Disclaimers: Prince of Tennis and all related things belongs to one named Konomi Takeshi. I am not named Konomi Takeshi, therefore they do not belong to me.
Many thanks to Windy Hurrice for being my beta-reader.
His third class has just ended. As soon as he packed, he made to leave the room. He slowly made his way across the campus to where he arranged to meet up with Fuji. He was walking with his head down as usual, when a pair of mismatched boots stopped in front of him. He blinked and looked up.
The female was staring at him with unblinking eyes. Well, if she was not about to move anytime soon. . . "Excuse me." Ryoma moved to the side. He was ready to proceed on his way when the female reached out to grab his arm.
"Hey, do you mind taking off your cap for a minute?" Without waiting for an answer, she reached up to snatch his cap off herself. Ryoma blinked with surprise at the force of the movement. The female was now grinning widely at him. "Not bad, not bad. Good facial structure." She was patting his cheeks now. "You would've been a better candidate if you were taller. Although your present height suits your current look. Besides, we cannot blame your body for your height. Whoa . . . muscles! You exercise regularly, don't you?" Ryoma was starting to get annoyed as she moved on to squeezing his arms.
"Excuse me, do you mind letting go of me? I need to be on my way." He removed himself from the strange female's hold and walked off. This had just confirmed his belief once again that females are the weirdest things on earth. Just like that Sakuno, she still babbles whenever she talks to him, despite knowing him since their middle school years. He was startled of his thoughts when he felt a hand pressed on his chest.
". . . You just consider for a while and have a think through of what I said. It'll be fun! Call me in half an hour time! I need to go look for the others now. Remember! 30 minutes!" Finished with what she was saying, she grinned again and turned to leave.
He looked at the piece of paper with a string of numbers on it. His hand had instinctively held on to it when he felt that the female pushed it to him. He blinked in confusion. 30 minutes? What was she talking about? Not wanting to spend another moment to ponder on it, he stuffed the paper into his pockets and continued on his way.
When Ryoma reached the meeting place, Fuji was already there. When he stopped in front him, Fuji simply pushed himself away from the wall that he was previously leaning on. "You want anything specific for lunch?" He said with one of his usual seemly gentle smile. He was unrepentant about forcing Ryoma to meet up for lunch.
If he did not do this, Ryoma would probably just sleep away during the lunch hour under one of the numerous trees within the campus. Why should he be apologetic about wanting to meet his boyfriend? He was making sure that Ryoma had a meal at the same time too.
Ryoma just shrugged, "I want a drink first." He turned to the vending machine at the side. He dug into his pocket for change. Pulling some out, he did not notice the piece of paper that fell out. Fuji picked it up, was about to hand the paper back when he noticed the numbers on it.
His eyes opened a crack. There was a soft glimmer in them before closing again. "Here, this fell out of your pocket." He pushed the piece of paper back into Ryoma's pocket himself. Ryoma paused in the midst of opening his can of Ponta. In wide-eyed confusion, he pulled out the paper that Fuji just shoved into his pocket. It was the piece of paper that the strange girl had forced into his hands before, his eyes narrowed with suspicion at Fuji.
When Fuji merely smiled back at him, his eyes narrowed further. Normally, when Fuji found pieces of paper with phone numbers on them, he would comment on them. He would not make a big deal out of them, but he did not let go of them quietly either. Those comments were made of neither jealousy nor possessiveness. Both knew that he would not be bothered with these numbers. Both knew that he found relationships confusing and troublesome. In fact, if it had not been with Fuji's subtle maneuver four years ago, they would not be where they are now.
Deciding that it would be asking for trouble by further questioning about it, Ryoma simply shook his head. He finished his drink, throwing away the can. When he was about to turn away from the bin, he crumpled that piece of paper and threw it in after the can.
"Shall we go now?" Fuji asked. "Oh, Ryoma, come with me to my block later. My locker is getting clustered; I need you help me bring some things back to the apartment."
To be continued