Trials of Trust

Chapter 10

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

"I don't believe you."

"Well I'm watching a rather interesting video at the moment. CCTV footage of Tezuka entering and leaving Kimura's apartment building. Would you like to get it from me now, or watch it tomorrow in the news?"

"...Do you think I believe a single word you've just said?"

"Your choice, Fuji. I'll be waiting."

Fuji can barely stop himself from dropping the phone onto the floor.

Atobe is implying that Tezuka killed someone. Fuji can never believe in anything Atobe says.

But Tezuka's bloodied shirt and coat are being soaked in the bathtub right now. And what did Atobe mean, asking if he could throw Tezuka's things away? Tezuka had came home today looking not just exhausted but torn as well, and he said that he had nothing left...

...This can't be. Or can it?

Leaving the bedroom, not wanting to wake Tezuka even though the pounding of his heart is so loud Fuji thinks he can even hear its echoes, he takes the phone and calls the only person he can think of who can give him an answer.

"Eiji it's me."

"Fujiko! I've got souvenir for you from Thailand!" Kikumaru doesn't even miss a beat and it makes Fuji think his old friend has finally started to learn how to hide something properly.

"Tell me what happened today." Fuji speaks quietly down the phone as he forces himself to sit down on the sofa, clutching the phone in his hand.

After a momentary pause, Kikumaru's voice calms down to a solemn tone as well. "Tezuka hasn't told you nyah?" When Fuji makes a sound of respond with his throat, he sighs, the sound heavy to Fuji's ear since Kikumaru never sighs like that. "A major shareholder sold all his shares to Atobe it seems. With the shares he bought on the market as well it makes Atobe the largest shareholder, so he bought the company so to speak..."

Fuji cannot even utter a sound. Could it be Kimura...

"I'm sorry Fuji! I've been keeping an eye on things, I just didn't think it'd all happen within a week and I was in Bangkok - "

"It's not your fault at all." One of Fuji's hands goes to yank at his own hair. He cannot think right now. "I'll call you again in a few minutes."

Slow, unsure steps take Fuji back to the bedroom. Crouching down beside the bed he studies Tezuka, fingertips trailing across the sleeping face and the hair fallen across closed eyes. The company is - was - so important to Tezuka. It was his father's life's work and anything Tezuka decides to do, he pursues it almost single-mindedly. Even with his life on count-down, it has taken him a long time to decide to let go of the company and give it to a man he trusts and respects.

After a break, he went back to find it all stolen from him.

Tezuka stirs and Fuji quickly pulls back his hand, but the man's eyes open fractionally, taking a few seconds to register what he is seeing and then falls back to sleep.

Tezuka had said the company is not his anymore; it has been taken away from him. He had said sometimes he didn't know what he was doing and couldn't stop himself. Now the words seem to mean something else but Fuji doesn't want to believe them.

It doesn't mean he has killed anyone. Tezuka would not even think of hurting somebody.

But Fuji's aching body reminds him promptly of what had happened only the night before.

But that still doesn't mean Tezuka has killed Kimura. It doesn't mean anything at all.

Atobe could have set Tezuka up. He could have hired someone to kill Kimura for all Fuji cares. Atobe is a man who would do anything and everything to achieve his goals.

And if - Fuji's mind reminds him of this very small possibility - Tezuka really has hurt someone, he wouldn't have done it intentionally.

There is also a chance that Atobe is bluffing, that nothing has happened at all and Kimura is sleeping soundly at home, content with the money he has made since that seems to be more important than his conscience.

Bowing his head Fuji takes a deep breath then stands up. Leaving the room once again he calls Kikumaru.

"Where are you?" He asks, hearing background noises that weren't there when he called earlier.

"In my car nyah, I'm on my way over."

"Eiji..."

"I'm worried about you guys, so just let me come see you okay? Otherwise I won't be able to sleep."

Fuji feels almost speechless. "Thank you." Taking a glance towards the direction of the bedroom, he lowers his voice a bit more. "Don't ring the bell, I'll meet you downstairs. There is something I must do."

---

The red Toyota pulls over half a block away from Atobe's residence.

"I'm sorry to have dragged you into this."

"I told you already, you can call me anytime when you need help!"

"If I'm not back in half an hour," Kikumaru looks so worried. Fuji smiles reassuringly, although he has to stop to think, what if things get even more complicated and he can't leave? "Call Ooishi and tell him what's going on." Ooishi has more experience dealing with tricky situations than Fuji and Kikumaru combined, because of his job nature. He should know what to do.

The grand gate opens when Fuji arrives outside, the occupant obviously expecting him. Nobody comes out to guide him but it isn't necessary. He crosses the front lawn, up several stone steps to the front door.

He has been expecting the door to be opened by a servant, so he stands still in surprise when it opens to reveal Atobe.

Fuji arches an eyebrow and steps through the door into a hallway.

"Tea, coffee, a glass of white wine maybe?" Atobe's smile looks gentle, if Fuji does not think of the fact that this man is the person who is pushing Tezuka to the edge. If Fuji forgets everything that Atobe has done, the man would look very likeable, someone Fuji wouldn't mind being friends with. But Fuji can think of nothing but the look of distraught on Tezuka's face earlier in the night and the sound of painful whimpers that escape Tezuka's lips when everything hurts too much.

"No thanks." Fuji says and watches Atobe go to a small bar on one side of the hall to pour himself some coffee. "I thought you'd have people to do that for you."

Atobe keeps his eyes on Fuji's as he pours cream into the cup. "I do, but I've dismissed all my servants for the night."

Although that means he has no servants to deal with should things turn nasty - and Fuji has no idea what may happen - the fact that Atobe and him are the only people in the huge house does not make him feel safe at all. He declines the offer to go to a reading room and chooses to stand in the hall, near the front door.

Taking a moment to steady his breathing, Fuji goes straight to the point. "Leave Tezuka alone." It doesn't matter if Tezuka has really killed someone or not. Atobe is trying to destroy Tezuka and if he doesn't stop, Tezuka will end up in jail or dead, whichever is faster.

Atobe cocks his head to a side, puts the cup down on the small plate in his hand and thinks for a while. "Hmmm. How about 'no'?" Setting the drink down on the bar, he chuckles as Fuji glares at him. "You're smart Fuji. You know what I want. I won't stop until I get what I want."

Fuji clenches his fists but says nothing as Atobe picks up something at the bar and walks over to him.

"And think about it. Tezuka Kunimitsu has nothing. You're better off with me." Atobe stops several feet away from Fuji and holds up a video tape. "But here, as promised."

Fuji accepts the tape but narrowed blue eyes look at Atobe suspiciously. Atobe laughs. "This is the only copy. I only have one VCR in this house, those machines are too outdated."

The tape is not too significant. Considering the amount of power and money Atobe has, he can easily get Tezuka into trouble whenever he wants. Fuji has already thought of this and this is why he is here.

Atobe chuckles when Fuji walks forward to him, leaning to purr into his ear. He finds himself being pushed backwards until his back hits a wall, and he laughs. Fuji is a smart man after all, he does know how to choose wisely.

But suddenly he feels the cold blade of a pocket knife pressed to his throat.

When Fuji pulls his face back, his looks are cold as if they are carved in ice. Atobe shivers involuntarily, grey eyes narrowing, assessing the situation. Fuji won't do it. He has to be bluffing. "Don't do anything stupid Fuji."

But Fuji replies with the voice of a deadly resolution, and suddenly it is as if the blue of his eyes has turned several shades paler to an icy shade of blue. "I'm not a toy, a pet or a display piece. You can't buy me."

He hasn't planned to do this, he brought the knife along just in case. But something is telling him a simple conversation won't make Atobe let go of years worth of obsession.

"Leave Tezuka alone. He is dying."

The words hang in the air.

Atobe doesn't move, neither does he look away from Fuji's eyes. "What do you mean."

"He should be fine for at least another few years." The pale hand grip the knife handle harder, veins showing on well-muscled arms, arms Fuji use to play tennis because Tezuka can no longer play. "If it wasn't you... if you didn't push him so far... he's already dying and you're pushing him to the edge!" Rage, sadness, hysteria flare in Fuji's voice. He isn't speaking anymore. He is shouting. "You're killing him! He's going to die soon and it's all your doing, are you happy now! You want him to crumble, you want him gone, right, Atobe? Are you jumping up and down in joy now?"

Atobe pushes himself into the wall trying to get his throat as far away from the knife as possible. "Well then you are better off with me. Put the knife down Fuji, don't be stupid."

"This isn't about who I'm better off with! We aren't children anymore Atobe. This isn't about whose school has better reputation or where I can play better tennis!" Fuji feels as though he is about to burst in anger. "This isn't about Tezuka even. Because even if I'm not with Tezuka," even if Tezuka isn't around anymore, and the thought makes Fuji's heart ache, but he continues. "I wouldn't be with you. This is about me and you, and I don't like you."

Atobe blinks slowly. The corners of his lips quiver. He wants to say something but he doesn't know what.

Fuji watches Atobe's reactions carefully. Atobe is used to being spoiled, being listened to, he always gets everything he wants.

It takes a full minute for Atobe to process everything Fuji has said and the possibility that the person standing before him, the person he has thought about day and night for as long as he can remember, is rejecting him.

Fuji's movements are slow as he pulls back, one hand holding the video tape and the other the knife. Fierce blue eyes stare into shocked grey ones. In slow motion he steps back towards the front door. Atobe is too shocked to move from where he is. This is the first time in his life he has been completely and utterly rejected.

"Atobe, go find someone who'll love you."

---

"Fuji! Are you all right?"

Fuji looks from Ooishi to Kikumaru, who gives him a sheepish look. Not even fifteen minutes has gone since he went into Atobe's house. "I got worried nyah, and didn't want to sit and wait on my own so..."

All Fuji can do is shake his head and smile. "I'm fine."

Ooishi gives Fuji a lecture on how he should never mess with Atobe, but grows quiet when he spots the video tape in Fuji's hand. Alarm bells start to ring in his head. "What is that?"

"Something nobody needs anymore."

He doesn't know if he has convinced Atobe to leave Tezuka alone, but he is sure he has at least scored a point.

Fuji thanks his friends once again when they arrive at the parking lot, and stays there until he is sure no one is around. Finding a sheltered place he pulls out the magnetic tape from the video tape and burns it until it becomes nothing but ashes. Then he gathers the ashes and scatters it around the entire parking lot and the park nearby.

Now he can go home.

---

Tezuka wakes when he hears rustling, and he cracks open an eye to see Fuji getting changed.

Where is he going?

The front door closes with barely a click. Tezuka gets up, suddenly remembering Fuji touching his face earlier as if checking if he is really asleep.

Fuji never suddenly goes out like that without letting him know. Quickly putting a coat on, he leaves the apartment as well to find Fuji getting into Kikumaru's car. Perhaps Kikumaru needs help with something...

"Eiji, don't tell Tezuka about this."

"Of course I won't! You think I'm stupid nyah?"

Tezuka's tired mind tells him ignorance is bliss, but he cannot ignore what he has just heard. Flagging a taxi he follows them. The car stops near a building he has seen on the news before: Atobe's home.

He watches Fuji walk through the gates as if he has been invited.

No. Not Fuji too.

No.

Suddenly everything falls into place. Fuji has been telling him to quit his job. Fuji was the one who decided to unplug the television and stop their newspaper delivery so that he had no idea what was going on.

Has Fuji been working for Atobe all along as well? Is he their entertainment? Like Kimura, Fuji wants to watch him crumble? How many nights has he slept in the bed thinking Fuji was there beside him when in fact Fuji was in Atobe's house, in Atobe's arms?

Ooishi shows up a while later and Tezuka really can't watch anymore. Even his best friends know about this. He is a fool who has been kept in the dark thinking he has everything in the world. In the space of one day he realises his company, his mentor, his best friends, even the person he loves the most are all only illusions.

Tezuka cries out in pain. His head feels as though it is being split open. He squeezes his eyes shut but he still sees colours exploding in his mind. He sees Fuji's face. Words of false comfort and empty promises. Understanding that was only a pretense. Moans of pleasure when closed blue eyes were actually seeing someone else.

Nothing. Tezuka has nothing left.

But he won't let Atobe have Fuji.

---

Delicate brows furrow when Fuji opens the door and sees all the lights turned on. Tezuka has woken up. Now he needs to explain where he has been.

Following the sounds he walks to the kitchen. Something in the air feels wrong.

"Getting a drink?" He asks tentatively, staring at Tezuka's back. Tezuka is wearing a coat over his pyjamas. "Cold?" Stepping forward Fuji puts his arm around the man and feels Tezuka stiffen, muscles taunt with tension under his clothing.

"The bed was cold."

Fuji's teeth graze his lower lip. What should he say?

He feels Tezuka turning around and loosens his hold. When the man faces him, bloodshot brown eyes hollow as if looking straight through him, he runs a hand through Tezuka's hair and massages the scalp gently. He is good with words but he cannot find a better way of saying where he has been and what he has done. If Tezuka hadn't woken up perhaps he won't ever tell him, like Tezuka had never planned to let him know what really happened between him and Atobe back in their school years. But now Tezuka is facing him, eyes slowly coming to focus, and Fuji knows he has to explain.

Tezuka takes a step back.

Fuji doesn't see the knife in Tezuka's hand until it is embedded in his body.

---

Kikumaru and Ooishi has bought tickets to the AIG Open to watch Fuji's match, only to find out Fuji has not turned up and is therefore disqualified. A quick chat with his manager tells the friends that nobody was able to reach Fuji for the last week.

Perhaps he has left for holiday with Tezuka, only both Kikumaru and Ooishi know that Tezuka would never let Fuji just leave everything behind like that without some proper closure, because that is the kind of man he is. They try to contact Tezuka, but no one picks up the calls. But if Fuji is really missing they'd be informed by now, and it isn't possible for the couple to suddenly go missing together.

Curiosity and worry brings the friends to Tezuka and Fuji's apartment.

As soon as the elevator doors open Kikumaru covers his nose with a hand. "Nyah Ooishi, what's this smell?"

A sweet, pungent, nauseating stench fills the elevator hall. A smell Ooishi knows.

"Eiji, take the lift back down. Go home." Unconsciously he puts a hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezes it hard. "I'll explain to you as soon as I can."

Ooishi can never forget the sight when reinforcement arrives and breaks open Tezuka and Fuji's front door. The sheer amount of blood that covers the floor, all the way from the kitchen towards the bedroom makes him forget standard procedures and run into the apartment.

There are no signs of any struggles.

Tezuka and Fuji are nowhere to be found.

Tests show that the blood in the house belongs to Fuji. Tezuka immediately becomes a suspect of a possible murder. Ooishi stands in the apartment, in the bedroom, staring at the blood-soaked bed, and he wants to tell people no, Tezuka will never hurt Fuji, not in a million years. But professionalism doesn't allow him to do that. Professionalism tells him he must find Tezuka quickly because that is the only way to find out the truth of what has happened.

It doesn't take long for them to find Tezuka. Tracing customs records and holiday bookings, Tezuka is arrested in Switzerland, at the foot of the Matterhorn.

Ooishi and Kikumaru are in the court room when Tezuka Kunimitsu pleads guilty to the murder of Fuji Syusuke.

---

Kimura's body is found when the police looks for him for information on Tezuka. His wife, who is working overseas, is informed.

Kimura has died of a deadly blow to the skull by a hard object. The police links the murder to Tezuka but the accusation is dropped due to insufficient evidence.

---

Fuji's body has never been found.

Tezuka is found guilty of murder. Taking into account his medical condition which has driven him to lose control of himself, he is sent to a psychiatric institute for the criminally insane.

Tezuka apologises to his friends. He doesn't talk about what happened but they all understand what the apology is for.

But whenever they ask him about Fuji's body, he just turns away, saying that no one will ever find him.

Every time Ooishi visits Tezuka, he still cannot believe what has happened. Tezuka is normal. He speaks like his usual self. If it is not for where he is, no one would ever believe what this man has done.

This feeling of disbelief stays with Ooishi until the last day, when both he and Kikumaru are allowed to Tezuka's bedside after a sudden downturn of Tezuka's conditions.

Tezuka apologises once again, the mere act of speaking taking all his strength.

"We understand, Tezuka. Stop saying sorry." Ooishi replies because Kikumaru is crying too much and cannot even utter a word. "But please, tell me where you've put Fuji's body. We want to give him a proper burial."

Tezuka smiles then, and Ooishi can never forget that smile.

"You'll never find him. We're going to a place where no one can find us. Just the two of us. Fuji will always be with me."

-end-

Notes: Yes, this is the end. Writing this was both an exciting and traumatising experience.

The location of Fuji's body... yes, Tezuka has eaten him, so that they will always be together.

Twisted? Me? Why, you're too kind :)

Thanks for reading.