Subzero

AU, TezukaFuji. Someone once told me that when I grew up, I could be whatever I wanted to be. I decided to be me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I wish I did, but alas, I do not. I also no not own the song Future, by Minagawa Junko, which is mentioned briefly in the story.

Author's Note: I was playing around with the title for a while before I decided on Subzero. It's simple, slightly mysterious, and... I couldn't think of anything else. So basically this story was just named completely randomely. But the story is Tezuka and Fuji based, Alternate Universe, and in the T range rating-wise. Please enjoy, and don't forget to leave a nice present at the end of it! (a review) Also, since this is more like a prologue than anything else, it will be shorter than future chapters.

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Subzero

One Degree

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The first thing Kojiro Saeki saw when he woke up was a fat raindrop on the window of his apartment. The cause of that raindrop was an equally fat storm cloud that loomed overhead. The silver-black haired man could already hear the heavy patter on rain as they assaulted the sidewalk like bullets.

He could think of several people who wouldn't be happy with the forecast: Inui Sadaharu--president and co-founder of IJ Health Products, short for Inui Juice--he had been planning another outdoor experiment with the unfortunate creatures of the pond nearby, Atobe Keigo--president and model of his own modeling company, Ore-sama--and as he claimed, the rain did not bring out the perfection in 'Ore-sama', and Kikumaru Eiji--an famous actor, stunt-man, and acrobat whom he had been friends with for many years. Kikumaru was not a rain kind of person, and much preferred sunlight to the rain.

On the other hand, Saeki could think of several people who enjoyed the rain, or were otherwise indifferent to it: Echizen Ryoma--a young singer who was making his debut in the heart of the city with his new song, Future--he couldn't care what kind of weather he was performing in; as long as the boy got to sing, he couldn't care less, Momoshiro Takeshi--Ryoma's manager--who said that rain gave his client a better visual appearance for fans and sex appeal for the women, and Tezuka Kunimitsu--a new worker to the company where Saeki worked who was going to be just a seat higher than Saeki himself, making the bespectacled man just one position away from the head of the company. If there was one word to describe the newest worker, it would be indifferent.

He had learned that while interviewing Tezuka.

As Saeki rose and dressed for the rainy, dreary day ahead, he halted.

Saeki had nearly forgotten the one person who would be utterly delighted, possibly even esctatic to see it was raining. That one person was a tensai, a prodigy, and known thus to many. His name was Fuji Syusuke, the head of SAA (Special Analyzing Agency), which was a business funded by Fuji's father to analyze businesses and stocks and then profit off of them.

Saeki Kojiro had known Fuji Syusuke ever since they were barely five, making the total come to about 16 years they had known each over in current times. And no matter where, no matter what was going on that day, Fuji had always loved the rain. It was just one of the many quirks that the tensai came with, along with his unusual liquid sapphire eyes and ability to gravely frighten people out of their wits.

By this time, Saeki was in his car, driving to work and carefully navigating the busy streets of Japan.

As he did so, the young man recollected various bits and pieces of information about Fuji Syusuke and his quirks to pass on to Tezuka Kunimitsu in order for the new vice-head to gain a sense of how Fuji's strange mind worked.

In addition to loving the rain--and having caught a cold from it more than once--Fuji was the only person he could think of that was immune to all but one of Inui Sadaharu's vile concoctions of Inui Juice. The only juice that Fuji had collapsed from was the deadly drink called Blue Aoi. Naturally, after Fuji had experimented with the juice, it wasn't long until he had been sent to the hospital, and Blue Aoi had been discontinued from Inui's line of 'health' products.

Setting aside his friend's strange likes for the bizarre concoctions of Inui's, he also had some other strange likes in terms of food. Fuji Syusuke enjoyed immensely spicy things, going so far as to eat wasabi rolls at a famous restaurant run by a friend of Fuji's, named Kawamura Takashi.

And being Fuji's friend for over half their lives, Saeki had picked up a thing or two about how his friend and bosses' prodigious mind functioned.

Fuji was kind and caring and forgiving, but at the same time, he was brilliant and stubborn and frightening.

Saeki remembered one instance where Fuji had been the cause of 15 of the building's secretary's absences when an unfortunate Mizuki Hajime from St. Rudolph Co. had visited. Mizuki had been found a few hours after the building's closing time, trapped in a crate that had been prepared for shipping to Australia.

While Saeki checked in to the front desk and rode the elevator up to the top floor, he allowed himself a mirthful chuckle. Naturally, Fuji had calmly denied having taken any part. Nervously, Mizuki had denied this fact too.

And that was just how Fuji was.

Saeki smiled to himself as he approached a pair of double doors.

And that...

He pushed them open.

"Ah, good morning, Saeki."

"Good morning, Fuji."

That was just how Fuji would always be.

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Fuji nodded quietly, and shuffled the papers in his hands as he listened to Saeki talk, "...And?"

"Tezuka-san is going to be waiting in room C42 for you at eleven o'clock sharp," Saeki said, reading from his electronic planner, "That's it."

Fuji nodded, calmly sliding the papers into a thick, black bag. When the papers were situated, Fuji gently straightened out a crease on his white collared shirt. "I'll be going to meet with Tezuka-san, then." Fuji declared, rising from his seat.

"Didn't Saeki-san's report says that he won't be here for another half hour?" a man named Shinji Ibu muttered quietly. The effiminate-looking man was one of the employees under Saeki and Fuji. He was a diligent worker, but had a slightly disturbing tendency to mumble incoherently to himself.

Fuji just smiled calmly, tucking his bag under his arm as he did so, "You're correct. But Tezuka-san is the type of person who likes being early."

Shinji 'd eyelids fluttered as he blinked, "Is he?"

"Saa, I wonder..." Fuji murmured to himself before finally exiting the room.

Saeki couldn't help but smirk a bit. Shinji was fairly new to the force, having been recruited only six months prior. He was still getting used to Fuji's mannerisms. The more he thought about it, it amused Saeki, knowing that he had been friends with Fuji for 16 years, and yet even he didn't fully understand how the prodigy's mind worked.

"Wow, Fuji-san is amazing, desu."

"Yes, he is, Dan-kun." Saeki agreed.

Dan was the assistant of the head of the Products Managing department, named Jin Akutsu. Occasionally, the boy was sent over to the Analytical department to deliver materials.

"Hm... I'm still getting used to Fuji-san and the way he works. It is very strange. Then again, he might be normal, and the rest of us could be the ones who are strange. But butterflies are strange creatures too, and yet we know how they work and how they live. It is very different than us, where we are still learning. But then again, everyone is always learning, and so the learning never stops. But what if there was a point where we could stop learning, and then what would happen, I wonder..."

Dan stared at Shinji, unsure of how to react.

Then, Saeki clapped his hands to gain the attention of the two men, "All right, all right. We still have work to do, you two."

"Hai, desu!" Dan shouted, jumping to stiff attention.

"Hai." Shinji echoed.

As Dan and Shinji began to follow Saeki's instructions, Saeki settled back into his chair. He could picture the stolid face of Tezuka in his mind, and he could picture the sympathetic smile he would have given the man.

Tezuka Kunimitsu, I wish you the best of luck. You're going to need it.

-

Fuji smiled and nodded at a pair of secretaries.

With practiced ease, he ignored the way they giggled and gave him not-so-inconspicious winks. It was nothing new to the brown-haired boy. It never would be.

Besides, he had much more important things to worry about.

Fuji was intrigued by this man named Tezuka Kunimitsu who was to be his new vice-head. According to Saeki, the man was incredibly brilliant, even if his personality was a little bland. Tezuka was only a little older than himself, according to his resume.

But most of all, he was like Fuji, in one way or another.

They both seemed to wear an impenetrable mask that not even professionals could breach.

They were like birds of a feather; two lonely birds.

Finally, Fuji stopped at a pair of double doors. He had no doubt that Tezuka Kunimitsu was already waiting inside those doors, as assumed, a half hour early. He placed his palms on the doors, and pushed. They slid open easily, and sent a ray of light reflecting into the Fuji's eyes from the neighboring building.

"Good morning, Tezuka-san." Fuji greeted, smiling at the figure sitting in a chair.

Tezuka's face was shadowed by the angle of light entering the room, making it seem as though there truly was a mask adorning the tall man's face.

Fuji noted quietly that it was chilly in the room, and on the windowsill of the building, a few small specks had started to appear. They were tiny flakes of snow that had begun to materialize in the freezing cold temperatures of the outdoors.

The temperatures were quickly dropping as the dead of winter in Tokyo, Japan approached. It was 25 degrees outside, and soon, the temperatures would reach subzero.

And for some reason, Fuji had a notion that it was going to get much, much colder.

Perhaps it was a silly idea, but then again, he was a tensai. And tensai's were never wrong.

(A/N:) The next chapter will be longer, and there will be more of Fuji and Tezuka. I just wanted Saeki to open the story up. Thank you for your time in reading the first installation of Subzero.

Please review!

Sincerely,

-PurificationArrow