Title: So the Lady Fate Says
Author: isumi_ilde
Pairings: The Epitome of Kawaii-ness, TezukaFuji~
Genre: AU! Romance. Like, pure romance.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot of this fic. Tezuka and Fuji obviously owns each other and Konomi-sensei likes to play with them since he's an official TeFu fanboy. *is bricked*
Warning: What can I say…it's AU and it's pure romance. I apologize for the high probability of sap in this piece of crap—you've probably guessed as much from the title, ne? Also for the crappy grammar, because this is my first attempt writing something in present tense. Unbeta-ed, just because I'm too lazy to look for one. *is shot*
A/N:Happy Birthday, Tezuka-kun! Here's your second birthday fic from me. *is bricked*
Um, this fic is based on thallein 's fanart on LJ, I also dedicate this for her and I praise her for being such a genius TeFu artist. *hugs thallein-san* You should be Konomi-sensei's assistant and persuade him to make a TeFu doujin or something. XD XD XD
Formilkyxduckie , too, Happy Birthday!!! This one's also for a late birthday present from me, Tammy-chan. I hope we can talk more in the future, since apparently we have more in common than we thought. XD XD
By the way, where is everybody? Is the TeFu spirit starting to die?*weeps*
A Tennis no Oujisama Fanfiction
So the Lady Fate Says
The town library is unusually quite empty today.
Tezuka sets down the book he is reading and glances at the clock. Almost five in the evening, and there aren't many people left in the library, especially not in the reading area. Only six or seven people standing between the shelves, two or so sitting on the reading chairs, and of course, the librarian behind the desk.
He should be going very soon. His mother never likes it when he is late on picking her up from the flower shop where she works part time. Not that she'll get angry, but as a proper son, Tezuka feels it is his duty to not disappoint her.
He looks down at the book—Behind the Renaissance Glory—and decides to borrow it.
Tezuka stands and walks to the librarian desk—past an ordinary honey-haired young man who is busy sketching and a little girl reading a fairy tale book—and asks to borrow the book in his hand. The librarian looks up and grins at him.
"You come here a lot, sir—" a pair of grey eyes glides on Tezuka's name on the library card. "—Tezuka…?"
Tezuka just nods, not even bothering to correct that he is still much too young to be called 'sir', takes his book and leaves.
-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----
Fuji sighs, and glares at the fifth sketch he's done for the most last three hours.
He wonders if Ryuuzaki-sensei will approve of this one…
He refrains from banging his head onto the reading desk. He, Fuji Shuusuke, the famously and supposedly most genius student of the Art and Culture Department in his university, for once unable to understand what exactly does his old, female teacher wants for him to get a perfect score in her class. Ryuuzaki-sensei has returned to him his first three installments after scrutinizing each work for fifteen minutes, saying that no, Fuji's works still doesn't have the 'different color' that she asks for.
Fuji has no idea what the 'different color' is when sketches are all white and black. And Ryuuzaki-sensei never bothers to elaborate either.
"Oi, Fuji. We're about to close."
Fuji looks up dryly to find the librarian and his neighbor, Saeki Kojiroh. "Oh," is all he says, as he steals a glance at the clock. "It's time already? It's only six."
"It's Friday," Saeki deadpans. "Come on."
Fuji lets out a huff, and stands up. He is collecting his drawing tools when Saeki suddenly pipes up, "That book you returned this morning… is it really interesting?"
The honey-haired young man turns to look at his friend questioningly—despite working as a librarian, Saeki is not the type to read a history book. "The one titled Behind the Renaissance Glory?"
"Yeah, that one. It's got borrowed again this evening—real fast. Is it that interesting?"
Fuji just nods, reminding himself to buy a pack of wasabi sushi on the way home, collects his stuff, and leaves.
-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----
"I don't mean to be nosy, sir—just out of curiosity, why do you come here everyday in work days?"
Tezuka looks at the librarian as he takes back his library card—he has just returned the book he borrowed yesterday. "Just pastime," he answers curtly.
The librarian—Saeki, written on his nametag—offers him a sheepish grin. "And you are—a student? Tezuka-san?"
"The Law Department, yes." Tezuka looks around, and continues, "Does this library have a collection of bonsai-related books?"
"Yeah, it's on the botany corner. Shelves number 23 to 26." Saeki points at the furthest corner on his left. "Just call me if you need anything."
With a nod, Tezuka swiftly walks towards the section Saeki mentions. He scans the shelves for several moments, looking for interesting titles, and reaches a book that catches his eyes. Taking it out, he accidentally knocks down the book next to the one he takes.
The book falls down onto the soft carpeted-floor with a muffled thud. Tezuka blinks, and picks it up.
It's titled Theories on Cacti.
Shaking his head, Tezuka returns it to the shelf, before striding firmly to the law section. He needs to find a good book for the assignment he's working on.
-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----
Fuji closes his sketchbook, a bored expression adorning his androgynous face.
He still doesn't get it. He keeps sketching for days, but every time he shows his works to Ryuuzaki-sensei, the energetic old woman sighs after examining them carefully, and tells Fuji to look for other objects.
"Why don't you choose another place to sketch, anyway?" Saeki comments when he passes Fuji's place, pushing a cart with books on it. "Why the library?"
"Because different kinds of people come here and look for different kinds of books. You could guess about who they are merely by looking on what books they're holding. For example," Fuji nods at a fine, dark-haired young man wearing a pair of rimless glasses standing on the law section. "He could be a university student studying law. Or maybe he's interested in law. Or he's writing a thesis concerning law. There are so many possibilities just by looking at one obvious detail, I just thought I might get the 'different color' Ryuuzaki-sensei asked for…"
Saeki taps his shoulder. "Fuji, it's a library. Go take a look on some books."
And so, with a sigh, Fuji stands and takes his sketchbook, striding towards the botany section. Scanning the shelf, he smiles a little and takes the first book that catches his eyes.
It's titled Theories on Cacti.
-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----
It's four-thirty.
Tezuka finishes the book he's reading and looks around. The library is quite crowded today, so he deliberately has picked a seat right next to the window to get some peace, since several children has been brought into the library by their parents and are now playing somewhat a silent tag around the shelves.
A sweet scent greets his nose, urging him to turn around—and finds Saeki behind. The librarian is putting a new pot of lowers on the windowsill. Nodding once to return the grin Saeki gives him, Tezuka turns back his attention to book he is holding, and skims a few page back. There are several things he might have to put down on his note—
A figure flashes next to him, oh-so-gracefully that Tezuka's eyes automatically catches the movement and turns his head to have a better look of the figure.
A lean, small-built young man, with straight back that tells everyone he isn't as frail as he looks.
Silky-looking, honey brown strands crowning a nearly oval-shaped head and framing a soft, fair-skinned, androgynous face with a bored expression etched, telling everyone intending to bother him to back off because he's in a foul mood right now.
A sliver of bright, yet sharp cerulean-colored orbs peeking out beneath half-closed eyelids, looking straight ahead with rare confidence and strength.
Slender arms, with even slender fingers, holding a white sketchbook tight, as if it is the rarest object in Earth.
Slim legs, several centimeters shorter than Tezuka's, walking in even strides towards the librarian desk, graceful and elegant, and yet so natural it draws everyone's eyes on him. The young man has a friendly aura around him, only enough to keep strangers in a respectable social proximity unless for the ones who actually know him and is allowed to evade his personal proximity.
Oddly, Tezuka finds himself unable to tear his eyes away from the figure.
-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----
"I'm done for today." Fuji says, boredom lining his melodious voice. Saeki looks up from the books he's registering on the computer, raising an eyebrow at the famously-called Tensai.
"You are?" He doesn't even bother to hide the surprise in his voice. "How many sketch did you do today?"
Six slim fingers are raised, and Saeki snatches the sketchbook, barely mutters a "Let me see." As a childhood friend, Fuji never minds when Saeki looks at his sketches—finished or not. It is something Saeki is proud about, knowing the Tensai put such a trust on him.
Looking at pages after pages of the almost-full sketchbook, Saeki's smile slowly fades as he realizes something odd. All of the sketches Fuji drew—each one of them has the exact something, or rather, someone in it.
"Oi, Fuji," he calls, "Are you interested in Tezuka-san?"
A pair of confused cerulean eyes focuses on him. "Tezuka…who?" Fuji looks puzzled.
Saeki blinks, looks back at the sketchbook, feeling that it's too odd to be a coincindence, but then shakes his head.
"Nevermind. Why don't you try showing this whole sketchbook to Ryuuzaki-sensei instead of just one of the sketches?"
-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----
Fuji has given her the whole sketchbook and asked her if she found the 'different color' in one of the sketches.
Ryuuzaki Sumire knits her eyebrows—a sign of interest.
There is a figure, the same, exact one, that appears on each of the sketches Fuji did. A figure of tall, dark-haired man, with strong jaws and fine-built body, wearing a pair of rimless glasses and always, always a stern expression. The figure is drawn faintly at the first and early sketches—as if blending with the background—but on later sketches, his lines grow firmer—as if he is the main object.
"Fuji, who is this?"
A pair of sharp blue eyes looks at her in puzzlement. "Eh? I don't know…Some random person accidentally shows up on the scene I was sketching?"
Ryuuzaki raises an eyebrow in amusement. "He shows up in every sketch you did."
Fuji blinks and politely takes back his sketchbook, quickly scanning each one of his works. True enough, the same figure appears in every pages, usually just a bit off to the side. But… the same exact person? Fuji never notices…
"Why don't you try drawing him, Fuji?" Ryuuzaki suggests, smiling. "Maybe he has the 'different color' you have been looking for."
-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----
Again, Tezuka's eyes catches the figure on the librarian desk, talking animatedly with the librarian.
The same graceful movements, the same androgynous face now lit up beautifully with a cheerful smile, the same sharp blue slivers that peeks out from beneath the half-closed eyelids, the same silky-looking, honey brown strands crowning his head, the same sketchbook held in his hand—
A figure that captivates him at the first sight.
Tezuka has no idea why—or how—he keeps noticing the honey-haired young man. For the past week, he has noticed the young man comes to the library everyday, and all he does is sketching, and sometimes reads a book about cacti. He seems to be very friendly with the librarian—Saeki, is it?—too. They talk a lot, exchanging jokes and grins, and Tezuka oddly finds himself somewhat envious for the librarian.
Maybe he can ask Saeki about the man.
"Ah, Tezuka-san!" Saeki greets him later on, when he comes to the librarian desk with a book he intends to borrow. "Are you done already?"
Tezuka glances at the clock—it is only four, and he still has an hour left before he has to pick his mother, but he remembers that he needs to buy some new strings for his tennis racket. "Yes, I have something to do." He gives his library card and the book to Saeki. "If it's not a trouble, may I ask you something?"
With a smile, Saeki typed the code number of the book before scanning Tezuka's card. Returning them to Tezuka, he pipes a cheerful "Sure. What is it?"
"The brown-haired person who comes here often…" he trails off, and Saeki's face changes into one of a surprise as he let out a "Fuji?"
Ah, so that is his name. "I notice that he's always—"
"Excuse me," a melodious, velvety voice cuts in his query, and Tezuka almost stiffens, but he manages to turn around calmly. The bright smile that greets him renders him speechless, but the voice continues, "Tezuka-san, is it? There's something I'd like to ask you for help. Would you mind?"
Tezuka blinks, feeling the heat creeps up his face, but thankfully he manages to suppress it. "Ah…no." He says, but then realizing that he needs to get going. "But if it takes long…"
Fuji nods, his smile widens a bit. "Ah, I see you're about to go, right? Well, would you mind if we walk to the bus shelter together, then? We can talk on the way there."
Tezuka nods, motioning Fuji to walk ahead first. Nodding his goodbye to Saeki and watches Fuji waves goodbye to the librarian, he follows Fuji outside. The chilly wind of the end of autumn greets them as they stepped out of the building, and Tezuka turns to look at Fuji.
"Tezuka Kunimitsu." He offers his hand, silently thanking God that his voice works all the same. "Fuji-san, am I right?"
"Fuji Shuusuke," Fuji accepts his hand and smiles, lingering a while longer than necessary. "It's nice to meet you, Tezuka-san."
-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----
A/N: Should I… continue this? Or is it better to leave it like this? *headdesks*
Anyways, please do review! Constructive criticisms and enthusiastic reviews make me happy beyond reasons. Kindly keep the flame, it's too hot already in here. XD XD
Regards,
-isumi and ilde-