Flash Effects
Summary: Before classes start for Fuji, Atobe, and Shiraishi, Fuji finds out something no one can predict. Then, all kinds of problems start popping up.
Warnings: Shounen-ai
Pairings: Shiraishi x Fuji, Tezuka x Atobe, Chitose x Yukimura
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.
Yaaaaay! We're finally at, like, the climax of the story!!!!! Thanks for bearing with me, everyone! And thank you to my dea reviewers, of course. I may not get as many reviews as, say, a Tezuka and Fuji story, but the reviews I do get, they touch my heart dearly. Okay, no more sappiness! On with the story...which might have sappiness, too:D Please read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter 6:
Fuji heard a knock on his door. Well, actually, it was Shiraishi's door, since he was staying in his boyfriend's room. His boyfriend, who was currently at an extra-curricular class.
Fuji opened the door to find Atobe standing there. "What do you want?" Fuji asked him.
"I need to talk with you," he replied.
"Well, I don't need to talk with you," Fuji said smartly. He started to close the door, but Atobe stopped it with his hand, which was surprisingly strong. Fuji let his grip go and let the other boy come into the room.
They both sat on the bed. "Listen, about Tezuka, I'm sorry," Atobe said.
"Sorry won't make up for what you've done," Fuji said. "You ruined my life. I know it's partially Tezuka's fault, but you didn't tell me. Why is that, Atobe? Why didn't you tell?"
Atobe looked at Fuji. He was keeping a straight face the entire time. He's strong, Atobe thought. "I didn't want to deal with you when my life was already perfect."
"So you just wanted to make your life perfect at the expense of someone else's. That's so sick, Atobe," Fuji said. "Yukimura knew, you knew, Tezuka knew, and yet, none of you three told me. They say it's your fault. They say that you needed to be taught a lesson. They say you're the one who needed to tell me."
"They're right," Atobe said and sighed. "I'm sorry. It's my fault."
"It is," Fuji said. "It is your fault. You and Tezuka are at fault. But you say you didn't want to deal with me. Three years ago, when I transferred to Hyotei, I thought that maybe the people there, even though they may all be rich bastards, maybe, they would be more honest than the people at Seigaku.
"I went on believing that for three years, and everyone proved that they were honest. Until now. You, one person, has been lying to me for three years. Atobe, not saying anything is the same thing as lying. I have been living a lie. Or I have been living in darkness."
"Fuji, I know," Atobe said. "I thought that when I told you, you would have made my life a living hell."
"It would've probably been better if you'd have told me then, not now," Fuji said. "Then, the only fault you had was the fact that you stole my boyfriend and my life, but now, your faults are one more. You have lied to me, and kept me living in darkness, not knowing anything about it."
"Fuji," Atobe said, "can't we just forgive, forget, and move on?"
Fuji blinked and stared at him with a hard gleam in his eyes. "You think I can forget that easily?" He looked out the window, the other direction. "Forgive, but don't forget. That was what Yukimura told me just yesterday."
"You don't have to forget and forgive at the same time. Wait until the forget part takes its natural course," Atobe said. "You don't have to ever forget if you don't want to." He looked down. "I know I wouldn't."
Fuji looked at Atobe. They sat in silence for a while, thinking about what they had each just said to each other. After a while, Fuji finally said, "Thanks. Thank you a lot."
Atobe looked at Fuji, surprised. "You're welcome," he replied.
Just as Atobe left, Shiraishi walked in. "Well," he said, "That was short."
Fuji looked up. "What happened to your 'extra-curricular activity'?" he asked, eyeing his boyfriend sarcastically.
"It…fell over and died?" Shiraishi said.
Fuji rolled his eyes. "How did you know?"
"How did I know? He did it at my command," Shiraishi said.
Fuji's eyes were now downcast. "You mean he didn't do it willingly?" he asked in a small voice.
"He did it willingly, but not on his own time," Shiraishi replied.
"Oh," was all Fuji said.
"Maybe I shouldn't have told you that," Shiraishi said quietly. "Sorry."
Fuji looked up and smiled. "No, I thank you for telling me. I wouldn't want to be hearing any more lies." Fuji's cell phone rang at that moment. Fuji looked at the screen, and it said 'Kintarou'. He smiled and answered it. "Hello?"
"Syu-chan!!!!!" Kintarou's happy voice shouted excitedly over the line. Fuji almost had to pull the phone away from his year.
"Yeah?" Fuji said.
"Sen-chan! He's dating Yukimura!!!!" Kintarou said.
"I figured so," Fuji said. "How did you find out?"
"I beat it out of him."
"What?!"
"Kidding! I challenged him to a tennis match of course! And of course I, the great Tooyama Kintarou won! And he told me!"
Fuji laughed. "Your life revolves around tennis, doesn't it?"
"Duh!"
"You're a lot like Mada-mada-kun, then," Fuji said. "Except for the fact that you're a lot more pleasant and easy to talk to. And loud."
"I wonder if I could beat him now," Kintarou said.
"Well then, you'd be better than the #1 pro!" Fuji said. "If you could, I'd be impressed. I mean, if I could, it would be amazing. But I don't think I can."
"Aww, don't think that way, Syu-chan!"
Fuji smiled. "I guess I should just keep dreaming, then." He then said, "I have to go now, tell the couple that I send them their best regards."
"Hey, hey," Shiraishi said. "I don't like to be left in the dark. What's going on?"
Fuji hung up his phone. "It has to do with Senri and Yukimura."
Shiraishi's eyes widened. "No way!"
"Yeah way," Fuji replied. "Don't they make a cute couple?"
"That's funny! I can't believe I never noticed."
"I think they just got together. Probably when Yukimura moved here over the summer."
"Still. How did you know?"
"Yesterday. They were letting their guards down, and Kintarou and I decided to take advantage of that."
"That's my perceptive little Syu-chan," Shiraishi said, smiling.
Just then, Fuji's phone rang again. Fuji thought it might be Kintarou with more news, so he didn't' bother to look at the screen. He smiled and answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Fuji?" said a deep voice over the line.
Fuji's eyes snapped open. "Te—Tezuka?!"
Shiraishi stood up and said, "I'm going back to my extra-curricular activity. It seems it has been resurrected," but Fuji was paying no attention to him.
"Why did you call?" Fuji asked with a forced calm voice.
"To talk to you," Tezuka said.
"Why would you need to talk to me? You already have a boyfriend," Fuji said coldly.
Tezuka sighed. "I knew you'd find out at one time or another."
"Everyone says that it's Atobe's fault. Everyone says that it was a lesson that Atobe needed to be taught. But is it really entirely his fault?"
"Everyone?"
"You didn't know?" Fuji asked. "Yukimura knew about it. No one told me, of course," he said sarcastically.
"It was really Atobe's fault."
"It wasn't entirely his fault," Fuji snapped. "You are also to blame! Why did you leave me?"
"It was because I didn't love you."
Fuji's eyes opened. "It was just like…it was just like their relationship, then," he said hollowly.
"Their relationship?"
"Their relationship. Now I know what it feels like, Kuranosuke."
"Fuji?"
"Senri, Kuranosuke, I know how you must've felt. You loved each other at the beginning, but not later on." Fuji laughed wryly. "But I guess my situation is much worse. I clung on to the relationship, and my lover just let go…"
"Fuji?!"
"Neither of you loved each other, but in my situation, one person loved the other, who didn't love him back. I guess this is much worse." Fuji sighed. "And on top of that, there was a big lie involved."
"Fuji!"
"Multiple lies, actually. A lie just like yours, to start off with. Every time he said that he loved me, he was lying. Every time he said that he had to go see his tennis coach, he was lying. And in the end, when he told me he was seeing no one, he was lying. And when the one he was really seeing told me that he also was seeing no one, he was lying."
"Fuji, get it together!"
"Tezuka," Fuji began. "It has been a big lie, hasn't it? I can't believe I didn't realize it before."
Just then, Shiraishi bust into the room. "Not everyone lies to you, Syusuke!" he almost shouted. "Not everyone! There are people that care about you and there are people that know what it feels like to be lied to. They don't want you to feel what they have felt." Shiraishi sat on the bed and put his arms around Fuji. "And yet, there was nothing those people could do to stop this from happening."
Fuji leaned in to Shiraishi's touch. "Why did you leave me, Tezuka? Why did you lie on top of that?"
Tezuka paused. "I didn't love you, Fuji. I did, but that was a long time ago. There was someone else."
"I know that already. Why did you lie?"
"I don't think you would've wanted to speak to me back then."
"I'm speaking to you now. Was it so much to ask?"
"Let's get this straight," Tezuka said. "Fuji, you're the one who transferred. You're the one who didn't call, or even explain. I was left to think it over myself."
Fuji was angry. "You're depending on me to call?! You're depending on me to heal our friendship?! Why don't you take some initiative once in a while?! It's always, 'Oh, it was Atobe's fault,' or 'Oh, it was your fault that you didn't call'. Are you perfect or something?! I think once in a while, it may be your fault, too! Don't you agree?"
"Fuji—"
"Tezuka, I'll never forget this. I can forgive, though. I have the power to. Do you want to be forgiven?"
"Fuji—"
"Tell me, Tezuka," Fuji said quietly. "Do you want to be forgiven?"
There was a pause. "Yes," Tezuka finally said.
"The only way is to just take the blame. Stop placing all the blame on Atobe, because you and I, and even Yukimura, know that it was also your fault. This mess that I'm in. both you and Atobe are to blame. Let me correct myself, this mess that we're all in, both you and Atobe are to blame."
"Fuji," Tezuka said slowly. "I'm sorry."
Fuji smiled through his tears. "Tezuka, did you know that those two words were the two words I've been longing to hear for three years? Did you know that?"
"Yes."
"And yet, you didn't give them to me. You didn't dare speak them."
"I was a coward, Fuji. I ran away from my problems. I ran away from the mistakes. I have a confession to make. When you left Seigaku, I didn't bother to chase after you. That was how I was. And I apologize."
"Thank you, Tezuka. You are forgiven."
"Fuji, those three words were the three words I longed to hear for three years also. But I guess I just depended on you to tell them to me, without me apologizing first. It was my fault that everything fell apart between us, Fuji. Our previous relationship can never be restored."
"Of course not. But I don't want it to be. I think I'm happy now, that this mess is off my shoulders. Thank you, Tezuka. You helped to lift it. And Atobe, and Kuranosuke, and all my friends that have stood by me. They all helped to lift it off, but only you could lift it off completely. Thank you."
"Fuji, I'd like to thank you even more. For everything that I've done to you, and for everything that I've put you through, you still talk to me. You can still tolerate my voice. You can even forgive me. You are strong, Fuji Syusuke. You can forgive easily. You are caring. Don't ever let that trait go."
"Tezuka, thank you. And goodbye."
"Goodbye, Fuji."
Fuji let Tezuka hang up before doing so himself. He hugged Shiraishi, who had been by his side the entire time. "Kuranosuke, I'm so happy."
"I'm glad you're happy, Syusuke. If you're happy, I am. I had this mess with me the entire time. Did you know, Syusuke, that when you're sad or down, it doesn't only affect you? It affects everyone around you. We, Atobe and I included, never like to see you sad. Even people you don't know, if they pass you walking down the street with your face long and your shoulders down, their day isn't as good as it was before. Sadness is contagious.
"But so is happiness, Syusuke. So if you're happy, we're all happy. Nice things, kind things that you say or do to people, have an effect on you, the people receiving the act of kindness, and everyone who witnesses it. So, Syusuke, please try not to be sad anymore. No one can be happy all the time, but if you're sad, you're free to show it. You can take off your mask, because we'll all be here for you."
Fuji smiled. "Thank you. Thank you so much for bearing with me all this time. Sometimes, I might have been moody, or sometimes I may have been disagreeable, but you have stayed by my side and helped me through this tragedy." He looked out the window. "I wonder what would've happened if I had met you long ago. Would this mess have been resolved long ago?"
"That is something no one will ever know, so don't try to think about it."
"Right. Right now, we have to think about how we're going to get this project done in time. We were assigned it on Friday, and it's Sunday right now. It's due Tuesday. We cut our time in half. How are we going to get this done in half the time? How are we going to make up for lost time?"
Did you like it? Huh? Huh? Tell me by reviewing:)