Author Notes: To all of my reviewers: hakkai-san, Ikyutakei, Angel_of_Godess, AndyJune, mabaroshi16, Ryyan, Pure Assassin, Kikumaru-twin, hellen, nall, whity, Silence, Cheeseburger of Doom, tezuka eiri, stained-glass, Firefly; Thank you for your support. I can never do this chapter without you guys ^^ Actually I don't have many plot down there but I hope I write it well enough. Enjoy reading this chapter!

DISCLAIMER: These superb characters belong to Konomi-sensei. I only own Kane.

WARNING: Male/male relationship (Tezuka/Fuji)

Summary: After finishing his junior high school, Tezuka went to London to enroll into a tennis academy. After three years of not seeing any of his former teammates, he finally had a very acquainted roommate.

Italicized words mean the words are somehow important.

/Italicized words in here/ represent the character's thought, whose thought it is I think you can guess.

Symphonies of Life

Author: SIB

Chapter Two: Nocturne

/Do I know him?/

Tezuka gave his brown-haired friend an inquisitive sidelong look despite his stern emotionless feature. They were enjoying their time, sitting with legs crossed on the cool dewy grass shielding the field surrounding the rows and columns of tennis courts. The evening sky was coated with dull grey clouds, a forewarning of the impending rain, which left him torn in two. His practice was due in thirty minutes and he would be more than merely upset to have it called off. Another cause that disconcerted him was the fact that he would be able to avoid this unsettling person at least for the next two hours if there was a practice to be attended, which at the same time was something that he felt implausibly reluctant to do.

Keen assessing eyes traveled quietly along the finely sculpted body. Fuji was somehow different with the prodigy he was once familiar with. Not in the term of behavior which was still as frustrating as always, but rather in the physical subject. Of course the relentless smile was still adorning his lips along with a pair of pristine orbs hidden securely under the folds of eyelids. It was the perceptible growth he had attained, in height as well as in maturity, which compelled the other to notice. He was still slender, yet trained muscles were visibly garnishing certain parts of his body.

And it was not the only issue. His eyes began to explore upward, to the skin covered by the rather thin fabric of Fuji's shirt. Perhaps he couldn't see it plainly, but the somewhat feeble cloth was powerless to hinder his mind from envisioning every delicate curve and arc embellishing the body in the highest level of delicacy. The former captain might not like to voice it aloud but he must admit that Fuji was incontrovertibly eye-catching.

Then his gaze rested on the calm visage. With his eyes closed, Tezuka could not tell whether the prodigy was observing the going-on match displayed before them or merely daydreaming, staring vacantly at the pale sun, a yellow griddlecake sinking behind the mass of grim ashen cotton. The smile wasn't any help either. It was the typical one Fuji kept on his lips; the vague distant smile which practically granted him the title of the best swindler Tezuka ever knew. The question was right: did he really know Fuji?

/No,/ a low displeasing voice from the back of his mind replied. /You never have./

Fifteen Love. The answer couldn't be truer. Even with the constant almost platonic relationship he shared with Fuji during their junior high school years, the tensai remained as vague as disunited chapters of an intricate story. To discover Fuji was to find an alcove full of wonderful yet perilous things, where he had to fondle blindly since there was no light to be torched. Maddening at some point but still stirring his curiosity.

A quiet flow of rich melodies filled his mind, which was welcomed unconditionally without many queries of 'why' and 'how'. It had appeared since Fuji asked him to take him around and Tezuka made no attempt to obliterate it. His doubt was little, almost not an iota, that the prodigy was the one rousing the streak of tones into such an enchanting music. However, he didn't plan to tell the particular person regarding this matter. He was determined to keep the emotion unspoken, being a disagreeably abnormal feeling. His agonizingly conventional family might fall dead if they somehow managed to hear a word about his anomaly. Fuji was beautiful, yes, but no one would mistake him as a girl.

"How do I look from there, Tezuka?"

The bespectacled guy was caught off for a moment as the exquisite song vanished, replaced by steady but quickening thumps of his heart. So Fuji noticed his rigorous scrutiny after all.

The tensai slanted his head a bit, turning to face his former captain. A flawlessly defrauding smile appeared on his lips. "Am I looking so good that you cannot help but to gawk at me in the last five minutes?"

Tezuka held his stare for one full minute, trying his best to bestow his friend with loathing look. It was no laughing matter, at least for him. Fuji with his carefree attitude and twisted personality would never understand neither the battle going on inside him nor his hopeless denial of his sexual preference. Fuji just wasn't aware of what his playful trivial teasing could do to the other guy's sanity.

Receiving no annoying remark to his sharp look, Tezuka tore his gaze to watch the finishing game. The satisfied smirk truly unnerved him, another reason why he should look away before committing something he would eventually regret. There were enough imbalances in his life to be added by an inexplicable deed, such as kissing his friend right there on their very spot.

"It was weird, you know, Buchou," Fuji resumed his one-sided conversation, his voice was dipped into what the taller guy recognized as deep contemplation, which somewhat seemed fallacious since it was the astute prodigy speaking, "to have a team without you as the captain. More so, all the lining of regulars we had in our third-year in Seigaku were also there, in exception you. Oishi made a great captain of course, but we all knew that you were irreplaceable in some ways. I cannot help but to miss you."

Tezuka made an attempt to take no notice of his friend's words, above all the final one. A wonder flickered inside him of why Fuji had not made a captain since it was very likely that the tensai was the only player equaling him in their level. But with an afterthought, it was logically wise the judgment the high school's coach made. Entrusting the malicious persona to lead a tennis team was not even close to a good idea; his regime would be direr than that of Tezuka's.

"Why do you come here?" the former captain changed their path of dialogue, instead of replying.

A broad dazzling smile was stretched upon the immoderately appealing lips. "Because I love you too much?"

Of all the answers he could get. Tezuka's hazel eyes narrowed into a pair of ominous slits, which could fright any mortal from the youngest to them who were in the brink of death. Well, probably except the one in front of him. When would Fuji learn not to mess with him?

"And do you miss me, Tezuka?" The hostile warning obviously failed to achieve its actual intention.

/Do I?/ He questioned himself without much enthusiasm to find the true answer. Of course not. If by any chance the prodigy's face came to visit his mind, it was merely because he was in the deepest of reminiscence of his younger years. There was nothing sinful with recalling one or two of them more clearly than the rest, which in his case were probably Fuji and Oishi, regardless of the fact that unlike the other one, he didn't suffer an excruciating heartburn when Oishi's voice chimed in his head.

"If you really do," the tempting voice kept prodding, "perhaps I will let you to...what did he say before? Ah, to molest me." The son of the devil almost managed to pronounce his scandalous statement as innocently as one that a little kid would say to offer his candy.

A glance to his watch saved the taller guy from humiliating himself even further. Almost too abruptly, Tezuka rose and grabbed his tennis bag, shifting his eyes as natural as possible to the dispersing players at the court. His voice was surprisingly still composed, despite the crumbling sensation of his defense somewhere in the pit of his stomach. "I have my practice to attend."

"Of course," Fuji replied with a knowing smile. "Have a pleasant practice, Tezuka."

The tensai watched in quiet fascination at his captain's figure trudging along the way to the tennis court. Restless, it was one thing for sure, but people did tend to get restless around him. Tezuka was unbelievably lucky to find an excellent reason in that case.

His everlasting smile dimmed a bit as the tall shadow left his line of sight by turning into the courts. It was a bit harder than he thought. Among all of the people he had befriended in his seventeen years of plotting and tormenting, Tezuka was the most immovable one when it came to heart matter. He still reacted in some ways, which rendered unsatisfactory by the prodigy, even disappointing. Something must be done, or else they would be pointless, his long tiring flight all the way from Japan and his three arduous years in high school.

Fuji had never really understood why his interest was set on the cold tennis fanatic. True that he loved tennis as well, but when it came into comparison to the passion Tezuka had, his fascination was no more than tiny pebbles in a mountain of rocks. The former captain got his respect but apparently not only his respect. The tensai dismissed it as a minor attraction toward someone greater than him, until they no longer met at daily practices.

His high school was a prominent one and as what had been predicted before, he entered the tennis club. Apparently his love for the game had gone much deeper than he thought and perhaps, by being in the club once more, he could satisfy the prickly sensation in the depth of his stomach. Whatever he did, it never subsided. He began to search for the cause; perhaps it was his teenage hormones which demanded a release from sexual tension and so he brought several partners to bed. It didn't subside. Or probably he was craving for a certain exotic cuisine? He tasted from raw walrus meat to the newest version of Inui juice and still it hadn't subsided.

It went on and on until he chose to ignore it and settled his focus on tennis. And then the moment arrived. It was a starless night with frosty wind and he was in the middle of strenuous training to keep his mind off the aggravating feeling. Services, smashes, counters; he had lost of what he was actually doing when out of the blue a well-known figure emerged before his eyes. A second later it vanished, only a fleeting moment of muted fantasy.

Fuji still remembered, clearly, how his fingers lost their grip and the racket fell clattering on the deserted court. And then he sank to his knees, finally realized what was actually unnerving him up to that degree, or to be precise, who.

The later days crawled in the company of emptiness, as if he was walking his days in a nameless desert, tumbling in the wilderness without the merest hint of a green speck of oasis could be seen with his wearied eyes. Perhaps he had eventually found out why, yet there was still nothing he could do to fulfill his insatiable thirst. There was no one in the team keeping in touch with their former captain. Not even Ryuzaki-sensei, who had told him the academy Tezuka was enrolling; a priceless piece of information he still could not make any use of.

And the clock steadily ticked by. He managed to keep his inner turmoil unnoticed, save for several occasions when he unconsciously lowered his guard and brought his best friend fussing over him for a couple of hours. Kikumaru had never known though, since Fuji remained as the genius on and off court, including in the art of acting. To please his painful ego, he turned to more and more practices; at least by playing tennis he could feel a bit closer to Tezuka, nearly close enough to see him frowning, to watch him playing, to feel him breathing. The ember inside his heart, although still flickering every now and then, was put out lackadaisically. For him hope was lost. Until Ryuzaki-sensei called him for a private meeting.

/"Fuji, the academy I told you before, sends an offer for you to resume your study in London for tennis. You know, the one Tezuka was enrolling to."/

The tensai could still hear her encouraging voice clearly, as if he had just been notified a minute ago. Her later words, he recalled, had instantly blurred into a faint buzzing sound amidst the thunderous pounding of his heart. Another hope stirred. He remembered of answering the gracious offer absent-mindedly; an affirmative one of course.

He finished the last three months of his high school with his daily life resolving around tennis. It was probably the only chance for anyone who wished to see the genius for the first time being serious in his struggle. Of course he still had his fun pestering once his friends once in a while, but his mind was firmly set to one person, the one he was about to chase on and off court.

"One set match! Tezuka versus Hampson!"

The calling for the certain name sent Fuji back to the present. His eyes caught two figures stood steadfastly on each side of a court, shaking hands before taking their positions behind the backline. A practice match.

His interest pulled him up from the soft comfort of the grass, with a few steps approaching the tall green fence circling the courts for a better view. It was Tezuka's serve.

To see him playing after many long hours of waiting and dreaming, brought a bitter touch of contentment. The prodigy was pleased to meet his former captain again –even too pleased since he had to prevent himself from kissing the taller guy right away when he appeared from behind his bedroom door this morning- but something ebbed it away. Those eyes, ever so cold and remote, revealed almost nothing save for surprise when they finally beheld at each other for the first time after three years. For several reasons, Fuji doubted his old friend missed him as much as he did.

/We have changed./

His deep sapphire eyes took in the image before them, loving every detail up to the smallest. The well-built body moved assiduously with remarkable speed it earned from frequent heavy trainings. A resolute look was set upon the firm angular face which was brightened by the hidden fervor flaming through his shots and counters. The hazel orbs behind those spectacles were suddenly alive with zeal, something that much to Fuji's dismay, only tennis could bring. Translucent brown hair was dancing in the air as beads of sweat began to surface, leaving the skin somewhat lustrous under the fading sun. Fuji felt the rate of his heart was increasing and his breaths were now coming in and out slightly faster than normal, almost mirroring the pace of Tezuka's breathing.

Unconsciously his fingers grasped the green fence in a violent grip. /You have no idea what you've done to me, Tezuka. If only you knew.../

"Do you smile all the time?"

Almost instantly, Fuji released his grip on the fence, turning to Kane who was leaning back to a tree several paces behind him. It was a good thing that he was used to keep the smile on place, regardless the chaos his heart was enduring.

"Perhaps," the tensai had his smile widened slightly, "I guess it's a habit, Kane-san."

"Kane is fine," the older guy waved his hand off-handedly and took his place beside Fuji, staring at the court with an amused almost ill behaved expression. "Anything is better than Mitsu who has never bothered to call my name. Very indecorous of him, don't you think?"

Fuji laughed, cordially welcoming his new friend to join the let's-torture-Tezuka group. "Aa, but most of the regulars in our team back then preferred not to hear their names shouted by Tezuka since it would mean that they had to run at least twenty laps. In some ways it was better to keep our names uncalled." /Maybe you haven't changed that much, Buchou.../

"Such a lenient captain. Better to keep our names uncalled, eh..."

"But perhaps," the prodigy's voice was laced by deep contemplation, which somehow inducing suspicion,  "I will be very happy to find out if he is shouting names under a certain unusual circumstance, such as..." the voice contained almost nothing but misplaced innocence, "...in bed?"

The blond-haired man eyed his companion in pure surprise. He had realized that Fuji was his kind of person when it came to teasing their touchy friend but to bring it to that level? It was rather unexpected, yet welcomed nonetheless. Torturing Tezuka was way too fun. He grinned, almost too broadly, and replied, "Regarding your condition of being in the same room, Fuji, I think he has an awfully little chance to escape. You have my utmost blessing to try and find out, but don't forget to share me the details."

"It's my pleasure." The blue eyes glittered in mischief.

"This will be so much fun," Kane smirked, liking his new friend even more. "Come on, I'll show you the eastern area of the academy. I'm sure Mitsu hasn't taken you there yet. It's a public place and every time he goes there out of some errands, he always gets a gang of girls running after him. I don't think he realizes how good-looking he is," the blond-haired man commented, evoking a pleasant laugh from his companion.

Fuji rose and followed him after throwing his dearest captain a last glance. /No, you haven't changed, Buchou.../

----------  ----------

A refreshing bath was always most welcomed after practice. Tezuka stood under the shimmering water, letting the cool drops to defuse his damp sweaty skin. The match was excellent despite the weariness it resulted and the awfully long time he needed to come out as the winner. Hampson was particularly though and 6-4 truly worth it.

Sometimes being one of the best was tedious even wearisome. Not that he wasn't used to it –more than half of his years in this world were spent with adoring almost worshipping stares aimed at him; yet it also placed an insurmountable amount of responsibility on his shoulders. Being a prideful individual, he refused to let any hope down, even if it meant he had to squeeze himself. And there was his moral obligation to his family. They didn't argue his decision to take a tennis path, but he knew that they had never agreed either. In their mind, there were still a lot of occupations more decent than being a professional sportsman.

Dismayed by his disconsolate mood, Tezuka left the shower stall. Why should he recall those things today? Normally he would merely shrug it off. In a distracted manner, he circled the towel around his waist and after placing his spectacles back, walked out of the bathroom.

"My, aren't you gorgeous, Tezuka?"

/Shit./

He stopped dead on his track, cursing his mind silently. How the hell he could forget the fact that he had no longer occupied the room alone? Above all, he was sharing it with this person.

Cautiously he brought his eyes to meet those cerulean ones. The owner was sitting comfortably on his couch, letting his eyes to roam appreciatively over the half-naked body displayed before them. His smile, slightly brighter than usual, added a touch of luminosity in the darkening room. Oh yes, the tensai was obviously pleased to see him in this state.

"Why haven't you turned the light on?" The captain managed to suppress his blood from reaching his cheek, but to ignore the lecherous stares Fuji was shooting him was an absolute impossibility.

The prodigy rose from his seat, deliberately slow. "I don't wee why it's important, except if you want me to enjoy the view better."

The taller guy could feel his heartbeat was quickening with every steps Fuji took to decrease their range. And the tensai didn't halt a meter away from him; he stopped when they had only ten centimeters left separating their skin. All of a sudden, breathing felt like an insufferable difficulty for Tezuka.

"If your intention is to impress me, Tezuka," he could feel a finger tracing the contour of his left arm, "you are doing a great job."

He was so willing to contradict but his difficulty of breathing seemed to have an effect on his vocal cords as well. The marine depths were staring into his russet eyes, very keenly and too closely that he was able to fathom radiant sharp lances adorning them. Fuji's eyes were already too captivating without the need to see them in such an intimate range and the gap they had in between was so narrow that he could distinctly feel the heat the other body was radiating.

There was a chuckle coming from the exquisite lips. The fingers were now dancing feather-like touches on the side of his muscled abs. The prodigy leant forward, almost brushing his lips to his captain's right earlobe, exposing the white inviting skin of his neck. Tezuka could feel his sanity was edging away. It was achingly close; he merely had to incline his head slightly and the pale smooth skin was his to be ravished. A warm tongue caressed the lower part of his earlobe, sending a shiver down his spine, as the low seductive voice whispered, "What should I give in return?"

His body tensed at the question. Fuji was offering him the chance, the one he uneasily longed so much to hear in the past three years. Yet his hands were frozen to his side and there was no way he could vocally answer that.

As if he somehow knew, the tensai set his face back in front of the other's. The smile was no longer calm; it was predatory and Tezuka was fully aware that he was the prey.

And Fuji stepped forward.

His skin was now making contact with the soft fabric of shirt Fuji was wearing. Tezuka could feel his breath was falling into an erratic pace and his body was heated by escalating desire. Still holding their eye contact, he tried his best to ignore the burning sensation formed between his thighs, also to have power over his treacherous body from grabbing the prodigy and throwing them both to the bed. But his feeble determination seemed so far, so vague compared to this blinding heat of lust.

Fuji brought their faces closer. His lips were so near that the taller guy almost could feel the words being whispered to his mouth.

"Would you like to shout my name?"

For a split second Tezuka was puzzled before realizing the significance of such preposterous question. He was yet to find his voice when he sensed those irresistible lips were pressed to his own.

At that moment thousands of pictures flooded his mind. His family, his constant obstinacy to deny what he felt, his will to forget that certain someone, his sacrilegious dreams from night to night over the prodigy, and so many more cramping his brain that it nearly burst. With a sudden power which he himself wasn't aware it exist, the former captain lifted his hands and pushed the one kissing him.

It was only a light thrust, yet Fuji felt it and reluctantly let go. Both once again found themselves holding each other stare of hesitation and perplexity. Then Tezuka declared impassively, almost as stable as usual.

"No."

There were emotions could be seen battling inside the ocean's depths for a fleeting moment. Then with his majestic grace of buoyancy, Fuji stretched a smile upon his lips, an indecipherable one.

"I see."

The taller guy breathed in relief as the crafty plotter decided to put the matter at rest and walked into the bathroom. It was horrifying, the way Fuji could make him feel, and altogether consuming. He felt unaccountably tired, as if he had managed a hairbreadth escape over a death verdict merely a moment ago. With a slightly quivering hand, Tezuka steadied his spectacles and went in a search for his clothes. Only God knew what the tensai would attempt to do if he finally finished his business in the bathroom and found his prey still in a nude state.

The night was still young and he despised his option to embrace sleep with his damp hair, but everything seemed far better than to deal with the prodigy again. He had settled himself safely under his warm blanket when there was a click of the bathroom door being opened. He was facing the window and thus unable to watch what his friend was doing, but one thing for sure, the footfalls were approaching. Not that he cared. He would do anything to peel Fuji off his mind at this very moment.

The soft strides halted and his bed rustled weakly at another weight being set on it.

"Ne, Tezuka."

The named one wished he had his racket within his reach to get his friend several well-deserved smacks on his ever-so-cheerful face. Nevertheless he mumbled an irritated reply. "What?"

"Can I sleep here?"

Those words obviously managed to stir the former captain. He looked in frustration for the umpteenth time to his innocently smiling friend. "Get to your own bed."

"Can't I sleep with you?"

/Definitely not./ Tezuka didn't even bother to answer vocally; partly because anger had too far overwhelmed him and partly to restrain himself from wondering another connotation the word 'sleep' possibly had. His sharp lethal stares should be excessively enough as a reply, if only the one he currently confronted wasn't the tensai.

"I don't like to be alone."

A faint touch of candor in the voice softened Tezuka's gaze. And before he realized what he was doing, he had shifted his body to provide an adequate space for his friend. It widened Fuji's smile a bit and the prodigy gladly accepted his place.

Tezuka straightened his position and stared blankly at the dark ceiling, trying to ignore the alien warmth snuggling beside him. It was protuberantly obvious that he was nowhere near accustomed to a company in his intimate distance –not to mention in his bed- and the fact that it was Fuji didn't aid. To forget seemed very much impossible now that he had tasted the sinful sweetness. The warm soft texture of Fuji's lips lingered on his lips, unable to be wiped off. And he knew, in unremitting resentment, somewhere in the dark passages of his heart, that he liked it.

Excellent. He barely passed a day with Fuji as his roommate.

To be continued

Author Ramblings: I guess I do nothing but torturing Tezuka in this chapter...XD When I reread this, I felt like shouting, "Just kiss him, you idiot!" ^^ This is really a frustrating fic for me... For calling Tezuka's love for Fuji an abnormality, I apologize. I just try to look at other people's point of view, despite me being a complete supporter of Tezuka/Fuji. I think the rest of this will resolve around Tezuka's denial. Thank you for reading and please review!