Anything You Can Do...

By: Cedony

Chapter One

"Aniki, mail's here!"

The sound of the chirpy pop-rock music video coming from the living room T.V set was cut off abruptly, and as he waited for his brother, Yuuta took care to set the thick envelope with the official looking seal on top of the heap of junk mail, right in the middle of the counter. That way, 'The Letter' would be the first thing that his brother would see when he stepped into the kitchen.

He knew that Syuusuke had been waiting a long time for it. Yuuta himself was curious about the contents, and had had a hard time resisting the urge to peek. But in spite of this curiosity, he turned his back on Syuusuke in a show of nonchalance as he entered the room. Yuuta even opened the refrigerator door and pretended to be fascinated by its contents.

There was a soft, breathy exclamation from his older brother, who had immediately noticed the envelope as he'd stepped inside the kitchen, just as Yuuta had hoped.

He whirled around at the sound, taking it as his cue to begin nosing in on his brother's business. Syuusuke's usually impassive face had given way to his rarely seen expression of excitement, which was to say that his narrow eyes had widened somewhat. "What is it, Aniki?" He asked as if he didn't already know. Syuusuke had swept the rest of the mail off the counter and onto the floor in his rush to get at the letter, and was holding it up triumphantly in the air.

'Good Luck, Syuusuke!' was scrawled across the front of the envelope in their sister's large, loopy handwriting, along with a pair of chibis flashing them encouraging toothy grins and thumbs up signs. She'd probably been the one to pick up the mail and take it into the kitchen, where she'd drawn her message on the envelope with what looked to be electric blue eyeliner.

"I finally got a letter from Taisei!" Syuusuke announced happily. Yuuta said a silent prayer of thanks to the gods for finally putting an end to his brother's months long agonizing. He tried to look appropriately surprised and encouraging at the same time, which resulted in a mildly deranged expression.

For months now he had been subjected to talk of Taisei University. Syuusuke had decided that that was the place for him after his impending graduation from Seigaku, and he had gone on about the school every opportunity that he got. Even after Yuuta had made a point of trying not to bring up subjects that were in any way related to Taisei University, Syuusuke had still somehow found ways to bring it up himself.

Needless to say, Yuuta was now pretty sick of hearing about how 'Taisei has one of the best sports programs in Tokyo, Taisei has a great academic record and great grounds and facilities'. It had gone on and on and on, until Yuuta finally forced himself to blank out whenever his brother started on the subject. That was the only thing that he could have done, short of actual violence.

Yuuta blamed it on Oishi Syuuichiro. His Aniki had had his heart set on Taisei University ever since Oishi had mentioned interest in applying there, and so following his team mate's lead, Syuusuke had sent off his own application several months before. Since then, he'd been anxiously awaiting a response, and Yuuta hoped that all that Taisei talk would stop, now that his older brother was finally getting an answer.

Watching the nervous way that his brother ran his hand over the envelope and seeing the little furrow between his brows that gave away his worry, Yuuta was unable to understand why Syuusuke appeared so apprehensive about opening the letter.

He had to know that he was a sure thing! Pretty much everyone thought so, and had been reassuring him of that. He hadn't been rejected by any other school that he'd applied to so far. He got good grades. And what coach in their right mind would pass up the opportunity to have one of Japan's rising young tennis stars in their team?

Obviously not Taisei's. The school's tennis club coach had already been in touch with Syuusuke, and had expressed great enthusiasm to the prospect of having him in his team. The man had enough sense to realize that they couldn't pass over Fuji Syuusuke, and if that wasn't an obvious indication that he could relax about his Taisei acceptance, then Yuuta had no idea what the hell it was that Syuusuke was waiting for.

"Open it." Yuuta suggested when his brother continued to simply stare at the envelope with a blank expression on his face. Just staring at that thing wasn't going to get them anywhere. He shut the fridge door and approached his brother. He even clapped a hand on his aniki's shoulder in a show of moral support, as he leaned in to give the envelope a closer look. "You know what they say about acceptance letters…"

"No. What?"

"That when it's all fat—like your one is—then it usually means that you've been accepted. It's 'cos they put in all of the forms and information stuff that you need to take care of before you register. If it's a rejection letter, then there should only be one sheet that says sorry, you didn't cut it." Yuuta elaborated.

That definitely made sense. Unless of course it was a really long 'you didn't cut it letter'. Syuusuke thoughtfully weighed the envelope in one hand. It was rather thick, as Yuuta had pointed out. Plus all of the other colleges that he'd tried for had said yes to his applications. Most had even offered further incentives like scholarships and special privileges if he agreed to attend their institution and play in their tennis teams.

Taisei was a sure thing for him. Yuuta had said so, his sister had said so, and so had Oishi and pretty much everyone else at Seigaku that he'd confided his Taisei aspirations to. He was a sure thing…so why did he feel so nervous? Why did he feel the need to rush off to the nearest temple and pray for the remainder of the day before he even opened the envelope? Maybe that would actually be a good idea…

"Should I wait for mom and dad before I open it?" Syuusuke wondered out loud. He eyed the letter doubtfully and made as if to set it back down onto the counter, but Yuuta stopped him, grabbing him by the wrist before he could do so.

"No!" He protested. He let go of Syuusuke. "Don't tell me that you're not dying to find out right now! You've been waiting for this letter for months, aniki! I've actually had to listen to you going on about it the whole time! Just get it over with already." He paused.

Realizing how harsh he must have sounded, Yuuta made a conscious effort to soften his tone as he continued in a more reassuring manner. "We can't celebrate until we see the official 'Welcome to Daisen'," he pointed out. "I'm hungry. There's a cake in the fridge that mom told us not to touch…but I'm sure she won't mind if we celebrate this special occasion with it! Now open it already." He ordered authoritatively. He sounded like the domineering older brother in the relationship, which amused Syuusuke. Shouldn't he be the one acting all mature and confident, being the big brother an all?

He flashed Yuuta a grateful smile. It felt really good to have someone with him right now, lending him some much needed support. If he got a yes, then he'd have someone he loved to celebrate with. If he got a no, then at least Yuuta would be there to console him and listen to his ranting about how he'd be better off at another school anyway.

It was a good thing that time had finally healed the rift between them. Once Yuuta had come into his own, gotten older, created a niche for himself in the High School tennis circuit and stopped caring quite so much about what others thought, his older brother's successes had failed to bother him any longer.

Yuuta was his own person now, and was no longer resentful of his brother's achievements, as he now had his own impressive list of accomplishments to be proud of. He wasn't just Fuji Syuusuke's little brother anymore; he was Fuji Yuuta, another young talent to watch out for, and that recognition made him far more happier and more receptive to his older brother's shows of affection that he'd previously been.

A couple of years ago, Yuuta would never have draped an arm about Syuusuke's shoulders as he drew closer to watch his older brother open the envelope. He wouldn't even have bothered to stick around to see whether or not he'd made it in, because Yuuta used to act so indifferent to anything concerning his life. But now his younger brother's close proximity and his reassuring, familiar presence gave Syuusuke the courage to get along with the opening of the Taisei letter.

He carefully ripped the envelope open. Just on one side, so that he could keep his sister's good luck message and drawings intact. He wanted to save those.

To hell with it if he didn't get into Taisei. Sure, it was his first choice, but whether he got in or not, there were still plenty of other schools that wanted him, he had a great family, and a great brother. Great friends. Life was good.

Of course, there was still that niggling little voice at the back of his head that insisted life would be even better if he got into Taisei…

Which according to the letter, he did.

Syuusuke read through it a couple of more times, just to be certain, and each time it pretty much said the same thing. Congratulations. Accepted with a full athletic scholarship.

He continued to reread it until he felt a light pressure against his side. It was his brother. Yuuta had been reading the letter from over his shoulder and was now giving him a half-hug of congratulations. When Syuusuke finally looked up from the letter, it was to see Yuuta beaming down at him proudly.

"Congratulations Aniki!"

Still overwhelmed, Syuusuke could only respond with a slight nod of acknowledgment. But Yuuta was not at all put off by his brother's numb responses to his enthusiastic and heartfelt congratulations. Having grown quite a bit taller than Syuusuke by then, he patted his older brother on the top of his head as he eyed the fridge covetously. "Now why don't we go and break out the cake?"

"Guess what!"

"What?" Yuuta asked obediently and right on cue. As usual, he and Mizuki Hajime had met up after classes at the Shape Up fitness center. They always did that on days that Yuuta didn't have tennis practice. He'd had a hard time getting away from his brother that afternoon, though. Syuusuke was understandably excited about his acceptance, and had wanted Yuuta to stay with him to celebrate. Luckily he'd managed to get away after a while.

He and Mizuki had just finished changing out of their school uniforms and into their more comfortable gym clothes. Now Yuuta was stowing his folded clothing away into his locker as Mizuki rummaged around in his duffel bag. Yuuta watched him curiously, wondering what it was that the older boy wanted.

Eventually Mizuki drew something out, careful to keep whatever it was concealed by his body. "I've got something to show you." Mizuki announced. He gestured imperiously for Yuuta to turn around, so the younger boy obediently faced the other way, his back to his sempai.

Even now, months after Mizuki had given up his spot on the St. Rudolph tennis club, Yuuta and his other team mates still continued to follow his orders without the slightest hesitation. The former tennis club manager had been one of the many seniors who'd given up their club activities on their final term of High School in favor of focusing on his studies, but that still hadn't stopped Mizuki from continuing to rule over the team like a dictator in training.

He focused particularly on Yuuta, who'd been made the team captain. Mizuki was making sure that he learned to do things the way that he wanted him to while he was still around to bully the younger boy into it. He didn't want the St. Rudolph team to go to hell the moment that he wasn't around to supervise.

Mizuki trusted Yuuta, and believed that there was no better man for the job, but he still thought that the younger boy needed all the help that he could provide. After all, he knew how to run the tennis team better than anybody else out there.

There was the rustling of cloth against cloth and the sound of a zipper being done up. From those auditory clues, Yuuta guessed that Mizuki only wanted to show him a new designer workout suit that he'd just bought for a ridiculous amount of money. He did that a lot, so Yuuta had come to expect it every now and then.

The last one that he'd shown off had been colored a bright metallic silver that had hurt Yuuta's eyes when Mizuki had positioned himself under direct light. It would have looked ridiculous on anyone else, but it was Mizuki wearing it, and somehow he hadn't ended up looking like an intergalactic aerobics instructor.

Over the years that Yuuta had known him, his sempai had developed an off beat sense of style that was now imitated by many in their school. The thirteen year old that had gotten more than a few taunts for taking experimentations with his looks too far into unconventional directions had turned into a trendsetter.

Mizuki followed the outlandish Tokyo street fashions religiously, but with certain added individual touches that made them distinctly his. Clothes fit his slim, athletic frame well, so pretty much anything looked good on him, and his job at a popular clothing store kept him well supplied with new outfits. The young designer who owned it had taken an instant liking to him and saw him as something of a walking advertisement, which in a way he really was. There was just something about Mizuki that drew attention to him; the way he dressed, his feathery, perfectly styled hair, the way he carried himself.

He was an attractive young man, who moved, and approached everything with such self-assurance and confidence that he never failed to impress (or annoy) people that he encountered.

Once he'd finished with last minute preparations, Mizuki came up behind Yuuta, only stopping when he was standing right behind him. "Turn around," he instructed.

Yuuta did as he was asked, as usual, and saw purple. A lot of it. Whatever it was that he was wearing was a mass of vivid purple edged by yellow. Mizuki had always been fond of that color, but the jacket that he had on didn't seem to be his usual style. It looked like one of their tennis club jackets, only in different colors, and Mizuki had always moaned about how hideous those shit brown monstrosities had been, and how offensive they were to the eyes.

"It's very…nice." Better not mention the purple Teletubby and his amazing resemblance to it right now. Mizuki was sure to take that the wrong way. And now that he was looking at it more closely, trying to figure out what had convinced his usually infallibly stylish sempai to buy that jacket; Yuuta began to feel as though he'd seen that particular design and eye offending color combination before.

It was when Mizuki finally pivoted around to give him a view of the back that Yuuta remembered where he'd previously seen it. Emblazoned on the back in big yellow Romanized letters was the word 'Taisei'. That was the big give away.

His Aniki had one. Their sister had bought it for him in anticipation of his acceptance into Taisei University, and had given it to him that afternoon, once she'd gotten the good news. How could he forget that when Syuusuke had made such a big production of thanking their sister and trying it on?

Mizuki also owning one could only mean one thing, because his sempai definitely hadn't bought it for purely aesthetic reasons. In fact, under normal circumstances, Mizuki would have burned that jacket and anyone in it the moment he laid eyes on it.

Yuuta's eyes widened and he shifted uneasily on his feet. He was very uncomfortable with the thought of his brother and Mizuki being anywhere near each other. It was bound to result in many interesting, but explosive situations, and he simply couldn't picture his brother and his sempai together in one school, let alone in one tennis club.

But this could be so amusing…The little devil that still remained in Yuuta, the part that was still amused by his brother's discomfort up until then, pointed out. "Taisei." He declared flatly. He wasn't going to laugh, no matter how much he wanted to, because then Mizuki would want to know what was up with him, and he didn't want to be the one to tell him about his brother's acceptance into the same school, or about the full athletic scholarship that Syuusuke had been offered. That would piss Mizuki off, and Yuuta didn't have the energy or the nerves to deal with that right now.

Mizuki nodded. He smoothed the front of his jacket down, noted the strange expression on the younger boy's face but and brushed it off. Yuuta was probably just upset by the thought of not having him around any longer. How flattering that the boy had come to depend on him so much! But sadly Yuuta was just going to have to get used to it. "I got accepted into their Fashion Design program," he announced.

This got the proper and anticipated response from Yuuta; a lot of congratulations and back slapping, assurances that he was going to do great. Mizuki allowed himself to bask in the glow of his friend's attention, beaming happily as the younger boy wrapped him in a warm, brotherly hug. Yuuta was the first one that he'd told after his own family, mainly because he knew that his friend would be happy for him.

Not many people knew of Mizuki's decision to pursue a career in fashion. Everyone automatically assumed that he would want to make a living out of tennis because his skills in that sport were more to the forefront than his art, and he hadn't ruled tennis out of his future; he just wanted to try something different for now.

Yuuta was one of the few people that he'd confided his interest in clothes design to. He'd even shown the younger boy some of his art work, drawings and sketches of anything ranging from a young man in the street that had caught his eye, to the banana that Yuuta had had in his lunch box one day, and so he knew that Mizuki had a gift. It made sense for him to incorporate that talent with his love for clothing. What had really taken Yuuta by surprise was his application to Taisei. He'd been under the impression that Mizuki had had his heart set on Tokyo University.

"You never even told me that you wanted to try for Taisei," He finally voiced his puzzlement.

"Well, they have a really good fashion design program. But I met with a bit of opposition about my career choice when I mentioned applying there, so I decided not to mention it to anyone again until I actually get accepted." Mizuki admitted.

That was only to be expected, Yuuta thought. He didn't think his own father would like him taking up something like 'fashion design', not only because it wasn't something that men usually did, but also because it was a highly competitive career where you had to really excel and stand out in order to make any money. A very select few were able to make their fortunes from it. Besides, Yuuta's drawing skills were reminiscent of a toddler's that had just learned to hold onto crayons. "Your dad didn't like the idea?" the younger boy asked.

But Mizuki shook his head. "It was my mom. She doesn't think it's a manly profession." He shrugged it away dismissively, and it was obvious to Yuuta from Mizuki's tone that his mother's protests hadn't concerned him in the slightest. Gender lines had never mattered to him. He was all in favor of getting in touch with his more feminine side—no matter what anyone thought—because girls got to do all the fun stuff that guys didn't. Why should he miss out just because he'd been born the wrong sex? He liked looking good and taking care of himself.

"Are they going to be letting you go?" Yuuta asked curiously. There were few people in the gym locker room with them, so he felt comfortable enough to continue the conversation in there. He sat down onto the long bench before his locker, glad for an excuse to delay their rigorous workout routine.

"Of course they're letting me go!" Mizuki had had to do a lot of fast talking to convince his mother, but he seemed to have managed it. His dad had helped a lot too, pointing out in his soft-spoken way that this was their son's life to lead, that this was his choice to make and that their job as his parents were to support him in whatever it was that he chose to do.

As he'd been preparing to meet up with Yuuta, his father had even taken him aside and told him that he was proud of him, that he knew that he was going to succeed in the field that he chose. That validation from him had touched Mizuki greatly, and only encouraged him to do everything that he could to make him worthwhile of that faith. Of course he knew that his mother wouldn't have given up yet, and was preparing himself to do some more major convincing once he got back home.

"So you're going to be going to Taisei." Yuuta said. He drew his leg up onto the bench and began to double tie his shoe laces. He still couldn't get his mind around that idea and he didn't know what he was supposed to feel about that.

He was glad for Mizuki, because he was getting what he wanted. He deserved it, after all the hard work that he'd put into his studies all through high school. But he was also nervous about having to deal with tennis club business on his own, and sad that one of his closest friends from school wasn't going to be as readily available to him anymore.

Yuuta still surprised himself sometimes when he began to think of the older boy as one of his best friends. Who would have thought that he'd grow so fond of the domineering prat over the years? But that was precisely what Mizuki had become. He was bossy and overbearing, nosy and ridiculously vain, but Yuuta enjoyed being with him a majority of the time that they spent together.

In spite of his snippiness, Yuuta reminded himself as Mizuki flashed him a 'You're being an incredible idiot' look.

"Yes Yuuta; Taisei. That's what I've been trying to tell you for the last few minutes." Mizuki replied peevishly. Was he trying to be purposely dense today? He wanted to celebrate, and Yuuta was being completely uncooperative. But the boy made things up to him by flashing him a bright smile that made it clear that he was happy about his sempai's good fortune.

"That's great, Mizuki-sempai!" Yuuta enthused. Not only was he happy about his friend's success, but the thought of Mizuki in Taisei definitely made for some very interesting prospects. He knew that he was supposed to be all nice to his brother, now that he'd finally gotten past all that childish jealousy, but he couldn't quite suppress the mischievous glee that he felt at the thought of some very fun confrontations between his sempai and his older brother.

Relations between Syuusuke and Mizuki hadn't improved over time, as the brother's own had, and their stubbornness over it had frustrated and annoyed Yuuta.

If he could get over the stupid little rivalry that he'd had going on with his brother, then why couldn't theyfollow his example and forget about their own dispute?

He'd already forgiven Mizuki for being so thoughtless and uncaring for his wellbeing, and the older boy had changed. Why should Syuusuke hold something that Mizuki had done to him against his sempai when he himself had already forgiven his team mate for it?

And as for Mizuki, he should learn to control the inferiority complex that plagued him every time he was around Syuusuke. It was insane. He didn't feel the need to constantly prove himself when he was around any other person. He only seemed to lose his self-confidence and innate cockiness whenever Syuusuke was thrown into the picture.

Aniki's always had a way of making other people feel inferior to him, and without any effort either! Yuuta thought dryly. He's just so damn perfect. No wonder he used to piss me off so much! If he can have this kind of effect on someone who loves himself as much as Mizuki-sempai does, then it's obvious that my self-esteem never stood a chance…

Although there had never been another major conflict between them since that match over Mizuki's treatment of Yuuta, the two had made a point of ignoring each other.

Once in a while, when they met up at the street courts, Mizuki would direct a thinly veiled insult towards Syuusuke that the Seigaku player would ignore. And occasionally Syuusuke would say something completely innocent (or something that seemed completely innocent) that would set Mizuki off, but those incidents had always been quickly controlled by the others around them.

If there was someone around to keep things from escalating, and if they weren't together too often or for too long then things would be fine. But what would happen, now that they were going to be attending the same University?

Taisei was a big place, and they were going to be taking up different majors, but of course, there was tennis. Neither of them were about to give that up. There was only one tennis team in the school, and there would be no avoiding each other in a close knit sports team.

They were going to have to learn to deal with each other. They would have to. And that was a good thing, Yuuta finally decided after quite a bit of thought. Mizuki was a great guy, and so was Syuusuke. It was about time that they got past the little squabble that they'd had over him years ago. He was sick of having to defend his sempai whenever his brother made a comment about him, and vice versa.

He debated with himself over whether or not he should mention his brother's similar acceptance to Mizuki but one look at the older boy helped him decide against it.

There was such a blissfully happy expression on Mizuki's face that Yuuta had never seen before. He liked seeing that. It made Mizuki look so vibrant and just…sweet. He wouldn't be a good friend if he did anything to take this moment away from Mizuki.

I'll warn him later, Yuuta decided. I'll just let him celebrate for now. Maybe I can even get a free burger out of this…