Echizen Ryoma was not a morning person. He was not particularly grouchy in the morning, but he was definitely not a morning person. So he had not been thrilled when Karupin had decided to wake him up a hour too early by stepping on his face.

"Karupin," Ryoma moaned unhappily. He sighed and pulled himself out of the covers. He might as well as prepare for the morning practice; he didn't have enough time to simply go back to sleep.

After taking care of typical morning toiletries, Ryoma trod out to the living room. He stepped around his father, who was asleep with porn magazines clutched in his hands, and pulled his slippers on. He stepped on the lawn and involuntarily shivered. Dew drops clinging to the glass brushed against his ankle, and it felt pretty cold. He stretched and deeply breathed in the cool morning air. It felt refreshing. More cheerful about waking up early, Ryoma retrieved the delivered milk, newspaper, and opened the mailbox. He tucked the milk and newspaper under his arm to sort through the mails. Telephone bill, electric bill, some ambiguous bill that Ryoma really didn't want to know why it was there. Probably subscription fee to whatever his father was reading. Ryoma paused when his fingers grasped the last object in the mailbox. It was a rectangular box. He pulled the box out and glanced at the address. His lips curled into a smile.

"Youth! Being full of energy this early in the morning?" Ryoma's father cheerfully called to him when Ryoma returned.

"Good morning," Ryoma replied, placing the bills on top of the porn magazines. He ignored choking noises his father made as he looked at the bills. He walked to the kitchen to place the newspaper and milk on the table. Trying not to look too eager, Ryoma returned to his room and set the box on his desk. His fingers worked at carefully pulling the brown wrappings away from the package. He finally pulled all the wrapping paper away and folded the paper up. He picked up the card that accompanied the package.

"Happy White Day. Thank you for the chocolates." Ryoma read out aloud. He felt his lips tugging into a smile again. "From Tezuka. Oh? He didn't refer himself as the 'captain' this time."

"Nya?" Karupin asked, its tail wagging back and forth in curiosity.

"I'm opening it right now," Ryoma said, pausing to scratch Karupin's chin. He pulled the cover away from the box. Inside were various fruit candies, individually wrapped in tissue paper and delicately arranged into a rough outline of a rose. Ryoma couldn't suppress a delighted gasp. He picked up a candy and unwrapped it, holding it out to Karupin. Karupin sniffed it, then twitched its tail before running out of the room. Ryoma shrugged and popped it into his mouth. Savoring the sweet and sour taste of the apple candy, he picked up the phone and checked the time. His brows creased as he tried to remember if this would be an appropriate time to call Tezuka. He shrugged and dialed the number anyway. Tezuka didn't get annoyed when he was aroused from sleep.

The phone rang few times before a voice answered, "Hello?"

"Captain Tezuka," Ryoma cheerfully answered. He was glad that Tezuka had picked up this time. The last time a German lady who didn't speak a word of Japanese had picked up the phone, and Ryoma had learned that there was a lot of difference between English and German. And most definitely, the German language and Japanese did not hold a trace of similarity. Only after repeatedly repeating Tezuka's name was he able to speak to Tezuka.

"Echizen," Tezuka acknowledged. Then: "Isn't it too early for you to call?"

"Karupin woke me up," Ryoma said. He grinned. "Which I'm glad about. Because guess what I found this morning in the mailbox."

"I wonder," Tezuka dryly said in return. "Is that okay with you?"

"You remembered that I don't like overly sweet things," Ryoma said. "I would have lied and said whatever you sent me is good, but I'm glad I don't have to lie. The candies are delicious Thank you."

Ryoma heard Tezuka shuffling at the other end of the line, and knew he was smiling, just like himself. "You're welcome. The mint chocolates were delicious, too. How are you?"

"Fine. A little sleepy." Ryoma closed his eyes, trying to visualize Tezuka through his voice. It was getting harder to immediately bring Tezuka's image to his mind as the days passed, which troubled him. He wondered if he was also fading from Tezuka's mind. "You?"

"Fine, but the healing is taking some time. However, I'm sure that I will be able to keep my promise. How is the tournament?"

Ryoma paused briefly, trying to think up of a reassuring lie. It was only few seconds, yet Tezuka immediately sensed the discomfort. "Echizen?"

"The next opponent seems a bit... challenging. But we'll be fine, really. Those guys still have a long way to go."

"Echizen." This time Tezuka sounded exasperated. Ryoma wondered how Tezuka can read him so well. Ryoma had thought that once Tezuka couldn't force him to look at him in the eyes and tell him the truth, he would have easier time lying to him. He thought wrong. Tezuka still managed to read him like a book. Was he that obvious? But Ryoma was not an expressive person by nature. So how? "Rikkadai, right? We were in different blocks in the last tournament; I never played against them. But... are they that strong?"

"I said they're not that strong," Ryoma stubbornly said.

"Then lie more convincingly!" Tezuka finally snapped. There was a belief pause.

"Sorry," they both apologized. There was another belief pause, then Ryoma heard Tezuka sighing. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"I shouldn't have lied," Ryoma answered. "I don't want to worry you."

"I want to worry for you, Echizen. Don't you worry for me?"

Ryoma curled the phone chord around his finger, plopping to lie on his bed. The chord stretched, then the phone crashed to the floor.

"Echizen?"

"Sorry; I dropped the phone," Ryoma said, hurriedly picking up the phone and placing it back to his bedside. He pulled his body further to the edge of the bed so that the chord didn't have to be stretched so much. "You said you were learning German, right? How is that going?"

There was another belief silence. "It's all right. It's similar to English in many ways, but the pronunciation is very difficult. They have sounds that Japanese doesn't have."

"It's not similar to English at all!" Ryoma protested. " I didn't understand a word of it!"

The tension was lost, and Tezuka chuckled. "You'll understand when you learn it yourself. It's more similar than you would think. A bit like Spanish and French."

"I didn't study either of those languages," Ryoma said, rolling his eyes. He could almost see Tezuka, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he teased him. It was at times like this that he was thankful for the telephone; e-mails just didn't have the same intimacy. "And you know that as well."

"I don't know you as well as I would like." Tezuka sounded rueful. "I would really like to spend a lot of time with you once I get back to Japan."

"You're the one who went off to German to start with," Ryoma reproached, but without venom. "What's wrong with Japanese doctors? If you didn't go, we would still see each other everyday."

"But it was only after I announced that I would go to Germany that you told me of your feelings." Tezuka's voice was warm, reliving the memories, and Ryoma felt something flutter inside of him as well.

"Did not! You are the one who kissed me and asked me to wait for you!"

"You're the one who first clung to my shirt sleeve and ask me not to go," Tezuka reminded him. Ryoma tried not to pout. Tezuka enjoyed injuring his pride. He enjoyed it very much, the sadistic jerk. "With that huge, kitten-like eyes of yours staring at me like you were going to cry. It was your fault for being cute, Echizen."

"I was not going to cry, and I'm most definitely not cute!" Ryoma finally exploded. "Tezuka-senpai...!"

"You are. Especially when you whine like that."

"Senpai!" Ryoma's pout had turned into scowl. There was a hearty chuckle at the other end, then Tezuka decided to stop teasing before he really made Ryoma angry. Both he and Ryoma were not known for their sweet temper.

"I'm glad I'll be able to see you soon." The warmth was back in Tezuka's voice. Ryoma sighed at the thought.

"...so? You'll go away to high school soon, won't you? With your grades, you'll probably go to a specialized high school really far away." Ryoma gloomily tugged at the phone line.

"I won't go far away," Tezuka promised. Ryoma's expression softened.

"Promise?"

"Yes."

Ryoma finally smiled again. "Okay. I believe you."

"...do you really believe me?"

Ryoma frowned at the sudden seriousness of the voice. Tezuka was speaking only a bit louder than he would when he whispered. Ryoma stared at the phone before finally nodding. "Yes. Yes, I do. Don't you?"

"Of course. Then don't try to hide your weakness from me. I like all part of you. Even your weakness, because I can embrace your weakness and protect you." Ryoma grew nervous. Tezuka was being too sincere. He was scaring him. "...I like you, Echizen."

Ryoma felt his face heat up into a blush. Tezuka had told this to him only once, right after their fist kiss. And he repeated what he had said back then. "I like you, too..."

"Rikkadai is scary, isn't it?"

Ryoma felt something cracking. No, he couldn't show his weakness. His father was so perfect, such a great tennis player. If he showed any weakness, how will he catch up to his father? Suppress his father? He was a human; of course he was scared by strong opponents. But if he started to show even a bit of his true self, everything would come tumbling down. And then the avalanche of emotions would start, and he would fall to the very bottom, and he would never be able to climb to the top again.

"...I'll freeze and die..."

"Hn?" Ryoma knew Tezuka was frowning at the other end. Ryoma shook his head.

"I... If I tell you, an avalanche would start! I'll get buried in my emotions and die all alone...! I don't want that! I don't want to be weak!"

"Echizen."

"You asked me to be the pillar of Seigaku, didn't you? How can I support anyone if I start cracking? Why are you asking me to be weak when you yourself can't stand to be weak?"

"I'm scared."

Ryoma took a sharp intake of breath. He clutched at the phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "...excuse me?"

"I'm weak. I'm scared. I keep thinking that my arm would never get better, that I can never play tennis again. Then my existence would become meaningless, because every precious memory I have is from the tennis court or with members of the tennis team. We're humans. It's okay to be scared."

Another crack. "It's not. You'll hate me. Everyone will hate me."

Tezuka's voice was calm, soothing. He stated his words, rather than speaking them. There was no uncertainty in his voice. It was steady. "Winning is not what tennis is about. You need two people to play tennis. Similarly, you need two pillars to support any kind of roof. Ryoma, when your burdens are too hard, you have to let me shoulder some of it. We're both pillars. You are not alone." Tezuka stressed, "You are never alone."

"But Tezuka-senpai..." Avalanche. Ryoma felt tears falling out of his eyes. "I... I want to be stronger... I want to beat Rikkadai... But they're so strong... They're so very strong! What if we lose? When you come back, what if we didn't get into the nationals?"

There was silence as Ryoma sobbed against the phone. When Tezuka next spoke, his voice was kind and gentle again, no longer firm. "Have fun. Tennis holds all of my fond memories, including those of you. It is tennis I like, not the wins. It is you whom I like, not an ace tennis player."

Ryoma cried a little longer before he controlled his voice sufficiently to be able to speak. "You won't be disappointed even if I lose?"

"I don't care if you never win again."

Ryoma rubbed his eyes with the back of his free hand. "...okay."

"Feel better?"

"A lot better. Thank you."

"Thank you for trusting me enough to start that avalanche, Echizen." Ryoma heard Tezuka kissing the receiver. He felt himself blushing again.

"...senpai! Stop embarrassing me!"

"It's not cold after the avalanche, is it?"

Ryoma blinked, then smiled. "...it's actually very warm."

"Don't you have morning practice?"

Silence. Then Ryoma shrieked as he looked at the clock. "Argh! I only have ten minutes! And you made me cry!"

Tezuka sounded amused again. "If Momoshiro or Kikimaru makes fun of you, I'll have a word with them."

Ryoma rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, whatever. Take care of yourself. Talk to you later."

"Later."

On an impulse, Ryoma kissed the receiver of his phone, then slammed the phone down. He felt himself blushing again and cursed his blood vessels and tear glands. He wiped his eyes again and hurriedly started to leave the room, but paused. He turned back and picked up the box of candies, holding it against his chest. His eyes softened slightly. "...thank you for giving me the courage to start that avalanche. If you need to let your feelings loose, too, I'll always be there for you..."

He lightly pressed his lips on the center of the heart-shaped box, then ran out of his room.

Owari

Happy White Day! ^^ A bit of character study of Ryoma and Kunimitsu-san, using the White Day phone call as an excuse. It was actually very hard to write, because both of them have such bad personality! *laughs* Usually in a couple, one would be sweet while the other one would be grouchy, but both Ryoma and Kunimitsu-san have a bit of personality problem... ^^;; Both of them are kind deep down, but they don't seem to be the type that shows that sweetness easily. And Ryoma hides his feelings too much. I thought eventually he'll have to break down like this and vent out his feelings.

The timeline is a bit off... When Ryoma was facing Rikkaidai, it was apparent that it was early/mid-summer, not early spring. Captain Yamato did say the ferns were too old to eat... But for the purposes of this fiction, let's pretend that the Rikkaidai match was during early spring, because that's when White Day is at. ^^;;