Reconcilement

By Kanashimi

Prince of Tennis and its characters do NOT belong to me, and I am NOT claiming to own the series or its characters.

Author's note: Hey, this is my first attempt at a Prince of Tennis fanfic and one of my few attempts at writing fanfiction in general. Hopefully it isn't too bad. ^^; It's basically their fight when Momo-chan disappeared, but I changed how they reconciled.. um.. yeah. I tried to keep the characters (Kikumaru/Oiji) in character, but not sure whether I succeeded or not. Sorry if they're kinda OOC. Please R/R, I hope you enjoy the fic!

* * *

"Eiji! That's too insensitive!"

Everybody on the courts froze, their eyes glued to the figures of Kikumaru and Oishi as they heard Oishi's sudden outburst. Kikumaru glanced at Oishi, surprised at the raven-haired boy's angry tone. "Wh-what's wrong, Oishi?" He walked up to Oishi, an unspoken question in his eyes. What's up with Oishi today? Why is he yelling at me?

Oishi huffed out an irritated breath, and was about to respond when Kikumaru suddenly burst into laughter. Kikumaru flicked his hand lightly towards Oishi's shirt, shaking with laughter. "You're wearing your shirt inside out, Oishi! How embarrassing!"

The normally calm Oishi lost his cool; his eyebrows furrowed as anger took over, and he lifted his arm and hit Kikumaru. Before he fully realized what he had done, Kikumaru was lying on his back on the ground. Immediately overcome with remorse, he hurried over to his doubles partner. "I-I'm sorry, Eiji!" he stammered in apology, offering Kikumaru a hand up.

But Kikumaru did not forgive easily, especially not when he was hurt. He slapped Oishi's hand away. Hurt and surprise were evident in his eyes, but they were quickly replaced by anger before anybody but Oishi noticed. "Now I'm angry!" he announced, his voice slightly different from usual. It was still the same tone he used when he was pouting, but there was also a slight tremor. "I'm not grouping with this guy," Kikumaru continued, desperately trying to hide the fact that he was hurt by Oishi's actions. At Kikumaru's words, Oishi stood frozen.

He can't mean it, Oishi thought to himself. That's just his anger speaking!

Members of Seigaku's tennis team gathered around the two boys. "Kikumaru- senpai, don't be so angry," a second-year pleaded to no avail.

"But Oishi, Kikumaru, you two are still playing doubles in the coming matches," Kawamura argued.

"No way, no way!" Kikumaru shook his head stubbornly. "Combination cancelled! Done deal!"

One thought ran through Oishi's mind, even as he was distressing over the fact that he had hurt Kikumaru: how can Eiji be so childish and stubborn? All the stress, worry, and irritation he had carried with him from Momoshiro's absence and Kikumaru's insensitive teasing erupted. "Well, if Eiji says so, we can't do anything about it," he stated, clenching his fists.

"Not you too, Oishi!" Kawamura exclaimed.

* * *

In the tennis team's locker room, Oishi sighed as he leaned his head against the wall. "What am I going to do about him." he muttered, closing his eyes.

"You could talk to him," a quiet voice suggested.

Oishi opened his eyes. "Fuji."

The boy known as Seigaku's prodigy nodded. His cobalt eyes were uncharacteristically open, and he was watching Oishi.

"He won't listen to me, you know," Oishi protested, staring at the floor.

"Are you just going to sit here, then?" Fuji's voice, though still quiet, was firmer than usual. "Are you going to let Eiji continue to be hurt by your actions without explaining anything? Are you going to let the Golden Pair be forever broken?"

"He'll come around eventu-"

"You're just evading," Fuji interrupted.

Oishi glanced up sharply. His eyes locked with Fuji's. Both of them paused for a moment, staring at the other.

Finally, the silence was broken by a question from Fuji. "Isn't he important to you?"

Oishi considered the question and answered carefully. "You mean as a friend? Of course."

Fuji shook his head. "You know what I mean."

Oishi sighed and looked down. "You're right," he admitted quietly. "He matters. a lot. I should go talk to him."

Fuji nodded, closing his eyes. The usual pleasant smile was back. "I think he's home by now," he offered helpfully. "He left before anyone else did after practice."

Oishi stood and stretched, then headed for the door. Before exiting the room, he turned around. "Thanks, Fuji."

* * *

The Kikumaru household was, as usual, loud. With Eiji Kikumaru in the family, the house was rarely quiet. But rather than it being loud from Eiji's vibrant personality as usual, today it was loud because of his distress.

Eiji Kikumaru was sitting in his room, bawling his eyes out and hugging his teddy bear.

Elsewhere in the house, Kikumaru's mother and sister exchanged looks. "Do you have any idea what happened?" his mother asked. Eiji's sister shook her head in response. Neither of them knew what was wrong.

"I-I can't believe he hit me," Kikumaru said to his bear sadly, sniffling in between words. "A-and then, he d-didn't even try to argue w-when I said I didn't want to be his partner anymooooore!" His voice rose into a distressed howl at the last few words and he buried his face into his bear, pounding his fists into the poor bear's stomach. "Baka Oishi!" The words were slightly muffled, but still audible. "Baka Oishi, baka Oishi. baka Oishi. Oishiiiiii.."

* * *

Oishi turned the corner and sneezed. He was a few houses away from the Kikumaru's house. When he got there, he rang the doorbell. "Um. Hello." He blinked at Kikumaru's sister as she opened the door. "Is Eiji home?" It was a pointless question, as he could hear Eiji's wailing, but Oishi was brought up to be polite. He couldn't just barge into their house.

"Yes, come in." Kikumaru's sister stood aside so Oishi could come into the house. "He's upstairs right now," she continued. "He's also a little, um, upset."

Oishi nodded. "May I go see him?" At Kikumaru's sister's affirmative, he headed for Eiji's room.

The door was closed, but two words could be heard distinctly: "Baka Oishi!"

Oishi winced. "I guess he's still mad," he muttered. Then he sighed, knowing he had really hurt the red-haired boy's feelings. Oishi knocked on the door and waited. There was no response, but he could hear that the wailing had ended. All he heard now was an occasional sniffle. He knocked again. There was still no response, so he opened the door and peeked in tentatively.

His heart nearly broke at the sight. Kikumaru was sitting on the floor, curled up and hugging his teddy bear close to him. Any irritation Oishi had felt faded away quickly and he hurried towards Kikumaru. Kneeling besides the boy, he called his name softly, "Eiji?"

Kikumaru lifted his head slowly and turned it towards Oishi, allowing the other boy a complete view of his distressed face. ".Oishi?"

Oishi nodded and reached for Kikumaru's hand.

"Baka Oishi!" Kikumaru hit Oishi on the head with his bear.

Oishi winced, but made no move to hit Kikumaru back, nor did he make any sign that he was angry.

Kikumaru flung himself into the black-haired boy's arms, causing Oishi to lose his balance. He ended up lying on the floor with Kikumaru on top of him. "Baka Oishi," Kikumaru repeated, more quietly this time. "You hurt me, not just physically."

"I know," Oishi admitted, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"And I made you mad," Kikumaru continued, "really, really mad. Didn't I?"

Oishi nodded, his eyes stilled closed. It felt so nice to hold Kikumaru.

"So why are you here?"

"To apologize, and to explain myself." Oishi opened his eyes.

Kikumaru shook his head and leaned forward so that his forehead was touching Oishi's. "Baka Oishi," he said once again, this time with affection. "You don't have to; I understand." At Oishi's raised eyebrow, he continued, "You've been called the mother of Seigaku's tennis team, you care about the team and the members twice as much as anyone else does. so, understandably, you were upset at Momo-chan's disappearance. And." His voice grew quieter, guilt-filled, as his eyes met Oishi's. "I was insensitive about him not making it as a regular member. I-I'm sorry, Oishi."

Not expecting what Kikumaru had just said, Oishi was at a loss for words. He hugged Kikumaru tighter. "I'm sorry, too, Eiji. Really sorry. No matter what, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

"Well." Kikumaru's tone became playful, opposite of how serious it had been a minute ago. "If you're really sorry, you could buy me lunch tomorrow."

Oishi couldn't help but laugh as he pushed himself (and Kikumaru, as he was still on top of him) up from the floor. "Is that the only way you'll forgive me?"

Kikumaru snuggled against Oishi a bit, curling into his lap. "Maybe."

"Hmm."

Kikumaru turned pleading eyes towards Oishi. "Please? Buy me lunch?"

Oishi melted; he could never say no to those eyes. "Alright."

"Yay!" Kikumaru squealed and flung his arms around Oishi's neck.

~Owari.~