Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

Lady Monozuki: So as I was working on one of my stories, this idea came to me and I found it to be quite amusing. I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Complicated didn't even begin to describe the trouble he was having when it came to winning over the affections of Echizen Ryoma. In fact, when Fuji had first set his eyes on the young tennis prodigy, he thought that it would be a simple conquest. The bratty and generally anti-social nature of their super rookie had never once bothered him.

What he failed to account for was how much it would get in the way of him trying to win the heart over. It wasn't that he minded going to such lengths to get the attention that he desired, it was how long he had been trying that made him frustrated.

He often contemplated why he even liked the other since it was obvious the boy knew nothing about love or even liking someone to the extent where he continually acknowledged them outside of tennis. At first, Fuji thought it was simply because the other boy did not like his own gender. Then he found out from a careless slip that Ryoma never had any interest in girls because they were too high maintenance for his taste.

With that bit of hope, he tried again and was met with the same confused look. He never thought that what he did was confusing. He always considered his actions to be quite clear and so why Echizen would look at him in such a manner baffled him. From his perspective, he had done everything to show the other that he was interested in becoming something more than friends. He bought gifts for the other, made an effort to take the other out to events that he knew Echizen would like.

He often called or texted Ryoma and tried to get to know the anti-social member of their team better. In fact, he was the only one out of the Regulars who had gotten a dinner invitation. Yes, not even Momo had received one and he was Echizen's best friend. He wanted to laugh in complete irony. They called him a tensai and praised him for being one of the most perceptive members on their team. Yet for everything he was worth, he could not figure out what to do in order to win of Echizen.

By now, Inui was ridiculing him at his failed attempts and while he had sufficiently retained his title as a sadist, he wanted to know what the data master knew that he did not. Fuji watched the other head to the rooftop for lunch. He followed since it was another chance at trying to get Ryoma to go out with him. He opened the rooftop door and found the tennis prodigy sitting in the middle of the sun and eating quite peacefully.

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Betsuni," was the short reply.

He sat down and started to eat his food. There was complete silence among them. He was going through his mind, trying to find something that he had missed before. He frowned.

"What's the matter, Fuji-sempai?" Ryoma asked.

He stared into the eyes of Echizen and instantly forgot what the other had asked. His devil side was laughing at him for being so pathetic. After all, he had always been the one to ridicule clichés and laugh at love stories because there was no way that could happen. He was living the stories he used to mock. It was embarrassing.

"Echizen," he said. "I like you."

He wanted to bash his head against the wall for being so horribly cliché with his confession.

"I like you too, Fuji-sempai. You're a good friend."

His heart sank. Really, the other had no idea what he was talking about.

"That's not what I mean."

The other looked at him in confusion, a look that he had become far too familiar with.

"Then what do you mean?"

He tried to think of how to word it so that it didn't sound so cheesy. However, he knew that if he tried too hard that the other wouldn't get the message. He decided to be blunt.

"I want us to start dating."

Ryoma blinked at him, confusion still written all over his face. Now he was blushing. He felt embarrassed for asking such a thing.

"I thought we already were," Ryoma said finally.

It was his turn to look completely confused. He thought maybe he had heard Ryoma wrong. No, the boy clearly thought that they were already dating. He hadn't thought of that response because Echizen had not shown any signs of returning his affection.

"But you never showed any interested in me!" he protested.

"I thought it was obvious. I mean, you bought me gift and I didn't throw them away. You took me to theme parks, concerts, and video arcades and I didn't try to get out of them. You also came to my house for dinner and I went to yours. I thought we were dating."

"But you still call me by my last name with the honorific."

"That's because you didn't tell me to call you by your first name."

Fuji really wanted to smack himself. "Fine, since we're dating, you must call me Syuusuke."

"Then call me Ryoma."

He twitched. How could they have been dating without him knowing? He was a tensai! All of the sudden, he realized why Inui had ridiculed him. He really should've picked up on the signs sooner. He sighed. It was something that he could not control, but now…now he had other plans. He leaned in and kissed Ryoma softly on the lips. The other looked a bit surprised at first but relaxed and tried to return the kiss. He pulled away and smiled.

"You really are complicated," he muttered.

"Yet you like me," Ryoma countered. Really, there was no one else like Ryoma.

~End~