Prince of Tennis: Ibu Shinji, 097: Writer's Choice
Title: Mistletoe Drama
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Ibu Shinji, Mori Tatsunori, Uchimura Kyosuke, Kamio Akira, Ishida Tetsu
Prompt: 097: Writer’s Choice
Word Count: 1,264
Rating: PG
Summary: Why teammates and first kisses don’t mix.
Author's Notes: This takes place after the canon run, when Shinji et al are in 9th grade. Tachibana has moved on to high school. Happy Holidays!
Main table can be found here and here.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was An’s fault in the end, that was the one thing that Shinji had been sure of, afterwards.
At first, it hadn’t seemed like much. An had decided that the Fudomine tennis team wasn’t being festive enough, so she hung a sprig of mistletoe over the locker room door. Shinji hadn’t seen the point of it, really. What were the odds that two people were going to go through the door at once, especially when they all knew it was there? But it made An happy, which made Kamio happy, which in turn made the team happy, seeing as an unhappy Kamio made them run laps as if he had been possessed by Seigaku’s Tezuka. So the mistletoe stayed, and everyone was a bit extra careful.
Shinji did find it a bit odd that Kamio kept “accidentally” getting caught under it with An, but he didn’t say anything. An was the one subject that he could never tease his best friend about.
Even though Shinji knew it was there, Shinji eventually ended up forgetting about it. He had other things on his mind, like school and tennis and his sisters, that the small bit of greenery fell to the bottom of his list of things to be aware of. Kind of like being aware of his surroundings, because Shinji found himself running straight into Mori one evening after practice, catching his teammate as he was leaving the locker room.
Shinji blinked, staring up at Mori. “Oh…sorry. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going and didn’t see you, though I guess you weren’t either, or you would’ve seen me and probably not walked into me, so I guess we’re both at fault here….”
Mori chuckled, more than used to Shinji’s rambling. “No worries, Shinji. No harm done, right?”
“Right.” Shinji nodded, and moved to step around Mori.
“Wait!”
Shinji found himself blinking again as he looked past Mori to Uchimura, who was jumping up and down, waving his arms in the air. “Wait for what?”
“The mistletoe!” Uchimura pointed up, a wicked grin on his face. “You and Tatsu have to kiss now!”
“Do we really?” Shinji looked u at the plant, his eyes narrowed some. “It seems kind of silly if you ask me.”
Mori shrugged, looking rather unconcerned about the whole process. “It’s tradition, I guess, and it’ll shut Kyo up, at any rate. A lot’s worth that.”
“Hey!”
“You’re right.” Shinji nodded, sighing a little. “So how do we do this, anyway?”
“Shinji, you’re acting like it’s your first kiss.” Mori chuckled and kissed Shinji’s cheek quickly. “There.”
Shinji blushed a little, looking at the ground. “It was, actually,” he muttered, moving to step around Mori again. He felt ridiculous for saying that, but he wasn’t going to lie, either.
“No way!” Unfortunately for Shinji, Mori hadn’t been the only one to hear Shinji’s muttered confession. “Shinji, you can’t let that be your first kiss.” He shoved his doubles partner back up against Shinji. “Tatsu, do it properly this time!”
Shinji’s cheeks were on fire; he could feel the entire team staring at them. “That’s really not-”
His words were cut off when Mori pressed his lips to Shinji’s. Shinji’s eyes widened, then fluttered shut, relaxing a bit against Mori as they kissed. This isn’t so bad…Tatsu’s good at this…I wonder how many people he’s kissed before?
The kiss ended abruptly as Mori pulled away, rolling his eyes as he directed his attention to Uchimura. “I hope that satisfied you, Kyo, because you so totally owe me right now,” he said. “You made me kiss Shinji!”
Shinji froze, his expression becoming blank in a way that Kamio and Ishida both recognized as dangerous. He couldn’t even speak as he turned away from Mori and the rest of his team, stalking off, back ramrod straight, head held high, his grip clenched tight around the handle of his racquet.
Mori blinked. “What was that about? Ow!” He glared at Kamio, rubbing the back of his head where the redhead had smacked him. “What was that for?”
“For making Shinji feel like crap,” Kamio said bluntly. “He didn’t particularly want to be kissed by you any more than you wanted to kiss him, but you didn’t see him acting like you’re made of poison.”
“I…damn. I guess that was a little mean…but if he didn’t want to kiss me, what’d he get so defensive about?” Mori shook his head.
“Because, dumbass! Didn’t you hear him? It was his first kiss. And not only did you get it, you’re supposed to be his friend. That wasn’t very friendly.”
Ishida peered out the door. “I better go talk Shinji down before he decides that beating up the wall isn’t enough and takes his show on the road.” He slipped out the door.
Mori tried to follow, but Kamio stepped in front of him. “Oh, no. You’re not going anywhere until you figure out how to fix your mess.”
With some effort, Shinji had managed to get Ishida to leave him be, and he was now slumped against the wall. He was still simmering a little, but he was calmer overall, and he closed his eyes as he regained his breath.
“Hey, Shinji…ummm, can we talk?”
So much for calmer. Shinji cracked open one eye, looking up at Mori. “Did you finish getting your payback?”
The fact that Shinji’s tone was so nonchalant, couple with the fact that it had been a simple question and not more, worried Mori. “Yeah, about that. Look, I didn’t mean that to sound the way it did.”
“How did you mean it?”
Mori never thought that he’d ever long for the normal, rambly Shinji, but he was now. “Just…hell, Shinji.” He slumped to the ground next to Shinji, running a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t looking to kiss anyone, you know? And, fuck, call me romantic, but…first kisses should mean something, and I took yours, and I was angry at Kyo, because he knows how I feel about things like that. I didn’t mean to make it sound like kissing you was horrible.”
“ But you did, and I didn’t really want to give you my first kiss, either, I’d rather have given it to someone like Tachibana-san, or Tetsu, or maybe that Oshitari from Hyoutei, because I’ve heard he’s a really good kisser, but it was you, and you’re a friend, so it wasn’t that bad. Or I didn’t think it was. Was it?”
“Of course not!” Mori was just glad that Shinji was talking again. “If you hadn’t said something, I wouldn’t have known it was your first.” He nudged Shinji playfully. “Does that tensai thing carry over everywhere?”
“Maybe.” Shinji sounded a bit smug.
“So…we’re good?”
“Yeah, we’re good. I’m taking down that stupid plant, though.”
“Too late.” Mori laughed. “I yanked it down before I came out here.”
“I’m glad.” Shinji moved to stand, then glanced down in surprise when Mori’s hand closed over his wrist, preventing him from moving. “Tatsu?”
“I want to do this right.” Mori released Shinji’s wrist, tilting his chin up and holding the mistletoe over their heads with his other hand. “Merry Christmas, Shinji,” he murmured, just before leaning in to softly kiss Shinji.
This time, Shinji didn’t pause before responding, his lips moving against Mori’s a bit timidly before growing in confidence, slowly parting with one last brush. “Tatsu….”
“There.” Mori smiled as he kissed Shinji’s nose playfully, tucking the mistletoe away so he could dispose of it properly. “This time, it really did mean something.”
--The End--
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Ibu Shinji, Mori Tatsunori, Uchimura Kyosuke, Kamio Akira, Ishida Tetsu
Prompt: 097: Writer’s Choice
Word Count: 1,264
Rating: PG
Summary: Why teammates and first kisses don’t mix.
Author's Notes: This takes place after the canon run, when Shinji et al are in 9th grade. Tachibana has moved on to high school. Happy Holidays!
Main table can be found here and here.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was An’s fault in the end, that was the one thing that Shinji had been sure of, afterwards.
At first, it hadn’t seemed like much. An had decided that the Fudomine tennis team wasn’t being festive enough, so she hung a sprig of mistletoe over the locker room door. Shinji hadn’t seen the point of it, really. What were the odds that two people were going to go through the door at once, especially when they all knew it was there? But it made An happy, which made Kamio happy, which in turn made the team happy, seeing as an unhappy Kamio made them run laps as if he had been possessed by Seigaku’s Tezuka. So the mistletoe stayed, and everyone was a bit extra careful.
Shinji did find it a bit odd that Kamio kept “accidentally” getting caught under it with An, but he didn’t say anything. An was the one subject that he could never tease his best friend about.
Even though Shinji knew it was there, Shinji eventually ended up forgetting about it. He had other things on his mind, like school and tennis and his sisters, that the small bit of greenery fell to the bottom of his list of things to be aware of. Kind of like being aware of his surroundings, because Shinji found himself running straight into Mori one evening after practice, catching his teammate as he was leaving the locker room.
Shinji blinked, staring up at Mori. “Oh…sorry. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going and didn’t see you, though I guess you weren’t either, or you would’ve seen me and probably not walked into me, so I guess we’re both at fault here….”
Mori chuckled, more than used to Shinji’s rambling. “No worries, Shinji. No harm done, right?”
“Right.” Shinji nodded, and moved to step around Mori.
“Wait!”
Shinji found himself blinking again as he looked past Mori to Uchimura, who was jumping up and down, waving his arms in the air. “Wait for what?”
“The mistletoe!” Uchimura pointed up, a wicked grin on his face. “You and Tatsu have to kiss now!”
“Do we really?” Shinji looked u at the plant, his eyes narrowed some. “It seems kind of silly if you ask me.”
Mori shrugged, looking rather unconcerned about the whole process. “It’s tradition, I guess, and it’ll shut Kyo up, at any rate. A lot’s worth that.”
“Hey!”
“You’re right.” Shinji nodded, sighing a little. “So how do we do this, anyway?”
“Shinji, you’re acting like it’s your first kiss.” Mori chuckled and kissed Shinji’s cheek quickly. “There.”
Shinji blushed a little, looking at the ground. “It was, actually,” he muttered, moving to step around Mori again. He felt ridiculous for saying that, but he wasn’t going to lie, either.
“No way!” Unfortunately for Shinji, Mori hadn’t been the only one to hear Shinji’s muttered confession. “Shinji, you can’t let that be your first kiss.” He shoved his doubles partner back up against Shinji. “Tatsu, do it properly this time!”
Shinji’s cheeks were on fire; he could feel the entire team staring at them. “That’s really not-”
His words were cut off when Mori pressed his lips to Shinji’s. Shinji’s eyes widened, then fluttered shut, relaxing a bit against Mori as they kissed. This isn’t so bad…Tatsu’s good at this…I wonder how many people he’s kissed before?
The kiss ended abruptly as Mori pulled away, rolling his eyes as he directed his attention to Uchimura. “I hope that satisfied you, Kyo, because you so totally owe me right now,” he said. “You made me kiss Shinji!”
Shinji froze, his expression becoming blank in a way that Kamio and Ishida both recognized as dangerous. He couldn’t even speak as he turned away from Mori and the rest of his team, stalking off, back ramrod straight, head held high, his grip clenched tight around the handle of his racquet.
Mori blinked. “What was that about? Ow!” He glared at Kamio, rubbing the back of his head where the redhead had smacked him. “What was that for?”
“For making Shinji feel like crap,” Kamio said bluntly. “He didn’t particularly want to be kissed by you any more than you wanted to kiss him, but you didn’t see him acting like you’re made of poison.”
“I…damn. I guess that was a little mean…but if he didn’t want to kiss me, what’d he get so defensive about?” Mori shook his head.
“Because, dumbass! Didn’t you hear him? It was his first kiss. And not only did you get it, you’re supposed to be his friend. That wasn’t very friendly.”
Ishida peered out the door. “I better go talk Shinji down before he decides that beating up the wall isn’t enough and takes his show on the road.” He slipped out the door.
Mori tried to follow, but Kamio stepped in front of him. “Oh, no. You’re not going anywhere until you figure out how to fix your mess.”
With some effort, Shinji had managed to get Ishida to leave him be, and he was now slumped against the wall. He was still simmering a little, but he was calmer overall, and he closed his eyes as he regained his breath.
“Hey, Shinji…ummm, can we talk?”
So much for calmer. Shinji cracked open one eye, looking up at Mori. “Did you finish getting your payback?”
The fact that Shinji’s tone was so nonchalant, couple with the fact that it had been a simple question and not more, worried Mori. “Yeah, about that. Look, I didn’t mean that to sound the way it did.”
“How did you mean it?”
Mori never thought that he’d ever long for the normal, rambly Shinji, but he was now. “Just…hell, Shinji.” He slumped to the ground next to Shinji, running a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t looking to kiss anyone, you know? And, fuck, call me romantic, but…first kisses should mean something, and I took yours, and I was angry at Kyo, because he knows how I feel about things like that. I didn’t mean to make it sound like kissing you was horrible.”
“ But you did, and I didn’t really want to give you my first kiss, either, I’d rather have given it to someone like Tachibana-san, or Tetsu, or maybe that Oshitari from Hyoutei, because I’ve heard he’s a really good kisser, but it was you, and you’re a friend, so it wasn’t that bad. Or I didn’t think it was. Was it?”
“Of course not!” Mori was just glad that Shinji was talking again. “If you hadn’t said something, I wouldn’t have known it was your first.” He nudged Shinji playfully. “Does that tensai thing carry over everywhere?”
“Maybe.” Shinji sounded a bit smug.
“So…we’re good?”
“Yeah, we’re good. I’m taking down that stupid plant, though.”
“Too late.” Mori laughed. “I yanked it down before I came out here.”
“I’m glad.” Shinji moved to stand, then glanced down in surprise when Mori’s hand closed over his wrist, preventing him from moving. “Tatsu?”
“I want to do this right.” Mori released Shinji’s wrist, tilting his chin up and holding the mistletoe over their heads with his other hand. “Merry Christmas, Shinji,” he murmured, just before leaning in to softly kiss Shinji.
This time, Shinji didn’t pause before responding, his lips moving against Mori’s a bit timidly before growing in confidence, slowly parting with one last brush. “Tatsu….”
“There.” Mori smiled as he kissed Shinji’s nose playfully, tucking the mistletoe away so he could dispose of it properly. “This time, it really did mean something.”
--The End--