Chapter 9

Kamui woke up feeling really heavy. He opened his eyes and saw that his brother was with him. At first, he was confused. Then he remembered what happened last night. Subaru's arms were embracing him. Subaru himself was almost on top of him. Kamui's head was leaning on Subaru's chest. He reddened when he became conscious of their position and that both of them were half-naked. He could feel Subaru's heat directly from his skin. He closed his eyes again. He could hear Subaru's even, silent breathing. He also smelled nice. It must his shampoo or his perfume. He didn't know because he still had not seen Subaru's things and belongings, not even his room. When he looked up, he saw Subaru's peaceful sleeping face. He thought how cute Subaru was. Then he almost jumped out of bed when he suddenly remembered something.

"Onii-chan! Wake up! Oy, Onii-chan!" Kamui shook Subaru's shoulders gently. Subaru's eyebrows creased. He moaned. "Later…" Again, Kamui thought his brother was very cute. Then Subaru's eyes slowly opened.

"What is it, idiot brother..?" Subaru asked. His eyes were still getting used to the light of the morning.

"You're being very rude so early in the morning." Kamui pouted. He couldn't believe he's acting so childishly in front of his brother. "No, it's not the time for that! Onii-chan, you'll be late on your competition!" He exclaimed, feeling embarrassed because he's not used to doing that – waking up Subaru, that is.

Upon hearing this, Subaru jolted out of the bed. "What time is it?" He asked.

"It's seven. I'm grateful we don't have class today because students are required to attend the tennis competition to cheer… Your call time is 8am, right? You have to hurry up." Kamui explained.

"Oh." Subaru yawned. He stood up and stretched. Then he left the room and went to his own. Kamui also got ready. He stretched a little since he didn't like strenuous activity – except playing tennis, of course. He was about to go out of the room when his mobile phone rang. It was Sorata's number.

"Hello?" Kamui answered.

"Hey, where are you? We promised to meet at 7 in the morning, you know." Sorata exclaimed, though his voice didn't sound angry.

"Uhmm… About the competition… Can we watch it?" Kamui asked quietly.

"Eh? I thought you don't want to go there?" Sorata asked again. He could hear Nokoru's teasing. Sorata was now having trouble controlling the phone. "Hey, Nokoru! Don't just grab other people's phone!"

"So," it was Nokoru. "Why the change of heart..?"

"N…Nothing…" Kamui answered. He reddened. "Sorry for being fickle-minded."

"No, it's okay. We'll wait for you at the front gate of X School."

"Ah, alright then." Kamui answered. "I'll hang up now."

"Okay." Nokoru hanged up as well.

"They made up, didn't they?" Nokoru asked Sorata, stifling a laugh.

"Of course they did. Kamui sounded so happy." Sorata chuckled. "Those two are really big pains."

"Kamui is very cute when he's like that." Nokoru was not able to stifle his laugh anymore.

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It's almost 8am when they arrived in the meeting place. The other Clamp School tennis players were also at the gate, waiting for their Captain. Fuuma laughed when he saw the two of them together. Everyone else was looking at them with great curiosity. Kamui became self-conscious that everyone was now looking at them, just like during the time they went to school together. This was no different. Actually, it's worse. Subaru went to his team and headed first inside without having as much as a glance at Kamui. The latter looked for Sorata and Nokoru. He found them grinning at him.

"So, another day with big brother as your chaperon, huh…" Nokoru teased. He laughed when Kamui glared at him.

"I can't believe you two would end up fighting and making up, and fighting again… and making up again… Well, it's cycle." Sorata said. Kamui didn't pay him too much attention. Instead, he asked him a question.

"Where are Suoh and Akira?" Kamui asked seriously.

"Suoh is having a meeting with the Archery Team. He's the President after all." Nokoru smiled. Kamui nodded, implying he understood.

"And Akira..?" He asked again.

"Akira has a part-time job so he can't come." Sorata was the one who answered.

"I see." Kamui answered. He looked at Sorata when the former made some expression like he's pointing his mouth on to something.

"Huh?" Kamui couldn't understand what Sorata meant. Sorata sighed while Nokoru simply chuckled. He's also looking behind Kamui. When he turned around, he saw Subaru together with Fuuma walking in their direction.

"Yo! Kamui-chan!" Fuuma greeted when they got near. "And Mr. President of the Disciplinary Committee..! And… you." He pointed Sorata last since Fuuma did not know him. Kamui answered Fuuma's greeting with a smile. Nokoru greeted him good morning in a very formal way. Sorata pouted because he was not popular. Subaru remained quiet.

"So, why are you still here at the school gate?" Fuuma asked.

"No, we're just having our conversation here. We're now going inside." Nokoru answered, still smiling. They all walked inside in comfortable silence. Fuuma, Nokoru, and Sorata were wondering why Subaru and Kamui weren't talking to each other even though they went to school together.

Actually, Kamui had not said a word to his brother ever since their conversation this morning. They ate breakfast quietly and went to X School quietly as well. It's not that they didn't want to talk. It's just that after the adrenaline rush this morning, Kamui felt awkward talking to his brother, especially now that he knew of Subaru's true feelings. Since Subaru didn't really talk much in the first place, the atmosphere between them was just a natural occurrence.

"Actually, last night was the first time I heard Onii-chan's voice for too long… He even wore those expressions that no one has seen before… It made me really happy… I really like him–" Kamui stopped his trail of thoughts. His eyes widened and he froze. "What… do I mean by that..?"

When Sorata noticed that Kamui stopped walking, he called the attention of the others while also calling Kamui's attention.

"Oy, Kamui..?" Nokoru was the one to ask.

"Oy, Kamui-chan… Are you okay..?" Fuuma shook his shoulders lightly. Kamui looked at him. He then looked at everyone, except his brother, and nodded at Fuuma.

"What, did Subaru do something again?" Fuuma teased. However, instead of his usual glares, this made Kamui freeze again.

"N-No…" He looked down, reddening. "What's happening to me..?"

"Hey, your brother does not look good, you know! And yet, you still have no care?!" Kamui's attention was caught by Sorata's comments about his brother. Even with this accusation, Subaru still looked like he didn't care in the least. He just continued walking forward like he heard nothing. Kamui, however, did not feel hollow anymore. He knew that his brother cared… It's just that he did it in his own cold way…

"Are you alright now?" Fuuma said. He's beside Kamui, holding him by the arms in case he were to faint.

"I'm alright now. Sorry for worrying you." Kamui smiled at Fuuma, and then at Nokoru and Sorata. They all smiled at him.

"Sorry if I will say something bad about your friend, Fuuma-senpai… but that guy has no heart, hasn't he? Look at where he is..! Talking to the Tennis coach like nothing's wrong..! He does not even care about his own brother..! How worse can he get..? I really hate him..! Those kinds of guys don't deserve love from their siblings!" Sorata exclaimed. Fuuma only laughed at him.

"No…" Kamui muttered. He looked down as his heart ached again. He couldn't take it. These comments that Sorata always made never used to bother him in the least. But now… every single comment was piercing his heart and tearing it into pieces. They all looked at him. "My brother isn't like that… He's very kind… Don't say something bad about him…"

Kamui's quiet plea surprised all of them, even Fuuma. They all looked at each other and then looked at him again.

"Alright… I won't say anything bad anymore…" Sorata answered silently. "I'm sorry for hurting you…"

"But really, Kamui-chan… Subaru is being kind to you?" Fuuma was the one to ask. "And here I thought he wants to avoid you…"

"So he knew as well..?" Kamui thought.

"Really… So ignoring you the moment he sets foot here is kindness?" Sorata can't help but ask. As usual, he got a hard hit on the head from Nokoru.

"And you said you won't say anything bad anymore. You really are the worst. Breaking your word the moment you said them." Nokoru scolded. Sorata pouted at him.

"I'm just asking… And, is that kindness?" Sorata didn't let go of the question.

"Yes." Kamui's straight face with a hint of smile made them really surprised. Fuuma laughed again. Nokoru chuckled at this while Sorata felt annoyed, muttering something about masochism. Kamui chuckled at Sorata even though the comment about his brother was still piercing him inside.

"Well, wish us luck." Fuuma waved goodbye.

After that, they all went to the audience's seat. Kamui sat silently.

"Are you hungry or anything? I'll buy something for the three of us." Sorata asked him after a while.

"Ah… just buy me a drink." Kamui said and gave him money. "Thank you." He added. Sorata smiled at him. After Sorata left, Nokoru sat closer to him. After a while, he talked to Kamui.

"So… what's with the short fuse earlier?" Nokoru asked, smiling. Kamui looked at him for a while. When he didn't answer, Nokoru answered for him. "It hurt like hell, huh…" Kamui's eyes widened. He blushed.

"N-No… I-It's not like that…" He's trying to stop Nokoru from laughing. "Don't laugh at me!"

"Alright, alright." Nokoru chuckled. "Well, I noticed your expression… Sorata probably noticed it as well that's why he apologized even though he has a point." Kamui looked at him again.

"Don't get me wrong." Nokoru said. His expression was very gentle. "It's just that… Sorata was hurt earlier as well. He wanted to protect you from your brother but ended up hurting you even more."

"I know that… It's probably my fault…" Kamui smiled bitterly. "I want to apologize…"

"There's no need to." Both of them almost jumped because of surprise. Sorata was holding the drinks. He's smiling. "I'm the one at fault. You don't have to apologize, Kamui."

He sat between them and gave them their drinks. Afterwards, he sighed.

"Well, I hurt you earlier… I'm really sorry about that. I just lost control and said those things about Subaru-senpai. I didn't even realize that I would end up hurting you, too."

"It's alright." Kamui smiled, though he's not looking at Sorata but at the court where the players were starting to line up. "I probably over-reacted. Sorry about that as well…"

Sorata laughed at him.

"What?" Kamui asked.

"You've changed." Sorata was still laughing. "You actually love your brother now." What Sorata meant by that is the innocent love between brothers. However, Kamui froze again when he heard this.

"I love my brother?" Kamui asked. He looked so bewildered. Sorata and Nokoru looked surprised.

"Well, what's wrong with that?" Sorata asked and then explained. "Loving one another is normal for siblings. Don't act like it's something so shocking."

"Right… That's probably it… Why am I so disturbed..? It's just that Onii-chan's change of attitude really made me feel like this… That must be it… I feel embarrassed because of that…" His mind came back to reality when he heard the signal of the game.

They watched the Doubles 2. The game took long because the score between opponents was close to each other. But in the end, Clamp won. The next game was Doubles 1. Saiki was there together with Nataku. The game took long as well. But it's not because of their score but because of having long rallies between the opponents. Clamp won this game, too. The cheers coming from the crowd were only getting louder. After all, it's the famous Clamp School Team they were watching right now. Fan banners displaying Subaru and Fuuma's names were waving in the air. Some of them were cheering for Nataku, the silent player next to Subaru. The cheers coming from X Team's fans, however, disliked getting drowned. They were cheering almost as loud as the Clamp Team fans. In the end, the crowd was filled with too much noise that talking with your seatmate was basically impossible.

In Singles 3, X School won. Clamp got jeers from the X crowd. Kamui did not see much but he's sure something was off.

"That guy was cheated." Sorata said loudly. Kamui only heard it slightly because of the noise.

"What happened?" Nokoru was the one who asked, on top of his voice.

"That X guy said something to him. And then he began to lose his focus. It looked like he was not even concentrating. Those damned bastards resulted to cheating because they knew they wouldn't win." Sorata explained, also on top of his voice. He looked exhausted after that. Well, explaining on top of your voice was definitely hard. Kamui patted his back.

The next game was the Singles 2. It's Fuuma. The cheers got hyped up all of a sudden. Well, it's not as if it's not hyped up earlier. Kamui made sure to watch the game closely. The enemy also said something to him. His face looked so serious for a while. But then he smirked at the opponent and ended up the game in a matter of minutes. The opponent looked so exhausted and annoyed. Basically, Clamp had already won having three wins over the five matches. But even so, the game still had to continue up to the Singles 1. Subaru was next. His opponent was the Captain of X Team. Subaru stood up and stretched a bit. The opponent was doing his stretching as well. For the first time, the audience went silent. They were all looking forward to the match of the two Captains.

Subaru looked so serious and cold. He's checking his racket. Kamui was silently looking at him. To everyone's surprise, Subaru looked at the audience. He never did something like that. He met Kamui's eyes. Kamui did not know what to do so he smiled at Subaru so brightly that Sorata and Nokoru gaped. Fuuma also saw that and laughed. Subaru looked down on the floor… and smiled. All his fans gaped. They looked at Kamui, who became self-conscious and looked down as well.

"What… the hell happened?" Sorata asked, still gaping.

"Well… basically, they just smiled at each other…" Nokoru said, also shocked.

"How cute..!" Sorata laughed. "So that's his kindness, huh..? I never thought I'd see that in my whole life!" Nokoru and Kamui laughed as well.

When the game started, everyone turned serious. Of course, Subaru was on the lead. The Captain was saying something to him but he looked like he's hearing nothing. The Captain looked so annoyed but he continued on what he's saying.

"Now that's one advantage of being a snob." Sorata commented. The crowd wasn't as noisy as earlier so conversations could now be heard. Some fan girls of X Team beside them glared at him.

The game ended up in just minutes. It was the most exciting game this day. The crowd was suddenly filled with ear-piercing loud cheers. Kamui covered his ears and closed his eyes. He looked so annoyed. However, the cheers became screams. Kamui immediately opened his eyes and saw Subaru sitting on the court, bleeding. He stood up, eyes wide.

"What… happened..?" He asked unconsciously.

Sorata held him gently on the arms. "So you didn't see, huh… The Captain, because of annoyance or anger or whatever, suddenly threw his racket in Subaru's direction. I don't think he deliberately targeted your brother but he hit Subaru on the head."

"Onii-chan!" Kamui tried to run but Sorata stopped him. "What are you doing?" Kamui asked him angrily.

"Calm down, will you?" Sorata demanded. Nokoru was on his heels. "We'll all go there. So, calm down." Kamui looked like he'd cry seeing how the blood gushed out from Subaru's forehead. He was sitting on one of the benches. The whole team was surrounding him while Fuuma and Coach Sakurazuka were tending his injury. The coach of the other team kept on apologizing but the team members were only giving him cold glares. The Captain of X Team looked troubled but he wouldn't apologize because of his pride. The other students were also looking at Subaru. Some were even taking pictures. This annoyed Kamui very much.

"Let's go down there." Sorata said and guided Kamui by the arms. They went down but Subaru and the other team members were inside the court. The three of them were outside with the rest of the audience. He wanted to go to his brother's side but there's a wall separating them, the fence.

Some of Subaru's fans were crying because of what happened. Kamui looked so cold and emotionless that the other fans were whispering about how he did not care about his brother at all. When Fuuma saw them, he let them in.

"So, what's the cold and indifferent little Shirou doing here?" Coach Sakurazuka jeered. "Wanting to see your brother suffering that much?" Sorata and Nokoru both glared at him. Kamui, however, remained as cold as he was.

"Come here." Everyone was surprised when Subaru spoke for the first time. "You always get bullied when you're alone." The team members, a bit surprised, gave way to Kamui. Kamui went near his brother. His face was dark. The coach looked like he was hit by Subaru's comment. The people kept on whispering to each other. The other fan girls were giggling with excitement. The team members were gaping at them. Coach Sakurazuka didn't know what to say.

"Onii-chan…" Kamui managed to say. The injury was now tended temporarily. Subaru tried to stand but the other members stopped him saying he must rest for a while. Subaru sighed because of this. He took Kamui's hand and made him sit beside Subaru. Kamui did so but his face was still dark. Everyone was watching them. The other tennis player members and other Subaru's fans were getting annoyed because of Kamui's dark, cold face. He remained seated there. Even Sorata and Nokoru looked so worried.

"Don't worry, you two. The two of them will be fine." Fuuma told them while looking at Subaru and Kamui. "So he made his kindness a public knowledge now, huh…" He smiled at that, despite the seriousness of the situation.

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.tbc.

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