Title: Another Game
Author: Kimmie (mirafrac@hotmail.com)
Archive: livejournal: hanahadauncute
Category: shonen ai
Pairings: Tezuka + Ryoma
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I mean no harm, I have no money... Stuff like that. Yeah.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: Yes. Through the end of the anime.
Notes: This was written for Aja's
Pillar Pair Revolution. I figure that it belongs in the fic journal as well... especially since I'm posting two other TezuRyo fics.
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Tezuka has icing stuck to his face as he laughs, and Ryoma throws him a napkin quickly, but not so quick that he doesn't give Tezuka time to see it coming. He wipes his face and calms his laugh. This isn't quite the time for celebration, even despite the cake. Tezuka can play tennis now, and Ryoma has been waiting for this, and they have both been waiting since the party started to discuss such things as when and where.
But by the time the last streamers are cleared from the fence, there are more important matters to attend to. They've just spent the last hour stuffing themselves with cake, and now they are heading out to eat something more substantial, but it ends up being oden from a cart by the riverside with Ryoma picking out the duck eggs and putting them on his napkin until he noticed the way Tezuka eyed them. Then, he deftly moved his chopsticks from his left hand to his right and put the eggs right into Tezuka's dish. Tezuka almost smiled.
They sat on the grass by the river and looked at the stars that shone brightly enough to be seen over the city. The season's last few fireflies clung to existence and the river was calm beneath them. Tezuka kissed Ryoma softly as a gentle breeze began to blow and Ryoma pulled away from it, rubbing his eyes. "Your hair, buchou... it got me." Ryoma leans back in with a hand on either side of Tezuka's face and starts the kiss anew with a bit of added yearning.
Tezuka pulls Ryoma close, nearly on top of him, and puts his hands on Ryoma's shoulders and puts his mouth on Ryoma's neck.
Ryoma says "buchou" in a breathy little voice and Tezuka pulls him closer still until Ryoma is straddling him and rocking gently and Tezuka's mind is set adrift with the river. They are half-shirtless and rubbing against each other brazenly when Ryoma shouts and clings to Tezuka's chest and mutters words so close to Tezuka's skin that he can feel the brush of Ryoma's lips against the soft hair there. Tezuka holds Ryoma close and puts the boy together again with gentle words and a well-placed smile and a single phrase: "We'll play soon." Ryoma isn't sure yet which kind of play, but he's suddenly begun to believe that there is more to life than tennis, and it can be just as good when played with someone else.
When Ryoma is in New York not too long afterward, Kevin kisses him in his hotel room after trying to push him down on the bed. Ryoma doesn't slug him because it might hurt his hand. He doesn't hit him with a tennis ball because they're indoors. But he tells Kevin to leave with steel in his voice and a hand on his lips, wiping away every trace. Tezuka, in two different games, has ruined him for everyone else.
When they play again, Ryoma is happy even with his worst plays because it is Tezuka who makes him do it. From his blowing hair that makes Ryoma remember that first awkward try at a kiss to the gentle smile that is stuck in the corner of Tezuka's mouth for only Ryoma to see... Ryoma knows that this is something for always, even if it only exists for the now.
They play one game and switch to another, and somewhere in between they find happiness. The next time that they have cake and Tezuka has icing on his face, Ryoma wipes it off himself and tells himself that next time he'll lick it off. It can be yet another game.
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Owari. ^_~