For all those who read my fics once-upon-a-couple-years-ago, I'm back. At least, I hope I'm back. And better than ever! Yeah, I read my "Dirty Files" last night and was amazed at how people could like such crappy, awful writing and got inspired to write a better Dirty Pair story, so here it is! It's more like a prologue for a larger story though, one that is centered around both Hyoutei and Rikkai (and will be Dirty, Adorable, Silver, Hiyoshi/Taki, Alpha, Platinum, and Marui/Akaya + OCs that are their children-OCs created by my nee-san YaoiIsLove with her permission) when they're in their 30s with their own kids and such (so, Mpreg is a major topic in that story). I've not started it yet, but I do want to write it. But for now, I hope you guys like this little taste! This story does hint at what is to come for Oshitari and Gakuto in the large fic, but IDK if you guys will be able to see it.
Enjoy, though!
Timeline: 3rd year, High school
Because when day after day goes unchanged, people get tired of the same old thing. The once welcome routine becomes an annoyance; it becomes nothing more than a nuisance. After doing something for so long, people will eventually get tired of it. They'll grow wary of it and they'll want nothing more than to cast it—and perhaps whatever reminds them of it—aside.
Maybe Yuushi was growing tired of him and that was why he hadn't seen him around much lately. His former doubles partner didn't seem all that interested in tennis practice anymore, usually disappearing off to Kami knows where to do Kami knows what. He had to admit, he misses the perverted baka with the fake glasses and hick speak.
Yuushi didn't really seem to miss him all that much though. Whenever the bluenette saw him, he'd get a quick greeting in the form of "Gakuto", but Yuushi's mind always seemed to be elsewhere thinking about something obviously more important than him.
Gakuto remembered the days when—should they skip practice—it would be together. They'd go up to the roof or to an empty classroom and, as soon as they were out of sight from any possible prying eyes, Yuushi would wrap his arms around him and kiss him so deeply it was a very good thing that he was being held in Yuushi's arms or he would for sure have collapsed. But they didn't do that anymore.
Now it was just Yuushi skipping tennis practice and they were no longer partners. They no longer played games together anymore, whether win against some weak school or lose to Shishido and Ootori. The two of them were third years. It was their final year at Hyoutei ever before they went off to college and who knew where? Gakuto couldn't help but wonder if they'd even stay in contact after they graduated.
He wondered why Yuushi didn't seem to have any passion for tennis anymore—any passion for him anymore. Atobe used to have to yell at them for practically having sex in the courts or in the clubroom, but it had been months since he had last heard anything of that sort. He kind of missed it actually. Or maybe it was just what they had been doing that he missed. Hell, he would take just being near Yuushi for longer than fifteen minutes before the prick made up an excuse and disappeared, leaving him by himself as Atobe coddled Jirou and Shishido blushed over Ootori.
Hell, even Hiyoshi got more than he did nowadays, what with the way he was making googly eyes at Taki!
Gakuto felt alone, which was something he hadn't felt in a long time, if ever in fact. Before he had Yuushi, he had been really good friends with Shishido and Jirou (and he still was, even if he wouldn't admit it about Shishido) so he'd never been alone. But then Yuushi had come along and, for some reason, they had been made doubles partners, even though everyone was sure Yuushi should have been a singles player because he was just that good. Yet, they had worked well together, and Gakuto was happy with the arrangement as it had meant he'd get to play as a regular over all those other people!
Plus, he had really come to like Yuushi, and it was obvious that Yuushi cared greatly for him as well. They'd been calling each other by their given names so fast, he was sure they'd given some people whiplash. Of course, their record was soon to be replaced by the amount of time it took Shishido to start calling Ootori "Choutarou"—even though Ootori himself (after being Shishido's friend and partner four years) was still calling him "Shishido-san" despite Shishido's protest that Ootori should call him "Ryou".
So the two people he'd have as his default "go-to people" in times of loneliness didn't exactly have time for him like they used to back in first—and even second—year of middle school. Shishido—though he certainly wouldn't be his first choice anyway—was too busy hanging out with Ootori 24/7, whereas Jirou was attached to Atobe's hip whenever he wasn't stalking Marui Bunta of Rikkai (to Atobe's immense displeasure, of course).
But thinking about these things didn't exactly help solve them, and he was starting to think maybe he should make Yuushi spend time with him. He was starting to think that the pervert didn't care about him anymore and that hurt—it hurt a lot because Gakuto—dare he say it?—was in love with the idiot!
And he had thought Yuushi had loved him too. He had said it. The first time he had said it was when they were fifteen, just before the end of their third year in middle school. It had been quite a random moment, actually. They had just been in bed—lying down, nothing more—with Gakuto's head on Yuushi's chest. Gakuto could feel those slender fingers (so very good at playing the violin) brushing through his hair. It was lulling him into sleep and Gakuto was sure he had never been more relaxed in his life. And then Yuushi said it; "I love you, Gakuto."
At first, Gakuto hadn't been entirely sure that he had heard right and, as he looked up at Yuushi to make sure he wasn't dreaming, his friend and partner had said it a second time and Gakuto knew he wasn't dreaming. He couldn't do anything else but reply in kind, happier than he had ever been because Yuushi loves him—not any of those girls who continually fawn over him that he's pretty sure Yuushi flirts lightly with.
Then Yuushi kissed the top of his head, not his lips, and Gakuto didn't mind that one bit.
But all that just served to remind Gakuto of what they had been like and why weren't they still like that?!
His mind was made up. He couldn't wait for Yuushi to come to him and apologize because that was likely to never happen! Yuushi didn't apologize when he meant it, at least not for something so important, no matter how much that didn't make any sense whatsoever. It almost seemed as if Yuushi was incapable of allowing himself any happiness at all, and that was kind of a sad thought, actually.
Gakuto had known Yuushi for years, but he was still many more years away from ever fully being able to comprehend the mind of Oshitari Yuushi. They say it's impossible to understand what goes on in the mind of a genius, and Gakuto was beginning to see just how very true that was.
He didn't pay any attention the—rather large (but not as large as Atobe's)—house as he walked up the drive and to the door. He rang the bell, his eyes narrowed and mouth ready yell at that idiot pervert the moment he saw him. The door was answered and he readied to scream only to see a woman standing there instead.
"Mukahi-kun, what are you doing here? Yuushi didn't say you were coming over today."
Gakuto swallowed his urge to scream and stomp his feet in frustration, not wanting to take anything out on Yuushi's poor, unsuspecting elder sister. He had to clench his fists and dig his nails into the palms of his hands to succeed at this though. "I need to talk to Yuushi." His voice had never sounded so strange and strained. His voice hadn't even sounded as strained as the time it he and Yuushi were having sex in the middle of the day at Yuushi's house and Gakuto had to stay silent so nobody would figure it out.
"Oh…well, Yuushi is up in his room, but—"
Without waiting for the rest of it, Gakuto took off his shoes and stormed up stairs and down the hall, right towards Yuushi's room. Throwing the door open so that it banged against the wall, Gakuto positively fumed. "Baka Yuushi!"
"Eh? Gakuto…" Yuushi was sitting at his desk, papers littered everywhere and one hand poised on the keyboard while his other held a pen but Gakuto didn't care about any of that. He didn't care about that stuff at all.
"Why are you ignoring me lately?! Why don't you come to practice? Do you not care about tennis at all? Do you not want to be my partner anymore? Do you not want to be with me anymore?" Gakuto bit down on his lip, not wanting to seem like a girl of all things, but he couldn't help how tears sprung to his ideas at the thought of Yuushi being tired of him. "If you don't love me anymore, just say it!"
"Gakuto… what are you going on about?" And Yuushi sounded so obviously confused that Gakuto gave a small pause, noticing how his blue haired boyfriend wasn't wearing his (fake) glasses and how his hair was messily put up into a bun. There was ink all over his right hand and Gakuto looked closer around the room. It was a mess, and that was so unlike Yuushi.
He looked back at his boyfriend who didn't look even a little bit like his boyfriend but it definitely was Yuushi but Yuushi wouldn't be caught in such a state, and his room certainly would never be this messy and—Gakuto had a headache.
"Yuushi… what are you doing in here?"
The blue haired teenager cleared his throat, slowly setting the pen in his hand down, running that same hand through his unnaturally messy hair. "Ahh… I was caught. I was hoping that I wouldn't be caught."
Gakuto's brows furrowed and he placed a hand on his hip. "Caught? Yuushi, what is all of this?"
"Hm," Yuushi gave a half-smile, shaking his head, almost as if not wanting to say. "It was meant to be a surprise, actually. It started out as nothing more than a gift for no reason other than I wanted to give you one…"
He blinked. "A gift? You're… making a gift or…? Yuushi! I don't understand what's going on at all!" He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and walking over, staring down at him. "Yuushi, why haven't you been coming to practice?"
"Truthfully, Gakuto?" He looked up at him, face looking slightly odd without his glasses. "Do you want to know the truth?"
"YES!"
Yuushi looked away again, clicking a few buttons on his computer, staying silent for a moment. "I don't really have an interest anymore."
Blue eyes widened and Gakuto could swear that his heart stopped, even if only for a moment. "You don't have an interest in tennis anymore?" How could Yuushi not have an interest in tennis anymore? It was tennis! It was what they did!
"Well, I suppose that isn't entirely accurate. Of course, I still love tennis. I always will, it's just… I'm not going to become a professional. Somehow, I doubt anybody on our team will."
"Atobe could—"
"Atobe won't. He's an Atobe, he has his own responsibilities as an Atobe. He can't be a professional even if he wants to. He could help others become pros with what he will be doing, but—as an Atobe—that is all he can do and I'm sure he's over it by now." Yuushi turned, looking up at him. "This is our third year. I thought that it might be wise if I started to think seriously about what it is that I want to be doing, and I think I've figured it out."
"Figured what out?"
Yuushi spun his chair around, once again facing his computer. "I want to write."
"Write? Yuushi…" Gakuto frowned slightly. There had always been a part of him that always had pictured the two of them as doubles partners forever, but he supposed that Yuushi was making sense. He probably wouldn't go pro—he probably couldn't. He wasn't cut out for singles, not with his play, and what was he without Yuushi?
"I have stories, Gakuto. I have stories in my head that are just crying out to be written. I have characters I want to give life and a purpose. I want to be able to entertain people with the things that I enjoy the most—books."
"Books?"
"Books. There is a whole world of them out there, Gakuto. It's like a journey all of its own. To be taken in by somebody else's tale and to fall so deeply into that person's life that you care about what happens to them. You want them to get the person they love because you think of them as a friend. You want them to find happiness in their life. So many authors have done it, but you know what, Gakuto? I'm finding out that it is the hardest thing in the world to do. How much effort and work these people put into it… it astounds me, and I'm only getting a small taste of it with what I'm writing right now."
Throughout Yuushi's speech, Gakuto found himself speechless. Yuushi thought this much about these things? Gakuto had always just thought Yuushi was a sappy, romantic, pervert. Was there actually more to Yuushi reading all those cheesy romance books? Yuushi wants to write all those cheesy romance books?
"That's what you've been doing this time? You've been writing?"
Yuushi gave a smile. "It seems I have been bitten by a bug, Gakuto, and I don't think it's going away. I felt compelled to write. It's why I disappeared. I didn't want to forget any of these ideas. The words are pouring out, Gakuto and do you know how good it feels? It feels better than I'm sure winning at Nationals would feel."
"That sounds like an overstatement, Yuushi." And it really did.
"No, Gakuto, I'm serious. That's what it feels like to me. I'm creating something. I'm not winning something. I'm not beating somebody and causing another person to fail. I'm creating something and creating is never a bad thing. Creation can inspire people, Gakuto and I like the thought of that because other people's works have certainly inspired myself."
"I didn't know you thought about these things that much…" Gakuto frowned, suddenly realizing just how very little he really knew about Yuushi. If he didn't know something like this—something that seemed so very important—then could he honestly say that he actually knows Yuushi at all?
"It's not something that I go around and talk about with other people, Gakuto." His voice drawled with that hick accent of his. Gakuto swore Yuushi kept it on purpose just to annoy him.
"I'm not just another person, Yuushi! I'm your boyfriend!"
"Gakuto…"
"Don't 'Gakuto' me, Yuushi!" He narrowed his blue eyes into a harsh glare, actually stomping his foot in his annoyance. "You don't talk to me about these things! You don't talk to me about anything except tennis, and the team, and making out! How can I think that I know you? I might as well call you 'Oshitari'!"
"Gakuto, don't be like that." He was frowning but Gakuto didn't care. He was pissed off. He had thought he was more important to Yuushi than that, but obviously not if Yuushi couldn't even talk to him about important things.
He had always thought Yuushi talked too much. He was always so eager to spill some sappy pick-up line or compliment him, but he never really talked about himself that much and they had known each other for six years! That's almost half their lives!
"Why shouldn't I be like this, Yuushi?! Huh? Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't be like this!"
"Because I honestly do love you, Gakuto."
He was brought to a halt. That's right. Yuushi had said that a long time ago, hadn't he? Yuushi really loved him… love wasn't something he thought Yuushi lie about. Hell, Yuushi loved love more than anything at all. He took it seriously. Even if he was a pervert and sometimes a bit of a slut, going around flirting with other people (which never failed to make Gakuto kick his ass and finally threaten him to never do it again unless he wanted his balls to be cut off—which he really didn't want to do. He loved Yuushi's balls).
Suddenly, arms were wrapped around him and he stiffened up again only to loosen up when he felt those slender fingers once more threading themselves in his hair. He couldn't help but lean into Yuushi, never being more comfortable than when his boyfriend holds him like that.
His anger slowly begins to dissipate and he clings onto him. Gakuto really wants to be with Yuushi forever, but he wonders if this relationship could actually last that long. They're not like Shishido and Ootori who are so obviously soul mates or even like Atobe and Jirou—a paring of which Gakuto will never understand how it came to pass.
He and Yuushi are just… he and Yuushi. He's hot headed and quick to anger. He yells a lot and apparently jumps too much. He's hyper and jealous and loud and annoying and he's never understood what Yuushi saw in him. He's the exact opposite of Oshitari Yuushi in fact. He's so much Yuushi's opposite, he wonders if they should even be able to work at all.
Oshitari Yuushi is quiet, calm, and collected. He's a romantic at heart, even if he is a bit of a pervert. But he's also passionate, even if you don't see it at first glance. He's the most passionate person Gakuto knows, with a flame that is small but burns far longer than large fire ever would.
Yuushi likes to make people think he couldn't care less. He's an unattached type of person, somebody who doesn't get involved too deeply in things. At least, that's what he appears to be, but Gakuto knows that none of that is true. Yuushi is cool-headed, but he can get annoyed easily if you push the right buttons. He likes making sly remarks and jokes that can slide under the surface unnoticed unless you listen in a certain way. His eyes are always full of a silent laughter, like he knows something you don't and Gakuto loves all that about him.
And then it hits Gakuto. He knows Yuushi. He's always known Yuushi. He knows things about Yuushi nobody else in the world could possibly know about him, because he's pretty damn sure Yuushi only lets him see those things.
It makes him feel special. Yuushi makes him feel special in a way that nobody else could ever make him feel. Shishido and Ootori are soul mates. Atobe and Jirou need each other. But he and Yuushi… he and Yuushi understood each other. Maybe Gakuto second-guessed himself sometimes, but he understood Yuushi. It's why he's never ended things between the two of them.
Yuushi needs somebody that he can be himself around, somebody he can show his many faults around and won't get kicked to the curb, because—actually—Yuushi is a pretty sensitive guy. Yuushi could seem like an arrogant jackass most of the time, and he really kind of is, but—for some reason—Gakuto gets the feeling that Yuushi's self-confidence is kind of shot to hell when it comes to making connections with people. It certainly isn't as far as his looks or tennis or abilities are concerned, but when it comes to connections… Yuushi distances himself.
And Yuushi needs somebody to reel him back in when he starts going off the deep end. He needs somebody to keep him in line, and Gakuto things that maybe he can be the person to do that for Yuushi.
No, he will be the person that will do that for Yuushi because he's not going to let anybody else sink their claws into what's his.
Yuushi is his. Yuushi has always been his. And Yuushi will always be his. He loves Yuushi more than anything in the world, and that's a bit of a big deal. When he was a first year watching the bespectacled hick play that rich jerk, he did not expect that he'd find himself in love with said hick in the future, but that's exactly what happened. Gakuto loved Yuushi, even if that Kansai dialect of his—AKA his hick speak—did get really annoying.
He couldn't see Yuushi managing without him, and—more to the point—he couldn't see himself managing without Yuushi. They understood each other. They needed each other. They were meant for each other—like soul mates.
And Gakuto is pretty sure Yuushi feels the same way he does. After all, Yuushi is a pretty passionate guy.