Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ 10 Years Later ❯ Chapter 3

"Ten Years Later"

A _Price of Tennis_ Fanfiction

By Andrea Readwolf [andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com]

Chapter: 3

Rating: PG-13

Characters/Pairings: Shishido Ryoh, Shishido Karina, Otori Chotaroh, Shishido Marika, and Hyotei

Genre: Drama-Angst

Warnings/Spoilers/Summary: 10 years after Otori decided to leave Japan, 10 years after Shishido married, Hyotei's Platinum Pair are destined to meet again.

 

Disclaimer: Tennis no Ohjisama, characters and settings are the property of Konomi Takeshi.

 

Started: February 2005.

Word Count: 3152

 

 

"10 Years Later" Chapter 3

 

"Come in, Shishido-kun. I'm surprised to see you here. You don't often visit."

 

Shishido shifted uncomfortably in the imposing atmosphere of the private office. Funny how he could hang out with Atobe and Jiroh and not be phased by the level of opulence surrounding him, but he felt like a cat about to jump out of his skin whenever he entered Sakaki-sensei's office. It had been the same when he was a teenager, too, he recalled.

 

"I was up at the main campus and thought I'd stop by," he answered the implied question, taking a seat and the cup of tea the older man offered him.

 

"Oh, really?" Sakaki-sensei sounded almost amused, and Shishido remembered how much he hated that about him when he was a student. "I suppose your visit has nothing to do with Otori returning to Japan then."

 

Shishido started. "Chotaroh--What? No, not at all." How did Sakaki know about Otori? More importantly, Shishido thought, why was his old coach even mentioning his former tennis partner.

 

Sakaki shot the younger teacher a knowing look that rankled along Shishido's nerves and took a slow, even sip of tea.

 

"There are some students who will break your heart by ignoring their potential," he said suddenly, surprising Shishido. With his next words, Sakaki struck the younger man dumb. "You never had any great potential to succeed in tennis, despite being a good player. Neither did Otori-kun. Alone, neither of you would have survived past high school, and together you might have scraped through University. But Otori... he *did* have the potential to be great somewhere--in music."

 

A sinking pit of comprehension leaded his stomach. "It was you..." Shishido whispered, meeting Sakaki's leveled gaze with one of years of anger and resentment. "You were the one who recommended him for that scholarship."

 

"Yes, of course. I made sure he chased after his potential," Sakaki replied calmly. "Otori had no chance of doing that here in Japan. That's why I sent him overseas."

 

"But--" Shishido sputtered, but Sakaki cut him off.

 

"Yes, I know Otori was your tennis partner, but the truth is, you and tennis were holding him back from the arena where he really shined."

 

He glowered and spat, "Gee, thanks for not doing us any favors." Shishido stood, ready to leave already. He didn't even know what had possessed him to stop by his old teacher's office anyway. Just because they worked for the same school compound didn't mean they had to talk to each other, not when they were in completely different divisions.

 

Sakaki was standing as well, but instead of going to Shishido, Sakaki turned his back on him, facing out the large picturesque window. "An teacher's duty is to instruct, Shishido-kun. You have been teaching for, what, seven years now? I would have thought that you would have learned the difference between simply teaching and instructing."

 

"Sensei," Shishido returned coolly, "I play with eight and nine year olds all day, and sometimes they actually learn something the state considers important. But more important to me is that they're having fun being kids while getting that learning done."

 

Sakaki gave him a withering look. "I see."

 

"You see nothing," Shishido snapped, grabbing his jacket up.

 

"I see and understand more than you ever have," the older man raised his voice just that tiniest bit, and maybe it was the years he had spent with this man practically controlling his life, his game, but Shishido stood still where he was. "You would have held Otori back, Shishido. Your jealousy and petty pride destroyed you once, and it would have destroyed his chance to shine; that was why Otori had to be sent away. It took me nearly two years of carefully placed hints and encouragements to see that he accepted that music scholarship, to make sure he made the decision on his own and didn't consult you about it, because I knew--"

 

Eyes narrowed on Shishido and the younger man almost flinched. "One word or look from you," Sakaki continued, "and he would have declined that scholarship, and that was unacceptable."

 

"You know, I don't think I ever realized just what a bastard you are," he said softly, his sails of righteous anger deflated, because he knew, too... his old coach was right. Otori would have declined if Shishido had said anything bad about it, and Shishido would have, because that was the kind of self-absorbed prick he'd been. He would have ruined Otori's chances to be great....

 

The older man did not respond, but he just couldn't leave it there.

 

"It must really piss you off that your great tennis protégé didn't go pro," Shishido sneered half-heartedly.

 

Sakaki frowned again. "Atobe was... regrettable," he admitted.

 

Shishido shook his head in disgust. 'Regrettable', huh? He wondered what Atobe would say to being labeled as 'regrettable' before Sakaki spoke again.

 

"You should leave the elementary division and come teach in the junior high, Shishido. The tennis club could use you."

 

"They already have you," he reminded the tennis coach pointedly. Not that the idea didn't have some appeal. He still loved playing tennis, after all, and working with the kids at the street courts was always amusing.

 

"Not for too much longer," Sakaki responded casually. "I have my own ambitions, Shishido, and they don't revolve around coaching either the tennis club or the music club for very much longer."

 

"What--?"

 

"Think about it," Sakaki added, turning away again. "I know you still play. I hear you populate the street courts from time to time. Such mediocre players you must find there. Such limited opponents. Hardly a challenge." The older man shot an appraising look over Shishido, as if to see what sort of impact his offer had made, before resettling at his desk and dismissing him. "Now, if you'll excuse me. There are a few compositions I must score."

 

 

~~~****~~~

 

 

"Karina, are you sure you want to do this?"

 

She looked up from the accounts and ledgers she was carefully reading through before signing. Not that she didn't trust Akutagawa Jiroh and Atobe Keigo to treat her properties and family generously, but....

 

She let go of a weary breath and relaxed into the comfortable chair. "I'm going to tell Ryoh this evening," she confessed, watching surprise slack Jiroh's face before he could melt his expression into neutral naivety. They were in Jiroh's private offices. She'd come over as soon as he had called to tell her the papers she'd requested were ready. "I told Chotaroh this morning."

 

"Excuse me?" he returned.

 

Her lips twitched. "I know you know, Jiroh, and Atobe, too, no doubt?" She sighed again and stretched, unconsciously moving to rub her swelling stomach gently. "I want as much taken care of as possible before--before---well, Ryoh will have enough to try and work out when I'm... gone."

 

Jiroh sighed and slumped back in his own chair. "We used to wonder, you know, why Ryoh got married and all that. I guess we thought, out of all of us, he would've been the least likely, but then, well, when we found out about Marika, it all kinda made sense, you know, because he's the kind of guy who would do that."

 

"Mmm. He's a really good man," Karin agreed. "And I want to thank you, for helping bring Otori back to Japan. I know having him here has really meant a lot Ryoh."

 

"It wasn't just for Ryoh," Jiroh denied. "Otori needed to come back for himself, too."

 

They sat in silence, each wandering the paths of their own thoughts for several minutes before Jiroh asked, "Have you thought about what you'll tell Marika?"

 

Karina almost smiled, not at all surprised by the question--all of her 'uncles' doted on Shishido's daughter, after all. Unfortunately, knowing the question didn't mean she had an answer.

 

"No," she confessed sadly. "I'm not sure I want to."

 

He looked at her sadly, and she didn't like it at all.

 

"Karina, in a few months her life will change radically--more than just becoming a big sister..." Jiroh said softly. "You can't prevent it, but you *can* help prepare her for it, so it won't seem like such a sudden thing.

 

"She's going to be loosing her mother. You know that dealing with the death of a parent is difficult no matter how old you are," he added gently. "You need to talk to her about it, about death and about dying and what happens afterwards... She's a smart, intelligent, bright, beautiful girl, and she has a pride streak that could rival her father's."

 

"I know," Karina whispered.

 

"And you know how much he hates surprises," Jiroh added, sounding amused. When she only nodded in response, he added, "You need to tell her, so she can adjust to the fact that it will happen."

 

She gave a small huffed laughed and another sigh. "Do you think I'm strange, for doing this? Doing things this way?"

 

His answer was immediate and serious. "Yes, but... I think... I also respect your courage."

 

 

~~~****~~~

 

 

"I'm home," Shishido called out, noting that his daughter wasn't home, again.

 

"Ryoh? You're home early today." Karina appeared in the entrance doorway a moment later, wiping her hands on a cloth. "Welcome home."

 

Shishido pulled her close and pillowed his head against her shoulder. "I had a rough day."

 

"I'm sorry," she said, smiling a little as she smoothed her hands across his back. His own large hands had found her stomach and started stroking it gently.

 

"Where's Marika?"

 

"At Haruka's, playing with the puppies again."

 

"Which means, she won't be home for at least another hour."

 

He was already inching her loose skirt upward, and the way his lips turned again her throat left no doubt as to what he had in mind for that hour.

 

"Ryoh, wait. I need to talk to you about something," she tried.

 

"Can't it wait until tonight?" he asked, distracted.

 

She was tempted to say no--thinking it better to get this over with sooner, but she had already planned to tell him tonight after Marika went to bed, and it was so easy to just follow his lead and enjoy the pleasures of the flesh for a while. It was really too easy. After all, Ryoh was a very skilled lover, and with pregnancy, her body seemed to crave sex and attention.

 

She had left the paper packets on the table in their bedroom and gave them a guilty glance before falling mostly-naked onto the bed. It was late in the evening when she even remembered them again.

 

"Ryoh," she called as they were changing for bed. "I want you to read over some papers for me," she continued, picking up the two packets and walking over to sit on the bed.

 

"What is it?" he asked, shooting his clothes into the clothes hamper.

 

"Mostly a bunch of legal papers that I need you to sign," she managed to say before his expression crumbled into one of stubborn annoyance. He'd never cared much for anything dealing with business, law, or ethics, and he was always complaining about it when she, Jiroh, and Atobe got into one of their 'discussions'. But this was important.

 

"Mainly concerning what will happen when I die--arrangements, custody of the kids," she pushed on before he could interrupt her.

 

"You're only thirty, 'Rina! Why worry about all that stuff, jeez--"

 

"Anything can happen, to either of us, Ryoh," she cut in, shifting to the second file packet. "But these... these are my medical records." She went to hand both packets to him, but his hands remained motionless by his sides, and he just looked back at her. Too soon, her arms tired from holding the files, and she set them back in her lap.

 

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

 

"I don't understand. What are you trying to say, 'Rina?"

 

"I'm sorry," she repeated, her voice cracking, and she couldn't look at him anymore. "I'm sorry, Ryoh, I--I should have told you sooner, and--"

 

And then she started crying. First one tear, then another, and another, and another, until her face felt overly hot, burning, and her throat was sore and her nose running, and she was tremendously relieved she'd relented to her daughter spending the night at a friend's house so she wouldn't have to see her mother like this.

 

"Rina... Shh. I'm sorry, don't cry."

 

He hated it when she cried--she very rarely ever did, but pregnancy wreaked havoc on a woman, and she was no exception. Still, she couldn't understand why she had been able to talk so calmly about this to Otori and Jiroh, but she couldn't even tell Ryoh without getting emotional.

 

He handed her a wet cloth to wipe her face when she finally started to calm down, and then he kissed her. A light brushing of his lips against her cheek and nose before finding her lips. With a pang, she remembered how awkward they had been together their first year, learning how to act around each other, what was okay and what wasn't. One kiss quickly led into another, into another, into another, and she might have completely forgotten about her resolve to tell him tonight if they hadn't had rolled over onto the packets.

 

"Wait, Ryoh, listen--this is really important," she said, pulling back. "I ask Jiroh to draw up these papers for me. They list everything I own and sign ownership over to you--just as soon as you sign them. There are also directions about funeral arrangements, cremation, memorial plaque--everything I could think of. The hospital expenses will be a little trickier, but we should be able to cover those, too, before November. I tried to take care of everything I could think of--"

 

"Karina, babe, you're not making any sense," Shishido huffed, running a hand against his scalp.

 

"Yes, I am!" she insisted. "You're not *listening*. I'm trying to tell you that I'm dying!"

 

No one said anything for a moment, and it stretched uncomfortably between them. More uncomfortable then any other time, and there had been many-- when he confronted her about her first pregnancy, meeting each other's families, when they got married, the wedding night... all those many awkward moments of their life together, none could compare.

 

"I," she continued again after another minute. "There's a very strong probability that I won't survive, Ryoh," she said softly. "I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner, I-- I didn't think I would get pregnant again, I mean, it was pretty amazing that it happened the first time, with both us using protection and all, but...." She tried to say something else, but all that came out was another, "I'm sorry."

 

"You mean..." A hand brushed along her stomach, almost tentative--and then he sat up abruptly. "You can abort," he said stubbornly. "Call the doctor tomorrow," he continued, standing up.

 

"Ryoh! Ryoh! Listen to me, it's too late for that," she had raised her voice to get his attention. "I'm already in my second trimester, and--"

 

"Well there has to be something we can do!" he shouted, reeling on her. His voice got softer as he continued. "There has to be. Didn't the doctor say anything? Maybe we can ask someone else--"

 

"No, Ryoh, please." She shook her head and swallowed. "My doctor considers it a miracle that I survived Marika's birth. He--he wanted me to have a hysterectomy, but... but I didn't want to have surgery. I'm sorry. I thought, if I went on a stronger dose of birth control, but... I'm sorry."

 

"Stop saying you're sorry, dammit," he growled, taking to pacing the room like an entrapped wild beast. "Shit. Maybe Oshitari knows something--"

 

"Don't, Ryoh," she stopped him. "Few people know about this, and I want to keep it that way. I don't think I could deal with everyone looking at us in sympathy before I'm even gone. That's not how I want to live the last months of my life, and..." She tried to smile. "Think about it: how many people have the opportunity to know for sure when they're going to die?"

 

"You don't know for sure," he protested weakly, slumping back onto the mattress. "There's a chance..."

 

"There isn't, Ryoh... And I won't waste my time on false hopes. Marika was a miracle; I'm not expecting another one."

 

"Who else knows?" he asked quietly. "Who else have you told, Karina?"

 

"Jiroh and Keigo know," she said, watching him stiffen but having expected it. "We never talked about it before today, but, I think... I think they've known since Marika's birth."

 

"It wouldn't surprise me," he muttered. "Who else? Your dad?"

 

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Not unless my mom told him before she died. No, the only other person besides my doctors is Chotaroh." She watched his reaction carefully. "I asked him to accompany me to the doctor's today."

 

"What," he cleared his throat. "Why Chotaroh?"

 

She reached out to touch his shoulder, but he flinched away.

 

"Ryoh... I don't know what happened between you two, but... don't you think it's past time you two moved on?"

 

"I don't know what you're talking about," he argued stubbornly, standing up again.

 

"Yes, you do," she sighed. "What ever it is, Ryoh, fix it. It's pitiful to see the way you two look at each other when you think no one is watching, and you know if I've seen it, someone else has."

 

Shishido rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Listen, Karina. What happened with me and Chotaroh is old news. It doesn't matter anymore--"

 

"Bullshit," she shouted angrily. "You still love him!"

 

He stared at her in shock before trying to protest. "I don't lo--"

 

"Don't you *dare* lie to me, Shishido Ryoh." She marched right up to him, glaring, and punched him as hard as she could in his shoulder. "You are such an idiot! Just who the hell do you think is going to buy it?"

 

"Hey! What the hell you hitting me for?" he cried, backing away from her and rubbing his arm.

 

"Because you are an idiot," she repeated. "You still love Chotaroh. Chotaroh still loves you. What part of this equation are you missing?"

 

"Uh, the part where I'm married, to you!" he returned angrily.

 

"Am I complaining?" she huffed.

 

"Yes! You are," Shishido snapped.

 

Karina sighed. "Get out of here, Ryoh. Go. Find Chotaroh."

 

 

~~~****~~~

 

TBC