Take it Back
--------------------------------------------------------
The day was cold. Rain dripped and splashed
over his longish, shaggy silver hair. He wrapped his
trench around him tighter, trying to ward out the
burning cold. Shaking his head, he sent glimmering
splinters of liquid around him.
"It was a day like today like every other day
that week . . . " Shinobu cracked to himself, in the
cheesy 1940's detective movie style. " . . . except the
sun was out and it couldn't have been a more cheerful
day."
He blinked into the rain, feeling it trace his
lashline and follow the line of his nose. It really had
been a wonderful day that day.
He forced the ideas out of his mind. His lunch
hour would be over soon, and he had to get back to the
company . . . for lack of anything better to do. He was
the CEO, and had a secretary, so he really didn't have
to show up at the office at all, but he didn't have
anything else to do to wither away his days as his
company created millions for him.
In the years following graduation, he had lost
track of most of his friends from school, some willingly
and others by accident. He wanted to leave that time
behind him--the time when he was actually happy and
carefree.
He was not an idiot, by any means. But when you
are forced into a wall with no other escape, you have to
do what you have to do.
It was completely unfair. Everyone involved
knew that it was cruel to do it, but they did it anyway.
He supposed their desperation made them do it.
Of course it made sense. This was the family
that had bred him. Nothing they did was ever
nonsensical, perhaps with the exception of Nagisa's
derangement. Their reasoning was impeccable--Akira had
been long gone, and even if he came back, his absence
proved him unstable. He could not take the family
business. Nagisa--one had only to look at her and see
that no, she wouldn't do, either. Shinobu was all that
was left.
So naturally when Father became deathly ill, he
had to stop what he was doing and come home. He had had
his own plans, though, for his life. His parents
believed that one day he would find a nice woman and
marry, creating more Tezukas and ensuring the longevity
of the family. Almost nothing could have been further
from what he wanted.
The other--Shinobu's love--was absolutely
beautiful. Eyes the color of amethyst brimmed with
emotion and happiness when he had asked him to accompany
him home, to his father's deathbed. Mitsuru had
naturally agreed, completely enthusiastic about the
relationship. Shinobu had felt a swell of pure love
fill his chest, and he had thrown his arms around his
lover, gently caressing the spun gold that was softer
than silk.
His family had been outraged. His mother had
wept a seemingly endless flow of tears. His father had
lay there, gawking at the pretty boy who had "perverted"
his son--his only chance at an heir. Nagisa had simply
stood there, watching them with the strangest mixture of
pity, surprise, disgust, and admiration.
They wouldn't allow it. Even the surprising
amount of pleading on his part from Nagisa did little
more than keep him in the family. That boy had to go.
Shinobu had been shell-shocked.
In the end, he had taken his family over
Mitsuru. What else could he do? His family didn't get
their wishes granted without a price. Shinobu made sure
that everything they wanted was a double-edged blade.
With the gein of an heir that could take over the
company, they lost the expressive, happy boy that had
greeted them upon his arrival. They lost his smiles,
and gained the sound of a heartbroken young man every
night. They lost what he had found and gained what they
had sent away. Their little ice sculpture was back with
a vengence.
He had forcefully severed his ties with his
highschool days. All that remained of them was a shadow
of a memory and a ghost of pain, which he could
suppress, if he felt the need, to an almost non-existant
prick in his heart whenever he saw a handsome, blonde
man or a pair of deep purple eyes. That had been the
most awful toll for anything he had ever payed. It was
a constant ache, one that hurt the worst when he was in
bed at night, cold and lonely.
Oh, almost immediately they had realized their
mistake. His mother had been repentant after the third
day. Nagisa had been sypathetic the entire time, which
thoroughly surprised him. His father had apologized
just in time for the doctors to break out the death
certificate. Shinobu never apologized. He never
accepted their apologies, either. He let them feel the
burning ache of something inside of you dying.
He spat in disgust at the memories. The burning
behind his eyes blinded him for a few moments, and he
violently shoved it away. The sound of a slamming door
entered his thougts, and an all-too-familiar sound
greeted him.
"Ikeda-sempai, Ikedaaa-sempai!" a female voice
echoed, causing Shinobu to start, whipping around to see
the speaker.
An adorable teenage girl with short black hair
stared at him. Her school uniform was from the Ichiban
area of Tokyo. Just across the street, a teenage boy
was staring at him, his own matching uniform slightly
ruffled. His seafoam green hair stood neatly in spikes,
and his deep blue eyes sparkled, visible from across the
street. "Aa, gomen, " Shinobu breathed. "I thought
you were someone else."
He shivered in his inner-angst and forced
himself to continue to the office. The light at the
corner of the sidewalk lit, telling him it was safe to
walk, and he started across.
The girl's scream suddenly erupted in his mind,
and he spun around, looking at her, then flipped around
to see a large truck headed right toward him. His eyes
widened, his life flashed before his eyes, and the world
flickered out as his knees buckled beneath him.
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
The day was cold. Rain dripped and splashed
over his longish, shaggy silver hair. He wrapped his
trench around him tighter, trying to ward out the
burning cold. Shaking his head, he sent glimmering
splinters of liquid around him.
"It was a day like today like every other day
that week . . . " Shinobu cracked to himself, in the
cheesy 1940's detective movie style. " . . . except the
sun was out and it couldn't have been a more cheerful
day."
He blinked into the rain, feeling it trace his
lashline and follow the line of his nose. It really had
been a wonderful day that day.
He forced the ideas out of his mind. His lunch
hour would be over soon, and he had to get back to the
company . . . for lack of anything better to do. He was
the CEO, and had a secretary, so he really didn't have
to show up at the office at all, but he didn't have
anything else to do to wither away his days as his
company created millions for him.
In the years following graduation, he had lost
track of most of his friends from school, some willingly
and others by accident. He wanted to leave that time
behind him--the time when he was actually happy and
carefree.
He was not an idiot, by any means. But when you
are forced into a wall with no other escape, you have to
do what you have to do.
It was completely unfair. Everyone involved
knew that it was cruel to do it, but they did it anyway.
He supposed their desperation made them do it.
Of course it made sense. This was the family
that had bred him. Nothing they did was ever
nonsensical, perhaps with the exception of Nagisa's
derangement. Their reasoning was impeccable--Akira had
been long gone, and even if he came back, his absence
proved him unstable. He could not take the family
business. Nagisa--one had only to look at her and see
that no, she wouldn't do, either. Shinobu was all that
was left.
So naturally when Father became deathly ill, he
had to stop what he was doing and come home. He had had
his own plans, though, for his life. His parents
believed that one day he would find a nice woman and
marry, creating more Tezukas and ensuring the longevity
of the family. Almost nothing could have been further
from what he wanted.
The other--Shinobu's love--was absolutely
beautiful. Eyes the color of amethyst brimmed with
emotion and happiness when he had asked him to accompany
him home, to his father's deathbed. Mitsuru had
naturally agreed, completely enthusiastic about the
relationship. Shinobu had felt a swell of pure love
fill his chest, and he had thrown his arms around his
lover, gently caressing the spun gold that was softer
than silk.
His family had been outraged. His mother had
wept a seemingly endless flow of tears. His father had
lay there, gawking at the pretty boy who had "perverted"
his son--his only chance at an heir. Nagisa had simply
stood there, watching them with the strangest mixture of
pity, surprise, disgust, and admiration.
They wouldn't allow it. Even the surprising
amount of pleading on his part from Nagisa did little
more than keep him in the family. That boy had to go.
Shinobu had been shell-shocked.
In the end, he had taken his family over
Mitsuru. What else could he do? His family didn't get
their wishes granted without a price. Shinobu made sure
that everything they wanted was a double-edged blade.
With the gein of an heir that could take over the
company, they lost the expressive, happy boy that had
greeted them upon his arrival. They lost his smiles,
and gained the sound of a heartbroken young man every
night. They lost what he had found and gained what they
had sent away. Their little ice sculpture was back with
a vengence.
He had forcefully severed his ties with his
highschool days. All that remained of them was a shadow
of a memory and a ghost of pain, which he could
suppress, if he felt the need, to an almost non-existant
prick in his heart whenever he saw a handsome, blonde
man or a pair of deep purple eyes. That had been the
most awful toll for anything he had ever payed. It was
a constant ache, one that hurt the worst when he was in
bed at night, cold and lonely.
Oh, almost immediately they had realized their
mistake. His mother had been repentant after the third
day. Nagisa had been sypathetic the entire time, which
thoroughly surprised him. His father had apologized
just in time for the doctors to break out the death
certificate. Shinobu never apologized. He never
accepted their apologies, either. He let them feel the
burning ache of something inside of you dying.
He spat in disgust at the memories. The burning
behind his eyes blinded him for a few moments, and he
violently shoved it away. The sound of a slamming door
entered his thougts, and an all-too-familiar sound
greeted him.
"Ikeda-sempai, Ikedaaa-sempai!" a female voice
echoed, causing Shinobu to start, whipping around to see
the speaker.
An adorable teenage girl with short black hair
stared at him. Her school uniform was from the Ichiban
area of Tokyo. Just across the street, a teenage boy
was staring at him, his own matching uniform slightly
ruffled. His seafoam green hair stood neatly in spikes,
and his deep blue eyes sparkled, visible from across the
street. "Aa, gomen, " Shinobu breathed. "I thought
you were someone else."
He shivered in his inner-angst and forced
himself to continue to the office. The light at the
corner of the sidewalk lit, telling him it was safe to
walk, and he started across.
The girl's scream suddenly erupted in his mind,
and he spun around, looking at her, then flipped around
to see a large truck headed right toward him. His eyes
widened, his life flashed before his eyes, and the world
flickered out as his knees buckled beneath him.
--------------------------------------------------------