Author Notes: After not updating for a month, the best I can offer you my readers are an apology and this chapter. Mind the warning please!
A special thank to kireira and Lin-san who have pointed out a language error in chapter three. Fuji and Tezuka were talking in Japanese between themselves so even though I wrote the dialogues in English, there was no way for Scott to understand what Fuji was saying to Tezuka. I have corrected that he only saw and not heard them.
To Sano: I'm sorry if it displeases you. Let's just think that his partners agreed as well either to take or to be taken It doesn't change anything but I hope that can help!
To MutaKu: Hey there! Give my regard to your sister too
Also many many thanks to my other reviewers: Cheeseburger of Doom, maboroshi16, Silence, Ikyutakei, Regatto, hakkai-san, Stardustangel1, firefly, Angel-of-Godess, whity, Angel72, Nekocin, hellen, stained-glass, Sharl, sTrAwbErRyfAnSz. You all are the light of my life
DISCLAIMER: These superb characters belong to Konomi-sensei. I only own Kane.
WARNING: This story is getting very lame, weird, too sappy, and so on. I can still list thousands things of why you shouldn't read this chapter, but if you can endure those countless errors, I really hope you will still read.
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 Four: Fugue
A Sunday morning had broken, promising a day full of sun and warmth despite a number of white feathery curls occasionally marking the limitless spread of sky-blue veil. True that it was still spring, a season of days often painted with rain and heavy mist, but for today the sun had decided to defeat them all and finally emerge, glorifying the face of London with its stare.
The cafeteria of the academy was on its bustle of Sunday breakfast. Being the only day when students of the school were privileged to spend time on their own will, many had chosen to start their day later than usual. At nine o'clock in the morning, every table available seemed to be occupied, not only by eating guys –ranged from those with glaringly polite eating manner to them anyone would assume suffering acute famine– but also busily chatting ones whose plates had been empty and pushed aside for long.
Tezuka sat amidst these hullabaloos, securing a table near the gigantic glass window to his momentary possession. Ray of light flooded through the transparent glass, leaving subtle hues on his blue sweater and warming the skin beneath. At the present however, weather and sun was the farthest thing in his mind.
He had sat there for nearly five minutes in silent wait, face impassive and eyes firmly set on the empty chair across his table. A while ago, his roommate had excused himself to get more grapes and he hadn't returned since. While the distance between their seats and the long white-covered table serving varieties of food for the breakfast was no more than twenty steps, astonishingly he could find more than a few rational explanations of the prodigy's tardiness.
A howl of laughter compelled his eyes to look to where the subject of his current thought stood. Holding a plate filled by blackish grapes, Fuji had a modest smile on his face, directed to a number of guys talking vigorously to him. They effectively blocked every possible escape the prodigy might take and enthusiastically involved him in a fiery conversation which, either Fuji was too polite to ignore them or he simply wanted to make his roommate jealous, soon invited more partakers.
Of course he had no right to be angry or sort at the ordinary yet annoying view, apart from the obviously negligible talk which were delaying his plan to bring Fuji to a sport store he frequently visited. The strings on Fuji's racket had snapped the day before during his match with Tezuka himself and the rather cheerful victim had obliged his former captain to compensate it with a date. Or a walk to the sport store, as he might add at the indignant look on his friend's face. As if the two options actually had any difference except in the way Fuji put them.
Fuji had his full right to make as many friends as possible and there were actually some of them who truly regarded the tensai pleasurable to talk to without any obscured lecherous motive trailing behind. Unfortunately, the observant captain was too aware of the unacceptable looks some of others had been shooting his roommate with. While he wouldn't declare around that Fuji was his –because he wasn't– Tezuka couldn't help but to feel a bit...protective.
No, he wasn't angry –or jealous– just...
/Why does he NEED to smile to everyone?/
Precisely. A flaw the prodigy seriously had to take care of was his difficulty to scowl or show his displeasure more palpably –except perhaps towards few particular persons, for instance that guy from St. Rudolph. But of course, Tezuka glanced at the smile once more, there was always a possibility that his friend was actually enjoying that chat, as pointless as it was.
The former Seigaku captain almost frowned at the sight of Hampson unreservedly permitted himself to pluck a grape from Fuji's plate and shoved it to his own mouth with a fashion which could provoke every sane man to wince in pain. However, hardly falling into the category of normal and sane people, the tensai showed no reaction and continued to smile as if the sudden invasion was a daily routine. Had he been less stony, Tezuka would have smirked by now at the patently disappointed look on Hampson's face.
But the smile was still there. And that brazen man had stepped an inch closer to his prodigy...
Squinting his eyes as if the sight he was looking upon were resulting a destructive effect on them, Tezuka reached for his glass and drained half of the orange juice in it. Somehow it tasted more sour than usual; or was it his tongue making fun of him?
Setting the glass down with an audible thud, he watched the yellowish surface of his remaining juice sway at the impulse before utterly stilled. Regardless the formidable level of intensity blended in the stares he had received from his friends –or merely acquaintances– that morning had gone relatively well. Of course the fact that the two Japanese players had appeared at the cafeteria together didn't help –the rest occupants of the cafeteria would just conveniently forget that being roommates usually put you under the condition of going mostly everywhere with your roommate. Even now he could still feel eyes boring into his back with various degrees of fury and amusement –and perhaps jealousy too.
Pissed off might be the right word to describe his state. Yet when Hampson's loud voice once again floated above all other noises in the room, Tezuka found himself reconsidering if 'pissed off' was in fact adequate.
"Yes, that smash-counter! Didn't you mention it had something to do with 'bear'?"
"Ah, Higuma Otoshi? It means 'Bear Drop' in English, I think."
The cafeteria must have all of a sudden gone completely quiet since he could hear the answer given by his friend rather clearly. To think that Fuji was really that influential to his auditory structure didn't really comfort the former captain, let alone diminish his... protectiveness. The only detail which still restrained him from dragging the prodigy away was a hint of impatience in the friendly voice, which was unsatisfactorily too small to be noticed by others who had yet to know the tensai's sadistic streaks.
"It's a good name, very cute, I think."
/...cute?/ Tezuka seriously wondered if he had ever heard a more ridiculous dialogue in his life before. How his friend gained enough patience to put up with the infuriating man was beyond his logic.
"Say, Fuji..." Hampson lowered his voice a bit, garnishing it with audible hints of seduction. "...Ah, or maybe I should call you Shuusuke?"
The former captain of Seigaku glared at his glass and its orange content, as if he could kill them once again despite their already lifeless state. Yet, unaware of the homicidal aura emitted from one of the corner, Hampson resumed, "Are you free tonight?"
/What that son of a .../ Tezuka's thought was yet to finish its most uncouth part when floods of protests and objections deluged the seducer from nearly every part of the room.
"That's no fair, Hamps!"
"I thought we had agreed not to ask him for a date at least for this week!"
"...what was that last night's deal all about then?"
"You people have no manner at all. Think of Fuji's situation a bit..."
"...seriously, we don't need any more gay couple here..."
"Is there anyone who still remember that Fuji already has a boyfriend... or husband, whatever..."
"You shameless man with no sense of friendship trustworthiness!"
"Honestly..."
"He has a boyfriend for god's sakes!"
The comments kept thundering ceaselessly like a series of cannon blasts and Tezuka found his head buried in his hands. Before Fuji came and most importantly before any scandal marred his name, morning hours were relatively uneventful. The strains put onto his stiff nerves were almost enough to make him wish the prodigy had never known this academy was indeed exist.
"May I sit here?"
A voice he failed to recall whose cleared up the jumbled mess of incoherent thoughts and curses running to on fro in his brain. He brought his eyes up, meeting a pair of sharp grey eyes and a face he remembered as one of the academy's students who enrolled a year ago.
Being a polite young man despite his rather unsociable state, Tezuka nodded. The stranger smiled in return but offered no explanation why he suddenly had the idea to bother the stoic guy.
"The weather today is nice, isn't it?"
Tezuka stared incredulously to whoever-he-was sitting before him. /...weather?/ If it was a start of another pointless talk, he would rather go elsewhere right now. One could only deal with worthlessness so much in a day and Tezuka Kunimitsu didn't go for worthless thing, or used to not before a blizzard named Fuji came into his life and devastated half of it along with most of his sanity.
Long strong fingers –obviously belonged to a tennis player– tapped the surface of the table rhythmically and it left the former Seigaku captain somehow intimidated. Behind the glass barrier, brown eyes darted from the fingers back to the stranger's face, which now was harboring a haughty smile. Tezuka narrowed his eyes slightly, finding himself disliking his new companion.
"Say, Tezuka," his voice, which smeared in unconcealed arrogance, ludicrously reminded him of a certain Hyoutei captain. How could it possibly increase his respect to this man?
"What about a dinner tonight?"
For a moment, all he could do was to stare at this blatant person and his more blatant request in a mix of shock and impassiveness. He could understand if such a demand, however sheer it was, came from Fuji but this guy... he barely knew him. And now this alien out of the blue asked him for a dinner? Tezuka felt his inside seething. It must be some kind of cruel joke that someone thought would be hilarious to be played on him, especially now when the rumor that he was courting his same-gender roommate was on the air.
Not bothering to even answer, Tezuka stood up and trotted to where Fuji was still standing. A shiver ran down his spine as he caught a glint in the prodigy's eyes when his gaze caught the pair of blue jewels. Fuji didn't like what he saw and the taller guy knew only misfortune would follow whenever his friend had this malicious look.
Setting his apprehension aside to be taken care of later, he stopped in front of the tensai, voice flat and authoritative. "Let's go."
A knowing smile which hinted a great deal of jeopardy bloomed on his friend's lips. Tezuka had to force himself not to flinch at the sweet almost coy voice the prodigy was using. "Ahh, are we in so much hurry, Tezuka?"
It snapped the last string attached to his main controller of patience and before he could reconnect them, Tezuka found himself dragging the prodigy out of the cafeteria. He no longer heard, or rather chose not to notice, various comments and encouragements his friends were throwing him with. As if he was lacking them in the first place.
Lovely soothing wind accompanied the warm taste of sunlight to greet them once they stepped outside. Feeling very much mocked, Tezuka glared at the sun especially due to its enthusiasm to rise and shine that day. Why were weather and his mood always counter-intuitive? Since it was impossible for the sun itself to answer, he merely incised the link his hand had established with Fuji's in a rather severe manner, a scene he knew only too well would simply raise more topics to be discussed among their friends. A chuckle was emitted from his side and without even needing to look the taller guy could tell that his damn so sly companion was highly amused.
A hand reached for his arm and entwined them comfortably as Fuji said in a sweet innocent tone, "This is how you should treat your date, Buchou."
He was so close to liberating his arm from the possessive hold when the tensai lifted his hand and landed a kiss on its fingers. Stunned wasn't enough to describe the taller guy's condition. His friend only shot him a wider smile and said cheerfully, "Why don't you wait at the front gate while I get my racket. It won't be long."
Tezuka nodded wordlessly. Damn Fuji and his smile.
The rest of the morning was spent in a leisure walk to the sport shop, sightseeing, and lunch. As an icy guy who had never gone to any date before, Tezuka must admit that he found his new experience rather interesting despite the fact that his date hardly missed every possible chance to humiliate him, either with words or gestures. Days spent beside Fuji indeed put his endurance to remain expressionless on a worthy trial.
One thing which bothered him much about going out with the prodigy was the amount of adoring or desiring glances they kept on earning. They repeatedly stumbled upon more than a few groups of girls, and as much as he didn't care for any world beyond tennis, the former Seigaku captain couldn't ignore the relatively irksome squealing. And of course, how could he forget the waitresses of the cafe where they had lunch and their disturbing giggles? Also a number of guys who kept looking at his tensai made everything clear that Fuji was attractive not to the opposite sex only. How he wished the tensai wasn't so good looking.
Little did he know that half of the glances were aimed at himself. And the fact that his friend frequently attached himself to the taller guy didn't help.
He was about to end the journey when Fuji spotted a park and immediately decided that it was worth visiting. Before the annoyed captain could voice his disagreement, the prodigy had said with a smile which rang his mental alarm at once, "We're going to the park or I'll kiss you now in this very spot. Take your pick, Tezuka."
And he should pick the last one? Damn Fuji and his smile.
Even though feeling rather displeased, the bespectacled guy had no choice but to follow his cunning friend sauntering into the open park, trudging along a gritty trail amidst corralling masses of thickly leafed trees. The air breathed a bloom of spring with many flowers flourishing their rich scents. At four in the evening, the place invited only a few of people, most of them were kids and their chaperones or late evening joggers. For a reason or two, it relieved the former captain who was perfectly aware the perils of public disgrace his companion could bring in front of a crowd.
The path led them to a small lake at the heart of the park, an almost pristine mirror of the vast firmament soaring up above. Its shore was a tapestry of smooth olive-coloured grass, sheltering the earth which gently fell downward. As soon as they reached the shore, Fuji claimed a spot at the frontier of watery blue and meadow green.
Deciding that to get wet was a perfect way to spoil his enjoyable day, Tezuka settled himself under a tree near the shore. That way, at least he could avoid from being embarrassed further, for example if his friend suddenly was enlightened by an idea to push him into the lake.
Cautiously he brought his hand up to shield his eyes from the blinding evening ray. The sun was still shining relentlessly although he noticed grey clouds began to tint the oceanic sky here and there. Spring and its rain; soon their ever so faithful ally, mist would also fall upon them. However, with the current tenacity of the sun, he still had some times before the first drop began to drench the soil.
A sound of splashing water set his attention back to the tensai, who had conveniently slipped out of his sneakers and was immersing his face with the cool water. A shiver ran down the taller guy's spine at the content look on Fuji's face complemented by a soft moan at the coolness which was quickly flooding the prodigy's vein as his bare feet touched the surface of the lake. Beads of water began to dampen the collar of the tensai's shirt and yet he merely pushed the brown tresses of his hair to the back of his neck, as if giving easier access for the droplets to glide down to his collarbone. Really, looking at Fuji taught the former captain a lot about a picture of innocence and what actually lay underneath.
All of a sudden his cell phone vibrated and it shifted Tezuka from his silent study of one of the most fascinating prodigious species existing to less attractive reality. Pulling out the offending mobile, he glared at the screen and noticed the incoming alert of e-mail. It read:
To: Mitsu-chan
From: Kane
At last! My egoistical introverted little brother finally collects enough wit and goes for a date! But still, don't break the curfew, Mitsu! No matter how hot you two young guys are burned inside the furnace of love!
By the way, have you molested him yet?
Tezuka looked daggers at the e-mail. /...what an idiotic message nonsense.../ One thing he had to make sure of was to not let its idiot writer escape unhurt and intact after this.
A drop of liquid fell on his mobile screen as he felt something cool and wet trickled down from his fair. The former captain snapped his up only to find two hands were generously pouring water to the top of his head. Impulsively he seized one of the guilty hands, eyes glaring angrily at his mischievous friend and his guiltless smile.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Another smile answered him wordlessly as the other twisted his wrist under the tight grip, letting long fingers to roam in the sea of golden brown hairs. Water began to leave distorting trails on his glasses, which irritated the former captain even more as he commanded in annoyance. "Stop that."
Finally Fuji decided to use his voice in answering. "Because you looked so murderous reading an e-mail like it was going to eat you, Buchou. It was so cute that I couldn't help myself but to mess it up a little bit."
Tezuka stared at his friend hard, rather insulted by the given reply. But of course, it was Fuji, so what should he expect? The prodigy was the only person here in London whose answer could compete fairly with Kane's message in a contest of idiocy. Not that he would care which one would win, but since the two contestants involved him as the victim...
Fortunately for the tensai, his former captain was feeling somewhat merciful that evening and soon he found his wrist released. Pointedly ignoring his still smiling friend, Tezuka removed his spectacles to wipe the droplets of water off. When he was about to put them back, there were slender fingers covering his bigger ones, preventing his hand to move upward. Before he could frown or scold Fuji for the new insolence, his lips had been sealed with a kiss, effectively eliminating his voice and words.
The prodigy pulled back after a moment, leaving the other stunned and at a loss for words. Another smile graced his lips as he said, "Don't put them back, Buchou. I can kiss you easier this way."
Tezuka chose not to reply and merely observe the slightly blurred figure of his friend who was squatting beside him and the sun which wrought a halo engulfing the lithe body. Fuji's fingers left his hand as the tensai folded his own arms on top of his knees. Deep cobalt eyes sprang into existence, watching him in uncanny amusement like a hunter would to its prey.
"Ne, Tezuka," the voice was soft and comforting, hardly betraying the irreproachable picture of angel Fuji was presenting him, "do you have someone you like?"
The query held a breath of innocence in it as if the prodigy was asking whether he had a candy or not. But of course what Fuji was asking had nothing to do with candies or sweets.
"...what?"
Another smile brightened the blue pools. "Ah, tennis doesn't count, all right? Nothing can compete with tennis to get your attention."
It sounded as if Fuji was jealous over a sport. The taller guy almost smirked but he wasn't about to correct the statement. At the moment, it was true; tennis was the center of his life. Calmly he answered, "I don't see the point of you asking."
Fuji shrugged nonchalantly. "Let's just say we're sharing a secret. Who is it, Tezuka?" The smile went even wider, pushing his eyes to curve before the tensai added, "Or you love tennis so much up to the point that you will marry tennis?"
"You are talking utter nonsense."
The twin pools found their way back from behind pleats of eyelids, a warning before a greater storm came because the former captain repeatedly evaded answering. "But is it wrong?"
"Fuji..."
A finger was placed on his lips, silencing him. "Is there any room in your heart left for anything beside tennis?"
For what seemed like hours they waited for the other to break the spell of silence. Tezuka tried to stay still, half-wishing that if he showed no reaction the prodigy would withdraw his finger. For once he was grateful his spectacles were lying unused on the grass beside him, or else he had to look into those eyes which most likely would lead to his downfall.
The battle could last forever since Tezuka knew he was still unbeatable in this department in case his friend decided to keep on staring. But he didn't. Pulling his finger back, the tensai stated wryly, "Always, silence is your best weapon."
There was a mix of despondency and anger in Fuji's voice which almost made the other guy violated his silence-is-golden rule. He gritted his teeth to deter any coming remark and succeeded to just look at the prodigy getting on his feet and turning around, ready to leave.
"Keep on hiding. I care not."
A final tone inside the harsh words forced him to break his abstention of speaking. Seizing the tensai's right wrist, he snapped sternly, "And you're going to see someone now?"
The answer was anything but friendly. "Perhaps. Why do you care anyway."
An unseen force jerked his hand and Fuji fell backward onto his taller friend's lap. Once he had managed to overcome the initial shock, Tezuka's cold brown eyes told him that silence was his best option. "No, you're not."
His reply was dipped in more mockeries than seductions. "Hm, possessive, aren't you, Tezuka?"
The taller guy could feel their breaths caressing each other face and Fuji's steady pulse under his ironclad grip. Still he remained soundless, unaffected by the obvious contempt.
Suddenly Fuji wrenched his hand free and caught the other guy's wrist instead, pinning the arm to the tree bark above Tezuka's head. He moved forward, imprisoning his friend's hips between his legs and brought their temples closer. Ceruleans glared angrily
into russets, and yet voice was still coated in winter snow, flat and impassive.
"Play fair, Buchou. I won't give you what you want if you can't give me what I want."
With that, he released his grip and stood up. Tezuka set his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, watching his friend slip into his sneakers and walk away. The music Fuji had brought into his mind began to fade, promising utter silence and blankness.
To Be ContinuedRamblings: I told you it was bad I hope I don't disappoint you much but if I do, really sorry... You can put the blame on my friend who introduced me to Naruto and almost made me forget that I still have three unfinished Prince of Tennis fics. But since he was unaware of the effect of lending me Naruto, this is still my fault...
Anyway, I do pity Tezuka in this fic but it's about time for Fuji to actually look that Tezuka is reluctant to start a relationship beyond friendship and so there goes the story. By the way, is there anyone who can help me to beta-read this fic? I'm starting to doubt my judgment over the grammar and sorts.
The last but not least, thank you for reading! (Really, I'm surprised that you are still reading this far ) Please review!