Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: This is an entry to the 30-dogpile challenge in LiveJournal, the theme being Burnt.

Of Camps and Competition

Being invited to a selective tennis camp was, as Kaidoh well knew, something to be proud of. Especially so if the vast majority of the participants was in high school and you were still in junior high, yourself. It was an opportunite he should not miss, everybody kept telling him.

His team seemed almost too eager to send him off. It was okay, he'd been told, it would only be for two weeks and it wasn't like it was the Nationals yet anyway. He should just go and return even stronger than he was now; they would manage just fine until then. "And good riddance," Momoshiro had added for a good measure, at which Kaidoh had responded with an annoyed hiss, which had naturally led to yet another fight.

Inui-senpai was proud of him. He knew this because he'd been told so, repeatedly, over and over again until finally he'd got enough and told his senpai to shut the fuck up. (In the least offensive and disrespecting way possible, fo course. Different schools or not, Inui-senpai was still Inui-senpai.)

Despite all this, Kaidoh couldn't help but feel a bit wary. Something was bound to go wrong, he just knew it. Of course, he kept telling himself this was simply nervousness -- more because the mere thought of any kind of a sixth sense unsettled him quite a bit than for any other reason -- but the feeling didn't fade. Instead, it got even more intense as time went by and the beginning of the camp loomed nearer.

Of course, he wasn't about to give up over something as trivial as that. He was, after all, Kaidoh Kaoru. He would never give up, no matter what.

Still, even as the first day of the camp dawned, he still had that bad feeling eating at him...

The idea of the camp was simple enough. Out of the participants of the camp, a team was to be formed. This team, compiled over the next two weeks, was then to face another team formed on a similar camp in the Kansai area and hopefully win. Even those who weren't picked were to regard the camp as a valuable learning experience, gaining new strength and so on and so on.

None of this was exactly shockingly new. It was also not surprising that everybody had to share a room with somebody else. All this was only to be expected and even Kaidoh, with his fairly antisocial nature, could be civil enough to survive it for the two weeks.

This didn't necessarily mean he was happy about exactly who was staying in the same room with him. Of course there would have been worse possibilities, like one of those idiots who talked a mile a minute and never seemed to stop, but he could still think of about a hundred people he would have rather shared the room with. Being called somebody's pet -- even if it was Inui-senpai's pet -- tended to irritate him quite a bit.

Yanagi Renji was not exactly the friendliest of people, especially not in matters concerning Inui-senpai.

As of yet there hadn't been much problems, though. Yanagi hadn't repeated his comment from earlier that year, rather recognizing Kaidoh as "the junior high kid who keeps hanging around Sadaharu". Kaidoh had replied in kind, feigning ignorance of Yanagi's name and rather calling him "the Rikkay guy who lost to Inui-senpai." They hadn't bothered to introduce themselves, both knowing perfectly well the other knew their name. They had met often enough -- always around Inui and rarely voluntarily.

It was rather childish, feeling competitive over Inui, but it wasn't like it was only on the camp. Yanagi dominated Inui's school time and club activities now that they attended the same high school, while Kaidoh kept training with him, sharing most of his spare time. Both knew the other was a constant in Inui's life and one of the main reasons the data player was for the most part happy and content with his life. This didn't mean they had to be happy about it.

Yes, Kaidoh was jealous of Inui-senpai. It was childish and immature, yet he couldn't help it. He had preciously few true friends and was thus very careful not to lose those he did have. He couldn't understand exactly why Inui-senpai chose to be his friend of sorts, but he definitely wasn't going to give up on him in Yanagi's favour.

Kaidoh got the first point, so to speak, as he was the first one Inui-senpai called to make sure he had arrived safely. His triumphant feeling didn't fade even as Yanagi's phone rang as soon as his call ended, not even though Inui-senpai talked with the older boy for a minute longer. Not that he counted or anything.

After Yanagi ended his call, he directed a glance at Kaidoh -- if that could be said of somebody who didn't open his eyes. "Sadaharu didn't mention anything about you attending, even though he must have known," he said. "Then again, I guess he just thought somebody like you wouldn't matter anyway."

"Inui-senpai didn't say anything about you being invited, either," Kaidoh replied. "I wonder why -- somebody with your skill level being here is a miracle."

This, of course, only gained a snort from the older boy. "I guess I shouldn't expect anything else from somebody of your intellectual level," Yanagi said. "How Sadaharu stands you around is beyond me."

Kaidoh hissed in annoyance but didn't react otherwise, knowing he would just strengthen his image as a 'barbarian' if he didn't. Normally, he wouldn't have minded either way, but he wouldn't give in to Yanagi's taunts so easily.

He knew better than well he wasn't any match to Inui-senpai when it came to intelligence. After all, it was one of the things he admired most about Inui-senpai. However, he was quite confident Inui-senpai was more intelligent than Yanagi, too.

The first day they did little else but got to know the place and the other players. Kaidoh recognized quite a few, some by face or name, some by actually knowing them. It turned out he was most likely the youngest one there, practically all the others being high school students, and Kaidoh started to wonder just why he had been invited. True, he was good, but there were many other good junior high players, too. Perhaps nobody under 15 was allowed?

He would find out in time, he concluded on his evening run -- participating on a camp hardly meant he could slack off, after all. Until then, he would simply play as best as he could and make sure everybody there remembered the name of Kaidoh Kaoru.

Especially Yanagi Renji.

They began by, simply enough, playing matches. Kaidoh was glad he got to play singles. There were very few people he could play doubles with, and as neither Inui-senpai nor Momoshiro were there, it just wouldn't manage.

Singles he could do, and very well, besides. As the first day of matches had ended, he had won all of his matches. He suspected there were people who might win him -- after all, he still had several years until the point where Inui-senpai had promised he would stay undefeated -- but as of yet, he hadn't met any.

Of course, Yanagi had to comment on this, pointing out in his usual sharp tones how remarkable it was for a player of his skill level to actually succeed in such a challenge. Kaidoh, naturally, responded in kind, mentioning how Yanagi's – completely undeserved, doubtlessly – reputation had simply scared his opponents into submission.

Inui called them both that day, too, patiently listening to two nigh identical descriptions of the events of the day. Kaidoh couldn't help but notice that both of them managed to rather neatly forget to mention just who they were sharing a room with. The second call was ended with an annoyed hiss directed at Yanagi, returned with a gazeless glare.

While Inui-senpai was occasionally rather frightening as well, Kaidoh decided, Yanagi was still much creepier. And he didn't even have any remeeding qualities, like the other data player.

This was going to be a very long two weeks.

Despite Kaidoh's initial fears, the first few days passed fairly quickly. He didn't have to deal with Yanagi much aside from the mornings and evenings, and those he could bear as long as he reminded himself of Inui-senpai. Inui would be very upset indeed if he found out his two best friends were so hostile towards each other. (How he managed to remain oblivious to the fact was beyond Kaidoh.)

As one morning found them all assembled to listen to an announcement from the main coach of the camp, however, Kaidoh discovered that everything had apparently taken a sharp turn to the worse.

"Unlike what you may have thought, you have not been placed in your rooms randomly," the main coach told them. "Before deciding on the room assignments, we studied some descriptions of playing styles, trying to analyze them to find good matches. Based on this, we are now going to have a doubles tournament where your partner will be the person you are sharing the room with."

Kaidoh's eyes flew wide. Doubles -- with Yanagi? True enough, Yanagi's playing style was similar enough to Inui-senpai's, but... It just wouldn't work. No way.

"Whichever pair wins the tournament will make it to the team," the announcement continued. "The other doubles pair will be picked from among the rest of the players. Whether you win or lose will not matter in this, but you will be judged rather on your performance in the matches. Do remember, though, that the more matches you win, the more opportunities you will have to appeal yourselves to the selection committee."

Well, that wasn't going to happen to Kaidoh and Yanagi. They would drop out of the tournament on the very first round. There was no way he was going to play with that eyeless bastard.

This was still Kaidoh's thought as he prepared for the first match they were supposed to play as a doubles team. Of course, he would never lose the match on purpose -- that went against his basic principles -- but there was no way they would win. Their opponents actually got along to a degree, while he and Yanagi could not manage to cooperate. It just didn't work.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. Spinning around, he hissed, staring Yanagi in the eye. "What do you want?" he growled.

"Look, Kaidoh-kun," Yanagi said, "although neither of us likes it, it's a fact our only chance to make it to the team is in doubles. There is simply too much high-level competition in singles. I have observed enough ot your matches with Sadaharu to know how you play. If you can trust me to take Sadaharu's place, we are almost certain to make it to the team. However, if you refuse to cooperate, Sadaharu will be doubly disappointed."

Kaidoh hissed again, weighing the other's words carefully. "If Inui-senpai is disappointed," he said finally, "it will not be because of me."

"That we shall see," Yanagi replied. "Now, let us just win this tournament."

They won their first match. The next one, too. It wasn't easy at first, of course -- these opponents were, after all, picked from among the best players in the high school world of the Kantou area -- but slowly, Kaidoh got used to it. He just had to pretend it was Inui-senpai he was playing with, not Yanagi. Even if there weren't any percentages voiced, it was Inui-senpai. Even if he was called Kaidoh-kun instead of just Kaidoh, it was Inui-senpai. Even if the voice was simply wrong and the appearance too, it was Inui-senpai.

When this occasionally failed, he kept telling himself it was for Inui-senpai's sake, instead. Inui-senpai would be so proud if both his friends made it to the team, even -- or especially, knowing Inui-senpai and the strange way his mind worked -- if it was as a doubles team. If he couldn't put aside his dislike of Yanagi for a moment and concentrate on the game, he wasn't much of a player, now was he? In that case, Inui-senpai had every right to be disappointed in him. He just couldn't lose -- especially not when Yanagi was, in fact, doing his best to act like Inui-senpai, giving him instructions to the point of dictating even his footsteps. It was a new form of practice, he told himself, a scheme of some kind, or a bet he had made with Inui-senpai. Momoshiro was watching and would laugh if he messed this up.

Although his motivational thoughts probably weren't among the most usual ones, they worked well enough. Occasionally Kaidoh indeed managed to forget that it wasn't Inui-senpai calling out the orders like where he should step so as to be best prepared to return the ball. He also sometimes realized that even though he was almost painfully aware it wasn't Inui-senpai, it didn't matter. Unsettling and almost frightening though the thought was, it worked. Once he let go of his reservations and actually managed to trust his partner, his and Yanagi's playing styles worked together.

"You're not too bad," Yanagi commented after yet another victorious match. "I can almost understand just why Sadaharu would waste his time on you."

"You... can play," Kaidoh admitted grudgingly as well. "It almost makes me understand why Inui-senpai would ever make the mistake of choosing you as his doubles partner."

"Well, apparently you believe in repeating mistakes, then," Yanagi pointed out with a smirk. Kaidoh chose not to comment.

As Inui-senpai called that day – it was Kaidoh's turn to get the first call, again – he immediately asked how Kaidoh had done that day.

"Rather well, senpai," Kaidoh replied, feeling proud to be able to honestly say that. "It's been doubles all day. The tournament's still going to continue tomorrow, but this far, we've been able to win all of our matches."

Kaidoh had heard people could hear the smile in your voice. Kaidoh, for his own part, very well managed to hear the raised eyebrow in Inui's voice as the older boy echoed questioningly, "'We?'"

"Um, yes," Kaidoh replied a bit uneasily, knowing very well that Yanagi was listening to every word of his no matter how concentrated the other boy seemed to be in whatever he was reading. "I – I'm sharing a room with Yanagi-san. We were assigned to play as a doubles pair."

"And your playing styles are efficient together?" Inui prompted. At the half-muttered agreement, the data player said, "I assumed as much. According to my data, the two of you would, given enough practice, make an excellent doubles pairing indeed."

Now Kaidoh couldn't do anything but nod. He had tried to deny the fact earlier, but if Inui-senpai's data claimed so, he could do little but agree. After all, Inui-senpai's data was never wrong.

He couldn't help but secretly hope it would be just this once, however. Any data involving Yanagi Renji was something he did not appreciate.

In the end, it did not really surprise Kaidoh that they won the doubles tournament. It didn't seem to be much of a surprise to Yanagi, either. Thus having confirmed their participation in the team, they still didn't give in when it came to singles matches, playing with all they had. After all, what was the point of playing if you didn't do it properly?

Thus it was after a won match that Kaidoh returned to his room one evening, finding Yanagi there. Soon after the daily calls – it was Kaidoh's turn to get the first one, again – Kaidoh left the room to go running for a while. However, he didn't get far from the building as people started rushing out.

"There's a fire!" somebody shouted. "Call the firemen!"

Kaidoh, while had a cell phone, did not call anybody. Instead, he simply watched the people rushing out. As there seemed to be no more teenagers running for their lives, he made one last glance around to make sure he hadn't missed anyone.

He hadn't. Yanagi was apparently still inside.

Ignoring others' warnings not to go, Kaidoh rushed into the building. Inui-senpai would be very disappointed if he let Yanagi burn to death. It was his only reason. Really, it was.

"Yanagi-san!" he called out while running towards their room. "Yanagi-san, are you here?"

"I'm here!" he heard the response from somewhere nearby, and immediately hurried towards it. There weren't any flames visible, but smoke was already invading the corridor. It was only a matter of time until fire would break out there.

He soon got sight of Yanagi. "Come on," he said, "we have to get out of there."

"Gladly," Yanagi replied, smirking humourlessly, "if you'll tell me just where to head. I fear my sense of direction is not the best one possible."

Kaidoh hissed. "And you're supposed to be a data player?" he spat. Grasping on the other's hand, he started half leading, half dragging Yanagi towards the exit.

Much to his relief, Kaidoh found the exit fairly easily, leading them both into the open air. Kicking the door closed behind him, he continued on his way, not wanting to be anywhere near the fire.

A moment later the two stood a safe distance from the still burning building, quietly watching the chaos around them. They heard somebody mentioning something about the news. Of course, such an accident would have made it to the news.

"One of us should probably call Sadaharu," Yanagi said slowly. "He must be distressed indeed if he has heard of the fire."

"Right," Kaidoh said. "Somebody should call him and tell him we're both safe."

Neither of them made any moves to reach for their phone.

After a moment of waiting, Kaidoh's phone suddenly rang. He brought the cell phone immediately to his ear and pressed the receiving button, not even bothering to check the caller ID.

"Mamushi!" Even over the phone line, Momoshiro's screech almost broke his ear drums. "What's all this stuff about a fire there? Is everything all right? Are you still alive?"

"How would I have answered if I wasn't alive, you moron?" snapped Kaidoh, irritated more because it wasn't Inui-senpai than by Momoshiro himself. It was almost nice, knowing the idiot had been concerned for him. Assuming he wasn't simply hoping for an easier intra-school ranking tournament the next time around, that was. "Yes, I'm alive, yes, I'm okay, was there still something else you needed to know?"

"Woah, somebody's snappy today," Momoshiro snorted. "What's wrong? Life or death situation put you on the edge?"

"It's not that," hissed Kaidoh, wishing very much Momoshiro would just give up for once. "I just have other calls to make and you are keeping the line reserved."

"Oh, yes. Must call your boyfriend, eh?" Ignoring his enraged hiss, Momoshiro finished, "Tell Inui-senpai hi from me. Bye!" With this, the call was finally over. Kaidoh let out another hiss, glaring at the phone as though it had been the poor device's fault it had been Momoshiro who called and not Inui-senpai.

Rather soon Yanagi's phone rang, too. After the extremely quick answer, the former Rikkai student's expression turned into an interesting mix of irritation and disappointment. Kaidoh didn't dare even imagine how close to it his own expression had been just moments ago.

"Ah, Genichiroh," Yanagi said, not with his most enthusiastic voice. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine. I don't have a single scratch on me. ...Yes, of course you can tell Seiichi. In fact, I would much appreciate that so he won't call me, too. I'll call you if anything worthwhile happens, though I doubt that. ...Yes, goodbye."

Once again a glare was directed at a perfectly innocent cell phone because it had failed to deliver a call from the 'right' person. Yanagi then gazed at Kaidoh as though to ensure the other boy hadn't been called, either, even though it was practically impossible that could have happened without him noticing.

There were more calls, from worried school mates and team mates, their families, friends, everybody who might be concerned about them. It was clear the news had spread wide and everybody was aware of the fire, wanting to make sure they were unharmed.

Everybody expect one person, it seemed.

The two were slowly starting to accept that Inui had, apparently, forgotten about them both. If everybody and their brother knew of the fire, there was no way Inui hadn't been informed. As he didn't call to make sure they were all right like everybody else seemed to have done, he obviously didn't care either way.

The only comfort they found was the fact that the other one hadn't been called, either.

Suddenly, though, their dark thoughts were interrupted. "Renji!" called out an all too familiar voice. Then, before Kaidoh could even register the word well enough to realize he should be upset the other boy had been called for first, they heard another call. "Kaoru!"

Now, Kaidoh froze. Inui-senpai had never called him that before. Kaoru-kun, occasionally, but even that was rare -- usually, it was always Kaidoh. Or Kaidoh-kun, even. Kaoru was something entirely new altogether.

He was fairly sure he didn't mind it, though.

"Sadaharu," Yanagi managed to say, just as Kaidoh said, "Inui-senpai." That was all they actually could say, as the next moment Inui had flung himself against the two, drawing them both close and holding tightly as though to make sure they were real and not just an illusion.

Kaidoh and Yanagi glanced warily at each other, bewildered. This was definitely unusual behaviour from Inui.

"I-Inui-senpai?" Kaidoh asked after a moment of silence. "What are you doing here?"

"Seeing you," replied Inui, his head pressed against their shirts where their shoulders met. This required him to be hunched over, of course, as he was easily taller than either of them, but Inui didn't seem to mind. "I had to make sure you were okay."

"You could have just called, Sadaharu," Yanagi pointed out. "I know very well you wouldn't let the battery of your cell phone die on you."

"He's right, Inui-senpai," Kaidoh said. "If you had called us, you could have been sure we were okay much sooner."

"I couldn't," Inui replied with slightly muffled tones. This was easily explained as his face was still hidden half in each other boy's shoulder. "If I had called I would have had to decide which one of you to call first and I couldn't. Illogical though it is, I panicked." He finally lifted his face, smiling sheepishly as he adjusted his glasses again, letting go of both the other boys at exactly the same moment. "At the moment the only thought that made sense to me was that I had to make sure you both were safe and that by calling you I couldn't get the information simultaneously. Therefore, irrational or not, I had to arrive here myself to see you both."

"How... unlike you, Sadaharu," Yanagi said. He didn't sound entirely displeased. Kaidoh could simply nod in agreement. This was definitely not like the usual Inui-senpai.

"Indeed," Inui replied. "However, there are times when a person is not exactly himself. I believe this was my moment of irrationality." With this, he took a hold on them both, one hand on one arm of each. However, as Kaidoh winced, he started. "Kaoru? You didn't get hurt in the fire, did you?" Apparently he wasn't about to stop using the first name. Kaidoh still didn't mind.

"If he did, I don't know of it," Yanagi said with a small frown. "In fact, he helped me get out in time, so if he is indeed injured, it is my fault."

"It's nothing," Kaidoh claimed, clenching his fist. He'd be damned if he showed any weakness now, in front of both Yanagi and Inui. This simply wasn't the situation.

"Kaoru, don't be childish." With this, Inui promptly let go of Yanagi's arm, instead turning towards Kaidoh. Pulling up the younger boy's sleeve, he gasped softly as he saw the burn on the other's skin. "Kaidoh Kaoru, what exactly were you thinking, trying to hide this? This must hurt horribly!"

"I can bear it," muttered Kaidoh. And he could. He didn't necessarily like it, but he could bear it.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kaoru, that has to be treated. Fortunately, I'm prepared," Inui said, not truly surprising either of the other boys. From the small backpack he had with him he drew some first aid equipment. "I figured these would be of use to somebody at least," he explained while starting to examine Kaidoh's injury more closely, "what with the fire and all..."

"Kaidoh-kun!" Yanagi said sharply as he saw the wound. "You never told me you were hurt!"

"I said already, it's nothing," Kaidoh replied with a tiny hiss. "At least, it won't affect my playing, so don't worry about it."

"'Don't worry about it,'" Yanagi echoed. "If I don't, who will? You most certainly don't seem to!"

"Inui-senpai does," Kaidoh replied, indicating the bespectacled boy who was currently busy cleaning the burn. "Isn't one person enough?"

Suddenly, Inui looked up from the burn, looking very seriously at Kaidoh. "Even if one person is enough," he started slowly, "is two necessarily too much?" His tone was now an almost hopeful one Kaidoh could not recall hearing ever before.

Kaidoh sensed the question wasn't directed at him alone. He exchanged a slow gaze with Yanagi. It was weird, how he could actually tell what the other boy was looking at even though the eyes still appeared closed.

Still slowly, they both turned to look at Inui, who was watching them with a definitely hopeful expression, the burn apparently forgotten for the moment. This was Inui, they both thought. Inui, who was never irrational, never illogical. Inui, who had such a hard time deciding between them he'd ended up being both irrational and illogical, never mind just plain silly.

After looking at Inui, whom they both liked more than mere doubles partnership -- or, admittably, even friendship -- required, they turned to again look at each other, whom they had learnt... not to dislike.

"Not necessarily," they admitted slowly.

As they saw Inui's smile, they both decided to at least give it their very best try.