Osaka

Summary: For Fuji, Osaka is a place of warm yet chilling and surprising yet predictable memories. Shitenhouji, Fuji, and Atobe centric.

Warnings: Shounen-ai

Pairings: Shiraishi x Fuji, Atobe x Fuji, slight Chitose x Fuji

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine

How did everyone like the last chapter? This one is pretty long (by my standards), so have fun reading it! Read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter 3:

Atobe walked over to Fuji, picked him up gently, and walked back to their shared room.

Fuji stirred as he woke up from his midday nap. At first, Fuji wondered where he was, because he knew he wasn't in his own room. Nor was he in his own bed. He felt a figure next to him. It was so warm, and so comforting. Unconsciously, he wrapped his arm around the figure and pulled him closer. The figure moved slightly. Fuji opened his eyes faintly, and saw gray hair. It was Atobe, in his bed.

Fuji sat up instantly. What was Atobe doing in his bed?! He looked down and checked himself. Good, all his clothes were still on his body. "Do you seriously think of me like that?" Atobe asked. Fuji jumped a little, not knowing that the said person was awake.

Fuji looked around, embarrassed. "I—uh—"

Atobe yawned. "I've been awake since you woke up." He sat up and smiled a little. "You were hugging me like a teddy bear all afternoon."

Fuji blushed. He was sitting up against the wall that the bed was adjacent to. "I—I was?"

Atobe smiled more. "Yes, you were. It was so cute."

Fuji got up and scooted over and off of the bed. He walked over to the window and threw open the blinds. It was a bright afternoon. The sun was shining, like usual, and the wind was blowing steadily. "When I wasn't here yet, what were you doing?" Fuji asked without turning away.

Atobe looked at him. "I was waiting here for you, of course. It's boring with only one person."

Fuji looked back. "You knew that I was going to be your roommate?"

"Everyone knows."

Fuji turned his entire body toward Atobe. Suddenly, his voice was cold, contrasting greatly with the weather outside. "Well, you seem to be fitting in well."

Atobe looked confused, or maybe shocked. "What are you talking about? We haven't even started our classes yet."

"Well, everyone seems to know everything about college!" Fuji shouted. "I've never attended a boarding school, roomed with people, or anything like this!"

Since Atobe was the kind of person he was, he shouted right back. "Neither have I! It's not what you've experienced before; it's your ability to adapt!"

"Are you saying that I can't adapt to things?!" Fuji cried. He narrowed his eyes.

Atobe was silent. Time seemed to stop for a while, since neither of them spoke, and there was no motion or sound. "What's with you all of a sudden?" he finally said quietly. "Ever since I met you, you've never minded being different from everyone else. I mean, think about your taste in food."

Fuji sat down on the windowsill and sighed. "I don't know, Atobe, I don't know what's with me all of a sudden. I just feel different than usual," Fuji said. He hung his head. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

Atobe looked at Fuji with a concerned face. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Fuji was quiet for a moment. "I guess I'm homesick or something. I just wish someone who loves me would call or something." Atobe frowned. Fuji suddenly looked up at him, with his usual cheery smile on again. He looked at his watch. "My, my, we slept a while. Want to go somewhere for dinner?"

Atobe blinked. It seemed like a completely different person was talking to him now. But since he was hungry, too, he agreed.

Fuji stood up, stretched his arms, and yawned. He walked over to the closet to get his jacket, but as he passed by the bed, his cell phone slipped out of his pocket. Fuji didn't notice, since there was no sound, and he wasn't really paying attention to that. Before he could look back into the room, Atobe had already locked the door.

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As the pair walked outside into the sun, Fuji's smile became more and more natural. A day like that put a smile on almost everyone's face, and Fuji and Atobe were no exception. Everything was perfect that day; it wasn't too hot or cold. But when they left the college campus, the area around them was about as familiar to Fuji as Africa. Of course, he had learned a little bit about the Kansai region and Osaka in his advance placement Japanese history class, but he had never really been there.

Atobe, on the other hand, had been pretty much everywhere in Japan, including Osaka. It was part of the reason he had applied to this college; Osaka had been the city that he had visited the most often because he had a couple relatives living here. They weren't living close to the college, though.

As if reading his mind, Fuji asked Atobe, "Have you been here before?" Atobe nodded. Fuji sighed. "That's good, since this place feels like Hokkaido to me, except it's not snowing all the time."

Atobe laughed. "Do you think it's always snowing in Hokkaido?"

"Why, have you been there, too?" Fuji asked. Atobe nodded again and Fuji rolled his eyes.

"It's really beautiful there, and since you're a photographer, I think you'd really like it."

"Too bad I'll probably never go there."

Atobe seemed to think for a moment. "I could take you there during one of our breaks, if you want."

Fuji's eyes widened. "Really?"

Atobe nodded. "Mhm." Fuji jumped up and hugged Atobe, catching him off guard. He had picked up that habit from Jiroh. Fuji had certainly picked up a lot of things from attending Hyotei for the past three years.

"Thank you very much!" he said loudly, not minding that there were people staring at him. Atobe did seem to mind, though; Fuji noticed it by the way Atobe turned his head slightly. Fuji thought it was so cute, and it reminded him of another person—Fuji nearly shook his head not wanting to remember part of the real reason he had transferred to Hyotei. His smile wavered for a moment, before appearing back on his face. "You do know where you're going, right?"

The question made Atobe's head turn right back to face Fuji. "Of course I do," he playfully snapped. Stopping, he said, "See? We're already here."

Fuji looked at the building in front of him. It was a small café, located in a quiet little corner of the town. Inside, it was elegant, but not too fancy, almost on the verge of being casual. It wasn't really the kind of place that Fuji had imagined that Atobe would bring him too, but it wasn't worse or anything. Just different.

Stating his thoughts, Fuji said, "Wow, I wasn't really expecting something like this."

"My relatives used to take me here all the time when I visited them," Atobe explained.

"Oh, you have relatives living here? No wonder," Fuji said.

Atobe frowned. "Even if I didn't have relatives here, I'd probably visit here pretty often anyway. Osaka is a big city, considering some of the other places I've been, especially in Hokkaido," Atobe replied. He added, "And I don't have relatives living there."

Fuji smiled. "That's perfect then, since I was going to go visit some of my Shitenhouji friends tomorrow with Shiraishi, and I was wondering what you would do. But now I know that you have relatives here, you can go visit them," Fuji said. Seeing Atobe wince, he said, "Or somewhere else, if things don't fly well between you and your family."

But that wasn't the reason he had winced. Atobe got along perfectly fine with his family, and he loved his relatives in Osaka a lot. But he hadn't expected Fuji to be doing anything in Osaka, since he had never been here before. But Shiraishi obviously had, and they would be perfectly fine together. Atobe frowned at the word 'perfect'. Did they make a perfect pair?

Fuji interrupted his thoughts. "So, are we going to go inside?" He looked around and pulled him jacket around himself. "Because the wind is starting to get stronger."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Atobe said quickly. He held the door open for Fuji, who swiftly shuffled inside.

Fuji dusted himself off and smiled at Atobe. "You can't blame yourself for the weather." He was just about to take a step when the door opened again suddenly. With their quick reflexes from playing tennis for their entire lives, Fuji and Atobe jumped out of the way just as it swung open. The person entering was a boy, probably in high school, panting heavily like he had just been running for his life.

"I'm so sorry!" he said. "One of my friends was chasing me because—" It was then that he looked up and stopped. "Fuji Syusuke and Atobe Keigo!" he said. And then Fuji recognized his messy mop of red hair and tennis racquet.

"Kintarou!" Fuji said happily. "I haven't seen you in a while!"

"What are you doing here, Fuji?" Kintarou asked.

"I go to college here in Osaka," Fuji replied, smiling.

Kintarou's eyes widened like they used to back in middle school. "Uwaaaah, already?" He looked at Atobe. "Did he make it into the same school? Or is he just accompanying you?"

"Both," Fuji said.

"Wow! You both are amazing!" he shouted. "Have you seen Koshimae lately?"

Fuji chuckled at the nickname Kintarou still gave Ryoma. The name generated because of the fact that the kanji for 'Echizen' could also be read as 'Koshimae'. "Nope, not since last spring." Fuji walked with Kintarou behind Atobe and decided to just share whatever Atobe ordered. They continued to chat for a while at their table also, since they hadn't seen each other in a while either. "How is Chitose doing?"

Kintarou's face brightened. "He's great! He's working hard at his Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami (Pinnacle of Great Wisdom, one of the doors to Muga no Kyouchi, or the State of Self Actualization), and he's doing really well!" He then smirked. "He might even be able to beat Tezuka now."

Fuji laughed. "I still can't beat Tezuka. But—" Fuji looked at Atobe. "He beat Ryoma in the National Tournament."

"WHOA! Atobe must be super amazing!"

Fuji nodded. "Yeah, he was the captain of Hyotei and nationally ranked."

"Sweet! Have you played Shiraishi lately?" Kintarou asked.

"Not since the past National tournament…" Fuji said.

"But you were awesome then! You totally beat him!"

"It was a close game," Fuji said. "I want to play him again. But, speaking of Kuranosuke, I was planning on taking him to visit you guys tomorrow. Is that okay?"

"You mean he was planning on taking you?" Atobe said. "You've never been here anyway."

Kintarou laughed and Fuji shrugged. "Yeah, that's fine; we're not doing anything tomorrow anyway. What about Atobe?"

"He'll be fine; he visits here a lot."

"Okay! Then it's settled! I'm SO looking forward to tomorrow!" Kintarou said.

Fuji chuckled. "Don't tell Chitose and Kenya. I want it to be a surprise."

"You have my word!" The three of them split the bill and walked out of the door. Fuji waved goodbye to Kintarou as he ran out of sight.

Fuji sighed. "He's such a cute kid. He kind of reminds me of an overly-hyper Ryoma."

"That's pretty much what he is, right?" Atobe said. Fuji laughed and they walked back to the campus in peaceful silence.

"Oh, what's this?" Fuji said rhetorically. Even before he had got inside the room, he had heard his cell phone beeping, not knowing that he had left it in the hotel room. They unlocked the door and Fuji ran to the bed. There his cell phone sat, not out of battery, but with a lot of messages. Fuji opened it. It read You have 28 missed calls and 9 new messages. Fuji's eyes widened. How could he have gotten so many messages in such a short time period?

The first message was from Jiroh. "Hi, Fuji! I just called to see how you were doing in college! Have your classes started yet? I bet you'll do great in all of them! Love you! Ja!" Fuji smiled. It was short, sweet, and too the point. Just like Jiroh.

The next one was from Oshitari. "Hey, Fuji. Just wanted to call. How is Osaka? Have you visited any of the Shitenhouji players? Love you. Well, see you later." Fuji continued to smile. He could tell that by 'Shitenhouji players', Oshitari meant Kenya.

The message after that was from Kikumaru. "NYA! Fujiko-chan!!! I haven't seen you in forever! How are you doing? What college are you going to again? Sorry, I kind of forgot, nya! Please call back so that we can plan a reunion together for Seigaku! Love ya! Bye, nya!"

"Hey, Fuji-sempai. This is Ryoma speaking. Just wanted to see how you were doing in college. Have you seen that kid that always calls me Koshimae? Heard he lives in the same city as your college is in. More importantly, are you still playing tennis? Well, see you. Love you. Mada mada dane."

"Hey, Aniki, I have no idea why I'm calling. I just wanted to wish you good luck. Love you. Yumiko's here to talk to you."

"Neh, Syusuke, how are you? Have your classes started yet? And is there anyone that you know going there? I just made Yuuta call you first, because I wanted to. We miss you very much, and we wish you will write to us, call, or send emails or something! Love you and hope to hear from you! See you!"

"Hey, Fuji, this is Saeki. Just wondering how you're doing in college. As for me, my classes just started today. My professors are very nice, and so is my roommate. Who is your roommate? Is he anyone you know? Haha, just kidding. What are the chances of that happening, anyway? Please call back. Love you. Hope to hear from you soon!"

"Hello, Fuji Syusuke. This is Yukimura speaking. Just calling to talk to you, but I guess you're busy or something. I haven't seen you in a while, how have you been? I was wondering what college you go to. It's probably some place very prestigious. If so, congratulations. Hope you will call back. Love you. Bye."

"Hey, Syusuke, this is Kuranosuke. Where are you? I just called Kintarou a couple of minutes ago to ask if we can come to visit him and the others tomorrow, and he said he already heard from you. Apparently you two ran into each other. That's so coincidental, neh? Anyway, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Love you! Ja!"

The rest were calls from people who didn't leave messages. The people who called ranged from Kajimoto Takahisa to that purple freak to the Kisarazu twins. There were calls from Gakuto, Ootori, Shishido, Taki, Hiyoshi, Inui, Bunta, Kirihara, the Tanaka twins, Chitose, Kenya, Tachibana, Rin, and Kai. Some of the people who called Fuji had known, but he hadn't remembered giving them his cell phone number. Fuji shrugged, but then noticed one last message on his phone. The message was from—Fuji gasped. His phone read 'Kuni-chan'. He winced at the affectionate nickname he used to give his ex-boyfriend. He didn't want to change it, but he felt like every time he saw that name, a little piece chipped off from his heart.

He slowly pushed the button to listen to the message. "Hello, this is Tezuka Kunimitsu speaking. Syusuke, I—"

The message was cute off by Atobe's voice coming from the bathroom. Apparently, he had just taken a shower. "Fuji, what are you doing?"

Fuji hastily snapped his phone shut. "Just checking my messages."

Atobe looked skeptical. "The entire time?"

Fuji nodded. It was the truth. "I had a lot of messages." He tucked the phone into the bag that was leaning against his bed. "I'm going to take a nap." Fuji climbed onto his bed and almost instantly fell asleep.

Atobe walked over to the computer. He typed randomly on the keyboard for a while, until he was sure that his roommate was asleep. He walked quietly and gracefully over to the bag and took out the cell phone. He then went into the hallway and listened to the messages. The beginning ones were understandable, but it was strange that they had all called at one time, none yesterday or even this morning. But the last message was from 'Kuni-chan'. Atobe was slightly amused, but slightly disgusted at the name.

"Hello, this is Tezuka Kunimitsu speaking. Syusuke, I was calling to ask how you were doing. I've been fine, and I'm currently attending Tokyo Medical and Dental University, which is close to home. I heard that you were attending Osaka University of Arts. How is it there? And more importantly, how are you? I hope to get a call back from you. I love you. Ja."

Atobe clutched the phone tightly. The message sounded almost the same as the other ones, but something bothered him about the message. Atobe couldn't put his finger on it. He moved his thumb over to the delete button, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he just snapped the phone shut. Atobe walked back into the room and dropped the phone in Fuji's bag again before he woke up.

Fuji gets calls from a lot of peoples! xD;; So if you like this chapter (or if you just think it was okay), review review review!!! xD