Disclaimer: I do not own Tennis no Ohjisama, or else…heh,
Notes: Wow, every chapter's getting harder and harder, this was originally supposed to be a 6-part fic, but now I guess not, well whatever, on with chapter 5…I hate this chapter, but hey, as the authoress, I hate every chapter…
-x-
nui was curled up on his favorite part of the couch flipping through his biology textbook when Tezuka came in the living room, "Did it go well?" he asked without looking up.
"Hn." Was all Tezuka chose to offer as he placed the new bundle of tulips beside the vase and shrugged off his suit coat, "It could've been worse."
"Again?" Inui spotted the tulips and finally put down the book long enough to spot the yellowish piece of paper stuck between the stems of the flowers, "What's that?"
Immediately, Tezuka realized his mistake, "Give me that." His fingers grasped the square mere seconds before Inui could react. He shoved it deep inside his pocket.
If his roommate thought his abruptness strange, Inui did nothing more to pursue the topic, instead, he handily changed the subject, "Kajimoto called a few minutes ago."
Tezuka nodded and waited for more.
"He says thanks for the coffee and wants to know when he can meet with you for the 'second phase', of the project, in his words." Inui's mouth managed a small twitch that could have been easily mistaken for a smirk. "By the way, do you like Kajimoto?"
Tezuka very nearly choked. "I do not like Kajimoto."He countered tightly.Though he didn't have any idea why he answered. It was not like Inui would believe his words alone. To make an assumption like that, Inui must have gathered substantial evidence. He wanted to know what…and more importantly, how he got that data.
"Firstly," Inui held up his pointer finger. "You ditched them for him."
Them. "Ditched?" Tezuka repeated the unfamiliar phrase, given his everyday vocabulary, it was not a term he used often, because it was a bit too informal for his tastes. "I did not—" he declined the word a second time, "—leave them without reason, he needed to see me for the project."
"So…meeting for a communications project required drinking French cappuccino?" Even Inui found that piece of accidental gossip, ahem, he meant extremely valuable data almost too ridiculous to believe, "Honestly, Tezuka, drinking expensive coffee doesn't match your current personality." (the reason it was labeled 'extremely valuable data' was solely because it concerned Tezuka's social life, if he even had one)
"I wasn't aware you sank to stalking." Tezuka's nonexistent temper was starting to flare, but he kept it under control as best as he could, "What I do and who I spend my spare to with have nothing to do with you."
"Are you mad?"
"No."
"You're a bad liar, Tezuka."
"Fine." Unlike most people, when Tezuka was sufficiently angry, he did not turn red, nor did he yell his head off, instead, his pale complexion turned ashen and his voice faded into barely a whisper, "So what, all right, I'm angry, you've seen me angry, and you seem to enjoy seeing me like this, just like…"
"Who, Tezuka? Who do I sound like?"
"You…you sound like Fuji." With that, Tezuka left the room; he was starting to feel lightheaded. Maybe he should consider getting his own apartment.
-x-
"Nya, Oishi, I don't like the new Tezuka." Kikumaru stretched out on the recliner, "He's really serious."
"Name one time when Tezuka's not serious." Oishi laughed, but it was a dry laugh, with none of his usual warmth, "He's always been serious, there's nothing wrong with that."
"Nya, then what's wrong with him, Oishi?" Kikumaru whined in the perfect imitation of a five-year-old not getting his way, writhing around in the cushions, trying to get comfortable, "He's acting weird."
Oishi sighed, it was hard to believe that his roommate was almost nineteen years old, "I don't know, Eiji."
"Ne, Kikumaru-senpai, isn't that where I'm suppose to sleep?" Echizen spoke at last, slamming his empty Ponta can onto the table. "People change with time, you know, and Tezuka-buchou is human…" hesitantly added, "I think."
"Nya, gomen ochibi." Kikumaru promptly hopped off the recliner, "Don't you think you should go to sleep now? You do have a match tomorrow, right?"
"Mada mada dane." Echizen suppressed a yawn, "That Hyoshi kid is no match for me, I can beat him blindfolded. Trust me, I've tried already."
"Oh, well." Oishi dimmed the lights, "It's getting late, after all, just go to sleep, I wake up early, so don't be alarmed."
"Mada mada, Kikumaru-senpai snores so loud I won't even notice." Echizen snuggled deeper into the covers.
"Ochibi, that's so disrespectful, nya!"
"Oyasumi, senpai. Turn off the lights when you feel like it. And I have to return Inui-senpai's book, so one of you will have to drive me over there sometime." A light snore told the two of them that Echizen was sound asleep.
"Che, that Ochibi, he never changes."
"That's a good thing though."
-x-
The tension of the night before was not to be forgotten soon, Tezuka knew that. After he finished his morning shower, he found Inui rummaging through the coat closet for new shoelaces. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to the library." Inui gestured to his backpack stiffly, "I want to beat the morning rush, you know."
"There's no 'morning rush' on a Sunday." Tezuka reminded him instinctively, yet he sensed that Inui was so eager to get away that he was willing to conjure a weak excuse, normally, his roommate would be much more creative than this. "But go, wherever you have to."
"I lent Echizen a book on advanced tennis techniques yesterday, so please, don't go anywhere."
"Fine, I won't." Tezuka never fared very well taking orders from someone else, he was used to giving orders, and having them obeyed, "Be back before two-thirty, I'm meeting Kajimoto."
"All right." the door closed.
Tezuka sank into the couch. The slumber of the night before had not been fitful at all. He had not dreamed, yet he had woken up several times in the night, due to a pain in his shoulder. He had not felt this kind of pain for a long time.
Being alone had never troubled him, in fact, Tezuka rather liked it, there was no one to anger him, no one to trouble him, and of course, no one to talk his ear off like some people he had the misfortune to meet. But this silence, much like that one night, worried him.
The doorbell rang three times in a row. And then knocks, "Hoi, hoi, Tezuka! It's us, open the door, please!"
Tezuka unlatched the lock, and immediately stepped aside, fearing another surprise attack, "Well, you're here early, does returning a book really require the presence of three people?"
"Geez, buchou, you always have to sound like a thirty-year-old professor. Mada mada dane." Echizen shoved a thick plastic-covered book into his hands, "Here's Inui-senpai's book, now can we go? I'm going to be late for my match."
"Eiji, go ahead and take Echizen to his match." Oishi fumbled for the keys and tossed them to the redhead, "I have something to say to Tezuka."
Eiji being Eiji, he shrugged and caught the keys, "Nya, let's go, Ochibi! If you don't win 6-0, you're cooking!"
"Mada mada dane."
The door locked automatically behind them. Tezuka glared at his former friend and teammate, "Don't tell me how I've changed, I've heard it enough times."
Oishi opened and closed his mouth simultaneously, he thought for a minute, then said, "But you have."
"Would you like something to drink?" Tezuka shifted subjects so rapidly, that it was actually kind of alarming.
"Eh, no thanks." Oishi blinked, "I just want to know one thing, though, will you answer?"
"Depends." Tezuka said quietly.
"What happened in the hospital?"
"What do you mean what happened in the hospital?" Tezuka stared at the other boy, voicing confusion.
"When you went in the hospital, you were Tezuka-buchou, when you came out, you were…" Oishi trailed off, "You were…"
"Someone else." Tezuka finished tonelessly.
"Yeah…" Oishi did not meet his gaze, "Can a car accident really change a person that much?"
"It's all one-sided. What you know." Tezuka snapped.
"Then why don't you tell me?"
"Because it's ridiculous." The ex-captain of Seishun Gakuen stood up, "You won't believe it, even I don't believe it, sometimes."
That wasn't a satisfactory answer, but knowing Tezuka, or what was left of Tezuka, at this point, Oishi could see that getting anymore information was not a smart idea, "I'll be going now, then."
