A decision I don't regret
Summary: Fuji said it was for the best, little did he know how right he was. SanadaFuji
A/N: Chapter plot suggested by: Moonlight-sama and ekusinuk.
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is certainly not mine. If it was... Atobe wouldn't exist after having a match with Tezuka and all shall praise the sex appeal of Fuji Syuusuke!! Bwahahahaha... ahem...
Rating: T
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"Rikkai Dai?!"
"Yes, Yuuta... Rikkai. It would be for the best"
"B-but why Aniki?! I don't understand, you could have just chosen Hyoutei or St. Rudolph. Why--"
"Because it would be the most farthest from Seigaku..."
"Aniki..."
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Fuji walked aimlessly at the Rikkai grounds. It had been almost a month since his transfer and it wasn't surprising that he was already a member of its tennis club. He had refused the position of a regular player but accepted the role of the team manager to "take a load of Renji" Yukimura had said.
Considering Fuji's flexible attitude it was no wonder that he soon gained the trust and friendship of the other Rikkai players, save one. Genichiro Sanada, Rikkai Dai's fukubuchou and resident ice block Emperor.
Every time Sanada would make a move Fuji would just walk away or completely ignore him. Sanada had wondered from the very beginning why he had been ignored by the former Seigaku prodigy, but what baffled him more was that he actually wanted him to notice him. That's why he made it a point that he would not go unnoticed, especially when Fuji would start ignoring him on purpose for unknown reasons.
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"Fuji-senpai! Let's play a match!" Kirihara Akaya eagerly challenged Fuji who looked up from the training menu he was fixing. "In a minute, Akaya... I just have to figure out Sanada-fukubuchou's training for the week..." Kirihara came over and looked at the notebook.
"120 laps in a day? Isn't that overkill?" He exclaimed.
"Saa... that's his workout last week... he doesn't complain about it and I think it's good for his stamina since all his moves require much of it..."
"That's still a three digit number!"
"So it is..."
"..."
"By the way... that's not for a day."
"It's not?"
"It's his training before lunch."
"What?! Do you hate Sanada- fukubuchou that much"
"...who knows..."
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Sanada glanced at the pair by the bleachers as he heard his name. Fuji seemed to be amused at Akaya's reaction which was close to a fish out of water that was being fried by the gay tourist alive.
"Genichiro."
Was he really that easy to ignore? It can't be.
"Genichiro?"
He wasn't even trying to ignore him! This can't be that hard.
"Genichiro..."
Not that it would be hard for him to do especially when Fuji had been placed in the same class that he's in. He was determined that the prodigy would notice him and accept his feelings... Sanada cut the thought... accept him as a team mate.
"GENICHIRO." Now Yukimura was irked.
Sanada turned to face Yukimura Seiichi, Rikkai Dai's Buchou.
"You're staring again, Genichiro"
"What makes you say that?" He retorted turning his attention back to the doubles game between Niou and Yagyuu against Jackal and Marui.
Yukimura chuckled amused at the reaction he got from Sanada "Maybe because you've been acting like a five year old who just got a new baby brother ever since he came here."
"..."
"See? Just admit that you like him, Genichiro"
"That's not true"
"You can never hide anything from me, Sanada Genichiro."
"...You're right"
"So you DO like him! I knew it."
"You mean--"
"You shouldn't be so careless... go do some laps."
"..."
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Practice was over and Fuji handed the players their new training menus. "Fuji! Why are you letting Marui eat twice more sugar than he usually does he'll bounce of the walls!" Jackal protested
"He would need the stamina for his training" Fuji answered calmly, opening his eyes and daring the other to protest further.
"Finally! A manager that understands my needs!!" Marui bounced happily.
"With that done, everyone is dismissed" Yukimura announced.
"HAI!!"
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"Genichiro..." Sanada turned as he locked the clubroom door. He thought everybody would have gone home by then since he's usually the last to leave.
"What is it, Yanagi?" He asked the data player.
"I think I know why Fuji has been ignoring you..."
"Tell me..."
"But I need you to realize something first"
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Fuji leaned back on his bed and stared at his laptop. Ever since he moved to the Rikkai dorms he had been ignoring his e-mail causing his messages to pile up to a surprising number 368 unread messages in his inbox.
All messages that he read first were the ones from Yuuta and Yumiko-neesan. He replied to some of them, namely the latest ones, apologizing for his late reply and asking how they were doing. After doing so he sighed it was time to face the other e-mails... the remaining 247. They came from the Seigaku regulars.
He first read the ones from Eiji then Oishi's, Taka's, Inui's, Momo's, a few from Kaidoh and Echizen, Ryuzaki-sensei and finally... Tezuka's.
According to Oishi, Arai had been put as a regular in his place, but only as a reserve. Eiji and the others had given him bits and pieces of what was going on back home and by the end of each message asking him if he was coming back or where he was, all of them, save one person. Tezuka's e-mails. Those mails contained nothing more than the teams' progress and a few lectures about rash decisions. After a while he turned off his laptop and went to sleep. His dreams reliving the e-mails as if he was actually there.
Subconsciously, a tear fell.
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"That's why he left Seigaku?" Sanada asked. He and Renji had headed for the park; the sun had already set when the data man finished his story.
"That's what I heard from Inui."
"But why Rikkai Dai, then?"
"I don't know either. I heard he had been given Hyoutei as a choice by Atobe Keigo himself, but still he declined the request." Renji said, leaning back on the bench.
"I still don't understand as to why he chose Rikkai Dai."
"Because it was the farthest from Seigaku." The two looked at the person who had cut in on their conversation.
"Fuji Yuuta. St. Rudolph's singles three and Fuji Syuusuke's brother." Renji Quoted
"What do you mean and what are you doing here?" Sanada asked
Yuuta approached them and leaned on the lamp post. "First of all, I went here with the sole intention of checking on my brother who had refused to answer his e-mails for almost a month now. Secondly, you left an important part out" He then paused. "Let me tell you what the other Seigaku players don't know"
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Fuji walked through the gates of Rikkai Dai and toward the tennis courts for their morning practices. "FUJIKO!!" Fuji froze, the nickname was so familiar. "Eiji?" he whispered, he turned around in shock only to find Marui Bunta look at him in concern. "F-fuji? Is something wrong? You look a bit more pale than usual." Realizing his mistake and mentally reprimanding himself for his paranoia he then assured Marui with a smile. "It's nothing. Come on, we're going to be late" He walked on as Marui went rambling about the new cake store down the block.
He then thought what would have happened if he didn't make a mistake and it was actually Eiji or worse, the whole Seigaku team. What would he do? How would he face them? He sighed. That would be impossible since he never told anyone, except Inui, where he was transferring to and was sure that Inui could keep under a code of secrecy.
"Aniki!" Great... now he was hearing his brother's voice. What's next?
"ANIKI!" Go away little voices. Go away...
"ANIKI!!!" He then felt a fist connect with his shoulder. That felt real... "Y-yuuta?" He then looked at his brother who smirked proudly. "That was for making us worry!"
"You're brother was supposed to surprise you last night but he seemed to have had his directions all wrong." Yanagi Renji appeared out of nowhere.
"Sou ka..."
"Yeah, yeah... thanks for letting me sleep over, Sanada-senpai" The older Fuji turned around to see Sanada nod at his brother and look at him with a strange expression on his face that Fuji couldn't quite read..
"You're excused from morning practice today, Fuji. Go with your brother." He said while walking away.
"H-hai. Arigato, Sanada-fukubuchou"
"For the 26th time, Fuji. We're both seniors. Call me Sanada"
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"That was smooth." Yukimura commented as Sanada entered the clubroom to change.
"What was?" Sanada asked raising his eyebrow.
"For the 26th time, Fuji. We're both seniors. Call me Sanada" Kirihara imitated his fukubuchou's voice.
"Very nice imitation, Akaya. If I may say so myself"
"Thanks Buchou!" Akaya grinned as he walked out to warm up.
Sanada felt a vein of irritation on his head.
"Loosen up, Sanada. You'll get him in no time" Niou said as he followed Kirihara. Jackal and Marui followed him while sporting identical grins.
"You aren't going to do anything about this, are you?" Sanada asked Yukimura
"You seem to be enjoying yourself, so why should I?" Yukimura answered walking out with that smile of his.
"Sanada is now 100 certain of the fact that he will do anything to get Fuji Syuusuke's attention towards him"
Sanada lost his cool
"RENJI!!!"
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"---Echizen said that you owe him a match and a can of ponta and Eiji-senpai said that you should have told him where you were going because he misses you." Yuuta finished, throwing away the 20 meter long scroll of messages and tucking his reading glasses away.
"Yuuta..."
"What?"
"I didn't even know you have glasses"
"Feh, Mizuki-senpai said I use them so I don't strain my eyes."
"..."
"Besides, HE paid for them."
"I see..."
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Classes had finished and Fuji was already catching up on the work he was supposed to do that morning. Yuuta said that he was coming over that weekend and drag him back home if he had to with the promise that Fuji would be able to come back to Rikkai for school, that is.
He thought it was strange that no one was there yet. He just shrugged it off and continued to work on the line-up for an upcoming match.
"Fuji?" He froze upon hearing his name from the last person he thought was coming over. "T-tezuka"
"No." The voice answered, loosing it's cold tone. Fuji turned around. "S-sanada..."
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Flashback
"What is it, Yanagi?" He asked the data player.
"I think I know why Fuji has been ignoring you..."
"Tell me..."
"But I need you to realize something first"
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"Training was cancelled."
"I see... I didn't know"
"The team was instructed not to tell you."
"Huh?"
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Flashback
"Realize what?"
"That you could hurt him if you are not careful with the words you use"
"Get to the point"
"Sanada... He..."
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"I instructed the team to not tell you that practice would be cancelled."
"Just to talk to me? You could have just--"
"Could have just told you? Would that really work, Fuji?"
"I don't get what you mean"
"You have been deliberately ignoring me."
"I..."
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Flashback
"What?"
"He's ignoring your advances on purpose and I think I know why."
"..."
"Has anybody told you about your emotional similarities with Kunimitsu Tezuka..."
"Tezuka..."
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"Why... why are you ignoring me Fuji?!" Sanada asked, angered. Fuji was now backing into the clubroom wall.
Every backward step he took Sanada took a step forward. He was trapped.
"Because... you..."
"I what?"
"You remind me of pain..."
"Pain..."
"Pain that Tezuka had inflicted"
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Flashback
"Because it was the farthest from Seigaku."
"What do you mean and what are you doing here?" Sanada asked
Yuuta approached them and leaned on the lamp post.
. "Let me tell you what the other Seigaku players don't know"
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"What has Tezuka done to you?"
"I... I don't want to tell you..."
"WHAT. DID. HE. DO."
"I... I..." Sanada had trapped him; both of the fukubuchou's hands on the sides of his head, blocking further escape.
"Nothing... he didn't do anything."
"That's a lie"
"It's the truth..."
"Then why...
"Because you remind me of the very thing I wanted to be free from! You... You are like the embodiment of Kunimitsu Tezuka!"
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Flashback
"My brother almost died because of Tezuka."
"What?"
"He attempted to take his own life, I found him just in time."
"How sure are you that this was caused by Tezuka?"
"His picture was beside the blade..."
"and all this because..."
"he loved him but never told him."
"unrequited love"
"No... Aniki could move on from that... the biggest blow for him was the rumor"
"Rumor?"
Yuuta nodded. "That Tezuka was with Echizen"
Sanada looked forward. "Tezuka made a big mistake... he let go something wonderful when it was already within his reach."
"And would you make the same mistake?" Yanagi asked
"No."
"How are you so sure?"
Sanada stood and looked at them
"That's because..."
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"I am not Kunimitsu Tezuka. I am Sanada Genichiro and I... I won't even dare to bring you pain..." Sanada said softly.
Fuji looked at him after the initial shock and when the words sunk in, Fuji's gaze softened. "S-sanada...I'm sorry... I'm so sorry!" Sanada smiled and held the small prodigy as he let his tears fall.
"It's alright... hush now. Everything is going to be fine from now on."
"Arigato... Genichiro"
"It's alright... Just don't go ignoring me again."
"I wouldn't even think about it."
"Good. It would be hard if the one you're dating would be ignoring you the whole time."
"You mean..."
" If you would let me."
"...That's fine by me..."
"Aishiteru, Syuusuke" Sanada told him softly holding him closer.
"I won't be able to answer yet, Genichiro... but someday... I know I will..."
"I know... and I'll wait no matter how long it takes."
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"I guess we won't be needed after all, Yanagi-senpai"
Yanagi nodded at Yuuta as they walked away from the club room.
"By the way, Yuuta"
"Nani?"
"What's this I heard about reading glasses?"
"!!! ANIKI!!!"
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"Eh? Hyoutei and Seigaku?" Niou asked his fukubuchou
"Yes, I heard that they would be having a match at the courts near Seigaku, today. It would be a great opportunity to study how much they had improved." A mumble of agreement was heard from the regulars.
"Would that be alright with Fuji-senpai?" Kirihara asked
"Don't worry Akaya, Genichiro is with him. Who knows he might even challenge Tezuka to a match" Yukimura chided, making a sideway glance at the fukubuchou.
"Saa... who knows" Fuji added with a smile. "Either way, I'm looking forward to talk to Inui about making improvements on your training menu... maybe I'll ask him to teach me to make Aozu or Akazu" He added.
"Those things are poison!!" Jackal exclaimed
"Saa... but their good for you."
Yukimura chuckled at the expression of his team. "Enough already. Let's get going. We do not want to miss the matches.." He said leading the team out to the waiting bus they had rented.
"You aren't serious about the Aozu are you?" Sanada asked when they were already seated inside
"Scared, Gen?"
"Honestly... yes."
Fuji smiled. "I'm kind enough to let the one I love live.."
"That good... What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"Syuusuke..."
"I'm going to ignore you..."
Sanada grinned as he took Fuji's hand and intertwined it with his own.
"I love you..."
"Saa... I guess I love you too."
"I can't wait to see the look on Tezuka's face once he finds out."
"Genichiro!"
"Kidding" Sanada then smiled at Fuji who smiled back
OWARI
