Spoilers: none - Timeline: irrelevant - Pairings: InuKai & MomoRyo & the standard Seigaku pairs - Warning: Well…, like, shounen-ai:P I'd say none, save the major OOCness I probably committed. And the fact that English isn't my native language - Length: ...not an oneshot, nor a saga

Disclaimer: Haha, I own nothing but my writing and ideas, the pretty tennis boys are property of Takeshi Konomi.

A/N: I wanted to write an oneshot at first, since it has been a long time I've written a proper fanfic. 'Long time' means that I still miss the old rating system. But it got out of hand and I started to enjoy it. Hope you'll too. :3

Summary: Inui never predicted the outcome when the captain asked him to valiantly guard the clubroom against the unseemly acts of the regulars. InuKai, MomoRyo & all the jazz & I suck at summaries.

Unbelievable
Inui thoughtfully tapped his fingers on his notebook. He was far from irritated, yet something was keeping him from concentrating properly. He stretched his legs a bit and continued to write contently, although many would definitely call his situation a punishment.

Afternoon sun seeped through the windows in the clubroom; trees swaying in the breeze were changing the pattern of light and shadow steadily, making the floor appear almost alive. From time to time a lone sunray would glint off the metal lockers and catch Inui's eye. He quite enjoyed the silence, although it felt way different than he was used to. The small clubroom usually shook with laughter, shouts, banging of the lockers and Tezuka's voice barking out various orders. And the clubroom stank, as Kikumaru used to say while scrunching his nose and hauling Oishi away from the 'wretched place'.

Inui shifted his position again. He welcomed the fact that he had to stay there undisturbed for the whole afternoon, though he would rather work on practicing his serve. Or be outside playing tennis in general. But since the captain asked him to stay there with rage and embarrassment fighting for dominance on his face, he couldn't possibly refuse. As the result, no one would dare to stay in the clubroom longer than was absolutely necessary, afraid that they could become victims of Inui's new experiment with beverages if they weren't quick enough. Some even stopped to visit the small house entirely, rather than face Inui sitting in the corner, eying everyone, his glasses blazing.

The reason for his current chore of the clubroom chastity watchdog was quite peculiar. Couple of days ago, the captain interrupted a very passionate moment between Momoshiro and certain Ochibi. Horrified, Tezuka erupted with righteous fury, awarding random people with great numbers of laps to run for the rest of the day. Inui knew that partial reason for Tezuka's outburst was the fact that he was probably intending to do something very similar with Fuji, who tended to grin at people these days more than usual. Inui mentally chuckled and allowed himself to lift the corners of his mouth even so slightly.

He used the time to reorganize his notes, but regretted that he was deprived of his favorite view. He ground the pencil more forcefully than necessary, his concentration yet again failing because of certain someone. As if on clue, shouts from the courts increased, as well the thundering of the tennis balls. Then somebody - Horio, very likely - screamed "DUNK SMASH!" and the clubroom windows rattled as Momoshiro's blow hit the ground.

Inui paused, listening intently. He wasn't wrong, there it was. Shortly after sounded the quick and sharp thuds of the Boomerang Snake and the courts cheered again, muffling Momo's pissed off cries entirely.

The Data player smiled involuntarily. He missed the sight of Kaidoh, all seething yet moving with gracious ease. The Viper was truly aesthetical thing to watch. Inui truly enjoyed observing his kouhai play, taking more notes on him than anybody else, which Fuji often called "perving". Inui was at first surprised that Kaidoh allowed him in his personal space so easily. There was 8 percent chance that he did so out of fear of being turned into a guinea pig, 68 percent that he simply respected his sempai and only 15 percent that he actually regarded Inui to be more than a friendly sempai. The remaining percents were crazy theories that Inui discarded as irrelevant. Despite the numbers, Inui knew that Kaidoh harbored a fanatical amount of admiration towards him. It genuinely surprised him, since nobody ever held him in such a high regard before; objects of such affection were usually the pillars of awesomeness such as Tezuka or Fuji.

Inui never had any 'favorites' among the players, so this was new field for him to investigate. He always observed his target from afar - it was simply his way of doing things. He usually didn't get confused or angsty when his hormones surged, he remained cold-blooded, observing the changes and adjusting his calculations accordingly to that. Of course, he had his moments, and these fantasies of his usually contained certain dark-haired kouhai. But he kept in check when around Kaidoh, always observing his reactions with great care. Inui knew that his pervy fantasies were his own business and that he had absolutely no right to force them on the second year. If Kaidoh would like to get closer to him, then great. If not, he would do his best to lend a friendly support to him whenever he needed. Inui knew that with this kind of behavior people won't approach him or didn't enjoy his company. But it seemed that Kaidoh didn't mind that at all and almost seemed at ease when around him. Inui lately discovered that Kaidoh also dropped his ever-persistent hissing when alone with his sempai during the practice. Though he still occasionally snapped his teeth at him when he did something unexpected. However, he very rarely allowed Inui to touch him without causing him bodily harm as he usually did to others. When injured or exhausted, he would let Inui to help him without much fuss.

Inui treasured these moments, but never pushed forward. Why would he, after all? The chances that it would piss off Kaidoh were immense. Things were far better for Inui now to destroy them with one rash, hormone-powered action. He also noticed that he would smile from time to time when no one beside the Viper was looking. But no lovey dovey giggling, which would only confuse the kouhai, making it for Inui only more complicated.

Kikumaru one morning commented that Inui was 'finally loosening up', but then he produced his trademark "Nya!" sound and bounced away, so Inui didn't think that the statement had any value at all. But then he realized that the acrobat was probably right, for he cracked a private joke when he asked his parents with utterly serious face if they would mind if kept a pet snake.

The sudden shriek of the door hinges made him jump. It wouldn't be good for his reputation to be caught daydreaming with his mouth hanging open, so he slammed his jaws shut and glared towards the entrance.

Momoshiro stomped inside, spewing various invectives at Kaidoh's address while ruffling Echizen's hair absent-mindedly. The little prodigy didn't bother to blush at this display of affection and instead attempted to bite his sempai's hand while putting his cap back on in one fluid movement.

"Anyway, Inui-sempai!" scowled Momo with no hint of remorse. "How long are you planning to stay in this stinky lair? We won't do anything again."

"Since it's you who consequently forced me to do so, you should keep your mouth shut in the first place," retorted Inui dryly, pointing at his mixer menacingly. Momo made a mildly terrified face and continued to badmouth Kaidoh, illustrating his points with flailing arms until Echizen forcefully dragged him outside, nodding a silent goodbye towards Inui.

Sadaharu watched the sparkling swirls of dust to settle down after Momoshiro's enraged departure. He frowned. Apart from the fact that he learned a couple of new swearwords, it was clear from Momo's complaints that Kaidoh's performance was erratic at best. Since Momoshiro snickered at the fact that misfired Snake almost decapitated Oishi at the adjacent court, Inui knew that Kaidoh was using unnecessary strength, pushing himself over the limits, losing all of his accuracy in the process. Numbers clicked in Inui's mind. This always happened when something disrupted Kaidoh's sacred routine, his daily schedule.

Then the door burst open again and the rest of the tennis club fanned in, interrupting Inui's train of thoughts.

He waited for the chaos to settle down again. The sunlight shifted almost to the wall already and started to lose its intensity. Inui was about to close his notepad and finally lock the clubroom, when he realized that he failed to spot Kaidoh in the fray. He peeked from the window only to see Kaidoh trudging slowly towards the clubroom, swaying his racket forcefully from side to side.

Yes, there is definitely something troubling him, assumed Inui with 96 percent certainty and returned to his notes. He frowned again when Kaidoh still haven't arrived after a while, which clearly defied the laws of physics.

What is he doing? Standing outside? What for, letting the sweat dry? Inui switched from 'observing' to 'curious' mode, checking his watch. When the door finally creaked open, Inui glanced up, smiling warmly at his kouhai, much warmer than he intended. To avoid any possible embarrassing situations, he quickly buried his face back in his notepad.

He heard Kaidoh shuffle around, then the sound of a racket being thrown in the locker. And then...

Silence.

Utter silence, marred only by Inui's pencil sliding on the paper. It was getting awkward and Inui started to scribble words just for the sake of the sound.

"S...sempai?" Kaidoh's usually rough voice finally sliced the room. It sounded a bit off, but Inui assumed it was because of the silence that strained his ears before. He carefully set his notes aside and looked up. "Yes?"

How unusual. Kaidoh, still in the regular's summer attire, clutching the green bandana in his hands, looked at Inui almost meekly.

"Sempai, I...I might've...probably..." Kaidoh fidgeted.

Inui decided it wouldn't do any good if he teased him - though it was really tempting - and just nodded in encouragement.

"...I might have sprained my ankle...when...I kicked Momoshiro earlier," he stated, looking at his feet.

It took Inui almost two full seconds before his mind went overdrive. After that he needed approximately 1, 25 seconds to realize what had Kaidoh's statement to do with him.

Unbelievable.

Could it be that "You want me to look at it?"

Tiniest bit of crimson crept in Kaidoh's face and he scowled in his typical 'Viper' way, obviously swallowing his pride.

Unbelievable. Kaidoh always struggled when anyone tried to tend his injuries, it usually took at least three second years to pin him down. And yet here he was, with probably only a light sprain, scowling at his feet, twisting his bandana awkwardly. Inui couldn't believe the fact that it was Kaidoh who demanded his attention. He smiled politely and gestured towards the bench beside him.

"Show me. We can't have you running around limping."

Kaidoh discarded his shoes and socks obediently and climbed beside his sempai. Inui studied his face and found traits of embarrassment, apprehension, uneasiness and curiosity plus the expression he learnt to recognize as uniquely Kaidoh's. Sadaharu seated himself cross-legged, facing Kaidoh and snatched his left instep out of blue.

Kaidoh yelped worriedly, leaving his mouth open with silent question.

"I know you long enough to know which leg was acting up when you walked," smirked Inui in response and started to prod his kouhai's foot.

He worked carefully, kneading the sprained joint expertly, slowly easing the injury with his fingers.

"I have heard your performance was very low today, why so?"

"Nothing's wrong," hissed Kaidoh quietly, staring at the floor again.

"Nothing? Well, this nothing is certainly affecting your gameplay, and we can't have that either," said Inui and deliberately scratched Kaidoh's sole. The Viper tried to stifle the giggle, making a strange, squeaky sound.

Ticklish.

"So what is it? Or I'll be forced to supervise your practice personally," ventured Inui.

"...'d be nice," came the mumbled reply.

WHAT?

The realization hit Inui the moment after, causing all his equations collapse at once. Could it be that...he was already considered a part of Kaidoh's daily routine? That their interaction was regarded with same value as his kouhai's precious practice runs? Inui's calculations reset. By staying in the clubroom all day, he didn't have the chance to talk to Kaidoh at all. So to compensate this, he sought his sempai himself?

"Uu...!"

Uu...? What kind of sound was that? The Data player glanced upwards, adjusting his eyes to the gradually darker room.

Inui's breath hitched and his mouth went unexpectedly dry. He was suddenly very happy that Kaidoh was mostly unaware of his naturally good looks that were hidden under his Viper attitude. He felt a pang of something unfamiliar, which he later identified as jealousy, and vowed to prevent Kaidoh from showing this to anybody else.

Kaidoh was leaning back in the receding sunlight, bracing himself on his arms, his blue-white jersey haphazardly open. With his face slightly flushed, he was looking downwards, his eyes dark and slanted, mouth opened a tiny bit, his bandana forgotten on the floor.

Twitching, Inui's warm fingers left the ankle and crept upwards to delve in the calf. He expected a sharp hiss of objection, but his kouhai simply stretched his leg more to give Inui better access.

Unbelievable.

Although his fingers were beginning to feel a little numb, he wasn't about to pass a chance like this. He felt Kaidoh writhe as he worked on the tense muscles and was sure that Viper's pulse has quickened considerably and his breath was more labored by at least 25.

Gorgeous.

Inui was aware of the fact that Tezuka might sooner or later check if the clubroom was locked securely. It wouldn't be best to be caught with Kaidoh like this; the captain had a very high probability of snapping again, this time roaring about 'abused trust' and other issues. And all that would no doubt freak Kaidoh out. He took a deep breath and quickly brushed his fingers past the lower hem of Kaidoh shorts before returning back to clasp the ankle slyly.

"Feeling better?"

Kaidoh gaped silently, his eyes suddenly shining in the darkness. "Hn!" he rasped.

"Good," smirked Inui again and breathed over the hot and swollen ankle before letting the slightly trembling kouhai go.

"And don't run this evening. It would get only worse."

Kaidoh almost grinned back, poking his ankle cautiously before tying his shoes.

Good, breathed Inui again and set his glasses aside to rub the bridge of his nose. It was sure very eventful evening.

Suddenly, he found himself staring in Kaidoh's large eyes, only a couple of inches away from his face. Inui's eyes went wide and he blinked with surprise.

"Green. I thought they were," grinned Kaidoh almost mischievously before bolting out of the room at breakneck speed, his jersey flailing.

Stupefied, Inui felt his mind reset again.

"I told you not to run!" he shouted.

"Good night, sempai!" yelled Kaidoh back, leaving the very baffled sempai in the dark clubroom, wolfish grin splitting his usually stoic face.

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