Somebody wants to see a jealous Tezuka...and I think that`s an interesting idea..so uhm...well..let`s see what happens next, ne?
DISCLAIMER: Tennis no Ouji-sama isn`t mine!
They drove back home in silence. The soft sound of the morning breeze, which should have served its purpose of calming an unstable state of mind, suddenly felt heavy and blunt. The sunrise, which she never fails to appreciate every morning appears unattractive and painful to the eye. For her, everything she senses now were just mere fragments of the reality she was used to live in.
Everything felt meaningless; everything felt out of place.
Fuji pulled over his apartment's garage and turned off his car's engine. He stayed still for a second or two before he unfastened his seatbelt and got off. Yumiko soon after followed her brother, and together, they went inside the house in silence.
She manage a few steps inside when she stopped and fought the umpteenth wave of tears that was once again swallowing her deep. She shouldn't be here.
"I'm going home." she said and headed back for the door before Fuji could even stop her.
She cursed when she realized that she didn't have her car with her, and there's no way she could go back to her own apartment other than walking, which she wasn't considering right now.
"I'll drive you home after we talk." Fuji's voice came from behind.
She turned at him angrily and gave her brother an infuriating look. Why can't he just leave her alone for once, forever if possible? She shouldn't have agreed to talk to him in the first place. Screw Tezuka's diplomacy over matters like this. There's nothing to fix. Everything's gone and broken, and they better be left at that state forever.
"Syusuke…I'm done. Please…let's not see each other again, alright?"
"That's ridiculous."
"You and your stupid feelings made all of this ridiculous."
Fuji frowned. He wanted to explain, not indulge in any fight that's really useless at times like this. And his beloved sister obviously wasn't in any mood to listen to whatever he has to say.
"You promised you'd hear me out."
"Forget that I said that." Yumiko countered.
Fuji moved closer to his sister, but the look he received from her told him that if he dare make one step closer, everything will really be over.
"Fine. You want to hear it out here? Fine. I'll tell you. I've dated Shiraishi behind your back because I loved him. And though I know this hurts, you have to understand that he loved me too." Still loves me in fact his subconscious thought.
"Shut up." Yumiko mumbled in clenched teeth.
"I can feel guilty however I like, but I know that wouldn't be enough to pay every pain we've brought you. You got hurt when he left, the same thing with how I felt without anyone knowing. I've kept everything inside, because I know it wouldn't help. You're hurt, and I need to be there for you."
"If I knew this from the start, you wouldn't have much trouble wasting your time." Yumiko countered, placing emphasis on each word, and showing no reason to feel sympathy to her brother.
"I'm sorry about how you felt nee-san, but I can't be sorry for loving him. I just want you to understand that what I did was to make it less painful for you. ..I …Seeing things now, I don't think it worked though."
Yumiko didn't say anything and turned away instead. Walking feels great now. In an hour or so, she'd reach her condo where she'll stay there as long as she wants. Nobody will ever talk to her in the next few weeks. Not her boss, not Tezuka, not their parents. No one. She couldn't wish for more than to vanish in thin air, and never ever come back.
"This….looks awkward, don't you think?" Leanne said, a pink blush gracing her cheeks as she adjusted the hem of the red silk dress she was wearing.
She attends a lot of social gatherings, but in most cases, if not all, she'd always prefer to wear a cocktail dress rather than a long gown for personal preference reasons. This time just happens to be one of those events when she couldn't enjoy the luxury of wearing what she wants.
"You look great." Tezuka said, fixing his gray tie.
Leanne smiled at the comment. She knew Tezuka would say that, and though she expected it well too much, she still wished he would someday say something different. She looked at herself again in the mirror, and remembered how Yuushi reacted when he saw her wearing that dress.
"God Leanne…you rock!" Yuushi exclaimed.
"Everyone who wears something as skimpy as this rocks, you know." she said.
"Of course not. My sister has a whole wardrobe of designer's gowns, but she doesn't have the same appeal as you do. You look so divine."
She raised a brow. "If you're saying this because I'm your girlfriend, then forget it. I'm used to hearing all of it from Tezuka you 't you guys have something different at hand?"
Yuushi stayed silent for a moment, and Leanne thought she had offended him for even mentioning her ex.
"We say the same thing, because it's true. His mistake was letting you go, which is one thing I can't afford to do Leanne."
She smiled. She believes him.
"Is everything alright?" Tezuka asked when he noticed the trance-like expression she had.
Leanne nodded. "Yeah. Of course. I'll just have to use the bathroom. Go ahead. I'll follow after."
Tezuka nodded and headed to the grand hall where a get together party for all writers and authors are held. It was one of the greatest event of the year for him. He had originally planned to go with Fuji, but the latter explained how he needed some time to sort everything out between his sister and himself. Tezuka couldn't argue.
Leanne fumbled on her purse for her phone and realized that she doesn't have it. She tried to remember where she placed it and realized that she might have dropped it on the waiting lounge where Tezuka and her met earlier. She shook her head. She's really been a lot careless lately.
A lady on the front desk approached her the moment she disembarked from the elevator. By the time the woman handed her the phone, Leanne couldn't feel more embarrassed. The woman just smiled and went back on her original position in the front desk.
She was about to embark on the next elevator going up when her eyes caught the familiar sight of Fuji. She frowned when she recognized who he was with.
"Shiraishi Kuranosuke?" she thought.
Fuji looked paler than usual, and judging from how he dressed, with a simple baby blue polo shirt and gray pants, she knew he was not there for the gathering. Shiraishi looked the same. With a pair of black glasses on, white long-sleeved shirt curled at arm level matched with black pants.
She was always mindful about details, and what she saw next apparently raised a knot of irritation on her nerves. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she saw how casually Shiraishi clung an arm around Fuji's shoulder, and the latter not doing any slight effort to get away from the supposedly inappropriate gesture.
Leanne turned away and breathed heavily. He closed her eyes and clinched her fists. Not that she had anything to do with whatever relationship the two was having. In fact she had no reason to get infuriated.
Her thoughts were cut off when her phone vibrated. She picked it up and answered the incoming call.
"Yes."
"Where are you?"
"Oh..I…I'm coming over..Give me a minute." she said. "I'll see you around, Tezuka." she said and turned off her phone.
The right thing to do was to go up and meet Tezuka at the grand hall. Instead, Leanne chose to stay and follow her subjects' retreating figure.
Time to feed her curiousity.
Authors Note:
Journalists are curious beings. I really hope Leanne finds out something interesting...
(I swear...I love seeing Fuji cry!*evil grin*!)