Author's Note – We all know that I don't own PoT, so aside from this disclaimer; I don't believe that I will post anymore of them anytime in the future.
Take a Picture
One
What was probably most unfamiliar at the moment was definitely not the three freshmen tennis players that had stood on the sidelines, gawking like fish, only to later attempt to re-Velcro themselves to his side. It was not the two fan club girls waiting outside for him; one nervous and red faced while the other shrieked her undying love. It was not the blasphemous heat that seemed to render his skin down to butter, nor was it when the energetic red-haired senpai glomped him in the locker room, or when his tall spiky-haired sidekick attempted to give him a noogie. No, none of this was unfamiliar territory to Echizen Ryoma, and if it was, he just chose to ignore it. Instead, what did appear unfamiliar at the moment were the random odd stares that a certain blue-eyed tennis genius would blaze in his direction every five minutes. Normally, Ryoma wouldn't have even noticed, nor cared for that matter, except that the older boy wasn't even trying to be discreet about his staring. In fact, whenever Ryoma's gaze happened to meet with his senpai's, for a brief second, the blue eyes would gleam strangely and a smirk would grace his face. Then it would all be over. The older boy's face would return to its original passive smiling self, leaving the younger boy to wonder if he was imagining things. Except that, after the fourth occurrence of this, Ryoma finally came to the conclusion that this was more than just coincidence and decided to do the only thing that he could do: confront the situation. He shut his locker, gathered his equipment, and walked over to stand in front of the light-haired boy who currently seemed absorbed with tying his shoes.
"Fuji-senpai," Ryoma called out. Fuji stopped in mid looping at the sound of the freshman's deadpan voice. He looked up from the bench that he was sitting on.
"Yes Echizen?" he answered, his closed-eyed expression mild.
Ryoma decided that getting straight to the point was best when dealing with this particular senpai. "What do you want?"
Fuji only stared at the younger boy for a moment before tilting his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You keep looking at me," was Ryoma's monotonous response.
"Oh, am I?" Fuji asked innocently, his lips beginning to twitch in what looked suspiciously like the beginnings of a smile.
Ryoma didn't blink an eye. "Yes."
Fuji's lips stopped twitching and began to curve into a real smile this time...with teeth and all. "Is there something wrong with looking at a teammate?" he asked serenely.
It was Ryoma's turn to stare. He couldn't decide whether he should feel freaked out by the older boy's staring, or if he should just ignore it. After a few more moments of thoughtful contemplation, he decided on the latter.
"Hmmm…" the freshman mused and calmly slung his racket bag over his shoulder. He turned to walk out of the locker room only to be waylaid by Momo and Eiji.
"Hey kiddo, let's go grab a burger!" Eiji shouted happily, draping himself over half of a suddenly grumpy Ryoma.
"Yeah Echizen, let's go!" Momo parroted, draping himself over the other half of a suddenly even grumpier Ryoma. He leaned in close to the younger boy's ear, "And it'll be senpai's treat," he said in a mock whisper. At this, the freshman suddenly wasn't so grumpy anymore. He, along with Momo, eyed their red-headed senpai with an evil grin.
"Ehhh! No fair!" Eiji squawked. Momo laughed obnoxiously while slapping the drooping redhead on the back. Ryoma followed wordlessly, not noticing the blue eyes trailing behind him, burning a hole right through the back of his school uniform.
Ryoma could feel it again. He could feel his senpai studying him. As if he were a bug…or an object…made for amusement or something. Not used to being subjected to such scrutiny, Ryoma failed to notice that, in the first place, having Fuji accompany him during lunch was an oddity in itself. At this point, he was only aware that the initial feeling of unfamiliarity he felt when the staring had first begun was slowly being replaced by something else. As he ate his lunch, he contemplated whether or not this new feeling was something that could be tolerated or if rather it would be best to confront and control the situation once more. Again, he decided on the latter.
He turned to face his instigator who was sitting cross-legged underneath one of the large sakura trees in the school yard. Unsurprisingly enough, he was being stared at by said instigator. Well, at least as much as one could be stared at when their admirer had their eyes closed.
"Fuji-senpai."
Fuji smiled at the sound of his name. "Yes Echizen?"
Ryoma blindly focused on something to his right while chewing on a bite of rice. He slowly swallowed his mouthful and turned back to face Fuji, only to be greeted by open blue eyes. If the receiver had been anyone other than Ryoma, it would have been unnerving to have such a blatant, penetrating gaze linger on them. The two tennis players stayed like that for what seemed like forever until Ryoma finally decided to break the silence.
"You're staring at me again," he commented, all the while seemingly unaware of the thickness in the air. Fuji's eyes closed again and his smile grew wider.
"Ah, is that so?"
Ryoma studied the serene face. "Why?" he asked bluntly.
Fuji only continued to stare at him. Ryoma began to think that his senpai was going to ignore the question and didn't know whether he should feel offended or not by the other's lack of response. He then became aware of the actual situation of having Fuji sit next to him during the lunch period. Ryoma didn't think he liked this very much. There were too many unexpected things happening too quickly all at once. First the staring and now socializing outside of tennis practice. If it had been Momo sitting there with him underneath that tree, Ryoma wouldn't have given it a second thought. But Fuji wasn't Momo. This in turn led to the realization that Momo wasn't even there. And on top of all of the other weird things that were happening, and the weird feelings that he was feeling, Ryoma now had the puzzlement of wondering why the idiotic oaf wasn't anywhere in sight.
"I don't have my camera with me." The soft reply eased its way through Ryoma's scattered thoughts…only to create more scattered thoughts.
"…"
"Hey! Echizen!" At the sound of Momo's interruption, Ryoma let out the lungful of air he had unconsciously been holding in. He looked over to see the tall dark-haired junior jogging toward them with an armful of bread and a grin on his face. When he finally reached the two, he took a seat on the ground next to Ryoma, making sure that he didn't lose his grip on any of the food.
"Fuji-senpai," Momo bowed his head quickly, greeting the older boy respectfully. After receiving Fuji's welcoming nod, he continued, "Phew! Talk about a loooong line. For some reason, everyone decided to cut in front of me today! Nobody ever cuts in front of me! And the really strange thing is that after about twenty minutes or so, everyone just disappeared. People that had been in line forever just decided to step out of line and let me pass. How bizarre, so very bizarre," Momo murmured to himself before turning to Ryoma with a sly grin. The younger boy inwardly cringed at the spontaneous mood change in the other.
"So, what's this I hear about you giving the Grandma Coach's granddaughter and her friend tennis lessons?"
Ryoma shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I just sat and watched them hit some balls against a wall."
Momo leaned in closer, his grin turning into a leer.
"Oh come on Echizen…tell me everything that happened.
"No, there's nothing to tell," Ryoma muttered.
"Come onnn…you can tell me the truth."
"No."
"Oh come onnn Echizen …you can tell me!"
"No, and stop peer pressuring me."
"Come onnn…Echizen-kun."
"No means no."
Momo leaned back with a slightly annoyed expression at the freshman's stubbornness.
"Hmph, you should listen to your senpai," he grumbled, studying the younger boy with exasperation. None of the three boys said a word until Momo's face suddenly lightened with another leer plastered on his face.
"You did more than teach her about tennis didn't you?"
Against his will Ryoma felt his face heat up. Not so much from the wording that the junior chose, but more rather from the suggestive tone of his voice.
Momo sighed wistfully, "It's so good to be young…so very good to be young."
He sat with a triumphant expression on his face while waiting for the younger boy's response. Unfortunately for him though, his statement was forgotten when Fuji abruptly stood, causing a startled Momo and Ryoma to look up at him. Fuji looked at Ryoma with an indecipherable expression after bending down to gather up his things.
"Well…I should be going," he said softly. In confusion, both boys watched the tennis genius slowly walk away.
Lighting, followed closely by deafening thunder, cut through the darkened sky. The rain didn't look as if it were going to let up anytime soon. Tennis practice had been cut short due to the weather and the school grounds, save three, were now void of people. Hidden beneath one of the overgrown sakura trees near the courts, Ryoma took this quiet opportunity to collect his thoughts. His arms hung at his sides while his racket was held loosely in his left hand. He was tired. After all of that running and that unexpected match between the regulars, he was more than tired, he was exhausted. But despite the running and the constant wall that he had encountered every time he'd tried a smash, he couldn't help but feel that tingling excitement that came with confronting something supposedly impossible. And once he had broken the impossible, he had felt incredible, and yet…even after all of that, Ryoma had felt very annoyed.
The tennis genius studied him thoughtfully as he fixed the strings on his racket. For reasons that he didn't fully understand, Ryoma was beginning to feel somewhat irritated with his senpai's mild expression. He paused in the middle of his string adjustments.
"What are you looking at?"
Even though the bill on Ryoma's cap shaded the top half of his face, Fuji's eyes never strayed from the other's form.
"…Nothing in particular."
This guy is really strong…but he has more skill than actual physical strength.
"You can't beat me just yet, Echizen."
Ryoma wasn't stupid. He might not have been the brightest crayon in the box where certain matters were concerned, but when it came to those on the tennis court, he was a genius whose skills could rival some of the best. Although he had sealed the Higuma Otoshi, he knew…
"You're amazing, Echizen-kun."
His senpai had been holding back.
Ryoma's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he noticed Tezuka and Fuji finally emerge from the locker room. Together. He didn't know why, but he felt something at the sight of his captain walking next to the tennis genius. Since he wasn't even sure what exactly his feelings were at that moment, he decided that the most intelligent thing to do would be to ignore them. No use wasting time while trying to piece together annoying emotions that he couldn't even understand.
He was so lost in his confusing thoughts that he failed to notice as his grip tightened around his racket, turning the knuckles of his left hand white.
It was a very sublime day; bright and warm with rich clouds and a lulling breeze that sent sakura blossoms rolling in small tornadoes. It was a very sublime day indeed, perfect for napping in the shade. Since there wasn't any club practice after school that day, and in loathe of heading for home so soon, Ryoma decided to do just that. He walked a little ways down the trail leading to the tennis courts and chose a quiet spot off of the path underneath one of the large sakura trees. Carefully, he set his racket bag onto the grass, his body following and stretching out completely next to it. It wasn't long before he was soon fast asleep, with drool and all, and his left hand tucked under his right cheek.
The young tennis regular usually had the innate ability to be able to sleep comfortably nearly anywhere. That day was no exception. In fact, Ryoma was able to sleep so comfortably that he failed to hear the soft shuffling sound of footsteps approaching through the grass or the sound of a bag being gently set upon the ground or the body that decided to position itself only a few feet of distance directly in front of Ryoma's. For reasons obvious, he also failed to see that same body crawling closer to his own.
It was nearly thirty minutes later when Ryoma finally began to stir. He frowned, groaning softly as he slowly regained consciousness. He arched his back and raised his arms above his head only to halt abruptly in mid-stretch when a prickling sensation swept over his face. Ryoma's eyes shot open and widened in shock at the sight of his hovering senpai's sharp blue orbs only a couple of inches above his own. The two stayed in that position for several heartbeats before Ryoma's sleep-fogged mind began to clear up enough for him to raise his hands to his senpai's chest to push him away. Fuji fell gracefully onto his knees and continued to look at Ryoma. The younger boy, who was suddenly very wide awake, sat up and scooted away from Fuji until his back was pressed up against the tree. Despite the blank expression that Ryoma's face held, Fuji knew that the younger boy was very uncomfortable with his presence. He smiled in amusement.
"Ah Echizen, I've been looking for you." That same, unfamiliar emotion that Ryoma had been feeling more and more lately, passed through him causing heat to rise in his cheeks. He was slightly horrified at the realization that his face was beginning to flush. Ryoma glanced away, therefore missing the smirk that was slowly spreading across Fuji's face.
"What do you want Fuji-senpai?"
Fuji chuckled. "Forgive me, but do you understand what you are asking Echizen?"
Ryoma didn't know how to answer that. For starters, he didn't have a clue as to what the hell his senpai was talking about. At that moment, all that was registering through the young boy's mind was one word: annoying. Although most people would describe him as being oblivious, which might actually be very true depending on the subject matter, it didn't change the fact that lately the freshman had been experiencing some rather strange feelings that were leaving him very confused and very frustrated. Not to mention a little bit ill when one considered the odd swishy sensations in his stomach and head. The closest thing he could compare it with was the flu. In truth, Ryoma would have thought just that if it weren't for the fact that the only time he was actually experiencing these uncomfortable symptoms was whenever a certain blue-eyed tennis genius was nearby. That much, he had been able to figure out; although this resulted in baffling the poor freshman even more than before. He did not want to lose to this…this…flu. And to look at the situation from a purely Inui standpoint, the best solution to fix his current problem would be to avoid his senpai because clearly, from another Inui standpoint, Fuji equaled the flu. With new determination, Ryoma turned to face the older boy.
"Fuji-senpai, please stop harassing me." There…he had said it. Now all that was left was for his senpai to nod his head in agreement and smile.
Except that the tennis genius wasn't smiling. And he didn't exactly look very happy at the freshman's request.
In fact, Fuji's piercing blue gaze was currently burning another hole through Ryoma who was busy holding his breath while minutes of silence ticked by at an agonizingly slow pace. Ryoma was growing increasingly uncomfortable in the prolonged quiet and found himself wishing that the light-haired boy would respond. Fuji's staring only accomplished in irritating him further.
"I can't do that Echizen. Not until you're mine…"
Large golden eyes studied the tennis genius with a blank expression. They blinked once, twice, and then...
"…Huh?"