Promise
By Nori
Niou/Sanada
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I am merely playing in Konomi-sensei's sandbox.

Notes: This was written for hoshi li onpot exchange at livejournal, with the request of "A fic exploring the (platonic) relationship between Niou and Sanada, either development over the years (but not extending beyond the current time in canon) or an excerpt from some sort of event." I chose development, so it covers about 7 years prior and up to current canon timeline. Mostly Niou-centric, his POV, sort of.

---

If one were to look, they probably would not suspect that Sanada Genichirou and Niou Masaharu were anything but the cranky vice-captain and the more obnoxious half of Rikkai's most guileful doubles pair. If one were to pay attention, however; if they were to look past the assiduous and insidious masks they both held firmly in place, one would think very differently about them.

Few knew it, but Genichirou and Masaharu had been quite close since elementary school -- a time in which Genichirou had been a bit more impulsive and rambunctious while the new boy, one Niou Masaharu, had been a shy and quiet child who spent much of his time alone. If one asked him now, Genichirou probably wouldn't be able to remember how he'd first befriended Masaharu; Masaharu on the other hand would be fully capable (and willing) to tell, in great detail, the exact course of events that had lead to their friendship.

Neither had been the most popular of kids in their class; most of the children tended to leave them alone and really, they preferred it that way. Their days generally consisted of waking up, screwing around in class, then meeting after school at a run-down tennis court near Sanada's house to do the one thing they truly loved (and probably the only thing they actually had in common): play tennis until their bodies simply couldn't handle any more, then get up and do it all over it again.

Things had changed with the arrival of Yanagi Renji during their sixth year. To Sanada it was like a dream come true; there was another person was just as nuts about tennis as he and Niou were, but to Niou, Yanagi was nothing but a threat. Sanada had begun spending more and more time with Yanagi as the days went by and Niou couldn't help but feel as if he'd simply been thrown aside for this... guy. What was so special about Yanagi, anyway? Sure, he was better than Niou at tennis, but truth be told, he was boring; always talking about stupid things like 'Sadaharu this' and 'Sadaharu that'.

Over time Sanada had changed; he was no longer the silly ever-smiling boy in the pinwheel hat, now he'd become more quiet and reserved; always serious and surprisingly quite competitive. Playing tennis just to play it was no longer an option -- he played for real, and he played to win.

Niou hadn't noticed it at first, but he had changed as well. He'd tried so hard, spent so many hours trying to get Sanada's attention focused back on him that the childish pranks and offhand comments had become almost second nature to him. He'd grown more bold, more outgoing; and under the right circumstances, downright nasty and foul-tempered. And to be perfectly honest, he wasn't quite sure he liked that.

Spring came with Niou feeling much like the third wheel; certainly Sanada continued to include him in his daily activities, but it just wasn't the same. Three people couldn't play tennis at the same time, three people couldn't play doubles against some of the other local boys, three people couldn't even fit in the small hideout they'd haphazardly constructed behind Niou's house.

They had been in their first year of Junior High all of a week when Yukimura Seiichi had come skulking around; determined to have Sanada and Yanagi join him on Rikkai's tennis team. "We need you," He'd said, a tight smile crinkling the corners of his mouth. "We'll take Nationals this year, no sweat." Yanagi had quietly agreed (He'd heard Sadaharu had joined Seishun Gakuen's tennis team, and if Sadaharu were there, there was no doubt they would eventually meet again during tournaments; they had a match to finish, and he would finish it someday.); Sanada on the other hand had politely refused.

Several days had passed before Niou had finally been able to catch Sanada alone. He was pissed, he couldn't believe his friend would turn down the chance; hadn't that been the plan all along? To join the tennis club once they reached Junior High, to play with everything they had and have the time of their young lives. When Niou had forcefully demanded an answer as to why Sanada had given up the chance to play for the team, Sanada had quite calmly replied, "Because he didn't ask you, too."

Niou had stared had him, stunned, for what seemed like several minutes after that quiet admittance. It was astounding the impact just six little words could have on a boy who until only several moments ago had thought he was on the verge of losing his closest friend; and after the initial shock, everything he'd been feeling for the past year or so that he'd tried to keep at bay boiled over.

Happiness. Anger. Niou wasn't sure which of these were stronger and he reacted the only way he could: he screamed. He yelled and threw punches, angry tears pricking his eyes more and more with each word he spoke. "Like I can't get on the team by myself? I don't need you to do everything for me, I'm not that much of a fucking pussy." He didn't need Sanada's help to get on the team, and he certainly didn't need his 'friend' pitying him.

They didn't speak for several weeks after what had been their first real fight; Sanada had taken Yukimura up on the offer and joined the team, and Niou had sulked for a few days before finally going and trying out. He didn't make Regulars the first time he tried, nor the second or third. Angry, he'd nearly quit playing altogether -- but it was Yanagi who pointed out just what exactly the problem was. Niou had been trying for a spot in the singles lineup, but Niou was clearly a doubles player.

The theory was tested and quite proven after Niou had been paired with Marui Bunta (a somewhat-chunky little shrimp with a bubbly personality and a sweet tooth a mile wide) for a match against a pair of boys a year their senior. They had won, and they had won beautifully; and their doubles game had been more than enough to convince their rather cheerful third-year captain that with all the hard work and effort they had put in, they deserved a spot on the Regulars.

Niou had done it, and he'd done it on his own (well, relatively speaking). He hadn't needed Sanada's help to make the team and he had proved it. Even with this knowledge, it didn't stop Niou from practically beaming when Sanada thumped him heartily on the back and gave his congratulations.

Rikkai had won Nationals that year and things had smoothed out between he and Sanada, they were on speaking terms again and somehow Niou found himself getting closer to a few of the other boys in their year - Yanagi and Yukimura, naturally, as nowadays it was rare to see Sanada without either of them at his side; Marui, who wasn't quite the genius he proclaimed himself to be and the half-Brazilian called Jackal Kuwahara, whom Niou wasn't sure he liked because he was actually a pretty funny guy, or if it was because Niou took pride in liking the strange and unusual, as to most of the school Jackal seemed to be known as 'that weird foreigner kid'.

Time wore on, their upperclassmen graduated, and the new overly-cocky first years and other new students began arriving. Not many had been particularly interesting; first-year Kirihara Akaya was amusing simply by the lengths to which he went in his determination to defeat the boys who had become known as Rikkai's three demons; and the new second-year Yagyuu Hiroshi, whom was both intriguing and infuriating at the same time, as he was the only person Niou couldn't see right through, no matter how hard he tried. Together, they had taken the National title for the second year in a row.

Though they no longer spent as much time together Niou and Sanada remained close; it was Sanada that Niou ran to when his favourite grandmother had passed, it was Niou Sanada went to those times when his brother's teasing became too much to bear. They each had other friends now, they had their own lives to live, but they still made time for the occasional movie theater outing or quick game at their ramshackle tennis court.

Disaster struck during the winter of their second year; their newly-instated captain Yukimura had been hospitalized with an illness that even the doctors could not diagnose properly and the entire team had nearly fallen apart. Everyone was irritable and Sanada had nearly had a complete meltdown.

Tension was so high at their following practices one could nearly taste it, and Sanada was beginning to take his fear and paranoia out on everyone; powerful smacks given to anyone who set even a toe out of line. Though where not even Yanagi had been able to get through to Sanada and make him listen to reason, Niou had succeeded. At the very least, he was able to keep Sanada more-or-less calm and relatively stable as they waited for their captain's return.

Yukimura hadn't been back for long, however, before he was again in the hospital - more tests, more poking and prodding with various-sized needles and more long and boring waits in a hospital bed. The team visited whenever possible, but it was during those times in-between when Niou was at his most active. A few small pranks were pulled here and there; his intention being more to distract Sanada from constant thought about whether Yukimura was going to come out of this healthy again, or if he was going to have to suffer a much more terrible fate.

Winter turned to spring and spring to summer, and with the arrival of summer came what was hoped to be the last time Yukimura would ever have to be in the hospital. Sanada had begun to relax a bit - there was no longer any imminent danger and he was able to focus on keeping his promise to Yukimura - he would take Rikkai to their third Nationals win, come hell or high water, with or without their captain.

Sanada had been slightly cranky after finding out that Yukimura's surgery was scheduled for the same day as the Kantou finals, and here he'd made another promise: they would present Yukimura with the championship medal before his surgery. Niou, however, smelled a bit of wrongness in this logic - there was no way in hell everyone was going to stay nice and relaxed for their matches and though it probably wouldn't have too much effect on their game, they most definitely would be hindered if their minds were full of thoughts of their friend.

It was about then that Niou had orchestrated his most brilliant plan yet (and surprisingly enough, Yagyuu had agreed to it); their switch, while often enough described to be simply a way to confuse their opponents, had been cleverly planned out to boost the team's, and more importantly Sanada's, morale.

The matches however had gone on for far too long, and Sanada had essentially kicked every single regular off the court and to the hospital. Niou had been dumbstruck when the radio announced the winner of the final match (that sneaky little bastard, Echizen Ryoma); he had been unable to do anything but stare blankly at the wall trying to block out Kirihara's defeated sobs and Yanagi's soft and uncertain, yet somehow soothing words.

When Sanada had finally arrived (probably after making an ass of himself), Niou had been the only one able to keep him from completely breaking down. Sanada had lost his match, he had lost the championship for the whole team, and most of all, he had broken his promise to Yukimura; but Niou had remembered something and after dragging Sanada somewhere a bit more private, he repeated it. "Yeah, you broke your promise. Who cares? You made another one: we're taking Nationals for the third straight time, with or without him. We may have lost the battle, but we sure as fuck ain't losin' this war."

Somehow Niou's words had managed to strike a chord in Sanada and his head lifted, eyes narrowing and jaw squaring in a firm line. Niou was right; he could punish himself (or the team) all he wanted, but it wasn't going to negate the fact that they would be going into the National tournament as Kantou's runner-up. They would just have to keep going and keep pushing themselves as hard as they possibly could.

"And you made me a promise too, remember? You promised that when we got into Junior High, we'd be the best of the best. You 'n me." Niou had grinned, raising his fist. "We'll just have to include the rest of those jackasses in that plan, too."

Sanada's face had softened slightly. He understood what Niou meant, he knew he couldn't dwell on these things forever. His own fist had raised to knock against Niou's, a faint smile curling on his lips when he replied. "You and me."

That hot August day approached quickly and the team was whole again; Yukimura had recovered and everyone was back to their usual selves, chatting and bickering with each other as they made their way towards the courts where their first match would be held. Today was the day. Today was the day promises would be kept, today was their last chance to take Nationals together before the third years would inevitably have to give up the tennis club to focus on their studies when they returned to school in the fall.

Niou lagged behind the rest of his team, sharp eyes watching each and every one of them. Suddenly he paused in his tracks, a wolfish grin masking his face and a quiet laugh rumbling in his chest. "Yeah, you 'n me."