FIC: Rewind Forward (D1) 42/63
Title: Rewind Forward (42/63)
Author: Ociwen
Rating: NC17 (eventual)
Disclaimer: Konomi owns all.
Summary: Niou, meet Yagyuu.
Author's Notes: Spoilers for everything.
Doubles two. Marui-Jackal pair vs Momoshiro-Kaidoh pair. Niou keeps his eyes on the court as Marui and Jackal strut out, passing Sanada along their way. Sanada sits down on the bench opposite Seigaku's old woman coach, who cheers her players up with honeyed words of determination.
Fool's hope of victory, Niou thinks. He keeps his expression calm and guarded as Yagyuu settles on the bleacher bench, sprawled off to the side, and away from everyone else. Niou stands beside Kirihara and Yanagi, crossing his arms over his chest. He can feel the tightness of his nipples under his shirt.
The day is so hot already that he's flushing from the heat. His glasses keep sliding down his nose, the nosepieces irritating and slightly sticky.
Momoshiro and Kaidoh don't look like much of a doubles pair. Kaidoh sneers at his partner and Momoshiro yells, "Don't get scared now, mamushi!"
Kaidoh hisses. Niou refrains from raising an eyebrow because Yagyuu wouldn't-as much as he is interested in watching Seigaku's dynamics first hand.
At the net, Jackal walks up to Momoshiro and Kaidoh. "How's your first year?" he asks.
Niou allows himself a tiny smile when Momoshiro and Kaidoh gape, asking in loud voices how the hell Jackal knows about their Echizen.
"They need a better babysitter for their brat," Yagyuu mutters behind Niou.
"Hey!" Kirihara shouts. "I'm not a baby, Niou-senpai!"
Yagyuu snorts.
And then, the same as ever, Marui flashes a victory sign and grins. His teeth blind Niou with the glare of the sunlight and his glasses; he nearly cringes when Marui says, loud and clear across the courts:
"Are you ready for the best fucking genius you'll ever see?"
Somewhere in the crowds around the stands, behind Yagyuu's gagging and murmuring about Marui being a lame fatass (Niou frowns. He would never say "lame". Fatass, yes, but not "lame"), Niou can hear the frantic cheering and whooping of someone screaming. "OH MY GOD MARUI-KUN! GO MARUI!"
Hyoutei's Jiroh.
Now that is lame.
Neither Momoshiro nor Kaidoh seem to care however. Neither seem to quite realize what they're up against when Momoshiro slings his racket over his shoulder and makes a loud noise, right as a ball boy wheels out some balls behind the baseline of the Rikkai court. "Sorry for asking," Momoshiro shouts, "but aren't you guys gonna take off your weights?"
His eyes squint in the light and he wears a self-satisfied smile, unlike his scowling partner, who rolls his eyes and hisses again. Exactly like the viper of his nickname.
Marui and Jackal move into position; Jackal ignores Seigaku, but the fatass never could resist getting in his own jabs, Niou well knows. He watches as the fatass turns and pops a bubble, the noise echoing over the courts before he points his finger to Momoshiro.
"Try and make us," he says.
No sound follows, nothing except Sanada snorting from the bench.
Jackal has first serve. His game is confident and steady, as solid and dependable as his serve. Jackal throws the ball into the air, screaming "FIYAH!" as he slams his racket down onto the ball to start the match.
Momoshiro plays net opposite Marui, but Niou flicks his eyes to the baseline, where Kaidoh leans low and ready, his eyes following the ball, his prey. He's the one to be watching, Niou thinks. He finds his hand drifting up to the back of his neck, searching for his rat tail to play with, but he squeezes his hand tight, resisting the urge because hello! You're Yagyuu right now!
Beside him, Kirihara squirms. The noise the kid makes in the back of his throat sets Niou on edge, just enough to make him stiffen his back that much more and play up the façade harder.
Marui, the idiot, dodges a Jack Knife Momoshiro throws him. "Idiot," Yagyuu mutters, but before the words have left his mouth, Jackal tells Marui off and rushes forward. He covers Marui with a wide shot, flinging the ball deep into Seigaku's court. Niou's pulse races, picking up with the pace of the game. Seigaku are nowhere near as formidable as their track record suggests…
Niou snorts. These matches will be a piece of cake, ne fatty? He looks up and out to Marui. He could watch Momoshiro, but his moves are even more predictable: the way Momoshiro watches the ball and moves after the fact of a shot means his game can be decided before he so much as makes the poach he's obviously judging the ball for, as his racket face turns to the net, towards Marui.
Momoshiro wants to set up a trick play. Well done, Niou thinks as Momoshiro taps the ball with the edge of his racket, barely a punt to get it over the net. Marui steps closer, racket ready and a grin on his face too.
At the baseline, Kaidoh swings. He steps to the side because he and Momoshiro want to set up that play, to use his snake shots and take the first point. Kaidoh swings back and Momoshiro side-steps out of the way. His face breaks into a smile when Marui sticks out his tongue, flicking his wrist over and twisting the ball up.
The ball spins in the air, losing speed as it bounces onto the net.
Kaidoh's mouth drops. Momoshiro gapes.
The ball skirts along the top of the net, rolling on the top, back and forth as it wobbles. Niou sucks in a breath, because Marui's moves are too flashy, too risky-if the wind was off today, if the net was loose…
But there is no wind, nothing except the cicadas moaning in the baking heat and Yagyuu blowing a raspberry, mocking Marui.
"Genius at work," Marui announces. "Behold!" He strikes a pose, pointing his racket at Momoshiro this time. Momoshiro's mouth hangs open like an idiot's as the point is called in Rikkai's favour.
"Tightrope walking at its finest!" Marui says. "How's that for pure Genius?"
Seigaku never has the pace to start with, and after Marui's tightrope ball, it's almost pitiful to watch Kaidoh run around, furiously slamming balls to Rikkai's court, always blocked by Jackal, who darts around the court faster than Marui would dash for a cookie. Marui laughs and calls Seigaku out on their faults. He snickers and pops his gum when Momoshiro fumbles on a serve. He gives Seigaku the thumbs down when their volleys are slow and he drop-shots the ball to take another game for Rikkai.
"Your problem," Marui shouts to them as he starts another serve, "is two-fold." Marui hits a light, easy shot. Momoshiro runs for it, growling through a two-handed shot that he probably hopes is strong enough to deflect Jackal's defense, but really, falls flat when Jackal returns it, grinning with easy effort.
Marui holds up his hand, counting off. "Firstly, you guys lack any sort of…" Marui laughs. Momoshiro yells something at Kaidoh, telling him to get back to the baseline so he can use that shot and stop Rikkai!
"-doubles skills. And secondly," Marui says, throwing another lazy serve to Kaidoh; Kaidoh growls at the shot, bends to the side and snaps around, curving his shot across the net.
Marui runs up, shaking his head at Jackal. "You guys lack Genius." He leans down and keeps his arm crooked at the elbow and his racket up high. The angle is sharp but enough to catch the ball on the face.
The ball arcs up. Momoshiro pumps his fist. "It won't go in! Out of bounds!" He laughs at Marui when the ball hits the metal post.
Marui sticks out his tongue. He turns around before the ball bounces off the post with a hollow pong. It lands in Seigaku's court with several feet to spare.
"Brilliant, aren't I?" Marui asks them. His teeth glitter in the sunlight. Niou squints to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the fatass.
By 3-0, the tension rises in Niou as the clock ticks down the time. It's not a race, but Marui prefers shorter games-Niou knows this because the fatty loses steam first. And then it will be doubles one, in ten, maybe fifteen more minutes tops. Niou grips the railing edge and leans forward, breathing through his nose in perfect tune with the cicadas that make Yanagi frown.
Seigaku's Kaidoh hits a snake shot. "Will that even go in?" Kirihara asks.
"Almost certain," Yanagi says. His eyes flick across the court, over to Seigaku, where their data master scribbles last minute notes. "Ninety-two percent," Yanagi adds.
Momoshiro might yell to Kaidoh about positions and balls and "MAMUSHI! IT'S COMING AT YOU! GET IT!". Momoshiro might see the balls, but he can't stop Jackal's return snake shot. Niou chews his tongue, chews on the nervousness knotting his stomach up because they're going to be finished before long and then it's them and-
Yagyuu are you going to give this away? Will I?
Niou glances back over his shoulder, down the bench seat to where Yagyuu has stretched his long legs, legs a fraction too long to ever truly be Niou's. But he has the pose, he has the cocked head, the smirk, the dark look that burns through the bangs of his bleached wig and no one seems to notice.
Kaidoh's movements are worse than ever when the fourth game is called for Rikkai. His knees are skinned. He's panting-hard-and he can't even bother to hiss at his partner when Momoshiro shouts.
Niou pushes the glasses up his nose. Out of the corner of his vision where the glasses stop and his eyes take over, he can see Yagyuu scratching the back of his head and asking Kirihara if the fatty's gonna be done soon so he can play. Niou frowns. The mask is kept on.
"It's a pity," he says, nodding out to the court as the doubles teams switch sides, "but that's how the game is."
Kirihara snickers. "Winner's already obvious."
From the bench, even Sanada grunts and mumbles, "Kaidoh's down. Momoshiro is next, ne Renji?"
Yagyuu, of course, has to break the moment in perfect-Niou perfect-fashion. "Ask the Data Strategist, ne Sanada?" he drawls. Yagyuu starts to snigger with that strange "kukuku" sound Niou is certain he doesn't make, but Yagyuu keeps it up anyway, just to piss him off.
"Stop that, Niou-kun," he hisses.
Yagyuu snorts. "No fu~un!" he sing-songs. He stretches himself even longer on the bench, tapping Niou on the back of the thigh with a sneaker. Niou stiffens at the touch. His body reacts with a frisson of desire, cold and clammy as it runs down his spine, sending new bolts of pleasure to his half-hard dick.
Puri!
"Puri!" Yagyuu echoes.
The games add up. 3-0. 4-0. On the match point of the fifth game, Niou's chest squeezes-and his stomach too. It's nearly their turn. It's nearly time. Niou touches the elbow of his one arm with the opposite hand, feeling the clammy sweat that coats his skin in a film. He breathes through his nose.
What would Yagyuu do? What would Yagyuu say? What would Yagyuu think?
Yagyuu Yagyuu Yagyuu is on his mind. He stands there, murmuring "That was a good play" after Marui volleys, or "Well done, Jackal-kun" after Jackal hits a wide, sweeping shot. He doesn’t feel it in his heart, not really. The words are mechanical and he focuses on channeling the inner megane dork that must be in his blood. The façade has to be kept up.
It puts him on edge when Kirihara shoots him sly looks out of the corner of his eye and snickers, as if the kid suspects something. But there's nothing to suspect.
Because Yagyuu is perfect as himself. As Niou.
When Momoshiro lunges for another post ball, a ball that pings high up into the searing sunlight as a lob, Yagyuu snickers. "Not gonna make it," he murmurs. His snickers transforms into a grin-dark and pointed as his eyes burrow into Niou's for the split-second he turns to Yagyuu-when Momoshiro rises. Momoshiro's skinned knee drips with blood.
Niou clicks his tongue. Would Yagyuu be squeamish…?
Probably not. His dad's a doctor, after all.
Yagyuu would shake his head and say, "That's how the game is, unfortunately."
Niou shakes his head. "That's how the game is, unfortunately." He watches as Kaidoh ducks his head to pull his bandana off. It must be soaked with sweat and he squints, hissing as he holds it out to Momoshiro.
Niou's chest constricts again. Momoshiro accepts the bandana with wide-eyes. Niou has no idea what their partnership is like, and he doesn't really care, but in that moment of their camaraderie as they tap fists and knock brows and shout that they'll win, they'll come back…
His intestines twist with envy.
Because he and Yagyuu don't have that. He doesn't know if Yagyuu would lend him a bandana like that. He doesn't know if Yagyuu would tap his fist, not since that incident and it hurts knowing that. They have this, yes, but Niou wants more. He'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't.
He wants Yagyuu's sweaty bandana.
He wants Yagyuu's sweaty everything...
Niou purses his lips and lifts his eyes back to the game, trying to focus on the last few points before doubles one takes the stage. Only it doesn't go like that, because no sooner has he turned his head to the serve, then Kaidoh breaks up the pace with a short snake.
Jackal misses the shot.
Point Seigaku.
Niou raises his eyebrows. His glasses slip down his nose. Sweat dribbles down his back, both from the immense heat and the sense of sympathy he has for Jackal, who scowls and balls his fist.
"Little too late to bounce back," Marui calls out when Momoshiro tosses a ball for another serve.
Momoshiro ignores Marui, whose bubble deflates before he balls the gum back up into his mouth and chews the wad. "LET'S GO KAIDOH!" Momoshiro yells as he serves a hard bullet across the court.
Jackal and Marui split from the centrecount, taking as much area as they can. Marui volleys, but he's not watching Kaidoh at the net. Niou shakes his head. His fingers itch to touch his chin, to scratch at the makeup covering his mole, but he can't. Temptation makes his skin crawl even more.
Marui should know better, if he's a so-called Genius. One with a fanboy screaming and flailing and calling his name. He should be watching the viper, who sways softly at the net, his grip loose and easy on his racket before the strike.
And he does strike.
Another short snake that Jackal can't resist. Jackal swerves the ball, cradling it across his racket before he flings it back at Kaidoh. His eyes gleam with determination and his head shines with sweat, too.
Kaidoh wants a battle.
And Jackal will fight back to win.
Beside Niou, Kirihara makes a noise. "Jeez, Jackal-senpai," he says, "you're falling for their trap. Duh."
"Duh," Yagyuu echoes.
Niou looks down at Kirihara. His chest swells: he loves the increased height a straight back gives him. Kirihara sticks out his lip and raises his arm. Niou cringes at the lovely whiff of rank teenage boy sweat.
"Jackal-kun has complete confidence in his endurance," Niou says. The awkward clipped tone becomes easier as he goes on. Kirihara looks at him, giving him a continued petulant pout, but Niou doesn't buy it.
"Kaidoh-kun issued a challenge. He has no choice but to accept. It's a matter of pride," Niou adds.
Momoshiro smashes the ball, answering the challenge his partner set up and taking the first game for Seigaku. Kirihara flops down on the bench near Yagyuu, chewing on his words and his bottom lip. Yanagi and Sanada both murmur "Interesting" when Momoshiro-again-tells Marui to take his weights off.
Marui laughs at them.
Maybe you shouldn't, fatty, Niou thinks.
"Maybe you should wait before you laugh at them, fatty," Yagyuu says.
Niou stiffens. For an instant his eyes go wide. Yagyuu is too good at this game for his own good. Nervousness coils in Niou's belly, tighter than ever because he's the trickster, not Yagyuu and yet…Yagyuu's doing a better job. Yagyuu doesn't have Kirihara's eyes on his every move. Yagyuu doesn't have the shifty stares from Kirihara. Or Yanagi stepping closer to say, "Have you noticed Kaidoh's switched his legs he leans on?"
And sure enough, on the court, Kaidoh leans back on his opposite foot, right before he hits another short snake. Jackal is at the net, his teeth bared and racketface open to receive the duel, but the snake arcs the other way, a crescent around the opposite post.
Jackal yells something unintelligible that might be Portuguese, Niou can't tell. But he can understand when Jackal growls, "Don't you guys have a limit?!"
Momoshiro doesn't answer. He's too busy with the next shot, the next move. Niou sucks in a breath. The air around the courts has gone still, and even the cicadas have gone quiet. The end is nearing, the beginning of it inevitable and Niou can't stop himself from gripping the railing hard.
His hands hurt. His back aches, too, but he ignores it. The constant reminders he's not himself are as crushing as the scorching heat, but the excitement and raw anticipation of what's to come nearly makes his body float off into the muggy sky.
Niou breathes.
Momoshiro jumps up for a smash. Its match point, but this could change everything. His eyes are wide and white and his jacket ripples behind his body as he lifts his arm, slamming down on the ball with a primal shout.
But its Marui, charging out of the blue with his teeth bared, who comes to the net. It's Marui, who spits his gum out to play defense for once. It's Marui who charges ahead of Jackal, his racket stretched out as far as his stubby arm will manage and he strains, groaning into the shot.
The ball hits the middle of his racket, no lower down, Niou can't tell. The light is too bright, the glasses have too much glare and he squints to try to see better. The shot is hard, heavy and barrels through the air with a whoosh.
"It'll be out," Yanagi says.
Niou squints his eyes tighter, focusing as hard as he can. "No," he says, shaking his head. "He's not aiming for the court."
Because the ball doesn't have the angle for the court-if it did, it would be out. Marui wasn't aiming for anything; he's hoping.
"GO IN GO IN GO IN!" he screams.
A beam of light shines down, right in the middle of Niou's view and he can't see. Yanagi leans over the railing, his eyes snapping open when he says, "It's in."
Dead silence follows. Then there is the hollow sound the ball makes when it hits the court, near the referee box, so close to the line that Marui shouldn't be jumping and laughing and pumping his fist the way he does now.
"Pure Genius!" he yells. "Pure, pure Genius!"
Kaidoh and Momoshiro's mouths hang open for a moment too long. The bounce back they'd hoped to make is crushed as soon as the referee announces the point for Jackal and Marui, 40-0.
Their last stand is valiant, but pointless. Momoshiro and Kaidoh both run for that last ball, a straight shot from Jackal, and they plow into each other. Someone's racket hits the ball before they collapse in a pile and Marui finishes the game off with his favourite tight rope ball.
Game Rikkai, 6-1.
So that's that, Niou thinks. His body is so taught that he can barely move, he can barely breathe when Marui and Jackal toss their wristweights to Kaidoh and Momoshiro, still piled up near the net.
Niou grants himself one concession. He turns his head to Yagyuu, who stands and yawns loudly, stretching his arms above his head and then reaching for his racket with a tiny sneer on his lips.
For him, it's a lose-lose situation. Yagyuu made his demand yesterday and Niou will lose out. Yagyuu will find out his last secret and what he'll do with that, Niou doesn't know. He doesn't know if he even wants to know.
His fingers are numb and his lips pursed so tight that they tingle. His back wants to slide back into a hunch and he wants to rip the wig off his head and scratch his mole, too.
But when Niou reaches for Yagyuu's racket, that silvery and steel coloured Dunlop Adforce, his right hand closes around the handle and it feels as light as a feather. A smile ghosts his lips. Tension unravels inside, leaving him with a bounce in his step as he says, "Let's go, Niou-kun."
Niou steps onto the court.
Author: Ociwen
Rating: NC17 (eventual)
Disclaimer: Konomi owns all.
Summary: Niou, meet Yagyuu.
Author's Notes: Spoilers for everything.
Doubles two. Marui-Jackal pair vs Momoshiro-Kaidoh pair. Niou keeps his eyes on the court as Marui and Jackal strut out, passing Sanada along their way. Sanada sits down on the bench opposite Seigaku's old woman coach, who cheers her players up with honeyed words of determination.
Fool's hope of victory, Niou thinks. He keeps his expression calm and guarded as Yagyuu settles on the bleacher bench, sprawled off to the side, and away from everyone else. Niou stands beside Kirihara and Yanagi, crossing his arms over his chest. He can feel the tightness of his nipples under his shirt.
The day is so hot already that he's flushing from the heat. His glasses keep sliding down his nose, the nosepieces irritating and slightly sticky.
Momoshiro and Kaidoh don't look like much of a doubles pair. Kaidoh sneers at his partner and Momoshiro yells, "Don't get scared now, mamushi!"
Kaidoh hisses. Niou refrains from raising an eyebrow because Yagyuu wouldn't-as much as he is interested in watching Seigaku's dynamics first hand.
At the net, Jackal walks up to Momoshiro and Kaidoh. "How's your first year?" he asks.
Niou allows himself a tiny smile when Momoshiro and Kaidoh gape, asking in loud voices how the hell Jackal knows about their Echizen.
"They need a better babysitter for their brat," Yagyuu mutters behind Niou.
"Hey!" Kirihara shouts. "I'm not a baby, Niou-senpai!"
Yagyuu snorts.
And then, the same as ever, Marui flashes a victory sign and grins. His teeth blind Niou with the glare of the sunlight and his glasses; he nearly cringes when Marui says, loud and clear across the courts:
"Are you ready for the best fucking genius you'll ever see?"
Somewhere in the crowds around the stands, behind Yagyuu's gagging and murmuring about Marui being a lame fatass (Niou frowns. He would never say "lame". Fatass, yes, but not "lame"), Niou can hear the frantic cheering and whooping of someone screaming. "OH MY GOD MARUI-KUN! GO MARUI!"
Hyoutei's Jiroh.
Now that is lame.
Neither Momoshiro nor Kaidoh seem to care however. Neither seem to quite realize what they're up against when Momoshiro slings his racket over his shoulder and makes a loud noise, right as a ball boy wheels out some balls behind the baseline of the Rikkai court. "Sorry for asking," Momoshiro shouts, "but aren't you guys gonna take off your weights?"
His eyes squint in the light and he wears a self-satisfied smile, unlike his scowling partner, who rolls his eyes and hisses again. Exactly like the viper of his nickname.
Marui and Jackal move into position; Jackal ignores Seigaku, but the fatass never could resist getting in his own jabs, Niou well knows. He watches as the fatass turns and pops a bubble, the noise echoing over the courts before he points his finger to Momoshiro.
"Try and make us," he says.
No sound follows, nothing except Sanada snorting from the bench.
Jackal has first serve. His game is confident and steady, as solid and dependable as his serve. Jackal throws the ball into the air, screaming "FIYAH!" as he slams his racket down onto the ball to start the match.
Momoshiro plays net opposite Marui, but Niou flicks his eyes to the baseline, where Kaidoh leans low and ready, his eyes following the ball, his prey. He's the one to be watching, Niou thinks. He finds his hand drifting up to the back of his neck, searching for his rat tail to play with, but he squeezes his hand tight, resisting the urge because hello! You're Yagyuu right now!
Beside him, Kirihara squirms. The noise the kid makes in the back of his throat sets Niou on edge, just enough to make him stiffen his back that much more and play up the façade harder.
Marui, the idiot, dodges a Jack Knife Momoshiro throws him. "Idiot," Yagyuu mutters, but before the words have left his mouth, Jackal tells Marui off and rushes forward. He covers Marui with a wide shot, flinging the ball deep into Seigaku's court. Niou's pulse races, picking up with the pace of the game. Seigaku are nowhere near as formidable as their track record suggests…
Niou snorts. These matches will be a piece of cake, ne fatty? He looks up and out to Marui. He could watch Momoshiro, but his moves are even more predictable: the way Momoshiro watches the ball and moves after the fact of a shot means his game can be decided before he so much as makes the poach he's obviously judging the ball for, as his racket face turns to the net, towards Marui.
Momoshiro wants to set up a trick play. Well done, Niou thinks as Momoshiro taps the ball with the edge of his racket, barely a punt to get it over the net. Marui steps closer, racket ready and a grin on his face too.
At the baseline, Kaidoh swings. He steps to the side because he and Momoshiro want to set up that play, to use his snake shots and take the first point. Kaidoh swings back and Momoshiro side-steps out of the way. His face breaks into a smile when Marui sticks out his tongue, flicking his wrist over and twisting the ball up.
The ball spins in the air, losing speed as it bounces onto the net.
Kaidoh's mouth drops. Momoshiro gapes.
The ball skirts along the top of the net, rolling on the top, back and forth as it wobbles. Niou sucks in a breath, because Marui's moves are too flashy, too risky-if the wind was off today, if the net was loose…
But there is no wind, nothing except the cicadas moaning in the baking heat and Yagyuu blowing a raspberry, mocking Marui.
"Genius at work," Marui announces. "Behold!" He strikes a pose, pointing his racket at Momoshiro this time. Momoshiro's mouth hangs open like an idiot's as the point is called in Rikkai's favour.
"Tightrope walking at its finest!" Marui says. "How's that for pure Genius?"
Seigaku never has the pace to start with, and after Marui's tightrope ball, it's almost pitiful to watch Kaidoh run around, furiously slamming balls to Rikkai's court, always blocked by Jackal, who darts around the court faster than Marui would dash for a cookie. Marui laughs and calls Seigaku out on their faults. He snickers and pops his gum when Momoshiro fumbles on a serve. He gives Seigaku the thumbs down when their volleys are slow and he drop-shots the ball to take another game for Rikkai.
"Your problem," Marui shouts to them as he starts another serve, "is two-fold." Marui hits a light, easy shot. Momoshiro runs for it, growling through a two-handed shot that he probably hopes is strong enough to deflect Jackal's defense, but really, falls flat when Jackal returns it, grinning with easy effort.
Marui holds up his hand, counting off. "Firstly, you guys lack any sort of…" Marui laughs. Momoshiro yells something at Kaidoh, telling him to get back to the baseline so he can use that shot and stop Rikkai!
"-doubles skills. And secondly," Marui says, throwing another lazy serve to Kaidoh; Kaidoh growls at the shot, bends to the side and snaps around, curving his shot across the net.
Marui runs up, shaking his head at Jackal. "You guys lack Genius." He leans down and keeps his arm crooked at the elbow and his racket up high. The angle is sharp but enough to catch the ball on the face.
The ball arcs up. Momoshiro pumps his fist. "It won't go in! Out of bounds!" He laughs at Marui when the ball hits the metal post.
Marui sticks out his tongue. He turns around before the ball bounces off the post with a hollow pong. It lands in Seigaku's court with several feet to spare.
"Brilliant, aren't I?" Marui asks them. His teeth glitter in the sunlight. Niou squints to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the fatass.
By 3-0, the tension rises in Niou as the clock ticks down the time. It's not a race, but Marui prefers shorter games-Niou knows this because the fatty loses steam first. And then it will be doubles one, in ten, maybe fifteen more minutes tops. Niou grips the railing edge and leans forward, breathing through his nose in perfect tune with the cicadas that make Yanagi frown.
Seigaku's Kaidoh hits a snake shot. "Will that even go in?" Kirihara asks.
"Almost certain," Yanagi says. His eyes flick across the court, over to Seigaku, where their data master scribbles last minute notes. "Ninety-two percent," Yanagi adds.
Momoshiro might yell to Kaidoh about positions and balls and "MAMUSHI! IT'S COMING AT YOU! GET IT!". Momoshiro might see the balls, but he can't stop Jackal's return snake shot. Niou chews his tongue, chews on the nervousness knotting his stomach up because they're going to be finished before long and then it's them and-
Yagyuu are you going to give this away? Will I?
Niou glances back over his shoulder, down the bench seat to where Yagyuu has stretched his long legs, legs a fraction too long to ever truly be Niou's. But he has the pose, he has the cocked head, the smirk, the dark look that burns through the bangs of his bleached wig and no one seems to notice.
Kaidoh's movements are worse than ever when the fourth game is called for Rikkai. His knees are skinned. He's panting-hard-and he can't even bother to hiss at his partner when Momoshiro shouts.
Niou pushes the glasses up his nose. Out of the corner of his vision where the glasses stop and his eyes take over, he can see Yagyuu scratching the back of his head and asking Kirihara if the fatty's gonna be done soon so he can play. Niou frowns. The mask is kept on.
"It's a pity," he says, nodding out to the court as the doubles teams switch sides, "but that's how the game is."
Kirihara snickers. "Winner's already obvious."
From the bench, even Sanada grunts and mumbles, "Kaidoh's down. Momoshiro is next, ne Renji?"
Yagyuu, of course, has to break the moment in perfect-Niou perfect-fashion. "Ask the Data Strategist, ne Sanada?" he drawls. Yagyuu starts to snigger with that strange "kukuku" sound Niou is certain he doesn't make, but Yagyuu keeps it up anyway, just to piss him off.
"Stop that, Niou-kun," he hisses.
Yagyuu snorts. "No fu~un!" he sing-songs. He stretches himself even longer on the bench, tapping Niou on the back of the thigh with a sneaker. Niou stiffens at the touch. His body reacts with a frisson of desire, cold and clammy as it runs down his spine, sending new bolts of pleasure to his half-hard dick.
Puri!
"Puri!" Yagyuu echoes.
The games add up. 3-0. 4-0. On the match point of the fifth game, Niou's chest squeezes-and his stomach too. It's nearly their turn. It's nearly time. Niou touches the elbow of his one arm with the opposite hand, feeling the clammy sweat that coats his skin in a film. He breathes through his nose.
What would Yagyuu do? What would Yagyuu say? What would Yagyuu think?
Yagyuu Yagyuu Yagyuu is on his mind. He stands there, murmuring "That was a good play" after Marui volleys, or "Well done, Jackal-kun" after Jackal hits a wide, sweeping shot. He doesn’t feel it in his heart, not really. The words are mechanical and he focuses on channeling the inner megane dork that must be in his blood. The façade has to be kept up.
It puts him on edge when Kirihara shoots him sly looks out of the corner of his eye and snickers, as if the kid suspects something. But there's nothing to suspect.
Because Yagyuu is perfect as himself. As Niou.
When Momoshiro lunges for another post ball, a ball that pings high up into the searing sunlight as a lob, Yagyuu snickers. "Not gonna make it," he murmurs. His snickers transforms into a grin-dark and pointed as his eyes burrow into Niou's for the split-second he turns to Yagyuu-when Momoshiro rises. Momoshiro's skinned knee drips with blood.
Niou clicks his tongue. Would Yagyuu be squeamish…?
Probably not. His dad's a doctor, after all.
Yagyuu would shake his head and say, "That's how the game is, unfortunately."
Niou shakes his head. "That's how the game is, unfortunately." He watches as Kaidoh ducks his head to pull his bandana off. It must be soaked with sweat and he squints, hissing as he holds it out to Momoshiro.
Niou's chest constricts again. Momoshiro accepts the bandana with wide-eyes. Niou has no idea what their partnership is like, and he doesn't really care, but in that moment of their camaraderie as they tap fists and knock brows and shout that they'll win, they'll come back…
His intestines twist with envy.
Because he and Yagyuu don't have that. He doesn't know if Yagyuu would lend him a bandana like that. He doesn't know if Yagyuu would tap his fist, not since that incident and it hurts knowing that. They have this, yes, but Niou wants more. He'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't.
He wants Yagyuu's sweaty bandana.
He wants Yagyuu's sweaty everything...
Niou purses his lips and lifts his eyes back to the game, trying to focus on the last few points before doubles one takes the stage. Only it doesn't go like that, because no sooner has he turned his head to the serve, then Kaidoh breaks up the pace with a short snake.
Jackal misses the shot.
Point Seigaku.
Niou raises his eyebrows. His glasses slip down his nose. Sweat dribbles down his back, both from the immense heat and the sense of sympathy he has for Jackal, who scowls and balls his fist.
"Little too late to bounce back," Marui calls out when Momoshiro tosses a ball for another serve.
Momoshiro ignores Marui, whose bubble deflates before he balls the gum back up into his mouth and chews the wad. "LET'S GO KAIDOH!" Momoshiro yells as he serves a hard bullet across the court.
Jackal and Marui split from the centrecount, taking as much area as they can. Marui volleys, but he's not watching Kaidoh at the net. Niou shakes his head. His fingers itch to touch his chin, to scratch at the makeup covering his mole, but he can't. Temptation makes his skin crawl even more.
Marui should know better, if he's a so-called Genius. One with a fanboy screaming and flailing and calling his name. He should be watching the viper, who sways softly at the net, his grip loose and easy on his racket before the strike.
And he does strike.
Another short snake that Jackal can't resist. Jackal swerves the ball, cradling it across his racket before he flings it back at Kaidoh. His eyes gleam with determination and his head shines with sweat, too.
Kaidoh wants a battle.
And Jackal will fight back to win.
Beside Niou, Kirihara makes a noise. "Jeez, Jackal-senpai," he says, "you're falling for their trap. Duh."
"Duh," Yagyuu echoes.
Niou looks down at Kirihara. His chest swells: he loves the increased height a straight back gives him. Kirihara sticks out his lip and raises his arm. Niou cringes at the lovely whiff of rank teenage boy sweat.
"Jackal-kun has complete confidence in his endurance," Niou says. The awkward clipped tone becomes easier as he goes on. Kirihara looks at him, giving him a continued petulant pout, but Niou doesn't buy it.
"Kaidoh-kun issued a challenge. He has no choice but to accept. It's a matter of pride," Niou adds.
Momoshiro smashes the ball, answering the challenge his partner set up and taking the first game for Seigaku. Kirihara flops down on the bench near Yagyuu, chewing on his words and his bottom lip. Yanagi and Sanada both murmur "Interesting" when Momoshiro-again-tells Marui to take his weights off.
Marui laughs at them.
Maybe you shouldn't, fatty, Niou thinks.
"Maybe you should wait before you laugh at them, fatty," Yagyuu says.
Niou stiffens. For an instant his eyes go wide. Yagyuu is too good at this game for his own good. Nervousness coils in Niou's belly, tighter than ever because he's the trickster, not Yagyuu and yet…Yagyuu's doing a better job. Yagyuu doesn't have Kirihara's eyes on his every move. Yagyuu doesn't have the shifty stares from Kirihara. Or Yanagi stepping closer to say, "Have you noticed Kaidoh's switched his legs he leans on?"
And sure enough, on the court, Kaidoh leans back on his opposite foot, right before he hits another short snake. Jackal is at the net, his teeth bared and racketface open to receive the duel, but the snake arcs the other way, a crescent around the opposite post.
Jackal yells something unintelligible that might be Portuguese, Niou can't tell. But he can understand when Jackal growls, "Don't you guys have a limit?!"
Momoshiro doesn't answer. He's too busy with the next shot, the next move. Niou sucks in a breath. The air around the courts has gone still, and even the cicadas have gone quiet. The end is nearing, the beginning of it inevitable and Niou can't stop himself from gripping the railing hard.
His hands hurt. His back aches, too, but he ignores it. The constant reminders he's not himself are as crushing as the scorching heat, but the excitement and raw anticipation of what's to come nearly makes his body float off into the muggy sky.
Niou breathes.
Momoshiro jumps up for a smash. Its match point, but this could change everything. His eyes are wide and white and his jacket ripples behind his body as he lifts his arm, slamming down on the ball with a primal shout.
But its Marui, charging out of the blue with his teeth bared, who comes to the net. It's Marui, who spits his gum out to play defense for once. It's Marui who charges ahead of Jackal, his racket stretched out as far as his stubby arm will manage and he strains, groaning into the shot.
The ball hits the middle of his racket, no lower down, Niou can't tell. The light is too bright, the glasses have too much glare and he squints to try to see better. The shot is hard, heavy and barrels through the air with a whoosh.
"It'll be out," Yanagi says.
Niou squints his eyes tighter, focusing as hard as he can. "No," he says, shaking his head. "He's not aiming for the court."
Because the ball doesn't have the angle for the court-if it did, it would be out. Marui wasn't aiming for anything; he's hoping.
"GO IN GO IN GO IN!" he screams.
A beam of light shines down, right in the middle of Niou's view and he can't see. Yanagi leans over the railing, his eyes snapping open when he says, "It's in."
Dead silence follows. Then there is the hollow sound the ball makes when it hits the court, near the referee box, so close to the line that Marui shouldn't be jumping and laughing and pumping his fist the way he does now.
"Pure Genius!" he yells. "Pure, pure Genius!"
Kaidoh and Momoshiro's mouths hang open for a moment too long. The bounce back they'd hoped to make is crushed as soon as the referee announces the point for Jackal and Marui, 40-0.
Their last stand is valiant, but pointless. Momoshiro and Kaidoh both run for that last ball, a straight shot from Jackal, and they plow into each other. Someone's racket hits the ball before they collapse in a pile and Marui finishes the game off with his favourite tight rope ball.
Game Rikkai, 6-1.
So that's that, Niou thinks. His body is so taught that he can barely move, he can barely breathe when Marui and Jackal toss their wristweights to Kaidoh and Momoshiro, still piled up near the net.
Niou grants himself one concession. He turns his head to Yagyuu, who stands and yawns loudly, stretching his arms above his head and then reaching for his racket with a tiny sneer on his lips.
For him, it's a lose-lose situation. Yagyuu made his demand yesterday and Niou will lose out. Yagyuu will find out his last secret and what he'll do with that, Niou doesn't know. He doesn't know if he even wants to know.
His fingers are numb and his lips pursed so tight that they tingle. His back wants to slide back into a hunch and he wants to rip the wig off his head and scratch his mole, too.
But when Niou reaches for Yagyuu's racket, that silvery and steel coloured Dunlop Adforce, his right hand closes around the handle and it feels as light as a feather. A smile ghosts his lips. Tension unravels inside, leaving him with a bounce in his step as he says, "Let's go, Niou-kun."
Niou steps onto the court.