Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.
- Act XLI -
[Kunikazu's POV – Bonding Fishing ]
Something had gone wrong recently. It was hard to say everything was normal with all things that were happening, not that he expected everything to be back to normal since Hikari's escapade weeks ago. Getting the call from frantic Kuniharu about Hikari being admitted to the hospital due to a heart attack gave him a heart attack as well. Fortunately, it wasn't something serious. She was recovering and he was grateful for that.
That wasn't the end of it though.
Deiwa Fishing Store had been his favourite destination since his hair was all brown. After having a small chit chat with his old friend and the owner, Daisuke, he went to the reel part. Kunikazu glanced at the glass reflection to see this young man in a green jacket checking the cork handle behind him. Deciding to buy this newest reel for Kunimitsu, he went to the cashier to purchase it along with several sets of lures. Behind him was a woman cladded in a light blue hoodie holding a lure.
"Thank you so much. Please come again!" The cashier politely bowed at him. Kunikazu reciprocated by raising his hand before leaving the store. What a lively day it was. The students were having their summer breaks and he could see the youth spirit brimming like sunlight as they spent it exercising with their peers; just like what his grandchildren did.
He took a day off this week, and he couldn't wait to spend it fishing with them …
After he got rid of whomever people that had been trailing him this week.
Turning to the small aisle in between the small restaurants, he waited for his pursuers in the corner and immediately smacked the person's face with his elbow, taking out his pistol and pointing to the other one — the man with the green jacket and the woman in a blue hoodie he saw in the store, both seemed to be flabbergasted by his action. The one he was holding in his arm was the man.
"Sir, please …" The woman raised both of her hands. The other two jumped from their hideouts. As he predicted; there were four of them. He looked straight into their eyes. No malice intent. Their stance didn't show that they were preparing to attack him. The woman seemed to be in charge and had a stun gun hidden on her back but she didn't pull that.
"It has been a week since you started following me—us." They seemed to be flabbergasted by his statement.
"H-how do you know?"
"You're professionals and quite experienced too. I'm only 70% sure so I bought that shrimp lure as bait." The woman seemed to be confused. "It's summer. You don't use shrimp lure this time but it does work on you." He looked down at the man. "Who sent you?"
"W-we can't say that, Sir!" Kunikazu unlocked the gun's safety.
"We're here to protect you, Sir!" He glanced at the woman. "We were ordered to watch and protect you and your family!"
"And why do we need protection?" They might be professionals, but these youngsters wouldn't beat his years of experience in the military and police. In his seventies, he still had the self-defence skill he needed to protect himself. They glanced at each other so he pointed the gun at the man in his arms.
"Ojō-sama is in danger!" screamed the other. "We suspect that she and her brother are being targeted, so we were ordered to watch your family!"
"Who did you mean by Ojō-sama?" They widened their eyes at the same time; seemed to be throwing the responsibility to explain to each other. "You don't mean my granddaughter, right?" They didn't answer. The man he was holding gulped in response.
Interesting.
"Tell me about it. Everything you know."
Talking about love…
It had been more than six decades since he had his puberty that he only had fuzzy edges about it. However, it didn't mean that he didn't understand that age where everything was turbulent; the adrenaline rush was a sensation, and the feeling of love was surging that they were willing to do everything for it. Though he barely showed it back then, the struggle was real inside. He assumed that it was the same for both Kuniharu and Kunimitsu; seeing how calm the lake was with them.
But not when you had a granddaughter.
Kunikazu never realised that he was thirsting for entertainment watching her growing up and Hikari was definitely spicing things up. All things he saw in the drama—going against the family to be with their lover, litres of tears, and all those dramas. He admitted that it was hard to see her as a woman as she always was his little princess.
The little princess always had her best protector by her side since she was born, and she called her protector "Onii-chan". They were always a set on any occasion. They didn't share the same opinion all the time, but Kunimitsu was too wise to argue with her; simply because he was always sensible. It only took him one to two sentences to make her give in. Kunikazu never had a sibling, which was why he was glad that Kunimitsu had one and it was a pretty close one.
But something disrupted the siblings' harmony and they weren't speaking to each other. Never once had he seen them in a rift for such a long time and he couldn't leave it like that, as a grandfather.
First, the sister.
He knocked on the door to her room. When hearing her lazy answer, he knew that she was probably lying on the floor reading comics and he was right. He picked her on his shoulder, startling her that she muttered a string of protests.
Second, the brother.
Of course, he only needed to wait in the hall with Hikari protesting non-stop until Kunimitsu came out from his room with eyes widened—full of questions. Not that Kunikazu needed to explain anything. He only needed to stare to make Kunimitsu obediently follow him.
Hikari was sulking in the car because he didn't ask her 'nicely' and carried her like a bag of rice instead. He knew too well she would reason with him non-stop so he chose to just carry her. Kunimitsu, on the other hand, sat silently beside him. Of course, he wouldn't miss the black car that was following them behind—this time with his approval.
Someone was after his grandchildren for an unknown reason.
Though harm hadn't been done to them yet, the usage of drugs to immobilise their young master was probably only an overture to what they could do to Kunimitsu and Hikari. The question was whether they were dragged due to their connection with the young master, or he was the one who ended up being involved due to his position and Kuniharu's upcoming promotion as the head of the judge. There were a lot of parties that hated Kuniharu for his clean reputation, strength, and connections in the world of law. If Kuniharu was officially stated as the head of the judge, a lot of corruption scandals that involved the government and two big companies would be disclosed.
Was he letting his guard down just because Kunimitsu and Hikari were doing fine so far?
Until he found out the perpetrator's motive, he couldn't take this easily.
He craned his head slightly to the left when Hikari positioned herself. She usually sat in between Kunimitsu and him but at that time, he was the one sitting in between them. Kunikazu waited for a while watching the two throw the bait and sat, Hikari with her sourest expression while Kunimitsu remained stoic as he usually was.
Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the salty scent of the ocean that was carried by the summer breeze. Such good weather; what a perfect day to rekindle a broken bond. Fishing was something that took a lot of time and patience and it was the greatest moment to reflect on things in life. The natural atmosphere of ocean waves and seagulls talking to each other would soothe one's mind.
Kunikazu waited for Hikari to pick her artificial lure, but ended up picking one just because it had a nice colour while in fact, it was only functional when used in shallow water. Kunimitsu ended up picking the lure for her. Though the communication hadn't happened yet, it was still a good start. When they were done and waiting until the fishes took their bait, Kunikazu finally broke the awkward silence.
"How long are you going to remain like this?"
"We're fine…" they said at the same time.
"That's not what I see."
"No, we really are fine…" Again, they said in unison. Kunikazu raised an eyebrow, wondering if the two shared telepathic ability despite not being twins.
"I can see that you're not just by your sitting position." The two glanced at him and it seemed that it only downed on them that it wasn't their usual position. "Do you know why I ask you two to come with me fishing?"
"No." Again, they said in unison. Kunikazu didn't hold back his laughter this time.
"Back when I was a kid and had a lot of misunderstandings with my father, we always went fishing together—for bonding. This is called bonding fishing." He took out the beverages he previously bought for his grandchildren, peach juice for Hikari, Pocari for Kunimitsu, and a cold black coffee for himself. "During this time, we'd reflect on what was wrong while waiting for the fishes to get the hook. We reconciled at the end—" he sipped his black coffee, "—that was when the fish caught the hook."
"Signing the end of the rift?" Hikari sipped her drink.
He nodded. "I've never seen you two like this in my entire life. You're always the closest siblings even though you were living in different countries." Kunimitsu remained unperturbed but Hikari pursed her lips. "Your father and I—are both an only child. We have no one to share toys and thoughts with. You're lucky." They still remained silent. "Do you hate each other so much?"
"That isn't true."
"Of course not!"
Finally, a different reaction. But still the same answer.
"You know, I'm already old right now. Time is so precious that one week is already a long time for me. Even I've never even been in an argument with your grandmother that long." Kunimitsu looked away while Hikari lowered her head. "I would do anything to have one more second with her…"
Though what he said was honest, Hikari started to cower and Kunimitsu shifted his position so no one would see his face. These opposing reactions were always entertaining to watch since they were little.
Hikari wailed as she crouched forward. "I'm s-sorry! I'm sorry for everything I've said and done, Onii-chan! I didn't mean anything I've said to you! I never want you to get out of my life!" she finally said in the middle of her outburst. "I'm sorry I lied to you! I'm so sorry about your injury!"
Kunimitsu took a deep breath before sauntering towards Hikari, kneeling right beside her as he patted her head. "This injury wasn't anyone's fault, Hikari. I wanted to win my match and this injury was the result of that."
"B-but—"
"Sooner or later, everyone would've found out. Don't blame yourself for this. What I don't like is that you were lying just because of the man you knew nothing of. Good thing that it was only Atobe."
Hn?
"Atobe? Is that your boyfriend's name?" He should pretend that he didn't know, right?
"Ex!" Hikari was flustered.
"Okay, ex." He chuckled.
Atobe Keigo—what an interesting young man. A sole heir to Atobe Corp., a national-level tennis player, one of a few teenagers that owned the Black Card, the boy who initiated the development of Insightgram and Atobe Software Company, and many more. Who would've gone as far as hiring bodyguards to protect his 'ex'-girlfriend's family? He had dug what he had to know about this boy but he needed to know about him from his grandchildren's perspectives.
"I'm interested in why you said 'good thing', Kunimitsu. It appears that he isn't so bad in your opinion, hm?" His silence screamed his surprise.
Only when it came to his sister did Kunimitsu let his guard down…
If not because of her as well…
Kunikazu wanted to chuckle just thinking how his grandson tried to hide everything yet he knew everything. Watching grandchildren's growth was his favourite thing to do after all.
"I acknowledge Atobe's ability as a tennis player. He's actually not a bad person." Kunimitsu fixed his glasses. "But I can't say that he has a great personality."
"Did he treat you badly, Hikari?" Kunikazu asked his granddaughter.
She shook her head in response but what was interesting was the tale of their meetings. Hikari went to an abandoned court that belonged to him, then he modified the court just so she could dance on it. Afterwards, he disguised himself as a janitor just to talk to her, then Hikari fell in love with this janitor, who rejected her love before he confessed to her in person and they eventually got together. All these exchanges happened without them sharing names just so Kunimitsu wouldn't find out about them.
How could Hikari be together with a boy whose name she didn't even know? How clumsy. That was dangerous. But teenagers these days… He never thought that younger generations could be so romantic.
Kunikazu scratched the side of his face in an attempt to hide his amusement at the story. Hell, it beat any soap operas he secretly watched. But most of all, the more he heard the story, the more he wanted to meet this boy named Atobe. Kunimitsu described him as a man who was full of himself, but from what he heard in Hikari's and the bodyguards' story, he was just a boy who was helplessly in love and clueless about what to do with that feeling.
If he was that confident, he would never meet Hikari in a disguise from the beginning.
And going as far as doing everything to keep her from learning who he truly was just because he didn't want Hikari to hate him.
"Please forgive Bocchama for any inconvenience he might've done to your family! He's just a lonely boy and meant no harm!"
"Bocchama really cares for Ojō-sama! She is just as important as he is to us—that's his order!"
He even had his underlings went as far as to wholeheartedly defend him. It was clear that these bodyguards guarded him not for the sake of money. How he wanted to see this Atobe boy in person.
"Do you still love him?" Hikari bit her bottom lip and looked away. It wasn't like he expected her to answer. "It's good to see that your eyes are finally opened to see what you've done was wrong. Whether your ex is a good man or not, it's bad to lie, and it's dangerous to have a relationship with someone whose name you didn't even know. Do you hear me, Hikari?"
"I-I'll be careful from now on… I'm sorry…" Hikari stuttered as she rubbed her eyes.
Kunimitsu passed her a tissue. "Don't let your guard down ever, Hikari…"
"O-okay. I'm sorry, Onii-chan…" She rested her face on Kunimitsu's shoulder. "Please don't hate me…"
His grandson sighed but Kunikazu didn't miss that small smile. "I'll never."
See what bonding fishing could do to your life?
Ah, look at that! A fish caught Kunimitsu's lure!
AN: In case you're wondering why Hikari's kidnapping isn't mentioned, the bodyguards hadn't been informed about the update of the situation in this chapter's timeline.
To be honest, this chapter is quite challenging because I'm trying to sound like an old man in this POV as I'm not a man, not even over seventy. XD I hope that I can refine this chapter better in the future after I'm grasping the POV of all ages or genders. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this chapter!
Who's going to be the star of the next chapter?
Favorite, follow, and most importantly—review are gold for me! As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the story is also posted on Wattpad. Since the site allows me to post videos and images, I might be able to pamper your eyes there. Check my account in ReikaNanatsuki!
Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
