Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis © Takeshi Konomi
Author's Note: hmm...first off -- nyaaa, arigatouu for the reviews x3 m'hmm. I know that the first chapter didn't really reveal any "fujiryo" love buttt just wait, you'll be satisfied later, ne? I'm trying to suspend their love for awhile, because it'll be too quick if I just pair them off right away; cus I know I'm the type to rush through stuff x.x hmm, well; did you guys notice? I have really...REALLY...hard times with writing summaries O.o and summaries are mainly the whole point to attract 'n interest fan-readers, ne? well, I know for one, cus I'm the type to judge a summary by the fanfiction, or a cover by a book. tsk tsk mimi-chan x.x
Couples: FujiRyo, slight TezuFuji and MomoRyo. One-sided SaekiFuji, SakuRyo
Story-Note: from the last chapter, you should've noticed that there's a nice big timeline between the section I wrote in chapter one. the first part when they were "graduating", Tezuka, Fuji, Inui, Eiji, Oishi, and Kawamura should be around 18 (3rd years in High School) while Kaidoh and Momoshiro are around 16/17, and Echizen 15/16 (first year). second part of the story, I titled "two years later", everyone should have graduated High School. the last part, "recent" I should say; everyone is a year older (note Momoshiro's 20th birthday). so everyone should be around 19-21. also, recently in the story was Momo's birthday, so the date should be marked around summer, precisely July 23rd. that might clear some confusion, ne? the rest, just figure it out x3
'Italics' – thoughts
'Bold' – headings, important speeches, radio or television broadcast
'Normal' – normal speeches
Chapter Warning: I'm not sure if it's really a 'bash', but to be on the safe sides for those fans – this chapter may have contents of Sakuno-bashing (reason is because after watching the whole series, I am VERY, VERYY tired of her). Though I'm not sure if it's beyond reasoning, my thoughts of her, is that she is that she is a very annoying character. Excuse me.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
In those Eyes
Part II, emotions in us
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Echizen groaned as he heard the sound of the phone ringing throughout the apartment. His door was open, so he figured that it was coming from the house phone, which was located in the living room. He wasn't sure how long it had been ringing, but for god sake, why didn't anybody answer it! Waiting patiently for the ringing to die out, his wish did not come true as the annoying ringing continued on. Where the hell was Fuji? He opened his eyes wide, his temper about to rise. Most likely the phone was for his room mate anyways, so he should be the one to pick it up. Yes, that's right; he told himself so, it was pointless to pick up a phone obviously for Fuji. Plus, it was a waste of strength to crawl out of bed and walk a few feet to the living room; way too much energy for a Saturday morning anyway.
A few seconds later, as he finished persuading himself to not pick up the phone; it still continued to ring. What the heck?
Suddenly, he heard it stop ringing. He let out a sigh of relief.
Maa, gomen gomen. You have called the Fuji -- Echizen residence, but neither of us are here to pick up the phone. Please leave a message, and we'll surely call you back. Well, probably not Echizen but you know how he is. A chuckle was heard from the voicemail, Well, if it's really important then... A pause, mind to call later, 'kay? Well, ja ne; remember to leave a message. It ended with another chuckle, and Echizen rolled his eyes. Fuji's voicemail was annoying, but it was always amusing to listen to it. Maybe that was why he never bothered to pick up the phone; he couldn't help but wonder how the sender would reply to such a message.
"Hello? Fuji? Are you there?" Someone called -- whose voice Echizen clearly recognized; it wasn't like that person ever stopped calling. "I guess you're already at the restaurant. Well, then, there's no point in leaving a message ne? Seeing I'm going to see you there anyways. But if you're at home, and unable to pick up the phone; which is much very likely you," the comment made Echizen smirk, "then please remember to give me an answer. Ano…because these days I've been restless for an answer. I really would like to know, but--! I'm not rushing you to give me an answer…I just…want you to know…that's all…" the male began to murmur something, but it ended up as a whisper in the recording. "Ah…well, I'll just see you at the restaurant, alright? Ja, Syusuke."
"Huh…interesting," Ryoma grinned, showing amusement on his face. Saeki huh, when he said 'answer', he must've meant by how Fuji felt. Obviously though, Fuji would probably reject the white-haired tennis-player. That was how it always was. Fuji would never let anyone close to him; that was something he knew for sure. He never asked questions though, why Fuji was like that. It was like the tensai was always cautious, afraid that he would be leered into a dangerous trap. The boy shrugged, whatever, it wasn't like he couldn't read through the prodigy. He always could, because that was how obvious Fuji was; no matter how much confidence he relied on his fake face. Echizen had realized it by now, the flow of Fuji, and he was getting better on reading the fair haired-tensai.
He bet that even Tezuka didn't know Fuji as much as he did.
Dangerous bargain, but who cares. Ryoma rolled on his side, feeling the soft mattress under him shift under his weight. With his face toward his desk, he caught sight of the alarm clock. It hadn't even rung yet, but than again – it was Saturday after all. He made sure he had an hour or two more of sleep than usual; but sadly he had failed today. "Ugh…8:00?" He groaned, as he stuffed his face with his pillow; "Fuji-sempai should've picked up the phone."
"Saa…gomen Echizen," Fuji apologized, appearing at his open door. "I was busy in the showers; so I couldn't hear the phone ring. Who was it?"
"Saeki Kojirou," the full-awake grumpy nineteen-year old answered simply. "He left a message… but next time…you have to pick up the phone." The addition to the statement was an order, and a soft chuckle from the genius was heard. Echizen wanted to glare, but missed eye-contact with Fuji as the standing boy turned around to leave; only to say "hai-hai".
"That's what you always say…" the younger prodigy mumbled.
-- -- -- -- --
"…I just…want you to know…that's all…"
BEEP.
The message ended shortly after, and Fuji scratched his head; wondering what to do. To go or not to go? It would be complicated, especially at this time. He sighed; he wasn't even sure about his feelings. He trusted Saeki, and knew very well that the white-haired tennis-player was serious…but, something was still attached to him. Fuji couldn't lay a finger on what he was still attached to, but he had a slight hint that he had something to do with the past. "Mou…no good at all," he told himself, folding his arms over his chest. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his childhood friend, and that would be either both ways; it wouldn't even matter if he chose the right path or the wrong. They would end up being hurt, and that wasn't the path he wanted.
"Standing there won't do you any good, Fuji-sempai."
Fuji turned his head see Echizen walking past him, hands stretched, folding behind his head. "If you don't know what to do, just tell him the truth."
No matter what, it seemed like Echizen's reasons were always best to follow. A smile spread on Fuji's face, and he turned around to walk out of their apartment, saying nothing; leaving a young man watching his back. Deep inside his head, Ryoma wondered if he said the right thing. He was sure that his senpai always doubted his feelings toward other people; but it would do no good to just to stand around thinking about it and than making a bad choice anyway, in the end. It would be a waste of time, he remarked to himself. Whatever Fuji wanted to do was up to him, he knew that he had no right (and no energy) to deal with the difficult tensai. After all, it was his fault for making people fall for him.
Before he realized it, he remembered that he was still standing at the doorway. Closing the door before anyone would notice how foolish he looked; he turned around to gaze across the apartment. It was surely empty, he realized for the first time. The only thing that attracted the eyes was the trophies aligned on the shelves, and merely tennis books and magazines. Then there were school and tennis pictures displayed on walls, while the normal house accessories remained scattered within the living room; example a family and love sofa, a T.V, coffee table. Everything looked normal, but there were gaps here and there; like the room was too big to be filled – yet they both knew that they couldn't just close the remaining space. To put it simple, his thoughts still remained that this apartment did look empty.
"Tch, wonder how empty this place was before I came," he told himself. The only thing he remembered three years ago when he first entered Fuji Sysuke's apartment was a couch and television. To think that the tensai had little taste than that. He recalled in junior high when Fuji told the team that if he ever had a house, he would decorate it western-style; because their cultural taste caught his interest. Ryoma had wondered where that thought went. Suddenly, after he came to live, the question came up one morning.
"Fuji-sempai, why is your living room so empty?"
After that, when he had came home from an inter-ranking match, the living room had some-what changed. There were more items and decorations, and slowly they began to display their trophies they had won from tournaments. They had more items placed around the room, and Echizen remembered what Fuji said that day; "Ne, doesn't this look more comfy?"
"So typical of Fuji-sempai," he muttered. His thoughts were yet about Fuji, and with that, he wondered about how the tensai was doing a few miles away, dealing with a certain white-haired idiot.
RING. RING.
Echizen blinked, as his eyes wandered off to the cordless phone lying on the kitchen table. Who would've called now? Fuji was gone, dammit. Call him when he was home. He began to mentally criticize the phone, or specially: the person who was calling. But before he knew it, the phone continued to ring; just like this morning. He was about to grip on the phone and throw it across the room in irritation, but realized that Fuji would just scowl at him. You're lucky, he glared.
RING.
The thing he hated doing the most at home was pick the house phone. He knew that if anybody needed him, they would call his cell phone, he had told everybody that beforehand too. As his hand neared touching the receiver, the thought of picking it up or not shot through his head. What was the point of picking up the phone? If he didn't pick it up, they would think he went somewhere and no one was home; so they could leave a message or call again. Yes, that was common sense. But than the negative thoughts came, what if it was an emergency? What if someone was looking for him? No, that was what mobile phones were for. Then again…
Echizen groaned, giving up on his thoughts affairs. It was hopeless thinking about it, and than making a wrong choice. Didn't he tell Fuji that? Was Fuji rubbing on him? Or was he rubbing on himself? He ignored his thoughts as he quickly gripped the phone and pressed the certain button to open the communication line. Before he had the chance to say 'hello', a hurried voice beat him to it.
"Moshi moshi? Ano…" the girlish voice surprised him. Fuji can attract both sexes, the thought instantly took a toll, maybe it was better that Fuji was gay.
The girl on the other line was hesitating a lot, and he was about to hang up on her before she let out another shy remark once again. "A-ano…may…I speak with Ryoma-kun…?" Ryoma? Wasn't that him? He blinked a couple of times, before he opened his mouth to respond. Hm, it seemed like some people didn't follow his direction of calling his personal phone. Who was this person? It didn't seem like he would give his number to some girl like this, especially if she was a fan girl. Of course, he would punish whoever leaked out his number; the harsh example was demonstrated on Kikumaru-senpai years ago. The flashback almost made him grin; just thinking of Kikumaru tied to a tree with his own number stamped on note-pads all over him was a funny image if so.
"Eto…moshi?"
"Who are you?"
"A-ano…I'm…its Sakuno…Ryuzaki Sakuno," she repeated timidly.
Sakuno? The name was familiar, but it didn't flicker any remembrance. "Ryuzaki Sakuno? How'd you get my number?" He questioned this while leaning against the wall lazily. He wasn't even sure if he knew who this girl was, but her name did remind him of someone; just he couldn't place a finger on it. He waited patiently for an answer, while doing so he searched his memory of this name. Where did he hear the name 'Sakuno' before? Eyes slanting upward in curiosity, he wondered if she was still listening, as there was nothing but silence on the other line.
"Ah…I…" she began to stutter, "I-I…heard that you lived with Fuji-san, and…ano…Tomo-chan seemed to have his number…so…that's how…" indeed, such a simple answer became so complicated to understand. He sighed, giving up on what she meant; all he could catch on was Fuji's name; so that's how.
"Aa…" was all that came out of his mouth.
"Ryoma-kun…"
"Did you call for a reason?" He frowned as he impatiently pushed himself from the wall, walking to the living room. He didn't like talking on the phone, and talking to a girl was the last thing he would've expected to do on that list; especially when this one said his name so casually, like they were best-friends. Still, it wasn't something he would give a care about – it was just that he knew he had better things to do than talk to her. Like for instance, play tennis. It was already half past eight, and the sun was clearly out in the sky. All he could think of doing was playing tennis, better than straying around the apartment all day.
"I…" her voice lowered, as if embarrassed. "Eto…would you like to go out and eat lunch together, Ryoma-kun…?"
Eh?
He scratched his temple; did a stranger just ask him out to lunch? Ryuzaki Sakuno, for the most details, asked him? Ryuzaki, now that he thought about it again, that seemed to ring a bell. Where did he hear that surname before?
Ryuzaki-sensei? Oh right, his junior high tennis coach. That old hag that was grandmother to that one girl…wasn't her name Sakuno? His eyes widened, realizing as the puzzles fit perfectly. Of all people, he would least expect her to call. Especially when she seemed so timid and shy in those days, she couldn't pull courage to call him all these years. The boy suspected that something was behind this, or more, something had happened.
The idea of going to lunch with her didn't please him, but what could he do? If he went, he could hit two birds with one stone. One, get a pleasant meal, and the second, figure out what was behind all of this. Of course, him being Echizen Ryoma (after dealing with a sadistic all these years, he was confident at these situations), he was sure he would be able to do it. This was more interesting than playing tennis, or lying around the apartment lazily.
"Ahh…what about it…R-Ryoma-kun?"
"Sure," he answered, feeling the need to rush with the plan. "What time?"
There was a small gasp on the other line, and it was obvious that she tried to cover her mouth but failed, as he heard it clearly. She didn't expect that the professional tennis-player would agree to such a thing, but inside she was delighted. "Oh! Um, how about in half an hour, Ryoma-kun? A-At…" there was a gap of silence suddenly. Then he heard a bunch of small "hmms" and "ahhs" but nothing in particular that told him an answer to their destination. He was at his limit of holding the phone, and he hoped that she realized that too. "Ah! Ryoma-kun, w-why not go to…that one Korean BBQ that just opened up? Ne?"
Ryoma took a deep breath, "…alright. Well, I'll see you there then, ja," he quickly responded to her joyous invitation and clicked on the phone. Tch, girls were seriously annoying in some, or rather a lot of ways. Maybe that was why he chose to be gay too? Odd though, Momo-senpai was gay, but he turned straight; didn't he? The bitter thought made him reveal a wry smile, yes…it was true; in the end, there could always be a change of heart. He recalled Sakuno confessing to him years ago, at the end of Junior High. She was persistent, he had noted; she would never give up no matter what, until it was the last day of school. It was until than that he told her he didn't like her, and that he was already interested in someone else that she stopped coming after him. Obviously, she had stopped until now for some reason.
Echizen shook his head, whatever. Just go with the flow, right? Then he paused, a certain brunette appearing in his mind. Heh, I wonder what Fuji-sempai's up to.
-- -- -- -- --
"A-Ano…" Sakuno, third year of Seishun Gakuen Junior High flustered madly in front of a boy, slightly taller than she was. She avoided looking at him straight in the eye, but it seemed impossible as she felt his eyes on her. She knew that he could predict what would happen next; she could even imagine her face at that moment. It was probably as red as a tomato, how embarrassing, she thought.
"A-Ano…Ry-Ryoma-kun…" the suspense in the statement only made him more irritated. He didn't like standing there for no reason, especially when he had time playing tennis. It was too early, and hanging around here would just waste time.
"What is it?" He sternly questioned her, eyes locked; revealing his serious golden irises. "Do you need anything?"
"I-I…" she stuttered again. "Ano…" another blush, "I…like you…R-Ryoma-kun…"
He raised an eyebrow, "Aa."
'Aa'? Of all her life, this was the first guy to give her such an answer. Actually, this was her first time confessing to someone, but still…she didn't expect him to give her an 'Aa', maybe 'sou ka' or 'really?'…but instead, he just responded 'Aa'. What was wrong with him? Her eyes surprisingly grew larger, as if hurt by the comment. Echizen looked at her confused, and she knew that he didn't notice. Of course, Echizen Ryoma was dense, maybe he didn't know about girls loves were yet, she tried to convince herself of this fact. Yes, maybe he wasn't ready? That was why he gave her such an answer…that had to be it.
"Ryoma-kun…I really like you! All these years…I even joined the tennis club…for you…"
He looked away, staring at the tennis courts.
"R-Ryoma-kun…"
"Sorry, but I don't… can't like you." He hoped that it was all he needed to say.
"Na…Nani? Nande!" Her eyes widened, "Ryoma-kun…" She doesn't give up, does she?
"I like someone else."
She gasped. "Is it…is it Tomo-chan…?"
Of course not!
"No."
His last reply was cold, and hint of annoyance. She understood this, and just shook her head smiling. "I see…well, thanks for hearing me out…Ryoma-kun."
-- -- -- -- --
"Syusuke…"
Fuji tilted his head to the side, staring directly at the man who murmured his name. "It's difficult to make these kinds of decisions," was all he knew to say at that moment.
The brown-haired tennis player regained his smile once again, and stood up from his seat. He didn't say anything else, but just looked at the other twenty-one year old, with a remorseful expression; eyes once again closed shut. "Ne, when I realize my true feelings, I'll tell you. Trust my words, Kojirou." He nodded, and hoped that his companion understood as well. He knew how Saeki felt, because all these years – he didn't let the boy's feeling go unnoticed. He could've accepted those feelings when Tezuka had left, but something had pulled him back. Deep inside, he knew what had chained him back from making a right choice; but the reason was pointless to begin with. That person was too, broken; so how could two broken people help repair them selves? His inner chortled, that's right; how could they heal each other, when both of them wouldn't even accept being healed?
Fuji waited for a response from Saeki, each second passing by making him think of any possibility that his words didn't reach the male in front of him. It was when the other man nodded that Fuji heaved a sigh of relief, stretching his smile once more. "That's good."
This time, Saeki stood up as well; looking at the person he admired the most straight in the eye, "I'll wait for you…no matter what."
The confession startled Fuji, so stubborn. "S-Saeki…"
Saeki grinned, flashing a toothless smile. "Well, we'll see my fortune…I'm not sure if it'll come true but," he came back to his optimistic self, "for now, deal with my feelings, Syusuke. I'm sure my feelings won't be returned, either if Tezuka comes back or not, but I'm sure there's also one more person that might take you away from me." He sighed, shaking his head sadly. "I guess it'll be okay, I won't give up though, Syusuke-kun. I know, ONE DAY, you will truly recognize my feelings and accept me, ne?"
The straightforward statement made Fuji chuckle, accepting that fact slightly. "Hai, hai, whatever you say Kojirou."
"Mou, be serious Syusuke," Saeki demanded, palms resting flatly on the table. "See, 'cus Echizen's right there on a date! He's taking his date seriously," the man pointed out.
Fuji's head turned to look at where Saeki had set his eyes at, to only catch sight of his fellow roommate walking with someone; what surprised him more was that he was walking with a woman. "Hmm…" he rubbed his chin, "She does look pretty…"
"And I thought you would be jealous," his friend snickered.
"Maybe I am."
"Ehh?" Saeki blinked, "No way." His previous reply was supposed to be a joke, but he didn't know Fuji would take it seriously and answer it. No way, don't tell me I was right. Now he was jealous for Fuji being jealous over Echizen going out with some woman. Damn, that's not right.
"Hm…why don't we spy on them, Kojirou?" The tensai suggested, beginning to take his leave. He didn't even wait for the other man to answer as he simply began to stroll out of the restaurant. Realizing what had happened, Saeki groaned. He left me with the bill.
It took a few minutes for Saeki to catch up with Fuji, after paying for their food, which he realized was really expensive. After Saeki had caught up, they had tailed the other two into a Korean restaurant, to be more specific: a barbeque bistro.
Who would've thought that they would come in here for a date? "I didn't know Echizen turned straight."
"He didn't," Fuji regarded to Saeki's sudden thoughts. "Or I don't think so."
"Eh?" The taller man cocked an eyebrow. Really now, even Fuji didn't know if their precious baby had turned back to being straight or not? Maybe he had chosen to be bisexual, which was reasonable. The woman he was with seemed pretty anyways, it wouldn't be a surprise if Echizen really was interested in the tits and the ass. "Seems like—"
"Seems like what?" Fuji's eyes opened to reflect dangerous blue orbs. Saeki shivered at the sight of an upset Fuji, closing his mouth quickly as he didn't dare finish his sentence. Eh, he was surely pissed for some reason. Che, could he really have fallen for this chibi? Saeki thought, doubting the words running through his mind. What was he thinking anyways? He was supposed to doubt. DOUBT! There was no way he would give up Fuji to this…bisexual runt -- even if he was a prodigy that was really good at tennis…Saeki sweat dropped, I should have confidence! He couldn't feel down just because Echizen was a good tennis player, Fuji wouldn't judge a guy by the racket, right?
"Their sitting down, we should too." Fuji considered, ignoring the waiter who held out two menus for them, excusing their rudeness of ignoring what he just said earlier when they had entered. They just leisurely walked past him and sneaked into one of the empty seats of the tables near where Ryoma and his 'mysterious' date sat. Fuji took out a pair of sunglasses (which Saeki wondered where he got it from) and hid his eyes under the black lenses. Saeki sighed; Fuji was being persistent on spying on his room mate, and if they were lucky – they might not get caught. Well, judging Fuji, he wasn't always rational, right? Saeki frowned, the tennis-genius wouldn't just crash the restaurant if he overheard and misinterpreted something Echizen would say, right? He tried to imagine the situation in his mind, and it only caused him to shiver. I'm watching too much drama these days.
"They're talking." Fuji's alerted voice instantly snapped him out of his thoughts.
Ehh…here we go, Saeki told himself nervously.
-- -- -- -- --
"I-Is something wrong, Ryoma-kun?"
Echizen looked around once again, and shook his head. "No…just felt like we were being followed."
"Well…you are a profession tennis-player," she inquired, "It wouldn't be strange if a reporter or someone was following you…"
"Maybe," the young prodigy stated. "Well, why did you ask me out to lunch?" He rested his body against the soft cushioned seat, and moved his right hand towards the glass of water in front of him. Once again, he felt himself getting impatient as she continued to waver and stutter as she spoke to him. Really, was it really that difficult to speak to him? He took the ice cold drink and drank half of the fluid down, waiting for her to give him a good answer. Three years and she hasn't changed at all.
"Ah…well…" she fidgeted with the material of her skirt, "It's been awhile, ne? I haven't seen you in awhile…so I thought we could spend time eating…lunch together…" she blushed at the embarrassing explanation. "A-and…ano…"
"Eh? So that's all?" He sighed, "And I thought there was more to it."
What he said made her look down, her eyes trembling as if fear of letting out tears. "You're…always the same!"
He shrugged, not caring at what she meant. "So are you." Taking another gulp of his drink, the waiter arrived and placed down two menus, one set in front of them. Echizen opened up his and searched through the different cuisines that he would like to order, as Sakuno didn't even touch hers. She just stared at the man in front of her with hurtful eyes, face flustered as if she realized how stupid she was. Finally, the tennis-player gave out his choice of the meal and he turned to look at the female questionably. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"Huh?"
"I asked…aren't you going to order something?"
At last, she noticed what he meant and turned deep crimson. "Ah! Sumimesen…" Quickly turning the pages of the menu, she randomly picked a meal and gave the number order to the waiter. Echizen looked at his own menu to see what she ordered, and blinked a few more times, surprised.
"You…like that?"
"Na-Nani?" Sakuno looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"You ordered number 12, right?" He pointed at his own menu, "I didn't know you liked Chili Sauce Sashimi Noodle."
"Chili Sauce Sashimi Noodle…" the brown-haired girl read from the restaurant book, "a cold sweet potato noodle with sashimi in spicy chili sauce…" it took a second or so for the description to sink in. Finally, her eyes widened and she let out a loud surprised "EH!" making Ryoma smirk, finally feeling entertained. It would be more interesting if she went with her order.
"Why don't you try it?" Echizen Ryoma suggested. He smiled as if dared her to do so.
"Eh? D-Demo…"
"Hmm…not up for it?" His eyes flashed, making her blush under his gaze. There was no choice, if she backed down now, she would be humiliated.
"Well…" she muttered something within the words "nasty" and "cruel", but nodded as she made up her mind. "A-Alright…"
"Interesting," The mischievous boy smirked. "Yosh, we'll see if it's good or not."
-- -- -- -- --
"Echizen's cruel," Saeki muttered to his companion; who was spying intensely on the couple a few tables away. They weren't that far away, as they could hear the conversation, but that wasn't enough for them to understand the situation that was going on. They had eliminated the thought of Echizen going on a 'date' with her, because if they did; he wouldn't force her to try out such a meal she (or what her face revealed) did not like. Obviously he was just killing time.
How typical of him…Fuji snickered, blue hues gleaming as he remained eyeing them.
"Our suspicions have been confirmed…ne Syusuke? Let's go now…"
He tugged Fuji's sleeve shirt, but the man just moved his arm away and continued to look at his fellow friend, who was gazing amusingly at the girl. Who was this girl anyways? He didn't remember Ryoma mentioning that he had meant a new girl, unless he had kept a secret about this? Fuji's eyes narrowed further, evidently feeling jealous at the fact that Ryoma had acquainted with such a female and did not even mind mentioning it. Ryoma didn't even say anything about 'going out' this morning either… did Fuji's position in his mind really rank that low to not be notified at all? The contemplation gave him an urge to do something nasty; or more, something very distressful.
"A-ahh…S-Syusuke," Saeki stuttered, frightened at the genius's deadly expression. "It's just a…misunderstanding…" he knew that Fuji didn't hear him out though, as the young man began to vanish from where he sat and then appearing magically to the next table nearer to Echizen and that woman. The technique shocked Saeki, and his own naïveté almost made him get caught. Damn that Echizen, the man cursed as he carefully sneaked to the next table, in a hopefully not suspiciously-un-caught manner. I shouldn't have pointed out to Fuji that Echizen was here…shit, he cursed. Today proved as such a calamity. He wasn't going to trust the daily horoscope anymore.
-- -- -- --
"You're orders have arrived," the waiter appeared with a tray carrying their meals. By the looks of it, he was Korean, and he had that Korean accent that annoyed Ryoma. Ignoring such trivial, he straightened up and looked down at the bowl of what he had ordered. Well, compared to Sakuno's - it looked delicious and fit his taste buds. The amusement of watching her eat cold spicy noodles made him look forward to it. A slight tinge of guilt surfaced though, but he disregarded it, knowing that living with Fuji gave him such behaviors and habits. Well, it wasn't him, himself, to blame, so he didn't need to spare a second thought about it.
With all the hilarity of watching Sakuno poke her noodles, Ryoma did not notice a certain tensai watching them, along with a wary white-headed gentlemen right behind him. If he did, he would've been surprised at what kind of intense and amusing gaze the fair-haired man had casted on them. For Fuji, this meeting was interesting. He had been more entertained by the fact that Echizen might've been influenced by him with his humorous ways (the habit by far anyone would consider funny) but yet, enjoyable to the engrossed eyes. Yes, this was quite interesting, making Fuji want to add a bit of more flavor to it. Saeki, who was spying from behind his shoulder, shivered at the atmosphere Fuji was emitting. Something bad was going to happen, he could feel it.
"A-Ano…" Sakuno turned red, out of discomfort that is. She looked down at her bowl of cold sashimi noodle, and then back at Ryoma. "Suddenly I feel full…"
As she tried to back down, Echizen continued to eat his fried pork "Really? But I thought you asked me out to lunch because you were hungry too."
She flushed. "Well, just looking at it made me full already, eheh…and," her face remained red, "um…I'm sorta…on a diet."
Saeki whistled silently, to admit such a thing; she must really not want to eat it. He was about to say this aloud to Fuji, but to realize that once again, his friend had disappeared. Now where did he go?
Suddenly, he moved his questionable eyes back to Echizen and the girl, to only catch sight of a waitress with brown hair. Wait…his eyes widened in shock AND surprise, his stomach fluttering crazy. As the waitress continued to walk towards the table he had kept watch on, he swore he saw the 'girl' had opened her eyes, to reveal stunning blue irises (also a bit of scariness). He felt his body go numb as he slumped in his seat, mouth hanging slightly open to recognize who that waitress really was. In her hand, she held something that made Saeki understand what was going to happen next. He truly is a sadistic person…Saeki felt himself finally understand part of Fuji's nature.
-- -- -- -- --
Sakuno finally gave up making an excuse to not eat the meal she had ordered. Instead, she changed the subject to occupy the man in front of her from thinking that she needed to try this (nasty, not welcoming) dish. She then stopped fidgeting, and thought of what Tomo-chan had told her before she had even called Ryoma that very morning. It was something about being shy and timid, something that if she continued to hesitate then Ryoma would get annoyed with her. From what was going on so far, she could feel that he was getting irritated with her for all her shy stammers. But it wasn't her fault! It was his fault for making her act like that, she tried to blame. Even so…Sakuno looked at Ryoma eating his food once more, the feelings she had tried to suppress all these years suddenly fleeting, making her blush every time he laid eyes on her…making her stutter every time he spoke to her... She couldn't help but still like him…
Tomo-chan's right…I should tell him that I like him…after all, Momo-sempai got married, didn't he? That means Ryoma-kun doesn't like him anymore…so…She felt hope flicker, I have to do this! She just had to tell him, that was what this date was for, right? Well, hopefully Ryoma considered this a date…it was better than that one time in junior high when her grandmother made them go downtown to fix her tennis racket. Though she was happy about it…nothing really happened…That was then, this is now.
"Ne…Ryoma-kun…"
"Hm?" He looked up at her, halting the pork he was holding with his chopstick from propping in his mouth. "What is it?"
"I…I-I like you Ryoma-kun…"
He almost choked the meat which he was just chewing. She had confessed to him again, what should he do? He didn't even like her, and he hoped all those years of ignoring her would do some good. But no, instead…she came back and told to him that she had still liked him. This time though, he couldn't give his regular "…" or "Aa", because he was sure that something had changed in her…that made her deny anything he would say. He felt as if this time, she wouldn't walk away like she did many years before. She was going to wait for an answer. Did "I don't like you" or "I'm not interested" persuade her to go away?
Suddenly, when he was about to open his mouth, he felt cold liquid splash against his chest. The water seeping through his collar shirt, and against his skin, making him redirect his attention.
The waitress gasped an apology and quickly took out a napkin to absorb the water. She lowered her head in the process, so Echizen couldn't see her face. He said nothing, and Sakuno also helped to dry the liquid which was splattered on him. He moved away, and they stopped, understanding that he did not need the help. "No thanks," was what he said. He grabbed the napkin in front of him and cleaned himself, while the other two just looked at him.
The waiter once again apologized.
He shook his head as if it was nothing, and he looked up to see a pair of blue eyes.
He felt as if his heart suddenly stopped.
"What the hell, Fuji-sempai?" The tennis-player's eyes widened in surprise, and he felt as if he was gawking at the man dressed in a waitress's outfit. If he didn't know better, he would've thought Fuji really was a girl. Then again, Fuji did have a lot of feminist being a man, but still. What was he doing here, dressed as a waitress, right in front of him? Suddenly he felt like he was being tricked. He gradually realized that the waiter incident was no 'mistake' and he had fallen into Fuji's cruel plan of amusement (although he was some-what glad that he was able to avoid giving Ryuzaki an answer to her confession).
Sakuno on the other hand, did not catch on. She was shocked at the fact that as she looked head to toe at the waitress, the feminism of this waitress did not look at all like the male Fuji. Maybe it was because Fuji was dressed in a waitress's uniform that they could easily pass Fuji as a woman. The only proof they could tell that he wasn't a woman was the flat chest and the some-what muscled calves. Still, the appearance of Fuji shocked her, even though she hadn't seen him in many years other then magazines and anything related to the tennis-world. The sight of Fuji like this only made questions bubble up in her head. Did he work here? Was he cross dress? What was going on? He sure did look pretty though…
A man with white hair, over a layer of black finally appeared behind 'Fuji' suddenly. "Ahahah…sorry for the bother Echizen-kun," Saeki apologized. "We were doing just fine, until--,"
"Maybe its better if Fuji explained," Ryoma scowled -- feeling a dreadful feeling as Fuji smiled innocently. Innocent. Innocent my ass. Fuji was far, far from being innocent. He leaned back against his seat, forgetting that Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter was even there as he waited for an explanation from Fuji. The outfit on Fuji really did bring out all his femininity, Echizen had noted. The look was…tempting. He shook his head, erasing that thought. What the hell. He knew that Fuji did that on purpose, he knew that for Fuji, everything was going as planned. Even though he knew this, he couldn't help but look at Fuji.
"Echizen seems to have a nice time looking at me though," Fuji exclaimed, continuing to smile.
This time, the youngest of the group blushed. He drew his eyes away quickly and tried to deny it by snorting. "Why would I be checking you out, Fuji-sempai? Now why are you dressed like that, and standing right here? I thought you were out on a date with that man right behind you." Saeki frowned, while Fuji chuckled.
"Maa…" the moderate voice only proved his true gender. "I just felt like…dressing like this. I wanted to see your reaction, that's all. Your self-confident and cool face, I wanted to see what it would look like seeing me…like this." His tone was deep and husky; eyes flashing with enjoyment seeing Ryoma react with such words. If Ryoma knew Fuji any better, he would've thought that Fuji was trying to seduce him. Well, he did know Fuji, but the thought just…seemed wrong. Or maybe to him, that is. That was why; he couldn't fall into Fuji's games any longer. He lowered his head, so the cap would shadow his eyes as much as it could, and he just muttered a "forget it". If it carried out any longer, the game might get dangerous. Fuji was the type to enjoy these things, and he would as go far as traumatizing a person the rest of his life. Yes, that was rather true.
"I see…hmm, why Ryoma…why don't we go somewhere?" Fuji's eyes were opened the whole time.
"F-Fuji!"
"Now, now." Fuji patted Saeki's shoulder, "you can come along as well, you too Ryuzaki-san." He glanced over at the confused girl with careful eyes, finally identifying who this woman was. He finally understood why he couldn't recognize her the first time he saw her walking with Ryoma, and the whole time they were watching the back of her head. She had grown, more likely into a "woman" version of the Sakuno in the school days (though after Junior High, he never really saw her anymore). She had…changed. Well, she still wore her traditional braids, but only this time she had breasts and seemed taller. There was still innocence radiating around her, which almost made things more fun. He just couldn't resist.
Ryoma groaned, standing up. "No thanks. I'll be going home now."
Sakuno protested, but Ryoma ignored her as he walked away. He didn't even turn to look back at Fuji, but he could imagine that the other man was smirking, victoriously. God, the image of Fuji like that only stirred more unnecessary feelings.
-- -- -- -- --
It was that night, that Fuji approached him about the matter.
"Ne, how did I look wearing that outfit?"
The image emerged in his mind, making him flush. "Too girlish for your average male," he responded.
"Aa," a sound of movement, and then the shuffling of clothes stopped. "Maa, Ryoma-kun…what were you doing with Ryuzaki-san today?"
The question only made him twitch. "I was bored, and she was inviting…so I thought I would spend some time going out today."
"Oh really…" Was it him, or did he catch a tone of jealousy? Finally, he was about to turn around to face the tensai when he felt warm arms wrapped over his shoulders.
Ryoma turned around to dissent this action, surprised by what Fuji was doing. He found it too late as a hand covered his eyes and he was pulled back. Suddenly, a brush of lips met his, and he felt his face burn. The feeling of Fuji's lip against his, he stopped moving under his sempai.
Although the kiss was rather quick, he still felt a tinge of warmness left behind as their lips parted, and then both Fuji's hand was released from him. Fuji just smiled while standing up, and Ryoma opened his mouth to question his actions, but Fuji laughed. "Ne, doesn't it feel like lips when you do this?" He pinched his two fingers together as they touched Ryoma's mouth. He chortled and retreated back out into the hallway, leaving Ryoma to himself to think of what just happened.
But…he stared at his hands, didn't Fuji cover my eyes with his left…and, he turned to focus on his own left hand, didn't he hold this arm with his right hand? His thought startled him, so Fuji did kiss him. He felt himself go numb, and stormed out of his room.
"Fuji!"
The brunette turned around, and laughed. He pulled his index finger to his lip, hushing him quietly; as if meaning to keep this incident a secret.
Its mada mada dane for you, Ryoma.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tsuzuku
Author's Note: haha...I like this chapter. it was...amusing if you say the most. well, the last scene I was inspired to write by a certain doujin, so I included it in this story. it was...CUTE. but don't expect their relationship to start any time soon. I think that their going to face more hardships (well mostly Ryoma, being tortured by Fuji and all) but still, there's still going to be lots of fun x3 nyah! oh yeah, the "Sakuno" moment. hmmm, I think I'll get rid of her by the next chapter. sorry! I just really don't like her. ah, and thank you for the wonderful reviews. I really appreciated them keep them up, and they'll reallyyy inspire me to write more, cus I know there's some fans out there reading this story, ne ne? hehe, as an author I am...I'm going to give you all a glimpse of the next chapter!
Chapter Preview -- Part III: He sighed, and Ryoma took this as a time to let go. He loosened his grip, and just turned away angrily; though the traces of the previous incident washing off his face, masking a face as if nothing had happened for the new arriving guest. Though, he didn't expect his guest to be someone that would surprise both Fuji... and him, as well. Maybe that was why he regretted that he let Fuji go, to open the door. If only he knew what was to happen next, he might've stopped the event from occurring.
"Te…Tezuka…?"
Ryoma's head shot upward as he heard Fuji whisper that name, as the door creaked open revealing their bochou.
Disclaimer: In those Eyes © Nguyen Mimi