Sweet Design [Prince of Tennis; Data Pair]
Title: Sweet Design
Pairing: Inui Sadaharu/Yanagi Renji, Tezuka
Rating: PG
Summary: It's a date.
Word Count: ~925
A/N: Uh, this is actually old. I started it sometime last year and finished it in the beginning of June. Consider it a very belated birthday gift to my two favorite tennis boys. :) Thank you to Garland for reading it over and suggesting the title (a lyric from "Call Me" by Blondie).
+
This is the first time Inui can honestly say that things are awkward between them. It is Friday night and the sun is already setting, and Renji opens the front door at 6:12 and thirty seven seconds. He's wearing clothes Inui doesn't recognize, not mustard-yellow like his uniform, not small and grass-stained like the shirts he's long since grown out of.
Renji crosses his arms over the front of his cardigan, then tucks them into the pockets of his dark slacks. He looks nice. He looks more than nice. "What, Sadaharu?" Inui doesn't realize he's staring. "Is there something wrong with the way I'm dressed?"
Inui just grins. He has the same pair of pants in his closet, but he's sure Renji already knows this. He pulls down the cap on his head and says, "Of course not. You look very academic, Kyouju."
"Of course I do," Renji replies. "I wanted to make you feel comfortable, Hakase." He steps off the front porch and stands next to Inui. "Just like old times." They are nearly the same height, but Renji is still slight as ever, a beanpole of fifteen-year-old boy. Inui thinks this is not the same as before, and they are no longer just ten years old. And this is a date - their first - not a tennis match.
"You're wearing a fishing vest," Renji comments, lightly fingering the collar of Inui's shirt. The touch is soft and electric and Inui feels strangely uncertain. His eyebrows arch.
"Is it?" Inui asks. "I just liked the color."
Renji smirks. "Sadaharu, it has a little clip here for lures."
"Oh." Inui really did just like the color. It reminded him of one of those bullet-proof camouflage vests the military wears when they're trooping into the dark recesses of a tropical jungle. And besides, it matched his hat; dark green and stealthy.
"We're not going on a spying mission," Renji says and Inui flinches. He really needs to stop doing that, reading into Inui's thoughts as if he's temporarily inhabited part of Inui's mind. Which part, Inui isn't quite sure.
"Right," Inui replies. "We're just going to-"
"Dinner," Renji finishes, raising an eyebrow. "That Italian restaurant you'd mentioned a few weeks back?"
This time Inui doesn't flinch; just nods.
As they're walking, Inui places his fourth call to Tezuka that evening: "We're leaving his house now, Te-", and Renji doesn't say anything beyond an amused "hmm".
+
Spaghetti, Inui thinks, may not have been the best decision for a first date. They're at a cozy booth in the corner of the restaurant, which Inui has always liked because of the way all the shapes in the restaurant are triangular. The food is delicious, nearly quantifiably so, but Inui hasn't taken more than two bites before-
"Sadaharu," Renji says, laughing, "you have marinara sauce on your chin."
Inui excuses himself from the table immediately, practically tripping over his feet. "I'll be right back," he says hastily. He rushes to the bathroom and wipes his face off with a paper towel. How embarrassing.
"Tezuka, the spaghetti was a mistake and I-" Click. It was Tezuka's fault for not saying one way or another what to order when their menus arrived, Inui thinks angrily. It isn't that Inui can't do things without Tezuka's help. It isn't that Inui wants Tezuka's approval. It's just that this is the first time he and Renji have been out together like this, and he wants to do everything right. (And Tezuka, as far as Inui's data could detect, did everything right.)
"Who are you on a date with?" Renji asks, when Inui returns to the table. Probability Renji has a good point: 99%.
+
As they're walking back to Renji's house, Inui is able to loosen up a little. This is normal. This is casual. This is just like how they've always been together; comfortable. They talk about tennis and school, the places they're considering for university, the failed juice experiment Inui had conducted in his room last weekend.
"Back in first year I-" Inui begins.
"I wish I'd been around then," Renji interrupts, stopping in his tracks on the sidewalk. His voice is surprisingly serious.
Inui turns and looks at him. He thinks, I think I want you, but says, "So do I."
"It's a good thing we can correct that now, ne, Hakase?" Renji smiles with all the determination of a serve, and grabs Inui by the collar of his shirt. His fingers feel warm against Inui's neck and Inui shivers a little.
"Kyouju," he says, and thinks he knows what he wants. He reaches for the phone in his front pocket, hits Tezuka's number on speed dial, just to make sure.
Renji sighs heavily, impatiently, and snatches the phone from Inui's hand before the second ring. And suddenly, Inui wants to kick himself for not doing what Renji is about to, wondering why he ever thought he needed confirmation on something he's known for years. Suddenly there's no need to ask Tezuka anything, just to tell. "I was-," Inui begins.
"-just about to do this," Renji finishes, smirking. "… is what you were going to say."
Suddenly Inui feels like he's invincible and ready to take on the world. Maybe he's wearing a bullet-proof vest after all.
When Tezuka picks up, Renji speaks into the phone: "I am going to kiss Sadaharu now," he says, and hangs up.
~end~
Pairing: Inui Sadaharu/Yanagi Renji, Tezuka
Rating: PG
Summary: It's a date.
Word Count: ~925
A/N: Uh, this is actually old. I started it sometime last year and finished it in the beginning of June. Consider it a very belated birthday gift to my two favorite tennis boys. :) Thank you to Garland for reading it over and suggesting the title (a lyric from "Call Me" by Blondie).
+
This is the first time Inui can honestly say that things are awkward between them. It is Friday night and the sun is already setting, and Renji opens the front door at 6:12 and thirty seven seconds. He's wearing clothes Inui doesn't recognize, not mustard-yellow like his uniform, not small and grass-stained like the shirts he's long since grown out of.
Renji crosses his arms over the front of his cardigan, then tucks them into the pockets of his dark slacks. He looks nice. He looks more than nice. "What, Sadaharu?" Inui doesn't realize he's staring. "Is there something wrong with the way I'm dressed?"
Inui just grins. He has the same pair of pants in his closet, but he's sure Renji already knows this. He pulls down the cap on his head and says, "Of course not. You look very academic, Kyouju."
"Of course I do," Renji replies. "I wanted to make you feel comfortable, Hakase." He steps off the front porch and stands next to Inui. "Just like old times." They are nearly the same height, but Renji is still slight as ever, a beanpole of fifteen-year-old boy. Inui thinks this is not the same as before, and they are no longer just ten years old. And this is a date - their first - not a tennis match.
"You're wearing a fishing vest," Renji comments, lightly fingering the collar of Inui's shirt. The touch is soft and electric and Inui feels strangely uncertain. His eyebrows arch.
"Is it?" Inui asks. "I just liked the color."
Renji smirks. "Sadaharu, it has a little clip here for lures."
"Oh." Inui really did just like the color. It reminded him of one of those bullet-proof camouflage vests the military wears when they're trooping into the dark recesses of a tropical jungle. And besides, it matched his hat; dark green and stealthy.
"We're not going on a spying mission," Renji says and Inui flinches. He really needs to stop doing that, reading into Inui's thoughts as if he's temporarily inhabited part of Inui's mind. Which part, Inui isn't quite sure.
"Right," Inui replies. "We're just going to-"
"Dinner," Renji finishes, raising an eyebrow. "That Italian restaurant you'd mentioned a few weeks back?"
This time Inui doesn't flinch; just nods.
As they're walking, Inui places his fourth call to Tezuka that evening: "We're leaving his house now, Te-", and Renji doesn't say anything beyond an amused "hmm".
+
Spaghetti, Inui thinks, may not have been the best decision for a first date. They're at a cozy booth in the corner of the restaurant, which Inui has always liked because of the way all the shapes in the restaurant are triangular. The food is delicious, nearly quantifiably so, but Inui hasn't taken more than two bites before-
"Sadaharu," Renji says, laughing, "you have marinara sauce on your chin."
Inui excuses himself from the table immediately, practically tripping over his feet. "I'll be right back," he says hastily. He rushes to the bathroom and wipes his face off with a paper towel. How embarrassing.
"Tezuka, the spaghetti was a mistake and I-" Click. It was Tezuka's fault for not saying one way or another what to order when their menus arrived, Inui thinks angrily. It isn't that Inui can't do things without Tezuka's help. It isn't that Inui wants Tezuka's approval. It's just that this is the first time he and Renji have been out together like this, and he wants to do everything right. (And Tezuka, as far as Inui's data could detect, did everything right.)
"Who are you on a date with?" Renji asks, when Inui returns to the table. Probability Renji has a good point: 99%.
+
As they're walking back to Renji's house, Inui is able to loosen up a little. This is normal. This is casual. This is just like how they've always been together; comfortable. They talk about tennis and school, the places they're considering for university, the failed juice experiment Inui had conducted in his room last weekend.
"Back in first year I-" Inui begins.
"I wish I'd been around then," Renji interrupts, stopping in his tracks on the sidewalk. His voice is surprisingly serious.
Inui turns and looks at him. He thinks, I think I want you, but says, "So do I."
"It's a good thing we can correct that now, ne, Hakase?" Renji smiles with all the determination of a serve, and grabs Inui by the collar of his shirt. His fingers feel warm against Inui's neck and Inui shivers a little.
"Kyouju," he says, and thinks he knows what he wants. He reaches for the phone in his front pocket, hits Tezuka's number on speed dial, just to make sure.
Renji sighs heavily, impatiently, and snatches the phone from Inui's hand before the second ring. And suddenly, Inui wants to kick himself for not doing what Renji is about to, wondering why he ever thought he needed confirmation on something he's known for years. Suddenly there's no need to ask Tezuka anything, just to tell. "I was-," Inui begins.
"-just about to do this," Renji finishes, smirking. "… is what you were going to say."
Suddenly Inui feels like he's invincible and ready to take on the world. Maybe he's wearing a bullet-proof vest after all.
When Tezuka picks up, Renji speaks into the phone: "I am going to kiss Sadaharu now," he says, and hangs up.
~end~