Attempt #2
Seduce the desired one by presenting him with tokens of your affection.
The Gifts of the Magus
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Syuusuke entered his room and set his backpack down on his desk. The tennis bag went into its usual corner. Crossing the room in two steps, he quickly drew the pleated blinds which shrouded his view of the street below. Sunshine poured into the room, and Syuusuke knelt down by the window to examine the latest growth. It seemed that all of his plants were getting along nicely. He fetched a small cup of water from the kitchen and was happily pouring it over his prides when he suddenly felt strange, as though he were being scrutinized. Turning around, he looked all around his room. There was no one in the doorway, closet, desk, or under his bed. So why did he get the feeling…?
Then he saw it. Two pairs of blue eyes met each other. On Syuusukes bed, reclined casually against the pillows was a bean stuffed, lumpy plushie of Ryuichi Sakuma.
Syuusuke twitched slightly.
Masaki…..he thought; while at the same time throwing open his door and shouting, "Yuuta! I think you left something in my room!"
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What would Fuji really want? Mizuki was wondering as he lay on his bed in the St. Rudolph dormitory.
Mizuki was beginning to agree with Yuuta that perhaps his relationship with Syuusuke was presently too fragile to withstand direct confrontation. Well, then, he would woo from afar, decided Mizuki. Don't let that heartless boy forget you.
So t was time to consider again. Think. Come on. He should make something heartfelt for Fuji. Something that he would really like. Now, what are you good at? There was silence in the dormitory, broken only by the distant sound of cars passing below. Nothing came to mind after twenty minutes. Oh, come on, this is ridiculous. I must be good at something. Again he thought. He wanted to make something really impressive, to fully capture Fuji's interest. Presenting him with a bound copy of all the data notes he had ever collected from every tennis player ever seemed like a decent idea. But would it be good enough?
It was all such hard work, sending presents, and making sure that they were in good taste. One had to be careful not to send anything too garish, or suggestive, or expensive, because that would make Fuji uncomfortable.
Mizuki closed his eyes. He felt utterly spent, even though all he had done that day after getting ready was to walk to a café and drink a cup of hot chocolate.
How was it that getting a gift for someone could suddenly seem to be such an impossible task?
What are my good points? It was really depressing him that he couldn't come up with an answer. He was on the verge of calling his mother.
From what he had heard from Yuuta, Fuji had not exactly been super impressed by the cuddly gifts he had sent so far. But what to do? Mizuki needed some more clues before he could effectively shop for Syuusuke. And anyway, it had been a brave guess to think that Syuusuke would like the Ryuichi plushie, at least if Syuusuke was anything like his brother. Which apparently he wasn't.
Mizuki had also sent an adorable, small, white and gray rabbit, complete with a satin purple ribbon tied around its neck. He had been hoping that if Syuusuke could learn to love the animal, he could realize his feelings for Mizuki as well. However, it turned out to be even worse than the plushie. Yuuta had brought the bunny back to St. Rudolph within the week, just then informing Mizuki that Syuusuke was severely allergic to long haired pets.
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It had taken less persuasion than Mizuki had expected for Yuuta to allow him to come over to his house. Normally, Yuuta did not like to speak with, much less hang out with, his team members on the few days off from them he got each month. However, (possibly he knew resistance was futile), he had agreed to Mizuki's innocent request to visit home with him.
Now they descended from the 412 bus and Mizuki could not help but feel a little thrill of anticipation, although Yuuta had already told him that probably no one would be at home at this hour of ten o'clock on a Saturday morning. His mother would be at the outdoor market shopping, and Syuusuke would probably have practice at school.
Yuuta tried the front door and was surprised to find it open. He and Mizuki entered.
There were noises coming from the kitchen. Yuuta frowned slightly.
"I didn't know anybody was home…," he muttered, heading in that direction after removing his shoes.
Entering the kitchen, Yuuta was shocked to find both Syuusuke and Yumiko seated at the kitchen table. Yumiko was softly speaking to her younger brother who was munching over a bowl of cereal. Both looked up when Yuuta entered the room and Mizuki stood, unsure of himself, in the doorway. Syuusuke cracked a smile at the sight of his brother. He was wonderfully handsome and somehow still dignified, even with his hair in disarray and clad in burgundy lounging pants patterned with blue reindeer. Mizuki blushed at seeing Syuusuke like that.
"Hello, Fuji Syuusuke-kun, I'm Mizuki Hajime." He professed in one breath, beaming. He also inclined his head at the Fuji brothers' older sister, whom he had met at the match where Syuusuke played Kirihara.
"What are you guys both doing here?" Yuuta questioned, still confused at the uncommon event of all three Fuji siblings being at home at once.
Syuusuke swallowed a mouthful of cereal before speaking.
"Well, I was supposed to have practice today and match simulations, but in the end it got called off because only a few people showed up."
"Only a few people?" asked Yuuta incredulously. "I thought that the Seigaku team was all about dedication!"
Syuusuke shrugged. "Taka-san had to help his father out at the sushi shop today and Kaidoh got into his usual animal rescuing adventure on the way to practice and ended up having to take the kitten to the vet. Oh, and Momoshiro and Echizen haven't shown up at all to practice for the past week. They're still upset about having to pay for dinner the other day." Here Syuusuke cracked a slightly evil smirk and Yumiko laughed.
"Well, Mizuki is going to hang out here today, anyway. We'll be upstairs." Yuuta said. His brother and sister nodded and the two friends left them alone the kitchen.
"..."
"Why does that boy introduce himself with his full name every time he sees you?"
Syuusuke shrugged.
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Although Mizuki had decided that for the time being, an indirect approach might be more effective for his perusal of Fuji, he hadn't been expecting to find Syuusuke at home when he paid a house call, searching for clues.
Fortunately, Syuusuke didn't linger for long. He finished up in the kitchen and then headed upstairs to change back into his tennis shorts. He informed them that he would be going down to the street tennis courts to see if anyone wanted to play and extended the invitation to Mizuki and Yuuta, who declined. Syuusuke made no mention of either of the two gifts he had received. Maybe he doesn't know they're from me. Mizuki worriedly thought, then mentally smacked his forehead. Of course he knows. He isn't called "tensai" for no reason. And anyway, a purple ribbon was equivalent to Mizuki's signature on a gift.
After Syuusuke had left, Yumiko went out to go shopping, and Yuuta was left with the annoying task of showing an over-excited Mizuki a tour of his house. Mizuki managed to stay rather calm until they passed Syuusuke's empty room, which Yuuta had pointed to casually saying, "My Aniki's room."
"Hmmm," Mizuki put a finger to his lips.
Feeling nervous, Yuuta began, "Don't --!", but his warning was cut off by Mizuki bolting inside the room.
Syuusuke's bedroom was reasonably spacious in lay out, like the rest of the house, and very tidily kept, unlike Yuutas. A checkered bedspread caught his eye upon entering, as did the television, computer, bookshelves and the greenery blooming on the sunny windowsill.
Quite as surprised as he was by some of the strange things in the room, Mizuki was intrigued by what was not in the room. There were no pictures of the Seigaku tennis team; not a single award or trophy was on display to suggest that the boy who lived in this room played tennis. The extra tennis racquets themselves were nowhere in sight—Mizuki finally found them when he opened the closet, for they were hidden away as if unimportant. There was not a single mirror in his room. Mizuki quickly noted these unusual details before analyzing what was in sight.
Upon closer inspection of the windowsill, Mizuki found cacti and aloe, along with an assortment of unusual plants he could not recognize basking cheerfully in the sunlight. Then his heart almost stopped.
Sitting on Fuji's desk was the small paper crane Mizuki had made and sent with his first gift, the plushie. He walked over and picked up the delicate bird that he had spent so many hours trying to fold correctly, under the instruction of Kisarazu. Sure, it was not exactly in the place of honor or anything, just on the side of his desk, but it wasn't in the trash, so that was enough for Mizuki to smile.
"Mizuki…." Groaned Yuuta. "Please don't touch my brothers things. If he finds out…."
Rather than listening to Yuuta, Mizuki crossed the room and threw himself, stomach down, onto Syuusuke's bed.
"This is nice." He decided, rolling over to look at Yuuta. "Very comfortable."
"Mizuki…" Yuuta had gone rather pale. "I'm not kidding, we have to leave this room. This is...dangerous."
"Oh relax, relax, I'm coming." Mizuki reluctantly got up from the bed and headed out, but not before carefully replacing his crane on Syuusuke's desk.
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Syuusuke didn't return until past seven o'clock, looking as if he had gotten a workout. He explained that the Seigaku vs. Noob matches, which had been cut out of the Seigaku fieldtrip had been made up for that day.
"Unbelievable, really…" Sighed Syuusuke. "I had to double with Oishi to get these kids to take back what they had said about Ryuzaki sensei. Kids these days…"
"So Echizen and Momo are still off tennis?" Yuuta asked.
"For the time being. Please excuse me now, I have to go take a shower." And he left the boys whom he seemed to have interrupted in their movie marathon. Mizuki couldn't help but shiver at the sound of the shower running.
Mizuki passed down the hallways on his way to the kitchen to get a drink when he heard faint buzzing, beeping, and crashing noises coming from a slightly ajar door. He stopped outside the room: it was coming from Syuusuke's. It was definitely not the most polite move just to enter, but Mizuki felt curious. Peering inside, he found Syuusuke within, lacking his normal calm composure, his normally bright room darkened. The boys blue eyes were not squinted in smile or anything else. They were very widely open. He was lounging in a butterfly chair in sweatpants and a tee-shirt, intently staring at the screen of a television and rapidly clicking on a controller.
Mizuki couldn't believe it. He wondered what the rest of the Seigaku team, or hell, the rest of the Kantou region, would say if they knew the famous tensai Fuji Syuusuke liked to play video games in his spare time. And not even something legitimately strategist like FIFA or a Fire Emblem. He played Halo, the loser of loser games.
Mizuki remembered at the match against Rikkaidai when Fuji Yumiko showed up and told him and Yuuta about how she had only seen that "expression" of anger and determination on Syuusuke's face once; when Yuuta was being beat up. That look, she had explained, had nothing to do with whatever Syuusuke personally had gone through; it only came out when the enemy had harmed someone that Syuusuke cared for. The fire inside of him would alight, his eyes would glow with determination, and a shard of the prodigious mountain of potential buried deep within the boy would begin to appear.
Mizuki wondered what Yumiko would say if he told her that he had seen this expression on her brother one other time: when he played Halo.
He was quite vicious, really. Syuusuke struck each deformed looking alien as if it had personally offended him, easily exterminating a passel of them within seconds.
Perhaps he felt eyes on the back of his neck, or he noticed that the ribbon of light from the hallway on his floor had widened, but Syuusuke suddenly turned around.His hair was still wet from the shower, resulting in wet patches visible on his tee-shirt's shoulders and back.
His eyes, still wide from the passion of slaughtering aliens, quickly snapped shut into their default smile. Caught by surprise.
"Still here?" he asked, though not in the tone of a question.
"Yeah..." Mizuki nodded numbly.
Syuusuke glanced at the paused screen and then back at Mizuki.
"…...Do you want to play?"
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After about thirty minutes, Yuuta decided that even Mizuki could not have possibly gotten that lost on his way to the kitchen. Sighing with irritation that he had to pause the film, he got up to investigate. Whatever trouble Mizuki had managed to get into in his house was partially his responsibility.
Halfway down the hallway, Yuuta stopped dead at the sound of voices.
"No, no—not like that. Throw it at him…
"I'm trying, but they're not dying!"
"Oh come on, they're just minions!"
"I'm telling you, there's some kind of force field around him. His spear is somehow stronger than my master sword…"
"Okay, okay, just get over here, quickly! Stand on the stairs and I'll switch minds with you, then climb to the top of the tower and we'll fly over. You grab onto my ankles!"
"Right. Stairs, tower, fly."
"And whatever you do, don't forget the dominion rod, because otherwise the statues won't follow us. Okay?"
"Got it."
"No, not that way, that's the boss's dungeon! I'm over here!"
"….."
"….."
"CHEAP!" they both screamed at the same time.
Yuuta felt that it was high time he stepped in.
"What are you two……oh my god."
Oh God. Yuuta had been afraid of this from the first day Mizuki had told him that he liked his brother. He really had. Mizuki was the biggest video game freak at St. Rudolph and Syuusuke was a closet player. Combined, they would never give it a rest.
And indeed, it wasn't until past ten o'clock that Yuuta was able to find an opening long enough for him to pry his brother and Mizuki off the video games. Mizuki had lingered as long as he could, standing in the doorway and looking back at Syuusuke, who was strangely silhouetted against his windows and plants. This last glimpse gave Mizuki an idea.
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Syuusuke entered his room, tossed his bag into its usual unobtrusive corner and flopped down on his bed. Coach Ryuzaki had insisted on keeping the whole team after for two hours so that they could do extra laps and then sweep all of the tennis courts. It was already eight o'clock before she had let them go.
Syuusuke sighed and turned on his side. Then he saw it. Sitting innocently on his desk.
A plant that had not been there that morning. Getting up, Syuusuke walked over to it and recognized a baby cactus. It was of a unusual breed though, a type he didn't have yet that bore flowers and fruit as purple as the ribbon that was tied around the pot it came in. He shook his head, but couldn't help smiling genuinely.
Third time this week.
That Mizuki….
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