Rating: PG Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is Konomi-sensei's.
Notes: This is part four of my "Congruence" arc. Inui visits Kaidoh's home for a study date. "Quotienscumque" is Latin for "However often". I thought it a bit appropriate for the subject at hand. Enjoy!
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Kaidoh, who had always been a good student, did not generally worry about his grades. He studied when he wasn't otherwise occupied, and if he sometimes got a 85 instead of a 90 or 95, it was not a big deal. The world would keep on spinning, tennis would still be his favorite sport, and Inui would still make him drink juice that overwhelmed his body. But this... Kaidoh glanced back at his most recent science test. Seventy-fives existed, certainly, but Kaidoh had never received a grade that low. It was time to do something drastic.
After tennis practice that day, Kaidoh approached Inui with his eyes lowered and his hands clinging frantically to the strap of his bag. "Inui-senpai..." He cleared his throat and then turned a plaintive gaze toward Inui. "Will you tutor me in science?"
Inui was immediately worried. "Kaidoh... are you failing?" He put a gentle hand on Kaidoh's shoulder and rubbed his thumb in the gentle hollow of his collarbone in a soothing manner. Kaidoh clutched his bag even harder. "No. I just... didn't do as well as I would have liked on my last test on electron configuration."
"Then where and when?" Inui let his arm slide from Kaidoh's strong shoulders to gently remove one hand from the tennis bag. He held it gently between his own hands. "Don't feel embarrassed about it, Kaidoh. Everyone has one thing that they're not terribly good at. Yours may be science. Mine is certainly the ability to properly interact with society at large… and to sing karaoke of anyone but Gackt and Kinki Kids." He smiled gently at the boy who had caused his defenses to drop so severely.
Kaidoh squeezed Inui's hand and looked Inui in the eye. "Do you have time tonight?"
There had been something he'd had planned that night, but it seemed to be miles away. It certainly couldn't be as important as the boy blushing wonderfully in front of him. "Certainly, Kaidoh. When should I come over?"
"Now?" Kaidoh's blush deepened at the slight look of surprise that crossed Inui's face. "But whenever you can is also fine."
Inui caressed the hand that he still held and smiled brightly. "I guess you'll have to ask if I can stay for dinner."
Kaidoh's blush began to fade. "Of course, senpai. My mother is making udon tonight. I wouldn't dare deprive you."
There was no hint of humor in Kaidoh's demeanor, so Inui prepared himself to have really good udon. He momentarily wondered whether Kaidoh was a good cook. It was an idea to look into one of these days.
Walking together, they reached Kaidoh's house shortly. It was quaint looking with a vegetable garden and a smiling lawn gnome. Peonies lined the front walk. Inui knew that most people would be hard-pressed to believe that Kaidoh lived in such a place. He just happily followed the boy inside.
Kaidoh called out, "Tadaima!" as soon as he entered the door. While he was toeing off his shoes, his mother came in, smiling and drying a plate. "Kaoru! Okaeri." She smiled beauteously and then caught sight of Inui. "Oh! You brought home a friend? Hello! I'm Kaoru's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Blushing slightly, Kaidoh gestured toward Inui. "'Kaa-san, this is Inui. He's my doubles partner. He's going to tutor me in science."
Kaidoh's mother looked immediately concerned. "Did you not do well on a test, Kaoru-kun?"
"I was not happy with a particular grade I received, but it was through my own fault that I received it. Inui knows a lot about science."
With the plate still in hand, Kaidoh's mother gave him a hug. "You know you don't have to try so hard in science, darling. Just because your father was good at it doesn't mean that you have to be."
Kaidoh smiled and Inui could see that he inherited at least that much from his mother. "I know, 'Kaa-san. But I want to do well."
Letting go of Kaidoh, his mother smiled at Inui. "Will you be joining us for dinner?"
Inui bowed his head slightly. "I would be delighted. Kaidoh said you'd be making udon?"
"Of course! It goes well with the weather, don't you think?"
Inui smiled widely. Kaidoh's mother had an infectious grin. "I personally think udon goes well with anything."
Kaidoh blushed and grabbed Inui's arm lightly. "Come on, Inui-senpai. We have studying to do." He dragged his boyfriend up to his room and let go of his arm. "Should we sit on the bed or the floor?"
After briefly considering both options, Inui dropped his own bag to the floor. "The bed, while more comfortable, doesn't seem to offer the amount of space necessary for such an affair."
Kaidoh's eyes widened and he blushed, but quickly recovered. "As you say, Inui-senpai." He dropped his own bag to the floor and sat down beside it.
Inui sat next to Kaidoh. "May I see your test?"
Opening his bag, Kaidoh retrieved the offending document and held it out for Inui's perusal. "I'm especially upset about the last one."
"Ah, the dihydrogen monoxide."
Kaidoh looked scared. "What? I thought H2O was water!"
Inui chuckled. "It is. I just like seeing you shocked."
Kaidoh looked to his socks for a moment before reached over and slapping Inui's knee. "You can be so mean."
"I don't mean to be." He frowned slightly, and then began removing something from his own bag.
"Inui-senpai... what are those?"
"Ah, these are electron configuration models."
"And why are you carrying them around?"
"Because you never know when they might be useful. Look, the s-orbital is just a painted tennis ball."
Kaidoh smiled and the two began to study in earnest. An hour later, Inui asked Kaidoh the electron configuration of iodine.
Consulting his periodic table, Kaidoh began stating it. "1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p5?"
Inui smiled. "Well, I think you've got that part down pat."
Kaidoh hissed in relief. "Let's take a break. It should be time for-"
"Kaoru-kun! Inui-kun! It's dinnertime!"
Inui smiled. "She's a punctual woman, then."
Kaidoh nodded. "Come on. If we don't hurry, my father will take all of the pickles."
Following close at hand, Inui met up with Kaidoh's younger brother, Hazue, on the stairs. They had met at the summer festival that Kaidoh had invited Inui to months prior. Hazue was apparently a cheeky little brat as, upon seeing Inui in the house, he whispered to him, "So, have you done him yet?"
Inui blushed and looked to see if Kaidoh had heard. He seemed to still be intent on getting to the pickles before his father. He whispered back to Hazue, "If I had, would you attempt to poison my dinner?"
Hazue smiled. "Of course not. Although, that would leave me with more pickles."
Inui paused on the stairs as Kaidoh and Hazue both sped up. Pickles seemed to be the favorite food of the Kaidoh boys. Inui was now curious about how good they must be. He followed the brothers and found himself in the brightly lit dining room.
Kaidoh's father was already sitting at the table with the pickles drawn close to his plate. His wife entered the room, delicately removed the pickles to a further part of the table, and smiled. "Darling, this is Inui. He's a friend of Kaoru's."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Inui said, bowing his head. "Your son is quite the athlete."
"I hear from him you're quite the scientist," Kaidoh's father said. "Something about juice?"
Dinner from that point on was a momentous affair. Kaidoh's mother smiled and served and watched everyone's faces for their enjoyment which was quite plainly evident. Kaidoh's father conversed with Inui about his experiments and they eventually touched upon the reason that Inui was there. "Kaoru asked you to tutor him?"
Inui nodded. "He only did moderately well on one test and knew enough to combat it before they'd gone completely past the material in class. Na, Kaidoh?"
Hazue turned his head, but Kaidoh continued to eat his pickles. "Kaidoh..." Inui smiled. "Na, Kaoru?"
Kaidoh's head shot up with a pickled radish still between his lips. His face flushed slightly, but he finished his pickle and dabbed at his lips with his napkin. "What was that, Inui-senpai?"
"I was merely telling your father that you made a good decision to ask for tutoring before your class moved past that particular section of material."
Kaidoh's blush began to fade. "Ah, yes. Thank you. Would... would you like more pickles, Inui-senpai?"
"I would love some, Kaoru." Kaidoh blushed again and passed the bowl. Their fingers touched and Kaidoh's blush deepened slightly. Hazue snickered and Inui kicked him under the table and smiled. Hazue stole a pickle from the bowl.
After dinner, Kaidoh's mother urged them back up to Kaidoh's room. "I can take care of the dishes tonight, boys. You did such a good job cleaning them that there isn't much left to do."
Inui pushed his glasses back up his nose where they had begun to slide. "It was all I could do to have that last bit of udon, but I couldn't stop myself. Kaoru was right to say that you're a wonderful cook."
Kaidoh's mother blushed and waved her hand at Inui. "Inui-san... you're so sweet you might as well be dessert. You're welcome over here anytime."
Smiling, Inui bowed and left the room. Things were looking up for his plan to get Kaidoh to the hot springs.
Back in Kaidoh's room, the pair sat down for more studying. They went ahead and covered the next section that Kaidoh would have a test on. Kaidoh seemed to truly grasp the information now that he understood the electron configuration models.
Before leaving Kaidoh's room, Inui gave him a gentle kiss and ran a gentle hand through his hair. "You have a lovely family, Kaoru."
Kaidoh let his forehead rest against Inui's chest. "They were on their best behavior tonight. I don't bring people over very often. And... You can keep calling me Kaoru as long as you're here or we're alone."
Inui kissed the top of Kaidoh's head. "And you can call me whatever you'd like. You can even drop the senpai." He could nearly feel the heat that rose to Kaidoh's face. "I'd better get going. I still have a bit of homework to do."
"You could have done it here!" Kaidoh looked upset that he'd taken up so much of Inui's time.
"It's no problem, Kaidoh. I merely have to write a short essay. It will only take about twenty minutes and it will be more convenient to do it in front of my computer anyway. Don't worry. You're worth losing a little sleep over." He slung his bag over his arm and began to walk downstairs. Kaidoh followed.
As Inui was putting on his shoes, Kaidoh wrung his hands together. "Inui-senpai? Could we... maybe go to do karaoke sometime?"
Inui raised an eyebrow. "You like to do karaoke?"
Kaidoh bit his lip. "I want to hear you sing... and I like Gackt and the Kinki Kids."
Inui smiled. "I'll check my schedule."
Two days later at tennis practice, Inui was the first one in the locker room. He was getting ready to put on his shirt when a slightly panting Kaidoh raced into the room. He spotted Inui and ran up to him. He embraced Inui tightly and nearly swung him around. "Thank you, Inui-senpai!"
Inui stood on his spot and looked puzzled. "What did I do?"
Kaidoh held up a paper. It was quite obviously a science test with a red 100 in the upper right-hand corner. "You made me understand."
Inui smiled and glanced around. There was still no one else there. "Congratulations, Kaoru." He placed a gentle kiss on Kaidoh's lips and stood back to admire the effect.
Touching his lips gently, Kaidoh walked over to the locker room door, locked it, and then went back to Inui. "A congratulatory kiss is more like this, Inui-senpai." He slid one arm around Inui's neck and the other around his waist. He pressed close and placed a soft kiss on Inui's lips, then another, and a more insistent one. When he pulled away, he took a step backward, but Inui's arms came to wrap around him.
"I think I liked that," Inui said. "I think I liked that... a lot."
Kaidoh smiled. "I should go unlock the door. It would look strange if anyone came up while it was locked."
He just made it. He was nearly knocked to the floor with Momoshiro throwing the door open. Inui watched them fight as he finally put his shirt on. He should have known that Kaidoh could be passionate.
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Owari.