Disclaimer: I don't own The Prince of Tennis.
A/N At first I didn't want to post this, but I ended up in doing so anyway, nyahahaa. 'Control' by Puddle of Mudd represents pillar pair fairly well, heheh. The lyrics match up so well.
Enjoy!
Because I Love You
By squishy the jellyfish
"Echizen," Tezuka said as he approached the boy after practice.
Ryoma was sitting on a bench overlooking the courts. "Buchou?"
The young captain sat down next to the tennis prodigy, "Is something wrong?"
Ryoma downcast his gaze, "I don't know what you mean…"
"As buchou of the Seigaku tennis team, I need to look out for the members."
"So?"
"Your performance has been lacking lately. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ryoma spat.
Tezuka furrowed a brow. "Don't mess about, Echizen. If you cannot resolve this behaviour soon, I'll have to-"
"Cat."
Tezuka looked at Ryoma's solemn form, "…Your cat I presume?"
Ryoma nodded. "There was an accident."
Tezuka's features softened. Though this cat bared no significance whatsoever to him, he felt that the cat was deeply cared about by Ryoma, and if Ryoma cared about this cat, then Tezuka felt the relevance to care about it too. "Is it okay?"
Ryoma's cap slipped off his bowed head, revealing a single tear falling to the ground. "She's being cared for by the vet…I don't know why I'm worrying so much, but lately, I can't stop thinking about her."
Tezuka's expression showed that of empathy as he inched closer to the boy and wiped his tear away with his thumb, afterwards leaving his hand on Ryoma's thigh, "It's alright to worry about someone you love."
The boy bit his lip as more tears strayed from his eyes, "I must look pathetic…"
"No, you don't," and with that, Tezuka wrapped his arms around Ryoma and pulled him close, allowing the prodigy to rest his head on the captain's chest and clutch onto his shirt. Tezuka then lifted Ryoma up slightly and sat him on his lap so that he was comfortable.
They remained like that for a long time, Ryoma pressing against Tezuka affectionately and Tezuka holding Ryoma tight.
"Why are you doing all this?" The boy said suddenly, still clutching onto Tezuka.
"Hn? What do you mean?" Tezuka asked softly as he nuzzled his face on Ryoma's emerald hair.
"Why are you comforting me?"
"…Because I care about you."
Ryoma moved his head out from under Tezuka chin and looked into his captain's amber eyes. "…I'm a tennis club member, of course you do."
Tezuka seemed amused by this as he slid his hands into Ryoma's silky hair, pulled him up to his face and pressed his lips against Ryoma's.
Ryoma's eyes widened momentarily before closing completely. Feeling a warm tongue trace along his own, he moaned and sighed at the same time.
When the need for air became too great, the young captain pulled back and rested his forehead against Ryoma's. "…And I worry about you," Tezuka's delayed statement made Ryoma smile.
"Thank you..."
Please review!!!
Squishy.