Hey all!
I've been superbly busy ever since school started, and am probably going to continue being busy for another few weeks yet - so the next chapter might take a while. This chapter's actually been in storage since the end of last year (don't kill me!), and I never thought to put it up until my friend rather... pointedly reminded me. XD I am obviously hopeless at remembering things.
Anyways, a short recap of the previous chapter's momentous events, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Recap
"Then again, Maika-chan, I guess I could always show you what it's like..." He grinned mischievously, and leaned closer towards her.
"F-fuj - !"
The sudden sensation of soft lips pressed against her own made her eyes shoot wide open, only to meet with two very blue eyes sparkling straight back at her. Fuji was obviously enjoying himself way too much to be legal, whatever he was trying to do.
...this is so NOT happening.
A few dumbfounded seconds passed before Fuji abruptly detached himself from her to smile at someone behind them.
"Ah, Tezuka! How unexpected!"
...Tezuka?!
Oh.
OH.
Shit.
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Tezuka froze. He had merely come out to the roof for some fresh air, and of all the things he had expected to see, this was definitely not one of them.
Fuji... kissing Maika?!
His hands clenched into fists at his side.
First Atobe, now Fuji...
It seemed like forever before the tensai finally straightened up, and saw him standing there.
"Ah, Tezuka!" The smile Fuji offered him was almost predatory, and he could've sworn he saw a flash of devilish blue in that instant. "How unexpected!"
The honey-haired boy turned to Maika. "Well, I'll just be off, then. Don't forget what I said earlier, ne?"
He winked at her, and Tezuka had to restrain himself from punching Fuji's too-innocent face.
"Fuji. A hundred laps around the court. Now."
"...whatever for, Tezuka-buchou?"
"Just do it." He gritted out from between clenched teeth.
"Anything you say, Tezuka-buchou," Fuji sing-songed as he strolled away, leaving the happy couple alone.
Although happy probably wasn't quite the right word...
"T-tezuka!" Maika scrambled up, trying to gather her scattered wits around her. "W-when did you come?"
"Hn."
Under normal circumstances, she'd probably have chewed him up for such an unsatisfactory answer, but then today hadn't exactly been normal, either. She'd just been kissed by the school's resident tensai and pretty boy, and quite possibly in the presence of one Tezuka Kunimitsu...
She groaned. Why didn't the earth just open up and swallow her already? At least she'd be spared of any further humiliation.
There was a long, awkward silence.
"I – ah – I – " She tried desperately to salvage the situation. "I – Fuji – I – it wasn't my fault!"
"Aa." Even his monosyllabic answers were getting shorter and more curt by the second.
"No, I mean – I – he – argh!" Fuji was so, very, very dead. "He kissed – I didn't do – I mean, I – why am I explaining it to you, anyway?"
"..."
Tezuka didn't really know what to say. He'd just seen his friend kiss his – well, Maika technically wasn't his, but who cared – girl, and he needed to hit something – badly. He didn't know why, but –
Okay, fine. He was jealous. So what?
*and we pause for a moment to solemnly applaud the Seigaku captain's long-delayed epiphany.*
"Tezuka, I – " She stopped, looking extremely uncomfortable. Searching for something to say and finding absolutely nothing, she gave up. "I'll see you later!"
And she dashed away before he could even so much as bat an eyelid.
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She didn't stop running, not until she was safely far, far away from civilisation and from any other possible means of humiliation.
"Maybe I should just have hit him really hard. Then he'd have thought it was a hallucination..." She mused aloud to the koi swimming peacefully amidst the green seaweed. But she'd been too mortified to think of it at that particular point in time, and besides, she was quite sure her arm would break before she even managed to give Tezuka any sort of concussion whatsoever. So she had run away instead.
Speaking of which, she began to realise that she'd been running away a lot. She'd run away from Atobe, and now she was currently busy running from Tezuka...
She frowned. This was getting somewhat ridiculous. After all, she was going to have to see Tezuka sometime soon, seeing as how they were in the same class, sitting next to each other –
As if right on cue, the bell rang.
She groaned. Today was definitely not her day.
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"The Kyoto Protocol was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janerio, Brazil..."
Fuji.
Maika.
Fuji... and Maika.
No.
NO.
"...reduction of greenhouse gases..."
Not good.
"Now, can anyone tell me again where the Kyoto Protocol was signed?"
The teacher's eagle eyes scanned the room for inattentive students to torture – and landed on a perfect specimen.
"Tawako!"
Tezuka stifled a small sigh as Maika very nearly fell off her chair in surprise. After all the times he'd told her off for not paying attention in class...
She never listens, does she?
"H-hai, sensei!"
The teacher raised an eyebrow. "Answer the question, please."
There was a long, blank silence.
Somebody obviously didn't know the answer... if she even knew the question at all.
"Ah... um..."
He felt her pleading gaze land upon him, and studiously ignored it. If she hadn't been listening, it was her own fault. She'd have to deal with the consequences herself.
But...
No buts.
She'll hate you for this, you know.
...
His inner devil was obviously working overtime today.
That's right, she won't talk to you for a few days, at the very least.
...either way, we're not on talking terms at the moment, he pointed out.
But his devil was not about to be defeated so easily. So think of it as a peace offering.
He groaned mentally as he slid the paper over to her desk, quite intentionally poking her hard with it. If he was going to let her corrupt his morals, then he might as well make her suffer for it – thoroughly.
"OU – oh!" She glanced at Tezuka in pure astonishment.
"I'm still waiting, Tawako." The teacher tapped his pen rather impatiently.
Maika straightened up at once. "Hai, sensei! The answer's Rio de Janerio."
The teacher glared at her suspiciously. "And where is Rio de Janerio?"
"Uh..."
"..."
"..."
She smiled sheepishly. "...Argentina?"
Uh-oh... The look on the teacher's face meant that she was maybe, possibly wrong...
...probably, more like.
She looked at Tezuka.
Oh.
Definitely wrong, then.
Whoops...
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Differentiate it... five x to the power of three minus eight x plus six... equals...
...Maika and Fuji.
What?! NO!
Focus.
Focus.
"FOCUS." Tezuka growled at himself, running an agitated hand through his already messy hair.
It was half past five in the evening, and he was getting increasingly frustrated. He should have finished his homework at least an hour ago, according to his usual schedule. For goodness' sake, he should be out there perfecting his backhand shot already!
But no, thanks to a particularly distracting scene which insisted on replaying itself in his head over and over again, he was stuck here doing homework when he could have been outside practising tennis.
It wasn't like he hadn't tried to ignore it and concentrate on math instead. And it would have succeeded – if he hadn't kept breaking his pencil lead every time he watched Fuji kiss Maika all over again. Now that was just plain annoying.
It didn't make sense for such a trivial thing to affect him like that, though. Why should it?
But you like her. Duh.
...that stupid inner devil of his plainly lived to torture him.
I do not.
Oh yes, you do.
Impossible.
But that maddening voice in his head refused to shut up. So he did the next best thing he could – he took out an encyclopaedia and flipped straight to Love.
"Signs and symptoms of love..." He muttered, feeling a little foolish. But still, anything to prove the mini-devil!Tezuka wrong.
Easily distracted, unable to focus... always thinking about their loved one...
He read the rest of the article with growing dismay, all the while jotting down important notes in his impeccable handwriting. When he had finished, he picked up the impromptu checklist he had just created and stared at it in horrified fascination.
He fit every single item on the list – except the easily blushing part, but it was scanty comfort when the other twenty-four criteria were jumping out at him, saying, "You're in lo-o-ove~"
Hypothesis... rejected.
Tezuka groaned. His scientific method had failed him spectacularly.
But that can't be true... it can't – it just can't be!
But encyclopaedias never lied...
There must be something wrong. A misprint? Out-of-date publication?
Maybe he'd get it all cleared up when he played tennis – playing a worthy opponent always helped him think better.
He thought of Fuji.
Then again, maybe not.
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"Fuji-Kawamura versus Oishi-Eiji. Momoshiro against Kaidoh. Inui, oversee the training." Tezuka, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the regulars had just run fifty laps in record time, was giving out orders not unlike a drill sergeant. A full night's sleep hadn't exactly improved his temper, unfortunately for the rest of the team.
"Echizen." The freshman looked up, cat-eyes gleaming in anticipation. "Follow me."
Fuji watched the shorter boy trail Tezuka unsuspectingly to the last court, and for once – he didn't envy Ryoma. Playing Tezuka in this state was not particularly high on his list of Important Things To Do Before I Die, but it would probably be the last thing he'd be able to accomplish on that list if he faced Tezuka at the moment. And no matter how sadistic he might be, Fuji valued his life a lot. After all, think of all the years wasted – all those years of torturing poor, unsuspecting human innocents...
"...Fuji-kun?" Taka-san asked tentatively. Fuji's smile was sending shivers to his stomach, and not in a good way either.
The honey-haired tensai's smile returned to its normal width, and his doubles partner let out a silent sigh of relief.
"Ah, shall we start?"
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Tezuka sighed. He'd creamed Ryoma, and he had to admit that it felt good to know that he could still beat the cocky freshman without dropping a single point.
But that hadn't solved his problem. What was he going to do about Maika?
I don't lov – like her.
Of course you don't. That exasperating voice that lived in his head was literally dripping with sarcasm. You don't want to have anything to do with her, you don't care what she does, who she kisses –
I. Don't. He gritted his teeth. I'm just concerned.
Tezuka sat bolt upright. Of course!
I don't like her - I'm just being civil. It's what any normal human would do.
After all, Fuji was an indisputably evil person. What if he was just toying with Maika? As a friend, Tezuka had a duty – a responsibility to keep tabs on his sadistic teammate so he didn't hurt anyone by his actions. It was something that needed to be done, and Tezuka Kunimitsu was never one to shirk his duties.
Tezuka suddenly felt a lot better.
He turned back to his long-abandoned homework, and started calculating problems. Maybe today he could finish early and spend a little more time working out the schedule for the upcoming tournament.
Tennis.
Fuji.
...Maika.
His pencil lead broke.
"..."
It was going to be a long night.
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So how was it? *fidgets nervously* Do review if you're still reading, ne?
Until the next chapter, have a great day! ^_^