Disclaimer: Paulit – ulit? Unli? Unli?
I do not own Prince of Tennis. But, in a parallel universe…. Maybe. *grins*
Author's Note:
I do not own the song called 'Kare uta' by The Gazette.
I will use the English translation of the song instead of the original Japanese lyrics so that everyone can understand it. 'kay?
Advance sorry for all the spellings and grammatical mistakes that may appear on this fic.. Don't have any beta yet.
Ryosaku + OC + AU = OOC… gets? ^^ Good.
By the way Kare Uta means Withered Poem.
~~~~~0~~~~~
Kare Uta
"I remembered that the snow was once the saddest remembrance of my past.
But on that one sad period of my life, I met you.
And now, seeing the snow doesn't seem so sad anymore."
Chapter 1
Sakuno keeps on munching her bread while heading straight to her father's study room. While opening the door, she noticed that three pairs of eyes met her gaze- her parents and her mother's best friend, Rinko, her oba-san.
"Ahm, sorry" She raised her half-eaten bread. "Maybe I disturbed you. I apologized- "
"Come on, Sakuno. We're actually waiting for you."
She seems tended to raise her brows. She knows that her father was serious when he calls her full name. But this is the first time, that she sees him far too seriously.
She look at her Aunt Rinko. She was always with her mother because they were best friends since college. She's not also a stranger to her because she was also her godmother.
"You seem to look pale now, Oba-san. Are you sick?" she asked her worriedly. She noticed the big changes in her appearance.
Her aunt just smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. Sakuno sat on an empty chair next to her. "So… what are we discussing right now, 'tou-san?"
"Well, it's been a while since you're practically begging us to let you manage our company?"
She seems like to tend jump so high because of too much excitement. "Of course. 'tou-san! I know I can do this on my own. You're just don't trust your own daughter. If you just let me a long time ago, then you're now rolling in dollars for now-"
She bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming. It was her dream to manage their company ever since. Even though she is workaholic, she was also worried for the welfare of her parents. She wants them to relax and enjoy. After all, she already knows the pros and cons of their business, her father just didn't want to retire yet because of the reason that he will get bored and there is nothing else to do.
She thinks too much about innovations and renovations- confident that it will help so much to their company. She was not able to pursue her ideas because she was worried about her father. He might think that she's bypassing his authority and fearing that he will order to exile her in Timbuktu. Never! She also dreams to become a billionaire someday.
She grins.
"We will give you all the rights to our company but for a condition" her father said.
"What kind of condition?"
"You have to marry your Aunt Rinko's son."
Her lips become frozen. "Tou-san, I think your condition is a little bit over-acting. I mean, why do I have to marry Oba-san's-"
She turned to her Aunt Rinko. "wait, you had a son, oba-san? I thought you were a spinster?" she asked horrified.
"Sakuno" her mother said. She was holding her best friends hand.
It was only then that she realized the situation. There is something fishy going around here. She just scratched her head "I apologized for the many questions that I've asked. But for the last time, why just tell me the truth? I know that you're not risking me in an impossible situation like this. You know me I don't just agree for the things without a good reason." And she don't want to marry even she can't become the president of their company. Nothing and no one was worth her freedom.
"Your Rinko oba-san needs our help. Your help in particular." her father told her. "She had her son when she marries a Japanese- Nanjiroh. But his parents don't like Rinko so they made a way to break Rinko and Nanjiroh. They say that Rinko has a lover and Nanjiroh believed them. His parents claimed the victory. At that time, they already had a eight-year old son- Ryoma. Your Aunt Rinko can't give Ryoma a better life so even it's against her will, she leave him to Nanjiroh."
Okay. Classic star-crossed lovers. Nice
There is also a thing that she doesn't understand. "Why am I involve in this?"
"Your Aunt Rinko wants to see her son." "Even once. Even only once before she…." Her mother's tears threatened to fall.
"I'm sick, Sakuno. I have a colon cancer and I don't think I have much time left." Rinko said seriously.
"What?!" As if all the organs inside her body went limp. "Cancer? How… Why?"
"only God knows, dear," She smiled. But you can see that it was forced and just hiding her true feelings.
"When did you learned about your condition? Oba-san."
"About two years ago."
"Why did you just tell me this now?"
"I don't want to interrupt anyone. Besides, I can take care of myself." She replied.
Sakuno observed her aunt intently. Even if she claims that she can take care of herself, you can tell the desperation in her face. She was very kind to her even though they are not blood-related. She understands why they resort to bribe her just to agree on their condition. She just wants to cry.
"Oba-san, I'm sorry. I don't know"
"It's okay. We can't do anything. That's life."
She gently tap her cheeks. "You really have a good heart, Sakuno. I'm glad because I'm one of your godmothers.."
The kindness in her has just risen. "Why don't you call your son if you want to see him? I'm sure he will agree to see you if he knows about your condition."
"It's not that easy," her mother interrupted.
"Ryoma grows up hating his mother in believing she abandons them. Because of the anger Nanjiroh felt, he allowed Ryoma to believe of all the lies his parents said. Now, Ryoma hates her the most. That was Nanjiroh tells."
"You contacted her ex-husband?"
"We used the way you first thought." Her father said. "We told Nanjiroh everything. He confronted his parents and they admitted. They were very repentant when they learned about Rinko's condition. Nanjiroh agrees to send Ryoma here. The problem is Ryoma. He doesn't want to see her.
"But why? Does he know about Aunt Rinko's condition?"
"We didn't tell him"
Her forehead wrinkled. "Why?"
"I don't want him to worry about me." Rinko answered.
"I want him to see me healthy."
"So our wedding is the only way to force him to go here in Japan and to have your chance to see him, am I right?"
"I'm sorry if I'm imposing this much on you, But your marriage won't be real."
Her tears that threatens to fall becomes frozen because of what her Aunt Rinko said. "Ah… so the marriage isn't real?"
"Nanjiroh suggested it." Her father said. "The only way to Ryoma agrees to go here in Japan is he is going to order him. But he will have to make up excuses, believable excuses."
"And that was…"
"Make up an arranged marriage… with you"
So her stunt-to-be is for a cause. In fact, her role is going to be great. She will help her dear Oba-san, she will get their company rights in a clean way. Little by little, she smiled.
"I'll do it." She turned to her aunt Rinko. "Why did you tell me about it just now? Then, we just dragged your son here sooner than expected."
"We're hesitant because we thought that you may not agree. We know how much you value your independence."
"But it doesn't mean, that I will forget to help. I will not hesitate to agree if you just tell me right away about the situation." She hugged her aunt Rinko. "I'll do my best oba-san." I hope you will recover so that you'll have the time to spend it with your son."
Her throat becomes rigid in preventing her tears to fall. After she hugged her aunt, she faced her father immediately.
"Oto-san I thought I was goingto have a heart attack when you mentioned earlier I have to get married. "
"I want you to marry a man not a business," her father said.
She coughed. "So, what will I do now? Where and how am I going to start in our plan?"
"Well, first, you have to go to America," her father said. "Nanjiroh's waiting for you. He wants you to meet Ryoma. You're will not have problems because Nanjiro can understand both English and Japanese. Ryoma can also understand because he was born and raised here. He stayed here until he was eight-years old before they migrated to America."
"Here's the picture of them sent by Nanjiroh. The contact numbers of him are in the back. When you arrive in America, call him immediately. I know this is so sudden, Sakuno. But as you can see, we don't have much time."
"I know, Oto-san" she already accepted her new challenge in life. She looked at her aunt Rinko. Her eyes are full of hope. She's willing to help no matter what just to fulfill her dream. For once in her life, she felt that she just did made good in life.
She looked at the photo. She stared at the man who is younger there. "This is… Ryoma?"
"Yes. His looks seems odd because he is a member in one of the most famous rock band in America." Her father explains.
"You know him?"
He shook her head. "Nope."
She just couldn't believe Ryoma was this good-looking.
~~~~~0~~~~~
A/N:
Hehe.. sorry no Ryoma in this chapter.. he will appear next. I promise. lalalalala… hope you enjoyed reading the first ever chapter of Kare Uta.. let me hear what you think
Can you suggest who is going to be included in Ryoma's band and what positions are they..
Ryoma is the vocalist by the way.. You can form up to 6 members.
Soup no.5