Disclaimer: I'm not the owner of Prince of Tennis.
Losing is a bitch, thought Niou.
He shifted his body, turning over on his bed like a lifeless lump in order to see Yagyuu.
The gentleman moved around Niou's room, wielding Windex in one hand and a broom in the other. Niou observed Yagyuu from his lying down position on the bed, making no move to get up. Yagyuu had been restless staying in Niou's room while doing nothing, so he had began cleaning the messy place, since he was there and all.
Yagyuu's eyes darted to Niou and back, sighing in exasperation. For the first time in a while, Yagyuu actually wished that Yukimura would schedule a tennis practice. It might get Niou to stop moping if he got out of the house for a while and got back into the habit of playing tennis. It had already been two whole days without practice, something Yagyuu had never assumed was even possible with Yukimura and Sanada in charge of the team.
Yagyuu approached the bed, prodding Niou with the handle of the broom.
"Move, I need to make your bed." said Yagyuu.
Niou groaned and twisted his head around, looking at the wall instead of Yagyuu.
"Masaharu, get up please." repeated Yagyuu.
"No." groaned Niou. "I wanna stay here."
"Please stop moping."
"Screw you."
Yagyuu sighed for the millionth time that day, sitting on the edge of the bed. The loss had hit Niou hard. The trickster had not lost in the Kanto tournament, so he hadn't felt that upset. But now, he had contributed to his team's loss and he definitely felt guilty, something Yagyuu didn't even think was possible for Niou.
Niou's feet prodded Yagyuu's thighs, pushing as if giving a half-hearted attempt to get Yagyuu off the bed.
"Masaharu, you are not the only one who lost." said Yagyuu. Honestly, Niou was acting like a child. Lying there like a dead snail was not going to change anything.
When Niou remained silent, drowning in his self pity over the fact that he had disappointed Yukimura, Yagyuu stood to the side and pulled at the covers Niou was lying on. The large blanket slid to the side, bringing the trickster with them. Niou fell to the floor in a crumpled mess along with the blanket.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?" yelled Niou, rubbing his backside.
"For being a whiney baby." replied Yagyuu. He gathered up the blanket, laying it out nicely on the bed, patting it down perfectly and making sure there were no folds or wrinkles. Niou grumbled from his spot on the floor.
Yagyuu had never before seen Niou acting this way. There was some time before Yukimura's surgery where Niou had become rather quiet and worried, but never had the trickster actually been as depressed as to actually ignore Yagyuu when they were both alone in the room.
Yagyuu had never thought of himself as the type to have a raging libido. It was always Niou who put the moves on him first and Yagyuu nearly always went along with it. It was not until now that Yagyuu realized that he had always been counting on Niou to start it because there was no way in hell the respectable gentleman of Rikkaidai would actually ask his boyfriend for sex.
It was selfish. Niou was upset and all Yagyuu could think about was that they hadn't even touched or kissed since the Nationals. The bespectacled teen was disappointed in himself.
Yagyuu's eyes followed the curve of Niou's body, gazing at the pale skin of his neck, remembering the smooth texture and taste, the way his throat and collarbone were often marred with bites and nips, moving down past his well-toned chest and lower still...
Yes, he really wished Yukimura would schedule a practice now and get Niou back to normal before Yagyuu lost control and did something the trickster would tease him about for the rest of his life. Yagyuu shook his head, telling himself to focus on something else.
"Get off the floor, it's dirty." said Yagyuu, prodding at Niou with foot.
The trickster didn't move. "First you tell me to get off the bed and now you want me off the floor. Make up your mind, Yeahgyuu."
"I haven't cleaned the floor yet and I just made the bed. Go sit on the chair." said Yagyuu, grouchy as he tried not to focus too hard on Niou's exposed neck.
Niou looked up at him. "What's wrong with you? You've been crabby lately."
"Nothing's wrong." snapped Yagyuu. "I just really need you to get off the floor because I need to wash it and I don't want your clothes getting dirty because then I'll have to wash them too." Cleaning was good. Cleaning calmed him down and got his mind off the fact that he wasn't getting any from Niou.
Niou blinked up at him. Yagyuu was never cranky over nothing. The fact that Yagyuu was barely hiding how he felt showed that he was even grouchier than what he appeared to be.
Niou grinned, forgetting about his loss and how he disappointed his team for a second. Niou was ready to annoy and tease his partner out of his irritated mood. "Yeahgyuu… I told you lying is bad. If you don't tell me what's wrong, maybe I have to punish you."
Before Yagyuu could respond, hands grabbed his ankles. Yagyuu's eyes narrowed. "Masaharu, don't you dare-"
Niou tripped the gentleman before he could say anything else. Yagyuu crashed down on the floor, falling on his butt painfully as Niou held his legs, stopping him from getting back up.
Yagyuu groaned in pain, feeling his lower back and ass throbbing from the fall. "Why did you do that for?" demanded Yagyuu with a glare in Niou's direction.
Niou crawled over slowly, making Yagyuu's breath catch in his throat. The trickster moved on top of Yagyuu, pressing the gentleman's body to the floor. Yagyuu could see crumbs layered on the groundm a small layer of dust and he felt something like a cracker crumbling under his back. Yet, he didn't seem to mind the dirty floor at the moment because Niou was moving over him, looking enticingly into his eyes.
"Ah, now you stop complaining." said Niou, is breath ghosting over Yagyuu's cheek. Yagyuu shivered, feeling his traitorous body heating up. Niou just now realized that he hadn't done anything with Yagyuu since the end of the Nationals. Perhaps he ought to change that. It might get them both in a better mood. "What were you so grouchy about before?"
Yagyuu tried to return to his senses, thinking that it wasn't fair to do this when Niou was still lingering on his loss, but he couldn't stop himself. He moved his head up and pressed his mouth against Niou's lips, hungry and demanding.
Niou made a surprised sound. Hands tangled themselves in Niou's bleached white hair. The stands were rather stiff and sleek, not at all fluffy like they looked. Yagyuu kissed with fervour, his tongue prying Niou's mouth open and stealing Niou's breath. The trickster closed his eyes, humming at the rare feeling of Yagyuu initiating such a heated lip-lock.
Niou chuckled, pulling back just slightly with a sly smirk that Yagyuu wanted to wipe from his face. "Ah, is that why you were so grouchy? I never thought you'd be the type to be sexually frustrated, Hiroshi." he said.
Yagyuu shivered at the husky tone in which Niou said his name. He growled, shutting up his lover with another kiss. Niou got into the mood quickly. He didn't know if this was a distraction method Yagyuu had thought up, but either way, he was glad to continue kissing Yagyuu's mouth, then moving on to his jaw and neck, sucking the skin until it was bright red.
The gentleman squirmed when he felt Niou's hands running up his already heated skin, under the material of his shirt. Yagyuu was panting and arching into those calloused hands.
"You're eager today…" murmured Niou, pushing Yagyuu's shirt completely off before bathing the naked chest before him with attention. It was not everyday that Yagyuu was this willing and keen to get on with it. He brought his mouth lower, passed the collarbone, lightly kissing at brown nipples and then dipping a probing tongue into Yagyuu's navel, watching him gasp and squirm.
Looks like two days of pent-up hormones did a lot for Yagyuu, mused Niou. Perhaps it was worth it to abstain from sex for a couple of days if Yagyuu was going to act like that afterwards. Niou brought his body lower and lower down the line of Yagyuu's laid out body. They didn't have much space; Yagyuu's head was nearly bumping into the desk and Niou couldn't move too back because the bed was in the way.
Yagyuu was frantic, tearing at his own belt, far too impatient to wait for Niou to do it. His hand tugged at the leather, far rougher than usual. Niou didn't help with the accessory at all, choosing to stroke his hand over an obvious bulge on the front of Yagyuu's pants.
And then a vibrating sound echoed from Yagyuu. They both paused, listening. It was coming from Yagyuu's side pocket.
"Phone." explained Yagyuu. It meant he had a text from someone. He unbuckled his belt; he would check his phone later.
"Hmm…" hummed Niou, fishing the phone out of Yagyuu's pocket as the gentleman continued struggling to tear off his belt. Damn, these pants had far too many belt loops for their own good.
"Who messaged me?" asked Yagyuu, seeing Niou gazing at the electronic gadget.
"Yanagi." said Niou, a wicked smile on his face as he took the quivering phone and, instead of reading the message, chose to press the little device against the front of Yagyuu's pants. Yagyuu gasped, his hips buckling as he felt the cellphone's vibrations stimulating his front.
"Don't!" gasped Yagyuu. Niou pressed it harder down and Yagyuu trembled as the phone shook again, shooting lightning shocks of sensation up his spine.
"It's your own fault for not turning off your phone." said Niou. He pouted when the vibration stopped, leaving Yagyuu a panting mess on the ground, flushed and his hair slightly messier than usual. He actually read the message this time, his eyes darkening. "Yukimura is ordering practice this afternoon." he said.
It was about time they had practice again… but it only brought Niou's mind back to his previous failure in the Nationals.
But then Yagyuu pressed his hips up, demanding attention.
"Masaharu, you played magnificently during the Nationals. You made your best illusions yet... no matter the result." said Yagyuu, breathless. He fisted Niou's hair, bringing the trickster back up for a kiss, one much sweeter than before. Niou felt warmer already, dreading the practice but feeling a little better about it.
"Now please, Masaharu…" whispered Yagyuu wantonly, his hands fisting Niou's loose shirt.
Niou grinned, helping Yagyuu pull the shirt up over his head. He guessed Yagyuu deserved a reward for trying to make him feel better. "Ah, sorry to have kept you waiting." he said before kissing Yagyuu again.
Akaya was in disbelief over it all.
He had always thought of Yukimura as the best. Yukimura was invincible, the captain of Rikkaidai, the strongest of the Three Demons, having even defeated death to play tennis. Nothing could beat the mighty Child of God.
But seeing Yukimura lose like that had been like seeing his favourite superhero defeated on the ground. He kept on expecting Yukimura to get back up, even stronger than before, or Akaya would wake up and realize that it was all a dream… but the silver medal on his desk was real. As was the fact that they hadn't had tennis practice in two days.
"When's captain gonna feel better, Renji?" asked Akaya. He was bored. Yanagi was reading on his bed and was being boring too.
"I don't know, Akaya. It was a big shock to all of us. Give Yukimura some time." said Yanagi, not even looking up from his book and being all mature and calm as usual. Akaya wondered if reading books a lot made people more mature and boring. If that was the case, then Akaya didn't want to read books at all.
"I can't believe captain lost…" said Akaya, sitting down and leaning against Yanagi.
"Nothing lasts forever, Akaya. Yukimura is only human and can't stay on the top forever. It was merely unfortunate that his reign at the top was so short. Even Ancient Rome, one o the greatest empires in history eventually fell."
"It's not fair though. Yukimura-senpai tried really hard for it." said Akaya.
"Life isn't always fair. Did you expect Seigaku to take pity on us and let Yukimura win solely because he tried hard?"
"No…"
Akaya was very restless. The lack of practice left Akaya with no way of letting out all his energy through exercise and tennis. Yanagi was more patient, knowing Yukimura was in distress over this. Maybe he should suggest to Sanada that they go visit the bluenette. Yanagi was sure Sanada's presence would comfort Yukimura.
"I'm so bored." whined Akaya.
Yanagi smiled, putting away his book. He hadn't made much progress with it lately, seeing as Akaya was very attention-seeking when he was in this state.
Yanagi supposed it was okay for today since he had something to tell his partner anyways.
"Akaya, I've been meaning to talk to you about something. It regards the way you played during the Nationals. Actually… about the way you play tennis in general." said Yanagi, his tone taking a rather serious turn.
Akaya didn't notice the seriousness. "I was awesome, wasn't I? We beat Seigaku's Doubles team so easily!" he said, grinning happily.
Yanagi's hand went around Akaya's shoulders, pressing him closer. "I won't deny that you did play well… except for one thing."
Akaya was alarmed. He hated when Yanagi criticized his game, usually for his serves or his footwork. "W-What? What did I do wrong?"
Yanagi's face was calm, his hand running a soothing line down Akaya's arm and back up, showing that he wasn't angry and that Akaya had nothing to be afraid of. But even so, it was a subject that required their attention; it was something that Yanagi regreted having not said anything beforehand.
"Akaya, I don't want you using your devil mode anymore. Not during practice and not during competitions either." said Yanagi, straight to the point.
Akaya was shocked. "But… it makes me stronger." he protested. How was he supposed to win against stronger opponents if he couldn't unleash his best abilities?
"I know it does, Akaya. But you can't rely on something like that. It may make you stronger, but it also makes you violent and uncontrollable. Did you see Inui's bandaged face? That's too much, Akaya. Tennis is not a fight or a game to injure. Tennis is a sport and we should be having fun, not bleeding all over the courts" said Yanagi. Akaya frowned, feeling guilty and not liking the way he was being reprimanded. "You are our future captain. What's going to happen if you continue to use your devil mode next year while we are not around to control you? You can't go around injuring people in order to win. Win with your skill instead."
"But I'm not strong enough with my normal skill!" said Akaya. "How will I win?"
"That's why we will train you, Akaya." said Yanagi. "You will become stronger and a worthy captain… but I need you to promise me. Promise me you will never use your devil mode again."
Akaya bit his lip, hesitating. His devil mode had helped him win several matches... but not always. He still couldn't defeat the Three Demons and he had lost in the Kanto tournament despite how badly Fuji had been injured. He did feel a pang of guilt, thinking back to how he had blinded Fuji, destroyed Tachibana's ankle and injured Inui, Yanagi's friend. That's why people outside of his team often thought of him as dangerous and violent and never tried to get close to him. He didn't have friends outside of Rikkai's tennis team like most of the others did.
And... this was Yanagi who was asking. Akaya trusted the data master.
"Okay. I promise." said Akaya, nodding in agreement. "But help me become strong enough to defeat you and Sanada-senpai and Yukimura-senpai before graduation! Then I'll become the best captain ever and crush Seigaku next year and take our revenge!"
Yanagi smiled. "That sounds good, Akaya. We'll be leaving the team in very capable hands then."
As if on cue, Yanagi's phone beeped twice, indicating he had recieved a text message. He pulled his phone out at a lightning fast pace, looking briefly at the screen, smiling yet again.
"What a coincidence." said Yanagi. "Yukimura just announced practice in a few hours."
Akaya was immediately excited, pumped up and ready to prove himself to the team. He wouldn't use his devil mode; he intended to keep his promise to Yanagi. But that would definitely not stop him from becoming the best player and captain ever in order to avenge Yukimura next year.
Akaya stood up, jumping excitedly and already packing his tennis bag. Yanagi was glad Akaya was so motivated. He hoped Akaya's attitude would help Yukimura cheer up today.
"Relax, Akaya. Practice is not for a few more hours." said Yanagi, chuckling at the younger boy's eagerness.
"But..." Akaya pouted. "I need to be prepared if I want to be number one!"
Yanagi stood from the bed and moved to Akaya's side, kissing him. Yanagi took his time about it, moving his lips in time with Akaya's clumsy ones. Akaya looked a bit dazed when they pulled back.
"You'll always be my number one, Akaya." muttered Yanagi against the younger's cheek.
Akaya beamed and ended up smiling widely for the rest of the morning.
Author's Rant:
I hate myself for writing such cheesy crap when it's Kinky Pair time. x_x I hope you weren't expecting Alpha Pair in this chapter. *cackles*
Well well, looks like the sequel is a go. Thank you for telling me all your excited and concerned thoughts about it! I'll work hard and make it just as interesting as its prequel. :)
But first, let's focus on finishing up this story.