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Stuck in the Middle With You
Prince of Tennis
Fuji x Oishi

The day Fuji walked off the tennis court after casually kissing Oishi in front of team changed things irrevocably. He outed them with his seemingly careless gesture, but nothing Fuji ever did was careless.

They had begun to date in their first year of high school. Fuji wasn't quite sure who approached who, but one day Oishi had been a casual acquaintance, the boy who was best friends with his best friends, and the next Oishi was his boyfriend.

It was a subtle thing. Being gay wasn't easy, since it seriously limited dating prospects. Fuji had known for as long as he could remember that he liked other boys, but it didn't mean that other boys liked him. Tezuka was handsome, Eiji was cute, and both were straight as the lines on a tennis court. It was an instinct he had, the legendary "gaydar," that told him that his best friends would never be interested. Their eyes never lingered on anyone in the locker rooms, and whenever Tezuka blushed slightly when a girl brushed against him, or Eiji began rambling about his latest date, it drove home the point. He knew that. He accepted that, and knew that they would never be more than friends.

Oishi, though, was a different story.

Their eyes met and caught occasionally, a secret unspoken seeming to pass between them. Are you? Oishi's eyes would seem to ask, and Fuji's smile would change slightly, acknowledging a kindred spirit.

Then one night they found themselves alone in the locker room, long after the others had left, and before either of them really realized what was happening, they were making out. Oishi had tasted like peppermint, and had been a bit clumsy, but Fuji was sure his own kisses hadn't been the most experienced, either.

It took half an hour to find the willpower to pull himself out of the sheer bliss of being held and stroked and feeling so damn good, but eventually he managed to break off a kiss that had involved a lot of tongue and hands wandering to places that really weren't proper. Both of them had been breathing raggedly, and Oishi looked a bit stunned and a bit scared.

"Now what?" Oishi had asked.

"I have a great video collection. Do you like foreign films?" Fuji had replied.

Oishi had blinked, then nodded. That night, they started dating.

Inviting Oishi home had been innocent enough, and it had taken time to learn about the other. Despite the fact they were on the same team, and both were extremely close to Tezuka and Kikumaru, neither really knew each other that well. They remedied that problem, in between sessions of cuddling.

On the courts, though, nothing changed. They remained as they always did, the opposites sides of a square composed of themselves and Kikumaru and Tezuka, related but never touching. It was an unspoken agreement, the concern of what would happen if they came out, the concern that others perceptions of them would irrevocably change. Neither wanted to see fear in Kikumaru's eyes, or carefully controlled disgust in Tezuka's. They doubted that anyone would approve.

It was hard to find time to spend together while maintaining the secrecy. Fuji's house was their refuge, since Yuuta was still in boarding school and Yumiko had moved out. His parents could have cared less what their oldest was doing, as long as his grades were good and he was still winning in tennis.

He wasn't sure if he loved Oishi or not, but he definitely liked him, and that was rare. Fuji liked few people. Oishi was like him in some respect, seemingly gentle, but with a spirit of diamond, glittering and unbreakable. Oishi had depths that he found fascinating, because every time he thought he finally knew the quiet doubles player, Oishi would surprise him.

Oishi was as stubborn as he was, and despite his nervous and sweet temperament, he would not bend to Fuji's will. He was one of the people who would stand up when Fuji pushed him too hard, and Fuji found him challenging.

Before they knew it, they were in their second year, and still dating. Fuji liked the physical touch, finding the warmth of Oishi's hands appealing. Gradually their awkwardness vanished, and they grew more daring. How to have sex with another male wasn't something that was taught in schools, and it had been something they approached cautiously. It wasn't about love, not for either, but both were curious and wanted more. Still, they were both virgins, and that presented a problem.

They'd heard second hand stories from people, locker room gossip, which made crude innuendoes, but the mechanics of it had been different. They had managed to figure it out, in a fumbling sort of way, but their first time wasn't the fireworks and whistles they had hoped for. But they were tennis players, so practicing was already part of their philosophy. They weren't quite sure if they were doing it right but whatever they did felt damn good, and that was what mattered.

When third year rolled around, Oishi returned to his position as vice captain, and Fuji secured the third singles slot, since by this time Echizen Ryoma was back and already better than he was. It bugged him a bit, and he couldn't complain to Tezuka or Kikumaru, but he could talk to Oishi. Oishi became his confidant, and he found he liked having someone to talk to. Oishi had a way of soothing people, and he knew that Oishi found his oscillating moods endlessly fascinating.

Maybe that was when he fell a bit in love.

Fuji was one to keep secrets, but he wasn't one to hide. Oishi was a person who was very open with his feelings, and sometimes Fuji would catch him staring at him across the tennis court. It was infuriating, to be constrained by the mores of society, about how being gay was evil, and one day Fuji had enough, and decided to act.

He didn't speak to Oishi beforehand, because he knew how his lover would react.

It was a casual thing, and carefully planned. Toward the end of practice on a Saturday, he asked Tezuka for permission to leave early. Tezuka hadn't been happy, but the request had been granted. Oishi, who had been talking to their captain at the time, wished Fuji a pleasant weekend.

"Sure think, Oishi," Fuji said, leaning over and brushing a quick kiss across his cheek before vacating the suddenly silent court. He didn't wait to watch the explosion, knowing that there would be one.

Oishi had come over that night, and he had been gloriously angry. They had their first fight.

"Why did you do that, Fuji?"

"Because I'm tired of hiding who I am. How did they take it?"

"Some of them thought you were joking."

"Only some?"

"The ones who know you best know you were serious."

"I was."

"Fuji, I didn't want to be outed! I have college and scholarships, and what will my family think..."

"You're gay. I'm gay. That's not going to change."

Oishi had been exploded then, worried about his future. He had always had dreams of an understanding wife and a child or two, but with his actions, Fuji had very likely wiped it out.

Tennis practice on Monday was nearly unbearable. Tezuka ordered them both to do 100 laps, and Kikumaru wasn't able to look either of them in the face. It was the start of the alienation from the team.

The team fractured. Momoshiro was highly homophobic, and Kikumaru was angry at them for keeping secrets. Tezuka said nothing, but he began to spend less time with the both of them. Inui, with his incessant scribbling, was perhaps the most annoying.

"I hear that regular sex increases tennis performance," he said to Fuji one day. "From my data, you and Oishi started having sex in February of last year."

The strain and stress shown of their relationship. Being out in the open was hard, because the label of "pretty boy" that Fuji had always tried to distance himself from was now the polite thing he was called. Oishi let many things was over him, but the day an underclassmen dropped the tennis team for fear it would turn him queer was the final straw.

He dumped Fuji, but he was polite about it.

"I'm sorry, Fuji, but it's just not working out."

By then, Fuji was numb. Graduation was on the horizon, and the world was opening up. He wasn't sure if Oishi was his first love or any kind of love at all. All Fuji wanted was to go back to the days when Oishi had been the man he had barely known, an acquaintance who he heard about through Kikumaru, or who Tezuka would occasional be occupied with. He didn't want to go to restaurant and think that hamaguri no osui mono was Oishi's favorite food, or remember the feel of Oishi's hands on his body just before he fell asleep.

But he couldn't undo the memories.

The day they graduated, he gave each of his teammates a photo of the entire team he had taken back in ninth grade. Kawamura was in it, but aside from that, the team had stayed the same. He and Oishi were standing far apart in it with Tezuka and Kikumaru between them, which was how things should have remained.