Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and its characters belongs to Konomi Takeshi
~O~O~O~O~
Soon after they were married fate stumbled upon the golden pair. Oishi was on his way home from work. He was riding his bike, because it was eco-friendly, also as a newly married man he was poor. The bike path cut right through a park in the center of town with large lake. It was the kind of place where parents would bring their kids to play and feed the little white geese in the afternoons. Maybe, Eiji and I will bring our future children here one day. Oishi mused. Eiji would love to play with the geese. Ah, but I have to remind him not to feed them any bread. Actually, feeding them bread is bad for their health and makes them quite aggressive.
The park was eerily quiet at night. Only the sound of Oishi's tires squeaking along the pavement could be heard.
That and the faint sound of a child laughing
Hehehe
Oishi abruptly brought his bicycle to a halt and looked around in confusion. There was no one around; it must have just been his imagination. Sighing to himself, he started to peddle along the beaten path again.
Hehehe
"That sound again. Now I'm sure of it." Oishi whispered softly. Looking around the park again, Oishi's eyes came into contact with the small body of a child floating in the water, maybe 1 or 2 years old. With all his might Oishi rushed over to the small child, scooping it out of the water.
Hehehe
What kind of demonic person would abandon their child in the middle of a lake? Why not at least go to the police station!? The child looked unharmed. Content even, as it kept giggling in delight. But, Oishi being Oishi decided it was best for the child to be inspected by a doctor.
Oishi sent a quick text to Eiji, informing him that he would be home a little later that night. Setting the child in the basket of his bike, Oishi sped of for the nearest hospital.
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After taking the child to the doctor for a check-up an utterly exhausted Oishi finally arrived home to his shared apartment with Eiji. It wasn't the nicest apartment, but it allowed animals, which had been a deal breaker for Eiji. Opening the door of the apartment, Oishi was greeted by the barks of their spunky small dog, Beam.
"Shh…Beam…be quiet. You're going to wake up Eiji." Oishi scolded. Beam was named after Eiji's signature move 'Kikumaru Beam' because of her seemingly endless bouts of energy.
"Shuichiro! You're back! I was starting to worry!" Eiji exclaimed from the living room.
"Eiji! You didn't have to wait up for me…It's nearly 2:00am." Oishi replied in surprise. Although he really shouldn't have been surprised, Eiji always waited up for him no matter how late his job kept him.
"I know. I know." Eiji smiled. Noticing the little bundle in Oishi's arms Eiji asked, "Shuichiro, Whacha got there?"
"This" Oishi said, turning the child around to face Eiji, "is the reason I'm late coming home tonight. I found him abandoned in the lake, and I rushed him to the hospital just in case. The doctor says he's perfectly healthy, but….because there's no record of his family he's going to have to go into the foster system unless someone adopts him."
"That's awful!" Eiji gasped.
"I'm going to call social services tomorrow when their offices are open. Until then he's staying over here." Oishi finished explaining with a deep sadness in his eyes.
Seeing the look in his partners eyes Eiji offered a solution. "Wait! Shuichiro, why don't we adopt him?"
"What? Are you being serious, Eiji?" Oishi said, taken aback. They were a freshly married couple with little income. They barely had enough to buy Beam's food every month, much less support a child.
"Yeah, I mean, you and I both want kids eventually. Why not get started early? Besides, don't you think this is a little bit like fate?" Eiji asked whimsically
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Fuji was at work. Working for a giant corporate photography company. It was very mundane, most of the day was spent answering the phone or answering e-mails, not taking actual photographs. Originally, he planned to open his own studio, where he could work on his own hours, and take photos of things he liked. But, realistically he needed experience first.
The phone rang. Probably another parent wanting a portrait of their annoying bratty child.
"Atobe Photos Incorporated, Fuji Syusuke speaking"
Oh yeah, he also worked for Atobe
"Fuji! I have some exciting news!" Eiji yelled over the phone.
"mmhmm, I'm listening" Fuji replied from the other line. Although he technically wasn't supposed to take personal calls, he sometimes bent the rules for Eiji. Eiji usually did most of the talking in their conversations, so no one was suspicious.
"Fuji! Shuichiro and I are parents! Parents Fuji! Like real adults!" Eiji beamed in elation on the other end of the line.
For a moment Fuji's eyes shot open in shock, luckily they were talking on the phone and Eiji was unable to see it. "What? Come again?" Fuji asked calmly.
"I said I'm a dad! Yesterday, Shuichiro found this baby abandoned in the park and long story short we adopted him. I wanted you to be the first to know! Well… the first to know after my parents, my grandparents, Shuichiro's parents, my older sister, second oldest sister, older brother, and second oldest brother. Oh yeah, and Shuichiro's little sister!" Eiji babbled.
Really, Eiji should have just said 'I wanted you to be the first non-family member to know.' It would have been a lot shorter. "Eiji, do you have all the supplies to take care of it? It's a lot of work to take care of those, you know."
"Take care of him, Fuji. Not it. And, yeah, Shuichiro's really good at that kind of thing! Plus my oldest sister and oldest brother already have children, so I have plenty of practice with taking care of kids. By the way, do you want to come over and meet him?" Eiji asked
"Sure, why not. I get off work this afternoon around 5:30, I'll come by then."
"Okay, great. Why don't you bring Tezuka too, it will be great practice for you guys." Kikumaru teased. Ever since his friend officially started dating the former Seigaku captain, Kikumaru always seemed to find a way bring their relationship up in conversation.
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Tezuka and Fuji had just begun dating approximately 3 months ago; around the same time Tezuka had announced his retirement from Pro Tennis. Naturally, they had both harbored feelings for the other much longer than that, and the bond between them was much deeper than 3 months. During his time as a pro, Tezuka had made a decision not to become involved in a serious relationship, so he could focus all of his energy on Tennis. And, both of them also knew the chances a long distance relationship would work out. (20% according to Inui) Tezuka was worried Fuji would resent him for choosing to play serious tennis for so many years and keeping their relationship strictly on a friendship level (when it was obvious they both wanted more). He was pleasantly surprised upon his arrival back into Japan when Fuji nonchalantly asked him if he would 'like to go out sometime'
Upon arriving at the Kikumaru-Oishi home, Fuji and Tezuka were greeted by Beam's annoying yapping.
"Fuji, Tezuka, welcome to our home!" Oishi greeted, trying to shush the little rascal.
"Oishi, thank you for inviting us." Tezuka stoically replied.
"GUYS, HURRY AND COME MEET OUR SON" Eiji yelled from the kitchen, which was just a few feet away, because it was a very small apartment.
"Eiji, no need to yell." Oishi laughed as everyone squeezed into the tiny apartment kitchen.
"Guys, I want you to meet Kaito, our son." Eiji grinned, holding the young boy up for all to see. Kaito's thick black hair was cut into a strange bowl cut, with a noticeable bald spot on the top of the head. His skin had an inhuman greenish tinge to it. [1]
"Kappa." Fuji's eyebrows twitched. [2]
"No, Fuji, Kaito, not Kappa." Eiji corrected. Fuji was so strange sometimes.
"Why did you bring a kappa into your home?!" Fuji demanded.
"Why did you name it Kaito? I thought you found it in a lake." Tezuka asked out of the blue.
"Him Tezuka, not it. And, ocean, lake same thing! Besides, I like the name Kaito. " Eiji retorted.
I see. Oishi let Eiji choose the name. Typical. Well at least he didn't name it Omelet or Oishi jr. "So, did you give the kappa your last name or Oishi's?" Fuji asked, curious.
"Both! We combined them into one super name! Oishimaru Kaito!" Eiji said proudly. He had probably thought of that part himself too. Oishi most likely liked the idea, because it was 'fair.' Don't they know everyone's going to just end up calling the kid Oishi?
"Nice to meet you, Oishimaru." Tezuka greeted the baby.
"Tezuka, I don't think there's really any need for you to call the kappa by its surname."
"Aren't you being a little hypocritical Fuji? You just called Tezuka by his last name! And, you're dating him! I still can't believe you guys aren't on a first name basis yet!" Eiji sighed in exasperation.
"Eiji…." Oishi said in a warning tone. Eiji was always poking his nose where it didn't belong.
Suddenly Kaito started crying.
"I think he's hungry. We've been trying to feed him, but he's really picky. He barely touches his food." Oishi explained.
A Kappa's favorite food is the flesh of human children. That and… "Have you tried cucumbers?" Fuji inquired.
~O~O~O
[1] 'kai' [海] in kaito means ocean
[2] If you don't know what a kappa is I think you can find an explanation on the Internet better than I can give. Basically, kappa are Japanese mythological river demon that are blamed for drownings in rivers and lakes. There are many stories involving the kappa, such as that they are tricky, have a hairless flat spot on their head that must always be kept wet (or else they will die), and that they love cucumbers.
[3] For clarity purposes, I didn't want to change Oishi and Kikumaru's last names after they were married. But actually, I read that in Japan by law one spouse must adopt the name of the other spouse. Very intense O.O
