Through Karupin's Eyes
Tezuka Kunimitsu was stunned. He stood silently few feet away from his front door, staring and blinking simultaneously with an open jaw. After a few minutes posing like that, he began to feel his oral cavity was lacking its optimum moist condition so he quickly closed his mouth, shaking his head slowly as he did so. He started to feel pain throbbing his head, and he was really tempted to bang his head on the wall, but the thought that he was in the middle of phone conversation with his vice captain kept him from doing it.
"Tezuka?" Oishi called from the other line with a concern voice. He gulped, trying to calm himself down, absentmindedly tightened his grip on the cellphone before he cleared his throat and answered, "I really need to have my eyes checked (and start seeing a psychiatrist) tomorrow…" with a weak tone.
"What are you saying?"
"For a moment there, I really believed that Echizen's cat was smiling while eavesdropping our conversation." He paused, eyes still staring outside, and then continued, "And somehow I have the feeling that Echizen's cat was heading toward Fuji's house right now."
They both fell silent, each was busy with their own thought to start a new topic. The captain was thinking how ridiculous it was for him to even think that cat could eavesdrop (he's not even sure cats could understand human's language) but somehow the idea just seemed so… real… And if Tezuka had the ability to read other's mind through a telephone, he could hear Oishi saying 'My God, Tezuka. Go see a psychiatrist already!!!' but being a considerate friend and vice captain, he said "Go take a rest Tezuka. We'll talk about this later. I'm going to call Eiji now. Jya." Instead.
"Hn." He closed the door and started walking to his room. Maybe Oishi was right. He did need a rest. Fuji had been terrorizing him for the past five days. Uhm.. actually, Fuji didn't terrorize him, the brunet was only calling him in god knows what time in the middle of the night, saying how sad he was to think that his love was so one sided (Fuji deliberately skipped the part where he threatened the younger boy to accept his love) plus a detailed report of his progress on his attempt to molest the poor child, and ended the conversation with the same question: "So, Tezuka.. Do you think I should teach Ryoma-chan about se-" (The captain always managed to put the phone faraway from his ear so he never heard the last word, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to know. Period). Every freaking night. No, that tensai didn't terrorizing him, he traumatized the poor captain.
"I hope I didn't do the wrong thing…"
---30 minutes earlier---
The sound of clock ticking was echoing in his bedroom, but slowly yet progressively, another beating sound began to join it on the background. It was the sound of someone's heartbeat. More specifically, it was Tezuka's heart beat. He was sitting on his bedside, cellphone was still in his possession, trying his best to avoid eye contact with the younger boy who was just a few steps away from his bed.
"Do…" The younger one started to break the awkward silence, "I mean, is it normal for lovers to do that?" He sent Tezuka his big, cute, innocent, sparkling with hope eyes and of course since Tezuka was avoiding any eye contact with the boy, he missed it. Frankly, he didn't know what the kid meant when he said 'that' but seeing Fuji as his lover, he could guess. Oh he felt so sorry for that poor boy, and to think someone so innocent and pure like Ryoma had someone so perverted and mentally unstable like Fuji Syuusuke as his first lover…
"I…" He wanted to say 'I SERIOUSLY don't know the answer! Go ask your dad for that kind of question!!' but stopped himself from doing so. Instead, he rolled his eyes to meet the other's, both hands were resting on the bed, and said, "Do you feel uncomfortable when he.. uhm.. you know…"
Both men were sharing the same shade of red on their face and even though no one said it out loud they made a pact via eye contact with each other not to let whatever they were going to discuss left the room. At least until Fuji came up with another sadistic plan to retrieve the information.
He shrugged, putting both of his hand behind his back while he bent his head down. "A little." Was his answer and after a short paused he continued his words before Tezuka could give any respond, "He tried to seduce me in front of oyaji! Doesn't that pervert know the concept of doing private things in private place?!"
Tezuka let out a relieved sigh, thinking 'At least Fuji wasn't doing anything funny to an underage boy IN FRONT OF THE BOY'S DAD'. Looked like the tensai still had a tiny sanity left inside his perverted mind… "So Fuji was only flirting you… What else did he do? Kissed you in front of your dad?"
"No.. I'm the one kissing him first earlier this day."
And Fuji said that his love was so one sided… he thought sarcastically. Well, one thing for sure, Ryoma did love the tensai back. The younger boy just didn't realize it yet. Hey! If he told this to Fuji, would the tensai spare his life for having Ryoma in his house tonight??(1)
"I don't see any reason why you should be this angry toward Fuji."
"So you are saying this kind of things normal?"
"More or less." He got up and shortened his distance with his kouhai then gave a light tap on the boy's shoulder. "You should go to Fuji's house and tell him that you're not angry anymore. (oh, and tell Fuji not to put me in his 'Must Kill Enemy' list since I am the one encouraging you to forgive him)"
"Phew. Thanks buchou, you're a big help." There was a wide grin on his face as he said so, and continued "I thought there was something wrong with my body when he touched my sensitive part(2) with his bare hand" He leaned down and whispered the next words in the captain's ear, "It gave me a weird sensation but somehow I didn't want him to stop. Too bad oyaji was there…"
Ryoma might be either too happy that he missed one of Tezuka's rare shocked expression (eyes widening, jaws dropped open) or just didn't care about anything at that point of time. He quickly gave a quick bow and excused himself from the room, saying "I'm going to Fuji's house. Please take care of Karupin. I promise I'll get her first thing in the morning. Oh, and if oyaji ever calls you, just say that I'm spending the night in your house. He's still a little annoyed with my lover." He paused, feeling rather embarrassed after saying the last word but quickly shook his head muttering "God it feels strange calling him 'lover'…" under his breath then started to run, leaving the shocked captain behind.
"Echizen! He's not touching you. He molested you!! He should have been charged with child molestation in the first place! What have I done??" He knew that it was all too late seeing his junior had already left his house that there was no way his voice could reach him. Ryoma may be innocent and pure but the kid also had a high curiosity level, and Fuji knew how to use that trait so it could be beneficial for him. Wait.. Ryoma said he would get the cat first thing in the morning, was he implying…?
Oh Lord…
(Karupin's POV)
---15 Minutes earlier---
The sound of someone opening the door woke me up. As I sleepily open my eyes and start to look around, I find myself in an unfamiliar living room. Strange. The room is far too tidy to be the Echizens' living room. Trust me. I spend almost all my free time un-tidying three spots in Ryo-chan's house: the living room, the kitchen and that pervert old man's room. As for Ryo-chan's room… it's not that I don't want to mess it but the room is already in a deep mess the first place.
So I jump off the couch, looking around and found several spots that have Ryo-chan's smell on it. At least I don't get stranded in a total stranger house. After a few sniffing later, I remember something. Ryo-chan was taking me somewhere, buchou's house if I heard right, but I fell asleep halfway reaching there. Maybe this is that buchou's house? Oh right, I need to find Ryo-chan fast. I missed him already.
As I walk around the house, I see some pictures of a weird glasses guy. I said 'weird' because that guy seems to have a lack in facial expression. I mean, he's so stiff in each of the pictures. His family portrait for example (I'm not sure whether it is a family portrait or not but from my experience, any picture that is displayed in the center of the living room's wall is usually a family portrait), his mom and his dad and both of his grandparents were smiling (it was a faint smile but a smile nonetheless) and his expression was like: T T In other smaller picture taken at a beach, his friends (I'm assuming they are his friends since Ryo-chan is seen among them, that annoying Fuji was also present) were doing funny poses and grinned widely (but Ryo-chan seemed rather irritated so he just stared at the camera doing nothing) guess what his expression... It's: T T again. But as I keep observing the pictures, something hit me. If I remember correctly, Ryo-chan called this guy 'buchou'. Meaning he's the one whom Ryo-chan looks up to. Meaning I have to be nice to this guy. Like I always say, a friend of Ryo-chan is a friend of mine and an enemy of Ryo-chan is also my enemy. Oh, I recently add the third phrase: Ryo-chan's lover is my ultimate enemy.
My goal has shifted from finding Ryo-chan to finding this 'buchou'. I can always find Ryo-chan later, we have a deep and unbreakable bond anyway so it's not hard for me to find him no matter where he is.(3) Being a clever Himalayan cat, I just knew that bedrooms usually located in the inner part of the house. Seeing that this house is a two story house, I am assuming the bedrooms are located in the second floor. So I directed my feet toward the stairs and climb it.
Bingo. Upstairs, I found one room which light is on and I distinctly heard a male voice from that room. I quickly ran toward the room and feel lucky that the door is left open. I use my head to push it over and find him standing near the window, talking alone. Wait. Scratch that idea. He's talking to a small box-shaped thing. Oh my god… this guy has a mental problem!! Normal people don't talk to a box(4)!!
"I'm also quite surprised when Fuji first told me the details. But that's not the point."
He even gives that box thing a name?? How retarded is he anyway?? Wait.. Did he say 'Fuji'?? Grr.. I hate that name!
"I am saying, Echizen is spending the night in Fuji's house. I just can't let Echizen be alone with Fuji. Fuji might do… things to him. No, I'm not worrying too much. This is Fuji we are talking about. And yes, he had tried seducing Echizen to sleep with him (don't ask how I got that little piece of information)"
I blinked. Since that guy said so many words in one breath, I am having difficulties in translating his sentence into cat language. I can only catch him saying 'Echizen', presumably Ryo-chan, 'Fuji' and 'sleep'. That is enough to make me feel annoyed. No one is allowed to sleep in the same bed with Ryo-chan except me!!(3)
"Oishi, are you still with me?"
Argh! What is he saying?? I decide to come closer quietly then leap to the bed in order to gain better access to hear the conversation. He is too distracted with his own problem that he doesn't notice me dropping his alarm clock down. Oo.. I hope it doesn't break..
"I know Fuji will kill me if I show up in front of his house tonight. Why are you saying I won't be able to make it in time? Fuji's house is just a few blocks away."(5)
At that last sentence, he suddenly turned around and caught me listening to his conversation red handed. I quickly give him my most adorable smile (it's not like he knows I am indeed eavesdropping so I decide to play it cool) before I ran out, leaving him way behind me. At least I have all the information I need. Ryo-chan is in Fuji's house, Fuji's house is several blocks away.
He chases me to the front door but then he stops. As I continue to run, I can hear him saying "I really need to have my eyes checked tomorrow." At those words, I sigh. No honey, you don't need to have your eyes checked. You need to go see a psychiatrist. Talking to a box is the first step that leads to mental disorder.
Through Karupin's Eyes
That morning, Taka was late for his morning practice. It's very unusual for him to be late, and he doubted Tezuka would order him to do laps considering this was his first offense, but that didn't mean he didn't feel guilty. He constantly checked his watch every ten seconds as he ran toward the tennis court, hoping he's not as late as Seigaku's prince of late- er… tennis. Prince of tennis. Who always arrived late in every morning practice.
As he reached the school's gate, he met Oishi, Eiji and Momo. Seeing Eiji and Momo late was kinda acceptable, but Oishi? Oishi never late…
"Taka-san. It's rare seeing you late." The vice captain called him, totally ignoring the fact that him being late was also a rare occasion.
"Nya!! Don't tell me you also know what happen between Fujiko and ochibi. Unya… and I thought it was supposed to be a secret."
"Eeto… what are you saying?"
"Taka-senpai! You don't need to pretend like you don't know." The dunk smasher player grinned, giving a light tap on Taka's back before he leaned closer and whispered, "I heard Fuji-senpai finally did it. (Or at least he attempted to do it.) I'm always amazed he didn't do it earlier…" and then laughed loudly, didn't notice the clueless expression on Taka's face.
"What makes you so happy, Momo-chan?"
The said person gasped, he felt shivers running down his spine. He didn't need to turn his head around to see whose voice was that. And judging from the voice alone, he was pretty sure that person was in a very bad mood. All the more reason to not turn his head around.
"Ohayou, Fuji." Taka, who was still clueless about Fuji's relationship to Ryoma, greeted. He didn't realize that the other three had been quickening their running pace and left him behind. "What happened to your face Fuji?"
At that time, Fuji's face was full of band aids. There are three on each cheek, two on his fore head and neck. But as he observed the brunet more carefully, he found that Fuji had a lot more band aids on his arms. "Forget that. What happened to you, Fuji? You're like a walking mummy."(6)
"My ultimate rival, the stupid fur ball." He said ignorantly while emphasizing the last words.
"She's not stupid, Fuji-senpai. Morning, Taka-senpai."
"Morning, Echizen-kun." He replied absentmindedly, at the same time Fuji was mumbling 'Whatever' in an annoyed tone. After a few moments, he tilted his head and asked, "How long have you been running behind me?"
"Since you greeted Fuji-senpai."
"Oh.."
"Taka-san, Echizen, Fuji!!" Someone called their name in a very loud voice. It was Tezuka's, and by the look of it, he was not very pleased. Of course he wasn't pleased. How could he be pleased when 2/3 of his regulars were LATE when there wasn't anyone late from the non-regular group? The captain was standing in front the tennis court gate in his jersey, hands are folded in front of his chest, looking rather annoyed. "Taka-san, 5 laps. Don't be late again. Echizen and Fuji, you two do 50."
Taka gave the captain a confused look, he didn't need to say his thought out loud because it seemed like Tezuka knew what he was thinking. This was also Fuji's first offense on being late, why did he get to do 50 laps? Little that Taka knew that Tezuka was doing it for two reasons, first because Fuji had been making his life so terrible the past six days and this was his perfect revenge, second… he knew that the brunet needed to solve his problem with his new lover (judging by his present condition). That's why he's giving the tensai the same amount of laps that doubled everyone else's punishment. Oh he was so considerate…
"Inui-senpai.." The snake quietly approaching the data player as he saw Tezuka ordered the last three people to do laps. He knew that there was something going on recently, and he was determined to figure it out today.
"Nani, Kaidou?" He answered without taking his eyes off the other regulars while his hands were still busy scribbling something down his notebook.
"I need to ask you something."
He nodded, knowing perfectly where the subject was heading. After a few more scribbling, he closed his notebook, trapping his pencil inside it, and fixed his glasses with his free hand. "Let's go somewhere else (far away from Fuji's hearing range)."
Through Karupin's Eyes
"Like I said… I'm sorry." He said in between his panting breath as he tried to catch up with his lover, but the only respond he got was a muffled 'Hmmph' before his lover quickened his pace and left him behind. "Che! I really don't understand him…"
"Echizen! What had you done? Fuji-senpai looks scarier than usual.."
"Karupin…" He mumbled quickly before he too quickened his pace to catch up with Fuji again. At that time, the four certain regulars were thinking different things. Momo was thinking 'I knew there was something strange with that cat!!', Eiji's mind was filled with 'Unya.. Fujiko is so mean to Ochibi…', Oishi was thinking 'How come I didn't realize this sooner?? Fuji didn't even hide the fact that he's going out with Echizen… oh I'm so not worthy…' while Taka was only thinking 'What's the matter with all this people?'
The third lap, Ryoma was left far behind. Tezuka was observing those two quietly thinking I don't know Fuji can run that fast.
The fifth lap, Taka was practicing his serve alone while Oishi joined Tezuka who was still observing the couple but with a much more annoyance (since Ryoma was still unable to catch up with his lover), thinking his plan would only be wasted if Fuji didn't let Ryoma making any contact with him.
After 15 laps, Tezuka began to train the non-regular, while Inui and Kaidou was having a friendly double match with Taka and Oishi. Ryoma seemed to get rather annoyed that he didn't try to catch up with Fuji anymore, while Momo and Eiji was whispering to each other as they do their laps.
In their 20th laps, Eiji managed to corner his kouhai and tell him something, which made the underclassman blushed, while Momo managed to catch up with his senpai(7) and try to say something but failed, just as he expected.
25 laps, Eiji and Momo were exchanging grin as they joined Tezuka training the non-regulars while Ryoma was contemplating Eiji's suggestion. At this point, Fuji silently gave side glance every once in a while, fighting the urge to smile as he saw his lover blushing furiously without a clear reason.
40 laps, all the regulars (minus Fuji and Ryoma) was starting to get inpatient as Ryoma hadn't showed any signs of initiating Eiji's plan. They stopped whatever they were doing at that time and gathered in front of the club house to watch the couple like it was some sort of TV drama.
Finally, the last lap. The crowd gathering in front of the club house was getting bigger and Tezuka was getting irritated, half because no one was practicing seriously half because of Fuji/Ryoma unfinished business. When all hopes seemed to be gone, he finally heard Ryoma yelling something,
"Syuusuke!! Wait up or I swear I'm going to break up with you!!"
And that was the point where Taka finally got his enlightment about the whole situation happening around him and removed him from his dark era. He was speechless at that time as his brain refused to process the newest information that was sent by both his eyes and his ears. Seeing his friend in such a shock state, Eiji decided to be nice and handed him his racket. And a racket was all it took to perk him up again. He was swinging the racket wildly, shouting "SHOCKING!" as he did so.
"Ano… guys… I think we should give them some privacy…"
"What are you saying, Oishi-senpai?! Just look at those cute couple!! You don't see this everyday in normal life, heck you don't even see this kind of scene everyday in TV. Screw privacy!!"
"Nya, look everyone!! Fujiko stopped!! Hoi hoi!!"
"Echizen… smiles.. fsshh…"
"AAAAWWW!!! He's soooooo cute!!!" Both Momo and Eiji yelled in unison.
"Hm…" Inui quickly grabbed his notebook and open the last page, swiftly scribbling something down before he muttered, "There is a high possibility that this situation will develop in to something much more interesting…" He then let out his creepy laugh, the same laugh he did whenever he finished developing his lethal veggie juice, which made all the tennis club members shivered (their usual reaction whenever they heard that laugh).
"Please you guys! Give them PRIVACY." The vice captain pleaded desperately as he knew that any minute Fuji and Ryoma were going to 'kiss and make up'.
"Everyone," Tezuka finally said in a stern voice, "Turn your back. Now. Anyone who disobeys my order will have to do 100 laps."
"Haha, then it's fine with me! I am able to do 100 laps anyway."
"That's 300 laps for you, Momoshirou."
"Tsk…" He then unwillingly turned his back around.
After a few moments, Tezuka realized that turning around wasn't enough since Ryoma was rather… vocal when he kissed (that or Fuji was plain expert in using his tongue to draw that reaction from his lover) so he ordered everyone to cover their ears and pretended to be deaf even if they couldn't get rid Ryoma's moan of pleasure off their hearing range.
"How long should we do this, Tezuka-buchou?"
"Fssh.. Of course until they stop kissing, idiot."
"Nya… what's the point in covering our ears when we can still hear sounds?"
"It gives us the illusion of not hearing anything so the next time we met with Fuji and Echizen we won't be so awkward."
"Eeto.. that makes sense…"(8)
"GOD Syuusuke!! How many times do I have to tell you to NOT grope me in public?! (Not that I hate it but) you tend to rip my shirt whenever you do that! I'm not going to attend today's class half naked!"
"He said ROPE, everyone!! We DID NOT hear Echizen yelled 'grope', understand?!"
"This is stupid…"
"O-i-shi-i-i!!! The trio freshmen(9) fainted!!!"
And so, one problem is solved. From this point on Fuji won't feel so one sided anymore because Ryoma has, in his own way, shows the tensai that he does love him back. The only problem left is to make Ryoma's dad and pet accept their relationship, but that is a story for the next chapter… :)
-Omake-
A sneak peak at Eiji's little plan…
---
In his 20th laps, the red head acrobatic player finally able to catch up with his junior. But since Ryoma wasn't very interested in talking to his senpai, Eiji had to push the younger boy against the tennis court's fence and trapped him between his arms. At this scene, Fuji almost re-traced his running course in the speed of light to throw the red head away, literally of course, from HIS lover but then he remembered that he was still in the middle of a fight with the said person so he refrained himself from doing so.
"What do you want, Kikumaru-senpai?" The boy asked irritated-ly.
"Ochibi, you really need to solve your problems with Fujiko fast nya. He's like a walking disaster right now!!"
"Easy for you to say. He doesn't even listen to me anymore."
"I have a plan." He leaned down and whispered, "Call him with his name, he will be very happy. And if he still doesn't pay any attention to you, just say that you're going to break up with him."
"Wha-?!" He shrieked as he developed a deep blush on his face. Oh God… that plan was just ridiculous, and childish, not to mention highly embarrassing. Would it work anyway? He really doubted a simple plan like that was able to get his lover's attention… And what if the tensai ignored the threat? Noo… he didn't want to think about it!!
"Hoi Hoi! It WILL work. Trust me." Eiji winked cheerfully before he messed the other boy's hair. "Remember nya, call him by his first name!" And then he left.
Ryoma spent the next 30 laps contemplating Eiji's little plan before he finally executed it. He could feel his feet tremble and his hands were shaking, he cleared his throat and took a deep breath before shouting, "Syuusuke!! Wait up or I swear I'm going to break up with you!!"
Well… I don't need to write the rest, do I//grin//
a/n:
Hello people!! Surprised seeing me update this fic so quickly? Well, when the mood tells me to write, I write. Even if I'm still in the middle of my mid term exams. Seriously. See how scary my mood is?? And since my mind is still full of exams material, there might be LOTS of grammar confusion. I promise I'll check the grammar again once I finished my exams.
Footnotes:
(1) Fuji: Um… //feint thinking// No //smiles evilly//
(2) His neck and waist (because it tickles) haha XD
(3) Well, Karupin, since you're so confident of your 'bond'… how come you didn't realize that Ryoma-kun had already left?
Karupin: I was sleepy! My Ryo-chan sensor wasn't working right that time!!
(4) It is called 'cellular phone' Karupin…
(5) I don't know the location of each regular's house, but in this fic Fuji's house is located near Tezuka's house, okay?
(6) Noooo!!! Karupin scratched you on the face?!! I bet your face won't be so good looking like it should be… //sobs// but don't worry, you're still my favorite Fuji-kun…
Ryoma: Back off woman!! Fuji's MINE!!
Do you forget that I'm the one who rules here? //evil laughter//
Ryoma: You're sick, you know that??
(7) Fuji was thinking about something at that time (his thought involved Eiji and a homicidal plan) so Momo was able to catch up with him
(8) Taka had put down the tennis racket when he covered his ears, he's not in his 'Burning' mode at that time
(9) They are Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro (in case you don't remember). I wanna give them some lines but this chapter has been far too long so… oh well..
Alright! Next chapter will be the last chapter (hopefully). Expect a lot of mushy scenes. What can I say, last chapter needs the mushy element.. haha.
Extra Notes: Whew… I manage to fit a little time to do some more grammar checking during my crazy schedule… I'm sorry for the OOC-ness.. what can I say, I wrote this during mid term exams week.. haha.. ookay, see you next time :)
Disclaimer: PoT is NOT mine. Never was and never will be.