A/N: Okay. Chapter Five. Sorry for the wait, and sorry if it's not up to standards. ;; Just...read. xDD
Disclaimer: I do not own the character's or personalities of Prince of Tennis. HOWEVER. I have full control over what they do in this fic. Neither do I own any of the cinderella stories.
Warning: This may not be the fairytale you all want to happen.
In This Chapter: No warnings for this chapter.
Summary: AU/Thrill Pair/Dont you hate those cliche cinderella stories? Well, here's another one for you. Fuji Syuusuke, the first son of the King and Queen of Seigaku, was giving a ball, and every eligable woman in the country was invited. His mother went behind his back, just because she wanted an heir to the throne, after Syuusuke. Syuusuke always felt trapped within the castle walls, but one day, on his daily sneakings from the castle, he bumps into a small golden eyed boy and he knew from the look in his eyes, that he felt the same way. /Slightly based on Cinderella. The Movie. The one with Brandy and Whitney Huston in it/
Other little things you might not be aware of:
-Lyrics
-'Thoughts'
-Emphasised Word
BETA'ED VERSION! THANKS TRUMPET-GEEK! MUCH LOVE!
Are You The Sweet Invention of a Lover's Dream?
Chapter 5. A Second Meeting
Echizen froze where he stood, half bent over and in the process of bowing to Fuji. It felt like he had been there for an hour, even though it was only a couple of seconds. He had completely expected this and yet he still hadn't stood, even while Fuji was looking at him oddly in a way only Fuji could while still smiling.
The one thought that kept running through Echizen's head was that he wasn't supposed to be allowed to see the prince's face.
'That doesn't matter, because you've already seen his face… If it's the same person you are thinking of,' a voice in the back of his head presented informed him. 'Right,' he thought dumbly. Slowly he lifted his head, followed by the rest of his body, until he was standing up straight. He was only a few inches shorter than the prince, but it wasn't that noticeable from far away.
He looked at Fuji, and he was suddenly reminded of how beautiful the prince was. He kept his mouth shut to make sure he wouldn't say anything that would resemble an answer to Fuji's previous statement. Even though he agreed with the kingdom that the prince's beauty rivaled no other, he turned his head to the side. He thought that a poor, lower-class boy like him didn't deserve to look at someone from a high class as elegant as Fuji. Echizen let his arms hang at his sides in an ungraceful manner as he addressed the prince with the same question as before.
"May I ask what you need help with, your Highness?" He asked, forced politeness drenching his words. He dare not mention that he had already asked Fuji the question before. To the eyes of a pompous upper-class man, it would seem as if he was insulting his intelligence. However, Fuji was far from that.
Fuji answered him by humming as his eyes opened thoughtfully to focus on Echizen. He stepped closer, his long coat clinging to his shoulders and billowing in the gust of wind behind him. A slender, pale hand reached up and lightly touched the side of Echizen's face as Fuji spoke to him. "Echizen, you know it's rude to not look at the person you are talking to," Fuji said, calmly turning Echizen's face towards his. Echizen didn't struggle, but still kept his eyes downcast. Fuji tilted his head upward so he could stare into his golden eyes and Echizen stared back into Fuji's eyes. At the same moment, a single thought crossed both of their minds.
'He has the most magnificent eyes.'
Fuji's eyes narrowed slightly as the corner of his lips twitched upward at the boy, still holding his chin captive. To Echizen, it seemed like Fuji's face was getting closer, but he thought it was just his imagination. His ears twitched when he heard footsteps in the distance, but the prince made no gesture to signal that he heard, or even cared that someone may catch them in that compromising position.
When Echizen's attention turned back to Fuji, he found their faces were merely inches apart. His heart started beating faster when he spotted Oishi and Kikumaru approaching out of his peripheral vision, but by the way their frames were relaxed and slouched they hadn't noticed that the prince was there with him yet. He stared up into those piercing cerulean orbs again before bringing his hand up and clasping it around Fuji's. Echizen's hand clutched tighter around the one on his face, Fuji slightly flinching at the grip on his hand, and pushed it away. Fuji let his hand hang at his side as he watched Echizen bow messily and mumble an apology before turning around and running into the depths of the stable.
--
Upon arriving at the stables, Kikumaru had spotted the prince and gasped loudly, turning to Oishi and staring at him with a confused expression. Fuji turned around and smiled at them, plastering his trademark expression on his face. He nodded once and turned towards where the horses were waiting for him to bring them to his anxious friends.
When the prince and his horses were out of hearing range, Kikumaru had turned to Oishi and said, "What about Echizen?" Oishi stared back at his partner with a worried expression on his face. They were both thinking the same things, a result of being around each other for so long. Thoughts like 'Why had the prince been there?' or 'What if Echizen had seen him?' kept racing through their heads. They didn't know what was going to happen, seeing as Atobe hadn't unleashed his wrath on anyone… yet.
"Oishi, do you think…" Kikumaru said. Oishi looked towards the stable doors and then back at Kikumaru.
"I'm not sure Eiji. Let's see if Echizen was here first," he said with a stern face. Kikumaru nodded and walked to the large wooden doors and pushed it open wider so he could get inside, waving at Oishi, telling him to follow, and he did.
--
Echizen had run away, not knowing what else to do. He didn't know what happened to people who weren't allowed to see the prince, and he certainly didn't want to be the first to find out. He escaped through the back door of the stable and darted down the hallway to his room. He jumped on the bed to reach the window sill and climbed out the window. He landed in a pile of hay and ran out into the fields where the horses were grazing. He hopped the fence and walked slowly to one of the horses, a brown one with a small strip of white between its eyes and patches of white on its ankles. Echizen patted the horse's neck and ran his fingers slowly through its thick black mane. The horse brought its head up and nuzzled the hand that was in its mane. He smiled softly at the horse and patted its nose.
The horse whinnied at him and turned its head to where the prince was with the other four horses. From where Echizen stood, he could see Prince Fuji and his friends riding around in the corrale. Fuji was laughing with a bright smile on his face, and his companions were also smiling and laughing along with him.
His other four friends, he noticed, were separated into two pairs. One pair, made of a tall silver haired male and a shorter brown haired male, was standing beside each other with their horses. They looked like they were about to head out of the corrale and into the fields to gallop around the castle grounds. The other pair consisted of a tall blue haired male with glasses, and a small red-headed male, or female, he wasn't sure. They were prancing around in the corrale, going over jumps and looked like they were playing horse tag with Fuji.
Echizen patted the horse on the nose and had run his hands through its silky mane one last time before turning around and walking towards a small lake located just a bit away from the grazing field. He hopped the fence again and strolled through the tall grass. When he got there, he let his eyes rake over the shimmering surface of the water, the color reminding him of Fuji's eyes. Unconsciously, his hand reached up and touched the spot where Fuji's hand had been only minutes before.
When he realized what he was doing, he slapped his hand back down and stared at it.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" He thought out loud. "It probably has something to do with being around horse crap all day long," he muttered.TBC.
Ohtori Choutarou
A/N: Sorry for the abrupt stop, but I needed to get this out there. I know you were all desperately waiting for it to come. Dx. Please review. Makes me write more. And tips and stuff are very useful. Flames...yuck.