wingless crimson presents
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Title: What Hurts the Most
Category: Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama (belongs to Konomi)
Type: Set Canon time (Sort of)
Genres: Romance/Drama
Rating: T
Summary: (Feat. Tezuka Kunimitsu x Fuji Syusuke) When Tezuka gets a girlfriend, Fuji wonders whether or not he has waited too long.
N.O.T.E.S.
This is an experimental work of sorts, only because this stupid bunny wouldn't go away. The title is the result of listening to too much Rascal Flatts. If all goes well and writer's block stays far, far away; this should be finished in 4 parts. Hope you all enjoy.
-wingless (2-11-07)
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I
The Last Nameless Dance
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If Fuji Syusuke had to give this nameless dance a name, he would have called it a tango. So darkly full of meaning, and if you weren't careful, you could easily go a step too far and get burned. He would have used the word sensual…though that word seemed oddly out of place.
But Tezuka Kunimitsu, walking quietly beside him, Fuji was sure that he would disagree. If Tezuka had to name this dance, Fuji was positive that Tezuka would have christened it a waltz. Ritualistic and proper.
What's more, waltzes had definitive rules, and Tezuka worshipped rules, probably as much as he worshipped tennis.
Though Fuji knew better, and he prided himself in knowing, because this was one thing that Tezuka did not know.
But for all his genius, this would be the last time they danced. And Fuji had not even an inkling, that was the irony of it all.
"…Ne, Tezuka, I got asked out today." Fuji started
"By who?"
Fuji paused to watch the bespectacled boy for any sort of reaction; he detected none, but managed to hide his disappointment. "…A second year in my chemistry class, I don't even know her name. Isn't that funny?" He laughed lightly, "…How many times did you get asked out today, buchou?"
"None." Tezuka's gait became noticeably tighter as he quickened his steps, "What do you mean how many times, anyway? I'm not like you, breaking hearts right and left just with those eyes of yours."
"Saa, I was just teasing, you know. Everyone's probably way too scared to ask you anyhow." Fuji's faint smile grew just a bit, Tezuka was flustered, "You don't have to get all worked up about it." He lengthened his own stride to catch up, "…My eyes break hearts? Like whose? Yours?"
"…Don't be ridiculous." Tezuka didn't look at him. "…Sometimes, I really wonder about you."
Fuji fell silent, it wouldn't be good to go so far so soon, "…But still, it's the middle of senior year, Tezuka. Next year we'll all go our own separate ways to college…and I haven't even gone out on one date yet. It's rather depressing, once you think about it."
"Whose choice would that be?"
Tezuka fixed him with a rather amused glance, though to any other person, the laconic expression never changed. But Fuji made it his business to know. And he reveled in knowing that Tezuka smiled with nothing but his eyes, if one looked hard enough, "Mine, of course." He looked back. "I don't like going on dates, Tezuka."
"I don't understand you." Tezuka shook his head almost despairingly, "You just said you're depressed about not dating."
"…Then you misunderstand me." Fuji returned calmly, expression ever unchanging, "…I don't like going on dates, because most dates don't matter to me." He paused, "…I rather wait, until something worthwhile comes along."
"…You're so impatient." Tezuka admonished calmly. "You know the worthwhile things don't usually come so soon."
"But sometimes they do." Fuji said. "And there's no harm at all in just wishing, is there?"
Tezuka said, "Sometimes, it doesn't happen often, though, you know that. Why do you always have to be so delusional?"
A childish pout adorned Fuji's lips, "You're such a pessimist." He gave the other a playful tap on the arm, "I take it that you don't like anyone in particular, then?"
"I do like someone." Tezuka replied, not looking at him, quickening his steps just a little.
Fuji's jaw just about fell to the ground, "You do?" He paused in his footsteps to stare.
"…Not a crime, is it? To like someone." Tezuka's tone was stiff, "You make it sound like a freak of nature."
Fuji shook his head and began walking again, "No, no, it's…nothing like that." He laughed lightly, "I just…didn't think you'd admit to it that easily." He paused, "It's too much to ask you who it is, right?"
"Yes, I'm not going to tell you." Tezuka gave him a sidelong glance that told Fuji absolutely nothing. Which was expected, Tezuka was Tezuka to the end, even on such a sensitive subject. Perhaps even because it was such a sensitive subject…
Undeterred, Fuji pressed on, "Do you like that person a lot?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to do anything about it? Tell the person how you feel, for example? I'm sure the person would be very glad to hear it." Fuji asked, "I mean, who wouldn't? The fact that Tezuka Kunimitsu has a crush means that he is really human."
"I'm not going to do anything." Tezuka said decidedly.
"But why? Are you just going to sit there and not do anything?" Fuji said, feigning shock, "That's not healthy, you know, keeping your feelings to yourself."
"That doesn't matter." Tezuka shrugged one shoulder, "I know for a fact that the person won't take me seriously."
"How do you know that?" Fuji was perfectly sincere. "…You don't know anything until you tell the person. It might end up different than what you'd expect, Tezuka."
Tezuka didn't look too convinced, "…I'll think about it."
Fuji wisely dropped the subject. They resumed the walk home in companionable silence.
It was a tango today, Fuji thought, because he had come one step closer.
The news of Tezuka Kunimitsu's no longer being single spread through the hallways like a ravaging wildfire, rapidly consuming everything in its path. Fuji hadn't noticed how badly his hands were shaking until his shoelace broke.
"Hey." He said to the general clubroom, "…Anybody got a spare shoelace? I broke mine."
"Hoi, I've got one!" Kikumaru Eiji came to life and rummaged around in his bag, finally unearthing a shoelace, as promised, "Here ya go! Continue now, Inui! Go on! You were just getting to the good part!"
"…Good part?" Fuji said with an amusing smile as he caught the shoelace, noticing that the borrowed shoelace was yellow and not white, "What are you reading now, Inui? I do hope it's appropriate for school."
"…I do nothing of that sort—or read, for that matter." Inui sounded decidedly miffed, "If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if the said fetish was in your department, Fuji. I'm only 91 percent sure."
"I don't have a fetish of any kind. You, on the other hand, I still wonder." Fuji returned to lacing his shoes, "But you didn't answer me."
"Oh, yes, I didn't…" Inui said, "Well, I'm just telling everyone the real facts about Tezuka's girlfriend. You should never believe what you hear in the hallways, you know. Everything gets so scrambled."
Fuji concentrated hard on his shoe, willing his voice to stay even, "I haven't heard much in the in the hallway, only in chemistry. Isn't he dating the captain of the chess club?"
"Debate club, you mean." Inui gave him a look, "…Where in the world did you hear chess club?"
Fuji sighed, "Don't remember."
"Well, anyway," Inui flipped back a couple of pages, "I'm sure you won't mind backtracking a little bit for Fuji's sake, would you, Kikumaru?"
"Nya, Fuji, I can't believe you didn't hear anything! Practically the whole school knows by now! Where were you, Mars?" Eiji knelt down next to him, and then stopped, "…Hey, you look sick, are you okay?"
"…Yeah, I'm fine." Fuji straightened up, plastering a new smile on his face, "I've always been like this, remember? Well then, Inui, fire away."
"Well, Kazuki Yuya, 3rd year, she attends Seigaku, obviously, and she's the captain of the debate club. Hates chess, incidentally." Inui shot him another glance.
"Right, rub it in my face, why don't you?" Fuji shook his head and slumped down on a bench. "Go on."
"Blood type A, Height 166 cm, favorite foods include chocolate mousse, clam soup, and hobbies include reading, badminton, and linguistics. She speaks Japanese, English, Chinese, and French." Inui turned the page, "Favorite subjects include English and History. Has played the piano for 8 years, and she lives with her mother and older brother. Father has not been heard from for the good part of a decade." He shut the notebook.
Fuji sighed again, "…Accomplished girl. But then, I wouldn't expect any less." He thought about asking Inui how he gathered that much data in just five hours and 26 minutes. He was almost certain that Kazuki Yuya had been a nobody until she gained the title of Tezuka's significant other.
"Well, it's Tezuka we're talking about." Inui shrugged in agreement, "But it surprises me, she shows only 0.4 percent interest in tennis…and yet…"
"It's Tezuka Kunimitsu we're talking about…" Fuji reminded him hollowly. "Girls can just walk past him on the street and swoon. It's been proven."
"Nya, it has?? Are you serious?"
Inui was scribbling again, "…A most interesting phenomenon, I must say. But not entirely unexpected for someone of Tezuka's stature."
"Inui, Kikumaru, Fuji! 30 laps around the courts now!" Tezuka said from the entrance of the clubroom, arms crossed. "What are the three of you doing? Practice started fifteen minutes ago."
Fuji looked at him, "Oh, Inui was only enlightening us about your girlfriend. No wonder I couldn't find you at lunch today. That was stupid of me."
Maybe he imagined it, but Fuji thought he saw Tezuka's shoulders stiffen, "I change my mind, 50 laps."
"Tezuka! That's like, cruel and unusual punishment times a thousand, nya!"
"See, that's her, over there, in the bleachers." Inui pointed as they jogged along.
Even from far away, Fuji could tell the girl was nothing less than stunning. Of course, for Tezuka…to expect less was nothing short of treason. He turned his focus back on the track, "She's pretty." Fuji said in what he sincerely hoped was a noncommittal tone.
"I forgot to tell you she models, not professionally, of course." Inui said nonchalantly. "But she doesn't like it; it's her mother who makes her."
"Oh." Now Fuji really wanted to ask how he knew, if only presented with the mere possibility of lording it over Tezuka's head, that he was dating a model, a profession that the captain had often expressed dislike for. Even if it was unprofessionally.
When they rejoined the regulars, Tezuka informed them that they would be playing a match on court C.
Glancing over at court C, Inui said, "Tezuka, there are already freshmen practicing on court C." The data specialist touched a hand to his glasses. "Five hours and 40 minutes, and you're already this out of it…it's amazing what the acquiring of a significant other can do to your head."
Tezuka opened his mouth, perhaps to order more laps, Fuji thought, but Tezuka ended up saying, "I meant Court B."
Fuji almost laughed, but found no voice, given any other day, Tezuka's slip might have been more amusing, but he merely nodded. Tezuka was still determined as ever not to look at him, it seemed.
"Oh, Court B." Inui, on the other hand, didn't try too hard to hide his amusement, once he was sure the danger of more laps had passed, "I see, well, come on, Fuji."
Fuji followed him, with no small amount of…relief. The feeling could have been something else. But calling it relief was safe.
At the end of practice, Kazuki Yuya's stately descent from the bleachers to Tezuka's side was missed by no one. Fuji, standing by the water cooler with Echizen Ryoma was of no exception. He noted that they stood at arm's length, and perhaps if he tried to forget hard enough, they were not dating.
"I heard that buchou's girlfriend is also kind of like a wall." Echizen studied the pair intently, "Mada mada dane."
"Really, now?" Fuji feigned amusement, "You seem to be well informed, Echizen."
"I try." The boy gave a noncommittal shrug of sorts. "…But at any rate, at least Kazuki-senpai won't embarrass buchou or anything."
Fuji was silent. He stared at his half empty cup—funny how he thought it half empty, on a normal day, it would have been half full. "Saa…as expected of Tezuka."
"…As expected of me?" Tezuka's voice cut into his thoughts.
"I meant it in a good way, of course." Fuji kept his gaze trained on the ground. He saw two pairs of shoes. "Now you have a girlfriend." He looked up, the girl had startlingly blue eyes, "I heard that your name was Kazuki."
"It is."
Out of the corner of his eyes, Fuji thought he saw Echizen smirking. He turned back to the couple. "Well, I'm Fuji Syusuke, I believe we haven't met."
"We haven't." Her voice was deeper than a woman's wont. "Still, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"…Same here." It was becoming hard for him to keep smiling. Any wider, than it would scream fake. Fuji took to inspecting his racket.
"…You're not walking home with us?" Tezuka wanted to know.
"No…I'm being picked up today." A lie, blatantly as he could manage, and Fuji knew Tezuka knew, Yumiko wasn't even in town. "It's all right, you two need alone time anyway."
Tezuka looked like he was contemplating a lecture. That Fuji embarrassed him to no end perhaps, "…All right then, I'll see you tomorrow, Fuji."
"Yeah, tomorrow."
He watched them go, suddenly wishing that he had gone with them. Fuji retreated next to Echizen, who handed him a fresh cup of water, which he took without knowing.
"Che," Echizen pulled at the bill of his cap, smirking still, "Two sides of the same wall, they deserve each other."