Log: Fuji and Ryoma

[madamadasuckers]

Who: Echizen Ryoma & Fuji Syuusuke

When: Sunday, September 19th

Where: Outskirts of town

Summary: Taking a hike~!

Warning/Rating: PG

Player Comments:

Comments/Crits Allowed: Sure



“Where do you think you have the time to run away like this? What about your homework?” Fuji’s dad stood in the doorway, giving a disapproving stare at him. Fuji, busying himself with loading a duffel bag onto the luggage carrier on his bike, chose to ignore him. You’re never around, so what do you care anyway, he thought, straddling the bike. He was dressed for an outing, warm pants, sweater and a wind and rain resistant jacket, complete with comfortable gloves and sturdy boots.

“Syuusuke, get back here! Don’t you ignore me, you hear?”

Actually, he plugged his mp3 player into his ears and after giving his dad a quick, dry smile, he started on his way over to the Echizen residence. There would be repercussions later, he figured, but he’d deal with that when he got home. The wind was chill and the sky was cloudy, but it didn’t seem like there would be any rain at least. He hummed to the music in the ears while he paddled down the sidewalks, waving every now and then when he happened past someone he knew.

Maybe twenty minutes later he was in front of the large Echizen villa, and he pressed the doorbell. “Hello~ It’s Fuji.”

Ryoma didn’t keep Fuji waiting long at all, having been practically hovering by the door in an attempt to get away from his father as fast as humanly possible. He was tired of the shouting about his “plans”...in Ryoma’s mind, his plans were just that, his, and not his father’s. Now if only he could get the old man to believe that....

But that was for another time, though Ryoma did take a delight in the way the door closed, just this side of slamming. “Hey, Fuji-senpai.” He barely looked at the other teen, just moving away from the house. “Come on, I want to get out of here before Oyaji thinks to follow me.”

Fuji nodded, walking over to his bike. “You got it. Do you have everything you need? I mean, we’re only going to be away for the day, but...” He let his voice trail out, leading the bike away from the main gate that led into the estate. He wasn’t particularly eager to encounter Echizen Nanjirou himself; the man might be a brilliant tennis player and all, but he still managed to rub Fuji the wrong way.

Ryoma shrugged and pointed to his backpack as he grabbed his bike. “Think so. I decided to leave the survival gear at home, but the other stuff should work.” He eyed Fuji as he mounted his bike, a bit suspicious. “You weren’t planning on trying to kill me and hide my body in the woods or anything like that, right?”

“Now, that would be telling.” Fuji smiled innocently, mounting his own bike and glancing up at the sky. Still no sign of rain; good. “Okay, maybe I have a Machete tucked away in my bag, but that could be used for many things, couldn’t it?” No Machete, not really, simply a Swiss army knife. But Echizen didn’t need to know that. “Nice bike.”

“...maybe it’s safer to stay home.” Ryoma really had no desire to become a murder victim, after all, though he was pretty sure that Fuji was only teasing. “Thanks...it’s probably going to be used as much as I can manage.” Because Ryoma wasn’t sure that he could tolerate staying home, if his father was going to keep harping on the same subject over and over. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“I was thinking... Just randomly out in the woods. I wanna go look for mushrooms.” He gave a small, almost bashful laugh. “You don’t think that’s too corny, do you? It can be a good way to test your bike out to see how well it performs in uneven terrain.” He paused and flashed the younger boy a mischievous grin. “I wonder if we’ll find any Death Caps...”

Ryoma just stared at Fuji for a moment, trying to decide how serious he was being. “Che...remind me not to take any food from you, then,” he muttered, pulling his hat down a little. Sometimes he forgot that Fuji was one of the few people who actually liked Inui-senpai’s drinks, and therefore probably had weird taste. “You’d trust whatever you randomly found in the woods?”

Fuji got his bike to skid to a stop, as the traffic light ahead was red. He took the time offered to him to dig up a small, miniature pocket book from one of the pockets on his jacket. “No, of course not.” He waved the book in front of Ryoma’s face. “This is a handy little book that list most of the common, edible mushrooms in Japan. You can have a look later if you want to.” He tucked the book away again and as the light turned green he hit the paddles again. “Is your dad giving you a hard time, Echizen?”

“Kinda.” Ryoma shrugged and followed behind Fuji. “He’s got it in his head that I’m wasting my time with school when I should be going pro. I got him to lay off for awhile by compromising on one year of high school, but...” Ryoma looked straight ahead, focusing on avoiding a pothole for a moment. “I’m not sure I want that anymore. Not sure I ever did.”

Fuji glanced at him, eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly and he sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that. I can't really give any proper advice for that though, because I basically have the same problem with my parents... Only the other way around. They want me to quit tennis and focus on my school work instead." He gave a wry smile. "And as for me? I don't know what I want. I'm planning to take a year off after I graduate. Be a ronin and just try and... Figure myself out, I guess."

“Funny. I thought you did have your life figured out. Always seemed very put together.” Ryoma shrugged. So looks could be deceiving, nothing new there. he guessed. “No rule that says you have to do what your parents want, anyway.”

Well, of course I do, that's what I want people to think, after all. Good thing it worked, but it made for awkward situations when he came clean like this. He was silent for a while, and they left the busy streets of Tokyo, heading out to the suburbs. Just one more hour or so, and they'd be at the first forest area in the region. "I guess that depends on how much you want to, or is forced to, honor your parents wishes," he mused, glancing over his shoulder at Ryoma.

It was hard to shrug while maintaining balance on a bike, but somehow, Ryoma managed it. “Both my parents have different wishes,” he said. “Oyaji’s wishes aren’t ‘Kaasan’s wishes, and that’s before you get my grandmother involved. Best I think I can do is follow my own wishes. My life after all...I’m the one that has to be happy living it, not them.” Ryoma was perfectly blunt, not caring if it sounded rude. It was how he had been raised, after all.

Fuji nodded. "That's impressive, you know. That you can think like that." Fuji couldn't, not quite. He was Japanese, born and bred, so honor to his parents came first. Not that he liked it or anything, but he couldn't very easily shake himself off the feeling that he was a failure since he couldn't be bothered to meet up with their expectations.

“Not that impressive. Che...you better never go to the States. You’d be in for culture shock.” Ryoma didn’t think his ‘rebellion’ was a huge deal, not in the grand scheme of things. “And besides. If he’s busy obsessing about this, Oyaji’s not thinking about my needing a girlfriend.”

"He's on your back about that as well?" Fuji looked carefully at the younger boy, steering clear of a collection of garbage cans.

“He’s a pervert. He just wants me to bring home girls for him to look at. I really don’t care one way or another.” Ryoma slowed for a second to adjust his backpack. “No big deal, but he’s going to end up arrested.”

The wording made Fuji shudder, even though he tried his hardest to conceal it. He nodded slowly, keeping his eyes away from Echizen as he continued to make his way down the path. "... Honestly, I've never really liked him all that much."

“Join the club.” It was always amusing to Ryoma to watch the hero worship fade in people once they actually met the man. “Imagine the adventure of living there.” He changed the subject, simply because he didn’t want to discuss his father any more. “So, ronin?”

Fuji really didn't want to remember. The man leering at him one time too many had been enough, thank you very much. Instead he gladly followed Ryoma's lead when the latter tried to change the subject. "Ah, yes. Just... Bumming around, I guess. Do you disapprove?"

“Not my place to approve or disapprove is it, Fuji-senpai. If that’s what makes you happy, do it.” Ryoma wasn’t exactly one to put a ton of deep thought into things like that. If you wanted to do it, do it. If not, then don’t. That simple.

"I know... But say it was your place? Would you think I'd be wasting whatever 'gifts' I'd been given by the Powers that Be or whatever?" He glanced over at him.

Ryoma had to suppress a sigh, but he didn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. “Fuji-senpai, I think that if it was something you felt strongly about, then you’re not ‘wasting’ anything. Doesn’t mean you’re going to never do something, just taking a break.”

"But.... Do I deserve it?" He said, almost entirely talking to himself. He didn't wait for an answer, didn't really expect Ryoma to give him one. Instead he continued to move forward, stopping once they got to a crossing. "Echizen," he said as the cars rushed by, "did you know? I've... I've encountered your father. Privately. It was... odd."

Ryoma blinked. “What do you mean?” he asked. Usually his father didn’t seek out his senpai or friends, but waited for people to come to him.

Fuji shrugged. "Nothing. Just that... I could understand why you're fed up with him." Maybe he had said too much. Oh well, if he could get Echizen to forget it, then it was okay, right?

“He’s not that bad, I guess.” Ryoma tugged his hat a bit lower. “I just like to complain about him. it’s a thing we do. Kinda like how I know he wouldn’t do anything to anyone, even if he sounds like a pervert at times.” Hell, even his girly magazines weren’t even truly porn.

"I know. There are people a lot worse than him out there." Fuji paused. "Still though... Doesn't seem right that he's hell bent on you seeing his way and nothing else."

“He’s no worse than most people in that respect. Elders know better.” Ryoma snorted, finding that to be ridiculous. “Only not usually, I think.” He slowed to a stop at a light and leaned against his handlebars.

"Have you tried really talking to him? I mean, you talking and he just listening? Maybe you should try and tie him down and slap a gag on him for him to really listen to you, but..." Fuji too stopped, one foot resting easily against he ground.

“Nah. Let him be surprised. ‘Sides, he knows how I feel about the whole thing, so it’s his own fault if he chooses to ignore it.” Ryoma started pedalling as soon as the light changed, not wanting to talk about this any longer. “So, what have you been up to since Nationals?”

He nodded, following Ryoma as fast as he could. Luckily, the streets weren't overly crowded in this part of town. "Hm? Oh, nothing much, really. School work?" Well, more or less. He spent more time being out and about - he too didn't like to be at home too much, especially not when both his parents were home - with his camera as his only company, shooting pictures here and there. And of course, he hung out with Eiji and Tezuka. But that was almost a given, so he didn't dwell upon that.

“Really? You go to school, and you do schoolwork? Never would’ve guessed.” Ryoma couldn’t help chuckling at that. “Though I guess it has to be said...not sure if Momo-senpai actually does all of his work,” he added after a moment of thought. “But then I sleep through English, so...no right to talk, I guess.”

Fuji chuckled. "Well, it's not exactly like you need English, Echizen." And as for Momo... Well, he was busy doing his things, as Fuji had noticed the other day. Quite interesting, and he still couldn't understand why he hadn't ever learned about that earlier. Whatever it was called... He had already forgotten. Oops.

“Yeah, if only the school could’ve figured that out.” Ryoma sighed. What he could’ve used, really, were extra lessons in kanji, but failing that, even a different “foreign” language would’ve been better than something where he wouldn’t be challenged until the university level...when he wouldn’t have to do it any longer. Figures.

"What do you usually have trouble with in school," Fuji asked, sighing in relief as they finally neared the end of this very suburb. He could see the forest up ahead, which meant they were almost there. Twenty more minutes or so, and then they could rest for a bit.

Ryoma scowled and was quiet for a minute. He didn’t like admitting weakness to anyone, any sort of weakness. He just didn’t do it. “Math’s a bit harder,” he said finally. It wasn’t a big confession...it wasn’t like he was struggling or anything like that.

"Isn't Momo pretty good at Math? Maybe you could ask him for help? It couldn't hurt, right?" He could guess that it hurt Ryoma's pride however, which he could understand completely. Asking for help was about as bad as pulling out teeth without anesthetics.

“I could, if he’d stop flirting with the wrong kind of girls.” Ryoma couldn’t help snickering at that. The guy might be his best friend, but sometimes, he just didn’t think.

"I thought he flirted with anything that moves." Fuji chuckled. "I know he's been flirting with me at least~"

“He prefers the girls. Though he picks the girls that have boyfriends, or the girls that are really guys and have a mean right hook.” Ryoma grinned, remembering that.

"... Oh my." Blink. "Well, as long as he didn't think I was a girl." Which would just have been silly.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. “If Momo-senpai thinks you’re a girl by now, he’s dumber than he looks. But to be fair...the guy did make a good looking chick. Had the legs for a short skirt, Momo-senpai said.”

Fuji thought this over for a second, then grinned. "How do you think I would look in a skirt? I'm thinking pink... Or maybe yellow."

Ryoma was quiet for a minute. “...I don’t even want to think about it, Fuji-senpai.”

The fair-haired boy laughed and winked playfully at Ryoma before accelerating, wanting to reach the forest as soon as possible. "Or maybe you should dress up in a skirt, Echizen~ I'm sure you'd look lovely."

For a long moment, Ryoma considered just turning around and going home. Even hearing the suggestion wasn’t funny to him. “I’ll dress up in a skirt when the Monkey King turns humble and decides to live as a pauper,” he snapped.

"Which probably would be when Hell freezes over. Too bad." Fuji smiled at him, amused by the look on Ryoma's face. Well, he'd lay off for now, lest the boy just up and leave him. He wouldn't put it past him, and quite honestly, riding back the whole way alone did not seem appealing in the least.

“Guess it depends on his boyfriend. They seem to be wrapped around each other’s fingers.” Ryoma shook his head. “Who knew that Monkey King was codependent?”

"Quite startling, yes," Fuji mused, smiling. He wasn't all that interested in Atobe Keigo's love life, but... Oh well. He had to admit that Atobe's choice of partner was still a bit baffling however.

“That’s why being single is better.” Ryoma really had no interest in dating anyone, and he didn’t quite understand, for example, Momoshiro’s girl obsession. It just seemed like a waste of time to him.

"Unless you get swallowed up by loneliness, I suppose," Fuji said thoughtfully. He wasn't especially eager to start dating himself either, but there was always that secret little crush on a certain someone that he nursed. He figured he should try and get rid of it eventually, but the heart was about as stubborn as the rest of him, sadly enough.

Ryoma gave Fuji a blank look. “How can you be lonely when you have your friends?” he asked. “Besides, feelings deeper than that are a waste of time. Someone gets hurt, or something.”

"You're right, friends are important. Really, really important." He paused and shot Ryoma a look. "Even if they assume other friends are out to kill them." Dead pan.

“It’s always a safe assumption, Fuji-senpai.” Ryoma was just as deadpan. “Inui-senpai’s been trying to kill us for four years, after all.”

"You could say Tezuka has as well," Fuji chuckled. "Laps and laps and laps." Ohohoho, quite the dangerous bunch, weren't they? "Well, I guess I don't mind. What's life without a little excitement, nee~?"

“A longer one.” Ryoma’s tone was dry, and he made an abrupt turn onto a dirt path leading into the woods.

"Maybe. Or you'd just simply trip on the soap in the shower and fall and smack your head open." Ah, the possibilities... And yes, his thoughts could take a turn for the morbid sometimes. He steered onto the path as well, and chuckled. "This makes me think of this computer game I played... Called the Path. A version of Little Red Riding Hood. Really interesting~"

“If it’s a hentai game, you can stop right there.” Ryoma shuddered. “Really don’t want to hear about any big bad wolf fantasies, thanks.” He wasn’t innocent, or pure of thought, but Ryoma preferred those thoughts to be of his own doing, and not particularly traumatizing.

"Well, the game revolves around six sisters, and they all have their own storyline where they end up getting raped and killed by their wolves, but it's a horror game, and nothing else. Psychological horror even." Fuji smiled, winking at Ryoma.

Ryoma blanched. “How can you even enjoy something like that?” he demanded. “I mean...rape...that’s horrible.” Privately, Ryoma downgraded his estimation of Fuji if that was what he liked.

"I don't like that part of the game, obviously." Fuji looked seriously at him. "I like the overall feel of it, and the psychology behind it. I've been checking it up on the net, you know. There are huge discussions about it if you look in the right places. Most of it is in English though." He made a face. "Trust me, I would never approve of rape, or murder for that matter."

Well, that was marginally better, anyway. Maybe Ryoma didn’t need to fear for his life in the woods, after all. “You can find just about anything on the net, though,” he said. “If you were looking for a fuzzy bunny support group, you’d probably find that, too.”

Fuji made a small face. "But what if I wanted to find fuzzy lizards?"

“Is that even possible?” Ryoma thought about it. “They’re reptiles. right? Not exactly fuzzy, or none I’ve ever seen, anyway.”

"See? Then that's at least something you can't find on the Internet." Fuji stopped his bike and climbed off it, parking it and then walking into the forest, straying from the path. "Need to pee, I'll be right back."

“Thanks for the warning.” Ryoma deliberately looked the other way, not even wanting a glimpse of that. Some things were better left as private activities, even if they’d been changing in the same locker room for awhile now.

Fuji was quite of the same opinion and he made sure to wander completely out of view while he attended to his business. He had even brought wet wipes for the occasion; strawberry scented. (And a few neutral ones, in case Ryoma wanted one or two later.) Finishing up, he was about to head back when he stopped and crouched down, half way back to Ryoma. "Mushrooms," he sing-songed, quite pleased. Parasol mushrooms. He loved those. "Echizen," he called out. "Get over here, and bring my bag, please!"

Ryoma glanced in the direction that Fuji had gone, and he was a bit skeptical. “You sure you want mushrooms from that way?” he asked. “Considering what you were doing there and all.” He shrugged though and grabbed Fuji’s bag. “Better not be poisonous....”

The fair haired boy chuckled and shook his head. "That was a bit further down, Echizen. And no, they're quite fine. Delicious, really. You have to parboil them first, but then they're perfectly fine."

“I’ll...take your word for it.” Ryoma wasn’t really a fan of mushrooms, so he was really more than content to just watch Fuji enjoy himself with them.

Fuji hummed cheerfully to himself as he divided the large mushrooms into smaller pieces and stuffed them into his bag. A light, slightly nutty smell drifted from them. "Oh, right... How's Tooyama-kun doing? You've seen him quite a lot, haven't you?" Small talk, small talk.

A thoughtful look crossed Ryoma’s face at the question. “Other than the fact that he still hasn’t learned my name?” He shrugged. “He’s got some of the same problems I do...only worse, in a way, because I don’t think Oyaji would disown me if I don’t do things his way. But we understand each other.”

A frown passed over Fuji's face at that. Tooyama's parents were threatening to disown him? That was downright horrible. He nodded, shouldering the bag and straightening himself up, glancing up at the sky. "I see." He wasn't sure what else to say to that, so he decided he'd say nothing.

Ryoma was still thinking about Kintarou and his situation, though, and he couldn’t keep himself from saying, “You people spend a lot of time worried about ‘wasting’ talent, don’t you? Hasn’t anyone ever thought that just because you’re good at something, doesn’t mean you want to build your entire life around it?” It was one of the reasons Ryoma still balked some at the thought of going pro. He had only recently learned to enjoy tennis again...if it became his career, he might lose that.

Fuji thought for a moment. "For me it's not so much wasting talent... That's more my parents opinion. For me it's more... I don't know. Should I really go against them in this? I know it's silly, and yes, I know it's my life and theirs. Still though..." He sighed, rubbing his temples. Maybe it was just that he was scared. He didn't wish to bring his father's temper down on him if he could help it... Even though he already did today by going out with Ryoma like this. Oh well... "Standing on your own two feet is frightening."

Ryoma nodded. “But if it wasn’t scary or hard, would it be worth doing?” Not that he was an adrenaline junkie or anything, but still. “Taking risks, right? Make you own path, or some crap like that. Supposed to make accomplishments even sweeter.” He shrugged and adjusted his hat.

"That's right. That old saying, no pain no gain, nee?" Fuji smiled half heartedly and started towards the bikes. "Want to find some place where we can eat?"

“As long as you don’t expect me to be eating mushrooms.” Ryoma shuddered at the thought. “I’ll leave that to you, Fuji-senpai.”

"The mushrooms will be eaten when I get home," Fuji chuckled. "I brought bento for the both of us. And don't worry, no weird stuff."

Ryoma looked a little uncertain. What his senpai considered ‘normal,’ after all, was still considered weird by most people. “So, no wasabi?” he asked, just to confirm.

"No wasabi. No curry, no chili, no nothing. I promise." He pulled up two store bought bento boxes, handing one over to Echizen. "See? They're still sealed up, so I haven't been able to modify them even the slightest bit~"

Making a big show of carefully inspecting the seal, Ryoma finally nodded and smirked faintly, the expression close to resembling a real smile. “I guess you’re just going to be modifying yours, then?”

Fuji nodded cheerfully, picking up a small bottle with Tabasco. "You got it." He removed his jacket and spread it out on the ground, taking a seat on it. "Itadakimasu~"

Ryoma nodded and took a seat as well, leaning back against a tree. “Itadakimasu.” Though, for a moment, Ryoma wasn’t sure if he even wanted to eat. It was a nice day and a nice tree, perfect for a nap...though he probably should eat, since Fuji had went and bought the food. “Thanks for lunch.”

They ate in silence. Fuji didn't like talking when he was eating, and he didn't like the thought of bothering someone else when they were eating either. The food was about as good as one could expect as it was store bought, but it felt great after that long hike none the less. As he finished up and muttered a 'thank you for the food', he glanced over at Ryoma. "You let me know when you'd like to go back, okay?"

“Whenever.” Ryoma didn’t seem too concerned about it as he leaned back against the tree again, closing his eyes. “There’s time for a nap, right?” he asked. Eating had made him a bit sleepy, and, well...it was a nice tree. No sense in wasting it, after all.

"I don't see why not," Fuji smiled, making himself comfortable as well. He was tired, and the food had made him drowsy as well. He closed his eyes and soon drifted off.

Ryoma watched Fuji through slitted eyes for a moment and shook his head, smiling faintly. Well, if Fuji was sleeping, he probably wouldn’t be killed in the woods, right? Ryoma didn’t much more encouragement than that to doze off.