Reality or Pretend?

Disclaimer: I do not own The Law of Ueki. If I did then…I wouldn't be righting this fan fiction. Kosuke would also be with Ai or Sano.

Summary: Instead of Sano and Hideyoshi leaving Kosuke alone with his real father, Sano stays with them. After Kosuke's real father asks Kosuke if he preferred the real thing or the fake thing. Sano tells Kosuke about his past and why he prefers the fake thing.

Rated: T (Teen)

Pairing: KosukexSano

Warnings: Mentions of Child Abuse, and Shonen Ai

Genre: General, Angst, Romance

Me: My 4th Law of Ueki drabble that is based on episode 41. Hope you like it, nya!


It was the night before the match that decided who would move onto round four. Kosuke thought the man who was his real father that abandoned him years ago saved a dog from getting run over. He invited him to the place where Team Ueki was staying. After trying offer him many things, they took advantage of the man and decided to hassle him like a real father. Eventually Sano asked the man where the hot springs were, and the man showed the group where they were which is where the this story happens.

The girls were on one side of the hot springs while the guys were on the other. While Ai and Rinko were relaxing in the hot springs, Kosuke and Sano were having fun dunking Hideyoshi's head under the water. He was about to drown when they stopped.

"You guys suck teaming up against me!" Hideyoshi complained.

Kosuke and Sano just laughed at him. Hideyoshi pouted as he decided to go to one of the higher hot springs. Sano decided not to go with him and stay with Kosuke.

"Oh, you want to stay with your boyfriend instead of going with me. I see how it is," the monkey boy said in a sarcastic tone.

Sano blushed, "Just leave monkey boy!"

Hideyoshi kept giving him that look before walking off with his towel. The man seemed to have understood what was going on.

"Ueki," the man began after a long pause. It got Kosuke's attention, "What would happen if the person you thought was real turned out to be fake, and if the fake turned out to be someone in front of you?"

Kosuke didn't seem to understand the question that well. Sano understood it very well though.

"I would choose the real one," Kosuke answered which shocked the two.

"But why-"

"My pops asked me something similar to this. I told him that the real one was always better because you usually have something that the fake one doesn't have."

The man hid his eyes under his hair. He sighed. His boy was always like this. He got out of the hot spring and said that he would meet up with them at the place where Team Ueki was staying.

When he was gone, Kosuke and Sano were left in the hot spring alone. Sano was thinking about Kosuke's answer to the Kosuke's real father's question.

"Ueki," he began, "Would you really choose the real thing…even if the real thing abused you in the past?"

Kosuke was confused, "What do you mean Sano?"

"It's nothing…"

He wouldn't tell him. If he did, then he would get into his personal life which he wanted to forget. The real thing is always fake love… He thought to himself as he touched his burn mark that was on his eye. A real parent wouldn't do this to their child…

Kosuke called Sano's name over and over again until finally he responded by looking at him.

"What's wrong Sano? You seem like you're not feeling well."

"I'm fine…I'm just a little tired…that's all…"

There was silence. Kosuke noticed that Sano's hand was on his burn mark.

"That reminds me. How did you get that burn mark?" Kosuke asked, "You told everyone that it was an accident caused by a hot spring, but something tells me that that wasn't the full story."

Sano refused to tell Kosuke about his dark past because if they did, then Kosuke would know that he would have preferred the fake thing over the real thing.

"Sano, hurry up and tell me!" Kosuke whined.

Sano swam away from him. Kosuke frowned. He snuck up behind Hachimaki (1) and dunked his head under the water.

"You better tell me, or I'll drown you," Kosuke threatened, but had a smile on his face since he knew that Sano was going to give up.

He was correct as Sano gave up. The two sat themselves in their original spots in the hot spring began before Sano began explaining his past.

"I told everyone that I got this burn mark from an accident from a hot spring," Sano began, "But it was a lie. It wasn't an accident. It was the first step to that hellish life."

Flashback

Sano was around seven years old (an only child) when the 'accident' happened. It was the day when his real parents decided to take him to the hot spring. Sano was delighted as he heard about hot springs from other people and read about them in books. Unknown to him his parents were planning something.

When they got to the hot springs they were all relaxing. That was when it happened. When his parents got out of the hot spring, Sano intended to follow them, but they insisted that he stayed in there. It was a mistake as Sano got out anyway. His so called mother graded him by the hand and dunked half of his head in the hottest part of the hot springs.

Sano screamed in pain as the hot water caused the burn mark to appear on his right eye. People started rushing after they heard a child's scream. Sano's so called mother pulled him out and saw the burn mark on him. She acted like she cared and told someone to call the ambulance.

The ambulance came and took Sano to the hospital. After examining him, they said that there was no way for the burn mark to heal. They only told Sano to stay away from the hottest part of the hot springs.

After Sano was able to leave the hospital, he started to question his parent's love. He still loved hot springs even after getting his eye burned, but did his mother really try to drown him? He was about to find out.

"Ka-san, To-san, do you really love me?" he asked them a few weeks later.

The play was over after that. They stopped treating Sano as their son and started abusing him day in and day out. Sano didn't do anything about it, but his soon to be fake family called the police on his real family after two years of nonstop torture. They were arrested fort child abuse but not for the 'accident' they caused.

Sano was adopted by the people who saved him from the torture. He saw them as his real family, but deep down he knew that they were a fake family. They weren't blood related.

And then it happened three years later…

His real parents broke out of jail to kill their only son. Sano's fake parents defended him and they ended up dieing protecting their adopted son. Sano's real parents were arrested again, and would remain in jail for the rest of their lives for first degree murder, attempted murder, and breaking the restraining order that his fake parents filed.

Sano was alone for the next three years because he thought that he was adopted by a fake family again, his parents would break out of jail and try to kill him.

End of Flashback

"In the end…I would prefer a fake family over a real family because a parent can hate their own child for the way they are."

Sano snuck his body deeper into the hot springs depressed, "I wonder if I did something to be hated by them so much…"

Kosuke, who was actually listening to his past, was angry. How could a parent abuse their child like that? It's not right!

"Sano, why didn't you tell me that you were alone for those three years that you didn't have a real or a fake family?" he asked in rage.

"I was afraid what you might think…I am a street rat after all…"

This was not the Sano that Kosuke knew. The Sano he knew was cheerful, calm and relaxed. This Sano was depressed, and lonely. A side of him that Kosuke never seen before. Wait! He remembered seeing this side of him when Inumaru went to Hell.

"Sano…" Kosuke put his hand on Sano's shoulder which surprised him a little, "You don't have to worry about being alone anymore. You have me, Mori, Rinko, Hideyoshi, and Tenko by your side, always."

Sano formed a faint smile on his face, "You won't leave me, will you?"

"Of course not."

The two were unaware that Ai, Rinko (the two were on the other side of the hot spring), Hideyoshi (he decided to descend from the highest hot spring and happened to hear the conversation)Tenko (he was flying next to Kosuke), and Kosuke's real father (who decided not to leave) were listening to the conversation. Ai, Rinko, and Hideyoshi had tears in their eyes from the tragic past. Kosuke's father was thinking about what Sano said on how a parent can really hate their own child. He wondered if he really hated his own son.

Kosuke's real father decided to take a walk thinking about the conversation. That was when he noticed that the people who were gambling in the Celestial Battle were on the top of the mountain aiming the Kurogane attack at Sano. Shit I won't make it on time!

He knew he wouldn't make it to the top on time to finish them off, but he quickly rushed to the top. The leader of the group fired the Kurogane attack at Sano.

"WATCH OUT!" Kosuke's father warned.

It seemed like it was too late as the Kurogane attack was almost at the two boys. Tenko, who noticed the attack, warned Kosuke about it before his real father's warning. Kosuke saw the attack. He couldn't block the attack on time. Neither could Sano with his power to turn towels into steel. Kosuke being the risky idiot that he was threw himself on Sano. He managed to push the two of them out of the way before the Kurogane hit. It only grazed Kosuke's back.

"UEKI!" his friends shouted for him.

The guy who fired the Kurogane complained about missing the target. He didn't say anymore as someone knocked him and his companions out from behind.

"How dare you attack my son and his friend?" he said in a threatening voice. He picked up the three guys and threw them out of sight. He turned to see what happened to his son and his friend. He gawked at what he just saw. Kosuke's friends were shocked too.

Kosuke was in an awkward position. The two boys both had a towel tied on their waist so their (you know what) didn't show. However from their POV they thought that Kosuke was kissing Sano when it fact he was just shielding him.

"Sano, are you okay?" Kosuke asked him after recovering from the hit.

Sano tried to hold it in, but he couldn't hide it. He blushed madly. U-Ueki is…

Sano didn't answer as he just pushed him off of him. Even though he did that he blushed a crimson red. Kosuke asked the same question again. Sano nodded his head slowly. Kosuke leaned closer to Sano to make sure he wasn't hurt. Sano didn't resist when the green haired boy leaned closer to him. The two stared at each other for a long time. That was when Ai, Rinko, and Hideyoshi appeared and told them to stop. They snapped out of their trance like state and turned away from each other.

"Ueki, how dare you take advantage of Sano!" Ai shouted. She had a towel wrapped around her body as well as Rinko.

"I mean really Ueki-kun!" Rinko shouted.

"I-It's not what you saw! I was protecting Sano, from a Kurogane attack!" Kosuke explained although no one believed him despite the fact that they clearly saw him defending Hachimaki.

"Right," the two girls said.

Hideyoshi however was commenting Sano for not resisting Kosuke.

"It wasn't like that Hideyoshi!" he spat.

"Sure! I bet if we left you two alone a little longer you would have taken your relationship up a notch!"

Nobody said anything as Sano got up and left. He headed back to the place where Team Ueki was staying. Kosuke only followed him to get away from the two girls.

He caught up to Sano who was walking at a brisk pace once they were away from the hot springs.

"Sano, you know it was an accident, do you?" Kosuke asked him.

Sano sighed, "Yeah, but…in the end it was a fake…"

Kosuke seemed to have read his mind as he walked over to him. He forced Sano to turn his direction. Kosuke took the chance and kissed him on the lips. Sano was shocked, but return the passionate kiss. The kiss seem to have lasted forever. The two broke apart as Sano blushed madly.

"That was the real thing, Sano," Kosuke said with a smile.

"Yeah…it was." Sano smiled back before the two kissed again.


Me: The 4th drabble was done!

Yohko: Yay! You need to work on Falling for the First Time now.

Me: I know. I hope you enjoyed this drabble. Please review. Ja ne! By the way Hachimaki means Headband.