Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Where Your Road Leads ❯ Chapter 1

"Where Your Road Leads (I Will Follow)"

~A Game Worth Winning~ "Prince of Tennis" Fanfic Series

By Andrea Readwolf <andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com>

Chapter: A High School Side-story

Rating: PG

Pairings: Tezuka/Fuji

Genre: Romance Without Plot.

Series Rating: Mature for sexual content

Series Pairings: Kikumaru + Oishi, Tezuka + Fuji, Echizen + Momoshiro, Inui + Kaidoh

Warnings: Underage characters in homosexual romantic and sexual situations of self-discovery. Characters are written in character according to author's interpretation.

Summary: It's Golden Week. Tezuka offers Fuji a chance to escape Tokyo for a day.

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

Date Started: May 5, 2004

Status: Complete

Revised: May 25, 2004

Word Count: 2730

"Tsurugajo" or "Where Your Road Leads (I Will Follow)" by Andrea Readwolf

Fuji Syusuke smiled at the passing landscape as it sped past. Although it was still very dark outside, he found he wasn't really tired at all. The temperature in the car was warm enough to ward off the nip in the late spring air, but he knew that the further away from Tokyo they got, the colder it would get.

It was silent in the car except for the sound of the tires on the road and the air blowing through the vents, but he didn't mind. Syusuke wasn't afraid of silences, especially one that stretched between him and the other young man in the car. At that thought, he shifted in the passenger's seat, just enough to study the person to his right.

At eighteen, Tezuka Kunimitsu did not look very much different than he had when they'd graduated junior high school. Oh, there were small differences. He was a little taller now than he was at fifteen, for instance; but then, Tezuka had already been fairly tall to begin with. And maybe there was just a little more muscle on those strong limbs that three extra years at playing tennis had provided. But other than that, the young man was still utterly, heart-wrenchingly beautiful.

As if feeling the weight of Fuji's eyes on him, Tezuka spared a glance away from the deserted road in front of them for his partner.

"What?

Fuji smiled more--perhaps Tezuka would think that was his greatest changed feature? His smile?--and curled up in his seat, pressing his back against the door frame and tucking his feet up on the seat, propping his chin on his knees and continued to watch the driver, warm pleasure cocooning him in its glow.

"Happy," he murmured after another moment, resting his head on the headrest, eyes half-shutting lazily.

Tezuka had broached the topic two days ago, right before school had adjourned for Golden Week. Of course, just because *school* and classes were ceased for the five-day holiday didn't mean there wasn't club practice or other school related activities to take care off.

There was tennis practice every day this week...except for today.

Fuji wondered if the tennis captain hadn't purposely allowed for selfish reasons to have this one day off, remembering the rather stoic face of the man now steering the small car effortlessly along the twisting and curvy highway two days earlier when he'd approached Fuji the other morning before practice.

"Tsuruga-jo Castle."

The blue-eyed teen had looked up from the book he was reading to find his partner standing over him.

"The Crane Castle, up in the northern Tohoku region," Tezuka continued, leaning back against the wall to the club house and looking down at Fuji with questioning eyes. "It was originally built in the 1300 hundreds, had some trouble at the beginning of the Meiji period, but they just recently rebuilt it."

Fuji continued to watch the older teen, wondering if he should wait to listen to whatever else Tezuka might say, or if he should take pity on his partner and just say yes. He held his tongue.

By the narrowing around Tezuka's beautiful eyes, the older boy knew that Fuji knew what he was doing. "It's a 280-kilometer drive, about five hours," he added. Watching his long time friend and partner. "If we leave early enough..."

Tezuka let his sentence trail off, but Fuji was already smiling brightly up at him. "I would love to," he answered the unspoken question softly. And then a mischievous twinkle danced in his eyes as he pointed out an obvious problem. "But we have tennis practice all this week."

Tezuka didn't say anything. His seemingly-always-present frown just became more thoughtful as he nodded a parting to Fuji before walking off. That afternoon at practice, the captain of the tennis team announced there wouldn't be practice the first day of Golden Week.

Sitting in the car now, as it steadily drove farther north, Fuji couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped at the memory.

"Tell me?" Tezuka asked, his deep, gentle voice slipping into Fuji's thoughts with warm ease.

Fuji turned his smile towards his love and answered, "I was just thinking... It must be nice to be the captain," he teased lightly. "You get to cancel your own practices."

Tezuka's corners twitched in the beginnings of a smile that was reserved solely for the other teen sitting next to him. His hand slid off the gearshift and found Fuji's, fingers brushing lightly. "You've been working hard lately."

"So have you."

"Mmm."

Fuji hardly noticed when they turned onto the Ban-etsu Expressway. His mind was still thinking about what Tezuka had said earlier. It was true, they all were working hard recently. Not just in tennis--though that was always a passionate driving force behind their daily life--but in school, and in their relationships with family, friends, and loved ones.

It had been another long two years that seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye. Here they were, in their senior year of high school. All too soon they wouldn't be able to put off important decisions, like university or vocational? Seigaku, Tokyo, or somewhere else entirely? Tea or coffee? Fuji sighed.

"Look," Tezuka smoothly caught his attention again, pointing his chin towards the world outside the window shield.

Even though it was finally light outside, the sun was just beginning to light up the snow covered mountaintops. It was a beautiful image, Fuji thought immediately, debating whether he should reach into the backseat for his camera or not.

"Should I pull over?"

Fuji's throat tightened. How well the other teen knew him. Another small, happy smile warmed his lips and he found himself shaking his head. "No, it's all right. No picture could capture this feeling," he replied, his fingers brushing over Tezuka's, still warm in his hand after so many hours of driving.

"We're almost half-way there," Tezuka continued after a little more time had passed. "Are you hungry? We could stop for some breakfast."

The sudden mention of food met with agreement with Fuji's stomach before the boy could say anything, and both teens laughed.

"I'll take that as a yes," Tezuka grinned, the hard lines of the intense class representative and tennis captain melting away, leaving just the breathtakingly beautiful and radiating young man whom Fuji loved so much.

Fuji closed his eyes, savoring the image behind his eyelids. "Yes."

They pulled over into the next rest station, taking the opportunity to relieve their bladders as well as fill their bellies. The large bowls of steaming udon noodles and broth helped chase away the chill of the early morning mountain air. Outside of the building, large tarps had been laid out and a small grandiose pile of snow towered maybe a hundred fifty centimeters high. A couple of children were running up the sloping sides, shouting with laughter as they slid and fell.

Watching the children, playing in this artificial snow-playground, Fuji couldn't help but think of a few others who, if they had been here, would be mucking through that snow pile right now...

"Maybe we should go skiing this winter, all of us," he offered as they eased back onto the road. "These mountains are supposedly the best slopes in all of Japan, and I'm sure the others would love to go, too."

Tezuka glanced at him again, before training his eyes back on the more crowded roads of the Ban-etsu. "That might be nice," he agreed.

Another hour and a half passed in relative silence as the car drove through tunnel after tunnel. During the longer tunnels, Fuji found himself closing his eyes, waiting for it to end, waiting for the walls that seemed to surround him on all sides to break away so he could breath again. During one such waiting period, warm fingers brushed over his again, and he gratefully accepted their warmth and quiet support.

Their exit arrived shortly after they exited the mountains and reentered another stretch of rice paddies. The road signs were easy enough to follow to the castle, but they'd had to drive around to find an open parking lot. It seemed Tezuka wasn't the only one who thought that today might be a nice day to visit the Crane Castle.

They walked easily amongst the tree-lined path, the stone walls and steps leading them away from the small parking field. Fuji carried his camera bag over his shoulder, leaving the fanny-pack to Tezuka. He could hear it even over the sound of running water, mingling voices, and screaming, laughing children.

When they turned the corner and saw them, Tezuka paused, momentarily surprised. Fuji tried hard, he really did, but he soon found himself laughing as he looked at the two large courts that surrounded either side of the path leading up to the castle. It just seemed... somehow... very ironic that they had just driven over five hours to escape the sport that seemed to control so much of their lives... only to walk out of a wooded path and into a small courtyard with two tennis courts on either side.

Tezuka sighed. "I guess it can't be helped."

"Mmm." Fuji wiped some tears from his eyes and took a deep breath. "Come on. The bridge is up ahead."

The ancient Japanese castle was small in comparison to ones he'd seen in Europe, but then, it was the company that made this one special. Standing on the look out platform of the fifth floor, camera raised, he found himself more interested in taking another picture of his companion than of the scenic views to either direction.

"You would have done well," Fuji murmured, lowering the camera to look at Tezuka. "In this time period."

A hand reached out, brushing over the sleeve-covered arm. "So would you."

The grassy square courtyard of the castle was speckled with traps and blankets, couples and small families alike who had thought to bring some food for a picnic. Fuji convinced Tezuka to stand still long enough for him to snap a photo of the both of them, the castle in the background. They paid the extra five hundred yen to have tea in the old teahouse and then climbed the old stone steps to the upper look out, staring down into the water.

On the other side of the moat were the tennis courts.

"I love tennis..." Tezuka spoke up suddenly. "But, it's not *all* I want to do with my life... I want to, one day, be more than want I am now..."

Words were usually not needed for them anymore, and yet... Fuji frowned. "Are you saying you don't want to be professional?" he asked, allowing his feelings of melt into his voice. It was that special blend of shock and fear, mixed with intrigue that only Tezuka could produce in him...

And yet, the smile that danced around Tezuka's lips could actually be described as... whimsical... "I didn't say that, Syusuke..." the slightly older teen corrected mildly. "ProTennis has always been one of my goals; but it's only one..."

"Mmm..." There were more goals he didn't know about? That Tezuka had never shared with him? Well, that of course made sense... After all, you couldn't focus so completely on tennis all the time, right?

"I...always thought... one day," Tezuka continued, staring down at the water and tennis courts below but not seeing them, "I'd get married, have a son or daughter..."

Fuji's insides cringed, constricting painfully around the tea and cakes they'd eaten. His throat worked for several seconds before he finally managed to produce a sound. "Ah."

"But I let that goal slip away a long time ago," the other teen added, reaching up to touch Fuji's cheek, turning his face back to look into those eyes. "I promised my heart to someone else...and I don't break my promises very easily..."

Fuji couldn't help closing his eyes briefly, before forcing them open again to stare back at the older boy, smiling. "Un. Wakata." [I understand.] His cheek pressed more firmly into that palm before the hand could slip away, fingers brushing the back of his neck as they disappeared.

Tezuka cleared his throat, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. "What about you, Syusuke? What are your goals?"

The blond smiled again. Goals... they were such fickle things, but... "I decided long ago to follow you...where ever you may lead."

"...Thank you..."

"Mmn..." Fuji shook his head. "It's I who should thank you..." And then he added, barely louder than a breath of air, "love..."

Tezuka smiled, eyes sliding shut for a moment as if to savor the word, before nodding and repeating it. "...Love..."

They sat comfortably on the old worn stone slabs set beneath the shade of several trees and talked. It was an interesting change for the pair who normally needed no words at all to communicate their thoughts and feelings, who usually avoided talk if and whenever possible. But for now, they were talking about the future--another topic they usually naturally avoided, made different now because they were talking about *their* future, together.

"I've been looking at different colleges and universities," Tezuka admitted. "Looking at different majors."

Fuji wasn't surprised, even if it was a good eight months before university entrance exams would begin, he'd seen a few catalogues sitting neatly on Tezuka's desk. He nodded, murmured something that sounded like the acknowledgement it was, and continued to watch the sun play games with the shadows.

"I was thinking of something in business or law, maybe."

"I think you would look good in a suit," Fuji murmured, lazily tilting his head to the side to watch the sun and shadows dance off his companion's face and body.

"I also thought about Computer Science or Engineering..."

Fuji wrinkled his nose, shaking his head minutely even though he was aware of the use of "thought" and not "thinking".

Tezuka smiled. "They didn't sit right with me, either," he admitted. "What about you? What are you going to do about college?"

"Go where ever you go," Fuji replied, grinning and stretching, luxuriating in Tezuka's brief bit of laughter.

"And study *what*?" the other teen detailed.

"Mmm... saaa, I don't know," he admitted. "Whatever interests me."

"Are you purposely being vague, Syusuke?"

Fuji smiled. "No, I just honestly don't know what to do with myself."

They lapsed into silence for several longer minutes, allowing the gentle breeze to cool them, the dancing sunlight to warm them, and the love of their companion to comfort them. And then, Tezuka stood up, brushing off his pants and looking down at Fuji.

"We should get going; we have a long drive ahead of us."

"Mmm. Just let me take a few more pictures?" Fuji agreed, accepting the offered hand in assistance gaining his feet. "Those should develop well," he murmured finally, moving towards the four large steps they'd had to climb up to reach this little platform.

"I have your lens cap," Tezuka reminded him, a small smile on his face as he turned back to hand the piece of equipment to his partner.

There was a brief flash of light and a <click> before Fuji lowed the camera and smiled at him. "I know," he replied. "That's not all you have," he added, accepting the piece of plastic and moving it over the lens.

If looks were kisses....

"Thank you for bringing me here," He murmured as he joined Tezuka at the bottom of the steps... And then the other teen smiled and pulled Fuji to him, looping his arms around Fuji's waist in a loose embrace.

"We're in public" the blond reminded, smiling, too. It was the truth, even if this spot was fairly secluded.

"I know," Tezuka whispered before leaning down to lightly place a chaste kiss to Fuji's lips.

The old stone steps, the trees, the play of blue sky, white clouds, dancing shadows of trees.... and Tezuka.

Those who actually had the privilege to catch a glimpse of the picture always stopped and stared, and Fuji would smile before directing their attention away, because, really, that was a moment given expressly for him, and Fuji really was a possessive person. Especially when it came to his loved ones.

~Owarimasu~