because of hamlet
HUZZAH I AM FINISHED LYZOMG.
-ded-
please forgive for possible OOCness. ;_;
Title: Because of Hamlet
Author: ieatchu / shikanashi_kk
Rating: R
Genre: romance, fluff, some drama
Pairing: AkaBun, Maruihara, and some Marui/Kirihara/Fuji S.
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and all of its characters do not and never will belong to me.
Summary: Kirihara wonders why Marui always cries when they do it, and Marui wonders why Kirihara has stopped touching him.
b e c a u s e o f h a m l e t
Contrary to popular belief, Kirihara Akaya is actually a very polite person. He greets his elders with respect, bows, uses the right suffixes, and listens when other people are talking, but it seems that today, Kirihara has allowed himself to forget his manners. As his vice-captain lectures him about his dropping grades, he allows his mind to shut down from the real world and roam in a land of imagination and memories, specifically yesterday at 8 PM.
Remembering sex with Marui never fails to turn Kirihara on, even if he is in the midst of a tennis match, but apparently, that statement stands corrected as he takes notes of every detail from memory. He remembers how that little bead of sweat forms on Marui's temple, before finally falling down the side of his face as he bucks his hips upwards. He remembers how Marui held the sheets under them the whole time, whilst the other was busy gripping Kirihara's shoulder with enough strength to leave a bruise. He remembers how his name falls from Marui's lips as he gives another deep thrust, how husky and breathless it sounded, and yet his lower regions remains apathetic to what his brain is conjuring up.
However, impotence is the least of Kirihara's problems.
He also remembers how the tears form in his upperclassman's eyes as he pulls back, and how the tears fall as he pushes. It had been just a week ago that Kirihara noticed that Marui was crying as they did it, and he thought that maybe he was just a little bit too forceful at that time, but to his dismay, Marui had cried as well when they did it on Saturday, and on Tuesday, and yesterday as well. It started out as just an observation, but it soon started to plague his thoughts, and Kirihara found himself thinking about it all the time, that there wasn't any left to do his homework, to study, or to finish his video games.
"Akaya, are you listening?"
"Yes, sempai." was his automatic response.
Sanada gave him a raised eyebrow that implied that he didn't think so, yet he simply decided to give a firm nod. "Remember what I said, Akaya. I will personally drop you from the club if you happen to forget. Now, get back to practice." He gave Kirihara one last glare that showed that he meant what he said, before he turned away and walked towards the courts.
Kirihara watched him walk away, staring, and as his vice-captain turned the corner, he gave a startled yelp as someone's elbow made a direct contact with his stomach. "What the hell?!" He turned, ready to give whoever it was a good beating, verbally and physically, before he paused and blinked. "Oh. It's just you, Niou-sempai, Marui-sempai."
Niou raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'oh, it's just you'? I'm insulted, Akaya." He grinned, throwing an arm over his junior's shoulders to ruffle his hair, to which Kirihara yelped and glared, but he didn't pull away.
"So?" Marui blew a bubble after he asked, popping it right after. "What did Sanada tell you?"
Kirihara blinked, opened his mouth, and then closed it. He hummed thoughtfully, before blinking yet again. "I forgot."
Niou and Marui looked at each other, before both of them immediately started laughing, and Kirihara felt a little peeved by being the object of their humor.
"Ah, Akaya! You're going to get it one day if you ignore Sanada like that, you know?" Marui grinned, reaching up to clamp a hand over Kirihara's shoulder, but it never made contact, because Kirihara decided to pull away from Niou's grip during the same moment.
"Ah, whatever. I'm going to remember it later anyway." He waved it off, giving his sempais a cocky grin before turning and running towards the courts. "See you later, sempai!"
And he ran off, leaving Niou and Marui staring at Marui's hand, bewildered and confused.
iii
It was nearing summer, and the heat was starting to get unbearable, but Kirihara simply chose to ignore it as he ran around the courts, punishment for being late when Sanada specifically told him to get back to practice. It was his ninth lap now, meaning one more before he can finally get back and do some real tennis. He pretty much had on a sour expression during his running, grumbling about how Niou and Marui didn't run laps even when they were later than he was.
He glanced at the courts, before immediately tearing his eyes away again, because the sight of Niou and Marui laughing so freely together made his head hurt. He probably didn't even have the right to be jealous, because technically speaking, he and Marui-sempai wasn't even an item. So maybe he said 'I like you! Please go out with me!' and maybe Marui replied with an 'Okay.', but that didn't mean that Marui liked him back. Maybe that was the reason why he would always cry in the middle of it? Because he was doing it with someone he didn't like?
Kirihara frowned. Even if it was possible that he was just doing it out of sympathy, Marui wasn't that nice. Maybe he was just being too forceful. His frown got deeper. Obviously, Marui would tell him if he was too forceful, right?
“Akaya."
He stopped running, giving Jackal a confused and annoyed look due to the fact that he was rudely stopped in the middle of his run. "What?"
Jackal stared at him, before stating bluntly, "That's your twelfth lap."
Kirihara blinked. "Oh." He flushed, turning bright red as he realized that it was, in fact, his twelfth lap already. A few feet away, Marui and Niou were having the time of their lives suppressing their laughter, and Kirihara turned an even brighter shade of red, giving the two of them an annoyed glare as a snigger reached his ears. "Hey!"
"Akaya!"
He winced at how scolding Sanada sounded, and he immediately came to the conclusion that whatever the vice-captain had to say next, it was not good for him. He turned, looking at Sanada and Yanagi standing together. He paused, squinting at the small, amused grin that rested on Yanagi's lips. Definitely not good.
"Ten more laps!"
He jumped, "What?! But I just did twelve!"
"Twenty!"
He groaned. He rubbed his temples, growling under his breath. Kirihara Akaya and patience did not go well together, but it was a good thing that Jackal was there to give him a sympathetic pat on the back to remind him that patience was a virtue, and he needed to have more patience lest he be forced to run more laps.
" Akaya, you got it bad." Marui grinned, walking over to give him a pat on the back as well.
Kirihara gave another mournful groan, before running off and starting on his twenty laps, not even noticing that he had just left Marui with a hand in mid-air.
He ran off, groaning about uptight vice-captains, leaving Jackal and Marui staring at Marui's hand in bewilderment and confusion
iii
It was the end of club time already, and everyone was starting to pack up. After finally finding Jackal's shaver ("Don't be so careless next time, Jackal!" ), waiting for Kirihara to finish threaten a second-year to tell him the homework because he forgot to write it down ("P-page 142 for Math, a-and an e-essay about page 53 in Science, and... and... to bring Hamlet tomorrow for English!" ), and waiting for the cake that they ordered, everyone was set to go to the hospital to visit their captain.
As usual, Yukimura greeted them with a smile.
"Buchou!" Marui grinned, presenting the box of cake. "It's mocha this time."
"Ahh... Thank you."
"How's your condition, Yukimura?" Sanada asked, stepping aside, careful not to be included in the fight that Marui was having against Niou and Jackal, because the tensai wouldn't leave the cake alone.
"I'm doing better." Yukimura replied, watching the antics of his team members with an amused smile. "How's the team?"
Yanagi answered, a smile of his own appearing on his face, "Doing better as well."
Sanada frowned, "But not enough."
The rest of their conversation, as well as the noises that Marui, Niou and Jackal were making disappeared in Kirihara's ears. He was simply staring at the now abused cake, mind roaming yet again to the events of yesterday in his sempai's house. During the hours he spent thinking about it for the last week, he came up with only one possible conclusion: that he was being too forceful.
Well, it was near possibility. He knew Marui enough to know that he wouldn't let himself be pushed by anyone, least of all by someone younger than him. After all, that was one of the traits that endeared Marui to him, but out of all the reasons that he came up, he figured that that was the only one believable. Maybe Marui had some sort of sadomasochism fetish inside? He snorted. If he liked the pain, then why would he cry? (although the thought of doing bondage with Marui did sound tempting.)
"Akaya?"
He blinked, snapping out of his thoughts as he stared at Yagyuu. "Yeah?"
"I overheard your conversation with Sanada earlier."
Although he had already forgotten just what the conversation was about, Kirihara glared because he didn't like the thought of someone listening in any of his conversations with anyone. Yagyuu, however, proved to be unfazed by his glare, for he simply raised his glasses and continued in the same, calm voice. "I'd love to help if you're having problems with your studies."
Ooooh, so that was what they were talking about. Kirihara shrugged, "Thanks for the offer, sempai, but I can take this one." He said, waving it off with that arrogant tone that he is proud to have perfected.
"If you're sure." Yagyuu shrugged as well.
Silence between ensued for a while, before Kirihara was suddenly reminded of the homework he needed to do. Bring Hamlet? He hadn't even bought the book. Sadly, he was a bit broke this week. Maybe he could threaten his classmate to give him the book? With a sigh, he turned to Yagyuu, "Yagyuu-sempai, do you know where I can buy Hamlet for a really, really, really cheap price?"
Yagyuu raised an eyebrow at him, before pushing his glasses upwards again. "I don't know where you can find it for a really, really, really cheap price, although I do know where you can buy it half the price than you would in other bookstores."
"Really? That'd save me a lot of money." Kirihara grinned, patting his back pocket to feel for his wallet. "I've been a bit broke these days."
"There's a bookstore in front of the train station that just opened up. It closes at 7 PM, but on Fridays, it closes at 5:30 PM."
"What?" Kirihara exclaimed before he could stop himself, "But it's already 5:10!"
Apparently, the whole room heard his outburst, as Kirihara suddenly realized that he was now the object of attention.
Yukimura blinked at him, "Are you in a hurry, Akaya?"
Kirihara needed only one look at his watch to nod with fervor. "Sorry, buchou, but I have to run!"
Yukimura nodded, "Be careful on your way home."
Kirihara nodded back, all but ready to run for it, but as he did so, a hand grabbed his arm. He turned back, annoyed, "What is it, Yagyuu-sempai?"
"I advise you to hurry. It's already 5:17 in my watch."
Kirihara cursed, turning around once again to leave.
"Ah, Akaya!"
He stopped. "Marui-sempai?"
Marui looked at him with bits of cake stuck to his face, walking over to him to give him an enthusiastic pat on the back. "We're planning on watching that new action movie that just came out last week. Wanna come?"
A 'sure' was already forming on Kirihara's mouth, but something about page 142 and page 53 stopped him, and he finally bolted for the door, shouting his goodbye as he ran down the hallway of the hospital, not at all caring at how the nurses looked at him with disapproval. "Not this time, Marui-sempai! I've got stuff to do! See ya!"
Back at the room, everyone tore their eyes away from the door to stare at Marui's hand in mid-air in bewilderment and confusion.
Had he turned back, he would have seen Marui's eyebrows knit together as he bites his lower lip, an expression full of emotions on his face.
iii
By the time Kirihara arrived at the front station, he was sweating and panting and trying to reclaim his breath. The clock there read 5:26, and he searched for the bookstore that his sempai had instructed him to go to. It wasn't hard. After all, there was only one bookstore in the vicinity, and although it was rather small, the big orchids that decorated the front of the recently opened store definitely gave it away. He was happy to see the OPEN sign on the door, and he immediately walked in, just in case the storeowner decided to close four minutes early.
Hamlet was a rather easy find in the Classic's section. All he had to do was look for Shakespeare. With a relieved sigh, he took it from the bookshelf, and was on his way to the counter when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. He turned, only to be surprised at the familiar face that greeted him.
The smile that was already on the person's face merely widened. "Ah! So it is Rikkaidai's Kirihara Akaya. What a coincidence meeting you here."
The only words that he could muster were "Seigaku's Fuji Syusuke." in a dumbfounded voice.
"What are you doing here?" Fuji asked, taking a look at the book in Kirihara's hands. "Hamlet?"
"For English." He all but grumbled.
"I have one just like it. Would you care to borrow it?"
Kirihara's ears perked up. Unconsciously, his hand traveled to his back pocket yet again, feeling for his nearly empty wallet. "Is it really alright?"
Fuji's smile widened further. "Of course, although I won't be able to lend it to you now since it's at home. Are you free tomorrow?"
Again, Kirihara's thoughts ventured back to something essays and pages, but if it was for the sake of homework as well, then why not? "Sure. That's fine with me."
"Good then." Fuji hummed thoughtfully, thinking up of a time and place. "Then meet me in front of the cinema house by 2 PM. Is that okay?"
Kirihara nodded with fervor, happy to at least be saved from unnecessary (for him, anyway, although his English teacher would be more than happy to beg to differ) spending. "Thanks!" He grinned as his eyes caught sight of Fuji's tennis equipment. "And since we're already here, why don't we have a rematch?"
Fuji gave a small laugh. "Tempting, but not today. I promised my sister I'd help her with the cleaning."
Kirihara crossed his arms, "Tomorrow?"
The small laugh got bigger. "I promised Eiji I'd watch that new action movie with him."
"Ch'. Fine." He huffed in annoyance, walking back to the shelf to return the book. "Thanks again."
He waved as he said his goodbye, leaving the store, but not before seeing the shoujo manga held within Fuji's grip. He snickered quietly to himself, before suddenly realizing that he pretty much just wasted his time running all the way from the hospital. With a mournful sigh, he headed towards home.
iii
Kirihara didn't have much sleep that night.
Lying in his bed brought back images of yesterday, and images of yesterday brought back his theories, and his theories brought back his insecurities. He wasn't being too forceful. After all, he made it a point to himself not to lose control, even if it was very much tempting to do so, what with how Marui moans his name like that. Besides, he also made sure to wait for Marui's nod before moving. If anything, Marui was the one forceful. Just one firm press at his shoulder was enough to make him wince as he remembered how tight Marui gripped.
Or maybe it was some psychological, emotional thing. Maybe Marui had just planned on using him to rid of his sexual temptations, all the while thinking of someone else, which leads to his crying, since that makes him remember why he was doing it with Kirihara instead.
Once that thought popped in Kirihara's head, he immediately scratched it out and refused to think about it ever again.
Needless to say, Kirihara looked horrible when he looked in the mirror that morning.
Fortunately, some of the horribleness disappeared by the afternoon, so he hoped, since it seemed that Fuji wasn't snickering, but it was Seigaku's Fuji, and who knew what went on inside that mind of his?
iii
"Did something happen?" Yagyuu was the first to bring it up as they ate their lunch in the fast-food joint in front of the cinema house, where they planned on watching the movie at the screening time of 3 PM.
It took Marui a few seconds to realize that the question was pointed at him, since everyone around the table suddenly started to look at him. "Happen? Whaddya mean?"
"I mean," Yagyuu said, pushing his glasses up to get a better look at the tensai's confused expression, "Did something happen between you and Akaya?"
At that, Marui frowned, and the spoon that was just dipping in and out of his ice cream sundae a few moments ago stopped moving. "I don't know. Everything was fine when we were at my house just the other day before. When he left, nothing was wrong. The next day, the first time I saw him was after Sanada talked with him, and he was already acting weird then." He hummed thoughtfully, taking a spoonful of his sundae and shoving it inside his mouth.
Niou shrugged, "Maybe it had something to do with what he talked with Sanada? Like some new no-touching policy?" He snorted.
"But he doesn't move away when we touch him." Jackal informed him.
"And besides, that's impossible." Yagyuu added, "I heard what he talked with Sanada."
"Really?" Niou's ears perked up, "What?"
"Apparently, Akaya’s grades have been dropping. Sanada just called him over to give him a reality check."
Jackal shrugged, "Maybe that's why he's been so up in the clouds lately?"
"That still doesn't explain why he always moves away when I reach for him." Marui grumbled, taking more of his ice cream. "It's weird." Even more so since it's always been Kirihara who was eager for touch between them, but Marui decided to keep that little information to himself.
"Actually, I thought that he'd be enthusiastic to be watching this movie, since he was the one so eager about it when it first came out last week." Niou said thoughtfully, getting a big bite from his cheeseburger as he did so.
"Maybe he's studying?" Yagyuu shrugged.
Jackal laughed, "Somehow, Akaya and studying don't go well together."
Marui laughed in agreement, but if it wasn't studying, then what did he have to do? Errands for his family? He thought it over as he ate one scoop of ice cream after another. And exactly why has Kirihara been moving away from him? If he thought about it, Kirihara also hadn't tried kissing him yesterday, which was rather unusual. He frowned. Everything was fine, so what happened?
He wouldn't admit that it bothered more than he cared to show, so much that he even had trouble sleeping the night before as he looked up at his ceiling whilst scratching at his mouth, remembering the feel of Kirihara on his lips. He was just... so used to Kirihara touching him that when Kirihara didn't touch him, it felt strange, as if something was missing, and that feeling sort of made him go into withdrawal.
Suddenly, bits and pieces of meshed up cheeseburger were strewn on the table, courtesy of Niou. Yagyuu frowned in disgust, "Niou!" but Niou wasn't listening, because he had on this shocked, dumbfounded look as he stared out the window with wide eyes. "Is that... Seigaku's Fuji Syusuke?"
Everyone turned to look and Marui frowned in annoyance. "Yeah, so what?"
Niou pointed further right. "And that's... Akaya, right? Right?"
"What?" Marui immediately to look, and sure enough, there was Kirihara walking towards the cinema house and... and... "He's with Fuji?!"
iii
"Sorry, I'm late." Kirihara shrugged, rubbing the back of his head as he said his greeting.
"Don't worry about it." Fuji chuckled, but once he took a closer look at Kirihara's face, the smile turned into a frown. He lifted a hand, letting a finger trace the skin under Kirihara's eye. "You have eye bags, Kirihara. You look horrible."
Kirihara huffed, "Gee, thanks."
Fuji laughed slightly, taking his hand back, "As an athlete, you should take care of your body more."
"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled. "Your friend not here yet?"
Fuji shook his head, "I told him to meet me at 2:30." He reached inside his bag and took out the book. "Here's Hamlet."
Kirihara took it with glee, happy to save his wallet from torture. "Thanks again!"
"Don't mention it." Fuji waved it off with a smile, "Would you care to join us, Kirihara?"
Kirihara scrunched up his nose as he shook his head, "Got stuff to do. I already turned down my teammates yesterday." Besides, Sanada would probably skewer him if he found out that he watched movies with an opponent, least of all Seigaku. "Thanks, anyway. Oh, and I'll just drop by Seigaku when I'm done with this." He pointed to the book, grinning. "See you soo --" He stopped, particularly because some had just grabbed his wrist roughly from behind. He turned and glared, wondering who the hell had the guts to do so, when he caught sight of his sempai, and his jaw dropped in shock.
"Ah." Fuji hummed thoughtfully, "Rikkadai's Marui Bunta, am I right?"
Marui simply glared at him, a spiteful look on his face, before he turned, and started walking away, dragging Kirihara with him. "Let's go, Kirihara."
"Wha -- hey! Marui-sempai, don't drag!" Kirihara exclaimed, not really sure if Marui heard him. He turned back, shouting, "Thanks, Fuji!" and he was gone as Marui dragged him around the corner.
"You're... welcome." Needless to say, Fuji was left dumbfounded as he said his parting words to pretty much just the wind.
iii
Kirihara's arrogance did not leave him enough space in his personality to feel awkwardness, especially when it's with his teammates. Even when he first joined the tennis club, there wasn't an ounce of awkwardness in him as he looked at the other members in the eye, but honestly, who wouldn't feel awkward when you have your sempais around you in the park with their arms crossed as you wait for them to talk when it seems like they weren't going to be talking at all soon?
Kirihara frowned, annoyance getting the better of him, "What?"
Yagyuu was the first to speak. "Explain." It fell from his lips flatly and Kirihara wondered what he did wrong this time.
"Explain what?"
Marui opened his mouth to reply, but it seemed that he thought better of it since he closed it immediately after. Instead, he settled for a small mutter, "I thought you had something to do today?"
"I did!" Kirihara answered, before immediately correcting himself, "I do."
Niou sighed heavily, pointing at him with an accusing finger, "Yeah, you do, but then we see you with Seigaku's Fuji Syusuke!"
"What?!" Kirihara blinked up at him, totally dumbfounded. "But he was just helping me!"
"Helping you with what?" Jackal raised an eyebrow.
Kirihara had just about enough of their accusing attitude, and he pretty much growled his next reply, "English! He just lent me his copy of Hamlet!"
It took a few seconds for that to register in their brain, but when it did, a look of realization crossed their faces, and only one word slipped past their lips, "Oh."
Another awkward silence filled the air, at least until Niou started laughing, and soon after, the rest followed, but Kirihara still wasn't amused, after being so rudely dragged and interrogated. After a good, long while of laughing, Niou pushed Marui, grinning, "It's your fault for suddenly going out of the store, you know."
Marui flushed, and he glared, "Well, what did you want me to do?"
"Sit and wait?"
He turned even more crimson. "It was Seigaku's Fuji." He said stubbornly, as if that would explain everything, but by the look of amused disbelief on his teammate's faces -- save for Kirihara, who was still seething quietly -- it obviously didn't.
"You even left your ice cream half-eaten." Yagyuu shrugged, "I was surprised."
Marui huffed, hastily grabbing that packet of gum in his pocket to get something to occupy his mouth with to satisfy his irritation -- and to save him from further embarrassment. "I'll buy another one later in the movie anyway."
"Ah, the movie!" Jackal exclaimed, to which Niou simply replied with a nonchalant grin.
"Relax. It's only 2:15."
A growl caught their attention, and they looked back at Kirihara, who was looking obviously pissed by that time. "Well, if you're done wasting my time, sempai, I'm going home." He shoved his hands down his pockets as he turned to leave.
Marui stepped forward, "Ah, Akaya! Since you've done what you had to do, why don't you watc --" He reached out, grabbing Kirihara's hand. As immediately as he did so, Kirihara's hand instinctively pulled back, as if it just got burned.
What followed afterwards was an awkward silence among all of them as Marui and Kirihara stood in front of each other, both frozen. Marui was looking distantly at his hand, while Kirihara was looking at his own in wonder, surprised at himself. "Marui-sempai," He started, but couldn't find the words to finish.
The distant look along with the display of emotions in Marui's face certainly made his heart twist, but as he thought about it, what did just happen? He was looking at his hand in amazement and confusion, totally lost in his thoughts that when a strangled noise came from his sempai, it nearly made his heart skip a beat in shock. Marui was looking at him, eyebrows knitted, an angry look on his face, and Kirihara wondered what he did wrong, but the time to ponder on that thought obviously wasn't granted to him as again, he was dragged by the arm by the red-haired tensai, who was gripping his lower arm with enough force to make sure that he wouldn't be able to pull back if he did, but in Kirihara's state of confusion, pulling back didn't even occur to him.
He watched dumbly as Marui dragged him away from their teammates, who was looking as dumbfounded as he was, and the only thought that stayed on his mind as Marui dragged him away from the urban community and as nails dug into his arm was what just happened?.
iii
Marui had thrown out his gum, and was now standing in front of him. Kirihara wouldn't be so concerned, even if his sempai had on that flat look with his arms crossed, but the fact that he was standing there gum-less, candy-less, foodless was what scared Kirihara the most. He shifted in his seat on Marui's bed, waiting for the other to speak, but when minutes passed and it became obvious to him that Marui wasn't going to start speaking soon, he cleared his throat.
But when a syllable finally forced itself out of his mouth, it fell on deaf ears as the rest of the word and what he had to say became jumbled in his throat, because Marui was kissing him and Marui was kissing him hard. Marui never kissed him hard. Heck, Marui never kissed him. He would kiss back, but kisses would always have to be initiated by Kirihara, as if they had some silent agreement when Marui agreed to go out with him, but Marui was breaking that agreement right now by pushing him down on the bed forcefully, and shoving his tongue down his kohai's mouth with no grace whatsoever.
Kirihara wouldn't be complaining, because oh, Marui was grinding their hips together, but it felt... weird, because it felt like Marui was touching him for the wrong reasons. For a brief moment, Kirihara's thoughts came back to that little theory of his, that maybe his sempai was just using him to get rid of emotional stress, when in fact, he was thinking about another person all along. He made a strangled noise in his throat, trying to signal the other to stop, but instead of stopping, Marui shoved his hand down his pants, and Kirihara made an unmanly noise, before finally finding it himself to throw Marui off of him.
A harsh thud reached his ears, followed by a pained yelp, and just like that, guilt started eating at him. "Marui-sempai, I --" And his eyes widened because Marui was crying, and oh, god, it made him remember his insecurities, but he pushed that thought back to his head, because that didn't matter right now, because they weren't having sex but Marui was crying. "Marui-sempai..."
Marui glared at him through teary eyes, hastily standing up, wincing a bit as a sharp pain from his lower back made itself known. He scowled, looking at his kohai dead in the eye. "Don't fuck with me, Akaya!"
"What?" Kirihara hastily stood up as well, "Marui-sempai -- !"
"And here I thought you had meant it." Marui muttered, wiping his eyes feverishly with the back of his hand. He growled, giving Kirihara one last glare, before turning around and walking towards the door. He only went far enough for his fingers to lightly touch the doorknob when he was forcefully turned around and shoved to the door.
"Meant what?" Kirihara's voice was strangled and heavy, and they were staring at each other, both just equally aggravated.
"Let me go, Akaya." Marui spat, not at all amused being pinned to the door by someone younger than him, of all people.
"Meant what?" Kirihara repeated, voice already getting impatient.
"Let me go."
"No."
"Akaya!" Marui was shouting now, but that didn't deter Kirihara one bit.
"No! You thought I meant what?!"
"Fuck!" Marui was thrashing, and as his arms were pinned, he used his legs to kick whatever of Kirihara was within his legs' reach, and he cursed loudly as the other stood strong against his kicks, so he added more force. Kirihara was growling, eyes red as he resisted, but damn, Marui could kick, so he kicked as well, just to stop the other, but that caused a tangling of limbs which resulted in both of them on the floor, although there was nothing new about their positions; Kirihara pinning Marui, but down on the floor this time instead of on the door.
And Marui was crying again, and oh, god, now this felt like the times when they had sex; his sempai crying under him as he thrust, except he wasn't thrusting, so why was Marui crying?
"Do you regret it?"
"What?" Kirihara blinked, surprise at the sudden decrease of volume in the other's voice, but moreover by the sudden question.
"Confessing to me." Marui said bitterly, looking away.
"What?" Kirihara said, before he realized that he had just said the same thing. It took a few seconds for the sentence to sink in, but when it did, he was absolutely bewildered. "No! I don't! Why would I regret it?!" Then another one of his insecurities struck him, and he muttered, "Well, do you regret saying yes?"
Marui glared at him, although it was half-hearted, "Of course not." He scowled, continuing, "Then why are you avoiding me?!"
"What?!" Kirihara blinked down at him, eyes widening, "I haven't been avoiding you!"
"Yes, you have!" Marui shot back, obviously annoyed now. "You'd always move away when I try to touch you. Like back at the park!"
And Kirihara realized that Marui was right, but just why did he pull away when Marui touched him? Marui obviously wasn't aware of the internal battle going on within him, since he simply continued, "That also happened after Sanada talked to you, when you were running laps yesterday, and at the hospital! But you don't pull away when it's the others." He added bitterly.
Needless to say, Kirihara was -- once again -- dumbfounded.
Suddenly feeling dizzy, he pulled back, letting go of the grip he had on Marui's wrists to be able to sit up, and rest against the bed. He blinked, once, twice, gathering his thoughts together, not even noticing that Marui had sat up as well, peering at him strangely. The times that the other had just mentioned appeared like flashbacks in Kirihara's mind, and he laughed slightly at himself for not realizing it himself.
Marui, however, didn't share his humor. "You think it's funny?" He growled.
Kirihara immediately looked at him, noting at the tear-tracks on the other's cheeks. "Marui-sempai, I think..." He paused, not really sure what to say, but it looked like Marui was listening, "Maybe it's because I've been thinking too much."
Marui snorted, "You think that explains it? Try again."
Kirihara looked blankly at his hands on his lap, "I was wondering why you always cry when we do it, so of course I'd think it was because of me, and..." Marui was turning crimson now, but he didn't notice, "I guess... it sort of became an impulse... that since it's because of me, I… stopped touching you, I guess, so when you touch me, I pull back." He was laughing blankly at himself, "I guess I kinda didn't realize it."
Blood was rising to Marui's cheeks even more so than usual, and he scowled, "You... You..." When no words formed in his mouth, he settled for muttering an embarrassed "Bakaya.".
Kirihara huffed, "I'm trying to apologize here!"
That earned him a thwack on the head, but he'd forgive Marui this time, because Marui was kissing him again, and this time, it didn't feel wrong, and that same euphoria that he got earlier as he reveled on the fact that Marui was kissing him came back full force and he nearly lost it then and there, but he held himself, because he didn't want to go wild in front of his sempai, but Marui obviously didn't care, because when he pulled back, he grabbed Kirihara's hand and placed it on his crotch, gasping as it came in contact.
Kirihara kneaded the bulge forming on the front of his sempai's pants, licking his lips, barely able to control himself. "I'm not going to be responsible for my actions, sempai."
What he got was another reply of "Bakaya.", but this time, it sounded less bitter and more pleasure-filled. As much as his voice could let him, Marui said sincerely, "Idiot. Of course I'd cry. I'm just... filled with... I dunno, emotions? when we do it, so I can't help it."
Kirihara didn't reply, because honestly, what do you reply to that? Instead, he just took his other hand, letting it fumble with the button and zipper of Marui's pants, but he was surprised when Marui pulled away, although he didn't get to express his shock verbally, because Marui was kissing him again, and who was he to be able to ignore that tongue?
When they pulled back, Marui's eyes were shining, "If you're still so insecure, then let me lead this time. That way, you don't have to feel guilty if I cry."
iii
Marui liked experiencing the afterglow of sex with Kirihara, because it meant that Kirihara would fall asleep, and he'd have the privilege of watching over him as his kohai's chest rose and fell with every soft puff of breath, but this time, he was rather annoyed to find Kirihara's eyes wide and awake. He had cried again, but he really couldn't help it, and since he was leading all the way, there was absolutely no reason for the other to feel guilty, so surely that wasn't what was keeping him awake? Although he probably shouldn't be surprised, because after all, these whole day has been full of surprises and it's only quarter to four in the afternoon!
He had never even thought that Kirihara would be concerned over such a trivial matter such as his crying during sex. So it probably wasn't trivial, but Kirihara just... wasn't the guy to think about those stuff, although it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since it was that nonchalant attitude that first made him interested in Rikkaidai's ace.
He hummed thoughtfully to himself, burying his face further onto the pillow.
"Marui-sempai, do you like me?"
Marui nearly choked on his own spit. He turned beet red, exclaiming, "Why the sudden question?"
Kirihara frowned. "So that's a no?"
"What?"
Kirihara shrugged, expression drooping, "A no then."
"Kirihara!" Marui frowned.
Kirihara raised an eyebrow at him, "A yes?"
"What is this about?" Marui huffed stubbornly.
"Because," Kirihara huffed back, looking away, frowning, "You never really said it." He muttered bitterly, "I'm not your fuck-buddy." He was expecting some sort of comeback, or some sort of witty retort, but he surely wasn't expecting... nothing. At first, he thought that maybe the other was just thinking of something to say, but the silence had brewed on long enough, so he finally mustered up the courage to look, but as his head turned, the bed shifted, and he was surprised to suddenly feel Marui's arms around him, Marui's face buried in the crook of his neck. Trying to look at his sempai's face proved impossible.
Marui spoke, voice a bit muffled but still audible, "I thought it was rather obvious."
Kirihara scowled, "Well, it's not." His tone of voice earned him a small slap on his stomach. "Hey --"
"I love you."
iii
"Akaya!" Marui grinned, blowing a bubble as he neared his kohai. He ran over, tangling his arms with Kirihara's. "Jackal's treating us later after practice. Wanna come?"
Kirihara paused, taking one brief glance at his bag, "Not this time, sempai. I've got something to do."
At that, Marui frowned, "What is it this time?"
Kirihara immediately tried to cover himself, "It's nothing! I just have to return the book I borrowed from Fuji." Obviously, his attempt to save himself utterly failed, because the face that Marui was giving him was absolutely spiteful. It didn't take long for Marui to tighten his arms around Kirihara's, and drag him towards the school building.
"No."
"Marui-sempai --"
"No."
Kirihara sighed, "Marui-sempai."
Marui let him go, but he didn't stop walking, continuing forward as he shoved his hands inside his pockets. Kirihara sighed heavily, pushing the thought of returning Fuji's book at the back of his mind, choosing instead to run forward and pull Marui's hand out of his pocket to hold it. As if on automatic, Marui squeaked and flushed, "Bakaya! Don't do that in public!"
He didn't pull away, so Kirihara didn't either, and they walked, hand in hand, ignoring the looks that the other students were giving them. Kirihara, however, wasn't going down without a fight. "I have to return it, though."
Marui huffed, yanked his hand back, but the second year held on tighter.
Kirihara grinned, "Are you jealous, Marui-sempai?"
That earned his waist a jab from an elbow.
Nearly doubling up from the pain, Kirihara wheezed out, "I'll catch up with you guys."
Marui huffed, successfully taking his hand back, and taking a step forward. "You better." He said bitterly, but Kirihara only grinned at that, because from his view, the redness of his sempai's ears was a rather nice color.
- e n d -
notes:
♥ i tried to not include japanese terms, but doing that is... hard. xD;;
+ sempai - upperclassman
+ kohai - underclassman
+ tensai - genius
+ buchou - captain
♥ uses the right suffixes: -chan, -kun, -sama, -sempai, -dono
♥ kirhara is geeky and obsessed therefore he remembers the days when they do it and when they don't.
♥ orchids are given as gifts to newly opened stores in japan, to represent a prosperous business in the future
♥ the title is... uhh... i have no explanation for it.
this was supposed to be just a small one-shot, but it... uh... evolved, because my urge to write more akabun fluff sort of won me over. >>;; and homg, i tried to make them all of them IC, but i think i failed. D:
this is probably the longest one-shot i have ever done. ;_; took me four days, and more than 6,500 words. i'm a drabble kind of person. i really am.
comments are love. critics are highly encouraged. xD
uhm, question. do they really call Akaya "Bakaya" in the manga or is that just fanon? ._. (--> only watches the anime. have yet to read the manga.)
-ded-
please forgive for possible OOCness. ;_;
Title: Because of Hamlet
Author: ieatchu / shikanashi_kk
Rating: R
Genre: romance, fluff, some drama
Pairing: AkaBun, Maruihara, and some Marui/Kirihara/Fuji S.
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and all of its characters do not and never will belong to me.
Summary: Kirihara wonders why Marui always cries when they do it, and Marui wonders why Kirihara has stopped touching him.
b e c a u s e o f h a m l e t
Contrary to popular belief, Kirihara Akaya is actually a very polite person. He greets his elders with respect, bows, uses the right suffixes, and listens when other people are talking, but it seems that today, Kirihara has allowed himself to forget his manners. As his vice-captain lectures him about his dropping grades, he allows his mind to shut down from the real world and roam in a land of imagination and memories, specifically yesterday at 8 PM.
Remembering sex with Marui never fails to turn Kirihara on, even if he is in the midst of a tennis match, but apparently, that statement stands corrected as he takes notes of every detail from memory. He remembers how that little bead of sweat forms on Marui's temple, before finally falling down the side of his face as he bucks his hips upwards. He remembers how Marui held the sheets under them the whole time, whilst the other was busy gripping Kirihara's shoulder with enough strength to leave a bruise. He remembers how his name falls from Marui's lips as he gives another deep thrust, how husky and breathless it sounded, and yet his lower regions remains apathetic to what his brain is conjuring up.
However, impotence is the least of Kirihara's problems.
He also remembers how the tears form in his upperclassman's eyes as he pulls back, and how the tears fall as he pushes. It had been just a week ago that Kirihara noticed that Marui was crying as they did it, and he thought that maybe he was just a little bit too forceful at that time, but to his dismay, Marui had cried as well when they did it on Saturday, and on Tuesday, and yesterday as well. It started out as just an observation, but it soon started to plague his thoughts, and Kirihara found himself thinking about it all the time, that there wasn't any left to do his homework, to study, or to finish his video games.
"Akaya, are you listening?"
"Yes, sempai." was his automatic response.
Sanada gave him a raised eyebrow that implied that he didn't think so, yet he simply decided to give a firm nod. "Remember what I said, Akaya. I will personally drop you from the club if you happen to forget. Now, get back to practice." He gave Kirihara one last glare that showed that he meant what he said, before he turned away and walked towards the courts.
Kirihara watched him walk away, staring, and as his vice-captain turned the corner, he gave a startled yelp as someone's elbow made a direct contact with his stomach. "What the hell?!" He turned, ready to give whoever it was a good beating, verbally and physically, before he paused and blinked. "Oh. It's just you, Niou-sempai, Marui-sempai."
Niou raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'oh, it's just you'? I'm insulted, Akaya." He grinned, throwing an arm over his junior's shoulders to ruffle his hair, to which Kirihara yelped and glared, but he didn't pull away.
"So?" Marui blew a bubble after he asked, popping it right after. "What did Sanada tell you?"
Kirihara blinked, opened his mouth, and then closed it. He hummed thoughtfully, before blinking yet again. "I forgot."
Niou and Marui looked at each other, before both of them immediately started laughing, and Kirihara felt a little peeved by being the object of their humor.
"Ah, Akaya! You're going to get it one day if you ignore Sanada like that, you know?" Marui grinned, reaching up to clamp a hand over Kirihara's shoulder, but it never made contact, because Kirihara decided to pull away from Niou's grip during the same moment.
"Ah, whatever. I'm going to remember it later anyway." He waved it off, giving his sempais a cocky grin before turning and running towards the courts. "See you later, sempai!"
And he ran off, leaving Niou and Marui staring at Marui's hand, bewildered and confused.
iii
It was nearing summer, and the heat was starting to get unbearable, but Kirihara simply chose to ignore it as he ran around the courts, punishment for being late when Sanada specifically told him to get back to practice. It was his ninth lap now, meaning one more before he can finally get back and do some real tennis. He pretty much had on a sour expression during his running, grumbling about how Niou and Marui didn't run laps even when they were later than he was.
He glanced at the courts, before immediately tearing his eyes away again, because the sight of Niou and Marui laughing so freely together made his head hurt. He probably didn't even have the right to be jealous, because technically speaking, he and Marui-sempai wasn't even an item. So maybe he said 'I like you! Please go out with me!' and maybe Marui replied with an 'Okay.', but that didn't mean that Marui liked him back. Maybe that was the reason why he would always cry in the middle of it? Because he was doing it with someone he didn't like?
Kirihara frowned. Even if it was possible that he was just doing it out of sympathy, Marui wasn't that nice. Maybe he was just being too forceful. His frown got deeper. Obviously, Marui would tell him if he was too forceful, right?
“Akaya."
He stopped running, giving Jackal a confused and annoyed look due to the fact that he was rudely stopped in the middle of his run. "What?"
Jackal stared at him, before stating bluntly, "That's your twelfth lap."
Kirihara blinked. "Oh." He flushed, turning bright red as he realized that it was, in fact, his twelfth lap already. A few feet away, Marui and Niou were having the time of their lives suppressing their laughter, and Kirihara turned an even brighter shade of red, giving the two of them an annoyed glare as a snigger reached his ears. "Hey!"
"Akaya!"
He winced at how scolding Sanada sounded, and he immediately came to the conclusion that whatever the vice-captain had to say next, it was not good for him. He turned, looking at Sanada and Yanagi standing together. He paused, squinting at the small, amused grin that rested on Yanagi's lips. Definitely not good.
"Ten more laps!"
He jumped, "What?! But I just did twelve!"
"Twenty!"
He groaned. He rubbed his temples, growling under his breath. Kirihara Akaya and patience did not go well together, but it was a good thing that Jackal was there to give him a sympathetic pat on the back to remind him that patience was a virtue, and he needed to have more patience lest he be forced to run more laps.
" Akaya, you got it bad." Marui grinned, walking over to give him a pat on the back as well.
Kirihara gave another mournful groan, before running off and starting on his twenty laps, not even noticing that he had just left Marui with a hand in mid-air.
He ran off, groaning about uptight vice-captains, leaving Jackal and Marui staring at Marui's hand in bewilderment and confusion
iii
It was the end of club time already, and everyone was starting to pack up. After finally finding Jackal's shaver ("Don't be so careless next time, Jackal!" ), waiting for Kirihara to finish threaten a second-year to tell him the homework because he forgot to write it down ("P-page 142 for Math, a-and an e-essay about page 53 in Science, and... and... to bring Hamlet tomorrow for English!" ), and waiting for the cake that they ordered, everyone was set to go to the hospital to visit their captain.
As usual, Yukimura greeted them with a smile.
"Buchou!" Marui grinned, presenting the box of cake. "It's mocha this time."
"Ahh... Thank you."
"How's your condition, Yukimura?" Sanada asked, stepping aside, careful not to be included in the fight that Marui was having against Niou and Jackal, because the tensai wouldn't leave the cake alone.
"I'm doing better." Yukimura replied, watching the antics of his team members with an amused smile. "How's the team?"
Yanagi answered, a smile of his own appearing on his face, "Doing better as well."
Sanada frowned, "But not enough."
The rest of their conversation, as well as the noises that Marui, Niou and Jackal were making disappeared in Kirihara's ears. He was simply staring at the now abused cake, mind roaming yet again to the events of yesterday in his sempai's house. During the hours he spent thinking about it for the last week, he came up with only one possible conclusion: that he was being too forceful.
Well, it was near possibility. He knew Marui enough to know that he wouldn't let himself be pushed by anyone, least of all by someone younger than him. After all, that was one of the traits that endeared Marui to him, but out of all the reasons that he came up, he figured that that was the only one believable. Maybe Marui had some sort of sadomasochism fetish inside? He snorted. If he liked the pain, then why would he cry? (although the thought of doing bondage with Marui did sound tempting.)
"Akaya?"
He blinked, snapping out of his thoughts as he stared at Yagyuu. "Yeah?"
"I overheard your conversation with Sanada earlier."
Although he had already forgotten just what the conversation was about, Kirihara glared because he didn't like the thought of someone listening in any of his conversations with anyone. Yagyuu, however, proved to be unfazed by his glare, for he simply raised his glasses and continued in the same, calm voice. "I'd love to help if you're having problems with your studies."
Ooooh, so that was what they were talking about. Kirihara shrugged, "Thanks for the offer, sempai, but I can take this one." He said, waving it off with that arrogant tone that he is proud to have perfected.
"If you're sure." Yagyuu shrugged as well.
Silence between ensued for a while, before Kirihara was suddenly reminded of the homework he needed to do. Bring Hamlet? He hadn't even bought the book. Sadly, he was a bit broke this week. Maybe he could threaten his classmate to give him the book? With a sigh, he turned to Yagyuu, "Yagyuu-sempai, do you know where I can buy Hamlet for a really, really, really cheap price?"
Yagyuu raised an eyebrow at him, before pushing his glasses upwards again. "I don't know where you can find it for a really, really, really cheap price, although I do know where you can buy it half the price than you would in other bookstores."
"Really? That'd save me a lot of money." Kirihara grinned, patting his back pocket to feel for his wallet. "I've been a bit broke these days."
"There's a bookstore in front of the train station that just opened up. It closes at 7 PM, but on Fridays, it closes at 5:30 PM."
"What?" Kirihara exclaimed before he could stop himself, "But it's already 5:10!"
Apparently, the whole room heard his outburst, as Kirihara suddenly realized that he was now the object of attention.
Yukimura blinked at him, "Are you in a hurry, Akaya?"
Kirihara needed only one look at his watch to nod with fervor. "Sorry, buchou, but I have to run!"
Yukimura nodded, "Be careful on your way home."
Kirihara nodded back, all but ready to run for it, but as he did so, a hand grabbed his arm. He turned back, annoyed, "What is it, Yagyuu-sempai?"
"I advise you to hurry. It's already 5:17 in my watch."
Kirihara cursed, turning around once again to leave.
"Ah, Akaya!"
He stopped. "Marui-sempai?"
Marui looked at him with bits of cake stuck to his face, walking over to him to give him an enthusiastic pat on the back. "We're planning on watching that new action movie that just came out last week. Wanna come?"
A 'sure' was already forming on Kirihara's mouth, but something about page 142 and page 53 stopped him, and he finally bolted for the door, shouting his goodbye as he ran down the hallway of the hospital, not at all caring at how the nurses looked at him with disapproval. "Not this time, Marui-sempai! I've got stuff to do! See ya!"
Back at the room, everyone tore their eyes away from the door to stare at Marui's hand in mid-air in bewilderment and confusion.
Had he turned back, he would have seen Marui's eyebrows knit together as he bites his lower lip, an expression full of emotions on his face.
iii
By the time Kirihara arrived at the front station, he was sweating and panting and trying to reclaim his breath. The clock there read 5:26, and he searched for the bookstore that his sempai had instructed him to go to. It wasn't hard. After all, there was only one bookstore in the vicinity, and although it was rather small, the big orchids that decorated the front of the recently opened store definitely gave it away. He was happy to see the OPEN sign on the door, and he immediately walked in, just in case the storeowner decided to close four minutes early.
Hamlet was a rather easy find in the Classic's section. All he had to do was look for Shakespeare. With a relieved sigh, he took it from the bookshelf, and was on his way to the counter when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. He turned, only to be surprised at the familiar face that greeted him.
The smile that was already on the person's face merely widened. "Ah! So it is Rikkaidai's Kirihara Akaya. What a coincidence meeting you here."
The only words that he could muster were "Seigaku's Fuji Syusuke." in a dumbfounded voice.
"What are you doing here?" Fuji asked, taking a look at the book in Kirihara's hands. "Hamlet?"
"For English." He all but grumbled.
"I have one just like it. Would you care to borrow it?"
Kirihara's ears perked up. Unconsciously, his hand traveled to his back pocket yet again, feeling for his nearly empty wallet. "Is it really alright?"
Fuji's smile widened further. "Of course, although I won't be able to lend it to you now since it's at home. Are you free tomorrow?"
Again, Kirihara's thoughts ventured back to something essays and pages, but if it was for the sake of homework as well, then why not? "Sure. That's fine with me."
"Good then." Fuji hummed thoughtfully, thinking up of a time and place. "Then meet me in front of the cinema house by 2 PM. Is that okay?"
Kirihara nodded with fervor, happy to at least be saved from unnecessary (for him, anyway, although his English teacher would be more than happy to beg to differ) spending. "Thanks!" He grinned as his eyes caught sight of Fuji's tennis equipment. "And since we're already here, why don't we have a rematch?"
Fuji gave a small laugh. "Tempting, but not today. I promised my sister I'd help her with the cleaning."
Kirihara crossed his arms, "Tomorrow?"
The small laugh got bigger. "I promised Eiji I'd watch that new action movie with him."
"Ch'. Fine." He huffed in annoyance, walking back to the shelf to return the book. "Thanks again."
He waved as he said his goodbye, leaving the store, but not before seeing the shoujo manga held within Fuji's grip. He snickered quietly to himself, before suddenly realizing that he pretty much just wasted his time running all the way from the hospital. With a mournful sigh, he headed towards home.
iii
Kirihara didn't have much sleep that night.
Lying in his bed brought back images of yesterday, and images of yesterday brought back his theories, and his theories brought back his insecurities. He wasn't being too forceful. After all, he made it a point to himself not to lose control, even if it was very much tempting to do so, what with how Marui moans his name like that. Besides, he also made sure to wait for Marui's nod before moving. If anything, Marui was the one forceful. Just one firm press at his shoulder was enough to make him wince as he remembered how tight Marui gripped.
Or maybe it was some psychological, emotional thing. Maybe Marui had just planned on using him to rid of his sexual temptations, all the while thinking of someone else, which leads to his crying, since that makes him remember why he was doing it with Kirihara instead.
Once that thought popped in Kirihara's head, he immediately scratched it out and refused to think about it ever again.
Needless to say, Kirihara looked horrible when he looked in the mirror that morning.
Fortunately, some of the horribleness disappeared by the afternoon, so he hoped, since it seemed that Fuji wasn't snickering, but it was Seigaku's Fuji, and who knew what went on inside that mind of his?
iii
"Did something happen?" Yagyuu was the first to bring it up as they ate their lunch in the fast-food joint in front of the cinema house, where they planned on watching the movie at the screening time of 3 PM.
It took Marui a few seconds to realize that the question was pointed at him, since everyone around the table suddenly started to look at him. "Happen? Whaddya mean?"
"I mean," Yagyuu said, pushing his glasses up to get a better look at the tensai's confused expression, "Did something happen between you and Akaya?"
At that, Marui frowned, and the spoon that was just dipping in and out of his ice cream sundae a few moments ago stopped moving. "I don't know. Everything was fine when we were at my house just the other day before. When he left, nothing was wrong. The next day, the first time I saw him was after Sanada talked with him, and he was already acting weird then." He hummed thoughtfully, taking a spoonful of his sundae and shoving it inside his mouth.
Niou shrugged, "Maybe it had something to do with what he talked with Sanada? Like some new no-touching policy?" He snorted.
"But he doesn't move away when we touch him." Jackal informed him.
"And besides, that's impossible." Yagyuu added, "I heard what he talked with Sanada."
"Really?" Niou's ears perked up, "What?"
"Apparently, Akaya’s grades have been dropping. Sanada just called him over to give him a reality check."
Jackal shrugged, "Maybe that's why he's been so up in the clouds lately?"
"That still doesn't explain why he always moves away when I reach for him." Marui grumbled, taking more of his ice cream. "It's weird." Even more so since it's always been Kirihara who was eager for touch between them, but Marui decided to keep that little information to himself.
"Actually, I thought that he'd be enthusiastic to be watching this movie, since he was the one so eager about it when it first came out last week." Niou said thoughtfully, getting a big bite from his cheeseburger as he did so.
"Maybe he's studying?" Yagyuu shrugged.
Jackal laughed, "Somehow, Akaya and studying don't go well together."
Marui laughed in agreement, but if it wasn't studying, then what did he have to do? Errands for his family? He thought it over as he ate one scoop of ice cream after another. And exactly why has Kirihara been moving away from him? If he thought about it, Kirihara also hadn't tried kissing him yesterday, which was rather unusual. He frowned. Everything was fine, so what happened?
He wouldn't admit that it bothered more than he cared to show, so much that he even had trouble sleeping the night before as he looked up at his ceiling whilst scratching at his mouth, remembering the feel of Kirihara on his lips. He was just... so used to Kirihara touching him that when Kirihara didn't touch him, it felt strange, as if something was missing, and that feeling sort of made him go into withdrawal.
Suddenly, bits and pieces of meshed up cheeseburger were strewn on the table, courtesy of Niou. Yagyuu frowned in disgust, "Niou!" but Niou wasn't listening, because he had on this shocked, dumbfounded look as he stared out the window with wide eyes. "Is that... Seigaku's Fuji Syusuke?"
Everyone turned to look and Marui frowned in annoyance. "Yeah, so what?"
Niou pointed further right. "And that's... Akaya, right? Right?"
"What?" Marui immediately to look, and sure enough, there was Kirihara walking towards the cinema house and... and... "He's with Fuji?!"
iii
"Sorry, I'm late." Kirihara shrugged, rubbing the back of his head as he said his greeting.
"Don't worry about it." Fuji chuckled, but once he took a closer look at Kirihara's face, the smile turned into a frown. He lifted a hand, letting a finger trace the skin under Kirihara's eye. "You have eye bags, Kirihara. You look horrible."
Kirihara huffed, "Gee, thanks."
Fuji laughed slightly, taking his hand back, "As an athlete, you should take care of your body more."
"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled. "Your friend not here yet?"
Fuji shook his head, "I told him to meet me at 2:30." He reached inside his bag and took out the book. "Here's Hamlet."
Kirihara took it with glee, happy to save his wallet from torture. "Thanks again!"
"Don't mention it." Fuji waved it off with a smile, "Would you care to join us, Kirihara?"
Kirihara scrunched up his nose as he shook his head, "Got stuff to do. I already turned down my teammates yesterday." Besides, Sanada would probably skewer him if he found out that he watched movies with an opponent, least of all Seigaku. "Thanks, anyway. Oh, and I'll just drop by Seigaku when I'm done with this." He pointed to the book, grinning. "See you soo --" He stopped, particularly because some had just grabbed his wrist roughly from behind. He turned and glared, wondering who the hell had the guts to do so, when he caught sight of his sempai, and his jaw dropped in shock.
"Ah." Fuji hummed thoughtfully, "Rikkadai's Marui Bunta, am I right?"
Marui simply glared at him, a spiteful look on his face, before he turned, and started walking away, dragging Kirihara with him. "Let's go, Kirihara."
"Wha -- hey! Marui-sempai, don't drag!" Kirihara exclaimed, not really sure if Marui heard him. He turned back, shouting, "Thanks, Fuji!" and he was gone as Marui dragged him around the corner.
"You're... welcome." Needless to say, Fuji was left dumbfounded as he said his parting words to pretty much just the wind.
iii
Kirihara's arrogance did not leave him enough space in his personality to feel awkwardness, especially when it's with his teammates. Even when he first joined the tennis club, there wasn't an ounce of awkwardness in him as he looked at the other members in the eye, but honestly, who wouldn't feel awkward when you have your sempais around you in the park with their arms crossed as you wait for them to talk when it seems like they weren't going to be talking at all soon?
Kirihara frowned, annoyance getting the better of him, "What?"
Yagyuu was the first to speak. "Explain." It fell from his lips flatly and Kirihara wondered what he did wrong this time.
"Explain what?"
Marui opened his mouth to reply, but it seemed that he thought better of it since he closed it immediately after. Instead, he settled for a small mutter, "I thought you had something to do today?"
"I did!" Kirihara answered, before immediately correcting himself, "I do."
Niou sighed heavily, pointing at him with an accusing finger, "Yeah, you do, but then we see you with Seigaku's Fuji Syusuke!"
"What?!" Kirihara blinked up at him, totally dumbfounded. "But he was just helping me!"
"Helping you with what?" Jackal raised an eyebrow.
Kirihara had just about enough of their accusing attitude, and he pretty much growled his next reply, "English! He just lent me his copy of Hamlet!"
It took a few seconds for that to register in their brain, but when it did, a look of realization crossed their faces, and only one word slipped past their lips, "Oh."
Another awkward silence filled the air, at least until Niou started laughing, and soon after, the rest followed, but Kirihara still wasn't amused, after being so rudely dragged and interrogated. After a good, long while of laughing, Niou pushed Marui, grinning, "It's your fault for suddenly going out of the store, you know."
Marui flushed, and he glared, "Well, what did you want me to do?"
"Sit and wait?"
He turned even more crimson. "It was Seigaku's Fuji." He said stubbornly, as if that would explain everything, but by the look of amused disbelief on his teammate's faces -- save for Kirihara, who was still seething quietly -- it obviously didn't.
"You even left your ice cream half-eaten." Yagyuu shrugged, "I was surprised."
Marui huffed, hastily grabbing that packet of gum in his pocket to get something to occupy his mouth with to satisfy his irritation -- and to save him from further embarrassment. "I'll buy another one later in the movie anyway."
"Ah, the movie!" Jackal exclaimed, to which Niou simply replied with a nonchalant grin.
"Relax. It's only 2:15."
A growl caught their attention, and they looked back at Kirihara, who was looking obviously pissed by that time. "Well, if you're done wasting my time, sempai, I'm going home." He shoved his hands down his pockets as he turned to leave.
Marui stepped forward, "Ah, Akaya! Since you've done what you had to do, why don't you watc --" He reached out, grabbing Kirihara's hand. As immediately as he did so, Kirihara's hand instinctively pulled back, as if it just got burned.
What followed afterwards was an awkward silence among all of them as Marui and Kirihara stood in front of each other, both frozen. Marui was looking distantly at his hand, while Kirihara was looking at his own in wonder, surprised at himself. "Marui-sempai," He started, but couldn't find the words to finish.
The distant look along with the display of emotions in Marui's face certainly made his heart twist, but as he thought about it, what did just happen? He was looking at his hand in amazement and confusion, totally lost in his thoughts that when a strangled noise came from his sempai, it nearly made his heart skip a beat in shock. Marui was looking at him, eyebrows knitted, an angry look on his face, and Kirihara wondered what he did wrong, but the time to ponder on that thought obviously wasn't granted to him as again, he was dragged by the arm by the red-haired tensai, who was gripping his lower arm with enough force to make sure that he wouldn't be able to pull back if he did, but in Kirihara's state of confusion, pulling back didn't even occur to him.
He watched dumbly as Marui dragged him away from their teammates, who was looking as dumbfounded as he was, and the only thought that stayed on his mind as Marui dragged him away from the urban community and as nails dug into his arm was what just happened?.
iii
Marui had thrown out his gum, and was now standing in front of him. Kirihara wouldn't be so concerned, even if his sempai had on that flat look with his arms crossed, but the fact that he was standing there gum-less, candy-less, foodless was what scared Kirihara the most. He shifted in his seat on Marui's bed, waiting for the other to speak, but when minutes passed and it became obvious to him that Marui wasn't going to start speaking soon, he cleared his throat.
But when a syllable finally forced itself out of his mouth, it fell on deaf ears as the rest of the word and what he had to say became jumbled in his throat, because Marui was kissing him and Marui was kissing him hard. Marui never kissed him hard. Heck, Marui never kissed him. He would kiss back, but kisses would always have to be initiated by Kirihara, as if they had some silent agreement when Marui agreed to go out with him, but Marui was breaking that agreement right now by pushing him down on the bed forcefully, and shoving his tongue down his kohai's mouth with no grace whatsoever.
Kirihara wouldn't be complaining, because oh, Marui was grinding their hips together, but it felt... weird, because it felt like Marui was touching him for the wrong reasons. For a brief moment, Kirihara's thoughts came back to that little theory of his, that maybe his sempai was just using him to get rid of emotional stress, when in fact, he was thinking about another person all along. He made a strangled noise in his throat, trying to signal the other to stop, but instead of stopping, Marui shoved his hand down his pants, and Kirihara made an unmanly noise, before finally finding it himself to throw Marui off of him.
A harsh thud reached his ears, followed by a pained yelp, and just like that, guilt started eating at him. "Marui-sempai, I --" And his eyes widened because Marui was crying, and oh, god, it made him remember his insecurities, but he pushed that thought back to his head, because that didn't matter right now, because they weren't having sex but Marui was crying. "Marui-sempai..."
Marui glared at him through teary eyes, hastily standing up, wincing a bit as a sharp pain from his lower back made itself known. He scowled, looking at his kohai dead in the eye. "Don't fuck with me, Akaya!"
"What?" Kirihara hastily stood up as well, "Marui-sempai -- !"
"And here I thought you had meant it." Marui muttered, wiping his eyes feverishly with the back of his hand. He growled, giving Kirihara one last glare, before turning around and walking towards the door. He only went far enough for his fingers to lightly touch the doorknob when he was forcefully turned around and shoved to the door.
"Meant what?" Kirihara's voice was strangled and heavy, and they were staring at each other, both just equally aggravated.
"Let me go, Akaya." Marui spat, not at all amused being pinned to the door by someone younger than him, of all people.
"Meant what?" Kirihara repeated, voice already getting impatient.
"Let me go."
"No."
"Akaya!" Marui was shouting now, but that didn't deter Kirihara one bit.
"No! You thought I meant what?!"
"Fuck!" Marui was thrashing, and as his arms were pinned, he used his legs to kick whatever of Kirihara was within his legs' reach, and he cursed loudly as the other stood strong against his kicks, so he added more force. Kirihara was growling, eyes red as he resisted, but damn, Marui could kick, so he kicked as well, just to stop the other, but that caused a tangling of limbs which resulted in both of them on the floor, although there was nothing new about their positions; Kirihara pinning Marui, but down on the floor this time instead of on the door.
And Marui was crying again, and oh, god, now this felt like the times when they had sex; his sempai crying under him as he thrust, except he wasn't thrusting, so why was Marui crying?
"Do you regret it?"
"What?" Kirihara blinked, surprise at the sudden decrease of volume in the other's voice, but moreover by the sudden question.
"Confessing to me." Marui said bitterly, looking away.
"What?" Kirihara said, before he realized that he had just said the same thing. It took a few seconds for the sentence to sink in, but when it did, he was absolutely bewildered. "No! I don't! Why would I regret it?!" Then another one of his insecurities struck him, and he muttered, "Well, do you regret saying yes?"
Marui glared at him, although it was half-hearted, "Of course not." He scowled, continuing, "Then why are you avoiding me?!"
"What?!" Kirihara blinked down at him, eyes widening, "I haven't been avoiding you!"
"Yes, you have!" Marui shot back, obviously annoyed now. "You'd always move away when I try to touch you. Like back at the park!"
And Kirihara realized that Marui was right, but just why did he pull away when Marui touched him? Marui obviously wasn't aware of the internal battle going on within him, since he simply continued, "That also happened after Sanada talked to you, when you were running laps yesterday, and at the hospital! But you don't pull away when it's the others." He added bitterly.
Needless to say, Kirihara was -- once again -- dumbfounded.
Suddenly feeling dizzy, he pulled back, letting go of the grip he had on Marui's wrists to be able to sit up, and rest against the bed. He blinked, once, twice, gathering his thoughts together, not even noticing that Marui had sat up as well, peering at him strangely. The times that the other had just mentioned appeared like flashbacks in Kirihara's mind, and he laughed slightly at himself for not realizing it himself.
Marui, however, didn't share his humor. "You think it's funny?" He growled.
Kirihara immediately looked at him, noting at the tear-tracks on the other's cheeks. "Marui-sempai, I think..." He paused, not really sure what to say, but it looked like Marui was listening, "Maybe it's because I've been thinking too much."
Marui snorted, "You think that explains it? Try again."
Kirihara looked blankly at his hands on his lap, "I was wondering why you always cry when we do it, so of course I'd think it was because of me, and..." Marui was turning crimson now, but he didn't notice, "I guess... it sort of became an impulse... that since it's because of me, I… stopped touching you, I guess, so when you touch me, I pull back." He was laughing blankly at himself, "I guess I kinda didn't realize it."
Blood was rising to Marui's cheeks even more so than usual, and he scowled, "You... You..." When no words formed in his mouth, he settled for muttering an embarrassed "Bakaya.".
Kirihara huffed, "I'm trying to apologize here!"
That earned him a thwack on the head, but he'd forgive Marui this time, because Marui was kissing him again, and this time, it didn't feel wrong, and that same euphoria that he got earlier as he reveled on the fact that Marui was kissing him came back full force and he nearly lost it then and there, but he held himself, because he didn't want to go wild in front of his sempai, but Marui obviously didn't care, because when he pulled back, he grabbed Kirihara's hand and placed it on his crotch, gasping as it came in contact.
Kirihara kneaded the bulge forming on the front of his sempai's pants, licking his lips, barely able to control himself. "I'm not going to be responsible for my actions, sempai."
What he got was another reply of "Bakaya.", but this time, it sounded less bitter and more pleasure-filled. As much as his voice could let him, Marui said sincerely, "Idiot. Of course I'd cry. I'm just... filled with... I dunno, emotions? when we do it, so I can't help it."
Kirihara didn't reply, because honestly, what do you reply to that? Instead, he just took his other hand, letting it fumble with the button and zipper of Marui's pants, but he was surprised when Marui pulled away, although he didn't get to express his shock verbally, because Marui was kissing him again, and who was he to be able to ignore that tongue?
When they pulled back, Marui's eyes were shining, "If you're still so insecure, then let me lead this time. That way, you don't have to feel guilty if I cry."
iii
Marui liked experiencing the afterglow of sex with Kirihara, because it meant that Kirihara would fall asleep, and he'd have the privilege of watching over him as his kohai's chest rose and fell with every soft puff of breath, but this time, he was rather annoyed to find Kirihara's eyes wide and awake. He had cried again, but he really couldn't help it, and since he was leading all the way, there was absolutely no reason for the other to feel guilty, so surely that wasn't what was keeping him awake? Although he probably shouldn't be surprised, because after all, these whole day has been full of surprises and it's only quarter to four in the afternoon!
He had never even thought that Kirihara would be concerned over such a trivial matter such as his crying during sex. So it probably wasn't trivial, but Kirihara just... wasn't the guy to think about those stuff, although it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since it was that nonchalant attitude that first made him interested in Rikkaidai's ace.
He hummed thoughtfully to himself, burying his face further onto the pillow.
"Marui-sempai, do you like me?"
Marui nearly choked on his own spit. He turned beet red, exclaiming, "Why the sudden question?"
Kirihara frowned. "So that's a no?"
"What?"
Kirihara shrugged, expression drooping, "A no then."
"Kirihara!" Marui frowned.
Kirihara raised an eyebrow at him, "A yes?"
"What is this about?" Marui huffed stubbornly.
"Because," Kirihara huffed back, looking away, frowning, "You never really said it." He muttered bitterly, "I'm not your fuck-buddy." He was expecting some sort of comeback, or some sort of witty retort, but he surely wasn't expecting... nothing. At first, he thought that maybe the other was just thinking of something to say, but the silence had brewed on long enough, so he finally mustered up the courage to look, but as his head turned, the bed shifted, and he was surprised to suddenly feel Marui's arms around him, Marui's face buried in the crook of his neck. Trying to look at his sempai's face proved impossible.
Marui spoke, voice a bit muffled but still audible, "I thought it was rather obvious."
Kirihara scowled, "Well, it's not." His tone of voice earned him a small slap on his stomach. "Hey --"
"I love you."
iii
"Akaya!" Marui grinned, blowing a bubble as he neared his kohai. He ran over, tangling his arms with Kirihara's. "Jackal's treating us later after practice. Wanna come?"
Kirihara paused, taking one brief glance at his bag, "Not this time, sempai. I've got something to do."
At that, Marui frowned, "What is it this time?"
Kirihara immediately tried to cover himself, "It's nothing! I just have to return the book I borrowed from Fuji." Obviously, his attempt to save himself utterly failed, because the face that Marui was giving him was absolutely spiteful. It didn't take long for Marui to tighten his arms around Kirihara's, and drag him towards the school building.
"No."
"Marui-sempai --"
"No."
Kirihara sighed, "Marui-sempai."
Marui let him go, but he didn't stop walking, continuing forward as he shoved his hands inside his pockets. Kirihara sighed heavily, pushing the thought of returning Fuji's book at the back of his mind, choosing instead to run forward and pull Marui's hand out of his pocket to hold it. As if on automatic, Marui squeaked and flushed, "Bakaya! Don't do that in public!"
He didn't pull away, so Kirihara didn't either, and they walked, hand in hand, ignoring the looks that the other students were giving them. Kirihara, however, wasn't going down without a fight. "I have to return it, though."
Marui huffed, yanked his hand back, but the second year held on tighter.
Kirihara grinned, "Are you jealous, Marui-sempai?"
That earned his waist a jab from an elbow.
Nearly doubling up from the pain, Kirihara wheezed out, "I'll catch up with you guys."
Marui huffed, successfully taking his hand back, and taking a step forward. "You better." He said bitterly, but Kirihara only grinned at that, because from his view, the redness of his sempai's ears was a rather nice color.
- e n d -
notes:
♥ i tried to not include japanese terms, but doing that is... hard. xD;;
+ sempai - upperclassman
+ kohai - underclassman
+ tensai - genius
+ buchou - captain
♥ uses the right suffixes: -chan, -kun, -sama, -sempai, -dono
♥ kirhara is geeky and obsessed therefore he remembers the days when they do it and when they don't.
♥ orchids are given as gifts to newly opened stores in japan, to represent a prosperous business in the future
♥ the title is... uhh... i have no explanation for it.
this was supposed to be just a small one-shot, but it... uh... evolved, because my urge to write more akabun fluff sort of won me over. >>;; and homg, i tried to make them all of them IC, but i think i failed. D:
this is probably the longest one-shot i have ever done. ;_; took me four days, and more than 6,500 words. i'm a drabble kind of person. i really am.
comments are love. critics are highly encouraged. xD
uhm, question. do they really call Akaya "Bakaya" in the manga or is that just fanon? ._. (--> only watches the anime. have yet to read the manga.)