Disclaimer: I do not own POT

Chapter 36: Believe and Trust

Tezuka could feel his heart hammer at his chest, those words were echoing in his head as he managed to move himself out of the room and into the kitchen to pull out a glass of warm water and some medicine for her to take. Sakuno was still having a fever when his hand pressed down on her forehead just a few moments ago. Tezuka gathered a cool towel and a bowl of water, a thermometer and a jug of water. Sakuno had said to him that she had stolen a glance at him and said that she was not afraid of him. That meant a great deal to him after a few months of keeping his distance, it was more like a huge leap in progress in his perspective. He didn't really want to push his luck, she only quickly glanced that doesn't mean that the longer she looks, the more comfortable she will get… chances are, she might find too many similarities between the two of them in their facial features that it might serve her to have another panic attack. Tezuka would never want that to happen under any circumstances, he just want to take that nicely to say that she was not afraid in a brief glance, maybe that way it might be okay if she seen him passing by or standing beside her without her looking too long at his face? After all, his cousin was locked up in jail…

Someone managed to sneak in a picture of Ryuuzaki to your cousin.

Tezuka didn't like that thought, the fact that someone had managed to sneak into that cell to bring him a picture. Risk to go against judge jurisdiction to bring him something he was not allowed to have… then that possibility struck his mind that what if that reporter he cornered outside of Sakuno's home was in fact someone sent to find her whereabouts? The Tezuka family take pride in knowing how to fully utilize their resources and when they put their mind to it, it is almost impossible to go against them. Most people use to say, don't trifle with a Tezuka if they were serious. Thinking that Orochi might be doing just that despite his reports indicating that he was mentally unstable makes Tezuka very uneasy. What could he do to stop this from happening? Is there something or someone he was not aware of that was doing the dirty work for Orochi? Most of the people have already given up on him and are already disgusted by his actions to pull the Tezuka name through the mud… So who is providing him aid?

Tezuka shook his mind free from those thoughts as he headed back up the stairs to see that Akihiko was sitting next to his mother's head with a book in his hand, he flipped it like he was reading the book but Tezuka noticed that Akihiko looked tired and his mother was looking over the book with him despite her fever.

"And what happens next?"

"Monster gets hit by sword and then the prince went in a saved the princess."

Tezuka liked the scene they provide but the sick is still the sick, he avoided allowing Sakuno to pay too much attention to his own presence in the room as he headed to her bedside, just as Sakuno wanted to turn her head to look at him, Tezuka was quick to say

"Ryuuzaki, you promise not to look."

"…? But…"

Sakuno might have protested a little to Tezuka but his hand came down on her head gently patting her head

"You are having a fever right now, I don't want to exacerbate the situation. I know you mean well when you said you were not afraid… but let's take that as it goes slowly. Take some medicine."

Sakuno reluctantly allowed Tezuka that privilege, but Sakuno secretly thought that she would probably not be afraid any longer of Tezuka's face. She felt confident even when he didn't… Sakuno took the glass of water and then the pill he puts into the palm of her hand.

"Get more rest."

He was insistent, Sakuno hadn't had Tezuka care for her when she was sick before, so this was a new experience at the same time, she was surprised how gentle his way of caring was… he has changed a lot over the years as Sakuno slowly slinked into bed and shut her eyes slowly as though to concede defeat because her fever was making her dizzy. A cool towel landed on her forehead and with a soft pat on her head she felt her baby boy kiss her on the cheek as he said

"Nighty nighty…"

Sakuno smiled at those words just as she heard Akihiko's voice

"Papa…can you save mama from feeling sick?"

The weight by her side disappeared as she heard the chair creak and the two of them spoke in soft words

"I can't save your mother from feeling sick, but I promise I will try and make her feel better… and I will try and save her in other situations."

"Then you protect Akihiko too? 'Yawn'…"

"Yes, I promise."

Akihiko leaned onto Tezuka's chest, his warm firm beating chest seemed to provide comfort to Akihiko. Although Akihiko never really understood what his Tomoka Kaa-san said when Tezuka comes things settle, but he was sure that if his papa was here, there is no monster that his papa can't take on. He trusted that and he really believed in Tezuka. Tezuka on the other hand was aware of the whole thing where the two people seemed so fragile, he was scared of handling them at times but then at the same time he don't want anyone else handling them… He looked out the window as he rocked on the chair in the room quietly watching over Sakuno's sleeping face and Akihiko's sleeping face in his arms, his small hands clung tightly onto his shirt. Words in his head that kept repeating itself says to him…

Sumire Ryuuzaki, as my mentor and as Sakuno Ryuuzaki's grandmother and Akihiko's great grandmother, please help me protect them better. I have already failed you once, and I don't want that to happen ever again.

After a few hours of brilliant fun at the movie premier, Tomoka and Ann opened the door to the house as Tomoka whispered to Ann

"I'd better check on Sakuno, she did look still rather feverish when we left."

Ann rolled her eyes at Tomoka who was still the mother hen of the family, as Ann watched Tomoka climb up the stairs and then turned to see that there were a pair of male shoes in the house. Ann's hair stood on an end as she heard a gasp from up the stairs. Never wasting one second, Ann ran up the stairs in time to see Tomoka gasping at the figure within the room… Sakuno's room. Ann stepped into the room first but the moment she could make out the figure, he was changing the towel on Sakuno's head and Akihiko was sleeping soundly beside Sakuno with such a relaxed face. That was not just on Akihiko's face but, that is the first time Ann had ever seen Sakuno slept so soundly with such a peaceful look on her face.

"Tezuka?"

Tomoka snuck into the room as well, Tezuka turned around and pressed a finger to his lips and the three of them exited the room quietly before heading downstairs to talk. Tomoka and Ann had been quite surprised to see the person that they had least expected to be within such a close proximity to Sakuno and had been a very relaxed event in that situation.

"…I apologize for giving you two a scare."

"Did Sakuno call you over?"

Tomoka went on wondering if Sakuno was feeling lonely and that Tomoka was flooded with guilt. Tezuka went silent for a moment before he answered

"There was a reporter who had been scouting the house and Sakuno had been feeling a bit worried. I came around and took care of it."

Tomoka felt as though the reporter might have been killed, but then again she knew that was not Tezuka's nature to do such a thing and she felt sorry for the reporter. He might be cleaning up his desk as they were speaking.

"She called you here to take care of the reporter?"

Ann seemed a little skeptical about such news and Tezuka proceeded to explain it better as he responded

"I flew in to Hokkaido recently to cover the deal with establishing the Hokkaido branch when I received her call. I was already in Hokkaido, so I decided I would sort the problem out."

"How did you get in? How did you get Akihiko?"

Tezuka could understand why Ann had a lot of questions, for she is probably good at her job and that this was making her feel rather suspicious.

"I went to pick up Akihiko because Ryuuzaki was feeling a little afraid and overwhelmed by the whole ordeal and I helped her into bed because she was very dizzy."

"She allowed that?"

Ann asked her final question when Tezuka answered

"Rather… she didn't want me to leave."

Tomoka nodded understandingly, if she was in a similar situation she would've chosen to stick to Tezuka until her fears were all gone. Just instinct to rely on the leader of the pack to ensure their safety, if animals can do that, so can human beings…

"I am sorry for intruding, I will be leaving."

"Thanks Tezuka."

Tezuka nodded back at Ann as Tomoka and Ann both guided Tezuka out the door into the cold night. Despite how they would love to offer a place, they rather not because it seems that it would be quite inappropriate given Sakuno's circumstances and that they were all women. Ann probably was willing to bet that Tezuka would never take that offer. Tezuka waved them goodnight and headed back to the hotel with deeper thoughts than he did when he first arrived in Hokkaido.

TBC