Rating: PG
Pairing: D1
Challenge: Theme #87 for fanfic100 "Life"
Disclaimer: not mine, cool? cool.
Niou needed a partner for his Regulars debut in the Rikkai Tennis Club. It was clear by the end of Nationals their first year that Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichirou and Yanagi Renji would be the top singles players of the team for the next two years, so if he wanted to be a Regular, he needed to excel in doubles. Marui Bunta was very promising - he made it pretty far in the Newcomer's Tournament. But Marui was too carefree for Niou. Niou needed someone willing to go along with the plans he wanted to implement.
So Niou set his eyes on one Yagyuu Hiroshi. Yagyuu had a backhand that had the potential to grow into one of the quickest in the country. He was unfailingly polite and so serious he never laughed or joked with the rest of them, but Niou could tell a ruthless player and a fun person hid behind the glint in Yagyuu's hazel eyes that showed when his glasses flashed in the sun's rays.
Niou had been prepared to convince Yagyuu to play doubles with him, but Yagyuu agreed without skipping a beat. It would be a mutually beneficial partnership, he said. Niou wasn't sure what he meant, but didn't care. The next day, they tried playing a set together. Their combination was awful. Yagyuu kept running for balls that Niou called and Niou kept getting in the way of Yagyuu's shots. The senpai laughed when they lost, one game to six, and said they should try playing with other people. Niou took the one game as proof that they could be good, and told Yagyuu as much.
The first time they won a match, Niou invited Yagyuu over to hang out. They lived in different dorms, so Niou gave Yagyuu a quick tour before they went to his room to discuss the match. Niou rested on his bed, arms folded behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. Yagyuu sat at Niou's desk, looking at the mess covering it. When Yagyuu didn't respond to one of his questions, Niou turned to look at him. Yagyuu was staring at the notebook Yanagi had lent him - the one with Yagyuu's data in it.
Niou explained that he used it to understand Yagyuu's play better, to help improve their combination. Yagyuu nodded, setting the notebook back where it was. Niou wondered if perhaps briefly, there'd been a small smile on Yagyuu's lips. It wasn't there when he blinked and looked again though.
Kirihara Akaya was an interesting addition to the team. Niou hadn't counted on yet another amazing addition to the team. He and Yagyuu doubled their efforts to improve their combination, needing to become Regulars above Kirihara. That was when Niou first came up with the idea of switching.
Yagyuu never actually consented to any of Niou's plans, but he never rejected any of them, either. The first time they pulled the switch, Yanagi saw through them right away. Niou refused to give up though, certain they could make it work. He carefully noted how the corners of Yagyuu's lips twitched with amusement as they went over Yanagi's detailed outline of where they messed up and how they could fix the problems.
When he placed orders for new color contacts, Niou stared at the choices for color and clicked other. He changed it to just plain hazel when "hazel with a center the color of mocha fading into a dirty green the color of grass-stained khakis, flecked with specks of ivy green and striations of bittersweet chocolate" didn't fit. Niou sat back after sending in the form, wondering when he started getting so poetic about Yagyuu's eyes.
Niou's fingers lingered in Yagyuu's hair slightly longer than normal when helping him style his hair into Niou's traditional spikes the following week. Yagyuu's hair was finer than his own, soft and difficult to manipulate. He leaned forward and took a deep breath of the sandalwood scent drifting off Yagyuu's hair, straightening immediately before Yagyuu noticed. Boys weren't supposed to do things like smell each other's hair with their eyes closed, right?
They became Regulars together fall of their second year, before Kirihara did. Yukimura handed them their Regular uniforms - which were of better, lighter material than the uniforms non-Regulars got to wear - and smiled. He expected a lot from what he called his best doubles team. Niou almost saluted, but he bowed instead, peeking at Yagyuu out of the corner of his eye.
To anyone else, Yagyuu appeared expressionless as usual. Niou, though, could tell that his lips were pressed together slightly tighter than normal, probably to prevent a smile. He didn't fix his glasses when he straightened from his bow, which meant he was probably too proud or something to be bothered by the way his glasses slid ever so much down his nose. His shoulders hunched just the tiniest bit more than his usual rigid, perfect stance - he was relaxed, probably because they'd secured their spots as Regulars.
At their first Regulars meeting after all the Regulars were chosen, Yanagi placed five sets of wrist and ankle weights on the table. He, Sanada and Yukimura each pushed up their shirt sleeves to show their own. They were going to win Nationals for the third year in a row without losing a single match.
The day Yukimura collapsed, Niou's racket slipped out of his hand and he could only stare as everyone jumped into action: Sanada cradled their gasping captain in his arms and Yanagi barked for Yagyuu to call the hospital and Jackal to grab Yukimura's jacket. Maybe he stopped breathing until the ambulance arrived and the paramedics took their pale, immobile captain away on a stretcher. Niou always watched everyone carefully and could usually predict their actions far in advance, but even he hadn't seen this coming.
After the ambulance left, lights flashing and sirens blaring, Yagyuu touched Niou on the arm, waking him from his stupor and leading him into the clubroom. They changed quickly and silently, the adrenaline coursing through their bodies deciding to forego the wait for the crowded bus and opting to run the twenty-some-odd blocks to the hospital instead.
Niou crumpled into a chair in the waiting room. Yagyuu, always collected and dignified no matter the situation, sat down slowly next to him, putting an arm awkwardly around Niou's curved shoulders. Niou leaned into Yagyuu's chest, eyes staring blankly at the green tiled floor. Yagyuu slowly brought his hand up to Niou's hair and a shiver went down Niou's spine as Yagyuu's fingers stroked his temple.
When the nurses sent them home, telling them Yukimura was stable and there was nothing more they could do by staying, Yagyuu followed Niou to his room. Niou entered without a word and threw himself face-down on his bed, leaving Yagyuu to close the door behind them.
He felt the bed shift as Yagyuu sat down by his hip. An awkward hand rubbed his back comfortingly. Niou turned, Yagyuu's hand sliding over his waist and onto his stomach. He plucked Yagyuu's glasses off and set it down on his desk without looking. His eyes were glued to Yagyuu's rapidly blinking ones before he sat up and grabbed the base of Yagyuu's head, pulling him forward into a harsh kiss. Niou stared straight into Yagyuu's open eyes, searching for disgust, shock, anger, anything to tell him to stop, but he found nothing. Instead, Yagyuu's hands cupped the nape of his neck, pulling him closer.
Niou parted his lips, sliding his tongue forward into Yagyuu's open mouth. Their tongues slid against each other and Niou's hands slid down to Yagyuu's chest, enjoying the feel of Yagyuu's muscles through the uniform shirt. He loosened Yagyuu's tie and fumbled with the buttons, giving up quickly and pulling Yagyuu's shirt out of where they were properly tucked into his pants instead. Yagyuu gasped when Niou's hand made contact with his bare skin; Niou's eyes rolled back in his head at finally touching the smooth, pale skin that he saw teasing flashes of everyday at practice. Niou sucked gently on Yagyuu's lower lip before their lips met again and Yagyuu's tongue pressed forward into his mouth.
Yagyuu slowly pushed him backwards onto the bed as he deftly undid the buttons on Niou's shirt, mouths still joined.
Niou's first kiss was the one with Yagyuu, and somehow he knew it was the same for Yagyuu. Even though their nosed bumped together more than once and their teeth clicked together painfully once or twice and he had to pause to wipe away the drool sliding out of his mouth, it was still every bit as spectacular he'd seen in the movies. His first hickey was from Yagyuu, from when Yagyuu opened his shirt to suck and lick and nip at the place where his neck and shoulder joined. Niou first realized the nipple was an erogenous zone when Yagyuu brushed a finger across it and an electric spark shot through him.
They made out until they were both hard and panting for breath. Still keeping to his gentlemanly ways, Yagyuu's hands never traveled below Niou's belt. When they finally broke, Niou was on top of Yagyuu, straddling his hips, staring down at his warm, caring eyes. He ran his fingers through Yagyuu's soft hair for the millionth time, loving the way Yagyuu's eyes fluttered shut in pleasure. Yagyuu's hands rested on his waist, right above his hips, his thumbs stroking random patterns on Niou's skin.
A cell phone ringing broke through the moment - Yanagi wanted to meet for dinner. They dressed in silence and headed out.
Niou needed a partner for his Regulars debut in the Rikkai Tennis Club. He set his eyes on one Yagyuu Hiroshi. He didn't expect to like Yagyuu or that Yagyuu would like him back, but he figured it was a situation worth trying.
Need to get the D1 sap out of my system... couldn't think of a proper end though.