Disclaimer: I own very little.
A/N: This is an entry to the rikkaishorts fic exchange at LiveJournal, the recipient being justsonya. Though I did do my best to keep them IC, there may still be mistakes because A) this is my first Rikkai fic ever and B) along with my laptop I lost all of my reference material. Therefore, I apologize in advance for any mistakes that may remain.
Jealousy
"The finals will be tomorrow." Taking his glasses off, Yagyuu rubbed his eyes tiredly, then looked at Niou. Without his glasses and the other boy's ponytail, they looked disturbingly similar -- a fact they had often used to their advantage. "But we're ready for that, aren't we?"
"Definitely." Only Niou could look so normal lying on a bed, his head hanging upside down. "It's probably going to be us against the Golden Pair again, eh? I wonder if we could manage to trick them again."
"Probably not." Yagyuu smirked a bit. "Then again, we might not be against them after all."
"Oh?" Niou raised an eyebrow -- or lowered, as the case may have been in his upside-down position. "What do you think of the line-up, then?"
"According to Yanagi-kun -- not that it isn't quite obvious otherwise -- Seigaku has definitely overcome its former lack of proper doubles pairings. In addition to the Golden Pair they have two potential pairings for the finals, assuming they don't pull some surprising combination against us like they did with Shitenhouji." Yagyuu looked down at his game partner. "Although Momoshiro and Kaidoh did very well in the semifinals, Yanagi's guess is that the other doubles pair is going to be Inui and Kaidoh."
"Of course he'd say that, with his obsession with Inui." Niou snapped his tongue. "You'll be happy either way, though, won't you?" His tone was surprisingly sharp.
It was Yagyuu's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"Kaidoh, of course." Niou grimaced. "For a former exclusively singles player, he sure is good at doubles." With an even sharper voice, he added, "Even with you."
"Are you referring to that one incident?" Yagyuu frowned. "Yes, I played doubles with him. I hardly could have done anything else, not when the match was to defend our captain's honour." Yagyuu set his glasses back on his face. "If we do play against them, I'll have no problem treating him like an opponent, if that's what you're worried about."
"Do I have a reason to worry?" snapped Niou.
"It depends on what you're worried about," Yagyuu replied calmly. Well, as calmly as he could, anyway. Niou was never an easy person to deal with, but he usually didn't get this hard on Yagyuu, and the gentleman was not at all sure what exactly the other boy was so annoyed at.
"Mainly I worry whether I should be playing with you at all." Either oblivious to or simply ignoring Yagyuu's shocked expression, he continued, "It took the two of us forever to pull off the pretending trick successfully. As you and the snake guy managed it on the spot, it seems like you'd be better off playing with him instead of me."
"Now, this is getting ridiculous," Yagyuu sighed. "We only pulled it off because the people we played against weren't very familiar with us and we avoided talking as much as we could. I'd also practised the Boomerang Snake when Jackal did, so it was easy enough for me to imitate. You can't in any way compare that with our trick -- we could confuse not only Inui, who had doubtlessly done extensive research on us, but even our own club members!"
"What about the Laser?" Niou snapped. "Remember how long it took me to master it? Is it just by chance that Kaidoh managed to do it?"
"How should I know? I quickly told him the basics -- nothing too detailed, I assure you -- and he's apparently quick at learning. He still couldn't do it anywhere as fast as you, though. Nobody but those idiots would have been fooled."
"Says you." Suddenly, Niou moved, snatching the glasses from Yagyuu's face. "There, much better." The trickster turned around, no more facing him upside-down. A face with familiar features stared back at Yagyuu. He knew better than well that they could have passed for brothers -- or, under the right circumstances, each other. "Talking with the gentleman never brings any results."
"There is nothing wrong with being the gentleman, as I'm sure you've noticed," Yagyuu said seriously. "Besides, you if anybody should know it's not the appearance that defines my personality."
"Of course not," Niou replied. "However, I know not to trust myself. It gives me a nice foundation for this conversation."
"This conversation which has no point."
"It has too a point." At this point, Marui may have pouted. Yukimura would have probably given the puppy dog eyes that could melt even Sanada's heart -- an unequalled accomplishment if there ever was one. As this was, however, Niou in question, he simply smirked in a rather worrying way. "The point being, you are far too interested in Kaidoh Kaoru for my liking."
"One meeting hardly counts as 'far too interested,'" Yagyuu pointed out, in his own opinion quite reasonably.
"Of course not." The smirk got even more worrying. "However, I do recall you spending hours just watching his stupid match. The idiot doesn't even realize that doubles is supposed to be played by two people!"
"I have told you both the most likely reason for his behaviour and the definite reason for my interest in that match. Neither should give you any basis to feel threatened." This was getting simply ridiculous, Yagyuu decided. Sighing, he asked, "What can I do to convince you I'm not interested in Kaidoh?" A sulking partner was the very last thing he needed in the National finals. Never mind that Niou was dangerous when he sulked.
"...If we do face them, may I cause Kaidoh just a teeny little concussion?" Niou asked. "We already did it to Kikumaru, so you can't say no."
"But I will." Yagyuu raised an eyebrow. "Yanagi anticipated you'd ask that. He told me to inform you that Inui has apparently done extensive research on the effects of tennis shots on the body. If you harm Kaidoh, he'll have no problem returning the harm to you tenfold and make it look like an accident. Chances are Kaidoh won't be put off by your attack but we'll have to forfeit due to your injury."
"But what if it's Kaidoh and Momoshiro?" Niou looked almost innocent as he asked this. Even to Yagyuu, who was somewhat used to him, it was highly disturbing. "Then I can do something nasty to him, right?"
"Only if it benefits the game." The usually bespectacled boy frowned. "Sanada will kill you if you spoil the match for the sake of petty revenge for something that's never even happened."
"I never said anything about something happening." Niou's voice was now unmistakably cold. "That means you have a reason to think of something happening, eh?"
"Oh, for hell's sake, Niou," Yagyuu sighed, "stop this jealousy act. You're like a bitchy girl on PMS. I have no interest in Kaidoh aside from as a potential opponent. Playing one doubles match with him doesn't change the fact I have played more matches with you than I can even count."
"Only because you haven't got the chance."
Niou drew a breath, apparently going to say something else. It didn't look like he was going to shut up anytime soon. Therefore, Yagyuu did the only thing he could to keep the suspicions from being voiced for who knew how long still.
Leaning forward, he kissed Niou on the lips.