A/N: Apparently, I wrecked more havoc with the last chapter again. Oops. And I have to say that I probably will (again) in this chapter. Double oops.
All I can say about that is that I'm just reminding you, dear reader, that there's more than just Seiichi-Reiko drama to resolve. Seigaku's conflict with Reiko (primarily Syuusuke and Tezuka) still exists. And there's the question of Atobe and Sanada (which actually links in with Seii-Rei) to resolve. I hope that excuses (at least to some degree) my tendency towards wrecking more havoc, adding more little things that don't make sense just yet, etc.
Anyway, as promised, this chapter answers the questions as to just what happened exactly towards the end of Chapter 17 – Drama Central 101, if you haven't caught on yet! I hope it lives up to expectations despite its rather short length; do enjoy! -iirse
Disclaimer: Original names, characters and places don't belong to me. I don't own anything except the general ridiculous plot-less plot and OC(s), if any. Yadablah.
As Fate Wills It
Chapter 19 – Torn
Sitting on the edge of the natural jetty, she stared unseeingly out at the water. Across the picturesque sky, Reiko didn't see the cloud formations, but rather images from the past.
Contrary to popular belief, Seiichi hadn't been her first boyfriend.
That was one secret that Kevin, and only Kevin, knew.
She had just reached the top of the pro circuits back then, a short year after she left Seigaku, when she met another young player like her at one of those damnable parties that her manager had managed to coerce her into attending. Startlingly, they had clicked, and they had dated.
It wasn't till a few months later, when Kevin had dragged her to a club – he somehow managed to sneak them in – that she had saw him making out with some nameless girl. At first, she had thought that perhaps he was drunk, but when her sharp ears picked up their conversation over the club music…
"When will you be done with that child, darling? I miss having you around."
"Let me get what I can out of her first, babe. You do want me to succeed, don't you? To reach the top?"
That was when she snapped. At that point in time, she was already being trained as Takeuchi heiress, so she reined in the instinct to fling something at them – her aim was impeccable, after all. No, she simply played along, continuing to appear to be the guileless girlfriend.
But in actuality… In actuality, she was manipulating her games so she would face him in competition, and when she did, she destroyed him on the courts. Then she publicly announced she couldn't date a guy who couldn't keep up with her. Following that, Reiko had made use of her family's information network to find out everything about him and the girl in the club, before using what connections she had to destroy them.
Cold. Vicious. Utterly vindictive.
Kevin had caught her making contact with the head of that operation, so to speak, and wrung the story out of her. It was only then that Reiko had broken down and cried.
After that, she learnt that the circuit was all quicksand and suspicion. There was no room to trust. And when Inui leaked her number to Yanagi so long ago… It hit too close to home, and she'd closed off. Sometimes, she did wonder what Tezuka was thinking back then: Inui had all the data and actually passed on some information before (albeit minor information), yet he wasn't censured. And she had done nothing but play one doubles game and garnered his disapproval.
But it wasn't the point, really.
I trusted you, Seii. I trusted you not to try and use our relationship to put Rikkai in the advantage. To try and mess me up in the hopes that Hyotei would be affected and easier to defeat.
She tilted her head back, trying to push back the tears that formed at the memory of what she saw in her tipsy haze, but the image refused to be blocked out, dancing on the back of her eyelids as clear as the photo that Jiroh had somehow obtained and slid under her old room in the nursery wing. How he had managed to locate her in the massive Atobe estate was a mystery, but Reiko supposed she should thank the narcoleptic.
Otherwise, without the photographic proof, I might have thought it was just an alcohol-induced hallucination. Because I thought we had something real, Seii.
In her mind's eye, she saw it again, and remembered how real it had seemed.
It had been after the training camp, and both teams had decided that in light of their improvement at camp, they could cancel just one day of training. She'd met Seiichi in Kanagawa instead of him coming to Tokyo for once.
"Where are we going?" Reiko had asked, curious as he'd told her to dress nice and nothing more than that. She was certain they weren't about to be playing tennis, but that was it.
Seiichi merely smiled at her, and led her towards a restaurant. It was nothing huge and ritzy like those that Keigo frequented, but rather quaint and elegant. "I've wanted to take you here for a while. Okaa-san raves about this place."
While Reiko never enjoyed restaurants, she found that she actually rather liked this one. The food was good, and had the touch of home cooked rather than professionally prepared, and the atmosphere cozy. Back then, she had seen it was a compromise – a proper date for Seiichi without making her uncomfortable.
Now… She didn't know what to think anymore. Was it even real?
"Rei?" A call from behind snapped her out of her train of thought.
Please don't make me destroy you, Seiichi. If I don't, Keigo would.
Reiko turned. "Hey, Kei-nii."
"You know how they call Seii and me the power couple of the circuit? Well, we're not. In actuality, the power couple of the circuit belongs to Rikkaidai in its entirety."
"You don't mean to say…?"
"Yes, I do mean to say."
Atobe slammed his laptop shut, rubbing his temples in frustration. Attempting to work on the presentation that he was due to deliver to the German branch on Friday when he was so distracted was certainly failing. He'd started on it in the hopes of clearing his mind, but it obviously wasn't working, considering that the conversation he had with Reiko was playing on repeat in his mind to the point that he couldn't concentrate.
The diva still could remember the first thought that occurred to him: So you finally caved, did you, Sanada?
The next had been it's all my fault, I should have warned them.
The guilt ate at him, because he had known.
All those interrupted rants had always been neatly cut at the point where he was about to tell Sanada to stop being so desperate, to stop pining over someone who obviously saw him only as a friend. Hell, if Yukimura had been interested, didn't Rikkai's Emperor think that he'd have done something about it long ago? – especially since they'd known each other since middle school at least!
Yet Atobe had kept mum.
I don't know why I did.
But that was a lie, Atobe knew. There was no point lying to himself any longer. Misaki was right. Reiko was right. 'Keisaki,' as Oshitari so affectionately termed it, didn't exist. At least on his part, it didn't. He couldn't speak for Misaki.
No, considering the circumstances, the time for denial is over.
Atobe had known all along that Sanada had harbored more than platonic feelings for his captain – it had been more than obvious even back in middle school. Especially back in middle school, when Yukimura had been sick and unable to play. The determination he had displayed at Kantou back then, and his dismay when he had lost was more than what a vice-captain and friend would have felt and shown, no matter how close.
Yet he always avoided speaking of Sanada's attraction to Yukimura point blank, because some part of him hoped that it was untrue – no matter how much evidence to the contrary. And another part didn't want to be shunned completely from the Emperor's 'social circle,' so to speak. That would have happened if he had bluntly said it aloud.
What was that phrase again? All or nothing? Well, Atobe always thought himself as an 'all or nothing' type of person, but it seemed that in this case, he leaned towards 'something is better than nothing.'
And now… He recalled Reiko's detached expression as she blandly told him what happened.
"I'm sure you know I stayed after the rest of you went upstairs, but I headed to get some water to try and prevent hangovers. When I came back, I saw Seii making out with Sanada. I'm not sure what happened after that, but when I snapped out of it, it was barely daylight and I was in my room in the nursery wing. I found a photo of what I saw the night before in an envelope that I presumed was slipped under the door, since I apparently had locked it. It was only signed 'AJ.' I returned to my usual room after that, packed light and wrote the notes without waking Misaki-senpai. After I dropped them off, I headed out only to be met by a limo arranged by Jiroh-senpai, who also arranged my plane and other transport here. I can only presume that the photograph was his work as well, since it is his initials."
The guilt nagged at him. It made him wonder what or if anything would have been different if he had said it bluntly rather than go into his rants and cryptic speech. It took much restraint for Atobe not to scream in frustration. He settled for flinging himself upon the duvet on his large bed, closing his eyes against the building migraine. God, he was going to end up with a killer headache like Tezuka and… Sanada.
He wanted so badly to erase that name, that face from his memory.
Because now… Now it was a searing reminder that brought to the forefront of his mind the memory of Rei's expression. It was never detached. Never so cold. Not unless she was so drained emotionally that she couldn't find it in her to even put up an act. Atobe wished she would smirk or mock him or even rage at him – something, anything, was better than this!
And he hadn't told her, hadn't warned her except cryptically, hoping that things would stay in this state forever – him in denial, Rei and Yukimura happy together, Sanada staying silent.
Now, she was paying the price.
Reiko was his baby cousin, his only precious baby cousin. Across the movie screen of his mind, memories flashed. Playing together as children. Reuniting in the middle school circuits after the first game where she called him Monkey King. When she gave him that damnable shirt with the caricature of her saving his head. When they mock-dated to piss Fuji off – and the look on the tensai's face when Atobe was revealed as a cousin at the next family gathering.
He knew what he had to do, of course. It hadn't been said till his mother's birthday party but he long knew that family took care of one another. In their family, they took it one step further: hurt one of ours, and we destroy you. Atobe knew that their grandfather would find out eventually. And knowing Takeuchi Ryou, he would expect Atobe to use both Takeuchi and Atobe names to wreak havoc on the culprit.
He had a choice to make.
Atobe knew that Yukimura was likely drunk. Rikkai's captain's alcohol tolerance was abysmal, and judging from the times that they had crossed paths in parties with alcohol, Yukimura was on the verge of passing out when Atobe (and subsequently Reiko) had left. Chances were that he was out cold when Sanada instigated things. Reiko had been tipsy as well, it wouldn't be surprising for her to have seen Sanada possibly lip-raping her ex-boyfriend and then take it as a make out session between consenting partners.
He could tell their grandfather that, destroy Sanada and cut him out of their society. Out of sight, out of mind. The Atobe and Takeuchi names alone would have nearly enough clout. Atobe wasn't deluding himself on the amount of power his family names held. Maybe then Rei and Yukimura would suspect that there was something wrong and patch up. It was a shot in the dark, but a chance nonetheless that she could regain that glow she had when they were dating.
Or he could let things run its course with no intervention. Let the destruction happen to Yukimura instead. Equally destructive. Atobe chose to block whatever fantasy-relationship he could have after that, but the vague reminder remained.
The question still remained: Reiko or himself?
Or more simply put: family and duty, or love?
If only I could just do nothing. But duty demanded otherwise.
Absently, Reiko wandered the massive library that took up an entire floor of the villa. It spoke of old world elegance that her cousin enjoyed on occasion – it was why Hyotei's photos at Atobe events were always taken on the grand stair. Normally, she found it too opulent, but right now, it was comforting.
It was so unlike the homely atmosphere that exuded from her minimalist comfort-driven room that was much like her boyfriend's. Oh wait, make that 'ex-boyfriend.' Reiko had forgotten for a moment that she had technically broken up with him. Via letter – rather wimpy of her, but still! It counted.
She slid out her vibrating phone.
Call: Yukimura Seiichi
Reiko stared at it. It wasn't the first call she was receiving from him. The heiress's phone was been spammed by texts and calls from the aforementioned person since she landed in France. The texts had been deleted unread and the calls… She pressed 'reject' for the umpteenth time.
Only Rikkai's captain had been foolish enough to try and call her.
Echizen Reiko never answered the phone when upset. It would figure that he didn't know that.
Others knew better. Ryoga had answered her only text in the affirmative, and conveying what brotherly worry he could. Keigo had sent a message through the French butler that he was keeping an eye on her and would be there as soon as possible. Jiroh had sent the regards of Hyotei's team and told her to take care… Along with too much pocky.
Text: Nakamura Misaki
And Misaki had sent a message every other day. They'd been deleted unread after the first time. But Kei hadn't mentioned a word of Misaki since arriving, which was odd in itself.
Sighing, Reiko caved and pressed 'read.' Reiko-chan, I don't know what's going on (Jiroh refuses to say) but I do know Keigo's over there. We're worried. Please, if you wish to keep mum, at least reply. I don't know if you're okay, and it's terrifying me.
It was probably incredibly similar to other messages that had been relegated to the trash. As a rule, Echizen Reiko didn't read spam-texts. Nonetheless, Misaki deserved an answer at the very least.
I'm fine, senpai. I'm sure Kei has told you already. Mid-text, her phone buzzed with another call. Sighing, Reiko rejected it – Yukimura again. I'm turning off my phone now, so don't worry if I don't reply.
Doing exactly that, she settled into one of the window seats, allowing her thoughts to meander back to her ex-boyfriend and how everything went from perfectly fine to abysmally wrong.
Did you even date me because you liked me, Seiichi?
"Atobe-bocchama, there's a call for you from a Smith Kevin." The butler bowed. "He insists it's urgent, and demanded I interrupt your meal with ojou-sama."
It wasn't much of a meal, Atobe reflected, as his cousin sat to his right, playing with her food and barely eating it. "I'll take it." He replied imperiously.
"Atobe. Put me on speaker? It's a conference call." Kevin's voice was bereft of its normal joking tone.
The diva raised the infamous eyebrow, but conceded to the request. "You're on, Kevin." Reiko's head jerked up at the name – she obviously hadn't been listening when the butler had spoken – but she remained otherwise silent as he perused the list of numbers. "Jiroh? Oshitari? A four-way conference call between France, Japan and the States, Smith?"
"Kev, you're insane." Reiko drily intoned; her voice deadpan. "How on earth are you going to pay for that?"
"It's good to hear your voice too, Reiko-hime-sama." Kevin mockingly replied. "If you must know, I reversed charges on Oshitari. I called for business."
Atobe couldn't resist. "Oshitari, Jiroh, since when did business involve this brat?"
"Tennis, Atobe." Oshitari snapped.
Jiroh interrupted before the others could launch another sniping war. "We don't have time for this. Atobe. We got third place, as promised. Chou-chan's doing well as interim fukubuchou. He does more than Yuushi, I swear. It's finals that are an issue."
Reiko's back had automatically stiffened, Atobe absently noted, as she snapped. "What does finals have to do with anything? We lost at semi-finals. Finals have nothing to do with us. Unless we're talking about Nationals but that competition is next month. Either way, there was no point on putting this on speaker – I'm not going back."
Atobe stared impassively at his cousin. It was an issue they had been arguing over for the past two days he had been here.
"Hyotei won't make it to Nationals' finals if you don't listen, Ray." Kevin answered for the Hyotei players still in Japan, pausing. When Reiko made no reply, he continued. "It was a slaughter."
"Explain." Atobe took over. Slaughter wasn't quite Seigaku's style except for one Fuji Syuusuke, so if his suspicions were right…
… They were. "The Demons, sans Yanagi, simply slaughtered Seigaku." Oshitari's voice was tinged in fear. Any animal in a ten mile radius from his location probably could sniff it out, if Atobe and Reiko could hear it. "Kirihara sat it out, but he was pale and looked sick the whole time – he was terrified. Niou and Yagyuu lost to the Golden Pair, Yanagi lost to Inui again… But Doubles 1 was lost on purpose. I suspect Singles 3 was too. Tezuka was rendered useless – blind, deaf and stupid, on the courts in Singles 2." He tactfully avoided naming Yukimura, but the implication was clear enough for the cousins. "Fuji, under onslaught from Sanada, lost Singles 1.
"Rikkai took the Kantou championship back mercilessly."
Silence permeated the room.
Jiroh softly added. "Even the rest of Rikkaidai looked sick during those matches. The stands were silent."
"Do you understand now?" Kevin put in his two cents worth. "Would you have them go for Nationals blindly, going for it unprepared, Rei?"
The unspoken words were clear: We need you to come back.
It was barely twelve hours later when a limo rolled up to the villa, and a bleached blonde head exited it, bounding up to the main house.
Kevin Smith was greeted in the foyer by Atobe Keigo. "Rei's in her room. Thinking. She won't let me in, but maybe she would listen to reason if it came from someone without a vested interest in seeing her back in Hyotei."
"I understand." The blonde nodded. "Go do your business presentation… thing."
Tipping his head in silent acknowledgement, Atobe started out. "I'll see you two back in Japan once I'm done in Germany then. Ja."
Kevin dropped another nod. Not bothering to watch the Atobe heir go, he made for the stairs, leaving his duffle in the foyer – a servant would bring it up to his usual room later anyway. Instead, he headed for Reiko's room.
The plain cream door, just like the other two on that corridor, was shut as he had expected. Still, a boy could hope. Sighing, Kevin knocked. "Ray, open up. It's me."
"I know it's you, peroxide head." Her waspish reply easily carried. "Kei knocked before he left."
It figured that Atobe wouldn't leave without letting his baby cousin know. Kevin chose to ignore the damnable nickname. At least she was alive enough to insult him. "Let me in, Ray. Come on."
"Swear you won't try and talk me into going back." Reiko demanded, her footsteps coming closer towards the door.
Kevin rolled his eyes. "You know I can't do that, Ray. But you also know your best friend can easily pick locks." It was a convenient talent, he had to admit.
"I hate you and your bleached hair. Who said you were my best friend anyway?" Reiko muttered as she opened the door, heading back to flop on her bed. "Shoot."
"Sweet as always, Ray. You were the one to declare us best friends yourself at the party after the French Open. Oh, the scandals after that…" The blonde chose to settle into one of the beanbags that Reiko had scattered around the suite as was her wont. All her rooms looked the same, regardless of location, honestly. "You shoot. Atobe refused to fill me in."
"Hell, I was drunk, Kev. Like hell I'd date you. You're still mada mada…" She muttered. The use of her catch phrase comforted Kevin a little: it proved that she was still herself to some degree.
"Oh, shut up. I get that we know too much of each other's flaws to ever date." The blonde retorted, steering the conversation back to where he wanted it. "Talk. What happened? Atobe's as tightlipped as a clam."
"It would be just like Kei…" Reiko muttered. Taking a deep breath, she let it out in a sentence she knew her best friend would understand. "Seiic – Yukimura proved to be just like him."
"He did not." Kevin flatly replied in disbelief, when his mind finally comprehended what she meant. The image that he had of Reiko's ex and her not-so-current boyfriends were completely different in his head.
Reiko shrugged off his denial. "He did. Photographic proof. I left it in Japan though. Ask Jiroh-senpai. I thought since it was only the high school circuit, the whole quicksand thing wouldn't be as bad. But who knew. He would survive well in the pro circuits."
Her best friend connected the dots easily. "So you're refusing to go back because summarily, your boyfriend – "
"Ex-boyfriend." The girl interjected.
"Ex-boyfriend," Kevin conceded. "Your ex-boyfriend was trying to make use of you to come out top in the high school circuit."
Reiko shrugged. "For a blonde, you sure pick up fast, peroxide head."
"And for an Asian, you're surprising stupid." The (natural, or so he claimed) blonde shot back. They did so enjoy playing on stereotypes. When Reiko made no reply and kept her back to him, he bulldozed on. "What did you do the last time, Ray, answer me that?"
Her back was turned to him, her face upturned towards the window that took up the entire stretch of wall above her bed, when Reiko answered. "You know what I did, Kev."
"I do, but do you?" Kevin demanded, his voice getting stronger as he went on. "You destroyed the guy, Ray. You walked onto the court pretending to be a guileless young thing, and walked off it a powerful person. Then you proceeded to destroy him and that girl. Where's that powerful girl now, Ray? Why are you hiding?"
When Reiko's eyes met his, they were shining. "I never really felt much with him, Kev. But with Seii, I thought it was really real. I don't think I can walk on that court to destroy him. I don't think I can even pick up the phone to make the necessary calls to destroy him."
"So you would… Do what?" Kevin asked, at a loss. This was his best friend, on the verge of crying. Echizen Reiko hardly ever cried. He didn't need one hand to count the number of times she had. That was how few they were. Yet he didn't want her to throw it all away over some guy.
Reiko shrugged. Truth be told, she wasn't too sure herself. "Probably go back to the pro circuits? I can take those correspondent courses to finish high school – I'm already third year caliber anyway. I know his mother wants him to finish university before going pro, so I'll have a few years to make my mark before I retire to become Takeuchi Reiko, heiress extraordinaire."
"Heiress? His family runs in your circles too, Reiko. You can't run forever." Her best friend reminded her.
Again, she shrugged. "I can try. We do a lot of hosting, Kev. I don't need to go to other parties much, and mine and Kei's… Well, we have full control. If it happens, I'll deal with it then."
"You would leave Hyotei to crash and burn, then?" Kevin softly asked, playing the last card in his hand. It had suddenly occurred to him, and it wasn't a nice card. But it was the only one he had left, and he had to try. "Maybe this… cowardice can be excused, Echizen Reiko, but disloyalty? I never thought it of you."
Instantly, the Princess recoiled as though slapped. "Hyotei has Kei. Has anuie. Will have you. They don't need me."
"If they didn't need you, they won't have lost as horribly as they did to Seigaku." Kevin retorted. "I saw the tapes. I don't know if Keigo showed them to you, but it was absurd. It was a complete mockery of tennis."
Reiko stared at him. It was obvious to the blonde that Atobe had neglected to mention this to his cousin. Or perhaps she hadn't given him the chance to.
"Only your Silver Pair won against Seigaku's Golden. The rest of the matches were so ridiculous you won't think Hyotei was a seeded school." Kevin elaborated. "Jiroh, Oshitari, and uh… Oshitari's redhead… and even that giant dude. They all lost."
"Mukahi. Kabaji." Reiko absently gave him their names, her training mindset taking over instinctively. "Scores and opponents?"
"Doubles 2, 6 games to 4 against that two squabbling Seigaku sophomores. Singles 3, 6 games to 3. Ah, Kabaji's scope of copied moves seemed less than usual. Against some guy that kept spouting percentages and proba-babies. Singles 2, 6 games to 3 against Fuji." Kevin rattled off, his mind having catalogued it under 'Very Bad Tennis Matches Never to Watch Again.'
The way Reiko was staring off into the space beyond his left ear was honestly starting to scare him. "Ray?"
She let out a breath. "It's abysmal."
"I know."
"I'll come back… But don't expect to see me on the tournament courts, or even tournament grounds."
If Atobe had been anyone less, he would have jumped up and punched the air, screaming "YES!" after reading Reiko's message. Instead, he settled for smirking a lot and replying his cousin's message.
"We'll negotiate the latter later, Rei. I'll see you in Japan then."
As he got out of his (chauffeured) limo at the designated Atobe Corp building where the meeting was being held, Atobe had the uncharacteristic urge to whistle.
His eyes darkened suddenly.
It was almost as if his good mood was like a candle that was snuffed out. A car ahead of him, Sanada Genichirou got out. Noticing the Atobe heir looking in his direction, Sanada nodded in acknowledgement.
A living reminder of the dilemma he still had to face…
Atobe haughtily smirked, returning the nod with a slight tilt of his head, before striding into the building like he owned it. Who could blame him? He technically would in a scant few years' time.
No one would suspect that under that façade of rich haughty heir, Atobe was doing his best to force thoughts of the dilemma he was facing out of his mind. No one would suspect that he was hoping that decisions like these would wait for another day. No one would suspect that he was banking everything on fate, destiny and luck to tide him through the question of family and duty or love.
As she exited the plane on Japanese soil once more, Echizen Reiko wondered who could see beyond the arrogant smirk of the Princess of Tennis and see the inner turmoil. She would have to decide soon… Once her grandfather found out…
Would she leave the destruction to Keigo, who knew the unspoken rule as well as she did, and save herself the pain of destroying someone she… loved? Or would she save her cousin the pain – because he would have to destroy the one he liked as well?
Or would she go on her knees to plead clemency for Seiichi, regardless of everything that had happened simply because her heart would not see someone she loved destroyed? And would she plead clemency for them both, because she knew Kei's heart wouldn't, but he could and would overrule it for her?
Kevin reached for her hand in an action so reminiscent of Seiichi that she almost flinched as he squeezed in comfort. As though sensing something was wrong, he released her hand and settled for throwing an arm over her shoulder (an action more usual in their friendship) as they walked towards the limo that they knew awaited them outside the airport.
Neither noticed amethyst eyes narrow at the blonde's actions, and follow them till they were specks to the naked eye.
A/N: To those who guess correctly who saw them, you get a cookie! *munches on rum&spice cookies* Yea I'm high on alcoholic cookies. Anyway, for my usual post-chapter ramble…
This chapter has a lot of introspects and lesser conversation, I know. Largely, these scenes are to help (I hope) illustrate the situation Reiko and Keigo are in. In essence, I'm trying to show the dilemma they are faced with: family, duty, and whatnot versus like and/or love. Hence, the chapter title Torn. I hope I succeeded, and you enjoyed it despite the lack of dialogue.
On a random note, I joined CampNaNoWriMo and am a rebel. It's helping me write faster though, so I probably will have finished drafting all my chapters by mid-July as planned. All that's left after that is extensive revising before posting each week - meaning I should be able to complete this fic by mid-August as planned. It has been more than 2 years, and the end is nigh. If you wanna check up what's the progress, I normally put which chapter I'm writing and editing on my profile. Other rants go on my tumblr (rosenzakura) - it's listed as my homepage on my profile! So if you wanna check (and nag at me), these are just some ways to!
See you next week! -iirse