Sorry for the late update. Finals!. Thanks for all the reviews! I feel so loved! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!


Chapter 4: Acceptance

"Nyah, Kaidoh who's your new friend?" Eiji was overexcited again during morning practice when Kaidoh walked in with a new guy. Kaidoh knew this was coming so they had decided to go to the tennis courts last after getting Sojiroh's books and giving him a quick tour of the school. After the quick tour, he and Sojiroh went to Ryuzaki-sensei to approve of him being in the club, got his uniform and headed towards the clubhouse to change for his first day of practice at Seigaku where he found the hyper Eiji talking to him.

Before Sojiroh could answer any of the questions, Ryuzaki-sensei called them over for some announcements.

After a few minutes of briefing, Ryuzaki-sensei went to the subject of the new member.

"And also welcome the new club member, Sojiroh Kei," said Ryuzaki-sensei.

Everybody clapped and said words of welcome as Sojiroh advanced forward, took a bow, and went back to his place next to Kaidoh. After everyone quieted down, Tezuka gave out instructions for practice that day and everyone went on their way to practice except for the regulars and Sojiroh, who was held back.

"Since Sojiroh-san here is new, I'm sure everyone would like to see his ability and style of play. So who is going to volunteer to play him?"

Kaidoh and Sojiroh exchanged glances and each had a grin on their face.

"Umm…sensei? I heard Seigaku has lots of players for singles but lack doubles so I was wondering if I could play a doubles match. Against the golden pair if I can," added Sojiroh in a confident tone.

Ryuzaki-sensei was surprised but agreed to his proposal because one, Eiji was whining that it was a good idea, two, Tezuka seemed to agree to it, and three, if he was good at doubles who was she to stop him?

"And I'm guessing that Kaidoh would be your partner right?"

Kaidoh and Sojiroh exchanged glances again then Sojiroh turned back to Ryuzaki-sensei, nodded his head with a big smile.

Ryuzaki-sensei gave the word okay and the two pair went off to do a little warm up before the match.

Inui stopped scribbling in his notebook. Inui was confused. Why had Kaidoh decided to play doubles with this new guy (65 percent they could have been childhood friends) so suddenly without so much as an argument. When he had first asked Kaidoh play doubles with him, it had taken a great deal of time to convince him. Kaidoh had refused 72 percent of the time and when he had finally given in, it was because of the high annoyance level and that their partnership in doubles was to help Kaidoh improve on the boomerang snake. Inui envied Sojiroh right at that moment. It had always been the Inui and Kaidoh pair. Everything was going to change now that the new guy was here.

/Stop being stupid. You have a girlfriend now. You shouldn't be thinking this. Any of this./ Inui shook his head and got rid of all thoughts he just had and focused all his attention on the pair that was now playing; pen and notebook ready to gather data on the new guy.

On the Court

Kaidoh and Sojiroh were whispering something on the court that was no doubt a strategy to beat the Golden Pair. It seemed like they were satisfied with whatever they had come up with because each went to their position and got ready. Sojiroh started out with a normal serve which ended up getting returned by Eiji with his acrobatics. Point. Love-15.

The rest of the game went the same. Sojiroh served, Eiji returned it, Kaidoh hit towards the back court and Oishi ended it with the Moon Volley. The first game was won by Eiji/Oishi pair 1-0. The next game was somewhat a repeat of the first one.This seemed like such a one-sided game that some started to pity the Kaidoh and Sojiroh pair.

"Game Kikumaru/Oishi pair 2-0. Change courts."

"Nyah Oishi, this isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. They're not putting up much of a fight."

"Eiji!"

"Hoi, let's hurry up and end this. I want to play O-chibi again."

Oishi could only sigh as he followed his partner to the other side of the court.

"Ne, Kei, are you done playing yet?" Kaidoh was getting really annoyed. It was always like this when he played doubles with Sojiroh. He would start playing with the other team and once he had had enough (or got his head bitten of by Kaidoh), he would start playing seriously.

"Gomen, gomen, old habits die hard," chuckled Sojiroh. "Come on! The real game starts now. We'll show them our amazing coordination!" Kaidoh let out a sigh. Sometimes his friend was just too much but he couldn't help it when a smile formed. It felt good to finally play together again. He was going to give it his all.

From then on, they were playing like they were completely different people. Their coordination and timing was perfect and they were even able to do the Australian formation and I formation. Everyone was awed by how well they were playing. After a while, they caught up and were even winning. 3-2 Sojiroh Kaidoh lead. Oishi and Eiji were so shocked by their sudden change in play that they played seriously and for every game that Kaidoh and Sojiroh took, they took one back too. The match was full of tension and it seemed as if neither pair would refuse to give up even one point. Everyone stopped practicing and just stood there watching the heated up between the Golden Pair and the Kaidoh/Sojiroh pair.

Towards the end, both pairs were tired. It wasn't about techniques anymore. It was who had the stronger will to win. Even though it was just a practice match, neither was willing to give up. The match ended with Oishi hitting a Moon volley and Sojiroh missed returning the shot because he was out of energy and he stumbled over his feet; losing the point and match to the Golden pair at 32-34.

"Game. Set. Match. Oishi/Kikumaru pair. 7-6."

Cheering could be heard throughout the court. Everyone was awed at how the two pairs had played. After the two had shaken hands, halfway off the court they were surrounded by the club members complimenting their game.

"That was amazing."

"Where did you learn to play like that Sojiroh-san?"

"You two are just like the golden pair."

"Return to your practices or 20 laps," said Tezuka in a voice that carried. He didn't even have to yell to be heard. Everyone did as they were told and since Sojiroh wasn't part of the regulars, he went along with the crowd and practiced a little after the break that Kaidoh, the Golden Pair, and Sojiroh received after playing such a long drawn out game.

The rest of practice only lasted another 20 minutes and was full of loud noisy people. It looked and sounded more like a circus than tennis practice. Eiji was bouncing around and conversing loudly with Oishi about how much fun the game was while Oishi tried to calm his partner down. Kaidoh and Momoshiro got into another fight because of yet another misunderstanding. Kaidoh got hit by a tennis ball and the ball seemed to have come from Momoshiro's direction so he assumed it was him. Inui was the one who had to calm down the two after threatening to make them into test subjects for his latest Inui juice.

Sojiroh seemed to gather lots of attention. Everyone wanted to play against him after his spectacular performance. Fuji seemed to be wrecking havoc (and causing a major headache) on poor Tezuka-Buchou, earning him 20 laps around the court. Kawamura was in his burning mode, playing a match against their Ochibi, who was currently winning (and the only two that were actually practicing).

The ruckus on the courts, not to mention the already major headache he had from Fuji's sadistic side, was just pushing the limits of Tezuka's patience. He was about to make everyone run 100 laps when Ryuzaki-sensei returned and told them that they were dismissed. He made a mental note to remember that they all would run extra laps the next practice.

"Hey, Echizen, want to go get hamburgers?"

"Sure," said Ryoma in a dead voice.

"Eiji-sempai, want to come too?" Momo was hoping that his sempai would agree. Then he wouldn't have to pay for the brat again.

"Huh? No, it's okay. Me and Oishi are going for ice-cream today," said Eiji with a big grin.

"Eh? But Eiji I have-"

"Nyah Oishi! You promised!" Eiji pouted and pretended to be hurt by what Oishi had said.

Oishi let out a sigh. He could never deny Eiji anything when he looked so vulnerable like that. Would he ever be able to deny his partner anything?

Oishi gave a small smile, "Okay."

"Yay! Let's go!" Eiji grabbed his and Oishi's bags and practically ran out the door dragging poor Oishi, who was trying to finish buttoning up his shirt and trying to bid his teammates goodbye.

Once they were out the door and a good distance away, Oishi spoke up.

"Eiji, I'm sorry, but I have to run some errands for my mom today. Can we go get ice-cream tomorrow?" Oishi was half hoping that his eccentric doubles partner wasn't going to scream out loud again from his refusal.

"Nyah its okay Oishi," said Eiji with a small smile. He looked a bit disappointed but still let out a smile. That was just too much for Oishi.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then," said Eiji as he was about to turn. Oishi suddenly felt guilty. He let out a sigh. Duties were going to have to wait.

"Eiji!"

"Eh? What is it Oishi?" Eiji seemed kind of confused.

"I changed my mind. Want to get some ice-cream now?"

Eiji's face suddenly lit up. At that moment, he looked like a little kid who just got what he wanted on Christmas. That was one of the many faces Oishi came to cherish deep in his heart.

"But what about your errands…?"

"They can wait," replied Oishi.

"Okay!" Eiji immediately clung onto Oishi's arm and was half running in the direction of the ice-cream parlor.

Later that night…

Oishi was sitting at his desk trying to do his history homework. He seemed to be having a hard time concentrating since he kept glancing at the phone every 10 seconds. It was those girls who had reminded him of it.

/Should I call him?/ The same question kept bothering Oishi since he got back from his outing with Eiji. /Should I call him?/ The question repeated in his head.

/Grr…decide will you? I'm trying to concentrate and you keep repeating the same thing over and over again/ another part of his brain was starting to talk now.

/Well, I can't decide! And if I did I wouldn't be here repeating it over and over again now would I?/

/Well, just call or don't call! How hard is it to pick up a phone to call him? I'm sure he'll say yes!/ The voices in Oishi's head were starting to confuse him and hurt his head.

/W-wait! What if he says no? What if he laughs? He probably wouldn't want to go anyway./ this voice seemed to be panicking now.

/You should know him best. I'm sure he will say yes so go call him! I'm never going to get my studying done at this rate./ Mr. Grumpy had won so Oishi reached for his phone and punched in the numbers he knew by heart.

As the phone was ringing, Mr. Anxious was talking again. /W-wait! What if he already has a date? Maybe that's why we never talked about it./

/Just shut up and listen. And don't interrupt got it?/

/Hai…/

"Moshi Moshi Eiji speaking."

"Uhhh…Eiji, I have s-something I want to t-talk about," Oishi said nervously.

"What is it Oishi? Is there something wrong?" Even though Eiji wasn't the worry-about-everything type, he could still care about his friends; especially Oishi.

"Uhh…you know the dance this w-weekend r-right?" Oishi was stuttering again.

"Uh huh."

"Uhh..a-are you going w-with anyone?"

"Nope."

Oishi let out a silent sigh of relief. /Ha! I was right!/

/Shhh. You said not to interrupt!/

Oishi took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Eijiwillyougotothedancewithme?"

"Huh? Oishi could you say that again slowly?. I didn't understand you," said Eiji, sounding confused.

"I said 'do you want to go to the dance with me?'"

There was a moment of silence on the phone. Eiji was speechless by what Oishi had just said and Oishi was hoping that he wasn't going to get rejected.

A sound could be heard on the other line; Eiji's side.

"Sorry Oishi, nee-san is calling me. It seems like she's in trouble. I'll talk to you tomorrow ja," and Eiji hung up.

"Bye…," Oishi said into the receiver.

/See…I told you this would happen. This was why I was weighing the pro and cons before I called him./ And the voices were back.

/There is still time. The dance isn't till Saturday and it's only Wednesday./

/Yeah, it's only Wednesday,/ snorted Mr. anxious voice.

/Shut up! I'm trying to be sensible right now. You're supposed to be encouraging him! Not putting him down!/ Defended Mr. Grumpy voice.

/You're only saying those things because you know there is no hope in you getting your peace and quiet for you to study now after he called./

/Nuh uh!/

/Uh huh!/

/Nuh uh!/

/Uh huh!/

/NUH UH!/

/UH HUH!/

/Well, I wouldn't have told him to call him if you hadn't been talking so loud!/

/We don't talk genius! We think!/

/If you have been thinking in your head then all of this wouldn't happen!/ Mr. Grumpy voice was getting really grumpy now.

/I was thinking in my head! WE are the ones that are suppose to be thinking for him-/

/Obviously you're not doing it right!/

/WHAT?!/

All of a sudden Oishi threw a punch to the wall. He seemed to be very angry and from the looks of it, his head was hurting too. It was a good thing his parents weren't home or else they would be worried.

/I think we should shut up now/ piped out Mr. Anxious voice.

/Best idea you had today./

­­

Tezuka Residence

"Tezuka?"

"Hm?"

"Want to go to the dance with me?"

"No." This was the 20th time Fuji had asked and it was the 20th time he answered no. It had all started when Tezuka had agreed to let Fuji come over so they could "study" as Fuji suggested. It turned out Fuji had already known everything in the history book so the most reasonable answer was that it was just an excuse to come over to Tezuka's house.

5 minutes later, Fuji was seated on the floor against the side of Tezuka's bed and Tezuka was sitting at his desk with his back towards Fuji. Soon they started to study, well, after Tezuka had started to study, Fuji started with the questions, all ending in a no.

"Why not?" This time Fuji wasn't giving up that easily.

"I don't dance." Short. Precise. Got to the point. So like Tezuka.

"I can teach you," answered Fuji in a sweet voice.

"No thanks." Tezuka was just as stubborn as ever.

Just then an idea hit Fuji. "Hmm…I wonder if Kojiroh would want to go with me then."

At the sound of Saeki's name, Tezuka tensed up. It wasn't that Tezuka didn't like Saeki, it was just that he got too close to Fuji- his Fuji and he didn't like that. Okay, maybe he didn't like Saeki but Fuji didn't need to know that. Unfortunately for him, Fuji already knew.

Tezuka shifted uncomfortably in his chair which didn't go unnoticed by Seigaku's tensai. Fuji's smile shifted into a mischievous one and was about to speak up when Tezuka beat him to it.

"Why Saeki?" Fuji noticed the venom in Saeki's name when Tezuka said it.

"Because I love him," said Fuji innocently. Tezuka immediately tensed up even more. Fuji knew exactly what to say to get to his captain.

Tezuka only grunted in response and that was enough to make Fuji smile even more.

The next hour or so, Tezuka was colder than usual, refused any contact with Fuji, and refused to even look at Fuji the whole time. Fuji was getting impatient. He figured he went too far this time. When Fuji would try to start a conversation, Tezuka would say one or two words in a tone that would say "this conversation is over" thus crossing out anything that involved talking. Next, Fuji asked to borrow his notes and Tezuka just threw it over his shoulder without even looking back, making it land right next to Fuji. By 8:30, Fuji got tired of Tezuka's cold attitude and decided to break the ice. Seriously. He got up and silently walked over to where Tezuka was and slide into his lap with a serious look on his face.

"Why are you mad?"

Tezuka covered up his shock and quickly looked anywhere but Fuji's face. "I'm not mad."

"Yes, you are! You're avoiding me."

"I am not avoiding you."

"Then why won't you look at me?" Fuji said with a hint of pleading.

Tezuka was speechless. True, he was trying to avoid looking at Fuji but it was hard to look at him after what he had said about Saeki. He didn't want to show the pain in his eyes. Fuji could see through him no matter how hard he tried to hide it but this was one thing he wasn't going to let Fuji figure out.

Fuji was staring intently at Tezuka for awhile now and he had a feeling that his suspicions were right. Tezuka was jealous. Just then Fuji's sadistic side returned to him. He had on a mischievous grin and tilted his head to the side to meet Tezuka's eyes.

"Ne, Mitsu, are you jealous?" So much for being serious.

"No."

Fuji's grin fell and turned into disappointment and his head bow down. "Then you're not jealous?" Fuji muttered softly, but loud enough for Tezuka to hear.

Tezuka fell in shock at Fuji's reaction. Before he could help it, a light shade of pink crept up his cheeks but it didn't go unnoticed by Fuji. Suddenly, Fuji's head lifted up and his face broke out in a grin.

"Oh, Mitsu! I didn't know you cared!" Fuji said as he threw his arms around Tezuka's neck. Once again the tensai rendered him shocked and speechless but Tezuka couldn't help but wrap his arms around Fuji's little frame and hold him there forever. Where he belonged.

"Tezuka…?" Fuji said on Tezuka's shoulder.

"Hmm…?" He and Fuji were still in the tight embrace and neither showed any signs of letting go.

"Want to go to the dance with me?" That question again.

"Sure." Fuji's grin got wider, if it was possible. Tezuka pulled back from Fuji just a little bit and leaned in and captured the lips he wanted to taste for so long to seal the deal.

At the bridge

Kaidoh and Sojiroh were getting ready to pack up since they were finished for the day. Although they were getting ready to pack up, it didn't mean that they were actually up yet. They wouldn't, no, couldn't get up. They were just too dead tired from all the hard training they did. After all the normal training, they did extra running and went to the street courts to play tennis. After that, they came back to cool off with another run. Now they were just lying on the grass staring up at the stars.

"Kaoru…?"

"Hmm…?"

"When's the dance?"

"It's this Saturday night. Why?" Kaidoh was curious that his friend knew about the dance already. He'd only been in school for a day too.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that you know Seichii Chitari that girl in our homeroom?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Well Seichii-chan asked me to go to the dance with her and she's not the only one. A ton of other girls were crowding me in History class. They were all the same."

"Well, if you want to go to the dance with her then go." Kaidoh really didn't like talking about the dance. It brought back memories that were best left forgotten. It hurt now that he thought about it.

"Are you going…?" Sojiroh was wondering. Even though he was new and lots of people wanted to go to the dance with him, it still didn't feel right that his best friend would be at home when he was out probably having a good time.

"No…it would be…just….too much if I went…" Kaidoh looked hurt as he said that.

"Is it because of Inui-sempai?" Sojiroh asked innocently.

Kaidoh turned and faced his best friend. "How'd you know?"

"I guess. Actually, it really isn't all that obvious if you don't observe things as carefully as I do. You tend to avoid him. When he talks to you, you don't look at him. Instead, you look anywhere else but at him; you try to be as far away from him as possible.

"Is it really that obvious?" Kaidoh asked to no one in particular.

"Come on. Are you going to tell me or do I have to pry it from you? At the risk of sounding cliché, we could do this the easy way or the hard way. You pick."

"Kei…" Kaidoh said in a deadly cold voice.

"Don't 'Kei…' me! How am I supposed to help you if I don't know the problem is?" Sojiroh was determined to find out what was bothering Kaidoh. It was simple enough. He usually lets it out without knowing it.

Kaidoh let out a sigh and return his gaze to the stars. "There's no problem so you don't have to worry."

"Is it because of Inui-sempai's girlfriend? Toriumi-chan…?"

"It's not fair…" Kaidoh muttered softly but didn't go unheard by Sojiroh.

"How about you go with me to the dance? It would be no fun without you anyway," Sojiroh suggested.

"If I go, I would only be ruining your time with your date. Nah, I'll stay home. I might do some extra training or go play more tennis. I don't know, but I'll find something to do. You don't have to worry about me." Kaidoh just looked like a helpless soul just crying for comfort.

Sojiroh turned to face Kaidoh and smirked. "You wanted to go with Inui-sempai, huh?"

It was amazing how prompt Kaidoh had started blushing so furiously. "I d-do not."

Sojiroh couldn't hold in the laughter anymore. "Yeah, right, I can really tell by how red your face is."

That remark earned him a death glare from Kaidoh but it could hardly be taken serious considering Kaidoh's face was still tomato red.

"This is more than just a crush, huh?" Sojiroh changed his own expression quickly as well. He went from being a laughing immature kid to a dead serious guy.

"You wouldn't understand how much it hurts…" said Kaidoh quietly.

"I won't know unless you tell me right?" /There's little chance that I wouldn't understand the pain considering that I went through enough/

Kaidoh looked him dead in the eye. It seemed like he was serious so Kaidoh started to tell the story of how it all started. He told him about all the times he and Inui were alone, when it was just them and what he felt. He told him how he felt when he lost Inui, how much it hurt, the pain he had to go through everyday seeing him with another girl, spending all his time with her and not him. It really hurt Kaidoh. Sojiroh could see it.

All the pain had made Kaidoh soft, not that anyone could see it. Kaidoh hid it very well but for Sojiroh, Kaidoh was the easiest thing to figure out. Somewhere in the middle, Kaidoh sat up and continued talking. When he was done, Sojiroh had also gotten up and he had an arm around Kaidoh's waist, pulling him close to him for comfort. Kaidoh was leaning his head on Sojiroh's shoulder as he continued explaining about all the pain. The hand around Kaidoh's wait tightened when Sojiroh felt that Kaidoh needed reassurance and comfort. They sat there in silence; a silent understanding of each other. It was soundless until Kaidoh's cell started ringing.

"Moshi Moshi"

"Hello? Kaidoh…?"

"Hai…"

"It's me, Inui. I was just wondering where you were since I called your house and your parents said that you were still out," said Inui.

"Who is it?" asked Sojiroh.

"Hmmm…? Is that Sojiroh with you?" Inui's voice sounded surprised.

"Ah, hai sempai."

"Oh…"

SILENCE…

"Was there something you needed, sempai?" ask Kaidoh. He was in a hurry to get off the phone. It still hurt just talking on the phone with him.

"Ah, well it wasn't that important. I'll see you tomorrow then. Ja." Then Inui hung up.

"What did he want?" ask Sojiroh.

"Nothing…" said Kaidoh softly as he was still staring at the phone.

"So…Kaoru? How about going to the dance with me?" said Sojiroh with a playful grin on his face.

Kaidoh nodded. "Sure." /If Kei could get rid of the pain then I'm willing to do anything./


Review please. Oh yeah how should i pair Kawamura with? and ideas? The next chapter will be up soon!