DISCLAIMER: Konomi Takeshi owns Prince of Tennis and its characters. I don't.

NOTES: I've just watched PoT and methinks all the players in this fic are hot.

A lot of the facts I used here, such as Oshitari coming from Kobe, and him and Tezuka being elementary school classmates, are purely speculative. Don't kill me.

Also I'm not an expert at Kansaiben. I just ask a friend to help me out with the phrases I used. So...corrections welcome. Be kind, please? Translations at the end.

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Easier to Feel
by MorphailEffect

Tezuka stared back at the tall dark-haired youth. The tall dark-haired youth stopped in his tracks, an arm's length away. The cigarette he had been smoking rested between his very still fingers.

"...Hey," he said. And smiled.

Tezuka nodded.

"Sure is a strange place to meet. You're vacationing, too?"

"My family's been spending a week here every summer since I started middle school." Tezuka gave up all thoughts of escaping a civil conversation. He just focused on making it brief. "What about you?"

"I'm...here with someone."

Tezuka wasn't surprised. He looked like he was here with someone. There was a refreshed, relaxed glow all about him. It was almost familiar.

"I see. How long will you be staying?"

"Three nights. This is our last night. We have to be on our way early tomorrow."

"...You don't have much time, then. I shouldn't keep you."

"Wait," the young man said as he was walking past. Tezuka stopped abruptly, but didn't look back. "I know you're with your family...but..." A soft rustle of clothing as the young man turned. "Let's have dinner. Just the two of us. Like old times. Is that all right?"

His convincing manner left no room for saying no. By himself, Tezuka saw no reason to deny his request.

"All right. Tonight. Let's meet up here at 7 PM."

"You ya." There was some relief in that voice. The other became the one who walked ahead, and away. "Mata na." [1]

Tezuka stayed where he was a short time after the footsteps faded. The sun was setting over the mountains. 7 PM didn't seem so far off, and yet...

***

They had spent their last two years of primary school together. Ingrained in Tezuka's brain were memories of a smiling, cat-eyed, black-haired grade-schooler who spoke slowly and deliberately in his native Kansaiben, exuding charm and confidence in all quiet ways.

There were also memories of a boy growing into a dark attractiveness -- out of adulation, eagerness and a careless promise.

Oshitari Yuushi was born in Kobe, but he spent his first ten years of life traveling with his family. When he and Tezuka met, it was his first time out of the Kansai regions -- and as a result, his accent was thicker than anything Tezuka thought possible.

Tezuka had to ask the dark-haired boy to repeat himself, when he said "Play a match with me."

Then Tezuka asked, "Why?"

It would have been a hostile question, especially with how he asked it. But the other boy beamed. "Show me what's so much fun about it."

There was no way to refuse a request like that. Tezuka found to his great relief that the boy was a good player and a fast learner, for his age...owing perhaps to the fact that his father was a well-known tennis enthusiast. At the same time, Tezuka could tell the boy was never really serious about the game. They would probably meet often in that club, where their fathers liked to spend their weekends...but that was the extent of their relationship.

...or so Tezuka thought. Only a short while later they were exchanging CDs and magazines, trivia about pop records and TV dramas. Take away his tennis skills and penchant for romance flicks, Yuushi was an ordinary kid, as far as Tezuka could tell. He didn't pay Yuushi much mind.

Yet there was a sweetness about Oshitari Yuushi...cunning in essence, but consistent. And effective. He got away with calling the intense other child "Kuni" -- even if it was after much wheedling and negotiation. He became the only one with that special privilege.

Yuushi dropped in unannounced one weekend to return some CDs he borrowed, even after Tezuka had told him not to bother. He became witness to a short scene wherein an old man, apparently Kuni's grandfather, had a heated argument with a young woman, apparently Kuni's mother, over letting "that uncouth child" in. After pleas and humble entreaties, the young woman finally won. She let Yuushi in with a warm smile.

"It's so rare that Kunimitsu-san's friends come to visit," she whispered, and she echoed like a bell in the otherwise oppressive silence of the household. Yuushi decided he had never met a woman stronger than Kuni's mother.

"And she's very pretty, too," Yuushi said in the middle of his report. He sat in the middle of the excessively neat bedroom floor while Kuni moved about his shelves, taking out various magazines. "Kuni's grandfather is mean."

"He's strict, not mean," Tezuka corrected mechanically.

"Des'sa! [2] It's the summer break, and a Saturday too! You're not even allowed to play outside...?"

"He received my report card. He says I have to do a little advanced studying in some subjects before i begin fifth grade. That's what my weekends are supposed to be for."

"Hmm," Yuushi grimaced, not daring to speak his mind. It was going to be interesting, going to school with this willing little perfectionist after the summer was over with...

"He used to be an athlete, too," Tezuka was continuing. "I don't think he really wanted to quit."

Tezuka stopped moving. Yuushi got hold of himself with a start. He had been staring at Tezuka's back. He seemed to do that too often. Where had his thoughts been? He hoped Tezuka hadn't noticed...

"I think it would make him...happy...to have a champion athlete in the family..." Tezuka said softly, as if to himself.

"And that champion athlete...it's going to be you, right?"

Tezuka frowned, suspecting he was being made fun of.

A chuckle was making its way up Yuushi's throat. He let it out without predilection, earning a surprised glare from his friend, who was used to soundlessness.

"You can do it, though," Yuushi followed up. "I play you. So I know."

***

Tezuka wasn't looking forward to anything except a night of uncomfortable silences. Which never bothered him, really: silences had always worked in his favor.

But then if the shock of meeting that person by accident in one of the most unlikely places was enough to unsettle him, what exactly did he have to fall back on?

It wasn't like this during the provincial match, a year ago. They had both known they were going to meet, and they were prepared. Tezuka, on his part, genuinely felt nothing. He fixed his gaze on the tall and imposing dark-haired player without seeing someone he knew.

He saw a Hyotei regular.

An opponent.

Not a cheerful little kid who used to follow him around.

If there was anything similar in the kid and the young man, it was the sloppy, half-assed way they played tennis. But all that was years behind. He and Tezuka weren't meeting as athletes now. It was inevitable, he supposed...

Tezuka took leave of his family at around 6:30, saying he was going to spend the better part of the night walking under the stars. His grandfather agreed it was a good night for solitary contemplation.

The inn staff parted like water when Tezuka passed them on his way out.

The other young man was there early, but didn't look like he had been waiting long. He was dressed in something loose and long-sleeved...Tezuka noticed for the first time that if not for the other's feline eyes and smile, they with their similar fashion sense would be mistaken for brothers.

He realized idly that Oshitari Yuushi might have been the one who had taught him to dress himself. The probability wasn't far off. But he couldn't remember.

"Yo. Decided where to go yet?"

"I know the area. There are good restaurants near here. Let's look around."

Yuushi nodded and followed when Tezuka picked a direction and walked off.

They found a place with fewer patrons than the other food shops in the area. It was hidden, was comfortable, it was expensive -- it was perfect.

The first thing Oshitari did when they reached their table was pull out his cell phone and send out a short text message. "I have to report, or I'll be making someone worry," he replied to Tezuka's stare.

"Whoever this is, you two must be serious," Tezuka blandly remarked.

Oshitari rolled his eyes back. "Please. We're young. We're having fun."

"Your idea of 'fun' confounds me."

"Are you jealous?"

A look that was one step short of a glare.

"Never."

In reply, a soft chuckle, with perhaps a trace of bitterness. He pocketed his cell phone with a wistful smile.

"...Aika'razu denna." [3]

***

That the grade-school Yuushi -- or Yuu-chan, as he was often called -- liked to hang around "Kuni" was a mystery to everyone, including Tezuka himself. Tezuka ignored everything that didn't have to do with tennis or schoolwork. Moreover, he never hesitated to put down the people around him (regardless of age) for being careless or inattentive. Yuushi was not spared.

"Stop throwing that word around, Oshitari. Stop throwing it at me."

Cute -- one of the young Yuushi's favorite words -- meant nothing to Tezuka. Except that it was unseemly for any boy to say so liberally. And it was even less palatable when said to another boy.

"But it's the truth!" A light-hearted chuckle. "Honma ni Kuni ka'aii ya!" [4]

There was nothing to say to such a declaration, except "Shut up and serve."

But Oshitari Yuushi still spent most of his free time hunting down and sticking to Tezuka Kunimitsu...and Tezuka Kunimitsu never hid from him, or turned him away.

They were the only two skilled grade-school level players in the vicinity...it was natural that they would gravitate toward each other. There were no campus-based tennis clubs in elementary school, and Tezuka had to keep himself sharp. He often approached Yuushi to request after-school matches. Before they knew it, it had become a habit for them to hang out at the park court after school.

Most times, they were stared at... sometimes, they were left alone. The boys loved those alone-times best, for different reasons.

"Kuni is really serious, isn't he...about tennis..."

There was no reply. Eye on the ball, as always, even when no one was else was around to look. Yuushi smiled.

"So ya na [5]...maa. Guess I'm taking up tennis in earnest too."

The ball dropped in Tezuka's part of the court. Clearly a point the other boy let slide. Tezuka stood up straight.

"What? You?" A demand, not an inquiry. "Why?"

Yuushi was smiling his usual crafty smile while he met that challenging gaze.

"So Kuni won't be lonely."

***

The first topic was a safe one: how Hyotei and Seigaku had been doing since they graduated. It turned out that Seigaku was still kicking Hyotei's ass. Tezuka pinpointed that arrogance was going to have to stop being a tradition for the Hyotei tennis club.

"As if Seigaku doesn't have its share of prima donnas." Fingertips circling lazily over the wooden tabletop.

Tezuka replied soberly, "Our tradition isn't arrogant players, but hardworking ones."

"And captains born with whips in their hands." Oshitari sighed, smooth like a cat stretching. It was a childhood habit. "Hona ne [6]...to be honest, I didn't think we'd be seeing each other after our last match. I don't even think you recognized me then...you didn't look like it."

"I recognized you." A sip of tea, nonchalant. "I just didn't think it mattered that I did."

"So you ignored me...?"

"I met you as you came to me: as an opponent."

A grunt escaped Oshitari. He reached across the table to refill Tezuka's cup with hot tea. It might have occurred to Tezuka that it was little more than a random act that served to break their eye contact. "...Ah well. In any case, we wouldn't have had anything to say to each other."

"That's right."

There was an uncomfortable pause.

Oshitari broke it by reaching forward again.

"Don't move."

His fingers brushed lightly through the tips of Tezuka's hair. For a moment Tezuka felt dangerously close to something electric. He didn't move. He didn't even change expression.

...And he didn't ask what Oshitari was doing. Oshitari did that a lot when they were small: pretend there was something in Tezuka's hair. He would bring his face close to Tezuka's briefly, hold his gaze and give a predatory smirk.

Briefly. Then he would pull back, saying something smug like "Damn, it got away." As he did tonight.

But tonight his fingertips brushed across the side of Tezuka's neck as well.

Tezuka felt it like a mild shock, but did not react.

Oshitari looked serious and was about to say something, when they heard a jovial voice call out:

"Hora! What's this! Night's still young and you're already making out?"

Oshitari sat up straight. He looked tense, as if he was caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. He didn't look at the newcomer right away.

"...Gakuto."

***

Yuushi found his niche close to the end of their fifth year in primary. His voice broke early, and every other part of him seemed to want to catch up.

He grew taller. He also grew hornier. Oshitari Yuushi gave out the impression that he took nothing seriously, never really aspired for anything. Yet girls flocked to him like they never flocked to Tezuka. ...Not that Tezuka minded, of course. Eye on the ball. He had better things to do than flirt around.

But his playmate and tennis partner was drifting farther away. The mild sense of loss was only offset by the irritation he felt whenever Oshitari turned his lewd attentions onto Tezuka -- for lack of any other target, perhaps.

He seemed to be losing interest in tennis, and Tezuka didn't try to bring him back into the fold. The odd thing was, he still came to their after-school practices regularly. Yuushi only mentioned from time to time that he had a date, so would it be all right to terminate the practice match early?

Tezuka would shrug and say "Whatever. Do what you want."

Yuushi would sense the genuine annoyance. He would sidle up to Tezuka if they were sitting, or lean his weight against Tezuka's shoulder if they were standing. Lower his voice a notch.

"Don't be mad, Kuni. You're still the one I like most, na. Gottsu sukiyanenn. [7]"

Whenever Yuushi said things like that, it never struck Tezuka that he could be serious. Tezuka guessed that he could never be serious about something he said so freely and so many times.

"I have no interest in what you like or don't, Oshitari. I only care that my tennis partner isn't improving."

Oshitari frowned. "That's too much, Kuni. Tennis isn't everything..."

"If you think that's what I'm trying to tell you, you're wrong."

"So what are you trying to tell me?"

"That you have no direction. That if nobody kicks you, you're never going to kick yourself. How far in life do you think you'll get this way?"

Tezuka once turned his back on Oshitari after having said that, not waiting for the offended brushoff grunt that usually followed. He said a lot of such things to Oshitari. Perhaps for lack of anyone else to say them to.

"You know," Oshitari said to his back, "sometimes I think you could be kinder..."

Tezuka glared over his shoulder. "This is what I am." Not caring how forlorn the other boy looked. "I don't think it would hurt someone who really understood me."

Softly. "Chau de." A weak smile. "Toki ni itai ya." [8]

(to be continued)

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1 - "You ya" = "Good," Kansaiben equiv of "Ii yo" ; "Mata na" = "Until then."

2 - just an expression. Contracted "Demo sa!" or "But!"

3 - "You haven't changed."

4 - "Kuni is really cute!"

5 - "That's right" ; Hyojingo equiv: "Sou da ne."

6 - "Anyway"

7 - "I like you a lot."

8 - "Chau de" = "You're wrong" ; "Toki ni itai ya" = "Sometimes it hurts"