20 Random Facts About Kikumaru Eiji
By aishuu
Rating: Borderline R
Disclaimer: Konomi's, of course.
Note: My usual toys (Kirihara, Tezuka, Fuji, and Oishi) have already been covered, so I decided to write something for Eiji.

1. When he was little, Eiji had a cavity in one of his baby teeth. The experience of getting a filling forever imprinted the importance of good dental hygiene. He's actually scarily obsessive about it, although he pretends it's because he likes toothpaste.

2. If Eiji lived in someplace where it was vogue to take children to counseling, he would have been diagnosed almost immediately with ADHD. Since he lives in Japan, his parents and teachers merely yell at him, thinking he should learn how to control his impulses better - at least until they toss their hands up in the air giving him up as a lost cause even as they smile at his antics.

3. Eiji isn't always in a good mood, but he's learned that people won't be as ready to welcome him if he's being cranky. He tries his best to keep smiling no matter what.

4. He lives for their approval, after all. He is the fifth child in his family, and he's carved himself a niche as being the "fun one."

5. Eiji's family isn't as well off as most of the students who go to Seigaku, but he's never wanted for anything. There may be times his parents can't afford the latest game set or his allowance is notable smaller than others, but that's okay. He'll just go over to a friend's house and use theirs.

6. Eiji likes sharing a room with his older brother, except when he doesn't. Sometimes he wonders what it would be like to have a space of his own, where no one else was welcome. He imagines all the cool things he could do with his own place. Then he falls to sleep, lulled by the sound of his brother's gentle breathing.

7. If there's one thing Eiji is scared of, it's being alone. He doesn't know how to handle solitude.

8. While many would consider him closest to Oishi, Eiji knows that Fuji is really his best friend - or maybe Momoshiro if he's feeling particularly desperate. There's just some things he can't tell his partner, because silly as it sounds, he wants to keep Oishi's respect more than anything else.

9. When he first met Fuji, he thought the other boy was weird. Further acquaintance has reaffirmed that belief, but he still likes him.

10. He likes all his teammates, although there are times when he wants to smack Echizen Ryoma upside the head. Confidence is one thing, arrogance is another completely. Towards the end of nationals matches, he finally got fed up enough to act on the impulse. A quick, satisfying swat evoked a yelp of pain, and Eiji indulged in a smile. His team thought he'd just taken a joke too far, and he got away without punishment.

11. No one really takes him seriously, and he gets away with saying the most outrageous things because of that. Once he asked an unpopular English teacher if women with chin hair were considered attractive in America. The next day, she showed up with traces of wax along her neck.

12. When he graduates, he and the rest of the regulars offer buttons of their uniform jackets to Ryuuzaki-sensei tied to a key chain. The old lady smiles and looks about ready to tear up, but she quickly turns brusque, telling them to eat the celebration cake she made. He likes knowing that at least part of his tennis team will remain at Seigaku.

13. He's not sad to graduate, because he can see all the possibilities in front of him. Even though Eiji lives very much in the now, he has tons of wonderful dreams. He's sure they'll come true, because he's never faced serious failure before. A lost match or two is nothing in the scheme of things; they won the nationals, after all, so there is nothing he can't do if he sets his mind to it.

14. As he grows older, he gradually stops using cute exclamations. He still occasionally tags someone with a fun nickname, but as a high schooler, he finds the pressure intense to "act his age."

15. He's the first member of the current Seigaku squad to start dating girls, and to have sex. It's during the summer vacation of his first year of high school, and a girl who is visiting her family in Tokyo catches his attention. Sex is fun, and he enjoys being close to her, exploring her curves and making her giggle with well-placed licks. For a whole week, he thinks he is in love. Then the girl slips from his mind as he is enveloped back into tennis practice as fall returns.

16. He's also the first member (or second, depending on how you look at it) to date boys.

17. He is not attracted to Fuji, no matter how much they flirt. Eiji has self-preservation instincts, and all of them scream whenever Fuji gets too close.

18. Eiji develops a bit of a crush on Tezuka, although he'll never act on it. Their captain is as straight as the lines on the tennis court, but a small part of him fantasizes what it might be like, to be pinned down under Tezuka's strong body. There's just something about Tezuka that takes his breath away... wondering.

19. There's a saying in the Seigaku Tennis Club: if you want to make a school announcement, just tell Eiji and give him five minutes. He's not sure if he's offended by this or not, since he's notorious for his inability to keep his mouth shut, but he does know how to keep a secret. He never tells anyone about the night Fuji showed up on his doorstep at two a.m. without a word of explanation, and he never teases Momoshiro about the time he caught him with An.

20. There's a few other secrets he keeps to himself. It isn't until Oishi is twenty that he finally discovered the reason for the bandage on Eiji's cheek.