Notes: Originally posted on LJ, Nov. 2006. Written for Uo-chan.
Invisible Evidence
By Miki
None of it had been Kaidou's idea from the beginning.
He hadn't wanted the stupid photo, but Fuji-senpai had found an old Polaroid camera and brought it to training.
Kaidou didn't think Fuji-senpai should have done that, and it had been really annoying when he'd taken happy snaps of everyone mid-match, because, as Kikumaru-senpai had put it, it was pretty hard to beat Ochibi-chan while you were trying to look good for the camera.
Kaidou hadn't played Echizen, and he hadn't grinned like an idiot for the camera, and he'd really wished Tezuka would tell Fuji to go away and do something… like training.
But he hadn't.
So then Fuji had said that he said he wanted to test the camera out on someone, and Echizen had pointed out that he'd been testing it out all afternoon.
Fuji had just smiled and given Momoshiro a look as he and Kaidou were both walking past.
Kaidou had gotten that horrid sinking feeling in his stomach then – like Fuji-senpai was just going to ask him to do something he didn't really want to do at all, but he wouldn't be able to say no because to say no to his senpai was something he'd never really consider, except when it was Fuji-senpai, but even then, he couldn't say no because he was too afraid of what Fuji would do to him if he did say no – but the idiot had just grinned and joked that Fuji wouldn't have a complete collection if he didn't take a photo of Mamushi.
Then he'd said that Fuji had better take a picture of his back, because it was his only good side.
Kaidou punched him.
Momoshiro threw his racquet down and returned the favour.
Fuji had pressed the button.
The camera clicked.
Whirred.
And out slid a white frame and a shiny, black photograph, yet to develop in the light.
After that, they'd both argued some more and Fuji had simply smiled and told them they looked like a happily married couple.
Kikumaru-senpai had grinned and said they made a good couple and asked why they still called each other dumb names like Mamushi and Idiot instead of Kaoru-chan and Take-chan.
"Mamu-chan doesn't sound very romantic, nya!"
By that point, Momoshiro had snatched the now-developed Polaroid from Fuji-senpai and was staring at it strangely.
So Kaidou grabbed it off him.
And then sometime between realising the fact that he'd registered that the photo looked exceptionally incriminating and noticing the fact that Fuji-senpai had snapped the moment where their heads had banged together – stupid idiot! His head was so hard that Kaidou's was still throbbing there – he'd realised Momoshiro was trying to yank the photo out of his hands.
Kaidou had pulled on his side.
Momoshiro had pulled on his.
And, rather inevitably, the photo ended up in half.
"Momo-senpai," Echizen drawled, "you don't have to fight over that one; there are more over here, you know."
Kaidou and Momoshiro stared at him in horror.
Fuji, finding amusement in it, just smiled.
Kikumaru was next to him, flapping his arms manically, trying to get the next photos developed so he could see them.
"Oh! You look really good in this one Momo! You really look like you're hugging Kaidou! See? See your arms? Hey Fuji! You're really good at this!"
Kaidou wanted to find a hole and die in it.
(S)
When he finished changing his pyjamas later that night, he dropped down onto his bed and sighed.
His homework books sat on his desk, and he got up again to put them into his school bag ready for the morning.
When he opened the bag though, he remembered the photo he'd shoved into his shorts, and hurriedly looked around.
It's not like he really cared about it or anything; he just didn't want anyone else to find the stupid thing first.
If Hazue found it, who knew what he would think?
His mother would probably want to frame it or something.
Kaidou shuddered at the thought of Momoshiro's ugly face ever gracing their wall.
(S)
When Kaidou went to school the next day, Kikumaru gave him a copy of the last photo Fuji had taken.
It was the one where Tezuka had been standing behind Fuji and he, Momoshiro and Kikumaru had found themselves in a rather sticky situation.
Oishi hadn't said much, but he had a disappointed look on his face.
Fuji had zoomed in on their faces then.
Momoshiro looked like a deer caught in the headlights and Kaidou was scowling rather unhappily.
Neither of them looked great.
Neither of them was really photogenic.
Kaidou thought Fuji-senpai should have burnt the stupid thing instead of making copies, but Fuji never did what anyone else wanted him to, so Kaidou shoved that photo into the pocket of his school pants and gave a gruff thanks to Kikumaru-senpai, who was looking at him with big, bright eyes and smiling like he thought Kaidou should be happy.
(S)
Later that night when Kaidou remembered that photo, he fished it out of the pocket of his pants and picked up the other one that he'd put into his desk drawer.
He sat down on the edge of his bed and scowled at them both, looking back and forth between the two.
The torn one only had a picture of his arm in it, but it had most of Momoshiro's head – minus some of his hair – and he was baring his teeth like a dog.
Kaidou thought that if he really were a dog, he wouldn't go near him.
He'd probably be the type to bite and drool and carry rabies.
He definitely wouldn't be cute at all.
Not that he was thinking about Momoshiro like that.
A moment later, when Kaidou's mother knocked on the door, Kaidou panicked and instinctively shoved the photos under his pillow, not even stopping to think about what he was doing.
She peeked around the door and smiled at him, wishing him a good night, and then closed it again.
Kaidou let out a breath he'd been holding in and slumped a little.
At least she'd never find them there.
(S)
Three days later, when Hazue was complaining about itchy bites and Kaidou told him it was because he'd been playing with dogs that had fleas, Kaidou's mother thought it would be a good idea to change Hazue's bed sheets.
Then, since doing things in twos had become a habit, she began changing Kaoru's as well.
When she lifted up his pillow, she blinked as she saw two pieces of white card and, turning them over, she realised that they were photos.
For a moment, her mind was completely blank.
She'd seen the boy in the photos before.
He'd once come to their house to pick up Kaoru to play tennis and she'd thought nothing more of it.
Of course, just because she hadn't seen him much didn't mean he wasn't important to Kaoru, and she smiled at the thought that her son was perhaps better at fostering relationships than she'd previously thought.
His shyness could sometimes worry her, but this boy seemed nice enough, and he was certainly loud enough to bring Kaidou out of his shell.
What was his name again? She wondered.
She had to admit that neither photo was terribly good, though she was tempted to make a copy of the one that wasn't torn.
It was rare that her son ever willingly stood still for photos now, and she hesitated a little before placing the photos back upside down on the bed sheet and placing his pillow back on top.
She troubled herself for a few moments, trying to remember the way the wrinkles had been on the material, and then slipped out of the room, deciding that she wouldn't mention it to Kaoru.
(S)
When Kaidou came back from training the next day, he stumbled up the stairs to his room and found himself flopping onto his bed before he'd realised it.
Then he sat up again and realised that his bed looked different somehow.
He remembered suddenly that he'd left those photos under his pillow, and cursed under his breath.
He hoped no one had seen them…
But it wasn't the weekend, so his mother shouldn't have wanted to change the sheets yet…
He scrambled to turn around and pull his pillow off the bed, his heart stopping for a moment before he realised that yes; the photos were still there.
He turned them over, blinking as he realised how dumb he was acting over a couple of pieces of paper, and then he scowled.
Momoshiro… That idiot.
It was all his fault.
Kaidou had never wanted stupid freaking photos with his ugly face in them.
But that didn't stop him from turning them back over and placing them carefully flat on the sheets.
He smoothed the sheets around them and put his pillow back on top.
And a moment later, he lifted it up again, just to check that they were still sitting there.
Not that he really cared or anything.
.fin.