DISCLAIMER: The characters are not mine and I do not profit from this fic.

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Departure

It was a cold night, and he wasn't particularly pleased to be there, but he knew a promise was a promise and he had to keep it. Fuji Syusuke hated promises, because he knew he had to keep them no matter what, and that was the reason why he rarely made a promise; but he had promised a very special friend that he would wait for him near the tennis courts of their school, and he intended to do so.

He watched his wrist watch and sighed, it was 9:27pm. He cursed himself mentally for being so early, for he knew his friend would appear exactly at 10:00pm and that meant he would have to keep waiting in the cold.

When the alarm of his watch indicated him that it was the agreed time for the meeting, Fuji waited anxiously for his friend to arrive, and that took almost no time, for his friend showed up within seconds.

"You are early," said Tezuka Kunimitsu. It was just a mere observation.

"As always, you are on time," replied Fuji with his usual smile.

"Come on, unless you want to freeze here," said Tezuka, and took out a set of keys. Fuji followed him closely.

The bespectacled boy opened the small locker room near the courts, allowing Fuji to enter first.

"You said it was urgent," Fuji said, taking seat on a bench.

"It is," Tezuka said, he immediately took a seat near the 'tensai'. Then he added, "I am leaving,"

"I know," replied Fuji, his smile faded.

"My flight is tomorrow morning,"

"I know," repeated Fuji. He didn't want to hear all that.

"Fuji..."

"Why did you ask me to come here?" interrupted Fuji, raising his voice a little.

"I needed to settle some things between us," Tezuka said, his expression still the same as usual, but Fuji knew Tezuka was not calmed at all; a little advantage of knowing the famous captain of Seigaku deeply.

"You could have phoned me," his smile was a scornful one.

"I wanted to see you," Tezuka confessed, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the situation...he hated talking about his feelings.

Fuji's real and tender smile appeared. He had achieved to break the ice once more.

"You really mean that, don't you?"

"Of course I do...Fuji, I just want you to know that I will come back, I promise," and the captain softened his facial expression.

Fuji knew that Tezuka never made a promise, unless he was 99% sure he was going to be able to keep it.

"Then I promise you I'll wait, I'll wait for you," he said, not knowing exactly what he was going to wait for, because both of them were nothing more than friends. The fact they felt something stronger for each other was not yet enough to change their current status.

"You know that if I could I'd stay," Tezuka said, trying to cheer him up. He hated to see Fuji down.

"And you know I'd never ask you to stay, no matter how much I wished you did," another simple statement and Fuji smile grew wider.

Tezuka couldn't hold it any longer and he embraced Fuji. Fuji locked his arms around the taller boy's waist and did nothing more but enjoy the contact.

Neither knew when they had started loving each other, but for Fuji there was no doubt that everything began with the admiration he felt for the strict captain and his dedication and passion towards tennis. Tezuka knew it had all begun from the respect he felt towards the 'tensai' and his peculiar--yet deceiving--smiles. Both had taken the challenge to understand each other because no one had wanted to do it before, and the result of that was the attraction they felt.

"I have to go," announced Tezuka, breaking the silence. He wanted to stay and work things out with the smiling boy, but he knew he had to get his tennis back first, and for that he needed to travel to a far away country and heal his wounded shoulder.

"Have a nice flight," was all Fuji said, and let him go without further word.

"Help Oishi get started, he will need it,"

Fuji smiled mischievously; oh he couldn't wait to see Oishi suffer...it was going to be quite a show, but he knew the captain's replacement was going to succeed after all.

"And one more thing, make sure to return the keys to Professor Ryuzaki, and thank her for me," asked Tezuka politely.

"I will," and took the keys from Tezuka's hand, then the bespectacled boy left through the door and Fuji knew he was truly gone.

He closed the locker room and headed towards his house. He had a lot to think about; like he had never shared a kiss with the captain, or the fact that they had never really told each other 'I love you', but he knew he would have time for that later, when Tezuka returned as he had promised. Fuji hated promises, but right now, that was all what he had.

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That's it. Brief, I know, but I hope you like it.

Thanks for reading it at least, and double thanks to the ones who will post a review!

ALKX