Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Friends & Lovers ❯ Chapter 1

 

Friends & Lovers

~A Game Worth Winning~ "Prince of Tennis" Fanfic Series

By Andrea Readwolf <andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com>

Chapter: 1

Rating: NC-17

Pairings: Ryoma + Momoshiro

Genre: Angst, Drama, Shounen-ai

Series Pairings: Kikumaru + Oishi, Tezuka + Fuji, Echizen + Momoshiro, Inui + Kaidoh

 

Warnings: Illness/Death, dealing with death/abandonment, and as if that wasn't enough--Underage characters in homosexual romantic and sexual situations of self-discovery. Characters are written in character according to author's interpretation; Alternate Reality (aka deviant from animated series)

Spoilers: None to my knowledge.

 

Summary: High school brings all types of changes, but can a strong friendship bridge that painful gap that losing a parent has caused for one member? Can it bridge the gap between friends...and lovers?

 

Disclaimer: Tennis no Ohjisama, characters and settings are the property of Konomi Takeshi.

 

Date Started: May 8, 2004

Status: complete

Revised: June 1, 2004

What it was about the big, stupid idiot, even after all these years Ryoma didn't know...

*

At twelve, he'd been mature enough to recognize and appreciate the older boy's body, his charismatic appeal, and cockish attitude, but his attraction to the other man had had more to do with just a good personality, a pretty face, and a hot body.

Did he mention that at twelve, Ryoma also had pretty much figured out he was pretty much gay? But his attraction to the male body always seemed to take place to the game; Tennis was always more important... until... him.

Laying in bed at night gave the young man plenty of time to think about the puzzle that was his senpai, his teammate, his... friend.

Momoshiro was always there in the mornings, waiting or catching up to walk with him to school. The older teen could have easily taken several other paths to school--some of them were actually shorter than the one that brought Momo past Ryoma's house. Still, every morning, as regular as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, Momo was there to walk with him.

It was strange, those first few weeks of his third year, when Momo wasn't there anymore. Ryoma's life seemed off-paced for several days until he could work out why. Then he'd become angry, stupidly resentful of the high school that had taken his friend away from him.

They didn't get a chance to eat hamburgers, or go to the street courts, or cut practice just to lie out in the grassy hills and stare up at the sky on lazy days. They didn't get a chance to see each other at all, or even talk on the phone. Every time he called, Momo's sister would take a message; Momo never called back. Even Momo's cell number had been changed.

Ryoma decided this situation was perfectly crappy. That was his main reason for why, one day into the second month of school, he skipped his own practice --something he didn't think Tezuka would ever have done. Oh well, he wasn't Tezuka. Kato was perfectly capable of running practice.

He hopped the bus that would drop him off closest to the senior high school. The school was huge, one of the best in the Tokyo Prefecture; and it was no coincidence that all the members of the original Seigaku Regular's team from Ryoma's freshman year were there.

Club practice was in full swing when Ryoma wandered onto the campus. Even in his normal, plain school uniform, he stuck out like a sore thumb among the high school players. Momoshiro used to say it was because of his attitude, which was a natural repellant.

Most tennis people in the district knew of Echizen Ryoma, captain of Seigaku's tennis team, blah blah blah and blah, but it was amazing what a difference slightly alternating your appearance could do. As if, by simply removing items people associated with the young star tennis player, he suddenly ceased to be Echizen Ryoma and became just another junior high school tennis player. It was a neat trick that his cap had never allowed him.

For instance, leaving his Regulars' jacket tucked away inside his tennis bag, along with his cap; unpinning his name tag and leaving it in his school bag for later, allowing a small smile--all right, so maybe it was a smirk--to sit on his mouth... Those who knew him, knew him. These little differences wouldn't make a damned difference, but it was enough to offer him a little anonymity from those who only knew *of* him.

Which wasn't always good, he reflected when two students started messing with him, trying to antagonizing him. He was quickly losing his patience with their pampas boasting when a voice from behind lightened his smile into something genuine instead of pasted.

"Hoi! Ochibi! What are *you* doing here?"

Ryoma turned, intending to provide a flippant comment to his old friend, but the words choked in his throat. He was amazed he managed to keep smiling.

Eiji looked as bouncy and energetic as always, grinning at Ryoma with a pleased if confused expression. Standing next to him, Fuji was smiling, too, holding his arms across his chest and watching them. Ryoma noticed this with a half-aware perception really, because the majority of his attention had been focused on the boy of which Eiji was hanging half on half off--

Well, 'hanging' was a rather kind way of putting it. It looked more like the redhead was draped all over the taller teen.

"Kikumaru-senpai, you know this kid?" one of the two buttheads spoke up, reminding Ryoma that they weren't alone. He tore his eyes off Momoshiro and looked up over their heads instead.

Meanwhile, the redhead was laughing. "Oh course! He's Seigaku's captain!"

Ryoma ignored the looks of surprise the two unknowns were now gracing him with, offering a nonchalant greeting of, "Yo."

"But Ryoma-kun," Fuji's deceivingly sweet voice spoke up, and Ryoma's stomach did a flip-flop as he mentally began pleading with the other teen not to say anything damning in front of the two flops still there. "What are you doing here? Doesn't Seigaku have practice today?"

Ryoma's cheeks colored lightly, but, admittedly, there were worse things Fuji could have asked, and, really, he probably already knew.

"Skipping."

"Nya! Skipping your own practice!" Eiji sounded shocked and impressed at the same time. It was a cute expression for him.

Ryoma just shrugged. "Kato's handling practice. I'll just run fifty laps tomorrow."

Eiji and Fuji laughed, but the other teen didn't. In fact, Momoshiro wasn't even looking at him. Maybe it was hurt or anger fueled by that tiny bit of jealousy that made him act like a cheeky brat, but he couldn't stop himself from asking anyway.

"What's the matter, Momo-chan? Aren't you happy to see me?"

"You shouldn't be here, Echizen."

Oh yeah. That hurt. Getting brushed off by your best friend like that hurt... hurt worse than anything he could remember. It must have shown, too, for at least a second, because Fuji was speaking up in the next.

"Eiji? Weren't we heading to F court to check on Oishi's and Tezuka's game?"

"Mmmm! Nya, we'll catch you later, Ochibi! Good seeing you again! We should hang out sometime!"

"Alright."

And suddenly, they were alone, only he and Momoshiro.

"Mada mada dane," he mumbled to himself before taking a deep breath, arms thrown over his head. "I'm bored. Let's go grab something to eat."

Momoshiro looked like he was going to decline, and that thought scared him. In all the years he'd known the other boy, Ryoma had never seen him turn down an offer of food unless it originated from Inui or Fuji.

"My treat," he added softly.

Momoshiro sighed. "I don't think that's a good idea, Echizen."

Ryoma sucked in a deep breath, eyes closed; he held it.... and then slowly released it. Twice. Then he opened his eyes again and looked directly at Momoshiro, but the other teen still wasn't looking at him.

He wanted to say: "I don't understand what's wrong; Why you don't answer my phone calls, why you don't hang out at the street courts.... why you're... avoiding me. So why don't you explain it to me, Momo."

Ryoma fell back into the supporting weight of a tree trunk. He *wanted* to say all those things, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was, "What's going on?"

The taller teen laughed--but it wasn't a happy sound. "Where to start?" he muttered.

"Let's try--is it true?" Ryoma suggested. "I heard a rumor saying you were thinking about quitting tennis. Is it true?"

Momoshiro sighed, shoulders slumped, looking like a sorry replica of the young man Ryoma knew and cared for. "Yeah. It's true."

"Why?"

"Listen, I really don't have time for this, Echizen--"

He wasn't expecting the punch that came swinging towards his left cheek--even if he did manage to avoid it. Wide indigo colored eyes stared down at Ryoma, shocked.

Good. Because the younger teen was now officially angry. "Now that I have your attention, we're going to get your bags, get your bike, and get out of here. Now."

"I--can't just---*leave*," Momoshiro sputtered in protest. "I'm at practice!"

"And you said you were planning on quitting anyway, so what's the problem?" Ryoma retorted. "I'll be waiting at the front gates. You have ten minutes."

Momo fought the urge to say, 'Or what.' Instead, he asked weakly, "And what am I supposed to say when someone asks?"

Ryoma shrugged. "You've gone crazy? You're not feeling well? You're leaving? Whatever the hell you feel like tellin' 'em. Or don't tell them anything. Fuji will probably have concocted some mad-brained story by now, anyway."

"Echi--"

"If you call me by my last name again, I promise I *will* hit you---and this time I *won't* miss..." Ryoma growled, taking out his baseball cap and shoving it down over his eyes.

Momo blinked, yet again surprised by his younger friend; and then he caved. "Fine, have it your way... Ryoma."

The younger boy smirked up at him, but the color of his eyes wasn't dancing with mirth right then. "I plan to," he shot back as he began walking towards the school entrance.

~~~****~~~

Part 2

Oishi and Tezuka were shaking hand over the net and smiling when Eiji and Fuji arrived. Eiji was already passing his partner a hand towel even as Fuji offered Tezuka his water bottle.

"Where's Momoshiro?" Oishi frowned, absently accepting the water bottle Eiji was now handing him as he looked around for the younger player.

"He got...tied up talking with someone else," Fuji murmured, smiling serenely as he handed Tezuka his hand towel.

"Were you able to find out what's bothering him at least?" the dark-haired teen worried.

"Nya..." Eiji pouted, looking up at his friend with an expression that just begged for forgiveness... or kisses, Oishi wasn't sure which. Maybe both; with Eiji you could never be too sure. "He wouldn't tell us anything... but!" And suddenly the redhead was grinning again. "I think everything will be okay soon."

"Why's that?" Tezuka 'demanded' casually, looking between Eiji and Fuji.

"Ah, well, that 'someone' he's talking to, you see," Fuji explained, his smile turning up a notch. "If I'm not mistaken, we'll discover that Momo has already gone home early by the time we return to the main courts..."

"Who's this visitor?" Tezuka's tone told the two other boys that he wasn't going to stand there and play games all night.

"Ochibi!" Eiji crowed happily, suddenly clinging onto Oishi much like he'd been clinging onto Momoshiro earlier.

Tezuka's frown--if possible--deepened. "Ryoma--? What's he doing here when he should be back at his own school practicing?"

"Does it matter?" Fuji derailed that track of thought as quickly as possible. "If it helps Momoshiro?"

"What did you do, Fuji?" came the suspicious inquiry, and now even Eiji and Oishi were looking at him questioningly.

Oh, well. It wasn't like it was much of a secret anyway, really... "I guess I might have said one or two things that could have been overheard by certain ears...." He continued to smile. "Who might have shared those things with someone else... And, well, you know how *hard* it is to stop gossiping tongues."

"But it certainly isn't hard to start them wagging, is it, Syusuke?"

The question was spoken softly, but he couldn't discern the tone without looking... So he looked, for longer than a moment, shorter than a heartbeat--but it was enough. It was enough to give him that reassurance he needed.

"Don't pretend to be angry, Kunimitsu," he delivered back before sliding safely behind the pasted smile again. "You're just as worried about Momoshiro as the rest of us. And really," he added, smiling widely. "Ryoma's the best person to talk to him. You remember how close the two were when we were all still at Seigaku? And apparently they were *extremely* close last year..."

"Hoooiiiiii! Do you think they're going out?" Eiji asked excitedly, leaning over Oishi's back to look into Fuji's face.

Fuji shrugged; he had his assumptions. "If they were, they're not now, I can say that for sure. Of course, that could *always* change, right?"

"Nya--I don't know," Eiji mewed, falling back onto his own feet. "Momo-chan always seemed pretty clueless about Ochibi's feelings. But I suppose that *could've* changed last year..."

Oishi continued to worry about their younger friend; and this latest news about a possible relationship between Momoshiro and Echizen was not easing his worries any.

*

Momoshiro really didn't need the ten minutes Ryoma had given him to get to the school gates; even moving slowly he got there with a good three minutes to spare. Ryoma was waiting for him--Seigaku jacket back in place, just like the ever-present cap.

"Yoosh, let's go," the smaller boy called softly before Momo had come within even five feet of the entrance.

"Where're we going?" Momo asked, only half-heartedly caring.

"I'm hungry, so we're going to get some hamburgers," Ryoma replied, walking off in the direction of their one-time favorite hangout hamburger joint. "Whether you choose to eat or not, I don't care, but you *are* coming," he continued, giving Momo a look that told him to argue would be pointless.

But, he couldn't... "Ryoma... I--I can't... afford hamburgers......"

"Shudddup already," the younger boy groused. "Didn't I already say I was paying? Don't be rude, Momo-chan---what would your mom say?"

Momo blanched, nearly stumbling.

Ryoma stopped, highly concerned when he saw his friend. "Momo... What is it?"

"Mom wouldn't say much of anything right now, Ryoma," the taller boy whispered, and the pain that shimmered in those indigo-like eyes nearly had Ryoma stumbling with its intensity.

"She's sick... Really sick."

~~~****~~~

Part 3

They didn't go for hamburgers like Ryoma had planned. Instead, he found himself inside a hospital room, his best friend hovering at the bedside of a woman who looked too frail and withered to be the woman he remembered from numerous visits as the mother of three rambunctious children...

"Hey, Mama," Momo whispered, brushing reverent fingers over the woman's hand, carefully avoiding the plastic monstrosity nearly engulfing the petite appendage.

"Takeshi? Baby?" the voice was hoarse, wispy and dry--nothing like Ryoma remembered. "What are you doing here, dear? Shouldn't you be at tennis practice? You haven't quit, have you?"

"No, Mama, I haven't quit tennis; I promised you, remember? I promised you I wouldn't quit--"

"But you've been thinking about it again," the woman smiled, eye sliding shut as she smiled up at him, a hand lifting up to cup his cheek. "It's okay, Takeshi. I know it's scary, but try not to be too afraid. Death is just another part life..."

Ryoma must have made a sound at that, no matter how quiet he was trying to be, trying not to intrude upon the two, because suddenly Mrs. Momoshiro shifted to look at him. There was a moment of confusion on her shrunken face, and then, slowly, a light of recognition, and she smiled.

"Ryoma-kun, right?" At his nod she smiled more and relaxed into the bed. "I was hoping to see you before... yes, well, I'm sorry you have to see me looking so...mmm."

"It's quite all right, ma'am, I mean..." 'Dying?' his mind was screaming.

"Mmm. Yes, it is, isn't it? Ryoma-kun, can I ask a favor of you?"

Hesitantly, he approached the bed until he was standing at Momo's side, trying hard not to stare at the woman, but also feeling embarrassed for not being able to look at her. A dry hand touched his, and he started, slightly surprised at the strength still in those fingers---fingers he remembered snatching at Momo's hands when he'd tried to sneak an extra cookie; hands he remembered being slightly awed at how quickly and efficiently they could patch up a scraped knee or clean out a shredded palm....

"My husband's an idiot," the woman said suddenly, startling Ryoma out of his thoughts enough to look at her. She was smiling at him, lavender-like eyes glassy but smiling with love. Ryoma's throat tightened. "I love him dearly, but he's an idiot."

She sighed, relaxing that little more into the hospital bed. "But he gave me three beautiful children... I tried hard to raise them with sense, Ryoma, but I think...I think you'll agree with me--they have their father's tendencies to be idiots."

"Mama!"

"This one especially," the woman added fondly, slightly inclining her cheek towards Momo.

"Ma'am," Ryoma flushed with embarrassment--hadn't he been thinking along those same lines earlier himself?

"He's a good boy, but he cares too much, sometimes, about others," Momo's mother added. "He forgets to care for himself..."

"Ah." Ryoma couldn't help but nod in agreement, smiling a little, too. He'd always liked Momo's mom.

"Will you do me a favor, Ryoma-kun?" she asked again, pulling him closer to the head of the bed. "I've watched you two boys for the last two years, so I know... I see..." she smiled. "That's why I can trust you with this favor, but only for as long as it lasts... Will you watch out for him? Make sure he's taking care of himself, too? For as long as you care about him, will you do that for me?"

Ryoma blinked. Surely she couldn't... but... He took a deep breath and then let it out in one, loud 'whoosh'. He nodded and even grinned a little with what Momo always referred to as his 'cockiness'. "Forever, if I can."

The woman's shoulders shook in silent laughter. "You're a little young yet to be reaching for 'forever'," she teased, patting his hand. "But it would be nice... Yes, forever would be very nice...."

"You're tired, Mama," Momo spoke up suddenly, not quite sure what his mom and Ryoma had been talking about, but know whatever it was, Ryoma had made his mom happy, and that, in turn, made him a little happier, too. "You should rest."

"Mmm, that's all I ever do anymore," she complained by word if not by deed, already relaxing into a light doze.

Momo waited a few more seconds, just staring at her, and then he tugged lightly at the blanket before pulling away, reaching for the bag he'd dropped into a waiting chair. Ryoma followed him silently back out of the hospital. They walked for a good ten minutes before he recognized the area they were in--near Momoshiro's house. Still, they didn't talk. Ryoma couldn't think of anything really appropriate to say--comforting words had never been his thing, and somehow he didn't think Momo wanted him to be asking a lot of questions, so they just continued to walk in silence.

Momo's mom was dying.

You just didn't think about stuff like that happening to you or your friends. Ryoma tried to think of what he would do if it were his mom or dad who was lying in that hospital bed. At first, he didn't think anything of it... but then, slowly he started thinking of all the little things that would change...

No more crazy American breakfasts... no more challenging tennis matches... no more freshly laundered clothes and sheets... or food in the house... or crappy, perverted magazines hidden in seemingly innocent places...

And Momo's sweet, caring, awesome mom was....

"There's something wrong," Momo's voice crashed into his thoughts. "Inside her head. It's not cancer, and it's not a tumor, but I really don't understand *what* it is... It's just... It's killing her...

"We didn't realize anything was wrong at first; she didn't tell us, not even Dad. But, then... I came home one day and there was an ambulance out front. Apparently a neighbor had seen her fall... "

They were standing in front of Momo's house now, just staring at the front entrance. After a moment, Momo finally reached into his pocket to retrieve the house key; his hands were shaking. He let Ryoma in before dropping his keys into the little dish on the coffee table and walking into the kitchen.

The house was still neat, Ryoma noted. Still organized, if not as spotless as it had been the last time he'd been here. There was a note on the kitchen table--Momo's little brother was playing over at a friend's house, a number was scribbled at the bottom. Absently, the taller teen reached for the phone, almost dialing the numbers by route, Ryoma noticed.

"Good evening, Mrs.--oh, yes? He did? Okay, yes, thank you. I'm sorry to impo--of course. We appreciate---Yes, I just came from the hospital....She looked a little better today...No, I think she would really appreciate a vis--of course. Yes. Thank you, again. We appreciate---yes, I will. Good night."

Momo hung the phone back up, without looking at Ryoma. "Mrs. Sakamoto has been my mother's friend since before I was born. My brother and her son are really good friends, so he's been sleeping over there a lot lately."

Ryoma nodded, even though Momo wasn't looking at him. "What about your sister?"

Momo shook his head. "Just started Junior High. Hasn't made many friends because... well, she hasn't been very sociable lately," the older teen whispered and Ryoma frowned, trying to remember something.

"She's at Seigaku, isn't she?" he said, something Sakuno had said recently clicking. "She joined the girl's tennis team." Momo didn't say anything so Ryoma reached for his cell phone.

"Ah. Ah. Has practice let out yet? Oh. Good. Is that girl you were telling me about still there? The Momoshiro girl. Yes. No. Yes. No. No. Okay. Will you hang with her? Yes. Yes. Sigh. Yes. I said 'yes'. I'm hanging up now. Yes."

And with that absolutely stimulating conversation finished, Ryoma turned off his cell phone, tossing it back into his bag.

"What about your dad?"

"Works late, then goes over to the hospital."

Ryoma nodded again.

The house phone rang several minutes later.

"Momoshiro.... No, that's okay... yes... do you need me to wait for... oh, okay... no, I know Ryuzaki, it's okay. Okay. I... No, I might not be home tonight, either....No, he's at Sakamoto's. Mmm. Okay. Have fun.... Love you, too."

Momoshiro rested his head next to the phone and just breathed. And then.... "Hey, Ryoma?"

"Mm?"

"That offer for hamburgers? It still stands?"

"...Ah."

*

Part 4

They left a note for Momo's dad and grabbed their tennis bags---you just couldn't leave home without your bag, even if you *weren't* intentionally leaving to play tennis, you needed to prepared incase the opportunity arose.

Ryoma ordered the burgers to go, somehow just not in the mood to sit still right then. Momo didn't complain any, and as they slowly chewed through twelve burgers, they walked through the community park, the familiar sounds of joggers, dogs, kids, and tennis surrounding them. Somewhere along the way Momo started talking.

How his dad started spending more hours at work.

How he'd been basically taking care of his brother and sister by himself.

How his sister seemed to be having trouble making friends.

How his baby brother was acting up in school.

How he'd taken as many odds-and-ends jobs that he could to help supplement the paycheck they were now missing, to try and help pay some of the bills.

How he didn't seem to have any time to even breathe anymore, because there was always *something* to do...

How his grades were slipping and he'd thought, if he could lay off tennis for a season or a year... he might have more time. More time to work and earn more money... more time to study a little.

How he kept slipping and sliding and losing his footing a little more each day, and how he couldn't tell anyone because there was no one he *could* tell...

How he didn't *want* to tell any one because there wasn't anything they could do but pity him, and he didn't want their damn pity, and--

"Idiot," Ryoma finally broke into the monologue. "So you just shut yourself off from everyone? This is when you need your friends the most, not to *pity* you, but to help support you."

"I didn't want to bother anyone--" Momo started again, but Ryoma was right there to cut him off again.

"That's a bunch of crap, Momo; if you think you're friends haven't been worried about you... Then what kind of friends would we be? In fact, by *not* sharing your problems, you're probably causing *more* problems, or haven't you thought of that?" The startled look on his friend's face told him he hadn't.

"Okay, I haven't been around much lately, but let's see if I can't hit this scenario: I bet Eiji's been hanging on you a whole lot more than he normally does, am I right? And I bet Fuji's been watching you a lot more, too. I bet Kawamura's offered you a free meal if you'd stop by his dad's place one night, and Kaidoh's gone out of his way to purposely antagonize you into a contest of some sorts. I bet Inui's offered you to test try some new drink of his, and that Oishi asks you at least every other day if there's anything you'd like to talk about. I bet that trash mouth Arai has offered to kick your ass during the next ranking competition, and that even Tezuka--wonderful, perfect, can do know wrong, Tezuka--has let you slide on one or two things that would have had both our asses running laps in a heartbeat if this was junior high and not senior high."

Ryoma turned around to look at the taller boy who had stopped several paces back. "So? Did I ace the test?" He closed the gap that had formed between them with unhurried steps, watching Momo carefully. "And these are just the friends I know well, Momo. You're a well-liked, popular guy. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if half the school isn't worried about you."

"You're... You're being awfully talkative," Momo whispered hoarsely.

"I'm sorry," but for what he was apologizing for, Ryoma didn't know as he reached out to touch Momo's cheek. Maybe it was for being an utter bastard and forcing his friend to see what he'd been pushing away for so long now. Maybe it was because he knew this wouldn't be the last time he would hurt him, or even the most he would hurt him.

"I... I'm angry," he admitted softly. Momo jerked. "And hurt. And worried." He leaned that little bit forward, pressing his forehead into Momo's chest, not caring that it tipped his cap askew. "You should've come to me, Momo. Why...why'd you shut me out, too?"

"I... I couldn't, Ryoma... you most of all..."

"I... I thought we were friends...?"

"We were...we are," Momo exhaled. "But... I'm in high school now... You're still in junior high; it... it makes things different, Ryoma."

"We're still friends...it doesn't matter if we go to different schools..."

"Yeah, but... but people talk, and..."

"Mmm... people are always talking, Momo. We're talking right now."

"And sometimes, they say stuff that isn't nice, and---I didn't want them saying anymore bad stuff about you, Ryoma. You already draw enough negative talk to yourself just by your sweet personality," Momo tried to joke, but it fell flat. "I didn't want to give them an extra reason to bad mouth you."

"Momo... we're friends... former teammates... we hang out... play tennis...eat hamburgers... why would people talk?"

Momo became enough more flustered, realizing just how it might look if someone were to come upon them like this... Ryoma leaning into him and...

"Because--you're a really great kid, Ryoma," he swallowed nervously. "You've got a great heart, and an amazing gift..."

"So..."

"And..." and...and...and.... Momoshiro closed his eyes and took another shallow breath. "And I like you. Probably a lot more than I should," he admitted softly.

"Like me... how, Momo?"

The voice was so close--too close, warm breath washing over his face; it startled him, and violet eyes blinked open to find Ryoma practically in his face.

"How do you like me, Momoshiro?" the younger teen pressed. "Do you like me because I'm fun to hang around and eat burgers with? Or because I play tennis well? Or..."

Was it his imagination, or did Ryoma's voice actually get a little deeper? A little...huskier?

"Do you *like* me, because..."

Those golden hazel eyes were sliding shut, those rose-colored lips were angling forward, tempting...

Momoshiro gasped, gulping down a lungful of the cold spring evening air and forcing himself to step back. "Maybe," he licked his lips. "Maybe a little of all of the above--" he whispered hoarsely, watching Ryoma with wide, wary eyes--like he was some strange and exotic creature he thought he'd known but suddenly realized he didn't. "That's why... why I couldn't tell you..."

Ryoma fell back onto his heels, hardly aware of the fact that he'd gone onto his toes at all to reach the taller boy's face. His eyes were closed, his expression shut off, and a moment later, hidden entirely by a readjustment of his cap.

When he finally looked up again, he was composed and smirking. "Okay," he said, turning to leave the park.

Momo blinked, gaping after his retreating form. "Hey! Ryoma! Wait a minute! Where are you going?!"

"Home," he called back over a shoulder. And then, "You coming or you just gonna stand there?"

Momo shut his mouth and followed his friend. They didn't talk, didn't touch, didn't tease, in fact, he was quite tense and edgy by the time they reached Ryoma's house.

*

Part 5

Momo didn't often visit Ryoma's house unless it was to pick the boy up in the morning or drop him off in the evening. It had been a little over two months since he'd done either.

"I'm home!" Ryoma called out, slipping out of his shoes and reaching down to stroke Karupin as the cat came to greet him.

"Ah," was the response from the living room.

"Oiya! Dad! You remember Momoshiro, right?"

"Ah."

"We'll be up in my bedroom, making out," Ryoma announced, climbing the steps unhindered by the bushy cat trying to weave its way around his ankles. "Oh, and he'll be staying for dinner."

"Ah."

The younger teen was already halfway up the stairs before he noticed that Momoshiro was still in the entranceway, staring up at him. He smiled back down at his friend. "Are you coming? Or are you going to stand there until dinner's ready?"

"Ah... Ryoma..."

Ryoma didn't wait around to hear whatever it was Momo was trying to say.

Momo could choose--to leave, walk back out that door and...go... someplace...

Or...

Or he could risk it. Take a chance and find out what game exactly his best friend was playing at. Where was his brash, energetic personality when he needed it, he wondered. Momo wasn't sure how many minutes it took him to cover the distance between the front door and Ryoma's partially opened bedroom door.

He leaned against the frame, just...watching. Ryoma was laying on his bed, knees bent, feet planted on the mattress, eyes fixed firmly on the tennis ball he idly tossed, Karupin tucked and purring at his side.

"I wasn't sure if you would leave," the younger teen admitted suddenly, softly. And then he closed his eyes, catching the ball and letting it roll off his fingers and onto the floor. "Shut the door behind you, will you?"

Momo hadn't been sure, either... but... He slipped into the room, leaning back onto the door until it clicked shut. And then the shorter teen was standing in front of him, glaring up at him with those heated golden eyes.

"Ryoma... I...."

Whatever he was going to say, Momo didn't get the chance, because Ryoma pushed him onto the bed and held him there with his body, rubbing their groins together. Shocking the older teen's system enough that Momo didn't immediate react to throw Ryoma off him---where Karupin had gone, Momo couldn't care less.

"You stupid.... fucking... idiot," Ryoma growled, face hovering inches about Momo's. "You avoided me because you like me? What is this? Elementary school?"

"I--"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear anymore lame excuses from you. You may be an idiot, but hopefully it hasn't escaped your notice that I want you, too, moron. I want you; I've wanted you for a very....very...long time," he moaned, before smashing his lips against Momo's in a kiss that lacked everything in finesse and style but held enough passion and energy to get the message across quite effectively.

It took seconds for Momo's mind to catch up with the rest of his body and realize he was kissing Ryoma back with every fiber of that same brash energy he'd claimed to be missing earlier. And then the kiss--if that's what indeed it was--gentled, seeming gratified in having served it's purpose.

Lips brushed over his face, his throat, down the suddenly opened collar of his shirt. Fingers dug into Momo's scalp, wrenching his head back to receive these kisses that were now raining softly over him. Momoshiro moaned, his own hands twisting in the fabric of Ryoma's shirt as the younger teen continued to rule him with teeth and tongue. He felt a little helpless in face of the other teen's skill in this game as well.

Finally, after long minutes had rolled passed, Ryoma sat up, leaving Momo's skin cold in the sudden absence of the other boy's warmth.

"Roll over," the young captain commanded with an affectionate slap to Momo's side, climbing off the bed and rummaging in one of his bureau drawers.

"Mou-- I'm not some dog you can expect to do tricks for you, you know," the taller teen complained, stretching.

This time it was a pinch, delivered by nimble fingers that had worked beneath the open cotton shirt.

"OW! Dammit, you little--that *hurt*!"

"Then you'd better roll over before I do it again, no?" Ryoma grinned down at him, the offending fingers rubbing the pinched skin in apology. He finished removing Momo's shirt as he rolled over onto his stomach, dropping it off the side of the bed where Karupin immediately made a bed out of it, curling up and purring away.

Ryoma pressed a smile into Momo's back, breathing in deep before trailing a line of gentle brush kisses up to Momo's shoulders. He worked the cap off the jar he'd retrieved and dipped his fingers into the cold cream. Its raunctious smell permeated the room in seconds.

"Ugh, Ryoma, what *is* that stuff?" Momo complained right before Ryoma started working the cream his shoulders.

"It might not smell like much," the younger teen murmured as his fingers began working into the tensed muscles of neck, shoulders, and back, "But it works wonders."

Fingers that skilled should be named 'Sin' and marketed, Momo thought, moaning as Ryoma continued to move lower and lower down his back--he didn't even mind too much that he could barely feel his legs anymore thanks to Ryoma's weight pinning them down to the bed. And then those fingers dipped teasingly below the waistband of his sweats, brushing against the creasing skin of his buttocks, and Momo started.

"Shhh," Ryoma soothed instantly, removing his fingers and running his hands up Momo's sides instead, repositioning his weight forward, canting his hips into Momo's bottom as lips started nibbling his ear.

"As much as I would love to," he added, flexing his hips again and digging his erection against Momo's backside again, leaving no doubt as to what exactly it was he would love to do. "I wasn't prepared to be bringing a boy home with me tonight, and I refused to have unprepared sex. It hurts like hell."

Ryoma's hands were running down his arms now, his chest pressing into Momo's back, his hips moving in a gentle, but steady rhythm against Momo's ass... Momoshiro groaned, burying his face into a pillow. But...

"How would you know?" he gasped as one particularly devilish hand reached between him and the bed and found a rather sensitive nipple to play with.

Ryoma's lips were nibbling his neck now, teeth scraping over the skin as the hand not playing with his nipple skimmed lower over his torso. "Does it upset you," he murmured, working Momo's body with his own. "The idea that I might have had sex before."

There was a brief power stronger--brief because it wouldn't matter how much taller Ryoma grew, Momoshiro would always be the stronger of them--and Momoshiro suddenly reversed their positions, sliding out from under Ryoma and turning the boy onto his back, hovering over him, fierce purple eyes blazing down into him.

Ryoma stretched, wrapping his arms around Momo's neck, fingers sliding into his scalp and neck, pulling Momo's face to him even as his legs moved to tangle with the other's legs. One leg gave up quickly, moving wrap up around Momo's waist, instead, pulling Momoshiro to him that way, as well.

Yes, he realized, rubbing himself against the older boy, moaning when the hard outline of their cocks met through the constricting material of suddenly too-tight pants. It would bother Momo a lot to know he'd fucked around, so Ryoma kissed him instead, running his tongue against Momo's lips before thrusting inside that warm mouth in much the same way as he wanted to thrust inside--

The door opened to his bedroom without so much as a knock.

"Oiya! Chibi! Dinner's---"

The loud, obnoxious voice choked off and Ryoma cracked an eye open to look at the shell-shocked expression on his father's face.... Sometimes he wished he was as skilled with a camera as Fuji was.

Ryoma looked up at Momoshiro, hiding his smile at the other teen's embarrassment in a red-flushed throat; he nuzzled and licked his way up to Momo's ear, not resisting the temptation to deliver a little love bit to the lobe before asking, "You ready to go downstairs and get something to eat other than hamburgers?" He poked his boyfriend in the side. "I think you've been trying to starve yourself, you're so skinny."

Fingernails quickly replaced finger pads, and he raked them over Momo's sides, causing the other teen to gasp. "C'mon, let's get something to eat. We can always continue this later."

Ryoma rolled out from beneath Momoshiro, pulling the other teen up behind him and slipping out and around the still-shocked Nanjiroh. His cousin just smiled pleasantly as she set an extra bowl out for Momo.

*

What it was about the big, stupid idiot, even after all these years Ryoma didn't know...
But then, whenever Momoshiro looked at him like that--like Ryoma was the best thing that had every happened to him, like he was more than just a lover, there could never be another that could make him feel the way he did. And they just get closer, and Ryoma would fall in love all over every time he looked at him. He didn't know where he'd be without him, life makes perfect sense because... Momo was his best friend... and he loved him. And that was enough for them.

To Be Continued....