Tennis, a fruits basket fanfic

Winter's Light: Hey! It's been a while since the FurubaProject has updated or posted anything. So I thought, hm… We should get going… So here's my first one-shot posted on this account!! And please excuse the crappiness. My Furuba muse has pretty much died out… ((sobs))

Plus this is a crossover. Enjoy!

Tennis

Disclaimer: I do not Fruits Basket or Prince of Tennis.

Sohma Yuki had no idea what had possessed him to come all the way here to Tokyo. He leaned in the sofa and watched as the other people walk pass him, merely glancing or taking no notice of him at all. His cousin, Shigure, was having a convention just for local Japanese authors and the writer had decided to attend for once.

And this, Yuki wondered, was why he didn't know why he was here. He had actually offered to come along. It was, Golden Week of his second year of high school, and he was bored… But… Still!! What about the flower at home with that stupid cat cousin of his?!

He sighed and looked around for some sort of entertainment. Let's see… Woman in dress, man in suit… Woman in super fancy dress, man in t-shirt… T-shirt? He frowned; he had thought that this was supposed to be fancy…

Oh well, he thought shrugging, it was the man's problem… Ah, might as well go back up to the hotel room… He agreed to himself and began to look for his cousin… it wasn't that hard to find, seeing as the man wore a yukata.

He walked up to Shigure and said, "Shigure, I'm going back to the hotel room… This is boring for me…"

Shigure only grinned and nodded. "Fine fine, but be sure to lock the door if you leave!" he reminded the younger boy, talking as if he was talking to a five-year-old.

Yuki growled but nodded anyways. He walked out the room, tugging at his suit collar. Of course, he too, had to have worn a suit to the convention even if he wasn't an author…

Soon meeting up with the door, he pulled out the key, sliding the card into the slot and the door slid open. Pushing it wider so that he could get it, he glanced around, quickly pulling his tie apart and closed the door behind him.

Let's see… First thing's first! Comfortable clothes…! No wonder Shigure hadn't want to wear a suit…

Quickly taking off his formal clothing, he pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. It was pretty warm outside… Maybe he could take a walk? He shrugged, pulling out a spare piece of paper and a pen, jotting down a note to his cousin.

While walking down the stairs, he bumped into a boy causing the both of them to fall and come crashing down the end of the stairs.

Groaning, he rubbed his head and looked to see who the boy was.

The boy had raven hair and piercing gold eyes. A blank expression that reminded him strongly of Hatsuharu was plastered on his face. Looking around, he noticed that there was a white cap with a black and red "F" written on the front and a large blue bag…

It didn't take a genius to tell that the boy had been wearing the cap.

"A-AH!" Yuki started getting up, picking up the white cap and handing it to the boy. Standing up, he offered a hand to him too.

The boy didn't say anything, ignored the offered hand and took the cap, placing it on his head. He pulled the bill down and muttered a small apology.

"Eh?" Yuki asked himself, suddenly reminded that the boy had the same sort of…aura as… Who was it? He couldn't remember… And the boy was about his height too… Only a bit shorter… Bringing his thoughts to a halt, he too, apologized just as the boy was leaving.

The boy turned around and stared at Yuki with blank eyes. "Ah," he said solemnly.

Was the boy's vocabulary limited to only one word? Yuki wondered as he watched the boy continue walking up the stairs.

Shrugging, the Prince of Kaibara turned around and continued towards the lobby and out the door.

It had been at least half an hour since he had left the convention, Yuki thought as he leaned against the seat in the sushi restaurant. It was around lunchtime and he wondered vaguely why the convention was up and about at such an ungodly hour…

He yawned and sighed again. Covering his mouth, he noted that he really should have gone back to the hotel but… He didn't have anything to do there, besides, maybe he could get something for the others while in Tokyo. After all, it wasn't everyday one went to Tokyo…

Agreeing with himself, he got up to the counter and paid for the lunch had had. Walking out the sliding wooden doors, he headed for a random direction.

Pok!

Yuki's ears perked up at hearing the strange, foreign sound. Was that a…ball?

Pok!

There it was again! He soon found himself following the sound, and landing himself just outside a tennis court. Tennis? He raised an eyebrow. He hadn't really cared about the sport at all, but… He could take a look, after all… He was a bit curious.

Entering the tennis courts as quietly as he could, he noted that it was some kind of public tennis courts and there were…lights?

Well, they were unlit but…

Pok!

He continued to follow the sound. Noticing that there was a practice wall and that the sound seemed to be coming from there, he followed it.

Hey wait… There was that boy he had bumped into! Yuki thought, amused by the events that were happening so far, and it looked like he plays tennis…

The boy's right hand grasp tightly on the handle as he moved left and right to hit the ball.

So that's what was in the large bag of his… Yuki thought as he remembered the large bag that the boy was carrying.

Pok!

Stepping into view, he went to find a place where he could watch.

He had noticed that the boy's eyes had held a fiery passion for the sport he had played. Yuki had never really played any sport and he never really took martial arts as Kyo had… So he never really knew what it was like…

Still… It was amazing to watch.

Pok!

Left…

Pok!

Right…

Pok!

Jumping…

P--!

Eh? He stopped? Yuki asked himself as the boy caught the small lime green ball in his left hand. Noticing that the boy was slowly turning his head around to face him, Yuki knew that the boy had noticed.

"What do you want?"

EH! So the boy didn't have a limited vocabulary after all! Yuki smiled, closing his eyes. "Just watching…," he answered.

The boy only stared at him with the same blank expression. "Do you want to play?" he asked suddenly, "I'm bored and no one else is here to play with…"

Yuki opened his eyes in surprise and replied with a sad smile, "Eh… Well, I've never played before."

The boy shrugged, "I can teach you."

"That'd be great. I'm bored anyways…" Yuki replied, getting up, eager to hit the ball now.

Pok!

A pant.

Pok!

Over there!

Pok!

How exciting!

Pok!

"Out."

Yuki groaned; he had gotten the hang of it only… He kept hitting too hard and getting out or he'd hit too soft and ended up having the ball kiss the net.

"Mada mada dane." (1) A smirk.

Yuki smiled at the boy's attitude. At least he had a change in it…

"You got better faster than anyone I know though…," the raven haired boy continued as he took off his cap to wipe the sweat forming on his forehead.

"T-Thanks," Yuki answered, panting a bit. Dang, his asthma had the worse timing.

The other boy seemed to have noticed. He frowned, "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Yuki panted, "Just…my asthma…"

"You have asthma?"

Yuki nodded, now lying on the his side of the tennis courts.

"You play like you don't. You're actually pretty good for a person with asthma…" the boy complimented.

A smile graced Yuki's lips. Tennis had felt so good. The rush, the thrill of seeing whether or not your opponent could reach the ball…

Speaking of which… There were plenty of times when the boy could have gotten a ball and yet he let it pass through… And when Yuki lobbed a couple times, the boy didn't bother to try to reach it.

"What's your name?" Yuki asked once he had calmed down and the panting had pretty much stopped.

The boy glanced at Yuki and put on his hat again. "Echizen Ryoma."

"Ah, Sohma Yuki," he answered, getting up and handing the red racket in which had been using to the boy. "Nice to meet you and thanks for letting me use your racket."

Ryoma nodded and took the racket, slipping it into his bag.

"Are you still staying?" Yuki asked, noticing that the boy still held the racket in his right hand.

"Yeah… One of my teammates asked me to come here… I decided to warm up anyways so I came early…," he answered as he started walking over to the practice walls again.

"Ah," Yuki replied, noticing that the boy had begun hitting once again, "Mind if I stay a while to watch?"

Didn't the boy ever get tired? He wondered.

Ryoma glanced at Yuki disinterestedly and shrugged, nearly missing a ball. "It's fine."

Pok!

"OCHIBI-CHANNNNNNNNNN!!"

Yuki nearly fell over at the loud voice.

Ryoma flinched and caught the ball.

A red head lunged at the raven haired boy and hugged him.

"Eiji-senpai! Get off him!"

Yuki watched as another male – a taller one with built muscles, violet eyes and spiky black hair – walk over to the hugging pair and started rub the back of his neck. "Eiji-senpai! You'll choke him!" he shouted as he tried to pry the red head off. (2)

It was then that the cursed mouse of the zodiac noticed that Ryoma was turning a very unhealthy color of blue. So eyes widening, he walked over and tried to help. Thank god all of them were guys…

"Um, you should get off Echizen-san," Yuki tried supplying and it was then that the two unknown guys turned their attention towards him.

"Nya… Ochibi-chan is… cheating on Fujiko-chan?!" the red head asked innocently as he slowly let go of the choking boy. (3)

The choking boy had turned a tinged of pink and shook his head, "No! We don't even know each other and Kikumaru-senpai, I'm not going out with Fuji-senpai!!" he protested wildly as the taller male grabbed his head and proceeded to give him a headlock. (4)

Yuki's eyes widened, did they think that he was a girl? He hated that! "I'm not a girl," Yuki replied, trying to maintain his calm.

"Ohhh… We know!" the red head answered happily as he pointed to Yuki's chest, "otherwise I'd say you were very flat!"

This… This… This guy… Yuki thought angrily as he clenched his fists into balls on each of his sides. This guy really knew what to tick a person off…

"EH? That was really a guy? And here I thought the brat had gone straight…" the taller male replied, letting go of the blushing and choking boy.

"Shut up senpai-taichi!" Ryoma shouted as he pulled his cap further down on his face to hide his expression.

Yuki now wished that he too had a cap so he could hide his face.

"What? We were just kidding, anyways sorry we took so long," the tall male with spiky black hair replied, then turned his attention towards Yuki, who stepped back a little.

God that male was so tall! (5)

"Like I said, we were kidding so if we said something that offended you or anything, sorry!" he rushed quickly and bowed. The red head followed the same suit.

"AH! Nya, I'm Kikumaru Eiji by the way!" the cat-like male with flaming red hair introduced himself, "Ochibi's too stubborn…" he muttered as an afterthought, shaking his head. (6)

"I'm Momoshiro Takeshi! You can call me Momo-chan!" the tall male supplied, grinning and bowing. "Nice to meet you!"

"Ah, Sohma Yuki, nice to meet you too," Yuki returned the favor, bowing. A person who wanted to be called a peach? Strange… And another one who acted like a cat? "Ah, does this mean you play tennis too?" he asked, noticing that they both had the same blue bags.

Takeshi grinned and nodded, putting up thumbs up, "Yep!"

Yuki smiled, "Mind if I watch?"

"I have a better idea! Nya, let's play doubles!" Eiji suggested. And it looked as if he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Ryoma on the other hand… His eyes widened and he spun around as if wanting to get somewhere else and FAST. (7)

Eiji, who noticed what he was intending on doing, quickly grabbed him and said, "Ochibi-chan is playing doubles! No matter what!"

The raven haired boy glared at his senpai. "Never."

Yuki smiled at the scene. It was rather cute to watch.

Ryoma and Eiji both went up to the net. The latter held his racket face down. "Which nya?" Eiji asked as he set it on the ground so that it was pointing up.

"Smooth."

Yuki wondered what that was about.

Eiji looked at his racket and spun it. It landed and Eiji looked up with a glum face. "Looks like you win, it's smooth…"

Ryoma nodded and walked back to his position as the server.

"One set match. Echizen to serve!"

With that, Ryoma clutched the racket in his right hand, leaned back as he threw the lime green ball high up in the air and jumped just a bit, swinging his arm and hitting the ball.

The ball flew over to the service box and bounced up.

"Nya! Ochibi-chan is being rude!" Eiji shouted as he returned the ball easily.

"That's right Echizen! Don't go easy on us!" Takeshi agreed as he watched Yuki run over to return Eiji's shot.

The shot became a lob and Takeshi jumped high in the air, smashing the ball down onto the ground with a tremendous amount of force.

"Che…" Ryoma muttered as he pulled the bill of his cap down.

"Love-15!"

Ryoma served again, this time, when the ball flew over towards the service box, it had a weird spin. The ball landed and bounced up and up…

…straight into Takeshi's face.

The startled second year jumped and side-stepped, trying and failing to return the ball.

Ryoma smirked.

"15-all!"

This was going to be a fun game…

"Should you really do that to your senpai?" Yuki asked suddenly as Ryoma begun his to bounce his ball several times before serving.

Ryoma glanced at the cursed mouse and shrugged. Apparently, he hadn't cared or it was just his way of treating his senpai with respect.

Ryoma served once again, and the ball once again bounced up straight into the receiver's face.

"Nya! Ochibi-chan is so mean!!" Eiji cried as he swung randomly, trying to hit the ball, "Why use Twist Serve?"

"30-15!"

"Fine! We'll just have to do this the right way nya!" Eiji shouted as he started to swing his racket around his wrist. "Right Momo-chan?"

"Right Eiji-senpai!"

Smirking, Ryoma placed his racket in his left hand.

Yuki's eyes widened. A lefty! He thought as he smiled. That kid… He really was good…

"Mada mada dane."

Tennis wasn't so bad after all…

Sohma Yuki tilted his head to one side as he walked over to the door. It had rung but… He hadn't had any visitors since… yesterday… And now Kyo and Tohru were in their honeymoon… Kisa and Hiro should be at school… Rin and Haru were…off doing who knows what. (8)

So who could it be?

Pondering who it was, he opened the door and there revealed a male about his age – 20 something – wearing a white cap and tennis clothing…

Tennis clothing…

He could still remember him. Smiling, Yuki opened the door wider. "Come on in…"

"Nice place," the man replied, whistling a bit as he tugged his shoes off.

"I heard that you went to the US Open…" Yuki said, remembering that he had happened on the channel.

"Ah."

Yuki's smile became wider. He was still the same as always.

"So how's it been with Fuji-san?"

"Shut up."

Winter's Light: I rushed at the ending 'cause I wanted to post this as soon as I could… Alright, footnotes… For those of you who haven't read or watched Prince of Tennis/ Tennis no Oujisama

1 - That is Echizen Ryoma's favorite phrase. Loosely means "You're not there yet" or "You still have a ways to go".

2 - Kikumaru Eiji is a very hyperactive – almost like Momiji – person. He also acts like a cat, adding the "nya" at the end of his sentences. Oh and he glomps and pounces a lot!

3 - Fujiko-chan… Ah, this is Eiji's nickname (I think) for Fuji Syuusuke, the handsome, always smiling prodigy of the tennis team. What is implied here? Well… Just start reading the manga or watch the anime and then read some fanfiction and you'll understand. ((smiles))

4 - Ryoma's reaction is a bit OOC… But… I think he'd react wildly if someone accused him of cheating of a supposed "friend".

5 - Despite his age, Momoshiro Takeshi is very tall. He's actually one of the tallest on tennis team (With Syuusuke and Ryoma being the two shortest). Oh and he uses power for his tennis.

6 - Ochibi… That's Eiji's nickname for Ryoma. Heh… Means "squirt" or "kiddo".

7 - Ryoma HATES doubles and absolutely has not a cooperation bone in him. He's also horrible at it… Tried playing doubles with Takeshi in a tournament but… Ended up playing it with the court split in half… ((sweat drop))

8 - And um, just so you know. They lost. Ryoma and Yuki lost. I just thought that even though Ryoma's really good at tennis, he's a singles player and not a doubles… And that last part? It's in the future. XD

Anyways, uh… I hope this works!! And leave a comment or review? We'd like to know what you think!