" Sleep, Tezuka. " ... Chapter5
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" What …. do you think you are doing? " Atobe snatched the towel from Tezuka's hands.
" Just now… You…" The other boy in the room started to speak. ' What were you going to tell me? I want to know…'
" I'm sorry for the trouble. " Which was of course completely ignored by Atobe, who roughly proceeded to towel his hair.
" You don't have to be so stubborn all the time. " Tezuka spoke sternly, almost as if reprimanding, snatching back the now damp-ish, fluffy cloth in a swift move.
" Give that back. " Atobe glared. Tezuka just stood like a brick wall, silent and strong.
" Tezuka. " The Hyoutei ex-captain spoke again, putting emphasis on the name, which gave it the weight of sentences, a whole paragraph maybe; Tezuka was still unmoving, un-answering.
" Fine. " After a cold battle of glares, Atobe took a seat on the bed, retreating – for now, " …Just because Ore-sama is tired. "
Tezuka just resumed his job again, though satisfaction at the small victory was evident in the way his arms were a little less stiff as they worked on Atobe's back, "You were talking about something…."
" It's not important…." The other sighed, a barely audible sigh.
" Why did you quit tennis, Atobe? " No answer. " Was it your father…? " Tezuka wanted answers.
" The business. " Atobe spoke after what felt like an eternity, " I don't exactly have a loving relationship with him…" silence, filled only with the deafening noise of rain crashing down loomed between them for a few moments again, " But…. I can't let the old man kill himself, now can I? "
"…….." Tezuka just listened because it was the only thing he could do, and also because they might be no other time when Atobe would be even this willing to talk decently.
" I thought it would still be fine. I thought I could just … do both... you know, play for a while more at least…." A ghost of a smile played on the king's lips, " But tennis is distracting. Every time I hold the racket, it shows me dreams. "
" I couldn't do both. I had to stop. "
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What would it feel like... to be taken by this person?
Tezuka almost shuddered at the thought. Almost.
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In spite of what most people might think or assume about him, Tezuka was in every way, human.
And just like anybody and everybody else normal, he was susceptible to pain, fear, uncertainty, disappointment, happiness...
Desire.
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" Tezuka? "
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" Hn? "
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" Did you just smell my hair? "
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" No. "
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Atobe got up and turned to face the boy, " Ore-sama was not aware you swing that way. " The faint smirk was already back on his face.
" I don't. " Tezuka took a step back. And in the next instant his back collided against the cool wall, his shoulders pinned, and mouth plundered without permission.
Atobe tasted like cider...and water, a barely sweet, yet somehow strong taste. And he still smelled like the rain from outside; their bodies pressed flush against each other, one clothed and the other half naked.
Atobe's lips were surprisingly soft, softer than his own, and softer than anything his own lips had touched before. Though the kiss was not.
His body which went stiff before was overwhelmed soon enough, and before he could even register it, Tezuka was already going limp in the other's arms.
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" Sleep, Tezuka. "
Atobe shook his head. It was probably the rain, and nothing else... Yes the rain must have definitely gotten his stiff companion's head waterlogged. Was this not the same boy who had announced the '……We are not going on anymore dates…. ' in a captain's tone of authority nonetheless, about 2 years ago? Wasn't this the same person he had wanted once, and in all consciousness wanted now as well, but could never really get….?
Atobe turned around to get some dry clothes.
"………." And Tezuka stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
' Don't stop. '
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" You are not serious. " Atobe spoke after a moment's silence, Tezuka's hand a weight on his shoulder. He himself didn't know the meaning those words, whether they were a statement, an accusation, or simply his own disbelief because he did know that if it was Tezuka, then this couldn't be a joke, heck the guy had a sense of humor worse than their Calculus professor, which was saying a lot.
"……" While Tezuka had been staring at Atobe's back for the past minute or so, he felt the momentary need to observe the patterns on the floor.
" Do you have any idea what you are asking for? " Mild disbelief seeped into the king's voice, his words roughly translating into something along the lines of ' Have you lost your mind? ' or 'Are you sure you haven't gone crazy? '. Something like that.
"……" Again, no answer. And by now Atobe knew the other boy well enough to know just what the silence meant.
Not that he was complaining.
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Tezuka's back met the wall yet again, the weight of another body pressing into his own; slender fingers ghosted on the other's skin in fleeting touches, but soon Atobe found himself touching Tezuka in ways that he never thought he would. And lips met lips over and over.
By the time they left the wall to fall on the bed in an inelegant tangle of limbs none of them was bothered to verify whose bed it was, just the touching and skin against skin. What they were each aware of was that the other's body was warm in the cold, that whatever they were doing, even though sudden and defying the logics that each of them possessed just felt too damn good and too damn right… Tezuka's glasses were neatly placed on the side-table, and there was the faint rustle of clothes momentarily accompanying the sound of the rain as they joined the floor. And then there was the sound of heavy breathing, breathless gasps, light noises (none of them would admit to making them later).
The rest as they say was history.
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" You had experience. " Tezuka spoke stiffly; Atobe buttoned up the other boy's shirt before working on his own.
" Yes. " It roughly translated to 'Of course. '. The voice was smug, and Tezuka could imagine Atobe rolling his eyes without having to look. " I'm surprised you hadn't even done it with a girl… or Fuji Syuusuke. " Now the voice was also amused along with the previous smugness.
"………." Brief annoyance not perceivable to the ordinary being flitted across Tezuka's face, " And where did you get your experience? Akutagawa Jirou? Oshitari Yuushi. " he spoke dryly.
" I don't screw my friends, Tezuka. Just who do you think I am, ahn? " Atobe nearly snapped. " And just to be clear, I wasn't screwing around with you either. " He got up, restless as always to take the bed which was free ( which incidentally happened to be Tezuka's ).
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The second time they did it was more… romantic? They slept on the same bed after.
And by the time it was the third Fuji noticed.
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" You fell for him. " the tensai spoke softly fingers moving to adjust Tezuka's collar, so as to do the duty of a friend and cover up a hickey, " Tell him not to leave marks in obvious places, ne? "
" Hn. " Tezuka could only nod with as much dignity as he could muster.
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One could say their relationship was the stuff fables were made out of.
The proud and haughty young heir to the throne ( Atobe would insist he was king already ), humbled ( In your dreams – Atobe would snort. Still he did possess one more ounce of humility than before. Of course the amount when we say ' before ' was equivalent to nothing, so it would be more appropriate to say that he possessed one ounce of humility now ), by the nobility of the fair princess ( Atobe would also ignore Tezuka's protests at this part, ' Yes Tezuka dear, you are no princess but you come close enough so stop complaining already. ' ).
The young prince expectedly and predictably falls for the fair maiden and weaves elaborate strategies to claim her as his own. The princess possessing great strength of character, her heart does not waver easily and she offers formidable resistance but eventually comes to realize that the proud prince is pure of heart… ( Here, Tezuka would sometimes feel the need to contemplate. )
That's how it could be summarized, more or less.
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" Atobe. "
" Join me for fishing next week. "
" …. You forgot to add the please…"
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Somehow they had managed to come a long way since their very first date.
Atobe would occasionally bring it up just to annoy Tezuka.
A match made in heaven it was not.
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And hopefully they lived happily ever after.
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Owari
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A/N: reviews loved! so if you liked it, tell me? and a big thank you for everyone for sticking with the fic so far :)