This is—technically—my first fanfic for Prince of Tennis even though I have another POT fanfic which was a crossover to Detective Conan so I don't really consider it my first fanfic for this anime. You can read it, if you want and if you have time. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure on how this story will appeal to the readers but I still need to try. By the way, this story might have a possible OOC. This is my first attempt on TezukaxOC. Please leave your review if you have time or if you have any suggestions for future stories. Okay?
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis and its characters. I only own the OC of this story.
-x-x-
CHAPTER 1
"Welcome back to Japan, Kazumi-sama," a portly middle-aged woman greeted me with a smile as she opened the door of that house—or should I say a house turned into a memorial hall after my grandfather died eight years ago—after I did a few knocking. I only smiled a little wide when I heard her gladness to see my finally returning to my hometown. Oh well. At least someone was glad to see me.
That's right. I went away from my hometown for two years. Those two years, however, only intensified the feeling of loss that I had when the person important to me disappeared from my life completely. I didn't run away. But still, it didn't change the fact that I hurt him when I decided to leave. I was hurt, too. But then I guess he would never know that at all.
Love comes, love goes,
But a sudden feeling never lets me be
"Are you going to stay here in Japan permanently, Kazumi-sama?"
"Maybe. I can't really tell since being a pianist is already my profession even though I just graduated from middle school. But I'll study here until I graduated high school. Dad want me to finish schooling here in my hometown, after all," I answered before looking around the house. I smiled when I realized that there haven't been any changes done in that house.
Somehow, I know,
Quite a part of me isn't changed since you've been gone
Though I have to admit, that realization alone made me remember a lot of memories with him in it. After all, that house held moments that I knew I would forever treasure here in my heart. Weird, right? But for me, it wasn't weird at all. This house held too much memories that only I could probably remember now.
"Would it be okay if I roam around the house for a bit before I go home?"
The woman nodded and proceeded to go somewhere. And just like what I said, I roamed the house. But I didn't have any plans of roaming the entire house. There was only one place I would like to go—a place where I could probably convey my message to him even though I knew he wouldn't hear me at all.
Like a sturdy tree that's seen a thousand seasons
I've to she'd my leaves in winter
And grow them back in spring
I went up to the second floor of the house. My feet seemed to have a mind on its own as it led me to a certain room familiar to me.
My grandfather's piano room.
My grandfather Hondou Renji was a renowned pianist during his time. Eight years ago, he died of lung cancer. Because of his fame and his contributions to the music industry, his house was turned into a memorial hall. Even though I was really young when he died, I knew and I could feel that he loved me so much. My talent as a pianist was already a proof of that.
When I reached the piano room, I just stopped in front of it. I didn't move an inch. I couldn't tell why. I just wanted to see the piano room but why couldn't my body let me do so? As I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead on the piano room's closed door, a memory started rushing in my mind.
A memory that started all my dreams when I was in elementary…
To welcome life again
To welcome you
-x-x-
"Mama, what was Ojii-chan like when he was still alive? Of course, besides that fact that he's a really good pianist," I asked while going to the piano room that my granfather used to stay and play his favorite classical songs.
But before my mother could answer, I saw a boy standing outside the piano room while looking at the grand piano inside. I could tell that since he was facing straight / heads on, not sidewards. The piano—from what I could tell from his position—was just on the line of his sight. That piano room was already open for the guests but this boy wasn't even moving from his spot. Was he scared?
Then I faced my mother. "Mama, can I talk to him for a while? I think he's scared to enter the piano room," I said as I pointed at the brown-haired boy.
"I think you should. I don't want the others to believe that a ghost exists in that room," my mother whispered and I smiled before making towards the boy.
I didn't know why but I really have this urge inside of my to approach that boy. His hair and his stature made me feel like I was being pulled to him. All those weird feeling because of a boy… Take note, I haven't even seen his face yet.
And yet…
I was already standing behind the boy without me knowing it. Did I walk towards him unconsciously? No, that wasn't the reason. I knew it. But how come I couldn't even remember how long I walked towards him? Weird me.
"Umm… Do you want to enter the piano room?" I asked since I needed to break the slightly eerie silence surrounding that place.
The boy seemed to have been startled when I did that so he turned around and faced me. My eyes slightly widened at the sight of that beautiful dark brown eyes of the boy now looking at me. Wow! I thought his hair was the only thing beautiful about him. Turned out I was wrong.
"I can't enter," the boy said that broke my trance (thankfully) before I could even act weirder than what I was doing now. Wait, was being in a trance because of a cute appearance of a boy considered weird?
Can't enter? What was that supposed to mean? But I never realized that I uttered those words before I knew it.
"I can't enter… because I want to play the piano but I need to ask permission to someone first," he replied with a slight blush on his face while he averted his gaze from me.
He looked cute with that expression that I couldn't help but to giggle. This was the first time I saw a blushing boy.
"You know, I could let you play the piano but you're not going to use the grand piano in the middle of that room," I suggested with a smile. "We'll use the uprright piano west of the room. By the way, what's your name?"
"Tezuka Kunimitsu," he answered.
I laid my hand in front of him as I said, "I'm Hondou Kazumi. You can call me Kazumi or Kazu-chan. But never call me in my family name. I hate it when they always connect me to my dead grandfather whom I can't even remember the face. I was only little when he died. Okay?"
Though I saw him quite surprised, I also saw that Tezuka managed to recover from that soon enough. "I guess I'll go with Kazu-chan," he said as we shook hands. His hand was soft and has warmth that I haven't felt before. It was weird but… I liked it.
After that, we headed inside the piano room and played some classical music using the upright piano I mentioned earlier. That piano was my grandfather's gift to me when I was three years old—hoping that one day I could play it in front of him. It only happened once, though. But my grandfather was really happy to see me play it. And now, I could see Tezuka Kunimitsu happy as we both played it.
But never did I realize that this simple meeting would eventually become a reason to change something about my life. And I knew he was going to be a part of it.
After that, I learned that he liked playing tennis. There was a tennis court near the memorial hall where he would always practice. Everytime I saw him play there, I would play musical pieces from either Mozart or Chopin. Those music started our friendship, after all. But then time had passed when I realized why I loved playing the piano whenever I see him playing tennis.
Weeks… Months… A few years… I have been looking at Tezuka—I call him Kuu as an endearment the same was he called me Kazu-chan—more than usual. We studied at the same school and at the same classroom. Academically, we looked like competing but both of us knew we were not. Only those other students thought we were. But that wasn't the issue here. My heart would flutter and beat crazily fast like ten horses chased me every time I looked at him. I felt like I couldn't breath.
I thought it would go on forever—that I won't be able to realize what was going on with me whenever he was beside me and whenever I see him do the things he loved happily. Okay… He might not be showing that he was happy but I knew that he was happy. I could feel it.
And one December, I finally figured out the answer. I was in love with him. We were both at our sixth grade that time. I knew we were still young that time but I knew it in my heart—and I knew my heart better than anything. And I could feel that I would never be able to encounter something like this for twice in my life. Only Kuu could make me feel like this.
But then a year after that, I needed to freeze everything I feel about him for me to fulfill my dying father's dream for me. We were both attending Seigaku at that time, both of us in our first year but in different classrooms so no one actually knew we were close friends.
"Kazu-chan, you don't mean that, do you?" Tezuka asked me one September night. His voice has tinge of disbelief and pain—things I didn't even want to hear from him.
He was hurt, I knew it. But what could I possibly do? I couldn't just disappoint my father. Forget the fact that he was dying and all I could do for him was to fulfill his dream for me before he died. But for me to do that, I needed to leave those people important to me. It was the only way… no matter how much it would hurt me in the process.
"I mean it, Kuu. I have to leave this place first thing tomorrow morning. And I thought I should let you know about it first before I leave," I said without even looking at him. I couldn't do it, especially now I knew he was hurt.
"What about your promise to me? You promised me, didn't you? That you would never leave me and you would stay by my side. You're just going to forget about it?"
"NO! I don't have that intention, okay? There's no way I could forget about it. But Kuu, please try to understand. I don't have any choice. I need to do this. I'm—" But then he cut me off.
"Don't! Don't you dare say you're sorry!" he suddenly blurted out that surprised me. Then all of a sudden, the atmosphere around us became tensed. I could feel that he was somehow emitting a dangerous aura with hints of frustration and pain. I couldn't help but to feel scared. This was the first time I saw him like this.
I was about to approach him when he spoke coldly—cold enough to create an imaginary icicle that stabbed my heart. Yes, the pain I felt in my heart when he spoke coldly was exactly like that.
"If you want to leave then I won't stop you. But when you do, don't expect me to wait for you. So it wouldn't be hard for both of us, try to forget everything about me. That way, you won't have a hard time moving on. I'll do the same thing. It would be easier… that way…" Tezuka said coldly. But then as he said it, it was slowly turning from cold as ice to just a pained whisper, especially the last sentence. Without a word, he turned around and left me there in a hurry.
I couldn't move. His words froze me on that spot. I was standing there for nearly thirty minutes before I realized that my tears fell… hard. I was hurt to the core of my being. Why? Why did everything between us has to turn to this? I never meant to let it end that way. I just didn't want to disappoint my father because I loved him.
But then I guess I succeeded in a way—even if it means I terribly disappointed the one person who captured my heart for the first time and yet in the end, tore it apart to pieces in a single instant…
-x-x-
So goes, my life
Still believe in dreams of having you around
My tears incessantly fell even after remembering that. Until now, it still hurt me knowing I disappointed Kuu. That past remained inside of me for the past two years. No one knew that. And no one has to know.
When I looked around, that was when I realized where I was. I couldn't believe I entered my grandfather's piano room without me knowing it. I was probably too engorssed in remembering the memory that I didn't know what I was doing.
Too bad, memories feed the mind and not the heart
Where I want you to be
I looked around the room after completely regaining my composure. But I couldn't stop my tears from falling no matter what I do. Every corner of that room reminded me of him and I could see his different expressions that I wanted to see once again—his serious face, his stoic face, his blushing face, his panicking face and most of all, his smiling face which I think you could only see once in a blue moon. And by now, he must have forgotten about me—just like what he said to me two years ago.
I sat in front of my grandfather's grand piano and tried playing it. I smiled when I heard the tune coming from it. It looked like the piano was maintained to be in tune after all this time. It was still the same as I remember it.
So I ask myself what you've left behind for me
To go on each day and live as if
I have you once again
I wasn't sure what had gotten into me. Before I knew it, my fingers were moving expertly on its own as I play one of Frederic Chopin's pieces on my grandfather's piano (the one entitled Nocturne op. 9 no. 2 in E-flat major). Though I wanted to stop playing, my hand—and most importantly my heart—wouldn't let me do so. There was this voice inside of me saying that I shouldn't stop. This was the only way for me to convey my bottled-up feelings for him, the voice was saying.
All this time, I never had a chance to tell him how much I loved him—not just as a friend but more than that. But I guess he would never know that, huh? Even though I returned to the place where we first met, it only made me realize and feel the distance that separated us before had gone even wider than how I used to see it. It made me feel like I would never be able to reach him now.
But then, I was still hoping this song would reach him…
…Tezuka Kunimitsu… my Kuu…
…my eternal love…
What else is there that's real
But all the pain that I feel
-x-x-
Tezuka halted to a stop upon hearing an extremely familiar classical music being played in that house. When he faced the house after looking around, that was when he realized that his feet led him to the Hondou Renji Memorial Hall. But who could be playing a Chopin piece at this time?
The music was undoubtedly beautiful—as beautiful as the brown-haired girl he fell in love with for the first time. But Kazumi didn't know that. He never had a chance to tell her that at all. And now she was gone. It was too late.
So let the pain remain
Forever in my heart
For every throb it brings is one more moment
Spent with you
But even though it was late, he never gave up. He lied to her two years ago. And that lie was enough for him to suffer. He didn't mean to utter those words to her but he was hurt that she was leaving him that time. He knew she was hurt, too. He just couldn't see it. He was blinded for some reason so he said that it was over and he would forget her. That way, it wouldn't be hard for him to move on. It would be easier that way, he even added. But he completely knew that it was a blatant lie.
He never moved on for he couldn't do so. How could he? Kazumi was the very first person who captured his heart and made his life beautiful that he even once thought he was dreaming. Until now, he couldn't forget her and his dream of reuniting with her one day. Their worlds had become wide apart for a long time after she left but he would try to do something to reach her.
He would do it… no matter what it takes…
I let the pain, bring on the rain
If that's the only way
"I'm sorry, Kazumi. Please… Please come back to me…" he whispered inaudibly as he looked at the second floor window on the right where the piano room was. His eyes have longing in them as he looked at it. How he wished he could say those words to her personally. He wished for it since the day she left.
He wanted her to come back to him. He wanted to be with her again. This time, he swore he would never let her go.
"Tezuka, is there something wrong?" Oishi asked; his voice has obvious hints of concern in it.
He looked at Oishi with his usual stoic face despite the fact that the vice-captain startled him and disrupted the flow of his thoughts. When he turned around, that was when he realized that Fuji and Inui were him him, as well. Right now, they were looking at him with confusion and concern.
"Nothing," was all he said before he started walking away from that place. At the same time, the music stopped playing that made him sigh.
If there's no other way
To be with you again
Little did he know, a maiden was crying in front of that piano…
She was crying… then she sobbed…
Kazumi missed Tezuka so much that she couldn't take it anymore. She stopped playing the piano to let her tears fall once again…
"I'm sorry, Kuu…" she whispered as she cried silently.
The gently blowing wind somehow carried away that pained and regretful whisper…
…carried it to let Tezuka hear for the first time after two long years…
And heard it he did, causing him to stop to his tracks once more. Soon after that, he looked up to the window on the left of the second floor. He couldn't possibly be imagining things, right? What he had heard… They weren't just illusions or hallucinations or maybe even simply the idea that he was about to go crazy, right?
Just what in the world was happening to him now, of all times? Could a song really trigger this so much emotions he had reined inside his heart for so long to show up? Did he really miss Kazumi that much that a song currently playing made everything around him stop? It was just a song, for goodness' sake! It was just a combination of melody, harmony, rhythm, timing and tempo…
But who was he fooling, anyway? It wasn't just a mere song with no meaning at all. Her songs… The way she played them onto the piano with a sweet smile on her lips… The satisfaction that was in her eyes whenever she was done playing it eloquently… He could still remember them. Everything was clear in his mind after all this time. Kazumi was the only girl who never left his heart at all.
So goes, my life
Still believe in dreams of having you around
Too bad, memories feed the mind and not the heart
Where I want you to be,
So I ask myself what you've left behind for me
To go on each day and live as if
I have you once again
What else is there that's real
But all the pain that I feel
Forever and beyond that.. He knew every memory that has something to do with Kazumi would never leave him.
From now on… till beyond eternity…
Just like what he had promised to himself in secret that one night…
-x-x-
July 7th, Tanabata (Star Festival)…
It was the first time Tezuka and Kazumi would celebrate Tanabata together. And to top it all, it was also the first time he would see her wear a yukata. It would be a wonderful sight, indeed. Or at least, that's what he thought.
"Kuu!"
From where he and his family were standing at, he heard that angelic voice calling out to him. It didn't take him long enough to know who it was. After all, only one person had actually called him Kuu in his lifetime… by far. He turned around with a small smile on his face—a habit that he had seemed to develop ever since that girl became his friend—only to have that smile fade away at the sight of the person approaching him. Slowly, though he didn't realize it, he gaped at the sight.
Kazumi was surely a vision in her elegantly-tailored yukata. It was light blue in color with a pastel pink obi sash tied around her waist. Her yukata has sakura flowers as its design all over. Her hair wasn't braided like what she used to wear. This time, she donned a pastel pink-colored hair bow with its excess extending to her waist. Looking at her like that, she was indeed an enthralling vision to see.
One that he wouldn't stop doing, of that he was sure of.
"Hmm… I can see she's a beautiful girl. No wonder our Kunimitsu here is speechless now that he saw her wearing a beautiful yukata."
The teasing words of his mother and the snicker filled with amusement of his grandfather somehow broke him off from his trance as he continued to watch Kazumi approach him along with her parents. He chose to ignore his family's teasing about what had just happened a while back.
"I'm glad you made it here, Kuu," Kazumi said with a smile even though she was slightly panting in order to even out her breath from running a while ago.
With a smile, he replied, "I made a promise to you, didn't i? A promise is a promise."
Though she was slightly surprised for a few seconds, it was soon replaced with another sweet smile. He noticed it all and because of that, he couldn't help but to smile even more, as well. It was like her smile was a contagious disease.
"Why don't you two hang out together first? You can meet us near the ice cream stand over there once you're done," Tezuka's mother Ayana suggested as she pointed to the aforementioned place. He looked at the place then to Kazumi.
"Are you sure?" Kazumi asked with slight worry.
"It's okay. I know my way around here," he said in order to assure her, with the intention of at least easing her worry. And somehow, it worked. He sighed in relief. After that, he held out his hand. "Let's go?"
Kazumi looked at his hand for a few seconds before she took it and smiled at him once again. Yes, he was aware that Kazumi—the dark-brown haired girl wearing a wonderfully made yukata and standing in front of him now—was so beautiful in her own way that it made him blush somehow. But that alone was enough for him to be aware of another feeling.
It was his heart—which was pounding wildly as it does now—that gave of that feeling. Every time Kazumi would smile at him like that without a care in the world except for the two of them, his heart felt like hammering inside his chest like crazy. Of course, he was oblivious as to what it actually meant.
But he knew one thing about that weird feeling, though. It was surely going to change his life for good.
"Now this is a touching scene to watch," he heard from one of the adults (not only sure who) followed by a flash and a click.
He was startled at that and so he rashly faced the adults since they were the only ones who could pull off such tricks at the moment. To his slight surprise and annoyance, his mother was actually holding a Polaroid camera. They were just waiting for the picture to be developed from the camera. Sly smiles soon formed on the lips of the adults (namely Kazumi's parents, his parents and his grandfather) as soon as the picture came out and in clear color that only fueled his annoyance.
"What's with that smile on your faces like you're about to commit something that's obviously not good?" Tezuka asked as he raised his eyebrow.
"Don't be like that, Kuu. Adults can sometimes act like kids, especially at this point, you know," Kazumi pointed out. But he knew that she couldn't believe how the adults were acting at the moment. Or at least that was what he could see on her expression. "Just let them. It's not like they could tease us like this much longer."
He frowned the moment he heard that and let the thought finally registered in his mind. "What do you mean?"
But no words came out of the girl's mouth. Instead, surprise filled him as Kazumi held his hand and without a word, ran away from the adults who were still looking at the picture developed from the Polaroid camera. He didn't have a chance to look at their faces since the girl was still dragging him away from there. And he was amazed at the fact that Kazumi has the strength to pull him away like that, as if she was just pulling a cart.
"Oi, Kazu-chan, where are we going?" he tried asking but he didn't get any answer. They just continued to ran away. But as he allowed her to do that, he couldn't help looking at Kazumi's hand holding his. Not just that, he couldn't help feeling its softness and warmth, as well. And because of that, he smiled even though they were running.
Finally, they halted to a stop underneath a large tree when they felt they couldn't run anymore. Both of them were panting heavily with their hands on their knees as they tried to even out their breath.
"I… I haven't ran like that… for a long time now…" Kazumi said despite trying to even out her breath the fastest time possible.
As soon as she was done saying that, he looked at her intently. Why does he have this weird feeling that her words had other meanings to it? But how was he supposed to know that?
"What's wrong, Kuu? You're spacing out."
Tezuka blinked several times upon hearing that. He smiled as soon as he recovered from his deep thoughts. "Nothing's wrong." And then he looked around the area before looking up to the sky filled with stars. "So I guess this is what you wanted to show me."
Kazumi looked up, as well and smiled. "That's right. I saw this spot two days ago with my mother. I said to myself that I want the two of us to see this place more than anything. This is the place where I made an important promise, after all."
"An important promise?"
She nodded. Soon after, she looked at him. "Ne, Kuu… Would it be okay if I ask you something foolish? Of course, you can say no if you don't want to hear it."
"What about it?" were the words that came out of his mouth long before he could think of what to say.
"Are you even glad… that you met me?" she asked in a soft tone.
Her eyes widened upon hearing that. Now what came over her to even ask something like that to him? Was he glad he had met her? It wasn't a tricky question. As it was, the question was really simple. But it was a deep one, too. In any way he answered it could change a lot between him and Kazumi. He doesn't know how but a change could definitely happen.
"Of course, I'm glad that I met you, Kazu-chan," he answered with a gentle smile. A smile he rarely show to anyone. He could only show it to Kazumi, especially now that he answered her question as honest as he could. "What about you? Did you… even regret you met me?"
"Hey, are you trying to do reverse psychology here? You could have asked the same question that I asked a while back, you know."
"At least I tried to change it. To make it a bit original," he responded straight.
"Oh, really? You're so gloomy," she muttered as she pouted. But after that, her face was serious. "I guess I could say you're the one who asked a foolish question instead of the other way around."
"Huh?" Seriously, this girl could confuse him sometimes.
"But you know—" she continued. "— regretting something like meeting you was definitely one thing I had never ever felt in my life. The day I met you in that piano room and played Chopin's Nocturne in front of you, it was one of the days I considered truly memorable and also one that I'd forever cherish here in my heart. So don't you ever dare think that I would regret meeting you." She smiled as she looked at him. "Okay?"
And sometimes, Tezuka thought, this girl could give him lots of surprises with just her words. But even so, he was glad at the answer he got from Kazumi. Too glad, in fact that he felt his heart swelled with so much joy and gladness. Weird… It was a different kind of gladness that he usually felt while playing tennis.
"I'll be with you, Kuu… forever… It's my promise," she soon said as she looked up to the night sky. "This is definitely one of the best Tanabata I'd ever celebrated."
Another smile soon formed on his face as he heard that. He chose not to say a word even though he totally agreed to what she said. He didn't usually enjoy Tanabata before. This was the first time that Tanabata was something so memorable to him.
Always and forever… Words that were synonymous to each other yet their meanings were immense.
Always… Forever… Eternity…
Besides tennis, only those words seemed to have a big impact to him. So big that he knew it wouldn't leave his mind—and more importantly, his heart—no matter what.
Underneath the starry night sky that one special night—on July 7th, the day of the Tanabata—Tezuka made a promise. He peered at the unknowing Kazumi who was still looking up to the sky with a smile. Everything about this girl beside him right now was something he would never dare forget. Whatever happens, he would make sure of that.
For this girl named Hondou Kazumi was the one he knew now that had left a deep mark in this heart—a mark that could never be removed even throughout the crosscurrents of fate and time…
-x-x-
And now, it seemed that he had managed to keep that promise. Kazumi never left his memory and his heart despite the hurt that he had felt ever since she left. He knew he had hurt Kazumi, too. The words he said could never be retracted. He couldn't go back in time and fix it.
But he has to fix it. If God would allow and give him a chance, he would never let it go. He has to do what he could to bring Kazumi back to his life… back to his side. He just needed the chance so he could do that.
So let the pain remain
Forever in my heart
For every throb it brings is one more moment
Spent with you,
I let the pain, bring on the rain
If that's the only way
If there's no other way
To be with you again
"Tezuka, are you sure you're alright?" Oishi couldn't help but to ask that. Being the worrywart he ever was, it was a natural thing for him to do. The only thing that wasn't natural in his perception was the fact that Tezuka was actually staring at the left window on the second floor of the memorial hall with his eyes showing emotions. Longing, regret, sadness and pain were the most evident of them all.
Something about the memorial hall and the music earlier triggered those emotions to show itself. Emotions that were so unbearable for Tezuka and now he couldn't rein it in any longer. Oishi, Fuji and Inui all thought about that.
A heavy sigh was the only reply they got from Tezuka. Soon after that, they heard the stoic man utter some words. But they were surprised to hear a name that Tezuka mentioned in front of them—albeit unconsciously—for the first time in two years.
"Kazumi…" Tezuka uttered rather sadly.
So let the pain remain
Forever in my heart
For every throb it brings is one more moment
Spent with you,
I let the pain, bring on the rain
If that's the only way
If there's no other way
One thing those three could tell, that girl named Kazumi was someone who must have the ability to bring out Tezuka's bottled up emotions. Only Kazumi could trigger those emotions to show efortlessly.
Just who in the world was this Kazumi that Tezuka mentioned?
If that's the only way
If there's no other way
To be with you again
-x-x-
I'm not sure about the ending but I still hope you like it. By the way, the song featured here is entitled "Let The Pain Remain" by Side A. It's an OPM song (as far as I know) so I guess only a few could relate to it. But it's in English so I guess you could still listen to it. This is one of my favorite love song... despite how sad the message of it.
Please read and review ^_^
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