This fic is dedicated and inspired by my best friend Lucy and O-Town. Hope you like!
"Category 2."
Kaidoh blinked and looked up, frowning at his sempai slightly. It had been a fairly normal day. Nothing out of the usual happened all day, not even in tennis practice (the regulars were made to run 40 laps, but this was considered normal); nothing unexpected happened. Kaidoh liked this. If he knew what was coming, it was easier to avoid.
Kaidoh was good at avoiding things.
He found it was easier than confrontation. He'd heard people say if you kept avoiding things, they would build up inside of you, and eventually you wouldn't be able to handle it. But this wasn't true. If you avoided something long enough, it went away. There were exceptions to this rule, like everything (damn Momoshiro), but disregarding that, things went away if you ignored them. Life was good, Kaidoh decided. Or, rather, Kaidoh had decided. And life had been good.
Until he started to train with Inui-sempai.
Well, that just threw Kaidoh completely out of whack.
He didn't know what to expect, ever.
He was always on edge, nervous, anxious, tense. Because you knew behind Inui's glasses, calculating eyes were staring at you. Gaining data about you, from every single move you make.
If Inui made him so uneasy, one could ask why he didn't just stop the after-training sessions they shared. The thing was, he really did benefit from them. His strength had improved, and also his stamina and speed. He was a better tennis player because of them. He couldn't even escape the sessions if he tried. And he had tried.
And usually, somehow, Inui distracted him from his worrying, so when they trained…it seemed….
…fun
Which was wrong.
Kaidoh didn't have fun.
He trained. He grew stronger. He glared at people. He hissed at people. He was determined, he didn't give up. He just wasn't the type to have fun.
It was so alien to him. And usually when something was alien to him, he avoided it at all costs. And he did try, so very hard to avoid Inui and this so called 'fun' he had with him.
So he would ask himself, every night for 2 months, why, when he walked up to Inui with such determination, such resilience, with the full intention of telling him something along the lines of 'It's over!' (Kaidoh had decided this sounded too much like they were…doing something else...), whatever he said was twisted, and the next second he was discussing with his sempai what they would work on this session.
Only 10 minutes later, would he freeze, and realise what had happened. But he couldn't exactly leave during a session. That wouldn't be right. So, he resolved to himself, he would tell Inui tomorrow that it had to stop.
And, so the cycle went on, and on, and on, until Kaidoh decided he spent too much of his time trying to avoid the sessions. And besides…this… 'fun' they were having…
It made him feel kinda good. Made him get a warm feeling inside.
Which at first scared him, but he gradually, reluctantly, began to accept it.
But accepting that he was having 'fun', didn't mean he wasn't on edge. Because regardless of the 'fun' they shared together, Inui seemed to view him as a… guinea pig of sorts. He just seemed to test things out on him.
Who knew if the drink he passed Kaidoh actually had some of hisoff new experiment in it? Was he trying out a new training theory on him that just didn't work? He seemed to revel in catching Kaidoh guard, seeing him blush, stutter.
So many innuendos were spoken…
Kaidoh had learnt whatever Inui said, had more than 1 level. So many meanings, it made his head hurt. So many things he said that made Kaidoh think, so more often than not he found himself lying in bed late at night, trying to figure out what his sempai had meant.
It was all rather confusing. Inui never said anything without it having significance, usually significance that brought grief to Kaidoh.
So, when Inui had come up to him during their break and told him simply 'Category 2', Kaidoh had to safely say,
He was scared.
He glanced over at his sempai hesitatingly. But he was just staring at Kaidoh, as though waiting for him to say something intelligent.
"Huh?"
Kaidoh was one who when around Inui, cracked under pressure.
But Inui merely smiled, and repeated, "Category 2. That's what we are."
Kaidoh gulped.
"We?"
Inui nodded, looking serious, "Yes, Kaidoh. We are most definitely, category 2."
Kaidoh's eyes were wide, as he looked at his sempai, fear in his eyes.
"…category 2 of what?"
Why did he ask?
"Category 2 of the Great Love Scenarios, of course."
Oh god, he had to ask.
But then, it hit him. He felt that damn blush begin to rise to his face, and managed to stutter out, "Wh-what?" from his mouth that now seemed oddly dry.
"There are 6 main scenarios," Oh god he was explaining it, "of course, there are obviously others," Obviously, "but these are the main ones." Inui nodded to himself.
"And of course, some of the categories overlap, and there are complications and sub-categories in them. But there are 6 main scenarios." Inui nodded again.
Kaidoh was just staring at him. His heart was beating so hard against his chest, it seemed to be making a valiant escape to pierce through his skin and leave his body and mind behind. His body which was feeling…strange. And his mind that felt a weird feeling of anticipation.
"The other categories," Oh god there was more, "are as follows." Inui coughed, as if to prepare himself.
"Category number 1. 'Love at first sight'. Where your heart starts pounding and you can't draw your eyes away from this person you've never met. Often confused with Lust at first sight, to qualify for Love at first sight you must find yourself drawn not just to their body, but to their mind as well. You must want commitment, not just sex."
Oh god, why did he have to blush so much when his sempai mentioned 'sex'.
"Category number 3. 'Rivals turned lovers'. Though you don't like each other, you strive to defeat each other and better the other person. There is great friction and passion between you, which draws you to one another. You have one common goal, and you ultimately fall for each other. 64 percent of people in this situation don't realise they are as they presume they think about the other person so much because they want to defeat them, and not love them."
Where was category number 2? Oh god, him and Inui were in a category together. About love. Oh god. He should NOT be feeling a warm sensation when he though about that, he should NOT.
"Category number 4. 'I respect you and now I Love you'. 67 percent of the time occurring between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen, where the younger looks up to the older, but also happening 25 percent of the time between 2 people who have a high opinion of each other, and grow closer, and then fall in love. Usually happens between a person and their sempai."
Inui just sent him a look, he did! Was he just paranoid? But he swore he did!
"Category number 5. 'Only we can understand each others pain and now I Love you'. 2 people are drawn to one another because of a common pain and bad past. They help each other through the pain and help them cope as they know what the other is going through. Usually angsty, couples in this category are 74 percent more likely to die together in a suicide pact."
Suicide pact?
"Category number 6. 'You annoy me but now I Love you'. 92 percent of the time happening when a lowerclassmen bugs and follows round an upperclassman. Usually an irritation to the older one, it generally takes him telling the other to leave him alone once and for all, and then realising he feels empty without the younger one following him and just being there to realise his emotions. A confrontation ensues 89 percent of the time after this occurs, 85 percent of the time ending in kissing."
Where was category number 2?
Inui smiled, "I was just getting to that."
Oh GOD he said it out loud.
The grin on Inui's face bordered on psychotic.
"Category number 2. 'We were friends but now I Love you'."
It was wrong of him to feel hopeful about that. WRONG.
"76 percent of the time occurring between childhood friends, 23 percent of the time occurring between 2 people who became friends, then best friends, then fell in love."
Oh, he knew he sent him a look then. Why was his heart pounding? Why was he feeling happy?
"93 percent of the time, at least one person in the relationship has hesitations about their feelings, as they do not want to ruin their friendship. This couple is 75 percent more likely to take longer to get together than other couples as they get confused by their feelings of love and friendship. This couple is 69 percent more likely to be more loving than the other couples and 85 percent more likely to get married and have babies."
Ok, that look then, was worrying.
"54 percent of the time, they are also overall the happiest couples."
Inui stopped and looked up at Kaidoh from his notebook.
"We are in category 2, though I think we may overlap into category 4 as well. What do you think?"
"Gah…"
Kaidoh was in overload. What did this mean? What would come of this? Was he in the 75 percent who were confused over there feelings? How did Inui know all this stuff anyway?
"I think we do overlap into category 4."
Kaidoh just looked at him. Did he love him? What would happen now?
"Well, now, we can date one another."
When did he say that out loud?
…
WHAT did he say!
"I said, we can date one another now, Kaidoh."
Kaidoh's hands flew to his mouth. He HAD to stop saying what he was thinking. But what Inui said, dating? Dating!
"Yes, dating."
For gods sake.
"I believe we could have a productive, loving relationship once you get over your issues."
His issues! What issues! He didn't have any issu-
"I'm going to take your silence as a yes. I have to go home now, it's getting late."
He didn't say yes! He tried to silence the voice that whispered in the back of his mind 'Yet…'
"We will discuss this more tomorrow, though I do not think we should do so at school as 87 percent of people would faint if we did and the other 13 percent would seek counselling. I will see you tomorrow, love."
Inui was packing up his stuff, and began to walk away as Kaidoh stood frozen. 'Love'?...
No! Snap out of it! Ignore the happy feelings!
"Inui-sempai! Wait! This just-"
He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but Inui interrupted him anyway, as he turned around.
"Don't worry, Kaidoh. Tomorrow, we shall discuss which category we fall under in the Great Love-Making Scenarios. I think we are in category 5."
"What!"
Inui looked him up and down, his gaze scrutinizing Kaidoh, whose face was redder than it had been ever before, and was shifting uncomfortably.
"Hmmm, maybe category 3, but most likely 5. See you tomorrow."
He turned and walked away, as Kaidoh mouth hung open.
Wait a minute…
"INUI-SEMPAI! WAIT! WHAT'S CATEGORY 5?"