Disclaimer: Here's a random fact: I'm sad enough to have called my dog 'Teni'. Here's another random fact: I don't own Prince of Tennis, or any of the characters. :)

Rating: PG-13, purely for some language dotted here and there.

Warnings: Shounen-ai/yaoi, Niou-and-all-that-he-entails. Especially the bitterness bit.

Summary: For Shishido, Choutarou and Niou… Well, the end of the waiting camel is only the beginning. To use that famous old cliché.

Author's notes: Another Rikkai drabblething. You don't have to have read the ones that come before this, but it might help a bit. The drabblething list goes:

Times of Stress

Passing the Time

How to ask out Marui Bunta

Four Days Later

October Ice

Because I Love You

Evil

Further Nonsense

Dear Diary

Kind of… the same

100 Word Challenges

Driver in a Hurry, Child in a Coma

Doctor, doctor!

The Woes of Solomon Grundy

I'm Not Going

The Little Things

I Had To

He WHAT?!

Operation: Christmas Party

Being Fukubuchou

Once Upon a Time

My Brother Bunta

Dear Diary: Living with Niou-senpai

A Morning at the Pool

This is Love

SFRR

And So It Begins

Most Unexpected

This Is March 5th

No Small Wonder

The Last Day Of A Stage in Life

Back to Basics

Blame it On the Damn Vodka

Papercuts

The Stuff of Myths

Finally Understood

Dear Diary: Beginning the Third Year

Operation: Disbelief

May 21st

The Collective Threads

A Minesweeper Kind of Mind

Sanada Hates Random

Time Will Tell. Probably.

The Way of the Jinx

The Hottest Fire

The Name's Metaphor. Blatant Metaphor.

Cirque du Rikkai

Guess Who Fate Doesn't Like Much?

Eep, Crayons, and Parrots with Problems

The Waiting Camel

IT'S THE 50TH FREAKING DRABBLETHING!!!

I've been writing these for over a year now. I'm so happy :D Thanks so much to everyone who ever reviewed or PMed me or emailed me or just simply quietly loved my fics. You guys rock my socks right off.

… So, instead of writing a really happy, cracky, celebratory fic, or even a nostalgic summary-fic… you get this instead. Mwaha. xDD It takes place at the same time as 'Eep, Crayons, and Parrots with Problems'. Well, when I say same time, I really mean just after Niou gets off the bus. So yeah, read that first if you haven't already. x3 And also read 'Operation: Disbelief', 'The Collective Threads' and 'The Hottest Fire'. Or, yes, you will get a tad confuzzled. xD

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And this, Niou reflected as rain instantly soaked him to the bone, is why you bring an umbrella to school, damnit.

He ran home. It wasn't that far, although his legs were already tired from the afternoon practice. Damn fukubuchou, running me into the ground. I should put honey in his trainers, then release some killer bees.

The idea entertained him long enough for him to reach the front door without further complaint about the rain or his legs. The door was open, as ever – Niou had been told by Yanagi that Westerners tended to keep their doors locked when there was no-one in. It was a concept that Niou approved of, even if there wasn't much point here. Still, it did prove useful when he wanted to get inside in a hurry.

"Is that you, Masaharu?" his aunt called from the kitchen.

"Obviously," Niou shot back automatically.

"Don't be so sarcastic, Masaharu. There's a message for you on the answer machine."

Niou's heart leapt.

"I think it's from that Yukimura boy. Did you leave your phone in your room again? That wasn't very clever."

Niou's heart settled back down, disappointed. He scowled darkly and kicked off his shoes. "Don't call him 'that Yukimura boy'," he snapped, ignoring the slight to himself. "It's Yukimura-kun to you."

"Don't address me like that, Masaharu. Honestly, you're the rudest boy I've ever talked to."

"Yeah, people tell me that. I wonder whose fault that is?" Niou kicked the living room door shut before his aunt (or uncle if he was in; Niou didn't know or care) could respond and pressed Play on the answering machine.

"Hello, 'Haru. It's me. You're not answering your mobile, so I'm calling here. I just wanted to ask; did you give Akaya his birthday card and tell him that I'm sorry I couldn't get a chance to see him today? Thanks. I'd phone his mobile, but he's not answering it either. See you tomorrow, ne?"

BEEP. "You have. No more messages."

Shit. I forgot. Niou pulled the card out of his pocket. It was a little bent; he made an effort to straighten it out on the hallway table, but only succeeded in bending it the other way. He gave up and headed up to his room. Once in, he threw it onto Akaya's futon and shrugged out of his wet clothes, heading straight for the shower, not caring if his aunt or uncle happened to see him naked.

The hot spray felt like a little piece of heaven. Niou let out a long sigh, leaning sideways onto the wall and contemplating the vapour that gathered on the frosted glass of the shower cubicle like ants on an apple.

"Who were you expecting the message to be from, anyway?" he asked aloud, disgusted. "You're such a fucking girl."

Good question, good comment.

Alright. So he'd kind of expected an answer by now. Jeez, they'd had the whole of yesterday afternoon and evening and then today as well. How much time did they need to talk, exactly?

Quite possibly forever.

And wasn't that just the worst thought to have.

You didn't have to be a rocket scientist or even Yagyuu to guess what was on the brooding Trickster's mind as he slowly started lathering up the soap.

Ohtori and Shishido. That bloody fucking Shishido and his Chouta.

Except he might not be his Chouta any more.

Niou groaned aloud and banged his forehead off the tiled wall.

You idiot. You imbecile. You kind of liked both of them in the beginning, didn't you? But then Shishido made some passing comment about Marui that you can't even remember now and so you began to fall for Choutarou and decided that Shishido was an arrogant prick that you didn't like in the slightest.

… Except of course you did really, didn't you?

"Did not," Niou mumbled into the shower spray.

Fine, yes, you thought that he was an arrogant prick. Because he is. But baiting his temper always gave you a wicked little thrill that you never got from doing the same with anyone else. And sometimes, you thought, 'Hey, you know, the guy's pretty good-looking in a snobby kind of way.'

"Shut up. What the hell do you know, anyway?" Niou rinsed off the soap and started on his hair, yanking the little elastic bands out with a vengeance. His thoughts shut up after that; not that they really needed to say any more anyway.

To make things worse, Yukimura confessed to him a week ago that some big-shot American coach had given him a professional offer after the Kantou finals. He was still thinking on it, but it was painfully likely that he would be in America by Christmas, training for the pro circuit. So Niou had done the sensible (if distinctly sociopathic) thing; he'd distanced himself greatly from Yukimura. This unfortunately meant that he couldn't tell the other boy his more complex problems and get a handy solution like he'd done a couple of times before. And damned if he was going to bend his pride for anyone else – aside from anything, there wasn't any point. Marui might be his best friend, but he had Akaya skills rather than people skills. Yanagi had the intelligence, but not the capacity for this kind of problem-solving. Yagyuu had people skills in spades deep down, but Niou couldn't rely on his advice for Choutarou-related things because the guy was straight as the proverbial straight thing.

He finished his shower and got out, drying himself off briefly and wrapping a towel around his waist before heading back to his bedroom.

His phone was fully charged, so Niou switched off the mains and put his phone by the bed where he could reach it if it rang.

Yawning a little, Niou brushed wet bangs out of his eyes and flopped backwards onto the bed. His hair would wet the pillow, but he didn't really mind.

Staring up at the ceiling, slightly yellowed with all the cigarettes he'd smoked in here over the last few years, Niou exhaled slowly and played with a little hundred-yen coin, flipping it back and forth between his fingers with ease, occasionally making it disappear behind his wrist before bringing it back (he'd always had a knack for sleight of hand).

Who was he kidding? Choutarou had agreed to talk things over with Shishido at Niou's request; he'd explained everything to the silver-haired boy at length, as much as he possibly could without any input or observation from Yukimura. All he could do was play the waiting game, as they said.

"Stupid saying," he said out loud. "It's not a fucking game, is it? They may as well call it the waiting camel, or something."

He knew how things would turn out. Yukimura would go to America. Shishido and Choutarou would get together – or at least, Choutarou would break up with Niou. He knew he was right. Niou could always guess the flip of a coin.

Dull silver spun up into the air like a bizarrely reversed raindrop. Niou caught it as it came down, holding it in his long fingers.

"Heads," he said, and opened his hand.

For a second he almost wanted to be wrong.

But no; he never guessed wrong.

"Score," Niou muttered sarcastically. Then he threw the coin across the room.

The beeping of his phone took him by surprise, and he stared down at it a moment in silence. A giant hand squeezed his chest and he nearly didn't answer it. But that wouldn't be fair. After all, he at least owed Choutarou a spot of fairness.

"Evening," he said conversationally as he pressed the 'Answer' option. Ironic, drawly politeness was his forte. He could cope with that. "Is the weather as bad in Tokyo?"

"You're only a few miles out from Tokyo," the voice on the other end said. Niou had no idea what to think of the slight smile he could hear in it.

"Yeah, well. The bus route is a mystical magical force of the occult."

What the fuck are you talking about?! For the sake of everything Buddha-sama ever ate, talk seriously!

"Haha. Alright, if you say so."

"How did things go with Shishido? What's the plan?"

"We don't exactly have a plan, as such…"

I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. Just stay polite, ok? Don't hang up on him. It's not fair.

"More like an unmitigated decision?"

"Sorry? More like a what?"

"Unmitigated decision. An absolute choice."

There was a very brief pause as Choutarou had to work out what Niou was saying in the context of the conversation. It was hard to follow his speech patterns sometimes. "Um, no, not that either. There's a tentative decision, though, if you're on board?"

"Depends. Does it involve coffee?"

Now Choutarou did chuckle a little and Niou ached to hear it.

"If you like, yes. Look, here's what Shishido-san and I think."

Here it comes, Niou thought.

"You love me, right, 'Haru-san?"

Of course, you idiot. "Yeah."

"And you also have some kind of feelings for Shishido-san."

"Looks like."

"And I… I feel very strongly for you. But also for Shishido-san. We dated very briefly last year, you know, but we decided that it was better to stay friends, at least for a while."

"Uh huh."

"And Shishido-san… Well, he loves me too. But he certainly wasn't protesting too hard when you kissed him." There was a trace of dry amusement in Choutarou's voice; it sounded oddly suiting to the normally sweet-natured boy.

"So what the hell… I mean, what conclusions did you two come to?"

There was another short pause, then Choutarou said carefully, "Alright, now, this may sound a little… I don't know, odd. But just hear me out, ne?"

"I'm the king of odd. Hit me."

"Well, we think… It just seems to us that it might be worth trying to… Mm, how shall I put this…"

Niou shut his eyes. "Chouta-kun, I love you, but you do beat about the fucking bush."

"Sorry. Bluntly, we think it might be worth trying a relationship with the three of us. From a practical point of view, we can't think of any real reason why it wouldn't work. Provided you and Shishido-san don't end up killing each other. It's easy not to kill someone, you know. It just takes practise." Again, the slight dry amusement. "So, um… It's unconventional, I know, but… Well, you're not the most conventional of people, 'Haru-san. And I'm fairly open to things. And Shishido-san… Shishido-san is, um, sensible. Mostly."

…

"… And this was… whose suggestion, again?"

"It was kind of a mutual conclusion." Choutarou sounded distinctly nervous now.

The idea was certainly unconventional. Oh, lords. And to think he'd thought Hyoutei kids were so proper.

But come to think of it… it was a pretty good solution. If it worked, at least, which Niou had strong doubts about. But if it meant that he could keep Choutarou a little longer, then… Surely, surely it was worth a shot. Right?

"Of course, you and Shishido-san will have to work out some trust between you, or it won't work," Choutarou continued when Niou didn't say anything. "That's the real teething problem. But Shishido-san is willing to try if you will. What do you think, 'Haru-san?"

"So, hang on, wait… You're not angry with me? You are, in fact, proposing that I spend more time with Cap-kun?"

"Of course." Choutarou sounded surprised. "I was never angry with you, 'Haru-san. Just upset."

"You know that's ridiculously… open-minded of you, right?" said Niou.

"No jabs at my masculinity, if you please."

"Alright, alright…" Secretly, Niou's mind was racing. There was so much to consider. So many factors to be taken into account, like a giant clock with far too many levers that was liable to explode at any given time…

But suddenly, Niou discovered that he didn't care right now.

"So I get to keep you?" he asked slowly.

"Well, yes. Shared. And Shishido-san too."

Right. Then that was good enough for him. "Deal. Unconventional's easy. I can do that."

He could nearly feel the delighted beam through the phone. "Good. That's great. Sorry, I'm running really low on credit – can we drop by tomorrow evening or something?"

"Yeah. Sure. Great." Niou could barely force the words out around the incredulous happiness.

"Ok. See you tomorrow, 'Haru-san."

"See you." The call clicked off, and Niou flipped his phone shut.

Well, damn. Hot damn.

"Not exactly where I imagined my life would stray," he mumbled aloud, numbed.

Oh, he knew he'd probably panic in the morning. Bu right now, Niou Masaharu felt kindly enough towards Life and the world in general that he scribbled a quick 'Happy Birthday, from me' on a spare piece of paper to put on Akaya's futon along with Yukimura's card. Not quite as much out of niceness as self-satisfying cruelty; Akaya would fret for hours over the piece of paper, trying to decode secret meanings and potential deadly weapons hidden in the ink or the back of the paper somewhere. But there you go. You couldn't expect the Trickster to be truly altruistic now, could you?

"I guess Life isn't a coin flip," he said aloud. And he felt he'd never said anything truer.

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Sandy: By the by, there's now a complete list of all the Rikkai Drabblethings to date on my profile. n.n Just so you know. I don't know if that'll help anyone (it's mostly for people new to them), but yeah.

San: As in 'Shishido-san'. An honorific generally used for people older than you, or just for politeness. But you do find a fair few wives who call their husbands (Name)-san no matter how close they are...

Ne: Used to request confirmation, like 'ok?' or 'right?' etc. Guys like Niou use the rougher equivalent 'na'; girls and nicer guys like Chouta use 'ne'. n.n

Please leave me a review? n.n They rock my socks in a very rockingful way. –Takes a quick breather then goes to start the next Drabblething- Three in a row… jeez… And I'm completely revamping 'Cirque du Rikkai' – I decided my ideas were rubbish – so really I'm trying to complete four. –Shakes head at self-

Until next time!

P.S. Britix: I'm so sorry about the lateness of your fic – It's on its way D; I sent you an email concerning the contents, but I think maybe it went to your old email account…? Anyways, I've started it, so yeah. It's definitely coming. n.n;;