A/N: Hello, I'm back with a new pillar. XD I really didn't learn no? After those two failed pillar fics that I posted (1. Love Triangle, which is supposed to be Competition, but then I forgot that I already had it titled; and 2. Prophecy, which is, until now, still on its first chapter. ^^"), I'm here and not giving up.*raises fist in the air*
Still, I apologize for not updating. I'll try to do my best. =)
Warnings: I had Tezuka as a character, so OOCness is obviously present. LXD Oh, some vulgar language, I hope you won't mind. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Do I really have to face that fact? *facepalm*
Prompt: None. It was out of the blue. XD
Stalker
by Zero-onE001
A soft sizzle about the quiet room combined with the scent of sweet bacon lingering in the air woke Echizen Ryoma up. He sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes. He kept still for a moment before he stood up and trudged toward the kitchen sink, walking in zombie-like fashion.
After doing his morning rituals on the sink, he wheeled around, still half-asleep, to face his six-month flat buddy- his ex-captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu.
"Ohayou," he mumbled as he sank on a chair, drooping on the dining table. He heard Tezuka, amid the noise of the frying pan, grunt.
Tezuka Kunimitsu has been his roommate since he started going to college. Ryoma thought that being in the same school as the former captain can be in his advantage, so he asked (or said with an air of finality, rather) Tezuka to share a room with him.
For two reasons.
First, Tezuka plays tennis.
Second, he doesn't know how to do house chores, and Tezuka does.
But of course the former captain agreed. He's taken a liking to the other boy, after all.
Oops.
Several sounds of plate striking glass were heard for a while before Tezuka's voice boomed, "Echizen, get up."
The bespectacled man sat down across him, scooping some rice to a rice bowl and putting it in front of his pillar. "Echizen," his voice was sterner now.
The said lad couldn't help but to obey. Living with his captain has its consequence, too. And that includes doing things the Tezuka Kunimitsu way.
"Itadakimasu," he murmured, snapping his chopsticks into two, along with Tezuka, and started eating. Halfway through their meal, it was as though something occurred to the Prince of tennis.
"Ah, buchou?" he said, his voice muffled for his mouth is full. Tezuka flashed him a glance but didn't pause nor did he reply. Ryoma knew at once that he's done something. He hurriedly swallowed his food and came again. "Buchou?"
"Hn," Tezuka replied, pushing a cup of tea at Ryoma's direction.
The Prince looked at it with disgust. He never did like tea, but Tezuka had the habit to serve it at breakfast. "Let's play tennis after lunch."
"Iie," Ryoma blinked in disbelief at this. "You've got a meet up with Momoshiro today."
That's one good thing about Tezuka. He could be a cool walking schedule organizer. But he sometimes dreads that, though, as in, like, now.
Apparently, Momoshiro had somehow dragged him into a ridiculous bet that he lost. And his punishment is to go out with a person handpicked by his stupid senpai, himself. And that doesn't stop with that. He has to do it for two months without miss.
The Prince paused, subconsciously tilting his head to the side. 'What's the name of that girl again?'
"Echizen." That very voice shattered his train of thoughts and he blinked repeatedly, looking inquiringly at Tezuka.
"Ha?"
"You're doing a mess," he gestured to the bits of rice that had fallen from Ryoma's stationary chopsticks as he stood up. "Thanks for the food," he muttered, and added as an afterthought. "Do wash the dishes before you go, Echizen."
The Prince of tennis grumbled.
"I'm going, buchou," Ryoma announced as he threw his shoes on. Tezuka appeared from his room and gave a small "Don't let your guard down" before going back inside. Ryoma nodded at him as he noiselessly locked the door and stepped outside.
Inside the room, Tezuka was putting on his coat and a hat that hid his chocolate-brown tresses except from those that kept sticking out. And, slipping quietly out of the dorm room, he looked around, and seeing Echizen Ryoma, he fell into a step behind, tailing him.
The former captain doesn't really know why he's doing it, as stalking wasbeyondhis morale. He's just started it when the whole dare started (Ryoma didn't know that he knows about the dare) and when he felt a slight tinge of jealousy striking him.
They reached the public tennis courts and he watched as his kouhai talked with Momoshiro, or the other way around, rather. And then Momoshiro made a gesture and a familiar girl in a twin-braid came to join them as she was being pushed by her loudmouthed best friend.
So the coach's granddaughter is his date today.
Tezuka sunk further behind a lamp post, surprisingly not having the least inkling that he looked like an idiot like how he describes his teammates when they go on a stalking escapade.
He wondered whether he should go home; it's only Ryuuzaki after all. Plus, it's not his business. But then maybe because it's Ryuuzaki that he has to follow the Prince. He paused, letting a small huff of breath. 'I'm really going through this?'he thought in disbelief.
As if sensing that Ryoma's golden orbs were about to land on him, he took a side step and fully hid behind the lamp post.
Oh he's going to go home all right.
"I'm back," Ryoma muttered uncertainly as he slipped his shoes off. He looked about the room, contemplating about his hunch that his captain was still out. 'I really think it was buchou.'
The Prince isn't sure but, he thinks he saw Tezuka several times that day when he was on his date. 'Well, I didn't actually see him, but...'
His train of thoughts was destroyed when the door to Tezuka's bedroom opened and when the captain, himself, emerged. The latter blinked. "Ah, you're back."
"Yeah," the pillar eyed the bespectacled boy. 'Why is he sweating? Did he work out inside his room?'
Tezuka must've noticed his staring for he asked, "What is it?"
Ryoma only tugged his cap downward. "Betsuni," he walked toward the couch and flopped down, still finding himself looking at Tezuka. "Ne, buchou?"
A grunt.
"Were you in Kanto today?"
"I was home," Tezuka lied quickly, walking toward the kitchen. He spared his roommate a glance to know his reaction.
"Okay."
Hours went in silence for Tezuka had locked himself in his room to finish his homework and for Ryoma had fallen asleep on the couch.
And then the phone rang, startling the hell out of the Prince, who was in the couch beside the phone. Absently and still half-asleep, he reached for the phone and put the receiver near his ear rather grumpily. "Yes?"
"Ah, Echizen," that very soft voice was followed by a soft chuckle that annoyed him more.
"Fuji-senpai? What is it?" And that annoyance was not concealed in his voice, but he doesn't really care.
"Nothing. I was calling earlier but no one was answering. Anyway, the team's gonna go there romorrow," Fuji paused, and then added a split-second later, "don't forget to tell that to Tezuka. I don't want him shutting the door in our faces just because we went unannounced."
"Yeah, fine."
"No fun, Echizen. Just because you've got yourself a girlfriend doesn't mean you get to treat a senpai like that," he could feel the tensai feigning a pout.
"I have no girlfriend. And I'm always like this, senpai," the pillar said with a snarl. "I'm still sleepy, what else do you want?"
A playful scoff was heard from the other line. "How rude. Okay, fine, since you're practically shooing me off then I'd better- ah? Echizen? That brat..."
Ryoma glared weakly at the phone. He wasn't really sleepy like what he had said as he was recounting their conversation.
"I was calling earlier but no one's answering."
"I was home."
The next day, Ryoma couldn't help but to stare at his roommate calculatingly. 'Is buchou lying?''He was forced into a deep thought and a little later he realized that it was not only yesterday that he felt the captain's presence with him. 'I felt someone staring at me on my date with that Azusa-whatever-her-name-is. And I think I saw buchou that day.'
Unbeknownst to him, he was being obvious to the bespectacled boy, who said at lunch that day (with a slight raise of an eyebrow), "You let your guard down too much."
In the late afternoon, the rest of the Seigaku Regulars came, like what Fuji had said on the phone. Tezuka almost kicked them out, for Ryoma had forgotten to inform him about their visit ("Did Fuji-senpai tell me such thing?" he asked innocently when the topic was brought up, earning an open-eyed glare from the tensai.). Kikumaru was the first to bounce about the room, and by the time he saw his favorite O'chibi, he immediately hurled himself toward the boy.
"O'chibi!" he rubbed his cheek against the Prince's own as a sign of his affection. "Nya~"
"20 laps," a stern voice boomed and time seemed to freeze as they all looked at the captain.
The red-haired acrobat moaned. "Wha? I did nothing wrong, nya!"
For a second, Tezuka thought he'd be speechless. Actually, he had just blurted that out when he saw Kikumaru hog the golden-eyed boy; so, it's some kind of instant reaction. But then, he saw the doorstep from the corner of his eyes. "You messed up with my shoe rack."
It was as though his cat ears had fallen flat on his head when he proved that what the captain said was right. He reluctantly disentangled his arms from the Prince and did what he was told to (without realizing that he doesn't have to, for Tezuka isn't their captain anymore).
"Sake party, everybody on?" Fuji asked with his usual sweet (take note: sadistic) smile plastered in his face. His eyes lingered (though nobody knows how) around every person inside the room and stilled permanently on the captain. His smile grew wider. Apparently, he knows about the affection of the captain to his dorm buddy, and he's nothing but frustrated as the former still hasn't made any move to earn the younger boy's heart.
And so...
He chuckled a little loudly, freaking the other Regulars out.
The tensai was already getting the sake bottles out of his bag when Oishi decided to interfere. "F-Fuji... Don't you think that's..."
"It's what, Oishi?"
The mother hen doesn't know if it was only his imagination, but it seems like Fuji's smile grew creepier. He couldn't help but to stammer. "Er- what I want to say is-"
Tezuka had the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "We have an underage in here, Fuji," he gestured to Ryoma, who 'che-d'.
"Yay, sake party!" Kikumaru cheered. "O'chibi's not a problem. We can give him juice. I think Momo-chii brought Ponta, nya~" he grinned at the said rascal and flashed a thumbs up.
Momoshiro yanked the said stuff out of his bag. "I've been waiting for this."
"B-but that's..." Oishi tried to knock some sense into them.
"I'd brought my Super Golden Remix Inui Juice Version 546432 for those who wouldn't want to participate."
And thus, the sake party has begun, no questions asked.
One by one, the Seigaku Regulars collapsed around the room, and Fuji watched it in glee. Tezuka, meanwhile, had taken a mental note not to agree into a drinking party with them again. He gazed at Fuji, who he realized was also staring at him. "What?"
"Nandemonai," Fuji replied cheerfully. "Well, I'm sorry for intruding. And I'm saying this in behalf of the team," he jerked a thumb on the knocked out Regulars.
Tezuka's eyebrow twitched. "I'm going to get extra futon." And with that, he left.
"Damn you, Fuji-senpai," Ryoma muttered rather weakly as the tensai half-carried him toward the couch. He doesn't know how, he just watched them disinterestedly while they did their sake party, and a split second later he got dizzy as though it was him who was drunk. By then he realized that it was all the Ponta's fault. They were fuckin' spiked. "What... how..." he mumbled incoherently.
"Shh... I did it for you, Echizen," Fuji had only brought him on the foot of the couch for the struggling made it hard for him. Nevertheless, he let it be. He straddled the younger boy's waist, looking now and then at the door to Tezuka's bedroom.
"Fuck you, senpai," he swore in a childish tone that made Fuji chuckle.
"Dirty words coming from a baby's mouth," the brunet leaned closer to Ryoma's face when he heard Tezuka's footsteps from his room. He held the rookie's chin and feigned that he was about to kiss him when the door opened, and Tezuka's form emerged.
The former captain felt as though his limbs froze when he saw the scene. A dry lump was formed in his throat, and before he knew it, he has darted toward the what he assumed was a making out session between the two without thinking. He pulled the tensai away and glared menacingly at him.
"What..." Fuji muttered as he pretended to be drunk like what he's supposed to be after a drinking party.
"Do you want me to drive you home, Fuji?" Tezuka asked, trying to regain himself hurriedly.
The tensai smirked. "Why, Tezuka? I thought we agreed that we're staying here for tonight." He paused thoughtfully, sparing a glance at the drunk freshman. "Besides, Ryoma-kun and I..."
He let the statement hanging. Tezuka's lips tightened.
A chuckle resonated against the relatively silent room. Fuji took the futon from Tezuka's hands and smiled sweetly. "Fine. I'll be a good boy," he walked to the pre-arranged living room and made his bed, "goodnight, Tezuka." And as an afterthought, he added, "be a good boy too. Take care of Ryoma-kun, eh?"
A chuckle.
Silence.
This time, since he knew that no one's watching him, he finally succumb to his longing and pinched the bridge of his nose. He crouched down and picked his flat buddy up, blinking in surprise as he noticed how light he is despite his semi-muscular form and chubby cheeks. He placed the boy on the couch, and then unexpectedly, sat down on the floor beside him.
Everything was spinning, and his head is hurting like hell. 'Darn Fuji-senpai... What did he do to my Ponta?'
He could feel someone looming over him, and warm fingers tickling his cheek. He squinted his already half-closed eyes (though they were not obvious for his long lashes were covering them) and a scowl made its way on his face. 'Tezuka-buchou...' Fragments of the days where he thought he'd seen Tezuka following him assaulted his head and he knew for sure that it wasn't at all illusion. 'That stalking dimwit...'
He considered giving his roommate a piece of mind, but didn't continue as it occurred to him that what he might blurt out is all nonsense since he's kinda... not in the right state of mind.
But before he knew it, he felt a warm pair of lips on his own. It was not fair! He was drunk for Pete's sake! How could he struggle and push that stalking dimwitaway?
Not that he really want to.
Tezuka watched as the sleeping rookie flush with intoxication. He's so adorable for his own good, and if Tezuka were Fuji, he would've also kissed him. He already knew that it's hard to resist such temptation.
Temptation.
Temptation.
What temptation?
He leaned until he was hovering over the freshman. He pushed the sweat-covered locks behind the boy's ear.
And he leaned some more. Closer, closer.
'It was inevitable. And I can't help but to fall for you.'
And then he felt those warm, grape-tasting lips that he had long wanted to kiss.
"I'm going, buchou," obvious or not for the former captain, Ryoma was still shaken by the fact that his own captain has been stalking him. And not to mention, had kissed him. So as soon as he had finished eating his breakfast, he had hurriedly took a bath and got prepared to go outside and smell some fresh air.
The other Regulars who had slept over had left a while ago since they still have to get to their own bearings, leaving the original roommates by themselves, and unknowingly freaking out the pillar. Fuji acted as though nothing had happened when Ryoma flashed him a death glare. He just chuckled and told the younger boy to take good care of himself.
"Sure. Don't let your guard down," was only Tezuka's reply from the kitchen sink as he continued washing the dishes.
Ryoma eyed him suspiciously, before realizing that he has to give the captain a piece of mind and interrogate him as to why he had ki- about what had happened last night. "Buchou?" he asked casually as he put his shoes on.
"Ah?" the originator of Tezuka zone spared him a glance.
And that very glance made him pause and momentarily wonder, and it came to him that he doesn't really mind Tezuka stalking him. He tugged his cap downward, hiding the forming blush in his cheeks as he was startled by his thoughts. And not to mention, Tezuka's look. "Betsuni."
A/N: Okay. what do you think? *hopeful look*
R&R!
