Title: Clarity
Author: a1y-puff
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Tezuka, Fuji
Genre: (failed attempt at) humor/fluff.
Word Count:
Rating: PG, I guess…
Summary: Belongs to the same universe as "Moments With You". In which Tezuka refused to be locked in his room on his birthday, unlike last year. They ended up cooking together before someone came and interrupted their attempt at having decent meals.
Warnings: Written during a writer's block. Last minute work… somebody shoot me now… fails
Disclaimer: We all know Tezuka and Fuji owned each other ne? I will not try to separate them away, okay?

A/N: This is my attempt to escape my writer's block, and to fulfill my need of FLUFF since my last angst fic was killing me… I'm really sorry if it's crappy. You can smack me in the head and who knows my plot bunnies and writing skills would come back? I'm even willing to run laps if our beloved buchou is not satisfied with this fic… and Do pardon me for the lame titling. I honestly have NO idea. At all. shoots self

Much thanks to crypticmadness in LJ for helping me with last-minute beta on my really, really sudden request! You're a savior, dear! hugs
and lot's of thanks to vierblith for getting me a beta and being my messenger (coz my CP is a retard) even though she really should be studying. Thanks, love! clings

Oh, reading Moments With You will help, but this could be read as a stand-alone.

CLARITY

"Welcome home, Tezuka," said Fuji with a really, really blinding smile. Tezuka found that the all too-familiar, overly-sweet smile upon his arrival home that evening kind of gave him a bad feeling."

Tezuka carefully walked into their shared apartment room and stole a quick glance at the kitchen, and thank God the blender wasn't there. There was nothing suspicious—oh wait, what's with those big, Seigaku-blue ribbons on Miko's neck and tail?

Oh, right. Today was his birthday.

Judging by last year's experience, Fuji had something up his sleeve. If Inui were here, he would say the percentage of it being some kind of food was about ninety-seven percent, since these days, Fuji was really fond of improving his culinary skills by developing his own recipes, which would only be a perfect match with Inui's vile beverages (so much about different "tastes").

When he felt Fuji's hands on his shoulders, Tezuka's brows twitched. He knew this pattern. Fuji was trying to usher him to his room and lock him up while Fuji would prepare their dinner with whatever surprise he had on his (rather mischievous) ingenious mind.

Stopping before his door, Tezuka snatched his key from the keyhole and put it inside his pocket. Fuji's smile grew wider, though, as he pushed Tezuka hard into his room and grinned triumphantly as he fished out a spare key to Tezuka's room from his pocket.

Tezuka's eyes widened. When did Fuji make a duplicate of his key?

Before Fuji could shut the door and lock the room from the outside, Tezuka rushed forward and grabbed Fuji's wrist and kissed the smaller boy's lips to distract him while his free hand swiftly snatched the from Fuji's hand.

"Now that's cheating," Fuji playfully reprimanded, a bit breathless since the stoic youth had practically sealed his breathing for quite a while before finally letting go.

"You are not locking me in my room," Tezuka said in a tone meant to be stern, though the other boy seemed to find it rather funny, what with his flushed face.

Fuji let out a soft chuckle. "Oh well, if you insist," he said while stepping out of Tezuka's room, signaling the latter to follow him. "This is supposed to be your surprise."

Tezuka trailed behind Fuji to the kitchen and now he saw what were in his blind spots earlier. There were some ingredients that he figured were not a part of any Japanese cuisine. There were shrimps, butter, some kind of sauce, something that looked like lemon juice, and some ingredients he couldn't name. He unconsciously let out a sigh of relief on the lack of wasabi in sight.

"Don't be like that, Tezuka. Even I know not to put wasabi in a French dish," Fuji faked a pout, as if he could read Tezuka's mind.

'That's news,' Tezuka said inwardly, but decided against voicing it out. Instead he asked, "French?"

Fuji nodded proudly as he sashayed to the kitchen's counter. "I know you wouldn't like it if I took you to dine in a French restaurant—and besides, that would be a bit too expensive for me—so I decided that I'd just cook a French dish to celebrate your birthday. Oh, and since it's a hassle to make the appetizer and desert, I hope you wouldn't mind with just the main course, ne? If I have to cook a complete course, I'm afraid we'd have to eat dinner at midnight, so I chose this recipe which is relatively easy to make and doesn't take a long time." The smiling prodigy ended his long explanation with a bright smile.

Tezuka kept quiet during the explanation, not knowing what to say. He appreciated his friend's—no, they're more than friends by now, but he hated the word 'lovers'. It sounded too… girly. Well anyway, he appreciated Fuji's concern and effort to… well, give him a taste of a home-made French dish, but he wondered if Fuji knew how to cook it. Fuji had mostly cooked Japanese meals, after all.

"Now that you refused to just sit like a good boy," Fuji teased and earned a soft glare from his companion, "you'd better give me a hand here," he continued.

Accepting a spare apron—Tezuka had no idea they had a spare (thankfully) white apron—from Fuji, Tezuka then put the cloth on and started to do whatever Fuji told him to.

Tezuka was helpless in the kitchen on his own, but with Fuji giving rather easy instructions on what to do—and keeping an eye on him too, at that—he was doing pretty well. Tezuka didn't think he helped much though, what with Fuji just asking for "The shallots, please? It's the one over there—" or "The white wine… yes, we'll cook the wine, it's dry white wine, by the way," and "The lemon juice—no, don't pour it! Just get two tablespoons of it!"

What Tezuka figured was the sauce for whatever dish Fuji was preparing was finally done after adding a really generous amount of butter. Then they finally started to cook the shrimp for a few minutes. Just when Fuji reduced the heat, his cellphone rang and apparently, from what Tezuka heard, a friend of the tensai was at their door, delivering something Fuji had forgotten today.

Swiftly adding the salt, Fuji then excused himself for awhile to retrieve his belonging while telling Tezuka to add the Cognac—"only two tablespoons, alright? Don't pour it!"

Tezuka glanced at their front door, which could be seen from the kitchen. It was that boy again, who often came to pick Fuji up whenever the lithe boy needed to sleep over for doing group assignments. Fuji was acting oh-so-friendly to that boy again. Feeling annoyed, Tezuka turned his attention to the bottle of cognac and was about to pour the brown liquid onto the tablespoonwhen he heard laughter from the two boys.

Whether it was from his annoyance or because his hand was unsteady, Tezuka ended up pouring too much of the alcoholic liquid, and the tablespoon could no longer hold the Cognac. The liquid spilled into the skillet and caused a big, bad flame, making Tezuka yelp and jump backwards in surprise.

"Oh my god, Fuji, there's fire in your kitchen!" A scream was heard from that boy, and Fuji hurriedly bid his friend goodbye and ran to the kitchen.

"Tezuka, are you okay? I'm really sorry I forgot to tell you it might flame!" he said, immediately taking Tezuka's hands in his and scrutinizing them for any possible injuries.

Gathering whatever dignity was left in him, Tezuka answered, "I'm alright... Take care of the dish first."

Watching as Fuji tried to save their dinner, Tezuka inwardly chastised himself for being so… stupid. That cognac was alcoholic; of course it could cause a flame. He should have been more careful. He had let his guard down over an unreasonable jealousy.

How uncharacteristic of him.

Miko suddenly started meowing, and Fuji asked him to feed the cat, assuring him that he could take care of their dinner. Feeling rather… useless, Tezuka complied and made himself useful by feeding the cat.

That kinda decreased whatever pride left in him, though.

Before he knew it, the dish was already served on the table, and the smiling boy had already invited him to sit on the table.

"Are your hands okay?" Fuji asked softly.

"Hn," was Tezuka's curt reply.

For a moment, an awkward silence hung in the air as Tezuka seemed to be drowned in his thoughts, and Fuji wondered what was on the other's mind.

"Do you not like the menu?" Fuji finally asked from across the table.

"No, it's not that," Tezuka quickly replied.

"Then what's wrong?"

Tezuka glanced at Fuji and sighed before he finally said, "What did he come for?"

Fuji blinked at him. "You mean Sawada? Well, I left some of my assignment material at his place—"

"His place?" Tezuka repeated.

"Yeah, you know last night I was there finishing my project…" Fuji trailed off as realization dawned on him, and amusement made its way to replace the confusion in his cerulean eyes as he asked, "Are you jealous?"

Tezuka threw his gaze out the window while his lips formed what might resembled a pout before murmuring a really low, almost inaudible, "What if I am?"

A soft chuckle was what he got in response. Tezuka glared at nothing in particular out the window as he felt a mix of annoyance and embarrassment assaulting him. Then Fuji was suddenly by his chair and reaching out a hand, silently asking Tezuka to stand up.

"What is it?" Tezuka asked while standing up. Fuji just silently pulled him away a little from the table and suddenly he felt those lithe arms wrapped around his body.

"I actually meant to give this present after dinner, but I guess now will do," Fuji murmured against the crook of Tezuka's neck, and Tezuka could felt the other's lips quirked up in a smile.

Not knowing if he should respond at all, Tezuka kept silent while glancing confusedly at the crown of Fuji's head.

Then Fuji looked up with that soft smile of his and Tezuka's heart skipped a beat. "What is it?" he nervously asked as he felt Fuji's eyes boring into him.

"I love you."

And Tezuka blinked.

"That's my birthday present to you. All these times I haven't said those words, have I?"

It was true, Tezuka mused, that during their almost six months together, there were never confessions or I-love-you's involved. Their relationship started when Tezuka, for the first time, had desperately kissed his once 'mere' roommate, and Fuji returned the kiss.

There was never a confession of any sort, but both of them knew that they were more than friends ever since then. And Tezuka thought it was enough.

"I'm sure you know this by heart already, but I thought it would be nice to voice it out, ne? And since it's your birthday, I figured this would be the perfect time for you to hear it," Fuji continued calmly as he kept his eyes locked with Tezuka's.

Yes, Tezuka knew Fuji loved him; he could feel it even when they never said anything about it. Hearing those words flow out of those lips, though, gave a really different effect on his heart. It was like he had a 'clarity' on Fuji's feelings or him.

"Do you like your birthday present?"

Unconsciously, a small smile spread across Tezuka's face. The bad mood he was feeling from before seemed to seemed to fly out the window, and all he could feel was simply happiness.

"I love you too," he finally said.

It wasn't really an answer for Fuji's question, he knew. But he also knew that his words just now meant a lot more than simply answering the question.

Because those words conveyed so much more of the things left unspoken.

-NeverEnding-

P.S: If you're wondering, the dish that they cooked called Cognac Shrimp with Beurre Blanc Sauce.

About Tezuka being locked up, refer to drabble #12 in Moments With You. About when they started the relationship, refer to drabble #19.

Endnote: Alright, that was weird, crappy... whatever. You can kill me, if you want… in the form of reviews, perhaps? XD