*Just a short note. I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters. If they do not appear in the Prince of Tennis then I created them and they are mine. This is my first story and I hope you like it. :) Enjoy, and have fun reading...also if you don't like BL then you may not want to read. ;)*
Ryoma yawned, pushing the cap further over his eyes he proceeded to fall asleep under the shade of the tree that offered little compensation from the heat of the summer.
"Oi, ochibi wake up your gonna be late for practice -Nya!" Kikumaru yelled as he ran past the napping boy to meet Oishi at the door of the locker room, throwing himself on his best friend they laughed as they entered the room to change for practice. Ryoma replied with a soft snore unaware of Kikumaru's warning he continued to sleep serenely.
"Echizen!" Ryoma groaned, slowly sitting up he straightened his hat before looking up with groggy eyes; the image of his captain suddenly snapped into focus. "Are you planning on joining us for practice?" he asked rhetorically as Ryoma jumped up grabbing his bag and running for the changing room; imagining the 50 laps Tezuka would give him if he were late. Yanking the door open he narrowly missed running face first into Fuji who had been about to leave the room. "Hmm, your reflexes have quickened." Fuji noted with a smile as he stepped back to allow his kohai to enter and change quickly for practice.
Dropping his bag Ryoma threw off his blazer and began to remove his undershirt that stuck to his body from his sweat in the summer heat. Stopping midway he glanced to his left to see Fuji still standing near the door staring at him with his icy blue eyes open. Feeling heat rise to his face he blushed at the look in Fuji's eyes, which only became more intense at Ryoma's innocent reaction. They both turned to see Inui walking from the shower area with his notebook in hand scribbling furiously. "Ii data," he stated as he walked past Fuji and Ryoma to the door. Opening the door he paused, "Tezuka has decided that anyone late to practice will have to drink my new Special Deluxe Inui Juice."
"Sa, Echizen, knowing Inui's drinks you'll be out for the rest of practice and I'll miss the chance to finally finish our match." Stated Fuji, closing his eyes and following Inui out to the courts. Paling from the thought of drinking anymore of those horrible concoctions, Ryoma threw off his school uniform and adorned his tennis uniform that distinguished him as a Seigaku regular. Grabbing his tennis racket he ran for the courts, completely dismissing the swarm of thoughts that had entered into his mind at Fuji's curious attention.
Running into the courts, Ryoma slowed to a walk as he joined the rest of the regulars for a pre-practice meeting with Tezuka Buchou and Ryuzaki Sensei. "Aa, Echizen! I thought you'd be late for sure; napping under the tree." Momo said smiling as he teasingly nudged his friend who came to stand beside him. "Yeah, I'll remember your kindness in warning me about being late for practice on the courts; Senpai." Said Ryoma smirking as he pulled his hat lower. "Ffffsssshhh, quiet Tezuka Buchou is about to talk." Came a voice behind them. Opening his mouth to retort and likely get in a fight with the team's resident viper, Kaidoh, Momo was interrupted by Tezuka.
"Alright, listen up." Stated Tezuka as he looked around at the other regulars. "We will be doing doubles pairings for the entire regulars today. Inui will call out your pairings and court number. Doubles two is our weakest area on the court. I expect all of you to take this practice seriously and put your best efforts forward." Turning to look at Inui, Tezuka nodded giving him the okay to take over from there.
"Also, those who lose will be drinking my new Special Deluxe Inui Juice." Inui said, light glinting off of his glasses his lips formed into a smile as the annoyed looks from everyone except Kikumaru and Oishi about having to play doubles changed into ones of dread and determination. "Now, I will announce the pairs."
Ryoma walked over to court three with his racket over shoulder. "Sa, let's play a good game Echizen." "Ouis," said Ryoma walking to stand towards the front of the net bending slightly as he shuffled his body weight from one foot to the other in anticipation of Fuji's serve. "Fuji Echizen pair vs. Kawamura Momoshiro pair, one set match, Fuji Echizen pair to Serve"
Fuji stood at the serving line, his attention captured by the boy standing in front of the net, clearly serious about the match not wanting to drink the new Inui Juice. Fuji smiled at that and bounced the tennis ball, preparing to serve. Ryoma was swaying pumping himself up and warming his muscles, his baggy shorts swaying with his movements accentuated his small deceivingly muscular frame. He tossed the ball into the air and hit towards his opponents. "Fault!" said the announcer as the ball rolled back from hitting the net.
Ryoma stopped bouncing and to the sound of surprised murmurs from the on-looking freshmen and a few regulars who's matches hadn't started yet, looked back at Fuji. "Sorry about that, Echizen kun." Said Fuji as he bounced the ball to prepare for a second attempt. Ryoma remained silent, letting his sempai concentrate as he turned back around for the net. Continuing his movement back and forth he felt the ball whiz past him missing his head by a few millimeters before it hit the net again. "Double fault, 0-15."
This time Ryoma turned and glared at Fuji "Mo, Fuji Senpai stop playing around." Chastised Ryoma as he turned back around and waited for the serve for the third time. Fuji wiped the sweat off his brow and tuned out the murmurs surrounding him. Bouncing the ball once he tossed it into the air serving it across the court and into their opponent's court. 'Finally' he thought as he prepared himself for the rest of the match.
"Allow me, Inui Sempai." Stated Ryoma taking the Inui Juice from the data player he turned and handed it to a visually distressed Momo Sempai. Momo audibly gulped as he took the new Special Deluxe Inui Juice from a smiling Ryoma. "I told you I would get you back for your help earlier, Sempai." Said Ryoma drawing out the honorific he smiled as he watched his friend run for the water fountains before passing out just before reaching the outside of the courts.
Ryoma turned to get his bag from the side of the court where he saw Fuji placing his own racket in his bag and heading for the fountains. Fuji had struggled throughout the match, missing shots he should have made not to mention the two faults at the beginning of the match causing the score to end in a 7-6 win. Following his line of sight Inui continued to write more in his notebook chuckling to himself as he left to watch the rest of the matches. Grabbing his bag Ryoma headed for the water fountains to cool off as the sun bared down on him
Reaching the water fountains he saw Fuji washing his face from the water streaming out of one of the faucets. Walking past him he grabbed a towel from his bag and turned on the water two down from the one Fuji was using. Placing his head under the fountain he let the water cool his sweat-drenched body as he contemplated Fuji Sempai's strange behavior during the match. Despite cooling himself down he began to blush as he remembered that Fuji's strange behavior had begun before they had arrived on the court; remembering his gaze from when he had been changing for practice. 'Get ahold of yourself, Ryoma' he chided himself as turned off the water and straightened back up closing his eyes he felt the cool water drip down his body. 'Fuji was probably just off his game since he had wanted to finish our match that keeps getting postponed;' he smiled to himself chuckling a little at the tingle of anticipation he always got when he thought of playing against Fuji.
Fuji watched as Ryoma walked past him to one of the other faucets and placed his head under it, cooling off. Lifting his head he continued to stare at his kohai as he took a few drinks of water then turned off the faucet and reached for his towel. He watched as Ryoma stood, eyes closed, as he let the water slide down his body. Taking a few involuntary steps forward he licked his lips as he watched the water cling to Ryoma's neck. Hearing a chuckle he looked up to see the boy's face breaking out in a smile as he lost himself in whatever thought that had captured his attention so completely. Fuji felt a surge of jealousy at whatever it was that had allowed Ryoma to show such a face so defenselessly.
Opening his eyes Ryoma turned to glance at Fuji his signature phrase on the tip of his tongue as he thought about the match that was clearly on both his and his Sempai's mind. "Mada…" Pausing in surprise Ryoma stopped mid sentence as his breath caught in his throat. Instead of standing where Ryoma had thought he was he found himself face to face with his Sempai, icy blue eyes barely an inch from his own. Fuji leaned down and pressed his lips to Ryoma's that were still open in shock. A few seconds passed before he parted slowly from Ryoma's completely red face. "Mada mada dane." Said Fuji smiling as he turned and walked away in the opposite direction.