Predictor of the Future - Chapter 24
Title: Predictor of the Future
Writer: Tacuma811
Pairing: Perfect Pair
Chapter: 24
Genre: AU, romance, friendship, angst
Word count: 4067 words
Rating: PG-15
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
Chapter 24
'What is that woman doing here?' asked Tezuka to Fuji, who was the only one who could give him an answer. The girl that was waiting in the hall was obviously a prostitute. If she was not, she definitely dressed like one. A servant had told the King she had arrived and he had send Tezuka to get her. On his way he had walked into his boyfriend and had asked Fuji to come along to answer his questions.
'The King wants to know if he can make someone pregnant,' Fuji whispered. 'He doesn't seem to care who it is. Or maybe he does care. He doesn't want to make a girl from a nobility pregnant while they aren't married. He has to be careful with his relationships with the Dukes and Earls.'
'So he hires these kind of girls?' Tezuka asked.
'Yes, it's not the first time,' the Seer answered. 'Even before he knew he was infertile he already asked for such women now and then. Before he was married it was even worse. He might have become infertile because one of them was carrying some illness. But I can't say for sure and I can't say I'm really interested in finding out.'
'I don't want to know either,' said Tezuka. 'This way please, madam,' he said to the girl. He wondered how old she was. She couldn't be older than twenty. But this was the King they were talking about. He could do anything he liked.
Tezuka brought the girl to the King's rooms and left as quickly as he could. Fuji had been waiting for him, watching him from a distance.
'You don't seem to be affected by such a good looking woman in such…. clothes.'
'Were you making sure I wouldn't touch her?' Tezuka asked, wondering if Fuji was jealous. 'Why would I be affected by something like her when I have you?'
'I wasn't checking if you were cheating on me,' said Fuji. 'I wanted to talk to you a bit more. You're taking more and more jobs from your father and you're slowly becoming the most important person when it comes to advising the King. What he is doing now is not going to help him. He can ask for as many women as he want, but none of them will get pregnant. I know it's not something easy to bring up with him, but maybe when he is in a good mood you can talk to him about it? You remember what happened last time I tried.'
The Seer still had a few scars from that day and he didn't want any new ones. He wanted his skin to be perfect now that he had a boyfriend.
'I'll talk to him in the afternoon,' said Tezuka. 'There is another meeting with the Dukes and Earls about the heirloom, so it might be a good moment. I won't be on my own then either.'
'Good,' smiled Fuji. 'I'll see you there then. If all the Dukes and Earls are coming to talk about this with the King I will probably have to be there too. But I can't be your knight in shining armor, so make sure you won't get hurt.'
'I won't get hurt, just stay out of the way,' said Tezuka. 'I wouldn't want the King to turn his anger to you instead of me. I don't want you to get hurt again.'
He kissed Fuji shortly on the lips. He was still a little shy when it came to showing affection, but he did want to try and show Fuji that he really cared. The Seer didn't mind at all. He loved every little step Tezuka took forward.
'Did I miss a memo?' sounded a voice from behind them. Quickly they turned around. Tezuka Kuniharu stood behind them, a smirk on his normally so serious face. Fuji had never saw the man smile before, let alone smirk. But he liked it, so he grinned back. Tezuka looked like he was wishing the earth would spontaneously open up and swallow him right here, right now. It didn't happen though.
'Not for a very long time yet,' said Fuji. 'We weren't sure when to tell. I guess you can understand why that is, ne?'
'I do, but I'm not angry. I think we were all waiting for it to happen. But I wish the best of luck to the two of you. I'm glad you found such a nice and intelligent son in law for me, Kunimitsu. Do you want me to talk to your mother about it?'
'Please,' said Tezuka.
'No problem,' said the father. 'She'll be glad to hear that her son has found happiness.'
When the man was gone, Fuji patted Tezuka's arm and gave him a friendly smile. 'You did well and your parents don't mind. Well, at least your father doesn't mind. Your problems are solved, you should be happy now.'
'You knew I was worried?' Tezuka asked.
'Of course, I can see it,' said Fuji. 'Even without looking the your future or past.'
'Can you see that I'm happy now?' the advisor of the King asked.
'Not completely,' said Fuji. 'Maybe something to prove it?'
Tezuka bend forward and gave Fuji another kiss on the lips, a little longer than last time when they were caught by his father. He had nothing to hide anymore.
'That made me really happy as well,' said Fuji.
They both went their own way. Tezuka went to greet the Dukes and Earls that were early and who he had to accompany for lunch, since the King was a little busy at the moment. Fuji went to have lunch in the dining area of the servants before he started to prepare himself for the fight he would have with the King later in the afternoon. No matter what would happen, there was a fight in every future.
It was only a few hours later that the fight actually started. Fuji entered the room with the big round table. He was happily greeted by everyone, everyone but the King. The important man didn't even look at him.
'You're late, again!' said the King. 'You keep slacking more and more often. Do you want to be kicked out of the castle that badly? Because you're asking for it and I don't mind arranging it!'
Fuji bowed. 'I apologize, Your Majesty, I was preparing some things for this meeting, but I can assure you that it won't happen again.'
Sometimes it was nice to know what would happen in the future.
'If you're late one more time I will kick you out of the castle myself,' said the King.
'Yes, Your Majesty.' Fuji quickly sat down on the empty chair that was his. He winked at Tezuka when King Atobe wasn't looking at them. Tezuka didn't wink back, he quickly turned his face the other way, because he was sure he would start blushing again, he couldn't let his guard down.
'We were going to discuss the heirloom,' said Sanada. 'I heard rumors and I would like to know if they are true.'
'There is a 87 per cent chance you are talking about the rumors that say the King is infertile,' said the man with brown hair. His name was Yanagi Renji.
'And there is a 64 per cent chance that the rumor is the truth,' said the man with black hair and glasses. His name was Inui Sadaharu. He and Fuji got along very well.
'You are wrong, Inui,' said the King. 'The rumor is not true. It's a lie, brought into this world by an idiot who doesn't know a thing about fertility. The Queen is possibly infertile. It seems I'm very unlucky when it comes to picking the right woman for me. But I'm a patient man. I'm trying to find out if another woman can carry my heir for me.'
'How?' asked Shiraishi. 'You let the Doctor take a look at them or do you pick women who have given birth before?'
The King didn't know what to answer for a moment and Tezuka took that chance to speak up.
'By sleeping with as much different women as possible,' he said. 'Nobility, girls from the staff and even prostitutes.'
The King was flabbergasted. He slowly turned around, his mouth open, ready to say something, but no words came out. All the others in the room were very surprised as well, but more about the things he said than about the fact that Tezuka actually said them.
'Is that true?' asked Yagyuu, a very serious Earl, who didn't tolerate lies or cheating. He was a real gentleman and he expected others to be like that as well.
'It's true,' said Fuji, half to protect Tezuka, half to make sure the King wouldn't start defending himself and get rid of Tezuka. 'Ever since a certain idiot told the King that he was infertile His Majesty has asked for several women to join him in his bedroom. It's been two months since and he had exactly 46 women in there, next to the Queen.'
'I won't tolerate it!' said Yagyuu. 'You are the King, but you have to be loyal to the Queen. You had to discuss things with us before you would ask for all kinds of women to join you in your bed. Did any of them actually get pregnant?'
The King didn't want to answer, but he knew somebody else would if he would stay quiet. 'No, none of them is pregnant, but maybe it was just the wrong period of the month.'
'Forty-six women and all of them were in the wrong period of the month?' Inui asked. 'It would be interesting to calculate how big the chance is that something like that will happen. It's highly impossible that none of them became pregnant if you are fertile. A hundred per cent chance the rumors are true then.'
'Then what will we do about the heir?' asked Shiraishi. 'There will never be one.'
'There would never be one from the beginning,' said Fuji. 'Even if our King was not infertile, he would not have produced an heir, because he is not supposed to be our King.'
Fuji knew that the things he said were dangerous, but he kept a straight face, showing no fear at all while everybody was thinking about the words he said.
'Explain yourself,' said Sanada, the most impatient of the men.
'We all know about the history of the old King, not our current King's father, but the one before that. The only heir in the royal family back then and he died of a disease before he had produced an heir. The Atobe-family was very important in those days, so they took over until the King was buried and the period of grief was over. But the people of the country had already gotten used to being ruled by the Atobe-family, so they made themselves the new royal family. King Atobe the first let himself be crowned, he never had any rights to the throne.'
'How come nobody knows about that?' asked Inui, not even calculating anything.
'It's not a story that was made public,' answered Fuji. 'Of course he would do everything to keep it a secret. If he was found out he would get the death penalty. But nobody knew, so he could do whatever he wanted. He got a son, our current King, who inherited the throne when his father died. Not only was his father not the real King, but His Majesty is not the son of the Queen.'
Another wave of shock when through the room.
'What are you talking about?' asked the King angry. 'Don't be stupid, you just want to bring me down and you come up with all kinds of lies! Don't believe him, he is just a jealous, brainless boy!'
'I have a witness for it,' said Fuji. 'A trustworthy one. It's the mother of our King.'
The doors opened and Ryuuzaki-sensei entered the room. She bowed for all the men who were gaping at her and tried her best to keep her dignity.
'Don't be ridiculous!' said the King angry. 'She is my mother in law, not my mother, everybody knows that.'
'But I am your mother,' said Ryuuzaki. 'Your father was exactly like you. He loved everything and everyone that looked good. He probably had fifty women every two months as well, just not to make them pregnant, but for his own fun!'
'She used to be a very hot woman,' whispered Fuji to the surprised men around him.
Ryuuzaki didn't notice them, she just continued to speak to her son. 'Yes, I am also the mother of your wife, but her father accepted me and loved me, while your father took his chance with me, took his kid and left me. Your father in law still visits me every time he is here at the castle! Your wife is also your sister, so it's good you can't have kids with her! This world will become a better place!'
'YOU BITCH!' shouted the King. 'How dare you! My mother died when I was born! Don't you dare say anything bad about her! She gave her life to give me life!'
'You wish!' said a woman who slammed the door open. She looked exactly like the woman on the family portrait, although she was a lot older now. 'I am not dead and I would never give my life for scum like you!'
'Oka-san?' the King said surprised. 'You were alive? Where have you been all that time, why weren't you here? Why weren't you here when dad died?'
'I didn't want to be around that cheating bastard anymore,' said the woman. 'I knew he had other women, but when he got a kid with one of them and wanted me to raise it, it was enough. If he sleeps with others he has to take responsibility too. That is why I left. He might have told the entire Kingdom that I died when I gave birth to you, but that is the only good thing he ever did to me. Now I could live the life I wanted without getting in trouble. It has been amazing since then.'
'Then why are you here today?' asked the King coldly.
'I got a message from Fuji-kun. He said he needed my help with reorganizing the government of this country and I gladly help him if it means we get rid of you.'
'Thank you Hanamura-san,' said Fuji and he bowed slightly for her.
'Seer, you are so dead now!' said King Atobe. He stood up, ready to beat the living daylights out of Fuji, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
'Don't you dare to touch him,' said Tezuka with a dark voice.
The King pulled away and muttered a 'don't touch me' to his advisor, but it didn't sound very convincing. He quickly regained himself though.
'So, what if I have a different mother than everybody thought? Who cares? I'm still the son of the King. I'm still the King myself, I still have power! You can't do anything about it!'
'I told you your father didn't have any rights to be the King, right?' said Fuji. 'Your father was a murderer. He killed the King, so he could take over the power without anybody being able to stop him, but that doesn't mean you have any right to be the King and behave like you have done the last twenty years!'
'You have no witness!' said the King. 'You can say whatever you want, but who will believe you? You're the only one who claims I cannot be the King, but if you want to really take some action, why don't you find a second witness? Where is your proof? You do know that you can forget about your job here at the castle now, right? I'm going to throw you in prison and make sure you will get tortured until you will beg me for forgiveness!'
Fuji stayed calm. He looked at the doors that led to the hall way. Once again they opened and a very old man entered the room.
'Otou-san?' Tezuka Kuniharu asked surprised. He took a step forward to take a closer look.
'I will be the second witness,' said Tezuka Kunikazu. 'My entire life I worked for the King. We were more like friends than like a King and his councilor. The day the King was killed he wasn't feeling well. It was just a cold, nothing that would kill him. I was preparing a hot bath for him when I heard someone enter the room. The King had asked to be left alone, so I went to take a look so I could let the visitor know that the King didn't want any company. It was Atobe-san who came to visit. He brought a hot drink with special medicine, or so he said. The look on his face told me enough, but the King didn't notice. He was ill, his vision was being clouded. Before I could say a thing the King had already taken the cup and took a sip from it. I called him and hoped one sip wouldn't be enough to harm him, but it must have been really strong. Atobe-san sent me away, but I watched from around the corner and could see how Atobe-san was laughing while the King was dying a slow and painful death! There was nothing I could do anymore.'
'I wouldn't be able to do that to my worst enemy,' whispered Shiraishi who sat next to Fuji. 'Let alone to the most important man of the country!'
'Ever since that day,' continued Tezuka Kunikazu, 'I have been searching for a way to get the Atobe-family out of the castle. With Fuji-kun's help I finally found a way. There are two witnesses now, enough proof. I can't say it was worth leaving my family for such a long time, but right now I'm very glad we solved things.'
'In that case, Atobe Keigo, from this moment on you are not the King anymore of this country,' said Sanada, taking the lead.
'Should we throw him in prison?' Yagyuu asked.
'Technically he didn't really commit a crime,' said Yanagi.
'He didn't know anything about the murder of the former king,' said Fuji. 'His father never told him that much. But he did know his father wasn't meant to be King and that he wasn't meant to take that position either.'
'You should have mentioned it,' said Yagyuu. 'We could have found a solution for the problem years ago and he could have gotten a high position in our council. He chose not to do that, so now he will have to face the consequences. Besides, he had forty-six women in two months. How many of them were there out of their own free will and how many were forced to sleep with him? I will investigate. I hope you will assist me in that, Fuji-kun.'
'I don't mind,' said Fuji. 'I'll give you a list of names and addresses, so you can easily find them and ask them about it.'
'Thank you,' said Sanada. 'Until then we will lock him up. I will try to find a good judge who can help us with the punishment he deserves. I think we should call it a day for now. We will discuss the new government tomorrow at ten in the morning. You can all leave now and prepare yourself for tomorrow. Guards, take Atobe Keigo away and lock him up.'
'Am I not allowed to have a say in this?!' shouted Atobe.
'Not until your trial,' answered Sanada.
When the ex-King was dragged out of the room Tezuka Kuniharu ran to his father. He grabbed his shoulders and looked at him from head to toe and back.
'You're alive!' he said happily. 'I can't believe it, this is amazing. You are alive after all those years! Why didn't you contact us?'
'I've been too busy,' apologized the old man. 'I wanted to send you a letter a few times, but then I thought you would want me to come back. I didn't want to work for a fake royal family, so I stayed away until I got a letter from Fuji-kun.'
'Fuji, you knew he was alive?' Tezuka asked. He stepped forward and bowed to his grandfather. 'Oji-san, welcome back.'
'You must be my grandson Kunimitsu,' smiled Kunikazu. 'I only saw you when you were a baby. You have grown up very nicely. You look a lot like your father.'
'And like your grandfather,' Fuji noted.
'Probably like me too,' said the old man. 'I'm glad I still got to see you as an adult. It has always been my wish to see you again.'
'I've heard a lot about you, oji-san and I'm glad I finally have the chance to meet you myself,' said Tezuka formally. 'Fuji, why didn't you tell us earlier?'
'I didn't know it for a very long time yet,' answered the Seer. 'I was looking for people who could help me, witnesses who could help me with getting rid of this King. I accidently found out about your grandfather. It wasn't easy to trace him.'
'You should have told us,' said Kuniharu.
'No, I liked the surprise,' said Fuji. 'Not just Tezuka-san, but also Ryuuzaki-sensei and Hanamura-san. I wanted to slowly unfold what was going on, so nobody would get confused. The story is clear to everyone now and we have all seen the true face of our ex-King.'
'True,' said Tezuka. 'You really like some drama, don't you?'
'Of course, things are more fun with a little drama,' smiled Fuji. 'I have to do something with my boring life.'
'Fuji-kun,' said a voice behind them. The Seer turned around and saw Hanamura standing there. 'Thank you for doing this. I'm glad I could help to make things right again here. My ex-husband was a worthless King, but his son was even worse.'
'I'm very glad you took the time to come here and help us, Hanamura-san,' said Fuji and he bowed to her. 'If you ever need me, just call for me, I will come to help. I don't mind predicting your future for you.'
'Thank you Fuji-kun, I'll be taking my leave now.'
She left. Ryuuzaki-sensei was still there though. Fuji approached her and touched her arm. 'Do you want me to bring you to your daughter?' he asked. His teacher hadn't seen her daughter for a very long time even though they lived so close together.
'Yes, please,' she answered.
'Saeki,' Fuji called. 'You know the first floor better than I do. Could you bring Ryuuzaki-sensei to the rooms of the Queen so she can see her daughter?'
'Of course,' said the black and white-haired guy. 'Please come with me, sensei, I'll take you there.'
Now that the King was gone they all felt more at ease and they talked more casually with each other. They were friends, so there was no reason to be formal. Saeki was often around, but they hardly ever got to talk to each other.
'Oh, so Fuji-kun is your son in law?' Fuji heard Kunikazu say in surprise. The Seer turned around and walked to his boyfriend, who was once again blushing.
'Did you really have to tell, Otou-san?' he sighed.
'Of course, your grandfather wants to know everything,' said Kuniharu. 'And you love Fuji-kun, right? There is nothing to be embarrassed about then.'
'Nobody knows yet,' said Tezuka.
'Then it's about time you let them know,' said the grandfather. 'Fuji-kun is a very pretty boy! What will you do if others start hitting on him and steal him away from you?'
Fuji just smiled at Tezuka, which clearly made Tezuka more uncomfortable.
'Don't worry, Tezuka,' said Fuji. 'I won't leave you. I have never seen a more handsome man than you, so I wouldn't know where to go! I only want the best.'
Tezuka showed a small smile, which made the smiles on the faces of his family members only bigger.
'Sounds like everything went well, even when I wasn't around,' said Kunikazu. 'Let's go now, I want to see Ayana too. Maybe we can all have dinner together.'