Disclaimer: I don't own anything..I just like to play from time to time XD
A/N: This is the first part of a fanfic I wrote some time ago; the first multipart one I ever wrote; third fanfic in total...
And sorry for typos, grammar or word mistakes as English is not my motherly tongue, so I still have to work on it .
If you like that one here of if you have some advice for improving , please let me know... comments are loved, nya!
One: Strawberries, or why everything sweet has to end
"Nya, wait for me, Fuji", Eiji complained and started to increase his speed to catch up with his friend. "Let's go home together today?" the redhead continued once he was walking next to Seigaku's tensai, who just faced him and smiled. "Sure."
"Oi, Eiji-sempai! Not accompanying us today?" Momo, who somehow must have overheard them, shouted from behind, "Echizen and me just decided to eat something nice and we thought that maybe you want to join us…"
Eiji didn't miss the mischief in the younger one's voice and turned around, just to see both of them standing there; Momo was grinning broadly, while Echizen just pulled down his white cap to hide his rolling eyes, as if he wanted to say something, but whatever it was, it remained unspoken.
"Sorry, not today", Eiji started grinningly to reply to Momoshiro's request, "today it's just Fujiko and me, nya!" While saying the last words, the redhead just grabbed the mentioned one's arm and – as an emphasise of his words- pulled him a bit closer.
"Not going to treat them today?" the brunette asked teasingly, with his usual smile in place, after making sure that they couldn't be heard anymore.
"Mou, they're making it a habit to let me treat them…and if I'm going to refuse, Momo always starts with 'It's your duty as our sempai to take care of us, isn't it?' –nya, they always try to trick me, but I tell you, this won't function anymore!"
There wasn't any comment following on Eiji's statement, just a soft chuckle could be heard.
Tennis practice just had ended a bit earlier than usually, since it was the first day, which really deserved being called "spring's day"- a light breeze of fresh air accompanied the soft, but continuous sunshine. It was a lovely, warm day and so Ryuzaki-sensei had dismissed them from practice, after just reminding them to remember the aspects, which still needed some improvement, so they would be able do better next time.
Everyone seemed to be affected by the sudden change of weather and the atmosphere it was causing- even Tezuka seemed to make them run less laps than usually, although his expression stayed as stoic as ever.
"Hm, Eiji? Since the weather is that nice today, how about getting some ice-cream?", Fuji broke the few moments of silence, which had passed by since the redhead had stopped his rambling for a short period of time. In that case it wasn't really difficult to predict Eiji's reaction. By hearing the mention of ice-cream, ocean-blue eyes widened and were filled with some kind of happy sparkling. "That a great idea, Fujiko! I'd love to.." He had started to shuffle through his pockets, obviously searching for something, which refused to be found in that moment. Eiji frowned slightly, when he stopped talking.
"It's okay. I'll treat you", Fuji offered and was rewarded with the return of the redhead's happiest smile. "Really? Nya, but you don't have to.."
"Really", the brunette replied, while recognizing that he himself seemed to be affected by that weather- and that smile of Eiji- too, as he realized that his own smile had broadened slightly.
"Thank you, Fujiko, nya!" Eiji exclaimed and glomped his friend spontaneously, while continuing to speak. "You really are my best friend, aren't you?"
"But one thing, Eiji…I'm not going to carry you the whole way to the ice-cream parlour," the tensai softly interrupted the other one's discussion with himself about the topic, which flavour would be the best choice, as the redhead didn't seem to have the intention to let go of him during the previous fifty meters.
"You're not? Too bad..", Eiji commented, feigning innocent disappointment.
"Mou, honestly you're getting a bit heavy; Regarding this, maybe ice-cream isn't such a good idea at all, " Fuji suggested smilingly. "Oh, don't tease me like that!", the other one complained, finally letting go of his friend. "I just thought it was fun to be carried around...and we're almost there," he continued, still feigning some pout.
A few moments later Eiji's attention was focussed on his ice-cream; strawberry-flavoured with tiny chocolate chips- sweet and tempting. The two of them just had decided to head to the street-courts, which lay nearby, to sit down and relay a bit. And that was exactly what the two regulars were doing right now- sitting on a bench and eating ice-cream.
However, there were no player using the courts, so a peaceful silence- which was only interrupted by the first one's comments on how "yummy and delicious" his ice-cream just was and the other one's chuckling- was engulfing them.
Glancing around, Fuji found himself quite amused by Eiji's happy expression- innocent like a little kid- and on how the other's red hear seemed to gleam as the sunshine reflected on it in a somehow lovely way. It was quite a memorable scene, as it truly represented the atmosphere of spring, and he started to regret hat he didn't brought his camera; he had forgotten it at home as he had been busy with developing some photos the previous day.
Slightly lost in thoughts, Fuji didn't recognized the first moments the other one became completely silent, but after a few seconds he started to wonder. Eiji's glance had changed, it didn't seem to be focussed on something certain, just staring.
"Hm? What's wrong Eiji?", he asked curiously, watching the redhead's reaction.
"Nya, what?" The addressed one blinked a few time to focus his view again and his expression went back to normal again, only a slight sign of confusion on it.
"Nothing's wrong. I just was thinking about...nya, whatever."
The brunette was just about to ask which matters were concerning his friend, when the two of them recognized a shadow falling upon them, shielding them from sunshine, as somebody stepped in front of the bench they were just sitting on.
"Fuji Syusuke, what a coincidence.." A familiar voice started, spiced with a challenging undertone.
Instead of answering, Fuji just turned to Eiji. "Who is that guy? He seems to know me from somewhere, doesn't he?" The redhead just recognized the mischievous curve of the other one's smile and knew how this was going to end. That would be some fun, actually.
"Nya, Fujiko! You don' t remember him?", Eiji replied as innocently as possible, "It's that "nfu"-guy from your younger brother's school. He had been beaten by you in a single's match some time ago...I guess his name was…"
"Mizuki!! It's Hajime Mizuki, manager of St. Rudolph's tennis team," the dark-haired boy in front of them interrupted angrily, his left eye twitching.
"Ah, is that so?" Fuji replied totally unimpressed, his usual smiling expression still in place, before he distracted his attention from the tennis player standing in front of him.
That Mizuki just had ruined his opportunity to ask Eiji what the other one had thought about in that moment, which annoyed him a bit.
"Don't even try to ignore your destined rival!", Mizuki started anew, not giving up in any way, and pushed away some strands of his dark, shiny hair. "Since we're meeting here by coincidence…how about a tennis match? You and..", he stared at the redhead, who watched the whole scene with curious amusement "..and Kikumaru against me and.." St. Rudolph's manager turned around, as if he was searching for somebody. "Akazawa!"
Fuji just raised his eyebrows questionably and also Eiji blinked slightly confused.
"Honestly, it doesn't seem like anyone of your team- except you- is just present here. So the whole thing isn't going to function, ne? ", the redhead commented on the scene and leaned back.
"He can't be that far away, I'll go and get him. Just wait for a moment," Mizuki replied angrily, not content with how things were developing, and turned around to do as he just had announced.
As the silhouette of their challenger slowly disappeared, Fuji just leaned to Eiji, smiling at him. "Eiji?" "Fujiko?" "Let's leave before he is going to return?", the brunette suggested, opening his eyes for a few seconds, well-knowing that his friend would agree.
And, as a result, these two just grabbed their bags and stepped down the stairs, which led to the street below.
While he was walking next to his friend, Eiji just glanced at his wrist-watch. Fuji, as perceptive as ever, didn't miss that. "You have to leave?", he asked, successfully hiding the slight spur of disappointment, which almost had been reflected in his voice.
"Sorry Fujiko…I'll have to be back as soon as possible, as I promised my mother to help her with dinner today..", Eiji apologized shyly, while touching the nape of his neck with his left hand as a gesture of being uncomfortable with the current situation.
"Ah, I won't keep you from doing so", the other one replied. "You should hurry then," he added after a few seconds, as Eiji didn't make any attempts to go. "Uhm..yeah", the redhead agreed with some hesitation. "See you tomorrow then!" And a few moments later, Seigaku's acrobat was moving out of sight.
While watching his friend disappear, the brunette tensai couldn't wipe off the thought that something still was upsetting his friend- even after the other one told him there wasn't anything, he didn't seemed to be his usual self in the end.
But, Fuji thought, maybe he could be wrong with that assumption. Maybe.
A/N: There are still some chapters to follow (four or five I think ), but I can't tell exactly when I'm going to upload them. Depends on the fact if somebody is reading this here or not lol