WINTER HOLIDAY, WINTER TENNIS, WINTER LOVE

Disclaimer: Tennis no Oujisama belongs to Takeshi Konomi.

Written: 23/11/2003 – 1/12/2003

Rewritten: 15/3/2006 – 5/4/2006

Epilogue

Echizen Ryoma's name was indeed famous in the next ten years. Most people in the world knew him not just because of his God like style of Tennis that brought him to be one of the legendary tennis players known in the world, but more because of his best achievement in business carrier and his big name for his big companies.

Ten years had changed him a lot from a naive tennis player to a young successful businessman who owns no less than a big company and two of its branches. But despite the changes, his carefree ness was one of the things he brought up till being an adult. Ones hardly suspect his decision and his surprising behavior was one of the main factors that made him just as success as now.

In ten year, Ryoma achieved a lot in tennis world. Just like his father, the tennis pro world knew him just as unbeatable like his father, and also just as short-minded as him. He left the tennis world just at the time when he could reach all what the tennis pros wanted, leaving a very famous name as a legend that would always stay in people's mind.

His recent job forced Ryoma to spend his time working behind a private wooden desk, calculating share and counting for some speculations. It kept him busy all the time that he barely had time to spend in tennis. Feeding his mind with all the news about recent economic progression also kept him away from being in touch with tennis world, moreover to find out later news about the other former Seigaku's regular tennis club in his years there.

Echizen Nanjiroh, being the one who supported Ryoma the most in tennis, was clearly being furious. At first, he couldn't even take the fact that his only son was no longer pursuing career in tennis. But after a long time of try, he finally could at least accept that. Though, he never could accept the way his son works, which he called rather workaholic.

A few times, he tried to engage his son with some young women. He thought, maybe by having someone by his side could make Ryoma enjoy his life in different ways than just facing papers on his desk all day. But of course, being the Ryoma we knew, he only said 'yada' and left Nanjiroh without even further attention.

Though, Nanjiroh haven't really given up this plan yet.

Ryoma never had someone with him so far. He had a lot of friends and also fans, but he never actually went out with any of them. Every time he was asked about this by his father or some women magazine which awarded him as one of the most eligible bachelor available, he simply said 'not interested'.

The answer was 99 honest. After all, he found having to build a relationship and share things with someone while being so busy with all the companies' works would only be troublesome. The other 1 was actually a faint hope that one day he would meet Tezuka again and live happily ever after like most fairy tales carried out. But of course, he didn't really think it would come true.

Ryoma himself never found any other person that fitted him enough just as Tezuka did back then. It doesn't mean that he would wait for Tezuka for the rest of his life, but he just simply wanted to enjoy his life and not thinking much about it. He would rather wait until someone really appropriate for him to show up, rather than working hard on finding the person.

And that was until today...

A red dotted light on Ryoma's desk phone lightened along with a soft beep. Ryoma pulled himself away from reading a letter of proposal and pressed a certain button. "Echizen-san, a phone from your father in line three."

"Thank you." Ryoma answered and then pressed another button before picking up the mouth piece.

"Yo, son." It was Nanjiroh cheerful voice. "Have a great day?"

"What is it, oyajii?" Ryoma knew exactly that his father would never call him in the middle of his day work without a real something.

"How rude! Is your father no longer allowed to call you?"

"You know I'm busy right now." Ryoma's voice sounded irritated.

"I have arranged you to accompany someone for tennis." Nanjiroh said quickly, making Ryoma sighed to hold back his rising annoyance.

"Yada." Ryoma's mind goes suddenly to Sakuno. "I told you I'm busy."

"And you'll die on that pile of papers, Ryoma. You need some refreshment!" Nanjiroh's voice rose. "And how come you just forget tennis completely like this?"

"I'm not forgetting it, father. I'm just busy!"

"You are busy almost all the time. If you don't create the time for tennis, then you will never have the chance to do that!"

Ryoma's sigh was heard.

"Why don't you just listen to me once?"

"I've listened to you so many times before."

Nanjiroh sighed deeply, sounded like he was giving up again this time. "You have to go."

"Why should I?"

"You'll like it."

"How can you say so? You're not me."

Nanjiroh didn't directly answer. "Just... go. Just this time."

"Listen, I'm busy. Really. So you have anything else to say?"

A pause.

"This person will wait for you at four pm on Center Court. Just in case you change your mind."

"It is your appointment. Why don't you go see this person by yourself? Bye, father." And with that, Ryoma hung the line. His eyes went back to the letter he held and sighed.

A knock of his door along with his secretary's presence afterward startled him.

"Echizen-san, the meeting is soon."

Ryoma sighed again. Perhaps, he actually desperately needed some refreshing.

It was a really long time since the last time Ryoma went to Center Court and he was actually missing that place. It was one of his father's and his most favourite tennis court.

Ryoma stepped inside the court and found no one was actually there. He stared at his wrist watch, finding that it was 4.20 pm and cursed to his father or more to himself for arriving late. His mind offered him the possibility that the person his father had sent was probably had gone home.

Ryoma stopped outside the court line and put his racket bad on the ground. He examined his circumstance once again and still found no one. He sighed deeply. He had wasted his time to come all the way here and got nothing in return. Silently, he blamed his father in the first place, and in the end he blamed himself.

After sighing in resignation, Ryoma bowed down and picked hi bag. He rebounded to the entrance gate and swung his leg back to the entrance. And just when he looked straight to the gate, a familiar figure stepped inside the gate.

A tall guy with brown hair, wearing glasses and holding a racket on his left hand walked in before his eyes locked with Ryoma's. He stopped and stared at Ryoma, looking a bit surprised by the shorter guy's presence.

"Tezuka... buchou." Ryoma said, his voice sounded hoarse.

The older brunette who was now indeed looked more mature and grown stopped for a while before stepping closer. "You know I'm no longer your captain."

"Are you the one my father told me?"

Tezuka gave a nod.

"What if I didn't come?" Ryoma couldn't help to ask.

"Then that's my bad."

Ryoma stared at Tezuka. The older guy was now a lot taller. The fact that Ryoma had grown quite a number of centimeters didn't seem to affect the gap between their heights.

There was something funny in Ryoma's stomach, like it was now doing some kind of somersault. Ryoma was first sure that it was a mere dream about him meeting Tezuka which often happened during his sleep in his years of college. But when he heard Tezuka talked again, he was somehow sure he wasn't just dreaming.

"I heard you left tennis already."

"Not really leaving actually. It's just I found something else that keep busying me." Ryoma avoided Tezuka's eyes. Guilt was growing in his chest, remembering the fact that Tezuka was the one that made him found his own tennis style.

A pause. Ryoma was sure Tezuka would ask further questions about his retirement, just like all people he knew did when he announced about him focusing in his office work. But as he looked back at Tezuka's eyes after a brief silence, he only found the brunette smiling at him.

"So, how about some tennis?"

Ryoma's eyes widened in surprise. "My pleasure."

Rather than calling it a match, maybe both of them preferred to call it playing tennis. It wasn't that they didn't do the game seriously, but there was something different with the way they played today. It was more like a leisure game, like they were letting go the intense of their separation in ten years, not just about the tennis itself, but also about the life they once shared.

And at the end, Tezuka won by 7-5, proving that his existence in tennis world till now not just worth nothing.

"You're still really good." Tezuka said, shaking Ryoma's hand.

Ryoma stared at Tezuka. His eyes filled with lot things he couldn't simply perform in words. Longing, missing, hope, and many other things were suddenly growing rapidly in his heart which was almost always empty before. "You too."

They both went to the changing room and entered different shower cubicles. And while having the warm water ran through his body, Ryoma's thought went back to the past, to the exact time when he spent his days with Tezuka's presence around.

The passing ten years of subconscious waiting really felt like nothing, like it was just yesterday Tezuka told him he was leaving to America. And yet, it still felt so long that Ryoma suddenly felt so proud he had managed to pass it so well.

Now what will it be?

Are we just going to say goodbye and continue our mutual life?

Or does this meeting signed that there is going to be something happening between us?

Something that was delayed long time ago...

Or, am I just thinking too much? Hoping too much?

"Echizen?"

Ryoma turned back in surprise just to see Tezuka stood before his cubicle door which is as tall as his neck.

"Can I borrow your shampoo? I seem to have forgotten to bring one." Drops of water dripped down his hair to his face. His skin looked flushed as the effect of having showered with warm water.

Ryoma unconsciously gulped as he felt his mouth got dry. "H-here. I haven't used it yet, but you can use it first." Ryoma handed a small bottle through the gap and felt a sudden jolt as his finger lightly brushed with Tezuka's as the older boy took the shampoo.

"I'll return it to you soon." And soon, Tezuka was gone, most probably back to his cubicle, leaving Ryoma back with his own thought that was torturing him more and more.

Ryoma still remember though not that clear about the night they spent together in the winter holiday. He could still recall few memorable parts that were craved in his mind. Not a single day during his waiting in ten years had he not wanting it to happen again. Being able to make his mind not thinking about this stuff didn't mean that he had completely stopped hoping that the day when he would be able to feel Tezuka again would eventually come.

After applying the shampoo all over his hair and rinsed it by the flow of the water, Tezuka once again made an appearance upon Ryoma's cubicle and handed back the shampoo after saying a faint 'doumo'. Another great lost washed over Ryoma as Tezuka once again missing from his sight.

"Uhm, buchou..." Ryoma called before he could stop himself, not knowing what exactly he wanted by calling the other boy.

Tezuka went appearing back, "yes?"

And Ryoma's ratio went blank.

It didn't feel like it was his finger that opened the cubicle door. And it didn't even feel like it was his mind that ordered his hand to push the door and pulled Tezuka inside his cubicle. But soon after he found his lips were crushed with the other familiar lips, Ryoma was sure he was still himself.

"I really miss you," Ryoma heard Tezuka's voice muffled between the kisses. "Not a single day passed by without any hope that I would meet you somewhere."

Ryoma closed his eyes, savoring Tezuka's presence so close to him. "Don't ever let me go again. Don't ever let me wait again."

"I think I will never be able to go through the same problem again." Tezuka answered before giving Ryoma another full mouth kiss.

Within the flow of warm water Ryoma felt the building sensation he had long since the day they separated, and also within the arms of Tezuka, once again he felt he was somehow full again.

THE END

Note:

Not the best way to end a story, I guess...

Reviews are always expected.