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Of bratty demons and mushroom heads	By : TrishaMCH Category: Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Ohjisama > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1574 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own "Prince of Tennis" or any of its characters. It belongs to Konomi-sensi. I’m merely using the characters because I like to have fun with them. No profit is being made.

Chapter List
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CHAPTER 61

Hiyoshi woke up with a start, again. It was the fourth time this week. Almost every morning he’d been waking up abruptly, wide awake and sweating. It had to be nightmares. Part of him was glad he couldn’t remember them, but another part wanted to so he could somehow face and defeat them.

Sitting up with eyes closed, he brushed sweat soaked bangs from his forehead then gazed over at Akaya who was lying peacefully next to him on the bed asleep. That relaxed him some. Hopefully he hadn’t woken him up. His boyfriend was usually a very light sleeper but somehow he’d managed not to disturb him the last few mornings, or at least he thought. Akaya was the one who had the bad reoccurring nightmares, not him. He didn’t want his curly haired brat to worry about it. Besides, hopefully it would all be ending soon. Today was the day after all. The day he had chosen to confront his family and tell them of his decision to leave them for a selfish pain in the ass chibi demon.

Contrary to Hiyoshi's beliefs, Akaya woke up after every nightmare Hiyoshi had, but pretended to sleep so the other didn’t worry about waking him up. Then again, that night he hadn't even slept at all. He couldn't. Today was the day Hiyoshi was going to his family’s house, and Akaya was just as worried about how it would go.

When their alarm went off, Akaya sat up and faked waking up, yawning and stretching a little. "Mm... Morning..."

Hiyoshi didn’t move from the bed, just starred at the wall, mentally preparing. Going through all the arguments and rebuking he could think of that his parents could possibly throw at him. He was horribly tempted to just send his family a letter informing them of his decision to remain with Akaya instead of carrying out his duties as successor. Nevertheless, Hiyoshi Wakashi never took the cowards route. He would face his family head on.

When he heard and felt Akaya waking, Hiyoshi turned to face him, trying to hide any uneasiness or anxiety he might feel. He couldn’t let him think that he was at all regretting this decision. “Good morning, bright eyes.” He ran a hand through his hair and watched his waking face. In hind sight, this was probably not the cleverest of ways to hide his true feelings. He was rarely this awake first thing in the morning, nor did he ever use that nickname except for under special circumstances.

"Yeah..." Akaya mumbled in response and sat with his feet off of the bed, just waiting for the motivation to get up and get ready for the day, but it wasn't coming, "You don't have to pretend you're alright, ya know?" Akaya said with a little exhausted sigh. He wanted nothing more than to get the crappiness over with then come home and sleep. "I don't expect you to be..." Slowly, he stood and dragged himself over to his closet to look for something 'mature' and 'professional' to wear like his mother had suggested. He also needed to do something with his hair... Maybe he'd put some gel in it or something, not that it would do any good.

The thing was, Hiyoshi realized, the façade he was putting on was just as much for himself as it was for Akaya. He’d spent most of his life behind a mask. Of the perfect son, perfect successor, even throughout their relationship he’d tried to be the perfect boyfriend. Of course, that hadn’t lasted too long. It was odd thinking after today that masks would no longer be necessary. He didn’t know how else to be. He didn’t move from the bed as he watched Akaya get ready, feeling drained and distant. “Why are you wearing that?” He didn’t see the point in Akaya dressing up for the occasion.

"So I don't look like such a bum." His mother's words, not his. Akaya pulled on the one somewhat nice 'grown-up' outfit he owned; a collared shirt, slacks and even a tie, lacking any of that normal energy he seemed to have all of the time. He seemed older and actually rather mature, that same mentality he tended to have about serious tennis matches.

Finally standing up from the bed, Hiyoshi went to his own closet to dress in one of his nicer button up shirts and a pair of slacks. He knew it wasn’t going to make any kind of difference, but it was thoughtful of Akaya to put in any kind of effort.

It didn’t take him long to change and then Hiyoshi came up behind Akaya to wrap his arms around his waist and pulled him back against his chest. Resting his forehead against a shoulder blade, he breathed in deeply then exhaled slowly. “You don’t have to go… It’s okay. You can just wait for me here.” Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted him to go. The last thing he needed was for Akaya to get angry and make a scene.

"I'm going," The demon-brat said stubbornly, but relaxed in his lover’s arms. "If you want me to, I'll wait outside… I know you probably don't want me there..." he murmured and glanced back over his shoulder at his mushroom. This was going to be one of the worst days of the other's life and he understood how much Hiyoshi hated showing any kind of weakness.

“Do as you like.” It would probably be the only time Akaya would ever have the chance to see his parents. He didn’t even have a picture of his family, nothing. He swallowed hard and squeezed Akaya once before letting go and turning, choking back his emotions. There would be plenty of time to fall apart later. He wasn’t so weak that he’d lose it before he even left his damn room. “The sooner we get this done with, the better. Ready to go?”

"I gotta put gel in my hair still," Akaya said and went into the bathroom to straighten his tie. "It'll only take a sec."

Hiyoshi winced and followed him into the bathroom, taking the gel from him before he had a chance to use it. “Leave it. Please.” He ran a hand through the impossible curls and lowered his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see himself looking so weak in the mirror. “I might… later…” Need it… For some reason combing his hands through Akaya’s hair had always been one of the best ways to help him relax and de-stress. He hated it when Akaya put gook in it. “Its fine the way it is.”

Akaya watched him in the mirror then turned to wrap his arms around him, holding him close and nuzzling his head. "Alright…" he murmured and kissed the side of his head. “I love you..." he added after a long moment of just holding the other man.

Hiyoshi let himself be held, taking in the comfort his boyfriend offered. “I love you, too.” After another long moment, he took another deep breath then let it out slowly. “Let’s get this over with.”

---

Hiyoshi had imagined the conversation would be hard and painful. Unfortunately, it had been even worse. Much, much, worse. After he’d announced his decision to continue his relationship with Akaya in a formal, calm manner, his father had yelled. Truly, all out red faced rage, yelled. He had never seen his father lose his composure like that. Hiyoshi had taken it all head on, his face losing all trace of color and emotion as the world he’d been raised in was viciously torn apart and away from him.

He was told he was useless, that he wasn’t good enough to be the successor of such a prestigious school and never had been. He had never been what his family wanted. All of his worst fears as a child displayed in front of him. All his hard work, all the years of tirelessly trying to be everything his family wanted. He wanted to kill himself right then and there, and if it hadn’t been that he knew Akaya was waiting for him right outside, he might have.

His brother had been there looking on from the side lines, silent and with sympathy in his eyes. Hiyoshi knew he would have tried to stand up for him if he thought it would do any good, but they both knew it would have only made the situation worse.

The worst cruel moment was when his red faced mother, whom he’d always thought he’d had some measure of good relationship with, stood and approached him. With unforgiving fury in her eyes, she slapped him hard across the cheek. The inner hatred and turmoil at the resounding slap hurt ten times worse than any physical pain. At that point he knew there was no reason to stay any longer.

He didn’t bother with any heartfelt goodbye’s knowing it would only fall on deaf ears. He bowed lowly and thanked them politely, tonelessly. Thanked them for twenty-one years of support and teaching, for allowing him the honor of a good and well-rounded upbringing. Then, without a second glance, turned stiffly towards the door and let himself out. He knew not to expect anyone to call out to him, and they didn’t.

The thoughts going through his head made him stagger as he walked down the cement path, through the garden he had always loved to play in as a kid. He’d always imagined that someday that would be his garden. To his left was the family dojo. His dojo. All of his dreams, everything he had ever accomplished worth remembering had been made there. He had dreamed of growing old there, teaching his children his art. Now he would never step foot in it again. With silent tears running down his face that he didn’t notice were there, he approached Akaya who was waiting for him at the gate.

Akaya had heard most of what had been said. Hiyoshi's dad was even louder than Sanada-fukubuchou. It was kind of scary. Akaya had never even heard his own father yell, his family just didn't yell very often at all... unless they were having sex. The girls tended to be screamers... but he and his dad were pretty laid back most of the time.

When his boyfriend immerged, he was about to ask how it went, until he saw the tears. Frowning, he offered his hand to his boyfriend and waited for him to take it, fully intent on taking him home and just holding him for as long as he would allow.

To Hiyoshi, it felt like something had stopped inside him. Like nothing mattered anymore but going home and being with Akaya, but where was home now? He supposed it was wherever Akaya was. He saw the outstretched hand and felt shaky, as if his legs would give out on him if he walked any further. He turned to look one last time at his childhood home and unexpectedly saw his father standing at the front entrance, watching him. His father stood there like he would always remember him. Tall, proud, and strong, like the person he always wanted to be. But now there was a deep frown etched in his features along with the red of his anger.

Hiyoshi wiped his tears dry and stood a little taller. He turned back towards Akaya and firmly took his still outstretched hand. “Let’s go,” he managed to wretch out.

Akaya laced his fingers with Hiyoshi's and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He glanced back at Hiyoshi's father for a long moment before nodding and started back toward the dorms.
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Of bratty demons and mushroom heads