Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

Chapter 9 – Fairy Tales

By the time the sun had risen in a pool of crimson gold, spilling light all over the land and white clouds, Fuj had already left the apartment. However, the tensai had woken early to prepare breakfast for Tezuka and Saeki – and none of the food on the table looked inedible.

"You look happy today," Saeki commented, noting how Tezuka looked fresh and bright that morning, "I suppose that it is because of Fuji, right?" he asked delibrately.

"Hmm," was the only reply that Tezuka gave as he moved across the table to pour himself a cup of coffee, "I hope Syusuke will accept me,"he said with a touch of sincereity.

Saeki only grinned. He knew that it was only a matter of time before his friend would give himself and Tezuka another chance to start a relationship.

"I'm sure Fuji will accept you soon," Saeki said encouragingly.

They continued to savour the breakfast in silence. Saeki thought that he was lucky that Fuji did not add any 'extra' ingredients onto his plate of bacon and eggs.

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Fuji had no idea where he was going. With his camera in his hand, he just let his legs carry him, as he did not want to face Tezuka yet. He was, of course, unable to forget yesterday's 'goodnght kiss'. Taking a few shots of the scenery that Fuji found to be calming and peaceful, he sighed as he took a seat on an empty bench.

There was no doubt by now that Fuji remained attracted to Tezuka. But from the the day Tezuka appeared at Kyushu, the ex-captain had not mention anything related to his relationship with Yuko.

"I might as well ask him by myself," Fuji muttered under his breath while he absentmindedly fiddled with his camera. He was brought out of his thoughts when his cellphone rang. It was Saeki.

"Fuji?" Saeki's voice crackled over the other end, "Come home. Tezuka had an accident just now. He –"

Not bothering to wait for his friend to finish, Fuji cut the link as he stood and started to dash towards the direction of his apartment. He could not think clearly anymore. All in his mind were Saeki's words.

'Tezuka had an accident just now.'

"Please be safe," Fuji whispered, his hands clenching the camera even tighter.

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There were neither ambulance nor police cars parked outside the building when Fuji reached. Not bothering to wait for the lift, the tensai sprinted up the stairs and burst through the door.

"Where is Kunimitsu?" he asked breathlessly at the stunned Saeki who was sitting on the couch.

Following Saeki's gaze, Fuji saw Tezuka sitting beside his friend, his right hand wrapped in bandages. Hurrying towards the brown-haired man, Fuji carelessly threw his camera onto one of the empty couches as he moved to hold Tezuka's hands into his own.

"Are you hurt anywhere? What happen? Why are you so careless? Please don't injure yourself again. You have injured your shoulder when you played against Atobe. What if you can't play tennis anymore? What if … " Fuji trailed off, his eyes fixed on the bandaged right hand, unaware that some tears had begun to make their way down his cheeks. Sensing that his presence was not required, Saeki quietly let himself out of the house, picking up Tabby while on his way out of the apartment, leaving Fuji and Tezuka alone.

"Syusuke, I am fine. It is just a few scraps. I guess it was my fault that I forgot to close the door properly when I left to throw the rubbish bags into the bins outside. As a result, Tabby managed to get out of the house and wander off," he paused, brushing some of the tears away from Fuji's face as he said with a grim smile, "Tabby made it to the first level. Luckily, I ran fast to catch up with it. But it almost got knocked down by a car…Don't worry," Tezuka assured when he saw the tensai's eyes widened, "Tabby and I are safe. I only suffered a few scraps on my hand, that's all."

"No other injuries?" Fuji asked in a small voice.

"No other injuries," Tezuka confirmed as he wrapped his arms around Fuji, allowing the honey-brown haired man to rest his face onto the crook of Tezuka's shoulder.

"And," Tezuka paused, wondering if he should take the gamble, "You remembered, don't you?" he asked softly.

Straightening his back to face Tezuka, Fuji sighed tiredly, shoulders slumping, "How did you know?"

Allowing the corners of his lips to curl, Tezuka replied, "It is hard for anyone to lie when they are emotional."

"What happened between you and Yuko?" Fuji asked quietly, his heart beginning to race a little, unsure of what explanation Tezuka would give.

Instead of replying, Tezuka asked, "I am sure you know the fairy tale 'Cinderella'," he paused, pressing his lips fully onto Fuji's when he saw the irresistable, cute look of confusion on the tensai's face, "Well, the prince did took the glass slipper to find his princess, but a jealous lady took advantage of the situation and claimed that the glass slipper belong to hers. It just so happened that the glass slipper managed to fit her foot. Though unconvinced, the prince accepted the lady to be his bride, though he knew deep in his heart that he was not really attracted to her."

"And then what happened?" Fuji asked, unable to keep the note of curiosity out of his voice.

"Friends of Cinderella were shocked. So they went to tell the prince. The prince, of course, was angry," Tezuka muttered, a frown beginning to crease his forehead, before it disappeared as it was soon replaced by a smile, "He broke off the engagement with the lady and continued his search for his Cinderella, who had gone misssing by then."

"In the end, he found Cinderella," Fuji continued in a low whisper, his eyes meeting Tezuka's.

Taking Fuji's hands into his, Tezuka said, "Fairy tales have happy endings…Will you allow this fairy tale to have a happy ending too?"

A moment of silence passed and Tezuka began to grow anxious. Was Fuji going to reject him?

Sensing Tezuka's rising anxiety, Fuji kept a serious look as he began with a frown, "The prince is such a baka to allow the lady to deceive him. But," he managed a playful grin, savouring the look of shock that passed over Tezuka's face as he continued, "the prince is a gentleman. So Cinderella forgives him."

Tezuka's heart leapt for joy when he heard the last sentence. Cupping Fuji's cheeks in his hands, he leaned forward to kiss the tensai's forehead, before planting his lips onto Fuji' kissed, till they were slightly out of breath.

"Come back with me to Tokyo. I heard from Saeki that your freelance job in Kyushu is almost done," Tezuka said, pausing for a while before he continued, "You can continue to be a photojournalist while we travel together as I go for tennis tournaments…Would you like that?"

Almost at once, Fuji nodded. He leaned in and rest his head onto Tezuka's chest, enjoying the warmth.

After a while, the moment of silence was broken when Tezuka whispered into Fuji's ear, letting out a soft chuckle before brushing his lips across the tensai's, "Syusuke, I am glad that you are a terrible liar."

A/N: That's all…The story has ended…I don't think I will write any sequel to this story, as I think this has a nice ending. Haha..

Anyway, I just want to share my thoughts…

First, I really wanted to thank everyone of you, for giving encouragement to continue to write, and having the patience for me to update. As such, I must say that I did not regret joining this fanfic community.. :) and also, because of that, I get to know many friends! (ar..and makes my life more interesting)

Exams are coming soon, and so I doubt I will be updating at any time soon..Therefore, I will be on a hiatus for at least a month or two, but that does not mean I will not be "lurking" around..haha.. But still,I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can come up with more interesting stories!

Okay, back to the point. Here are the people I would like to thank (not in any order):

FujItachiHa, SyuKunI, blueray, speadee, phoenixfirekitsune,demon m-chan, kuroi, devi no kaze, GreenAppleIce, yoshikochan, timelessloveaffaire, tinjhi10, TristainMontmorency, Leiya, Kitty-Loves-Dave, columbin3, aterjsa, faith lane, Aelendis, nejitenteji10sasu10, Vhii1217, athrun zala08, and lachrymosa13blue.

Hope to 'see' everyone soon! Meanwhile, do take care!