00 | Introduction

I thought it would be hidden, buried deep. I didn't think that it would ever be revealed.

And this was how it started.

~.~

Yanagi Renji is good at collecting data, but there are things even he doesn't know.

Sanada Genichirou is not nosy, but there are things even he curious about.

Yukimura Seiichi is excellent at reading people, but there are people even he doesn't completely understand.

And thus, the three demons came together.

~.~

"… so what do you want me to do?" An auburn haired girl stared at the three tennis players.

"We want you to gather information on him." Yanagi smiled.

"Senpai, this is only my first year at Rikkai, I want to survive my university years."

Sanada looked at the girl, "Sato, you are Kirihara Akaya's childhood friend. You will have no problem surviving." An unsaid 'you are ridiculous' lingered in the air.

"… This is Niou Masaharu we are talking about. Akaya is nothing in comparison to him!" She paused, "I don't get anything out of this."

As if Yukimura was waiting for that line, he smiled, "How about a deal?" Sanada and Yanagi opened their mouths to object, but immediately closed it when the Child of God shot them a look. "In exchange for a profile on Masaharu, Genichirou and Atobe will perform a duet at the Rikkai festival." He breathed into her ear to ensure that Sanada didn't hear anything.

"Deal!" She laughed. She knew there was a reason why she hung around the tennis team.

"Amaya!" Kirihara shouted as he saw his childhood friend at tennis practice, "What are you doing here?"

"Oi! Is that how you greet a girl?" Amaya glared at him.

"Kirihara, that is not how you treat girls."

"Yagyuu-senpai! You're being fooled by her long hair! She's not actually a gi – OW! Who the f –" He turned around to find his captain standing there.

"Akaya~" The indigo haired man sang.

"Captain! I'm sorry, I'll get right back to practice!" He hurried back to the courts as the Rikkai captain chuckled behind him.

"Niou-senpai… why are you pretending to be Yagyuu-senpai?" Amaya asked the said man as she walked away.

Niou Masaharu smirked, "Sato Amaya."

~.~

Amaya walked towards her own club, the archery club. Despite growing up with a tennis-obsessed freak, archery had been 'the sport' for her. It required strength and concentration, but most of all, it was a single-player sport. When she was playing, nobody would bother her, she could be alone.

As per usual, Amaya finished her practice session with meditation after all the other club members have left. She opened her eyes as she takes a breath and screamed. "Kirihaya Akaya! How many times have I told you not to do that when I'm meditating?!" It is terrifying when you find a pair of green eyes staring at you right as you open your eyes after meditating.

"And how many times have I done that? You should get used to it." Amaya started to change out of her gear, yet Kirihara continued to sit there, "Wanna go for some ramen? The upperclassmen are treating."

"They offered to treat you, not me."

"The offer, of course, is extended to you as well." Jackal smiled as the rest of the tennis team walked in.

And so, Sato Amaya gets pulled along in the tennis team outing.

As the Rikkai men's tennis team (along with Amaya), sat down at the ramen shop, Sanada smirked, not that many noticed, as Yukimura whispered something in his ears.

"Akaya." Sanada's voice stern, "Why were you watching Sato change?"

"What's wrong with that?" Kirihaya stared at Sanada, his under-lying mocking tone obvious.

"You are a 19 year old male. She is an 18 year old female. And you're asking me what's wrong with that?! You," He noticed many pairs of eyes on him around the restaurant and lowered his voice, "are a pervert."

The regulars erupted in laughter after hearing their vice-captain say such words with a stern tone and straight face.

"Vice-captain…" Kirihara looked right into his eyes, "there's nothing that I haven't seen before, so what's the problem with that?"

Marui, wide-eyed, spat out a mouthful of ramen, which landed on Jackal's head. "You what?!"

"Senpai," The girl smiled, "I agree with him. We've seen each other naked more than once. At least part of me was covered this time."

Yagyuu was the one to choke on his noodles. "I apologize."

"Not quite the Gentleman when it comes to steamy things, now are you?" Yukimura chuckled.

"Steamy?" Amaya laughed, "Akaya, just tell them now. I played along already."

"You just had to go and ruin it, what's wrong with leaving them to think whatever they want?" Kirihara patted the girl's head as she smiled at him while resting her head on his shoulder. "Our families used to go to hot springs together. While the adults chatted, we used to go to the mixed ones together. We were like what? 6?"

"Puri." Niou smirked.

"You should've made it clear instead of giving us a heart attack." Sanada scolded.

"Che. What's the fun in that?" Kirihara high-fived his childhood friend.

The tennis players filtered out the ramen shop one by one. Only Yukimura, Kirihara, Niou and Amaya were left.

"Akaya, how about a game?" Yukimura suggested. The junior's eyes lit up as he heard his captain's suggestion, but then rejected his offer.

"Sorry, Captain. I have to walk her home."

"Don't worry, I can walk home alone. I'm a big girl!" She beamed, only to have her childhood friend roll his eyes at her.

"Akaya's right, a girl shouldn't walk home alone in the dark." Yukimura smiled knowingly at the auburn-haired girl, "Masaharu will walk her home, won't you?"

"If you say so." The silver-haired teen nudged Amaya to walk along, a subtle gesture that surprised both the junior ace and the Child of God.

~.~

"Masaharu, you shouldn't have done that." Amaya said softly.

"Done what? Nudge you or agree to walk you home?" He asked, no mockery evident in his voice.

"Both." She sighed, "It's been a long time."

"Exactly." He reached out to touch her face, but pulled back right before he did. "Let's go. I still have to go pick up Hiroki."

"Tell Hiro-chan mommy will go visit him soon."

"Will do."

A/N: After years of hiatus (from ff), I am finally back to writing. And of course, it is with a PoT fic! I have always been interested in Niou Masaharu, thought he was a very interesting character with lots of depth and never got enough screen time, so here I am trying to interpret him the best I can. This, I'm hoping, will be a short (5-10 chapters) fic and hoping to finish... 'soon'. (:

Please do review and give me some feedback!

With lots of love,

Jadyn (xLollipopful)