Sweet
Author: Aishuu
Fandom: Tennis no Oujisama
Type: Shonen ai
Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi, manga-ka.
Notes: The Sequel to "Hooked."
It had been a week since Tezuka had kissed him on the fishing trip, and Fuji was lying in wait for "what happened next."
They went back to school the day after, neither of them talking about the kiss. Tezuka wasn't the type to express himself verbally, and Fuji knew when to push and when not to. Tezuka required careful handling, and he knew that the team captain was probably regretting the impulsive kiss. Even if he was in love with Fuji, displaying his emotions wasn't something he was comfortable with.
Well, Fuji didn't regret it He had long admired Tezuka, and the smooth way he moved. Everything Tezuka did seemed to be part of a carefully choreographed play; he didn't have any spare motion, and there was a thoughtfulness to everything he said. Fuji loved to listen to his deep voice, for though he spoke rarely, Tezuka's words were always well-considered. Tezuka didn't waste words, and each of one was more valuable than the last.
Sometimes Fuji would watch Tezuka, and long to just photograph him. It was an instinct of his indicating that Tezuka's presence would transfer itself onto the film perfectly, that Tezuka would be one of the best subjects he could ask for. Tezuka was beautiful physically and mentally, drawing the eye. No matter what he did, Tezuka was unable to avoid attention - he had presence.
Fuji didn't. He knew that he was able to sneak up on people so easily because his presence was less than the stoic captain's, but that didn't mean he was weak. They fit, like a hand in a velvet glove, because while both tended towards watching people, their techniques were totally different. He was subtle, in a way Tezuka could never hope to be.
And patient.
They didn't have classes together, and tennis practice ate into a huge chunk of their time. He hadn't had a chance to be alone with Tezuka, and wipe some of the uncertainty of the status of where they were going. One kiss didn't equal true love, after all.
Tennis practice had gone as normal for the two of them, with no one guessing what had happened. They had experienced a bit of resentment from the team (especially Echizen, who was convinced they had snuck off for some highly covert tennis training) over the missing day, but things fell back into order readily enough.
Fuji returned to playing and teasing his teammates subtly, while Tezuka watched it all from the sidelines. He could feel Tezuka's eyes on him periodically, watching his movements. It all had to come to a head. Sexual tension between teenage boys always did.
That Saturday, after practice, Fuji watched as Kikumaru finished changing into his street clothes. The redhead was in a hyper mood, and Fuji was feeling a bit impatient with him.
"And then Inui... ne, Fuji? Are you listening?" Kikumaru asked. He tied a shoe, wagging the foot to make sure it was on tight enough. Once he hadn't, and the shoe had gone flying off in the middle of a Tokyo Street when he had spontaneously performed a bit of his acrobatics. Fuji was still making sly references to the incident.
"Yes, Eiji," Fuji said soothingly, though in truth he wasn't. When Kikumaru started to ramble, Fuji had found that tuning him out for ten minutes didn't even disrupt the flow of conversation.
"Good! Anyway, I'm going to go get some ice cream with Momo and Ochibi," he said. "You coming?"
Ice cream was something he didn't really care one way or another about. He had little sense of taste but he never let that bother him. It was one of those things that had always been a part of his life - the fact that when he bit into something, the flavor wasn't strong enough to provoke a reaction. Things that people said were sour, salty, bitter or sweet didn't stand out to him. He guessed it was because he just didn't have enough taste buds - he had read about people like that.
Of course, he learned to use it to his advantage. Most people had no clue exactly what was wrong with him - even though Momoshiro would have claimed it was a terminal case of sadism, which may have also been part of it - so eliciting shocked reactions from his friends over exactly what he could eat with a smile on his face was enjoyable. Wasabi was a favorite of his, but so was natto. If it was a food that people hated, he would eat it with relish. Why not, when he couldn't taste it?
And then Inui introduced his line of "Inui Juices" and Fuji thought he had died and gone to heaven. Inui wouldn't knowingly poison the team, and Fuji had watched everyone else keel over from the taste of them. When he guzzled down creation after creation, asking for seconds, everyone looked at him like he was absolutely crazy.
It was so FUN watching everyone squirm.
Of course, sometimes he wished he knew what things really tasted like to everyone else. People seemed to get such pleasure out of eating the foods they liked, and eating was such a part of culture - everywhere he went, food was offered as part of the events. Fuji thought it would have been fun to share the experiences, maybe as fun as it was watching people squirm from his various non-reactions to rather questionable food.
But Fuji wasn't one to lament what couldn't be He snapped himself out of his musings, looking at Kikumaru, who was waiting expectantly. "No, I'll pass," he said. Watching Echizen, Momoshiro and Kikumaru would feel too much like babysitting. It could be fun, when he was in the right mood, but he was a bit tired. And he really didn't need to see them on sugar.
"It's ICE CREAM! The elixir of life!" Kikumaru said insistently.
"I don't feel like it, Eiji."
Kikumaru pouted. "I don't want to be the only senpai! They'll make me pay!" he whined.
Fuji smiled. "A good senpai watches out for his kouhai," he said. He always found it amusing thinking of Kikumaru as a "senpai." He pitied Momoshiro and Echizen a bit, but realized that the two had so thoroughly double-teamed the acrobatics player that he didn't stand a chance. It MIGHT be worth watching him squirm, but...
An idea flashed through his mind. "Why don't you ask Oishi?"he asked.
"He has to help Tezuka with some paperwork," Kikumaru grumbled. He crossed his arms across his chest, looking extremely cute.
"I'll help Tezuka," Fuji volunteered.
Kikumaru, despite what some people thought, wasn't stupid. Aside from Tezuka, he knew Fuji best, which meant that he didn't know him that well at all. But he did know that Fuji rarely was altruistic. He tried to think of repercussions, and unable to come up with anything, he smiled at Fuji. "Thanks!" he said, bouncing off before he could think better of it.
Fuji smiled as he watched him go, a little devil wandering through his mind. Patience had its virtues but there was no reason he shouldn't help things along. He waited another ten minutes before going to Ryuuzaki-sensei's office. Tezuka would have a key to lock up later, and she had gone home early to attend Sakuno's birthday. The late afternoon light was slanting through the windows, and he walked in, careful to lock the door behind him.
Tezuka was sitting on a chair, twirling a pen the way he did when he was thinking. Fuji smiled at the sight - few people saw Tezuka fidget. He rarely wasted motion.
"Hello, Tezuka," he said.
Tezuka didn't even look up, merely nodded. "Are you here to help?" he asked.
"Maybe," Fuji answered. He walked over to peer at what Tezuka was doing, and blinked. Ranking match possibilities were laid out before him. "Didn't we just have ranking matches two weeks ago?" he asked curiously.
"I always keep ongoing schedules of how they should be, if we have to arrange them again suddenly," Tezuka said.
Fuji's eyes narrowed as he saw two charts. There was one very noticeable difference - Tezuka's name was missing on one. "Tezuka..." he whispered. He touched the second one with a tentative hand, afraid.
"We're all have to be aware of the future," Tezuka said, and he looked at Fuji squarely, challengingly.
"I confront it without fear, but I don't bow to the bad like it's inevitable," Fuji replied. His hand went from the chart to Tezuka's left shoulder, resting on it gently.
"Neither do I," said Tezuka, and his almost-there smile was charming. He set the pen aside, cupping Fuji's face gently as he stared at Fuji's delicate features.
It was too much. Fuji leaned forward and kissed Tezuka, wanting to feel that level of closeness again, the closeness they had shared on the fishing trip. There first kiss had been somewhere foreign, but here, now... this was the world they knew. Tezuka responded slowly at first, lips tentatively exploring Fuji's before his warm tongue brushed against Fuji's lips, seeking entrance. As Fuji opened his mouth and their tongues entwined, he felt his eyes drifting shut in pleasure.
Let Kikumaru have his ice cream. Fuji knew he would probably never know what "sweet" tasted like, but he was willing to wager it felt like Tezuka's kiss, a flavor that rolled through his mouth and all along his nerves, making him feel alive.
END