This was the result of a fifteen-minute word challenge that ran longer. The challenge word is stated at the end of the fic.
A Doubles Partner Scorned (Prince of Tennis)
By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)
Mukahi Gakuto hurried as fast as his legs would carry him down the near-empty hallways of Hyotei Gakuen. Running in the halls was against school rules, but thanks to a teacher's lengthy lecture about a remark he'd made during class, he was already very late to tennis practice. He couldn't stand the thought of missing any more of it.
He flew into the changing room and got into his tennis uniform in record time, then grabbed his racquet and dashed toward the courts. He was almost there when he heard the comforting 'twack' of balls being hit back and forth and his doubles partner's familiar voice.
"Excellent return."
Gakuto was curious as to whom Yuushi was playing against, figuring that he was working on singles in his absence. When the court came into view, though, he stopped in surprise. Yuushi was playing doubles against Shishido and Ohtori – his partner was Hiyoshi, usually an alternate on the Regulars. Gakuto frowned, unsure as to whether he'd EVER seen Hiyoshi play Doubles before.
As he watched, he saw Hiyoshi manage to not only return one of Ohtori's serves – a miracle in itself – but to keep it within the lines to score the point. Yuushi pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded approval.
"You're going to make a fine Doubles partner, Hiyoshi."
Gakuto gasped and staggered backwards. Yuushi … was REPLACING him?! He was only twenty minutes late, and suddenly he preferred having Hiyoshi at his side?
Did that mean he wanted Hiyoshi in his bed instead of him, too?
Gakuto felt torn between bursting into tears and charging onto the court to bludgeon them both to death with his racquet. Instead, he ran back to the changing room to gather his wits.
The tears were still threatening, and he angrily brushed at his eyes as if to warn them not to dare. He would save crying for later, when he was alone in his bedroom and could perform voodoo treatments on the Yuushi plushie he'd made himself. Right now, only one thing would get him through the rest of practice with a cool head.
Revenge.
He headed straight for Hiyoshi's cubby and pulled out everything that was there. His bag held his texts and notebooks, his school uniform, and his cell phone. Not much, but plenty for someone with imagination and a penchant for vengeance.
Even in his heartbroken, furious state, Gakuto knew he should be cautious about going too far. Stealing was wrong, so he wouldn't just 'take' the uniform. He only borrowed it long enough to deposit it into the gloppy mud puddle behind the changing room, courtesy of that morning's rain showers. He used the toe of his shoe to make sure every inch of it got good and wet. The uniform would be fine after a couple of washings, but still meant a lot of extra work for Hiyoshi that evening if he wanted to wear it tomorrow.
The textbooks were school property, so he couldn't destroy them. He did, however, feel absolutely no qualms about tossing the handwritten notebooks face-down into the same mud puddle and smooshing them around a bit to make sure the contents would be completely unreadable. So Hiyoshi would have to re-write half a semester's worth of notes. Boo hoo.
Cell phones were expensive and doing one any harm just didn't sit right with Gakuto. Instead, he opened it up and called as many phone sex, joke-a-day, and other charge-me-an-arm-and-a-leg-for-crap numbers as he could recall from memory. Then he ordered ten extra-large pizzas for delivery at Hiyoshi's house that night.
A while later, Gakuto headed out to the courts with a calm expression. He bowed to Atobe-buchou and apologized for his lateness.
"Gakuto," Yuushi said as he approached, and Gakuto wished that hearing his name spoken by that voice didn't still make him hot all over. "I was getting worried. Are you ready to practice with me?"
The smaller boy spun around. "I thought you'd want to practice some more with your new partner, Hiyoshi," he said icily, giving his rival a dirty look.
"What are you talking about?" Atobe interrupted. "Yuushi was only training Hiyoshi in Doubles play at my request. It's just in case we need to pair him up with any of you as an emergency measure. It's always better to be prepared."
Gakuto's mouth fell open. He looked at Yuushi, who was smiling at him patiently, no doubt highly amused to learn that he'd jumped to conclusions yet again. Hiyoshi was looking at him as if he were nuts. He turned to their alternate and cringed slightly. "Um, Hiyoshi-kun … I think I owe you some money. And, um, whatever notes I've got saved from last year's courses. Also dry-cleaning."
Hiyoshi's eyes widened and he turned red enough that Yuushi must have thought he would explode, because he stepped in between he and Gakuto. "This was obviously a misunderstanding, and I'm sure Gakuto will make it all right again. There's no need for violence."
Gakuto's voice was very small behind him, "I hope you still feel that way when you find out what I did to the stuff in YOUR bag."
(Word challenge – Replacement)
(2005)
Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.
This fic is not to be re-posted.