitting on a bench saw the woman approaching his son. He wasn't sure what happened so he approached the scene.
"Sweetie, thank you very much for helping my little brother Syusuke," she said in a sweet voice.
"Hello, miss. Is anything the matter? Did my son do something wrong?" the father asked.
"No, no. Nothing is wrong. In fact, your son helped my little brother after he hurt his knee. He's very sweet and very caring. You did a great job in raising your son."
"Thank you, miss."
"You don't need to call me miss. Please call me Yumiko. Nice to meet you," she quickly places the pail on the ground and held out her hand for the father to shake.
He takes her hand in a handshake and introduces himself as well, "My name is Kuniharu and my son's name is Kunimitsu."
"Pleasure to meet you both. We have to get going now," she says picking up the pail off the ground and turning to leave with Syusuke.
"Wait wait. What's the rush? It's barely even brunch time. Let the children play some more," Kuniharu insisted.
Yumiko pondered for a second but then thought why is she pondering. "Sure why not." she hands her little brother his pail and he walked off to play.
"How about I get you a cup of coffee and we can chat for a bit?" he offered and she nodded in agreement. She walked over to a bench and sat with her legs crossed. She brushed away that one strand of hair that blew in front of her face. Before she knew it, Kuniharu was back with two cups of coffee. He hands one to her and she takes it eagerly.
"I wasn't sure of your coffee preference. Did you want sugar or cream?" he asked sitting down.
"I like my coffee black," she smiled back.
"Same." The two adults sat on the bench in silence while sipping their plain black coffee. Yumiko's chuckle broke the silence.
"My little brother still won't interact with other kids." She turns her head to Kuniharu. "The only kids he would socialize with are our youngest brother and me," she takes another sip of her coffee. He gave her a surprise look. When she swallowed her coffee, she continues, "I know what you're thinking. How can I be a kid even though I'm in my twenties? I'm still going to school, living with my parents and my two little brothers. I'm not involved with any men so I'm not getting married soon. And when I play with my little brothers, they just bring out the kid in me." Both adults laughed.
Off in the distance a car arrives to pick up the Tezuka family from the park. The family housekeeper, Ren, exits from the passenger side and opens the door for Kuniharu's wife, Ayana. She's a beautiful high class lady, very much in love with her husband. She straightens her dress and removes her sunglasses from her eyes. She scans the park for her family. She spots Kunimitsu by the slide and continues to look for her husband. Ren looks at his watch and then observes his surroundings but his observation stopped at Ayana. Her face was frozen and her breathing was heavy. He instantaneously took her bronchodilator out of his pocket and placed it in her mouth allowing her to use it. She breathed heavily into the bronchodilator and began sobbing. Ren looked in the direction Ayana was looking before. He knew what triggered her asthmatic episode, the sight of her husband enjoying the company of a younger woman.
Ren tells Ayana to get into the car and she complies. He walks over to Kuniharu and Yumiko.
"Kuniharu sir, sorry to interrupt your date, but Ayana miss is here to take you and young master Kunimitsu home," Ren said with a stern voice.
"Oh I see. Well," Kuniharu puts his coffee cup on the bench, stands up, held out his right hand, "it was very nice to meet you Yumiko. Hope you and your little brother take care."
"Yes you too. Take care," she shakes his hand with a smile.
Ren leads Kuniharu and Kunimitsu back to the car with wicked smirk on his face. Kuniharu lets his son in the car first, then he follows. Once he closed the door, Ayana grabbed onto his waist desperately. He had no idea how to react.
"Honey... Ayana, what's wrong?" he asked.
She shook like a child stilling holding him tightly. "Haru, I love you. I love you," she whispered frantically.
He untwined her arms around him and pulled her up closer to him. Now wrapping his arms around her and placing a kiss on her forehead, he says "I love you too, Ayana."
"... he hurt her with his flirtatious ways. He claims he loves your daughter but it's obvious he's after your money, Master Kunikazu."
"Repeating what I know isn't necessary, Ren."
Ren bows in apology.
"I never approved of their marriage. Ayana could've married anyone but him," Kunikazu massages his temples. "Make it look like an accident."
Ren bows in obedience. "Yes, Master Kunikazu." He bows again to dismiss himself.
Ayana sat in her bedroom with her arms wrapped around her legs curled to her body. She rocks back and forth looking up at the big wedding picture of her beloved husband and herself. She couldn't handle losing him. She didn't have the mental capacity.
She loved him with all she had. This man was the one, the only one. She needed him now more than she ever did before, but... he's not here and won't be here for her ever again.
Ayana was surprised at her reactions. Even when Kuniharu did something minor that made her sad, she cried. But right now, she sits on her bed with a blank dull look on her face. She subconsciously decided her fate.
She walks over to her dresser, opens the top drawer and pulls out a 357 magnum. Her father gave her that gun for emergencies. She holds the gun in her hand with her continuous blank look. The gun is slowly raised to her head.
The door slams open and she snaps out of her trance.
"Mommy, I can't say this word in this bo-," young Kunimitsu says pointing at a word in his picture book. He stops talking when he saw a gun in his mother's hand.
"Mitsu, come here for a moment," Kunikazu pats his lap. Young Kunimitsu jumps onto his lap. "See this?" he takes out a pistol. "One day, you'll get to use one of these, but right now, grandpa is going to warn you that this thing is very dangerous. It can make someone sleep and never wake up again."
'The thing in mommy's hand looks a lot like the thing that grandpa showed me before,' he thought to himself. "Mommy, that thing is dangerous."
"I know, darling," she says in a sweet voice. She walks over to Kunimitsu still holding the gun and bend down to his level. She smiles at the young boy and pets his hair. "What word do you need help with?"
"This," he points.
"Imaginary, darling. Say it with me, imaginary."
"Imaginary," they say together.
"Honey, there are some things in the world that are imaginary, which means nonexistent." He looks at her confused. "Nonexistent means not real." He makes a big O with his mouth.
"Fake?" he asks.
"Yes, that's exactly right. You're such a smart boy," she begins crying.
"Mommy, why you crying?" he innocently asks. Ayana finally puts down the gun. She puts both her hands on her son's face.
"Mommy won't always be here for you. So one day you have to learn how to take care of yourself. Can you promise to take care of yourself for mommy?" He nods in response. "Mommy's going to look for daddy," she says sadly.
"Daddy coming home?" he simply asked.
"When mommy finds daddy, we'll all be happy again," she kisses his forehead and hugs him tightly. After a few seconds, she lets go of her son and composes herself. "Mommy needs to do something now. Go play okay?"
"Okay," and he runs off.
"I love you," she whispers. She looks back to the gun lying next to her feet. She delicately picks up the gun, intending to finish what she started.
Kunimitsu happily skips down the hall but abruptly stops when a loud BANG noise was heard. He runs back to his mother's room.
"Mommy, I hear loud boom!" he says almost excitedly. He walked over to the lifeless form that's creating a pool of crimson liquid. Ren and many house servants and maids all ran to Ayana's room. They saw the young boy sitting next to his mother, and quickly picked up the boy and took him outside.
"Your mother is tired and would like to rest. Go on and play with your toys, young master Kunimitsu," Ren quickly explains to the little boy before he starts asking questions. He slams the door shut leaving the young boy alone in the hallway.
Twelve years past and many of it spent with a personal psychologist hired by Kunikazu in brainwashing the happy memories Kunimitsu had with his mother and father. Those memories were replaced with thoughts Kunikazu wanted his grandson to remember.
It would've worked too if Kunimitsu wasn't so smart. One day he went to look for his grandfather, but his grandfather wasn't there in his office. By accidentally tripping over a table's leg, he knocked a painting off the wall where he happened to stumble upon his grandfather's secret safe. Kunimitsu could've sworn by now his grandfather would've told him everything about the family fortune, but why leave out a safe?
He entered the birth years of his grandfather's, grandmother's, and his mothers but it didn't open. He pondered 'Maybe grandmother first?' That didn't work either. He went back to the original combination and added his father's birth year, but it still didn't open. Finally he replace his father's birth year with his own and presto the safe opened. Instead of finding money or priceless family jewels, he found papers.
Just then, Kunikazu came into the room, shocked to see his safe cracked and none other than his grandson reading the contents of the safe. He didn't have to begin speaking for Kunimitsu did it for him.
"Grandfather, what is this?" he asked firmly shaking the papers in his hand. Kunikazu was speechless. How could he explain himself to his grandson, the only heir to the family fortune? He knew his grandson's personality well and was fully aware what Kunimitsu would do if he learned the truth about his parents.
"Those papers are none of your concern," said Kunikazu with a serious tone.
"The death of my father was no accident. It's all right here! You planned it all. And my mother! It wasn't a dream. How dare you make me think witnessing my mother's death was a dream? All these years have been nothing but lies. YOU are a SICK MAN." He throws the papers aside with only thoughts of storming out of this fake life and starting anew. He was about to leave before his grandfather stopped him.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked holding firmly onto Kunimitsu's arm.
Breaking free of his grandfather's grip, he answers "Away from you. I've been living a lie these years after mother's and father's death. From this day forth, Kunimitsu is dead. I want nothing to do with you or this family. I will fulfill what mother told me before she died."
"What did she say?"
"Something that idiotic psychologist couldn't erase. Something that I could never do here. This place is poison and will hinder me in everything I do-" he gets cut off by a slap from his grandfather.
"Shut your mouth. Boy, you're nothing without my guidance-"
"That's where you're wrong!" he cut him off before taking a breath. "My. Dear. Grandfather," each word spoken with indescribable disgust. Kunikazu was ready to hit him again. "Hit me. I can see you're itching to do it!"
"ARGH!" screams Kunikazu. His voice grows louder, loud enough for the whole mansion to hear. "You'll never survive out there. People won't hand you everything you want like they would now."
"It's not what mother wanted-"
"What the fuck did she want?" he demanded.
Kunimitsu doesn't answer him and walks to the door. "Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you! Kunimitsu!" his eyes appearing deadly as ever.
Kunimitsu stops in his tracks but doesn't look back. "I will learn to take care of myself. I'll do it without your cold heartless money and without the influence of anyone in this household especially yours, dear grandfather," the last two words spoken with the same tone as before. Kunikazu was fuming beyond belief.
With that, Kunimitsu left his grandfather's mansion for good. He stood in front of the front gates, facing away from the mansion. With a determined attitude, he turns back toward the mansion. The night was silent with the exception of the late night wind. The wind lightly caressed the dress shirt and dress pants he wore and his hair danced lightly.
"My name is Tezuka," he says as he takes out a photo of his mother and father from his pocket.
"Mother, please guide me as I learn to live on my own." He kisses his mother in the photo.
"Father, I'm sorry for ever thinking you were-" his voice began to break. "I'm sorry" he whispers.