Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Electronic Love ❯ The Prince Who Breaks Hearts ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: First of all, I'm terribly sorry for those who had waited for the update here. I forgot I have an account here and when I remembered I realized that I lost the password. I hope I haven't let you down. There are some grammatical mistakes here and there but I'm too lazy to edit XP Please enjoy the super late update. You can check my other fics at my livejournal account at demonessryu.livejournal.com. I'll put it in my profile. R&R!!

The Prince Who Break Hearts

Fuji sighed as he closed his biology textbook. With the approaching final exam, the teachers gave quizzed more often, prompting the students to study even harder than usual. Fuji actually didn't have to do it, he came top of his class without much studying. But who knows about the final exam? Maybe it's more difficult than predicted. Besides, it also allowed him to study for his entrance exam.

The clack showed that it's nearing ten o'clock in the night. It's almost time for him to sleep since Fuji dislike sleeping too early. He decided to check his incoming mail in the site his sister showed him, in the mean time.

Maybe he shouldn't have used the nickname nekoboy. It drew some unwanted responses like weird e-mails from non-members and stuff like that. Thankfully most people he met on the site were nice enough. They were serious about building a love relationship and making new friends. They generally started with how they `come out' and people's responses to their preferences. Fuji also expressed that it was difficult to admit that he was gay to the world, but at least he had told his family and they were accepting enough. Through the site, Fuji could share his problem as a gay more than usual and meeting with people with the same problem as his made him get new good friends.

None of them managed to attract him that way, though. Kind and understanding as they might be none cold replace his buchou. But hope remains. Fuji decided to keep looking. Maybe among his online friends was his Prince Charming.

And speaking of Prince Charming…

Fuji frowned lightly at the unfamiliar name. Prince Charming. That name sounded too romantic for a pervert. Curious, Fuji decided to see what the message was about. What he read astound him and Fuji was rendered speechless for a rather long moment.

From far away I have watched

For many years I have wondered

What it would take to make you see

That somewhere, waiting for you, is me

I had wished my dreams to become reality

And now I was given this opportunity

I shall waste time no more

May I ask for the key of your heart's door?

`For long time I have watched'… Does this mean that Fuji had a secret admirer all this time? And from the rest of the poem, he concluded that this shy admire was very close to him. Curiously, Fuji viewed this member's profile. The name was also written as Prince Charming and his e-mail address wasn't familiar to him. And just like Fuji, he allowed his picture to be viewed by selected people only.

Fuji stared at the screen for a long moment. There were two possibilities. One was that this person was a secret admirer of his who was just as desperate as he was that he visited this site and got lucky enough to find him as a member. The second possibility was that it was one of his friends in tennis team Eiji had undoubtedly told about his membership in this site. The first possibility was almost impossible seeing that this was a very new member. In fact this Prince Charming just joined two days before!

But if it's one of his teammates, then who?

Fuji promptly scratched Eiji and Oishi from the list. They're together and were loyal to each other, there's no way any of them would stray to him of all people. He crossed out Kawamura, too. He knew the gentle boy was straight. Ryoma? Maybe. But the poem indicated that this person had been with him for a long time while he only knew Ryoma for less than a year.

So what did this leave him?

Momoshiro, Kaido, Inui and… Tezuka.

The thought that maybe Tezuka had sent him such note sent his mind reeling. He tried not to hope too much but… What if it was really from Tezuka. Did this mean that his feeling was reciprocated after all? A hopeful part of him said that it was possible. It was Tezuka and the stoic boy had feeling for him, too. But a more rational part of him said that there's no way Tezuka would sent such message. He was too unromantic to do that. Besides this past two days Tezuka made no move to get closer to him at all. If anything, his captain was being more distant.

Well, he would try to find out tomorrow, discreetly, of course. Now he should decide whether this person deserve his reply or not.

“Hmm…” Fuji hummed thoughtfully, angling his head slightly in contemplation. “Who are you Prince Charming?”

Fuji lifted his fingers above the keyboard. They hovered in the air for several hesitant moments before descending and began to dance on the buttons. Once he was satisfied with the answer he typed, he clicked the `send' button and turned off the computer. His Prince Charming must wait until tomorrow.

*

For once, Tezuka was grateful for the Internet connection in the school's library. Usually he thought it was useless and bothersome. The few computers in the library were mainly used by some students to play online games. For Tezuka it was a waste of the school's fund and as the Student Board President he had brought the topic a couple of times. But his argument was beaten because the computers were undeniably useful when students needed to do quick research on something.

But today was a special day and Tezuka couldn't wait to go to the school's library and use one of those computers. As usual, early in the morning only a few students occupied the library and none of then lounged near the computers. Tezuka would die of mortification if someone caught him opening some dating sites.

The pink color that dominated the site still made Tezuka cringe. Quickly, he opened another window to visit an educational site for cover up. Then hastily, Tezuka logged in and check his message status. He smiled inwardly when he saw that he got a message from nekoboy. The message's content made him frown, though.

Your note surprises me

For I didn't realize, honesty

But if you mean only to jest

Then I suggest it'll be best

If we end this immediately

How dare Fuji doubt him! Angrily he typed a reply. Of course Fuji didn't know it was Tezuka and was naturally suspicious about him. But to have the prodigy question his motive like that still annoyed him.

“I don't know you're into these things, buchou.”

The voice behind him almost made Tezuka jump in surprise. Quickly, he minimized the window to reveal the educational site, then he turned to find a smirking junior that he chose as the third pillar of Seigaku.

“Echizen.” He acknowledged stiffly, pushing his glasses up to hide his blush.

“Buchou.” The third pillar of Seigaku peeked through his captain's shoulder to look at the computer screen. “This isn't what I saw.” He commented with a smirk.

Tezuka didn't how to respond to this remark so he merely gave his junior a death glare. Echizen smirked even wider at this and sat down on a chair next to Tezuka.

“Corresponding with someone there?” Echizen asked. Clearly he didn't refer to the educational site.

Tezuka sighed inwardly, pushed his glasses up his nose and turned to the computer screen. Giving up, he closed the window to the educational site. Echizen glanced at the screen; his eyes glinted in amusement at the sight.

“Nice poem.”

“… Thank you…” Tezuka replied uneasily.

“So… who's this… nekoboy?”

“…” Tezuka remained silent, partially because he was hesitant to reveal his crush on Fuji and partially because he didn't know what to say.

Echizen shifted closer to take a better look at the poem Tezuka was writing. Tezuka felt a brief urge to push the younger boy away but remained silent and still anyway.

“I don't know you're so romantic, buchou.” Echizen drawled, feeling victorious for finding a mock-worthy fact about his fearsome captain.

Again, Tezuka remained silent. He merely glared at his junior to show his displeasure. Too bad they weren't at practice right now. If they were, Tezuka would order two hundred laps to this cocky freshman.

Seeing that his captain wasn't inclined to say anything, Echizen changed tactic. He leaned back and away and then taunted his captain. “I don't know you could get over Fuji-senpai so easily.”

This earned Echizen a harsher glare. “I have not.” Tezuka said after a lengthy silence. Echizen could see that Tezuka was annoyed at being discovered. The stoic captain obviously thought that he was well guarded and expressionless enough. But if one observed at a length of time the captain's interaction with other people, one could figure this little fact in almost no time at all.

Tezuka was only close to two people, Oishi and Fuji. It didn't mean that Tezuka was that cold a guy, but his relationship with other people, like his teammates were impersonal. Tezuka cared for them as a captain but beyond that he didn't really care.

Oishi was his trusted friend. Echizen guessed it was Oishi's loving nature that made Tezuka comfortable around him. There were times when Echizen thought that having these two as the captain and vice-captain of the tennis team was like having real parents. Of course Echizen's own father was the complete opposite of Tezuka but that's the kind of parents he saw on TV. They'd make very interesting couple if they did end up together.

But the loophole in the theory that Tezuka had a crush on Oishi was the fact that right now Oishi was officially going out with Eiji and that Tezuka was supportive of their relationship. Besides, there were these few times Echizen saw Tezuka with Fuji. Very few of the Seigaku tennis club's members were actually brave enough to get near the tensai. They respected him and fear him. Fellow seniors were quite close to him but they never seemed to understand him. With the exception of Eiji, everyone seemed to keep their distance from him. He had friends, of course, but none seemed to be able to understand him completely.

Tezuka was different. Tezuka understood his `language' and work of mind. Tezuka didn't mind them at all. When Fuji had something in his complicated mind, Tezuka would come silently, watching him until Fuji tell what he had in mind and Tezuka never did that to anyone else beside Fuji. All in all, Tezuka's close relationship with Fuji was very suspicious. Fuji was so obviously special to Tezuka. Echizen didn't know what kind of `special' it was, but now he knew. If Tezuka were gay and in love with someone in the team, it would be Fuj.

“Fuji-senpai, huh?” Echizen leaned closer to the screen, re-reading the poem Tezuka only half-finished. “Very romantic. So you're serious with him?”

Tezuka let his glare answer the question When was he now serious?

“I think you should change this line. It doesn't rhyme with the previous one.” Echizen commented, pointing to a certain line, which in fact didn't rhyme.

Tezuka glanced at the screen and at that particular line. Then he returned his glare to Echizen. He was about to tell his junior to go and stop poking his nose into other people's business when he realized that a giggle of his fan girls had entered the library, no doubt because of his presence inside it instead of for educational purposes. He didn't have much time, then.

“Echizen.” Tezuka said at last. “I'll talk to you after practice.”

Knowing that he had dismissed, Echizen just shrugged. “If that's what you want, buchou.” He said as he left his seat with a small smirk.

Tezuka watched Echizen's retreating back before turning back to his work. Now how should he finish the poem….

*

Fuji was disappointed when he earned that the Regulars of tennis club weren't the only ones who knew about his joining the dating site. Several girls had asked him what nickname he used there and why he joined a dating site, something that was considered unmanly for boys.

Despite his disappointment, Fuji managed to smile and answered these questions. He refused to tell his nickname, saying that it'll ruin the surprise.

But really, with someone like Eiji he couldn't hope to keep the news from spreading. Well, at least he hadn't told Eiji that he joined gay channel. To have that news spreading around the school would be hazardous.

“Lucky yet?” Inui asked during practice that afternoon.

Fuji smiled at the data collector as he angled his head quizzically.

“Found anyone interesting on the site?” Inui asked again, while preparing to write another good data on his data book.

The genius thought this over. “Yes, a lot.”

Inui hummed as he wrote something on his data book. Fuji didn't know what kind of data he could get from `yes, a lot' but he knew that there's always a way to counter Inui's data, no matter how accurate it really was.

For a while, Fuji was tempted to ask Inui just how big the chance that the Prince Charming was Tezuka was. But he thought he knew the possibility was slim even without Inui's calculation. Someone maybe got lucky and found him in the channel He knew that he had a group of fan girls and fan boys in the school. The overflowing chocolate gift on Valentine's Day proved that. Besides, Tezuka would never go near that kind of site.

But still, it's difficult to quench his hope. So Fuji kept glancing at his captain during practice, hoping to catch him stare. But the few times he did, Tezuka gazed back, unwaveringly, a sign that he had nothing to hide.

The practice ended early because of the dark clouds. Fuji was leaving the clubhouse when he saw Ryoma approach Tezuka. The two nodded at each other before leaving together.

Fuji's heart beat madly in his chest. Tezuka and Echizen? It was an irrational thought, Fuji knew. But he'd never seen them go home together before and to see it now of all times made his heart ache. Curiosity and jealousy spiked and he decided to follow them.

It was difficult of course. He was no Inui. But Fuji was a genius and he could do anything if he put his mind into it. So Fuji managed to follow his captain and his junior to a café near downtown shopping center. The place was too far from either of their house and their school. Fuji instantly knew they pick this place because they want no disturbance from anyone they knew.

The two were conveniently seated near the window, enabling Fuji, who stayed in the bus stop on the opposite side of the road, to watch them. The drizzling rain brought people to seek shelter on the bus stop, providing him a camouflage. With his sharp eyes, he could see his two teammates though he couldn't read their lips from this distance.

When Fuji saw that Tezuka and Echizen were having a civilized conversation, the first alarm went off in his mind. Tezuka barely ever had a civilized conversation with anyone, save for Oishi, Ryuzaki-sensei and Fuji himself. The second alarm went off when Tezuka almost smiled at something Echizen said. Even from this distance Fuji could recognize the expression on Tezuka's face whenever he held back his amusement.

The third and final alarm went off when Tezuka and Echizen had done. Tezuka was reaching to take his wallet in his uniform's inner pocket when Echizen suddenly held his hand. Then they argued for a while, with their hands still tangled until Tezuka relented. An almost tender expression crossed Tezuka's face when Echizen paid for their tea and snacks.

The conclusion hit Fuji hard. His buchou was having a relationship with Ryoma.

He should've known. After all, Tezuka had been watching the boy closely for a year now. Tezuka had cared for him. Why didn't Fuji see it coming? Why didn't he realize that this was happening all this time? Why didn't he…

In the midst of the downpour of the rain, Fuji ran home. Tears wet his already wet cheeks. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his prodigious self said that it was so sad a day that even the heavens cried for him.

~_~