Rating: PG
Pairing: one-sided Niou/Yagyuu for now
Disclaimer: not mine, cool? cool.
Niou always observed Yagyuu closely. He explained it to himself by saying that he could improve their doubles combination if he knew more about how Yagyuu worked. The gentleman was a very closed off person - it was difficult to get to know him via conventional methods. One day after practice, Yagyuu walked home with a girl. Niou knew he shouldn't have, but he couldn't help following them until he saw Yagyuu invite the girl into his house.
"Niou-kun." Yanagi's voice was so not what he needed to hear as the door shut behind Yagyuu.
"Were you following me?" Niou coaxed a mask over his face before turning around to face the man who, for all intents and purposes, knew everything. Yanagi stood a few feet behind him, leaning casually against a lamppost, tennis bag slung over his shoulder.
"Of course. Want to tell me what this is about?" Yanagi straightened and walked forward. He stopped right in front of Niou. "Let's go get something to eat and talk." Niou just nodded and followed Yanagi to a nearby McDonald's. He didn't have much homework anyway.
Their conversation as they walked was pretty standard. Yanagi pointed out that Niou's backhand was a little unsteady and suggested some weight training to fix his balance. Once they got their food and sat down though, the conversation changed direction entirely.
"So, about your following Yagyuu's every action." Yanagi could be very very blunt when he wanted to, that was for sure. Niou had a sneaking suspicion that he did it just to read people's reactions, which was why he was very thankful for being the kind of person who could easily put up a facade and not be himself.
"What do you think about it?" Niou wasn't going to give in that easily - Yanagi was supposed to know facts, and he was supposed to play with them. Perhaps that was why they weren't the closest of friends on the team. They did complement each other well though, which is why on the rare occasion they paired for doubles, they did so well.
"I think you're infatuated with him, and not just as a teammate." Yanagi opened his eyes and tried to pierce deep into Niou's thoughts, but Niou had already put an iron mask over his face. He was very proud of himself for being able to resist the master's intimidating gaze - it wasn't a task many were up to.
"Guess your data isn't perfect." Niou took a large bite of his hamburger without dropping his staring match with Yanagi. "Promise to not tell?" He waited until Yanagi nodded before lying right between his teeth. "I need something to blackmail him with, so that he'll go along with this plan I have for the finals at Nationals."
"Really now." Yanagi's voice didn't even try to hide the fact that he didn't believe Niou in the least. "Do you really need to blackmail Yagyuu into going along with your plans? As far as I know, he goes along with what you want pretty willingly."
"That's because by definition, blackmail won't be shared if victim agrees to the conditions. Else, my threats won't be credible, will they, now?" Niou grinned as he finished off the last of his fries. "Are you going to finish those?" When Yanagi shook his head, Niou reached over the table and helped himself to some of Yanagi's fries.
"If you say so then, Niou-kun. I'm pretty sure you're lying though - just know that if you ever need help, I'm right here."
"Sure. If I ever develop a problem, I'll let you know." Niou sighed inwardly. Anyone else would have believed him. Yanagi was annoying in that way though - when he believed something was true, he'd continue on trying to prove it until he was presented with irrefutable proof to the contrary. Unfortunately, this was because his intuitions were almost always right on the money.
Niou balled up his hamburger wrapper and stuffed it into his empty, greasy fries carton before throwing them away. "Thanks for the backhand tips. I'll be sure to work on those." Yanagi nodded and followed him out the door. "I'll see you at practice tomorrow."
That evening, Niou had difficulty concentrating on his homework. Not only did his mind keep questioning who exactly Yagyuu had been with, but he also kept seeing Yanagi's open eyes staring at him, poking around at his innermost thoughts in the hopes of finding the truth somewhere. Eventually, he gave up and, shutting off his desk lamp, Niou changed into track pants and, throwing on a windbreaker, he went out for a jog. There were storm clouds in the sky, but it didn't look like it was going to rain anytime soon.
As he was crossing the street into a park, a familiar flash caught his eye and he turned to get a closer look. Indeed, Yagyuu stood across the street, hand resting on the back of the same girl Niou had seen go home with him earlier. Yagyuu was smiling down at her as he held the restaurant door open, always the perfect gentleman. When he let the door fall closed behind them, Yagyuu leaned down and kissed her.
Niou's blood ran cold in his veins. He'd read about it, but didn't think it was so adequately descriptive. Ice spread outward from his chest. His fingers felt like he'd stuck them in ice baths, then his feet, and then he was shivering and goosebumps were forming along his biceps. His face tingled and cooled, and he wondered if it were pale. Was this what people meant when they said someone's face drained of blood? His lungs started burning, and he realized he hadn't breathed in far too long. Expelling the stale air in his lungs through his nose, Niou stumbled backwards until he managed to lean against a tree, open mouth gasping for a breath of air. Once, at practice, he'd missed while diving for a ball and landed improperly on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. This was worse.
Niou stood in the shadows for awhile, watching as Yagyuu and the girl walked out of sight, before stumbling back home. He didn't really feel like jogging anymore. He wasn't even sure why he felt so shocked upon seeing Yagyuu like that. Could Yanagi have been right? Did he really like Yagyuu that way? How did Yanagi know? Was it possible that he was so good at tricking people, that he'd managed to trick himself? Was it possible that Yanagi's data could see into him through such a deep veil of lies that he himself could not see out of it?
He didn't even bother turning the lights on in his room. Instead, he crawled under his covers and curled up into a fetal position, still shivering slightly.
comments/critiques please?