Haruka's Fanfic Journal

This was the result of two writing prompts: A fifteen-minute challenge that ran longer and another seasonal word prompt. The prompt words are stated at the end of the fic. Yaoi warning. Not necessarily canon.

Mistletotalled (Prince of Tennis)

By Haruka (haruka@eastlink.ca)

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Atobe Keigo looked around in satisfaction at the success of his Christmas party. It had been a stroke of genius to invite the Seigaku Regulars – the more the merrier.

Besides, it hopefully gave him a chance to get Tezuka under the mistletoe.

Not that he really thought that Tezuka would object to a kiss. After all, they’d been tap dancing around a relationship for a while now, and Atobe knew there was definite chemistry between them that went beyond tennis rivalry. The only problem was that whenever Atobe had wanted to attempt a kiss, the timing had been wrong. Perhaps here, in front of both their teams, the timing really wasn’t any better. However, it was mistletoe, and it was Christmas – everyone was feeling festive. Tezuka couldn’t object to THAT, could he?

Kikumaru Eiji bounced by, wearing a decoration from the tree with tinsel streaming off it on top of his head. Atobe’s dog chased after him, but whether he was after Eiji or the glittery tinsel floating to the ground in his wake, he wasn’t sure. Atobe was about to grab up the tinsel before the animal could swallow any, only to see that Kabaji was already on it. Good man, he thought with satisfaction.

All around the room was laughter and conversation. Shishido and Choutarou were in one corner, exchanging their presents to each other early, trying not to be noticed. At the other end of the spectrum, Gakuto and Yuushi were dancing in the middle of the room to holiday music playing in the background. They obviously didn’t mind if they were noticed, judging from the twirling and dipping involved in their performance.

Jiroh was asleep on the couch. Momoshiro gleefully decorated him with a dozen colourful stick-on bows.

Kaidoh crouched down in front of the dog, rubbing his head and taking his attention away from Eiji. Kabaji bent down beside him and picked a last piece of tinsel from his fur. The two thirteen-year-olds spoke to each other, nodding toward the dog as they petted him, but Atobe couldn’t hear what they said.

Kawamura was shyly offering Fuji a tidbit from the buffet table. Fuji surprised him by taking it directly into his mouth instead of by hand, then smiling at him sweetly and thanking him. The other boy turned eight shades of red, but looked pleased.

Inui poured something into a cup that didn’t look like anything that Atobe had approved for the table. He offered it to a dubious Hiyoshi, and Atobe was certain he saw a glint of evil light shine off Inui’s glasses.

Eiji had stopped darting around and was holding hands with his doubles partner, Oishi. The look they exchanged was rather sweet, until Eiji hauled Oishi over to dance alongside Yuushi and Gakuto. Then Oishi just looked embarrassed.

Atobe realized that he couldn’t see either Tezuka or Echizen until Eiji crowed, “Hey, Ochibi-chan is under the mistletoe with Tezuka!”

WHAT?!

Atobe spun around to see that the pair had indeed been caught under the arched doorway where he had personally hung the mistletoe. The look on Echizen’s face was comical, and Atobe was certain that he saw Tezuka sweatdrop.

Much to their dismay as well as Atobe’s, the entire crowd seemed to get in on it then.

“Ha ha, mistletoe!”

“You’ve gotta KISS now!”

“It’s tradition, come on!”

“Go for it, you guys!”

Atobe felt a little sick inside, but tried to mask it with outward cheer as he strolled toward them. “Echizen might be a little young for such things yet. However, we can’t leave Tezuka standing alone at the mistletoe, so I suppose it’s my duty as host to step in.” His eyes caught Tezuka’s and did an instantaneous measure of the other captain’s feelings. He could have sworn something twinkled behind Tezuka’s glasses.

He stepped closer, almost near enough to touch, then felt something between them and looked down. Echizen was gazing up at him with that impassive face, and Atobe suddenly feared that the boy was going to object to being replaced. If that happened, he’d be completely humiliated. What was worse, Tezuka might ENJOY kissing Echizen!

There was an endless moment as their eyes locked and held, then Echizen ducked his head and stepped aside. As he went around the Hyotei captain, he murmured, “Merry Christmas, Atobe-san.”

You too, kid, Atobe thought gratefully, turning back to Tezuka and their first kiss.

But not their last.

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(Word prompts – Festive, Christmas/Tinsel.)

(2005)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

This fic is not to be re-posted.