To Vasha, Pauline, Jenna and Shannon
...and to everyone who believes in my skills as a writer.
Tezuka Kunikazu had a lot of time in his hands. Ripe at an old age, he spent most of his time teaching judo to police officers (since he himself used to be part of the force), gardening and tending to his large collection of koi. He particularly loved the koi, and he often found himself spending hours by the man-made fish pond at their backyard, just observing the swimming creatures and – sometimes, when he felt like it – even painting them. His son Kuniharu and daughter-in-law Ayana were quite very supportive of his hobby, and so had extended the house to accommodate a large garden where his plants and pond now stood. Many of his son's guests had been largely impressed by the beauty of the Tezuka backyard, to the point that they've asked Kunikazu if he was open to the landscaping business. Kunikazu didn't feel like making profit off of his hobbies, however; he preferred to tend plants and koi for leisure. Besides, putting up a business was too much for his old heart to handle. He'd rather spend the rest of his life in his garden.
Kunikazu started the day at six in the morning, as usual. He left his room (which was located on the first floor of the two-storey house, since his back didn't give him the benefit of using the stairs frequently) and saw Ayana at the kitchen counter, already preparing breakfast. If his family was anything, it was prompt.
"Ah, good morning, Otou-san!" she greeted cordially, spotting him at the kitchen doorway. "How's your back?"
"Good as it was twenty years ago," Kunikazu joked, before leaving for the living room, where the entrance to the backyard was.
It was a misty morning, and his plants were topped with droplets of dew. The air smelled fresh and damp. Hugging his sweater closer to his body, the old man walked across the stone steps strewn across the grassy ground, pausing at the right hand corner of the garden, where the fortune fountain where his koi lived was located. Twenty large orange, white and black fish greeted him, lazily swimming in slow circles around the crystal clear water. It was time to feed them.
When Kunikazu reached for the tin can hidden in one of the large rocks lining the pond, he realized that he was out of fish pellets. He remembered specifically telling Ayana to buy fish supply the other day. Sighing gravely as if faced with a painful ordeal, he trudged back to the house with the empty container.
"Ayana, we're out of pellets!" he said crossly.
Ayana looked guilty. "I'm so sorry, Outo-san, there was a huge sale in the supermarket and the line was just too long. I spent the whole afternoon fighting for fresh meat."
"Never mind, I'll just go to the pet shop right now."
"But Outo-san, it's six in the morning-"
Kunikazu waved her off. "They'll open up for me."
The street outside the Tezuka Residence was almost empty when Kunikazu stepped out, his cane and purse at hand. There was the newspaper boy doing his rounds, then a few commuters off to work. He took his time walking, noting how each house looked a bit older than they were the week before, and how tiny changes kept showing up, such as the brand new red car parked in the Ishikawa's garage and the new paint job on Matsumoto's roof. How time flies.
The pet shop was located along the main street three blocks from where the Tezuka family lived. By the time that Kunikazu arrived, the shop was still closed, a chain lock fixed on the double glass doors and the blinds pulled down on the windows. However, he could see a sliver of yellow light from the gaps of the blinds.
He rang the quaint gold bell hanging on the canopy at the doorstep, and almost immediately the blinds from one window were pushed up, revealing the half-sleepy face of a young auburn-haired girl.
"Oh, Ojii-san!" she said happily, once she recognized Kunikazu. As Kunikazu smiled and tipped his head in greeting, the girl disappeared from the window, reappearing seconds later from behind the shop with a ring of keys in her hand.
"Sorry to bother you so early in the morning, Manami-chan," he said.
The young girl – Manami – waved it off like a pesky fly. "I figured that you'd be coming, Ojii-san. I didn't remember you or Ayana-san dropping by in the past two weeks." She unlocked the chains and pushed the door open to let Kunikazu in. "Come in!"
This particular pet shop smelled oddly clean, unlike others that clearly smelled like an animal den. The display window housed cages of colorful birds of various breeds, while the length of the wall to Kunikazu's right was adorned with shelves of aquariums. To his left, there was a wide glass window, giving him a decent view of another room where the dogs and cats were kept, and near the counter at the end of the shop were the glass cages of little rodents.
"How many cans, Ojii-san?" came Manami's muffled voice from under the counter.
"Make it three." Kunikazu peered closely at a picture frame on the wall next to the door that led to the shop owners' private quarters. There was a kind-looking young woman that was Manami's mother, and then Manami herself, just a few years younger. He thought that she was just about the age of his grandson, Kunimitsu.
He liked Manami and her mother. It was in this shop where he bought his first set of koi five years ago, and the two had been so helpful in putting up his pond. They also often gave him generous discounts and Christmas pudding, and during her spring break, Manami would visit him in the dojo and try to learn basic judo. They had also been there on his sixtieth birthday celebration at home, giving him a white-spotted koi as a present.
Sometimes, Kunikazu wished that Kuniharu and Ayana would give him a granddaughter like Manami. He could really use some lively chatter back at home that his grandson Kunimitsu definitely couldn't provide him (the boy was as responsive as a rock).
"Here you go!" Manami had straightened up and put the fish pellets in a plastic bag.
Kunikazu was about to open his purse to pay for the bill, when it suddenly struck him. He froze, unable to move, his throat stuck, his knees weak.
He fell to the ground, his cane hitting the tiled floor with a loud clang.
"OJII-SAN!"
"...all his vital signs are now stable, so you shouldn't worry now, Tezuka-san. Your father has passed the critical stage."
Manami arrived in Tezuka Kunikazu's private hospital room that afternoon just in time to catch the final words of the good news. Both Kuniharu – Kunikazu's son – and his wife were there, their faces reflecting a sign of utmost relief. Just as the physician walked away, Kuniharu spotted her standing just a few meters away.
"Ah, Manami-san," he said genially. "Came to visit Otou-san?"
Manami nodded. It had been three days since Tezuka Ojii-san's unfortunate heart attack, and it was a good thing that she hadn't panicked when the old man suddenly dropped to the ground, clutching his chest tightly. It wasn't the first time that she had seen someone like that, but it had been unnerving, still.
Tezuka Ojii-san was something like a father to her.
"I just want to give him flowers and some of Okaa-san's vegetable curry," she explained, gesturing to the small bouquet of assorted flowers and bento box she's holding.
"Otou-san will be delighted!" Ayana said delightfully. "We couldn't thank you enough for saving his life."
Manami blushed. "Err, it's nothing really."
Ayane only smiled at her and accompanied her inside the room. It was big and bare, aside from the small pile of fruits and other delicacies sent as get-well-soon presents to Kunikazu. The old Tezuka was propped up in bed, looking a bit shaken but healthy, nevertheless.
"Manami-chan!" he greeted, upon seeing Manami. "Thank goodness you're here, I'm getting really bored."
"Shouldn't you be still in bed, Otou-san?" Kuniharu said, frowning slightly at the open TV fixed on the wall across the bed.
"Well I am in bed, can't you see?" Kunikazu huffed grumpily. "In fact, I think I should be released now. The doctor said I'm fine."
"Otou-san," Ayana said patiently. "They still have to observe you for a while. And the doctor told us that you should be bringing your medicine with you all the time."
"And that you shouldn't be allowed to go out on your own," Kuniharu added sternly.
Kunikazu clicked his tongue impatiently. "Yeah, right."
Manami was biting her tongue to suppress from giggling at Kunikazu's antics when the door suddenly opened and someone came rushing in. It was a tall bespectacled boy, about Manami's age, looking as if he had just come from a long travel, with his zipped up sweater and large baggage in tow. He bowed briefly to Kuniharu and Ayana.
"I'm home."
The reaction was instantaneous to Ayana. She hugged the boy tightly and said, "Welcome back, Kunimitsu!"
"It's good you're back, son," Kuniharu said, giving him a one-armed hug. "It was such a short notice."
"It's fine, I was about to go home soon anyway," said the boy, before he went at the bedside and held Kunikazu's hand. "How are you, Ojii-san?"
"Ah, my boy!" Kunikazu exclaimed happily. He clasped the younger boy's hand with his. "Your old man's okay now. You didn't have to fly all the way from Germany just to see me!"
"I insisted to see you myself," he said curtly.
"There was no need, Kunimitsu."
Manami stared at the boy. Tezuka Kunimitsu. He was of the same age as hers, and had been spending his time in Germany for a rehabilitation camp for the past two months. They said it was because of an arm injury from playing tennis. She rarely ever saw him, and hadn't spoken to him personally at all. Once or twice he had visited the pet shop to buy pellets in place of Tezuka Ojii-san or Ayana-san, and he was also there in Kunikazu's sixtieth birthday party, but he was just too...quiet and unsmiling, that Manami hesitated – was even scared – to talk to him. Ojii-san talked about him a lot, though, how he was a genius and a tennis prodigy, how he was so proud of him but that sometimes he wished he was a lot more talkative. According to the elderly Tezuka, talking to him was like talking to a brick wall.
Also, he was quite popular even in other schools, like in Manami's. He had recently passed the entrance exam in that prestigious high school she could only dream of going to.
"I believe you have already met Manami-chan?" Ayana suddenly said, bringing her back to her senses.
When Tezuka Kunimitsu's sharp brown eyes found her beside the table of get-well-soon presents, she stood a bit consciously and bowed to avoid looking back at him. "I'm Tanaka Manami. It's...nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," he replied in a monotonous voice, bowing briefly. Manami wasn't sure if he even remembered her at all.
"She was the one who brought Otou-san to the hospital," Ayana said. "We owe her a lot."
"Is that so? Then we are very grateful," Tezuka Kunimitsu said, bowing at her once more.
"I told you, it's nothing. I just did what I should," Manami fussed shyly, blushing once more. She spotted the time on the wall clock and realized that she was running late for her shop duty. "And, I should go now. My mother will be looking for me in any minute."
"Go ahead, young lady," Kunikazu chuckled. "Say my regards to Yuko-san."
"Get well soon, Ojii-san. Thank you for your time," she addressed the Tezukas, bowing for one last time before leaving the room.
"Take care, Manami-chan!" Ayana called out.
When Manami glanced back just as the door was closing behind her, she caught Tezuka Kunimitsu looking at her.
"Tomorrow is your first day in high school, aren't you excited?" Tanaka Yuko said to Manami over dinner.
Manami rolled her eyes. "'Kaa-san, you're the one who's excited." She shoved a large mouthful of rice and fish in her mouth.
"Eat like a lady, will you?" her mother reprimanded lightly. "People might think I'm not feeding you properly." She paused slightly. "Tezuka-san was released in the hospital this afternoon."
Manami brightened up. "Really? That's great! I've been practicing judo by myself and I'm excited to show him my moves!"
"Don't forget to give him some of our pudding once he comes and visits."
"Yeah, sure."
While her mother was busy helping herself with dinner, Manami peered up at her from the top of her own rice bowl. Fine lines were starting to make themselves pronounced on Yuko's forehead and eyes, and she looked a bit thinner than usual. Manami would like to think it was simply because of stress and exhaustion from looking after the shop, but she knew that wasn't the case.
Manami was reminded of an event long ago, when she was still very young. Her father had died in a nasty car accident, leaving her mother very devastated. For days, she had refused to go out of her room, which left Manami living off of canned sardines and instant noodles, since by then she barely knew how to cook. When she had finally come about, Manami's mother became a workaholic, exhausting herself twelve hours a day in work until they had enough money to start a business.
Although it had been running for a long time now, Manami knew that they didn't gain from the pet shop as much as they had in the first few years. There had been a lot of competition around, and it was a small-scale business anyway. She knew that her mother was having a hard time maintaining the shop, that her contractual job had recently been terminated and that for some reason, she had refused to find another job, insisting instead to man the pet shop with Date-san, the hired store manager. At first, Manami remained clueless as to the real situation, but when she had started to notice her mother's deteriorating physical features and accidentally find medical prescriptions hidden in her pants pockets, the truth struck her: her mother was sick, and, worse, she was keeping her daughter from knowing it.
The idea of Yuko hiding her illness all along made her feel angry and sad at the same time. Even though she could understand her mother's reasons for doing so, she still couldn't believe that she wouldn't let her in the problem. Manami was the only family she had.
"Did Tezuka-san's grandson come back from Germany already?" Yuko asked, breaking the comfortable silence and snapping Manami back to the present.
"Yes, he's going to a local high school," Manami replied quickly.
"Hmm. He's quite cute, don't you think?"
Manami almost choked on her rice, momentarily forgetting what she was thinking about. "Kaa-san!"
Her mother blinked at her innocently. "What? I'm just saying. You're so exaggerated."
"Yeah, whatever."
Her mother giggled softly. "You look like your father when you're embarrassed."
Manami paused at that, before smiling widely. A wonderful idea had just crossed her mind. "Ne, Kaa-san, I have a proposal."
"What is it?"
"What if I get a part-time job? You know, just to help out a bit in extending our budget."
The smile on her mother's face was replaced with a look of confusion. "What would you need a job for?"
Manami hesitated. "Uhm, for extra money?"
"Don't I give you enough allowance already?" Her mother frowned.
"'Kaa-san," Manami said lightly, "I just want to help out-"
"No," her mother said calmly. "You should be focusing on your studies and nothing else. Why do you think we have the pet shop?"
Manami had foreseen this coming. Yuko could be as stubborn as a kid. "'Kaa-san, I know that business hadn't been good lately."
Her mom's face faltered a bit, but she regained her conviction in a split-second. "Then you should be here helping me instead of looking for another job."
"Really, that's Date-san's job," Manami argued. "What I mean is, since you refuse to go to work, I will."
"I don't go to work because I don't see the need to."
"No, you don't go to work because you can't," Manami spat, realizing her mistake one second too late.
Her mother's expression was unreadable. "What do you mean by that, Manami?" she asked coldly.
Manami stood with so much force that her chair almost toppled over. "You know what I mean. I'm looking for a job, okay? Good night."
"Manami-" Yuko began, but her daughter already went upstairs and had shut herself in her bedroom. She set down the bowl she hadn't realized she had been holding throughout the argument and gave a deep sigh.
"So much like her father."
"Can you please stop talking as if I'm not here?" Kunikazu suddenly blurted out over dinner, looking rather irritated.
At once, Kuniharu and Ayana stopped talking. For the past ten minutes, they had been arguing about Kunikazu. Both of them had a job, and soon, their son Kunimitsu will resume school, leaving the old man by himself in the house. Kuniharu had suggested that Ayana should take a leave, but Ayana was against the idea, proposing to get a part-time maid instead. No one had asked Kunikazu's opinion throughout the conversation, and that irked him in palpable amounts. It was as if along with the heart attack, he had lost the ability to think.
"I just spent two weeks in the hospital and now I can't participate in family decision-making?" he said angrily. "And what is with that setup? It's not as if I can't walk anymore!"
"Otou-san, the doctor clearly said-" Kuniharu started, but the old Tezuka raised his hand to stop him from speaking.
"I am fine by myself, thanks."
The look of exasperation in the couple's faces was evident. "You're not, Outo-san," Ayana said. "What if you get another attack-"
"I have the pills," Kunikazu insisted. "Besides, you both said it, you can't do it."
"That's why we're coming up with a solution-"
"—and I don't see you coming up with any."
There was a moment of silence, where Kunikazu glared at the couple, and the latter thought of a way to get the old man to agree with them.
Finally, after what seemed like five minutes, his grandson, Kunimitsu, spoke. "I am against the idea of leaving Ojii-san by himself. I think hiring someone to look after him is the best solution."
All three older Tezukas looked at him in surprise. Kunimitsu almost never spoke during mealtimes, not unless someone asked him a question. To be frank, they had almost forgotten that he was even there.
"Well, that settles it, doesn't it?" Ayana said after a while. "We're going to get someone who can take care of household chores and look out for Outo-san until I come back from work."
"Do you understand that, Outo-san?" Kuniharu asked Kunikazu.
Kunikazu was in deep thought. While he absolutely understood that his son, daughter-in-law and grandson were just after his welfare, he could not possibly see himself with anyone else aside from them. He didn't like letting random strangers in the house, more so touch their things, unless they were someone he had proven trustworthy over time. If only he had someone like that...
At that precise moment, an idea struck him.
"Alright," he said, a tone of finality in his voice. "I will concede in this ridiculous idea of yours. But I have one condition." He made sure they were listening before he went on.
"I want you to hire Manami-chan, and no one else."
Koi – Japanese term for carp
Bento - lunch
Ojii-san – Grandpa
Otou-san – Father
Okaa-san – Mother
EDIT: Yes, I am so back. Only under a different name. People used to know me as Polkadottedmonkey, but that was at least two years ago and I'm not sure if anyone still knows me here. So...hi. *smiles awkwardly* By the way, if there are any discrepancies between the Canon and this fanfic, please overlook them. It's been a while since I have seen any PoT episode/manga chapter so my memory regarding trivial canon facts might be a bit faulty. Again, this fic is set in post-canon period, so the third years (Tezuka, Oishi, Fuji, etc.) are first year high school students and the rest one year higher. :)
You're gonna do me a big favor by dropping by a review. *hint* I hope you enjoyed!