Author: inuwolfram
Anime: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Kabaji x Jiroh
Disclaimer: I do not own PoT or any of its characters
A/N: This fic was made as a x-mas present to rei-chan, hope you like this oneshot.
Title The words
How many times did I have this feeling…
My eyes are closed. I am having a calm, pleasant dream.
I have this feeling of something warm against my cheek, a comfortable, broad back, and it feels like I'm being carried around.
Who is the one carrying me? Who is the one that softly puts my pajama on and lays me down on my bed? Who is the one that kisses me on the forehead before leaving? To whom does this calm breathing that accompanies me through the land of dreams belong to?
I get up really tired, as usual. It seems that the more I sleep, the more tired I am. I walk down to the kitchen, in order to get some food. My mother looks at me, and she seems slightly annoyed.
'Wasn't I on Atobe's party a while ago…' then the blank on my memory is enough for me to realize that I fell asleep as usual.
As my energy levels go up, I become more and more awake.
"You know… You should stop relying on your friend so much!" My mother lectures me. "He keeps carrying you home everyday without even having saying anything or eating…"
'Hum, so he carried me again today…' I think, as I eat a toast.
It reminds me of the dream that I had last night… or could it be that it wasn't a dre-- "Ahahah, as if…!" I laugh to myself, and my mother looks at me worriedly, but she is already used to me laughing for no apparent reason.
I look at the clock.
"Have to go!" I tell my mom. I'm late as usual, not that it matters much to me, since I am usually late, but Atobe told me that he would make Kabaji spin me around if I got detention in the free period and wasn't able to go to practice with the rest of the team.
I walk calmly on the street, it's already too late.
"Oh well, it seems that I'll see the world more round than usual…" I say, talking to myself.
Then a car driving by stops beside me.
"Hi! Need a ride?" A woman asks on the back side of the car through the window. She is rather beautiful and simple, but I don't pay much attention to the details.
"A ride! Of course!" I answer quickly, accepting the offer.
Just then do I notice that I am riding on a limousine, that is carrying the young lady and...
"Kabaji-san! Ohayou!" I greet him, receiving the usual speechless look.
"Oh, you must be Jiroh-san! I am Kabaji's sister!"
"Nice to meet you…"
The conversation during the ride is pretty ordinary, nothing unusual. We arrive in time, it seems, as the car stops before the bell rings.
Kabaji leaves the car first, without saying anything to me or to his sister. Nee-sama looks at him and smiles.
"He is a little shy when it comes to showing his feelings, but he seems to like you a lot." She bluntly says. I look at her in surprise.
"Me!? You must have the wrong guy… He usually is with Atobe…"
"Oh, they are childhood friends, so they had each other for ages… But you are the first person that I see him care about besides Atobe-san…"
"Hum, what do you mean?" I ask, but suddenly Kabaji grabs me by the waist, putting me on his back.
"Huh?! Kabaji-san… I know how to walk!! Bye nee-san!" I wave her goodbye, questioning her words.
Then I have the same feeling that I had on my dream.
The warm back against my cheek.
Had it not been a dream?
He puts me on the floor. I look around, and in an instant, I recognize my classroom.
The bell is ringing, I open the door and for the first time I'm not late.
Kabaji was walking away towards his class.
"Kabaji-san!" I call, and he turns around, speechless as always, but with a different glow in his colt eyes.
"Thank you… for yesterday… and today!"
Kabaji smiles faintly. And I remember the words. 'He seems to like you a lot.'
"I like you a lot too, Kabaji-san! Please keep on taking care of me!" I turn around, and get into the classroom, without realizing that Kabaji has stopped.
He is now staring towards the door where I have disappeared, with the same face that he usually has, but the tears on his eyes reflecting a different kind of light.