Author's Notes: The first of the many fics in this series. Minna, I present to you Unlike Any Other: You.
Honestly, this is the first time I wrote a fic with Kaidoh in it. Might be a bit OOC, demo when people are in love, they become OOC, na?
So here it is.
My special thanks to the song If I Didn't Love You sung by Barbara Streisand.
This fic is for Kim-nee. Hope you like it. A birthday present, perhaps?
Disclaimers: TeniPuri isn't mine. Won't ever be. It's Konomi-sama's.
Unlike Any Other: You
He was incomparable. That was what he thought.
Putting aside the fact that Tezuka and Fuji existed, and the reality that Echizen had indeed beaten the former Singles Three spot holder, Inui Sadaharu was unconquerable.
However, a certain young lad thought, he was successful to defeat the said person.
It may not be in the game of tennis, but, the point was, he caught him off guard.
It was a miscalculation, he thought, as he paced around the locker room. He was not able to anticipate this.
However, it was fine with him. It was one of the miscalculations – the only one actually – that he accepted.
The sophomore was incomparable. That was what he thought.
It was strange how he could still smile, thought very minuscule, after he had just lost a game. There was this fuzzy feeling that filled him when he heard that letter spill out of the third year's mouth.
"I–"
That was all he needed to hear.
That was all he needed to know.
"Kaidoh, I–"
It sounded nice, the bandana boy thought. It was nice, how his name seemed to roll off the latter's tongue. It was nice to see his sempai near the brink of being nervous, being the Inui Sadaharu that his sempai was. It was nice to see his sempai standing there, not knowing what to do.
"Sempai," Kaidoh paused as he gave the man before him a soft smile, "Ii dayo."
Yes. Indeed it was fine with him.
Kaidoh was a player of great endurance, determination. He would reach the peak of his tennis carrer in a short span of time.
He was Kaidoh Kaoru.
Inui Sadaharu was a person of great intelligence, incomparable logic. He would complete his data soon. It would make him invincible.
He was Inui Sadaharu.
They were two ordinary people. Yes, they were. But when they first saw each other, they knew they'd get along. They knew they'd respect each other immensely.
They knew they were destined to meet.
It was unpredictable. And yet they saw it. They knew of it.
And, the sophomore thought, that was what made his sempai incomparable. That was what set him apart from the others.
He was the only one who made him feel warm, cared for.
Loved.
"Aa."
Inui took a glance at the boy before him.
How could he not have known that this man would make him feel like this?
That was one question he could not answer.
And he was glad that he couldn't.
For that boy was the only one who was able to break his barrier. He was the one who was able to make him sigh. He was the one who was able to open his heart.
He was the one who made him love.
Inui could just smile.
They were unlike any other.
30 October 2004
8:40p
Now, would anyone kindly make me happy by pressing that button down there?
Disclaimers: Tennis no Oujisama belongs to Konomi-sama. Only the plot is mine.