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“Have you ever kissed anyone before, buchou?” asked Echizen as he turned to the vending machine and picked out his favorite grape flavored ponta. Tezuka was startled with the seemingly random question. They had just finished playing a game in the local park as a doubles pair. It was a small tournament, just for the day, and they had obviously won.
It had been an interesting match for sure. They had played singles for so long that they had reached quite the pinnacle of their game, already having won several grand slams between them. They had effectively retired from the singles tournaments and wanted to try their hand at playing doubles.
It was something they had both agreed to do individually and at a chance meeting they met up again in Japan. They had literally crashed into one another as Echizen was running to catch his train and Tezuka had been turning a corner. Instead of bothering with his train, Echizen figured his interview with a local paper could be rescheduled and would rather spend his time with Tezuka instead, reconnecting and commiserating over their past games.
They had kept in touch, not a lot, but enough that their chance meeting led them to a nearby cafe and their conversation was not stagnant.
Soon their talk turned to their careers and how they wanted to do something different with their tennis. It snowballed into the idea of doubles, and since they always had a close affinity to each other, why not pair up?
And that was how it all began. They entered a few tournaments, but not before spending hours together perfecting their moves. They were clumsy at first, of course. Neither were used to sharing the court, even if a doubles court was wider than singles. Both recalled how terrible they had been at doubles before. Ah-Un was a terrible strategy and Echizen wasn’t about to sit at the sidelines while Tezuka used the Pinnacle of Hard Work.
So that was how it all began. Practicing had been imperative, of course and neither of them liked losing. When one first met Tezuka they were blindsided by his serious attitude and calm manner, but Tezuka was fiercely competitive and would go great lengths to win. One only had to recall his past matches that had cost him his shoulder and a few months of rehab followed by another stint at rehab for his elbow.
Echizen on the other hand also hated to lose, but did not put such a heavy burden on himself. When he had first joined Seigaku he didn’t like to lose out of pride, then he didn’t want to lose since he wanted to advance to the tournament finals with his team, but over time he learned that to lose was to get better. Both his father and Tezuka had instilled that within him.
Regardless of that change in mindset, Echizen would only allow himself to lose if he knew he was going to win the following time. The loss would not remain unavenged for long.
Due to the intense passion these both players held, it was no wonder that they spent every free moment they could with one another, perfecting their play style and game.
They were no Golden Pair , far from it since the idea of synchro was completely ludicrous at their skill level, but they weren’t bad either and were breezing past the early rounds. Practicing with one another and talking strategy could only take them so far - they had to have live practice. There weren’t many people they could play against as a doubles pair in a beginner setting so a local tournament seemed like the best idea.
Tezuka completely bypassed the question. “You don’t have to call me ‘buchou’ anymore, Echizen,” Tezuka repeated. It was something he said at least once whenever he met up with the shorter man, but Echizen was obstinate about the old name. Despite no longer being able to be called chibi , Echizen still wasn’t as tall as Tezuka.
Echizen let out a soft hum as he opened the can of ponta and took a big swig of the carbonated drink. He locked eyes with Tezuka as he removed the can from his mouth.
“How about kissing someone who tastes like grape ponta, buchou?” asked Echizen boldly.Tezuka’s eyes flared, rising to the bait. He leaned over, grabbed Echizen’s shoulder and pulled the raven-haired man to him.
A short kiss later, Tezuka replied, “Now I have.”
Echizen licked his lips, pleased with himself.
That was one small step toward forming a great doubles pair - perfect .