A/N: okay so I have writer's block (oh dear god not again) and I've just been wanting to get this idea off my mind for a while now. It's pretty much to vent out my frustration that I can't think of a set up for the Golden pair filler chapter in On the Other Side. Anyone got any ideas? Also, if not for my Dominance pair obssession, this'd definately be my fav pair. Also, I'm not too good at writing a normal Atobe, so if his speech doesn't seem right, then sucks for anyone that disapproves.
Title: Why assumptions are wrong
Summary: The rest of the team questioned the relationship between their two other kohai. No two people could be that close, whether they've known each other since childhood or not.
Characters: Hiyoshi Wakashi, Ohtori Choutarou, Atobe Keigo, Shishido Ryou, Akutagawa Jirou, Mukahi Gakuto, Oshitari Yuushi, Kabaji Munehiro, Taki Haginosuke
xXxXxXx
There were things the team noticed that made them question the relationship between Hiyoshi and Choutarou. Several moments when, whether they were meant to see them or not, the two were together seemed a bit odd for people who were 'just friends'.
xXxXxXx
The first one was during practice a few weeks back. One of the third-year non-regulars had gotten angry at Hiyoshi after he beat him in a match, and stated that there weren't many talented sempai.
"Second years should learn their place!" The older boy yelled at him, swinging his racket low and cutting Hiyoshi's knee, causing him to fall back with a thud. No sooner had he done that did he get a tennis ball to the face and a very uncharacteristically pissed Choutarou stomped over, 'apologizing' and saying that 'his hand slipped and the ball went the wrong way'. He then proceeded to help Hiyoshi stand up, walking him to the bench. After retrieving the first-aid kit, he bandaged up the bleeding knee.
Atobe and the others watched carefully. They were, to say the least, suprised when Choutarou had leaned over and placed a small kiss on the bandeged knee, Hiyoshi flicking him in the forehead after he said something. It made them wonder just how close the two really were.
xXxXxXx
The second time was leess of a suprise to them.
They were all walking to lunch, to the usual area where they sat, when they saw the two. Choutarou had his arms wrapped tightly around Hiyoshi, who was gripping the front of his school jacket. They heard muffled sobs coming from the shorter boy. They watched from far away as Choutarou attempted to soothe his wailing friend.
It wasn't until much later, during practice, that they had learned that Hiyoshi's older brother had been in an accident, currently hospitalized for the next few weeks. Being extremely close to his brother, it was no wonder he reacted the way he did after receiving the call. Nor was it much of a suprise the way Choutarou had tried to calm him down.
xXxXxXx(hey look finally some dialog. This is written present-tense, I think, so read it as such)
The third time was during a sleep over at Gakuto's house. They were currently playing truth or dare, when the bottle pointed to Hiyoshi.
"Truth" He said immediately. Gakuto pouted, but then smirked.
"When was your first kiss and with who!" He said proudly. I bet he hasn't even had it yet.
Hiyoshi looked thoughtful for a second, then looked back at him.
"Fifth grade." He said, to everyone but Choutarou's shock. Gakuto recovered first, having asked the quesion. "With?"
Hiyoshi blushed slightly, before lifting up his had and pointing to Choutarou, who pointed to himself shyly. Everyone was silent for a moment before there was shouting.
"EH?" They all yelled.
"Seriously?" Choutarou looked away, scratching the back of his head while Hiyoshi kept his gaze to the ceiling. "Wait, why?"
"I-It was a dare." Choutarou said, his face tinted red. "One of the girls in our class dared us to and,well, being young we thought it was alright. No one really thought it mattered back then, since we were already best friends to begin with."
Everyone stared at the two for a while before Atobe spoke up.
"I... see. Okay, next." He said hesitantly.
xXxXxXx
Another time was after morning practice. Everyone was tired, of course, and they were getting dressed to go to class. Choutarou looked at Hiyoshi, whose locker was right next to his, and frowned.
"You're uniform is a mess." He said, eyeing the clothes. Hiyoshi had just finished dressing, tired enough that he didn't do a good job. His tie was crooked, his shirt wrinkled and the buttons all wrong. Choutarou reaced forward, re-doing them and straightening out his shirt. He undid the tie, fixing it for his friend. "You've always had a problem with this, haven't you?"
"Why do you think I never wore it back in elemantary school?" Hiyoshi said sarcastically. Leave it to Choutarou to fret over his uniform.
"That's different. You're in the eight grade now, you should know how to tie a tie." Hiyoshi chuckled a bit.
"Tie a tie." He repeated. Choutarou frowned at him.
"Not funny." He said, then looked over his own uniform when he was done. They both made to walk out the door.
"We'll be going now." They said together, leaving the rest of the team to process juat what had happened.
xXxXxXx
They kept happening one after another before, about a month or two later, the team decided to confront them about it.
"So what's the relationship between you two?" Shishido asked after practice. They were in the locker rooms, getting changed and ready to go home. Hiyoshi and Choutarou looked at him.
"What... do you mean?" Hiyoshi asked slowly. He was in the middle of putting on his tie, struggling with the knot before Choutarou took over for him.
"That. That is what I mean." Shishido said, pointing to the two of them. They looked at Choutarou's hands, which were in the middle of tying the red fabric. They gave him a puzzled look.
"What he means is," Gakuto said, stepping in, "What's with you two and acting like a happy couple? Are you guys going out?"
There was a short silence before it was broken by fits of laughter.
Hiyoshi clung to Choutarou's arms, one hand over his mouth as he bent over lauging. Choutarou was using one arm to keep himself up, leaning on the locker doors. The rest of the team watched in confusion as the two finally calmed down.
"Wh-where did you get that idea?" Hiyoshi said panting. He was still laughing a little, turning back to his locker and grabbing his jacket. Choutarou looked as amused as he was.
"Because because because," Jirou said repeatedly, "You guys always act like it! And you've kissed!" Hiyoshi frowned at that last part.
"It wasn't intentionally. We were young and stupid. No we're..." He paused.
"Young and smarter than we were back then?" Choutarou offered, and Hiyoshi looked at him.
"Yes, there we go." He said. He turned to look at them. "And as for that other stuff, we've been doing that for years. It's just natural these days."
"Besides, it's not like we can really date each other at the moment." Choutarou added. He looked at Hiyoshi. "Are you as excited about the wedding as I am?" Hiyoshi gave a small smile.
"You bet. It's about time they decided on it. How long has it been since they started going out?"
"About four years." Choutarou said with a laugh. Oshitari raised an eyebrow.
"Who's getting married?" He asked. Everyone elso looked curious as well. Hiyoshi and Choutarou smiled again.
"My older brother..." Hiyoshi began, then looked at Choutarou.
"And my older sister." He finished. There was another reaccuring silence before everyone looked at them in shock. "Watari-niisan finally proposed to Tsubasa-neesan." He said, a wide smile set on his lips. Even Hiyoshi had one.
"So, so you guys are gonna be..." Gakuto said in shock.
"Yup. We're gonna be brothers in a few weeks.." Hiyoshi said happily. Then he returned to his usual cold tone. "Now do you guys get all that weird stuff we've been doing? It's normal for us to act that way, especially in private. Not that it's private anymore..." He said, looking at the floor. "This is why assumptions are wrong."
"And," Choutarou said, "Theres already two people we like." He said with a faint blush. Hiyoshi turned back to his locker in an attempt to hide his own.
"Really?" Gakuto and Jirou asked. "Who, who, who?" Choutarou gave a quick glance to Shishido, who just barely caught it. Both turned a shade of red.
"So," Oshitari said after a moment of awkward silence, "It's obvious Ohtori likes Shishido now, so who does Hiyoshi like." Said boy flinched, gripping his jacket tighter. Gakuto and Jirou jumped onto him, their arms around his neck.
"It's gotta be someone on the team!" Gakuto squealed. Then he gasped. "It better not be Yuushi, cuz you can't have him!"
"I'm don't like him that way!" Hiyoshi cried in shock. He reached for his bag, but it was swiftly grabbed by Atobe.
"You'll get this back when you answer the question." He smirked, watching the younger boy struggle for words. He held the bag over his head, out of his reach. Hiyoshi clenched his hands into fists.
"I-I... I can't say it..." He said softly, and Atobe raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? And why not?" He asked, leaning down a little to look him in the eye. Hiyoshi kept his gaze to the ground.
"Because," He said, "Then they'll hate me." He jumped up quickly and grabbed his bag, snatching it out of Atobe's grip. He sent a small glance in Atobe's direction before running out the door. Choutarou, after saying a quick goodbye, chased after his friend and soon to be brother, calling out his name. The otherswatched the door in silence before Taki spoke up next to Kabaji.
"I think I might have an idea of who he's talking about." He chuckled, then a sad look flashed over his face. "Although, I sorta get what he meant when he said they'll hate him. Ne, Kabaji?" He adressed the talled boy.
"Usu." Kabaji nodded. The others looked at him.
"Wait, Kabaji knows too?" Shishido said. Taki ignored him as he continued.
"He's worked so hard to gain their trust, I can understand that he doesn't want all that hard work to be for nothing. It just depends on the person." He walked towards the door, stopping next to their captain. "Ne, Atobe?"
They watched as another one of their teammates walked out the door.
"...What?" Atobe said in shock. Gakuto jumped next to him.
"Atobe! Atobe! Hiyo-chan's got a crush on you!" He sqealed. "You better not make him cry!" He warned.
He ran out the door, dragging Oshitari with him. Shishido and Jirou followed, with a few last words to Atobe.
"Now I get it." Shishido said. "I don't think Wakashi want's to lose what small friendship you guys have."
"Poor Hiyo-chan."
They walked out, leaving Atobe to his thoughts. And Kabaji.
"...Let's go." He said, both of them walking out.
xXxXxXx
The next day, Friday, the team gathered under the tree they usually sat under during lunch. Minus one person.
"Where's Hiyoshi?" Oshitari asked. The light-haired boy was, oddly enough, missing. Choutarou looked down at his lunch, keeping silent about his friends location. Atobe stood up, leaving his bag on the grass and walked away. Taki called after him.
"Don't hurt him, Atobe." He said. Atobe waved him off, walking in the direction of another row of trees.
xXxXxXx
Atobe looked around, the trees rustling as the wind blew threw them. He noticed a figure, dressed in the school sweater, sitting under one of the trees. He wandered closer, and breathed a sigh pf relief.
Hiyoshi sat under the tree, knees pulled up against his chest and his head burried in his arms, the over-sized Hyotei school sweater reaching just past his fingers. Atobe sat next to him, debating over whether to wake him up or not. He gently rushed away the strands of brown hair in his face, watching him sleep. Slowly, grey eyes opened, and Hiyoshi jumped, falling backwards onto the ground.
"Ow..." He said, landing on his arm. Atobe raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not going to eat you." He said, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. Hiyoshi inched a bit further away from him, watching him cautiously.
Is that how you act when you like someone? Atobe thought, watching as the boy looked at him, eyes filled with fear. He patted the ground next to him, motioning for the younger boy to sit. Hiyoshi watched him for a second before slowly crawling over, curling back into a ball.
"The others were looking for you." He said after a moment of silence. Hiyoshi tightened his grip on his legs. Atobe turned to look at him, noticing how he was trying to to look him in the eye. "Oi, look at me."
Hiyoshi shook his head and burried his face in his arms again. Atobe sighed, reaching up and rubbing his back, causing him to flinch. "Is this about yesterday?"
He shook his head again, and Atobe reached over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"You know," He said, "I don't think the person will hate you." Hiyoshi looked up at him finally, and Atobe smiled, "In fact, I think they'd be quite happy."
Hiyoshi's cheeks darkened a bit as Atobe pulled him closer, softly pressing his lips against the warm skin. Hiyoshi looked at him again.
"R-Really?" He asked, and Atobe chuckled.
"Yes, I have come looking for you if i was lying?" He said, and held him tighter. Hiyoshi rested his head against the older boy's shoulder, closing his eyes.
"Thanks..."
xXxXxXx
Choutarou watched the scene with a smile. Shishido stood next to him, a frown on his face. Choutarou gave him a puzzled look.
"What's wrong? Everything worked out, didn't it?" He asked. Shishido leaned against his shoulder.
"Yeah, but, I'm worried about him. If Atobe hurts him..." Shishido warned. Choutarou laughed.
"I don't think we need to worry," He said, "Atobe-buchou probably knows what will happen."
xXxXxXx
I end it there cuz I plan to -maybe- do a second chapter, mostly set at the wedding. This turned out longer than I expected, and it's getting really late. There also turned out to be more Dominance pair than intended. My sis might not like this if she reads it...
Besides having writer's block, I somehow managed to catch my little sister's cold and have been sick for about 3 days. I'm also stuck on the Golden pair filler, so any ideas? I really need them. I've also got a bunch of stuff I'm working on, so it's taking longer than expected.
Suggestions for the Golden pair filler are needed, and also, who thinks I should continue this one more chaper? Inspire me to write, people.