Re-cap: "...I'm a girl."
----
[Chapter t w o - The Tension
----
"You...wha..." Eiji stared, dumbstruck, before he gave a feeble laugh. "You're kidding, right...Fuji...?"
Fuji remained silent, staring at Eiji's blazer buttons in interest instead.
Then Eiji collapsed.
It took a while for Fuji to hoist Eiji on to her bed, where he still laid knocked out. It was somewhat dramatic, but a surprisingly expected outcome. Eiji and Fuji and been best friends for a while now, and to suddenly find out that his best friend was...
"I'm sorry, Eiji..." she whispered, grimacing slightly.
-
Eiji woke up to unfamiliar yet familiar surroundings (if that makes sense). He vaguely recognised them as-
"Fuji..." he breathed out. As soon as he said the name, Fuji- or whoever she was- walked into the door, wearing casual, slightly baggy jeans and a large T-shirt, just like always. Eiji caught a glimpse of his- her eyes (he tried to remind himself he was now officially a she in his head), blue like always, except with a much more softer approach to them. She knelt down beside the bed Eiji was on and sighed.
"I expected something like this to happen yet..." Fuji (or whatever) ran her fingers through her tossled brown hair. Eiji noted that when he had known Fuji as a guy, he had been taken in by Fuji's long and slender fingers. "...I really don't know what to say now."
She stared at Eiji expectantly, hoping for some sort of reaction- even shouting or a look of disgust would have been good- but Eiji just stared almost as though in a daze. He had been friends with ... her for most of their Junior High life. And the fact that she didn't even tell him, even as best friends, that she was a she...
Eiji clenched his eyes and got off the bed, picking up his bag before striding to the door and walking out. She, known as Fuji, cringed as she heard the front door close with rather surprising force, before she leaned against the bed and exhaled a breath.
'Mada mada dane.' Ryoma's voice chorused in her ears.
'Mada mada dane I am indeed, Echizen...'
-
"Fuji's not here again, eh?"
"Nope..."
Eiji's large grin wore down to an uncomfortable expression as he remembered the day before. Then he jolted on the bench when he heard his name called out.
"Eiji, have you seen Fuji as of late?" asked Oishi, his doubles partner in the team. Eiji contemplated on what to do. He definitely didn't have the right to expose Fuji's secret, no matter how confused and rather betrayed he felt. And it wouldn't be wise to say that he hadn't, as Momoshiro had saw him take the path to his- her house. He nodded his head with a wide smile.
"Un! He's not feeling that well, nya, so he told me to tell you he'll be back in a couple of days," he lied, though everyone seemed convinced by his usual, bubbly character.
"It's rare for Fuji-senpai to be sick," commented Momoshiro, tapping his racquet on his shoulder. "But lately he's been taking days off..." He then scoffed, picking up a ball and smashing it against the fence (which, might I add, had a nice, tennis-sized hole now). "Maybe he really is a werewolf! Hah!"
-
The day had ended, and Eiji, despite his distaste at the very name now, had missed the presence of his close friend who was now resting at her house, suffering from who knows what (Eiji lacks education here, clearly). From the classroom to the tennis courts, Eiji albeit his jubilant self had himself constantly thinking about his honey-brown-coloured-hair friend- or former friend, he really didn't know. Now he was setting out to the school gates, where a faint shade of golden yellow tinted the sky, signalling sundown.
Eiji was about to stride down the path to his house when he suddenly heard a quick honking sound. He turned around, seeing a red sports car waiting on the side of the road. "Yumiko-nee-chan?"
The window rolled down and there was Fuji's remarkably beautiful sister, her smile painstakingly reminding Eiji of Fuji's own everlasting one. "Do you have some time?"
He nodded and got in.
----
[Chapter t h r e e - The Talk, 1:2
Seated in the undisturbed corner of a cozy and well-lit café, the two had ordered two hot cocoas before preparing to start a conversation. Yumiko removed her shades, shaking back locks of her brown hair while Eiji took a sip of his drink.
"About Shuuko..." She didn't have to explain- it was obvious that he had found out, and the chat was to be expected. He cringed slightly before nodding his head. "She..." Yumiko surreptitiously glanced at Eiji for a moment to see his reaction before looking down and continuing, "...she meant no harm."
Now Eiji started to speak.
"Yumiko-nee-chan, I understand that you as his- her," he corrected himself through clenched teeth, "older sister may have to cover up some things for her, but-" He stopped, his face rather flabbergasted. "I don't understand why he- she- had to hide this form me...! We've been friends for so long now, can't Fuji-"
"Eiji-kun." Yumiko's gentle voice and touch stopped him in mid-sentence. "Shuuko wanted to see how strong your friendship is (Eiji scoffed) and it was difficult for her to trust people at the stage when she moved here, to Seishun Gakuen from Chiba."
"What do you mean?"
"Shuuko was..." she paused, struggling to find the right words. "...well, in short, Shuuko didn't have a lot of true friends in Chiba, only one childhood friend who currently attends Rokkaku Junior High. Shuuko, as you know..." Yumiko opened her eyes slowly, revealing the identical magnificent blue sheen her siblings possessed. "...is a tensai, a genius who has the ability to excel in much more than the standard person. When she took tennis seriously...she took advantage of her capabilities and was accepted into the tennis team you are in."
Looking back, Eiji vaguely recalled the time when talk was all around the school campus of the genius bishounen (pretty boy). All the saw was the so-called bishounen playing tennis on the courts, trying out with some other new transfer students. At that time, the new students were wearing casual dress.
...Ah.
-.-"
Eiji felt a sweat-drop form; Fuji had been gender-mistaken.
"Don't tell me Fuji (Yumiko smiled as Eiji dropped his rather distant tone) was...pressured by the student body?" said Eiji in disbelief.
Yumiko only smiled.
Eiji felt another sweat-drop on the back of his head. "Fuji doesn't seem like the type to let things go on as they are though..." he mumbled. Yumiko heartily disagreed. "Shuuko- or Syusuke as you'd more commonly know him as," she added quickly at sight of Eiji's scrunched up thinking expression, and Eiji smiled back gratefully, "started to be more confident...only after meeting more friends."
The café was slowly beginning to quieten down, and the two took this as a cue to finish up.
"Anyway, after Syusuke realised she was known as more of a boy (Yumiko giggled) than a girl, she seemed to have mapped an idea and used that to her advantage too. She's a clever person, remember, though I still remain hidden in the dark when it comes to what she's using this gender-swap for; but otou-san and okaa-san are fine with it along with me, and Yuuta..." She paused. "Well, never mind about what his opinion is! Maybe the reason is for tennis, maybe it's for something else, I really do not know. But it doesn't really matter in this conversation, now does it?"
Eiji shook his head no, even though he was interested. He knew better than to bounce-back words of a member of the Fuji family.
"In that case, we better go before it gets dark- send your parents apologies from me for keeping you after school so late, Eiji-kun."
"Okay...Yumiko-nee-chan?"
"Hai?"
Eiji gave his boy-ish smile. "Thank you for helping clear things up."
"No problem at all, Eiji-kun." 'You are important to Shuuko, afterall...'
----
[Chapter f o u r - The Talk 2:2
"Ah, Fuji-kun, you are back in class!" remarked their homeroom teacher jovially at the sight of the honey-haired genius. "I hope you are feeling well again!"
Fuji Shuuko flashed a smile. "Thank you, sensei."
She felt just as secure as ever when she entered the classroom- she had every right to be. Nobody even suspected anything, and haven't done so ever since she entered Seishun Gakuen. And she knew she could cope with basically any physical attack aimed at her, though there were no incidents where that ever occured seeing as she was one of the most popular...guys in the school.
Well, Fuji was a tensai afterall.
The only reason she felt insecure was when Eiji's presence had slid into the room, as bubbly as ever, and yet the distance felt between the two was unwanted for Fuji. Fuji didn't like it at all, and usually Fuji would get what she wanted when she wanted using either blackmail or other means which might not all be legal.
But since it was Eiji...she'd let it slide.
If she could just figure out an appropriate way to explain everything, she thought. She could always try the 'going for the kill' attack, which Fuji would usually use in cases not regarding his best friend. The problem remained as prominient as ever in that sentence.
She sighed. This was troublesome.
Dawdling down the halls of the school after a fine 2 hours worth of lessons, Fuji decided it was up to Eiji. She couldn't make him do anything he didn't want to. She didn't want to ruin their relationship, though it was already hanging on a thin string. But she must make sure that he doesn't tell the student body about who she actually was, albeit knowing he wouldn't do such a thing to his friends.
And maybe during this time, she decided, it was best to end their bonds and go on with their lives. Eiji could be a troublesome obstacle in the future and may possibly become a hindrance with her secret. She couldn't take chances, not when she was on a roll to become one of the greatest tennis players in Japan as well as something else.
So, during lunch hour, Fuji cornered Eiji behind the building and stared at him through steely, piercing eyes.
"I understand if you do not want to co-operate with me," she started, "But I must ask of you- just to make sure, that is- that you don't say anything. Ever since entering here, mistakenly into the boys team, I realized my goals and ambitions, and-"
Fuji paused as she caught sight of Eiji trying to hide back a rather wide smile. Well, wasn't that encouraging for her to continue? "What's the matter?"
"Fuji...you actually thought I wouldn't co-operate? More so, you though I would tell?!" Eiji gave his ringing, cheery laugh. "What kind of best friend are you?!" He continued to laugh, almost as though in relief. The weight on his mind had been lifted off, and he could be at ease again. He opened one eye, still chuckling, and peered at Fuji. "Fuji, even though I doubted myself and you at the start, I've come to realise we're friends anyway, no matter what gender we are. Heck, I'd dress like a girl now if you want, but don't complain, okay?"
Fuji stared at Eiji with her dazzling blue eyes, almost as though in a mistaken daze. Did he just say they were still friends? Did he just blow her idea of severing ties with him into little bits while also burning the remains into ashes?
Heck, Eiji even got a vacuum and sucked up those ashes. The 'severing ties' plan had crumbled down...
...but she didn't care, strangely enough. She was so sure she didn't mind letting Eiji go.
"I..." Fuji was loss for words. Eiji just grinned and stretched his arms behind his head. "Ne, let's go to Hirosue after school, ne? We can talk more then if you want. But now, I'm hungry!"
With a pounding heart and a rather sudden feeling of happiness and relief, Fuji only stuttered out a "un" to answer back Eiji.
Then, feeling uncharacteristically shy, she held out her lunchbox to him, glancing away. "Let's share, like usual."
Eiji grinned. "Yay! Thank you, Fujiko!"
A smile graced Fuji's lips.
'No...thank you, Eiji.'
----
A/N - Slow update. Rather crap update, really. But I'm pretty sure the future chapters are going to be more eventful, since I'm getting out of the way the boring chats.
Around chapter 4 or 5...Fuji will say something interesting.
Thank you for your patience. Flames, Contructive Criticism and general comments are welcome. But if flaming, keep polite.
じゃ ね。
-Updated 22.11.07-