Woo. Finally. My first PoT fanfic (that's been finished). I have quite a few in the works at the moment (including a chaptered Golden Pair, a oneshot GP + Momo and a strange take on the Momo/Kaidoh friendship). For now, though, have this crappy little Silver Pair. Random idea that came to mind.

Name: Lamer than Emotions
Characters / Pairing: Shishido, Otori, Oshitari / onesided!Shishitori, hinted!Golden Pair
Word Count:+/- 1,090
Warnings: None
Summary: It was then he realized there was something lamer than emotions and even Atobe.

Emotions were lame.

Then again, they were also necessary to life, and that was what made them even lamer.

Shishido didn't know how long he had been cursing emotions and feelings and just the general act of living and having to rely on others in order to do so. He had long lost track of time in the comfortable silence that hung between himself and his doubles partner slash best friend as he was using said friend's lap as a pillow.

They were close. Oh, boy, were they close. Not just physically, mind you. They knew almost everything there was to know about each other. It was the same cheesy, cliché thing that tended to pop up with all doubles partners aiming to be the best – Oishi Syuichirou and Kikumaru Eiji, the Golden Pair of Seigaku, were the ideal example of a perfect doubles pair – and that closeness was often rumoured to merge into something more – again, Oishi and Kikumaru were the prime example.

It had been at a practice match between Hyotei and Seigaku – though all the spectators and cheering crowds had made it feel like the Nationals all over again – and the Golden Pair had just defeated Oshitari and Mukahi by a landslide and celebrated by – unintentionally – announcing their relationship to the world through a passionate kiss while standing on the court.

After the initial shock of what had actually happened, Shishido had started thinking – which was almost as lame as emotions in itself, but just as lame in this case considering he had been thinking about emotions. He had thought and thought and stared at his silver-haired partner then thought some more until, after practice near the end of his final year at Hyotei's Junior High, Oshitari had dragged the bad-tempered brunette to the side after practice one day and slapped him across the face – with words, mind you.

You're doing that thinking thing again. You're worrying Otori. Just tell him how you feel. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the response.

Trust Oshitari to know exactly what he was thinking about. Damn genius was almost lamer than feelings. But that was impossible, because the only thing lamer than feelings was Atobe and his goddamn stuck-up prissy king attitude. Shishido hoped the Monkey King – that Seigaku brat had taught him one thing, at least – wasn't attending Hyotei High as well.

He didn't like his chances.

After his encounter with Oshitari, the dash specialist had thought some more. It wasn't as much as previous – due to time restrictions – but it was certainly more than he normally would do. It had been on the train ride after school to the Otori household, after that very same practice, sitting next to the very person he was thinking about in silence. He had promised to help the boy study for his finals.

He had promised himself to tell his best friend how he felt.

Which, despite prolonged grumbling and mutters about how lame the whole ordeal was, he had.

He had come out to his doubles partner of the past school year that not only was he gay, but he was gay and had feelings for that very partner. Following Oshitari's implied accusation that Choutarou would, indeed, return his feelings, Shishido got his hopes up – being hopeful was lame, especially as a talented tennis player who was never hopeful and had to be certain about his actions and their consequences, especially on the tennis court – only to have them shot down with more pain than his friend's Scud Serve caused as he watched the junior's face.

He had smiled.

Choutarou had most definitely smiled.

But, it was…

Off.

Polite.

Forced.

The smile that usually graced those lips – the one that would always be there for Shishido to light up his day – was not there. It had been replaced with the smile Choutarou would use simply because it was polite and he was polite and he would never tell someone they were in the wrong. It was the first time the dash specialist had had it aimed at him.

It hurt.

It was a rejection.

It was his partner's way of saying, "That's nice, but I don't like you like that. We're just friends, Shishido-san. I'm sorry." It was a smile that almost made Shishido want to laugh and act as though he had just been joking around to see his friend's reaction, but he couldn't bring himself to lie like that.

Not to Choutarou.

Especially not when a pair of arms – well-toned from the brutal training that when into perfecting that single serve – had wrapped around him almost protectively and a hand larger than his own had rubbed his back slowly before he had been pulled onto the bed to lie beside the kind teenager who just continued to hold him.

In spite of everything, they kissed once, maybe twice – Shishido couldn't remember, his mind had blanked out at that point because he was thinking again – just another thing to add to Choutarou's way of apologizing to his senpai that he couldn't return the feelings, and then they just lay there, shifting occasionally to get more comfortable or prevent their bodies from becoming too stiff.

Which brought them to their current position, with Choutarou sitting up, leaning against the wall his bed was pressed up against while Shishido lay on the bed with his head in his friend's lap and his eyes closed in content with the hand slowly running through his short, still-messily cut hair, with no words being exchanged between them.

Emotions were lame, but Shishido Ryou would find out the next day as he walked to morning practice with Choutarou after staying the night that an embarrassed Oshitari was even lamer.

Not only was the genius wrong in thinking Choutarou experienced more than hero-worship for the brunette, but also in trying to start up a conversation the next morning implying that things had fallen in Shishido's favour.

Well in Shishido's favour.

Oh,yes. Tomorrow, heads would be rolling. But, for now, Shishido was just going to lie there and take advantage of the fact that his kouhai was the kindest person in the world and even if he couldn't return the feelings, he had accepted them with an understanding that was so Choutarou that the brunette could feel himself loving the kid even more.

It was then he realized there was something lamer than emotions and even Atobe. By confessing his heartfelt feelings for his partner, Shishido had just destroyed his image as a cool, untouchable senpai.

Crap.