Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.
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Chapter
Two
二
After changing, Kaidoh and Momoshiro headed out towards the courts together, with rackets in hand.
Upon reaching the gate entrance, they marveled at vastness of the courts. There must've been at least 10 courts. Way more than what they were used to. Looking around, they saw people stretching, rallying and some were just talking in groups. Kaidoh's eyes wandered to the people rallying on the courts and smirked. High school level tennis wasn't that high. Maybe the Regulars position wasn't going to be that much a challenge as he thought.
"Oi, Mamushi, let's go," shouted Momoshiro. Kaidoh growled in annoyance as Momoshiro slung an arm around Kaidoh's neck, urging him to move. They walked past a group of third years, from the look of their uniforms, who were talking in hushed tones and pointing to them. Kaidoh ignored them.
"This is going to be easy. Since Tezuka-buchou is captain once again, we'll make the team easily," Momoshiro said.
"Kaidoh-san! Momo-chan! Over here." The two looked behind them and spotted four of their classmates. There was one guy waving his hand in the air and Kaidoh figured he was the one who called their names. Was it Sei? Or was it Kawasaki? Maybe his name was Gen…
Kaidoh inwardly sighed. He was starting to pick up some of Echizen's habits and the effects were showing.
Kaidoh nudged Momoshiro and pushed him off of him. He started to walk but noticed his shoes were untied, so he bent down to retie them. Kaidoh was vaguely thinking about how worn out his shoes were. Maybe he'd go get some new ones some time this week.
As he was tying up his other shoe, a shadow cast upon him. Looking up, Kaidoh noticed it was the same third years he saw when they were walking in.
"Look at what we've got boys, more from the famous Seigaku junior high team."
"I don't understand why everyone keeps praising them. They aren't that great," one guy said.
"A bunch of cocky bastards if you asked me," another remarked. Kaidoh mentally growled. These guys were asking for it.
Momoshiro was silent as Kaidoh got back up, brushing dirt off his knees. Ignoring them, they tried to walk around them, but one guy blocked their way. Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at him.
"Don't ignore us when we're talking to you, freshmen," the guy with blue hair spat out.
Suddenly the courts became silent as everyone stopped whatever they were doing to watch the scene.
Kaidoh ignored them and tried to move around them again. They just kept blocking each of his attempts. Kaidoh clenched his fist after the fourth time they blocked his way. He was just itching to punch the guy in front of him.
Momoshiro could feel the irritation coming from the bandana-clad boy in front of him. He placed a hand on Kaidoh's shoulder as a comforting gesture. "Calm down, we don't want to get in trouble. You know how Tezuka-buchou gets…" he muttered into Kaidoh's ear. That calmed Kaidoh down enough for him to think clearly. Unclenching his fist, he turned around.
"Not so fast. We're not done yet, freshmen."
Kaidoh gasped out in pain as one of them held onto his shoulder in a death grip. He turned around and pushed the guy's arm off of him.
The guy that had grabbed Kaidoh, who had silver hair, studied them for a bit then chuckled. "These two look weak. I bet you we could beat them in less than 5 minutes."
"I'd like to see you try," Kaidoh retorted.
The guy with jet black hair flared up. "Bastard, watch what you're saying." Fists raised, he made to move towards Kaidoh but the guy with blue hair stopped him. Obviously he was the leader of the group.
The guy that grabbed Kaidoh rolled his eyes and stepped up in front of their leader. Harshly, he shoved Kaidoh in the shoulder. "Rule number one – Respect your elders, freshmen."
Kaidoh hissed and made to charge at him, but Momoshiro held him back. "Calm down!" He growled.
"Don't think you'll get on the team easily just because you have connections."
The blue-haired guy stepped up to Kaidoh's face. "Rule number two, and don't forget – freshmens don't play in their first year."
Kaidoh's face grew red with rage. Thrashing in Momoshiro's hold he blindly threw punches into the air. The guy ducked back and laughed along with his other friends.
Momoshiro winced as one of Kaidoh's elbows was jabbed into his side. "Oh just you wait. We'll be on the team for sure, but not because of connections – " Momoshiro smirked, " – But because we kicked your sorry asses!"
They stopped laughing and narrowed their eyes on Momoshiro and Kaidoh. The guy with blue hair lost his temper and started towards them with his fists raised. "Why you – "
Momoshiro's grip slackened and Kaidoh broke free in time to stop the other guy's punch in his open palm. Kaidoh brushed it aside and made to throw a punch at him. His senpai ducked and came from below and grabbed a fistful of Kaidoh's front as Kaidoh grabbed a fistful of his shirt too. Irritated, Kaidoh brought his face within inches of the other guys' so that only he could hear what he was about to say.
"Watch what you're saying. Senpai or not, I will knock you out if necessary," Kaidoh hissed.
"Ne, ne, first day and we're getting in trouble already?"
Momoshiro turned around at the sound of a feminine voice. "F-Fuji-senpai!"
There in front of him stood Fuji Syusuke, the ever-smiling, petit genius. He smiled at Momoshiro and cocked his head a bit to look past him to the two boys still locked in a staring contest.
His smile was still in place but Momoshiro could feel some sort of chill emitting from his senpai. "I advise you to let go of Kaidoh, Mimasaki-senpai." If you know what's good for you. The unspoken threat spoke volumes throughout the silent courts.
Mimasaki tsked and roughly let go of Kaidoh and vice versa. He motioned towards his friends and they walked past the trio, not before purposely bumping into both Momoshiro and Kaidoh's shoulders.
Rubbing his shoulder, Momoshiro realized just how silent the courts became. Looking around, he noticed they had attracted everyone's attention.
Fuji sensed his uneasiness and turned around, giving everyone a smile. They quickly scurried back to what they were doing, for fear of receiving the wrath of the genius.
Returning his attention of his two kouhais, Fuji smiled, "Long time no see, Kaidoh, Momoshiro."
"Ah…" the two kouhais replied. Kaidoh rubbed his shoulder a bit and kept his gaze to his right.
"Don't worry about them, I'll be sure to tell Tezuka about this little incident," Fuji said before returning back into the building behind them.
As Fuji was walking away, the two stood there dreading their punishments. Imagining an angry Tezuka and a sadistic Fuji, they shuddered. Nothing good was going to come from this. They simultaneously sighed and feel into a gray depression.
"Ano…Kaidoh-san? Momo-chan?"
They broke out of their depression and looked up. The one that had called them over earlier was standing in front of a couple of other fellow freshmen. He was standing in front of them with one hand behind his head and smiling nervously.
AND KAIDOH STILL COULDN'T REMEMBER THE GUYS' NAME!
"Lee-kun! I didn't know you played tennis." But apparently Momoshiro remembered.
Kaidoh sweat dropped. He remembered now. Lee Hiroki was his name. The guy was sort of…unique? His appearance was completely different from typical Japanese teens. But Kaidoh guessed it was the Chinese blood in him. He remembered him saying something about being half Japanese and half Chinese when they went through the introductions on the first day of school. Kaidoh hated it. Him and Momoshiro had gotten the most applaud and recognition from their classmates. And Kaidoh had only said the same as everyone else – his name, his previous school, and one of his hobbies.
Kaidoh sighed. High school was so troublesome.
Gathering his thoughts, he refocused on Lee Hiroki. Lee had short black spiky hair but his bangs were longer and were dyed a golden color and gelled back. His skin has a nice tan from tennis, just like Momoshiro and Kaidoh did. He was shorter than Kaidoh and Momoshiro and his build wasn't like Inui-senpai but Kaidoh figured he wasn't all that bad.
Lee turned towards Kaidoh and smiled at him. Kaidoh wondered what kind of tennis he played.
"Ne, if you're looking to get revenge on him, let me know. I'll hook you up," said Lee, grinning. Kaidoh stared quizzically at him while his friends sighed behind him.
Lee turned around. "What?" he exclaimed.
One of them shook their head tiredly but his eyes held some sort of amusement when they looked at Kaidoh. "Don't listen to this guy. He'll get you in trouble– "
"If I get caught!" Lee injected. The guy chuckled and waved him off. "Yeah, yeah."
"Don't 'yeah, yeah' me, Yamazaki! My plans are flawless!" declared Lee.
"And we all know how 'flawless' the last one was when you were sent to the dean," another one said.
"Hey! That was a miscalculation!" he defended.
Smirking, Yamazaki placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, a few more of those 'miscalculations' and you'll be thrown out of school."
Everyone laughed as Lee huffed and crossed his arms, muttering obscenities under his breath. Even Kaidoh cracked a smile. This was going to be interesting
Kaidoh let out a hiss as he flopped down on the grass next to his senpai. Digging through his bag, he took out his towel and water bottle. After wiping his sweat, he let it rest around his shoulders and took a swig from his water.
"I heard about your, ah, encounter with Morimoto-san," Inui stated, without look up from his notebook.
Kaidoh lowered his water bottle and gave Inui a bemused look. "Who?"
Inui scribbled something into his notebook before snapping it shut. Turning away from Kaidoh, Inui dug into his bag and turned back to Kaidoh with another notebook. Flipping through the book, he came to the page he was looking for and read out loud to Kaidoh, "Morimoto Kyoya. Third year. 17 years old. Grey eyes. Blue hair. 180 cm. Blood type B. Baseline player. Favorite subject is Japanese History and is involved in gangster activities. Has two brothers – Morimoto Kei, 22 years old, a college drop out, and Morimoto Shinji, 13 years old, attends Hyotei Junior High, and involved in the basketball club."
Inui snapped his notebook shut and glanced up at Kaidoh. Pushing up his glasses, he chuckled a bit. "Too much information?"
Kaidoh was gapping at Inui and nodded dumbly. Way too much information.
Snapping out of his trance he shot Inui an irritated look and pinch his nose. "Geez senpai, I didn't ask for his biography."
Inui smiled. "I'll try to remember that next time." Kaidoh nodded and took another sip from his water. The two of them sat in comfortable silence as they watch the sun set over the bridge.
After a few moments, Kaidoh heard Inui shifting around. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Inui place his notebook, pen, and towel back into his bag and leaned back on his arms. After that, the two teens remained still and silently enjoying the sunset.
"Stay away from Morimoto," Inui said, breaking the silence around them.
Kaidoh turned his head to Inui and cracked an eye open. The two teens were currently lying on their backs and doing some stargazing as darkness fell.
After the sunset, Kaidoh felt lazy and decided to lounge around for a little while longer. No, the world isn't going to explode. Kaidoh Kaoru does get lazy once in a while.
Inui was startled when Kaidoh confessed that he was feeling lazy and was prompted to write the new data in his notebook. Kaidoh scowled and ignored the furious scratching of the pen his senpai was making and instead, focused on the stars and moon appearing in the night sky.
"Why?" Kaidoh replied before closing his eye again.
Inui silently sat back up, bringing his knees to his chest. "He's dangerous, Kaidoh. Stay away from him."
Kaidoh snorted. "Dangerous? Please."
Inui regarded Kaidoh with a serious look. One Kaidoh failed to notice since he had his eyes closed. "I'm serious, Kaidoh. You don't know what he's capable of," said Inui warningly.
Kaidoh sighed and cracked an eye open. Noticing the serious look on his senpai's face he opened both eyes and sat up, crossing his legs.
"I can take care of myself, senpai," said Kaidoh warily.
Inui gave him a disbelieving look. "As much as I'd like to believe, I doubt you can. Morimoto is a dangerous guy and he has connections with dangerous people," Inui said frustratingly.
Kaidoh sighed. He knew his senpai was looking out for him but wasn't he exaggerating? This guy, Morimoto, or whatever, can't be as dangerous as he says.
Yawning, Kaidoh stretched himself and shivered as he felt his shirt ride up and the cold night air brushing his skin. Adjusting his shirt, he got up and brushed off the bits of dirt and grass on him. Looking down to pick up his bag, he noticed that his senpai looked sort of flushed. Concerned, he reached over and placed his hand over Inui's forehead.
Kaidoh felt Inui stiffen under his touch but ignored it. Instead, he frowned as he felt his senpai's warm skin. "Senpai, you should put on a jacket and get home soon. I think you might be coming down with a fever," said Kaidoh as he withdrew his hand away from Inui. Turning his back on Inui, Kaidoh heard a tiny groan coming from the older teen. Thinking his senpai was whining, he ignored it and picked up his bag, waiting for Inui to get up too.
But Inui didn't get up. Instead he grabbed Kaidoh's wrist to get his attention. Curious, Kaidoh looked down at Inui.
"Promise me you'll be careful."
It took a while for Kaidoh to register what Inui meant. Heaving a sigh, he gave into his senpai's plead.
Offering him a tiny smile, Kaidoh nodded. "I promise."
FAQs
What's up with Morimoto? And is Inui exaggerating or is he really dangerous?
Well, you guys will find out in later chapters. But the little
infomation/data Inui had on him should give you a clue as to if he's
really exaggerating or not.
Will Hiroi and Miyazaki be in this too?
Yes. But they won't have as big as a part as in the original.
