Okay, just so nobody thinks I'm too strange, I'll quickly explain where the idea came from. My family own an old narrowboat, which I don't really like going on since my memories of it involve rain, near frostbite and many a bruise. My parents forced me to go on it for a weekend recently and it was pretty much a case of if I have to suffer then these guys can suffer too. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince Of Tennis.

Watery Love

The team had ended up in a narrow boat and nobody was quite sure how. Well, not quite nobody. Yukimura knew how. It had been his idea.

The narrow boat used to belong to Yukimura's grandfather. The senior had been planning to spend the rest of his retired life on it until his hip had started acting up and his doctor told him to take it easy. Since he no longer had any use for the boat, Grandpa Yukimura had given it to his son. Yukimura's father had never been a big fan of the boat so when Yukimura asked if he could take it for a couple of weeks, he had happily offloaded it on to his son.

Everything had started of okay. Sanada had been designated driver and Yukimura was voted to stay at the back with him, helping Sanada with the finer points of driving, keeping him company and telling him where to go. Yanagi was to stay inside and to look at the maps and decide the route, which he would then pass on to Yukimura to tell Sanada. Jackal, Yagyuu, Niou and Akaya were chosen to take care of the locks as they came and were to wait on standby either inside in the living area or outside on the benches in the fore-well. And last but not least, Marui was voted gunwale (gun-el) runner and was to take drinks and food to the back for Sanada and Yukimura.

Since over half of the group was outside during the day, there were no problems. However, once they had moored up for the night, problems started to arise.

The main problem was space. When you crammed eight active teenage boys into a tiny boat meant only for four people (and even that was at a push), there were bound to be more than just toes stepped on. There had already been a few near misses, including Jackal walking in on Yanagi in the bathroom and Marui almost pouring boiling water over Akaya's arm. It only got worse when it came to making dinner. You could only fit one person at a time in the kitchen and any extra bodies just caused absolute mayhem. Unfortunately, the extra bodies were a must since the only way to get to the bathroom was through the kitchen.

After the damnation of dinner came the hassle of sorting out where to sit for the evening. They needed enough space for Akaya to play on his DS (he tended to twitch violently depending on how well he was doing), for Niou and Yagyuu to have their calm struggles (well, calm on Yagyuu's part anyway), for Yanagi to look at the map and to record stuff in the log book (made of actual logs), and for the rest of them to watch the tiny television (on which they could only get a crackly documentary about potatoes). They managed to sort everybody out though, and they were all sure that their teamwork would be impeccable by the end of the trip.

Their newfound teamwork was flung out the window and into the murky water, however, when it came to the sleeping arrangements. The boat did have a proper bedroom but it was very cold and there was a pullout double bed in the living area that could easily fit three and that was right next to the comfortably warm stove.

Nobody argued when Yukimura said he would sleep in the double bed, all fearing the consequences if they denied. Akaya, sensing the atmosphere, had quickly brought out the puppy eyes and used them on Yukimura, securing himself a spot in the bed. Before anybody could with make a bid for the final spot, Yanagi had gone to each of them and showed them a page from his notebook. They had practically shoved him into the bed after that.

With the double bed gone, the next best bed was the camp bed. The camp bed stretched from the edge of the living area, through the kitchen and ended with your feet in the bathroom. Its placement meant that whoever got the bed would be just as cosy as those on the double bed though the side of their leg would be cold since it would be next to the fridge. Jackal, Yagyuu, Niou and Marui had all dived for the camp bed but Sanada had tarundoru'd them all into submission before smartly sitting down on the camp bed.

Since all their cheeks were still smarting, Jackal, Marui, Niou and Yagyuu decided that a rock-paper scissors competition might be the best way to decide in the battle for the bunk beds. Jackal managed to win the top bunk and whilst Yagyuu had managed to bag the bottom bunk, it didn't feel like much a win since Niou insisted on sharing the bed, saying that it would help with their doubles. Jackal would've offered to share his bed with Marui but the top bunk was slightly slimmer than the bottom one so Marui wouldn't be able to fit. This meant that Marui had to sleep on the floor.

Marui shivered under his duvet as his eyes flitted about nervously. Not only was the cold keeping him from falling asleep, he had seen a spider on the floor earlier but by the time he had gotten someone to pick it up for him, it had disappeared. Now he was scared that as soon as he closed his eyes, he would be covered in spiders.

'Oh stop being so silly, Bunta! It was just one tiny spider, nothing to be scared of! Now go to sleep and stop being so silly!' Marui told himself harshly, determinedly closing his eyes. They snapped open again a moment later, tears shining in the orbs as Marui ducked under his blankets. The moment he had closed his eyes, he had seen a battalion of spiders behind his eyelids. He was really scared.

Marui jumped violently when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped round his cocoon.

"You don't need to be scared anymore, Bunta. I got rid of the spider from earlier and I threatened all its friends with the brat's slipper if they dare come out, puri." Marui heard Niou murmur from behind him.

"Why Akaya's slipper? And I thought you were sleeping with Yagyuu?" Marui trembled out as Niou wormed his way under the duvet.

"Because the only thing worse than getting crushed by a slipper is getting crushed by one that stinks. And Yagyuu snores. You probably can't hear it since he snores quietly but he sounds like an elephant when you're right next to him." Niou explained as Marui turned in his arms, burying his nose in the red hair as Marui buried his face in Niou's chest. They lay in each other's arms quietly, Marui now calm, not frightened and content. The violet-eyed boy was close to falling asleep when Niou spoke up. "Are you warm now?"

"Hya…?" Marui said unintelligently as he slowly looked up.

"You were cold earlier and shivering. Are you warm now, puri?" Niou asked quietly as he gently ran a hand through the red locks. Marui blinked slowly before smiling.

"Yeah, I'm warm now. I could never be cold in 'Haru's arms." Marui said happily as he snuggled up to Niou and finally managed to drift off to sleep. Niou smiled gently at the redhead and kissed his boyfriend on the forehead before pulling him closer and following him to Dreamland…

Marui let out a small groan as he felt consciousness slowly creeping in. He didn't want to wake up, he felt too warm and comfy to do that. He stubbornly snuggled closer to his heat source, sighing contentedly as he felt his consciousness seeping away…

"As cute as Akaya-kun and Yukimura-kun might be finding this, I would appreciate it if I could go to the bathroom in private." Yagyuu's voice woke Marui up completely. His face lit up embarrassedly and he started to sit up. Niou dragged him back down as he moved his legs so Yagyuu could shut the bathroom door.

"Just ignore him. He's just jealous 'cause he got cold when I left, puri." Niou slurred out as he opened his eyes, looking sleepily into Marui's eyes. Marui blushed slightly at the eye contact and shyly looked down at where his hands were splayed on Niou's chest. He could feel the warmth radiating from Niou and, despite the fact that the floor was bordering on being painfully cold, he was starting to feel a little sleepy again… "Oi, don't fall asleep again. If the brat's awake then breakfast's almost ready and we don't want him to eat our share. Let's get up." Niou made to sit up but it was Marui's turn to stubbornly cling to him and pull him back down.

"I can make breakfast for us later. Right now I want to sleep." Marui mumbled as half lay on top of Niou to prevent him from getting up. Niou didn't make any move to shove him off so Marui sighed contentedly and settled down again.

"You know," Marui jumped at the sudden voice and glared at Niou but the Trickster just ignored the pout, "I was thinking of asking Sanada to teach me how to steer. And if he deems me competent enough and not likely to purposely bump into other boats, I was thinking of persuading him to leave me alone so we could have the back to ourselves, puri."

"That sounds nice." Marui agreed as he drew lazy circles on Niou's chest.

"I know, that's why I suggested it. But to be able to do it then we need to get up now so I can convince Sanada before we set off." Niou said. Marui sighed, knowing what Niou was getting at.

"Fine, fine, I'll get up. But you need to promise to sleep with me straight away tonight." Marui said as he rolled off Niou and they both sat up.

"I promise." Niou agreed as he sealed the deal with a chaste kiss before standing up. He extended his hand for Marui who took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "We an get dressed after breakfast. I'm willing to bet everybody except Yagyuu are still in their pyjamas, puri." Marui nodded, a bit happier now that he got to stay in his comfy pyjamas for another half an hour. He smiled softly as he rested his head on Niou's shoulder, Niou quickly kissing him on the top of his head before they started to make their way towards the living area, both starting to look forward to the trip.

Until they remembered that Yagyuu was in the bathroom. Niou was right about him not being in his pyjamas…

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! Now before you all disappear, could I please ask for tips on how to write the perfect short story? My Extended Project teacher has told me to get advice that I can show off in my report and I thought 'why not ask my fellow authors?' Any and all advice will be much appreciated. Thank you!