Chapter One
In a moment, everything can change – feel the wind on your shoulders
For a minute, all the world can wait – let go of your yesterday
Can you hear calling? Can you feel it in your soul? Can you trust its longing, and take control?
Fly- open up a part of you that wants to hide away
You can shine, forget about the reasons why you can't in life.
All your worries, leave them somewhere else
Find a dream that you can follow
Reach for something when there's nothing left
And the world's feeling hollow.
-extract from Fly
Fuji stared at the stunning view of the Hong Kong coastline from his hotel window.
"Syuusuke, I haven't seen you that captivated in anything except natural scenes," said a long-haired girl sitting on a sofa, in the living room of the deluxe hotel suite.
"Well, Sarah, it is beautiful."
"I know that, after all I was the one who told you there was a beautiful view here. The problem is, you've been staring at it for ten minutes nonstop."
"Have I now?" Fuji asked. "Well blame the boss for making our next photography project in Hong Kong."
"Then can you at least sit and drink the coffee before it gets cold? Starbucks isn't awfully expensive but it isn't cheap either."
"Okay, okay."
After Tezuka left, Fuji was accepted into Cambridge University. When he graduated with a few degrees he became a professional photographer. Before long, his photos were widely spread across countries.
"It's too bad, Syuusuke, that you had to give yourself a penname," said Sarah, sipping her coffee.
"I just felt like it," replied Fuji.
"Syuusuke, what's wrong? You've been thinking of someone just now," she stated.
For a fraction of a second, Fuji stiffened a little.
"What? I was just admiring the beauty of the coastline," he replied, hoping not to sound too defensive.
"Syuusuke," sighed Sarah. "You know fairly well that I've known you since Cambridge and I know what you're thinking and feeling."
"No, seriously, Sarah, I'm alright. Stop being a worrywart."
"Yeah, Syuusuke, all right you've been thinking about Tezuka Kunimitsu."
It was Fuji's turn to sigh. There was no helping it – Sarah could read him like a book.
"Sarah, please…"
"It's been five years now. Either seek for him, contact him, or complete forget about him and wipe him out of your life. Trapping yourself into a world of anything but reality is just torture because you know that what you're thinking is never going to happen unless you do something."
"I know that."
"But you're not doing anything – "
"I'm feeling a bit tired now, Sarah. So good night."
With that he went into his own room, and buried himself under the covers without even bothering to change.
Do I love Tezuka that much? So much that after five years, it doesn't fade? Everywhere I go I hope that I'd see him, just like a child hoping to see Santa Claus on Christmas. Am I that naive?
Fuji himself knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep a wink that night.
The next morning, Fuji woke up to find a magazine lain on top of his head. He reached up, grabbed it and nearly threw it on the floor, but something on the cover caught his eye.
The headlines flashed: Youngest person ever to be ranked world's top number two male player – Tezuka Kunimitsu.
There was a huge photograph of Tezuka on the Wimbledon tennis court. Fuji almost felt a pant of guilt because he hadn't made an effort of contacting him throughout the five years. He was afraid that his childish heart would yearn more and more for Tezuka's love. How could he even be called his best friend, when he wasn't there to see Tezuka's most glorious moments?
Fuji stared at it, feeling remorse and guilt wash over him. He sat up and slowly opened the magazine and slowly read the article, careful not to miss any little piece of information about Tezuka.
"Anyone with half a brain would know that you'd be interested," said Sarah, who was suddenly standing in the doorway.
Finishing the article, Fuji dumped it on the bedside table before sliding back into a sleeping position. Every time he heard about anything that involved Tezuka, his heart cracked a little.
Sarah, being wise, left him alone after putting another cup of Starbucks coffee beside the magazine.
Tezuka looked at a photo album by the famous photographer, LaNoche. He wondered if he was looking at the photos because he missed Fuji.
He'd always been a big fan of LaNoche, because that person's photos were simply amazing. They told things that words couldn't express. And most of all, they were pictures that Fuji would take; they reminded him vividly of Fuji.
He sighed and closed his eyes, wondering if the jet lag had gotten into him. He had made an agreement to coach an extremely talented teenager in Hong Kong, and here he was, in some kind of hotel suite that was far too grand for his taste.
He stood up from the bed, changed into his tennis clothes and picked up his tennis bag. He was going to meet that supposedly talented kid today.
"Syuusuke, do you want to play a bit of tennis today? We've got five more days to settle down before we actually have to get to work."
"Sure. I needed some exercise, anyway. "
Fuji picked up his tennis stuff. Aside from photography, tennis was his favourite activity, and he couldn't sleep without playing everyday for at least two hours.
He walked into a court that he booked a few minutes ago. It was in the middle of a park, and they were the only ones playing tennis. The sun wasn't too bright, which was good. There was even a little breeze.
"It's rare for polluted places like Hong Kong to have such beautiful weather in spring," said Fuji.
"Ne, Syuusuke, look at that." Sarah pointed to a boy, around sixteen of age. He was rallying against the wall. There was nothing special about that.
But when Fuji looked closer he noticed that he was hitting the same spot every time, and it made a mark on the wall. And the ball was considerably speeding up.
"Wow. I haven't seen any teenager that talented since Seigaku," he said.
"Well, I've never seen anyone like that except you."
Fuji had an amused look on his face. He slowly strode up to the boy.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The boy deftly caught the ball in his hand before he looked up.
"Nicholas," he replied shortly. His voice wasn't high, nor was it deep. He had short, black hair that somewhat flew in all directions.
"Saa, can I play against you for a little while?"
The boy nodded, in a courteous kind of way.
"Nicholas, you really remind me of my old tennis team captain."
Nicholas probably didn't know what to say at the sudden random comment.
"His name is Tezuka Kunimitsu, you know?" he said, smiling broadly.
Surprisingly, he was still sedate about the fact that Fuji knew the famous tennis player. Sarah followed them into the court, as they got ready for the game. The boy served.
Sure the boy was talented, extremely talented, in fact, for his age. He was probably at Fuji's own level when he was still in Seigaku Junior High. Even so, Fuji beat him easily, 6 – 4.
"Saa, Nicholas – you're a really good player. If you keep practicing you could become a pro," he said. "Well, we won't disturb your practicing now."
"Thank you for the match, mister."
Fuji smiled before walking out of the court with Sarah.
Tezuka was coaching the boy that he was supposed to. He couldn't deny the fact that he was talented.
"Nicholas," he said, his deep and stern voice calling to the boy. "Water break."
The boy nodded and headed towards his bag.
After draining his water bottle, he said, "Sir…there's something I want to tell you."
Tezuka looked at him inquiringly.
"Just now, before you came – a man walking with a woman asked to play me. I did, but he beat me six games to four."
Tezuka was surprised that people who played tennis for leisure could beat his student that easily. But it wasn't impossible.
"So?" he asked nonchalantly.
"He said you were his captain."
Tezuka choked on the water he was drinking.
"What?" he sounded a little incredulous, but he didn't look like it. "Did he have purple eyes and black hair and a loud, obnoxious voice?" he asked, obviously referring to Momoshiro. It couldn't have been Oishi and Eiji, because they always played as a pair; it couldn't be Echizen, he was also a famous professional player. It couldn't be Inui, because he was working in America, nor could it be Kaidoh, because it just wasn't his nature to challenge people out of the blue.
"No, sir," the boy answered politely.
Tezuka felt his heart clench. He already knew who the person was.
"He looked feminine. He was brunette and had his eyes closed."
"I see. Let's resume practice, then."
Nicholas wondered why his coach disliked the subject that badly.