Loyalties for the Community!
Title: Loyalties
Author: wittyphantom
Recipient: The Community
Pairing/Characters: Yagyuu/Mizuki, Niou
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not my sandbox
Summary: Niou takes issue with Mizuki's "scouting" of Yagyuu
Notes: whee /o/
"Did you hear? Atobe-kun challenged Aomine-kun to another basketball game. Kise-kun looks about ready to punch Atobe in the face... as usual," Yukimura Seiichi mused from the comfort of his easychair with a clear view of the windows over the grounds. Next to him, Sanada Genichirou snorted, obviously amused.
"That Atobe, he always did have a habit of chasing older men, though I would have expected him to go for Kise. Aomine doesn't strike me as his type." He adjusted the collar of his robe, "Though I can't honestly consider what they're doing 'playing basketball' - at least not the way either of them are used to playing - since they're both in wheelchairs these days."
"Well they are both in their eighties, Genichirou," Yukimura chided, "And you're just jealous you're not coodinated enough to manage tennis in a chair."
All told, it was a regular day at Tokyo's finest retirement community for former national calibre elite high school athletes. Colloquially dubbed 'The Octopus', the facility was split into different winds for each major sport and, while fraternization between wings (and thus, between sports) was encouraged, it didn't tend to happen often, with a few rather notorious exceptions (unless swimmer Tachibana Makoto's cat gets out to visit with Karupin the 17th, then it's general chaos for a few hours).
Generally speaking, the tennis wing was worse than most. Its players, for the most part, stayed reasonably close to team lines whenever possible (as though a high level tournament could break out at any moment [this had occurred on at least two occasions]). Each wing of the facility is equipped with several large common rooms in which one (or more unless you're Hyotei) schools' teams would tend to congregate to the exclusion of all others. It was in one of these such rooms that Yukimura and Sanada were currently holding court over the ever-loyal former members of Rikkai Dai Fuzoku Tennis Club.
Beyond generally making fun of the antics of one no-longer-so-lustrous Atobe Keigo (chasing older men had its downsides, as he discovered), their days were spent relatively quietly... except when Niou wandered over in his walker and oxygen tank, the (surprisingly still dark) roots of his hair standing out against the silvery-white of his usual style (that hadn't changed in over sixty years) where he hadn't re-dyed it lately, and plopped down into a chair next to Yukimura, a petulant expression on his face.
"He's doing it again," he complained at his former captain and vice-captain, "Can't you do something about him? Make him go away and leave us alone or something. I don't like him."
Him, in this case, referred to Mizuki Hajime, the man currently flitting around the Rikkai common room (as much as one could having recently had both knees replaced and a hip resurfaced), oblivious to all save the bespectacled gentleman reading in a corner with an amused smile on his face.
"Niou-kun," Yukimura began as diplomatically as possible, "There is no formal rule here preventing Mizuki-kun from visiting as often as he likes. It's only convention that keeps him away at all, I suspect. Besides, as far as I can tell, he isn't bothering anyone... except, perhaps, for you."
Sanada snorted knowingly and Niou, predictably, bristled. It was no secret Niou had been very intimately involved with his former doubles partner after they had graduated high school and, while the long-term relationship ended amicably on both sides after twenty or so years together, Niou had remained very protective of Yagyuu. This overprotectiveness often extended to policing who may interact with the man was probably the reason Yagyuu had not had a serious lover or even a boyfriend (publicly) since his split from Niou (ostensibly because no potential suitor could possibly live up to the Trickster's overblown expectations of Yagyuu Hiroshi's beloved).
"Well he is bothering me," Niou muttered in a huff, crossing his arms over his chest (careful not to disconnect any of the tubes coming from the oxygen tank... again), "How dare he talk to Yagyuu like that? There is no way I'm going to stand for Mizuki trying to lure Yagyuu to the St. Rudolph common room without a fight." With a great deal of difficulty, and more than a few muffled curses, he pushed himself to his feet (with the help of his walker). "Fukubuchou, I need your cane. I'm going to use it to beat that fop back to where he belongs! Nobody poaches from Rikkai!"
This time Sanada laughed fully, though he handed over his cane all the same (if only because he knew no harm could come from it) and settled in to watch Niou begin to slowly shuffle towards where MIzuki and Yagyuu were chatting (seated far to close together for Niou's comfort), his borrowed cane brandished above his head much like he might have to tell some kids to get off his lawn at any moment.
Two full minutes later and Niou had almost crossed the room to where Mizuki was within striking distance. "You get away from him!" he shrieked, cane already swinging wildly above his head.
If nothing else, the movement managed to get Mizuki's attention; however, at the sight of Niou's lips moving, he had to cup a hand to his ear. "WHAT?" he asked, more a yell than a question.
Niou growled and was about to scream when Yagyuu gently put a hand on Mizuki's shoulder. "Hajime-kun, have you turned your hearing aid off again?"
Mizuki flushed and started fidgeting with something in his ear as Yagyuu turned to Niou. "You'll have to forgive him, he only hears well unassisted at close range, I'm afraid. Now put that cane down before your put someone's eye out, Masaharu."
Though he did as he was told, Niou's expression didn't change. "I'm not letting him have you, Hiroshi," he said softly enough he hoped Mizuki still couldn't hear him. "I don't know what he's offering you, but I'm sure we can do better here at Rikkaidai. You belong here, Hiroshi... with us."
Yagyuu paused to consider this for a moment (or at least appeared to do so) before picking up his teacup and taking a measured sip. "And, assuming he could spirit me away without my consent, where do you think he is trying to take me? For what purpose could he scheme so?"
"To St. Rudolph, of course," Niou replied, "He's a scout, he recruits people away from where they ought to be... like here."
Chuckling, Yagyuu set down the cup and saucer. "Let me ask you this, Masaharu, if all I am doing is having tea and polite conversation, does it really matter where I am? Inside or outside, here or there, does it make a bit of difference so long as the company is good?"
Niou deflated a bit, "...No," he said dejectedly, "But I'm sure you'll agree the company is best here," he added, attempting a sweeping gesture with his hand, but only succeeding in compromising his own balance. Luckily, Mizuki was there to grab his arm before he went sprawling over the floor.
"Careful, Niou-kun, a fall here could easily break a hip. Nobody wants that for you, especially not Hiroshi-kun," he said.
Niou snatched his arm back. "What do you know about what he wants? You're just here to snatch him away from his family!"
Mizuki and Yagyuu exchanged nervous glances. "I assure you, family is the most important thing for Hiroshi and me..." Mizuki began.
"Then leave him alone" Niou growled at him.
"He will be doing no such thing," Yagyuu exclaimed before sighing heavily. "I suppose you really do need to know... we had thought to keep this quiet, especially here and especially from you but I suppose there's no helping it if this is how you're going to act." He took a deep breath. "Masaharu, Hajime is my husband."
He held up his hand were, sure enough, a damning silver band sat on one finger.
Niou, meanwhile, felt like all the air was sucked out of the room at once. The room spun and he swayed on his feet until his eyes rolled into his head moments before he collapsed.
Thankfully, this time it was Yukimura (who was, by far, still the most able-bodied of the lot of them) who was there to catch him and lower him safely to the ground.
"You could have softened that a little," he chided, petting the rat tail Niou still insisted on wearing (though, by now it was most certainly an extension and not his real hair), "You know the poor dear's got a bad heart."
Nearby, Sanada snickered. "He kind of deserved it, he was acting like an ass."
"That's no reason to give the poor man a heart attack," Mizuki said before rounding on his husband. "Do you mean to tell me we've been married for nearly thirty years and you never told him? When he wakes up, you're going to tell him everything he wants to know... everything. I'm going to the greenhouse and want all this resolved by the time you come to bed."
With that, he snatched his cane and hobbled out of the room, leaving the three Rikkai players to wait for Niou to wake up.
Author: wittyphantom
Recipient: The Community
Pairing/Characters: Yagyuu/Mizuki, Niou
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not my sandbox
Summary: Niou takes issue with Mizuki's "scouting" of Yagyuu
Notes: whee /o/
"Did you hear? Atobe-kun challenged Aomine-kun to another basketball game. Kise-kun looks about ready to punch Atobe in the face... as usual," Yukimura Seiichi mused from the comfort of his easychair with a clear view of the windows over the grounds. Next to him, Sanada Genichirou snorted, obviously amused.
"That Atobe, he always did have a habit of chasing older men, though I would have expected him to go for Kise. Aomine doesn't strike me as his type." He adjusted the collar of his robe, "Though I can't honestly consider what they're doing 'playing basketball' - at least not the way either of them are used to playing - since they're both in wheelchairs these days."
"Well they are both in their eighties, Genichirou," Yukimura chided, "And you're just jealous you're not coodinated enough to manage tennis in a chair."
All told, it was a regular day at Tokyo's finest retirement community for former national calibre elite high school athletes. Colloquially dubbed 'The Octopus', the facility was split into different winds for each major sport and, while fraternization between wings (and thus, between sports) was encouraged, it didn't tend to happen often, with a few rather notorious exceptions (unless swimmer Tachibana Makoto's cat gets out to visit with Karupin the 17th, then it's general chaos for a few hours).
Generally speaking, the tennis wing was worse than most. Its players, for the most part, stayed reasonably close to team lines whenever possible (as though a high level tournament could break out at any moment [this had occurred on at least two occasions]). Each wing of the facility is equipped with several large common rooms in which one (or more unless you're Hyotei) schools' teams would tend to congregate to the exclusion of all others. It was in one of these such rooms that Yukimura and Sanada were currently holding court over the ever-loyal former members of Rikkai Dai Fuzoku Tennis Club.
Beyond generally making fun of the antics of one no-longer-so-lustrous Atobe Keigo (chasing older men had its downsides, as he discovered), their days were spent relatively quietly... except when Niou wandered over in his walker and oxygen tank, the (surprisingly still dark) roots of his hair standing out against the silvery-white of his usual style (that hadn't changed in over sixty years) where he hadn't re-dyed it lately, and plopped down into a chair next to Yukimura, a petulant expression on his face.
"He's doing it again," he complained at his former captain and vice-captain, "Can't you do something about him? Make him go away and leave us alone or something. I don't like him."
Him, in this case, referred to Mizuki Hajime, the man currently flitting around the Rikkai common room (as much as one could having recently had both knees replaced and a hip resurfaced), oblivious to all save the bespectacled gentleman reading in a corner with an amused smile on his face.
"Niou-kun," Yukimura began as diplomatically as possible, "There is no formal rule here preventing Mizuki-kun from visiting as often as he likes. It's only convention that keeps him away at all, I suspect. Besides, as far as I can tell, he isn't bothering anyone... except, perhaps, for you."
Sanada snorted knowingly and Niou, predictably, bristled. It was no secret Niou had been very intimately involved with his former doubles partner after they had graduated high school and, while the long-term relationship ended amicably on both sides after twenty or so years together, Niou had remained very protective of Yagyuu. This overprotectiveness often extended to policing who may interact with the man was probably the reason Yagyuu had not had a serious lover or even a boyfriend (publicly) since his split from Niou (ostensibly because no potential suitor could possibly live up to the Trickster's overblown expectations of Yagyuu Hiroshi's beloved).
"Well he is bothering me," Niou muttered in a huff, crossing his arms over his chest (careful not to disconnect any of the tubes coming from the oxygen tank... again), "How dare he talk to Yagyuu like that? There is no way I'm going to stand for Mizuki trying to lure Yagyuu to the St. Rudolph common room without a fight." With a great deal of difficulty, and more than a few muffled curses, he pushed himself to his feet (with the help of his walker). "Fukubuchou, I need your cane. I'm going to use it to beat that fop back to where he belongs! Nobody poaches from Rikkai!"
This time Sanada laughed fully, though he handed over his cane all the same (if only because he knew no harm could come from it) and settled in to watch Niou begin to slowly shuffle towards where MIzuki and Yagyuu were chatting (seated far to close together for Niou's comfort), his borrowed cane brandished above his head much like he might have to tell some kids to get off his lawn at any moment.
Two full minutes later and Niou had almost crossed the room to where Mizuki was within striking distance. "You get away from him!" he shrieked, cane already swinging wildly above his head.
If nothing else, the movement managed to get Mizuki's attention; however, at the sight of Niou's lips moving, he had to cup a hand to his ear. "WHAT?" he asked, more a yell than a question.
Niou growled and was about to scream when Yagyuu gently put a hand on Mizuki's shoulder. "Hajime-kun, have you turned your hearing aid off again?"
Mizuki flushed and started fidgeting with something in his ear as Yagyuu turned to Niou. "You'll have to forgive him, he only hears well unassisted at close range, I'm afraid. Now put that cane down before your put someone's eye out, Masaharu."
Though he did as he was told, Niou's expression didn't change. "I'm not letting him have you, Hiroshi," he said softly enough he hoped Mizuki still couldn't hear him. "I don't know what he's offering you, but I'm sure we can do better here at Rikkaidai. You belong here, Hiroshi... with us."
Yagyuu paused to consider this for a moment (or at least appeared to do so) before picking up his teacup and taking a measured sip. "And, assuming he could spirit me away without my consent, where do you think he is trying to take me? For what purpose could he scheme so?"
"To St. Rudolph, of course," Niou replied, "He's a scout, he recruits people away from where they ought to be... like here."
Chuckling, Yagyuu set down the cup and saucer. "Let me ask you this, Masaharu, if all I am doing is having tea and polite conversation, does it really matter where I am? Inside or outside, here or there, does it make a bit of difference so long as the company is good?"
Niou deflated a bit, "...No," he said dejectedly, "But I'm sure you'll agree the company is best here," he added, attempting a sweeping gesture with his hand, but only succeeding in compromising his own balance. Luckily, Mizuki was there to grab his arm before he went sprawling over the floor.
"Careful, Niou-kun, a fall here could easily break a hip. Nobody wants that for you, especially not Hiroshi-kun," he said.
Niou snatched his arm back. "What do you know about what he wants? You're just here to snatch him away from his family!"
Mizuki and Yagyuu exchanged nervous glances. "I assure you, family is the most important thing for Hiroshi and me..." Mizuki began.
"Then leave him alone" Niou growled at him.
"He will be doing no such thing," Yagyuu exclaimed before sighing heavily. "I suppose you really do need to know... we had thought to keep this quiet, especially here and especially from you but I suppose there's no helping it if this is how you're going to act." He took a deep breath. "Masaharu, Hajime is my husband."
He held up his hand were, sure enough, a damning silver band sat on one finger.
Niou, meanwhile, felt like all the air was sucked out of the room at once. The room spun and he swayed on his feet until his eyes rolled into his head moments before he collapsed.
Thankfully, this time it was Yukimura (who was, by far, still the most able-bodied of the lot of them) who was there to catch him and lower him safely to the ground.
"You could have softened that a little," he chided, petting the rat tail Niou still insisted on wearing (though, by now it was most certainly an extension and not his real hair), "You know the poor dear's got a bad heart."
Nearby, Sanada snickered. "He kind of deserved it, he was acting like an ass."
"That's no reason to give the poor man a heart attack," Mizuki said before rounding on his husband. "Do you mean to tell me we've been married for nearly thirty years and you never told him? When he wakes up, you're going to tell him everything he wants to know... everything. I'm going to the greenhouse and want all this resolved by the time you come to bed."
With that, he snatched his cane and hobbled out of the room, leaving the three Rikkai players to wait for Niou to wake up.