Rotten Watermelon

To say the least

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The next day at school, the first thing Eiji did was confront Fuji about that phone call. He could not recall everything he said, other than something about an old lady and an apple.

"Eh, I didn't call you yesterday." Fuji said. "And I didn't have anyone over at my house – I was alone since Yuuta's still at St. Rudolph's. You know that Yumikos in college right now, right?"

"But you called me! And you didn't answer so I started making up a story.. I think.. but I think I blanked out halfway through it. Then this kid, I think it was a kid, asked me something I forget then hung up."

"That's strange. I'm sure I was alone that time..." Though Fuji was good at masking his emotions, he couldn't help but feel nervous. To make it worse, Eiji knew him well enough to see right past façade. "What did you say, then?" Fuji tried.

"Er.. I was making up a story.. "

"What story?"

"Um.. an apple? And and...an old lady I think. And...a little b-"

"Hey guys! It's such a beautiful day out isn't it?" Oishi said, while walking in them again, for the third time. Getting no response from either of them, Oishi looked at Eiji, then Fuji confusedly. "What's wrong?

"...Nothing." They replied in unison. "I'll see you later, Eiji." Fuji said as he walked away, completely ignoring Oishi on the way. However, as he was a good distance away, he could not help but release a sigh in relief. There couldn't have been a better timing than that. Eiji, on the other hand, was back to square one – frustrated and unable to express his words.

"Eiji? What happened? Why was Fuji so cold today?" Silence. "Oh no! Eiji! Are you okay? Respond to me Eiji!"

"Oishi." Eiji spoke carefully, trying to keep his voice under control.

"Yes?"

"Just...leave me alone." With that said, he turned and walked away, leaving Oishi to bite the dust. (Literally, not figuratively)

--

Coach Ryuuzaki, despite her age, was not wise enough to realize the tension between the three tennis players on the team. So when she paired the Golden Pair against the Fuji-Kawamura pair, she was oblivious to the fact that she was about to start more chaos than there already were without Tezuka.

Oishi was depressed that Eiji had said such a thing to him and was too busy drowning himself in remorse to concentrate on the game play. Eiji was too frustrated to work with Oishi and was pretty uncooperative. Fuji was too much in thought to think of tennis at the moment and Kawamura, who was in the midst of all them, could not even be in his burning mode due to the heavy tension and awkwardness. The only thing was heard from the game was the tennis ball bouncing back and forth; Oishi didn't even try using his moon volley. What usually would be a pretty heated up game sounded more like a silent auction with no words said. It was so quiet that even the members practicing around them stopped and watched them play without a sound. (Except for Horio, but no one cares about him right now)

The game stopped with a 5-3 in favor of the Fuji-Kawamura pair.

"What do you guys think you're doing? How many times have I told you to not bring in personal emotional feelings to the game? It affects it greatly! Golden pair, look at your score! Fuji! Your spins were horrible! Kawamura! Don't let these little things bother you! Oishi, Kikumaru, Fuji, I want everything solved out before afternoon practice!" Ryuuzaki barked at them.

Even after the disbandment of morning practice, it didn't stop the curious classmates to question the three.

"Oishi, why are you so down?" Fukuda asked. Oishi did not reply, and most likely to the fact that his question probably did not even reach his ears. Eiji merely glanced at him but looked away suddenly feeling extremely guilty. No, its his fault. All his fault! He thought to himself stubbornly.

This time quickly, Eiji and Fuji changed their uniforms and headed off to class. However, they had completely underestimated the power of gossip. As soon as the two entered the classroom, they were bombarded by questions, if not for their popularity.

"Eiji-kun! What's going on between you and Oishi-kun?"

"Are you two breaking up?" A horrified expression passed through Eiji's face. We were never together! Of course, fangirls would never accept that, though.

"Fuji-kun, what's bothering you? You can tell me everything!" another fangirl squealed. You're bothering me more than anyone at this moment. Fuji thought.

Eventually, the two were able to sit down thanks to Shinohara-sensei, who shooed the girls away in order to start class.

-- -- -- -- --

a/n: Sorry its been a couple days… Taking two AP classes, two foreign languages, some honors class, school six days a week take up some time.

I've looked back and noticed I made a very stupid mistake. Tezuka is with the team in Chapter 1 and is suddenly in Germany in Chapter 2. It was a fatal mistake on my part – Tezuka moved to Germany between those chapters and a few time skips occur. There are a lot of other things I have to explain, and most will be in later chapters. If I missed any by the end of the story, PM or review about it and I'll go change it back or I'll just tell you then.

The phone call before (yes, that drabble) will probably or hopefully make more sense to you as the story continues.

I'm quite glad seeing that a lot of people read this, but reviews, or critics, too, will help a lot. If you agree with me and flame, no harm done : /

I also realized that my writing style is pretty boring. It makes me feel like I'm reading a crappy English essay. . Again, any spelling/grammar mistakes - please point out.

A special thank you to those who put this on their favorites/alert list!