010. Eyes meeting over the noise. Tezuka/Fuji, Echizen. Spoilers for the end of the Nationals OVA 6, after Tezuka's match.
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Another win, and Seigaku still were not used to it; the excitement was almost unbearable, and everyone insisted on the traditional winner's 'banquet' at Kawamura Sushi. The crowd was lead (sprinting and yelling back) by a very hungry Momo, and an always-ready-to-eat-or-celebrate Eiji.
"I need to retie my shoelace," Fuji said, looking down at his shoe and finding the source of the annoying flicking noise.
"We'll catch you up," Tezuka said to the others, unexpectedly. No-one acknowledged having heard him; they were too busy rushing off towards food. Fuji felt Tezuka's shadow over him as he sat down and fiddled with his lace.
"Is it me, or are they acting even more excited than usual?" Tezuka asked idly, watching the stampede distance themselves.
"Oishi told them about Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami." Fuji smiled. "I think they are excited to see a Tezuka beyond their wildest dreams. I did not want to say anything to them. Oishi's heart is in the right place, though."
"It always has been." Tezuka agreed.
"He is proud to call himself your friend, and so he feels he should share the esscence of who you are with them all. Even if it means explaining things that should perhaps not be revealed."
"I think by now, the whole team knows too much about one another." Tezuka said reluctantly. "Perhaps it makes us better together, to be so entwined."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be the one to unleash it." Fuji says, and this time his smile is hard to keep up. Until Tezuka reaches out and cups his hand around Fuji's cheek.
"You never would have." He says firmly. "Because of the nature of it's sealing. It took misconduct and mistreatment of tennis, unecessary cruelty, to seal it, and unleash it both. You are not capable of that, and I thank god for it."
Something in the air between them feels as though if it hadn't been such a public place, they might have shared a kiss. For the team to be aware of their closeness is one thing, for every team at the Nationals to hear about it from one chance observer, is another. Though their lips do not meet, they both come away from the haze smiling.
"I shall have to attain Muga no Kyouchi, now." Fuji smiles. "Or else I will never be able to keep up with you." He pauses, his eyes glancing in another direction. "Tezuka."
Tezuka turns, and Echizen is there. They had both assumed everyone else in the team had gone ahead of them.
"What is it, Echizen?" Tezuka asks.
"You told me before..." He begins slowly, "to become Seigaku's pillar of support."
"What about it?"
"I'll take it." Ryoma says with a little grin. "I'll take the pillar of Seigaku from you."
Fuji makes an amused but approving sound, which Tezuka can't help but echo, however quietly. The captain turns away, and Ryoma is still looking out on the courts when Fuji gently reminds him it's time to go.
"It looks like you have inadventently created another barrier for Echizen to break." Fuji murmurs to Tezuka over sushi, and under the rest of the voices cheering.
"For some, it is no longer about the winning," Tezuka agrees, "or, more accurately, beating another."
"And for some," Fuji says thoughtfully, "it will always be about that, and everything else will be drawn in along for the ride naturally. It is the power of the Tezuka Zone."
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Another win, and Seigaku still were not used to it; the excitement was almost unbearable, and everyone insisted on the traditional winner's 'banquet' at Kawamura Sushi. The crowd was lead (sprinting and yelling back) by a very hungry Momo, and an always-ready-to-eat-or-celebrate Eiji.
"I need to retie my shoelace," Fuji said, looking down at his shoe and finding the source of the annoying flicking noise.
"We'll catch you up," Tezuka said to the others, unexpectedly. No-one acknowledged having heard him; they were too busy rushing off towards food. Fuji felt Tezuka's shadow over him as he sat down and fiddled with his lace.
"Is it me, or are they acting even more excited than usual?" Tezuka asked idly, watching the stampede distance themselves.
"Oishi told them about Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami." Fuji smiled. "I think they are excited to see a Tezuka beyond their wildest dreams. I did not want to say anything to them. Oishi's heart is in the right place, though."
"It always has been." Tezuka agreed.
"He is proud to call himself your friend, and so he feels he should share the esscence of who you are with them all. Even if it means explaining things that should perhaps not be revealed."
"I think by now, the whole team knows too much about one another." Tezuka said reluctantly. "Perhaps it makes us better together, to be so entwined."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be the one to unleash it." Fuji says, and this time his smile is hard to keep up. Until Tezuka reaches out and cups his hand around Fuji's cheek.
"You never would have." He says firmly. "Because of the nature of it's sealing. It took misconduct and mistreatment of tennis, unecessary cruelty, to seal it, and unleash it both. You are not capable of that, and I thank god for it."
Something in the air between them feels as though if it hadn't been such a public place, they might have shared a kiss. For the team to be aware of their closeness is one thing, for every team at the Nationals to hear about it from one chance observer, is another. Though their lips do not meet, they both come away from the haze smiling.
"I shall have to attain Muga no Kyouchi, now." Fuji smiles. "Or else I will never be able to keep up with you." He pauses, his eyes glancing in another direction. "Tezuka."
Tezuka turns, and Echizen is there. They had both assumed everyone else in the team had gone ahead of them.
"What is it, Echizen?" Tezuka asks.
"You told me before..." He begins slowly, "to become Seigaku's pillar of support."
"What about it?"
"I'll take it." Ryoma says with a little grin. "I'll take the pillar of Seigaku from you."
Fuji makes an amused but approving sound, which Tezuka can't help but echo, however quietly. The captain turns away, and Ryoma is still looking out on the courts when Fuji gently reminds him it's time to go.
"It looks like you have inadventently created another barrier for Echizen to break." Fuji murmurs to Tezuka over sushi, and under the rest of the voices cheering.
"For some, it is no longer about the winning," Tezuka agrees, "or, more accurately, beating another."
"And for some," Fuji says thoughtfully, "it will always be about that, and everything else will be drawn in along for the ride naturally. It is the power of the Tezuka Zone."
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