30_Memories: TezukaxFuji
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Title: The Symphony of Rain
Chapter: 2/30
Author: relinquished972
Theme(s): # 24 [Rosemary; Remembrance]
Pairing/Characters: Fuji Syusuke, Kikumaru Eiji/Oishi Syuichiroh, Atobe Keigo, Ryuzaki Sumire, Ryuzaki Sakuno, Shishido Ryou, Mukahi Gakuto, Oshitari Yuushi
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don’t own Prince of Tennis
Summary: [Fic for 30_memories] Upon receiving news of Ryuzaki-sensei’s illness, the Regulars have come together again as a last request from their dying coach. Fuji returns from university in Sydney and must face the memories of Tokyo he had wanted to leave behind.
Chapter Two
~ Fragments ~
2005, Tokyo, Japan
“There he is nya!” Kikumaru Eiji jumped up and down, waving his arms madly. “OI, FUJIKO! OVER HERE!”
Fuji had just come out of the Arrivals gate and was shouldering his backpack when he looked up at the call. The redhead was leaning on his partner, using his shoulder as a support for him to spring up and down on the balls of his feet to catch the blonde’s attention. He met Fuji at halfway, practically leaping into the shorter man’s arms.
“Eiji, it’s been a while.”
“Three and a half years almost!” Eiji stated, grimacing. “You’ve grown a bit I suppose, but you’re still shorter than me.”
“I’ve always been shorter than you.” They walked back to where Oishi was waiting for them, Eiji’s arm around his friend’s shoulders. “It’s been a while, Oishi, how are you?”
The first thing both Eiji and Oishi had noticed about their prodigy was that he had lost the boyish roundness to his face, which now resembled a finely sculpted model’s. When his eyes were closed, his lips no longer curved into that familiar, bright smile to match. The overall effect changed his sweet attractiveness to mature and sensual.
Oishi and Eiji, to Fuji, looked much the same, only older. Eiji had not lost the bounce in his attitude and being around Oishi felt as comfortable and secure as ever. There were some things that never did change and Fuji was glad of it.
“I’m doing well, considering I finally got a day off from the hospital . . .”
“Nya, he never gets any days off,” Eiji sniffed. “Always work, work, work - he’s Ryuzaki-sensei’s doctor, you know. Well, one of them anyway. He leaves early, returns late and if sensei didn’t tell him to come home, I don’t think he would!”
“Eiji!” Oishi looked mortified.
Fuji chuckled. Some things never really changed, no matter how much time had passed.
“Do you want to stay with us, Fuji, or back at home?” Eiji asked, eyes brightening at the prospect of housing with his best friend again. “It would be like old times! You know, the two of us sharing a room, telling ghost stories . . .”
“Three of us, Eiji,” Fuji correctly gently, nudging Oishi.
“Sure, three of us, whatever,” the redhead replied, flapping a hand, his excitement not having wavered. “Stay with us, Fuji, please!”
“Ah . . . perhaps I shall.”
XXX
2000, Tokyo, Japan
“Oi, oi, Atobe! Look, it’s Seigaku.”
The former Hyotei captain-turned-high school freshman turned his head away from his conversation with Oshitari to see the entire Seigaku team in the opposite court, some of them sitting on the sidelines while their team mates were having their matches. They were playing doubles at that moment.
“Heh, it’s not like they’re of any importance to us,” Atobe sniffed, leaning against the tree he was standing beside. “Freshmen aren’t allowed into their team and the others aren’t all that interesting anyway.”
“All you care about is having a rematch with Tezuka,” Shishido said snappily. And for your information, they’re just outside those courts too.”
The man Atobe had long deemed his rival was there, outside of the fence around the courts Seigaku and Ginka were playing in, watching the matches with rapt interest. Tezuka was taller than most of his seniors now, but the others hadn’t changed all that much in appearance.
“Oh? Their prodigy is missing.”
“Is he all you talk about when Seigaku is mentioned?” Mukahi growled, punching his doubles partner on the shoulder.
“I’m only trying to point out that it’s rare to see Tezuka without the prodigy somewhere behind him, don’t you think?”
“Maybe something happened, who knows?”
Uninterested, Atobe got up and began moving towards the shaded sitting area, which was deserted because of all the matches. He bought a drink at the vending machine (because he was a teenager and had his share of soft drink too) and sat down to open it, before getting distracted.
Seigaku’s prodigy was stretched out underneath a large tree on the other side of the sitting area, reading a book. He was wearing Seigaku’s gym clothes, but his right ankle was bandaged tightly and he looked to be asleep. The only member of the team Atobe had remembered to fall asleep anywhere was that freshmen, Echizen Ryoma, last year.
“Atobe, are you just going to stand there and stare?”
Fuji was looking at him now, eyes open, his ever present smile intact on his face. He patted the grass next to him invitingly, stretching out again. Atobe looked at him for a moment, trying to find a reason not to comply, but decided to sit down anyway. What was the harm in doing so?
“You’re not watching the match,” he said with a smirk. “This year’s team not good enough for your standards?”
“That would be you, Atobe,” Fuji replied easily. “I was sent here to rest.” He motioned to his ankle lazily, still smiling. “The captain says that I shouldn’t even be here, but since I am, he told me to stay in the shade.”
“Really now?” the Hyotei player raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like you to get injured so carelessly.”
“Ah, perhaps not.” Fuji shrugged. “Then again, I’m no longer the most valuable asset to the team anymore. A freshman can’t be that important to a high school team.”
XXX
2005, Tokyo, Japan
After they dropped off Fuji’s things at their apartment, Oishi and Eiji rushed him to the hospital where their former coach was now staying. They had been visiting her almost every weekend now, despite her protests, and the whole team gathered there every Sunday to keep her company for visiting hours.
“Sensei! Look who’s finally here!” Eiji announced cheerfully, opening the door to her room. “Look! Look!”
Ryuzaki Sumire, with the aid of her granddaughter, propped herself up with her pillows. Her cheeks were sunken and she had lost a lot of weight since Fuji last saw her, but her dark eyes were still sharp and clear. That was one thing Fuji was grateful to see when he entered the room and met her eyes.
“What took you so long?” she demanded, folding her arms as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Sorry, sensei,” he apologised with a smile. “I got here as soon as I could. I really have no excuse.”
“Well, you’re here, that’s what’s important.” She patted the bed, where there was a chair placed beside it. He took the seat obediently. “Tell me how your life is going in Australia.”
“We’ll leave you to talk, grandma,” Sakuno piped up, going to the door. Eiji and Oishi followed. “You’ll have a lot to catch up on, ne?”
Sakuno was now a tall, willowy young woman with a modest, attractive figure who would, no doubt, make heads turn when she entered a room. Her timid and under confident nature had changed into a quiet resolve that reflected in her eyes. She no longer avoided people’s gazes, but met them eye for eye if she needed to.
When they left, Fuji rested a hand on his teacher’s and felt a chill run down his spine at how thin and bony she had become. If it wasn’t for the fire in her eyes, that tremendous willpower he had always been awed of in junior high, he wouldn’t have believed that this was his coach. She had changed so much.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said sharply. “I may be bedridden and old, but I’m not dead yet. Now tell me what’s been happening.”
“Ah . . . I’m studying at the University of New South Wales, which has the best psychology department in the state. I’ve just finished my major exams and I’m waiting for my results. If I pass, I can go onto my fourth year and then finish my bachelor’s degree.”
“Any lovers?”
He would have blushed, had he not expected the question. Of course that would probably be one of the main things that people would ask. He smiled easily at her and shook his head. She sighed and reached over to pat his shoulder.
“I don’t want to see any of my students live their lives alone,” she said seriously. “Sakuno, that silly girl, still pines after Ryoma, even after all this. Even her loud-mouthed friend has given up on him, but she insists that she will wait for that brat.”
“And Echizen?”
“Still comes back from time to time, but never for long. Last I heard, his father was arranging dates for him where they lived in New York. One of them obviously worked, because Momoshiro says he’s dating this girl pretty heavily.”
That explained the strange expression in Sakuno’s eyes. She must have known about Echizen’s relationship and having not given up on him yet, must want the opportunity to get him for herself. He felt a pang of something akin to pity for her, not being able to have the person she wanted. Ryuzaki-sensei leaned back on her pillows and studied his face carefully.
“You’d probably be able to tell that she’s not going to let this go so easily. I have a feeling that she’s going to grow up to be a lonely woman, with the way Ryoma acts around her. That’s why I don’t want to see you unhappy, okay?”
He knew that he would most likely let her down in this matter, even if he did nod silently and smile. The world wasn’t ready for what he wanted and for the past three years he hadn’t even known if he was ready for it. She knew he had lost too much in the past, because she had been there for him when he needed someone the most.
“I’ll try,” he told her. “No promises, but I’ll try.”
“You’d better. If it isn’t already enough to try and convince one stubborn granddaughter, I don’t want to be always trying to get you to do what you know is best for you. Like playing tennis.”
He chuckled, remembering how she had been the first (of many) to relay her shock and appal at the news of his retirement from tennis at the end of high school. The decision had been dragged out for a while already and it was to be expected, but they still didn’t hide their disappointment when it finally came.
XXX
2000, Tokyo, Japan
The summer rankings were just around the corner and the freshmen were finally able to compete for Regular positions. For their newcomers, ones that hadn’t attended Seigaku junior high, rankings were a new and exciting experience. At least, that was what Tachibana told them, when he was preparing for his first match on the first day of rankings.
Only two of them made it in that year. Tachibana, though on National level for junior high, was beaten 6-2 and 6-4 by a second and third year. The Golden Pair went down in their individual matches and Inui was severely overcome by both Tezuka and their captain. The new team had four seniors, two juniors and two freshmen - the level a far cry from their National team last year.
He had been put into doubles for the matches, while Tezuka was put straight into second singles. It wasn’t fair, really, since he was just as good as Tezuka and would be more so if he bothered to put any effort into training and playing. But then again that may have been the reason why Yamato put him in doubles.
“Well, at least you get to play,” Eiji said mournfully.
Yes, he did get to play in matches, but what was the point if the style of play the senior he had been paired up with restricted his play? There was no way he could have been able to achieve his best if he wasn’t given the room to do it. The senior was demanding and he was controlling and Fuji had never flourished well under orders.
They lost both doubles to Hyotei in the semi-finals. Atobe was playing singles one, like he had been at the beginning of the year. Hyotei only needed strong players; they didn’t care about seniority, like Seigaku did. Fuji envied them for this and he told Atobe so after the match.
“That’s why Hyotei is so strong.”
“But you still managed to lose to Seigaku in all three singles,” Fuji pointed out, smirking. “Still, it must be good to get to choose your partners for doubles.”
“Ask Oshitari, Mukahi or Shishido,” Atobe replied dismissively. “I play singles, in case you’ve forgotten, Fuji.”
“Who would you partner with, if you were to play doubles?” the prodigy persisted curiously. “If you were really to choose a partner for doubles.”
“Not Sanada, for one,” was the prompt reply. This earned a chuckle from the Seigaku player. “They’d have to be someone I consider a strong player.”
“I see.”
And he did see. Atobe was not the kind of person who would put up with a weak player. Slackers he could (taking into account that Jirou was still on the team even though he slept through practice most of the time), as long as they performed at their best during matches, but not weaklings. It wasn’t a particularly good quality to have and, from experience, Fuji knew it caused conflict between the members of the team.
“Hyotei is recruiting new members.” An elegant shrug from Atobe, making the statement more casual than it should be. “We need more.”
“Three hundred isn’t enough for you?”
“Three hundred strong players may be, but three hundred common ones are a totally different story.” Grey eyes met his. “Hyotei wants new strength.”
He understood the message in Atobe’s eyes. The other had seen the way his doubles partner played. He understood that Fuji was chafing under such conditions, such treatment and he knew the one thing Fuji wanted was the thrill of tennis. He couldn’t get it in doubles. He couldn’t get it in Seigaku.
XXX
2005, Tokyo, Japan
He hadn’t played a proper tennis match since he had left. Occasionally he would pick up his racquet and practice against the brick wall of his garden, just so his control wouldn’t slump, but otherwise he hadn’t played at all. The Golden Pair still did, obviously, with all the tennis gear in the living room and the trophies displayed in the cabinets.
“You guys have been working hard.”
“Of course,” Eiji said happily, bouncing towards the cabinets. “We enter whatever tournament we can, in doubles, and we win all the time!”
“Usually first, but sometimes second or third as well,” Oishi corrected. There was the familiar spark in his eyes when they spoke of tennis. “We’ve realised that there is always stronger opponents out there, waiting for us to play.”
“Have you played, Fuji, in Australia?”
“Actually, I haven’t since I’d left.”
The redhead’s eyes widened in shock.
“I know you gave up tennis, but you haven’t played even one match since you left? That’s shocking, Fujiko! And to think the nine of us used to live and breathe tennis twenty four hours a day!”
“I haven’t been able to find any thrill in it since.”
He’s really different, Eiji realised. I didn’t notice it before, but he’s lost his enthusiasm for tennis totally. He’s no longer the prodigy we knew, the tennis prodigy who loved tennis and everything to do with it.
Later that night, when they were heading up for bed, Fuji dropped his wallet while going into his room. Eiji picked it up where it was lying open on the floor and stared. He directed his gaze to the prodigy, whose smile had all but gone.
“What did you do to the photo?” he asked softly, not letting go of the wallet.
“I did what I had to.”
Fuji snatched back the wallet, bidding him goodnight, and closed the bedroom door behind him. This left Eiji to walk back to his room alone, the photo still vivid in his mind. Oishi heard the sound of Fuji’s door slamming and came out of their room to see his doubles partner in shock.
“Eiji, what’s the matter?” he asked in concern. “Is Fuji angry at something?”
The redhead couldn’t form the words to tell his partner what was wrong. He just stared into Oishi’s worried green eyes and hoped he would understand. It was well known that Fuji had a picture of the most important people in his life in his wallet. Eiji had used to tease him about it.
In the photo, there was Yumiko, their Nationals team, Yuuta, Fuji himself and various other people. It had been taken on Fuji’s birthday a year before he had left and Fuji had once said that he would never take it out of his wallet.
“He - he cut . . .”
“Eiji, what’s wrong? What did he do?”
“He cut himself out of the picture.”
XXX
End
XXX
The story is building! There is much angst and much, much soap opera drama ahead for the boys. And you guys need to find out what happened before Fuji left Japan. The plan is done for all thirty chapters and it sounds like a soap opera. Seriously. I'll try and improve it while I can.
Comment please!