CHAPTER 4: Seichi

LONDON, 4 years ago

It was a normal day within one the world's most famous cities. 10:00am, the clocks said, including the Big Ben.

Yukimura Seichi was 15 years old and he was staring out the window of his hospital room in passiveness. The beautiful scenery outside nor the gorgeously intricate design of his room did not ease the creeping sadness inside of him. And that simply increased every single day.

It had been a few months since he was confined after fainting during their tennis practice. The doctor said he had the Guillain-Barre syndrome. It was a neurological disease, paralysis to his limbs. He would slowly recover his strength and walk (in due time) but nothing else. His parents were doing their best to find the best way to help him recover.

Really, only the luscious plants on the room's balcony was the nearest to comforting him.

And, right now, he couldn't even walk there.

He sighed.

He had been a good child. He followed his parents' every wish. He had been kind to everyone, as he had been instructed to. He had always shown a smile. A smile of an angel, in fact, if he'd take most of his acquaintances' opinions into consideration.

Everyone loved him. He was sure, even the deities. Unless they were envious of him, of course, but that thought was just too silly.

So it always went back to the question of what could he have possibly done… to deserve this?

…

*A week Later*

CREAK

A few hours after noon, Seichi was back in his position several hours prior- and he thought he'd probably stay there again for a few more. It was until the door opened revealing a figure he hadn't seen in years.

"Ah."

"Yo, Kiddo." It was his coach when he was younger, he heard he was a pro and the man taught him tennis in a matter of a few weeks. It was a Spartan training, to say the least, but obviously Seichii would never show how harsh it was. He made everything look easy.

It seemed that his former coach cut his hair short. He even wore an odd monk attire. He wondered if the man was still as good as before. He wondered how much of the old man's strength could he muster if he were to go against him after he got healed.

Would he win? He frowned. Probably not.

Not yet, anyway.

Indeed, the coaches that followed Nanjiroh didn't even compare. What Nanjiroh taught in a few weeks was his foundation, and not just because he was his very first coach.

Setting that aside… he would never admit he kind of missed the old man. And yes, he admired him, despite his utterly unsophisticated attitude.

Seichi looked back at his new visitors. Nanjiroh came with his wife, who was hugging Yuko, Seichii's mother. He didn't quite know the relationships between those four but it was obvious they were close friends.

They were chatting several meters away from him, just far enough for him not to hear anything. So, Seichi just judged what they were talking about with their expression. He concluded it had something to do with his operation in a few days. The doctors said this was his best bet- and it had a high chance of meant they were supposed to look a lot less distraught.

And yet they hid it well.

It was like they were hiding something from him. Like what? That the chances of surviving were lower than they told him?

Probably. But Seichi was not really afraid to die. He had fallen much too deep in love with tennis. Him unable to play with it again- unthinkable. For it was true that he had a duty to his family, he was the heir of what his parents worked so hard for… but it was tennis that gave him life. It truly was.

It was the only thing that made all the expectations pounded on him that much more bearable.

…

He was healed. The operation was a success. Everyone was happy.

But not for long…

Barely a week after his recovery, he soon noticed how his parents were still anxious. Anxious in an odd, unfathomable, sense that couldn't help but make him worry.

What was happening to them? Even his stern and strict father could not hide the insecurity in his eyes and this bothered him deeply.

But he momentarily ignored all problems and smiled at the fact that he was healed. But then… as he savored the fact that he was going to be able to play tennis again…

He suddenly came to his life and ruined all the foundation that he thought he had.

SEICHI'S ROOM, Present

The young heir slowly opened his eyes seeing his intricately carved wooden bed. He slowly (and elegantly) blinked the remaining lethargy away and sat up. His palm found its way on his head as if he had a head-ache, when that stirring inside him was far from his head.

He recalled how he came and they suddenly announced that he was his new and sole bodyguard. It was odd- the boy was so small… He had a number of bodyguards before when he was in school, just to be sure even when they were certain no one would dare risk their heads to harm him.

Was the boy that strong as to replace them? Or were his parents that certain of his safety?

But then, a sudden announcement was made. It answered precisely why such a small boy would be 'enough' to guard him.

His parents told him that from then on... he would be home-schooled.

He didn't want to remember how angry he was. He was fully recovered by then! He also had friends and a team to take care of back at his school. They said they would hire ex-professionals to play with him. But it simply wasn't as fun.

He didn't understand why he felt like blaming everything on his new body guard, and his distraught was diminished to the bare minimum when he hit tennis balls against the wall.

He was annoyed- albeit he barely showed it outside of court. His hidden sadism easily showed when he was inside it though.

God knew he needed to show it. But later, he found out that the new boy wouldn't even play with him.

So for the first time in his life, he showed a stranger just how irritated he was of him.

…

Knock Knock

A knock came but it was only loud enough for him to hear if he was awake. He let out a deep breath.

"Come in." He said, getting a glimpse of greenish black-hair a second later. He frowned.

Speaking of the boy...

"Breakfast is ready, Seichi-sama." He said and surveyed the surroundings. "Should I open the curtains?"

"Yes, thank you." He nodded looking passively at his velvet comforter. Ryoma probably nodded, as usual, and proceeded walking to his large window at one side of the room.

When Seichi was certain Ryoma had his back against him, he looked and followed his movements as inconspicuously as he could. These times were the only times he could bear look at him, and usually he'd rather just… not.

Too many things simply attack him every single time he did. Especially?

When the boy looked back.

...

Seichi and Ryoma were taught by highly qualified teachers for every subject, while Seichi played with highly-skilled tennis players every single day.

It had been a week since then. But they had barely talked.

Seichi stared at him with slight contempt that nobody should notice, and the boy didn't seem to mind the silence. He seemed to prefer not speaking. Somehow this disconcerted him more. He knew he didn't have much of a basis on blaming everything on the boy but how could he not even bother pleasing him, his master?

Couldn't he see that he was bored whenever he, Yukimura Seichi, was with him?

"You." He finally called, wearing his usual calm and 'kind' demeanor. It was a habit to do so, besides he was never really angry that he never really needed to fake it. Right now though, he'd rather not show the boy that other side of him. Being looked down upon by a servant was something even he was too proud to let happen.

"Hai?" Ryoma monotonously answered, but it was nowhere near respectable. The boy looked at him like he was just a random passer-by calling him.

"Play with me." Everyone knew how stern he becomes when he was on court. So slightly showing how annoyed he was in there would not be too out-of-character.

It had been a week- it had been a week since his venting.

"I can't."

He could swear that his eyes twitched. "Why?"

"I just can't." he said dismissively, skilfully changing the topic. "There's a pro coming in an hour. Shouldn't you be warming up?"

Seichi frowned at him.

"Do you not notice how impertinent you are?"

"Impertinent how?"

"Reflect." He stated, waving his arm to make his point. Ryoma frowned at this.

"What? Do you want me to bow down?"

He stiffened. Well, did he?

"…no."

The boy looked at him, eyes showing signs of how exasperated he was becoming and unreasonable he (Seichi) was. "Let me repeat my question. Impertinent, how?"

But now he realized. The boy wasn't mocking him- not really, as in as that was what one would expect from such an apathetic-looking kid. Seichi realized, now that they were so close, that he was being analyzed.

Yukimura Seichi should never be readable unless he allowed himself to.

So, he didn't speak, and appeared to be appraising his new bodyguard. The boy though, did not even snap. If anything, he found out a lot how much- and how long ago- he was being watched inconspicuously.

"Why are you so mad at me? I was just as surprised with this arrangement just as you were." He looked at him. He knew he was mad? But now he really didn't have any basis on being annoyed with him.

"I'm not mad about that." Seichi said. "It's rude. I am not a shallow person, Ryoma-kun."

"But venting it on me is childish. Childish but acceptable."

"How can you say that?"

"Why else would you be so irritable?"

"How can you say being childish is acceptable?" He corrected, convincing himself that he was just scientifically curious.

But the boy smiled, making his insides flutter. "Why wouldn't it? Aren't you just a child as well?"

In the boy's golden cat-like eyes... did he, Yukimura, just see a glint of admiration in that... above-average...smile?

He was never allowed to be a child before, let alone still be admired with it.

He wondered what this boy was thinking when he said that. Yukimura prided himself with being able to know what people thought, and assuming that he read the boy correctly... there remained the fact that he didn't quite understand him yet.

He realized he had been wanting to.

"Ryoma-kun."

"Hm?"

"What's your full name? It's odd that I don't know, and odder that you never told me."

"Echizen Ryoma."

"Hm?" Did he just hear what he just heard?

"My father was a coach of yours."

He stared at the boy. Incredulity obvious in his eyes. So much for being guarded, but at the moment he really didn't care what he showed. He voiced his thoughts out with a smile. "You don't resemble him."

Ryoma was still looking at the grass when he released a low chuckle that caught him by surprise. "Thanks." he said, as if it were a compliment.

It was then that Yukimura finally realized that Ryoma was actually being kind of shy. He, too, chuckled at the thought but kept it to himself. He wanted to hear what the boy wanted to say.

"I heard about the operation." The boy muttered at last, still looking away. He usually disliked being pitied upon, but somehow- for now- he did not mind. "Don't you think they just wanted to protect you?"

"Protect by imprisoning me?" he asked in a non-offensive way.

"Maybe that's why they still hired a bodyguard for you despite you just staying at home." The boy whispered and he found himself raising an eyebrow, surprisingly interested in what the boy was trying to imply.

"Is there anything you want to say?"

Ryoma just sighed and looked at him straight in the eyes. He found himself wincing under it, but he composed himself in a blink of an eye. "Why don't we just make this work?"

The boy politically held out his hand.

"Echizen Ryoma." the boy repeted, making him smile genuinely. "Yoroshiku."

He could only catch his hand for a very awkward handshake.

…

A few weeks passed since then and they started talking a bit more. Ryoma rarely initiated it though, as expected, but Yukimura nevertheless found his presence oddly comforting.

Must be because he was his body guard. They were, after all, supposed to make one feel that way.

He ignored the fact that he felt more... protected around the green-headed 12-year-old than his bulky old guards.

They were walking at the huge backyard at the moment, pausing in front of a fountain since Karupin suddenly wanted to play with the birds having their innocent baths.

"Karupin." Ryoma called slightly raising his voice when Karupin made a splash that almost reached them.

"Saa... let the feline be, Ryoma. Let's just take a rest over there." Yukimura suggested and pointed at a backless bench a few meters away from where they stood.

They just sat there after a while, but neither felt a little bit tense. From his periphery, Seichi stared at his body guard as inconspicuously as he could. These past few weeks he had, surprisingly, let himself open up to Ryoma albeit it was only little by little. And the boy did to him as well, which he later realized became a bad thing- For as time passed, he had grown to know him.

He found out that not just the apathetic little kid who somehow became an expert in martial arts.

He was so much more than that.

He saw occasional… softness behind those eyes that usually let out glares. Cold looks that he sent towards the old teammates that visited him, and even towards some of his especially pompous coaches.

Those odd words of wisdom that the boy utters out-of-nowhere. Words that he later realized were words that he needed at that time.

It was disconcerting, yet it didn't feel wrong at all.

"Seichi. Won't your eyes hurt if you do that? Staring at me from the side, that is." His eye twitched and he quickly pushed down a blush before it even reached his membranes. He was staring for that long for him (Ryoma) to notice? He mentally cleared his throat.

"Now, why would I be staring at you?"

"You tell me."

"What if I told you I wasn't staring?" He asked rhetorically and he felt a twinge of guilt when he saw Ryoma make a sad face. Most people wouldn't see it, of course, but he was Yukimura Seichi.

"Very well." He admitted. "I was staring. I was thinking of why such a small boy would become my body guard. What do you know of this arrangement?"

"Not much." Ryoma shrugged, and turned slightly away from him rendering him unable to see fully what expression Ryoma was currently making. "It was a... family tradition. That's all. Like to develop a sense of responsibility. We seem to be frivolous by blood."

"I see." was all he could say. The last part was supposed to be funny, as it pertained to Nanjiroh. But that tone... Ryoma was hiding it well but he was definitely in pain. Seichi's hand rest on Ryoma's head, touching it gently, making the boy stare at him in surprise. Actually, he was surprised at how... pleasurable touching this person was. He touched a lot of people- most of which for formalities. Why was this particular touch so different?

"Do you hate it here?" he asked, pertaining to why he was making such a sad face.

"No." Ryoma whispered tilting his head back down and looking at the grass as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Frankly I don't think agreeing to guard you was the wrong decision. Not that I actually had a choice, but still."

He chuckled, realizing that his hand was still lingering over his guard and took it away immediately. "Okay, then. So now may I ask why you won't play tennis with me?"

"That's because I can't... play tennis."

"You can at least try. Every one can play tennis."

"Nadda."

And with that, Yukimura's eyebrows met and his eyes narrowed. He could see that Ryoma flinched. Barely, but he definitely did. He let his inner sadist take over for a while (seriously, he wanted to play tennis with Ryoma- even if he sucked), and he unconsciously thought of ways to make that happen.

"Seichi..." Ryoma sweat-dropped. "What are you doing?"

"Touching your nose." He said as a matter-of-factly, hiding his own blush. He then pressed it so Ryoma's voice would be amusingly different whenever he spoke.

"Sheishi..." Yukimura could swear Ryoma blushed. He really wanted to see it again.

Yukimura chuckled.

"Thishisn't fffunny."

"Sure it is." He smiled that angelic smile of his as he let his weight rest on his other hand on the bench. This was actually quite torturous for him. It felt really, really weird touching Ryoma like this. What made him flinch even more was when Ryoma touched his intruding hand to force it away.

'So soft.' he mused, which was odd since Ryoma's hand was heavily calloused. Like his, since he played a lot of tennis. He wondered where Ryoma got it from.

"Are you sure you don't play tennis?"

"Hwai." Ryoma mumbled making him notice the fact he was still pinching his nose.

"Why won't you try?"

"Why do I have to?" His heart skipped a beat. "Don't you have more than enough people to play with?"

'Yes, Seichi, why?'

"I thought it'd be fun. Playing with you, that is."

"Ah."

"So will you?"

"No."

"Like I asked, Why? And don't you dare try and change the topic again."

"Oyaji told me not to."

"Why?"

"I dunno."

After a moment of silence, Yukimura let out a sigh. "You don't seem to be the type to follow orders so easily, especially when you don't know why."

"I'm a body guard-slash-servant now, remember?" Ryoma muttered sternly and shifted away. Yukimura held his guard in place by holding his... warm and slender arm.

"That's not the point."

"Sure it is. Even Karupin understands that."

"You're changing the topic again, Ryoma."

"What topic?"

He felt his eye twitch in annoyance right then and there. "RYOMA."

"Ara? Karupin!" Ryoma's said, blinking, and jumped to somewhere near the fountain. Karupin was running after a bird and he was bound to get lost.

"Ryoma!" But the boy was already out of earshot. Probably. No. Ryoma definitely heard (but ignored) his calls. He knew how strong Ryoma's sense of hearing was.

And Yukimura, once again, only sighed.

...

A few more weeks passed by. It didn't take long for him to realize how… giddy he became when the boy was with him. How nervous he got when he looked at him… how his heart skipped a beat when he smiled- no matter how slight- especially when he was the one who roused it.

How nice it felt when he was being… gentle with him. And he was his body-guard.

His nonchalant touches became hungrier but he never succumbed to them- no matter how strong they became. So much alien feelings come to him every day that he didn't know what to think.

And slowly, but surely, the joy and excitement he associated when he was playing with tennis he felt the same when he was talking to the boy. Just… talking. Sometimes? They weren't even saying anything. They were just there- sitting beside each other… staring into blank space.

His bodyguard's mere presence was enough to lift all those implied burdens that his parents never ceased to remind him of.

He realized this had started some time ago, but what 'it' exactly was was definitely still unclear. Frankly, he thought if he told anyone they too would be confused as to what was happening to him.

But apparently he was wrong.

The Echizen and Yukimura families lived together in a single mansion in London ever since Ryoma became his bodyguard. It was interestingly just a few blocks away from Buckingham Palace. Seichi was then walking passively across the corridors, thinking about why Ryoma would not play with him even for a harmless warm-up (Ryoma was still, rather skillfully he had to admit, avoiding those topics). Sadly her whole family was being annoyingly ambiguous.

And with those thoughts, he ended up in front of Ryoma's bedroom door.

Embarrassed, Seichi quickly turned around. But he was not even able to take 3 steps when he heard quite a bit of shouting inside his room.

He unconsciously went to the door and eavesdropped.

"B-But Okaa-san!"

"No! How could you cut your beautiful hair, huh? HOW?!"A familiar voice cried in despair.

"But it's so much more prac-"

"NO."

"Kaa-san…"

"No buts! Apologize to Karupin."

"Ha…?"

Seichi's eyebrows furrowed. Wasn't Ryoma's hair short enough? Or did he go for a buzz cut?

He shook away the thoughts, and the accompanying distaste that came after it. Why would he care about his body guard's haircut, anyway?

Creak

"Seichi?" Ryoma blinked and quickly closed the door. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

The bluenette looked at him. The length of his hair barely changed from yesterday's. He didn't see why Rinko would react so violently…

"I was… looking for Karupin." was all he could say at the moment. Ryoma raised a brow of suspicion.

"Karupin?"

"Yeah." he said firmly as opposed to his faltering stance a second prior. He hope Ryoma would not see through his lie, and thankfully he did fall for it. Ryoma's beautifully glistening orbs made sure he knew that."Let's look for him together." He smiled and went on their way, around and around the huge house.

But… as a few times before, Ryoma lost sight of him and hence got lost.

Well, lost as in he wasn't with his master. Ryoma knew the place well enough to know his place around, but to Seichi… so long as Ryoma was not with him, then Ryoma was (unquestionably) lost.

And so, Seichi ended up in Ryoma's room again.

He sighed in exasperation.

It was then that, once again, he heard people talking. This time though, Rinko had company. It was his mother. His mother was laughing, probably teasing Rinko of whatever she and her son was fighting about earlier. He stepped closer to the door.

"Darn it- why are they so slow?!"

"It had only been a few months, Yuko."

"Well, yes…" his mother whispered. "Oh well… I think my Seichi fancies your child already though."

He didn't understand why the female specie- even his own mother- found amusement in male to male relationships. His father would definitely not be pleased. Nor would anyone else in their let out a deep breath at the memories.

But it still made him hopeful.

Hopeful for what- again, he'd rather forget about such thoughts. They were the cause of most of his fret, anyway.

That moment he felt supremely annoyed with his mother. How dare she plant that seed of hope inside of hi- No. He did not fancy Echizen Ryoma. How could he? There wasn't any reason to. He convinced himself that every time he imagined him and Ryoma as l-lovers, the churning in his stomach was that of disgust.

Disgust.

And with that, Yukimura Seichi pushed his body guard away.