I'm so sorry... I planned to post this story on New Years, but I got caught up at my cousin's house and drowned with a whole bunch of school work from my -mean- teachers. Anyway, please read this Tezuryo family oneshot~!
EDITED: September 11, 2010
This very late and procrastinating author presents to you...
The black haired man sat up on the bed and rubbed his tired eyes lazily. "Niisan?"
...The sequel to 'Found and Lost... Lost and Found...'
Silence greeted the man until an old wooden door creaked open. "Ah, you're awake early again?" a silverette asked as he entered the room with a tray full of food.
"I found the address to your brother's house. It was unfortunate I wasn't able to see him at all this week."
The black haired man nodded and took the food before stuffing it into his mouth. The silverette smiled at the childish man and left, closing the door behind him.
"Shinju. How is Ryoma?" a white haired man asked as he lifted his head from the book he was reading.
"He's doing pretty okay, I guess. It's a shame I forgot to ask for Tezuka's phone number..." Shinju said with a sheepish laugh. "But anyway, Toushiro, what do you think their reunion will be like?"
"Warm and happy. They had a good relationship, didn't they?"
Shinju chuckled and sat next to his lover on the couch. "Yes, but while that is true... do you really think their love for each other can last this long? Tezuka thought Ryoma was dead... how do we know he didn't go out with someone to console himself? And Ryoma was stuck in a coma fighting against who knows what."
Toushiro sighed and brought Shinju closer to him with his arm. "Don't worry about it..." the whitenette kissed the top of the silver hair.
"I'm pretty sure they still love each other."
"As brothers, definitely... but what about something more?" Shinju asked with a slight bit of worry.
"Why are you involving yourself so much with another person's personal life? It's not like you," Toushiro asked and slid Shinju onto his lap before wrapping one arm around the slim waist and smoothed his hand through the silverette's hair soothingly.
"Heh... maybe because it's just like us... when we were younger."
"Hmm..." Toushiro closed his blue eyes and Shinju nuzzled his head into the crook of the whitenette's neck. "I guess so. But if it's like our story, then we should trust that they'll continue to love each other as they had before Ryoma went into a state of coma."
Shinju smiled and closed his eyes. "You're right... I'm worrying about nothing..."
...This Maze is Too Big
Ryoma's golden eyes widened and he walked back to the bed. He had finished his meal and was planning to put it in the sink but he heard Shinju mumble something. He pressed his ear to the door to try to hear what he was going to say next...
"...Do you really think their love for each other can last this long? Tezuka thought Ryoma was dead... how do we know he didn't go out with someone to console himself? And Ryoma was stuck in a coma fighting who knows what."
"Don't worry about it... I'm pretty sure they still love each other."
Ryoma blushed and buried his head into the soft pillow. "...Love?" the man blushed even more.
'All that time I spent with Kunimitsu... it led to me falling in love with him? With my own brother?' Ryoma sat up with his face still buried in the pillow and drew his knees to his chest. 'I mean, I know I was adopted but... I shouldn't like niisan like that.'
The man hesitated and plopped the white pillow back onto the bed. 'People say they feel like butterflies are in their stomach when they're near the person the love...' Ryoma looked outside the window. "...I got that feeling too..."
Ryoma's cheeks started to regain their normal color. 'Do I really love niisan?' he asked himself inwardly and the blush came back, full force, as he shook his head furiously.
'NO! I can't love Kunimitsu like that! He's still my brother, albeit not blood related... but we share everything with each other! I confided in him with my past, I comforted him when he hurt his shoulder, he carried me to the hospital when I got amnesia, he... niisan saved my life. The least I can do to pay him back is to not be trouble for him...'
The raven haired man nodded. 'And I really don't want people thinking that he's in love with his younger brother. That's incest... and we're both guys... I really don't want niisan to get in trouble or get fired from whatever job he has...'
Ryoma smiled. "Okay. I won't ever tell niisan that I like him."
There was a knock at the door and Shinju entered. "Hey. Are you ready to go?" Ryoma nodded and picked up an empty box.
"Yeah, let's go."
Sometimes, I feel like I'm stuck...
I feel like I'm stuck in a maze.
The shrubbery blocks my vision,
And I can't see which way is out.
Ryoma slid into the back seat of the car and waited patiently for Toushiro to start driving. "You seem awfully quiet."
"Eh? Do I?" Ryoma asked with a blink, turning to Toushiro who nodded.
"These past few days you've been complaining that you couldn't see your brother... and threw a pillow at me when I told you I didn't know his address."
Ryoma bowed his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, umm... sorry about that?" he asked more than apologized.
"No problem, it's not like it hurt," Shinju said with a smile as Toushiro backed out of the driveway and onto the road.
"So what's wrong? Aren't you happy that you're finally going to see your brother?" Shinju asked, his red eyes glancing in the rear view mirror to look at Ryoma's almost hurt expression.
Ryoma put on a fake smile when he felt Shinju's eyes on him to cover up his thoughts. "Of course I am! How far away is it?"
Shinju raised a suspicious eyebrow but decided to not say anything. He just calmly explained the route they would take, knowing full well Ryoma was ignoring him.
'Of course I'm happy that I'm going to see niisan... but... I get this weird feeling in my stomach when I actually think about it. I don't know what he's been doing for the past fifteen years! What am I going to say? What am I going to do?' Ryoma's eyebrows creased with worry.
'I don't know what I'm going to do... I'm not even sure I can keep myself from telling niisan that I like him in that way.'
Sometimes, I feel like I'm stuck...
I feel like I'm stuck in a maze.
I keep trying to find a way out,
But this maze... it's just too big.
The silver car stopped in front of an apartment building and Shinju slipped out of the car. "Wait here just in case, Shiro... I have a feeling something's off," the silverette whispered and Toushiro nodded compliantly. Ryoma climbed out of the car and stumbled over his own feet nervously. "It's okay! You're just meeting your brother!"
Ryoma smiled weakly. 'The same brother I just realized I LOVE.'
Shinju looked at a slip of paper and pressed the number twelve on the elevator. Ryoma leaned against the shiny wooden wall and waited silently for the numbers to count up.
Shinju sneaked a peek at the black haired man and saw that he seemed even more distressed than when he was in the car. 'I wonder what made him so nervous...' the two elevator doors opened and Ryoma jumped up in surprise. "We're here."
The two men stepped out of the elevator and stood in front of a door with the number '12-24' on it (Ryoma's birthday is December 24 just in case you didn't know).
"...That number..." Ryoma blinked and Shinju chuckled.
"I guess he didn't forget you after all," Shinju knocked on the door and a worried black haired man answered the door.
"Yes?"
"Eh... is Tezuka-san in?"
The black haired man blinked in confusion. "Tezuka? He moved into a house two days ago. He said, 'Oishi, I realize I can't stay here anymore. I have to wait for someone, and I'm not sure how long that will be. I have to be close to Ryoma.' He moved right next to his family graveyard. I heard he even removed his adoptive brother's grave."
"Ah, that would be me..." Ryoma said in a quiet voice and Oishi smiled.
"I'm sure Tezuka will welcome you with open arms."
Ryoma put a cap on his head and blushed. "Yeah..."
"Well, thank you for the information, Oishi-san," said person just smiled sadly.
"I hope he'll go back to normal after this. Tezuka told me about how he lost you a week ago. Please... don't leave him anymore, Ryoma-kun," said man looked at the floor and bit his lower lip.
"I couldn't leave niisan even if I wanted to."
'Yeah, I can't just forget him and leave him behind... like I did before...' Ryoma closed his golden eyes as Shinju herded him back to the elevator.
"What a shame, what a shame. It seems we have to move some more, ne?"
'Thank goodness, too. I was so nervous!' Ryoma thought embarrassingly and watched as the numbers counted down. On the fifth floor, a black haired man entered the small compartment.
"Inui-san? I didn't think I'd see you here!"
The bespectacled man inclined his head as a greeting. "I just moved in with Kaoru a couple of days ago."
Shinju grinned. "Took a step up in your relationship, huh?" Inui nodded, a faint blush adorned on his cheeks. Shinju stole Ryoma's cap. "This is Tezuka's younger brother."
"The one who died?"
"He was in a coma," Shinju informed as Ryoma attempted to get his cap back. "He really would have died if we hadn't found him and cleaned him up. Did you know that he was found in an alley near an airport in America? The doctors refused to treat him until they found the family, but they thought said family was in America, so they couldn't find him! Since I work for that hospital that…" he kept on talking, and the other two males just droned him out.
"Hello, Tezuka...?"
"Ryoma," said man stated before snatching his hat back right as the elevator doors opened up again.
"Ii data. Well, I have to be going now. Today is, after all, my anniversary with Kaoru," Inui left the building with a somewhat dreamy look on his face and the two remaining men climbed into Toushiro's car.
"Not there. Drive to Tezuka's family graveyard."
"Okay," Toushiro said and backed up slightly before speeding forward. "So Ryoma, excited?"
"I thought I already said I was."
"Ryoma... what are your thoughts on Tezuka?" Ryoma looked up at Shinju with a bemused expression. "I mean, you've been acting weird ever since you eavesdropped on my conversation with Shiro."
Ryoma stiffened and looked into the rear view mirror. Toushiro's blue eyes glanced at him as if saying, 'we know.' The black haired teen shuffled uncomfortably. "Well... he's my brother..."
"Do you really think just that?" Shinju asked as he turned around to look at Ryoma in the eyes intently. "Do you really just love him as your brother... or something more?"
Ryoma blushed and looked out the window. "O-Of course I don't like Kunimitsu like that... we-we're just brothers..."
"Albeit... adopted brothers," the silverette supplied and Ryoma gulped.
"Niisan's a guy, and so am I... it wouldn't be allowed..."
Shinju raised an eyebrow curiously. "So that means you do love him?" the black haired teen flushed even more and eventually nodded slightly in embarrassment. "If you love him, you shouldn't mind what other people think or say. You should love him for who he is, and be proud of it. Don't bother with the petty things like gender and family."
"But," Ryoma hugged his knees to his chest solemnly, "you said before that niisan might be dating someone..."
"It's a possibility, but not a definite one. Have some more faith in your beloved," Shinju grinned at Ryoma and faced forward once more. "I'll just drop you off here and let you have some heart to heart with your brother."
Ryoma tentatively stepped out of the car and widened his eyes when said car sped away. The golden eyed man slowly walked up the small path and hesitated before reaching to knock on the door. Another hand reached up, however, and the owners of both hands looked at each other.
"...Who the hell are you?" Ryoma asked while glaring at the other man.
"Ore-sama could be asking you the same thing," the narcissistic man said before flicking his hair.
"If that's you Atobe, go away before I call the cops. I've already told you five times that I'm not going to sell this house away," a voice from behind the door said, making Ryoma's voice catch.
"Ore-sama demands that you do!" the man, Atobe, shouted haughtily and the door swung open.
"If I have to tell you one more time..." the brunette trailed off, noticing Ryoma.
"...Ryo...ma...?" said man smirked, confidence suddenly flared up in him once he saw his brother.
"What? Karupin got your tongue, niisan?"
Tezuka opened the door all the way and invited his younger brother into the house. "No, I'm just surprised to see you up and about. I didn't know you were awake."
"You'll let a total stranger into your house but not ore-sama?"
"I'm not a stranger," Ryoma said while glaring at Atobe. "Stay away, Monkey King. Kunimitsu... is my boyfriend," he then proceeded to slam the door in Atobe's face, who stood there with wide eyes, gaping at the wood in disbelief as if it had just talked to him.
Inside of the house, Ryoma was laughing hysterically while Tezuka frowned at him disapprovingly.
"Oh, come on, you have to say that was funny!" Ryoma said while wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"Don't joke about our relationship like that, Ryoma," the hazel eyed brunette said with a sigh.
"Relationship? We're brothers," Ryoma stated, albeit coldly.
"...Ah, yeah..."
The two stood at the front entrance for a long uncomfortable silence until Ryoma spoke up. "Ne, Kunimitsu, what do you think of me?"
The brunette looked into Ryoma's curious golden eyes. "...You're my childish little brother who manages to escape the clutches of punishment with your talents."
"Mou..." Ryoma whined with a pout. "I mean, what do you think of me when... I'm not your brother? Wh-What I'm asking is..." he looked away from Tezuka with a slight blush.
"Niisan... do you like me?"
Tezuka hugged Ryoma. "Of course I do, Ryoma. If I didn't, why would I have visited your supposed grave every year? Would I have worried for you when I found out you were in a coma?"
"Not that kind of like..." Ryoma tightened his grip around his brother and buried his face in the brunette's chest.
"I'm asking if you like like me..."
There was silence and Ryoma thought it was because of disgust. The man pulled away from his older brother and turned around to wipe away his tears. He sniffled and gasped in surprise when Tezuka wrapped his arms around Ryoma's waist. The younger of the two men looked behind him.
"N-Niisan...?"
"I do like you, Ryoma. I... I love you," Tezuka whispered softly, placing his head on top of Ryoma's.
The golden-eyed man smiled and entwined his fingers with his brother's hands happily. "I love you too, Kunimitsu. So don't you dare disappear on me."
Tezuka chuckled and turned Ryoma around. "You're the one who disappeared from me, remember?" Ryoma closed his golden eyes and let Tezuka kiss him on the lips.
'But I won't, not anymore. I'm going to stay by your side, forever. I promise.'
Sometimes, I feel like I'm stuck...
I feel like I'm stuck in a maze.
And though the bushes block my sight,
Though I can't find my way out...
I know I'm safe.
Because even if this maze is too big,
You're here with me...
Right here, right now.
Because even if this maze is too big,
You'll help me...
You'll help me get out.
SUMIMASEN! This was really late, I'm so sorry DX But I finally posted it, and that's what matters, right? (sweat drops profusely) Well, this took a while, but I'm glad I finally finished it... ^^v yay... review please