Log: The Demon Returns
Who: Niou Masaharu, Kirhara Akaya, and Sanada Genichirou
Where: Niou’s room and tennis courts.
When: December 26th
What: After Niou’s post to Akaya -- Niou does Akaya a little favor
Warnings: PG-13 For Demon Akaya and his foul mouth
Notes: After this log Akaya slept for a day then walked out of niou’s room in a daze only to fall asleep for another couple days in his room where Fuji will find him >_> and get the nurse to wake him up.
10 minutes or no presents?! Was his senpai crazy? Akaya had pulled on a sweatshirt and jeans and ran out to find the spikey haired trickster, wanting to get his presents. He couldn't believe the other had threatened no presents if he didn't get there in time. Hopefully the other man was in his room, he didn't know where to look.
The trickster wasn't cruel enough to move from his room. He waited patiently for his cute demon kouhai to run to him. It was Christmas after all and he knew how much that meant to Akaya.
Akaya busted through the door without knocking and panting a little from sprinting through the dorm, "made it!" he said happily and looked to Niou expectantly.
"Good boy", Niou said and threw a wrapped present at the kid. "I knew you could do it."
Akaya caught it and looked at him with sparkly eyes, "Can I open it?" He was nearly bouncing in place.
Niou chuckled. "Yes. Why else would you have it?"
Akaya practically shredded the wrapping paper getting it off of the box and looked like he was about to cry he was so happy. He'd had a rather lonely Christmas, it wasn't his fault he was emotional damn it, "Thank you, Niou-senpai!" He chimed and ran over to hug Niou tightly.
Niou wrapped his hands around his kouhai and patted his back. "You're welcome, Akaya. I take it you like it?" Well, it was the first thing that had come to his mind at the store. Since Akaya seemed to like Pokémon.
"Yessss, I've needed a new game, I'm going crazy playing the same one over and over you have no idea," He mumbled and nuzzled close, happy that at least one of his senpai was doing his best to keep him from going bonkers.
"Hey, I know how it feels. When I was a kid, I only had one game for a year, since dad didn't want to buy me anymore since I was caught stealing."
Akaya looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "You stole stuff?"
The older boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, when I was ten."
"What'd ya steal?"
"Mostly candy. Though I never got caught with that.... but when I tried something bigger, like a gameboy, it failed."
"Oooh," Akaya laughed a little, "Fail, senpai," he grinned and sat down on the bed next to him.
"Oh, that was the only notable fail in my youth... I've been awesome, too", Niou smirked and ruffled Akayas hair.
Akaya laughed a little and leaned against the older boy's side, "Yeah, I guess so," He teased and smiled at Niou.
Niou moved his hand from Akayas hair to his other shoulder and smiled a bit. "Sorry for being so distant. Should have taken a better care of my kouhai."
Akaya moved closer and smiled a little, though it was a bit sad looking, "Don't worry 'bout it..I'm a big boy senpai, I'll be alright, 'ventually."
"Aah... I know. I won't push you to tell me or ask for help", Niou said. "But remember that if you need me, I'm here. For anything." It was fairly easy to say. Akaya was important after all. The little kouhai who everyone liked to tease out of affection, because he was the youngest of the group.
"I know, senpai," Akaya said and smiled a bit more genuinely, "I'm alright I guess...I've just felt...wrong lately, ya know?"
"Wrong? How?"
"I...don't really know...I just...I--well for one...I don't think about sex anymore....like ever......."
Niou frowned. Okay, that was something peculiar. A guy who didn't think about sex? Yikes. "Anything else?"
"I....I dunno...I don't even have motivation to play tennis anymore....." God, what was wrong with him? "My mood keeps changing randomly..and I dunno...it's weird...."
Niou petted his kouhais hair absenmindely. "That does sound bad", he said with a nod. "What if you force yourself to play tennis... against me for example? That might get you back up to spirits."
"You think so?" Akaya thought about it for a bit then shrugged, "Sure, I guess I could try it....maybe it will keep me from doing something stupid....."
Niou got up from the bed. "C'mon. Let's go and try it out right now. I¨haven't played in a while either so it'll do us both good."
Akaya nodded and got up as well, "Can I just borrow one of your rackets?" He was far too lazy to go back to his room and get his own.
The older boy nodded at the tennis bag in the corner. "Sure, help yourself. I have my regular one here anyway:"
Nodding a little in thanks Akaya ran over to grab the tennis bag and looked to Niou expectantly, "Ready?"
"Just a sec", Niou grabbed a few balls to take with them. "Alright, now. I haven't been on the inside courts, so you lead the way."
Akaya nodded and started toward the courts, almost nervous to be playing tennis against one of his senpai. Niou was a dangerous opponent and since he didn't go demon mode, or even bloodshot, anymore it was going to be really difficult.
Niou followed the kouhai quietly, thinking about what might have been the problem. Akaya didn't seem as confident as always. "Remember, I'm not going to hold back and neither should you."
"Yeah, I know," Akaya said and pulled the bag a little further on his shoulder. Maybe his mom was right and he was bipolar. He really didn't want to take medicine though, he always reacted badly to medicine....
"Want to to warm ups before going for it for real or just go with it?"
"Let's just go with it, I think running to your room was enough of a warm up....Not to mention fukubuchou gave me laps for no good reason....."
"That cruel, cruel man", Niou sighed in mock drama.
"You're the one who loves said cruel cruel man," Akaya smirked over at him, though it lacked most of his cockiness.
If Niou would have been the type to blush, he would have. "Pfft", he said simply and then stopped to stretch a little, since it seemed that they had arrived in.
Akaya put down the bag and stretched as well, "It's cool though...that you like fukubuchou so much," Back when they were younger Akaya had loved Sanada a lot, but now it had moved more into a familial kind of love, not that he wouldn't mind sleeping with the other man, but still, "Are you guys actually together?"
Niou shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to read him."
"Really? He's always seemed so straight forward," Akaya raised an eyebrow and looked at Niou curiously, glad the conversation wasn't on him anymore.
"Yeah, but hey... do you except to see his emotions straight from his face? Because it's not happening."
"No...but his body language is pretty easy to read...." Akaya had gotten used to paying close attention to Sanada's body language to decided if it was safe to talk to the other man or now. It was a survival instinct.
Niou laughed a little. "Yeah. Get a little too close to him and he gets excited," he grinned and walked to the other side of the court.
Akaya raised an eyebrow then laughed a little, "Oh? Maybe I'll have to give it a try."
Niou shot a serious glare at Akaya. "Don't even think about it."
Akaya laughed again and took his side of the court, "Alright, alright, relax senpai."
Yeah, Niou knew Akaya wasn't that serious, but somehow he had a way of getting really jealous when he though about Sanada with anyone else. "You serve", Niou said and threw a ball for Akaya.
Akaya caught the ball and without hesitation sent a knuckle serve over the net. He liked how jealous Niou got, it meant he was serious and he wouldn't let anyone who wasnt serious pursue his fukubuchou seriously.
Niou had already made himself prepared for the act, and used Tezuka's Hyakuten Jitoku no Kiwami to send the knuckle serve back as double. Tezuka was a good choice for starters, though if it would fail, Niou had trained himself to change his illusions during match more easily.
Damn. He knew playing Niou would be a bitch. Sending the ball back his eyes narrowed as he focused.
"You can do better than this, Akaya!" Niou yelled as himself, returning the ball normally. "Or have you gone weak over the years?"
"Shut up," Akaya snapped and returned the ball. He hated to admit he was weaker now that he couldn't go bloodshot or demon. He played regular tennis better than most, but he had lost everything that made him a formidable player.
Niou shook his head. "Weak, weak. This way you'll never beat the demons", he said as he returned the ball to a far right corner. "This way you'll only be a low rate trash can." He wasn't sure why he provoked and said something like that, but it felt like it was a for the better... in some weird way.
Akaya glared over the net as he missed the ball. Niou was irritating him and he was doing it on purpose. Was he doing it to distract him? If so, he was doing a damn good job.
"Love-15... C'mon. Let's not waste time. I want to finish this under 15 minutes", Niou said as he had turned into an illusion of Akaya for a minute. He wasn't that good at him yet, but he could annoy him with it.
Akayas eyes widened for a moment at that then he trudged over to serve, "Bastard..." He grumbled and served hard again. He couldn't let Niou distract him, he had to focus.
Oh, right. And there was probably something that would make Akaya even more annoyed. Losing to one of the Rikkai demons. Niou took a pose and fired Fuu of Sanadas Fuurinkazan. "Swift like the wind."
Sanada. He had to pick Sanada. The ball whizzed past Akaya and he felt his anger grow. Niou was a bastard sometimes and if he wasn't his senpai he'd hit him for this.
"What's wrong, Akaya? Giving up already?" Niou continued as Sanada. Because it obviously had annoyed the younger boy.
"Shut up!" It wasn't his fault he couldn't do it anymore. Everyone had worked so hard to stop his use of demon mode and after a while bloodshot had disappeared with it, it was their fault he was bad at tennis now. Not his.
"Do you want to be a loser forever? Pull yourself together! Serve!" Niou though of things to say... finally he just said. "Beat me to the ground, you seaweed bastard!"
There was a familiar tug in his chest and Akaya tried to ignore it, but god Niou was playing too well he wouldn't win like this, "I'll dye you red you son of a bitch," Akaya snapped, glaring over the net as he served.
Niou kept his cool and kept his Sanda illusion on. Somehow he knew that making Akaya angry would help something... at least he seemed a lot better no. After rallying a while Niou used Ka "Invade like fire!"
Akaya fought as hard as he could, but Niou broke his service game far too easily and by the end of the game he was sweating and shaking a little. Sanada's tennis wasn't nearly as bad as Yukimura's tennis, but it was still damn near impossible to beat and it pissed him off. Since when had Niou been able to mimic the fuurinkazan so well? Had it really been that long since he'd played the other man?
"I'll keep going now", Niou said . "Because this was just a warm up." Yeah, Akaya illusion might have been incomplete, but knuckle serve wasn't that hard to mimic, really, so he was able to send it off like it was a real one.
Akaya returned the serve, barely, and glared over at Niou. He couldn't let himself fall to Niou's pace, he had to catch him off guard somehow, "What the matter senpai, dont have any moves of your own?"
Niou smirked quietly. "Oh, I do have a move or two of my own, but if I use them, you'll be the one dyed red."
"Bring it on, old man," Akaya snapped and smashed the ball when it came back over the net.
"You asked for it", Niou shrugged and shot a ball that seemed like it was going far up. In reality it was just meant to give that illusion to the opponent. The real ball went straight for Akayas face.
Akaya's eyes followed the ball and he backed up a little, waiting for it to fall, but before he had a chance to notice the illusion the ball collided with his face and he fell back hard onto the court.
A normal senpai would have ran over to ask how Akaya was. Not in Rikkai. Never in Rikkai. "What's wrong? Can't get up anymore?"
"G-go to hell.....bas-bastard..." Akaya snapped and slowly got up to his feet again, his posture looking like he would be in demon mode, but his eyes were only slightly pink as he turned around to glare at Niou. Never lose even when you're at your worst and it's a hopeless situation. Never lose. He could hear Sanada's words in his head and he picked up his racket again.
"Finally, you're starting to show more spirit", Niou said and grinned. "Though, we need to fix your eyes a bit. Here I go." This time the serve was normal, even if quite heavy.
Akaya returned the serve, his moves becoming more confident. He returned the ball faster as well.
Niou made the younger boy run a little in the rally. Finally in a little while, he tried his illusion shot again to see how he would react.
Akaya started to follow the ball again then cursed when he realized it was that shot. Again it pegged him in the face and he fell back to the ground.
Niou sighed in mock drama. "Oh, I'm sorry. I have no control over it."
"Ass..." Akaya grumbled and pushed himself up to his feet again, racket in hand. He turned around to look at Niou, this time his eyes were blood red. It had been so long, his blood was pounding in his ears and he could hardly hear anything anymore, "Now....the real game starts..."
Niou smiled. "Finally", he said as he served again.
Akaya's play started looking like it used to, his attacks carefully planned and vicious. His aim; Niou's knees.
The ball was well aimed. Niou was able to dodge it so it didn't hit the knee badly, but still he winced as it hit it. "Damn..."
Akaya cackled and pointed his racket at Niou, "What's wrong? Ready to quit, Niou-senpai?"
"Heh... never", he said as he served again, ignoring´the pain on his knee.
Akaya returned the ball and waited for an opening again to take a shot at Niou's knee again.
Niou winced again. "Ouch... you truly are a bastard, you know that?"
"Learned it all from my senpai," Akaya purred and smirked over at Niou. He was a very harsh player when he was pushed too far.
"Know which senpai might that be? I'd need to thank him", Niou said with a chuckle and served again.
Akaya growled a little and returned the ball, ready to aim for Niou's knees again, "Come on, senpai....give me a real challenge," He cackled again, looking like his normal chibi demon self again. He'd forgotten how fun destroying someone could be.
Niou was this time prepared and returned the ball that was aiming for his knee with another illusion shot.
Akaya once again was unable to see the ball and it hit him square in the face, sending him back to the court, "f--fuck..."
This was one hell of a crazy game... "Get up. Get up you bastard", Niou panted and winced as his knee a little.
Climbing to his feet slowly, Akaya staggered a little, before wiping at the blood from his nose. He stared at the blood for a long moment before he just started laughing like a mad man. His skin turned a light shade of red and he turned to face Niou in full demon mode. Akaya was gone.
"... well, damn", Niou said with a minor dose of fear added to the mix. "I guess this means playtime is over."
"My play time's just starting~" The devil chimed happily and let out another one of the chilling giggles, "Serve, let's end this."
Well, it was still rather refreshing to see Akaya in that mode again, even though it meant it would probably hurt. A lot. Niou served again.
In a second, Akaya was behind the ball and returning it, aiming straight for Niou's face.
Niou was able to but his racquet in front of his face before it hit his face, causing it to lob high.
Akaya waited patiently for the ball to bounce once then smashed it toward Niou's knee, looking like he was enjoying himself immensely.
This time Nious knee couldn't take much more, so he found himself on his knees on the tennis court, panting a little more. He still wasn't completely recovered from Sanada's beating, so it was hard on him.
Sanada was walking toward the courts, planning on serving for a while when he heard the sound of that laugh. He knew that laugh and he would never be able to forget it. Running, he threw open the door of the indoor courts and his eyes widened when he saw Niou on his knees and Akaya on the other side of the court in full demon mode and cackling, "Shit..." He murmured and walked in, letting the door slam shut behind him, "AKAYA!" He yelled, in full fukubuchou mode.
Enter Sanada. Niou was glad to see then man, though, the match was just starting. at least Sanada would be able to hold Akaya back if he decided to murder his opponent. He got back up, painfully, but surely. "Alright... serve, Akaya."
Akaya looked over to Sanada with excited eyes. A real challenge. When Niou spoke though he turned his eyes back to Niou, "Yes, senpai," the demon laughed and went to the baseline.
Sanada frowned and walked over to the bench on Niou's side, watching his friend and underling carefully, "Don't overdo it...."
"I got it under control", Niou said, though he as pretty sure he didn't. At least Sanada would end the game if it would become too dangerous, right?
Sanada nodded but kept his eyes on Niou, watching the way he moved, the way he breathed, everything.
Akaya bounced the ball once before rocking back and letting a powerful serve rocket across the net.
Not an impossible serve to return, but hard for Niou. If he hadn't had the painful knee, it might have been easier.
Akaya laughed and switched into muga no kyouchi to use Sanada's fuurinkazan back against Niou.
"Muga no Kyouchi?" Niou gasped and dodged whatever was coming from Akaya.
Sanada was forced to turn his eyes to Akaya, intrigued because it had been years since he'd seen the younger man play so hard. Then again, he'd never seen him that gone in demon mode before either.
Niou was panting a lot harder with every game they played. It wasn't that he had no stamina, oh no, it was just because he chose the wrong opponent to annoy.
After another ball collided with Niou, Sanada stood and walked over to the court, "Enough." He said commandingly then walked toward Akaya, a little concerned about the boy, "Akaya, put the racket down, the match is over."
Akaya watched him and with a sadistic smirk swung the frame of the racket as hard as he could toward Sanada's head.
Grabbing his wrist, Sanada stopped him then with one foot he kicked Akayas legs out from under him, sending him falling to to ground with Sanada's knee on his chest. The smaller boy let out a pained cry and struggled against him, "Let me go! Son of a bitch!!!" He cried out.
"Don't... be ridiculous, Genichirou. I can... still play", Niou panted, but his leg couldn't hold him up. Ouch. Maybe it was time to give up. Even if he hated that word.
"Don't move, Masaharu. Stay." He said sternly, but his voice had a hint of gentleness to it. Sanada held Akaya until he finally stopped squirming and faded back to his normal self. Unfortunately, the younger boy promptly passed out afterward. Sighing, Sanada stood and went over to check on Niou, "Let me see your knees."
Niou sighed. "They're... fine. Just sore for now. ... hey, can Akaya sleep in my room? I wanna be there when he wakes up."
"Ah....that's fine..." Sanada mumbled and carefully felt over Niou's knees, wanting to double check they were ok.
"He seemed so down... so I though tennis would help him..."
"It probably did...." Sanada mumbled and looked over at him, "It's....been over a year since he's done that....I think...his psyche mad have come to rely on it...on the release it gives him..." Sanada mumbled and helped Niou to his feet carefully.
"I'm glad if it did", Niou said and winced. "I wonder if soaking my legs into snow would help"
"I think putting on icepack on it would be sufficient.." Sanada assured and held Niou against his side until he was sure he could stand on his own.
Niou nodded and stood on his own. "Don't worry about me. Help Akaya... I don't think he's waking up too soon."
Sanada nodded and went over to pick up Akaya carefully, holding his kohai protectively against his body. He loved the brat like a brother, even if he wouldn't admit it.
Niou picked stuff on the way while he walked to Sanada, smiling a little. "Such a troublesome kouhai, isn't he?"
Sanada smiled just a hint and moved a little closer to Niou, "Ah...."
Where: Niou’s room and tennis courts.
When: December 26th
What: After Niou’s post to Akaya -- Niou does Akaya a little favor
Warnings: PG-13 For Demon Akaya and his foul mouth
Notes: After this log Akaya slept for a day then walked out of niou’s room in a daze only to fall asleep for another couple days in his room where Fuji will find him >_> and get the nurse to wake him up.
10 minutes or no presents?! Was his senpai crazy? Akaya had pulled on a sweatshirt and jeans and ran out to find the spikey haired trickster, wanting to get his presents. He couldn't believe the other had threatened no presents if he didn't get there in time. Hopefully the other man was in his room, he didn't know where to look.
The trickster wasn't cruel enough to move from his room. He waited patiently for his cute demon kouhai to run to him. It was Christmas after all and he knew how much that meant to Akaya.
Akaya busted through the door without knocking and panting a little from sprinting through the dorm, "made it!" he said happily and looked to Niou expectantly.
"Good boy", Niou said and threw a wrapped present at the kid. "I knew you could do it."
Akaya caught it and looked at him with sparkly eyes, "Can I open it?" He was nearly bouncing in place.
Niou chuckled. "Yes. Why else would you have it?"
Akaya practically shredded the wrapping paper getting it off of the box and looked like he was about to cry he was so happy. He'd had a rather lonely Christmas, it wasn't his fault he was emotional damn it, "Thank you, Niou-senpai!" He chimed and ran over to hug Niou tightly.
Niou wrapped his hands around his kouhai and patted his back. "You're welcome, Akaya. I take it you like it?" Well, it was the first thing that had come to his mind at the store. Since Akaya seemed to like Pokémon.
"Yessss, I've needed a new game, I'm going crazy playing the same one over and over you have no idea," He mumbled and nuzzled close, happy that at least one of his senpai was doing his best to keep him from going bonkers.
"Hey, I know how it feels. When I was a kid, I only had one game for a year, since dad didn't want to buy me anymore since I was caught stealing."
Akaya looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "You stole stuff?"
The older boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, when I was ten."
"What'd ya steal?"
"Mostly candy. Though I never got caught with that.... but when I tried something bigger, like a gameboy, it failed."
"Oooh," Akaya laughed a little, "Fail, senpai," he grinned and sat down on the bed next to him.
"Oh, that was the only notable fail in my youth... I've been awesome, too", Niou smirked and ruffled Akayas hair.
Akaya laughed a little and leaned against the older boy's side, "Yeah, I guess so," He teased and smiled at Niou.
Niou moved his hand from Akayas hair to his other shoulder and smiled a bit. "Sorry for being so distant. Should have taken a better care of my kouhai."
Akaya moved closer and smiled a little, though it was a bit sad looking, "Don't worry 'bout it..I'm a big boy senpai, I'll be alright, 'ventually."
"Aah... I know. I won't push you to tell me or ask for help", Niou said. "But remember that if you need me, I'm here. For anything." It was fairly easy to say. Akaya was important after all. The little kouhai who everyone liked to tease out of affection, because he was the youngest of the group.
"I know, senpai," Akaya said and smiled a bit more genuinely, "I'm alright I guess...I've just felt...wrong lately, ya know?"
"Wrong? How?"
"I...don't really know...I just...I--well for one...I don't think about sex anymore....like ever......."
Niou frowned. Okay, that was something peculiar. A guy who didn't think about sex? Yikes. "Anything else?"
"I....I dunno...I don't even have motivation to play tennis anymore....." God, what was wrong with him? "My mood keeps changing randomly..and I dunno...it's weird...."
Niou petted his kouhais hair absenmindely. "That does sound bad", he said with a nod. "What if you force yourself to play tennis... against me for example? That might get you back up to spirits."
"You think so?" Akaya thought about it for a bit then shrugged, "Sure, I guess I could try it....maybe it will keep me from doing something stupid....."
Niou got up from the bed. "C'mon. Let's go and try it out right now. I¨haven't played in a while either so it'll do us both good."
Akaya nodded and got up as well, "Can I just borrow one of your rackets?" He was far too lazy to go back to his room and get his own.
The older boy nodded at the tennis bag in the corner. "Sure, help yourself. I have my regular one here anyway:"
Nodding a little in thanks Akaya ran over to grab the tennis bag and looked to Niou expectantly, "Ready?"
"Just a sec", Niou grabbed a few balls to take with them. "Alright, now. I haven't been on the inside courts, so you lead the way."
Akaya nodded and started toward the courts, almost nervous to be playing tennis against one of his senpai. Niou was a dangerous opponent and since he didn't go demon mode, or even bloodshot, anymore it was going to be really difficult.
Niou followed the kouhai quietly, thinking about what might have been the problem. Akaya didn't seem as confident as always. "Remember, I'm not going to hold back and neither should you."
"Yeah, I know," Akaya said and pulled the bag a little further on his shoulder. Maybe his mom was right and he was bipolar. He really didn't want to take medicine though, he always reacted badly to medicine....
"Want to to warm ups before going for it for real or just go with it?"
"Let's just go with it, I think running to your room was enough of a warm up....Not to mention fukubuchou gave me laps for no good reason....."
"That cruel, cruel man", Niou sighed in mock drama.
"You're the one who loves said cruel cruel man," Akaya smirked over at him, though it lacked most of his cockiness.
If Niou would have been the type to blush, he would have. "Pfft", he said simply and then stopped to stretch a little, since it seemed that they had arrived in.
Akaya put down the bag and stretched as well, "It's cool though...that you like fukubuchou so much," Back when they were younger Akaya had loved Sanada a lot, but now it had moved more into a familial kind of love, not that he wouldn't mind sleeping with the other man, but still, "Are you guys actually together?"
Niou shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to read him."
"Really? He's always seemed so straight forward," Akaya raised an eyebrow and looked at Niou curiously, glad the conversation wasn't on him anymore.
"Yeah, but hey... do you except to see his emotions straight from his face? Because it's not happening."
"No...but his body language is pretty easy to read...." Akaya had gotten used to paying close attention to Sanada's body language to decided if it was safe to talk to the other man or now. It was a survival instinct.
Niou laughed a little. "Yeah. Get a little too close to him and he gets excited," he grinned and walked to the other side of the court.
Akaya raised an eyebrow then laughed a little, "Oh? Maybe I'll have to give it a try."
Niou shot a serious glare at Akaya. "Don't even think about it."
Akaya laughed again and took his side of the court, "Alright, alright, relax senpai."
Yeah, Niou knew Akaya wasn't that serious, but somehow he had a way of getting really jealous when he though about Sanada with anyone else. "You serve", Niou said and threw a ball for Akaya.
Akaya caught the ball and without hesitation sent a knuckle serve over the net. He liked how jealous Niou got, it meant he was serious and he wouldn't let anyone who wasnt serious pursue his fukubuchou seriously.
Niou had already made himself prepared for the act, and used Tezuka's Hyakuten Jitoku no Kiwami to send the knuckle serve back as double. Tezuka was a good choice for starters, though if it would fail, Niou had trained himself to change his illusions during match more easily.
Damn. He knew playing Niou would be a bitch. Sending the ball back his eyes narrowed as he focused.
"You can do better than this, Akaya!" Niou yelled as himself, returning the ball normally. "Or have you gone weak over the years?"
"Shut up," Akaya snapped and returned the ball. He hated to admit he was weaker now that he couldn't go bloodshot or demon. He played regular tennis better than most, but he had lost everything that made him a formidable player.
Niou shook his head. "Weak, weak. This way you'll never beat the demons", he said as he returned the ball to a far right corner. "This way you'll only be a low rate trash can." He wasn't sure why he provoked and said something like that, but it felt like it was a for the better... in some weird way.
Akaya glared over the net as he missed the ball. Niou was irritating him and he was doing it on purpose. Was he doing it to distract him? If so, he was doing a damn good job.
"Love-15... C'mon. Let's not waste time. I want to finish this under 15 minutes", Niou said as he had turned into an illusion of Akaya for a minute. He wasn't that good at him yet, but he could annoy him with it.
Akayas eyes widened for a moment at that then he trudged over to serve, "Bastard..." He grumbled and served hard again. He couldn't let Niou distract him, he had to focus.
Oh, right. And there was probably something that would make Akaya even more annoyed. Losing to one of the Rikkai demons. Niou took a pose and fired Fuu of Sanadas Fuurinkazan. "Swift like the wind."
Sanada. He had to pick Sanada. The ball whizzed past Akaya and he felt his anger grow. Niou was a bastard sometimes and if he wasn't his senpai he'd hit him for this.
"What's wrong, Akaya? Giving up already?" Niou continued as Sanada. Because it obviously had annoyed the younger boy.
"Shut up!" It wasn't his fault he couldn't do it anymore. Everyone had worked so hard to stop his use of demon mode and after a while bloodshot had disappeared with it, it was their fault he was bad at tennis now. Not his.
"Do you want to be a loser forever? Pull yourself together! Serve!" Niou though of things to say... finally he just said. "Beat me to the ground, you seaweed bastard!"
There was a familiar tug in his chest and Akaya tried to ignore it, but god Niou was playing too well he wouldn't win like this, "I'll dye you red you son of a bitch," Akaya snapped, glaring over the net as he served.
Niou kept his cool and kept his Sanda illusion on. Somehow he knew that making Akaya angry would help something... at least he seemed a lot better no. After rallying a while Niou used Ka "Invade like fire!"
Akaya fought as hard as he could, but Niou broke his service game far too easily and by the end of the game he was sweating and shaking a little. Sanada's tennis wasn't nearly as bad as Yukimura's tennis, but it was still damn near impossible to beat and it pissed him off. Since when had Niou been able to mimic the fuurinkazan so well? Had it really been that long since he'd played the other man?
"I'll keep going now", Niou said . "Because this was just a warm up." Yeah, Akaya illusion might have been incomplete, but knuckle serve wasn't that hard to mimic, really, so he was able to send it off like it was a real one.
Akaya returned the serve, barely, and glared over at Niou. He couldn't let himself fall to Niou's pace, he had to catch him off guard somehow, "What the matter senpai, dont have any moves of your own?"
Niou smirked quietly. "Oh, I do have a move or two of my own, but if I use them, you'll be the one dyed red."
"Bring it on, old man," Akaya snapped and smashed the ball when it came back over the net.
"You asked for it", Niou shrugged and shot a ball that seemed like it was going far up. In reality it was just meant to give that illusion to the opponent. The real ball went straight for Akayas face.
Akaya's eyes followed the ball and he backed up a little, waiting for it to fall, but before he had a chance to notice the illusion the ball collided with his face and he fell back hard onto the court.
A normal senpai would have ran over to ask how Akaya was. Not in Rikkai. Never in Rikkai. "What's wrong? Can't get up anymore?"
"G-go to hell.....bas-bastard..." Akaya snapped and slowly got up to his feet again, his posture looking like he would be in demon mode, but his eyes were only slightly pink as he turned around to glare at Niou. Never lose even when you're at your worst and it's a hopeless situation. Never lose. He could hear Sanada's words in his head and he picked up his racket again.
"Finally, you're starting to show more spirit", Niou said and grinned. "Though, we need to fix your eyes a bit. Here I go." This time the serve was normal, even if quite heavy.
Akaya returned the serve, his moves becoming more confident. He returned the ball faster as well.
Niou made the younger boy run a little in the rally. Finally in a little while, he tried his illusion shot again to see how he would react.
Akaya started to follow the ball again then cursed when he realized it was that shot. Again it pegged him in the face and he fell back to the ground.
Niou sighed in mock drama. "Oh, I'm sorry. I have no control over it."
"Ass..." Akaya grumbled and pushed himself up to his feet again, racket in hand. He turned around to look at Niou, this time his eyes were blood red. It had been so long, his blood was pounding in his ears and he could hardly hear anything anymore, "Now....the real game starts..."
Niou smiled. "Finally", he said as he served again.
Akaya's play started looking like it used to, his attacks carefully planned and vicious. His aim; Niou's knees.
The ball was well aimed. Niou was able to dodge it so it didn't hit the knee badly, but still he winced as it hit it. "Damn..."
Akaya cackled and pointed his racket at Niou, "What's wrong? Ready to quit, Niou-senpai?"
"Heh... never", he said as he served again, ignoring´the pain on his knee.
Akaya returned the ball and waited for an opening again to take a shot at Niou's knee again.
Niou winced again. "Ouch... you truly are a bastard, you know that?"
"Learned it all from my senpai," Akaya purred and smirked over at Niou. He was a very harsh player when he was pushed too far.
"Know which senpai might that be? I'd need to thank him", Niou said with a chuckle and served again.
Akaya growled a little and returned the ball, ready to aim for Niou's knees again, "Come on, senpai....give me a real challenge," He cackled again, looking like his normal chibi demon self again. He'd forgotten how fun destroying someone could be.
Niou was this time prepared and returned the ball that was aiming for his knee with another illusion shot.
Akaya once again was unable to see the ball and it hit him square in the face, sending him back to the court, "f--fuck..."
This was one hell of a crazy game... "Get up. Get up you bastard", Niou panted and winced as his knee a little.
Climbing to his feet slowly, Akaya staggered a little, before wiping at the blood from his nose. He stared at the blood for a long moment before he just started laughing like a mad man. His skin turned a light shade of red and he turned to face Niou in full demon mode. Akaya was gone.
"... well, damn", Niou said with a minor dose of fear added to the mix. "I guess this means playtime is over."
"My play time's just starting~" The devil chimed happily and let out another one of the chilling giggles, "Serve, let's end this."
Well, it was still rather refreshing to see Akaya in that mode again, even though it meant it would probably hurt. A lot. Niou served again.
In a second, Akaya was behind the ball and returning it, aiming straight for Niou's face.
Niou was able to but his racquet in front of his face before it hit his face, causing it to lob high.
Akaya waited patiently for the ball to bounce once then smashed it toward Niou's knee, looking like he was enjoying himself immensely.
This time Nious knee couldn't take much more, so he found himself on his knees on the tennis court, panting a little more. He still wasn't completely recovered from Sanada's beating, so it was hard on him.
Sanada was walking toward the courts, planning on serving for a while when he heard the sound of that laugh. He knew that laugh and he would never be able to forget it. Running, he threw open the door of the indoor courts and his eyes widened when he saw Niou on his knees and Akaya on the other side of the court in full demon mode and cackling, "Shit..." He murmured and walked in, letting the door slam shut behind him, "AKAYA!" He yelled, in full fukubuchou mode.
Enter Sanada. Niou was glad to see then man, though, the match was just starting. at least Sanada would be able to hold Akaya back if he decided to murder his opponent. He got back up, painfully, but surely. "Alright... serve, Akaya."
Akaya looked over to Sanada with excited eyes. A real challenge. When Niou spoke though he turned his eyes back to Niou, "Yes, senpai," the demon laughed and went to the baseline.
Sanada frowned and walked over to the bench on Niou's side, watching his friend and underling carefully, "Don't overdo it...."
"I got it under control", Niou said, though he as pretty sure he didn't. At least Sanada would end the game if it would become too dangerous, right?
Sanada nodded but kept his eyes on Niou, watching the way he moved, the way he breathed, everything.
Akaya bounced the ball once before rocking back and letting a powerful serve rocket across the net.
Not an impossible serve to return, but hard for Niou. If he hadn't had the painful knee, it might have been easier.
Akaya laughed and switched into muga no kyouchi to use Sanada's fuurinkazan back against Niou.
"Muga no Kyouchi?" Niou gasped and dodged whatever was coming from Akaya.
Sanada was forced to turn his eyes to Akaya, intrigued because it had been years since he'd seen the younger man play so hard. Then again, he'd never seen him that gone in demon mode before either.
Niou was panting a lot harder with every game they played. It wasn't that he had no stamina, oh no, it was just because he chose the wrong opponent to annoy.
After another ball collided with Niou, Sanada stood and walked over to the court, "Enough." He said commandingly then walked toward Akaya, a little concerned about the boy, "Akaya, put the racket down, the match is over."
Akaya watched him and with a sadistic smirk swung the frame of the racket as hard as he could toward Sanada's head.
Grabbing his wrist, Sanada stopped him then with one foot he kicked Akayas legs out from under him, sending him falling to to ground with Sanada's knee on his chest. The smaller boy let out a pained cry and struggled against him, "Let me go! Son of a bitch!!!" He cried out.
"Don't... be ridiculous, Genichirou. I can... still play", Niou panted, but his leg couldn't hold him up. Ouch. Maybe it was time to give up. Even if he hated that word.
"Don't move, Masaharu. Stay." He said sternly, but his voice had a hint of gentleness to it. Sanada held Akaya until he finally stopped squirming and faded back to his normal self. Unfortunately, the younger boy promptly passed out afterward. Sighing, Sanada stood and went over to check on Niou, "Let me see your knees."
Niou sighed. "They're... fine. Just sore for now. ... hey, can Akaya sleep in my room? I wanna be there when he wakes up."
"Ah....that's fine..." Sanada mumbled and carefully felt over Niou's knees, wanting to double check they were ok.
"He seemed so down... so I though tennis would help him..."
"It probably did...." Sanada mumbled and looked over at him, "It's....been over a year since he's done that....I think...his psyche mad have come to rely on it...on the release it gives him..." Sanada mumbled and helped Niou to his feet carefully.
"I'm glad if it did", Niou said and winced. "I wonder if soaking my legs into snow would help"
"I think putting on icepack on it would be sufficient.." Sanada assured and held Niou against his side until he was sure he could stand on his own.
Niou nodded and stood on his own. "Don't worry about me. Help Akaya... I don't think he's waking up too soon."
Sanada nodded and went over to pick up Akaya carefully, holding his kohai protectively against his body. He loved the brat like a brother, even if he wouldn't admit it.
Niou picked stuff on the way while he walked to Sanada, smiling a little. "Such a troublesome kouhai, isn't he?"
Sanada smiled just a hint and moved a little closer to Niou, "Ah...."