Trials of Trust

Chapter 6

We'll go to a place
Where no one will find us
Just you and I
I'm yours
I'll always be with you

When the trilling of the phone breaks the comfortable silence between them, Fuji dries his hands with a tea-towel and leaves Tezuka to finish the washing up as he answers the call.

"Nyan Fujiko, you're at home?"

Fuji would have smiled if Kikumaru's voice doesn't sound like it is choking. "Well I've picked up the phone haven't I?"

Then Fuji hears it. Kikumaru is crying. "O - Ooishi just said..."

Blue eyes glance towards the clock. Yes, Ooishi would've gotten off work by now, and must have called Kikumaru to tell him about Tezuka. Suddenly words leave Fuji; he doesn't know what to say. And this rarely ever happens. "Ah..."

"Is - is Tezuka at home?"

"Yes..."

"Can I come? I'm... I'm just downstairs nyah..."

Tezuka raises a curious eyebrow when Fuji returns to the kitchen and asks him to leave the washing up for the moment, then takes him to the living room. It takes less than a minute for Kikumaru to arrive, wearing a horribly creased t-shirt and jeans, as if he has dressed and left home in a hurry. Fuji smiles at the sight and welcomes his friend in.

When he finishes locking the door and turns around, he sees Kikumaru and Tezuka staring at each other, one with mildly reddened eyes and obviously trying to contain himself, the other with a slight tilt to his head that means "what's the matter" in the man's body language. If the situation is different, Fuji would chuckle at the scene, but now he cannot even summon the strength to keep his normal smile on his lips. Taking a deep breathing then letting it out, he counts to three, and watches Kikumaru throws himself towards Tezuka, who barely knows how to react.

"Buchou!" The familiar word, almost like Tezuka's other name, is spoken between uncontrollable sobs. The ring of it feels strange to their ears, they haven't called Tezuka that for such a long time now, and they used to say it with respect and determination, not overwhelming sadness. "It's - it's not true right? What Ooishi said..."

It is only then that the wheels click in Tezuka's head. Looking past Kikumaru's shoulder he sees Fuji smiling at him ruefully, and his brows knit in a way that speaks of both surprise, for Kikumaru cares so much, and misery, because he simply cannot comfort the redhead. So Tezuka stands still and lets Kikumaru hug him in a way he remembers seeing him hug Echizen or Fuji, and feels the tears that run down Kikumaru's chin soak into his shirt.

After a while - Tezuka cannot tell how much time has passed, but Kikumaru's sobs have died down to quiet sniffling - Fuji finally steps forward and puts a gentle hand on Kikumaru's shoulder, and speaks with a hint of smile in his voice. "Eiji, enough, this is my man you're holding."

"Hehe, sorry." Slowly the redhead releases Tezuka, wipes his face with the back of a hand and forces a grin to his lips. "Gonna borrow your bathroom to wash my face."

Fuji chuckles softly and follows Tezuka into their room, smiling as he watches the man change into a clean t-shirt. The confusion in Tezuka's eyes makes him look almost endearing. Fuji makes himself focus on that look, so that he can keep on smiling.

Pulling the t-shirt over his head then shaking his hair back into place and putting his glasses back on, Tezuka raises an eyebrow at the smile on Fuji's lips. Fuji shrugs, his casual tone not matching the serious meaning of his words, as usual. "You're loved more deeply by more people then you think."

Tezuka replies to the statement with a smile of his own and they leave the room again. Over cups of tea they talk about the growth in Tezuka's brain. Tezuka talks honestly and directly because that is the only way he knows to talk about this; decorative words cannot make it go away or lessen the pain it causes, only prolong the time they need to get through the facts that make up this real nightmare.

Then the conversation takes a different turn, the focus switching from Tezuka to Fuji. They talk about the AIG Open, the first round of which Fuji has won, to all their friends' delight. Fuji had entered the professional circuit only after finishing university, very late compared to most players, and this has always posed as a disadvantage for him. The lack of real match experience cannot always be compensated by natural talent; the amount of work Fuji has to put in to reach the same level of those of his age is phenomenol. But Fuji had never considered playing tennis for life until university finished; until he realised how blind he was about a man he thought he knew well.

It was only after their final exams, when Fuji had finally managed to get Tezuka drunk after three years' worth of attempts, and he got tackled to the sofa and pinned by brown eyes burning with such intensity he felt shaken, that he learned why his ex-captain wasn't keen on sharing a student flat with him; why Tezuka had never brought anyone home and would hide in his room when Fuji brought girlfriends over; and why Tezuka had sacrificed his shoulder to help Fuji break free of the hell he gave himself, not being able to take anything in life seriously enough to make living worthwhile.

Fuji's memories of that night consist of the sound of his shirt being ripped, the possessive grip of Tezuka's hands, and eager lips which kissed him all over, forceful yet loving. Fuji had ceased struggling after a while, and the assault ended when alcohol-induced sleep took over Tezuka, making him a deadweight on top of the smaller man.

The next day Tezuka woke with a mild headache and was mortified by the sight of Fuji underneath him, shirt torn and covered in bruises. Fuji's lips were scabbing and when Tezuka licked him own lips, he tasted blood.

All that Fuji had said then, with a crooked smile, was "Now I know why you're such a control freak, buchou.".

Inside Tezuka lives a man so fiercely passionate he is locked away in Tezuka's heart in fear of what he might do.

It was then that Fuji realised who loved him and who he had been loving all along. It was then that Fuji realised professional tennis was his calling.

"Fujiko?" Kikumaru waves a hand in front of unfocused cerulean eyes, and grins when Fuji snaps his attention back to the present. "Drifting off nyah?"

Fuji smiles apologetically. "Perhaps just a bit tired."

"Yeah, it's about time I go home as well, need to get to work really early tomorrow."

Fuji sees something in Kikumaru's expression, and offers to walk the redhead to his car.

Arriving at the carpark, the pair lean on Kikumaru's Toyota. "I want to ask nyah... Tezuka's taking time off right? Do you know how his business is going? You guys keep up with the business and financial stuff at all right now?"

Fuji looks thoughtful for a while. They have unplugged the television and cancelled newspaper and magazine orders, so that Tezuka would not have a chance to touch anything that may be related to his work. A break means a break. "No... his father's friend is running the company right now. He'll formally hand things over soon as well." He turns to his friend. "Why?"

"Well coz I was rather surprised Tezuka listed the business, it didn't seem like the type of thing he'd do, and I don't think he's really looked at other ways of raising capital first." The redhead flips himself over and folds his arms on the roof of the car and rests his chin on them.

"I have no idea. Finance and economics are things I never understood." Fuji frowns slightly. "But I suppose Tezuka and his father's friend made the decision together. Kimura-san started the business together with Tezuka's father, so they must know what they're doing."

"Hmm. Well you see, their share price is, well, falling quite a bit. I've been keeping my eyes on it and I don't like what I'm seeing." Kikumaru glances at Fuji. "But if you say his dad's friend's taking care of it and he's handing the business over anyway, I guess we better not let him know, nyah?"

Fuji blinks at this information, and nods in agreement. The less Tezuka worries about the better. Even the thought of how Tezuka had collapsed outside the bedroom door last time can make Fuji break a cold sweat.

"If there's anything I can help with, you gotta tell me, okay Fujiko?"

"I will." Fuji's eyes crinkle up as he smiles gratefully. "Thank you."

When he gets home, he gets changed and slips into bed, curling up behind Tezuka.

"Fuji."

"Hmm?" Fuji presses himself closer to the other man, and chuckles when Tezuka shifts, his neck tickled by Fuji's hair. When he presses his lips to the nape of Tezuka's neck, he can feel vague vibrations as the man speaks.

"I used to be jealous of you." Tezuka confesses in a whisper, but his voice is loud in the darkened, silent room. "Did you know that?"

The small man nods, knowing Tezuka can feel the gesture. "There was distance between you and everyone else," He holds Tezuka tighter. His lonely, lonely captain. "but people were always true to you. Eiji... he was my only true friend. The only one who wasn't afraid of me. Him, and you."

There is a moment of silence, then Tezuka turns around and kisses Fuji once on the lips.

"Like I said, you're loved by more people then you think." Fuji says with a small smile. "You shouldn't have been jealous of me, or surprised by Eiji."

He leans forward to kiss Tezuka, putting a hand on the man's chest then gently pushes so that Tezuka lays on his back, with Fuji on top of him, their lips never leaving each other. Fuji smiles when he feels Tezuka's hands working on his pyjama shirt, and a soft moan escapes parted lips when Tezuka starts to nib on Fuji's neck whilst hands roam on the exposed skin.

They both freeze, and then frown, when the phone starts to ring. It is not their habit to hang up on people because that is too rude, so they wait for the caller to give up. But the ringing, piercing in the silence of the room, doesn't stop. The furrow between his brows deepening, Tezuka pulls the blanket over the half naked man underneath him, then reaches over for the phone.

"Kunimitsu?"

Tezuka runs a hand through his hair, feeling like a child who has received a phonecall from his parent whilst he was having sex. Uneasy and anti-climatic. "Kimura-san."

"I know it's a bit late, but do you have time right now? There's something urgent we need to discuss."

-to chapter 7-