A/N: Daigo get your sister to draw the next chapter of her mang- what? Oh, hey yeah. You know, just pretending to talk to my favorite singers that have better things to do than listen to their fan complain about their siblings not drawing fast enough. You'd... find it funny if you knew what I was talking about.
But anyways, as per request by ChoShiKeiRyoSke(I want to understand your name). Although it took me how many weeks to finally get this started and I won't make excuses because I have none.
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Their first meeting was, in his opinion, rather memorable.
Though really, it was more a 'series of interactions' rather than a 'first meeting'. They're first meeting hadn't been more than three minutes, if it even lasted that long.
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It was the spring of his second year, and the first day of official club activities. The majority of the new members had attended all of their summer activities, the few that didn't came in near the end to familiarize themselves with the team.
So he was surprised when he was met with two unfamiliar faces.
No, not unfamiliar. He'd seen them somewhere before. He couldn't remember the exact location or when, but he'd seen them before.
The first boy was tall, for his age at least. It was obvious he wasn't done growing, too. His hair was silver, eyes brown, and well built. He was smiling through introductions, a bright smile. He'd introduced himself as Ootori Choutarou.
The second boy was the one who'd caught his interest.
He was shorter - much shorter - than the first one, with short, light-brown hair that barely brushed the tips of his ears. Contrary to most of their team(specifically, the regulars), he was rather plain. His gaze was set on the newly-painted concrete of the courts, grey eyes dull and half open, like he was still asleep.
What caught his attention the most, however, was the boy's utterly bored and frustrated expression, like he had better places to be and better things to be doing. Like tennis - and Atobe himself - wasn't important enough to hold his attention.
He never got to hear the boy's voice, because after nearly two minutes of refusing to introduce himself the boy before him did it for him.
Hiyoshi Wakashi.
What a boring name.
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It was three days later, during afternoon practice, when Hiyoshi's voice finally graced his ears.
It wasn't a big deal, if not for the fact that the boy not only refused to speak to him, but the other club members too.
(Nowadays he refused to admit he'd tilted his head in the boy's direction whenever someone approached him, in hopes of hearing what kind of voice he had.)
Club activities were running smoothly, everyone was doing what they were supposed to e doing, and no one was causing a commotion like last year.
(Though he admitted he was the main cause for that one.)
Until the back of his head was met - rather painfully - with a well aimed tennis ball.
At first he thought it was just one of his regulars picking a fight with him again, until he turned around - intending to yell at Shishido, or Gakuto, or even Jirou - that he saw the actual culprit.
Hiyoshi was approaching him in a light jog, the only thing telling Atobe it was his ball was the slight - very slight - guilt in his dull eyes.
Sighing, he rubbed the back of his head where he knew a bruise was going to form, picking up the ball handing it over to the younger boy. He was about to open his mouth to say something along the lines of "Your control sucks, fix it"(probably not wording it like that, but he was thinking it), before he was interrupted by another voice,
"I'm sorry."
He was probably staring.
It wasn't exactly what he'd expected, but the sound suited his looks. A light, airy voice that was probably deeper than it sounded at that moment. He'd expected something a little more... rugged? Or one that expressed his obvious boredom at playing a sport.
Oshitari, who had been standing next to him and grinning like an idiot, was staring too.
"What, so you can talk." It was Oshitari that said it, thankfully. He couldn't guarantee he wouldn't have said the same thing, though.
"... Yes?" Hiyoshi looked confused now, and it occured to Atobe, at that moment, that the boy probably didn't know how little he spoke. He made sure to jab Oshitari in the ribs to keep him from scaring their junior when a mischievous grin made its way to his face.
"Don't mind him." He said, and Hiyoshi's attention was momentarily directed to him before he turned away, that same annoyed looke he held on his first day was back again. Somehow, that really bothered Atobe. "Just be more careful from now on."
Hiyoshi glanced at him again before nodding his head and mumbling what he assumes was an 'Okay' before running back to the court where his opponent - Ootori, which didn't surprise him - was waiting.
He frowned when he heard Oshitari snickering.
"He doesn't like you."
"I can tell."
.
Two weeks had passed after that incident, and Hiyoshi still refused to speak to him properly.
In that time, Atobe made sure to do his research. His father was rather surprised when he asked him to find information on the Hiyoshi family. When he asked why, he'd simply told him there was a student he was interested in. This led him to explaining in more detail when his father reminded him that the Hiyoshi family only has sons and, while he doesn't mind his son's preferences - he and his family had long ago come to terms with his sexuality, which he figured out mere months before starting middle school. His father claimed it was fine as long as he was able to provide an heir when the time came -, he wasn't sure if the other family would. It was especially embarrassing, seeing as his mother was in the room and had taken it as Atobe finally finding someone for himself.
(Which he had, but it'd take him a few months to figure it out.)
But he'd gotten all the information on the boy he needed, such as his family's profession(he was surprised that such a small child was a martial arts champion for several years and set to inherit his family's dojo, despite the fact that he was the younger of the two brothers), his birthday, and personal interests.
He'd decided to ignore the majority of the latter, however. He knew absolutely nothing about UFOs or the occult, and he strongly believed the boy wasn't worth the time it'd take to study up on the subjects.
(He'd later spend hours in the library with books on said subjects piled up on either side of him, Hiyoshi very annoyed at having to spend that time with him when he could simply teach the older boy himself.)
.
Another week, and he'd finally been able to hold a proper conversation with the boy.
"Did I do something to you?"
Of course, it wasn't the kind of conversation he wanted to have, but whatever the boy had against him, he wanted to clear it up as soon as possible. Even if it meant cornering him in the club room after practice was over.
Luckily everyone had already gone home, even Ootori, despite the fact that the two usually left together.
(He wouldn't learn until later about the nasty fight the two had four days before, of which he was the cause of, that lasted well over a week and had escalated to what it was then.)
Hiyoshi looked up at him from the math textbook on the table. Why he was working in he club room, Atobe still didn't know, but he assume it was to concentrate better on his work.
"What are you talking about?" Hiyoshi asked, setting down his pen and turning slightly to give the older boy his full attention. Which Atobe was grateful for, though he wondered what it was about the topic that finally got the boy to look at him.
"You're always ignoring me, you don't listen to directions, you've hit me on the head a grand total of sixteen times - yes I've been counting - with a ball during practice, and you never look me in the eye. I want to know if there's a reason for this."
Hiyoshi stared at him for a moment before he sighed, closing his textbook and capping the pen. He turned fully now so he was facing his captain, who pulled up a chair and was now sitting in front of him.
"Atobe-san, I'd like for you to please listen without interrupting me while I speak. Is that alright? If not, we can always move on with our lives and never bring this up again."
He was shocked for a moment, as Hiyoshi had never said so much to him before, but managed to nod and tell the boy to continue.
"Okay, first; I don't ignore you. You just don't interest me enough to listen to you talk. I do listen to directions, you're always just too busy focusing on other players and by the time you notice me I'm usually always done with whatever we were suppsosed to be doing."
While he was slightly offended at the first part, the second part made more sense. While Hiyohsi interested him, he wasn't inclined to keep his attention on the boy all the time, as he still had a club to manage.
"Why I always hit you with the ball... You just happen to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. My control is still very bad, and the ball slides, so naturally it's going to fly somewhere. Or maybe your head is a tennis ball magnet?"
He felt his eyebrow twitch at that, but stayed silent. He couldn't blame him for something he couldn't control. Though that last comment was unnecessary.
"And the reason I never look you in the eye... That's a personal problem that I'm trying to sort out myself. I don't mean any offense by it, but it's something I can't help right now. That doesn't mean I can't talk or hold conversations properly, though. If you really wanted to speak to me, just know I'm not the type to approach people for no reason."
"And by that you mean you've never once needed my help for anything relating to tennis?"
Hiyoshi blinked.
"Shishido-senpai is helping me with my control, but he's prioritizing Choutarou right now, so..."
"... So you haven't been able to practice properly because you don't have a partner."
It made more sense now. Though that didn't explain why he didn't just look for someone else to practice with. Unless...
He felt uneasy talking to the other club members. It wouldn't surprise him, and he didn't see any other players reaching out to him either.
"... Alright, I think I understand now." He said, standing up. Hiyoshi looked up at him, confused. "Starting tomorrow, until we can find you a partner or when Shishido is finished with Ootori, I'll assist you in your practice."
With that, he didn't wait for the younger boy's reply before he turned and exited the club room.
... Why was he so happy?
.
Three days later, and Atobe wanted to commend Ootori for his bravery.
Not everyone - besides possibly those annoyances from the karate club - would challenge Hiyoshi Wakashi to a duel in front of the entire middle school.
"F-Fight me!" Ootori shouted. He was a good distance away, possibly worried that Hiyoshi would punch him or something(He had no doubt that a punch from Hiyoshi, despite his small size, would hurt), and had a look of pure determination on.
Hiyoshi just looked at him with a bored expression, and continued to do so until Ootori got the hint and elaborated.
"A hand-to-hand fight, in the karate club's dojo. I've already gotten us permission to use it." He said, a little more calmly. Hiyoshi tilted his head, and Ootori swallowed. It seemed to be a silent way of telling him Go on, which Ootori understood.
(Atobe never admitted that he felt annoyed that they didn't have to speak to each other in order to communicate, though he didn't have a reason to complain anymore.)
"I-If I win," He paused here, then shook his head as if to clear away any hesitation. "If I win, you tear up that club resignation form in your bag!"
... What?
He felt rather than saw Hiyoshi stiffen next to him, before the shorter boy shrugged off his backpack and dug around, before pulling out a slightly crumpled paper. The words 'Club Resignation Form' glared at him in big, bold letters, Hiyohi's neat signature on the line at the bottom of the page.
"You mean this?" He said, and Atobe almost thought he heard a tint of playfulness in his voice. "I wasn't going to turn it in for a while, are you sure you want to do this? You're not the best fighter."
Ootori bristled at this, obviously angry.
"I'm good enough to train with you daily! Even uncle says so!" He said. Atobe noticed how Hiyoshi's lips twitched upwards slightly, and he raised his head, as if looking down on his friend.
"So my childhood friend is really challenging me to a losing battle." He said, smiling. "Alright. But if I win, you can't stop me if I decide to turn this in and you can't hold it against me later."
"Deal!"
Atobe had never seen a martial arts match before, but he was quite sure one round wasn't supposed to last less than thirty seconds.
He wasn't all that surprised either when Hiyoshi had managed to catch Ootori's wrist and flip him over his head with one arm, leaving Ootori sprawled out on his back. Thankfully, the dojo was cushioned, so there was no physical damage done. Though he could tell Ootori was disappointed in himself, even if he did put up a good fight. Hiyoshi was currently rubbing at a sore spot on his side where Ootori had managed to land a kick.
The next day they reconciled, and things went back to normal. Or they would have, if Atobe could get his mind off the fact that Hiyoshi had not only filled out and signed a resignation form, but planned to hand it in soon...
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"What are you doing?"
Atobe looked up, shutting the middle school yearbook that was on his lap, turning to look at who walked in. Hiyoshi looked annoyed as he carried a tray with two mugs on it, placing it on the coffee table of Atobe's living room and seating himself next to the older boy.
"Nothing." Atobe said, setting the book aside and grabbing on of the cups. "Just looking through your seventh grade yearbook. I can't believe it's only been four years and we're still together, even in high school." Hiyoshi rolled his eyes.
"What would you expect, you're a persistent person and I couldn't say 'No' after the, what, seventeenth time you asked?"
"Sixteenth, boy."
"Same thing." Hiyoshi huffed. "After you found out about that form I signed you pestered me endlessly about why I would want to quit tennis-"
"-And you kept telling me it was getting boring even though I made it look fun." There was that sly grin on the older boy's face, and Hiyoshi could feel something fluttering inside him.
"Then you decided to ask me out because you thought it'd get me to reconsider."
"And did it?"
"Not a bit." He said flatly, and Atobe frowned. He rolled his eyes again, leaning over his lover's lap and grabbing the yearbook. "Although it must have done something if I'm here now." Atobe grinned.
"You mean you eventually gave in to my irresistible charms and succumbed to love."
"No, I think it was more, 'This guy is never going to stop, so I might as well roll with it' than what you said."
"So mean."
Hiyoshi gave an airy laugh at the pout Atobe now wore. He patted his shoulder.
"It worked out in the end, though."
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A/N: This turned out... probably shorter than I wanted it to, but I wanted to try combing the "First meeting" or "How the got together" options I was given... this is probably farther from what I intended to write, but it's done, and if it's not satisfactory I can always write another one. It'd probably be shorter though, since this was a combination, and I kinda want to do a second chapter from Hiyoshi's POV, but after the last time I said that... Anyway, I hope this turned out alright and hopefully it was enjoyable. I haven't written a TeniPuri fic in a long time, and though I really want to again, the only things I can think of a multi-chaps that are too long to upload now, or one-shots. And Unseal's progression isn't going as planned... Crap why'd I bring it up.
NOW FOR SOME SLEEP because you guys know I can't write unless it's at an hour when no sensible person would be awake.
Heeey look spell check is working again. Took it long enough.