From Mom with Love

A PoT fanfiction by Kat

Author’s Note: Well, White Day is on March 14th, and so I figured now would be a great time to write a fanfic for the occasion. Just in case you don’t know, in Japan, Valentine’s Day is usually celebrated with girls giving chocolate to the guys they like. Then, a month later on March 14th, the guys give something back to the girls as a thank-you present. Of course, this fanfic is a bit… unconventional… in that respect, but I’ve heard of giving chocolate and thank-you presents to friends too, so anything goes with interpretation here. Most importantly, it’s Golden Pair fluff!! And you can never have too much of that.

This story was originally released in three parts and is labelled as such. Enjoy!

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It was an unusually quiet Sunday.

Shuichiro Oishi couldn’t help thinking this, sitting on his bedroom floor working steadily away at his chosen task. But then, it was always quiet at his house, unless Eiji was visiting. And the fact that his energetic friend wasn’t there at the moment was probably the source of the serene hush that pervaded his room.

He almost thought to himself that he could still hear a few echoes of Eiji’s laughter, though, tacked onto the walls like bright pieces of tinfoil.

Well, he almost thought that, but he decided it wasn’t the time for poetic introspection. What he was already doing was feminine enough to begin with, and anything more romantically inclined was going to make him feel awkward, even alone in his own room.

He returned to the steady clicking rhythm that was required in order to continue working on his new project.

“Oops, slipped again,” he murmured as he carefully placed the knitting needle back into one of the loops.

Yes, that was right.

Knitting needle.

Shuichiro Oishi was sitting on his bedroom floor on a Sunday, knitting.

No one had forced him to do this, and this wasn’t some sick kind of joke his friends had dared him to do just for amusement. He was actually voluntarily knitting something, and he even had a deadline he really wanted to reach in time, which was why he’d been at it for hours already.

And so he was knitting. Oishi couldn’t help smiling a bit wryly to himself because of this fact. It was a good thing none of his friends knew he could knit, or he’d never hear the end of it. He’d have to figure out some way to avoid being caught if he really was going to complete this project.

But it really was true. Oishi could sew, knit, and crochet, and he actually wasn’t too bad at it, considering he’d had years of experience.

That was true, too. He’d had years of experience sewing. He had been one of those boys who was made to do quite a few things in his elementary years that he wasn’t particularly proud of. And among those things were the sewing lessons his mother dragged him to for three years just to have company among a bunch of old ladies who never stopped cooing about how ‘adorable’ and ‘sweet’ her son was. He wondered now if maybe part of that whole arrangement had simply resulted from his mother’s customary pride in her offspring and wanting to show Oishi off to her friends.

Either way, Oishi could sew. But it was a secret he’d entrusted to only one person, other than his family, and that person had sworn that fire and water couldn’t wrest the secret from him, possibly on pain of death if he should fail to uphold that bargain. Of course, he had only told this person when he couldn’t possibly have kept it a secret any longer, on the day Eiji found some knitting needles in a bureau drawer and asked more questions than a kindergartener on Show and Tell Day.

It was just as well. Oishi never liked keeping secrets from Eiji, and this one was trivial, in spite of his extreme embarrassment about it.

But he knew he never, ever wanted any of his other classmates finding out. He was already dubbed ‘the mother of Seigaku’ in his tennis club, and if they found out there was more to his feminine side than just his characteristic compassion, they’d have a field day.

His train of thought was interrupted when he decided to check his progress, however.

“Hmm… still a ways to go.” And he frowned. He really hoped he could finish it in time. If he couldn’t actually make the due date, the gift would seem random and purposeless, at best. And given the personality of the desired recipient, it was probably best if the sentiment behind the gift avoided any sense of ambiguity. Otherwise, some interesting and likely awkward theories would result about its meaning. And Oishi didn’t need any interesting or awkward theories about a gift that was already causing him some private embarrassment in compelling him to sew it in the first place.

Suddenly, a storm of energetic footsteps came raining down the hallway outside his room, apparently aimed in the general direction of his bedroom door.

He hastily shoved the extent of his progress thus far into a desk drawer and slammed it shut somewhat clumsily, along with the knitting needles. He was careful to make sure, however, that no pieces of brightly colored yarn were sticking out that could possibly attract attention.

“Oishi!”

The enthusiastic voice that had crossed his mind only a minute earlier rang in his ears, and it was only a split second before two arms were happily squeezing the life out of him, just like always.

“Hey, Eiji. What’s up?” He couldn’t help smiling, despite the fact that he’d nearly had a heart attack what with all the sudden racket. Eiji was just Eiji, after all, and Oishi was used to it… Well, as much as anyone could be, anyway.

“Nothing really, nya,” the boisterous redhead replied cheerfully, punctuating his response with that odd, catlike sound that was nevertheless strangely endearing.

“So what exactly brings you here?” Oishi couldn’t resist a laugh. “Or did you just happen to decide to grace me with your presence?”

“Well, I thought you probably needed some Eiji time by now,” his best friend replied with one of his characteristically wide grins. “It’s been nearly a day, nya.”

“And you know I just couldn’t possibly survive a day without you,” Oishi teased him, yielding to the temptation to tickle his friend on the nose.

“Exactly.” Eiji tossed his head slightly, more as a method of escape from the tickling than an expression of disdain. “So what were you doing?”

Those large blue eyes of his looked suddenly curious and were sliding from side to side, soaking in their surroundings in an attempt to surmise the answer.

“Ah… doing?” Oishi repeated somewhat awkwardly, trying to decide how to answer.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to make up his mind. As usual, Eiji’s mind had already moved onto other things and had probably forgotten his own question completely.

“Hey, what’s this doing here?”

Oishi refocused his attention, only to see his best friend poking an extra ball of yarn he’d forgotten to stuff in the drawer.

“Oh, that? I guess I never put it back…” He paused, deciding that a change of subject would be the best strategy to avoid further questions. Besides, he really couldn’t resist voicing this particular thought. It was too perfect.

“But you look exactly like a cat, Eiji.”

“Nya?” Eiji looked back at him and cocked his head slightly.

“Well, you know, the way you’re nudging it like that.”

Eiji’s expression changed, which indicated comprehension of his friend’s train of thought, and he laughed. He started batting at the ball of yarn, crouching on the ground slightly, just exactly like a young kitten would. “Nya.”

Oishi, too, couldn’t help laughing. Really, he had a strange best friend. Not that he didn’t enjoy Eiji’s quirks, of course.

In fact, it was probably Eiji’s whimsical way of life that helped Oishi to be himself when they were together. In a strange way, the carefree attitude of the one boy balanced out the serious personality of the other, and some things that could have been awkward between other friends were natural for them. Oishi could be occasionally sentimental when he wanted to be, and Eiji would lap up the attention and then force him to lighten up with his usual banter. Really, it was a perfect balance, the kind only lucky people get to experience, and even then only maybe once in a lifetime.

And Oishi really did feel lucky.

That was something of the train of thought that remained in the back of his mind all during Eiji’s visit and even long after his best friend had said goodbye. He resumed work on his project with those particular reflections still swirling around in his head. And suddenly, what he was doing seemed to take on a renewed significance.

Well, the whole project was for Eiji, after all.

Although the reason why he was knitting something for Eiji Kikumaru as a present was kind of a strange story.

~end of part one~

It had all started less than a month ago.

It had been the dreaded month of February, the month that just happened to contain the holiday feared the most by males around the globe. Valentine’s Day was a favorite day for girls, of course, but navigating the confusing ritualistic etiquette required of the festivities wasn’t easy for any guy, much less with the rules in effect in Oishi’s own country of Japan. Basically, the idea was as follows: walk around as cluelessly as possible all day to give girls the chance to confess their undying love and hand you chocolate. And then mentally make a note to give them something in return in a month if you valued their affection on any level whatsoever. And if you didn’t… Well, you’d probably be better off trying to avoid them all day in February than have to answer possible questions later. Although as far as politeness went, that wasn’t exactly an easy line to toe.

Of course, it had been a particularly unpleasant day for several of Oishi’s fellow tennis club members, given how famous the sport had become at their school as a result of the various honors they’d acquired. The more attractive team members ended up being forced into an awkward game of hide and seek in an attempt to avoid being deluged by their respective female fans. And Ryoma Echizen in particular had been completely smothered by the united affection of dozens of hyperactive first year girls, although the attention he had received from that one noisy pigtailed girl whose name Oishi couldn’t recall would have been enough to terrify anyone in itself.

Eiji Kikumaru, however, had graced through the day with characteristic ease, accepting any gift handed to him with his usual sparkling charm. Moreover, he had happily bounced around the locker room during afternoon practice and handed out gifts of his own to all his fellow team members, demonstrating, although pleasantly, a complete inability to grasp that the custom was supposed to be that only girls handed out the chocolate, and the guys just took what was handed to them. Of course, Oishi didn’t doubt for a second that even if Eiji did realize this, he would have no second thoughts about shattering the tradition, which was probably the case. Oishi also happened to know that one of Eiji’s off-and-on hobbies was cooking, and he’d probably been watching his older sisters preparing their own chocolate and decided to try his hand at it. Not to mention it would give the hyper acrobat a chance to satisfy his own sweet tooth by licking the chocolate off his own fingers.

All in all, it really was no surprise whatsoever that Eiji Kikumaru had handed out chocolate on Valentine’s Day, and it definitely wasn’t a surprise that Oishi had therefore received some chocolate from his best friend.

But that left Oishi with a strange question, even after he’d finished off the last of the chocolate (which had been remarkably good).

What was he supposed to do for White Day?

Traditionally, guys were supposed to give girls a present on March 14th in return for whatever chocolate they’d received on Valentine’s Day. But as far as Eiji giving him chocolate, that didn’t exactly fit with tradition in the first place, and it was very likely that Eiji hadn’t even thought of the possibility of getting something in return. Which also made it possible that getting the impulsive redhead a gift would just perplex him and lead to some confusion that could very well spell embarrassment for the giver. On the other hand, if Eiji did expect something, which could also be possible, what with his spotlight-loving personality… It would be nothing but trouble not to have a gift for him.

Finally, Oishi had decided he would just go ahead and find some kind of gift for his best friend for White Day.

And after not being able to find the particular thing he’d had in mind, he had decided to make it himself, remembering something his friend had once said about never having had anything given to him that was handmade.

Besides, that particular red just wasn’t something you could buy in a store anyway.

His thought process had gone something like this. He couldn’t think of much that Eiji liked that he didn’t already have. But it had certainly been a cold winter, and that was one thing Eiji didn’t like… Being cold. The acrobatic tennis player even had a habit of keeping his jacket zipped all the way up on the sunniest of days. Which made Oishi think that maybe something Eiji could actually use would be a really warm scarf. But as far as all the colors he could think of, nothing seemed to suit his friend so well as a particularly vibrant red he just happened to have in his drawer, in the form of a bright ball of yarn left over from his early knitting projects. Nothing he saw in the stores caught his eye as much as that flaming red color that kept flashing through his mind whenever he pictured his friend wrapping a scarf around his neck.

And that, in the end, had settled the question.

Oishi was giving Eiji a red scarf for White Day, and he was going to knit it himself.

Of course, the more he thought about it, the more he realized the whole thing was crossing a line into being downright ridiculous. How sentimental could you get? He felt like some teenage girl knitting a present for her boyfriend. Then again, it was his customary habit of over-analyzing everything that was making the whole thing awkward in the first place. So he decided he’d give it no further thought and just plunge into the project with all the gusto he could manage, minus the sense of romanticism it seemed to imply.

Besides, the gift was for Eiji, and of all the people in the world, Oishi felt most confident that Eiji would understand. In fact, he knew he would. And so he didn’t really have to worry, even if the end result ended up being somewhat embarrassing. Eiji would still be Eiji, and he’d enjoy the attention, if nothing else.

Of course, in the days that followed as the project neared completion, there were still some uneasy moments, mainly involving the observations of people a bit more down to earth than Eiji himself.

“Oishi, why are your fingertips so red?” Fuji had remarked suddenly in the middle of a conversation about the practice lineup one day.

“Red?” Oishi had glanced down at his hands, which were clasped around the clipboard he was holding. Sure enough, his fingers looked a bit chapped from all the fiddling with the hard knitting needles, hour after hour.

“Uh… well, that is…” He’d fumbled around with a few words, unable to decide on an appropriate excuse.

But Fuji had just smiled and changed the subject, to something concerning Eiji, oddly enough. In retrospect, Oishi wondered if Fuji had some idea of what he’d been doing. Given the keen perception of the Seigaku tennis prodigy, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn this was the case.

Either way, March 14th was just around the corner, Oishi thought to himself as he finished another row. And the scarf, too, was almost finished.

All that was left was for the day to arrive. And for him to give it to Eiji.

~end of part two~

It was a beautiful March morning, chilly but full of that cold sunshine that can brighten a heart too long oppressed by a dark winter. And yet, instead of enjoying the pleasant morning weather, Oishi found that his thoughts were traveling a mile a minute, propelled forward into their current state of turmoil with something like worry.

He was supposed to give the scarf to Eiji today. He didn’t just know this, he almost dreaded it. But as for exactly why, he couldn’t really explain.

“Okay, Oishi…” He breathed in and let it out as slowly as he could, trying to relax. “Everything’s fine. It’s no big deal. It’s just Eiji.”

Really, what was he so worried about? His best friend wasn’t going to make fun of him just because he actually took the time to knit him a White Day present.

Was he?

For the millionth time, Oishi attempted to shake off the endless second-guessing and think about something else. But no matter how hard he tried, he was painfully conscious of that bright red color that was hidden somewhere inside his school bag. Even worse, he knew that each step he took was bringing him closer to the person that was supposed to receive that piece of scarlet and then… react, somehow.

The more he thought about it, the more Oishi realized he had no idea how Eiji would react.

That was part of his best friend’s charm, Oishi knew. The fact that nobody in the world could predict what Eiji Kikumaru would do next was exactly what made him so interesting to be around. It was also what made some people dread trying to keep up with him. Not Oishi, of course. He enjoyed the challenge, and as far as tennis went, he’d come to learn a thing or two about predicting the unpredictable. It wasn’t quite as hard as one might have expected. Then again, it had certainly taken him a lot of work to learn how to do it… which was why even now Oishi could be nervous about how Eiji would react.

He just hoped Eiji wouldn’t make fun of him, although the more Oishi thought about it, the more he knew that would never happen. Eiji wasn’t like that, especially not about something like a gift. Especially not about a gift from him. Eiji had always liked any present that Oishi had given him before, and he didn’t see any reason why this wouldn’t be the case now.

Nevertheless, he felt uneasy, to put it mildly.

“Oishi!”

For a moment, Oishi felt his breath get caught in his throat at the sound of his friend’s voice calling out to him. Well, this was it.

“Hey, Eiji.” He managed something close to his usual smile as his friend came up alongside him. “How’s it going?”

“Pretty good, nya.” The energetic redhead paused for a moment to consider his present state of being. “Except we have a test in first period and I didn’t read the chapter.”

“You could always try studying for a change,” Oishi offered, heroically managing to refrain from smiling. Eiji wasn’t exactly the type to be concerned about his classes or his grades, the polar opposite of his own industrious personality.

“Yes, yes…” Eiji responded absently, obviously giving the suggestion as much serious consideration as a kitten might in regarding a passing butterfly.

Oishi glanced at his friend for a moment in the brief silence, noticing how Eiji’s cheeks were flushed a bright pink from the cold and how his breath was forming into fragile clouds around his lips.

He felt his hand rummaging around in his book bag. He was almost surprised at his sudden eagerness to give the gift he’d spent a whole month working on.

“Hey, Eiji?” It took only a split second to recapture his friend’s interest.

“Nya?”

“I… well, I have something for you…”

He felt his words and any possible attempt at explanation fade away into irrelevance as he watched his friend’s face light up at the sight of the bright red scarf. He could have laughed aloud at that certain sparkle that had ignited in those deep blue eyes.

“Is that really for me, nya?” Eiji exclaimed, incredulous. But for all his surprise, he’d already taken the scarf from Oishi’s hands and was currently engaged in admiring it.

“Yeah,” answered Oishi, smiling broadly at last. His worries had completely vanished. “It’s for you. Since you gave me something last month, I thought you deserved to get something this month.”

There. He’d explained it. And Eiji understood perfectly, just like he knew he would. He could tell that much from just one glance at his friend’s expression.

“Thanks so much, Oishi!”

And, since Eiji was Eiji, Oishi got a very enthusiastic hug from his best friend in the middle of the sidewalk. Fortunately, it seemed to be the only reason Oishi would have to blush when it came to giving Eiji the scarf, and in comparison to his other fears, the hug in public seemed like an almost welcome embarrassment.

As certain as Oishi was that his best friend liked his gift, he received further proof in the fact that Eiji’s tongue starting moving a mile a minute all the way to school. His endless chatter became a pleasant accompaniment to the beautiful weather that Oishi could at last freely enjoy without worry. His friend had already wrapped the scarf around his neck, which was when Oishi discovered, to his satisfaction, that the color really did look perfect on Eiji.

Meanwhile, Eiji was expressing his delight in, well, not so few words.

“Nya! I can’t believe you actually made this for me! You’re so nice, Oishi! I’ve never gotten anything handmade before for a present. Did I tell you that already? Oh, and it’s the best color ever, too. You know red is my favorite color, right? Well, of course you know. You know everything. I bet you knew how cold I’ve been this year, too. I was just thinking a week ago that I really, really wanted a scarf or something to keep my neck warm, nya. Did you really make it yourself? It feels so nice, like the kind out of a store! You must be a really good sewer, Oishi. Not like my sister. She spent the whole month before Christmas trying to knit something for her boyfriend and you could tell she’d never sewed something before. And then my brother got something for White Day last year that his girlfriend knitted, and it looked absolutely awful, nya! It looked like a sewing machine exploded. But his girlfriend made him wear it anyway, and we all laughed at him, nya.”

Oishi was laughing by now. Really, where did his friend get all these things to say? Did his mouth ever run out and have to get restocked?

But Eiji’s next words in particular caught his attention.

“They’ll all be so jealous that I actually have a nice scarf that Oishi made for me!”

Oishi wasn’t quite sure whether to feel proud at that, or maybe awkward. So he went ahead and felt both. After all, Eiji was comparing the gift to what his brother had received from his girlfriend…

“Well, I’m really glad you like it, Eiji,” he managed, feeling his color rise a little.

“I love it!” Eiji declared, as though his final word was law and nothing further could be said about the superiority of his red scarf.

There was a moment’s pause as Eiji entertained himself by snuggling his chin into the folds of the scarf. He then observed, somewhat muffled, “It’s so warm, nya.”

“Well, I hope so. I wanted it to be,” Oishi replied almost shyly. But he couldn’t help mentally laughing at the funny effect of Eiji Kikumaru reduced to a head of hair and two blue eyes that were peeking out from behind the bright red scarf.

Another pause was filled by another muffled question from the catlike redhead.

“Did it take you a really long time to make, Oishi?”

Oishi thought about it for a moment.

“Yeah, I guess it did. I mean, I got it done in a month, but I was knitting for hours at night.”

“Really? Just for me?” that same muted voice murmured, as those huge blue eyes stole a sideways glance at Oishi. “You’re too nice, nya.”

Oishi didn’t quite know how to respond to the compliment, so he just shrugged a bit awkwardly, a self-conscious smile on his face. Fortunately, he was saved from having to think up an appropriate reply, since a cheerful “Good morning!” cut through the silence at that moment.

Oishi looked behind him, where both Kawamura and Fuji were smiling and waving, apparently also on their way to school.

“Hey, Taka, Fuji!” Eiji’s face lit up again at the sight of his classmates, and he actually turned around and ran straight to them, waving his arms in a general salutation. Oishi, however, simply waited at the street corner so they could all walk to school together.

“Look, look! Look at what I got, nya!”

Oishi gulped. All of a sudden, some of his scattered worries returned. He’d forgotten that, what with Eiji being Eiji, his friend would of course want to show off his new present to all their classmates. And given the hyper acrobat’s chatterbox personality, who knew what he would say about Oishi’s role in making it? Oishi was still pretty sure he didn’t want anyone else knowing he could knit. He could just hear the wisecracks now, if some of the more sarcastic tennis team members found out…

“That’s a beautiful scarf, Eiji,” Fuji said with an appreciative smile.

“It sure is. Where did you get it?” Kawamura asked in his usual amiable way.

“Oh, it was a present!” Eiji declared happily, glancing back at Oishi in that instant. And much to Oishi’s surprise, his friend did a double take. It was as if he suddenly noticed something in Oishi’s expression…

“Really? From who?”

There was a moment of silence, and Oishi’s heart skipped a beat. He was going to say it, wasn’t he? After all, why wouldn’t he? It wasn’t like Oishi had told Eiji to keep it a secret. But something in his friend’s eyes seemed to say that he knew Oishi didn’t want him to tell.

A huge grin spread onto Eiji’s face as he gave his reply. He had the look of somebody who’d struck gold, and in a sense, he had.

“Mom made it for me!”

It was a beautiful March morning, and Shuichiro Oishi was laughing uncontrollably, while Eiji Kikumaru giggled right along with him, flaming red scarf and all.

…

In retrospect, Oishi couldn’t help thinking that, although Kawamura had looked appropriately perplexed at this outburst from the Golden Pair that day, Fuji had only smiled that knowing smile and glanced in Oishi’s direction for a moment. It had been a simple inside joke, of course, and it would have been just like the Seigaku tennis prodigy to have seen right through it. And so, Oishi figured, there were three people that day who were in on the inside joke about mothers and knitting needles.

- the end -

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