Easter fanfiction
Title: Warm, Fuzzy Feeling
Series: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Ohtori Choutarou/Shishido Ryou
Rating: PG (barely) for language
Word Count: 1,216
Summary: Shishido just can't say no to Ohtori. Which is why he's perhaps warmer, fuzzier, and more embarrassed than he's ever been in his entire life.
"I'm never listening to you again, Choutarou!"
Shishido mumbled a quiet "gekidasa" to himself as he tripped and nearly fell, barely making it up the stairs to Ohtori's room. The heavy fabric boots were weighing down his usually nimble feet, and he couldn't help but consider it a handicap of sorts, being unable to run and perhaps strangle his partner when he really, really wanted -- needed -- to.
Really, Ohtori was surprised that he'd actually gotten Shishido to go along with it. Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he turned to Shishido and gave him a once-over, taking stock of the floppy ears and the friendly pink-and-white full-body costume, smiling a satisfied smile. Wordlessly, he pushed open the door.
"I'm serious. We look ridiculous! I can never go outside again!"
Ohtori crossed the room and slid the window open, enjoying the warm current that blew by him before settling down against a nearby wall. Shishido didn't wait for the invitation that Ohtori never needed to send, plopping down rather dramatically next to his partner and disrupting the short-lived peace of the air around them.
"Well, that was fun, wasn't it, Shishido-san?"
Shishido laughed indignantly. "What are you talking about? I just spent a perfectly good Sunday morning walking around the park dressed as the Easter bunny... when no one in Japan celebrates Easter! All we got were little kids running up to us and asking why Bunny-san and Duck-san weren't playing in the forest somewhere. Speaking of which," Shishido added, raising an eyebrow and nodding at Ohtori's feet, "why do you have duck feet anyway?"
"The feet would have to be really big if we wanted them to look like proper chicken feet, so we had to go with duck feet." Ohtori looked down at his webbed feet and watched as he tapped them together in quiet rhythm. "I think I regret it, though," he sighed, tugging at the cardboard beak strung around his neck. "Imagine how awkward it was to have duck feet as an Easter chick."
"Yeah, well, at least you have opposable thumbs," Shishido retorted, waving a fingerless paw in Ohtori's face.
"Well, you said that you wanted that one because it's not as ridiculous as this one." Ohtori glanced over at Shishido, feigning contemplation for a moment before continuing with a shrug. "You do look kind of cute with bunny ears, Shishido-san, even if you can't use your hands."
Blushing slightly, Shishido shot the other boy a disgruntled scowl and lifted a paw, eyes narrowed dangerously. "How many fingers do you think I'm holding up, Choutarou?"
"Two, in a V-sign, because you like doing it, but not around other people since you don't want to look uncool." Ohtori smiled knowingly as Shishido's jaw and arm dropped simultaneously. "That's okay, though, Shishido-san. You can do it around me, because I already know how dorky you are."
Shishido smirked and nudged him with a fleecy shoulder. "You think you're so smart, huh? Well, I just so happen to know that you like to pick flowers in the field behind the school."
"And I know that you cry whenever you watch romance movies with Oshitari-senpai."
"What? Take that back!" An arm pounded into Ohtori's side as the two fell into a familiar routine, one perfected by months of partnership. Their quick banter and companionable laughter filled the room, the soft scent of sakura blossoms whipping around them and encasing them in a world entirely their own. That was all that mattered: a friendship made all the sweeter -- a life made all the more complete -- by the golden light from the afternoon sun filtering through the window, by the time spent together with the only person that ever really meant anything.
Their precious time together was scarce, though, and its days were numbered. Ohtori understood the ephemeral nature of their circumstances, the secret world that only the two of them lived in, and as a sobering quiet descended upon them, he knew that Shishido understood, too.
"Choutarou..." Ohtori turned to look at his partner and waited for him to continue. Shishido tugged at an ear with both paws, skewing the wire frame and pulling the mass of fabric into a sad, droopy echo of its former self. "We won't be able to do this next year, you know."
Ohtori's gaze fell. He did know. As the end-of-year exams loomed ever closer and he saw less and less of his rowdy partner in his suddenly too-quiet life, he couldn't help but know, but be conscious of the fact that Shishido would be graduating, moving on. It would be another life apart from the comfortable world of doubles tennis, of inside jokes over shared cheese sandwiches, of silly Easter costumes that made little bits of fuzz burst into the air if you sat down too quickly. It was a world that Ohtori liked too much, and as Shishido gradually went the way of the desperate first-year ronin, studying feverishly as if -- because -- nothing else mattered, he realized that once his favorite senpai graduated, he'd have to make his way back to the real world.
Incidentally, the real world had very little appeal for Ohtori after his wonderful year in Shishidoland.
He sighed. "No, we won't be able to do this again, will we, Shishido-san?"
"Damn right," was the reply. "Once I burn these stupid costumes, we're going to have to go back to doing normal stuff. No more escapades as oversized plushies for us, Choutarou." He laughed at the stunned expression on his partner's face, his train of thought obviously jarred by Shishido's change of pace. The older boy knew that someday he and Ohtori would be forced to part ways and to find a new reality to believe in, but hell, that wouldn't be happening for another two hundred years, if he had anything to say about it. "Well, we may not be making fools of ourselves for a while, but I think the new amusement park will be open next year, and I'm sure that'll be just as exciting." He grinned and bopped the younger boy on the head. "Sound good?"
Ohtori blinked a bit before smiling softly, suddenly feeling markedly warmer and fuzzier than he could ever credit his costume for. "That sounds great." He flapped Shishido's face with his feathery hand but stopped when the older boy started biting playfully at his fingers. Ohtori pouted. "You're really going to burn the costumes, though? They took a really long time to make."
Shishido snorted softly. "You just gave me another reason to burn them." He blinked, turning his head forward to yawn into his paw. "I'll admit, though, they're kind of warm." He settled more comfortably against the wall.
Ohtori followed suit, resting his head on his partner's as the older boy snuggled closely into his side. "See, they're warm enough as they are." His eyelids drooped slightly. "Burning them would just be overdoing it."
"No, I'm definitely burning them," Shishido murmured quietly.
"Not right now, though," Ohtori amended, yawning.
"No, not right now," Shishido agreed, answering with a slow yawn of his own. "Tomorrow. And you'll be there to watch, Choutarou."
There'll be more days like this.
Ohtori smiled and let his eyelids fall completely shut. "Hai, Shishido-san."
fin.
I was actually going to draw some fanart instead, but as I was sketching out the costumes, my mind started wandering more and more toward the how and why of it all, so I never got around to drawing the actual fanart. Here's the simple costume sketch, though.
I might draw the actual scene someday, but I think this is it for now. ^^
Series: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Ohtori Choutarou/Shishido Ryou
Rating: PG (barely) for language
Word Count: 1,216
Summary: Shishido just can't say no to Ohtori. Which is why he's perhaps warmer, fuzzier, and more embarrassed than he's ever been in his entire life.
"I'm never listening to you again, Choutarou!"
Shishido mumbled a quiet "gekidasa" to himself as he tripped and nearly fell, barely making it up the stairs to Ohtori's room. The heavy fabric boots were weighing down his usually nimble feet, and he couldn't help but consider it a handicap of sorts, being unable to run and perhaps strangle his partner when he really, really wanted -- needed -- to.
Really, Ohtori was surprised that he'd actually gotten Shishido to go along with it. Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he turned to Shishido and gave him a once-over, taking stock of the floppy ears and the friendly pink-and-white full-body costume, smiling a satisfied smile. Wordlessly, he pushed open the door.
"I'm serious. We look ridiculous! I can never go outside again!"
Ohtori crossed the room and slid the window open, enjoying the warm current that blew by him before settling down against a nearby wall. Shishido didn't wait for the invitation that Ohtori never needed to send, plopping down rather dramatically next to his partner and disrupting the short-lived peace of the air around them.
"Well, that was fun, wasn't it, Shishido-san?"
Shishido laughed indignantly. "What are you talking about? I just spent a perfectly good Sunday morning walking around the park dressed as the Easter bunny... when no one in Japan celebrates Easter! All we got were little kids running up to us and asking why Bunny-san and Duck-san weren't playing in the forest somewhere. Speaking of which," Shishido added, raising an eyebrow and nodding at Ohtori's feet, "why do you have duck feet anyway?"
"The feet would have to be really big if we wanted them to look like proper chicken feet, so we had to go with duck feet." Ohtori looked down at his webbed feet and watched as he tapped them together in quiet rhythm. "I think I regret it, though," he sighed, tugging at the cardboard beak strung around his neck. "Imagine how awkward it was to have duck feet as an Easter chick."
"Yeah, well, at least you have opposable thumbs," Shishido retorted, waving a fingerless paw in Ohtori's face.
"Well, you said that you wanted that one because it's not as ridiculous as this one." Ohtori glanced over at Shishido, feigning contemplation for a moment before continuing with a shrug. "You do look kind of cute with bunny ears, Shishido-san, even if you can't use your hands."
Blushing slightly, Shishido shot the other boy a disgruntled scowl and lifted a paw, eyes narrowed dangerously. "How many fingers do you think I'm holding up, Choutarou?"
"Two, in a V-sign, because you like doing it, but not around other people since you don't want to look uncool." Ohtori smiled knowingly as Shishido's jaw and arm dropped simultaneously. "That's okay, though, Shishido-san. You can do it around me, because I already know how dorky you are."
Shishido smirked and nudged him with a fleecy shoulder. "You think you're so smart, huh? Well, I just so happen to know that you like to pick flowers in the field behind the school."
"And I know that you cry whenever you watch romance movies with Oshitari-senpai."
"What? Take that back!" An arm pounded into Ohtori's side as the two fell into a familiar routine, one perfected by months of partnership. Their quick banter and companionable laughter filled the room, the soft scent of sakura blossoms whipping around them and encasing them in a world entirely their own. That was all that mattered: a friendship made all the sweeter -- a life made all the more complete -- by the golden light from the afternoon sun filtering through the window, by the time spent together with the only person that ever really meant anything.
Their precious time together was scarce, though, and its days were numbered. Ohtori understood the ephemeral nature of their circumstances, the secret world that only the two of them lived in, and as a sobering quiet descended upon them, he knew that Shishido understood, too.
"Choutarou..." Ohtori turned to look at his partner and waited for him to continue. Shishido tugged at an ear with both paws, skewing the wire frame and pulling the mass of fabric into a sad, droopy echo of its former self. "We won't be able to do this next year, you know."
Ohtori's gaze fell. He did know. As the end-of-year exams loomed ever closer and he saw less and less of his rowdy partner in his suddenly too-quiet life, he couldn't help but know, but be conscious of the fact that Shishido would be graduating, moving on. It would be another life apart from the comfortable world of doubles tennis, of inside jokes over shared cheese sandwiches, of silly Easter costumes that made little bits of fuzz burst into the air if you sat down too quickly. It was a world that Ohtori liked too much, and as Shishido gradually went the way of the desperate first-year ronin, studying feverishly as if -- because -- nothing else mattered, he realized that once his favorite senpai graduated, he'd have to make his way back to the real world.
Incidentally, the real world had very little appeal for Ohtori after his wonderful year in Shishidoland.
He sighed. "No, we won't be able to do this again, will we, Shishido-san?"
"Damn right," was the reply. "Once I burn these stupid costumes, we're going to have to go back to doing normal stuff. No more escapades as oversized plushies for us, Choutarou." He laughed at the stunned expression on his partner's face, his train of thought obviously jarred by Shishido's change of pace. The older boy knew that someday he and Ohtori would be forced to part ways and to find a new reality to believe in, but hell, that wouldn't be happening for another two hundred years, if he had anything to say about it. "Well, we may not be making fools of ourselves for a while, but I think the new amusement park will be open next year, and I'm sure that'll be just as exciting." He grinned and bopped the younger boy on the head. "Sound good?"
Ohtori blinked a bit before smiling softly, suddenly feeling markedly warmer and fuzzier than he could ever credit his costume for. "That sounds great." He flapped Shishido's face with his feathery hand but stopped when the older boy started biting playfully at his fingers. Ohtori pouted. "You're really going to burn the costumes, though? They took a really long time to make."
Shishido snorted softly. "You just gave me another reason to burn them." He blinked, turning his head forward to yawn into his paw. "I'll admit, though, they're kind of warm." He settled more comfortably against the wall.
Ohtori followed suit, resting his head on his partner's as the older boy snuggled closely into his side. "See, they're warm enough as they are." His eyelids drooped slightly. "Burning them would just be overdoing it."
"No, I'm definitely burning them," Shishido murmured quietly.
"Not right now, though," Ohtori amended, yawning.
"No, not right now," Shishido agreed, answering with a slow yawn of his own. "Tomorrow. And you'll be there to watch, Choutarou."
There'll be more days like this.
Ohtori smiled and let his eyelids fall completely shut. "Hai, Shishido-san."
fin.
I was actually going to draw some fanart instead, but as I was sketching out the costumes, my mind started wandering more and more toward the how and why of it all, so I never got around to drawing the actual fanart. Here's the simple costume sketch, though.
I might draw the actual scene someday, but I think this is it for now. ^^