Disclaimer: I own no part of Tenisu no Oujisama (Prince of Tennis). The purpose of this fanfiction is purely for entertainment.
Rating: T. Because not all of you are mature enough for the good shounen-ai stuff.
Warnings: Shounen-ai and several not-so-usual pairings. I think the word 'damn' is used a few times. Funky-ish format: "Dialogue." Thoughts. Narration. Emphasis.
Pairings: Everywhere. They're just... you look for something, you'll find something. There's a lot of obvious stuff, though. TezuRyo. OishiEiji. Eheh.
Summary: (ONE SHOT)(Shounen ai)(TezuRyo as a main pairing, but… other stuff, too) They wake up one fine morning and the world is just barely powdered in snow-dust.
Vocabulary: For those who have only read the American-translated manga. It's all at the bottom.
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Cold-Sweet-Snow
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They wake up one fine morning and the world is just barely powdered in snow-dust.
It's just snow-dust. Nothing much. They have to go to school, of course, because it's only sticking a little—they're only predicting a few centimeters.
Everyone, especially Echizen, who likes snowy winters, hopes that it doesn't stop snowing until much later, even though the forecasts don't look too promising.
But at least it's cold out.
Echizen practically freezes to death standing on the back of Momo's bicycle, and even falls off once because his shoes are slippery with wet snow. So he slips and Momo screeches to a stop and calls out, worried, "Echizen! Hey! You okay back there?"
And Echizen stands up from the ground, brushes himself off, and glares up at Momo from beneath a heavy wool scarf and hat and his snowy lashes.
Momo thinks he looks ridiculous all bundled up like that and can't wait to see the rest of the team. They're all bundled up like that, of course, because it's cold as hell out. Cold-as-freaking-hell.
Inui tells Momo that they wouldn't be bundled up at all if it was cold as hell out. In fact, considering the temperature of the core of the earth, they wouldn't have anything to bundle up. They'd melt.
Momo wonders if it would be okay to smack Inui-senpai for being too damn analytical. Probably not. First of all 'cause Inui-senpai is his senpai, and second of all 'cause he can't even feel his fingers anymore.
Damn!
Inui looks nice and comfy, though. He is nice and comfy. He, unlike many other members of the Seigaku tennis club, knows the right way to dress in the event of snow and incredibly low temperatures. He has a nice sports-thermal undershirt on beneath a T-shirt and his dress shirt and his uniform jacket. And he has a sweater and an overcoat (long, black, and insulated) and wears thermal pants beneath his uniform, too. He doesn't bring his tennis bag to school.
Because there is an 85 percent chance that today will not bring only a few centimeters of snow but quite a few meters, because the meteorologists are just plain wrong about 85 percent of the time. And in the event that it doesn't snow a few centimeters, then there is a 99 percent chance that Tezuka will cancel practice.
And it's too cold out, anyway.
When he tells this to Oishi, the vice-captain wonders aloud what happened to the other 1 percent. Really, Tezuka wouldn't keep them in school on a snowy day and make them do laps through the snow, would he? …Would he?
Inui says that he hopes not. But recently, he's found a way to lower the freezing point of his Inui juice, so—
Oishi blocks out the rest. He just—just can't take hearing about the Inui juice without remembering…
Eegh.
...Eeeegh…
Kikumaru, too, looks like he's in pain with the memory of that… stuff. But he focuses his mind elsewhere and balls up his fists within his gloves. They're not too warm, actually, but at least he was smart enough to actually bring gloves, unlike Momo. And at least they're a cool-ish color, not just black. They're yellow.
Eiji grins to himself.
"Are your hands cold, Eiji?" Oishi asks suddenly, watching him.
"Eeh. Kind of."
Oishi smiles then, and pulls another pair of gloves out of his pocket. They're black, and stretchy, and look insulated-nice.
"I brought extra," Oishi explains. "Put them on under your gloves."
Eiji dutifully obeys.
"…You are everyone's mother," Momo says in awe. Oishi gives him a sharp look and is about to protest when Fuji's sister pulls up in front of the school.
Suddenly, everyone who has had to walk or ride a bike in this weather—yeah, they're kind of hating Fuji.
Who smiles his lovely smile, and pulls his scarf up over his mouth, and waves them hello.
"What are you waiting outside for?" he asks, his voice muffled. No one really knows what to answer.
"Fuji-senpai! Uh. We were… enjoying the snow…?" Momo says uncertainly. "And waiting for the rest, I guess. Just…because."
"If that's so, then Tezuka and Taka-san are probably outside already," Fuji says pleasantly. "Kaidou too."
"…Oh."
"Shall we go inside, then?" Fuji asks. "Pleasant as the snow is, it's cold, too, isn't it?"
Pleasant and cold, beautiful and terrible. The tennis genius wonders why so many things are like that. Handsome and god-like and amazing, but also cold and unemotional and gruff…
But he isn't talking about snow anymore now, is he?
--
Fuji smiles when he sees Tezuka inside the school, his cheeks still burned-red from wind and cold.
Would that be what Tezuka looks like when he blushes? he wonders absently, still smiling to himself as he corrects the thought with, If he blushes.
A delicious thought that Fuji savors for the rest of the day as he looks out the window and watches the snowfall become a snowstorm become a blizzard.
--
They decide to let school out early because by the time 3 o'clock comes around, it'll be hell.
Kaidou isn't terribly disappointed when Tezuka-buchou gathers them up and tells them that there's no way there's going to be practice. He does want to play a little bit, but it's Antarctic out and only a masochist would want to do anything in this weather.
And then Momo is the first idiot to throw a snowball. He aims for Kikumaru-senpai, of course, who wouldn't, like, seriously kill him over it.
He hits Kaidou in the face instead.
Kaidou stands there frozen for a moment before swiveling on his heel to face Momo, and gives a hiss-growl before pouncing on the other boy and shoving snow down his jacket.
"Mamushi—gwarghl—! SONOFA--!"
Eiji, who thinks this is all great fun, lobs a snowball at Oishi.
Who drops his book and ducks as he bends to pick it up. The snowball hits the person behind him.
Eiji is already running.
Ohnopleaseno. I didn't just hit Fuji—!
Everything devolves into a massive snowball fight.
There aren't even teams. Everyone just hurls snowballs and hopes they don't hit Tezuka because—
"Echizen!" the buchou barks, and brushes snow off of his black peacoat. The others freeze and silence falls. "Twenty laps!"
Ryoma pouts and thinks that Momo-senpai probably ducked on purpose, just to get him in trouble.
"Usu," he says, though, and begins to run.
It hits him square in the head, cold and icy.
He spins.
Tezuka just stands there, looking perfectly serious and waiting for him to continue his punishment.
Except, of course, for that gleam in his eyes and the suspicious way his hands are jammed into the pockets of his coat. Echizen smirks and hopes that it doesn't stop snowing until much later.
--
The snow fight ends soon after, when they're soaked clean through and breathless and refreshed. Tezuka-buchou didn't get hit at all after that, mainly because no one was sure that he would be quite as tolerant with them as the buchou was with Echizen.
"Echizen! Are you coming?" Momo calls as he looks back at the first-year.
Ryoma shakes his head.
"No."
Momo shrugs.
"Fine."
He has recently figured out that Echizen likes to walk home with Tezuka-buchou every so often.
--
Fuji walks with Kawamura to his father's store and decides that today is the perfect day to have a few wasabi rolls.
Taka-san laughs and lets him into the store and serves his friend, chuckling and wondering why Fujiko-chan's taste buds haven't imploded yet.
They talk together for a while as Fuji eats, because there aren't many other customers in the restaurant that Takashi has to take care of. So they talk and laugh at the others and their antics and what they did in the snow. And Fuji brings up the fact that Inui has successfully lowered the freezing point of his juice and mentions that he kind of wishes that he had a glass of it here, because it would probably taste interesting when paired with wasabi rolls.
Takashi turns a little green and suddenly comes to the conclusion that Fujiko-chan never had any taste buds to begin with.
--
Echizen and Tezuka sit in silence on the bench, sipping at the hot drinks that they stopped somewhere to buy. It warms them up from inside even as sitting together, bodies aligned and sharing heat, warms them from the outside.
"Ne, buchou, don't you have a hat?" Echizen asks lazily.
"No."
"They say you lose heat faster through your head."
"I know."
"But you won't wear a hat?"
"No."
Echizen takes another gulp of the cocoa.
"Well. I can't picture buchou in a hat anyway," he murmurs to himself.
Tezuka doesn't respond, only polishes off the rest of his drink and glances up in time to catch Echizen eating snow.
"That's dirty."
Echizen looks squarely at Tezuka.
"It's not. No one's stepped in it or anything."
"But it defeats the purpose of drinking the cocoa."
Echizen shrugs, a gesture of concession.
A 'So what?'
Tezuka pulls himself up from the bench and throws away his cup. Echizen watches him.
When Tezuka comes back, he pulls his bag onto his shoulder and offers a hand to the smaller boy.
Echizen, who has no reason to take it because he can get up perfectly fine on his own, accepts it. Feels Tezuka's heat through his gloves. Knows that Tezuka is pulling him too hard, knows that the momentum will make them collide. Wishes wistfully that it won't stop snowing until much later.
Savors Tezuka's lips against his own.
It's just a little kiss, really—because they don't kiss often, and they're not very spectacular kissers, either. But Tezuka likes the pressure of Echizen's lips, and likes how Echizen tastes like snow—fresh and icy—and cocoa—warm and sweet. Likes the way that Echizen intertwines their fingers, the way his lips submit and then fight back. Likes the contrast. Likes the contact.
Echizen likes the way that Tezuka's eyes close unconsciously and the way the snow sticks to his eyelashes. Likes the way Tezuka squeezes his hands. Likes the way that Tezuka tastes, too, but not as much as he likes the way that Tezuka looks like a snow god but feels so warm. Likes the contrast. Likes the contact.
Echizen wishes and wishes and wishes that it won't stop snowing until much later.
--
Oishi and Kikumaru blink.
"E..chi..zen?"
"Tezuka?"
They blink again.
"Are Echizen and Tezuka kissing?" Eiji asks blankly as he watches. Oishi nods, feeling stunned.
"We probably shouldn't be watching this, Eiji," he says nervously, and attempts to drag his best friend away.
"But—but our baby boy is growing up! I can't miss this!"
"Eiji—"
"Oishii!" Eiji protests, whining. Oishi wonders if Eiji does that on purpose.
Then he turns back to the spectacle and sighs and grins and wonders how long it took Tezuka and Echizen to figure out—well—that.
It's taking Eiji an exceptionally long time.
--
They are all pretty sick the next day, but it doesn't matter because it's still snowing and school is out.
Their parents have scolded them for being negligent and stupid and for walking home wet. So they are all in bed with colds and fevers. Soup feels good and sleeping feels even better.
Ryoma's mother brings him chicken soup with rice and noodles, which is an odd combination because there's only supposed to be chicken soup with rice or chicken noodle soup, one or the other.
Not that he minds.
Later, she also brings in hot cocoa and lets Ryoma drink it in bed before he goes back to sleep.
Ryoma wonders if Buchou is also sick and eating soup and drinking cocoa.
Probably tea, though.
Ryoma gulps down the drink and puts the mug beside his alarm clock.
He hopes that it won't stop snowing.
But at least even if it does, the memories of cold-sweet kisses won't ever melt with the winter.
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Vocabulary:
name-senpai : suffix attached to an upperclassman's name.
buchou : captain. As in Tezuka Kunimitsu.
Fujiko-chan : a nickname for Fuji. I haven't really heard it in the anime (I don't have great powers of observation), but I've seen it used in other fanfictions and I think it's cute. The suffix –chan is an endearment used for girls or young children, and the –ko ending on a name is also used for girls. Meaning that Fuji is a cute little gal. Taka-san, you dog!
Mamushi : viper. As in Kaidou Kaoru.
Oishii : delicious. Eiji, you dog! (Once again, I haven't actually heard it in the anime, but… Cuuuute!)
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Notes:
Written because it's blizzarding up here in New York and I decided that it was about damn time that I wrote some TezukaRyoma stuff.
First Prince of Tennis fic. FINALLY.
Review, por favor. Onegaishimasu. S'il vous plait. Paki. Please.