A/N: Happy birthday, Yuuta! Oh, and as a side note – not many of these chapters will hit the one thousand word mark, let alone over it. There's only one prompt per chapter, which is...yeah.

Title: The Twelve Days of Fujicest

Rating: G

Fandom: Prince of Tennis

Pairing: Fuji Syuusuke x Fuji Yuuta

Genre: Romance/Humor

Warnings: First-name referral, because 'Fuji' is obsolete in a story that revolves around both of them. And Syuusuke is a warning in himself.

Summary: Syuusuke counts the days between their birthdays and comes up with a holiday of their own.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. It is the property of Konomi Takeshi.

--

On the first day of Fujicest

Aniki gave to me

A cactus named Mizuki

--

"There are exactly twelve days between our birthdays, Yuuta-kun," Syuusuke commented on one February 17th. Thumbing through the pocket calendar, he added, "That's very interesting."

"Whatever, Aniki," Yuuta grumbled, already annoyed at his (not so smart) decision to come home for the early spring break. He urgently pressed the fork into his sister's handmade pie, vaguely looking like he was stabbing it.

"Have you ever heard of the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'?" Syuusuke questioned, lifting his cup of white tea to his mouth. He crossed his legs, sitting primly on the ivory white chair. Then he blew gently on the liquid and drank in, reveling in the lightly flavoured warmth.

Yuuta chewed the bite of raspberry filling in his mouth, then swallowed. "What about it?" He hoped whatever his older brother had in mind wasn't too bad – after all, there was no stopping Fuji Syuusuke when he had his mind fixed on a goal.

Syuusuke smirked, almost unnoticeably – Yuuta choked on his pie. That never meant anything good!

"Who knows, Yuuta-kun," Syuusuke practically purred, getting up from his chair. "If you'll excuse me, I must go purchase something, now..."

Yuuta trembled. Maybe he should go back to St. Rudolph?

--

"Happy birthday, Yuuta-kun!" trilled a voice that Yuuta did not want to hear first thing in the morning. Squinting, he yawned and pulled off the covers, muttering a rather rude "Good morning to you too, Aniki."

Then what his brother had said finally registered in his mind, and he suddenly felt wide awake. "Hold on, it's my birthday?"

"Yes," giggled Syuusuke, who was holding a strangely shaped present. "Happy birthday, Yuuta-kun." He held out the gift – which was about as high as Yuuta's arm was long.

Blinking, Yuuta politely thanked him for the present, then examined it, trying to guess what it was.

"Guess before you open it," Syuusuke said cheerfully. Yuuta scowled.

He traced a finger lightly over the edges, making note of the slender bottom and the way it stretched out more at the top. It looked almost like a small bonsai tree, but if it really was a plant – which Yuuta suspected it was, considering how carefully Syuusuke had been handling it – it would be a cactus. His brother was scarily fond of cactus; almost to the point of obsession.

"A cactus?" Yuuta guessed, adding an uncertain note into his voice. After all, Syuusuke was unpredictable.

Syuusuke grinned. "Who knows...open it and see, Yuuta."

So Yuuta tugged at the cobalt blue ribbon, undoing the elaborate, overly-complicated bow. Then, setting it down on his nightstand, he proceeded to carefully remove the wrapping paper, smoothing out the often-appearing creases, being painfully neat about the entire process.

Yuuta actually preferred tearing the decorative materials off like a rabid animal. He wouldn't, however, give Syuusuke the satisfaction of seeing him act as a little kid.

Not surprisingly, a simple cactus was eventually given its freedom from the azure-coloured paper.

Syuusuke beamed as Yuuta touched it with hesitant fingers. "You can name it whatever you want, Yuuta. It's yours now."

"...I see." Yuuta briefly pondered the merits of decking his ignorant Aniki; cacti were his thing, not Yuuta's. What was he hoping to achieve by doing this? Or was he just that ignorant...? Not everybody liked the things that he liked, after all, and some people were just that arrogant. Atobe Keigo came to mind easily.

Instead, he chose an approach that was just as effective, but less violent. "You're supposed to name the cactus after someone you're fond of, aren't you?"

"Well." A light, tinkling laugh. "Sometimes, if you wish. I have so many cacti, though, I run out of people and start just using names I like..."

Yuuta interrupted, feeling a wave of pleasure as the next words fell from his mouth. "Then I'll name it after Mizuki-san."

Silence.

Syuusuke's eyes snapped open, narrowing. "You're what?"

"I owe Mizuki-san everything," Yuuta answered innocently. "It wouldn't be right to not name it after him, right?"

If he weren't always so faux-happy, Syuusuke would've scowled; as it was, he forced himself to keep smiling. "But Yuuta-kun, don't you have someone else in your life who has done more for you?" He paused, pretending to think. "For example...me? Even Akazawa-san?"

"Buchou doesn't really do much," Yuuta replied, strategically ignoring the first option. "He just sits back and lets Mizuki-san control everything."

"Yumiko-'nee-san? Okaa-san?" Syuusuke resorted to counting off their family members. "What about father? He works hard every day to bring home money, you know."

"'Nee-san makes good pie," Yuuta admitted after a moment. "And Mom's done a lot for me, and I'm grateful to dad, too, but...Yumiko. Yoshiko. You understand what I mean? It just...feels unnatural, saying my older sister's and mother's given names...It's even worse when I try it with Dad."

Syuusuke gave in, silently fuming inside. "And me?"

"...Have I ever called you anything other than Aniki?" Yuuta smiled patiently. Yes, keep going, Yuuta. You've almost made him snap...oh, this is the best birthday ever! Perfect, really!

"But...what about Yanagisawa-kun?" Syuusuke argued, almost desperate. "Kisarazu-kun?" He racked his brain for names, feeling some amount of shame at not knowing his own brother's team. "...Nomura-kun?"

"Yanagisawa-senpai is kind of annoying," Yuuta explained, smirking internally. "Kisarazu-senpai and I aren't really close. Nomura-fuku-buchou keeps calling me 'Fuji's little brother', and you know how I feel about that. Really, Mizuki-san is the closest person to me on the tennis team. There's nobody else I could possibly have in mind."

Syuusuke frowned, signaling forfeiture. "Fine, Yuuta-kun. Fine."

He left the room, only barely resisting the urge to slam the door behind him.