a/n: Again, thanks for the comments!! Also, I would like to let you know that I'm saving Yukimura's revelation for a particular chapter in the future so please be patient minna. :D & Don't worry, Fuji will find happiness in the future. And Tezuka… it'll take time for him to change… especially when he had that psycho assistant in the past and… is obviously arrogant in nature hehe!

Chapter 7

It hadn't taken long for Fuji to get him self unconditionally abiding by the rules of the mansion, again, he suspected. Getting fine along with Eiji and Oishi as he had used to be, it was as if he hadn't been gone at all.

It hadn't taken long for Fuji to become aware of Tezuka's odd behavior as well, and to develop this hatred and… fear towards the other man which he found so certain that day he came back even though he had forgotten about him. Getting mocked and scolded every now and then was truly hurtful and annoying. He assumed that Tezuka must be like this before… or worse.

Even if Tezuka was sending him negative and repulsive vibes, he will go on… but once he hurt him so bad, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back! For a lonely voice deep down his soul told him to be always strong.

Tezuka, on the other hand, was still far from the ideal. But he was trying though, and as much as he wanted to follow the little voice in his head that has been a bother since, his pride had already swallowed most of him that he couldn't extinguish the devil within that had rose from many years ago.

But what could he do? What must he do?

Right now he was caught between the conflicts inside himself. But then, absolute change does sure takes a lot of time; so in the end, unfortunately, a part of him surrendered back to conceit.

But he must cooperate for his father's sake…! And his problem right now is on how to work harmoniously with Fuji even if he still doesn't like him… But since he had unexpectedly done something so awful to him before, he might as well call it even now - He weighed.

"Are you done sorting the files? It should be finished by now."

"I'm nearly done,"

Tezuka just couldn't stop his lewd mouth, "Damn… you really are a sluggish human. Kindly remember that we're running out of time and those files should be submitted as soon as possible. Fuck… there's still lot of papers waiting here, hurry your ass!" He then shoved a pile of papers in front of Fuji.

Fuji could almost feel Tezuka's desire to shake him but there was an impeding force that seemed to radiate off from the taller man, much to his relief.

In the midst of urgency, Fuji's cell phone suddenly rang.

Tezuka had thrown him a sharp warning glance. "Don't even think of answering that. Just continue on your work and hurry!" To Fuji, it seemed that Tezuka was regretting that he gave him the task.

Feeling sorry for the person who was calling him, Fuji dejectedly ignored the ringing.

As soon as he had finished the first set of files, he stood up from his seat right away. And as he was walking towards Tezuka, he noticed that the other man was fixing a photograph on his elegant table with eyes that suddenly turned soft. He blinked twice to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. But then Fuji saw that it was his mother's photo Tezuka was looking at. So that was it after all…

Tezuka then sensed Fuji's inquisitive yet sympathizing gaze. "What are you looking at?" He immediately put the frame down and glared hard at Fuji, with face turning red with embarrassment. All of a sudden he felt awkward.

Fuji was surprised. "N-nothing…"

He must be thinking of his mother…

The blue eyed man then returned to his place and when he took the second set of files, he accidentally dropped each of the papers as his mind was currently wandering, which made him receive a scornful glare from Tezuka, which his embarrassed self decided to ignore. He began to pick it one by one and as he positioned himself under the table to reach for the last paper, his head bumped hard on the wood above when he made an attempt to rise.

Tezuka was amused and annoyed at the same time. How could Fuji be so careless in this critical moment?! "Stupid Fuji…" He mumbled in annoyance. "You really are good at making your self look like a…" His mouth shut all of a sudden as he bewilderedly watched Fuji crying in pain like he was getting slaughtered.

The pain Fuji was feeling seemed intolerable. It wasn't because of the pain of having his head hit the hard wood; it was more like his brain was getting sliced slowly. Pictures of certain events suddenly flashed repeatedly in his mind which brought more pain. Whimpering, he held his head tighter as if it would help cease the pain.

A blurry image of a room with a gray haired guy that was knocked asleep kept flashing into his mind and Fuji really wanted it to stop. The more it got clearer, the more it brought him pain, and then he saw that beside the gray haired man was Tezuka.

"Stop…"

Tezuka could only gape at Fuji. Finally, he spoke, "Could you stop your whining?! It's making my ears bleed! Continue with your work now. Time is running!"

Tezuka's harsh voice pierced through Fuji's thoughts and the pain he was feeling just suddenly went off. But he was able to remember clearly the image he saw earlier. An image of two drunk person sitting together. He finally remembered something about Tezuka… and could that gray haired man be possibly his friend?

"Fuji!"

"H-hai, I'll continue now!"

Tezuka gave a sigh of relief as he looked at Fuji's retreating figure as soon as he had finished both sets and was now on his way to submit it as what Tezuka had told him to. Finally done… at last…

Now in the cradle of success, Tezuka felt like releasing the little message that the little voice had been continuously shouting in his head. All of a sudden he called Fuji before he finally lost him from his sight. The brown haired man made a turn to respond to his call.

"…Good job for today,"

Tezuka backed in surprise when he received a smile in return.

Standing next to the glass wall, Tezuka was mindlessly gazing at the scenery below him. His father's words came running into his mind again; it was truly making him feel heavy.

Much to his lament was that his father hadn't been calling him since the last time they saw each other.

Father…

Then his thoughts were disturbed as he heard some one enter his office. His earlier calm face furrowed and he automatically sent a death glare to the person who unexpectedly came. Tezuka turned pissed in an instant.

"Long time no see Tezuka," Atobe greeted him with his usual proud tone and gave Tezuka a naughty smirk. He planted himself on the couch and sophisticatedly crossed his legs.

"Get out of here."

"What?!" Then Atobe felt like laughing hard. "Don't tell ore-sama you're still mad because of that drink! Jeez! Stop fussing about it okay?! Heh, you're like a grade school kid."

"Are you insulting me?"

"Well ore-sama just thought you look witty when you're tricked haha!"

After taking the delight of his own remark, Atobe felt Tezuka's sharp eyes burning with a killing intent. He sighed inwardly and rose from his seat to walk towards Tezuka. "Okay fine! ore-sama will st–" But it was too late as Atobe received a powerful blow on his face.

Shocked, Atobe was speechless and only came back to awareness when he felt blood trickling down from his nose. Did Tezuka just?! DID he just?! It was too much for Tezuka to hit his beautiful and flawless face! DAMN! He's going to pay for ruining ore-sama's face!!! He had suddenly gone berserk and hit Tezuka back on the face as well.

But then Tezuka hit him again, Atobe hit back once more, and they started to hit each other back until both of them couldn't punch in pain anymore. Now they found themselves lying trampled beside each other, both were bruised and seemed lifeless.

After a long moment of silence, Atobe finally spoke. "Ore-sama… is… sorry… okay…?"

"No… Because of you… I did something… I didn't want…"

"Bastard… of course ore-sama… knows…" He gave a faint laugh. "Fuck… ore-sama was only… making a humor… earlier…."

Tezuka turned his head and glanced at Atobe; but he didn't say anything and just turned his head back to its earlier position.

"Fine… now…?" Atobe asked.

"…Hn…"

Atobe then started to move. "Ore-sama… must… call… Oshitari… now…." He mumbled weakly.

With tremendous effort, he reached for his phone to make a call. Tezuka heard Atobe demanding someone to pick him up as soon as possible. That person must be the Oshitari guy he heard Atobe said earlier. To the Tezuka's surprise, it hadn't taken long when a blue haired man entered and casually greeted him.

"Oh, good day Tezuka-san."

From the corner of his eyes, Tezuka watched his every movement. He must be Oshitari, he thought. And without further commotion, he saw him help Atobe get up and placed his arms on his shoulders. Before leaving, Atobe still had managed to turn to him and gave him a pathetic smirk. "Bye then," And soon they were out from Tezuka's sight.

Tezuka wondered if he should call Fuji too.

Silently making his way back to Tezuka's office after submitting the papers, Fuji couldn't help but dwell deeper at the memory he got back earlier. Little by little he was able to recall what really happened that time. And soon remembered that he had picked Tezuka that day and had helped him get back at the mansion, later Tezuka was calling for his mother. And what Fuji did after that was…

"I'll take care of you, Tezuka-sama… I promise."

Fuji was shocked as he remembered that he had once made a resolve for Tezuka. He stood frozen for a moment, clutching his head. He had completely forgotten about it. The blue eyed man, then, just knew that he was bestowed with additional charge. Fuji realized, that maybe, him almost taking Ayana's life was the reason of Tezuka disliking him so much. Now he wouldn't wonder why Tezuka was treating him oddly anymore, for it was his own fault, he supposed.

But how would he explain this mysterious hatred and fear he have towards Tezuka? Suddenly he felt cold air blowing on his body…

"W-what happened…?" Fuji's eyes widened when he found Tezuka vulnerably sitting on the couch and appeared so beaten. He suddenly felt sorry for the worn out guy for he looked like a complete mess… honestly if other people saw him they would surely laugh at him! Tezuka's trampled face immediately brought Fuji an eyesore. Without any thoughts, he strode to take the first aid kit kept inside the elegant cabinet and stridden towards Tezuka.

Fuji positioned himself in front of the beaten man, even with slight hesitation that started to amass, he spoke. "Let me see it…"

"Shit… Don't…" Still in pain, Tezuka feebly protested. But Fuji had already started wiping his face with an antiseptic. His guts jolted as his skin made contact with Fuji's hands. It felt so wrong… Fuji was touching him with dirty hands! NO!! But he couldn't make a complete retreating move as his body was sore… Damn, he felt so helpless.

"Ano… Please don't move…." Fuji then made another attempt.

Tezuka flinched when the cotton made contact to his bruised face again. "It hurts…" He muttered. As much as he wanted to move back from Fuji, he had already lost his energy to do so, and could only comply which he didn't know anymore if it was something against with his liking. Oh well, Fuji's going to cure his bruises anyway…

"Sorry, I'm not really good at this…" Fuji humbly admitted.

With his pride still afloat, Tezuka would protest with every contact of the antiseptic, but he would only feel Fuji's strokes getting gentler. "…You won't get paid for that." Tezuka was sure; Fuji wouldn't do these things if he hadn't forgotten their 'past.' Then he let out an ironic chuckle that turned out to be pathetic at the same time.

This isn't for you.

"I know," If it wasn't for his parents, he wouldn't be doing this anymore for he doesn't feel good near Tezuka.

Perhaps Tezuka let the words slip, "… I suppose a 'thank you' would be enough then?"

That night, Fuji couldn't sleep. It was all because of the same pain he had experienced earlier; it made him felt like he was going to die again. He buried his face on the pillow this time, wishing that the throbbing would just stop. Then, a sarcastic resolve came not to bump his head again for he was starting to get displeased at the things he was seeing every time the pain would threaten to deliver various flashes of past, which he couldn't clearly catch.

Please… Stop… I don't want to see…

With his head hurting, and with his heart that unexpectedly turned heavy, Fuji thought if he could ever fall asleep.

I hope you enjoyed & Don't forget to review!

Advance Happy New Year!