100 Percent – Bus Ride

Thanks for the reviews! In this chapter, we get a little insight from Ryoma's point of view (and Fuji's). The story is unwinding slower than I anticipated, so there's no smut in the next couple of chapters, but hang in there, they are hormonal – it can't be helped! Oh, and I have fallen into the habit of switching between the English and Japanese versions of certain words, like tensai (prodigy) and baka (stupid, fool). Gomen!

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis

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Chapter 3

Whatever reason Inui had in leaving Ryoma Echizen off the love interest data sheet, Fuji had been unsuccessful in figuring it out. Inui had played dumb, claiming he just forgot about their ochibi. Fuji knew he was lying.

There was a reason, an important one if Inui went through the trouble of covering it up.

Fuji loved to analyze relationships and personalities, but no matter how he looked at it, the missing Ryoma information eluded him.

It wasn't that Inui liked Ryoma because his interest in Kaidoh was simply overwhelming. Perhaps he had discovered that Kaidoh liked Ryoma and left it off the sheet in denial. But then that didn't make sense either. All of Kaidoh's data had shown that his interest was in tennis, not romance. Inui would no doubt find a way around that.

The next logical guess would be that Inui did forget to include Ryoma—but Inui never forgot to include any pertinent piece of information when compiling data.

And that was where Fuji was stumped. No one else's data included Ryoma's name, so it appeared that no one had a crush on the starlet. Fuji narrowed his eyes, but that just couldn't be the truth, someone had to like him. How could they not?

Fuji finished packing his bag for the weekend and headed to the bus stop. A long three days with only the regular team members at Momoshiro's lake house would be glorious and relaxing. Perhaps he could convince Tezuka to skinny dip. Fuji's smile widened as he boarded the city bus.

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"Hoi!" Eiji nearly knocked Ryoma over trying to catch up to Oishi. "Out of the way ochibi."

"Unnn…" Ryoma caught his balance by grabbing onto Kawamura's arm. "Sorry sempai."

"It's okay Echizen. Eiji-kun should pay more attention." Kawamura bonked Eiji on the head lightly.

"Nya! What was that for?" Eiji turned around and pouted at them.

"Can't wait for the fun, eh Eiji?" Oishi said with a smile. "Sit next to me on the bus?"

"Hoi, hoi. I wouldn't sit anywhere else," Eiji said, sticking his tongue out at Ryoma before hopping onto the chartered bus behind Oishi. "Let's sit in the back," his voice trailed off as he disappeared.

"They should get a room," Ryoma mumbled to himself, toting his bag over his shoulder. He was looking forward to sleeping on the bus ride and hoped Eiji would keep his antics down to a low roar.

"Maybe they will this weekend," Fuji said, sliding up next to Ryoma.

Ryoma's eyes darted to the side to see Fuji smiling. It was surprising that the tensai had heard him, more so considering he wasn't even aware Fuji had shown up yet.

"Mada mada…" Ryoma tugged his cap down over his eyes and stepped into the bus.

Once on the bus, Fuji hovered over the empty spot next to Ryoma. "May I sit here?" He asked politely.

"Sure," Ryoma said, not bothering to look at Fuji.

The tensai settled in next to Ryoma, sighing softly with a silly grin on his face. Ryoma stared out the window, his eyes already drooping from fatigue.

Fuji was sitting close, Ryoma noticed. He could see Fuji's slender hand out of the corner of his eyes, resting on his knee. Sempai had worn track pants, similar to the ones they wore over their uniforms, but these were black.

Each nail on Fuji's hand was rounded and smoothed, free of rough edges. Ryoma looked down at his own fingernails and realized his were long overdue for a trim. The jagged edges and uneven lengths embarrassed him so he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and lowered his head, pretending to sleep.

"Yo, yo Regulars!" Momo's voice thundered through the bus as he hopped on.

Kaidoh hissed from behind him. "You're in the way, ssshhh…"

"Oi mamushi, who said you could come?" Momo growled.

"You invited me!" Kaidoh argued back.

Fuji stood up. "It will be a great weekend, eh?"

Momo and Kaidoh relaxed. They were all in dire need of this mini vacation.

"Nya, you two can argue at the lake," Eiji piped in from the back.

Inui and Tezuka boarded last, looking for seats. Inui slipped into the seat behind Kaidoh and whipped out his notebook and pen. Tezuka locked eyes with Fuji and if he hadn't blinked, Ryoma would have sworn their captain smiled.

But then Tezuka saw Ryoma in the seat next to Fuji and looked away.

"Tezuka, sit here," Fuji's honey-like voice purred, pointing to the seat across the aisle from him.

"Ah, thank you," Tezuka took the seat.

Fuji immediately turned his body toward the aisle, toward Tezuka. Thank god, Ryoma thought, closing his eyes to rest.

The bus started to move, driven by Momo's uncle who would drop them off and return for them on Sunday afternoon. A whole weekend without adult supervision and Ryoma intended to sleep as much as possible—and of course, secretly gaze at his crush.

A fit of giggles from the back caused Ryoma to groan. Eiji couldn't keep quiet for five minutes on a good day.

"Would you like my headphones Echizen?" Fuji asked, pulling his mp3 player out of his bag.

Ryoma tilted his cap back. "Thanks Fuji sempai."

"Eiji is just getting started." Fuji smiled.

Turning the music on, Ryoma adjusted his body and leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes. Fuji's selection of music was interesting, slightly erotic and fluid. It suited the tensai's personality.

"Tezuka, we should race today," Fuji said, lowering his voice as not to disturb his neighbor.

Ryoma turned the volume down, wanting to hear what Tezuka and Fuji talked about. It was rare to hear Tezuka talk with anyone.

"If the water is warm enough, I'd enjoy a competitive swim," Tezuka responded.

"You're taller this year. The length of your arms may be the deciding factor," Fuji carried on the conversation.

Tezuka chuckled. "Your sentiments are kind, but we both know you are a part merman. I'm surprised you didn't join the swim club considering your affinity with water."

Had Ryoma heard right, had Tezuka chuckled?

Fuji gave a pleasant laugh and Ryoma opened his eyes a slit just in time to catch Fuji's hand patting Tezuka's knee.

The tensai let his hand linger, slowly drawing it back before tucking a stray lock behind his own ear. "I've spent all my time trying to keep up with you in tennis this year, perhaps my aquatic powers have diminished."

And their conversation ran from there, touching on many shared memories and social activities. Ryoma's intention to sleep was long forgotten as he listened quietly, absorbing everything they said.

They were close friends and that bothered Ryoma. He hadn't expected anyone to have gotten as close to Tezuka as Fuji apparently had.

"Ryoma looks so cute sleeping, we should eat him…" Fuji whispered to Tezuka and Ryoma's eyes popped open.

"Eh?" Ryoma sputtered.

Fuji laughed. "Just kidding Echizen."

Flustered and embarrassed, Ryoma's cheeks burned as he pulled his hat down over his eyes. They had caught him pretending to sleep and he had fallen for it. Baka.

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A/N: syuusuke-kunimitsu117229 – I can't reveal who Ryoma is going to end up with yet because it's a main part of the story line – it's a mystery! But don't give up hope. I also like the Momo/Ryo pairing.

Again, thanks for the reviews. I wrote this for myself so it's nice to see others enjoy it as well.

As for the "awkwardness" in the "percent" sentences – that's how Inui talks and I purposefully wrote it that way – his speech is stiff and awkward. I have no intention of changing it. :)

Example: The probability that Eiji likes Oishi, (a comma is a pause in speaking) (is) one hundred percent. The "is" is left out because I imagine Inui to be robot like, using only the necessary words to get his point across.