Title: Return to the U.S. Open
Author: Enhael
Pairings: Thrill Pair (FujixRyoma)
Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I just play with them. I own Kathy and Aaron, however. Not like that's really something to be proud of....
Warnings: OOC, Shonen-Ai (Don't worry, I'm getting there....)
Summary: Fuji has become a sports photographer. When he's hired to cover the U.S. Open, he runs into a few familiar faces... Thrill Pair
A/N: Part four. This one will actually move the story along. I promise.
Return to the U.S. Open
Part Four: Friends and Misunderstandings
Enhael
Fuji rubbed at his eyes. Sure, he was used to camera flashes, but not this many all at once. He hadn't realized how popular Ryoma was. Then again, he was one of the younger players in the U.S. Open. That and his name wasn't well-known in the States. They obviously thought of him as the underdog.
It took Fuji a while to remember why he had agreed to attend the Q&A in the first place. And why there was even a Question and Answer session in the first place.
"Ryoma has his first official Q&A tomorrow," Kathy informed Fuji.
"Is that normal? For a tennis player to have his own question and answer meeting? They usually don't get this much attention in Japan..." Fuji mused.
"It's rare, but not unheard of. Apparently someone leaked some information to the public that was rather interesting," Kathy explained.
"Something interesting about Echizen?" Fuji was curious himself.
"You'll find out when you're there taking pictures."
"Let me guess, if I refuse, I get fired?"
Kathy nodded before adding, "Along with your whole family. I will track them and their employers down and--"
"I think I get it," Fuji interrupted hastily.
So there he was, in a seat specially reserved for him. Apparently Ryoma had requested it himself. Come to think of it, Fuji still needed to speak to Ryoma about something; the younger man had never told him what the favor he wanted was. Maybe that was why his seat was so close? So that Ryoma could speak to him after all the questions were answered.
Lost in his thoughts, Fuji didn't notice the room had filled up until someone jabbed him with the eraser end of a pencil. Well, what would be the eraser end if the eraser hadn't been completely chewed off. Fuji glanced over at the grinning young man that had jabbed him.
The young man had slightly wavy, ginger hair with a few strands loose here and there. Combined with wide, long-lashed green eyes, the man seemed similar to a child. The pencil and notepad he held made it obvious he was some sort of reporter. Maybe a journalist.
"You must be Syusuke!" He had a cheerful enough aura about him. Fuji could forgive the jabbing just this once. "Or do you prefer Mr. Fuji? Or what is it in Japan? Fuji-can?"
"It's 'san', but Syusuke is fine." It seems as if that will be easier for him to remember. "What's your name?"
"Ah, forgive my manners." The man ginned in an embarrassed manner. "My name's Aaron. Aaron Yates. I think your boss mentioned me?"
"Yes, she did," smiled Fuji. Aaron seemed nice enough. He reminded Fuji of Eiji in a way.
"Damn, she seemed like a crab on the phone. Pardon the language."
Fuji let out a trill of laughter. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought Ryoma was looking at him, but passed it off as a trick of the light.
"She really is," Fuji agreed, a true smile on his face. "Just yesterday she threatened to fire me and my whole family if I didn't attend this Q&A."
"She's worse than I thought." Aaron shook his head sadly, then winked. "I'm glad you came, though. Makes this a hell of a lot less boring!"
"Same to you." Fuji decided he liked Aaron. "Oh, it's going to start now."
The two turned back around, just in time for Ryoma to pick one of the reporters.
"Mr. Echizen! Are the rumors true? Do you really have a significant other?" he cried out, waving a pen excitedly.
Fuji's eyes shot open at this question. When did this happen? Was this what Kathy was talking about? If Kathy was his girlfriend, it would explain her recent good mood.
No. It's fine. I already decided it was for the best. Besides, this shouldn't be that unexpected. The way he they've been looking at each other lately, it was sure to happen sooner or later. Just...sooner than later, I guess....
Fuji was so distracted by his thoughts that he almost missed the blush that crossed Ryoma's face. He was glad he didn't. A blushing Ryoma is a rarity. In fact, this was the first time Fuji had seen him blush. It was well worth the wait.
"It's unrequited."
Those two words caused immediate silence in the room. Silence that was followed soon after by a roar of questions, melding into one another so none could be deciphered.
Fuji was one of three people who were silent throughout the whole affair, Ryoma and Tezuka being the others.
Wait.
Tezuka?
Fuji couldn't hold in a little gasp. Sure enough, there was Tezuka, calmly leaning against the wall next to Aaron's seat.
The first thing Fuji noticed was that Tezuka looked almost exactly the same as he had in high school. The only difference seemed to be the new frameless glasses. Well, upon closer inspection, he may have grown an inch or two.
The second thing about Tezuka that Fuji noticed was that he was staring at Fuji. Not Ryoma, but Fuji. He nodded once to the tensai and made his way towards the exit. Fuji understood. Tezuka wanted him to follow.
With a last glance at Ryoma, who had pulled his cap over his flushed face, Fuji apologized to Aaron for leaving early, and managed to escape the room unscathed. An amazing feat in that sort of situation.
The former teammates had been sitting on a park bench in silence for five minutes already, engaged in a soundless greeting.
"Tezuka, why are you here?" Fuji finally ventured.
Seigaku's former tennis captain folded his arms and waited a moment before answering.
"Atobe."
"Pardon?" Whatever Fuji had expected, it was far from that.
"He informed me of the situation at hand," Tezuka elaborated.
"What situation?" Fuji asked innocently. Behind that smile of his, he was seething. He had forgotten that Atobe had been the start of this whole thing with Ryoma.
"Don't play dumb, Fuji." Tezuka's voice was sharp. Sharper than normal.
"Sorry." Fuji turned his head away. "I don't really want to talk about it right now, Tezuka." I don't want you to see me cry....
"Fuji...." Tezuka sighed. "Look at me." Fuji hesitated before doing so, knowing that the single tear running down his cheek wouldn't go unnoticed. "It's alright to cry."
Those four words were enough to cause the usually-smiling photographer to break down on his former captain's shoulder.
"Better?"
"Saa...."
"That didn't sound convincing."
"Neither did your words of comfort."
Tezuka said nothing to that.
"It was a joke," Fuji told him, offering a half-hearted smile.
"Not a very good one."
Fuji's laugh was a hoarse from crying so hard. He still couldn't believe that Tezuka had come all the way to America to comfort him. In fact, he was positive he didn't. Whatever Tezuka was doing here didn't matter to Fuji at the moment. All that mattered was that he finally had someone to talk to. And who better than Tezuka? They knew each other pretty well, having been teammates and, eventually, best friends. Not to mention, Tezuka was more of a listener than a talker, anyway.
Fuji leaned on his friend's shoulder. He hadn't cried that hard in years. It had left him exhausted. Tezuka stiffened slightly at the physical contact, but awkwardly patted Fuji's head all the same.
"Thank you, Tezuka."
"Fuji-sempai and Buchou? This is unexpected," a scathing voice commented.
Both seated men blinked. They hadn't noticed Ryoma's presence until he had spoken. Fuji tried to make sense of Ryoma's words. Tezuka, on the other hand, suddenly pushed Fuji away from him.
"Tezuka?" Fuji stared at his best friend. "Is something wrong?"
"What, no first names? Isn't that a little strange?"
Then it hit Fuji. Why Tezuka pushed him away and why Ryoma was acting like that. He hadn't realized that he and Tezuka had looked so intimate from a passerby's point of view.
"I knew it. Unrequited."
Fuji froze at Ryoma's whispered words, too surprised to stop him from running away.
Enhael's Comments:
My GOSH I'm cruel to those I love! Maybe I'm the next Fuji? O_o 'Kay, bad joke, you can hit me for that one.
Well, so much for not putting up two parts in one day. But I'm really having fun with this.... And I'm not swamped with make-up work yet, so I have nothing else to do while lying in bed all day.
Mm, in case it's confusing, Tezuka doesn't have romantic feelings towards Fuji or vice-versa (in this fanfiction at least). I dunno, don't wanna raise false hopes.... Gomen!
Hm, the story's moving along. I feel like I rushed it a bit, though. And I'm not so sure Tezuka would be that understanding. But he does care about his pals, so maybe?
Ah. Aaron. He'll play a part later on. And the main reason Tezuka is in the U.S...well, that will be revealed soon, too.
Oh, it may seem like it's close to being over with Ryoma saying that sort of thing, but I've still got a little ways to go.... You'll see why.
The actual U.S. Open draws near! And so does some Thrill Pair fun (finally ;P )
And Fuji finally has a good day.
Ja ne.
