Disclaimer: No one belongs to me! *Naze? Naze?*
A/N: AU POT story.
*Sweatdrops* Ano, I know this update has taken a long time. I hope my very kind reviewers have not abandoned this story! Many apologies and thank you so much for your support! *cough* The pace and writing of this chapter is quite different from the previous (not so much action) - I mentioned before that the previous three formed one big prologue, so this is officially chapter 1 – Aeta (Meeting). Please stick with me!
I thank Hikaruchi-san for letting me use her name and Nekomaru in this chapter. And since Suke-san and Shieru-san have guessed correctly, I will put down the official pairings.
^_^ (Tezuka/Fuji, Oishi/Eiji). LOL. All those speculation about the pairings... Gawd, I am predictable. Flashbacks are in italics.
Chapter I: Aeta
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Present day, Tokyo
"Irasshaimase!" He was greeted by the discreet twinkling of bells and friendly smiles of cream uniform-clad staff as he stepped into the bookstore. He dipped his head in polite acknowledgement before removing his woolen cap and shaking it gently to remove the dusting of powdery snow. In unhurried movements, he loosened the midnight blue chenille scarf around his neck and slid off his comfortably worn gloves, letting the warmth of the surroundings penetrate into his frozen fingers.
"Are you looking for something in particular? Perhaps I may be of some help?" It was one of the staff who had greeted him when he had first entered. About eighteen, with lustrous midnight hair tightly bound into twin braids. She gave him a wide, open smile.
An answering smile curved his lips as he shook his head, "Iie. I am just looking around."
"Ah, I see." Unwilling to end the exchange just yet, the girl continued in a rush, " I am Miho. Please look around then, but feel free to approach anyone of us if you need any assistance."
Looking at the faint blush staining the cheeks of the girl, he answered gently, "Thanks, I will."
Watching his retreating back, Miho and her colleagues gave a collective little sigh. He really was quite beautiful, with his rich, wavy mass of burgundy red hair and deep blue eyes. When he smiled, there was a twinkle in his eyes; the easy quirk of his lips and the faint laugh lines showed that he was a person who was generous with his smiles and laughter, and yet, his eyes were tinged with the slightest trace of melancholia. Twirling her braids idly, Miho wondered what had put the sadness into his eyes.
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Kikumaru Eiji wandered listlessly through the endless isles of bookshelves, pausing now and then to flip through a random novel or some anthologies. Truth be told, he was not a person who particularly enjoyed reading: he had had his fill of books after slaving through high school and university. It therefore always came as a surprise to people when he told them he had a degree and was a teacher. But the light of understanding would then dawn in their eyes when they learnt that his degree was in kinesiology and that he taught physical education in his old junior high school, Seigaku.
Some had asked why he chose to teach in Seigaku when he had had offers from several prestigious high schools, his answer was always the same: he enjoyed the interaction with younger kids and it was fate that he was teaching at Seigaku. The day he had graduated from university at twenty-two, his former coach, Ryuzaki-sensei had approached him.
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"Kikumaru, I am retiring soon. Are you interested in taking over my position?" Staring into those familiar eyes, Eiji had felt a strange sense of homecoming. Without hesitation, he had accepted the offer. And when Ryuzaki-sensei had broken into a smile, Eiji had responded with a wide grin before impulsively engulfing the old lady in a big bear hug which had the latter chuckling and fighting for her breath at the same time.
It was his fourth year of teaching at Seigaku when he met a special student: Hidetoshi Ryuushin, the twelve-year old with a deteriorating body but the heart of a dragon. It was obvious to Eiji that Ryuushin was ill even at first glance: Ryuushin was small for his age, his built resembled that of an eight year old instead of his actual twelve. There was an ochre cast to his pallor; even the whites of his eyes had started to yellow.
Ryuushin had kidney problems, Eiji later learnt. It started when he was nine, and he had been going for dialysis for the past three years. The first emotion that Eiji felt was pity. How difficult it must be for such a young child to have such a condition! Eiji had volunteered at hospitals before, and had witnessed the pain and suffering the patients go through. To always need to have needles and tubes being poked into your body, to not be able to run about and play happily like other carefree children...
After Eiji had his first tennis lesson with Ryuushin, he realized that he had been absolutely wrong. Hidetoshi Ryuushin was not a boy to deserve pity. He was a boy who commanded admiration. To watch Ryuushin play tennis was to see courage and determination displayed to its fullest. Every run, every serve, every volley, every single move that Ryuushin made was imbued with his fighting spirit. He was not physically as strong as his counterparts, but his heart and mind burnt more fiercely than any fire. Every game that Ryuushin played, he played to the fullest, with no reservation. When Ryuushin became a regular on the tennis team, no one was surprised.
Perhaps it was because Ryuushin was so strong that everyone had forgotten how ill he really was. It was during the Kantou finals when Ryuushin was playing the final set of second singles when it happened. It had been a hard fought match, but Ryuushin had finally evened out the score. As he raised his racket to serve his set, the nausea and pain that he had been valiantly suppressing suddenly overcame him like the dark rush of a tidal wave. His world spiraled into darkness as he collapsed onto the court.
"Ryuu!" Eiji had screamed as he pushed through the throng of shocked spectators and rushed towards his fallen student.
The doctors had immediately performed surgery on Ryuushin, transplanting a donated kidney into the sick boy. Eiji did not know nor did he understand what happened, but somehow, Ryuushin's body violently rejected the organ. The young boy who had been fighting so desperately for his life all those years, finally lost the fight that night. At nine pm, Hidetoshi Ryuushin, fourteen years of age, passed away.
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Eiji stopped and plucked a book from the shelf over his head. Staring at the glossy book in his hand, his lips trembled as he felt something twist painfully inside him. Why was he trying to lie to himself? He had not come into the bookstore because he wanted shelter from the freezing cold.
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"Kikumaru-Sensei, thank you for visiting an old lady on this dreary winter day. You really bring much cheer to me," Ryuushin's grandmother smiled as she watched the young man nurse his cup of green tea. "I thank you for buying me the mochi too. I always have had a weakness for sweet things."
"Iie, I should have paid a visit much earlier. How are you, Baa-chan?"
"I am well," A hint of sadness seeped into her voice, "I am as well as I can be given that Ryuu is gone." Pausing to take a small sip of tea, Ryuushin's grandmother gave a small sigh, "I can't believe he's been gone for over a year. Even now, I feel as if he's going to burst through the door and shout out a greeting. I can even hear the sounds of his tennis balls bouncing off the walls...Ryuu was always so energetic, so alive, that it's hard to imagine anything else..."
"Ryuu was a very special boy." Eiji said, his voice almost a whisper.
"Yes he was," Reaching out to touch his head, Ryuushin's grandmother said gently, "And you, are a special person as well, Kikumaru-Sensei." Staring into Eiji's widened blue eyes, she continued, "Ryuu always told me that he was so happy at Seigaku because you were there. You gave him so much help and support, and most of all, you always believed in him. He told me that you were more than his Sensei. You were like the elder brother that he never had."
Then, Ryuushin's grandmother had taken out a book and placed it in front of Eiji. "He wanted you to have this, you know."
"Gomene. I can't take it," There was grief in Eiji's voice as he replied hoarsely, "I can't."
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In the end, Eiji had left Ryuushin's grandmother without taking the book. Yet now he was in the bookstore, barely five hours since he left the old lady. He had come because he wanted to see the book in his hand again. Ryuushin's favourite storybook.
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"Nee, Kikumaru-Sensei. I love this book. You have to read it." Ryuushin had literally shoved the thick volume into his face.
"Nya, Nekomaru by Hikaruchi?" Eiji lifted his eyebrows in surprise as he glance at the cover, "Ryuu, I never thought you'll be the type to like fairytales."
"Hn. It's not just any fairytale, Sensei! It's a fantastic book," Ryuushin's face was serious, "It made me feel and realize things that I haven't known before."
That evening when he reached home, Eiji had taken a shower and gobbled down some maguro sushi before he started reading the book. It was the first time that Kikumaru Eiji finished a book at one sitting without nodding off to sleep. When he finally closed the book, the red digits on his clock showed that it was three am. Flopping onto his bed and staring at the ceiling, he knew why Ryuushin had loved the book. The main character was a little boy whose parents was killed and he in turn, was transformed into a cat. Though he went through many trial and tribulations, and almost died in his journeys, he never gave up hope nor the will to live and was finally reunited with his grandmother.
When Eiji returned the book to Ryuushin, the latter had looked at him with solemn eyes, "I feel like Nekomaru, Kikumaru-Sensei. My parents died when I was four, I don't really have any other relatives except my grandmother."
A rueful smile touched Ryuushin's lips as he continued, "Sometimes, I feel so tired of fighting so hard, of enduring the pain all the time. It'll be easier for me to just give up. Then I think of Nekomaru, of how he remained optimistic even during the worse of times and I'll tell myself to continue fighting because I have people whom I care about. Like my grandmother, and my friends here in Seigaku."
Eiji had swung an arm over the boy and said companionably, "Nya! Don't forget about your favourite Sensei too!" And the two of them had burst into laughter.
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"Ryuu..." Eiji whispered through clenched teeth as the unbearable weight of his memories set crushingly upon on his chest. Squeezing his burning eyes shut, Eiji's head bent forward as his right hand clutched reflexively at the left of his chest, fingers digging through the layers of fleece and wool.
"Ano, daijoubu?" At the sudden sound of another's voice, Eiji's eyes flickered open in surprise.
"Daijoubu? You don't look well." For a moment, Eiji's mind was a blank. He could not discern what the person was saying, the only thing that registered in his mind was that the person had a very nice voice. Gentle, smooth, and warm. The person had a voice like a summer's breeze.
"Perhaps you should sit down," Slowly, Eiji became aware that he was hunched against a tall shelf and that the person with the soothing voice was standing close to him, one hand lightly resting on the small of his back and the other clasping Eiji's elbows as though supporting him. Eiji blinked, and this time the person's face came into focus.
His face is just like his voice. Eiji thought, almost idiosyncratically. A kind, gentle face, framed by a pair of olive green eyes slightly darkened with concern. His long, lightly arched brows were lightly knitted together, marring his forehead with a small frown. Eiji's nostrils flared lightly as he inhaled the woodsy scent of the cologne that the man was wearing.
"Do you want to sit down somewhere?" The man repeated softly.
"Ii...iie. I am alright." Eiji straightened himself as he shook his head. The man nodded and removed his hold on Eiji, and for a second, something in Eiji protested against the loss of that comforting pressure at the small of his back and arms. Eiji smiled, "Arigatou."
" Iie. I was just walking by and then I saw you." You looked as if you were in so much pain. The words were unspoken, but Eiji could tell them from the man's eyes.
"Arigatou. I am feeling fine now, I appreciate your concern."
"Ah," The man nodded once again and then his eyes strayed to the book that was still tightly gripped in Eiji's hand, "May I?"
Eiji hesitated, but when the man stared once more into his eyes, he found himself wordlessly handing the book to the man. For a while, there was silence save for the sounds of pages been flipped. Finally, the man looked up and spoke, "Ah, Nekomaru. It's not the most cheerful of tales, but I have always thought of it as inspiring. But somehow, it has caused you pain."
There was compassion in his eyes, "Doushite?"
Eiji opened his mouth, but no words came out. I can't say it, not like that, Eiji tried to tell him with his eyes.
"Souka," The man said softly, before smiling at Eiji, " I understand."
Then he scratched the back of his head almost apologetically, his cheeks slightly flushed, "Sumimasen. I've been intrusive. I am not usually like this, I don't know what came over me today. I'll take my leave now."
Pressing the book back into Eiji's hands, their fingers lightly brushed before the man gave a polite bow and left.
Matte! I didn't get your name! Eiji wanted to shout. But the words were frozen at the tip of his tongue as he stood immobilized. How will I meet you again?
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Yikes! I know this is long! Gomene! Also I know that's no Fuji at all! *cough* Eiji took up much more writing that I expected. Eiji is now 29 years old. Next chapter will be Fuji-centric as we go to Shirakawa Village. Please review! Your reviews are the source of my inspiration and motivation!
Irasshaimase Welcome
Daijoubu Are you alright
Doushite Why
Iie No
Souka I see
Matte Wait
Baa-chan Granny