Title: Thanks to the U.S. Open:

Author: Enhael

Pairings: Thrill Pair

Disclaimer: I still don't own Prince of Tennis.

Warnings: OOC, Shonen-Ai

Summary: Fuji has become a professional photographer. When he's hired to cover the U.S. Open, he runs into a few familiar faces... Thrill Pair

A/N: Hey guys~! Thanks so much for the lovely comments/reviews~! They really surprised me. But in a good way ^^

By the way, is it "senpai" or "sempai"?

REPLIES:

CoffeeTea: Thank you ^^ And yes, I probably should have made it a bit longer. This chapter is a bit longer than chapter one, but I'm not really good at making chapters that long...

OvercomingMountains: I'm glad you like it~

animelover4ever69: Hehe, thank you ^^

yullenXneko-chans: -blush- I feel as if you think to highly of me~ Not that I'm complaining xD And, yes, I think this one's better, too.

BadGuz: Thank you~! I'm glad that I'm improving ^^

Ruthaer: You're welcome, and thank you ^^ I kinda like this one better, too~

sasodei-iz-awesome: I'm glad you're excited~ Yes, poor Fuji... But as I said once, I can be cruel to the characters I love.

Liz: Hehe, I'm glad to hear that you like it ^^ I like it more, too xD I'm happy to write this again, too. I missed it~

hwap: Thank you~ I hope you like the new chapter, too!

KEY

"Talking – English"

"Talking – Japanese"

Thoughts or emphasis

Flashbacks (when centered)

Thanks to the U.S. Open:

We Were Acting Normal

Enhael

Maybe he wouldn't recognize him. Maybe he would act least pretend not to recognize him. All Fuji's hopes were mercilessly squashed the moment he saw golden eyes widen and delicate lips part.

"What's he staring at?" Kathy hissed, nudging Fuji in the ribs. Hard. "He's coming over here. Why is he doing that? I'm not ready yet!"

My sentiments exactly... Fuji thought miserably, rubbing his new sore spot. His heart leapt to his throat as Echizen neared him.

"Fuji-sempai?" Fuji fidgeted under Echizen's scrutinizing gaze. "Seriously?"

"Is that so hard to believe, Echizen?" Fuji forced himself to stay calm. The rubbing was now a comfort thing.

"...what's wrong with your side?" Echizen narrowed his eyes. "Will it affect your tennis? I wanna play a game."

Typical Echizen greeting. Fuji's smile gained a whole lot of sincerity. But how should I answer that?

"Fuji! What are you waiting for? Take a photo! And speak in English, will you?"

Fuji winced at his boss's screech. Well, at least that got me out of the whole tennis thing.

Fuji offered Kathy an apologetic smile. She returned the favor with a deep scowl.

"Sorry, sorry." Fuji switched to English.

"Who's this? Your girlfriend?"

"No!" Fuji and Kathy paled at the very thought.

Echizen raised an eyebrow at the twin horrified response.

"Who is she, then?"

"I'm Fuji's boss, Kathy Freeweather." Her voice was sweet and her eyelashes fluttered. Fuji felt like he would throw up. "You must be Echizen. I've heard that you're the best of the best!"

Now it was compliments. Forget throwing up – Fuji was going to faint. He raised a hand to her forehead, a solemn look on his face.

"What?" Kathy snapped, pushing his hand away.

"No fever. Then what is it?" Fuji asked in mock worry.

"Fuji..." growled Kathy. "Do you want to be fired?"

"It's illegal to fire me for such a trivial thing," Fuji said cheerily.

"Oh? Someone's become bold all of a sudden, eh?" Her tone was low and threatening. "And I could always find a loophole, you know."

Fuji blinked. She was right. This was the first time he had opposed her outside of his mind. The first time he had said something so cheeky to his boss. Weird. He cast an unnoticeable glance in Echizen's direction. The professional tennis player looked rather miffed. Most likely due to being left out of the conversation.

Tezuka told me something similar to Kathy once.

"You've become more obvious with your sadism, Fuji."

And then Eiji said something, too... Fuji struggled to recall the rest of the memory.

Eiji, who had been passing by at the time, decided to put his two cents in.

"He's right, nya. Ever since Ochibi joined us, actually." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then grinned mischievously. "Suspicious, Fujiko. Very suspicious!"

That was right. That had been the day that Fuji had realized Eiji knew of his crush on Echizen. At that time, Fuji had been so focused on the fact that Eiji had found out about his affections towards the boy that he hadn't really paid much attention to the actual words Eiji had spoken. Until now, that is.

Now that I think about it, Eiji was right. I've always been more...me around Echizen, Fuji realized. Even now. I wouldn't have even thought about talking back to Kathy before. But the second Echizen came I find myself saying what I think...showing my emotions. It's truly frightening.

He shuddered and tuned back in to Kathy and Echizen's argument.

Wait, what?

"Fuji-sempai is always like that." Echizen sounded annoyed as he folded his arms.

"Him? No way," Kathy snorted. "He's usually so docile and has never said such a thing before! It's so weird!"

"Fuji-sempai is always weird," Echizen shot back. "It's what makes him who he is."

Fuji wasn't sure how he felt about that statement. If he should be flattered that Echizen could say such a true (yet harsh) thing about him so confidently or if he should be offended that he had been called weird. Ever the optimist, he settled for the former.

"I'm happy you know so much about me, Echizen," he said cheerily. "Why don't we get your bags now, eh?"

"Sure." Echizen joined Fuji on their way to the baggage claim.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me! And what's with the 'sempai'? What's it mean?" Kathy called after the two, struggling to keep up in her high heels.

Sighing, Fuji slowed his pace so his boss could keep up. The way this conversation was going could lead into some very dangerous waters. He caught Echizen's questioning look and shook his head, hoping the younger man would get the message. That he didn't want to talk about it right now. Luckily, Echizen decided to ignore Kathy completely. He did match Fuji's speed, however.

It took the better part of five days for Echizen to get over his jet lag. During that time he was too groggy and fatigued to do much other than eat, sleep, and have a couple of small conversations with Fuji – most of which were just one to two minute phone calls exchanging your usual "hello" and "how are you" along with the rare pleasantry.

The two were getting along much better than Fuji had originally thought they would. He had been sure that Echizen would ignore his existence or at least not willingly chat with him. Instead, the day Echizen had arrived, he had pretty much demanded that the two exchange cell phone numbers – much to Kathy's resentment. The tennis player had even called Fuji twice. He was being...friendly.

Needless to say, Fuji was perplexed. Until he came to the only conclusion he could think of during the five days that Echizen was getting used to New York's time zone.

Echizen had forgotten his confession.

Fuji had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, now Echizen was talking to him again. On the other, he realized that it must have not been important enough to stick in Echizen's mind.

"Fuji-sempai!"

Fuji nearly dropped his cell phone at Echizen's sudden yell. Nearly, but not quite. He still had some control over hiding his emotions.

"No need to yell, Echizen," Fuji said, holding the phone to his other ear. The one that didn't feel as if the eardrum had exploded.

"You didn't answer my question." Echizen's scowl was obvious in his voice. "Yes or no?"

"It sounds perfectly fine to me." Fuji answered demurely, wondering what he was agreeing to.

"Good. I'll see you at the hotel tennis courts in half an hour. Remember to bring your racquet." He sounded rather satisfied with himself. "See you."

"Wait, what?" But before Fuji could protest or ask for clarification, Echizen hung up.

Fuji stared at the phone in horror.

"What did I just get myself in to?"

Enhael Says:

Aaand, that was chapter 2. I hope you guys liked it~

Ryoma was being friendly? Scary, eh? And out of character. But he's matured and changed a bit over the years. It has been six years since the confession, ne?

On a side note, I have difficulties with chapter titles...

I'll try to make release dates either Friday or Saturday. Prolly Saturday, though.

Ja ne~!