Chapter 14

It was the Wednesday after Valentine's Day by the time Asa or any other of Miho's friends dared to venture forth about the transaction between the different families. Granted, Miho still called Oshitari 'nii-san,' but that could be because she still felt that he was a brother to her even though she moved on to another family. It was a touchy subject to get around to, but Asa was curious to know and wanted to help out if need be, so she cornered Oshitari on one of the shopping trips to the mall that they were dragged to, Miho being conveniently browsing in a pet store.

"Did it go through?" she asked. There was a small food stand nearby, and Oshitari had offered to buy something for the three of them, despite her protests that she could pay for herself.

"Which transaction?" he asked, handing her a small, wrapped crepe. "You like banana, don't you?"

"Hai, arigatou." She took it, and then tilted her head to look at him seriously. "You know which one," she rebuked, before nibbling at her crepe. "I was just wondering if it went through or not. Miho-chan really didn't want to go when she mentioned it."

Oshitari gave her a curious look. "That was over a month ago," he said slowly. To say the least, he was impressed that she still remembered it. "I'm not entirely sure of the details," he continued on, looking thoughtfully at the other shoppers as he spoke, "but she's not going back. I'll just assume that Okaa-san and Otou-san shot down the offer. And I suppose it's good in its own way; a saddened Miho is such an annoyance."

"Who's an annoyance?" Both turned to see Miho, a frown on the girl's face as she regarded her brother and her friend. "Mou… talking about me behind my back isn't really nice, Asa-chan! I was pretty sure I heard my name being mentioned!" she whined before having a crepe shoved in front of her face.

"Chocolate," Oshitari offered as she took the treat with a nod of thanks. "And yes, I suppose you could say that we were talking about you behind your back."

"About what?" Miho asked curiously, biting into her crepe as they started walking.

"That transaction you mentioned before," Asa said, watching her friend's face closely. "You never mentioned it again, and we were all getting a bit worried." Fuji had brought up the topic a few days ago, and Eiji had been musing about it during lunch that day at school.

Miho grinned. "Oh, that…" she said vaguely, that smile stretching a bit wider. "It never went through. My worst nightmare has been stopped in its tracks!"

"Ah… that's nice to hear." Asa smiled slightly as they continued walking. It's good to see that Miho-chan's life is going alright, she thought happily. "What did you want to do something specific today?" Asa asked. Now that she thought about it, Miho hadn't given her an explanation about why she wanted to go shopping that afternoon, not even an 'I just have to go!' explanation.

"Everyone in the Seigaku Regulars is hosting a party for Fuji-sama's birthday at Taka-san's sushi restaurant," Miho explained. The exact details were still being worked on, but any big celebration involving the Seigaku boys' tennis team usually involved the Kawamuras' sushi restaurant. "I'm looking for the perfect present. Are you getting him one?" Just because she had decided that she would try with all her might to get her semi-clueless friend to fall for her brother didn't mean that said friend couldn't exchange birthday gifts with other friends.

"I found a photography book the other day…" Asa began. Fuji had been walking her home like usual, but they had decided to take a detour (more like Fuji decided for them) and they found themselves walking down a street lined with shops. A new photography book on display in one of the shop windows had caught the brown-haired boy's attention, and she thought it would be a nice gift. "I just hope they still have it. I think it was a limited edition because it was signed by the photographer."

"Those things always seem to be off the shelves quickly," Oshitari said softly. Try as he might, a hint of bitterness still had a way of creeping into his voice, no matter how suave he tried to make himself sound, at the mention of the other boy.

The boy he was supposed to annoy by using her, not being annoyed by him when she mentioned even his name. And he didn't even have to be within his line of sight to do it.

Asa nodded, finishing the rest of her snack before throwing away the wrapper into a trash can. A store selling little miscellaneous items caught her eyes, and she excused herself from the group to see them. Miho was about to follow her when she turned to her brother, a glint in her eyes. "Jealous?" she teased. His only response was a twitch as she grinned devilishly at him. "You could ask her on a date, you know," she chided. That strange feeling she had gotten the other day resurfaced, and she pushed it down forcefully. "Make it something casual. Tennis lessons are cool; Asa-chan said once that she'd like to learn tennis one day."

Oshitari gave her a short glare. "What are you? A matchmaker of some sorts?" he grumbled.

She snorted. "You know you need me," she retorted hotly. "Asa-chan's clueless when it comes to this, and you don't like taking the initiative on these sorts of things. I've just decided I'd help out a bit." Her eyes found a store selling gifts of all occasions and she trotted off, leaving Oshitari standing there in the hallway. Feeling somewhat self-conscious about being left alone in the middle of a crowded shopping center, he began making his way into the miscellaneous items shop. One hand was in his pocket as he counted how much money he had. Maybe he'd stop at a sporting center later and buy some new grip tape; he was running out and it didn't help matters much that Jiroh had "borrowed" half of his dwindling supply the last time they were at Atobe's house to practice in his indoor courts.

"Ne, Oshitari-kun…" He stopped his counting and glanced up, snapping out of his reverie. A small keychain dangled in front of his nose. "Doesn't this look an awful lot like you?" Behind the keychain was a pair of dusty blue eyes, curiously looking at the little item. He frowned and looked closely at the small keychain.

Indeed, it did look a lot like him. He didn't know whether or not he should be flattered or worried. It was a tiny chibi model of him, complete with a tennis racket and a hand pushing up his glasses. "See? There are more, too, like this one that looks like Tezuka-kun…" Asa held up another keychain, dangling it off of her finger. It was a perfect likeness of the stoic captain of Seigaku.

Oshitari meandered over to the shelf where the rest of the keychains were hanging. The first one that caught his eye was Atobe's. He lifted it off of its hook and smirked at the small product. No doubt when the diva saw it he would say something like 'Now the whole world will know of Ore-sama's prowess.' Maybe he should buy one; it was only 100 yen. One for Gakuto, too, possibly? His doubles partner might like it. Or maybe he'd just get one for him and withhold giving it to Hyotei's acrobatic player until his birthday, all the way in September.

"Excuse me, sir? Can I help you or your girlfriend?" A saleslady had appeared behind him, watching him warily as if she thought he was going to snag the little Atobe keychain and bolt out of the store without paying for it.

"Eh, no thank you, I was just browsing," he said silkily, until his mind did a double-take. "Did you just…?"

A wary glare from the lady, and then she turned to nod at Asa, who was currently debating which little keychain she'd take home with her at a separate table. "She is your girlfriend, isn't she?"

"No," he said flatly. Not yet, at least. "Let's pay and go; Miho might be waiting," he said to her, taking her by the arm and guiding the girl to the cash register. Although, of course, he knew that Miho would charge in looking for them if she was done. But the lady kept staring at him and to say the least, it was starting to annoy him.

"Uh… OK…" Asa swiped a little Fuji keychain without even looking at which one she grabbed, placing it on the counter next to the Oshitari one. "I'll pay for yours, too," she offered, since she had seen Oshitari take a keychain (or perhaps two… she hadn't really been paying that much attention). He handed them over wordlessly, intent on keeping his back to the saleslady who was still frowning warily at him.

"That will be 420 yen!" Asa handed over the money and took the small bag, reaching in and extracting Oshitari's two purchases to hand to the boy as they left the store. Miho wasn't back yet, so the two of them found a bench to sit at as they waited for the last of their trio to reemerge from her shopping expedition. An awkward silence ensued as they sat there.

Oshitari leaned casually against the back of the bench, watching as other shoppers continued on their ways in front of him. His thumb rubbed idly over chibi Atobe's face as he held the keychain in his hand (the one of Gakuto he had stowed safely into his pocket already). A little boy was bouncing after his mother, chattering happily to her about Valentine's chocolates, even though the holiday had already passed. Speaking of chocolates…

"I forgot to mention, thank you for the chocolates," he said politely. He didn't turn to look at her, opting to keep his brown eyes focused in front of him. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten to thank her for them, even after he had written all of those thank you letters (requested by his mother) to all of his fans who had taken the liberties of showering him with Valentine gifts.

"Oh, those?" There was a tiny hint of nervousness in her voice as she answered him, and he raised an eyebrow in surprise, cocking his head to one side. "Were they alright?" she asked, feeling that it was safe to ask him whether or not he had chosen to taste them.

"Quite nice, except a slight bit burnt on a few of them." She sighed, lowering her head. It looked like her chocolate making skills needed work. "But Miho tells me it's your first time making them. It's actually quite impressive," he admitted grudgingly. Her cheeks flushed in pleasure at the praise; it was always nice when one was complimented on their works. He was silent for a moment, before venturing forth with, "Have you ever played tennis?" Random, perhaps, but he was curious to see if Miho was speaking the truth when she mentioned the tennis lessons. He chose to ignore the date part for the time being and simply ease into things easily.

"When I was little, I did a bit of tennis," she offered, "but I quit after a while and haven't played it since. I'd love to have lessons, but it's kind of complicated…" Not the sport itself, but her heart and health condition. It was because of tennis that she was diagnosed with the abnormally weak heart, courtesy of a collapse in the middle of the court when she was five years old. She shuddered at the memory.

"Complicated?" He frowned thoughtfully, "As in underdeveloped muscles? Lack of stamina to get you through a game? Bad hand-eye coordination?" She blinked in puzzlement, and he offered a small smirk. "But, that asides, if you'd like to I could teach you. If you're not comfortable with working with the whole court we could simply use the wall for everything; it won't require much running and ball control can be worked on." Ah… he was starting to sound like a tennis coach.

Her eyes literally shone. "Really?" she asked hopefully. As far as she could see, there was no immediate danger with the wall. She figured a small bit of tennis wouldn't hurt. His nod followed to accompany his offer, and she smiled widely. "Thank you so much!"

His smirk turned into a tiny smile of his own. "We could do it at the Hyotei courts on Saturday afternoons. We normally don't have practice then thanks to Sasaki-sensei and his policy about schoolwork and I think we'll be able to get a wall from anyone who does stay behind to practice." Of course, with him being the resident tensai, all he had to do was ask and the wall would be his, but she didn't need to know that. "Will that be alright with you?" An enthusiastic nod and his small smile grew a tad bit wider. "Good. We can do it this week; the nets will be up by then and a new season will have started." Then, he uttered the four words he had never before thought would come out of his mouth. "It's a date."

She blinked, stunned, and for a moment, no words were available at her disposal. When she did finally regain her power of speech, the only thing she could think up of saying was, "Mou, Oshitari-kun!" to which his smile grew even wider.

And then the second thing he never thought he'd do in the course of his life happened. He actually leaned over slightly and pecked her lightly on the cheek.

Oh, if only she hadn't asked…

Oh, if only he had thought of this sooner…

Neither noticed Miho tittering to herself in the doorway of the store she had been browsing in earlier. Thankfully, they had been facing the other way.

***

Kawamura's Sushi restaurant was ringing with the gentle buzz of conversation on the afternoon of February 28th. Customers were finishing their meals, getting up and thanking the elder Kawamura for his sushi before paying an exiting, the restaurant's owner waving cheerfully after them from his place behind the counter. When they had all gone, he picked up a white sign and walked outside, hanging it on his door. "Reserved today," it read, as he shut the sliding door again, stepping back inside to find his son sharpening the knife.

"Ah, Takashi, are you planning on making sushi tonight?" he asked good-naturedly as his keen eyes watched his son's steady movements.

Kawamura Takashi nodded, eyes on the knife. "Hai. I want to make the best sushi for Fuji's birthday today."

His father chuckled. "That's nice to hear! I wish you lots of luck then, in making your perfect sushi." The boy paused in his movements, lifting his head and offering his father a shy smile before returning to his work.

Much planning and debate has gone into this on Eiji and Oishi's part, he thought as he set down the knife and went to make sure that they had a good supply of wasabi on hand. Therefore, in order to ensure that their efforts aren't wasted, I need to make the best sushi possible for Fuji's birthday celebration. This quiet resolve was reached even without him switching to his burning mode by grabbing his racket. Making his teammates happy did not require the use of that, he felt.

The Seigaku regulars arrived dutifully at five o'clock, as said on the invitations sent out by Eiji the week before. Each came with a present and cheery salutation (minus Tezuka, who simply gave a nod, but came bearing gifts nonetheless), and Taka-san served tea as he listened to their chatterings. Presently, the door opened and the boy whose birthday they were all celebrating entered, a brilliant smile on his face. "Good afternoon!" he offered brightly, and was promptly assaulted by one of Eiji's hugs.

"Happy birthday, Fujiko-chan!" the redhead squealed, hugging the petite boy with all he was worth. Fuji chuckled, patting his best friend on the back until Eiji released him so the others could even have a chance to approach him. There was a general chorusing of 'Happy birthdays' before Taka-san brought out a platter of sushi, a generous amount wasabi sushi included among the other kinds. The whole house was open to their activities, and even though the reserved sign was present, they offered to take it upstairs so that other costumers could come as well. Taka declined the offer, although he did let them all hang out in his room, which they promptly inclined to do so; Taka's room was rather spacious as it was.

"Eat up, minna!" Taka said happily, and then stepped back to watch the regulars fall onto the sushi like a pack of ravenous wolves. There was a yelp of "Momo took my Unagi sushi!" from Eiji, to which Fuji chuckled lightly as he helped himself to a wasabi roll, watching Eiji pounce on the younger of Seigaku's two powerhouses. His smiling eyes passed idly over his happy friends, and he offered Miho a gentle smile when the girl looked his way. He was happy, he truly was, but something was missing.

"Oshitari-chan, do you know where Aa-chan is?" he asked innocently. He had been looking forward to seeing her at his birthday get-together, since it included his friends and teammates and it just seemed so natural that she be there with them. And he had finally racked his brains for a seemingly "innocent" idea of getting her to take him seriously, too… of course, not without the help of Yumiko, he had to admit, albeit grudgingly.

"Asa-chan said she'd be running a bit late," Mih said sweetly. As Oshitari's sister, she had naturally heard of these tennis lessons he and her friend was undergoing, so she knew where Asa was currently at this moment: Hyotei tennis courts. The tiniest flash of hurt crossed her brown eyes for the briefest of moments. Why was Fuji such a stubborn person? Couldn't he just forget about Asa for some time and enjoy his own birthday without even breaching the subject?

Ah… I'm surprised at my thoughts and feelings, she thought in surprise, moodily stuffing one of Taka-san's sushi into her mouth and concentrating her efforts on chewing. She was truly surprised; she hadn't known she could get this venomous over something that didn't involve her real family. The sliding of the front door redirected her attention, and she looked up, picking up another sushi from the tray in front of her.

"We're out of wasabi sushi…" Fuji noted, glancing down at the tray. All of the prodigy's favorite rolls were indeed gone, him having munched through them all quite happily. "I'll go ask Taka-san for some more, then. Does anyone else want anything?" he asked as he stood up. There were shaking of heads, and Oishi offered to get the sushi instead but was politely declined by Fuji. "My legs are starting to fall asleep," he admitted sheepishly, "so I think some movement will be good."

Taka was happy to comply with his request for some more wasabi sushi, and vanished into the back room to get some more wasabi, leaving Fuji to spend some time alone in the main room of the restaurant. He made himself comfortable at one of the tables and let his eyes travel over the posters of sushi hanging over the counter. The opening of the front door redirected his attention, and he turned to look curiously at its source.

"Ah, Fuji-kun!" Asa was standing in the doorway, looking surprised to see only him and nobody else. "Why are you the only one here?" she ventured forth.

For answer, Fuji pointed upwards and watched as a look of confusion cross over the girl's face before realization dawned on her. "Naruhodo…" she muttered, although a small smile threatened to tug at her lips. "Mind if I join you, then?" she asked, sitting down next to him. He shook his head wordlessly, listening to Taka move around in the back room and speak to his father. "I'm sorry for being late," Asa offered finally after a short moment of silence. She and Oshitari had finished their tennis lesson a half hour ago, and she was pleased to say that she wasn't too shabby. Oshitari was a patient teacher, making sure she got one thing done well and correctly before moving on to the next and repeating the whole process of demonstration, oral directions, and the like. Of course, there could be many alternative reasons to his patience… her cheek still felt warm from where he had kissed it, even though more than a week had passed since that incident.

"It's alright. I'm glad you could make it." And he meant it, too, turning his head to her and offering a soft smile, a special one just for her. She returned it with a smile of her own, although he noticed that she seemed a bit more tired than usual.

"While we're sitting here, I'll give this to you." She reached into her bag and withdrew a present, wrapped in light blue paper, handing it over to him. He looked at it curiously, accepting it and turning it around in his hands. It was wondrously heavy; he wondered what it was. "Happy early birthday. Hurry and open it, please?" She looked at him hopefully, and he chuckled good-naturedly before tearing the paper carefully off of the present.

What greeted him was a leather-bound book, one that looked vaguely familiar to him. In a rush of anticipation he opened it, and she had the satisfaction of hearing a small gasp of delight escape his lips as he saw the signed autograph on the front page. "Wonderful!" he muttered fervently, his fingers skimming over the smooth pages as his eyes drank in the vibrant colors it held inside it. "The angles that were used… the perception of depth… this one is one of the best works yet. And the colors…!" He laughed softly, gleefully, like a small child, pure and innocent. Asa let out a small breath she hadn't known she was holding. He liked her gift.

She was so glad… it was nice to see that her efforts paid off in a good way.

"It's wonderful," Fuji said firmly as he shut the book gently, stroking its cover lovingly. "This couldn't be that book we saw the other day, wasn't it?"

"That other day you speak of was at least two weeks ago."

"Ah… it was?" Fuji tipped his head to the side as he regarded the girl curiously, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It seems so much farther than I originally thought."

She frowned at him, leaning forward on her elbows so that she could drop her chin onto her hands. "Really?" She was skeptical, but didn't say anything. He never really gave her the chance.

"Do you believe in fate?" He was leaning forward himself, so that the distance between their faces was painfully little. A very serious expression was on his face; he had dropped his smile and now was looking at her with his sharp blue eyes. For the first time since she had met him, Asa stared back at the real Fuji Syusuke, the side of him that did not have his fake mask to hide behind. He was totally open, his eyes the doorway to his thoughts, yet he still managed to be guarded. How he did that she would never know.

His left hand reached up, sliding under her bangs and resting on her forehead. He dropped it down so that it covered her eyes. "I sometimes get so caught up between what fate really is and what I actually make for myself." His voice had dropped down to a low whisper. "Do you?"

Of course, he expected no answer. It was rather difficult to answer someone when your mouth was covered by the other's. It was a chaste kiss; he was pulling away before he could do anything else. She blinked in surprise before pulling back, one hand covering her mouth. He had the satisfaction of seeing her cheeks turn a pretty shade of red.

His smiling mask returned as he held up his right hand, the index finger and thumb touching each other as he gave her an impish grin. "Saa…" he teased, flashing his most innocent smile, "when fingers are placed like this, it feels a lot like lips, doesn't it?"

Crouching in the stairway were the stunned Regulars. Oishi's mouth opened and close with no sound coming out while Tezuka's frown had deepened considerably. None of them believed Fuji's excuse with the fingers. Quietly, they retreated back upstairs only when Taka reappeared behind the counter, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry it took so long. I'll prepare your sushi right away, Fuji. Eh?"

Asa stood hurriedly, grabbing her bag in the process and turning to Taka-san. "I'm sorry for the trouble!" she squeaked and promptly fled out the doors, leaving a puzzled Taka-san and Fuji left in the front room, the latter wondering whether or not he should be faintly amused or faintly hurt. "What happened?" Taka asked, starting to make the sushi Fuji had requested. "Ijuuin-chan left in such a hurry." The gentle boy's eyes found the book sitting in its own little makeshift nest of blue paper, and he smiled. "Did she give you a birthday present? That was nice of her…"

The corners of Fuji's mouth turned up in a blissful smile. "Yes, it was," he said softly. Taka's hands stilled on the sushi he was making to look at his friend in puzzlement. Fuji was staring outside the window with a wonderfully pleased and happy look, so similar to the expressions he wore when he finished pulling some prank but yet so different.

"Ano… are you sure nothing out of the ordinary happened?" he ventured.

Fuji chuckled. "Of course not," he reassured. "I just decided I wanted to have a little fun on my birthday by teasing her a bit." A relatively harmless excuse, he felt, but Taka still flushed into a thousand shades of red. "What's wrong, Taka?" Fuji asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Eh? Ah… nothing. Here's your sushi. Everyone will worry if you don't go back up soon. It is your birthday party, after all." Fuji had a feeling that Taka was trying to shoo him upstairs so that he would be out of his sight as he was handed a plate of wasabi rolls.

"You come, too, Taka-san," he offered, pausing at the foot of the stairs to turn to the other boy. "It's not much of a party without everyone, ne?"

"I suppose so..." Reluctantly, Taka followed his teammate up the stairs, still trying to ponder what he had been talking about a few minutes ago.

"Taka-san."

"Hai?"

"Your cheeks are still red." And then Fuji, chuckling as he did so, leaned over and poked his friend lightly on the cheek, making the other boy turn a few hundred shades more red.

***

Yumiko was sitting at the kitchen table with her open laptop in front of her. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she typed up a report for her work. At the side of the laptop sat a mug of coffee, a pad of paper, and a pen. Yoshiko was at the stove, watching a few simmering pots. Both women paused in their work only when they heard the front door open. Fuji stepped into the front hallway, arms laden with gifts and a box of sushi dangling from his arm. He toed off his shoes and stepped into the kitchen, offering his sister and mother his usual smile.

"Tadaima," he said softly, setting down the sushi on the table.

"Welcome back, Syusuke," Yumiko said brightly, giving her own smile to her brother. "Did you enjoy your birthday party? Yuuta will be here tomorrow; we've managed to convince him to stay the night so that we can celebrate."

Fuji's smile grew wider as he sat down. "Really?" he asked pleasantly. His presents were placed on the table, and Yumiko moved her pad and pencil to the other side of the computer so that she could take a closer look at all his gifts. Fuji swiped her coffee mug and took a sip out of it, making a face at its bitterness. "Did you put anything in here?" he asked, frowning into the dark liquid. "Why don't you try coffee cream or sugar? How about milk? Black coffee is too bitter."

Yumiko laughed as she took her drink back, and Yoshiko couldn't help chuckling a bit either as she stirred the contents in one of her pots. "That's what you get for drinking someone else's coffee, Syusuke," she teased, then looked thoughtful. Her eyes studied her brother's face, and he looked curiously back at her. "Maybe the reason you don't grow so much is because you used to always steal kaa-san's coffee when you were a kid," she said slowly, giving a few slow nods of her head. "Coffee hastens calcium depletion, and growing children need calcium to grow tall…" She trailed off, still studying him. "Honestly, Syusuke, I always wondered why you liked coffee ever since you were eight."

Fuji frowned at his sister. "It tastes delicious if you add milk and cream and sugar," he replied, although he did see a point in Yumiko's statements. He supposed that he should be slightly worried that Yuuta was already taller than he was, and at the rate he was growing, would probably grow more. "I suppose you're right," he sighed, but Yumiko's attention had already strayed from the topic of his height and coffee to the gifts he had received.

She picked up the handmade picture frame and turned it around in her hands. It was Eiji's personal handiwork, as seen from the little cat faces and random little tennis balls drawn all along the border. "Aw…" she cooed, "Kawaii! Eiji-kun has a taste for crafts." Fuji chuckled, agreeing, as Yumiko set down the frame and then moved through the rest. Her hands paused on the book. "Who gave this to you?" she asked, flipping though the pages. "This is the one you've wanted for a while now, isn't it?"

"Hai. It was nice of Aa-chan to get it for me," Fuji said, taking the book from his sister. "Although I didn't understand why you made me throw in that thing about fate," he said, absentmindedly picking up Yumiko's coffee mug again when the eldest Fuji set it back down on the table.

Yumiko smiled at him. "There is a reason for everything," she chided, wagging a finger in his face, keeping a strict eye on her mug of coffee.

The front door suddenly opened and shut with a loud slam. "I'm back!" came Yuuta's cranky voice. Fuji was up and out of the kitchen in a flash, the mug of coffee forgotten on the table, and the next they heard was a grunting sound as Fuji hugged his little brother.

"Yuuta! You came back to celebrate my birthday!" he said happily, still attached to Yuuta's neck. "I'm so happy!"

Yuuta did not look too thrilled at this greeting, and neither Yumiko nor Yoshiko pleading gently with the elder Fuji brother could get him to detach himself from Yuuta. Fuji simply complained that it was his birthday, Yuuta didn't get to come home that often, the guys at the St. Rudolph dorms never showed his little brother too much affection (but of course, if that was ever to happen the other boy would find himself in serious trouble, courtesy of one Fuji Syusuke). But still, seeing as it was Fuji's birthday, and Yuuta didn't come home that often, his sister and mother let him continue to hang on to Yuuta.

Yuuta visibly deflated when he saw that he lost the support of his mother and sister and was left to fend for himself with Fuji. And it didn't help matters much when Yumiko vanished into her room and came back with a digital camera. "Look here, Yuuta, Syusuke!" And flash from the camera and Yuuta groaned. Fuji looked positively thrilled.

"Aniki, can you let go now?" Yuuta grumbled, and Fuji, feeling as he had made his point with his welcome, willingly complied with Yuuta's wish. Yuuta breathed a sigh of relief. Honestly, did he have to go to such measures just to welcome him? "Here," he grunted, handing his smiling brother a small blue envelope. "It's your birthday present. It's nothing fancy; I'll apologize beforehand." Although, really, he didn't see why he bothered, as Fuji had given him another hug and was telling him that it didn't matter; that it was the thought that counted. "Just open it already, Aniki!" he found himself snapping, his voice dangerously close to a frustrated wail.

It did not do his ego or his pride any good when said brother laughed outright. At least he complied with opening the envelope. Yuuta slumped against the wall with a sulky expression on his face. He would never admit it, but he had actually thought long and hard in his messy dorm room about what to get his seemingly perfect brother for a birthday gift. Just ask Yanagisawa, who had the bruises to prove it, gotten when the third year had opened Yuuta's door and asked him if he was ready for practice when Yuuta had been agonizing over the gift issue. Yuuta had thrown a library book in the general direction of the older boy's voice without even looking where it was going, and it had hit him in the face.

Who knew Yuuta had such great aim when it didn't come to tennis?

"Movie tickets for four," Fuji announced as he slid the envelope's contents out onto the palm of his hand. "Good until the end of April. I wonder if there are any good movies playing recently?"

Yuuta breathed a sigh of relief, letting out a breath he had never known he was holding. His brother liked his gift.

"Yuuta, Syusuke, dinner's ready," Yoshiko called out to her sons. Both boys trotted dutifully into the kitchen, leaving Yuuta's duffel bag in which he had stuffed enough clothes to last him a night (three nights, if things such as pumpkin currey and raspberry pies tempted him to stay longer) in the front hallway. Fuji set his movie tickets on the counter, using an orange as a paperweight, before sitting down. A generous spread of food was laid out on the table, and even though he had stuffed himself on Taka's sushi previously, there would always be room for more if it involved his mother's cooking.

"Itadakimasu!" the Fujis' said dutifully, before starting to eat. He wore a contented smile on his face as he ate, and Yoshiko never ceased putting more onto his plate when it was near empty. By the time dinner was over, he was pleasantly stuffed, and Yuuta was finishing his last slice of raspberry pie. Yuuta paused in his eating to look up, chewing thoughtfully and swallowing while the female members of their family drifted off to wash the dishes.

"Did you like your birthday, aniki?"

"Of course, Yuuta. Why do you ask?"

Yuuta frowned, poking his pie with his fork. "No reason. It's good that you're enjoying it." He popped another mouthful of pie into his mouth and suddenly jumped up. "Aniki! How did you…?" Yumiko popped her head into the dining room curiously.

Fuji put a finger to his lips while the other hand held a small tube of wasabi. "I just thought I'd see if you could take spicy food, Yuuta. Maybe I should have added it to your water instead."

Yuuta grumbled, and only after making sure the rest of his beloved pie was wasabi-free, continued to eat. His brother was disgusting at times. Wasabi in pie? Leave it to him to think of that.

But still… Yuuta was glad he had such a person as a brother. Fuji could be so annoying sometimes, but he was really protective and generally a wonderful person to have on his side.

Of course, Fuji was never going to know that. It was a good thing Fuji wasn't a physic.

"Ne, Yuuta, don't you think that sometimes you need a little spice in your life?" Fuji asked. That could either have a figurative or literal meaning. Which one it was, Yuuta wasn't entirely sure.

And about the physic part… he wasn't one, but he was sure close to being one.

"I like my life as it is without the additional spice, aniki." The tube of wasabi suddenly reentered his vision, and he shot up, grabbing his plate before his brother could put any of the hated spice into his precious dessert. Fuji laughed brightly, protesting, and the two fled upstairs. Yoshiko and Yumiko peered after them, each smiling slightly when they heard Yuuta's angry protests finally turn into something akin to laughter.

Fuji was happy, truly happy. And that was the best birthday present he could ever get.

A/N: Bleh. Really long and the last part was kind of random. But we all know Yuuta loves his brother, so that's all good.

And I apologize. Oshitari is a bit OOC in this chapter. Throw your tomatoes if you have any. And the part with Fuji and Asa at Taka's sushi restaurant with Fuji's fingers excuse? Not an idea from my own original mind. XD I got it from a doujinshi (I think I spelled that wrong...) on Ore-sama. That site is awesome.

And... if you got a story alert email, I put it up once already but then deleted it upon rereading and discovered it needed some editing. I'm sorry if that bugged you in any way, shape, or form, and I promise that it will never happen again.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are love (please do it... it's not too painful, is it?)