"Alright everyone, finish your laps! Regulars go to the C and D-courts!" Rikkai's buchou yelled.

It was a really hot summer day and the regulars all groaned aloud. Yagyuu, the bastard, had gone to his grandparent's house in the north of Japan where the weather wasn't as hot.

Niou bounced the ball a few times before serving. He absolutely hated practice in hot weather and he really hated to play against Akaya. Their kouhai scared all the non-regulars and frightened the first-years in the tennis club to death.

"Ha! That's piece o' cake!" Kirihara yelled as he returned the ball. They shot a couple of balls each across the court before Niou decided to try something new he and Yagyuu had been practicing lately: Seigaku's Tezuka's "Tezuka Phantom" which caused all the balls to go out of bounds.

"Take this, brat!" Niou grunted as he hit the ball. After all he wasn't called the trickster of Rikkai for nothing!

"That one is going out", Yanagi, who stood on the sideline, casually mentioned as Akaya hit the ball. And it did.

Unfortunately, a first-year who was standing in the way of the ball decided to show off. He hit the ball with all the strength he could muster as it came flying towards him. The ball was still affected by the "Tezuka Phantom" that Niou had hit and didn't bounce back onto the court.

Instead the ball flew in a wide bow away from the courts.

And it hit Yukimura in the side of the head.

A lot of screaming, panicking and gathering of the regulars followed, except for Kirihara who was chasing the poor first-year around the courts. Jackal had to prevent the rest of the tennis team from rushing to Yukimura's aid, something that wouldn't have been the least helpful since Yanagi already was doing just that.

"It seems he's just unconscious" Yanagi said and there was a collective sigh of relief from the whole team. "The ball wasn't hit very hard so he'll probably only have headache when he awakes. Let's take him to the infirmary."

"Alright everyone back to practice!" Sanada roared in an attempt to divert the other's eyes from Yukimura and his own soon-to-be-tear-filled eyes.

"I'll take Yukimura to the infirmary then" Niou said and bent down to pick their buchou up.

"Wh-what're you doing?!" Marui exclaimed, almost swallowing his gum.

"Piggyback?" Niou raised an eyebrow.

"Oh…" the redhead had a slight blush.

"Just what did you think?"

"Nothing…" Marui looked away, trying to hide the blush.

"You didn't really think I'd carry him bridal style, did you?"

"…no"

"But more importantly, why d'you think you'll be excused from practice?" Yanagi said. "Jackal is stronger, he should carry Yukimura. And there's a high percentage you'll be diverted on the way to the infirmary."

"Well my doubles partner is absent, for one. It's pretty hard to have our Kantou finals' D1 practicing for the nationals, if one half is missing, right?"

"You're aware that the two of you might not be playing in the Nationals finals as D1 Niou?"

The trickster didn't answer. Instead, he arranged Yukimura's legs on each side of his waist and the boy's arms around the neck. He stood up, slightly hunched so that his buchou wouldn't fall backwards.

"Grab my stuff when you're heading back to class will ya" he said as he slowly walked towards the school buildings.

Why wouldn't he and Yagyuu be playing doubles? Hell, he'd be sure to force an answer out of Yukimura when he woke up!

At least it was cooler indoors. Upon arriving to the infirmary Niou carefully bent down and dropped Yukimura onto the floor. He then proceeded to open the door to the infirmary. It was empty. And so was the corridor.

Guess carrying him bridal style will be the fastest way, Niou thought. He lifted his captain and walked into the empty but up-lit room, closing the door with a swift kick. God bless the air conditioner, the room was wonderfully cool!

"Masaharu…?" A pair of blue eyes looked up at him.

Yukimura's voice broke the silence and managed to scare the shit out of Niou!

"Just a sec, buchou" he said, half-running towards the bed standing in the upper corner of the room. Don't blush don't blush don't blush!!

The timing sure could've been better, why'd Yukimura have to wake up right now as Niou was carrying him like… like some kind of girl?! Oh he could already smell the laps he'd be running for doing this! He quickly dropped Yukimura on the bed.

"There! So sorry for that Yukimura but it was the fastest way to reach the bed and my back was killingme, have you gained weight lately-"

"Oh… ok. Was I hit by a ball and fainted and then you carried me here?" Yukimura guessed.

"Uh yeah… how'd you know?"

"It happened once when I was little. I couldn't remember what had happened back then, either."

The only sound heard was the air conditioner.

"Uh… there's something I've been thinking of" Niou suddenly said. "Yanagi mentioned that I and Yagyuu wouldn't be playing as doubles1 in the Nationals' finals…"

"That's right. We were thinking of letting one of you play singles in the semifinals and the other as singles2 in the finals."

More silence, while Niou's mind worked at what he'd just heard. Yukimura just sat on the bed, smiling.

"So… who'll be playing as singles2 in the finals?"

"Well, we haven't actually decided that yet."

"…. You wanna play a game with me, Yukimura?"

"What kind of game?"

"Thumb-wrestling... and if I win you'll let me play as singles2 in the finals." Niou sat down on the bed and leaned back.

"It's a deal. But isn't this quite mean to Hiroshi since he's not here today?"

"You're one who's being mean, you agreed to play with me already!"

"True. Let's get started."

"Best of three wins!"

Niou pushed himself up with one hand in order to straighten up. By doing so his hand accidentally flipped the ON button to the speakers used by the nurse when calling students in.

And the following was called out in the hall and classrooms of Rikkai.

"... What do you think you're doing Masaharu?"

"What does it look like buchou? I'm pinning you down."

"Please let go of me, it hurts. You don't have to be so rough."

"Sorry Yukimura-buchou." Second round begins, which, of course the listening students couldn't possibly know.

"Hey buchou, you're pretty good at this. Have you been practicing or something?"

"Well, Sanada and I used to do this a lot when I was in the hospital."

By now practice had ended and the regulars hade made their way into the school buildings. And they all froze dead on the spot as Yukimura's voice streamed out of the speakers.

Sanada's face turned into a bright red shade and Marui's gum fell out of his wide-open mouth. Jackal's hands were covering Kirihara's ears and Yanagi's eyes were... open.

"I see", Niou's voice was heard. "And who usually came out on top then?"

"It was actually me. Sanada's such a push-over." Yukimura swiftly caught Niou's thumb with his own and shot the trickster a sly smile.

"Augh! How'd you do that?"

"What, you don't like being in the bottom? You know, Sanada never complied even once."

"Shouldn't you call him Genichirou? And was that literally or figuratively speaking? I bet I'm still better than him at this."

Now the regulars were all staring at Sanada, who looked as if he was ready to faint. And the third round had now begun.

"Dammit", Niou said. "Wait a minute… let me take off my jacket!" He threw the jacket towards the desk, where it landed and hit the OFF button. "OK, now we're on!"

"You think you'll win just by taking off your jacket?" Yukimura said, looking slightly amused.

"No… I'll win by doing this."

Niou threw himself forward, tackling Yukimura who fell backwards with a yelp, and at the same time Niou pinned the other boy's thumb with his own.

"Heh. Looks like I'll be playing singles2 in the finals eh, buchou?" Niou smirked, wiggling his thumb over Yukimura's.

"Ow… that's cheating! And you're heavy Masaharu. Get off me this instant!"

"Aw... you don't like being in the bottom buchou?" the trickster snickered. Suddenly he caught a movement in the corner of his eye.

"Oh… hi guys. When'd you get here? Uh… is something wrong?"

"Genichirou… why, your nose is bleeding!"

Yanagi was the first who managed to make a human sound. "Seiichi… Niou… we'll be leaving the two of you alone. Jackal, please carry Genichirou.

And the door was slammed shut.

"… just what was that about?"

Next day

Niou was stuffing his bag into his locker in order to go to morning practice when he got an unpleasant feeling. He turned around and met… Yagyuu. Whose face was inches from his own.

"Hi Hiroshi! Did you have fun at your grandparent's place?"

"The whole school…" Yagyuu wheezed between clenched teeth. "The whole school is talking about it, Niou-kun!"

"Wha-? Oh…! Sorry, I was gonna tell you I'm playing as singles2 in the finals! I swear I was! It just slipped my mind!"

"… You're playing singles2 in the finals?"

"Uh… so that wasn't what you meant, was it?"

"You mean there's more?!" the gentleman screamed in a very un-gentlemanlike way. His face had by now turned into an unhealthy shade of reddish purple.

The tension was broken by the unsuspecting pair of Kirihara and Marui who entered the clubroom. Niou took this as his cue to dive under Yagyuu's legs and get the hell out of there – he had to find Yukimura. And then, the two of them could clear this mess up.