Happy spring shinichirouwaya!
Title: Damage Control
Recipient's name: shinichirouwaya
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Momoshiro/Kaidoh
A/N: Fitting the request for something built on manga canon was a fun challenge, so thank you for that! Some quotes lifted directly from manga translations.
***
It was late, almost dinnertime, and Momoshiro was alone in the clubhouse. This had never happened before, mostly because Oishi-senpai always waited for stragglers before locking up, but Oishi-senpai also had owed Eiji-senpai ice cream because Eiji-senpai lent him lunch money the day before and it turned out that Eiji-senpai was the world's most demanding debt collector. In the end, Oishi-senpai had handed over his keys because he knew Momo was totally responsible ("Please don't break anything or shame the club in any way!"), though Inui-senpai's twelve page essay about probable future club captains and co-captains also helped. Momo thought the thirty-two percent chance of being captain over Kaidoh had to be low-balling it a little, but since it worked in his favor, he hadn't said anything. Still, Inui-senpai played favorites too much.
Momo leaned over a sink and squinted at his reflection in the mirror. He had a pimple on his forehead and his bandages were peeling. He decided to leave the zit alone because it wasn't the hurty kind yet, but the bandages needed changing. That really sucked because now Momo had to decide if he was going to pull them off carefully to minimize damage or pull them off fast so he could get it over with.
He got the first aid kit off the wall and went back to the mirror, thoughtfully flicking the edges of the plaster on his cheek. Both choices were painful, though going slow was less painful. Momo took antiseptic ointment, gauze, and medical tape out of the box and stacked them on the sink. But going slow took longer and Eiji-senpai told him that if he didn't pull off his bandages superfast then he was a big girl. And Momo didn't want to be a big girl.
"Be a man!" he shouted at himself, gripping the edge of the bandage.
"Yelling isn't going to help you with that," someone growled.
At that, Momoshiro gave a very manly shriek and whirled around, ripping the bandage right off his face and making his decision for him. Kaidoh shoved him with his shoulder and stole some of Momo's precious mirror space.
"How'd you get in here?" Momo asked, shoving back. He ran two fingers over the scrape on his face, still raw even days after their match with Rikkai.
"The door was open." Kaidoh slapped Momo's hand away. "Don't touch it. That's why it doesn't heal."
"I'll do what I want," Momoshiro mumbled. There were no scissors in the first aid kit and it was hard ripping tape with his teeth.
"That's not sanitary," Kaidoh said, pulling his bandana off his head and running his fingers through his hair. Momo raised his eyebrows. Kaidoh's hair looked weird, it was parted differently or something, but that was dumb because it wasn't like Momo ever went around looking at Kaidoh's hair.
"Your face isn't sanitary!"
Kaidoh hissed and grabbed the tape out of Momo's hands. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"Hey," Momo protested, though for the tape theft or because Kaidoh couldn't appreciate a genius insult he didn't know.
"Idiot." Kaidoh reached into his tennis bag and pulled out a leather case with needles, thread, nail clippers, and tiny little scissors. Momo still wasn't convinced that pulling bandages off slowly was girly, but that kit sure as hell was. Handy though, he guessed, as Kaidoh cut the tape into neat strips and lined them up on the edge of the sink. "Hold still," Kaidoh ordered.
Momo rolled his eyes, but let Kaidoh smear on the ointment and press the gauze to his face, pressing tape to the edges. He scrutinized himself in the mirror and decided that the job was passable, probably better than anything he could do to himself.
"Thanks," Momoshiro said grudgingly.
Kaidoh put the first aid kit back on the wall. "Whatever."
"Okay, now do my nose," Momo said.
"Do your own nose, it's just a band-aid," Kaidoh replied. He paused, eyes flicking down to Momoshiro's legs. "Is your knee okay?"
Momo grinned and leaned against the wall. "It's so nice when you worry about me," he said, and Kaidoh glared. "Calm down, mamushi. It's fine, just scraped up." His knee barely stung at all anymore, actually. Inui-senpai had told him that was because Kaidoh put pressure on it right away.
Kaidoh nodded and went back to messing with his hair. He tried to part it differently, but it just flopped back the way it was. Hah! Momo knew it. "Hey, where were you today?" asked Momoshiro. "We were all supposed to watch the ABC Open."
"I did watch it," Kaidoh said. "I went to it."
"You got tickets and you didn't invite me?"
"Why would I do that?"
He shoved Kaidoh's shoulder again. "That's mean."
Kaidoh grunted and leaned over the sink, peering at himself in the mirror again. He tilted his chin up, and Momoshiro wondered what the hell he was doing. Did Kaidoh examine his face from different angles to see what light made him look the scariest? That was dumb. Maybe Momo should start doing that, too. But then he spotted a bruise on Kaidoh's face, right under his eye.
Had Kaidoh been fighting without him? Momo wrinkled up his forehead. Well, whatever. Like that mattered. Kaidoh pressed his fingers to his bruise and winced.
"So, if you went to the open, how the hell did you get that? Did you get hit with a stray tennis ball?" Momoshiro laughed. "Please say yes!"
Kaidoh rolled his eyes and winced again. "Of course not."
"What are you doing here anyway? You could have gone home."
"Inui-senpai left something for me in my locker," Kaidoh said, finally looking at Momo instead of his own stupid face, "and I played a match so I need to use the shower."
"Who the hell were you playing tennis with? Everyone was here."
"Everyone in the world who plays tennis wasn't here, Momoshiro." Kaidoh grabbed a towel from the clean stack and headed toward the showers. "Are you stupider than usual?"
"Your mom is stupider than usual!" Momo called after Kaidoh's retreating back, but his witty retort was drowned out by Kaidoh turning on the water. He'd have to remember it for next time, even though Momoshiro really liked Kaidoh's mom, especially when she packed extra red bean mochi into Kaidoh's bento.
Momo shrugged to himself and changed the little bandage across the bridge of his nose. He didn't really want Kaidoh's mom to be stupid, so what he'd been saying was harmless. But that didn't explain The Mystery of Kaidoh's Bruise. Maybe Kaidoh led a double life. Momo's grandmother was always watching stories about men with secret wives and kids in Hokkaido or Kyuushu or even other countries. Maybe Kaidoh had a secret family, though Momo guessed that was pretty unlikely since he was fourteen.
Maybe Kaidoh was a spy! Though that jerk wasn't cool enough to be a spy, not by half. Momo's stomach rumbled. He looked at his watch, noting it was even closer to dinnertime now. He pumped his fist into the air triumphantly, but stopped suddenly halfway. Momo let his arm drop back down to his side.
He'd promised Oishi-senpai that he'd lock up and Kaidoh didn't have keys, so Momo would have to wait for him, and anyone who carried around a sewing kit everywhere probably took really long showers. Momo cursed. That's what he got for dawdling and demonstrating proper hygiene.
"Hurry up in there, girl spy!" he shouted into the shower room.
"What did you call me?" Kaidoh yelled back.
Momo didn't answer. He threw himself onto a bench and covered his face with a towel. Who'd want to be in Kaidoh's secret family anyway?
***
At practice the next day, Momo walked up to Kaidoh and pushed his chin up to the sun. The bruise was fading, turning a sickening yellow-green. "Your face is green. Are you really turning into a snake?"
Kaidoh pushed Momo's hand away.
Inui-senpai looked up from his notebook. "When a snake molts, it rubs its head against a hard object and the skin comes off all in one piece." Momo and Kaidoh both stared at him, but he was already writing again.
"I'm not a snake. I'm not molting," Kaidoh said and picked up his racquet. "Don't be stupid."
"Where'd you get that bruise?"
"I told you, I played a match yesterday." Kaidoh threw Momo two balls and shoved one into his pocket.
"Yeah, but with who? Everybody was here."
"Why do you keep saying that?" Kaidoh asked.
Momo pointed his racquet at Kaidoh. "Because there are only eight days to nationals and you should want to be with your own team! We were team building to form unbreakable lifetime bonds, or whatever Oishi-senpai said. And no one knew where you were!"
"I knew where he was," Inui-senpai interrupted.
That didn't count. It was practically Inui's after-school job to know where Kaidoh was. And his at-school job, too, really, but saying that would be disrespectful, so instead Momo glared at Kaidoh some more.
Kaidoh rolled his eyes. "If it'll shut you up, it was some guys from Murigaoka and that Laser Beam guy from Rikkai Dai."
"You played them all at once?!" Momo squawked. Man, he'd taken on that Gyokurin doubles team on his own a couple of times, but they weren't anywhere near national level. Playing Murigaoka and Rikkai would be like playing Fuji-senpai, Taka-san, and Oishi-senpai all by himself. But if Kaidoh could do it, so could Momo. Maybe he'd challenge them all.
"Not all at once. Yagyuu-san and I played doubles."
Inui-senpai's eyebrows were way above his glasses. "Murigaoka? I hope you didn't show them any of your specialty moves."
Kaidoh hissed. "I'm not stupid, senpai. Yagyuu-san and I switched clothes."
"What?" Momoshiro and Inui-senpai said at once.
Kaidoh shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. The Murigaoka guys filmed everything, so we switched places. It was an easy win. I could do the Laser Beam with more practice."
Inui-senpai's forehead scrunched up. He went back to scribbling, but he wrote about a million times faster than before. Momo, however, was delighted. "So you did get hit in the face with a ball!"
"No," Kaidoh said. "One of them punched me. That's how I got the bruise. I punched him, too."
Fuji-senpai appeared at Kaidoh's side, hand on his shoulder. "You could have gotten suspended from the nationals for that." He was smiling.
Kaidoh hissed. "I know. I'm sorry."
Momoshiro waited for more explanation, wanting to know how Kaidoh went from watching to doubles to boxing, but none ever came. Typical viper. That guy had no conversational skills, none at all.
"Are we playing now?" Momoshiro asked.
"When my partner shows up," Fuji-senpai said.
Eiji-senpai bounded up to everyone, his face flushed with excitement. "Ochibi has a girlfriend!" he declared.
"And here he is." Fuji-senpai chuckled. "Are you giving them privacy?"
Eiji-senpai twirled his racquet over his wrist. "Yeah, privacy to talk about tennis. He's broken, I think."
"He's twelve," Fuji-senpai said.
Momo rolled his eyes. Eiji-senpai was right; Echizen was stunted emotionally or something. Not to mention short.
Inui unzipped his jacket and threw it on a nearby bench. "It's ninety-one percent certain that the girl is collecting data for another team, though whether her interest in Echizen is genuine is undetermined." He climbed into the referee's chair, notebook spread out over his lap.
"Doesn't matter, Inui-senpai," Momo called up, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Echizen is hopeless. If it were me--"
Eiji-senpai cracked up. "Momo's suddenly the girl expert. Tell me all about your latest conquests!"
A bubble of anger rose up in Momo's chest. Of course he had experience with girls, tons! There was... And then-- what about... Well, he watched a lot of television, that had to count.
Momoshiro opened his mouth. "Um--"
"Let's play already," Kaidoh growled. Speaking of emotionally stunted.
Momo shoved the side of Kaidoh's head, ignoring the irritated noise Kaidoh made as he went to take his place at the net. He picked at the tape on his cheek.
"Don't pick that, it won't heal," Kaidoh said.
"Shut up," Momo shouted, annoyed. Why couldn't the stupid snake be normal for once? Getting into fights with other teams was one thing, but what if what Fuji-senpai had said had happened and Kaidoh couldn't play at nationals? Didn't he ever think about anything other than himself? Selfish, so selfish.
Kaidoh stretched up to serve, and Momo picked at his cheek some more. It itched.
***
"Takeshi, you're home!"
Momoshiro had barely taken off his shoes when one of his little sisters grabbed his hand and dragged him into her room. It was kind of ridiculous the way they both thought Momo was there to cater to their whims, especially when he was tired out after a hard practice, but it was also impossible to fight off a six-year-old girl determined to play Barbies when her older sister wasn't home from her violin lesson yet.
"Here," Mika-chan said, shoving a Ken doll into Momo's hands. "This is you."
"That looks nothing like me," Momo said.
"Yes it does, onii-chan!"
The doll's hair was plastic and not nearly high enough. His eyes were too close together, and he was wearing purple capri pants. Momo sat on the floor anyway and watched as Mika set up the Dream House and the stables. There were at least four girl dolls to every boy doll, and that ratio wasn't bad, not bad at all.
"So, what am I, the dad? The world famous tennis star visiting his glamorous model girlfriends?"
Mika shook her head. "You're the hairdresser." She shoved a tiny comb into Momo's hand. "And this is your girlfriend!"
The 'girlfriend' was another Ken doll, wearing a tank top and white shorts.
"What?!" Momo yelled. "No!" He threw down the dolls and comb. How did a six-year-old even know about those kinds of things?
Mika began to cry as his other sister bounced into the room. Hana immediately shot an accusatory look in Momo's direction and knelt down on the floor.
"You guys shouldn't be watching those late-night cartoons! That isn't my girlfriend!" Momo protested, pointing at the doll in shorts.
"It is too," Mika managed through her sobs. She cried into her sister's shirt, making a wet spot dark enough that Momo could see it from here. He felt bad.
Momo put his hand on his littlest sister's shoulder. "Hey, hey, don't cry!" he said, but Mika wouldn't stop. This is why he wished he had brothers sometimes, like Kaidoh or Eiji-senpai. Momo was no good with girls, and with brothers he could just punch them or wrestle with them until he got his way. And they wouldn't be playing Barbies or tea time or anything that required Momo to wear lace gloves and pearls.
"Get out, Takeshi," Hana told him.
Momo left, yelling to his mother that he was going outside to train. She told him to be home before dinner, though with the way things were headed Momo halfway expected everything to burn and then there'd be no dinner at all, and that would be terrible. Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up even more.
He unlocked his bicycle and yanked it out of the garage, pedaling toward the street courts. Exhausted as he'd been after practice, tennis was the only thing that would help right now. Maybe he could beat some Kakinoki ass or even some high schoolers. "Hairdresser," he fumed, pumping his legs double-fast. "Like I'd be a fucking hairdresser."
The street courts were crowded, even more crowded than they usually were. Momo threw down his bike and had trouble pushing through the press of people to the sidelines.
"Oi," Momoshiro muttered when he saw who it was.
There was some big kid that Momo didn't know on one side, Kaidoh on the other side. He was sweating hard, wiping his face with the edge of his tank top from time to time, but he didn't seem to be running around much and he was definitely in control of the match. Everyone was whispering about the crazy guy from Seigaku who was beating everyone's ass upside down.
"Hey," Momo said, nudging a boy standing next to him, "how many matches has he played?"
"Five or something! He hasn't even dropped a game yet."
Hadn't dropped a game? Momo snorted. He'd see about that, he thought, grabbing his racquet and walking out onto the court.
Kaidoh's opponent looked at him, surprised. "Scram," Momo told him, cheerfully.
"I'm playing!"
Momo laughed. "Wrong. He's playing with you. Now move so I can beat him already."
Kaidoh glared at them, but didn't say anything. Then he focused his stare completely on the other kid, who made an 'eep' noise and ran off the court.
"Don't you do anything but train?" Momo shouted to Kaidoh, pointing his racquet across the net. Kaidoh replied by adjusting his bandana and hunching into position at the baseline. Momo grinned. This was exactly what he wanted, exactly.
The crowd grew as Momoshiro and Kaidoh played, but Momo didn't pay any attention. He didn't really pay attention to anyone else when he played tennis, especially not when he played Kaidoh. It was always a loop of 'won't lose to him, won't lose to him' that his brain played over and over as his arms and his legs and his whole body followed, blocking out anything but the thwock of the ball, the twang of their racquets, and their grunts as they returned shot after shot, finished game after game, fought for every point.
Momoshiro sent a ball into a corner, which Kaidoh was half a second too late to reach and the loop stopped abruptly as the ball bounced away. Kaidoh was at the net a minute later, breathing heavy, his hand outstretched.
"Good match," he said reluctantly.
"You, too," Momo said. They gripped hands and shook, the sweat from their hands trapped between them, slick and disgusting.
Momo didn't let go. Neither did Kaidoh.
"Did you change your bandages again?" Kaidoh asked.
"Did you almost get thrown out of nationals again?" Momo asked
"Stupid," they replied in unison. Momo had to stop himself from grinning more.
The crowd's applause reached Momoshiro's ears apparently at the same time it reached Kaidoh's because they both looked down at their hands, then up at each other and pulled away like their fingers were on fire. Then they wouldn't look at each other at all.
But Momo did ride his bike alongside Kaidoh as Kaidoh jogged home, and Momo decided that even burnt dinner wouldn't be too bad. It was still something.
Plus, they only got into one fight on the way to Kaidoh's house, and that had to be some sort of record.
***
On Monday, Kaidoh grabbed Momoshiro's wrist as soon as he came out of his classroom at the end of the day. They probably had a half an hour or more before they had to get to practice, but Momo usually used that time to visualize different plays and also for snacking.
"Where are you taking me?" Momoshiro asked, but that only tightened the hold Kaidoh had on his wrist and made him move even faster. Not that it was a struggle to keep up or anything, though Momo was a little surprised when they stopped at a janitor's closet.
"Get inside," Kaidoh said. Usually an order like that from Kaidoh would have Momo balking, but Kaidoh was turning redder by the second and he wouldn't look at Momo, so Momo decided that he could probably spare Kaidoh a minute. Two, at most.
Kaidoh slammed the door shut behind him and pushed Momoshiro back against some shelves. Was Kaidoh's schedule now so tight that he had to schedule fights with Momo? Honestly, he was a little touched. He could do that, if that's what Kaidoh wanted.
"What the hell, jerk?" Momo didn't sound right; there was no hostility there, just a unexplainable, jumpy feeling in his gut and an inability to look away. Kaidoh stepped in.
Close up, Momo saw that Kaidoh's bruise was almost gone. He briefly wished he could stop wearing his bandages, but only briefly because Kaidoh was crowding him into a corner.
Kaidoh seized a handful of Momo's shirt, right in the middle. "I-- I don't need you to snap me out of it during games anymore."
"Oh," said Momo. This was really confusing.
Kaidoh's hands were shaking. "I'm not weak!" he shouted.
"I know that!" Momo shouted back.
Something in Kaidoh's expression softened, and he tugged Momoshiro forward. Momo remembered the way they'd pressed their hands together the day before, the way they went forehead-to-forehead during their match against Rikkai Dai, the way they breathed together and worked together and collapsed together. The way they lost together, and the way Momo somehow knew neither of them would ever let that happen again.
"You think I'd want a weakass for a rival?" Momo asked, faces close enough to press their foreheads close again if he wanted. He flicked his gaze down to Kaidoh's mouth without even thinking about it, but that was enough because Kaidoh pulled him further still, landing an awkward kiss at the corner of Momoshiro's mouth.
Momoshiro blinked. Kaidoh hissed. Momo grabbed Kaidoh's shirt, too, and kissed him again. This kiss was longer, and better centered, and better in general, which Momo knew was obviously because he'd kissed Kaidoh this time, not the other way around. He let Kaidoh push him back, press into him until he let go of the front of Kaidoh's shirt to grab the back. They pressed together more tightly, Momoshiro opening his mouth to breathe and getting Kaidoh's tongue inside his mouth instead, and that was weird and really kind of hot all at once, but then Momo was really desperate for air so he had to break away panting.
"Breathe through your nose, idiot," Kaidoh said, like he was the expert on kissing. Shit, what if he was? Momoshiro didn't have any experience with this, so he definitely couldn't decide who was an authority on what, but rationalizing was hard for him on a normal day, let alone when Momo had his head tilted back and Kaidoh decided that sucking on Momoshiro's throat was more important than teaching him to breathe properly.
"Hey, hey," Momo tried saying, only it was getting kind of hard to talk. It was hot in the closet, Momoshiro was almost sweating. Kaidoh looked up, and Momo swallowed at the way Kaidoh looked at him, blushing and intense all at once. Definitely too hot in closet, definitely.
"What?" Kaidoh growled.
"My mom washed your bandana," Momoshiro said. "She got all the blood out. Do you want it back?"
Kaidoh laughed, and that was a weird sound. "Keep it, dumbass. Now shut up." Then he kissed Momoshiro again, and Momo did shut up. Sort of. Some sounds were hard to stop.
Ten minutes later they were spilling back out into the hallway, adjusting their clothes. Kaidoh looked disheveled and Momo figured he probably looked the same, though he hoped Kaidoh was the only one with a weird red mark right above his shirt collar. Momoshiro ran his fingers through his hair.
"This still doesn't make me a hairdresser," he mumbled.
Kaidoh gave him a funny look. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing." He took a step in to-- to what? Hold Kaidoh's hand? That wasn't going to happen this century, at least not in public. On the courts didn't count.
"You need to change that more often," Kaidoh said. He flicked Momoshiro's cheek.
"Ow," Momo replied, but there was no heat behind it. He was too tired for heat. Too happy, too.
"I have to go," Kaidoh said and walked off abruptly, like Momo wasn't going exactly where he was. Rude. Momo tilted his head and watched Kaidoh walk away.
"Momo, can I talk to you for a second?" someone said and tapped his shoulder. Momo somehow managed not to shriek manfully and turned around.
It was Taka-san, looking nervous and rubbing the back of his head. Momo froze. If Taka had been standing by the supply closet and he said that he'd heard, Momo would just say he'd been fighting with Kaidoh, and that's why his lips were so swollen. That made perfect sense.
"Sure, Taka-san." Momo forced himself to grin brightly.
"Have you ever considered training in the mountains? It's supposed to be great for power players. I was going to go at the end of the week and thought you'd want to join me. I think I can get Ryuzaki-sensei to give us permission to get out of school for a couple of days, especially since we'll be excused for nationals anyway."
Momo let out a sigh of relief. Two days out of school and he hadn't been outed to his teammates?
"Of course!"
***
"What'd you do at your training?" Kaidoh asked him at practice Saturday. Things hadn't been too awkward between them after...after, but they also hadn't gone around making out in supply closets either. Momoshiro wasn't sure if he was disappointed about that or not.
Momo smiled. "I lifted boulders. I became one with nature."
"You're such a moron," Kaidoh mumbled and punched Momo's arm.
"You don't have to believe me," Momo said and shrugged. They probably would have fought more, only Oishi-senpai was getting ready to serve, and it wasn't like either of them was going to give up a chance to watch Tezuka-buchou play. It was weird enough that Tezuka-buchou was back and preparing to play with them for nationals.
Momo still couldn't believe that Oishi-senpai wouldn't let him give up his place for Seigaku, even if he was relieved. He still had another year, but he also couldn't lie when Oishi-senpai asked him if he still wanted to play. Of course Momo wanted to play! They all did, they all always did.
The match passed in a flash. Momo didn't think he breathed even once until Oishi-senpai lost that last point, his fingers clutched hard in the links of the metal fence.
Oishi-senpai announced to everyone that Tezuka-buchou was the strongest person for winning at the nationals. He was crying, and Momoshiro had to swallow a lump in his own throat, too.
"C'mon, mamushi," he said to Kaidoh. "Let's play a match."
***
Kaidoh won, but it had been close, really close. They were both in top form; they had to be, there was only one day before nationals. But now Momo thought that being one with nature meant his stomach was filled with grasshoppers and butterflies.
He was still jumpy even after he played, shoving Kaidoh back and forth as they walked to the showers. The clubhouse keys were sitting in Momo's cubby when they got inside.
Momoshiro, please lock up. Tezuka is in Ryuzaki-sensei's office, so you can return the keys to him after you leave. They're his. -- Oishi
"Guess we're alone." Momo laughed, trying to ignore his stomach jumping again. It had been five days since he and Kaidoh had been really alone, since that. He tried not to think about it, and sat down on a bench, bending his head to unlace his sneakers.
When he looked up, Kaidoh was standing in front of him, first aid and sewing kits stacked right on top of each another. He handed the box and case to Momo, then pulled Momo's bandage off, superfast. Momo didn't yell, he absolutely didn't.
"It looks better," Kaidoh said. He ran two fingers over Momoshiro's cheek. Momo closed his eyes and tried to remember to breathe. The scissors created a tiny little breeze as Kaidoh snipped tape, Kaidoh's fingers strange and gentle as he disinfected Momo's cut, replaced the bandage. "You're done."
Momo opened his eyes and found Kaidoh looking down at him. His hand was still on Momo's face, palm pressed to his jaw.
"Okay, now do my nose," Momoshiro said quietly.
"Do it yours--" Kaidoh choked as Momoshiro leaned forward and put his cheek right against Kaidoh's stomach. Kaidoh seemed frozen, though he clutched Momo's shoulder tight.
Momo didn't know what he was doing, but Kaidoh smelled kind of good, or his shirt did, like a mix of detergent and sweat from their match. He pushed it up with his teeth, lips against Kaidoh's stomach before the shirt could fall again.
"Idiot," Kaidoh gasped, his hand back on Momo's face. And maybe Momo was an idiot, maybe he was, but that was probably the reason he could run his hand up Kaidoh's calf, up his thigh, why he could feel hair and hard muscle under his palm, why he could rub Kaidoh through the front of his shorts, and why he could lick Kaidoh's stomach, warm and soft and alive, and still feel okay about it. In fact, Momo felt pretty damned Zen.
Until Kaidoh shoved him and ran into the showers. Momo fell over the bench and swore. "You could at least try being more at one with the universe!" Momo shouted after him, struggling to his feet. He sighed.
Great, the jumpy nervousness came back, too. Momo grabbed his bag and banged out of the clubhouse, still worked up and sweating and turned on and falling over his shoelaces and landing on the dirt. Stupid earth. He shook his head and walked back toward the courts, not knowing what he was doing. Momo was just following his feet.
He squinted at the setting sun and spotted Tezuka-buchou staring down from Ryuzaki-sensei's window, staring at him, and suddenly Momo got the best idea ever. "Buchou," Momoshiro shouted, "please play a match with me!"
***
Momoshiro was sitting just outside the courts, head on his knees, still going over his mistakes and trying to find ways to counter the Tezuka Zone when Kaidoh found him, hair damp from the shower. Water dripped onto Momo's legs.
"What was the score?" Kaidoh asked.
He didn't bother wondering how Kaidoh knew. "Six to three."
"You scored three games off the captain?" Kaidoh sounded surprised.
Momo looked up then, wide grin twisting across his face. "Yeah, I sure fucking did," Momo said, and tackled Kaidoh to the dirt, not caring how clean Kaidoh was from his shower.
It didn't seem like Kaidoh cared either, not the way he mumbled an apology and tugged Momo's head down to kiss him, short kisses, then longer ones, ones that made Momo's whole body hum and made them both struggle for control. Kaidoh rolled over Momo rolled over Kaidoh rolled over Momo, and then they didn't roll anymore. Instead they moved, against each other, with each other, until Momo's head was thrown back and Kaidoh's face was buried in Momo's neck. The shuddered together, forehead-to-forehead, and it was almost the same as when they fought or when they played.
Momoshiro flopped back and looked up at the blue, blue sky. He let out a whoop. "We're going to be national champions, mamushi! We really are!"
"Of course we are, idiot," Kaidoh said, right against Momo's ear, making Momoshiro shiver. "Let's shower before Tezuka-buchou arrests you for stealing his keys." Momoshiro shivered again.
***
After dinner that night, Momoshiro asked Mika if he could be the hairdresser, and she nodded enthusiastically and threw her little arms around his waist. He accepted it when Hana set Momo's doll representation up in a shoebox apartment with the doll wearing the sleeveless shirt and shorts, and even allowed himself to be prettied up with a straw hat and pair of lace gloves.
Momo's mother told him he had a phone call and barely blinked at the lip gloss that now covered her only son's mouth.
It was Kaidoh on the phone. Momo didn't mention what he was wearing. Kaidoh didn't have much to say to him, other than ticking Momo off when he insinuated that he'd end up with more wins at nationals because Momo was always slacking off and Kaidoh had trained so much. But Momo thought it was nice that Kaidoh had called, though he couldn't say why.
Then Kaidoh had to go because Inui-senpai was calling his cell phone, and they had to discuss their morning training.
"If you don't pick up, does Inui-senpai keep calling and calling until you answer? I bet he does."
Kaidoh hissed. "No, he only does that to Tezuka-buchou," he said. Then he hung up.
Momo laughed as he hung up the phone and willingly let himself be led back into the tea party, though he was less glad when he found out an overstuffed turtle had been promoted to the rank of 'Takeshi's Girlfriend.'
"Don't you have anything faster?" he asked Mika, then waved his hands frantically when her lower lip began to tremble. "Just kidding, just kidding! Slow and steady wins the race." He hugged the turtle close to his chest, which wasn't that bad. The turtle was pretty soft, and Momo got three extra teacakes for his effort.
When Momo went to bed that night, he slept pretty well, way better than he'd expected. He thought he could get used to days like this -- tennis matches and making out and cake. Though he could probably do without lace gloves.
***
The crowd was on its feet, and so was Momoshiro. He didn't think he blinked once during any of the matches against Higa Chuu, and he hated being the reserve, even though he knew he'd have his chance, he definitely knew it.
"Winner, Inui-Kaidoh pair, six games to three," droned a bored-voice over the P.A. On the court, Kaidoh and Inui-senpai shouted and touched fists and ran off the court to the congratulations of the other teammates.
"One down," Momoshiro said into Kaidoh's ear as they separated from a very manly and public hug. Well, mostly manly -- Momo might have lingered a second or two too long.
"I'm not going to lose," Kaidoh said. He pointed at Momo's cheek, his nose. "When are you taking those off?"
"Like you said, I'm almost healed. I'll take them off when I play."
***
Momoshiro pulled his bandages off his face superfast right before his match with Oshitari. Eiji-senpai complimented him on his manliness, and that was great right up until he split his head open again and lost.
"Shit, I'm sorry, you guys!" Momo shouted as Oishi-senpai and Taka-san helped him off the court. So much for letting old wounds heal; he resigned himself to a lifetime of head wounds. Momo sat down on the grass and let Ryuzaki-sensei tape him up. It was nothing like when Kaidoh did it, nothing at all.
Momo sighed.
"No, Momo, it was a nice game," said Inui-senpai. His eyes flicked up and Momo's followed. Kaidoh had his hands jammed into his pockets and he glanced once in Momoshiro's direction. "Thanks to you, several of us are now fired up."
Momo watched closely as the next match against Hyoutei started. One of them flipped, and the other did his weird karate tennis, but Kaidoh only yelled once, barely a reaction at all. Kaidoh wouldn't let himself get unraveled by stuff like that. He moved back to baseline, sending one more look in Momoshiro's direction. Nothing about Kaidoh was weak, nothing at all.
"That's it, mamushi!" Momo shouted. He picked at the edge of his tape. "Beat their asses upside down!"
END
***
Omake
"Um, why are you guys always touching each other?" Momo asked. "Don't tell me you're a homo--"
"You guessed right, kiddo. <3"
"Uh," said Kaidoh, shooting Momoshiro a look over his shoulder.
Not that Momo had any problem with that.
Recipient's name: shinichirouwaya
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Momoshiro/Kaidoh
A/N: Fitting the request for something built on manga canon was a fun challenge, so thank you for that! Some quotes lifted directly from manga translations.
***
It was late, almost dinnertime, and Momoshiro was alone in the clubhouse. This had never happened before, mostly because Oishi-senpai always waited for stragglers before locking up, but Oishi-senpai also had owed Eiji-senpai ice cream because Eiji-senpai lent him lunch money the day before and it turned out that Eiji-senpai was the world's most demanding debt collector. In the end, Oishi-senpai had handed over his keys because he knew Momo was totally responsible ("Please don't break anything or shame the club in any way!"), though Inui-senpai's twelve page essay about probable future club captains and co-captains also helped. Momo thought the thirty-two percent chance of being captain over Kaidoh had to be low-balling it a little, but since it worked in his favor, he hadn't said anything. Still, Inui-senpai played favorites too much.
Momo leaned over a sink and squinted at his reflection in the mirror. He had a pimple on his forehead and his bandages were peeling. He decided to leave the zit alone because it wasn't the hurty kind yet, but the bandages needed changing. That really sucked because now Momo had to decide if he was going to pull them off carefully to minimize damage or pull them off fast so he could get it over with.
He got the first aid kit off the wall and went back to the mirror, thoughtfully flicking the edges of the plaster on his cheek. Both choices were painful, though going slow was less painful. Momo took antiseptic ointment, gauze, and medical tape out of the box and stacked them on the sink. But going slow took longer and Eiji-senpai told him that if he didn't pull off his bandages superfast then he was a big girl. And Momo didn't want to be a big girl.
"Be a man!" he shouted at himself, gripping the edge of the bandage.
"Yelling isn't going to help you with that," someone growled.
At that, Momoshiro gave a very manly shriek and whirled around, ripping the bandage right off his face and making his decision for him. Kaidoh shoved him with his shoulder and stole some of Momo's precious mirror space.
"How'd you get in here?" Momo asked, shoving back. He ran two fingers over the scrape on his face, still raw even days after their match with Rikkai.
"The door was open." Kaidoh slapped Momo's hand away. "Don't touch it. That's why it doesn't heal."
"I'll do what I want," Momoshiro mumbled. There were no scissors in the first aid kit and it was hard ripping tape with his teeth.
"That's not sanitary," Kaidoh said, pulling his bandana off his head and running his fingers through his hair. Momo raised his eyebrows. Kaidoh's hair looked weird, it was parted differently or something, but that was dumb because it wasn't like Momo ever went around looking at Kaidoh's hair.
"Your face isn't sanitary!"
Kaidoh hissed and grabbed the tape out of Momo's hands. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"Hey," Momo protested, though for the tape theft or because Kaidoh couldn't appreciate a genius insult he didn't know.
"Idiot." Kaidoh reached into his tennis bag and pulled out a leather case with needles, thread, nail clippers, and tiny little scissors. Momo still wasn't convinced that pulling bandages off slowly was girly, but that kit sure as hell was. Handy though, he guessed, as Kaidoh cut the tape into neat strips and lined them up on the edge of the sink. "Hold still," Kaidoh ordered.
Momo rolled his eyes, but let Kaidoh smear on the ointment and press the gauze to his face, pressing tape to the edges. He scrutinized himself in the mirror and decided that the job was passable, probably better than anything he could do to himself.
"Thanks," Momoshiro said grudgingly.
Kaidoh put the first aid kit back on the wall. "Whatever."
"Okay, now do my nose," Momo said.
"Do your own nose, it's just a band-aid," Kaidoh replied. He paused, eyes flicking down to Momoshiro's legs. "Is your knee okay?"
Momo grinned and leaned against the wall. "It's so nice when you worry about me," he said, and Kaidoh glared. "Calm down, mamushi. It's fine, just scraped up." His knee barely stung at all anymore, actually. Inui-senpai had told him that was because Kaidoh put pressure on it right away.
Kaidoh nodded and went back to messing with his hair. He tried to part it differently, but it just flopped back the way it was. Hah! Momo knew it. "Hey, where were you today?" asked Momoshiro. "We were all supposed to watch the ABC Open."
"I did watch it," Kaidoh said. "I went to it."
"You got tickets and you didn't invite me?"
"Why would I do that?"
He shoved Kaidoh's shoulder again. "That's mean."
Kaidoh grunted and leaned over the sink, peering at himself in the mirror again. He tilted his chin up, and Momoshiro wondered what the hell he was doing. Did Kaidoh examine his face from different angles to see what light made him look the scariest? That was dumb. Maybe Momo should start doing that, too. But then he spotted a bruise on Kaidoh's face, right under his eye.
Had Kaidoh been fighting without him? Momo wrinkled up his forehead. Well, whatever. Like that mattered. Kaidoh pressed his fingers to his bruise and winced.
"So, if you went to the open, how the hell did you get that? Did you get hit with a stray tennis ball?" Momoshiro laughed. "Please say yes!"
Kaidoh rolled his eyes and winced again. "Of course not."
"What are you doing here anyway? You could have gone home."
"Inui-senpai left something for me in my locker," Kaidoh said, finally looking at Momo instead of his own stupid face, "and I played a match so I need to use the shower."
"Who the hell were you playing tennis with? Everyone was here."
"Everyone in the world who plays tennis wasn't here, Momoshiro." Kaidoh grabbed a towel from the clean stack and headed toward the showers. "Are you stupider than usual?"
"Your mom is stupider than usual!" Momo called after Kaidoh's retreating back, but his witty retort was drowned out by Kaidoh turning on the water. He'd have to remember it for next time, even though Momoshiro really liked Kaidoh's mom, especially when she packed extra red bean mochi into Kaidoh's bento.
Momo shrugged to himself and changed the little bandage across the bridge of his nose. He didn't really want Kaidoh's mom to be stupid, so what he'd been saying was harmless. But that didn't explain The Mystery of Kaidoh's Bruise. Maybe Kaidoh led a double life. Momo's grandmother was always watching stories about men with secret wives and kids in Hokkaido or Kyuushu or even other countries. Maybe Kaidoh had a secret family, though Momo guessed that was pretty unlikely since he was fourteen.
Maybe Kaidoh was a spy! Though that jerk wasn't cool enough to be a spy, not by half. Momo's stomach rumbled. He looked at his watch, noting it was even closer to dinnertime now. He pumped his fist into the air triumphantly, but stopped suddenly halfway. Momo let his arm drop back down to his side.
He'd promised Oishi-senpai that he'd lock up and Kaidoh didn't have keys, so Momo would have to wait for him, and anyone who carried around a sewing kit everywhere probably took really long showers. Momo cursed. That's what he got for dawdling and demonstrating proper hygiene.
"Hurry up in there, girl spy!" he shouted into the shower room.
"What did you call me?" Kaidoh yelled back.
Momo didn't answer. He threw himself onto a bench and covered his face with a towel. Who'd want to be in Kaidoh's secret family anyway?
***
At practice the next day, Momo walked up to Kaidoh and pushed his chin up to the sun. The bruise was fading, turning a sickening yellow-green. "Your face is green. Are you really turning into a snake?"
Kaidoh pushed Momo's hand away.
Inui-senpai looked up from his notebook. "When a snake molts, it rubs its head against a hard object and the skin comes off all in one piece." Momo and Kaidoh both stared at him, but he was already writing again.
"I'm not a snake. I'm not molting," Kaidoh said and picked up his racquet. "Don't be stupid."
"Where'd you get that bruise?"
"I told you, I played a match yesterday." Kaidoh threw Momo two balls and shoved one into his pocket.
"Yeah, but with who? Everybody was here."
"Why do you keep saying that?" Kaidoh asked.
Momo pointed his racquet at Kaidoh. "Because there are only eight days to nationals and you should want to be with your own team! We were team building to form unbreakable lifetime bonds, or whatever Oishi-senpai said. And no one knew where you were!"
"I knew where he was," Inui-senpai interrupted.
That didn't count. It was practically Inui's after-school job to know where Kaidoh was. And his at-school job, too, really, but saying that would be disrespectful, so instead Momo glared at Kaidoh some more.
Kaidoh rolled his eyes. "If it'll shut you up, it was some guys from Murigaoka and that Laser Beam guy from Rikkai Dai."
"You played them all at once?!" Momo squawked. Man, he'd taken on that Gyokurin doubles team on his own a couple of times, but they weren't anywhere near national level. Playing Murigaoka and Rikkai would be like playing Fuji-senpai, Taka-san, and Oishi-senpai all by himself. But if Kaidoh could do it, so could Momo. Maybe he'd challenge them all.
"Not all at once. Yagyuu-san and I played doubles."
Inui-senpai's eyebrows were way above his glasses. "Murigaoka? I hope you didn't show them any of your specialty moves."
Kaidoh hissed. "I'm not stupid, senpai. Yagyuu-san and I switched clothes."
"What?" Momoshiro and Inui-senpai said at once.
Kaidoh shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. The Murigaoka guys filmed everything, so we switched places. It was an easy win. I could do the Laser Beam with more practice."
Inui-senpai's forehead scrunched up. He went back to scribbling, but he wrote about a million times faster than before. Momo, however, was delighted. "So you did get hit in the face with a ball!"
"No," Kaidoh said. "One of them punched me. That's how I got the bruise. I punched him, too."
Fuji-senpai appeared at Kaidoh's side, hand on his shoulder. "You could have gotten suspended from the nationals for that." He was smiling.
Kaidoh hissed. "I know. I'm sorry."
Momoshiro waited for more explanation, wanting to know how Kaidoh went from watching to doubles to boxing, but none ever came. Typical viper. That guy had no conversational skills, none at all.
"Are we playing now?" Momoshiro asked.
"When my partner shows up," Fuji-senpai said.
Eiji-senpai bounded up to everyone, his face flushed with excitement. "Ochibi has a girlfriend!" he declared.
"And here he is." Fuji-senpai chuckled. "Are you giving them privacy?"
Eiji-senpai twirled his racquet over his wrist. "Yeah, privacy to talk about tennis. He's broken, I think."
"He's twelve," Fuji-senpai said.
Momo rolled his eyes. Eiji-senpai was right; Echizen was stunted emotionally or something. Not to mention short.
Inui unzipped his jacket and threw it on a nearby bench. "It's ninety-one percent certain that the girl is collecting data for another team, though whether her interest in Echizen is genuine is undetermined." He climbed into the referee's chair, notebook spread out over his lap.
"Doesn't matter, Inui-senpai," Momo called up, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Echizen is hopeless. If it were me--"
Eiji-senpai cracked up. "Momo's suddenly the girl expert. Tell me all about your latest conquests!"
A bubble of anger rose up in Momo's chest. Of course he had experience with girls, tons! There was... And then-- what about... Well, he watched a lot of television, that had to count.
Momoshiro opened his mouth. "Um--"
"Let's play already," Kaidoh growled. Speaking of emotionally stunted.
Momo shoved the side of Kaidoh's head, ignoring the irritated noise Kaidoh made as he went to take his place at the net. He picked at the tape on his cheek.
"Don't pick that, it won't heal," Kaidoh said.
"Shut up," Momo shouted, annoyed. Why couldn't the stupid snake be normal for once? Getting into fights with other teams was one thing, but what if what Fuji-senpai had said had happened and Kaidoh couldn't play at nationals? Didn't he ever think about anything other than himself? Selfish, so selfish.
Kaidoh stretched up to serve, and Momo picked at his cheek some more. It itched.
***
"Takeshi, you're home!"
Momoshiro had barely taken off his shoes when one of his little sisters grabbed his hand and dragged him into her room. It was kind of ridiculous the way they both thought Momo was there to cater to their whims, especially when he was tired out after a hard practice, but it was also impossible to fight off a six-year-old girl determined to play Barbies when her older sister wasn't home from her violin lesson yet.
"Here," Mika-chan said, shoving a Ken doll into Momo's hands. "This is you."
"That looks nothing like me," Momo said.
"Yes it does, onii-chan!"
The doll's hair was plastic and not nearly high enough. His eyes were too close together, and he was wearing purple capri pants. Momo sat on the floor anyway and watched as Mika set up the Dream House and the stables. There were at least four girl dolls to every boy doll, and that ratio wasn't bad, not bad at all.
"So, what am I, the dad? The world famous tennis star visiting his glamorous model girlfriends?"
Mika shook her head. "You're the hairdresser." She shoved a tiny comb into Momo's hand. "And this is your girlfriend!"
The 'girlfriend' was another Ken doll, wearing a tank top and white shorts.
"What?!" Momo yelled. "No!" He threw down the dolls and comb. How did a six-year-old even know about those kinds of things?
Mika began to cry as his other sister bounced into the room. Hana immediately shot an accusatory look in Momo's direction and knelt down on the floor.
"You guys shouldn't be watching those late-night cartoons! That isn't my girlfriend!" Momo protested, pointing at the doll in shorts.
"It is too," Mika managed through her sobs. She cried into her sister's shirt, making a wet spot dark enough that Momo could see it from here. He felt bad.
Momo put his hand on his littlest sister's shoulder. "Hey, hey, don't cry!" he said, but Mika wouldn't stop. This is why he wished he had brothers sometimes, like Kaidoh or Eiji-senpai. Momo was no good with girls, and with brothers he could just punch them or wrestle with them until he got his way. And they wouldn't be playing Barbies or tea time or anything that required Momo to wear lace gloves and pearls.
"Get out, Takeshi," Hana told him.
Momo left, yelling to his mother that he was going outside to train. She told him to be home before dinner, though with the way things were headed Momo halfway expected everything to burn and then there'd be no dinner at all, and that would be terrible. Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up even more.
He unlocked his bicycle and yanked it out of the garage, pedaling toward the street courts. Exhausted as he'd been after practice, tennis was the only thing that would help right now. Maybe he could beat some Kakinoki ass or even some high schoolers. "Hairdresser," he fumed, pumping his legs double-fast. "Like I'd be a fucking hairdresser."
The street courts were crowded, even more crowded than they usually were. Momo threw down his bike and had trouble pushing through the press of people to the sidelines.
"Oi," Momoshiro muttered when he saw who it was.
There was some big kid that Momo didn't know on one side, Kaidoh on the other side. He was sweating hard, wiping his face with the edge of his tank top from time to time, but he didn't seem to be running around much and he was definitely in control of the match. Everyone was whispering about the crazy guy from Seigaku who was beating everyone's ass upside down.
"Hey," Momo said, nudging a boy standing next to him, "how many matches has he played?"
"Five or something! He hasn't even dropped a game yet."
Hadn't dropped a game? Momo snorted. He'd see about that, he thought, grabbing his racquet and walking out onto the court.
Kaidoh's opponent looked at him, surprised. "Scram," Momo told him, cheerfully.
"I'm playing!"
Momo laughed. "Wrong. He's playing with you. Now move so I can beat him already."
Kaidoh glared at them, but didn't say anything. Then he focused his stare completely on the other kid, who made an 'eep' noise and ran off the court.
"Don't you do anything but train?" Momo shouted to Kaidoh, pointing his racquet across the net. Kaidoh replied by adjusting his bandana and hunching into position at the baseline. Momo grinned. This was exactly what he wanted, exactly.
The crowd grew as Momoshiro and Kaidoh played, but Momo didn't pay any attention. He didn't really pay attention to anyone else when he played tennis, especially not when he played Kaidoh. It was always a loop of 'won't lose to him, won't lose to him' that his brain played over and over as his arms and his legs and his whole body followed, blocking out anything but the thwock of the ball, the twang of their racquets, and their grunts as they returned shot after shot, finished game after game, fought for every point.
Momoshiro sent a ball into a corner, which Kaidoh was half a second too late to reach and the loop stopped abruptly as the ball bounced away. Kaidoh was at the net a minute later, breathing heavy, his hand outstretched.
"Good match," he said reluctantly.
"You, too," Momo said. They gripped hands and shook, the sweat from their hands trapped between them, slick and disgusting.
Momo didn't let go. Neither did Kaidoh.
"Did you change your bandages again?" Kaidoh asked.
"Did you almost get thrown out of nationals again?" Momo asked
"Stupid," they replied in unison. Momo had to stop himself from grinning more.
The crowd's applause reached Momoshiro's ears apparently at the same time it reached Kaidoh's because they both looked down at their hands, then up at each other and pulled away like their fingers were on fire. Then they wouldn't look at each other at all.
But Momo did ride his bike alongside Kaidoh as Kaidoh jogged home, and Momo decided that even burnt dinner wouldn't be too bad. It was still something.
Plus, they only got into one fight on the way to Kaidoh's house, and that had to be some sort of record.
***
On Monday, Kaidoh grabbed Momoshiro's wrist as soon as he came out of his classroom at the end of the day. They probably had a half an hour or more before they had to get to practice, but Momo usually used that time to visualize different plays and also for snacking.
"Where are you taking me?" Momoshiro asked, but that only tightened the hold Kaidoh had on his wrist and made him move even faster. Not that it was a struggle to keep up or anything, though Momo was a little surprised when they stopped at a janitor's closet.
"Get inside," Kaidoh said. Usually an order like that from Kaidoh would have Momo balking, but Kaidoh was turning redder by the second and he wouldn't look at Momo, so Momo decided that he could probably spare Kaidoh a minute. Two, at most.
Kaidoh slammed the door shut behind him and pushed Momoshiro back against some shelves. Was Kaidoh's schedule now so tight that he had to schedule fights with Momo? Honestly, he was a little touched. He could do that, if that's what Kaidoh wanted.
"What the hell, jerk?" Momo didn't sound right; there was no hostility there, just a unexplainable, jumpy feeling in his gut and an inability to look away. Kaidoh stepped in.
Close up, Momo saw that Kaidoh's bruise was almost gone. He briefly wished he could stop wearing his bandages, but only briefly because Kaidoh was crowding him into a corner.
Kaidoh seized a handful of Momo's shirt, right in the middle. "I-- I don't need you to snap me out of it during games anymore."
"Oh," said Momo. This was really confusing.
Kaidoh's hands were shaking. "I'm not weak!" he shouted.
"I know that!" Momo shouted back.
Something in Kaidoh's expression softened, and he tugged Momoshiro forward. Momo remembered the way they'd pressed their hands together the day before, the way they went forehead-to-forehead during their match against Rikkai Dai, the way they breathed together and worked together and collapsed together. The way they lost together, and the way Momo somehow knew neither of them would ever let that happen again.
"You think I'd want a weakass for a rival?" Momo asked, faces close enough to press their foreheads close again if he wanted. He flicked his gaze down to Kaidoh's mouth without even thinking about it, but that was enough because Kaidoh pulled him further still, landing an awkward kiss at the corner of Momoshiro's mouth.
Momoshiro blinked. Kaidoh hissed. Momo grabbed Kaidoh's shirt, too, and kissed him again. This kiss was longer, and better centered, and better in general, which Momo knew was obviously because he'd kissed Kaidoh this time, not the other way around. He let Kaidoh push him back, press into him until he let go of the front of Kaidoh's shirt to grab the back. They pressed together more tightly, Momoshiro opening his mouth to breathe and getting Kaidoh's tongue inside his mouth instead, and that was weird and really kind of hot all at once, but then Momo was really desperate for air so he had to break away panting.
"Breathe through your nose, idiot," Kaidoh said, like he was the expert on kissing. Shit, what if he was? Momoshiro didn't have any experience with this, so he definitely couldn't decide who was an authority on what, but rationalizing was hard for him on a normal day, let alone when Momo had his head tilted back and Kaidoh decided that sucking on Momoshiro's throat was more important than teaching him to breathe properly.
"Hey, hey," Momo tried saying, only it was getting kind of hard to talk. It was hot in the closet, Momoshiro was almost sweating. Kaidoh looked up, and Momo swallowed at the way Kaidoh looked at him, blushing and intense all at once. Definitely too hot in closet, definitely.
"What?" Kaidoh growled.
"My mom washed your bandana," Momoshiro said. "She got all the blood out. Do you want it back?"
Kaidoh laughed, and that was a weird sound. "Keep it, dumbass. Now shut up." Then he kissed Momoshiro again, and Momo did shut up. Sort of. Some sounds were hard to stop.
Ten minutes later they were spilling back out into the hallway, adjusting their clothes. Kaidoh looked disheveled and Momo figured he probably looked the same, though he hoped Kaidoh was the only one with a weird red mark right above his shirt collar. Momoshiro ran his fingers through his hair.
"This still doesn't make me a hairdresser," he mumbled.
Kaidoh gave him a funny look. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing." He took a step in to-- to what? Hold Kaidoh's hand? That wasn't going to happen this century, at least not in public. On the courts didn't count.
"You need to change that more often," Kaidoh said. He flicked Momoshiro's cheek.
"Ow," Momo replied, but there was no heat behind it. He was too tired for heat. Too happy, too.
"I have to go," Kaidoh said and walked off abruptly, like Momo wasn't going exactly where he was. Rude. Momo tilted his head and watched Kaidoh walk away.
"Momo, can I talk to you for a second?" someone said and tapped his shoulder. Momo somehow managed not to shriek manfully and turned around.
It was Taka-san, looking nervous and rubbing the back of his head. Momo froze. If Taka had been standing by the supply closet and he said that he'd heard, Momo would just say he'd been fighting with Kaidoh, and that's why his lips were so swollen. That made perfect sense.
"Sure, Taka-san." Momo forced himself to grin brightly.
"Have you ever considered training in the mountains? It's supposed to be great for power players. I was going to go at the end of the week and thought you'd want to join me. I think I can get Ryuzaki-sensei to give us permission to get out of school for a couple of days, especially since we'll be excused for nationals anyway."
Momo let out a sigh of relief. Two days out of school and he hadn't been outed to his teammates?
"Of course!"
***
"What'd you do at your training?" Kaidoh asked him at practice Saturday. Things hadn't been too awkward between them after...after, but they also hadn't gone around making out in supply closets either. Momoshiro wasn't sure if he was disappointed about that or not.
Momo smiled. "I lifted boulders. I became one with nature."
"You're such a moron," Kaidoh mumbled and punched Momo's arm.
"You don't have to believe me," Momo said and shrugged. They probably would have fought more, only Oishi-senpai was getting ready to serve, and it wasn't like either of them was going to give up a chance to watch Tezuka-buchou play. It was weird enough that Tezuka-buchou was back and preparing to play with them for nationals.
Momo still couldn't believe that Oishi-senpai wouldn't let him give up his place for Seigaku, even if he was relieved. He still had another year, but he also couldn't lie when Oishi-senpai asked him if he still wanted to play. Of course Momo wanted to play! They all did, they all always did.
The match passed in a flash. Momo didn't think he breathed even once until Oishi-senpai lost that last point, his fingers clutched hard in the links of the metal fence.
Oishi-senpai announced to everyone that Tezuka-buchou was the strongest person for winning at the nationals. He was crying, and Momoshiro had to swallow a lump in his own throat, too.
"C'mon, mamushi," he said to Kaidoh. "Let's play a match."
***
Kaidoh won, but it had been close, really close. They were both in top form; they had to be, there was only one day before nationals. But now Momo thought that being one with nature meant his stomach was filled with grasshoppers and butterflies.
He was still jumpy even after he played, shoving Kaidoh back and forth as they walked to the showers. The clubhouse keys were sitting in Momo's cubby when they got inside.
Momoshiro, please lock up. Tezuka is in Ryuzaki-sensei's office, so you can return the keys to him after you leave. They're his. -- Oishi
"Guess we're alone." Momo laughed, trying to ignore his stomach jumping again. It had been five days since he and Kaidoh had been really alone, since that. He tried not to think about it, and sat down on a bench, bending his head to unlace his sneakers.
When he looked up, Kaidoh was standing in front of him, first aid and sewing kits stacked right on top of each another. He handed the box and case to Momo, then pulled Momo's bandage off, superfast. Momo didn't yell, he absolutely didn't.
"It looks better," Kaidoh said. He ran two fingers over Momoshiro's cheek. Momo closed his eyes and tried to remember to breathe. The scissors created a tiny little breeze as Kaidoh snipped tape, Kaidoh's fingers strange and gentle as he disinfected Momo's cut, replaced the bandage. "You're done."
Momo opened his eyes and found Kaidoh looking down at him. His hand was still on Momo's face, palm pressed to his jaw.
"Okay, now do my nose," Momoshiro said quietly.
"Do it yours--" Kaidoh choked as Momoshiro leaned forward and put his cheek right against Kaidoh's stomach. Kaidoh seemed frozen, though he clutched Momo's shoulder tight.
Momo didn't know what he was doing, but Kaidoh smelled kind of good, or his shirt did, like a mix of detergent and sweat from their match. He pushed it up with his teeth, lips against Kaidoh's stomach before the shirt could fall again.
"Idiot," Kaidoh gasped, his hand back on Momo's face. And maybe Momo was an idiot, maybe he was, but that was probably the reason he could run his hand up Kaidoh's calf, up his thigh, why he could feel hair and hard muscle under his palm, why he could rub Kaidoh through the front of his shorts, and why he could lick Kaidoh's stomach, warm and soft and alive, and still feel okay about it. In fact, Momo felt pretty damned Zen.
Until Kaidoh shoved him and ran into the showers. Momo fell over the bench and swore. "You could at least try being more at one with the universe!" Momo shouted after him, struggling to his feet. He sighed.
Great, the jumpy nervousness came back, too. Momo grabbed his bag and banged out of the clubhouse, still worked up and sweating and turned on and falling over his shoelaces and landing on the dirt. Stupid earth. He shook his head and walked back toward the courts, not knowing what he was doing. Momo was just following his feet.
He squinted at the setting sun and spotted Tezuka-buchou staring down from Ryuzaki-sensei's window, staring at him, and suddenly Momo got the best idea ever. "Buchou," Momoshiro shouted, "please play a match with me!"
***
Momoshiro was sitting just outside the courts, head on his knees, still going over his mistakes and trying to find ways to counter the Tezuka Zone when Kaidoh found him, hair damp from the shower. Water dripped onto Momo's legs.
"What was the score?" Kaidoh asked.
He didn't bother wondering how Kaidoh knew. "Six to three."
"You scored three games off the captain?" Kaidoh sounded surprised.
Momo looked up then, wide grin twisting across his face. "Yeah, I sure fucking did," Momo said, and tackled Kaidoh to the dirt, not caring how clean Kaidoh was from his shower.
It didn't seem like Kaidoh cared either, not the way he mumbled an apology and tugged Momo's head down to kiss him, short kisses, then longer ones, ones that made Momo's whole body hum and made them both struggle for control. Kaidoh rolled over Momo rolled over Kaidoh rolled over Momo, and then they didn't roll anymore. Instead they moved, against each other, with each other, until Momo's head was thrown back and Kaidoh's face was buried in Momo's neck. The shuddered together, forehead-to-forehead, and it was almost the same as when they fought or when they played.
Momoshiro flopped back and looked up at the blue, blue sky. He let out a whoop. "We're going to be national champions, mamushi! We really are!"
"Of course we are, idiot," Kaidoh said, right against Momo's ear, making Momoshiro shiver. "Let's shower before Tezuka-buchou arrests you for stealing his keys." Momoshiro shivered again.
***
After dinner that night, Momoshiro asked Mika if he could be the hairdresser, and she nodded enthusiastically and threw her little arms around his waist. He accepted it when Hana set Momo's doll representation up in a shoebox apartment with the doll wearing the sleeveless shirt and shorts, and even allowed himself to be prettied up with a straw hat and pair of lace gloves.
Momo's mother told him he had a phone call and barely blinked at the lip gloss that now covered her only son's mouth.
It was Kaidoh on the phone. Momo didn't mention what he was wearing. Kaidoh didn't have much to say to him, other than ticking Momo off when he insinuated that he'd end up with more wins at nationals because Momo was always slacking off and Kaidoh had trained so much. But Momo thought it was nice that Kaidoh had called, though he couldn't say why.
Then Kaidoh had to go because Inui-senpai was calling his cell phone, and they had to discuss their morning training.
"If you don't pick up, does Inui-senpai keep calling and calling until you answer? I bet he does."
Kaidoh hissed. "No, he only does that to Tezuka-buchou," he said. Then he hung up.
Momo laughed as he hung up the phone and willingly let himself be led back into the tea party, though he was less glad when he found out an overstuffed turtle had been promoted to the rank of 'Takeshi's Girlfriend.'
"Don't you have anything faster?" he asked Mika, then waved his hands frantically when her lower lip began to tremble. "Just kidding, just kidding! Slow and steady wins the race." He hugged the turtle close to his chest, which wasn't that bad. The turtle was pretty soft, and Momo got three extra teacakes for his effort.
When Momo went to bed that night, he slept pretty well, way better than he'd expected. He thought he could get used to days like this -- tennis matches and making out and cake. Though he could probably do without lace gloves.
***
The crowd was on its feet, and so was Momoshiro. He didn't think he blinked once during any of the matches against Higa Chuu, and he hated being the reserve, even though he knew he'd have his chance, he definitely knew it.
"Winner, Inui-Kaidoh pair, six games to three," droned a bored-voice over the P.A. On the court, Kaidoh and Inui-senpai shouted and touched fists and ran off the court to the congratulations of the other teammates.
"One down," Momoshiro said into Kaidoh's ear as they separated from a very manly and public hug. Well, mostly manly -- Momo might have lingered a second or two too long.
"I'm not going to lose," Kaidoh said. He pointed at Momo's cheek, his nose. "When are you taking those off?"
"Like you said, I'm almost healed. I'll take them off when I play."
***
Momoshiro pulled his bandages off his face superfast right before his match with Oshitari. Eiji-senpai complimented him on his manliness, and that was great right up until he split his head open again and lost.
"Shit, I'm sorry, you guys!" Momo shouted as Oishi-senpai and Taka-san helped him off the court. So much for letting old wounds heal; he resigned himself to a lifetime of head wounds. Momo sat down on the grass and let Ryuzaki-sensei tape him up. It was nothing like when Kaidoh did it, nothing at all.
Momo sighed.
"No, Momo, it was a nice game," said Inui-senpai. His eyes flicked up and Momo's followed. Kaidoh had his hands jammed into his pockets and he glanced once in Momoshiro's direction. "Thanks to you, several of us are now fired up."
Momo watched closely as the next match against Hyoutei started. One of them flipped, and the other did his weird karate tennis, but Kaidoh only yelled once, barely a reaction at all. Kaidoh wouldn't let himself get unraveled by stuff like that. He moved back to baseline, sending one more look in Momoshiro's direction. Nothing about Kaidoh was weak, nothing at all.
"That's it, mamushi!" Momo shouted. He picked at the edge of his tape. "Beat their asses upside down!"
END
***
Omake
"Um, why are you guys always touching each other?" Momo asked. "Don't tell me you're a homo--"
"You guessed right, kiddo. <3"
"Uh," said Kaidoh, shooting Momoshiro a look over his shoulder.
Not that Momo had any problem with that.