Eiji the Cat

by Yoshikochan

DISCLAIMER: I own two cats!  But neither one is Eiji.  I own fish, too, like Oishi, but I don't own him.  =(  Actually, I don't own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.  *sniff* 

NOTES: We're back to Oishi!  The time has moved forward again, and we're past the St. Rudolf matches.  The takes place right after the matches, and the first dialogue is from the end of episode 36.  Oh yeah, and I know Eiji's eyes are blue - but for this fic, they're green.  So there.

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Part 3: Here by your side

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        Never knew someone like you

        With your eyes you make me smile

        If you leave me I'll be blue

        Let me stay here by your side

--------------------------------  ~<3

"Oishi, this will be our last time here." 

Eiji looked over at him and they both smiled.  "We'll win all the matches from now and go on!"

"Go on to where?"  Oishi asked, standing.  There was something...

"Isn't it obvious?  Prefecturals, Kantou regional, and then of course the Nationals! Number One!!"  Both the red-head's arms waved excitingly in the air, his voice rising with charged anticipation.

Something was there, but Oishi couldn't tell what it was.

"Yay!  As an apology for having to sleep during the match, let's go get boba!"   (A/N: boba = bubble tea, tapioca balls)

Without waiting for an acknowledging reply, he bounded towards the end of the large green bin they were standing upon, then turned as if to walk backwards.  Then suddenly his foot caught the metal edge and he started to fall back-

"Eiji!"

-and then spun 360 degrees in a perfect Olympian gesture, to land tartly on his feet.  His knees untucked and he stood gallantly, both arms poised out like a crane.  "Ten!" he declared.

Oishi sighed, his hand gripping at his overburdened chest.  He quickly regained his composer, and applauded the show-off.  Eiji's antics always worried him, but they also made him smile.

"Nya!  And the fee for the show is, Oishi gets to treat!"

Mouth gaping, he tried to spark a protest, but was met by 'But Momo and Echizen made me use up all my money on burgers!' so out of necessity he had to agree.  Oh well, he felt like something cool anyways, and despite their loss Seigaku's team had won overall, so the day deserved a little celebration.  

---~<3

The Boba & Tea Pavilion was unusually busy, with a small squad of youngsters dashing about like tiny imitation ninjas on a mission to make a mess.  Oishi found himself helping the store owner persuade them to continue the game outside so that they could order.  He stared longingly at his wallet, wondering exactly how their going out was 'an apology'.  In the meantime, Eiji somehow found the patience to hold still for the few minutes it took to mix the flavors.

"Nyah?!  What's this?!"  He stuck out his tongue, more in surprise than disgust.

"What's wrong?" Oishi asked, sucking up spongy black pearls along with honey-laced milk tea.  As the cold, sweet liquid slightly stung the back of his mouth and throat, he realized how exhausted he still was from today's match.  That was to be expected, though, considering how he'd had to play entirely by himself for so many minutes.

"Well, since Oishi ordered Honey, I thought I'd try it too, so I asked for Honey Dew cause I thought it might be more special, but the master got my order wrong!  This tastes like melon!"

Oishi wasn't sure whether to be shocked or amused.  

"Oh!  But I like melon too, so it's okay!  It just wasn't what I expected."

Laughter finally broke through his restraints, and he turned his head away so his partner wouldn't think he was making fun of him.  It was mean to tease people, after all.

Yes, there was definitely something, but he wasn't sure what it was.

It would have bothered him, but Eiji was being so bouncy that he was bothered more with the worry that the red-head would bounce into the street and get hit by a car.  Eiji was the type who'd come across an almost-empty road, then wait for the only car coming down it to almost reach his crossing spot, then suddenly dash across just to prove he could make it first.  The way that cats did.  Oishi shivered at the thought of road kill. 

His thoughts began to tangent further and further away from the road they strolled on.  If such a thing were to happen, if Eiji were to die... no, somehow, he just couldn't picture it.  It just couldn't happen.  Simply the prospect made him cringingly sad.

Outside Eiji had taken up arms with the elementary kids still running amok.  Oishi thought it was awfully late for them to be out by themselves, and looked around for a supervising adult.  His partner in tennis seemed to have transformed into a partner in crime, fitting in well with the small ones as if his mentality was at their level.  They were pulling their straws in and out of the plastic-covered cups with their fingers, as if to trap something on the tips.

"Eiji, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm teaching them how to shoot boba at cars!"  Eiji beamed.

"Eiji!" Oishi's mouth and eyes widened with horror.  "That's not very nice!!  You could damage the vehicles!  And you certainly shouldn't teach that to children!"

"Nyeeeeh, but that's what you do with boba.  I mean, otherwise it gets in the way of the drink!  You don't want me to choke, right Oishi?"

"Eiji."  His head began to feel an intense pressure.  He sighed, then pulled himself together and spent the next ten minutes lecturing the children on proper behavior and social laws then ordered them all to go home.

Eiji pouted sadly at the departure of his new friends.  "Nyah, and I was trying so hard to turn them into respectable adults."

Again, the raven head let out a sigh as they too started out for home.  Eiji was always like that, bouncy, playful, thoughtless.  For as long as he had known him, the other had never let anything bring him down, not for too long, anyways.   He was like a stray cat in a world full of cages, the energetic, sky-bound partner that he had chosen to play tennis with.  Oishi had never met anyone like him.  

Maybe that was why he worried so much, why he always took the time to correct the acrobat and look after any of his messes, somehow never loosing patience.  No matter what Eiji did, Oishi could always forgive him with a smile, the moment he saw those clear straightforward eyes glancing at him.

He didn't want the ever buoyant red head to be tied down by anything; so he had decided to take all the ropes of social requirement and physical boundary and tie them to himself.  Then Eiji could float up above the buildings, without ever having to worry that someone would shoot him down.  He would never lose his smile, he would never age and grow old, he would never even lose at his beloved tennis, not truly lose.  Maybe he would loose in terms of points and games, but his spirit would always bounce back, the victor over all miseries.

"Eiji, I... never mind."

Eiji looked up at him questioningly, his large green eyes shimmering with youthfulness, then continued trotting on.   Oishi recalled what he had once read in a manga, a line describing a particular cat's green eyes as precious emeralds, glittering from the depths of a great desert.  But Eiji's eyes weren't anything like that.  They weren't dry like a desert, or cold like a gem; they were bright, playful, full of sunlight and glory.  Only by looking at them he felt as if he had surpassed even the most innate faults of human nature.  He loved Eiji's eyes.

He breathed out deeply, a frosty air forming in reaction.  That was it.  That was the thing dangling on the edge of his mind, prancing through the gray matter and tickling his normal fears into something surreal.  He loved Eiji.

He smiled, watching as the one held his heart skipped merrily on without him.

"Oishi...?"  Eiji turned, suddenly noticing his doubles partner had not followed him.

Oishi then gave his truest, most heart warming smile, as he once again beheld the eyes of his beloved.  He felt comfortable giving away his heart to them.  Even if Eiji never realized, even if he never returned his feelings, it wouldn't matter.  Oishi was just happy to be next to him.

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Author's note: Still a lot of fluff.  I swear a plot is coming! ^__^  Sort of.

As for the boba, yeah, my friends and I are boba fanatics.  I'm kind of over it now, though.  I got the boba blowing idea from them.  ^^;;   As for the Honey Dew... that's a kind of melon, but when I first tried it I got caught in the same thing (I thought it would taste like honey).  It was a big shock.  Then I got laughed at. -__-;