Written for the LJ community 30kisses challenge
Tezuka Kunimitsu x Kikumaru Eiji
Theme #26: If only I could make you mine
Note: This can be read as a sequel to "Look Over Here" or as a stand-alone. I recommend reading "Look Over Here" just to get a feel of the situation, though…
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(Footnotes are numbers enclosed in parentheses and at the end of the fic)
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Tezuka Kunimitsu gazed longingly onto the court where the Golden Pair played Inui and Kaidoh. Eiji…
The acrobat somersaulted through the air, hitting the ball cleanly between Inui and Kaidoh. "Zannen munen matarai shuu!" he grinned, making a "V" with his fingers.
"Game, set, and match, Oishi-Kikumaru pair, six games to three!" the second-year who was refereeing the game.
Tezuka stepped forward. Now's my chance! I'm going to say it, no matter what… "Kikumaru!"
Eiji looked up, his smile becoming a nervous frown. "Did I mess up, Buchou? I know my step was a little slow, but-"
Tezuka grimaced. Why does he always expect the worst, especially now, when I want to tell him… Tezuka cut Eiji off, bracing himself to say the words he wanted to say most. "Good job, Kikumaru." Phew! (1)
Eiji broke into a smile. "Thank you, Buchou!" He almost skipped away.
"Good job, Tezuka." The buchou turned to face a smiling Fuji. "You've stopped picking on Eiji all the time." (2)
"I wasn't-" he started to protest, then gave up. It was no use arguing with Fuji. "Go run laps."
"How many?" Fuji asked innocently.
"As many as it takes you to forget the topic," Tezuka said warningly. Fuji just smiled.
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Eiji grinned. He said I did a good job! He praised me! He felt like jumping with glee. If only…
He headed for the clubroom to change, still on cloud nine, and bumped right into Tezuka. "G-gomen, Buchou," he mumbled, blushing. I've ruined everything!
"It's all right," Tezuka said patiently. He headed for his racket bag. "I should've watched where I was gong."
Eiji blushed even harder. He's being so patient and understanding… I wish…
"Bye, Eiji-senpai, Tezuka-buchou!" Momo said cheerily. He was the last one in the clubroom aside from the two of them. "See you tomorrow!" He slammed the door with typical strength… but after the slam, Eiji thought he heard a click.
"What was that?" he wondered, walking over to the door. He tried to open it. "It's jammed!"
"Jammed?" Tezuka joined him at the door, looking concerned…well, as concerned as he ever got. "Pull."
He put his hands on the doorknob, and Eiji followed suit, shivering at the touch of the buchou's warm hands. They pulled together, grunting with effort.
"It's no use!" Eiji wailed. "We're stuck in here!" He buried his face in his hands.
"Wait…" Tezuka seemed uncomfortable. "Maybe the windows? Can you crawl through one?"
Eiji looked at them thoughtfully. "Maybe. Buchou," he asked, feeling suddenly shy, "can you hoist me up?"
Was that a spot of red on Tezuka's cheeks?
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Tezuka's eyebrow twitched. (3) Here he was, practically in a fantasy come true, and he couldn't do anything but try to find a way out of it. Was he stupid? And now Eiji wanted him to…to…
He gently lifted Eiji up to the window, twitching even more as he wrapped his arms around Eiji. "C-can you get out?"
"I don't know," Eiji frowned. "I'll try." He tried to force his way through, but as he started to squeeze his shoulders through, Tezuka saw that it wasn't going to work.
"Get out. It's too tight."
"Wait…"
"Kikumaru, you'll be stuck!"
"Just…a little… more…" Eiji wedged himself in diagonally.
Tezuka felt arising panic. Eiji would get hurt… "Eiji!"
Eiji froze. "W-What did you just call me, Buchou?"
Tezuka's voice became as gentle as he could manage. "Eiji, it's too tight. You'll be trapped."
Eiji sighed. "I'm sorry, Buchou. I'll come out." He started to pull himself out. "Oh, no."
"What is it?" Tezuka asked anxiously.
"I'm already stuck. I can't move backward or forward."
Eiji…"Should I pull you?"
"Please."
Tezuka wrapped his arms around Eiji's stomach and pulled. Eiji screamed. "Owww! Oh, oh… AGH! It hurts!" (4) He started to cry. (5)
"I'm sorry!" Tezuka didn't know what to do. "It'll be over soon, I promise!" He yanked one last time-
-and Eiji kame crashing out, knocking Tezuka to the floor.
"Are you alright?" Tezku asked, sitting up. Eiji's only response was to bury his face in Tezuka's shirt, sobbing. (5) "Eiji…" Suddenly I'm jealous of Oishi…(6)
Now what do I do? What would Oishi do? He awkwardly put his arms around Eiji, hugging him close.
The two sat together like that for a long time, long after Eiji stopped crying. It was a peaceful moment that neither wanted to break.
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Eiji curled up in Tezuka's lap. He's so warm and cozy… I could stay like this forever…
I'm in Buchou's lap…
I'M IN BUCHOU'S LAP! Am I insane! He must be furious!
He jumped up. "Gomen! Gomen! I'm sorry, I was just upset… I won't do it again…" He knew that he was babbling and bright red, but he was too upset to think.
Tezuka stood, too, looking disoriented. "I… don't worry about it."
"But Buchou…" Eiji hung his head. "I shouldn't have-"
"Eiji." The sound of Tezuka saying his name sent a thrill up his spine. The captain held out a hand. "Can I see your shoulders?"
"They're feeling better now," Eiji protested weakly.
"Let me check." Tezuka opened the first few buttons of Eiji's shirt and pulled it off his shoulder. He gently massaged the area. "It's still a little raw. Does it hurt here?"
"No."
"Here?"
"Nope."
"Here?"
"OWW!"
"Sorry… sorry." Tezuka frowned. "We need to get you to a doctor. Soon."
Eiji shook his head. "There's no way to get out."
"Eventually, someone will notice that we haven't come home," Tezuka pointed out. "We'll be rescued."
"I guess." Eiji squirmed. Part of him was apprehensive about spending all this time with his crush, but he was somewhat excited. I just hope that I don't ruin everything…if I haven't already. He sank to the floor. "Sorry about everything, Buchou."
"You can call me Tezuka," the taller boy told him. "Oishi and Fuji do, and so do most of the third-years."
"But…but…" Eiji sputtered, utterly confused. Had the conversation just taken a wrong turn? "You're Buchou!" (7)
For the first time, Tezuka smiled. "Not last year," he reminded the other boy. "Or last year."
"You'll always be Buchou to me," Eiji said seriously.
A thoughtful look crossed Tezuka's face. "Is that why you're always so uptight around me?"
"Up-uptight? What do you mean?" Eiji asked, suddenly fearful. What was Tezuka getting at?
"You don't smile as much around me, or jump around, or chatter much…" Tezuka informed him. "Not recently, anyway."
Eiji blushed. "You notice these things?"
"Why, Eiji?"
"I don't know." Eiji looked down. "I'm just more self-conscious around you."
"Why?" Tezuka leaned forward. "Tell me."
"I-"
"Kunimitsu?" A distant voice cut Eiji off. "Kunimitsu!"
Tezuka jumped up. "My father!"
"WE'RE IN HERE!" Eiji shouted, glad for the distraction. "HELP!"
"This door won't open!" Tezuka-san (8) called out. "You pull, I'll push… NOW!"
Tezuka and Eiji pulled with all their combined might, and the door crashed open.
"Good," Eiji muttered, groggy with pain from the stress on his shoulders from pulling. He sank to the ground and was unconscious in under a second.
"Is he alright?" Tezuka-san asked with concern.
Tezuka bent over Eiji. "He's fine. He's asleep. But we need to take him to the doctor immediately."
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"He'll be fine. Just no tennis for a week, and have him do the exercises I recommended." The doctor gave them of them a smile before leaving the room with Tezuka-san.
"Your parents are on their way," Tezuka told Eiji.
"Thank you," Eiji mumbled. "For everything." He stood up awkwardly and walked over to Tezuka. Tezuka stared down into his eyes for a minute, wondering what Eiji was intending.
He didn't expect what Eiji did next.
The other boy stood on tiptoe, kissed him on the cheek, and then raced out of the room as quickly as he had ever run.
Tezuka stood for a moment, stunned. "Eiji…" he whispered, and for the second time that day, smiled. It was beginning to become a habit. (9)
He touched his cheek. If only I could make you mine… (10)
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FOOTNOTES(1) I know Tezuka seems a bit out of character here, but remember, this is his mind we're talking about! For all we know, he could be a nervous teen under that mask… OK, maybe not, but this is crack, anyway.
(2) See "Look Over Here."
(3) This is Tezuka, okay? An eyebrow twitching is the equivalent of one of us running into a room and screaming!
(4) Yes, I know…
(5) I know it may be OOC for Eiji to just start to cry, but I kind of tied it into his childish nature…usually, if I'm not sure if something's OOC, I just try to envision it in my head. This worked, so I figured that it was IC enough.
(6) Basically, his relationship with Eiji. Not a romance thing, though in a future story, I WILL mention Oishi's feelings for Eiji… (Come on! They're Golden Pair! Could they NOT be married!)
(7) You may have been wondering- why does Eiji call Tezuka "Buchou" in my fics? Well, this story takes place out of the storyline, really, but I'm having Eiji start calling him Tezuka here and assuming that after this, (aka throughout the anime storyline) he continues on that vein.
(8) Daddy Tezuka is Tezuka-san, Tezuka is Tezuka.
(9) Isn't it? Well, it's because he's in loove! Really, I'm just speculating that the more time spent around Eiji, the happier one gets.
(10) Just a request- would someone write the trapped-in-a-room-together scenario for Momo and Kaidoh? I'd love to see that...