Disclaimer: Tezuka, Fuji, and all other Prince of Tennis details are not mine. They are Konomi-sensei's.
A/N: I want to thank my readers (Aelendis, Anime-Lite, melli-elle, emerald-rei, -strange-and-weird-, SkySurf, Lusterless, thezZLyN, Letyourmindsoar, aterjsa, InuNekoKitsune, Iraelys, speadee, Tacuma, and moribayashi) who have reviewed, criticized and supported me into writing again. For you guys, I decide to continue this story. Albeit I won't be able to update frequently since my muse has already left me.
I was just accepted in medical faculty via a program that needs no entrance exam, that's why I have relatively more time. But I still have to study for National Exam.
I hope this chapter makes up for everything. Enjoy!
Warning: shonen ai, unbetaed.
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A Shining Future
Chapter II
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"It's okay, Kunimitsu-nii."
Manada's hand is already resting on the door knob. Behind her, Tezuka is hesitating.
"It's not like you to hesitate," the model points out. "No one will blame you. In fact, I think Soo Ki-oppa and the others will thank you for just being there. I mean, who knows what will happen if there were no one around when Soo Ki-oppa fainted?"
Yes, if the reason why he passed out were not me, Tezuka muses bitterly, yet he says nothing.
The young businessman's face gives no thought away, except that he doesn't entertain the idea of him coming inside the hospital room. Manada shrugs it off anyway and opens the door ajar before Tezuka can stop her.
"Aah, Hyo Min-unnie (unnie: older sister, Korean)," Manada greets upon peeking inside the white-washed room. From his place behind her, Tezuka can't figure the person inside.
"Shou-chan," a woman's pleasant voice rings from inside. "Come on in. Soo Ki's still sleeping, though. Who's with you?"
"My fiancé," the black-haired model replies with a grin, widening the door gap.
"Oh?" Tezuka can hear amusement and curiosity in the tone. "He's the one with Soo Ki yesterday? Let him come in. I want to meet him."
"See?" Manada whispers victoriously to her fiancé before fully opening the door, pulling the unwilling ex-captain with her free hand.
The first thing his eyes land on is the body lying on the hospital bed, fast asleep. Fuji looks vulnerably pale, making his heart constrict painfully.
"Hyo Min-unnie, this is Tezuka Kunimitsu, my fiancé. Kunimitsu-nii, this is Park Hyo Min, Soo Ki-oppa's sister," Manada introduces.
Tezuka looks up from his scrutiny to greet the room's other occupant, who turns out to be none other than Fuji Yumiko. The young woman is looking back at him with clear amusement and appropriate amount of surprise.
"Ohisashiburi dane, Tezuka-kun," she greets good-naturedly. "It's… unexpected, to meet you here in Korea. But it's very nice to see you again."
"Aa, ohisashiburi desu. It's also nice to meet you again, Fuji-neesan," Tezuka replies, trying hard not to be awkward. He isn't sure if he succeeded.
"So you two have also known each other?" Manada blinks and turns to Tezuka. "You must have been a very close friend to Soo Ki-oppa, ne, Kunimitsu-nii?"
"Hn," he grunts briefly in reply, his focus is still on Yumiko. Unlike his family, Fuji's family was quite well-informed about their relationship in the past. Yumiko must have somehow related her brother's passing out to his presence.
The oldest of Fuji siblings seems to sense his discomfort, for she smiles kindly and bows, "Ne, Tezuka-kun, thank you for being there when my brother needed you."
Not expecting such kind of gratitude from her, he bows back, feeling a little self-conscious. "Please don't mention it."
"I wonder why Soo Ki-oppa suddenly fainted," Manada says from beside Fuji's bed, looking intently at the sleeping photographer. Worry is written on her face. "He must have been too tired because of the project."
"I think so. He needs some break," Yumiko nods, walking to the other side of her brother's bed. She strokes the honey brown hair gently.
Tezuka's hands itch to do the same, but he fights that urge. He doesn't have the right. He hasn't gained the right yet.
"I heard you were in Canada until two days ago," Manada tells Yumiko, walking away from the bed to sit on a couch at one corner of the room.
"Yes, I was just back here this morning," Yumiko replies while joining Manada on the couch. "How's the project going?"
The women are carried on with the conversation, momentarily forgetting Tezuka's presence in the room. Grateful, the ex-captain silently makes his way towards the sleeping figure on the bed.
Fuji looks… peaceful, for lack of better word. Granted with youthful appearance, up close the 24-year old photographer looks even younger, almost like the boy he once was. That fact alone makes Tezuka feel decidedly nostalgic. Pictures from seven years ago surge within his mind; tantalizing him, tempting, daunting.
God has given him a second chance; a wonderful, fateful chance to invite Fuji back into his life, to regain what he has once lost and to start all over again. Now he won't let the other slip away again, no matter what Fuji may say. He believes Fuji still loves him and that's what's important.
The bespectacled man momentarily closes his eyes, the scene from yesterday replaying itself over and over again in his head. Fuji's words of rejection never stop ringing in his ears, haunting him, mocking him.
"Kunimitsu… I can't."
Three words, and yet it is all it takes to send his world falling apart. He grips the Fuji's hand tighter out of desperation, not that he remembers when exactly he got a hold of the smaller hand in the first place.
Thick eyelashes flutter at the contact, revealing a pair of sleepy sapphires to the world. Blinking twice, the young photographer's pupils widen as the sight of Tezuka comes into focus.
"T-Tezu…"
Snapping his eyes open, Tezuka turns to look at the pale face, "Fuji, you're awake."
Fuji's lips tremble, as if yearning to speak of something, but in the end they both are still and silent, holding each other's gaze.
"Shuusuke, you're awake!"
"Soo Ki-oppa!"
The eye-contact breaks as they realize the other presences in the room. Fuji quickly pulls his hand from Tezuka's, signature smile slamming back into place. A fleeting look of pain crosses Tezuka's face, but Fuji tries to dismiss it, as he does the dull ache flickering in his own heart.
"Yumiko-neesan, Shou-chan," he greets with slightly hoarse voice. Yumiko quickly shoves a glass of water to her brother's nose while he helps himself up.
"Thank you," he says, gulping the water gratefully.
"How are you feeling, oppa?" Manada asks concernedly.
"Well enough," Fuji replies reassuringly, giving the now empty glass to Yumiko, who puts it on the nightstand. "No need to worry too much.'
"You must take better care of yourself. Don't scare us like you did yesterday," Manada says with a frown. "We all panicked when Kunimitsu-nii carried your unconscious form from the garden."
Fuji steals a glance at Tezuka. "Aah, gomen ne…"
"Don't get too absorbed in the project. I know it's your grandest project and all, but don't ignore your own health," Yumiko reprimands gently. "And don't get all stressed up. You know your own condition the most."
"Yes, neesan," Fuji looks solemn for a split second before displaying his sunny smile yet again. "Did I sleep for too long?"
"A very long sleep you had there, little brother," Yumiko chuckled, ruffling the younger man's hair affectionately. "Your employees visited earlier. Yuuta came, too."
"Yuuta?" Fuji inquires bemusedly. "I'd like to see him. It's been a long time."
"I've told him to come back tonight," Yumiko supplies cheerfully.
"You mean Yuuta… Park Yoon Dae, isn't it?" Manada asks.
"Yes," Fuji answers fondly.
"He is Soo Ki-oppa's beloved little brother," Manada informs her fiancé. "You know him too?"
"Aa."
"Kunimitsu-nii knows Soo Ki-oppa and his family very well," Manada looks impressed, midnight eyes twinkling.
"They were very good friends in high school," Yumiko says. "They still are, I hope."
"Of course," Fuji states almost hastily. "We are very good friends."
Tezuka chooses not to reply to that statement.
"Soo Ki-oppa, you know what?" Manada quickly fills in the brief awkward silence that follows. "I heard a rumor."
"Rumor?" the cerulean-eyed man tilts his head in inquiry, silently grateful for the sudden turn of conversation.
"There is a saying that you will replace me with someone else in our current project," Manada pouts. "It isn't right, is it?"
"Mn, I wouldn't know," Fuji looks thoughtful for a moment.
"Soo Ki-oppa!"
Fuji laughs. "Well, I've never even heard the rumor. Whom do they say I will replace you with?"
Manada looks skeptically at the photographer. "I won't tell. You will weigh your decision and decide to replace me if I do."
"Is she that good?" Yumiko pipes in curiously.
"No," Manada sulks subjectively. "Well, okay, everyone says she is, but I disagree. I think she acts like a brat Barbie. She is new rising model in Japan. Cielo; have you heard about her?"
"Cielo?" Fuji looks interested. "Sky?" (Cielo: Sky, Spanish)
"Mn., that's her stage name. There is a saying: 'If Manada is Japan's star, Cielo is the sky'. I'm pissed off," Manada's face scrunched up to accentuate her point. "I heard her manager is ready to fly to Korea and persuade you into hiring her instead of me."
"I haven't heard any notification," Fuji says with ease. "Don't get too worked up, Shou-chan. You already started working with me, how could I throw you away?"
Manada grins. "Yeah, I just—"
A cheerful-sounding ring tone interrupts whatever Manada wants to say. The bob-haired girl quickly strides to fetch her cell phone. Yumiko backs away slowly from the bed, leaving Tezuka alone by Fuji's bed.
Tensed silence immediately settles again, like a thick and suffocating blanket begging to be ripped apart. They exchange no words, barely even eye-contacts; only maintain a communicating aura until one can almost see lines of frequency flicker between them. One keeps asking why, the other gracefully sidesteps. One chases, the other runs. One seeks, the other hides.
Manada snaps her cell phone shut almost brutally, making all heads turn to her direction.
"What's wrong?" Tezuka asks his fuming fiancé.
"Cielo," the model sulks. "She is already in Korea with her manager. I thought they wanted to speak to Soo Ki-oppa, but she said she wanted to see me first."
"She asks you to meet her?" Yumiko raises her eyebrow. "What for?"
"Guess she wants to intimidate me. Like hell I would be scared of her," Manada spits out. "She wants to meet me now."
"What did you tell her?" Tezuka inquires. He is a little bit wary of his fiancé's childish and emotional side.
"I say yes. I don't want her to think that I'm scared," Manada answers sullenly. "I must go now, then."
"Good luck, Shou-chan," Fuji chuckled. He turns his evenly smiling face to Tezuka. "Guess it's time to say farewell to you, too?"
"I—"
"Oh dear, it's already eleven o'clock. I must report to my office," Yumiko speaks out suddenly. She turns to look at her brother. "But who will look after you?"
"I'll do," Tezuka takes the chance without thinking.
"Mm, shouldn't you accompany Shouya-chan, Tezuka?" Fuji reminds him.
"It's no problem. I can go alone by taxi," Manada says kindly even before Tezuka has a chance to answer.
"Are you sure it's okay?" Tezuka asks concernedly, scolding himself for forgetting his responsibility. Like it or not, Manada is his fiancé.
"I can manage, don't worry," the midnight-eyed model reassures. "Soo Ki-oppa needs you more for now. Ja, Kunimitsu-nii, Soo Ki-oppa, Hyo Min-unnie."
"I must set off too," Yumiko informs. "I'll try to take a short time. Call me if anything comes up. Ja," Tezuka swear he sees Yumiko wink at him before she leaves.
The door is closed, leaving the two of them alone. Fuji shifts uncomfortably under the blanket as Tezuka drags a chair and sits by the bed.
"How are you, exactly?" Tezuka questions, purely intending to know, because somehow he doesn't think Fuji is as well as he shows.
Fuji knows this as well, knows what the other man is asking, but he still plays distant. He heaves a deep breath and replies, "Have been better. Thank you for visiting."
Silence seems to be fond of descending on them. The honey-haired man looks down at his lap while Tezuka glances up at the white ceiling, arranging words in his mind.
"Ne, Tezuka."
The addressed man retrieves his gaze from the ceiling and focuses it on the pale figure sitting on the bed. "Yes?"
Fuji is fidgeting lightly, which is a rare sight to hold. He inhales and exhales and inhales and exhales again before saying, not looking at the bespectacled man, "Thank you… for being there yesterday."
Tezuka can't understand why everyone thanks him when he thinks he is the one to be blamed. "I'm sorry."
Fuji looks up and holds the other's gaze, "Why?"
"I must have known that you're working on a project and need no distraction. I put too much pressure on you for the sake of my selfishness… I'm sorry."
Now it's Fuji's turn to look up at the ceiling, though he has this far-off look that says that his focus is not on what he's looking at. When he speaks, his voice is just a notch above whisper that Tezuka must strain to hear it. "Tezuka, you really mean what you said yesterday, aren't you?"
Fuji's query can almost be called desperate, albeit a representation of calm desperation. Tezuka is torn between dark amusement and bitter disappointment. "Do you not believe me?"
"No, I…" the lithe man trails off, not exactly sure of himself. "I believe in it too much that I'm scared, if that weren't the truth, I'll be falling down too deep."
A brief silence ensues, not of awkwardness but more of anticipation. Fuji keeps his head down, hating himself for feeling hopeful despite everything.
"I love you. It's true."
Blue eyes slowly look up to meet the waiting brown ones. Tezuka can't help but adore the pink tint that colors the other's face. It makes the pale face a whole lot livelier.
"Then if… I…" Fuji bit his lower lip, looking strangely nervous for once. "If I ask you to, would you please hold me?"
Both guys are surprised by the spontaneous words falling from Fuji's lips. It's obviously not what Fuji intended to say. The honey-haired man gasps, covering his mouth with a small hand. His face instantly heats up.
"I-I mean…" Fuji looks so adorably cute with that blush on his cheeks, so much that Tezuka can't resist anymore.
Standing up and pulling the other man into a gentle embrace, the ex-captain replies almost too gladly, "My pleasure."
It takes approximately two seconds before Fuji gives in and leans the side of his face onto the other's firm chest. Tiny arms find their way around Tezuka's torso, searching for warmness only he can provide.
"Kunimitsu… gomen ne."
Stroking the fine silky hair, Tezuka keeps silent, knowing that the tensai will explain. But instead of words, tears come out.
"Shuusuke?"
The front of Tezuka's shirt has been soaked by now. Gently disentangling Fuji's arms from his body, Tezuka cups the teary face and lovingly wipes the crystal liquid away. Every drop of tears eats him away. He just wants to take whatever pain the other experiences and shoulder it for him.
Hazy blue eyes lock on hazel, as if trying to convey all thoughts and feelings via open air. And the penny drops. The message rings clearly in the silence, as clear as broad daylight.
I love you too. I really do.
Tezuka takes the slender man into his arms once again, burying his face in the mop of honey hair. He feels jubilant, confused, hopeful, and pained. He doesn't understand anything anymore.
"Then why…?"
"Shouya…"
"Shuusuke," Tezuka lifts Fuji's chin with his fingers. "Let me talk to her. I won't say anything about you, nor will I coax her into saying no. I will just ask about her feeling," Tezuka looks straight into the cerulean eyes. "Let's not torture ourselves anymore. I don't want us to regret anything."
"How if she says she loves you?" Fuji asks, trying to mask fear in his tone.
"Then," Tezuka holds back a shudder at the thought. "We shall not consider this chance anymore."
Both fall silent, thinking just how likely this will happen.
"But if she says she doesn't love me…" the hazel-eyed man breathes deeply. "Are you willing to be mine?"
Fuji closes his eyes in deep contemplation. Yes, it deserves a try. Maybe a little selfishness won't hurt so much. He opens his eyes once more, smiling earnestly at the love of his live.
"I am."
A relieved smile blooms on Tezuka's face. Slowly, his lips descend to meet the waiting pliant ones. The kiss is nothing like their last. This one is more of understanding, support, and shared dreams. They melt into each other, into the little heaven of their own.
The future is still unknown, but for now, they will just savor every chance to have a moment together.
TBC
Next chapter's preview:
The model looks surprised. "Why ask this all of a sudden, Kunimitsu-nii?"
Tezuka hesitates. He promises not to say anything about Fuji, but what should he say to Manada?
"Is it because your lover is here, in Korea?"
Tezuka is surprised by her words. His silence is enough an answer to her query.
"Kunimitsu-nii," Manada heaves a deep breath, looking dead serious for once. "That lover of yours won't bring you any good. I love you. Please don't let me go."
Hazel eyes widen in shock. Behind the wall, a lone tear falls.
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A/N: I'm not sure if this one were as good as the previous chapter since, well, my muses are all drained up. Please share your thoughts guys! A hug from Tezuka if you do –gets glared by Fuji-
Heart you for reading.