Disclaimer: I don't own.
A/N: Another war with writer's block. Go me!
This story was edited regarding SilverWhiteDragon's review. Thank you for your constructive outlook!
Tie Me to Your Destiny
"Ne, I'm alright."
Kikumaru looked unbelievingly at his best friend.
"No, you're not," the redhead said, compressing Fuji's forehead with a damp cloth. "You're sick. You have a fever because of your break-up with that ice-block Tezuka…"
"Eiji…"
"He dumped you!" Kikumaru retorted hotly. "Because he refused to hold you in public, because he refused to tell his parents, because he chose his career over you… Weren't those what you told me while crying on the phone?"
Kikumaru's voice went softer as a single tear slid down his friend's pale feverish cheek.
"Oh dear, Fujiko…" Kikumaru hugged his honey-haired best friend. "Look, I'll go buy your medication. In the meantime you can get some rest. Here, hug him," Kikumaru grinned as he shoved a little cuddly teddy bear into the sick boy's arms, trying to cheer him up. "I'm just taking a minute!"
Kikumaru waved and closed the apartment door. Fuji sighed heavily, caressing the little bear's honey-colored fluff.
Kikumaru didn't know it was a gift from Tezuka.
Tezuka almost never gave him anything fancy. The teddy he was hugging was the first and only romantic gift he ever received from the stoic man. He remembered when the bespectacled youth handed him the stuffed toy, all red-faced and stuttering. The bear was cute, but Tezuka's face that time was even cuter.
Fuji played with the teddy's hand, smiling despite another tear that rolled down his face.
"Ne, why does everything end up like this?"
---oOo---
Tezuka flopped onto the bed, spreading his limbs out in every direction. He gazed onto the boring, empty ceiling and sighed.
Boring. Empty. Precisely what his life had become since the day of their break-up.
The vague relationship they had in middle school, which grew stronger throughout high school, and was bonded in their college life, ended in a moment of carelessness on his part.
How ironic. To think he was the one cautioning everybody not to let their guard down.
He closed those hazel eyes. It was not the first time Fuji prodded him about parents, holding hands and loosening up… Tezuka had been particularly moody that evening and snapped before knowing it.
"If there were so much you aren't satisfied in this relationship, we'd better end this all together!"
He could still picture how Fuji stood dumbfounded, a tear slowly slid down his porcelain cheek, soon followed by the others.
He cursed himself over and over since that day. That very night, for the first time in almost two decades, he let tears seep out of his eyes and onto the pillow.
Tezuka closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. What should he do now?
---oOo---
An elegant, yet efficient car headed for an apartment building on the west wing of Tokyo. The bespectacled man behind the steering wheel focused on the road before him. He had made up his mind.
He turned left by a junction and the wheels screeched to a stop. The crowds around the building caught him off guard. Fate didn't give him time to wonder, though.
The apartment building was ablaze in fire.
It was funny how his insides froze when the temperature was surely high. He didn't remember when he got off of his car, how he squeezed through the ocean of people and stood immobile right before the burning building.
People ran and screamed around him, creating a surreal atmosphere and he felt as if he were standing behind a glass wall of a fridge, freezing to death while other people scattered about in frenzy, trying to escape the inferno.
He heard someone called him from somewhere that sounded like a hundred yards away, telling him to get to a safer place. He heard parents screamed and children cried over their destroyed homes, over their missing relatives. Everyone was running, crying, collapsing, and he was the only static being in the chaotic mass, still and numb all over…
"Let me go! My friend is still inside! LET ME GO! FUJIII!!!"
A somewhat familiar voice screamed hysterically and he snapped out of his frozen state. He slowly turned around only to find a certain redhead struggling in confinement of two securities.
"My friend's still inside! He's sick, he can barely move! I must come to his rescue! LET ME GOOO!!! FUJIII!!!" Kikumaru kicked and wailed like a hurt animal.
Tezuka was dumbstruck. He was sick, he could barely move, he was trapped in the fire…
What was he doing here, standing like a dumbfounded idiot?
Without another thought, Tezuka broke into a run towards the main entrance. The flame burnt hotly, the fumes made him sick, but he paid no heed. He had to rescue his beloved and apologize to him.
A set of hands went to restrain his movement. Like Kikumaru, he also struggled, punching wildly to break free.
"LET GO OF ME!" he demanded, pushing the person backward. The person amazingly fell down against his power. He barely made another step when a voice called, so close to him.
"Kunimitsu!"
Hazelnut eyes widened in trembling shock. Tezuka whirled around so fast that the world spun madly.
"Shusuke… you…" Tezuka lost his words. He could only stare amazedly at the sight of his pale, panting, but very much alive lover.
"WATCH OUT!"
Tezuka reacted by pushing both of their bodies just in time for an apartment wreckage to collapse. They were hurriedly evacuated to a more secure area outside the apartment complex.
"Fuji! Tezuka!" Kikumaru ran towards them. Panting heavily, he immediately hugged his best friend. "Fuji, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'm alright, Eiji…" Fuji answered breathlessly, patting his friend's shoulder to reassure him.
"You scared me back there… Just the moment when I bought your medicine… The apartment… The fire… You are sick… I thought you…"
"Shh, I'm alright, Eiji," Fuji rubbed the redhead's hair, despite the fact he was the one needing the reassurance.
Kikumaru released the tensai from his dead hug, nodding while sniffing a little. The two best friends slowly turned to look at Tezuka, who was standing firm with somewhat dazed expression on his usually stoic face.
"Kuni… mitsu…"
The addressed man turned to face the honey-haired man fully. Before anyone knew it, he drew his beloved into a fierce embrace. No words were spoken. He just held the love of his life for the longest time, as if afraid he would disappear once he let go.
Something fell as the blue-eyed man opened his arms to return the embrace.
Tezuka disentangled himself just enough to bend and retrieve the fallen item. He was greeted by a certain honey-fluffed teddy bear. He didn't even realize that Fuji brought something with him.
"I didn't bring anything out," Fuji stated as if reading the other's thought. "Only him, the remaining thing that ties me to you… I couldn't bear seeing him burned into ash inside there. After all, he was the one lending me the strength to stand up and run…"
Tezuka stared at the blue-eyed man for a moment of speechlessness before claiming him in a tight embrace once again, squeezing the teddy in-between.
"Shusuke, I'm sorry. Please, don't ever leave me again…"
Kikumaru watched the scene unfolding in front of him. A drop of tear as well as a relieved smile adorned his face.
"Ahem," Kikumaru cleared his throat to catch his friends' attention. And then he winked. "I can hold that little fellow for you if you want."
The couple looked a bit embarrassed as they had forgotten every other person's existence aside of each other's. Kikumaru smiled at his friends' amusing reaction.
The fire was horrible, but it seemed that they had truly learnt the meaning of each other by it.
"Thank you, Eiji…"
Fuji handed the teddy bear before returning into the haven that was Tezuka's safe embrace. Kikumaru moved farther to give the pair some private time alone.
He took a look at the plush toy and played with its stuffed hand. "So… you are a gift from Tezuka, ne, little fellow? Thank you for lending Fujiko the strength to survive, just like Tezuka always does."
END
A.N: Firstly this was meant to be a sad-ending fic. Suddenly I felt horrible for always torturing our lovely Perfect Pair and ended up writing a happy-ending one.
Do you think I should do a sad-ending too? It seems to work better in my head.
I love GreatBestFriend!Kikumaru. I know he is.
This story could be much better if the writer's block didn't get in the way, grrrr Please save me by telling if I should change some parts. Your advices mean galore! Thank you for reading!