Too Close,yet too Far
by Sessrin Koshimae (Shunrei Ryuzaki)
Disclaimer: The characters of Prince of Tennis isn't mine.
Chapter 14: The Other Side of Ryuzaki Sakuno
...
Two months before Ryoma and Sakuno met at the train station..
She turns around and sees him staring back at her. 'What's the matter?'she thought. No one can stop her now. She already decided to move to Japan and there's no turning back as of this frowns and he know what it meant. He's sitting at her study table awkwardly. He sighed to himself and cupped his chin with his right hand.
"You don't have to watch me pack my things, Nii-chan. I know you'll miss me." she said.
"Naah.. Didn't I have any rights to see if you're doing just fine, li'l sis?" he said then grins back at her.
Sakuno stopped and put down the dress on her hand to her bed and smiled back to her brother.
"But you could always go to Japan to visit me. I'm sure Kaede-nii will allow you to go." Sakuno replied.
Ryuzaki Owaru raised a brow to his younger sister and frowns.
"I am not at the right place to decide about that, Saa-chan." A cold and strong manly voice intercedes their conversation.
Sakuno and Owaru turn their heads to the direction of where the voice came from and sees their older brother standing at the door frame of Sakuno's room.
"Kaede-nii-chan." Sakuno uttured. Ryuzaki Kaede shares the same reddish brown eyes and hair with his younger siblings. He's the first child in the main family which made him the heir to be the next leader of the whole Ryuzaki Family. Kaede is a sixteen year old lad with a cold and stoic handsome face and well build body frame (comparable to Tezuka Kunimitsu). He has a strong and dominant personality. Kaede is a true blue genius that his IQ surpasses other members of their family. Despite his cold attitude towards others, Kaede is a very responsible and protective big brother to his younger siblings especially to their sister, Sakuno. He always keeps an eye and tracks them to make sure they're free from any harm or danger. These attitude of him started when their mother, Ryuzaki Sayu died from a certain type of leukemia (which Sakuno suffered the same disease years later) when he was seven years old, Owaru at six, and Sakuno at the age of three.
On the other hand, Ryuzaki Owaru is a fifteen year old happy-go-lucky type of kid. Unlike his older brother, Kaede, Owaru isn't a geeky type. He may have an above average IQ compared to other kids at his age but he doesn't have any interest about books and studying. He loves to take a nap wherever he could and always eats whatever Sakuno cooked or prepared for them. Owaru is the athletic one than his siblings. He loves sports and plays a lot of it. He always argued to his brother due to the pranks he always did at their mansion but still shares a good buddy-brother relationship with him. Like Kaede, Owaru held a lot of care and tends to be over protective to Sakuno.
The last child within the Ryuzaki Main Family is Ryuzaki Sakuno. She's the Princess of the Clan. She's a late bloomer according to her older brother, Kaede. People within their clan think that she isn't special unlike her two brothers. Unbeknownst to them, Kaede and Owaru discovered her true capabilities. Sakuno is an inborn math wizard and a formidable tactitian. She just didn't like fame and unnecessary attentions from everyone which leads her to be come a shy little girl. Sakuno's dream is to live a normal life outside the clan's grips and consequences. Being part of a wealthy family has a lot of disadvantages to her. She wasn't allowed to go outside their premises without her personal bodyguards and maids. She felt all alone. If it wasn't of her two brothers maybe she's living in a lifeless world now.
Kaede and Owaru are aware of her dreams. They also shares the same dream but their birth had bind the three of them in their fates as the heirs of the Ryuuzakis. They learned that their paternal grandmother, Ryuzaki Sumire is the very first one to break the tradition within their family. Sumire is the Lady of the clan but she left her position and her fifteen year old son, Ichiro to them and went back to Japan to live a peaceful and normal life that she wants. Sakuno decided to follow the footsteps of her grandmother and stands on her own decisions. Their father disagreed to her wish to go to Japan and live with her grandmother but with the insistent of her two brothers, their father finally agreed in a deal that when Sakuno come at the right age, she'll go back to France to fulfill her duties as an heir of Ryuzaki Zaibatsu.
"Won't he allow you to come to see me?" Sakuno asked Kaede.
"I don't think so. You must know by now how we live in this household for the past years." Kaede replied.
Sakuno gave him a faint smile.
"You don't have to worry, Saa-chan. This brother of yours will surely find a way to see you." Owaru said.
"We will find a way." Kaede agreed.
"Am I too selfish, Nii-chan? This would be the first time I'll go away from the two of you." Sakuno asked somberly.
"No. You're just trying to fulfill your dreams. Maybe someday, I would be strong enough like you and try to have a normal life outside this mansion." Owaru said.
"Live a life to the fullest, Saa-chan. You knew I could never have a simple and normal life. Please fulfill a dream I couldn't reach and be happy, Sakuno." said Kaede.
"Hai, Owaru-nii, Kaede-nii. Doumo Arigatou." Sakuno replied.
...
The rain is falling hard outside and it seems it would continue until tomorrow afternoon. He looked outside the window and sees the raindrops hitting the concrete driveway and the plants around the area. It almost midnight and they aren't any news of whereabouts of the kidnapped children. Ryoma kept his attention to the conversation within the room. He looked at his left side and sees Mayuki commanding and arguing with the communication officers of the Ryuzaki Family. He looked at her face and sees her purple eyes nearly droopy because of tiredness and exhaustion.
"The School Bus had been traced near at the Chiba Area. We'll continue investigating and infiltrating Hinamori's Command Center to find Master Seiran and his friends. " Sumaru reported to Mayuki.
"Please give me an updated report every hour. I expect that before the sun rises, we'll know the exact location of the children." Mayuki replied.
"Yes, Mayuki-sama. As you wished." Sumaru said. He bowed in front of her and leaves the room.
"I'll never forgive them if something's wrong happened to my children." Momoshiro blurted out.
"The Ryuuzaki Family wants to apologize for this event, Momoshiro-san. Rest assured to know that we're doing our best to save the children." Mayuki said apologetically.
"Nya! I'm just wondering." Kikumaru said.
Ryoma raised a brow but didn't say anything.
"Me too. I'm kinda confused. Why is it that Shusuke, Kunimitsu and Kaouru seem to be involved with this family conflicts?" Oishi asked.
Shusuke revealed his sapphire colored eyes. Kunimitsu seems unaffected and Kaoru shrugged his shoulders. Sadaharu touches the bridge between his eyeglasses.
"It isn't only them are involve. Takashi and I are also involved to the Ryuzaki Family. Shusuke's and Kunimitsu's Family had been serving the Ryuuzaki Family as one of their branch family. Kaoru recently joined the private army of the Ryuzaki due to my insistent. Takashi's family is an affiliated family of the Ryuzakis." Sadaharu explained.
"Oh, so that leave the three of us, I mean, Eiji, Ryoma and I aren't involved." Oishi replied.
"No. Ryoma is involved. Don't forget he's Sakuno-chan's husband and Seiran-kun's father." Kaoru intercedes.
"Right." Takashi said. "Now I think we should try to take a rest for now. It seems everyone of us especially Asagiri-san is exhausted." he continued.
"I agree." said Shusuke.
... She stares at the falling raindrops outside her window. Her shoulder lenght reddish brown hair softly flows at her back and her eyes shine somberly.
"Kaede-nii-chan, Owaru-nii, Rui-sama. Please tell me want to do. I don't want to lose anyone again." she murmured.
"I've already tainted my hands with blood. I went against my own principle. I killed a man who tried to kill Ryoma. Now, I'm just a mere murderer. I don't want to lose him. I don't want to lose Seiran. Kaede-nii-chan, please help me to have a nice different point of view with regards to this. Owaru-nii, please help me to have enough strenght to protect the lives of my remaining love ones. Rui-sama, please... please help me to keep myself alive."
Tears from her eyes flows on her cheeks.
...
"I can't believe it. Sakuno-sama is married to the Tennis Superstar Echizen Ryoma!" Ryoma heard one of the servants said outside his designated room.
"Shh... don't say it at loud. Mayuki-sama might punish us." Other one says.
"How is she anyway? I heard they summoned Dr. Terada because she's in pain."
"I don't know. She's enduring all the pain she's suffering lately. That's isn't really nice. She isn't really recovered yet from her operation."
Ryoma opened his door which surprised the two servants.
"Where is she?" Ryoma asked monotonously.
...
Ryoma walked to the dark hallway within the Ryuzaki Mansion. His footsteps are firm but silent like his mood showing at his face. He turned left and sees the room he's been searching for. He knock on the door twice before entering the room. The room's ambiance is dark and cold. There is only a dimlight can be shown within. He saw the canopy of the big bed at the center of the room. Raindrops can be heard outside as the thunder flashes its at the dark sky.
"Ryoma?" He heard a feminine voice. "What are you doing here?" she continued. "We have to talk, Sakuno." He replied.
A shadow emerged from the one side of the bed and approaches him. A light flashes from the outside and he saw the long brown tresses flowing at her side with her brown eyes staring and shining somberly back at him.
"Of course. This is inevitable isn't?" Sakuno said.
She sat at the couch near her and lifted slowly the hem of her long white nightgown. He walked near her but stopped and stood opposing her position.
"Tell me. Why did you deceive this husband of yours?" Ryoma asked.
"I didn't really have any intention to deceive you, Ryoma?" she quickly replied.
"So how come you are still alive? What happened to you that night?"
Ryoma heard her sighed and sees her closed her eyes.
"That was a terrible night. Rui-sama purposely gave up his chance to live just to save me. Do you know how hard it is for me? To have a life with exchange to the life of others? Do you know how hard it is for me to gamble to the death with only a twenty percent success of the operation? It is hard. It is painful. For the third time, I lose someone so precious to me."
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"I don't want to see you suffer any longer because of me. The Operation's success rate was very low. I don't want you to endure the pain for such a long time. It would be better for me if you wouldn't see me die."
"How am I suppose to go on in my life now? With Seiran and Sakura's lives in danger, I don't know what would happen to us right now."
"Ryoma, listen. I promise I'll make sure Seiran would be saved by us. But promise me this one to me..."
"What is it?"
"Keep Seiran away from me and to our family."
"Why?"
"So he won't suffer the way I do. I'll make sure he would have a normal life and make the clan much better before his succession."
"How about us?"
Sakuno stares back at him. She lowers her head so he won't see her teary eyes.
"It's the end for us, Ryoma. After this problem solved, I want to file a divorce." she replied.
...
"Seiran-kun, where are we now?" Sakura asked while clinging to her brother's arm. She's been crying at his side for sometime. They were in a dark room but Seiran could hear the rain from the outside. He looked at his side and sees the two Momoshiros sitting at each other side.
"I don't know, Sakura. But have faith. I know she'll find a way to save us." Seiran replied.
"Who is she?" Kei asked.
"Mayuki-san." Seiran replied. They heard the door slowly opened. They turned their attention to the intruder and sees a woman in her sleeping kimono entered the room. She has a shoulder lenght black hair and a pair of green eyes.
"Seiran? Seiran? Are you still awake?" she whispered.
"Yes. Is that you, Akiko-san?" Seiran murmured.
"Hai. Please don't make any noise. We'll plan how to get you away from Papa's army." she said.
...