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Date Started: 190803

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Confessions
by
Jennifier D.









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To love, is to show the greatest courage of all.

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05:


The acrobatic player of the Golden Pair stood by the rooftop, hands clutching the top bar of the railing tight, one foot scuffing against it idly as he waited for his doubles partner to appear. Kikumaru pouted, then tilted his head and stared at the sky above. He wondered briefly about what was it that Oishi could possibly want to talk to him about.

The other boy had been unusually serious when he spoke to Kikumaru before lunch started. He wasn't fidgeting, but from the way he was behaving, Kikumaru had the faintest inkling that the other was ready to bolt. It got him a little worried, since Oishi hardly ever behaved in that manner.

Unless the other was ready to tell him, he wouldn't know what was wrong. He didn't want to pressure Oishi into telling him things either. He knew he would only trouble the other whenever he tried to be demanding.

So he waited. And was proud to declare he was currently waiting very patiently too, contrary to his impatient nature.

The door to the rooftop creaked open.

"Ah... Eiji."

"Hoihoi!" Kikumaru whirled around sharply, a wide grin on his face. "Oishi~!"

Glomp.

"Maa gomen ne..." Oishi gave the other boy an apologetic look before gently releasing the others' arms from around his neck.

"Nya?"

What Kikumaru didn't know was-- Oishi had gathered a lot of courage before finally deciding to confess his feelings for his hyperactive doubles partner that day. It was a tough period of time for the mild-manner boy. He wasn't exactly jealous of Kikumaru's constant attention on Fuji, but he felt uncomfortable about it, all the same.

And since they were doubles partners, meaning that they had to coordinate and cooperate with seamless efficiency... Oishi finally decided to tell Kikumaru the truth they had been avoiding. The truth he recognised since the day they started visiting that special place whenever they lost a match. The only place they ever visited in order to reflect upon the mistakes in their doubles play and in themselves.

They were the Golden Pair.

They were one of the most famous combinations around; their coordination was effortless and natural, and each complimented the other perfectly. There wasn't a better doubles team than them in existence, and they knew that. It would be kind of difficult to ignore that.

There was a soft sigh from Oishi.

"Oishi?"

The mild-manner boy shook his head lightly. "We've been pretty busy running around trying to find out who Fuji is in love with lately ne?"

"Nnnyan."

There was a hesitant pause.

"I was thinking, maybe we shouldn't meddle in his affairs so much? I mean, Fuji doesn't mind... but it's not polite..."

Kikumaru blinked, then shook his head furiously. "We have to know nya!"

"Why, Eiji?"

"Uhh... nyaa." The hyperactive boy tilted his head to one side. "Anou nya, it's important for us to know... so we can help him nya! Hoi hoi! That's it nya!"

The smile Oishi wore was gentle. "Maybe he doesn't need our help?"

"Uuuhhaaanyaa! He'll need our help! I'm his best friend nya! Best friend! I've got to help him when he's... eto nya... having relationship problems nya."

"Did Fuji say he's having problems?" At this, Oishi began to get worried again. Now, if Fuji was having problems, then it would be another issue entirely. If there were problems, Oishi would be giving Kikumaru his full support in helping the tensai, regardless of his own opinions on this matter.

"Urm... no nya. He didn't say that."

"Ahh."

Silence. And such silences were so very rare between the Golden Pair. It wasn't the silence of unspoken understanding. It was silence due to confusion. It was also a clear indication of communication failure between them.

Kikumaru glanced at his doubles partner a little worriedly. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed the issue. He knew that Oishi didn't like to cause others trouble, and what they were doing wasn't exactly polite either. But! But Fuji wouldn't mind! That was one thing Kikumaru was sure of.

"Anou... Oishi..."

Oishi looked up.

"Gomen nya." A sad little pout was rapidly surfacing on Kikumaru's lips. "I didn't mean to do all that nyan. If you... if you don't want to nya, we can always stop... unn..."

"Iya. Daijyoubu, Eiji. We can continue if you want to."

More silence. Oishi suddenly spoke up again moments later, a determined look on his face.

"I'm in love, Eiji."

"Uuunnnnnyaaaa!" The panicky look on his doubles partner's face made Oishi smile. "Dare? Dare nya?"

"In fact, I've been in love for a long time. That person is kind... he's also always cheerful and often brightens up the day for others... and he does so especially for me."

There was a deep frown between Kikumaru's brows as he thought hard about what Oishi just said. When the redhead glanced up at the other again, there was something akin to nervousness and slight tinges of worry in his eyes. "Hmmmmmn... eto... 'he' ne... so that person's a- a boy nya?"

"He's standing right before me now."

There was a pause as the acrobatic player's brain worked out that fact.

"OISHI~!!" He gave the other a wide-eyed look. There was disbelief. Surprise. Fear. Apprehension. "Did you... did you nyaaaa... say... n-nya?"

Oishi nodded and smiled, gentle. "I like you, Eiji."

There. He finally said it. The truth which neither of them dared to admit for so many years... the embarrassed and shy smiles that were sported around this feeling they had since the moment they met. It was finally realised. He was finally brave enough to say the truth and he felt somewhat proud of himself for saying it so well.

"UNNNNYAAAAA!"

The former fuku-buchou gave his doubles partner a slightly embarrassed look when the latter leaped onto him and held on like a drowning man to a lifesaver. There were glimmers of tears in Kikumaru's eyes. Tears that spoke of gratitude and trust, of honesty and faith. And of love.

"OISHI I LIKE YOU TOO NYA!"

After Kikumaru calmed down somewhat, the hyperactive boy actually had the decency to look embarrassed before hugging his doubles partner tight again. He wasn't expecting Oishi to throw such a huge bomb on him when the latter indicated they had to talk.

And when their conversation went on that rapid downward slide, Kikumaru was getting signals of warning saying he had upset his partner. Although he didn't managed to figure out the reason for that just now, it was still a VERY BAD THING TO DO. To the acrobatic player, his partner meant the world to him. There was no way he could go on without Oishi by his side.

It was true that he loved tennis and he loved everything in life intensely and brightly, just like his personality. But Oishi was his anchoring factor to this world and with the other gone, Kikumaru sometimes felt that his own bubbly and cheerful self would float him away to places he couldn't return from.

Oishi was there. Always there, always waiting for him with his peaceful and trusting smile. Always ready to welcome him back with a pair of opened arms and a familiar hug.

Kikumaru didn't want to imagine a world where Oishi didn't exist.

He couldn't recall how he lived his life before the other appeared. Everything seemed to pale in comparison to the moments he shared with his doubles partner, and nothing seemed to be able to deter him from wanting to be with the other always. But the both of them had issues too. Even though they were the best combination, they had problems too. Problems which they never revealed to the world.

There was love between them, but neither dared to act on it.

It wasn't only because they were boys. There were many other issues involved too. They had faith in each other, but neither had faith in himself. It was a very big risk, a very big gap to cross. Kikumaru was sure that Oishi would never let him fall, but he was afraid of burdening the other further.

As much as he would like to toss all the worries in the world away and love Oishi with all his heart, he also knew that things were never that simple in life. Furthermore, if he was to do that, he would only be causing problems for Oishi. He certainly didn't want that to happen.

Oishi was a natural worrier. He worried about a lot of things; he worried about things he ought to be worried about, and then about things which he had no need to be worried about. He burdened himself unnecessarily, and that was why Kikumaru often tried to be the light-hearted one between them, to keep things burden-free.

That was why the hyperactive boy never confessed his feelings for the other.

But now that Oishi had taken the final step and crossed the gap between them for good...

Kikumaru smiled, cat-like at nothing in particular. Unshed tears sparkled in his eyes.

Things were looking good from this point onwards.

"Oishi, let's have okonomiyaki today nya!"

"Ehh?"

"To celebrate nya! Ce~le~brate~! Hoi hoi~! For us nya!"

His doubles partner laughed.

"Of course, Eiji."

"Omedetou~ omedetou~ to Kikumaru Eiji-san~ and Oishi Syuuichirou-san~! Uhhhhnnyaaa!"


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Kaidoh Kaoru might be given the (rather endearing) nickname of 'mamushi' but he honestly wasn't as bad as everyone had feared. Although he had a tendency to show traits worthy of his nickname, or exhibit behaviour that would make his kouhai cringe, whimper, and give an assortment of reactions before scrambling out of his vicinity... he was actually a very sweet boy.

Many who knew him personally would, of course, beg to differ.

Not that he minded it in the least bit. In fact, the less people there were to bother him and interrupt him from his training, the happier he would be. He wasn't a very sociable person. Maybe he was a little unfriendly in general, but those who knew him better (or presumed they actually know him better than the rest) would say he was simply shy.

At any rate, Kaidoh felt that everyone was entitled to their own blasted opinions as long as they left him alone. The key point of the issue here is 'left him alone'. The mamushi was very sure that he had exhibited clearly all the necessary warning signs of 'Keep off. I bite.' But some people seemed to never learn.

Inui happened to be one of those 'some people'.

Inui Sadaharu was Kaidoh's senpai, so the latter could do nothing about the older boy's (unholy) interest in him, except evade him the best he could in the most polite manner possible. Regardless, the data tennis player still had an amazing ability of nailing him down at every turn and corner. That was also why he didn't bother to hide from the older boy anymore.

It would have been futile, anyway.

Now that the other was away in a different school, Kaidoh knew that he should be more of less relieved. The other would no longer be able to stick around their school compounds and stalk him randomly. He thought he should be feeling more relaxed lately, except that he wasn't.

It wasn't because he was still meeting Inui regularly outside of school to train for their doubles formation or to enforce the private training schedule Inui had made for him. It wasn't because he was currently the buchou of the famous Seigaku Junior High, and thus had many heavy burdens and responsibilities weighing him down. It wasn't because he was worried about the upcoming tournaments and this year's generally weaker school team.

It was because he actually missed his senpai.

The realisation of that fact alone had him screaming for days. It was almost as bad as the time he was tricked into thinking Inui wanted to go on a date with him. The other had only wanted to get him to meet up with the rest of them, so that they could spy together on Ryoma and Momoshirou's supposed love triangle with Tachibana Ann from Fudomine.

To say he was furious over that incident-- that would be an understatement.

He wasn't just furious. He was so crazed and frustrated over that issue, he could have just killed the annoying data tennis player. Because a part of him, a guilty little voice at the back of his head had been so happy over the supposed date. He had given in to the little voice and went for the 'date' thinking he might be in for a load of shit, only to find himself in shit deeper than he thought.

He wasn't happy over it. Even Inui sensed his unhappiness, and the other actually stayed away from Kaidoh for a bit during the period of time where the mamushi was still seething over what happened. Inui did apologise though, and maybe that would be his one saving grace, except that Kaidoh was nowhere near forgiving him yet.

And then the older boy had to leave junior high. Of course, that was unavoidable, but still. It didn't mean Kaidoh had to be happy about it. He was almost getting used to the other's persistent and constant annoying presence. 'Almost' being the keyword here. He would own up to missing Inui's presence now, but he would also rather die before admitting to that fact before the other.

From what he knew of the older boy, not only would he be recording all these down in his notebook with the familiar evil glint to his grin, he would also be smug over it. Make it very smug. And then he would start quoting statistics over how he actually predicted this reaction from Kaidoh and such.

Inui was difficult to deal with. But Kaidoh had been aware of this fact since a long time ago. Actually, compared to Ryoma, he guessed he was in a better state than the other. At least he didn't have Tezuka and Fuji at his heels. If he had the number one and number two players of their former school team hounding him, it would definitely drive him crazy.

Granted, he had number three (or should that be number four, right after Ryoma?) on him. It wasn't exactly nice. But Kaidoh had a hard time trying to imagine dating either of the other two boys. Not that he wanted to, anyway. He wasn't interested in them. Not at all. He was straight.

Well... mostly straight.

Inui was an exception. Always an exception, it seemed.

As for Ryoma's situation... normally, Kaidoh might notice such things without Inui's prompting. He noticed enough things in tennis. He might not be the sharpest around, but he was still rather sharp, to say the truth. Sharp enough to notice his two senpai eyeing the youngest member of their school team. When Inui spoke to him about it, it simply further confirmed the fact that boy wonder had landed himself in hot soup unknowingly.

He didn't show that side of himself often. It was never good to let one's opponents (that includes senpai and kouhai too) know one's depth. That was one thing he learned after being around Inui for the past two years. From the older boy, he had also learned that any piece of information, no matter how trivial, could work against himself.

Always be careful. That was one of the warnings Inui gave him.

"Kaidoh."

The mamushi glanced up from where he was sitting beside the street courts, still cooling down from the run he had prior to his weekly matches against Inui. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, and he reached up to wipe the sweat away from his forehead carelessly with the back of his hand.

"Where's your towel?"

"I forgot."

Inui tilted his head to one side, seeming to contemplate what Kaidoh just said. It wasn't like the mamushi to forget things like that.

"Ah." The bespectacled boy tossed a towel over to the younger boy, then smiled. "Just remember to return it to me. Don't forget to wash it."

"Sssssss..." Kaidoh stared at the other for a bit with a slight frown, before lowering his head and mumbling. "Arigatou."

The older boy nodded, seemingly satisfied about something.

Just as the mamushi was about to stand up and retrieve his racket for their game, Inui spoke up in an absentminded manner.

"Ahh, Kaidoh."

"Sssssssss..."

"Since Tezuka and Fuji are so keen on that..." Inui paused. Kaidoh started sweating again, nervous. What was Tezuka and Fuji keen about lately? "I think we should try it too."

"Uh?"

"Let's try dating next week."

While a small voice in Kaidoh's head went overboard with joy, a much louder voice started screaming. Loudly.

Indeed, Kaidoh was screaming so loudly, he was sure that the whole neighbourhood must have heard him. But that wasn't important. Not at the moment anyway. Currently, there were other pressing issues disturbing him greatly.

His deepest and darkest nightmare had just come true.


to be continued...

Date Completed: 210803
Date Revised: 180903