The Prince of Tennis Play
Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or Cinderella. I just twist them around. :P
Rating: PG or K+
Genre: Drama, suspense, humour, gender bender.
Pairing: Implied Tezuka and Fuji
Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, implied gender-bender, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue).
Finally! Gosh, I do hope I didn't lose my sense of humour that much. This chapter contains a special character's appearance. Originally not in my draft. Haha. But I think it's kinda nice to have him again in the last chapter. So hope you all like it.
Thanks to Carzla for editing my story.
Please leave a review if you have any opinion.
: Ready… Go :
Chapter 16 - Promise
Fuji knew he couldn't keep everything bottled up. Here Tezuka was, looking as if he was willing to give Fuji a chance to explain himself. It was the last chance he had to mend their friendship, right? But for some reasons, Fuji felt that if he told Tezuka everything, it would be forever gone.
But Tezuka was so insistent. And he was really exhausted at how things turned out to be.
"I merely wanted your attention, Tezuka," he found himself saying softly. And Tezuka's hazel eyes were piercing silently. "Your whole attention. Not towards the tennis genius Fuji Syusuke, not towards Echizen," Fuji managed a humourless chuckle at the mention of the youngest regular. "Solely me."
If Tezuka was disgusted, he didn't give any sign. He was still silent, for some reason, it was comforting to Fuji. "It seems that I succeed, even if it caused your anger," he said and his words stopped there.
Tezuka's next words were surprisingly soft. "What of your injury?" he inquired, still unwilling to forget about that little fact. Perhaps he was thinking about his sudden announcement to quit the tennis team when it was so near to the tournament.
"It was sprained… for quite some time," Fuji replied tersely. Now that he had come clean about everything, would he earn Tezuka's forgiveness? Or would it be worse than ever? Too many emotions caught up to him and he really began to feel dizzy. The weariness of the stage performance, the constant sting of his injury, the pain of Tezuka's cold glare just a few hours ago, the shock of Tezuka's appearance, the horror of being found out, the tension between Tezuka and him, the awkwardness of everything else… It seemed too much for even a genius like him.
Fuji reckoned closing his eyes for real might be the best idea of all right now. Plus, Tezuka might not notice; after all, he had his eyelids closed most of the time. Yes, really… the blackness was so tempting…
"Fuji!" was the last thing he heard as he drifted into unconsciousness.
Many things unfolded after Fuji fainted (it was funny how clichéd the drama had unfolded, Fuji mused). Of course, he had gone through a great deal being interrogated by the Seigaku Boys Tennis Club and other friends who were well informed of his condition. While the misunderstanding was thankfully cleared, Fuji's decision to quit the team did not change in the slightest despite the protests from all his friends. Since it was their final tournament, Fuji's ankle would not heal in time. Moreover, he hoped Inui (who became their manager at that time) would have the chance to play. Admitting awe to Inui's numerous efforts in providing best trainings and data collecting, Fuji felt Inui deserved the place more than him.
Somehow, in the end, everyone forgave Fuji for not informing them of his injury. Some of them even showed guilt for not believing the genius on the unintentional kissing scene. Inui, however, was still scribbling madly, muttering percentages of Fuji taking advantage of his own injury to create chaos. Amused, Fuji chose not to comment and just grinned at his friend's antics. It served to keep his mischievous and sadistic reputation, after all.
What about his relationship with the captain? Tezuka returned to being his usual poker-faced self, not saying more than necessary and only focused on tennis (as well as his studies). The bespectacled boy didn't mention anything of the confrontation in front of anyone and they didn't have time to interact alone with each other afterwards. If Fuji didn't know better, he would have thought Tezuka was avoiding him.
It was finally the tournament's last day. Everyone was anxious about their upcoming battle in the final. Would they be able to grab the trophy and Champion title?
Sapphire blue eyes swept across the entire area before they fell on Seigaku and then the eyelids shielded those eyes from the public. Fuji Syusuke stepped into the stadium to watch the most anticipated match although none of his friends knew. Actually, he did attend as a spectator of the tournament ever since it started. It was just he didn't inform anyone about it even when they asked. Recently, they were too occupied with tennis practices that they didn't manage to bug him about it. To top it all, he didn't visit the tennis club anymore so the times they would see him were reduced.
"I guess they're doing well ne," he muttered to himself when he saw Eiji hugging Momoshiro. Then Oishi was saying something and they all nodded vigorously. "Guess he asked them not to fail the team," Fuji said with a small smile.
Then announcement to begin the tournament was made. The intense matches took hours to finish and the final match to decide championship was in Tezuka's hands. Someone pushed a racket into Kawamura's hands, asking him to cheer. And then he suddenly grabbed something out of his bag and shouted 'Burning' at the top of his lungs.
To everyone's surprise, it was an A4-sized photo of Fuji himself. Fuji couldn't stop himself when his chuckle turned into full fledged laughter. It was too hilarious!
All of a sudden, he felt a vibration on his left thigh. He fished out his mobile and answered the call without looking at the caller's name on the screen. A deep voice greeted him.
"We know you're here. I know you're watching this. This," a pause. "Is for you," and the call ended before Fuji could respond. Seigaku was cheering in high spirits in the background.
Sapphire eyes snapped open, looking for the owner of that deep voice and they met with hazel. Just a blink and Tezuka was already heading towards the court. 'Was it my imagination?' Fuji thought.
What he didn't know was….
"Nya! This is the first time Fujiko is not with us." Eiji whined, pouting as he tackled a random guy into a hug, which happened to be Momoshiro. "I miss him being here with us!"
"We will have to win on his behalf," Oishi interjected quickly, trying to keep the team's spirit high. Everyone else nodded, except Echizen and Tezuka of course. The younger pillar merely smirked and said his famous 'Mada mada da ne' while the older pillar did not give any sort of affirmation.
When it was time for their captain's match, a racket was pushed into Kawamura's hands. It was then his spirit went high and he shouted 'Burning' at the top of his lungs. He even went as far as to dig into his bag and pull out an A4 sized photograph of their genius player. It was crumpled but Fuji's smile was still bright.
"Hoi Taka-san, great job!" Eiji exclaimed happily while grabbing for Fuji's photo. "Now he's with us until the end!"
"Eiji! Don't make it sounds like Fuji is dead," Oishi scolded lightly, alarmed by the implication of such thing.
"Mou, but his spirit is now here with us," Eiji insisted as he pointed at Fuji's picture. His doubles partner could only slap his own forehead exasperatedly.
As the others laughed, Tezuka pressed his mobile to make a call. "We know you're here. I know you're watching this. This," he took a pause. "Is for you." Without waiting for Fuji's reply, he hung up the call. Fuji looked stunned and when he looked at Tezuka, their eyes met for a moment. Again, he broke off the connection and headed towards the court. Tezuka Kunimitsu had a match to win, and a point to be proven.
Epilogue
"Is that the famous Fuji Syusuke, papa? But why does a girl have a boy's name?" An adorable child with sparkling eyes asked his father, who was sipping red wine.
"Yes. And being born into Atobe family, we don't ask such silly question," he chided his son in a no-nonsense tone. Nevertheless, he decided to answer his heir's question, "It was ten years ago that he participated in a school performance. He took up a female role..."
His explanation was cut off by the TV news. "Tezuka Kunimitsu, the world's well-known tennis player, has admitted that he strives for the best in every match due to a promise he made with someone. Now who is that someone? He has never revealed the name but there are rumours that he is going out with a brown-haired female model."
"And until now he can easily pass off as a girl," Atobe Keigo commented with a smirk.
On the other hand...
"That show is all lies. I'm no model," Fuji Syusuke tried to sound offended but he was still smiling with amusement. He did not complain about being mistaken as a female though. Ten years ago, when Tezuka made that promise, Fuji couldn't believe his ears. Of course, things didn't go exactly as he'd originally planned and it took him a few more years to finally have his wish granted. But, he wasn't one to complain. Not when his hard work paid off.
"The way you dress gives that impression," Tezuka Kunimitsu answered. "I don't see why they bother with this kind of news," and he went to turn off the TV.
"But it's fun to mess up with other people's perceptions," was the mischievous genius's reply as he winked at the professional tennis player.
All in all, all went well. And it was the best, really.
To those who want a clear picture of the ending:
In reply to Fuji's confession, Tezuka promised Fuji that he would focus his whole attention towards him by winning every match for the genius. After several years, when Tezuka became famous, Fuji was mistaken for being a female model when they were spotted to be together. It was because Fuji purposely caused the misconception.