Hi there~! Thank you for clicking the link. I made this oneshot during my 'I'm-stuck-pls-help-me' stage of both 'Preservation' and 'Ryoma X Reina'. I apologize to my older readers for the delay. And if you're not a new reader—well, nice to meet you! And hope this reader-author relationship of ours continue. ;)

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, don't own PoT.

FUJI THE MATCH MAKER
A Prince of Tennis Oneshot

Three years he watched them—yes, he could see, despite his seemingly shut eyes. A quarter of a decade he watched them grow together. He was straight (at least he hoped so), but his feminine instincts had always tingled when he saw them together. He always felt a natural connection—chemistry—whenever they so much as take a glance of the other.

They have been good friends since Middle school, and that did not change now that they were all in High School. They barely needed words to understand each other. For some reason, they just… knew.

Those two visibly felt at home with each other, perhaps as much as they do with their own families, even back when they knew each other only for a few months. Their interactions, albeit subtle, had always been fun to watch.

Had. Take note of the tense.

The problem was, that friendship would inevitably lead to something more. He knew it the day he saw Tezuka smile so gently at the girl two years his junior. A vision passed by his head then—and there he was the very proud Best Man.

But years (a little over two, but still) passed since he noticed the non-platonic feelings, looks, breaths surging through them and there was still no progress. The most intimate moment they had so far (he knew because he stalked them) was those accidental touches when they happen to get the same book at the same time (which happened often, mind you), or when they walked home together and one of them would slightly stray from their steady paths and a fraction of their skins touch as they walk (he knew they do it on purpose though), or even when they passed by each other, after 'seemingly' stoic greetings, and their shoulders (or rather, her shoulder to his arm) would collide gently, but neither would turn. Yet he could see those gentle smiles reaching their eyes.

In any case, to a bystander that patiently watched their basically non-existent progress for years, it was getting frustrating.

Fuji Syusuke decided to do something about it.

...

BOOKSTORE

What? Sure he was a genius, but epic ideas with deep meanings (sort of) didn't come to him the moment he decided he needed them. Most brains didn't work like that, and he silently wished television shows didn't go around spreading that misconception. After all, he could use a little less pressure to excel.

He browsed through books, skimming through majority of the words and looking for scenes, dialogues, and such that he felt would be helpful with his 'Mission of Love'. After an indefinite amount of time he closed to what was probably his fourth book, and smiled. He already formed a few theories when he was still in the first two books, and the next one confirmed it.

People develop feelings quicker when they were alone together. It made sense, and it was pretty easy to work out if one thought about it.

Considering the team, he doubted the Pillar Pair (yes, Oishi actually told him about Tezuka's little 'line' all those years ago) had much time to spend together. Now, to polish the plan—

"You found what you were looking for?"

He blinked and turned to the owner of the voice. It was Ann. And then he blinked again at the fact that quite a few women, fewer men, and a number of children had gathered around his area of the bookstore. Apparently he made quite a spectacle of himself reading so quickly. 'A beautiful bookworm' he even heard an old woman whisper to her similarly aging companion. Fuji did not miss the blushes on their faces.

"Yes."

Ann wore that familiar twinkle in her eyes, and knowing her, she probably had an idea he was up to something interesting. "I didn't know you were into sappy stuff, Fuji-san~" She teased and he smiled in response.

"You'd be surprised."

She sauntered closer, nudging him with her elbow when she was close enough. "Whatever you're up to—" She paused, smirking. "Count me in."

…

The first part of his plan required the help of one of his favourite freshmen, Ryuzaki Sakuno, who also happened to be (hopefully) his sister-in-law in the near future. She also happened to be one of target #1's best friends and pretty much noticed the air between the two targets as early as he had. (Or was it earlier? Saa… Fuji liked to think he was the first).

It helped that Ann, another good friend of the two girls, already agreed to help him. It seemed she and Sakuno had already been discussing helping out their friend get herself a boyfriend. None of them would've worked though, considering the personalities of the parties involved, and how easily the target could read them, so they didn't act on them… yet.

The plan simple, really. They just needed them alone, with no obstacles in the way (which would be hard, by experience, since those two were well-known, and for some reason tennis players they knew somehow find ways to meet coincidentally).

Perhaps they'll lead them to situations that may or may not force them to actually act on their feelings.

In any case, he was now walking towards their Buchou's house while his two accomplices prepared Echizen. He looked at the clock: 5 pm, it said, and then quickly skimmed his brain for the possible activities of his teammates (including Fudomine and St. Rudolf, courtesy of the girls) and which areas to avoid.

He stopped his track just before the doorbell. Wearing his usual smile, which turned visibly eager for a moment, he raised his hand and pressed the doorbell thinking what a good friend he was.

…

Meanwhile, in the Echizen Residence, a beautiful girl with greenish-black hair had her eyebrows furrowed intentionally in a very clear attempt to intimidate, her trademark golden orbs narrowed, and arms crossed menacingly as she sent daggers (glares, really, but it felt like very kill-worthy stabs) at her friends of many years.

"No."

"C'mon Ryoma—Please?" Sakuno pleaded with her puppy-dog look that used to have an effect. It did back in middle school, actually being innocent, but now as a woman it was just manipulative. "We've been trying to get you dress up for years, why can't you answer to our request just this once?"

"What makes today special, then?"

"N-Nothing. It's just one of the usual days where we ask you to dress up!"

"You're lying." A statement.

"Does it matter?" Ann intervened. "Considering what we're offering you…" That meant unlimited amount of Ponta for a year and a few (expensive) toys for Karupin. To Ryoma, everything was all so very tempting. And suspicious.

"It's bad to question blessings, Ryoma." Ann intervened with a sparkling (and again, suspicious) beam of hers. "And besides, we're your friends! We mean you no harm. All we want is your happiness." She paused. "And we all know Ponta and a happy Karupin could do that."

Ryoma's frown changed to a thin straight line, signalling her imminent entry at the neutral territory. Just a little push— "We'll get you that new duffel bag you always wanted!"

And with that, Ryoma lost her will to refuse, and sighed. She swore these two girls will be the death of her.

…

"Mah, don't feel so down Yuuta." Said a certain not-so-good-looking tennis player as he patted his kohai's back as they sat lazily around a circular café table. "It's not like it's the first time she cancelled a date with you."

"That's the point!" Yuuta snapped, immediately looking down when he realized everyone was looking, and proceeded to whisper at his senpai. "But at least this time she's with her friends again." He mentally pictured the tickets for a sappy movie (that Sakuno wanted to watch, he emphasized) in his pocket. He looked at his senpais: Mizuki and Yanagisawa, who he just had to cross paths with as he walked around town. And then the two proceeded into spilling their own heartbreaks (Okay, maybe Yanagisawa did all the mourning) and drank the shake as if they were alcohol, and the three of them felt very much drunk in the middle of the day.

This was not how he planned this day would unfold.

But as they 'drank', his eyes wander occasionally at the window curtain and couldn't help but notice all the bloody couples passing by. He slurped on his new mango shake before his eyes ended up on the transparent surface again. But this time his sight caught someone very familiar and he just froze.

"Brain freeze?" He could hear Yanagisawa's offhanded comment vaguely but, really, he was still trying to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He stood up by reflex and ran out the door seeing the two pigtails he knew so well.

"It's Sakuno!"

"What?" Mizuki mumbled as he left a few bills on the table. "You sure you're not drunk from all the frozen fruit juice?"

But Yuuta did not hear the snide comments, and he exited the shop to follow his girlfriend.

…

His senpais followed him. "Whoa." Yuuta's eyes twitched as he looked at his senpai in disgust. The guy was staring at his girlfriend's best friend, also known as the freshman prodigy, but to him she was just an arrogant brat. "Stop drooling Yanagisawa-senpai."

"I knew she was pretty," he said, whispering, "But man, did she get dressed up."

"I agree." His other senpai said, his eyes glinting mischievously. "How much money we could make from selling photos of her to her fans."

"How much?"

"Senpais.." Yuuta muttered in exasperation (or was it embarrassment?) and turned his head towards the stalkees once more. But then he flinched when his eyes met sharp golden ones. "EEK!"

"Seems like we've been caught." Mizuki stated the obvious with his trademark stride and confidence, even raising his two hands like he was surrendering something. He and Yanagisawa followed reluctantly and he felt very guilty at his girlfriend's surprised stare.

"Yuuta!" She said walking towards them. He just noticed Fudomine's Tachibana Ann, while he also noted that Echizen did not bother standing up, that brat. He turned back to his girlfriend and saw when her expression turned from puzzlement to that of annoyance. "Did you follow us?"

He froze. "I—we—"

"Yes." Mizuki answered in his stead and he glared at him. Yuuta's glare, however, did not last very long when his girlfriend sent him one.

"I don't believe this."

"Well, you did cancel a date on me during the last minute."

"You said you were fine with it, didn't you?"

"Well obviously he wasn't." Mizuki oh-so-helpfully added, earning himself another one of Yuuta's glares. Not that it affected him anymore, of course, and he'd rather not admit that it ever had.

"Shut up Mizuki-senpai."

"Well…,"A new voice from behind Mizuki appeared, and without trying all eyes were on him. "My brother's agitated because he did reserve some important premiere tickets a while back. He'd spent quite a bit of his savings on it."

"ANIKI!?"

"Fuji-senpai!" Sakuno yelled, almost adding "you're late", but was a little too concerned with her boyfriend. Said boyfriend was then sweating even more and blushing furiously, and Sakuno (always so wasy to embarrass, much to her chagrin) blushed herself.

"I got this for us." He said, barely forming a coherent sentence. "I… I thought you'd like to see it."

"Mou Yuuta! You should've told me!"

"But you said it was an emergency." He said, looking at Ann and then at Echizen, who only shrugged.

"It was." She said, "But this was more important, ne?" She smiled sweetly getting Yuuta to gulp his composure down."Besides," She giggled and held his hand. "I've done my work with them already."

And just like that—Ryuzaki Sakuno and Fuji Yuuta escaped their sights.

"Lovely couple on a date." Mizuki said with his sultry voice he thought was charming, before turning back to the other two, and did his best to pretend the older Fuji wasn't behind him. "Would you two—"

"Sorry but we've already got dates."

"Is that so?" He said coolly, ignoring that feeling of dread that he was about to be rejected in a humiliating way."And who might the lucky men be?"

And as he feared, she looked through him and to the person behind him. He composed himself and turned. He knew Fuji was there, but he was up for a surprise to see Tezuka, casually dressed like he was his age.

As much as he wanted to stay and tease them, Mizuki knew he stood no chance, and by experience he'd probably be threatened with something green and supremely spicy if he tried. In end, he only sighed.

"Well then, enjoy your double date."

…

"Well then, enjoy your double date."

"…double date"

"…date."

The words rang across Ryoma's ears and she forced the blasted blush creeping up her face away. She shook her head and then stared at Tezuka who was looking away from her. She blinked at the fact that his ears (one of the few parts of his skin she could see) were a lot redder than usual.

She looked away when she felt something rough on her hands and realized there was a piece of paper. It had a map, and a 'have fun' note in the end. She immediately decided to send glares at Ann and Fuji, who she just knew had something to do with their predicament.

"What is that?" Tezuka asked before she could do anything, though.

"A note."

"Yes, I can see that."

She sighed and looked around her once more, ignoring some of the stares from passer-bys. "I wish you could say the same for Fuji-senpai and Ann."

…

In a nearby alley, a certain spiky-haired teenager mumbled complaints.

Thinking back to their selves earlier that day, doing their daily routines, they would not have known they'd be catching their breaths after a long time of sprinting in the part of the city they've never been in before.

It was free day that day, no tennis, and a day for relaxing. But somehow Kaidoh and Momoshiro managed to egg each other into a game. And, with Kami-sama being especially annoyed with them that day, they managed to break several (not one, but several) windows in the Administration building. Up to now, they had no idea how the freaking hell that happened.

Well, however that happened, they were assigned to get replacement panels themselves from some specialty store in the other side of Tokyo. It was usually reached from school by bus, but Kaidoh refused to ride. Something about him having to jog at that time of day, and something about his (nonsense) pride.

"You ride. I'll catch up to you." He said nonchalantly. "You get tired easily anyways."

And so…, they ended up racing to their destinations, and felt their lungs about to explode.

They entered another verbal fight then. Momoshiro no longer had any idea who started it this time, nor how they kept getting the energy to banter, but then Kaidoh's eyes caught something that made him stare at something behind him. Momoshiro unconsciously followed his line of sight—only to stop breathing.

His lungs were exploding then, now it was his heart.

…

Fuji spotted a leaf landing on Ann's head, and as he looked at it his peripheral vision caught Momoshiro and Kaidoh partially hidden in some dark alley across the street. His eyes darted then to the stoic couple not too far from them. He frowned. As much as he loved his teammates, he sure didn't want to see any of them at the moment.

He grabbed Ann's hand, which might not have been a good idea but he decided to risk it, and pulled her to keep his kohais from seeing their targets.

"W-What are you doing?"

"Luring some people away from our seeing our goal."

"EH?"

…

"W-What is she doing with Fuji?!"

"Maybe she got tired of your shit, and decided to get an upgrade."

"TEME—"

"D'Ahou."

Fuji and Ann managed to keep themselves out of sight by hiding behind some sort of ceramic mascot of some fast food chain named 'Jollibee'. It was fatter than the clown in front of McDonald's a few shops beside them, so it hid them well.

"You're boyfriend is jealous." He said as soon as he was sure the two were out of earshot.

She blushed a bit. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Well not yet." Fuji smirked. "You two obviously fancy each other."

Ann cutely turned into a tomato then and remained silent, quietly stepping away. She crossed her arms as if to defend herself from his knowing stare, and looked at a random direction. "We should go and find the stoic couple."

"You know Ann-chan…" He said in a way Momoshiro would've, and she blushed immediately. "If you showed up and clear things up with him, he wouldn't be trouble for our little mission anymore, yes?"

"But—"

"But…?"

"I wanted to see if he had the guts to tell me what he feels."

He blinked at this and smiled at a random idea that popped his head, and fortunately the usually insightful-Ann was too embarrassed from her own admissions to catch it. Perhaps there'd be another happy consequence after all this.

He was such a good senpai.

…

"I can't believe we followed this suspicious map."

Ryoma sighed as she stared past the metal wire separating them from a tennis court inside.

"Well, they've gone through all that trouble." Tezuka said from behind her, using his usual baritone voice, but that familiar glint in his eyes that told her he was feeling quite amused by all this. "At least it wasn't something you'd fear."

"Ah." She replied, feeling her eyes revealing the same thing, as she nonchalantly opened the gate. She looked inside, and lazily examined the spot. It was not an old court, it was quite good in fact, and she had seen a few similar ones nearby. But this one was tampered a bit, no doubt by who. She saw that both sides were cut in half by chalk lines, making their play areas smaller, and the game a lot more challenging.

This would've made more sense if it weren't for that picnic table near the courts, what seemed to be a vase with red roses, and a picnic basket. It was probably filled with—

"Food." Tezuka said out loud as he checked.

Yeah, she thought so.

Anyway, their tennis rackets were placed on the other side of the court in a way that was impossible to miss. She turned her head towards her captain of many years, and pointed the tip of her racket towards him challengingly, like always. Tezuka replied with what was, in his standards, a smile.

"Let's play."

…

Fuji opened his eyes wide, because he was serious, he couldn't miss anything in this little interaction, now could he? He had to admit he was having a hard time analyzing their emotional interaction, simply because their game was too high level so his sights kept getting pulled in by their gameplay.

They were more impressive now, like they always were when they play with each other. However, given his additional 'challenge' they showed how inhuman reflexes they were blessed with. He recalled Sanada's invisible swings and their normal swings, given the short distance the ball had to travel, were not much different from that.

But then it was taking quite some time and he feared nothing might come out of this other than a normal tennis match. He put in too much effort to let this all get to waste. One would think he was getting paid for these match-making schemes of his. Really, he mused, if there was a Kami-sama for love I would like to witness your prowess right now.

He sighed and looked down by reflex and saw a random rock. He picked it up and stared at it for a few seconds, before his hand moved on its own and carefully cleared a way through the bushes. He could feel Ann's puzzled 'what-the-heck-are-you-doing' stare but he ignored it without much thought.

Carefully, and upon a short calculation, he threw a rock to where Echizen would step in one, two,thr—

"Ryoma!"

"Fuji!" Ann hissed but she was sure she was not heard.

"Relax, it's just a scratch. She's been through much worse." He said. "And now we know they could go to their first name basis when alone (or at least when they think they are), yes?"

"Mou—"

Fuji raised a finger over his mouth and looked back at whatever was happening in the courts. Tezuka's eyes were furrowed—his classic worried look. Fuji cringed a bit at the recollection of his face during that match with Atobe all those years ago, where his blood drained from his face due to the pain in his shoulders. His expression now was very similar to then, and Fuji felt slightly guilty. Slightly. This was for the greater good, after all.

Tezuka bent on his knees to look at Echizen's knee, assessing it, before turning his head up to look at the victim. Fuji swore they could feel each other's breaths then, and those red tints on their cheeks were unmistakable. (Sure they were almost invisible, but that was crimson with those two's standards). Just a little push, he chanted, but then Tezuka looked away and looked at the picnic table nearby.

Tsk

It was then that Tezuka looked back to Echizen, slightly more composed, and positioned himself to her side, making all of them blink.

He carried her to the table like a bride and Fuji had to cover Ann's mouth to keep her from squealing.

But a rustle of leaves quickly turned the excitement to anxiety. Out of the leaves came out a pale Momoshiro, who instantly looked away, obviously misunderstanding their position. "Ah. Sorry, for disturbing. You two."

"M-Momoshiro?! What are you doing here?" Ann hissed again, but this time a little (understatement) louder, and Fuji knew she didn't care. She could feel the panic oozing. But there was also, understandably, considering what she admitted earlier, disappointment that Momoshiro gave up so quickly.

"Saa…perhaps we should all be quiet. We don't want to ruin the pillar pair moment, yes?"

They looked at the said pair, who were just talking, seemingly oblivious to their presences which, after all this racket, was not very inconspicuous.

His eyes narrowed at how much softer and, well, unguarded they looked at each other. It was then that he saw Tezuka's shoulders shaking a little at something Echizen said. Echizen soon appeared the same way.

He blinked rather vehemently when he realized that they were laughing.

The stoic duo. Echizen and Tezuka. Laughing.

It was then some sort of epiphany happened. Granted it was very late, especially with him supposedly being a genius and all, but at least it happened.

That perhaps he, Ann, and Sakuno were wrong. Those two… they had not been oblivious to the other's feelings, perhaps not for a long time. They had always known, haven't they?

That there was never need to rush them, after all.

(Or were the two laughing because they somehow sensed the stupidity going on behind the bushes? It was a long shot but those two never did fail to surprise him. )

In any case, he turned to look at Ann, who was visibly calmer now, and Momoshiro who seemed to have caught on that he misunderstood something. "Looks like we weren't even needed, Ann-chan."

"They're still not dating, are they?" She mumbled, trying to distract herself from Momoshiro's stare. "And if they do start (or are already starting) how do we know for sure?"

He laughed. "With them? We may never know." And smiled, patting her on the head, before patting Momoshiro's shoulders, giving him a gentle push to close his distance with Ann. "And nor does it matter.

"They're a special case though." He whispered before putting more force on his knees before standing, and patted the dirt off his pants. "Other couples need a few more words to become, well, a couple."

He winked (however he did that) and took a few steps towards the then surprised pillar pair. He only shrugged the glares off and pointed at the first aid kit he placed at the corner of the courts. The two blushed after realizing they missed seeing a much-needed kit on a pretty obvious spot in the court.

"Ann-chan! I-I like you and please be my girlfriend!"

Ryoma and Tezuka batted an eyelid at the noise behind the trees, before looking at each other in puzzlement. Fuji, on the other hand, quickly found himself smirking.

He should really start making money out of this.

.
.

END

…

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