Pillow Fic
Yeah, I know I've been MIA but school has been doing something horrid to my schedule. Why professors insist on making us read so much and have so many tests is beyond me.
In any case, this fic is for ka0richan because she requested it, I owe her a fic after she wrote me such a lovely one, and we agreed another pillow fic would be a good addition for kishmet's meme. Unfortunately, I took too long in writing it so the meme closed, and I think I failed the overall objective in what ka0richan wanted. Sorry about that! >.<
But enough talk. On to the fic! (And I promise to catch up as soon as I have some time to read over all the wonderful stories I've been missing!!)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Unbeta-ed, fluffy
Word Count: 1,563
Disclaimer: PoT is copyrighted to its respective owners, of which I am not one. *sniff*
Much to Tezuka’s chagrin, the former Seigaku team assembled in his apartment to celebrate his winning the Japan Open. Oishi toasted the occasion as, “The first of many pro tournaments to win!”
Of course, he couldn’t say no to the idea of the celebration; after all, many of his former teammates helped Tezuka train for the competition and gave him the encouragement and practice he desperately needed to actually win. All Tezuka’s hard work - and theirs - paid off when he, against all odds and against the various ranked pros who had entered, won in his very first ATP tournament. And because the victory was theirs as much as his, Tezuka didn’t object. Much.
He did, however, draw the line when Fuji suggested inviting other people they knew in the junior and high school careers, such as Atobe Keigo or Tachibana Kippei. While Tezuka remained in friendly contact with most of his past rivals, he didn’t want the celebration to get out of hand.
As it was, his teammates explored the apartment with a fascination that almost rivaled Inui. He had just recently moved in to a larger place to accommodate the changes in his life and everything was almost set up exactly as he wanted it. With some trepidation, he watched Kikumaru bounce around the shelves and poke at various objects.
“Oishi, look at this! Tezuka has some weird knickknacks on this shelf!” Kikumaru crowed as he stared at a bad rendition of a bald eagle.
“Eiji, don’t touch anything,” Oishi cautioned but it was too late.
“Look, it says Washington, DC on the bottom of this ugly figurine!” Kikumaru exclaimed, turning the brown shape over. “And this! It’s a snowglobe of Mexico City! Does it even snow in Mexico?”
As Kikumaru exclaimed over the useless objects Tezuka had carefully lined up on one shelf of the bookcase, Ryoma caught Tezuka’s eyes and smirked.
“Why does Tezuka have all junk up here?” Kikumaru wondered.
Fuji laughed. “If I were to guess, I’d say Echizen deliberately gets him the cheapest souvenirs of all the cities he’s visited while touring. Am I right, Echizen?”
“No one likes a know-it-all, Fuji-senpai,” Ryoma muttered, watching Momoshiro as he tried to turn on the cable television with various remotes.
Resigning himself to his teammates’ nosiness - and really, he didn’t see how Inui hadn’t managed to find his way into Tezuka’s desk to collect personal information - Tezuka went into the kitchen to get some refreshments. While he started the water to boil for tea, he opened his refrigerator and noticed some grape Ponta sitting on the shelf. Shaking his head at Ryoma’s continual addiction for such an unhealthy drink, he took a few cans out to offer to his guests.
Just as he was about to carry the tray into the living room, Eiji shrieked, “Oishi come here! You have to see this!”
The direction of Kikumaru’s voice didn’t come from the living room. Instead, it sounded somewhat muffled, which probably meant the bouncy red-head had found the bedroom.
Suppressing what sounded like a sigh, Tezuka set the tray of drinks down and followed everyone into the corridor in the direction of the master bedroom. Everyone crowded around the door, peering in to stare at what Kikumaru found.
“Tezuka has a pillow fetish!”
Tezuka blanched suddenly, remembering he had forgotten to put the pillows away in the closet before everyone came over. Everyone murmured to themselves as they noted at least seven large pillows strewn about on the king-sized bed. Most were in plain white pillow cases but a few others were blue-and-lavender striped. It was obviously the sheer amount of pillows that had shocked everyone.
“What could you possibly need all those pillows for?” Oishi wondered aloud before suddenly realizing he had voiced his thoughts. Blushing, he glanced over at Tezuka. “I-I mean, not that it’s bad to have all those pillows there. It’s just .. you know, people usually don’t need so many.”
“Maybe he likes to cuddle with them while he sleeps,” Ryoma suddenly spoke up. He flashed another smirk at Tezuka’s direction, who returned the look with a measured glare.
“All seven of them?” Momoshiro asked incredulously after counting the number of pillows on the bed. “That’s like … weird! Er, a good kind of weird,” he added hastily as Kaidoh slammed an elbow into him. “And ow, that hurt, Mamushi!”
“Don’t be so rude!” Kaidoh hissed back. “No one makes fun of your trash junk!”
“That’s a food wrapper collage, and it’s art!” Momo insisted angrily. “It’s a collection of food I’ve eaten all over the world!”
“Whatever. How many different wrappers of Twinkies do you actually need?” Kaidoh snorted.
As they began squabbling, the rest of the team continued to gawk at the room. At least, Tezuka noted, Inui tried to slip further inside for a better look around. Ryoma, on the other hand, turned to head back to the living room. Momo stopped yelling long enough to notice him leave. “Oi, Echizen! Where are you going?”
Ryoma didn’t even bother turning to look back at his friend. “Away. You two are too noisy.”
“But don’t you want to know about Tezuka’s pillows?” Kikumaru exclaimed, waving his hands wildly.
“If Buchou wants seven pillows on his bed, let him,” Ryoma said dismissively before flopping down on the couch in his usual slouched posture.
“Echizen is right,” Oishi said firmly, beginning to herd the others away from the door. He blocked Inui’s attempt to slip further inside the room. “This is none of our business. Now, let’s all go back to the living room and celebrate Tezuka’s victory!” He shot Tezuka an apologetic look as the rest of the group grumbled back.
Tezuka merely nodded, internally grateful that Oishi’s manners returned in time to save him from answering potentially embarrassing questions. He would have to be more careful in the future if his former team decided to come over and ‘celebrate’ his victories every time he won a tournament.
Despite the time apart, the camaraderie between them didn’t seem as though it had changed as they laughed and joked and ate. Tezuka didn’t even mind too much when Momo tripped accidentally and spilled grape soda on the carpet. At least, he hadn’t made the younger man run laps. It just felt good to have the team back together again after all the time apart.
Eventually, everyone trickled out. Ryoma lingered last, clearly intending to stay, but Fuji wouldn’t quite leave either. As they bid everyone else goodbye, Fuji looked at Tezuka and Ryoma and smiled. “It was good seeing everyone again, wasn’t it? It seems like nothing’s changed.” He smiled the enigmatic smile that always put Tezuka on edge. “Well, there’s at least one change, though. Right, Tezuka?”
“I think it’s safe to say we’ve all changed,” Tezuka answered, trying not to give into the unusual desire to fidget under Fuji’s increasingly bland smile.
“Oh, indeed. We’ve all grown up and matured - well, some of us, anyway,” Fuji said with a laugh. “I’ll never forget the look on your face when Kaidoh accidentally tripped Momo who spilled his drink. That was pretty funny.”
Tezuka eyed Fuji warily, not fooled by the change in subject. Fuji was far from done with talking. He sensed that the tensai was about to drop the bomb soon.
“Of course, I also mean relationships have changed as well,” Fuji continued casually. He turned to Ryoma and cast him that Cheshire cat smile. “Don’t you agree, Echizen?”
“No one likes a know-it-all, Fuji-sempai,” Ryoma muttered, adjusting his hat to hide his eyes.
“You already said that. But all right, just answer me this one last question, then,” Fuji said with a laugh. “So why do you need so many pillows on the bed, Echizen?”
“Why not?” he asked reasonably, not bothering to deny anything the tensai said.
“Hmm, why not indeed,” Fuji said thoughtfully. “Very well, then. Good night, Tezuka, Echizen.”
Fuji closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Tezuka and Ryoma alone in the apartment. Tezuka gave the younger man a measured look before turning back to clean up the mess his guests had left. There wasn’t much; Oishi made sure everyone threw away their trash and even tried to scrub the stain out of the carpet until Tezuka told him he would use cleaner on it later. Tezuka took out the carpet cleaner now and began to apply it to the stained area, carefully following the directions on the can.
“Ne, Kunimutsu. Do you know why I like so many pillows on the bed?” Ryoma asked, perching on the arm of the sofa to watch him clean the stain.
Tezuka glanced up at him briefly. “I do.”
Ryoma smirked. “Why?”
“Because when you’re on the road playing tournaments, you miss that presence next to you at night.” Tezuka examined the spot and carefully added a little more cleaner, letting it soak into the carpet.
“And?”
“And with the pillows, it at last feels like someone is there with you. It’s something you can hold on to.”
“You know me so well, then?” Ryoma asked, his smirk growing.
Finally, Tezuka sat back on his legs and looked up at him. A small smile threatened to appear on his lips and there was a definite glint of fondness in his eyes. “No. It’s because I do the same.”
Er, yes. I so fail at writing pillow fluff. Forgive me! >.<
In any case, this fic is for ka0richan because she requested it, I owe her a fic after she wrote me such a lovely one, and we agreed another pillow fic would be a good addition for kishmet's meme. Unfortunately, I took too long in writing it so the meme closed, and I think I failed the overall objective in what ka0richan wanted. Sorry about that! >.<
But enough talk. On to the fic! (And I promise to catch up as soon as I have some time to read over all the wonderful stories I've been missing!!)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Unbeta-ed, fluffy
Word Count: 1,563
Disclaimer: PoT is copyrighted to its respective owners, of which I am not one. *sniff*
Much to Tezuka’s chagrin, the former Seigaku team assembled in his apartment to celebrate his winning the Japan Open. Oishi toasted the occasion as, “The first of many pro tournaments to win!”
Of course, he couldn’t say no to the idea of the celebration; after all, many of his former teammates helped Tezuka train for the competition and gave him the encouragement and practice he desperately needed to actually win. All Tezuka’s hard work - and theirs - paid off when he, against all odds and against the various ranked pros who had entered, won in his very first ATP tournament. And because the victory was theirs as much as his, Tezuka didn’t object. Much.
He did, however, draw the line when Fuji suggested inviting other people they knew in the junior and high school careers, such as Atobe Keigo or Tachibana Kippei. While Tezuka remained in friendly contact with most of his past rivals, he didn’t want the celebration to get out of hand.
As it was, his teammates explored the apartment with a fascination that almost rivaled Inui. He had just recently moved in to a larger place to accommodate the changes in his life and everything was almost set up exactly as he wanted it. With some trepidation, he watched Kikumaru bounce around the shelves and poke at various objects.
“Oishi, look at this! Tezuka has some weird knickknacks on this shelf!” Kikumaru crowed as he stared at a bad rendition of a bald eagle.
“Eiji, don’t touch anything,” Oishi cautioned but it was too late.
“Look, it says Washington, DC on the bottom of this ugly figurine!” Kikumaru exclaimed, turning the brown shape over. “And this! It’s a snowglobe of Mexico City! Does it even snow in Mexico?”
As Kikumaru exclaimed over the useless objects Tezuka had carefully lined up on one shelf of the bookcase, Ryoma caught Tezuka’s eyes and smirked.
“Why does Tezuka have all junk up here?” Kikumaru wondered.
Fuji laughed. “If I were to guess, I’d say Echizen deliberately gets him the cheapest souvenirs of all the cities he’s visited while touring. Am I right, Echizen?”
“No one likes a know-it-all, Fuji-senpai,” Ryoma muttered, watching Momoshiro as he tried to turn on the cable television with various remotes.
Resigning himself to his teammates’ nosiness - and really, he didn’t see how Inui hadn’t managed to find his way into Tezuka’s desk to collect personal information - Tezuka went into the kitchen to get some refreshments. While he started the water to boil for tea, he opened his refrigerator and noticed some grape Ponta sitting on the shelf. Shaking his head at Ryoma’s continual addiction for such an unhealthy drink, he took a few cans out to offer to his guests.
Just as he was about to carry the tray into the living room, Eiji shrieked, “Oishi come here! You have to see this!”
The direction of Kikumaru’s voice didn’t come from the living room. Instead, it sounded somewhat muffled, which probably meant the bouncy red-head had found the bedroom.
Suppressing what sounded like a sigh, Tezuka set the tray of drinks down and followed everyone into the corridor in the direction of the master bedroom. Everyone crowded around the door, peering in to stare at what Kikumaru found.
“Tezuka has a pillow fetish!”
Tezuka blanched suddenly, remembering he had forgotten to put the pillows away in the closet before everyone came over. Everyone murmured to themselves as they noted at least seven large pillows strewn about on the king-sized bed. Most were in plain white pillow cases but a few others were blue-and-lavender striped. It was obviously the sheer amount of pillows that had shocked everyone.
“What could you possibly need all those pillows for?” Oishi wondered aloud before suddenly realizing he had voiced his thoughts. Blushing, he glanced over at Tezuka. “I-I mean, not that it’s bad to have all those pillows there. It’s just .. you know, people usually don’t need so many.”
“Maybe he likes to cuddle with them while he sleeps,” Ryoma suddenly spoke up. He flashed another smirk at Tezuka’s direction, who returned the look with a measured glare.
“All seven of them?” Momoshiro asked incredulously after counting the number of pillows on the bed. “That’s like … weird! Er, a good kind of weird,” he added hastily as Kaidoh slammed an elbow into him. “And ow, that hurt, Mamushi!”
“Don’t be so rude!” Kaidoh hissed back. “No one makes fun of your trash junk!”
“That’s a food wrapper collage, and it’s art!” Momo insisted angrily. “It’s a collection of food I’ve eaten all over the world!”
“Whatever. How many different wrappers of Twinkies do you actually need?” Kaidoh snorted.
As they began squabbling, the rest of the team continued to gawk at the room. At least, Tezuka noted, Inui tried to slip further inside for a better look around. Ryoma, on the other hand, turned to head back to the living room. Momo stopped yelling long enough to notice him leave. “Oi, Echizen! Where are you going?”
Ryoma didn’t even bother turning to look back at his friend. “Away. You two are too noisy.”
“But don’t you want to know about Tezuka’s pillows?” Kikumaru exclaimed, waving his hands wildly.
“If Buchou wants seven pillows on his bed, let him,” Ryoma said dismissively before flopping down on the couch in his usual slouched posture.
“Echizen is right,” Oishi said firmly, beginning to herd the others away from the door. He blocked Inui’s attempt to slip further inside the room. “This is none of our business. Now, let’s all go back to the living room and celebrate Tezuka’s victory!” He shot Tezuka an apologetic look as the rest of the group grumbled back.
Tezuka merely nodded, internally grateful that Oishi’s manners returned in time to save him from answering potentially embarrassing questions. He would have to be more careful in the future if his former team decided to come over and ‘celebrate’ his victories every time he won a tournament.
Despite the time apart, the camaraderie between them didn’t seem as though it had changed as they laughed and joked and ate. Tezuka didn’t even mind too much when Momo tripped accidentally and spilled grape soda on the carpet. At least, he hadn’t made the younger man run laps. It just felt good to have the team back together again after all the time apart.
Eventually, everyone trickled out. Ryoma lingered last, clearly intending to stay, but Fuji wouldn’t quite leave either. As they bid everyone else goodbye, Fuji looked at Tezuka and Ryoma and smiled. “It was good seeing everyone again, wasn’t it? It seems like nothing’s changed.” He smiled the enigmatic smile that always put Tezuka on edge. “Well, there’s at least one change, though. Right, Tezuka?”
“I think it’s safe to say we’ve all changed,” Tezuka answered, trying not to give into the unusual desire to fidget under Fuji’s increasingly bland smile.
“Oh, indeed. We’ve all grown up and matured - well, some of us, anyway,” Fuji said with a laugh. “I’ll never forget the look on your face when Kaidoh accidentally tripped Momo who spilled his drink. That was pretty funny.”
Tezuka eyed Fuji warily, not fooled by the change in subject. Fuji was far from done with talking. He sensed that the tensai was about to drop the bomb soon.
“Of course, I also mean relationships have changed as well,” Fuji continued casually. He turned to Ryoma and cast him that Cheshire cat smile. “Don’t you agree, Echizen?”
“No one likes a know-it-all, Fuji-sempai,” Ryoma muttered, adjusting his hat to hide his eyes.
“You already said that. But all right, just answer me this one last question, then,” Fuji said with a laugh. “So why do you need so many pillows on the bed, Echizen?”
“Why not?” he asked reasonably, not bothering to deny anything the tensai said.
“Hmm, why not indeed,” Fuji said thoughtfully. “Very well, then. Good night, Tezuka, Echizen.”
Fuji closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Tezuka and Ryoma alone in the apartment. Tezuka gave the younger man a measured look before turning back to clean up the mess his guests had left. There wasn’t much; Oishi made sure everyone threw away their trash and even tried to scrub the stain out of the carpet until Tezuka told him he would use cleaner on it later. Tezuka took out the carpet cleaner now and began to apply it to the stained area, carefully following the directions on the can.
“Ne, Kunimutsu. Do you know why I like so many pillows on the bed?” Ryoma asked, perching on the arm of the sofa to watch him clean the stain.
Tezuka glanced up at him briefly. “I do.”
Ryoma smirked. “Why?”
“Because when you’re on the road playing tournaments, you miss that presence next to you at night.” Tezuka examined the spot and carefully added a little more cleaner, letting it soak into the carpet.
“And?”
“And with the pillows, it at last feels like someone is there with you. It’s something you can hold on to.”
“You know me so well, then?” Ryoma asked, his smirk growing.
Finally, Tezuka sat back on his legs and looked up at him. A small smile threatened to appear on his lips and there was a definite glint of fondness in his eyes. “No. It’s because I do the same.”
Er, yes. I so fail at writing pillow fluff. Forgive me! >.<