Disclaimer: I don't own PoT. If wishes were horses, I'd have had one long ago. Yay for ponies!

A/N: Ok, so this is a rather unusual one (or so I think). Sprouted from a SexEd class (oh joy), so blame it on my stupid plot bunny. That thing comes out with the weirdest ideas…

Don't Let Me Down

"Game! 7-5 to Hyotei!"

Oishi couldn't believe it. They'd lost.

Eiji was going to be furious. And with good reason. This one had been Oishi's fault for sure.

The redhead bounced up to him. "Aww, it's ok, Oishi! We'll just do better on the next one!" Yes, they would. They would make sure of that.

The rest of the regulars milled around them, reassuring them or comforting them. Oishi waved them off, saying that it was nothing. It really was nothing. The loss didn't bother him that much. He trusted that his teammates would still win in the end.

What scared him was Eiji's reaction to the loss. Oishi hated letting Eiji down.

"Good luck! You can do it, Kimura!" The preparations for the next match started, and Seigaku's large tennis team cheered on their singles 3 player.

As soon as was possible, Eiji turned to Oishi. "Come with me," the redhead ordered.

Bowing his head dejectedly, Oishi followed Eiji.

They arrived in a deserted corner far from the playing courts. Eiji finally let go of Oishi's hand- he'd been clamping onto it with a bruising grip- and spun around to face his partner and lover.

All pretenses of bounciness and happiness had fallen away. Eiji's eyes were narrowed and filled with anger, a far cry from the wide-open, innocent looking eyes the redhead usually sported.

The sickening sound of the slap rang through the air. Oishi's head snapped to the side with the force of the blow, despite being prepared for it. He was always punished when he did something bad. He knew he deserved it too.

"You idiot! How could you have screwed up such a beautiful formation? It was absolutely perfect against those two shitheads, but you managed to fuck it up!"

Another person might have been shocked to hear swear words from Eiji's mouth, but Oishi was long since used to it. Eiji often swore at him when he screwed up. This time had been absolutely terrible. He really had screwed up a beautiful doubles formation, and had lost them the game.

"And that last shot! What the fuck were you doing? Haven't I taught you better than that? You know that when you screw up, it pulls me down too!"

Oishi nodded miserably. He opened his mouth to apologize, but thought better of it. Eiji always felt better after a good rant, and apologizing would take that chance away from him.

Every shot he had made was analyzed, revealing that this shot had been too strong, that one too weak, this one had too much spin, that one too little. All his changes in position were examined as well, and he was told that he often overcorrected, going too far when he switched sides or went up to the front.

Oishi thanked heaven that his boyfriend was so loving and caring. Another person would have just yelled at him. Eiji took the time to explain what he was doing wrong.

At last, Eiji finished his talk. Continuing to glare at Oishi, Eiji hissed, "Is this going to happen again?" Silently, Oishi shook his head. He vowed to himself that he wouldn't let Eiji down again.

"When I ask you a question, you will answer me with 'Yes' or 'No', understood?"

"Yes."

"So is this going to happen again?"

"No."

"Will you correct your mistakes?"

"Yes."

"Good. But you will still have to be punished for this time."

Oishi's breath caught. He knew he deserved it, but some shameful part of him had hoped that Eiji would let him off this time. He should have known Eiji wouldn't let him off. Eiji always maintained that punishments helped to enforce lessons.

Eiji's hands latched onto Oishi's chin and forcefully brought his chin up, making him stare into Eiji's unforgiving eyes. "You will go to the hotel at exactly 10:00," he dictated. "You will be punished severely for losing this match. Understood?"

"…"

"I said, understood?"

"… yes."

***

At 10:00 precisely, Oishi was in the hotel. The front receptionist smiled at him and waved him through. He and Eiji had been there often enough that they recognized them now, and knew when they had reservations.

Of course, none of them knew exactly what Eiji and Oishi did when they had reservations. Eiji was always very careful with the evidence.

Biting his lip, Oishi went to the room that they always had- room 574. He opened the door and found an irate Eiji sitting on the bed.

"You're late by 1 minute and 32 seconds. I'll have to punish you for that as well."

Oishi nodded again, unwilling to argue. He would be punished even more if he did that.

"You know the procedure. Strip."

Wincing at the cold order, Oishi complied. He hadn't bothered to change out of his Seigaku tennis uniform. It soon lay on the ground, as did his boxers a few moments later.

"Get on the bed."

Oishi glanced at the hotel bed, seeing that the protective layer of plastic had already been laid down. It had never been needed, but it was always better to be safe. Another scan revealed the small strips of cloth at the four posts of the bed. That was part of the reason Eiji liked this hotel- they had nice four-poster beds, meaning they were perfect for punishing Oishi. They also had soundproof walls- another plus for when Oishi started screaming.

Carefully, cautiously, Oishi lay down on the bed, sprawled on his stomach. They'd discovered on their first trip here, to Eiji's delight, that the bed was the exact right size for Oishi when he was spread-eagled, his fingertips and toes just touching the four posts.

Swiftly, with the ease of much practice, Eiji tied Oishi in place. Oishi wouldn't be able to move an inch, even when the punishment started.

Oishi buried his face in the pillow lying conveniently under his head. Vaguely, he wondered if he could suffocate himself by just keeping his head down. At least then he wouldn't ever let Eiji down again.

Without warning, Oishi heard a crack. Fire burst along his back, and he bit into his pillow hard to keep from crying out. One would have thought he'd be used to it by now, but each whipping hurt just as much as the last. As Eiji brought the whip down again, a single tear slipped out of Oishi's eye and soaked into the pillow. It was soon joined by many more as Eiji continued to whip him.

Eiji was skilled with a whip. He would lash the same spot several times, hitting it accurately before moving on. Soon, Oishi's back was burning, and he could feel blood dripping off his body. As the umpteenth stroke came down, Oishi let out a terrible cry.

When he cried out, Eiji paused. Oishi felt a slight dip in the bed, and he knew without looking that Eiji was on the bed now. He still jumped when Eiji's voice hissed in his ear. "Had enough yet?" purred the soft voice.

Oishi didn't think he could speak, but he managed to whisper, "I'm sorry. I really am. It was all my fault…"

The voice in his ear laughed, then suddenly withdrew. Oishi felt the cool rush of air as Eiji moved off the bed, and winced in pain. Out of the corner of his eye, Oishi could just see Eiji outlined against the window. "Fine. We'll stop here today. But I expect you to improve by the next time. I don't want to lose another match, all right?"

"Yes."

Oishi lost track of Eiji when he moved out of his peripheral vision. He didn't try to follow Eiji with his eyes. That would require twisting his body, and that would make his back scream with pain.

Oishi sighed as Eiji got on the bed again. He winced when Eiji's hands first touched his back, but Oishi slowly relaxed into Eiji's touch. Eiji gently rubbed ointment over Oishi's back, taking extra care with the cut that had opened up. He had never whipped Oishi hard enough to draw blood before, but this time he'd gone overboard.

As he carefully treated Oishi's wounds, Eiji murmured soft words of apology. "I'm sorry, I don't like to hurt you like this, it hurts me to see you in such pain, but you know that it helps you learn. If you would just learn the lessons, I wouldn't need to hurt you, and neither of us would suffer like this."

Oishi's eyes closed again. He hated knowing that he was hurting Eiji too. Bitterly, he thought that he'd been letting Eiji down since middle school. Nothing had changed, it seemed.

"Just don't let me down next time, ok? I would hate to have to do this again."

With that, Eiji untied Oishi from the bed. As soon as Oishi put on his clothes, Eiji strode out of the room. Being a considerate boyfriend, Eiji always waited a few days after a punishment to have sex with Oishi again. He knew that it wouldn't be good to stress Oishi's muscles immediately after a harsh punishment.

When the door closed, Oishi fell to his knees, tears leaking from his eyes again. He hated being so weak. He didn't deserve such a great boyfriend. Often, he'd wondered if he should just leave Eiji alone and let him get a better lover. But he knew that Eiji was far too loyal for his own good. Eiji would never leave him, nor let him leave. If only he wasn't so terrible at everything. If only he didn't keep messing up. If only he could live up to Eiji's expectations… But he couldn't. He was worthless. He only brought people pain. He couldn't continue bringing grief to Eiji. He just couldn't.

There was only one solution.

Oishi walked out onto the balcony. From the fifth floor, it was a long way down. If he squinted, he could just make out the streets below. It was a quiet neighbourhood, not many people around. Nobody would be scared when he fell, then.

As he flung himself into the air, he felt a lovely sensation of flying. Giddily, he wondered if Eiji felt like this when he did those acrobatic tricks.

His last thought was that he would never let Eiji down again.

A/N: I need help naming stories, I have the worst names ever…

In case you're wondering where this idea came from, it was from my SexEd class in school (yes, I'm still in high school). We were learning about relationships, and the teacher gave us this scenario where the girl was getting abused by her boyfriend. She still thought her boyfriend was the best person alive. Every time he hit her, he would immediately apologize and say that he wouldn't have done it if she hadn't made him, so she blamed herself for each time it happened.

Of course, my plot bunny started working. Stupid thing. Hate me if you wish, flame me if you want, I just wanted to write this and get it out of my system. I don't like Evil Eiji either! I want my cute little Eiji back! For that matter, I also hate suicidal Oishi. I want my sweet happy Golden Pair again! *cries*

Well, I don't think I'll write any more like this. I'm going back to my nice, innocent, hyperactive Eiji and calm, motherly, sweet Oishi. Tell me what you thought of this one though. Loved it, hated it, didn't even read most of it, whatever, tell me!