I'm writing a fic today because it's Choutarou's day, NOT Valentine's day… ha, ha, ha! And instead of the usual (sucky) humor that I write, I wanted to try something mushy…
Edited! With the help of the lovely Violetglow! Thank you Vio-chan!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis.
xXx
C-day
xXx
February fourteen was the much-awaited holiday of lovers and fangirls.
It would be a week from now but Shishido had a sinking feeling that the dreaded day would fly by so quickly and it would only be a matter of time before female (and a few male) students would be running about the school handing out gifts, cards, flowers and, of course, chocolates.
Shishido never really liked Valentine's Day. It was just some random holiday, and a stupid one at that, since classes weren't even cancelled. It shouldn't have been called one if classes weren't suspended. And okay, so maybe it wasted time and money and therefore had half the components of a holiday but that didn't mean it wasn't lame. Because it was. It was really, really lame.
"Shishido-san?" A hand lightly tugged at his shirt sleeve and if it had been any other person, Shishido would no doubt glare the unfortunate soul to his death for disturbing him, but he recognized that voice and all was fine and good.
"Yeah?" Shishido turned to face his doubles partner, trying to act nonchalant and cool and as if he hadn't been thinking of a half-holiday (which he hates). "Were you saying something, Choutarou?"
"Um, I was just wondering why senpai looked so angry." Choutarou looked away but Shishido caught the flush that accompanied his anxious look.
"It's nothing, Choutarou," Shishido waved the issue off because 'Really, Choutarou,' his action said, 'It's pretty stupid to worry about how I looked angry because when have I not been angry?'
And before Choutarou could have said something to embarrass himself like 'But Shishido-san never looks angry with me,' (because Shishido knew he'd be able to transcribe his actions perfectly—they were the best doubles pair, after all, and they could very well Synchro without going through any freaky zombie like mode, thank you very much) Shishido pulled down his cap, telling Choutarou that this conversation was done.
With that out of the way, they walked side by side to Choutarou's house, planning to do homework and maybe practice a new tennis move.
But then they passed by a candy store (did they suddenly take a new route today? Shishido was sure they never passed by any candy store before), and Shishido's mind began with another rant about Valentine's Day and how stupid it was, completely forgetting to keep his face neutral and bored, because how could he when the thought of those sickeningly sweet chocolates made him think of cups and cups of sugar and they were obviously not healthy and why would anyone want to eat so many, were they stupid or something?
Again, Choutarou pulled on his sleeve. "Shishido-san, you're doing it again…"
Shishido was, of course, smart enough to get rid of his previous expression before asking a completely practiced "What?" coupled by a 'you're not making sense, Choutarou' look as he, again, faced the boy.
"Scowling. You were scowling, Shishido-san… When we passed another candy store…"
The nonchalant look was broken at the mention of the (accursed!) candy store and Shishido made the mistake of actually scowling at Choutarou. "Valentine's Day is lame," he finally concluded, just to save face.
"Oh." Choutarou nodded, being a good doubles partner and accepting Shishido's declamation as if it was the new slogan for World Peace. "Okay…"
"…Let's just go."
"Okay, Shishido-san!"
XxXxXxXxXxX
Choutarou didn't exactly like Valentine's Day, but it wasn't as if he hated it either. When he was a kid, he hated the idea of having his birthday on a holiday, because it meant that he would receive fewer gifts. However, his parents quickly solved that problem by giving him twice the amount of gifts during the said date.
Still, that didn't leave out the fact that the fourteenth of February was a holiday. For the young Choutarou, holidays meant gifts, and gifts he must have. He knew he sounded selfish, and the Choutarou now would blush and tell himself that he was lame for acting like such a spoiled brat, but he was just a young kid, he reasoned to himself.
Anyway, when he grew up and started going to school, he eventually did learn that there actually was gift giving during that day, too.
But the gifts weren't meant for his birthday.
Instead, they were gifts from girls to their lovers, crushes, or just gifts for people as a 'thank you' for taking care of them, and Choutarou thought that was a really nice to do, now that he was older, and if he were a girl he'd love to give thank-you chocolates to everyone he was indebted to (and Shishido-san would be at the top of his list, which made quite a paradox because if Choutarou was a girl then he wouldn't have known Shishido-san the way he did now and that meant Shishido-san would no longer be at the top of his list so Choutarou was glad he was a boy even though it meant that he technically didn't have to give Shishido-san any gifts for Valentine's Day).
Whenever the day came, Choutarou would receive a decent amount of chocolates, but as expected, they were given as a confession of their love. No one, aside from his small circle of friends (and maybe his stalkers, if he had any… Choutarou hoped that he didn't), knew that that specific date was his birthday. It didn't bother him, really. He was a grown boy who didn't require birthday gifts anymore.
"…gifts from people." Shishido-san's voice managed to cut through his line of thinking and Choutarou was embarrassed to notice that his sempai had been talking about something and he wasn't listening at all!
"Huh? Did you say something, senpai?" Choutarou blinked, hoping to sound as if he only missed a few of his sempai's words because that was less lame than revealing that he had heard a good part of it.
It failed though, because Shishido looked at him suspiciously. "You don't space out that often Choutaoru. Are you alright?"
Choutarou blushed from being caught and from being the receiving end of his sempai's concern."U-uh, no! I'm alright, Shishido-san! I just got a bit sidetracked, sorry… What were you saying again?"
When Shishido looked away, Choutarou felt his heart skip a beat because he knew that his sempai knew that he was feeling quite uncomfortable now and how nice was that?
"I was just saying why Valentine's Day was so lame," Shishido mumbled, and Choutarou titled his head. "I mean, who would want a bunch of people bothering them with cards and chocolates? It's really just a stupid holiday where you get gifts from people you don't even know and they probably don't really care about you."
"I guess you could say that Shishido-san, but I think I would still be rude to refuse them, after all they must have placed a lot of effort into making those chocolates and stuff for you so they probably care about you enough," Choutarou told him because if, again, Choutarou was a girl and it was natural for him to give gifts during Valentine's Day, then he knew he cared enough to give Shishido a box of hand-made chocolate.
"But why just on Valentines?" Shishido crossed his arms. "If you really like a person and you know that that person likes you, too, then saying that you care about that person on any day at all would still matter and still be special."
Choutarou stared and he could swear he was blushing as he told his partner, "Shishido-san, that was surprisingly romantic of you." But then, Choutarou clasped a hand over his mouth because that had been a very wrong thing to tell his sempai.
To his surprise, Shishido just turned his head and Choutarou was too busy thinking how lucky he was that Shishido-san let him slide (this time) to see the blush that was on Shishido's face, too. "Whatever. I still think that Valentine's is a shallow holiday and isn't worth celebrating."
"…Nothing on that day is worth celebrating, huh sempai?" Choutarou asked, but it was in such a low voice that Shishido may not have heard it.
XxXxXxXxX
Hyotei Gakuen was bustling with activity as skirts rustled and rushed about campus to hand out gifts.
It was that day today.
The tennis club members were busy, too, but instead of the usual practice regimen, some were busy doing other things.
The freshmen were assigned to organize all the gifts that the regulars received (and maybe gifts meant for the non-regulars as well). The boxes, gift bags and cards were making too much of a mess not only at the clubhouse but also in some other areas near the courts, and the members had a difficult time practicing. The gifts therefore had to be stacked neatly inside the clubhouse so that everyone could decently move around their lockers and change… or at least clear enough space inside so that they could get in and out of the door.
It was a difficult thing to manage, the commotion brought about by the holiday (aside from the gifts, proposals had to be properly rejected) but the regulars had to be responsible for the greatness that had been bestowed upon them.
Needless to say, they didn't get that much practice done that day.
By the end of practice, Atobe was forced to call it quits and isntead let his loyal followers (his teammates) get some rest, but not after warning them not to eat too much chocolates (they should be thankful for their compassionate captain) and reminding them that training tomorrow would be twice as hard to make up for the loss of a day.
As their great captain left the courts with a snap, Kabaji hauling sacks of what they assumed to be his gifts right behind him, the rest of the members followed suit, albeit some of them could be heard complaining and groaning for the loss of precious tennis hours.
"Shishido-san do you need any help with that?" Choutarou pointed at the pile of presents gathered around Shishido's locker area.
"Nah, I think I'll just let the janitors throw them out." Shishido glared at the annoying pile and even kicked some of them away from his locker so that he would be able to open it.
"B-but Shishido-san, wouldn't that be mean? I mean, those girls probably—"
Shishido cut him off with a curt snort. "Please," he rolled his eyes, "I don't need and I definitely do not want anything from those people."
He could see the concerned and puppy-look that Chotarou gave him, so with a sih he tried to lower the level of harshness that his words contained. "Okay, fine, Choutarou. I won't throw them; I'll just give them away (so stop looking at me like that, jeez!). And besides, I think you're the one who needs help."
And then Shishido proceeded to glare at the bigger-than-his pile of presents with enough intensity that it could have melted even those who gave them.
Choutarou was oblivious to the evil aura surrounding Shishido—who was cursing the females who even thought about giving Choutarou those lame items—and instead of worrying about their poor fates, he blushed "N-no, I don't need any help, Shishido-san. Thank you for asking."
The younger boy carefully placed each item into a sack, reading the cards that came with the presents or the cards that were given as the present themselves. He sighed as he noticed that all of them contained practically the same greeting: 'Happy Valentine's Day!'
He knew that he didn't actually make an effort to let others know that today was his birthday, so it would be wrong to expect something from them besides the gifts due to the holiday. He could have just simply told them, but he would be too selfish of him and he was too shy to make others feel imposed on doing something for him just because today was his birthday.
Besides, if he did remind them, it would make things less special (selfish or not, he should be allowed to think so since it was his birthday).
"Are you done?"
"Yes, Shishido-san."
"Do you, uh, want to practice somewhere else?" Shishido hid his stuttering with a cough. "It's. I mean, it's because we didn't get to have any training done today because of this stupid holiday."
"Oh, okay! How about that new sports centre? I heard they are opening today." Chotuarou was immediately perked up by the thought of tennis practice with Shishido.
"Okay, let's go then." Shishido grabbed his bags and proceeded to leave. He was followed closely by Ootori.
XxXxXxXxX
While walking towards the general direction of the sports center, Ootori noticed that his senpai was a bit more fidgety than usual. But not wanting to be rude and bothersome, he tried to ignore it, thinking that it was due to the holiday, or more specifically, his senpai's resentment against it.
But somehow, Ootori couldn't help feeling a bit bitter about the holiday, too.
XxXxXxXxX
Shishido turned to look at the timid boy next to him. He noticed that the taller boy didn't seem as cheerful as he usually was, and Shishido had a slight idea as to what was bothering his doubles partner.
It was not the same reason they were trying to walk as quickly as possible across the park. All the couples cuddling and celebrating Valentine's was definitely gross and lame and just ugh, would they please stop with the PDA's already? It's making them nauseous, but Shishido knew that Choutarou had another equally good reason to feel depressed. Heck, maybe it was an even better reas—oh Lord, where was that guy's hand going to?!—okay fine nothing could make them feel worse now, they got the point, please let them get through first!
They were left to catch their breath as finally, finally, they escaped the more populated area of the park.
Off to the side, yellow-orange leaves danced along the wind and skidded across the cold pond.
With no other interruptions around, the softly swaying trees were actually pretty calming.
And they happened to pass by a very beautiful view, too. There was a wooden bench shadowed by a Sakura tree with petals littering the ground below it. It overlooked the large, clear pond and a family of ducks had begun swimming on it. A cool breeze passed through, sending sweet smells their way. Though none of them wanted to admit it especially with the grotesque scene before, everything was so…
"…Romantic," Choutarou mumbled under his breath.
Shishido noted his relaxed expression, feeling the same look creep up his face, too. "Ootori, you want to stay here for a while?"
"What about practice?" Choutarou said, torn between wanting to play tennis with Shishido and wanting to stay and marvel at the scenery with Shishido. It was a difficult choice.
"We can still do that later," Shishido said and Choutarou thought he had the best ideas in the world. "And besides, the view here is a bit calming. It kinda helps me be a little less annoyed about this whole Valentine's thing."
"Oh, okay then senpai." Really, Shishido-san made the best choices in the whole wide world.
They sat there for a while admiring the pleasant view and the cool breeze that surrounded them.
"We were really lucky to have passed this lake, Shishido-san. It's really soothing."
"Yeah, like I said, it really helps me be less pissed about this whole Valentine's celebration." Shishido stopped himself from repeating 'annoying half-holiday, lame half-holiday' inside his head because that would just ruin his mood and no, he did not want to ruin his mood right now.
"It isn't that bad senpai," Choutarou argued and Shishido had to double his efforts in thinking positively.
"You didn't look like you enjoyed it a while ago," Shishido said as merely his own distraction. Or maybe it was for the both of them.
It worked, seeing as Ootori blushed. "N-no. I had fun… And the Valentine cards and chocolates were really nice to receive. It's really nice to know that a lot of people care about me so much to even bother…"
"All those stuff were just for Valentine's?" Shishido asked, referring to the sack containing the gifts Ootori received. He stared at his doubles partner's face with a doubtful look.
Ootori tried to give a bright smile. "Yes."
Shishido turned his head away, giving off an annoyed 'psh'. "Those people are really annoying—no—make that this whole (half) holiday is really annoying."
"Don't say that Shishido-senpai." But even to Choutarou's own ears, it sounded only half-admonishing.
Shishido gave an audible sigh and started rummaging in his duffel bag, seeming to be searching for something. Choutarou looked baffled as he saw his partner take out a box wrapped in silver paper, adorned with a simple black ribbon.
"Here." Shishido threw the gift and Choutarou caught it effortlessly. "It's my gift," he clarified and was satisfied to see his kohai's eyes grow wide.
"B-but I thought that Shishido-san hated Valentines! And you didn't have to give me a Valentine gift! Oh! I'm sorry senpai, it's not that I'm saying you're a girl or anything, for giving me a gift—Ah! I should've prepared something for Shishido-san, too, I'm so sorry, Shishido-san. Is it all right if maybe tomorrow I, but no that—I'm really, really sorry, Shishido-san. But thank you for the gift!"
Chotuarou was rambling. Shishido scowled. "I do hate Valentine's Day."
"Oh… then why did you give me a gift? Not that I hate the gift! I-I was just surprised… I mean, um, yeah… I'll just give you a gift tomorrow, too Shishido-san!"
Shishiro ruffled his partner's hair, successfully quieting the boy down. "You don't need to give me a gift. I already told you, I hate celebrating Valentine's Day."
"T-then, what's the gift for, senpai?" Choutarou asked, blushing brightly for he had an idea of what was possibly coming but at the same time doubtful about his own thoughts because it'd be real sad if it didn't happen and he'd just feel very, very lame for thinking about it in the first place, and knew that Shishido-san would be thinking him as lame, too, because well, Shishido-san was his doubles partner (and that always explained a lot of things, right?).
"For your birthday," Shishido finally said, turning his head to look at the tree above him while lowering his cap a bit to hide the blush that he felt was creeping up on his face. "Happy Birthday, Choutarou."
And for the first time that day, Ootori felt like he had given off one of his brightest and sincerest smiles.
Shishido's greeting had been the first greeting he received today that wasn't about the (half) holiday. But what made it even more special was that it was from Shishido, and that meant Choutarou wasn't lame at all because what he was hoping for turned out to be true, and all was fine in Choutarou's little world because, under his hat, Shishido smiled at him, too.
xXx
Omake
"Thank you Shishido-san, really."
"You're welcome… And you know what?"
"What is it, Shishido-san?"
"Since both of us don't really like Valentine's Day…"
"Shishido-san, I don't hate Valentine's Day!"
"Yes you do. It's a lame half-holiday and it doesn't need your pity. Anyway, I was about to say that maybe we shouldn't just celebrate it. Instead, during February fourteen, let's just celebrate your birthday… let's call it Choutarou's Day instead."
"I-if you say so, Shishido-san."
"Happy Choutarou's Day, Choutarou."
"…H-happy Choutarou's Day… Ryou."
And suddenly, upon hearing his given name being uttered and laced with the sheepish smile that he simply adores, all was fine in Shishido's little world, too.