Author's Note
Wrote this one day when I was exceptionally bored. You know how writing is something that you can only truly do when inspiration strikes? This... was not one of those times, unfortunately. It's raining out, and I'm stuck on campus, in a building, waiting to see if the rain will let up. It probably won't, but... I digress. The point is that this was written poorly, and I apologize. If it ever strikes me one day, I'll return to this and rewrite it, because I feel like it could be good. I just need the right inspiration.
To all those who are following the Bells series: Don't worry, I'm still working on that. Whoops, I think I just gave away more than I wanted to... Oh well! The news would've come sooner or later!
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi, and no one else.
Fuji stared at him from afar.
The rest of the regulars surrounded him, each saying their goodbyes and presenting him with their final gifts. The youngest member of the team was leaving today, leaving them behind as he soared ahead to farther heights. The sky invited him, his skill and talent his wings to carry him. The tensai did not need to glance out the window to know that not a single cloud dared to stand in the way of the sun.
The memories came rushing back. The first day that Fuji had laid eyes on him, it had been a warm and sunny day, white fluffy clouds floating lazily in the sky. The image was pure, innocent… Completely boring. There was nothing remarkable about the day… Nothing, until he had arrived. He'd flown in like a cyclone, a god upon his nimbus, and had taken the Seishun Gakuen tennis club by storm. It had shocked the club when Tezuka-buchou had allowed him to participate in the ranking matches. It had blown them all out of the water when he earned his right as a regular with straight wins. Nothing could dampen the light that shone out of his golden eyes. Not even storm clouds.
It had been dark and stormy the first time they had played one another. Up until then, he had been nothing special to Fuji, just an exceptionally skilled first year tennis player. But that game opened Fuji's eyes to him. That undying strength, the want to be more. The desperate need to climb, to conquer, to soar. The fighting samurai spirit that drove him. Playing against him gave Fuji a thrill that he hadn't ever felt before, not even while playing against Tezuka. He was a mystery… One to which Fuji had irresistibly been drawn.
From then on, he had gotten to know the mysterious rookie. He had so many different sides to him, so many different faces. He was a constant puzzle, a delight, a confusion, a miracle. Even now, after a year of playing alongside him, Fuji did not know what the boy was really like. On the court, he was snarky and arrogant. Off the court, he was quiet and reserved. He could be incredibly loud and obnoxious, such as when with friends, or he could be soft-spoken and gentle, like he was with his beloved cat. It was like the ever-changing sky… It was never the same twice.
"Fuji-senpai? Are you okay?"
Fuji snapped out of his reveries to realize that those golden eyes were now focused on him. On his own azure eyes. They were so different… Gold, like the last bursts of light before the sun dipped below the horizon, a light to constantly be chased after. Blue, like the calm of the sky before night fell. They were like the sun and the moon, destined to be apart. It was a miracle they'd had the opportunity to meet each other in the same lifetime.
Fuji walked calmly towards the boy wordlessly. He was empty-handed, he had no gift to give. It wasn't that he wished not to give him anything. Quite the opposite, Fuji was desperate to make a lasting impression of himself upon the boy's memory, to give him anything that would keep him and their time together close.
But alas, no gift was great enough. There was nothing he could give that would signify his feelings.
"Echizen… I…"
"Flight XXX from Narita to New York, departing in XX minutes. All passengers, please board."
The announcement interrupted the group's farewell. "Ah, Echizen, that's your flight!" Momoshirou said, picking up the last of Ryoma's things and urging him towards the gate.
"Take care of yourself, Echizen!" Oishi called. Kawamura nodded alongside him.
"Unyah, ochibi!" Kikumaru shouted, on the verge of tears. He was itching to hug the boy just once more before he left.
"98% chance Echizen would miss the flight if you were to hug him again, Kikumaru," Inui read, his notebook nowhere to be seen for once.
Kaidou hissed gently from beside the bespectacled data player. "You'd better not lose, Echizen," he said gruffly.
Tezuka put a hand on the shoulder of Seigaku's baby boy. "Yudan sezu ni ikou," he said quietly, receiving a nod in response. And with that he was off towards the gate.
Fuji watched that retreating back. The back of the boy he had first ignored, then had been fascinated by. Fascination turned into obsession, but that was then replaced by a need to know the boy, to be close to him… To the boy who was now leaving him behind without a word.
"Wait…" Fuji said quietly, frustrated at himself. "Wait… Echizen…" He said louder. Tears welled up in his eyes, and his vision blurred. Damnit, why couldn't he do anything?
"Ryoma!" he shouted.
"Che."
He looked up, blinking back surprised tears. There in front of him stood boy wonder, a smirk on his face. Ryoma reached up and grabbed the white hat that sat atop his head. He lifted it from his emerald locks and pulled it down over Fuji's honey-brown hair. It slid to the side.
"Ryoma…" Fuji said. The words suddenly started pouring out of his mouth, as though a flood gate had been broken. "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything. I didn't know what to get you, nothing seemed good enough. I wish that I hadn't wasted any of the time I had with you, and I wish that we could just go back to the beginning… But I know that it's hopeless. We're just so different, we could never really be… together. So even though I want you to stay here with me, I know that I have no right to ask you to stay. You have so much potential, you shine so brightly, you could soar to the ends of the sky and win it all, with nothing to hold you back. Compared to you, I'm just… I.."
Fuji's rant was cut off.
"Mada mada dane, Syuusuke," Ryoma said quietly so no one else could hear. "Even the sun and the moon meet sometimes." And with that, he was gone.
The sun shone brightly the next day. Fuji sat in his room, staring out the window. It had been half a day since the flight had left… Fuji wondered if he had landed yet.
His phone buzzed next to him, jolting him out of his thoughts. Pulling the device out of his pocket, he flipped it open to read the text.
"Fuji-senpai,
Did you know the moon is as beautiful here in New York as it is in Japan? That's because the sun and the moon that I see here are the same as the ones you see in Japan. Besides them, there are billions of stars that are always in the sky… They're always there, even if you can't see them. Just like you. Even though I can't see you, I know that you're right here with me, because you've given me a greater gift than you can imagine. So thank you, Syuusuke… for your heart. Know that you have mine too. I'll be back. I promise."
The sun shone brightly that day. But Fuji no longer paid any attention to that. Instead, he waited for the next solar eclipse. The next time they would meet.