Current mood:

drained

Title: Untitled
Type: Fanfic
Genre: Angst, I guess.
Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me.
Word count: 1053

A Tenjou Tenge fanfic for beckymarie, because she wanted TjTg fanfic and who am I to deny her? ^__~ Besides, this fic was born from the questions she was asking about the series (or more specifically the Takayanagi family). Untitled, because I can't think of one. Suggestions please?

This is from Mitsuomi's PoV because he was the one who kicked his father out of the house. He was the one who killed Shin. He's at the center of becky's questions. So.

I don't think I got his personality down well... Part of the problem comes from the fact that he was so unbelievably different before. Before what, I can't really say, because there isn't a specific incident. There wasn't a final straw that broke the camel's back. It's like, at the hospital he was still the younger, gentle Mitsuomi and then when he appeared at the school battle (forgot what it's called ^^;) the next day he was already Mr Ice Cube. Then he steps out of the stadium and collapses into Mana's arms and you see an exhausted, gentler Mitsuomi who's so hurt and raw. Difficult to write, so I just settled for a rather stiff tone of voice which totally drained me. More then a thousand word. Yippee, my longest fanfic to date. I've read through it a couple of times, but it isn't making sense to me anymore... I'll edit it again, when I'm in the mood to. Heh.

Edited: Oh and spoiler warnings for all who haven't read the manga.

Until then...

"Gentle? Me?" I had laughed. "You'd be even more surprised by my younger brother, Mana-san," I had told her, a long time ago, before things had gotten out of control.

How true that was.

Masataka was gentle. I remember the first time I saw Masataka walk. "Onii-san!" he had burbled cheerfully as he made his way into my open arms. Such a trusting, beautiful child. I, who was still a toddler myself at that time, had always behaved like I was much older wherever Masataka was concerned. The protector. The saviour. I was the elder son, I was to inherit everything the Takayanagi name stood for. I had to uphold everything, not just for my family, nor the Twelve Families, but for everyone I knew. That had been pounded into my young mind before I was old enough to understand what it meant. I was the Takayanagi scion, and that was it. Masataka should have been spared. He could have led as normal and peaceful a life as one from the Takayanagi main family could live, until I lost my life. Masataka will have take over when I finally die, and I have a duty to make sure Masataka will be ready. Masataka's gentleness has made him weak. I have to kill it, just as Shin had killed mine.

Ah, Shin... How can I even begin to describe the time together with Shin? The time I spent in Team Katana had been mostly idyllic. Even at the end of Team Katana, I had still held this fascination with Shin, strengthened by Maya's presence. Both the elder Natsume siblings had had an aura around them, a strength that had drawn me towards them, as helpless as a moth attracted to the light of a raging bonfire. It had, strangely enough, blinded me temporarily to the responsibilities I held, despite Shin's constant reminders about power and status. "Ah," I had probably subconsciously thought, "I'm still young. I have time. I love Shin and Maya. The family and my responsibilities can wait."

Then it happened. My father, my old, foolish father had finally pushed Shin too far. He should never, ever have had Maya tricked, beaten and raped. He wanted Shin to go mad. He wanted Shin to completely lose control. He wanted Shin to turn into the monster he had been desperately trying to suppress. My father knew of Shin's feelings for Maya. Everyone did. No one who ever hurt Maya would be spared from his wrath. My father had a plan to bring darkness down upon us, so that the True Warrior would emerge. Everyone though it would be me, but we'll never find out if they were right. Shin is dead now, killed. Not by me, as I have let Maya believe, but my father. He was the one who set Shin on the accelerated path to destruction. I was simply trying to salvage the situation, but Maya will never believe me. Let her hate me. That hate is useful to me. My old, foolish father. I should have been around to stop him. That I was too young is no excuse. That it was beyond my control too, is false. There were so many warning signs, but caught up in the tangled web of Maya's confusion, and mine, I ignored them. I chose not to see them.

That fatal fight with Shin was my way of tying up a loose end. It had to be brutal. There had to be no doubt at all that I was stronger then Shin, if I were to take over the Enforcement group and use it's powers. I had already decided my father had to go. He would never willingly step down, so I had to remove him by force. He had told me before, mockingly, "You are inefficient." I felt no pleasure when I threw the words back in his face, watching him crumble, only anger at what he had put Maya through. It was also painful for me... Because I had to make Masataka leave too. He had to grow. Had I kept him with me, he would remain the gentle, silly boy he was when he was still a child. He would never have grown strong enough to take over my position as head of the Takayanagi Group when I finally die. He had to grow up if he was to survive. I was secretly pleased to hear Maya had taken over the Jyuukenbu, and even more so when I heard Masataka had been taken under her wing. I don't think there is anyone else more suitable to bring him to maturity, and to have the woman I love taking care of him seems to me a fitting irony. Having Masataka live with our father... It will be a good lesson for him. There is no place for weaklings at the head of the Takayanagi Group, and what better way for him to learn then to live with one who has been ousted? I wonder if he has realised this yet. He will be the head of the family someday, and that day will come soon. He has to be ready by then.

Many people have called me cold and callous, but those people are ignorant. My father had no right to play god, to put innocents through the hell he created. It was poetic justice when it blew up in his face. The hell he created would not have been satisfied with just his life, and it was my responsibility to stop it. I am the head of the Takayanagi Group. I am a warrior. I have my responsibilities, and I will not abandon them again. I have learnt my lesson at a very high cost, paid by myself and others around me. It will not be in vain. I will not let Masataka have someone do to him what I had to do to our father.

He will understand why I had to do what I did someday. I trust that he will. He does, afterall, bear the Takayanagi family name. He is stronger then he thinks he is. The blood that flows through his veins is in no way inferior to that which flows through the demon exorcist's. He will understand, and succeed where our father and I have failed.