Tokens Chapter 2: higuma, a prince of tennis fanfic

Tokens

written by: lusciniaecantus

Tezuka/Fuji

Disclaimer: I don't own Tezuka or Fuji or Prince of Tennis.

A/N: I'm really not very happy with the way this one turned out. It doesn't seem to flow very well and when I read it, it seems forced. But I've had this for a week and a half and I've stared it to death and I can't seem to make it feel right, so I decided, what the heck, I'll just post it cuz staring at it anymore is not going to help. So here it is.

Again, thank you to all the people who read and reviewed for my last one. This time, Tezuka returns the favour (but it's technically set before origami cranes).

higuma
(G)

In their second year of high school, Fuji asks Tezuka to accompany him to the Cherry Blossom Festival.

"Nee-san is going with her fiancée and Mizuki is taking Yuuta," he explains. His smile is intact, his voice never wavers once, but Tezuka can tell he is disappointed at the fact that his siblings are going to be spending the festival apart. It is written in the way his lips are compressed just a little too tight, as though he is clamping down on his smile lest it should fall. It is written in the faintest of creases in his brow, and the stiffness of his posture.

"So, I need a date too." His head tilts slightly to the right as he waits for Tezuka to respond.

Tezuka ignores the brittle smile nailed onto Fuji's face. He ignores the mock-casual way his body is angled towards him, the way his closed eyes and light, cheerful voice are saying I don't care.

Because Tezuka knows Fuji better than that.

Instead, he stares at the little spot just beyond Fuji's smile, and he can see past the false brightness and calm to the tension that is coiled in Fuji's clenched jaw line.

"When should I pick you up?" If it was anyone else, that would have come out as playful, nearly flirtatious, but with Tezuka, it merely a question. And the miniscule quirk tugging at his lips is most certainly just a trick of the light.

Still, he marvels at the way Fuji's smile is suddenly not quite so blinding, but transforms into something softer—realer. The straight line of Fuji's body melts into a more natural slouch as his shoulders relax.

"Six is fine," he answers in a voice that is slightly breathy with gratitude and happiness.

Tezuka acknowledges this with an inclination of his head, a faint smile on his lips despite himself. "Six then."

At six o'clock sharp, Tezuka shows up at the Fuji's residence. Yumiko answers the door, dressed up in a beautiful, pale pink summer kimono, clearly about to leave as well.

"Ah, Tezuka-kun," she greets him with a familiar smile, half affection, half mischief. "Syusuuke is in his room. Come in." She holds the door open as she calls upstairs for Fuji.

Tezuka murmurs his thanks, stepping inside.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Fuji's voice calls back down.

A fond look softens Yumiko's eyes and she turns to Tezuka. "Thank you for taking Syusuuke to the Festival," she tells him, her smile warm, her eyes serious. "I was worried."

"I'll take care of him." The words are out before Tezuka realizes it— an automatic response.

Yumiko knows this as well, and she laughs softly. "I know you will, Tezuka-kun." She looks back up towards the stairs. "I trust Syusuuke to you."

Not quite sure how to respond to the solemnity in her tone, Tezuka merely nods once and follows her gaze, where Fuji has emerged. His yukata is light blue, stitched with swirling white and indigo waves. Only the straight, slim line of his body prevents him from being mistakened for a young woman, and even so, Tezuka had no doubt there would be more than a few misunderstandings tonight.

"Ne, I'm leaving now, Syusuuke," Yumiko tells him.

"Bye Nee-chan."

"Have fun!" With a wink and a wave, she slips out the door and disappears into the approaching darkness.

"Gomen Tezuka." Fuji directs his eyes to the other boy, his smile apologetic as he hurries down the stairs.

"It's fine."

Fuji bends down to slip on his geta, his hair falling down to hide his smile momentarily. "Shall we go then?" Straightening, he brushes his hair out of his eyes, loops his arm through Tezuka's and tugs him out the door.

The Festival is bright with lights and lanterns, the shouts of vendors and excited children filling the air. In contrast to the bustling cheer of the streets, the cherry blossoms flaunt their majestic, but fleeting, beauty in a dignified silence. Their soft petals flutter through the air like spring snow to cover the ground in a carpet of palest pink.

Tezuka and Fuji walk through the busy streets, Fuji's hand gripping Tezuka's in a light, but firm hold. And Tezuka allows this because he can still sense a residue of sorrow lingering in Fuji's smile.

"Hey, young man! Want to try your skill?"

Fuji turns towards the call of the vendor, and Tezuka has no choice but to follow as the smaller boy half-drags him over. It is a game stall, where the prospect of a little stuffed toy propelled people to empty their pockets and attempt difficult, and often stacked, 'skill-testers'. Tezuka allows himself to be pulled to the stall front reluctantly, already wary of Fuji's intentions.

"Hello, little lady," the vendor greets Fuji with a wink. "Why don't you ask your boyfriend to win something for you?"

Fuji smiles sweetly at the man, and Tezuka knows better than to correct the man when Fuji was so obviously enjoying the charade. "Mitsu, will you?" he asks in soft, breathy voice.

Tezuka twitches at the abbreviation of his name, and shoots Fuji a look, to which the other responds by turning his smile up another sugary notch.

"C'mon, young man! Win your beautiful girl a cute prize!" the vendor encourages heartily.

"Please, Mitsu?"

The lanterns hanging on either side of the stall wreath soft shadows on Fuji's face and casts a warm glow about him.

Tezuka gives in. "Fine." He turns to the vendor with a curt nod. "What do I have to do?"

The man grins and holds out three balls. "If you can knock down any of the bottles, then you win a prize," he explains, pointing at the bottles lined up along the far counter. "You get three tries." He offers the balls to the bespectacled teen, who had no doubt whatsoever that the bottles were weighed down, most likely with sand.

Tezuka hands over a few coins and accepts the balls with another nod. Fuji relinquishes his hand, and stands back with a satisfied and amused smile. Suppressing his resigned sigh, Tezuka tosses the ball a few times, weighing it, before he throws it, with all the accuracy and power that is second-nature to him now, at the line of bottles. It catches one of the bottles at the very top, striking with a muffled thud, and the bottle topples over.

The vendor's eyes widen in surprise at the ease with which Tezuka knocked over the bottle. He turns to him with a wide smile. "You're very good!" he booms good-humouredly. He then gestures at the walls of stuffed toys. "Which one would you like, sir?"

Tezuka hears Fuji's muffled chuckle at the way the man addresses him and has to suppress another sigh. He eyes the prizes critically before pointing at a fluffy, brown teddy bear. "I'll take the higuma," he says. Fuji presses his sleeve to his lips and laughter trickles from behind the cotton.

"Ok!" The vendor takes the bear off the shelf and hands it to Tezuka cheerfully. "Here you go, sir! For your pretty lady friend!"

Tezuka feels his eyebrow ticking again, but he merely accepts the prize with a polite "Thank you" and turns to Fuji. "Let's go," he says and Fuji happily reclaims his arm.

The other boy's eyes nearly twinkle from under his half-closed lids as he murmurs a soft, amused, "Higuma?" before proceeding to lean over Tezuka and exclaim over how adorable the bear was.

The taller boy glances at his companion with something akin to disgruntled bemusement and hands the toy to Fuji without a word.

"Thank you, Tezuka!" Fuji chirps happily, letting go of his arm to cuddle the bear. Two elderly women sitting nearby looks up at them and begin whispering to one another with knowing smiles.

Tezuka turns away from their gazes, slightly uncomfortable. "Fuji…"

The other boy looks up from his snuggling and seems to read the discomfort in Tezuka's eyes, because he smiles reassuringly and takes Tezuka's arm again, the bear tucked between them. "Let's go look at the cherry blossoms, Tezuka!"

The two of them walk to the viewing area. The wind blows lightly, rustling the trees and making the fallen petals dance to its tune. More petals drift down slowly, wrapping the two boys in the magical world of early spring.

Fuji takes a step away from Tezuka and lifts his head to gaze up into the trees. "Saa, Tezuka?"

"Yes?" His eyes rest on Fuji's graceful, yukata-clad silhouette against the waning light.

"It's beautiful, ne?"

Brown eyes drifted upwards. "Aa."

The two boys lapse into a pensive, and comfortable silence, as the dying sunlight finally fades to leave the world bathed in a sheen of silver moonlight. Above them, the cherry blossoms sway gently in the cool, night breeze, heralding the coming of spring and the beginning of a new cycle.

(end)

Notes:
geta- Japanese wooden sandals.

The Cherry Blossom Festival is a very celebrated occassion in Japan when all the cherry blossoms bloom because it marks the end of a bitter winter and the coming of spring.