Word Count: 593

Disclaimer: I do not own POT, Shiraishi & Akaya.

Author's Note: After reading Chapters 32-34 of Shin POT, or SPOT as some call it, I felt like I just had to write this one. So, yeah, unless you've read those chapters, this is probably going to turn out confusing. So I recommend that you read them NOW. Because they're awesome.

Compliments

It was quite rare seeing Akaya concerned for another person. He was the kind of boy who only cared about himself, and ignored everything else that was around him. But there are times when one has to be proven wrong. And this was one of those times.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, dabbing a towel over Shiraishi's arm. He felt guilty. After hitting the older boy's arm, even if it was accidentally, he couldn't bear to look him in the eyes.

Shiraishi smiled at him. "I'm fine."

It turns out the gold gauntlet had caused a scratch on the Osaka boy's arm. Sure, Akaya had injured a lot of other players in the past, but this time it felt wrong. Seeing that cut gave him the shivers. And he didn't know the reason why.

"I'm really sorry," he mumbled, helping Shiraishi wrap bandages around his arm.

It was out of character, but he felt the need to apologize.

For a moment, there was silence.

Shiraishi chuckled, breaking the awkward atmosphere. "I was surprised back there."

Akaya raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at him.

What Shiraishi had said could mean a lot, seeing that various things have happened before and since they walked inside the room—the match, the gauntlet, the new "mode", the towel, the apology, and some others.

The boy eventually spoke up. "Yanagi-kun told me that going into "Devil Mode" can be life-threatening." He then paused to remember the match they just had.

Akaya looked at him with puzzled eyes. "What do you mean?"

"It gave me quite the scare," Shiraishi replied, ignoring the boy's question. When Yanagi had told him to "rescue Akaya" he became rather confused. Did "rescuing Akaya" just mean getting the boy to avoid going into "Devil Mode"?

But Shiraishi had done more than that.

"It seems you like compliments," Shiraishi said teasingly. "Who knew a few simple phrases like those could drag out your other self?" He then let out a smirk.

Akaya turned his head, hiding the tint of red across his face.

"Do you act the same way when other people praise you?"

Akaya thought for a moment. "No."

"Then, why?" was the next question.

There was silence.

When Akaya had unintentionally hit his racket against Shiraishi's arm, there was this look on the latter boy's face. It was a mixture of disappointment, hurt, and the feeling that he had broken a promise. In which, in fact, he did.

"I wanted to change."

Shiraishi gave him a smile.

"And I didn't like that look on your face," he quickly added. He then started laughing, and soon enough the older boy joined him. Akaya didn't like the tense atmosphere. It was suffocating. Laughing was much more comfortable.

Shiraishi stopped to cough before speaking up. "People call you seaweed head, but I say otherwise," he paused, "I actually quite like it."

He had said this before, Akaya remembered, but he couldn't help but get flustered.

Shiraishi stood up and went to sit beside the second year. "Kirihara-kun's actually a nice kid," he continued on. And the boy blushed. The word "kid" was somewhat provoking, though. But he didn't care.

Compliments were Akaya's weaknesses. Shiraishi kept that in mind.

"You look so cute when you blush," the older boy said suddenly, smirking. Akaya had never been called "cute" or anything of the sort. And Shiraishi used that to his advantage.

He ruffled the boy's hair, smiling slyly.

Akaya looked up at him, only to hastily turn away.

Shiraishi chuckled. "This'll be our little secret."

Author's Note: Please excuse me for the crappy title. I couldn't think of a better one. :\ Anyway, first Shiraishi x Akaya fic. Ever. I now think that these two should be canon. But that's just my wishful thinking.

Hope you enjoyed it. Please review! Thank you. :)