[log] Fuji & Echizen
Who: Fuji Syuusuke and Echizen Ryoma
When: 11/30
Where: Echizen's room
What: Fuji goes to find out what the secret everyone is tiptoeing about is.
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of masturbation and lube?
Comments: Allowed.
There were countless possibilities running through Fuji's brain as he approached the room he knew was Echizen's. Out of all the meetings with his old team mates this had been the one he'd been dreading the most, yet been the most desperate for. What Tezuka and Kaidoh had said was enough to convince him that something had gone horribly wrong in Echizen's life. The boy in Fuji's mind was so full of life, fairly bursting with possibility for the feature. Whoever was waiting behind that door... would Fuji recognize him? There was only one real way to find out. Pasting a faint smile on his lips, Fuji knocked once.
Ryoma had learned to recognize different knocks. Buchou's was curt but to the point. Kevin's was energetic and bombastic. Horio's was mostly playful and weird. Tomoka's too, but in a different manner. This... Wasn't either of them. He had been playing around with Karupin and Snow, the tomcats chasing after a toy with all their might, skidding on the floor. At the knock, they paused and looked at the door, ears flicking. Ryoma tucked the toy away and turned his wheelchair, steering it towards the door. He unlocked it and opened it, slightly ajar. "Who is it?"
The door opened, but Ryoma was not where Fuji expected him to be. It was only after his eyes dropped that he met the feline eyes of his memory. Even with just the sliver of the door opened, it was impossible to miss the wheelchair. Not when the first thing his mind did was try to search out the source of Ryoma's lowered stature. His eyes flared a minute amount in surprise, but his face remained unchanged. Anyone who didn't know him might not have even noticed the reaction. "Echizen." The faint smile curved wider, but didn't reach his eyes. "Can I come in?"
"Fuji-senpai. ... Wow, long time no see." He rolled back after removing the safety hatch on the door and allowed the older boy to enter. "Close the door quickly, okay? Or the cats are gonna escape."
"The ca--" Fuji began before he noticed a white streak racing for his feet. It was only thanks to quick reflexes that he managed to slam the door shut before any felines were let loose on the innocent dorm. "I've been here and there." Fuji moved away from the door, glancing around for a place to sit before focusing his gaze back on Ryoma. "Sorry I didn't keep in touch."
"It's okay. It's not like I did either, you know?" The younger boy shrugged and made his way over to the small mini fridge he had installed on his room. "Apple juice?"
"Do you have plain water?" Finally deciding on one of the beds, Fuji perched down at the foot of the one he assumed to be Ryoma's. He leaned down, dangling fingers for the cats, but refrained from making the undignified noises that always seem to come when near one. "How have you been?"
"Yeah, sure do." He pulled out a bottle and tossed it towards Fuji, taking out a can of Ponta for himself. "Been just dandy, senpai. And you?"
"Thanks." He caught the bottle midflight, uncapping it to take a long drink from it before lowering to let it dangle by his side. Ryoma's response had his lips twitching, not quite amusement driving the smile. "Not too bad." The pleasantries out of the way, Fuji allowed his gaze to sharpen. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
"I don't know yet." He looked down, shoulders slumping. "Don't like to talk about it."
"You don't have to tell me," Fuji reminded him, even though there were a thousand questions burning on the tip of his tongue. He remembered Tezuka's face as he told him that Ryoma wasn't playing tennis anymore. His hands curled into tight fists, but he let nothing else show about his turbulent emotions. "When did you get a second cat?"
"A year ago," Ryoma smiled, reaching down for Snow and picking him up into his lap. "His name's Snowball. So imaginative I kill myself, I know, but you should have seen him when he was a kitten! Seriously." Snow clearly didn't want to be held right now; he wanted to approach Fuji and sniff this new human's slippers out. He squirmed out of Ryoma's grasp and with a small, warning hiss at Karupin - and Karupin retaliated with a low growl and laid back ears for a moment, before he jumped onto Ryoma's bed and made himself comfortable - he started to examine Fuji. Ryoma shook his head in bemusement, then sighed. "You know what I mean when I say 'compromised immune system'? I've got that."
"He's beautiful." Fuji watched the energetic bundle of white jump from Ryoma's lap, eliciting a laugh from the older boy as he hissed the warning. His gaze returned to Ryoma, the memories of when he'd first met him as a too short twelve year old with more attitude than he could carry on his slim shoulders flashing through his mind. "Reminds me of a kitten I once new. Liked to hiss and bite off more than he could chew~" Fuji leaned down to pet the soft fur behind Snowball's ears, watching as the cat's eyes slit shut with pleasure and he pushed into his fingers for more. Sometimes he wished people could be that honest, simply demanding what they wanted rather than playing so many games. Then again, he was an expert gamesman himself. Ryoma's words hit him like a punch to the gut and it took all of Fuji's control not to physically react. His breath hitched, trapped painfully in his chest and Snowball shied away from his suddenly too harsh touch. "Oh, Echizen..." Fuji finally breathed out after a long moment, forcing himself to look back at the younger boy. There was no pity in his eyes, but a thousand feelings he didn't know how to put into words.
Ryoma himself was quiet for a while, at first thinking about Fuji's words and wondering just how alike Snow and his younger self had been. Or were. Of course Fuji would realize what he meant. Fuji was one of the smartest people he knew, save for the data players, and that was a different kind of cleverness. He glanced at the brown haired boy, his expression tired but calm. "It's not really a death sentence. The anti-viral meds makes me feel like crap most of the time though. That's a pain in the ass. Anyway, my leg got cut up. And it got infected and wouldn't heal up properly. Now I... Like... Don't have any good muscles left in my legs, yeah? And the wounded leg is too stiff to use anyway. Been in the chair since last year's August." It was amazing how much he could tell without going into detail about the things he really found it difficult to talk about.
"I can't say I'm a great expert on the matter," Fuji admitted. There was no smile on his face now, expression serious as he listened to Echizen's words. There was more to the story. That, at least, was clear from the way Echizen formed his words and the look in his eyes. Yet despite that, Fuji didn't prod. Not when Echizen was looking so tired and like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. He remembers it once had. Their world, back then. Had there really been a point in their lives when winning a middle school championship seemed like the most important thing in the world? Looking at the young boy that in some ways had changed all of their lives now, it was hard to believe. Fuji held his fingers out towards Echizen, much like he'd done for snowball. "Here, kitty, kitty.." He murmured in a soft, aching voice.
For a moment, he simply stared at Fuji, as if he wondered if the other boy had positively lost his mind. Then he smiled, swatting after the fingers lightly, before finding himself actually reaching for Fuji's hand, holding it. "I think your hand's warmer than you'd want people to know most of the time, senpai."
Slender fingers threaded through Ryoma's, and Fuji brought both hands up to his cheek, pressing it against the back of the other boy's. "If everyone knew how warm they were, everyone would want to hold my hand," Fuji joked. "So keep it a secret, okay?" His fingers squeezed Ryoma's, and he lowered them from his face but didn't let go. "I never meant to be gone for so long. Didn't think--" The words died off and he gave a small, dismissive laugh, waving his free hand. "It doesn't matter. I'm back now."
Ryoma dipped his head to the side, smiling. "Okaeri nasai, senpai." Ryoma's sleeve had rolled down when Fuji had brought their hands to his cheek, and on Ryoma's arm - along with a few bruises and scrapes - someone had written 'gaijin fag' with a big, black marker pen. The kanji showed signs of Ryoma trying to wash them away, but without fully succeeding.
It was Snowball rubbing against his calf for attention that brought Fuji's glance downward. Absolute stillness spread through his entire frame as he caught sight of Ryoma's arm, the hand holding his fingers tightening in a way that might have been somewhat painful. When he spoke, his voice was low and very carefully measured. "Echizen?"
The boy looked back evenly. "Most people in my class can't stand me," he said, making no attempt to pull back his hand from the actually painful grip Fuji held now.
"I see." Fuji's fingertips traced over Ryoma's arm, slowly mapping the letters on his skin. He lingered over every bruise and carefully measured the scrapes. "Echizen, could you introduce to the person that did this?"
"I could..." The hairs on his arm stood up straight by the touch, goosebumps rippling over his skin. "But why should I?"
"I would like to thank them." Fuji glanced up to meet Echizen's eyes, his smile sweet and eyes a vivid blue. "For taking such good care of my beautiful kouhai."
"... Naturally." He had all the trouble in the world, trying to keep his voice steady. He cleared his throat and laughed awkwardly. "I'm not beautiful."
"Are you questioning my aesthetic taste?" Fuji arched a perfectly shaped brow, as if waiting for Ryoma's response. His fingers uncurled from around his arm and finally dropped, letting go of his hand as well. "Do you have alcohol? The kind you rub, not drink."
Ryoma dared an honest smirk. "I have both, actually. Check the fridge." Where he had gotten the drinking kind? Why, a package from his ever loving brother, of course. He had no idea how it had made it past the borders.
Fuji unfolded himself from the bed and moved towards the fridge, making a low tsking sound under his breath. "Underage drinking can get you kicked out of school, Echizen." Yet he didn't actually seemed the least bit concerned about it. That smirk had something tight and angry inside him unfurling just the slightest degree. He ignored the bottles and reached for the rubbing alcohol instead, returning to the bed once he had it and a paper towel in hand. "Let me see your arm."
Ryoma had stripped out of his long sleeved cardigan, and now sat simply in his short sleeved uniform shirt - well, and his pants, of course - and his skinny arm upturned, resting against the armrest of the wheelchair. "Go ahead. And hey, if senpai doesn't squeal about the booze, you can have some."
"I can buy my own," Fuji pointed out in a dry tone, but his lips were quirked in honest amusement. "You'll have to offer me something better." With the cardigan removed, it was easier to see the top of the writing and that's where Fuji began, slowly wiping down the area of the ink. One hand curled around Ryoma's wrist, the other flipping the napkin over to a clean side and wiping, then doing it again." Washing it with regular soap will only make your skin irritated."
"Didn't think about that," the green haired boy muttered, a slightly embarrassed flush staining his cheeks. "You're good at that."
"I did an art project that involved a lot of permanent marker a while ago." He became more careful with his touches around the bruises, but even so it wasn't long before most of it was gone from Ryoma's skin. The faint shadow would be gone after a long, warm shower. "It's surprising the kind of places it can get into."
"... Depending on what you use the markers for, I bet they could get in just about anywhere," Ryoma pointed out dryly. "... Thanks."
"Maybe I'll show you when you get older," Fuji teased as he released Ryoma's wrist and stood to dispose of the napkin.
"Hah hah, very funny." He pulled on the cardigan again, shivering. "I'm hardly innocent, senpai." The grin slipped from his face. Of course he wasn't. And Fuji realized that, since Ryoma had confirmed his disease to him. Oh well, maybe it was good that his mood sombered somewhat. "So why did you hurt Kaidou-senpai?"
"You'll always be my innocent kitten," Fuji murmured, hoping to annoy Ryoma with the statement and the sickeningly sweet smile. He accompanied it all with a hair ruffle just to be extra obnoxious, but Ryoma's next question drove away the playfulness. "Better he hate me than Inui," Fuji replied after some time. "He didn't need to see him in that condition. I handled it."
"Don't touch the hair, jeez!" Yeah, he got annoyed, all right. Ryoma's temper could still be set off by the most random things. He mulled this over, thinking about just how drunk Inui had seemed in that journal post, and then nodded. "Okay, I get it. Don't think Kaidou-senpai does though... So, how is he? Inui-senpai, I mean."
It was hard to keep from laughing at the expression on Echizen's face, Fuji's eyes going bright with amusement. He wished he could take a picture of it. It would be the one he kept on his phone, pulling it up whenever his thoughts turned to the boy. That's how he wanted to think of him. Expression bright and full of life, eyes fierce and defiant. That was the Echizen Fuji loved, if he were ever to give a name to his attachment to the younger boy. "Maybe it's for the best if Kaidoh avoids me from now on." Fuji's gaze looked now past Echizen, remembering long limbs splayed out on his bed and exotic eyes wide and lust blown. "Inui will be fine. He needed some sense knocked into him, that's all."
Ryoma nodded, thoughtfully pulling his hair back behind his ear, fingers brushing over the scar tissue where his earlobe had been. "I think he thinks that you think... oh god, that sounds stupid. Uh. Anyway, Like, that... You and Inui-senpai couldn't care less about him." He paused, golden eyes resting on Fuji. "What's with the look?"
"I'm sure he an Inui will work things out soon. They're too important to each other to leave things as they are." Fuji's smile melted back into a grin, a soft laugh and a shake of his head dismissing his thoughts. "Nothing important." Then, after a beat. "I didn't sleep with Inui." He wasn't sure why he said it. Fuji wasn't someone who needed to justify himself, and it's not like Ryoma had asked. Still... even if Kaidoh thought he was the kind of person who would sink that low, he didn't want Ryoma to think so too.
"No? But he seemed so..." He made a vague gesture with his hand, as it was still difficult for him to connect the dots between Inui-senpai and sex to begin with. "... I'm glad, though. You both deserve better than that. And I'm glad senpai's too good a person to take advantage of a dead drunk like that." He smiled, a little more than a tugging at the corner of his lips, teeth barely showing, but it was a more genuine smile than some wide faced grin would have been any day, coming from him.
Fuji's lips parted, but the flirty quip never made it past his mouth. Tezuka's voice was there, reminding him not to play these games with Echizen, and he swallowed back the words. It wasn't for Tezuka. While Fuji cared deeply for him - at one point in his life, more deeply than Tezuka would ever know - he'd never given him blind obedience like some of the others. If he restrained himself now, it was for Echizen. "He smelled," Fuji finally said. As if that was the only reason he hadn't slept with Inui.
"... Drunk people tend to do that." His old man came to mind. Spindly fingers folded into a bridge on which he rested his chin, eyes on the brownhaired boy. "But... Really now? That's it?"
"Mm." Fuji's smile had a teasing edge. He leaned forward, bracing an hand on the arm of Echizen's wheel chair as if confiding a secret. "Plus, I don't like strawberry lube."
"... I think I'd prefer grape lube. I mean..." He coughed. "Not that I'm gonna have sex or anything, but... You know." And now he blushed. How typical.
A surprised laugh burst from Fuji, honest mirth coloring his entire expression. "I'll keep that in mind." He watched the color creep up along Ryoma's cheekbones, eyebrows arching. "...ever?"
"Fuji-senpai!" Whine. Then he turned serious, a disgusted look passing over his face. "Ever."
Echizen! Whines back, trying not to laugh again. His eyes take in the look of disgust, and it doesn't look like worry for his condition that is keeping Ryoma celibate. He reaches up and pushes back some of the green-black strands. "You don't like it?"
And again his ruined earlobes came into view. He reached up his own fingers, touching them and then involuntarily touching Fuji's fingers as well. He pulled back, almost guilty, and shook his head.
Fuji doesn't pull back even when Ryoma does. Instead, his fingertips trace the shell of his ear, the over the scarred tissue. He doesn't ask, but that there is much Ryoma still hasn't told him is obvious. "Then I'll take grape lube off my Christmas shopping list."
"Or, keep it. But give it to yourself instead. That way you'll think about me, yeah?" Smirk.
"I don't think the person I use it on would appreciate me thinking of you while we're having sex," Fuji remarked dryly.
"So you never pleasure yourself, huh?" He wasn't sure why he was keeping at the subject, but it really didn't make him as uncomfortable as he feared it would, especially not when the focus was on Fuji and not himself. It was a good reminder that sex was supposed to be something good.
"Ryoma." The name rolled off his tongue in a lazy drawl as he leaned back on the bed, crossing his legs. The look he gave the younger boy was slow and lazy, a secret grin dancing on the corner of his lips. "Are you saying you want me to think of you when I jerk off?"
"Who wouldn't want to think of me when they jerk off?" Ryoma's grin mirrored Fuji's own.
Fuji fought back the burst of laughter, his own grin widening to match Ryoma's. Tezuka's advice could be damn, because he loved seeing that look on the younger boy far too much. Ryoma was stronger than the stoic boy gave him credit for. "I don't know. Shall we make a poll?"
:"Well, you know, there's already Kevin and Tooyama... Hm." He looked like he was giving this a lot of thought, eyes sparkling.
"I don't think I'll be able to do it again without you coming to mind at least once," Fuji added. "Might as well add me to the list."
"Fuji-senpai's so naughty. Okay, added, you poor unfortunate soul. Got you now, you know?" He flicked a popcorn at the other boy from a small plastic bag on his nigthstand.
"I believe it was you that brought us down this particular train of thought," Fuji pointed out calmly as he picked up the popcorn from his lap and popped it into his mouth. With a crooked grin, he kicked off his slippers and shifted to make himself comfortable on Ryoma's bed. "Feel free to change the subject."
The younger boy pulled himself up from the wheelchair and lay down on the bed as well, next to Fuji. It worked just fine, neither of them were particularly big, especially not Ryoma, so they both fit in the bed quite comfortably. "I don't know what to talk about... So much I want to ask you about... But I'm no good at playing twenty questions." He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
Fuji shifted, making room for Ryoma on one side of the bed. "What kind of questions?" Somehow, with the other this close, his voice dropped automatically, as if someone might be close enough to overhear them. He draped an arm over Ryoma's waist, letting his fingers curl into the soft material of his shirt as heavy lashes slid shut over blue eyes. "I'll answer them."
"Well... First of all... Are you happy?" He shivered slightly at the touch, but didn't pull back, even though he tensed up for a second or two. Because, somehow, it felt strangely comforting as well. He made no move to push Fuji's hand away.
It wasn't what he was expecting. The question wasn't whimsical, or a joke, or even about the places he had travelled to. It was straight and to the point, and one Fuji hadn't been asked in a very long time. He wasn't particularly unhappy but that wasn't what Ryoma was asking. "No."
Ryoma carefully turned over on the side - it was funny how much you relied on your legs when moving your entire body as whole - and propped up his head in his hand, watching Fuji. "Do you want to be?"
Fuji waited until Ryoma had resettled himself before opening his eyes. He met his gaze straight on, wondering what the other was getting at. "I wouldn't know where to start."
That was an odd reply. But somehow, Ryoma could understand it. He nodded, slowly. "Okay, another question. The hell kept you so long?"
That one made him laugh. Soft and almost silent, just a faint trembling of his shoulders and an amused widening of his eyes. "I took the shortest amount of time possible for what I needed to do." The flat of his hand pressed down on Ryoma's hip, his voice once again a light tease. "Did you miss me?"
"Never." He smirked back, but then his eyes flickered, somewhat uncertain. Stomach was okay... Hip... Not so much. "Uh, senpai..."
"Liar." Fuji grinned, but the look flickered at seeing the uncertainty on Ryoma's face. It took a moment to connect it to the position of his hand. Fuji smiled, the small, familiar one he so often wore and immediately dropped his hand to curl it into the space between their bodies. "Sorry, Echizen."
Ryoma sighed, annoyance flickering over his face as he rolled over onto his back again, one arm behind his head. "No, I'm sorry. It's just..." He cut himself off. "I know you don't really mean anything by it, senpai. I still trust you where it counts. For some reason. It's... It's just..." Damn it.
"Echizen." Fuji propped himself up on an elbow to better look at Ryoma. His brows knitted into a faint frown, studying the other as if trying to piece something together. "You don't have to apologize. I never meant to make you uncomfortable." The picture he was starting to get wasn't a pretty one, and Fuji's gut twisted just thinking of what Ryoma might have gone through. "How about from now on, I let you initiate any touch between us? I won't touch you at all if you don't want me to."
"You can touch. Just... Don't below the waist, okay? Please?" He gave a weary smile, then closed his eyes. "But if I can initiate it... I'd appreciate that. Thanks. You're very... Understanding, aren't you, senpai?"
"No kitten," Fuji replied through curved lips. "I'm not." His hand remained on the bed between them as he settled back down. Only a sliver of blue was visible through his lowered lashes, and there was something almost predatory about the curl of his lips. "You still have to introduce me to your friend with the permanent marker."
"When I can remember his face," Ryoma mumbled, voice drowsy. It wasn't that he had forgotten his classmate's face, of course. But Ryoma's face memory wasn't the best, and he didn't want to remember most of the idiots in class. And third of all, he was currently sleepy. "Oh... If you want details, you should check out Kevin's latest post, I guess..."
"Alright." Fuji's mind was already spinning, formulating plans for what needed to be done. First would be contacting Inui. He hoped the older man had recuperated some from the last time they'd spoken. Kaidoh would have been some help, but he wasn't sure he count on him right now. Perhaps Kajimoto... "You can barely keep your eyes open, go to sleep. I'll let myself out."
"Sorry." He forced an eye open. "Lousy company right now. We can talk more later, yeah? We have to."
"Promise. I'm not going anywhere for a while." He made as if to brush back Ryoma's hair again but dropped his hand, growing quiet. He would wait to hear Ryoma's breath even out into sleep, then leave.
Not all that surprisingly, it didn't take too long for that to happen, the boy's features looking even younger when completely relaxed and at ease.
When: 11/30
Where: Echizen's room
What: Fuji goes to find out what the secret everyone is tiptoeing about is.
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of masturbation and lube?
Comments: Allowed.
There were countless possibilities running through Fuji's brain as he approached the room he knew was Echizen's. Out of all the meetings with his old team mates this had been the one he'd been dreading the most, yet been the most desperate for. What Tezuka and Kaidoh had said was enough to convince him that something had gone horribly wrong in Echizen's life. The boy in Fuji's mind was so full of life, fairly bursting with possibility for the feature. Whoever was waiting behind that door... would Fuji recognize him? There was only one real way to find out. Pasting a faint smile on his lips, Fuji knocked once.
Ryoma had learned to recognize different knocks. Buchou's was curt but to the point. Kevin's was energetic and bombastic. Horio's was mostly playful and weird. Tomoka's too, but in a different manner. This... Wasn't either of them. He had been playing around with Karupin and Snow, the tomcats chasing after a toy with all their might, skidding on the floor. At the knock, they paused and looked at the door, ears flicking. Ryoma tucked the toy away and turned his wheelchair, steering it towards the door. He unlocked it and opened it, slightly ajar. "Who is it?"
The door opened, but Ryoma was not where Fuji expected him to be. It was only after his eyes dropped that he met the feline eyes of his memory. Even with just the sliver of the door opened, it was impossible to miss the wheelchair. Not when the first thing his mind did was try to search out the source of Ryoma's lowered stature. His eyes flared a minute amount in surprise, but his face remained unchanged. Anyone who didn't know him might not have even noticed the reaction. "Echizen." The faint smile curved wider, but didn't reach his eyes. "Can I come in?"
"Fuji-senpai. ... Wow, long time no see." He rolled back after removing the safety hatch on the door and allowed the older boy to enter. "Close the door quickly, okay? Or the cats are gonna escape."
"The ca--" Fuji began before he noticed a white streak racing for his feet. It was only thanks to quick reflexes that he managed to slam the door shut before any felines were let loose on the innocent dorm. "I've been here and there." Fuji moved away from the door, glancing around for a place to sit before focusing his gaze back on Ryoma. "Sorry I didn't keep in touch."
"It's okay. It's not like I did either, you know?" The younger boy shrugged and made his way over to the small mini fridge he had installed on his room. "Apple juice?"
"Do you have plain water?" Finally deciding on one of the beds, Fuji perched down at the foot of the one he assumed to be Ryoma's. He leaned down, dangling fingers for the cats, but refrained from making the undignified noises that always seem to come when near one. "How have you been?"
"Yeah, sure do." He pulled out a bottle and tossed it towards Fuji, taking out a can of Ponta for himself. "Been just dandy, senpai. And you?"
"Thanks." He caught the bottle midflight, uncapping it to take a long drink from it before lowering to let it dangle by his side. Ryoma's response had his lips twitching, not quite amusement driving the smile. "Not too bad." The pleasantries out of the way, Fuji allowed his gaze to sharpen. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
"I don't know yet." He looked down, shoulders slumping. "Don't like to talk about it."
"You don't have to tell me," Fuji reminded him, even though there were a thousand questions burning on the tip of his tongue. He remembered Tezuka's face as he told him that Ryoma wasn't playing tennis anymore. His hands curled into tight fists, but he let nothing else show about his turbulent emotions. "When did you get a second cat?"
"A year ago," Ryoma smiled, reaching down for Snow and picking him up into his lap. "His name's Snowball. So imaginative I kill myself, I know, but you should have seen him when he was a kitten! Seriously." Snow clearly didn't want to be held right now; he wanted to approach Fuji and sniff this new human's slippers out. He squirmed out of Ryoma's grasp and with a small, warning hiss at Karupin - and Karupin retaliated with a low growl and laid back ears for a moment, before he jumped onto Ryoma's bed and made himself comfortable - he started to examine Fuji. Ryoma shook his head in bemusement, then sighed. "You know what I mean when I say 'compromised immune system'? I've got that."
"He's beautiful." Fuji watched the energetic bundle of white jump from Ryoma's lap, eliciting a laugh from the older boy as he hissed the warning. His gaze returned to Ryoma, the memories of when he'd first met him as a too short twelve year old with more attitude than he could carry on his slim shoulders flashing through his mind. "Reminds me of a kitten I once new. Liked to hiss and bite off more than he could chew~" Fuji leaned down to pet the soft fur behind Snowball's ears, watching as the cat's eyes slit shut with pleasure and he pushed into his fingers for more. Sometimes he wished people could be that honest, simply demanding what they wanted rather than playing so many games. Then again, he was an expert gamesman himself. Ryoma's words hit him like a punch to the gut and it took all of Fuji's control not to physically react. His breath hitched, trapped painfully in his chest and Snowball shied away from his suddenly too harsh touch. "Oh, Echizen..." Fuji finally breathed out after a long moment, forcing himself to look back at the younger boy. There was no pity in his eyes, but a thousand feelings he didn't know how to put into words.
Ryoma himself was quiet for a while, at first thinking about Fuji's words and wondering just how alike Snow and his younger self had been. Or were. Of course Fuji would realize what he meant. Fuji was one of the smartest people he knew, save for the data players, and that was a different kind of cleverness. He glanced at the brown haired boy, his expression tired but calm. "It's not really a death sentence. The anti-viral meds makes me feel like crap most of the time though. That's a pain in the ass. Anyway, my leg got cut up. And it got infected and wouldn't heal up properly. Now I... Like... Don't have any good muscles left in my legs, yeah? And the wounded leg is too stiff to use anyway. Been in the chair since last year's August." It was amazing how much he could tell without going into detail about the things he really found it difficult to talk about.
"I can't say I'm a great expert on the matter," Fuji admitted. There was no smile on his face now, expression serious as he listened to Echizen's words. There was more to the story. That, at least, was clear from the way Echizen formed his words and the look in his eyes. Yet despite that, Fuji didn't prod. Not when Echizen was looking so tired and like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. He remembers it once had. Their world, back then. Had there really been a point in their lives when winning a middle school championship seemed like the most important thing in the world? Looking at the young boy that in some ways had changed all of their lives now, it was hard to believe. Fuji held his fingers out towards Echizen, much like he'd done for snowball. "Here, kitty, kitty.." He murmured in a soft, aching voice.
For a moment, he simply stared at Fuji, as if he wondered if the other boy had positively lost his mind. Then he smiled, swatting after the fingers lightly, before finding himself actually reaching for Fuji's hand, holding it. "I think your hand's warmer than you'd want people to know most of the time, senpai."
Slender fingers threaded through Ryoma's, and Fuji brought both hands up to his cheek, pressing it against the back of the other boy's. "If everyone knew how warm they were, everyone would want to hold my hand," Fuji joked. "So keep it a secret, okay?" His fingers squeezed Ryoma's, and he lowered them from his face but didn't let go. "I never meant to be gone for so long. Didn't think--" The words died off and he gave a small, dismissive laugh, waving his free hand. "It doesn't matter. I'm back now."
Ryoma dipped his head to the side, smiling. "Okaeri nasai, senpai." Ryoma's sleeve had rolled down when Fuji had brought their hands to his cheek, and on Ryoma's arm - along with a few bruises and scrapes - someone had written 'gaijin fag' with a big, black marker pen. The kanji showed signs of Ryoma trying to wash them away, but without fully succeeding.
It was Snowball rubbing against his calf for attention that brought Fuji's glance downward. Absolute stillness spread through his entire frame as he caught sight of Ryoma's arm, the hand holding his fingers tightening in a way that might have been somewhat painful. When he spoke, his voice was low and very carefully measured. "Echizen?"
The boy looked back evenly. "Most people in my class can't stand me," he said, making no attempt to pull back his hand from the actually painful grip Fuji held now.
"I see." Fuji's fingertips traced over Ryoma's arm, slowly mapping the letters on his skin. He lingered over every bruise and carefully measured the scrapes. "Echizen, could you introduce to the person that did this?"
"I could..." The hairs on his arm stood up straight by the touch, goosebumps rippling over his skin. "But why should I?"
"I would like to thank them." Fuji glanced up to meet Echizen's eyes, his smile sweet and eyes a vivid blue. "For taking such good care of my beautiful kouhai."
"... Naturally." He had all the trouble in the world, trying to keep his voice steady. He cleared his throat and laughed awkwardly. "I'm not beautiful."
"Are you questioning my aesthetic taste?" Fuji arched a perfectly shaped brow, as if waiting for Ryoma's response. His fingers uncurled from around his arm and finally dropped, letting go of his hand as well. "Do you have alcohol? The kind you rub, not drink."
Ryoma dared an honest smirk. "I have both, actually. Check the fridge." Where he had gotten the drinking kind? Why, a package from his ever loving brother, of course. He had no idea how it had made it past the borders.
Fuji unfolded himself from the bed and moved towards the fridge, making a low tsking sound under his breath. "Underage drinking can get you kicked out of school, Echizen." Yet he didn't actually seemed the least bit concerned about it. That smirk had something tight and angry inside him unfurling just the slightest degree. He ignored the bottles and reached for the rubbing alcohol instead, returning to the bed once he had it and a paper towel in hand. "Let me see your arm."
Ryoma had stripped out of his long sleeved cardigan, and now sat simply in his short sleeved uniform shirt - well, and his pants, of course - and his skinny arm upturned, resting against the armrest of the wheelchair. "Go ahead. And hey, if senpai doesn't squeal about the booze, you can have some."
"I can buy my own," Fuji pointed out in a dry tone, but his lips were quirked in honest amusement. "You'll have to offer me something better." With the cardigan removed, it was easier to see the top of the writing and that's where Fuji began, slowly wiping down the area of the ink. One hand curled around Ryoma's wrist, the other flipping the napkin over to a clean side and wiping, then doing it again." Washing it with regular soap will only make your skin irritated."
"Didn't think about that," the green haired boy muttered, a slightly embarrassed flush staining his cheeks. "You're good at that."
"I did an art project that involved a lot of permanent marker a while ago." He became more careful with his touches around the bruises, but even so it wasn't long before most of it was gone from Ryoma's skin. The faint shadow would be gone after a long, warm shower. "It's surprising the kind of places it can get into."
"... Depending on what you use the markers for, I bet they could get in just about anywhere," Ryoma pointed out dryly. "... Thanks."
"Maybe I'll show you when you get older," Fuji teased as he released Ryoma's wrist and stood to dispose of the napkin.
"Hah hah, very funny." He pulled on the cardigan again, shivering. "I'm hardly innocent, senpai." The grin slipped from his face. Of course he wasn't. And Fuji realized that, since Ryoma had confirmed his disease to him. Oh well, maybe it was good that his mood sombered somewhat. "So why did you hurt Kaidou-senpai?"
"You'll always be my innocent kitten," Fuji murmured, hoping to annoy Ryoma with the statement and the sickeningly sweet smile. He accompanied it all with a hair ruffle just to be extra obnoxious, but Ryoma's next question drove away the playfulness. "Better he hate me than Inui," Fuji replied after some time. "He didn't need to see him in that condition. I handled it."
"Don't touch the hair, jeez!" Yeah, he got annoyed, all right. Ryoma's temper could still be set off by the most random things. He mulled this over, thinking about just how drunk Inui had seemed in that journal post, and then nodded. "Okay, I get it. Don't think Kaidou-senpai does though... So, how is he? Inui-senpai, I mean."
It was hard to keep from laughing at the expression on Echizen's face, Fuji's eyes going bright with amusement. He wished he could take a picture of it. It would be the one he kept on his phone, pulling it up whenever his thoughts turned to the boy. That's how he wanted to think of him. Expression bright and full of life, eyes fierce and defiant. That was the Echizen Fuji loved, if he were ever to give a name to his attachment to the younger boy. "Maybe it's for the best if Kaidoh avoids me from now on." Fuji's gaze looked now past Echizen, remembering long limbs splayed out on his bed and exotic eyes wide and lust blown. "Inui will be fine. He needed some sense knocked into him, that's all."
Ryoma nodded, thoughtfully pulling his hair back behind his ear, fingers brushing over the scar tissue where his earlobe had been. "I think he thinks that you think... oh god, that sounds stupid. Uh. Anyway, Like, that... You and Inui-senpai couldn't care less about him." He paused, golden eyes resting on Fuji. "What's with the look?"
"I'm sure he an Inui will work things out soon. They're too important to each other to leave things as they are." Fuji's smile melted back into a grin, a soft laugh and a shake of his head dismissing his thoughts. "Nothing important." Then, after a beat. "I didn't sleep with Inui." He wasn't sure why he said it. Fuji wasn't someone who needed to justify himself, and it's not like Ryoma had asked. Still... even if Kaidoh thought he was the kind of person who would sink that low, he didn't want Ryoma to think so too.
"No? But he seemed so..." He made a vague gesture with his hand, as it was still difficult for him to connect the dots between Inui-senpai and sex to begin with. "... I'm glad, though. You both deserve better than that. And I'm glad senpai's too good a person to take advantage of a dead drunk like that." He smiled, a little more than a tugging at the corner of his lips, teeth barely showing, but it was a more genuine smile than some wide faced grin would have been any day, coming from him.
Fuji's lips parted, but the flirty quip never made it past his mouth. Tezuka's voice was there, reminding him not to play these games with Echizen, and he swallowed back the words. It wasn't for Tezuka. While Fuji cared deeply for him - at one point in his life, more deeply than Tezuka would ever know - he'd never given him blind obedience like some of the others. If he restrained himself now, it was for Echizen. "He smelled," Fuji finally said. As if that was the only reason he hadn't slept with Inui.
"... Drunk people tend to do that." His old man came to mind. Spindly fingers folded into a bridge on which he rested his chin, eyes on the brownhaired boy. "But... Really now? That's it?"
"Mm." Fuji's smile had a teasing edge. He leaned forward, bracing an hand on the arm of Echizen's wheel chair as if confiding a secret. "Plus, I don't like strawberry lube."
"... I think I'd prefer grape lube. I mean..." He coughed. "Not that I'm gonna have sex or anything, but... You know." And now he blushed. How typical.
A surprised laugh burst from Fuji, honest mirth coloring his entire expression. "I'll keep that in mind." He watched the color creep up along Ryoma's cheekbones, eyebrows arching. "...ever?"
"Fuji-senpai!" Whine. Then he turned serious, a disgusted look passing over his face. "Ever."
Echizen! Whines back, trying not to laugh again. His eyes take in the look of disgust, and it doesn't look like worry for his condition that is keeping Ryoma celibate. He reaches up and pushes back some of the green-black strands. "You don't like it?"
And again his ruined earlobes came into view. He reached up his own fingers, touching them and then involuntarily touching Fuji's fingers as well. He pulled back, almost guilty, and shook his head.
Fuji doesn't pull back even when Ryoma does. Instead, his fingertips trace the shell of his ear, the over the scarred tissue. He doesn't ask, but that there is much Ryoma still hasn't told him is obvious. "Then I'll take grape lube off my Christmas shopping list."
"Or, keep it. But give it to yourself instead. That way you'll think about me, yeah?" Smirk.
"I don't think the person I use it on would appreciate me thinking of you while we're having sex," Fuji remarked dryly.
"So you never pleasure yourself, huh?" He wasn't sure why he was keeping at the subject, but it really didn't make him as uncomfortable as he feared it would, especially not when the focus was on Fuji and not himself. It was a good reminder that sex was supposed to be something good.
"Ryoma." The name rolled off his tongue in a lazy drawl as he leaned back on the bed, crossing his legs. The look he gave the younger boy was slow and lazy, a secret grin dancing on the corner of his lips. "Are you saying you want me to think of you when I jerk off?"
"Who wouldn't want to think of me when they jerk off?" Ryoma's grin mirrored Fuji's own.
Fuji fought back the burst of laughter, his own grin widening to match Ryoma's. Tezuka's advice could be damn, because he loved seeing that look on the younger boy far too much. Ryoma was stronger than the stoic boy gave him credit for. "I don't know. Shall we make a poll?"
:"Well, you know, there's already Kevin and Tooyama... Hm." He looked like he was giving this a lot of thought, eyes sparkling.
"I don't think I'll be able to do it again without you coming to mind at least once," Fuji added. "Might as well add me to the list."
"Fuji-senpai's so naughty. Okay, added, you poor unfortunate soul. Got you now, you know?" He flicked a popcorn at the other boy from a small plastic bag on his nigthstand.
"I believe it was you that brought us down this particular train of thought," Fuji pointed out calmly as he picked up the popcorn from his lap and popped it into his mouth. With a crooked grin, he kicked off his slippers and shifted to make himself comfortable on Ryoma's bed. "Feel free to change the subject."
The younger boy pulled himself up from the wheelchair and lay down on the bed as well, next to Fuji. It worked just fine, neither of them were particularly big, especially not Ryoma, so they both fit in the bed quite comfortably. "I don't know what to talk about... So much I want to ask you about... But I'm no good at playing twenty questions." He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
Fuji shifted, making room for Ryoma on one side of the bed. "What kind of questions?" Somehow, with the other this close, his voice dropped automatically, as if someone might be close enough to overhear them. He draped an arm over Ryoma's waist, letting his fingers curl into the soft material of his shirt as heavy lashes slid shut over blue eyes. "I'll answer them."
"Well... First of all... Are you happy?" He shivered slightly at the touch, but didn't pull back, even though he tensed up for a second or two. Because, somehow, it felt strangely comforting as well. He made no move to push Fuji's hand away.
It wasn't what he was expecting. The question wasn't whimsical, or a joke, or even about the places he had travelled to. It was straight and to the point, and one Fuji hadn't been asked in a very long time. He wasn't particularly unhappy but that wasn't what Ryoma was asking. "No."
Ryoma carefully turned over on the side - it was funny how much you relied on your legs when moving your entire body as whole - and propped up his head in his hand, watching Fuji. "Do you want to be?"
Fuji waited until Ryoma had resettled himself before opening his eyes. He met his gaze straight on, wondering what the other was getting at. "I wouldn't know where to start."
That was an odd reply. But somehow, Ryoma could understand it. He nodded, slowly. "Okay, another question. The hell kept you so long?"
That one made him laugh. Soft and almost silent, just a faint trembling of his shoulders and an amused widening of his eyes. "I took the shortest amount of time possible for what I needed to do." The flat of his hand pressed down on Ryoma's hip, his voice once again a light tease. "Did you miss me?"
"Never." He smirked back, but then his eyes flickered, somewhat uncertain. Stomach was okay... Hip... Not so much. "Uh, senpai..."
"Liar." Fuji grinned, but the look flickered at seeing the uncertainty on Ryoma's face. It took a moment to connect it to the position of his hand. Fuji smiled, the small, familiar one he so often wore and immediately dropped his hand to curl it into the space between their bodies. "Sorry, Echizen."
Ryoma sighed, annoyance flickering over his face as he rolled over onto his back again, one arm behind his head. "No, I'm sorry. It's just..." He cut himself off. "I know you don't really mean anything by it, senpai. I still trust you where it counts. For some reason. It's... It's just..." Damn it.
"Echizen." Fuji propped himself up on an elbow to better look at Ryoma. His brows knitted into a faint frown, studying the other as if trying to piece something together. "You don't have to apologize. I never meant to make you uncomfortable." The picture he was starting to get wasn't a pretty one, and Fuji's gut twisted just thinking of what Ryoma might have gone through. "How about from now on, I let you initiate any touch between us? I won't touch you at all if you don't want me to."
"You can touch. Just... Don't below the waist, okay? Please?" He gave a weary smile, then closed his eyes. "But if I can initiate it... I'd appreciate that. Thanks. You're very... Understanding, aren't you, senpai?"
"No kitten," Fuji replied through curved lips. "I'm not." His hand remained on the bed between them as he settled back down. Only a sliver of blue was visible through his lowered lashes, and there was something almost predatory about the curl of his lips. "You still have to introduce me to your friend with the permanent marker."
"When I can remember his face," Ryoma mumbled, voice drowsy. It wasn't that he had forgotten his classmate's face, of course. But Ryoma's face memory wasn't the best, and he didn't want to remember most of the idiots in class. And third of all, he was currently sleepy. "Oh... If you want details, you should check out Kevin's latest post, I guess..."
"Alright." Fuji's mind was already spinning, formulating plans for what needed to be done. First would be contacting Inui. He hoped the older man had recuperated some from the last time they'd spoken. Kaidoh would have been some help, but he wasn't sure he count on him right now. Perhaps Kajimoto... "You can barely keep your eyes open, go to sleep. I'll let myself out."
"Sorry." He forced an eye open. "Lousy company right now. We can talk more later, yeah? We have to."
"Promise. I'm not going anywhere for a while." He made as if to brush back Ryoma's hair again but dropped his hand, growing quiet. He would wait to hear Ryoma's breath even out into sleep, then leave.
Not all that surprisingly, it didn't take too long for that to happen, the boy's features looking even younger when completely relaxed and at ease.