shikanashi_kk: Have You Ever Thought of...
AUTHOR: shikanashi_kk
RECIPIENT: starianprincess
TITLE: "Have You Ever Thought of Your Doubles Partner as Your Boyfriend?"
RATING: G
WORD COUNT: 3445
SUMMARY: In which Choutarou confessed and Shishido asks Gakuto, Oshitari, Kirihara and Oishi if they've ever thought of their doubles partner as their boyfriend just so he can gather the courage to confess to Choutarou back.
NOTES: I'm sorry if Choutarou seems OOC m(_ _)m;;; I've been reading way too many BL mangas lately and I need to steer away from wibbly ukes D8 Not that I'm saying that Choutarou's the uke here. You know it can always be both :> And I'm sorry if Kirihara and Oishi seemed random, LOL XD; I tried to put the 'characters they don't normally interact with' there ^^; Anyway, here you go, bb~! :D Hope you enjoy! ^^
"Have You Ever Thought of Your Doubles Partner as Your Boyfriend?"
It was summer after Shishido’s graduation that Choutarou told him “I’m sorry, Shishido-san, but I like you.” and walked away like in the movies that Oshitari forced the whole club to watch every month, and there are a million thoughts running over in Shishido’s head but he only manages to take a hold of one which was “What the fuck is there to be sorry about?” .
Shishido asked that out into the open air, when there were no more Choutarous to hear him and the only proof that Shishido did say that out loud was the small cut on the inside of his lower lip when his teeth made contact during the pronunciation of the word ‘fuck’.
Does a tree falling make a sound if there’s no one to hear it and all that shit.
Stupid Choutarou, not even waiting to hear his reply.
Not that he had one anyway, because what do you reply to your best friend (of the same sex) when he goes “I’m sorry, but I like you.” other than than “uhm.”?
Still, an “uhm” was something and it was fucking rude to leave someone hanging like that.
Choutarou should at least have waited for Shishido to think about like that because Shishido had never thought about him like that because what else is there to think about other than “This moment better fucking last.” when they’re together?
Oh, he was so going to give Choutarou a piece of his mind when they see each other again.
-
Except it had already been three months and Choutarou had been avoiding him like the plague. Well, Shishido wasn’t really sure of this but three months of not answering to texts, voice messages and missed calls?
Oh yeah, Shishido felt like the plague alright.
He didn’t really want to burst into Choutarou’s house unannounced because not only would it be rude to Choutarou’s family (not really, because they’re rarely home), Choutarou’s house wasn’t more of a house than it is a mansion. (Big, tuxedoed bodyguards with biceps, triceps and 100-pack abs, and German Shepherds, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Siberian Huskies and maybe even a pack of very, very carnivorous wolves…)
Shishido didn’t continue high school in Hyotei like Atobe, Oshitari and Jiroh so he couldn’t just suddenly barge in the junior high school building. Instead, he chose to attend the public school close to his house because it was only a ten minute walk, and it wasn’t that bad. It was a well-known school and with a good reputation, famous for its baseball team.
They had a tennis club too, of course, but Shishido had ground every member they had to dust on his first day of high school. It wasn’t Shishido’s fault, mind you.
Shishido had been blissfully eating his egg sandwich (Choutarou liked eggrolls… Okay, not the point.) when a group of tennis club seniors came up to him and called him the prissy boy from Hyotei.
Shishido beat them all six games to love and told them that Atobe was the prissy boy from Hyotei and he could beat them all in ten minutes without losing a single point.
When Shishido told Choutarou, the kid had laughed and said, “I kind of miss seeing those kinds of scenes during club time, Shishido-san.”
Now that Choutarou’s confessed, Shishido was starting to wonder if that statement really meant “I kind of miss you, Shishido-san.”, and that thought gave way to another set of thoughts that was more along the lines of “what did I want him to mean?” .
Not that Shishido could ask, because Choutarou was avoiding him like the plague, remember?
It was kind of unfair that Shishido was the only one fretting and getting unmanly wrinkles from this, and Choutarou was happily ignoring him in another part of Tokyo.
Saying “I’m sorry but I like you” and then walking away and refusing to answer any calls or messages? Who wouldn’t be annoyed by that?
Oh, he was so going to give Choutarou’s ass a good kick or two.
Whenever they’d see each other again.
-
“Your face has been getting ugly lately,” Hiyoshi remarked dryly, arms crossed and lips in a thin line. “Na, Kabaji?”
“Usu.”
Choutarou looked up from the team line-ups he was writing, and laughed sheepishly at how Hiyoshi and Kabaji was pinning him down with matching glares. Okay, maybe it was only Hiyoshi. Kabaji was too nice to do glares.
“That’s kind of cold, buchou,” he said, chuckling softly. “And Kabaji-kun, you think so too?”
“Usu.”
Hiyoshi frowned. “Stop looking like the world just froze over. You’ve been moping around for how many weeks now.”
“It doesn’t feel right…” Kabaji started, voice all awkward and scratchy. “When you’re not smiling.”
Choutarou blinked, before a small smile spread over his face. “Yeah. Thank you.”
Hiyoshi sighed. “Is it about Shishido-senpai?”
Choutarou froze. “W… what made you say that?”
“You haven’t been talking about him lately. I’m right, aren’t I?”
Choutarou laughed, but it sounded tired, even to his own ears. He looked down at his hands on his lap. “He’s probably mad at me.”
Hiyoshi and Kabaji’s eyes met and they both resisted the urge to sigh exasperatedly. Hiyoshi opted to roll his eyes instead and be very annoyed. “And you know this because…?”
Choutarou blinked. “Well, I…”
“He told you that he’s mad at you?”
“Err, not really -“
“Then stop moping and start practicing your backhand.”
-
Shishido really wasn’t in a good mood right now. Actually, he was pissed off and ready to punch anything that got two feet away from him. He was pretty much snarling at the world, so everyone who was wise stepped away from him as he passed through the streets of Tokyo.
Unfortunately, ‘everyone who was wise’ did not include Gakuto or the ten-year-old boy of the fat woman playing in the pachinko shop.
“Yo, Shishido! Still looking as gru - oof!”
Shishido punched Gakuto in the face.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, YOU BASTARD?!”
Shishido shrugged, wiping his fist on his jacket. “It was either you or the kid, and I don’t hit children.”
The ten-year-old boy was already gone, after running away and crying to his mother about bad strangers.
Shishido growled and pushed up his sleeve. “Well, you don’t have to hit me either!” He punched Shishido’s face, which the other deemed justifiable so after standing up and wiping off the blood from his nose, Shishido put an arm around Gakuto’s shoulders and looked out into the sunset.
“Have you ever thought of Oshitari being your boyfriend?”
Gakuto spluttered, face easily turning as red as his hair.
He gave Shishido an uppercut.
-
“Shishido-kun,” Oshitari drawled out, letting the syllables roll off his tongue slowly. He put a particular emphasis on the ‘-kun’.
Shishido’s eyes immediately scanned the area for all possible means of escape. Oshitari was calling him with a suffix. More importantly, Oshitari came to Shishido’s school, alone, which meant that some sort of torture that Oshitari did not want to show to their ex-teammates was about to happen.
“Did you say anything to Gakuto?”
Shishido blinked. He raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Oshitari frowned, pushing his fake glasses up the bridge of his nose. “He’s been avoiding me lately.”
“What made you think that? You’re not studying in the same school anymore. ‘Course you won’t see each other as often as before.”
“He hasn’t been replying to me at all,” Oshitari replied dryly. “When I came to his house, he wouldn’t even look at me and kept yelling it was all your fault.”
Shishido twitched. He sighed. “Can I ask you something?”
Oshitari raised an eyebrow.
“Have you ever thought of Gakuto as your boyfriend?”
Oshitari stared at him. Then his mouth formed a small ‘o’ and he stood that way for a few seconds with only his hair and clothes moving with the wind.
Then he turned on his heel and walked away hurriedly.
Shishido gaped.
What is it with people and dramatic exits, damnit?!
-
Okay, maybe he was asking all the wrong people. Who asks Gakuto and Oshitari for these kinda stuff anyway? Stupid. He should be asking normal people.
…Not Kirihara from Rikkaidai though.
Shishido was about ready to bang his head on a telephone pole when Kirihara dragged him to the nearest street court and started his speech about how he was going to beat him up.
“Hurry up and get your racket, Shishido Ryou!”
Shishido wanted to know where the nearest wall was so he could bang his head on it. He slumped on the nearest bench instead.
“Hey! Shishido Ryou! What the hell are you doing? I’m going to beat you to dust!” Kirihara scowled, stomping his way over to the other.
“You sound like my mother,” Shishido groaned. “Don’t call me by my full name.”
Kirihara frowned. “Okay. Shishido-sempai then.”
Shishido stared at him. He’d been doing a lot of staring lately. “You’re surprisingly a polite kid.” He remembered the time when Choutarou called him ‘sempai’ instead of ‘-san’ and somehow, that gave him a sense of pride because he was the only sempai that Choutarou called ‘-san’.
“I-I’m not a kid!” Kirihara growled.
Shishido was so not in the mood for this. He looked at his watch pitifully. He sighed. “Hey,” he muttered, looking at Kirihara in the eyes. “Have you ever thought of your doubles partner as your boyfriend?”
Kirihara blinked.
Shishido expected him to turn red or start thrashing him around or maybe even call him a pervert but all Kirihara did was scratch his head. “What, you mean Yanagi-sempai?”
Shishido nodded.
“Not really,” Kirihara shrugged. “But I guess I don’t mind. ‘Cause girlfriends and boyfriends and stuff like that aren’t really that different from friends, right? I mean, you still enjoy being with them. It’s just that there are some people who are more special than others or something… I don’t really know!” Kirihara frowned, crossing his arms. “Why are you asking me this anyway? We’re supposed to be playing tennis!”
Shishido thought that Kirihara was a pretty good kid, if only he’d stop beating people up often.
“Hurry up already! I’m going to beat you!”
-
It was by chance that Shishido saw Seigaku’s Oishi on his way home but he was not about to let this chance slip away.
“Oh, hello, Shishido-san,” Oishi greeted. “Are you on your way home?”
Shishido shrugged. “Yeah. You?” He glanced at the plastic bag hanging from Oishi’s wrist.
“Ah,” Oishi chuckled. “I remembered Eiji saying he wanted some gummy bears.”
Shishido stared at him.
Oishi fidgeted. “Uhm…?”
“Have you ever thought of Kikumaru as your boyfriend?”
It was Oishi’s turn to stare. And splutter. And turn red. “W-w-w-w-what do you mean, err…”
Ah, that was the reaction that Shishido was expecting. Bless Oishi’s soul, though, because he didn’t point and call Shishido a pervert.
“So you have, huh,” he murmured, more to himself than to Oishi, who turned an even deeper shade of red.
“S-Shishido-san,” Oishi started, more as an attempt to recollect himself than to actually say anything. “Did something… err, happen?”
Shishido frowned, looking thoughtful as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Not really. Maybe,” he shrugged.
They stood that way in silence, both thinking. Finally, Oishi smiled softly. “Is it about Ohtori-kun?”
Surprised, Shishido turned pink. “Err,” he said, which Oishi counted as a reply. An unintelligible reply, but a reply nonetheless.
“Uhm, if you don’t mind me nosing around, Shishido-san,” Oishi said, his voice soft and understanding. He smiled at Shishido. “You two are… I mean, I don’t think you two need Synchro to understand each other in the court, and that’s something… that only exists between the two of you.”
Shishido looked up, and he stared at the other.
Panicking, Oishi waved his hands in front of him frantically. “Oh, I’m sorry! I don’t think I helped you at all! I, well, I… I’m just telling you what I think,” he finished, smiling sheepishly.
Slowly, just a little, Shishido smiled back. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Oishi looked relieved.
“Oh, by the way,” Shishido said, as he finally resumed his walk towards the convenience store. “Congratulations, I guess,” he shrugged, grinning. “On you and Kikumaru, I mean.”
He left, leaving Oishi in the middle of the street, spluttering and flushed.
It felt good doing the dramatic exit, and not being on the receiving end of them for once.
-
Shishido-san was probably mad at him.
Choutarou sighed, as he continued picking up tennis balls. The first years frantically told him that it was their job, it’s alright if Choutarou-fukubuchou didn’t help them, but Choutarou told them that he wanted to do it so it’s fine. Honestly, he just wanted something to take his mind off things.
Obviously, it was having the opposite effect.
Who develops feelings for their sempai anyway?
When Shishido helped him perfect his Scud Serve, Choutarou couldn’t believe it. That was probably where it all started… No, it was way before that.
He could still remember the feeling of watching this amazing person stand up every single time he got hit by the wild Scud Serve.
(“Shishido-sempai, that’s… that’s enough already. You don’t have to -“
“What are you talking about? We’re not even halfway through. I’ll get back on the regulars. Just you wait!”
The sound of the ball hitting flesh was sickening. So was watching this crazy sempai fall to the ground like dead weight.
Still, the feeling that Choutarou felt as he watched Shishido stand up with every fall was something he couldn’t describe.)
It’s been three months since they last saw each other and Choutarou was missing the usual burger and fries they always had every Tuesday. And video game nights every Saturday. Or when Shishido-san would randomly come during tennis practice and wait until they finished so he and Choutarou could go to the arcade.
Choutarou sighed once again, picking up the last of the tennis balls.
Maybe he should go pay Shishido-san a visit…
-
From the front of the clubhouse, Hiyoshi looked at Choutarou in the distance, picking up balls with the freshmen.
He cracked his knuckles. “Don’t stop me, Kabaji, I swear I’m going to make him wake up and stop moping around like - HEY! KABAJI! PUT ME DOWN!”
Kabaji sighed.
Violence is never the answer.
-
Okay, Shishido was going to get things straight. It was now or never. He was going to go to Hyotei, pull Choutarou out of practice, punch him in the face, and tell him ‘I like you too, you dumbass.’.
…If only History class would hurry up and finish already.
-
By the time the bell finished ringing, Shishido already managed to go down two floors. He dashed out the school building, looking at his watch. There should be half an hour left before tennis practice officially started in Hyotei, and he wanted to at least catch Choutarou before training.
“Hey… isn’t that a Hyotei uniform?”
“Yeah, yeah. Wow, he’s so tall!”
“Wait, but isn’t that a junior high school uniform?”
“I don’t care, but isn’t he handsome? So cool!”
“Shhh! You’re too loud!”
Shishido stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide and jaw dropped. “W-w-w-w-wh -“
Choutarou fidgeted nervously by the school sign, face and ears and neck flushed a deep red. “Err… Good afternoon, Shishido-san…”
Shishido stared for a good, long while because Choutarou was standing there. After three long months, Choutarou was standing there right in front of him and Shishido would be lying if he said that he didn’t miss the kid but -
All the frustrations that had been pent up inside of him suddenly bubbled up and Shishido slowly balled his hand into a fist.
He stomped his way towards the gate, and punched Choutarou’s face.
Of course, the punch to Choutarou was a lot weaker than the punch he gave to Gakuto but man, that felt good.
The crowd immediately started whispering all over, like annoying bees buzzing, and everyone was murmuring and watching excitedly for a fight.
Scowling, Shishido grabbed Choutarou’s wrist and yanked him away.
-
Shishido’s school wasn’t just close to his house. It was really close, only five minutes away by foot. His parents were still at work and his older brother was still in class so Shishido had no problem slamming the front door close and grabbing the front of his kohai’s shirt.
“Who the hell runs away after telling someone you like them, idiot?! You didn’t even answer my calls! Couldn’t you have waited for my reply or something? I have my own stuff to say too, you know! And why the hell are you skipping tennis practice?!”
Choutarou looked absolutely miserable. The slight redness on his left cheek from Shishido’s punch made him look even more so. “Sorry -“
Shishido pulled at his shirt again. Their faces were only a few inches away, and Choutarou couldn’t find it within himself to look away from Shishido’s furious gaze. “More with that sorry crap! What the hell are you apologizing for?! You could’ve waited for my reply, you know!” Shishido let go of his shirt and stepped back, breathing heavily.
His face scrunched up into something that looked as miserable as Choutarou’s. “What, my feelings don’t matter?”
Choutarou panicked. “N-no, no! It’s not that! Shishido-san, I -“
“Yeah, I know,” Shishido muttered, the rage slowly dissipating now that he’s pretty much said everything he wanted to say. “You like me.”
Choutarou flushed.
They stayed that way, standing in front of each other but not looking each other in the eyes. The house rang with the awkward silence.
Choutarou bit his lip. Then, he straightened his posture and looked at his sempai straight on. “I do,” he said, cheeks burning. “And err - I deserved the punch. I’m -“
It was Shishido’s turn to burn up. “I’m sorry for the punch,” he muttered, shoulders tense. “Does it… still hurt?”
Choutarou found himself smiling at that, despite the pain in his cheek. “It’s okay, Shishido-san. I’m still a guy, after all.”
Shishido frowned at the sad tinge that appeared in Choutarou’s expression. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?” he scowled. “Liking you doesn’t make me less of a guy!” he exclaimed, crossing his arms and looking away, just because he didn’t want Choutarou to see his burning face -
Except Choutarou was staring right at his burning face, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. “W-w-what - Shishido-san, did you just say -“
Shishido turned redder. “Yeah, I did! What did you expect?! I-I mean, after you told me you liked me and there’s no one else that I enjoy being with the most except you and those three months pissed me off so bad, you know! Isn’t that… l-like… or…” Shishido flushed. “L-love or s-something…”
“Cause girlfriends and boyfriends and stuff like that aren’t really that different from friends, right? I mean, you still enjoy being with them. It’s just that there are some people who are more special than others or something…”
Choutarou continued staring.
Shishido looked away. “W-what?”
“Y-you just said -“
“I know what I said! That’s why I punched you!”
Choutarou let out an undignified squeak. “S-sorry, Shishido-san - uhm, t-then…” he paused, face burning. “A-are you free tomorrow?”
Shishido blinked. Tomorrow…? Ah! It was a Tuesday… He turned pink. “Of course, you idiot,” Shishido grumbled out. “You know Tuesdays are only for burgers and fries with you.”
Probably, what Shishido missed the most, was Choutarou’s smile whenever they’d meet up in the McDonalds near Hyotei every Tuesday.
-
“And so?” Shishido started when they were already comfortably seated on the floor of his room, controllers in hand and playing video games. “Why are you skipping tennis practice?”
Choutarou coughed. He looked away. “Hiyoshi-kun said that I’m not allowed to practice until I stop, err, ‘moping around like a lovesick schoolgirl’,” he admitted morosely.
Shishido blinked. Then a grin spread its way on his lips. “So, you’re done moping around like a lovesick schoolgirl now?”
“Don’t joke like that, Shishido-san!” Choutarou countered, flushing. He tried to look indignant, but couldn’t resist a grin of his own. “Well, what about you? Skipping tennis practice too?”
Shishido turned pale.
Ah.
Tennis practice.
Yeah. He forgot all about that.
Shishido scowled, turning back to the game. “I didn’t see you for three months,” he grumbled.
Choutarou dropped his controller.
Feeling triumphant, Shishido gave Choutarou’s character a roundhouse kick and an uppercut.
He’s won this one.
“You two are… I mean, I don’t think you two need Synchro to understand each other in the court, and that’s something… that only exists between the two of you.”
RECIPIENT: starianprincess
TITLE: "Have You Ever Thought of Your Doubles Partner as Your Boyfriend?"
RATING: G
WORD COUNT: 3445
SUMMARY: In which Choutarou confessed and Shishido asks Gakuto, Oshitari, Kirihara and Oishi if they've ever thought of their doubles partner as their boyfriend just so he can gather the courage to confess to Choutarou back.
NOTES: I'm sorry if Choutarou seems OOC m(_ _)m;;; I've been reading way too many BL mangas lately and I need to steer away from wibbly ukes D8 Not that I'm saying that Choutarou's the uke here. You know it can always be both :> And I'm sorry if Kirihara and Oishi seemed random, LOL XD; I tried to put the 'characters they don't normally interact with' there ^^; Anyway, here you go, bb~! :D Hope you enjoy! ^^
"Have You Ever Thought of Your Doubles Partner as Your Boyfriend?"
It was summer after Shishido’s graduation that Choutarou told him “I’m sorry, Shishido-san, but I like you.” and walked away like in the movies that Oshitari forced the whole club to watch every month, and there are a million thoughts running over in Shishido’s head but he only manages to take a hold of one which was “What the fuck is there to be sorry about?” .
Shishido asked that out into the open air, when there were no more Choutarous to hear him and the only proof that Shishido did say that out loud was the small cut on the inside of his lower lip when his teeth made contact during the pronunciation of the word ‘fuck’.
Does a tree falling make a sound if there’s no one to hear it and all that shit.
Stupid Choutarou, not even waiting to hear his reply.
Not that he had one anyway, because what do you reply to your best friend (of the same sex) when he goes “I’m sorry, but I like you.” other than than “uhm.”?
Still, an “uhm” was something and it was fucking rude to leave someone hanging like that.
Choutarou should at least have waited for Shishido to think about like that because Shishido had never thought about him like that because what else is there to think about other than “This moment better fucking last.” when they’re together?
Oh, he was so going to give Choutarou a piece of his mind when they see each other again.
-
Except it had already been three months and Choutarou had been avoiding him like the plague. Well, Shishido wasn’t really sure of this but three months of not answering to texts, voice messages and missed calls?
Oh yeah, Shishido felt like the plague alright.
He didn’t really want to burst into Choutarou’s house unannounced because not only would it be rude to Choutarou’s family (not really, because they’re rarely home), Choutarou’s house wasn’t more of a house than it is a mansion. (Big, tuxedoed bodyguards with biceps, triceps and 100-pack abs, and German Shepherds, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Siberian Huskies and maybe even a pack of very, very carnivorous wolves…)
Shishido didn’t continue high school in Hyotei like Atobe, Oshitari and Jiroh so he couldn’t just suddenly barge in the junior high school building. Instead, he chose to attend the public school close to his house because it was only a ten minute walk, and it wasn’t that bad. It was a well-known school and with a good reputation, famous for its baseball team.
They had a tennis club too, of course, but Shishido had ground every member they had to dust on his first day of high school. It wasn’t Shishido’s fault, mind you.
Shishido had been blissfully eating his egg sandwich (Choutarou liked eggrolls… Okay, not the point.) when a group of tennis club seniors came up to him and called him the prissy boy from Hyotei.
Shishido beat them all six games to love and told them that Atobe was the prissy boy from Hyotei and he could beat them all in ten minutes without losing a single point.
When Shishido told Choutarou, the kid had laughed and said, “I kind of miss seeing those kinds of scenes during club time, Shishido-san.”
Now that Choutarou’s confessed, Shishido was starting to wonder if that statement really meant “I kind of miss you, Shishido-san.”, and that thought gave way to another set of thoughts that was more along the lines of “what did I want him to mean?” .
Not that Shishido could ask, because Choutarou was avoiding him like the plague, remember?
It was kind of unfair that Shishido was the only one fretting and getting unmanly wrinkles from this, and Choutarou was happily ignoring him in another part of Tokyo.
Saying “I’m sorry but I like you” and then walking away and refusing to answer any calls or messages? Who wouldn’t be annoyed by that?
Oh, he was so going to give Choutarou’s ass a good kick or two.
Whenever they’d see each other again.
-
“Your face has been getting ugly lately,” Hiyoshi remarked dryly, arms crossed and lips in a thin line. “Na, Kabaji?”
“Usu.”
Choutarou looked up from the team line-ups he was writing, and laughed sheepishly at how Hiyoshi and Kabaji was pinning him down with matching glares. Okay, maybe it was only Hiyoshi. Kabaji was too nice to do glares.
“That’s kind of cold, buchou,” he said, chuckling softly. “And Kabaji-kun, you think so too?”
“Usu.”
Hiyoshi frowned. “Stop looking like the world just froze over. You’ve been moping around for how many weeks now.”
“It doesn’t feel right…” Kabaji started, voice all awkward and scratchy. “When you’re not smiling.”
Choutarou blinked, before a small smile spread over his face. “Yeah. Thank you.”
Hiyoshi sighed. “Is it about Shishido-senpai?”
Choutarou froze. “W… what made you say that?”
“You haven’t been talking about him lately. I’m right, aren’t I?”
Choutarou laughed, but it sounded tired, even to his own ears. He looked down at his hands on his lap. “He’s probably mad at me.”
Hiyoshi and Kabaji’s eyes met and they both resisted the urge to sigh exasperatedly. Hiyoshi opted to roll his eyes instead and be very annoyed. “And you know this because…?”
Choutarou blinked. “Well, I…”
“He told you that he’s mad at you?”
“Err, not really -“
“Then stop moping and start practicing your backhand.”
-
Shishido really wasn’t in a good mood right now. Actually, he was pissed off and ready to punch anything that got two feet away from him. He was pretty much snarling at the world, so everyone who was wise stepped away from him as he passed through the streets of Tokyo.
Unfortunately, ‘everyone who was wise’ did not include Gakuto or the ten-year-old boy of the fat woman playing in the pachinko shop.
“Yo, Shishido! Still looking as gru - oof!”
Shishido punched Gakuto in the face.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, YOU BASTARD?!”
Shishido shrugged, wiping his fist on his jacket. “It was either you or the kid, and I don’t hit children.”
The ten-year-old boy was already gone, after running away and crying to his mother about bad strangers.
Shishido growled and pushed up his sleeve. “Well, you don’t have to hit me either!” He punched Shishido’s face, which the other deemed justifiable so after standing up and wiping off the blood from his nose, Shishido put an arm around Gakuto’s shoulders and looked out into the sunset.
“Have you ever thought of Oshitari being your boyfriend?”
Gakuto spluttered, face easily turning as red as his hair.
He gave Shishido an uppercut.
-
“Shishido-kun,” Oshitari drawled out, letting the syllables roll off his tongue slowly. He put a particular emphasis on the ‘-kun’.
Shishido’s eyes immediately scanned the area for all possible means of escape. Oshitari was calling him with a suffix. More importantly, Oshitari came to Shishido’s school, alone, which meant that some sort of torture that Oshitari did not want to show to their ex-teammates was about to happen.
“Did you say anything to Gakuto?”
Shishido blinked. He raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Oshitari frowned, pushing his fake glasses up the bridge of his nose. “He’s been avoiding me lately.”
“What made you think that? You’re not studying in the same school anymore. ‘Course you won’t see each other as often as before.”
“He hasn’t been replying to me at all,” Oshitari replied dryly. “When I came to his house, he wouldn’t even look at me and kept yelling it was all your fault.”
Shishido twitched. He sighed. “Can I ask you something?”
Oshitari raised an eyebrow.
“Have you ever thought of Gakuto as your boyfriend?”
Oshitari stared at him. Then his mouth formed a small ‘o’ and he stood that way for a few seconds with only his hair and clothes moving with the wind.
Then he turned on his heel and walked away hurriedly.
Shishido gaped.
What is it with people and dramatic exits, damnit?!
-
Okay, maybe he was asking all the wrong people. Who asks Gakuto and Oshitari for these kinda stuff anyway? Stupid. He should be asking normal people.
…Not Kirihara from Rikkaidai though.
Shishido was about ready to bang his head on a telephone pole when Kirihara dragged him to the nearest street court and started his speech about how he was going to beat him up.
“Hurry up and get your racket, Shishido Ryou!”
Shishido wanted to know where the nearest wall was so he could bang his head on it. He slumped on the nearest bench instead.
“Hey! Shishido Ryou! What the hell are you doing? I’m going to beat you to dust!” Kirihara scowled, stomping his way over to the other.
“You sound like my mother,” Shishido groaned. “Don’t call me by my full name.”
Kirihara frowned. “Okay. Shishido-sempai then.”
Shishido stared at him. He’d been doing a lot of staring lately. “You’re surprisingly a polite kid.” He remembered the time when Choutarou called him ‘sempai’ instead of ‘-san’ and somehow, that gave him a sense of pride because he was the only sempai that Choutarou called ‘-san’.
“I-I’m not a kid!” Kirihara growled.
Shishido was so not in the mood for this. He looked at his watch pitifully. He sighed. “Hey,” he muttered, looking at Kirihara in the eyes. “Have you ever thought of your doubles partner as your boyfriend?”
Kirihara blinked.
Shishido expected him to turn red or start thrashing him around or maybe even call him a pervert but all Kirihara did was scratch his head. “What, you mean Yanagi-sempai?”
Shishido nodded.
“Not really,” Kirihara shrugged. “But I guess I don’t mind. ‘Cause girlfriends and boyfriends and stuff like that aren’t really that different from friends, right? I mean, you still enjoy being with them. It’s just that there are some people who are more special than others or something… I don’t really know!” Kirihara frowned, crossing his arms. “Why are you asking me this anyway? We’re supposed to be playing tennis!”
Shishido thought that Kirihara was a pretty good kid, if only he’d stop beating people up often.
“Hurry up already! I’m going to beat you!”
-
It was by chance that Shishido saw Seigaku’s Oishi on his way home but he was not about to let this chance slip away.
“Oh, hello, Shishido-san,” Oishi greeted. “Are you on your way home?”
Shishido shrugged. “Yeah. You?” He glanced at the plastic bag hanging from Oishi’s wrist.
“Ah,” Oishi chuckled. “I remembered Eiji saying he wanted some gummy bears.”
Shishido stared at him.
Oishi fidgeted. “Uhm…?”
“Have you ever thought of Kikumaru as your boyfriend?”
It was Oishi’s turn to stare. And splutter. And turn red. “W-w-w-w-what do you mean, err…”
Ah, that was the reaction that Shishido was expecting. Bless Oishi’s soul, though, because he didn’t point and call Shishido a pervert.
“So you have, huh,” he murmured, more to himself than to Oishi, who turned an even deeper shade of red.
“S-Shishido-san,” Oishi started, more as an attempt to recollect himself than to actually say anything. “Did something… err, happen?”
Shishido frowned, looking thoughtful as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Not really. Maybe,” he shrugged.
They stood that way in silence, both thinking. Finally, Oishi smiled softly. “Is it about Ohtori-kun?”
Surprised, Shishido turned pink. “Err,” he said, which Oishi counted as a reply. An unintelligible reply, but a reply nonetheless.
“Uhm, if you don’t mind me nosing around, Shishido-san,” Oishi said, his voice soft and understanding. He smiled at Shishido. “You two are… I mean, I don’t think you two need Synchro to understand each other in the court, and that’s something… that only exists between the two of you.”
Shishido looked up, and he stared at the other.
Panicking, Oishi waved his hands in front of him frantically. “Oh, I’m sorry! I don’t think I helped you at all! I, well, I… I’m just telling you what I think,” he finished, smiling sheepishly.
Slowly, just a little, Shishido smiled back. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Oishi looked relieved.
“Oh, by the way,” Shishido said, as he finally resumed his walk towards the convenience store. “Congratulations, I guess,” he shrugged, grinning. “On you and Kikumaru, I mean.”
He left, leaving Oishi in the middle of the street, spluttering and flushed.
It felt good doing the dramatic exit, and not being on the receiving end of them for once.
-
Shishido-san was probably mad at him.
Choutarou sighed, as he continued picking up tennis balls. The first years frantically told him that it was their job, it’s alright if Choutarou-fukubuchou didn’t help them, but Choutarou told them that he wanted to do it so it’s fine. Honestly, he just wanted something to take his mind off things.
Obviously, it was having the opposite effect.
Who develops feelings for their sempai anyway?
When Shishido helped him perfect his Scud Serve, Choutarou couldn’t believe it. That was probably where it all started… No, it was way before that.
He could still remember the feeling of watching this amazing person stand up every single time he got hit by the wild Scud Serve.
(“Shishido-sempai, that’s… that’s enough already. You don’t have to -“
“What are you talking about? We’re not even halfway through. I’ll get back on the regulars. Just you wait!”
The sound of the ball hitting flesh was sickening. So was watching this crazy sempai fall to the ground like dead weight.
Still, the feeling that Choutarou felt as he watched Shishido stand up with every fall was something he couldn’t describe.)
It’s been three months since they last saw each other and Choutarou was missing the usual burger and fries they always had every Tuesday. And video game nights every Saturday. Or when Shishido-san would randomly come during tennis practice and wait until they finished so he and Choutarou could go to the arcade.
Choutarou sighed once again, picking up the last of the tennis balls.
Maybe he should go pay Shishido-san a visit…
-
From the front of the clubhouse, Hiyoshi looked at Choutarou in the distance, picking up balls with the freshmen.
He cracked his knuckles. “Don’t stop me, Kabaji, I swear I’m going to make him wake up and stop moping around like - HEY! KABAJI! PUT ME DOWN!”
Kabaji sighed.
Violence is never the answer.
-
Okay, Shishido was going to get things straight. It was now or never. He was going to go to Hyotei, pull Choutarou out of practice, punch him in the face, and tell him ‘I like you too, you dumbass.’.
…If only History class would hurry up and finish already.
-
By the time the bell finished ringing, Shishido already managed to go down two floors. He dashed out the school building, looking at his watch. There should be half an hour left before tennis practice officially started in Hyotei, and he wanted to at least catch Choutarou before training.
“Hey… isn’t that a Hyotei uniform?”
“Yeah, yeah. Wow, he’s so tall!”
“Wait, but isn’t that a junior high school uniform?”
“I don’t care, but isn’t he handsome? So cool!”
“Shhh! You’re too loud!”
Shishido stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide and jaw dropped. “W-w-w-w-wh -“
Choutarou fidgeted nervously by the school sign, face and ears and neck flushed a deep red. “Err… Good afternoon, Shishido-san…”
Shishido stared for a good, long while because Choutarou was standing there. After three long months, Choutarou was standing there right in front of him and Shishido would be lying if he said that he didn’t miss the kid but -
All the frustrations that had been pent up inside of him suddenly bubbled up and Shishido slowly balled his hand into a fist.
He stomped his way towards the gate, and punched Choutarou’s face.
Of course, the punch to Choutarou was a lot weaker than the punch he gave to Gakuto but man, that felt good.
The crowd immediately started whispering all over, like annoying bees buzzing, and everyone was murmuring and watching excitedly for a fight.
Scowling, Shishido grabbed Choutarou’s wrist and yanked him away.
-
Shishido’s school wasn’t just close to his house. It was really close, only five minutes away by foot. His parents were still at work and his older brother was still in class so Shishido had no problem slamming the front door close and grabbing the front of his kohai’s shirt.
“Who the hell runs away after telling someone you like them, idiot?! You didn’t even answer my calls! Couldn’t you have waited for my reply or something? I have my own stuff to say too, you know! And why the hell are you skipping tennis practice?!”
Choutarou looked absolutely miserable. The slight redness on his left cheek from Shishido’s punch made him look even more so. “Sorry -“
Shishido pulled at his shirt again. Their faces were only a few inches away, and Choutarou couldn’t find it within himself to look away from Shishido’s furious gaze. “More with that sorry crap! What the hell are you apologizing for?! You could’ve waited for my reply, you know!” Shishido let go of his shirt and stepped back, breathing heavily.
His face scrunched up into something that looked as miserable as Choutarou’s. “What, my feelings don’t matter?”
Choutarou panicked. “N-no, no! It’s not that! Shishido-san, I -“
“Yeah, I know,” Shishido muttered, the rage slowly dissipating now that he’s pretty much said everything he wanted to say. “You like me.”
Choutarou flushed.
They stayed that way, standing in front of each other but not looking each other in the eyes. The house rang with the awkward silence.
Choutarou bit his lip. Then, he straightened his posture and looked at his sempai straight on. “I do,” he said, cheeks burning. “And err - I deserved the punch. I’m -“
It was Shishido’s turn to burn up. “I’m sorry for the punch,” he muttered, shoulders tense. “Does it… still hurt?”
Choutarou found himself smiling at that, despite the pain in his cheek. “It’s okay, Shishido-san. I’m still a guy, after all.”
Shishido frowned at the sad tinge that appeared in Choutarou’s expression. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?” he scowled. “Liking you doesn’t make me less of a guy!” he exclaimed, crossing his arms and looking away, just because he didn’t want Choutarou to see his burning face -
Except Choutarou was staring right at his burning face, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. “W-w-what - Shishido-san, did you just say -“
Shishido turned redder. “Yeah, I did! What did you expect?! I-I mean, after you told me you liked me and there’s no one else that I enjoy being with the most except you and those three months pissed me off so bad, you know! Isn’t that… l-like… or…” Shishido flushed. “L-love or s-something…”
“Cause girlfriends and boyfriends and stuff like that aren’t really that different from friends, right? I mean, you still enjoy being with them. It’s just that there are some people who are more special than others or something…”
Choutarou continued staring.
Shishido looked away. “W-what?”
“Y-you just said -“
“I know what I said! That’s why I punched you!”
Choutarou let out an undignified squeak. “S-sorry, Shishido-san - uhm, t-then…” he paused, face burning. “A-are you free tomorrow?”
Shishido blinked. Tomorrow…? Ah! It was a Tuesday… He turned pink. “Of course, you idiot,” Shishido grumbled out. “You know Tuesdays are only for burgers and fries with you.”
Probably, what Shishido missed the most, was Choutarou’s smile whenever they’d meet up in the McDonalds near Hyotei every Tuesday.
-
“And so?” Shishido started when they were already comfortably seated on the floor of his room, controllers in hand and playing video games. “Why are you skipping tennis practice?”
Choutarou coughed. He looked away. “Hiyoshi-kun said that I’m not allowed to practice until I stop, err, ‘moping around like a lovesick schoolgirl’,” he admitted morosely.
Shishido blinked. Then a grin spread its way on his lips. “So, you’re done moping around like a lovesick schoolgirl now?”
“Don’t joke like that, Shishido-san!” Choutarou countered, flushing. He tried to look indignant, but couldn’t resist a grin of his own. “Well, what about you? Skipping tennis practice too?”
Shishido turned pale.
Ah.
Tennis practice.
Yeah. He forgot all about that.
Shishido scowled, turning back to the game. “I didn’t see you for three months,” he grumbled.
Choutarou dropped his controller.
Feeling triumphant, Shishido gave Choutarou’s character a roundhouse kick and an uppercut.
He’s won this one.
“You two are… I mean, I don’t think you two need Synchro to understand each other in the court, and that’s something… that only exists between the two of you.”