Title: Summer Ice-cream
Author: shiroirukaze
Beta: animegoil
Rating: K+ and PG-13
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis does not belong to me.
A/N: My apologies to my lovely beta-er for the late posting and thank you. This was written with the season of summer in mind and I associated it with ice-cream. Reviews are great. Thanx for reading and reviewing.
"That is all for today's practice. Dismissed!"
"Thank you!" echoed the rest of the Seigaku Tennis Club members as they collected their bags and made to head back home. The Regulars gathered in the clubhouse to change and that was when Fuji realized that Tezuka was nowhere to be seen. He took his time changing and by the time he was done, the clubhouse was empty except for himself, Oishi, Eiji and Kaidoh. He went over to Oishi who was trying hard to fend off Eiji's wandering hands that made changing extra difficult. Fuji smiled upon seeing the close relationship that the Golden Pair shared. He heard Kaidoh walked out of the door which meant that the three of them are the only ones left.
"Eiji! Not here! There are so many people! Ah, Fuji is coming…" Oishi blushed deeper upon seeing the tensai walking towards him. He quickly wrenched Eiji's hands out from his trousers and could hear a hurt mewl behind him. Now, Eiji's hands were safely wrapped around his own waist. He made a mental note to apologize to Eiji later. In the meantime he has to deal with Fuji first. Three years of friendship has taught him that the smile on the tensai's face is not to be taken lightly with.
"Oishi, have you seen Tezuka?" Fuji asked casually much to Oishi's relief.
"He was here earlier but he changed fast and was out even before the others came in. You can try looking in Ryuzaki-sensei's office. I heard he has finished the upcoming Ranking Match draw list," Oishi replied.
"Nya…Fujiko, I saw Tezuka earlier too! He was talking to Ryuzaki-sensei ne, Oishii?" Eiji added in which Oishi nodded in response.
"Well in that case, I think I better be heading to Ryuzaki-sensei's office. See you tomorrow," Fuji said as he makes his way out of the clubhouse.
"Ne, ne, why would Fujiko want to look for Tezuka, Oishii?" Eiji asked as soon as Fuji walked out of the door.
"Shh! Eiji! It's not for us to know. Come on, let's go back home," Oishi said as he put his racquets into the bag and zipped it up.
"Hoi! Hoi!" was Eiji's reply as they made their way out after Oishi locked the clubhouse.
Fuji was walking on the second floor corridor when he saw both Oishi and Eiji walking towards the school's gate. Eiji was clinging onto Oishi and laughed at whatever Oishi was saying. Fuji wished that he and Tezuka could be like that too, someday. Knowing that Tezuka would never be like Eiji, who shows his emotions openly, Fuji smiled and continue walking on. Maybe that's the reason why he finds Tezuka irresistible. Instead of turning into other corridor which will leads him to Ryuzaki-sensei's office, Fuji walked straight on and stopped in front of his classroom. Somehow his instincts tell him that Tezuka would be inside. True enough, as he finds out after he slides open the door.
The sound of the door sliding was what alerted Tezuka to Fuji's presence. He looked up to see the tensai walking towards him.
"Fuji, shouldn't you be back home now?" Tezuka asked, his eyes fixed on the tensai.
"I didn't see you in the clubhouse after practice and both Oishi and Eiji said they saw you talking to Ryuzaki-sensei earlier, so I figured you would be here," Fuji replied, while waiting patiently for Tezuka to shuffle the papers he was working on, place them inside a file and picking up his school bag.
"Fuji, you don't need to wait for me," Tezuka said, facing the tensai after as they both exited the classroom and made their way out of school.
"I though it would be nice if we both walked home together," Fuji said with a smile on his face. As they walked out of the school compound, the azure blue sky earlier gave way to an orange-hued sunset and street lamps began to light. The warm evening air caressed his face as he turned to look at Tezuka, who was deep in his own thoughts. Fuji smiled contently.
"Ne, Tezuka. Do you want some ice-cream?" Fuji asked suddenly. Tezuka stopped and looked at Fuji, who had his eyes on an ice-cream vendor outside the train station. Fuji did not wait for Tezuka's reply as he walked towards the ice-cream man. Tezuka went into the station and took a seat on the bench. Before long, Fuji came in with two ice-cream cones, which he was holding one and licking the other.
"Here you go," Fuji said as he gave Tezuka the ice-cream, "Try it. It tastes nice. Better eat it before it melts."
Tezuka wasn't a fan of ice-cream but if he doesn't eat it now, it will melt and then it will be a waste of Fuji's money. He gingerly takes a small bite on the top and to his surprise, it is indeed delicious.
Fuji sat beside Tezuka and smiled as he observed Tezuka happily savouring the ice-cream, although Tezuka's stoic face does not show any emotions. Fuji thought it was a good thing he'd bought the ice-cream, since it will be a while before their respective trains arrived at the station. In the meantime, he continued licking his own cinnamon-flavored cone and watched the other commuters walking past by them.