Weehoo, we're almost done. One more chapter to go and this story will be finished. Here's hoping you're enjoying.
-Whisper
The Second Notebook: Part 3
Kaidoh's room wasn't as clean as he would've liked it to be, particularly if Inui-senpai was there, but it would do. The mamushi hissed as he opened the door, gesturing for Inui to follow him. "Gomen senpai, it's messy." At least his computer monitor was off, Inui wouldn't see the cute cat screensaver he'd downloaded yesterday. That would be embarrassing.
"It is 100 percent as I expected." Inui-senpai was smiling and his hand was twitching. He hadn't brought a notebook. He probably wanted one.
"Fssshu." Kaidoh went to his desk. "Here senpai." He handed Inui a pencil and some paper and pointed to his desk.
"Thank you Kaidoh, but I can…"
"Fssshu. Don't be weird, senpai, write your data. Ka-san is interested in your data collection and would like to see some before you go." It was true, Kaoru often spoke to his mother about Inui's data and how it came in handy during training.
"I wouldn't want to disappoint her, then." Inui was blushing. It was…cute.
"Fssshu."
&-&
Hazue quickly finished up the dishes and slunk upstairs to spy on his brother and creepy Inui. The door to Kaoru's room was cracked open and Hazue could just make out Inui sitting at Kaoru's desk, writing quickly and mumbling. At least Hazue assumed Inui was mumbling because his mouth was moving and the sound was too light to be heard from the door. Kaoru was nowhere in sight, so he was probably sitting on his bed, doing homework. Kaoru had mentioned the possibility of a math quiz tomorrow.
"Ne Kaidoh." Inui stopped writing and looked toward Kaoru's bed. Inui's eyebrows were furrowed and couldn't be seen over his glasses. He was probably thinking hideous, pervy thoughts about Kaoru. Hazue saw the way he watched Kaoru's backside as they left the dining room. Inui was probably collecting data so he could defile Hazue's brother.
Hazue knocked on the door. "Oi Kaoru, whatcha gonna play? If you're playing Blast Fighter 3 without me, I'm going to steal the PS2 while you're training!" Hazue heard a hiss and the door opened all the way revealing…not who Hazue expected.
&-&
That was it, the runt was getting a pencil to the eye. Inui rose from his seat and moved out of Hazue's range of view. He had felt a shiver run up his spine the moment the insufferable rodent began spying on them. At this rate, Inui was never going to be able to bring up the very important issue of his relationship with Kaidoh. While Hazue was snickering to himself, Inui opened the door and stared down at him. "I'm sorry, Kaoru cannot come to the door right now. He is studying- and you are bothering him. It would be prudent of you to leave. Now." Inui shut the door. There was a 83 percent chance that it hit some part of Hazue's body while shutting.
"Gomen senpai, my brother is a nuisance." Kaidoh rubbed at the bridge of his cutely wrinkled nose. "He's not usually this bad, though."
"He is no worse than Kikumaru when he's trying to meddle." Inui shrugged. Hopefully it didn't look as tense as Inui felt. Now was the time. Now he needed to confess to Kaidoh, before any other interruptions occurred. His acceptance rate was currently at 90 percent. Inui couldn't risk any further upsets. "Kaidoh, may I talk with you a moment?"
Kaidoh marked his place in his math text and looked up. "Hai senpai?"
"We have been competing as a doubles team for a little over a month, correct?" One month, two weeks, four days, and eight hours to be precise. Kaidoh would think Inui's precision to be annoying in this case though (88 percent probability), so Inui stuck with a summary. "In that time we have become friends, yes?"
"Hai." Kaidoh's expression was a little bored but slightly intrigued. If Inui could maintain this rate through his confession, there was only a 14 percent chance Kaidoh would hit Inui if kissed after Inui's confession.
"I find myself…dissatisfied with our friendship." As the words left Inui's mouth, he knew he'd messed up. The narrowing of Kaoru's eyes further proved his hypothesis.
"I'm sorry I've become a burden on you, senpai. I will inform buchou that we are no longer playing doubles. Fssshu." Kaidoh's fists were clenched and Inui's acceptance rating had dropped to 73 percent.
"Kaoru! Inui-kun! Dessert!" Kaoru's mother called.
"I didn't mean to say it that way, Kaidoh." Inui spoke hurriedly. Any minute now the brat would be sent to fetch them and barge in. "I mean to say that I would rather our friendship progress beyond its current limitations. I…" Inui heard footsteps, light but jaunty. It would be Hazue. There was no time left. Kaoru was still hissing quietly, not understanding or not listen (the latter being the most probable) to a thing Inui said. Deciding that Kaoru was more a man of action than talk anyhow, Inui did the one thing sure to discover if Kaidoh would accept him or not.
Inui kissed him.
&-&
Kaidoh had always featured his first kiss to be something of an elaborate affair. He would be standing on a hill with a girl and, with the full moon large behind them, they would kiss. It would be light and taste like cotton candy bubble gum. An owl would fly across the moon just as their lips parted, then they would stare deeply into eachother's eyes and sigh. The night would sigh with them. Then Kaidoh would walk her home and, shyly, give her a kiss on the cheek.
The reality of his first kiss proved to be quite different. The reality of his first kiss was the feeling of Inui's arms biting into Kaidoh's as the older boy held him close. The reality was a wet, minty kiss that lasted seconds longer and was backlit by the reading light at Kaidoh's desk. The reality was Kaidoh's mother walking in on them. The reality was Hazue staring, wide-eyed at them from the hallway. The reality was going to get him grounded, beaten and…why was his mother sighing?
"Kaoru, you didn't tell us Inui-kun was your boyfriend." Kaidoh-san's eyes were wide and the mamushi swore he saw little hearts in them.
"This is so gross," Hazue wheezed, clutching at his stomach.
"Hazue, don't be rude!" Kaidoh-san smacked her younger son on the head with a dish towel. "I think it's best not to tell your father yet, though. He'll need time to adjust." She grabbed Hazue's arm and moved him out of the room. "Let's all go down to desert now, before your father suspects anything is wrong." Kaidoh-san gave a final, sparkling smile to Inui before pulling Hazue along after her.
No, this wasn't how Kaidoh pictured his first kiss at all.
&-&
Oishi considered himself a patient person. He helped the freshmen with their racket forms without complaint. He stayed late and locked up the clubroom, even when he had to wait for Momo and Kaidoh to finish a fight. Oishi, after an hour of listening to Kikumaru talking to Fuji on his cell phone, was beginning to become more than slightly grumpy.
"Nyah Fujiko! You should just tell buchou!" Eiji was hopping around Oishi's room, occasionally stopping in his movements to emphatically stomp his foot. Luckily, Oishi's parents were away for the weekend and not present to question the sudden rash of earthquakes. Despite his agitation, Oishi had to admit the display was cute.
"Eiji, it's time for bed. Tell Fuji good night." Oishi placed a calming hand on Kikumaru's shoulder. Now, the redhead was down to a canter.
"Fujikooooo, I have to go. Just promise me you'll talk to buchou at practice tomorrow so Oishi and I can go to bed." Kikumaru's eyes went wide. "In separate rooms, nyah. Stop laughing Fujiko!"
There went Oishi's precious privacy. Fuji either kept secrets for blackmail purposes or spread them far and wide in the span of a day. Knowing the tensai, he probably had some sort of photo evidence as well. Eiji's best friend was creepy and Oishi could understand why Tezuka was…hesitant to speak to Fuji off the courts. If Oishi had a tensai after him, he'd be trying to run away, too. A tap on Oishi's shoulder brought him back to the room and a docile, pouting Kikumaru.
"Nyah Oishi, Fujiko is going to talk to buchou tomorrow." Eiji tugged Oishi toward the bed, illuminated by the glow of Oishi's fish tank. "Sleep sleep."
Oishi could do nothing but comply.
&-&
Inui couldn't eat dessert, he was still blushing and was fairly certain that his internal organs wouldn't be able to process whole foods for a few days- the butterflies were taking up too much room. None of his data provided for the incident back in Kaidoh's room. Inui's scenario had them dating in secret for at least two more years, until Kaidoh was in high school and, perhaps, a little more sure of himself. Their kiss was not supposed to be discovered by Kaidoh's rat brother and his yaoi-friendly mother. Inui was not supposed to be the recipient of quick, conspiratorial winks, and Inui was most certainly not supposed to be receiving glares from his kouhai. When dessert was done, Inui used an upcoming physics test as an excuse to leave. He nearly sprinted home, where he locked the door and sank to the ground. With no other recourse, he dialed one of his closest friends, an expert in all things improbable.
&-&
"You are aware that it is eleven at night, yes?" Why did he put up with this? When he saw Inui's name on the caller ID, he should've just turned the cell phone off and gone to bed.
"My apologies, but my data concluded that you were the logical one to approach with my problem." Inui sounded frantic, which was uncommon. This must be big.
"What's so cataclysmic that it couldn't wait until morning practice?" He couldn't sound too interested in what Inui had to say, that would destroy his image- not that Inui bought the image in the slightest.
"I kissed Kaidoh." It wasn't shame in Inui's voice, more like despair.
"I was under the impression that that was what this evening was all about. Was I incorrect?" He was amazed that Inui had only kissed the younger boy. Once Inui abandoned his logic, he tended to go painfully overboard.
"His mother walked in on it."
"I can see where that might cause some problems. So, you've been banned from the house?"
"No." Normally Inui would jump to correct him, not start a game of twenty questions.
"You've been given a stern talking to?"
"No." Right, Inui was being an idiot and this was getting them nowhere.
"What the hell was it, then?"
"She called me Inui-kun and is, if I judged her correctly, planning our wedding." Well that certainly wasn't something he expected. He didn't have a damn thing to say to that, really. "Tezuka?"
"Yes?"
"I'm in over my head, aren't I?"
"Yes Inui, I believe that statement to be 100 percent correct. Perhaps you ought to bring up the matter with Kaidoh tomorrow…after practice. Do not let it affect your doubles game." Tennis solved everything. If Inui and Kaidoh could keep their doubles game together, everything else would fall nicely into place.
"Ne Tezuka, why don't you and Fuji play doubles against us tomorrow? It will make for good data." Inui, no doubt, had a notebook in hand. His voice was more solid, so he was probably regaining his composure.
"I play singles, Inui. Good night." Tezuka ended the call and turned his phone off. No matter how many laps he made Inui run in the morning, he was sure his friend wouldn't be able to focus if Kaidoh was around. Easy enough, he'd make Kaidoh and Fuji play a match on the far courts. Yes, that would do nicely.
&-&
Fuji tapped Tezuka on the shoulder, just light enough to get his attention. "Ne Tezuka, may I have a word with you please?" Fuji smiled, not the normal smile, but an extra-bright smile; his Tezuka smile.
"Fuji, excellent, you're on the far court against Kaidoh." Tezuka nodded and turned back to his clipboard.
Fuji tapped again. "Tezuka, it's really very important that I speak with you. Would you be available for discussion after practice?" Fuji saw Tezuka's back tighten.
"If you can manage to follow instructions, perhaps I might be able to entertain your request." Tezuka's back was still tense, his hands clenching the clipboard, demonstrating the strength in them. "Fuji! Pay attention. Match, far court, now."
"Hai buchou. I'll see you after practice, ne?" Fuji was beaming as he trotted over to the far court, earning him stares from the rest of the regulars, Kikumaru in particular. Kikumaru was one of few who knew the differences between Fuji's smiles. "Kaidoh-kun, we have a match in the far court, buchou's orders." From the corner of his eye, Fuji caught Inui frowning. "Ne Inui-kun, you should come too. This will be good data, no? You can call the game."
"Aah." Inui stepped cautiously toward Fuji, scribbling something in one of the two notebooks he held. It wasn't unusual for Inui to be distrustful of Fuji. They'd made quite a nice work of agitating eachother over the years. The animosity was mostly, if not wholly, on Fuji's side but there wasn't much the tensai could do to control it. Inui, along with Oishi, was one of Tezuka's best friends. Fuji hated him. But, if all went well this afternoon, Fuji just might be able to start mending things between himself and Inui, particularly now that Inui was spending most of his time with Kaidoh. He'd have to ask Kikumaru about that.
"Wonderful, thank you," Fuji said in the cheerful sing-song voice that was his trademark. "Let's have a good game, ne, Kaidoh-kun?"
"Fssshu."
&-&
"So, Inui made the move on Mamushi and now the snake's freaked out?" Momoshiro snickered but, in the back of his mind, he wondered what Kaidoh had been thinking. It wasn't like Kaidoh hadn't seen it coming.
"Hoi, and Fujiko's trying to confess to buchou and stupid buchou keeps sending Fujiko away." Kikumaru turned and stuck his tongue out at Tezuka's back.
"Eiji, Momo, we shouldn't get involved," Oishi chastised from the referee chair.
Momoshiro chose to ignore Oishi completely, striding to the net to join the bouncing acrobatic specialist. "Now don't take this as helping the mamushi, because it's not. This is for the betterment of the team." Momo paused, adjusting his P.E. uniform- he was still getting used to that; not being a Regular. "We need to got Inui-senpai and Mamushi together to talk this out.
"We could lock them in a shower stall," Kikumaru offered.
"Eiji!" Oishi was looking around, probably to make sure no one heard. "Don't interfere!"
Momo really didn't want to think about Kaidoh and Inui locked in a shower stall. "Nah, we want some sort of neutral territory where they won't be interrupted but can't hide from eachother. Also they should have their clothes on."
Kikumaru looked over to the court where Fuji and Kaidoh were playing. Neither of them seemed to be paying much attention to the game, they were just volleying back and forth. "Nyah, what about Fujiko?" Kikumaru turned back and his eyes were large and watery. How did Oishi-senpai handle this everyday?"
"The obstacle seems to be Buchou's inability to admit his attraction for Fuji-senpai. Maybe we should lock them in the shower stall." The thought that he was supposed to be playing a match with Kikumaru flitted across Momo's mind for a moment, then was gone. There needed to be harmony in the Regulars if they were going to win against Hyotei in the upcoming match. "When I was warming up, I saw Fuji-senpai approaching Buchou. All we need to do is make sure that Fuji-senpai can corner him."
The redhead across the net nodded gravely. Kikumaru was spinning his racquet around his wrist to help him focus. This was serious business they were dealing with. "Normally Oishi locks up the clubhouse but, if he has to go, then Buchou will have to lock it up. All we need to do is keep Fujiko from coming in until almost everyone is out, then Fujiko can pounce."
"Good, good, sounds like a plan. Now all we need to do is make sure Oishi-senpai can't close the clubhouse after practice." Momo turned to look up at their distraught referee. "Oishi-senpai, don't you owe Kikumaru-senpai a parfait from last practice?"
"Hoi hoi! He does! Nyah Oishi, take me for a parfait!" Kikumaru was jumping with excitement again."
"Fine," Oishi sighed. He was shaking his head, probably in defeat. Oishi-senpai never won an argument against Kikumaru-senpai, he always gave in the moment Kikumaru pouted. It was kinda cute so long as you didn't have to deal with it everyday, then it would get too sweet and…well…ick.
"So, we've handled Buchou and Fuji-senpai, what about Mamushi and Inui-senpai?" If Momo didn't help the mamushi, then he would have to consider himself a bad rival. You can't let your rival be miserable at the hands of someone else, that would be wrong. Besides, he sort of promised Inui-senpai a few months back that he would help him with the mamushi. Inui would remember the promise and, if Momo didn't deliver, there was a bright orange concoction sitting in Inui's fridge with Momo's name printed neatly on the bottle. Momo had seen the bottle. He'd smelled the Juice. He would rather Taka-san beat him with a racquet while in Burning Mode than drink the stuff.
"That's more difficult, nyah." Kikumaru resumed spinning the racquet around his wrist. "Inui-senpai doesn't want Kaidoh-kun to be made or scared or run away, and Kaidoh-kun is very very shy- like Oishi." Kikumaru smiled and looked up at his doubles partner. "Nyah…O-i-shi."
"No." Oishi began to climb down the stand.
"But I haven't said anything yet!" Kikumaru pouted. Hard. Oishi was probably going to give in.
"Eiji, we have no right to interfere. Let Inui and Kaidoh work it out on their own." Oishi was still climbing down while Kikumaru bounded up to meet him. The puppy dog eyes were still in full swing. Momo was sure Oishi was going to give in.
"But Oishiiii, they're unhappy. If you just talked to Kaidoh, then he'd be okay, nyah." Oishi reached the ground and Kikumaru immediately took one of Oishi's arms hostage. Momo was beginning to feel more than a tad bit uncomfortable watching such a private display, but there was still the matter of Mamushi and Inui-senpai to settle as well as the issued of that orange stuff in Inui-senpai's fridge.
"Eiji," Oishi sighed, bowing his head in defeat. "This is the last time, okay? After this we let people sort out their own problems."
"Yay!" Kikumaru jumped on Oishi's back and gave Momo a thumbs up. Momo saluted back then ran to get his things out of the clubroom. Kikumaru and Oishi were handling Inui and the Mamushi, he would make sure Fuji-senpai and Buchou were settled. Really, what would Seigaku do without him?