The Golden Tiger's Eye

A Prince of Tennis Fanfiction

By Jaelle

Disclaimer: They ain't mine.
Ratings: PG-13, Humour.
Spoilers: Not really.
Pairing: Tezuka/Ryoma.

Written for the lj community pillarchallenge. The challenge was "letters".


I glared at the detective. "I have no intention of telling you the whereabouts of the documents you're after," I said in my coldest tones. "The secret of the Golden Tiger's Eye will remain in my hands, and my hands alone."

Tezuka glared at the screen of his laptop, and debated changing the line back to "I will not tell you the whereabouts". He'd been alternating back and forth between the two for over an hour, trying to get a stronger, more emphatic feel to the story. To 'give it more punch', as Ogata-sensei kept telling him. Sitting back in his chair he sighed and rubbed his eyes. Maybe it was time to take a break.

"Writing is not easy, don't ever let anyone tell you it is," Ogata-sensei had told them on the first day of the creative writing course. "You will sweat blood coming up with ideas and characters and plots, you will spend hours re-writing one or two sentences to get them just right, days on end slaving in front of the computer while your friends get to go outside and see that strange thing known as the sun, weeks of putting together scenes and events, and trying to think of a way to write yourself out of that horrendous corner you've gotten the characters stuck in. Then months of submitting stories, hoping they'll get picked up. Waiting, hoping. And even if you DO get chosen, you then get to spend the next while spellchecking and re-writing things to your publishers pleasure. And by the time your book is finished and you have editted it for the twenty-eighth time and it is as perfect as you can manage and they give it to you to hold in your hands..." He grinned. "You will STILL have managed to miss a typo on page 152. This is the way it is. But, if you can live with that sort of stress and strain, writing may just be your thing. Or you could be a masochist. Most likely you're both. My name is Ogata Shigure, and I will be your creative writing tutor for this class. Let's talk about constructive criticism."

The Golden Tiger's Eye seemed to wink, taunting its would-be hunters.

'Come and find me. Come and catch me.

If you can.'

It had been an incredibly daunting introduction, but at least it was an honest one.

I stared the detective down. "I refuse to tell you the whereabouts of the documents you're after," I said in my coldest tones. "The secret of the Golden Tiger's Eye will remain in my keeping forever!"

"How is the writing going?" Oishi asked over tea. "Are you still working on your book?"

"Mmmm... it's mostly done, but there's a few things I need to fix," Tezuka replied, trying not to think about the manuscript full of red lines and comments sitting on his desk.

Oishi sighed. "Tezuka, that's exactly the same thing you've been saying for the last month! If this book isn't working out, perhaps you should try something different?"

Tezuka felt himself begin to withdraw.

"I don't mean give up on writing!" Oishi said hurriedly, as always far too attuned to the feelings of others. "But maybe you should try writing a different story for a while? Give this one a rest and come back refreshed."

"I've tried," Tezuka admitted, wearily. "But everything I write comes back to this story. There's something here. Something I have to say. But I don't know how to say it."

The very light around it seemed glow as it reflected from the depths of the Golden Tiger's Eye. I could almost sense its legendary hunger. I'd been told again and again, but it was not until now that I truly understood. No man could hope to possess the Golden Tiger's Eye. Instead, it would possess them. And swallow them, whole.

Oishi sipped his tea and pinned his friend with a look.

"Well yes, but that's always been your problem, hasn't it?" He said tartly.

Tezuka didn't really have an answer to that.

I held the detective's gaze with my own. "I will not tell you the whereabouts of the documents you seek," I enunciated clearly. "The secret of the Golden Tiger's Eye will remain hidden forever!"

Ogata-sensei sighed and put down the pieces of paper. "Tezuka, Tezuka, Tezuka. What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know, sensei."

"You know what I'm going to say," Ogata complained. "Don't you?"

Tezuka sighed, "More than likely, sensei."

Ogata rubbed his forehead. "Well I'll go ahead and say it again anyway, since that's what they pay me for. The plot is great, the story is fantastic, and I love the characters. But your protagonist... your protagonist is boring. Really boring. REALLLY boring. Sitting in a room watching paint dry boring."

"I'm sorry, sensei. I'll try again."

"And again, and again, and again." Ogata glanced at him in amusement. "You're certainly persistent, I'll give you that. And you have real talent. It's just this one thing that seems to be tripping you up. Look, you've heard this all before. Let's try again."

"I will, sensei."

"I'm sure you will. And Tezuka, this time, please remember... the protagonist is the voice of the story. You need to find the voice."

My old mentor always told me, start with the dame. Nine times out of ten, he said, it's a woman at the heart of the problem.

Thing is, he never told me what the other tenth was.

I gazed at the detective without fear. "I refuse to tell you the whereabouts of the documents you seek," I said, coldly and clearly. "The secret of the Golden Tiger's Eye will remain so forever!"

"You look tired, Tezuka," Fuji eyed his friend and cut him a bigger slice of cake. "Are you getting enough rest?"

She was a beauty alright, with the face of an angel. The smile on her lips said she'd kiss and never tell. The gleam in her eyes said she'd never let you forget that she could if she wanted.

Right away I knew, this dame was trouble.

"I'm fine, thank you," Tezuka said, resisting the urge to yawn. "I've been working quite hard on my story lately, that's all."

"I see," Fuji's tone was light. "It must be very good, you've been working on it so hard. I'm looking forward to getting to read it."

"Ah, yes," Tezuka cleared his throat. "It's not ready yet. It's still..." his voice died.

"Got a long way to go?" Fuji finished, innocently.

Tezuka glared at him. "Something like that."

"Ah well, it'll be ready when it's ready," Fuji shrugged. "Are you enjoying the experience?"

"It's different," Tezuka admitted. "Much harder than I had anticipated."

"Not harder than pro-tennis, surely?"

"No... just different. Less competitive, and yet at the same time..." Tezuka frowned. "There is a certain element of it... except that I almost feel like the person I'm pushing to defeat is myself."

"Perhaps that's why you're having a problem," Fuji said casually. "Maybe you need a different opponent. A rival." His eyes glinted. "Perhaps you should pretend someone else is writing. Or being written about. Now let me see, who would be an appropriate opponent..."

Tezuka flinched.

I glared at the detective menacingly. "I will never tell you the where the documents are hidden! The secret of the Golden Tiger's Eye will remain lost forever!"

"Is it just me, or is the voice of your story getting a little panicked?" Ogata said, putting down the papers.

Tezuka's shoulders slumped. "I think it's getting worse with each re-write," he admitted unhappily.

"I think you're right," Ogata sighed. "Look, perhaps we're looking at it the wrong way." He leaned back. "Tezuka, can I talk to you about your tennis career? You know, the big successful one you gave up in favour of beating your head against a desk until it bleeds for the rest of your life?"

Tezuka blinked, and wondered if the bruise on his forehead was showing.

"I watched one of your games the other week," Ogata continued. "A friend of mine's a fan, he leant me his tapes. I don't really know the game, but I'd like to think after all this time that I know you, and your face... well, I won't say you were expressing all over the place, but I could tell instantly that you were in the one place you truly wanted to be. You were glowing. You had... passion. This, this story? It has brains, and suspense, and clever tricks... but no passion. Tezuka," he leaned forward. "The protagonist is the heart of the story. He's the soul. He's the one who sees, the one who feels. He's the... the..."

"Pillar," Tezuka said quietly, remembering tennis, and passion.

"Exactly! He's the pillar of the story!" Ogata pointed at him. "You need to find his voice." He handed back the papers. "Listen to what the story is telling you, and try again."

Tezuka looked at the papers, and felt like crying. "I can't."

Hands reached out for me, greedy, devouring. I shrank away from the challenge. The Golden Tiger's Eye was not meant for the likes of me. It was pure, elemental.

Wild.

"Tezuka? Tezuka!"

"It wasn't for me," he whispered. "I didn't deserve it."

Ogata looked at him in concern. "Tezuka, I think you might need to take a break. I know I said you'd become a slave to the story, but you might be taking it a bit too literally."

"No, it's fine."

"It's really not."

"It really is, sensei."

I glared at the detective and refused to speak. I would take the secret of the location of the Golden Tiger's Eye with me to my grave.

"Tezuka!" Oishi and Fuji exchanged identical looks of exasperation as he continued to ignore them.

"You have to eat," Oishi said.

"You need to rest," Fuji added.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "Just fine."

"No, you're not," Fuji's voice was cold. "I'm going to call and tell him."

"Oh, thank goodness," Oishi sighed. "Do you have his number? I can get Eiji to ask Momo for it if..."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

They stared at him and Tezuka became suddenly aware that he was looming over them threateningly. He ran a hand through his hair and looked away, then froze as he caught a glimpse of himself reflected in the window.

I don't know how many days went by while I was under the madness. By the time I managed to shake it off I had lost all track of time and location. I was unkempt, wild-eyed, and reeking, but I was still alive. I knew then, I had no choice. I'd never had a choice.

The Golden Tiger's Eye had seen to that.

"I'll be fine," Tezuka promised brokenly. "Please, just give me a little longer. Just... just let me finish my story. I know what I need to do now."

Fuji and Oishi exchanged another look.

"It's time to finish this, Tezuka," Oishi said, gently.

"I know," Tezuka picked up his pen. "I know."

"We'll give you a little longer," Fuji said, patting his shoulder. "But only a little longer."

"I understand," Tezuka closed his eyes, already feeling the words forming. "I'll finish it soon. I just need to... change it."

I tried not to snicker as I slanted a knowing look at the detective. "The Golden Tiger's Eye?" I asked, giving him my best bland-and-innocent look. It had never fooled anybody, but what the hell, there's a first time for everything, right?

"Yeah, I've heard of it. Everyone has. That thing's a myth! You can search for it if you really feel you have to, but you'll never find it. Too bad for you I guess, detective."

Ogata looked at him, and a smile spread across his face.

"Okay," he said finally. "Now we're getting somewhere."

Signing his books today in-store, Fuji Mitsuru, the best-selling author of The Golden Tiger's Eye

The book was dumped casually in front of him, with absolutely no consideration for it whatsoever.

Tezuka looked up in resignation, and Echizen grinned at him impishly.

"Can you make it out to Momoshirou Ryoga, with love?"

I laughed as I made my way into the sunlight. Free at last!

That evening, the two of them curled around each other in Tezuka's hotel room.

"Seriously though," Ryoma said, nuzzling Tezuka's throat. "Do you really think you'll be able to keep your identity a secret?"

"Probably not," Tezuka admitted. "But I wanted this to be... free from tennis. Something new, something different."

"Still you though," Ryoma grunted. "God I missed you. Wimbledon this year was so boring by myself."

"Oh, did all the other tennis players withdraw from the tournament?" Tezuka raised an eyebrow at Ryoma's arrogance.

"Might as well have, for all the good showing up did them," Ryoma yawned. "But when you disappeared like that... Damn it, why didn't you just TELL me what the problem was?! If I'd known... think of all the time we've wasted!"

"I couldn't," Tezuka held Ryoma in his arms, "I needed time. I needed to sort through my thoughts." He kissed him again. "I still can't believe you figured it out just from reading my book!"

Ryoma gazed at him in confusion. "You mean you didn't put it in on purpose?"

"What?"

There was a brief disconnection and scrambling around and then Ryoma returned with the book. "Right here," he said, flipping it open and pointing to a paragraph.

I held her in my arms. "It's you, it was always you." I muttered brokenly. "I wanted to tell you, wanted to say the words but I couldn't. You were too young. Too impressionable. It wasn't right."

"I'm old enough now," her eyes bore into mine.

I kissed him. My precious Ryoma.

Tezuka blinked.

"I mean, I suspected something when the main love interest's name was "Roma"," Ryoma was explaining. "But when I got to that bit, I thought for sure it was a message."

Tezuka's eyes flicked down to the page number.

Page 152.

Laughter bubbled up in his throat and he kissed Ryoma again. "Yes," he said firmly. "I put that in on purpose. Even if I did it accidentally, it was on purpose."

"Riiight, whatever," Ryoma snuggled closer and kissed him again. And again. And again.

"Oh hey," he said, breaking away suddenly and making Tezuka growl. "I meant to ask."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Where the hell did the hero hide the Golden Tiger's Eye?!" Ryoma demanded. "It's been driving me crazy."

Tezuka smiled and kissed him again.

I smirked at the detective, enjoying the way his eyes flared in anger at my defiance. I hurt everywhere, and I felt like crap, but I could taste victory on my tongue, like blood, like gold.

"The Golden Tiger's Eye? You'll never find it.

"Nope. Not in a million years."

End.

Author's Notes:

So, hopefully everyone worked out what I was doing with the formatting here. I thought about doing a key at the beginning, but I thought it would get in the way. Please let me know if you'd rather have one.

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