Eiji the Cat

by Yoshikochan

DISCLAIMER: Thank you for making such well-rounded and quirky characters, Konomi-sensei!  Please let me borrow them.

NOTES: Ah.... why am I still going? ^^;; But the Golden Pair is just so cute!

Thoughts are in italics.  Um, and other standard stuff.

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Part 2: Shooting Stars

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        And you took me to your house

        Among blue marshmallow clouds

        And we waved at shooting stars

        We fell in love that day

--------------------------------  ~<3

"Yay!!  Today the sky is blue!"  Eiji's heart felt just as cheerful as the sky.  The last few weeks had been fun; the Golden Pair had done exceptionally well at the prefecture tournament, dropping at most two games to Fudoumine's Uchimura-Mori pair.  It had been pretty fun to tease the short one, who was astonished at all the bizarre and seemingly impossible ways Eiji caught the ball.  The capped boy had seemed so cocky too.  Nye heh heh. 

Next to him, the one who helped him earn all those victories smiled gently.  Oishi's presence was as calming as ever.

"Unya!!  That cloud looks like an Oishi head!" he suddenly exclaimed.  Drifting out behind a large Honda Civic ad, a dark cloud had somehow folded itself into a perfect egg shape.  Eiji sparkled with excitement at his marvelous discovery.

"Cl..cloud?!"  Oishi sputtered, the mask of calm wiped off his face in an instant.  The shade of his cheeks seemed to darken.  Eiji suddenly worried if his Oishi had maybe caught a fever.  That would be bad!!  Sure, they had the next day off, but Eiji had wanted to spend it out with Oishi shopping and eating and bouncing.  But if Oishi was sick... well, he didn't want to bother him.  He probably already bothered him enough, being so bouncy and chatty.  He couldn't help it.

He had tried acting serious once, acting mature and adult-like so that Oishi would like him more.  He had sat nervously across from Oishi at the cafe, their first ever eating-together time.  He had been careful not to cross his legs, tried to keep a straight face (though his expression came out like a half-strangled cat), and talk about maturish things like world peace and economic prosperity and rising global sunnyness.  He had tried really really really really really really hard, but it was exhausting, and it made his forehead hurt, so he gave up and went back to being bouncy and cheerful.

He pouted, his lower lip puckering out a bit in a small whispered 'nyaa'.  Oishi was so nice, and kind, and mature, and grown-up, and perfect, and wonderful, how could he ever measure up?  Of course, it was much much funner to be bouncy, and to tease his teammates, especially Ochibi who was little and cute and glompable.  But Oishi was so caring, and everybody liked him, and he was thoughtful and worried about everything.  Some people compared him to a mother, but Eiji felt that Oishi was just... Oishi.

"Hm..." The gentle voice of the one he was thinking about seemed almost musical today.  "Then... that cloud over there looks like Eiji!"  Oishi pointed to a very white cloud that was round at the bottom, had two side-by-side hills at the top, and jagged wisps coming off either side, similar to Eiji's hair but almost more like whiskers.   

Eiji perked up immediately, a rush of joy leaping into his eyes and widening his smile.  "Yay!  I like looking at the sky with Oishi!"

No doubt this time.  Oishi definitely looked more red than usual.  But his growing smile assured the red-head that nothing was wrong.

"Oh, I know!"  Oishi's tone seemed particularly happy.  "I read in the papers that there is going to be a meteor shower tonight."  He turned towards his partner with a grin, and Eiji beamed in anticipation.  "Would you like to come over to my house and watch it on the roof? ... O-or we can go to your house!! ..ah.. I mean, either house is fine, or if you just want to go to sleep-"

"I wanna go!"  Eiji cried.  "Um, nya, hoi, to Oishi's roof!"

Oishi laughed.  Eiji loved Oishi's laugh.  It was kind, open, honest.  It was everything that Oishi was.  It tasted even better than strawberries.

---~<3

The sun had set several hours ago, whisking away Eiji's beloved blue from the grip of the sky.  But that was alright.  Replacing it came the glittering lights of distant stars and planets.  

This sky was wonderful too.  For one, it's color always reminded him of Oishi - dark, gentle, like a thick blanket that wrapped around the world and through it's warmth sent them all to sleep.  Yeah, the same color as Oishi's hair.  He giggled, imagining that if Oishi's head was the sky, then his face was the Earth, and his body was the universe, and everything around him was infinity and far away.  Eiji lived in the universe, and that meant he lived in Oishi.  Nyeh?  There was something kinda weird about that.  He giggled to himself again.

The two of them had crawled up to the highest part of Oishi's roof - with the help of a ladder, of course, though Eiji had proclaimed he could make it up the large fir tree in Oishi's yard,  his partner had hurriedly insisted that they take the safest way using the extended metal ladder.  He had even had his mother come out to hold it and in case of emergency if someone fell.  Eiji pointed out that even if he did fall, he could easily land on his feet at that distance, but the wrinkles of concern across Oishi's brow had been matched by his mother who of course insisted as well.  

Now they sat side by side, eyes turned up into the star-lit infinity overhead.  Oishi had brought at a large cotton blanket, saying it would probably be cold out so late at night.   Eiji didn't feel cold at all, but he liked being snuggled under the same blanket as Oishi so he easily obliged.  Besides, he liked the blanket ~ it was covered in tiny brown bears holding tennis rackets, and every other one had a cartoon word bubble over it's head reading "Hello!" or "Good Morning!" or "Good Night!".  

"Nah, Eiji," said Oishi.  "are you alright?  Are you cold, or do you want something to eat?  I can ask Mom to get another blanket, or bring up some crackers.  Oh, I think we have strawberry daifuku, would you like that?"  Worry covered his ever gently visage and pushed away his smile.  But Oishi was always like that.

"Nn-n," Eiji shook his head rabidly from left to right.  "I'm good!  Ah, I'd like strawberry daifuku, but lets eat it later!  After the meteors!"  He didn't want Oishi to move from where he was under the blanket. 

"Alright, but is there something you'd like me to do?"

To do?  Eiji tilted his head to the side in thought.  If he had had a tail, then at that moment it would be wagging.  

"Mmmmm.... mmmm....." his eyebrows pressed together with thought.  "I'd like Oishi to.... to.... hm......."

Oishi chuckled.  "It's okay, we'll just wait here for the meteor shower, then."  He checked his watch.  "According to the article, we should be able to see something in a few moments..."

For what seemed like forever, they sat, maybe a half racket length apart, Oishi with his knees bent but legs mostly pressed out and his hands against the roof behind him to balance, and Eiji with his knees drawn closer to his chest and his arms forming a circle around his shins.  The night seemed peculiarly quiet, like the night before Christmas in that song, where not even mice were stirring.  Together they sat, as if anticipating all the grandiose presents that would surely be under the fir tree in the morning.

Then, almost unnoticeably, a tiny speck of light shifting rapidly amidst the stationary specks caught his attention.  It could not escape the vision of the best eyes in all of Seigaku.   

"Nyaaa!"  Eiji cried, "Oishi, there!"  But by the time he pointed to the speck of light, it was already gone.  But that didn't matter, because suddenly dozens and dozens of lights were traveling everywhere, and both the doubles pair gaped in awe at the celestial vision.  Eiji beamed, then turned and caught the look on Oishi's face.

Astonishing.  Now he gaped, not at the hundreds of stars that were raining down around them, but at the priceless image he beheld before him.  Oishi stood, with the sparkling sky around him, as if trying to call him back to the heavens where he actually belonged, an expression of pure fascination sculpted into his face, like that of a child who saw a rainbow for the first time in his life.  Eiji had never seen Oishi's face without any touch of worry, any blemish of concern or intense consideration for those around him.  This countenance, this Oishi, full of innocent life untainted by the weight of social responsibility, was completely new to acrobatic player.  This Oishi was truly, absolutely, golden.

"Eiji!"  His excited cry ripped through the red-head's mind, calling him back to the ground from which he had somehow departed.  "Make sure to make a wish!"

"O-oh!"  He had forgotten the most important thing one must do when he sees a shooting star!

Then....  what he wanted was.... what he wished for was....

He thought of strawberries, of teddy bears, of tennis, of blue skies, and everything he liked or had or wanted.  He thought of Oishi, looking at him with concern, then of Oishi, looking blissfully at the streams of light which rippled against the dark universe.

I want Oishi to...  I want him to.... no.   I just want Oishi.

As the sky poured down around them, Eiji felt in his heart something that had never been there before.  One tiny star had nestled in his chest, stinging and biting its way into the unknown depths of his emotions.  For the first time, he felt a little sad.

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Author's note: A little better than part 1, I hope.  ^^;  I decided I wanted Oishi and Eiji to switch off in who was narrating.  Though the whole thing still seems a little cliché... hopefully I'll be able to build up a little more angst! *will try really really really really really really hard* ^__^