30 Kisses - Not So Bad

Pairing: Hiyoshi/Kirihara
Theme: #5 - "ano sa" ('hey, you know...')
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Konomi Takeshi.
Progress: 1/30 - I have the first four done already, will be posted soon.
Notes: 30 kisses challenge on LJ. Figure I need to keep myself writing something for when I get lazy with multi-chaptered fics. If I missed any coding, let me know. I wrote it for LJ, and we all know FFnet doesn't really take too well with html.

It wasn't uncommon for the baby of Rikkai Dai to get lost in Tokyo. One wrong bus on the way to school, or a ten minute nap because he'd stayed up all night trying to beat Street Fighter for the seemingly millionth time... and the next thing he knew, he'd be in Tokyo with no money left to get back to Kanagawa. His mother was going to kill him if he called fagain to say that he was lost.

But his mother was less scary than Sanada-fukubuchou. And missing early morning tennis practice called for fear of death. He'd have to call his mother for a ride back--

Hey, were they playing tennis?

His curiosity piqued and he made his way from the bus stop and towards the tennis courts of a familiar school, but he wasn't quite sure what school it was. He couldn't remember-- he was bad with names.

Sneaking in through the gate, he slowly made his way through the court against the fence, hoping no one would see him. The uniforms were familiar, but he couldn't figure out for the life of him who they were, that is, until he saw a mushroom head of brown hair. He was in Hyoutei? If they spotted him, they'd eat him alive!

Maybe if he was quiet, he could sneak away without being seen, and call his mom...

"Hey! Look, Yuushi! An outsider!"

...Shit.

Kirihara's shoulders tensed and he stopped. He had two choices: he could make a run for it and not look back, hoping that they didn't see his face... or he could stay and explain.

The former choice seemed a lot more appealing to him.

"Where are you going, Kirihara?"

The Rikkai regular froze, forgetting all thoughts of running away as Hiyoshi Wakashi stood in front of him. He had to look up a little bit to see the brown eyes-- why was Hiyoshi taller than him? Kirihara was the older one here!-- and cringed at the cold look in them. Mukahi and Oshitari stood on either side of the ebony haired boy.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Oshitari asked, raising an eyebrow. Mukahi smirked and opened his mouth to speak-- to fling an insult Kirihara's way-- but Oshitari's hand in the air silenced him. "Has Rikkai sent you, the youngest on the team, to scope out any moves we might have? You're getting just as bad as St. Rudolph."

"You tell him, Yuushi!"

Kirihara clenched his fists and bit his lip. This was the last place he wanted to be, and these three were the last people he wanted to explain himself to: it was embarassing!

He looked down. "I'm-- I got lost," he said lamely, eyes downcast. The three Hyoutei regulars blinked. Kirihara Akaya, Rikkai's junior ace, got lost in Tokyo? This was something they'd never let the second year-- or Rikkai for that matter-- live down.

Mukahi was the first to crack. He fell to the ground, arms clutching his stomach, and rolled around, laughing. "You-- pfft-- you got lost-- ffffff-- on the way-- hahaha-- to school! You're such an idiot!" He only stopped when his doubles partner cleared his throat, announcing that he was no better at one point. "...Hmph! You're no fun, Yuushi," he pouted, arms crossed.

"Enough of that. Kirihara," the tensai focused his attention away from the loud redhead and back to the non Hyoutei player. "Why didn't you just get back on the bus and leave, then?"

"I--"

It was embarassing to say! He didn't want to explain his money situation to a rich team. It'd be degrading!

He bit his lip again and said, "I should just go... Fukubuchou will beat me if I don't get to practice soon." The last bit was added quietly, in hopes of none of the other three to have heard, but from the look on Hiyoshi's face, he'd heard quite clearly. The other two remained unfazed, shrugged, and went to walk off back to practice-- well, Mukahi did.

Oshitari gave one last look to Kirihara and nodded. "Come on, Hiyoshi," he said and disappeared with Mukahi into the crowd of two-hundred regulars.

"Ehehe... you heard your senpai," Kirihara said and rubbed the bottom of his nose nervously. Without looking at the slightly taller second year, he made a move to walk past him and back towards the gate. He had to call his mom so he could get a ride back to school-- but a hand on his forearm stopped him. "Hiyoshi?"

Brown eyes locked with his own and Hiyoshi scowled. "Well?"

Kirihara blinked. "Well what?"

"Oshitari-senpai asked you a question. I didn't hear an answer. Mind telling me?"

The ebony haired boy's bottom lip was sucked into his mouth as he kneaded at it with his teeth. "I-- I don't have enough money for another bus ride." A small flush creeped onto his features as he admitted to his defeat and he looked down to hide it. "I gotta go call my mom. I'll see you next time your buchou asks Rikkai for a match. Bye, Hiyo--"

"Here," he cut Kirihara off and handed him enough money for the bus fare. He leaned down. "Take it and get back to school. We can't have your fukubuchou beating you," he whispered and pressed a small kiss to the slightly shorter boy's cheek.

Kirihara's green eyes widened at the contact and stared at the money in his palm. Did Hiyoshi really...? He didn't know what he was more shocked about: the kiss or the money.

He opened his mouth to say something-- thank you, anything-- but Hiyoshi was already halfway through the courts. His eyes narrowed and he yelled, "Hey, you know... for a rich, arrogant brat, Piyo-chan, you're not so bad after all!" He smirked, satisfied, and made his way off Hyoutei's tennis courts.