Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Written quickly, probably riddled with mistakes, and far too short. But it's the first thing I've turned out in well over a year that actually flowed and came to me, so I need it here. For me.
Strangers Again
Niou knew he wouldn't be better off if they'd never met. But it didn't stop him from feeling that way.
xxx
Nobody expected Yagyuu to go pro.
While he was part of a formidable doubles team, he wasn't an overall standout. He rarely played Yanagi, once played Sanada, and never took on Yukimura. His tennis was safe, and his focus was seemingly on his studies.
Yet somehow, though no one predicted it, Yagyuu came out of high school and into the pro circuit with little problem. He was welcomed by excited though surprised former teammates and never looked back.
Niou hated him for that. Niou hated him for a lot of things, really.
At one point in time, Niou and Yagyuu had been a team. More than doubles partners, they were each other; they knew one another inside and out. Shared their darkest secrets and, Niou had thought, their greatest dreams.
Apparently, Niou had been wrong.
Their final season of high school tennis had ended abruptly and then—that was it. Yagyuu didn't see Niou anymore. Yagyuu didn't answer his calls or reply to his messages. Yagyuu wouldn't even come around for a match or a movie.
Then, Yagyuu didn't tell Niou he was going pro. He didn't even tell Niou he was leaving Japan. Months later, sitting in the grimy dorm lounge and procrastinating on homework, Niou came across his former-partner's name in a tennis blog. That was when he learned.
Niou hated Yagyuu for that too.
But what Niou hated Yagyuu for most was that he… couldn't hate him for having been in his life. Couldn't truly wish he'd never met Yagyuu. Couldn't say that the partnership had been a waste of time. Couldn't even say that the pain he still felt, the dull throb in his chest that came up every time Yagyuu's name popped up in a forum post or flashed across his TV screen, was so consuming he wished they had never met.
Because, as much as he hated Yagyuu, as much knowing him hurt, he loved him too much. Yagyuu had made him a vastly different person and a much better person. He'd given him courage and dignity and self-respect. Instilled something of a work ethic in him. Made him laugh like nobody else, and ran with him through the rain. Heard him cry and swear and even moan. Been his first kiss that counted and his first fuck that mattered. Sat there calmly drinking tea the first time Niou told anyone that he loved them.
Niou hated Yagyuu for leaving, but he'd be lying through his teeth if he said he wished they were strangers again.
Critiques/criticism/anything is appreciated. Also I resumed my rewatch, so if you wanna talk tenipuri, lemme know. Thanks for reading!