Author's Note: Wow, sorry about that…if I told you all how busy I've been…well, I'm always busy, but still. Long story short, the summer internship led to me having 60 hours weeks, then school started up two days before it was over, I got a second job which one girl quit like immediately so I ended up working 74 hour weeks between the two jobs and school, my senior recital was an unmitigated disaster (or trying to put it on was, the recital itself went fine once it HAPPENED), there were three deaths in my family in the space of two months, my mother landed in the hospital four times in that same time period, my dad had second cancer scare that thankfully wasn't anything big, and then there was NaNoWriMo 2008. Oh, and graduating. So yeah…once again, if I don't update, it's for a VERY good reason, so no matter how long a pause there is, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not tell me to update. From here on out, the only gap should be during the first half of January when I'll be attending the Presidential Inauguration in DC as an honored student, and other than that I shouldn't be working more than 36 hours a week, so…time will be had for writing!
Chapter Seven: What You Want of Me
And when I get that feeling
I can no longer slide
I can no longer run, oh no no no
-"Say What You Want," Texas
There was something about the way that Eiji moved on the tennis court that was almost magical.
Maybe it was the familiarity of it, realizing that this was one thing in our lives that had not changed with time just yet. Every little movement he made was familiar to me in some way, identical to everything I had memorized years and years ago as he developed his playing style. It was nostalgic and reassuring at the same time. The second he pulled the rental racquet out from its bag and flipped it around his wrist experimentally, it was like I was fifteen again, watching him from a distance and hoping that he wouldn't notice, longing for a way to tell him how much I was falling for him.
Maybe it was just admiration of a natural talent. I was good at tennis, probably better than Eiji all things considered, but I had to work at it. That was one of the reasons I hadn't really kept up with it when I left for the university. I could have, but the amount of work it would have taken for me to stay on the team would have seriously impacted my studies and it wasn't worth it. Eiji might not have been quite as good…at the very least he definitely wasn't nearly as disciplined…but he had a natural talent that he could and did coast on. If he had really worked at it, or more than he normally did, he could have easily been one of the best players in the country. Watching him move across the court even when we weren't playing was pure pleasure. He just made it look so easy.
Maybe it was the fact that watching him bend and stretch in all of those contortions he preferred just made my blood boil with desire. Or it could have been the tingle of anticipation that ran through me at the thought of playing with him again, partners in all ways, through all times.
Or maybe it was just the fact that it was Eiji.
That last one was probably the most likely.
My friend flipped his rented racquet up into the air and grinned as it twirled and dropped back down into his grip. "Yeah, this'll work great," he mused aloud before turning towards me with an expectant look on his face. "Are you coming?"
I actually wouldn't have minded watching him all day without doing a thing myself, but I have to admit, I was surprised by the sudden thrill of anticipation than ran through me at the prospect of a game. It wasn't like I didn't play with my friends in Kyoto when I got the chance, but Eiji was right. There was something special when we played together, even when we were technically playing against each other.
I wanted to see if things really had stayed as unchanging as that little display had made it seem.
With a wink, I strode over to the opposite side of the court and shifted back and forth on the balls of my feet, ready for whatever he threw at me. "Ready when you are."
The glint in Eiji's eyes was fiercely competitive and as he bounced on the balls of his feet, my stomach fluttered deliciously. Okay, so things had changed, at least a little bit. Back in junior high and high school, I hadn't found that look nearly as erotic as I did now.
Either that or I'd forgotten about it. But I couldn't really see how I'd forget that. Not with the way my whole body went hot and left me feeling like I needed to run a marathon right away or something to burn off all of the energy.
Eiji tossed the first of the tennis balls in the air with that focused light still in his eyes and finally threw it over the net towards me. As I caught it, he called out to me with a challenging smile, "You're out of practice, so you can have the advantage and serve first."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" I shot back, matching his challenge effortlessly. "I was always ranked higher than you, remember?"
"Minor details." Eiji stopped his light bouncing for a moment and raised his eyebrows at me. "Syuuichiro, you wouldn't happen to be stalling, would you?"
That did it. He was definitely going down.
I edged back to the serve line, tossed the yellow tennis ball up high into the air until it almost disappeared in the glare of the sunlight, and readied myself.
The crack of my racquet connecting with the ball wasn't quite what I was used to with my own equipment, but the shock that ran up my arm was still familiar and pleasant. Even as it sailed over the net I was running up to the middle of the court, watching Eiji with eyes that already knew his every move. My partner was already on the move, a redheaded blur dashing across the ground to meet the ball. He returned it with a solid thwack mere seconds after it bounced off of the ground again, when it was just high enough off of the ground to be a safe bet. I didn't even pause when I marveled at the ease with which he read my moves. I could admire him at the same time as I hurried to the other side of the court to meet his every return.
It was amazing how quickly everything came back to me. It wasn't exactly the same as our old games against each other had been. For starters, Eiji really had gotten a lot better playing with the university team, probably because he had to keep up with the best of the best or lose his place at the school. Some of my moves were rusty as well, but I had still managed to pick up some new techniques playing with my friends, amateurs that they were, and I think I actually managed to surprise my former doubles partner a couple of times during the game. There were just enough moments that were new and unexpected for both of us to keep things interesting. What was really amazing to me was that even with those changes, we could still read each other so well.
It was like we didn't even have to think about what the other person was doing at all. We were that in synch with each other. Connected.
By the time our first set ended, I didn't even care about who was winning any more. I was too lost in the joy of playing with Eiji again.
Even if he was thoroughly kicking my ass across the court and back again compared to how our old games used to go. Okay, fine, so maybe I still cared a little bit about winning. But even with all that had changed with the both of us, there were some things that had never changed.
I was in junior high again, hoping and praying that I would make the regulars team and playing to win against the little redheaded new kid that was trying to take my spot from me. I was fourteen and clasping hands with my doubles partner after winning a championship. I was fifteen and running across town in a panic, hoping against hope that Eiji was holding things together at the tournament that I was missing out on. I was standing outside of the Seigaku tennis club house at dusk, pressing my lips against Eiji's for the first time. I was in high school, taking title after title with him by my side. I was eighteen and wondering how I would ever be able to say goodbye to him when I left for Kyoto. I was two days ago, watching him come running out of the subway to throw his arms around me for the first time in months. I was now, right here, with him, like no time had ever passed and all time had passed all at the same time.
The yellow tennis ball thunked dully onto the ground just beyond my racquet and bounced off towards the foul line. On the other side of the net, Eiji threw his arms into the air and cheered. "Game, set, match, me!"
I let my arm fall to my side, racquet still clutched tightly in my hand, and made my way over to the net with my hand held out to take his. "Good game, Eiji."
He nodded, slightly breathless, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. I almost did the same except that at least my hair wasn't dripping in my eyes like his was. "So," he asked happily, "am I better or am I the best?"
"Definitely better," I agreed. "When did you learn that backhand you used on the second game?"
"First week of training. Yoshiki-senpai taught me. He says he thinks I might be triple jointed or something."
I laughed and didn't let go of his hand just yet. I liked how it felt in mine too much. "Or quadruple jointed. I could have told him that."
"Yeah, but you were here." Eiji's eyes lost that sparkle that had lit them up for the entire day for just a second. Before I could say anything, though, he perked up again. "So, up for another match?"
I groaned and rolled my shoulders, feeling the soreness of a good workout after months of disuse already starting to set in. "You're going to kill me, Eiji."
Eiji just turned those big, depthless eyes on me and I couldn't help but grin again. "This time," I told him as I released his hand at last, "you serve."
Sometimes I thought that my boyfriend might be a robot. A very energetic robot. Or a garbage disposal.
I stared at him with only a little bit of disbelief as he tucked away his third salad without pausing except to talk to me. And even then, he still managed to swallow with amazing frequency. "Do you even have a human digestive tract?"
Eiji popped a piece of sunomono into his mouth and swallowed without even bothering to chew. "I'm not sure. You have to learn to eat a lot, living with Taka. I think I might have developed another stomach in another dimension to take up the slack."
I picked at my own salad thoughtfully. "How do you figure that works?"
"I have no idea. It just sounded good, you know?"
I shrugged and went back to my dinner. "That's good enough for me."
Eiji flicked a piece of radish across the table at me and we met each other's gazes long enough to grin at one another before going back to the food.
I had no idea about Eiji, but I was starving. I'd forgotten how much of a workout playing tennis with someone else as well-trained as I used to be was.
And of course my sobbing muscles were going to remind me of that fact for the rest of the week. I had no doubt about that.
Some kinesiology major you are, Syuuichiro. You can't even judge what your own physical limits are!
But still… "Hey," I began, "Eiji?"
"Mmph?" Eiji looked up with his mouth completely stuffed with the last few bites of his salad. "Nrf frmm nphmm?"
I had to struggle not to laugh as he tried to make any sense at all around the mouthful of lettuce. "You were right," I said instead. "Today was perfect."
Eiji blinked those big blue eyes at me once and he made a truly heroic effort to swallow. I waited patiently until he was able to speak without it sounding like he was talking through a wad of cotton. "Thanks?"
I smiled. "No, really. I didn't know how much I missed playing with you until today. It was a great idea."
Eiji's eyebrows shot up, but his expression was one of pure pleasure. "Any time. You know I'm always up for a challenge, nya!"
"Really?" My mind flashed back briefly to the way that his eyes had gleamed as we first stepped onto the court and my insides knotted up all over again. I focused on making sure that my breath came as normally as possible and fixed Eiji with what I hoped was a challenging gaze. "How much of a challenge are we talking, exactly?"
My friend seemed completely oblivious to my implications. "Hey," he replied with a grin, "I can take anything you can dish out, Syuuichiro, and you know it."
That did it. I took half a second to check and make sure that none of the other patrons were looking through the window at us, and then reached across the table and yanked Eiji over to me, kissing him once, hard and fast and desperate.
Eiji's eyes flew open completely and a sound of surprise came from him, muffled by my mouth covering his, before his lips curved beneath mine and he kissed me back. I held on until I had to break away to breathe, and this time when I met Eiji's eyes they were dark and sparkling with exactly the same desire vibrating through me. "Prove it," I told him with a triumphant grin. "I'm always up for a challenge, too."
Eiji looked around quickly and his own wry smile faded away suddenly. "I don't see anywhere to go," he muttered in disappointment.
"For what?"
He looked at me in surprise. "But…I thought…"
I crossed my arms and sat back, completely satisfied with myself. He might have won the tennis matches that afternoon, but I was definitely winning this game. "I said I was up for a challenge. I didn't say what it was."
Eiji didn't even bother to keep his voice down and it cracked when he cried out. "Hey, sex in public in the middle of Kyoto seems like a challenge to me!"
Feigning indifference, I shrugged and looked away as if I were bored with the conversation. "It's easier than you'd think."
"Oh, like you'd know!" Eiji drummed his hands angrily against the table. "Syuuichiroooooo! Quit teasing me already!"
I pretended to think about it for about three seconds. "Mmm, no. No, I think my challenge is going to stay the same."
The look that my boyfriend leveled at me could have melted the entire country of Greenland. I just continued to look around with fake nonchalance, enjoying the way he squirmed across the table from me with desperation. I wasn't usually that evil by nature, but that look in his eyes that afternoon had been so…insanely…hot…I couldn't help it. I wanted to see what would happen when that look of triumph came back into them.
"All right," he finally spat, still glaring at me with all of the heat that guileless face could muster. "What's the challenge?"
I let my gaze drift back to his and crossed my arms across my chest. "I was thinking about getting us reservations at an onsen a little ways away from here."
Eiji nodded slowly but his expression was filled with suspicion. "Okaaaay…and then…?"
"Well," I continued deliberately, "how does this sound. You're obviously anxious-"
"So are you!" he snapped. "Syuuichiro-"
I held up a hand to stop him and continued. "So the challenge is this: I try to keep my hands off of you and you do the same until midnight our first night there. We'll see who caves first."
Eiji's mouth dropped open in horror. "You have got to be kidding me!"
This time I couldn't help it. I completely cracked up.
My boyfriend just stared at me with that same expression until I had all but laughed myself out. "Oh jeez, Eiji," I gasped as I tried to catch my breath, "that expression…it's priceless! You should see your face!"
Eiji still didn't laugh. "Please tell me you're joking," he repeated incredulously. "You are killing me!"
I stifled another burst of laughter and favored him with a flat look. Eiji covered his face and wailed loudly enough that even some of the other diners outside of the window looked at us in alarm. "That was a dirty trick. You cheater!"
"Does that mean that you don't want to hear what the winner gets?" I asked mildly as I glanced at the bill I was going to have to pay for losing earlier today.
That put a stop to Eiji's protests quickly enough and he stared at me suspiciously through his fingers. "What was that?"
"You made me pay for this," I pointed out. "I always figured challenges were just contests. So whoever wins this one should get a prize, right?"
Blue eyes regarded me curiously without blinking. "Tell me what it is and I'll get back to you."
I shrugged as if it didn't matter, even though my insides danced and cheered in anticipation of the inevitable outcome. Either way, we both won. "Well, whoever caves first has to submit to whatever the other one wants to do to him, of course. You're the one with the older sisters, Eiji, shouldn't you have picked up on this from their manga?"
"You say that like all girls don't read it," he replied wryly.
"If my sister does, I don't want to hear about it."
Without answered, Eiji lowered his hands and frowned at me thoughtfully. At last he nodded. "All right. Deal. But we have to get to this place within two days. I still have to get back to Tokyo eventually, remember."
"That seems fair," I agreed, and held out a hand towards him. "Pinky promise."
At that, Eiji finally smiled. "I thought I was supposed to say things like that," he pointed out as he linked his fingers with mine. A jolt went through me at that touch and for a moment I wondered if I was actually going to be able to win this game as easily as I had thought. "You're supposed to be the more mature one."
I grinned and held onto his little finger as long as I could. Challenge or no, I always wanted that connection between us, even when we didn't need the physical contact to be with each other. "What can I say?" I told him contentedly. "You bring out the best in me."
