The Tea Prince
Part Fourteen: Hibiscus
After the zoo, Yuuki, Shun, and Ichiro went to the park next to the new gardens. Ichiro was well aware of the security detail. He didn't want to alarm Yuuki. Shun was an empathetic child, who fed off most of the emotions of people, especially his mother. Ichiro had rarely seen a more sensitive child. Although, he shouldn't have been so surprised. He would never tell Yuuki how much Shun was like Soujiro.
When they settled for lunch, Ichiro had noticed the security detail had changed. There were even more of them. Shun had settled down for a bit to get some rice and tofu. Ichiro excused himself, saying he had to check in with the hospital. He had decided that it was time to take a proactive approach. He was hoping that the guards were supposed to be following him, too.
Sure enough, he was followed as soon as he went into one of the public restrooms. Luckily, there was no one else around. He didn't go into one of the stalls. He was faster than the one guard, surprising him by waiting for him to come in.
"I know how you guys work," said Ichiro.
"Nishikado-sama," bowed the guard.
"It's sensei. I earned that title," corrected Ichiro. "Why are you following us? Did he give you orders to?"
The guard wouldn't lift his head. He was too frightened to. "Not you, Nishikado-sensei. We are supposed to protect the woman and the boy, but you were with them. We had to report back to Nishikado-sama."
"He's here, isn't he? That's why there are more of you? You're here because he's here. The big commotion is about the opening of those gardens. I overheard some of them talking about it. He and his friends are here. Tell him that I want to talk to him privately. Tell him that if he wants to see Shun, then he'll have to talk to me first."
"Yes, Nishikado-sensei."
"Go."
The guard bowed even lower and then backed out of the restroom. Ichiro left the restroom. He was confident that Soujiro would do exactly what he said. After all, he knew his younger brother better than most people did.
He returned to the picnic all smiles. Yuuki wondered out loud, "Why are there so many people? What's going on?"
"The gardens just opened," replied Ichiro.
Yuuki said, "I'd like to see them. Inspiration is wherever you can find it."
"I want to go to the playground," said Shun in between bites.
"Why don't we do both?" suggested Ichiro. "We'll go to the playground, and then we'll visit the gardens. You've still got at least a roll of film left, Shun-kun."
Shun nodded. Ichiro looked at him. He couldn't see much of Yuuki, but he had his mother's strength. Ichiro couldn't help, but think of the times he had watched over him. He was like his own son. They were his family when he thought he had none. When he thought he hadn't deserve one after turning his back on sixteen generations of tradition. As far as he was concerned, Shun was the future.
He watched Shun doing something that he thought was a bit familiar and a bit unsettling. Shun had the cup from his insulated bottle in his hands. He was swirling it about in deep concentration. It looked like he was trying to figure out how to keep it swirling without spilling a drop.
"Shun, stop that and drink it," said Yuuki. She was bothered by it more than Ichiro was. Shun stopped immediately and drank from his cup.
* * *
Soujiro had just done his speech when his cell phone went off. He disappeared backstage when he saw the text message. He wasn't shocked that his brother had cornered one of the guards. Shouichiro wasn't a fool. However, Soujiro wasn't that thrilled to have the corners turned on him. Soujiro dialed the number that he had for Shouichiro.
"Hello," greeted his brother.
The brothers sounded quite similar on the phone. "You wanted to speak with me, Aniki. You've got my attention."
"I'll call you back," said Shouichiro, promptly hung up.
Soujiro began to pace back and forth. The others joined him. Akira asked him, "What are you waiting for?"
"A very important phone call," he answered. His phone rang. He glanced at his phone it was a map of the park that his security detail had sent him. It was followed by a message from Shouichiro. "I have to go," Soujiro announced.
"Something strange is going on," said Tsukasa, but he made no move to really stop Soujiro who had took off walking in a very fast pace.
As soon as he was out of sight, he took off running. Soujiro was headed towards the playground of the park. He saw that one of the guards was with Shouichiro. Soujiro didn't know what to think. He hadn't really thought about how he would feel seeing his brother after all those years.
Shouichiro was the tallest out of the Nishikado brothers. His hair was cropped short and his glasses were a bit different. He had plastic frames before, but now they were think metallic frames. It was a bit of a switch for him to be dressed in jeans and rumpled shirt, while Soujiro was in an Armani suit.
"You didn't have to run all the way here, Soujiro-kun," said Shouichiro with some amusement.
Soujior didn't even realize he was catching his breath. He wasn't out of breath from the sprint, but from the moment. "Aniki," he said. He stopped because he was unsure of what to say.
"That's all you have to say to me after almost nine years?" asked Shouichiro.
"Leave us," ordered Soujiro to the guard, who made a very speedy exit.
"It's good to see you, Soujiro-kun. You've come a long way," observed Shouichiro.
Soujiro felt a surge of anger well up in him. He exploded, not caring about the public display, "You left for nine years! I had to deal with all of it after you left! You kept Shun and Yuuki a secret from me! Why the Hell are you here now?!"
Shouichiro had expected it. He had deserved it. However, he didn't take all of it willing it. "Don't pretend that you had no choice," said Shouichiro. "We all have a choice. You just weren't strong enough to live with the consequences. And that's also my reason for not telling you anything."
"I know what happened when he was born," said Soujiro. "I honestly didn't even know until I read it. I shouldn't have had to read it in a report." He added almost spitefully. "You also have horrible handwriting. Did you learn that in medical school?"
Shouichiro ignored that last bit. He said, "Just leave them be. You don't like things in the family business as it stands. Why would you want to drag them into it?"
"He's my son," said Soujiro softly.
"How do you know that for sure?" challenged Shouichiro.
"Why would she be so intent on keeping me away from him, if he wasn't?"
"What kind of mother would she be if she allowed a stranger who she didn't trust around her child?"
"This isn't a damn game, Shouichiro," snapped Soujiro.
"No, it's not," retorted Shouichiro. Soujiro had the urge to strike Shouichiro down. "You want to hit me? Would that make you feel better?"
This was just utterly frustrating. If there was one thing that Soujiro couldn't stand from people were people who assumed they knew him so well. Shouichiro knew him all to well and knew exactly which buttons to push to get a reaction from him. It was always like that ever since they were children. "It's not fair. I'm where you were supposed to be and you're were I should be," muttered Soujiro.
"You haven't told anyone about this have you?" asked Shouichiro.
"Just a few people."
"What about Okaasan and Otousan?"
"No. Of course not."
"Good. Just forget everything and enjoy your life."
"That's just it. I can't. You said that you would at least get me a meeting with Shun. I'm your brother. You could at least show me some compassion. Don't bait me only to tell me that I can't even meet him," said Soujiro.
Shouichiro sighed. "Have you asked yourself why it's so important to you? Why do you want to meet him so badly? Is it because you were denied and now you're acting like a child who only wants something because you can't have it? I am your brother, Soujiro-kun, and I know you. Probably better than anyone else. You can't be a father only when you want to be. Shun's already lost his father. You don't' remember Aki, do you?"
"Should I?"
"He was my friend in Kyoto. We used to stay in his family's inn. He was closer to my age so we played together. He adored Shun and worshipped Yuuki. Do you honestly think that you deserve them?"
Leave it to Shouichiro to tell Soujiro what he didn't want to hear. Shouichiro was unyielding. "Tell me the truth. Is he my son?" Shouichiro was taking too long to answer him. He demanded, "It's a simple yes or no. Tell me!"
"Yes," replied Shouichiro plainly. "I found out when Yuuki wanted to switch doctors. It was my first hospital. I couldn't accept her changing Shun's doctor without a good reason. I took it personally. That's when she told me."
Soujiro raked his fingers through his hair. "Really?"
"Yes, I didn't believe her at first. She got defensive about it. So I did a DNA test using my own sample. Cheek swabs. The lab results came back, showing a strong match. Not enough to be his father, but not enough to rule me out as a close relative. I was mad."
"You're not the only one," muttered Soujiro.
"Not at her, baka, but at you. All I could think about was how irresponsible you were. You got a girl pregnant and left her to fend for yourself. I was called up when the labor took a horrible turn. It was a mess. It was also the first time I ever saw a C-section in my life. So I was pissed. I was ready to call you up and force you to do something, but Yuuki stopped me. She pleaded with me not to say anything to you or anyone. I guess I just broke that promise."
"Did she say why? Did she say why she didn't want me to know? If I had know, I would have been there."
"I told her that, but she told me also what happened between the two of you. She didn't want you to give up your future. I think she might have still been in love with you, but that was changing. I saw it happening. All that love she gave to Shun. She knew the scandal it would all cause. She didn't want Shun to be in the middle of all that. She said also that you didn't seem happy. I couldn't agree with her more. Happy people don't come out of our family. At least not without a fight."
"What do you think our parents would have done?" asked Soujiro.
"They would not have been pleased by this. They were getting on about me getting married and producing heirs before I left."
"Shun is the heir. I'd make sure of it."
"Not legitimately. Yuuki won't even let him have any tea. Just right now she was bothered by him swirling juice in a cup. Also bloodlines matter, Yuuki's a commoner. Aki's family gave her such a hard time over that among other things. What makes you think our parents would make it easy on her? Or Shun? What will you do? Would you just take Shun and leave her with nothing?"
"I'll do whatever it takes."
"I've had year to think about it. This is the best solution. No one gets hurt and Shun is happy. I'm not a parent, but I work with children. I've seen many parents who love their children who have nothing, but they're happy because they're children are happy."
"Tell Yuuki that she doesn't have to worry. I would never do anything to hurt Shun. I also want to speak to her directly."
"She doesn't want to speak to you. She said that implied you want to do something to her."
"I was angry, surprised, and frustrated. Look we'll even make it formal. She can have her lawyer there."
"Yuuki doesn't really have one on retainer, Soujiro-kun."
"Just tell her that. She'll know what I mean. And you'll need to be there, too. Please."
"Who else?"
"No one else. It'll be you three against me."
"I'll see what I can do. I'll call you from the hospital. Or call my hospital. I can't make any promises."
Soujiro nodded. "Can I at least see him?" he asked.
Shouichiro nodded. "They're in the playground. Try not to look to obvious. There are mothers around here who would claw your eyes out if they think you'll do anything to their children."
Soujiro watched a bit further back as Shouichiro went to join them. He saw Yuuki chasing Shun who was laughing and so cute. Yuuki was so lively. Her hair was natural and curly; she pinned it half up. She was laughing as well. Now that was the girl that Soujiro remembered.
"Ojisan!" declared Shun as he raced up to Shouichiro and clamped his arms around his uncle's leg. "I missed you."
"I was only gone for a couple of minutes," Shouichiro told him.
"Then why do I feel like I've ran a marathon?" asked Yuuki as staggered up to him.
Shouichiro retorted, "That's because you're out of shape and you have an overactive child." He said to Shun, "I can't feel my leg. Let go."
"I'm not letting go," said Shun. "I want you to stay."
Shouichiro looked at Yuuki who shrugged. "You said I was out of shape. I'm not helping you. Get him off yourself."
"Now that's so immature. What kind of mother are you? I can't feel my foot now," chuckled Shouichiro. Yuuki laughed at him. "Don't stand there laughing." Shouichiro knew what to do to get Shun off, so he poked him under his arms.
Shun giggled and whined, "No fair! It tickles!"
His uncle picked up and give him a kiss on the forehead. Soujiro felt tightness in his chest. "Sheesh, Soujiro, don't take off like that!" exclaimed Akira, who came up behind him.
"Shh," whispered Soujiro.
Akira wasn't quiet because of Soujiro. He stunned into silence. He saw Shun with Shouichiro and Yuuki. He looked at Shun, then at Soujiro. "So this was the meeting that was so important? Do you remember Shizuka's birthday party? The one where she announced that she wasn't going to be an heiress anymore?"
"I don't think that anyone's ever forgotten it."
"Tsukushi introduced Yuuki to you for the first time. She warned Yuuki to not even look at you because she'll get pregnant. Who knew she'd be right."
Soujiro glared at him. "Like there's no chance that this couldn't happen to you."
"It's been a while since I've seen your brother. Anyone else looking at them would think he's his father." That feeling in Soujiro's chest got tighter. Yuuki took Shun's hand and he took Shouichiro's hand and they left the park. Shun was swinging back and forth between them. They did look like a family.
"Are you all right?" asked Akira with concern.
"I will be," answered Soujiro. "I've got to make things right first."
AN: This chapter ran a bit long because of the dialogue. I think that there is some progress. I like Shouichiro as I have written him for this story. I wanted to get this chapter out before Christmas, but I kind of forgot. There a couple more chapters that are ready to go. Thanks for all of your reviews and I hope that everyone had great happy holidays. Happy New Year to Everyone!
By the way, the title for this particular chapter is a type of tea. I've had floral teas before including rose as well. I just wanted to use that because of the gardens that were mentioned.
Disclaimer: Kamio Youko owns Hana Yori Dango. I own this story. Please use this story with my permission.