Fic update: TSM chap 04 - Newly Human
The Smiling Merman Chap. 04
-Newly Human-
Author: a1y-puff
Pairing: TezuFuji and other pairings
Genre: parody/romance/humor
Rating: PG
Chapter Summary: It is time for Fuji to get used to human’s life… or not…
Warnings: girl!Momo, Ryoma as Tezuka’s brother, Fuji being Fuji with Tezuka baby-sitting him (kinda). and oh, indefinite time-setting (it's not supposed to be modern setting but I put tennis there. don't take it too seriously though.)
Disclaimer: I can’t even afford a laptop of my own. I’m not rich, that should say enough that I don’t own anything except the parody plot.
Prev Chapters: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]
A/N: Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry for the loooooooong wait!!! >.<
Many things going on but finally I finished this. I hope this lengthy chapter (it’s twice the usual length XD) and the amount of TezuFuji-ness here could make up for your patience and thank you people for keep poking me to update *bows*
Well, anyway, this chappie is supposed to be an interlude before the real plot begins by the next chap. I feel the need to show you guys how Fuji adapted with his new life before I throw Tezuka’s fiancée in there, so bear with me ne. And this is a little fragmented. Take it as a set of ficlets, perhaps XD;;
hugs and kisses for moehoshi for helping me as always <33
Credits for the ideas used will be at the end of the chapter =)
Anyway a little change of format:
‘These are thoughts’
/ And this is Fuji’s writings in notepad /
-Chapter 4-
NEWLY HUMAN
Fuji was a prodigy as a merman, so he ought to be one as a human too, right?. Or so he thought. But even a prodigy needs to learn about things. In three days, he was able to walk normally, but that was as far as he could do. He wanted to learn how to use his legs more soon. He thought that was the only problem he would face as a human.
But he was wrong.
Being human wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. Sure, he had read a hell bunch of books about humans, the land and human surroundings, and other kinds of beings that lived on it. But reading was different from really being there. And so, here were some problems during his first week as a human being.
Eating Problems
#1. The Fork and Knife
No, it’s not that Fuji didn’t know what a fork was for. He knew that he shouldn’t comb his hair with it. He had read a book about it and he knew how one should use a fork. But reading and actually doing it were two different things.
They were sitting in a huge dining room with a huge dining table that Fuji thought could serve twenty people. But because there were only six of them, including him, on the table right now, leaving half of it unoccupied, they sat not too far from each other. The Queen was out for business, so she wasn’t there. It looked like The Queen and the two Princes had the habit of dining together with their royal guards and personal maid.
Thanks to the ever-talkative Kikumaru, Fuji learned that Tezuka was not an only child. He had a brother named Ryoma, the snarky boy sitting not too far from Tezuka. Kikumaru was Ryoma’s royal guard, while the other man named Oishi, which Fuji can tell was really close to Kikumaru, was Tezuka’s royal guard. And then there’s that girl, who was currently bickering with the little prince, named Momoko. She was the only daughter of the head chef of the castle, Kawamura Takashi, and was Ryoma’s personal maid… or bodyguard. Fuji didn’t really care. She was Ryoma’s playmate since they were close in age; according to Kikumaru.
Back to the eating problems, while the others were eating gracefully (or Tezuka was, yet the others were rather… noisy.), Fuji just stared at his food. According to the book he had read, the dish was called ‘steak’, made from a land animal called a ‘cow’. Fuji had seen the picture of a cow, and he had no idea of what humans did to that big animal that it looked like what it was in his plate.
“Nya, Fuji, you’re not eating?” Kikumaru asked.
Fuji just smiled at the redhead and nodded, before taking the fork and knife in his hands.
He knew how to grip the fork and knife but not how to actually eat with them. Fuji eyed some little objects on his plate, which he believed are called ‘peas’. Maybe he could try with the little round objects first before trying the big one. So he put down the knife and held the fork with his right hand. All he had to do was to stab the peas with the fork and eat them, right? So he did it. He tried to get the peas with his fork, but they rolled away. Fuji then thought that first try never best, so he just had to try again. But no matter how many times he tried, the peas kept rolling away. The fork made clanking sounds as he was playing tag with the peas, and the noise immediately drew everyone’s attention to him.
Oishi’s lips were opened a bit. Kikumaru eyes were wide. Momoko was obviously trying to suppress a laugh while Ryoma just said, “Mada mada dane,” with an amused smirk.
And Tezuka… he seemed expressionless yet Fuji could see the tiny sweatdrop on his face.
Fuji just smiled them off and decided that he should try using the knife since the fork seemed to hate him. So he tried to slice the meat, but with the way he gripped the knife (the normal way people would grip a knife), he couldn’t control his strength and movement really well. And so, he decided to grip the knife in another way he knew human held a knife… he grabbed it , raised his right hand a little higher and then… he stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed the damn steak like a freaking psycho-killer. Satisfied that the knife had actually done some damages to the poor object, Fuji smirked, his eyes shining in victory.
And then, everyone in the room grew quiet and thought they had seen a devil.
Tezuka cleared his throat, effectively breaking the pregnant silence that enveloped them a moment ago.
Oishi then spoke, “Err, Fuji, is it possible that… you couldn’t use a knife and a fork?” he asked carefully, afraid that he might offend the lithe boy.
Fuji smiled at Oishi, eyes slightly opening in annoyance for having to admit his weakness. But wait, it wasn’t really a weakness. It just Fuji had never used any fork and knife before. So he finally nodded. From the corner of his eyes, Fuji could see Tezuka sigh and simply said, “Momoko,” in a rather commanding tone. The girl, who was sitting just across him, nodded and smiled at Fuji.
“I will help you slice the evil meat, Fuji-san,” The girl grinned. Fuji smiled and let himself be helped at last.
‘Damn’, Fuji inwardly cursed. Being human was more complicated than what he had thought it would be.
-oOo-
#2. Different Taste Buds
Fuji had secretly practiced using a fork and a knife after the incident and had mastered it in one night. He was a prodigy after all. Mastering how to use fork and knife was nothing, he thought proudly. But tonight, the dishes prepared required the use of chopsticks.
‘How nice’, Fuji sarcastically thought. They said the menu was called Sushi. Fuji had never heard of it before, but these dishes were quite different from steak. ‘Humans eat many kinds of things’, Fuji mused.
Somehow, Fuji found that using chopsticks was actually easier than the damned fork-and-knife. He had no remarkable problem in grabbing the dishes with the chopsticks. The dinner that night went on in peace… at least before Fuji’s curiosity got the better of him.
There was this green spice among the three different spices provided for the sushi. As he observed, the others only used that spice in a very little amount. Being the curious kid that he was, Fuji used his chopsticks to grab quite an amount of that green thingy and plopped it inside his mouth.
“Nyaaa!! Fuji, don’t! It’s wasabi!” Kikumaru tried to warn him but he was too late. The wasabi was already inside Fuji’s mouth, melting on Fuji’s tongue. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
“Fuji, are you okay?” Oishi asked worriedly, while the others just stared at him, faces filled with concern… or slight concern in Tezuka’s case.
Fuji blinked. That thing just now tasted really good, he mused. It was… he didn’t really know how to describe it, but the taste really kicked in his tongue with its sharp, unique taste. Fuji’s smile widened as he plopped another huge amount of wasabi into his mouth. He was practically beaming.
The others could only stare.
“Err, Fuji-san… do you happen to… like the wasabi?” Momoko dared to ask him.
Fuji nodded excitedly, his face beaming as he added more wasabi on his plate and plopped another amount into his mouth. Ryoma could only mutter a faint, hesitant, “mada… mada… dane…”
“Fuji,” Tezuka called. Fuji diverted his gaze to the Prince and Tezuka continued, “You should eat the sushi with the wasabi, not the other way around.”
Fuji just smiled and nodded. He started eating the sushi with the wasabi as the prince told him, though he couldn’t help to add much wasabi to his sushi. But at least, dinner continued in peace.
-oOo-
#3. Seafood’s Melancholy
The dinner went on peacefully. At least, until Fuji finished eating and asked a question about the sushi.
/ The sushi was good. What are they made of? / Fuji showed his notepad to Momoko since she was the nearest, and Momoko did the favor of reading it out loud to let everyone knew of what Fuji wrote in it.
“Ah, do you like sushi? Then you must like seafood, ne?” Oishi said with a smile.
“Nya~! Seafood is good!”
“I wish they could make me taller,” Ryoma muttered.
“Then you should drink your milk, Ryoma!” Momoko teased, and when the boy glared at her, she added, “Oops, I mean, Your Highness,” she said with a teasing tone.
Fuji wrote again because nobody answered his question yet, and Momoko, being the daughter of the head Chef, felt the responsibility to answer.
“They are made of fishes, of course! Well tamago-sushi is made of eggs, but mostly, sushi is made of fishes like salmon, tuna…”
Suddenly, Fuji rose from his seat; eyes wide in shock.
What did she say? Fish? He just ate fish? Fuji, the merman, had just eaten his fellow fish friends?
Fuji suddenly felt sick and had the urge to throw up, so he ran off to the direction of the nearest bathroom. Everyone was surprised at Fuji’s sudden behavior. Then Tezuka, being the one who brought Fuji in, felt that he had the responsibility towards the other boy. He stood and immediately followed Fuji, while the others just exchanged confused looks.
In the bathroom, Fuji emptied his stomach and threw them up into the bathroom sink. Tezuka tried to help him by massaging his back. Tezuka himself was slightly confused and didn’t know what to do. After Fuji felt that nothing was left for him to throw up, he washed his mouth and face. He suddenly felt his legs weaken, so he let himself drop and kneel on the floor.
Tezuka turned the faucet off and helped Fuji stand on his feet. Now, worry was evident on his stoic face as he saw Fuji look way too pale and his eyes were teary. Tezuka leaned Fuji against the wall for support, his hands never leaving Fuji’s shoulders, fearing that Fuji would fall if he didn’t hold him.
“Are you okay?” Tezuka asked in a rather soft tone. Fuji’s head was bowed; his bangs prevented Tezuka to see his eyes. And when the latter gently raised a hand to brush Fuji’s bangs away…
He received a glare.
Fuji’s eyes pierced into his, as if saying ‘How the hell do I look okay to you?’
Tezuka was slightly taken aback. Well, okay, maybe he just asked a stupid question. He should’ve known that Fuji was not okay, but wasn’t it a normal question one would ask in a situation like this? And why did Fuji looked so upset anyway?
Fuji then took out another notepad and pen (always bring extras for times like this, Fuji thought, since he left his other notepad with Momoko earlier) and started writing.
/ You made me eat fish. /
And Tezuka frowned. ‘What was so wrong with eating fish?’ he questioned inwardly, but apparently, Fuji could read his eyes and wrote again.
/ I can’t, and should never eat fish! / It read and the writing was less neat than usual as if Fuji was really mad. But as Fuji saw Tezuka in deep thought, his eyes soften. Of course, he should have known. Humans eat seafood; it was part of their food-chain. And while Fuji was a merman, he also ate some small fish but not salmons and tunas. Those were his friends… or pets, but certainly not his food. Yesterday, he was fine eating meat, maybe because he had never seen a real living cow and had no attachment at all with animals living on land.
His train of thoughts was cut off by Tezuka’s sigh. “I won’t know if you won’t tell me that you can’t eat seafood. Do you have some kind of allergy?”
Fuji shook his head and weakly wrote on the notepad, / Just don’t give me any kind of seafood anymore, please. / was all he could tell Tezuka. He should accept the fact that humans eat seafood, who were his friends. At least, he wouldn’t eat them while being human. He deeply regretted that he thought the sushi tasted good.
Tezuka just nodded and didn’t question him any further. Then, he helped Fuji walked back to the dining room, where the others were waiting worriedly.
Kawamura, the head chef, was there. It looked like Momoko told him that someone felt sick after eating his sushi. Tezuka explained that Fuji couldn’t eat any kind of seafood and it wasn’t chef Kawamura’s fault.
“I thought it was the wasabi,” Kikumaru wondered out loud.
Fuji shook his head and smiled at the redhead as he wrote on his notepad, / I love the wasabi. It’s not made of fish, is it? /
“No, it’s made of some kind of plant,” Kawamura was the one to answer. He continued, “Actually, there’s a sushi called wasabi-sushi, but I never serve it because no one likes it. But if you’d like, I will make wasabi-sushi for you,” he smiled at Fuji, and Tezuka could see him smiling back at the chef.
“Please do that. He just threw up everything he ate,” Tezuka told the chef.
After that, Kawamura really made a lot of wasabi-sushi, which Fuji ate with glee, partly because he had emptied his stomach before, but also because the sharp taste of wasabi erased the taste of the poor fish he ate, and he was thankful for that, although he was still feeling guilty and sorry for the fish.
At that moment, Fuji decided that wasabi-sushi was going to be his favorite food as a human.
That night, Tezuka visited Fuji to make sure that the boy was alright. He found him staring out of the window, looking at the vast, dark sea with an expression Tezuka couldn’t read. But somehow, he could feel the other’s faint longing towards the sea.
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The Fuji-being-Fuji Problems
#1. Curiosity
Fuji had always been a curious kid. He wondered about a lot of things and always needed answers for his curiosities. That was probably one factor why he was able to befriend Inui. Inui fed his curiosities with all the data he had.
In just a few days of being a human, there were already so many things that caught his interest, even the most trivial things. Tezuka was pretty much a busy Prince, so he couldn’t always attend to Fuji’s every questions. He decided that Kikumaru would be a good companion for the light haired boy, since he would gladly answer his every question. Thus, Fuji became close to the redhead in no time.
When Tezuka was not too busy, he would let Fuji tail him, since somehow, he was the one who let Fuji in, so he felt like, more or less, Fuji’s guardian. That time, both of them sat quietly in Tezuka’s private library. Tezuka had found out that Fuji was really fond of reading, so he thought it would be okay to let the other boy read with him.
Tezuka’s library was pretty big and cozy. The lighting was good too, but there was a candle on a small table on the corner of the room. Fuji was told that it was for aroma-therapy, when Tezuka saw Fuji’s eyes never leave the object.
But rather than the aroma, Fuji was more curious of the fire. They said that fire is an opposing element of water. He had been a water creature, so he had never seen a real fire before. And he was damn curious of what it was like to touch fire.
He knew, of course, that people couldn’t really grasp fire, like they couldn’t to water and wind, but they could still feel them, right? He had felt water his entire life, and already had a chance to feel the wind. He also wanted to know what it’s like to feel fire. He had heard fire was hot, but he was still curious.
So he stood up from his chair. At first, Tezuka ignored him for he thought Fuji was only going to get another book. But as he turned to get another book too, he saw Fuji standing near the small table, his forefinger trying to make a contact with the fire of the candle.
“Fuji!” he snapped as he hurriedly went to the other boy, and was just in time to grab Fuji’s wrist, just as the latter’s forefinger was nearly enveloped by the fire. Fuji gasped as he felt his forefinger stung and was thankful as the Prince blew his forefinger with his rather cooling breath.
Tezuka glared at the honey-brown haired boy and scolded him, “Do you want to burn your finger?”
The tone of voice was cold, so cold that for a second, Fuji thought he was afraid of that piercing gaze the bespectacled boy threw him. Fuji shook his head, his ever-present smile faltered as he bowed .Not long enough, he raised his head and smiled again in apology.
Fuji felt the other’s eyes softened as he asked in a much calmer tone, “Why did you do that?”
Fuji took out his notepad and wrote on it, / I just wanted to know what it’s like to touch fire, sorry… /
And Tezuka raised an eyebrow. What kind of reason is that? Isn’t Fuji old enough to know NOT to touch fire? Sometimes, Tezuka thought, Fuji’s level of curiosity was that of an infant. He wondered just what kind of life did Fuji have before coming here and why Fuji seemed to know so little about the world
Tezuka sighed. “Just don’t do anything like that again,” he finally said. Fuji just nodded and smiled at him. And Tezuka thought that maybe, he should keep an eye on Fuji from now on.
-oOo-
#2. The Sadistic Streak
It was weekend. Kikumaru told Tezuka that they should take Fuji around the town, since Fuji was kind of new there. Since he had nothing important to do, (plus, he somewhat felt a little pity for Fuji for he seemed so eager to see the town) he agreed to come along. Six of them went to town after wearing some commoner clothes Momoko and Kikumaru had prepared for occasions like this.
Walking down the street, Fuji found that they had walked in pairs. Kikumaru was clinging to Oishi’s arm as they walked. Momoko and Ryoma were arguing about what food stalls they should visit. That left him with Tezuka. He stole a glance to his right and saw Tezuka was as expressionless as ever. Since Tezuka wouldn’t say a word, Fuji busied himself by fascinating every object he saw along the way: the food stalls, the shops, the markets, the people…
And before he knew it, he already got separated from the others.
‘Damn, I got lost,’ Fuji thought inwardly. This was so embarrassing. If Inui was here, he would have scribbled down his notebook with that annoying smirk of his while saying “Fuji Shuusuke is capable of getting lost. Ii data.”
Now, he thought, if he kept walking around, someone would find him eventually. So while he was here, he might as well take a look around first. If no one found him then he would just have to ask someone the direction of the castle, he thought nonchalantly. So, he started to enjoy his ‘tour’ in the town, among so many humans which he had been interested in for, for a long time now.
Meanwhile, Tezuka, who was looking intensely at a tennis racket and was about to buy it, was suddenly approached by his little brother. “Ne, where’s your friend?”
Tezuka blinked at Ryoma and then raised his gaze to everything around him.
That’s right, Fuji was gone. But since when?
“Hoi, hoi, what’s up?” Kikumaru asked as he bounced to the two Princes, dragging Oishi with him.
“Huh, where’s Fuji-san?” Momoko asked as she looked around. The five of them were silent for a moment as their eyes searched for the lithe figure of the fair haired boy.
“I got careless,” Tezuka whispered to himself and immediately walked out of the store to look for Fuji.
“We better hurry and find him,” Oishi said. “He’s new here and he’s mute. It would be bad if he gets into trouble,” he added with such a worry tone. And with that, the five of them went to look for Fuji.
Meanwhile, the object of their worries seemed to be enjoying himself. In his hands was a paper bag full of fruits he bought from an old lady in the fruit stand. She gave him a 50% discount as she was charmed by his smile, telling Fuji that he reminded him of her grandson. She also felt sorry for him when she found out that he was mute.
While it’s true that Fuji didn’t like being pitied, he made exceptions when it came to getting discounts like this. And he smiled even wider, knowing that his smiling face brought him merit. Really, maybe Tezuka and the others shouldn’t be worried about him.
Well at least, not until he bumped into a bunch of people that made Fuji realize that not all people are ‘good people’.
“Hey, that hurts! You have to pay for my hospital fee!” said one of them that had a scar on his left cheek.
And Fuji just smirked. ‘How classic’, he thought. He had read these kinds of scenes in a bunch of romance novels he found in some shipwreck. He just smiled in amusement.
“What are you smiling for, huuuh?!!”
“Hey, that boy is pretty, are you really a boy?” one of them, who had spiky yellow hair, reached a hand out and was about to touch Fuji, when the prodigy backed away.
‘Don’t you dare touch me with that dirty hand,’ he warned inwardly (though he knew they wouldn’t hear) before fisting his right hand and punched the man in the face with all his might.
Surprisingly, the man got blown for a good two meters away from where Fuji stood. His friends’ jaws dropped. Fuji’s eyes were open, looking at his right fist. He didn’t know he possessed such strength.
But then, he thought, he was used to move underwater, which was certainly heavier than moving on the ground like this. That probably was it. Ah, then he realized he had an advantage for that.
He smirked, his eyes shining in somewhat an evil glint, clenching and unclenching his fist. His eyes were saying, ‘Who wants to be punched next?’, sending shivers to the other three. Another one tried to attack him, but Fuji avoided him easily before sending him flying one and a half meters away with his fist.
The other two looked anxious and scared at the same time. Actually, Fuji would just let them go if they just ran away, but the other two decided they should teach Fuji a lesson. Fuji’s smirk got even wider. Now, this was going to be fun.
Meanwhile, the group of five had been asking around and finally got hints of where Fuji might have gone to and have arrived just on time to see Fuji throw an uppercut to the last bad guy, and thus, the four of them were laid sprawled all around Fuji.
The group was silent, before finally, Kikumaru bounced to Fuji, shouting a “Nyaaa~! Are you alright, Fuji?”
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Fuji turned his head and welcomed the group with a smile. ‘Finally they found me,’ he thought.
“You… beat these guys?” Oishi asked once he found his voice. He still couldn’t believe such a slender body held such power.
Fuji, eyes open, smirked evilly at the unconscious bodies around him while and wrote, / That’s what they get from trying to mess up with me. /
“Whoa, you’re cool Fuji-san!” Momoko said in awe, while Ryoma just pulled his cap and muttered yet another “Mada mada dane.”
Tezuka stepped closer to Fuji and asked, “What did they try to do to you?”
Fuji scribbled again on his notepad, / They tried to touch me so I punched them /
Tezuka’s eyes widened a little, trying to figure out what Fuji meant by ‘touch’. But as he saw that Fuji was perfectly fine, he let his worry gone… that was until he caught sight of blood on his right cheek. Just a little cut it seemed, but he just had to state the obvious, “You’re bleeding,” while raising a hand and gently caressed the cut with his thumb.
Fuji jerked a little at the touch.
“Ah, sorry. Does it hurt?”
Fuji quickly put his smile back and shook his head.
Tezuka sighed. “You shouldn’t be so careless,” was all he could say, since he saw that somehow, Fuji was satisfied to have taught those bad guys a lesson. Fuji nodded and smiled at Tezuka and the latter told himself to really keep an eye on Fuji next time.
He decided to start by holding Fuji’s hand along the way back to the Castle so that the lithe boy wouldn’t stray elsewhere anymore.
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Learning Time
Fuji had his first week being human troublesome enough, so the following week, he decided to just stay put and learn about things he still doesn’t know. It seemed like Tezuka would be busy the said week, so Fuji was left with Kikumaru, who was also being left behind by Oishi because the said man had to accompany the Prince. Kikumaru said, with a knowing smirk, that Ryoma didn’t need him to guard the little Prince because Momoko would be there and he would only be a hindrance.
First, Fuji decided that he needed to get used to his legs and how to use them properly. Thanks to the ever-hyperactive Kikumaru, Fuji had learned how to walk faster, to run, to crouch, to jump and do other various moves using his legs within a week. One day, Kikumaru decided to teach Fuji how to play tennis.
/ What is ‘tennis’? / Fuji asked when the redhead proposed the idea.
Kikumaru had gotten used to Fuji not knowing about certain things, so without wondering why the other boy didn’t know about tennis, he simply explained, “It’s a kind of sport. Prince Tezuka loves it so much, nya! Well, I do love tennis too and it seems like everyone in this castle can play it so I thought I’ll teach you. You don’t mind, do you?”
Fuji thought for a while. ‘Tennis, huh?’ A sport everyone in the castle plays and is Prince Tezuka’s favorite sport. Why not try it then? Fuji smiled and nodded to Kikumaru.
Kikumaru taught him the rules first, but soon, he got bored explaining and decided to teach Fuji how to grip the racket and how to serve. After that, he taught him about various grips one can use to play tennis and after a few hours, Kikumaru realized that Fuji was a fast-learner. He then said excitedly that the Prince will have a new opponent to play with soon enough.
“If you don’t have anyone to play with,” Kikumaru said, leading Fuji to the nearest wall, “you can always play squash with the wall. It’s also a good practice, nya!”
Fuji nodded and smiled. This tennis game was pretty interesting. He has never played anything like this underwater.
“Nya, I have an idea! How about you secretly practice until you’re good enough and surprise Prince Tezuka with a game? You’re a fast-learner and I’m sure you can be a good player soon!” Kikumaru exclaimed.
Fuji thought that would be interesting. He loved challenges, and according to Kikumaru, Prince Tezuka was really good at tennis. Maybe if he could be good at the Prince’s favorite sport, it would help to make the prince fall for him. And so he nodded.
“Hoi! I’ll be your opponent then until you’re good enough!” the redhead bounced and glomped him, and Fuji just smiled.
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A Close Call
It was almost dawn when Fuji suddenly awoken. He felt like someone was calling him. He looked out of his window and saw some kind of light from the sea. The light was moving, as if it was a code… and then he suddenly realized that it was Inui!
He didn’t bother changing his pajamas and only grabbed a coat before going out of his room. He went silently, occasionally throwing a smile to the guards when he passed them, and finally, he was outside. He walked to the dock, which could be seen from his window, and there, he found Inui waiting for him.
“Fuji, it’s been a while,” Inui greeted.
Fuji just nodded before crouching down so he would be closer to his friend. He took out his notepad and pen, and wrote, / What are you doing here? /
“I just come to say hi,” Inui answered flatly, but Fuji knew better and so he pressed again with his smile, and finally, Inui gave up, “Well, I brought a message from your sister.”
‘From Yumiko-neesan?’
“She read your card,” Inui said again. ‘Ah, that,’ Fuji thought. His sister used to do fortune-telling with her cards, and at times, she would read for him. It’s not that Fuji believed in things like fortune-telling, but he believed in his sister.
/ What did she say? /
“She said that your path will not be easy. There will be someone that will come between you and the Prince,” Inui recited exactly what Yumiko told him earlier.
Fuji took a moment to think about it, before writing on his notepad again, / She probably meant Tezuka’s fiancée. I heard she will come here soon enough. /
“Ah, Tezuka has a fiancée,” Inui mumbled while scribbling on his notebook again. Then, he looked upwards to Fuji and asked, “Then what are you going to do?”
Fuji smiled and showed Inui what he thought, / Of course I will make Tezuka fall for me. /
“What if you fail?” Inui asked, and though Fuji couldn’t see his friends’ eyes behind those glasses, he could tell that Inui was so serious.
And so he opened his eyes, his smile faltering as he wrote another reply, / Then, I will kill him. /
Silence was Inui’s response. For a moment, they were quiet until Inui decided to break the silence, “I brought some notes for you. It’s the latest data I got from everyone. I thought you would like to know how the others were doing,” he said, giving Fuji a thin notebook, which Fuji accepted with a smile. He thought it was nice of Inui to keep him updated on how his family and friends were doing.
/ Thank you. / was all he wrote to show his gratitude.
“Oh, and Yuuta said, ‘baka aniki! What’s he doing turning into human just to meet some random prince? He better succeed in making the prince fall for him!’ or something like that.”
Fuji chuckled soundlessly as he wrote, / Tell Yuuta not to worry about me. I’m doing really fine here. /
“I will.”
/ Oh, and say hi to Kaoru for me. And you really have to tell me when you’re going to marry him, okay? / He wrote again and a satisfied grin surfaced on his face when he saw his friend’s face turned slightly red.
“Sure,” was Inui’s only reply. He was about to ask something again, when suddenly, a voice called Fuji’s name. Out of reflex, Fuji pushed Inui’s head, drowning the merman into the waters before turning his head to the direction of the voice.
He found Tezuka standing not too far from him. Fuji threw the prince a smile, hoping that Tezuka didn’t see or hear Inui, whose head was no longer under his hand. The data merman had probably swum away from there.
“What are you doing here?” Tezuka asked as he stepped closer and Fuji stood up from his crouching position.
/ Nothing, I just thought I’ll go out for a walk to breathe some fresh air. What are you doing here? / He asked back.
“I saw you from my room,” was all Tezuka’s answer.
Fuji’s smile grew wider. Did Tezuka worry about him? How nice.
“Was someone with you? I thought I heard a voice,” Tezuka asked as his eyes searched to the sea behind Fuji. He thought he just saw something move around there.
Fuji’s heart skipped a bit and wrote / No, I was alone. Before you came, that is. Maybe it was just the wind. / And he smiled at Tezuka; his eyes opening a little, urging the taller boy to believe him. Tezuka just nodded.
“You seem to love the sea,” Tezuka stated as he remembered how the lithe boy was staring at the ocean with longing eyes some nights ago.
Fuji smiled at him, letting Tezuka see the answer through his eyes. And what Tezuka caught was something he couldn’t really decipher. Something near to longing, but not exactly. And before Tezuka could catch anything more, Fuji turned his gaze to the sea, just in time to see the sun rising.
Ah, the sunrise. Tezuka remembered something vaguely as he saw Fuji’s back figure with the sunrise. He then caught Fuji’s wrist out of reflex and was surprised when Fuji turned his head with the questioning look on his face.
“It’s nothing, sorry,” Tezuka muttered as he drew his hand from Fuji’s wrist.
Fuji just let it slipped as he smiled at Tezuka and turned his gaze back to the sunrise. For a moment, both of them just kept silent, standing side by side as they enjoyed the sight of the sun slowly rising and spreading its light to the world.
And Tezuka thought that somehow, for that moment he caught Fuji’s wrist, Fuji seemed somewhat familiar…
-To Be Continued-
A/N: There! A looong update for your looong wait! I hope this update satisfies you guys. Thank you for your patience and please keep reading this series -bows-
Credits of ideas:
~The fork and knife scene was reader_a’s idea.
~The problem with seafood was Dark Reborn’s idea in ffnet.
~The typical scene (Fuji being bullied by bad guys) was a request from SkySurf and Kariz in ffnet, and the idea to give it a twist came from moehoshi.
~Tezuka caught Fuji staring out of the window to the ocean was chibikaoruchan’s idea.
~Tezuka being protective/caring was hey143’s request in ffnet. (tho I dun want to write him being all-too-protective yet. Fuji wouldn’t like that either XD;;)
Thank you so much for your ideas! From now on, if you have any idea or request, please do tell me. I might use them (tho probably not all of them) in the story, and I will credit for sure =).
Tezuka’s fiancée will be on the next chapter. Beware!! >D
Thanks for reading and please leave your reviews! That would make me happy and motivate me to write more and more *bows*
-Newly Human-
Author: a1y-puff
Pairing: TezuFuji and other pairings
Genre: parody/romance/humor
Rating: PG
Chapter Summary: It is time for Fuji to get used to human’s life… or not…
Warnings: girl!Momo, Ryoma as Tezuka’s brother, Fuji being Fuji with Tezuka baby-sitting him (kinda). and oh, indefinite time-setting (it's not supposed to be modern setting but I put tennis there. don't take it too seriously though.)
Disclaimer: I can’t even afford a laptop of my own. I’m not rich, that should say enough that I don’t own anything except the parody plot.
Prev Chapters: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]
A/N: Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry for the loooooooong wait!!! >.<
Many things going on but finally I finished this. I hope this lengthy chapter (it’s twice the usual length XD) and the amount of TezuFuji-ness here could make up for your patience and thank you people for keep poking me to update *bows*
Well, anyway, this chappie is supposed to be an interlude before the real plot begins by the next chap. I feel the need to show you guys how Fuji adapted with his new life before I throw Tezuka’s fiancée in there, so bear with me ne. And this is a little fragmented. Take it as a set of ficlets, perhaps XD;;
hugs and kisses for moehoshi for helping me as always <33
Credits for the ideas used will be at the end of the chapter =)
Anyway a little change of format:
‘These are thoughts’
/ And this is Fuji’s writings in notepad /
-Chapter 4-
NEWLY HUMAN
Fuji was a prodigy as a merman, so he ought to be one as a human too, right?. Or so he thought. But even a prodigy needs to learn about things. In three days, he was able to walk normally, but that was as far as he could do. He wanted to learn how to use his legs more soon. He thought that was the only problem he would face as a human.
But he was wrong.
Being human wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. Sure, he had read a hell bunch of books about humans, the land and human surroundings, and other kinds of beings that lived on it. But reading was different from really being there. And so, here were some problems during his first week as a human being.
Eating Problems
#1. The Fork and Knife
No, it’s not that Fuji didn’t know what a fork was for. He knew that he shouldn’t comb his hair with it. He had read a book about it and he knew how one should use a fork. But reading and actually doing it were two different things.
They were sitting in a huge dining room with a huge dining table that Fuji thought could serve twenty people. But because there were only six of them, including him, on the table right now, leaving half of it unoccupied, they sat not too far from each other. The Queen was out for business, so she wasn’t there. It looked like The Queen and the two Princes had the habit of dining together with their royal guards and personal maid.
Thanks to the ever-talkative Kikumaru, Fuji learned that Tezuka was not an only child. He had a brother named Ryoma, the snarky boy sitting not too far from Tezuka. Kikumaru was Ryoma’s royal guard, while the other man named Oishi, which Fuji can tell was really close to Kikumaru, was Tezuka’s royal guard. And then there’s that girl, who was currently bickering with the little prince, named Momoko. She was the only daughter of the head chef of the castle, Kawamura Takashi, and was Ryoma’s personal maid… or bodyguard. Fuji didn’t really care. She was Ryoma’s playmate since they were close in age; according to Kikumaru.
Back to the eating problems, while the others were eating gracefully (or Tezuka was, yet the others were rather… noisy.), Fuji just stared at his food. According to the book he had read, the dish was called ‘steak’, made from a land animal called a ‘cow’. Fuji had seen the picture of a cow, and he had no idea of what humans did to that big animal that it looked like what it was in his plate.
“Nya, Fuji, you’re not eating?” Kikumaru asked.
Fuji just smiled at the redhead and nodded, before taking the fork and knife in his hands.
He knew how to grip the fork and knife but not how to actually eat with them. Fuji eyed some little objects on his plate, which he believed are called ‘peas’. Maybe he could try with the little round objects first before trying the big one. So he put down the knife and held the fork with his right hand. All he had to do was to stab the peas with the fork and eat them, right? So he did it. He tried to get the peas with his fork, but they rolled away. Fuji then thought that first try never best, so he just had to try again. But no matter how many times he tried, the peas kept rolling away. The fork made clanking sounds as he was playing tag with the peas, and the noise immediately drew everyone’s attention to him.
Oishi’s lips were opened a bit. Kikumaru eyes were wide. Momoko was obviously trying to suppress a laugh while Ryoma just said, “Mada mada dane,” with an amused smirk.
And Tezuka… he seemed expressionless yet Fuji could see the tiny sweatdrop on his face.
Fuji just smiled them off and decided that he should try using the knife since the fork seemed to hate him. So he tried to slice the meat, but with the way he gripped the knife (the normal way people would grip a knife), he couldn’t control his strength and movement really well. And so, he decided to grip the knife in another way he knew human held a knife… he grabbed it , raised his right hand a little higher and then… he stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed the damn steak like a freaking psycho-killer. Satisfied that the knife had actually done some damages to the poor object, Fuji smirked, his eyes shining in victory.
And then, everyone in the room grew quiet and thought they had seen a devil.
Tezuka cleared his throat, effectively breaking the pregnant silence that enveloped them a moment ago.
Oishi then spoke, “Err, Fuji, is it possible that… you couldn’t use a knife and a fork?” he asked carefully, afraid that he might offend the lithe boy.
Fuji smiled at Oishi, eyes slightly opening in annoyance for having to admit his weakness. But wait, it wasn’t really a weakness. It just Fuji had never used any fork and knife before. So he finally nodded. From the corner of his eyes, Fuji could see Tezuka sigh and simply said, “Momoko,” in a rather commanding tone. The girl, who was sitting just across him, nodded and smiled at Fuji.
“I will help you slice the evil meat, Fuji-san,” The girl grinned. Fuji smiled and let himself be helped at last.
‘Damn’, Fuji inwardly cursed. Being human was more complicated than what he had thought it would be.
-oOo-
#2. Different Taste Buds
Fuji had secretly practiced using a fork and a knife after the incident and had mastered it in one night. He was a prodigy after all. Mastering how to use fork and knife was nothing, he thought proudly. But tonight, the dishes prepared required the use of chopsticks.
‘How nice’, Fuji sarcastically thought. They said the menu was called Sushi. Fuji had never heard of it before, but these dishes were quite different from steak. ‘Humans eat many kinds of things’, Fuji mused.
Somehow, Fuji found that using chopsticks was actually easier than the damned fork-and-knife. He had no remarkable problem in grabbing the dishes with the chopsticks. The dinner that night went on in peace… at least before Fuji’s curiosity got the better of him.
There was this green spice among the three different spices provided for the sushi. As he observed, the others only used that spice in a very little amount. Being the curious kid that he was, Fuji used his chopsticks to grab quite an amount of that green thingy and plopped it inside his mouth.
“Nyaaa!! Fuji, don’t! It’s wasabi!” Kikumaru tried to warn him but he was too late. The wasabi was already inside Fuji’s mouth, melting on Fuji’s tongue. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
“Fuji, are you okay?” Oishi asked worriedly, while the others just stared at him, faces filled with concern… or slight concern in Tezuka’s case.
Fuji blinked. That thing just now tasted really good, he mused. It was… he didn’t really know how to describe it, but the taste really kicked in his tongue with its sharp, unique taste. Fuji’s smile widened as he plopped another huge amount of wasabi into his mouth. He was practically beaming.
The others could only stare.
“Err, Fuji-san… do you happen to… like the wasabi?” Momoko dared to ask him.
Fuji nodded excitedly, his face beaming as he added more wasabi on his plate and plopped another amount into his mouth. Ryoma could only mutter a faint, hesitant, “mada… mada… dane…”
“Fuji,” Tezuka called. Fuji diverted his gaze to the Prince and Tezuka continued, “You should eat the sushi with the wasabi, not the other way around.”
Fuji just smiled and nodded. He started eating the sushi with the wasabi as the prince told him, though he couldn’t help to add much wasabi to his sushi. But at least, dinner continued in peace.
-oOo-
#3. Seafood’s Melancholy
The dinner went on peacefully. At least, until Fuji finished eating and asked a question about the sushi.
/ The sushi was good. What are they made of? / Fuji showed his notepad to Momoko since she was the nearest, and Momoko did the favor of reading it out loud to let everyone knew of what Fuji wrote in it.
“Ah, do you like sushi? Then you must like seafood, ne?” Oishi said with a smile.
“Nya~! Seafood is good!”
“I wish they could make me taller,” Ryoma muttered.
“Then you should drink your milk, Ryoma!” Momoko teased, and when the boy glared at her, she added, “Oops, I mean, Your Highness,” she said with a teasing tone.
Fuji wrote again because nobody answered his question yet, and Momoko, being the daughter of the head Chef, felt the responsibility to answer.
“They are made of fishes, of course! Well tamago-sushi is made of eggs, but mostly, sushi is made of fishes like salmon, tuna…”
Suddenly, Fuji rose from his seat; eyes wide in shock.
What did she say? Fish? He just ate fish? Fuji, the merman, had just eaten his fellow fish friends?
Fuji suddenly felt sick and had the urge to throw up, so he ran off to the direction of the nearest bathroom. Everyone was surprised at Fuji’s sudden behavior. Then Tezuka, being the one who brought Fuji in, felt that he had the responsibility towards the other boy. He stood and immediately followed Fuji, while the others just exchanged confused looks.
In the bathroom, Fuji emptied his stomach and threw them up into the bathroom sink. Tezuka tried to help him by massaging his back. Tezuka himself was slightly confused and didn’t know what to do. After Fuji felt that nothing was left for him to throw up, he washed his mouth and face. He suddenly felt his legs weaken, so he let himself drop and kneel on the floor.
Tezuka turned the faucet off and helped Fuji stand on his feet. Now, worry was evident on his stoic face as he saw Fuji look way too pale and his eyes were teary. Tezuka leaned Fuji against the wall for support, his hands never leaving Fuji’s shoulders, fearing that Fuji would fall if he didn’t hold him.
“Are you okay?” Tezuka asked in a rather soft tone. Fuji’s head was bowed; his bangs prevented Tezuka to see his eyes. And when the latter gently raised a hand to brush Fuji’s bangs away…
He received a glare.
Fuji’s eyes pierced into his, as if saying ‘How the hell do I look okay to you?’
Tezuka was slightly taken aback. Well, okay, maybe he just asked a stupid question. He should’ve known that Fuji was not okay, but wasn’t it a normal question one would ask in a situation like this? And why did Fuji looked so upset anyway?
Fuji then took out another notepad and pen (always bring extras for times like this, Fuji thought, since he left his other notepad with Momoko earlier) and started writing.
/ You made me eat fish. /
And Tezuka frowned. ‘What was so wrong with eating fish?’ he questioned inwardly, but apparently, Fuji could read his eyes and wrote again.
/ I can’t, and should never eat fish! / It read and the writing was less neat than usual as if Fuji was really mad. But as Fuji saw Tezuka in deep thought, his eyes soften. Of course, he should have known. Humans eat seafood; it was part of their food-chain. And while Fuji was a merman, he also ate some small fish but not salmons and tunas. Those were his friends… or pets, but certainly not his food. Yesterday, he was fine eating meat, maybe because he had never seen a real living cow and had no attachment at all with animals living on land.
His train of thoughts was cut off by Tezuka’s sigh. “I won’t know if you won’t tell me that you can’t eat seafood. Do you have some kind of allergy?”
Fuji shook his head and weakly wrote on the notepad, / Just don’t give me any kind of seafood anymore, please. / was all he could tell Tezuka. He should accept the fact that humans eat seafood, who were his friends. At least, he wouldn’t eat them while being human. He deeply regretted that he thought the sushi tasted good.
Tezuka just nodded and didn’t question him any further. Then, he helped Fuji walked back to the dining room, where the others were waiting worriedly.
Kawamura, the head chef, was there. It looked like Momoko told him that someone felt sick after eating his sushi. Tezuka explained that Fuji couldn’t eat any kind of seafood and it wasn’t chef Kawamura’s fault.
“I thought it was the wasabi,” Kikumaru wondered out loud.
Fuji shook his head and smiled at the redhead as he wrote on his notepad, / I love the wasabi. It’s not made of fish, is it? /
“No, it’s made of some kind of plant,” Kawamura was the one to answer. He continued, “Actually, there’s a sushi called wasabi-sushi, but I never serve it because no one likes it. But if you’d like, I will make wasabi-sushi for you,” he smiled at Fuji, and Tezuka could see him smiling back at the chef.
“Please do that. He just threw up everything he ate,” Tezuka told the chef.
After that, Kawamura really made a lot of wasabi-sushi, which Fuji ate with glee, partly because he had emptied his stomach before, but also because the sharp taste of wasabi erased the taste of the poor fish he ate, and he was thankful for that, although he was still feeling guilty and sorry for the fish.
At that moment, Fuji decided that wasabi-sushi was going to be his favorite food as a human.
That night, Tezuka visited Fuji to make sure that the boy was alright. He found him staring out of the window, looking at the vast, dark sea with an expression Tezuka couldn’t read. But somehow, he could feel the other’s faint longing towards the sea.
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The Fuji-being-Fuji Problems
#1. Curiosity
Fuji had always been a curious kid. He wondered about a lot of things and always needed answers for his curiosities. That was probably one factor why he was able to befriend Inui. Inui fed his curiosities with all the data he had.
In just a few days of being a human, there were already so many things that caught his interest, even the most trivial things. Tezuka was pretty much a busy Prince, so he couldn’t always attend to Fuji’s every questions. He decided that Kikumaru would be a good companion for the light haired boy, since he would gladly answer his every question. Thus, Fuji became close to the redhead in no time.
When Tezuka was not too busy, he would let Fuji tail him, since somehow, he was the one who let Fuji in, so he felt like, more or less, Fuji’s guardian. That time, both of them sat quietly in Tezuka’s private library. Tezuka had found out that Fuji was really fond of reading, so he thought it would be okay to let the other boy read with him.
Tezuka’s library was pretty big and cozy. The lighting was good too, but there was a candle on a small table on the corner of the room. Fuji was told that it was for aroma-therapy, when Tezuka saw Fuji’s eyes never leave the object.
But rather than the aroma, Fuji was more curious of the fire. They said that fire is an opposing element of water. He had been a water creature, so he had never seen a real fire before. And he was damn curious of what it was like to touch fire.
He knew, of course, that people couldn’t really grasp fire, like they couldn’t to water and wind, but they could still feel them, right? He had felt water his entire life, and already had a chance to feel the wind. He also wanted to know what it’s like to feel fire. He had heard fire was hot, but he was still curious.
So he stood up from his chair. At first, Tezuka ignored him for he thought Fuji was only going to get another book. But as he turned to get another book too, he saw Fuji standing near the small table, his forefinger trying to make a contact with the fire of the candle.
“Fuji!” he snapped as he hurriedly went to the other boy, and was just in time to grab Fuji’s wrist, just as the latter’s forefinger was nearly enveloped by the fire. Fuji gasped as he felt his forefinger stung and was thankful as the Prince blew his forefinger with his rather cooling breath.
Tezuka glared at the honey-brown haired boy and scolded him, “Do you want to burn your finger?”
The tone of voice was cold, so cold that for a second, Fuji thought he was afraid of that piercing gaze the bespectacled boy threw him. Fuji shook his head, his ever-present smile faltered as he bowed .Not long enough, he raised his head and smiled again in apology.
Fuji felt the other’s eyes softened as he asked in a much calmer tone, “Why did you do that?”
Fuji took out his notepad and wrote on it, / I just wanted to know what it’s like to touch fire, sorry… /
And Tezuka raised an eyebrow. What kind of reason is that? Isn’t Fuji old enough to know NOT to touch fire? Sometimes, Tezuka thought, Fuji’s level of curiosity was that of an infant. He wondered just what kind of life did Fuji have before coming here and why Fuji seemed to know so little about the world
Tezuka sighed. “Just don’t do anything like that again,” he finally said. Fuji just nodded and smiled at him. And Tezuka thought that maybe, he should keep an eye on Fuji from now on.
-oOo-
#2. The Sadistic Streak
It was weekend. Kikumaru told Tezuka that they should take Fuji around the town, since Fuji was kind of new there. Since he had nothing important to do, (plus, he somewhat felt a little pity for Fuji for he seemed so eager to see the town) he agreed to come along. Six of them went to town after wearing some commoner clothes Momoko and Kikumaru had prepared for occasions like this.
Walking down the street, Fuji found that they had walked in pairs. Kikumaru was clinging to Oishi’s arm as they walked. Momoko and Ryoma were arguing about what food stalls they should visit. That left him with Tezuka. He stole a glance to his right and saw Tezuka was as expressionless as ever. Since Tezuka wouldn’t say a word, Fuji busied himself by fascinating every object he saw along the way: the food stalls, the shops, the markets, the people…
And before he knew it, he already got separated from the others.
‘Damn, I got lost,’ Fuji thought inwardly. This was so embarrassing. If Inui was here, he would have scribbled down his notebook with that annoying smirk of his while saying “Fuji Shuusuke is capable of getting lost. Ii data.”
Now, he thought, if he kept walking around, someone would find him eventually. So while he was here, he might as well take a look around first. If no one found him then he would just have to ask someone the direction of the castle, he thought nonchalantly. So, he started to enjoy his ‘tour’ in the town, among so many humans which he had been interested in for, for a long time now.
Meanwhile, Tezuka, who was looking intensely at a tennis racket and was about to buy it, was suddenly approached by his little brother. “Ne, where’s your friend?”
Tezuka blinked at Ryoma and then raised his gaze to everything around him.
That’s right, Fuji was gone. But since when?
“Hoi, hoi, what’s up?” Kikumaru asked as he bounced to the two Princes, dragging Oishi with him.
“Huh, where’s Fuji-san?” Momoko asked as she looked around. The five of them were silent for a moment as their eyes searched for the lithe figure of the fair haired boy.
“I got careless,” Tezuka whispered to himself and immediately walked out of the store to look for Fuji.
“We better hurry and find him,” Oishi said. “He’s new here and he’s mute. It would be bad if he gets into trouble,” he added with such a worry tone. And with that, the five of them went to look for Fuji.
Meanwhile, the object of their worries seemed to be enjoying himself. In his hands was a paper bag full of fruits he bought from an old lady in the fruit stand. She gave him a 50% discount as she was charmed by his smile, telling Fuji that he reminded him of her grandson. She also felt sorry for him when she found out that he was mute.
While it’s true that Fuji didn’t like being pitied, he made exceptions when it came to getting discounts like this. And he smiled even wider, knowing that his smiling face brought him merit. Really, maybe Tezuka and the others shouldn’t be worried about him.
Well at least, not until he bumped into a bunch of people that made Fuji realize that not all people are ‘good people’.
“Hey, that hurts! You have to pay for my hospital fee!” said one of them that had a scar on his left cheek.
And Fuji just smirked. ‘How classic’, he thought. He had read these kinds of scenes in a bunch of romance novels he found in some shipwreck. He just smiled in amusement.
“What are you smiling for, huuuh?!!”
“Hey, that boy is pretty, are you really a boy?” one of them, who had spiky yellow hair, reached a hand out and was about to touch Fuji, when the prodigy backed away.
‘Don’t you dare touch me with that dirty hand,’ he warned inwardly (though he knew they wouldn’t hear) before fisting his right hand and punched the man in the face with all his might.
Surprisingly, the man got blown for a good two meters away from where Fuji stood. His friends’ jaws dropped. Fuji’s eyes were open, looking at his right fist. He didn’t know he possessed such strength.
But then, he thought, he was used to move underwater, which was certainly heavier than moving on the ground like this. That probably was it. Ah, then he realized he had an advantage for that.
He smirked, his eyes shining in somewhat an evil glint, clenching and unclenching his fist. His eyes were saying, ‘Who wants to be punched next?’, sending shivers to the other three. Another one tried to attack him, but Fuji avoided him easily before sending him flying one and a half meters away with his fist.
The other two looked anxious and scared at the same time. Actually, Fuji would just let them go if they just ran away, but the other two decided they should teach Fuji a lesson. Fuji’s smirk got even wider. Now, this was going to be fun.
Meanwhile, the group of five had been asking around and finally got hints of where Fuji might have gone to and have arrived just on time to see Fuji throw an uppercut to the last bad guy, and thus, the four of them were laid sprawled all around Fuji.
The group was silent, before finally, Kikumaru bounced to Fuji, shouting a “Nyaaa~! Are you alright, Fuji?”
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Fuji turned his head and welcomed the group with a smile. ‘Finally they found me,’ he thought.
“You… beat these guys?” Oishi asked once he found his voice. He still couldn’t believe such a slender body held such power.
Fuji, eyes open, smirked evilly at the unconscious bodies around him while and wrote, / That’s what they get from trying to mess up with me. /
“Whoa, you’re cool Fuji-san!” Momoko said in awe, while Ryoma just pulled his cap and muttered yet another “Mada mada dane.”
Tezuka stepped closer to Fuji and asked, “What did they try to do to you?”
Fuji scribbled again on his notepad, / They tried to touch me so I punched them /
Tezuka’s eyes widened a little, trying to figure out what Fuji meant by ‘touch’. But as he saw that Fuji was perfectly fine, he let his worry gone… that was until he caught sight of blood on his right cheek. Just a little cut it seemed, but he just had to state the obvious, “You’re bleeding,” while raising a hand and gently caressed the cut with his thumb.
Fuji jerked a little at the touch.
“Ah, sorry. Does it hurt?”
Fuji quickly put his smile back and shook his head.
Tezuka sighed. “You shouldn’t be so careless,” was all he could say, since he saw that somehow, Fuji was satisfied to have taught those bad guys a lesson. Fuji nodded and smiled at Tezuka and the latter told himself to really keep an eye on Fuji next time.
He decided to start by holding Fuji’s hand along the way back to the Castle so that the lithe boy wouldn’t stray elsewhere anymore.
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Learning Time
Fuji had his first week being human troublesome enough, so the following week, he decided to just stay put and learn about things he still doesn’t know. It seemed like Tezuka would be busy the said week, so Fuji was left with Kikumaru, who was also being left behind by Oishi because the said man had to accompany the Prince. Kikumaru said, with a knowing smirk, that Ryoma didn’t need him to guard the little Prince because Momoko would be there and he would only be a hindrance.
First, Fuji decided that he needed to get used to his legs and how to use them properly. Thanks to the ever-hyperactive Kikumaru, Fuji had learned how to walk faster, to run, to crouch, to jump and do other various moves using his legs within a week. One day, Kikumaru decided to teach Fuji how to play tennis.
/ What is ‘tennis’? / Fuji asked when the redhead proposed the idea.
Kikumaru had gotten used to Fuji not knowing about certain things, so without wondering why the other boy didn’t know about tennis, he simply explained, “It’s a kind of sport. Prince Tezuka loves it so much, nya! Well, I do love tennis too and it seems like everyone in this castle can play it so I thought I’ll teach you. You don’t mind, do you?”
Fuji thought for a while. ‘Tennis, huh?’ A sport everyone in the castle plays and is Prince Tezuka’s favorite sport. Why not try it then? Fuji smiled and nodded to Kikumaru.
Kikumaru taught him the rules first, but soon, he got bored explaining and decided to teach Fuji how to grip the racket and how to serve. After that, he taught him about various grips one can use to play tennis and after a few hours, Kikumaru realized that Fuji was a fast-learner. He then said excitedly that the Prince will have a new opponent to play with soon enough.
“If you don’t have anyone to play with,” Kikumaru said, leading Fuji to the nearest wall, “you can always play squash with the wall. It’s also a good practice, nya!”
Fuji nodded and smiled. This tennis game was pretty interesting. He has never played anything like this underwater.
“Nya, I have an idea! How about you secretly practice until you’re good enough and surprise Prince Tezuka with a game? You’re a fast-learner and I’m sure you can be a good player soon!” Kikumaru exclaimed.
Fuji thought that would be interesting. He loved challenges, and according to Kikumaru, Prince Tezuka was really good at tennis. Maybe if he could be good at the Prince’s favorite sport, it would help to make the prince fall for him. And so he nodded.
“Hoi! I’ll be your opponent then until you’re good enough!” the redhead bounced and glomped him, and Fuji just smiled.
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A Close Call
It was almost dawn when Fuji suddenly awoken. He felt like someone was calling him. He looked out of his window and saw some kind of light from the sea. The light was moving, as if it was a code… and then he suddenly realized that it was Inui!
He didn’t bother changing his pajamas and only grabbed a coat before going out of his room. He went silently, occasionally throwing a smile to the guards when he passed them, and finally, he was outside. He walked to the dock, which could be seen from his window, and there, he found Inui waiting for him.
“Fuji, it’s been a while,” Inui greeted.
Fuji just nodded before crouching down so he would be closer to his friend. He took out his notepad and pen, and wrote, / What are you doing here? /
“I just come to say hi,” Inui answered flatly, but Fuji knew better and so he pressed again with his smile, and finally, Inui gave up, “Well, I brought a message from your sister.”
‘From Yumiko-neesan?’
“She read your card,” Inui said again. ‘Ah, that,’ Fuji thought. His sister used to do fortune-telling with her cards, and at times, she would read for him. It’s not that Fuji believed in things like fortune-telling, but he believed in his sister.
/ What did she say? /
“She said that your path will not be easy. There will be someone that will come between you and the Prince,” Inui recited exactly what Yumiko told him earlier.
Fuji took a moment to think about it, before writing on his notepad again, / She probably meant Tezuka’s fiancée. I heard she will come here soon enough. /
“Ah, Tezuka has a fiancée,” Inui mumbled while scribbling on his notebook again. Then, he looked upwards to Fuji and asked, “Then what are you going to do?”
Fuji smiled and showed Inui what he thought, / Of course I will make Tezuka fall for me. /
“What if you fail?” Inui asked, and though Fuji couldn’t see his friends’ eyes behind those glasses, he could tell that Inui was so serious.
And so he opened his eyes, his smile faltering as he wrote another reply, / Then, I will kill him. /
Silence was Inui’s response. For a moment, they were quiet until Inui decided to break the silence, “I brought some notes for you. It’s the latest data I got from everyone. I thought you would like to know how the others were doing,” he said, giving Fuji a thin notebook, which Fuji accepted with a smile. He thought it was nice of Inui to keep him updated on how his family and friends were doing.
/ Thank you. / was all he wrote to show his gratitude.
“Oh, and Yuuta said, ‘baka aniki! What’s he doing turning into human just to meet some random prince? He better succeed in making the prince fall for him!’ or something like that.”
Fuji chuckled soundlessly as he wrote, / Tell Yuuta not to worry about me. I’m doing really fine here. /
“I will.”
/ Oh, and say hi to Kaoru for me. And you really have to tell me when you’re going to marry him, okay? / He wrote again and a satisfied grin surfaced on his face when he saw his friend’s face turned slightly red.
“Sure,” was Inui’s only reply. He was about to ask something again, when suddenly, a voice called Fuji’s name. Out of reflex, Fuji pushed Inui’s head, drowning the merman into the waters before turning his head to the direction of the voice.
He found Tezuka standing not too far from him. Fuji threw the prince a smile, hoping that Tezuka didn’t see or hear Inui, whose head was no longer under his hand. The data merman had probably swum away from there.
“What are you doing here?” Tezuka asked as he stepped closer and Fuji stood up from his crouching position.
/ Nothing, I just thought I’ll go out for a walk to breathe some fresh air. What are you doing here? / He asked back.
“I saw you from my room,” was all Tezuka’s answer.
Fuji’s smile grew wider. Did Tezuka worry about him? How nice.
“Was someone with you? I thought I heard a voice,” Tezuka asked as his eyes searched to the sea behind Fuji. He thought he just saw something move around there.
Fuji’s heart skipped a bit and wrote / No, I was alone. Before you came, that is. Maybe it was just the wind. / And he smiled at Tezuka; his eyes opening a little, urging the taller boy to believe him. Tezuka just nodded.
“You seem to love the sea,” Tezuka stated as he remembered how the lithe boy was staring at the ocean with longing eyes some nights ago.
Fuji smiled at him, letting Tezuka see the answer through his eyes. And what Tezuka caught was something he couldn’t really decipher. Something near to longing, but not exactly. And before Tezuka could catch anything more, Fuji turned his gaze to the sea, just in time to see the sun rising.
Ah, the sunrise. Tezuka remembered something vaguely as he saw Fuji’s back figure with the sunrise. He then caught Fuji’s wrist out of reflex and was surprised when Fuji turned his head with the questioning look on his face.
“It’s nothing, sorry,” Tezuka muttered as he drew his hand from Fuji’s wrist.
Fuji just let it slipped as he smiled at Tezuka and turned his gaze back to the sunrise. For a moment, both of them just kept silent, standing side by side as they enjoyed the sight of the sun slowly rising and spreading its light to the world.
And Tezuka thought that somehow, for that moment he caught Fuji’s wrist, Fuji seemed somewhat familiar…
-To Be Continued-
A/N: There! A looong update for your looong wait! I hope this update satisfies you guys. Thank you for your patience and please keep reading this series -bows-
Credits of ideas:
~The fork and knife scene was reader_a’s idea.
~The problem with seafood was Dark Reborn’s idea in ffnet.
~The typical scene (Fuji being bullied by bad guys) was a request from SkySurf and Kariz in ffnet, and the idea to give it a twist came from moehoshi.
~Tezuka caught Fuji staring out of the window to the ocean was chibikaoruchan’s idea.
~Tezuka being protective/caring was hey143’s request in ffnet. (tho I dun want to write him being all-too-protective yet. Fuji wouldn’t like that either XD;;)
Thank you so much for your ideas! From now on, if you have any idea or request, please do tell me. I might use them (tho probably not all of them) in the story, and I will credit for sure =).
Tezuka’s fiancée will be on the next chapter. Beware!! >D
Thanks for reading and please leave your reviews! That would make me happy and motivate me to write more and more *bows*