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.

Upside Down: 逆さまに
Chapter Seven


Kaidoh was lying on his back on his bed; hands folded behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He was surrounded by the darkness of his room, and the only source of light was coming from his digital clock on his bedside table. His eyes flickered to the glowing numbers on his right before returning to the ceiling. He'd been in the same position ever since he first came home from the riverside. And that was six hours ago.

It was nine o'clock now and his stomach growled, protesting for the lack of food. Kaidoh ignored it and continued to stare up at his ceiling. He had skipped both lunch and dinner and proceeded to spend the rest of his evening locked up in his room. There were so many thoughts running through his head that he felt like his head was going to burst any minute now.

Kaidoh let out a tiny hiss and closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. When he relaxed a bit, the image of his senpai popped into his head. The pure look of confusion and hurt, etched on his face was enough to make Kaidoh's chest clench. He hated it when Inui got hurt, when it happened, and even more when he realized he was the one who caused it. He hated himself for it.

Kaidoh growled. He shouldn't have been so rough with his senpai. It was his fault that he didn't understand. As much as Inui would've liked to think, he didn't know everything about Kaidoh. He couldn't know. And Kaidoh would make sure that no one else ever found out what happened. He didn't need the pity and he could definitely live without the constant disgusting looks.

Besides, after all these years, he should've put it all behind him. Kaidoh remembered seeing him on the subway once sometime a couple years ago. He didn't even recognize Kaidoh. He was staring right at him and he didn't recognize him! That just shows that he had put everything behind him. And what was worst, he was with him. Kaidoh couldn't forgive him for what he did to him. To them…

Kaidoh's stomach gave another growl and this time, he gave in. Getting up, he padded across his room and opened his door. Kaidoh's eyes snapped shut as the flood of light from the hallway hit his eyes. Shielding his eyes a bit, he tried adjusting them back to the light and walked slowly downstairs. Once down, he headed for the kitchen, where he found his mother washing the dishes, humming a tune to herself. Sensing his presence, she turned around and gave him a small smile.

"Feeling better?" she asked. Kaidoh nodded and headed towards the refrigerator, looking for something to fulfill his hunger.

As he was heating up his food, the doorbell rang.

"Kaoru, could you get that?" came Hozumi's voice her room. Kaidoh turned off the stove and went to answer the door. Once opened, he stared at the guy smirking in front of him. And without thinking, he tried to slam the door shut. That is, until a hand stopped him and tried to push it back open.

Kaidoh hissed as the door revealed his visitor again. Crossing his arms, he stood in the doorway, refusing to let him in. "What do you want?"

The guy's smirk widened. "Respect freshman. I thought we'd have a nice talk."

Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at him. Morimoto was the last guy he ever wanted to see. "No," and made to close the door once again.

Morimoto's hand shot out and held Kaidoh's wrist in a tight grip. "Of course we will," his eyes narrowed and he moved in to whisper into Kaidoh's ear, "Unless you want your little secret to leak out, hm?"

Kaidoh's heartbeats sped up. He knew he was probably bluffing. There was no way Morimoto knew about his past. There was no way…AND HOW THE HELL DID HE EVEN KNOW WHERE HE LIVED?!

Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at him and yanked he hand back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Morimoto smirked. "Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about." And then he held up a photo.

Kaidoh paled at the sight. He tried to snatch the picture back, but Morimoto quickly put it out of his reach. Kaidoh glared at the boy in front of him. How did he get the photo? Kaidoh wasn't even aware there was a picture. What the hell was he going to do now?! He couldn't let this get out.

Panicking, Kaidoh lunged at the older boy trying to retrieve the picture back. Shocked at Kaidoh's antics, Morimoto stumbled back a bit, but managed to keep the younger one at arm's length. Kaidoh was still swinging his arms, but his fists kept hitting air. He got even more enraged when the older teen started chuckling.

With the distraction, Kaidoh ducked out of Morimoto's arm and landed a punch to his side. Morimoto swayed to his right a bit before regaining his composure, his face hardening. He quickly took a swing and his fist connected with Kaidoh's jaw, sending his back. Kaidoh fell back and landed on the stairs. "That's enough!" Kaidoh sent Morimoto a death glare.

As he was getting up, Kaidoh heard his mother's voice. "Kaoru, who's at the door?"

Kaidoh stood up and wiped his mouth. Morimoto raised an eyebrow at him, as if asking, 'Well?' Kaidoh growled.

"It's just someone from school," Kaidoh hesitated. "I'll be going out for a bit." Morimoto grinned triumphantly as Kaidoh reluctantly closed the door. Hissing, Kaidoh walked past Morimoto, out on to the sidewalk and turned right, walking towards the end of the block.

Kaidoh looked over his shoulder, seeing Morimoto following him, with hands in his pockets and keeping his gaze on the floor. What the hell did he want with him?

Once they reached the park, Kaidoh found it to be empty. He looked at his watch. 9:30. No wonder. All the usually children playing here would be sleeping by now. Kaidoh sighed and went over to the park bench and sat down. Morimoto sat down next to him, on the other end of the bench of course.

"So what do you want?" growled Kaidoh. He rubbed his arm a bit. It was getting pretty chilly and the t-shirt and shorts weren't helping.

Morimoto kept his gaze forward. "It wouldn't kill you to show some respect, freshman."

"It wouldn't kill you to stop calling me freshman." Silence. "And I only show respect to those who deserve it," said Kaidoh after a thought.

Morimoto chuckled darkly. "They were right. You are a tough one."

Kaidoh refused to say anything about that and just reserved to glaring at him.

"What do you want?" he said again.

Morimoto leaned forward on his knees and looked Kaidoh over.

"Fine, let's get to the point then. It's simple actually. All I need you to do is do what I say," said Morimoto.

"Excuse me?" Kaidoh narrowed his eyes. "And if I don't?"

Morimoto grinned. "Then these…" He took out the same photo once again but this time, there were more and held them between his fingers, "will be all around the school campus."

Kaidoh's eyes flashed once he saw them. There were more!

His arm snapped up, trying to grab them, but once again, Morimoto kept it out of his reach. Then he flicked Kaidoh in the forehead. "Not so fast, there."

Rubbing his forehead, he glared at Morimoto. "What do you want for them?"

Morimoto smiled. "I told you want I wanted. You gonna agree or not?"

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"Mmm, call it whatever you want," said Morimoto, smirking.

Kaidoh let out another hiss. What could he do? He was being blackmailed. There was no way he was getting out of this. And this guy was 'dangerous', as Inui had labeled him. What if he wants him to do some sort of shady business?

"Don't worry, all you'll have to do is my homework, clean my house, the works…nothing life threatening, I assure you," said Morimoto lightly.

Kaidoh studied Morimoto for a while. Why was the guy so friendly all of a sudden? He wasn't so gun-ho about being friends when they first met. In fact, Kaidoh was still itching to punch the older teen's lights out, but refrained from doing so. From his earlier experience, he knew he stood no chance what's so ever against him.

Morimoto caught Kaidoh's eye and smirked. Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at him. What the hell was the bastard up to? What was he going to do to him? Was this revenge for earlier in the year?

Kaidoh ran a hand through his hair. He had no choice but to agree. He couldn't let the pictures spread, and he certainly didn't want to live through all the pain and torture once again. He bowed his head in defeat. He had to agree. And he'd have to be careful about what happened from here on out…

Hissing in defeat, Kaidoh agreed and thus, sealing his fate with the devil. Morimoto got up and dust himself off, preparing to leave.

And yet, as Kaidoh sat there, something was bothering him…

Realizing what it was, his head snapped up, glaring at Morimoto's back. "How the hell did you know where I lived?!"

Morimoto didn't bother looking back. He only raised his hand in goodbye and continued walking. Kaidoh growled in frustration at the lack of answer. He didn't want to know anyways!

Getting up, he looked up at the full moon. He had no idea what he was getting himself into


Once again, club practice had been hard, especially on the Regulars, considering they had a game coming up soon.

Kaidoh walked out of the showers with a towel around his waist and his hair dripping wet. Ignoring the idiots horsing around in the locker room, he headed straight for his locker, which was all the way at the other end of the room, with the other Regulars.

Once Kaidoh turned the corner, he noticed Inui had already finished with his shower and was changing too. Kaidoh felt his face heat up once he realized that Inui was staring at him just a bit too long. Feeling too naked for his liking, Kaidoh quickly walked past Inui to his locker and yanked it open.

Of course…how could he forget that his senpai was gay?

Kaidoh froze in horror. Something just registered in his head. Inui was gay…and the club was for guys only, so does that mean…his senpai…checks out his teammates…?

Kaidoh jumped when he heard someone slamming their locker shut behind him. Feeling more and more uncomfortable and jittery, Kaidoh rapidly got dressed. In his haste, he missed buttoning his buttons on his blazer once again. He didn't notice it until Inui awkwardly pointed it out. Seriously…he was beginning to think that he was the only one that ever got these damn buttons wrong! There were only three for god's sake!

Not bothering to tie his shoes, Kaidoh just slipped them on and grabbed his bag, heading towards the exit. Hopefully he'd be able to leave without anymore incidents with his senpai.

"Kaidoh, wait!"

Kaidoh slowed, pondering about how he was such an unlucky bastard. Why God?! Why?!

Inui placed a hand on Kaidoh's shoulder and immediately regretted it. Instantly, Kaidoh flinched away and Inui resorted to stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Are you doing anything right now?" asked Inui, pushing up his glasses.

Kaidoh tilted his head a bit towards Inui, making it look like he was looking at him, but was really looking past him. "Um, I – "

"I thought we could practice at the street courts," continued Inui.

"I don't – "

"Maybe we could work on our doubles game."

"Senpai, I – "

"And I think you've avoided me enough," stated Inui. Kaidoh stopped walking. They had gotten outside and Kaidoh had to shield his eyes from the sun. He avoided looking at his senpai and chose to look at the courts, where he found Fuji and Tezuka rallying.

"I think you're wrong on that. I wasn't avoiding you." Lies.

Inui stopped and turned around, noticing Kaidoh had stopped too. He raised an eyebrow at Kaidoh. "Oh really?"

Kaidoh didn't answer. He was lying. He had been avoiding Inui for a week for more than the reasons he's thinking of. Mostly because he couldn't let Inui worry about him and certainly couldn't let him know of the deal he had with Morimoto, since he was so disapproved and all. When Kaidoh remained silent, Inui's eyes flickered towards his current interest before returning back to him. Inui let out a big sigh.

Inui opened his mouth, "Look, I think we need to talk – "

"Kaidoh."

Kaidoh turned around towards the voice. Behind him was the bastard Morimoto, leaning casually against the clubhouse, looking as disheveled as ever. His dress shirt was untucked, his blazer wasn't buttoned and his dark blue hair was just as messy. Then again, it always was.

Kaidoh narrowed his eyes in annoyance as Morimoto pushed himself off the wall and walked past him. Kaidoh watched him go until he stopped short and turned around, raising an eyebrow. And then, as if he noticed Inui, he flashed him a smug look.

"Come."

Muttering obscenities under his breath, Kaidoh walked past Inui and reluctantly went to Morimoto's side. He turned around when he felt someone tug on to his wrist.

"Where are you going?" questioned Inui.

Kaidoh shrugged Inui's hold off. "None of your business."

"Wait!" Inui grabbed him again. "What are you doing with him?"

Kaidoh pushed Inui's hand off of him. "I said it's none of your business," said Kaidoh roughly.

He heard some chuckling behind him and knew that the bastard was enjoying every bit of this. At least someone was having fun. Kaidoh inwardly cursed at himself. He knew what he just said was harsh and by the look of Inui's expression, he had hurt his senpai too. He hated himself more and more every passing minute. Turning around, he was stopped once again when a familiar hand latched itself onto Kaidoh's arm. Turning back to Inui, Kaidoh was prepared to glare at Inui, but couldn't when he saw his senpai.

Inui's eyes were clouded over with an emotion Kaidoh couldn't identify. "Kaidoh…please, don't…he's – " but Kaidoh wasn't listening. He didn't want to listen. He had an idea what he was getting into and he didn't need Inui to be babying him. He was old enough to take care of himself.

Shrugging Inui off, for the last time, he quickly walked toward Morimoto's back, ignoring Inui's calls.

Kaidoh chuckled darkly to himself. Wow, isn't this familiar…this was the second time he was walking away from Inui and a little voice in his head was telling him it wasn't going to be the last.

Man…who knew you could hate yourself this much?


FAQs

Why does Kaidoh hate himself so much?
It's because he doesn't like it when people hurt his friends and family, and since Inui is considered as a close friend, he hates himself for hurting Inui with his avoidence and coldness.

How often are your updates?! You took forever for this update!
Sorry about that. One word - Distractions. When it doesn't happen, I usually update once a week.

Why is Morimoto so different from when he first appeared?
Yes, about that...he seemed rough around the edges, but in this chapter he seemed to be level-headed and somewhat nice. (Well kinda) It's because he wants Kaidoh to do something for him and even though he's blackmailing him into doing it, I guess, it's just...well...you'll learn more about his personality later on.