Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is Konomi-sensei's.
Notes: This is part two of my "Congruence" arc.
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Three days after Inui had confessed his love to Kaidoh, he had officially asked Kaidoh out on what would be their first "real" date. It would consist of lunch, a trip to the petting zoo (weather permitting), and/or a trip to the local movie theatre (time, availability of a good title, and inclination permitting). At least, that was how Inui had phrased it to Kaidoh when he'd given him the note with the planned itinerary. Inui had already folded it like a paper crane and Kaidoh admired the meticulously-folded creation before carefully unfolding it, reading it over in front of Inui, and giving him a firm nod. Echizen happened to walk by at that moment and smiled. "New training schedule, Kaidoh-senpai?"
Kaidoh blushed. "Shut up."
The morning of their date dawned and Kaidoh with it. Sometime during the night, his subconscious had realized for him that he didn't know what to wear and allowed him to wake up twenty minutes before his alarm. It was Sunday, so he'd slept late anyway, and now was up as though he had a tournament game rather than school. He had enough time to do his morning chores, take a shower, and decide what to wear before he would even have to think about leaving to get there on time.
Eventually, after drying his hair thoroughly, Kaidoh decided to wear his black vest and a pair of jeans that had seen better days. It was still warm outside through the days, so he wanted to be cool when he could, but he didn't want goats biting his ankles, either.
They met in the park under the same tree they'd sat under for several hours. Inui had his hands behind his back when Kaidoh arrived, and was leaning against the trunk of the tree wearing a polo shirt not unlike his regular's shirt and a pair of khaki cargo pants. Kaidoh decided it was a good look for Inui.
When Kaidoh approached, Inui took his hands out from behind his back and presented Kaidoh with an assortment of origami shapes. He had even folded one to look like a tennis racket, and had decorated it to look like Kaidoh's racket. Kaidoh was duly impressed and shyly accepted the kiss on the cheek that came with accepting the origami. "Are these notes, Inui-senpai? Because I don't want to unfold them..."
"No, Kaidoh. They're simply yours. Like me."
"Senpai..." Kaidoh started, " that was lame."
Inui laughed. "Perhaps. But it made you smile."
Kaidoh felt a blush race across his cheeks as he noticed that he was still smiling. He looked up at Inui and poked him in the stomach. "So, where are we going first?"
Inui adjusted his glasses. "We're going to lunch. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
Briefly looking into the air, Kaidoh then looked back at Inui. "This is difficult. The places where I like to eat and the places where I should eat are different. I'm not picky, though. Is there anywhere you'd like to recommend?"
Taking a small notebook from his back pocket, Inui leafed through a few pages. "If we look at places which include appropriate pricing, availability, dress code, nutritional values and proximity to our other locales, I would suggest Hanahada."
"Hanahada?" Kaidoh asked. "I don't think I've been there."
Inui smiled and moved closer to Kaidoh. Suddenly, he poked Kaidoh's stomach as well. "All the more reason to try it." He paused for a moment. "You've added to your training."
Kaidoh's eyebrows narrowed. "200 extra sit-ups and push-ups per day, spread across four training sessions."
Inui nodded. "Good. I'll take that into account with your next training menu."
"So you're really going to continue on being my... whatever it is you are to me."
Inui grabbed his bag. "So long as it's for you, I'll be everything for you."
Kaidoh recognized his own smile this time. "Senpai, perhaps you've been reading too many romance novels."
"It's good data," Inui argued.
"Only if you tone it down. Real life isn't like romance novels." Kaidoh gestured emphatically along with his point.
Inui grinned. "A little research of your own?"
Kaidoh blushed again and Inui took a step closer and lightly brushed the back of one finger along Kaidoh's flushed cheek. "You're so cute when you blush."
"Lunch, Inui-senpai!" Kaidoh said loudly, then took off after grabbing his bag.
Inui adjusted his own bag over his shoulder. "Hey, Kaidoh?"
Kaidoh turned around, his cheeks a bright red. "What?"
Inui turned his back to Kaidoh and said over his shoulder, "You're going the wrong way. Follow me?" And Kaidoh did, though he doggedly refused to walk next to Inui. If Inui slowed down, so did Kaidoh. Shortly before they reached the restaurant, Inui turned around and grabbed Kaidoh's arm and pulled him closer. "I've accepted you as my equal, you know. If you're no longer my kouhai, and definitely not my senpai, you can walk with me, especially if we're dating."
Kaidoh swallowed slowly. "Yes, Inui-senpai."
Inui let go of Kaidoh's arm and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry." He suddenly felt arms around him. They were unsure in their hold, but there was warmth in the embrace. "Kaidoh?"
Looking up from where he'd suddenly rested his head on Inui's chest, Kaidoh murmured, "I'm sorry, Inui-senpai. This is all... a new idea. Even if I somehow knew this was coming, that we would be... together... it's still new. I'll do all I can, senpai."
Inui smiled and leaned down to softly kiss the top of Kaidoh's head, unadorned for once. "You're so handsome without that damned bandanna."
Kaidoh smiled. "My hair is too thick not to wear it. I'd sweat more without it."
"I know," Inui said. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to burn your entire collection just to see your hair more often."
"Lunch, senpai?" Kaidoh asked softly.
Inui pulled out of Kaidoh's awkward embrace. "Walk with me."
Kaidoh held back for a moment, then held out his hand. "Okay." He slid his hand into Inui's and blushed the remainder of the way to the restaurant.
Once they had been seated, a waitress came over and took their drink orders. She gave Kaidoh flirtacious looks and Kaidoh hissed at her under his breath. She ran off and Kaidoh and Inui looked over their menus. Inui set his down after only a moment, though. "How do you feel about me, Kaidoh?"
Kaidoh looked up from where he'd been examining the sandwiches on the menu. "What do you mean, Inui-senpai?"
"How do you feel about me? Do you love me? Like me? Are you indifferent? Why did you agree to date me?"
Biting his lip softly, Kaidoh looked intensely at the ramen list. "Because, senpai. You asked."
Inui sat back in his seat. "Is that the only reason?"
Kaidoh looked up. "I couldn't find a reason to say no."
For several moments, Inui did not move. But when he did, there was a quirk of a smile in the corner of his mouth. "I'll make you fall in love with me, Kaidoh Kaoru."
The waitress appeared with their drinks, and Kaidoh knew as soon as he said it that Inui had not heard him whisper, "Good," due to the commotion. Perhaps that was for the best, knowing Inui.
They placed their orders and chatted about tennis while waiting for their food. They discussed Kaidoh's next training menu and the probability of Seigaku making it to Nationals. Inui gave statistics on the teams they were likely to play and Kaidoh mentally formulated what sort of new moves he should try to have mastered by the time he played those games... with Inui. Kaidoh still couldn't quite get himself to think like a doubles player, but perhaps this relationship would even help with that. Kaidoh immediately dismissed the idea that Inui had used that as his reason for wanting to date Kaidoh. He'd looked sincere and comfortable. Even Fuji wasn't that good of an actor.
The food at Hanahada was good, and they split the bill at the end of the meal. Inui grabbed his hand as they walked out of the restaurant and they walked, together, to the petting zoo.
Inui had procured the tickets earlier in the day and didn't let Kaidoh know how much they were so that he could pay him back. "You can buy me an ice cream cone later on, then." Kaidoh agreed and they entered the petting zoo.
Breathing a sigh of relief as Kaidoh hesitantly approached the goat pen, Inui admitted to himself that he had been worried. He had seen Kaidoh's reaction to a few animals, and it was generally a very positive one. However, there was always a slight chance that he only liked domesticated animals. But, then again, if Kaidoh really didn't like something, he could be very vocal about it.
Inui had to smile as he saw Kaidoh gently scratching the head of the meanest looking goat in the pen. He saw the man at the far side of the pen selling feed and snuck over and bought a small bag. He went into the goat pen himself and handed the bag to Kaidoh. Kaidoh looked at it. "What is this, Inui-senpai?"
"I think they know," Inui said and motioned to the goats which were suddenly crowded around Kaidoh. They plucked at his clothes with their mouths and Kaidoh laughed and smiled and somehow managed to give some feed to every goat that wanted some without getting hurt. Inui was impressed. He'd had to back off because one of the goats had stomped on his foot... repeatedly... as he was standing next to Kaidoh.
After they were done with the goats, Kaidoh mentioned that he'd overheard another visitor mentioning how much fun they had petting the tigers. "Can we go there next, Inui-senpai?" If Inui hadn't been so busy looking at the thin strip of Kaidoh's firm abdomen which showed between his vest and jeans, he might have laughed at the child-like quality of Kaidoh's voice. But Inui still led the way to the tiger's cage.
If Kaidoh had been good with the goats, he was excellent with the tigers. He didn't get to feed them, but they nuzzled against him and licked his face and played with him. When Inui sat next to Kaidoh and tried to imitate the clicking noise that drew the tiger's attention, one of the tigers clawed him just a bit. At the first aid station, one of the trainers told him that none of the tigers had attacked anyone in 10 years, and had he possibly cut his hand earlier or handled raw meat? Inui was not amused, but did like the wide-eyed look that Kaidoh wore in response to what had happened.
They ended up going around the park clockwise, and there was only one stop left on their tour. Inui led the way into the building with fervor, but frowned when he felt Kaidoh's grip tighten, then release quickly. He turned and looked at Kaidoh, "What is it? This is just the reptile house."
Kaidoh swallowed audibly. "Inui-senpai... I know that's the shot I use... but I... I hate snakes. Sorry!" He turned and ran from the room. Inui shook his head, smiled, and ran after Kaidoh.
He was already at the exit gate and leaning against one of the poles when Inui arrived. "That was unexpected," Inui said. "I would have thought you particularly liked snakes."
Blushing slightly, Kaidoh refused to meet Inui's gaze. "It's because I hiss. I had a speech problem when I was a kid, and I've managed to fix my speech, but when I get upset, I hiss. So when I started to use the buggy whip shot, and no one around knew what it was called, it became the 'Snake'. It's just... one of those things."
Inui grabbed Kaidoh's hand and pulled him along and out the exit. "Do you want ice cream now?"
Kaidoh looked up at Inui. "Is it okay to have?"
"I wouldn't offer otherwise." Inui gave Kaidoh's hand a gentle squeeze.
"True. You aren't Fuji-senpai." Kaidoh attempted to hide his smile. "Ice cream would be wonderful, Inui-senpai."
Inui led the way again, and it became obvious to Kaidoh that Inui had thoroughly researched this date. It must have been upsetting for him to realize he'd done something wrong. It was such a consuming thought that Kaidoh let Inui buy the ice cream with no arguments. Once they had their ice cream and were sitting down on a bench in a different park than the one they'd started in, Kaidoh looked at Inui over his vanilla cone. "Thank you, Inui-senpai. This had been a great day. We'll have to go see a movie next time."
The tiger had clawed Inui's right wrist, so he somewhat awkwardly used his left hand to eat his ice cream. But he used his right hand to caress Kaidoh's leg. "I'm tempted to build this into your training schedule," Inui said.
Kaidoh smiled and Inui felt how genuine it was. "Go ahead. I could do with some time away from homework."
"On the other hand," Inui said, "I could always tutor you."
Looking up at Inui, Kaidoh noticed a small trace of strawberry ice cream there. "Hey, Inui-senpai..." He bit his lip, then made a decision. He leaned up and kissed the errant ice cream away. "There."
Inui's cheeks were flushed at the contact. "Kaidoh..." He cleared his throat. "I'll walk you home."
It was a moderate walk home from that particular park, Kaidoh noticed as he saw his house in the distance. It would be a good place to go on one of his runs on the days he had less homework, Kaidoh thought.
Just outside the gate to Kaidoh's house, Inui stopped him and faced him. "This is for you," he said, and placed a kiss on Kaidoh's lips. Inui's lips were smooth and wonderful to feel against his own, Kaidoh decided. He returned the kiss with disguised fervor and made sure to pull away before Inui.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Inui-senpai." Kaidoh bowed his head politely and left, glancing just slightly over his shoulder as he was about to enter the house.
Inui smiled. He just might get Kaidoh, yet! But, he'd decided already that if they moved in together, they would have no pets. They liked to monopolize Kaidoh's time, and that was the job Inui wanted to have.
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Owari.