Prince of Tennis - Yanagi Renji - 045. Moon.
Title: Dreaming to Remember - Red Tinted Moon
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Yanagi Renji, Kirihara Akaya, Sanada Genichirou, Yukimura Seiichi
Prompt: 45. Moon
Word Count: 2,243
Rating: PG-13
Summary:
Overall: Even today, angels and demons are in a quiet war. These boys are entangled in a cycle of reincarnation, and questions from the past are now coming to light. And Yanagi Renji seems to be the center of all this.
Chapter: Akaya's role is revealed, Renji's angel name is revealed, and the confusion increases.
Author's Notes: Notes for this chapter: Some not so obvious observations:
1. Genshin - Sanada/Gabriel's past self
2. Rei'ichi - Renji's past self
3. Koujun - Akaya's past self
Also, I realize I relayed the events of Nationals in the first chapter, and I may not have meshed them that well. Just consider it yet another view of the same events.
My LDT found here
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Raised beyond a miracle
There was a peaceful village deep in a forest in Japan. The people all knew each other, they relied on each other and the stronger ones protected the village from outside influences and evils that may have approached them.
One of these protectors was a retired samurai. He was middle age, but still full of vigor and practiced with his old weapons every day. His philosophy was that one will never lose their skill if they practice them outside of times of need.
This person was the fallen angel Gabriel. Or in this life he was known as Genshin. At this point, he felt as if he was just waiting to die. All though he had a purpose yet, it did not seem too fulfilling.
As he lay on his futon, a messenger appeared before him.
"My old friend." He was addressed.
"What a surprise." He answered dryly.
"Gabriel." The visitor said, sitting down.
"That's not my name now."
"It will never change." The visitor argued, smiling.
"What do you want, Mariel?" Genshin asked.
"I have a message from above. We have a job that we'd like you to do. Besides, you seem bored. This should give you something to do."
Genshin frowned at that prospect. "What sort of job?" He asked, suspicious of something like that.
"There was a demon that invaded the village a while back. I know, such things rarely get past you, but he did. And that demon managed to impregnate one of the young ladies in the village." Mariel explained.
"And what does this have to do with me?"
"Take the child under your wing, so to speak."
"I haven't had wings for centuries." Genshin protested.
"Figure of speech. One day you'll have them back. And that's the other part of the problem. The girl has yet to realize she's also one of us. That child is literally part demon and part angel. He cannot realize his demon heritage, or everyone could be in danger."
Genshin frowned. That was definitely something that could not come to pass.
"I suppose I have no choice."
"Teach the boy well. May he never realize his true lineage."
"Don't make me regret this."
"You won't."
"Akaya! Fifty laps!" Sanada yelled at the second year. He had just knocked over one of the non-regular members of the Rikkaidai tennis club with a well placed shot to the chest.
Akaya grumbled, but started running his laps.
"Don't you think that's a little harsh, Genichirou?" Renji asked, coming up behind Sanada.
"He needs to learn to control himself." Sanada stated, watching the younger one run his laps, a frown on his face.
"Do you really think you can change him for the better?" Renji asked. He knew Sanada was fond of Akaya for some odd reason, but he seemed to take out a lot of anger on him. If it wasn't laps, it was slaps or other physical punishments.
"We'll see." Was all Sanada said before walking off to yell at other second and first years to stop slacking off.
Renji shook his head and resumed practicing, playing a match against Yukimura.
"It's just his way of showing he cares." Yukimura commented. Then again, he had his own plans for Akaya.
Renji shook his head as he returned a difficult shot. "It's not that." Renji said. "A few extra laps here and there aren't going to hurt him. I'm worried about other things." He said. The child with the red eyes was scaring him, and Akaya seemed just like him, hurting people for fun. It bothered Renji, and yet Yukimura didn't seem to care and some of the others were the same way - or were not aware of Yukimura's plans at all. Renji wished he knew more than he did, though Yukimura probably figured that Renji knew what his plan was. All Renji knew was that Yukimura was about to bring about something that nobody really wanted.
The time of the National tournament came.
And the feeling Renji had between the time Yukimura rejoined them and the start of the tournament was proven right in the semifinals.
Renji watched calmly as Yagyuu lost singles three. Akaya was visibly upset, but no overly so. It took watching his close friends Marui and Jackal losing their doubles match to really anger Akaya. He wasn't red eyed yet, thankfully.
That took the force of the first year he was playing to really bring out his anger. Actually, it was Yagyuu's translation of what Akaya's opponent had said that set him off.
Renji frowned, but that was nothing new. Akaya's eyes turned red and a few moments later, the rest of him had turned red and his hair had lightened.
The demon had awakened.
"De...Devil Akaya..." He heard Jackal breathe out.
Not exactly, but close enough Renji thought to himself. He left to warm up. He and the trickster were to play next, and there was no doubt at this point that Akaya would lose this match.
Renji had a chance to show off his English skills to the school full of foreigners, taunting them. Him and Niou showed them what Rikkai was really made of, along with Sanada who seemed to be a bit more robotic than normal.
The two final teams had been decided. It would be Rikkai and Seigaku in a repeat of the Kantou finals. Thankfully, there was a three day break before the finals would begin.
Passing by the other team, they were invited to join them for yakiniku, but they declined, deciding to practice instead. Renji passed on a message to Inui, saying that they wouldn't be able to use the data from the last time they met, especially with the unknown variable known as Niou Masaharu.
The next day, Renji cornered Sanada. Renji grabbed Sanada's collar and pulled him close. "You knew, didn't you?" Renji hissed in his face.
Sanada pushed Renji off him and adjusted his cap. "I did." He admitted. "Yukimura knew all along about Akaya."
"And you let him do this?" Renji said angrily.
"Yukimura ranks higher than either of us. And I don't mean because he's our captain." Sanada said.
Renji looked Sanada in the eye. He was bringing that up?
Sanada continued. "I had my own dream." He explained. "I was supposed to keep this from happening. I failed."
Renji sighed. Was history really repeating itself. "So you tortured yourself for an extra century or two?" He asked quietly. "Or did you know he was reborn into this life as well?"
"I knew." Sanada admitted. "I just didn't know when. I thought it would be much later in my life like the first time." Sanada looked back at Renji. "Help me." He requested. It was unusual for Sanada to ask for help, but Renji was his friend and he trusted him.
Renji nodded. "Of course. I've seen my own version of these events. I should be able to handle Akaya if this happens again. Hopefully Seiichi won't provoke him into this again. Or anyone else for that matter."
Renji and Akaya were playing singles two against Inui Sadaharu and Kaidou Kaoru. He was surprised to be up against Inui again, wondering if fate had something to do with it. Paths cross again and again. Does the cycle ever stop? Renji wondered to himself as he served the first ball.
The first few games went well. Akaya was playing well, and was actually rather calm for him. It wasn't until midway through the game that Akaya started getting wild. He hit a ball that knocked Inui backwards and Inui's glasses forward onto Rikkai's side of the net. Whereupon Akaya stepped on said glasses and broke them as he completed his transformation into the devil mode.
Renji prodded Akaya off the glasses with his racket and handed the broken lenses back to Inui, apologizing.
The game resumed after Inui had a new pair of glasses on his face. Kaidou tried to reason with Akaya, who was attacking Inui after Kaidou had been the one that originally provoked him. Renji wondered if Akaya was trying to intentionally hurt his partner's feelings as well.
Inui was lying face down on the court, bleeding from his nose and other cuts on his face. Renji pleaded with Inui to just stop. Akaya had brought out the inner demon in Kaidou, but Inui brought his partner back to himself rather quickly. Renji frowned as they decided to continue. Unfortunately, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak as Inui nose dived to ground, unconscious. "Well done, Sadaharu." Renji whispered as Inui was wheeled off the court on a stretcher by the medics.
Why couldn't he do to Akaya what Inui had done for Kaidou?
Life settled down after that debacle that was the National tournament. Except for the day after when Renji confronted Yukimura.
"Do you realize what you've done?"
Yukimura turned to Renji, looking completely innocent. "No, not at all." He said sweetly.
"You've created a monster." Renji said, walking away before he did something stupid like punch Yukimura in the face.
"It had to happen. Wouldn't you want to know if you were something otherworldly?" Yukimura asked.
Renji looked back. "I already know what I am. I just don't know who I am." He said.
"It wasn't Sanada's responsibility, Renji." Yukimura told him. "It was yours."
Renji looked confused. Yukimura smiled. "Since when do you know things I don't?" He asked.
"Child of God, remember?" Yukimura said. "It's not just a nickname, you know."
"I explain one event to you, and now you know all?" Renji asked, an eyebrow raised.
"It was a literal rebirth." Yukimura said. Renji frowned.
"I see."
"In fact, I know who you are. I just plan on withholding that information for now." Yukimura said. "You're a good friend, Renji. I just don't know what you'd do with the information if I told it to you, or if you'd remember it by the time you'd need it."
"You underestimate me, Seiichi. I rarely forget anything."
"I’m still not telling you. I have my own reasons." Yukimura said. "Have some sweet dreams tonight." He wished the other as he left for home.
"They're never sweet these days." Renji mumbled to himself.
Discipline was the way of life for Koujun. The old man of the village taught him how to wield a sword. His uncle taught him more intellectual pursuits, though Koujun proved to be a difficult student.
Except when it came to his peers. He was never kind to them, always hurting them. Sometimes it was an accident, and others not so much.
Both of the old men would punish him for it.
Until the one day the dark side of the boy appeared. Luckily, it wasn't focused on another person, but an innocent animal of the forest. His uncle saw this as it was about to happen.
"Stop!" He yelled at the tinted boy, tackling him. "You shouldn't hurt animals." He said calmly, emitting an air of calm and peace. "It did nothing to you." He explained as the boy roared and struggled with him. Fortunately, his uncle was stronger than he was.
It was morning before the boy was calm and back to fairly normal.
"I heard what happened." Genshin entered the shared home of the boy's family.
"Ah. He was wild most of the night."
"Did you notice the moon last night?"
"Blood red." The boy's uncle said, amazed he remembered such a minute detail of the night.
"He truly is a demon child."
"He doesn't remember."
"We failed, Rei'ichi."
"We haven't yet." Rei'ichi said.
"And if this happens every time the moon is red?"
"Then we deal with it." Rei'ichi answered quietly.
"For the rest of our lives, and our descendents' lives."
"At some point, if he has children, they will. That far down the line, the demon part should be bred out."
"And if not?"
"Then there will be a demon again. Demons are always going to exist, Genshin. And they will forever do things like this. It's like night turning into day and day turning into night. It's a never ending cycle."
"That's a very pessimistic outlook." Genshin said, turning to leave.
"It's the truth." Rei'ichi said simply, looking over at his nephew. "At least he wasn't after a more dangerous animal. Hopefully he find a way to avoid this blood lust."
Renji's eyes blinked open. Damn you, Seiichi he thought. That bastard knew what Akaya's lineage was, and still drew out that side of him. What kind of child of God would want to release a demon?
He rolled over in bed.
Perhaps Yukimura was right. Maybe he shouldn't learn who he really was. It seemed that he would be forever doing a job he never really wanted in the first place.
Or did he actually want it?
He wanted more concrete answers than he'd gotten.
Renji got up, intending to go to the bathroom. Upon his return to his room, he saw his phone lit up with a new message indicated on the display.
Do you understand now, Reijiel?
The message was from Yukimura. So his angel name had been revealed after all.
So was he a guardian angel or a demon tamer? Or something else completely?
I don't want to know any more. Renji thought as he returned to his bed, phone still in hand, eyes glued to the screen.
"Reijiel, huh?" He murmured aloud.
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Yanagi Renji, Kirihara Akaya, Sanada Genichirou, Yukimura Seiichi
Prompt: 45. Moon
Word Count: 2,243
Rating: PG-13
Summary:
Overall: Even today, angels and demons are in a quiet war. These boys are entangled in a cycle of reincarnation, and questions from the past are now coming to light. And Yanagi Renji seems to be the center of all this.
Chapter: Akaya's role is revealed, Renji's angel name is revealed, and the confusion increases.
Author's Notes: Notes for this chapter: Some not so obvious observations:
1. Genshin - Sanada/Gabriel's past self
2. Rei'ichi - Renji's past self
3. Koujun - Akaya's past self
Also, I realize I relayed the events of Nationals in the first chapter, and I may not have meshed them that well. Just consider it yet another view of the same events.
My LDT found here
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Raised beyond a miracle
There was a peaceful village deep in a forest in Japan. The people all knew each other, they relied on each other and the stronger ones protected the village from outside influences and evils that may have approached them.
One of these protectors was a retired samurai. He was middle age, but still full of vigor and practiced with his old weapons every day. His philosophy was that one will never lose their skill if they practice them outside of times of need.
This person was the fallen angel Gabriel. Or in this life he was known as Genshin. At this point, he felt as if he was just waiting to die. All though he had a purpose yet, it did not seem too fulfilling.
As he lay on his futon, a messenger appeared before him.
"My old friend." He was addressed.
"What a surprise." He answered dryly.
"Gabriel." The visitor said, sitting down.
"That's not my name now."
"It will never change." The visitor argued, smiling.
"What do you want, Mariel?" Genshin asked.
"I have a message from above. We have a job that we'd like you to do. Besides, you seem bored. This should give you something to do."
Genshin frowned at that prospect. "What sort of job?" He asked, suspicious of something like that.
"There was a demon that invaded the village a while back. I know, such things rarely get past you, but he did. And that demon managed to impregnate one of the young ladies in the village." Mariel explained.
"And what does this have to do with me?"
"Take the child under your wing, so to speak."
"I haven't had wings for centuries." Genshin protested.
"Figure of speech. One day you'll have them back. And that's the other part of the problem. The girl has yet to realize she's also one of us. That child is literally part demon and part angel. He cannot realize his demon heritage, or everyone could be in danger."
Genshin frowned. That was definitely something that could not come to pass.
"I suppose I have no choice."
"Teach the boy well. May he never realize his true lineage."
"Don't make me regret this."
"You won't."
"Akaya! Fifty laps!" Sanada yelled at the second year. He had just knocked over one of the non-regular members of the Rikkaidai tennis club with a well placed shot to the chest.
Akaya grumbled, but started running his laps.
"Don't you think that's a little harsh, Genichirou?" Renji asked, coming up behind Sanada.
"He needs to learn to control himself." Sanada stated, watching the younger one run his laps, a frown on his face.
"Do you really think you can change him for the better?" Renji asked. He knew Sanada was fond of Akaya for some odd reason, but he seemed to take out a lot of anger on him. If it wasn't laps, it was slaps or other physical punishments.
"We'll see." Was all Sanada said before walking off to yell at other second and first years to stop slacking off.
Renji shook his head and resumed practicing, playing a match against Yukimura.
"It's just his way of showing he cares." Yukimura commented. Then again, he had his own plans for Akaya.
Renji shook his head as he returned a difficult shot. "It's not that." Renji said. "A few extra laps here and there aren't going to hurt him. I'm worried about other things." He said. The child with the red eyes was scaring him, and Akaya seemed just like him, hurting people for fun. It bothered Renji, and yet Yukimura didn't seem to care and some of the others were the same way - or were not aware of Yukimura's plans at all. Renji wished he knew more than he did, though Yukimura probably figured that Renji knew what his plan was. All Renji knew was that Yukimura was about to bring about something that nobody really wanted.
The time of the National tournament came.
And the feeling Renji had between the time Yukimura rejoined them and the start of the tournament was proven right in the semifinals.
Renji watched calmly as Yagyuu lost singles three. Akaya was visibly upset, but no overly so. It took watching his close friends Marui and Jackal losing their doubles match to really anger Akaya. He wasn't red eyed yet, thankfully.
That took the force of the first year he was playing to really bring out his anger. Actually, it was Yagyuu's translation of what Akaya's opponent had said that set him off.
Renji frowned, but that was nothing new. Akaya's eyes turned red and a few moments later, the rest of him had turned red and his hair had lightened.
The demon had awakened.
"De...Devil Akaya..." He heard Jackal breathe out.
Not exactly, but close enough Renji thought to himself. He left to warm up. He and the trickster were to play next, and there was no doubt at this point that Akaya would lose this match.
Renji had a chance to show off his English skills to the school full of foreigners, taunting them. Him and Niou showed them what Rikkai was really made of, along with Sanada who seemed to be a bit more robotic than normal.
The two final teams had been decided. It would be Rikkai and Seigaku in a repeat of the Kantou finals. Thankfully, there was a three day break before the finals would begin.
Passing by the other team, they were invited to join them for yakiniku, but they declined, deciding to practice instead. Renji passed on a message to Inui, saying that they wouldn't be able to use the data from the last time they met, especially with the unknown variable known as Niou Masaharu.
The next day, Renji cornered Sanada. Renji grabbed Sanada's collar and pulled him close. "You knew, didn't you?" Renji hissed in his face.
Sanada pushed Renji off him and adjusted his cap. "I did." He admitted. "Yukimura knew all along about Akaya."
"And you let him do this?" Renji said angrily.
"Yukimura ranks higher than either of us. And I don't mean because he's our captain." Sanada said.
Renji looked Sanada in the eye. He was bringing that up?
Sanada continued. "I had my own dream." He explained. "I was supposed to keep this from happening. I failed."
Renji sighed. Was history really repeating itself. "So you tortured yourself for an extra century or two?" He asked quietly. "Or did you know he was reborn into this life as well?"
"I knew." Sanada admitted. "I just didn't know when. I thought it would be much later in my life like the first time." Sanada looked back at Renji. "Help me." He requested. It was unusual for Sanada to ask for help, but Renji was his friend and he trusted him.
Renji nodded. "Of course. I've seen my own version of these events. I should be able to handle Akaya if this happens again. Hopefully Seiichi won't provoke him into this again. Or anyone else for that matter."
Renji and Akaya were playing singles two against Inui Sadaharu and Kaidou Kaoru. He was surprised to be up against Inui again, wondering if fate had something to do with it. Paths cross again and again. Does the cycle ever stop? Renji wondered to himself as he served the first ball.
The first few games went well. Akaya was playing well, and was actually rather calm for him. It wasn't until midway through the game that Akaya started getting wild. He hit a ball that knocked Inui backwards and Inui's glasses forward onto Rikkai's side of the net. Whereupon Akaya stepped on said glasses and broke them as he completed his transformation into the devil mode.
Renji prodded Akaya off the glasses with his racket and handed the broken lenses back to Inui, apologizing.
The game resumed after Inui had a new pair of glasses on his face. Kaidou tried to reason with Akaya, who was attacking Inui after Kaidou had been the one that originally provoked him. Renji wondered if Akaya was trying to intentionally hurt his partner's feelings as well.
Inui was lying face down on the court, bleeding from his nose and other cuts on his face. Renji pleaded with Inui to just stop. Akaya had brought out the inner demon in Kaidou, but Inui brought his partner back to himself rather quickly. Renji frowned as they decided to continue. Unfortunately, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak as Inui nose dived to ground, unconscious. "Well done, Sadaharu." Renji whispered as Inui was wheeled off the court on a stretcher by the medics.
Why couldn't he do to Akaya what Inui had done for Kaidou?
Life settled down after that debacle that was the National tournament. Except for the day after when Renji confronted Yukimura.
"Do you realize what you've done?"
Yukimura turned to Renji, looking completely innocent. "No, not at all." He said sweetly.
"You've created a monster." Renji said, walking away before he did something stupid like punch Yukimura in the face.
"It had to happen. Wouldn't you want to know if you were something otherworldly?" Yukimura asked.
Renji looked back. "I already know what I am. I just don't know who I am." He said.
"It wasn't Sanada's responsibility, Renji." Yukimura told him. "It was yours."
Renji looked confused. Yukimura smiled. "Since when do you know things I don't?" He asked.
"Child of God, remember?" Yukimura said. "It's not just a nickname, you know."
"I explain one event to you, and now you know all?" Renji asked, an eyebrow raised.
"It was a literal rebirth." Yukimura said. Renji frowned.
"I see."
"In fact, I know who you are. I just plan on withholding that information for now." Yukimura said. "You're a good friend, Renji. I just don't know what you'd do with the information if I told it to you, or if you'd remember it by the time you'd need it."
"You underestimate me, Seiichi. I rarely forget anything."
"I’m still not telling you. I have my own reasons." Yukimura said. "Have some sweet dreams tonight." He wished the other as he left for home.
"They're never sweet these days." Renji mumbled to himself.
Discipline was the way of life for Koujun. The old man of the village taught him how to wield a sword. His uncle taught him more intellectual pursuits, though Koujun proved to be a difficult student.
Except when it came to his peers. He was never kind to them, always hurting them. Sometimes it was an accident, and others not so much.
Both of the old men would punish him for it.
Until the one day the dark side of the boy appeared. Luckily, it wasn't focused on another person, but an innocent animal of the forest. His uncle saw this as it was about to happen.
"Stop!" He yelled at the tinted boy, tackling him. "You shouldn't hurt animals." He said calmly, emitting an air of calm and peace. "It did nothing to you." He explained as the boy roared and struggled with him. Fortunately, his uncle was stronger than he was.
It was morning before the boy was calm and back to fairly normal.
"I heard what happened." Genshin entered the shared home of the boy's family.
"Ah. He was wild most of the night."
"Did you notice the moon last night?"
"Blood red." The boy's uncle said, amazed he remembered such a minute detail of the night.
"He truly is a demon child."
"He doesn't remember."
"We failed, Rei'ichi."
"We haven't yet." Rei'ichi said.
"And if this happens every time the moon is red?"
"Then we deal with it." Rei'ichi answered quietly.
"For the rest of our lives, and our descendents' lives."
"At some point, if he has children, they will. That far down the line, the demon part should be bred out."
"And if not?"
"Then there will be a demon again. Demons are always going to exist, Genshin. And they will forever do things like this. It's like night turning into day and day turning into night. It's a never ending cycle."
"That's a very pessimistic outlook." Genshin said, turning to leave.
"It's the truth." Rei'ichi said simply, looking over at his nephew. "At least he wasn't after a more dangerous animal. Hopefully he find a way to avoid this blood lust."
Renji's eyes blinked open. Damn you, Seiichi he thought. That bastard knew what Akaya's lineage was, and still drew out that side of him. What kind of child of God would want to release a demon?
He rolled over in bed.
Perhaps Yukimura was right. Maybe he shouldn't learn who he really was. It seemed that he would be forever doing a job he never really wanted in the first place.
Or did he actually want it?
He wanted more concrete answers than he'd gotten.
Renji got up, intending to go to the bathroom. Upon his return to his room, he saw his phone lit up with a new message indicated on the display.
Do you understand now, Reijiel?
The message was from Yukimura. So his angel name had been revealed after all.
So was he a guardian angel or a demon tamer? Or something else completely?
I don't want to know any more. Renji thought as he returned to his bed, phone still in hand, eyes glued to the screen.
"Reijiel, huh?" He murmured aloud.