Rating: PG
Disclaimer: not mine, cool? cool.
"Yagyuu, you shouldn't have done that. I thought we were over this." Niou gave his partner a warning look full of anger. He glanced away immediately, for fear of being subjected to Yagyuu's eyes again. Instead, he looked down at where Yanagi and Inui were shaking hands.
"Do you want me to talk to Yanagi? I'll let him know that he's keeping you from what you really want."
"Which is you? What makes you so sure you know what I want?" Now Niou was upset. He was a no less an intelligent, rational human being than the rest of them - he could tell for himself what he wanted and didn't want. Right now, he didn't want Yagyuu. Right?
"Because Masaharu, I am you."
"You're what? Never mind, we'll talk later." Niou watched as Yanagi, defeated, stood in front of Sanada. Sanada raised his arm and Niou winced, knowing full well the sting of Sanada's blow, but also knowing that there was no reason big enough to justify Yanagi's loss at this critical time. That was why he was surprised when Kirihara jumped off the bleachers between the two tallest members of their team, using his racket to block Sanada's blow. Niou was too far away to hear their exchange, but Kirihara's words seemed to somehow pacify Sanada. Niou's throat suddenly dried as Yanagi looked up at him, his expression unreadable, before taking a seat in front of Jackal.
Niou hopped down the bleachers three rows at a time. "Renji, can I talk to you?"
"Akaya's match is about to start. We can talk later." Yanagi's voice was emotionless, like the master's voice was supposed to be. The only thing was, it wasn't supposed to be that way when he talked to Niou - with Niou, Yanagi's walls were supposed to be down and Yanagi Renji was supposed to be there, behind it. He sat down next to Yanagi, close enough to feel the heat emanating from Yanagi's body. Yanagi scooted away, and Niou's heart dropped.
"We're on our way over. Yanagi lost in a tiebreaker; the others won. Both doubles six-one, Akaya six-love. We're about five minutes away; we'll be there soon with the medal." How Sanada could speak so normally while running, Niou would never figure out. They'd gone through the awards ceremony in a hurry, with Jackal constantly updating them on how many minutes they had before Yukimura's surgery. It was supposed to be a time of glory for them, continuing on their path to a repeat victory at Nationals, but none of them were even thinking about the match. As soon as they finished the last round of bows and thank yous, the champions Rikkai pretty much just picked up their bags and ran - uncustomary, but understandable.
They must've made quite a sight, bursting through the hospital doors sweaty and slightly winded in their uniforms, each the perfect image of health in a place meant to heal the unhealthy. No second was wasted on directions as they rounded corners like they owned the place, knowing the exact route they needed to take to intercept Yukimura before he was put under general anesthesia.
"Captain!" Marui was the first to spot Yukimura on the stretcher, being rolled towards the anesthesia wing. The nurses stopped, letting Sanada present the medal to the weakened Yukimura. He didn't look like the top high school tennis player in all of Japan, but Niou remembered the ass-kicking he had received on numerous occasions from Yukimura. They each took their turn getting berated by their captain for losing a game. Even Kirihara was blamed for stopping Yanagi's punishment.
Sanada was the last to talk to Yukimura before the nurse wheeled him away. He bent close to Yukimura's ear and whispered something too softly for the rest of them to hear. From the way that Yukimura's smile brightened just a little and the few seconds too long that Sanada's hand covered Yukimura's over the medal, Niou could easily guess what Sanada had said. Maybe Sanada wasn't as blind as the rest of them assumed. Sanada exchanged a glance with Yanagi, and Niou realized that Sanada was indeed clueless, but Yanagi was not. The nurse handed the medal back to Sanada - it wasn't sterile and so couldn't go into the operating room - and they were silent as the nurse wheeled him away, Sanada gripping the medal so tightly his knuckles were white. The next several hours were going to be nerve-wracking, but they were prepared for that. They had never expected to go through anything like this as a team, but they were the champions; they could get through anything together.
Time seemed to just flow past Niou, as though he were a spectator watching the waiting Rikkai Tennis Club through a one-way window, like those in the detective movies Yanagi liked to watch. At some point, Kirihara had pulled out a Gameboy and was now listlessly tapping away at the keys. Marui had gotten some more gum from the vending machine down the hall and was making a chain out of the paper wrappers. Niou kept rotating in his seat, sometimes lying down on a bench, sometimes propping his legs against the disgustingly white wall and letting his head and back hang down, sometimes slouching in the seat with one ankle propped on the other knee. Finally, he jumped up, unable to sit still any longer. "Renji, we need to talk." He grabbed Yanagi's wrist and pulled him to a corner of the waiting room. They had enough time to kill, after all, and the tension would only get worse as that time passed. "Renji, that, what happened, it was a mistake."
"No it wasn't." Yanagi refused to even look at him. Niou leaned against a wall, tired and frustrated. He didn't need this now. It had been a long day, and the wait during Yukimura's surgery was more stressful than the entire tournament put together had been. They were almost ensured victory at Kantou; Yukimura's chances were much much slimmer.
"Yes it was. I told you, Renji, I chose you." He felt like he was just repeating the same words again and again, but if they were the ones Yanagi needed to hear, he'd repeat them a thousand times.
"Please address me more formally, Niou."
Niou squeezed his eyes shut, slamming his fist against the wall, the annoying bright, freshly whitewashed walls that smelled of disinfectant and hospital. He was going to hate that color from now on, he really was. He knew Sanada was probably giving his back a disapproving look, but he couldn't care less. Why couldn't Yanagi just accept that he'd made a mistake? "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. He surprised me. I-"
"You had plenty of time to stop it, Niou. I served four times while he kissed you, and you kissed him back. But you didn't, because you wanted it. You chose me out of guilt, not because you actually care more about me than him. Look into your heart. It's OK. I forgive you." Yanagi sounded tired. His back slouched just a tad more than usual, and his head wasn't held proud and high anymore. It hung forward, letting Yanagi look down at his feet instead of ahead at Niou.
"If you forgive me, then-"
"I didn't forgive you for that. I forgive you for not knowing that you really want Yagyuu. It was partly my fault anyway, for thinking that I could maybe keep you, just because I got to you first. Thank you for trying to stay with me, but we can't keep going like this anymore. It'll only get worse." Yanagi started to walk past Niou, back where the others were sitting restlessly. Niou's next words stopped him.
"I thought you said you didn't care if I liked Yagyuu more than you." Niou was trying anything, everything, to keep together the relationship that had been keeping him happy. He leaned against the wall. The air conditioner had significantly cooled his overheated skin, and now he was actually kind of cold.
"That was when I thought Yagyuu didn't return your feelings. If he's my competition though - I know when I'll lose. I know when to back down." Yanagi didn't even turn to face him when he spoke.
"But you're wrong. You won't lose."
"Niou, have you ever thought that sometimes, maybe you unconsciously trick yourself? That you make yourself believe in something that's not true?" Yanagi walked away without looking back, most likely to talk to Sanada or Kirihara.
Niou wrapped his arms around himself. He felt warm arms smoothing his jacket over his shoulders and down his arms, and turned around into a warm chest. "Renji-"
"No, it's me." Yagyuu rubbed his back and the windbreaker rustled. "He's given you up, can't you accept his gift?" Niou sighed, but he neither complained nor pushed away when Yagyuu hugged him, hard enough to make breathing just a little difficult. He just didn't care.
"Yagyuu-"
"Call me Hiroshi."
"Yagyuu."
"Stubborn." Yagyuu tucked Niou's head under his chin and lightly stroked Niou's hair, wisely not saying another word.
I couldn't do it. Rikkai couldn't lose. I didn't like it when they lost in the manga, and since this is my story, I get to change the events. :D