Title: Kissing the Sleeping Beauty Awake

Pairing: Fuji/Jiroh

Rating: PG

Warnings: Spoilers up to the matches between Seigaku and Hyotei, which is about vol. 18 of the manga.

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Author's notes: Oh my. Writing this was definitely trying and exhausting. Finally completed it. Is amazed. Wow. I'm impressed with myself. This is a birthday fic for the Mushroom, aka Yukirei, as known on FF.net.

Well, this is my first one-shot writing for POT. Don't expect it to be good or sth. I don't think it is. Yep. Review, pls.

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" Ehhh?! Isn't this one of the Hyotei regulars? The one that sleeps everywhere…." A surprised voice exclaimed loudly.

" Momo-senpai, we are not deaf," another boyish voice said dryly. " Shouting so loudly like that will only make you seem like a bumbling fool."

" Oi, Echizen! That is no way to talk to your senpai!"

" Sssss….He's right, though. You are a bumbling fool. Hn."

" Are you trying to pick a fight, Viper?"

" Ssss…..who are calling a Viper, eh? You bumbling fool!"

" Who's the bumbling fool, stupid Viper?"

Inside the tennis courts, the rest of the Seigaku regulars paused in their practice at look over at the brewing storm outside.

" Hoi, hoi! What are you two arguing about this time, Momo?" Kikumaru chirped as he followed Oishi out of the courts. Catching sight of a slumped figure on the ground near them, Kikumaru peered over curiously to see who it was.

" Oishi!" Kikumaru frantically tugged at Oishi, who was busy placating his two troublesome juniors, as usual. " Oishi, look, nya!"

Distracted, Oishi glanced over at the direction Kikumaru was waving at with a pointed finger. " Isn't that Hyotei's uniform?" the most kind-hearted boy in the Seigaku regulars moved closer to the figure. " Is he alright? Why would somebody from Hyotei be doing here?"

" Unnnnya, Oishi!" Kikumaru peered closely at the figure, then back to Oishi. " It's that Hyotei regular that played against Fuji, the one that always sleeps, you know…" Kikumaru scratched the side of his face thoughtfully, trying to remember the figure's name.

" Are you sure that he's sleeping and not fainted?" Oishi looked worriedly at the peacefully breathing boy on the ground. " It's awfully cold this morning, how could anybody sleep?"

" Hoi, that's true," Kikumaru agreed doubtfully, poking at the Hyotei regular a few times to see if he would wake up.

The boy stirred, opening his eyes slowly. Through sleepy eyes, he stared at the Seigaku regulars, who were now staring at him as well. " Hm?" he said drowsily. " How did I get here? Where am I?"

" You don't remember?" Kikumaru asked curiously, and stopped poking.

" Are you alright?" Oishi asked concernedly. " Maybe we should send him to a nearby clinic, Eiji."


The Hyotei boy yawned slightly. Getting up, he brushed himself and scratched his head. " I must have come here for some reason," he muttered to himself absent-mindedly. Picking up his tennis racket bag, which he had been hugging as a bolster as he slept, he glanced around for some clue to remind himself of his motive in coming to the Seigaku tennis practice courts.

" Oi, Hyotei, if you don't have any business, scram," Kaidoh said coldly, pissed off at not being able to get the upper hand in his fight with the Dunk Smash idiot.

" Now, Kaidoh! Don't be rude," Oishi admonished. " Is there anything I can help you with, Akutagawa-san?"

Akutagawa Jiroh stared at Oishi in vague puzzlement. " Hm," he replied, unconsciously glancing towards the tennis courts for whatever inspiration he could get to jolt his memory.

Sleepy eyes suddenly flew wide-awake as they caught sight of a slender figure in the tennis courts. " Ah-ha!" Jiroh exclaimed all a sudden, startling the rest of the Seigaku regulars in front of him.

" Er…is there anything, Akutagawa-san?" Oishi asked again, wondering if there was really something wrong with the Hyotei boy's head.

" Yup!" Jiroh answered happily, now that his memory came back. " I came to play with Fuji! But I came here too early, so I fell asleep again waiting!"

The now really awake Hyotei regular ran into the tennis courts cheerfully towards Fuji Syuusuke, the tennis prodigy of Seigaku. " Can we have a match now?" he asked excitedly.

" Now?" Fuji smiled placidly, as usual. " If Tezuka agrees."

All on the court turned to gaze at Tezuka, expectantly. It was hard to decipher what the Seigaku buchou was thinking, as usual. For some reason, everyone felt vaguely relieved and disappointed at the same time when the buchou closed his eyes and nodded his permission.

" Saa," Fuji smiled sweetly at Jiroh. " Let's begin, then."

Inui opened his notebook. " This will be good data," he murmured.


*****



20 minutes later…


" Game won and match, Fuji," Oishi, who was the umpire, announced calmly. " 6 – 4."

Jiroh panted slightly as he met Fuji at the net. As usual, far from being devastated, Jiroh was excited, very excited.

" I lost again, Fuji!" Jiroh announced cheerfully. It was truly amazing, the way the boy could smile so brilliantly, sincerely and cheerfully, despite the fact that he lost.

Fuji looked amused. " I see your volleys and speed have improved," he remarked. " I'll have to be more careful next time."

Jiroh laughed. " There was no way I could beat your triple counter – Swallow's Return, though," he replied in an eagerly frustrated tone. " But I can almost catch up with the Disappearing Serve now!"

Fuji's smile was indulgent now. " Saa," he agreed placidly. " You didn't have to come so early, Jiroh," he added, raising his empty left hand to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind Jiroh's ear. " I thought we'd agreed to play a match after our own respective tennis practices?"

There was a pause, as Jiroh stared clueless at Fuji. The rest of the Seigaku team was staring at Fuji as well, but that was due to the shock at Fuji's intimate gesture with Jiroh.

" We did?" Jiroh looked vaguely puzzled and unconcerned at the same time. Then he grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. " Ah…I got too excited and forgot about the time. Sorry about that."

The digital watch on Jiroh's wrist started to beep loudly and rapidly. Staring at his watch, Jiroh suddenly recalled another thing. " Oh!" he said thoughtfully. " I'm late for my practice." Grinning cheerfully, Jiroh moved rapidly towards his tennis racket bag, put away his racket, slung it against his shoulder, and then turned to wave at Fuji.

" I'll see you later afternoon, Fuji!" the Hyotei regular called, and then ran off with the unusual hyper that was aroused in him whenever he had an exciting and satisfying tennis match.

Fuji raised his palm placidly in farewell as he watched Jiroh hurry off, amused, and not at all bothered with the sudden-ness of Jiroh's arrival and departure. The rest of the Seigaku regulars(with the exception of Tezuka) stared at the open gate, then turned back to stare at Fuji.

Returning the stares with a sweet smile of his own, Fuji then tilted his head towards Tezuka. " Saa, sorry for the interruption, Tezuka," Fuji apologized cheerfully. " I suppose I didn't take Jiroh's impulsiveness into account."

Tezuka eyed Fuji briefly. " 15 laps," he said shortly.

" Of course," Fuji agreed amiably, making his way towards the gate.

" Ah, Fuji," Inui spoke up before Fuji exited the courts to run his laps. " How long have you been dating Hyotei's Akutagawa Jiroh?"

Fuji paused. Looking back over his shoulder, he smiled brightly at Inui, noticing that everyone had stopped practicing and was listening intently to his answer. Amused, he replied, " 2 months." The mixture of expressions he received after confirming Inui's question pleased the tensai. It was so much fun to get free entertainment, especially if he had been the mastermind.


*******


2 days later…

" Fuji-senpai…"

" Yes, Momo?"

" Are you really dating that Akutagawa Jiroh from Hyotei?"

Footsteps stilled to a stop, and Fuji looked at Momoshiro with a nonchalant smile. " Yes, I am," he replied calmly.

" Nya~" Kikumaru wailed slightly at his best friend. " And you never told me, Fuji~"

" Eiji!" Oishi's admonishing tone subsided Kikumaru, and the latter pouted cutely.

" Maa, Oishi," Fuji chuckled slightly. " It's alright."

" I never thought that Fuji-senpai would be interested in someone from Hyotei, though," Momoshiro muttered dubiously.

" Hoi hoi!" Kikumaru agreed enthusiastically. " Who made the first move, Fuji?"

" Saa," Fuji laughed softly again.

" Come on, Fuji, tell us!"

" Maa, Eiji. Let Fuji keep his privacy…"

" Oishi-senpai, don't you want to know too?"

Fuji watched the trio with quiet amusement and interest. As they walked towards the main road, Fuji turned left sharply and then waved to them.

" Bye," he said, raising his right palm. " We'll part here, since my sister has arranged to meet me at the café down the street."

" Fuji! Nya~ no fair," Kikumaru's voice took on a small whine. " Damn, I let him escape this time again…"

As he walked down the pavement, Fuji chuckled to himself again at Kikumaru's words. The acrobatic player of Seigaku had always been interested in interrogating about Fuji's romantic affairs, but was seldom successful. This was about the 15th time it failed.

He knew they were making such a big fuss because Jiroh was from Hyotei, but he'd expected it. All of them, even Tezuka(though to a much less degree), had been surprised at his decision to date the infamous 'sleeping beauty' of the Hyotei tennis regulars.

People usually assumed that all that Jiroh did other than playing tennis was to sleep and that the only times Jiroh could get excited was when he was playing with someone who was strong, like the matches he played against Fuji, and previously, Atobe. Other than tennis and sleeping, there was not much to Akutagawa Jiroh, and hence dating him would have required infinite patience and mostly result in boredom.

Fuji Syuusuke disagreed. Dating Jiroh did require patience, but in Fuji's opinion, maintaining any relationship required patience for it to last. Despite the fact that the boy had a peculiar fondness and habit of sleeping as much as he could, so far, Fuji had found the relationship with Jiroh interesting and fun.

Far from what many thought, Jiroh was definitely not a boring person. For one thing, he had kept his position as a Hyotei tennis regular, and survived the Hyotei team without much mishaps(well, he probably brought more mishaps to others than himself). That was clear evidence that in spite of appearances, Akutagawa Jiroh was a survivor. And a Hyotei survivor who was fond of sleeping was definitely far from boring as well.

When he was awake and alert enough, Jiroh was truly interesting to get to know better. It had come to Fuji as a minor surprise that Jiroh was impulsive. Especially when the latter was excited over something. However, Jiroh was also one who took life quite nonchalantly as well. It was not to say that he did not care, but rather, he was the type to get very excited over things and matters he was interested or intrigued in. Yet, despite the nonchalant attitude he had for other matters, it did not mean that Jiroh was oblivious to the happenings around him. In fact, Jiroh noticed many things, much more than anybody would have thought. His observation skills and logic were unique, allowing him to realize things far more quickly and easily than any average person. Yet, though Jiroh was not a blabbermouth(probably because he slept too much), he did not mind revealing whatever he knew either. You just had to ask him. Fuji found Jiroh's concept of privacy one of a kind indeed.

To Fuji, Jiroh was a challenge, for there were many a time where Jiroh would surprise Fuji with one of his impulsive, spontaneous reactions to certain matters. The match they had 2 days ago in the Seigaku tennis courts had been prove of that. There was no doubt that a long-term relationship with Akutagawa Jiroh would be immensely satisfying and interesting. Not to mention fun and pleasurable as well.

The tensai from Seigaku loved challenges. And since he had been the one to kiss the sleeping beauty awake, he would certainly keep the sleeping beauty for himself.


*******

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Began: (Some date and day in the year of 2003)

Ended: 26th December 2003(Friday, 10:26pm )

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