Current mood:	accomplished
Current music:	Between--Vienna Teng
Entry tags:	100_themes, golden pair, prince of tennis

Fic: According to Plan
Title: According to Plan
Author: fairymage
Rating: PG-13 (because Fuji is DIRTY)
Community: 100_themes
Themes: #56-Chain, #91-Crown
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Oishi/Eiji


It was a long, and complicated, very complicated plan—and he knew it.

Everyone reassured him, though, that it was a good plan, and that Oishi would love it, and they would all help him.

Well, that was mostly Taka-san. Ochibi stood around, Tezuka said nothing, Fuji and Momo made fun of him (in different ways, of course), Kaidou patiently tried to keep track of Eiji’s flurried movements, and Inui scribbled in his notebook.

“Fuji, you’ll help me, right?” Eiji pleaded with his best friend. He knew that Fuji would, that he’d get Tezuka to help control everyone even, but right now his mind was so frazzled that he needed the reassurance.

Fuji just smiled, and though anyone else would have been thoroughly disturbed to be smiled at in such a manner, Eiji was able to breathe a sigh of relief afterward.

The idea was to somehow, and via any means necessary, force Oishi to stop at Eiji’s house after school. The Seigaku regulars were to be stationed at strategic locations around school and on the route from school to Eiji’s house to convince him.

Most of the team wondered why Eiji didn’t just invite Oishi over and simplify everything. Fuji was amused by Eiji’s overlooking of this detail, Inui was busy examining Kikumaru’s “anxious” antics, and Tezuka seemed to think that it was just the part of Kikumaru that loved a challenge. Fuji and Inui could have told him otherwise, but it wasn’t necessary.

Momo just wanted to make sure he got a free meal out of the deal.

In any case, Eiji spent the entire day before “briefing” them on their “missions.” He fell asleep at his desk, surrounded by the mess of planning papers with diagrams of the school and the surrounding streets and his unfinished math homework.

Much to his dismay, the first thing he had to do the next morning after tennis practice was sheepishly ask Oishi for help with the blank problems.

“Of course,” Oishi soothed, seeing that Eiji really was troubled by his unfinished homework. Patiently he worked his doubles partner through a couple examples, then passed his own homework over. Eiji seemed different, distracted, and so Oishi though better of chiding him and making him finish the work on his own.

Throughout the day Eiji checked in with his “deputies,” dashing off, leaving Oishi alone and confused, in order to make sure that they understood the importance of their mission and just in case he came up with any last-minute changes of plan (he didn’t, though it was mostly because of Fuji’s insistence that everything was fine more than anything else).

When Eiji took off to confer with Taka-san for the third time in two hours, Oishi leaned over to Tezuka’s desk and asked if he knew what was going on with Eiji.

“Kikumaru is being Kikumaru,” was all Tezuka would say.

After school Eiji dashed out of the classroom uttering a hurried good-bye to Oishi, making sure to leave his literature book conspicuously on his desk so that Oishi would have to follow him home. Then he dashed outside to finalize plans with the kohais, leaving Oishi and his fellow third-years behind.

As Oishi carefully set the final folder in his bag, he noticed the textbook on Eiji’s desk, covered in a new neon pink book cover. Frowning, he picked up the book and slid it into his own bag, mumbling something about taking it to Eiji over the weekend, since they didn’t have any literature homework.

“You should probably take it today,” Fuji suggested casually, coming up behind him with Tezuka.

“But why? We don't have any homework, and I was planning on going to Eiji’s tomorrow to study—“

“Eiji will miss his book cover.” The smile on Fuji’s face worried Oishi, but he didn’t say anything.

“Um… er… why? It’s just a book cover, albeit a new one.”

Fuji’s predatory grin only widened. “Well, you see… Eiji uses it for his private pleasures.”

If Oishi hadn’t been so concerned about the color of his face, he might have laughed at the poorly contained, horrified expression on Tezuka’s. As it was, Oishi could barely stammer out a response as he grabbed his bag and rushed out the door, leaving a smirking Fuji and a scowling Tezuka behind.

Outside the school he ran into Momo and Echizen, sitting casually on the steps.

“Oi, Oishi-sempai!” Momo called. He opened his mouth to start the long, elaborate story Eiji had directed him to give, but was rudely interrupted by his kohai.

“Go to Kikumaru-senpai’s house,” he ordered boredly, staring at the street.

“Um…”

“Yeah, what he said,” Momo said, laughing nervously and scratching the back of his head.

As he walked past them, certain he was still a frightening shade of red, he heard Momo whisper, “Oi, are you sure that’s okay?” and Echizen respond, “Oishi-senpai’s not stupid, you know.”

He was accosted by Kawamura walking out of a store, holding a bundle of market bags. “Ah, Oishi, I have to drop by Kikumaru’s house to drop off some snacks I bought for him. Would you like to join me?” By now Fuji’s seemingly casual comment was nearly forgotten, so Oishi was able to agree with only a slight flush of his cheeks.

Besides, he was beginning to have a good idea of what was going on.

They hadn’t gone very far when they ran into Kaidou, who, when he saw them, stopped staring intently at a spot in the sky and pointed them towards Eiji’s house like a weathervane. Nodding curtly, very business-like, they continued on.

Kawamura must have noticed Oishi attempting to contain his smile and laughter, because he smiled apologetically. “Ne… Kikumaru… he’s very determined, once he’s got his mind set on something.”

“I know,” Oishi agreed with a smile.

They arrived at Eiji’s house without further incident, to find Inui leaning against the door scribbling on a clipboard. “There’s an 89% chance that Fuji said something scandalous to you, a 100% chance that Tezuka’s sensibilities were surprised by it even though they shouldn’t be, a 93% chance that Echizen ignored Kikumaru’s directions, and a 98% chance that you’ve figured out what’s going on.” He did not need to elaborate on the probability that he was correct.

“Um, so, do you want to open the door? Or should I?” Kawamura asked nervously.

Oishi smiled. “Who was supposed to open it?”

“I was. You were supposed to walk in, and—“ here Inui flipped through the papers on his clipboard, though Oishi suspected he didn’t need to “—then Kikumaru would give his usual ‘~nya!’ greeting, glomp you, plop the birthday crown on your head—his words, not mine—and then all the regulars were supposed to come in and applaud. And I’m sure there’s something about cake, but you should ask Kawamura about that.”

“All right. We should probably go according to plan, after all.”