Facets of Me
Facet Four: Red Jasper
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or the associated characters.
Author's Note: Momoshiro's judgmentalness isn't something I made up for the sake of Momo bashing (loves Momo… really!), he admits to it himself when playing against Ann after he lost his place to Inui.
…
It's Saturday afternoon again, but I'm running alone and heading for my own home. Inui-senpai has been increasingly agitated over the past week, and I found out why yesterday. That bastard, Yanagi, transferred to Inui-senpai's high school last week and joined the tennis club. He's been demanding a chance to talk things over and maybe work on mending their shattered friendship.
Inui-senpai finally gave in today, at my urging. Yanagi won't leave him alone unless he hears him out, then tells him to piss off. That doesn't really seem like Inui-senpai's style though. Maybe he'll poison Yanagi with a particularly nasty version of Inui Juice. The thought of Yanagi on the floor, gagging and twitching in juice-induced agony, fills me with the warm, fuzzy feeling usually only caused by fluffy kittens and Inui-senpai.
I'm in a better, if somewhat sadistic, mood as I reach my house, pausing to take my shoes off before going inside. I go upstairs to put my things in my room, then come back down and poke my head into the kitchen to greet my mother. Dinner won't be for a few hours, but she's already working on it.
"Do you need any help, Mom?" I ask, watching her expertly chop vegetables.
"Yes, actually," she says, looking over her shoulder at me with a smile. "Could you ask your father to get the pot down for me? Hazue's girlfriend is coming over for dinner, and I want to make something special."
I glance up at the large pot resting atop the cabinets. At roughly five feet and seven inches of height, I'm three inches taller than she is, so I might be able to reach it. "I'll get it for you."
"Kaoru, don't!" she calls in alarm, but it's already too late.
Even standing on the balls of my feet, I'm not quite tall enough to get a good grip on the rim, and I end up tipping it over instead. My vision blurs and my knees go weak as the heavy pot crashes down on my head. The sound of a teenage boy and a large metal object hitting the ground at the same time brings Hazue and Dad running into the kitchen to see what's wrong.
They both sigh in exasperation while Mom helps me to my feet and sits me down at the kitchen table. I really need the ability to sink into the ground. I keep finding myself in situations where it'd make things so much easier to deal with.
"Good grief, bro, you need to be more careful," Hazue says, going to the freezer to get an ice pack.
"He's right, Kaoru," Dad says before beginning the same lecture I get every time I screw something up. "Pushing your limits is a good thing sometimes, it helps one grow and become their best, but if you keep acting like there's nothing in the world you can't do, you're just going to end up getting hurt."
"I know, Dad," I say, wincing and hissing in pain as Hazue presses the ice against my head. "I'll be more careful in the future."
The brat snorts. "You always say that," he points out.
"And you never seem to mean it," Dad adds. "You just keep pushing and pushing."
Mom puts her hands on my shoulders, probably in an attempt to be comforting. "Sweetie, you're as human as the rest of us, and humans have limits. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"I know," I mutter, getting to my feet and darting from the kitchen. It makes my head hurt even more, but it's worth it to get away from them. I go to my room and curl up on my bed, taking deep, even breaths until the pain fades to something bearable.
I love my family, and I know they love me, but sometimes they treat me like a baby, even Hazue. Who, damn him, grew like a weed not long after turning thirteen, and is currently a few inches taller than me. He would have been able to get the stupid pot.
My not-so-little brother and our father act like I can't even eat without somehow messing everything up. They're always saying things like "it's hot, don't burn yourself", "your mother worked hard to make this, so don't spill anything", or "don't drop a cup of hot tea on your brother's lap again".
That last one usually makes me feel guilty, but I have to admit to being darkly amused about the tea incident whenever the brat is acting particularly brattish. Not that I'd ever do it on purpose. Probably.
If I ever get the courage to tell my parents about the real nature of my relationship with Inui-senpai, Hazue definitely needs to be capable of reproduction. Mom wants grandchildren some day, and if I was the only way to get them, she wouldn't hesitate to go after me with a frying pan before tying me up and marrying me off to some random girl.
Someone knocks on the door, and the brat pokes his head into the room. I throw a pillow at him, but he manages to duck.
"Go away," I mutter, not wanting to talk too loudly.
Hazue ignores me and comes over to the bed. I glare up at him only to find a cup of yogurt held out at me as a peace offering. I grumble and sit up, taking it from him with a grunt of thanks. The brat sits on my desk with his own snack.
"Sorry for chewing you out a bit down there," he says quietly. He sounds like he actually means it. "It's just… you're always trying to do more than you can, and I hate it when you get hurt. Especially after…."
He trails off, shuddering slightly, and I know exactly what he's remembering. It's been about three years, but the time I got badly beaten up while saving his ass is still clear in both our minds.
"I invited Sakuno-chan over for dinner," he says suddenly, probably to change the mood. "You should go out to eat with Inui-san tonight unless you want Dad to badger you about finding a girlfriend. Because if that happens, I'll finally snap and be forced to tell him that you're already in a relationship. Then he'll wonder if you're gay, and Mom will say, 'Oh, no, dear, Kaoru likes girls. He just likes Inui-kun even more than girls'. And then you'll hide under the table in embarrassment for the next four hours or so until I'm able to coax you out."
I choke on a spoonful of yogurt at that, and Hazue slides off the desk to pat me on the back. I don't know which is more disturbing: the fact that he imitated our mother's voice so well or the fact that he's probably right about what would happen.
By the time I stop coughing, my head is pounding again. "Keh. I'm going out to run for a bit, brat. Tell our parents that I'll most likely be spending the evening with Inui-senpai, working on homework."
Hazue looks at me skeptically. "Are you sure you should be running so soon after getting conked on the head?"
"Probably not. But no one has ever accused me of having any sense when it comes to limits." My mouth twitches up into a faint smile as I reach up to ruffle the brat's hair. He just snorts and shakes his head.
"Don't hurt yourself," he admonishes as I grab my school bag and head down the stairs.
I make sure I have my cell phone with me so Inui-senpai can call when he's finished talking to Yanagi, then slip my shoes on before opening the front door. I'm surprised to see Inui-senpai there, his hand raised to knock.
I blink at him. "Senpai, what are you doing here? What happened with Yanagi?"
He ducks his head and stares at the ground, lowering his arm as he does so. "I… uh… was supposed to meet with him after tennis practice, but I sort of stood him up…" he admits sheepishly.
I smile slightly at him. "Better him than me," I murmur.
Inui-senpai smiles back. "Indeed." He cocks his head. "Shall we go to my apartment now?"
I nod, then wince as the movement increases the pain in my head.
"Kaidoh, what's wrong?" he asks in alarm.
"…A pot fell on my head," I mutter, embarrassed. "I'm fine. My head just hurts a bit if I move around too much or too fast."
He takes my school bag from me and then gently grabs my arm. We go to his building at an easy walk, Inui-senpai glancing at me in concern every few minutes. He's overreacting, but I understand why. I lost my memory once during middle school after a head injury. It didn't last for long, but it had been rather distressing for him. My amnesiac self hadn't thought much of him, apparently. Though from what I've heard, that was mostly due to an incident involving Inui Juice.
When we get to the apartment, he tries to convince me to lay down for a bit, but I refuse. He sighs and settles for holding an ice pack against my head while I work on the creative writing assignment.
Red jasper is, obviously, a red stone. The color red can stand for many things, both good and bad. It can mean love, passion, and energy. But it can also mean anger, a quick temper, and hatred. The stone itself can stand for balance and coming out of one's shell.
I played tennis in elementary school, but by the start of my first year of middle school, I was considering giving it up. I wasn't a prodigy like Fuji or Echizen, but I was good, and that made it hard to find an opponent who would actually push my skills to their limit. Then I heard about an amazing first-year in the tennis club.
That's when I saw Momoshiro for the first time. He was incredible, and my initial feelings toward him were admiration and a little bit of hero worship. He was just a first-year, and he had won a love game against an older boy. I wanted to play against him, wanted to test my skills against his.
And when I got to know him, he turned out to be a cheerful, outgoing, friendly idiot, just like Tashi. Except… Momoshiro was the type of person who made snap judgments about other people, usually based on their appearances.
I was used to people making fun of me and calling me names, but it hurt so much more when Momoshiro did it. I managed to keep it all bottled up inside until the day I went into the clubhouse and found my yellow bandana filthy. It looked like someone had spilled dark liquid on it, or had used it to wipe up a mess.
Momoshiro was the only other person in the clubhouse at the time, so I picked up the bandana and glared at him.
"Are you the one who got my bandana dirty?" I growled, already certain that it had been him.
"Heh, oops. But there's no reason to get mad over it," he said, laughing and rubbing the side of his head as if it wasn't the least bit important.
"Bastard! You better have been planning to apologize!" I snarled, one hand clenching into a fist at my side while the other held up the soiled bandana. Tashi had given it to me, and that… that uncouth monkey had had his filthy paws all over it.
"What do you want?" he asked, looking bewildered and a little angry.
"Say you're sorry!" I grabbed his shirt and shoved him. He grabbed mine and shoved back.
The door suddenly opened, and Oishi-senpai came into the clubhouse. "Hey, what are you guys doing?"
"You're getting way too close to me!" I spat at Momoshiro, ignoring Oishi-senpai. The spiky-haired jerk had his hands on my shoulders, bunched into my shirt.
"You too! You're all snake-like and an eyesore!"
"Fsshuu…"
Inui-senpai came in at that point, and he and Oishi-senpai managed to get us apart before we killed each other. I was different after that though. I've always had a temper, but before that incident, I was able to keep it tightly under control. Momoshiro had pushed me over the edge of a cliff I hadn't even known I was standing next to.
My temper transformed from a large, chained dog into a raging beast I could barely control. A beast that turned on anyone who annoyed me, and even turned on me several times. I lashed out at people, and sometimes I would hurt myself if there was no other outlet for my rage.
Some good did come out of it though. In class and around my family, I was still the same quiet, mostly well behaved kid, but out on the courts, I was considered tough and violent, someone it was better not to mess with. Never again would anyone shove me around or hold me down and try to force me to swallow a dead rodent. I was sick of being picked on, and I wasn't going to take it anymore.
I still kept people at a distance, but I started talking and interacting with others more, slowly coming out of my self-imposed bubble of isolation.
"This relieves a worry I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit I had," Inui-senpai says quietly after he finishes reading. I glance at him, cocking my head slightly in silent inquiry. "Momoshiro's personality is very similar to Tashi's. I… um… was concerned that he might be a rival for affections because of it, especially since the two of you attend the same school."
I wrinkle my nose in disgust and hiss. "That's something you'll never have to worry about. Momoshiro is an asshole, and I'm not attracted to assholes." I give him a seductive look. "I'm attracted to… mad scientists."
Inui-senpai smiles slightly and raises a brow. "Really now? You know, I could use a good lab assistant. Would you like to… experiment with me?"
"Oh, hell yes," I purr huskily.
"To the kitchen!" He stands and darts from his room.
"But I refuse to drink anything we make," I call out with a grin as I slowly follow after him.