Echizen Ryoma was very good at arm-wrestling

A/N: Ahh long time no see, everyone! Okay, so I lied. I said I would upload this chapter ages ago… I'm sorry! I was supposed to write lots and lots and lots during the summer, but summer has ended now and I didn't do anything except watch anime and sleep and eat and read and sleep and eat some more. It's depressing, really. XD Anyway, it was supposed to be the first day of school for me today, but a typhoon came and school was cancelled. Isn't that just AWESOME? Such wonderful timing, isn't it? :D Anyways, I think this batch (ahaha once again this word makes me think of cookies) is a bit longer. I wrote them in different times and I know they are weird, sappy, corny and perverted, but too bad :P

I haven't written in a long time and I'm turning old and rusty – so much that I can't even find my writing style anymore! T.T Ahhh. And it's also been like, what, almost a year since I updated Things I'll Never Say! People FINISH a story in a year, and I've just barely started. I suck.

Oh and I still feel a bit uncomfortable about the name Thriller. Suggestions, anyone?

Ah, my first time doing review replies. :D

Tsuki no Akebono: Aw, thanks so much! You rock too! Ahh I hope you keep reading. Sorry my updates are slow, ne?

SakuraTamao: Haha thank you! And yup, it really is a nasty thought isn't it? Hehe. My friends and I are like that all the time and when I talk to someone outside my social circle, they'd say I was disgusting and run away, scared. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you!

abhorsen3: Ahaha I laughed for a very long time when my friends and I came up with that line too. I think my favourite has to be Black Rain as well :D Thank you very much, and of course I will continue to write Thrill! It's my OTP and there just isn't enough of it.

Skryrssb: Wow, thank you! And yeah, FF seems to be lacking a bit Thrill lately doesn't it? (Though your review was like, from three months ago…Ehehe.) Oh well. My writing isn't that good, but I hope you'll all like it anyway. And WHOA, you're the first one to say you actually like my author notes. Ahaha. It's always such a boring rant though. I hope you didn't wait too long, and thank you very much once again!

Black-Song-xx-: Yup, everyone loves Black Rain! XD Hehe I love sadism – it always gives things such a nice twist. Here's the chapter, thank you very much for reviewing! :D

Ahh, I hope I spelt the names correctly. Anyways, read on! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. It belongs to Konomi Takeshi-sensei. If I did, it would be full of total crack. :D

oOo--thrillthrillthrill--oOo

Arm-wrestling

Echizen Ryoma was very good at arm-wrestling. He had always excelled in this sport, courtesy to the almost daily 'training' with his baka oyaji. Arm-wrestling helps you increase your strength, though the strength comes in short bursts. But not when you hold a match for over an hour, which was what Ryoma did whenever he played at home.

So when a sudden arm-wrestling trend swept over the Seigaku Tennis Club, he was unperturbed. Well – Ryoma was always unperturbed, but now he was particularly so.

He was also not very surprised when he managed to beat everybody except Kawamura-senpai and tied with Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai.

Ryoma was also very certain he'd definitely win Fuji-senpai too – the feminine pretty boy of Seigaku did not look very threatening with his slim, slender, pale – beautifully pale – arms.

When Fuji-senpai sat down in front of him and set his elbow on the table with a smile that was slightly wider and just a tad more evil-looking than usual, Ryoma was still not very scared.

That was until Fuji-senpai clasped his hand ever so tightly and his heart started jumping and flipping and being all hyper like Eiji-senpai. No, it was even worse. It was like that Gakuto guy from Hyotei whenever he felt very competitive towards Eiji-senpai. As if that wasn't enough, Ryoma could feel himself getting hot, very hot. Hotter and hotter and even hotter until he thought he might crash and burn and explode and kill everybody within a ten-mile radius.

And when Fuji-senpai opened his striking cerulean eyes…oh dear God, his eyes…the shock of electricity that penetrated Ryoma's entire body was so piercing he thought he was electrocuted or something. There was such a dangerous light in those eyes – and – and - and it was just so thrilling.

So between the heart-flipping and the face-heating and the body-electrocuting, Ryoma decided to let his hand just…melt. Melt into Fuji-senpai's grasp. And let his arm go numb. He was even tempted to close his eyes, in case he passed out or something.

The next thing he knew, Fuji-senpai had slammed his arm down onto the cold wood of the table and the crowd watching had erupted into cheers.

Ryoma didn't even bother to say something cheeky or make an excuse for his losing something he was supposedly awesome in. He just stood up and walked away.

Ran away. Retreated. Took cover. Fled.

He was never going to arm wrestle with Fuji-senpai ever again.

Space Wheel

The Seigaku Tennis Club's regular members went to the famous amusement park Disneyland for recreation this time. Seriously. Disneyland. Ryoma could not believe it. He would much rather play billiards with Syusuke.

Ryoma didn't like those random people in cartoon outfits parading the streets. They were annoying, stupid, immature, irrelevant, and more. They made Ryoma feel sorry for them, dressed like that in the hot weather. Ryoma would always think those people were probably never smiling inside, probably even scowling – which contradicted the big smile painted on the outfits.

Ryoma didn't really like all those supposedly exciting rides either. No, they didn't scare him, but…but it was just somewhat uncomfortable. It was like placing your life in someone else's hands – placing your life in some random guy who was probably only controlling and supervising the machines because he couldn't get another job. And you could always fly out of your seat and whizz up, up, up into the air and land on some tree miles away.

Knowing facts like these was not very reassuring or encouraging. Not at all. Ryoma didn't want to die yet. He had yet to become the world's number one tennis player. And Syusuke had yet to let him top.

Now they were lining up for this Space Wheel thing. It looked like a Ferris wheel, only smaller, and the carriages don't stay upright as you go around. The carriages are in one fixed position so when it spins 360 degrees, you spin with it. At a very, very, very high speed too. It was exactly the sort of ride Ryoma disliked.

There weren't even any seatbelts or anything, just this metal fence thing that locks you in. A lot of space was still available though, and you could totally fly out. But one carriage could hold two people maximum, and you were supposed to let one person sit down on the long seat first, then the other would sit in front and lean against the first. Ryoma finally deemed this as alright, since he would be able to press his body against Fuji's warm, soft yet solid, slender yet muscular one.

Ryoma pushed this thought away from his head almost as soon as it had come. He was as perverted as - if not even more perverted than - his baka oyaji and Syusuke now!! The world as he knew it was going to end. Tragic…just tragic!

When they got into the carriage, Syusuke, instead of holding onto the rails with both hands, as any normal person should do, wrapped his arms tightly around Ryoma's waist. So now both their lives seemingly depended on Ryoma – and he was determined to do the job right, clutching at the rails with the tightest, strongest grip he could muster – not that the sweat on his palms was exactly helping.

Then the Space Wheel began to spin, slowly at first, then increasing in speed gradually. Just as Ryoma was starting to relax and lean against Syusuke, they approached the top of the cycle – which meant they were upside down. It was at this very precise moment that he felt soft lips nibbling at his ear.

And Ryoma would have jerked under any normal circumstances. He would have jerked, and violently so. But this situation was not very normal – they were upside down, in the air, and if he let go or just slipped barely he could very well just wave tennis and the world goodbye.

Then Syusuke started moving his hands around Ryoma's body, roaming everywhere. The kisses to his cheeks soon turned something more, and as they approached the top once again, Syusuke began sliding a hand lower and lower.

This was all very disturbing and depressing. Here Ryoma was, holding on selflessly for both of their lives, and all Syusuke could think of was molestation. On the Space Wheel thing, too. As if his heart wasn't pumping fast enough already!

As Syusuke's hand was about to reach its destination Ryoma let out a small gasp, and the air he took in knocked the breath out of him. Then the former boy stopped abruptly moved his hands up and let his fingers skimmer delicately up and down Ryoma's waist instead. Ah, just absolutely wonderful! The only thing Ryoma deemed as worse than molestation – tickling. Ryoma wanted to scream, to laugh, to gasp, but he couldn't. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, couldn't let go, couldn't do anything. All Ryoma could do was grasp onto the rails as tightly as he could, reluctantly allowing Syusuke to touch him and feel his blood thumping in his ears. His heart was stopping, stopping – then it began racing again, at an incredibly erratic speed. His heart was running and sprinting and jumping and flipping and somersaulting and rolling and he was dying dying dying. It really felt like his heart was going to pop, like he was going to have a heart attack or something.

And Ryoma loved it. He loved the not being able to breathe, the pounding in his ears, the excitement, the thrill.

When the ride ended, Ryoma was flushed. Really flushed. And Syusuke was smiling like there was no tomorrow. As everybody piled out, Ryoma headed the opposite direction.

'Ryo-chan! Where are you going?' Syusuke asked with a curious smile. Was his Ryo-chan so dazed he could barely figure out where the exit was?

Ryoma turned and smirked.

'I want to go for another ride.'

Maybe these rides weren't so bad after all.

Itchy

It was a bright, cheerful morning, the skies seemingly in harmony with Fuji Syusuke. He was very happy today! Why? Because it was Monday, which meant he would get to see his Ryo-chan!

Well. He saw Ryo-chan every day of the week anyway. Which was great, because that makes him almost excruciatingly happy all the time.

The only thing that made Fuji unhappy was that he lived so far away from Ryo-chan, giving an excuse for Momo to pick the latter up every single morning on his bike. Fuji always relied on his sister's car, and, he was a bit shy to admit – he had never actually ridden a bike before.

As Fuji's footsteps neared the school, he saw Momo and Ryoma pass by on the bicycle. He wanted to wave, but they were going so incredibly fast that they probably didn't see him. Fuji kept his smile in place, though – that is, until he saw the way Ryoma's slim arms – his Ryoma, may he add – were wrapped around Momo's waist, and the way Ryoma was rubbing his head in what could only be described as affectionately against Momo's back.

Fuji's lips immediately twisted into a scowl, and he glared at the bright sun as if it were mocking him. The black, dangerous aura he emitted kept anyone from even trying to talk to him for the whole day.

At practice, Fuji refused to talk to anybody. He even blackmailed Tezuka to have him play against Momo, which resulted in the power player practically broken in pieces on the ground, thinking even Inui Juice would have been better than this.

After practice, Ryoma waited patiently for everybody to leave the changing room. He did not have to wait very long, for everybody sensed the aura and scrambled for their lives, patting Ryoma's shoulder and wishing him good luck, mentally applauding the rookie for attempting to talk to the Fuji Syusuke in the famous Black Dangerous Come-Near-Me-And-I-Shall-Rip-You-To-Shreds mode.

When the last of the escapees fled out, Ryoma stepped closer to his boyfriend and tugged at the corner of the latter's shirt, his eyes dark with worry. Syusuke had not touched him even once today, let alone executing his usual disturbing glomps. Ryoma remembered Syusuke saying he would only be able to restrain himself from any contact with Ryoma only if Ryoma cheated on him or said he did not love him anymore. The last reason was if his Syusuke had a deadly disease and did not want it to infect Ryoma…

As far as Echizen Ryoma knew, he did not do any of the first two, and hoped with all his heart that it was not the third.

Ryoma did not even flinch when Syusuke turned to glare at him.

'What's wrong?' he asked in a small voice, eyebrows creased with worry. He really didn't like it when Syusuke was mad at him, especially when he didn't know what he did and more importantly, how to make it better.

Fuji tried to continue glaring at his boyfriend but failed when he saw his Ryo-chan's lower lip quiver slightly. He took a deep breath and prepared to speak.

Ryoma waited with bated breath, wanting to know what was bothering his Syusuke that much.

'I saw you this morning…on Momo's bike.' Fuji spoke the last few words as if that would explain everything.

On the other hand, Ryoma waited for him to continue, not understanding where this was going. So he rode on Momo-senpai's bike…so? Momo-senpai picked him up every morning, didn't he?

When neither reacted and the tension rose up another notch, Ryoma tilted his answer and blurted out an incredibly intelligent 'Huh?'

Fuji sighed again, his shoulders tense. 'You were…rubbing your head…against Momo.' He managed to choke out the sentence.

Realization dawned and Ryoma's whole expression cleared as if he had just discovered the true meaning of life. 'Oh!'

He watched as Fuji waited for some sort of explanation.

Ryoma's lips twitched, as if wanting to laugh. He tried to keep his face serious. 'Momo-senpai was going too fast, so I had to hold onto him, or I would have fallen off. And my head was really itchy under my cap…and, well. I couldn't scratch it with my hands already doing something else, so I had to use his back to scratch it instead.'

Watching his Syusuke's expression turn from angry to confused, Ryoma couldn't control his laughter anymore as relief broke across his boyfriend's face like the sun emerging from behind the clouds.

'Were you jealous, Fuji-senpai?' Ryoma smirked, 'Possessive, aren't we?'

Fuji smiled for the first time since this morning and leaned down to plant his lips fully on Ryoma's. 'Shut up.' He whispered when they broke apart, his mouth a mere inch away from the other. Then he pulled Ryoma into an embrace tight enough for Echizen to have to gasp and struggle to breathe, as if making up for the day's lack of touches.

Fuji opened his eyes and it was a good thing nobody was around, or they would have fainted from fear at the murderous glint in his eyes. Fuji Syusuke began to plot, right then and there, how to put a million ants in his boyfriend's cap without him noticing, how to learn to ride a bike faster than a motorcycle in one afternoon and how to kill Momo so he wouldn't be able to pick Ryoma up.

Fingers

Ryoma stared silently at his fingers, flexing them and turning his hands around over and over. His lips twisted in disgust as he noted the hard calluses that practically covered the whole of all his fingers, the rough skin of his hand that came from years and years and years of gripping his beloved tennis racket.

He sighed. His hands were so rough, so indelicate…and it was the first time he had ever minded. He never cared about his appearance, let alone his hands. He always knew tennis would toughen up your whole body, knew the hours of labour on his hands every day would eventually show.

And really, Echizen Ryoma never cared about such shallow things like that. That is, until he started dating Fuji Syusuke…

Just then, the subject of his thoughts and the object of his overwhelming affection walked into the room and sat down next to him on the couch.

After a quick kiss, Fuji saw the waning smile his Ryo-chan was trying to paint on his face and frowned. 'Is something wrong, Ryo-chan?'

'I…' Ryoma did not know whether he should be relieved or irritated at his boyfriend's insightfulness. He also did not know whether or not to tell Syusuke what was wrong. 'Don't laugh, okay?'

At this, Fuji's frown deepened. Why would he ever laugh at something that was troubling Ryoma so much?

'Okay,' Ryoma took a deep breath, trying to calm the heat rising into his cheeks. 'I – I don't have beautiful fingers.' He blurted; his face felt as if it was on flames.

There was a pause of utter silence as Syusuke tried to digest his words. He failed. 'Wha – what?!'

Ryoma sighed again and raked his hand through his dark hair. 'You said you'd want someone who is quiet and beautiful with nice fingers, right? I'm quiet, but I'm definitely not beautiful and my hands…' at this, Ryoma lowered his gaze and clenched his fists, bracing himself for his boyfriend's remark.

Fuji couldn't help it – he burst out laughing. The boy was so dense! Did he really not notice more than half of the school's population lusting after him? 'Baka…' his voice was so low, Ryoma barely heard him as his Syusuke pulled him into a hug. He leaned in to whisper into Ryoma's ear. 'You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, Ryo-chan.'

Syusuke could practically feel the heat radiating off Ryoma's face as the younger boy blushed furiously. Fuji broke away a little too take hold of Ryoma's left hand, tracing the rough skin and caressing the hard calluses lightly. The latter boy glanced up and tried to comprehend what his boyfriend was doing.

Finally, Fuji looked up into Ryoma's eyes and his smile was so soft, so sincere, so sweet, so absolutely loving that Ryoma's blush deepened – something he didn't even think was possible.

'Your fingers are beautiful, Ryo-chan. They show all the hard work and effort you've put into something you love. This is way better than some spoilt person who just lazes around on his big fat butt all the time.' At this, Fuji brought Ryoma's hand up and kissed it gently. Ryoma shivered slightly and looked away, but his boyfriend took hold of his chin and softly guided his face so that it was tilted to meet his gaze, careful not to hurt him.

'I love you for you, Ryo-chan. You are the cutest, most amazing and adorable person I've ever met. Not to mention you're good in bed,' Fuji paused to laugh, whilst Ryoma wondered if one could overheat and die from blushing too much. Syusuke continued, 'Nothing is ever going to change that. Not even when you become old and wrinkly. And I'd be even more wrinkly than you anyway. '

Ryoma's eyes widened at the sweet and thoughtful words. 'Syu…syusuke…' after his whisper, though, he smirked. '…That...was corny.'

Fuji chuckled. 'Well, it's not my fault. You were the one going all emo and depressed first.' He teased.

Ryoma pouted – though his worries were finally erased - and Syusuke bent down to peck the tip of his cute nose, then moved towards his lips.

Traffic Lights

When Echizen Ryoma was little, he liked to disobey his parent's wishes of sitting properly in the car with his little butt stuck perfectly on the seat. He liked to climb as far as the stretch of the seatbelt would allow – yes, he was not that stupid to not wear one – and put his little hands against the cold glass of the window. Ryoma loved to stare at the other cars that passed by, loved the way people reacted when they caught him staring. They would always either look embarrassed and quickly look down, or pretend they did not see him and look away. Sometimes a particularly mean person may glare, but give up when little chibi Ryoma did not even blink, let alone flinch.

That was why Ryoma did not like people. They were all either shy and stupid or cold and boring. Ryoma did not bother talking to them.

But on one rainy afternoon, when Ryoma's baka Oyaji was driving him back from his first day of elementary school – it was quite disastrous, if I may add – something happened that confused Ryoma greatly. He was staring out the window as usual – he was tall enough to not have to climb now – and looking at the way the many sparkly, different-sized raindrops trickled down the window at different speeds, some fast ones crashing into the other slow ones and the way they tumbled down the foggy glass like dozens of tiny, clear meteors.

The cars and views outside passed by quickly, a dull, gray landscape – matching little Ryoma's mood perfectly. The red light that baka Oyaji stopped at was intensely bright and stood out sharply, its glare almost blinding Ryoma. It was at this time that another car pulled into a stop next to them.

Little Ryoma adjusted his gaze from the raindrops to once again conduct his little experiment and turned to stare at whomever was in the car – only to find a little boy around his age, maybe a year or two older than himself – already staring back. Usually people tried not to meet Ryoma's gaze until they couldn't take the unease anymore…

And Ryoma did something he never did. Instead of just staring apathetically, he began actually seeing the boy. He looked at the creamy skin of the boy, partly shielded by the raindrops. He looked at the way the boy's honey-coloured hair fell onto his slim shoulders, looked at the features he knew his own mother would immediately decide as cute. He looked at the way the boy would have passed for a girl if not for his blue shirt - girls did not wear blue. Blue was a boy's colour.

Ryoma's gaze travelled around the boy's face and landed on his eyes, wondering why they were closed in a smile. No one ever smiled back. No one was ever nice enough to do so.

When the young stranger sensed Ryoma looking at him – sensed, Ryoma decided, since it had to be impossible to see with your eyes closed – his smile broadened and he tilted his head, as if inviting little Ryoma to smile back.

And Ryoma did not know why, but his lips lifted by themselves and soon his little golden eyes shone with warmth as he truly smiled back.

Just then, the light turned green and the young stranger's car made a turn for the left, whilst Ryoma's car turned right. He tried to twist his body completely around so he could see the boy's car, and when he failed he was very tempted to take off his seatbelt altogether.

However, he knew that was very dangerous, and settled back against his seat to wonder what colour the stranger's eyes could be instead.

Little Echizen Ryoma did not know what was in store for him in the future. He did not know he would meet the stranger again. He did not know he would get to find out what colour his eyes were. He did not know he would develop a relationship so deep with that boy, that he would actually consider the possibility of himself having turned insane. He did not know that boy would become the core of his existence, the most important, most precious person in his life. He did not know he would be willing to do anything and everything, give anything and everything for that boy. He did not know that boy would give him such shocking thrill.

All he knew was that the stranger was the first one to show him kindness, the first one to show him what a little smile could do to brighten up a day.

All he knew was that the stranger, for a single, short moment, dumped a bucketful of rainbow colours that splashed against his gray sky.

oOo--thrillthrillthrill—oOo

A/N: Ahh. It sucked, didn't it? I will try to have the next chapter up soon – I already have all the ideas, I just need to write them down. That shouldn't take too long, right? :D

Arm-wrestling was inspired by an arm wrestling trend that swept through my class at school a long time ago. I lost to everybody except a boy about like, two feet shorter than me. Or at least one and a half. XD

And Space Wheel is actually from Ocean Park, a theme park in Hong Kong. Do they have it in other countries too? I'm not sure, but I don't think so. Anyway, it's really really REALLY fun, and it always seemed to scary for me, but I went with my friends and now I'm addicted to it XD

Itchy was from a book – The Clique series, though I forgot which book. Within this girl was sort of forced to wear a cap on the back of her crush's bike…and stuff. Ahaha. That inspired me to bring out Fuji's possessive side :D And it sounded like something Ryoma might do…though I wouldn't know, really. I haven't watched the anime in ages. T.T

Fingers…oh, fingers. Haha XD For those of you who don't understand, watch Atobe's Gift. It's a short little extra movie – about minutes only, I think. In it, Fuji revealed that he likes quite, beautiful girls with nice fingers…-cries- I am SO not his type. Ahhh. You should watch the movie, it's funny, and it's available on YouTube :D ANDANDAND I THINK YOU GET TO SEE RYO-CHAN SHIRTLESS!! EEEEEEE XD Oh and Inui's eyes too! Or I am confusing this with another mini movie? Oh well. Hehe.

Traffic Lights is sort of AU-ish, and it sounds like a prologue to a story doesn't it? Ah well. I got the idea from that quote I've seen like, at least ten times now –'I like staring at people at traffic lights because, even though it's rude, you get to see whether they are confident or not. You get to see their personality as they either stare back or look away.' That was not a direct quote, just how I remember it. Hehe.

Yay, you survived the sappiness! Oh, and after the next chapter, I might run out of ideas. Anyone care to prompt me? My writing sucks and all, and I will probably disappoint you, but please? Just give me a word maybe even an idea and I'll try to work with it…though if your idea is too difficult I may give up. Hehe :D

Please point out any mistake you see!

Anyway, thank you everyone for putting this on alerts and all. It makes me happy :D Review or I shall release Evil Fuji on you! :P Well, not really. But eh, review and 'dump a bucketful of rainbow colours that would splash against my gray sky', ne. :P Thank you!