Wow, thanks for the reviews and for the inputs, although they were very varied and I couldn't decide right now. But let's see. Maybe as I write, I'd figure out something. Hee. This will be shorter than the previous one since I wanted to keep this chapter to only one night.

ADVANCED MERRY CHRISTMAS.

The Scarlet Stain

(dos)

"Mitsu, here's your-"

"Ah."

Fuji's eyes widened. It was Ryoma, looking at him from head to foot.

"Good evening, Fuji-sempai."

Fuji could only stare in reply as his kouhai stood in the place where he expected Tezuka to be - in a thick, oversized coat with a plastic bag of beer cans from the nearby 7-11, and his hair messed up by the wind from being outside. He tried to take in Ryoma's slightly surprised expression as he tried to dig his mind for something to say.

"So," Ryoma began, looking away quickly and his eyes traveling to the elevators, probably coming up with a hypothesis on what happened. "I saw buchou going down the stairs. But he didn't see me because I didn't have my cap."

"Oh.. yes... Mitsu..."

"So," Ryoma said again, meeting Fuji's eyes fearlessly. "He came over, huh."

Fuji, finally stumped in total desperation, ended up giving a nervous laugh. "Come in," he said, not having any idea what he was doing. Somehow, old Fuji managed to take over his system and push his worries to the back of his head temporarily. "It's cold out."

When he had the young man seated on his couch in his living room, the first thing Ryoma said was, "Aren't you cold, sempai? You're half-naked." Ryoma began tinkering with the small tennis player figurine on the small table. "I guess you were in the shower when I came, right?"

Fuji almost melted in relief.

"Yes, the shower, yes," he said. "Let me just put on some clothes."

Minutes later, the two were sitting in front of the other in Fuji's dining table. Ryoma had placed the beer cans on top and had already made himself comfortable in his seat, with one arm slung over the back rest. He wore a black band shirt and jeans, and his hair was still in a mess.

Fuji caught himself staring at Ryoma's chest, and he shook himself silly, brushing the thoughts away. Perhaps it was because he hadn't been getting enough...? But didn't he just do it with Tezuka?

"Sempai."

Fuji raised his head and saw the look on Ryoma's face. It showed something like he'd been saying the same thing over and over for a while now.

"Sorry," he replied with a chuckle. "I was looking at your chest- ah. I meant that you really grew up quite a lot." He felt his face go hot. Way to go and slip, Fuji. You might as well jump him, too, and he probably won't notice a damn thing.

Ryoma covered the lower half of his face with his hand as he slid lower in his seat. (Was he laughing?) Behind the hand, he saw that he was smirking, and Fuji groaned.

"Sankyuu," Ryoma replied, still not taking his hand over his mouth. "Fuji-sempai looks nice, too."

Fuji chuckled nervously. For some reason, Ryoma - and the way his eyes glinted - looked dangerous. Very dangerous. He wondered what had happened in America, how much Ryoma had grown. He could tell that a lot of girls still liked him, and that he was rather popular, based on the tennis magazines that Tezuka'd occasionally bring over (not that he was doing badly, himself; he and Tezuka still somehow got the same attention from females, and males as they did back when they were younger).

"The trains are closed and the sempai-tachi told me to go here. It was the closest one to the restaurant, and you were the only one without a roommate. Or a girlfriend." Ryoma shrugged, as he just lapsed back into his original mood. "Besides, I haven't hung out with Fuji-sempai yet ever since the airport." He glared a bit. "You promised to have a match with me."

Cute. Fuji almost laughed, but all he said was, "Oh.".

Ryoma took a can from the plastic bag. "Let's drink, sempai."

Beer. It would be dangerous for Fuji to get drunk. Especially after Tezuka had just left and he hasn't really recovered yet (as always, whenever Tezuka came over). "No, thank you. But feel free to drink all you want. The couch is clean and, ah, I'll be off to bed. With work tomorrow and all." He made a move to stand up. He wouldn't make the same mistake he did with Tezuka, because this would be worse. He didn't love Ryoma, and vice versa. At least back then, one side had some love.

"Wait, sempai." Ryoma had leaned against the table and grabbed Fuji by the wrist. His hand was big. Fuji felt his wrist burning. "I didn't come over here to drink alone."

"I don't drink," Fuji replied firmly.

"Momo-sempai said that you drunk with them a lot."

"I just stopped."

"I saw beer in your fridge."

Shit. Fuji sighed and sat back down. "Fine." He took the plastic bag. "Let's do this in the living room."

Only an hour into drinking, Ryoma's face was already a bit red. Fuji only had two cans, and was trying to wait until Ryoma fell asleep. He almost laughed when he realized that, despite the sudden growth, Ryoma still couldn't hold his alcohol well. His eyes were drooping slightly. He still wasn't drunk enough, though and Fuji knew that he could still handle a few more.

"Sempai," Ryoma began, his voice dragging. "D'you remember when you asked about Ryuzaki?"

"Yes?"

"She did go to America. To see me." He smiled.

"Did she."

Ryoma nodded. "Said that she followed me there and everything. And then she became my girlfriend after a few days. She was my first." He flushed a bit and looked away. "In everything."

"That's nice," Fuji said, smiling sincerely. "You look really good together."

"I liked her a lot."

"Yes."

"We were together for two years. She studied with me there."

"Yes."

"But then she went back."

"Of course, she has a family here. Ryuuzaki-sensei." Fuji handed Ryoma another beer to loosen him up. This was getting suddenly interesting. He had always been curious as to what happened between Ryoma and Sakuno. It seemed like an eternity ago when he and the others from the club tried to pair the two up with various schemes. Looks like nothing went to waste.

"I know. She always went back every break," Ryoma said, chuckling after sipping from his can. "But on the last time, she didn't come back."

Fuji's jaw dropped. "Why?"

Instead of answering the question, Ryoma just stared at his can and said, "She was there earlier. During the party." He ran a hand through his hair. "With Kawamura-sempai."

The silence between them became anything but comfortable. Ryoma sat, toying with the can between his hands, and looking at the floor. He looked like he was recalling a far off memory. Fuji just looked like he was at loss. He didn't know what to say.

"Well, she was mada mada dane, anyway," Ryoma said, breaking off the silence with a small Ryoma-like smile. He had a huge gulp of beer. "It's sempai's turn."

"Ha?"

Ryoma tipped his can towards Fuji. "Won't be fair to me."

Fuji squirmed in his seat. He knew what Ryoma was getting at. Damn. Fuji drank more beer. Finally, when he saw from Ryoma's face that he wouldn't let it go even if Fuji drowned himself drinking alcohol. "What about me do you want to know?"

"Do you still play?"

"Tennis? Of course. Just not as often." Fuji let himself smirk. "I'm still good."

"I look forward to it," Ryoma replied, grinning excitedly. "Brother?"

"Oh, he's getting along well with others better. And me. We meet at least once a month, even if he's outside Tokyo now. He says he prefers it when we don't live in the same area. But he's still pretty much the same."

Ryoma nodded, and soon, he looked more serious and cradled his chin with his hands. "Girlfriends?"

"Saa..." Fuji pretended to think. "One, I guess. High school."

"Who was it?"

"I forgot her name. But she was friends with Mitsu's girlfriend. We never really got to be together... it was an I'll-bring-your-notes-when-you're-sick kind of thing. But Mitsu did that, mostly, so..."

"What?"

"Aa. She kind of drifted off, you know? Got to know a better guy. Anyway, I didn't really mind. Mitsu and I were busy with tennis and school and college exams, and had no time for anything else. It was quite easy to handle."

Ryoma leaned against the couch and groaned. "You're no fun. It's like you were married to buchou or something."

"A-Ahaha. Sorry if I'm boring you."

"But it's not impossible, you know," Ryoma mused, toying with his can. "You and buchou."

"Are you still on to that idea? What makes you think like that? We're both guys, and we've been together since junior high," Fuji defended, feeling his whole body grow hot at the lies he was saying. His words were stumbling over the other. "And Tezuka has been married to Asami-chan and had liked her ever since then. No matter how you try to look at it, it is impossible for both of us to-"

By this time, Fuji's face was red and his heart was beating fast. His fists were clenched, his fingers digging into his beer can. He could feel himself sweating underneath his polo shirt. For some reason, he felt like he wanted to spill everything, and to hear Ryoma say the same things that Tezuka did during the morning of The Incident.

"Not really," Ryoma said, as if he was thinking out loud. "Even I kind of liked Fuji-sempai back then."

"What?" Fuji said, almost breathless. He was half-standing. "What did you say?"

Ryoma didn't back down, and his cat-like eyes just stared back into Fuji's horrified blue ones. Ryoma seemed unfazed, and acted like what he was saying was something as easy as 'hello'.

"I kind of liked you back then," he repeated in all seriousness. "Didn't you like buchou like that, too?"

Finally, Fuji laughed. "Really. You must be drunk."

"I'm not," Ryoma insisted, putting his beer can away as if to prove a point. "Isn't that normal?"

"Of course not!" Fuji replied a tad too quickly. "That's beyond normal. Liking another guy makes you different, wrong, sick. That's what people think, Echizen. If you become homosexual, people who know will point their fingers at you, laugh at you, take advantage of you. Does that sound normal? Who'd want to be like that?" His voice was rising at every word. Everything in him wanted to stop but the alcohol was kicking in. Or maybe, he just wanted to let it all out. "You know what, I think this conversation is utter bullshit."

"Aa- Fuji-sempai sounds weird. You're taking it too seriously."

Finally, Fuji stood up, his hands running through his hair wearily. He was laughing softly to himself. "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm saying. I'm going to bed."

"Huh? What? Why?"

"Because I'm drunk. Because I want to sleep. Good night." He glanced back. "Feel free to use the couch."

"Wait, sempai-"

But Ryoma didn't catch his wrist this time. Fuji slammed the door to his bedroom and crawled under his covers. What wasn't too serious? Fuji asked himself. No matter how bad it was with Ryoma and Sakuno, it could never measure up to what Fuji had gone through. Never. And what's worse was that Fuji couldn't tell anyone and then feel better about it enough to want to know about how others are working out, just as what Ryoma had done with him earlier.

And THEN he says that he liked Fuji?

Hearing the sounds of Ryoma cleaning up in the other room made him shut his eyes tight and try to fall asleep and forget about everything that had happened. The dull pain in his chest that he felt every time Tezuka left him alone in his apartment was back, but this time, it was throbbing so painfully that Fuji wanted to scream.

Maybe he cried.

Or maybe he was just dreaming that he did.

Nonetheless, it was a fitful sleep that Fuji didn't want to wake up from.

To be continued.

I hope to have established a few bits: Ryoma grew up and he grew up hot. Okay, just kidding. XD Ryoma is taller than Fuji and more built. Remember that he kept on playing pro tennis while Fuji ended up being a photographer. But then again, I have a thing about manly ukes, hurhur.

About the Kawamura-Sakuno thing, I really didn't just pull it out of my ass. I tried to think of a person whose personality would fit Sakuno's more. I thought that the gentle and simple Kawamura would charm her not just because they were similar, but because she could be sure that, unlike with Ryoma, she wouldn't always get left behind.

And yes, this is angst, and so will it be for the next chapters. Even more so.

BT