Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I only own my plot.

Warning: Shonen-ai fic. Mentions of MPREG (Male Pregnancy)

Pairings: Inui X Yanagi, Sanada X Yukimura

A/N: Posting this story as an apology for not being able to complete Trials of Life within the three week time limit. I was delayed by my thesis and a recent virus attack which made me unable to access the files in my pendrive.

Please be warned that this story will contain male pregnancy in the future. Do not read on if this element is not a genre you like.

Trying out the Data Pair for once. It's one of my latest OTP, aside from TezuRyo and SanaYuki. (Grins)

Well then, to the story then…

Data Tales

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 1

"Renji. Let's always be doubles partners. Forever."

"…I'm sorry…Sadaharu…"

Inui Sadaharu gasped as he opened his eyes, waking abruptly from a dream. In his half awake state, he could still hear the lingering words of his dream companion, could still see the small back running from him, picking up speed to the point that all he could do was stare, unable to catch up.

Inui sat up on his bed, putting on his glasses before staring at his clock. 2.30 a.m. Such an ungodly hour. Giving a groan, he fell back against his pillow, not bothering to remove his glasses beforehand. He lay there, staring up at the ceiling, even as the hands of the clock continued to tick near his ear. He must have remained that way for ages, unable to go back to sleep. Resigning to himself that sleep was a lost cause, Inui slowly got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, splashing some water on his face. He could always update the data in his computer, and go back to bed when he felt tired. Besides, even if he slept late, he should have at least 76 percent of his energy reserves left for tomorrow, which should be fine even for tennis practice.

Heading over to the computer, Inui pressed the button and waited as the device hummed to life. Once the operating system has been booted up, Inui opened his previously saved file and starting typing in all the new data, referring to his green notebook only when he couldn't remember the exact angles. Somehow, even as his fingers typed, his mind continued to wander off on its own, heading back to the dream he had earlier on. No, not a dream, a suppressed memory.

XXX

"Minna, from today onwards, Inui-kun here will be part of our tennis club. Inui, please introduce yourself."

Inui stepped forward, feeling a little awkward as he felt all the club members' eyes trained on him. He gave a small bow and started his introduction. "I'm Inui Sadaharu, and I've just transferred here from Satei Elementary School. I do not have any siblings, and I live with my parents and…"

Even as Inui spoke, he could see a few of the existing members whispering amongst themselves.

"Look at those spectacles! How geeky!"

"What an odd hairstyle."

"He's so fair…and so skinny. Is he a girl?"

Inui kept his face impassive, already used to such attention to himself. He wasn't the most sociable person on earth, preferring to keep to himself, and he had trouble fitting in whenever he changed schools. His parents moved quite often thanks to their work, and he had to change schools at least three times during his elementary school years, with this being the third.

He swept his gaze over the club members. Well, he didn't really need to foster bonds. He was pretty sure he was going to move again anyway. Just bear with it, cooperate with them for a while until his parents transferred him to yet another school. It shouldn't be too hard. After all, this was just tennis.

His eyes came to rest on one brunette, whose head was bowed. The brunette seemed to be the only one not whispering, and was instead scribbling madly in a little notebook. A vein popped in Inui's head. H-how rude!

"Hai, hai. That should be all, Inui-kun. Get in line with your fellow teammates now." The coach instructed. Inui walked down the line of club members, none of them making way for him. He finally came to the boy with the notebook. The boy glanced up at him briefly, and it was only then Inui noticed that his eyes were closed. Wordlessly, the boy stepped back a little, making room for him. Inui gave an equally wordless nod of thanks before getting in line.

XXX

If anything, the days passed by without incident. Learning from experience, Inui maintained his distance from the others, going by the 'you stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours' unwritten rule. Each day, he told himself the same thing. Just bear with it. He put more effort into tennis, feeling that the sport was the only thing freeing him from the otherwise suffocating atmosphere.

It was Inui's turn to put the tennis equipment back in the clubroom…well…actually, it wasn't his turn. Some of the seniors had bullied him into doing the task for them. Inui decided that it wasn't worth arguing with them, and obliged without complaint. He would be transferring to another school anyway, so what was all these to him?

As he made his way to the clubhouse, he turned a corner and bumped right into someone, causing the box of tennis balls to fall out of his hands, and the little green balls went rolling in all directions.

"Itai…that wasn't within my calculations…" he heard someone mutter before him.

He looked up and realized that it was no other than the brunette with the closed eyes.

"Ah, gomen. I didn't see where I was looking." Inui helped the other boy up. The boy continued rubbing his bottom though, seemingly having landed quite heavily on his butt.

Having given his apology, Inui then stooped down to pick up all the tennis balls. He would be quite severely scolded by his captain if he didn't put them in the clubroom early.

Someone bent down and joined him at the task. Inui looked up in surprise. His brunette companion said nothing as he placed the balls back in the box.

"Why are you doing this task anyway? Shouldn't it be Satou-senpai's turn today?" The brunette asked quietly.

Inui gave a weak laugh. "Well, I…"

"Volunteered, was what you were trying to say right?" The brunette asked quietly, turning to look at Inui. Seeing Inui's jaw drop, he gave a soft chuckle. "It would seem I'm right." He went back to picking up the tennis balls.

After a while, he straightened up. "All done. There are 253 tennis balls in total. We have 253 tennis balls in the box."

"Eh? But I'm pretty sure they were rolling in all directions. We can't…"

"Possibly have picked them all up so fast, was what you were trying to say right?" Once more, Inui's jaw dropped at that, and the brunette had his answer.

"There are no more tennis balls to pick up, or do you not trust me?" the brunette asked.

Inui blinked. "Ah. Well. I trust you. If you say so then. Ah. Thank you so much for your help. I'm…"

"Inui Sadaharu, 4th year, bloodtype AB, right hander, lives with parents at Ginko street. You always serve by putting your right foot behind your left at a 30 degrees angle and…"

"How…do you know all that…and what 30 degrees angle?" Inui asked, his glasses slipping slightly off his nose.

The boy turned those closed lids to him. "You mentioned most of that on your first day here. As for the rest, I observed." He held out a hand to Inui. "Yanagi Renji, 4th year, bloodtype A, right hander. I…"

"Ah, nice to meet you, Yanagi-kun." Inui shook his hand, cutting him off. He didn't think it necessary for Yanagi to give him all his personal details.

The two boys made their way to the clubroom in companionable silence. Upon reaching it, Inui found Satou-senpai, the one who was supposed to be in charge of putting away the equipment today, smoking in there.

"You're late, Inui-kun. The captain was already starting to question me and…Y-Yanagi!" He paled, the cigarette falling out of his fingers.

Yanagi walked over calmly, his eyes flicking briefly to the cigarette on the floor before turning back to the senior, who looked positively terrified at the sight of him. "I believe you were in charge of cleaning up after practice today, senpai, so why is Inui-kun here doing the job for you?"

The senior gave a weak laugh. "Ah well, he…"

"Offered to help, was what you were trying to say right?" Yanagi muttered quietly. The senior paled. By now, Inui was quite convinced that his new acquaintance was psychic. "Ah, speaking of offering to help, I believe you were offering to help too when you took 1000 yen from the club's funds. Helping to keep an eye on the funds, I'm sure. Strangely you used that 1000 yen to…"

"I get it, I get it." The senior looked like a ghost now, with how 'white' his face was. He turned to Inui and gave a forced smile. "Tomorrow's your turn to clean up after practice right? I'll give you a hand then. You can go on home early tomorrow."

Inui was left blinking at the senior's completely whipped look, and he looked mildly awed as the senior scurried out of the clubroom as fast as he could. Yanagi walked over to where the cigarette lay and picked it up. Inui thought he was going to throw it away but to his surprise, Yanagi merely placed it into a small container and pocketed it.

"A-anou…Yanagi-kun. Do you…"

"Smoke, was what you were trying to say right?" Yanagi turned to face him. "No I don't, but everything has its uses eventually, even this."

Inui had no idea what Yanagi was talking about, and he gave up trying to interpret it. Yanagi helped to put away the tennis balls before he straightened up. "Want to walk home together, Inui-kun?" He asked abruptly.

Inui looked up in surprise. During his whole elementary school life, no one has offered to walk with him. Ever. Yanagi looked at him calmly, his face unreadable.

"Ah. Sure." Inui gave a genuine smile. Maybe this time, his brief stay in this school wouldn't be so bad after all.

XXX

They weren't friends. Just acquaintances. Inui insisted to himself even as he sat below one of the trees, just a distance away from the tennis clubs. No one ever came here, so he should be able to take his naps in peace.

"Inui-kun. Just as I had calculated, you're here after all." Yanagi's mildly cheery greeting could be heard.

Inui opened his eyes and sat up. "Yanagi-kun." He greeted. He made some space for Yanagi to sit. The brunette dropped down onto the grass, just next to him.

They weren't friends, but Yanagi seemed to take him as one, even if Inui did not return that favour. They were both outcasts. Their teammates shied away from Inui because he was a geek, and Yanagi because he was…psychic? That was the only reason Inui could think up of. While Yanagi was an outcast too, the team members, even the seniors and scarily, the captain too, didn't get in his way. No one bullied him, and while Inui was with Yanagi, no one bullied Inui either. Maybe that was the reason why he enjoyed Yanagi's presence.

Yanagi opened his bento and offered some of his egg rolls to Inui. The latter accepted it, giving a quiet word of thanks. For a while, they sat side by side, not speaking. Neither liked to speak during meals anyway.

A gust of wind rustled the leaves above them, whipping some of the leaves into Inui's face. He raised a hand to shield his face momentarily, then when he lowered his hand, he turned to his side to see how Yanagi was doing.

Apparently, the wind had whipped the other boy's hair into his face, and when he brushed his bangs aside, Inui couldn't help thinking that his haircut made him look somewhat like a girl.

"You're thinking that this haircut makes me look like a girl. Am I right?" Yanagi's voice cut through his thoughts. It was only then did Inui realize he was staring.

Yanagi gave a chuckle and finished the last of his lunch. With the bento polished, Yanagi replaced the lid and tucked the box back inside his bag. "By the way, Inui-kun. The coach has asked to meet both of us later."

Inui turned to him, a questioning eyebrow raised. He knew he didn't need to ask any questions. Yanagi was psychic anyway.

Surely enough, Yanagi answered. "He didn't tell me what was on his mind, so I do not know why he wishes to speak to the two of us."

Inui nodded. "I see." So there were things even the psychic Yanagi did not know about. How rare.

Yanagi was the first to get to his feet. "Well then, if coach wishes to see us, let us not keep him waiting. Come, Inui-kun."

"Aa." Inui followed him, heading towards the courts.

The coach greeted them both. "You're finally here. Inui-kun, Yanagi-kun. I want the two of you to play doubles." He was incredibly direct, going straight to the point at seeing them.

His statement was met by stares. Inui cast a side-glance at Yanagi. By the look of surprise, he doubted Yanagi and his psychic powers had predicted this. "Eh? Doubles?" Yanagi was the first to ask.

"Hai. I've watched both of your play styles, and from my observations, the both of you have potential in doubles." The coach explained.

Seeing the exchange of uneasy glances, the coach sighed. "Very well. We'll have a short practice match now. Inui-kun, Yanagi-kun. You'll be playing against Satou-kun and Shio-kun."

Inui gulped. These two…were regulars. How could he and Yanagi play against regulars?

Yanagi said nothing. Instead, he picked up his racket. "Let's go, Inui-kun."

"Aa." Inui followed suit. He rarely played doubles, and considered himself only average at it. He followed more of a power player's style, though his tennis was flexible, so he could be considered a bit of an all rounder too. Still, how could his tennis be used in doubles?

A rally began amongst the four. Inui scored the first game with his trademark high speed serve. When it was the senior's turn, Inui no longer had that advantage, and had to keep the seniors from scoring instead.

He made a mistake, and one of the balls shot past his feet. 'Not good!' Inui thought to himself.

"Leave it to me." Yanagi seemed to have appeared abruptly from nowhere. The brunette caught the shot and hit it back over the net. "Inui-kun! The right!"

Inui obeyed, and surely enough, the ball shot over to his direction. Incredible! Yanagi's psychic could be included in tennis too?

Whenever Inui made a mistake, Yanagi was quick to cover for him, and the pair won, 6 games to 4. The coach smiled at them as they walked out of the courts, heading over to him. "Well, Inui-kun, Yanagi-kun. Will you play doubles?"

Before Inui could answer, Yanagi had cut him to it. "Aa. I'm fine with that."

He gave Inui a glance, and Inui nodded. "I'm fine with doubles too."

XXX

While Inui did say he was fine, secretly, he felt inferior to Yanagi. The psychic tennis player had skills which made his tennis look like child's play, and Inui felt that their levels were too different.

It took a lot of debating with himself before he went to look for his doubles partner days later, hoping to improve his tennis.

Yanagi seemed to know where his favourite spot was, under the tree, and surely enough, Inui found him there.

"Yanagi-kun…could you teach me psychic?" Inui broached the subject as both of them sat down to lunch.

Yanagi dropped his eating utensils, his eyes opening slightly to reveal violet diamonds. Inui couldn't help staring. This was the first time he had actually seen Yanagi's eyes.

"Psychic? What on earth gave you the idea I have that?" Yanagi asked, chuckling, even as his eyelids slid close again.

Inui blinked. He didn't? "Well…you always knew what I wanted to say, and you knew almost everything about everyone, and you can even predict shots."

Yanagi stared at him. "Inui-kun…that's not psychic. I was using data tennis."

"Data tennis?" Inui repeated.

"Hai. It's mostly to do with observation skills, and you have to use analytical skills as well. I believe you do have the talent for this." Yanagi told him, smiling faintly.

Inui looked hopeful. "Then…could you…"

"Teach me data tennis, was what you were trying to say right?" Yanagi supplied. To Inui's relief, the psy- no… the Data tennis player gave a nod. "Very well."

XXX

"Game, Inui-Yanagi pair, 6 games to 2." The referee announced, causing their teammates to burst into cheers.

Inui had picked up data tennis very fast, and now, the Data Pair of this school was feared by all the other doubles players from seeded schools.

Ever since they had started training together, the two were quite inseparable, always going over to each other's houses to compare all their data. Somewhere along the way, Inui had become Sadaharu, and Yanagi had become Renji. They had even given each other nicknames for the fun of it, Inui being Hakase, and Yanagi being Kyojyu. Indeed, Inui talked about his acquaintance so much, his parents had jokingly teased him that he sounded like a girl with a first crush.

"Well, I'm glad that you have found a friend like Yanagi-kun. Oh, by the way, Sadaharu. I have good news for you. Your father has finally managed to secure the job as manager. We're not moving anymore."

It was like sunshine after the rain. Inui's face brightened. They weren't moving anymore. He didn't have to move to another school again. It didn't matter even if he formed bonds with his teammates. Yanagi could finally be his friend.

The following day, Inui met up with his friend again. Yanagi's expression looked a little different from usual, but he smiled at Inui all the same. "Sadaharu. You're late." He teased.

"Gomen, Renji. I overslept." The data pair walked to school together. As usual, they had practice, and as usual, the data pair beats their opponents flat.

After practice, Inui removed his glasses and placed them at a safe corner before washing his face. He heard footsteps, and calculated a 99 percent chance that it was Yanagi.

"Sadaharu." His doubles partner called his name.

Inui looked up, and noticed Yanagi standing just next to him. "Renji. What's up?"

Yanagi said nothing for a while. He only stared. After a moment, Yanagi smiled. "Green."

"Eh?" Inui had no idea what he was talking about.

Yanagi opened his eyes slightly. "Your eyes. They're green."

"Ah. Yes." That's right. His eyes were always hidden behind glasses, Yanagi has probably never seen them before.

Yanagi glanced over at the courts. "I've been thinking, Sadaharu. We've never had a serious match against each other before. I wonder which of us is stronger?"

Inui calculated what Yanagi was trying to say. "You wish for us to have a match, don't you? I don't mind."

Yanagi brightened at that. "I'll get the net." He jogged off.

It didn't take long, but eventually, the data pair was engaged in a rally against each other. Inui truly enjoyed the match, for Yanagi was proving to be a very challenging opponent indeed. It was data against data, and there was an equal chance for either of them to win. The game count was now 5-4, Yanagi leading. "Here I come. Prepare yourself, Sadaharu!"

The coach just had to choose that time to make an appearance. Even though the game ended abruptly, Inui didn't feel upset at all, just a little disappointed. At least he had fun.

"Renji. Let's always be doubles partners. Forever." Inui told him happily as they walked home together..

Yanagi's footsteps slowed at that, and the haunted look was back in his face.

"Sadaharu…forgive me…" Without an explanation, Yanagi took off at a run, leaving Inui behind. Inui reached out a hand in the direction of his doubles partner.

"Renji…"

XXX

The alarm rang, startling Inui out of his flashback. He sat up, realizing he was seated in front of the pc and…apparently, he had fallen asleep. Brilliant, now he'd be going to school with some shapes on his face made by the keys of his keyboard. Looking at the data he typed, he realized he had written the name 'Renji' at least five times in the whole page. He'd have to retype this whole page of data.

He hadn't heard of his childhood friend since then, and till that day, he wondered just what had happened to him. Why had Yanagi made an abrupt disappearance that day?

Giving a sigh, Inui switched off the computer and headed towards the bathroom to wash up. He had a long day ahead.

To be continued…

-Gwyn