Surprises
Echizen Ryoma is not really one for surprises. Surprise parties, surprise messages, surprise plans... they usually don't sit well with the first year. He is a complicated person, to say the least, for while he treasures order and similarity, he wouldn't exactly oppose change (as long as it is good for him), he doesn't mind causing mayhem as long as he can watch safely from afar, and his tendency to forget names and people and places usually made him a stickler for planning ahead (or for planning at all, for that manner).
And true, when a worthy opponent graces him with some secret skill in a tennis match, complaining about the surprise is certainly not the first thing that comes to mind; he is much more likely to smirk, stare at his opponent with interested golden eyes, and slowly unleash his own potential in one explosive burst.
Of course, it is also true to form that Ryoma loves to surprise other people, to make them forget his height or his attitude or his age and to make them remember what is really important – his tennis.
Echizen Ryoma, we amend, is not really one for surprises, but there are exceptions (most of them having to do something with tennis, unsurprisingly).
We once mentioned that Echizen tended to be complicated; this is true, for he even had exceptions for his exceptions. Exceptions such as when he wakes up, nestled up to something warm and close and firm. He opens his eyes, expecting to see his beloved Himalayan nestled against him, before realizing that this time, the agreeable object is larger than any cat alive – even larger than himself. He opens his eyes, blinks several times sleepily, and makes out the sleeping form of Tezuka Kunimitsu and can hardly hold back the small sound of surprise that catches in his throat.
Although he is caught off guard every time (and Ryoma hates being off his guard), it is not a totally bad thing to be surprised about overall. And slowly but surely, those moments become the kinds of surprises Ryoma tends to love the best, tennis aside.
... no. Don't say anything. I already know. (goes off to sulk)
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