Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or situations involved herein and am making no profit off of this whatsoever.
Title: Seaweed and Wisteria
Romance: Fubuki x Fujiwara
Notes: This was written for the 15pairings Livejournal challenge. I didn't like the last one I did for this prompt of 'piggyback ride' so I wrote this instead. It takes place back in Fubuki and Fujiwara's first year and is the story of how they met. Well a story of how they met. If you squint, there's a speck of what could be construed as Ryou x Fujiwara as well. Also, be warned of Fubuki's...unique line of non-logic.

Fubuki had no objections to searching for people. It got him to go out and about the Academy, and he liked seeing and meeting new people. Not to mention, it meant he could generally show off somewhere, and Fubuki never let a chance to do that slide by, no matter what.

He'd only been there for a couple of weeks, and he still hadn't met everyone that he wanted to. Which was, by definition, everyone there. And yet, he hadn't met the person that right now, he wanted to.

He glanced down at the paper in his hand and read the name again. Fujiwara Yuusuke. It wasn't a name that he knew, and he certainly couldn't place a face to it, but he liked the sound of it anyway. Yuusuke. He whispered it to himself. Yes. He very much liked how it sounded.

One might think that if one was searching for someone that they didn't know, but had a message for, then one might ask around and find out who did know this person. Unfortunately, this was Fubuki, and doing anything the easy way was simply not part of his mental or social vocabulary. Not to mention that doing it like that would have been so boring.

So, he just kept on wandering. He wasn't actually asking too many people if they were Fujiwara Yuusuke, either. How he intended to know that person when he found them without that one simple question had never crossed his mind. For this was Fubuki.

He'd already been over most of the island today trying to find Fujiwara. He supposed his options were dwindling, but Daitoukuji-sensei hadn't indicated that this was really all that important, so he wasn't in that much of a rush. Of course, getting Fubuki to rush on such a beautiful day would have been close to impossible in the first place. Part of his time had been spent swimming and surfboarding as well as searching. He couldn't possibly have been expected to spend all of his time searching, right? Of course not.

The beach. The dorms. The classrooms. He ticked over most of the places that he'd looked in his head. He hadn't even seen someone who so much as looked like a Fujiwara. Not that he was entirely certain of what a Fujiwara would look like.

He considered that for a few moments, then decided he would know one when he saw one. Fujiwaras couldn't be that common, or he would have met a half a dozen or so during this search.

There were still a few places that he hadn't checked out yet. He wandered briefly through the Obelisk lunch area, grabbing a couple of the strawberry daifuku that he found there. Ryou would like those. They were one of the few sweets that the stoic Kaiser enjoyed. He nibbled on one as he headed out, this time going for the main school building. Maybe he would go and see if Daitoukuji-sensei had already met up with Fujiwara somewhere else. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

He was just about to turn his steps towards the Osiris dorm when he heard something like a book fall. He paused, ears all but twitching in curiosity, not quite moving: until he heard a soft voice murmuring something. He thought it sounded as if whoever was speaking was talking to someone, but there wasn't any kind of an answer. That in and of itself tipped the scales.

The door to the library was right around the corner, and that was where the voice was coming from. He popped in there and sneakily snuck around, looking high and low for whoever might have been talking.

"Are you sure that you can't get it for me?" The voice was soft and low, not quite breathy, but obviously male. Fubuki decided right away that he liked that voice. He wondered who they were talking to and if it was anyone that he knew. For the life of him, he couldn't remember ever hearing that voice anywhere else, and he was certain that he would have remembered it if he had.

For some reason, whoever they were talking to didn't answer them. And yet…that voice spoke again. "All right. I'll try again." Maybe the other person had just shaken their head? Fubuki was a bit confused, but the confusion intrigued him anyway.

Drawing a little closer, he looked around for a way to come up on the stranger quietly. Ah, yes, that would do! He jumped up to the top of the nearest bookcase and steadied himself up there, clinging to make certain he wasn't in any danger of falling. Once he was certain he was all right, he jumped nimbly to another bookcase. He'd done all of this at least twice a week since coming to the school, so he knew just which cases could hold his weight and which were more likely to tip over.

The conversation, such as it was, appeared to be done by the time he caught sight of someone moving near a bookcase. He watched them quietly and thoughtfully, two states that weren't usual for Fubuki.

He's cute. That was his first impression. The stranger looked to be about his age, with green hair and light purple eyes. He was staring at some of the books in front of himself and checking them against a list in his hand. I wonder who he is.

Well, he knew how to find out! He wriggled down and around, sneaking over to where the other was, doing his very best not to be seen. Sure, he could've just walked over and introduced himself…but that was what anyone who wasn't Fubuki would have done. And since he was Fubuki…he didn't.

Once he was behind the proper bookcase, he jumped up on top of it and stuck his head over the side, right in front of the other teen's. "Hi. Were you looking for something in particular? Maybe I can lend a hand." He wasn't quite expecting the other person to jump back, all but staring at him in surprise. Then again, really good looking guys like Fubuki probably didn't introduce themselves every day of the week to him. A shame, that was. They were missing out.

Whoever this guy was, he cut his eyes over to an empty space for a moment, then looked back at Fubuki. "Hello," he said, his voice trembling just a touch. "I don't think we've met."

"I know we haven't. I'd remember that hair." Fubuki grabbed a few strands of it and rubbed it between his fingers. He supposed that in his current position, the blood was probably rushing to his head. It felt kind of good, actually.

The other pulled back some and stared at him even more. "Who are you?" He sounded slightly accusatory, though what Fubuki could be accused of was beyond him.

"Tenjoin Fubuki!" Fubuki declared proudly. He would have made one of his trademark gestures to the sky, but he preferred doing that for the ladies. He had other ways to say hi to the guys, especially ones that were this cute. He looked a little harder at the other, then grinned triumphantly. "And you're Fujiwara Yuusuke!"

Now the other took three obvious steps back, and he was openly gaping at Fubuki. "How'd you know that?" Perhaps he also wanted to ask something about stalking and if Fubuki had been doing it. Again his gaze flicked to that empty space, but Fubuki paid no attention to it whatsoever.

"It's in your eyes," he said cheerfully. "It's all in the eyes."

That was apparently not comforting this person, who was indeed Fujiwara Yuusuke. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Come on over and help me down and I'll tell you." Fubuki said teasingly. Not that he needed the help, but he wouldn't pass up the chance to tease someone, especially someone who just looked so very teasable. Fujiwara stepped closer, still looking more as if he wanted to run screaming, and Fubuki shifted around until he was mostly off of the bookcase. He wrapped his legs around Fujiwara's body and his arms around his shoulders. "You know, you could give me a piggy back ride like this."

"I could what?" Fujiwara's hands came up to grip on Fubuki's legs, perhaps in some attempt to pry him off. Fubuki wasn't so easily dissuaded, however, and he clung even more tightly. "What do you think you're doing? Who are you? What are you?"

Fubuki laughed easily and jumped off of Fujiwara's back, patting him on the shoulder. "I told you. I'm Tenjoin Fubuki. And I figured out that you're Fujiwara because of your eyes. See, you've got the character for 'wisteria' in your name, and your eyes are purple, like wisterias. So, it's all in the eyes!" That made so much sense to him that he couldn't figure out why he hadn't noticed it before. At any rate, he had now, which was what mattered.

"That doesn't make any sense." Fujiwara replied, though now there was the faintest hint of a smile coming from him. Fubuki grinned; he liked making other people smile. There should be more smiles in the world. "Were you looking for me?"

"Sort of. Daitoukuji-sensei gave me a note for you. It's around here somewhere." He fumbled in his pockets, trying to figure out where he'd left it. "I didn't think you'd be this cute, though."

Fujiwara blinked a few times, then shook his head in dismissal. "It must be about that special assignment he gave me." He sounded a little hopeful, though about what, Fubuki had no idea. Then he grinned happily as he pulled the scrap of paper out of his pocket.

"Ah-ha! This is it!" He triumphantly handed it over to Fujiwara, who put it away after a quick look. That was all to the good as far as Fubuki was concerned. He thought he had the makings of a new friend here, and he wanted the chance to get to know him better. "So, what are you doing in here anyway? The term's not even a month old yet."

"I was just doing a little research." Fujiwara started to pack the books on the table he must have been working at into his bag. "It isn't all that important."

"It's too nice of a day to be inside! Haven't you ever seen the beach here?" Fubuki decided in the flash of a moment that he was going to get this guy out of here and into something suitable for swimming. He thought he could already see the signs of a pallor and that was not to be had at all. Fujiwara needed a good rich tan and some sea breezes.

Fujiwara just looked at him. "I've been busy. There's all the assignments we've been given, and this as well." He sounded just a trifle unsure about it, and Fubuki leaped on that.

"You're not actually doing your homework before it's due are you?" Fubuki shook his head in surprise and disbelief both. "Man, I have got to introduce you to Ryou. You two would get along perfectly."

"Ryou?" Fujiwara blinked a few times, his eyes widening. "Marufuji Ryou? The Kaiser? You know him?"

Fubuki grinned widely. "Of course. I've known him since we were kids. But we're going to go hit the beach before I start introducing you around." Jealousy wasn't in his nature or his vocabulary, but he did kind of want to keep the cute new kid to himself before he let other people get a chance to meet him. "You do know how to swim, don't you?"

"Of course." Fujiwara nodded slightly, and Fubuki grinned even more before he wrapped a companionable arm around him. The thought that someone might be uncomfortable like that had never once crossed his mind. And why should it have? People were getting hugs from him. What on Earth did they have to complain about?

He pushed Fujiwara along towards the door, then stopped, curious about something. "Hey, who was that you were talking to before? I didn't see anyone else in here with you and I didn't see anyone else leave."

Fujiwara shifted around and looked away, one hand drifting towards the deck pouch on his belt. "It was…no one." His lips curved a bit into a strange, sad smile. "Honestly."

Fubuki wasn't certain if he wanted to believe that, but it couldn't matter too much. He'd ask again some other time, and maybe Fujiwara would feel like sharing. "All right. Come on, the beach is waiting!"

He kept on walking, with Fujiwara keeping up, more or less. He only remembered part of the way there that his own swimsuit was in his room, and they'd have to make a detour to get it. But that was all right. That just meant more time spent in the company of his fascinating new friend, who talked to nothing and had those lovely wisteria-colored eyes and who just had to love the ocean like he did, because his hair was like seaweed, and Fubuki had always enjoyed the taste of kelp and seafood, so he was perfectly convinced that he'd love Fujiwara Yuusuke for as long as he lived.

And all things considered…he was right.

The End