Sometimes, Yagyuu thought to himself as he lounged on a bench watching the train-wreck of a match going on in front of him, it seemed like there was nothing between Masaharu's ears but air. Of course, that also tied into his theory that Masaharu lived on nothing but sugar and caffeine, with the added boost of the occasional fix of nicotine, as none of those things did anything to support a healthy brain. Sadly, the first theory contradicted his favorite third theory, which was that an alien had taken over Masaharu's brain, and enjoyed living on sugar, caffeine and nicotine.

Lost in thought, he didn't notice the return of his partner until an ice-cold bottle of water dropped down the back of his jersey, resulting in a highly undignified round of yelping, squirming and a final fall off the bench onto the ground. The laughter that followed him down reminded him again of why he was so fond of his first theory, right before he hooked an ankle with his heel and brought his partner down with him. They were a pair, after all, and he wasn't going down alone.

"Ass." Masaharu commented, after he managed to pull air into his lungs again a minute or so later. "Was that really necessary?"

Yagyuu simply adjusted his glasses and got up, before reaching down to offer him a hand up, hauling the lanky teen to his feet. Taking the bottle of water that this time was pressed into his hand, he opened it and sipped calmly. When he was done, he set it down and turned to look at him.

"Jackal and Marui are slaughtering Yukimura and Sanada." It was a bit of an embarrassment really.

Niou snorted and then grinned. "Buchou and his shadow lack symbiosis, Hiroshi. That's why they suck at doubles."

"That's a big word for you, Masaharu." Yagyuu patted him approvingly and returned to his theory that an alien had taken up residence in his partner's head, deciding that air would never produce a word like 'symbiosis'. An alien living in someone's brain, however, and using their sugar, caffeine, and nicotine, could.

"Maybe you should get more sleep, Hiroshi." Niou peered at him worriedly. "I know we all want to do well on exams, but you're looking a bit rough."

Yagyuu snorted lightly. "Just the sort of thing a symbiotic alien would say to cover his tracks, isn't it?"

It was two days before he was allowed to come to practice again, and he had to deal with endless hours of Masaharu feeding him soup and tea, and watching over him and fussing. They even told his parents, which seemed absurd really. After all, everyone had been studying hard, and it wasn't his fault that Masaharu had allowed his brain to be taken over by an alien with a solid vocabulary.