+ Into the Façade +
In the world where the boundaries between acting and living fade, life becomes confused… unreal… and almost as if imagination had taken over reality… The façade goes into place and life then becomes a living stage.
Chapter specially dedicated to YukimuraAme /huge grin/ Ah hah! And this is the first chapter dedication I ever did/bigger grin/
"I'm positive you are handling this the wrong way!"
"Chotto ochibi… I know what I'm doing. I think this should be placed somewhere… Ochibi, help me find the slot for this."
Ryoma shook his head as he watched his friend fiddling with the telescope. Not long after he arrived, Yamato-sensei promptly began the lesson, deciding to highlight some main precautions to be taken before letting them observe the stars. It sounded simple enough initially. The students were first to divide themselves into two groups. The upper levels, which would meant the third and fourth years, were going to start with the theory lesson while the lower levels were to began their observation. From there, they were to group themselves in pairs and take turns to observe the three telescopes that were placed at the three windows of the astronomy room.
Eiji, being the lithe acrobatic that he was, managed to clinch them the spot as one of the first three that would be able to use the telescopes. However, the downside of this was that they would have to set up the telescope which proved to be too much a task for Eiji to handle. Ryoma couldn't help since he hadn't had any prior knowledge before this.
"Need help?"
Ryoma looked up at that familiar tone, eyes narrowing slightly upon recognizing who he is.
Eiji face echoed a similar expression though it was well hidden beneath a smile.
"Actually, we are fi…"
"Please do," Ryoma interjected, despite Eiji's note of surprise at being interrupted.
With that, Fuji Yuuta nodded and proceeded to finally insert that annoying protrusion that Eiji was having difficulty with into the slot somewhere in the middle of the telescope.
"Ah. So there it was. Thanks," Eiji muttered, a little grudgingly. Now, finally faced with a working telescope, Eiji had all but pushed Ryoma's head down onto that small eyepiece that he was trying to fit onto the telescope.
"See that little crosshair ochibi?"
Ryoma tried to focus with that excited pair of hands bobbing his head up and down every once in a while.
"Well, I would, if I'm given the freedom of movement for my head back."
"Ah… gomen gomen!"
Finally being released, Ryoma peered through the small eyepiece into the night sky, an ear open for any more instruction Eiji might give him.
"So you see, first you would have to move the telescope and ensure that crosshair you see is fixed on a star."
Ryoma nodded, and shifted the telescope slightly to land in on the brightest star he could see that night. As he continued staring, he heard Eiji take in a deep breath behind him.
"It's beautiful! Come here! Take a look!"
Ryoma tore his eyes away from the distant stars only to find Eiji bending over slightly behind him, peering into the main telescope.
As Eiji moved away, he walked towards the eyepiece in bated breath, and gasped the moment his gaze fell on the myriad of sparkling stars playing out before his own golden-green orbs, twinkling merrily as they danced amidst their darker surroundings.
Even as he stood up and backed away so as to allow the others to have a chance to catch their own glimpse of Mother Nature, he could not forget the sight that has left a permanent imprint on his mind…
Stars like little twinkling tennis balls… He distantly remembered mentioning words like this before. However, no sooner had that thought cross his mind, another taunted from a hidden corner…
You don't play tennis anymore… remember?
Chapter 011 – Decisions and Realizations
By fannychan
Nanjiroh slid the small key into his pocket before stepping onto the familiar pebbled ground that led to the house of many fond distant memories, remnants of his past. As he pressed forward amidst the cold night air, he instinctively glanced to his right where he saw Nanako pausing in her housework to stare at him as though she had seen a ghost. Nanjiroh gave her a feeble smile, and waved slightly before turning his attention towards his main objective at hand.
However, before he could take another step, the door opened and Rinko stepped out. Momentarily, she was stunned, eyes clouded with confusion. But recovering quickly, she proceeded forward with speed that served to astound even the great Nanjiroh himself. Before he could react, his wife was before him, looking at him with a certain expectant expression, which conveyed the thought that now, in front of herself and Nanako, it was safe to speak his mind.
He recalled the day when Ryoma fainted, the day when he had seen Rinko for the first time in half a decade. Though they may have been corresponding through letters, it was never the same. In her letters, all he could do was feel her understanding, her love. However face to face, he saw much more written beneath her well-choosen words and emotive language.
"Nanjiroh, protect Ryoma. He is our son and no one else's. I've been with you and Ryoma long enough to understand how similar both of you had become, just the perfect father and son. You destroyed that. Now time has provided another opportunity for both of you. Use it well…"
She sighed softly before finally allowing a slight smile to play on her lips. "It's been much too long, anata."
As though overcome by the familiarity of the smile and the warmth of her words, he took two quick steps forward to envelope her into his embrace.
At present time, he repeated the embrace he had done before, with the mind of whispering into her ear words that he had practiced a hundred over times that day. But all that rolled of his tongue was no more than a simple question…
"Is it too late to come back?"
"That was very interesting wasn't it?" Eiji started as they walked down the long stairway amidst the crowd that has emerged from the astronomy room.
Ryoma nodded, more focused on trying to find a familiar head of brown in the mass of students in hope that he could receive the answer to the question bothering him.
Without warning he felt a slim finger pressing something into his palm which he automatically closed his fingers over. Turning back, he saw no one he knew.
"Anything wrong?"
Glacing at Eiji, Ryoma shook his head, stuffing the note in his pocket.
The rest of the journey to the school's main gate was made in relative silence.
"Ryoma should be heading back by now," Nanjiroh murmured to himself, staring at the kitchen clock. "It is still not too late to regret my decision."
Somewhere inside him, he felt that perhaps it was too early, that perhaps he was too eager and that it had all been fantasies that he thought of that led him here three days after seeing his son for the first time in five years. Till now, he could still feel the guilt, the shame and the anguish. He could see the blood of his own son in his very hands…
"Would you like anything to drink?"
Startled out of his reverie, he glanced up at Nanako who was standing rather stiffly beside him.
Then he realized how close he is to being reunited if all turns out well, and the thoughts that swam around in his mind simply washed away. Five years had indeed been too long…
"There's no need to be so uptight Nanako-chan," he grinned, trying to break the gap that he knew existed.
"No… it's not… I mean… nevermind." With a polite smile, Nanako bowed slightly and exited the kitchen.
As she headed to her room, she passed the open door of Rinko's room to find her peering intently at a photo frame, slightly dusty though still in relatively good condition.
"Rinko-san?"
"Nanako… come in here for a while."
Obediently, Nanako went to Rinko's side.
"What do you think Ryoma will say when he comes home?"
Nanako remained quiet, unsure of what the correct words to say were. She vaguely knew of what had happened between father and son and that her understanding of the matter was too shallow to give a decent reply to her aunt's question.
"What do you think his reaction would be if I showed him this then?" Rinko added soon after, revealing the picture which she had been staring at for the past few minutes.
This time, Nanako's face cleared itself of all doubts as she reached out to caress the glass that encased the photo within. Smiling, she patted her aunt's hand, whispering softly.
"I think that there might just be a chance that everything will turn out all right…"
After alighting from the mini van that was provided to take the students home, Ryoma leaned against the wall at the place where the van had dropped him off, using the light from a solitary street lamp to study the pale note he received earlier on.
"Central Park. Following Thursday. 8pm."
Was the note really meant for him or was it merely a prank? Shrugging off the uneasy feeling that started to grip him, he placed the note back into his pocket, oblivious to the surprise awaiting him at home as he unlocked his gate and stepped onto the pebbled path leading to his home…
The first thing that caught his eye was an extra set of shoes- male shoes.
After taking off his own shoes, he slid the door open only to come face to face with his mother, her hazel eyes solemn.
"Kaa-san? We have a guest?"
For a second, Rinko faltered as she glanced at her son, recalling the hurt he had been through when Nanjiroh left them. Was it right for her to do this to her son all over again? To throw him into a situation whereby there was a chance for him to get hurt? Their relationship was still so fragile. Was she to put that to the test?
With a heavy heart, she took his hand into her own and gently tugged him towards the kitchen, carefully hiding what she held in her other hand from her son's view.
"Follow me…"
As they entered the kitchen, Ryoma took an immediate step back in disbelief, face drawn of all blood.
"Kaa-san? What's going on here?"
Rinko winced at the coldness of her son's voice. Nanjiroh just sat there, staring at her, pleading with her. She saw the hope that he held in his eyes, a hope that was perhaps able to go against the odds that Ryoma would accept him.
"Your father asked if he could come back," was her simple response.
And that single fragile strand of hope shattered.
Walking around the table so that his own flashing eyes met his father's, he repeated words that he knew by hard, words with so much impact that they had left a scar in his very soul.
"Dear Rinko,
I've done Ryoma too great a wrong. I'm sorry.
Sayonara.
Love,
Nanjiroh"
Ryoma spat out ever single last word Nanjiroh had written in that one fateful letter five years ago, his voice cracking the moment he cited "love, Nanjiroh". Ending, all that was left in the kitchen was a painful chord ringing in the air, the silence deafening.
The anguish he now felt was comparable to the moment he had just read the letter they found five years ago, resting innocently in a pure white envelope on his mother's dressing table, not at all conveying the harsh words that was found within. And despite all that, a ghost of a smile flitted across his face, an empty smile that made everything worst than it already was.
"I'll be in my room kaa-san."
With that, Ryoma left the kitchen, eyes cold, angry and bitter.
"He is no father of mine," he whispered fiercely under his breath.
Back in the kitchen, Rinko gripped the edge of the photo frame which she kept behind her back all the while.
Nanjiroh, on the other hand, stood up wearily and walked out of the house into the cold night air.
On the day Ryoma arrived, that nudging feeling was there. It was also then, the instant he laid his eyes on his son, that he realized how terribly he misses his family. When he had spoken to Tezuka the afternoon before, during Theatre Studies, he had gotten a glimpse of Ryoma and for a moment, he thought that maybe there could be a second chance, just as Rinko had told him.
And when he talked to Ryoma this morning, recalling memories of the past, there was this longing urge to right the wrongs he had done. All day he had been thinking of this, and finally, he came to this impulsive decision- he wanted to return home.
Now time has provided another opportunity for both of you. Use it well…
He had crushed it.
In the Echizen's household, nothing else stirred except for the sounds from the creatures of the night.
Karupin purred when she came across the paper weight in her master's bag and started to paw at the miniature of her favourite toy floating within the hard transparent substance. After a while, she gave up and abandoned her mission, her feline senses knowing that her master needed her more than she needed the toy.
Curling up beside her master's shaking body, she mewled softly, brushing her tail against his arms before drifting off into a dream filled with giant yarn balls.
Meanwhile, Ryoma couldn't help but smile at his cat. His eyes were slightly swollen, half because of the tears he shed, half because of the effort he put in to not let those tears fall. Only three days… and he thought that everything could change just like that…
Positioning his head so that his cheeks brushed against the soft fur of the Himalayan cat, he succumbed to the temptation of sleep and silently prayed for one devoid of dreams and nightmares…
For two days, Ryoma did not go to school. And for the said two days, Eiji was dying to visit Ryoma to see what had happened. On the second day, the teacher finally relented and provided him with Ryoma's address. Drama club that day was for the third and fourth years as there would be a selection as to who was to participate in the end of the year annual concert so he was free for the rest of the afternoon after school. The selection for the first and second years would most likely be next week.
After asking around for directions, Eiji finally arrived at the Echizen's household. Taking in a deep breath, he pressed the door bell and waited. Minutes later, a young girl approached him.
"I'm looking for Echizen Ryoma? I'm his classmate Kikimaru Eiji. I heard he was ill."
Nanako smiled warmly. "Thank you for visiting. He is feeling better now. He was down with a fever yesterday."
Nanako opened the gate and gestured for him to enter.
Then she led him to Ryoma's room.
"I hope he's not asleep. Oh good, he is not. Ryoma-kun, your friend is here."
Eiji waved when golden-green orbs came to rest on him and there was a flicker of life in his otherwise dead eyes.
Ryoma made a movement to get up but Eiji refused to let him do so.
"How are you feeling ochibi?"
"Better than yesterday. You brought homework?"
Eiji nodded and passed the thin stack of papers to Ryoma. "They are mostly from Tezuka-sensei's lesson. Don't worry, you didn't miss much. But now, we are two points behind group 3."
Ryoma nodded absent-mindedly.
"Isn't there drama club today?"
Eiji shook his head. "Today solely for third and fourth years. Auditions. Ours is next week so be prepared."
"Auditions?"
"For the annual concert. Remember Tezuka-sensei mentioned it once?"
"Next Friday… that's the day of the performance too."
Eiji's eyes lit up. "Yes! A lot of people have been talking about it and it will be your first debut as well!"
Ryoma watched as Eiji went on and on about it before suddenly realizing something.
"What happened on Wednesday, during break?" Eiji was startled by the sudden question.
"What happened… Oh…" Ryoma noticed dashes of red tinting the red head's cheeks.
"Has it something to do with Oishi-senpai?"
Eiji blinked, before nodding shyly. "How did you know?"
"He confessed."
Now Eiji eyes widened. "You have psychic powers don't you Ochibi?"
Ryoma tried to smile and shook his head. "You are just an open book that anyone can read," he murmured, recalling the short exchange he witnessed between the two after classes that day. "So you like him?"
Eiji nodded.
"How does it feel?"
"You have someone you like too Ochibi?"
This time it is Ryoma's turn to feel surprised.
"I'm tired. You better go. It's getting late."
"Ochibi! You're avoiding the topic!" Eiji sighed as he stared at Ryoma's figure hidden beneath his comforters. "I'll just have to ask Fuji then."
Shocked, Ryoma jerked upright but Eiji was already at the door, sticking out his tongue and waving goodbye before closing the door with a soft click.
Curling back under his comforters, he vaguely wondered if he should cancel the meeting he has with Fuji as there is a probability that rumors could be spread, especially after how Eiji pinpointed it so accurately despite him recalling that he had gave no hints that could have led to such an assumption. Then he remembered that he did not have the other's number.
As he gazed at the ceiling, images started to flash across his mind. His father, his anger, his friends, Kikumaru, Tezuka, his mother, Fuji…
What if I said I like you?
Now, what would his answer be…? He recalled the feel of the other's lips on his own. The warmth, the soft lavender scent…
I'll just have to ask Fuji then.
Was it really that obvious?
It's a date then.
And so it shall be…
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ryoma, Fuji or anyone from POT . … sniff No matter how much I wanted to… hehe… but I do have plushies haha… huggles Ryoma and Fuji plushies
Fannychan: Erm… erm… /trying to get away from angry readers/ I know I took a pretty long time. And even after my exams, I failed to get this up pronto… edging away and I know this chapter is not really the best of everything, a little short and no fujiryo (or even fuji for that matter T.T) But but…. I got it up right/scurries off/
Chibifanny: Ah well, so I'm back. Apparently she thought she lost me a while back so she brought in Ryoma and Fuji muses as well. Oh and finally a chapter away from school (so hopefully it didn't come across weird)
Ryoma: Mada mada dane.
Fuji: Now now Ryoma-kun. So you are finally realizing your feelings for me.
Ryoma/blushes/
Chibifanny/drags fannychan back/ APOLOGISE TO YOUR READERS PROPERLY YOU COWARD!
Fannychan/cowers/ I'm really very sorry. Will you ever forgive me? And please still R&R! It the fuel that keeps me going! And if it is really THAT bad… /looks between her muses before breaking down/
Chibichan: Sighs, she is really very afraid apparently. But she wanted to get this up as soon as possible so editing was pretty quick. Hope you continue to support us and sorry if you have to re-read previous chapters to remember what happened. -.- R&R! Oh btw, she made this cactus plushie all by herself though the workmanship is still something to be improved on… Reminds her of Fuji. Hahas. You can see it at her blog: denise. webbgates. com (remove the spaces) if you are interested. Tag it too while you're at it. /smiles/
Completed on: 6 December 2005