"So your father transferred him to Hyoutei?" Yukimura sounded disappointed.
"It was the only place he could further his musical skills. My father thought it was best that he would live in the dorms as well" Sanada replied.
"Did he say goodbye?" Yanagi asked.
"He thanked my mother for tolerating him for so long. My grandfather still refused to meet him" Sanada replied.
"He cares so much" Yukimura could've swooned if it was possible.
"He has a friend in Fuji Syusuke and I'm sure the students of Hyoutei will be more welcoming of his foreign background than the students at Rikkai" Yanagi said, nonchalantly.
"I hope he doesn't get into trouble" Sanada said.
"Look at you worrying about him" Yukimura giggled. "You consider him family already".
"This is delicious!" Genjirou nearly moaned at the way the cake melted in his tongue.
"Only the best for my friend" Atobe said.
"Damn I missed you and your luxury" Genjirou said.
"I've removed you from the dorms and your family will receive their money back" Atobe said.
Genjirou choked on his cake. "Where am I going to stay then?".
"Isn't it obvious?" Atobe scoffed. "Right here with me. Anyway, I heard that the heaters at the dorms always break down during winter".
"Are you sure? I'll pay rent if you want"
"Nonsense" Atobe waved away the thought with a flick of his hand.
"Keigo, where's that kid you were friends with? The one who had a speech problem? His name was Kabaji"
"He followed me to Japan. He was a great friend to me" Atobe replied.
"Was?" Genjirou dreaded to hear the answer.
"He was kidnapped because of me and his parents took him back to England. They have banned him from talking to me at all" Atobe's hand fisted until his knuckles turned white. Genjirou reached over and placed his hand over Atobe's fist. Atobe looked up at him, eyes full of unshed tears.
"You might have lost him but you never lost me. You can still contact him" Genjirou said.
"We do sneak around and speak to each other. He would be happy to see you again" Atobe said.
"I would love nothing more"
Since it was a Friday when Genjirou joined Hyoutei, he had to travel to Kaganawa to report about his move and school to his father. It was four pm on Friday when he entered the Sanada home. He quietly whispered that he was home and then wore the fluffy house slippers. He peeked into the living and saw no one was there. He entered the kitchen and opened the fridge door searching for something to drink.
"Nice to see you again, Genjirou-kun"
Genjirou yelped and turned around. Seated at the dinner table was Yukimura who looked rather amused at Genjirou's surprise.
"Don't do that!" Genjirou shut the fridge door and then cracked open the can of soda.
"I do apologise. I didn't realise that you would have just come running in here"
"What are you doing here anyway?" Genjirou took a sip of his soda.
"Sanada and I have a project to finish up. He was just fetching his laptop from his room" Yukimura replied with a serene smile.
Genjirou nodded and then decided to head out the kitchen. Talking with Yukimura was awkward as hell since the bluenette didn't show any emotions except for calm sereneness and that drove Genjirou nuts. Right at the door, he walked right into his brother. Both brothers exchanged equally venomous glares. Genjirou sidestepped his brother and stalked back to his room.
Genichirou sat down and switched on the laptop. Yukimura chuckled. The two brothers were just so entertaining to watch.
"Genjirou, have you ever thought about reducing the amount of piercings you have? It does look rather strange" Sanada-san asked, later that night, in his study
"My mother gave me full written permission to get as many as I wanted to. I got them for a reason" Genjirou replied.
"What reason made you torture your body in this way?"
"I have a total of twelve piercings on my body. Each time represents the times you made my mother cry. This one" Genjirou pointed to his industrial piercing. "Was when your grandfather threw us out of your home and she cried the entire night. I might not love you as a son should but I tolerate you enough because I can never forgive the person who made my mother cry".
Sanada-san winced and let Genjirou leave the study. Sanada-san then looked down at the autopsy reports in his hands and his eyes filled with tears.
"I wish she wouldn't have hidden this from us"
Genjirou belted out his voice as loud as he could as he sang. A few of the neighbours kids were peeking over the fence to peer at him but Genjirou paid them no mind. He continued to sing as loud and as perfect as he could. Yukimura smiled as he nodded his head to the song while Sanada grumbled in annoyance.
"He sounds beautiful, doesn't he?" Yukimura smiled.
"I suppose" Genichirou replied shortly.
Genichirou's mother smiled to herself as she heard the comment from her son. After all this time, she could find in her heart to tolerate her husband but she couldn't hate Genjirou at all. It wasn't his fault that this family was torn apart. He was the product of the mistake and he was going to be there in their lives, like it or not.
"Genichirou, why don't you take Genjirou out to the tennis courts tomorrow? It would be better if he went out and about" His mother suggested.
Sanada was about to refuse but Yukimura jumped up. "That sounds like a great idea, Sanada-san!"
"Traitor" Genichirou muttered under his breath and Yukimura smiled innocently at him.
Genjirou entered the kitchen and his half mother informed him that he would be going to the tennis courts with his brother tomorrow. He glared at Genichirou and then mouthed 'You're dead!' before slipping out of the kitchen. Yukimura giggled and Genichirou glared at him because it was all his bloody fault.
"I'll go and walk around the park until you guys are done" Genjirou said at the public courts.
"Why?" Yukimura pouted.
"It's obvious that Genichirou doesn't want me around and I don't want to be on this court anyway. I'll just wander around for a bit" Genjirou replied.
"I am your older brother, you should address me as nii-san" Genichirou said.
"Too bad I'm English" Genjirou stuck out his tongue childishly and then pulled his brand new phone out of his pocket and began listening to music. He left to sit at the benches, totally absorbed in the music.
"Let's begin our practice match" Genichirou said gruffly.
They began their match and Genjirou began talking selfies of himself and chatting away to someone. His silly smiles and cutesy poses were greatly distracting to Yukimura. Genichirou was about to scold his brother for distracting them but then spotted the longing in Yukimura's expression as he stared at Genjirou.
"You know, if you approached him, I wouldn't mind in the least" Genichirou said, approaching the net.
"It's not that. I don't know how he will react to what I want from him" Yukimura replied with a small sigh.
"He's from England. I doubt a young man asking him for a date would be a bad thing" Genichirou pointed out.
"I don't want just casual dating with him, Sanada. I want even more than that" Yukimura said.
"Are you guys done? Can we go home?" Genjirou called out from the bench.
"No, we're not. You can go home if you want" Yukimura replied.
"Really?" Genichirou grinned.
"Yeah" Yukimura replied. Genijrou didn't need another answer and he ran out of the courts.
"What are you doing? He'll go home and my mother will think I didn't want him around" Genichirou said.
"I can't bear seeing him and not being able to be close to him. It's better if he just left" Yukimura replied.
Genichirou nodded and then patted his friend's shoulder in comfort. Yukimura sighed and then picked up the tennis ball near the net.
"Let's play"
Genjirou knew something was wrong when he walked home from the public tennis courts. He could feel like someone was watching him or following him. He surreptitiously pulled out one of his earphones and then listened carefully. He could hear a distinct pair of footsteps and crunching of leaves which meant somebody was definitely walking this way. He turned around and then smirked when he saw a bush wriggling.
"You can come out, you know. I won't bite" Genjirou smirked.
The smirk fell off his face when he noticed who came out of the bush. He took a step back in fear.
"Izumi"
"Long time no see, freak" Izumi grinned and Genjirou folded his arms to stop his shaking.
"What do you want?" Genjirou spat out.
"I missed my little plaything in school. They said you had transferred and that your mother is now rotting stone cold dead in the graveyard. So, I didn't think you would come back here and I'm absolutely delighted to tell you that I missed you. I missed beating you up and staining your precious white hair with red copper blood" Izumi said this all with a serene smile on his face.
"Stay away from me" Genjirou took a step back.
"Now, you see, I can't really do that because whenever I see you, I feel like punching your face in because you're a freak. You don't belong here and you should just go back to your little America or England or wherever you're from" Izumi pulled his arm back and punched Genjirou right in the stomach. Genjirou gasped as fought the urge to vomit.
"Next time, it'll be a lot more worse" Izumi said and then walked away like nothing had happened.
Genjirou fought his burning tears and then turned around. Izumi was long gone and Genjirou might have transferred but the fear of Izumi was still there. He hurried back to the Sanada home and then rushed right into his room. There was a large purplish bruise already forming because of Izumi's punch. He winced and then lied down on his bed trying to sleep.
On Sunday, Sanada-san and Genjirou made their way to the graveyard. No words were exchanged until they entered the graveyard. A bunch of people, including the security guard were gathered around one grave in particular. Genjirou glanced at Sanada-san who had gone pale all of a sudden.
"What's going on? Why are they surrounding that grave?" Genjirou asked.
"That's your mother's grave" Sanada-san hurried forward and pushed people out of the way.
Genjirou stepped forward, his eyes widening. His mother's tombstone was supposed to say 'Beloved sister and mother' but now it had been entirely spray painted over to say 'Beloved slut and whore'. Rude words had been spray painted all over the tombstone and the flowers had been pulled right out of the ground and scattered everywhere.
"Who did this?! When did this happen?!" Sanada-san was enraged.
Genjirou fell to his knees and then began to silently cry. Even in death, his mother had no peace at all. He picked up one of the flowers and then pulled off his tee shirt, surprising many of the women there. He grabbed a nearby watering can and then poured the water over the tombstone. He wiped off all the spray paint on the tombstone making it look the same it was before. He smiled and then stood up, shirtless.
"Here, Genjirou" Sanada-san held out his jacket which Genjirou wore immediately.
"I don't know who did this. I was doing my usual patrol this morning and saw the grave like this" the security guard replied.
"This is an outrage! How can something like this happen on your watch?"
"Sanada-san, it's alright. Just tell him to replant the flowers again" Genjirou said, placing a hand on his father's arm.
"But Genjirou..."
"It's alright. I'd like to go home now"
Sanada-san nodded and followed Genjirou out of the graveyard. He could see Genjirou's stiff shoulders and quiet demeanour. This had affected him more than the blond was letting on.
"Genjirou, do you know who did this?" Sanada-san asked.
"I do but I'll deal with it on my own"
"Tell me who did this and I'll have that person properly punished"
"This is my problem, Sanada-san. You need not be involved" Genjirou said with finality. Sanada-san fell silent and they both walked home.
Genjirou peeked into the dojo and then froze when he spotted Gen'emon meditating silently. He entered and slid the door shut behind him. Gen'emon's eyes opened immediately and Genjirou could see the anger in his eyes. However, Genjirou walked and seated himself in front of the elder. He bowed until his forehead was touching the floor and then straightened up.
"I apologise for disturbing your meditation. I have something to request of you" Genjirou said.
"What is it, boy?" Gen'emon asked.
"Please teach me how to fight" Genjirou placed his hands on his knees and bowed his head.
"To fight? You are so scrawny and skinny. Why do you want to learn how to fight?" Gen'emon asked.
"Today, someone vandalised my mother's grave. I know who did it and I wish to teach them a lesson" Genjirou replied, honestly.
"And why should I teach you?"
"Because I know you won't turn away from restoring my mother's honour. You might hate me but you cannot hate on a dead person. Please, teach me how to fight" Genjirou kept his eyes on the floor with respect.
"It will take long with that skinny body of yours. We need to bulk you up. I will give you basic exercises to do and teach you basic movements. Make sure you follow all these rules relentlessly and I will turn you into a brilliant student" Gen'emon said.
"Really? Thank you!" Genjirou stood and then wrapped his arms around the elder. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
He seemed to realise what exactly he was doing and then let go of the elder. He bowed in thanks and yelled at himself inside his mind at the stupidity of his actions. Gen'emon seemed thoroughly shocked and it took a few seconds for him to compose himself. He nodded to Genjirou, motioning for him to leave. Genjirou left and as soon as the door slid shut, he whooped in celebration.
"Thank you for having me this weekend" Genjirou bowed.
"Take care and study hard. I don't want to see any bad grades on your reports" Sanada-san said.
"Here's some food that you can eat during the train ride" Genjirou's step mother handed him a bento.
"Thank you" he bowed low.
Genichirou nodded to him and Genjirou turned to walk out the door. He got into the taxi that drove him off to the train station.
"Stop yawning! You slept earlier than me last night!" Atobe grumbled.
"I had to wake up early for training. That grandpa is really serious about this whole training thing" Genjirou yawned yet again.
"Why do you follow all this anyway?" Atobe asked.
"There's someone I'm trying to beat but I need a proper technique in fighting. He's helping me which is more than anything he's done since I got there. The guy doesn't eat at the table because I'm there. At least he's acknowledging me this way"
"I thought you didn't want any attention from them"
"I thought I didn't but now I kind of like them. I've never had family. It was always me and my mom. Now it's my father, his wife, his two sons, daughter in law, grandfather and nephew. That's a big family. The older brother, daughter in law and nephew live in Tokyo but they will come to visit me next week" Genjirou replied.
"It's good to have family and it's good that they've accepted you somewhat" Atobe said.
"Family is good"
"Indeed"
Thank you you for all your support!