Title: Obvious
Author: nekokatechan
Rating: Soft R (A little bit of sex)
Pairing: Tezuka Kunimitsu/Echizen Ryoma
Genre: Romance
Summary:Tezuka/Ryoma, Ryoma in love with Tezuka but Tezuka's oblivious. Atobe/Tezuka with jealous Ryoma as a side.
Disclaimer: Two things. One, this is not my story. This is nekokatechan, or nekowrites' from livejounal. I'm just posting this for her. Two, I don't, nor does nekokatechan, own Tennis no Oujisama.
Obvious
Ryoma arched upwards, gasping was Tezuka's mouth brushed down the centre of his torso then across his stomach. He tensed against the sensation, wondering if the noises he was making would make him embarrassed later or if Tezuka found them sexy.
"Bu... chou..." Ryoma whispered softly, although what he really wanted to say was 'Kunimitsu'. He knew Tezuka would be scared by that, like he had been the last time Ryoma had used that name. It was too personal, it seemed. Even too personal in the midst of... fucking.
That's what it was, wasn't it? Just a release that they chased together. Tezuka wouldn't even acknowledge Ryoma as his lover. Ryoma was another body to his tennis captain. He wasn't even sure that he was the only one who graced Tezuka's bed. Atobe had been hanging around an awful lot lately.
"A-ah!" Ryoma spread his legs as Tezuka began to lick a trail from where his hip and leg joined downwards, nuzzling at Ryoma's erection as he went.
Ryoma liked it when Tezuka acted like that. When Tezuka took him from behind or went down on him, it meant that Ryoma didn't have to hide the emotions he was feeling, the tears of utter frustration at being this close to Tezuka but still not close enough.
"Echizen..." Tezuka's voice vibrated against his balls, making Ryoma shiver slightly as he looked down. He knew that there were tears in the corners of his eyes, he just hoped that Tezuka wouldn't see them. But of course, the man did.
"Did I hurt you?" Tezuka asked, frowning and sitting up. Ryoma shook his head. It was the truth, Tezuka hadn't hurt him in the sense that the man had meant. Physically, Tezuka catered for his every need.
"What's wrong?" Tezuka asked and Ryoma just wondered why he cared at all.
"It's nothing," Ryoma said, swiping across his eyes. Tezuka just carried on looking at him.
"Tell me," Tezuka pressed. Ryoma shook his head firmly. The last thing he wanted to do was confess with Tezuka sat between his naked thighs and with his erection weeping against his stomach.
"Please, it's nothing," Ryoma assured him. Tezuka pursed his lips together then turned around and stood up. Ryoma's heart sank when he realised that Tezuka was getting dressed.
"I'll see myself out," Tezuka said curtly, before leaving Ryoma in his apartment, with a cold bed as comfort.
Tezuka sat on the train and banged his head repeatedly against the glass. He felt like a rapist now. Why had Ryoma been crying? Had Tezuka done something wrong? Had something bad happened to Ryoma? Had someone else hurt him? Tezuka didn't know though, because Ryoma wouldn't tell him.
Tezuka now wished that he hadn't stormed out as he had. He should have tried to coax out of Ryoma what was wrong. Ryoma's eyes told of heart break and Tezuka, although he wished he was the one who held the boy's heart, did not want to see Ryoma suffer. It was kind of Ryoma to allow him as much as the younger man had.
He'd been a fool to think that what Ryoma gave him didn't come at a cost. If the boy was in love with someone else, then Tezuka would step back. If he had to, he'd even help set Ryoma up with this other person. After all, it was selfish to expect to be the sole point of Ryoma's affections forever.
Who was it? Who on Earth could capture Ryoma's heart when Tezuka could not? Perhaps someone more like Ryoma? Someone who was fairly sarcastic as well...
"Not Atobe..." Tezuka sighed. Ryoma always seemed to be in Atobe's company recently. Tezuka had ignored the looks Atobe had been giving Ryoma, but maybe he'd been naive not to realise that Ryoma had probably been 'looking' back.
Atobe and Ryoma it was then. He'd get them together.
He wouldn't let Ryoma cry anymore.
Ryoma glowered. Tezuka and Atobe were talking. Tezuka had called him to meet up, to talk, he'd said, over coffee. But Atobe was there too. Laughing. Atobe even had the nerve to reach across the table and RUFFLE Tezuka's hair. Ryoma's eyebrow twitched as he walked into the cafe and tried to look casual as he walked to the table.
If Tezuka was going to tell him it was over then he could have at least had the decency to make sure Atobe wasn't present.
"Echizen..." Atobe was virtually crying with laughter as he greeted him. Tezuka looked completely puzzled.
"You... You won't believe... what a moron... he is," Atobe was clutching his stomach. Ryoma sat down, pointedly ignoring both of them and staring at the sugar dispenser in the centre of the table.
"He thinks... he thinks that you... you..." Atobe burst into hysterical cackles. All Ryoma could do was wait patiently.
"Atobe, enough," Tezuka said, but Atobe ignored him.
"He thinks you're in love with me! He was here to encourage us to get together!" Atobe looked far too happy at the prospect. Ryoma just felt a deep, resounding hurt spread through his chest.
"I see. I'm sorry, Atobe. I feel more affection for my toaster," Ryoma said, his voice completely deadpan. Tezuka regarded him for a long moment.
"Who then?" Tezuka asked finally. Ryoma wasn't entirely sure what Tezuka was asking so he was quiet instead.
"Who were you crying for?" Tezuka asked again. Atobe's laughter had died down into small chortles now, his cheeks flushed.
"You. It was you, you moron," Ryoma said, before standing up, his fists clenched.
"What?" Tezuka looked completely confused now, more so than when Atobe was laughing. Atobe had gone eerily silent now. At least if the man had been mocking, it would have been in character.
"Do you feel sorry for me? Is that why you stop by?" Ryoma felt himself blushing a little. Atobe was now looking at Tezuka, who was staring into his coffee.
"It hurts to be just another body for you. It hurts to see the coldness in your eyes even when I'm kissing you. You're selfish! You use me and then act like nothing is different," Ryoma's voice was still soft, even if it was high pitched, and it didn't grab the attention of the other diners. Tezuka had looked up sharply then, his eyes unreadable behind his glasses.
"Ryoma-" Tezuka began. Ryoma actually snapped then.
"Don't try to defend yourself!" He said. He then turned and walked away. Luckily there was a bus waiting at his stop already and he was away before Tezuka and Atobe had paid the bill and left the shop.
Tezuka banged his fist against Ryoma's door one last time. He'd been stupid. Absolutely stupid. How had he been so blind? Ryoma had been there, the entire time, loving him. And Tezuka had been oblivious to the fact. He couldn't blame Ryoma for not knowing, after all, Tezuka had tried to keep it completely hidden from him.
"Ryoma. Open the door," He tried, but his voice sounded strangely weak even to his own ears. He'd been stood out there for well over an hour now. Atobe had escorted him as far as the elevator to Ryoma's apartment then ruffled his hair and left. Tezuka had then tried his key in the lock. It hadn't gone in. Ryoma had left the key in the door on the other side.
Eventually Tezuka slumped down, sitting with his back propped against the wall. He was patient. He could wait. Eventually, Ryoma would have to leave the house, either for food or to meet someone. And Tezuka would be there, waiting. They needed to talk and there were some things that Tezuka's skewed sense of propriety wouldn't let him shout through the door.
"What are you doing here?"
Tezuka looked up to see Oishi was stood there, in his hand was a bag of chinese food. Kikumaru and Momoshiro were tagging along behind him.
"It would appear I'm locked out," Tezuka replied, getting to his feet. This would be embarrassing if Ryoma opened the door to let the others in and then refused him entry.
"I didn't know you had a key, Tezuka," Fuji said, smiling a little. Tezuka ignored him. Oishi rapped smartly on the door.
"Oishi-senpai?"
The voice from the other side of the door was a little croaky and Tezuka felt a thousand accusations in the single glance that Oishi gave him. Even so, Oishi held up the chinese food to the spy hole.
"Chinese night, remember?" Oishi called through the door. Ryoma opened the door, standing to one side. Tezuka hung back as the others walked in. Ryoma just gestured with his head for Tezuka to walk in, so he did, finding himself awkward in a place he'd once felt so at home in.
Oishi was helping himself to plates and chopsticks in the kitchen. Fuji and Kikumaru were making themselves comfortable at the table. Ryoma just moved to the CD player, turning on some music for the background. Tezuka had always been aware of the nights that the team members spent together that he'd never been invited to, including Oishi's 'chinese nights'. He felt out of place here, and he sat down on the couch awkwardly.
"You forgot to remove your shoes," Ryoma's voice was dangerously expressionless. Tezuka stood up and quickly put his shoes with everyone else's. There was a long moment of quiet and Tezuka paused, not sure if he should return to the couch or sit at the table with the others.
"Are you hungry?" Oishi asked, bringing out an extra plate. Tezuka looked at Ryoma, waiting for permission. The boy just ignored him though.
"Just a bit. I've had a cup of coffee all day," Tezuka said. Ryoma didn't glance up to show approval or disapproval, so Tezuka took his seat beside Fuji and ate the offered sweet and sour pork in silence.
Conversation flowed around him, but Tezuka kept quiet. He was intruding. He knew it. He sat there, head down, and ate his food.
"I should come back later," Tezuka said as the food was cleared away. Ryoma did look up then, eyes burning.
"Maybe you shouldn't have turned up at all unless you had something worthwhile to say," The boy retorted. Tezuka felt lost suddenly. Was Ryoma really going to have this discussion in front of everyone else?
"I... Ryoma... You can't expect me to talk while everyone else is here," Tezuka tried, but it did sound rather like begging, even to his own ears. Kikumaru and Fuji were watching intently while Oishi cleared away the dishes, pretending that nothing was wrong in a way that only one who didn't want to be involved could.
"Oh, the middle of a crowded cafe in front of Atobe was better, I'm sure," Ryoma replied. Tezuka hung his head a little at that. 15-0.
"I'll come back tomorrow," Tezuka stood up, ignoring Fuji's smile and Kikumaru's inquistive look.
"Coward," Ryoma spat. 30-0.
"I know," Tezuka replied, his fists clenching. 30-15.
"Why is it that you can't just end it now? What's the point in coming back later and drawing this out?" Ryoma asked. Tezuka turned, looking over his shoulder. It would be so easy to just blurt everything out, but Fuji and Kikumaru and Oishi...
"Can we at least go somewhere a little more private?" Tezuka asked. He gestured to the kitchen, seeing as the bathroom or bedroom would bring back memories of things that would be inappropriate.
"You can say it here," Ryoma said stubbornly. Tezuka almost wished he was still waiting outside.
"I never understood. I didn't know. I thought... I thought that you knew how I felt... and you were being kind, indulging me," Tezuka forced through clenched teeth. He forced himself to turn around, to just look at Ryoma. He was aware that Oishi was banging plates around in the kitchen as he washed up and that Fuji and Kikumaru were sharing pointed looks.
"You thought I knew that you didn't care. Of course I did. That's why I didn't want to say anything!" Ryoma was on his feet. Tezuka realised then that there had been a rather large miscommunication between them.
"I wish I was better with words," He admitted, rubbing at his forehead. "How about if I say that I had the same problem as you. I cared about you, but I was afraid that by committing to you you'd disappear. I didn't believe you'd accept me. Besides, you never said anything. I'm not the best at reading people."
Tezuka assumed that would clear up most things. It did. Kikumaru fidgetted uncomfortably. Fuji actually stood up and walked into the kitchen. Shortly after, Kikumaru jumped up and left. Ryoma was just staring at him.
"What do you mean?"
Tezuka wanted to bang his head against the wall. He wasn't the best with words but surely Ryoma was being dense on purpose?
"I care about you, Echi-Ryoma," Tezuka said. Ryoma's mouth made a small 'o' and he looked down at his shoes.
"You aren't just saying this?" Ryoma asked. Tezuka pursed his lips together. Didn't Ryoma understand how difficult it had been for him to say it when he meant it, never mind if he'd been lying. He'd have just walked out if he didn't truly care.
"Ryoma," Saying the man's name was enough to bring those eyes upwards towards his own. Then Ryoma smiled a little and batted at his eyes, wiping away what may have been tears. Tezuka was the one to take a few steps forward, his hand going to rest on the younger man's shoulder.
"I'll come back later," He said softly. Ryoma smirked then.
"I've run out of condoms, Buchou," He replied. Tezuka blushed, glancing over at the kitchen to make sure that the others weren't listening in.
"I'll bring some over then," He replied. He ducked quickly, giving Ryoma a quick kiss on the cheek. He left quickly after that, knowing that the others must have heard at least some of what was said and knowing that he was going to explain quite a few things to his old team. He was pulling to door closed when he heard Kikumaru's joyful shouts, and Fuji's quiet chuckles.
"Ochibi and Buchou sitting in a tree..."
Tezuka sometimes wished his team had matured a little bit beyond the age of fourteen...
Omake
Tezuka sighed deeply, running his hands along Ryoma's back. The younger man arched, pressing himself against Tezuka and making a small noise in the back of his throat. Tezuka leaned down, burying his face in Ryoma's neck and kissing where neck met shoulder. Ryoma's body continued to press against his insistantly, hands gripping his neck and hair tightly.
"Kunimitsu?" Ryoma gasped out. Tezuka paused. It was strange for Ryoma to use his given name, but acceptable in the circumstances.
"You know... the noises I make... during sex..." Ryoma was muttering, but his mouth was next to Tezuka's ear so it was audible.
"Do you think they sound girly?" Ryoma asked suddenly. Tezuka didn't really know what to say. He'd not really thought about it. All he knew was that he liked to hear Ryoma make those sounds, because it meant that he was doing his job properly.
"I'll get back to you on that one," Tezuka replied, continuing in his task of making Ryoma's legs into jelly.