Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Win the Game ❯ Chapter 1

Win the Game

A _Price of Tennis_ Fanfiction

By Andrea Readwolf [andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com]

Chapter: 1/1

Rating: PG

Genre: Drabble. Hints at possible angst/romance

Summary: Tezuka stops by Kawamura's after a tennis match and meets Fuji.

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

Date Started: October 5, 2004

Word Count: 875

Win the Game

"Thank you for your patronage. Please come in and eat well," the chef behind the raw fish bar called out warmly as a new customer entered his family-owned and operated Sushi Bar.

"Thank you for your generosity and invitation."

Takashi looked up from the row of eel he was preparing; his face split into a wide, genuine grin.

"Tezuka! I was beginning to think you were going to break tradition," the sushi chef admonished, finished up the eel roll and offering the plate to an old senior sitting at the far end of the bar. Otherwise the bar was empty and quiet this late at night.

"You driving?" he asked, reaching for a bottle warming sake at Tezuka's shake of a head.

"I'll admit, I almost did," the other man replied, taking a seat in front of his old school friend.

"You know the deal," Takashi told him, setting one cup of hot sake down before Tezuka and taking the other for himself. They lifted their glasses in a toast before sipping. "Anytime one of you wins--"

"Ah, it's tradition," Tezuka smiled faintly, bobbing his head. He remembered well the many times they would stop by the Kawamura Sushi Bar after successfully won games; he remembered the young burning tennis player who had demanded they all return for sushi whenever there was a Seigaku win.

Hands that had fit so well around a tennis racket half a lifetime ago were now expertly divvying up rice and cucumber and seaweed.

"That's right," Takashi laughed. "You know, the chugaku team still stops in when they win?" he announced proudly, placing a plate before Tezuka and reaching for a rag to wipe the counter off. "And Momo and Ochibi watched the game here. It was televised, you know. Echizen said that would be a Seigaku win either way, so it didn't matter. I think he's still itching because he lost to Fujiko last month.

"Oh, and Eiji and Oishi stopped by yesterday with Oishi's little girl. Real cute thing. Looks just like her momma," Takashi went on happily relating the news from the old crowd, and Tezuka thought he should try and get in touch with some of those people while he was back in Tokyo. "And I had an email from Inui this morning. He and Kaidoh are still down in Australia, so he asked for a rain check. Apparently Kaidoh made some sushi for them, but it's not the same, of course...."

Tezuka stares at the plate of untouched sushi as Takashi's words trailed off.

"And Fuji?" he finally forced himself to ask.

Takashi shook his head, frowning. "He hasn't come in yet," he admitted sadly. "I... I had kind of hoped you two would've come together," the taller man admitted sheepishly, brushing against the topic that had become rather taboo in recent months. "For what it's worth, it looked like a really great game. You both played phenomenally--even Echizen said so," he added, as if Echizen was THE judge.

Tezuka would have laughed, if he'd thought he was capable of it.

"It was one of the most sincere games I have ever played," he admitted candidly instead.

Takashi waited, wanting him to continue, but even three days afterwards, Tezuka found he didn't possess the adequate words to describe the weekend's final match-up. Fuji wouldn't have had that problem, he was sure. Fuji always knew what to say, which words would strike the most powerfully.

"Surely you can think of a better way to describe it than 'sincere'," a voice chided, and Tezuka looked over his shoulder to watch the new customer walk inside.

"Fuji."

"Tezuka."

They waited, each watching the other for the expected verbal attack.

"Fujiko! There you are!" Takashi greeted enthusiastically. "Some wasabi sushi, then, for old time's sake?"

"For old time's sake," the smaller man agreed, fitting himself onto a seat near Tezuka.

"I thought you would have come sooner," Tezuka offered in what could have been an apology.

"I would have, but I didn't want to until I was sure of who the winner was."

Takashi, obviously seeing his two friends' need to talk in private, placed Fuji's wasabi rolls down and then occupied himself elsewhere.

"It was the best game I've ever seen you play."

"You, too..."

Curiosity got the best of him, and he helped himself to a piece of wasabi sushi. "So did you decide who won?"

"I won the tennis match," Fuji announced without hesitation, helping himself to a piece of sushi from Tezuka's plate in return. He watched Tezuka digest that announcement without any seeming reaction... and he wilted, just a little bit. "But you won the game," he added softly.

A tightness that had hung about Tezuka like a heavy, smothering winter coat melted away and he relaxed. "Let's go home, Syusuke," he suggested.

A relieved smile twitched at the other man's lips. "My place or yours?"

"It doesn't matter," Tezuka told him, and somehow his hand found Fuji's beneath the bar. "Home is home."

When Takashi returned to the bar, he found some bills tucked under one of the half-empty plates and two empty seats, and he grinned as he set to clearing them off.

~*~

The End

Author Comments:

When I originally sat down to write this, it was a completely *different* Tezuka-Fuji piece. Even then, the story morphed into something different than even my second plot thoughts. The first story had Fuji and Tezuka meeting sometime in their thirties and reacquainting. However, that seemed too much like another recent story out there. The second story had an appearance by Tezuka's wife and child, but Fuji decided he didn't want to wait for another story. >.<

The background of this story follows the thread of thought containing Tezuka's desire for Fuji to play seriously/sincerely in the anime and combines that idea with one from Ravenwoodii's "Challenge" series--that of Fuji being potentially the best player of everyone... if he'd only apply some effort.

Although the implication is that Fuji and Tezuka are together, it is more of a reunion after a break up that lasted for several months. Also note that none of the other players were paired, although they are mentioned together. I'm curious about stepping away from such an overbearing yaoi/shounen-ai approach. We'll see.