A/N: This takes place during the under-17. The official pairing is Niou/Chitose. Enjoy!

"Yanagi senpaaii~~~"

Yanagi, who was currently seated with Inui on one of their beds, sighed.

Mizuki and Senri sniggered.

"Yanagi senpaaiii!", Kirihara whined, "My roommates are lame! They don't play video games, and they don't talk! And I can't find Buchou or Fukubuchou anywhere! Yanagi senpaiiii… trade with me!"

Mizuki, who was curling a stray bang along his finger, chuckled.

"You know, Kirihara.. I wouldn't mind a match against you… why-"

"Nope. I only play against strong opponents." Kirihara deadpanned.

Mizuki sputtered at the interruption. His face had gone tomato red.

"The nerve... hmph. It's no wonder your senpai don't want to be around you. Someone as idiotic and bratty as yourself… how did you even make it to-"

A punch was aimed at his mouth.

"Oww! How dare you! Oh my precious mouth…"

Senri took his pinky and began to dig earwax out with it. He yawned.

As much as he liked that his room was lively, sometimes, it just wore him out.

Why did Kirihara always have to barge in? Why did Mizuki always have to run his mouth? And why didn't anyone ever stop Kirihara from attacking?

Oh, it didn't really matter in the end. He suspected that Inui and Yanagi enjoyed watching Mizuki get handled.

His snarky remarks had been grating on their nerves, anyway.

He stretched his knees out.

"Chitose, how the heck did you get so tall? Your legs probably stretch all the way out to the door!" Kirihara exclaimed.

Senri, who was currently stretching on a mat he'd rolled out, turned to look at Kirihara, who stood near Yanagi's bed.

"Now, Akaya. Give Chitose his peace of mind while he stretches," Yanagi reprimanded.

"Nah, I'm done anyway. I'm heading out, guys."

Senri rolled up his mat, got up, and went over to his bed. He snatched his sweater up and put it on.

Just as he was about to head to the door, he saw someone walk in.

"Niouu senpaiii!" Kirihara exclaimed.

He bounded over to Niou like a puppy and began to yap at him about his roommates.

Niou, though, appeared as though he was only pretending to listen.

His eyes seemed to have glazed over. But he was nodding.

Senri, who'd found himself standing there listening to Kirihara (mostly out of habit, at this point) felt a stare.

He turned his face, and met the eyes of Niou.

Niou just kept staring, and staring. It was beginning to freak Senri out.

The guy wouldn't talk, laugh, anything. Just stare.

"Well," Senri began, "I'm off. I'll see you guys later."

They nodded at him, and watched his disappearing back.

Senri felt a calming feeling wash over him.

He was currently out back behind some dumpster, smoking one of the rolled blunts he'd managed to smuggle into the compound.

He could fly.

He couldn't do this enough.

At times it was agony. He ached for that tingly sensation at the back of his throat whenever he inhaled. He absolutely drowned himself in the muted buzz he felt wash over his body.

It was like crickets and fireflies suddenly appeared around him. All he felt were buzzes and illuminations.

He closed his eyes in bliss.

"So this is where you slink off to every other night…" came a voice.

Senri opened his eyes in alarm.

'Shit!'

Senri immediately threw the blunt on the floor, and began to stomp on it as thoroughly as he could.

Then, he heard laughter.

He looked up in fear.

Here it came. His life here was over. He'd be in Osaka by tomorrow.

He held his breath.

"For a pothead, you aren't very chill."

He opened his eyes slowly to an amused face, framed by silver hair.

Niou was doubled over in laughter! He was clutching his stomach, and his eyes were crinkled at the edges and squinted.

"So," Senri began, "are you going to report me?"

He'd already made his peace.

Niou scoffed.

"As if," Niou began, "and let this opportunity slip through my fingers?"

Senri raised his left eyebrow in surprise.

"...Oppur...tunity?"

"Yes," Niou began, "I won't tell… but you'll have to let me have a toke!"

Niou doubled over again in laughter.

Senri was dumbfounded.

He returned to his hunched form, and scratched his cheek in confusion.

"... You smoke?"

Niou shook his head.

"No, but I've always wanted to try. This really works out for me, actually… now I have my steady connect!"

He rubbed his hands together in mischief.

"You.. you mean you want me to be your supplier?" Senri asked.

Niou nodded.

His smile widened.

"That and… to keep your end of the deal, you have to find me whenever you wanna come out here. And you have to take me with you."

Senri gasped in alarm.

"That's the deal. Take it or leave it."

Senri sighed. Obviously, he'd choose to accept. It wasn't like he could risk his tennis career for this.

But now he'd have to kiss his alone time goodbye.

And with roommates like his… and Kirihara...

"I guess that's reasonable. So, I'm about to roll up another one. You in, or…?

Niou nodded.

"Heck yeah. By the way, your sweater gives you away."

Senri looked up from the half-rolled blunt.

"What do you mean?"

"Your sweater looks psychadelic. And your whole demeanor... I mean, you've always got this dopey expression, you'd have to be high to-"

Senri's face was as red as a ripe tomato.

"Enough!" he sputtered, "I get it. I give myself away. But for the record, no one knows. Not even my my teammates."

He lit the now rolled blunt and took a puff, before handing it to Niou.

"This is your first time, huh…" he began, "in any case, inhale deeply. You'll probably cough, but at least you'd still get high. Man, you're lucky. I remember when I took my first toke… it took me like two minutes to get completely zoinked, but now it takes me longer…" he mumbled.

Niou nodded, taking the blunt and doing as instructed.

Suddenly, Niou was coughing very hard.

"Arrghg!" he yelled.

"Shh! Keep it down! Do you wanna go down with me?" Senri slapped Niou's back hard. "Next time you'll have to bring some water…"

"It's gross!" Niou whispered.

Senri smirked at that. "You'll get used to it in no time. You have to try to relax. Once it kicks in, you'll know why I'm out here," he said easily.

An hour later found Niou laughing in glee.

"And then," he continued, "Akaya's hair was totally seaweed green! To match his seaweed head!"

Senri gasped.

"You're insane! Aren't you the resident trickster? How'd you get away with it!?"

"That's the best part!" Niou sputtered, "I blackmailed Akaya into blaming Marui! 'Cuz Marui was pissed off with Akaya for stepping on his cake!"

Senri's eyes widened in amusement.

"Are you serious?!" he exclaimed, "How does that even- why the heck was Marui's cake on the floor?"

"It was on the grass! We were all having lunch on the grass, and Akaya stepped on it by accident when he was getting up! You shoulda seen the look on Marui's face, I bet that cake was his last for the day!"

Niou was currently sprawled against his back on the cold floor. All he was wearing were gym shorts, and a striped wife beater.

Senri noticed this.

"Here," Senri said, as he took off his sweater "wear it, or at least put it on the floor to keep your back covered. I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt, anyway."

"You mean you're wearing your 'Kumbaya' shirt?"

Niou giggled.

"Kum… baya?"

"Yeah! That shirt that makes you look like a total hippie! And those sandals you wear, you're like, the king of casual huh?"

Senri blushed angrily.

"You some kinda stalker?"

Niou moved to sit up.

"You wear it all the time. That, and sandals. And your bushy hair. You look like a total hippie, man."

"This again… look, I'm a quarter Kenyan. I got this shirt from a cousin of mine. I wear it because it's comfortable. I'm not trying to look like a freakin hippie… do you want the sweater, or not?"

Senri's face was no longer red, but his eyes were closed and his mouth turned down in a snarl.

Niou chuckled.

"You know, surprisingly, you get irritated easily. I mean, for a pothead. It's pretty fun actually, winding you up. Throw the sweater over."

Senri purposefully threw the sweater to hit Niou's face.

"Okay," Niou mumbled from beneath the sweater now covering his face, "I deserved that."

So," Niou continued, as he set the sweater on the floor. " you're a quarter Kenyan? Ha! Does Kenya know? This is hilarious! What were the odds… you just look like a tanned japanese person!"

Senri huffed in agitation.

He decided to sit down on the sweater that was currently sprawled across the floor.

Right next to Niou.

"Yeah, I see why that's funny. He knows. The whole team laughed. It's old news now."

Niou scoffed.

"Boring."

He turned to Senri then, making sure to catch his eye before speaking.

"Hey, this was fun. You probably hate that I'm blackmailing you… but that's the way I operate."

He smirked, and moved to punch Senri playfully on the shoulder.

But before his fist could reach it's destination, Senri caught it, and held it in his hand.

"Yeah, but it's not so bad. I get a toking buddy. I guess it turned out okay."

Niou grew quiet.

His face was lowered, and appeared expressionless beneath the silver bangs, that now covered nearly seventy-five percent of his face.

But, Senri noted absently, he could still spot the iconic beauty mark, beneath Niou's left side of his bottom lip.

"Are you okay?" Senri asked, growing worried.

Niou, seeming to have snapped out his stupor, looked up at him with a smirk.

"I'm good. It's probably the pot. But hey, we have to get going. It's getting late."

Senri nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. It's lights out soon. Listen, I'll find you whenever I'm ready to come here. I'll keep my end of the deal."

Niou nodded.

"Okay. Good night, I guess."

And with that, Niou was gone.

Senri had chosen to leave a few minutes after.

The atmosphere those last few moments had been… tense.

He shrugged. Maybe it was just his imagination.

The next week had gone by fairly quickly.

Kirihara still barged in to complain, even though he'd already been spotted several times chatting up a storm with Zaizen and Hiyoshi.

Senri was currently in the changing room with his friends, getting ready.

"Hey," Shiraishi commented, as he put his shirt over his head, "now that Echizen's been kicked out, what do you think will happen? Kin-chan won't like this."

Senri nodded, and then shrugged in response.

"Who knows. Echizen's kind of always done his own thing, right? He'll probably work it out… he seems stubborn that way."

Shiraishi nodded in agreement.

"Oh, and I haven't seen you around lately. You always leave right after practice is over. Your roommates' that interesting, are they?"

Senri sighed.

"They're interesting alright… Kirihara and Mizuki are an act all on their own… but it's not like I could go and visit you. I mean…"

Shiraishi chuckled.

"I get it. My roommates are intimidating."

"You said it, not me."

Shiraishi chuckled again.

"Well, you should come eat with us, at least. I get it, you've got this whole 'wandering soul' persona-"

"Not you too!" Senri blurted.

Shiraishi raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Um, well… so, I forgot to ask… how'd it feel playing doubles with Kippei?"

Senri turned to Shiraishi.

"It wasn't as bad as it could've been. We're still balanced. I guess we should've done this a while ago… or maybe we should've continued playing doubles after that incident…:"

"Good to hear. And I suppose Inui and Yanagi make for good shougi partners?"

Senri smiled.

"When they aren't creating inui-juice."

They grimaced.

"At first, I didn't think… I mean, compared to the other 'data-players', I guess I didn't really fit in…"

"Because you're surrounded by ambitious sharks?" Shiraishi remarked.

Senri scoffed.

"I get it. I'm careless and casual. Anyway, I guess with Kirihara there, it doesn't feel like everyone's each other's rival…"

Shiraishi hummed in agreement.

"You know," Shiraishi began, "I'm glad you decided to stay in the club. It would've sucked if you left for good… plus, it seems like coming to this under-17 was the best decision for you… and you seem a lot more cheerful now, compared to two months ago..."

Senri coughed in embarrassment.

"You're picking on me, aren't you? Senri observed.

Shiraishi chuckled.

"Let's go. At this rate, we'll never make it to the first court…"

Senri could be found sitting with his other teammates at the food court.

They were eating lunch, and chatting amiably.

"So then," Kenya says, "We almost got killed by a freaking eagle! Can you believe it? An eagle!"

The others sniggered.

"Hahahaha! Koshimae was soo cool, he would never almost be killed by an eagle!"

And then suddenly, the temperature dropped to below fifty.

Tooyama cried into Shiraishi's lap, while the others squirmed in their seats nervously.

Senri, remembering that today was a free day, decided that now was as good a time as any to roll up.

But right when he entered his room, he spotted Niou chatting with Yanagi and Inui.

As soon as Niou saw Senri, he smirked and waved with three fingers.

Yanagi and Inui seemed surprised by the interaction, and Senri could almost hear their brains calculating.

He sighed.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of Niou.

They'd toked a total of four times, in the past week.

It was almost embarrassing to admit, but he really enjoyed Niou's company.

As Senri rummaged through his suitcase, he let his thoughts wander.

Niou… wasn't usually the type of person he'd hang out with.

Not that he was especially choosy… but Senri tended to hang around people that were sort of… mellow.

No drama, no baggage…

Not that Niou had any of either. But Niou tended to attract and be… attracted to trouble.

But deep down, it was something else that was bothering him.

It was one, stray, surprisingly troubling thought.

'What if he gets bored with me?'

That was it. That was what he was afraid of.

Niou had at first discovered his secret, and that had been the catalyst for his attraction to Senri.

But that was ages ago.

Suddenly, he felt a poke.

"Puri. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Senri turned to face the voice.

It was Niou, and he was standing over him. And he was smiling almost… coyly?

Senri shook his head frantically.

"... So you aren't thinking what I'm thinking?"

Senri sighed.

"No, we're probably thinking the same thing…"

A worried look flashed quickly across Niou's face, before returning to it's smirk.

Senri must have imagined it.

He stood up, put on his 'psychedelic hoodie' (he rolled his eyes), and walked out.

"So, guess what?" Niou began.

Senri was busy rolling the joints. He'd finally gotten around to taking out his flavoured joint paper from his suitcase, and was especially excited about trying them out.

Watermelon, cookie dough, honey, green tea… His first time!

"Did I say something funny?" Niou asked.

Senri finally looked up. He hadn't realized that he was smiling, but he was. Niou looked irritated.

Niou irritated was never a good sign.

"Sorry," he said. He stopped what he was doing, and turned completely to face Niou.

He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly.

Niou blinked once, then twice.

Senri stood there in silence, wondering if there was something wrong.

Then, Niou shook his head.

"There are guys in high school here, that sell. Do you think… we should buy?"

Niou rubbed his hands mischieviously, and smiled. Senri could gamble that it was probably done subconsciously.

Senri took a moment to think about this.

Their chances of detection would definitely increase. Even between the two of them, who were pretty perceptive and observant, it was still a risk…

But actually, that wasn't what was really bothering him.

How would Niou react… if he were to refuse?

He felt his stomach grumble in agitation.

Could he… did he want to lose Niou's friendship this way? Did he want to risk Niou leaving him to do something… to find somebody more interesting, more rebellious?

Wasn't the time Niou spent with Senri just to pass the time?

Suddenly, he felt a hand waving very closely in his face.

"Hello… earth to Senri… hey, where'd you go?"

Senri felt blood rush to his face.

He'd just… called him by his first name!

But more than anything, Senri had to wonder why, and when he'd begun react to Niou this way.

He moved Niou's hand out his face, and felt the static pass between himself and Niou.

He shivered.

Niou, it seemed, had grown quiet.

"I guess we could buy. We're about to run out, anyway…"

Niou smiled.

"To be honest, I was hoping you'd say that. I almost expected you to say no… but you like smoking pot, right? So I guess it makes sense for you to agree."

Senri looked down.

"You know," Niou began, "I gotta say, when I first blackmailed you… I guess I thought you'd hate me, or hold a grudge, or something. But you're actually a pretty cool guy… you aren't judgemental… too bad you don't go to Rikkai dai."

Senri had returned to rolling the joints. He hoped that Niou hadn't picked up on his shaking. He was shaking all over, he kept having to restart!

"...Well. Wasn't expecting that… you're a pretty cool guy yourself." Senri responded.

It had taken him every ounce of control to respond without looking like a nervous schoolgirl!

And he was still facing the joints he'd been trying, and failing to roll.

Suddenly, he felt a hand reach for the un-rolled joint in his hands, and snatch it away.

The contact had been miniscule, momentary. But their fingers had brushed.

Senri had to fight to suppress another shiver.

"Let me do it. I guess I better learn, huh? Not like we'll be around each other forever…"

Senri's breath hitched.

No! It was too soon! It was too soon for Senri to feel anything for anybody!

An image of Osamu-Kantoku flashed across his mind.

He felt his heart skip a beat.

It was too soon.

"We'll go now. After I'm done rolling these…" Niou said, "And then we'll come back to roll up again, with the new stuff… it's annoying, having to roll up when we can prepare beforehand, right?"

Senri nodded mutely.

Niou looked up then, with a smirk.

"What? Cat got your tongue? … Or did what I just tell you really embarrass you… I love it when people get embarrassed… feel uncomfortable… fidgety… to watch people squirm..."

Niou's voice grew lower and lower as he spoke.

Senri began to shift uncomfortably. His hands came together, and he began to twist and wring them. He kept his gaze low.

When he once again got the courage to look up, it was to a Niou whose face was only centimeters away from his own.

They were breathing in the same air.

Senri felt himself get lost in those alluring, metallic blue eyes...

They were both silent.

Just as Senri's eyes were about to drift to a close…

"Nyaaaa! Meowwrrrr.."

A cat jumped out of the dumpster, and ran off in a random direction.

Senri and Niou both jumped a mile in the opposite direction.

"So, should we go?" Senri asked a little too quickly.

Niou nodded.

Right as Senri's back was turned to Niou, Niou smiled.

"So you're the runts who wanna buy this, huh? You sure you know how to smoke this?"

One of the high schoolers sniggered.

Niou smirked.

"What, our money not good enough for you? We can always look for others…"

The second highschooler looked at the first in alarm.

Niou's smirk grew.

"You little… here. 10,000 yen, take it or leave it. I don't haggle. It's your call."

Senri's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

T-t-t...ten thousand?

They were definitely over charging!

Senri was too surprised to notice Niou's quick glance his way.

"How about… we play you in a doubles match. If we win, we get the batch for free. If we lose, we get nothing."

Senri coughed in alarm.

"You're insane! It's against the rules to play if it isn't official. Why should we risk our chances, when we've got nothing to lose by not playing?"

Niou's smirk grew even wider, if that were possible.

"My friend, who's listening in on our conversation, is recording everything. So either you sell it to us for a lower price, we play this match, or we all go to prison!"

He laughed out loud.

Senri could only marvel at how in control Niou was of all this. He could understand now, why most kept their distance from the guy.

If his crazed laughter was anything to go by…

The second highschooler gasped in alarm.

"Do what he says, Juusuke! We already have three strikes man, we're already eighteen okay! We can't-"

The first high schooler, Juusuke, put his hand up. The second highschooler closed his mouth.

"Okay. We'll sell you two quarters for 3000. But… you better hope we don't find out who your friend is… we'll be keeping our eyes peeled… bunch of punks, thinking you could dupe me like this… watch your backs."

Niou chuckled.

Senri almost clamped a hand over Niou's mouth.

Almost.

So they forked over 3000, split between the two of them, and got out of there as quickly as they could.

They ran all the way to the bleachers.

They couldn't risk returning to the dumper.

They took a few moments to catch their breath.

Senri, who was sitting on the floor, with his back against a rail was still panting. Mostly in disbelief.

Niou sat right next him, and his back was also leaning against a rail.

But Niou wasn't panting.

He was smiling. He looked crazed, with his eyes wide open, his hair out of it's usual rat tail and splayed wildly around his face.

He looked…

Senri gulped.

"I can't believe they bought that! What a bunch of wimps!"

He cackled.

Senri felt sweat form around his forehead.

Suddenly, they heard the loudspeaker announce that it was time for dinner.

Time sure did fly.

"Yanagi senpaiii~!" Kirihara whined, "Hiyoshi won't give back my limited edition pokemon card!"

Yanagi sighed.

"Akaya… why don't you attack him or something?"

Everyone's jaw fell, upon hearing that.

And by everyone…

Senri, Inui, Mizuki, Yuuta, Kenya, Shishido, Ootari, Marui, Jirou, Momoshiro and Sengoku.

Why were there so many people packed into a room meant for only four people, you ask?

Mizuki had brought a TV to keep in their room. From where? Nobody knew.

"B-b-but he's my friend!" Kirihara blubbered.

Yanagi took his face into his hands and sighed.

Inui chuckled.

"It's almost like you're a father, Renji. Kirihara, tell him I'll create a jug of Inui juice especially for him, if he doesn't return your card to you within the next hour."

Everyone's face paled.

"Oh, this is gold." Shishido said, from where he was sitting, "I think I'll come with you, Kirihara. I can't wait to see the look on his face when you tell him."

Kirihara turned to look at Inui, with a childish smile on his face.

"You're cool, Inui! Now I know why Yanagi-senpai hangs out with you!"

Kirihara dashed out, and Shishido quickly stood up to catch up to him.

"Jeez," Marui muttered, "I didn't think this room would be this lively… what with a bunch of geeks camped out here… guess I was wrong…"

Senri couldn't help but notice that Ootari was looking anxious.

"Kirihara's really just a child deep down, huh…" Momoshiro commented, "he's only scary when he's on the court…"

"Yeah," Sengoku agreed. Suddenly, an image of a beautiful woman clad in a two piece bikini appeared on the screen. His attention was duly diverted.

Suddenly, Kenya poked Senri in the arm.

"Hey speaking of which, is this why you never hang out in our room anymore? The rest of our team chills there! These guys aren't that fun…" Kenya grumbled.

Before Senri could respond, Marui beat him to the punch.

"Jeez Kenya, you know I've been noticing this for a while now, but you can be kinda petty, huh?"

He popped his gum, before creating a new bubble.

Kenya gasped.

Right before Kenya could rebuke, Senri dragged him out the door.

"Where… where are we headed, Chitose?"

Senri let go of Kenya's arm.

"Niou's got a dartboard in his room. You like to play darts, right?"

Suddenly, they felt another person walking closely behind them.

When they turned, they saw that it was Ootari.

"Ah… I was um, wondering… could I come with you guys? I was kind of getting bored… and I like to play darts too…"

Ootari immediately looked down at his hands, and played with them.

Senri absently noted that it sort of made him look like a girl.

"Sure," Senri smiled. "That's fine, right Kenya?"

Kenya, blushing almost immediately from having been put on the spot so suddenly, nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go, guys."

It was two days later, when they were told by the actual head coach, whose name was Mifune, who would be participating in the U-17 World cup.

Senri had felt his mood grow dark.

He wasn't- he hadn't been picked.

It almost came as a shock to him, but…

As much as he hated to think this, there were other more hard-working and talented people than him.

He was the careless, casual guy of the bunch.

Of course the ones who worked the hardest would get picked… right?

But he could've sworn he'd been working just as hard the rest… was he not special enough? Was it his personality? Was he too mellow?

They were told that whoever wasn't going to be participating, would be leaving the next day.

He covered his face in his pillow.

The atmosphere in his room was very tense. None of his other roommates had made the cut either.

Suddenly, Kirihara barged in through their door with Niou and Marui in tow.

"Yanagi-sempaii~~! I made it! And so did Buchou, Fukubuchou, Niou, Marui and Shiraishi!"

Senri raised an eyebrow at the mention of his teammate's name.

But then he remembered that Kirihara was friends with him.

"Akaya…" Yanagi said slowly, in what felt like a very dangerous voice, "... Now isn't the time."

Kirihara whined.

"But why? Hiyoshi and Zaizen aren't speaking to me either!"

"Kirihara…" Inui began, as he came up behind him, "Would you like to try my new and improved, cola drink?"

"Okay! I'm leaving! Bye, Yanagi-sempai!"

Kirihara darted out.

Everyone released heavy sighs.

"Well," Marui began, "looks you guys still need more time to wallow. I'm not digging this weird atmosphere, let's get out of here Niou."

Niou, instead, chose to walk up to Senri.

"Hey, you thinking what I'm thinking? Pupina."

Then, he left to follow Marui.

Inui, Yanagi and Mizuki all shot him a suspicious look.

"What?" Senri asked.

Inui adjusted his glasses, Yanagi eyed him with his eyeballs completely visible for a moment longer, and Mizuki twirled a lock of hair with his finger.

'Niou's timing was right… these three are starting to creep me out...'

"So, you feeling bitter like Yanagi-sempai?" Niou asked.

Senri shrugged.

"I guess. I don't know. It is what it is."

He took a long, lungful inhale, before passing the joint to Niou and exhaling in rings.

Senri watched, as Niou followed the rings until they disappeared.

"You gotta teach me how to do that."

Senri chuckled.

"Maybe you can use your mirror technique to turn into me. Then you can do it."

Niou scoffed.

"That a polite way of saying no? Alright, I get it. You're bitter. Really, I get it."

Senri turned to face Niou.

"Sounds like the same thing happened to you."

Niou nodded.

"Yeah. We were invited to a camp before, like this one but a little smaller. It was about a month after we lost to Seigaku in the Kantou finals. Sanada, Atobe, Fuji, Ryoma and Akaya were picked, of course. Tezuka wasn't around, like now. It sucked. I worked hard for a spot, but I guess I was overlooked."

Senri's eyes widened in surprise.

'Ah… thanks," he said. "I guess… I feel a bit better hearing that. I probably would've stayed depressed. It's funny. I once quit the tennis team, too."

Niou chuckled.

"Really? Why'd you do that? And you even got your spot back too.. Shitenhouji is such a laid back place… hey, anyone else smoke on your team?"

Senri shook his head.

"No, not that I know of. I quit because of some bad memories. It was pretty stupid, actually. Yeah, I only really came back to play against Tezuka. Didn't want that sort of opportunity to pass me by…"

"You sound pampered."

Senri gasped in mock alarm, before nodding in agreement.

"You're right. I was spoiled. I let the whole 'prediction' technique get to my head. I guess I thought it could guarantee me a spot. Especially since most of the others on my team in court three were selected…"

Niou put a hand on Senri's shoulder.

The movement had been sudden.

"But it didn't turn out that way. Just like me being from Rikkai dai didn't automatically guarantee me a spot in the junior invitational. Now quit your bitchin' and puff."

He pushed the joint between Senri's lips, and angled the lighter in front of the joint.

"You ready?" he asked.

Senri's face was ripe with embarrassment

"Mmmfff!"

"Guess that's a yes."

So Niou lighted, and Senri inhaled, almost on instinct.

His exhale covered Niou's face to the point of distortion, and Senri couldn't help but notice how… illusion-like Niou appeared.

Niou didn't budge, and neither did Senri.

But then, Niou removed the joint from Senri's lips, and moved it directly to his own.

He gave the lighter to Senri, and gestured for him to light the joint.

Senri, albeit shakily, did just that.

They continued to smoke two more joints like that.

But then, just as Niou removed his his hand from Senri's shoulder, he lost his balance.

And so now, Niou was nestled between Senri's arms.

Niou came up to Senri's chin, so it was a little awkward.

And then it got more awkward, when Niou, rather than quickly getting up and moving away, decided to stay there. In his arms.

And Senri had made no movements. In fact, he felt himself get lost in the feel of Niou's body against his own.

He moved his face down, in order to get a whiff of Niou's blue-grey hair.

It smelled like...apples.

Somehow, it suited him.

He looked even further down, to the outline of Niou's sharply defined nose. His thin lips, long neck, grey wife-beater, thin blue shorts, black high tops…

And pale, veiny and hairy arms and legs to go with them.

He found himself moving both arms to cover Niou's body. As if to protect it from the cold breeze.

He sighed.

He'd be leaving tomorrow. Back to Osaka to spend the rest of his summer. He'd be waking up at half past three in the afternoon everyday, dodging invites from Kenya to hit the arcade, dodging challenges from Zaizen, flirtations from Konjiki and Hitouji… and especially… avoiding Osamu-kantoku, who hung out in the same spots Senri did.

With that thought, he let go of Niou.

Niou turned around, to look at him in surprise.

"I… have to get going. But if you have an email… can you give it to me?"

Niou smirked.

"I'll do you one better. I've got a cellphone."

He took Senri's hand and jotted the number down on his palm.

Senri felt a frantic buzz makes it's way from his eyes, all the way to his stomach.

He laughed.

Niou looked at him in surprise.

"Sorry… It's the pot. I guess this is the last time we chill like this…"

Niou smirked.

"...You gettin' sentimental on me? Didn't figure you for… the emotional type."

Senri blushed.

"It's lights out soon. Bye."

He scampered off into the darkness.

Senri seriously needed to take things a step at a time. His hormones were raging.

"Don't worry," Shiraishi said, as he patted Senri's back playfully. "We'll put Shitenhouji on the map."

Senri scoffed.

"Hey, are you… okay?"

Shiraishi appeared to be genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," Senri said, "I'm good. Thanks for asking."

Shiraishi nodded.

Senri moved to walk with the rest of his teammates towards the bus.

He wouldn't look back. He wouldn't be strong enough to tear his eyes away, if he looked back.

TBC

A/N: R/R! First chapter. Hope you enjoyed this!