Disclaimer: I simply do not own Tenipuri nor the French quote below with the ™ sign which was invented since God knows when.
Title: Hashira One-Shots Collection
Piece #5: Knowledge
Summary: A secret about Echizen is revealed. Then plots are stirred to lead Tezuka and Echizen into becoming something much more. Sounds cliché? Read it on your own, all you yaoi fiends (winks).
Pairing: TezuRyo
Rating: PG-15
Words: 2100
Warning: Because every time I am stuck in my Latin class, Tezuka going on with Ryoma always comes up in my mind, condemning me even in my sleep! Thus, beware the misuse of said "knowledge". Shonen-ai, boys snogging boys, RST, and slight OOC. Hopefully, the last one will not kill. Even though, all is for the greater good. Trust me.
"TALK" 'THOUGHT' LATIN/FRENCH
Beta work by Amber-Gaze and major revision by the wonderful Janice
"Here we are."
The van that took the entire former Seigaku Junior High's golden team came to a screeching halt in front of a tall white square building. Four massive pillars stood proudly on the porch and a single blue hanging banner with golden letters adorned the crowded entrance.
"Wake Echizen and Momoshiro up," ordered Tezuka in the front to Kaidoh.
Echizen was not fully awake yet, thus Momo, being the good sempai that he was, hauled Echizen up as he was lining along with the others. However, it was not Momo's constant prodding that returned Echizen's consciousness from whatever dreamland his sleepiness had lounged him on; it was "Ars of Scientia Est Potentia." Inui pronounced their today's hell quite smoothly, as a satisfied smile on his lips -- and albeit his eyes -- remained hidden behind those thick glasses. Nobody noticed Echizen's state change at a breakneck speed since the others were as wary of Boy Wonder…Even though it was for a completely different reason.
Seeing the confused look from most of the gathered bunch, Fuji kindly offered further details, "It's in Latin, meaning Stratagem of Knowledge is Power."
"However, based on my data, the theme holds another subtlety."
"Why is it in Letin - Latin, nya?" Trust Kikumaru to ask trivial question.
"Why are we here, sempai?" Despite Momo not quivering while addressing the question, the terrified look Kaidoh threw to Inui was quite a comical indication of how worried they were. Most likely, a part of them was praying to whatever deities that were up there that this time was not going to be worse than the billiard or even that that of the Prince of Bowling mayhem.
'Oh, this is going to be fun.'
However, Fuji decided to humor them a little bit. With his innocuous mask back in its usual place, he got down to answering the questions, "Most likely due to the universality, Eiji. And as for why we're here…" right before dropping the bomb straight in the center, "This conference is to help us aware of and dwell with our sexuality early."
Silence reigned upon the group as the gears in their brain began running a mile a millisecond. Echizen, who had not yet recovered from his acute schizophrenic episode -- a catatonia he developed after seeing his father hitting on Jyousei Shounan's coach who shamelessly flirted back probably scheming to sweep him off his feet using his baka Oyaji -- did not hear even one bit about Fuji's devious plan of "fun" being woven.
He was frozen like an ice block the entire time. 'Impossible!' This could not be happening. 'We are not supposed to be HERE!' his mind alarmed, conjuring up any possible reasons and ways to escape from the impending doom.
"Ano, but why are the only one's coming all… guys?" Oishii asked cautiously for the sake of the rest of them.
The sadistic smile on Fuji's cheerful façade did not bode well and simultaneous gulps were heard from the soon-to-be victims. Apparently, this was more than 'Hm, I'm bored. I must check my list of victims since I haven't tortured them for a while.'
"It's a surprise."
"I'm not going in."
"This is my newest concoction of Akazu, Aozu, and Kiirozu. I have not named it since its concentration is not yet stable and the last test subject passed out for one week three days five hours and twenty-nine seconds. Perhaps, Echizen'd like to have some?"
"Let's go then." And all of them sans Tezuka, Fuji, and Inui sprinted inside.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
"Echi-kun (1)."A high shrill voice that shot the creeps to any pure soul greeted them as soon as they entered the building. The voice echoing throughout the packed hall just outside the conference room, and sending it silent.
"It's been such a long time! We are finally in Japan too. Sugoi desu ne." A tall man with curly dirty blond hair hugged the squeaking Seigaku High Tennis Club Captain, looking out of place amidst the loud murmurs of native elocution with his weird thick gaijin accent.
"It's so nice of you, Echi-kun, bringing all your friends as well."
"A pleasure to be here…"
"Tony Heartfelt. Just call me Ton." Ignoring the apprehensive looks, taking on only Fuji's soft chuckle and two polite nods, he beat Fuji to the punch who soon introduced the rest of them to the enthusiastic American.
"Echi-kun here is a customary partaker back there in New York. He is not a member yet since he did not have his father's or any legal guardian's consent." Thin lips formed sympathetic curl, "But at least kawaii Echi-kun here is being honest with his heart."
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he swore that his sempai were doing their poorest to hold back their laughter, and ended up making coughing snickers of 'Echi-kun'.
Echizen's left eye twitched.
"I'm glad to know that you were enjoying not only your tournament, Echizen," Fuji Syuusuke, the ever lovable resident sadist, mocked knowingly with his honey toned voice. "We'd like to hear the complete story, Ton-san."
"I'm going to the washroom."
And the weird blonde broke into a sob, "Oh. Isn't he such a cute and shy boy?" He pulled the said "cute and shy boy" into another bone-crushing hug that would make Kikumaru's and Momo's like a pat in the shoulder.
The upcoming two hours were a total hell for Echizen. Not because some foreign countries' mottos and beliefs were compared here and there, or that he was assumed by his sempai to know everything. It wasn't even because of the constant annoying jabs on the ribs, prodding on the back, and nudging legs on his shin.
Oh no. Not at all.
It was because the melodramatic host, who several times mentioned him during the sermon as a beautiful example of one who had accepted the knowledge of oneself. Complete with teary eyes of an awestruck puppy in the package, mind you, Echizen had never felt the urge to strangle someone more than his father…or Fuji-sempai and Inui-sempai in this matter. He wished he could sink lower to the floor. Not only sink lower to the floor, but sink lower to the floor, and be swallowed up by whatever hellish creature is down there laughing at him.
Fuji eerily eyed Tezuka, who uncharacteristically had tuned out the whole session and his surroundings like a hawk. In fact, sharp blue eyes caught an all-too-familiar lowered-down white cap reflected in the pokerfaced man's glasses a couple times.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Afterwards, Fuji good naturedly offered a ride to the drama queen since there were a few empty seats on the back. Echizen could not take it anymore, and refuted by saying that he had to go somewhere else -- Much to Ton-chan's (courtesy of Fuji of course) chagrin.
"It's in the opposite direction," was the curt reply before he fled for his life.
Moreover, Fuji, being Fuji, in his singsong voice stated what kind of dangers could befall to any cute, shy, and vulnerable Echizen at this hour. Crossing out the fact that Echizen was almost eighteen and could piss anyone off first, blowing their vessels. Tezuka was picked not-oh-so randomly due to his (longtime) duty as a captain to be responsible for the youngest of them. Tezuka grunted his agreement, purposely paying no heed to the chibi Inner-Fuji who was holding a V-sign banner high up in the air as well as the chibi Inner-Inui who was slapping down a few bills of yen to the former's awaiting hand.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Catching up with the younger boy was not hard, especially when Echizen was trying not to act like a damsel in distress during their walk back home. Unbeknownst to Echizen, Tezuka was berating himself not to waste such perfect opportunity.
"Echizen, is there something the matter?" He asked in an even tone just outside the door of the (bizarrely) deserted Echizen residence.
"Nothing. Care for a drink, Bu-Tezuka?" Echizen wanted to kill himself; he was aiming to change the subject but the slip of his tongue could be proven fatal.
"Hai. Water will be fine."
Over the years Echizen has gotten enough complaints and head smacking for his bordering-on-annoying bratty ignorance thank you very much; therefore, refreshing his guess a little would not sound too out of character of him, right?
Uncomfortable silence hung in the air as Echizen stood casually, leaning against the kitchen door while Tezuka finished his drink, placing it on the dining room table. Clearing his throat, Echizen asked a question just to break the silence, "What do you think of today?"
'That's a fairly general question.'
"It was… unexpected. But not unpleasant."
Echizen scoffed, "But you look somewhat uncomfortable."
"Aa."
Worry somehow began making its way, "Do you think it was disturbing, Buchou?"
"I'm no longer your captain, Echizen." Surprisingly, there was no bitter edge on the chastisement, "As for your other question…" Echizen kept his uncaring expression, carefully masking his anticipation of what Tezuka would say next. "I never appreciated something before."
"And it made you uncomfortable?" asked Echizen, disbelief mixed with curiosity.
Tezuka nodded, "Until today, I failed to notice a more important knowledge… existence in my life."
"About?"
"About you."
The other's breath was caught in the captivity of his chest, forcing the next question to come out in a breathy whisper, "O…h, what about me have you failed to notice, then?
"Amore, more, ore, re."
The world seemed to stop spinning in favor of his sanity. Feline golden eyes widened visibly upon Tezuka's run off the mill yet honest allusion more so than the sudden revelation of the other male's knowledge in Latin. Duh, this was the Tezuka Kunimitsu after all. And in a blink of his eyes, Echizen Ryoma found himself pinned to the door with a pair of strong arms gripping his hips steadily…Accommodating the larger figure in between his parted legs.
"If what I expect of you is still there, you're everything I ever wanted," was the only explanation he got for his situation. 'And needed to be acknowledged by.'
After a minute of pause, Echizen's snarky propensity came to the surface in no time, "Enough talking then. I pick the last. Skip the rest (2)."
The moment he realized that an ambitious and "hungry" Tezuka was far better than a solemn and cardboard Tezuka, he only could utter, "Le-left…pocket," between gasps. Echizen looked to the side; cheeks tainted the faintest shade of pink, "Actually. I was always hoping tha..t-nhh...ah."
Tezuka understood and was content with the knowledge he was the first. Stopping the nervousness that started settling in, Tezuka one-handedly got the lube out of the back pocket, involuntarily setting off another series of moans courtesy of wild, desperate, and needy groping. Then positioned his new lover to straddle him with the grace he possessed when handling racquets.
"Semper paratus." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Scientia est potentia. Remember?" Echizen sighed as he was out of his clothing, back touching the cool surface of the wooden floor.
"Iie, it's ' Souris qui n'a qu'un trou est bientôt prise™'."
"How many languages do you speak exactly?" Echizen's competitive streak notched up, and he scowled at the older male, pushing away from the moist lips that just diligently mapping some new territories on his neck.
"Several." Tezuka spoke in his usual business-like tone. "I can provide you some private lessons."
However, there was more of it to come, Echizen simply knew. Because he was sure, the blinding pleasure traveling up and down his spine was caused not by nothing. He was mesmerized with the sensuality he did not know Tezuka could rouse by merely setting his thin-framed glasses down somewhere on the floor where it would not be crushed by writhing bodies in their dance. Then, there was an odd glint in those alluring hazel orbs, convincing him that this time they both would be the winner. Lastly, the way those long calloused fingers traveled intensely slow, much to his chagrin, amidst the multilingual anatomy explorations.
"Heh, I always do better with demos," the younger one underneath smirked challengingly while stretching and proving the worth of his newly acquired knowledge, "Buchou…"
The way his former kouhai called his former (pet) name breathlessly should have been illegal. It was ignorant of him for realizing it just now. Holding back a groan of his own as well as dozens of mental colorful curses, Tezuka Kunimitsu noted inwardly to make those the last coherent words Echizen Ryoma was able to say for the rest of the evening.
And he did.
O.W.A.R.I
START: 02.12.06
REVISED: 05.05.06
RE-REVISED: 04.15.07
Amore, more, ore, re - Love, behavior, words, actions.
Semper paratus - Always prepared.
Scientia est potentia - Knowledge is power.
Souris qui n'a qu'un trou est bientôt prise - Better safe than sorry alias the French version of Yuudan sezou ni ikou! However, the real meaning of the words is "A mouse with only one hole will be caught in no time."
(1) Just say Tony doesn't
take a liking that Japanese calling each other by family name; it made things
less romantic on some occasions or people (winks) And he only tries to be
friendly, adding the -kun.
(2) This refers to the "re" from the first Latin glossary, which
means "actions". Well, you get the idea ;-D
Author's Note Cont: Tezuka strikes me as the type of person who has half a dozen different languages in his arsenal. This is much longer than all previous installments as a ransom (gulp) for the lack of update. In addition, FYI RST stands for Resolved Sexual Tension.