Title: And Then He Smiled
Author: M0R0N
Summary: Eiji tries to talk to Gakuto after Seigaku defeats Hyotei.
Pairing: Gakuto/Eiji
Warning: Sappy happy ending. Kinda.
Why? Cause there's not enough bendy love.
Disclaimer: If I owned PoT, all the boys would be gay, and the annoying 7th graders would die.

-

"Game, Seigaku. 6 games to 2," shouted the referee as Echizen defeated the Hyotei sophomore, Hiyoshi. Everyone in Seigaku rushed to congratulate
the 7th grader on his victory, and even Buchou the Ice Queen managed a slight smile. Even though Eiji was smiling and laughing with Fuji as though nothing was wrong, he could not help but think back to his match with Gakuto.

After he and Oshitari Yuushi had won the first game, Gakuto turned around to mock his acrobatic abilities, telling his to "Try to jump more." He and Momo had won in the end, and hatred that the other acrobatic specialist displayed towards Eiji was noticed by everyone. He and Gakuto used to be best friends until one day, something happened to fracture their friendship forever. Eiji thought back to that day, and what happened.

-

Three years ago…

"Hahaha, Gakuto, I'm right here!" cried a small boy as he jumped out from behind the bushes. His friend jumped a little from the shock, but quickly recovered. He smiled sheepishly, and laughed.

"Heh, that was a nice place to hide Eiji-kun," said the one known as Gakuto. They had been playing since school ended, and it was almost dark. It was hours past the time that Gakuto should have been home. Even though he was considered responsible for his age, Kikumaru was quite persuasive.

"Well, I should get home. My family is probably really worried. And besides, we have a junior tennis tournament tomorrow. We should sleep early so we won't be tired. I want us both to do our best," he said. But with Eiji being the fun-loving boy that he was, he somehow convinced his friend to play a little more.

By the time that the boys arrived home, it was almost 10:00. Eiji, being the baby of his family, was only lightly scolded, and soon comforted by his older siblings.

However, Gakuto, being a middle child, was not so lucky. His parents had yelled at him about responsibility and setting an example for his younger brother. They had also forbid him to participate in the junior tournament, even though he was favored to get first place.

The next day, when Gakuto didn't show up at the tennis tournament, the favored second place winner, Eiji, had gotten the gold. Gakuto was furious that Eiji had taken his gold trophy, even if they were friends. He soon convinced himself that Kikumaru had deliberately played with him until dark for the championship. At first, Gakuto pretended that nothing was wrong, but gradually, they kept seeing each other less and less, until finally, they had no contact with each other at all. Mukahi never forgave Eiji, for Eiji never apologized.

-

Eiji sighed at the memory. During the first two years of junior high, he had tried to forget Gakuto, and he had succeeded. But now, after seeing his old friend again, he wanted desperately to make up with him, and more importantly, tell him why he wanted to play so late.

The truth was, when they were younger, Eiji had a sort of crush on his friend. He knew that Gakuto would never feel the same way, so instead, he tried to spend as much time with him as possible. After all, as he learned from his brothers, boys and boys were not supposed to be together. Nobody but himself knew about his crush on the other redhead.

"Eiji? Eiji, are you there?" A soft voice broke Kikumaru's (rare) concentration.

"Huh? Oh, Oishi, something wrong?" Eiji asked his injured doubles partner. The mother of Seigaku sighed.

"It seems the bus to take us back home has broken down. We're going to be stuck here for a while. Ah, those people from Hyotei are so lucky, they have their own bus," said Oishi. This was his chance, thought Eiji, this was his chance to find Gakuto and attempt to make up. Only, he knew it wouldn't be that easy, and he hoped that Hyotei hadn't already left.

"Oh, that's fine. I don't mind waiting. Can you watch my stuff? I've gotta…do..something! BYE!" Eiji finished faster that the speed of light, and zoomed off. Oishi sweatdropped.

"What's gotten into him?"

-

"Atobe, why aren't we leaving yet? What the heck is wrong?" asked an utterl annoyed Shishido.

"Shut up, we will leave as soon as Sakaki returns Stop complaining," answere an equally annoyed Buchou.

"Arrrrgh, how long does it take that guy to use the restroom?"

"He's probably fixing his hair."

"ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

"Geez, that bastard is slow. I'm gonna smash his face in when he comes back."

"Calm down, Shishido-senpai."

"SHUT UP. ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

"Usu."

-

Eiji snuck away from the Hyotei crowd. He needed to keep the Hyotei member from going back to their dorms. Kikumaru spied on them so well, Fuji would have been proud.

Sakaki, the coach of Hyotei's tennis club walked out of the restroom after re-gelling his hair and spraying on more cologne. Well, it was actually women's perfume, but he couldn't let anyone else know that. He didn't walk two steps before a figure came up from behind him, and then all went dark.

-

Eiji nervously approached the Hyotei regulars. The non-regular members glared at him as he walked closer. When he was within ten feet of the regulars, Gakuto turned and glared as well. Eiji's heart sank a little, and he considered running back, but it was too late now.

"What does a Seigaku member want with us?"

"If you're here to mock us, just try it."

"Yeah, let's see if you're brave enough, you bastard."

The insults swam through the redhead's head, and it was almost too much. Even if Gakuto doesn't want to hear from him, he has to try. He's already here, and if he doesn't do it now, he may never be with his old friend. Eiji knew that to be together with Gakuto was too much to ask for, but he at least wanted to apologize for what he did. Even though he didn't mean for Gakuto to be disqualified, it was still pretty much his fault.

"Can I…speak…t-to…Gakuto…please…I w-w-want…to talk about…um…that day.." The acrobatic tennis player tried to speak coherently, but he was too nervous, with so many people starring at him and all.

"So it's not enough that you defeat Mukahi-senpai?"

"You gotta talk about what?"

"Get outta here you Seigaku freak."

That was all that Eiji could take. He turned around and spurred out of the area. Kikumaru arrived at a secluded place in the middle of some trees. Nobody would see him cry there, so he decided to wait a while before going back to the Seigaku regulars. Eiji sat down in front of a large tree and tried to hold back his tears.

"I was a fool to ever t-t-think that this would w-work," he cried to nobody in particular.

"To think what would work?" asked a familiar voice. It had deepened, and no longer sounded like a little boy, but there was no doubt about who it belonged to.

"G-Gakuto?"

"Hn. So what did you want to talk to me about? Be quick about it, I don't want to miss the bus," was the reply. Even though he was scowling, Gakuto had followed him, which after all that had happened, was good enough for Eiji.

"I…I wanted to talk to…y-you about that day…t-the d-day that we played for t-t-too long." Oh no, am I really going to do this? "I d-didn't mean t-to make you miss t-the tournament." That's the truth. "And I'm s-so sorry that your parents got mad at you b-because of me." I really am. "The t-t-truth is…" Wait, can I tell him? "I…I-I...h-h-had…" Stop crying Kikumaru.

"THE TRUTH IS I WANTED TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU BECAUSE I HAD A CRUSH ON YOU!" There, I said it. I hope I made the right decision. Eiji didn't dare look up at Gakuto's face before turning away. He couldn't bear to see how disgusted Gakuto's face must have looked. Even worse, his tears couldn't stop.

"I-I'm sorry I w-w-wasted your time to t-te-" Eiji could not finish his sentence, for his Gakuto had put a finger to his lips.

"Shhh. It wasn't your fault. It doesn't even matter anymore."

The Hyotei regular leaned in, and kissed the younger boy.

And then he smiled.

And Eiji smiled too.

-

Somewhere else, Sakaki woke up in a garbage dump.

END

-

Well, that was a sappy ending. About Gakuto being a middle child, I read somewhere that he has an older sister, and a younger brother. Don't remeber where...

Pleeeeeeeease review……

Happy St. Valentine's day.