Title: Calendula
Pairing: Atobe x Tezuka.
Synopsis: 6 years later, Tezuka was on his way becoming an internationally famed professional tennis player. Can he keep his relationship with Atobe a secret? An obsessed tennis fan who will stop at nothing to destroy the relationship between them is just one of the obstacles…
Warning: This is Slash/yaoi. (homosexual)
Chapter 1
US Open Men's Final.
A heated battle between two exceptional tennis players was about to come to a conclusion.
The surrounding was unbelievably quiet, despite the fact that the whole place was swarming with fans. All eyes were fixed on the young Asian player and everyone in the court held their breaths as the last ball was served.
"An excellent serve!! I could have put money that it travels at the speed of light! It's difficult to believe we can still see an ace serve at the end of the game. This 21-year-old young player is surely showing something to the world… Oh wow! Will you look at that! " The commentator's voice was suddenly drown out by the cheers and shouts from the crowd as the ball landed at the side of the court of the Asian player's opponent. The ball didn't bounced up. It rolled back towards the net and stopped there instead.
The match was over.
"Yes! 7-6! We have a new US Open champion. The first Japanese to win the US Open! This is definitely one of the greatest games of all time. Tezuka Kunitmitzu has added the US Open champion title to his career after winning with 6-5, 4-6, 7-5, 5-6, 7-6!!"
Tezuka looked up at the lights in the stadium, his eyes momentarily closed as if amazed at what he has accomplished.
"Tezuka! Tezuka! Tezuka!" The winning cheers flooded the stadium. Looking around, Tezuka suddenly flashed a small smile towards the crowd. Immediately, the cheering amplified tenth times.
"Oh gosh, did you just see that? This has to be one of the rarest moments from this Japanese player. A smile!" The sports commentator commented in amusement, "Tezuka is usually so serious he never smiles, which might be a good thing depends on how you look at it. If he smiles more often, I'm afraid his mailbox will be overloaded with marriage proposals from females fans!"
"I totally agree with you!" Another commentator nodded in agreement, "That is, if his mailbox is not already overloaded!"
"Tezuka definitely looks great when he smiles, but I think his fans find him just as attractive without any smile. The 'hard-to-get' character probably left the female fans feeling challenged!" The other commentator rant on, "Now let's see if we can catch the young player before he left the stadium. Mr. Tezuka! Please, a moment of your time."
"Sure," Tezuka stopped in front of the reporters.
"How does it feel winning the tournament?" This can be classified as the "FAQ" for winning in any sports/games.
"Amazing."
The list of "FAQ" continued. Tezuka's answers were short and clear. Then, a more personal question popped out by one of the female reporters:
"Mr. Tezuka, I'm asking on behalf of all the females fans of yours, including me, do you have a girlfriend?"
"No." Tezuka answered.
"Oh this is definitely something the fans want to hear!" She almost squealed in excitement.
I have a boyfriend. Somehow, Tezuka didn't think it's necessary to update her with that piece of information.
X X X X
Tezuka was getting tire of the celebration party thrown by his sponsors. It was held at one of the prestigious hotels in New York. Good food, great wine. Somehow, Tezuka was still bored out of his mind. He rather spent this night celebrating his winning with a few of his closer friends, or one particular person.
Escaping the crowd below, he managed to find his way to the roof of the luxury hotel. He was quite sure he wasn't supposed to be here, but nobody stopped him on his way. Glancing at the stars above, he enjoyed a peaceful moment as he felt the night breeze brushed against him gently.
Suddenly, a loud noise jerked him out of his peaceful trends. It sounded like a helicopter approaching. Looking up, sure enough, there's a helicopter hovering just a couple feet above him. A ladder dropped out of the helicopter and a man dressed in expensive black suite appeared at the door of the helicopter.
Tezuka's lips twisted slightly into a grin.
Yep, Atobe Keigo. This guy just HAD to make an entrance.
"What are you waiting for?" The deep, sexy tenor asked in arrogance.
Reaching out and grabbing the ladders, Tezuka waited to be lifted onto the helicopter.
"My dear princess, did I come to rescue you from boredom in time?"
"Yes, and do not call me that."
"Whatever you say. Garlands for the champion." A grin on his handsome face, Atobe placed garlands strung by beautiful calendula stems and flowers around Tezuka's neck and pulled him closer.
"Calendula?" Tezuka touched the flowers lightly. "This is my birth flower."
"Yes, and you know the meaning of Calendula?" Atobe smiled, "Winning grace. Sacred affections. It's also called Summer Bride by the way."
"Hn," Tezuka couldn't help but smiled, "you're not implying anything giving me 'summer bride' flowers, are you?"
"No, of course not." Atobe grinned. Tezuka seldom smiles, even in front of him. But whenever he did, it was always breathtakingly beautiful.
Tracing Tezuka's jaw line slowly with a finger, Atobe asked in a teasing tone, "What was that SMILE after the game? I thought your smile was reserved for me?"
Tezuka raised an eyebrow. "You saw the game? Aren't you at a board meeting that you simply cannot miss?"
"There's something called 'technology', you know," Atobe frowned mockingly, "I was watching the live broadcasting from my handheld TV while all those old men talked my ears off. By the way, you nearly cost me a 2-billion dollars business deal."
"Hn?"
"I shouted YES! when you won the game and this old man just happened to be asking me to lower the price by 50 percent. You can imagine… it took me some considerable efforts to get out of that!"
"I'm sorry to hear that…"
"When I finally got out of the situation, I saw you flashing your 1000volts smile for the whole world to see," Atobe continued, "THAT should be reserved for me and nobody else should see it. How are you going to make it up to me?"
"Hn, to answer your question earlier, I'm afraid my smile is not reserved for you. But THIS is." Tezuka leaned forward and kissed Atobe fully on the lips.
"Hm…." Atobe sighed when they finally brake apart, "That's definitely a start on paying back. Now if the helicopter can just fly faster to my villa!"
end Chapter 1.
TBC...
Author's notes:
Calendula (also known as marigold) is the birth flower for the month of October.
Meaning: winning grace, sacred affections. Also: grief, cruelty, jealousy