The Child of Tennis - Yukimura

So I dropped off the social radar for a while. I think I started getting a bit more cautious about what I post and what I don't. Anything on my public accounts have become quite neutral and lacking as little personal information as possible. Not that I said much to them before, but there's even less now.

But honestly, there's been so little in my life, that I've had nothing to say. I've not been very busy. I still exercise, go out and do something every now and then. But I spend most of my time in that hospital with Min-chan or on the Rikkai high school courts. Their footwork is dreadful, it's amazing they even qualified for Districts.

I made a decision, though. After July, I'm going back to tennis. Minoru's pretty much guaranteed to be in hospital full-time now and she ordered me to return, because she's fed up of seeing me everyday. So that's something to train for, I suppose.

-Seiichi

So...Min-min relapsed a week back. She hasn't gotten any of her limbs back into use, yet. I've been delaying it as much as possible for her sake...but she's gone into full-time hospital care now. She says that I could return back to the circuit now that I don't have to look after her at home, but I couldn't do that to her. She hasn't got many of her old friends around her. And having me visit only every two weeks or so? With sparse phonecalls? I couldn't do that to her.

I only remained sane because my team were always visiting. Even one or two days with next to no human contact except doctors? It's difficult. I can't just leave her, not for these first couple of months, anyway. With any luck, she'll get well enough to be released back into home-care soon.

I'm just tired on so many fronts.

Thank you for your wellwishes! My presents from fans has filled my garden and house! It's rather humbling and overwhelming to behold. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart. Minoru is appreciating the fact that she can eat all of my chocolate and I can't, so the fans made her happy too >>;

I got another huge surprise, this morning, however. My mother showed up on the doorstep of my house after nearly...four years of not really seeing her in person. To say I was surprised, would be something of an understatement. She looked okay, but as messy and unorganized as ever. I was sort of curious, as to why she'd remembered my birthday this year, but turns out she was only just replying to my message about Minoru's illness. Again, this mixed feeling between laughing and crying, considering I sent that message two and a half months ago. Why does she do this to me?

And she gets talkative when she's drunk, apparently. She started talking about why she had gotten so distant all of a sudden, when I was a kid. An explanation I would have liked a few years ago, frankly. And, it was perhaps a huge shock to discover that my father had been something of a womanizer and had been cheating on her behind her back with several women. In fact, he'd actually managed to have a kid with one of them, when I was two years old. Guess who's winning best parenting award? :D That's right, not this guy.

But I grew less impressed with her, if that's even possible, because when one of your partners is a shitty parent, you're not supposed to mimic his actions. You're supposed to pick up his slack or stay the same, not neglect the kids even more. I swear, if I ever have kids, the only way I'll drive them insane is over too much affection and trying to train them to take over the world.

Anyway, she knew the identity of our half-brother and figured out when I was seven...but didn't bother to mention this to me, yet again. Do I have to get her drunk every time I want important information? "Happy birthday, you have a half-sibling, who've you've actually been aware of for most of your life." Brilliant tact. But in any case, Dan-kun! We're half-siblings :) Hi~ I'm assuming you were as clueless as I was?

Not quite sure what to make of this, but I'm going to look on the bright side and hit my father so hard when I next see him that he's going to hit a wall :D That ought to cheer me up a bit.

-Faithfully yours, Seiichi

The show I starred in is airing the season's first episode today on NHK~ Tune in if you're interested in some darker, crime stories. It's very well filmed, from what I saw before it hit the cutting-room floor.

Minoru's having another relapse. It's painful to watch. I'm growing more desensitised to it, and more efficient about helping her deal with it...but it's taking too long for my liking. And she's still so scared when it happens. I guess I should be happy that she isn't at that stage where she's stopped caring, like I reached when I was in hospital, because that means that she hasn't been suffering very long..but. I hate this. I hate it. I hate feeling useless....

I did my fair share of bad things as a kid, but what did she do to deserve this?

-Seiichi

It's funny, how these things happen. My mother called today wanting to spend the New Years with us.....around five days too late. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry or just hang up. I told her she'd missed the date and that Minoru was out with her friends anyway, grabbing some freedom days before the next term starts. I hope mother's been eating. But if she's forgotten what day it is, I doubt it. Scientists! Never know what to do with them! Still haven't heard from father. I might just march down to his office and shake him. Or chuck tennis balls at him.

But I've been managing to get some free time, since Minoru's out with friends and filming is on hiatus while everyone returns from holidays. Spent some time with my plants, and I painted some landscapes. I went out to Tokyo street centre and did some paintings of the urban scene and some temples. It was lovely, though I had to ignore the people there, since they wouldn't stand in one place for me!

I had some time to think to myself though, and I've been tossing around ideas for that little miracle of mine. Tell me Echizen, does your father ever enter competitions with magazines and newspapers to win things or go places? Or would you or someone close to you?

-Seiichi

And Minoru just had a mini panic fit, when she couldn't move her legs and almost fell down the stairs. I didn't need this now! I've got her back in bed and resting, though she's complaining of being bored. I threatened to read her a story like a kid, if she didn't cooperate a little, just because she always gets lulled to sleep by that.

Damnit. I really hope this is a temporary thing, like my smaller pains were. I have so many places to be and if this fit lasts, I may have to cancel some so I can stay and make sure she's looked after.

Mother finally responded to my email about Minoru, which I did send almost a month ago, with obviously distracted platitudes. I understand that my mother's science research is important, but she can afford to come back to Tokyo to come and see her daughter. It's not tough. I put my career on hold for Minoru, the least she can do is spare a couple of days to make a visit.

And Father isn't much better either. He still hasn't responded, and I don't know how preoccupied he can be. He's in PR, he has to check his emails! Maybe something happened to him and mother didn't inform me....? But no, even she can't be that bad. He's probably just too busy for me. And don't they even talk to each other anymore or something? Isn't this something that mother would tell Father or vice-versa?


This is why I hate dealing with them. They're so frustratingly occupied with their jobs and it makes me wonder why they even bothered to have kids in the first place. I only remember them being around regularly, both emotionally and physically until I was seven or eight, and far less than that for Minoru. Genichirou visited me in hospital more than they did!

First day of filming finished today. I forgot how exhausting it's supposed to be! It was faster today than it usually is, though, I'm reassured. I've heard that acting is 80% waiting and 20% doing, but today it was rather the opposite. But since we were filming really short scenes from my evil lair where I'm wearing the same thing, I guess they didn't have to do much scene changing.

My character has a snake as his pet and I spent half of my scenes with the snake trying to stop it from cutting off circulation to my arm! I think I might need to wear armour underneath my clothes to stop it from cutting in too much! On the other hand, Minoru got really excited by the reptile, so I could put up with some discomfort. She was laughing and all, when I was struggling between scenes. She's recovering her usual humour pretty fast.

The make-up people are pretty impressive though. They make me look quite different to myself, so I can actually pull off waist-long hair and not look strange. I give them props, that was cool. And my fears about co-actors being obnoxious were reassured. They're amusing to be around.

-Seiichi

I...I won't be participating in the first half of the tennis season this year. Maybe longer. I'm sorry Tezuka, it looks like our showdown may have to be delayed for a while yet. And I'm sorry to you Echizen, Kazuya, since I won't be able to have any official rematches with you two either.

I suppose I owe an explanation for this. It seems auto-immune disorders run in the family. My little sister Minoru has Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. I knew there was something wrong with her! I just knew it! And it turns out she wasn't telling me this at all. I had to find out the hard way when she just collapsed in the middle of the street. I took her to the hospital and she was already a regular patient and everyone knew her by name just like they knew me. Imagine my surprise when they told me it was getting worse by the day and she is very likely to not be able to walk soon.

My parents can't look after her; they weren't even able to tell that there was something wrong with her in the first place. They were barely around when I was a kid and in the hospital, what's going to guarantee they'll be around for a quasi-adult? She needs someone more reliable to be there for a while, somebody who'll always be there. Or else you just go....utterly mad in a hospital when you can't do anything. You really do.

And it was a difficult decision to make...but I'm no longer the kid from ten years ago, who valued tennis above people. My family comes first. So, I'm sorry. I'll be back in Tokyo earlier than I expected. Minoru'll be living with me now. And I won't be leaving Japan for tournaments for quite a while. Not until she feels more comfortable about living with it. Since there's no cure for it.

( I'm cutting out my ranting for those who don't want to read it. )
-Seiichi

[ooc: Strikes deleted]

Paris Masters starts tomorrow...and I really should be asleep, but my sister called me and I now I can't really sleep because I'm worried. More and more nowadays, her voice has been sounding weird and she never used to call me voluntarily...now it's a lot more frequent.

Not that I'm complaining, I love actually getting a chance to talk to Minoru...but it's strange. Especially when she sounds sadder and sadder everyday. And she's about as open with things as a clam, so I can't pry them out of her over the phone.

...I just want everybody to be content with life, even if they aren't always euphoric. Is that too much to ask?