Rating: PG
When: This week
Where: On the beach.
Summary: Parental talk; Hyoutei style
Atobe strode along the beach as the first rays of sun glittered across the ocean surface. He carried a fishing rod in one hand, the reel and line already in place, but had left Hiyoshi with the catch bucket. It was not the sort of item that did anything for his silhouette.
Stopping by the water, Atobe gazed out at the horizon as he waited for his successor to catch up with him. “We require bait,” he told the younger boy. “There is a trowel in the bucket.”
Surely the rest was obvious.
So he got to dig up the worms. Somehow Hiyoshi wasn’t surprised at all - though he would draw the line if Atobe expected him to bait his hook as well. He wasn’t his old captain’s servant even if Hyotei’s Number One liked to forget that. “Sure.” He muttered, picking up the bucket and heading back to the tree line. Poking around various stones, mossy branches and some half dead bark left him with a certain feeling of revulsion and a bucket half full with pasty white and yellow-y larvae of all kinds, writhing together as he walked back. “Here” Setting the bucket down next to Atobe he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for what was going to come next.
Atobe’s eyes studied Hiyoshi’s irritable features. Nothing remotely exceptional there, yet Atobe was fully aware there was more for Hiyoshi’s mind nowadays than where they had hunted deer in the jungle.
Rather than attempt any procedure with the squirming pile of bait, Atobe flicked out his jacket to lie along the sand and sat, indicating with an inclination of his head that his successor should do the same.
“So, Hiyoshi,” he said. “You have decided to involve yourself with Rikkaidai.”
“Yes.” Glancing down at the top of Atobe’s head Hiyoshi considered just to keep standing but finally settled down next to his former captain, legs tucked neatly under him. “I take it you don’t approve.” It was a given really and maybe it would help him avoid one of Atobe’s lectures by getting right to the point.
“That entirely depends,” Atobe replied, unruffled by Hiyoshi’s flat out accusation. “On what your intentions are.” He pushed the fishing rod down into the sand, letting the hook swing between them like a sharpened hangman’s noose. “Or indeed whether you have any planned intentions at all or have given the possible outcome of such a ... liaison the slightest consideration.” He turned to look at the gingery head beside him and raised an eyebrow in question.
The outcome...? Hiyoshi scowled a little defensively at his former captain. “It’s not like one of us can get pregnant.” So there wasn’t really much of an outcome to think about - was there? As far as he could tell they had fun together and did certain things exclusively together, as for the rest they had only just agreed to date/be boyfriends and it was challenging enough to figure everything that meant out, ulterior motives or intentions notwithstanding.
Higher powers all help him. Reaching out, Atobe cuffed Hiyoshi swiftly over the head, sending his hair ruffling in a tangled mess. “I am fully aware of how to procreate,” he said coolly, his casual tone belying the fact he had just smacked the other boy. “I am referring to far more important consequences.”
He turned back to gaze over the sea water, his eyes narrowed towards the empty horizon. “Exactly what do you expect to happen when you return as captain of Hyoutei, Hiyoshi? You have placed yourself in close proximity with the team who you will be challenging in the Nationals.”
“We’ll win nationals.” Rubbing the back of his head Hiyoshi scowled darkly at his captain. “This doesn’t have anything to do with that.” Why was it that apparently all their sempai seemed to find tennis and personal relationships inseparably intertwined. Was it so hard to believe that he could enjoy spending time with Akaya and still do his best to lead a team to beat Rikkai? If anything their rivalry was one of the things making their time together...calling it a relationship was just weird still...as fun as it was.
“Others would disagree with that statement,” Atobe turned back to his successor. “And by ‘others’ I mean Rikkaidai. Do you understand how that team operates? There is nothing that does not have anything to do with winning Nationals.”
His eyes raked the teen, trying to discern the level of impact his words were having. Hiyoshi had the appearance of thick skin; he had to to have made it this far. But he had chinks, and Atobe was not the only one who could ferret these out. “You have been spending time with Yukimura.”
“I’ve seen Yukimura-san once for about fifteen minutes.” Hiyoshi narrowed his eyes at Atobe, ready to duck should another smack come his way. “I assume he was concerned about my intentions towards Akaya.” He used Kirihara’s given name almost as a challenge for Atobe, doing his best not to remember the end of that particular conversation. “Besides Rikkaidai hardly needs to stoop this low to win - they have managed fine so far.”
“If you believe yourself to be no challenge for them, then I have picked the wrong leader,” Atobe stated. “Similarly, letting softer emotions blind you to the possibility you will be used will be your downfall. How your dear ‘Akaya’ has played his tennis in the past should be indication enough.”
He stretched out his legs, flexing the muscles to remove any residue stiffness of the morning. “I did not transform Hyoutei’s tennis club so that you could follow in my footsteps,” he said. “That is obviously impossible.” He examined the nails on one hand. One was disturbingly chapped. It looked as though he had been doing his own laundry, rather than passing it off to Ohtori. He bent the fingers into a loose fist. “I transformed it so that my successor would build on the beginning and take it further. Do you understand?”
As if he would be satisfied with just taking up where Atobe had left off. Hiyoshi crossed his arms over his chest. “We will win Nationals this year.” He was determined and if he had to push the entire humongous Hyotei tennis club to the brink of exhaustion and beyond then so be it. “But Rikkaidai isn’t scared of us.” Which was understandable in a way - they had been winning solidly for the last three years after all. “They want us to get even stronger because they don’t expect us to be able to win.” And that was the folly that would prove to be Rikkaidai’s undoing, Hiyoshi was certain. “They won’t know what happened when we do.”
Atobe inclined his head with a slight smile, satisfied at the impassioned speech. “Even the oldest of dogs can be taught new tricks if you beat it enough,” he said. “But when that happens and they learn to fear you, Hiyoshi, there are other tacks they could take.” He paused, his mind analysing the options he had been considering since realising (with disappointment) that Hiyoshi was not engaging with Kirihara to drown him in the lagoon. “A logical step would be to recruit you themselves.” Narrowed eyes considered Hiyoshi. “In that eventuality, what will be it? Hyoutei or Kirihara?”
Recruit him? Hiyoshi’s gaze turned slightly baffled at the very thought. “I wouldn’t leave Hyotei.” They were his team after all. “And even if I did...the team should be strong enough with or without me.” If he had learned one thing from five years of tennis and watching Atobe then it was that a single player, no matter how good, could not win a tournament by himself. “Besides Akaya doesn’t think like that.” Yukimura maybe - he would put pretty much nothing past the so called Child of God, but Kirihara was too prideful to consider something like this.
“Kirihara does not think at all,” Atobe declared. “It is those who control him that would own to such a strategy.” His gaze remained fixed on Hiyoshi. “And while it is true that the team could carry on without your presence, having the captain defect to the rival team would not benefit moral, ahn? Hyoutei comes first.”
That was true, Hiyoshi had to admit with a frown. “If he demanded such a choice from me I would not be inclined to choose him.” He declared with finality. “Hyotei is my team.” Well - technically it was still kind of Atobe’s but Hiyoshi decided he didn’t need to split hairs about it. “I would never dishonour the trust Sakaki-kantoku and you have put in me in such a manner.”
It was sufficient. Of course, ideally Hiyoshi would have confessed that his plan was to drown Kirihara in the lagoon and the delay merely so he could lure Sanada or Yukimura to their doom as well, but perhaps that was too much to hope for on one day.
Atobe stood, dusting off his trousers. “I could have chosen others for captain,” he told the one he had chosen. “I did not choose wrongly, however.” He turned and stepped away. “Ensure you catch enough fish for all of Hyoutei before you feed your other interests.”
He wasn’t surprised that Atobe considered fishing to be something people would do for him. What did surprise Hiyoshi however was the sudden thought that he had no real idea where his former captain went when he wasn’t being annoying in person. He had a vague idea that it might involve Seigaku’s Fuji but in an act of self-preservation his brain refused to do more than skirt that thought briefly. Tipping his head back he squinted against the sun and stared up at the older boy, the question falling from his lips before he had a chance to consider if he really wanted to know the answer. “Where are you going?”
Atobe flicked his fingers dismissively, “To the courts,” he replied. Possibly via Fuji’s cabin but that detail did not require vocalisation. “You cannot always expect me to hold your hand. It is time you learnt to cope with my absence.” He paused and glanced back down at his kohai. “On the subject of times I will be absent, I presume that it is not necessary to impress on you the importance of taking certain ... precautions, na Hiyoshi?”
Precautions...that sounded somewhat familiar, but Hiyoshi’s brain refused to make any connection to the mortifying end of his talk with Yukimura. “Against Rikkaidai. “ He assumed and nodded, deciding that letting Atobe think he wanted to have his hand held and admitting that he might actually want to spend time with the egocentric diva was really not worth the hassle of protesting. “I’ll be careful.”
Atobe studied Hiyoshi for a moment, considering whether his point was worth elaborating since Hiyoshi was focusing, clearly, on the most important concern. “Indeed,” he said at length. “However ... in this instance, I was referring to your personal health should situations progress. You are aware of the purpose of the items Shishido once planted in your belongings, ahn?”
Oh god. Not another one of those talks. Hiyoshi squeezed his eyes shut and for a moment indulged in trying to change reality by wishing really really hard. “You mean the lubricant you said I was not to use with Akaya.” He muttered, waiting for the world to be so kind as to swallow him up right then.
“I meant,” Atobe clarified dryly. “to suggest that such activities where lubricant would be useful should not be engaged in. Since you have chosen to ignore me, however .....,” he paused, looking down at the Hiyoshi who apparently had an attack of bad constipation. Perhaps a different form of lubricant was required if that was the case. “I would recommend getting anything you might require from Seigaku’s Oishi. As a medic, he should be prepared.” That seemed to cover both the bases as far as different forms of lubricant were required. “You will require protection as well as lubricant. Heaven only knows where the boy has been.”
Reflexively Hiyoshi opened his mouth only to close it again quickly and nod dutifully instead. He decided he didn’t need to defend Kirihara’s honor in this case since pretty much everything he could say would only make the situation worse and/or more awkward. Atobe sure as hell didn’t need to know that Kirihara was a virgin. He could practically see the two captains trying to out do one another in some way on the topic of their kohai’s sexlife and it was giving him a headache as it was. “I’ll speak with Oishi.” He agreed finally, though why every seemed so focused on them having sex together he wasn’t sure. Truth be told Hiyoshi wasn’t all that excited about the prospect of sticking anything of his up Kirihara’s behind or viceversa. They’d been having fun and enjoying each other just fine without it so far so if it were up to him the step out of the comfort zone could wait a good long while more.
“Good,” Atobe declared. “I do not expect to have to discuss this with you again.” If he were forced to engage in such prep talks in the future, it would be undoubtedly simpler to just remove the problem from Hiyoshi’s life. Or at least, the appropriate appendages. Turning, he walked off across the beach, calling back only to say, “My jacket will need cleaning as well.”