"Syu-chan!" Kamiko bounded into the room and stopped just in front of Fuji, "Where's Yuuta-nii?"
"I don't think I know exactly, Kamiko. I'm sorry." Fuji chuckled when Kamiko pouted, her thoughts taking her elsewhere from the present for a moment. It gave Fuji a moment to fully observe the girl who had suddenly found herself in the Fuji family's lives.
For a girl her age, she was a tad shorter than the average, but she did make up for the height with volume. Anywhere she went she could be heard, not because she was loud, persay, but because people couldn't help but hear her out. She could talk about an apple and people would still listen. Her presence was just that captivating.
Not just her presence, but her beauty. They were only 15, and had a lot more growing to do, but Fuji could tell that she would continue to grow more beautiful as the years passed by. She was an athlete, so her body would grow and continue to be toned and in shape. If she kept growing her hair it would be long and straight with a slight wave at the ends, her lips would fill out- but just slightly, he could tell by the shape -and her eyes would soon mature but keep that childish glimmer within them.
He wanted to see such a transformation.
Fuji realized that Kamiko was now pouting, "Are you alright, Kami-chan?"
"Un. I'm just worried because Yuuta-nii said he would be here before we headed over to the art gallery!" Kamiko tried to smile to hide her worry, but her eyes widened when she realized what she'd said, "Ah! Eto, Syu-chan, forget what I said, please, please forget!"
Fuji chuckled in amusement when he saw Kamiko's frantic state, "Art gallery, you say?"
"Mou, Syu-chan~!"
Before Fuji could tease Kamiko further, his cell phone rang in his pocket. He brought his phone up in one swift movement and answered.
"Hello?" Fuji tried to keep his smile complacent when Kamiko pouted worriedly, both over Yuuta's tardiness and the information she'd revealed.
"Yo, aniki."
"Saa, Yuuta, I was just talking to Kami-chan about you." Fuji said, he noticed how Kamiko's attention turned to him right away.
"Yeah. About that. Tell Kami-chan I've got school stuff that came up, and I can't take her to that art gallery she's been wanting to go to."
"Are you sure? Kami-chan seems fairly excited for this art gallery."
"Yes, aniki. I'm sure. Tell her I'm sorry and we'll go get your birthday present next week."
"So desune, a birthday present?"
"Yuuta-nii!" Kamiko's eyes seemed to bulge out of her head as her jaw dropped.
"Gotta go."
"Saa, I think it's best you do." Fuji hung up after Yuuta did, and turned his full attention (if the elder Fuji were to be honest with himself he would know that his attention never left her in the first place) to Kamiko, "May I ask what this present was?"
"Yuuta-nii ruins all the surprises."
Fuji nodded and smiled, "Well I don't think he'll be here to ruin it this time, Yuuta said school was going to keep him from taking you."
"How about I just show you, Syu-chan? I'm picking it up today!" Kamiko asked.
Fuji hoped his smile was still complacent, because if he was showing how happy he was inside then he would surely feel like a fool.
"Alright then, I'd like that very much."
Kamiko led the way swiftly, since she insisted that the art gallery was being held near by. Fuji barely had enough time to grab his house keys before Kamiko was out the door and down the street.
"Yuuta-nii and I were talking about how the two of you have gotten closer, and he mentioned how he would have to get you a better birthday present for next year because this year's wasn't very good. Since now you're my friend and Yuuta-nii has a better bond with you I thought that he and I could go and get you a late birthday present to give you next week, since it would be the twenty ninth of the month." Kamiko explained as they walked down the street.
She was happy that the sun was setting, because it gave off different shades of colors and it would hide the blush on her cheeks.
"That's kind of you, Kami-chan, thank you."
She nodded in response, "Mm. I hope you like the piece we picked out. It reminded me of you!"
Kamiko felt no shame in having revealed that, but she did feel giddy when Fuji smiled at her warmly- it was a better smile than the one he always had plastered on his face.
"It's a photo art gallery, which I think you'd like better." Kamiko insisted, just to fight off the feelings before she said something irrational. She didn't want to overstep the boundaries of their friendship.
Yet because of that reassurance of their friendship Kamiko gathered the courage to take Fuji's hand and pull him into the gallery, straight to the piece she was talking about. The building itself was nothing more than walls and windows, big windows that looked out onto the street and revealed canvases being lit up by wall lights. She looked left and right for it, because for some odd reason everything was moved, and smiled wide when she found it. She stopped abruptly, and grinned at the piece in front of her.
Fuji understood immediately why Kamiko thought of him. The picture was of a swallow in mid flight, with its wings parallel to the ground as it seemed to whizz by its background of leaves and branches. Even more so reminiscent of himself were the colors of the swallow- its wings a shade of brown while its head and neck was of a deep blue color.
"I thought it would be great to give because this was the first time I ever saw the real you come out. I didn't really get a chance to watch your matches specifically until the matches against the American West Coast team, but I remembered what Ryo-chan and Kiku-chan said about it. You used a lot of your counters against your opponent, and I thought it was odd at first because you had a different look in your eyes than when you played before. When they explained that you won to prove that your opponent could have a better life I thought it was admirable... And I guess the bird is pretty too!" Kamiko tried to cover up her embarrassment when she realized she had been rambling to Fuji about... Well, about himself, and she prayed that he didn't know why she said all that. Or that he didn't know what she felt when she said all that.
She stared at the picture in a bit of dismay. It was odd for her to be acting this way and if the tensai Fuji hadn't figured out why she was acting odd then maybe she had a chance of recovering some sense of herself before things got too awkward.
"Kamiko," She didn't hesitate to look up at him when he called; it was instinct for her by now, but she wished she had hesitated, even a little. It would have given her time to prepare herself for what she saw. Fuji's blue eyes were open, staring at her with such intensity that Kamiko felt uncomfortable immediately; as soon as the uncomfortable sensation came it was just as soon gone, and she felt happier being able to see some real emotions from Fuji. Some that she thought were only ever seen by his family, Tezuka, and few others, "I..."
He turned away suddenly, and Kamiko blinked at how his emotions suddenly turned from intense to blasé, "I like it very much."
"...Syusuke?" She asked.
How could such passion be turned off so suddenly? It was such a mystery to Kamiko. She rarely found a need to hide her emotions, or her thoughts, and here was Fuji Syusuke- the genius that couldn't take a tough match seriously for the life of him, a genius who hid his real thoughts unless there was a need to reveal them. When she said his name he seemed startled at first, and turned back to her, his blue eyes sparked with curiosity.
She smiled; so she really could see his emotions now, better than she ever had before, "I'm glad you like it." And she turned away to look as the curator carefully wrapped the canvas away.
Kamiko smiled on the walk back, her grin so bright that it seemed to dim the street lights, and Fuji found it much harder to keep his smile complacent- he might have grinned had Kamiko not turned around to ask where he would hang the photo.
"Above my bedside wall." He contemplated.
She nodded, "That sounds perfect, Syu-chan!"
He smiled, refraining himself from telling Kamiko of what he thought true perfection was.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/plot/etc., of the PoT manga/anime.