Disclaimer: I do not own for otherwise tennis would be in the background and perfect pair in the very front. ^^
The actual chapter 8 was combined with the next one to come. But since it was getting a bit long I decided to split them up. I'm still writing the end of the 9th chapter, but I hope it will be up shortly as well. ^^µ
Enjoy!
Persistence: chapter 8
TEZUKA'S POV
"Tezuka...Can you stay over?" he whispered, but since it was absolutely silent everybody had heard it.
I looked to his sobbing figure as I stayed quiet for a moment. He then looked up to me with teary hopeful eyes and I couldn't resist him. I wouldn't have done that either way, I wouldn't want to leave him alone when he needed someone and definitely not if there was a chance that Ito could come back.
"Ah." I then told him and his smile returned ever so slightly for a single moment before he buried his head in my chest again and trembled once in a while. My arms were still around him and he didn't seem to mind. I just hoped that he wasn't noticing my rapid heart beat.
Kikumaru then asked trying to cheer Fuji up if he could stay as well. I was silently disappointed when Fuji looked up and moved a bit away from me since I liked the closeness of us. I reluctantly let my arms leave his waist.
When Fuji replied, already a bit happier, to Kikumaru that it was no problem, another sting of disappointment got me. I didn't want to admit it, but I'd rather wanted to be alone with the tensai. The red head of course was totally happy at Fuji's approval while his doubles partner noticed my own lack of enthusiasm.
Momoshiro then made it even worse with proposing the idea of having a slumber party at Fuji's house obviously also wanting to cheer his senpai up. And it worked Fuji seemed to like the idea as he agreed with a small smile. I hid my own feelings for favouring the fragile figure his happiness.
I resisted the urge to sigh but Fuji then surprised me with putting his arms around my waist and resting his head, once again, against my chest. I softly smiled before quickly composing myself and hoping that nobody had seen the smile. But when I looked up I noticed Echizen looking strangely at me and so was Inui. But he always looked strange when he was gathering data. It did shock me that he wasn't at this moment; his green data book was no where in sight. Though seeing the situation it was logical that he took it into account.
I did put my arms back around him and he snuggled even a bit closer to me.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, finding his antics strange, yet heart fluttering. He nodded his head slowly but just stayed where he was. It seemed he was very comfortable like this and I certainly didn't mind either.
Staying like this I told Oishi to tell Ryuzak-sensei that practice was cancelled we would instead have some bonding time and discuss the next tournament. He nodded and left with Kikumaru in tow.
The others also told us that they would leave to go home and ask permission from their parents and then grab their sleeping bags and such. We all decided to meet each other at Fuji's house around 8 o'clock. Inui would go and search for the golden pair first to tell them of our plans.
I was also planning on standing up although reluctantly, but Fuji's grip around me became stronger as if telling me to stay like that for a while longer. The two of us were now alone in the clubroom and the tension in my body was steadily rising because of our more intimate contact.
"Is something wrong?" I asked him.
But instead of answering he replied with a question of his own: "Are you leaving?"
"I was planning to go home, yes. So I could get my stuff and notify my parents." I answered as I looked to his reaction. His eyes, that had been open the entire time, got a small spark in them, like he just got an idea.
"You can come straight home with me, if you want. I got two sleeping bags we can lay downstairs with the others." He told me hopefully.
"Fuji, I still got to have some clothes for tomorrow and tonight. Besides my mother won't be home yet so I can't tell her."
"You can call her? And I'm sure we have some clothes you can fit in." He insisted. I seemed to get the idea that he was being desperate.
"You probably won't have anything for me. I'll come at 8 o'clock like the others. Don't worry I'll walk you home first if you want to."
"But…If you just stay with me then you can help me with setting everything ready and go to the store for some things to eat while watching a movie or something." I frowned as I saw Fuji's desperate try to have me stay with him. His eyes were almost pleading as he looked to me while trying to smile. But I could see tears welling up in his eyes that he tried to keep at bay.
"Fuji,…what's wrong?" I asked concerned.
"I…I just don't want to be alone…Yumiko won't be back yet from work. Can't you just stay with me? Please?" He now pleaded. I looked to him as a tear made its way over his cheek and to his chin.
I thought for a moment before coming up with a plan: "Look, I'll go to my house-" at that I saw Fuji's eyes widening in fear and quickly finished my sentence: "-with you. We can walk there. I'll grab the things I need, we go to the store next and then head for your home so we can prepare everything. Sounds okay?" I asked as Fuji formed a smile on his lips.
"Hai!" he said as he hugged me tighter again. I looked to him with soft eyes as I also brought his body closer to mine.
"I'll call my mother first, okay? So she won't worry." He nodded and I was about to untangle myself from his embrace, but he again didn't want to let go.
"Can we stay like this, just a moment longer?" He asked softly and my heart skipped a beat at his request. I responded with my usual one syllable word and manoeuvred a bit to get my cell phone. I dialled my mothers' number in and waited for her to answer my call.
Fuji in the mean time was snuggled comfortable against my body as I held my one arm loosely around him while I talked to my mother. She had no problems with it and happily told goodbye as I hung up again. She was probably glad that I would spend some time together with friends without doing something tennis or school related.
I looked to Fuji after having put my phone away again and asked him if he was ready to leave. He nodded and untangled himself, Fuji then slowly stood up as did I, while eyeing him carefully. I was watching him to see if he didn't fall through his legs again. But he seemed fine. We both grabbed our stuff and went out of the room. I locked it and we walked further to my home.
The only thing different that I noticed about Fuji was that he walked a lot closer to me than normal and he was constantly looking around. I had the urge to grab him by the waist and keep him close to me, protect him.
We entered my house and headed straight upstairs to my room. Fuji had been here before since we often made our homework together and in our second year when we were in the same class did some of our projects together. I smiled on the inside as I remembered that I fell in love with him that year.
He was a great friend in our first year and I admired him for his character and of course for his tennis. That slowly turned into love as I spent more time with him. I had a hard time trying to figure my feelings out and had trouble with accepting myself. I came from a traditional family and I still wasn't ready for telling my parents if I would have a boyfriend. But all of that didn't matter for now. Fuji was probably very uninterested at having a relationship.
I focused my mind back at the task at hand and told Fuji to sit down on my bed. He looked unsure for a moment but went to sit down never the less. I grabbed a bag and then went to my closet to grab a pair of clothing to wear tomorrow. I also took a pair of grey jogging pants that I always wore to go to bed and knowing that it would be another warm night I decided to take one of my tank tops to sleep in.
I noticed Fuji's constant stare on me and when I was choosing to take either my white or black tank top, the tensai spoke up: "The white. It fits you better." he told this with another small smile on his face. I was glad that he seemed to be doing better but knew that the problem was just below the surface. If someone tried to touch you inappropriate in the middle of the night by breaking into your home, it would only be normal for having difficulty to get over it.
I took the white one after his recommendation and put it in my bag along with a clean pair of boxers. I then left Fuji in my room to get my toothbrush and toothpaste. I also grabbed a pillow and my sleeping bag. I added them to my stuff and then asked the other occupant of my room if he needed anything to drink.
Fuji told me that he wasn't thirsty and asked if we could go to the store, because he wasn't sure until what hour it would be open and neither was I. After nodding at him, I took my bag on my shoulder and the two of us headed back downstairs. I locked the door behind us and we left for the store.
We were quickly out of the shop and were headed once again to Fuji's house. After a long walk we finally entered Fuji's house. But before stepping in I noticed him looking around with wide open scared eyes. I looked around as well and quickly found out that there was nothing suspicious. On the other hand Fuji was still frantically looking around in fear with a very tense body.
I put my hand on his lower back and his body shocked for a moment before relaxing as his eyes searched for mine. He looked to me with those pools of emotions and I nodded into the direction of the door.
"He isn't here. Come on, let's go inside." I told him softly as I put more force on my hand so I would slightly push him forward. He entered and I let my hand drop from his back, being careful for not touching his behind. Though the want was definitely there, I really knew that it wasn't the time for my control to slip.
I walked in after him and closed the door. I dropped my stuff in the living room where everyone of us would stay and followed Fuji to the kitchen. This time he was the one to ask if I wanted to drink something and I answered positive. He grabbed two glasses and poured some lemonade in it. He took a sip and started to put all the groceries away. I helped him a bit but didn't know where everything needed to be put. After that the two of us went to watch some TV while we waited for Yumiko to get home.
Yumiko arrived some time later and started cooking for us. Her brother informed her of the sleep over and she was fine with it as long as we could clean everything up after. She told him that she had been planning to go out for another night with her friends if Fuji had asked someone to stay over so he wouldn't be alone. She would leave if all the others had arrived, and this way Fuji didn't need to worry about making too much noise.
We ate after that and I and Fuji got the snacks out together with the drinks because the others would arrive in about a quarter or so. Fuji also grabbed some DVD's out of a cabin and put them on display so it would be easier to choose which one to watch.
Ten minutes later and Oishi arrived with Fuji's best friend next to him, eager to start the party. Oishi of course apologized for being here early to the tensai although he was looking strangely at me.
"Nya! I thought Buchou was always punctual! Not early nor late. Ne, Oishi?"
The mother hen was ready to say something as Fuji answered first: "We went home together; I wanted him to keep me company." He said smiling and seemingly happy. But the golden pair knew that his words were just his way to say that he hadn't wanted to be alone because he was scared.
They too dropped their stuff in the living room next to mine. When Fuji was about to get them something to drink the bell rang again. I told him I would open the door. Inui entered the house and joined the others. At ten past 8 everyone was there with Echizen being the late comer.
FUJI'S POV
Taka-san was seated on the floor with Momo next to him. Inui had grabbed a chair to sit on while Kaidoh and Echizen sat on a two person couch next to him. I, Tezuka and the golden pair were seated on the biggest couch that was only for three persons but easily fitted the four of us. I had gone to sit down and Oishi for some reason went to sit on the other side of the couch. Eiji, knowing of my crush, went to sit next to Oishi, not that he minded that. There was definitely something going on between those two. So Tezuka didn't have any choice but to sit next to me and the hyperactive boy. I did notice that he came to sit quite close to me and I felt my stomach flutter at that. I and Tezuka had arranged everything so we could all properly watch the TV.
Snacks were passed between us as the first movie of the night was playing. It had been a comedy that Eiji wanted to see really bad and seeing as no one really opposed to it, I went to place it in the recorder. It was already half way through and Eiji together with Momo almost hadn't stopped laughing. I also laughed once in awhile glad to be forgetting everything for an hour or two. Only Tezuka, Echizen and Inui stayed rather unemotional.
The next movie on the other hand had been a horror which was always fun to watch at a sleep over. I certainly enjoyed it, well the first part of it. Kaidoh had been absolutely terrified and Eiji duck his head behind Oishi's shoulder once in awhile when it got too scary. The cocky brat just watched it as cool as always. Inui seemed to be looking more around than to the screen, though I had to admit I had been doing the same. Takashi was also looking with scary eyes to the screen while Tezuka seemed to be uninterested.
I watched the screen for a moment and then remembered the next scene, my eyes opening and my heart starting to beat faster. I hated myself for not thinking of it when choosing this one and was now seriously regretting it though I knew the scene wouldn't last that long.
I immediately turned away from it and buried my head in Tezuka's chest who was seated next to me. He reacted surprised and made a small noise that made Oishi and Eiji probably look at us. Because not even a second later could I hear Eiji's famous 'Nya?'. Then I could feel a lot of eyes on us as Tezuka's body was all tense. I knew he didn't like all the attention and he didn't even know why I was doing this. But for the next few moments, I wasn't planning on changing my position.
"Fuji, what are you doi-"
"Ah! Yamete! Get off me! Stop it! Hmmm!" a loud women's voice suddenly came from the TV and I tried to bury my head even more in his chest. I put my hands on my ears trying to block it out, but it wasn't helping much.
Everyone immediately understood my strange behaviour of only seconds ago as they saw my body tremble against Tezuka's. The main person of the movie was being assaulted by a group of creepy looking guys who had been infected by some hormonal kind of virus and they were all trying to touch her everywhere and rip her clothes off and such.
"Fuji, where is the remote so we can put it off." I heard Tezuka's voice ask me. But I shook my head telling them that it was okay for them to watch further after all I knew that it wouldn't be long anymore for the woman to fall into unconsciousness. Tezuka knew that there was no reason in trying to persuade me into giving the remote, knowing that I was stubborn and would just endure it.
I then felt the blanket that I had laid on my lap to keep my feet warm being pulled up and suddenly everything was darker than before. I felt the soft fabric on my head as Tezuka's hands covered my ears. This did help to tune out the sounds. Only a moment later did Tezuka pull it back off again so I wouldn't get it too warm. That 'part' had finished but I needed to calm down first.
I knew that all the others were shifting their gazes from the screen to me but I didn't care. After a couple of minutes did my body relax and Tezuka feeling that relaxed as well. I stayed like that for a while longer, smelling Tezuka's scent and feeling his chest rise and fall from breathing was just peaceful.
The movie was almost over and I decided to sit back up and look to the screen again, while trying to ignore the worried glances. I also noticed my buchou's looks and when looking back at him saw his concern. He must have seen that I was still not completely okay and I felt a hand moving under the blanket to grab my own. I looked shocked at him but all his eyes said were for me to calm down, I was safe here with all of us, with him.
A third movie was starting as Inui had chosen it and put it in himself so I didn't have to stand up again. It was by now already passed midnight and we weren't so sure if we would be seeing another one after this or going to bed. What I really liked was that Tezuka still hadn't pulled his hand away. His hand was still warming up mine as he held it. Maybe he was unaware of it or still wanted to comfort me but I was not complaining.
'I really must love him' I thought as I softly smiled to myself. I didn't cower away when he touched me, I even searched for his comfort all the time even though that entails most likely body contact like just now. And I seemed to be absolutely fine it with it, but when someone else touched me I automatically started being afraid. I found it strange myself, but couldn't change my body's reaction. Not that I wanted to, since I loved every contact with Tezuka.
I was slowly falling asleep from exhaustion since I barely slept the night before. It was a wonder that I wasn't fast asleep already. Maybe the fear that was starting to creep into my heart was keeping me awake.
I refocused my attention on Tezuka's hand and the warmth it was giving off, instead of my fears. And I must admit I very much liked that change of attention. I looked to Tezuka's face that was watching the screen stoically. His eyes darted in my direction and I quickly looked away, not wanting him to know that I had been staring at him. He just looked back to the screen after a few seconds.
The movie ended after an hour and we decided to turn the TV off and get ready for bed.
I might upload the next one really fast (probably) since it's also almost finished. But my mother might want her laptop back so I'm not sure. And I'll be going on another holiday for a bit longer than a week. So you might have to wait a bit longer again.
But review because that keeps me going. ^^
