A Locket to Remember You…
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. The anime belongs to its rightful owner. The only thing I own is the plot and the idea for the fanfic.
A sequel to "A Promise of a Lifetime" as well as "A Broken Promise…Or Is It?" This fanfic was created for April Fools' Day today which I completely forgot was today. This is my third one-shot, non-canon, and yaoi so please R&R and hope you enjoy reading! Just to let my reviewers know, I created this oneshot in around a half hour so I apologize if it is bad or anything.
"Where is he?" a male with brown hair and glasses asked aloud as he waited at home for his fiancé to arrive. They were supposed to spend the day together for another date, and he had been waiting at home for a few hours already.
This was Tezuka Kunimitsu or 'Mitsu' as his fiancé liked to call him. He is the captain of the Seigaku male tennis team at his school and is currently dating Echizen Ryoma, freshman rookie of the tennis team.
Tezuka had been waiting for Ryoma to arrive back home ever since that morning in order to begin their date.
Turning on the television, Tezuka watched the news to pass the time. He had just turned onto the channel to see a huge car accident happen on the road a few blocks down from their house. He didn't pay any mind to it until he realized why he should. That was usually the road that Ryoma took in order to get home!
Tezuka panicked for a bit before calming himself down. "There is no way Ryoma was in that accident," he told himself. "There is absolutely no way that my Ryoma would get caught in an accident."
The male repeated the phrase over and over aloud until he was sure that Ryoma would come through the door and be welcomed with open arms.
Another hour passed until the house phone rang. Startled, Tezuka jumped a bit before walking over to answer the phone.
"Hello?" he asked once picking up the phone.
Tezuka could hear sniffles and sobs coming from the other side of the phone. "Hello?" he asked once more trying to get an answer.
"Tezuka-buchou," a sad voice whispered so silently that Tezuka had to strain in order to hear it.
"Momoshiro," he acknowledged before asking, "Why are you sniffling and sobbing over the phone?"
This only got more cries out of the broom-haired and violet-eyed male as he wailed over the phone.
Tezuka put the phone an arm's length away to avoid going deaf at such a young age.
When the wailing had finally stopped, Tezuka put the phone back to his ear and asked the question once more.
Instead of another wailing, he got a few sniffles before Momo answered the phone.
What Tezuka heard…he never wanted to know as the phone dropped from his hands and fell onto the ground.
Tezuka could not believe what he had just heard from Momo…
"Ryoma…" Tezuka whispered with tears gathering in his eyes. "No…"
One by one the tears started to fall. Tezuka could hear what Momoshiro said reply in his head over and over again.
"Ryoma…he was in the car accident that was on TV an hour ago…" Momo had explained through a hoarse voice. "He was in the emergency room but…they couldn't save him…he's gone!" Momo choked out with more tears falling. "The doctors couldn't save him…I can't believe he's gone…" was that last thing the captain heard before the phone was hung up.
"Ryoma cannot be dead," Tezuka whispered. "He just can't…"
Tezuka wasn't one to normally cry but this….this was too much for him to handle. He just couldn't and wouldn't believe that his love…his fiancé….his Ryoma would actually be gone because of some car accident.
'Ryoma was stronger than this, so why did he die?' was the question going through the sullen captain's mind as he let tear after tear fall across his face.
Standing up, Tezuka walked around their home and went up to Ryoma's room.
Letting himself inside the room, Tezuka looked around and glanced at each item that Ryoma had possessed.
He picked up each one gently and softly caressed each item before gently putting it down back where it was.
The same pattern continued until he got to a little box on Ryoma's desk that he used for school and sometimes work.
Turned out that since Ryoma was a good singer (A/N: Refer back to 'A Broken Promise…Or Is It?'), Tezuka was able to convince him to become a singer at the festivals at the school as well as some other public places.
Tezuka chuckled once he remembered when Ryoma revealed his talent to the other Seigaku regulars during the first festival the golden-eyed prodigy performed in.
"And next up is Echizen Ryoma!" the principal called out with a smile.
The spectators from Seigaku could only gape when Ryoma started to sing.
Tezuka glanced at his tennis team whose mouths were gaping open with wide eyes. Even Fuji was a little shocked as his eyes were open showing off the blue orbs. Inui for once wasn't writing down any information about Ryoma is his notebook which surprised Tezuka.
After the festival was over, people were swarming the poor prodigy until Tezuka threatened to give everyone laps for disrupting Ryoma's rest. Only the regulars were allowed to stay and ask Ryoma questions.
"When were you able to sing?" Momo asked excitedly…well more like yelled anyway.
"Since I was little," Ryoma bluntly replied with a bored look on his face until his gaze landed on his captains.
Giving off a small smile which shocked the regulars to no end, Ryoma walked up to the captain and flung his arms around Tezuka's neck asking, "How did I do?"
"You did well Ryoma," Tezuka said with a small smile which made the entire team freeze.
Tezuka didn't know why they froze, but apparently, Ryoma did as he was chuckling under his breath at their faces.
Tezuka would have to ask Ryoma later what the freezing was about…but he didn't pay any mind to it as he walked Ryoma back to their home in order to spend the night together.
The rest of that night was spent watching movies as well as playing video games before they kissed each other goodnight and went to bed.
Tezuka gave off another smile as he remembered the precious memory. It was the same smile that he gave to Ryoma that same day.
Picking up the small box on the desk, he noticed that there was a note saying, "To Mitsu. From Ryoma."
Opening up the box, Tezuka was shocked at what he saw. Taking out what was inside, he pulled out two lockets, one that was silver and one that was green and blue mixed together. Opening the one that was silver, he saw a picture of himself with Ryoma hugging him from behind with a smile. When he opened the green and blue picture, tears well up in his eyes once more. Inside the locket was a picture of the two of them kissing on their first date. Seeing another picture, he gently flipped over the first one and saw another picture of them when Tezuka first proposed to Ryoma (A/N: Refer back to A Promise of a Lifetime).
Tezuka could tell that it took Ryoma a while to make these without letting him know. He wondered when Ryoma was going to give him the lockets but now…he never would be able to get the present personally from the boy…
The thought of never seeing that smirk again…that rare smile of his…hearing that arrogant attitude and the catchphrase that seemed to annoy its receivers to no end…he would miss it all as he would miss Ryoma.
He put the locket around his neck and traveled around the boy's room once more. He looked at all the trophies he won in tennis tournaments when he was in America as well as a few medals for school achievements.
Tezuka knew about Ryoma's father ever since they started going out…he was waiting for Ryoma to tell the others on the team about how Echizen Nanjiroh was his father and the reason why he kept saying that he lost everyday no matter how many times he won in tournaments.
He wanted Ryoma back…he wanted it all back.
Tezuka could remember all the kisses they shared…all the dates they had together…he could now remember everything between them from the first time they met till currently. Only now did Tezuka fully realize what Ryoma meant to him…Ryoma was his one precious thing in life that he would never want to live without.
After realizing this fact about his life, Tezuka couldn't help but let tears well up in his eyes once more and let a few brave ones fall down his cheeks and onto the ground as he walked back to the living room.
Slumping onto the couch, Tezuka put his hands over his face and tried to calm down again. He wondered how Ryoma's family was going to take the news as they were out of the country on a family vacation.
Tezuka insisted that Ryoma go with them only to be rejected as Ryoma wanted to spend more time with him than his family in another country.
"I'll always love you…Ryoma," Tezuka whispered under his breath.
A few seconds later, Tezuka could feel someone's arms wrap around his neck in a comforting embrace.
Inhaling a breath, Tezuka could recognize the familiar scent. Looking up with tears in his eyes, he saw Ryoma with a thoughtful look adorning his face along with a small smile.
"I'm so sorry Mitsu…" Ryoma whispered into Tezuka's ear before leaning back to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek. "Happy April Fools."
Tezuka didn't hear the last part, instead choosing to tighten his grip around Ryoma's waist and hug him close. Nuzzling his head into the crook of the boy's neck, Tezuka whispered, "Don't do that again. Just don't ever do that again…"
After relaxing into each other's embrace, Ryoma decided to explain the prank to his lover. "I was trying to think of a good prank to pull on you until I saw the news. Since I usually take that route home, I felt it would be a perfect opportunity, so I got Momo-senpai to call you and tell you the news an hour afterwards in order to give you the impression that I had died in the hospital. I'm sorry that it made you cry Mitsu," Ryoma apologized giving Tezuka a kiss on the forehead and then the lips.
"Thank goodness it was just a prank…no matter how heart-wrenching that was," Tezuka muttered under his breath spooning Ryoma in his embrace.
"I'll never leave you Mitsu," Ryoma remarked snuggling into the other's chest. "And if I ever do…at least you'll have the locket to remember me by…"
"A locket will never be the same as being with you," Tezuka remarked before pushing Ryoma away in order to kiss the boy fully on the lips.