Ryoma watched the older boy carefully the next day they had practice.

Fuji-senpai was stretching next to Kikumaru-senpai and patiently listening to the acrobat rant about a certain redhead he had run into that morning and gotten into a ferocious argument, then contest with.

"Then he did this flip, pretty basic since I've already done it a million times in elementary school," Kikumaru said before he performed said flip with the levity of a professional. Fuji's patient smile shifted into a worried frown.

"Eiji, be careful. You haven't finished stretching yet. Since you just finished running you might pull a muscle...like that." Kikumaru clutched at his calf and began hopping around frantically on the other one, catching the attention of the rest of the club.

"Ow, ow, owie!"

"Eiji, what did I tell you about stretching completely so you don't pull a muscle!" Oishi rushed in to help his partner before he injured himself further, and the next few minutes were busied with aiding the acrobat to the lockers for the first aid kit.

Tezuka laid his index finger on his forehead in a silent attempt to ward off an impending headache.

"Eiji is very lively today, eh?" Inui commented, scribbling away in his notebook.

"Yes," grumbled Tezuka, but he straightened with a captain's resolve to face another day without fear no matter what antics his players pulled. This day would be a good day for practicing tennis, if he could help it.

"Everyone to the courts for warm-up rallies!"

Ryoma ended up being tugged into a rally with Momo-senpai. He had a hard time concentrating because to his luck Fuji was playing on the court directly beside theirs. Against his will, Ryoma's eyes kept sliding over to the other court and he didn't notice his partner getting steadily angrier at his lack of attention until he viciously slam-dunked the ball, whipping Ryoma's racket out of his hands. Ryoma hissed as his palms immediately began to redden.

Momo looked unrepentant as he steadied his racket at the younger boy. "That's what you get for not paying attention to the game. You can't lose focus like that during the finals, you just can't," Momo scolded.

Ryoma cast him a baleful look before he fixed his cap, "che"-ed and ambled over to pick up his racket.

Fuji was dancing through a rally with burning!Kawamura as Ryoma passed by. "Are you feeling alright, Echizen? You seem a bit distracted today." He smoothly returned Kawamura's hit before glancing briefly at Ryoma, who thought he saw the slightest hint of blue before Fuji turned away again.

"Try a lot distracted, Fuji-senpai!" called a miffed Momo from the other side.

Ryoma looked away, letting the wide brim of his cap hide his eyes. "I'm fine," he mumbled and hurried away without further ado. Speedily, he snapped a twist serve at Momo, who hadn't been expecting the sudden start of another rally and just barely caught it back, crying foul the whole time.

Ryoma played and this time tried to concentrate completely on the game. It was difficult because he still had the urge to watch Fuji. He didn't dare to even glance at him though, because this time—by the hair rising on the back of his neck and his own intuition—he was sure the prodigy was observing him as he played.

Playing under someone's close regard was one of the most exciting and nerve-racking experiences one could undergo, so by the time Ryoma finished his practice rally with Momo he was glistening with cold, nervous sweat. He took a few deep breaths that had his chest heaving and looked over at the other court to see how the other practice match was going. Ryoma's breath caught in his throat as he locked eyes with Fuji, who had clearly been watching him.

Blue ice disappeared as Fuji smiled, nodded and turned back to his practice, racket twirling and ready in his fingers.

Ryoma turned away blushing. He realized he was blushing but he couldn't seem to stop himself, and he had to force back the urge to scrub at his cheeks like a girl. He had to stop this. The dreams were making him act weird at a time when he needed to be concentrating on making the Nationals with the rest of the team. This sudden fixation on Fuji-senpai would distract him from improving his tennis. He needed to concentrate.

For the rest of the practice, Ryoma was careful not to look at Fuji once, and no one noticed anything amiss because Ryoma hadn't had a chance to play or practice with Fuji all day. By the time practice was over and Ryoma was slowly walking home under the light of the setting sun, he thought he had made some progress. Ryoma just needed to concentrate on not focusing so much on Fuji during the day and everything would be as it was before. If he had to ignore Fuji for a few weeks before the strange anxiety around him disappeared then Ryoma would do that.

Now, his only problem was figuring out how to get rid of the dreams disrupting his sleep. Ryoma thought he had an idea.