[One-shot] Childish Things (Prince of Tennis)
Title: Childish Things
Characters: Momoshiro, Ryoma
Words/Rating: 450+ words / G
Summary: After his seijin shiki (coming-of-age ceremony), Momoshiro seeks out his childhood friend.
Author's Notes: readerofasaph stumped me at a private guess-the-line game, so here's the promised drabble! Prompt: MomoRyo (gen), goodbye to adolescence. Why Momoshiro isn't getting drunk with his peers like normal Japanese seinen do, I have no idea, but that's what you get for telling me to write MomoRyo. Title from the King James Bible (I Cor 13:11).
Momoshiro had never wished for a camera as hard as he did when Echizen finally recognized Momoshiro and choked on his grape Ponta. He'd seen Echizen facefault before, but not quite to this degree. It was almost worth the haircut, it was. He "helped" Echizen recover from the gas-induced choking with a few well-placed thumps until Echizen managed to hit him with his hat, which was the cue for Momoshiro to step back and start complaining about how kouhai nowadays really had no respect for their upperclassmen, none at all. "I can't believe it took you so long to recognize me, Echizen! I've wasted my time with you, I have."
"Momo-senpai, what happened to your hair?"
The kid's idea of wit bounced back too quickly, it did. "Oh, this? Heh, looks great, doesn't it?" Momoshiro almost ran his fingers through it before he remembered he'd combed it down and to do that would be to ruin the hairstyle he'd practiced combing. Couldn't do it without a mirror, and it looked horrible if it wasn't combed like this. Ah well, this was what it meant to be an adult, wasn't it? "Now that I'm mature and all that, it wouldn't do to walk around with a teenager's haircut, not at all."
Echizen's eyes fixed on the hair, but he just pulled his cap down and looked away. "Che," Echizen muttered, adding something that Momoshiro could pretend he'd never heard (and would, for the sake of their friendship).
He had to bluster anyway, because that was just how things worked between them. "What's that? Speak up when you talk to your elders, Echizen. That muttering's a bad habit of yours, very bad."
"I said you're still stupid, Momo-senpai," Echizen said.
They both knew he was lying. "Well, stupid Momo-senpai was going to treat you to a burger, but if you're going to be like that," Momo said instead, shrugging as he walked away. "You can just treat me when it's your turn instead."
He counted--three, two, one--and then Echizen was there by his elbow walking as if nothing had ever happened between them. Echizen said, "Momo-chan-senpai will treat me anyway, because he's all grown-up now and adults are supposed to take care of kids, right?"
"Why, you cheeky thing, you," Momoshiro laughed. Echizen grinned up at him from beneath the white brim of the hat. Momoshiro wondered if he'd miss the hat in two years, and then shrugged, putting an arm around Echizen's shoulders. "Just for that, you get two burgers," he said.
"You're an adult, you can afford three."
Or maybe it was time to think about making Echizen pay for himself after all...
Characters: Momoshiro, Ryoma
Words/Rating: 450+ words / G
Summary: After his seijin shiki (coming-of-age ceremony), Momoshiro seeks out his childhood friend.
Author's Notes: readerofasaph stumped me at a private guess-the-line game, so here's the promised drabble! Prompt: MomoRyo (gen), goodbye to adolescence. Why Momoshiro isn't getting drunk with his peers like normal Japanese seinen do, I have no idea, but that's what you get for telling me to write MomoRyo. Title from the King James Bible (I Cor 13:11).
Momoshiro had never wished for a camera as hard as he did when Echizen finally recognized Momoshiro and choked on his grape Ponta. He'd seen Echizen facefault before, but not quite to this degree. It was almost worth the haircut, it was. He "helped" Echizen recover from the gas-induced choking with a few well-placed thumps until Echizen managed to hit him with his hat, which was the cue for Momoshiro to step back and start complaining about how kouhai nowadays really had no respect for their upperclassmen, none at all. "I can't believe it took you so long to recognize me, Echizen! I've wasted my time with you, I have."
"Momo-senpai, what happened to your hair?"
The kid's idea of wit bounced back too quickly, it did. "Oh, this? Heh, looks great, doesn't it?" Momoshiro almost ran his fingers through it before he remembered he'd combed it down and to do that would be to ruin the hairstyle he'd practiced combing. Couldn't do it without a mirror, and it looked horrible if it wasn't combed like this. Ah well, this was what it meant to be an adult, wasn't it? "Now that I'm mature and all that, it wouldn't do to walk around with a teenager's haircut, not at all."
Echizen's eyes fixed on the hair, but he just pulled his cap down and looked away. "Che," Echizen muttered, adding something that Momoshiro could pretend he'd never heard (and would, for the sake of their friendship).
He had to bluster anyway, because that was just how things worked between them. "What's that? Speak up when you talk to your elders, Echizen. That muttering's a bad habit of yours, very bad."
"I said you're still stupid, Momo-senpai," Echizen said.
They both knew he was lying. "Well, stupid Momo-senpai was going to treat you to a burger, but if you're going to be like that," Momo said instead, shrugging as he walked away. "You can just treat me when it's your turn instead."
He counted--three, two, one--and then Echizen was there by his elbow walking as if nothing had ever happened between them. Echizen said, "Momo-chan-senpai will treat me anyway, because he's all grown-up now and adults are supposed to take care of kids, right?"
"Why, you cheeky thing, you," Momoshiro laughed. Echizen grinned up at him from beneath the white brim of the hat. Momoshiro wondered if he'd miss the hat in two years, and then shrugged, putting an arm around Echizen's shoulders. "Just for that, you get two burgers," he said.
"You're an adult, you can afford three."
Or maybe it was time to think about making Echizen pay for himself after all...