Leather Bound Book
Fuji's Memories
Kiyami:I was surprised by the feedback. Thank you! This storyline has
been inside my head for so long I just need to get it out. Saa, don't
worry. I don't intend it to be so incredibly sad. Fuji has happy and
funny memories too you know.
A real plot is coming up. Until then…Beware my perverted sense of humor and Tezuka angst.
-word- Means that it was drawn so -heart- means he drew a heart.
Italics mean thoughts or diary entries.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis.
Tezuka frowned at the words hurriedly scribbled onto the page. He preferred not to remember that particular memory. He pushed that thought away.
Slowly Tezuka flipped through the crisp, white pages. His eyes skimmed the pages. In some way he felt wrong for going through Fuji's stuff. These books contained Fuji's private thoughts. Fuji who had always been a mystery to everyone.
He stopped at one page where the page had ripped in several places. Fuji's usually clean and neat handwriting had become messy and forced. The blue pen had been pressed far too hard into the delicate paper, which had caused the rips.
Words had been crossed out and some words were smudged. The wrinkled texture showed that some form of liquid had fallen onto its pages.
Dear Diary,
I can't believe it! Yuuta! Yuuta's going away! He came home today and talked to kaasan about going to a different school. Kaasan agreed to it, but I tried to get her to say no. She said that we should do what's best for Yuuta. She's letting him go far away!
How is it better for Yuuta? He'll be in a new school with strangers. Strangers who could…who could do bad stuff to him! Worst of all I won't be there to protect him from the mean, scary people! Yuuta will get lonely too without me to keep him company.
Grr! He says he's leaving on Saturday. I think I might have to resort to using the handcuffs again!
Tezuka stared blankly at the page. That…was odd.
Next to the entry was a picture stuck deep into the binding. Carefully Tezuka pulled the photo out and examined it. The photograph had probably been taken the day Yuuta left for
There was only one person in the world who could scare Tezuka and that was Fuji Syuusuke. The photograph was proof enough.
The picture has been taken in a rush. The blurriness showed that Fuji had jerked his hand away for some reason. The focus of the picture was Yuuta. He was inside of Fuji's closet that contained many items Tezuka did not even want to think about.
Yuuta had been bound and gagged. His hands were behind his back with shiny handcuffs keeping them there. A white cloth had been tied around his mouth and rope kept his ankles pressed together. His face expressed the anger and humiliation he was feeling.
In the right side of the photo was a feminine figure. Tezuka guessed it was their older sister, Yumiko. She was moving towards Yuuta.
…What type of brother does that sort of thing then take pictures of it? Tezuka tried to shake away his thoughts. It was better not to question Fuji. The motives behind what Fuji did were always unclear.
Tezuka continued on with reading Fuji's diary. He read the page after that.
Dear Diary,
Well that was unsuccessful. I hid Yuuta in my closet last night so no one would be able to find him in the morning. I had some fun tying him up, gently of course!
I took a picture of it in the morning, but Yumiko came into my room just at that moment. I got scolded for practicing bondage on Yuuta and preventing him from going to the strange school.
I was sad today. I smiled though because I wanted Yuuta to remember home with my smile. I gave him one of my cacti. Yumiko did a tarot card reading for him. I got angry because it said that a new love waited for Yuuta. No one else deserves Yuuta. Yuuta's…Yuuta's too special for just anyone.
I hope Yuuta doesn't mind what I wrote on him. I used permanent marker to write stuff. I took a picture, see? Yuuta really does have a nice tummy.
Tezuka stopped for a moment to glance at the picture. It was imbedded right next to one depicting Yuuta bound and gagged in Fuji's closet.
The picture was really two photographs. They were of smaller size and taped to a plain white index card. The first one show Yuuta's tummy with the words 'I –heart- my aniki' in black permanent marker. The second one was of Yuuta's backside. This side had the words 'Property of Fuji Syuusuke.'
So Tezuka wasn't the only one to be claimed by Fuji. It gave Tezuka some reassurance that he wasn't the only one to be humiliated, but he felt a pang of jealousy.
His eyes wandered to the electric clock on his desk. It was nearly eleven, time to go to sleep. He had work tomorrow.
Tezuka arrived at work at the same exact time as usual. He arrived precisely ten minutes before work started for him. The extra minutes gave him time to organize his desk.
He opened his suitcase only to find one of the thinner Fuji scrapbooks piled in with the folders thickened with papers. Curiously he took it and stared at the cover.
The cover, like the others, was the light blue color with Fuji's name in silver. This one was strange though. For some reason it had his name written below Fuji's. Why would his name be on Fuji's scrapbook?
His questions were soon answered when he opened the book.
The first picture on the first page had him changing. His shirt was off and he was grabbing the neatly folded Seigaku jersey. Some of the other regulars were changing in the background too. Below it read:
Tezuka Kunimitsu, my one true love. –Heart-Heart-Heart-
The second one was of him playing tennis. This caption said:
Do you see him? I really love it when he has that hot and sweaty look. I wish Kunimitsu and I were somewhere private right now…
Tezuka didn't want to ponder on that one too much. So that feeling of being watch wasn't false after all.
Other pictures included Tezuka in class. Tezuka wondered how Fuji ever got them since one had been taken outside through a window. Looking at the teacher Tezuka knew he had to be at least on the second floor.
The last one on that page made Tezuka really think about Fuji's capabilities. Tezuka was just stepping out of the bathroom from a shower. His hair stuck to his head from being soaked and there was only a towel to cover his private areas. What was even stranger about the picture was that Tezuka was staring directly towards the lens. Tezuka could never recall seeing Fuji in a situation like that.
"Tezuka-kun…" A voice called.
Uh oh.
That voice belonged to his boss. The voice seemed to be coming from right behind.
"Sazuki-san!" Tezuka turned around.
"Tezuka-kun, why are you looking at naked pictures of yourself when you should have been working oh…ten minutes ago." Sazuki grinned.
"Sumimasen. I won't do it again." Tezuka bowed while muttering the apology.
"Now get back to work. Oh and if you don't mind I'll be confiscating this." The boss, who was only say ten years older then Tezuka, grabbed the last picture Tezuka was looking at.
It was the picture of Tezuka just stepping out of the bathroom, wet and nearly naked.
Tezuka started to get to his work, but he was deeply disturbed by what had just taken place. If Fuji was still alive Tezuka would surely have punished the tensai for even creating such a book.
Oishi and Kikumaru came over the next day. Oishi had his first day off in months. He had become a veterinarian in a small animal hospital. They were usually short on veterinarians so Oishi had to be at work a lot. Kikumaru got a job close to Oishi's. Kikumaru became a pet groomer. He was still inexperienced in grooming pets, but had earned a name for himself with his strange and different style. He was beginning to learn how to professionally handle dogs. Kikumaru wanted to be in a dog show.
Tezuka had been very careful with where he placed his box full of Fuji's belongings. The last thing he wanted was Kikumaru going through them and seeing all the "I love Kunimitsu" scrawls everywhere. Unfortunately Eiji had found the box and nosily dug through them.
"Unya! Hoi what's this Tezuka?" Eiji lifted up the thickest photo album.
Tezuka sighed. "It's Fuji's photo album."
"Really?" Kikumaru sat down on the couch and eagerly began to flip through the pages.
"Now, Eiji, be careful." Oishi warned.
"Don't worry!" Eiji reassured with a wave of his hand. "Look at this!"
Kikumaru pointed at a picture of when they were all in middle school. Most of them smiled in the photo. Tezuka and Kaidoh were the only ones who didn't manage to smile. Kaidoh gave his usual glare at the camera while Tezuka's face was bare of any emotion.
Kikumaru laughed. "Look at Kaidoh! He looks so grumpy! Nya, Tezuka never smiles. You're such an icicle." Eiji commented.
Tezuka felt that disgust at himself rise again. Why couldn't he be like everyone else? Why was he emotionally lacking? If he could express them more easily then he could have cried with the rest of them during Fuji's funeral. He could have cried and showed to Fuji that he really did care.
But no, he was an icicle. An icicle that never melted.
"Tezuka, Tezuka?" Oishi tapped him on the shoulder to bring Tezuka out of his thinking state.
"Hn?"
"Are you alright? I mean…Fuji." Oishi looked concerned.
"I'm fine." Tezuka muttered.
Oishi worriedly stared. Kikumaru took no notice since he was amusing himself with the pictures of his younger days. In appearance and personality Kikumaru Eiji hadn't changed at all. Oishi was still the same worrisome person, but his two strands of hair were lost among the hair when more strands grew alongside them.
The former Golden Pair left Tezuka's quiet apartment. Silence reigned in his home. He lived alone with nothing to give him company. He didn't even have any pets.
He sat down on the couch with the usual cup of tea in his hand. Next to him was the photo album Kikumaru was going through. Tezuka grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV. He switched the channel to the local news.
"And now to Kazuo-san with sports." The pretty anchorwoman said.
"Thank you, Masaka-san. Well last night Echizen Ryoma won the Charity Tennis Tournament…"
The image of the nicely dressed man switched to Echizen on the ground, breathing heavily. In the background was a far too familiar voice.
"He did it! He did it! Ryoma…I mean Echizen Ryoma has won the Charity Tennis Tournament. Yes! I knew you could do it, Ryoma, I knew you could!" Momoshiro shouted into his microphone.
"Momoshiro-san, please calm down…" A voice mumbled.
"…Overall the charity raised around 2 million dollars to go to cancer research…"
Tezuka nodded in approval. There was no doubt that Echizen would surpass the standards his father had set.
He pulled away his attention from the television and to the page that the photo album had been flipped to. Kikumaru hadn't bothered to close it.
One word took up both pages.
SMILE!
Instead Tezuka frowned and closed the book. Out of the album came a slip of notebook paper. Tezuka grabbed it once it had landed on the ground.
What was this…?
Kiyami: I'm trying to keep everything balanced. More characters will be making their appearance soon. The plot is now beginning. Uh...The chapters are going to be shorter then the amount I usually do for other stories. Usually I write 7 pages, but now the average is 4 pages for this series, but the lower standard means faster updating!
Please read and review!