DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. Only the idea of coming up with a story to write.
A/N: At last, the fourth chapter! It has been a long while since I've last updated! Sorry for that! I hope you will enjoy this chapter, it's not much, but i hope you will like it. Sadly, this would be on temporary hiatus, I will make some revisions for the last three chapters because I didn't like it. (Gomen, I think it would take a while.) But I will push this through until the end. But for now, I hope you will all enjoy this. Reviews! Don't forget!
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Kimi no yasashisa ga boku ni nokoshita mono wo
Kimi ni wa souzou dekinai darou
You probably cannot imagine
What your gentleness has left for me
Tezuka stared at the invitation he was holding. It was from Fuji, inviting him to see his photo exhibition at school. Apparently, Fuji's talent for capturing moments with such perfection and precision had caused him his very first exhibit. The stoic captain can't help but be impressed; Fuji deserved this kind of achievement, he is a tensai after all. He'd proven much of his reputation already, and it came to no surprise that he's excelling so well. He knew everyone who had crossed paths with Fuji must have been so proud of him. An unfamiliar smile crept up his face as he made up his mind to attend the said exhibit, no possible reason would be probable to hinder him from seeing Fuji at his best.
'I couldn't possibly deny you, Syusuke.'
'Of course, I want to see you shining at what you do best.'
'You can't imagine how proud I am.'
Tezuka blinked. He was standing outside the university mentioned in Fuji's invitation, and found himself staring down at his old Seigaku tennis team. It seems Fuji had invited them all, and they had all decided to grab this one in a million chances of the tensai's supremacy.
"Buchou! I'm so glad you came, nya!" a voice he knew full well greeted with such exuberating energy, that he noticed people passing them smiling slightly. The captain's eyes glanced around his team. All of them, no doubt, were there. Anticipation was spelled clearly before him as he approached them.
"Tezuka, we're glad you came. Aren't you excited to see all of Fuji's works? I heard that his photos were beyond exceptional." Oishi said, grinning widely.
"He was always exceptional, that Fuji." The captain sounded very proud. It made the whole team smile.
"Really? Thank you, Tezuka." A soft, effeminate voice said just behind him, and when he turned around, it was the eyes that held his heart that met his gaze. He had a saccharine smile, one that never hid anything behind its beauty.
Tezuka watched him while he turns gracefully to their friends. "Thank you for coming everyone, it means a lot to me."
"Fuji, nya, it's our pleasure, right guys?" the other Seigaku Regulars nodded. Kikumaru jumped around like a silly 5 years old given some ice cream. "I'm so excited Fuji nya~!"
"Aa…thanks, Eiji. Follow me then." Fuji turned and led the way inside the splendid and spacious university. Eyes followed them, wondering who on earth were this stunning group led by their prodigy in their campus. Some even came and greeted Fuji with utmost respect and admiration while averting their eyes to the eight Regulars with interest. Others were attempting petty conversations with Fuji filled with exclamations from his exhibit, but Fuji merely answered once and shook them off rather easily.
"Fuji-sempai's very popular, isn't he?" commented Ryoma, smirking amusingly, eyeing another swarm of admirers crowding them again. The captain found it odd that some of the students eyed him with interest, some whispering in hushed voices behind their hands. Tezuka got the feeling that they somehow recognized him.
"Aa…thank you, everyone, but I really have to go, my friends here needs to see my exhibit too, and I want to be there with them." Fuji explained with a gentle ease and a smile.
"Fuji-sama, is that THE Tezuka Kunimitsu—"
"Aa…yes, he's Tezuka. Gomen, but we really have to go. Excuse us." Fuji's tone suggested that he was hiding something as he had noticed as his eyes took up Fuji's face. But he kept it quiet, as they continued following the tensai to the very heart of his huge college.
"Hoi, Fuji, what was that about?"
"Saa, you'll find out soon enough." The tensai replied with a small smile.
The exhibit was huge indeed and magnificently designed, very much suited to the tensai's taste for elegant aesthetics. Photos after photos framed luxuriously scattered around, with the memories and messages it brings sealed inside.
The first two sections were all landscapes. It showcases the brilliance of Mother Earth as seen though Fuji's eyes. The next two sections were about human aesthetics, candid and dramatic shots of people at the midst of their emotions and preoccupation. It was amazing how stealthy Fuji can become, and still retain the precise acquisition of the photos. Staring at it makes you feel like you've been actually there.
"Hoi! Guys, look here nya!" Kikumaru was bouncing up and down excitedly at the third section.
Tezuka tore his eyes away from a sunrise photograph that looked oddly familiar to him and went to Kikumaru. What he saw surprised him so much.
Familiar faces of the Seigaku regulars greeted his sight. There were pictures of all of them, in groups and individual shots. There were pictures of them doing their special move at play, Tezuka even saw himself in his Tezuka Zone stance. Come to think of it, how did Fuji capture all of this when he never actually notices the tensai holding his camera during matches, let alone during practice matches?
"These are amazing! Look at me, doing my dunk smash! Did I really get that high?" Momo sounded dumbfounded and utterly impressed, gaping wide-eyed on his picture.
"Aaa…it seems like my Tenimuhou didn't escape his lenses too, huh…" The slightly smirking Ryoma let his eyes rover over his photos, both candid and on-purpose shots. He can't deny the talent that his sempai must have to attain such well-defined photos.
Kikumaru couldn't stop his mouth from babbling as he bobbed up and down the soles of his feet as he acknowledges the photo of himself in front of him. "Sugoi~! I didn't know I was this high and flashy nya! Look at me smile nya!" Tezuka could almost hear the smile in his voice.
"Fujiko-chan… these are wonderful…oh, is that me in my burning mode?" Takashi said impressively with Fuji beaming next to him. Fuji told him that he wanted the sushi-maker to remember his past achievement as a tennis player.
Behind them Inui and Kaido were silently adoring their own framed remembrance of the past. "These photos are interesting. Such detail and precision captured at best. Truly a work of a tensai. Just look at your boomerang snake, Kaido. Even the eyes alone can't see the precise angle the ball glides around the pole. Add the fact that this shot is incredibly fast for him to catch is amazing." Even Inui was in awe with what he is seeing. It was a rare case for him to spout compliments after compliments. Kaido, however, was devoid of words as he stared at the photographs.
Oishi can't help smiling appreciatively as his eyes swept over the photos. His smile even grew wider when he saw photos of his and Eiji's synchronization and his specialty, the Moon Volley.
Tezuka, however, was in the midst of admiring the photos of the team he came to treasure so much. He realized that photographs of him were only few, compared to the other Regulars. He did once mention to Fuji that he doesn't like being photographed.
"Fuji—" Tezuka was about to thank him, but it seems like the latter was telling something to the team.
"I have a special exhibit over there; you can all go inside if you want."
"Hoi! Let's go nya!" said an enthusiastic Eiji, as he jumped around in glee. Tezuka made his way to Fuji, who merely stared back rather hesitant.
"Ne Tezuka, don't you want to see my special exhibit?" the tensai smiled, and Tezuka found himself enthralled that he forgot to talk.
"TEZUKA-BUCHOU! YOU NEED TO COME HERE AT ONCE!" Momo's voice was so loud that it startled Tezuka. He turned and saw Momo frantically ushering him to come. He turned back to Fuji again, and was about to talk when he was headed off again.
"Go on Tezuka. I hope you enjoy my special exhibit." He smiled again and Tezuka gave up. It was pointless; Fuji's smile is enough to shut him up.
He felt a tug behind him and saw Momoshiro practically dragging him before he could even utter a word of protest. And when he turned to Fuji again, the tensai was nowhere in sight.
"Fuji?!"
"Buchou, check this out!" Momo said, Tezuka was still wondering where Fuji had gone off to, to notice that Momo had opened the clothed entrance.
"Tezuka."
It was Oishi's voice that sent him back to reality and then he found himself staring on countless photographs that were solely featuring him.
A title flashed ahead, in a glimmering elegant calligraphy was the words 'PARAGON' A Special Exhibit by Fuji Syusuke are embossed.
Paragon…a model of perfection and excellence…Kunimitsu Tezuka.
The captain stood there, lost for words.
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Otagai no kuuhaku woumeru mono wo tada
Otagai no naka ni motometeku
We're searching in each other
The thing that will fill our emptiness
Paragon.
A model of perfection.
Tezuka thought his eyes were playing a practical joke on him.
The walls around him were all filled with his framed photographs. It was like a time line of Tezuka's life in Seigaku.
There was a shot of him playing with one of his sempais, a picture of him picking up balls on the ground, him running his laps alone, him sitting alone on one of the benches a towel draped over his head. There was also a photo of him playing against the wall, the mark where the ball always lands evidently seen on the photo.
On another side is dedicated on his second year.
Tezuka started to notice that the photos taken were actually when he was with the tensai. But it was weird that he didn't notice Fuji clutching his camera and was already clicking away.
There was a photo of him with a look of untainted concentration on his face, a photo of him sleeping on his bed, his guard completely down, he couldn't remember when the tensai had sneaked inside his bedroom like that, but judging from the flush on his face, this must be the time when he was sick and Fuji visited him. His stances, his feat at play, were all captured by the tensai. It felt like he was stalked by this person. It once occurred to him that Inui did all the spying and stuff, not Fuji.
Another row was dedicated for his last year in Seigaku. Majority of it were all about his matches. There was his unforgettable match with Atobe. Also pictures of him in Germany when the team visited him. Some features his last match with Echizen before the latter flew to America. Shots from the Nationals came after that. The loss of his match with Sanada from Rikkaidai, the victory cup that gleamed from his hands when Echizen beat Yukimura. And a stolen shot of him with a rare smile plastered on his face. Underneath that particular photo was a label that says, 'A billion's worth of smile'. Then there's a picture of him when they were in Kawamura's place to celebrate the victory they had.
And lastly, a picture of him in his fateful departure to Germany.
"Mou…this is unexpected nya." He heard Kikumaru muttered behind him. Even his other friends were entranced, mouths agape.
At the far end of the last picture of Tezuka, taken recently when he came back from Germany, a short message beautifully handwritten by Fuji was framed.
Kunimitsu Tezuka,
A quintessence
Nonpareil by no one
A hard to reach summit
Acme of perfection
Ideal inspiration
Thank you very much.
Welcome back.
Signed,
Fuji Syusuke
So that explains the tensai's sudden disappearance, he didn't want Tezuka cornering him with questions on why he chose him. The captain still couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed.
"…Welcome back. Signed, Fuji Syusuke…this message speaks about the real truth about Tezuka, no doubt about that." Inui spoke in an intrigued voice. "A Paragon, as the title says, Fuji must have really spent all his dedication to make all of this possible. I don't even see the cameras he wields around; I wonder how he does that."
Eiji threw Oishi a knowing look, and the latter nodded in understanding. They knew that it was possible, because of the unparalleled love of Fuji for Tezuka, but they didn't say it out loud. It was clear that the tensai's initiative was his admiration and love for the captain and his exhibit is a message for Tezuka, more precisely, it is a confession of love. But knowing how naïve and dense Tezuka could be in this kind of stuff would think otherwise.
But the captain was still torn between perplexity and astonishment. What would drive Fuji to do such thing?
Tezuka strode over to where Kikumaru stood and yanked his arm and dragged him outside the exhibit.
"Tezuka~! Mou, what do you want?!" The acrobat said frantically, scared as if Tezuka might ask him something concerning Fuji.
"Do you know where Fuji's staying now?" The question was awkward enough to make the whining Kikumaru shut his mouth.
"What?"
"I—I need to see Fuji." Tezuka felt uneasy as he said that. He saw Kikumaru's indigo eyes went wide with understanding.
"Maa…don't worry, Tezuka, I know where he stays nya! Do I need to write it down or you want me to accompany you, it's not far from here nya!" the redhead was now bouncing happily on his feet. Oishi was scrambling behind them with the rest of the team, worried.
"Yes, take me there, Kikumaru."
"Then let's go buchou nya!"
"Where are you guys going?" Oishi asked, looking confused.
"Tezuka and I needs to go to Fuji, Oishi." He added a knowing look that Oishi understood.
"Okay then. Extend our thanks and appreciation to him."
"Sure. See you again soon." Tezuka said curtly, bowing slightly to his friends.
"I'll catch you later, Oishi nya!" And the two left ahead of the group.
A/N: Thanks for reading!!! Reviews please! I need more encouragement for this fic to carry on. Fulfill the duty of that green button below. Hope you would also read my Valentines oneshot fic, Dread to Love. Happy Valentines Day, minna-san! Again, reviews!!
