Syuusuke's Heart – A cracked PoT fairy tale
Once upon a time there were two brothers, named Syuusuke Fuji and Yuuta Fuji. The brothers Fuji, they were known as. They were rivals in tennis, but lovers in everything else. . . . . Everything else.
Well it happened one day that Syuusuke died. They'd had an argument, and Yuuta had run away to live the land of St. Rudolph, and Syuusuke died of heart break when his heart broke into three pieces.
This made Yuuta sad. Even though he'd run away, he still loved his brother very much. So when he found out Syuusuke was dead, he cried and cried. Until a little brown bird with closed eyes flew up and sat next to him. "There's no need to cry," the bird said.
Yuuta stared at the talking bird, because birds weren't supposed to talk, but then he shrugged and answered "But Aniki died and it's all my fault."
"Then you'll just have to bring him back to life."
"How do I do that?"
"I'll only tell you if you do something for me," the bird said. "It's only fair, after all."
"What do you want?"
The bird chirped a mischievous chuckle. "On the other side of the tennis court there is a very handsome cat with short black fur. His name is Tachibana, and I've had my eye on him for some time," he said. "Make him fall in love with me, and I'll tell you what you need to know."
Yuuta raised an eyebrow, very skeptical. "Birds aren't supposed to be in love with cats."
The bird narrowed his eyes. . . . or . . . would have, if they hadn't been closed already. "Young boys aren't supposed to be in love with their brothers."
He had a point. "Alright," Yuuta conceded. "But how am I supposed to make him fall in love with you?"
"Give him one of my feathers."
"Is that all?"
"That's all."
Well, if the bird was smart enough to talk, he probably knew what he was talking about, Yuuta figured. So he plucked a feather from the bird's tail and headed to the other side of the tennis court.
The landscaping on the other side wasn't nearly as nice, but Yuuta was quickly able to find the handsome cat with short black fur, who was in the tall grass hunting mice. "Are you Tachibana?" he asked the cat.
"I am," it meowed back.
"I have something for you." He gave the cat the feather he'd taken.
The cat was instantly in awe of the feather. "Look how beautiful it is!" he said. "Look how it shines in the sunlight. I must meet the bird this feather came from, can you take me to him?"
"Only if you promise not to eat him." In his mind he added 'until after he's told me what I need to know'.
"I could never eat something so lovely," Tachibana said.
So Yuuta carried the cat back to the nicer side of the tennis court, and soon the cat and the bird were purring and chirping happily together. Pouncing gently upon and flying around each other. Having a grand time being in love, until Yuuta cleared his throat to remind them he was there.
"Oh yes," the bird said, then flew to Yuuta's shoulder. "To bring your brother back, you must gather the three pieces of his broken heart and put them back together. Then he'll be alive again."
"Where can I find the pieces of his heart?"
"I'll only tell you if you-"
Yuuta interrupted the bird by picking Tachibana up by the scruff of his neck. "Tell me or the cat gets it."
"Ok ok!" the bird hopped up and down. Yuuta dropped the cat and it jumped up and scratched him, leaving an 'X' mark on his forehead, and then ran up a tree. He shook his fist as the bird continued, "The first part of his heart is in possession of the Ibu-ogre; you must distract him and steal the heart without him noticing."
"Ok," Yuuta said, noting everything down.
"The second piece is under lock-and-key by the Selfish Prince. You'll have to convince him to give it to you, or else his goons will beat you up."
Yuuta didn't want to be beat up, by goons or otherwise, so he nodded and made a point of remembering that.
"The third part is being kept by the demon Kirihara, who plans to eat it. You'll have to find him something else for his dinner before he gobbles it up." The bird nodded. "Get those three fragments, and you get your lover . . . err . . . brother back."
"Got it," Yuuta said, determined. "But how do you know all this?"
"It's in my data," the bird said. Then it flew off to join his kitty in the tree.
And Yuuta started immediately on his quest to find the pieces of his brother's broken heart.
The Ibu-ogre lived high on top of Mt. Fudo, and it was said that if one listened carefully enough, they could hear him talking to himself, day and night. Yuuta had never seen the ogre before, but he had heard the stories, and had already begun formulating a plan.
As he traveled, he came upon just the thing he was looking for to distract the ogre – a certain red bush that sang and danced all on its own. If anything could distract an ogre, that would. So Yuuta plucked the bush from the ground and packed it in his trusty tennis bag.
When he reached the ogre's home, he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. But he did hear a constant stream of mumbling coming from inside, so he knew the place wasn't empty. So he let himself in. Following the voice was easy, and soon enough he found the Ibu-ogre, who was on the backyard tennis court, playing with himself. . . . Tennis, that is. And to Yuuta's dismay, the piece of his brother's heart was hanging from the ogre's waist. He had been hoping he wouldn't have to get that close.
"Umm . . . excuse me?" Yuuta said tenitively.
The ogre stopped playing and turned toward Yuuta. "Who are you? And why are you in my house?" he asked. But he didn't wait for an answer. "How rude, coming in uninvited. You can't just trespass into someone's house. There are laws against that. I could have you arrested. Except if you're lost; I'll forgive you then, because getting lost isn't really your fault. Unless you got lost on purpose, but why would someone get lost on purpose?"
He continued on, but it came to the point where Yuuta realized if he didn't interrupt he was never going to get the piece of heart back. After several ignored "ahem"s and "excuse me"s and "hello"s, he took the initiative and just pulled out the dancing bush.
The Ibu-ogre stopped talking when he saw the bush shaking and singing and calling out "RIZUMU ni noruze!" It had certainly gotten his attention, and he stared at it for a long time.
"What an unusual plant," he started talking again. "Why is it dancing? I don't dance like that and I'm an ogre; what would a bush have to dance about? Maybe it's a very happy plant. I suppose if I had red leaves like that I would be happy too . . ." And on and on.
Yuuta saw how distracted the ogre was by the bush, and took the opportunity to sneak up and untie the heart fragment. It fell into his hands and he kissed it tenderly before slipping it into his tennis bag and running back down the mountain, without the ogre even remembering he was ever there.
The second part wasn't going to be quite as easy. Not that listening to an ogre ramble on and on about nothing in particular was easy by any means . . . . Prince Atobe was very selfish indeed, thus earning him the nickname 'The Selfish Prince', and Yuuta was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to just walk up and ask for what he needed. And he didn't have anything he could give in return.
He decided to seek the help of the Noble Count Tezuka, who was as stubborn as the Prince was selfish. If anyone could convince the Prince to relinquish the heart fragment, he could. And the Noble Count had been a friend of Syuusuke's, as they played on the same tennis team, so he was happy to help. At least . . . Yuuta was pretty sure he was happy to; he couldn't really tell, since the Count never really showed much emotion in his expression. Either way, happy or not, he went along with it.
So they went together to the Castle Hyoutei, where they were lucky to find the door guard asleep. They slipped in easily, and found themselves even luckier – the Prince's personal secretary was busy with a red-head sitting on his lap. He didn't even notice Yuuta and the Count enter the Prince's throne room.
The Selfish Prince sat upon his gilded throne, surrounded by several very large men who all looked alike and all looked . . . not so bright. When he saw the pair enter, he demanded to know "How did you get in here?"
"We walked in," Yuuta answered.
"What happened to my secretary?"
"He was . . . busy."
The Prince growled, then pushed an intercom button on his throne's armrest. "Oshitari! I told you to get that hussy out of here!"
"Screw you!" a voice that did not belong to the secretary and therefore could only be the 'hussy' yelled back over the speaker.
"Get out of my castle!" Then Prince Atobe released the button and re-composed himself. "Well since you're here, what do you want?"
"My name is Yuuta Fuji-"
"I didn't ask what your name was," the Prince interrupted. "What do you want? Answer now!"
"I came for the piece of my brother's heart!" Yuuta snapped out.
"Ahn? And why should I give you that? Hearts are very difficult to come by, you know."
"I know . . ." Yuuta said. "But it's my fault it broke in the first place, and I need to fix it."
The Prince crossed his arms over his chest. "Well I'm afraid even a piece of a heart is too precious a thing to just give away. You'll have to go without."
"Your Highness." Now the Noble Count Tezuka stepped forward and bowed. "I think it would be in everyone's best interest if you would give him what he needs."
The Prince was very instantly taken with the Count, who was really quite handsome. So with an eyebrow raised in interest, he asked "And who are you?"
"I am Count Tezuka of Seigaku," the Count answered.
"What makes you believe I should give this boy the heart fragment I have?"
A rather sly look came into the Count's eyes. "Take me into your private chambers and I'll tell you."
The Prince looked the Count up and down, then stood. "Very well." Then the two of them went to the Prince's private chambers together.
Yuuta waited for them. And waited. And waited some more. He tried to strike up conversation with the goons, but all any of them seemed to say was "Usu," and Yuuta got bored very quickly. It seemed a long time before the Selfish Prince and the Noble Count returned to the throne room, each looking rather satisfied. Yuuta told himself they'd just had a good business meeting. A very good business meeting. He did not want to think about what else could have been going on in the private chambers.
"I have decided," the Prince said as he returned to his throne, "to give you the piece of heart. I am very generous, ahn?"
". . . Do I have to give something to you?" Yuuta asked, because selfish princes were very apt to demanding such a thing.
"Oh I got something, believe me." The Prince grinned; Yuuta mentally smacked himself. "Kabaji!" Prince Atobe snapped his fingers.
And received a chorus of "Usu!"
"Err . . . number five."
This time a single "Usu." The Prince removed a small, golden key from a chain around his neck and gave it to goon #5. The large man went to another room, then came back a minute later with the heart fragment. "Usu."
"Give it to the boy."
"Usu."
Yuuta gave a "thanks" as he was given the piece of his brother's heart. He kissed it tenderly before putting it into his tennis bag with the other one. The two pieces of heart melded together instantly.
"Thank you."
"Of course," the Prince grinned, obviously very pleased with himself. "Now be off with you."
Yuuta nodded, then looked expectantly at Count Tezuka. "I'll stay here," the Count said in his usual bland way. And Yuuta was really not surprised.
At least they had the decency to wait until he was mostly out of the room before they started undressing each other.
The third piece of Syuusuke's heart would be the hardest to get of all. Yuuta didn't want to be near the demon Kirihara. He didn't want to be near any demons, but especially Kirihara. And demons loved to eat people, or even parts of people - like their hearts. In fact, there was only one thing demons liked eating more than people, and that was leprecons. Leprecons had all the meaty flavor of a person, but with added magical nutrition.
If Yuuta was going to replace the demon's meal, he would have to catch a leprecon.
He set up a trap with a remote-controlled locking door, and sprayed it down with Essence of Cute Girl, making sure the whole contraption was saturated with the scent, which leprecons were known to be attracted to. Then he hid in a nearby bush.
Sure enough, eventually a leprecon came by, following the Essence of Cute Girl, unable to resist its lure. And when it saw the trap box, he naturally assumed it was chock-full of lovely young ladies. With a cheer of "Lucky!" he went in, and Yuuta pressed the button on the remote, sealing the door and locking the leprecon inside.
"Gotcha!" Yuuta ran over to the box and peered into a slot in the back.
The leprecon was very not amused. There wasn't a single pretty girl in there! "What do you think you're doing?"
"Sorry," Yuuta responded. "But you're going to be demon food."
"That's not very lucky."
"Not for you." Then he carried the box off to the Rikkai Cavern, where the demon lived. He got there just in time, for when he entered the cave he saw the red-eyed demon Kirihara just picking up his fork and knife, with the final piece of heart on a plate in front of him. "Wait!"
The demon stopped, and looked at Yuuta. "What do you want?"
"You can't eat that."
"Oh yes I can. And I will."
"But I need it to bring my brother back to life."
"Well it sucks to be you, now doesn't it?" Then the demon started to resume his meal.
"I'll replace it with something better!"
"What could possibly be better than this juicy, succulant piece of heart?" He drooled a bit, and licked his lips.
Yuuta pushed the trap box forward. "How about a juicy . . . succulant . . . whole leprecon?"
That got the demon's attention real quick. "Alive?"
"And kickin'."
He looked the box over with a weary red eye. "How do I know you're not just trying to fool me and that box isn't empty?" Yuuta hit the side of the container, causing the leprecon to start throwing a fit, yelling about could he at least spend his last few moments licking the Essence off the walls in peace? His ruckus made Kirihara's eyes grow wide. "Feisty!" And he lept from his table onto the box. He was taunting the leprecon as Yuuta made his way over to the table he'd been sitting at.
"I'll . . . just be taking this then."
"Fine fine," the demon said without looking back. "Take your piddly little heart."
"Yeah, thanks." Yuuta grabbed the piece of heart and quickly rushed from the cavern, muttering "I hope he gives you indigestion," as he passed by the drooling demon.
When he was outside, he broke into a run, getting as far as he could from Rikkai and its crazy demon. Clutching the heart to his chest, he ran until he found someplace safe and quiet. In the shade of an elm tree, he brought out the combined first two heart pieces, then, after giving it a tender kiss like the others, added the third.
With all three parts combined, the complete heart began to glow brightly, so much so that Yuuta had to cover his eyes to keep from going blind. And when the light faded he uncovered his eyes, and standing before him was a beautiful woman-
Man, he noted after a second look.
-with large, beautiful butterfly-esque wings.
"W-who are you?" Yuuta asked.
"I'm the Fairy Queen Yukimura."
"Where's Aniki?"
"Aniki?"
"My brother!" Yuuta was frustrated, or perhaps a little over-anxious. "I put all the pieces of his heart together, now where is he?"
"I'm sorry," the Fairy said. "But those fragments were of my heart."
So all he'd done . . . all he'd been through . . . Every time he tenderly kissed a piece of the heart, he was actually kissing . . . .
Yuuta didn't stick around for an explaination. Maybe it was a bit rude, especially towards a Queen, but he quickly turned and walked away, heading back to where he started this whole quest from.
He found the little brown bird and the cat in their tree, cuddling, and threw stones at them until they came down. "You manipulated me!" he shouted angrily at the small bird.
"You allowed yourself to be manipulated. It was necessary; I couldn't have done all that myself, now could I?"
"Give me my brother!"
"Renji."
The bird's eyes opened for a second, and then he raced over to bow before the Fairy Queen, who had just appeared. "Your Highness," he said. "I'm so happy you've returned."
"Renji, did you promise this boy he'd get his brother back?"
"I made no promises of anything, Highness."
"You're a . . . bad bird!" Yuuta yelled. He was very hurt and quite distraught. And the Fairy went to him, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Now, I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. He was just doing what he thought was best for the land, and for me. But do not fret, little brother of Fuji."
"My name is Yuuta!"
"Then Yuuta, you shall be rewarded for all your hard work." Then the Fairy Queen began moving his hands, catching whisps of air or energy or something and weaving them into a solid being. And before Yuuta even realized what was going on, his brother was standing there.
"Aniki!" He ran to Syuusuke, happy and full of relief.
"Yuuta . ." Syuusuke was glad to be alive again, and glad his brother still loved him. And to show his appriciation, he kissed Yuuta thuroughly, until the poor boy was flustered and blushing.
"Baka Aniki!"
But still, Yuuta had his brother back, and that was all he needed. And though they didn't always live happily ever after, neither ever died of heart break ever again.
The End