Ange: Sorry for the uber delay

Disclaimer: I still fail at tennis…


Behind Shielded Spectacles

Chapter Three: Intervention


Kaidoh was out on his afternoon run trying to not think about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. Usually his morning jogging did it for him but this weekend it wasn't enough. Of course if it wasn't for a few of his fellow teammates he wouldn't be having this problem. After helping Momo settle Taka-sempai down on Friday he attempted to catch up to Inui-sempai again.

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And again he failed.

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Fuji-sempai had him and Momo tag along with him for the rest of the day. If he didn't know any better Kaidoh would think that he was preventing him from finding out about Inui. The next day at the sacrifice of his personal tennis practice regime, he scoured the town looking for Inui but without success. He even stopped by his house but he wasn't there. Of course he peeked through the windows instead of ringing the doorbell but he would've gotten the same results either way.

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And now it was Sunday so he decided to go running to take his mind off the whole debacle. But yet he couldn't stop imagining different scenarios where he could get to the bottom of this fiasco. Come tomorrow he'll confront Inui-sempai about it during school. While Kaidoh was contemplating how exactly to go about it he came across someone passed out under the bridge. Despite his looks Kaidoh is really a caring person so he couldn't help but rush over to offer his help.

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Imagine his shock when that stranger turned out to be a really familiar face.

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"I…Inui- sempai?" he wheezed still out of breath from his run.

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The slumbering sempai groggily woke up at the sound of his name. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes his hand reached out for his nearby glasses. Kaidoh hurriedly handed them to him all the while wondering what his sempai was doing sleeping under a bridge.

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"Thank you," he replied his voice showing no signs of drowsiness. "Ah, Kaoru is it?"

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Kaidoh blushed. Not even his family calls him that anymore. Why did he have to have such a girly name? "Actually I prefer Kaidoh."

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"Ah yes of course," Inui noted as he stood up to work the kinks out of his body.

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"What are you doing here?" Kaidoh asked unable to hold it in any longer.

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"Well it is a nice day out."

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"Nice enough to pass out under a bridge?"

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"It's quite an experience you should try it out one day yourself."

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This wasn't getting him anywhere. If he wanted to get any information he'll just have to be blunt about it. "I'm worried about you Inui-sempai."

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"Any reason in particular?" His sempai asked lightly…too lightly.

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"You've been showing up to practice with baggy eyes, you seem sluggish at times, and you go off to strange parts of town on Fridays and nobody hears from you until the beginning of the school week."

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"Why Kaoru, have you been following me?"

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"Ir's Kaidoh," he muttered blushing.

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"What was that?"

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"…Nothing."

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"Why this sudden interest though? I would have penned you as a person who worries more about tennis than teammates."

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"Because you interest me," Kaidoh answered with a deepening blush.

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"Really now," Inui mused closely looking at Kaidoh. With such a straightforward gaze he couldn't break away drawn into the reflected glare of Inui's lenses, "well your interest is starting to interest me…"

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"Huh?"

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But Inui broke the stare as he began to gather up his things. Instead of answering Kaidoh he started to talk to himself too low that Kaidoh could only catch snippets of.

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"…time to stop after all"

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"….could be interesting"

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"….such good data too"

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This did nothing but confused Kaidoh even more leaving him with more questions than before, "Inui-sempai…?"

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"Oh you're still here," Inui responded surprised. Kaidoh knew something was definitely up then because nothing surprised Inui…nothing. "At lunchtime tomorrow meet me at the rooftop." Inui turned to leave, "Now if you'll excuse me…"

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"I…Inui!" Kaidoh shouted out such in a haste that he forgot the usual honorific. "I mean Inui-sempai, will you answer my questions then?"

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But instead of answering he just twitched his lips as if hiding a great secret from him and knowing Inui, he probably is. "Have a good day, Kaoru-kun."

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And this time Kaidoh didn't mind being called Kaoru.

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But only if it was from his Inui-sempai.

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A/N: This had been sitting on my laptop half done so I decided it was a good time as any to finish it. Don't really like how it came out. I know the dialogue sucks. Sorry for the ooc Kaidoh and Inui, it's been awhile.