[Fic] A Fish Called Eiji (for watermelontree)
Title: A Fish Called Eiji
Authors: kashewmoo and link621
Recipient: watermelontree
Characters: Seigaku, Atobe, and Sengoku
Rating: G
Summary: Kikumaru drags Oishi and Tezuka to a festival in their first year of junior high and they encounter a few unexpected surprises.
Warnings: About as gen as it comes.
Notes: Happy holidays, Strawberrykimchi!
As soon as Kikumaru had caught wind about there being a festival in Tokyo, he had made sure to invite Oishi in order for them to spend some quality time together with no interruptions from anyone else. Oishi had happily agreed, though he wished to also invite Tezuka to join them; festivals were something to be shared with friends and family, he had told Kikumaru, and Kikumaru had no choice but to agree begrudgingly, even if he would’ve preferred going alone with his newly-declared doubles partner.
It was a nice night out, and both boys were clad in their best yukata - Kikumaru’s dark purple with a brightly colored flower print, Oishi’s a more simple, masculine design. They were to meet Tezuka at the front gates of the shrine in which the festival was being held, and Kikumaru just couldn’t wait to get there and eat delicious food, as well as play the various festival games held at the booths lining the walkway.
The various aromas of festival foods and the sound of chatter drifted through the air as they approached the gates. They were surrounded by families with young children and nervous teenagers on dates, for the most part, though there were also small packs of friends that moved like flocks of sheep from booth to booth ahead of them. It was all pretty overwhelming, festivals often were, but it was also too much fun to pass up.
Oishi ran his hands over the tie of his yukata and glanced at Kikumaru as they walked. “Tezuka-kun said he would be here,” he said reassuringly, though it was hard to say whether he was trying to assure himself or his doubles partner. “He probably just got distracted with one of the games, or something - he’s always early...” As he spoke, though, his eyes fell on the boy in question. He too was dressed in traditional festival garb, though it suited his lanky frame and mess of dark brown hair far better than it did Oishi or Kikumaru. “Ah - there he is.”
The other first year was standing with three people Oishi did not recognize. One was an older man, old enough to be Oishi’s grandfather, and another was a young boy who could not be more than three or four. The last was a boy who had to be about their age and who looked quite displeased with the whole situation - he had his arms folded over his chest in protest.
“My grandfather will be glad to hear you are well,” Tezuka was saying as they approached, his tone even more solemn than usual, and he was speaking politely, as though he was speaking to the emperor.
The older man in question laughed boisterously, tossing his head back, and startling the youngest boy who looked up with curiosity. “I’m sure he will - you must give him my best regards in return,” he spoke with a hint of fondness in his tone, though it was mostly masked by the stern expression that remained on his face even after his sudden bout of laughter. “Genichirou has been asking about him, as well.”
“Grandfather,” the boy called Genichirou said quietly, never once unfolding his arms even if it would be deemed rude in polite company by his grandfather. While it was true that he’d been wondering about the well-being of the Tezuka family, he was not so keen on his grandfather saying as such out loud; he and Tezuka had not been on the best of terms over the past few months despite being very close as children, and it was embarrassing.
“‘Ji-chan, look,” the youngest member of the group ignored the rest of the chaos, tugging at the older boy’s yukata in order to get his attention. “‘Ji-chan’s friends?”
Genichirou turned his attention to the newcomers before looking back at Tezuka questioningly, and shaking his head. “No, Sasuke. They’re not my friends.”
Tezuka looked over his shoulder to see Oishi and Kikumaru approaching. He briefly turned back to the family in front of him. “I’m sorry, I must be going.” He bowed his head a little to the eldest of the three. “Best regards to your family.” With those words, he looked one more at the boy who was about their age - Genichirou, apparently - and joined Oishi and Kikumaru near the gates. “Good evening,” he said as he approached, stopping beside Oishi.
Oishi smiled brilliantly and inquired, “Friends of yours?”
Though it was unusual, Tezuka’s expression changed - it was something like exasperation, but his eyes were warm. “In a sense,” he confirmed, though he displayed no interest to introduce Oishi and Kikumaru to them. “Shall we be going?”
“Yeah!” Kikumaru nodded energetically, not really caring much about the random three people Tezuka had been speaking with - not that he thought they were unimportant, or anything, but there were far more exciting things to do at the festival other than hang around and chat with people they didn’t really know. “Can we go to the goldfish booth? You know, the one where you can catch fish? Pleaaaase, Oishi?”
Laughing lightly, Oishi nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good - maybe I can catch one for my room.” His tank in his room was actually a saltwater tank, but he enjoyed taking care of fish - he could start a freshwater tank for a new goldfish from the festival. They generally were not the healthiest of fish, though, so it might not even live very long anyway, even with expert care and attention. “You keep goldfish, too, right, Tezuka-kun?” He remembered there was a nice garden in Tezuka’s backyard with a koi pond, but he did not think that festival fish would live there.
“Yes,” the bespectacled boy said, folding his hands into the sleeves of his yukata. “Grandfather does.”
“Huh,” Oishi murmured, tilting his head a little. He would like to meet the fish. Maybe it made him weird, but he enjoyed spending time with fish - he would even talk to the ones in the tank in his room.
And as luck would have it, the goldfish booth was one of the first booths on their left as they made their way through the crowd. There was a boy with a mop of bright orange hair playing already when they got there. On the very first try, he was able to snag a goldfish. The way he mastered the technique made it look easy.
“Wow!” Kikumaru gaped at the boy, really quite amazed that he managed to catch a goldfish so quickly. While Kikumaru may have been able to catch a goldfish or two in his life, it never normally looked all that easy, nor had it ever been easy to catch one in the first place; maybe this boy was a genius. “How did you do that?”
The boy kneeling by the pond looked up at the group as they approached, unsure of who had spoken. It was probably the redhead who had the most amazed look on his face; it made the boy feel good inside. “He~eh, I’m just lucky!”
“Lucky?” Kikumaru echoed. Perhaps it really was dumb luck, after all. “Can you do it again?”
“Uh huh,” the other boy confirmed, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he motioned to the few bags sitting at his feet tucked away from plain sight. “I’ve already caught a couple.”
“Sengoku,” Tezuka said suddenly - as though he had just remembered the redhead.
Oishi looked at his best friend, then back to the boy who was crouched in front of the tub of goldfish with a paper net. Sengoku was the name of the tennis player that took Tezuka’s place in the junior invitational tournament after Tezuka suffered his elbow injury. Oishi did not know him personally, but he heard that Sengoku had a very good serve and supposedly had luck on his side. If the goldfish were anything to go on, it could actually be true. “Oh, so you go to Yamabuki, right?”
“Tezuka-kun!” Sengoku blurted out without even realizing that the other boy beside Tezuka had spoken to him as well; seeing the familiar bespectacled boy was exciting. “Oh! Yeah, I’m a student there.” Turning his attention back to Tezuka, Sengoku straightened a little, still holding the paper net in his hand. He’d already been spending all of his time at this particular booth already; he didn’t have any qualms about surrendering his place to Tezuka. “Did you want to give it a try?”
Tezuka shook his head a little. “No.”
“...Tezuka-kun...” Oishi said softly; sometimes the other boy was too blunt.
Sengoku’s face fell a little at the curt response, though Kikumaru piped up with, “I’ll do it!” If Tezuka wasn’t going to take the invitation, then there was no reason why someone else couldn’t do it instead. “I’ll win you a goldfish, Oishi!”
“Great! If you do, I’ll name it after you.” Oishi crouched beside the tub as well so he could cheer Kikumaru on. No one had reflexes like Kikumaru, though - there was no doubt in his mind that the other boy would have no problem catching the fish. They traded a hundred yen coin for a net and Kikumaru assumed a striking position above the water, watching carefully for the fish he was going to catch.
Tezuka, meanwhile, looked at the bundle of goldfish bags that Sengoku had accrued whilst playing the festival game. “What are you going to do with all of these goldfish?” Though he asked the question, he had a distinct feeling that he did not want to know the answer. For someone like Sengoku, it was probably going to be that he was going to give them to “cute girls” that he saw at school or at the festival. Tezuka didn’t understand it at all.
Not that Sengoku had given it much thought yet. “Um... actually, I dunno. Maybe I’ll give one to my sister... maybe my best friend? Though he probably won’t want one.” Sengoku came to a stand with the bags in his arms, glancing over at the redhead who was still watching the fish closely. Maybe... did Tezuka like fish? “How about you, Tezuka-kun? Do you like goldfish?”
The truth was Tezuka’s favorite hobby was to go fishing with his grandfather. And his grandfather enjoyed keeping fish in their garden... so, in a sense, he did. “Yes,” he said warily, glancing at the bags in Sengoku’s arms. Kikumaru was muttering something to the tank, as though coaxing the goldfish to stop swimming around.
That answer didn’t really give much insight into whether Tezuka would enjoy keeping one of the goldfish or not, but before Sengoku could even ask the question, Kikumaru proclaimed, “Gotcha!”
Sure enough, the redhead had managed to get one of the goldfish into the bag - an all orange one with a great black spot on its back, and it hovered in one place as though confused why it was suddenly not in its tank anymore. The person running the booth helped Kikumaru get the bag tied up tightly, taking back the paper net, and Kikumaru was all smiles as he presented the bag to Oishi. “There! Caught just for you!”
Holding the bag up to his face so he could get a better look at it, Oishi said, “Eiji fish, huh?” He tilted his head to the side just a touch and chuckled to himself as though laughing at a private joke. “You resemble.” He glanced over the top of the bag at Eiji, still smiling impishly.
Kikumaru giggled as he smoothed his hands over his hair, eyes bright. “Do not! I’m not orange.”
“Would you like a goldfish, Tezuka-kun?” Sengoku interrupted the pair once more, waving one of the bags toward the bespectacled boy. He promised that he would meet his friends at another booth, and upon looking at the time on his newly purchased cell phone, he realized that he was supposed to do so a few minutes ago. Not that they would care - both of his friends were rather easy going by nature - but he didn’t want to leave a bad impression on anyone.
“...Thank you,” Tezuka said uncertainly, accepting the goldfish if only because it was shoved into his hands. The fish circled in the bag nervously - it must have been hard to be such a little fish, tied up in a zip lock and then carried around by twelve year olds. Tezuka felt a bit of guilt for its fate, though he was sure grandfather could take care of it for him. It was a pretty fish - completely gold with no white or black spots at all and an unusually full tail.
“So, because this one is orange - should it be named after Sengoku-kun?” Oishi gave Kikumaru a sly look; he knew that his best friend would protest to naming it such a thing. Tezuka had named the other fish after famous samurai - most notably a fish named Sanada. At least, Oishi always assumed that the fish was named after the samurai.
“Nah, I think Tezuka should name it Chizu! You know, like ‘cheese’!” Kikumaru butted in, clasping his hands behind him and rocking back on his heels. Kikumaru had a habit of always naming his things by something completely obvious - things like “Spot” for something that was covered in polka dots. “I mean... no offense, Sengoku-kun.”
“No offense taken, of course!” Sengoku grinned brightly once more as he watched Tezuka with the goldfish; hopefully the other boy would take good care of it. But there were still a few more fish that would need good homes... he’d probably need help with that. “It was great meeting you all, but I gotta run now - someone’s waiting for me! Enjoy the rest of the festival, Tezuka-kun!” And with that, he was gone.
If anything, Tezuka looked stunned by the whole exchange. He was not always the most social person... okay, never a very social person, but yet somehow it seemed like he always attracted attention. Oishi knew that Kikumaru was sort of jealous of it; though to Oishi it looked a bit painful. “What game do you want to play, Tezuka-kun?” He motioned ahead of them to the other carnival games - it was the usual fare complete with the large plush toys as the best prize available.
“Ring toss,” Tezuka murmured, still looking at his new fish.
“Okay, then let’s-”
“Oishi-kun,” he was interrupted by the brunette beside him. “Doesn’t it seem like we’re being followed?” So that was why he was looking uncomfortable. But Oishi had not felt anything like that at all - there were so many people around that Tezuka was probably just confusing the feeling of the crowd for being watched.
With a shake of his head, Oishi replied, “I think you might be imagining things. Right, Eiji?”
“Huh?” Kikumaru looked between his partner and the other boy beside him. He hadn’t noticed anything particularly strange... Tezuka probably was just imagining it. “Nope, I don’t think we’re being followed. There’s just a lot of people here. But! Let’s go do ring toss, then.” The redhead didn’t wait before linking his arm with Oishi’s and dragging his partner over to the booth where a ring toss game was being held.
Oishi could only let himself be dragged. They passed a group of girls that he recognized from Seigaku - they looked like some of Kikumaru’s friends from his class. They were chattering away about how they all wanted the boy playing the ring toss to win them a large stuffed animal, though apparently whoever it was, he wasn’t playing very well. Oh, but he was so cute, another girl insisted. They all giggled away.
Careful of the fish in his hands, Tezuka followed. Though, he was still certain that someone was watching them. Maybe it was just the shadows behind the booths where the walk was lined with bushes - deep shadows could be unnerving at night.
As they approached the ring toss, the giggling girls only became greater in number and more persistent in their chatter. From the look of things, the boy at the booth was foreign - though he wore a yukata, he had honey blonde hair and very fair skin. There was a pile of one hundred yen coins on the booth beside him; from the look of things he had been at it for a while with no luck. When they were close enough to hear what he was saying, it was obvious that he was muttering obscenities, though they were in a language Oishi didn’t recognize... unless maybe it was English...?
“Oh!” The boy huffed in frustration, digging out his wallet from his yukata and slamming a one thousand yen note on the booth. “There - I should have it before I run out of tries.” His eyes were sharp blue and his Japanese sounded just as fluent as his English.
“That’s quite a bit of money,” the man running the booth said softly in an attempt to calm the blonde boy down. “You’ve been trying so hard - I would be glad to give you one of the prizes, anyway.” Oishi wondered just how long the boy had been at the ring toss.
“No - I will not take your sympathy,” the boy said in a huff. “I will win it... and you will be amazed by my abilities.”
“That is familiar,” Tezuka muttered more or less to himself. But the boy heard it, and he turned.
“Tezuka,” he acknowledged.
“Atobe.”
“‘Atobe’?” Kikumaru echoed, tilting his head a little as he examined the blonde. He had heard the name before - mostly from girls giggling over their lunches about the mysterious foreign boy who had entered Hyoutei and declared himself king. Kikumaru hadn’t heard much more other than that, but it was evidently clear that Atobe was incredibly popular amongst the female population - if the crowd of girls swarming around the ring toss was any indication.
Not that Kikumaru could blame them, per se - the boy in question was very handsome, and he was just exotic looking enough that it drew in curious glances from others passing by. Kikumaru had never been around someone who looked so much different from his fellow Japanese family members and friends; but the blonde boy’s Japanese really was impeccable and his last name lent to the belief that he couldn’t have been fully foreign...
“Oishi, do you know him?”
Know was too strong of a word, but Oishi was familiar with him. He also made it into the same tournament that Sengoku played in and that Tezuka had been invited to. “Yeah, he’s a strong singles player at Hyoutei. I heard that he beat the entire club in one day despite the fact that he’s a first year. He might be as good as Tezuka-kun, even.” The last few words held a lot of weight; Tezuka was, after all, the strongest player in Seigaku’s club as well. He had defeated their captain quite easily and Yamato was no slouch when it came to tennis. “I guess they’ve met,” Oishi added, trying to speak softly enough that Tezuka would not hear him.
“Are you going to try your hand at the ring toss?” The blonde posed the question imperiously, tilting his head back with a sneer. “They have rigged it quite well. Even you are going to be challenged by it.” Never mind that he had just been protesting to the sheer number of times that he, himself, had been defeated by the game. He was an intolerable person, Oishi decided, no matter how good he might be at tennis.
Tezuka frowned, but he took the bait. “Yes, I will.” He passed off his fish to Oishi (who now had two goldfish in his hands and Kikumaru hanging off his yukata) and rolled up his left sleeve to his elbow. The man running the booth gave him three rings to throw at the bottles. The bottles had been arranged in such a way that only a perfect throw would result in the rings landing on the neck of the bottle - there was no margin for error. Of course, Tezuka was second only to possibly Oishi when it came to accuracy.
All three rings landed on the necks of bottles - the three bottles in the center that earned the best prizes.
“What... how did...?” Atobe scowled, snatching up rings of his own. Now that he had a score to beat, he was able to get one of the rings on the neck of a bottle - the other two rings bounced off harmlessly and fell to the ground below. “Ha!” He looked back to Tezuka. Either he had already forgotten that Tezuka had just managed to get three rings in a row, or he didn’t care. “How about that?”
“You hit one,” Tezuka confirmed. The hint of humor in his voice was probably just Oishi’s imagination.
The man at the booth was busy giving them their prizes - Tezuka’s was a massive plush snake with purple skin and orange eyes. It had a red felt tongue that was perpetually sniffing the air. Atobe, in turn, received a small white teddy bear with a red heart stitched on its butt. He looked at it distastefully. Tezuka took the goldfish back from Oishi and had to balance the long, plush snake over his shoulder to hold onto both at the same time.
Before Atobe could say anything else, he was swarmed by girls who wished to take the teddy bear from him. It saved Tezuka from being forced out of politeness to bid him farewell. He stepped back from the booth, frowning. “Perhaps Oishi-kun should pick the next game,” he suggested.
Despite hearing what Tezuka said, Kikumaru found his attention drawn away by the swarm of girls crowding around Atobe - he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the other boy. It was probably better that the attention was on him instead of one of them, though. It would allow for easy escape even though Tezuka had been the one to win the grand prize. “Anyway!” He chirped, clapping his hands together. “What do you want to do, then, Oishi?”
There was a faint rustle in the bushes as Kikumaru spoke, but the redhead remained oblivious as he looked at his partner expectantly. Both Tezuka and Oishi, meanwhile, directed their attention toward where the rustling had come from.
“Uh...” Oishi started to answer, though his attention was on the bushes. “What was that?”
Tezuka went to the bushes and pushed aside the branches, not really in the mood for any more nonsense after an encounter with Atobe. Sure enough, there was a boy in a yukata crouched behind the bushes - his hair was spiked up, his eyes hidden behind thick, square glasses, and he was jotting down notes in a green notebook. He was writing with one of the pens that were a prize in one of the games they had passed on their way to the ring toss. “Inui-kun,” Tezuka said, startling the boy away from his notebook.
Inui quickly pressed his hands to the page he had been writing in, looking up at his teammate. Caught red handed. He had been following the trio ever since their arrival at the festival - he had managed to write down some interesting data between Tezuka and one Sanada Genichirou (as well as the other two people who had been with him - Sanada Genemon and Sanada Sasuke, grandfather and nephew respectively), and Kikumaru had been displaying some interesting behaviors around his doubles partner.
“Tezuka-kun,” he nodded his head in return. “Good evening.”
“Inui’s here?” Kikumaru wondered as he also glanced down at Inui who still had his hands covering up the characters written down on the page. “What are you doing here?”
“Collecting data.” The boy’s glasses glinted as he carefully closed the notebook.
“...What kind of data is at a festival?” Oishi had to ask - he knew that Inui wrote some pretty strange things in his notebooks, but this really had nothing to do with tennis at all. Then again, neither did things like height and weight or class schedules. Well and then there was that time that Inui interviewed Oishi trying to learn more about what Tezuka did after he left school... which was the usual stuff. He ate dinner, he did homework, and he went to bed... nothing out of the ordinary.
“Why are you following us?” Tezuka did not sound amused. He didn’t look amused, either.
“Following you?” Inui stood up, brushing off his yukata, and then tucked the notebook into his sleeve before adjusting his glasses.
“That’s kinda creepy,” Kikumaru added, accidentally bumping into Oishi after not paying attention to where his feet were falling. It was not a surprise that Inui was there, really - after all, as he always said, his data collecting was never finished... whatever that meant. Kikumaru never really bothered to find out, though it was not for a lack of curiosity.
“You were in the bushes before, too.” Tezuka motioned behind them - though both of his hands were full between the snake over his shoulder and the goldfish.
Inui carefully dodged the question. “Would you like to get okonomiyaki with me, Tezuka-kun?”
“Hm?”
“That’s perfect,” Oishi interjected, smiling at both of them brightly. If they were going to survive three years of junior high together, it would not do any of them any good to already be arguing when they weren’t even half way through their first year. Particularly with how much time they had to spend with one another. “Tezuka-kun and Inui-kun can go get okonomiyaki and Kikumaru-kun and I can go get ice cream.” He thought that ought to make everyone happy - and maybe Tezuka would forget all about the creepy Inui stalking him business and wouldn’t be angry.
“It’s Eiji,” the redhead corrected automatically, though it went by unnoticed by his partner who was still giving Tezuka that googly eyed smile. While girls in Kikumaru’s class commented that it was so endearing how close of friends Tezuka and Oishi were, Kikumaru thought it was really rather silly. You’d think Oishi was in love with Tezuka, or something, with how he often uselessly floundered around the other boy.
“Yeah, yeah,” Oishi murmured.
“Wonderful,” Inui also smiled, though it appeared rather awkward as though he hadn’t quite learned how to smile in a non-questionable manner. Kikumaru wondered if maybe he should try to teach Inui how.
Tezuka looked back to Oishi and Kikumaru. “I will walk with you on Monday,” he promised Oishi. They often walked to school together; Oishi took it more as a farewell than anything else.
“See you then,” the older boy agreed. “Have fun!”
With those words, Tezuka and Inui were off in search of okonomiyaki. From a distance, Oishi could hear the resident data man telling Tezuka about the different types of okonomiyaki and what exactly it was that made Tokyo’s unique. Whether or not anything he was saying was actually true, Oishi might never know.
“Oishi,” a voice sounded out of nowhere before a finger poked itself square on Oishi’s forehead. Kikumaru smiled brightly at his partner, removing his hand before pointing down the path. “Let’s get ice cream!”
It was not going to be a festival without ice cream of some sort, Kikumaru had been telling Oishi that week at school in the days leading up to the event. Apparently he and his siblings had often gone together when they were younger, and his eldest sister was always sure to buy the youngest sibling ice cream cradled in a waffle cone. Kikumaru often liked the flavors that were unusual - bubblegum, for example, though he did also enjoy more traditional flavors like vanilla or maccha.
In the Oishi family, they also could not go to a festival without at least looking for ice cream. His sister really liked the one that was flavored like sakura and his parents both thought it was a nice treat out in the summer air. They both were on their son’s case to remain hydrated with all the sports he was playing, though, so he rarely got to have ice cream at home, anymore. That was the fate of a boy who was related to so many doctors; though it had come in handy when Tezuka was injured. Oishi was able to go to Tezuka’s appointments with him since he was the doctor’s nephew.
“I wonder what kinds they’ll have,” the older boy mumbled, looking at the Eiji fish again as if the fish would have the answer. “I bet you’ll be able to get something pink,” he added, knowing that most any flavor that his partner preferred came in a pink variety.
Kikumaru giggled once more. For all he joked, maybe Oishi really was getting to know him well - even if he did have the habit of falling into calling him by his family name. “Alright!”
And again, they were off, Kikumaru once more dragging his partner off to the nearest ice cream stand and picking out the flavors they would enjoy most. There wasn’t bubblegum, but they at least had sakura; that would be close enough for him. He wondered what Oishi was going to order, too, standing on tiptoe so that he could see over Oishi’s shoulder as he mulled over the small sign set up on the makeshift counter of the booth.
It really was a perfect night for ice cream. The night air was unseasonably mild and there was a slight warm breeze. Looking over his options, Oishi was able to pick immediately. Cookies and cream was not one of his favorites, but something with a little crunch to it sounded good. He and Kikumaru ordered their ice cream and paid with the money that their parents had given them before they left for the festival. Once they had their orders, they had to push through the line of people that had the same thought as them and were crowded around the booth.
That was when Oishi spotted two other first years from their tennis club - a slight boy wearing a pretty lavender yukata with his hair partially pinned back with a clip and a taller boy who was dressed in some sort of traditional uniform - he looked like he was serving sushi. Fuji and Kawamura - the latter must have been there helping his dad out with a booth. Fuji, of course, was probably there eating all of the horrifying wasabi sushi. He really must have burnt off his taste buds as a young boy, or something. He also had an abnormally high tolerance to soy sauce.
“Fuji-kun, Taka-san!” Oishi lifted his ice cream in greeting. When Fuji and Kawamura noticed them, they both waived the pair over.
“Fuji!” Kikumaru’s expression brightened even further as he wandered toward their teammates, already happily munching into the ice cream. “And Taka-san!”
Kawamura smiled a little shyly and bowed his head out of habit, greeting, “Oishi-kun, Kikumaru-kun.” He had been helping out his father with a booth, but he had been encouraged to join the rest of the children his age by his father who said that he wouldn’t have any trouble on his own. Kawamura enjoyed working behind the scenes, that much was not a problem, but it was nice to see some familiar faces. “Are you having fun?”
“Uh huh,” Kikumaru nodded, licking off a bit of ice cream that dripped onto his hand out of carelessness.
“Careful, Eiji.” Oishi offered his doubles partner a napkin to properly wipe up the ice cream that was dripping down his hand, but then he had to focus on keeping his own ice cream from doing the same thing. Once he was sure the scoop wasn’t going to tumble to the ground, he responded, “It’s been a good time. We ran into Inui-kun, too, but he went with Tezuka-kun to get food.”
“Ah, I saw Inui-kun earlier, but he was muttering something about data...” Kawamura looked thoughtful for a moment.
“The yukata suits you.” Fuji commented, looking at Kikumaru. He had a piece of sushi half-way to his mouth as he spoke. “Isn’t that your older brother’s?” It was not that uncommon for the Kikumaru siblings to pass around clothing - there were five of them and Eiji was the youngest, so he wore a lot of hand-me-downs, sometimes from his two sisters.
It was true that the yukata had once been his brother’s - it had only recently been handed down to him when his youngest brother had been complaining about it being too tight in the shoulders. Kikumaru wondered when he would fill out like both of his brothers had, but unfortunately he had a body more similar to his youngest sister’s: perfect for a gymnast, but not exactly built like a traditional man.
“Yeah, it was his,” he confirmed, taking another bite out of the ice cream. “He complained that it was too tight and that the flowers were girly, but I think it suits me.”
“I think so, too,” Kawamura confirmed with a smile on his face that just made Kikumaru smile more.
“Weren’t you going to try to win a goldfish?” It had only been all week that Kikumaru was talking about how much he wanted a goldfish from the festival, but Fuji did not see him carrying a plastic bag. He thought if anyone could do it, it was probably Kikumaru with his quick reflexes. Fuji himself was fairly accomplished at many of the festival games - it came along with having a younger brother who would be impressed if he went home with one of the prizes. His older sister was much older than him, old enough that she would be getting her driver license soon, so she didn’t want to have things like stuffed bears anymore.
Oishi held up the fish in question. “He did - but he wanted me to have it. We decided to name it Eiji.”
“Eiji, huh?” Fuji examined the fish. “Because it looks like him?”
Oishi laughed. “Exactly.”
Kikumaru made a little bit of a face at his partner laughing at him, but it was quickly washed away with excitement of the last final thing they would do before the night is over. “Anyway!” That got the group’s attention, everyone looking at Kikumaru as he held his ice cream in the air. “Who wants to get a seat for the fireworks?”
At many festivals this time of year, it was not uncommon for there to be a firework show to end the evening, nor was it unusual for the festival-goers to bring their own things such as sparklers to light with friends while sharing good food and drink. Kikumaru had only ever been allowed to use them while he was with his family, but he knew with being a teenager would come moments when his family would not mind as much; it was only a matter of being patient.
The fireworks were definitely the best part of the night, though, even above the goldfish catching game that Kikumaru loved so much. “Let’s go!”
“You two have fun, then,” Fuji said with a wave to Kikumaru who was already started toward the hill where they were going to watch the fireworks. “I’m going to stay behind and help out,” he explained. It looked like the Kawamura sushi booth probably still needed to be broken down after the festival was over and they would have a good view of the fireworks even surrounded by all of the festival-goers.
“Sorry about Eiji,” Oishi said softly with a thin smile. But he did not stick around after that, either, chasing after his doubles partner through the crowd. Most of the people were moving toward the hill already, so the show was probably about to start. Oishi tried to finish up his ice cream as they walked so he could just enjoy the fireworks by the time they were sitting down.
Kikumaru scanned the area for a spot that would be far enough from the large crowd that they wouldn’t have people shoving their way through to also get a good spot, but close enough that they wouldn’t be completely isolated, either. Without waiting for Oishi, he sat down, also enjoying the last of his ice cream before starting in on the waffle cone. Ice cream never did seem to last long when Kikumaru had it in hand.
Dark eyes scanned over the various people in varying states of dress - some in similar yukata to Kikumaru and Oishi, others in formal kimono, and the rest in street clothing. He could see that Atobe had found himself a seat without a gaggle of giggling girls nipping at his heels, but that may have had something to do with the boy who was seated beside him who looked rather large and intimidating were he to be their same age.
Lucky Sengoku was also seated nearby, babbling nonsensically to a couple of boys sitting next to him each with a bag in hand - presumably with the goldfish swimming inside. Inui and Tezuka would probably take up residence somewhere nearby shortly, too, though Kikumaru didn’t think that they’d probably cross paths with their teammates again before the night was through.
Oishi also seated himself, testing the grass with one hand before he sat down. It was just a little bit damp as though it had been watered that day, but not so much that it would soak through the yukata. He made himself comfortable and stretched out his legs in front of him. He placed the goldfish between his knees so the little bag wouldn’t roll away. He wanted to get it home right away so he could hopefully keep it dying as so many festival goldfish before it probably had done within a week of going home.
“This was fun,” the older boy commented, looking up to the sky. The fireworks had not yet started, but the city lights were too bright anyway for there to be stars. It was a little quieter up on the hill away from the largest mass of people and he was able to really relax and enjoy the summer breeze. “We should do this again next year,” he added. “It’s fun to go with you - you’re so excited about everything.”
The prospect of going to another festival in the future excited Kikumaru more than he really cared to admit... he had often wondered if maybe his outgoing personality scared Oishi off and that was why he was so close to Tezuka, but perhaps that really wasn’t the reason at all. Maybe Oishi really did just enjoy spending time with Kikumaru because he was Kikumaru, and they were one day going to be the best doubles partners in the world. And if they would get to go to festivals together again, sometime... then that reality was much closer than Kikumaru ever could have anticipated.
“I’d love to go,” Kikumaru said shyly, ducking his head in order to hide the silly grin on his face. His cheeks felt warm - at least the ice cream would help with that. “Well, and I liked winning you the goldfish - you’ll take good care of it, right?”
“Of course - it’s Eiji after all, right?” Oishi smiled at his partner, leaning his cheek against his own shoulder lazily. He opened his mouth to say something else, that’s what partners do, but the shrill whine of the first firework being launched and the subsequent boom as it exploded swallowed his words. Both he and Kikumaru turned their attention to the sky, mesmerized by the beautiful display above them.
Brilliant shades of all colors of the rainbow filled the sky to the sounds of giddy festival-goers admiring the show, and the pair joined in to adding their own commentary about each firework exploding in the air above them. There was something magical about fireworks, Kikumaru decided as he also rested his cheek on his shoulder, eyes wandering over to look at Oishi’s profile; the other boy continued to keep his head tilted back, mimicking everyone else around them.
“Hey, Eiji?” Oishi leaned forward after a moment, bringing his knees up so the goldfish was cupped in the curve of his stomach, instead. He wrapped his arms around his knees and looked out across the other people on the hill. Many of them were young, like Oishi and Kikumaru - some were couples who were now snuggled up close together enjoying the moment. It was pretty romantic, when Oishi thought about it - he would have to come back with someone special, someday.
“Mm?” The redhead didn’t move from his spot, instead merely tilting his eyes upward to look up at his partner.
“Next time, I’ll win something for you.” Oishi smiled warmly. “Whatever you want.”
Kikumaru straightened, beaming back at Oishi, and similarly brought his knees up to his chest. Oishi did not need to promise him anything like that, but it made Kikumaru feel all warm and fuzzy inside regardless. “‘Kay, it’s a deal. Maybe something from the ring toss booth~?”
Authors: kashewmoo and link621
Recipient: watermelontree
Characters: Seigaku, Atobe, and Sengoku
Rating: G
Summary: Kikumaru drags Oishi and Tezuka to a festival in their first year of junior high and they encounter a few unexpected surprises.
Warnings: About as gen as it comes.
Notes: Happy holidays, Strawberrykimchi!
As soon as Kikumaru had caught wind about there being a festival in Tokyo, he had made sure to invite Oishi in order for them to spend some quality time together with no interruptions from anyone else. Oishi had happily agreed, though he wished to also invite Tezuka to join them; festivals were something to be shared with friends and family, he had told Kikumaru, and Kikumaru had no choice but to agree begrudgingly, even if he would’ve preferred going alone with his newly-declared doubles partner.
It was a nice night out, and both boys were clad in their best yukata - Kikumaru’s dark purple with a brightly colored flower print, Oishi’s a more simple, masculine design. They were to meet Tezuka at the front gates of the shrine in which the festival was being held, and Kikumaru just couldn’t wait to get there and eat delicious food, as well as play the various festival games held at the booths lining the walkway.
The various aromas of festival foods and the sound of chatter drifted through the air as they approached the gates. They were surrounded by families with young children and nervous teenagers on dates, for the most part, though there were also small packs of friends that moved like flocks of sheep from booth to booth ahead of them. It was all pretty overwhelming, festivals often were, but it was also too much fun to pass up.
Oishi ran his hands over the tie of his yukata and glanced at Kikumaru as they walked. “Tezuka-kun said he would be here,” he said reassuringly, though it was hard to say whether he was trying to assure himself or his doubles partner. “He probably just got distracted with one of the games, or something - he’s always early...” As he spoke, though, his eyes fell on the boy in question. He too was dressed in traditional festival garb, though it suited his lanky frame and mess of dark brown hair far better than it did Oishi or Kikumaru. “Ah - there he is.”
The other first year was standing with three people Oishi did not recognize. One was an older man, old enough to be Oishi’s grandfather, and another was a young boy who could not be more than three or four. The last was a boy who had to be about their age and who looked quite displeased with the whole situation - he had his arms folded over his chest in protest.
“My grandfather will be glad to hear you are well,” Tezuka was saying as they approached, his tone even more solemn than usual, and he was speaking politely, as though he was speaking to the emperor.
The older man in question laughed boisterously, tossing his head back, and startling the youngest boy who looked up with curiosity. “I’m sure he will - you must give him my best regards in return,” he spoke with a hint of fondness in his tone, though it was mostly masked by the stern expression that remained on his face even after his sudden bout of laughter. “Genichirou has been asking about him, as well.”
“Grandfather,” the boy called Genichirou said quietly, never once unfolding his arms even if it would be deemed rude in polite company by his grandfather. While it was true that he’d been wondering about the well-being of the Tezuka family, he was not so keen on his grandfather saying as such out loud; he and Tezuka had not been on the best of terms over the past few months despite being very close as children, and it was embarrassing.
“‘Ji-chan, look,” the youngest member of the group ignored the rest of the chaos, tugging at the older boy’s yukata in order to get his attention. “‘Ji-chan’s friends?”
Genichirou turned his attention to the newcomers before looking back at Tezuka questioningly, and shaking his head. “No, Sasuke. They’re not my friends.”
Tezuka looked over his shoulder to see Oishi and Kikumaru approaching. He briefly turned back to the family in front of him. “I’m sorry, I must be going.” He bowed his head a little to the eldest of the three. “Best regards to your family.” With those words, he looked one more at the boy who was about their age - Genichirou, apparently - and joined Oishi and Kikumaru near the gates. “Good evening,” he said as he approached, stopping beside Oishi.
Oishi smiled brilliantly and inquired, “Friends of yours?”
Though it was unusual, Tezuka’s expression changed - it was something like exasperation, but his eyes were warm. “In a sense,” he confirmed, though he displayed no interest to introduce Oishi and Kikumaru to them. “Shall we be going?”
“Yeah!” Kikumaru nodded energetically, not really caring much about the random three people Tezuka had been speaking with - not that he thought they were unimportant, or anything, but there were far more exciting things to do at the festival other than hang around and chat with people they didn’t really know. “Can we go to the goldfish booth? You know, the one where you can catch fish? Pleaaaase, Oishi?”
Laughing lightly, Oishi nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good - maybe I can catch one for my room.” His tank in his room was actually a saltwater tank, but he enjoyed taking care of fish - he could start a freshwater tank for a new goldfish from the festival. They generally were not the healthiest of fish, though, so it might not even live very long anyway, even with expert care and attention. “You keep goldfish, too, right, Tezuka-kun?” He remembered there was a nice garden in Tezuka’s backyard with a koi pond, but he did not think that festival fish would live there.
“Yes,” the bespectacled boy said, folding his hands into the sleeves of his yukata. “Grandfather does.”
“Huh,” Oishi murmured, tilting his head a little. He would like to meet the fish. Maybe it made him weird, but he enjoyed spending time with fish - he would even talk to the ones in the tank in his room.
And as luck would have it, the goldfish booth was one of the first booths on their left as they made their way through the crowd. There was a boy with a mop of bright orange hair playing already when they got there. On the very first try, he was able to snag a goldfish. The way he mastered the technique made it look easy.
“Wow!” Kikumaru gaped at the boy, really quite amazed that he managed to catch a goldfish so quickly. While Kikumaru may have been able to catch a goldfish or two in his life, it never normally looked all that easy, nor had it ever been easy to catch one in the first place; maybe this boy was a genius. “How did you do that?”
The boy kneeling by the pond looked up at the group as they approached, unsure of who had spoken. It was probably the redhead who had the most amazed look on his face; it made the boy feel good inside. “He~eh, I’m just lucky!”
“Lucky?” Kikumaru echoed. Perhaps it really was dumb luck, after all. “Can you do it again?”
“Uh huh,” the other boy confirmed, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he motioned to the few bags sitting at his feet tucked away from plain sight. “I’ve already caught a couple.”
“Sengoku,” Tezuka said suddenly - as though he had just remembered the redhead.
Oishi looked at his best friend, then back to the boy who was crouched in front of the tub of goldfish with a paper net. Sengoku was the name of the tennis player that took Tezuka’s place in the junior invitational tournament after Tezuka suffered his elbow injury. Oishi did not know him personally, but he heard that Sengoku had a very good serve and supposedly had luck on his side. If the goldfish were anything to go on, it could actually be true. “Oh, so you go to Yamabuki, right?”
“Tezuka-kun!” Sengoku blurted out without even realizing that the other boy beside Tezuka had spoken to him as well; seeing the familiar bespectacled boy was exciting. “Oh! Yeah, I’m a student there.” Turning his attention back to Tezuka, Sengoku straightened a little, still holding the paper net in his hand. He’d already been spending all of his time at this particular booth already; he didn’t have any qualms about surrendering his place to Tezuka. “Did you want to give it a try?”
Tezuka shook his head a little. “No.”
“...Tezuka-kun...” Oishi said softly; sometimes the other boy was too blunt.
Sengoku’s face fell a little at the curt response, though Kikumaru piped up with, “I’ll do it!” If Tezuka wasn’t going to take the invitation, then there was no reason why someone else couldn’t do it instead. “I’ll win you a goldfish, Oishi!”
“Great! If you do, I’ll name it after you.” Oishi crouched beside the tub as well so he could cheer Kikumaru on. No one had reflexes like Kikumaru, though - there was no doubt in his mind that the other boy would have no problem catching the fish. They traded a hundred yen coin for a net and Kikumaru assumed a striking position above the water, watching carefully for the fish he was going to catch.
Tezuka, meanwhile, looked at the bundle of goldfish bags that Sengoku had accrued whilst playing the festival game. “What are you going to do with all of these goldfish?” Though he asked the question, he had a distinct feeling that he did not want to know the answer. For someone like Sengoku, it was probably going to be that he was going to give them to “cute girls” that he saw at school or at the festival. Tezuka didn’t understand it at all.
Not that Sengoku had given it much thought yet. “Um... actually, I dunno. Maybe I’ll give one to my sister... maybe my best friend? Though he probably won’t want one.” Sengoku came to a stand with the bags in his arms, glancing over at the redhead who was still watching the fish closely. Maybe... did Tezuka like fish? “How about you, Tezuka-kun? Do you like goldfish?”
The truth was Tezuka’s favorite hobby was to go fishing with his grandfather. And his grandfather enjoyed keeping fish in their garden... so, in a sense, he did. “Yes,” he said warily, glancing at the bags in Sengoku’s arms. Kikumaru was muttering something to the tank, as though coaxing the goldfish to stop swimming around.
That answer didn’t really give much insight into whether Tezuka would enjoy keeping one of the goldfish or not, but before Sengoku could even ask the question, Kikumaru proclaimed, “Gotcha!”
Sure enough, the redhead had managed to get one of the goldfish into the bag - an all orange one with a great black spot on its back, and it hovered in one place as though confused why it was suddenly not in its tank anymore. The person running the booth helped Kikumaru get the bag tied up tightly, taking back the paper net, and Kikumaru was all smiles as he presented the bag to Oishi. “There! Caught just for you!”
Holding the bag up to his face so he could get a better look at it, Oishi said, “Eiji fish, huh?” He tilted his head to the side just a touch and chuckled to himself as though laughing at a private joke. “You resemble.” He glanced over the top of the bag at Eiji, still smiling impishly.
Kikumaru giggled as he smoothed his hands over his hair, eyes bright. “Do not! I’m not orange.”
“Would you like a goldfish, Tezuka-kun?” Sengoku interrupted the pair once more, waving one of the bags toward the bespectacled boy. He promised that he would meet his friends at another booth, and upon looking at the time on his newly purchased cell phone, he realized that he was supposed to do so a few minutes ago. Not that they would care - both of his friends were rather easy going by nature - but he didn’t want to leave a bad impression on anyone.
“...Thank you,” Tezuka said uncertainly, accepting the goldfish if only because it was shoved into his hands. The fish circled in the bag nervously - it must have been hard to be such a little fish, tied up in a zip lock and then carried around by twelve year olds. Tezuka felt a bit of guilt for its fate, though he was sure grandfather could take care of it for him. It was a pretty fish - completely gold with no white or black spots at all and an unusually full tail.
“So, because this one is orange - should it be named after Sengoku-kun?” Oishi gave Kikumaru a sly look; he knew that his best friend would protest to naming it such a thing. Tezuka had named the other fish after famous samurai - most notably a fish named Sanada. At least, Oishi always assumed that the fish was named after the samurai.
“Nah, I think Tezuka should name it Chizu! You know, like ‘cheese’!” Kikumaru butted in, clasping his hands behind him and rocking back on his heels. Kikumaru had a habit of always naming his things by something completely obvious - things like “Spot” for something that was covered in polka dots. “I mean... no offense, Sengoku-kun.”
“No offense taken, of course!” Sengoku grinned brightly once more as he watched Tezuka with the goldfish; hopefully the other boy would take good care of it. But there were still a few more fish that would need good homes... he’d probably need help with that. “It was great meeting you all, but I gotta run now - someone’s waiting for me! Enjoy the rest of the festival, Tezuka-kun!” And with that, he was gone.
If anything, Tezuka looked stunned by the whole exchange. He was not always the most social person... okay, never a very social person, but yet somehow it seemed like he always attracted attention. Oishi knew that Kikumaru was sort of jealous of it; though to Oishi it looked a bit painful. “What game do you want to play, Tezuka-kun?” He motioned ahead of them to the other carnival games - it was the usual fare complete with the large plush toys as the best prize available.
“Ring toss,” Tezuka murmured, still looking at his new fish.
“Okay, then let’s-”
“Oishi-kun,” he was interrupted by the brunette beside him. “Doesn’t it seem like we’re being followed?” So that was why he was looking uncomfortable. But Oishi had not felt anything like that at all - there were so many people around that Tezuka was probably just confusing the feeling of the crowd for being watched.
With a shake of his head, Oishi replied, “I think you might be imagining things. Right, Eiji?”
“Huh?” Kikumaru looked between his partner and the other boy beside him. He hadn’t noticed anything particularly strange... Tezuka probably was just imagining it. “Nope, I don’t think we’re being followed. There’s just a lot of people here. But! Let’s go do ring toss, then.” The redhead didn’t wait before linking his arm with Oishi’s and dragging his partner over to the booth where a ring toss game was being held.
Oishi could only let himself be dragged. They passed a group of girls that he recognized from Seigaku - they looked like some of Kikumaru’s friends from his class. They were chattering away about how they all wanted the boy playing the ring toss to win them a large stuffed animal, though apparently whoever it was, he wasn’t playing very well. Oh, but he was so cute, another girl insisted. They all giggled away.
Careful of the fish in his hands, Tezuka followed. Though, he was still certain that someone was watching them. Maybe it was just the shadows behind the booths where the walk was lined with bushes - deep shadows could be unnerving at night.
As they approached the ring toss, the giggling girls only became greater in number and more persistent in their chatter. From the look of things, the boy at the booth was foreign - though he wore a yukata, he had honey blonde hair and very fair skin. There was a pile of one hundred yen coins on the booth beside him; from the look of things he had been at it for a while with no luck. When they were close enough to hear what he was saying, it was obvious that he was muttering obscenities, though they were in a language Oishi didn’t recognize... unless maybe it was English...?
“Oh!” The boy huffed in frustration, digging out his wallet from his yukata and slamming a one thousand yen note on the booth. “There - I should have it before I run out of tries.” His eyes were sharp blue and his Japanese sounded just as fluent as his English.
“That’s quite a bit of money,” the man running the booth said softly in an attempt to calm the blonde boy down. “You’ve been trying so hard - I would be glad to give you one of the prizes, anyway.” Oishi wondered just how long the boy had been at the ring toss.
“No - I will not take your sympathy,” the boy said in a huff. “I will win it... and you will be amazed by my abilities.”
“That is familiar,” Tezuka muttered more or less to himself. But the boy heard it, and he turned.
“Tezuka,” he acknowledged.
“Atobe.”
“‘Atobe’?” Kikumaru echoed, tilting his head a little as he examined the blonde. He had heard the name before - mostly from girls giggling over their lunches about the mysterious foreign boy who had entered Hyoutei and declared himself king. Kikumaru hadn’t heard much more other than that, but it was evidently clear that Atobe was incredibly popular amongst the female population - if the crowd of girls swarming around the ring toss was any indication.
Not that Kikumaru could blame them, per se - the boy in question was very handsome, and he was just exotic looking enough that it drew in curious glances from others passing by. Kikumaru had never been around someone who looked so much different from his fellow Japanese family members and friends; but the blonde boy’s Japanese really was impeccable and his last name lent to the belief that he couldn’t have been fully foreign...
“Oishi, do you know him?”
Know was too strong of a word, but Oishi was familiar with him. He also made it into the same tournament that Sengoku played in and that Tezuka had been invited to. “Yeah, he’s a strong singles player at Hyoutei. I heard that he beat the entire club in one day despite the fact that he’s a first year. He might be as good as Tezuka-kun, even.” The last few words held a lot of weight; Tezuka was, after all, the strongest player in Seigaku’s club as well. He had defeated their captain quite easily and Yamato was no slouch when it came to tennis. “I guess they’ve met,” Oishi added, trying to speak softly enough that Tezuka would not hear him.
“Are you going to try your hand at the ring toss?” The blonde posed the question imperiously, tilting his head back with a sneer. “They have rigged it quite well. Even you are going to be challenged by it.” Never mind that he had just been protesting to the sheer number of times that he, himself, had been defeated by the game. He was an intolerable person, Oishi decided, no matter how good he might be at tennis.
Tezuka frowned, but he took the bait. “Yes, I will.” He passed off his fish to Oishi (who now had two goldfish in his hands and Kikumaru hanging off his yukata) and rolled up his left sleeve to his elbow. The man running the booth gave him three rings to throw at the bottles. The bottles had been arranged in such a way that only a perfect throw would result in the rings landing on the neck of the bottle - there was no margin for error. Of course, Tezuka was second only to possibly Oishi when it came to accuracy.
All three rings landed on the necks of bottles - the three bottles in the center that earned the best prizes.
“What... how did...?” Atobe scowled, snatching up rings of his own. Now that he had a score to beat, he was able to get one of the rings on the neck of a bottle - the other two rings bounced off harmlessly and fell to the ground below. “Ha!” He looked back to Tezuka. Either he had already forgotten that Tezuka had just managed to get three rings in a row, or he didn’t care. “How about that?”
“You hit one,” Tezuka confirmed. The hint of humor in his voice was probably just Oishi’s imagination.
The man at the booth was busy giving them their prizes - Tezuka’s was a massive plush snake with purple skin and orange eyes. It had a red felt tongue that was perpetually sniffing the air. Atobe, in turn, received a small white teddy bear with a red heart stitched on its butt. He looked at it distastefully. Tezuka took the goldfish back from Oishi and had to balance the long, plush snake over his shoulder to hold onto both at the same time.
Before Atobe could say anything else, he was swarmed by girls who wished to take the teddy bear from him. It saved Tezuka from being forced out of politeness to bid him farewell. He stepped back from the booth, frowning. “Perhaps Oishi-kun should pick the next game,” he suggested.
Despite hearing what Tezuka said, Kikumaru found his attention drawn away by the swarm of girls crowding around Atobe - he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the other boy. It was probably better that the attention was on him instead of one of them, though. It would allow for easy escape even though Tezuka had been the one to win the grand prize. “Anyway!” He chirped, clapping his hands together. “What do you want to do, then, Oishi?”
There was a faint rustle in the bushes as Kikumaru spoke, but the redhead remained oblivious as he looked at his partner expectantly. Both Tezuka and Oishi, meanwhile, directed their attention toward where the rustling had come from.
“Uh...” Oishi started to answer, though his attention was on the bushes. “What was that?”
Tezuka went to the bushes and pushed aside the branches, not really in the mood for any more nonsense after an encounter with Atobe. Sure enough, there was a boy in a yukata crouched behind the bushes - his hair was spiked up, his eyes hidden behind thick, square glasses, and he was jotting down notes in a green notebook. He was writing with one of the pens that were a prize in one of the games they had passed on their way to the ring toss. “Inui-kun,” Tezuka said, startling the boy away from his notebook.
Inui quickly pressed his hands to the page he had been writing in, looking up at his teammate. Caught red handed. He had been following the trio ever since their arrival at the festival - he had managed to write down some interesting data between Tezuka and one Sanada Genichirou (as well as the other two people who had been with him - Sanada Genemon and Sanada Sasuke, grandfather and nephew respectively), and Kikumaru had been displaying some interesting behaviors around his doubles partner.
“Tezuka-kun,” he nodded his head in return. “Good evening.”
“Inui’s here?” Kikumaru wondered as he also glanced down at Inui who still had his hands covering up the characters written down on the page. “What are you doing here?”
“Collecting data.” The boy’s glasses glinted as he carefully closed the notebook.
“...What kind of data is at a festival?” Oishi had to ask - he knew that Inui wrote some pretty strange things in his notebooks, but this really had nothing to do with tennis at all. Then again, neither did things like height and weight or class schedules. Well and then there was that time that Inui interviewed Oishi trying to learn more about what Tezuka did after he left school... which was the usual stuff. He ate dinner, he did homework, and he went to bed... nothing out of the ordinary.
“Why are you following us?” Tezuka did not sound amused. He didn’t look amused, either.
“Following you?” Inui stood up, brushing off his yukata, and then tucked the notebook into his sleeve before adjusting his glasses.
“That’s kinda creepy,” Kikumaru added, accidentally bumping into Oishi after not paying attention to where his feet were falling. It was not a surprise that Inui was there, really - after all, as he always said, his data collecting was never finished... whatever that meant. Kikumaru never really bothered to find out, though it was not for a lack of curiosity.
“You were in the bushes before, too.” Tezuka motioned behind them - though both of his hands were full between the snake over his shoulder and the goldfish.
Inui carefully dodged the question. “Would you like to get okonomiyaki with me, Tezuka-kun?”
“Hm?”
“That’s perfect,” Oishi interjected, smiling at both of them brightly. If they were going to survive three years of junior high together, it would not do any of them any good to already be arguing when they weren’t even half way through their first year. Particularly with how much time they had to spend with one another. “Tezuka-kun and Inui-kun can go get okonomiyaki and Kikumaru-kun and I can go get ice cream.” He thought that ought to make everyone happy - and maybe Tezuka would forget all about the creepy Inui stalking him business and wouldn’t be angry.
“It’s Eiji,” the redhead corrected automatically, though it went by unnoticed by his partner who was still giving Tezuka that googly eyed smile. While girls in Kikumaru’s class commented that it was so endearing how close of friends Tezuka and Oishi were, Kikumaru thought it was really rather silly. You’d think Oishi was in love with Tezuka, or something, with how he often uselessly floundered around the other boy.
“Yeah, yeah,” Oishi murmured.
“Wonderful,” Inui also smiled, though it appeared rather awkward as though he hadn’t quite learned how to smile in a non-questionable manner. Kikumaru wondered if maybe he should try to teach Inui how.
Tezuka looked back to Oishi and Kikumaru. “I will walk with you on Monday,” he promised Oishi. They often walked to school together; Oishi took it more as a farewell than anything else.
“See you then,” the older boy agreed. “Have fun!”
With those words, Tezuka and Inui were off in search of okonomiyaki. From a distance, Oishi could hear the resident data man telling Tezuka about the different types of okonomiyaki and what exactly it was that made Tokyo’s unique. Whether or not anything he was saying was actually true, Oishi might never know.
“Oishi,” a voice sounded out of nowhere before a finger poked itself square on Oishi’s forehead. Kikumaru smiled brightly at his partner, removing his hand before pointing down the path. “Let’s get ice cream!”
It was not going to be a festival without ice cream of some sort, Kikumaru had been telling Oishi that week at school in the days leading up to the event. Apparently he and his siblings had often gone together when they were younger, and his eldest sister was always sure to buy the youngest sibling ice cream cradled in a waffle cone. Kikumaru often liked the flavors that were unusual - bubblegum, for example, though he did also enjoy more traditional flavors like vanilla or maccha.
In the Oishi family, they also could not go to a festival without at least looking for ice cream. His sister really liked the one that was flavored like sakura and his parents both thought it was a nice treat out in the summer air. They both were on their son’s case to remain hydrated with all the sports he was playing, though, so he rarely got to have ice cream at home, anymore. That was the fate of a boy who was related to so many doctors; though it had come in handy when Tezuka was injured. Oishi was able to go to Tezuka’s appointments with him since he was the doctor’s nephew.
“I wonder what kinds they’ll have,” the older boy mumbled, looking at the Eiji fish again as if the fish would have the answer. “I bet you’ll be able to get something pink,” he added, knowing that most any flavor that his partner preferred came in a pink variety.
Kikumaru giggled once more. For all he joked, maybe Oishi really was getting to know him well - even if he did have the habit of falling into calling him by his family name. “Alright!”
And again, they were off, Kikumaru once more dragging his partner off to the nearest ice cream stand and picking out the flavors they would enjoy most. There wasn’t bubblegum, but they at least had sakura; that would be close enough for him. He wondered what Oishi was going to order, too, standing on tiptoe so that he could see over Oishi’s shoulder as he mulled over the small sign set up on the makeshift counter of the booth.
It really was a perfect night for ice cream. The night air was unseasonably mild and there was a slight warm breeze. Looking over his options, Oishi was able to pick immediately. Cookies and cream was not one of his favorites, but something with a little crunch to it sounded good. He and Kikumaru ordered their ice cream and paid with the money that their parents had given them before they left for the festival. Once they had their orders, they had to push through the line of people that had the same thought as them and were crowded around the booth.
That was when Oishi spotted two other first years from their tennis club - a slight boy wearing a pretty lavender yukata with his hair partially pinned back with a clip and a taller boy who was dressed in some sort of traditional uniform - he looked like he was serving sushi. Fuji and Kawamura - the latter must have been there helping his dad out with a booth. Fuji, of course, was probably there eating all of the horrifying wasabi sushi. He really must have burnt off his taste buds as a young boy, or something. He also had an abnormally high tolerance to soy sauce.
“Fuji-kun, Taka-san!” Oishi lifted his ice cream in greeting. When Fuji and Kawamura noticed them, they both waived the pair over.
“Fuji!” Kikumaru’s expression brightened even further as he wandered toward their teammates, already happily munching into the ice cream. “And Taka-san!”
Kawamura smiled a little shyly and bowed his head out of habit, greeting, “Oishi-kun, Kikumaru-kun.” He had been helping out his father with a booth, but he had been encouraged to join the rest of the children his age by his father who said that he wouldn’t have any trouble on his own. Kawamura enjoyed working behind the scenes, that much was not a problem, but it was nice to see some familiar faces. “Are you having fun?”
“Uh huh,” Kikumaru nodded, licking off a bit of ice cream that dripped onto his hand out of carelessness.
“Careful, Eiji.” Oishi offered his doubles partner a napkin to properly wipe up the ice cream that was dripping down his hand, but then he had to focus on keeping his own ice cream from doing the same thing. Once he was sure the scoop wasn’t going to tumble to the ground, he responded, “It’s been a good time. We ran into Inui-kun, too, but he went with Tezuka-kun to get food.”
“Ah, I saw Inui-kun earlier, but he was muttering something about data...” Kawamura looked thoughtful for a moment.
“The yukata suits you.” Fuji commented, looking at Kikumaru. He had a piece of sushi half-way to his mouth as he spoke. “Isn’t that your older brother’s?” It was not that uncommon for the Kikumaru siblings to pass around clothing - there were five of them and Eiji was the youngest, so he wore a lot of hand-me-downs, sometimes from his two sisters.
It was true that the yukata had once been his brother’s - it had only recently been handed down to him when his youngest brother had been complaining about it being too tight in the shoulders. Kikumaru wondered when he would fill out like both of his brothers had, but unfortunately he had a body more similar to his youngest sister’s: perfect for a gymnast, but not exactly built like a traditional man.
“Yeah, it was his,” he confirmed, taking another bite out of the ice cream. “He complained that it was too tight and that the flowers were girly, but I think it suits me.”
“I think so, too,” Kawamura confirmed with a smile on his face that just made Kikumaru smile more.
“Weren’t you going to try to win a goldfish?” It had only been all week that Kikumaru was talking about how much he wanted a goldfish from the festival, but Fuji did not see him carrying a plastic bag. He thought if anyone could do it, it was probably Kikumaru with his quick reflexes. Fuji himself was fairly accomplished at many of the festival games - it came along with having a younger brother who would be impressed if he went home with one of the prizes. His older sister was much older than him, old enough that she would be getting her driver license soon, so she didn’t want to have things like stuffed bears anymore.
Oishi held up the fish in question. “He did - but he wanted me to have it. We decided to name it Eiji.”
“Eiji, huh?” Fuji examined the fish. “Because it looks like him?”
Oishi laughed. “Exactly.”
Kikumaru made a little bit of a face at his partner laughing at him, but it was quickly washed away with excitement of the last final thing they would do before the night is over. “Anyway!” That got the group’s attention, everyone looking at Kikumaru as he held his ice cream in the air. “Who wants to get a seat for the fireworks?”
At many festivals this time of year, it was not uncommon for there to be a firework show to end the evening, nor was it unusual for the festival-goers to bring their own things such as sparklers to light with friends while sharing good food and drink. Kikumaru had only ever been allowed to use them while he was with his family, but he knew with being a teenager would come moments when his family would not mind as much; it was only a matter of being patient.
The fireworks were definitely the best part of the night, though, even above the goldfish catching game that Kikumaru loved so much. “Let’s go!”
“You two have fun, then,” Fuji said with a wave to Kikumaru who was already started toward the hill where they were going to watch the fireworks. “I’m going to stay behind and help out,” he explained. It looked like the Kawamura sushi booth probably still needed to be broken down after the festival was over and they would have a good view of the fireworks even surrounded by all of the festival-goers.
“Sorry about Eiji,” Oishi said softly with a thin smile. But he did not stick around after that, either, chasing after his doubles partner through the crowd. Most of the people were moving toward the hill already, so the show was probably about to start. Oishi tried to finish up his ice cream as they walked so he could just enjoy the fireworks by the time they were sitting down.
Kikumaru scanned the area for a spot that would be far enough from the large crowd that they wouldn’t have people shoving their way through to also get a good spot, but close enough that they wouldn’t be completely isolated, either. Without waiting for Oishi, he sat down, also enjoying the last of his ice cream before starting in on the waffle cone. Ice cream never did seem to last long when Kikumaru had it in hand.
Dark eyes scanned over the various people in varying states of dress - some in similar yukata to Kikumaru and Oishi, others in formal kimono, and the rest in street clothing. He could see that Atobe had found himself a seat without a gaggle of giggling girls nipping at his heels, but that may have had something to do with the boy who was seated beside him who looked rather large and intimidating were he to be their same age.
Lucky Sengoku was also seated nearby, babbling nonsensically to a couple of boys sitting next to him each with a bag in hand - presumably with the goldfish swimming inside. Inui and Tezuka would probably take up residence somewhere nearby shortly, too, though Kikumaru didn’t think that they’d probably cross paths with their teammates again before the night was through.
Oishi also seated himself, testing the grass with one hand before he sat down. It was just a little bit damp as though it had been watered that day, but not so much that it would soak through the yukata. He made himself comfortable and stretched out his legs in front of him. He placed the goldfish between his knees so the little bag wouldn’t roll away. He wanted to get it home right away so he could hopefully keep it dying as so many festival goldfish before it probably had done within a week of going home.
“This was fun,” the older boy commented, looking up to the sky. The fireworks had not yet started, but the city lights were too bright anyway for there to be stars. It was a little quieter up on the hill away from the largest mass of people and he was able to really relax and enjoy the summer breeze. “We should do this again next year,” he added. “It’s fun to go with you - you’re so excited about everything.”
The prospect of going to another festival in the future excited Kikumaru more than he really cared to admit... he had often wondered if maybe his outgoing personality scared Oishi off and that was why he was so close to Tezuka, but perhaps that really wasn’t the reason at all. Maybe Oishi really did just enjoy spending time with Kikumaru because he was Kikumaru, and they were one day going to be the best doubles partners in the world. And if they would get to go to festivals together again, sometime... then that reality was much closer than Kikumaru ever could have anticipated.
“I’d love to go,” Kikumaru said shyly, ducking his head in order to hide the silly grin on his face. His cheeks felt warm - at least the ice cream would help with that. “Well, and I liked winning you the goldfish - you’ll take good care of it, right?”
“Of course - it’s Eiji after all, right?” Oishi smiled at his partner, leaning his cheek against his own shoulder lazily. He opened his mouth to say something else, that’s what partners do, but the shrill whine of the first firework being launched and the subsequent boom as it exploded swallowed his words. Both he and Kikumaru turned their attention to the sky, mesmerized by the beautiful display above them.
Brilliant shades of all colors of the rainbow filled the sky to the sounds of giddy festival-goers admiring the show, and the pair joined in to adding their own commentary about each firework exploding in the air above them. There was something magical about fireworks, Kikumaru decided as he also rested his cheek on his shoulder, eyes wandering over to look at Oishi’s profile; the other boy continued to keep his head tilted back, mimicking everyone else around them.
“Hey, Eiji?” Oishi leaned forward after a moment, bringing his knees up so the goldfish was cupped in the curve of his stomach, instead. He wrapped his arms around his knees and looked out across the other people on the hill. Many of them were young, like Oishi and Kikumaru - some were couples who were now snuggled up close together enjoying the moment. It was pretty romantic, when Oishi thought about it - he would have to come back with someone special, someday.
“Mm?” The redhead didn’t move from his spot, instead merely tilting his eyes upward to look up at his partner.
“Next time, I’ll win something for you.” Oishi smiled warmly. “Whatever you want.”
Kikumaru straightened, beaming back at Oishi, and similarly brought his knees up to his chest. Oishi did not need to promise him anything like that, but it made Kikumaru feel all warm and fuzzy inside regardless. “‘Kay, it’s a deal. Maybe something from the ring toss booth~?”