Disclaimer: None of these characters belongs to me, but this plot does belong to me.
Author's note: I'm sorry for leaving the last chapter kind of hanging, wait a minute, NO, I'm not (Dodges all sorts of weaponry from readers). If I didn't do that, how would I be sure that you'd read this chapter. Hmmmm, do you want to know, you DO want to know, don't ya? Don't ya? Okay, I had a little too much sugar and not enough sleep. Oops, well on with the story.
Chapter 3 - Explanation
The words just hung in the air like some invisible cloud, "I do it to protect my cousin, Sakuno." Before anyone had a chance to respond, she continued, "Is it true that Sakuno got hysterical at a tennis match?"
"You mean Eichizen's match against Fudomine's Shinji? Well, he injured himself and his eye bled pretty badly. She got upset and went into the court to try to get him to leave the match. It was kind of embarrassing, but if it wasn't an official match, any one probably would do what she did." Oishi remembered.
"She hasn't done anything else like that since, right?"
"No, her grandmother gave her a lecture that time, and ever since then, she's done very well cheering with Osakada-san." Inui stated. He continued, "What does this have to do with your previous statement?"
Sakura reached into her bag and took out some old photos. She passed them out to be passed around the table. They were photos of an older woman, who was very attractive. It was obvious from the first couple of shots that the woman was also a model, but the last couple of shots showed the woman with another man and a small baby. Fuji looked at the last photo and then looked at Sakura, "This woman looks kind of like you, she even has one brown eye, and one blue eye."
"Is she your mother?" One of them asked.
Sakura gave them a faint smile, "No, she was Sakuno's mother, Meilan. It's somewhat odd, but Sakuno looks more like my mother and I resemble my aunt. Probably because our mothers were sisters and our fathers were brothers. Sorry, to get off the subject a bit, but you need some background information in order to understand. I believe that Inoue-san can guess my reasons for the glasses and the different eye color only because he's older, he probably remembers my aunt and mother." She paused to take a drink of water and to think about how to proceed. "This Tuesday The National Magazine is releasing a story about me, which in itself is fine, I knew that stories about me would be showing up in tabloids eventually, but this article is also focusing on my mother and aunt. They were also models before they had gotten married; they were popular as well. The article talks about different things, like how they started in the business, but a side story talks about the family curse."
"Curse?" Oishi repeated.
Inoue answered for Sakura. "Sakura's and Sakuno's mothers were Chinese, and apparently generations ago, the Lee family women were cursed to die young, either by a violent death or by disease. Of course, it's just a myth, but for the past couple of generations, it seems that the curse isn't just a set of words. Sakura's maternal great-grandmother died during an air raid in World War II; her grandmother was knifed by a mugger trying to get her purse."
Sakura turned to the reporter and gave him a look of admiration, "You've done your research, and this wasn't even about tennis. However, your information is correct, for the past two generations most of the women in my maternal family haven't reached the age of 50. I had an aunt who died before she was 10 due to measles. My own mother died about 3 years ago from an inoperable brain tumor. I'm sure you're wondering how this concerns Sakuno, and I'm getting to that. The article talks about my mother's death, and my aunt's death." She lowered her head; her voice became a little thick. "My uncle and aunt died in a car accident six years ago. They were on vacation; it was night and the road they used was fairly deserted. No one really knows what really happened, but someone ran the car off the road, and they crashed. According to the medical examiner's report the injuries that my aunt and uncle received didn't kill them immediately."
"So you're just afraid of Sakuno of seeing pictures of the accident and getting hysterical again?" Fuji asked.
She gave him a bitter smile. "In a sense, yes, you see what most people don't realize is that Sakuno was in the car that night. According to the police report, when the paramedics arrived, they found Sakuno outside of the car. She had suffered a blow to the head and other minor injuries from the accident, but she had managed to get out of the car."
"Did she get out on her own or were her parents able to help her get out?" Inoue asked.
"We don't know, she doesn't remember, in fact she doesn't even remember being in the car or anything that occurred that day. At first, the doctors thought that it was a result of the head injury that she suffered from, that she would eventually remember some details, but we later figured that the blow to the head wasn't the cause for her amnesia. As I said earlier, my aunt and uncle were alive right after the accident; the cause of death was lost of blood due to internal and external injuries. There's a very good possibility that the paramedics didn't get to the accident scene until a couple of hours after the crash."
"You mean that there is a very good chance that Sakuno saw her parents. . ." A stunned Kikumaru stammered out unable to finish. His horrified expression was mirrored in the eyes of everyone else at the table.
Sakura just nodded; there was water in her eyes, yet no tears fell. She bit her lip as if unsure how to proceed, took a small breath and continued. Her voice was slightly unsteady at first, but began to get firmer as she went on. "According to the paramedics, when they got to her, she was barely conscious. The only thing she said before losing consciousness was 'Mommy, I can't open the door, I can't open either doors.' When she woke up two day later, she didn't remember anything that happened that day. She had some nightmares for a couple of weeks; the doctors told us that would be normal. She wouldn't talk about anything for about a week, which the doctors also said was normal after a young person experiences extreme trama.
We first assumed that the silver lining to the head injury she sustained was that she lost all memory of the accident. However, when we tried to take her home from the hospital, we realized that we were wrong. Sakuno was afraid to get into the car, she didn't know why, but she just couldn't get into the car. It wasn't just the car either, the sight of blood seemed to scare her as well. When we took her to see a grief counselor, she said that her parents died of other means than the crash. That's when my parents and grandmother suspected Sakuno repressed her memory. After talking to a couple of doctors, it was confirmed that Sakuno repressed all memories of that day. She's buried them so deep that even hypnosis can't break through the mental block her mind created.
After about a year of counseling her doctor, my parents, and grandmother decided that they did all they could do to help her. When her conscious mind is ready to deal with the reality of that night, then she needs to start therapy again, to deal with the trauma. However, there is always the chance that something may trigger her memory prematurely, and if she remembers before she's ready, we don't know what could happen; one scenario is that she may retreat into a fantasy world, completely separate her mind from reality.
She had an episode about four years ago. I came to visit and uh, I was in the front seat and . . .," She faltered for a minute. She placed her fingers on her lips before starting again. She let out small shaky giggle, "Um, Sakuno was already out of the car, and I was still inside and, I, um, I joked 'Sakuno-chan, let me out of the car.' Her eyes, she just froze and her eyes got so wide . . . and, and she was so frightened." Sakura's voice had dropped to a hoarse whisper at that point. She paused and began again. "She fainted, uh, she was out of it for about 5 minutes and when she woke up, and she didn't remember anything that I said. Of course, we took her back to her psychologist, but it didn't produce anything new. The psychologist did suggest that the trigger was a combination of things. What I said to her, the fact that I resemble her mother, and some other things, I, um, anyway, according to my grandmother, ever since the match against Fudomine, Sakuno has been having nightmares.
"She doesn't remember anything about the nightmares once she's awake, but my grandmother says that Sakuno murmurs about her mother and father. I thought that if I told Inoue-san about Sakuno, he could tell me if there was any change in Sakuno lately, since he seems to spend so much time with her during the Seigaku matches. I figured that Inoue-san could make sure that other reporters wouldn't bother her if he was around. We got lucky on that front, the article mentioned that my cousin was in the car, but they never mentioned her name. I don't know if it was because they didn't know, or if they actually have some sense of decency. I also thought that he could keep an eye on her too when my grandmother can't." Her hands were in her lap, twisting the napkin in her hands. Her head was slightly lowered, afraid to look at any one with her soft request.
Oishi gave her a comforting smile, "We'll all try to make sure nothing happens to Sakuno."
Kikumaru nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Oishi isn't called the 'Mother of Seigaku' for nothing."
Sakura let out a genuine giggle on hearing the nickname, "'Mother of Seigaku?' You actually call Syu-kun that in public?" The players were relieved to see her relax again. She glanced over at Oishi and saw his face contort slightly in discomfort because of the nickname. Her hand flew up to her hand, and she looked a little guilty. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. I didn't mean to use that old nickname in front of your friends."
Before Oishi could respond, Kikumaru saw this as too good of an opportunity to miss, "Syu-kun, huh? That means you too are pretty close, so when did you start calling him that?"
Sakura noticed the slight discomfort the question was giving her friend and was wondering just how far she should tease him. She gave him a wide smile, a smile which didn't bode well for him, and Oishi knew it. Luckily, their food arrived so for the next couple of minutes the group was distracted by the sight and smell of hot, delectable food. It took another 10 minutes before Fuji brought up the subject again. Sakura took another drink of water and smiled. "After the accident, my family would come to Japan to spend time with Sakuno during my summer vacation. I met Syuichiro-kun and Kunimitsu-kun the first summer I came."
Inui looked up from his food, "You knew Tezuka and Oishi before?"
"Yes, I did," she said quietly.
"You use to play competitively back then right?"
"Yes, I did," she stated quietly again, but this time with a smile, as if she knew where this line of questioning was going. Oishi started to look slightly more uncomfortable (Think sweat drop, and small blush), Tezuka also had an idea of where the conversation was going, and tried not to think about it, but failed (Think really small sweat drop, and Tezuka swearing internally.).
Inui's glasses gleamed, "Did you ever play against Oishi or Tezuka before?"
"Yes. I did." Sakura's eyes gleamed.
Inui paused before his next question, then he started to smile manically, "Did you beat them at tennis?"
Sakura was about to answer when a cell phone began to ring. She gave the others an apologetic smile as she pulled out her cell phone from her back pocket. "The agency," she told them, checking the caller id. However, before she answered the phone she looked at the two boys in question and gave them a smirk, "Why don't you two answer the question, while I take this call?" With that, she rose from her chair, with her bag, and walked towards the dark, quiet hallway leading to the restrooms in order to have a private conversation.
Everyone turned to the pair as they were sitting next to each other, expecting an answer to Inui's question. Before any of them could get a teasing word in, Tezuka calmly took a sip of tea. "Unless you want to be running 50 laps in tomorrow's morning and afternoon practice, I suggest you wait until Sakura comes back to give you an answer." He continued to sip his tea projecting the calm stoic expression that they were use to, while he congratulated himself in stalling them, even if it was only delaying the inevitable from occurring. Sakura would come back, and there would be no way to stop the teasing from Kikumaru and the others if they found out. The tension didn't leave the table for next ten minutes when Sakura came back from her phone call. She had gone into the restroom because now her eye color was brown and she was wearing makeup. The others noticed that with the use of makeup and the color contacts, she was no longer looked Sakura or Selene, but more of a combination of the two.
"Sorry, the agency called to let me know that my shoot for today was cancelled, and then I got a call from Sakuno, she wants me to meet her later." She stated as she sat back down. Looking around her, she noticed the tension from the players towards their captain. "You wouldn't answer the question." It wasn't a question, it was a statement to him.
". . ."
She laughed, and turned to the rest, "Sorry. I can't reveal all of my secrets today."
"Ano, I don't mean to pry, but why the color contacts and glasses?" Kawamura asked her politely.
"I never did explain those, did I? Well, when my mother was working as a model, she made many friends at her agency. She kept in touch with them, even after she gave up her career. Last year, one of my mother's friends was in California, for some shoot, and thought that it would be fun for me to pose for some shots, you know, nothing serious. He took a couple of headshots. The agency saw them, liked them, and so I got hired to do some stuff, but all of my contracts are in Japan. I resemble my aunt so much that it makes some of the people who worked with her, uneasy. Some people just find the two color eyes unnerving too, so the contacts are to help with that. The glasses are to just insure that I don't look like my aunt; I don't know how I'd feel if I found out that one of my ads triggered an episode with Sakuno. I mean suppose she sees my picture in one of those magazines when she's out with friends, and my grandmother isn't with them? Soo, I try make an effort not to look too much like my aunt when I'm with her. That day at your practice was a fluke, I had just gotten back from a shoot, and had packed my regular contacts not my brown ones, plus I hate running with my glasses on, but Sakuno didn't seem to notice too much, thankfully."
After that, the group concentrated on finishing the meal in front of them. During that time, the others started to ask about her life in the California, and training with Ryoma. Knowing how valuable the data was for Inui, and the other players she smirked, "When it comes to tennis, he's his father's child." However, she did admit that the attitude was a part of him long before he started to play tennis. Inui asked her why she stopped playing competitively; she gave him a small smile. "It wasn't fun anymore." The bill then came, and that sparked small argument with them as she insisted on paying. "I disrupted your plans so the least I can do is pay for lunch," was her reasoning.
Before they left, Sakura made everyone promise not to tell her grandmother or Sakuno what she told them. "Their deaths are still a very painful topic for my grandmother, and Sakuno will notice if you act differently around her, so please try not to treat her like a porcelain doll." One by one, they left the restaurant to go about their separate ways. Inoue was first; he needed to go do an interview. Kawamura had to go help his father with the sushi restaurant, while Fuji and Kikumaru were going to do some studying for an upcoming project at school. Inui stated something about getting data on Fudomine's Kamio, by spying on him spying on Ann Tachibana. This left Oishi, Tezuka, and Sakura at the doors of the restaurant. Noticing their racket bags, she asked if they had practiced or were on their way to practice. Upon learning that they were on their way to the tennis courts, she asked if she could accompany them until she needed to join her cousin.
Walking with them, Sakura and Oishi talked about family, mostly his family. Oishi had finished telling he about his siblings when they reach the tennis courts. "Did you want to play a match?" Oishi asked while reaching for his racket. Tezuka unconsciously tensed before hearing her answer. She shook her head, but was still smiling, she rather just watch them practice. She didn't say much while they warm up, or while they start to seriously practice.
Tezuka tried not to notice her presence, tried and failed. The knowledge that she's watching his every move was . . . unsettling, and he didn't understand why. Sakura wasn't any different from any of the other girls who watches his matches or practices. Sometime during the match, he stole glances at her, the first was before Oishi's first serve, the second was after he won the first game, and so on and so forth. She didn't notice him doing this at first, but when he stole a glance sometime halfway through the set he noticed that she was looking at his eyes. Before he had the chance to avert his eyes, she gave him a small contented smile. A smile that she use to give him all the time when they were younger, like she was happy just being around him. He never understood that smile, and thinking about it got him so distracted that he didn't even notice the tennis ball as it whizzed past him giving Oishi his first point in the latest game. That got him thinking about the match again, and he decided not to look over her way again for the rest of the match.
He and Oishi finished the set after another seven minutes. Tezuka glanced over to look at Sakura, hoping that his face was maintaining its usually calm expression. The look in her eyes was unfathomable, they looked. . .sad, but almost as soon as he was able to look at her, the expression in her eyes changed and she just gave him that same smile. That smile that drove him crazy, because he didn't understand it. Right now, he didn't understand her, it made him feel slightly uncomfortable. He didn't understand why that bothered him, and he didn't want to keep feeling this way. He needed to focus on his tennis, on his team not on her, he needed his calm not this whirl of feelings.
Sakura turned to Oishi, "I need to go and meet Sakuno now."
"Do you know where you're going? It has been a while since you've been here." Oishi told her a trace of worry crept into his voice.
"I'm not going far, and I have my cell phone fully charged to call people if I need to. But thanks for asking Syu-kun, I'll see you later. Bye Syu-kun, bye Kuni-kun!" She waved to the both and then started to run off towards the street.
Jadeling's notes: Hmmmm, kind of heavy, guess that's means I need to lighten things up in the next chapter. Boy, this took forever to write and I still think it's not as good as I planned. Oh, well.
Beriath - Like I stated to Aeris, I'm really trying to not fall into the trap of writing a Mary Sue; it's hard sometimes, but I'm really trying. In the next chapter, you get to see a more cynical side of Sakura, promise.
Hoshi_Star, Hitori, and SereneC – I hope this satisfies your curiosity about the cover up. I hope it's not too weak.
To all of you people – Thanks for the great reviews. I'm so happy that you really like my fic. Now, how do live up to all of the pressure? @_@ Nah, just kidding, I hope that the next couple of chapters meet with approval.