Focus

by Sweedy-sama

Ryoma is distracted by Tezuka and that's how it all begins. YAOI

13. Focus: Box of Chocolates

Author's Note: Sorry sorry sorry, and sorry that it took so long! There is really nothing more I can say other than sorry and thank you for your patience and patronage!

O
O
O
O
O
Focus: A Box of Chocolates

O
O
O
O
O
Life went on.

After the episode with the Seigaku regulars and the Echizen clan, it took some time for Tezuka and Ryoma to finally return to some semblance of the routine they had established prior to the Hyotei tournament. First of all, there was still the issue of Ryoma being grounded, which, much to the freshman's displeasure, wasn't resolved even though he held up his part of the deal by bringing Tezuka home. Overcome by some sudden stroke of stubbornness that came out of nowhere as far as Echizen was considered, his dad refused to budge on the matter; it was both infuriating and perplexing at the same time. The only thing the old man relented on was allowing Tezuka to visit, which was the result of his wife's insistence. Other than that, Ryoma was required to return straight home following practice. Though he was less than pleased about the arrangement, Echizen just swallowed his irritation, too proud to put up an argument.

Little did he know that rather than being motivated by the need to stick to his guns as a parent and to teach his son a lesson, Nanjiroh was adamant about the punishment for another reason entirely. As the ex-tennis pro explained to his wife, he was actually doing it for Tezuka's sake.

"That poor kid has no clue, Rin-chan. I'm doing this for his protection."

"What are you talking about?"

"If I don't keep an eye on them, who knows what the brat will do. Someone's gotta look after kid captain's virtue."

"That is completely ridiculous. Our son is not some kind of predatory pervert."

"Of course he's not, honey, but he's a stupid teenager, and you know how they get when they think they're in love."

Rinko sighed. "Nanjiroh, if it's anything at all, it's probably just hero-worship."

"Yeah, but things could still get outta hand. Who knows what kind of weird fantasies that little brat is harboring."

"You're nuts."

"Nah. I just speak from experience."

"Stop projecting your own creepiness onto our son."

"I'm not! Though it doesn't hurt to take precautions, right? Where's the harm in that?"

Unfortunately for her son and Tezuka, Rinko decided to leave the conversation at that, not wanting to waste any more time on her husband's senseless notions. Consequently, Nanjiroh hardly left the two boys alone during the entire time the senior was over. Since Ryoma closed and locked his bedroom door, barely ten minutes went by before Nanjiroh was knocking and demanding what they were doing. Though Echizen had expected the old man to pester them to some degree, he was completely unprepared for the persistent onslaught of his intrusiveness. What was worse were the bizarre little comments his father would mutter under his breath from time to time, usually composed of odd insinuations or remarks about someone's virtue. Much to his immense frustration, he barely got to spend any time alone with Tezuka. Of course any attempt at intimate contact was out of the question, what with his dad knocking on the door almost constantly. Ignoring the noise was to no avail either, as it only increased Nanjiroh's determination.

The elder Echizen's peculiar behavior was also puzzling to Tezuka, who more than once wished that they could go to his own house instead. However, realizing that it was wiser not to give voice to his own thoughts, he instead focused on pacifying Ryoma instead.

By the third day of putting up with Nanjiroh's more psychotic than usual antics, Echizen's already paper-thin tolerance had all but disappeared. He was ready to beat his father to a bloody pulp with his tennis racket. Even his mom and cousin could see the murder in his eyes. Seeing that it was time to put a stop to things before she had a case of patricide on her hands, Rinko finally stepped in and lifted Ryoma's sentence, much to her husband's dismay. Although she had been dissuading her husband from his activities all along, she hadn't really thrown her entire weight behind her words since she was use to her two boys squabbling. Knowing she wasn't entirely serious yet, Nanjiroh was therefore able to continue with his actions. The finality with which she announced her decision changed all that, however. He knew it when his wife meant business, and years of training had conditioned him to know better than to argue with her once her mind was made up. The fact that he, not his wife, was the person who originally handed down the sentence—and therefore should also be the one to lift it—meant nothing. In the Echizen household, when Rinko Echizen truly made a decision, her words became law.

The only condition she asked of her son was that for him to call home whenever he was going to be late, and also to not come home too late as the streets weren't always safe.

Afterwards, less than satisfied with the outcome, her husband charged petulantly, "You're spoiling that kid, Rinko!"

Unperturbed, his wife returned with, "I'm just giving him one less reason to run away from home to escape from his idiotic father."

"Now who's the crazy one? You practically just presented kid-captain on a plate. I should warn the poor boy."

"You will do no such thing. Stop acting like they've never spent time alone. Before he was grounded, they were spending plenty of time alone and Tezuka-kun seems just fine."

"That's different! The brat was probably still taking it slow, scoping things out, right? Now though, now that kid-captain's met the family, seishounen's probably thinking, he's like one of us. Their friendship has advanced, you see? So won't it be okay if there was some accidental touching, kind of like, 'oh no, I meant to reach for the pen but somehow, my hand ended up in your lap. But that's okay, right? Cuz we're such close friends now.'"

His wife stared at him in disbelief which was directed at the scenario he had just described. "You are kidding me."

"Of course not! Remember who you're talking to, honey. I'm the old pro; I know all the moves."

Rinko shook her head in disdain. "Sometimes, I wonder why I married you in the first place."

"Remember who I practiced those moves on, Riiin-chaaan," Nanjiroh replied while waggling his eyebrows.

"Ugh. And just because you're a pervert doesn't mean our son is one as well."

"Nah, the kid's got my blood in him. Trust me, he's a little pervert."

Thankfully, Ryoma was entirely ignorant of these conversations his parents were having; if he had known, one could only imagine what kind of world-ending uproar they would have produced.

Despite the fact that he and Tezuka were now free to resume their activities at his house, there were still other minor bumps on the road to be dealt with. After all, now that the cat was partially out of the bag, life could scarcely be expected to return entirely to normal. While their teammates did try to hold on to their promise of discretion, there was still the occasional slip, the culprit of which was usually Eiji or Momoshiro, whom found the effort not to over-react every time Tezuka and Ryoma were anywhere near the vicinity of each other extremely taxing. For some reason, it had been easier for them to feign ignorance about their captain's secret relationship with their star rookie prior to their little session that Monday. Following that, however, it was as if the imaginary shackles that had been keeping them under control were suddenly removed. As a result, whenever the opportunity presented itself, Momo and Eiji couldn't help but react accordingly.

Though Tezuka was grounded from participating in practice by Ryuzaki, he still made brief visits to check on his team's progress once in a while. While he never stayed more than a quarter of an hour each time, whenever he appeared, the two boisterous Regulars would instantly grab on to Echizen with excitement and practically holler the blatantly obvious fact that the captain had arrived. Some form of inquisition would follow soon after, albeit in an only slightly lower volume, usually consisting of what the two of them were going to do afterwards. At times, they did this regardless of who else might be around and within earshot. Luckily for all involved, even if they overheard, most of the other Seigaku team members would probably never realize the meaning behind their words. After all, who would ever imagine that captain Tezuka was going out with the young tennis prodigy? For those who made it a personal mission to follow everything that involved Echizen, however, the task of unraveling the significance of Eiji and Momo's mysterious behavior and words was probably less daunting.

Of course, one such person was Ryuzaki Sakuno, whose main pastime was indeed all things Echizen. She wasn't just observant of the freshman, she was also especially aware of anything that had to do with him. Her ears had become quite good at catching conversations where his name was mentioned even when she was a distance away. While the same should be said of Tomoka, due to her rowdy nature, she was not as keen as her friend. A fortunate fact for Tezuka and Echizen to be sure. What also worked in Sakuno's favor was how much of a polar opposite she was from Tomo, since it was usually the shy flowers whom choose to say little and remained in the background listening and watching that learned the most. Like Fuji and Inui, she too had initially noticed Ryoma's uncharacteristic attention toward the young captain. However, she was never able to form any meaningful deductions about his behavior, since she was barely able to catch anything more than tiny glimpses. Being a member of the girls' tennis club instead of the boys', she lacked the luxury of two whole practice periods six days a week to gather information. Instead, she had only the brief interim prior to the start of her own practice and during the actual tournaments. Consequently, when Tezuka called on Ryoma during their lunch period, she only had the very vague notion that something was going on. This notion was further reinforced by Momoshiro's rather cryptic comments at the time, but her concern for the freshman prevented her from developing the idea to any concrete degree.

She was forced to revisit that idea when in addition to catching snippets of her two senpais aforementioned exchanges with Ryoma, she became the witness to a few peculiar outbursts that took place at the team's celebration party at Kawamura's family's restaurant. Of which Kikumaru and Momoshiro were once again the instigators. The first instance occurred when Tezuka and Ryoma happened to enter the restaurant together. Happy at the freshman's arrival, Sakuno started to approach the freshman when she overheard Eiji laughing and commenting about how adorable it was for the two of them to arrive together. The remark made little sense to her but it was odd enough that she remembered it.

Then there was Momo's curious insistence that the captain and Ryoma took a picture together, to which Eiji joined in on the demand as well. Though it was only natural for the team captain and one of his star players to be in a picture together, what she couldn't figure out was why the two upperclassmen were practically falling over themselves cackling about it. In return, Ryoma looked positively disgruntled while Tezuka…well…Sakuno had never been any good at reading the older boy. To her, the only expression the captain ever showed was one of sternness. But she wasn't the only one to think that Kikumaru and Momoshiro were acting strange. It was noticeable enough that even Horio leaned over to ask her surreptitiously what was so funny.

Finally, at the end of the party when everyone was starting to disperse, she overheard Eiji asking the captain and Ryoma what they were going to do later. His exact words were, "Sooo, any special plans? Going over to Tezuka's house again?" The words and especially his insinuating tone was enough to make her stop in the middle of the conversation she was having with her grandmother and turn to look in their direction, uncertain that she had heard correctly. She wondered immediately when Ryoma had ever gone over to the captain Tezuka's house to begin with and most importantly, why. The only other person she ever noticed Ryoma spending time out of school with was Momoshiro. When then did he develop a close enough friendship with Tezuka to visit his home more than once? Not that there was anything particularly wrong with Ryoma becoming friends with the captain, but putting everything else together, she was beginning to get the distinct feeling that she was missing a bigger picture.

Not surprisingly, Sakuno would eventually figure it all out on her own, though it would take her innocent mind much longer time to come to the right conclusion. As a starting point, she decided from that day on that she would have to expand her observational net to include the young captain as well.

Naturally, Tezuka and Echizen had not a clue that there was now an additional member to their audience. For Echizen, it was exasperating enough having to deal with Kikumaru and Momoshiro and their steady stream of questions, innuendos and meaningful looks or nudges. The two upperclassmen were at their worst whenever they got him alone since with no one else around, they were able to throw all caution to the wind in terms of their jokes. From time to time even Inui joined in by putting forth inquiries of his own, though he was much easier to put up with due to his rather clinically detached attitude. At his worse, he was just bothersome. At Eiji and Momo's worse, on the other hand, they seemed like they were literally channeling his dad which was aggravating to the extreme.

Fortunately for Echizen, his troubles only stemmed from three of his seven senpais. While Kaidoh and Kawamura were just as curious as the other three, the former was too proud to vocalize his curiosity while Kawamura was too polite. Oishi had his own hands full, what with taking on Tezuka's duties during his recuperative period and keeping an eye on his tennis partner at the same time to prevent Eiji from getting out of hand with the teasing. He and Fuji were often the ones to step in and provide Ryoma to escape from his three senpais.

Tezuka had it much easier in comparison. No one made even one single mention of his relationship with Echizen to him, with the exception of Fuji who only did it once, and that was at lunch time the next day after the incident at McDonald's. They had been talking about student club activities when, at the end of the discourse, Fuji remarked quietly, "You could have at least told Oishi and I."

Caught off guard, Tezuka was momentarily silent. He was overcome with a pang of guilt and when he eventually opened his mouth to respond, he was stopped by the casual wave of the tensai's hand. With a kind smile, the other boy brushed away his concerns by saying, "It's alright, Tezuka." He then proceeded to quickly change the subject.

But Tezuka couldn't just leave it at that. At the end of the lunch period, when they were about to depart for their own individual classes, the senior stopped his friend by calling out to him. As Fuji waited expectantly with his head tilted to one side, Tezuka explained, "I wasn't sure how to bring up the topic."

Fuji nodded in understanding, satisfied with the answer, and offered a simple, "Okay," in return.

Considering how much worse things could have been, Tezuka and Ryoma were more or less relieved that they were able to for the most part pick up right where they left off afterwards. When practice was over, Echizen would go over to the senior's house by himself. Now that Tezuka left school so much earlier than him, they decided that there was no sense in meeting at the school library. At times, Momoshiro would even join Ryoma on the walk home. When not in the presence of Eiji, who served to spur him on with his similar sense of jest, Momo was actually quite subdued, even in his inquisitiveness.

"You really like the captain a lot, don't you?" the second year asked one day as he accompanied Echizen on his walk.

With an exasperated sigh, the freshman grumbled, "That again?"

"No, no, I don't mean it that way. Well, I know I tease a lot, but that's because Eiji-senpai puts me up to it half the time."

"Uh-huh," was the blatantly skeptical reply.

"Alright, I'm guilty too. All kidding aside though…it must be nice."

Echizen looked at him questioningly. "What is?"

"You know, being with someone you like."

The younger boy shrugged and replied, "I guess it is."

"It is. It is. I…." Momo hesitated until Echizen prompted him with, "You what?"

Dropping his voice, the second year said, "We're just talking, right? Just the two of us now? I mean, you promise not to tell anyone?"

Arching an eyebrow, Ryoma teased, "Should I?"

"Aw come on, you know we're just joking around because we're a team, a unit, you know? And you have to admit you dating the captain is a pretty big deal."

"Hmmph."

"And we've been pretty good, haven't we? I mean, I know we bug you a lot, but we always keep it on the lowdown." When Echizen was about to argue that point, Momoshiro immediately amended it with, "Okay, we usually try to keep it on the lowdown. I promise from now on I'll cut back a bit, okay? I have no control over Eiji-senpai, but I'll try not to make things worse when he's on a roll."

Echizen's only response to that was another grunt. They continued to walk in silence for a bit more, and when it seemed like the other boy wasn't about to say anything more unless urged, Ryoma rolled his eyes and said, "So? What is it?"

"Alright, this is for real, right? We're not playing 10 questions anymore."

The freshman nodded, though he was beginning to grow a bit impatient. With a satisfied smile, Momoshiro then glanced around cautiously before lowering his head so that he could whisper to Echizen, "See, there's this person I like…."

"Tachibana's sister?"

"No!" The vehemence of the boy's denial made it clear that Echizen had guessed right. Instead of prodding, however, the freshman only flashed a small knowing smile too quick for even his friend to catch.

"Look," Momoshiro went on, trying to regain his calm, "Who it is, isn't the point, okay? I just wanted to know…like with you and the captain, how did you guys go about…you know…beginning? Even with the kissing thing…who…who initiated that?"

After a short moment of contemplation, Echizen lifted one shoulder nonchalantly and answered, "I dunno. It just happened."

"Hah?" Momo responded in disbelief. "That's it? Didn't one of you make the first move?"

"I don't remember."

His friend frowned. "You're no help."

"Why would I be? I never said I was an expert."

"Yeah, but you've gotten much farther than most of us and we're all older than you!"

"It just happened, what am I supposed to do about it?" Upon seeing the unsatisfied scowl on the other boy's face, Echizen sighed and added, "Why're you thinking so much about it, Momo-senpai?"

"I'm not! I just don't know how…it's awkward, you know? I don't know how it is with you and the captain but…and not to mention, it's a little different with a girl. I mean, I'm expected to take the initiative, right? You probably had it easier cuz you are both guys. I don't even know how I'm gonna ask her out. I mean, it seems like she's interested, but I'm not really sure."

"You had your chance the other day, but you had to drag me along."

"I panicked, okay? I never…." Momo cut himself off when he realized he just gave himself away. Blushing, he pointedly avoided the freshman's smug look and glanced the other way, going on to say, "Anyway, the point is, I was caught off guard."

"Then don't be next time."

"Next time? Who says there's gonna be a next time? See, that's the thing, maybe now, since she's made her first move, maybe she's expecting me to be the one to call her the next time."

"Then call her."

"No! You don't understand. What if that wasn't even a date? Or what if it was and then I ruined everything by dragging you along? But then that Kamio guy was there too so I guess it wasn't really a date after all…."

Growing weary of Momo's circular reasoning, Echizen interrupted him with, "Momo-senpai, maybe you're making this way too complicated. Why don't you just call her out and this time, don't drag me or anyone else along."

"What if she says no?"

"Then no. So what?"

"'So what?'! So that's called rejection, Echizen! Do you know how devastating that would be?-!"

"It would?"

"Of course! I mean, at least, that's what I've heard. Don't you think you would've been depressed if Tezuka-buchou had rejected you in the first place?"

"I don't know. I never thought of that," Echizen replied honestly.

"Then you guys really had it easy, didn't you? Man, I should just forget the whole thing," Momoshiro groused as he scratched his head roughly. "It's giving me a headache. I should just concentrate on the Regionals and not think of anything else. Tezuka-buchou was right. I don't want to just be the team manager forever. I need to focus. Focus."

Echizen didn't know what else to say to that so he decided to just leave his friend to stew in his own unhappy thoughts. Though the second year's words did succeed in having some affect on him since afterwards, when he was at Tezuka's house, he did the rare thing of actually contemplating about his relationship with the young captain. Oishi's question from a few days before had provided the spark and Momoshiro's subsequent words further fanned the flame. As Echizen looked across the table at Tezuka, who was busy reading his history book and taking notes for a project that was due in two days, he wondered if he should be concerned about Tezuka's feelings as Momo had been about the Tachibana girl. It seemed a rather silly idea to think about it now, especially considering how far they had gone, but obviously since the notion of feelings involved and stated out loud was some sort of big deal, as his senpais had reiterated, perhaps he should give it some degree of consideration.

Tezuka was used to Echizen watching him whenever the younger boy would finish his homework before he did. At first it was a bit disconcerting, to come face to face with those luminous pair of eyes when he happened to just look up. The rather studious gaze would actually make him nervous, and therefore it used to take him a while before he could continue with his homework without constantly checking to see if the other boy was still staring at him. Now, however, he barely noticed it, and only when he happened to glance Echizen's way did he even realize he was being watched. Sometimes, he would even smile and say something to the effect of, "I'm almost done," like he did now. Instead of answering with an "okay" or "take your time" like he usually did however, Echizen stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "I guess I do like you."

Tezuka froze a beat before looking back up and asking uncertainly, "What?"

"Oishi-senpai asked me about it the other day, and Momo-senpai was talking about it again today. I figured I should probably make a decision about it."

Amused and bewildered at the same time, the senior placed his pen down on his notebook and folded his hands in front of him. "You were talking about whether or not you liked me?"

"Something like that. I guess it's important to know, or something. What about you?"

"Me?"

"Have you ever thought about it? How you felt about me?"

"I, um, guess…a little."

Echizen was surprised at that. "Really? Why didn't you say something?"

The senior spread his hands helplessly and shrugged. "I don't know. The…topic…never came up." He frowned. It seemed like the only answer he could ever come up with. "I guess…it would be strange…."

"You think so too? I thought it was weird when Oishi asked me that too. I didn't know it was supposed to be an issue."

"Well, I don't know if you could call it an issue…."

"I mean, it shouldn't really matter, right? We've been doing fine without discussing it."

"True. Though to some people, it is important."

"Really? Hmm. What about you then?"

Tezuka tugged on the cuff of his sleeve and replied carefully, "I'm not sure if important is the right word. But I am glad to hear it." He paused for a beat and then added, "At the same time, even if you hadn't said anything, it really wouldn't make a difference."

"Oh?"

"It wouldn't change how I feel about you," the older boy stated seriously.

For some reason, Ryoma was warmed by the words even though he couldn't resist the temptation to purse his lips in distaste and retort sarcastically, "That's corny, buchou."

Tezuka ducked his head in embarrassment. "It's your fault. You started it," he pointed out accusingly.

"Yeah, but did you have to end it with that?"

"What you said wasn't much better."

"I was just thinking out loud. But that, that was like something out of a love letter."

The senior shot him a dirty look. "Like you would know."

Echizen chuckled and then feigned a knife stab to the heart, to which the senior responded with a roll of his eyes as one side of his lips quirked up in a slight smile. "All right, be quiet," he went on to admonish. "I still have to finish this."

The freshman relented, then folded his arms on the table and rested his head against them while he continued to watch the other boy. It wasn't before long that temptation got the better of him and sitting up, he shifted over to lean against Tezuka's back, slipping his left arm around the senior's front as he buried his face in the area between the boy's shoulder blades. He inhaled deeply; that was something else he liked about Tezuka, the way he smelled. It reminded him of clean towels and bedsheets. He placed his other hand on the middle of Tezuka's right lap, just resting it there in a non-threatening manner. Still, it was enough to distract the older boy, who cleared his throat and said, "You're not helping."

"I'm just breathing," came the muffled reply.

Closing his eyes, Tezuka couldn't help shifting his weight back against Echizen and covering the arm that was embracing him with his own right arm. "That's bad enough."

The small laugh that reverberated against his back caused a sharp thrill to run up Tezuka's spine. "You want me to stop breathing?"

"No, I want you to let me finish my homework." Despite the stern words, there was barely any corresponding emotion to back them up.

Knowing full well he was going to win this battle, Ryoma swiped his tongue seductively across the back of the older boy's neck. "You can finish it later."

"Stop that."

"No," was the instant reply as Ryoma repeated the action again, this time even more slowly and with an even wider path, from one side of Tezuka's neck to the other and then up and around to trace the outer shell of his ear.

That was enough to convince him. Dropping his pen onto his book with finality, Tezuka twisted around in an abrupt motion, capturing the other boy's lips with his own as his freed hand reached up to press Echizen's head closer. Before long they were lying on the floor together, grappling and writhing, as they tried to quickly rid each other of their clothing. They broke apart for just a split second to allow Ryoma to hurriedly crawl over to the bedside drawer. When he returned, he stopped and asked, "Me or you?"

"I don't care," Tezuka replied as he pulled the freshman back on top of him.

"Well, since I'm already in position…" Ryoma said with a smirk before dipping down to meet the senior's lips to continue where they left off.

It didn't take long for him to establish the rhythm that would bring them to their mutual fulfillment. Ryoma was rather proud of the fact that he had become quite an expert on Tezuka's body. He knew the exact spots to lick, kiss and touch that would take Tezuka almost to the brink. As he looked down at the other boy's face, with his eyes closed and mouth open in rapture, Echizen couldn't help smiling and thinking how much he liked this familiarity with each other that they shared. He wasn't one to be sentimental, of course, but he couldn't help the sudden onslaught of affection that he felt at that moment. It was a very weird experience for him. If he was the type to get embarrassed easily, he would probably be blushing crimson by now. Thankfully, he wasn't that type, and he most likely would never give voice to his feelings in any serious, corny manner—wouldn't even know how—so instead of committing any kind of regretful outburst, he simply embraced the senior tighter against him and bestowed another kiss that was rather painfully ardent due to the significance behind it.

O

O

O

O
O

Echizen had his first sleepover at Tezuka's house a few days after that. The young captain had been meaning to extend the invitation for some time, but he never got the chance due to one reason or another, mostly because of his own hesitance, a bad trait that he was slowly but surely overcoming with the more time he spent with the other boy. Therefore, when Saturday rolled around again, Tezuka finally decided to ask Ryoma, to which the freshman responded by quipping, "It's about time, captain."

That day after practice, Echizen headed home first to pick up his sleeping bag (even though he knew with the utmost certainty that he would not be using it) and a change of clothing. When he informed his parents that he was going to stay over at Tezuka's house that night, his mother had been quite compliant about it; in fact she even told him she would much prefer his sleeping over than him coming home so late. On the other hand, Nanjiroh actually put up quite a protest, much to his surprise. He didn't think the old man would even care. Ryoma barely understood his argument, something about chickens, a coop and a wolf or weasel (he couldn't remember since he wasn't really paying attention). Eventually his mom had to once again step in and drag his father off in order to stop his tirade.

When he arrived home to collect what he needed for the evening, his dad was on his usual perch on the porch with a scowl on his face and his arms stuffed in either sleeve of his robe. His mother obviously had some kind of serious discussion with him, because the only thing he said as the freshman was leaving was a cryptic, "Tell kid-captain I tried my best."

"What are you talking about, oyaji?"

Expelling a breath in frustration, Nanjiroh grunted and complained unhappily, "Your mom won't let me say."

Deciding it was best for his own sanity to not spend any more time listening to his dad's nonsense, Echizen petted Karupin a good night before heading off to Tezuka's house. Just as he slipped out of the front gate, his dad sighed again and leaning back to lie on the porch, commented wistfully to no one in particular, "At least he can't get knocked up."

O
O
O
O
O
Strangely enough, even though they spent the whole night together, they actually did not engage in any of the activities that Nanjiroh had thought they would be occupied with (or, to be more exact, his son would try to force Tezuka to partake in) until late into the evening. Perhaps it was because they knew they had the whole night and even most of the next day, and therefore they did not have to be in any hurry to do anything. When Echizen got to Tezuka's house, it was still early in the afternoon so they decided to go fishing again. This would be their third time doing so, and though Echizen didn't like the actual activity any better, he did enjoy the general outing experience, especially the time he spent with the senior, so he was more than happy to oblige. Though the fishing expedition took a few hours, they once again returned mostly empty-handed. Afterwards, they went to a movie and dinner, followed by visiting various arcades and book stores. By the time they arrived back at Tezuka's place, it was already close to midnight. After a quick bath together, they jumped under the covers. Only then did the heavy kissing and petting begin and continue for the next hour or so until gratification was reached.

Finished, they laid there quietly side by side for a while, relishing the sense of satiation. Though tired, both of them couldn't fall asleep. In fact, they were excited about the prospect of sleeping together for the whole night. Neither of them had ever spent the night with anyone before so this was a novel experience for them. The thrill of it kept sleep at bay completely. In fact, had Tezuka's arm not been decommissioned, Echizen would've suggested a game of tennis. Instead, he announced simply, "I can't sleep."

"Me neither," came the instant response.

"What should we do?"

A beat. "You…did you want to…again?"

Ryoma glanced over at the other boy with a look of mocked incredulity. "Pervert. We just did that."

Tezuka pursed his lips and shifted self-consciously. "I am not. I thought you were just implying…."

"No."

"Gomen."

After a brief pause, Ryoma amended, "At least not right away."

The other boy chuckled and then sighed. "What do you want to do then? I can't play tennis."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that. Anyway, it's late, we might wake up your grandparents."

"True." Tezuka thought about it some more. "How about a game of Go?"

"Isn't that with the black and white marbles? I think I read a manga about it. Or was it an anime?"

"I think it was both, and they're not marbles." Tezuka sat up slightly. "I could teach you."

Echizen stretched lazily and answered, "No, why don't we just lie here and wait until we fall asleep instead?"

Determined now, the older boy got off the bed, tugging on Ryoma's arm at the same time. "Get up. I'll teach you. I'm sure you'll like it."

"I'm pretty sure I wouldn't. Fishing and board games, captain? You're like an old man."

Instead of taking offense, Tezuka considered that as he looked around for their pants. "That might be. I did spend most of my time with my grandparents."

"Oh, so you're blaming them. How mean." Echizen barely blocked the shirt that was aimed at face in time. Grinning widely, he pulled it on and then his pants that Tezuka next tossed at him.

The senior pulled out the goban and the boxes of moku from his closet, clearly delighted that he could share something new with the other boy. With not a little amount of gripping, Ryoma finally settled down to learn how to play Go. While at first he stubbornly held on to his insistence that he didn't want to learn, his resistance started to crumble after the first hour. As his sense of the game grew, so did his interest, so much so that by the third hour, he even began to develop enough confidence to believe that there was a high possibility that he could defeat Tezuka. With this challenge in mind, he demanded a rematch each time he lost, and they ended up playing until the sun peaked over the horizon. With the early dawn sunlight flowing into their room, their eyelids finally called surrender, and the two boys crawled back into bed together.

Echizen did not fall asleep immediately, however. Rather, he spent some time listening to the older boy's steady breaths, enjoying the way the other boy looked in repose and also liking the fact that he did not snore in his sleep. As slumber slowly claimed him, Ryoma smiled, content, glad that there were so many things about Tezuka that he liked.

O
O
O
O
O

Life is good.

For Echizen, at least, he really had no complaints. Of course there was the upcoming tournament, but he was not at all worried about it. He was practicing as much as he can as it was, in addition to doing all that was dictated by Inui's special training regimen. He was confident that he was well-prepared for whatever challenge the other team might throw his way so he hardly thought about it when he wasn't at practice.

Life off the court was progressing just as smoothly. After the first night over at Tezuka's house, he stayed again the following Saturday and they had an even more enjoyable time. He realized the more time he spent with the senior, the more time he wanted to spend with him. It was almost disconcerting that he would ever think that way of anyone, but there it was. On top of that, Momoshiro and Kikumaru weren't bothering him as much anymore. For the former, the restraint was most likely due to the little discussion they had a while back. Echizen figured if Momoshiro ever became too annoying again, he could always use the Ace he had in his hand (which was to mention Tachibana's sister). For the latter, the novelty of the matter was probably wearing out. Not to mention, with Tezuka not showing up to practice as much, he had little material to work with. Of course, since Ryuzaki-sensei just mentioned that Tezuka was dropping by, that was probably about to change. Echizen could already see the mischievous gleam in his senpai's eyes.

In the few times that Tezuka had come to visit his team, he never mentioned it to Ryoma, because there really wasn't anything worth mentioning. He would just arrive, spend a brief moment with them just watching and advising, and then head off. Whereas before Tezuka would just go home, but for the past week he actually left to attend his physical therapy sessions. His arrival usually involved little fanfare. Therefore, Echizen was a bit surprised when Oishi actually gathered up the team, informing them that Tezuka had something to announce.

Funny, Echizen thought as he playfully bounced a ball on the rim of his racket, he never mentioned an announcement yesterday.

As a result, when he heard the words that came out of Tezuka's mouth, he was so caught off guard by them that he actually forgot what he was doing, and the racket fell to the ground with a startling clatter.

"I've decided to go to Germany to treat my injury."

O

O
O
O
O
Author's Notes: I didn't particularly like Forrest Gump but I couldn't help borrowing from it anyway since that infamous line seemed the most suitable for this chapter.

Thank you to Zen Nat who so generously volunteered to go through my previous chapters and perform an edit for me. She did it all out of the kindness of her own heart and I thank her for it! Also thank you to all of you who have also shown me the errors of my ways. ) I will try to correct my boo-boos in the previous chapters in the upcoming days. I know it's my own fault for not employing an official editor, but I really do have my own reasons, so all I can ask is for your pardons. ) Having said that, however, I feel I should also mention that I've noticed some of the mistakes—not a lot, just some—were the result of words just disappearing during the upload process to this website. Has that happened to anyone? And if so, how do I get around that? Please let me know by private e-mail. Much appreciated!