Swingsets and Flashlights

XxXxX


The sun was setting low on the pavement as Syuusuke waved goodbye to Kawamura and departed from the front of Seigaku. It had been a good day. A perfect, invisible day where you could just blend in with all those around you and forget that you were an individual with responsibilities and a life of your own.

School had ended and practice had let out early because everyone besides Echizen and Momoshiro were being rewarded, while those two were punished for missing two weeks of practice by running laps all after school until dark. Or until Tezuka was satisfied. Whichever came first.

It was a Friday afternoon, but instead of hanging out with Eiji or Kawamura or Oishi, Fuji found himself alone. Normally, if his friends were all busy, Fuji would go home and laze around, preferring not to interact with anyone. But today he just didn't feel like going home somehow, and he started wandering instead, seeing where his feet would take him.

After about ten minutes, he decided to go to the park where he used to hang out with Yuuta when they were young. There was no reason to go home now anyway; no one was expecting him.

Oishi and Kawamura were both serious students, and not as well prepared as Fuji for the exit exams, so they had gone home to study. Eiji had claimed that he had somewhere "important" to go.

Important my ass. Probably ditched me yet again to go watch some fish fighting at an aquarium.

Fuji was still pissed off about that, come to think of it. I mean, it wasn't even something cool like visiting a reptile room, or playing laser ta—

"Fuji Syuusuke."

Fuji had been thoroughly enjoying his internal replaying of that Wednesday afternoon and was less-than-pleased to have it interrupted by a familiar voice. Irritably, he spun around, only to find himself face to face with Mizuki.

Was it possible for him to do anything these days without Mizuki knowing?

"It's nice to see you again. I'm Mizuki Hajime." Mizuki introduced himself grandly for the thousandth time, gesturing elegantly at himself. "May I inquire as to what Fuji-kun is doing here?"

"I was going to ask the same thing." Replied Syuusuke.

"But it is so rare to see Fuji-kun alone, without the ample company of his friends. Surely Kikumaru-kun or Kawamura-kun is somewhere around…" He trailed off, looking back over his shoulder, as if expecting one of Fuji's friends to leap out suddenly from behind a tree.

"No, it's just me today." Syuusuke said. "I was just thinking of visiting the park where Yuuta and I used to hang out when we were kids."

With that, Syuusuke began walking again. He hadn't exactly invited Mizuki along, but he hadn't dismissed him either, so Mizuki followed at a short distance.

With a soft flumping noise, Syuusuke dropped his tennis bag in the dirt once they had reached the park. Then his face broke into a grin of childish delight and he ran towards the swings at the far end.

Mizuki raced him and narrowly beat him, but Syuusuke either didn't notice, or didn't care, for as he arrived, he quickly threw himself into the seat and backed his legs up to get some momentum.

It was a definitely a strange sight, Mizuki decided, the genius of Seigaku gently swaying back and forth on a swing, his honey brown bangs rustling in the created breeze. Mizuki resisted the urge to reach out and smooth them down.

He found himself throwing his own lanky frame onto the swing set next to Fuji and mimicking his actions.

"I bet I can go higher than you." Syuusuke said breathlessly. Mizuki had never seen him look so truly, and non-sadistically happy.

"Is Fuji-kun challenging me?" Mizuki never backed down from a bet.

"Why do you keep referring to me in third person? You're not L from Death Note. Just call me….."

"Syuusuke?" Mizuki supplemented hopefully.

Syuusuke frowned. "Don't you think that's dropping honorifics a little soon?"

"I could call you Syuu-chan if you prefer."

Syuusuke grimaced. "Syuusuke is fine."

Mizuki smiled, pleased that his little trick had worked.

"And yes, I was serious about that bet." Syuusuke pressed.

"Well then, how can I refuse you?"

Both boys gained momentum, oscillating back and forth like pendulums. The swing set, not used to the weight of junior high boys, groaned in protest. Mizuki went high, but Syuusuke's slight, supple frame allowed him to float upwards almost weightlessly. When it appeared that if he went any higher, he would make a complete circle around the swing set, Fuji began to slow down and laughed merrily.

"Mada mada dane, Mizuki."

Mizuki groaned. "Spare me. I can't stand that kid."

"Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. You have no idea how much we have to listen to it every single day at Seigaku."

"I can imagine."

"More to the point…" Syuusuke had slowed down enough to scrape his shoes against the dirt under the swings. "What are you going to get me for winning?"

"The glory of defeating me isn't enough?" Mizuki asked, smiling at his shoes.

"Don't flatter yourself."

Mizuki laughed. "Well I suppose you do deserve something." He appraised Syuusuke for a moment. "If you don't have plans, I'll treat you to dinner!" Oops. That came out sounding more as if he had asked for a date. Mizuki braced himself for rejection.

Fuji was silent for a moment and Mizuki hurriedly added, "You don't need to come, of course! You probably already have dinner plans. I'll just…"

"I would like to have dinner with you. Thank you Mizuki." Syuusuke smoothly interrupted, leaving Mizuki speechless. "I like noodles." He added, getting up. "There's a really good Chinese-style place not too far from here." Syuusuke began to walk again, leaving Mizuki nodding vigorously in agreement to a statement he had barely heard, and fairly astounded at his good fortune.

Syuusuke trooped back to his tennis bag, pausing only to examine a patch of hibiscus flowers colored like the sunset.

XxXxXxX

"Thank you so much for treating me, Mizuki." Syuusuke didn't let his manners falter, even if he had suggested this place himself.

Mizuki raised his eyebrows. "How do you know this isn't all part of my scenario?"

When Syuusuke looked skeptical, Mizuki continued, "You won at swinging because your build is light and speedy. Therefore, I'm treating you to dinner in hopes of fattening you up so I'll win next time."

"Unlikely." Said Syuusuke, idly playing with his chopsticks. "There's no need to feel bad. No one beats me at swinging."

"Nor at tennis apparently."

Oh damn. Mizuki had not meant to bring up, even indirectly, Fuji defeating him in tennis. It was too late though; Syuusuke had apparently made the same connection from Mizuki's comment. His had stopped smiling.

Suddenly, Mizuki felt jaded. Was he going to spend the rest of his life courting Syuusuke carefully to avoid talking about that match?

"Listen Syuusuke….." Mizuki began. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say, but he wanted Syuusuke to understand that he wasn't like that anymore. "About that match we had the first time we met…."

Syuusuke shook his head dismissively. "That was a long time ago. It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me and I know it matters to you, too!" Mizuki hadn't meant to shout, but it came out somewhat loud. He continued in a more muted voice, "Even if it 'doesn't matter', I know you haven't forgotten it. You just have to understand that…I had my priorities all messed up at that time. Winning was everything to me. I didn't treat Yuuta with the respect he deserved. Deserves."

Syuusuke listened, while examining his own entwined fingers.

Mizuki sighed. "You might not be able to forgive me, but—

Syuusuke held up his hand to silence Mizuki.

"Honestly, I'm not trying to mess with your head or anything, here." Syuusuke opened his eyes and focused them directly on Mizuki. "It was a long time ago. Our systems of values were different. I wouldn't want you to judge me over mistakes of my past. In return, I'll show you the same courtesy."

Then it was quiet between them.

XxXxXxX

"There you go, honey."

The woman behind the car was smiling at Fuji a little too kindly for Mizuki's liking. In fact, she had not taken her eyes off him the entire time they had been in the restaurant.

"And for you." She dropped his bowl in front of him without even looking at him. "Enjoy." She said, though the remark was clearly meant for Syuusuke. He smiled back graciously, causing her to blush.

Mizuki vacantly wondered how often Syuusuke used that smile of his to get his way.

Thinking that the woman was lingering a bit too long, and ignoring him a bit too much, Mizuki discreetly plucked up the can of chopsticks on the table and dumped them over his shoulder.

"Excuse me, miss." She was forced to look at him. "We need something to eat with, ne?" He held up the now empty can and tapped his fingers against it impatiently. She looked suspiciously at him but accepted the can, and left with a mumbled, "Of course, sir." That ought to give her the message to stay away, Mizuki thought, satisfied.

When the chopsticks arrived, even Mizuki forgot to polish his pretenses so as to appear elegant, and simply dove into the noodles, as did Syuusuke.

Syuusuke looked up with his mouth full. "Mizuki," he said with some difficultly.

"Want to—

"Race?"

Syuusukes brow furrowed slightly and he wondered if he was being too open with Mizuki.

XxX

It had been thirty three minutes since they had left the restaurant. Mizuki knew. He was timing it. Thirty three minutes and he had not repelled or bored Fuji enough to make him leave. Mizuki-1, Destiny- 0

He was on a kind of high. Syuusuke had even let Mizuki buy him ice cream, which he was eating as they strolled through the darkening streets. Mizuki was rather aware that to any passerby, this would probably look like a date. He smirked, though not altogether displeased with the notion.

"What do you do for fun, Mizuki?" Syuusuke suddenly asked.

"What?" Asked Mizuki, rather thrown. "Oh, um…"

He could feel himself blushing. He had often fantasized that Fuji would be interested enough in him to ask him personal questions, but now on the spot, Mizuki found that he in fact, did not have an answer prepared. And the truth would hardly do, because "stalk you" was an answer that would most likely freak Syuusuke out. Why is it that for all my data, I always seem to be caught off guard by Syuusuke?

"Well, you know…."

Don't say follow people.

"I like to observe people."

"And by observe you mean stalk, and by people you mean me."

"I like science a lot." Mizuki plowed on, determined not to let Syuusuke win this round, too, though he could feel himself blushing. "When you observe people and things, you can also make notes, take down data, notice patterns…" He trailed off. "I think I'd make a good scientist or something when I grow up." He ruffled his own hair in an embarrassed kind of way, wanting to steer the conversation away from himself.

"You like competition." Fuji said. It was not a question, just a statement.

"So do you." Said Mizuki, remembering the random challenges he had gotten throughout the evening.

"Not really." Syuusuke was suddenly staring at his mint chip ice cream as though it were depressing him. "I hardly have a fighting spirit at all."

Mizuki frowned. "It didn't seem that way when I played you."

"That was different. I felt obliged to Yuuta and to my school to win. Left to myself….I don't really care about winning or losing. They're just words to me. I can't ever get motivated for a match unless something besides pride is at stake."

"You're lucky."

Syuusuke looked at him curiously.

"Most people care way too much about the outcome of a match. They get depressed if they lose, cocky if they win. You're very calm—like you're above that. Transcended, one might say." He smirked. "Anyway, I'm glad you're not hot-blooded. It's not like we need any more of those kinds of players like Momoshiro anyway."

Momoshiro…..The name stirred something in Syuusuke's mind. "Hey, Mizuki." They both stopped walking. "You don't like Echizen, right?"

"No, who would? Why?"

"Do you want to see something funny?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Night had completely fallen by the time they reached Seigaku. Syuusuke, however, was able to navigate easily through the dark campus, being so familiar with it. Mizuki felt as if they were committing some sort of crime, sneaking into a school to steal files on students or something.

"Come with me." Syuusuke said quietly, indicating with a few slender fingers that Mizuki should follow his lead. They crept, silent as shadows along the bush lined pavement. The moon was full, but it was a cloudy night, so there was barely any light to see by.

First, Syuusuke lead Mizuki over to what appeared to be a locker complex. He slunk over to the south wall of lockers and began scrutinizing the numbers written on them, finally stopping at locker 1445. He opened it quickly and rummaged around inside for a few moments. Then he handed something to Mizuki.

Mizuki turned the object over in his hands, feeling cool plastic, with a switch on the side. It was a flashlight.

"Syuusuke, what—

"Shh" Syuusuke placed a finger against Mizuki's lips and closed his locker. "Just follow me, and do as I tell you."

Mizuki was starting to feel mildly worried.

The two boys silently made their way down to the tennis courts and ironically, Syuusuke lead Mizuki over to the exact same tree that Mizuki usually hid in when stalking him. Mizuki liked that tree a lot. It was near enough to the courts to observe everything that happened, but far enough away to stay hidden.

There they stood for what felt like an eternity to Mizuki, but in reality was probably only ten minutes. Syuusuke's body was completely tense, he was like a predator waiting in the safari for his prey. He seemed to be listening intently. Either because Mizuki's hearing wasn't as good as Syuusuke's or because Mizuki didn't know what he was supposed to be listening for, but Mizuki seemed to have missed some sort of signal. Syuusuke clicked his tongue softly like he had discovered something important.

He turned to smile at Mizuki. "This way." He whispered. "Be very quiet."

Not like Mizuki would have dared say anything when Syuusuke seemed so focused.

Syuusuke's footsteps whispered over the pavement and Mizuki tried his best to imitate his stealth. Slowly, very slowly, the two inched toward the chain link fence enclosing the tennis courts. They were standing at the very corner of the cube of courts, where the direction of the fence changed. Syuusuke pressed himself against the side of the fence and gestured for Mizuki to do the same.

"In a minute or so, we may not be able to talk, so I'll explain while I can." Syuusuke spoke quickly, but very softly. He took Mizuki's wrist in his hand, causing Mizuki to shiver involuntarily.

"Listen carefully, Mizuki." Syuusuke looked serious. "I will give you a signal when it is time. The signal will be tactile, because it will be too dangerous to speak." Syuusuke paused for effect. "This is the signal." He squeezed Mizuki's wrist. "The next time I give the signal, it means it is time. When I do that, you have to round the corner of this enclosure with me, quickly. As you jump around, turn on the flashlight and hold it under your chin, pointed upwards, like this." Syuusuke demonstrated with his own flashlight, though he did not turn it on.

"It is imperative that, until I give the signal, you don't speak, or move, or turn on the flashlight. Do you understand?"

Mizuki nodded numbly though he had no idea where Syuusuke was going with all of this.

Suddenly, Syuusuke tensed again. Mizuki heard it too, this time. Footsteps.

"Its almost time," his voice was barely audible. "Get ready."

Mizuki could feel his heart pounding in terrified anticipation. What was this all about? The sound of footsteps was unmistakable by now, coming from around the corner. Moreover, it seemed that there was more than one pair. Labored breathing accompanied the sound of the pattering feet.

What the hell is this….is Syuusuke leading me into a trap of murderers? Mizuki wondered, feeling very scared. No, it must be fine. It has to be. Nothing could be too wrong, as long as Syuusuke was holding his hand like that.

The footsteps were closer than ever. Mizuki's grip on the flashlight was starting to feel weak as his hand sweat. But he couldn't afford to drop it; he'd promised not to make a sound.

The footsteps must be adjacent by now, matching the pounding of Mizuki's heart. Thud. Thud. Thud. THUD.

And then suddenly, Mizuki felt pressure on his wrist. Perfectly in harmony, the two boys leapt around the corner of the tennis courts and turned on their flashlights, below their chins.

The silent air exploded with screams.

Mizuki didn't realize until later that one of them had been his own. The next sound he was aware of after the shrieking, scuffling, and thudding had subsided was the most beautiful, tinkling sound Mizuki had ever heard. His favorite sound in the world.

It could only be Syuusuke's laughter.

Mizuki suddenly became aware of the fact that he was on the ground, legs entangled with someone who was thrashing like a dying fish.

"E…Echizen!" he recognized. Momoshiro was lying on his other side, with shaking hands covering his eyes. Further behind the three of them was a person curled into a fetal position that Mizuki didn't recognize.

Actually, the only person who wasn't on the ground in a crumpled heap was Syuusuke himself, who was laughing so hard that he had to grip the chain link fence for support.

Mizuki, quickly realizing what had happened, got up after disentangling himself from Echizen with some difficulty.

Echizen and Momoshiro both seemed to have been stimulated by the sound of Syuusuke's laughter. Momo took his hands away from his pallid face, and Echizen sat up uncertainly, cat like eyes wide with shock.

"Oh…….Kami-sama………..you……should……. have……….seen….your……… faces!" Syuusuke broke into another peal of laughter and seemed unable to speak anymore. Realizing that the people they had jumped were only Echizen and Momoshiro, Mizuki felt himself calm down as well and began to see the humor in the situation.

"Fuji senpai…" Echizen seemed to have gotten ahold of himself, at least enough to control his shaking knees. His voice was hoarse from screaming and waveringly distant. "That…..was not funny."

Syuusuke stared at him. "Well, you see, that's where you're wrong." And laughed again, but more controlled this time.

"Fuji senpai!" Now Momo spoke. His voice was stronger than Echizen's, but still far more subdued than usual. "What the hell was that for? Are we not getting punished enough by Buchou for missing two weeks of tennis as it is? You scared the hell out of us!"

"Gomen, gomen…" Syuusuke seemed to be calming down. "I wasn't sure how long Tezuka would have you running for, so I just wanted to pay you a night call in case you guys were getting bored."

"I'd take the boredom, next to that!" screeched Echizen slightly hysterically and Momoshiro nodded fervently. They both got unsteadily to their feet.

Mizuki was intrigued. "You guys are still running make-up laps? It's past nine!"

Momoshiro rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, Buchou wasn't quite ready to let us off so easily for skipping practice, so he's having us run around the school indefinitely. Or until he's satisfied. Whatever comes first."

"Wait a minute." Syuusuke interjected. "I knew you two were still on punishment, but who's that?" He pointed to the curled up figure lying ten feet behind Echizen and Momoshiro, which had still not moved.

"Kaidoh." Said Momoshiro shortly.

Syuusuke looked nonplussed. "What's he doing here?"

"He asked Tezuka how it's possible for a left handed person to shake hands with a right handed person and Tezuka got mad." Echizen explained. "Told Kaidoh he was an idiot and then made him run the make-up laps with us."

"Ah." Syuusuke seemed to be trying not to laugh again. "That was an unexpected perk. But is he okay?"

Mizuki walked over to the form and nudged it with his toe. It did not move.

"He scares so easily." Syuusuke sighed, sounding a little concerned. "I may not have done this if I had known Kaidoh was here."

"Like hell you wouldn't have." Echizen muttered.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Syuusuke agreed, and allowed himself one more laugh before stopping short at the look on Momoshiro's and Echizen's faces. He cleared his throat. "Come on, no bad feelings, right?" He implored. "I was just trying to show Mizuki here how things roll at Seigaku."

"A fine example you've set." Grumbled Momoshiro, who was now kneeling next to Kaidoh, taking his pulse.

XxX

Back under the sequoia, Mizuki found himself stumbling over words to create an potent goodbye.

"Well, thanks…."

Syuusuke frowned. Mizuki had paid for everything and put up with Syuusuke's dose of sick fun. What was he thanking him for?

"…for hanging out with me. I had a really fun time."

Syuusuke stared at Mizuki.

After a moment, Mizuki cleared his throat, uncomfortably aware that he sounded like a girl thanking a boy for a nice date. He looked hopefully at Syuusuke, but the prodigy didn't say anything.

"Well…." Mizuki started again, "I guess I should get going then. I have to catch a bus back to St. Rudolph and all. You're parents are probably wondering where you are, too. So I'll just…." He didn't want to leave without Syuusuke saying goodbye, but it didn't seem like he was going to talk.

As he began to turn however, Mizuki felt a grip on his forearm. Turning around to see what was wrong, his heart leapt into his throat when Syuusuke kissed him.

It was brief, not even on the lips, just a brush against his cheek. But it shocked him enough that he found himself unable to move.

...

Why couldn't I do that?

...

"Why?" Mizuki finally asked, after a very long pause. Syuusuke seemed to have gotten back into character, and raised his eyebrows at him.

"Why are you like this? Why are you willing to forgive me so easily?"

"Who knows?" Syuusuke mused aloud, almost more to himself than to Mizuki. "I normally wouldn't…..but maybe I'm just not quite as sadistic as all fandom seems to think…."

And he thoughtfully sauntered off into the night, forgetting to return Mizuki's heart.

XxXxX