Prince of Tennis © Konomi
Warnings: Quirks, mishaps, and above all, random
Incident One
In which Oshitari is a victim,
Atobe is employs a garden hose,
And Niou is completely out-of-character.
"You're Hyoutei's Oshitari Yuushi, right?"
Hands full of groceries and a tennis bag slung over one shoulder, Niou Masaharu smoothly weaved in and around the crowd with no hindrance up to slightly surprised Oshitari, who wasn't exactly use to seeing Rikkai Dai players in this part of Tokyo. He had been taking and evening stroll simply because he enjoyed the nostalgic mood the sunset brought upon him. It reminded him of the old days, but more importantly, Gakuto's grocery list, which had been pressed upon him after his double's partner seemingly twisted a few degrees too far in tennis practice that day, which ultimately and unsurprisingly (because no one was that bendable and it was bound to happen one day) lead to the twisting his shoulder. Atobe had been very bitter about that, muttering about the Nationals and some other things. How Oshitari eventually ended up with Gakuto's grocery list and not being the one accompanying him to the hospital (Hiyoshi was doing that along with Jirou, though for what reasons one could only speculate.) was a chain of utterly random events that did not correlate in any sort of way, and certainly don't need to be mentioned.
"Rikkai Dai's Niou Masaharu, correct?" Oshitari returned with a leisure wave before going to push up his unneeded glasses out of habit. Sure, they weren't necessary, but it doesn't take a simpleton to know that it made him look sharper. (And attract more attention from the girls as well if you really want to get in depth.) "What brings you all the way from Kanagawa to Tokyo?"
"Duh," the trickster replied with a smirk, holding both his hands to show Oshitari the plastic bags full of things. It would have been normal to bump into him like this, for it's not entirely uncommon to have people come down from Kanagawa to Tokyo to buy things. It was the said things purchased that made Oshitari raise an eyebrow at. Inside the bags in Niou's right hand were the normal things you'd expect: vegetables, fruits, medicine… all the stuff a mother would have (or force) a son to buy. However, in his other hand were bags full of gum, cakes, candy, rope, yarn, knitting needles, an array of crosses, various ties, three pairs of handcuffs, a couple of handkerchiefs, two pairs of glasses and even some packs of feminine hygiene products.
"What do you intend to do with those?" Oshitari asked. No one said curiosity was a bad thing, was it?
"Obvious, isn't it?" Niou told him. Oshitari could only blink.
"To you perhaps," he shrugged. Niou just laughed, and Oshitari felt a pang of hostility towards the boy. He didn't like to be laughed at, period. Nor did he often meet a person who actually had the ability to befuddle him. Nope, only a handful.
"Come on now, Yuushi, don't tell me you've never indulged yourself in a little mischief?" Niou teased as the two strolled down the streets. To be honest, Oshitari had never expected the trickster, whom he now saw bore a great resemblance to the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland to be one to drop all honorifics so quickly. Though both knew each other very well from the other's reputation, it was the first time they had actually exchanged any words person to person, and quite frankly, Oshitari just wasn't use to hearing his name from other than those of family or ow-my-poor-shoulder-is-twisted Gakuto.
"On the contrary," Oshitari admitted with a sarcastic sigh. "Oh the joy of pranks… I rather like the thrill and the rush of adrenaline myself."
Niou smirked. "I like you. You're interesting." For the second time, Oshitari blinked.
"I don't like you. You are insulting," Oshitari said truthfully with a scowl.
"That's what Yagyuu said too, you know?" Niou replied.
"That's what my double's partner told me as well," Oshitari answered wistfully, having discovered a certain extent of understanding between him and his accompaniment. "But honestly, what do you intend to do with those?" Oshitari flashed another disdainful look at the bags being held in Niou's left hand.
"The gum and stuff is for Marui upon his demand, the knitting stuff is for Sanada he's in lack of an safe hobby, the crosses are for Kirihara to keep the bad spirits away, the ties are for Yagyuu because I shredded his last week, the handkerchiefs are for Jackal, the glasses are for Yanagi because I thought he might actually want to see life for a change, and the feminine hygiene products are for Yukimura to lighten the mood." Niou said this without any hesitation, and the words just seemed to tumble out of his lips like a rolling river. Oshitari had a sense that the boy was happy to find someone he could ramble his ideas to and siphon off the oh-so-very-ingenious (and completely distorted) plans from his head as well.
"Quite a load there," Oshitari whistled. "I'm sure your teammates would be flattered by your wonderful gifts."
"Sarcasm gets you nowhere, Yuushi, and I wasn't being anywhere near serious," Niou replied with a snicker. There is was again, 'Yuushi', so ever smoothly and plainly said. Had he not known of the Rikkai Dai player's personality, Oshitari might have been offended.
"Manners get you to a lot of places, Masaharu," Oshitari tossed back, making sure to emphasize the boy's given name. As he had expected, Niou's smirk grew larger. "But what are the rope and handcuffs for?"
"You're the observant one of your team, aren't you?" Niou pointed out. Oshitari pondered on this for a second. He did have to admit it was true to some extent if you count out Atobe's inhumane sense of insight. However, the boy was never much of a strategist as Oshitari (Or so Oshitari would like to say anyhow. Atobe would deny it no doubt.) and the prodigy took pride in that. "I can tell. I can see it. It's in your eyes."
For some unspeakable reason, those words sent a shiver down Oshitari's spine. He got the feeling that the longer he hung around with Niou the deeper into hell he was going to get pulled into. He wasn't entirely wrong either as he would soon come to learn.
"Since you asked so nicely," Niou went on, "the rope and handcuffs are for something… special let's call it. A wonderful operation we shall embark on."
"'Let's'? 'We'? You're referring to plurals," Oshitari noted. Niou snorted.
"My intuition is never wrong," Niou sighed with an air of triumph and a hint of cockiness. "I really do like you." What happened next not even Oshitari could really anticipate. With a devilish grin and eyes sparkling of mischief, Niou, somehow, (groceries and among other things) with a quick swipe, had plucked the glasses off of Oshitari's face and hightailed into the crowd with no further words save, "You look worse without glasses. Get a new pair!"
That short and brief conversation had lingered on Oshitari's mind day and night for the days after, nearly driving him to insanity. (Can you imagine how terrifying it is to suddenly awake in the dead of night because you had been dreaming that Niou had somehow gained the knowledge and the resources necessary to mass-produce nuclear bombs? Now that Oshitari thought about it, if such a thing did happen, the world might've just as well changed the name to 'Niou-clear' bombs for the sake of it. Marvel at the stupidity of the joke.) As Atobe and Gakuto (who had made a miraculous recovery and was now back on the courts bending like an undercooked pretzel again) said, his play was slipping and he was just totally out of it. Even Shishido had remarked that the boy wasn't paying as much attention as he usually should have in class. Oshitari tried to explain, but was at a loss of words and embarrassment to spill what's really been on his mind. Then again, it could all just be the influence of the trickster, couldn't it?
"Niou-kun, what did you do this time?" A slightly exasperated and tired Yagyuu cast his doubles partner and strangely also his best friend an accusing look. It had gotten to be the two's daily routine by now. Whenever Niou was in a good mood, something bad must have happened to somebody else. It didn't take Yagyuu long to pilfer information about it from him. The boy was very keen on sharing.
"Whatever do you mean, Yagyuu?" Niou answered with a false innocent tone. Yagyuu sighed as he swiftly snatched the pair of glasses Niou had been twiddling with out of the boy's hands. Niou seemed to take no offense as he was already quite use to Yagyuu's irritation. It was so fun to make pretty-boy frustrated.
"These lenses are flat," Yagyuu noted as he removed his own lenses and tried on the other. Niou grinned like the Cheshire cat at the chance of getting to see Yagyuu's eyes. Really, he never thought one-way glasses existed. He thought they only had that feature in sunglasses, so it really was a rare treat to see Yagyuu take off his own spectacles. (Or if Niou really wanted, he could just force them off.) He was so much easier to read that way.
"You look delicious, Hi-ro-shi-chan," Niou sighed with a teasing air, pronouncing each syllable of Yagyuu's given name with emphasis. Yagyuu shot him an impossible look before he donned his own lenses again, effectively hiding his eyes from Niou's view once again.
"I hope you're not thinking about becoming cannibalistic in the future, Niou-kun," Yagyuu said bitterly. Niou just laughed, as always.
"You know what I meant," Niou replied in a flirtatious tone, licking his lips as he gave Yagyuu a little wink. Yagyuu just sighed crossly before settling back into his own seat as the teacher came in for the morning lecture. "God, you're so easy to tease."
'Serious' was not a word to describe Niou Masaharu.
"Game, Atobe, six games to four."
Oshitari could only blink as the match point flew past him in the form of a service ace and the commentary provided by a random second year soon after. Truth to be told, he just wasn't into the game at all, and he wasn't paying much attention as Atobe stormed to his side of the court and sent a harsh and surprising slap across his face. Well, that was one way to bring a guy back from mental limbo, though not always the most pleasant of forms as Oshitari had to admit.
"What is with you these past days?" Atobe hissed as Oshitari gingerly nursed his throbbing cheek. Apparently Atobe wasn't just skilled as a tennis player, but was one hell of a bitch-slapper as well. "You have been completely out of it and quite frankly I'm sick of you acting like this! Whatever it is on your mind, and don't deny it, I know it's something, just spill it! NOW!"
"No need to get all touchy, Atobe," Oshitari muttered for the simple fact that he just couldn't resist putting that in. However, Atobe wasn't exactly hearing impaired and Oshitari wasn't exactly all that quiet in his tone of voice, and for the second time that minute, he found himself slapped again. It wasn't very pleasant; take that from Oshitari.
"I'm done," Atobe murmured dryly as he tossed his tennis racket to Kabaji. "I need coffee."
"Coffee?" Oshitari managed to mustered through his burning (from pain) cheeks. "Wouldn't something cold like water be better?"
This comment earned the boy a glare. It wasn't just any glare, it was the all-famous Atobe Glare, which, in some ways, rivaled the trademark Tezuka Glare and even the copyright Sanada Glare. Basically, it meant that no one opposed the narcissist, unless they were willingly to deal with the consequences that came with it. What said consequences were, well, let's just say no one really had managed to get Atobe to that stage of fury… yet.
"Niou-kun, I could, in some ways, understand… cosplaying each other for our match against Seigaku. I acknowledge that as a great psychological attack on their behalf and maybe even some bizarre form of bonding, but… I really… I really don't…"
"What's that matter Yagyuu?" Niou hollered, a tone completely the opposite of that of Yagyuu's just a moment ago. Yagyuu winced. He knew all too well that Niou was doing this on purpose. "Don't you enjoy being handcuffed to your best friend?" Yagyuu grimaced. Well, at least he hadn't said boyfriend, right? He should be grateful by all means, but it was very hard doing so when everyone in the Rikkai tennis club was currently gawking at you being handcuffed to, well, your best friend. Sometimes Yagyuu wondered why he couldn't have picked a more suitable 'best friend', but there was just something about Niou you just couldn't help but not love to be around.
"Niou-kun!" Yagyuu half moaned half scolded. Niou, either out of pity or just for the hell of it to add to their little five-minute soap opera, (Yagyuu suspected the later of the two of course, though if you asked Niou, he would no doubt have objected.) dramatically, for a lack of a better word, pounced onto Yagyuu in what appeared to be an over gracious hug. Of course, Niou had forgotten (or did he?) that he was now currently chained to his 'best friend', and since the maximum distance of the handcuffs were a half foot, said hug ultimately ended up with Niou toppling on top of an alarmed Yagyuu.
"Oops, sorry," Niou answered gingerly as he heard a definitely crack that was most likely Yagyuu's glasses.
"Niou-kun!"
Somehow, oddly, Atobe had dragged Oshitari to his house after tennis practice. Oshitari could do little to object to this, for it was an unwritten rule among Hyoutei students that what Atobe wants, Atobe gets. No objections. Well, it wasn't like Oshitari was about to be objecting anyhow. Visiting Atobe's house alone was very rare unless you were Kabaji, and moreover, a pleasant treat.
"Spill," Atobe demanded bluntly as the two sipped coffee out in Atobe's beautiful botanic gardens.
"To tell you the truth, Atobe," Oshitari began as he wearily stirred sugar into his ultra expensive cup of coffee. (Honestly, Oshitari preferred tea better.) "I really don't want it all over my pants."
At this Atobe scowled as he gingerly place down his cup. "We both know well I didn't mean that literally."
"Of course," Oshitari shrugged. "But I wanted to ask you the same question as well, Atobe. You're normally more, eh, how should we say this? Composed."
"My own issues are my own issues. Don't go poking your nose in them," Atobe said straight forwardly.
"But you are acknowledging you have issues yet to be resolved," Oshitari oh-so graciously pointed out with a taunting smile. Atobe look absolutely livid. But of course, did you expect anything less of Hyoutei's prodigy?
Playing doubles with Niou had its own ups and downs, Yagyuu mused. He wasn't one you'd really consider one to be placed in doubles; Jackal would have been a much better partner, (Marui? He could deal with Niou… somehow…) but even Yagyuu had to admit every match with the trickster was its own little learning experience: you never know just exactly what he was going to pull out next. However, playing with Niou had never been the easiest thing in the world, especially now, when the two were still chained wrist to wrist. (Of course, after that incident, Niou had switched to the handcuffs with a slightly long chain, two and a half meters.)
"I got it!" Niou shouted childishly with a sadistic grin as he rushed up to the net in attempt to catch Marui's volley, dragging an unwilling Yagyuu with him.
"Niou-kun!" Yagyuu said shrilly as he felt his left hand jerk up in response to Niou's advance and pretty soon his whole body following in suite, tripping to the ground as his tennis racket slipped out of his hand and his glasses (always keep extra pairs) flying off his face at impact. Niou, surprisingly, had remained upright through the whole thing and had even managed to get a return ace on Marui and Jackal.
"Sorry," Niou offered sheepishly as somewhere offset, Sanada gave a frustrated sigh as Kirihara broke out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Yagyuu could only curse his luck… and Niou. "But Hiroshi-chan, you have such pretty eyes."
"NIOU-KUN!"
"You know it's just a little hard to wash your hair with a garden hose, Atobe."
So after purposely dumping his head of coffee onto Oshitari's head, it was only natural courtesy for Atobe to make him rinse it to get all of the unpleasant liquid off. Atobe didn't feel like sharing his shampoo with the other, and still in a prickly mood, he had tossed Oshitari a garden hose with no verbal inputs added. Oshitari knew that it wasn't going to get any better than that, and obediently did as he was instructed… or by implied instructions anyhow. Atobe watched with slight amusement. Rich boys weren't use to the other ways, were they?
"Niou-kun, honestly…" Yagyuu found no will to continue his sentence. In fact, he barely had any will to be alive at all. You'd think Yagyuu would be use to Niou's quirks and insane ideas, but there was just no possible way a living person could adapt to his nature. It was too… erratic.
"Wait, I'm sure the key is here somewhere!" Niou muttered as his left hand rummaged his tennis bag for the key to the handcuffs. Unfortunately, they appeared to have been lost, or Niou might've just simply 'misplaced' it. Yagyuu was infuriated. "Eh, nope! Not in here either. Guess we're chained until further notice," Niou announced a little bit too happily to avoid suspicion. But either way, suspicion was upon him whether he liked it or not.
"NIOU-KUN!"
"So… wanna go to my house?"
By now Oshitari had already gotten out as much coffee as possible and had followed Atobe back to his mansion. Of course, a change of clothing was provided because the captain would simply not allow the other to enter his palace soaking wet.
"We've been getting completely off-track," Atobe said spitefully as he closed his bedroom door behind him. Oshitari winced from his captain's king-sized (actually, probably even larger) bed with the satin bed sheets, etcetera, etcetera… Oshitari didn't even know half the materials used, thought by the looks of it, they were all unimaginably expensive and probably imported from some foreign country.
"Really? I didn't think there was a track we were taking to begin with, Atobe," Oshitari kindly pointed out, which earned him a glare. "I thought the two of us had just been randomly scouting out the unsettled frontier without a map nor road."
"Touché, Oshitari," Atobe told him as he took as seat on one of his elegant chairs thrice over. Actually, you probably wouldn't even call it a 'chair'. No, 'chair' was too simple and dull to describe what Atobe was sitting on. "You think I brought you hear to chat for the joy of it?"
"Yes," Oshitari said, trying to see how far the line was drawn. "Well, actually, I thought you dragged me over so you could get the pleasure of dumping coffee on me and then watching me get soaked with the garden hose, to tell you the truth."
"Very funny," Atobe sniffed. "No, I dragged you over hear to discuss your issues you've been having with paying attention this week."
"You sound like my math teacher," Oshitari remarked, "and for your information, I am not having issues with paying attention this week. Why do you even bother with these things?"
Atobe gave an exasperated sigh as he tossed Oshitari a tennis ball from his desk. (Or whatever it is you called it with all its… expensiveness.) "I am your captain, and I am entitled to stick my nose into your business."
"But first, let's talk about yours," Oshitari smirked, something that was occurring to him a lot more often and easily these past few days. "You played Tezuka, right?"
Ungracefully and uncharacteristically, Atobe, upon hearing 'Tezuka' literally choked on the glass of water (yikes… they must like to drink a lot of liquid…) he was sipping on and tumbled out of his 'chair' trying to sooth his hacking. Oshitari raised an eyebrow. Score: fifteen-love.
"So you did, I take it," Oshitari went on. Atobe sent him a warning glare, one which Oshitari paid no heed to. "And by your bitterness and short-temper, I suspect that you lost."
Thirty-love.
"I didn't loose!" Atobe hissed.
Forty-love.
"Oh, of course you didn't," Oshitari said sarcastically. "He just scored more points than you-"
Let's call it game, though for the third time that day, Oshitari found his cheek burning with pain. Really, at the rate this was going, he was going to have to schedule a dentist appointment. …But at least they were making progress, weren't they?
"And that's the reason why he'll be living here until further notice… unless you're going to invite me to your house, Yagyuu?"
Yagyuu could only shut his eyes and try to think 'positive thoughts', hopping that it might, even momentarily, slash Niou from the corners of his mind. However, such a thing was quite hard to do, especially when the person was chained to you and happily pulling you along to his room. The only 'positive' thing Yagyuu could fish out was that Niou's parents weren't at home that day, and his older sister had gone to attend a slumber party. However, by the way Niou was talking, you'd think his little brother here actually cared.
"Haru nii-chan! What are we eating for dinner!"
"I don't know. Yagyuu's cooking."
And this was one of the times Yagyuu Hiroshi really just wanted to murder his doubles partner.
"Now this is the reason I dragged you over to my place." Atobe gave a triumphant smirk, towering over Oshitari, who was heavily panting on his knees behind the net, a tennis ball resting but a couple feet away. Even though it was a crushing defeat of six to two this time, Oshitari couldn't help smirking. It was hard to explain, but it was like a kind of thrill he'd get every time he faced a worthy opponent. Sure, he faced Atobe here and there, and he just played a set with him earlier that day. However, there was something different about his play from this afternoon versus this morning that Oshitari couldn't help but feel jovial about.
"You know, we should play more often," Oshitari remarked as Atobe pulled him up. The boy just shot him a queer look, one that can only be described as 'Atobe-ish'. Oshitari returned it with a genuine smile.
"You're asking to get crushed again?" Atobe scoffed.
"No, I just…" the boy trailed off with a soft chuckle and a small smile. Atobe couldn't seem to register this kind of behavior, as he was use to getting snapped at when he dominated his opponent. He found it even stranger as Oshitari brushed past him giving him a pat on his shoulder before disappearing for good. Atobe frowned. No one ever ditched 'ore-sama'.
"Yagyuu? Yagyuu? Hey, are you okay?"
"…Niou-sempai, I think you killed him…"
"Shut up, Kirihara, I didn't kill him."
"Niou-sempai, last time I checked, nail polish and hair gel weren't edible."
"Well, they never said on the label that it wasn't!"
"…Niou-sempai…"
And Yagyuu Hiroshi cursed all things to why a person named Niou Masaharu ever existed in such a world as this one.
Déjà vu… That was the sense that Oshitari had gotten that day. After a couple more steps down the bustling streets, the teen suddenly stopped as he realized that he had been on the same one exactly one week ago. He cringed as a single word, a name, came to mind. How could it have slipped his mind?
Oshitari glanced back suddenly, for what reasons only God knows. Perhaps he was expecting to see a tiny bobbing head of whitish blue amidst a crowd of commoners, a speck of vanilla in chocolate ice cream. A strange feeling came over him then, one he didn't like all too well. For a moment, he firmly believed that Niou would be there-
"Waiting around the next corner. Read your mind, didn't I, Yuushi?"
Oshitari gave a startled jolt as he stopped inches before toppling over the shorter boy, whose infamous smirk danced playfully on his lips as always. This time, he was free of any bags, save the tennis bag that was slung over his left shoulder, allowing his arms to be crossed in an almost commanding and bossy manner. Oshitari could barely utter a word.
"Here, brought you a present." With a swift movement, Niou grabbed Oshitari's wrist with one hand, and with the other, placed a fluorescent tennis ball into his palm. (Oh yes, Niou had miraculously managed to somehow come across the key.) A slight pang of discomfort overcame him as Niou's stone cold fingers wrapped around his wrists, one which the boy picked up immediately from just one glance at Oshitari's eyes. As if to tease him even more, Niou let his grip gently drop from Oshitari's wrist to his hand, lacing together their fingers, dragging him along with a tight squeeze and that everlasting smirk. No matter how Oshitari tried to extricate his hand from that vice-grip, Niou didn't relent.
Oshitari could only try to comprehend the other.
"Who would ever have suspected a tie? Heh…"
Gasping for breath with his hands on his thighs, Niou still managed to flash Oshitari a smirk, who was on the other side of the net basically doing the same things Niou was doing, trying to catch his breath. The two had indulged themselves in a grueling five-set match game of tennis, and both were absolutely exhausted from the challenging set. Neither had ever encountered an opponent with a play style quite like the other. It was more of a game of strategy and skill rather than just aimlessly hitting the ball at a corner where the opponent couldn't reach it. In the end however, it just went back to who could get more balls to land on the other side of the court. After all, that is what tennis was about when you strip down to the bare basics, wasn't it?
"It's not a tie," Oshitari managed to say between gasping breaths.
"Of course not," Niou snorted. "Both of us just managed to collapse after thirty-seven minutes into tie break."
"Point taken," Oshitari shrugged.
By now both boys had flopped onto their backs, still trying to regain a normal breathing tempo while gazing up to the heavens, which had turned to night during their long match. Neither of the two could help but smile as the stars winked at both of them, and neither of the two could help but wonder what their parents would say once they've finally returned home. What an episode that'll be.
"Heh… I was right," Niou spoke suddenly as both of their breathing slowly turned softer. "I really do like you."
"Should I be flattered?" Oshitari remarked sarcastically.
"Maybe," Niou laughed. "Hey, you free next Friday?"
"What? Yeah, I suppose…"