The Love Triangle
Disclaimer: Putting the sign 'disclaimer' definitely means that you're trying to disclaim something, not say that it's your own. What's the sense in writing a disclaimer if you're trying to do the exact opposite? Okay, so the point is; The Prince of Tennis isn't mine. Never has, never will be, but oh Kami, how I wished I could have Fuji. Still, I don't so don't fuzz about it.
Authors Note: Please keep in mind that Tezuka is a bit OOC in this chapter. Don't mind it; I just had the sudden urge to do something different with the poor ever-stoic guy. (Doesn't he ever get tired of being serious? My point exactly. )
Chapter Thirteen
Garden Weddings
OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo
The moment spectacle-eyed Tezuka Kunimitsu stepped out of his private car, a grunt escaped his mouth. Standing in front of him was a whopping four-hundred-step staircase narrowly winding up to where a group of young, shriek, mascara-smeared fangirls were waiting excitedly for him to walk up and pass them by.
Great.
Hand it to fate to throw in some fangirls as a tip for coming to his friends wedding.
Keeping his calm and cold exterior intact, the former Seigaku Tennis buchou glided across the four hundred steps without breaking a sweat. Not bothering to notice anything about his fangirls, except, well of course their high-pitched screetches (who wouldn't be able to notice their own eardrums popping?), Tezuka walked past the girls, wincing slightly as he entered the gate where the wedding was supposed to be held.
"Nya! Tezuka-buchou, finally you've come! Nya, nya buchou, tell Oishi that he shouldn't try to stop me nya!"
A familiar tuxedo-clothed kitty-faced acrobat glomped Tezuka from behind. The other members of the club soon followed after him; Oishi running in to try to pull Eiji off the unhappy buchou, Momo and Kaidoh zapping electric sparks at each other, Kawamura BBUURRNNIINNGG after them, and lastly Inui who was feeling the flowery walls of the garden blindly without his glasses.
Tezuka's eyes twitched once, then twice, and then thrice.
Kami….just a few seconds ago he had to deal with fangirls and now them. Couldn't kami give him just even a few minutes of rest?
He had already made all those ball boys of his run a hundred laps back at home…….he didn't want to order a hundred more here.
Oh no, don't get me wrong. Tezuka Kunimitsu was nowhere near softening up – he was just tired of seeing people run laps so slowly like madmen. They were all so slow, and it was taking too much of his time for the past few days.
So instead of shouting out laps Tezuka took the other best option. He ordered Eiji off his back as calmly as he could and faced his former tennis team with his normal stoic expression.
"Nya Buchou!" whined Eiji as he landed with and 'oof', " What'd you do that for, nya?!"
While Eiji was rubbing his aching head damaged from his fall off of Tezuka's back, the other members of the team held their breaths back, waiting for the judgment call. Unexpectedly for them, Tezuka didn't shout out his 'run laps around …..'. Instead he looked at all of them seriously in the eyes.
" What's the problem with all of you minna? Have you all let your guard down?" Picking up a seat, Tezuka looked at them for answer and then continued on, " To think that all of you are letting your guard down on Fuji's wedding too."
"That is absolutely unforgivable minna."
Eyes shifted around from one to the other as his teammates gaped.
"Buchou, you won't make us run laps? Nya?" blurted out Eiji in reprise.
Tezuka gave a slight shake of the head.
"No."
This left all their mouths dropping five feet more down to the ground in shock. Tezuka twitched and furrowed his brow at their response and then continued saying, "But I will if you don't explain. So do so and make it quick and reasonable."
"BUUUUUURRRRNNNNNINNNNNG!" Kawamura flagged his racket in the air. " I DON'T WANT TO RUN LAPS ON FUJIKO'S WEDDING DAY! I'M SORRY MINNA, BUT BUCHOU'S RIGHT! I DON'T WANT TO DISGRACE FUJIKO'S FAMILY NAME!"
"BUCHOU! IT WAS EIJI'S FAULT BUCHOU! HE WAS THE ONE WHO STARTED IT ALL! BBBBUUUURRRNNNINNNGG!"
Kawamura's outspoken and extra-loud confession caught the attention of the other guests but he didn't care. Oishi nodded his head in agreement, much to the utter dismay of the other half of the Golden Pair, Kikumaru Eiji.
"That's right Tezuka, I really tried my best to stop him, but Eiji wouldn't listen. He even stole away Inui's glasses while bouncing so that Inui couldn't throw him the bucket of sushizu to stop him!" Oishi wiped the beads of sweat that had accumulated on his skin from all the running earlier.
"Sushizu?" the buchou cocked his brows.
"Sushi Aozu…..its Sushi Aozu Tezuka. My Sushi Aozu….." despaired Inui, raising his hands in consternation. "My prized possession…."
With wide innocent eyes, the criminal stood up in his own defense.
"Nya! I wasn't planning to break Inui's glasses nya, nya! I just wanted to help Fujiko out. I wanted to tell him the truth. Can't you all see how sad Fujiko is sitting over there nya? He doesn't even have a clue that he's actually marrying his beloved Sakuno-chan nya, and he is really depressed about it," he argued. "Minna, you all heard from Ryoma-chi four days ago how much Fujiko loves our little Maaya-chan and how much she loves him back. Nya, as Maaya-chan's fans nya, and as friends of Fujiko nya, we have to make sure that Maaya-chi and Fujiko's wedding pushes through. But at this rate nya, with Fuji on the dumps like this, Fujiko might bail out on the wedding nya!"
"We have to tell Fujiko the truth nya!"
"Iie! NO!" chorused the entire team. Eiji was about to run off and tell the tensai anyway, but luckily Momo had been there to snatch Eiji by the collar before he could slither to Fuji who was sitting in a chair waiting for the ceremony to start.
"NYA! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU NYA?! DON'T YOU ALL CARE ABOUT FUJIKO?!" Eiji squirmed with all of the muscles in his body.
Tezuka walked up in front of the struggling offendor and sighed heavily as he adjusted his glasses. He guessed he had no other choice to make.
" Eiji," he addressed as calmly as he could . "I want you to —"
"Go and tell Fujiko the truth?"
"No. Go run twenty laps before I add some more Eiji Kikumaru. I Tezuka Kunimitsu will not permit you to ruin the Fuji-Ryuuzaki promise."
"But Buchou!"
Handing in Inui his glasses that were taken by Kikumaru earlier, Tezuka walked off and left Eiji to his gruesome fate.
"Ne, Inui. You know what to do," ha paused before leaving.
"Hai," Inui's glasses gleamed. Out of the blue, a pitcher of Sushizu mixed with luxurious worm bits popped right into Inui's grasp, ever sparkling so brightly in the dataman's hands.
For Inui, revenge couldn't be any sweeter.
"NO!!!!!"
Tezuka observed nonchalantly from his front seat an aisle away from where Fuji was seated as he watched Eiji run his laps with all the potential energy he had inside of him while the dataman Inui was not very far behind him.
The other four of his former teammates were back doing whatever it was they had been doing. Momshiro and Kaidoh were back at their eternal brawl, Takashi Kawamura at his BBBBUUURRRNNNIIINNNGGG cries and Oishi at his motherly anxiety.
Everything was back to normal.
Shaking his head in repose, the former tennis buchou turned around to look back at the blank-expressioned Fuji.
He was certain that Fuji was feeling betrayed right now, but if he had let Eiji go and tell him the truth then the Fuji-Ryuuzaki promise would have been broken and then who knows what would happen. Both Shiawase and Aoi Corporations might back out on their deal and then Fuji and the Ryuuzaki girl wouldn't be able to be with each other.
Well, they might still though, since that last condition of not giving the bride and grooms identity was petty. It wasn't important enough to be a reason to break the couple off, and Tezuka was sure that the condition didn't matter that much to both groups of parents.
But still, Tezuka and all the other guests who were told about the condition were made to swear under oath not to tell Fuji or Sakuno a word about it.
Tezuka would not break that oath and neither should his teammates. If the condition were to be broken, then it shouldn't be by them but by surprisingly Tezuka had this nagging feeling that destiny still had so much in store for those two.
He and everyone else would just have to watch and observe.
OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo
"Obaasan!" Sakuno cries startled.
Clutching her bouquet of roses closer to her chest, the bride hid her face as she turned her eyes down to her shoes.
She just couldn't face her grandmother like this, not now, not ever.
She couldn't stand in front of her obaasan as the bride of an absolute stranger.
"Sakuno," noted her obaasan, "You look beautiful, my mago-chan…..the semi-traditional kimono suits you well my child….but those downcast eyes are unbecoming for a bride as beautiful as you. Tell me what's wrong child?"
The auburnhead lifted her eyes to meet her obaasan's and noticed that the woman was in a gown too, plus the dress was so pink and frilly that Sakuno couldn't help but smile a bit.
"Iie, nothing's wrong obaasan, you look beautiful in that dress too," she smiled some more, giggling softly.
"Hmph, your father forced me to buy this stupid thing!" she grumbled scornfully. The recollection of how she was blackmailed into doing such a thing made her knit her brows in fury.
"So pray dear child, don't look so sad," the old woman's expressions softened and with that Sakuno found her grandmother moving to embrace her, a gesture as rare as white dodos between she and her obaasan.
Patting the girls head comfortingly, Ryuuzaki Sumire held her granddaughters shoulders and put a kiss on her forehead. Sakuno's eyes widened further in surprise. It wasn't often for her grandmother to do something like that either.
"Ne, don't worry Sakuno-chan. Everything will be alright. Daijoubo, daijoubo," she whispered into the girl's ear.
Nodding her head, the bride looke on as Sumire patted her head with an understanding look in her eyes and then left herself in the empty dressing room.
"Daijoubo? Daijoubo?" she sighed once Sumire was out of the room. " How can I be alright obaasan? Oh Obaasan, if you knew the truth. I know that you want to understand, but still if you really did obaasan, then I know that you would've at least tried to find a way to unravel all of this stringed mess I'm tangled into. Oh obaasan…"
Kami, she really should have just given up on hoping moments ago….no, he should have stopped hoping altogether days ago.
All hope was just futile now.
It was her obligation – of course – she should have just stopped dreaming on puffy clouds, imaginary dreams where she believed that she could run away from her duty. She should have melted naively over the idea that a fairytale twist could save her.
Her parents couldn't stop it, her grandmothers couldn't stop it, — and her beloved Fuji-kun could stop it.
Well…..actually….she didn't want him to.
Sakuno didn't want to drag him down into this misery just because of her.
Fuji deserved all the happiness in the world, and she just loved him too much to rip that away from him.
That's why she hung up last night…..and that 's why she should be dashing all of her imaginary hopes to the ground.
The wedding was about to start in an hour, there was no time for her to hallucinate and conjure up dreamy illusions anymore.
Sakuno was about to lean against the glass window and close her eyes for a while to rest when all of the sudden she found herself pummeling outside the window.
"Ittai!" she rubbed her head while groaning.
"Thank kami that it was only the first floor." Sakuno muttered meekly as she brushed herself up.
A wave of pleasant surprise overcame the soon-to-be bride and for once today a true smile shoveled her face.
"It's, it's so beautiful," she muttered in disbelief.
Trees, daffodils, irises, pansies, flowers and plants of all sorts sprung up around her in this magnificent garden that simply took her breath away. The place was absolutely beautiful and stunning the with way the setting sun scattered its rays across the place made it look absolutely gorgeous; spectacular to be more precise even.
Sakuno could not believe how she could have overlooked this utopia that had been staring right in front of her all along.
Breathing in whiffs of the sweet flower-scented air, Sakuno could feel her pain easing away from her mind.
"Anou," she looked back at the open window of the room, "It wouldn't hurt to take a short walk…..after all the wedding isn't in two hours. I won't take long."
Slipping off the lustrous yet pain-inducing heels off, the girl frolicked with her bare feet while she carried her shoes.
She noted the beautiful serenade of the birds among the trees and looked up to see a couple of white crests singing to each other, obviously done out of love. Sakuno smiled and continued to walk on.
She wondered.
What would the male bird do if his partner had been taken away from him and put in a cage? Would he try to find her and save her, no matter what? Or would he just die away of sorrow?
Sakuno knew that some birds like lovebirds would die if their partners were taken away from them.
It was amazing to her that love could have such a huge consequence and effect, even on animals. She was glad that those pair of white crests hadn't been separated from each other and she wished from the bottom of her heart that they never would.
Swooosssh.
Looking back up, the auburnhead noticed the pair of birds flittering away.
A small voice in her head told her to follow them and listlessly without further ado, the girl ran off in their direction until her feet could take it no more.
"Wait!!" she cried after them.
Panting, Sakuno pouted at the flopping out of sight. She was about to head back to the room but then her eyes moved and saw what was in front of her.
Her feet instantly stopped in its place.
"There's a….a path here?"
A cobblestone path lined with rosebushes and alternating marble pillars graced her eyes. Sakuno took a step on the path and suddenly a scene flashed across her mind.
A five-year-old boy, athree-year-old girl. They were walking hand in hand. They were smiling and the boy bent down to kiss the girls cheek…..and…… they both were on the same cobblestone path "Anou…."
A warm feeling suddenly filled up her chest but Sakuno instantly shook it away as nothing.
"It must just be my imagination," she muttered under her breath.
She had this strange feeling that she had known this place, but she was absolutely sure that she had never been here before…..this place was never linked in any of her memories.
Taking a few more steps along the path, Sakuno then noticed the faint sound of running water loaming across her ears.
"Follow it, Sakuno-chan," the voice inside her head said again.
Nodding, the girl walked on, arms at her side as the sound of water flowing across the rocks in its path got stronger and stronger. Then finally at the end of the path Sakuno had finally reached what she had been looking for.
Running before her very eyes was a magnificent and wide river.
Connecting both sides of its banks was a wooden bridge that framed into an arch.
"Anou, my shoes!" she exclaimed out loud as she watched her shoes falling into the water as it was pulled by the fast river current. She had been leaning on the wooden rails of the bridge when an ant bit her arm, making her drop the shoes in her hands.
"Mou! What am I supposed to do now? What should I do?" panicked the girl.
"Yes Sakuno, what SHOULD you do?"
"Wait, this voice —," she turned around. "Karumi-chan! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready? Why aren't you in your gown? You're supposed to be a bride's maid you know!"
Karumi walked closer and closer, a sinister smile playing across her lips.
"Oh, I'll be getting ready soon," she answered, " But you know Sakuno-chan…..you really did me a great favor. I was the one supposed to lead you here. You saved me a whole lot of trouble by coming her yourself, you really did."
Karumi leaned on the rails beside Sakuno and the auburnhead tilted her head to face her lavender-eyed manager.
"You didn't come here to call me back like they asked you to?"
"No."
Taking both Sakuno's hands in hers, Karumi faked another smile.
"I came here to ask another favor from you…..and the only answer is yes or yes, whether you like it or not."
Sakuno furrowed her brows in confusion but decided to play along anyway. After all, she trusted Karumi as her bestfriend not to do anything foolish — right?
"Anou, o-okay. What do you want me to do, Karumi-chan?" she asked.
"This."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Before Sakuno could even move, Karumi had already taken a pair of cuffs from her pants and cuffed both of Sakuno's hands together. It was all done in a split second and Sakuno's eyes widened in shock as her face paled.
"This is the favor I wanted to ask from you Sakuno-chan. I want you to disappear from Fuji, from me, and from everyone else in this world. Sakuno, I want you to disappear FOREVER."
OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo
Fuji Syuusuke frowned as he fiddled the phone in his hand aimlessly.
"Shoul I call her again? What should I do? Oh kami…tell me…" he buried his face in his hands.
He hadn't seen Sakuno ever since that day he had asked Ryoma to take her back after Fuji accidentally kissed her.
That day Ryoma had told him a frank 'no', saying that Ryuuzaki Sakuno wasn't in love with him but with Fuji.
So, with his hopes up the hill, Fuji searched for her high and wide all around the hotel premises. He needed to know whether it was true.
But after several hours of scrounging around, he hadn't even seen a single strand of her hair.
Not even an ounce of her auburn-colored keratin!
Fuji had tried everywhere but he couldn't find her at all. The receptionist at the hotel's front door had informed him that Miss Maaya Nadeshiko had long since checked out — and that she was crying while she did.
"She seemed to be in a very tight glitch. Maaya-san was in such a hurry that she even just left her luggage for someone else to pick up," whispered the receptionist quietly, " I was even able to ask one of her suites from her without any delay!"
Now this made Fuji all the more troubled and he would have called her right there and then had not his father called him back home.
Boy was he in for a surprise….
He had absolutely no idea that he was getting married at all to someone he did not even know. When the words spoken by his father finally sunk into his brain, Fuji hyperventilated. Oh yes, Fuji was as mad as hell!
He would have never let his father do this to him….never.
If only the old man hadn't blackmailed him into it, saying that he had already talked to his beloved Sakuno-chan about Fuji's marriage to someone else. He even made him believe that Sakuno would never see him again if he put up a fuss.
The mere thought of such a pitiful excuse made Fuji furious but knowing Fuji Okinawa…..the brunette utterly had no way out.
It was his 'obligation', his 'duty, cough, cough…' and dammit his Father just had to be the typical traditional Japanese businessman he was. Fuji had tried running away but time after time the Aoi company field agents all took him back.
He wasn't even allowed to call Sakuno, not until after the wedding.
Oh, but he tried, he tried.
The guards that his father put up weren't that easy to pass by. Lucky for him they had potty breaks and so he had been able to call Sakuno for even just once after the four days of torture he had been through without her.
Sigh…the sound of her voice made him want to see her all the more…
He could tell that she had been crying. His blood had begun to boil as he heard her sniffles from the phone and he sincerely wanted to break someone's neck right now.
He would chop off the offender's head if her could.
How dare that person make his Sakuno cry!
Seeing that he had no means to decapitate the criminal right now…Fuji relented to merely asking her about what happened instead ….but then…she hung up on him.
Kami, his father had this much power didn't he?
To be able to control Sakuno-chan too!
What kind of man was he?
He wasn't even this assertive about his wishes before….in fact Yumiko-neesan was more domineering than him. He really must be serious about this pact, because the old man even used his " sick" trumpet card over him.
"Cough, cough, cough. Syuusuke, cant you obey your dying father for once? Ne, are you that cruel to your sick outosan?"
But now…..right here, right now in this garden wedding stadium, an hour till from the ceremony, Fuji had to make his last stand.
His outosan's 'Im-sick-do-as-I-say' attitude wouldn't stop him now.
Well, actually the brunette had no idea on what to do….but he most certainly could not sit around and do nothing when his love was in the line. He wouldn't let anything stop him now.
Standing up from his seat, Fuji Syuusuke looked right across only to find himself staring into the grey cornea of a very familiar old woman.
"Ryuuzaki Akuma Baasan? What – what are you doing here?" he eyed her suspiciously. He really hoped she wasn't influenced by his father to stop him as well....he really liked Akuma-baasan even if he hadn't seen her in quite a while these past years.
The old woman smiled forgivingly and patted his head.
"Ah, young one, I am here because of fate, you need not worry."
All of the sudden, the cerulean-eyed brunette heard a shriek of someone calling his name – whose voice sounded all too much like the his one and only auburnhead girl…..
Fuji shot Akuma a questioning look tinged with anxiety.
"Ne, Baasan, did you hear that?" his voice was hurried as his eyes looked up to the elder one for guidance.
Akuma shook her head once but soon smiled afterwards.
"Iie, demo, it must be fate's call. Go Syuusuke-kun, go after her, hurry! You don't have much time to lose!" she said. "Go!"
Without waiting for another word, Fuji began running like the wind across the place towards the bride's refreshment building.
He really didn't know where he was going or why his feet were taking him there but something was calling him….and his anxiety that it just might be the girl he had been looking for drove him to run faster.
It was strange how he had that odd feeling that Sakuno was the one who shouting out for him and that she was in danger.
Barging into the dressing room, he noticed the open window and jumped out. Without even thinking he ran across the garden in full speed until he came to the cobblestone path where he stopped.
It was getting darker by the minute yet he could see the rosebush-lined path with eyes as clear as day.
"I-I've been here before ―,"
"Iie! Karumi-chan please, don't do this!"
Kami! That voice! It really was Sakuno, his instincts were right!
Fuji didn't wait for a moment's hesitation and dashed across the path, stumbling at times because of the lack of light.
Sakuno needs me.
Ignoring the pain of each stumble and fall, Fuji ran on and doubled his speed until finally he burst into the setting sun's beseeching light at the end of the path.
"Sayonara ne, Ryuuzaki Sakuno…itsumo sayonara."
"No! Please…Karumi….you wouldn't do this! Karumi! Someone help me!!!!"
In slow motion Fuji froze as he watched in horror at what was happening right before his very eyes.
"Sakuno-chaannnn!!!!! NO!!!"
OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo
Japanese Terms
Hai – yes
Iie – no
Daijoubo ka – are you alright
Doushite – why
Honto no Jibun – Real Self
Outosan – father
Tensai - genuis
Daijoubo – it's alright
Hentai - pevert
Gomene – I'm sorry
Hai – yes
Iie – No
Kitto Yatta – I'm glad
Uso – that can't be, that's impossible
Honto ni - really
Demo - but
Onigiri – Japanese rice balls
Kouhai - junior
Sempai – senior
ogenki desu ka – are you alright
oyasumi - goodnight
Nani o – what is it?
Buchou - captain
Ore-sama – Ore = me, sama suffix used to express superiority or greatness
Kuso - damn
Kun – prefix used to denote closeness/ attachment
San – formal prefix
Zenzen – not really
Honto ni Dayo- it really is
Ohayou – goodmorning
Onegai – please
Matterunda - wait
Itadakimasu – let's eat ( always said before meals )
OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo
A/N: Ohayou minna! Ahuh, your crazy and delirious writer has just delayed another chapter for 3 weeks! Gaaaah! Personally I blame it all on writers block, while technically I blame it on my own laziness. Either of the two are good reasons for my late update (so says I…though I'm not sure) and I do sure hope that you guys don't mind.
Actually, truth be told minna, I was just too tired to write these past few weeks because of the death of my grandma. I had to be absent from school because of that and I had to make up for all of the lessons that I missed, so yeah, please bear with me. I've tried to do my best but well, you know circumstances happen and they require a tad bit of your time.
Oh, and if you guys noticed, I've been repeating the Japanese terms list for some chapters because I'm really rushing this chap right now. Well...that's if you guys DID notice. XD. lol.
Well anyway here is chapter 13!
Hope you liked it guys!
P.S.
Please READ AND REVIEW!
I accept good and bad comments so don't you worry, express yourself and just relax for once. : } Don't let peer pressure always get to you. (my peer pressure! Hahaha...no, no, I'm not pressuring you guys to give me sprinkles of flattery at all....ehehehe. Just speak truthfully and barge anything at me as long as it's what you honestly think. : } )
Anyway, I think I'll be either adding one more, if not two more, chapters to this story. I really want to finish off my story with a bam. Hoooraaah!
I wont be staying too long though with Chaps 14 and 15 because I have other projects in mind like IN AN UNDERCOVER ROMANCE and my soon-to-be latest HANATSUKI: MOONFLOWER PRINCESS which can only be posted after this one is done. I probably might just leave it to chapter 14 even, but rest assured dear readers I will give out my heart-felt thanks to all of you in the last chapters so please.....do leave some comments behind so that I can add you in my thank-you-list .: D
To those who are especially waiting for the update for In and Undercover romance, please note that I will not post the update until I am fully finished. : ]
PS: READ AND REVIEW!