Across the Round Table. Chapter 2 - Trials of Kikumaru Eiji

Fuji was dreaming of Tezuka walking a dog when his alarm went off the next morning. It sounded different today, like it was further away than usual, and instead of one alarm clock, maybe there was five. His head swirled as he tried to shut the noise. “Marie…. It seems that Aozu is still too strong for me…” he whispered to his bedside cactus as he gently clicked the alarm off. Last night, he had to drink a whole glass of Inui’s most horrible concoction to date, because he lost to Tezuka in a game they were playing. Fuji didn’t really regret loosing though; Tezuka was so, so very good. Why Tezuka even had that concoction with him in the first place was a mystery. Still, he would have to pay for this fever.

Fuji attempted to sit up, but the swirling in his head became more intense, and like a force it pushed him back into his pillow. “Impossible.. I really can’t get up today…”

He reached for his phone and scrolled down the phonebook to the name ‘Tezuka’, but hesitated to press the call button. "There’s no way I’m telling him", He thought. He scrolled to Oishi's name instead and made the call. It rang four times before Oishi picked up.

“Hello?” came a half-husky, half-groggy voice from the other line.

“Good morning, Oishi.” Damn, never knew he had such a sexy voice. “ Sorry to wake you so early.. It’s Fuji. I just want to tell you I’m taking the day off from school and practice..”

“Eh? Sure.. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I just ate something bad yesterday. I’ll come by after school if I can.”

“It’s ok, you don’t have to push yourself. I’ll inform Ryuzaki-sensei. You should rest well, Fuji.”

“Thanks, Oishi.”

“Are you sure you’re OK?”

“Yes Oishi, it isn’t anything to worry over. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

He hung up the phone, his eyes remaining close as new thoughts infested his mind; thoughts that involved Oishi’s morning voice and a certain red-headed friend of his.

Eiji! That’s right, he had to call Eiji too. He dialed Eiji’s home number and waited for someone to pick up.

“Hello, this is the Kikumaru household,” a voice at the end said, presumably one of Eiji’s sisters.

“Hello, may I speak to Eiji please?”

“Ah, sorry.. He just left. Who is this?”

“It’s Fuji. Ah… I was going to tell him not to wait for me. Does he always leave this early?”

“Oh, Fuji-kun! Yes, he usually takes a long route to school, that’s why he leaves so early..”

“I see.. Well ok then, thanks. Have a nice day.”

Fuji stayed lying on his side, wondering what the cheery red-head was up to every morning. Poor Eiji would be waiting for him. No way, I can’t just let him wait while I sit my ass in bed trying to get better over a stupid drink. Why doesn’t he have a cellphone? Just as he thought that, he realized his brain wasn’t doing the swirling thing as much. Slowly, he sat up and made his way to the bathroom for a quick shower. He pulled out some random trousers and put on a shirt with a sweater over, grabbed his cell and wallet and walked out of the house.

The fresh and cool morning air greeted him, as he stretched his arms above his head, taking a deep breath. He made his way to the street junction where Eiji would always be waiting for him, but found no one there. He drew a map in his mind, noting the possible places he could start searching. Down the street to the right was a playground. Further in was a path that he had never ventured. That would be a good place to start, he thought.

So with his light-headedness, he trudged along the street and finally found the playground. It was deserted, aside from a cat under the slide. He found the path, and followed it through sparse woodland. Further in he walked, the path curving though he could still see the start of the path through the trees. At the end of his walk, he came out to a familiar uphill path which he came to pass nearly every day on the way to school.

Thud. Thud.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Another familiarity in the form of sound came from ahead. He walked along the hill path, noting as the sound got louder and clearer, but he realized soon that it was coming from above. At some point where the sound was nearest, he looked up the side of the hill to where a landing formed, connected to Takadai Park. From where he was standing, he couldn’t see who was making the noise, so he climbed further uphill to make a cross to the said park. He felt like a stalker as he kept walking near the trees, coming closer to what looked like a big green container. Someone was hitting something at the other side of the container.

Suddenly, the thudding noises halted, and he heard a big sigh. Several moments later, a crimson mop of hair was visible at the top of the container. Surely enough, Fuji had found the person he was looking for. Eiji sat at the edge, looking out at the still-dark sky, where the light from the Sun had not yet bathed. It would be the ideal place to watch a sunset, but it was morning and the peeking sunrise behind him seemed to not interest him the slightest. They watched the last bright star disappear together, Fuji’s presence unknown to Eiji. He held out his right arm in front of him, palm outwards and whispered, “Oishi…”

That was the most Fuji could take, seeing his friend so unnecessarily beaten down. Apparently the red-head was as thick as ever, even after so many careless slip-ups from the rest, he had managed to take them all as jokes, mixed with his own. Fuji decided his friend needed a little blunt hammering. He walked over to the other side of the container and knocked on it, and with his angelic face, smiled up at the red-head.

Eiji noticed the intruder immediately, for a split second there was panic, until he identified the intruder as his perpetually smiling friend Fuji. In the several split seconds to come, he wondered whether he was dreaming, or if he had stayed there too long and Fuji had come to find him, but he quickly realized it was still too early. “Fuji?”

“Good morning. May I come up?”

Eiji gave him a hand and pulled him up to sit beside him. “What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you. I tried to call your home, but your sister said you’d left. I was going to tell you not to wait for me. So, is this where you always are every morning?” Fuji didn’t let Eiji cut in to question why he wasn’t to wait up, because he had something to tell Eiji and didn’t want any delays.

“Eh? Yeah… How did you find me?”

“Luck, I guess. And maybe the fact that you were calling out to someone helped my radar pick up something.”

“You really do have psychic blood!”

Fuji chuckled. “Psychic ability doesn’t run in blood, but gets passed around by proximity. ‘Catching the vibes,’ one would say.”

Eiji laughed at that, erasing the previous lost expression he had hanging on his eyes.

“But I don’t need psychic vibes to notice you’re troubled. Will you talk to me?”

“Can I really talk to you?” Eiji’s eyes fixed straight ahead on the starless sky, arranging his words in his mind. “I don’t want to weird you out or something…”

Mentally, Fuji rolled his eyes as he was physically unable to do so. Eiji really had no idea. “Yes Eiji, you can talk to me about anything at all.”

“Hmmm…” Eiji considered. “It’s about… me.”

Wow, okay maybe talking about Oishi straightaway isn’t his approach, Fuji thought. His friend was being really careful, even though it never came with his personality. “Yes, my friend?”

Eiji shifted his position to face Fuji and crossed his legs. “Well… do you think it’s weird? I mean… I like girls, right?”

“There is evidence that point to that, yes.”

“But what if I don’t only like girls? I mean, would that be weird?”

Fuji chuckled again. His friend could probably go on beating around the bush forever if he let him. “No, it wouldn’t be weird, Eiji. Likeness is universal.”

“You laughed! You already think I’m weird don’t you!!”

“Calm down Eiji, I don’t think that way. I just understand what you’re trying to say.”

Eiji looked hopefully at Fuji.

The genius spoke, “You’re worried that you’re bisexual, and you would weird the other members out if they knew?”

Eiji’s face flushed a pink hue as he cast his look down.

“Or rather, if a certain person found out, you think it would destroy your relationship?”

His face grew redder and he stared into a crack of paint.

“Eiji… It is true that you’re the only bisexual out of all the regulars. That much, I can vouch for.”

Eiji looked up, tears starting to singe his eyes.

“But Eiji…” Fuji kept his sincere smile and his steely eyes hidden as he tried to comfort his friend. “That’s only because every one else is gay.”