Title: Requesting A Favour
Fandom: The Prince of Tennis
Pairing(s): Implied Inui x Kaidoh
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. This is a non-profit fanfiction written by a fan for the enjoyment of other fans.
Warning: Spoilers for manga - Genius 33
This was the second time Kaidoh was walking along the corridors on the level where the third years' classrooms were situated - the first being one time when he was asked to assist in carrying a stack of books up to Class 3-1 where his History teacher was having his next lesson. It was an unspoken rule that calling on the seniors without proper reason was a sign of disrespect, and so, Kaidoh did no such thing.
If anyone realised that the serious-looking long-legged boy with neat hair did not belong to a classroom on that level, they did not make any attempt to stop him. Or it might be due to the way the boy stared and sometimes, hissed under his breath at anyone who stepped within a fifty cm radius of himself...
Kaidoh finally stopped at a door, above which was a sign clearly stating "3-11". It was lunch break, and through the half-open door, Kaidoh could see a few groups of students - eating from their lunch boxes, fooling around, studying, or just chatting together. But there didn't seem to be any sign of the person he was looking for... not that he could see inside the entire room.
Kaidoh hesitated, feeling beads of sweat forming along his forehead. He reached out a hand towards the side of the door, unsure whether to push it open and take a further look inside, or if he should just return to his own classroom. But he had came this far - his hand clenched into a fist as he let out a low hiss - he wasn't going to give up now...
The door slid fully open. Kaidoh stared unblinkingly at the slightly taller boy who stood on the other side of it; the boy blinked back. Upon recovery from the shock, Kaidoh immediately dropped his raised fist.
"Are you looking for someone?" The boy asked, a rather strange, somewhat tensed expression on his face.
Kaidoh lowered his head, giving the other a small bow. Raising his eyes to meet the other's once more, he spoke, "May I know if Inui-senpai is in?"
The boy's features relaxed as he turned to look around the classroom, then turned back to face Kaidoh, "No, he doesn't seem to be around. Do you want to pass him a message?"
Kaidoh froze again. Message... ...
"Please let him know that Kaidoh Kaoru would be waiting for him outside the clubroom after school."
"Will do," the other said cheerfully.
"Thank you," Kaidoh said, bowing once more before leaving the door.
What a strange fellow... the boy thought as he strolled out of the door, whistling a tuneless song as he headed for the canteen.
Kaidoh hissed, feeling his heartbeat slowing down to a normal rate as he descended the stairs to the level of the second years' classrooms. Taking a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket, he mopped the sweat from his forehead.
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Kaidoh waited silently under the tree beside the clubroom. The tall frame of the tree blocked off the sharply warm rays of the setting summer sun, its long silhouette stretching out in front of them both. There was no club activity that day and the courts were deserted. It was strange not to hear the rhythmic noises of racket striking ball, ball rebounding on court. Kaidoh leaned against the trunk behind himself, simply to prevent himself from pacing impatiently, or perhaps also... nervously.
"Kaidoh." A deep voice sounded from behind. Kaidoh recognised the voice immediately, heartbeat instantaneously accelerating despite not having paced the area around the tree as he had initially wanted to. "I hear that you were looking for me."
He could almost imagine a gleeful smile and a glint across a pair of glasses.
"I want to train to gain invincible stamina," Kaidoh stated simply without turning.
"You want to train to gain invincible stamina?" Inui repeated. Even though the tone was that of a question, it did not seem that Inui required an answer.
Thus, Kaidoh provided none, besides a soft hiss.
There was silence for a while except for the quiet sounds of rustling papers, before Inui spoke again.
"Then how about trying training with this training menu?"
Kaidoh finally turned to see Inui holding up his notebook, opened to a page filled with words. Even with his perfect eyesight, he was unable to read what was on the pages, but whatever it was - "It wouldn't matter even if we triple that."
Author's Note: This was inspired by a flashback in the manga involving Inui and Kaidoh (from which the conversation in the last part of the fic was taken by the way) somewhere in the Fudomine Singles 3 (Kaidoh vs Kamio) match.
Date started: 21 April 2004, around 9:45pm
Date completed: 21 April 2004, 11:19am
Last edited: 23 May 2004, 7:37pm
Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks.