Another Rumor ~ Chapter 1
Story Summary: Sequel to Rumored Relationship. Another rumor has taken hold of the tennis circuit. Tezuka and Fuji's relationship continues to develop as one between Atobe and Jirou begins. Shounen-ai: Perfect Pair and Adorable Pair/AtobexJirou.
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.
Chapter 1
Tezuka’s eyes roved over the tennis courts where Seigaku’s Regulars were currently training. For once, everything seemed peaceful. Momoshiro and Kaido were actually being civil to one another. Inui was not poisoning anyone with those vile concoctions of his that he dared to call juice. Kikumaru was calm under Oishi’s presence. Kawamura was not creating a spectacle with his Burning mode. Echizen was less of a snarky brat than usual. Even Fuji seemed to have reigned in his sadistic tendencies for the day.
“Tezuka! Where the hell is that bastard of a tensai you call your boyfriend?!”
The bespectacled boy sighed. ‘There goes the peacefulness.’ He turned to face Hyotei’s captain who had just entered the courts. “Is there something I can help you with, Atobe?”
The silver-haired captain scowled elegantly, as only he could do. “Do you have any idea of how severely your pet tensai has disrupted the order of Ore-sama’s lifestyle?”
“Get to the point, Atobe.”
“The point is that one Fuji Syuusuke decided it was prudent to tell all of Hyotei that Ore-sama was in a relationship with Jirou.”
“Actually, I said that it was annoying having to tip-toe around your relationship with Jirou-san and that you sleep with him.”
The two captains looked down to see a smiling Fuji who once again succeeded in having his voice carry throughout the tennis courts.
Atobe grit his teeth as the tensai’s words caused an immediate flurry of gossip to sweep over the courts.
“No way! Atobe-san is going out with his singles two player?”
“So he’s dating the kid who’s always falling asleep?”
“Come to think of it, I think the two of them have gone to the street courts together before.”
“Damn. Is having the singles one and singles two player of each school getting together a new fad or something?”
“Next thing you know, we’ll be hearing that Rikkai’s top two singles players are actually boyfriends too.”
Tezuka’s eyebrow twitched as the gossiping grew louder and practicing was forgotten. “Everyone! Twenty laps now!”
Most of the members jumped in surprise but immediately began running before Tezuka could add any more laps to the count.
“That includes you, Syuusuke.”
Fuji pouted up at his boyfriend. “Mou, but I’m having a conversation with Atobe.”
“No favorites, Syuusuke.”
“Mit-su mean-ie.” Fuji pouted more pronouncedly before smiling and joining the other members in running laps.
Tezuka returned his attention to the other captain. “You were saying?”
“Hn.” Atobe smirked. “At least it was your practice this time instead of mine.”
“Sugoi~! Fuji Syuusuke! Play a match with me when you’re done, okay?!”
Both captains turned to see the Hyotei Regulars lined up outside of the courts. Jirou bounced excitedly at the chance to visit one of his favorite players.
“Oi!” Atobe called over to his team, frowning. “Ore-sama told you to continue practice.”
Gakuto smirked. “Jirou just had to come when he heard that his boyfriend was going to visit Seigaku. Seriously though, how the hell can you be a good boyfriend if you’re ditching Jirou everywhere? What if he gets molested by some pervert?”
Shishido rolled his eyes. “The only perverts at Hyotei are you and Oshitari.”
“Shishido-san…” Ohtori scolded lightly.
“You know it’s true, Choutarou.”
“Oi, Atobe.” Oshitari called, tilting his head towards the runners. “Seigaku just stole your boyfriend.”
“Ne, ne? You’ll play a match with me, right?” Jirou bounced happily alongside his favorite Seigaku player.
Fuji looked on amused as the usually sleepy player easily kept up with the quick pace he had set. “If there’s time I will. So, how are things with you and Atobe?”
The volley specialist’s bright smile dropped slightly. “Ah, about that…” His eyes flicked to the side before returning to Fuji. “Ano, I have to apologize for that rumor Keigo started about you and Tezuka.”
“Don’t worry about it.” The brunette waved the apology off. “If it wasn’t for that rumor, then I may never have gotten together with Kunimitsu.”
“Really?! You two weren’t already…Oh…” Jirou’s eyes lit up with realization. “So that’s why you thanked Kei-chan.”
“Mm. You’re sharper than most people give you credit for.”
The strawberry-blonde shrugged. “Most people don’t expect me to be so attentive since I’m sleeping most of the time. You, on the other hand, have been given the title of tensai, so I’m pretty sure that you know that Kei-chan’s not my boyfriend yet.”
“Yet?”
“Well, it would be a shame to waste this chance that you’ve given me. After all…” The Hyotei player’s smile seemed to darken slightly. “Everyone knows that Keigo’s sleeping with me.”
Fuji’s eyes opened, locking onto the other boy’s. “Saa…” He smirked. “So you did understand what I meant to do when I came to Hyotei the other day.”
“Of course I did.” Jirou giggled. “Even Ohtori thinks that I’m having sex with Keigo, and that boy’s the most innocent thing that you’ll ever find.”
“I suppose that it’s safe to assume that you will be trying to seduce Atobe then?”
“I don’t think that ‘seduce’ is the right word. I mean, I think Keigo feels something for me, but…”
“But you don’t know whether it’s love or just plain affection for a friend and teammate.”
“Yeah. Kei-chan kind of treats me like I’m a puppy or something.”
Fuji giggled.
“What?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Why do you say that?”
“Well, whenever I sleep in his lap, Kei-chan always pets me. And it kind of has something to do with how we met too.”
“How so?”
“Eto…”
Fuji stopped running and led Jirou underneath the shade of a nearby tree. “Sit down. Kunimitsu is busy with the rest of your team, so we have some time before anyone looks for us.”
After they were both seated on the grass, Jirou sighed and resumed talking.
“Once when I was little, I got separated from my family at the playground. I was kind of scared because there were a lot of adults around because of some convention or something in the area nearby, and I couldn’t find my parents. That’s when Keigo found me. We talked for a bit before he led me to his parents. Kei-chan wanted to keep me instead of getting a puppy like they had promised him. He, um…He said…” Jirou trailed off, blushing.
Fuji smiled and moved closer to the other boy. “Go on.”
“He said that I was cuter than any puppy they could get him.”
Fuji chuckled as Jirou turned a darker shade of red. “Well, that’s certainly a good sign. Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be able to get Atobe to realize his feelings for you.”
The smaller boy nodded before turning to face Fuji with wide eyes. “Will you help me?”
“Eh?”
“You were able to get Tezuka to confess to you, right? So you have experience with this type of thing. Keigo can pick up on the slightest thing in tennis, but after all this time he still doesn’t know that I like him! Help me! Please?”
The tensai smiled softly. “Sure. I suppose I can help you with Atobe.”
“Really?! Sugee~!” Jirou tackled Fuji to the ground, arms wrapped around the other boy’s waist. “You’re the best!”
“Jirou!”
Both of the boys on the ground looked up to see Atobe stalking towards them with the rest of Hyotei and Tezuka following.
“Ore-sama is leaving. Let’s go.”
“Okay, Kei-chan!” Giving Fuji one last hug, Jirou let go and followed Atobe. “Bye-bye, Fuji Syuusuke!”
Fuji waved and held back a giggle as he watched the strawberry-blonde boy tug playfully on Atobe’s jersey, babbling excitedly about how they should visit Seigaku more often. He turned and smiled innocently at Tezuka’s frowning face. “Is something wrong, Mitsu?”
Tezuka’s frown deepened. “What are you planning with Akutagawa?”
“Mou, why do you always assume that I’m planning something?”
“Because you always are.”
“It’s nothing bad.”
“That’s what you said when we visited Hyotei, and I have a feeling that it’ll be worse than that.”
“Well then, how about this?” Fuji wrapped his arms around his captain’s neck. “If I do something you think is bad, then you can punish me for it later.” He pressed his lips against the taller boy’s. “Okay?”
Tezuka wrapped one arm around Fuji’s waist and used the other to bring his hand up to lightly caress his boyfriend’s face. “That’s acceptable, but I already think you did something bad, so we’ll deal with that tonight.”
“Wha-” Fuji was cut off as Tezuka’s tongue suddenly invaded his mouth. When they parted, he panted breathlessly and pouted at Tezuka once again. “That’s not fair! I haven’t even done anything yet, Mitsu!”
“Yet?” Tezuka asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Oops.”
Tezuka smirked and held Fuji tightly against his body. “Then consider it as a preventive measure.”
Fuji shuddered in Tezuka’s arms. ‘This is going to be a long night.’
Tbc…
A/N: I plan to have Another Rumor concentrate on both the development of a relationship between Jirou and Atobe as well as continuing to develop the relationship between Tezuka and Fuji. Please don’t be discouraged in reading if one chapter happens to center around one couple more than the other. Perfect Pair and Adorable Pair are my two favorite Prince of Tennis couple, and I hope to portray both couples to the best of my ability within this story.
To my Perfect Pair fans: Yes, there may be chapters that center on the Adorable Pair, but I plan to have plenty of interaction between Tezuka and Fuji as well as their relationship.
To my Adorable Pair fans: Now you all get to see how Atobe and Jirou deal with their own rumor.
On another note, is anyone interested in reading the full story of how Atobe and Jirou met according to this story? I’m thinking of posting that separately as a side-story that’s also a standalone.