Disclaimer: POT and HXH don't and will never belong to me.
Chapter 20: Our Faith Our Dream
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He didn't understand what's happening, his memories seemed…distorted.
There were parts of them so clear and some totally blurred, no, more like disappeared. What's wrong? He couldn't figure it out.
Kuni-chan…
His head jerked up, he thought someone just called his name.
Fuji…Fuji… he tried to chant that name in his mind, no matter who or what that name stands, he only knew that it was something, someone important…he must remember… it's his promise…his…vow…
"Ann-chan, Fuji…tell me who he is…now!" he barked at the girl.
"Fuji…he…betrayed you with his cousin Kurapica…but now that you regained your wealth, he wants you back…Fuji Syuusuke's a bad person!" she cried passionately.
"Fuji Syuusuke, my lover…bad person…" Tezuka mumbled to himself. He didn't know why, but his heart ache at the mention of Fuji, of Fuji betraying him.
Tezuka narrowed his eyes, Tachibana was acting too strangely. She was not her usual calm self and her anxiety couldn't be pass off as simple worry.
Just as he was going to question her more closely, a sharp stab of pain in his head stopped him. Clutching his throbbing skull, he tried to hold his moan in check.
At that moment, when his mind was a sea of agony and confusion, his heart cried out for Fuji. Yet, Ann-chan had told him that Fuji betrayed him, if so, why would he still want him…unless someone was lying to him.
With his eyes nearly closed shut in pain, he stared at Ann-chan, who was bending over him. What he saw chilled him, beneath the concern; he saw a glint of triumph.
But before he could full comprehend what was happening, he slipped back into the darkness, in search of the obliviousness from this gut-wrenching pain.
Fuji…Syuu…Fuji Syuusuke…
His last coherent thought was that Fuji would never betray him.
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Ann Tachibana, one of the most sought after heiresses and the kidnappers of Tezuka Kunimitsu, let out a shuddering breath.
Their plan was simple and perfect, not foolproof, but still feasible.
She would stop Tezuka's car, and Kurapica would hit him on the head with a stick.
Then she would remove Tezuka to her house and keep him unconscious with laudanum for a few days. And Kurapica would convince Fuji that Tezuka had left him again so that Fuji would like always, turn to him.
And by the time Tezuka recovered, Fuji would be a thousand miles from him, flying back to Paris with Kurapica. Soon, Ann believed that, with her love, Tezuka would forget Fuji.
But the plan was somewhat foiled. Tezuka Kunimitsu had a very hard skull. That was found out a little too late by them.
There was a fight between Tezuka and Kurapica. Tezuka almost won if not for the fact that he had trusted Ann and she had betrayed that trust.
She hit him on the head with a brick by the roadside.
Ann shuddered when she recalled the anger and incredulous look on Tezuka's face, before he crumpled by her feet.
Praying fervently that he had also forgotten about her betrayal of his trust, she tucked him in securely.
It appeared that the blow to his head had caused him to forget about Fuji, only Fuji Syuusuke.
How ironic, the one you loved the most is the person your mind chose to forget. Perhaps that's why love was the angel of the heart and the enemy of the mind.
"Mitsu-chan, please forgive me. I simply love you too much to lose you."
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Kurapica looked into Fuji's eyes and fear struck him deep.
He had never seen Fuji like this before, this angry.
"Syuusuke…matte…I can explain"
One moment he was standing in front of Fuji, the next he was up against the wall with Fuji's hands supporting him by the neck.
"Where is Tezuka?" Fuji bite out his words with such coldness that Kurapica almost confess immediately.
"What…what are you talking about…I didn't know…" he was cut off as Fuji tightened his grip, choking off the rest of his words.
"I will only ask you one last time, WHERE IS TEZUKA!" biting out word by word, he dangle the threat dangerously in front of Kurapica.
Kurapica finally realized that that wasn't a question, no, it was a statement. He had never seen this Fuji Syuusuke before.
Determined and angry, ready to kill for his love, Kurapica gave a bitter smile.
Now he had seen how deep Fuji's love for Tezuka run, the kind of love time and distance couldn't and hadn't washed off. The kind of love that one could only find in dreams, the one and only love that happen in a century, in a millennium.
No matter what happens Fuji would never love him. Because Tezuka had filled his heart since they first met, since, the very beginning.
"Aishiteru, Fuji Syuusuke!" this was the last bid to make Fuji give up Tezuka Kunimitsu.
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"Ii yadda! Stop it, please, just tell me where did you hide Tezuka, please, I beg you" the tears he had held back so painfully fell as the hope of seeing Tezuka again pierced through his defense.
"What is it that Tezuka has that I don't? Why are you willing to sacrifice all for him, and yet you are not willing to give me a little of that attention?"
The pain and hopelessness in Kurapica's voice forced Fuji to look up. Kurapica's tear-streaked face etched deep into Fuji's heart.
He had known long ago that Kurapica had feelings for him, but his heart was all taken up by Tezuka and there really wasn't any place left for another man.
"Kurapica…gomen nasai" drawing in a shaking breath, he tried to reduce his cousin's pain. His grip loosened but still held on.
"It was like; it was like there was a string that binds us together. No matter where we are, this string simply tightens and slowly pulled us together." Fuji smiled as he thought of their eventful past.
"Once, I thought that this string had snapped due to my stupidity, but later I realized that this string would never break. Even in death, this string would guide me to him, because we have faith in our love." He smiled, remembering his vow with Tezuka.
"No matter what others said, this dream of ours never meant to end."
"Gomen Kurapica, please, just tell me where is Tezuka?"
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You could fight against lies and defeat gossips, but the truth is the truth, you can never win against the unbending truth.
Fuji Syuusuke never love him, not like he loved Tezuka Kunimitsu.
Be it five hours or five centuries, their love would remain the legend, the myth. Be it pain or happiness, their bond remained stronger than diamond, just like his ties to him are weak like carbon.
Removing Fuji's hands from his neck, Kurapica dusted off imaginary lint from his sleeve. His lowered head covered more than his tears, it covered his pain and his failure.
"Come on, I will bring you to her"
"Her? You mean someone else is involved?"
"Ann Tachibana"
Fuji's head jerked up in surprise. It appeared that Ann Tachibana escaped Fuji's suspicions.
Kurapica gave a mirthless laugh. What a day, what a failure.
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"Never let words be drowned out by a moment of anger…" clawing desperately at the veils suffocating him, he tried to run towards that voice.
"…never let our love be doused by a moment of distrust and never let ourselves be separated by pride…" Tezuka reached frantically for the waning voice.
"FUJI!"
The moment he jerked up in bed, his head split in a murderous pain. Clutching his aching head, he tried to remember the words he heard, the…vow.
No matter how hard he tried, the words evaded him, the dream…the dream!
It wouldn't end; this dream of ours wouldn't end!
Tezuka didn't know what dream he meant, but that thought had brought him calm and peace. It gave him strength to endure this trial he was going through.
The memories he had forgotten, the person he had forgotten and the pain of knowing that he had forgotten sapped his strength and his will to live. But this faith in their dream gave him the vigor to go on.
Slipping unwillingly back to a slumber, he clung onto that thought, that vow in his dream and that promise.
Matte Fuji, I would remember, I would not let this dream end like this!
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Wait for me Kuni-chan. I wouldn't let our dream end, I promise!
Following Kurapica into his car, he held onto his faith, their faith in their vow and their dream.
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Author's note: well, everything got to end someday. Coming up next is the finales, the last two chapters! Would everything end happily or would heartbreak prevail against happiness? As usual, stay tune!