Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Tolerance Factor ❯ Chapter 1

"Tolerance Factor"

A _Price of Tennis_ Fanfiction

By Andrea Readwolf <andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com>

Chapter: 1/1

Rating: PG

Pairings: Tezuka (+Fuji)

Genre: drabble

Warnings: Characters are written in character according to author's interpretation.

Spoilers: a somewhat sequel to "Puppy Love"

Summary: Even Tezuka has his limits.

Disclaimer: Tennis no Ohjisama, characters and settings are the property of Konomi Takeshi.

Date Started: July 13, 2004

Status: complete

Revised: July 15, 2004

Word Count: 520

"Tolerance Factor" by Andrea Readwolf

Tezuka Kunimitsu considered himself a rather tolerant man. A sensible, reasonable, and mature young man, his tolerance would have to be great when one of his best friends from high school was also his roommate in a small, but comfortable, college apartment.

Living with Fuji Syusuke could be interesting at the best of times, mortifying at the worst, and a test of one's tolerance always. But generally Tezuka felt their partnership was a good thing.

Sure, there were things the other man did that would annoy Tezuka to no end---

Like that one time when Fuji texted him in the middle of his lecture to tell him (in explicit details) what he would do to Tezuka when they both got home.

Or the time Fuji neglected to go shopping, and they had run out of toilet paper--and, no. Facial tissues were not an acceptable substitute in Tezuka's opinion. One tissue was meant for use on your face, one was not.

Or when he'd allowed the puppy to chew on the tennis balls---

And the puppy was a whole issue onto itself.

Despite her obvious mixed parentage--her mother was a Shibu, but the father was anyone's guess. Probably a German Shepherd or another wolf-like breed--she was an attractive dog. Silver and black with a curled tail, and true to Fuji's promises, well cared for.

When the other man was home, Fuji took excellent care of the animal--walking her twice daily and feeding her exactly measured portions of the hideously expensive top-quality puppy chow he insisted on buying. She was even brushed every other day (which helped reduce the incredible amount of fur she managed to produce) and bathed once a week---

Which brought Tezuka to his moment of vexation this morning.

Fuji had left yesterday afternoon to participate in a tennis match in the neighboring prefecture. Tezuka would have gone himself, but he had an important project due next week that still required a lot of his attention. He'd stayed late at the library last night and was too tired to shower when he got home---a fact he instantly regretted when he woke up feeling gritty with a day's worth of grime on his body.

So Tezuka had dragged his body out of bed, made use of the toilet, and then headed for the bathroom to start the hot water running---

Only to step into an ankle deep miniature lake of day old soapy water.

He choked on a shout of horrified disgust, jumping back out of the bathroom, and nearly tripping over the dog--which had been following him since he left the bed.

The *clean*, recently *bathed* dog...

Tezuka slammed the bathroom door shut and heading to get dressed. There was no help for it. He would use the tennis club showers. Fuji would be returning home that evening and he could damn well clean the drain himself!

Tezuka considered himself to be a very tolerant man, yes; but a dog-hair-clogged drain definitely pushed his tolerance factor.

You see, Tezuka Kunimitsu did NOT do clogged drains. At all.

~~The End~~