Verse 2 - Meeting

Tezuka tried to remember why he'd let Atobe talk him into visiting America with him. He rubbed his head to ease the headache Atobe had caused as he remembered back to the unwelcome memory.

"Tezuka! Isn't this just a pure coincidence?"

Tezuka slowly, hesitantly, turned around as he heard that familiar voice. From the tone, he could tell that meeting Atobe was not a coincidence at all.

"Atobe," he simply replied in greeting, trying to find a reason to excuse himself from Atobe's presence. The two hadn't seen each other in almost six years, since they'd graduated high school. Even now, he was in no mood to deal with the rather overzealous boy.

"Come, Tezuka, we must catch up! I am sure you have missed ore-sama's presence dearly, and I have decided to grace you." That being said, Atobe managed to drag him off to some overly expensive café, and Tezuka was forced to make small talk.

It turned out that Atobe would take over his father's company in the next few years (he was still finishing up his MBA and getting some internship done), but was now on break. Atobe was also going to America with some of his "dear, unworthy friends" for the next two weeks, and Tezuka was invited.

Tezuka rejected the offer on the sense that he didn't have the time or money to afford such a trip. Atobe laughed in his face and told him that "obviously, ore-sama's going to pay for this vacation". Tezuka still shook his head no, but Atobe apparently wasn't looking at him because the next day, Atobe showed up at Tezuka's doorstep.

Tezuka had snorted at the surprise in Atobe's face when the latter realized that Tezuka wasn't packed and ready to leave. So, Atobe ordered his servants to pack for Tezuka, and had two others drag Tezuka, unwillingly, into the car.

He'd been met by the friendly face of Yukimura and a stoic Sanada, another two people he hadn't seen in six years. Two minutes later, the four were on their way to the airport, and then to America.

He'd slept for most of the plane ride.

Now, Tezuka was walking the busy streets of Chicago, wondering what there was to do. He was alone because his three other companions had all decided to stay awake and play around during the plane ride, and were now sleeping the day away. He firmly believed that Sanada would've at least slept had Yukimura not been there to amuse Atobe.

Tezuka's eyes wandered as he walked down a street he didn't know the name of. It was littered with small little grocery shops and people hurried from one place to another, while on the road, cars zoomed by with carefully controlled speed (that was definitely over the speed limit, Tezuka mused).

That was when everything changed.

He decided to go into one of the stores, Walgreens, for lack of anything better to do. He didn't have any American money yet, so he couldn't really buy anything. Instead, he just strolled up and down the aisles in search of something to catch his interest.

In one of the aisles, he saw a peek of honey brown hair and small stature that drew him to it.

And he froze when he realized who he was looking at.

Fuji Shusuke seemed to trying to decide between two flavors of ramen, and was frowning seriously at both. In one arm was a blue basket that had more ramen and some other basic necessities.

Tezuka didn't say anything. He didn't walk away either, though a part of him was bribing him into just that. Before Tezuka could make his final decision however, Fuji seemed to decide on the ramen, and turned to leave.

Tezuka realized belatedly that he was standing in Fuji's way.

"Tezuka," Fuji didn't skip a heartbeat, and immediately, his usual smile was on his face.

"Fuji," Tezuka simply nodded back, and he could swear Fuji's smile widened.

"I can see you haven't changed. What are you doing here?" Fuji walked up to him, and past; Tezuka followed closely. It wasn't like he could just ignore the tensai anyway (he remembered too well the consequences of a pissed off Fuji).

"Atobe dragged me here," was his simple reply. Fuji hummed in acceptance, and got in line at the counter.

"So he's here too?"

"And Yukimura and Sanada."

The lady at the counter smiled gently as Fuji said "thank you" in perfect, accent-less English, and once again, Tezuka followed Fuji out.

The two had walked randomly often, and when Tezuka didn't have somewhere to go, he'd used to follow Fuji around.

"Is that right? I'll have to meet them sometime."

Tezuka nodded and there was silence for a while. He took that chance to examine the tensai.

Fuji had grown taller, Tezuka noted, and now stood only about an inch shorter than his own 5'11". His hair had been grown out longer, and with his eyes closed, Fuji could easily have been mistaken for a girl (his features seemed just a bit more feminine than the last time Tezuka had seem him). His body seemed slimmer than Tezuka remembered, due to not playing tennis all day, every day, Tezuka conjectured. The last thing Tezuka noticed was that Fuji's hair had highlights, though they were few and far between. They were a dark blonde and Tezuka could pick out a few caramel locks as well.

Tezuka only noticed that they were somewhere once he noticed Fuji pull out a key and turn the lock. The silence between them had been comfortable, something he realized he missed.

"Come in, Tezuka," Fuji softly said, before opening the door wide.

Tezuka was about to comment but he was cut off by a loud, panicky voice.

"Shusuke! Save me! I think I'm burning down the house!" An unknown, male voice sounded from somewhere to the right.

Fuji immediately opened his eyes and raced to the kitchen. Tezuka smelled smoke as he entered the house and took his shoes off.

In another five minutes, Fuji was back out, his smile dangerously thin, followed by a smaller, black haired boy.

"I'm sorry, babe, I swear, it was not on purpose. I wouldn't do that to you, you know that, because I love you," cooed the boy.

TBC

Okay, so the second chapter wasn't much better than the first. But please keep reading, because I think I have a solid idea for this story (and a possible sequel). Reviews, perhaps, even if you hate it? Suggestions? Etc?