[Fic] Disconnected (for venivincere)

[fishpatrol]

Title: Disconnected
Author: kashewmoo
Recipient: venivincere
Pairing: Oishi/Kikumaru
Rating: R
Summary: Kikumaru is upset by the lack of communication between he and Oishi while they’re attending separate high schools, and doesn’t know how to deal with it.
Warnings: Sexual content and lots of stupid, but at least they’re cute? ♥
Notes: Happy holidays, Yumemiru-chan! :)



“It sucked.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Well... no, but it still sucked.”

A chuckle.

“Oishi, don’t laugh.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just... well, you’re being ridiculous.”

“Okay, then you suck, too.”

“And why do I suck, now?”

Were Kikumaru to be perfectly honest, he would admit that the first day at his new high school hadn’t really sucked at all. To the contrary, he enjoyed it far more than he’d predicted the night before, and he was even a little - just a little - excited at the prospect of the second day, and possibly even the third day, too, depending on the second. The only thing that really did make the day even a little unfavorable was not being able to seek Oishi’s presence during lunch hour, but at least they had made the promise to keep in regular contact with one another even while attending schools at opposite ends of Tokyo, and Kikumaru was determined to see it through.

“Alright, so I’m kidding. But Oishi, I bet you had an awesome day, at least. Even without me there ‘cause you’re mean.”

Happily ignoring the typical Kikumaru jab tacked on as an afterthought, Oishi responded with enthusiasm in his voice. “Actually, it did go really well. I’m especially looking forward to classes, and the labs we’ll be taking part in... oh, and then there’s the opportunities we’ll receive to get hands on experience at the hospital - even if it won’t be exactly the same as participating in a practicum - and the teachers all sound really interesting. What else...”

It was just like Oishi to ramble. Despite idly doodling on a scrap piece of paper, Kikumaru remained attentive to what Oishi was saying. It was stuff he had been hearing about the school ever since Oishi first took the entrance exam and had easily been accepted into the highly accredited school for aspiring medical students. Kikumaru was happy to listen; Oishi’s excitement practically oozed through the phone, and how could Kikumaru resist feeling excited on Oishi’s behalf?

When it came time to trying to decide upon a club, Kikumaru immediately thought that gymnastics would be the most logical choice. Not only had he told Oishi that he was going to go to school to learn how to be a stuntman - joking or not - he had enough experience in the sport that he probably wouldn’t be too far behind other club members who had practiced gymnastics as their sole club for years prior. It was true that Kikumaru hadn’t dedicated much of his teenage life to it (he had taken classes as a child, and one of his older sisters was a gymnast herself, which meant that she often helped him master tumbling techniques that could then be transferred to the tennis court), but how difficult could it be?

There was a small part of him that longed to join the tennis club, but as he had learned during the singles match in which Oishi couldn’t take part, singles was awfully lonely, and he didn’t want a new partner - he’d want Oishi. While it might be nice for his new school’s tennis club to have a seasoned player on their team, one who had helped lead Seigaku to win Nationals… it just wouldn’t be the same without his former teammates by his side.

Still, there was something stopping him from immediately submitting his application to the gymnastics club. The members running the information booth seemed friendly enough (and Kikumaru never had any difficulty making friends)... but it still didn’t seem quite right.

That is, until he met Senpai.

Senpai was captain of the gymnastics club - a bit on the short side with a slight build, but yet a smile that could (and would) charm any girl in the vicinity. Kikumaru had heard stories about him, and had even seen him around campus - it wasn’t unusual to hear girls giggling to themselves after he passed them in the hallway between classes. He wasn’t necessarily the strongest member of the gymnastics club, but he was someone who was deeply respected, and so was best suited for captaincy.

Much to Kikumaru’s surprise, Senpai knew who he was - he had apparently seen the Nationals match in which Seigaku took home the win, and was impressed by Kikumaru’s display of acrobatics on the tennis court. Kikumaru didn’t really know what to say in response, but he was sure to thank the captain, and to describe how he had been tossing around the idea of joining the gymnastics club, but there was something in the back of his mind holding him back that he just couldn’t explain.

Senpai had understood Kikumaru’s feelings on the matter, and encouraged him to come out to at least one club meeting and see how he was feeling after that - he wouldn’t be held accountable if he waited to submit his application until he saw what the club was like. Kikumaru thought that was a great suggestion, and so made sure to be present after school to watch the rest of the team.

It had been exciting, and even without being out on the tumbling mats himself, Kikumaru knew that this would be a fantastic alternative to the Seigaku tennis club-shaped hole in his heart. Before practice was even over, Kikumaru was approaching Senpai with his application in hand and a big grin on his face; his upperclassman returned the grin, and Kikumaru knew that he made the right decision.

“I have faith in you, Kikumaru,” Senpai said with a wave after all was said and done, and Kikumaru could feel his cheeks heating up as he left the gym with high spirits.

I have to tell Oishi!

That was the only thought on Kikumaru’s mind as he bounded through the front door of his house, kicking off his shoes, and then racing up the stairs into his shared bedroom with his older brother. Luckily his brother was going to be gone for the rest of the evening (out with a girlfriend... or something - he had mentioned it before leaving for the day), so Kikumaru wouldn’t be teased by wanting to share the great news with Oishi. His siblings could be such a pain, sometimes.

Clambering up to the top bunk, Kikumaru plopped down on his back before pulling his cell phone out from his uniform pants, and maneuvering to Oishi’s name in his address book. Oishi would most likely be home from school already, what with his lack of participating in a club to the best of Kikumaru’s knowledge, so there really shouldn’t be a reason as to why Oishi wouldn’t pick up the phone. Enthusiastically pressing “send” and holding the phone up to his ear, Kikumaru patiently waited as the phone began to ring.

“You’ve reached the voice mail of Oishi Syuichirou. I can’t make it to the phone right now, but please leave me a message after the tone, and I’ll call you back!”

A slight frown touched Kikumaru’s lips as he listened to the message, and said after the beep, “Hi, Oishi, it’s me! Um... I just wanted to give you a call and let you know that I’ve finally picked a club! I know, I know, about time, right? I’ve decided to go with gymnastics... you know, so I can be the world’s greatest stuntman. But, call me back, ‘kay? I’ll have my phone!”

“So, anyway, like I said in the voice mail, I joined the gymnastics club!” Kikumaru swung one leg over the end of the bunk bed, pillowing his head with his arm, and staring up at the ceiling as he spoke. “Told you I’d become a stuntman.”

“I’m happy for you, Eiji. When does practice officially start?”

“Mm... I think I’m supposed to start Thursday after school? Something like that, anyway. I bet it’s not gonna be too hard, though. I mean, I took gymnastics class as a kid, and after spending so many years perfecting my acrobatic play on the tennis court, I should be a shoe-in!”

“Remember that attitude can get you into trouble.” Just like Oishi.

“Yeah, yeah, I know - take care of myself, right? Don’t be such a worrywart, Oi~shi! I’ll be fine.”

“Heh. Okay, I’m sorry. But, listen, I have a bunch of homework to do, and I promised Tezuka that I would tell him how I’ve been settling in so far, so I should probably get started on that, but we’ll talk soon, okay?”

A frown touched Kikumaru’s lips. “But... we haven’t been talking for long - and I haven’t even gotten to ask you what club you’re joining!”

“I’m sorry, but I really should go. I’ll do my best to give you a call back, just be warned that it might not be tomorrow since I have a lot to do. Maybe we can talk after your first practice? Sound good?”

“Fiiiiiiine.”

“Thanks, Eiji, I appreciate it.” Kikumaru could tell that Oishi’s tone was genuine, so he couldn’t be too mad at him... but it didn’t change the fact that Oishi was getting off the phone way too quickly for Kikumaru’s liking. He knew that Oishi wouldn’t be blowing him off like this if he didn’t really have important things to tend to, but the whole situation sucked nonetheless. Kikumaru would just try his best to be a good partner, and take solace in the fact he’d be able to talk to Oishi soon enough.

“Of course, of course. Sleep tight then, Oishi - and good luck! Night night.”

“’Night, Eiji.”

“You’ve reached the voice mail of Oishi Syuichirou. I can’t make it to the phone right now, but please leave me a message after the tone, and I’ll call you back!”

“I know I didn’t call you after practice, but we all went out for dinner, and then I had to shower, and do homework... well, you know. But now you’re not picking up! When you get this, call me back!”

“You’ve reached the voice mail of Oishi Syuichirou. I can’t make it to the phone right now, but please leave me a message after the tone, and I’ll call you back!”

“Oishi! Hi, it’s me! I know you’re really busy and all... but I really, really wanted to see if you wanted to come out to this competition Senpai asked me to participate in. I’d really like it if you could be there, y’know, ‘cause we’re partners and all. Um... call me back when you can!”

“Hey! I haven’t heard back from you yet, but I’m still hoping you can come... pretty please? Call me back when you get this, ‘kay?”

Lowering the phone, Oishi checked his calendar and realized that it had been at least a day or two since he had last checked his messages. He really had meant to tell Kikumaru that he was going to be at the competition, but it had slipped his mind amongst the constant homework assignments and tests that surely had to have been more than what the average high school student took on a weekly basis. The things he did to get into medical school…

Debating whether he should just send a text message in lieu of a voice mail, Oishi picked up his pencil again; but before he was able to continue finishing writing down the sentence he had left hanging, he took one look back at his cell phone and slowly realized that not only had he forgotten to tell Kikumaru that he was going to be present, but that the competition was actually that day - in only a few hours, at that.

Had he really been that scatterbrained?

Getting up so quickly that his chair wobbled away from the desk on its creaky wheels, Oishi pocketed his cell phone, and ignoring his assignments spread out over the surface of his desk, raced out the door to ensure that he could eat lunch before making his way to the venue where the gymnastics meet was being held.

He didn’t come.

Kikumaru frowned deeply as he faced the tumbling mat spread out across from him. No matter how many times he called Oishi to only get his voice mail, his stupid partner didn’t turn out, after all. Clearly he was too busy to even think twice about his once-before doubles partner - better yet, he was probably with Tezuka, of all people, just because it seemed as though those two were practically attached at the hip on a bad day.

Which wasn’t to say that was the case. If anything, Tezuka would encourage Oishi to go to Kikumaru’s competition whether Oishi felt like he had too much on his plate or not. That, and Tezuka wasn’t even currently in the country, instead pursuing his professional tennis career in Germany just as he’d told the team he would. As much as Kikumaru had once been annoyed by Oishi’s constant fangirling of Tezuka in their younger years, he had come to really appreciate the friendship they’d been over to foster particularly through their last year of middle school.

That didn’t change the fact that Oishi never once returned his phone calls, nor did he make even the smallest of an attempt to notify Kikumaru of his absence... never mind the small voice in the back of his head saying that Oishi wouldn’t miss this for the world, and the only reason why he hadn’t been able to return phone calls had been because he was so incredibly busy; just as Oishi said he would be.

The team was counting on him to do well, though - he could hear their cheers as he prepared for his floor routine, stretching, and giving himself an inner pep talk.

Soon enough, his name was called, and he stepped forward onto the corner of the mat. His eyes swept across the crowd once more, expecting to see a few familiar faces (namely his two oldest siblings and parents who had promised that they would be present), but wasn’t prepared to find just who he thought wouldn’t have come. It looked like Oishi had just gotten there while Kikumaru was distracted by his warm-ups; Oishi’s cheeks red from the crisp, autumn air outside, and beaming as he waved at his doubles partner.

He was excited to see Oishi there - despite having not spoken to him in what had seemed like ages, it was soothing to know that Oishi would still be there in a time of need. What wasn’t exciting was his stomach knotting itself up... with Oishi’s presence in the stands. While Kikumaru didn’t think too much of it, he couldn’t help but feel a little psyched out - like he had to do extra well because Oishi was there despite his busy schedule that kept him from doing anything fun anymore, and if Kikumaru screwed up then he wasn’t going to be a very good partner because he hadn’t been able to keep his promise of becoming a stuntman.

His name was being called, again. Putting on a brave face for a brief moment before it melded into a smile, Kikumaru got into position and started his routine, doing his best to ignore his stomach that was performing acrobatics right along with him.

“It’s his fault!” Kikumaru folded his arms over his chest grumpily, slumping down on the couch beside Momoshiro who rested a bowl of popcorn in his lap, and was giving him a look that suggested Kikumaru may as well have been out of his mind. Kikumaru didn’t think he was being that unreasonable - it’s not like Oishi had told him he was going to be there.

“Why are you blamin’ Oishi-senpai? He came, didn’t he?”

“‘Cause! He didn’t tell me he was going to be there, and then he was, and I screwed up because of it! And he never answers his phone anymore, either!”

“But... I thought you wanted him to be there,” Momoshiro blinked, passing the popcorn bowl to Kikumaru. “I mean, he didn’t call, no... but you can’t really blame him for what happened, can you? At least you weren’t hurt?”

Kikumaru paused for a brief moment, picking at a popcorn kernel, before looking back at Momoshiro. “No, thankfully... but... I dunno. It just made me nervous, and I hadn’t expected him to actually be there...”

“Well, then it’s a good thing! I mean, not that you lost the points an’ all, but that Oishi-senpai was there for you! I mean, Eiji-senpai, he wouldn’t do that just for anyone, would he?” Knowing Oishi’s thought processes, he most likely would, but that probably wasn’t something Kikumaru needed to hear, lest he set off the ticking bomb again. “You’re special!”

That luckily brought a small smile to Kikumaru’s lips. “Yeaaaaaaah...”

“See? Then there’s no problem! Besides, you should be talking to Oishi-senpai ‘bout this - I’m positive he didn’t mean for you to feel nervous with him being there, and I bet he’d be real happy to hear from you!”

“Yeah, okay,” Kikumaru’s smile broadened a little as he took a more reasonable handful of popcorn before handing Momoshiro back the bowl. “I’ll call him, and he better answer his phone this time!”

Although Momoshiro’s advice had been helpful (and of course wanted), there was still a small part of Kikumaru that was angry at Oishi for never seeming to put aside time for his partner, anymore. Kikumaru knew that Oishi had warned him of this, but it didn’t stop it from sucking just a little. Normally Kikumaru would be more than happy to forgive and forget; why was it that he was having such a hard time understanding the distance now? They went to different schools, Oishi was pursuing something that would not only take away all his spare time now, but most likely in the future, too... that, and much of their time spent together had been during club, and now there wasn’t even that excuse.

Kikumaru knew that Oishi was still trying to do his best, it was just a matter of convincing Kikumaru himself to not feel so hurt whenever something didn’t go his way, or how he had planned. It really wouldn’t hurt to talk to Oishi, though... he’d understand Kikumaru’s frustration, and would do everything he could in his power to make it better, just like he’d done all the times in the past. And Kikumaru was feeling optimistic - maybe their psychic connection would tell Oishi that he had to pick up the phone because it was super important.

With that thought in mind, Kikumaru picked up his phone.

“You’ve reached the voice mail of Oishi Syuichirou. I can’t make it to the phone right now, but please leave me a message after the tone, and I’ll call you back!”

“...Okay, so I guess you’re never, ever going to pick up your phone again - that’s not being a very good partner, Oishi! I wanted to thank you for coming, and to talk about things, but I guess it’s not really all that important. If you’re too busy, don’t worry about calling me back; I guess I’ll just figure it out by myself.”

He didn’t feel quite right leaving that message without Oishi having a chance to explain, but it didn’t stop him from ending the call, anyway, even after he sniffled and grumpily wiped the tears out of his eyes. Kikumaru didn’t need stupid Oishi... not even when his heart gave a little “twang” at even the slightest thought of Oishi not being a part of his life.

“...Okay, so I guess you’re never, ever going to pick up your phone again - that’s not being a very good partner, Oishi! I wanted to thank you for coming to my meet, well... and to talk about things, but I guess it’s not really all that important. If you’re too busy, don’t worry about calling me back; I guess I’ll just figure it out by myself.”

That wasn’t much like Kikumaru, Oishi thought, lowering his phone, and ending the call. While it was true Oishi probably hadn’t been a very good partner, lately, what with never being able to catch Kikumaru when he called, it wasn’t that Oishi didn’t want to talk to Kikumaru - quite the opposite. He actually missed Kikumaru very much, but it seemed like whenever he tried to call his partner back he would get the standard, his-power-is-off automated message, or when he called the Kikumaru household, would be told by one of Kikumaru’s siblings that he couldn’t come to the phone right now, but that Kikumaru would undoubtedly call him back.

What worried Oishi was that Kikumaru was acting strangely. Oishi had tried to find Kikumaru so that they could talk once the gymnastics meet had come to an end, but it had seemed Kikumaru had either been ignoring him, or had just raced to the locker room due to embarrassment of losing those points in his floor routine. Oishi figured it was the latter, and so he had sent a text message to Kikumaru to let him know that he was proud of him regardless of the outcome, but Oishi was unsure if the message had even reached his partner.

Maybe it was time to see if someone else knew what was going on. Getting up from his desk, Oishi sat down on his bed, and dialed Momoshiro’s number.

“Oishi-senpai, hi!”

Oishi smiled. “Hey, Momo. How are you?”

“I’m good, I’m good! How ‘bout you? How’s hig- ow!” There was shuffle on the other end of the line, presumably from Momoshiro getting into another room so as to not be bothered by his siblings. “Let me be!” Another pause. “Um... sorry ‘bout that, Oishi-senpai - my sister’s being a pain. But, anyway, Eiji-senpai’s been telling me that you’ve been super busy, lately.”

“Actually, speaking of Eiji... that’s why I’m calling. Has he been acting strangely to you?”

“Um... strange how?”

“It just seems like he’s constantly upset with me, or angry because I haven’t been able to get a hold of him...”

Hey, Eiji,

I know I’ve been super busy, lately, and that you’re angry with me, but I was hoping that we’d be able to get together and talk it out... maybe over ice cream? I feel like we’re on different pages, and I’m hoping that we can get it resolved.

Let me when would work for you, okay? I’ll make sure to be there. :)
- Oishi

The last thing Kikumaru did for the night was check his email and see if there was anything exciting waiting for him in his inbox. There were a couple of promotional emails talking about how the Chocolates were going to be performing in Tokyo later that year, coupons to his favorite restaurant, a newsletter from the captain of the gymnastics team, an email from Fuji reminding him to work on the assignment that he had been avoiding...

And an email from Oishi.

Kikumaru frowned a little and stared at the subject line. He wasn’t expecting Oishi to email him, what with apparently being too busy to spend any time with his partner, lately... but maybe Oishi had finally realized his mistake, and they could go back to happily being partners, and Eiji could forgive him for every little thing that had been making him mad ever since the start of the school year. Perhaps it wasn’t being fair to Oishi, but Kikumaru wanted an apology - an apology for doing things without saying that he would, or not being there when Kikumaru wanted to talk to him. Stupid Oishi.

Curiosity finally getting the better of him, Kikumaru double clicked the email to read it, leaning his elbow on the desk and resting his cheek on the palm of his hand as his eyes scanned over the body of the email. Oishi wanted to talk - and wanted to apologize for being so busy. Maybe Oishi really did care about him still, anyway. (To which Kikumaru ignored the little voice in the back of his head telling him that Oishi had cared all along, it was just Kikumaru who had been the one overreacting about the whole situation.)

Placing his hands on the keyboard, Kikumaru paused for a moment before forming a reply, chewing the inside of his cheek. He wanted to ask if Oishi could meet him tomorrow, though he was probably being a little optimistic. But Oishi did say that he would make time for Kikumaru, so perhaps he could ask if tomorrow would work, and if it wouldn’t, oh well, but if it would, that’d be great. Tilting his head before beginning to type, Eiji wrote:

Oi~shi,
Would tomorrow work? I don’t have to go to practice, and since it’s a Saturday... well, the ice cream shops shouldn’t be too too busy then, right? Maybe at 11? At my favorite place~?

I hope that’ll be okay!
Eiji

Kikumaru leaned back in his chair, pressing the send button, and opening a new tab on his browser to check up on a few other things on the internet before he would head to bed. Maybe he would be able to wrangle tickets to the Chocolates concert out of Fuji... surely he would want to go with him.

Humming a song to himself, he ignored his older brother coming into the shared bedroom with a snide remark that it was time for the computer to go off so he could sleep, and navigated through a couple of pages before a “Inbox (1)” caught his eye in the corner of the browser. It seemed like it would be too soon for Oishi to have already replied, but maybe, just maybe, he was already at the computer, and was just waiting for Kikumaru to reply...

Tomorrow at 11 it is! I’ll see you there.
- Oishi

A bright grin broke out on Kikumaru’s face as he proclaimed, “He’s coming!”

“TMI, Eiji.”

Ignoring his brother’s snide remark, Kikumaru exited out the window and closed the lid to the laptop, turning around in the chair to look at his brother who was already lying down in the bottom bunk, eyes closed, and making it very obvious that he was ready for bed. “No, he’s coming to meet me for ice cream tomorrow so we can talk! I’ve been so mad at him ‘cause he hasn’t been returning my calls, and I miss him, and I’m really excited to finally be able to properly talk to him,” Kikumaru babbled as he stood and climbed up the latter to lie down in the top bunk. “And hopefully we’ll be able to work everything out, and all will be right with the world!”

There was no response.

Kikumaru frowned, and asked, “Big brother?”

Silence once more, and Kikumaru took that as a sign that his brother was no longer listening.

Pulling the blankets up to his chin, Kikumaru stared up at the ceiling with the grin still on his face. As of tomorrow, everything would be all better, and the Golden Pair would be back in business!

Slowly coming to, Kikumaru quietly groaned, brushing his sweaty bangs away from his face and twisting his fingers in the fabric of the bed sheet. A quick glance at his cell phone displayed that it was yet to be morning, and Kikumaru settled back against his pillows, staring up at the ceiling. He had a dream - a rather pleasant, albeit unusual dream - but it left him with a strange pang in his heart, and a tenseness that probably would not leave on its own. It was a little too warm in the bedroom to feel truly comfortable, but that didn’t stop Kikumaru from cautiously slipping his hand below the waistline of his pajama pants, not paying mind to his older brother sound asleep in the bunk below, or what could happen were he to be caught doing this in the middle of the night.

He was able to keep quiet at first, biting his lower lip as he worked out the tension the dream had left behind, but as his mind wandered back into dangerous territory to the person who had left him feeling like this, his toes curled, and small whimpers began to leave his lips as he pressed his cheek into the fabric of the pillow, willing himself to squash the sounds. It was not unusual for him to give in to his normal, teenage hormone-driven mind, but never once had he pictured someone so very specific doing pleasurable things with his tongue that left Kikumaru wanting more, seeking release as he rolled his hips to the rhythm of his own hand, imagining lips nipping at his earlobe, and someone else’s hands taking control over Kikumaru’s, expertly touching him in all the right places without even so much as a word of guidance.

But it was always like that. Oishi had always known just what to do in order to please his partner.

Kikumaru rolled onto his side, eyes shut tight as his breathing quickened, small sounds still escaping parted lips, and he wondered just what it would be like for Oishi’s mouth to be on him, working him in such a way that a mere hand could not accomplish. Kikumaru’s gut tightened as his breath hitched, all the muscles in his body tensing even as his hand continued to rub steadily.

Suddenly, and without warning, the bed jolted as something from below made contact with the bottom side of the bunk bed. Mortified, Kikumaru went still, going dead silent even as an uncomfortable wetness remained as a reminder of what he’d been indulging in. He didn’t trust himself to be in any way coherent.

“Jeez, Eiji, can you save jerking off for a time when I’m not trying to sleep down here?”

Even after minutes ticked by, and his brother presumably asleep once more, Kikumaru didn’t move with fear of being caught. Why did he have to share a bedroom? And why had Oishi been the center of not only his dream, but also while Kikumaru was fantasizing? Cheeks flushed, Kikumaru’s stomach did a flip as he shook his head wildly to clear away any lingering thoughts. It was ridiculous - why would he ever want to think of Oishi in that way? Oishi was his partner - his tennis partner, not his boyfriend, or whatever other ridiculous notion his brain was supplying, and his heart not refuting as quickly as it should’ve been.

Forcing himself to sit up and climb carefully down to floor level, Kikumaru snuck out of the bedroom in order to get to the bathroom and clean up.

Kikumaru was feeling jittery. He had gotten to the ice cream shop thirty minutes ahead of schedule without even realizing that he had gotten there so early, and had been left with no choice but to sit and wait for Oishi. His mind kept jumping back to what had happened early that morning, what with the dream, and all that he had fantasized in regards to Oishi... no amount of wishing for his brain to just stop was enough to not think about Oishi’s hands running all over his naked body.

Lying his forehead down on the table, Kikumaru sighed, flipping open his phone to check the time; Oishi should be there at any time, now.

He wondered what he was going to say to him.

Letting out another sigh, Kikumaru straightened once more, leaning back into the chair, and tilting his head back to look up at the sky. Everything had seemed so simple when they were still in middle school, happily playing tennis at every possible opportunity, and not worrying about high school, or relationships, or even what would happen once the third years had graduated from Seigaku. Kikumaru hadn’t expected that it was going to end up like this, constantly upset with the one person who had become one of the most important people in the world to him.

“Eiji?”

Kikumaru jumped, whipping around to face his partner who had his hand up in greeting and a smile on his face. “Oishi!”

Oishi laughed a little, coming to sit down beside Kikumaru, and putting his bag down on the ground. “Don’t seem so surprised - aren’t I on time?” He had been sure to leave early enough that he would get there right before eleven, and he honestly hadn’t expected Kikumaru to have beaten him there - it wasn’t like him. Perhaps Kikumaru had been more upset than Oishi had first realized.

“Yeah, of course you are!” Kikumaru’s expression brightened. Finally, he would get some time with Oishi himself instead of his voice mail message; the prospect was exciting. As much as Kikumaru liked listening to Oishi’s voice, there was something off putting about never being able to have a proper conversation with him. “But, the important thing here is to get ice cream!”

“Alright,” Oishi responded, shaking his head fondly. Eiji will be Eiji.

Soon enough, they were both seated once more with ice cream - Kikumaru’s in a chocolate covered waffle cone, and Oishi’s in a cup. Kikumaru was known for picking the outrageous seasonal flavors, whereas Oishi was more likely to pick something simple; like vanilla. That was just the way it had always been with them - Kikumaru insisting on something so sweet that it would’ve inevitably resulted in a cavity were Kikumaru not so obsessive about oral hygiene, and Oishi putting forth the money to pick up the bill.

Without interruptions, the Golden Pair were finally able to talk; Kikumaru explaining why he had been feeling so lonely not being able to keep in touch with Oishi, and Oishi likewise telling Kikumaru that he’d been so scatterbrained in regards to school that it had taken precedence over many other important things in his life. To Oishi’s surprise, Kikumaru had been completely understanding, claiming that it was all water under the bridge so long as Oishi made the concentrated effort to actually return phone calls or text messages. In return, Kikumaru would not call him constantly, or expect a reply immediately upon sending something - Oishi could not have been more grateful for Kikumaru’s foresight.

Before long, the ice cream had mostly been eaten, the napkins thrown away, and the conversation lulled into a comfortable silence that neither boy wanted to disturb; this was normal, even welcomed after a long absence of any such event. Though, as what always happened when they were together, the silence wouldn’t last for very long, Oishi instead launching into an explanation of everything he’d been going through - school, the abundance of homework he went home with every day, his family… all things that Kikumaru would normally be more than happy to listen to, but yet there were other things on his mind that prevented him from giving Oishi his full attention.

“Oh! So I heard from Tezuka the other day, and apparently he’s still doing really well - taking Germany by storm, of course. He met a girl there who’s also a tennis player, and apparently she’s been trying to get his phone number. I told him that she probably had a crush on him, but Tezuka didn’t really understand what I meant.”

“Uh huh…” Kikumaru rested his elbow on the table, shifting in his seat.

“Oh, though he was also saying that Atobe won’t stop calling him. I told him that he shouldn’t be so surprised by that, but Tezuka didn’t really seem so enthused about talking on a near daily basis with Atobe.”

“Huh, that’s weird.” Kikumaru’s attention briefly went to the other boy’s lips, watching as his mouth formed words that were very clearly making up sentences, but Kikumaru really couldn’t make heads or tails of what Oishi was actually saying. Perhaps he wasn’t paying attention anymore, after all. Not that Oishi would notice - he was off in his own little world.

“Mom also said that she’d love if you could come to dinner sometime soon - my sister’s also been asking about you. Actually, speaking of that, when Tezuka gets home, we’ll have to have a welcome home party for him - maybe Taka-san could host it? Tezuka should be back in time for the holidays…”

“...Oishi?”

“Mm?”

When Oishi turned his attention back to Kikumaru, his partner was much closer than he had been before; they shared the same breath as his eyes met Kikumaru’s, noting that his partner’s usual jovial expression had long since left as the other boy leaned forward to do something that Oishi would never have expected Kikumaru to do.

Strawberry and chocolate, Oishi slowly realized, was the taste on Kikumaru’s lips. He did not return the kiss at first, feeling more surprised by Kikumaru’s boldness than any other emotion he could’ve been at that time. Before he could even think through what was happening and decide on an appropriate course of action (why was Kikumaru kissing him, exactly?), the line of contact had been broken, and Kikumaru jerked away, his cheeks flushed red, an excuse already falling from his lips.

“I gotta go!” Kikumaru looked flustered as he gathered up his things, clumsily knocking his elbow on the armrest of the metal chair, and quickly coming to a stand, pulling his messenger bag over his shoulder. His eyes quickly swept over the table, making sure that there was nothing left, and he very briefly met Oishi’s eyes before diverting them. “I, um... promised Mom I’d be home!”

“Eiji, wait!” Oishi also came to a stand, pushing in his chair, and with every intention of reaching out to take hold of Kikumaru’s elbow before the other boy could escape. Instead, Oishi’s hand met air, and he was left watching as Kikumaru took off at a run down the street, turning around the corner, and then completely out of sight.

A deep frown etched on his face, Oishi pulled out his chair and sat down once more, debating if it would be better to chase after Kikumaru or give him a chance to calm down first. But why had Kikumaru kissed him? Kissed him, and then run away, no less? There obviously had to be some sort of catalyst that set off the fire, but Oishi on a good day could barely figure out Kikumaru’s predictable actions, let alone something as unexpected as a kiss.

His own cheeks heating up a bit, Oishi ducked his head out of embarrassment, and picked up his own bag. People were now staring at him, talking amongst themselves, and there was no real reason to linger. He’d just... talk to Kikumaru later.

Kikumaru was horrified at what he had done. It wasn’t like he had meant to kiss Oishi... it just happened, and now Kikumaru had no idea how he was supposed to approach the situation after doing something as stupid as that. He had to blame that dream - if he hadn’t dreamt about Oishi doing rather pleasant things with his tongue, he wouldn’t have felt jittery all throughout their ice cream date, nor would he have just kissed Oishi with no real apparent reason behind his actions.

Not that it was a date date... just two friends going out for ice cream together, and talking through their problems! Right. That’s all it was.

“My life is over,” Kikumaru groaned, burying his face into his pillow. Luckily his brother wasn’t home - Kikumaru didn’t think he was going to be able to take any more teasing after what happened the night before. It’s not like he could control the type of dreams he had - he was asleep, after all - and as for the other thing... well, his brother had no right to interrupt him when he was just as guilty as doing the exact same thing. What made him so special?

Miserably pulling his phone close and propping himself up on one arm, Kikumaru flipped it open, and frowned at the display picture. It was of both he and Oishi during spring vacation before the school year started, and they had went together with the rest of the team to have a picnic underneath the cherry blossoms. Tezuka had also been present, at the picnic was a going away party of sorts for the former captain of Seigaku... his flight had left for Germany no more than a few days afterward.

Stupid Oishi.

Kikumaru idly scrolled through the names in his contact list, and debated calling someone - anyone - to explain what happened earlier that day, and try to get some guidance as to what he should do when he next saw Oishi. Apologize for what happened, and agreeing to putting it behind them? Claim that he had no idea what came upon him - perhaps he was possessed? No, that wouldn’t work. Maybe just ignore the topic altogether and hope that Oishi didn’t remember what happened? Not likely.

Letting out a sigh, Kikumaru snapped his phone closed once more, and let himself flop back onto the bed, now resting his cheek against the pillow. Maybe the best thing was going to just call Oishi, and explain that he wasn’t quite sure what spurred him into kissing Oishi, but he wanted to just forget it ever happened. If he got to speak to him, anyway. Would he get voice mail... then Kikumaru had no idea what he was going to do. He didn’t want to mention anything that happened in fear of maybe Oishi’s parents or little sister accidentally listening to the voice mail, and then Kikumaru would need to explain to the whole Oishi family what he had done.

Regardless, he needed to man up. Oishi would hopefully be agreeable to forgiving and forgetting, and Kikumaru could then quash whatever this feeling was and ignore that he had ever thought of Oishi in that way; even if it had only been a dream.

Hesitantly, he reached for his phone once more, and dialed Oishi’s number by memory, hoping that nobody would be able to listen to what he was going to say.

“You’ve reached the voice mail of Oishi Syuichirou. I can’t make it to the phone right now, but please leave me a message after the tone, and I’ll call you back!”

That is, unless you’re Eiji, in which case I don’t want to talk to you, nor do I forgive you for what happened - I can’t believe you would do something like that, and I don’t ever want to see your face again.

Kikumaru’s heart sank, but he couldn’t help the biting tone that escaped his mouth as he left the message for Oishi. “Fine, I don’t care - I was gonna apologize to you for what I did, but if you don’t even want to listen to what I have to say, then I’m not going to apologize at all!”

In a huff, he ended the call, and flung the phone to the foot of his bed. He had no idea why he was feeling like this and getting so defensive of his actions, but why would Oishi tack that on to the end of his voice mail message? Had he always been such a selfish jerk? And why couldn’t Kikumaru apologize? He felt sorry, after all - there was absolutely no reason in the world as to why Oishi couldn’t forgive him for something that in the grand scheme of things was only a minor mishap.

Hot tears stung the corners of Eiji’s eyes as he wrapped his arms around his pillow, drawing it to his chest, and resting his chin on the soft fabric. Why did it hurt so much? It wasn’t as though he had wanted Oishi to happily kiss him back, and say that there was nothing wrong with what Kikumaru was feeling... right?

Right?

Oishi had no explanation for Kikumaru’s strange behavior, nor did he have much of an idea how he was supposed to react to the sudden kiss his partner had given him before running off in what was probably embarrassment. Oishi had thought things between them had been going well - they were able to lay all their cards on the table, and they were once more on the same page. Kissing, though; kissing was another matter altogether.

To the best of Oishi’s knowledge, Kikumaru had never harboured any feelings of the romantic nature toward him... nor had Kikumaru ever really expressed any interest in anyone beyond what happened when you put Kikumaru and Fuji in the same room together: gossip about the newest girl group. Lately, Oishi knew that Kikumaru had garnered an interest in Korean girl groups. But that still didn’t explain Kikumaru’s action; Oishi was not part of a girl group, nor did he even vaguely resemble a girl... maybe Kikumaru had interest in both sexes?

Or maybe he was over-thinking it. Oishi ghosted his fingers over the front display of his cell phone, wondering when the last time he spoke to Tezuka was. Oishi knew that his best friend was incredibly busy with practice and tournaments in Germany, but they’d managed to send emails back and forth to one another in what was an ongoing conversation. Tezuka wasn’t necessarily always the best conversation partner, but Oishi always appreciated the silent support the former captain offered.

Oishi glanced at his watch: it was just after two-thirty in the afternoon. In Germany, that would make it about half past six in the morning, which meant that Tezuka was probably just returning from his morning run, had already showered for the day, and was currently reading the newspaper and snacking on cranberries - a habit that Tezuka had for as long as Oishi had known him. It was probably safe to assume that Tezuka would at least be available to talk... and Oishi really didn’t know who else he could turn to.

Getting up to instead sit on his bed, Oishi dialed the number of the phone card he’d been using to make the occasional call to his best friend, before then dialing Tezuka’s German cell phone number from memory. It took a moment to connect, the annoying dial tone sounding through the receiver, before Tezuka picked up.

“Oishi.”

It was clear that Tezuka hadn’t expected a phone call this early in the morning, but he didn’t sound annoyed, at least... maybe Atobe had stopped calling him every other day. Oishi knew that while Atobe Keigo was a persistent man, even he would eventually get the hint and make the phone calls every other-other day. “Tezuka, hey,” Oishi said, pressing the phone closer to his ear, and leaning back on the bed. “I’m sorry to call you so early.”

“It’s no problem. I have been settled for a while.”

The older boy couldn’t help but smile a little - he had really missed Tezuka. “I figured as much. Hey, I needed to talk to you about something, though...”

“Hm?”

“Well, it’s about Eiji...”

“What has Kikumaru done now?”

Oishi laughed a little, running a hand through his hair. Were both Oishi and Kikumaru as predictable as Tezuka would have them think? The answer was probably “yes,” but Oishi ignored the little voice in his head as he continued, “He... well, we went out for ice cream earlier today because we haven’t really been talking a whole lot, and he had seemed so upset...” Oishi paused for a moment, waiting for a response.

“I see.”

Just like Tezuka. “Everything was going fine, really. I mean, we talked it through, and resolved things, and then we just sat in silence - which was great! Nothing too out of the ordinary for us, and it was nice to have a bit of normalcy.”

“...I see.”

Oishi paused once more, wondering how to explain the situation from there. It was probably better to just get it over as though he were pulling off a bandage. “And then he kissed me.”

A moment of silence. Oishi wondered if the line had gone dead - Tezuka had yet to respond. He knew that it was unusual for Kikumaru to do something like that, but was it really that much of a surprise? The Golden Pair were close... and no one had ever questioned why they felt the need to have physical contact in between every point they’d gotten off the other doubles pair when they played together...

Finally, Tezuka replied. “Is there a problem?”

“I... what?”

“Hm?”

“I mean... Eiji kissed me.”

“Yes.”

“Out of the blue.”

“...Yes.”

“So...”

“So, is there a problem?”

Oh. Oishi frowned a little, going silent. Maybe... maybe there was no problem? It wasn’t as though Oishi had thought that the kiss was gross or anything; unexpected, maybe, but it was Kikumaru, and Oishi had never thought any sort of physical touch from his partner was unusual nor unwanted... perhaps it was just another facet of their partnership that was best not put into words?

“No... no, there is no problem,” Oishi replied slowly. “I guess I’ll have to set things right with Eiji.”

“Good. Better than letting Kikumaru assume the worst.”

Laughing a bit nervously, Oishi said, “T-Tezuka...”

“Hm?”

After school, Kikumaru decided that he was going to put Oishi out of his mind, and maybe see if someone wanted to go out to the arcade or something... Momoshiro would generally be up for the event, and all Kikumaru would have to do was hop on a bus to meet Momoshiro at practice to drag him off. Echizen would be more than welcome, too, though he would probably only be willing if he could wrangle dinner out of the deal. Not that dinner together with his favorite underclassmen would be so bad - it was just hard on Kikumaru’s wallet with how both Momoshiro and Echizen tended to eat.

This idea didn’t go too far, though, when Kikumaru went to exit the front gates of his school to find Oishi leaning against the brick pillar, his school bag rested against his side. Why was Oishi here? He had no right showing up at Kikumaru’s school with no forewarning. Frowning a little at Oishi as the other boy pushed himself away from the pillar, he frowned a little at him just as Oishi said, “Hey, Eiji.”

Kikumaru didn’t want to talk to him - he wasn’t prepared for this conversation, and Oishi was intruding on Kikumaru’s grand scheme to drag Momoshiro and Echizen out for a night on the town. Nodding a little, Kikumaru said in a response, “Hi.” That was really rather a lame greeting, but Kikumaru didn’t know how else to respond.

Both halves of the Golden Pair stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, unmoving; Oishi gathering his thoughts, and Kikumaru wondering how he was going to be able to escape this situation. But he wasn’t given the chance to - Oishi spoke before Kikumaru could act on his impulse to just start running. “I was wondering if we could maybe talk about what happened the other day...”

Unable to help himself, and ignoring completely what Oishi said, Kikumaru rebutted, “Why are you here?” Now that wasn’t the most appropriate thing to say in response, but Kikumaru held his chin up high, not retracting his words. There was a small - albeit very small - part of him that was happy to see his partner there, but to what end? So Oishi could laugh at him about what happened between them on Saturday?

A nervous laugh escaped from Oishi as he rubbed the back of his head, and looked away. It seemed almost lame when he gave his reason some more thought. “I skipped my afternoon classes to come see you...”

“Wait, what?” Kikumaru gaped stupidly at him for a moment before casually slipping his hands in his pockets, and pretending as though that hadn’t genuinely surprised him. “I mean... why? It’s not like you to skip classes, Oishi.” It had happened every now and again when they were in middle school; Oishi had been the one to go with Tezuka to his checkups at the hospital, and those were often in the middle of the day when the rest of them were in classes.

“Like I said, I wanted to talk about the other day.” Oishi knew that Kikumaru was embarrassed by what happened, but he wasn’t going to yet the younger boy wiggle his way out of this one; he was afraid that if he let it fester, then Kikumaru was only going to get even more upset, then any progress they had made on their excursion would be for naught. “Please?”

“...Fine,” Kikumaru sighed, his shoulders slumping, and scuffling his tennis shoes against the pavement. “Where?”

“Let’s just take a walk,” Oishi responded, reaching out to take his partner’s hand, and gently leading him into the direction of a park Oishi had discovered wasn’t too far from the campus of Kikumaru’s high school. As they left sight of the school’s front gates, Oishi thought to release Kikumaru’s hand, but thought better of it, instead adjusting his grip to hold it more comfortably. If he was going to do this properly...

As the pair walked, Kikumaru’s eyes fell on their joined hands, and looked at Oishi questioningly, though the other boy was looking straight ahead. It was comfortable - this was familiar territory, and hand holding was not uncommon amongst the best of friends, right? Kikumaru watched his older sisters hold hands with their friends all the time, and that wasn’t all that unusual. What if it was a sign that it meant something else, though? Then what? Kikumaru may simply be rationalizing Oishi’s actions too literally, but...

“Eiji?”

“Huh?” Kikumaru snapped out of his thoughts, glancing around before looking at his partner who had come to a sudden stop. It looked as though they were at a park... Kikumaru hadn’t seen any park in the vicinity of his high school, but he had also been so focused on gymnastics club that he never really had the chance to explore the area.

Oishi smiled a little before releasing Kikumaru’s hand, putting down his school bag, and sitting down on the grass. He patted the spot beside him for Kikumaru to take a seat, and Kikumaru did as suggested. “Have you been here before?” Judging by Kikumaru’s expression, he hadn’t, but Oishi knew that playgrounds were one of Kikumaru’s favorite places to be - it would most likely make him feel more relaxed.

Shaking his head, Kikumaru said, “No, I had no idea this park was even here.” The younger boy diverted his eyes to the ground, picking at a few pieces of grass. This was embarrassing - Oishi was going to get angry with him, and then they were never going to be the same as they were before Kikumaru had kissed Oishi out of impulsiveness. “But... why do you want to talk about it, Oishi? I wanted to apologize, but-”

“Let me, Eiji,” Oishi smiled soothingly at his partner, putting out a hand to cover Kikumaru’s. “You don’t need to apologize - you did nothing wrong, and I’m not angry at you.”

Frustration flared up in Kikumaru, though he tried his best to ignore it; that didn’t stop him from interrupting and tacking on, “Yet you’re not gonna forgive me.” Wasn’t that what Oishi’s voice mail had said, anyway? That’s why Kikumaru had become angry about the whole incident in the first place - he’d only been embarrassed before. “And now you’re laughing at me!”

It was true that Oishi was chuckling, but it wasn’t at Kikumaru so much as... well, he was being ridiculous. “Eiji, there’s nothing to forgive - like I told you, I’m not angry with you.”

“Then why did you change your voice mail to say that you didn’t want to talk to me? It hurt!”

The voice mail Kikumaru had left him on that same day was so seemingly out of the blue that Oishi hadn’t really known how to deal with it other than to assume that Kikumaru, out of hurt feelings, had heard something in Oishi’s voice mail message that wasn’t actually there... and apparently his assumption was right on target. Oishi hadn’t changed his voice mail in over a year - before they had even graduated from middle school. “My voice mail hasn’t changed.”

Kikumaru frowned. He was sure that the message had been directly speaking to him, but... had he made a mistake? Kikumaru supposed it was possible - after all, he was embarrassed and didn’t know how he was going to approach Oishi again... and his feelings had been hurt enough that maybe Kikumaru really had just made up the message all on his own. That sure explained things, and why Oishi was still smiling at him. “Oh.”

Silence spread out over the pair, but it was once more comfortable, and Kikumaru didn’t feel the overwhelming need to make some sort of noise to disturb it..

“But through all this, I realized something,” Oishi finally spoke again, leaning back on his palms, and looking up to the sky. Yet another beautiful summer afternoon. He hadn’t really prepared what he was going to say to Kikumaru other than he wanted his partner to feel good about what happened, even if they had misstepped earlier. “Maybe you suddenly kissing me was unexpected...” Oishi turned his head to look back at Kikumaru. “You just ran away so quickly that you didn’t give me a chance to even say anything, let alone kiss you in return.”

The look in Kikumaru’s eyes was so reminiscent of the time the younger boy had asked Oishi to be his doubles partner - the same kicked-puppy expression that even nearly three years later still made Oishi’s stomach turn flip flops - that Oishi didn’t know if he’d be able to easily continue with the knowledge that what he was going to say was hopefully going to satisfy what had to be going through Kikumaru’s mind in that moment. His tongue suddenly felt five times too big for his mouth, but he stumbled out the words, anyway; he owed Kikumaru that much. “Well, and maybe... this is how it’s supposed to be. Between us, I mean. Like that.”

“That?’” Kikumaru echoed, and Oishi nodded in return, falling quiet.

A few seconds ticked by with no words in between, and Oishi wondered if maybe he had completely misjudged the situation, and the kiss really had only been born of pure impulse on Kikumaru’s part. Maybe Kikumaru hadn’t really meant it at all, and it was teenage boy hormones that had kicked in at that moment to result in... that.

It was Oishi’s turn to be snapped out of his thoughts by a finger that was pressed firmly to his forehead, the younger boy giving him a look that clearly meant that Oishi had fallen deep into his own thoughts. Yet, Kikumaru was smiling. “You’re stupid.”

“I’m... what?”

A bit shyly, Kikumaru reached out to put his hand on Oishi’s and glanced down. “I said, you’re stupid.”

“Wait, why am I-”

Before Oishi had the chance to even respond again, there were lips on his - just like last time, Oishi was surprised by it, though he didn’t hesitate in finally kissing Kikumaru in return. Oishi noted that there was a lack of the taste of strawberry and chocolate, instead replaced with what must have been Kikumaru’s toothpaste flavor of the day. Mint... orange? Oishi could never keep track of Kikumaru’s ever changing inventory of toothpaste, and it probably wasn’t an appropriate time to debate over what he tasted like, anyway.

After a moment, Kikumaru lingered a moment before pulling away, looking at Oishi from up close. He made sure to keep his voice low so as to not break the moment. “So... not awful?”

“Not awful,” Oishi confirmed, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Once more, a comfortable silence spread out over the pair, one of which neither Oishi nor Kikumaru wished to interrupt. There was nothing really more to say - they could figure out the logistics later of what had been decided by a kiss, and until then, Oishi was more than happy to just sit there with no interruptions. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t last.

“You’re still stupid.”

Oishi couldn’t help but laugh.