Disclaimer: Tennis no Ohjisama is the property of Konomi Takeshi and its licensers.
Author's Notes: This story is somewhat similar to Cues and was written because the author wanted the two Hyotei characters to suffer twice.

Mold on the Floor of a Bowling Lane
By CalicoKitten

It was hot. Hot in the way that, if one attempted to sleep in this insufferable heat, they would just wind up laying there, staring up at nothing while clinging to the unfounded hopes of falling into a deep sleep filled with dreams of buttercups and bright blue skies. But even if one fell asleep amidst these dreams, soon the scorching summer sun would make an appearance and burn them to a crisp. In their dreams, of course.

And, on a day like this – which was actually hot due to humidity, but people didn't usually say it like that – there was only one thing to do.

Go bowling.

Think about it. When the heat – or humidity, if you're one of those people – becomes too much to bear, and you don't want to crank up the air conditioner and waste all that money – the smart thing to do is to find an activity indoors. Watching a movie might have worked out just as well, but not in this case, as boys, especially talented tennis players, are active and tend to engage in some sort of sport to challenge each other with unnecessary competition.

This is why Atobe and Shishido found themselves in front of fifteen lanes. They didn't need to stake out a lane for themselves because only five were inhabited by strange people with an obsession for the game. From the way they held the balls, and the way they acted when they failed to make a strike – which was, for example, nearly beaning another player with said bowling balls – it was obvious that they were possessed.

Atobe and Shishido chose the lane farthest from them.

Now, it may surprise many to learn that, as was not often the case, these two came bowling alone. No tagging along from the rest of Hyotei's esteemed – not so esteemed anymore, as they didn't even make the final four – tennis team. Just merely the captain and one half of their number one doubles pair.

"Stop tugging at my hat, bitch," growled said one half.

A pout from one good at pouting. "But it covers your hair."

Another shock that may astound many people is that these two, Atobe Keigo and Shishido Ryou, have certain…privileges with each other that many don't have. For instance, Shishido's favorite nickname for Atobe would cause most others to have Kabaji's fist planted in their faces at a simple beckon. And Atobe, for his part, could play all he wanted with the top of Shishido's head and not have the smackdown laid on him.

Why, some may ask? Well, it's quite easy, really. Not many people know this, but Hyotei's two resident divas – excluding Gakuto because seriously, he only played at divaship – were, for the most part, dating. Well, 'are' dating would be better. They've thrown threats at each other about breaking up, but nothing ever came of it.

This was, perhaps, due to a reason neither of the two bright boys realized. Sure, they bickered and tussled, and did a lot more than tussling, but the four letter word stayed beyond the reach of their vocabulary. You know the stupidity of boys. They like to think themselves all witty and smart, but when that four letter word comes into their lives, they ignore it like mold on a bathroom wall.

They try to ignore jealousy, too, but that never, ever happens.

"Hey, it's Seigaku's Oishi!" Shishido said, and left Atobe alone while he greeted the other boy.

Atobe frowned, walking up until he came face to face with a familiar person.

"Tezuka. How are you? Still in awe of my presence?"

Tezuka simply grunted in response. Oishi and Shishido turned to face them, then, and Atobe frowned at the close proximity between the two of them, and Shishido glared at the higher setting on Atobe's ego around Tezuka.

Jealousy is, once again, not unseen.

Oishi and Tezuka were a surprising pair to see. Not to say that it was stunning to see them together, however. How could it be, with Oishi constantly in thought or worry about the stoic Seigaku captain, and Tezuka always hanging around and listening to Oishi's every word? Indeed, they fit so well together, it only cost Atobe and Shishido a few brain cells to piece the puzzle together and realize they were on a date like them.

Young love certainly comes with such complications.

"You bowl?" Oishi asked, and a spark that they should have feared passed through his eyes.

Shishido shrugged. "Not often."

A thought popped into Atobe's head after his hesitance – and it wasn't jealousy, of course not – at seeing the two of them disappeared.

"Let's have a friendly competition."

Tezuka gave him a look, but he said nothing. It was probably because he still somewhat regretted losing his last match against Atobe, or perhaps it was because Oishi was there, and everyone knew that no one could bowl as well as Oishi.

But Atobe and Shishido weren't everyone, or else Atobe wouldn't have suggested it, and Shishido wouldn't have gone along with it.

"The prize?" Oishi asked, and his immediate response sent warning bells off only in his partner's ears.

"The losers buy ice cream for the winning team!"

Silence. Then…

"What are you, in elementary school?" Shishido scoffed.

Atobe frowned at him. "I like ice cream. Expensive ice cream."

He added the word 'expensive' in because his pride was slightly wounded at Shishido's comment, and it gave an implication to his vast wealth.

"Fine," Oishi agreed happily. Almost too happily. "Best of one game. You ready, Tezuka?"

One might wonder why Oishi seemed delighted in partaking in such a competition, as he most certainly was the Seigaku member who protested the long ago, imaginary love rectangle between certain tennis players for fear of emotional trauma. It's easier to compare it with the simple act of taking candy from a baby. Minus the morality.

Atobe went first, choosing a ball of medium weight and throwing it with all the grace one could possibly have in chucking a heavy object at a bunch of pins. Nevertheless, he managed to knock nine pins over.

Oishi chose to go next. He rolled his ball into the gutter.

"Oops. Sorry, Tezuka."

Tezuka just looked at him.

Perhaps it was due to Oishi's apparent lack of skill that caused Shishido to only knock three down on his turn, but if one watched at virtually any angle, they could see Atobe attacking his lover – well, perhaps not a 'lover' to them, as it contained that four letter word – and try to steal his cap. He probably did this because he'd seen that horrible throw from Seigaku's fukubuchou and realized they had a very good chance of winning, barring any unfortunate accidents.

He also really wanted to run his hands through Shishido's hair, but he was growing it out and wouldn't let anyone touch it. It was at the stage where it was too short and yet too long for it to look good. Therefore, the baseball cap.

Ignoring this, Tezuka tossed his own ball down the lane and scored a split. Atobe was only mildly envious, and Oishi congratulated him with an affectionate hug. Tezuka hugged him back and nearly smiled.

The spotlight shone on the two of them gazing at each other before Atobe flicked his own on.

"Be awed by my prowess!" he declared, throwing the ball towards the pins and watching as it knocked down just one in the lefthand corner.

"Marvelous prowess!" Oishi shouted back.

He and Tezuka had their heads together and were talking quietly over the computerized scoreboard. A spectator walking by would have noticed the way Tezuka's arm discreetly held Oishi by the waist, a finger or two hooking in a belt loop. It looked completely natural.

He said, "Shut up", and received a glare from Tezuka in return.

In response at having a buchou-glare that was not his own directed at him, Atobe scowled, got mad, and ended his turn by plowing eight pins over.

Oishi managed to knock one over on his second turn.

And by managed, it simply meant that he'd probably thought about which one to hit, and it was harder only hitting one than the entire set. So on his next turn, he just chucked it into the gutter. Easier that way, you know.

Grabbing a nicely colored bright blue bowling ball, Shishido flexed his fingers.

"Do you want some tips?" A leer.

"Tips on being a jackass? No thanks."

Atobe sighed dramatically. "You wound me with the names you call me."

"You deserve it. Bitch."

"You're much more pleasant in bed, you know. And you call me by my name instead of 'bitch' or 'asshole'. Such a nice tone, too, so pleading and – "

Shishido blushed furiously. In the lane beside theirs, Oishi's cheeks turned red, and Tezuka tugged him closer.

"Shut up, fucker!"

"Hmm, well yes, that I suppose I am…"

Shishido scowled fiercely, threw the ball as hard as he could at something that wasn't Atobe, and got a strike.

"Good luck, Tezuka!" Oishi said brightly while chaos erupted next to them.

Tezuka broke his stern composure enough to give him a quick peck on the cheek. Then, he bowled eight out of ten pins over and gave Oishi another kiss when he thought no one was watching.

To an outsider, it may seem strange that these two boys referred to each other by their last names when they were obviously on a high level of intimacy. But they'd tried calling each other "Syuuchirou" or "Kunimitsu" once before. It turned out awkward for the both of them, like they were seeing each other as brothers instead of friends-that-liked-each-other romantically. Plus, the names were simply too long.

Atobe and Shishido shared a similar problem, but unlike Tezuka and Oishi, they were slowly progressing to becoming more comfortable on a first-name basis.

"…It's always 'bitch, bitch' when we're out together, but when we're alone, it's 'Keigo'! Ah, Keigo!'" Atobe mused thoughtfully.

"Would you just shut the fuck up?"

"Do you want me to, darling?"

"No shit."

Atobe sighed dramatically and quickly scored a strike next to Oishi's fourth gutter ball. "Whatever you say, Ryou-chan."

"..."

Tezuka knew Oishi very well. Ever since freshman year, and their first meeting while in the tennis club, they'd been practically joined at the hip. He hadn't minded; Oishi was a nice, polite, and respectable boy that charmed even his own parents. Then stuff happened, embarrassing stuff, and things that made him realize he actually liked Oishi as more than a friend.

And since he knew Oishi so well, Tezuka was quite knowledgeable on his bouts of deviousness. Oishi was certainly the nicest boy on the block, but he harbored the tiniest sadistic tendencies. He liked to play tricks sometimes – harmless, slightly irritating ones that he found amusing or interesting.

Tezuka decided that Oishi must have thought bowling with Hyotei would be fun.

He wondered when Oishi would actually start bowling and stop throwing gutter balls.

"Oops," Oishi said for the thousandth time as the halfway point in their game neared. He slipped into the chair next to Tezuka after flashing the other team an innocent smile.

"Oishi," Tezuka said, and leaned closer so that Shishido and Atobe wouldn't hear. "When are you going to stop playing with them?"

Oishi laughed and poked him on the nose. "Oh, I don't know. They're not bad. I'm going to have to pick it up sooner than I thought."

"…Oishi…"

"What?"

"…Nothing…"

Oishi smiled, giving him a peck on the cheek. "I love you too."

Tezuka said nothing back, simply sliding an arm around the back of Oishi's chair. They shared a unique connection due partially to Tezuka's inarticulate nature and penchant for monosyllabic words. It was quite a feat on the part of Seigaku's fukubuchou to manage to decipher Tezuka half the time; most of Seigaku's tennis team only understood 'no', 'yes', or 'run a hundred laps around the court'.

"I will make you run a hundred laps around the court for missing that pin!" a commanding voice interrupted.

"Shut up!"

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll…" Shishido threatened, leaning over and whispering something into Atobe's ear.

Oishi perked up. "What do you think they're saying?"

Tezuka glanced over. A tiny scowl graced Atobe's face, and the Hyotei captain held a death grip on Shishido's wrist.

"Probably something inappropriate."

Oishi looked over. "Yeah, you're probably right."

And Tezuka, in a move very unlike Tezuka (because he's the type to fall into the background but still stick out by being painted purple against a yellow backdrop), reached his other arm around Oishi, cupped his face, and gave him a kiss. An obviously good one by the way Oishi responded and by the time the kiss lasted.

Five minutes. One might wonder how they got the air to breathe when their lips were attached the entire time, but smart people would know not to ask.

They would try it out themselves.

There was a moment just before five rounds were left when Atobe declared loudly, "We are so going to win!", or something of the sort, to commemorate his team's lead over Seigaku's.

He should have thought better of saying that when, in recollection, the last time he'd gotten so overconfident happened before the games against Fudomine, and Hyotei lost by a pathetic 0-3 score. It also managed to drop Shishido from the regulars before he chopped off his pretty hair to win a place back.

Therefore, it shouldn't have been shocking when Oishi raised his game.

Crash!

"Another strike?!" Atobe gasped.

Shishido cast a suspicious gaze at Oishi, which was returned with an innocent smile. "I always thought you were tricky. Ever since I played you."

Oishi did his best to look naïve. "What? That was just luck, wasn't it, Tezuka?"

An unconvincing one syllable affirmation gave him away.

Oishi smiled.

"Why don't you call him a bitch?" Atobe grumbled while casting a look at Shishido.

"Because," Shishido said, annoyed, "He's nicer than you. Way nicer. And a lot more modest, too."

"I'll show you modest," Atobe leered again, leaning closer.

An exasperated noise. "You see, that's what I'm talking about, dumbass. Look at them."

He pointed off to the lane next to theirs. A happy little scene greeted Atobe's eyes like a picture that should be painted or framed on the wall or something. Tezuka and Oishi sat in those uncomfortable plastic seats, kissing sweetly. One of Tezuka's hands held Oishi's hip while the other touched the nape of his neck, and Oishi's hands situated themselves in Tezuka's hair.

They were in their own little world.

Atobe felt a tiny bit jealous at the fine condition of Tezuka's hair and the fact that the sight relegated him to the peanut gallery with Shishido.

"Damn it, I am not and never will be a member of the peanut gallery!" Atobe hissed loudly.

He stalked over to Shishido, the shorter boy about to make some snide remark, and cut him off by shoving his tongue down his throat when his mouth opened.

This went on for quite some time, with Tezuka deserting his own seat and sharing Oishi's, and Atobe not giving in before Seigaku was finished. Any random observer would note how the obsessed people at the far end of the room began to stare openly while forgetting their ongoing battle of the bowlers. A few of them inched slowly towards the door.

If they were smart, they'd probably go and try it out themselves.

"Damn Seigaku," muttered Atobe.

His remark was, of course, in reference to the flashing numbers that indicated that the opposing team had won their little bout in the bowling lane as well as the tennis courts. Most people would have cursed more openly about such a loss, especially since they were winning courtesy of Oishi, but since Atobe had finesse – such a rare thing it was – he allowed himself just one line of swearing.

"You're a little weirder than what I originally pegged you for," Shishido said, ignoring Atobe and instead opting to speak to Oishi. "But you've got guts. I like that."

Oishi smiled. "Thanks. I guess."

He grasped Tezuka's left hand with his right. This was an amazing feat considering that Tezuka seemed the type of person who could shoot daggers out of his eyes and kill you with a mere look, but he appeared perfectly fine with this slight hint of public affection.

"I'm very awed by your presence. You played such a good game," Tezuka deadpanned to Atobe.

No one actually knew whether or not he was being entirely serious or joking (which would be an extremely rare thing to happen, like Haley's Comet shooting across the sky at nighttime), but Atobe frowned at the sarcastic undertone after the moment of confused silence passed.

"…You can be quite bitchy sometimes, Tezuka-kun."

"…"

Oishi hurried to dispel any hard feelings. "So…why don't we go out for that ice cream right now?"

And they did, but not after Atobe made them promise to have a rematch, in a game of his choosing.

Knowing him, since tennis was out of the question, he'd probably choose billiards to be assured of a win by Shishido's aptitude at it.

So they went out for ice cream and had quite a relaxing time, and it was revealed that although Atobe was rich and liked to flaunt it in people's faces, he did have a soft spot for cheap ice cream, and that was what everyone received.

So much for 'expensive' ice cream.