Prompt: 04. Insides
Word Count: 1,318
Rating: PG
Summary: Oishi liked the fact that Eiji depended on him and trusted him and no one else with his inner thoughts.

A/N:Well, I demand you all to review this thing since I practically stayed up to five in the morning the day before the camp in order to get some stuff out of my head so my beta could get her hands on it. You know the story from the previous theme. And when I finally comes back ff is down. Yay…

TG, I know I wouldn't be able to pull this of without you, the readers would long ago be dead because of my bad grammar, and typos. They would practically had laughed themselves to death. Yes, I am almost serious over here.

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Sometimes Eiji would snuggle close to him in their shared bed in the middle of the night, just before Oishi drifted off to sleep and tug at his sleeve. Or if the present whereabouts of his nightgown was on the floor together with Eiji's own, the redhead would poke his side instead, demanding attention.

Eiji could, when the moment was right feel an uncertainty the acrobat wanted to dispose of, and Oishi was, as always, close at hand. Not that he minded though, there was nothing quite as sweet as a worried redhead snuggling close and telling him about an upcoming test he was afraid wouldn't go very well. Oishi liked the fact that Eiji depended on him and trusted him and no one else with his inner thoughts.

Mostly people only saw the overly energetic outside that Eiji was so well known for. The number of people that actually had had the chance to catch a glimpse of the redhead inside were very few, and Oishi was proud to be one of them, probably even the one that knew the most as well. Eiji often told him that. "Sometimes I think you know me better than I do Oishi."

A short sentence Oishi treasured with pride in all possible ways. Well, Eiji probably knew himself better than himself too, but that wasn't really the point now, was it?

However, tonight Eiji's thoughts had taken on a side track from the usual ones, or rather they had made a u-turn, because when the redhead snuggled close to him that night the words that left his lips made a long forgotten ache appear in the oldest chest.

"Oishi, do you remember when we were number one?"

It was such a simply question, and should have been so easy to answer too. But Oishi couldn't even get a simple 'yeah' to leave his lips due to the lump that had appeared in his throat.

Of course he remembered when the two of them were shining as most back in Seigaku as their teams best doubles combination.

Of course he remembered the hellish training season that for forever would be burned in the back of his mind. He remembered a cheerful redhead jumping around in front of him, laughing as the person in question returned another seemingly impossible shot.

He remembered, even if he didn't want to.

He became so emotional when he tried to think back at their younger selves, carefree, like nothing in the world could go wrong. Which it hadn't. They had been young and even though Oishi had owned a very mature kind of mind even back at Seigaku the world still hadn't reached him and Eiji with dull work that almost didn't pay of.

It had also removed precious time he wanted to spend together with his partner, maybe on a street court or somewhere else. Sadly Oishi tried to recall the last time he had held a racquet, but he couldn't remember anymore.

With a sigh he pulled Eiji's soft form closer, buried his head into soft locks and inhaled deeply. Eiji let out a faint sound in response and the older male at least found a little happiness in knowing that he still was able to read his partner.

"Yes," he answered, knowing that the redhead had became impatient because of his silence. "I do remember." He hugged his boyfriend harder, clinging onto that last connection to the old days. Everyone had gone their separate ways after awhile, Fuji living in America, Tezuka and Ryoma still played professional tennis, he still saw them sometimes on the TV, not without with a faint feeling of jealousy though. It could have been he and Eiji up there.

They had given up on becoming professional back in university. They had noticed that things weren't the same without the rest of the team, it was also time consuming, especially for Oishi who also tried to get good grades. They decided that tennis wouldn't matter as long as they had each other.

But people had started to ask. It had been one thing back in Seishun Gakuen to spend a lot time together when they were young and surrounded by their team mates that also… well swung the same way. They kind of melted in the surroundings and people didn't think very much of it.

It had been another thing in college and university when they shared an apartment because of the high cost and low student allowance, not to mention that they both were studying hard.

That they still lived together during the first year they had started to work too hadn't raised many questions. It was a lot to take in at once and they might have been uncertain if they could keep their work, which meant that their shared apartment was some kind of assurance.

But to still be living like two friends after having worked for over five years wasn't very normal. The fact that neither of Oishi and Eiji saw their relationships as 'friends' didn't really matter, it was their and a few of their old team mates secret.

Oishi's parents were still waiting patiently on him to find a bride, something Eiji was very fond of teasing him about. However, Oishi knew that the other was, maybe not hurt since the Kikumaru household frankly had no idea about their relationships either (even though Eiji's oldest sister had a few theories that were dangerously close to the truth) but Eiji was insecure, and he could tell. The redhead was deeply afraid that he would one day find that bride his parents were talking about, and leave the redhead behind and Eiji would be alone, the last connection to the old days lost as Oishi went a separate path.

Not that Oishi had any thoughts in that direction at all, he was still just as deeply in love with the redhead as he was all over them years ago, it had been like that since the first time he had laid his eyes on Eiji, there was always something new to discover and he always ended up falling for the redhead over and over again.

Maybe that was the secret to true love, he found himself pondering. To fall for the same person over and over again instead of letting the feelings fade with time. Dimly and a bit anxious he wondered if it was the same for Eiji, if the redhead still felt the same Eiji had done when they first became a couple. He didn't know, he would never fully understand the thoughts that circled around inside Eiji's head, hidden for everyone expect the redhead himself.

"Don't you wish to you could turn back time?"

The question hit him head on. Of course he wanted to, it would be an utter lie to say that he did not. But things… things changed, it was natural and even though he missed the old days, when he and Eiji had shone as most, there existed things in the present that he held dear too. Like sharing an apartment, sharing his life with the redhead. A gentle smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he bent down and pressed a chaste kiss to his lovers forehead.

"Eiji…" he whispered against the others skin and he felt the other tense up ever so slightly as the redhead awaited his next sentence. Which never came. Instead he pressed his lips against Eiji's own in a searching, longing kiss.

And maybe, just maybe Eiji understood the thoughts that had wandered through his mind since the beginning of their discussion. Maybe Eiji and Eiji alone was able to understand him on a completely different level than anyone else. And maybe he was able to understand Eiji too.

At least that was what Oishi wanted to think as slender arms wrapped themselves around his neck and pulled him closer.

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A/N: This turned out completely different than what I first intended it to be, which the majority of my fics tends to do lately. Never mind that thought.