Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Another Valentine's Story - NP (Hyotei) ❯ Chapter 1

Title: Just Another Valentine's Story

A Prince of Tennis Fanfiction
By Andrea Readwolf [andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com]
Chapter: 1/1
Rating: PG-13
Pairings/Characters: Murahi Gakuto + Oshitari Yuushi
Genre: Romantic-drama
Warnings: shounen-ai, post series, Valentine Day traditional-fluffiness
Spoilers: n/a
Summary: Yuushi's plans for Valentine's get interrupted, but Gakuto has his own plans

Disclaimer: "This derivative work, distributed without permission, is not for profit, and no infringement on the income of the copyright holder is intended".　

Date Started: February 2005
Status: complete
Word Count: 2159

 

 

~~~~Just Another Valentine's Story~~~~

 

 

Yuushi was a sappy romantic.

 

Gakuto had had many years now to come to terms with this fact about his boyfriend, and he would-- sometimes, on occasion, maybe-- confess that some of the sappy things Yuushi had inflicted upon him or coherced him into doing weren't *so* bad----like that weekend at the hot springs, or the honey dust and feather thing, or some of the uses they'd invented for all the silk ties Yuushi's parents still insisted on sending their son. And, yeah, maybe the honey thing had been a bit, uh, sticky; and the rose petals strewn all over the dorm room that one year had been a real pain in the ass to clean up; and let's not even talk about the stain on the carpet where one of the cats had knocked a candle over...

 

But of all the sappy things they'd done over the years, Valentine's Day was, by far, the worst in Gakuto's opinion. Despite Gakuto's explanation that they were both guys and they didn't really need any girly holiday, Yuushi always silently insisted they celebrate this most merchandised day of Love.

 

It started their second year of junior high school, when they first scored together, before it was official between them that they were exclusive to each other.

 

When Gakuto had opened his shoebox that morning, along with the torrid love letters and boxes of chocolates, there had been one simply wrapped, brightly colored, small chocolate heart attached to a strip of paper--noteworthy simply because it was so simple. Then he had discovered another one in his desk, and another one in his toilet bag during lunch, and another in his tennis bag, and another in his tennis cubby, and a final one on his pillow that night. Seven small chocolate hearts and seven strips of paper, which, when put together in the right order, Gakuto discovered were lines from a poem Yuushi had written himself.

 

The sex that first Valentine's Day has been long and soft and mushier than Gakuto was comfortable with at the time, but it was good.

 

The next year it was flowers, in the same pattern, and instead of a poem, it was the meaning of each flower. In high school, Yuushi became adventurous and actually attempted to make cakes and cookies and chocolate--heart shaped and other... more interesting shapes. Yes, Gakuto had definitely enjoyed licking the icing off the rather lopsided penis-shaped cake. In college it was more of the same, but their senior year had to have been the most interesting--that was the year they attended the Valentine's Day Fetish Party.

 

Graduating school didn't seem to deter Yuushi from his need to bestow Valentine gifts upon Gakuto, either. And the gifts became wackier than just the traditional chocolates. Over the years there had been jewelry--gold chains and bracelets and rings; cards and more chocolates; and even, once, a Styrofoam heart pierced with lollipops; and there had even been the unforgivable plethora of stuffed animals (so what if the little devil was kinda cute and he kept it on his desk at work--it was still unforgivable to give a guy a stuffed animal!!).

 

In time, Yuushi had written him enough original poems that Gakuto was sure they could fill an entire book!

 

Which was why he was surprised, and maybe even just a little hurt, when, today, there was.... nothing?

 

Nothing waiting for him in the car. Nothing waiting for him on his desk at work. No flowers delivered, no phone call or email or text message received. And their condo, when Gakuto returned home that evening, was dark and quiet and empty.

 

"I'm home," he called out, dropping his keys into the basket. "Yuushi?"

 

Frowning, Gakuto did a quick search of the place and found, well, nothing. Refusing to admit that he was feeling even the tiniest bit disappointed, Gakuto went to check the messages, and at last he found something there.

 

["Sorry I was called away so early this morning."] Yuushi's tired voice emitted from the machine. ["A patient went into labor late last night, and two more have come in since then. I'll probably be late getting home tonight. Forgive me? I promise to make it up to you this weekend. Love you.]

 

Gakuto sighed and slumped down into the sofa. This weekend they had already planned a date with a hot springs up north, but that was a whole four days away. Gakuto sulked. He was good at that, after all, even if he was a thirty-something year old man. He had the entire night off and no Yuushi to spend it with.

 

~~~****~~~

 

According to his watch, it was already the fifteenth by the time Yuushi stepped into the elevator that would take him up to the condo.

 

He'd been planning to use his day off to set up another surprise for Gakuto, but he'd never had the chance. His Valentine's gift would have to wait for the weekend, when he would have another free day. Yuushi actually had Shishido to thank for his gift idea, not that the other man knew it, or would find out, but he had given Yuushi the idea that weekend during their bi-weekly card game. Yuushi had been working out the details in his mind since then, but he hadn't had a chance to actually do anything.

 

Gakuto had recently finished up a rather large project at work, which meant the redhead was home a lot more and even had the time to actually be home during the weekends, which was why they were going up to a hot springs this weekend. But the redhead being home hadn't allowed Yuushi time to put his little present together.

 

To make matters somewhat worse, in his opinion, Yuushi hadn't even had time today to stop by a convenience store at some point to pick up some cheap chocolate.

 

Yuushi knew it was a silly gesture on his part, participating in a mockery of a holiday carried out solely for the purpose of the feminine gender. In truth, he had first given Gakuto a Valentine's gift as part of an experiment--a test and a tease to see how the redhead would react. It had amused Yuushi to watch Gakuto receive his chocolates and poem and look around at the denizens of the female student body and wonder who had given it to him. The following year had been for his own entertainment, too, although, he then knew from experience he would be later rewarded once they had returned to their dorm room for the evening.

 

Again and again, year after year, Yuushi participated in this female holiday for his own entertainment until, one day, he realized it wasn't just his own entertainment anymore; that he was doing more things to make Gakuto happy and secretly pleased. And then this mockery of a holiday, this mockery of an act Yuushi had been playing, became something very real. It wasn't about girls or holidays or chocolates or gifts... It was about taking one special day out of the year to remind himself of exactly why and how much he loved his little redhead.

 

That was also when Yuushi began researching Valentine Day traditions across the world and discovering how different cultures expressed love and affirmations of commitment. Perhaps the most amusing gift he had run across had been the wooden spoon and bowl--and the rather interesting use Gakuto had decided to put them to.

 

And Yuushi knew that no matter how much Gakuto might complain about the sweets and gifts, the other man had secretly come to enjoy receiving them as much as Yuushi enjoyed bestowing them. Which was why missing today felt so horrible.

 

Yuushi padded into the kitchen, intent on being quiet so he woudn't wake Gakuto. He wasn't really hungry, but he knew he needed to try and eat something at least, unsure of when he'd last eaten.

 

The writing paper strewn over the table caught his attention immediately--mostly because Gakuto was such a nit-picker about putting things back where they belongs--and Yuushi went to take a closer look. Gakuto's semi-neat handwriting covered the pages; lines, sentences, and sometimes entire columns were crossed off. He read a few of the items and realized exactly what it was he was looking at, and Yuushi felt his chest and throat tighten.

 

"I decided on dinner and a movie," a sleepy voice startled him, and Yuushi looked over his shoulder at Gakuto, a little guiltily for both waking the other man up and for being caught reading the other man's papers.

 

"Although we could always go to a Rakugen instead," Gakuto continued, seemingly unconcerned that Yuushi had found his lists of possible gifts and activities. The redhead padded barefoot into the kitchen, pulling absently at his sleep pants as he jerked open the fridge and selected the orange juice for a long healthy gulp.

 

Seeing as how Yuushi wasn't saying anything, Gakuto continued. "I also called up your head nurse and had her reschedule your day tomorrow, since you won't be there. Any of the patients that the nurses can't handle, they'll send over to that other doctor you sometimes work with, what's-her-name." The redhead eyed him critically as he took another swallow of orange juice before replacing the carton. "You look like hell, Yuushi. Why don't you take a shower and then got to bed."

 

Numbly, Yuushi nodded--that sounded like a good idea--but he didn't, couldn't move, and after a moment, Gakuto cursed, quietly, and went to him. Gakuto's arms around him, holding him strong and safe to his warm body were about the best things Yuushi had felt all day, and the taller man just clung to him, tucking his face against Gakuto's shoulder and breathing him in.

 

"That bad of a day, huh?" Gakuto whispered and he nodded, not even possessing the energy to form words.

 

Gakuto sighed and soon Yuushi felt fingers moving in his hair and against his back. "Come on, Yuushi. Let's go take that shower. You're covered in hospital-smell, and, as much as I love you, you know how much I hate hospital-smell."

 

Yuushi nodded and allowed Gakuto to maneuver them both into the bathroom. It was good, to just shut down and know Gakuto was there to take care of him, to know he was safe and didn't have to think because Gakuto was there to think for him and love him, and he sat where Gakuto directed and let the other man undress him. He turned into the water spray as Gakuto held it over him and leaned into Gakuto's soapy hands as the redhead soaped him up and then hosed him down.

 

"Come on, Yuushi, get in the tub," Gakuto directed, helping him stand before tugging him down into the warm, scented water with him. And if it was a little awkward after first, getting situated with Gakuto's back against the tub and Yuushi leaning against him, it was only heavenly divine afterwards.

 

"Don't fall asleep," Gakuto warned softly as he ran his hands in the water in front of Yuushi. He murmured that he wasn't and relaxed more into the warm water, into Gakuto's comfortable presence. "Yuushi, if you fall asleep on me, I'll bite you."

 

He smiled. "You can bite me whenever you want." Teeth grazed over his shoulder and he shivered. "You do anyways."

 

Gakuto hummed. "Let's go to bed, Yuushi. I really don't think I could carry you if you fell asleep."

 

"I wouldn't want you to," Yuushi murmured as they shifted and climbed back out of the water. Gakuto already had a towel ready. "You would hurt yourself."

 

"Yeah, and that would suck."

 

The towel was warm and rough against his skin, but he didn't mind and only grunted in protest when Gakuto led him out of the warm bathroom and into the cold hallway naked. He was shivering a little before he could get under the covers and could feel Gakuto's own body shaking from chill as the redhead climbed in with him.

 

"I'm sorry," he murmured, feeling himself slump deeper into the bed.

 

"For what?" Gakuto whispered back, snuggling closer.

 

"I didn't buy you any chocolate today."

 

Gakuto huffed. "Silly Yuushi, that's okay." He yawned. "You're gonna make it up to me, ne?"

 

"Ah." Gakuto's skin felt soft behind his hands--not smooth, but familiar, comfortable. He wondered if it was as comfortable to Gakuto as it was for him when he stroked the redhead's back and arms like this. "Thank you."

 

"Hmm? For what?" Gakuto murmured, already half-asleep.

 

"For loving me."

 

The redhead made another little noise and wormed in closer against his body. "Silly, Yuushi. I had no choice, you know. You made me love you."

 

"Mmm? How's that?" he breathed, almost asleep himself.

 

"You loved me," Gakuto sighed. "Now shut up and go to sleep. You're tired."

 

Yuushi smiled. With logic like that, how could he argue?

 

~~~~owarimasu~~~~