A Prince of Tennis fanfic by Maria.
Written for: Five True Loves. Themes used: 3 (moving), 11 (surprise), 25 (destruction.
Pairing/Characters: Takashi Kawamura/Syuusuke Fuji
Rating: PG/PG-13 (boys kissing)
Disclaimer/claimer: Not mine. Konomi-san!
Notes/Summery: Fuji brings up an old memory as he searches for something in between Taka's stuff.
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"Eh, Fujiko... what are you searching for?"
Kawamura was standing on the door, with a plate of wasabi sushi in his hand and his eyes fixed on Fuji's... butt. The ex-Seigaku prodigy was anxiously searching for something what seemed to be deeply buried in between Kawamura's belongings that were in his closet. Or the ones that were left in there, for all the others were thrown on the floor: pants, shirts, even shoes. Since he was practically on all fours...
"For something special... Eh! Thought it'd be here... A li'll deeper..."
Kawamura detested when someone rummaged among his things, really, since he considered that rude and just uncalled for. But this was Fuji, of all people. Stubborn and sneaky, his boyfriend wouldn't give up until he found what he was searching for. And he seemed to be also adding a sort-of punishment for Takashi for his attitude... because, really, he didn't need to lift his butt like that as he was searching for whatever he wanted to have, and worse when he was wearing those tight black shorts that were Eiji's b-day present... and...
Fujiko, Kawamura thought, why are you doing this to me? However, he only said: "Fuji, just tell me and I'll search for it myself. Please don't touch my things."
Fuji looked at Kawamura over his shoulder and winked. "No, no, Taka-san. That won't be fun"
He then threw something at Kawamura's face. A pair of silk black boxers - one of his sister's presents for his last birthday, which almost made him the laughing stock of his whole friends group.
If something could send Takashi Kawamura into his famous Burning mode without anything similar to a racket in his surrounding, THIS was it. "Fun," he blurted, the grip on the sushi plate tightening. "But Fuji, you're messing up with my whole closet! Please stop right...".
But right after Kawamura had said his last words, Fuji gave a cheerful yelp and lunged forward to grab something. He did it so quickly that Kawamura didn't know how the blue-eyed man didn't hit his head against anything.
"Caught it! Ah, Taka-san! You thought I'd never find it...".
Kawamura's eyes went wide when Fuji, as happy as a little child with a new toy, finally left his closet alone and showed him what he was searching for.
"... My old racket?"
Indeed, what Syuusuke Fuji had in his hand was a tennis racket. An old, worn-out one. If the cords and handle could talk, they would tell you not only about the months spent buried under Kawamura's belongings, but also of the old times when the soon-to-be Sushi master was a member of the Seigaku team.
In the hands of Fuji, though, it looked almost like a precious treasure.
"Why don't you give your racket the merit it deserves, Taka-san," Fuji asked softly, fingers touching the cords.
"...What do you mean?", the other man asked as he got closer to his boyfriend and sat by him on the floor.
Fuji looked unusually touched as Kawamura stared at him, waiting for an explanation. But even then, he spoke calmly and with a slight touch of irony in his voice. "Hey, Taka-san. Don't tell me you don't remember your adventures in the tennis court where your racket was your companion, heh..."
Of course, he did remember. After leaving the karate dojo where he spent his elementary school years, Kawamura had taken up tennis in junior high, slowly making his way into the Seigaku regulars. And he reached that top spot in his third and last year, becoming one of the two power tennis experts in the line up (along with Momo, who was still a good friend of his'); from his priviledged place, he was a direct part of the events that allowed Seigaku to regain its spot as the junior high tennis champion of that year.
Kawamura didn't know what to say, though.
"To think that, for a match, it was also mine..."
Fuji's voice was his link to reality. He sounded normal, but his fingertips were still pressed against the old cords.
"... Was it?", Kawamura asked, wondering if Fuji and him were thinking about the same match that happened five years ago.
"Of course, Taka-san," Fuji replied. "My game against Jiroh Akutagawa, just after yours against Kabaji. One of my best matches, in my opinion."
Fuji, a professional tennis player, has played much better and much more important games in his life as both a junior and a pro. Kawamura is utterly and logically puzzled at his declaration... Why would he have a simple junior high times match in such high regards?
The reply came soon. "This was the racket that I used in it. With it, I both avenged Yuuta's loss against Jiroh, and I also showed you what I thought of your own match. Not to mention that's the same one you used to protect me in our doubles match against Fudoumine, ir my memory serves me right."
For some brief seconds, Kawamura could clearly see his 14-year-old self in front of his 19-year-old one. Using the Hadokyuu and all its variations until both his and Kabaji's arms gave out and the match had to be declared null. That was his last year as a sporto, so he had decided to help taking the team to the Nationals no matter what - for himself, for his teammates, and for his old friend Akutsu, who had entrusted him with victory. So, after Fuji had mentioned those moments, Kawamura's mind flashed him back to that day, later to the Fudomine match where he also got injured for someone else's sake, this time being Fuji's...
And Fuji's lips, suddenly pressed firmly against his own, brought him back. So engrossed in those memories he was, that the young sushi master failed to notice how Fujiko placed the racket over the nearby bed and got closer to him - until the other's slender arms were wrapped around his waist and the blue-eyed man was kissing him. After the initial shock, Kawamura relaxed and parted his lips, allowing Fuji to slip his tongue in slowly. He kept the kiss tender and soft, no use hurrying up...
When they parted for air, Fuji smirked. "Consider it a super-late 'thanks and here's a prize for what you've done for all of us'".
"... Really?".
"Of course, Taka-san", and Fuji took the old racket back, holding it in front of his boyfriend with pride. "Because good, no, great actions will never go unnoticed or without a prize...".
His solemn face changed as his lips curved into one of his rare tender smiles. "And because it was, is, and will be a honor to be so close to you."