CHAPTER 11 - Tezuka Kunimitsu

Tezuka entered the sushi bar, eyes scanning the crowd of customers for his friend. Yesterday, Oishi had called him to meet at this place for their long overdue catching-up session. Tezuka initially wanted to refuse, seeing how he wasn't in the mood for socializing lately, but changed his mind when he thought of all the trouble Oishi went through to set this up for them.

Tezuka finally spotted his friend, who waved him over with a big smile on his face.

Although the restaurant was crowded, Oishi somehow managed to secure a table for them at a quiet corner where they could more or less talk without having to raise their voices.

"Tezuka, it's been 4 months," Oishi greeted his old friend with a friendly pat on the back. "What have you been up to?"

Their meeting wasn't a monthly event. They only met whenever they had the time, and always, with Oishi the one initiating them.

"Oishi, sorry I am late," Tezuka apologized as he slid into the seat opposite Oishi.

"Working hard as usual, ne Tezuka?" Oishi laughed. Tezuka merely nodded.

Looking at his friend, Tezuka noticed how Oishi never changed from their days in Junior High. He still sported that unusual hair style of his, in which his black hair was kept closely cropped to his skull except for the two strands of cowlicks on his forehead. Oishi had always been noted for his strange hairdos through the years, but he had stuck with this one the longest. Tezuka guessed he must have liked this hairdo better than the rest.

A waitress in kimono appeared and poured a glass of green tea for Tezuka. Then she took a few steps back and waited patiently until they were ready to place their orders. Once the orders had been taken, she gave a curtsy bow and left. Oishi commented on the excellent service provided here and Tezuka agreed with him.

They chatted amiably while waiting for their food to arrive, with Oishi, as usual, doing most of the talking. From their talk, Tezuka found out that his friend had recently bought a house with his fiancee, Mariko, in preparation for their marriage sometime next year. Oishi was complaining good-naturedly about the cost of houses nowadays and how it was making a dent in his pocket, adding that he might have to cancel his vacation trip to Hawaii with Mariko this year because of that.

Hearing his friend going incessantly about his blissful love life left a bitter taste of envy in Tezuka's mouth. He and Fuji should've been like them, planning vacations together and doing things that lovers do.

But it had been nearly 3 months now and Fuji was still nowhere to be found. Tezuka was seriously contemplating on hiring a private investigator to seek out the tensai if he didn't hear from him soon.

Then, as if in a dream, Tezuka heard Oishi mentioning about Fuji. He immediately shifted his undivided attention to his friend.

"Did you just say Fuji?" he asked, hardly daring to believe his ears.

Oishi nodded. "Yeah, Fuji Syusuke, our tennis prodigy. I know you two haven't been in contact with each other for ages," he said, without knowing any better, "But the poor guy. I found out the other day from my colleague who is working at the hospital that Fuji has brain aneurysm. Apparently, he kept it a secret from everyone, including his own family."

Tezuka blinked a few times, as if that would somehow make his mind clearer. Fuji has an illness? But, all this while, he looked so well...

Oishi continued to talk. "Fuji was admitted for surgery a couple of weeks ago. That was how I got to know about it. Unfortunately, the operation didn't go as smoothly as expected…."

Tezuka's heart thudded and blood roared in his ears. Fuji couldn't be dead now, could he? No, I would've felt it if he was dead….Tezuka tried to calm himself.

"Wh...what happened?" he asked hoarsely, feeling his windpipe closing in on him.

If Oishi thought Tezuka's behavior was odd, he didn't comment on it.

"Fuji is suffering from retrograde amnesia now, as a complication of the surgery," he informed in a grim tone.

"It means Fuji has lost part of his memories, especially things that happened long ago," Oishi added after earning a blank stare from Tezuka. "It's true, Tezuka. I paid him a visit after hearing the news, and he didn't remember me at all." Oishi shook his head sadly. "Showing him pictures of our school years together didn't help either. Because the aneurysm is situated close to the temporal lobe, there is a high chance that the amnesia might be permanent."

No, this can't be. Fuji, you can't just forget what we shared so easily. You cannot forget me…."Which hospital is he staying?" Tezuka asked, suddenly overcome by a desperate need to see the tensai.

"Oh, Fuji was discharged a week ago. I heard that his business partner, Takano Kyouhei was going to take him to Switzerland for rehabilitation and to recuperate from the surgery."

Tezuka wanted to scream with frustration. So close, yet so far. Just when he started to get an inkling of where Fuji was, it was gone again….

Oishi scratched his nose. "Well, I supposed you could ask Takamori-sensei, the doctor in-charge of following Fuji up for his current whereabouts," he mused. "Who knows, Fuji might still be in Japan."

Tezuka nodded thankfully and clinging to that slight hope, asked for the name of hospital where Takamori-sensei worked.

"Ah, you are such a good friend, Tezuka," Oishi told him with a smile. "You wanted to help Fuji to revive his memory too, didn't you?"

Tezuka didn't deign to answer.

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After he and Oishi departed, Tezuka looked at the piece of scrap paper which his friend had scribbled on the address of the hospital. It wasn't far from here. He might as well drop by there now, knowing that his mind wouldn't rest until he did so.

But just as he got into his car, his cell phone rang. Tezuka frowned as he saw the ID caller.

It was Ayumi.

"Kunimitsu?"

Tezuka couldn't keep the annoyance from his voice. "What do you want?"

There was a such a long pause at the other end that for a moment, Tezuka thought Ayumi had hung up. And then she dropped the bombshell. "Kunimitsu, I think…I am pregnant."

Tezuka closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath, hoping to sooth his already frazzled nerves. Why did all the bad things have to happen to him all at once? It was as if fate was holding a grudge against Fuji and him, throwing one hurdle after another their way to thwart them.

"Are you sure?" he asked, hoping against hope that Ayumi was kidding. He would even forgive her for pulling his leg as long as it was a joke.

"I…I did a pregnancy kit test and it was positive. But I haven't gone to see a doctor yet."

Things were looking bleaker and bleaker to Tezuka by the second. "How far are you along?"

"Two months…"

"Ayumi, if this is one of your pranks…"

"I am telling the truth!" Ayumi cried. "You think I would lie about something so important?"

Tezuka felt a throbbing headache coming. His life couldn't get messier than this. Then he thought to ask, "Are you sure the baby is mine?"

Silence, and then, "You bastard! You…"

Tezuka massaged his temple. "All right, calm down. You can't blame me for making sure, can you?" He sighed wearily. "What are you going to do?"

A pause. "I'm going to keep our baby," Ayumi replied resolutely.

"Is that a wise decision?"

"Well, I am not going to abort it!"

Tezuka sighed again, feeling his headache increasing in magnitude. It had finally come to this. "Where are you now, Ayumi? We… need to sit down and talk," he said, suddenly feeling very tired. Even though his mind was thrown into chaos by Ayumi's revelation, one thing remained certain. He could not abandon Ayumi and his unborn child now. His upbringing wouldn't allow it.

In the end, the scrap of paper that provided Tezuka with the only clue of Fuji's whereabouts lay crumpled at the bottom of a trash can. All of Tezuka's hopes of finding Fuji ha been cruelly dashed, buried under the responsibility he forced himself to take for his unborn child.

A/N: Thanx for your compliment about my super mega quick updates! I know how frustrating it is to wait for updates (I've experienced it myself), so as long as I know someone out there is waiting for my updates, I will try to submit it as quickly as possible. In other words, remember to review, ne? No matter how short, I still want to hear from you!

Oh, there is a point with the previous short chapter, but I can't tell you what it is because it will spoil the story then. All will be revealed in Chapter 12, I hope…. :D

P/S: For those of you who have read my other fic, The Bet, what do you think about a sequel to it? I was thinking of writing about how Fuji and Tezuka are coping with their new relationship….If I can get enough requests for it, I will start writing… XD

And for those of you who haven't read it, PLEASE READ….and tell me what you think! Thank you! Thank you!