Title: He's Got Talent
Summary: Sequel to "Am I Dead Yet?" We are going to Hawaii with an old family friend of ours. My parents scheduled surfing lessons for the next three days. That kid has a natural talent for surfing if I do say so myself. He's not breathing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. The anime and manga belong to their rightful owners. The only thing I own in this fanfiction is the idea and credit goes to for helping me come up with the surfing idea for the fanfiction.
I've noticed that each of my fanfiction oneshots have steadily gotten longer and longer, so I'm going to start keeping a word count of how long the actual oneshot is so that it keeps happening. My goal each time is to create a longer and longer oneshot because it fits as how each holiday progresses, so should the oneshot length.
Word Count: 5845
"Wait a moment. We are going where with who?" Tezuka asked his parents as he watched them pack.
"You heard us Kunimitsu," his mother, Ayana, said happily with a smile. "We are going to Hawaii with an old family friend of ours. Their son is coming as well."
"But I was really hoping to spend some time with-"
"You are going and that is that Kunimitsu," his father, Kuniharu, interrupted him before finishing packing yet another suitcase. "We are going with this family for the whole week of Thanksgiving, so you better start packing your bags in order to make it on time to meet them at the airport, or, if we are too late, at Hawaii."
Tezuka sighed before turning and leaving the room. He was really looking forward to spending more time with Ryoma this Thanksgiving week, but it looked as if he wouldn't get any time to spend with his lover at all.
Grabbing his cell phone as he packed his bags, he dialed in a number and held the phone between his shoulder and cheek as it rang.
After a few more rings, someone answered on the other side of the call. "Hello?" they asked sleepily as if they had just woken up.
"Hello Ryo," he greeted with a small smile on his face.
"Hi Mitsu," the other said happily with a little more cheer than before. "What are you doing calling so early?"
"It's already noon Ryo," he answered with a small chuckle as he heard the gasp of surprise from the other. "I'm sorry that I can't be with you during Thanksgiving. My family decided to take me along during their family trip with an old family friend of ours."
"Oh…I see," he heard his lover reply. He could tell that his lover was just a bit disappointed but that was to be expected. All of a sudden, he heard from Ryoma's end of the call, "Hey! Seishounen! Hang up the phone and get packing! We are going to be late!"
Tezuka was confused before he heard Ryoma say, "Sorry Mitsu, but I have to go now. I'll see you later alright Mitsu." When he gave the affirmative, he heard Ryoma give him a kiss over the phone before he hung up.
Sighing, Tezuka started packing his bags for Hawaii. He knew the weather would be hot which meant some t-shirts as well as some shorts and sandals. Looking around the room for anything he might have missed, he spotted a few things and immediately grabbed them before putting them on him or in the suitcase he was packing.
He would NOT forget to bring the portraits that he had with Ryoma and the other team members or the necklace and bracelet that Ryoma had gotten for him for both his birthday and April Fools ' Day.
"Well we made it into the airport at least," Tezuka's father said looking around. "We didn't miss our flight thankfully, so we just need to look for our friends."
"Who are our family friends?" Tezuka asked standing next to his mother and looking around for the flight schedule.
"You'll see Kunimitsu," his mother replied with a smile. "You'll see, and then you won't be disappointed that you have to go with us."
"O…kay?" Tezuka replied with a questioning tone and look at his mother.
"There they are," his father said pointing at a family off to the side next to the plane entrance. "Hey! Nanjiroh!"
"Wait what?" two voices nearly yelled as they took a look at the other family.
"I told you that you wouldn't be disappointed," his mother giggled before walking over along with her husband and Tezuka following behind them with a slightly shocked look on his face along with one other from the other family.
"Why did you have me hurry anyway baka Oyaji?" Ryoma questioned his father after packing his suitcase. "I wanted to talk with Mitsu a bit more before he went off on a vacation with his family."
"Just hurry up Seishounen. We have to hurry to the airport for our own vacation," Nanjiroh said with a smirk. "We are heading to Hawaii along with another family."
"Which one?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I would rather just stay with Mitsu, but he is already heading somewhere so I can't."
"Just hurry up and get to the cab Seishounen and I promise that you won't be too disappointed with going with your old man on vacation."
Ryoma rolled his eyes but did as told and grabbed his suitcase before making his way out to the cab with Karupin waving a paw at him from the house gates and his mom already waiting in the back of the cab.
"Looks like we showed up earlier than I thought," Nanjiroh said scratching his chin as he looked at the flight schedule. "Our friends should show up any minute now as they like to be on time."
"You never told me who the family was anyway baka Oyaji," Ryoma commented as he had his bags in the chair next to him with his mom in a chair on his other side. His family was near the entrance to the plane they were going to take for the trip to Hawaii.
"You'll see Ryoma, just be patient," his mom said with an encouraging smile.
"I don't like the look on Oyaji's face though," he mumbled to himself as he could see a spark of something in Nanjiroh's eyes.
All of a sudden, the family heard a yell of 'Nanjiroh!' and immediately turned to the source of the yell.
What Ryoma saw shocked him as he not only saw a family, but the family included his own brunette lover. "Wait what?" he yelled along with his fiancé once he saw the families come closer together.
"I told you so Ryoma-kun," Rinko said happily seeing the look of shock on her son's face.
"When did you guys plan this out exactly?" Ryoma said from his seat in the plane next to his fiancé. His parents were in the seats in front of them while Tezuka's parents were in the seats behind them.
"After we figured out about your two's little secret," here Nanjiroh chuckled as Rinko explained, "We immediately told the Tezuka family and asked whether they knew. Imagine our shock and surprise when the Tezuka family didn't even know that their son was dating ours. It gave them quite a shock."
"No wonder you weren't surprised when I finally introduced Ryoma to you," Tezuka commented under his breath as he remembered how his parents weren't at all surprised and actually reacted the same way as Ryoma's parents.
"After we figured out that you two were dating, we figured that a family vacation with both of our families was in order. After all, I have a feeling that you two are thinking of being more than just boyfriends am I right?" Tezuka's mother said giggling while pointing at the identical engagement rings on the two boys' fingers.
"Now when did that happen?" Rinko said with a confused smile on her face. "I don't remember seeing that…maybe I wasn't paying too close attention…"
"When did you two start dating is my question," Tezuka's father said with a chuckle.
"We started dating a few months before Valentine's Day," Tezuka answered as he leaned back against his seat.
"He proposed to me on Valentine's Day though," Ryoma added learning his head against Tezuka's shoulder after putting away the arm rest that was in between them.
"Aw!" Rinko and Ayana squealed seeing the affection the two showed to each other getting the two boys to blush just a tiny bit as it would be even more embarrassing if the blush completely showed.
"Well then, we might have a wedding on our hands won't we Ayana-chan?" Rinko said happily looking at her childhood friend.
"We might," Ayana replied with a giggle behind her hand causing the two boys to blush yet again.
"Why are mothers always like this?" Ryoma muttered under his breath before getting a nod of agreement from Tezuka.
"What are we going to be doing at Hawaii?" Tezuka questioned the adults.
"Surfing, barbeques, parties, anything you want really," Kuniharu answered before leaning back in his chair.
"Finally," Ryoma commented throwing his bags onto his bed. "That plane is just too stiff," he added before flopping down on his bed.
"I'll say," Tezuka said placing his bags next to his own bed next to Ryoma.
The parents decided that the two lovers should have their own room and got three double bed rooms for them all.
"And here I was worrying that I would not spend the holidays with you," Tezuka said sitting down next to Ryoma.
Ryoma turned his head to look at his fiancé and just gave a small smile before sitting up and moving over to sit on Tezuka's lap. "At least we get to spend the entire week together now."
"Yes we do," Tezuka said wrapping his arms around Ryoma's middle section and pulling the smaller against his chest.
Ryoma laid his head against his lover's chest and just listened to the heartbeat of the other. "My okaa-san and baka Oyaji want to relax today because of jet lag."
"Same with my parents," Tezuka said as he leaned his own head against Ryoma's.
"What do you want to do?" Ryoma asked looking up at his lover.
"We could walk around the beach," Tezuka suggested before adding, "or we can just stay in the room and relax."
"I'd rather not leave," Ryoma said with a small smirk on his face as he raised one hand up to lay right over Tezuka's heart to feel his heartbeat. "I quite like sitting here like this."
Tezuka gave Ryoma a small smile before reaching up a hand to gently rake through Ryoma's hair.
The next morning, Ryoma yawned lightly before sitting up and stretching before realizing that something was wrapped around his waist. Looking down, he noticed with a small smile that Tezuka had his arms wrapped around the said area. "Mitsu, it's time to wake up. My parents scheduled surfing lessons for the next three days."
Tezuka stirred awake before sitting up in bed and letting Ryoma go from his embrace. "That's right now? It's only-"
"It's only noon," Ryoma interrupted with a smirk at how late they had both stayed in. "Let's go Mitsu. The lessons are scheduled from one to five."
"Okay the first thing we are going to work on is getting up on the board," the instructor said placing the board on the sandbar of the beach. "Who is going to go first?" he asked staring from Tezuka to Ryoma.
"I will," Tezuka said before walking up to the board and climbing onto it and lying on his stomach.
"Alright the first thing you do," the instructor started before getting onto his own bed and laying on his stomach, "is grip the sides of the board with your hands and then sit up into a kneeling position." He demonstrated slowly as to not discourage the new surfers. "Then what you do is you slowly get up into a standing position with one foot behind the other to keep a balance like what people do on a skateboard," he said before standing straight up and placing his feet in the position he mentioned.
"So balancing on it is the same as a skateboard?" Ryoma questioned knowing how to do so considering some of his American friends made him skateboard once or twice before.
"Kind of," he replied. "The only difference is that instead of being on flat concrete, you are instead on top of a moving wave. You try it boy."
Tezuka nodded before getting up as was told getting a nod from the instructor.
"Your turn kid," he said looking over at Ryoma who nodded as well.
Tezuka got off the board to let Ryoma try.
It turned out that the two didn't really need any training on how to get up on the board as it was pretty easy for them.
"Since you have that lesson down already, let's get onto the water," the instructor said walking over to the shallow end of the water. "Don't forget to attach the ankle bracelets!" he warned as he waded into knee-deep water.
Ryoma and Tezuka nodded before grabbing their boards and attaching the bracelets onto their ankles. They were glad for them because if they had fallen off the boards, the bracelets would help them stay near the board and possibly float up to the surface if they fell into the water.
As soon as the three were in the water, the instructor said, "What you do in order to get out further into the water is that you start swimming on top of the board like so," before getting onto his stomach on top of the board. He waited until the other two were on their boards before saying, "You swim out into the ocean until you feel you are at a good distance where you can get a good wave." He started swimming ahead of the two and occasionally checked over his shoulder to make sure the two were following.
Looking back ahead, he noticed something before yelling at them, "And if a wave is already coming at you, tilt the board down to go under the wave so you don't get splashed!" He went under the wave he just saw and surfaced just in time to see that the other two were surprised at the wave before getting splashed right in their faces from it.
Laughing, he said, "Dive the board down like this," before tilting the front of his board downward to nearly look like it was going to dive right into the water.
Ryoma and Tezuka nodded before waiting for the next wave and trying it.
"You still need a bit of practice to dive the boards, but we need to get further out so there should be plenty of waves to practice on."
When the group of three was finally a ways away from the beach, they stopped swimming further out. There was only about two hours left of the scheduled lesson, and the instructor wanted to get a good wave in before they went in and washed off the sand.
"Alright, so you two remember what I said earlier?"
When the two nodded, he smiled before looking behind him to see a wave. "You two dive under that and watch what I do."
As soon as the two had dived under the wave and resurfaced, they saw the instructor get up into a standing position on his board and ride the wave as it became bigger and bigger until it hit the shoreline.
Looking closer, they saw the man waving his hands to signal that they were going to come back on the next wave.
"Think this'll be easy?" Ryoma said looking behind him and seeing another wave about to hit them.
"Only one way to know and don't let your guard down," Tezuka said gripping the edges of his board as Ryoma nodded and did the same.
The wave hit them at the same time and shook them a bit, but they steadily and slowly stood up onto their boards and just balanced on it as the wave carried them back to the shoreline.
"Pretty good for a first wave," the man said seeing them get back. "Not at all like the usual teenagers who try tricks on their first wave and end up splashing. At least you two had the sense to try and get a feel for how to ride a wave instead of trying something. I'll be teaching you some tricks in two days. You both can go and do whatever you would like."
"Thank you very much for the lesson," they both said in unison in a bow.
"One piece of advice though," the instructor said stopping on the spot and turning around to face them. "I suggest practicing on how to really balance on the boards today because some of the tricks I will be teaching you in two days require that you do not wear the ankle bracelet." With that piece said, the instructor turned and left without another word.
Blinking after him, Ryoma turned to Tezuka and said, "I would rather practice today than wait until tomorrow to practice and risk going under."
"Same," Tezuka said before taking up his board again and practicing on the waves along with Ryoma until it was time to go for dinner.
"The waves are supposed to be pretty big today and tomorrow, so it will be perfect for teaching you tricks. But remember that some waves are too big for you to handle and if they are, just dive if you can, and if you can't…pray that you don't go under the water for too long."
"What are you gonna show us first?"
"I'm going to show you how to ride along the wave instead of just going with it to the shoreline."
"Isn't that the same thing?"
"Not really. Instead of letting the wave just take you to the shore, you ride along it as you go toward the shore like those folks are doing," he explained pointing at a few surfers that were surfing from side to side on the wave that they were on.
"O…kay then…" Ryoma said staring at the surfers with a curious look.
"Did you two practice at all after the lesson yesterday?"
"We practiced a bit enough to stay on if we were just riding straight to the shore," Tezuka answered as he stared at the surfers who were making their way back to shore and heading inside.
"That's good to hear. Let's get out onto the water then."
Following their instructor a few miles out, they followed him on the first wave.
"Now then. All you have to do is lean either forward or back in order to tilt the board in that direction and ride the wave like so," he said before leaning forward on his board a bit to turn the board to the side and ride along the side of the wave. Then he leaned back and turned all the way around before riding back toward them and past them saying, "You two try it now."
"Don't let your guard down Ryoma," Tezuka warned once again as he took a deep breath and leaned backward to follow the instructor.
"You worry too much," Ryoma commented to himself as he also followed the instructor across the wave.
Once they got back to shore, the instructor took a look at them before nodding his head in approval. "Pretty good you two. I'll show you how to ride up and down the waves now."
Going back out once again, they followed the instructor. "What you have to do once you are on your side is that you have to be careful as you lean in order to get up and down the wave without falling off."
Ryoma nodded before catching the first wave he saw much to the surprise of Tezuka and the instructor. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the left and rode along the wave before turning back around and riding to the very top of the wave before suddenly turning his board toward the shoreline and riding straight down the water to the shoreline.
"Now that kid is a fast learner," the instructor commented with a low whistle. "Your turn boy."
Tezuka nodded before catching the next wave. As soon as he was able to stand on it, he turned to the side before riding to the very top of the wave and riding along it. "I don't think this was a good idea," he commented to himself as his board was shaking a bit. Turning his board downward, he steadily rode down the other side of the wave onto the shoreline.
After another wave hit, the instructor walked up to them saying, "That was pretty good you two. I do have one thing to say to you though," he said turning to Tezuka. "You have to be careful of how long you stay at the top of the wave. Sometimes if you stay too long on the top, the board will start shaking before you completely lose your balance and fall in.
"Let's get a few more practice waves in," the instructor said turning back toward the water. "You two are pretty good, but let's make sure that you are ready for tomorrow's lesson of tricks."
"Well that was tiring," Ryoma said walking back into his room as he towel-dried his hair. He had just finished taking a shower. Once again, he and Tezuka had practiced after the lesson long enough to just get back in time for dinner after washing the sand off of their feet.
"What do you think of surfing?" Tezuka asked flipping the channels on the TV in their room.
"It's pretty fun. Tiring, but it is kind of fun," Ryoma commented sitting down next to Tezuka on the couch in front of the TV. "Not as fun as tennis though."
Tezuka chuckled at Ryoma's attitude before finally deciding on watching a music channel where only music videos were shown. Throwing an arm around Ryoma's shoulders, he drew the boy closer to his side before leaning Ryoma's head on his shoulder again.
"This has been pretty fun for a Thanksgiving break with the family," Ryoma commented with a small chuckle. "Usually my baka Oyaji would have wrecked my vacation already by the third day."
"How so?" Tezuka questioned glancing down at the boy next to him.
"You should have seen it one time. We were back in New York visiting a few friends of mine and all of a sudden, my Oyaji just goes over to a couple of girls in the group and starts flirting with them," Ryoma said rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "He made such a fool of himself in front of the girls that I just told him to go home before he embarrassed the family any further."
"Sounds just like him," Tezuka said turning back to the TV and listening to the music along with Ryoma until it was time to go to sleep.
"Alright then. You two have practiced enough to let go of the ankle bracelets right?"
Ryoma and Tezuka nodded before taking the ankle bracelets completely off the boards.
"Now you have to be careful during today's lessons. If you go under, the wave could take you either further out into the ocean or, if you are lucky, take you straight to shore with the board following after even though it might take a few minutes."
Ryoma glanced over and caught Tezuka's eyes catching the hidden warning. "Right," he said turning back toward the instructor and walking after him into the waves.
"The one major trick I want to show you is the one that requires the ankle bracelet to be off. If you can get it, you will be fine without the ankle bracelet. I'll show you the trick at the end though. First let's work on how to spin the board in the air."
"What?"
"Let me show you first. What you do is you ride to the top of the wave. But you don't stop there, you point your board upward so that you actually, for lack of a better word, 'jump' into the air. What you do from there is the trick. To spin the board, you need to crouch down on your board and grip one of the edges while also turning your body to make it spin before hitting the wave again. I'll show you," he said catching a wave and doing just what he said.
Coming back, he said, "There is also the trick where you can do a handstand as well as a trick where you can dive just like he," he pointed at Ryoma here, "did yesterday without knowing. It's a bit dangerous though as you might dive a little too fast and end up tumbling straight over your board and into the water, so be careful today considering you don't have the bracelets on."
"Of course," Tezuka said before looking at the instructor as he explained the two tricks he mentioned.
"Well we only have an hour left before I leave you two along for the rest of your Thanksgiving holiday."
"Thank you for the lessons up until now," Tezuka said as he sat with his legs on either side of the board as Ryoma was doing as they just floated on top of the small waves that were passing by.
"It's been fun teaching bright kids such as yourselves. It's time to teach you the final trick though."
"And that would be?"
"It would be…doing a flip in the air with the board under you also doing a small flip before landing back on it. It's very tricky because if the wave has any other plans like growing any bigger, the board might just swerve to the side far enough to where you land on it before falling straight off the board."
"That sounds dangerous," Ryoma commented turning back over his shoulder to stare at the incoming waves.
"It is. Here is what you do though. As you make your way to the top of the wave and are about to jump off, you need to tilt the back of your board down so that it will flip on the wave at the same time you jump off it to do a flip in the air. You have to be careful though because if you flip it too harshly or too softly, you may not land on it safely enough to stay balanced on the board."
"Then why teach us it?"
"It's the last trick that any surfing instructor teaches around here. They know that if their students are able to get the trick during the time they remain in Hawaii, then they are doing alright with their job. I only have enough time to show you the trick myself before I have to go so just follow along the wave and watch me."
Catching the incoming wave, Tezuka and Ryoma rode side by side as they watched their instructor ride up to the top of the wave, jump off his board, do a flip in the air, and then land on his board as the wave started going toward the shoreline.
"That's all I can teach you now," the instructor said packing up his things in his bag. "I hope that you two have a good time here for the rest of your Thanksgiving holiday and be careful out in the waters."
"We will," the two called out as the instructor left them.
"You want to try that trick Mitsu?" Ryoma said turning to his lover.
"I'd rather not. It's better to be safe than to be sorry."
"I'm going to try it just once. It looks interesting, and I want to make sure that he knows he is a good instructor."
"Your attitude toward teachers is getting better at least," Tezuka said ruffling his hair in a loving way before wading out into the shallow water as he watched Ryoma make his way out more in order to catch a big wave so that he would have no trouble getting up.
"Let's hope I can do this," Ryoma said as he looked behind him and gripped his board as he prepared for the next wave.
As soon as he caught it, he stood up steadily and then took a deep breath. After concentrating, he deemed himself ready and rode up to the top of the wave and then swerved down to get a feel for the wave. He kept swerving up and down the wave in order to make sure that he knew how fast the wave was going so that he would not be surprised.
Finally turning around to go back across the wave, Ryoma took another deep breath before going up the wave and tilting the back of his board down.
Jumping off the board, he saw the board under him flip as he did a back flip in the air. Making sure he kept his eyes on the board, he noticed that the board was just a bit off. Reaching his hand under him, he grabbed the edge of the board and used it to steady the board as he landed on it in a crouching position.
Riding the wave down to the regular water surface a few miles out from shore, he stared at the board in shock at what he had just done.
"He actually did it," Tezuka heard from behind him. Turning, he saw his instructor staring with wide eyes.
The instructor's mouth turned into a wide smile as he stared at Ryoma. "That is the first time that someone has gotten that trick, no matter how unpolished it may be, on the first day after their instructors turn them loose. That kid has a natural talent for surfing if I do say so myself."
"He's talented," Tezuka commented with a small smile.
"You are lucky you have him then. I wouldn't let him go no matter what happens," the instructor commented staring at Tezuka before turning back to Ryoma. What he saw made his eyes widen. "Hey kid!" he yelled trying to be loud enough for Ryoma to hear. "Look out behind you!"
Tezuka turned back to see what the instructor was talking about and widened his own eyes. He immediately took up his board and ran to the water and wading in as he saw what was happening.
"Hey kid! Look out behind you!" Ryoma heard his instructor say snapping him out of his thoughts. Turning behind him, he widened his eyes at the very large wave coming his way.
There was absolutely no way that he would be able to prepare himself on his board in time to actually ride it as his board was turned to the side. There was absolutely no way that he could turn his board to point toward the shoreline and lay himself on it in the time between now and when the wave would crash into him.
Gritting his teeth, he wrapped his legs around his board as tight as he could before bending at the waist to crouch over his board with his hands gripping the edges.
"Ryoma!" Tezuka yelled as he saw the wave crash into Ryoma and go over him. He started swimming faster toward where he saw Ryoma last.
As he came up closer and closer, he saw the board and noticed that Ryoma was not on it.
Gritting his own teeth, he remembered the instructors' words. 'I wouldn't let him go no matter what happens.'
"I'm not going to let him go. Ever," he said before getting off the board and diving into the water below.
Opening his eyes in the salt-filled water, he spotted Ryoma floating a meter below the surface and swam over. As soon as he was able to reach the golden-eyed prodigy, he grabbed Ryoma by the arm and swam up to the surface.
Seeing the boards, he swam over and grabbed them before gently slinging Ryoma onto them and turning the boards forward.
Getting onto his board once more, he made sure he had a good grip on Ryoma's board and Ryoma before swimming back to shore with the help of the next few waves that pushed them forward more easily.
"Is he alright?" the instructor asked walking over to the two once they reached shore.
Tezuka could only shrug before laying Ryoma on his back on the board and leaning his ear over to Ryoma's mouth.
Snapping his eyes open, Tezuka looked up and nearly yelled, "He's not breathing!"
The instructor widened his eyes worriedly as he knelt down next to the boy and tilted his head up a bit. "Pinch his nose and keep his head tilted like that. Give two deep breaths into him and then I'll pump his chest."
"Right," Tezuka said doing as told.
After a few repeats of breathing and pumping Ryoma's chest, the boy finally coughed up water before breathing again.
"Thank goodness," Tezuka said leaning back as he watched Ryoma breathe.
"That was a close one. I suggest washing him up in hot water and then keeping him warm," the instructor said taking a deep breath of relief.
"Thank you very much for your help," Tezuka said giving the instructor a grateful smile.
"It was no problem. Now you two get going, or he is going to get worse from the cold," the instructor said patting Tezuka on the back and grabbing the two surfboards. "I'll take these back to the hotel you are staying at and tell them that you will pick them up later."
"Thank you once again," Tezuka said picking Ryoma up into his arms bridal-style and walking off as the instructor waved them off.
After explaining the situation to the parents, Tezuka went to give Ryoma a hot shower and then settled him on the bed with a thick blanket over him.
"You gave me quite the scare Ryoma," Tezuka said as he ran his fingers through the emerald locks.
"Sorry…" a voice mumbled startling Tezuka.
"How long were you awake?"
"Long enough to hear what you just said," he answered back opening his eyes and raising his hands to hold the top of the blanket over him. "What happened?"
"A large wave crashed into you and made you go under. I got you out, but you weren't breathing. The instructor helped me perform CPR on you before he suggested that I get you a hot shower and keep you warm."
"Thank you Mitsu," Ryoma said quietly as he was still tired from what happened. "Was he proud though?"
"He was very proud that one of his students got that flip move on the first day he turned them loose."
"Were you proud though?" Ryoma asked hopefully as he lowered the blanket away from his face and over to the middle of his chest. "Were you proud of me?"
Tezuka smiled at him before saying, "I'll always be proud of you Ryoma. You are the one that I will always be proud of in any success that you have."
"Stay with me?"
"Of course," Tezuka said with a smile on his face. He saw Ryoma lift the blanket as he laid himself down onto the bed next to his lover before letting the blanket cover them both.
"I love you Mitsu," Ryoma said snuggling into Tezuka's chest.
"I love you too Ryoma. I love you too," Tezuka said wrapping his arms around.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For saving me…and for being here by my side," Ryoma said as he drifted off to sleep.
Tezuka smiled before nuzzling his lover's hair and saying, "I'm grateful to you too Ryoma…thank you…for everything…"