Title: Tambourine Rabu

Show: Tumbling/タンブリング

Rating: T

Pairings: Tsukimori Ryosuke/Mizusawa Taku, side Kiyama Ryuichiro/Tsuchiya Satoshi

Summary: A bit of serendipity keeps the boy's dream of Nationals alive. With new found relationship problems and sexual tension shatter this dream to pieces?

Disclaimer: Do not own this show or any of the actors within or their characters.

Tambourine Rabu

"Wild card?" the Karasumori High rhythmic gymnastics team yelled in unison. Kashiwagi smiled at them in that sheepish way, nodding his head.

"Actually the thing is…"

Shoko cut him off, stepping forward in that manner that demanded their intention. "One of the top two qualifying teams from Yokohama will not be competing. As such five wild card teams from different cities were chosen to compete for the last National team placing. The wild card competition will be held in two weeks and will be judged by the National board. Two of the competing teams scored in the 18 range so I suggest you improve your techniques."

"Uh hai, as Shoko-sensei said."

"Wild card? This means we still have a chance at Nationals, right?" Wataru asked. "Right, baba."

The woman's eyebrow twitched at the name that had become a term of endearment to the former Yankee. "Clean up your triple back hand spring or you won't have a chance," she huffed turning on her heel and leaving their changing room.

"Minna," Satoshi called in his excitement.

"A second chance!" Wataru yelled. "One last chance for us third years, we can still bring a reward to this school for the boys, and we'll rub it in the baba's face."

"Captain," Hino asked, from his spot on the couch. Yuuta looked at him before looking down at the ground.

"Minna, our dream isn't over yet," he whispered. "But we'll have to work twice as hard if we want to make nationals. We should start by cleaning up the triple and after words, if minna is up to the task adding a back tuck at the end of the pass."

Mizusawa nodded in agreement. "We need more advanced techniques and a back tuck would definitely boost us by a quarter of a point. However, to propel oneself into a back tuck we need more power after the third hand spring."

"Anou, sempai," Satoshi called, picking up a folder from his bag. They turned to look at the weak hearted boy with quizzical looks. "Actually when you were all talking about this being your last chance I decided to go look information on university teams. Because I don't think sempai should quit and many universities offer money to their athletes."

"Then we could all go to the same university and dominate," Wataru declared, wrapping an arm around both their captain and his best friend, Ryosuke. "Think of how many chicks you could pick up, Ryosuke."

Ryosuke was about to open his mouth to retort when Hino cut him off. "What are the qualifications to even be considered?"

Satoshi looked at his fellow second year, opening his folder. "A triple back hand spring is required."

"We've all mastered that," Wataru smirked. His mom had been worried about him after high school and she had plans for him to work at the bar but if he could get into university there would be no worries.

"Each candidate is also required to perform a back tuck, a full back flip…"

"Nothing I haven't done before," Wataru boasted.

"You also need a stag hand stand, but sempai here is where it gets complicated. You need a tumbling pass with a twist, either tuck or full body. Two controlled falls and a controlled fall out of a triple back, full body twist. Also, a spring forward tumbling pass." At this Wataru's face fell. He had lost Satoshi completely after he said back tuck, even Ryosuke and Kiyama were staring at the boy in confusion. Kaneko adjusted his glasses giving a nervous cough, while Yuuta looked uncomfortable.

"They're all upper level techniques. Universities don't expect you to perform them perfectly at try-outs but they expect you to perform them," Mizusawa clarified. He himself could only perform a few of those tricks, he was uncomfortable with controlled falls as they always turned into real falls.

"Let's get to practice," Yuuta decided. They would focus on wild card auditions now, not university. Wataru yelled at the boy to wait but Yuuta did not heed his path to the gym. The red-head continued to yell even as they entered the gym, alerting Shoko to their presence much to her annoyance. She wished just once they could enter the gym without the echo. Kashiwagi-sensei wisely told the boys to stretch so they could get to practice but Wataru was not ready to let the subject drop.

"Mizusawa has been practicing a new trick for sometime," Hino pointed out, stretching his arm to the left.

Said boy looked away from the prying eyes. "I just thought it would be something useful and I had started attempting it before Kanto but it's still not perfect. I'm getting the power but not the speed."

"Mizusawa-sempai, ganbatte," Satoshi cheered him on.

"Let's see it," his former crush pushed.

The boy looked at his friends before nodding and going to the edge of the mat. "Mizusawa, FIGHTO!" Nippori yelled, soon joined by Ryosuke and his other friends cheered him on. The girls turned their eyes to the quiet soft spoken boy as he took a deep breath. Running a few steps he dove into a round off, turning his body backwards for three quick succession back hand springs. The moment he felt his toes touched the mat he forced all his strength into his legs propelling his body forward. Pulling his legs to him he turned his body in the air in a tucking twist. His eyes found the ground and he almost thought he would succeed in the landing only to fall on his butt.

"That was amazing sempai," Satoshi awed, followed by sounds of approval from the rest of the team.

"Mizusawa," Shoko called. "Keep your body tighter on the back hand springs. On the twisting tuck keep your arms straight and they'll find the ground first and making the landing smoother. Try it again and do a forward tuck landing on the ground. Don't be afraid to hit the mat."

"Hai, sensei," he nodded, going back to his starting point. Taking another deep breath he began running once again diving into his starting pass, this time when he propelled his body forward in a simple forward tuck he felt it was to simple and easily slammed to the ground on his hands and toes before rolling into a somersault to his knees. She nodded in approval, the girls clapping theirs with smiles.

"Perfect that first and then move onto the twist. Back to practice."

Yuuta smiled to his friend, patting him on the back. "Hino. Mizusawa. Both of you work on the twist layout and we can add that to the first pass. It will boast our level of difficulty for sure."

"Let's not be wimps," Wataru declared. "On our group pass let's add the back flip. Nippori. Ryousuke, I'll teach you guys."

"Wataru, you can't just say 'let's do it' and then we can. If we were to add that element our forms and movements would have to be perfectly synchronized even in the air. A back tuck would be much simpler to choreograph. "

"Besides that, Kiyama-san's wrist is still healing and Nippori and I had enough trouble getting the power to before the triple back," Kaneko fretted, fiddling with his glasses.

"HEY WHAT'S THAT TALK?" Nippori yelled. "If Aniki says we can do it then we can do it."

"Minna, perhaps you should work on the leg lifts," Kashiwagi interjected. "That way no one is hurting themselves or having to use injured limbs." The 8 boys nodded taking their places on the mat.

Yuuta counted them off before they lifted their right legs back into their balance. "4...5...6..."

"Hold it till 11," Shoko called over to them, immediately startling some of them off balance. "National level teams can hold the arabesque for five seconds, you are normally holding it for 3."

"Oi, baba, what are you going on about? Speak in Japanese."

"It's the proper term for the leg lift segment," Hino answered. "It's an arabesque, and sensei is right, we should hold it longer. Captain?"

"Ah, we need to match National level. Let's go again. Ready? 1..2..3.." their arms swept forward before lifting their legs back into the graceful pose. "4...5...6..."

"Kiyama-sempai lift your leg a bit higher. Nippori, ganbatte, you can do it," Satoshi cheered on.

"11.." Yuuta counted, lowering his leg. "Satoshi, how did it look from where you were standing?"

"It's look good, sempai," he smiled.

"Oi, don't sugar coat, we have another chance to get at those Washizu bastards we need to be perfect," Wataru yelled.

"Anou," Satoshi muttered with a weak smile. Walking over to them he went to Kiyama first. Putting one hand on his chest and the other on his back he told Kiyama to not lean forward to gain the leg height. "You want to bring your leg up without tilting forward. Ryosuke-san, you tend to be a little to tense in your arms. You want to be strong but not stiff. Wataru-san, you need to point your toes, you as well Nippori and Kaneko-san."

They nodded. "Again," Wataru cheered. "We'll drew the basics until we get it perfect down to the toes. Yuuta!" he put his fist out to the captain who bumped it.

-o-o-o-

"Taku," the head of the Mizusawa addressed his youngest son. "How is your gymnastics?" It was stiff, the way he asked, but Mizusawa knew his father was trying.

"We'll be auditioning for a wild card spot in Nationals, and I am also thinking of auditioning for Aomori University, they have they best rhythmic gymnastics team in Japan."

"And does the other situation still stand?" he asked a little uncomfortably.

"Yes, father," he nodded, not really liking this choice of subject.

"Perhaps we should attempt a meeting with a nice young man as opposed to those young ladies," his mother suggested making him blush. "But I'm not sure how to tell if a young man is inclined to other men."

"Mother," he blushed, looking down at his rice and pickled vegetables. His elder sister chuckled at the predicament her sibling had found himself in.

"I know of someone so inclined. He's 3 and half years older than Taku and he's single. He's plays baseball so you know he is fit. You like a toned body, Taku," his sister teased. The boy turned redder than his pickled radish and set down his chopsticks.

"I'm going to go to the gym. Okaa-san dinner was delicious. I will be back before 24:00," he bowed, grabbing his gym bag and running out the door. He had come out to his parents last year after their continuous match making and omiai attempts had failed. There was no other choice but to tell them he was attracted to the same sex. To his surprise they did not shun him, but said it was rather expected and partially blamed it on his gymnastics. He choose to ignore this for thanking them for being understanding. While his father continued to try and set him up with females the man was slowly coming to terms that no female would suit his child's tastes.

Taking the stairs two at a time he opened the doors to the gym surprised to see it was not empty. Wataru's best friend ran across the mat attempting a full back flip with a half twist. Mizusawa cringed as he fell on his side not having enough speed to make the rotation. The dirty blonde banged on the mat, cursing to himself before going back to the edge of the mat and trying again.

"Ryosuke?" Mizusawa called, dropping his bag. The former yankee looked back at him sighing.

"I was hoping I would be alone."

"What are you attempting?"

"I was watching videos and I saw this move at the triple back that I wanted to try. It was from a 2005 university finals, first place team. They did the triple back into a full back flip and somehow landed facing forward and roll out into a splits."

"Oh," he nodded. "It's a barely noticeable turn. When they do the back flip they add extra power and just turn their body half way through the move. You have natural talent, Ryosuke, if anyone can pull that off you can. I'll coach you through it."

"Can you do it, Mizusawa?"

"I've never tried it before. I can if you would like," he smiled kindly. Sliding off his shoes and jacket he walked onto the mat. He walked to the corner and raised his arm above his head. Diving back wards he pushed himself into back hand spring after back hand spring keeping his body stiff and his knees together. Pushing off the mat hard he arched his back into a full back flip not with one rotation but two. Half way through second time through the air he turned so that he was facing the mat and rolled forward before he hit it. He jumped up not believing he had just pulled that off himself.

"Now tell me how you did that," Ryosuke demanded.

"It's a double back flip."

"Double?"

"You need enough power to get high in the air and flip backwards at least one and a half time. When you go into the back flip bend your knees further to give you more spring and keep you back arched."

Nodding Ryosuke walked to where he would be during the group pass. Raising his arm he attempted the triple back with a one and a half back flip, a half rotation added to that. He cursed as he crashed to the mat to early. "Fuck," he seethed before running back to attempt it again. After five failed attempts and five obscenities later Mizusawa decided to take a more hands approach.

"Bend your back like this," he ordered, pushing Ryosuke's body into the right positions. "Arms at your side and keep your eyes open. Once you see the floor the second time turn your body so you're facing it again and just roll."

Sighing he went to his starting point again, raising his arm. "Ryosuke, you're the one with natural talent at gymnastics. If you can't do it, neither can I."

"Baka you just did!"

"That's not what I mean. Don't think, just do. Like you always do."

"Don't think?"

"Don't think," Mizusawa nodded. Closing his eyes Ryosuke raised his arm before taking a deep breath and diving backwards. Before he knew it he was in the end splitting position, eyes wide in disbelief. "You did it!" Mizusawa cheered. Ryousuke jumped to his feet pumping his fist into the air.

"Hell yes," he cheered loudly, grabbing Mizusawa into a one armed hug. "Mad skills."

"Natural skills," Mizusawa agreed. Ryosuke pulled the other boy tighter to his side, ruffling his head playfully going between congratulating himself and thanking the other. Somewhere between the constant boasting and ruffling of Mizusawa's hair the two found themselves splayed out on the thick practice mat that had tangled the feet. The tough boy lay over the outed homosexual staring down at him. Until this moment Mizusawa had not unnatural thoughts about his friend. Yet, having the other's body pressed against him and his face so close, their breaths mingling; it was triggering that little tingle in his spine. That flip in his stomach he had felt when he would see Kiyama.

Without thinking he pulled the other boy down, sealing their lips together. A alarm went off in his head when not only did Ryosuke NOT push him away but kissed him back; hand threading through his hair to his nape. Ryosuke's other arm went around Mizusawa's waist pulling him closer. When Mizusawa gasped he was surprised to find Ryousuke's tongue swirling around his own, teasing his own. He couldn't believe this was happening. He couldn't believe he was laying on the mat, in the gym, making out with the person that hurt him most when he was outed. Maybe it was the adrenalin. Maybe there was some strange haze, either way he wasn't going to pull away.

A moan broke them apart almost immediately, he wasn't sure who moaned but the moan brought them back to their senses. Ryosuke stared down at him for a moment, his eyes going wide as saucers. Fast as lightning he untangled himself from the other boy running to gather his things. "Uh..thanks for the help..see you tomorrow..bye…" he called, more like yelled, before running out of the gym.

That night Mizusawa's dreams were filled with the adrenalin filled kiss. A part of him wished there could be more in the future and he knew that any remaining crush he had on Kiyama was now gone.

-o-o-o-

"Where's Ryosuke-sempai," Satoshi asked, looking around at the changing boys. Mizusawa pulled his shirt up to cover his blushing face. He would die if last night's happening got to the team. He didn't want them to think he was attracted to them all, he really wasn't. There was no denying he still thought Kiyama attractive but that was it. Besides he no longer had a crush on Kiyama just…

"Ryosuke called me last night. Hooked up with one of his girlfriends late last night," Wataru told them. "He'll probably be crawling out of bed late, he usually does when he's up all night." Nippori 'woo'd with his aniki while Kiyama sighed telling the few confused boys not to worry about it. Fully dressed Satoshi sat down on the couch next to his favorite sempai. "What was Ryosuke doing that kept him busy?" he innocently asked.

"You'll find out when you get a girlfriend," Kiyama answered, ruffling the kid's hair.

"Ohayou," Ryosuke mumbled, entering the club room, his hair and clothes messy and ruffled. He froze as he caught sight of the still changing Mizusawa. The other boy looked at him for a brief second before turning away to stare intently into his locker. Shaking it off Ryosuke slumped down the stairs collapsing onto the couch.

"Oh-ho, which girl was it this time?" Wataru teased. "Maki-chan?"

"Namiko-chan?"

"Tsumiya-chan?" Wataru and Nippori named off, poking at their friend.

"Veronica-chan," he whistled. The two other's made 'oh' sounds, patting their friend on the back.

"The girl from America, how exotic. She must have been fun."

"Loads of it," he winked, pulling out his phone when he felt it vibrate. "Already wanting more," he winked, closing his phone. Kiyama's eyes narrowed slightly as he had seen the message on the phone and wondered what Ryosuke was playing at.

"I'm going on ahead," Mizusawa called, closing his locker.

"Wait up," Wataru called, jumping over the armchair and following the boy out. In all it took less than five minutes for the locker room to clear out leaving only Kiyama and Ryosuke left to get changed.

"What's going on," Kiyama bluntly asked.

"Nothing, I was with a girl and got up late."

"A girl that sent you a text message calling you a 'jerk for calling the wrong name' and how she never wanted to speak to you again? You don't seem like the type to slip up on names…"

"I got careless, it happened, I have back-ups."

"And what does Mizusawa have to do with this?"

"Why would you think Mizusawa has anything to do with my calling the wrong girl's name during sex?"

"Normally you greet him by knocking on his head or his shoulder, but today you completely avoided eye contact with him. Does this have to do with his 'inclinations'? You see something you'd rather forget? Perhaps him kissing another male? Did you call him disgusting again?"

"Ch' if anyone's disgusting it's me. I kissed him. More or less we kissed last night."

Kiyama swore he felt his jaw fall to the floor, which was a new reaction for him. "On the lips…?"

"I had my tongue down his throat, that what you wanted to hear?" Ryosuke shouted, slamming his locker shut. "I had Mizusawa pinned to the mat, shoving my tongue down his throat. My fucking body even reacted to it. If anyone is disgusting it's me for getting turned on by another guy."

"You really are a moron aren't you? Because he's gay you treat him like a girl? Kiss him and then throw him away? I politely turned down his feelings, it was a shock to me that he had a crush on me but it didn't bother me. People have crushes, he's no different from anyone else. People get crushes and they are attracted to people. If you didn't intend the kiss to happen apologize to him in private and simply tell him you don't want that kind of relationship. Don't be a prick and go have sex with some girl and flaunt it in front of him."

"Look, I'd rather not admit this happened. I'll just forget all about it. We're friends, nothing more. I don't want that kind of relationship and that is that, now can we get to practice," he sneered, practically tearing the door off it hinges. Both former thugs froze at the boy leaning against the wall that was obviously distraught.

"Yu-Yuuta asked m-me to g-get my no-notebook for Sa-satoshi," Mizusawa sniffled.

"Mizusawa.." Ryosuke whispered.

"It never happened," he smiled pathetically. "I don't want you to be disgusting like me, Tsukimori. Please excuse me," he bowed, pushing past them.

Grabbing Ryosuke by his pink shirt collar Kiyama dragged him to the gym before he could say another word. "You've fucked up royally, lets not make it worse."

Back in the clubroom Mizusawa hugged his notebook to his chest, sliding down the wall with shuddering sobs. He was done causing people trouble, done. Pulling out his phone he texted his sister telling her to let him meet that baseball guy. For once he wanted someone to look at him for who he really was and smile at him. Love him back and not think him disgusting.

-chapter 1 owari-