Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, if I did, this story would've been a reality.
Summary: When Tomoka and Eiji try setting up Ryoma and Sakuno, their matchmaking yields a different result. [Eiji Kikumaru x Tomoka Osakada
A/N: This is the first time I'm writing POT so please excuse my mistakes. Its crack fiction I know but Tomoka just doesn't get enough love! And who better to give it to her than Eiji?
Cupid's Trick
Tomoka Osakada looked quite odd hiding behind a thick line of bushes. She clutched a pair of binoculars in her hands and looked through them at the two people walking along the park. Ryoma Echizen and Sakuno Ryuuzaki were both unaware of her pursuit. Tomoka was so engrossed at spying on her best friend and her idol that she didn't notice the cat like footsteps of a certain regular behind her.
"Ne, Tomoka-chan, what are you doing?"
Tomoka only registered the breath on her neck and she screamed, turning around to punch the source of the voice. Eiji looked amused as he caught her hand.
She blushed, "Kikumaru-sempai, sorry I shouldn't have overreacted. You just surprised me, that's all."
He grinned, "Nya, that's okay. Anyway, what are you doing hiding in the bushes?"
Tomoka blushed again, and handed him the binoculars, telling him to look in the direction of her pointed finger. He observed for awhile before laughing.
"Ochibi's still as clueless as ever and Sakuno-chan is still too shy."
Tomoka nodded, "That's the problem, if there was only some way..."
"Nya, let's set them up on a date together!"
Tomoka stared Eiji, before nodding slowly, "You're right sempai, that's the perfect idea!"
They quickly took to planning the details of the date. Eiji agreed to convince Ryoma and Tomoka would convince Sakuno.
"Ne, sempai there's one problem. Wouldn't it look suspicious if we tailed them, they'd find out sooner or later."
"Then let's go on a pretend date together, nya!" Eiji exclaimed. Tomoka looked surprised at this suggestion but relented, her heart stirring at the though of a date, even if it was pretend, with the handsome regular.
She raised a fist in the air, "Alright, let's get them together!" Eiji agreed enthusiastically, practically bouncing around the park. They both walked to school together, happily chattering about their plan.
The Seigaku regulars, minus Ryoma and Tezuka, were gathered around the two excited teens. Eiji and Tomoka were sharing their master plan and the team looked on with varying degrees of interest.
"Nyah, Ochibi and Sakuno-chan will finally get together!"
"How romantic, ne sempai?"
"Ne, Osakada-san, Eiji-sempai won't you guys look suspicious tailing them?" asked Momo, eyeing the two with a curious smirk.
"We've got that worked out Momo. We'll pretend to go on a date and keep up with them."
The regulars raised their eyebrows as they tried to picture both of them on a date. They cringed when the pictured the two loudest people in the world being even louder.
"At least, both their personalities match," muttered Kaidoh under his breath. Momo glanced at Inui and they both exchanged smirks.
"You know, there's 68 chance that people who pretend to date each other will actually get together."
Tomoka blushed, and Eiji scratched his head with a sheepish smile on his face. Tomoka recovered from the shock, and snapped at the regulars, "It's nothing like that, it's solely for Ryoma-sama and Sakuno-chan. Sorta like an experiment." Eiji nodded, "Yeah, for the good of the world!" Fuji opened his mouth to make a comment, but luckily for them, Ryoma and Sakuno walked up to the group and everybody fell quiet.
Regaining her composure, Tomoka pulled out two tickets to a movie.
"Sakuno-chan, I can't go to the movies tonight. But I have the tickets here, why don't you give with someone else...like Ryoma-sama!"
Sakuno blushed 20 different shades of red before looking cautiously at the tennis prodigy. He looked indifferent as ever. Eiji quickly jumped to his part.
"It's mean to refuse such a pretty girl like Sakuno-chan, ne Ochibi?" The rest of the team nodded, taking pleasure in tormenting the tennis prodigy. "I knew Echizen was mean, but not as mean as to refuse such a nice offer and such a pretty girl." Sakuno tried helplessly to get a word in but Momo, Eiji and Tomoka wouldn't let her. After five minutes of heated lectures about being a gentleman, Ryoma had finally had enough.
Ryoma glared at the trio from the confines of his hat before grabbing the tickets out of Tomoka's hands. He glanced briefly at Sakuno, who was now turning 50 different shades of red and said, "Be at the theater at 6:00," before walking off.
Sakuno hurried to catch up with him amidst the catcalling, and Eiji and Tomoka winked at each other, slapping high fives.
Tomoka felt odd in her clothes. She usually wore boyish clothes, as she was a self proclaimed tomboy. However, tonight, a light blue skirt brushed at the tops of her knees and her cheeks were highlighted with a touch of makeup. Though she would never admit it, she wanted to look nice for their "date." In fact, it seemed that she had a somewhat crush on Eiji. She had always liked Ryoma but she knew that Sakuno liked him much more. And so she gave him up.
But now back to business. She was standing a little aways from the main entrance of the theater, waiting for her partner in crime and the lucky couple. A hand clapped itself on her shoulder and she assumed it was Eiji. But when she turned around it was a complete stranger.
He grinned at her, "Hey baby, what're you doing here all by yourself. I can show you a better time."
Tomoka grit her teeth, it was hard being a beautiful girl sometimes. She wrenched away from his grasp. "I'm waiting for someone."
"Waiting? How about we grab a movie now and dinner later," he insisted, grabbing her wrist. Tomoka turned on him, her eyes flashing in rage.
"I SAID-!"
"She said she wanted to be left alone," Tomoka looked behind her to find a serious looking Eiji. She had never seen her sempai so serious looking before, unless it was something that concerned him very much.
"Who are you?"
Eiji slung his arm protectively around Tomoka's shoulders and drew her closer to his form. "I'm her boyfriend."
The other boy saw the pointed look in the acrobat's eyes, and wisely left the two alone. He reluctantly let go of Tomoka after the man had gone. The empty air brushed against his side and he wished for that warmth again.
Eiji looked down at the girl next to him. .Something had snapped in him when he saw Tomoka being harassed by that guy. He usually never turned serious like that. He felt an unfamiliar feeling rise in the pit of his stomach but he brushed it away as she turned to thank him.
He smiled, "No problem." Tomoka was relieved when she met with happy eyes again. The serious Eiji was even scarier than Kaidoh. She turned back to looking for Ryoma and Sakuno. Fifteen minutes later, they still hadn't arrived and both Tomoka and Eiji were growing impatient. "Aw geez, where are they?! The movie's about to start!" She was about to go off on a rant when Eiji's sharp eyes caught the familiar prodigy with a blushing brunette in tow.
"There they are!"
Before Tomoka even had a chance to respond, Eiji was tugging her along at full speed after Ryoma and Sakuno. They entered the dimly lit theater and quickly found seats a little behind the couple. The movie began playing but Eiji and Tomoka were much more interested in the action in a couple of seats ahead of them than on the screen. Tomoka had chosen a scary movie, knowing that Sakuno would probably be scared out of her wits and her "prince in shining armor" would be there to comfort her.
"They look so cute together!" gushed Tomoka, eyeing her friend in a little bit of envy.
"Oh look, they're talking about something," Eiji noticed. "Let's go closer, nya." He grabbed Tomoka's hand again and they moved closer to the couple, ignoring the annoyed cries of the other movie watchers. Still, no matter how closer they came to the couple, it was impossible to hear their conversation. Tomoka sighed, "Kikumaru-sempai, nothing's happening, let's just watch the movie."
He nodded, he wanted to enjoy his date (even if it was pretend), not track every movement of the Ochibi and his chick. He looked over at Tomo, whose eyes were glued to the screen whenever the interesting parts showed up. He noted how she looked over dreamily at Echizen and Sakuno-chan whenever Sakuno screamed and Ryoma reluctantly put his arm around her. He grinned at Ryoma's reluctant expression and winked at Tomoka, she smiled back. He directed his eyes toward the horror movie on the screen. He had never really liked horror movies, in fact he hated them. But he forced himself to watch anyway, and ended up clutching Tomoka's hand and screaming whenever anything remotely eerie popped up on screen.
Tomoka, however, was laughing her head off at her sempai's antics. Who would have ever thought that Kikumaru-sempai was afraid of horror movies?
50 minutes later, the credits started playing and Tomoka watched as Ryoma and Sakuno headed out of the theater. She got up and motioned for Eiji to follow but when she didn't hear any movements, she looked back to find a petrified Eiji glued to the seat. Tomoka rolled her eyes and pulled half the Golden Pair up, and after many reassurances that green colored vengeful women did not exist, Eiji was back to his bouncy self and dragging Tomoka out of the theater in pursuit of the other couple. The setting sun illuminated the couple and Tomoka and Eiji were a little ways behind them, walking at a comfortable pace.
"Nya, are you having fun Tomoka-chan?"
She glanced up at the older boy, "Of course sempai! I never knew that spying could be so thrilling!"
"I just wish that Ryoma and Sakuno would get together already," continued Tomoka, "they've been dancing around the topic for ages, but both of them are too chicken to admit their feelings." Eiji laughed, running a hand through his hair. He had a question eating at him for a long time; he wondered how she would react...
"Ne, Tomo-chan, do you like anybody?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her and laughing when she blushed. Tomoka stood speechless for a second before shaking her head vigorously. Eiji leaned, now in full out tease mode, "Are you suuuure?''
When he got no response and a glare from Tomoka, Eiji decided to take it one step further. "What about that boy, ano...Horio, that you always fight with? You two are just like a married couple!" Tomoka turned to him, "It's nothing like that sempai! Besides, he's annoying, I want a cool boyfriend." Eiji nodded, "I see."
"Besides," Tomoka continued, "what about you? You're pretty popular with the girls sempai. I'm sure you like at least one of them."
"Eh? Oh no, it's nothing like that. I don't really like any of them in that way," he explained, chuckling nervously. "I see," Tomoka said with an impish smile, "I didn't you swung the other way Kikumaru-sempai..."
"WHAT? No, it's nothing like that-"
"Hm, Oishi-sempai and you are pretty close or maybe Fuji-sempai..."
Eiji looked in panic as the younger girl teased him mercilessly. Oh, he was never going to live this one down. If only he could distract her... "Ah, look over there Tomoka-chan! Ochibi and Sakuno-chan are talking about something, there near that big tree." Tomoka stopped mid-sentence to look in the direction that he was pointing in. "Let's go hide behind the bushes, maybe we can hear what they're talking about." Eiji sighed in relief; he had successfully distracted the talkative girl from discussing his sexual orientation. He followed Tomoka into the bushes, the bramble was prickling at his skin but he ignored to watch the two teens in front of him.
"Aw, I can't hear what they're saying. Geez, this sucks," Tomoka complained, watching Ryoma and Sakuno talking easily. They looked so at ease. The setting sun highlighted the simple smiles on their faces, and Tomoka found the jealousy rising within her again. She wasn't envious that Sakuno was with Ryoma, but of the fact that she had someone to share that joy with. Despite her cheery front, Tomoka felt like the loneliest person in the world sometimes.
"Hey look!"
Eiji's excited words drew her out of her thoughts and Tomoka watched as Ryoma drew closer and closer to the madly blushing Sakuno. But just as their lips were going to touch, Tomoka turned away, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. She knew it was selfish to cry, she should've been happy for her best friend, but somewhere deep inside, Tomoka also craved for that sense of affection. After all, people always tended to think she was happy go lucky all the time. But she wouldn't cry, because she would be strong for Sakuno.
Eiji noticed Tomoka turn away at the last second. His sharp eyesight let him see the tiny drops at the corner of her eyes, which she brushed away quickly with the palm of her hand. Putting on a fake smile, she turned to Eiji, "We should leave them alone, ne sempai? I feel like a pervert watching them," she said, giggling nervously. Tomoka stood up; ready to thank Eiji and go home, but a strong hand caught her wrist.
"Wait Tomoka-chan," he said, pulling her back down. "You asked me if I liked anybody, and I do." Tomoka sucked in her breath; she didn't want to hear anymore love stories when she was lacking one. She was so sick of having to look so outgoing all the time.
"Honto ni?" she asked, her voice quivering somewhat. He smiled at her, probing her eyes with his own. Her heart skipped a beat at the look in his normally playful eyes. Could it be...of course not, she chided herself, why would someone as cool as Kikumaru-semapi like someone like her?
"Nya, can you guess who it is?"
She shook her head. He smirked slightly, before grabbing her chin and pressing his lips to hers. Tomoka's mouth opened in surprise, and Eiji took the chance to slip his tongue in her mouth. She tasted like candy and chocolate milk, he noted.
Tomoka's mind went blank in shock. He's kissing me. Kikumaru-sempai is kissing me! She quickly came back to her senses, and grabbed the lapel of his jacket, and pressed him closer. They were both oblivious to the surroundings until...
"Stop swapping spit already."
"Yeah, PDA is gross, ne Echizen?"
The pair jumped part, red painting both of their cheeks. They looked up to see the Seigaku tennis team standing before them, plus a blushing Sakuno. Inui glanced at his notebook, "Just as I suspected, pretend dates do end in the real thing." Both Tomoka and Eiji stared the team in shock. Fuji laughed at the expression on their faces and explained, "We decided that since you were tracking Echizen and Ryuuzaki-san, we would track down you guys." Momo nodded at Fuji's words, "Sorta of an experiment..." he said, looking directly at Tomoka, as he mimicked her words.
"Nya, that wasn't very nice guys!"
Tomoka nodded, "Yeah, don't be such jerks!"
Kaidoh rolled his eyes and made his trademark hissing sound. "Did you drag me out here so I can hear this brat complain to us about privacy?" Tomoka glared at him but decided to let it slip. Ryoma watched this with amusement and decided to add in his two cents, "Ah, what comes around goes around. It's not polite to spy on people." He walked away, tugging his cap, and dragging a still blushing Sakuno behind him.
Eiji and Tomoka looked after them in surprise.
"WHAT?!"
"Ochibi was in on this too?!" Eiji exclaimed, surprise practically dripping down his face.
"I can't believe you guys!" Tomoka said, looking around at the guilty faced regulars. Takeshi tried to look somewhat innocent; after all he had tried to protest the idea.
Momo put an arm around the loud mouthed girl, but quickly removed it when he saw the look on Eiji's face, "Calm down Osakada-san. After all you accomplished your mission and more..."
Fuji smiled at the amusing scene before him, he and Oishi winked at each other, after all it always seemed that Eiji needed a girl in his life. "Let's go guys, and leave the love birds to their kissing." Momo made a kissy face as he walked away, laughing loudly at the look on both their faces.
In the silence of their leave, Eiji turned towards Tomoka. "Nyah, now where were we...?" he questioned her, his eyes crinkling in amusement.
Tomoka grinned and pulled the acrobat closer, planting a kiss on his lips, this time without having to worry about any Peeping Toms.