Pairings: Atobe x Fuji, Yuushi x Gakuto, Yuuta x Mizuki

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis does not belong to me.

Genre: Angst/Fantasy/Romance

A.N. I had a hard time writing this chapter and I think I need to stop starting new stories as a way of curing writer's block. LoL especially when the new story doesn't have Tofu pair in it because that alone should be a crime OO.

Beta by Merffles.


Rebirth

Chapter 9: Portrait

Fuji woke up and was surprised to find himself in bed and carefully tucked in. The last thing he remembers was watching Atobe sleeping soundly.

"Morning Shusuke." Announced Atobe as he walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

"Morning Keigo." Replied Fuji.

Fuji was a bit taken back at how easy it was for him to call Atobe by his first name, so effortlessly, like he had years of practice. The familiar sensation that blinds his senses when he is around Atobe was overwhelming his mind. The strange bond that he felt with Yuuta was confusing him. What exactly is going on with his life lately?

Too many changes, too fast. Changes that no one had warned Fuji about and changes that he was never prepared for. This made Fuji greatly uncomfortable.

"Shusuke, I have good news for you." Commented Atobe.

"Keigo, do you always walk around wearing nothing but a towel?" Asked Fuji out of the blue.

Atobe laughed before saying, "Not just around anyone but then again Shusuke you are hardly consider just anyone in Ore-sama's opinion."

Fuji tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach and urged Atobe to get to the point.

"I had a talk with Yuuta while you were asleep and we both decided that it's for the best if you spend some quality time with him before our flight back to Japan tonight." Commented Atobe casually.

"What?" Asked Fuji feeling like he had just walked into a well planned trap.

In the meantime Yuuta was sitting in his office waiting for his driver when he recalled his conversation with Atobe this morning.

"Yuuta, I know there are a lot of things you want to tell Shusuke but I don't think he is ready for the truth yet." Stated Atobe on the other line.

"The truth?" Asked Yuuta curiously.

"Yes, it is best if we wait until Shusuke is ready to embrace it all." Answered Atobe.

"I will keep that in mind during our lunch date later on." Replied Yuuta before hanging up his phone.

Yuuta was still in deep thought when Mizuki commented, "I think you guys are being too overprotective of Fuji in this case."

"What do you mean?" Asked Yuuta.

Mizuki sighed before saying, "This is Fuji Shusuke we are talking about. Emotional uncertainty and fragile tendency are hardly words that I would used to describe him."

"Yes, but even you had acknowledged that aniki is not the same person he once was." Commented Yuuta.

Mizuki shook his head and said, "As much as I hate to admit it. Fuji Shusuke can survive anything. After all he had managed to survive centuries of chasing after Atobe without the slightest idea of ever finding him. The most remarkable thing is that he succeeded. Fuji Shusuke succeeded despite there were odds against him and I know he would want to hear the truth."

"Hajime, it is not your fault that aniki died. It is not your fault that aniki couldn't remember Atobe." Interrupted Yuuta when he noticed that Mizuki's guilt toward Fuji was resurfacing again.

"Yuuta… I …" Started Mizuki.

Yuuta shook his head and said, "I understand and I know aniki would have forgiven you if he knew how much you suffered for your past mistakes."

Two hours later, Fuji was having lunch with Yuuta at a restaurant highly recommended by Mizuki of all people. For some odd reason, Fuji thought that Mizuki wouldn't approve of Yuuta spending alone time with him as bizarre as that sounds.

"Aniki, do you need some wasabi to go with your entrée?" Asked Yuuta suddenly.

Fuji looked up from his plate and was surprised that Yuuta had just read his mind. After all, there are very few people who knew about Fuji's strange preference of food or his weird habit of wanting to put wasabi in everything.

"Yuuta, by any chance do you like wasabi in your food too?" Asked Fuji curiously.

Yuuta laughed before saying, "No, aniki I like my food just the way it is."

The mood seemed to relax as the two brothers shared a laugh over Fuji's abnormal preference in food.

Finally Fuji put down his fork and said, "Yuuta, to be honest I wasn't sure what to expect from this lunch date with you. A week ago the only family members that I knew of were my cactus plants and now I have a brother."

"Aniki, you were never alone to begin with. There were always people who had cared for you." Stated Yuuta.

Fuji smiled kindly and said, "Yuuta, I know it must be strange calling someone that you never meet aniki so if you want you can call me Shusuke or Fuji."

"No, aniki I always regret not being nicer to you when I had the chance. It took me a long time to realize how much I miss having an aniki." Commented Yuuta.

"What do you mean?" Asked Fuji feeling quite puzzled over Yuuta's last sentence.

It took Yuuta a second to realize that he had slipped in unnecessary information and quickly attempted to cover up his mistake by saying, "Aniki, you are all the family that I have left besides Hajime. I want to call you aniki because it reminds me of the bond that we share. Promise me that you will keep in touch when you return to Tokyo with Atobe."

Fuji smiled and nodded. At the end of their lunch Yuuta ordered his driver to take them to the airport. When the two arrived at the gate Yuuta give Fuji a hug and bid him a farewell but not before handing him two phone numbers.

"Hajime wanted me to give you his private phone number as well. His exact words were if you ever need a favor and it was within his power he will fulfill it for you no question asked." Stated Yuuta.

Fuji was surprised by Mizuki's generous offer and said, "Yuuta, tell Mizuki that he doesn't have to do all that. I mean after all we barely know each other."

"No, aniki just take it. Hajime would want you to and who knows maybe it will come in handy someday." Insisted Yuuta.

Fuji nodded and said, "Give Mizuki my gratitude and I promise I will keep in touch with you two once I get back."

After Yuuta left, Fuji took out his cell phone and dialed Atobe's number.

"Keigo, I am at the airport now…"

"Shusuke, you can hang up the phone now." Interrupted Atobe as he walked up to Fuji.

Fuji was rarely surprised by others, but Atobe seemed to be an expectation. Atobe smiled casually and said, "Shusuke, I know you were feeling uneasy about the plane ride to Paris but trust me when I said that I will never let anything or anyone hurt you. Not even Mother Nature."

Before they boarded the plane, Atobe handed Fuji a drink that would successfully put Fuji to sleep for the 9 hour flight. The sight of Fuji shivering in fear was an image that would forever haunt Atobe and one that he never wants to see again.

Once they boarded the plane, Atobe carefully put a blanket over Fuji and himself.

"Shusuke, it had been too long since I have held you in my arm." Whispered Atobe as he leaned over and kissed Fuji gently on the lip while savoring the taste that was without a doubt the sweetest thing he ever tasted even thought there wasn't a trace of sugar on Fuji's lips.

Tokyo, Japan

"Gakuto, are you ready yet? We are going to be stuck in the traffic if you don't get ready within the next two minutes." Commented Oshitari.

"Yuushi, I am almost ready. Just give me another minute." Yelled Gakuto from his bedroom for the fifth time that night.

Oshitari sighed before thinking, "Thank god, I lied to Gakuto about Keigo's arrival time. Otherwise we are never going to make it on time."

One hour later, Gakuto was seen pouting at the airport gate while Oshitari was looking up the flight schedule.

"Right on schedule, they should be out in five minutes." Stated Oshitari.

Gakuto frowned and said, "Yuushi, how could you lie to me?"

Oshitari gave Gakuto a peck on the cheek and said, "If I haven't told a white lie I would still be at your apartment waiting for you to get ready."

"That is not true and you should still have given me the benefit of the doubt." Replied Gakuto stubbornly.

Before Oshitari had a chance to insert another one of his witty comebacks, Atobe and Fuji both walked out the gate.

"Shusuke, you are back." Exclaimed Gakuto excitingly.

Atobe felt his ear went a little deaf at the shrieking of Gakuto's high pitched scream. Oshitari walk toward Atobe and said, "Welcome home Keigo, I take it everything went as plan."

"Of course, when has Ore-sama ever failed." Commented Atobe.

When the four was finally seated inside the limo, Gakuto immediately turned to Fuji and asked, "Shusuke, did you really find a brother during the trip?"

Fuji smiled at Gakuto and nodded.

"His name is Yuuta and he's one year younger than us." Answered Fuji happily at the memory of his newly acquired younger brother.

"Gakuto, let's save the questions for later. I am sure Fuji and Keigo are both tired." Interrupted Oshitari.

Gakuto turned and glared at Oshitari slightly but decided that he was probably right.

Thirty minutes later, the four arrived at Fuji and Gakuto's apartment.

Fuji was amazed when he saw that all his cactus plants were outlining the whole apartment rather than just his cozy little bedroom.

"Opps, I forget to put the plants back in your room. It is all Yuushi's fault, if he wasn't rushing me and lying to me about the arrival time I would've had time to put the precious babies back in Shusuke's room." Commented Gakuto.

"Yuushi ….. precious babies …….. umm Gakuto what exactly had been going on in the week that I was gone?" Asked Fuji suspiciously.

Gakuto turned red when he realized how easily it was to misinterpret his ramblings. However, before Gakuto had a chance to explain himself, Fuji was already busy checking up on his cactus plants and making sure that they survived his absence in perfect condition.

Meanwhile Oshitari and Atobe were both standing in the middle of the apartment, utterly speechless that a bunch of cactus plants was more appealing than them.

"Yuushi, I never thought I would see the day when my presence would be ignored because of a family of cactus plants." Stated Atobe with an eyebrow raised.

Oshitari was struggling to contain his laugher but he couldn't help but agree with Atobe.

"Yuushi, are you making fun of my babies again… err I mean Shusuke's babies again." Interrupted Gakuto.

"Gakuto, I didn't know that you liked cactus plants so much." Commented Fuji with an amused grin.

"Well I didn't at first, but after I realized how utterly indestructible they are. I started to like the little things. I mean they are kind of cute in an "I will stab you if you dare to touch me" way." Replied Gakuto happily.

Fuji's eye went wide open at Gakuto's unexpected answer and then in a complete surprise Fuji broke out in laughers.

"Thanks Gakuto, I needed that and I think I will leave our babies in the living room where we can both take turns looking at them." Commented Fuji after he calmed himself down.

"I don't mean to break this love fest between you two and the cactus plants but Ore-sama needs to know where I would be putting Shusuke's luggage." Interrupted Atobe.

"Oh sorry, Atobe-san and you can put Shusuke's luggage in the room on the left." Replied Gakuto quickly.

Oshitari started to grab the suitcase but stopped when he realized that Atobe was not letting go.

"Yuushi, I am perfectly capable of carrying one tiny luggage case." Stated Atobe as he walked into Fuji's room.

Ignoring Oshitari's surprised look, Atobe continue to walk to Fuji's room while thinking, "There is no way that I would let another man take a look at Shusuke's private bedroom, not even Yuushi."

On the other hand, Fuji had become quite familiar to Atobe's obsessive way from the last seven days together that he decided that ignoring Atobe might be the best solution.

When Atobe walked into Fuji's room he took his time lingering over the general make up of Fuji's room. The room was simple, but unique like Fuji. There were no colors clashing with each others and there were nothing that stood out in Fuji's room. In reality, Fuji's room was quite empty with occasional pictures that he had put in frames. Yet, it was the little things in Fuji's room that make it special.

There was no expensive decoration but rather just very delicate frame works. Everything in the room was one of kind like Fuji, from the tear drop shape vase to the painting of a black hole consuming everything in sight. Just when Atobe was about to leave the room, Atobe saw the picture by Fuji's bedpost that send a cold shiver down his spine.

"Saeki and Shusuke together. What if Shusuke had moved on with his life? What if I was the unwanted intruder in Shusuke's life?" Thought Atobe as he closed the door behind him.

Atobe's mind was still lingering on that photo when he left with Oshitari. The photo that opened the door to an image that Atobe hasn't seen in a lifetime but had always dreams of seeing.

A picture of a carefree Fuji

A moment of pure happiness on Fuji's face

Yet, somehow the painful sting in his heart was something that he hasn't expected because he never thought that Fuji could look so happy being in another man's arm.

"Shusuke, so what is going on with you and Atobe-san?" Asked Gakuto curiously once Atobe left with Oshitari.

"Nothing is going on between Keigo and me." Answered Fuji.

"Sure and that is why you guys are on first name basis." Replied Gakuto suspiciously.

"It's complicated and I have been wondering all night exactly how you ended up with Oshitari." Commented Fuji with an innocent smile.

Gakuto blushed before rambling, "Shusuke, you are so evil and you know it. I only ended up with Yuushi because you forced him on me. I can't believe you have so little faith in my ability."

"Gakuto, I've heard stories." Stated Fuji firmly.

Gakuto blushed and decided to change the subject, "Shusuke, by any chance, do you look like Yuuta?"

Fuji shook his head before saying, "No, why?"

"Well Yuushi mentioned that when he saw your picture in the resume pile for the first time you reminded him of someone. No, I think Yuushi's exact words were "a dead resemblance to a portrait in Atobe-san's safe". At first, I thought since Atobe knew Yuuta before you, then the portrait could be a painting of Yuuta but that's clearly out of the question now." Answered Gakuto.

"A portrait of someone who looks like me in Keigo's safe?" Asked Fuji.

"I don't know the exact details but you can talk to Yuushi if you want to avoid talking to Atobe-san about it." Suggested Gakuto.

Gakuto left Fuji in peace but that night he couldn't sleep because he keep wondering if he had made the right choice by telling Fuji what he knew. Finally after hours of tossing and turning, Gakuto thought, "Shusuke deserves to know whatever it is that Atobe-san is hiding from him. I will be damned if I let Shusuke get hurt again."

TBC

Chapter 10: Tainted Truth