© Gold
Title: Beyond: A Tribute
Part 9: The Inconvenient Truth II
Author: Gold
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is created by Konomi Takeshi. This work is a piece of fanfiction and no part of it is attributed to Konomi-san or any other entity holding any legal right associated with and arising out of Prince of Tennis . It was written purely out of fanservice and it is not to be used for profit or any false association with Konomi-san or aforesaid entities.
Part 9: The Inconvenient Truth II
Two nondescript-looking, dark-suited men, each carrying two mysterious black briefcases, entered the room. Each proceeded to open just one briefcase and pulled out laptops, a portable projector screen, some unidentifiable pieces of equipment, several remote controls and a number of extremely long wires. They moved with expert speed and alacrity, putting together the various equipment and wires, which they eventually connected to an interesting panel in the wall, with lots of little sockets, just below the large LCD TV that was set into one of the walls of the hospital suite.
Atobe lifted his mobile phone to his ear. "Yuushi. Is everything ready? Good. Ishida, Yamada: you may leave us now."
The two men in the dark suits rose to their feet and bowed. Then they exited the room.
"Ore-sama will dial-in now. – Kabaji!"
"Usu."
The large LCD panel set into the wall of Yukimura's hospital suite flickered into life. It showed what appeared to be a very long, very polished table, and a number of faces seated around it. These faces were very familiar faces: Yanagi Renji, Inui Sadaharu, Oshitari Yuushi, Tachibana Kippei and Fuji Syuusuke.
Yanagi had a mobile phone plastered to his ear and he was absently massaging his temples wearily with his free hand. "That's good, Akaya. – I agree, Echizen-san is probably very worried about the disappearance of Momoshiro-san. It's very good of you to notice that, Akaya. – No, there is no news of Momoshiro-san. No, I don't think he fell overboard. Yes, he may have been lost in the mountains. No, I don't think a mountain lion has eaten him. There are no mountain lions in Biei, Akaya, or anywhere in Japan." Yanagi's shoulders rose and sank in a silent sigh. "Yes, it's afternoon here. Yes, I know that it's morning over there. Go to bed, then. – Don't worry, I'm sure that Seiichi is recovering well now. – No, I don't think it will be as bad as it was six years ago. Uh-huh, uh-huh…"
Clearly, the long-distance telephone conversation with Kirihara was taking longer than expected.
Eventually, Yanagi hung up and looked up. "Sorry, everyone." He blinked. "Ah… Seiichi."
Yukimura's mouth quirked with amusement. "It's been a long time, Renji."
"Yes, it has. How are you feeling?" asked Yanagi, sounding suitably concerned.
"I am just a little tired," Yukimura told him reassuringly.
"I would imagine so," Yanagi said mildly. "Is Genichirou with you?"
"Yes, Genichirou is here."
Yanagi nodded thoughtfully. "That's good."
Atobe rapped out, "Sanada, Tezuka, come closer. Nobody over there can see you." He pointed to Yukimura's bed. "You can sit there."
Tezuka, after glancing at Sanada, calmly ignored Atobe's order and moved, instead, to stand behind the sofa that Atobe was seated upon.
Sanada took up a very uncomfortable spot against the wall next to Yukimura's bed.
Atobe pursed his lips. "Yuushi, can they be seen now?"
"Yes," Oshitari responded, unable to hide the amusement in his voice.
Atobe looked satisfied. "Well, then, let's not waste any more time."
Yukimura leaned forward slightly. "Renji, Atobe has asked us for our consent to release to you—and to him, Tezuka, Oshitari, Tachibana, Fuji and Inui—results of my medical tests and Genichirou's medical tests. Would you care to explain before I make any decision?" His voice was weak, but there was no mistaking the underlying steel in his tone.
Yanagi nodded calmly. "Of course, Seiichi. You remember Sadaharu, here."
Inui Sadaharu's glasses glinted. "Good morning, Yukimura-san."
"Sadaharu and I happened to be reading up a little on JTX and it occurred to us that theoretically, if JTX was in your body, it might have had certain side effects on you. It would certain explain the flu-like symptoms which you have been having, and your resulting collapse on court. A very nice little theory, if I may say so myself."
"… and?" prodded Yukimura.
"If Sadaharu and I are right, and JTX was, or is in your body – as well as Tezuka's – then someone must have introduced it into your diet. Unless you're telling me that you take JTX knowingly—"
"Renji!" roared Sanada.
Yanagi, unafraid, merely cast a cool glance at Sanada. "I hear that you have been allowing Seiichi to practise even though he has been sick."
Sanada looked away.
"Renji," Yukimura said, frowning a little. "I—"
"We will talk about this later," Yanagi informed him, in a tone that brooked no opposition.
"Hn." Atobe gave them his frostiest look. "Return to the question at hand, please."
Yanagi nodded politely. "Of course. Well, Seiichi, when we mooted our theory to Atobe, we were told that the doctors had run similar tests on both you and Genichirou. Atobe has not yet told us why."
Atobe said, sounding slightly miffed: "Ore-sama has not yet had the pleasure of asking the doctors yet."
Yanagi shrugged. "A good place to start, Seiichi and Genichirou, would be to let us know the results of your medical tests. If the doctors have not tested you for JTX, then I think we should speak to them and ask them to do so. If they have already tested you both for JTX, and if there is a positive test, then I think that we can conclude in all likelihood that somehow, there is a pattern of use of JTX, inadvertently or otherwise, amongst the players. And of course I would have further questions for the doctors."
The clock ticked away in the ensuing silence.
Yanagi maintained his placid expression, gazing calmly at both Yukimura and Sanada.
Finally, Yukimura opened his mouth. "Very well."
Sanada straightened up in the next second. "I agree."
Yanagi inclined his head. "Thank you, Seiichi. Thank you, Genichirou."
"There's no time like the present." Atobe snapped his fingers. "Kabaji!"
"Usu."
"Tell the doctors to come in."
"Usu."
The doors to the hospital suite opened and three men in white doctor's coats entered.
"Come in, gentlemen." Atobe waved his hand imperiously in the direction of the three newcomers. "These are the doctors who are in charge of Yukimura. They are all my personal doctors. From left to right: Dr. Aramaki Shinichi, Dr. Sato Takahiro and Dr. Bert Schlessinger. Dr. Aramaki, you may begin."
"Good morning. I am Dr. Aramaki Shinichi. These are my colleagues, Dr. Sato Takahiro and Dr. Bert Schlessinger."
Dr. Aramaki Shinichi was a dignified man of well advanced years. He did not look as if he had a sense of humour, and his tones were crisp as he levelled a pointer at his two colleagues whilst introducing them. Evidently they were used to this; both Dr. Sato and Dr. Schlessinger wore cheerful grins. Dr. Schlessinger was non-Japanese, but he obviously understood the Japanese language.
"Now, Atobe-san has asked that we report the results of the medical tests, one in particular. Before we do any such thing—" Dr. Aramaki turned to face Yukimura and Sanada. "The correct practice is for me to release results only to you or your immediately family members. Now I am being asked to reveal these results to unrelated persons, namely those in this room and those on TV over there. So, consent, object or forever hold your peace."
Yukimura gave a slight nod of his head. "Go ahead. I'm beginning to be a little bit curious."
Dr. Aramaki looked at Sanada. "You."
Sanada bowed slightly. "Yes."
"Very good. Now we will begin. This is the screen which you will all pay attention to when we make our report." Dr. Aramaki waved the pointer in the direction of the hastily-set-up projection screen. "You will all keep quiet while we give the report. Question and answer session will be after the lecture, not during the lecture. Understood? Good. Dr. Schlessinger." He handed Dr. Schlessinger the pointer.
Dr. Schlessinger stepped forward and stood next to the projection screen. He opened his mouth and spoke in perfect Japanese, with just the faintest hint of an accent. "Well, I've been told to sort of introduce what we did, and give some background in a way that laymen can understand. I will begin with the easy part. Here are the names of the subjects on whom we conducted medical tests." He tapped the projection screen with the pointer.
Subject Alpha: Yukimura Seiichi.
Subject Beta: Sanada Genichirou.
"I'm sure you're all wondering why we tested two subjects, instead of just Yukimura-san." Dr. Schlessinger smiled amiably at them. "Let's just finish the introduction first. Our normal procedure is to begin with the usual basic tests. Pulse, blood pressure, temperature, blood test, urine test and so on. Very standard stuff."
Dr. Schlessinger tapped the projection screen with the pointer. "The results of all these basic tests are data that can tell us certain things. The example you're all probably most familiar with would be an unusually high level of glucose in the urine, which is a pretty good indicator that the subject may want to check if he or she is diabetic."
Dr. Sato chimed in, "Of course, we can also test for something specific, meaning that we are looking for something that we have identified. For example, by testing for a specific indicator in the blood sample, we can discover whether the subject is suffering from a particular type of dengue fever. Another example would be a test for a specific controlled substance such as heroin, or amphetamine and so on. In several cases, the basic test results can give us clues that lead us to carry out further, more detailed tests."
Dr. Aramaki clapped his hands sharply. "All right, that is sufficient introduction. Now, we move on to what we have found." He held out his hand to Dr. Schlessinger, who surrendered the pointer.
"I am not going to report in great detail the results of the generic tests. Suffice to say that Subject Alpha has results consistent with someone suffering from the 'flu, and Subject Beta is in excellent physical shape." Dr. Aramaki waved the pointer dismissively. "We are only going to tell you what interested us in the blood test as well as the very interesting result of a very specific test that we conducted. Now, look here." Dr. Aramaki smacked the projector screen with the pointer and what looked like two identical pages of incomprehensible data side by side popped up on the projector screen.
"These are the blood test results. See these two pages side by side? The one on the left sets out the test results for Subject Alpha. The one on the right shows the test results for Subject Beta. See the items circled in red on these two pages? That represents the red blood cell count, which interested us greatly because the red blood cell count is vastly higher than normal." Dr. Aramaki smacked the projector screen fiercely. "Now see below the line. We tested for the specific substance which is commonly known as blood-boosting jetoxil, more usually abbreviated as JTX. Now, the real medical name for JTX is—" Dr. Aramaki went off into an incomprehensible stream of gibberish. "You don't understand? Never mind. Let me tell you this—both test results are practically identical. Positive for JTX." He jabbed the pointer in the direction of Yukimura and then Sanada. "Six times we tested, thrice for each of you, at two-hourly intervals. The readings are all very close. The margin of error is quite negligible. Positive for JTX, both subjects."
"That's—" Sanada began, then halted as Dr. Aramaki glared at him.
"Question and answer session after lecture," the doctor snapped.
"Yes, sir. Please accept my apology."
Dr. Aramaki swung back. "Dr. Sato."
Dr. Sato cleared his throat and took the pointer from Dr. Aramaki. "Current medical knowledge posits that JTX remains in the human body within forty-eight hours after consumption. If a person who has ingested it is not tested within that period, all trace disappears. Now, JTX also has a window period before the blood-boosting takes effect. This window period, on average, is between four to six hours." He pointed to the projector screen.
"Theoretically," added Dr. Schlessinger, "if the purpose was to boost a sports performance, then for good measure, Subjects Alpha and Beta must have ingested JTX at the latest between the hours of nine to eleven yesterday morning, the same day as your match."
Dr. Aramaki took the pointer from Dr. Sato. "That is the end of our lecture," he announced. "Now we will have the question and answer session. Who wants to ask the first question?"
Yanagi Renji raised his hand.
Dr. Aramaki looked hard at him. "Name?"
Yanagi stood up and bowed. "Good morning, Dr. Aramaki. My name is Yanagi Renji."
"What is your question?"
"What caused Seiichi to collapse on court?"
Dr. Aramaki frowned. "Who is Seiichi?"
"Subject Alpha," chorused Dr. Schlessinger and Dr. Sato simultaneously.
Dr. Aramaki's brow cleared. "Ah. Subject Alpha exhibited strong symptoms of what is known as the common 'flu. His sinuses appear to be inflamed, he has a mild throat infection, his temperature hovers at thirty-eight degrees Celsius, or approximately a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, depending on your preference, and he experiences sudden bouts of dizziness. One such bout led him to faint and he collapsed. Next!"
Yanagi raised his hand again, despite the fact that he was still standing. "…I have a second question. Is there a possibility that side effects of JTX triggered Seiichi's collapse on court in the afternoon of Thursday, 28 July?"
Dr. Aramaki paused briefly. "No, we have not been able to draw a positive conclusion due to lack of any medical evidence supporting such a theory."
"Side effects of JTX include flu-like symptoms," Yanagi argued.
Dr Aramaki wrinkled his nose. "Yes. However, there is no way of determining whether these symptoms are genuinely due to 'flu, or a side effect of JTX."
"But you would not rule out such a possibility?" Yanagi asked.
Dr. Aramaki looked at him distastefully. "No, young man, I do not rule out such a possibility. But I reiterate that by no means is this an admission that I concur with your theory that the collapse of Subject Alpha was caused by side effects from JTX." He sniffed. "Could someone else ask the next question, please? I have given this young man enough attention already."
Tachibana Kippei cleared his throat and got to his feet. "Ah, my name is Tachibana Kippei. Doctors, why did you test the two, er, subjects, for JTX?"
There was a pause as the three doctors looked at one another.
Then Dr. Sato spoke, choosing his words carefully. "In our experience, people who are part of the same social or professional circle—which is to say that they spend a great deal of time with each other socially or most likely belong within the same profession or professional category and so on—generally have consumption patterns and other habits in common."
There were several blank faces as everyone tried to comprehend the long-winded statement.
Fuji Syuusuke, who had hitherto maintained his silence, now shattered it in clarion tones. "You mean, because Tezuka Kunimitsu tested positive for JTX, you decided to test both subjects for JTX, because they're all Japanese professional tennis players who travel on the pro circuit together?"
Dr. Sato murmured delicately, "Well …"
Dr. Schlessinger looked at the ceiling apologetically.
Dr. Aramaki folded his arms defensively. "This is our experience. When we saw the high red blood cell count, we were alerted to the fact that there was this irregularity, which had to have some sort of explanation. JTX had already made its presence felt amidst one of the Japanese pros. So it was something that we, all three of us, instinctively felt should be looked into." He looked around. "I think that none of you here will be sorry that we carried out these tests." He turned to face Atobe, Tezuka, Yukimura and Sanada. "You will have to decide whether you want to report this—and to whom. That is not my business, but it is important because it has an impact on your tournament and your career." He looked from Yukimura to Sanada. "Now, which one of you is Subject Alpha?"
"I am," answered Yukimura, unamused.
"You need a lot of rest," Dr. Aramaki told him sharply. "You will remain under the care of Dr. Schlessinger and Nurse Shimano, who will monitor your condition. Do not disobey them, or you will end up being confined for much longer."
Atobe glanced around. "Are there any more questions?"
"Yes." Tezuka stepped forward and bowed. "My name is Tezuka Kunimitsu. I have something to ask Dr. Aramaki, Dr. Schlessinger and Dr. Sato." Tezuka fixed a steady gaze on the three doctors. "Please help us to find out how we ingested JTX." Tezuka's face was extremely serious. "We do not know how it happened. We would never take controlled or banned substances. But this has happened to three of us here—and we would like to stop this from happening again. May we consult you from time to time on this matter? JTX is new to us. As we are not medical experts, we would be grateful if you could give us some advice. Please help us." Tezuka bowed again.
"There's no need for that, Tezuka," Atobe said loftily. "Aramaki-sensei and the others will assist. They are all my personal doctors."
Dr. Aramaki held up a hand. "One moment, Atobe-san." He looked at Atobe. "May I?"
Atobe inclined his head graciously. "Certainly."
Dr. Aramaki addressed Tezuka. "I like you, the way you talk. So, yes, I give you my personal word—I will help you. Takahiro? Bert?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
Atobe raised an eyebrow. "We are done with this part, I believe...?"
There were nods all round; no one had any further questions or requests.
"You may leave then. Tell Nurse Shimano to return in another hour."
Dr Aramaki frowned. "Atobe-san, Subject Alpha's condition has stabilised, but he is not well. He cannot be allowed to remain awake for extended periods of time, because his body has to heal, and sleep is absolutely crucial."
Atobe nodded. "Not more than one hour."
Dr. Aramaki bowed.
No sooner had Kabaji bolted the doors behind the doctors when Tachibana spoke up.
"I have a very bad feeling about this. First it was Tezuka, and now the doctors say that Yukimura and Sanada have tested positive for JTX as well. I think we have gone beyond coincidence and theory now—there's obviously something very wrong here."
"It's like food poisoning," observed Fuji.
"It needs to be someone who has enough control—and enough opportunity," Oshitari murmured, sliding a look at Inui and Yanagi. "Perhaps we should discuss how this pattern developed."
Tachibana nodded. "We must find out how it happened and who is behind this. But if we tested the others as well…?"
Inui adjusted his glasses. "Tezuka, Yukimura-san and Sanada-san were all tested immediately after a match. Hence their positive results would be logical, since the only reason for taking JTX would be to boost athletic performance. But the others haven't got matches. If we did test them, and there are no positive results, what can we conclude about the motive? Can we say that the perpetrator's motive was to ensure that Tezuka and the others won their matches?"
Fuji cradled his chin in the palm of his hands. "But why now…? It's not unusual for athletes to be called up for random drug tests after a match, so why give them JTX…? The testing regime is even stricter than before—the chances of getting caught have increased. It's as if they want Tezuka to be caught."
Atobe, who had been carrying on a very quiet conversation into one of his mobile phones, now put away the mobile phone and raised his voice. "Attention."
There was an abrupt halt to all conversation.
Atobe had settled back in his seat. His gaze was sharp and focused as his eyes roved from one face to the next. "I do believe that it is time for ore-sama to tell you a story."