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Eiji the Cat

by Yoshikochan

DISCLAIMER:  I dis all claims!! Yes, no one should own anything!  All things should be freee!! .... but since they're not, I will let you know, Konomi-sensei owns everything, and I own nothing. Sadness!

NOTES:  Yes, I skipped a line.  I skipped a line!! ~__~  I skipped, "Hey Brownie, Forever With You."  It just didn't fit in very well, and it kind of comes up again, so it's okay.  This is, by the way, the last chapter (I'm sure you're all thinking, thank god!) so sorry if yoshikochan forced you to read this far. ^^;;

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Part 7: And we headed to the sky

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        Asked if I liked to fly

        Then you took me on a drive

        And we headed to the sky

--------------------------------  ~<3

He just couldn't seem to make himself smile.  The sides of his mouth would droop further and further down, becoming heavier with each slow second.  His heart felt damp, as if a muzzle forced it silent.  Something black was wrapped around any sort of happy emotions, something like the black sky he stared mournfully out at.  His eyes seemed to shift over the speckled stars, blurring them together and away until his vision could only see the darkness that he felt.

Oishi knew he shouldn't wallow in depression.  But it wouldn't go away.  Thinking over and over again about Eiji, about how they had yelled at each other, about what Eiji had said, about what he had failed to realize, his chest seemed to grow excruciatingly tight.  He felt like a failure, like he had somehow betrayed his partner by not understanding him.  Even now, he couldn't figure out what had made the redhead so jittery in the morning then so agonized in the afternoon.  

Jing-Jing-Jing.

Glancing at his clock, he wondered wearily who could possible be ringing the doorbell at one in the morning.  Then he realized he was probably the only one in his family still awake, so he tottered down the hallway, hoping to make it before a second ring came and woke up his parents.

Ding-Ju-Jing-Ding.

Too late.  He sighed and shook his head; he'd had a feeling a second jingle would come seconds within the first, since Eiji liked to play with the doorbell that made different rings each time you pressed it-

Eiji!  His breath suddenly rasped out in panic.  It- It can't be!

But a tiny star had reappeared in the vast darkness that he saw as the sky.  A tiny light of hope.

But Eiji was so mad at me...

But through the peephole he could already see his deepest wish was fidgeting nervously in the cold, arms crossed and hugging the body they belonged to.  One of the redhead's hands seemed to be carrying something, but Oishi couldn't tell what, though a bitterly comical flash that his partner was hiding a giant mallet to punish him with shifted swiftly through his imagination-

He opened the door.

"He-hey Eiji.  Come in,"  he added, trying to maintain his demeanor despite the cold that bit his hands and the heat that licked his cheeks...

But the redhead's feet didn't move.  Instead, Eiji deeply bowed his head, reddish locks tumbling over his face, making his expression impossible to see.  

"Oishi... sorry."

Sorry.

Could it be? 

Was he... forgiven?  

No.  Perhaps he'd only fallen asleep, and was dreaming that all he wanted to happen came true.  That Eiji would want to speak to me again.

Beneath his eyes the skin sunk in a little, begging for sleep.  His countenance was one of nervousness and discomfort, eyebrows knitted together and forehead wrinkling with stress.

Oishi doesn't look very happy, Eiji thought.

His thumbs seemed to find more joy in fidgeting with each other than in moving towards the warm house.  Uncertainty seemed to chain his legs and feet, making it impossible for him to move.

But Oishi likes the cheerful me... I have to try to be cheerful! 

He gathered up his courage and forced himself to take the first step.

. . . because it's all my fault.

One leg, and then the other, and then the other, until he finally made it inside the house.  Oishi closed the front door quietly behind him, facing away from the acrobat who also seemed incredibly preoccupied with undoing his shoes.

"... Oishi, really, I- I-"

"I-" began Oishi, also struggling to say the words they both were searching for-

"I'm sorry!"   

They said it both at once, in doubles pair unison, with the same tone of voice and the same timing.  Even their rising pitch and emphasize on the syllable 'sor' was the same.

"Oh, but that is-"  They both blushed furiously and looked down to the ground, since their words and voices still perfectly matched.

". . ."

Right now the night didn't seem silent at all - a high pitched ringing seemed to pierce through both of them, maintaining a constant electronic whine.

"I'm sorry, Oishi."  Eiji took the initiative, going towards the front in his favorite net play.

"I'm sorry too, Eiji."  Oishi was barely a step behind, supporting him and catching whatever the acrobat let slip through.

They didn't say what they were sorry about, or even if they had forgiven the other, or had merely forgotten.  Whatever had been said before had all been taken back, so it didn't matter anymore.  Or at least that's how they felt for the moment.

"Oishi, um, this..."  From behind his back Eiji pulled out a colorful gift bag, overflowing with light green tissue paper.  

Oishi blinked emptily, as if to say, but we already gave our apologies.

"Oh, this isn't a sorry, or anything!  It's a return gift for the strawberries."  His beaming smile and twinkling eyes held even more anticipation than the gift's receiver.

The raven head worked his hands inside, careful not to let too much of the jumbled up tissues fall, and pulled out...

"Jyajyan!"  Eiji swung his arms up in excitement, his face glowering brightly for the first time that night.  "Oishi and Eiji plushies purchased on Ebay!!"

Oishi stopped for a second, examining at the two dolls in his hands.  There was something... strange about the whole thing, but at the time he couldn't think about what it was, and he was just too happy that Eiji had accepted his apology.

Then a low rumble sent them both blinking.

"Ehehe," Blushing and scratched his head shyly, Eiji tried to hold down his stomach from making any more noise.  "I haven't eaten anything since breakfast, so my tummy's making fun of me."

Oishi smiled and led them to the kitchen, pulling open one of the dark wooden cabinets to get a plastic blue bowl with Disney characters lined around it.  Eiji had already picked out Honey Nut Cheerios amongst the cereals and readied milk and a spoon so they put them together for a make-shift snack.   

(A/N: This is for Shila!! ^^;; sorry to disappoint you if it's not so cute.)

While musingly eyeing his red-haired partner shovel heaps of circular bits so rapidly into his mouth he almost choked, Oishi rearranged some of the kitchen appliances and tidied up a little what his family had left after dinner, setting the two plushies above the refrigerator.  A strange relief was pouring over him, like warm water in the shower after a cold night.  He hadn't come any closer to understanding what had happened that day, but a small whisper said it didn't matter, that things would work themselves out.

A sigh of nostalgic amusement slipped out of his throat when he noticed the milk stains splashed all around Eiji's mouth and one tiny broken cheerio that'd missed it's mark and instead stuck itself a bit above the acrobat's chin.

Grabbing a napkin, he marked his partner's attention by saying, "Here" and pulled the redhead's face towards him by placing two fingers beneath his chin.  Eiji gave him a 'nya' face and lowered his eye lids a little but stayed obediently still as Oishi carefully wiped off the cereal piece and most of the milk.

"Nya, Oishi's always taking care of me like this.  So would you do this for anyone?"  A question asked so innocently.

Oishi missed or ignored any ulterior connotations.  "I guess I would.  But no one else eats so sloppy that they'd get food all over their face, so the only one who ever needs me to is Eiji."

"Oh."  Not sure how to deal with this answer, Eiji decided to just stay cheerful.  Pushing the chair back, he stood up, feeling he'd want to be standing for the next thing he had to say.

"Hey Oishi!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what I'm thinking?"

Oishi smiled and shook his head.

"Heehee," Eiji looked pleased with himself for some reason, winding his fingers together and smiling merrily.  "Of course not!  Oishi can't read thoughts, nya!"

He waved back and forth teasingly, his pupils looking off to the side in mock thought.  "Should I do it, should I do it, nya, should I say it?"

Oishi played along, folding his arms and tapping his foot in mock impatience.

"I love you."

. . .

An embracing silence curled around the night.

Oishi wasn't sure whether to be shocked, laughing, crying, or grabbing his partner right then and there and drawing him into a full on embrace...

"I love you, too."

H-how?!  How had he said it?  But the words had flowed from the raven head's mouth without any sort of hesitation or control.  They were just...honest.

Both stood a little too still, hearts pounding with uncertainty.   And then what... seemed to be on both of their minds.

"Hey Oishi, can we see your roof again?  I like your roof!"

"But Eiji, it's 2 o'clock in the morning, it's freezing cold and we might- ...oh whatever, I'll go get a blanket."

He dashed off to the hallway where the linens were kept, so his partner wouldn't see the furious blush that had burst across his face and neck.  He was so caught up in his own exuberant emotions that he didn't notice Eiji's entire upper body had turned red as well.  He was glad they were going outside where it was cold - no, probably freezing since it was so early in the morning.  But he needed to cool down.  Sorting past some pillow cases and towels, he pulled out the same teddy bear blanket they'd used before along with the new one his mom had bought over the weekend, patterned with child-drawn trees and houses and smiling suns wearing sunglasses.  

Outside, Eiji helped set up the ladder and they made their way up towards the roof's brown tiles.  As Oishi began arranging the blankets out to make them more comfortable, Eiji felt his kitty ears perk as he noticed his partner humming.

"Hmmm mm mm mm," the raven-head's gentle voice seemed to grace over his ear drums, bringing him a kind of peace he hadn't felt all day.  

After they'd settled in, sitting side by side with a blanket above and below, the chorus picked up.

"Oh, I know this song!" Eiji exclaimed, almost a little too loudly considering the rest of the city was asleep.  "My sister's always listening to it!"

"Oh?" Oishi's head shot up in surprise, like he hadn't even been aware of his own humming.

"Yeah yeah," the acrobat continued excitedly, "It's Brownie the Cat, by um... The Bulgant..."

Oishi sweatdropped. "The Brilliant Green."

"Oh yeah, heehee, nya!"  Eiji's cheerful eyes brushed off the mistake.  "Lessee... it goes...

~ Never knew someone like you ~

~ With your eyes you make me smile ~

~ If you leave me I'll be blue ~

Oishi began to sing as well, adding his deep melodious voice to Eiji's high pitched one.

~ Let me stay here by your side ~

~ You always give me something new ~

Oishi paused, not sure of how the next part went, but his partner merrily went on...

~ Come, with me, Kiss me, like a gentle memory ~

~ Touch me, follow me, let me feel your love so sweet ~

Eiji paused, feeling embarrassed when he sudden noticing he was singing solo.  But Oishi was back on track, so he picked up the next part -

~ Hey Brownie, forever with me ~

~ You know I love you When you look up at me With your eyes of green ~

At the last part, he couldn't help but look up into his partner's emerald eyes, feeling the lyrics penetrate not only the air but their hearts and minds as well.  For him, Eiji was indeed the cat from the song, but he was also a young energetic boy who liked to bounce and be cheerful and who also worried and considered his problems with depth.  Any part of Eiji he would love and accept, forever...

"Hey Oishi, do you think that things are simple?"

"Huh?"

"Things.  Like, life and stuff."

"Hm....I'm not sure.  I don't think that things are really all that complicated...but I'm not sure they're all that simple, either."

"Oh."

"Well I guess... I mean...does it matter?"

"...  Oh, I guess it doesn't."

Eiji turned to look more closely at his doubles partner, tracing the lining of his shirt's fabric up to the round rimmed collar, then eyeing the simmering skin across his color bones, dark brown in the night's lack of light.

"I guess it doesn't matter.  If we can't understand each other, if we can't read each other's thoughts... we do that in tennis, absolute coordination and all, but we don't have to do that in the rest of life right?"

Oishi smiled, slipping his arm around the redhead's shoulder, drawing him closer until his head drooped wearily against the raven head's chest. 

"Yeah.  Just be here next to me, and I'll be happy.  Even when we fight, even when we get so nervous it's hard for us to talk to each other, we'll work it out, at our own pace.  Your mind is yours, and my mind is mine, but that doesn't matter; we can still be in love."

"Nya..." Eij's voice sounded so sleepy, mellowing down to a whisper.  "Oishi's so lovey dovey..." it trailed away into a gentle rhythm of breathing.

Eiji's dreams were full of falling stars, but he didn't wish on even one of them.  All his wishes had already been granted.

---~<3

"Eiji!  Eiji!"  Shooting his eyes open wondrously, the redhead hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep.  Eiji tried to pull himself up, but found a gently arm pulling against him.  Suddenly he noticed that he was completely snuggled against a chest and lap belonging to Oishi, who actually had both arms wrapped protectively around him.  Warmth pilled up beneath the thick cotton blanket, and he could feel a faint crystalline light striking against his eyes and cheeks.

His raven haired partner peered down at him with an amused smile, shaking him gently.  "The sun is rising!"

Green pupils turned out towards the eastern horizon, a clear view above the rooftops revealing the shimmering rays of gold which were driving all sorrows away.  Even the national-level Golden Pair could not possibly outshine the celestial glory that was pouring out before them, calling majestically for the start of the day.

Eiji realized they must have spent the rest of the night up there, and hoped Oishi wasn't uncomfortable.  He knew he probably should be feeling pretty cramped himself, having fallen asleep on a roof, but tucked next to the person he trusted most he felt warm and relaxed.

Together they watched as Apollo tugged his chariot up into the clear blue sky, and the sun covered everything in their world, the school, the cafe, the shops, the tennis courts, Oishi's roof - everything glistened with morning light.

"Hey, Oishi," his sleepy voice seemed almost lullabyish, and he nuzzled face back onto his partner's shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go together."

"Okay.  Where are we going?"

"Everywhere."

"Oh?"

"Anywhere.  Nowhere."

Oishi smiled, and nuzzled his lips through course red hair, brushing them softly across Eiji's creamy colored forehead.  "Okay."

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Author's note:  THE END ~<3     Kyaa!! Is what I'd like to say.  ^^;;  Aaa ending is really hard.  I promise in all my future stories I'll have the ending better planned out!  Maybe.

What I have to say after writing my first fanfiction:  www . dictionary . com is god.  yay for thesaurus! 

Things I should have talked about that I didn't really: Oishi mentions Ryuuzaki-sensei being sick in part 5.  She was actually coughing and stuff during part 4, but Eiji was too busy being nervous to notice (and I couldn't figure out a way to slip it in).  Also Tezuka and Fuji's *d*a*t*e* ^__^  that they were on when they ran into Oishi.  sniff, I wanna talk more about their date... and the slight InuKai, those two deserve more.  Or poor Taka-san, he makes me really sad.  

As for the gift, Eiji mentions in part 6 he was saving it for April - i.e. he was going to give it to Oishi as a birthday present. 

Review kudasai!!  I do have plans for another story, "Silence", but it will be mystery/angst.  Please continue to read my works in the future!  ^^;; Hopefully I will improve and not be too disappointing.

lil'mi1: I'm so stoked you were the first one to review my fanfiction!!  Your fics inspired me, so I really really hope you enjoyed it.  I look forward to the end of Impossible Fantasy!  ^^;; I hope your homework was okay...

ltifal: Eiji and Oishi really are sweet huh?  I guess that's why I wrote about them first.  Though in the end they have to fight against themselves to be together. . .

drifting wanderer: Thanks, I will.

Artemis Obscure: Boba is great!  Bubble tea is such a cute name for it.  Makes me want to go drink some right now.  

Shade25: I'm glad I made you laugh!  Hehehe, if I did that, my mom would send me off to do chores for the rest of the day. . . sniff.

animedreams4ever:  Yay I'm happy!  I hope you still feel that way at the end.

SadistFujiFan: So was it happy?  Sad?  Bittersweet?  I like happy endings too!  But endings are hard.

ShiroiFuji: I love EijixOishi too!  Of course Fuji is my favorite, but he's too angsty for my poor little writing skills.

Litoswtazn: Thanks! I hope I didn't disappoint you too much with the ending.

Ki-ku-maru BEAM: I tricked you~! Nyahahaha

ILLK: Hehe, I like angst too! ^^;; And yet I wrote so much fluff... okay I promise in the future I'll write all angst! ... or extreme comedy.  Yup, I made Oishi cry!!  Bad me!

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Owari