Hi, I'm alive! I meant to have this out at the beginning of themonth but school's been crazy and I swear my teachers are out to get me and plotted to set all the hwk at the same time! Thankfully, I'm up to date now and will try and write more soon. I love all your reviews - reading them was probably a big part of me sitting down and getting this chp done in time for theChinese New Year. Anyway, hope you like.
Disclaimer: I do not own PoT or any of its characters
"Ne, Oishi, don't you think Tezuka-buchou's acting a bit weird today?" Eiji commented as he and his doubles partner took a sip of water while changing courts. "He hasn't given us any laps apart from the 10 warm up ones and Momo stopped practising about 10 minutes ago." He explained.
Oishi turned to look at his best friend who was currently watching Echizen's game against Taka-san. He'd been best friends with Tezuka for ages; he could read the other boy's emotions almost as well as he knew his doubles partner. Unfortunately, his friend's current situation was something that Oishi couldn't help or even offer advice on. And with an adversary like Fuji, all Oishi could do was wish him luck.
"It won't last."
Oishi jumped as the data collector's voice joined them.
"There is a 97 chance Fuji will be assigned laps within the next five minutes."
"Saa, Tezuka, don't you think Ryoma-kun looks so angelic there on the courts?"
Tezuka remained expressionless. So, Fuji knew he had been seeing the freshman outside of tennis. He shouldn't be surprised; the tensai did have a knack for finding things he'd prefer to keep hidden. He was, however, determined to be on his guard, Fuji wasn't going to sit back and let him take Echizen without a fight, not even if he was the buchou. Which meant Fuji was planning something, something that was likely to end badly for Tezuka.
They fell silent to watch as Echizen took another game from the Burning player.
"I'm have dinner with Ryoma-kun today."
Tezuka wanted to raise an eyebrow but refrained from indulging. It was Fuji he would be exposing himself to after all. The boy was only 12; surely his parents would expect him home for dinner. Then again, Echizen Nanjiroh wasn't a conventional parent, if what Ryuzaki-sensai said was true, the samurai would probably encourage his son to spend his nights partying on the streets.
"Would you like to join us Tezuka?"
Tezuka gave up; Fuji's mind was an enigma, one no one could ever hope to unravel. What kind of a person invited his rival to share a date with his love interest!
Fuji continued, unconcerned that Tezuka gave no indication of having heard him, still smiling cheerily. "After all, I don't think Ryoma-kun trusts my cooking, and I don't want him having too much take-away, they're bad for his health. He'll eat if you trust my cooking."
"You're cooking for him?" Tezuka allowed himself to ask. Fuji cooking was strange enough for him to query innocently, especially if he was to be the specimen.
"Yes, his parents and cousin are away for the weekend, Rinko-san asked me to keep an eye on Ryoma-kun, make sure he ate properly and the like."
Ohh, now Fuji was rubbing it in. Tezuka tried not to let it bother him, Echizen didn't seem to be the type to let family opinions affect him.
The two stopped talking as the match in front of them finished and the subject of the conversation walked towards them, quirking his eyebrow as Fuji passed him his water bottle.
"Ryoma-kun, we were just discussing what we'll be having for dinner tonight."
Fuji rubbed the younger boy's back as he choked on the water.
"Syuusuke, my mother didn't mean you have to have every meal with me, she just meant make sure I don't die or something." The freshman rolled his eyes.
Tezuka clenched his fist unintentionally as he mentally narrowed his eyes. Syuusuke? When were they so close as to be on a first name basis? The only person who ever called Fuji by his given name was his sister! Fuji caught his eye and opened his eyes slightly to fix Tezuka with piercing blue eyes. "Well Tezuka, do you want to join us?"
Echizen turned curious eyes onto the stoic buchou. Tezuka made the mistake of meeting his eyes… he saw confusion, embarrassment and maybe, could it be, just possibly a little hope. Tezuka tore his eyes away from the golden pools when he felt Fuji's wide open gaze on him, studying his every reaction, and stared Fuji full on, letting his eyes answer the tensai.
"Fuji, 30 laps for not concentrating on practice." He uttered perfectly calm and collected. "I'll see you tonight Echizen."
Let the war begin!
Echizen Ryoma was confused. Nothing was making sense. Everyone had seemed a bit off ever since Fuji had asked him out on a "date" but Kikumaru and Momo had gone back to teasing him almost straight afterwards. Lately though, it was Oishi-senpau that had been giving him strange looks, almost as he felt sorry or sympathetic and boy wonder had no idea why. Nor did he know why Fuji-senpai insisted on being called Syuusuke and liked to mess his hair up at least once every practice. Or why buchou suddenly decided to play matches with him on a regular basis but made sure they only played out of practice. All in all, those three were acting strange but Ryoma decided to leave them be; whatever was happening, it suited him just fine and didn't look like they were being coerced or anything like that.
Well almost just fine, the fact that Fuji-senpai had just invited himself and buchou for dinner was highly exasperating for the youth who just wanted to get some burger and fries then curl up with Karupin in front of the TV. On the other hand, he might get a game of tennis and a Japanese meal. Maybe this evening wouldn't be so bad after all.
Fuji hummed to himself as he bustled about in the kitchen of the Echizen residence. Ryoma had looked simply resigned when he had shown up with a bag of groceries. Fuji chuckled to himself; it seemed that the freshman was starting to accept him as a routine part of his life.
He stuck his head into the living room to tell them dinner would be ready in 10 minutes, but stopped to take in the scene before him. Tezuka had arrived soon after him and had offered to help with the cooking but Fuji had declined. After Fuji promised not to add anything not included in the original recipe, Tezuka had followed Ryoma into the living room and the two had their eyes glued to the tennis match on TV, Tezuka leaning against the wall, Ryoma sprawled on the floor while stroking Karupin.
How like Tezuka, here was a golden opportunity for him to get to know the younger boy while Ryoma was relaxed in his own home but Tezuka, being Tezuka, never even thought on the pros and cons of his current circumstances. Ha, Fuji would bet on Yuuta that the buchou didn't even know he had a distinct advantage over Fuji when it came to Echizen, but Fuji wasn't going to tell him, not yet anyway.
Dinner was more or less a peaceful affair with Fuji doing most of the talking. Ryoma found that he wasn't really required to pay attention, just eat and listen quietly, which wasn't hard seeing as he knew nothing about the subject Fuji was talking of. Most of the talking seemed to be directed at buchou anyway. Tezuka on the other hand, was beginning to regret antagonising Fuji.
"Ne, Tezuka, did you hear that Hyoutei's two doubles pairs have finally come out and admitted they're in relationships?"
Tezuka indicated he had not, really, did Fuji think he spent time learning all the gossip in the tennis world? If it was anything that would affect tennis performance, Inui would inform him.
"Saa, I though it was just those who play doubles at first, what with the Rikkai D1 pair and Eiji and Oishi but it seems that many of the singles players are either in and about to admit they are in relationships too." Fuji carried on.
"Oh?" Tezuka finally settled on, an uncomfortable feeling setting in the pit of his stomach. What was Fuji up to now?
Fuji smiled brightly. "Sanada and Yukimura will be as soon as Sanada pops the question and Atobe and Akutagawa when Jiroh gets tired of waiting for Atobe's enlightenment and decides to take things into his own hands." Fuji said airily, not seeming to care that Tezuka was looking at him with a glimmer of fear and Ryoma with a hint of curiosity. "Anyway, do you know anyone in the junior high tennis circle who is getting involved with another?" he manoeuvred skilfully into the awkward topic, daring Tezuka to return his shot.
Tezuka cleared his throat and drank some tea slowly, buying some time to set his thoughts straight. What did Fuji want or expect him to answer? Yes Fuji, as a matter of fact, I'm hoping to beat you to Echizen! Is that what Fuji wanted to force him to say?
Ryoma looked up from his food, which was surprisingly tasty. Buchou had fallen silent after Fuji-senpai's last question, did he know anyone? Why was Fuji-senpai smiling so dangerously at buchou and why was buchou's jaw twitching? Ryoma was suddenly aware of the tension in the room and desperately wanted to leave the two older boys to whatever dispute they were having. Why were they arguing at his house anyway?
Tezuka swallowed. "What each person chooses to do in their spare time is their business." He said in a neutral voice.
"Oh? I think it becomes my business to know when that person's plan clashes with mine." Fuji's eyes were wide open now and he was grasping Ryoma's left wrist rather tightly.
"Syuusuke, itai…" Ryoma stopped as he felt another hand cover Fuji-senpai's and turned to look at the taller boy. "Buchou…"
Tezuka glared at Fuji while trying to pry Ryoma's hand from Fuji's grasp. "Fuji, you're hurting him."
Fuji blinked, then let go of Ryoma suddenly.
"Ah, gomen, Ryoma-kun, I got a little carried away by the moment."
"Eh? Fine, whatever." Ryoma went to massage his wrist … only to find buchou hadn't let go yet. "Erm, buchou?"
Tezuka trained his best "I'm not happy with you, this isn't over and you'll be running laps until you beg for mercy" look on Fuji before turning his usual calm mask to Echizen. Following the freshman's eyes to their still joined hands, Tezuka made a show of inspecting the damage to his wrist before letting go.
Tezuka pinched the bridge of his nose as he replayed the night's events through his head in the privacy of his own room. Tonight had not gone well and he had let Fuji get under his skin. He didn't get it. What was Fuji doing? It doesn't matter, he thought to himself as he prepared for bed, in the end, it's up to Echizen, and Echizen will not be influenced by anyone. But until Echizen made a choice, he and Fuji were rivals competing for the same prize, which meant his routine was about to go to hell.
Fuji was also contemplating the night's events. He didn't mean to scare Echizen, he just wanted to show Tezuka he was serious about this and meant to stake his interests clearly. Oh well, what's done is done, at least Ryoma hadn't seemed too bothered. It was quite endearing actually, that the younger boy was the prize they were both fighting for yet he was oblivious to his two suitor's intentions. Really, boy wonder was too innocent for his own good, but Fuji didn't mind correcting that and initiating the boy into the complexities of relationships.
Ryoma frowned as he absently petted Karupin. His senpai and buchou had left after helping do the dishes. Although Fuji-senpai was smiling with his eyes closed again and Tezuka-buchou had gone back to monosyllabic answers, the debacle at dinner stuck in his mind. Ryoma had already worked out that Fuji-senpai had some sort of interest in him, whether that was a good thing or not was still to be determined. Tezuka-buchou on the other hand… Why had he been so pissed off with Fuji senpai? And what was that Fuji-senpai said about clashing plans…
Ryoma shot upright. Could it be…? A small smile crept onto his face. So, he was affecting buchou more than the average tennis prodigy. But how far was Tezuka unsettled?
Suddenly Ryoma couldn't wait until tennis practice.
"Oi, Echizen! You're late again, buchou will make you run laps until you collapse!" Horio called as he approached the courts, his white cap pulled low to hide the mischievous gleam in his amber eyes. Ryoma ignored the other first year's attempts at conversations and headed to where buchou was standing with the other regulars.
"Ohayo Syuusuke, Kunimitsu."
For the second time in two weeks, silence fell over the Seigaku tennis courts in the middle of practice. All those present held their breaths at the late comer's impudence and waited for buchou's wrath to fall upon him. Tezuka sighed mentally, soEchizen had worked it out from last night. Oh well, it couldn't be helped now, at least he didn't have to restrict himself so much now that Echizen knew his motives. Besides, it was always good to be unpredictable and keep his team on their toes as well as keeping Inui from getting too confident in his data.
"Ah, Echizen, you'll be playing Oishi in a warm up match next. Don't be late again."
Ryoma lifted his Fila cap a fraction so that Tezuka could see the gleam in his eyes. "Hai."
Make that the third time in two weeks.
Fuji's smile widened, life was about to get interesting.
Review? I'm going to start thinking about how to end this or else it'll drag out to after my exams and summer holidays. So give me your view? Please?
