I have nothing to say except happy birthday Yukimura Seiichi ^-^

Warnings- Lame attempt at humour and an abrupt ending.

Kirihara's team mates were up to something, he could feel it.

Well, actually with a team like theirs they were always coming up with new moves or strategies so it was probably more accurate to say that they were up to something non tennis related.

There wasn't anything about today that would account for their strange behaviour either. Okay, so spring was starting and they were out on the courts rather than in the gym with the ball machines but it was not just the sun beating down on him that had the back of his neck prickling.

He whipped around just in time to catch a glimpse of Marui and Niou throwing him a conspiring look before going back to whatever it was they were whispering about. Grinding his teeth he tried to ignore it and go back to practicing his footwork but his rhythm was completely messed up and he nearly fell flat on his face.

His suspicions were further tripled when, instead of yelling at him, Sanada merely patted him on the head and told him to work harder, leaving Kirihara gaping at his retreating back.

This was no doubt the sign of the apocalypse.

No matter how hard he tried, casually strolling past Niou and Marui or lurking near the court Yanagi and Sanada were playing on, he was unable to glean anything from them at all except for the former two grinning at him in an unnerving way.

It was almost a relief when practice ended, and that was certainly something Kirihara had never thought he would have to experience, but rather than being allowed to go and change with the others Yanagi held him back to drone on for ages about his form, giving pointers about how to improve, until Kirihara felt like yelling in frustration.

Therefore when Kirihara finally trailed over to the clubroom everyone was already gone, even Yanagi had mysteriously vanished shortly after dismissing him. Grumbling darkly to himself about his stupid team mates he turned to shut the door behind him.

"Akaya?"

Kirihara jumped at the sound of the voice, whirling around to face away from the door. His captain was sitting on the bench, one leg crossed over the other and brow puckered in confusion.

"I thought everyone had gone."

"Jackal told me to wait here while the team went and fetched the final present for my birthday." Yukimura paused, a look of comprehension finally dawning on his features that, naturally, Kirihara completely missed.

"…birthday?" He repeated stupidly instead.

Now that he thought about it Kirihara did vaguely remember Jackal saying something along the lines of 'You know it's the captain's birthday soon, right?' while they were at the arcade and Kirihara himself replying with a rather enthusiastic 'yes!' but that was more to do with the fact that he had just blown the heads off several zombies rather than him actually taking in anything his team mate said.

His eyes flickered to the bench that Yukimura was sitting on, belatedly noticing that there were six neatly wrapped packages on the end. Excluding Yukimura there were seven regulars so that meant… Kirihara was the only one who forgot. He remembered the time last year when he had forgotten Niou's birthday and had spent the following weeks picking bits of paper out of his hair and finding all sorts of disgusting things in his desk in class.

This though, this was his captain. Ultimately far worse than Niou could ever be. Kirihara had a brief vision of himself having to play against all three of the demons at the same time and then running laps in the rain until his legs fell off; all while Yukimura cackled, lightning cracking behind him, in the background. He could feel the cold sweat dripping down his back at the thought of it.

His vision was interrupted by Yukimura standing up from the bench, taking a few slow steps towards him. In a panic Kirihara stuffed his hands into his pockets as though by some blind miracle he might be able to produce something to appease his captain. Unfortunately all that grazed his fingertips were a handful of coins that he had been planning to spend at the arcade later and some pieces of lint.

"Uh… I could treat you to a couple of rounds at the arcade if you want," Kirihara pressed back against the wall as Yukimura took several more steps forward. When Yukimura's expression remained unchanging he blanched and added quickly. "Or food. I can buy you dinner."

"I think you're misunderstanding something, Akaya," Yukimura was closer now, a smile curling the corners of his lips, close enough that Kirihara could smell the musty scent of his soap and feel the warmth radiating from his body. His voice was a low hum, the sound seeming to vibrate in Kirihara's very bones. "You're my present. It would be rude to refuse, right?"

"Um..." Kirihara merely blinked, causing Yukimura to chuckle softly.

"It looks like I'm going to have to take my time… unwrapping you." Kirihara sucked in a breath, trying to flatten himself as much as he could against the wall, as Yukimura's outstretched hand inched closer before… closing around the door handle and pulling sharply.

There was a thud, followed by several groans of pain as Jackal, Marui and Niou all landed in a pile of gangly limbs at Yukimura's feet. Yagyuu had managed to grab hold of the door frame at the last minute and so was politely straightening himself out as though they had not just been caught in some kind of perverse act of voyeurism. Even the other two of the three monsters were there, Yanagi quickly whipping a notebook behind his back and Sanada sporting an expression somewhere between a look of embarrassment and one that clearly indicated that he had wanted to charge in there and break it up.

"Well, isn't this a surprise?" Yukimura's words were belied by his calm tone and benign expression, which only served to send a collective shudder down the spines of all of the assembled tennis players.

"We… uh… just wanted to make sure you enjoyed your present." Niou supplied, his voice slightly muffled by his arm which he had thrown out in front of him when he fell.

Marui laughed nervously in agreement, though he couldn't have been very comfortable with Niou half sprawled across him and Jackal's elbow digging painfully into his ribs.

"Really? That's very nice of you." Yukimura's smiling expression wasn't faltering and neither was the regulars' feeling of utmost terror. "Well as you can see everything is fine so you can leave. Now."

He hummed happily in his throat when he noticed that Sanada and Yanagi, either the smartest on the team or the ones with the best survival instincts, had already bolted. Untangling themselves and nearly tripping each other up in their haste Niou, Marui and Jackal were quick to follow with barely a backwards glance. Oh well, it was his birthday after all and so he was in a good enough mood to withhold punishment.

Until tomorrow anyway.

Eying his captain's expression dubiously Kirihara was just sidling past to follow them out when an arm reached around and the door was slammed shut in front of his face.

"My birthday isn't over yet you know."