Sara: Hey everyone! I promised Fuji moments, so here you go!
Sky: Since we assumed that you'd all get tired of reading about nothing but tennis, we decided to add these little short story scenes between tennis scenes.
Sara: They delve deep into Fuji's past ~ hope you enjoy!
Review time ~
phoenixfirekitsune: Hehe, thanks for reading our other fic~ we're trying to put up another chapter soon, but alas, school sucks :/
Kissy Fishy: Oh, Niou will bleed for it... but we won't tell you who does it ;)
hoshino: The replacing of Tezuka with Momoshiro was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. But we love Momo, so we just had to give him his moment of fame ;)
Eru no Tsubasa: Lol we're glad you like the tennis scenes! We hope you like these Fuji scenes too ~
Living Hell
Short Story 1: Fuji's Eighth: Happy Birthday
Oh memories, where'd you go? You're all I've ever known. How I miss yesterday, and how did I let them fade away? ~ Memories, Panic! At the Disco
"Happy birthday Syusuke!"
Fuji giggled and beamed as his mother and father woke him up and he saw bunches of presents in their arms. It was Fuji's birthday, it was on a real day this year, and his family was celebrating. Normally Fuji would celebrate his birthday on the 28th of February or 1st of March, but he still considered himself only two years old.
Well, he was two years old today, at least.
Fuji ran down the stairs and into the lounge, where more presents were there, just for him. His siblings were sitting on the couch, waiting for him.
His sister reached him first and hugged him. Then his brother came over and, a little bit hesitantly, hugged his brother too.
"Come on, aniki, open your presents!" Yuuta said, blushing as his brother let go of him.
Fuji grabbed his younger brother's hand and pulled him toward the mountain of presents. "Only if you help me!"
So Yuuta and Fuji unwrapped gift after gift, revealing soccer balls, toys, new clothes, and books, endless books…
But finally, they reached the end of the haul, one small, thin package wrapped in blue wrapping paper precisely the colour of Fuji's eyes and finished off with a silver bow. It was so beautiful that Fuji was even reluctant to open it.
"That's from us, sweetie," his mother said affectionately, meaning his father and her. Fuji's eyes shone with excitement as he carefully unwrapped the gift, and gasped when he saw the frame.
"It's a new tennis racquet!" he crowed happily, assaulting his parents with hugs and kisses. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"
It was a Prince racquet, heavy in his hands, and much too big for him to use. But he didn't care, he didn't mind, all he could think about was how much he loved his parents.
"Wow…" Yuuta murmured as he saw the shiny new racquet.
Fuji took a practice swing and nearly toppled over with the weight. He would still use that racquet for years to come, even when he was fourteen.
"Can I play with it today, Daddy?" Fuji's blue eyes opened wide and pleading, and his father chuckled, patting his son on the head.
"Sorry Syusuke, but that racquet is far too big for you now. We got it for you now since you said you really want to continue to play tennis. Well, there's your incentive, if you continue to play then you can use that racquet."
Fuji pouted adorably for a moment, but finally said, "Okay! I will keep improving and playing so I can use it!"
Fuji Yoshiko smiled at her son, so innocent and young. "Ne, Syusuke, would you like to have breakfast? I made waffles with cayenne cream for you."
"Okay!" Fuji said, looking forward to the spicy cream more than the waffles.
They all ate breakfast – the rest of the Fuji family sans the cream – and piled into the car.
"Where are we going?" Yuuta inquired. He hoped it would be somewhere cool, like an arcade or a cinema.
"We're going to the marina, to see the fish," his father answered, twiddling the steering wheel once in a while.
"Oh, boy!" Fuji crowed in excitement, glad that he'd taken his camera, while Yuuta moaned. Yumiko chuckled at both of their reactions.
They arrived at the marina, and even Yuuta couldn't even make a bad comment about the place when they were inside. The walls were made of glass, containing the marine creatures and water like an overgrown tank.
The Fuji family ohh'd and ahh'd appropriately as they were cast under a blue glow. Everything shimmered in the light that was filtering through the water, and the sight was almost magical.
Fuji pulled his brother through the crowd of people to see what he had really been anticipating – the jellyfish.
"Aniki, why do you want to see the jellyfish? All they do is float there, and it's so boring watching them." Yuuta mumbled grumpily and Fuji pulled him in front of the tank of the jewel-bright creatures.
Fuji didn't know why he liked them so much, so he just settled for the first thing that popped into his mind. "I like them because they're like you," Fuji teased his brother. "Even though they can sting, they're really very soft."
Fuji could almost hear Yuuta roll his eyes at him, and he pulled his younger brother into a spine-crushing hug.
"I love you, Yuuta," Fuji murmured contentedly into the boy's shoulder. "Thank you for coming today, even though I know you didn't want to."
Yuuta, who usually didn't appreciate public displays of affection, tried to pry his brother off of him. But then he sighed and returned the hug.
"Love you too, aniki. Happy birthday."
And the two boys stood there for a while, watching the jellyfish bob in the tank parallel to the water's current.
./. .\.
They ate an eel sushi lunch at the aquarium's restaurant - Fuji's father had been tactful enough when his son asked for wasabi sushi, saying that they were all out of wasabi – and after that they walked around the city. After a couple of rounds around the park, they were all exhausted and wanted to go home.
None of them were really hungry, but there was still birthday cake to devour. Fuji nearly leapt out of his seat in his excitement and his mother came in from the kitchen with a beautiful cake adorned with candles and sparklers, a smear of icing on the front of her yellow apron.
"Make a wish, sweetheart, and blow out the candles," his mother whispered in his ear and kissed his forehead.
The boy was thoughtful for a moment, wondering what he should wish for. Fuji blew out the candles in one long breath, and he wished that his family would be happy and together… forever.
Sara: D'awwwwwwwww, Fuji/Yuuta fluff chapter xoxoxoxoxox Review please ~
