Title: the first thing he sees
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Tezuka/Ryoma
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is the intellectual property of Konomi Takeshi.
Summary: The start of many mornings.
A/N: I was waiting for the train and this little fic popped out. :| I really should be finishing other stories instead…
"Echizen...?"
Tezuka blinked, and then again, not really trusting his eyesight. No. That was still the capped freshman loitering around his post box, hands tucked into his pockets. The boy sauntered halfway up the driveway before stopping to address him. He imitated his sempai's tone of surprise with ease, his eyes a mischievous gold.
"Buchou."
The smirk was definitely Echizen's, no doubt about it. Very much confused at the visit, Tezuka voiced a concern. "How did you find my address?"
He has his suspicions about the possibilities and there was a stirring paranoia rising in his stomach, but schooling his face blank, he waited. He wasn't going to take a step further without hearing the reason behind this sudden invasion of privacy. Was there something wrong? Only Oishi should know where he lived.
Echizen's smirk widened.
"Inui-sempai helped me." Echizen paused, and Tezuka noted a frown rapidly flick across his face, before the normal expression returned. Tezuka narrowed his eyes slightly. Inui. He'd thought his junior was better than that. Obviously, a misconception.
Adjusting the bag strap higher on his shoulder, the younger boy gave a light shrug. "We traded data." Yes, the first year was definitely uncomfortable with the notion but besides a lift in his chin as if waiting for Tezuka to challenge him, accompanied by a long stare through his bangs, there wasn't any change.
Pinching his nose, Tezuka reminded himself to have a sit down with the data collector about releasing private information. He knew it was impossible to dissuade Inui from his obvious stalking, but he really didn't need someone like Fuji knowing more than he should. And Echizen swapped data? He was tempted to ask, but knew it would be harder to pry information from the freshman than he could order the truth from Inui. Still, there was the original problem in front of him.
"Why are you here, Echizen?" If he recalled correctly, the Echizen household lived at the other end of town, on high-rise temple property. Didn't it take half an hour to reach here?
Another non-committal shrug. "Felt like it." Seeing as Tezuka wasn't ready to leave the topic alone, he slanted a glance at Tezuka's furrowed brow and added, "If you're not careful, Buchou, we're going to be late." A small smile broke out when the captain flinched.
He was tempted to order Echizen off the property, but his manners held. The smile took him aback, it was startling how it lightened his kouhai's face. A voice at the back of his head said it was nice to see Echizen smiling, instead the resident smirk. He promptly squashed that thought.
It was still very troublesome for the younger boy to come over. Holding back the urge to sigh, Tezuka pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, before shouldering his tennis bag. His school books he carried in his hand, and after a final scrutinising stare at Echizen, he relented and gave up. There really didn't seem to be any pressing matter and he'd heard from the other first years that Echizen was more often late than on time. If he started following him to school, then at least his class attendance might improve. He hoped his teammate would eventually get bored but as for now, it didn't do any harm to let the freshman follow.
With Tezuka taking the lead, the two of them started walking in companionable silence to school.