Trials of Trust

Chapter 8

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 alarm clock sounds, Fuji stretches in the bed before suddenly freezing and wincing in pain, then opens his eyes to find Tezuka already awake and gazing at him.

It is rare for Tezuka to wake before the alarm since several weeks ago. Not bothering to mask his surprise, Fuji smiles a little. "Morning." But the smile drops when his eyes adjust and he sees the faint red capillaries in Tezuka's eyes. "You don't look very rested."

Shaking his head once, Tezuka doesn't answer the observation but instead leans a bit closer, a hesitant hand reaching forward to rest on Fuji's waist. "Does it still hurt?"

Holding his breath Fuji lifts his hips. Even though it doesn't hurt like the moment Tezuka pushed himself in, it still burns like nothing he has ever felt before. He is going to have serious trouble...

"Better." Fuji says simply, not liking that Tezuka is staring at him almost blankly with hollow eyes. "...Did you sleep at all?"

Tezuka stares for a while longer before shaking his head resignedly. Fuji watches quietly as Tezuka climbs out of bed, performs his morning routine in the bathroom, then comes back to start getting dressed. Cerulean eyes narrow when it registers on Fuji's sleep-fogged brain that Tezuka is getting ready for work.

"Tezuka." There is warning in his voice and he doesn't bother hiding it. They haven't had the talk they need yet, but what happened last night should have been more than enough to tell the man to stop working.

Fingers pausing, Tezuka looks into the mirror in front of him and meets Fuji's eyes. Then he bows his head to continue doing up his tie. "I'm going back to talk to Kimura-san and hand things over, like we said last time." Enough is enough. Fuji was right, he cannot let work take over or take away his life. "Not sure how long it'll take, perhaps several day or a week, but it should be easy since Kimura-san knows the company better than I do."

Eyes gaze at each other in the mirror, and both men begin to smile.

"Wait. I need to get ready." Throwing back the blanket, Fuji ignores the pain shooting through his body and gets off the bed. "I'll drive you."

Tezuka's brows furrow. Turning around he makes the other man get back to bed. He isn't exactly awake enough to drive, but Fuji isn't exactly in shape to move around either. "I'll take the bus. Stay home today."

Fuji is just able to reign in his usual rebellious trait and nod. If it doesn't burn to simply stand up he would protest against being treated like a child, but he cannot help but feel touched right now. He smiles again when Tezuka checks himself once more in the mirror and prepares to leave.

"If you have time," Tezuka's words before he leaves make Fuji grin. "you might want to go online and check the flights and hotels in Switzerland."

A moment later the sound of the front door tells Fuji that Tezuka has left the flat, and it is all he can do to stop himself from grinning at the ceiling. They haven't had their talk yet, they would need to considering what happened last night, but it seems to Fuji that the talk will be a lot easier than he imagined.

Waiting a bit longer to make sure Tezuka wouldn't come back to retrieve any forgotten items - an unlikely event but the possibility is there - Fuji makes a call to his manager to excuse himself from practice. Telling the man that he doesn't feel well will result in his manager sending him for a medical, so Fuji lies and says it is a family emergency. His manager isn't impressed, particularly with the next round of AIG Open matches around the corner, but Fuji hardly ever misses practice and is forgiven.

Next he makes a call to Tezuka's doctor and tells him that Tezuka's sleeping pattern has changed, and that Tezuka has been blabbering, saying things that he doesn't mean, sometimes talking as if he cannot stop.

"Is it just talking, or is Tezuka-san doing anything against his own will as well?"

Fuji decides against telling the doctor about last night. "No. But what if he does? What does this all mean?"

"The brain is a very complex organ," The doctor starts to explain and Fuji frowns at the obviousness of the opening statement. "Like I've told you before, Tezuka-san's tumour is near the part of the brain that deals with emotions. But it is impossible to say if it will only affect his emotional control, or if it will make him feel anything that he is not supposed to feel under normal circumstances. And if that happens, his personality may be affected, although that would be a rather extreme case."

Fuji gasps, suddenly feeling cold. "So is there anything that can be done?"

"If it's just talking, then my advice is to not worry about it."

"What if there is more?" Fuji asks quietly because there has been more, and this type of conversation is so draining he doesn't think he wants to make another phonecall again should anything happen.

The doctor sighs. "If Tezuka-san is one of the rare and extreme cases, then we need to pay close attention. Medication can be given for mood swings, but if he starts to do anything that may hurt himself or others however, then I'd strongly advice hospitalisation or at least having someone to keep an eye on him all the time."

Fuji puts down the phone feeling worse than he did last night when Tezuka hurt him. Curling up under the blanket, he wants to forget everything and sleep until the other man comes home. But after a while he gets up almost defiantly. Worst comes to worst he can quit tennis to take care of Tezuka and besides, searching for hotels for their holiday would lift his mood better than some restless sleep.

---

Having gotten virtually no sleep the night before, Tezuka feels as though he can fall asleep standing up, but those six hours awake in bed were not wasted. It was a quiet period of time when he could watch Fuji sleep and think through everything that has happened since his diagnosis. The reaction from Fuji, the reaction from his friends, and the support they are giving him. Fuji is trying to balance between not interfering with his work and doing what is best for his health, but last night all Tezuka had done was shove all of it back into the man's face.

He cannot take Fuji for granted like that. He will end this fight with Atobe. That long-drawn match long ago had destroyed his shoulder, he will not let Atobe drag this out too and destroy what he has with the person he treasures the most, the very person Atobe has his eyes on. It just doesn't make sense to go head to head against Atobe and lose Fuji along the way.

Stepping through the glass doors Tezuka greets the people he meets as usual. But as he walks through the office, the sounds of people whispering and the feeling of eyes on his back make him pause. Perhaps everyone now knows that they are being sued for unfair dismissal?

He ignores the whispers and knocks on Kimura's door. They have made a mistake, they will pay the price. If that ex-employee feels he needs to be compensated then that is what they will do. There is no point worrying about it now. The company is in the red, with falling sales and subscriptions; the share price has plummeted; the morale is low and people are leaving for other jobs. It might not be fair to Kimura but as soon as Tezuka leaves this job, he will keep his hands off everything. Kimura will understand. Kimura deserves to be the one to run this company in the first place, but Tezuka could not refuse when his father handed things over to him.

"Ah, finally. You've actually made me wait, but I guess I'll forgive you."

The nasal voice, the condescending tone. Shocked, Tezuka stands and glares at the smirking face, his hand still on the door handle and gripping it hard. "What are you doing here?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, Atobe gives Tezuka a smug look before tilting his head towards the third man in the room. "Oh, Kimura was just showing me around." He smiles, "Hey, show me the head office as well."

Without a word Kimura nods and leads Atobe to Tezuka's office. Too shocked to even say a word, Tezuka follows them, but stands before his own door. "You're not welcomed here. Leave now or I'll call the security." Anger drips thickly from Tezuka's voice. Everyone in the workplace has stopped whatever they are doing to watch the display.

"Move aside, Kunimitsu." Kimura shoots Tezuka a look, and Tezuka cannot help but do as he is told by the man he always sees as his father. Opening the door, Kimura lets Atobe enter first.

Atobe takes a quick look around and chuckles. "What a shabby office." Taking the photo frame on the desk, he gives Tezuka's family picture a quick glance before tossing it aside. "I'll have to tear everything down and redecorate."

The photo frame hits the edge of the desk and lands on the floor with a crash.

"Atobe!" Tezuka ignores the warning cough Kimura gives him and steps forward, barely able to stop himself from grabbing the lapels of Atobe's perfectly ironed shirt. "Get out of here this moment!" He spits his words out, bloodshot eyes glaring straight into laughing ones. His raised voice rings in the workplace and everyone is silent for a moment.

"You really are totally uninformed. I'm surprised, but pleasantly so." Tapping his lips with the tip of a finger, Atobe muses. Tezuka's eyes narrow at his theatrical reactions, but Atobe continues, totally unaffected. "You mean Kimura hasn't told you I've acquired this company?"

A roar of whispers start, every worker finding the answer to their unvoiced suspicion. "So it's true..." "Tezuka-sachou really didn't know?" "Well he isn't our sachou anymore is he." "But why the hell didn't he know about this?"

"That is not possible." Tezuka growls the words out, his fingers curling to form tight, shaking fists. "Kimura-san and I hold the majority of the shares - " Suddenly he cuts himself off. Turning to study Kimura's face, Tezuka pales. It can't be... can it?

Kimura remains completely silent, although he doesn't look away when Tezuka glares accusingly at him.

"With the shares I've acquired from the market and from your friendly Kimura-san, I am now the largest shareholder." Atobe chuckles, stepping forward to lay a hand on Tezuka's shoulder. "Really, when I heard that you were taking a break, I didn't expect you to not keep your eyes on anything at all. Slacking off has cost you dearly my friend. But I suppose if you start working hard from now on, I'll keep you as one of my loyal dogs."

The world begins to spin in Tezuka's tired, strained mind. The light from the power-saving lightbulb stings his eyes, the air feels heavy in his lungs. He knows it won't be long before his head starts to hurt.

Kimura has suddenly turned his coat.

Tezuka will not question Kimura for his reasons right now, it'll give Atobe too much pleasure. He will not stay around to let Atobe and all those people out there laugh at him. And he will never, ever work for Atobe.

Turning on his heels, Tezuka exits the room and heads for the door. Everyone looks away as he walks by, pretending not to be aware of anything, but as soon as he passes, curious and pitying glances fall on him once again.

"Procedure-wise you should write me a formal letter, but I'll be nice and let you off!" He can hear the laughing voice calling out behind him. "I accept your resignation, Tezuka!"

-to chapter 9-