Type : Fanfiction (one-shot)
Series : Prince of Tennis
Character/Pair : Oshitari/Gakuto (Hyotei)
Rating : G [gen]
Disclaimer : A non-profit fanfic venture, no copyright infringement intended. PoT belongs to Konomi Takeshi and Tachibana belongs to me (jumps him).
Notes : After much thought, I decided to post this. I was on crack when I first wrote it so I cleaned it up a bit. I still don't like my writing style but I kinda fell in love with the image and did the best I could.
"And that?"
"That's a boat."
"A boat?"
"A boat."
He turned his head and found big round eyes staring back at him. His smile came unbidden like it always does when Gakuto had that look on his face.
"Be specific," the boy insisted.
Smile erupted into a belly laugh. Yuushi knew he'd say that. "I didn't know cloud formations come with model numbers."
"Why not? Use your freaking imagination."
"Okay, okay," he sputtered between words. "A big boat. A big red boat. How's that?"
Snort. "Kabaji can do a better description."
"Ah, but I'm cuter than the guy."
"... What's your point?"
Yuushi thought for a moment. "Well, I can think up a boat and say it's big and red and everyone will go, oh that's wonderful, Yuushi. Betcha Kabaji doesn't get the same reaction."
He wanted to follow his statement with another laugh when he noticed that Gakuto had gone quiet. "Hmm?" he asked and watched as his friend shook his head. Gakuto shaking his head meant he wasn't going to get an answer of any sort anytime soon. Which suited him fine. Sometimes. So he looked away, the smile still pasted on his face.
"Whoah, that looks a lot like a head. Atobe's head," he mused idly at an unusually large clump of cloud. When the boy didn't respond as well, he turned to glance at his companion again and wondered just how many times he's done that in the past few minutes. Glance, look away, glance, look away. It gave him a crick in the neck. He glanced just in time to see Redhead tuck his arms under his head, staring intently at the sky. He looked away. After a long moment, Gakuto spoke.
"You know, I don't understand half the things you say half the time. You do know that, don't you?"
Yuushi mimicked his friend and stretched his arms out. His hands cradled the back of his head, not before scratching an ant off his scalp. The grass pricked him like needles despite his shirt.
"Think so."
"So why do you insist on speaking to me in dialect?"
A butterfly flitted by. It seemed just right to follow its...flitting. "Dunno. Maybe it's 'cause you answer back just the same?"
"...That's because I understand what you're saying," Gakuto slowly replied, an answer to his own question.
Grin. "Do I rest my case?"
"Not quite. It's just... weird."
Yuushi jerked slightly as another ant crawled along his arm. He flicked it away, annoyed all of a sudden. "We've spent, what, four, five hours talking non-stop after practice just the other day..." Afterwhich, he roughly grabbed his jacket and tossed it to Gakuto. "Put that under your head."
"Yeah, but I sure as hell don't remember half of what we talked about, to be honest," Gakuto pointed out as he absently slipped the jacket under his head.
"Didn't use to bother you."
"It does bother me now. You could be hurling swear words at me, for all I know."
God, when did Gakuto ever talk without sounding like accusing him of murder, he thought amusedly. "You know I won't do that."
Snort #2. "Sure. You fooled me into watching a quote-unquote, political thriller, last week, when it had, like, more than a dozen kissy scenes. Sure makes me believe you even more."
Defensive sorta whine. "It was a cute film."
Snort #3. "Hoah yeah, damn cute alright."
Laugh.
Yuushi opted not to answer, as he usually did at times when he felt an inexplicable weight inside him. He heard Gakuto sigh. Clouds floated by a little more speedily, signaling a coming breeze. He shifted slightly in his position and propped a leg over the other. Silence stretched out. Then he smiled.
"Especially when you start blushing at the love scenes."
Gakuto grunted distastefully. "Okay, now you don't even know the difference between blushing and fuming. Sex doesn't embarrass me, sap does."
"It was a political thriller."
"It was a cheesy romance," the redhead's pitch grew a notch. "And they were speaking in Kansai-ben, for god's sake."
"You did understand it."
"Sure wish I didn't."
"You know what they say, the language of the heart is universal."
"Ewww."
"Hey, look see, you're blushing."
"Am fuming."
"Usu?"
"Am not."
"Virgin."
"Aargh!"
Gakuto groaned and suddenly bolted upright. Yuushi oomphed and held his arms up just in time to deflect mild blows of jacket as the boy landed on him. Laughed his ass off, deflect, until it turned into frenzied rough play, as it usually does when things get smarmy. He was grateful for Gakuto's slight frame and guffawed his brains out at the thought of being manhandled by someone as big as Kabaji.
"Take it back!" Thwap, shove.
"Only virgins blush, you know." Deflect, laugh, haphazard headlock. Gakuto squirming out of his arm, squashing his face.
"Arrogant prick!"
They went at it for a while until his stomach growled.
"Alright, alright, time out. Sushi, ramen, burger, food, you know, food, eat?" Yuushi spewed out between Gakuto's tackles until the boy stopped, tired. Hands on bended knees, chest heaving, face flushed. Finally laughing like nobody's business.
Gakuto thoroughly teased and riled up over nothing meant Gakuto in a good mood. Something he was grateful for. Gakuto in a good mood meant he could sleep easier tonight. For what it's worth. He thought it funny how thoughts worked its way into him at the silliest moments.
"You play, you pay."
"Hai, hai."
He straightened the same time Gakuto did. He grabbed their bags from the rock nearby as Gakuto grabbed the jacket and collided against him. He slung an arm lazily around the boy's shoulder as they started half-walking, half-tripping. His friend's hip jutted out to nudge him playfully at his side, making him almost lose balance and swear aloud in dialect. He rewarded the gesture by locking his arm around Gakuto's neck, to which the redhead answered by snickering and reaching out a hand to roughly graze his hair.
A pair of uniformed highschoolers passed by, tossing them a strange look. Yuushi loosened his hold the same time Gakuto straightened his back and resumed walking normally. They were a few feet away from the nearest restaurant when he noticed Gakuto's hand was still clutching his shirt at the small of his back.
"Ne, Yuushi."
"Hmm?"
"Was it a big boat or a really big boat?"