Author's Notes:
A spur of the moment kind of thing. Er. Well, the interesting thing is, Fuji-muse wanted this, Ryoma-muse was terrified of it and generally, everyone was happy except for our boy wonder. He still hasn't forgiven me yet. Anyway, this would be my second FujiRyo (nope, no sequel) in the works *happy* and I think this one will definitely be more... entertaining than the other ^^ Regardless, I hope everyone has as much fun as I had while writing it XD
Oh, right. Have I mentioned before how fun it is to traumatise Ryoma? I probably haven't. You girls (and boys) who want to cuddle and comfort him when I'm done traumatising him, please form a line by the right, thank you very much :) *tosses Ryoma-muse over*

Warning and Disclaimer:
Copyrights of Tenisu no Oujisama belongs to Konomi Takeshi-sensei. Sometimes, I wish to own them boys, because it might be fun to watch them flail around if I'm in charge around here :P At any rate, there will be some mature content inside. All those who are uncomfortable can stay away ^_^ As for spoilers... there isn't any, because I'm moving them out of the current PoT timeline and advancing them by a couple of years so that everyone can have more... fun. Yay ^^

Date Started: 060803

-----

Simple Wants
by
Jennifier D.

"Ne Echizen..." Ryoma glanced up, surprised.

Wait. What was Fuji-senpai doing in his homeroom? Granted, the both of them were at the same senior high now, and although Fuji was no longer in the tennis club, Ryoma still saw him... around. Just around the place. Fuji had finally decided to follow his dreams. After his first year at Seigaku Senior High, he switched clubs and joined the photography club instead.

That might explain why Ryoma didn't see him during the welcoming session last week.

There was still Tezuka though. Tezuka, Oishi, Kikumaru and Inui. Even Momoshirou and Kaidoh had all moved onto the affiliated high school last year. Kawamura stopped playing tennis though. It was almost sad to hear about Kawamura and Fuji's decision to stop. After all, all of them had come such a long way since the year Ryoma joined Seigaku Junior High...

Ryoma glanced up when Fuji reached his side, all smiles.

If there was one thing which remained unchanged about Fuji, it would be his smile. It was always the same. He was a little taller than he had been back then... but he was still of a slender and fine-boned frame. Almost delicate, except that the description was far from the truth. Years of tennis training gave all of them well-defined muscles. Even Fuji, who appeared to be of such a frail built. Their uniform simply had the amazing ability to conceal a lot, that was all.

"Ah, do you mind...?" The smile on Fuji's face was familiar and yet, it was horribly foreign.

"Iisuyo."

Ryoma shrugged and stood up.

He wasn't happy to discover he was around Fuji's height. It wasn't something he expected. He had expected himself to be taller due to the almost hellish milk diet Inui put him through in his first year. But to reach high school and find that he was only around Fuji's height... that had been something sorely disappointing to the younger boy.

Ryoma followed Fuji out of his classroom. It was lunch time and nobody actually noticed his disappearance. He was no longer in the same class as Horio, thank god. That boy was in the class beside his, and somehow, Ryoma felt sympathetic for his classmates.

"Fuji-senpai...?"

The tensai was silent, though his smile never faded.

Ryoma found himself being led to the rooftop, a place where not many people frequented at that time of the day, since they were on a brief break between lessons. Therefore, he wasn't surprised when he found the place deserted either. What he was curious to know at that moment was what Fuji wanted. Although the tensai was usually pretty vague about his motives, he was never one to do things without explanation either.

"Fuji-sen-urk!"

Boy wonder was backed up against the door to the rooftop the moment he pulled it closed behind himself. The younger boy stared, wide-eyed, while his senior placed his hands flat against the door behind him, one hand on each side his head. Ryoma slipped a little against the cool metallic door in shock, which brought him slightly below Fuji's height. The tensai gazed down with an amused look, his eyes opened.

"Do you miss me, Echizen?" As Fuji spoke, he ran a gentle hand through Ryoma's tousled hair, then down the side of his smooth cheek.

Ryoma could only stare at the older boy in shock. This didn't sound like Fuji talking. Did some alien take over his senior's body after he left Seigaku Junior High?

Unwilling to show his fear, Ryoma managed a calm and almost nonchalant reply. "Fuji-senpai, what are you talking about?"

"Hmmn..." Fuji closed his eyes and smiled, in his usual harmless manner. "I have missed you."

That might, or might not explain why the unfamiliar hand was travelling rapidly down the front of Ryoma's torso in a feather light touch. The younger boy gawked at his senior in shock for several moments before seeming to recollect himself and attempt to stand up. Fuji was hovering too close. If he tried to straighten his back, he would end up smacking his own face against the other's instead. He tried pushing Fuji's hands away but found himself too weak to accomplish that simple movement, strangely.

For the first time in his life, Ryoma was honestly and truly scared.

The last time he felt anything vaguely near this was when all those girls (from his fan club) tore at any available button on him after his graduation ceremony just a month or so ago. _That_, was one terrifying experience. The girls didn't just aim for buttons. They aimed for a lot of places other than where his buttons were located, and Ryoma had never felt more molested in his whole life. Someone actually had the cheek to yank off the button of his pants while conveniently groping him at the same time.

Needless to say, that incident left boy wonder with a lot of mental trauma and he wasn't keen on seeing it repeated anytime soon.

And now...

"Echizen..." Fuji's voice was a low, smooth and strangely soothing murmur, but Ryoma felt nowhere near soothed at the moment. He was beginning to panic, and when he panicked, it was not going to be a pretty sight.

"Fuji-senpai, I have to get back to my class."

Although Ryoma's voice was calm, his eyes reflected his slightly panicky state. He needed to get out of here. He couldn't understand why he seemed powerless against Fuji's advances, and he wasn't keen to know, actually. This was almost as bad as those girls coming on to him. Ryoma swallowed and somehow edged behind again. If the younger boy had pressed himself any harder against the metal door behind himself, he probably would have caused an indentation on it.

Fuji's hand settled somewhere on his hip, and the upperclassman grinned. "Ah, but recess has just started, hasn't it?"

"I... have some homework to do."

"Maa, Echizen... the school term just started. What homework could you possibly have?"

Trapped.

Ryoma noted with the vague, paralysed feeling of a cornered prey that Fuji's face was travelling a lot closer than he wanted it to. The tensai's left hand had curled around his face gently; thumb stroking in a caress-like motion before slipping underneath his chin to tilt it upwards. At the same time, the older boy had nudged his knee gently between Ryoma's legs to spread them before inserting the full length of his leg there. He then curled his other arm around the panicking boy's waist to hold him still, closing in on him with a feeling of inevitability.

The younger boy opened his mouth to say something, to protest maybe, but nothing came out. He could only stare at his senior mutely; eyes wide, throat totally dried, and his heart could have stopped beating during the five seconds Fuji spent making his advances.

The fair-haired boy only smirked.

"Welcome to Seigaku Senior High, Echizen." And the tensai leaned over to press soft lips over Ryoma's, his warm tongue sliding into the younger boy's parted lips easily-

-Ryoma sat up with a start, chest heaving and eyes wide.

Karupin stirred on the bed beside him sleepily before cracking open an eye to stare at him. Ryoma tried to calm down his breathing. Sweat was dripping off his forehead and hair, his sleeping clothes clung to him in an uncomfortable manner and something felt distinctively wrong about the situation. He glanced down.

There was a pause.

While cursing himself in all the different ways he knew inside his own head, Ryoma scrambled out of his bed and made a beeline for the bathroom.

Startled, Karupin yawned widely before jumping off the bed to follow Ryoma, only to find the bathroom door locked. Puzzled, the cat sat outside the bathroom with an almost sympathetic air, waiting for its owner patiently.

Yes, Ryoma knew about hormones and growing pains. He knew about 'growing up'. He knew about a lot more things than he should have at his age, possibly because his father was a pervert. But he had never have this problem before, and he didn't think he want to start now, growing hormones or not.

But why, of all the people he could dream of... it had to be Fuji?

Fuji Syuusuke, the smiling prodigy.

What had happened just now, Ryoma decided, was definitely a nightmare. One he didn't deserve. He didn't even want to think about it now. Not the way Fuji felt against him in his dream, not the way the other's eyes looked almost like the clear sky above up close, sharp and cold. And definitely not the way he felt when Fuji attacked his body and mouth with the tact of an oncoming truck.

Maybe he was exaggerating a little, but still...

Boy wonder shivered.

Contrary to his dream, Fuji was still in the tennis club and there was practice tomorrow.

Ryoma realised rather belatedly that this was what they would call the proverbial hell. He didn't want it, but his stupid body had obviously decided that it could ignore the commands of his mind. Ryoma lived for tennis. He ate, breathed, and lived tennis. That was the most important thing in his life, not Fuji Syuusuke.

Certainly not Fuji Syuu...

With a feeling of inevitable doom, Ryoma closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands.

He wondered briefly if he could skip practice tomorrow, then thought about Tezuka's looming presence (and the unsaid promise of a hundred laps should he fail to turn up) and thought better about it.

Life was looking real peachy at the moment.

-----

There was something wrong with Ryoma today, Fuji decided.

The younger boy had a distinctively... traumatised air around him. Usually, boy wonder drifted in and out of practice with only the intention of playing full matches against whomever who happened to be good at tennis. He had very few concerns about the world around him, and he certainly wasn't interested in doing anything other than playing tennis and training. He didn't like the training much, but Ryoma didn't have much of a choice regarding that.

Training was an inevitable part of their lives, especially if they played competitive tennis. It was tiring, but there was no way Tezuka would let any of them stop now. In fact, it was kind of amazing how almost the whole team managed to gather in high school again. A number of them could have pursued professional tennis-- they were good enough for that, but many of them had decided to start on a professional career only after they finished high school.

Fuji wasn't sure about Ryoma's decision though. As much as he looked like someone who would pursue a professional career in tennis, he also didn't appear to be concerned enough to want to embark on the route to becoming a pro. Tezuka was another one who had made up his mind not to turn pro, but that was due to his old injury. Inui had plans to become a manager (Fuji felt kind of sympathetic for whoever he was going to be in charge of.) Oishi and Kikumaru were already on their way to becoming a professional doubles team with the amount of tournaments they actually won in the past few years.

Momoshirou and Kaidoh both had plans to become professional players after they graduate. Although Momoshirou was not as keen (he was pressured by his parents to complete his high school education), Kaidoh had been very keen to acquire high school qualifications before turning pro. For Fuji's case... it was more of a matter of interest. He was interested in tennis, but he was more interested in photography. Furthermore, he had promised Yuuta to continue playing until high school ended.

As for Taka-san... everyone knew that he wanted to take over his father's business after he graduated, and that was one of the reasons why he stopped playing tennis when they reached high school. Kawamura said that it was time he settled down and start being serious about his life. Tennis was fun for him, but he simply couldn't play tennis for forever.

Ah, but his mind had wandered off to unimportant things. Fuji smiled in his usual vague manner to himself before shifting his thoughts back to Ryoma. There was something very peculiar about the younger boy today and Fuji, being his usual self, was extremely curious to know what was wrong. Whenever the tensai's line of vision crossed with Ryoma's, the younger boy's eyes would widen briefly for a moment before he started pulling his cap lower to hide his face.

That had been... interesting.

Fuji watched again as Ryoma's line of vision strayed onto his face with the vague detachment of someone who wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. The younger boy's mind was off elsewhere again. Fuji smiled at boy wonder in what he thought was a cheerful and harmless manner when Ryoma finally realised that he was staring at Fuji.

Ryoma blanched slightly before pulling down his cap to cover his face, and then lowered his head to stare at the ground.

Amusing.

That was the only thought on Fuji's mind when he observed Ryoma's slightly guilty behaviour. What could have possibly happened to cause this, actually? The tensai walked over to where Ryoma was leaning against the fence, a faint smile on his lips. The younger boy glanced up at him warily before glancing down again, nonchalant.

Fuji came to a stop before him, then remarked in a casual manner. "Maa, Echizen... are you alright?"

There was a pause as Ryoma straightened from his slouch, then glanced up at Fuji with an almost defiant look.

"Nn."

Fuji only smiled. "Ahh, that's good then. You look tired."

Ryoma nodded and watched the other with half his usual concentration, patiently waiting for Fuji to either wander off or... or say something else to break the silence between them. The tensai made a slightly contemplative look before suddenly breaking into a full smile.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately for Ryoma,) the both of them were interrupted when Tezuka's voice sounded across the tennis courts, his instructions loud and clear.

"Everyone, get ready to do thirty laps for your warm-up!"

There was a chorus of groans and grumbles before everyone started to leave the courts. As Ryoma started moving away from where he was leaning against the fence, he glanced quickly at Fuji's face.

The tensai only smiled at him.

Things were beginning to get interesting, and Fuji wanted to know what was going on.

That was the only thought left occupying the tensai's mind by the time he finished his own run. There was definitely something there between him and Ryoma, except that Ryoma seemed frightened of whatever it could possibly be. The older boy only had a vague idea what that was, but he wasn't ready to verify it at the moment. Give him some time to think about this and find out what was on Ryoma's mind first...

Fuji wondered absentmindedly why was it that school life only got interesting when boy wonder joined them. It happened back then during his last year in Seigaku Junior High, and it was happening all over again this time. Granted, the current situation probably had nothing to do with tennis, but it was still intriguing.

The tensai was interested.

Many would learn that it was never a wise thing to get Fuji interested in whatever issues they were involved in.

Because life could actually get extremely exciting very quickly (and very briefly) before they started hating themselves and their karma in general. Fuji Syuusuke had the amazing ability of increasing the sufferings of the people around him when he was keen enough to see some results, and nobody ever wanted to know why he did things the way he did. They were more concerned with staying out of the tensai's way and ensuring that they were never interesting enough to be considered victim material.

Currently, boy wonder had (very unfortunately) caught Fuji's attention with his strange behaviour.

It appeared that the life of a first year student was going to get very, very exciting in the days to come.

-----

There was that soft touch sliding through his hair to rub against his scalp, and the other hand finding its way up his back underneath his school uniform. Ryoma was helpless towards the other's onslaughts, and he writhed against the older boy in an attempt to get free, his protests muffled by Fuji's lips.

He wanted out!

That was the only thing on Ryoma's mind in his panicked state.

"Shh... I'm not going to hurt you, Echizen." Fuji's reassurance was not reassuring boy wonder in the least bit.

Ryoma gave a muffled (and undignified) squeak when Fuji's hand changed its course and started sliding down his back instead, slipping easily past back of his pants. This only gave the younger boy more incentives to struggle harder against him. Ryoma was trying to concentrate on resisting Fuji, but the older boy was doing interesting things with his hands and tongue, and boy wonder was easily distracted by new things.

"Nnn..."

Was that a moan? Wait. Was that _him_ moaning? With a horrified look, Ryoma raised his hands and placed them against Fuji's chest, trying to push him away. But instead of pushing, the contact his hands made with Fuji's slender, well-muscled body only caused him to draw the older boy closer instead, to his own mortification.

Fuji's lips had trailed away from his, and he was planting a row of kisses up Ryoma's jaw, then down his neck.

"Fuji-senpai!" The younger boy panted, eyes wide and horror stricken. The intimate feeling of a warm body pressing against his was strangely comforting though. "Yada! Wait! Please stop-"

Then Fuji bit him.

For the third night in a row, Ryoma sat up in the middle of his bed, eyes wide and breathing rapid. His right cheek was hurting. Boy wonder had obviously been thrashing in his sleep, because his blankets and pillows were strewed all over the floor. Karupin sat beside where his head laid moments ago, an almost accusing look on its face.

Ryoma reached up to touch his face, and it came away wet.

Karupin had bit him. Hard.

Thankful that his cat actually woke him up from the nightmare, Ryoma wanted to reach over and pull Karupin onto his lap, then thought better of it and headed for the bathroom instead. Therefore, he found himself sitting on top of the covered toilet seat again, face buried in his hands.

He hated his life.

He was on the verge of hating his senpai too, except that Fuji was in no way at fault in this situation. It wasn't the tensai's fault if he dreamt of the other. Neither was it his fault that Ryoma was going through a hormonal phase of his life and his brain had somehow decided that Fuji would be good stimulation.

It might have something to do with the fact that Fuji was slightly effeminate in his looks. But Ryoma also realised that if Fuji was supposed to be the effeminate one, why was he being attacked with such fervour in his dream? Shouldn't it be... the other way round?

Either way, Ryoma was still horrified. Traumatised. Bewildered and extremely terrified of what was going to happen should Fuji find out about his dreams.

He would be literally making himself into a live bait for the tensai.

Fuji was a nice person (when he wasn't interested in making anyone's life miserable,) but he was definitely no where near forgiving when offended! And...

...even though he did have a nice body-

Ryoma forcefully halted his train of thought.

He stood up and glared at himself in the mirror, then noted the two tiny teeth marks on his cheek. Here was another reason for him to avoid school tomorrow. Other than attempting to avoid Fuji in school, he would also be trying to explain why his cat bit him. Ryoma had owned Karupin for over three years, and this would be the first time it bit him in his sleep.

It was going to be very painful for him to get through school in one piece tomorrow.

-----

Ryoma was hiding in a corner of the rooftop during recess the next day when he heard familiar voices. He was (conveniently) concealed by part of the entrance to the rooftop, so nobody would actually discover him, unless they were looking for him. He had managed to avoid a round of questions about the plaster on his cheek and he was currently trying to avoid Fuji.

He knew that he was acting totally irrational. Why would Fuji look for him? They weren't close, and there was definitely no reason for the tensai to have lunch with Ryoma.

Regardless, boy wonder was still wary about running into his senpai, which was why he eventually decided that the rooftop was as good a place to hide as any. Furthermore, he had not been getting enough sleep in the past few days (due to his nightmares), and now would be a good time to catch up on it.

"Have you noticed something nya?"

"Hm?"

Boy wonder startled from where he was seated, and barely managed to stop himself from bolting. Kikumaru and Fuji had just entered the rooftop. The person he was trying to avoid was currently standing about ten feet away from him, smiling in his usual cryptic manner as Kikumaru spoke to him. Of course, the easy solution out of this was to stand up and exit nonchalantly by the door beside him, except that his body had suddenly decided to become paralysed from the moment he heard Fuji's voice.

"Uunnnnya. There's something wrong with Ochibi lately nya."

There was a soft laugh from Kikumaru's companion. "Ahh, you've noticed it too?"

Ryoma sank even lower against the wall behind himself.

"Nnnnyaa." Kikumaru's voice had a strangely thoughtful tone to it. "He's been edgy... and he seems to be avoiding you nya."

The younger boy wanted a hole to open up and swallow him in that instance. The humiliation! Even Kikumaru had noticed... was he really THAT obvious? Ryoma would like to think he wasn't, but... he couldn't tell.

"Saa... I've noticed that too, but..." Boy wonder could practically hear the frown in Fuji's voice. "...if he's avoiding me, maybe there is really something he's troubled by and he doesn't want me to know..."

"Fuji! You've got to help him nya!"

"Ahh, I know..."

Ryoma reached up to cover his ears when the door beside him flew open and banged against the connecting concrete wall loudly.

"Kikumaru-kun!" An unfamiliar girl's voice sounded. "We need you in class now! Something happened!"

"Uuuuaaahhhnya!" There was a slightly panicked tone to Kikumaru's voice. "Okay nya, I'll come down right now! Fuji, I'll talk to you when school ends nya? Is that okay nya? I'm really sorry that this has to happen but... nyaaaaaa~"

Fuji only laughed, soft. "Daijyoubu, Eiji... I'll talk to you after school ends then."

"Nyaaaa! Ja mata ne!" And the door banged closed beside Ryoma.

Boy wonder was beginning to think that hiding on a rooftop with Fuji in his vicinity wasn't exactly the wisest thing to do. He slipped even lower against the wall, hoping that his luck would hold out and let Fuji leave the rooftop without noticing him at all.

"Ahh, Echizen?"

No such luck.

Of course he knew that Fuji was sharp. Sharper than most normal humans, that was. The only reason he avoided being discovered earlier on was because Kikumaru was around, and the older boy had the amazing ability to exude a type of presence that made everyone concentrate on him only.

Ryoma feigned sleep.

"Heh."

There was a soft chuckle from Fuji.

Boy wonder almost startled when gentle fingers brushed stray locks of hair away from his brow lightly. Fuji's touches were just as gentle as they had been in his dreams, and that terrified him. So this was what Fuji felt like in reality. Somehow, Ryoma wasn't happy to discover that reality wasn't too far from his disturbing nightmares.

"Saa," Fuji straightened up from where he was squatting beside Ryoma's (feigned) sleeping form, then gazed down at the younger boy with a cheerful smile. "I'll see you at practice after school today, then."

Fuji then left the rooftop, closing the door behind himself quietly.

Ryoma opened his eyes and stared blankly at the sky above, but was instantly reminded of Fuji's eyes. He blinked. A low groan of defeat started up somewhere from the bottom of his throat.

The tensai knew.

Boy wonder thought about skipping practice for the fiftieth time that day, but eventually dropped the thought, then buried his face in his hands. He wanted to throw himself off the rooftop. It had sounded like a very good idea.

With a sigh, Ryoma got up and left.

He knew he had a lot of explaining due.

-----

"Anou nya... Fuji, do you have any idea what's happening to Ochibi nya?" Kikumaru had an almost worried look on his face when he finally met up with Fuji again outside their classrooms. It appeared that Oishi was rubbing off on the hyperactive boy a lot more than the others thought.

"Hmmn... I'm not too sure, actually..."

At this, the acrobatic player waved his arms about in an almost frantic measure. "I was thinking about it this afternoon nya, and I think I have the answer to it ne!"

There was a soft laugh from Fuji. "And that would be?"

Kikumaru announced his answer proudly, stabbing the air with his index finger as he spoke.

"Ochibi is GROWING UP nya!" He paused, then frowned, as if looking for a better explanation to his answer. "You know nyaaaa.... hormonal... nyaaaaa...uhh... thingy... nya. That's why he's so edgy... But... but he should be okay if you help him nya! Because Oishi was like that during our first year here too and.... unnnnya! He kept avoiding me! I had to corner him to make him tell me what was wrong!"

Kikumaru didn't seem to realise that he might be sharing with Fuji something which Oishi might not want the tensai to know.

The other boy only chuckled. "Ahh... I see what you mean."

"You do? You do! AHHHHHH Fuji!" With that, Kikumaru glomped the other boy, grinning in a cat-like manner. "Unnnnnyaa! Ochibi is saved!"

It had never occurred Kikumaru HOW or WHY would Ryoma be saved when Fuji happened to be the person saving him. In fact, it probably never occurred the hyperactive boy that Fuji wasn't exactly of the right... gender to help their boy wonder either. the important question Kikumaru forgot to ask himself was: 'Why would Ryoma want to avoid Fuji (as opposed to avoiding girls) this desperately when it was a simple matter of teenage hormones?' There were too many missing pieces to the puzzle and Kikumaru didn't seem to notice that fact.

"Saa," Fuji only smiled, and continued walking towards where their courts were located.

During practice that day, Fuji did notice that Kikumaru was right. Ryoma was suffering from teenage hormones. He was probably suffering from quite a lot of it too, from the way he would avoid Fuji at every turn and corner. He tried not to look at Fuji, tried not to talk to his senpai and kept his head lowered most of the time.

After practice was over, he was out of their school in a shot.

Fuji was, simply put, incredibly amused.

Growing hormones, hm? That could be tricky. Actually, he was a little surprised, since Ryoma had never expressed interest in... other boys (or girls) before. His fixation with Tezuka was something which Fuji could understand, because Tezuka was an authority figure whom almost everyone looked up to.

Furthermore, Tezuka was someone Ryoma had yet to defeat. That was probably the reason why the younger boy spent the last few years chasing him. The time wasn't right, that was what Tezuka told Fuji some time back, when the tensai asked him why he chose to give the younger boy such a hard time.

Fuji actually felt kind of flattered that Ryoma (had subconsciously) liked him.

Now that he could understand why boy wonder was so edgy of late, the situation was beginning to amuse him more and more. He wasn't a cruel person though. He knew that such things were not meant to be to be toyed with (too much.) His own growing years hadn't exactly been the best either, but at least he wasn't alone then. Ryoma wasn't close to his classmates, and neither was he a very social person to begin with. That might have been a cause for some problems.

Fuji had to admit that he barely thought of Ryoma in that manner before... but it wouldn't be too late to start now. He was someone who always knew what he wanted and currently, he could only say that Ryoma was beginning to look very, very appealing. He couldn't say for sure that his preferences actually swung that way, because he had experimented with both genders before. But for someone of the male gender-- Ryoma was, indeed, extremely attractive in his own special way.

He could help Ryoma. Wanted to help him, even.

In fact... now that he thought about it, he finally understood what was that 'something' he felt connecting the two of them since their new school term started. There was attraction there. There wasn't a lot of it, and it wasn't very apparent either, due to the fact that both of them were boys... but it was certainly there.

Two years back, Fuji would have never thought of dating Echizen Ryoma, simply because the other was still too young.

Now... his age was just right, the timing was perfect, and what else could Fuji asked for, really?

This felt as if it was going to be a nice, long trip and Fuji could hardly wait to start on it.

-----

By the fifth night (and after earning three sets of teeth marks on his face, courtesy of Karupin,) Ryoma decided that enough was enough. If he was any good at guessing, he suspected that the level of explicitness of his dreams was only going to increase as days went by (just like the number of teeth marks on his face.) That night, the Fuji in his dream actually managed to remove his pants and... did some very strange things with his tongue.

Ryoma wasn't a wimp. He knew that. People who screamed and made a lot of fuss over continuous nightmares (that involved a somewhat reluctant making out session with their senpai) were... well, they probably needed help. He didn't. He was acutely aware of what his body wanted. Boy wonder also realised that if he didn't give it what it wanted soon, his usually reliable body would go into revolt.

He had overhead his classmates (the boys, that was) mumbling about ways to get rid of the 'problem'. He didn't know what they were, but that was probably because he never paid attention to such conversations. Another reason would be-- he was uneducated in that department and he wasn't willing to go to anyone for help. Granted, his stupid father had taught him about a lot more things than he wanted to know, but he never really touched on... what to do in such a situation.

And there was no way in hell he would go to the stupid old man and ask for advice. He might as well ask for help over his school's public announcement system for all it was worth. He wasn't close with his year mates. He did contemplate asking his seniors, but that option seemed to be out too. He hardly ever spoke to them about things that didn't concern tennis, and he didn't want to start now.

He knew they were all going to... coddle him. Because he was the youngest of the team and all of them felt that the reason alone was enough for them to stick their noses and feet into his life like nobody's business. He didn't want that. Furthermore, Fuji was involved in this issue, and if the tensai had the slightest inkling of the kind of dreams Ryoma suffered from...

Ryoma shuddered involuntarily.

While on his way to school the next morning, Ryoma tried to think of a solution. He had been acting like a bear with a sore head for the past few days; his cousin and mother were beginning to get worried about him. His father passed it off as adolescent problems, and for the first time in his life, the stupid old man had been right. If Ryoma didn't get rid of this problem soon...

"Ahh, Echizen!"

That would be Fuji. Ryoma could recognise his voice anywhere. Fuji had the most unique voice among all his seniors. There was something very soft, very gentle and at the same time, very sharp about his voice. It was just like his personality. That wasn't something everyone noticed, but Ryoma had been aware of it from the day he met the tensai.

He paused and turned to watch with wariness as his senpai made a quick jog over to where he stood, all smiles. If there was one thing about Fuji which Ryoma ever disliked, it would be his smile. It wasn't terrifying, but it was annoying. The tensai had the tendency to smile in a manner which suggested that he knew some big joke Ryoma didn't, and chances were-- the joke was probably on boy wonder.

Nobody ever said that prodigies had to have a normal sense of humour.

"Ahh, is it okay if we have lunch together today?"

Ryoma blinked in surprise at the sudden proposition, his problems momentarily forgotten.

"Iisuyo."

The smile Fuji offered him was strangely heart-warming. "Shall we meet at the rooftop?"

The younger boy shrugged. "Whatever."

Fuji didn't stop smiling though. "Saa... so I'll just see you later then?"

He nodded, trying to remember what he was thinking about before the interruption. His mind was screaming at him to back away from Fuji just now, but he had been too surprised by what the tensai suggested to pay any heed to those warnings.

So, going back to what he was thinking about...

His body wanted Fuji. That was an undeniable fact. His subconscious self must have wanted Fuji too, with the way he dreamt of the other nightly. Ryoma finally decided that since that was what they wanted... and since they made such a big fuss while demanding for a certain tensai, boy wonder would have no choice but to give in to them.

It wasn't as if Fuji was a bad choice. It was just a... not very wise choice. When given the option to choose, boy wonder would pick his stoic buchou over Fuji any day. And that was only because Tezuka was a straightforward person who wasn't sly the way Fuji was. Ryoma knew that he did kind of liked the tensai, in a vague and somewhat suspicious manner. He was afraid of the tensai sometimes, because Fuji had a tendency to throw unexpected things at him.

Otherwise, the both of them had a rather... amicable friendship. When compared to what he shared with Momoshirou, it would be nothing much, but the current issue was concerning Fuji, not Momoshirou. The untouchable tensai, who only allowed certain individuals to really know him. The smiling prodigy, whose easy-going nature hid a lot of traps for the unwary and the presumptuous.

That was why he agreed to meet up with Fuji during lunch that day, looking slightly disgruntled and somewhat grouchy about his decision. When Fuji saw him, he beckoned Ryoma to take a seat beside him on the rooftop, right behind the railings that were meant to prevent them from falling off the roof.

It was rather windy that afternoon, and strangely enough, there was nobody else there. Usually, the place would have other people milling around. Some girls (and boys) who felt like having their lunch there, and some boys who thought that hanging out on the rooftop was something cool to do. Those couple who were trying to be inconspicuous... and of course, the usual gang of nicotine addicts who could be found in each school.

After Ryoma took his seat, there was nothing but comfortable silence between them for a long period of time. Fuji seemed to be waiting for something. The right moment to talk, perhaps. Ryoma was beginning to get a little twitchy, due to being in such a close proximity with the tensai.

He couldn't take it anymore.

"Fuji-senpai," boy wonder spoke up, an almost nonchalant look on his face.

"Hm?"

"Let's start dating."

There was a pause while Ryoma noted with some annoyance that Fuji actually had the cheek to look surprised. The tensai must have known, somehow. Why else would he approach Ryoma time and again in the past few days to spend moments of silence with him? Why else would he initiate the lunch... appointment, in the first place?

"Saa..." The tensai seemed pretty happy about something. Ryoma decided that he didn't want to know the reason behind the other's current happiness. He would be better off not knowing what the older boy was up to at the moment. "That's quite surprising..."

"Is it okay?"

"Iiyo, Echizen." Pause. "Or should I be calling you Ryoma-kun now?"

There was an inaudible mumble of 'Just Ryoma will do' from the younger boy.

Fuji chuckled, soft, before reaching over to brush stray locks of hair away from Ryoma's face. Boy wonder blinked at him in an uncomprehending manner before realising (with a strange feeling in his stomach which was probably caused by nervousness) that Fuji was going to kiss him. Immediately, he began to panic.

"Wait! Fuji-senpai, I-"

"I'm not going to do anything, Ryoma."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, boy wonder fell into (an almost meek) silence.

Fuji stared off into the horizon, apparently extremely pleased; he was actually smiling vaguely at nothing in particular. Ryoma sat beside him quietly, staring at the tensai with a type of almost frightening intensity. He noticed that the real Fuji was a little different from his dream Fuji.

Real Fuji's eyes were a lot warmer, a lost less sharp (when he bothered to keep them open, that was.) Real Fuji also had faint lines which crinkled at the corners of his eyes when he smiled. Real Fuji's touch was gentler, and yet at the same time, he could feel the calluses on the other's fingers. They were the proof of his years of tennis playing.

Fuji had felt... real.

And as Ryoma watched Fuji amidst the amicable silence they shared, a strange urge began to grow within himself.

The younger boy watched the other part his lips in a silent sigh, and continued watching his lips way longer than he found necessary. Soft, pink and they looked... they looked interesting. Ryoma wondered if real Fuji's lips would actually feel the same as dream Fuji's... He wondered if real Fuji would sigh against him when they kissed, just like what dream Fuji always did... He wondered about a lot of things, and it got to the point where he realised he was no longer satisfied with simply wondering.

He recalled how terrified he was of Fuji's advances in his dreams, and decided that he wouldn't know if they were just as terrifying until he had tried it out. And since the tensai was so conveniently sitting beside him, he might as well make full use of the opportunity and try to make a head or tail of the situation, at least. It would definitely be more entertaining than sitting around in silence.

Therefore, Ryoma leaned over and quickly knocked Fuji onto his back, then straddled him in one fluid motion. Before the tensai could sit up in surprise, the younger boy had leaned down and pressed his lips against the other's with a type of almost brutal intensity.

"Nmf!" Fuji gently stopped Ryoma with a faint smile. "Not so hard, Ryoma..."

Ryoma was an amateur at kissing. Their initial contact was quite painful, because he literally smacked his own lips flat against Fuji's in his haste to kiss the other before he could get up. But Fuji was certainly no amateur at kissing and he guided the younger boy slowly, a smile hovering at the corner of his lips.

Boy wonder liked kissing Fuji. Even when their tongues were involved. It had felt a lot more... real than what he received in his dreams. Ryoma certainly wouldn't object to more kissing (and other things,) but luck was never on his side. They were (untimely) interrupted by Momoshirou, who happened to be looking for Ryoma so that they could have lunch together like they usually did.

It took Ryoma a while to realise that the strange squeaking noise was actually the door to the rooftop swinging in the wind.

He was more concerned with Fuji's lips, which were moving against his almost gently, the tangle of their tongues intimate. He was too preoccupied with feeling up the too warm body (and it was so very strange how real Fuji actually felt a lot warmer than dream Fuji ever did) beneath himself to notice that there was someone gawking at them.

A familiar voice croaked. "E..Echizen?"

-----

By the time practice rolled round, Ryoma wondered vaguely if there was a hole somewhere around their school for him to hide in. It would have definitely been an improvement, because the alternative was to stand before the whole tennis club and listen to Momoshirou rendition what he saw that afternoon in excruciating details.

After he was done apologising profusely for walking in on them, Momoshirou ran away from the rooftop faster than Ryoma could stop him. After all, the last thing the poor boy had been expecting to see when he opened the door to the rooftop- would be the sight of Ryoma straddling Fuji. Neither was he expecting to see Ryoma's hands wandering somewhere underneath Fuji's clothes. Nor was he expecting to find the two of them kissing in a manner worthy of...

Anyway.

Walking in on them making out was definitely not on his itinerary for the day.

Ryoma decided that his senpai was actually exacting some sort of revenge by breaking the news to the whole club. Fuji only stood by his side with an amused look on his face, seeming to find the situation extremely intriguing. If Ryoma was any good at guessing, Fuji was probably looking forward to the horrified looks sent in his direction after the truth had been flipped out. Boy wonder was tempted to reach over and wipe the smirk off. HE was the one who caused the trouble after all. And he didn't seem inclined to stop Momoshirou from blurting out the news to the whole club.

"Nenene Ochibi," Kikumaru crept up to Ryoma's side and whispered to him in a manner which suggested that they might, or might not be involved in a conspiracy. "When did you start dating Fuji nya?"

The younger boy's answer was droll. "This afternoon."

"NANINYA!!" At the acrobatic player's exclamation, everyone turned to stare at them. Kikumaru's voice took on an almost incredulous tone. "This afternoon? This afternoon nya?!"

"Un."

"Mou~! Fuji never told me-" Whatever Kikumaru had wanted to say next was drowned out by Momoshirou's voice, which was rising rapidly in pitch and volume.

"...and then I saw Echizen and Fuji-senpai LYING ON THE FLOOR FRENCH KISSING."

There was nothing but silence following Momoshirou's end to his tale. Ryoma sighed. This was getting way out of hand and the worst part was-- Fuji wasn't doing anything to stop them. His (supposedly) useless bum of a boyfriend was only good for standing around, smiling harmlessly and terrifying the hell out of the other first year students.

"Everyone! Thirty laps!"

For the first time in his life, Ryoma was thankful to their buchou for being an indifferent presence in their lives.

Nobody dared to say anything much about Fuji and Ryoma's relationship throughout practice. It might have something to do with the nonplussed look on Tezuka's face whenever they gathered to whisper about the strange development of events. It might also have something to do with the way Fuji would smile at anyone who so much as glanced at his direction.

It seemed as though the tensai had upheld his reputation in senior high rather well.

The thing about Fuji was-- everyone liked him, because he was usually such a helpful and harmless person. He was mild-mannered and somewhat kind (at times.) He never lost his temper before them either. Not even once. That caused a lot of them to constantly test his limits. Everyone wanted to know how far they could push the tensai before he broke, but he seemed to have an amazing ability of twisting situations around to his favour each time.

Nobody ever wanted to get on Fuji's bad side. Everyone knew that he had promises of fates worse than death waiting for people who crossed his path, knowingly or not. Fuji didn't seem to notice this fact, though. He was easy-going most of the time, and if there was one thing about him which Ryoma really couldn't stand, it would be the fact that he took everything in life with less than half the amount of seriousness he should have applied.

It showed up in the way he played tennis, in the way he talked and even in the way he studied. Casual and unassuming, but at the same time, so intensely brilliant that it hurt to look at him throwing all he was gifted with away so nonchalantly. He was a deep one. A dangerous one. That was what other people often said. Ryoma had heard people repeating that so many times, he was ready to smack tennis balls against their heads and tell them to wake up.

Fuji wasn't easy to understand, but that didn't mean he wasn't easy to get along with. That was the common misconception. Just because the tensai had a lot of hidden depth, it didn't necessarily mean that he made it difficult for the people around him to get close (but getting to know him intimately was another issue entirely, of course.) Ryoma had known that fact since the moment he met Fuji back in Seigaku Junior High, and he believed that two years were not going to change the tensai much.

He was right.

But what the others didn't know... it wouldn't hurt them to stay afraid of the smiling tensai for a slightly longer period of time.

Boy wonder was invited to Fuji's home after practice ended, much to the surprise of the younger boy. He had to keep reminding himself that they had only started dating that afternoon, not two years ago. It was strange how the atmosphere between the both of them could be so comfortable despite the fact that they had not been actively keeping in contact with each other for years.

Ryoma was curious about it, but he wasn't so curious that he wanted answers immediately. He knew he had all the time in the world to get to know Fuji better, and he planned to do precisely that. After all, weren't the both of them dating? That alone was a good enough incentive for him to get to know the tensai better. And knowing all of Fuji's little quirks could have its useful points.

The trip to the older boy's home was a strange affair; the both of them walked in mutual silence throughout the trip. Upon reaching Fuji's house, they found his whole family out. His parents had gone out for an appointment and left a note behind informing him of the food waiting for him in the oven. Yumiko-neesan was delayed by work at her office, and she wouldn't be home until some time in the late evening. Yuuta was, of course, staying at his school hostel. This conveniently left the house empty for Ryoma and Fuji.

While they progressed up the large house to Fuji's room, Ryoma wondered vaguely if they were going to do anything... they shouldn't. They were still high school teenagers, after all. There was a certain boundary to what they could do, but since the house was empty and Fuji had said nothing about what he planned to do in his room...

...everything was open to suggestions.

The moment Fuji stepped into his room and Ryoma followed in an almost meek manner, the younger boy closed the door behind himself and locked it, the clicking sounds of the lock catching distinctive in the quiet room.

"Ryoma?" Fuji looked up from where he had left his racket bag by the floor, a curious look on his face.

"Ne Fuji-senpai..." As Ryoma spoke, he slowly neared the older boy.

"Hm?"

"Are we going to continue what we were doing this afternoon?"

There was a vaguely surprised look on Fuji's face. "We were doing something this afternoon?"

Silence. The tensai was still as insufferable as ever. Ryoma stared at him, quiet.

"Mada mada dane," with that, Ryoma sat down on the floor, careful to avoid dirtying Fuji's bed with his grime-covered clothes.

"What's the matter, Ryoma?"

"Nothing."

There was a soft chuckle from Fuji. Ryoma glanced up suspiciously.

"Well, if that's the case... Why don't you show me what we were doing this afternoon then? Maybe I'll remember after you have reminded me."

The smile on Fuji's face was almost teasing, and at the same time, there was something incredibly sweet about it. Ryoma blinked a couple of times before getting up from the floor and coming to a stop before the tensai. The next few moments were spent in silence, while Fuji continued smiling at Ryoma in his usual manner (which made him look bloody idiotic, in Ryoma's opinion.) Ryoma almost glared at him.

"Saa... if you don't want to, it's alright too." Just as Fuji was going to turn around and fiddle with his belongings, Ryoma reached over to grab hold of him in an almost nervous gesture.

"Fuji-senpai, wait-"

And he showed him.

-----

Fuji opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling above. He should probably wake Ryoma up. Either his parents or his sister would be home soon, and as much as he didn't mind telling them the truth, they could do without finding an unfamiliar (and naked) boy in Fuji's bed. With the state the two of them were in, there were certainly no opportunities for them to misunderstand what the two boys had been doing earlier on.

Ryoma stirred beside him sleepily, then curled closer.

The tensai smiled, almost gentle. Echizen Ryoma was his. Definitely his now. He might have to give Tezuka a call later and ask him to go easy on the boy for their private practice tomorrow. The funniest thing was, before he left their school with Ryoma earlier in the evening, Tezuka had called him aside and told _him_ to go light on boy wonder.

The world would never cease to amuse Fuji in its strange little ways.

Of course, the tensai had not mentioned the truth to Ryoma-- that was, he could have easily solve his problems on his own, and dating Fuji was not exactly a necessary move. But what boy wonder didn't know was not going to hurt him... much. And Fuji did want to date him, after all. It would not only be an interesting development in his life, it could also prove to be fulfilling as compared to the casual relationships he used to have.

Ryoma was serious about dating him. For that, Fuji was glad. He was (kind of) serious about dating Ryoma too. After all, the both of them had only started dating that afternoon (and he was amused by how far their relationship actually developed in the course of one day,) so they still had plenty of time to understand each other better.

The road before them was not going to be easy, but he wasn't expecting it to be.

They were fulfilling their own simple wants, and that alone was more than enough.

Ryoma's want for a physical relationship to solve the adolescent problems he was facing (and Fuji suspected that what they had now might develop into a long-term relationship eventually.) Fuji's want for a serious relationship that might or might not last longer than all those he had been through before.

It would be easy for them to fall in love.

But that was something which they would only discover in the days to come.

end

Date Completed: 090803
Date Revised: 090803

After notes:
Originally, there would have been smut. Yes, lots of it too. But my FujiRyo muses (who were clamouring for more than one sex scene when I started on this) suddenly decided to (turn shy and fidgety about it) chicken out while I was 80% done with the fic and abandoned me to... indulge in their own private urm, physical activities. And so... there's no sex here. Heh. I might do one (for the missing scene) on a later date, and it may or may not appear on my fic journal. Saa, who knows, ne?