Piece By Piece

Eiji didn't like jigsaw puzzles. The pieces were so small and so alike, and you had to sit there and fix it when you could be outside playing tennis. In other words, it was a waste of time. But Oishi had brought the jigsaw over, and asked Eiji to fix it with him... and who was Eiji to say no to Oishi? So that was how Kikumaru Eiji ended up sitting indoors on a beautiful day.

"Why must we even do this?" Eiji complained for the fourth time in two hours. "Fuji and Inui are playing, why can't we save this for a rainy day and go play?"

Oishi just smiled at Eiji. "Be patient."

A soft hurrumph, and Eiji picked up a piece. It was blue and had semi-transparent lines across it. "This looks like a tennis racquet!"

"There you go. It's not that hard, is it?" Oishi pressed two more pieces into the frame. "Wait till you see the finished picture."

That was another thing about that jigsaw puzzle. Eiji had never seen a jigsaw box without any pictures on it before. They had to fix the pieces in based on total guesswork, but Oishi seemed to know what he was doing.

"Why can't you tell me or show me what it is?"

"Because it's a surprise."

They worked in silence for a while more, and slowly a background was forming. Red and green flooring and white lines and blue sky... and that piece of racquet-stringed sky... Eiji grinned.

"It's a picture of a tennis game!" he crowed. "Now can we go join them? Fuji just sent a message saying that Momo and Ochibi are there, too!"

"Your guess is half-correct. And there's only the players left so it should be easier to fix. I think we should be able to finish this in half an hour."

"Then can we go play?"

"Sure."

Heartened, Eiji began flicking through the diminished pile of colourful cardboard to find something that fit. Something caught his eye.

"-Igaku," he read. "And it's blue and white. Nya, Oishi, whose shirt is this?"

Oishi had already completed the person's racquet and shoes. "Just fix it all up, you'll see."

More of the picture began to reveal itself. It was a photograph taken from the umpire's seat of a doubles pair. One player was in the act of receiving a ball while jumping, and the other was crouched down in front of the first person. Eiji watched as Oishi pressed a piece into place and lifted his hand.

"NYAAH!!!!" Eiji shrilled, jumping up. "That's me!"

"Mm." Oishi continued with the puzzle, unfazed by the redhead's outburst. "Fuji took this picture during practice last week."

"But why couldn't you just take the picture from him instead of spending all that money on making it into a puzzle?"

Oishi paused, his hand hovering above the few loose pieces left. "Well, it's because we're like the jigsaw."

Eiji stared at his friend blankly. "Huh?"

Oishi smiled down at the puzzle, then looked up at Eiji. "Don't you see? We fit, like the pieces of the puzzle." He had two pieces in his hand, and he held one out to Eiji. "The last two pieces. Want to do the honours?"

Eiji took it, grinning widely. "We complete each other, nya?"

Oishi pressed the last piece down. "Yep."

"Yeah!! Golden Pair!" Eiji cheered. Then, in a sudden change of mood, he frowned. "Nya, who's going to keep this?"

"We could make anoth-"

"NO!" Oishi had to laugh at the horrified look on Eiji's face. "You can keep it. I already have a picture of us, anyway."

"You do?"

"Yeah! Right here." And Eiji tapped his chest, right over where he guessed his heart was.

Oishi's smile grew imperceptibly wider.

"Can we go play now?" Eiji was already grabbing his racquet and shoes.

"Maa, all right... let's go."

-owari-

A/N - First of a series of fics based on the characters' songs. Only English titles are being done, though. ^_^