Outlaw Pirates
Outlaw Pirates
Prince of Tennis; Fuji brothers.
AU: The Fuji brothers sail to escape the not-so-long arm of the law after a duel gone wrong.
They're sailing farther from shore in one of Mr Mizuki's smaller ships, much faster than their pursuers despite his brother's inexperience, and the fact that there's no crew doesn't seem to bother Shuusuke one bit.
"We'll find sailors at the next port," he calls into the cabin, as though he can hear Yuuta's thoughts even through the sound of the storm. "Don't worry, Yuuta. Just sleep, and leave it to me."
Yuuta does worry. He trusts his brother, but "Shuusuke Fuji, scholar and artist" is a far cry from "Shuusuke Fuji, outlaw pirate." This is not the sort of ship one should sail alone, and even his brother has to know that he can't do everything on his first try, no matter how much he's read about it. Yuuta is a good sailor, but it took him weeks to learn the things that Shuusuke is trying to learn in one headlong flight from town without even having Yuuta up there to supervise.
Yuuta fears another shipwreck, and isn't sure he could swim to safety this time.
There's a good chance that they'll both die tonight, one way or another, and he'd like at least to go down fighting, but the medicine Shuusuke has given him is making it hard to want to move his limbs, let alone to go out there and help. It's making it hard for him to keep his eyes open, and the boat is rocking dangerously but it feels to Yuuta almost like Yumiko or his mother is rocking him to sleep. If only he could have seen them once more before he died.
But somehow they make it to an island without capsizing, without the ship being torn to pieces in the wind or on the rocks, without being captured or even seen. When Yuuta wakes up some unknown time later, Shuusuke is trying to lower him from the gently bobbing ship without jostling him, and the sky past his head and the neatly folded sails is bluer even than Shuusuke's eyes. It's enough of a miracle that he could almost believe they're in heaven, except that his throat aches from dehydration and it still hurts to breathe.
It does still hurt, but Yuuta's a man, and so he insists on sitting in the rowboat and even helping to row to shore. He knows he isn't quite carrying his weight, but better that than to lie at Shuusuke's feet while Shuusuke rows and worries all on his own.
The man waiting for them on the beach--and God only knows how he knew to be there--is dressed in a sarong and a brightly dyed shirt. His spiky black hair looks to be immune to the breeze, and Yuuta can't even make out his eyes behind his thick-glassed homemade spectacles. He greets Yuuta's brother with a nod; Shuusuke is obviously exhausted, but his answering smile looks less strained than any expression he's shown since before Yuuta's accident. He rests a slim hand on Yuuta's shoulder and says, as an introduction, "Mr Inui, this is my precious little brother. Please take care of him as though he were me."
Mr Inui and Shuusuke spend most of the walk back through the jungle talking about Mr Inui's experiments, but so vaguely that Yuuta can't decide whether he's conducting his experiments on plants, or insects, or mammals, or even humans. They're both uncommonly observant, however; nearly before Yuuta is aware that he's slowing down, his brother has taken his arm on the pretense of pointing out an interesting snake hanging from a nearby branch, and Mr Inui has slowed his inhuman stride.
Mr Inui's house is as unusual as his person: cluttered and brightly lit both day and night, it was obviously made in stages, a new room added as more space became necessary. The walls are covered in chalked numbers and symbols, and a system has been set up "like the Roman aqueducts!" to provide the house with fresh, easily accessible water. That there is no obvious source of food outside despite the plenty in the pantry is the only hint that there might be other people on the island. Mr Inui's bed is next to a bench covered in plants, empty cages, and glass vials. The only other bed is in a part of the house so overgrown with vines that there are effectively no windows. It's lit eerily green with special lanterns Mr Inui claims as his own invention.
Yuuta isn't entirely comfortable here, in this strange house that seems to magnify the unfamiliar noises of the jungle, but Shuusuke insists that he needs his rest until his ribs and jaw heal--and because Mr Inui is a doctor, it only makes sense to stay here, where he can be of use.
He goes along with it because he hears more from Shuusuke in Mr Inui's house than he ever has before; his inscrutable brother seems to trust the man. It isn't until Yuuta has been put to bed--presumed asleep--in the darkened back room that he finally hears what he's feared since his brother's duel with Mr Mizuki went bad: Shuusuke might never be able to return to Portugal, and certainly won't be able to resume his government post.
He falls into a fitful sleep before Shuusuke is ready to retire, and wakes hours later to find him dozing in a wooden chair near the head of the bed. Shuusuke looks unutterably sad when he's asleep.
"Brother?" Yuuta whispers, and tears spring to his eyes as he remembers how much it hurts to speak. He reaches out as carefully as he can and tugs on Shuusuke's salt-stiff shirt.
"Hm?" Shuusuke murmurs, half-asleep. "Yuuta?"
Yuuta inches over to make room in the bed, still holding onto the shirt. It takes several seconds for Shuusuke to get the message, and when he does, it looks as though he's about to protest. Yuuta tugs harder, and gasps in pain from it; it's only this that makes Shuusuke give in, and he sits gingerly on the side of the bed and swings his legs up so slowly that Yuuta can barely feel the bed depress underneath him.
Shuusuke leaves half a foot of space between them.
Yuuta tries to speak again, but his body rebels against the thought of the pain, and it comes out like more of a hum. Shuusuke turns towards him, and he thinks I'm sorry with all his might, hoping that his brother will hear these thoughts.
"Shh, Yuuta, shh," he says, sneaking an arm under Yuuta's neck. "Don't say anything. It's going to be all right." And because he seems to believe it, Yuuta's worried knot of a stomach loosens. He leans into Shuusuke's arm and closes his eyes to sleep.
...
Prince of Tennis; Fuji brothers.
AU: The Fuji brothers sail to escape the not-so-long arm of the law after a duel gone wrong.
They're sailing farther from shore in one of Mr Mizuki's smaller ships, much faster than their pursuers despite his brother's inexperience, and the fact that there's no crew doesn't seem to bother Shuusuke one bit.
"We'll find sailors at the next port," he calls into the cabin, as though he can hear Yuuta's thoughts even through the sound of the storm. "Don't worry, Yuuta. Just sleep, and leave it to me."
Yuuta does worry. He trusts his brother, but "Shuusuke Fuji, scholar and artist" is a far cry from "Shuusuke Fuji, outlaw pirate." This is not the sort of ship one should sail alone, and even his brother has to know that he can't do everything on his first try, no matter how much he's read about it. Yuuta is a good sailor, but it took him weeks to learn the things that Shuusuke is trying to learn in one headlong flight from town without even having Yuuta up there to supervise.
Yuuta fears another shipwreck, and isn't sure he could swim to safety this time.
There's a good chance that they'll both die tonight, one way or another, and he'd like at least to go down fighting, but the medicine Shuusuke has given him is making it hard to want to move his limbs, let alone to go out there and help. It's making it hard for him to keep his eyes open, and the boat is rocking dangerously but it feels to Yuuta almost like Yumiko or his mother is rocking him to sleep. If only he could have seen them once more before he died.
But somehow they make it to an island without capsizing, without the ship being torn to pieces in the wind or on the rocks, without being captured or even seen. When Yuuta wakes up some unknown time later, Shuusuke is trying to lower him from the gently bobbing ship without jostling him, and the sky past his head and the neatly folded sails is bluer even than Shuusuke's eyes. It's enough of a miracle that he could almost believe they're in heaven, except that his throat aches from dehydration and it still hurts to breathe.
It does still hurt, but Yuuta's a man, and so he insists on sitting in the rowboat and even helping to row to shore. He knows he isn't quite carrying his weight, but better that than to lie at Shuusuke's feet while Shuusuke rows and worries all on his own.
The man waiting for them on the beach--and God only knows how he knew to be there--is dressed in a sarong and a brightly dyed shirt. His spiky black hair looks to be immune to the breeze, and Yuuta can't even make out his eyes behind his thick-glassed homemade spectacles. He greets Yuuta's brother with a nod; Shuusuke is obviously exhausted, but his answering smile looks less strained than any expression he's shown since before Yuuta's accident. He rests a slim hand on Yuuta's shoulder and says, as an introduction, "Mr Inui, this is my precious little brother. Please take care of him as though he were me."
Mr Inui and Shuusuke spend most of the walk back through the jungle talking about Mr Inui's experiments, but so vaguely that Yuuta can't decide whether he's conducting his experiments on plants, or insects, or mammals, or even humans. They're both uncommonly observant, however; nearly before Yuuta is aware that he's slowing down, his brother has taken his arm on the pretense of pointing out an interesting snake hanging from a nearby branch, and Mr Inui has slowed his inhuman stride.
Mr Inui's house is as unusual as his person: cluttered and brightly lit both day and night, it was obviously made in stages, a new room added as more space became necessary. The walls are covered in chalked numbers and symbols, and a system has been set up "like the Roman aqueducts!" to provide the house with fresh, easily accessible water. That there is no obvious source of food outside despite the plenty in the pantry is the only hint that there might be other people on the island. Mr Inui's bed is next to a bench covered in plants, empty cages, and glass vials. The only other bed is in a part of the house so overgrown with vines that there are effectively no windows. It's lit eerily green with special lanterns Mr Inui claims as his own invention.
Yuuta isn't entirely comfortable here, in this strange house that seems to magnify the unfamiliar noises of the jungle, but Shuusuke insists that he needs his rest until his ribs and jaw heal--and because Mr Inui is a doctor, it only makes sense to stay here, where he can be of use.
He goes along with it because he hears more from Shuusuke in Mr Inui's house than he ever has before; his inscrutable brother seems to trust the man. It isn't until Yuuta has been put to bed--presumed asleep--in the darkened back room that he finally hears what he's feared since his brother's duel with Mr Mizuki went bad: Shuusuke might never be able to return to Portugal, and certainly won't be able to resume his government post.
He falls into a fitful sleep before Shuusuke is ready to retire, and wakes hours later to find him dozing in a wooden chair near the head of the bed. Shuusuke looks unutterably sad when he's asleep.
"Brother?" Yuuta whispers, and tears spring to his eyes as he remembers how much it hurts to speak. He reaches out as carefully as he can and tugs on Shuusuke's salt-stiff shirt.
"Hm?" Shuusuke murmurs, half-asleep. "Yuuta?"
Yuuta inches over to make room in the bed, still holding onto the shirt. It takes several seconds for Shuusuke to get the message, and when he does, it looks as though he's about to protest. Yuuta tugs harder, and gasps in pain from it; it's only this that makes Shuusuke give in, and he sits gingerly on the side of the bed and swings his legs up so slowly that Yuuta can barely feel the bed depress underneath him.
Shuusuke leaves half a foot of space between them.
Yuuta tries to speak again, but his body rebels against the thought of the pain, and it comes out like more of a hum. Shuusuke turns towards him, and he thinks I'm sorry with all his might, hoping that his brother will hear these thoughts.
"Shh, Yuuta, shh," he says, sneaking an arm under Yuuta's neck. "Don't say anything. It's going to be all right." And because he seems to believe it, Yuuta's worried knot of a stomach loosens. He leans into Shuusuke's arm and closes his eyes to sleep.
...