A/N: This was originally a fujiryo fanfic but then I decided to change it into tezufuji because why not and I just thought it would be much better (?) Also, my English kinda sucks still just because... just because. Anyway, the plot will stay the same (not that you guys know, but you get my point). Reviews are appreciated.
This ain't edited.
"Mada mada dane," Echizen taunted as he pointed at Arai with his racket. The latter snickered, and then bit his lips in embarrassment after turning around to go back to practicing his strokes. Behind Echizen was Inui, who was taking down notes of the practice as usual.
Meanwhile, the other regulars were having their own practice matches with the juniors. There was one exception though.
Horio, carrying a box of tennis balls, halted while in the middle of the court. "Eh, Fuji-senpai isn't here?" That was when the regulars stopped hitting the balls, and looked for Fuji. Kikumura, knowing fully well that Fuji was most probably distracting himself, jogged toward Oishi.
"Oh, Eiji?" Oishi seemed surprised to see a sad look on Eiji's face.
The latter huffed, "Can I go fetch Fujiko? He's not here." His eyebrows furrowed. On the other hand, Oishi stood still, thinking of what to do at a situation like this where feelings were much more important than logical answers just because it was Fuji they were dealing with. Sighing, he nodded briefly, and in a matter of seconds, Kikumaru was already on his way to the rooftop.
Earlier that day, Oishi told the regulars that they would have a private meeting in the afternoon at the club room. Fuji wasn't there that time when the intriguing news was announced. Kikumaru worried about him, since he found out from Oishi that the meeting had something to do with the previous captain. Shaking his head, he looked down at his feet before opening the door to the rooftop. His eyes were closed shut when he did so, making the soft chuckle the only thing to determine if Fuji was there.
He was.
Kikumaru sighed. Fuji saw him. "Oh, Eiji, what are you doing here?" The tensai sat down, a genuine smile stretched across his face. Eiji sighed for the second time around, feeling relieved that his friend was his usual calm self.
He walked closer to the other, laughing slightly. "I thought you were somewhere else. I was worried. But I guess I had nothing to worry about. You're here all the time." He chuckled, sitting next to Fuji on the floor.
"Well, the sky is beautiful. I think that's why I like it here," Fuji answered, cerulean eyes closing slowly as soon as he finished talking. Head toward the sky, he breathed in and out. Seconds later, he opened his eyes to look at Eiji blissfully. "Tezuka even said my eyes remind him of the sky," he muttered, half-lidded eyes looking at nothingness.
Beside him, Eiji flinched. "I-We should head to the club now, Oishi said we have a private meeting today."
"Oh really?" Surprise was evident in Fuji's voice. His eyes were wide open, but soon enough they were itching to close. "I'm sorry but I can't—" He was cut off by his vibrating phone, which he ignored. A chuckle left his lips.
"He said it's really something important, so we can't miss this." Eiji cut him off. Behind him, Fuji was stoned for a moment. Eiji clenched his fists. He couldn't take it anymore. It had been nearly two years yet Fuji still hadn't moved on. He didn't like how his friend was trapped in the past while all of them had already chosen to move forward. Turning around, he stared at Fuji with his eyebrows knitted together.
"Tell me, why'd you agree to play as an import for Seigaku?"
Fuji cocked his head to the side with a subtle smile upon his face, "Eiji..."
"It had something to do with Captain Tezuka, right?"
His friend was hesitant for a moment, but eventually, Fuji nodded. Eiji never saw.
And Fuji wasn't smiling.
Their steps resonated as they entered the clubroom, greeting the other regulars with their much awaited presence. "Sorry we're late," Eiji apologized while scratching his head. Behind him, Fuji bowed as a sorry.
"It's okay. You guys weren't that late," Oishi waved it off and a few seconds after he did, he cleared his throat. "Anyway, I called you all for a private meeting since a very important person sent us his greetings yesterday." His smile was bright, because he knew the regulars would be happy to hear about everything. But deep inside he felt weary. His eyes glanced at the two that had just entered a few moments ago.
Momoshiro clasped his hands. "I'm pumped to read buchou's mail! Come on Oishi-senpai!"
Fuji's azure eyes opened wide at the word that rang in his ears. "Tezuka sent a letter?" Everyone turned to him, and as soon as they saw the look in his eyes despite his smile, the atmosphere in the clubroom changed.
Oishi stammered to get a reply out of himself. "A-ah, yes!"
"I was pretty surprised when I saw buchou's printed letter in Oishi's bag this morning," Eiji decided it would be best to say something of that sort to distract his teammates from Fuji's eyes, and luckily, he did. Oishi made a mental note to treat Eiji some food for that.
The regulars took Eiji seriously, and Momoshiro was the first one to speak up. "Eiji-senpai, that's unfair! Oishi-senpai, why does he get to read the letter before we do?" Momo whined annoyingly enough for Kaidoh to snicker, not that Kaidoh doesn't snicker at Momoshiro all the time, but you know. "Oi, viper! You want to fight?"
"I don't want to fight with a peanut-sized minded person like you."
Echizen yawned, "Sit down, Momo-senpai. I'm thrilled to hear what buchou had to say."
"Probability of Momoshiro not listening to Echizen is 90%."
Kawamura decided to get in on the commotion, "Burning!"
That was when Oishi took back what he noted, because he definitely wasn't thankful that Eiji stirred up that topic.
Meanwhile, near the door of the clubroom, Fuji stood speechless. His thoughts were drowning out everything around him, and they slowly became whispers as time passed by, eventually vanishing. He couldn't believe what he had heard. Two years had gone by, and even he, himself, would never think that Tezuka would write to them after nearly two years of no communication. Despite thinking that, Fuji knew he wanted to read that letter more than anything else just by listening to the beat of his heart.
"Okay, okay, everyone settle down. Since I don't have a printer at home, I couldn't get a hard copy of the mail Tezuka sent me. But I promise to send it to all of you before tomorrow. Gomen."
"What?! You called all of his here when all we want to do is go home after a long day of practice and that is all you say?!" Momoshiro snapped.
"Sit down, punk," Kaidoh muttered, loud enough for Momoshiro to hear but soft enough for the mentioned guy to dismiss it.
Echizen smirked, "But more importantly, Eiji-senpai lied to us about having had read the letter."
Momoshiro's attention was diverted from Oishi.
"Oi, Oishi, I'm going ahead!" Eiji called from the door, and as soon as he finished, he ran away without a thought.
Fuji sighed after getting his bag from his classroom. He thought he would finally be able to get home after that useless private meeting but he remembered he forgot his stuff at his desk and had to go back. While he was walking though, his mind wandered back to what Oishi told them and he was suddenly so pumped to get home so he could read Tezuka's mail.
As soon as he got home that afternoon, he went on his computer and signed into his email account. He found no email. Fuji frowned before deciding to give Oishi a call. He reached for his cellphone, and was surprised to see a text message from Oishi pop up once he unlocked it. He intended to exit that message to give Oishi a call instead but after having caught a glimpse of the first part of the message, he changed his mind and read it instead.
Hi, Fuji. Tezuka told me to send you his letter to you as soon as possible so here it is. It's different from the letter he wrote to the entire team but you don't have tow worry about that. He wrote this solely for you.
