Stars 1

Author’s notes: This story is not going to be fluff, unfortunately. Anyway, I don’t know if I write fluff well, and my more serious stories aren’t very well received either…Maa…

This is an AU fic. I actually prefer to pull their ages up when writing yaoi…Personal preference :P

Pairing: TezukaxEiji

Have you ever tried reaching for the stars? The stars shine bright, pulling you towards them; but when you stretch out your hand, you realize the distance between.

You try and you try, reaching out with all your might. It’s like an eternal race; not to win, but just to catch up.

The skies were blue, and the breeze was comfortable. The sun was shining brightly, warming the faces of everyone sitting by the pier. Some closed their eyes as they waited; some caught up with their reading; others simply looked out to the sea.

Eiji stood up, stretched his back and threw a sideward glance at Tezuka.

“Feeling restless?” Tezuka didn’t miss Eiji’s glance though he looked as if he was engrossed in his book.

“Hmm, not really.”

“We can go if you want.” Tezuka closed his book and looked ready to stand up. However, Eiji stopped him.

“No, it’s ok, really. You hardly have time these days to enjoy the sea breeze, so let’s stay till we get our dinner, ok? I wonder what fish we’ll get today. Hmm, shall we fry it or roast it?” Eiji looked thoughtfully at the empty pail between Tezuka and himself.

Upon hearing Eiji’s reply, Tezuka sat back and relaxed again. To be honest, he still couldn’t understand why Eiji liked fishing. But then again, there were some things that Tezuka didn’t need to question. Eiji was there because he wanted to, and that was all that Tezuka needed to know.

Eiji looked up from the pail when Tezuka didn’t speak. A small smile graced his lips as he watched Tezuka close his eyes and enjoy the breeze. Eiji then quietly sat down and watched the ripples created by the light breeze dance on the water surface. He had been going fishing with Tezuka for almost six months. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. More importantly, he needed an avenue to connect with the stoic Tezuka, and fishing was one of those avenues.

Surprisingly, Tezuka didn’t say anything when Eiji first approached him about fishing. Tezuka had merely said nothing, and then brought Eiji to the fishing equipment shop the next day to buy some gears. From then onwards, Eiji had learnt the basics from watching, and received occasional corrections on his posture and bait selection from Tezuka

Such was their time spent together, filled largely with quiet moments and the occasional chatter, mostly from Eiji. Eiji learnt to quieten down when he was with Tezuka, and to speak only when Tezuka was in a more relaxed mood. It wasn’t that difficult, nor was it suffocating, since Eiji merely had to switch to his quiet mode more frequently, and leave his hyper mode to the rest of his friends. And since Tezuka hadn’t actually complained about his noisiness, Eiji assumed that he was doing rather well.

Their relationship started about a month ago, and remained low profile. They were studying in the same college, and Eiji felt that it wasn’t a good idea to be too open. Eiji moved into Tezuka’s apartment a couple of weeks back, when Tezuka’s room mate decided to move to a cheaper place. Eiji was secretly glad that Tezuka brought up that topic, for though he did want to be together with him, he was hesitant about what Tezuka thought. Tezuka had felt that Eiji’s apartment was too far from the campus, and the time used to commute between the two places should be put to better use.

Only their closest friends, Oishi and Fuji, knew of their relationship. Both went to the same college as Tezuka and Eiji, and rather than being told, Fuji actually guessed the truth after witnessing the pair spending more than the normal “friendly” amount of time together. Tezuka didn’t deny Fuji’s guess, much to Eiji’s relief, and thus, Oishi and Fuji were let into the “secret”. Both Fuji and Oishi were surprised at their relationship, though neither said much, except express their support.

Eiji smiled to himself when memories of the mother-hen Oishi came to him one day and started telling him all he knew about Tezuka. Oishi was a good friend, and Eiji was grateful for his friendship.

“Oh” The movement on Eiji’s fishing rod disrupted his thoughts. He stood up quickly to grab the rod, and was about to call out to Tezuka when he realized that he was already standing beside him.

“Concentrate, and don’t let your guard down.” Tezuka placed his hand over Eiji’s and helped him steady his movement.

This closeness with the bespectacled young man was a rare luxury. After closing his eyes briefly to savour the moment, Eiji quickly opened them to focus at the task ahead, but not before he memorised every single second of the touch.

Oishi chuckled at the photo he received from Eiji. The redhead had sent a picture of the catch of the day to his friend, and extended an invitation for a fish feast that evening. Oishi thought for a while before deciding to accept the invitation and keyed in his reply on his phone. He didn’t want to impose himself on Tezuka and Eiji that much, but he did miss Eiji’s company lately.

For the past 6 months, Oishi noticed that Eiji was spending less time with him, and he thought that Eiji was probably in Fuji’s company during that time. Only when he spoke with Fuji one day, did Oishi realize that Eiji didn’t spend much time with his best friend either. When questioned after the relationship came into the open, Eiji sheepishly revealed that besides spending time fishing with Tezuka, he had spent some time “researching” Tezuka’s interests and reading up on the topics that could serve as conversation pieces with his ex captain.

The effort that Eiji put into getting to know Tezuka astonished Oishi.　But then again, Eiji wasn’t that predictable, and he had proven himself time and again his resilience and determination to reach his goals. Oishi remembered how relentlessly Eiji had trained to build up his stamina, and how much time and effort he spent to develop new skills for their doubles play during the Seigaku days. Though only a few years had passed, Oishi did realize that Eiji grew up even more, and he felt certain that the strong spirit within Eiji could only grow stronger.

Yet, there was something about his friend’s relationship that bothered Oishi. The clues were subtle, but Oishi, being Eiji’s doubles partner, read it well. In fact, Fuji noticed it too, and he had casually brought it up one day to Oishi.

“Do you feel that Eiji is trying a bit too hard to accommodate Tezuka?”

Oishi was taken aback at Fuji’s directness. However, that was exactly how he felt as well. “I feel it too. Actually, that isn’t what I fear most.”

Fuji nodded. “I know what you mean.”

“I hope that it is just a passing phase, and Eiji will feel more settled as time goes by.” Oishi couldn’t hide his worry.

“He needs to find out for himself on the way Tezuka thinks and acts. We can’t help.” The soft tone in Fuji’s voice was strangely comforting.

“You are right, it’s no use worrying.”

“Well, I hope everything works out.” Fuji smiled gently at his ex team mate.

Oishi smiled back. “Me too.”

Recalling that conversation with Fuji sometimes helped suppress Oishi’s occasional worried thoughts. Either way, there was nothing much Oishi could do except be there for Eiji and ready to render help whenever it was needed. That, after all, was what a friend was for.