Bored. Bored, bored, bored so damn bored! Takao Kazunari, boyfriend of the Olympic Shooting guard Midorima Shintarou, was waiting patiently for all his cousins to gather round and shut up. The girls were in a different part of the house, and the only other male currently there besides Shin-chan is his cousin Izuki Shun. Eventually, Akashi Seijuurou, Kageyama Tobio and Nanase Haruka would show up and Shin-chan would relax, but for now…
He was still bored. Kyouya wasn't due in from Tokyo for another hour, he was riding up and briefing Seijuurou (which Shin-chan would end up doing too). Shunsuke and Haruka were coming in from Osaka, and if he was lucky, he was the only one who brought a significant other to this gathering. Technically an Olympic/international sports intel meeting, he was their in with Shin-chan. Also, the more connected the other athletes were, the better. Unfortunately, Kai and Koutarou hadn't been able to show up, but Tobio would apprise Koutarou of the situation.
Leaning back against the cushions on the floor, Kazunari dropped off with an unceremonious snore. Shin-chan would wake him when his cousins arrived, if only so he wouldn't be uncomfortable.
True to his prediction, Shintarou shook his shoulder a while later, and Takao wagged his head as he sat up, noting that his cousins were all here for their War Council.
Tobio was having a glaring contest with Kyouya, while Shunsuke was engrossed in a crossword. Haruka was staring longingly out the open double doors to the patio at the swimming pool. Yawning, Tobio sat up, sniggering when Takao called the meeting to order, his disinterest plain.
While they conduct the meeting, Tobio pays attention, getting the people he can rely on in an emergency memorized. He also studies Shintarou, inwardly cackling when Kyouya pulls out his tonfas and a cleaning rag, murmuring about 'filthy herbivores' as he did so. Shunsuke rolls his eyes and gladly take the biking magazine Haruka slips him after he droops four times in three minutes. Haruka himself huffs a pointed sigh and finally says monotonously
"We can rely on each other and Midorima-san, we get it, Takao. Now go get the snacks." Before Takao can protest, Tobio pipes up
"Please, Kazu-nii? Then you can tell me about stealing that modelling job from Oikawa-san." Perking up, Takao heads for the kitchen, not noticing that Shintarou is paling. After Takao leaves the room, Haruka (as the eldest present) turns a glare on Shintarou and says icily
"You hurt Kazunari and I'll show you pain." Shunsuke nods, doesn't even look up from his magazine to echo his cousin
"I'll beat you to a pulp and throw you into the nastiest pile of shit I can find." Tobio smiles that demented smile of his and promises
"Kazu-nii will never know how badly we mauled your dignity." Kyouya grits his teeth and hisses
"I will bite you to death!"
Midorima just nods along, settling in to hear Takao's account of stealing a series of modelling gigs from Oikawa Tooru (now that he thought about it, it had taken Kazu awhile to return…).
EYES
Oikawa can never tell Iwaizumi, Makki and Mattsun about this. He just can't! That basketball-playing peasant, Takao Kazunari had swooped in and stolen all the modelling jobs he'd been aiming for! And to make things worse, Kise Ryouta and Hasekura Heath (and their pals, too) were back on the modelling scene! Despite being the same age (and in his opinion, prettier than) as Takao, the raven haired male had easily snatched several high end spreads from Tooru.
Kise Ryouta, too, was the same age as them, and very different, so it wasn't a surprise that the brilliant, bulkier basketball player got a bunch of cushy jobs- modelling and even acting! He had, more than once, brought along old friends and team mates, never the same one, and always looked fabulous doing it.
But what made his blood boil was Hasekura Heath returning to cruel world of modelling, when he and his friends should be busy with their Stride careers! His so-called best friends Kuga Kyousuke and Yagami Tomoe, or his former kouhais like Kohinata Hozumi, Kadowaki Ayumu, Yagami Riku, Sakurai Nana and even Fujiwara Takeru (who looked so much like Kageyama he automatically pissed him off).
And don't get him started on the old Galaxy Standard crew! They had, after their youngest member, Okumura Kaede, graduated high school, reformed into a band called Milky Way. The Milky Way performance leader, Mayuzumi Shizuma and his fiancée Sakurai Nana (who also appeared with that bastard Hasekura) had modelled together several times.
And then this! This! It was an insult, a betrayal, a… Oh hell, he didn't even know anymore. Teppodama university, which had supplied nearly every athlete for the summer Olympic team, had organized a special edition series of a popular sports magazine. Not only were his rivals heavily featured on their appropriate issues, but Kageyama (sandwiched between Kunimi and Kindaichi, with Shrimpy leaning over his shoulder) sat at the feet of Bokuto Koutarou, Kuroo Tetsuro, Tsukishima Kei, Ushiwaka, Semi Eita and Iwaizumi. Inside that issue, Kageyama (smiling naturally!) was featured with Akaashi Keiji, Kozume Kenma, Moniwa Kaname and Shirabu Kenjirou and several others for the setter section. All of them were smiling!
It was creepy, and the very worst part was when he found the group bio section. Iwaizumi, Matsukawa, Kageyama, Kunimi and Kindaichi described Kita-Ichi in detail. They had been snapped outside the school as it was presently, as had most of the others. Bokuto and Akaashi at Fukuroudani with their old team, Kuroo and Kenma in a Nerima café surrounded by the Nekoma team. Karasuno, Seijou, Shiratorizawa, Datekou and even Johzenji had shown up to a Sendai park for a championship reunion photo.
(If Oikawa had filtered through his rage and looked at all the pages, he'd have noted that there was a full page picture of him behind the table of contents, his bio and a note that said he was working the did the photos opposite it. Which, luckily, he did before blowing up at Iwaizumi)
As it was, the next shoot where he saw Takao, he received a letter from the Council of the Four Clans, requesting his presence at the Tower in Tokyo for mediation between him and Kita-Ichi set.