Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ An Afternoon Chat ❯ An Afternoon Chat ( Chapter 1 )

Title: An Afternoon Chat

Author/pseudonym: D. Sidhe

Rating: GP

Pairings: Tezuka/Fuji, Oishi pining for Eiji…any other pairings are entirely up to you…

Date Started: August 13, 2003

Series/Sequel: The Growth of a Relationship series

Archive: my website (http://www.geocities.com/), all others, please ask

Disclaimers: Not mine…

Summary: Fuji and Oishi chat and Fuji realizes some things

Notes: This occurs between episodes 75 and 76

Warnings: Contains mention of m/m relationships

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"Maa, Fuji! You beat me again!" Momoshiro said as he slumped on the ground. Tired as he was, his attention immediately turned towards the next court, where Ryoma was playing against Eiji.

"Momoshiro, you've become stronger though." I told him.

"Uh huh." He said. But his attention was elsewhere. If Tezuka was here, he'd immediately order Momoshiro to run a few laps for lying down on the tennis court. But…

Oh well. I saw Oishi also looking intently at Ryoma's match with Eiji. Unlike Momoshiro, his attention was focused mainly on Eiji.

"He's getting better." I told Oishi as I turned to stand beside him.

"Yes. He definitely is. The Golden Pair works because of his acrobatic play and his sports sense. I just hope he doesn't overdo anything during his match with Ryoma." Oishi said still looking at Eiji.

I could have meant Ryoma when I said that. But, Eiji had gotten better, not just because he was playing with Ryoma, but because Tezuka had been an amazing captain. I knew Tezuka wanted Oishi to watch Ryoma while he was gone. Hence the match between Ryoma and Eiji. Oishi could watch Eiji while still following Tezuka's orders. Tezuka had been paying a lot of attention to Ryoma before he left. More attention than on any of the others. Except for me, of course. But then, we had a different relationship. Tezuka probably sees Ryoma as a younger version of himself. That's the only reason for his concern for Ryoma. That had to be the only reason. Yes, Ryoma and Tezuka's relationship was different from my relationship with Tezuka.

"Ochibi, I'm not going to let you win!" Eiji shouted energetically while executing one of his acrobatic plays

"Mada mada dane."

I don't know where Eiji gets his energy from. I turned to look at Oishi.

"You could ask him, you know." I told him.

Oishi turned to me in surprise. I had shocked him. Maybe he didn't think I'd noticed. Well, I had. So had Tezuka. But Tezuka would never have said anything. Unlike me.

"I didn't think anyone had noticed. Am I that obvious?" Oishi asked worriedly. "Do you think Eiji knows?"

I had to smile at that. I mean, my genuine smile, rather than the smile Tezuka says makes me look easy-going when I'm really dangerous.

"No, you're not obvious. But, I still don't know why you don't just ask him." I didn't like not knowing.

"He's not ready, yet." Oishi said softly. "I don't want to push him into something he's not ready for."

Not ready. Not ready for what, I wanted to ask. But I knew. A relationship between two boys, it's not exactly easy. Tezuka, I miss you. But, the rewards are worth it, I think.

"How do you know he's not ready?" I ask instead.

"He'll make a move when he's ready."

"You want him to make the first move?" I didn't understand that. Whenever I thought of Oishi and Eiji together, which wasn't often since most of my thoughts were filled with Tezuka, I always assumed Oishi would be the more dominant one.

"Yes. That means he's thought about it the way I have, and he feels the same way I do. Then, I'll know he's ready."

"How long do you plan on waiting until he becomes ready?" I ask instead. What if Eiji never becomes ready?

Oishi turned to look at me then. He smiled a little sadly. "Forever. I'll wait forever. He's worth it." He turned away from me to look at Eiji again. Our conversation was over.

I couldn't believe Oishi was such…argh…such a mother-hen. Why couldn't he just make the first move anyway? I mean, I made the first move with Tezuka. Or else Tezuka would never have…Tezuka would never have…Damnit! Oishi was acting just like Tezuka did before we got together! Tezuka wouldn't have made a move because he knew I wasn't ready. But once I made the first move, he followed through. Oh, how he followed through! His follow throughs occur frequently in my dreams and in my fantasies. Now that I think about it, the weeks…no, months…before we first got together, I sometimes caught Tezuka looking at me the way Oishi was looking at Eiji.

A shout brought me out of my reverie. The match was over, it seemed.

"Ochibi! No fair! I'll definitely beat you next time!." Eiji was pouting. "Oishi…why'd you let me play with Ochibi? Now I have to drink Inui's stupid juice!"

Oishi walked towards Eiji. I wondered if he would offer to drink Eiji's share of the juice instead. Ah, young love.

"That's ok Eiji. If you can drink Inui's juice and survive, you can do anything." Oishi replied. He was looking down at Eiji and smiling.

"Baka!" Eiji fumed, stomping off the courts.

"Eiji. Come on. It's not so bad." Oishi said, following Eiji.

I tuned them out. Looking at them only made me realize just how much I missed Tezuka. Tezuka, please come home soon.