A/N: It's so fun writing airhead Tezuka,! (I got giddy xD) but I hope I still kept him in character. Thanks for all the reviews and a special thanks to vierblith for reccing PBE on LJ. I hope you all enjoy. (And I hope this makes up for the lack of TezukaFuji goodness in Lost Fantasies -.-;;;.

Chapter 3

Well.

That just totally went over his head.

Tezuka could only blink and stare, "But...Oshitari...what do you mean that you're..." Now he was just sounding pathetic. Tezuka pursed his mouth shut, and waited for an explanation. Waiting was better than sounding like a complete idiot altogether.

"Calm down, will you?" Fuji only laughed, as he stretched, as Fuji stretched, Tezuka found himself accidentally mesmerized by the few precious inches of bare perfect skin. The deeply private recesses of his mind told him that he was being a pervert, but his eyes refused to budge even with that reprimand in mind.

"...So I just thought I'd take you out so that you won't be mad at me...Tezuka, are you listening to me?"

Tezuka blinked again, "Sorry?"

"What's with you?" Fuji wondered, "Exams gone to your head? It's only the first day..."

"No, I'm just..." Tezuka shook himself, "...Tired." Yes, exhaustion was a convenient excuse. "I couldn't exactly sleep or study with your party making a racket last night." Which was only partially true.

"So it's my fault?"

Tezuka found that he couldn't bring himself to agree.

But then Fuji smiled at him; a disarming smile that was to Tezuka, all things. "Whatever, let's just go and have a nice dinner, okay? I made reservations for seven, that gives you just about enough time to shower." His lips twitched again, "Try not to smell like the locker room when you come back out. I bought new lotion."

Fuji was insufferable.

But Tezuka too, got up, suddenly very self-conscious. "You made a reservation?"

"Yes. You look surprised."

Tezuka was. Fuji wasn't one for planning. Tezuka always assumed that a date with Fuji would include lots of spontaneity, though it wouldn't be frantic, it would just be an evening of unexpected...fun. Fuji always made things fun. It wasn't exactly something that was familiar to Tezuka, however.

But the fact that Fuji actually thought to plan for him, was endearing. "Where are we going?"

Fuji smiled again, beautiful and alluring. "Secret." He put on finger to his lips, "Now go and take a shower, you're dawdling and we might be late."

-

Fuji had bought new lotion. Without knowing exactly why, Tezuka had used it. He wished he hadn't, because now he smelled strongly of warm vanilla. (How something could smell 'warm' was beyond Tezuka's logic.) Since Fuji had made a reservation, he figured a dress shirt and khakis sufficed for the occasion.

Fuji met him in the living room, and he had dressed too. He had changed out of his sleepwear to jeans and also a dress shirt. Since Tezuka mostly did all of the laundry while Fuji took care of cooking, he took pride in knowing Fuji's wardrobe, although he had never seen that particular shirt on Fuji, or in the laundry. It had to be new.

"Yuushi bought it for me." Fuji's voice cut smoothly into his thoughts, "Do you like it?"

Tezuka was tempted to say no. For no reason at all, other than the fact that it had been Oshitari that bought the shirt. But looking twice, he saw that like everything else that Oshitari bought Fuji, the shirt was ultimately flattering and...he stopped his thoughts right there. "I like it. It's...fitting."

"Oh," Fuji looked quite surprised, "...I didn't you'd like it, but Yuushi said you would, so...I guess he was right. He bought it especially for our date today."

There it was again. Date. A 'date' to Tezuka implied that two people who were romantically involved were getting together and going out to eat. Which...he and Fuji...were not.

"Why do you keep calling it that?"

"What?"

"A date. We're not dating."

Fuji pouted, "Do you not want to date me?"

"I..." Tezuka faltered, that wasn't the point. The point was that Fuji had a boyfriend, and therefore, was not eligible for a date. The fact that Tezuka...wouldn't mind going on a date with Fuji had nothing to do with it. None whatsoever.

"Whatever." Fuji stepped forward and took his hand, "You can find me repulsive all you want, but you're still stuck with me for tonight, Kunimitsu."

-

Kunimitsu. Tezuka found himself wondering what that meant, again. What it was, that was simple. Kunimitsu was his name, just a name that no one used. Because he had never allowed anyone to feel comfortable enough to use it, not even Atobe and Sanada, whom he considered to be 'friends'. What the name meant, when the name was called...that was not so simple.

But Fuji, Fuji seemed to be in a class all his own, the name had slipped past his lips with such ease, as if he had been saying it all his life. And Tezuka found that he liked hearing it. The knowledge was just slightly alarming.

"Hello? Tezuka, I'm talking to you."

Back to Tezuka again, he was relieved. Even though hearing 'Kunimitsu' was pleasant, 'Tezuka' was reassuring because it was what Fuji had always called him.

"Pardon?"

The 'surprise' restaurant turned out to be Giovanni's, Italian, one of Atobe's personal favorites, Tezuka had only been here once, the only thing that he remembered was his jaw dropped after seeing the price of the meal. Atobe, of course, had wrote the check with his usual flourish and a smirk.

There was no way Fuji could afford this.

But Fuji was smiling at him from across the table. "I asked you what you wanted from the winelist." Then he added, as an afterthought, "Twice."

"You're drinking?" Tezuka frowned, "Didn't you just get sick this morning?"

"They just give you a shot glass for a toast." Fuji gave him a look, which led to the waiter giving him a weird look too. "I'll be fine."

"I'll just...have what you're having."

Fuji spoke briefly to the waiter and the waiter nodded. Ice water was poured for them both, and menus were left for them to peruse. The waiter disappeared.

"Fuji, why are we here?" Tezuka made sure that the waiter was completely out of sight before he spoke, "...Did you get a raise at work? How can you afford this?" Fuji worked part time at a local studio, and every time he got a raise, he celebrated in the most spontaneous of ways. But this time was the first time that Tezuka had been personally involved. For only a pay raise, this seemed too extravagant.

Fuji heaved a long, heavy sigh, "You are impossible."

Funny how Tezuka had said the same words the night before. Though obviously the context differed.

Fuji held up one slender finger. "I guess I can't put anything past you, after all." He turned a page of his menu. "Rule number one, don't ask your date how he's going to pay for food. Though, of course, if you're paying for the meal, feel free to ask all you want." He grinned, "Shame on you, I thought you'd been taught better. Asking me something like that it just plain rude."

Tezuka wondered who was impossible. "Then why are we here?"

"I'm proving a few points." Fuji looked at him calmly, "I take you out to a nice restaurant, and the first thing you ask me is how I'm going to pay for this. You don't even thank me. No wonder you never get any dates." He sighed, "Fine, see, it's like this. When you were gone, Yuushi came over and we had a talk."

"About?"

"You, obviously. The exams have really gotten to your head." Fuji said, "We decided that it's not good for you to mope around and spend all your time at the library, so we're going to make a few changes."

"Changes?" Tezuka was beginning to feel a little bit uneasy. He didn't like change, he liked routine, things staying the same. Changes inspired...things he rather not think about.

"Well, Yuushi and I decided that you weren't social because you weren't given a lot of opportunities to ease into a social situation. So we're changing that."

Tezuka was beginning to hate the word 'change'. He was going to stab it the next time it dared to come up...somehow. "How?"

The waiter came by and poured wine. And then Fuji sent him away and grinned again. Tezuka found that he disliked Fuji's grin, his smile was something else. "You'll see. First, let's toast. I picked a good year, I think." So saying, he lifted his glass, "Let's see...to you, so that you may prosper and be happy all your life."

After a moment's pause, Tezuka too, lifted up his glass. With that face, it was hard to tell if Fuji was serious or not, but the toast was certainly nice to hear. "...To you," He said, his own words sounding awkward, "So that you may continue to be brilliant in all things." Like you already are.

"Do you really think that?"

Fuji was laughing at him again. But Tezuka found that he was not ashamed of what he had just admitted. "Yes."

"Thank you." Fuji said, "When I'm finished with you, though. You'll be just as brilliant." He tilted his head slightly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear. "You're one of those...what do you call it?--oh, I remember, diamonds in the rough."

Fuji called him a diamond. Tezuka felt his entire body grow warm, and before his cheeks could betray him in the worst way possible, he excused himself.

-

When Tezuka returned, there was a warm pot of something sitting on the table. "What's this?"

"Shrimp Scampi, I thought you'd like it, and since you're right about my not being able to afford this, I thought it would be easier if we just shared something." Fuji removed the lid from the pot, "You don't mind?"

"Of course I don't." In fact, Tezuka felt a little guilty.

"Good. You've finally done something right." Fuji said approvingly, "Conversation is half the meal you know." He ladled food into a porcelain bowl, and handed it across the table, "Here, for you. Now, give me your bowl."

For a moment, their fingertips brushed, and Tezuka froze.

"...Tezuka?"

He smacked himself again. "Sorry."

"It's all right. Though this isn't like you." The eyes were searching, "Was the party bothering you that bad, last night?"

No. Not the party. But what had happened after had effectively kept him up all night. Even now, the taste of stale beer lingered on Tezuka's tongue. "...Not really. It's my own fault." He wondered if Fuji had known what he had been doing.

"Oh. So...how did they go?"

"My exams?"

"Duh."

"They were..." He paused, but oddly enough, Tezuka recalled nothing, "I guess...they were all right. My history exam marks are probably going to be worse than my German marks. I studied harder for German."

"Because your girlfriend's in Berlin, is that why you study so hard?"

Tezuka choked. Yes, there had been a German girl that he had admired afar. Yes, she was pretty. Yes, it had taken him two weeks to work up the courage to ask her for her name, and yes, they had went out the day before she returned to Berlin. Yes, they had promised to write, but that was way back in sophomore year and Tezuka had long since lost her address.

"She isn't my girlfriend." Tezuka felt the need to defend himself, "We stopped writing a year ago."

She wasn't Fuji.

"I'm kidding." Fuji sighed, "You really can't take a joke. Don't get so worked up about it." He paused, "You have sauce on your face."

"Where?"

Fuji paused again, and then he grinned. Reaching over, he brushed by the corner of Tezuka's mouth with one finger. "Right there."

Tezuka hastily downed the rest of his wine, hoping his head would swim.

-

They opted not to take a walk, because Tezuka still had finals the next day. But for all of today's blunders, Tezuka felt oddly content. He was content to watch Fuji's back as his friend poured himself a glass of water.

"...So." Tezuka started, rather awkwardly, again. "That was a date."

"Yes, it was a date." Fuji didn't turn, "A very enjoyable one too, right?"

Tezuka nodded. He walked a few steps so that he was beside Fuji and their shoulders brushed, "I enjoyed myself, thank you."

"Good, because it's something that we're going to do often from now on. You need to learn how to socialize. It doesn't matter how cultured or well-mannered you are, if you can't get out and take the first step, you're not going to get anywhere."

Dating Fuji often sounded nice...in theory. Although he wasn't...really. "This is the first step?"

Fuji nodded, "Yup."

Tezuka was suddenly emboldened by the dazzling smile that he was given, and he cleared his throat. "Don't people usually kiss at the end of dates?"

"Sometimes they do." Fuji looked up at him.

Tezuka couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't. Quickly, he turned from the sink, away from Fuji. He couldn't do this." He was going to calmly walk away. Very, very calmly...until a hand caught his wrist.

"Do you want to kiss me?"

Tezuka's heart lifted and shattered at the same time. It was an odd feeling.

"I..."

"I was going to save kissing for later." Fuji sounded amused. Amused. It was the last thing that Tezuka would have expected, "...Yuushi said I was too spontaneous and I should lead you gently in to this sort of thing. I actually am not allowed to kiss you today. But if you really wanted to...I guess we could. Do you want to?"

What was a kiss to Fuji Syusuke?

What was he to Fuji Syusuke?

Tezuka felt himself nod.

"All right."

Fuji leaned closer, and Tezuka closed his eyes. A soft pair of lips ghosted over his own. And he was reminded of last night. The lips were gone, he opened his eyes.

Fuji looked...skeptical. It was a strange face after a kiss. "Saa, I guess we have to work on kissing too. You're so stiff." And then he gave Tezuka a playful shove out of the kitchen, "Now go to sleep. You have exams tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning."