"Beginning"
By: Setsuna-X

Summary: A simple thing can effectively snowball into something more. TezuRyo Tezuka's POV OneShot
Disclaimer: PoT and its characters do not belong to me.
Note(s): This fic is done entirely in Tezuka's POV

It all started with a smile.

Echizen never smiled at anyone. He would smirk, look angry, annoyed, or confused, but never smile. What made me so special then? Was it because I was his Captain? Because he respected me? Or was it because of something else?

There was no laughter in his eyes, no condescending challenge in the cat-like orbs; just a genuine smile. One day during practice was when it happened. I believe I widened my eyes in surprise because Echizen's smile only grew bigger and his eyes danced in new amusement.

Was he making fun of me? I somehow couldn't see that. But then he stayed longer after practice. He turned down the invitation for free burgers from Momoshiro and Kikumaru. He seemed to be waiting for someone, or should I say he was waiting for me?

He walked me to the train station. I wanted to walk him home, like a good senpai, but he shook his head and gave me that exact same, kind smile. It wasn't like Fuji's creepy one where you never knew what was going on in his head, nor like Inui's sharp grin that promised some ill-tasting juice, but a soft smile—one that made his eyes look content.

At that moment I realized that I only wanted him to smile at me that way. I felt this sudden wave of possessiveness hit and envelop me. That soft, kind smile was my special smile. It was one where Echizen let down his walls that prevented people from getting too close. That small uplift of his lips was all I needed to know that I was special, that I was different from everyone else in his eyes.

After that I would notice that he would smile more around me and something about him seemed livelier. My own eyes followed him everywhere during practice. I tried to delude myself and say that I was only watching him as a captain, but even that excuse seemed feeble in my mind.

I noticed that he would never smile for someone else like he did for me. A smirk played on his face more often than naught, followed by his famous 'mada mada dane' catchphrase. We ended up walking to the train station with each other often after that. The two of us held brief conversations and extensive, comfortable silences. Being near him outside of the now what seemed constraining tennis courts made new feelings begin welling inside of me.

Suddenly I not only became possessive of that kind smile, but also of those softly glowing eyes, the calm air around him and even his time after school I had claimed. I had to bite the inside of my mouth once in order to stop myself from yelling at Kikumaru to let go of Ryoma.

And when had 'Echizen' transformed into 'Ryoma' in my mind?

I began to anticipate our walks more than before. I felt myself craving his closeness near me during practice and whenever we ran laps I would do my best to keep to his pace. I think he noticed that because he threw that same small smile in my direction. I almost stumbled during my run because of that. Ryoma was making me drop my guard. What irony!

Soon thoughts about him began taking up space in my head at home as well as classes. His chuckled laugh, steady gaze and flowing emerald-black hair were all features attributed to him that I thought about often. It was getting to be a bit too much. I hadn't taken the time to try and evaluate what exactly I was feeling or what was happening to me.

Then on my way to the store one Saturday evening found me right in front of the boy that had been taking up so much of my thinking. I asked him what he was buying for the sake of small talk and later realized it was only because I craved to hear his voice. He explained that he was buying cat food for his cat Karupin and then I saw it.

That same soft and kind smile Ryoma reserved for me (or at least I hoped he had).

As Ryoma and I continued to converse about his cat I figured out that his smile meant something like love and affection. And then I realized those were the exact feelings I had begun having for him.

As we both finished our purchases I decided to walk him home for once and he didn't deny me this. I wondered if he knew what that smile he directed at me meant. As we finally made it to his house we both paused outside his fence. He turned around and looked at me with those content eyes and happy smile. Something inside me snapped.

I placed my hand on his face and tilted it slightly upward, locking my eyes with his now curious ones. As I bent forward, leaning my face closer to his, I saw his eyes widen slightly as he finally caught on to what I was going to do and mere millimeters away from his face did his eyes return back to their same contented gentleness.

I closed the space between us, placing a soft, butterfly kiss upon his soft lips. Our eyes remained open, silently evaluating the other. I guess Ryoma had finally saw the thing he was searching for since he leaned forward into the kiss, increasing the pressure and hooking his arms around my neck. Once the kiss ended I placed my hands loosely around his waist, giving him the option of stepping out of my embrace though inwardly hoping he didn't.

As we stared at each other silently he gave me another of his smiles, though this one was more dazzling than all the others and I could do nothing but smile back as I felt my eyes soften at him.

Suddenly there was a loud noise from inside Ryoma's house, effectively destroying the romantic air we had created. Ryoma blinked his eyes as if coming out of a trance and my smile disappeared from my face. My arms slackened from his waist and dropped to my sides instead. He then leaned up suddenly and placed a chaste kiss upon my lips and squeezed my hand slightly.

I was startled, to say the least, not really expecting such a bold mood so soon. Though what else would I expect from him? Ryoma picked up the grocery bags, which were placed on the floor earlier, and turned to go into his house. I clenched my hand into a fist, already missing the warmth of his touch.

Before entering he turned slightly to look at me and smiled once more. I felt my lips twitching upward in response as I smiled openly at him.

His smile widened at that as he said: You finally smiled back.

Before I could formulate a response or even figure out what just happened between us Ryoma was already inside. As I walked home I thought about how such small things could mean so much and that this was just the beginning.

End.

A/N: This is just a little something I wrote while I waited for class to start and decided to post it. In case the smile thing didn't make sense at the end when Ryoma said 'you finally smiled back' has two meanings. The literal one that Tezuka had smiled back and the other is that Tezuka finally felt the same way about him. Sorry if it wasn't too clear. I think this story made more sense in my head.