The Terms of Engagement
Tezuka was completely silent on the way home. He tried to think of time he had spent with the person who was now his fiancée and could barely think of any at all. While he often came to Fuji's residence due to his parents' encouragement to get better acquainted with his (now ex) fiancée and his (still) soon-to-be in laws, he hardly ever met Fuji at all. They met quite often as little children. Tezuka remembered him as a prodigious artist as proven by the paint of Fuji's living room's walls that changed by every visit and Tezuka's plain white t-shirt that suddenly became a copy of Monet's painting.
Two years after Tezuka's engagement with Yumiko, Fuji left for Europe to continue his study. Tezuka didn't see him off. He was still a little traumatized by the engagement and got a little lightheaded at the sight of his then nineteen year old fiancée. He attended Junior High in England, Senior High in Austria, and then studied art in France. He last went back to Japan three years ago and didn't leave any deep impression other than his smiles and teasing remarks and the way he almost made Yuuta's girlfriend commit suicide that night.
And now he's engaged to him?! Gods, being engaged to Yumiko was so much easier.
"What do you think about him?"
Tezuka glanced at his mother on the passenger side beside him. She had thought that her son would need maternal support after the shock therapy and insisted on accompanying him home. Tezuka frankly thought that what he needed right now was a shrink, but didn't have the heart to tell his mother that.
"I barely know him." He answered quietly.
"He seems like a nice young man." Then she chuckled softly in reminiscence. "Oh, I remember when you two were just kids you often play together. He would tease you mercilessly until you gave in and did what he asked. He doesn't seem to change much, ne?"
Tezuka hummed in agreement, silently wishing that Ayana would let him mourn his fate in silence.
"You don't know much about him, ne?'
Tezuka held back an exasperated sigh, wondering if his mother ever listened to him at all. "No."
Ayana hummed thoughtfully. Tezuka glanced at his mother through the rearview mirror. He had a very bad feeling about this. He braced himself when his mother's face brightened suddenly. But nothing could prepare him for what Ayana was going to say. "Oh, I know. You two should spend more time together! I'll ask your father to buy you a house so that you two could live together! I can't wait to tell him this! He will agree!"
Tezuka's sleek black sedan made a sudden halt, causing the car behind him to honk its horns loudly. Tezuka ignored all the noise in favor of staring at his mother incredulously. "What?" Then, remembering his manner, he changed his tone to a more polite one and continued to drive. "No. It's not necessary."
"You're right. What about an apartment?"
"Mother, I don't think…"
"Your father would give nothing less than the best. A house it is! I can't wait to tell him about the plan!"
Tezuka sighed in resignation. He so hated being right.
"Are you really pregnant?"
"Yes, I am."
"Of whose child?"
Yumiko handed her brother a photograph of a young man. "My boyfriend's. His name is Shibuya Shori. We met at our company's party."
"Is he our employee?"
"No. His father runs a small company we work with. He's quite a competent worker, being made a CEO at young age. He's younger than me by the way."
"Are you sure he's not just using you?" Fuji asked as he scrutinized the young man on the picture intently. He was here to make sure that Yumiko wasn't lying just to get away from the engagement but his mission might change if he sensed something funny about his sister's 'boyfriend'.
"No. He didn't even know I'm the president's daughter until a few weeks ago. He didn't treat me more specially. If anything, he freaked out and almost ditched me in fear of me thinking he's only using me. Well, he can't go anywhere now." Yumiko said in satisfaction as he stroked her stomach lightly.
Fuji hummed and returned the picture to his sister. He looked around Yumiko's spacious room that was dominated by red and brown colors. The room was decorated with a style that cross a young girl's box of memory and a woman's love nest. It made Fuji think of redecorating his room. No changed had been made since he left Japan eight years ago and he wanted to reflect him more. But something told him that though he would stay in Japan for a while, he wouldn't need to redecorate his room at all.
"How old is the pregnancy?" He asked Yumiko who was lying on her queen-sized bed.
"About two months."
"Have you told him?"
"Of course. He's going to come tonight to meet all of us."
"All of us?" Fuji's eyes glinted mischievously and his smile widened when he heard this.
Right at this moment, the door opened to let a fuming Fuji Yuuta in. He stopped short upon seeing the occupants the room.
"What are you doing here?" He asked pointedly to Fuji.
"Okaerinasai, Yuuta." Fuji greeted with a smile, completely ignoring the hostility in Yuuta's voice. "I'm here for nee-chan of course."
At the mention of her, Yuuta turned to his sister. "Is it true what I heard that you are…"
"Yes, Yuuta, I'm pregnant."
Yuuta stared wide-eyed at Yumiko. "Who…"
"My boyfriend, Shibuya Shori."
"Why don't you sit down, Yuuta. You look like you're about to faint." Fuji said, patting the spot on the bed beside him.
Something had definitely gone wrong with Yuuta because he obeyed and dazedly sat next to his brother. The smile on Fuji's smile grew. "That's why you called me to come home soon."
"She's two months pregnant. Isn't it wonderful?' Fuji beamed, causing Yuuta to squawked and paled slightly.
"What?!"
"Come to think of it, you haven't congratulated me yet, Shuusuke."
"Ah, you're right." Fuji leaned down to kiss Yumiko's cheek. "Congratulation, nee-chan. I know you'll make a great mother. Aren't you going to congratulate her too, Yuuta?"
"I… I…"
"Good news!" Fuji Yoshiko cried as she entered her daughter's room. She stopped at the sight of her youngest son. "Oh, okaeri nasai, Yuuta. Have you greeted your father?"
Yuuta nodded wordlessly with slacked face, still trying to comprehend the sudden flow of (over)information. Fuji's smiled mischievously upon seeing this.
"What's the good news?" Fuji asked, reminding his mother of what she was going to say. He doubted there was better news than Yuuta's return home.
"Oh, right. Tezuka Ayana just called me. She said that Kuniharu agreed to buy a house for you and Kunimtsu to live together in." She announced excitedly.
"That's wonderful!" Yumiko said, clapping her hands together.
"Wait a second. I thought you said that this is Shiro's child?" Yuuta looked at his sister in shocked bewilderment.
"It's Shori, Yuuta." Yumiko corrected her brother kindly.
"Yes, that. And you're going to live with Tezuka Kunimitsu?!"
"Not me. Shuusuke is." Yumiko shook her head with a wide grin.
"What?" Yuuta squawked. There must be something wrong with his ears. Damn those cell phones and their electromagnetic waves.
"Shuusuke is going to live with Kunimitsu." Yumiko kindly repeated to her brother.
"What?" It seemed like the shock had erased a good portion of Yuuta's vocabulary. He looked at his brother's smiling countenance and felt his head spin.
"Didn't your father tell you?" Yoshiko said, blinking innocently as if she hadn't just take part in the plot of causing heart attacks to as many people as possible in a day.
"No, I just ran up here when I heard that nee-chan…" Apparently some of his vocabulary was still salvaged from the damage.
"Well, since I'm pregnant Shuusuke is going to take my place as Kunimitsu's fiancée. And, it seems like you are going to live together now!"
"But, you're…" Yuuta stammered incomprehensibly. How could this be happening? Two men engaged to each other? Not to mention that one of them was his brother. God, he needed aspirin. A very large dose of aspirin.
Fuji smiled teasingly at his brother. "Why, would you like to take my place?"
"No!" Yuuta cried adamantly. "No way!"
"We're going to find the perfect house for you! And by the way, have you gone to pediatrician? We need to make sure that your baby's all right. And… Yuuta! Yuuta!"
Too much information in one day is bad for your health. The theory was proven by the fainting of Fuji Yuuta.
Tezuka used the next day to cool his head and think about the situation at hand (on ring finger, to be precise). He had felt like screaming to the heaven the better part of the day, demanding an explanation of why he was put in this situation. This was solved with a game of tennis but the next day he nearly got a panic attack when he woke up and caught sight of the ring on his necklace.
It was very unusual for him to not go to his classes so Oishi called him to ask if he was okay. He hated being fussed about and forced himself to go the next day. He fervently hoped that no one noticed how he jumped every time the name Fuji was mentioned. It was by pure and sheer bad luck that his professor as explaining the effective strategy of FujiFilm. The poor professor was subjected to many difficult questions and death glares from the Tezukas heir. He was resorted to dismissing the class early in fear of being the victim of a homicide.
"Your fan girls were worried about you yesterday." Oishi informed Tezuka as they walked out of the university building. Being Tezuka's only known friend, he had been subjected to a long hour of interrogation from the girls before they finally realized that he knew nothing more than they did about Tezuka's absence.
Tezuka let Oishi spoke all he wanted. His mind wasn't really in the monologue. He was still in shock from the news he received two days ago about his new fiancée. Oishi was kindly informing Tezuka of Professor Nara's lecture yesterday when his best friend suddenly made a halt beside him.
"Tezuka?" He looked at his friend in question.
Tezuka didn't seem to hear him. He was looking at a certain direction ahead of them mutely. His body was visibly tense and the expression on his face could only be described as horrified. And Tezuka showing any expression at all was something Oishi had never seen. He wondered if Tezuka got a virus that attacked his brain or something. Yes, that must be it.
"Tezuka?" he called out his friend in concern. Had the virus ruined his control over his limbs and speech also? Oishi fished for his cell phone to call ambulance. That's when he realized that Tezuka's eyes were fixed to a certain point. He followed his gaze and saw nothing out of ordinary. There's only Tezuka's car… and someone leaning on it. Oishi squinted his eyes to get a better look of the person. The petite stranger had brown hair and his eyes were obscured by a pair of sunglasses. His sense of clothing was like nothing Oishi had ever seen in Japan though he was clearly Japanese. Suddenly it clicked to Oishi who the person might be.
"Tezuka, is that your fiancée?"
Tezuka turned to Oishi sharply when he heard that. No, he didn't just hear that. Oishi didn't just imply that he knew about his new engagement. No one knew about the disaster that fell upon him. His ears had only deceived him. Must be the result of getting hit by a tennis ball in the head yesterday.
Not realizing Tezuka's thought, Oishi grinned sheepishly and confirmed Tezuka's worst suspicion. "My father told me."
Tezuka took a deep calming breath as he felt a severe headache forming in his head. Yes, it was definitely simpler when he was engaged to Yumiko. It definitely gave him less headaches.
"He was under strict order not to tell anyone, though, so you don't have to be worried. Anyway, I think he's waiting for you. You should go to him."
Tezuka nodded in defeat. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then he walked to the direction of his car. Unease filled him as he neared his destination. When Fuji noticed him, he leaned away from the car and smiled to him as he waited for him to stand before him.
"Hi." Fuji greeted him naturally as if they hadn't just been announced to be engaged to each other two days ago. Tezuka envied his ease. He still felt like demanding the heaven to return his parents' sanity or to wake him up for the nightmare. Fuji seemed to know this and smiled sympathetically. "Do you have other class after this?"
"No."
"Then could we go somewhere? I'd like to talk to you."
Unable to refuse, Tezuka unlocked the car and climbed into the driver side. Once Fuji had gotten seated and put on the seatbelt, he asked, "Where do you want to go?"
"I've heard of a nice place. I'll direct you there."
They spent the ride in silence, broken occasionally when Fuji spoke to give direction. Soon they arrived in an exclusive café downtown. The café was thankfully quiet at the time they arrived but still they took the seats on the corner, not wanting to be seen or heard.
"I believe this is our first real conversation since three years ago." Fuji started the conversation after giving his order to the waitress who couldn't help drooling at the sight of the two gorgeous young men.
"Aa."
"Maa… You should speak more, Tezuka-kun. I'm not a very good mind reader, you know." Fuji joked.
Tezuka sighed softly. "I'm not very comfortable with our situation." He admitted.
Fuji nodded in understanding. "I know. That's exactly what I want to talk about."
Hope bubbled up in Tezuka but he quenched it down. He waited for his companion to talk but Fuji was suddenly more interested to the mural on the wall than the conversation.
"What do you study in college?" The blue eyed boy asked suddenly.
"Business." Tezuka replied. If he was surprised or annoyed by the sudden turn of conversation, he didn't let it show in his voice.
"Do you like it?" Fuji looked at Tezuka in curiosity, tilting his head cutely to one side. Tezuka blinked. No, he did not just think of Fuji as cute. It was the stress eating at his brain. He didn't think that Fuji was cute at all.
Good looking, maybe.
"It's convenient for the future." Tezuka said neutrally, carefully avoiding Fuji's eyes.
"So you don't like it." Fuji pointed out, smiling.
"I don't like it, but I don't dislike it either." It is simply a must, he added in his head.
"It is simply a must." Fuji echoed thevoice in Tezuka's head.
Tezuka blinked n surprise. How did Fuji know what he was thinking?
Fuji continued to smile innocently, this time not realizing Tezuka's line of thought, or deciding to ignore it. "And since you study business you must understand that our fathers' companies' partnership is important, ne?"
Tezuka nodded in resignation. He knew what Fuji was trying to say. There was nothing they could do with their situation.
"We can't call off this engagement." Fuji said, turning his hand so that the back of his right hand was visible. That's when Tezuka noticed that he's wearing Yumiko's ring. Tezuka's own ring burnt his chest when he saw its twin. "It's important that we maintain this."
"I know." Tezuka said quietly.
"Do you ever think about getting married, Tezuka?" Fuji asked abruptly. Tezuka was starting to wonder about Fuji's habit of suddenly changing the topic.
"Yes, I have." How could he not when it showed up in his nightmares every other day?
"Do you think we would ever get married?"
Tezuka looked at the person before him in discomfort. Thinking about marriages and Fuji in the same sentence tended to make his head throbbed madly. And this time it felt like it's going to explode. Getting married to Fuji Shuusuke? Oh, God. "I don't know."
Fuji smiled wider. "I don't know either. But I think this engagement will change little things in our lives."
Tezuka frowned. Two men were engaged and would probably get married within a couple of years or even months (God, make that decades, please). Was that not live-changing enough?
"I'm sure you've heard of our mothers' plan for us to live together."
Tezuka nodded. He remembered how his other had excitedly told him about how she had found the perfect house ('It has swimming pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, and a lot of bedrooms').
Fuji leaned forward slightly, revealing his blue eyes slightly. Tezuka felt his heart skipped a beat but ignored it yet again. "You know, Tezuka, I think that'll be as far as we would go."
"What do you mean?"
"Your parents will want grandchildren. If we're married or even engaged, that will be impossible. We will only have to live together until our parents grow tired of their little matchmaking scheme. And then…" Fuji leaned back onto his chair with a satisfied smile. "We could go on our own ways."
"But what about the partnership?"
"I'm sure you'll come up with something that will benefit us all."
Tezuka considered Fuji's plan. It's so full of probability. What if their parents wouldn't change their minds? What if they still wanted them to get married? But it's still the best plan they have though it sounds more like ground rules to Tezuka.
"All right." Tezuka agreed reluctantly.
"Good. For now I suggest we should get better acquainted."
"Better acquainted?"
"If we're going to be stuck together, we should." He waited until the waitress who delivered their drinks left before speaking again. "Anyway, nee-chan is going to get married in a month."
"So soon?" Tezuka raised an eyebrow.
"Her boyfriend, a guy named Shibuya Shori came for dinner last night and asked to marry her. His parents will come to discuss the wedding tonight."
Wedding. It could've been his own with Yumiko. But Tezuka imagined that if they did end up together, their mothers would make it a wedding to remember, the greatest party in the history of Japan. He cold imagined the headline of National newspapers: Tezuka and Fuji heirs to wed in wedding of the century after being engaged since ten. Tezuka shuddered. That was something he didn't one anyone to know about.
Across from him, Fuji stared at him and smiled sweetly. And for some unknown reason, Tezuka felt butterfly in his stomach.
The first thing that greeted Fuji when he opened the door to his bedroom was a very, very loud squeal.
"Fujiko!"
And then Fuji found himself with an armful of a redheaded boy. He hid his surprise well and tried to peel the redhead off him.
"Hello to you too, Eiji. It's been a while, ne?"
The redhead, Eiji Kikumaru, was Fuji's childhood friend. He had come along with Fuji to England to continue their studies. But when Fuji was going to move to Austria, he was asked to return to Japan. Though they had less time together after that, they were still communicating and remained close.
"I miss you, nya!"
"I miss you, too." Fuji said as he closed the door and pulled Eiji to the couches near the windows. "Have you been waiting for long?" He asked, noticing two glasses of strawberry milkshake on the coffee table.
"I've been waiting for you for an hour! Mou, where were you?" Eiji complained.
"Gomen, Eiji. But I just had to meet someone." He apologized smoothly.
Eiji pouted but immediately brightened when he remembered something. "Ne, ne, Fuji, what is this news I heard about you being engaged? To Tezuka Kunimitsu, no less!"
"How did you know?" Fuji asked, not denying the accusation.
"Your sister told me, nya! She was here until a while ago when her boyfriends called."
"Sou ka. Well, it's true."
"Really?" Eiji asked, wide-eyed.
Fuji nodded calmly. "Nee-chan is pregnant and I have to replace her as Kunimitsu's fiancée."
"Have you met him? Was he the person you met just now? Are you already dating? How did he react to this? Do you like him? Tell me, nya!" Eiji asked excitedly.
"Maa… That's a lot of questions, Eiji." Fuji laughed. "Yes, we've met. Yes, he was the person I met just now. No, it wasn't a date. He isn't too pleased with our situation but is unable to do anything about it. And… do I like him? Saa…"
"Come on! You must feel something for him! If it's not like then it's dislike. Which one is it?" Eiji pressed on.
"He's a nice person. He never changes from three years ago. What I feel for him doesn't change from three years ago."
"And what was that?" Eiji asked eagerly.
"Indifferent." Fuji said with a wide smile.
Eiji groaned. "Aw, come on. There must be something, nya!"
"But there's nothing. Eiji would you like some drink?"
Eiji pouted but let Fuji pick up the phone and order the butler to bring some drink for them. "Strawberry smoothie and jalapeno juice, please. Thank you." He shuddered but quickly shook the feeling off. He's been Fuji's friend for years so his weird taste in food doesn't surprise him anymore though still made him a little sick. Thank god Fuji didn't study culinary. He couldn't imagine what world will become if Fuji Shuusuke ruled over the culinary world.
"Then tell me about your meeting today!"
"I came to his college, asked him to come with me to talk. We discussed our situation and decided that little could be done to it. We talked some more and then we parted ways."
"So you're not, in any way, attracted to him?" Eiji asked with a mischievous grin.
Fuji shook his head. "I'm not gay."
"But you can't be straight either."
"What makes you think so?"
"Well, you've never had any girlfriends." Eiji pointed out the overlooked fact. And it's true that during the three years they spent in England Fuji had never had any girlfriends, or boyfriend in that matter. He never mentioned anything in his emails to Eiji after the redhead returned to Japan either. Eiji couldn't comprehend why Fuji never picked any lover. He himself had never had any for some mysterious reason. His potential boyfriends usually suddenly contracted an Eiji-phobia and avoided him after a while.
"I don't count on flings." Fuji replied breezily. He never picked any lover because they usually bore them on the first date. His longest running 'relationship' was with an uprising artist he met at Louvre a year ago. It last four days before Fuji decided that he didn't like the artist style and left him.
He was reputed to be a playboy, he knew. But that didn't stop people, male and female alike, to throw themselves at his feet. It's never the other way around. He was difficult to impress. His interest on other people never last long enough and was never strong enough. Fuji had resolved to never have any serious lover before he found someone who could keep him interested all the time.
"It took more than a handsome face to make me gay."
"So you do think he's handsome." Eiji teased.
"Of course. Everyone would agree that he is. But as I say, it's not enough."
"You said he's handsome and nice. What else do you want, nya?"
Fuji tilted his head to one side thoughtfully. "Saa… I want him to be more human, I guess. He's more like a marble statue to me."
Eiji pondered this for a while. Well, the Tezuka Kunimitsu that he knew did resemble a marble statue. He'd been like that for ever since Eiji knew about him. Eiji wondered if that's Fuji's way to say that he wouldn't ever love Tezuka.
His musing was cut short as the butler came with their drinks. Well, now he had more urgent matter to attend to than Fuji's recent engagement. He eyed his strawberry smoothie hungrily. Fuji would have to wait.
A/N: Thanks to all who has reviewed the first chapter. R&R, please.
