Disclaimer: I own very little.
A/N: Evil Dan. And when I say evil, I mean freakin' evil.
Greatness
When you were physically small, you had to be great in other things.
Dan had known this very well ever since kindergarten, where he had first realized that in the few occasions where a sharp mind and fast tongue failed him, big puppy eyes usually worked better than well to get him what he wanted. Oh no Katou-kun, there's no way Dan-kun could have pushed you over first, he's way smaller than you and so very cute, too! Now stop lying and apologize to him like a good boy.
As soon as school started, he found new uses for his skills. Oh, of course he had done his homework, but see, his little puppy was so very eager and she'd torn it up just this morning and he would have done it all over again but he'd already been in a hurry. Add big, pitiful eyes and then an enthusiastic tale about his oh-so-cute puppy and he was off the hook. Of course, he didn't skip homework just for fun, he never would have, but there were so much more interesting things he could spend his time learning.
By third grade, Dan's favourite reading were already psychology studies. Perhaps he didn't understand everything, but he did understand enough, and he was very eager to apply his learning.
The human mind was truly a fascinating thing, he concluded. Fascinating and easily manipulate if you had any idea of how it worked. And these patterns, he decided, he would have to learn.
This was his first encounter with data.
With time he got better and better at his secret little hobby, so much so that when middle school started, he knew exactly what to do when he saw Akutsu. Excited as he was, he felt a blush rising to his cheeks – exactly what he had been looking for! So large, so strong, with perfect lean muscles and a threatening aura and a certain look in his eyes when he thought nobody saw. It was a look Dan knew very well. It was a look he could work with.
Dan was either an idiot when it came to judging characters, Sengoku sometimes said, or an absolute genius. Dan always just smiled and nodded and never let him go just how much the latter was true. He had Sengoku around his little finger in less than a month – big eyes and excited smiles and desu desu, and Minami-buchou was really just an accessory but better not make him angry nevertheless. What he couldn't accomplish as a manager he usually got through his adorably gullible redheaded senpai.
The only thing he wanted that Sengoku couldn't offer him came to flesh in Akutsu.
Sengoku was strong and protective and presumably good at fighting, too – he was in Yamabuki after all; though not the roughest of schools, it had only three kind of students: the fighters, the victims, and Dan. Dan wasn't a fighter but he was cute, and besides data was good for a great many things, blackmail being on top of the list as far as Dan was concerned. However, there were always some idiots who hadn't heard the rumours, and it took all too much energy to keep up the meek and polite face even as he was plotting his sweet revenge. And Sengoku wasn't quite scary enough to keep these idiots away.
Akutsu, however, was the scariest guy in all of Yamabuki. And, even better, Dan was certain he could work with him.
It took a lot of patience, of course. It also took a whole lot of smiles and chatter and ne ne Akutsu-senpai desus, and following the empty-headed thug around like a lovelorn puppy for what seemed like ages, but in the end it all paid off. One day he tested Akutsu's mood, found the results favourable, and proceeded to the next step – holding onto Akutsu's hand. When he wasn't shaken away or even subjected to a glare, merely glanced at in the passing, he started getting closer. And closer. Until the first shy little kiss.
With that kiss, Akutsu was completely and infinitely trapped.
His judgement of Akutsu's character had been spot on, Dan discovered. Once he broke through the hard cover and to the inside, he had the thug completely in his control, like Akutsu was the pathetic little puppy instead of him. Oh, the tough cover wasn't about to disappear, but Dan saw right through it. He'd always seen. And now he could manipulate what went on behind it.
Their relationship advanced slowly, almost torturously so, another sign of his power over Akutsu as Dan made him control his own urges in favour of patience. He took ages to give Akutsu another kiss after the first one, then slowly gave in, allowed their relationship to become public, let others see his undisputed claim on the man everyone feared. Even as he went further in the tennis club, your vice-captain really Muromachi-senpai are you sure desu, his most important project was still the conquest of Akutsu's well-guarded but fragile heart.
The day he was officially announced as the next buchou as Muromachi stepped aside by the end of his third year, Dan gave Akutsu his virginity. Looking at the unusually soft golden eyes as they lay together afterwards, he suddenly knew he had Akutsu absolutely, completely under his spell.
Dan had few qualms about using sex as a means of manipulation – Akutsu with his uncontrollable violent tendencies was little more than a wild animal, and animals responded the best when you appealed to their most primal instincts. Even more so than the kisses and shy smiles, sex and promises thereof kept Akutsu securely in a short leash, completely at Dan's beck and call even though he never would realize it, himself.
The true test of this control arrived halfway through Dan's final year of middle school.
Dan had always known that Honda-kun would be trouble sooner or later. Ever since the first time he'd gathered data on the team in the beginning of his first year, he'd known that Honda was smart enough to cause problems, but not necessarily smart enough to keep them from getting out of hand. However, the guy wasn't too bad at tennis, and wisely kept clear of him, so Dan never felt forced to find a way to get Honda kicked out of the school, like he had done with the all too rude Kane-kun.
Until Honda decided to get too… friendly… with Dan.
This in itself was as good as suicide, most people would have agreed. After all, Dan was dating Akutsu, who had enough of a reputation to make people piss themselves at several schools around just at the mention of his name. However, once again, Honda proved himself too clever for his own good.
Namely, he attempted to blackmail Dan.
The first time Honda invaded his personal space, Dan blinked up at him in confusion. "Was there something you wanted, Honda-kun?" he asked with his nicest voice.
"I wonder." Honda smirked. "You're looking awfully good, today."
Dan's strategy for such situations was clear. Slight flush, happy smile, mental note to tell Akutsu as soon as they met. "Ah, thank you desu But really, why haven't you left already? Everyone's already gone home desu…"
"I already told you." Honda got another inch closer. "I want you."
Blink blink, wide eyes, yes Akutsu-senpai please beat him black and blue. "Was that a joke? It's kind of strange for one desu…"
"I'm not joking here." That hand didn't belong on his shoulder. He'd never given it permission. He got nothing out of letting Honda touch him, so it was forbidden period. "You are cute, buchou. And surely not stupid enough not to notice that half the team is after your pretty little arse."
Oh, of course he noticed them. They were pathetic, really, and probably some brand of future paedophiles, drooling after him when he was still smaller than most of the club aside from a couple of first-years. He did know, and he used the fact to his advantage without shame – all the more power to him. But Honda… "I've no idea what you are talking about, Honda-kun."
"I think you do." Honda leant in, speaking into his ear. "I want you. And I will have you."
"But – but I'm with Akutsu-senpai!" Control yourself, Dan. Control yourself, bear with the idiot, and have Akutsu-senpai deal with this later on. "He won't like it when he hears –"
"But he won't." Honda's smirk got even wider as he drew back for a bit. "Because you won't tell him. And do you know why?" The grin was absolutely disgusting, now. "Because if he beats me, or anything else happens to me – you're gone from the school."
Now, Dan froze. He couldn't possibly mean… "…I don't understand desu."
"Oh, I think you do. You got rid of that idiot Kane quite nicely, nobody suspected a thing. I think even he was convinced that he was the thief." Dan felt very cold, suddenly. "But I know better. I saw you. I saw you frame him."
He should have just played it cool, denied everything – it was his word against Honda's, after all, and everyone trusted him, the model student and beloved buchou. But then, Honda might actually have evidence… Surely he could not have been defeated?
Dan sighed, looking Honda in the eye even as his mind raced to find a solution. "…What do you want?"
"I already told you. I want you." Gods, how he wanted to punch that smirking face… "It's not like your boyfriend's going to miss out on anything even if I do borrow his little toy for a fuck or two."
Damn it… he had to think his way out of this, he really did, he couldn't let such an idiot control him like this… but for now, he'd have to play along. "…When and where? I'm not doing it here desu…" Not like he hadn't done it in the clubroom with Akutsu, before, but it wasn't like he was actually going to let Honda touch him, either. "And I have to meet Akutsu-senpai in ten minutes."
"Meet me in the park near the library at eight." Honda smirked. "And remember, don't tell your pet thug. Even if I do get hospitalized, it'll be little consolation for you when you lose your stellar reputation."
Apparently Honda knew him better than he'd thought. Much better than he was comfortable with, certainly. And he'd just have to play along until he figured something out.
If he did.
Even Akutsu noticed he was unusually quiet that day. He was obviously forcing himself not to ask, and Dan wasn't about to volunteer information; this was the one situation where he couldn't tell. He had no choice but to comply with Honda's demands, disgusting though they were.
…But if he did that… if he let that idiot get control of him to such an extent… then all he had been working on since kindergarten would have been for naught. He had no choice, though, unless… Unless…
Unless the leash of his pet thug was even stronger than either he or Honda had dared to dream.
He couldn't be sure, couldn't figure out whether his hold on Akutsu was strong enough for this. However, it was the only choice he had, unless he wanted to give in. And giving in was the one thing he absolutely wouldn't do.
Choosing the one moment Akutsu looked most worried, Dan broke down. "Oh, Akutsu-senpai," he sniffled pitifully. "I… I don't know what to do desu…"
"Calm down, Taichi." Sure enough, he was immediately gathered into the strong arms. "Now, tell me. Who do I need to beat up and why?"
"I… I don't know if that'd even work…" Dan wept. He was very good at weeping, had been ever since he'd been three and wanted Sohma-kun's ball. "Honda-kun… if you beat him, he'll… he'll tell everyone desu…"
"Honda-kun?" echoed Akutsu. "And what'll he tell?"
"He – he – he –" Dan worked just the right amount of panic into his voice, clinging to Akutsu's shirt with wide eyes as he blurted out, "He tried to rape me, Akutsu-senpai!"
"What?!" Dan was fairly sure he'd never before seen Akutsu so angry. He would have smirked if he hadn't been too busy playing the role of the pathetic victim.
"After – after practice," he sobbed. "He stayed behind at the clubroom and… Akutsu-senpai, I was so scared… he tried to rape me desu…" Or as good as, anyway. It wasn't like he was exactly willing to put out for the bastard. "I managed to run, but… he called me desu… And…" Hiccup, sob, continue, "He said… I have to meet him tonight and not tell anyone… or he'll tell everyone that I slept with him… and that I got to be the captain by sleeping with Muromachi-senpai desu… Oh, Akutsu-senpai, I don't know what to do desu! He knew Muromachi-senpai well, they might think he knows what he's thinking about…"
There was murder in Akutsu's eyes. Hopefully literally.
"I wish…" Dan sniffled, his voice trembling as he wiped away a few heave fake tears, "I wish he was dead desu…"
Akutsu's hold of him tightened momentarily. Then, he spoke. "Don't worry about that bastard, Taichi. You don't have to pay another thought to his miserable existence."
"But… Akutsu-senpai desu…" Further… just a bit further…
"I said don't fucking worry." The hug was so tight, so warm, so full of caring and what probably passed for love with the Neanderthal. The big idiot. "Now… where were you supposed to meet?"
Dan lowered his head to whisper the time and place, the hanging blue hair masking his triumphant little smirk before the tears returned.
When the corpse turned up on a dirty alley the next day Dan suddenly realized that nothing could ever stop him, anymore.