(Fic) The Lovesong of Echizen Ryoma (Part 2) -- For poilass
Title: The Lovesong of Echizen Ryoma (Part 2)
Recipient's Name: poilass
Author: whisper132
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 14,505
Pairing: a somewhat turbulent wave of Kaidou/Echizen, a heavy dash of Inui/Fuji
Author's Notes: I was really fortunate to get your festival of prompts. I hope this meets with your approval. I tried to work in as many of your prompt suggestions as logic would allow.
Summary: One day, the Snake Shot starts to look sexy and Echizen thinks he might be losing his mind. "Help" from his "friends" does nothing to alleviate his concerns.
NOTE: The fic was too large to fit into a single post. Two posts have been made.
Part 1 is here
The ranking matches went by quickly. Sometime while Echizen was preoccupied with Kaidou's abs and his snake formation, Katsuo and Kachiro managed to become proficient enough to get to the top of their block. Ryoma hoped they didn't make a mess of the team's chances during the upcoming friendly tournament. Echizen wanted to win and show the neighboring schools that Kaidou's team was strong enough to take the nationals again next year.
"Your problem lies in your inability to surrender the back court." The scratch of Inui's chalk on the court drew Echizen out of the cloud of memory.
"You can't both be at the baseline," Fuji said, though he had no room to talk. He and Inui had yet to win a match against Kaidou and Echizen, chiefly because he and Inui kept winking at each other and making weird faces during the game.
"You have to harmonize," Inui continued. He turned to Kaidou. "The skills you learned during our own doubles training is still relevant."
Kaidou grumbled something Echizen couldn't hear and then he went off with Inui to the water fountains.
"They're like father and son. Isn't it beautiful?" Fuji looped his arm around Echizen's shoulders. It felt like the lead vest the dentist used during x-rays only backwards. "Inui's been giving him counsel regarding your…desire to collaborate on the court." The arm dragged Echizen toward their bags, freeing the court for a pair of elementary school kids. "Have you thought about your next move? You've been on two dates now-"
Ryoma dug his heels in and Fuji tripped up a bit. "We haven't-"
"We had a double date yesterday and another today." Fuji's eyes twinkled. "Was it your first?"
Ryoma didn't know much about dates, but he was fairly certain something wasn't a date unless everyone involved knew about it. It was a premeditated thing, not something one got dragged into by a senpai on the way home. And yes, were the non-dates Fuji mentioned to be considered actual dates, they would have been Ryoma's first-another reason why counting them as actual dates was unacceptable. Ryoma wasn't going to live his life with a first date that included Fuji-senpai and Inui-senpai.
Echizen had ample time over the past few days to dream up his perfect date, fine tuning it slowly as he dreamt it up. If he and Kaidou ever went on a date, it would start with tennis. They would play for an hour or so, neither of them keeping score as they enjoyed the thrill of playing against one another. After, they'd go to the pet store and buy cat toys together, maybe test them out on some of the kittens in the store. They would go to Echizen's house after and play with Karupin, watch a movie, and have some snacks. Sitting on the sofa, they'd slowly scoot together, brushing hands sometimes or tapping knees together. Echizen would smile at Kaidou while he walked him out that night, and they'd both be too shy to try for a kiss, but they'd both look at one another and know that next time would surely be the time.
"Aren't you just adorable, daydreaming about Kaidou out here in the open." Fuji let out a sound close to a giggle. "They're walking back," he said before Echizen was able to put sound to the foul words bubbling at the back of his throat.
Kaidou stormed away from Inui. Echizen watched his senpai's fists clench and unclench, his leg muscles bunch and flex while he stomped forward. When Kaidou stopped in front of him, Echizen whimpered out all the air in his lungs and couldn't remember how to inhale.
"We're leaving," Kaidou said. He jerked his neck toward their bags. "Let's go."
Echizen remembered how to inhale, doing so just as a wind came and curled Kaidou's sweaty scent to him. "Yeah," he said because Kaidou looked like he was waiting for Echizen to agree.
"I'll walk you home." Kaidou headed toward the bags.
Echizen trotted along after him. "You don't have to."
Kaidou stooped down and picked up both of their tennis bags. Shouldering his own, he handed the other to Ryoma but didn't turn his face to meet the other boy's puzzled look. "I want to see your cat," he said.
The sun seemed to shine down on them even though it was night. "Okay."
Kaidou turned and smiled. "Let's go."
******
Karupin was ruining Echizen's big moment. The old man wasn't helping much, either.
"Back in my day, we didn't do so much muscle training. You boys are really into bulking up, but it sacrifices your flexibility." Nanjiroh poured Kaidou more tea. He eyed the boy critically. "You seem to have a good balance now, but if you bulk up any more, you'll have trouble with that buggy whip shot of yours."
When did the old man start shelling out advice without preamble and ridiculous riddles? More importantly, when did he take note of Kaidou's play style?
Karupin jumped onto the table and hissed at Kaidou. Ryoma grabbed the cat and, for the fifth time, tossed him to the floor. "Sorry," he told Kaidou though his captain wasn't paying attention. Instead, Kaidou was busy nodding very seriously at the old man, who was still blabbering on about how tennis was played back at the dawn of time when people actually cared what the old man had to say.
"Hey, you're boring him," Ryoma grumbled, walking up to Nanjiroh and giving him a poke in the shoulder.
Nanjiroh stopped his monologue on proper nutrition and the value of daily stretching and turned to look at Ryoma. "I see." The old man broke out into a big grin then, with a sound between a grunt and a groan, he pushed himself up from the table. He ruffled Ryoma's hair before laughing out, "You boys have fun!" Karupin strolled out after him.
"Sorry about the old man," Ryoma said, refilling Kaidou's teacup. "And sorry about my cat."
Kaidou nodded and stared deep into the steam coming out of his teacup. "Your cat's cute," he said after a pause.
The surface of the table was fascinating. It held in it the power to keep Echizen from blurting out things, which he'd inevitably do if he looked directly at Kaidou, who'd removed his bandana out of respect when they'd entered the house and whose hair was begging for Echizen's fingers to run through it. "He doesn't usually act like that," Ryoma said to a drop of tea that had fallen to the table when he refilled his own cup.
"My cat doesn't like girls," Kaidou mumbled, so soft Echizen barely caught it. "She attacks my mom when she's cooking."
The mistake was in looking up. The bubble of laughter in Echizen's chest stumbled into a gasp when his eyes rose up and met Kaidou's. "I…I don't…I mean, I…" His mouth was dry, too dry to form words, which was a relief because, once his eyes lowered and his brain managed to boot itself back up, Echizen had enough sense to realize that declaring his feelings in his living room might not be the best move.
"Your dad's really interesting." Kaidou was looking away. His cheeks were red, would likely be warm, too, if Echizen had the courage to reach across and touch them, which he didn't.
"He's crazy."
Kaidou shrugged. "All dads are crazy."
"When I was a kid, my old man put me in a harness and made me run along with his bicycle while balancing a ball on my racquet."
Kaidou sipped at his tea. "Your ball control is good."
They were inside, but it seemed as though all the stars were twinkling and swirling about in joy at Kaidou's words of praise. "Really?" Ryoma winced at the softness of his voice and his pathetic choice of words. What did he mean, 'really'? His ball control was better than almost anyone on the team's (actually, now that Tezuka was technically not on the team, it was better than anyone on the team's) and Echizen knew it. What the hell did he need to be all quiet and girlish about it for?
Kaidou's snort seemed to agree. "It's late."
"I can get the old man to drive you home." What Ryoma really wanted was for Kaidou to stay the night in his room so maybe, in the comfort of the dark, he could start to make his move…or at least get out a few sentences that didn't sound stupid.
"I can walk."
Nanjiroh burst through from the kitchen. "Nonsense! We can't have you walking this late at night! Stay here! We'll put a futon up in the boy's room." He clapped Kaidou on the shoulder. "It's the least we can do for the captain of the team."
Ryoma didn't recall mentioning the fact that Kaidou'd been made captain. "Have you been stalking me again?"
"Don't be ridiculous. You can't stalk your own kid." The crazy goat chuckled and his smoker's lungs wheezed around the edges of his mirth. "It's called concern, boy. Concern."
Ryoma's mom would sure be 'concerned' when she came home from her business trip tomorrow and found the old man dead from a racquet to the head in his sleep. Maybe then Ryoma could sit quietly in the dining room with his senpai and have a normal conversation. Maybe then Kaidou wouldn't feel awkward and Echizen would get up the nerve to tell his senpai that he looked really cool during their doubles training that day. If nothing else, Echizen would know that there wasn't anyone spying on them from inside the kitchen while Kaidou shifted uncomfortably and Ryoma botched up every smooth thing he meant to say and sounded as lame as those girls who stared at the tennis club members all afternoon when their own clubs had been dismissed for the day.
"I should call home," Kaidou said just as Ryoma's hallucinatory mother was stomping on Nanjiroh's spleen. "Are you sure it's okay that I stay?"
Echizen nodded because he knew any verbalized answer would come out shrill and sappy. While Kaidou dug out his cell phone and called home, Echizen busied himself with removing the tea service and praying to all gods that would listen that he didn't talk in his sleep.
******
Sleeping was the furthest thing from Echizen's mind as he trudged up the stairs, his arms full of an awkward bundle of bed linens. Why Kaidou couldn't stay in the spare room Echizen didn't know, but he was both thrilled and terrified to have his captain so close for the night.
"Move, Karupin." The cat was sitting in front of the bedroom door, preening. Ryoma tried to budge the cat with a foot but his toes just dug into fur. He didn't have the heart to actually use enough force to move the feline.
Kaidou made a sound from behind Echizen and Karupin bristled. "Easy," Kaidou said softly. "Here."
Echizen twisted to see Kaidou holding his hand out to the cat and wiggling his fingers. "Here," he said again. All of Kaidou's focus was on the cat and he was smiling so beautifully Echizen almost sighed from the freshness of it.
Slowly, crouched low, Karupin approached Kaidou. He started back a bit when racquet calloused fingers raised toward him but, after a few moments of stillness on Kaidou's part, Karupin accepted the first tentative scratches. After that, the cat was lost in bliss.
"You can go in now," Kaidou said while using both hands to scratch Karupin's belly. "We'll be fine here."
His heart about to burst, Echizen ran into his room and got the guest futon ready. He sat on the end of his bed and tried to collect himself once his task was done, but the sound of his cat's ecstatic meowing and his senpai's low, rumbling laughter kept launching him into cardiovascular anarchy.
To calm himself, Echizen did the only thing possible; he passed out in exhaustion.
*****
"I hate you," Echizen told Karupin the next day. The old man was taking Kaidou home-Echizen chickened out of joining them by saying he had to study. "I hate you so much." He'd awoken that morning to find Kaidou in the guest futon and Karupin curled up on the pillow next to Kaidou's head. One of Kaidou's hands was tangled in Karupin's fur as though he'd fallen asleep mid-scratch.
At Echizen's show of jealousy Karupin meowed and licked at his paw. Echizen swore the cat was grinning at him.
Echizen's phone rang. "What do you want, Fuji-senpai?" He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, especially someone who seemed to be in an admittedly odd but nevertheless stable relationship.
"I want to hear all about your magical evening. Do you mind if I record the call for Inui?"
Echizen hung up.
*****
The weekend stretched forever. After Kaidou left Saturday morning, all Echizen could think of were the fingers that moved so briskly in and out of Karupin's fur and how they might feel sliding through human hair, across human skin, and deep into places fingers couldn't actually reach. The daydreams were interrupted by Fuji and Inui at least once per hour, and once by Momo who wanted to know why Fuji and Inui had texted him saying that Ryoma was having a crisis. Echizen told Momo about Kaidou's masterful taming of Karupin without meaning to-it just flew out of his mouth and tumbled into the phone while a corner of Echizen's brain was thinking how great it would be to roll around on a bearskin rug with Kaidou-senpai in their freshly cleaned regular's jerseys.
Momo had to go rather quickly after that.
Fuji and Inui stopped calling when Echizen threatened to tell Tezuka that the two were trying to sabotage his tennis game. By that time, it was five in the afternoon and Echizen was missing the apple vinegar scent of Kaidou's sweat and the slight wheeze in his nose that he had because of a dust allergy.
Sunday was "Family Day." Echizen went shopping with his parents. He tried on clothes because his mother thought they were cute, tried on expensive tennis shoes because his father thought they would move his sluggish ass across the court faster, and ate ice cream because he deserved a treat for putting up with it all.
All through the day, Echizen's mind wandered down roads shaded by bandana canopies and covered in slightly irate but rather harmless vipers. He knew he was losing it when his mom dragged him into the Toys R Us to get a baby gift for a coworker and, spotting a plush snake, he almost requested that his parents buy it for him. He stopped himself, though, and put the toy away before he had to explain why he wanted an anaconda and what he planned to do with a three meter long stuffed animal. (Had it been a three meter viper, he realized, his willpower might not have been so strong.) His mother bought her coworker a jumper intended to make infants look like cows. Nanjiroh's suggestion of a tennis ball, good for both games and teething, was ignored. The coworker's kid would have it a lot better than Ryoma did. Lucky rat.
Dinner was a Mos Burger affair. The old man bitched about the amount of mayonnaise on his burger, Echizen's mom told him that he was getting 'soft in the center' and didn't need more mayonnaise, and Ryoma thought, not for the first time, that his mom really kicked ass. She had the same flashfire pride that Kaidou had. It was kinda…creepy and weird. He resolved not to compare the two again. Ever.
*****
It took Echizen until the end of practice Monday to realize that he was being avoided. Kaidou seemed to be delegating his interactions with Echizen to Momo, who kept raising his eyebrows and shaking his head. Echizen wasn't sure if the motions were spasms or Momo was trying to communicate something. During cool-down laps, Echizen gave up and asked, "What?" He infused into that single word all the rage and confusion tumbling around inside him. Why would Kaidou avoid him? They'd played with Karupin together. They'd mocked Momo together. They'd played doubles in a semi-secluded spot. What else was there?
"Something happen with you and that guy? He's being weird."
"No." Echizen paused. "Yes. Maybe." Echizen kicked a rock in his path "I don't know."
Momo made a hum that morphed into a cough. "Let's get burgers after this."
"You pay."
"Yeah, yeah."
"No slacking!" Kaidou's roar shocked Echizen and he stumbled forward. If Momo hadn't been quick to catch him, Echizen's face would've met the asphalt in a very bloody way.
"Thanks, Momo-senpai." He couldn't help that his shoulders slumped a little as he finished his laps.
******
"So," Momo said once they'd taken their order to a corner booth and Echizen briefed him on recent events, "all you've got to do is talk to him. He's freaking out."
The idea that Kaidou-senpai would freak out over him was at once flattering and ridiculous. "What am I supposed to do about it?" Ryoma bit into his teriyaki burger and waited.
Momo shrugged. "Like I said, talk to him." Momo had three patties on his burger because there was a sign advertising "special orders" and he wanted to check it out.
Echizen didn't do well with talking. The last time he tried to talk to someone about something, Kachiro started crying and Tezuka made Echizen run twenty laps for bullying. All Ryoma was trying to do was ask for Kachiro's advice on what to buy his mom for her birthday. "Do I have to?"
"Okay look," Momo said around a mouth full of burger, "you're a guy. Guys don't waste their time thinking about this kind of stuff. Just go up to the snake, grab him, and take him to the clubhouse for a talk. Tell him you like him and that you guys should go out. Easy."
"Is that how you ask girls out?" If it was, no wonder Momo's relationships never lasted too long.
Momo laughed. "No no no. Girls are different. The snake's stupid, though, so you need a direct approach."
"He's not stupid, Momo-senpai. He helped me with my math and-"
"Right. Got it! Got it!" Momo waved his hands in front of his face. "I don't wanna hear about that stuff."
"What stuff?" Echizen snatched up some of Momo's fries.
Momo scooted his tray closer, out of Echizen's reach. "All the reasons you, ah…you know."
A silence settled over the table. Both boys ate and shuffled around in their seats. "There's a new racquet coming out that I wanna try. Let's go to the sports store," Echizen said.
"Good plan." Momo cleared their trays and they set off.
******
"You be Kaidou-senpai," Echizen told Karupin.
Karupin nestled down into a ball on Echizen's bed and yawned.
"Kaidou-senpai, I need to talk to you. I think-" Echizen's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and debated answering through another cycle of his ringtone. "What do you want, Inui-senpai?"
"Kaidou will be leaving for school tomorrow at a quarter to seven. You're welcome." Inui disconnected the call.
"Thanks," Echizen said to his phone. "Okay, Karupin. One more time."
*****
Echizen didn't sleep. He stayed awake practicing his speech at a sleeping Karupin and trying to decide which of his uniform shirts looked the cleanest and which of his pants were the least wrinkled. He left for school early to make sure he beat his captain there and found that second year students, as a whole, came to school far earlier than need be. That was how Ryoma came to be leaning against the wall across from Kaidou's classroom trying to look not only like he belonged there, but like his pulse wasn't racing and he wasn't fighting the urge to bolt with every inhalation of musty hallway air. Someone in Kaidou's class had taken to cologne and the entire floor was suffering for it. The chemical woodchip fragrance only added to the dizziness of the moment.
"You need something?" Arai asked, pausing on his way into the room.
"I'm waiting for Kaidou-buchou. I've got a question about practice." Echizen tried not to think how doomed the team was going to be with Arai as a regular. They had a while until the matches that mattered. Maybe a miracle-or a very fortunate and debilitating accident-would happen.
"He usually gets in pretty early. Maybe he's in the library." Arai gave a nod to a passing classmate. "I gotta go finish some homework. See you at practice."
"See you." Echizen raised his hand a few centimeters in parting. It was fifteen minutes to the bell; Kaidou should be along any minute. "Relax," he told himself and replayed his dialogue.
A strangled gasping alerted Echizen to Kaidou's arrival. The look of panic that flashed through the captain's face was a sock to Ryoma's confidence, but he steeled himself and approached.
"Can I talk to you?" He couldn't meet Kaidou's eyes as he spoke, focusing instead on the blazer button above Kaidou's navel.
"What?" Kaidou's reply was barely audible but it ran through Echizen's ears and left them ringing.
Echizen looked up and down the hall to make sure nobody was paying them any attention. He took a breath. This was it. "I want-"
A girl rushing out of the classroom cut him off. "Kaidou! Help!" She gestured inside the room. "Morishita and Sano are fighting again!"
Kaidou placed a hand on Echizen's shoulder. "Sorry." He turned and left at a run, but Echizen swore he felt fingers squeeze before they lifted off.
****
Over the course of four class periods Echizen's brain managed to transform a possible shoulder squeeze into an hour long conversation in which Kaidou professed his love, they agreed to buy matching racquet bags, and Fuji and Inui enrolled in a high school in Dubai. While Echizen's brain was busy constructing this wondrous new world, the rest of the class studied math, social studies, English, and science.
When the bell rang to end fourth period, Echizen jetted from the classroom and up the stairs to the second year rooms. He waited in jitters while the students in Kaidou's class stood for the closing greeting. It figured they'd get out late on the one day Echizen needed something. Minutes passed and students milled around, some bound for the vending machines or downstairs to get bread. When the hall cleared, Echizen peeked into the classroom.
Kaidou sat at his desk while a girl talked excitedly at him. She didn't seem to notice that Kaidou kept looking away from her and was frowning a bit deeper than usual. Echizen noticed and, screwing up his courage, entered the room calling for his senpai. There was a brief silence before the stir returned to the room. Kaidou excused himself, and he and Echizen made their way to the hall.
The lunchtime din covered over the beating of Ryoma's heart which he was sure could clearly be heard within a two meter radius. His mouth was dry when he opened it to begin the speech that he'd aborted earlier.
"I want-" he began as Kaidou said, "Do you-"
They stared at one another for a long draw of breath before Kaidou motioned for Echizen to speak first.
"I want to go out with you," Echizen said. "Like that." He'd thought about saying more, but he started blushing and stuttering if he tried to elaborate too much.
"Like what?"
He hadn't planned for Kaidou to not get his masterfully crafted confession. "Like that." Echizen added a few waves of his hands.
"Basketball? I don't play basketball." Kaidou backed up a bit. His blush gave away his intentional obtuseness.
"Just say no if you don't want to. It's not a big deal." Echizen would simply hide in his room in bitter depression for a few weeks. Nothing big at all.
"People are watching."
"Why do you care? They suck."
Kaidou pondered for a moment, shifting from foot to foot and alternating his gaze from his classroom to the floor. "Why?"
There were a multitude of reasons starting with tennis victory, moving to toned quadriceps, and finishing with a gentle hand curled in kitty fur. "Because," is what Echizen said.
"I'll think about it. I'm eating lunch now." Kaidou walked away and back into his classroom. Echizen's legs, now gelatin, wobbled him as far as the stairs before giving out.
*****
Two periods of homemaking and industrial arts helped to distract Echizen from what he considered to be impending failure. No matter what signs of interest Kaidou had shown-if they were interest and not just Echizen's imagination-a request to "think about it" was just a nice way of saying "get lost."
"You're making great progress," Fuji said as Echizen left the safety of the bathroom he'd been brooding in after school. "He's asking Inui for advice now. I think-"
"I think you should shut up and leave me alone." Everything was weird because Echizen's senpai kept telling him what to do. Now, instead of quietly admiring his senpai and thinking about tennis, Ryoma's head was full of lewd things that were throwing off his game and turning him into a spazz.
"Let's have a talk." Fuji said it in the scalpel way, the one that sliced through objections before they could form in the throat. He grabbed Echizen's arm and dragged him into an empty classroom. "It's going to be fine," he said after locking the door. "He's panicking."
Echizen tried to breathe and relax, but air refused to come quietly. "It's not going to be fine." He threw his hands up. Fuji opened his placid grin to speak but Echizen continued over him. "Kaidou-senpai hates me, the regulars suck, Karupin needs to get his claws trimmed, the old man won't buy any more Ponta because he thinks I'm getting fat, I couldn't concentrate in class so now I've got to take a make-up exam, Inui-senpai is probably telling Kaidou-senpai weird stuff, my indoor shoes have a hole in the toe and my mom's going to be pissed, Momo-senpai is giving me pity advice like I'm a girl, and I can't stop wanting to do perverted things. Nothing. Is. Fine."
Ryoma had never seen Fuji's shocked expression. It was a bit like a weasel being squeezed too hard. Fuji recovered while Ryoma was trying to calm himself down.
"I see," Fuji whispered. "I'll buy you a Ponta from the vending machine."
Echizen was going to ask if that was all Fuji'd gotten from his tirade but found he didn't really care too much. A Ponta sounded really good.
******
It was a testament to Echizen's restraint when he didn't kick Fuji in the shins the moment he spotted Kaidou at the vending machine closest to the tennis courts.
"Here's the money." Fuji placed 150 yen into Echizen's hand. "Go." He pushed and Ryoma stumbled forward.
"Hey," Kaidou said.
Echizen didn't respond until he'd gotten his Ponta. "Hey," he said back and opened the can.
"Why do you drink that stuff? It's not good for you." Kaidou leaned against the vending machine, eyes looking off toward the courts.
"It's good." Ryoma took one more sip then held it up to Kaidou. "Try it."
"I…uh…is…ah…do…"
Before Kaidou figured out the words to reject the offer, Ryoma shoved the can into his hand. "Just try it." He should have been irritated at Kaidou's hesitance, but Ryoma knew that Kaidou took compulsive care of his body. Kaidou's discipline was one of his more attractive traits…right after his abs, thighs, and the smirk he gave when his opponent was too slow to return his Snake Shot.
"It's alright," Kaidou declared after a quick sip. "It's really sweet." He handed the can back.
Echizen paused and stared at the can. If he took a drink right after Kaidou would it be weird? He wasn't thinking about indirect kisses or anything, he just really wanted more Ponta. He could wipe the rim of the can, but that would make it seem like he thought Kaidou's spit was gross and, while Echizen thought that spit was pretty gross, he didn't want Kaidou's feet growing any colder.
Kaidou coughed. "Let's start practice." He pushed off the vending machine and paused, waiting for Ryoma to follow.
Ryoma stayed where he was. "Go out with me." He took the sip of Ponta he'd been craving. The fake grape taste soothed him.
"Why?"
"Because."
"That doesn't make sense." The corners of Kaidou's mouth lifted.
"Who cares?" Echizen held out the Ponta.
Kaidou looked to the tennis courts and sighed. "Fine." He took the can and swallowed down the remainder before handing it back to Echizen. "It's horrible."
The empty can shook in Ryoma's trembling hand. He was going to keep that can for the rest of his life. "You're just saying that. You'll get used to it."
"I won't."
"Yeah, you will." Their eyes locked and they paused. Echizen looked away first and started laughing. "This is stupid. Let's go practice."
Kaidou halted his own laughter and quickly regained his composure. "Fine."
When they got to the court, Momo grinned at them both. "You're late!" he called. "Thirty laps!"
Echizen snarled then looked over to Kaidou. The other boy's features had hardened over into the authoritative mask he wore on the court. "You heard him," Kaidou said. "Thirty laps."
"Yes, buchou!" Ryoma handed Kaidou the Ponta can and his tennis bag. "Thanks!" In a burst of speed and with a free heart, he began his laps.
Recipient's Name: poilass
Author: whisper132
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 14,505
Pairing: a somewhat turbulent wave of Kaidou/Echizen, a heavy dash of Inui/Fuji
Author's Notes: I was really fortunate to get your festival of prompts. I hope this meets with your approval. I tried to work in as many of your prompt suggestions as logic would allow.
Summary: One day, the Snake Shot starts to look sexy and Echizen thinks he might be losing his mind. "Help" from his "friends" does nothing to alleviate his concerns.
NOTE: The fic was too large to fit into a single post. Two posts have been made.
Part 1 is here
The ranking matches went by quickly. Sometime while Echizen was preoccupied with Kaidou's abs and his snake formation, Katsuo and Kachiro managed to become proficient enough to get to the top of their block. Ryoma hoped they didn't make a mess of the team's chances during the upcoming friendly tournament. Echizen wanted to win and show the neighboring schools that Kaidou's team was strong enough to take the nationals again next year.
"Your problem lies in your inability to surrender the back court." The scratch of Inui's chalk on the court drew Echizen out of the cloud of memory.
"You can't both be at the baseline," Fuji said, though he had no room to talk. He and Inui had yet to win a match against Kaidou and Echizen, chiefly because he and Inui kept winking at each other and making weird faces during the game.
"You have to harmonize," Inui continued. He turned to Kaidou. "The skills you learned during our own doubles training is still relevant."
Kaidou grumbled something Echizen couldn't hear and then he went off with Inui to the water fountains.
"They're like father and son. Isn't it beautiful?" Fuji looped his arm around Echizen's shoulders. It felt like the lead vest the dentist used during x-rays only backwards. "Inui's been giving him counsel regarding your…desire to collaborate on the court." The arm dragged Echizen toward their bags, freeing the court for a pair of elementary school kids. "Have you thought about your next move? You've been on two dates now-"
Ryoma dug his heels in and Fuji tripped up a bit. "We haven't-"
"We had a double date yesterday and another today." Fuji's eyes twinkled. "Was it your first?"
Ryoma didn't know much about dates, but he was fairly certain something wasn't a date unless everyone involved knew about it. It was a premeditated thing, not something one got dragged into by a senpai on the way home. And yes, were the non-dates Fuji mentioned to be considered actual dates, they would have been Ryoma's first-another reason why counting them as actual dates was unacceptable. Ryoma wasn't going to live his life with a first date that included Fuji-senpai and Inui-senpai.
Echizen had ample time over the past few days to dream up his perfect date, fine tuning it slowly as he dreamt it up. If he and Kaidou ever went on a date, it would start with tennis. They would play for an hour or so, neither of them keeping score as they enjoyed the thrill of playing against one another. After, they'd go to the pet store and buy cat toys together, maybe test them out on some of the kittens in the store. They would go to Echizen's house after and play with Karupin, watch a movie, and have some snacks. Sitting on the sofa, they'd slowly scoot together, brushing hands sometimes or tapping knees together. Echizen would smile at Kaidou while he walked him out that night, and they'd both be too shy to try for a kiss, but they'd both look at one another and know that next time would surely be the time.
"Aren't you just adorable, daydreaming about Kaidou out here in the open." Fuji let out a sound close to a giggle. "They're walking back," he said before Echizen was able to put sound to the foul words bubbling at the back of his throat.
Kaidou stormed away from Inui. Echizen watched his senpai's fists clench and unclench, his leg muscles bunch and flex while he stomped forward. When Kaidou stopped in front of him, Echizen whimpered out all the air in his lungs and couldn't remember how to inhale.
"We're leaving," Kaidou said. He jerked his neck toward their bags. "Let's go."
Echizen remembered how to inhale, doing so just as a wind came and curled Kaidou's sweaty scent to him. "Yeah," he said because Kaidou looked like he was waiting for Echizen to agree.
"I'll walk you home." Kaidou headed toward the bags.
Echizen trotted along after him. "You don't have to."
Kaidou stooped down and picked up both of their tennis bags. Shouldering his own, he handed the other to Ryoma but didn't turn his face to meet the other boy's puzzled look. "I want to see your cat," he said.
The sun seemed to shine down on them even though it was night. "Okay."
Kaidou turned and smiled. "Let's go."
******
Karupin was ruining Echizen's big moment. The old man wasn't helping much, either.
"Back in my day, we didn't do so much muscle training. You boys are really into bulking up, but it sacrifices your flexibility." Nanjiroh poured Kaidou more tea. He eyed the boy critically. "You seem to have a good balance now, but if you bulk up any more, you'll have trouble with that buggy whip shot of yours."
When did the old man start shelling out advice without preamble and ridiculous riddles? More importantly, when did he take note of Kaidou's play style?
Karupin jumped onto the table and hissed at Kaidou. Ryoma grabbed the cat and, for the fifth time, tossed him to the floor. "Sorry," he told Kaidou though his captain wasn't paying attention. Instead, Kaidou was busy nodding very seriously at the old man, who was still blabbering on about how tennis was played back at the dawn of time when people actually cared what the old man had to say.
"Hey, you're boring him," Ryoma grumbled, walking up to Nanjiroh and giving him a poke in the shoulder.
Nanjiroh stopped his monologue on proper nutrition and the value of daily stretching and turned to look at Ryoma. "I see." The old man broke out into a big grin then, with a sound between a grunt and a groan, he pushed himself up from the table. He ruffled Ryoma's hair before laughing out, "You boys have fun!" Karupin strolled out after him.
"Sorry about the old man," Ryoma said, refilling Kaidou's teacup. "And sorry about my cat."
Kaidou nodded and stared deep into the steam coming out of his teacup. "Your cat's cute," he said after a pause.
The surface of the table was fascinating. It held in it the power to keep Echizen from blurting out things, which he'd inevitably do if he looked directly at Kaidou, who'd removed his bandana out of respect when they'd entered the house and whose hair was begging for Echizen's fingers to run through it. "He doesn't usually act like that," Ryoma said to a drop of tea that had fallen to the table when he refilled his own cup.
"My cat doesn't like girls," Kaidou mumbled, so soft Echizen barely caught it. "She attacks my mom when she's cooking."
The mistake was in looking up. The bubble of laughter in Echizen's chest stumbled into a gasp when his eyes rose up and met Kaidou's. "I…I don't…I mean, I…" His mouth was dry, too dry to form words, which was a relief because, once his eyes lowered and his brain managed to boot itself back up, Echizen had enough sense to realize that declaring his feelings in his living room might not be the best move.
"Your dad's really interesting." Kaidou was looking away. His cheeks were red, would likely be warm, too, if Echizen had the courage to reach across and touch them, which he didn't.
"He's crazy."
Kaidou shrugged. "All dads are crazy."
"When I was a kid, my old man put me in a harness and made me run along with his bicycle while balancing a ball on my racquet."
Kaidou sipped at his tea. "Your ball control is good."
They were inside, but it seemed as though all the stars were twinkling and swirling about in joy at Kaidou's words of praise. "Really?" Ryoma winced at the softness of his voice and his pathetic choice of words. What did he mean, 'really'? His ball control was better than almost anyone on the team's (actually, now that Tezuka was technically not on the team, it was better than anyone on the team's) and Echizen knew it. What the hell did he need to be all quiet and girlish about it for?
Kaidou's snort seemed to agree. "It's late."
"I can get the old man to drive you home." What Ryoma really wanted was for Kaidou to stay the night in his room so maybe, in the comfort of the dark, he could start to make his move…or at least get out a few sentences that didn't sound stupid.
"I can walk."
Nanjiroh burst through from the kitchen. "Nonsense! We can't have you walking this late at night! Stay here! We'll put a futon up in the boy's room." He clapped Kaidou on the shoulder. "It's the least we can do for the captain of the team."
Ryoma didn't recall mentioning the fact that Kaidou'd been made captain. "Have you been stalking me again?"
"Don't be ridiculous. You can't stalk your own kid." The crazy goat chuckled and his smoker's lungs wheezed around the edges of his mirth. "It's called concern, boy. Concern."
Ryoma's mom would sure be 'concerned' when she came home from her business trip tomorrow and found the old man dead from a racquet to the head in his sleep. Maybe then Ryoma could sit quietly in the dining room with his senpai and have a normal conversation. Maybe then Kaidou wouldn't feel awkward and Echizen would get up the nerve to tell his senpai that he looked really cool during their doubles training that day. If nothing else, Echizen would know that there wasn't anyone spying on them from inside the kitchen while Kaidou shifted uncomfortably and Ryoma botched up every smooth thing he meant to say and sounded as lame as those girls who stared at the tennis club members all afternoon when their own clubs had been dismissed for the day.
"I should call home," Kaidou said just as Ryoma's hallucinatory mother was stomping on Nanjiroh's spleen. "Are you sure it's okay that I stay?"
Echizen nodded because he knew any verbalized answer would come out shrill and sappy. While Kaidou dug out his cell phone and called home, Echizen busied himself with removing the tea service and praying to all gods that would listen that he didn't talk in his sleep.
******
Sleeping was the furthest thing from Echizen's mind as he trudged up the stairs, his arms full of an awkward bundle of bed linens. Why Kaidou couldn't stay in the spare room Echizen didn't know, but he was both thrilled and terrified to have his captain so close for the night.
"Move, Karupin." The cat was sitting in front of the bedroom door, preening. Ryoma tried to budge the cat with a foot but his toes just dug into fur. He didn't have the heart to actually use enough force to move the feline.
Kaidou made a sound from behind Echizen and Karupin bristled. "Easy," Kaidou said softly. "Here."
Echizen twisted to see Kaidou holding his hand out to the cat and wiggling his fingers. "Here," he said again. All of Kaidou's focus was on the cat and he was smiling so beautifully Echizen almost sighed from the freshness of it.
Slowly, crouched low, Karupin approached Kaidou. He started back a bit when racquet calloused fingers raised toward him but, after a few moments of stillness on Kaidou's part, Karupin accepted the first tentative scratches. After that, the cat was lost in bliss.
"You can go in now," Kaidou said while using both hands to scratch Karupin's belly. "We'll be fine here."
His heart about to burst, Echizen ran into his room and got the guest futon ready. He sat on the end of his bed and tried to collect himself once his task was done, but the sound of his cat's ecstatic meowing and his senpai's low, rumbling laughter kept launching him into cardiovascular anarchy.
To calm himself, Echizen did the only thing possible; he passed out in exhaustion.
*****
"I hate you," Echizen told Karupin the next day. The old man was taking Kaidou home-Echizen chickened out of joining them by saying he had to study. "I hate you so much." He'd awoken that morning to find Kaidou in the guest futon and Karupin curled up on the pillow next to Kaidou's head. One of Kaidou's hands was tangled in Karupin's fur as though he'd fallen asleep mid-scratch.
At Echizen's show of jealousy Karupin meowed and licked at his paw. Echizen swore the cat was grinning at him.
Echizen's phone rang. "What do you want, Fuji-senpai?" He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, especially someone who seemed to be in an admittedly odd but nevertheless stable relationship.
"I want to hear all about your magical evening. Do you mind if I record the call for Inui?"
Echizen hung up.
*****
The weekend stretched forever. After Kaidou left Saturday morning, all Echizen could think of were the fingers that moved so briskly in and out of Karupin's fur and how they might feel sliding through human hair, across human skin, and deep into places fingers couldn't actually reach. The daydreams were interrupted by Fuji and Inui at least once per hour, and once by Momo who wanted to know why Fuji and Inui had texted him saying that Ryoma was having a crisis. Echizen told Momo about Kaidou's masterful taming of Karupin without meaning to-it just flew out of his mouth and tumbled into the phone while a corner of Echizen's brain was thinking how great it would be to roll around on a bearskin rug with Kaidou-senpai in their freshly cleaned regular's jerseys.
Momo had to go rather quickly after that.
Fuji and Inui stopped calling when Echizen threatened to tell Tezuka that the two were trying to sabotage his tennis game. By that time, it was five in the afternoon and Echizen was missing the apple vinegar scent of Kaidou's sweat and the slight wheeze in his nose that he had because of a dust allergy.
Sunday was "Family Day." Echizen went shopping with his parents. He tried on clothes because his mother thought they were cute, tried on expensive tennis shoes because his father thought they would move his sluggish ass across the court faster, and ate ice cream because he deserved a treat for putting up with it all.
All through the day, Echizen's mind wandered down roads shaded by bandana canopies and covered in slightly irate but rather harmless vipers. He knew he was losing it when his mom dragged him into the Toys R Us to get a baby gift for a coworker and, spotting a plush snake, he almost requested that his parents buy it for him. He stopped himself, though, and put the toy away before he had to explain why he wanted an anaconda and what he planned to do with a three meter long stuffed animal. (Had it been a three meter viper, he realized, his willpower might not have been so strong.) His mother bought her coworker a jumper intended to make infants look like cows. Nanjiroh's suggestion of a tennis ball, good for both games and teething, was ignored. The coworker's kid would have it a lot better than Ryoma did. Lucky rat.
Dinner was a Mos Burger affair. The old man bitched about the amount of mayonnaise on his burger, Echizen's mom told him that he was getting 'soft in the center' and didn't need more mayonnaise, and Ryoma thought, not for the first time, that his mom really kicked ass. She had the same flashfire pride that Kaidou had. It was kinda…creepy and weird. He resolved not to compare the two again. Ever.
*****
It took Echizen until the end of practice Monday to realize that he was being avoided. Kaidou seemed to be delegating his interactions with Echizen to Momo, who kept raising his eyebrows and shaking his head. Echizen wasn't sure if the motions were spasms or Momo was trying to communicate something. During cool-down laps, Echizen gave up and asked, "What?" He infused into that single word all the rage and confusion tumbling around inside him. Why would Kaidou avoid him? They'd played with Karupin together. They'd mocked Momo together. They'd played doubles in a semi-secluded spot. What else was there?
"Something happen with you and that guy? He's being weird."
"No." Echizen paused. "Yes. Maybe." Echizen kicked a rock in his path "I don't know."
Momo made a hum that morphed into a cough. "Let's get burgers after this."
"You pay."
"Yeah, yeah."
"No slacking!" Kaidou's roar shocked Echizen and he stumbled forward. If Momo hadn't been quick to catch him, Echizen's face would've met the asphalt in a very bloody way.
"Thanks, Momo-senpai." He couldn't help that his shoulders slumped a little as he finished his laps.
******
"So," Momo said once they'd taken their order to a corner booth and Echizen briefed him on recent events, "all you've got to do is talk to him. He's freaking out."
The idea that Kaidou-senpai would freak out over him was at once flattering and ridiculous. "What am I supposed to do about it?" Ryoma bit into his teriyaki burger and waited.
Momo shrugged. "Like I said, talk to him." Momo had three patties on his burger because there was a sign advertising "special orders" and he wanted to check it out.
Echizen didn't do well with talking. The last time he tried to talk to someone about something, Kachiro started crying and Tezuka made Echizen run twenty laps for bullying. All Ryoma was trying to do was ask for Kachiro's advice on what to buy his mom for her birthday. "Do I have to?"
"Okay look," Momo said around a mouth full of burger, "you're a guy. Guys don't waste their time thinking about this kind of stuff. Just go up to the snake, grab him, and take him to the clubhouse for a talk. Tell him you like him and that you guys should go out. Easy."
"Is that how you ask girls out?" If it was, no wonder Momo's relationships never lasted too long.
Momo laughed. "No no no. Girls are different. The snake's stupid, though, so you need a direct approach."
"He's not stupid, Momo-senpai. He helped me with my math and-"
"Right. Got it! Got it!" Momo waved his hands in front of his face. "I don't wanna hear about that stuff."
"What stuff?" Echizen snatched up some of Momo's fries.
Momo scooted his tray closer, out of Echizen's reach. "All the reasons you, ah…you know."
A silence settled over the table. Both boys ate and shuffled around in their seats. "There's a new racquet coming out that I wanna try. Let's go to the sports store," Echizen said.
"Good plan." Momo cleared their trays and they set off.
******
"You be Kaidou-senpai," Echizen told Karupin.
Karupin nestled down into a ball on Echizen's bed and yawned.
"Kaidou-senpai, I need to talk to you. I think-" Echizen's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and debated answering through another cycle of his ringtone. "What do you want, Inui-senpai?"
"Kaidou will be leaving for school tomorrow at a quarter to seven. You're welcome." Inui disconnected the call.
"Thanks," Echizen said to his phone. "Okay, Karupin. One more time."
*****
Echizen didn't sleep. He stayed awake practicing his speech at a sleeping Karupin and trying to decide which of his uniform shirts looked the cleanest and which of his pants were the least wrinkled. He left for school early to make sure he beat his captain there and found that second year students, as a whole, came to school far earlier than need be. That was how Ryoma came to be leaning against the wall across from Kaidou's classroom trying to look not only like he belonged there, but like his pulse wasn't racing and he wasn't fighting the urge to bolt with every inhalation of musty hallway air. Someone in Kaidou's class had taken to cologne and the entire floor was suffering for it. The chemical woodchip fragrance only added to the dizziness of the moment.
"You need something?" Arai asked, pausing on his way into the room.
"I'm waiting for Kaidou-buchou. I've got a question about practice." Echizen tried not to think how doomed the team was going to be with Arai as a regular. They had a while until the matches that mattered. Maybe a miracle-or a very fortunate and debilitating accident-would happen.
"He usually gets in pretty early. Maybe he's in the library." Arai gave a nod to a passing classmate. "I gotta go finish some homework. See you at practice."
"See you." Echizen raised his hand a few centimeters in parting. It was fifteen minutes to the bell; Kaidou should be along any minute. "Relax," he told himself and replayed his dialogue.
A strangled gasping alerted Echizen to Kaidou's arrival. The look of panic that flashed through the captain's face was a sock to Ryoma's confidence, but he steeled himself and approached.
"Can I talk to you?" He couldn't meet Kaidou's eyes as he spoke, focusing instead on the blazer button above Kaidou's navel.
"What?" Kaidou's reply was barely audible but it ran through Echizen's ears and left them ringing.
Echizen looked up and down the hall to make sure nobody was paying them any attention. He took a breath. This was it. "I want-"
A girl rushing out of the classroom cut him off. "Kaidou! Help!" She gestured inside the room. "Morishita and Sano are fighting again!"
Kaidou placed a hand on Echizen's shoulder. "Sorry." He turned and left at a run, but Echizen swore he felt fingers squeeze before they lifted off.
****
Over the course of four class periods Echizen's brain managed to transform a possible shoulder squeeze into an hour long conversation in which Kaidou professed his love, they agreed to buy matching racquet bags, and Fuji and Inui enrolled in a high school in Dubai. While Echizen's brain was busy constructing this wondrous new world, the rest of the class studied math, social studies, English, and science.
When the bell rang to end fourth period, Echizen jetted from the classroom and up the stairs to the second year rooms. He waited in jitters while the students in Kaidou's class stood for the closing greeting. It figured they'd get out late on the one day Echizen needed something. Minutes passed and students milled around, some bound for the vending machines or downstairs to get bread. When the hall cleared, Echizen peeked into the classroom.
Kaidou sat at his desk while a girl talked excitedly at him. She didn't seem to notice that Kaidou kept looking away from her and was frowning a bit deeper than usual. Echizen noticed and, screwing up his courage, entered the room calling for his senpai. There was a brief silence before the stir returned to the room. Kaidou excused himself, and he and Echizen made their way to the hall.
The lunchtime din covered over the beating of Ryoma's heart which he was sure could clearly be heard within a two meter radius. His mouth was dry when he opened it to begin the speech that he'd aborted earlier.
"I want-" he began as Kaidou said, "Do you-"
They stared at one another for a long draw of breath before Kaidou motioned for Echizen to speak first.
"I want to go out with you," Echizen said. "Like that." He'd thought about saying more, but he started blushing and stuttering if he tried to elaborate too much.
"Like what?"
He hadn't planned for Kaidou to not get his masterfully crafted confession. "Like that." Echizen added a few waves of his hands.
"Basketball? I don't play basketball." Kaidou backed up a bit. His blush gave away his intentional obtuseness.
"Just say no if you don't want to. It's not a big deal." Echizen would simply hide in his room in bitter depression for a few weeks. Nothing big at all.
"People are watching."
"Why do you care? They suck."
Kaidou pondered for a moment, shifting from foot to foot and alternating his gaze from his classroom to the floor. "Why?"
There were a multitude of reasons starting with tennis victory, moving to toned quadriceps, and finishing with a gentle hand curled in kitty fur. "Because," is what Echizen said.
"I'll think about it. I'm eating lunch now." Kaidou walked away and back into his classroom. Echizen's legs, now gelatin, wobbled him as far as the stairs before giving out.
*****
Two periods of homemaking and industrial arts helped to distract Echizen from what he considered to be impending failure. No matter what signs of interest Kaidou had shown-if they were interest and not just Echizen's imagination-a request to "think about it" was just a nice way of saying "get lost."
"You're making great progress," Fuji said as Echizen left the safety of the bathroom he'd been brooding in after school. "He's asking Inui for advice now. I think-"
"I think you should shut up and leave me alone." Everything was weird because Echizen's senpai kept telling him what to do. Now, instead of quietly admiring his senpai and thinking about tennis, Ryoma's head was full of lewd things that were throwing off his game and turning him into a spazz.
"Let's have a talk." Fuji said it in the scalpel way, the one that sliced through objections before they could form in the throat. He grabbed Echizen's arm and dragged him into an empty classroom. "It's going to be fine," he said after locking the door. "He's panicking."
Echizen tried to breathe and relax, but air refused to come quietly. "It's not going to be fine." He threw his hands up. Fuji opened his placid grin to speak but Echizen continued over him. "Kaidou-senpai hates me, the regulars suck, Karupin needs to get his claws trimmed, the old man won't buy any more Ponta because he thinks I'm getting fat, I couldn't concentrate in class so now I've got to take a make-up exam, Inui-senpai is probably telling Kaidou-senpai weird stuff, my indoor shoes have a hole in the toe and my mom's going to be pissed, Momo-senpai is giving me pity advice like I'm a girl, and I can't stop wanting to do perverted things. Nothing. Is. Fine."
Ryoma had never seen Fuji's shocked expression. It was a bit like a weasel being squeezed too hard. Fuji recovered while Ryoma was trying to calm himself down.
"I see," Fuji whispered. "I'll buy you a Ponta from the vending machine."
Echizen was going to ask if that was all Fuji'd gotten from his tirade but found he didn't really care too much. A Ponta sounded really good.
******
It was a testament to Echizen's restraint when he didn't kick Fuji in the shins the moment he spotted Kaidou at the vending machine closest to the tennis courts.
"Here's the money." Fuji placed 150 yen into Echizen's hand. "Go." He pushed and Ryoma stumbled forward.
"Hey," Kaidou said.
Echizen didn't respond until he'd gotten his Ponta. "Hey," he said back and opened the can.
"Why do you drink that stuff? It's not good for you." Kaidou leaned against the vending machine, eyes looking off toward the courts.
"It's good." Ryoma took one more sip then held it up to Kaidou. "Try it."
"I…uh…is…ah…do…"
Before Kaidou figured out the words to reject the offer, Ryoma shoved the can into his hand. "Just try it." He should have been irritated at Kaidou's hesitance, but Ryoma knew that Kaidou took compulsive care of his body. Kaidou's discipline was one of his more attractive traits…right after his abs, thighs, and the smirk he gave when his opponent was too slow to return his Snake Shot.
"It's alright," Kaidou declared after a quick sip. "It's really sweet." He handed the can back.
Echizen paused and stared at the can. If he took a drink right after Kaidou would it be weird? He wasn't thinking about indirect kisses or anything, he just really wanted more Ponta. He could wipe the rim of the can, but that would make it seem like he thought Kaidou's spit was gross and, while Echizen thought that spit was pretty gross, he didn't want Kaidou's feet growing any colder.
Kaidou coughed. "Let's start practice." He pushed off the vending machine and paused, waiting for Ryoma to follow.
Ryoma stayed where he was. "Go out with me." He took the sip of Ponta he'd been craving. The fake grape taste soothed him.
"Why?"
"Because."
"That doesn't make sense." The corners of Kaidou's mouth lifted.
"Who cares?" Echizen held out the Ponta.
Kaidou looked to the tennis courts and sighed. "Fine." He took the can and swallowed down the remainder before handing it back to Echizen. "It's horrible."
The empty can shook in Ryoma's trembling hand. He was going to keep that can for the rest of his life. "You're just saying that. You'll get used to it."
"I won't."
"Yeah, you will." Their eyes locked and they paused. Echizen looked away first and started laughing. "This is stupid. Let's go practice."
Kaidou halted his own laughter and quickly regained his composure. "Fine."
When they got to the court, Momo grinned at them both. "You're late!" he called. "Thirty laps!"
Echizen snarled then looked over to Kaidou. The other boy's features had hardened over into the authoritative mask he wore on the court. "You heard him," Kaidou said. "Thirty laps."
"Yes, buchou!" Ryoma handed Kaidou the Ponta can and his tennis bag. "Thanks!" In a burst of speed and with a free heart, he began his laps.