Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: Written for a prompt by a friend: "Taka/Fuji, no word limit, 'The colours fade completely.'"

Silent Sweetness

Fuji looked at him, a genuinely kind smile on his face. "That was great, Taka-san," he said.

'You are what's great,' thought Taka-san, but the only thing he said was, "Ah, yeah."

Fuji turned away then, a strand of sweaty hair clinging to his pale neck, and Taka-san swallowed. He almost wanted to call out for Fuji, say something else, do anything to make the other boy turn towards him again.

However, as usual, the words would not come.

Taka-san had never been one for many words. Partly this was because he was silent by nature, partly because he very rarely found the right words. It wasn't that he was stupid or didn't know what he wanted to say, oh no; however, while his heart knew exactly what he felt, whenever he tried to put it into words they always sounded clumsy and without true feeling as they left his mouth.

It was rather strange, he decide, how his heart was the most creative with its beautiful imagery whenever Fuji was within sight, yet that was also when his mouth was the least cooperative. Fuji probably thought he was stupid or something, but he could not help it, really; whenever his friend looked at him he just froze. Perhaps, he thought, it was because of Fuji's beauty – such graze always reminded him just how clumsy and inadequate his words were.

It might have been for the better, anyway, Taka-san mused. Some of the things his mind thought up would have certainly made Fuji hate him had he ever managed to actually voice them.

He'd much rather be the stupid friend than nothing.

Fuji ran a hand through his sweaty hair, pushing it away from his face. "Ah, Taka-san," he greeted. "It sure is a beautiful day for practice, isn't it?"

'No day could be more beautiful than you,' Taka-san thought, yet he only mutely nodded and then said, "Hi, Fujiko." And Fuji smiled, light and warm, and Taka-san felt something flutter nervously in his chest. It should not have been allowed, he thought as the sunlight crowned Fuji's head with a shining halo, for a mortal to look so radiant. 'Surely such beauty is reserved for gods alone,' he thought regardless of the very much human beauty right before his eyes.

"You look distracted, Taka-san," Fuji said, frowning a bit. "Is something the matter?" He opened his eyes briefly, and Taka-san found himself drowning in the blue depths. All other colours seemed to fade away until the only thing he saw was shades of blue, each even more overwhelming than the one before it. Words stuck to his throat.

Fuji took a step closer. "Taka-san?" His voice was somewhat worried.

"Ah, sorry, Fujiko," Taka-san managed to utter. "I – I guess I just don't feel that great today."

"Well, you are a bit pale," Fuji remarked, another frown on his beautiful face. "Perhaps you'd better go see the nurse."

"Ah, no," Taka-san said. "I'm sure I'll feel better in just a moment." 'I would just feel worse if I had to be away from you.'

"Well, if you are sure," Fuji said, still frowning. "…But if you still look like that after a while I'm telling Tezuka."

"I'm fine, really, Fujiko." Tezuka. It was always Tezuka. But of course – after all, Tezuka was much more interesting, much more important than Taka-san. While he knew this and understood this, he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous whenever Fuji mentioned the captain. 'If you talked about me half as much as you do about him, I'd be delighted.'

Fuji didn't say anything, now, just watched him, the blue eyes still open as they observed him. Taka-san was beginning to feel more than a bit nervous. Those eyes were very much distracting him, so much so that he might soon have trouble finding any words at all.

"Taka-san," said a soft voice just then, "you think too much," and Taka-san thought, 'Only of you.'

Fuji was suddenly close to him, almost too close in fact – the blue eyes were just inches from his own, the soft lips even shorter away from his. Then, Fuji moved yet a bit closer, and their lips met in a soft, hesitant touch that soon got more insistent.

This was Fuji, Fuji was kissing him, and in the kiss Taka-san felt all the words he had thought in his heart but never dared to say aloud.

He should have known Fuji would hear them nevertheless.