Here is a new chapter of persistence. And I finally have an idea in what direction the story needs to go. ^^ Hopefully it will write a bit faster though I doubt it. ;p But I'll do my best.

Disclaimer: If I owned Prince Of Tennis then I wouldn't be writing this.

Enjoy reading! and sorry for mistakes!


Persistence: chapter 5

TEZUKA'S POV

"Fuji, tell me what has been going on. I need to know."

The tensai then looked at me with his sapphire orbs wide open, various emotions ran through his eyes before he lowered them to look to his lap.

"Fuji…" I softly insisted. As long as he didn't tell me what was happening, I couldn't really help him. So I hoped that he would trust me and tell me the truth.

"…You already know everything. It's probably Ito who did this and you know what has happened between me and him already."

I was quiet for a moment before saying to him: "I know what happened the first time and that right now he is stalking you because he says he wants you. But that doesn't explain why you act so calm and behave like this is just normal. Fuji, having…nude pictures taken without you knowing isn't normal." I said while trying to stay calm, having the different photos flash before my eyes.

If I had seen these pictures of him naked in a whole different context I would have blushed like mad and probably wouldn't have been able to tear my gaze away from them. But this situation made it impossible to look at them without getting angry at his stalker. That last picture appeared in my mind as well and I fisted my hands in response.

I breathed in and out to calm down again and then barely heard Fuji whisper: "It's normal for me."

I looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to explain his words but nothing else came over those lips. I remembered the numerous students looking to Fuji in not so innocent ways, girls confessing to him, sending him letters and boys asking him to speak in private for a moment.

I admitted I also received letters and girls confessed to me but Fuji's fan club was much bigger with boys in it as well. Especially since he told to a girl that he was gay and five minutes later the whole school knew. But getting letters and being confessed to isn't that bad, only annoying. And getting asked to talk in private with somebody is also still okay…..

But then again if they were alone…the guy could try to make a move on Fuji. 'Ito' was what I thought next. He had most likely asked Fuji to talk in private as well and had forced himself on the smaller boy. My eyes widened as I put this together with what Fuji had whispered.

"Fuji…What happened with Ito when I intervened, does that happen more?" I asked him and I noticed his body stiffen. "Fuji, tell me."

"…I'm usually close to Eiji…"

"What does that have to do with my question?"

"…He can hear me when they go too far…"

EIJI'S POV

" Fuji starts raising his voice when they go too far. This way I can hear him and interrupt so they stop with what they were doing and I get Fuji away from there with some kind of excuse, nya."

"Too far? With what?" Oishi asked worried about the answer.

"Most of the guys flirt with him and try to touch him. When Fujiko refuses them there are those who don't take it so well. They try to convince him and when it doesn't work they get angry sometimes. Then I intervene." I explained vaguely. Oishi still didn't completely understand it as he kept looking at me demanding to answer his question directly.

"...Eiji, What do they do?" Oishi then verbally asked.

"...Well...they touch him, some try to kiss him. But Fuji always resists them and then they get more aggressive like grabbing his wrist or something. He sometimes has bruises there from some guy. Most of them are bigger and stronger than Fuji so he can't handle them alone. That's why he stays close enough for me to hear him. But he didn't with this Ito guy. I don't really know why, he seemed to trust him so I left with you. I still don't really know what happened then. All Fujiko said that he had been persistent and that Tezuka helped him."

" And are you sure this Ito is Fuji's stalker?" Oishi asked with dismay and worry in his eyes. He like all the others didn't like it one bit that Fuji was being stalked like this. And I knew how much Fujiko himself must hate it. I wouldn't even know how to feel if someone was watching my every move. I think I would be scared to death and feel constantly watched.

"Well,..no...but the previous letter and the packages were from him and he is the only guy for the moment who has bothered Fujiko. The last one who had been this persistent had been two maybe three weeks ago. Most of them give up after a while."

"And all these guys,... they do it because they like him? That's quite a number of people who like him." My doubles partner said. I saddened when hearing this and Oishi noticed it. He looked concerned at me and then softly asked: "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

"No... It's just..the biggest part don't really like him that way, that's not the reason why they want to date him. There are those who do have feelings for him but those are the guys who usually let him be or just stick to confessing like the student from yesterday." I explained to him making the vice-captain look even more confused.

He didn't understand it, I could see it in his eyes: "If they don't have feelings for him then why do they want to date him? Not just for gaining popularity or something right?" He asked wanting to understand everything clearly.

"Some do...but the biggest part wants to sl...they want to have se...They just want to get into Fuji's pants..." I said softly after trying to find the right words. Oishi looked incredulous at me as he tried to comprehend everything.

"They only want to...sleep with Fuji...Does he know?"

"Of course he knows! He hates it!" I suddenly yelled out loud, making Oishi look surprised at me.

"Eiji..."

"Nya, gomene...it's just whenever a guy tries something on him, he's always down. He doesn't show it to other people, but if you really keep a close watch on him then you'll be able to notice it. When he drops his guard he looks really sad. I don't want to see him this way, but there isn't a lot that I can do to help." I said while looking down to the floor in a dejected manner.

TEZUKA'S POV

"Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help." I said to Fuji who had been looking to his lap the entire time he explained everything that had happened until now. I hated all the guys who just wanted to have sex with the tensai.

How could they not see beneath his looks. Fuji was great in every way. He would always help his friends when they needed him, he always tried to stay kind hearted towards everyone. He had his sadistic side and even though I sometimes got headaches from those 'plans' of his, it livened up the place, made my life less dull. He never prejudged people, was very intelligent, excelled at everything he did. Fuji wasn't just some object of lust, he was Fuji...

I looked at him, my eyes gentle as I was completely calmed down from being angry towards almost the whole male population of Seigaku. I even caught myself smiling softly as I thought of all the things I liked about the Tensai, even though he made me crazy sometimes.

...he was the one I had fallen hard for...

And it hurt me to see the sad look he had when talking about it. I had wanted to just grab him, hug him, comfort him. But I didn't, not knowing how he would react. All I hoped was that he could still believe in those who truly loved him with all these guys after him for only his looks.

He looked at me, his enchanting eyes still open, drawing me in. He looked like he was searching for something in my eyes. I just couldn't guess what it was.

"Arigato,... Tezuka." He said as he suddenly but softly rested his head against my chest.

"You're a great friend." He gently whispered as I tried to slow down my heart from being this close to him. My mind on the other hand was sadly thinking that I wanted to be more than just a great friend. I wanted to confess to him, but this just wasn't the right time. It wouldn't sit well with him and he might take it the wrong way. That was one thing I definitely didn't want, having him think that I was the same like all the others.

We stayed like that for awhile, totally content with each other and the comfortable silence. But this couldn't last forever sadly enough. Practice would have begun by now and since I was the captain I couldn't just miss out on everything.

"Are you okay to go to practice?" I softly asked him. He pulled back almost reluctantly and looked back up at me he nodded his head in response.

"Then let's go." I said when standing up. I offered him my hand to help him stand up even though he was more than capable to do so. I just wanted to have him close to me again or at least to feel his skin. He went in on the invitation and grabbed my hand while smiling beautifully. I smiled softly back at him and this made Fuji react all like himself again.

"Oh! Buchou can actually smile!" Fuji said half laughing already as I just shook my head and let him laugh. We were still holding hands when he stopped laughing, he looked at them and blushed very softly almost unnoticeable. This time I was the one who reluctantly let go and started walking towards the courts where all the others were already finishing their warming up.

All the regulars looked worriedly at their tensai to see how he was doing. When seeing that he was more than okay, smiling brightly they resumed with what they were doing.

FUJI'S POV

I had been so down when seeing those pictures, but a moment of rest with Tezuka had made me happy again. Although I had to explain to him all the things that had been happening and why I didn't seem shocked and such about all of this. But his reaction had been heart fluttering. I had been so happy that he told me he wanted to help me. I was blushing madly as I told him 'Thank you'.

To hide my pink cheeks I did something quite dumb actually. I rested my head against his chest and seeing he just let me be, made me blush even more instead of stopping. I could feel his fast heart beat and I could feel butterflies in my stomach when thinking that I was the one who made his heart race the way he could do with me. Even though I wasn't absolutely sure it was indeed me who caused this reaction.

We eventually stood up and left but my heart had raced up again as he had offered his hand to me. The blush came back yet again but I just smiled at him unable to hide it. He smiled back, even though it was just slightly. It made me laugh and with a big smile the two of us walked together to the courts where every looked curious at me.

Practice went by as usual only when in the changing room did I become slightly scared, knowing that Ito could just watch inside again if he was there. I stayed standing there still not changing and Tezuka noticed this. He only had his uniform pants on and had pulled of his regulars T-shirt. He looked at me as I tried not to fixate my eyes on his naked muscled torso.

"Wait a second." He told me even though I didn't know why. I just did what he asked and looked at him from the corners of my eyes as he grabbed his shirt and buttoned it up and next he pulled his black jacket on as well. Tezuka then surprised me with going to stand in between the window and I before ordering me to change. I smiled brightly at him and nodded my head as I saw his cheeks turn pink and he turned around so he could give me some privacy.

While I was changing I could hear Buchou mutter something about asking Ryuzaki-sensei if they could buy curtains. I smiled even harder at that as I finished getting dressed.

"I'm done" I told him as he turned back around and looked at me. I smiled and told him: "Thank you."

"No problem. Let's go." He responded as I looked questioningly at him, not really knowing what he meant.

"I'm walking you to class." He gave as explanation as he noticed my confusion. I normally walk with Eiji to class or alone and I was so glad that he would do that for me.

"Hm!" I hummed as I once again smiled at him. He grabbed his stuff as I mimicked him and grabbed mine before leaving. Neither of us noticed the strange looks all the regulars exchanged between each other.

When getting to class some heads turned and stared at us. It was normal for the two of us to be seen together just not walking to class together. We stopped in front of the entrance of the classroom, those we were already inside looked at us curiously. Tezuka looked around for a moment seemingly in search for someone. I had the idea that he was seeing if Ito was in the neighbourhood or not.

"Thank you, Tezuka." I said as he directed his attention back on me.

"Hn, be careful. I'll be back with lunch, probably with Oishi as well."

"Oh! Okay. I'll be waiting with Eiji here then, before the four of us go to the roof." I replied happily.

The captain nodded and then said goodbye before leaving as I happily walked inside the classroom to begin class and look forward to lunch.


Another chapter down, many more to follow. ^^

Until the next one. I'll try to be faster this time.

Ja ne, please review.