Blind Wind: Chapter 4 - Catching The Wind

Ne, sorry for the long wait. It's been crazy these days >( And right now, I'm publishing this around midnight O.O I hope it's not TOO long. I never planned to extend the story to much.

Blow from the South. The wind leaves no trail.

Throw sand from the East. And then come hither from the North and the West.

He cannot see. He is blind. Make him lean away from the wind so he is easier to knock down.

The wind roared with laughter, and then it died down to little puffs, his own breath. And then he wore a triumphant smile. "The strongest wind cannot be seen."

Fuji recalled so long ago when Tezuka had come to him the time Yuuta had left. It had once felt as if that event had happened only yesterday, but now, it felt like an eternity ago. Somehow, it almost seemed like now that it never had even happened. It probably had, but the "Tezuka" Fuji thought he knew probably never existed at all.

Then again, maybe it was only to Fuji's misconception before.

It's all right, Fuji. It's okay.

It'll be all right. I'm right here, Fuji. I'm right by your side. And I'll always be here whenever you need me. I'll always be here for you. I promise.

Fuji winced. Those words…

I'll always be here for you…I promise.

He laughed. He extended out his arms, reaching to the sky, tilted back his head, and laughed. He laughed at the world, at himself, at his innocence, at how clumsy he had been.

"So much for the promise, ne Tezuka?"

Flashback

"Oishi."

The locker room was dark. The clock was ticking and the other regulars have left. And so, Oishi was taken by surprise as a soft voice mumbled his name. Fuji had been so silent sitting on the bench there.

"Ah, Fuji? I didn't see you," he smiled back.

Motionless, Fuji went on as if Oishi did not even hear him. "Ne Oishi. Do you think Tezuka ever notices me?"

Oishi blinked, a puzzled expression pasted on his face. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, he won't hurt me, right?"

For a moment, Oishi stood there, his mind racing as fast as it could, encoding the words Fuji had just said to him. Yet, it didn't take long for him to understand. After all, Oishi's talent has been partly counseling.

"Fuji."

In the dark, a little movement made way as Fuji faced the direction where he heard Oishi's voice. A hand patted him on the shoulder.

"He will love you, Fuji. He will."

End Flashback

Fuji sat on his bed, plopping his coat on the floor by his feet. Then, gradually, he closed his eyes and let the darkness consume him and all the while wondering if he'll ever wake up, wondering if he'll ever show those blue eyes, his weakness, his true self, to anyone ever again.

Never. No, not ever…

"Syusuke!"

Fuji fluttered his eyes open. The bright light forced him to yank the cover over his face.

"Syusuke." The door opened and Fuji could silently sense his older sister approaching him. "Ne Syusuke."

Fuji turned around, putting on his famous friendly smile. "Ah, Yumiko-chan. Nani?"

"Eh, your friend is at the door. He wants to see you."

His eyes propped open. A friend? Could it be--?

No, it couldn't be. "Who?"

A grin. "Tezuka, of course!"

Then again, yes it could be.

"Wh-what for?"

Fuji sat up, listening all the while to the cheerful sound in Yumiko's voice. "Ah well, I suppose he was thinking that today is Saturday, but he's never asked to see you before, so I was a little shocked. It's okay if you are. He said he wants to take a walk with you in the park. Are you okay with that? I mean, I can definitely do all the chores. I want you to have a good weekend. It's going to be nice and sunny all day."

It took about 7 minutes, even after his sister left the room, for Fuji to digest what he had just heard.

Why would Tezuka come? Why come for him? At this time?

Fuji shivered. A million questions began to contaminate his head. Did Tezuka forgive him? Is Tezuka going to tell him that everything is okay? That it was a big mistake? Or perhaps, does Tezuka want to taunt him more? Hurt him even further? Yet, how could Fuji solve this if he didn't know why Tezuka was acting the way he was toward him?

Somehow, Fuji kept a little hop in his heart that Tezuka was there to provide him the comfort he did in what seemed like ages ago. But a little nudge inside Fuji almost told him that that was not so.

He is going to give you the worst, it said.

The worst, that's right. He'll make you feel like you want to be dead.

And then the voice extended upon that, as if stabbing a knife right into Fuji's heart without touching the flesh.

Get over with it. He's gone. You can't have him anymore. You've never had.

So then perhaps Fuji had to forget about it, face Tezuka and get over him. If so, perhaps Fuji could move on in his life and leave the past behind him then. Perhaps, this may be the only way, and Tezuka probably already knew.

A gust of wind swept into the room, fluttering the papers on the desk twirling in mid-air before landing on the floor. Yet, right before that, the door slammed shut already, leaving the window open and letting the autumn leaves find their way into the room.

A bright sun in the sky. A rustle in the leaves. A light breeze and fresh scent in he air. A playful round-the-road for the little chipmunks and the squirrels. And most important of all, Tezuka right beside him.

The scene was welcomed. But it was denied as well. For this was what it was like when Tezuka said those threatening words before.

"Leave me."

"I don't want to see that face of yours ever again."

An up rise of uneasiness divided the two apart. So tensed he was, Fuji couldn't stand it any longer.

He stopped.

Tezuka stopped as well.

He opened his mouth to speak, but words did not form and his throat could not choke out a sound.

So it was Tezuka who offered an acknowledgement. "Fuji."

Fuji looked down. It was quite unusual. Tezuka was somewhat back to the way he had known him all along. It was as if he has forgotten what had happened before, what he had said to Fuji. Perhaps it was a taunt, to make Fuji uncomfortable, for the pleasure of seeing him hurt, for another attempt at knocking Fuji down onto the ground again and taking away everything that meant the most to him.

But there was a slight tinge in the way he speaks as well. 'Fuji' was said almost as if…

…almost as if it was something so precious, so innocent.

Fuji swallowed hard. "You called me out here."

A hesitation.

"What do you want with me then?"

It was simple, just a couple of words said, but they were somehow so hard to make out for Fuji. It was like having a sore throat and trying to sing a song.

"Nothing at all," Tezuka replied casually. "I just want to have a walk with you."

Again, it was so simple, yet so hard to make out. It was so incomprehensible.

"A-a walk?" Fuji frowned. "But--" He couldn't say any more. It was too hard. It was too confusing, too puzzling. There was so much to say but so little words to use.

"Fuji, don't cower. Look up at me."

It was a command. It was shockingly a command. Like a buchou. Fuji tightened. Like his old self, but in such a state, it was like a scold.

Obediently, Fuji raised his head up.

And the next thing he saw was Tezuka, his face, his eyes…him. Not Tezuka when he had told Fuji to go away, but the Tezuka who supervised the team, who played tennis, who wore that stoic expression, who always gave a strict, emotionless expression. It was simply Tezuka. Simply Tezuka.

But Fuji couldn't understand. Wasn't Tezuka mad at him? Wasn't he suppose to yell at him? It was what Fuji expected, but it didn't happen.

And then those eyes closed its lids halfway. A sad look spread across Tezuka's face.

"I miss your smile."

Fuji could only stare, his eyes wide open in almost disbelief.

"You have a beautiful smile. And I miss it."

And by this time, Fuji was shivering, shaking as if it was ice cold outside, though the wind did not consist of such a temperature.

But the next minute, he was shaking even more when he suddenly found himself in the embrace of Tezuka.

He gasped.

The arms, those strong arms had wrapped themselves around the thin boy.

And the captain's chest had nested against the boy's face.

And then the face had lowered onto the boy's head.

Those arms tightened, locking the boy within his zone.

But finally then, those words.

"I'm sorry, Fuji."

And then those tears.

"I miss you. I miss your smile and your laughter."

Maybe Fuji should be happy, graceful that even though he had no idea what had gone over Tezuka before, now, things just might be all right. Or maybe Fuji could just pull away and reject Tezuka for the hurt and anger he was burdened with.

But Fuji just stood there, breathing deep into Tezuka, feeling the close warmth, the closest that Tezuka had given him.

And just then, those words suddenly whispered into Fuji's ear.

Those words that would not leave Fuji's memory for a lifetime to come.

"I love you, Fuji."

It echoed, it chimed, it sang, over and over again.

And perhaps right then, Fuji didn't know if Tezuka was the one who caught him or if he was the one who caught Tezuka. And he didn't know if the strong wind had swallowed up the weak wind or if the weak wind had silently stalked the strong. And he didn't know which direction the wind came from, perhaps the Sourth, perhaps the East.

But he did know…Fuji did know that one way or the other, both winds, the strong and the weak, had collided, had entangled around the other and had bind into a supreme gust of wind in the form of a tornado. And at last, they were now inseparable.

Author's notes: Eek! > I apologize for the horrible ending. I'm always bad at those stuff and gah! The dramatic scenes! And I didn't take much to revise the chappie, so if there's any disconinuity, please forgive me TT

Anyways, I hope that I did just fine, well hopefully enough at the very least. So how was the story overall? I guess I kind of devided up the chappies 1 and 2 cause they seem to be about the same things lol P But, I thought I might have a little fun at cliff hangers lol XD

Ooh! And just so you know, the last paragraph in the story, well, I was kind of planning to relate it to the literal physical erm..."stuff" Tezuka and Fuji were doing when I said they "entangled" around each other and "bind" together kinda. Well, hope you caught that. If ya didn't, I don't mind.