Chapter One: Confessing First

Akaya Kirihara stood at the net, unable to say anything more than: "…what…?"

He was out of breath and sweaty after winning in a match 7-5. So obviously, he was physically tired. He was pretty damn tired mentally too, having entered the State of Self-Actualization towards the end of the match. Hell, he couldn't even form sentences.

All he did was go up to the net to shake hands with his opponent. …and to gloat a bit that he had won even though it was declared earlier that he would be defeated (fat chance). But his intent had been tossed out the window. No, correction. It was completely topped and stomped down upon.

What was the phrase that his opponent liked so much? Something about defeating someone above you… Gekokujou? Yeah, his intent had been subjected to gekokujou.

Wakashi Hiyoshi was just as exhausted, but he controlled his labored breathing, enough to speak properly. He could feel his sweat drops rolling down the side of his head and forehead, which made him more uncomfortable than he already was. It took whatever willpower he had leftover to confess earlier. He wasn't even sure if he had any more to repeat himself.

"A date…" He could barely speak as firmly as he had before since Kirihara decided to act clueless and had to take a few moments to regain his breath. "I'm asking you out on a date."

"Yeah, yeah… I got that…" Kirihara responded airily. But then he started doubting himself again and shook his head. "No… wait, what?"

In his hand, Hiyoshi still clutched his racket, and in his pocket, there was an unused tennis ball. It could be used to smash the curly-haired male's face in if he would just think before speaking. His apparent deafness was damn annoying and made Hiyoshi's confidence crumble.

Instead of following through with his plan, Hiyoshi began to turn away. "Forget it. I'm going home."

"Hey… hey, wait! Hiyoshi!" Kirihara called after him as he struggled to get a foot over the net. He could move from one side of the court to the other with the use of his split step, but his technique was no help to him here when he needed to catch up to Hiyoshi. "I was listening!"

Relieved that the brunet stopped and spared him a glance, Kirihara took that as a chance to catch up. After managing to put one foot in front of the over and earning passage over the net, he jogged over to Hiyoshi despite his sore muscles. This was something important, and he pretty much fucked up by acting stupid. It wasn't entirely his fault, but he knew he should have responded better. He didn't know when he would get another chance.

"Akaya…" Hiyoshi couldn't look him in the eye.

Kirihara swore he could see Hiyoshi blushing. Well… he did refer to him by first name.

It was a funny arrangement they had. Kirihara always called him Hiyoshi, never Wakashi, even though they got pretty close lately. Or at least, that was what the former thought. Actually, Kirihara only ever heard him called Hiyoshi by his teammates during tournaments, which was where they often ran into each other, but wasn't he close to his teammates? Wouldn't they start calling each other by first name like Rikkai? Maybe that was why Hyoutei could only get so far in tennis; they weren't a true team.

But anyway, he was quite used to calling him by last name because that's all he knew of the Enbu tennis player along with his distinct mushroom-shaped hair (Kirihara couldn't resist). He was never called Akaya by Hiyoshi before. Formalities, intimacy, and all that shit, right?

To be honest, hearing Hiyoshi actually call him Akaya drew a small blush on his cheeks as well. Hopefully, mushroom head didn't see. "Uh, yeah?"

Hiyoshi clicked his tongue and shot him an irritated look. "Kirihara."

"What?"

He let out a groan. This was fucking ridiculous.

"No, seriously, what?"

"Idiot…" Hiyoshi let out a sigh, shutting his eyes for the moment. He seemed to have calmed down before opening his eyes and speaking again, "What do you say? Yes or no? Date or no?" He muttered under his breath, "Got it through your thick skull yet?"

"Right…" A lump decided to conveniently form in the curly-haired male's throat. Since when did he feel nervous? He didn't feel this when he went up again the Three Demons, and he'd rather be facing them again than to answer Hiyoshi's … request for lack of a better word.

He just had to say a single word, and he already knew the answer. So what was it that he was hesitant about? Kirihara felt the nervousness grow more and more, his heart pounding hard in his chest. Maybe this was what he never imagined, Hiyoshi being the one to confess. His mind was not prepared at all.

"Yes," Kirihara - after what seemed like an hours later - responded; his gulp audibly swallowed down. He tried to smile for the both of them, hoping to play it cool but failing. He didn't want Hiyoshi to think this was a mistake. "You could have timed it better though."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and responded with a light punch to the arm. "Do it yourself next time." His deadpan tone did not match the relief that could only be detected in his gray eyes. "Meet here at six on Friday?"

Kirihara nodded his head quickly, already excited for Friday. "Perfect."

They departed in opposite direction after that.

Kirihara couldn't believe what had happened. Falling into the fast pace of a tennis match was one thing; getting asked out on a date by Hiyoshi and following through with it was a whole other.

He glanced back at the retreating figure before he face forward again and allowed his emotions to overtake his expressions. His cheeks colored redder than ever that he was violently shaking.

He truly did not expect Hiyoshi to ask him out; he didn't even know Hiyoshi liked him.

Kirihara wanted to confess first, but Hiyoshi got to him instead. The mushroom head had outdone him.

In the words of his date: "Gekokujou."

Edits: Thank you, Nathie-chan for correcting me on Hiyoshi's full name. I fixed it in this chapter to avoid any confusion but the content is more or less the same, except for the expanded thought portion for Kirihara on names since Rikkai tennis regulars refer to each other by first name as opposed to Hyoutei.

Author's Note: Apparently, a brunet refers to a male with brown hair and brunette is for female. Learned something new right there.

I'm not sure if I should continue this or not, even though I have the second chapter partially started. It's been a good while since I've written anything and I'm actually in the process of re-writing Understanding What It Means to Love.

But anyway, thank you for taking the time to read. I appreciate it!