Of Regal Honor and Noble Misgivings - Six: Autumn
Title: Of Regal Honor and Noble Misgivings
Pairing: TezukaFuji
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Rating: G for now
Genre: Romance/Fantasy/Angst
Warnings: sort of regency AU, shounen ai
Disclaimer: Tezuka and Fuji aren't mine. They own each other, though. But the setting is all mine and some characters (including the animals) that you fail to recognize are also mine.
50episodes prompt: 18. autumn
Parts: I: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 || II: 8 |
A/N: In this made up world, the King of Fenestrium can choose to retire to Ildarium after the heir has married and he will have the title of Grand Duke. Comments will be loved!
Chapter Six
----Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.----
In a matter of days, news had spread throughout the entire kingdom and neighboring ones from Ildarium, a small dukedom along Fenestrium’s eastern borders. Carriages rolled, entering the gates of the Ildarium House of Royalty and people - noblemen, diplomats, artisans - poured in, offering sympathy to the Royal Family. The dark, sad faces of all the visitors puzzled the Prince, causing him to tell his Mother to stop whoever was causing the terrible lie. His grandfather Tezuka Kunikazu, the Prince said, was old but healthy - that was, until the Prince, with an unusually silent Marquis of Chrysalium trailing behind him, was ushered by the butler towards the former king’s room.
The Prince stared at the limp and translucent form of his grandfather. Trying to stop his voice from shaking, he asked, “What happened?”
The butler replied gravely, “There has been information that illegal logging is occurring along the eastern borders, Your Highness. His Grace wanted to deal with the matter personally and decided to patrol. However, a confrontation had taken place between the Grand Duke troops and the loggers and one of the hoodlums shot a poisoned arrow straight at His Grace.”
“Have you caught the loggers?” Tezuka asked ruefully. The Marquis could see that the Prince was clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly.
“Yes, Your Highness. They are being dealt with by His Majesty.”
“And the doctors?” asked the Prince calmly but the Marquis could well here the faintest trace of anxiety in the Prince’s tone.
“They can’t do anything, Your Highness,” said the butler in a genuinely apologetic manner. “We also called the Magical Healers, but they said they were too late. The poison was too quick and potent.”
Seeing the color leave the Prince’s face, the Marquis lifted a hand and squeezed the Prince’s shoulder. He turned to the butler and said, “Will you please show me to my room?”
The butler nodded and beckoned the Marquis out of the Grand Duke’s bedchamber, leading the Marquis to a room at the far end of the corridor.
Yuuta's head perked up when the mahogany door opened. Yuuta instantly scooted to the headrest of his bed and prepared himself for an annoying attack from his brother. To Yuuta's surprise, however, the Marquis fell straight to the other bed and brought out sketching materials.
Yuuta watched silently, determined to be a part of the bed while his brother was in a confusing mood. The Marquis was smiling but frowning as his pencil scratched against a piece of paper. Then, after several minutes of drawing, he would stop to study his sketch, decide that he did not like it, tear the sheet of paper off, crumple it into a fist-sized ball and finally toss it to the floor. Yuuta had counted fourteen paper balls on the floor when he finally decided to say something. “Stop littering, aniki. This is my room too.”
The Marquis lifted his pencil and sighed. “I think… I think Kunimitsu’s grandfather is going to leave soon.”
Yuuta stared. He wanted to disagree. He met the Grand Duke who always spoke in a stern voice that made everyone follow all his commands. Yuuta never knew any man who was taller, firmer, scarier and braver than the Grand Duke.
“And, I think,” continued the Marquis, “Kunimitsu is going to be sad but he won’t show his sadness to anyone.”
“He doesn’t even show his happiness to anyone,” said Yuuta pointedly.
The frown was lifted from the Marquis’ forehead. The Marquis smiled patiently at his brother and he said, “Yes, he does.”
Yuuta was about to ask when that happened but he stopped when the mahogany door opened again. Their sister entered and headed straight to the Marquis.
“Syusuke,” she said, sitting down on the edge of the Marquis’ bed, “can you find His Highness?”
The Marquis bolted up, abandoning his drawing. “Why?”
“He left when the doctor-“
“I’ll find him,” said the Marquis instantly. He jumped out of bed and left the room.
Fuji sashayed out of the House of Royalty. He did not feel the need to hurry in finding the Prince. He knew very well where to find the Prince. Besides, if the Grand Duke had passed away, then, the Marquis thought, the Prince would like to spend some time alone.
The Marquis could make out the sound of rushing water when he entered a thicket of trees. Occasionally brushing leaves from his shirt, he walked steadily toward a wide stream.
“I’m sorry,” Fuji said sincerely, approaching the figure that stood at the bank of the stream.
Tezuka did not turn. He watched as the water carried fallen leaves with its current.
“If you’re feeling sad, you can cry,” said the Marquis thoughtfully.
“I can’t,” said Tezuka in a curt manner.
The Marquis raised his brows. “You can’t?” he asked. “Don’t you have either tear-ducts or emotions?”
“I’ve been told not to cry,” the Prince said matter-of-factly.
Fuji pressed his lips. He knew that. When they were three, the Prince tripped over a sharp rock and gashed his knee. The Prince was about to cry in pain when the nurse hurriedly said that crying was for the weak and that the future king should never show any sign of weakness. The Prince had nodded obediently and endured the pain in his bleeding knee. Since then, the Prince never cried again.
The Marquis stepped to the Prince’s side and started pensively, “It was autumn too, right, when His Grace taught us how to fish?” When the Prince did not say a word, the Marquis continued with a soft chuckle, “I never learned though. I wasn’t patient enough. But you caught a tiny fish and you suggested that you should cook it for your birthday dinner. But His Grace said that it was too small, that you should let it grow.”
Fuji threw a side glance toward Tezuka and he saw that Tezuka’s brows were furrowed deeply. The Marquis smiled feebly and he said, “Since then, every morning of your birthday, we went fishing with him - or at least I tried.”
The Marquis saw that lines were forming around the Prince’s pursed lips.
“But this year -” Fuji finally stopped talking when he heard a choking sound. He tilted his head slightly and realized that the Prince was indeed sobbing, fighting back the tears. Fuji stretched his arm and pulled the Prince closer. “If you don’t want to show me that you’re crying, you can hide like this,” he said as he let the Prince’s head bury on his shoulder.
The Prince wept silently. The Marquis could feel a growing dampness on the shoulder area of his shirt as he patted the Prince’s back soothingly.
Fuji held the Prince for several minutes before the Prince was too tired to cry. When the Prince finally lifted his head, he took a deep breath and murmured his thanks.
“I think,” the Marquis said slowly, “His Grace won’t think that you’re weak because you cried. I think His Grace will think that you’ll miss him very much.”
The Prince nodded while rubbing the tear stains on his face with a white handkerchief. “Your shirt is wet,” he said calmly.
“Hmm… Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you cried,” said the Marquis with a wide smile. “If they ask why my shirt is wet, I’ll tell them that something stained my shirt and I had to clean it with water.”
“Don’t lie,” said the Prince reprovingly. He turned and began walking toward the House.
“But you don’t want them to know that you’ve been crying, do you?” asked the Marquis cheerfully.
“Just don’t lie,” said the Prince.
They walked quietly back to the House of Royalty. The Prince was going to tell the Marquis to get a new set of clothes when a pale girl with sleek black hair came up to them.
“You’re Aoiyama Chio, aren’t you? Kunimitsu’s future wife?” the Marquis said with a thoughtful frown.
The girl curtsied. “I am flattered that you should remember me, my lord,” she said in a gentle voice. “I was told to lead His Highness to Their Majesties when he arrives.”
“Why?” asked Fuji. “I am the one who found him,” he muttered.
“I beg my lord’s pardon?” asked the girl politely.
“Ah, nothing,” said the Marquis with a smile. He patted the Prince who was shooting him an inquiring glance and said, “I’ll see you at dinner.”
Fuji did not linger to watch as the Marquise led the Prince to the right wing of the House. Instead, he found his way to the room he shared with Yuuta.
“Did you find him, Syusuke?” asked Yumiko worriedly.
“Yes, neesan. He’s with the Marquise,” he replied promptly.
“Oh, I see,” said Yumiko. “Your shirt is wet. What happened?”
The Marquis remembered what he told the Prince and said, “Something stained it so I had to wash it.”
His sister’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What really happened?”
At that, the Marquis grinned proudly. “I made Kunimitsu cry.”
Yuuta, who was reading, raised his head instantly. “No, you didn’t,” he said accusingly.
“Yes, I did,” said the Marquis.
“Aren’t you going to be punished for bullying the Prince to tears?” Yuuta asked.
“No. He is just really sad and -” The Marquis turned to his sister and asked, “Neesan, why can’t Kunimitsu show weakness? Why can’t he cry, for instance?”
Yumiko smiled as she searched her brother’s closet for a shirt. “His Highness is going to be our king some day. That makes him a hero of Fenestrium. And, in front of everyone, a hero is always strong.”
“But,” the Marquis asked, “If he is Fenestrium’s hero, who will be his hero?”
Yumiko sighed. “I don’t know, Syusuke. But, if you want to help him, you can be some kind of a hero for him too.”
-tbc-
A/N: I am sorry I killed Kunikazu. -bows- And here you thought I was going to announce the engagement. But, uhm, there’ll be more encounters with Chio soon. By the way, you can accuse me of Always Bullying Tezuka to Tears. -nods-
Pairing: TezukaFuji
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Rating: G for now
Genre: Romance/Fantasy/Angst
Warnings: sort of regency AU, shounen ai
Disclaimer: Tezuka and Fuji aren't mine. They own each other, though. But the setting is all mine and some characters (including the animals) that you fail to recognize are also mine.
50episodes prompt: 18. autumn
Parts: I: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 || II: 8 |
A/N: In this made up world, the King of Fenestrium can choose to retire to Ildarium after the heir has married and he will have the title of Grand Duke. Comments will be loved!
Chapter Six
----Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.----
In a matter of days, news had spread throughout the entire kingdom and neighboring ones from Ildarium, a small dukedom along Fenestrium’s eastern borders. Carriages rolled, entering the gates of the Ildarium House of Royalty and people - noblemen, diplomats, artisans - poured in, offering sympathy to the Royal Family. The dark, sad faces of all the visitors puzzled the Prince, causing him to tell his Mother to stop whoever was causing the terrible lie. His grandfather Tezuka Kunikazu, the Prince said, was old but healthy - that was, until the Prince, with an unusually silent Marquis of Chrysalium trailing behind him, was ushered by the butler towards the former king’s room.
The Prince stared at the limp and translucent form of his grandfather. Trying to stop his voice from shaking, he asked, “What happened?”
The butler replied gravely, “There has been information that illegal logging is occurring along the eastern borders, Your Highness. His Grace wanted to deal with the matter personally and decided to patrol. However, a confrontation had taken place between the Grand Duke troops and the loggers and one of the hoodlums shot a poisoned arrow straight at His Grace.”
“Have you caught the loggers?” Tezuka asked ruefully. The Marquis could see that the Prince was clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly.
“Yes, Your Highness. They are being dealt with by His Majesty.”
“And the doctors?” asked the Prince calmly but the Marquis could well here the faintest trace of anxiety in the Prince’s tone.
“They can’t do anything, Your Highness,” said the butler in a genuinely apologetic manner. “We also called the Magical Healers, but they said they were too late. The poison was too quick and potent.”
Seeing the color leave the Prince’s face, the Marquis lifted a hand and squeezed the Prince’s shoulder. He turned to the butler and said, “Will you please show me to my room?”
The butler nodded and beckoned the Marquis out of the Grand Duke’s bedchamber, leading the Marquis to a room at the far end of the corridor.
Yuuta's head perked up when the mahogany door opened. Yuuta instantly scooted to the headrest of his bed and prepared himself for an annoying attack from his brother. To Yuuta's surprise, however, the Marquis fell straight to the other bed and brought out sketching materials.
Yuuta watched silently, determined to be a part of the bed while his brother was in a confusing mood. The Marquis was smiling but frowning as his pencil scratched against a piece of paper. Then, after several minutes of drawing, he would stop to study his sketch, decide that he did not like it, tear the sheet of paper off, crumple it into a fist-sized ball and finally toss it to the floor. Yuuta had counted fourteen paper balls on the floor when he finally decided to say something. “Stop littering, aniki. This is my room too.”
The Marquis lifted his pencil and sighed. “I think… I think Kunimitsu’s grandfather is going to leave soon.”
Yuuta stared. He wanted to disagree. He met the Grand Duke who always spoke in a stern voice that made everyone follow all his commands. Yuuta never knew any man who was taller, firmer, scarier and braver than the Grand Duke.
“And, I think,” continued the Marquis, “Kunimitsu is going to be sad but he won’t show his sadness to anyone.”
“He doesn’t even show his happiness to anyone,” said Yuuta pointedly.
The frown was lifted from the Marquis’ forehead. The Marquis smiled patiently at his brother and he said, “Yes, he does.”
Yuuta was about to ask when that happened but he stopped when the mahogany door opened again. Their sister entered and headed straight to the Marquis.
“Syusuke,” she said, sitting down on the edge of the Marquis’ bed, “can you find His Highness?”
The Marquis bolted up, abandoning his drawing. “Why?”
“He left when the doctor-“
“I’ll find him,” said the Marquis instantly. He jumped out of bed and left the room.
Fuji sashayed out of the House of Royalty. He did not feel the need to hurry in finding the Prince. He knew very well where to find the Prince. Besides, if the Grand Duke had passed away, then, the Marquis thought, the Prince would like to spend some time alone.
The Marquis could make out the sound of rushing water when he entered a thicket of trees. Occasionally brushing leaves from his shirt, he walked steadily toward a wide stream.
“I’m sorry,” Fuji said sincerely, approaching the figure that stood at the bank of the stream.
Tezuka did not turn. He watched as the water carried fallen leaves with its current.
“If you’re feeling sad, you can cry,” said the Marquis thoughtfully.
“I can’t,” said Tezuka in a curt manner.
The Marquis raised his brows. “You can’t?” he asked. “Don’t you have either tear-ducts or emotions?”
“I’ve been told not to cry,” the Prince said matter-of-factly.
Fuji pressed his lips. He knew that. When they were three, the Prince tripped over a sharp rock and gashed his knee. The Prince was about to cry in pain when the nurse hurriedly said that crying was for the weak and that the future king should never show any sign of weakness. The Prince had nodded obediently and endured the pain in his bleeding knee. Since then, the Prince never cried again.
The Marquis stepped to the Prince’s side and started pensively, “It was autumn too, right, when His Grace taught us how to fish?” When the Prince did not say a word, the Marquis continued with a soft chuckle, “I never learned though. I wasn’t patient enough. But you caught a tiny fish and you suggested that you should cook it for your birthday dinner. But His Grace said that it was too small, that you should let it grow.”
Fuji threw a side glance toward Tezuka and he saw that Tezuka’s brows were furrowed deeply. The Marquis smiled feebly and he said, “Since then, every morning of your birthday, we went fishing with him - or at least I tried.”
The Marquis saw that lines were forming around the Prince’s pursed lips.
“But this year -” Fuji finally stopped talking when he heard a choking sound. He tilted his head slightly and realized that the Prince was indeed sobbing, fighting back the tears. Fuji stretched his arm and pulled the Prince closer. “If you don’t want to show me that you’re crying, you can hide like this,” he said as he let the Prince’s head bury on his shoulder.
The Prince wept silently. The Marquis could feel a growing dampness on the shoulder area of his shirt as he patted the Prince’s back soothingly.
Fuji held the Prince for several minutes before the Prince was too tired to cry. When the Prince finally lifted his head, he took a deep breath and murmured his thanks.
“I think,” the Marquis said slowly, “His Grace won’t think that you’re weak because you cried. I think His Grace will think that you’ll miss him very much.”
The Prince nodded while rubbing the tear stains on his face with a white handkerchief. “Your shirt is wet,” he said calmly.
“Hmm… Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you cried,” said the Marquis with a wide smile. “If they ask why my shirt is wet, I’ll tell them that something stained my shirt and I had to clean it with water.”
“Don’t lie,” said the Prince reprovingly. He turned and began walking toward the House.
“But you don’t want them to know that you’ve been crying, do you?” asked the Marquis cheerfully.
“Just don’t lie,” said the Prince.
They walked quietly back to the House of Royalty. The Prince was going to tell the Marquis to get a new set of clothes when a pale girl with sleek black hair came up to them.
“You’re Aoiyama Chio, aren’t you? Kunimitsu’s future wife?” the Marquis said with a thoughtful frown.
The girl curtsied. “I am flattered that you should remember me, my lord,” she said in a gentle voice. “I was told to lead His Highness to Their Majesties when he arrives.”
“Why?” asked Fuji. “I am the one who found him,” he muttered.
“I beg my lord’s pardon?” asked the girl politely.
“Ah, nothing,” said the Marquis with a smile. He patted the Prince who was shooting him an inquiring glance and said, “I’ll see you at dinner.”
Fuji did not linger to watch as the Marquise led the Prince to the right wing of the House. Instead, he found his way to the room he shared with Yuuta.
“Did you find him, Syusuke?” asked Yumiko worriedly.
“Yes, neesan. He’s with the Marquise,” he replied promptly.
“Oh, I see,” said Yumiko. “Your shirt is wet. What happened?”
The Marquis remembered what he told the Prince and said, “Something stained it so I had to wash it.”
His sister’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What really happened?”
At that, the Marquis grinned proudly. “I made Kunimitsu cry.”
Yuuta, who was reading, raised his head instantly. “No, you didn’t,” he said accusingly.
“Yes, I did,” said the Marquis.
“Aren’t you going to be punished for bullying the Prince to tears?” Yuuta asked.
“No. He is just really sad and -” The Marquis turned to his sister and asked, “Neesan, why can’t Kunimitsu show weakness? Why can’t he cry, for instance?”
Yumiko smiled as she searched her brother’s closet for a shirt. “His Highness is going to be our king some day. That makes him a hero of Fenestrium. And, in front of everyone, a hero is always strong.”
“But,” the Marquis asked, “If he is Fenestrium’s hero, who will be his hero?”
Yumiko sighed. “I don’t know, Syusuke. But, if you want to help him, you can be some kind of a hero for him too.”
-tbc-
A/N: I am sorry I killed Kunikazu. -bows- And here you thought I was going to announce the engagement. But, uhm, there’ll be more encounters with Chio soon. By the way, you can accuse me of Always Bullying Tezuka to Tears. -nods-