Title: Bugger (Part 1)
Characters: Zaizen, Kenya, Kirihara, Kintarou, OCs
Notes: As requested by NighttimeFirefly, Kintarou makes his appearance in my fic as a supporting (?) character. I actually really enjoyed writing him - he's just pure crack, to be honest - but hopefully I'll get to show a more serious and thoughtful side of him, which I really do think does exist behind that happy-go-lucky personality of his.

This is part one of two (or three, depending on how things go), focusing on Zaizen's relationship with his vice captain, Masamoto Jurou, and his new team.

——

"Well," says Kenya, as he flips his phone shut, "you were right."

Zaizen tries not to look so smug, but he can't quite stop the soft snort that comes out of him — which, in turn, makes Kenya roll his eyes, and the senior shakes his head and focuses instead on tennis game in front of them, as does Zaizen.

Zaizen is supposed to be overseeing the Regulars' practices — as a good captain should — but Masamoto Jurou, his ever-dependable vice-captain, has taken cue when he realizes that all the captain wants to do today is hang out with his friend on one of the benches.

Not that this is anything new, really. Zaizen tends to put all the trivial responsibilities on his vice captain's shoulders while he watches the world wither away in front of his eyes slowly — or, in this case, watch club practice with the keen eyes of someone who knows his team inside and out. If he only has the motivation, he probably (most likely) can do everything else by himself, but life hasn't been that generous and he certainly can't make himself do something he doesn't want to do. Masamoto takes it all in stride and tactfully says not a single thing. He does, however, often scowl at Zaizen's direction, but the latter pays him no heed.

Osamu, for his part, is often seen wandering about the school without a clue where he's going half the time (as per usual), though he does stay around often enough to watch over practice with Zaizen, throwing random advice here and there without preamble. He neither encourages nor discourages Zaizen from doing what he wants with the team, in any case, which is perfectly fine, as far as he's concerned. He's learned by now that Zaizen has very little care for authority, and only listens to those who have gained his respect. His love for Osamu is paper-thin, but it at least keeps everything smooth between the two of them.

For his part, Zaizen is learning not to take Osamu's words at face value, and to find what Osamu sees, because they guy may be an extreme head case, alcoholic junkie, and chain smoker, but he is still the coach of the Nationally-ranked Shitenhouji tennis team, a position unmatched by any other person in their school faculty and no one dares to fight him for such a coveted position. With good reason.

Right now, he's nowhere to be found, and Zaizen isn't so inclined to send any member of his club to look for him when he knows that the old guy is going to pop up sooner or another anyway.

"Not that there was any room for doubt," Kenya continues on cheerfully, as though he didn't hear a thing. "Rikkai is the runner-up, and Seigaku's the current champion. It only makes sense. I heard it was a close one with Fudomine, though, for Seigaku."

Figures, Zaizen thinks, unsurprised. Fudomine has kept most of their former regulars in the team after their former captain and player-coach, Tachibana Kippei, has left for high school, while Seigaku, along with the rest of them, has had to regroup and rearrange most of their formations in order to compensate for the losses that they've had after the seniors have left. Though they still have Echizen Ryoma, it's not exactly the same without Tezuka Kunimitsu's rock solid presence or the Fuji Syuusuke's unrivalled genius.

Zaizen has encountered that same problem the first moment he walked in the courts as the tennis club's captain, because none of them will ever be as perfect as Shiraishi or as fast as Kenya, or as strong as Gin (except Kintarou, maybe), but he's thankfully found a few solid players whose skills are worth watching for. If their talents are honed to perfection, then the rest of the world is in for something they have never seen before.

"What about Hyoutei?" Zaizen asks, the thought occurring to him all of a sudden.

Kenya gives him an odd look, but answers it all the same.

"Yuushi said they're only halfway through Singles 3 right now, but it's more than likely that they'll win. I didn't think that you'd be that interested in Hyoutei's progress," he adds idly, much to Zaizen's chagrin. "Though they did play a great against Seigaku in the Nationals, Atobe especially. The new team certainly seems capable enough."

Zaizen frowns at his choice of words but bites his tongue (literally, even, in a conscious effort not to say something weird and awkward), and if Kenya notices this, he doesn't say a word about it, either. If Zaizen can be assed to compliment someone like Hiyoshi, he will probably say that the guy is not just 'capable enough', seeing as he's watched the guy learn and grow and become more of himself since the newcomer's tournament where they first crossed paths and up to the U-17 camp that they've participated in.

Based on that, he can easily assume that Hyoutei's new line-up will be tougher than ever, because Hiyoshi is not the kind of person to do things halfway. Hyoutei's an even dangerous opponent than they have been before.

Nevertheless, Zaizen moves the conversation on safer ground.

"We didn't get to watch their game," he comments. As far as he remembers, they had been busy pummelling Fudomine to the ground (in more polite terms, of course), though he might be wrong. "We were busy on the other side."

"Shiraishi's got the tapes," Kenya replies matter-of-factly. "Besides, Yuushi told me what happened."

"Your cousin tends to wax poetic," Zaizen comments drily.

"Come on, Hikaru, you saw Atobe's hair when he went to watch the finals," Kenya insists, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. "Nothing dull would have come out of that game if he had to shave his precious hair. I only wish that I was there to see it myself."

Again, Zaizen can only snort, but he it doesn't mean that he disagrees.

"But, anyway," Kenya goes on, "I'm only here to congratulate you, in case you were wondering." Zaizen has been, yes, but he's not going to admit it, much less say it out loud. Kenya seems to know that and moves on without waiting for a response. "Sorry I couldn't watch your tournament. It's a shame that the junior high and high school divisions have tournaments at the same time."

"It was nothing spectacular," Zaizen replies.

However depreciating that has sounded, especially coming from him, they both know that it's true. For most of the schools in their district — and in their prefectural, even — no one can reach the bar that Shitenhouji has set.

Never mind the fact that Zaizen feels like he's been doing a lacklustre job in upholding the standards of his own predecessors. They've won their way through the district preliminaries without a hitch, and at the moment, that's what counts the most.

"I think it could have been worth the watch," Kenya shrugs. "I've heard about your team."

Zaizen glances at him. "What about them?"

"A few little birds told me that Kintarou hasn't been this excited since he last played with 'Koshimae'," says Kenya evenly, though he can't suppress the twinkle in his eyes. Zaizen has a feeling that he won't like the answer Kenya will give him if he asks who those 'little birds' are, so he doesn't ask. "Like he's always on the edge of his seat, waiting for something exciting to happen because he knows it always does. It seems like you've formed quite an interesting team."

"That's one way to put it," he muses. Zaizen watches as two of his Regulars play a long rally against each other for a long while now, neither one back down from the other. They've gathered quite an audience around them, but they paid the rest no heed as they continue to fight for a single point. "They're tenacious, I'll give them that."

Even Masamoto, whose passive style differs from the rest of them immensely, has fire in his eyes whenever he plays, and that alone has made him interesting enough.

"I can see that," says Kenya, smiling. "Looks like it'll be an exciting year this time around."

"Maybe," says Zaizen, his lips curling.

• • •

"Perhaps it's time to change the Regulars' regimen," Masato suggests. His entire demeanour can be considered, on the whole, professional and serious, and it pings at the more rebellious side of Zaizen in all the wrong ways. "I believe we can double their exercise routines, as well as watch over their dietary habits starting now. Triple for Kintarou, even, if he can manage."

"I'm sure he can," Zaizen supplies helpfully, glancing up at Kintarou bouncing around the court with a mildly amused expression. "I suppose you've got that all figured out by now."

Masamoto frowns distinctly at Zaizen's tone, a look on his face that is almost as familiar as his presence in the club these days. "Well, of course, and if you don't mind, I'd like to give the regimen I've come up with to the others already," he says reproachfully, and Zaizen waves him off with a dismissive hand. This only seems to provoke his vice-captain further. "Though it would have been better if you have done yourself. You are the captain of the club, you know."

"You've already done it, Masamoto," Zaizen points out languidly. He wants to say that because his vice-captain is already doing a good job doing everything by himself that he sees no reason to step in — but he doesn't, because that's simply not his style. "What's the point of me stepping in?"

"I'm afraid I should point out that I am not your lackey," says Masamoto, full out scowling at his captain.

Zaizen sighs, resigned. "I know you're not."

"Then—?"

"They're waiting," Zaizen nods at the rest of the team, hanging back by the nets and waiting for their captain and vice-captain to finish talking. By the looks on their faces, Zaizen knows that they're trying their best not to eavesdrop.

Masamoto shuts his mouth, and glares before stomping off to the others, his shoulders tense. Tact, Zaizen reminds himself, is something that Masamoto has and he doesn't, and according to Shiraishi, he probably needs to learn it.

• • •

"He sounds like a real trooper."

Zaizen coughs loudly, trying to mask a laugh, unbidden, and a few customers packed together with him inside a small record shop looks on curiously before going about their business. "You've got no idea," he murmurs through his earphone's mic. "It's a battleground there."

"I don't think that's fair to say," Kirihara says, "since he's been doing a shit ton of work on your behalf. The least you could do is to thank him."

That's funny coming from you, is what Zaizen wants to say, but he keeps that to himself, and settles for, "I never asked him to."

"It's probably in the job description," says Kirihara thoughtfully. "Sanada-san did the same last year, for Yukimura-buchou."

"The circumstances are different," Zaizen replies, a bit drily, his eyes and his fingers sweeping across the shelves, albeit distractedly. "And you can't compare my vice-captain to that hulk. That's just wrong. Masamoto can't hold a candle to him."

He thinks he hears the way Kirihara's lips purse through the phone. "How do you know that Sanada-san wasn't a bad vice-captain?"

Zaizen stops at the E-H shelf, frowning. "Was he?" He definitely never got that impression. If anything, Sanada has seemed a far more capable leader than Yukimura has been, though that may be because he looks older (and scarier) than he really seems.

There's a few beats of silence. "He wasn't bad."

"But he wasn't great."

"He wanted to do right by Yukimura, but he was distracted all the same," Kirihara provides evenly, though there's no mistaking the frown in his voice. Yukimura is loved, Zaizen idly thinks, by anyone who has come to know him well, and Kirihara himself is no exception. "There were times when Yanagi-sempai had to step in."

Zaizen can imagine that going down, of course. He's heard that Yukimura and Sanada have been friends since they were children, and sudden turn in Yukimura's health definitely had been a bad blow, and not just for their team.

He doesn't wonder at how they could have lost their title, but on how they've been able to rise above and beyond what anyone thought they are capable of, despite the odds. Seigaku is not nearly the only school that has grown collectively — Rikkai has had their own fair share of trials they had to overcome, and not everyone recognizes it.

"Like I said," he continues on casually, "things are different."

"I should hope so," Kirihara retorts wryly, though whether or not he's serious Zaizen can't say. There are a lot of question marks in Zaizen's friendship with this guy, because first and foremost, they are rivals, but Zaizen does like to think that Kirihara doesn't really want to see him dead. "But know this, if that Masamoto isn't there with you, you'll have a hellish time doing things you'd normally sidestep."

"I would have been fine," he says, and not without an affection of pride.

"I know," Kirihara drawls, in a way that makes Zaizen believe that he doesn't believe him one bit, "but you wouldn't be talking to me right now, would you? You would be stuck in the club office, doing paperwork, the way Hiyoshi is right now, since he doesn't have anyone else to share that burden with."

Zaizen's frown deepens at that.

"Ohtori isn't his vice-captain."

"Stupid," Zaizen remarks. The guy beside him, a man probably in his thirties and definitely looks like he isn't there on his own accord, if the giggling kid by his side is anything to go with, turns and frowns at his choice of word, but Zaizen only gives him an even look.

Kirihara barks out a laugh. "I'd say that to him personally if I wasn't already sure that he'd have punched me in the face. Hiyoshi thinks he can do everything Atobe can do, and then some."

"A stupid masochist," he continues further. "You can't do everything by yourself."

"Exactly," Kirihara presses on, sounding just a bit satisfied at his response — a tone which he addresses quickly enough for Zaizen to pick up on. "So why are you shoving everything to your vice-captain's face if you already know that?"

Zaizen hangs up.

• • •

"No."

"BUT IT'D BE A GREAT IDEA!" yells Kintarou enthusiastically, because of course, he doesn't see the big picture, and only knows what he wants, and ignores the fact that Zaizen has already declined his idea of a mini camping trip. Any other time, Zaizen supposes that he might have thought about it to a certain extent (or not, he hates camping), but not in the middle of tennis season and certainly not when it's scorching hot outside. "Shiraishi-buchou always encourages club bonding! He would have agreed with me! You should, too!"

"I'm not Shiraishi," he replies waspishly, instantly reminded of his last conversation with his former captain.

It's really a bad idea to be reminded of things he wants to leave in the past, most especially when he's trying to study for a quiz tomorrow. Kintarou's sudden appearance in the club's office (Zaizen doesn't even what to know how he managed to get a key; he's going to have a talk with Osamu later) isn't doing him any favours, if he's honest.

"I know," says Kintarou. "But don't you want everyone to get along really well together like we did? Especially now! The Nationals is just around the corner! Let's have some fun, Zaizen-buchou!"

Sometimes, Zaizen muses to himself, Kintarou shows great potential, if only he didn't yell so much, or at least tries not to say the stupidest things. All the same, it ends up being amusing to him, because he can feel Kintarou trying subconsciously to say the right things, but it just doesn't work out the way anyone wants to.

It all comes back to yelling.

"Not this time, Kintarou," he replies, with a certain level of authority in his voice.

"But Zaizen-buchou!" Kintarou whines.

Zaizen looks up from the book he's reading, and turns to his teammate, gritting his teeth in a conscious effort not to say anything just plain hurtful. Patience, he tells himself, is the key here, and he's learned by watching Shiraishi and Kintarou together that as long as there is a compromise between the two parties, nobody gets hurt too badly.

"It's not a good idea at this time," he says, emphasizing on the 'not'. "I'll think about it later, after tennis season is over, but for now, don't bug me about it or I'll kick you off the team."

"WHAT—?"

"You won't be able to play with 'Koshimae'," he says. He may not have Shiraishi's fake poison arms to threaten him with, but he does have other forms of blackmail, and they're deadly useful.

"Y-YOU'RE LYING!"

Zaizen stares at him flatly.

Kintarou whimpers, defeated. "THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

"Then shut up," he orders bluntly.

"But it would have made Jurou-chan really happy," he says despondently. Zaizen looks up sharply. "Haven't you noticed? He's been really sad lately! Kenya told me he's into insects! There're lots of bugs in the forests, right?"

Masamoto, liking insects.

Right.

Why is Zaizen not surprised?

"He's sad—"

"Yeah!" Kintarou exclaims. "Sad! He needs bugs, buchou!"

Zaizen rubs a hand over his face, exasperated. "Kintarou—"

"Osamu-chan can get us permission to get out of school! I'll ask him!" says Kintarou, and he's bouncing up and down excitedly. "We'll say it's for tennis. Lots of people go to camp so they can practice tennis, right?"

"No one is going to believe that," he says disbelievingly.

They're in the middle of tennis season. No one goes camping in the middle of nowhere during tennis season. Seigaku can fuck themselves in the ass for all he cares, but no one leaves the tennis courts when tennis season is in session.

But Kintarou is already running out of the office, looking like he just won the jackpot. There's a glow about him that says he will not be disputed — he can't be disputed, and this is a real thing that's going to happen whether Zaizen likes it or not.

Zaizen grimaces. "OI, IDIOT! COME BACK HERE!"

"I'LL LOOK FOR OSAMU-CHAN, ZAIZEN-BUCHOU! I'LL SEE YOU LATER!"

• • •