Chapter 6 – Buchou's Out of the Bag

Yumiko pulled open the door and smiled at the brown haired boy standing there, "Come in Tezuka-kun. Everyone is in the backyard getting the Bar-B-Que ready." She ushered him into the house. So far he looked just as she remembered him. But from what her brother had said, he was a changed person.

"Let me take your things. I'll put them in the loving room with everyone else's things."

"Hai thank you."

She nodded, "Go join them. They're waiting for you."

She did get a strange feeling from him as he nodded and proceeded through the house to the backyard.
Her head tilted to the side, "Hmm. Interesting." She decided to go upstairs and see if her Tarot cards could tell her anything.

"Buchou!" Momo exclaimed being the first to notice their captain joining them. The others slowly all welcomed him.

Everyone was already here Tezuka noticed wearily.

"Here."

The Tensai was holding a plate with a hamburger on it.

"Thank you." He said accepting the plate.

Fuji simply smiled, "Can I get you something to drink?"

"No thank you."

Fuji nodded and stood beside him as he looked over the other regulars who had fallen back into conversation with each other and eating, "It's good that you decided to come."

"Aa." Although he still felt uncomfortable with the idea of spending the night at Fuji's. But it couldn't be helped. It would have looked really bad if the captain hadn't shown up to the team function. He just wanted to get this night over with.

"Inui brought over some videos of our opponents."

Tezuka turned to him.

Fuji Smiled, "I don't know where he got them." He said knowing what his friend wanted to know.

Tezuka turned to look at the others again.

So he was still somewhat the same person.

Tezuka glanced down at the hamburger on his plate. He eyed Fuji a split second then lifted the top bun to see what was inside.

His friend laughed, "No special ingredients today." He said and walked towards the others.

Tezuka replaced the bread back and lifted the hamburger to take a bite. He froze suddenly.

Out on the lawn Momoshiro had just tackled Echizen and was now sitting on his backside.

"Momo-senpai! You're squishing me!" Ryoma whined.

"I'll rescue you Ochibi!" Eiji came flying out of nowhere to tackle Momoshiro. There was now a mass of bodies and tangled limbs.

He went numb. Unknowingly his fingers loosened their grip on the hamburger and it fell to the ground.

He gripped the sheets as he was roughly pushed face down.
A heavy weight settled on his back and he could feel the air get knocked out of his body.
He shut his eyes.
"Easy there Tezuka-kun…" That voice whispered somewhere close to his ear.
His whole body shuddered.
"Buchou?"

Everyone turned to Oishi's worried tone.

Tezuka was staring at the three regulars sprawled on the ground. He slowly took his unfocused gaze off of them and looked at Oishi who had come up to him. He watched as his friend picked up the fallen hamburger and took the plate from his hands.

"I'll get you another one." Fuji simply said and walked to the Bar-B-Que set.

Oishi went to throw away the burger.

Tezuka looked over the others with his cool stare and slowly the others went back to what they had been doing.

"Are you ok?"

"Aa." He turned back to where Fuji was preparing another burger, "Fuji."

"Yes Tezuka?"

"You don't have to make another one."

Those sharp blue eyes opened. He placed the now completed burger on a new plate and set it aside, "You might want it later." He said and smiled again.

Tezuka nodded simply. He highly doubted he would regain his appetite again tonight.

"You're not going to eat?"

"No." He moved away and went to sit at the patio table. He turned away from looking at Momo, Ryoma an Eiji wrestling on the ground.

Fuji came to stand by Oishi.

"Something weird is going on."

"Aa." Fuji agreed. With his smile still in place he motioned for them to join Tezuka at the table.
Inui was scribbling in his notebook. Tezuka wanted to squirm in discomfort. That guy was studying him to intensely he could feel his gaze like someone touching him. Inspecting him… He pushed back the chair and stood up, "Excuse me."

The remaining occupants of the table watched him as he strolled back into the house.

"Hmm…" Fuji got up also, "Excuse me." He too went back into the house and looked around for his friend. The family room was empty as was the kitchen and living room. His eyes landed on a door close to the study. He approached convinced his friend was in there. As he reached it could he could clearly hear someone retching.

Tezuka.

His eyes opened and he firmly knocked on the door, "Tezuka open the door."
Silence.

"Tezuka. The door."

He heard the flush of the toilet, then the tap running. He crossed his arms waiting. Finally the door opened and cool brown eyes stared back at steel blue ones.

They stared at each other a moment. Neither backing down.

Finally Tezuka sighed and shut his eyes softened, "It's nothing Fuji." He sidestepped the Tensai to walk away.

Fuji reached out, grabbing his arm. His eyes still open and the ever-present smile absent. He felt his friend's body tense up. His grip loosened, "Tezuka."

The young captain simply shook his head, "It's nothing." And he moved away pulling out of Fuji's hold in the process.

Fuji Syusuke watched eyes narrowed. What happened in Germany? The bad feeling he had was increasing. It was undeniable. Something happened to Kunimitsu Tezuka. It didn't look good.

He walked around the corner and went to the second floor where he knew he'd be able to find his sister in her room. He knocked on her door.

"Come in." She smiled when her brother entered the room, she waved him over to sit down, "I did a reading n Tezuka-kun." She said getting serious, "The cards were inconclusive about what happened to him. But…" She met her brother's eyes when they opened, "He seems to be at a crossroad. One will lead him back to himself the other…" She didn't have to finish.

"We'll lose him."

Yumiko nodded. She decided against telling him that she had received the card of death, "He's in a very serious situation."

Fuji nodded, "Thank you neesan." He got up and left her room.

The young woman turned to the work on her desk. She hoped that Tezuka-kun didn't turn out to be like any of her patients…

He knew Tezuka well enough to know that look in his eyes. In all respect, the captain looked like he was intently watching the match on the screen. It was that same look he had when he was in class and he already knew the contents of the lesson inside out but didn't want to appear rude. Tezuka was not listening or watching any part of the match on the TV screen.

A phone rang, disrupting the string of information Inui was giving about some player on the screen.
Tezuka pulled out his cell phone to answer it, "Moshi moshi." He glanced up at his teammates, "Continue everyone." He said and got up from the sofa and made his way out of the room.

"Ne… Who would call Buchou if we are all here?"

"Eiji! Tezuka knows other people besides us." Oishi said shaking his head with a sigh.

"Hmm…" Inui pulled out his notebook, "No record of Tezuka ever excusing himself from our presence while on the phone. Average call time…32 seconds." He looked up where Tezuka had disappeared around the corner then glanced at his watch.

The regulars waited in silence as Inui had paused the video to take notes.

"Ne, he's been gone a long time…" Eiji said shifting positions.

"We should watch the video before he gets back." Oishi declared clearing his throat.

Inui nodded and pressed play. His eyes though kept looking at the entrance to the family room.

When Tezuka finally returned all eyes turned onto him and Inui scribbled in his notebook, "Six minutes and 57 seconds…" He pushed up his glasses and stared at Tezuka.

That look. He controlled his body from visibly shuddering but he could feel his skin crawling…

"Who was that?" Eiji asked curiously.

"No one."

"Maybe a girl?" Momoshiro exclaimed with a wide grin, "Eh Buchou, did you meet someone in Germany?"

"Shut up Baka. Buchou was concentrating on Tennis. He didn't have time to fool around with dating girls."

"You're just jealous because no girl will go out with you!"

"Why should I be jealous? I'm practicing that's why I can beat you so easily."

"You CAN NOT beat me!"

"Ppshhh."

"You can't!"

"That's enough." Oishi said frowning, "We have work to do everyone."

Tezuka studied his friend a minute. Oishi had become more assertive then before he had left…

Inui cleared his throat and began analyzing the match again but he made a mental note to write down that Tezuka had not been the one to get Kaidoh and Momoshiro back in line… Interesting…

Fuji watched Tezuka turn his attention back to the television seemingly paying attention again.

Fuji walked towards Tezuka and placed his tatami mat down next to his. He saw his friend stiffen a bit but continue to prepare his sleeping space next to the wall.

"Everyone ready?" Oishi called out standing by the light switch and watching as the Regulars piled into their sleeping bags and making themselves comfortable.

"Hai." A chorus of young teenage boys rang out.

The lights were turned off and Tezuka became tense as he heard shuffling in the darkness. He moved to press himself closer to the wall. Slowly his eyes focused in the dark and he watched the small lumps moved abut trying to get comfortable.

"Oyasumi." Voices rang out in the darkness.

Tezuka and Fuji remained silent.

Tezuka could barely make out the Tensai's eyes watching him, but he could feel the full impact of his intense gaze.

Noticing that his friend wasn't about to move or take his eyes off him, Fuji decided to close his eyes but the small action didn't to put Tezuka at ease. He was very worried. He remained as still as possible.

Trying to relax his body so that Tezuka wouldn't feel him watching. But nothing seemed to work. An hour or so must have passed and Tezuka was still wide awake staring at him or sometimes his gaze would shift on the other regulars when they shifted in their sleep. Fuji allowed his hand to come out from his sleeping bag. He pretended to rub his eyes before letting his arm drop to the side in Tezuka's direction.

He got a reaction.

Kunimitsu flinched back so fast as he both tried to get away and stand up while still wrapped in his sleeping bag. He hit the wall and stumbled forward.

A few of the regulars groaned and stirred awake at all the noise.

"Tezuka." Fuji called out, "It's me, Fuji." He tried to calm as Tezuka fought the blankets stumbling about.

"Ouuf!" Momoshiro puffed out some air as something heave fell on him.

Tezuka snapped back and hit the wall again.

He was trapped.
The man had wrapped the blanket so tightly around his upper body trapping his arms to his side. It was so tight he could hardly breath properly.

He felt the weight descend on him again. His heart pounded in hi ears. His head was spinning. He couldn't breath. Panic rose in his throat and he wanted to scream. He wanted so desperately to scream! But… No words came out. Everything was just trapped inside him.

The room was brought out of the darkness when the lights were suddenly turned on. Fuji had managed to come out of his sleeping bag and was reaching for Tezuka who was still struggling to free himself from the bag as he attempted to find his footing and stumbled around.

The regulars watched stunned. What was going on?

Inui's notebook that he was holding when he fell asleep slipped from his hand as he watched completely unsure what to do.

"Buchou?" Momo said softly. He stepped easily out of his sleeping bag and moved to help his captain who was now thoroughly tangled in his sleeping bag.

"Momo-chan. Don't." Fuji said with open eyes.

"But."

Fuji shook his head and held out his hand to prevent anyone from getting near Seigaku's captain.
They watched in horror as Tezuka finally lay still across a couple of tatami mattresses breathing and shaking terribly.

"Tezuka." Fuji said softly. Calmly. He approached his friend from the front so that the young captain could see him. He motioned for the others to stay still.

Tezuka watched him.

"You're in Japan. In my house…" He said softly as he continued to approach him. He saw something flicker in his friend's eyes. The panicked looked seemed to be fading away and he seemed to become more aware of his surroundings.

Fuji placed a hand on his captains shoulder hidden somewhere beneath the sleeping bag, "You're all twisted up." He said and with slow movements moved to help Tezuka untwist the sleeping bag he was in and the ones that had got tangled with him when he was struggling around.

As the material loosened around his body, Tezuka pushed himself to a sitting position, freeing his hands.

Fuji smiled serenely at him before turning to one of their friends, "Taka-san. Would you mind making some tea?"

"Eh. No of course not." He got to his feet and left the room.

"I'll help him." Momoshiro said as he got up, "Echizen let's go."

"Eh? Why do I have to come too?"

"Just come!" Momo said sternly and walked away.

Ryoma sighed and climbed out of his sleeping bag to follow Momoshiro out of the kitchen.

Realizing what Fuji wanted, Oishi cleared his throat, "Everyone, can you guys give Fuji and I a few minutes alone with Tezuka?"

"Oishi…"

"Please Eiji…"

The red head turned to the captain who was staring at the tatami mattress. He turned to his best friend.

He nodded and followed Inui and Kaidoh out of the room.

The room now empty, Oishi joined Fuji and Tezuka on the tatami mattresses.

"Tezuka." Oishi said softly, "What happened in Germany?"

Silence.

Both Oishi and Fuji could see Tezuka slowly returning to his stoic self.

Fuji noticed.

"He seems to be at a crossroad…"

They couldn't let Tezuka hide behind that strong wall he had created for himself. With his serene smile still in place he moved to place a hand on Tezuka's shoulder and just as he expected his friend instinctively pushed back, the stoic look vanished.

"Fuji." Oishi reached to pull Fuji away when he saw Tezuka's body begin to shake.

The Tensai nodded and sat back, "Who did this to you Tezuka?"

Those brown eyes darted onto him.

So that was it. He was right. Fuji hated being right this time… He wished with all his heart that he had been wrong… But the way Tezuka was acting now… He highly doubted he was wrong, "Kudo Tetsu."

Tezuka flinched at the name.

Oishi's eyes widened in shock.

"I think we should wake up my sister." He stood up slowly, "Come Tezuka."

"Iie."

Oishi glanced at Fuji. Now what?

"It will be ok Tezuka." The Tensai assured giving their friend a soft smile.

Tezuka shook his head, "Iie." He moved to roll up his sleeping bag.

"Ne Tezuka, are you running away?"

The young captain froze.

"Fuji…" Oishi whispered not too sure insulting their captain was the right way to handle the situation.
He had to admit though that it might be working when Tezuka stopped rolling his sleeping bag.

"Hn. Ok. Oishi you watch him. I'll get my sister." Fuji decided it may be easier to get her to come see him.

"Aa." Oishi offered his Buchou a smile as he moved to take a seat on the sofa.

Fuji made sure to give Tezuka a pointed look before he walked out of the room. Although anyone watching wouldn't have seen anything but a calm walking Tensai, Fuji was actually rushing up the stairs to his sister's room where he knocked on the door.

The door opened within moments and a yawning Yumiko appeared.

"Sorry to wake you Oneesan but I need your help."

The older Fuji became fully alert, "Syusuke, what is it?"

"It's Tezuka."

Yumiko nodded and disappeared into her room a moment. She came back wearing her robe and she followed her brother who gave her a quick account of what had just happened.

They entered the living room where it seemed Oishi was guarding a nervous Tezuka.

"Syusuke, why don't you and Oishi-kun go join the others for a bit?" She suggested with a smile.

"Hai."

Oishi glanced one last time at Tezuka then followed Fuji out of the living room.

Once they were alone, Yumiko turned to Tezuka, "So, couldn't sleep?"

The young man remained silent and watched her as she smiled a similar smile that Fuji often had on his face. Disarming yet still somehow you knew that behind that smile something was going on in the subject head. She moved to sit on a tatami facing him, "Would it be easier to sleep if you had your own room?"

No response.

Yumiko continued to stare at him with that ever-present Fuji smile and waited.

"Aa." A reply came finally.

"Hmm. Why don't we go to Syusuke's room then? You can sleep there tonight. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." She stood up and waited as he hesitantly got to his feet and grabbed his sleeping bag. He followed her towards the stairs.

"Just one second." She stepped towards the kitchen, peeking inside where her brother and his friends were softly chatting and drinking tea, "We're going to use your room Syusuke ok?"

"Hai."

Yumiko smiled and gave everyone a quick wave as though nothing serious was going on then turned the corner and rejoined the awaiting Tezuka Kunimitsu, "Ok let's go."

She could sense Tezuka's uneasiness as they made their way up the stairs. As they got closer to her brother's room it was almost as though she could feel the trembling of his aura reaching out tingling her skin. She kept the worry from her face when they reached Syusuke's room and turned to see the tension in her companion's posture.

"It's okay. Syusuke trusts you with his room." She joked trying to ease him. She held the door opened but as soon as she saw him hesitate, she decided to walk in first and make herself comfortable at her brother's desk.

She watched as Tezuka slowly entered. He glanced back at the door over his shoulder before making his way into the center of the room.

At this point Yumiko decided leaving the door open would be best, "Have a seat." She offered motioning to Syusuke's bed. Her eyes critically studied every minute movement he made as he approached the bed. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw the slight increase in rate and the shortness of each intake of air.

He sat down stiffly on the bed, facing her.

"So you know what I do as a profession ne Tezuka?"

The young man nodded simply.

She smiled. Time to ease him into the conversation, "Anyway, how was your time in Germany?"

Silence.

"I want to help you Tezuka-kun. You can trust me."

Her well-manicured brow raised as the teenager turned to look towards the open door. She also turned to the door. The voices of the others could be heard faintly. It sounded like Momo-chan and Kaidoh were having another argument. Understanding suddenly what he may be concerned about she turned to him, "None of them would have to know what we spoke about. Not even my brother. Not unless you want them to know."

Tezuka turned to stare at her.

She tried again.

"Was it your first time out of Japan?" She decided to start the conversation a little slower.

The teenager nodded.

"Syusuke said you enjoy history. There must be lots of historical places in Germany. Did you visit any interesting places?"

"Aa."

Yumiko smiled. This was a start, "What did you see?"

"Many places."

"The Berlin wall?"

The teen nodded.

"You went alone?"

Tezuka hesitated, "Iie." There was a slight twitch of his left brow.

"Who went with you?" She asked casually.

A moment of silence prevailed.

"Another patient at the rehabilitation center."

"I see. So you made some new friends there?"

"Aa."

"What's your friends' name?"

Another second of hesitation.

"Minamoto Hitomi."

Yumiko smiled. A girl…

"Is she pretty?"

To her amusement, Tezuka seemed taken aback by the question. She giggled involuntarily, "So were the people there generally friendly?" She asked taking advantage of momentarily disarmed Tezuka.

She watched as the teen's facial features hardened, "Aa." He was trying to seem indifferent but she had picked up in the slight tightness of the response.

"Did you have a favourite trainer?"

He shook his head slowly.

Trying to keep his composure Yumiko thought sadly, "How many trainers did you have?"

"Two." He crossed his arms about his chest.

"They took turns to train you?"

Tezuka's eyes seemed to de-focus momentarily and then he nodded.

"Both trained you on the same things?"

Tezuka shook his head slowly.

"Really?" She kept her tone light, "So what would a typical day be like?"

His eyes focused somewhere on her face avoiding her eyes, "We do physical therapy training in the morning. Usually at the gym. Sometimes at the pool." He stopped briefly, "Tutoring." His eyes took on a faraway look as he lowered his gaze to somewhere beside her chair, "Then tennis training."

"Is Germany good at Tennis?"

Tezuka nodded, "Different."

"Oh? How so?"

Tezuka seemed to tighten his hold on himself, "Strong." He cleared his throat, "Physically strong."

"Strong? Like Momoshiro?"

Tezuka nodded.

"Was your tennis trainer strong?"

Tezuka nodded again.

Her insides tightened when she saw him shiver ever so slightly, "Were you ever with your tennis trainer when you were not on the courts?"

She saw him swallow and he shut his eyes briefly before re-opening them. She didn't like that hollowed look she was seeing.

He nodded slowly.

"Where did you go?"

She kept a serene look on her face as best as she could as she saw Tezuka start to fight his body's betrayal of his internal struggle with his emotions. He began shaking visibly, "Where did you go Tezuka." She repeated this time a little more sternly.

"He…"He shook his head.

"Where Tezuka?" She pushed.

"He… " He halted again and his arms tightened around his body again as he shivered.

"Where?"

"My room… Followed… Me… M-m-my room…" His eyes snapped up towards hers sharply, "I didn't want him to! I didn't want him to!"

Yumiko was out of her chair in a flash at his outburst and crossed the room to kneel before him.

He flinched back.

"Tezuka-kun." Her voice was demanding.

His eyes caught hers.

"It's not your fault." She said and showed him her open palms. She watched as he looked at them. She slowly moved them towards his shoulders and placed them there, "It's not your fault." She held his gaze. She saw the uncertainty reflecting in his eyes. He wasn't so sure. But that was natural after what he's been through.

"Did he touch you?"

She felt his body shake more under her hands and his gaze broke from hers, "Did he Tezuka?"

His head nodded, the brown hair falling forward hiding his eyes.

She steadied herself. From what she knew of him, and from what she had observed so far, the worst was to come, "Did he do more than touch you Tezuka-kun?"

Author's note:

Haha again it didn't turn out as I envisioned. I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading :)

Feedback is apreciated.

Cheers,

CelicaChick

P.S. I know Tezuka seems a OC but then I guess that's to be expected if he had gone through such trauma... I mean it's normal right?