Charmed Number
by Tenshi Forgotten

Love… wasn't quite as easy to deal with as he'd always thought it would be. He'd always had the idea that if he ever fell in love, it would be with some girl who he could marry and live with. Simple as that. Except that wasn't what was going to happen, because he hadn't fallen in love with 'just some girl'.

He'd fallen in love with someone he doubted he could ever have.

Ohtori Choutarou.

Choutarou wasn't exactly what most people would think of as Shishido's "type", but maybe that was the reason he fell in love with him. Shishido had had so many girlfriends and boyfriends he couldn't really remember them all. But… None of them had smiled just like Choutarou did. None of them had the laugh that Choutarou had. None of them were quite as playful in that Choutarou way that Choutarou was.

None of them were quite as perfect as Choutarou was.

But that was just it. Choutarou was so perfect, how could he ever even think of Shishido, an unruly boy who often lost his temper, the same way Shishido thought of him? It was probably impossible to even think it was okay to dream about it.

Choutarou was handsome. Choutarou was smart. Choutarou was rich. Choutarou was talented. Choutarou was kind. Choutarou was sweet. Choutarou was friendly. Choutarou was… just so goddamn perfect Shishido wanted to jump him every time he saw him. (Well, maybe not every time but you get the point.)

Shishido would occasionally attempt to confess to Choutarou, ready to just get it out before it swallowed him whole. Only, the words always stuck in his throat. Eight out of nine times, he hadn't been able to say the words. And the ninth time? Choutarou thought he'd been talking about how well they played tennis together. Shishido had wanted to crawl under a rock and never come back out after that.

Maybe he could try again though. The tenth time? Damn, at least he knew Choutarou wasn't going to get mad at him or anything. He was just too nice to do that. (Shishido had witnessed more than one confession scene towards Choutarou in his school career.)

He figured it would be better if it was out in the open. That way he wouldn't always have to freeze up and watch what he did when Choutarou gave him those little hugs he was so fond of. Choutarou wouldn't do it anymore, after all, knowing exactly how Shishido felt about them, him.

"Shishido-san!" He snapped out of his thoughts as Choutarou ran up from behind him. That was funny, he'd been sure Choutarou had some sort of orchestra practice thing he had to attend…

Choutarou seemed to know what he was thinking since he immediately spouted into an explanation. "Practice got cancelled because Sensei got sick rather suddenly."

"Ah." They could always walk to the transit station together, both of them taking different buses once they got there. Shishido had been to Choutarou's house once and had been amazed that his doubles partner practically lived in an Emperor's palace. Seriously, that place was huge.

"Shishido-san… What are you doing today?" He was staring at the ground, probably blushing the hell out of himself for some reason.

"Going home, watching TV, probably." His mom and brother had gone to Hiroshima to visit his Uncle. He, of course, hadn't been able to go because of the upcoming exams. Not that he was really studying all that much for them anyway.

"Do you… think… maybe… I could…" Oh yeah, Choutarou was blushing. Shishido could tell just from the stumbling words.

"What?"

"Can I go with you? I've never been to your house and I'd really like to go because we're doubles partners and friends and everything and well I was thinking I really should-"

"Choutarou!" Shishido yelled at him, getting him to stop rambling on about whatever he was saying.

"… Sorry, Shishido-san."

"Sure."

"Huh?"

Shishido looked at him, "I said you can come over. Just… it's not a mansion like your place."

"Shishido-san…" Oh, yep. Choutarou was smiling like a kid when it got chocolate.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Now quit askin' before I change my mind."

"Hai!"

Choutarou was smiling the whole way to the bus stop, and then the whole time they were on the bus.

Shishido nudged him and got up, getting off at his stop. Honestly, it was a pretty nice, comfy little neighborhood he lived in. Still, none of the houses were three or four stories tall. And his was a one story place with a little garden in front his mother kept.

"It's that one." He pointed to his house, and looking at Choutarou he had to smile a little too. It was home, and at least Choutarou didn't seem disappointed.

Shishido opened the door, and kicked off his shoes, dumping his tennis bag on the floor of the living room. His mom was gone; he didn't have to keep things clean.

"Shishido-san, where do you sleep?" Choutarou seemed a little too happy to finally be seeing Shishido's house. Maybe he should have let him come over sooner.

"Second room to the right." He motioned towards the hallway to the left of him. "I'll get you soda, okay?"

"Yeah." Choutarou was already heading for his room. Weirdo.

He grabbed two cokes and headed to his room, blinking as he walked in. Choutarou was standing by his dresser, looking at the pictures on top of it. Oh, crap.

"Uhh, my mom makes me keep those up there." Actually, she probably wouldn't care if he took them down or not.

"Shishido-san… You have a lot of pictures up here though. Like this one, it's from when you were a freshman, right? And this one is from when we won against the Seigaku doubles team… Who's this?"

"My dad. He lives in Osaka nowadays, but that was taken when we all lived together." Shishido shrugged and fell back onto his bed. It'd been a long day at practice. He'd had to play against Jirou, because Atobe was such a bastard and thought it would be funny to make him lose 6-1.

"Oh… Well, I-" He was interrupted when something touched his leg. Shishido heard a bubble of laughter and looked over, seeing his dog (a puppy really) seemingly trying to play with Choutarou's leg. "I see you've met the runt."

"The runt? What's his name?"

"Dunno' yet. We haven't decided. I just call him Runt."

"Shishido-san!"

Choutarou went quiet for a moment, before ignoring the puppy and looking at one of the pictures on Shishido's dresser again.

"Shishido-san, I need to tell you something."

"Hm?" Shishido looked over at Choutarou. He got up and sat down on the edge of his bed, Choutarou sitting next to him. "What's up, Choutarou?"

"I think… Maybe… I'm in love."

Shishido froze. He could hardly breathe. "What?"

"I'm in love with someone very, very important to me, and I don't want to tell that person, because I'm scared they'll get mad and I'll have screwed everything up."

Well, this certainly was a kodak moment, wasn't it? Choutarou asking for love advice from the guy who couldn't tell him he loved him.

"Just… do what your heart tells you. And if this person gets mad, well, they don't deserve you." Shishido's chest was getting tighter every second and he just wanted Choutarou to go home already.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Choutarou stayed quiet before putting his hand on Shishido's shoulder, making Shishido jump.

"Choutarou-"

"I love you, Shishido-san."

Everything in the entire world besides them froze as Choutarou leaned in and kissed him. His eyes closed and he gently returned the kiss until they pulled apart, little pink flushes on both their faces. Their foreheads touched, and all either of them could do was have silly, goofy smiles on their faces.

Ten must have been a charmed number.

The End

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