Title: Measures of Time: Chapter 3 of 3
Author: A.A. Incognito
Pairing: InuKai
Warnings: shounen ai
Rating: PG
Note: Timeline notes from first chapter still apply. Things eaten by Momo taken from the AO fansub of episode 27.
Summary: Momo spills the beans, Hazue pretends he doesn't like Inui, and Kaidoh... is Kaidoh. But Inui gets it, this time.

Measures of Time
Chapter 3

Momoshiro had never presented much of an enigma to Inui, even after the sophomore's natural instincts on the tennis court had been purposefully honed to near-perfection. With the right persuasion, getting information from Momo would be easy. Inui forewent his usual juice research and development during the lunch period to find him, armed with an array of foodstuffs he knew Momo particularly enjoyed. Unsurprisingly, Momo was in the first place Inui looked, and he dutifully followed him to a more secluded part of the room.

"Inui-senpai," Momo said between bites of melon bread, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Kaidoh." Being anything other than direct would get him precisely nowhere.

"What about the mamushi?"

Inui frowned. Even after all these years that nickname still annoyed Kaidoh enough to start throwing punches. It had reached the point where Inui was moderately less than fond of it, as well.

"What did you say to him this morning?" He passed Momo a can of blueberry juice. "I found him in the clubhouse."

"Uh."

Silence.

"...yes?"

"I, uh, shouldn't say. He'd kill me. Really kill me." He was looking anywhere but at Inui, thus erasing any doubts Inui had retained about the confrontation not being about him.

"You don't need to reiterate it word for word. A general summary will do." Or so he hoped -- wording could be critical with Kaidoh.

"I could totally take the mamushi if he finds out I said something." ." Inui twitched as Momo continued. "But... I really can't say." Momo's fingers tapped a nervous rhythm on the desktop.

The food wasn't having quite the enticing effect Inui had hoped for. He sighed as he reached into his pocket. "I had hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this." He helped up a small, clear bottle, electric purple liquid sloshing within. "I haven't named this one yet, but the color is quite vivid."

"I-Inui juice?" Momo stammered, scooting his chair several feet away and getting puzzled looks from others in the room.

"Yes. I just finished this variation two days ago." He swirled the contents of the bottle around; the bubbles fizzed noisily. Momo had started to look for the nearest escape route, which Inui had intentionally positioned himself in front of. "You either get this," he shook the bottle, "or I could treat you to hamburgers after school." A small sacrifice for information. The expression on Momo's face indicated that the promise of more food could very well be the deciding factor in this confrontation.

"...can Echizen come?"

"I suppose." Fizz, fizz.

"All right, all right. Just... put the juice away." Inui did so, smirking at Momoshiro's blatant relief. "I was just teasing him about how you ignored him yesterday."

He'd already known that much. "That can't be all of it."

"It was! Almost. You gotta know he likes you. It's not hard to get him worked up about it. Not hard at all." Of course it wouldn't be, for Momo -- his thoughts screeched to a halt. Judging by the tone of voice the sophomore used when he said the word "like" there was only a 25 possibility that he was referring to their friendship. His mind began processing thoughts at a pace dangerous to his sanity. Like? Kaidoh liked him? Preposterous. Surely he would have noticed. Clearly this was just a tactic Momoshiro used to get a reaction out of Kaidoh.

"Oh?" he inquired, careful to keep his expression and voice neutral.

"He really is a freak, you know? He's liked you for a long time but he still gets mad when I mention it." Momo seemed more at ease now, in contrast to the chaos currently inhabiting Inui's ordinarily organized mind. Why had Momo presumed that he was aware of this information? How long was a "long time"? With Momo it could be anywhere from two days to years -- but there was still no chance that Kaidoh "liked" him like that. It was completely impossible.

...Well, not completely impossible. There were no absolutes in data.

"I don't remember exactly what I said, but that's the idea of it. Can I go now?"

"Yes." Inui watched as Momoshiro gathered up the remaining food. "Echizen is on the roof," he added. It had stopped raining.

"Uh, thanks." Then he was gone, probably off to buy a can of Ponta before trekking up the stairs to the roof.

Inui stared out the window, wondering what to do next. There was no conceivable way to disprove (or prove, chimed a small voice in the back of his mind) what Momo had said without some fairly awkward conversations. He briefly entertained the notion of observing various individuals who "liked" another individual and comparing their behavior with Kaidoh's, but discarded the idea. It would require an immense amount of data collection, which would take time, and Inui wanted an answer sooner than that. And Kaidoh didn't compare to others well.

The only person from whom he could obtain an accurate answer in a timely fashion was Kaidoh, but the potential risk associated with such an endeavor could far, far outweigh the benefits.

---

Inui's concern was increasing proportionally to the number of hamburger wrappers piled on the table between Momoshiro and Echizen. Momoshiro's eating habits were no secret, but he hadn't expected quite this much. Then again, Inui had been having trouble concentrating all day, so there could have been an error in his estimation.

"Inui-senpai, are you gonna eat that?"

Wordlessly, Inui pushed his food over to the sophomore, and he and Echizen began squabbling over who got what. Momoshiro was in a cheerful mood, even though he had acquired an impressive bruise on his jaw sometime between lunch and afternoon practice. Echizen alternated between staring at Inui intently and teasing Momoshiro, teetering fearlessly on the line between acceptable behavior and outright rudeness.

The dynamic between the two younger boys was something Inui had always wanted more data on, but he couldn't bring himself to concentrate on their interaction at the present time. He was going to Kaidoh's after this little outing. He was going to talk to him. He was going to get to the bottom of everything. Or try to.

...As soon as Echizen and Momoshiro stopped eating.

Three hamburgers later, the two boys appeared to have finally reached their collective limit, and they parted ways, Inui's wallet considerably lighter than it had been upon entering the restaurant.

"Good luck, Inui-senpai," were Echizen's last words to him. Inui pretended not to have heard him.

When he reached Kaidoh's house, the Hazue answered the door. "Niisan just got back from his run," the younger boy said as he led Inui upstairs. "He'll be out of the shower soon. Come see my new models." Inui smiled slightly, feeling more grounded than he had since lunch. Hazue's behavior toward him was comfortingly constant. Normally very polite, sometimes rudely abrupt, and always with the grudging air of someone trying very hard to not like who they were talking to. Inui had witnessed it dozens of times on the courts.

Upstairs, Inui could faintly hear the sound of running water before Hazue grabbed his shirtsleeve and pulled him into the first bedroom at the top of the stairs -- Hazue's room -- and over to the one bookcase that held no books.

"Shall I tell you what shelves the new ones are on?" The younger boy asked slyly, glancing at Inui out of the corner of his eye.

"That is unnecessary."

It was a kind of game between the two of them. Hazue had forty-eight -- fifty-one now, a cursory glance told him -- models of various mecha, a collection he added to periodically. Kaidoh played tennis, Hazue built models and painted them. Inui had been taken aback the first time he'd seen them all.

He scanned each shelf with a critical eye, noting that Hazue had completely rearranged them all again, which made finding the new ones that much more difficult. Hazue, of course, did this on purpose.

The smirk on the younger boy's face faded a little when Inui pointed to the leftmost mecha on the second shelf. "That one is new." He received a reluctant nod. "And, hmm..." He studied the shelves carefully. Some of the models were obviously older, evidenced by a slightly less skillful paint job. None were dusty. But Hazue had a habit of putting his best and newest work in the most visible places, which was ultimately his downfall.

"That one," he decided, indicating a red mecha with large wings.

"I guess you can stay," Hazue almost grumbled, sounding remarkably like his brother. And that was Inui's reward -- reluctant approval of his visit.

"There you are," came a voice from the doorway. "You found them?"

"Yes," Inui said, straightening. Kaidoh was wearing gray shorts and a black tank top, towel draped around his neck. His hair was still wet, and curling the tiniest bit at the ends.

"'Kaasan said dinner would be in twenty minutes," Hazue told his brother, distinctly unruffled by his sudden appearance. "Inui-senpai is invited, as well." That was something he had picked up from Kaidoh, somewhere along the way. Inui found it amusing.

"All right," Kaidoh replied. "We'll be down then." Then he turned around and walked down the hall to his room, not looking back, just expecting Inui to follow. Which he did, with a little wave to Hazue, who actually smiled faintly in return.

Walking down the familiar hallway after Kaidoh sent his thoughts circling each other again until he firmly shoved them aside. He would stay calm, there was no reason to be nervous. It was still Kaidoh, even if Momoshiro had meant what Inui thought there was a 75 chance of him meaning. Still Kaidoh.

In Kaidoh's room, Inui took his customary seat at the foot of the bed, watching his kouhai vigorously dry his hair with the towel. A thought wormed its way through his defenses -- just when had Kaidoh started acting like finding Inui in his house was a normal occurrence? It was, but Kaidoh had always seemed just a little taken aback by it, before... before when?

Approximately one year, seven months, and four days ago, his mind supplied. Inui could recall an incident where Kaidoh had walked into the living room and found Inui and Hazue talking about the nutritional values of giant water beetles, and had calmly sat down and asked if Inui planned on making insect-based juices. (At the time he hadn't had the heart to tell him that he had already developed several insect-based variations.) Inui and Hazue had unintentionally shared a slightly confused look at Kaidoh's behavior, and it was then Inui knew he had found a comrade, however unwilling, in the quest to Figure Kaidoh Out.

Now he wished he had thought to attempt to glean information from Hazue when he had had the chance. Not that Kaidoh's brother would have given up anything willingly, but with more time Inui surely could have gotten some data. Anything would be helpful now, as he lacked even a vague idea about how to go about this. Whatever "this" was.

"Senpai?" Kaidoh was looking at him, hair ruffled from the towel.

"Yes?"

"You're quiet."

"Ah, sorry. I was thinking."

"You need silence to think?" He smoothed down his hair and tossed the towel into a basket in the corner of the room before sitting down on the bed, back against the wall in order to face Inui. There was a 50 chance that the question was genuine, and an equal chance that Kaidoh was... teasing him. Was Kaidoh teasing him? He studied the younger boy's expression carefully -- one eyebrow slightly raised, mouth turned up bare millimeters at the corners. Perhaps the question itself was half-serious, half-teasing.

"No," he answered. "There is a situation I would like to resolve, but I cannot determine an appropriate course of action."

"Situation? Is that why you were avoiding me?"

And there were times when Inui wished Kaidoh weren't quite so direct. Those times usually coincided with the ones where he wished he could lie to his partner without feeling immensely guilty, but he couldn't, so... "Yes."

"Oh." Kaidoh shifted on the bed, drawing one knee up to his chest: a sure sign that yesterday was still bothering him, consciously or not, no matter what he'd said that morning. It wasn't like Kaidoh to dwell on things, unless they involved a grudge with Momoshiro. "Are you here to collect more data?"

"Of a sort." Kaidoh looked up at Inui's answer, eyes meeting Inui's. Inui looked away first, then continued, "I like being here. Eighty-eight percent of the time that is the only reason I come."

"Why?"

"You're full of questions today." Perhaps Inui could find answers in Kaidoh's questions.

"Are you going to answer?"

"You were inquiring why I like being here?" A barely perceptible nod. "You're here," he said simply, and it was true. What other options were there? Though Kaidoh's mother's cooking was excellent, something of that caliber could hardly qualify as an explanation for the time Inui spent at his kouhai's home.

Hm, there was the 10 pink tinge again. "Did you expect a different answer?"

"I... Momoshiro already told me what happened at lunch."

"That would explain the bruise, I assume." This made for an interesting turn of events, and took care of his inability to determine what course of action to take. "I deserve to be punched, then, since I forced him to tell me."

"But you already knew," Kaidoh muttered, the resignation in his voice causing Inui's chest to constrict almost painfully.

"I did not," he said softly.

"Y-you didn't?" Twenty percent color shift and rising at a steady rate.

"That is correct."

"And you -- is that why you came over?" Kaidoh stood abruptly, Inui could sense that he was trying to pull his anger around him like a shield. Inui stood too, reaching out to touch Kaidoh's shoulder. He would not let this damage their relationship. Kaidoh jerked away from Inui's hand, but remained otherwise motionless.

"Kaidoh..."

"Is it?" he demanded, still with his back to Inui.

"Yes. But... only because I wanted it to be true." And he had, regardless of the miniscule probability that it was true. He had long since trained himself to ignore things that had such low chances of actually occurring; he wouldn't be able to focus on anything if he gave each possibility equal attention. Tentatively, Inui placed his hand on his partner's shoulder once more, and Kaidoh did not refuse the contact.

Kaidoh slanted a glance back at Inui, suspicious. "Are you making fun of me?"

"No, Kaidoh," he gave his shoulder a light squeeze, "I'm not."

The younger boy turned so that they were facing each other, less than an arm's length apart. "I thought you knew," he repeated.

Inui should have known. The training, the talking, just sitting together -- he was the only one Kaidoh willingly let into his personal space on a regular basis without violence being involved. The incident two days ago should have been the final evidence he needed to draw an accurate conclusion about the nature of their association. But he was no expert in relationships off the courts, obviously. "Not until Momo said it. You should apologize for punching him."

"No," Kaidoh said with a scowl. "He still deserved it."

Inui smiled and adjusted his hold on Kaidoh to grip both of his shoulders to minimize the risk that he would attempt an escape. Inui was centimeters away when Kaidoh put a hand on his chest, exerting a small amount of pressure that Inui was too distracted to calculate. "Wait." The hand left his chest and rose to carefully remove his glasses and set them on the desk. Inui blinked, and then Kaidoh closed the gap and kissed him.

When he pulled back, Inui noted that the color of his cheeks had faded back into the 10 range, and that his own were probably near the same level. Kaidoh's hand rose again and his fingertips brushed the skin near Inui's uncovered eyes. He decided the light touch was Kaidoh's way of saying he liked Inui without his glasses, since he would never say such a thing aloud. Inui reached up to take hold of Kaidoh's wrist, then pressed a kiss to his palm on impulse. Back up to 20.

"Senpai--" Inui cut him off with another kiss and concluded he rather liked kissing Kaidoh; it would certainly be a pleasant addition to their interaction.

When Inui finally gave him the opportunity, Kaidoh asked, "This doesn't change anything, does it?"

"Not the most important parts," Inui responded, then grinned, which had an interesting effect on Kaidoh when he wasn't wearing his glasses. "But I'm 100 positive it will change some things."

He had just leaned to Kaidoh again when the door to the room slid open without warning. Kaidoh tried to jump back, which threw Inui off-balance and they ended up more tangled together than before, somehow managing to stay upright.

"Ah, finally. 'Kaasan sent me to tell you dinner is ready."

Inui couldn't hide another grin as Kaidoh turned approximately five shades of red, which he was close enough to see even without his glasses. Neither pulled away once they had regained their balance.

"Don't you know how to knock?" Kaidoh asked gruffly as he snatched the glasses off the desk and put them back on Inui. With a smirk, Inui reached up and adjusted them a little. Interesting reaction. Quite swift.

Hazue raised an eyebrow. "I did."

Two more shades of red. "Oh."

"Perhaps you should start locking your door when Inui-senpai comes over."

"Perhaps," Inui agreed when it appeared as though Kaidoh was incapable of answering. Kaidoh made a choked sort of noise at the response and his hand clenched around a fistful of Inui's shirt.

"I'll tell them you'll be down soon," Hazue said and left, closing the door behind him.

Inui leaned down to kiss Kaidoh once more for good measure and was surprised at the speed of his response. "We'll have time," he said softly when they separated. Kaidoh understood what he was trying to say, and nodded before pulling away.

Inui wordlessly followed Kaidoh downstairs to the kitchen, his gaze straying to his kouhai countless times during the meal. Once he caught Kaidoh looking back at him, and he smiled. Kaidoh averted his gaze to his plate for a few long moments before looking up and smiling back.

Yes, there would be plenty of time.

end.

I hope my first multi-part InuKai fic was okay. :)