Yo! Mitsukai here. I was bored out of my mind, and I was watching a rerun of the Nationals Arc. And in all of the moments I've seen in Hyotei, Choutarou always calls Shishido with a '-san' at the end. I wondered why, and I thought, why the hell not write about it, so this is the result.
Intended sap (dear gods, I've actually written something girlish), and the intended-but-not-really-intended hints of Hyotei's doubles one being together.
I've watched the another side, another story OVA, and damn, Shishido looks really... girly. He looks better with his head, er, hair, chopped off. In this fic, I've made everyone say Shishido's first name becuase I think Shishido's the kind of guy not to give a shit about name respect and such. So here, he's known as Ryou, or Ryou-senpai.
It was an ordinary day in Hyotei Gakuen Tennis Club.
"Ryou, you asshole! Give that back!"
Yeah right! When has it even been an ordinary day at Hyotei?
"If you want it, then come and get it, Gakuto!" Shishido Ryou was, once again, wrecking havoc in the regular's practice by stealing Mukahi Gakuto's tennis racket.
"You insufferable bastard!" The acrobatic tennis player shrieked, chasing after the capped teenager. "Yuushi, stop him!"
"For now, you're on your own, Gakuto." Oshitari Yuushi was having the time of his life, glasses glinting, seeing as a chasing Gakuto gave him the full, unobstructed view of the redhead's shorts-clad posterior. Cough. The resident tensai of Hyotei made a mental note to thank Ryou later.
"Hu-huh? What's - going o-on..." Akutagawa Jirou yawned, his hand going for the strawberry blond curls. "Jirou, stop him! He's got my racket!" Gakuto yelled as Shishido's route would pass by the Sleeping Beauty. But the moment Ryou passed by him Jirou fell asleep again. "Ryou, don't be such a bastard!"
"Gekokujyou..." Hiyoshi Wakashi muttered, seeing his senpai chasing each other around the court. Damn. Not only he had to gekokujyou his captain Atobe, but also his senpai, who was on his way to making another tennis track record.
"Stop Gekokujyou-ing and help me get my racket back, you stupid kouhai!" Gakuto was pissed off. Extremely.
"And who's the stupid one who gave Ryou-senpai his racket in the first place..."
"Shut up! You're useless! All of you!" The redhead pouted, already panting. Oshitari was already on his way to console his irate doubles partner. "Gakuto, calm down..."
"Don't you dare tell me to calm down, Oshitari Yuushi! It's your fault for not stopping him in the first place!" Gakuto slapped away the hand on his shoulder and bounced to the bench, where he emptied the tensai's water bottle to the last drop and slammed it on top of the bench. "You're an asshole Ryou!" He yelled.
The aforementioned asshole was on the other side of the court, balancing the also aforementioned tennis racket on his finger. He pushed the racket upwards and let it land on his hand, giving the small redhead a cheeky grin which infuriated the said teen more. "Consider this as payback for stealing my cap, Gakuto."
"What is going on here?! You are not practicing! Ore-sama is not pleased. Right, Kabaji?" Atobe Keigo arrived in all of his diva glory, making the Ore-sama fan club scream wildly. "Usu." Kabaji was following shortly behind, carrying Atobe's tennis bag. "Mukahi, Oshitari, Ryou, what are you doing?"
"Nothing, nothing." Shishido sighed in disappointment, his fun coming to an end. Smirking, he took aim and and threw the tennis racket back at the redhead, who yelped in surprise as the flying object made contact with his head. "So what are we doing today, Atobe?"
"OW! Ryou, you son of a-"
"Sorry!" The rest of the tennis club was saved with the arrival of Ootori Choutarou, a bit unkempt, carrying his tennis bag and violin case. "Sasaki-sensei asked to me to participate in a music competition and-"
"We get it, Choutarou. Let's go. Practice is starting." Shishido walked towards his taller kouhai and grabbed the violin case. "Shishido-san, I can do it-"
"This is faster, so stop complaining."
"Yes, Shishido-san."
"Why is it that Ryou's nicer to Choutarou than any of us?!" Choutarou heard his senpai whine at his doubles partner. "Well, Ootori-kun is Ryou-kun's kouhai." The blue-haired teen pointed out. "And you're not exactly like Ootori-kun in retrospect."
"Oh... Wait a minute, are you saying that I'm not nice?" The redhead pouted.
"I didn't say anything, Gakuto."
"But you implied it! You are so mean, Yuushi!"
"Gekokujyou, Ryou-senpai." Hiyoshi informed the capped teen. "I'll beat your speed for sure."
"Ootori, Ryou, start your laps!" Atobe barked. "First years, pick up the balls! Ore-sama will be watching you! Kabaji, wake up Jirou and give Ore-sama his racket!"
"Usu."
Choutarou watched as everyone called his doubled partner by his given name, confused. Since when was Atobe-san and Shishido-san on a first name basis?
"Ryou-senpai! Here's the racket that you wanted!"
"Thanks!"
And since when did non-regulars call his Shishido-san 'Ryou-senpai'?!
"Hey, Choutarou." Gakuto called at his kouhai from behind. "W-What is it, Mukhai-senpai?" The silver-haired teen turned around, a bit startled. The acrobat tilted his head to the side and regarded the taller boy thoughtfully.
"Why don't you call Ryou by his first name? You're his doubles partner, after all."
"That's because he's my senpai!" Choutarou answered immediately.
"Yeah, but Ryou calls you Choutarou right? And besides, doubles partners are supposed to be closer than anyone else, so that's why most of them are in the first name basis. Well, with the exception of that damned Kikumaru and his blasted partner..." Gakuto muttered. Choutarou smiled nervously, a drop of sweat forming on his head. "Anyway, why don't you try calling him now? I'm sure Ryou wouldn't mind you calling him like that. Hell, I'll bet he's expecting it." Gakuto's stare went from him to the capped teen who noticed them standing from a distance. Choutarou blushed at the thought of addressing his senpai so... intimately. "I-I can't do that, Mukahi-senpai!"
"Why not?" Gakuto raised an eyebrow. "You're closer to him than anyone in the school. You of all people have the right to call him by his first name. Go on, try it. And when you say his name, I'll bet he's going to be so happy, if it came from you."
Choutarou pouted slightly but, again, being the angelic kouhai that he was, complied to his senpai's request. Opening his mouth, he started to speak, but no sound came out. A bit puzzled, he tried it again, but, to his horror, no name came out of his lips.
"What's the matter? Say it already." Gakuto was waiting, his patience wearing thinner by the minute. Again and again he tried, but it was as if some force was preventing him from saying his senpai's name. He bit his lip as failed again.
I... can't say it. I can't say Shishido-san's first name.
"Hey Gakuto!" Shishido was stomping over to them, obviously pissed off, if his expression was of any indication. "The hell are you doing to Choutarou?!"
"I'm not doing anything, ass! Right, Chouta-"
Shishido reached them and shoved Gakuto out of the way. "Choutarou! What did he do?"
"Shishido-san?" Choutarou blinked, only to realize that his vision was blurred. He blinked again in surprise. What happened? He touched his cheek and was suprised that it felt wet. Only then he realized that his eyes were full of clear, pearly tears, and a drop has managed to slide over to his cheek, before dropping from his face.
What's wrong with me? Why... am I crying?
"Choutarou, are you okay? Did he say something?" His vision was still blurry, but he can see his senpai's face clearly. Warm, coal black eyes, unruly brown hair mostly covered by his hat, a concerned expression on his face... Choutarou flushed, lowering his head. Shishido was beyond pissed. He was raging furious.
"What did you do, you asshole! Why the hell did you make him cry?!" The rest of the tennis club stopped and was watching them.
"I didn't make him cry!" Gakuto retorted in reflex, hiding behind his doubles partner. "I was just asking him a simple question!"
"The hell it is!" Shishido roared back. "You made Choutarou upset! You might pissed off with me, but don't you dare drag my kouhai into this, or you'll answer to me! Understand, Gakuto?!"
"I said I didn't DO ANYTHING! Stop being such a drama queen, Ryou!"
"That's it! You are so getting it, you little-"
"Shishido-san, Mukahi-senpai, please stop!"
Both of them stopped at the voice, more surprised than anything else. Choutarou rarely raises his voice, and when it did, it's something serious.
"Shishido-san, I'm fine." He rubbed his eyes, his voice crackling slightly. "Mukahi-senpai didn't do anything. I'm sorry for making you worry."
"You sure, Choutarou?" Shishido started towards his kouhai. "Yes." Choutarou smiled. "Good." Shishido smiled slightly at his kouhai and saw that everyone was staring at them. He stiffened when he remembered all the words that he said.
Don't you dare drag my kouhai into this, or you'll answer to me!
"You are dead, Gakuto!" The capped teen sprinted towards the acrobat like an enraged bull, flushing madly.
"The fuck, Ryou?! Don't chase me!" The redhead scrambled to get away.
"Shishido-san, where are you going?!" Choutarou called after his senpai. Seeing as he was ignored, he watched his senpai-tachi play tag all over the court until Atobe noticed and gave them fifty laps for 'wasting precious practice time', quoted from Atobe. But the heavy feeling didn't disappear, not even when the practice officially started. Choutarou tried to take his mind off on the conversation that he just had with Mukahi-senpai, more so with his failure of even uttering a syllable of his doubles partner's name. But every time he would throw the ball to do his Scud Serve, he would remember the tears and the strong feeling of dread and hopelessness that he felt at that time, when his voice gave up on him.
"Double fault! 6-5, Shishido!"
"Choutarou!" He shook himself out of his daze. Shishido was on the already on the other side of the net and was approaching him.
No... don't come... I don't want to let you see me like this... Choutarou paled, biting his lip as the onslaught of emotions threatened to drown him.
"What's wrong? Damn, Gakuto really did something, didn't he? When I get my hands on him... Choutarou, you look pale. Are you sick?" Shishido was in front of him, reaching out towards his face, and something inside him snapped.
"Don't touch me!"
A tennis racket clattered to the ground. Everyone stopped.
Choutarou blinked and gasped. His arm had shot out and the tennis racket he was holding disappeared from his hand. His eyes widened at the sight of Shishido's arm, which was already bruising. He must have... He hung his head, embarrassed and angry at himself for hurting his senpai.
"Chou...tarou..." Shishido was too stunned to register the pain in his arm.
"I... I'm so sorry, Shishido-senpai!" He turned around and sprinted outside of the courts, ignoring all of their calls, most especially his senpai's voice.
"Wait, Choutarou!"
Shishido-san... I'm sorry.
-/-
"What? Ryou and Ootori got into a fight?" Atobe asked in slight surprise. "That's right, although the non-regulars said that they weren't shouting or anything. It's just that when Ootori-kun double faulted in his serve and Ryou-kun asked him what was wrong, Ootori-kun suddenly smashed his tennis racket against Ryou-kun's arm." Oshitari explained in the clubroom.
"H-huh? Chou and 'Shido got into a fight...?" Jirou was still half-asleep.
"Usu." Kabaji replied shortly.
"And Gakuto has something to do with it, right, Gakuto?" The bespectacled teen drawled in the direction on the redhead who had the deer-in-the-headlights expression.
"But I didn't do anything!" He protested loudly.
"But Ootori has been acting weird ever since you talked with him, Mukahi-senpai." Hiyoshi added. Gakuto threw him a dirty look.
"Ore-sama demands that you tell us the whole story, Mukahi." Atobe sat down on his 'throne' and looked at the redhead pointedly.
"Come on Gakuto. You're actually the source of all this, aren't you?" Oshitari leaned on the wall.
"How mean... making Chou and 'Shido fight..." Jirou mumbled.
"Usu."
"ALL RIGHT!" The acrobat yelled in defeat. "I was just asking Choutarou why he doesn't call Ryou by his first name! I've always thought it was weird that they're doubles partners and still Choutarou calls Ryou Shishido! Happy now?!"
"And how is that any of your business, Gakuto?" A voice said behind him, annoyed.
"Ryou!"
"Yay... 'Shido's here..." Jirou dropped off to sleep.
"So that's how it is..." Shishido stood in the doorway, grasping his throbbing arm.
"Your arm, Ryou?" Atobe asked.
"Could've been better... Man, now I know what a ball being hit by a Scud Serve feels..." Shishido grimaced in pain.
"Can you participate in the next match?"
"Of course." He snorted back. "I've been hit too many times with Scud Serve to give a damn about it. Although I haven't been hit like I was the ball... Anyway, have any of you seen Choutarou?"
"Nobody has after your... fight, Ryou-senpai." Hiyoshi answered blandly.
Shishido cursed loudly and sprinted off, leaving the rest of the Hyotei regulars in the dust (figuratively, of course). All of them blinked at the sudden disappearance of the capped teenager. "Where the hell did he go?" Gakuto was still staring at the doorway.
"He must have looked for Ootori. But I've never seen Ryou-senpai run so fast like that... gekokujyou."
-/-
"I... I can't do it!" Choutarou was feeling incredibly frustrated. Even after all this time, after how many times he opened his mouth to say that one word, his voice became nothing. It was just one syllable but it was like pulling teeth from a baby. He felt so ashamed. He slumped on the pew he was sitting on, feeling depressed.
You of all people have the right to call him by his first name.
So why can't he say it? Why can't he say Shishido Ryou's first name? Is it because they're not as close as they should be? Or rather, he was not as close to his senpai as he should be? He had never felt so confused in his entire life. But he was determined to at least say his senpai's name once.
"R- Ry- R- Ry- R-"
"So this is where you've been hiding, Choutarou."
"Shi-Shishido-san!" The kouhai jumped in response, stammering his reply. He turned around to see his senpai not looking at him, but at the altar, cap off, hands shoved in the pockets of his tennis shorts. Choutarou mentally smacked himself. Of course Shishido-san would know where he was, after all, this chapel was his little sanctuary. He had a growth spurt in his first year, and was constantly being bullied for being the 'gentle giant'. There was one time that the bullying became too much and he was crying in the same pew that he was sitting on.
'Hey, why are you crying?'
This was also the place that he saw Shishido-san up close for the first time. Of course, he already saw him in the tennis courts, when Atobe-san and Oshitari-san had their first tennis match. But to see the long-haired senpai face to face...
'They don't like me because I'm so tall.'
'Ignore them. It's their own damn fault for having short parents.'
'Se-senpai!'
'What's your name, kouhai?'
'Ootori... Choutarou.'
'Mine's Shishido Ryou. See you.'
'Wa...wait, Shishido-senpai!'
Yes, that was the start of everything.
"Humor me, Choutarou."
"Y-Yes?"
Shishido walked towards the altar, just stopping at the its base. Without looking back at his kouhai, he started asking some questions.
"What is the Spanish word for river?"
"Excuse me?" Choutarou was puzzled. Why was Shishido-san asking for a translation, of all things?
A sigh. "Just answer, Choutarou."
"Y-yes. It's Rio."
"What is the Maori word that can mean a voice or language?"
"It's called... reo."
"What do you call a Japanese dragon?"
"Ryuu." Choutarou answered immediately.
"In the pre-Meiji era, what do you call a gold piece that worth about 4,000 coins of copper?"
Choutarou frowned, trying to remember. "It's Ryou... I think."
"That's right. So then," Shishido looked back at his confused kouhai.
"What then, comes after the word Shishido?"
"Ryo-" Choutarou stopped. He bit his lip, a blush forming on his cheeks.
"It's R-Ryou... san."
"You called, Choutarou?" His senpai faced him, a little smile on his face.
Choutarou was stunned. It was... easy. So stupidly easy. He blushed harder, remembering the struggle that he had. He felt a big, warm hand ruffling his hair.
"Good job, kouhai." His senpai was grinning.
"R-Ryou-san." Choutarou whispered to himself. His lip was trembling. Now he knew why it was so hard to say his senpai's name.
It's so hard... because... I didn't want to admit to myself... how much... I liked him...
"Ryou-san!" He blurted out. The effect was instantaneous. The hand on his head froze and Choutarou was gifted with the most stunned expression on Shishido's face. His eyes were glazed over, pupils dilated, as he stared at his kouhai with a expression that was a cross between surprise and shy happiness. Choutarou was almost charmed, remembering Mukahi-senpai's words.
And when you say his name, I'll bet he's going to be so happy, if it came from you.
"I-idiot!" The pressure on Choutarou's head doubled and Shishido withdrew his hand, huffing, a tint of pink on his cheeks. "Don't call my name unless you have to say something!"
"I'm sorry."
Silence reigned. Shishido crossed his arms, cap back on, and decidedly not looking at his kouhai, willing the cheeks in his face to go away. Choutarou was smiling giddily.
"Don't force yourself to call my name, Choutarou." Shishido suddenly said. Choutarou stared at his senpai, who wasn't looking at him, but at the altar.
"I mean, even if I don't give a damn to what others call me, I still want to be called a name that would make that person comfortable. And I can tell that you aren't so cool with that so... I don't mind you calling me Shishido-san."
Shishido looked to the side at his kouhai, still embarrassed. Choutarou has the most adorable shy expression on his face.
"Okay, Shishido-san."
"And besides, I already have a favorite nickname." He shrugged. "No one can say this nickname except for my most special person."
"Special person?" Choutarou felt a little hurt. So Shishido-san has a girlfriend...
"That's right. I met that person a year ago. I was alone at that time, and I heard somebody crying." Shishido was staring at the Virgin Mother.
"When I saw that person, I thought, who is evil enough to make an angel cry? And when I asked that person's name, I said to myself, what a beautiful name. I hope I could be one of the few to say his first name. And I hoped that person would also see my name the same way. You see Choutarou?"
Choutarou face couldn't get any redder. Shishido-san was...
Shishido cocked his head to the side, a hint of a smile of his face.
"That special person is the only one who calls me Shishido-san."
-/-
"Choutarou! Your violin case!" Shishido called out to his kouhai. Choutarou looked back and saw the black case in his senpai's hands. "Ah, I forgot! Sorry, Shishido-san!" Choutarou smiled sheepishly. "It's okay. Just don't forget next time." Shishido rolled his eyes and fell in step with his doubles partner, depositing the case into his hands. "Thank you! That reminds me! Shishido-san, here!"
"Wha- What is this?" Shishido stared at the box in his hands. "Sorry for hurting your arm, Shishido-san!" Choutarou looked guilty. Shishido resisted rolling his eyes again. "Choutarou, I told you right? It was an accident."
"But still, Shishido-san!" Choutarou was looking at him with large, sparkling, watery eyes. Damn. The capped teen felt himself reddening.
"Okay okay fine! I'll eat this during lunch." He huffed, looking away.
"Thank you, Shishido-san!"
"I don't get it at all!" Gakuto huffed at the sight, which was all lovey-dovey, in his opinion. "Why doesn't Choutarou call Ryou by his first name?"
"It's not any of your business, Gakuto." Oshitari answered him, already starting to feel tired. How he managed to cope with the acrobat was a mystery to him.
"I know it's not! But don't you think it's strange, Yuushi? They're doubles partners! They should be able to say each others names easily!"
"Stop poking into their business, Gakuto." The bespectacled teen started to drag his doubles partner into the tennis courts. "But puppy love is refreshing to look at, don't you think?"
"Yay, Chou and 'Shido made up..." Jirou yawned.
"Gekokujyou..." Hiyoshi muttered.
"What are you doing?! Ore-sama demands that you all do a hundred laps!" Atobe was in his element.
"Yes, Atobe-buchou! Let's go, Shishido-san!"
"H-Hey! Choutarou, wait!"
Choutarou was the happiest teen in the whole world.
You're my most special person too, Shishido-san!
This is an epic fail in terms of cute, sweet moments. Did I just write this?! I am never going to write sappy oneshots again.
So read, review, and tell me if I really am an epic fail in this one shot.
Mitsukai20