Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Konomi Takeshi does. I'm merely playing with them for the moment.

A/N: These two are strange. ...For the record, Akihito and Keigo may speak either Japanese or English to each other, depending mainly on their mood and whether one or the other is trying to make a point of it. In this chapter, it's Japanese.

In the Family

Chapter 8

Terms

"Well, good afternoon." Akihito looked over to his son, raising his eyebrows. Keigo had just stormed into the manor's big library, looking rather… upset, to say the least. "You don't look too pleased."

"You could say that," murmured his son, running a hand through his golden locks. He was halfway in his strides to the far shelves as he suddenly paused, turning to look at Akihito. "…Wait. You're here."

"I should hope I am allowed to be in my own library, yes," Akihito raised his eyebrows. "Is that a problem?" He had to admit he'd lately been consciously spending more time off work, splitting the spare time between Isadora and his home. And, he dared hope, maybe with Keigo on occasion. Assuming the boy was willing to forgive him…

Keigo looked for a moment as though he was thinking of a way to answer. Finally, he just shook his head. "…No. I… I guess not."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Akihito slipped a bookmark between his book before snapping it shut. "Ah… would you like to talk?"

"Must I?" came the response immediately. Then, after a pause, Keigo sighed, changing his course and taking a couple of strides to reach one of the vacant seats in the room instead. "…Do forgive me… I suppose I did promise Michael to give you a chance," he mumbled.

"Thank you," Akihito said sincerely. "What exactly has you so vexed? I rarely see you this angry." Well, he rarely saw Keigo anyway, but that was beside the point. "At the very least, it's usually me in the receiving end of such rage."

"My grandparents called to tell me happy birthday," Keigo sighed, tucking one foot under himself even as he flopped back in the seat. "Happy belated birthday, that is." With a sharp gaze in Akihito's direction, he added, "Your parents, to be precise."

Akihito sighed. "I see." His parents had never truly approved of his marriage with Elizabeth, and as a result, their relations with Keigo had always been somewhat tense as well. Even he knew that Keigo didn't get along with them, especially with his grandfather, and for Akihito to be aware of it the tension had to be rather obvious. "…Dare I ask what they said?"

"Just asked me when I'm going to find myself a properly raised Japanese girl that they could meet," murmured Keigo, turning his eyes away. "Grandfather warned me not to end up like… like you."

"At least I have been married, once," Akihito pointed out. And was now apparently dating again, but he doubted this was the time and place to approach that particular subject. "What did you answer?"

"The same I always do. I'm in no particular hurry to find a girlfriend. I have far too much in my hands as it is between tennis and my schoolwork and everything; I hardly see any reason to compromise my preciously rare spare time any further by involving myself with something as useless as a girlfriend." After a short pause, Keigo glanced briefly at him. "…And that answer applies to any of your questions, too. It's not just a grandparent buffer."

"I see." He couldn't help but feel his lips twitching a bit. "I'm sure you'll sooner or later see the appeal of dating. It… kind of comes naturally, or so I've been told." And at fifteen, Keigo probably didn't have much of a grace period left anymore.

"God, I hope not." Keigo rolled his eyes. "Girls are just plain useless. They do nothing but blush and titter and squeal."

"Yes, well, just you wait." Akihito shook his head amusedly. "Soon you'll notice they also play with their hair, and smile rather prettily, and walk in a peculiar manner you just can't help but look at."

"Hopefully someone will shoot me if I ever fall into that trap." Keigo's eyes fell on a painting set on the wall of the library. It was one of the main reasons Akihito preferred to do his reading there instead of taking a book somewhere with him. Elizabeth looked so very beautiful in the portrait, her beauty immortalized in the setting of a lovely summer day in her favourite corner of the garden in England. When they had moved to Japan, there hadn't been many things Akihito had had brought over aside from the better part of the book collection; this portrait, however, absolutely had to follow him. Even if it had been years, even if he now found himself falling in love with another woman, he still couldn't push himself into entirely forgetting his first wife. "…Father?"

"Yes?" Akihito asked. He had an inkling as to what Keigo was about to say, but he didn't want to push it.

"How…" Keigo swallowed. "How did you and Mother first meet?" It sounded slightly peculiar, the one word of English in the middle of the otherwise Japanese sentence, but he supposed it made sense. After all, Keigo had only ever spoken to his mother in English; that word was the way he had called her when she had been alive.

"We first met in university," Akihito said slowly, his eyes locked at the painting. "My father sent me overseas to further my education... she was in the year below me. We had the same literature class." He shook his head, a slight smile on his lips. "It was... love at first sight, one might say. She was just a lovely woman in every way. Smart, beautiful, confident... I knew right then I had to get her, somehow." He smiled faintly, momentarily lost in the memories. "She had the most beautiful blue eyes..."

"I... see." Keigo nodded slowly. "...Did she like you at first sight, too?"

"I like to think so," Akihito chuckled. "Who knows? She was rather coy when I started approaching her, though thinking back, I'm fairly sure she was just teasing me. In any case, she slowly started to warm up to me. Of course, neither of our parents would hear of anything but the greatest propriety, so we waited nicely until we were both done with our studies before even getting engaged, never mind married."

"What did grandfather say about her?" Keigo asked. "I mean... I've heard his woe over my resembling her often enough, but other than that, he never wants to discuss her. You can't exactly tell me he was happy and excited for you finding your true love."

"Too true." Akihito sighed. "My parents were... greatly opposed, actually. They wouldn't hear of me marrying a gaijin... they'd have much preferred to find me a proper, humble Japanese wife with a sufficient inheritance attached," he added with a dry tone. "Their mistake is... they always taught me that an Atobe must always have his way. That when I got my mind set on something, I should let nothing and nobody hinder me in reaching my goal. Apparently they never thought I might actually use that attitude against them," he murmured.

"But of course," Keigo replied equally dryly. "It is most unimaginable that anything would go against their will and preferences."

"...Keigo." Finally, Akihito actually looked at his son again, standing up to walk slowly towards his son. Keigo gave him a slightly wary gaze but didn't flinch away. Well, he supposed that was a victory, however small a triumph it might have been. "I know my parents can be difficult. I grew up dealing with them, after all. And I know they can be rather set on their ways in a very frustrating manner sometimes. But... don't let that get to you." He shook his head seriously. "They're certainly not evil people, exactly... but they can sometimes be hypocritical, racist bigots. Whatever they say about your mother, or yourself in relation to her... don't listen to them." He smiled faintly, again glancing at the picture. "Your mother... she was a beautiful woman. A beautiful, capable, intelligent woman who died far too soon, and you have inherited all of her best traits. If that doesn't please your grandparents... well, that's not something you should trouble yourself with. Either they come around eventually... or they are the ones who lose."

"Careful, there," Keigo mumbled. "I might do the same thing you did and pull something absolutely disgraceful in your eyes."

"Perhaps," Akihito replied lightly. "However, if it ever comes down to my opinion against yours... I think more important than following my values is for you to figure out your own." He patted Keigo's shoulder, secretly almost pathetically pleased as the boy didn't immediately pull away. "Always remember to respect yourself and others... and always make sure you can afterwards say, 'I made the right decision.'"

This gained him a wry smile. "Is this the part where you tell me about birds and bees?" Keigo asked.

"Is there a need for me to?" Akihito shot back. It actually was something that had crossed his mind sometimes. After all, Keigo was a teenage boy. Akihito had been one himself, in a time much less liberated about such things. He would have had to be incredibly naive to think it was not a subject he should concern himself with in regards to his son.

"I should hope not." Keigo shook his head fervently. "I know what goes where, how not to get either diseases or bastards and all the rest of such profoundly important matters. Going through them once more would just embarrass us both needlessly… especially since I already told you I have absolutely no interest in dating at this time."

"Perhaps it's better that way," Akihito admitted. "I really wouldn't know how to approach such a topic." He chuckled faintly. "You were unplanned, you know," he murmured. "Unplanned but not unwished for. I know it's something of a cliché, but it was very much true in your case. We hadn't thought about having a child just yet, but then you decided to be on your way so we welcomed you." He could still remember it, the surprise, the initial panic, all that waiting and planning and preparing and hoping... wondering if they could be good parents. "We thought we might get you a younger sibling at some point," he murmured. "We were going to wait until you were at school, perhaps, so you might have been more reasonable about sibling rivalry. But then..." he trailed off. Even after all these years, it was... not a subject he particularly enjoyed.

"But then Mother fell ill," Keigo finished quietly for him. "I... remember."

"Do you really?" Akihito asked. "I've often wondered, you know… you were so small when… everything happened. So young. Do you really remember her?"

"Very little, I'm afraid." Keigo sighed. "I remember the scent of her favourite perfume… and how she ruffled my hair when I climbed into her lap." He paused. "I remember standing and wondering why she would go to sleep under the ground and why everyone kept saying she couldn't come to me if she really loved me so much."

"…Keigo." Akihito sighed. He wasn't sure if he'd ever seen his son looking quite so… vulnerable. Certainly not in years, now. "I can't even imagine how that must have been…"

"Nah. That was the easy part," murmured his son. "Mamalie told me that when someone goes to Heaven, they can't come back however much they want to." He threw Akihito a sharp glance before adding, "What I really couldn't understand why my daddy couldn't be with me despite being right there, not somewhere up in the heavens."

"…I am sorry." Akihito lowered his eyes. Their conversations all seemed to lead to this point… but then, he did suppose it couldn't be helped. Obviously, this was a major obstacle to his having a normal relationship with his son. "If there is anything I can do to make up for it…"

"After ten years?" Keigo chuckled humourlessly. "Well, I can tell you a lollipop isn't going to cheer me up anymore."

"Then tell me what will." Akihito crouched down, uncaring about the wrinkles he was surely putting into his suit as he leant an elbow on the armrest of Keigo's chair. "I mean it, Keigo. I want to be a good father to you… but I can only do that if you let me." He looked at his son seriously. "So… tell me about yourself. Tell me about you like and dislike, and what you do with your time, and… and what I can do to be a part of your life."

"…Sure." Keigo glanced at him. "But, only if you answer a question from me first."

"Of course." Akihito frowned but nodded. He'd rather thought Keigo didn't want anything to do with him; what could there be for the boy to be curious about?

"Well… this morning, when I was getting ready for school, I heard a couple of the maids gossiping." Keigo paused. "About you."

"That is certainly nothing overly unique, I wouldn't think." Akihito found a smirk curling his lips. He might have defied his parents' traditional ways, but he was still every bit an Atobe. "Gossiping about the master of the house is a common pastime among the hired help, or so I've come to understand."

"That is rather my understanding, too… but it was the subject of their conversation that rather caught my attention." Eyebrows raised, Keigo was wearing a rather similar smirk as he looked at Akihito. "Apparently, the word is out that you have found yourself a lady friend."

"…Ah." Akihito blinked. Well. He probably should have expected that, but somehow… he hadn't. Certainly, he had known that Keigo would find out sooner or later, but… this was most certainly not the ideal manner. "I, well… that might not be entirely untrue." Then, it was almost impossible to stop gossip from spreading… especially when you were constantly surrounded by people, like he was. If no one else, the chauffeurs would know, as well as the security.

"…I see." Keigo's eyes flipped back towards the portrait of Elizabeth. "…And does this have anything to do with your suddenly awakened paternal feelings?"

"Only… indirectly." Akihito sighed. "Remember when I mentioned something about a co-worker talking about her son? Well, that would be the object of my interests."

"So you're aiming to be a better father to get her approval." Suddenly, Keigo's voice was very cold.

"No! No. No, that's not it." But how could he convince Keigo of it? "As I already told you… our conversations have merely made me realize the mistakes I've made. And I want to fix what I have broken, Keigo. I want to fix our family… what little there is of it."

For a moment, Keigo was quiet. Then, finally, he sighed. "I suppose… I'll just have to take your word for that." He stood up, Akihito's eyes trailing after him as he walked to the part of the shelves with plays. "I will give you a chance," he said, picking out a book from the shelf. "For Michael's sake, and for mother's sake. And I suppose it's none of my business what you do in regards to your love life, as long as it doesn't directly impact me."

"Sounds fair enough." Akihito nodded, standing up. "…If it becomes serious enough to have an impact on you, I will be sure to let you know." He… rather hoped it might. Isadora really was a most lovely woman. If there indeed was such a thing as love at first sight, he was hopeful enough to assume he just might have been given that particular blessing… twice in one lifetime, even.

"I would rather appreciate that." Keigo raised his eyebrows again. "So. What are your terms?"

Akihito did not need to ask what exactly Keigo meant. In at least some matters, their minds worked rather similarly. "At least three shared meals and one other social event a week," he said quickly. "For a beginning, in any case. It shouldn't impede either of our schedules overly much, but should also give us ample opportunities to actually get to know each other."

"Sounds reasonable." Keigo's lips twitched just a bit at the corners. "I might point out that when high school starts and I'm back to my usual training schedule, my mealtimes may be occasionally rather unorthodox, but then I should hope by that time we've already established further arrangements." Assuming this one didn't go to Hell before it. "What do you mean by 'social events'?"

"That would depend." Akihito shrugged. He supposed most people didn't handle spending time with their family like it were a business contract, but then it seemed to suit them both well enough. "Anything either of us enjoys. Concerts, perhaps theatre," he nodded towards the book Keigo was slowly flipping through, apparently searching for something, "occasionally sports. I mean, I wouldn't dream of facing you on the tennis courts, but I can ride a horse, and I suppose we are both rusty enough in fencing for it to be a roughly equal effort."

Keigo… actually laughed, at that. "Trust me, you do not want to face me on the courts," he said, smirking rather smugly. It was a peculiar expression, mainly reflecting Akihito's own self-satisfied smirks sometimes with just a hint of Elizabeth's most charming triumphant smiles. "Not unless you enjoy humiliation… or have somehow been hiding a pro career from me."

"Sadly, no." Akihito shrugged. "Of course, mere conversation would be an acceptable substitute for other activities on occasion, though I would suppose we both would prefer more stimulation than merely each other's company."

"You would be correct on that." Setting his finger on what apparently was the correct page, Keigo let the book fall almost shut, glancing at him. "And what do I get out of this?"

"A father," Akihito replied, then chuckled as Keigo merely raised his eyebrows again. "I also heard from the property manager you were talking about an indoor pool," he said. "I'm sure I would be able to find the space for one."

Keigo nodded. "I don't suppose you could help me acquiring a full pilot's license for the helicopter?" he asked lightly. "It is rather bothersome to always have to have another pilot with me."

"I'm afraid it's a legal matter, not something dependant on my approval," Akihito pointed out. "You simply aren't old enough yet. But I can get you a motorcycle."

"That's another age-dependant one, though," Keigo shot back. "I won't be sixteen for another year yet."

"Should give you ample time to find the perfect one, then." Akihito smiled, resisting the urge to shake his head. Helicopter! When he'd been young, he'd been perfectly content to wait anxiously until he got to drive a car. "If we were still in England, you couldn't drive one until you were seventeen."

"If we were in England, I could drive a car when I'm seventeen," Keigo replied dryly, opening the book again. "…Dinner today, to start off? I have no particular plans for the rest of the day."

"Sounds adequate." Akihito nodded. He was going to assume Keigo's suggestion also served as an agreement to his terms. "Bring your calendar, please, so that we might agree on the other occasions."

"I will."

Nodding again, Akihito moved towards the door of the library. He needed to check his own schedule for the week, too… and possibly reschedule an appointment or two to make room for his son. At the door, though, he paused. "…Keigo?"

"Yes?" he heard the slightly distracted reply. Apparently Keigo's attention had already gone back to whatever play it was he was reading.

"…You played beautifully last night."

There was no response even as he walked out of the room.

Suddenly, he was feeling almost… hopeful.