Title: Just Us
Summary: A lot has happened in two years hasn't it? Meeting Hanako and adding those two into the fold. Do you think about it? Do you ever think that things could have been different? Do you think we made the right choices about this entire relationship? Do you remember when it was just us?
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. The anime and its canon characters belong to their rightful owners.
Author's Note (Please read): This is a question for all of my readers. Hanako Malaya has been a part of the stories for about two years now, and some readers like her character and position in these stories. Would you like to see one of the next oneshots based around her and her relation to the four?
"Happy birthday!" Fuji chirped happily, thrusting a box into Tezuka's hands for the other to open.
Tezuka chuckled at the other's enthusiasm, deciding to open the present later as he kissed Fuji on the forehead and then the lips.
"What do you want to do this morning?" Fuji questioned, opening his eyes slightly as he and Tezuka were walking around the park after visiting Fuji's family the night before.
"I'm not exactly sure," Tezuka answered, undecided for once on how he wanted to spend his birthday.
It was an idea that Sanada had gone over with the group of four. Considering it was Tezuka's birthday, and he now had three boyfriends, Sanada had thought that he could spend his birthday with his time split up between the three. That way, there wouldn't be any competition between the three to make the birthday a special one.
Fuji's turn with Tezuka was for the morning, Tezuka going with Sanada in the afternoon, and then spending the evening and night at Ryoma's household.
"Well, since we're at the park anyhow, why don't we go ahead and explore a bit. I'm tempted to find more hidden areas like Gen-chan showed us three months ago," Fuji smiled, already pulling a camera out of his bag that he had brought along.
Tezuka just smiled before nodding his consent to the idea.
"Let's go then!" Fuji chimed, smiling widely as he grabbed Tezuka by the wrist and began dragging the other all around the park.
"What do you think the others are planning for you?" Fuji questioned after about an hour of walking around and taking pictures of practically anything and everything.
"I'm not sure. They weren't supposed to speak with anyone about it," Tezuka answered, looking around as he leaned down closer to Fuji and pointed out a bird in the tree.
Fuji smiled at the little creature, twisting his head so he could kiss Tezuka on the cheek before turning to take a photo. "I just hope they're going to do a good job today. It is your birthday after all."
"I'm sure that their plans are going to go just fine," Tezuka chuckled, wrapping an arm around Fuji's shoulders. "It is those two we are talking about. One of them is the former vice-captain of a team who accepted nothing less than perfect after all, and the other is our kouhai who went above and beyond in the national tournament in his first year."
"That's true," Fuji chuckled, shaking his head. "I don't know what I was thinking," he added with a small frown on his face at his doubt.
"You're just trying to make sure everyone's happy. There's nothing wrong with that," Tezuka reassured him, reaching a hand up to lightly ruffle Fuji's hair.
Looking forward, Tezuka and Fuji both smiled as they spotted the playground, turning to each other with another look.
"Want to go have a little fun?" Fuji asked, pointing at the area.
Tezuka just chuckled before shrugging his shoulders. "Why not? It might be fun."
"Let's go on the swings then," Fuji suggested, already tugging Tezuka by the wrist yet again. "It'll be fun, I promise."
Tezuka chuckled again, nodding. "You are probably the only one who didn't have an actual plan besides for perhaps Ryoma," he commented lightly, silently laughing as he watched Fuji pout at him.
"Well it's not my fault that Gen-chan said that idea only two days ago! If I had more time, I would have planned more," Fuji whined, pouting the entire time.
Shaking his head at how easy it was to rile the other up, Tezuka stopped them by pulling back on his wrist. When Fuji had turned to him, Tezuka leaned forward and kissed Fuji on the lips.
When they finally pulled apart a minute or so later, Tezuka leaned his forehead against the others. "I didn't mean anything by it. It was a compliment if anything considering I'm still having a good time with you."
Fuji smiled warmly at the kind words before nodding and leading Tezuka toward the playground yet again. "Come on, I only have a few more hours with you before Gen-chan comes to take you out for his birthday plan."
"What are you planning Genichirou?" Tezuka chuckled, not knowing where he was going considering Sanada had blindfolded him as soon as the black-haired male arrived.
"You'll see," the other answered cryptically, keeping a hand on Tezuka's shoulder to lead the other. "How was your time with Syuusuke?"
"It was fine. We went to the park and walked around for a bit, taking pictures and going to the playground area for a bit," Tezuka answered, inwardly wondering when they would finally get to their destination. They had been walking around for at least a half hour by now according to his mental clock.
"We're almost there," Sanada commented, almost as if he could read Tezuka's thoughts.
Ten more minutes later, Sanada finally let Tezuka stop walking as they passed through an entrance with wind blowing down at them.
"Where are we?" Tezuka questioned, patiently waiting as Sanada untied the blindfold.
"Why don't you take a look around?" Sanada chuckled, putting the blindfold away and closing the door.
"A dance room?" Tezuka questioned, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "What are we-"
"Do you want to learn?" Sanada interrupted, a warm smile on his face as he held a hand out toward Tezuka.
"Which one?" Tezuka said, knowing that this was most likely his birthday present from the former vice-captain.
"The tango. It's one of my personal favorites," Sanada answered, already grabbing a remote and turning on the music on a medium volume for them to hear.
"You know how to tango?" Tezuka asked even as Sanada was gently grabbing his hands and starting to teach him some of the moves.
"It's one of my favorite pastimes when I am not studying or playing tennis with the others," Sanada commented, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he corrected any small flaws in Tezuka's form.
"When did you learn?"
"A few years ago. I was walking around and found it interesting and wanted to learn when I had the free time. Now it's become quite a hobby."
"Are you planning to teach the other two then?"
Sanada shrugged. "Perhaps. Ryoma doesn't seem like one to tango however…"
"You would be surprised at all the things he does for a hobby."
"Really?" Sanada cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "Like what?"
"Did you know that he likes to sing?"
"He does?" Sanada's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "When did you figure that out?"
"It was his White Day present to me two years ago. He sang a song to me, and my former team convinced him to sing at our school's festival once or twice during his years there," Tezuka replied, trying his best not to step on Sanada's toes.
"That's interesting… he should sing for us sometime soon."
"Good idea," Tezuka agreed with a quick nod. "It has been awhile since I have heard him sing."
"We'll all try to convince him then. I'm sure that Syuusuke would want to hear his voice as well after a year or two of not hearing him sing," Sanada suggested, earning another quick nod and a kiss to the lips. "Why don't I continue teaching you how to tango?"
"That, I can accept," Tezuka chuckled, feeling happy that the other male was teaching him something that was obviously close to his heart.
"Ryoma?" Tezuka questioned, walking into the Echizen household as Ryoma texted him to do later that evening. "Ryoma, where are you?"
"In the kitchen!" he heard the younger call out before something crashed. "Ow!"
"Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine! Just go ahead into the living room! Everything's set up there!"
"Alright," Tezuka answered back, already taking off his shoes and his jacket.
Walking into the living room, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks. The table in the middle of the two couches was filled with trays of food, all of them his favorites, along with a large birthday cake with his name on it.
"Do you like it?" Ryoma asked, shuffling lightly on his feet as he stood by the dividing wall between the living room and the kitchen.
"It's lovely," Tezuka smiled, walking over and kissing Ryoma on the forehead and wrapping his arms around the younger in a hug. "Did you make it all?"
Ryoma nodded with a small smile on his face. "I wanted to make it special, so I tried making everything that you said was your favorite. Sorry if it's not the best…"
"It's fine just because you made it," Tezuka said, smiling wider as he saw a light tint of red painting Ryoma's face. "Why don't we go ahead and eat?"
Ryoma nodded, leading Tezuka to the table and sitting down next to the older on the couch.
As they started to eat, Ryoma had managed to grab the remote and play some music that sounded oddly familiar to Tezuka.
"Is that-"
"The song I sang to you two years ago on White Day?" Ryoma interrupted, knowing that Tezuka would realize both the song and the voice in the music sooner or later that evening. "Yes."
"And those other songs that are playing?"
"Covers all done by me…" Ryoma admitted shyly, using his fork to move the food on his plate back and forth.
Tezuka leaned over and kissed Ryoma gently on the lips, pulling back with a warm smile on his face. "It's been so long since I've heard you sing. It's still as beautiful as before."
Watching the younger flush in what seemed to be embarrassment, Tezuka continued eating even as he threw an arm over Ryoma's shoulder and brought the other closer to his side.
"Do you…"
"Do I what Ryoma?" Tezuka questioned, watching as Ryoma's shoulders tensed.
"Do you regret anything?"
"Ryoma?"
"I'm just asking," Ryoma said, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes.
"No, I don't believe I do. What made this come up?" Tezuka asked, scooting closer and pulling the younger onto his lap and wrapping his arms around the other's waist.
"It's just…" Pausing to take a deep breath, Ryoma shook his head lightly and continued. "You're happy having Syuu and Gen-chan with us, I know you are. I am too…"
"But?"
"But do you ever think about things? What could have happened if they didn't join us?"
"Sometimes," Tezuka admitted after a few minutes thoughts. "Sometimes I wonder whether it's a good idea that we let the two join us considering all the troubles that have happened and the difficulties we face…"
"And?"
"And I can't help but love it every step of the way," Tezuka answered, a warm smile on his face as he leaned and kissed a surprisedRyoma on the forehead. "I may miss the days where it was just you and me, but I'm happy that we have others as well. I'd rather they be here and help us be happy instead of not having them here and being unhappy."
"That's true," Ryoma muttered, leaning onto his side so that he could rest against Tezuka's chest.
"What about you? Do you miss them?" Tezuka asked, resting his cheek against the top of Ryoma's head and hugging the boy closer to him.
"Of course I miss them," Ryoma snapped, sighing as he further tucked his head under Tezuka's chin. "I miss the times when it was just the two of us… now we always have to split up our time between everyone… there's only so much time in a day…"
"You're upset aren't you?"
Ryoma just kept quiet, burying his face into Tezuka's chest. "Sorry about complaining… it's your birthday for crying out loud…"
"Its fine," Tezuka reassured the younger. "You're my first love and my littlest one. I'm supposed to make sure you're happy as your boyfriend."
"You mean fiancé don't you," Ryoma corrected before seeming to think over his words. "At least… until now I guess…"
Tezuka glanced with worried eyes toward his youngest boyfriend. He knew he had made the promise to be Ryoma's fiancé two years ago, but considering Fuji and Sanada were now involved… did that change for them now?
He decided. No. No it didn't. He was still Ryoma's fiancé no matter who else was part of the relationship.
Trying to think of a way to make Ryoma realize that, he came up with something. "Why don't we take a few days out of next week for just us? After classes, I'll meet up with you and we can do all the things we used to do when it was just us?"
"Really? But what about-"
"I'm sure they'll understand. And they know that we've been in a relationship the longest and engaged. If they can't understand this much," Tezuka shrugged, "then I do not know what to think."
Ryoma just smiled. "I love you Mitsu," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box. "I got these for you."
Tezuka hummed, blinking his eyes in surprise and gently taking the box from the smaller's hands. Opening the box, he blinked. "Are these-"
"My version of the rings you gave me when you asked me to be forever yours," Ryoma sighed happily, snuggling up into Tezuka's chest while lifting his left hand to show the pair of rings attached to his ring finger.
"I can't believe you still remembered," Tezuka whispered, glancing at the intertwined rings on Ryoma's hand while running his own fingers over the bands in the small box.
The rings Ryoma was wearing were gold with a pair of diamonds around a sapphire stone in them. These ones, however, were silver bands with emerald stones in the center along with an inscription on the inside.
"I'll love you forever, no matter what comes in between us," Ryoma whispered as Tezuka read those same words in the rings. "No matter what we do or who we add to this relationship… I'll stand by you no matter what else happens now," Ryoma said, tilting his head up and kissing Tezuka on the lips. "I just hope you can do the same."
"Always Ryoma… always," Tezuka whispered, wrapping his arms tighter around Ryoma in a hug. "No matter what, I'll never leave you alone again…"
This may not have been the happiest conversation to have between the two, but they knew that it would be fine.
After all, the two had each other and that was all that was truly necessary. No matter what life threw at them, they would be able to get through it. And besides…
"Nothing will ever come between us," Tezuka promised, kissing Ryoma even as he slid one of the two new rings onto Ryoma's left hand.