Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: The second one of my 5trueloves Kaidou fics, this one pairing him with Inui, the prompt being Gone.

Contains SPOILERS for the recent chapters. You have been warned.


Losing and Gaining


"I'm sorry, Kaidou."

Kaidou looked up, vaguely surprised. "Sorry for what?" he asked, confused.

"That we lost, of course." Inui wasn't looking at Kaidou, instead keeping his gaze directed in front of himself.

"Seigaku didn't," replied Kaidou, because that was the most important thing, wasn't it."

"But we did. And it was my fault."

"Don't you dare say that." Kaidou's jaw clenched. "It was all Kirihara's fault."

"No, it wasn't. I should have been more resilient." Inui seemed to lose his calm, now. "I should have been able to withstand the damage to collect the data. It's all my fault – my fault your efforts were for nothing –"

"What efforts?" asked Kaidou, and he couldn't help but sound a tad bitter. "I didn't do anything, Inui-senpai. I couldn't. Even as you were hurt, I couldn't do anything."

"You came back, though." Inui's hand sought for Kaidou's, squeezing it lightly. Kaidou felt a slight blush rising to his cheeks, grateful that Inui wasn't looking at him. "You were lost, yet you came back. That alone is an admirable achievement, Kaidou."

"No, it isn't," muttered Kaidou, embarrassed. "It's shameful that I lost myself like that… and it's only thanks to you that I managed to return."

"That is not true." Inui smiled a bit. "I only pleaded with you. You are the one who came back." After a small pause, he said, "Was it because of me that you… became like that?"

Surely he didn't expect Kaidou to answer such a question? An even more obvious blush colouring his face, Kaidou merely hissed. And Inui, of course, interpreted it right.

"I… am glad." Now, this was certainly surprising. Kaidou stared at his senpai, who still kept looking away. "Do not take me wrong; as I saw you changing I was… scared. Very, very scared. Not of you, but of losing you." Inui held his hand a bit tighter as though afraid he might disappear if let go of. "But… I was touched. You are always so sure of yourself, Kaidou, always so proud. You make sure everyone knows who is Kaidou Kaoru. That my pain would make you forget makes me feel… special."

Kaidou hung his head. He didn't like remembering it. However, there was something that Inui had said he felt compelled to address, the words escaping his lips before he had even fully thought them through. "You couldn't lose me," he whispered barely audibly.

Inui didn't ask him to repeat, to speak more clearly, nothing. Instead, he was quiet for a moment before asking, "I couldn't?" There was something like wonder in his face, as though he had been unsure whether he had heard right. It wasn't like Inui-senpai, being unsure. Kaidou didn't like it.

"Of course not," he thus said, wanting to make Inui-senpai sure again. "Not unless you push me away," he added, very quietly.

As though in reaction to this Inui's grasp on his hand tightened. "Never," replied the data player. "I never could."

"That's good," Kaidou replied. "Since you will notice I'm very hard to get rid of."

"I have your data, Kaidou," was Inui's response. "However, that is only as far as tennis goes. I would very much like to discover the rest of your data – that one fact and everything else as well."

Kaidou smiled carefully, cautiously, hissing softly in what he was sure the other would correctly interpret as agreement, and he could tell that underneath all those bandages Inui was smiling, too.

Neither of them let go of the other's hand.