Pairing: Sengoku x Kamio

Warnings: Shonen-ai.

Notes: This could be a sequel to 'Lucky Sign', my previous SengokuxKamio piece. Reading that first is not really a pre-requisite though.

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me. If they did, there would be even less tennis played in the series than there already is.

Rhythm Emotion

Sengoku sighed, turned to his boyfriend and whispered into the darkness. "You could at least pretend to be enjoying yourself, you know." He was rewarded with a dozen hisses for him to be quiet, from all around the couple. He flashed a bright smile in apology and turned back to his boyfriend; only to realise that the red head was half way down the aisle towards the exit.

Biting back a curse Sengoku grabbed his jacket and followed him out, apologising to the people he bumped into as he passed them on his way. He caught sight of his boyfriend in the main area of the cinema, sulking against a wall with his arms folded across his chest.

Taking a deep breath Sengoku plastered on a bright smile and walked over to his boyfriend, casually leaning next to him and brushing his arm against the smaller boys' arm. Though smaller and younger, his boyfriend was anything but easily managed.

"What did I do this time, then?" The boy beside him scoffed and moved so that their arms were no longer touching. He avoided eye contact, and kept his fiery Prussian blue gaze firmly locked on anything but Sengoku.

"If you have to ask I'm not going to tell you." He angrily jammed his worn-out trainer into the polished floor. "It's really not important anyway." He mumbled as he pushed himself away from the wall. Sengoku instinctively reached out and grabbed his arm, used to having to deal with this behaviour.

"It's important if it's got you upset. And since I really don't know what it is that I've done perhaps you could indulge me just this once, Akira-kun?" Sengoku's perfectly white smile dazzled his boyfriend, and the other boy huffily collapsed against the wall again.

"Alright then, fine. It's you. It's always you." He let his words sink in; the fantastic smile dimmed slightly. "You with your perfect smile and your stupidly neat hair. Even your uniform makes you look amazingly…amazing." Kamio's voice was rising as his anger built up. Sengoku spared a glance around to notice people were beginning to stare. "You're so bloody perfect that I may as well be dating Atobe Keigo!" Kamio all but shouted, his eyes narrowed and glaring directly at his boyfriend.

Sengoku blinked in confusion. "So…you want me to be less perfect?" He flashed a grin. "Sorry, Akira-kun, but I don't think it's within my power." He was cut off by a growl from the smaller boy.

"That's not what I mean and you know it. I get that you're perfectly perfect in every stupid way." Flustered Kamio noticed that they were attracting a crowd, but found he didn't care. He continued to incinerate his poor boyfriend with his glare.

"So…we've established that I'm perfect. This is a very odd situation, Akira-kun, you're yelling yet you're complimenting me. Should I expect all of our conversations to be conducted in this manner?" Sengoku flashed an apologetic smile to the crowd. Kamio growled again and resisted the urge to slap the taller boy.

"Yes you're perfect. But that-" he flung a hand in the general direction Sengoku had been smiling in, "is what I'm talking about." Kamio's voice suddenly lowered, though it lost none of its emotion. "I can handle being the young, inexperienced one. I can handle you getting more attention, and I can even handle kissing you after you've brushed your teeth with half a tube of toothpaste to get that glow-in-the-dark smile. But I just want a little attention from you, sometimes. And turning to me halfway through a movie you know I didn't want to see and telling me to enjoy myself and then smiling to everyone in the vicinity really doesn't make me feel any better about being with you. So yeah, whatever." He said, taking in the crowd and returning to avoiding Sengoku's eyes.

Kamio's voice dropped to barely above a whisper, but Sengoku caught every emotion-packed word. "Maybe your friends are right, and you should give up on that lucky sign thing. I obviously wasn't the right one for you. I'll see you around." He pushed past the other red-head and angrily made his way through the crowd and out of the cinema.

"Akira…" Sengoku trailed off helplessly as he lost sight of the shorter boy. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes tiredly, for once ignoring the attention from everyone who asked him if he was alright.

-

Slumped on the bench staring into the lake Kamio sighed and angrily pushed his hands into his pockets for warmth. His breath came out in tiny white puffs as he unsuccessfully tried to lose himself in the music pounding through his ears. This was considerably hindered as his iPod nano battery signal flashed and the screen dimmed slightly before turning off.

"So sucks…everything sucks…" Kamio mumbled bitterly as he stuffed the MP3 player into his pocket. At least the beat had been somewhat distracting. Now there was nothing to take his mind off the fantastic late autumn scenery before him. The park was picturesque; everything was showered with golden leaves, and the lake rippled delicately as the early evening wind graced the surface. The sky was aflame with gold, orange and pink, and the air thick with the last remnants of daylight.

Everything was perfect. Hence the problem.

Kamio didn't have long to dwell, however, as a few moments later the weak sunlight was blocked from his view. He didn't need to look up to know that he was being watched by a pair of dazzling blue eyes.

"Akira-kun…I'm sorry, okay?" Kamio snorted and leaned back, resting an arm over his eyes. He really wasn't in the mood for another argument, but was equally unimpressed with such a half-assed apology. This wasn't something spontaneous; this issue had been eating away at Kamio for a long time now. Though he would have preferred to have not vented in a packed cinema entrance hall.

"No, you're not. You're really not. You'll just do it again tomorrow, and the day after, and I can't handle it anymore." The shadow disappeared and Sengoku collapsed next to him on the bench. Suddenly Kamio was pulled into a tight, almost desperate, hug.

"I am sorry, for being a jerk and not even realising it. Kamio, the people I smile to like that don't mean anything at all. It's a habit, I told you that I don't like being alone. I just like to make good impressions with people, but my relationships like that are only skin deep. I don't really care what they think about me anymore, there's only one person whose opinion of me I care about, and at the moment he doesn't think too highly of me."

Kamio gave a small, tentative smile. Encouraged Sengoku briefly pressed his lips to the other boys, a small yet reassuring kiss.

"You're such a dork." Sengoku smiled and nodded. "I know I shouldn't but I get…kind of jealous. I still don't get why you're with me at all, when you could have anybody you wanted in a second. Just because I had red hair and was bleeding? It just seems like a weak reason to date me. You're perfect, I'm not, and it scares me that one day you'll realise it and get tired of my bitching or something and leave."

"Akira-kun…as much as it pains me to admit it; I'm not perfect. Though I'm flattered that you think I am." He flashed a dazzling smile and the small red head rolled his eyes. "I'm really not. If I was perfect then I wouldn't have hurt you, I didn't mean to make you feel like this and I didn't even notice that I was doing it. You see, only completely crappy boyfriends do things like that."

Kamio's small smile brightened a little and he shrugged. "You're not that bad. And I don't mind it when you're smiling like that at me." Sengoku smiled again and wrapped an arm around Kamio's waist, pulling him close and planting a kiss on the top of his head.

"Why thank you. But you know my smile isn't nearly as dazzling as yours. You should really smile more often. No, wait; it's my job to make you smile. So, Akira-kun, I promise to make you smile more often. Luck brought us together, but I promise that I'll get us to stay together. You'll see. There's nobody else that I'd rather be with." Kamio sighed and rolled his eyes again, leaning his head against Sengoku's shoulder.

"Whatever you say…" But his smile was real, and he knew that what Sengoku had said was true.

Owari

Please review.

I couldn't resist the sequel, I enjoyed writing them so much. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first story!

Compelted: 5th June 2007

Mayoki