Idiot Senpai-Tachi

by ST3PH3Nii3

"Plan: Naniwa's Speed Star's Wooing of [Name]-Chan to Make Zaizen Jealous " Zaizen Hikaru OneShot.

"Osaka Naniwa Shitenho-ho-ho-ji~

Watch what you're complaining about!

Osaka Naniwa Shitenho-ho-ho-ji~

We don't use half-assed strength!

Winner takes all!"

...

The Osakan sun shown down onto the Earth, it's warmth barely radiating from the large sphere and heating the city. Fall would soon be on its way in a couple of weeks. Many of the school sports were slowing down, mainly due to the fact that their competitions were drawing to a close for this school year.

While many of the other sports at Shitenhouji weren't meeting early in the morning for practices anymore, the tennis team was a completely different matter.

That's why, so early in the morning, Zaizen Hikaru found himself walking down the streets to his school. Deep emerald green eyes were half-lidded due to boredom, sleepiness (from it being so early), and his lack of caring about his surroundings. The black long sleeves of his uniform were folded up, exposing two bright green sweatbands on his left forearm. A small gust of wind blew back soft locks of coal black hair, exposing multiple piercings in each ear. Bright pink headphones were placed in each ear, the white cords trailing to the pocket that he kept his music player in.

All in all, this was a normal morning for the Naniwa Tensai of Shitenhouji.

And, right on cue, Zaizen turned the corner and spotted a head of [color] hair bobbing along the sidewalk.

[Last Name] [First Name].

"[Nickname]-Nee-Chan~!"

A blur of wild red hair rammed straight into the poor girl, however she was used to this by now and barely even budged from Tooyama Kintarou's weight. [Name] merely cocked her head to the side and beamed down at the hyperactive first year.

"'Morning, Kin-Chan." [Name] greeted, chuckles erupting from her throat when the hyperactive first year beamed at her and rubbed his cheek against hers as a sign of affection. When he was done tickling her with stray locks of his fiery red hair, [Name] reached a hand up to teasingly ruffle his hair. "How's Oba-Chan doing?"

"Kaa-Chan's doing great! She wants you guys to have dinner with us tomorrow!"

"Mm, we'd like that." [Name] nodded her head, shaking her younger cousin off of her shoulders and opted to walk side by side with him. Rather, she walked normally while Kintarou merrily skipped along.

Kintarou made a wild gesture of victory, hands balling into fists as he bounced along.

"Kin-Chan… Be careful! If you keep that up, you know you'll-"

Stumbling over the edge of the sidewalk, Kintarou's arms flailed about, trying to help him find his sense of balance. As luck would have it, or rather a lack of luck, Oshitari Kenya took that moment to speed by. Not wanting to be even a second late, or his reputation as Naniwa's Speed Star would be ruined, Kenya wasn't looking where he was going and bumped Kintarou's shoulder. So it wasn't much of a surprise that Kintarou wound up face down in the street.

"…fall down…" [Name] muttered, rolling her eyes as she observed the aftermath of the scene. "Well, at least Kenya-Senpai fell down too."

"Senpai is clumsy when he runs. He doesn't need an excuse to fall down." Zaizen spoke up, his legs carrying him to the small commotion that was blocking his path to the school. Standing next to his smaller classmate, the tensai nodded his head to her in acknowledgement, emerald eyes seeming to smolder against her [color] orbs.

[Name]'s eyes widened slightly at the sudden proximity, but she met his piercing gaze head on and offered a smile. "'Morning, Zaizen-Kun. But you do know that you should be nicer to Kenya-Senpai..!"

Tsking a bit, [Name] rolled her eyes before sitting her school bag down on the pavement and kneeling beside Kintarou who was slowly sitting up and rubbing his red forehead, which had absorbed most of the impact.

The red headed first year wailed a bit, throwing himself into the arms of his older cousin. "[Nickname]-Nee-Chan..!"

"You're fine, Kin-Chan." She laughed, prying the first year away from her while managing to move some of the stray locks of hair from his forehead. Gently, [Name] ran her fingers over the small pink lump that was forming and began sucking on her lower lip in thought. "Though, you may need some ice on that knot…"

"I'm sorry, Kin-Chan!" Kenya apologized as he clumsily rose to his feet and hurried over to the two of them. "I didn't see you there!"

Kintarou blinked up at his senpai, was silent for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine! I've got [Nickname]-Nee-Chan taking care of me now!"

Kenya laughed a bit, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, it's no problem, Kenya-Senpai. I'll just take Kin-Chan with me to get him some ice for his head, then I'll drop him off at practice. Let Shiraishi-Senpai know, so he doesn't threaten Kin-Chan with his arm again." [Name] laughed, grinning up at the blonde Speed Star as he offered her his hand to help her stand. Reaching, the smaller girl was easily pulled to her feet thanks to the older tennis player.

"No problem! I'm sure Shiraishi'll understand." Kenya grinned, using his other hand to lightly ruffle [Name]'s hair. "Just don't be too late to your own practice."

"Soccer's over for the season," [Name] informed them, blinking up at Kenya and tilting her head to the side. "We're just meeting to meet, I guess. I think we're meeting, at least. It's just kind of a habit to walk with Kin-Chan to practice now…"

"You can always hang around the tennis courts if your team isn't meeting this morning." Kenya offered, only to feel the small hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise. Blinking a bit in confusion, his eyes darted around to try and find the reason behind the sensation.

"Thank you for the offer, Kenya-Senpai. I'll keep that in mind after I see to it that Kin-Chan is taken care of." Smiling up at her Senpai, [Name] gave his hand, that was still grasping hers, a quick squeeze before wiggling her hand free and using that same hand to hold Kin-Chan's hand. "I'll see you later, Kenya-Senpai, Zaizen-Kun!"

Waving to the two males, [Name] and Kintarou quickly began heading towards the school; Kintarou's loud voice could be heard yards away, telling [Name] about the newest manga he had read the previous night.

Kenya, however, arched an eyebrow as his eyes landed on Naniwa's resident tensai. The speed star could still feel the cool glare that Zaizen's emerald eyes had burned into him mere moments before. Those emerald eyes were no longer on him anymore, though. They had taken to following the path that [Name] and Kintarou had taken moments ago.

Letting his eyes bounce back and forth between the two second years, Kenya could feel the wheels in his brain whirling: Zaizen had only been glaring at him when he was holding [Name]'s hand. Zaizen seemed to be glued to the same spot, his eyes staring off into the distance once [Name] was no longer in sight.

With a squealing screeching noise that only Kenya could hear in his mind, the wheels in his brain skid to a halt.

Zaizen liked [Name].

They boyish smile that appeared on the Speed Star's face gained Zaizen's attention, sending the younger male a clear warning: run.

"Oi, Zaizen..!"

Stopping short at his senpai's commanding voice, Zaizen heavily rolled his eyes before turning his head in an inquisitive manner. "What?"

"Something interesting has sprung to mind…" The Speed Star began, only to be interrupted by Zaizen.

"Cut to the chase."

Chuckling and jogging over to his kohai, Kenya lazily threw his arm around the younger boy's shoulder, cheekily grinning at him. "Little Zaizen is growing up, ne?"

How the kohai managed to keep a poker face was beyond Kenya's imagination, even if he should be used to this kind of behavior by now.

"[Name]-Chan is a good girl; I approve." Kenya continued, getting straight to the point. Admittedly, he was aiming to fluster his seemingly emotionless kohai, which was something none of them got to witness very often. "Just make sure you take good care of her, you hear?"

Zaizen froze, his muscles turning rigid underneath Kenya's arm that was still lazily tossed around his shoulders. Finding himself thankful that he was still able to keep most of his poker face in place, the tensai shrugged his senpai's arm off of him. Deep emerald eyes rolled in annoyance as he began walking forward once more.

"Oi..!" Kenya called out, deep blue eyes widening in surprise at his kohai simply brushing him off and continuing.

The second year paused for a moment, turning his head to stare back at his fellow teammate to leave a few parting words before quickly moving towards school once more.

"Idiot senpai…"

...

Naniwa's Speed Star was so sure that his hunch was correct, he decided to call for reinforcements. And who just happened to be on the top of his list for affairs like this?

None other than Konjiki Koharu and Hitouji Yuuji.

"Our little boy is growing up~!" Koharu begun to wail once Kenya finished explaining things to him, dramatic tears flowing from behind his glasses.

Yuuji threw an arm around Koharu's shaking shoulders, drawing the boy closer to him. "[Last Name] [First Name], huh? Isn't that Kin-Chan's older cousin?"

In an instant, Koharu's tears were dried up as he adjusted the thin rimmed glasses on his face. A wide grin stretched across his lips as a girlish giggle soon followed.

"[Nickname]-Chan? She's probably one of the closest people to Kin-Chan here! She really cares about her family, going as far as to live with some of her older siblings in Tokyo for a few years." Koharu explained, extracting the data that he had on file for [Name] from his brain. "Both her and Zaizen went to the same primary school, Doutonbori Daiichi."

"Eh?" Kenya blinked, raising a hand to his chin in thought. "So they've known each other for that long?"

"Naturally~" Koharu grinned, raising a hand to form his familiar 'lock on' target close to his eye. "Zaizen-Kun's been locked on to [Nickname]-Chan since then! I don't know how you just realized it!"

"Really?" Yuuji asked, bringing a hand up to run through his locks as he locked eyes with Koharu. "Then why have you been shamelessly flirting with Zaizen whenever she's around? Cheater!"

"Why, to make [Nickname]-Chan jealous of course!" Koharu hummed, throwing his arms around his doubles partner and grinning. "Besides, I only have eyes for Yuuji!"

"Oh, Koharu!"

"Yuuji~!"

"Koharu~! "

"Yuuji~! "

Kenya, thoroughly disgusted by their behavior by now, cleared his throat to try and distract their attention from one another (and to remind them that he was still in the room, of course). "Back to the Zaizen problem?"

"Oh, alright!" Koharu huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he pouted for a moment. "It's really no surprise that he's liked her for so long. They complement each other perfectly! Such chemistry~"

"Zaizen did mention that his preferred type was a family oriented girl; [Name]-Chan is probably the best example of that around. Hm, maybe she's the reason why he wants a family oriented girl?" Yuuji mused, grinning. "So how are we going to get him to realize that he needs to confess already?"

"I don't know; that's why I came to you guys." Kenya sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head as if he were embarrassed of the fact that he had to stoop so low as to get Koharu and Yuuji involved. Zaizen would never forgive him for this. Well, he probably would if [Name] actually returned his feelings. If not, then Naniwa's Speed Star would be killed.

Koharu clapped his hands together girlishly, "Leave this to me!"

"What gave you the hint that Zaizen liked [Name]-Chan?" Yuuji asked, turning towards the blonde while leaning back in his seat in the tennis club room. Luckily for them, everyone else was already outside at practice, so there were no prying ears.

Kenya grinned, resting his head in the palm of his hand. "When I ran into Kin-Chan this morning, [Name]-Chan was there. Zaizen, too, of course. She bent down to check on Kin-Chan when he fell, so I gave her a hand to help her stand back up. I could literally feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up from the coldness of Zaizen's glare!"

"Chance!" Koharu beamed, "You have the perfect chance to make Zaizen jealous with [Nickname]-Chan!"

"Eh? Me?" Kenya asked, moving his head from his palm and pointing at himself for more emphasis. "You want me to make him jealous?"

"Of course!" Yuuji grinned, immediately knowing where Koharu was taking this. "You're a genius, Koharu!"

"Naturally," The only glasses wearing third year out of the bunch beamed, fanning himself with his hands. "Now, you just need to make Zaizen jealous enough so he'll make a move on [Nickname]-Chan first! He'll definitely confess then!"

"Plan: Naniwa's Speed Star's Wooing of [Name]-Chan to Make Zaizen Jealous~ "

...

[Name] sighed, resting forehead on the palms of her hands. Today was turning out to be such a strange day for her..!

First Kin-Chan had to miss half of practice because they couldn't find any ice for his injury, and there was no way that [Name] was going to let him skip off to practice without trying to get the lump down a bit; it wouldn't be good to play tennis with a concussion.

Then, once the two of them managed to show up to the second half of morning practice, she found out that the soccer team really wasn't meeting anymore in the mornings. So [Name] spent the remaining time at the tennis courts. Normally that wouldn't be strange, but today it was.

Kenya-Senpai had been acting very strangely around her all morning long. And Zaizen had been surprisingly more distant than usual today, which was a really bad sign!

Usually Naniwa's Tensai was able to open up a bit more around [Name], if only because they'd known each other for so long. [Name] remembers her first few years of primary school at Doutonbori Daiichi with Zaizen, before her move to Tokyo to live with her older sister and help her raise her new twins. Zaizen had changed quite a bit during those years that she was away, and [Name] was shocked when she returned and found the very distant and pierced Zaizen.

Nevertheless, he was still the same Zaizen that she'd had known all those years ago. She was slowly working her way into his heart once more; all she wanted was to see him smile like he used to back then. Zaizen meant a lot to her, and she only wished that he could see it.

"Ah, Zaizen-Kun..!" [Name] blinked, grinning and waving towards the taller dark haired male. Blushing a bit under his intense emerald gaze, she quickly migrated through the mass of dismissed students so she could walk by his side.

Blinking down at her, Zaizen pocketed his hands in his pockets and inclined his head in his usual greeting to her. "Hey."

"Is something wrong?" [Name] asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she bit her lip in worry as she stared up at the taller male. "You seem much more distant today, Zaizen-Kun."

"It's… nothing," Zaizen hesitated for a second; another thing that was different about him today.

"I see…" [Name] mused, pouting a bit at his apathy. "Ah, you're good friends with Kenya-Senpai, ne?"

Zaizen froze, the hands in his pockets balling into fists at the mention of his Senpai's name coming from [Name]. Narrowing his eyes slightly at the mention of his Senpai, he stared her straight in the eyes. "What of it?"

"Kenya-Senpai has been acting strangely all day today. I was wondering if you knew what was wrong with him?" [Name]'s voice trailed off in a higher pitch at the end of her second sentence, turning it into a question as she quirked a brow up at the male beside her. She hadn't seen Zaizen look this upset in quite some time. "He's being very clingy to me today, and it's weird. If you could get him to stop, I'd be glad."

"You mean you…don't like Senpai?" Zaizen asked, his brow smoothing out with a look of pure relief in his eyes. However, the tensai couldn't help but to be confused; didn't she show interest in his Senpai just that morning? His feelings were all over the place now.

"Why wouldn't I like Kenya-Senpai? He's nice."

"That's not what I meant."

"Eh? What did you mean then?" [Name] asked, frowning a bit at the edge that she was unable to identify in Zaizen's tone.

"What I meant was-"

"Ah, there you are, [Name]-Chan!" The voice of Naniwa's Speed Star broke through Zaizen's sentence, effectively cutting him off and worsening the tensai's mood. "Oh, and Zaizen too."

"Good afternoon, Kenya-Senpai." [Name] greeted, forcing a smile to her upperclassman. As discretely as she could, she scooted a bit closer to Zaizen, not wanting to be around her Senpai when he'd been acting this strangely all day today. "You were looking for Zaizen-Kun, weren't you?"

Zaizen's cheeks flushed ever so slightly at the close proximity of [Name], who was innocently tugging on the sleeve of his school uniform while trying to direct Kenya's attention to him instead of her.

"Actually, I was looking for you." Kenya said, grinning when he saw the harsh glare that Zaizen was giving him. "I was wondering if you were free to go to-"

"Sorry, Senpai, but [Last Name]'s not free today." Zaizen interrupted, placing a free hand on her shoulder at the mention of her name and pulling her a bit closer. "We were just on our way to a café before you showed up."

"Eh...!" [Name] blinked, blood rushing to her cheeks at the excuse that Zaizen had just used… He'd made it sound like they were going on a date!

"That's too bad," The Speed Star sighed, not really looking too bummed though. "Maybe next time?"

"Definitely not." Zaizen answered for [Name], clapping his hand on her shoulder and steering her away from their Senpai. "Later."

Blinking as she was being pushed away, [Name] managed to turn her head slightly enough to see Kenya grinning and waving at them as he caught her eye. Her eyes widened when she saw her Senpai wink, soon shooting her a thumbs up gesture.

"Sorry about that." Zaizen mumbled after they slowed to a halt a few streets away. "Didn't think he'd be that persistent…"

"It's fine." [Name] grinned, "So, are we really going to that café?"

"What?" Zaizen blinked, looking down at her in confusion.

"I asked if we were actually going to go to that café you were talking about. I think it sounds like a nice idea. I could go for a drink now… What about you?" [Name] asked, opting to try and stare at the tensai as innocently as she could. If he was still the same old Zaizen, then there was no way he could resist her innocent eyed look for long.

"…Fine." He scoffed, forcing his hands in his pockets as he adverted his gaze straight ahead and past [Name].

Grinning, [Name] resumed her casual walk at Zaizen's side as he led them to one of his favorite café's. "It's been a long time since we were able to get together, just the two of us. You've been busy with the tennis team, and I've been busy with the soccer team."

"Yeah, and these past months have felt like they've been drug out." Zaizen bluntly complained, bringing a hand from his pocket to rest on the side of his neck as if he were trying to work a crick out.

"Haha, so I've heard." The soccer player laughed, running a hand through her [color] locks as she adverted her gaze. "You know I do subscribe to your blog; it's nice to be able to hear what's going on with you through that."

"How did you find out about my blog?" The tensai asked, emerald eyes seeking [Name]'s [color] orbs. She could never lie to him while looking in his eyes.

Sheepishly laughing and awkwardly rubbing her arm, [Name] took the bait and met his emerald orbs. "Well, I overheard Shiraishi-Senpai talking about it while I was waiting on Kin-Chan after one of the tennis practices this season. You're not mad, are you?"

"Just…surprised. Why didn't you say anything earlier?" He questioned.

"I guess I never found the right opportunity to bring it up. Plus, I didn't know if you'd like me following the blog, so I resorted to doing it in secret. But I don't regret it! I even get your updates on my phone." [Name] explained, grinning a bit as she pulled out her cellphone and opened it up to show him some of the previous notifications that she had received. "…It makes me feel as close to you now as we were when we were kids."

Opening his mouth to speak, Zaizen was cut off before he could even form the words he was searching for.

"Ah! This must be the café you were talking about, ne? Let's go in..!"

...

While Zaizen ordered some variant of coffee ([Name] could confess that she wasn't paying much attention), she opted to order her favorite ice-blended version of bubble tea while it was still warm enough to enjoy the beverage outside. Sitting at a nice table outside, [Name] and Zaizen spent most of the time trying to break the awkwardness that settled between them moments before. They were successful after a couple of attempts, grateful that they shared so many things in common.

"Ah," [Name] brightened once her [color] eyes landed on the cords of Zaizen's music player that were hanging limply from his pocket. She was surprised that he didn't have them in his ears like always. "Do you still compose music on the computer?"

"Yeah," Zaizen nodded, taking another sip from his drink and adverting his gaze. "I've done a few songs recently…"

"How are they coming along? I haven't heard any of your songs in quite a while."

"They're…coming along." He hedged, emerald orbs setting down on his drink in his hands.

Blinking, [Name] tilted her head in confusion at his behavior. "Is everything alright, Zaizen-Kun?"

"It's nothing," The tensai shrugged.

"It's not nothing," [Name] pursed her lips, giving him a hard stare. "I can tell. Spill; tell me everything."

"I burnt a CD of them for you to listen to."

"Then why didn't you give it to me? I'd love to listen to them!" [Name] admonished, raising a thin eyebrow in suspicion. "What's the catch?"

Shaking his head, dark coal locks of hair fell into his emerald eyes as he reached down into his tennis bag to pull something out. "There's no…catch, per say."

"Per say?"

Zaizen said nothing, merely choosing to hand her the CD.

It was in a neon [color] case; Zaizen knew that it was [Name]'s favorite color. Not only that, but it had her name written across the actual CD so artistically that only he could have done it.

"It's… got some our favorite songs on it. I mashed them up so that they were compatible. That's what I've been working on in my free time; well, when I've not been at practice or blogging." Zaizen explained, eyes trained on [Name]'s face.

Contemplating the CD in her hands, [Name] felt her heart kick into overdrive once she took in its appearance; he remembered her favorite colors and songs? Not only that, but he made mash-ups combining their favorite songs. It was an overwhelming feeling that took over her, engulfing her with warmness from the center of her body that soon radiated throughout her entire being.

It might not have meant a lot to many people, but coming from Zaizen… it meant the whole world.

Grinning hugely, [Name] raised her eyes to meet Zaizen's emerald orbs head on. "Thank you so much..! I'll listen to this as soon as I possibly can! It's going on my iPod, so I'll always have it with me."

Ducking his head a bit to hide the dusting of a blush that covered his cheeks, Zaizen pulled his own iPod out of his pocket. Unlocking the device, he browsed through his library, soon handing [Name] one of his headphones.

Grinning, [Name] scooted her chair closer to Zaizen's so that they were sitting almost shoulder to shoulder. When her arm brushed against his own, he fumbled with his iPod and pressed play.

Halfway through the CD that he had made for her, both teens were interrupted by a frighteningly familiar sound.

"Well, well, well… What do we have here? You two look pretty cozy."

Jumping, Zaizen and [Name]'s heads flew up, wildly looking around for the familiar voice that they knew had to be addressing them.

"B-Bucho..!"

"S-Shiraishi-Senpai!"

Not only was it Shiraishi, but all of the Shitenhouji tennis team managed to gather at the same café.

"It seems like we're interrupting; don't mind us." Chitose grinned, seating himself at the table right next to the two second years. "Pretend like we're not even here."

"What are you doing here?" Zaizen bluntly asked, scrutinizing each of the tennis regulars.

"I just mentioned that our little Zaizen-Kun was growing up and was on a date, so everyone wanted to see it for themselves~" Koharu grinned, sitting down with as much flare as he could.

"D-Date?!" Both second years stuttered a bit, cheeks warming up to various degrees.

Kenya laughed, leaning forward in his seat and locking eyes with his two kohai. "Of course. Plan: Naniwa's Speed Star's Wooing of [Name]-Chan to Make Zaizen Jealous~ was a complete success. I wondered how long it would take you to crack."

"Plan?" Zaizen questioned, blinking in surprise.

"You mean you were acting weirdly all day on purpose?" [Name] asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "And it was all so you could get Zaizen and me to go out together?"

"Yep," Kenya smiled. "You can thank us later."

"Remember to thank me, too! I'm the one who came up with that marvelous plan~!" Koharu beamed, wiggling around in his seat.

"Thank you?" Zaizen asked, brow furrowing.

Zaizen and [Name] shared a look, both shrugging their shoulders.

"Should we really thank them?" [Name] asked.

"I'm not." The tensai muttered.

"Well, I will then." She grinned, leaning her head on the crook of his shoulder as she beamed across the table towards her upperclassmen. "Thank you, Senpai-Tachi!"

"More like idiot senpai-tachi…"

...

Extended Ending:

"Eh?" Kintarou asked, bouncing up and down in his seat after he had practically inhaled some sweet treat that his senpai had bought him from the café. "Zaizen and [Nickname]-Nee-Chan are really on a date?!"

"Yes, it seems so. They've even moved as far away as they can." Shiraishi chuckled, craning his neck to try and get a glimpse of the new couple.

"Ah!" The red head exclaimed, standing up on his chair to try and get a good look. "[Nickname]-Nee-Chan, does this mean I have to call Zaizen Zai-Nii-Chan?!"

"Don't even think about it!"

...

Authoress' Note: Thank you so much for reading! This was an old piece I dug up off my computer for an old Quizilla friend KageryuK. This one was a bit of a challenge since it was my first time writing for Shitenhouji. I do not own Prince of Tennis nor the lyrics at the top, which were from the Prince of Tennis musicals, from the song, "Katta Mon Gachi Ya," or "Winner Takes All."