Ficlet Series (Tenipuri)

I'm Not a Crybaby Anymore

This wasn't good, not good at all. Even going at top speed on his bike it would take him ten minutes to get there, and for some reason there were a lot of pedestrians out today. As he swerved between them, avoiding kids and stray toys, he thought, it's always the days you need to be somewhere that everything seems to slow you down. If only he hadn't stayed so long at Taka's place, but he and Echizen had gotten into that eating competition, and Kikumura had been gracious enough to treat. Arai would understand, right, he was only... Momo glanced down at his watch for a second, nearly hit a squirrel while doing so.

Dammit. He was over an hour late. He sped up, even if he did feel a cramp in his leg, and when he got to the park he practically jumped off his bike. It coasted forward a little before plopping down on its side, but Momo was already running up the steps. When he reached the top he was pretty tired from all the effort he had put into actually getting there, and had to stop a moment to catch his breath, resting his hands on his knees.

He looked up for a second, long enough to catch that familiar figure in the periphery of his vision. His back was to him, but the longish hair and the Seigaku uniform was enough to give it away, and it looked like he was stuffing his tennis racket into his bag. Rather violently too, and Momo figured he was probably mad.

"Oi!" Momo jogged towards the other boy, who didn't even turn to look at him. "Oi, Arai, I'm here."

Definitely mad, Momo thought, as Arai slung his bag over his shoulder and walked off.

"Hey." Momo jogged up and stumbled into step beside the other boy. "I said I'm here."

"What, an hour late?" Arai was frowning, an expression he wore quite often these days. It was, Momo supposed, a natural progression from the pout he always wore in grade school. "I've got stuff to do."

"Like what, tormenting first years?" Momo joked, laughter cut short as Arai sent a heated glare his way. "So... yeah. Okay. I'll walk home with you."

"Don't bother. You obviously have better things to do with your time."

"I'm sorry about that, really sorry." Momo rubbed at the back of his head and sighed, frustrated. "I didn't mean to be late."

Arai didn't say anything, so Momo contented himself to walking in silence alongside the other boy. Really, things had been so much simpler when they were just elementary school students. Momo remembered climbing on jungle gyms, trying to play tennis with rackets that were too large for them, playing laser tag at birthday parties. Arai was never good at it, and always cried when he came in last place, but he had been so cute that it hadn't mattered. Yeah, Arai used to be a spoiled crybaby, but Momo didn't mind being there to wipe away his tears. Besides, that Arai was much preferred to the jerk he had somehow become now.

"Hey." Momo tried again, wrapping his fingers around Arai's wrist.

"Why don't you just fuck off?" Arai grumbled, yanking his hand away.

Really, not cute at all.

"Hey, remember when we were in elementary school?" Momo was nothing if not persistent. More like insanely irritating, some one like Kaidoh would correct. "Your hair was long then too, and your eyes were so big and round, I thought you were a girl when I first saw you."

"Shut up."

Okay, so nostalgia was not going to work. Momo sighed. "Geez, I already said I'm sorry. What more do you want me to do? I'll do it, you know."

Arai scowled at him. "Maybe be on time when we're supposed to meet each other?"

"Okay. Once again, sorry." This was starting to try on Momo's nerves. "Look, I'll help you with your backhand some other time."

"Whatever."

Momo gritted his teeth. Arai was always so... difficult. He would have just left right then and there if he didn't feel so responsible for Arai's foul mood. Yeah, he was feeling a little guilty, but what more could he do but apologize? "What about tomorrow? I can meet you tomorrow, whenever you want."

"It doesn't even matter any more," Arai replied, and Momo was a little surprised to hear his voice so soft. What happened to all the anger? "Don't worry about it."

"But it's important to you."

"Yeah, and it's obviously not to you."

Momo blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Arai shrugged before turning his head away, so that whatever was written on his facial expressions, Momo couldn't read it. "Wouldn't you rather hang out with the other regulars?"

Why did the way Arai say that make him feel so guilty? Momo looked down at his feet, counting his steps. Thirteen footsteps, three large cracks in the sidewalk, and he still wasn't sure what to say. "That doesn't have anything to do with this."

"So what were you doing to make you late?"

"That doesn't matter," Momo replied, a little too quickly.

Arai turned to glare at him, and Momo looked back down at his feet. "Fine."

Ten footsteps, and Momo realized his shoes were pretty scuffed up. "Are you jealous? That I'm a regular?"

"You're such an idiot," Arai muttered, and increased his walking pace.

"Hey." Momo stumbled a little, but caught up, and this time when he reached for Arai's wrist he made sure he was holding on nice and tight before he pulled the other boy to the side. They were in some alleyway now, narrow and fairly private, and Momo made sure Arai wasn't going to bolt before he let go. "What's up with you?"

Arai leaned against the wall and rubbed at his wrists, eyebrows furrowed and eyes lidded. There was a little bit of a pout in his frown now though, and for a moment Momo saw the old Arai in him.

"Hey," he said again, softer this time, "what's wrong?"

Arai looked off to the side, features still a little shuttered. "So you're a regular, and I'm not, and maybe I am a little jealous but really I'm fine with it." He turned to look Momo in the eyes, expression challenging. "That okay with you?"

"Yeah. Then why the attitude? Why the 'hang out with the other regulars' bit?"

"Attitude?" Arai shrugged his shoulders and looked down. "I wasn't... it's just the truth, right? Since you've become a regular all you've done is spend time with them. And now that first year brat's here, and you're always off doing things with him all the time."

If there was any jealousy in the words 'first year brat', Momo was too oblivious to notice it.

"You mean Echizen?" Momo scratched the side of his head. It was true he spent a lot of time with the first year. The regulars already spent so much time together, and he got along really well with Echizen, so it seemed only natural for them to hang out after practices and club activities. "But you have your own friends."

"Yeah." Arai pushed himself off the wall, shouldered his bag. "So it's fine, right? Still, I figure the times we do hang out, you could care enough to be on time. I was there ten minutes early, you know."

"Geez... now you're just trying to make me feel bad."

Arai shrugged again. "Are you done? Can I go home now?"

"Yeah. Sure." Momo watched as Arai turned and walked away, stumbling into step behind him. They walked home in silence, Momo thinking that he had really screwed this up. Soon enough they were at the intersection where their paths home diverged, and despite his current antagonistic mood towards Momo, Arai still waited for him to say goodbye.

Momo shuffled from foot to foot, thinking of what to say while Arai seemed to glare at him.

"So... The thing is..." Momo shook his head a little, as if it could be cleared of the silly little useless thoughts floating around in it. "It's not like I don't want to spend time with you, too."

Arai raised an eyebrow.

"I like being with you, I always have," Momo continued, flushing a little, "so I'm sorry. We're friends, right?"

Arai still looked dubious, but Momo could see the capitulation in his expression before he even said anything. "Yeah. We're friends."

Momo smiled and knocked his fist against Arai's. A friendly type of handshake. "Hey, remember what I used to do when you were being a crybaby?"

Arai's face turned a bright red, remembering.

"I'm not a crybaby any more," he muttered.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to do it anyway." Momo leaned forward, watching as Arai closed his eyes, and pressed a kiss against his lips. Arai's lips were always just a little bit chapped for some reason, but Momo never minded. He drew back, smirking a little as Arai opened his eyes again.

Arai frowned upon seeing Momo's expression. "Smug doesn't suit you."

Momo's smirk grew a little bit. "See you tomorrow?"

Arai sighed and turned, continuing his walk home.

"Noon," he called out, not even turning his head. "If you're late, there will be hell to pay."

"Yeah, yeah." Momo turned and started on his own walk. It wasn't until later that night, when he was snuggled up in his blankets and about to fall asleep, that he realized he had forgotten his bike on the grass at the park.

.end.