*Let Me Hate You*
by: WhiteGloves
"Just when I thought there was not enough juicy events on NewPOT
I found the updated manga version of Golden Age!"
Somebody slappp me!
I still love these guys after all!
(a bit on Fuji's angsty side)
Enjoy Reading!
The crowd was shouting outside... cheers getting louder and louder... stomps of feet creating turbulence even shaking the very ground... words were too distinct to hear... two countries were being chanted...
Yet the dominant of all was that of the Kings...
Germany! Germany! Germany!
Amidst this chaos was a man with brown hair who suddenly turned away and walked toward the dark corner of the court with hands on his pockets. A few people in the crowd pointed at him as he exited the court for they recognized him to be one of that player in the first match who ruined Germany's reputation of being unbeatable.
But Fuji Syuusuke had no more business with what was happening for his belief in Yukimura was great... furthermore there was someone he was going to look for... and somebody he has to meet.
It didn't take him long enough to stroll across the empty hallway of the arena. Everybody was still cheering outside where the third match was taking place. The genius knew the match was one sided from the very beginning in other people's eyes...Germany after all was the home of the pros... And true, he was surprised by a certain someone's monstrous power but he knew there was no better way for things to end. It was right for that man to reach a new level...
Smiling a bit to himself for no reason, the genius—who had been shaken till moments ago—felt a tingling sensation of excitement despite the loss in the second match.
Because well... this was Tezuka we were talking about. There was nothing less to expect...
"?"
Fuji stopped walking and looked ahead all of a sudden.
He opened his eyes and stared long... for then the man he was just thinking about—the man whom he knew he would meet but not too soon— was standing right across him, looking at him from a view, with eyes lingering at his very presence, as if taking in his very appearance.
And Fuji stared back but it didn't take long for him to settle his surprised emotion... it didn't take him long to look back quietly and close his eyes and show great composure.
Well... what was there to expect when they were under one roof once more?
Their fate will always intersect, he thought mildly and quite ironically. No matter what the circumstances are...
"Tezuka."
The tall young man with spectacles raised his head and walked closer to him. The genius did the same with a little sigh at his fortune for then one thing had been in his mind the moment he realized this man will be appearing before his eyes again.
At last they were standing closer yet again, and the genius had to think back of the last time they were this close... that time a net was between them... and that time this same man turned his back on him...
Leaving me with that unfinished match... making me move on till where I am right now...
He raised his face to him and found him looking back.
He looks so strong.
Fuji smiled in spite of himself, making his old friend questionably look at him.
"I'm sorry... bad habit," Fuji said with a little smile, "my mind just keeps going back to those times... I'm sorry."
Tezuka pressed his lips closed and then suddenly raised his hand. Fuji looked down and found the tennis ball he intentionally aimed toward the man during the first match and had to smile again.
"You know I didn't mean any harm."
"Of course." Was his cool answer. Then he continued, "You've become stronger... Fuji."
The brown haired man lowered his eyes to the ball again, the smile on his lips not disappearing.
"I took your challenge." He then said as he looked up and met Tezuka's eyes, "That day when you left me on the court... I took the challenge of playing again..."
"..."
"I know what you did..." Fuji took the ball and pressed it on his hand, "Eiji told me what you said... you didn't want to stop playing with me... in truth that made me happy. At the same time..."
He looked up at Tezuka again and this time he opened his eyes. He knew Tezuka felt it... the sudden tension between them that has never happened before... not even when they were facing each other on different courts for practice match or games... something was different in the air around them.
Tezuka's eyes narrowed.
"Fuji..."
The genius was still smiling with eyes clearly open.
"I've been thinking about facing you again... many times... over and over... during the camp... my battles... during everything I've been through... there was still no helping it... you were still my goal... That's where I realize my weakness."
"?"
"I have wanted to tell you this for sometime... and I found this event the perfect time... the battle between our teams sure is the gap I'm looking for so Tezuka... let me hate you."
"!" Tezuka's eyes rounded as the genius kept still.
To hate you the very man I admire. The closest friend I could ever have... That was right. His only weakness yet also his strength were this man... and that thing between them. In order to surpass this man he must severe it... that bond.
"I cannot fight you with my all while thinking of you as who you were before. We've changed a lot, you and I... and unlike before where our matches were merely a child's game to you, this time it's not just about us. This is about what we're fighting for and you decided to fight for Germany. I am a Japanese player and for that I cannot look at you as my friend. That is why Tezuka, allow me to hate you."
The brown haired genius does not have an inkling where his calmness was coming from but he was surprised he could be so quiet when saying this. He thought he'd sound so doubtful even to himself... but just about now his self esteem was so high...
He hates Tezuka...the words were slowly coming true as he stared at the man before him.
This time he wasn't smiling.
"It's impossible for me to see you as a friend or a rival so to ease things up I'll look at you as another opponent I need to crush. We're basically enemies... well, I'm just telling you how serious I am to defeat you. You are strong because you never waver... I want to be strong too... stronger... that's why..."
Pushing the ball back on the tall man's hands, the genius walked passed him with a silent whisper—
"There's no turning back."
He kept his eyes hidden... he still didn't want to let Tezuka see how his eyes had become.
The eyes that hates him.
*grab
Fuji's eyes widened as strong hand tugged him back into a stop. "?"
Looking down at his left arm, he saw that Tezuka had grabbed his elbow with such power it was impossible to break away. He raised his eyes up at the bespectacled man and found Tezuka not looking at him.
Fuji remained silent... and had to sigh.
Such stubbornness from this guy...
"Tezuka... let me go. I still have to look for Atobe. He is my team mate... I need to show him my support."
"..." His grip tightened. Fuji could no longer hide his surprise.
"Tezuka?"
The man wouldn't look back nor would he let go that in the end, Fuji had to raise his hand and take the man's hand. Slowly, he forced Tezuka's hand to let go and with a silent look up at him for the last time, Fuji turned and walked away.
In order to move forward, Fuji knew Tezuka has taken the steps...
For him, Fuji... to move forward means to stop looking at Tezuka the same way.
No turning back...
But then...
"I do not accept it."
Fuji stopped walking and turned his head toward the tall man disappearing in the shadows of the hallway. With eyes wide open, he watched Tezuka go with a raised hand with the ball as if telling him...
I'll keep this.
Fuji stared, and then had to smile and shake his head.
With the last bit of smile in his eyes, the genius turned away too and continued walking with thoughts at his friend's unexpected response, for then he thought, knowing him for a long time, that Tezuka would go along with his decision...
Then again this was the man who forfeited their last match because he doesn't want to let go of him.
"Tezuka..." there was a conflicted expression on the genius face, "what a stubborn guy."
Yet... he, Fuji... was also smiling.
~THE END~
A/N: I nearly broke my mobile while reading the raw translation!
AWESOME development! I nearly lost hope for updates but then...!
*dies*
Thank you for reading!