Verse 1 - Leaving

It had taken Fuji Shusuke six days after meeting Tezuka Kunimitsu to realize that he was in love with said boy. It wasn't a perverse, lustful love, but instead an innocent desire to be closer to him than anyone else. Well, as innocent as you could get with Fuji.

It had then taken Fuji six years to work up the courage to tell him.

They were walking home one day during mid March, as usual, and Fuji knew Tezuka's thoughts were full of colleges and pressure. They were in their final year of high school, with only two more weeks to go, and the pressure was on for everyone, except for Fuji, of course, because he had already gotten accepted into his dream college. That fall, he'd be leaving for America to go to Stanford. He had yet to tell all the Seigaku ex-Regulars.

It was Fuji's idea to stop by the park. It was quickly approaching spring, and Fuji felt it was the perfect time to have ice cream. As always, Tezuka treated, but didn't get one himself. Instead, they kept walking towards their homes.

"I like you, Tezuka," Fuji began. He made sure to keep his tone conversational, as if he were commenting on the quality of his ice cream.

"Hn," Tezuka merely replied, after quickly glancing at the tensai.

"So, I was thinking, we should go on a date sometime," he continued. Fuji was staring straight ahead, and was smiling.

There was a pause before Tezuka firmly said, "I'm not gay, Fuji".

"Are you sure? I'd pay…"

Tezuka still shook his head no, rather vehemently, so Fuji dropped the subject. He knew a lost cause when he saw one, and Tezuka had been a lost cause for most of his life. He had been rejected, in more ways than one, Fuji realized.

Once he was home and safe behind his front door, Fuji sighed. He suddenly felt exhausted. He didn't cry – there really was no need to – but he had just been rejected for the second time in his life, and he could feel the stinging pain that his suffering pride exuded.

For a while he tried to convince himself that when Yuuta had so openly rejected Seigaku and his family, it had hurt more. He ignored the rather large part of him that disagreed.

Yumiko stood outside Fuji's door, standing still and barely breathing. She knew that her little brother was probably beating himself up over confessing and getting rejected.

She had actually been behind them the whole walk, and had had to stop herself from stomping up to Tezuka and demand that he take Fuji's hand in marriage or suffer the consequences. She knew that if she had, Tezuka and Fuji would've probably been married the next day. However, this was the 21st century, and she was pretty sure Fuji would've been just a bit put off if she'd done that.

Yumiko, for once, couldn't think of anything to say to her little brother, because she knew nothing would ease his mind. So, instead, she went back to her room and started planning about the next few months.

Three days later, Fuji announced to all his friends that he'd be moving to America the weekend after the school year ended. He watched his friends' reactions, amused.

Eiji's was the loudest – he jumped out of his chair (which promptly fell over), and immediately screamed, "EH?" loud enough for the whole school to hear. Oishi, who had been walking towards their table, dropped his lunch on the cafeteria floor.

Momoshiro stopped eating and choked on his food, while Ryoma did the same with his Ponta. Taka-san looked confused and stared wildly at Fuji. Kaidoh hissed and looked confused as well, while Inui paused and stared openly at Fuji, his notebook forgotten for once.

Tezuka's face had returned to normal, but Fuji had caught the slight widening of his eyes.

Yuuta and Mizuki, who were walking towards their table, both looked surprised, and Yuuta openly asked why he hadn't heard about this earlier. That was when Inui decided to go back to writing notes and Eiji asked why even Yuuta hadn't known about this.

Fuji explained his sister's wonderful idea – that Fuji should go live in America before the college year started to get used to living there – and that he'd been accepted into Stanford, but didn't give an explanation as to why she had this wonderful idea. Fuji looked at Ryoma and could immediately tell he knew why. Inui probably knew too, and Eiji was starting to get the hint. Realization dawned on Mizuki's face, and he immediately pulled Yuuta away.

As Fuji was waiting to board the international Boeing plane that would take him straight to Seattle, the faces he'd gotten used to seeing over the past few years appeared in front of him, each holding some sort of gift or another. Just last night they'd held a party for Fuji and all their rival schools had been invited, even from outside Tokyo. Fuji thought they were going a bit off the top but everyone disagreed.

Fuji got multiple gifts from just about everyone, even people from Hyoutei and Rikkai. Most of them were videos of what he assumed was everyone saying good-bye, though he did get a few signed posters.

Ryoma and Tezuka gave their gifts last. Ryoma's gift was Fuji's personal favorite – the thirty-two notebooks that the two boys had filled up with passed notes for the past four years of their acquaintance, eight per year. Fuji immediately recognized them, and later noticed a thirty-third notebook slipped in. He'd smiled and hugged Ryoma and whispered a quick thank-you.

Tezuka had gotten him coupons to all the local ice cream places in Stanford. Fuji had chuckled at that and nodded thanks. After that, Tezuka refused to look at him and Fuji walked away.

TBC

Review please? I know the first chapter was very boring, but I SWEAR it will get better as we go on.