For babycellist
Title: What becomes of Perfume
For: babycellist/ Grace
Medium: Fanfic (3133 words)
Request: 1. Tezuka/Fuji wallpaper/fic/art
Warnings/Rating: PG, minor angst and fluff
Author: gottis_chan
Notes: There are other pairings present or mentioned, namely Oishi/Kikumaru, Ryoma/Sakuno and Momoshiro/OFC. Also, this is set in the future, more precisely ten years from canon. And everything is told from Eiji’s point of view, because that worked the best for me. I still hope you’ll enjoy it! And remember, it might not seem like it in the beginning, but the main focus is still Tezuka/Fuji. A final note; English isn’t my first language and this hasn’t been beta-ed, so I apologize for any mistakes. ^.^;; ♥
Maybe it was stupid of him to think that nothing had changed. People were bound to change in the course of ten years, it was only natural. Kikumaru Eiji sighed as he took a seat next to Echizen at the large table where the entire team from their most glorious year in Junior High had gathered; it was a reunion that had been planned for years suddenly falling into place and everyone being able to attend. And Eiji was really happy to see everyone again, since he had been slipping out of contact with almost everyone.
There was Momoshiro Takeshi. He sat proudly in his seat, a wedding ring on his hand and a cell phone close by since - as he had informed them immediately at arrival - his wife was expecting their first baby today of all days. She was already a bit late, the babe should have been born five days ago, but apparently it had thought the warmth of its mother’s belly being too good to pass up for something less pleasant. Naturally enough, Momoshiro was proud. Proud and… skittish. Momoshiro was working as a helper at a gas station, coupled with the occasional tennis tutoring.
Kaidou Kaoru loomed in his seat; looking everything like the professional tennis player he was, mobile even though he sat still and dynamic like no one else. He hadn’t married yet, but the gossip magazines let the world know that the rising star from Japan had a certain someone, even though they had no photographic evidence yet. On the side of his career he had started up a kennel apparently, something Eiji thought suited him very well. Kaidou simply belonged with animals, no doubt about it.
Of course Kawamura Takashi had gone through with his dream of creating a wonderful sushi restaurant, in fact, that was where they were all gathered now, being waited on by a few lovely people of Kawamura’s staff. Everyone seemed so nice and friendly, all hand picked by Kawamura, and obviously loving their job and their doting boss.
Inui Sadaharu hadn’t told anyone what he did for a living, but given his gorgeous suit and gold lined glasses, it was something that paid really well. The former data man surrounded himself with the same shroud of mystery that he had done in their teenage years and Eiji still held enough respect for him to keep from snooping around… Too much.
Sending a bright smile over to Oishi Syuichirou and waving at him, Eiji thought that Oishi hadn’t changed too much. He ought to know that better than anyone as well, since they were living together and had been doing that over the past four years now. Oishi was still in school, studying to become the best physician in Japan, or rather the entire Asia. He just wanted to be there for everyone, every single human on the face of the planet. The nervousness that had laced much of his personality over his teenage years was slowly morphing into a calm, empathic understanding for people around him and a will to do the very best he could for everyone though.
Eiji himself had at first tried to study to become a veterinarian, but he had soon been forced to give up. He wanted to be able to do his very best, and he just couldn’t bring himself to keep up with the intense pace in the medical school, so he had been forced to quit. Admitting his defeat, he had decided to work in his other field of interest instead; food. He was now the proud owner of a small lunch joint, not too big, but it got enough customers to keep it going, and his food was praised by almost everyone who visited, and his circle of customers slowly grew. Eiji had to admit he was doing pretty well.
Echizen Ryoma had quit tennis quite a few years back, apparently he had reached a goal he had set up for himself; Eiji had no clue what that goal was, but apparently it was more than enough for the prodigy to reach that goal and then quit, because quit he had. Now… Now he was pursuing - of all things - a music career instead, his voice and his charisma, not to mention his previous fame, making sure he was quickly becoming known as one of the most promising artists in Japan in years. He was dating Ryuzaki Sakuno, and the young woman was the one of the couple who still kept on working on her tennis, being a professional, just as Kaidou.
Eiji paused in his thoughts, eyes travelling over to the last two in the “team”. The two who obviously had changed the most. Eiji’s eyes grew slightly worried as he looked between the two of them, trying to figure out two things; why weren’t they talking to each other at all and why did they both look mighty uncomfortable being here?
Fuji Syusuke sat in his corner, slowly stirring in his drink, long golden hair falling in front of his face. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, a white blazer over it and white pants, looking almost as classy as any model Eiji had ever met. The former acrobatic player knew for a fact though that Fuji wasn’t a model, he was working behind the camera, being a rather famous photographer, one who did both nature shots and celebrity. He had gotten his ears pierced sometime during the years and the small stones he wore were probably diamond. Eiji had this strange urge to just touch them, to see if they were real.
Tezuka Kunimitsu on the other hand looked… ragged for the lack of a better word for it. His hair was undone, clothes looked like they were put on in a hurry and he had dark rings underneath his eyes, looking nothing like the calm and collected captain Eiji remembered from his youth. His left arm hung more or less useless from his side and he used his right to do everything, right now he was slowly putting a piece of sushi into his mouth, chewing absentmindedly, almost as if he didn’t even notice that it was there. The former captain hadn’t told the others what he was doing for a living, but unlike Inui he didn’t look like it was something overly glamorous at all. Eiji couldn’t help but feel worried about that, and he noticed that some of the others gave Tezuka worried looks as well.
Deciding to break the silence that slowly seemed to fall down over the table, uncomfortable looks being exchanged and stray shuffling being heard, Eiji stood up, gently tapping a spoon at his glass. “Excuse me, everyone”, he called out, giving them all a reassuring grin. “I have something I want to say. Or rather, I would like everyone here to say something. I want us each to say something that was really important to us over the years and then everyone else can congratulate us on that, what do you guys think? I think it could be a good way of getting people talking again, right?”
“Sounds good to me”, Momoshiro grinned, throwing another worried glance over to his cell phone. “I guess I can start. Well… That one’s not difficult at all. What was most important was meeting Chizuru and marrying her. I mean, she’s so great you won’t believe it, and she would have come here too, but she… You know… Totally couldn’t, you know? But yeah, I’ve told her all about you guys so she really would have liked to meet you but… Yeah.” Face flushed, Momoshiro sat down again, grinning from ear to ear.
Everyone - sans Tezuka and Fuji who were still strangely quiet - cheered, even Echizen and after a small barrage of questions, greetings and the like, things quieted down and the next person stood up to tell about his important thing. They slowly worked their way through everyone, Inui making the biggest show of it all with his performance; he stood up, was quiet for almost half a minute, before giving a devious grin and declaring that it was a secret, and then there were only Tezuka and Fuji left.
Fuji looked from face to face, intense blue eyes stopping for a split second as they passed over Tezuka, and Eiji would have killed something to find out what Fuji had been thinking there, and then, apparently coming to a decision, the young photographer stood up, clearing his throat.
“My most important moment… I guess it was when Tezuka realized that I was not good enough for him. He apparently thought he would be better off sulking over his ruined arm alone, or together with faceless tarts, than to confide in me. Just so that you know, Tezuka, I don’t take kindly to being cheated on. And you’re still wondering why I left? I mean… Just look at you.” Fuji smirked, shrugged and sat down, returning his attention to his drink.
Silence fell over the table, and the good mood that had slowly been built up again was shattered to tiny little pieces. Eiji felt as if he had swallowed something foul as he looked with disbelieving eyes at Fuji, then over at Tezuka and back at Fuji again. “Fuji…”
Tezuka sat rather close to Eiji and the redhead noticed the other man’s lips moving, forming a couple of words. Eiji’s eyes were as sharp as ever and he was almost certain the words formed had been: “Is that what you think?” The former captain stiffly came to his feet, cold, unreadable eyes locking themselves to Fuji as he cleared his throat.
“My turn now, isn’t it? Very well. My most important moment… When Fuji walked out on me without a single explanation, five months ago.” He sat down again, eyes still locked on the brown haired photographer.
“I just gave you your explanation, didn’t I”, Fuji replied, tone cold enough to freeze hell over.
“I’m just curious to know what you base that assumption on.”
“Don’t play the idiot, Tezuka. It does not suit you in the least.”
Echizen cleared his throat, and said softly: “Maybe you guys want to take this somewhere else?”
Eiji shot him a half grateful look, it was making everyone uncomfortable after all - Oishi looked like he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown - and still… Half of Eiji really wanted to know how this would turn out. He had never imagined that the two of them could be dating; Tezuka had always seemed above that sort of thing to begin with, and Fuji had never seemed like the type who would settle down with just one person.
It didn’t seem like either of the two had even heard Echizen’s comment though, as they continued to look at each other, both apparently too proud and too stubborn to back down at all. Tezuka impatiently raked a hand through his messy hair and said:
“Idiot? Where am I an idiot, Fuji? You walk out. You offer me no valid explanation and you refuse to tell me what you base your accusations on. Who’s being the idiot? I…” He grew quiet for a couple of seconds then spoke again, his voice lower but extremely intense: “I really needed you.”
Eiji could see a quick flash of confusion pass over the photographer’s face, and he leaned forward, curious to see how Fuji would react to this. A reaction came, with Fuji crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in the chair, confusion, frustration and a hint of raw pain obvious in his eyes.
“Then why did you cheat on me?”
“I did not. I never would have, don’t you know that?” Tezuka paused, hand reaching out for his glass of beer, downing it all in one go. “What made you think that in the first place?”
Fuji was quiet a couple of seconds, and Eiji could almost see how his thoughts tumbled around in his head, probably making a double take over his behaviour five months ago. Eiji knew he would have done that, had he been the one in Fuji’s shoes right now. This entire thing was just… awkward.
“What was I supposed to think”, the former prodigy finally managed, eyes looking away from Tezuka for the first time since the conversation started. “You vanished almost every night. You came home smelling of perfume and you never told me where you had been. What was I supposed to think? You tell me that.”
Tezuka opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it again, closing his eyes. Fingers tapped restlessly on the now empty glass, and Eiji studied him disbelievingly. He couldn’t imagine Tezuka being so blatantly obvious about anything, let alone something surrounded with so much secrecy as an affair, and it surprised him that Fuji had believed him to be so clumsy. Obviously there had to be something else behind it… Right? This was Tezuka after all, no matter how upset he must have been around the time, he wouldn’t mess up like that… Right?
Eiji felt a sudden urge to pull his hair and just tell the two of them to wise up. The tension between them was thick enough to cut, and it was obvious to anyone that they still harboured strong feelings for each other, so why didn’t they just kiss and make up? Eiji thought that would have been the perfect solution to this situation. They could work out the details later, and just allow themselves to be swept away right now. It would do them good, and it would brighten the mood around the table as well.
“Fuji”, Tezuka said suddenly, breaking the fragile silence. “The perfume was my mother’s. She… She was having troubles, and she didn’t want anyone to find out at that time. She just needed someone to talk to, since… Well, dad had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I guess I was having a rather hard time coping with that as well, and that coupled with mom making me promise not to tell anyone… I just couldn’t confide in you. And why I only visited her at night… Well, that was the only time dad was asleep, and she didn’t want to worry him either.”
Eiji didn’t know what to say, and he was rather happy he wasn’t expected to say anything. That could explain why Tezuka looked so messed up though, and it wasn’t really a matter one could lie about. Not to mention the fact that Eiji doubted Tezuka had told a single lie in his entire life. The redhead glanced over at Fuji and found the other man apparently at a loss for words as well. His eyes were huge and his jaw set tightly, fingers nervously twining themselves around each other.
Oishi spoke up: “Fuji, I can promise you Tezuka is telling the truth. I’ve seen Tezuka-san myself, down at the hospital where I have my internship. At the neurological institution…”
“Tezuka”, Fuji started; his voice soft for the first time during the night. He worried his lower lip; apparently thinking of something to say when suddenly Echizen’s latest single cut him off.
Momoshiro grinned apologetically, quickly picking up his cell phone and answering. From what he was saying, it didn’t take Eiji a long time to figure out that the baby was on its way. Momoshiro looked positively frantic and looked desperately from face to face, then down at his drink.
“Oh crap, I ordered alcohol anyway”, he groaned. “I need to leave, I can’t drive, what do I do?!”
“Momo, calm down”, Eiji laughed, pointing at his glass of water. “I’ll drive. We could take my mini van; we’ll all fit into that. We all want to go, right?”
Everyone at the table agreed, all though Kaidou a bit sullenly, and Tezuka and Fuji looked more alive than they had done the entire evening. Soon enough they were all cramped into Eiji’s van and he drove off, guided by Momoshiro’s somewhat confused directions.
The next few hours were spent waiting, with Momoshiro pacing back and forth on the floor like an unholy spirit. Eiji sat down next to Oishi and rested his head against his lover’s shoulder, and he saw, from the corner of his eyes that Tezuka and Fuji remained close to each other. Not touching, not at all, but they stayed close.
After what seemed like for ever, a nurse came out to get Momoshiro. She talked quietly to him for a while, and he followed her, chalk white in the face and hands shaking uncontrollably. Another eternity passed, then Momoshiro came back, face still white, but red spots apparent on his cheeks. His eyes practically glowed and he beamed proudly:
“It all went well! Chizuru’s fine, and I… I’m… I’m a father! I made it! We made it! We like totally made it! I can’t believe it…”
“So…” Fuji said cheerfully. “Don’t keep us waiting, Momo~ What is it?”
Momoshiro took a deep breath, almost as if he was feeling dizzy, and Eiji was afraid he might faint dead away, then he opened his eyes, a ridiculously wide grin spreading from ear to ear:
“It’s a boy!”
And almost immediately the waiting room exploded in cheers and the random “Great burning there, Momoshiro!!” from Kawamura who had somehow managed to grab hold of the leg of a chair and was swinging the poor piece of furniture around wildly. Momoshiro had tears in his eyes, and Eiji could feel tears behind his own as well. He looked over at Oishi, who looked completely awestruck and overjoyed, and Eiji ignored the fact that they were in public, as he flung himself onto his boyfriend and hugged him ecstatically.
“It’s a boy, it’s a boy, it’s a boy”, he chanted, jumping up and down, his behaviour from his younger years kicking in full force due to the fact that he felt almost deliriously happy. And that ecstatic feeling doubled in intensity as he managed to catch something from the corner of his eye.
Tezuka and Fuji stood close, really close, and their faces shone with happiness, happiness for Momoshiro and for something else. Their hands, Tezuka’s right one and Fuji’s left one, were interlaced with each other and Fuji was almost shyly resting his head against Tezuka’s shoulder. And Tezuka made no move to step away, rather it seemed like he would have been willing to stand like this for all eternity.
Now Eiji felt tears falling down over his cheeks, and he nudged Oishi softly in the side, nodding his head towards the newly reunited couple. Oishi chuckled deep in his throat and hugged Eiji tightly.
All was good in the world again.
END
For: babycellist/ Grace
Medium: Fanfic (3133 words)
Request: 1. Tezuka/Fuji wallpaper/fic/art
Warnings/Rating: PG, minor angst and fluff
Author: gottis_chan
Notes: There are other pairings present or mentioned, namely Oishi/Kikumaru, Ryoma/Sakuno and Momoshiro/OFC. Also, this is set in the future, more precisely ten years from canon. And everything is told from Eiji’s point of view, because that worked the best for me. I still hope you’ll enjoy it! And remember, it might not seem like it in the beginning, but the main focus is still Tezuka/Fuji. A final note; English isn’t my first language and this hasn’t been beta-ed, so I apologize for any mistakes. ^.^;; ♥
Maybe it was stupid of him to think that nothing had changed. People were bound to change in the course of ten years, it was only natural. Kikumaru Eiji sighed as he took a seat next to Echizen at the large table where the entire team from their most glorious year in Junior High had gathered; it was a reunion that had been planned for years suddenly falling into place and everyone being able to attend. And Eiji was really happy to see everyone again, since he had been slipping out of contact with almost everyone.
There was Momoshiro Takeshi. He sat proudly in his seat, a wedding ring on his hand and a cell phone close by since - as he had informed them immediately at arrival - his wife was expecting their first baby today of all days. She was already a bit late, the babe should have been born five days ago, but apparently it had thought the warmth of its mother’s belly being too good to pass up for something less pleasant. Naturally enough, Momoshiro was proud. Proud and… skittish. Momoshiro was working as a helper at a gas station, coupled with the occasional tennis tutoring.
Kaidou Kaoru loomed in his seat; looking everything like the professional tennis player he was, mobile even though he sat still and dynamic like no one else. He hadn’t married yet, but the gossip magazines let the world know that the rising star from Japan had a certain someone, even though they had no photographic evidence yet. On the side of his career he had started up a kennel apparently, something Eiji thought suited him very well. Kaidou simply belonged with animals, no doubt about it.
Of course Kawamura Takashi had gone through with his dream of creating a wonderful sushi restaurant, in fact, that was where they were all gathered now, being waited on by a few lovely people of Kawamura’s staff. Everyone seemed so nice and friendly, all hand picked by Kawamura, and obviously loving their job and their doting boss.
Inui Sadaharu hadn’t told anyone what he did for a living, but given his gorgeous suit and gold lined glasses, it was something that paid really well. The former data man surrounded himself with the same shroud of mystery that he had done in their teenage years and Eiji still held enough respect for him to keep from snooping around… Too much.
Sending a bright smile over to Oishi Syuichirou and waving at him, Eiji thought that Oishi hadn’t changed too much. He ought to know that better than anyone as well, since they were living together and had been doing that over the past four years now. Oishi was still in school, studying to become the best physician in Japan, or rather the entire Asia. He just wanted to be there for everyone, every single human on the face of the planet. The nervousness that had laced much of his personality over his teenage years was slowly morphing into a calm, empathic understanding for people around him and a will to do the very best he could for everyone though.
Eiji himself had at first tried to study to become a veterinarian, but he had soon been forced to give up. He wanted to be able to do his very best, and he just couldn’t bring himself to keep up with the intense pace in the medical school, so he had been forced to quit. Admitting his defeat, he had decided to work in his other field of interest instead; food. He was now the proud owner of a small lunch joint, not too big, but it got enough customers to keep it going, and his food was praised by almost everyone who visited, and his circle of customers slowly grew. Eiji had to admit he was doing pretty well.
Echizen Ryoma had quit tennis quite a few years back, apparently he had reached a goal he had set up for himself; Eiji had no clue what that goal was, but apparently it was more than enough for the prodigy to reach that goal and then quit, because quit he had. Now… Now he was pursuing - of all things - a music career instead, his voice and his charisma, not to mention his previous fame, making sure he was quickly becoming known as one of the most promising artists in Japan in years. He was dating Ryuzaki Sakuno, and the young woman was the one of the couple who still kept on working on her tennis, being a professional, just as Kaidou.
Eiji paused in his thoughts, eyes travelling over to the last two in the “team”. The two who obviously had changed the most. Eiji’s eyes grew slightly worried as he looked between the two of them, trying to figure out two things; why weren’t they talking to each other at all and why did they both look mighty uncomfortable being here?
Fuji Syusuke sat in his corner, slowly stirring in his drink, long golden hair falling in front of his face. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, a white blazer over it and white pants, looking almost as classy as any model Eiji had ever met. The former acrobatic player knew for a fact though that Fuji wasn’t a model, he was working behind the camera, being a rather famous photographer, one who did both nature shots and celebrity. He had gotten his ears pierced sometime during the years and the small stones he wore were probably diamond. Eiji had this strange urge to just touch them, to see if they were real.
Tezuka Kunimitsu on the other hand looked… ragged for the lack of a better word for it. His hair was undone, clothes looked like they were put on in a hurry and he had dark rings underneath his eyes, looking nothing like the calm and collected captain Eiji remembered from his youth. His left arm hung more or less useless from his side and he used his right to do everything, right now he was slowly putting a piece of sushi into his mouth, chewing absentmindedly, almost as if he didn’t even notice that it was there. The former captain hadn’t told the others what he was doing for a living, but unlike Inui he didn’t look like it was something overly glamorous at all. Eiji couldn’t help but feel worried about that, and he noticed that some of the others gave Tezuka worried looks as well.
Deciding to break the silence that slowly seemed to fall down over the table, uncomfortable looks being exchanged and stray shuffling being heard, Eiji stood up, gently tapping a spoon at his glass. “Excuse me, everyone”, he called out, giving them all a reassuring grin. “I have something I want to say. Or rather, I would like everyone here to say something. I want us each to say something that was really important to us over the years and then everyone else can congratulate us on that, what do you guys think? I think it could be a good way of getting people talking again, right?”
“Sounds good to me”, Momoshiro grinned, throwing another worried glance over to his cell phone. “I guess I can start. Well… That one’s not difficult at all. What was most important was meeting Chizuru and marrying her. I mean, she’s so great you won’t believe it, and she would have come here too, but she… You know… Totally couldn’t, you know? But yeah, I’ve told her all about you guys so she really would have liked to meet you but… Yeah.” Face flushed, Momoshiro sat down again, grinning from ear to ear.
Everyone - sans Tezuka and Fuji who were still strangely quiet - cheered, even Echizen and after a small barrage of questions, greetings and the like, things quieted down and the next person stood up to tell about his important thing. They slowly worked their way through everyone, Inui making the biggest show of it all with his performance; he stood up, was quiet for almost half a minute, before giving a devious grin and declaring that it was a secret, and then there were only Tezuka and Fuji left.
Fuji looked from face to face, intense blue eyes stopping for a split second as they passed over Tezuka, and Eiji would have killed something to find out what Fuji had been thinking there, and then, apparently coming to a decision, the young photographer stood up, clearing his throat.
“My most important moment… I guess it was when Tezuka realized that I was not good enough for him. He apparently thought he would be better off sulking over his ruined arm alone, or together with faceless tarts, than to confide in me. Just so that you know, Tezuka, I don’t take kindly to being cheated on. And you’re still wondering why I left? I mean… Just look at you.” Fuji smirked, shrugged and sat down, returning his attention to his drink.
Silence fell over the table, and the good mood that had slowly been built up again was shattered to tiny little pieces. Eiji felt as if he had swallowed something foul as he looked with disbelieving eyes at Fuji, then over at Tezuka and back at Fuji again. “Fuji…”
Tezuka sat rather close to Eiji and the redhead noticed the other man’s lips moving, forming a couple of words. Eiji’s eyes were as sharp as ever and he was almost certain the words formed had been: “Is that what you think?” The former captain stiffly came to his feet, cold, unreadable eyes locking themselves to Fuji as he cleared his throat.
“My turn now, isn’t it? Very well. My most important moment… When Fuji walked out on me without a single explanation, five months ago.” He sat down again, eyes still locked on the brown haired photographer.
“I just gave you your explanation, didn’t I”, Fuji replied, tone cold enough to freeze hell over.
“I’m just curious to know what you base that assumption on.”
“Don’t play the idiot, Tezuka. It does not suit you in the least.”
Echizen cleared his throat, and said softly: “Maybe you guys want to take this somewhere else?”
Eiji shot him a half grateful look, it was making everyone uncomfortable after all - Oishi looked like he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown - and still… Half of Eiji really wanted to know how this would turn out. He had never imagined that the two of them could be dating; Tezuka had always seemed above that sort of thing to begin with, and Fuji had never seemed like the type who would settle down with just one person.
It didn’t seem like either of the two had even heard Echizen’s comment though, as they continued to look at each other, both apparently too proud and too stubborn to back down at all. Tezuka impatiently raked a hand through his messy hair and said:
“Idiot? Where am I an idiot, Fuji? You walk out. You offer me no valid explanation and you refuse to tell me what you base your accusations on. Who’s being the idiot? I…” He grew quiet for a couple of seconds then spoke again, his voice lower but extremely intense: “I really needed you.”
Eiji could see a quick flash of confusion pass over the photographer’s face, and he leaned forward, curious to see how Fuji would react to this. A reaction came, with Fuji crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in the chair, confusion, frustration and a hint of raw pain obvious in his eyes.
“Then why did you cheat on me?”
“I did not. I never would have, don’t you know that?” Tezuka paused, hand reaching out for his glass of beer, downing it all in one go. “What made you think that in the first place?”
Fuji was quiet a couple of seconds, and Eiji could almost see how his thoughts tumbled around in his head, probably making a double take over his behaviour five months ago. Eiji knew he would have done that, had he been the one in Fuji’s shoes right now. This entire thing was just… awkward.
“What was I supposed to think”, the former prodigy finally managed, eyes looking away from Tezuka for the first time since the conversation started. “You vanished almost every night. You came home smelling of perfume and you never told me where you had been. What was I supposed to think? You tell me that.”
Tezuka opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it again, closing his eyes. Fingers tapped restlessly on the now empty glass, and Eiji studied him disbelievingly. He couldn’t imagine Tezuka being so blatantly obvious about anything, let alone something surrounded with so much secrecy as an affair, and it surprised him that Fuji had believed him to be so clumsy. Obviously there had to be something else behind it… Right? This was Tezuka after all, no matter how upset he must have been around the time, he wouldn’t mess up like that… Right?
Eiji felt a sudden urge to pull his hair and just tell the two of them to wise up. The tension between them was thick enough to cut, and it was obvious to anyone that they still harboured strong feelings for each other, so why didn’t they just kiss and make up? Eiji thought that would have been the perfect solution to this situation. They could work out the details later, and just allow themselves to be swept away right now. It would do them good, and it would brighten the mood around the table as well.
“Fuji”, Tezuka said suddenly, breaking the fragile silence. “The perfume was my mother’s. She… She was having troubles, and she didn’t want anyone to find out at that time. She just needed someone to talk to, since… Well, dad had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I guess I was having a rather hard time coping with that as well, and that coupled with mom making me promise not to tell anyone… I just couldn’t confide in you. And why I only visited her at night… Well, that was the only time dad was asleep, and she didn’t want to worry him either.”
Eiji didn’t know what to say, and he was rather happy he wasn’t expected to say anything. That could explain why Tezuka looked so messed up though, and it wasn’t really a matter one could lie about. Not to mention the fact that Eiji doubted Tezuka had told a single lie in his entire life. The redhead glanced over at Fuji and found the other man apparently at a loss for words as well. His eyes were huge and his jaw set tightly, fingers nervously twining themselves around each other.
Oishi spoke up: “Fuji, I can promise you Tezuka is telling the truth. I’ve seen Tezuka-san myself, down at the hospital where I have my internship. At the neurological institution…”
“Tezuka”, Fuji started; his voice soft for the first time during the night. He worried his lower lip; apparently thinking of something to say when suddenly Echizen’s latest single cut him off.
Momoshiro grinned apologetically, quickly picking up his cell phone and answering. From what he was saying, it didn’t take Eiji a long time to figure out that the baby was on its way. Momoshiro looked positively frantic and looked desperately from face to face, then down at his drink.
“Oh crap, I ordered alcohol anyway”, he groaned. “I need to leave, I can’t drive, what do I do?!”
“Momo, calm down”, Eiji laughed, pointing at his glass of water. “I’ll drive. We could take my mini van; we’ll all fit into that. We all want to go, right?”
Everyone at the table agreed, all though Kaidou a bit sullenly, and Tezuka and Fuji looked more alive than they had done the entire evening. Soon enough they were all cramped into Eiji’s van and he drove off, guided by Momoshiro’s somewhat confused directions.
The next few hours were spent waiting, with Momoshiro pacing back and forth on the floor like an unholy spirit. Eiji sat down next to Oishi and rested his head against his lover’s shoulder, and he saw, from the corner of his eyes that Tezuka and Fuji remained close to each other. Not touching, not at all, but they stayed close.
After what seemed like for ever, a nurse came out to get Momoshiro. She talked quietly to him for a while, and he followed her, chalk white in the face and hands shaking uncontrollably. Another eternity passed, then Momoshiro came back, face still white, but red spots apparent on his cheeks. His eyes practically glowed and he beamed proudly:
“It all went well! Chizuru’s fine, and I… I’m… I’m a father! I made it! We made it! We like totally made it! I can’t believe it…”
“So…” Fuji said cheerfully. “Don’t keep us waiting, Momo~ What is it?”
Momoshiro took a deep breath, almost as if he was feeling dizzy, and Eiji was afraid he might faint dead away, then he opened his eyes, a ridiculously wide grin spreading from ear to ear:
“It’s a boy!”
And almost immediately the waiting room exploded in cheers and the random “Great burning there, Momoshiro!!” from Kawamura who had somehow managed to grab hold of the leg of a chair and was swinging the poor piece of furniture around wildly. Momoshiro had tears in his eyes, and Eiji could feel tears behind his own as well. He looked over at Oishi, who looked completely awestruck and overjoyed, and Eiji ignored the fact that they were in public, as he flung himself onto his boyfriend and hugged him ecstatically.
“It’s a boy, it’s a boy, it’s a boy”, he chanted, jumping up and down, his behaviour from his younger years kicking in full force due to the fact that he felt almost deliriously happy. And that ecstatic feeling doubled in intensity as he managed to catch something from the corner of his eye.
Tezuka and Fuji stood close, really close, and their faces shone with happiness, happiness for Momoshiro and for something else. Their hands, Tezuka’s right one and Fuji’s left one, were interlaced with each other and Fuji was almost shyly resting his head against Tezuka’s shoulder. And Tezuka made no move to step away, rather it seemed like he would have been willing to stand like this for all eternity.
Now Eiji felt tears falling down over his cheeks, and he nudged Oishi softly in the side, nodding his head towards the newly reunited couple. Oishi chuckled deep in his throat and hugged Eiji tightly.
All was good in the world again.
END