Disclaimer: The masterpiece that is The Prince Of Tennis firmly belongs to genius of Konomi Takeshi. Chapter Seven
That Wednesday morning saw a slightly emptier living room than usual. Yanagi had called up the day before to say that he was staying that night at Inui's to run a few experiments and Niou and Marui were both in Marui's room. After passing out yesterday, Niou had woken up with a slight temperature though nowhere near Marui's. The rest of the team had forced him upstairs into Marui's room where it was slightly warmer. Marui had his own bed whilst the comfiest futon was dragged upstairs for Niou who also got the extra blankets.
Niou scrunched up his face and reluctantly opened his eyes. He sat up and put a hand to his forehead. It might not have been the best way to check his temperature but he did feel normal again. At least he looked better than Marui. Niou sympathetically stroked the top of Marui's head. The boy's forehead was sweaty and he was panting heavily, his cheeks coloured a deep pink that almost matched his hair.
"Good to see you awake." Niou looked up and saw Yagyuu entering the room. He turned his gaze back to Marui.
"Hey Yagyuu." He greeted quietly, one hand resting against Marui's uncomfortably warm cheeks. Niou jumped slightly when a hand placed itself against his forehead but relaxed when he realised that it was just his doubles partner. Yagyuu hmm'ed a little before retracting his hand.
"Your temperature is back to normal." He confirmed as he handed Niou a bowl of porridge. He accepted it wordlessly and began to eat mechanically. "It's not your fault, you know."
"But it is. Even if it was only to get a drink, I shouldn't have left him. I haven't seen him that scared since Yukimura collapsed." Niou sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "Also, some of the things he said when I got back confused me." Yagyuu raised an eyebrow.
"What things?" He asked. Niou gave him a quick run down of what was said. Yagyuu nodded slowly. "Well, I'm not completely sure how to say this but we looked at Marui-kun's family album and, if the photos were anything to go by, his parents ignored him from just before he turned five to when he was about eleven and that even now they don't pay him that much attention." Niou's eyes widened a little bit and he looked even guiltier. "Don't worry about it, Niou-kun. Do you want to come downstairs to finish breakfast or would you prefer to stay up here?"
"I'll stay here." Niou said as he sat down at the end of Marui's bed. Yagyuu nodded and left the room. Niou looked down at the lumpy oatmeal and suddenly didn't feel very hungry. He set it down on Marui's bedside table and looked out of the window. The storm from yesterday was still going on, random flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder filled the sky. Niou looked aimlessly outside before some wriggling from Marui broke him out of his trance. He looked at Marui who was writhing in his bed, whimpering every time the thunder crashed. Niou lay down next to Marui and drew him into his arms, murmuring soft nonsenses into his ear. Marui still shivered but he calmed down. Niou felt his eyes growing heavy as he listened to Marui's soft, slightly unsteady breathing and he reluctantly let them close.
He was woken up several hours later by Akaya. He opened his eyes and glared up at the boy shaking him awake. He sat up, working out the stiffness in his neck and shivering slightly at the cool air. Akaya handed him a blanket. Niou accepted it and wrapped it around his shoulders.
"If you keep sleeping now then you won't be able to sleep tonight." Akaya said as he sat down on the edge of the bed and handed him a sandwich. Niou took it and tucked in hungrily. "That's what you get for skipping breakfast."
"Shut up, brat." Niou said though it didn't contain any real bite. He took another bite of the sandwich and swallowed, looking at Marui. "How has he been doing?"
"I'm not completely sure but Jackal-senpai said that his fever has gone down. Also, Yanagi-senpai phoned and said he would be staying at his friend's house until a cure is made." Akaya informed him. "Poor Marui-senpai. Niou-senpai, you knew him when he was younger, right?" Niou nodded.
"Yeah, why?" He asked.
"Do you have any photos of that time? I was feeling sorry for Marui-senpai and 'Mura-buchou suggested making him a photo album with the pictures of him with us." Akaya explained, looking a little sad. "I still can't believe that his parents ignored him so much." Niou sighed and leant back against the wall.
"I couldn't either but the more I think about, the more I remember his parents ignoring him." Niou said. "I always put it down to them making sure the twins didn't get in the way or something when guests were there but when I think about it more carefully, even when Marui was misbehaving and playing tricks with me his parents ignored him."
"You were younger then, though. You were less observant then." Akaya reasoned. Niou nodded. "What was Marui-senpai like when he was younger?"
"Really shy." Niou smirked slightly at Akaya's obvious surprise.
"Eh? Marui-senpai? Shy?" Akaya questioned disbelievingly. Niou nodded.
"He was also a wimp. Even though when we were younger he was taller than me and even though he was the oldest in the class, he was the one that always who got bullied and I was always the one who protected him. He was a right crybaby." Niou grinned to himself as the memories came back. "He was also really easily pleased. I remember when we were nine and he was playing his first real tennis match against me. He lost 6-2 but he was still ecstatic about the fact that he had won one game, let alone two. He smiled for about a week afterwards."
"That doesn't sound like Marui-senpai." Akaya said amazed.
"Yeah, I know." Niou said. "He changed when we entered middle school though. He suddenly had a lot more confidence and didn't need me to look after him so much. Since I had more free time, I started to play pranks and since I knew what annoyed Marui, most of the tricks I played were on him and the love/hate relationship that you know us to now have was born."
"When you entered in middle school? That's right after Marui-senpai's started to pay him some attention again, if the photos are anything to go by." Akaya realised. "Definitely not a coincidence." Niou nodded as he placed the plate on the table next to his uneaten porridge.
"Seems like all those scientific studies were right about something." Niou said as he brushed the crumbs off his shirt. "Anyway, you said something about wanting photos? I've got some under my bed. I can get them for you later if you want me to or you could ask my brother to brave going into my room. Just tell him to get my photo box and pick what you want. There aren't any embarrassing photos and I know what's there so don't think of nicking any for blackmail." Akaya nodded.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." He said dryly. "By the way, why did you call Marui-senpai by his first name yesterday? Did you call him that when you were younger?"
"Nosy brat. I called him 'Bunta' yesterday to calm him down. He wanted his mum and it would be weird if his mum didn't call him by his first name." Niou explained. "I did call him Bunta when we were younger but we stopped calling each other by our first names when we entered middle school, though he still sometimes calls me 'Haru, though not recently." Akaya nodded as he gathered the crockery gathered on the bedside table and opened the door.
"I'll go and get those photos now. See you later." Akaya made to leave before doubling back for a moment. "And Niou-senpai? I think you should start calling Marui-senpai 'Bunta' again. You two are good friends and it seems sad to make people think otherwise." Niou nodded absent-mindedly and Akaya left.
Niou sighed as he let the blanket drop from his shoulders and pool round his waist. He wouldn't mind calling Marui by his first name again but he felt bad for not noticing the signs sooner. He was supposed to be Marui's best friend but he had still no idea. But, Niou thought, the saddest thing was probably the fact that some part of Marui still believed his parents wanted him and that Marui still wanted his parents. That much had been made clear by Marui's feverish talk. Despite what his teammates thought, neither Niou nor Marui had slept straight through the day. Marui had woken up several times whimpering for his parents, too delirious to notice that it was Niou holding him and comforting him. Niou would've given up on his parents a long time ago if they had acted anything like Marui's had.
Niou snapped out of his trance-like state as Marui started to writhe and mumble, whimpering slightly. Niou moved a little closer to comfort him and was surprised to hear his name being said.
"Marui…" He whispered, gently picking Marui up. This proved a bad move as the sudden movement made Marui gasp and the sudden rush of air irritated his sore throat and sent him into a coughing fit. Niou rubbed his back and reached for a glass of water, his expression slightly panicky. He guided the water to Marui's lips who gratefully gulped it down, his coughing starting to subside.
"Thank you, Niou…" Marui rasped out. Niou nodded, the hand on Marui's back moving to his forehead as Niou checked his temperature.
"You're welcome." He said distractedly. "Well, it seems your temperature has gone down a bit but you've still got one. You're certainly not delirious anymore though." Marui weakly pushed the hand away and looked up at Niou.
"Have you been looking after me all day?" He said, his voice sounding terribly scratchy and hurting too the point where Marui winced.
"If you're throat hurts then don't talk." Niou reprimanded him lightly, ignoring the question. "I'll go and ask the others if they know where the medicine is. They'll probably want to know that you're awake." Niou got up to leave but was stopped by a small hand grabbing his clothes. Niou looked at Marui.
"Please stay." He pleaded. Niou knew the others would want to know that Marui was awake but he relented. Niou climbed under the duvet with Marui and pulled the boy onto his lap. Marui snuggled into his chest. "Thank you."
"Don't. Just don't. I don't deserve it. I should've taken better care of you. I should've noticed sooner." Niou said as he hid his face in Marui's hair. Marui was slightly confused but tried to comfort him anyway.
"You do. You brought me home and stayed with me. You deserve it, 'Haru." Marui insisted, taking one of Niou's larger hands and holding it close. Niou smiled, pulling the tensai closer as he closed his eyes.
"Thank you."
A/N: Told ya that the fluff would come back, puri. Though it isn't as fluffy as the other chapters unfortunately, puri. Sorry. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you're having a good week so far, puri! See you on Saturday, puri! Bai bai!