A/N: I OWN NOTHING! I am just borrowing Naoki and Kotoko for my own amusement.
-3K+N3-
"You head up into the stands," he explained quietly as they walked into the sports complex where the National High School Tennis Tournament was being held. "I am going to go greet the others from the team and find out when my first match is. I will try to be back to sit with you when I am not playing." Naoki watched as the girl smiled and nodded, turning away from him before quickly turning back.
"Good luck, Irie-kun!" she smiled brightly, before a flash of anxiety passed her eyes.
"What was the look for?" he asked her curiously, impatient to get things moving, but unable to leave before having his question answered.
"Oh, I am sorry," she replied with a slight bow. "It is nothing, really." He just looked at her until she finally caved. "I just had a strong desire to either hug you or kiss you on the cheek for luck, but I realized I cannot do that here." Naoki stopped to think about the dilemma, glancing around them and realizing that not many people had showed up yet. He quickly dropped his bag before wrapping his arms around her tightly, feeling her return the fierce hug with one arm. "Good luck, again, Irie-kun" she whispered gently to him as they both pulled away from the hug, her face flaming. Naoki then watched her as she got settled before he turned away, looking for his team.
'I do not know why I complied, but I enjoyed it too, so I cannot complain about it.' He mused as he wandered over to Tonan's benches. 'I just wanted to make her happy since she had the desire to wish me luck with a hug. I am not use to someone caring like this about me. The question is, do I care because she cares, or are my feelings all my own.' Naoki sat their contemplating his feelings for Kotoko instead of listening to his tennis coach and captain, already knowing what he was supposed to do. When they finished speaking, he raised his hand. "Are we required to sit with the team when we are not in a match?"
"I mean, we would prefer for you to, but we are not going to force you to sit with the team if you have people you would like to sit with in the stands," his captain stuttered out, not used to Naoki talking. Naoki nodded in understanding while he started to stretch for his warm-ups.
"You have family with you today, Irie?" one of his teammates asked him as they started to warm-up together. He just shook his head, glancing over at the stands to see that Kotoko had found a spot in the front row. "Is that Aihara?" Naoki just nodded before switching out his shoes, sliding his wrist bands on, and grabbing his racket and two balls, one of which he shoved into the pocket of his shorts. "Is she here for you?" He nodded again before walking away to a brick wall off to the side of the courts where he could hit the ball back and forth with himself. He knew his teammate was probably already spreading rumors about the fact that Kotoko was at the tournament to support him, but he honestly did not care.
'Worst case scenario everyone thinks that we are dating,' he thought to himself as he continued to slam the ball against the brick wall. 'Best thing about that though, no boys should approach her.' He found himself to be a little smug with this thought, so he shook his head sharply. 'TENNIS,' he thought angrily before approaching one of his teammates to see if he could warm up his serves before the matches began. Naoki was anxious to begin his first match, but he was not scheduled to play near the end of the first bracket. Grabbing his gear, he made his way over to where Kotoko was sitting, noticing the spot that she had saved next to herself. "Thank you," he whispered as he sat down, dropping his bag next to the large bag with her supplies.
"You are welcome," she smiled back at him. "Do you not play for a while?"
"My first match is near the end of this bracket, so about 45 minutes or so, depending on how everyone plays," he explains, relaxing next to her. He noticed the person that was sitting on his other side was attempting to get closer to him, so they would be touching. He scooted himself closer to his companion, which pressed their sides together. Kotoko let out a small gasp, and Naoki smirked to himself. 'I love the effect that I can have on her. Even something this innocent causes her to react. I wonder if she is this responsive to everything.'
"Ah," she stuttered out. Naoki realized that he was making her nervous by touching her in front of so many people, even if the touch was innocent. "I do not really understand tennis. Can you explain it to me?"
In front of them, a dark-haired woman was playing in a singles match. Naoki began to explain the basics, how you switched sides for serves, and you would then volley the ball back and forth until someone either hit the ball out of bounds, or someone missed it. He then explained the point system: "Love or zero is where the points start, then you go to 15, then 30, then 40. You must win the set by two points. Each match has five sets, so you have to win the best of five." Kotoko was nodding along, occasionally asking questions. By the time, the black-haired third year, Matsumoto, won her match. Kotoko was able to fully understand the game.
"I kind of want to learn how to play now," she sighed softly, wiggling next to him in excitement.
"I can teach you," he offered. "The exercise is always a good thing, and I think you could come to enjoy the sport. Who knows, maybe we could play doubles someday." He smiled softly as her eyes glazed over, recognizing that he had just catapulted her into another one of her daydreams. He heard his name called, pulling his attention from the copper-haired girl beside him, realizing that his match was up next. "Aihara," he called gently, picking up his racket, towel, and water bottle. When he saw that she was back in the present, he continued: "It is time for my match. I will be back when I can be." He saw her nod before he headed over to his team.
"Are you dating Aihara-senpai?" one of the braver first years asked him as he joined the group. He noticed that everyone seemed to be listening in to the conversation. He just shrugged his shoulders, as he figured out what court he would be playing on (it just happened to be the one Matsumoto had just left), so he walked over and set down his things, getting ready for his match. After a few minutes, his opponent showed up and the bowed at each other before Naoki won the coin toss, allowing him to serve first.
Naoki began slowly, getting a feel for his opponent. 'He is weak on his non-dominant side, and his backhand is atrocious. He cannot read where the ball is going, so he just tries to react as quickly as possible.' While this was happening, Naoki was able to claim the first set. His opponent was about to get his chance to serve. After the first one, Naoki grew bored. 'No real power or finesse behind his serve either,' he sighed. 'Time to finish it.' After his analysis was complete, every ball Naoki slammed back would be aimed the non-dominant side of his opposition, which caused him to cleanly sweep the first three sets. "Game, set, match," he murmured to himself as he bowed before gathering his things to walk off the court. He wandered back over to Tonan's bench to find out when his next match was.
Learning that he had the last match before they broke for lunch, Naoki wandered back over to Kotoko, sitting down in the space he had recently vacated, his entire side plastered against hers again.
"Good match," she greeted after he settled.
"Thank you," he replied.
"How are you feeling?"
"Okay," he sighed. "More bored than anything if I am honest. That guy did not even present a challenge for me. I should probably drink something too." He began to look around before he realized that he had left his water bottle over by the Tonan bench. "Never mind. I am not walking over there."
"Here," Kotoko said, holding a vitamin water out to him. "I made sure to pack beverages with electrolytes so you can stay hydrated."
"Thank you," he replied softly, taking the beverage from him. Glancing down he saw that is way the dragon fruit vitamin water, which just so happened to be his favorite. Unable to help himself, he leaned over and quickly pressed his lips to her cheek, smiling as he pulled back when she gasped loudly. "Seriously, thank you. This is my favorite drink. I really appreciate it."
"You are most welcome, Irie-kun," she replied softly, her hands gripping her skirt as she tried to force her head to stay up despite the tomato impersonation his face was attempting. He smiled as he realized that she was trying to keep his preference of her not hiding her face from him, before opening the drink and chugging down a quarter of it. Despite how thirsty he was due to the heat; he did not want to end up with a heat cramp from drinking something cold too quickly.
Naoki glanced over to his bench, realizing for the first time that someone probably saw him kiss her, before he just shook it off. 'They already think we are dating anyways. In all honesty, I want to be able to just interact with her without worrying about what others think.' With that thought in mind, he started up a conversation about how she was enjoying watching the tournament but lead to them conversing about many different topics.
"Are you nervous about any of the matches today?" she asked him a few minutes before his next match was set to begin.
"Not really," he answered honestly. "I have been observing all of the males from the opposing schools and know perfect strategies to employ in order to gain my victory. He watched her nod before he once again heard his name and he wandered back to his team to find his court. This time he was playing two spots over from where Kotoko was sitting. Bored with the whole production of the tournament at this point, Naoki just breezed through his match, anxious to get to the date that was scheduled to follow. He went back to his team to hear the normal spiel about not eating too much to avoid being sick before they were released for lunch.
Naoki walked back over to Kotoko who began pulling out two bento boxes. "I had Oba-sama make you food that would not be super heavy but filling at the same time." She explained as he opened his bento to see cabbage rolls, rice, and carrots. "I have more snacks as well; in case you get hungry again."
"Thank you," he said before digging into his food, accepting a cup from her. He sighed happily has he realized that she had brought a thermos full of her coffee. "I could seriously kiss you right now," he joked, mostly serious. "I absolutely love your coffee."
"Really," she squeaked. He raised an eyebrow at her due to his mouth being full, prompting her to explain more. "You have never told me that before."
"I never have?" he asked, thinking back before realizing that he always meant to tell her, but never got around to it. "Well, I do love it," he explained. "Because you use the manual percolator with the hot water instead of the coffee makers, the flavor profile is more pronounced. It just makes for a genuinely nice cup of coffee." He saw her flush happily as they continued their meals in silence. "Thank you again for brining all of this."
"You are most welcome, Irie-kun," she replied simply. "It is after all what you asked me to bring."
"I know," he answered. "But I did not specify what things to bring when it came to drinks or food. So, I appreciate you knowing what I like and ensuring it would be here."
"HEY, NAOKI!" he heard a voice shout at him from a little way away. Looking up he saw his senpai, Sudo, walking towards him. "How are you doing?"
"Not too bad, Sudo," he replied as he handed his finished bento and cup to Kotoko. "This is Aihara Kotoko," he introduced them quickly. "Aihara, this is Sudo-senpai. He is a first year at Tonan University."
"Ah, it is a pleasure to meet you," she said quickly as she stood and bowed. Sudo waved her off, not liking the formalities.
"Is Aihara your girlfriend?" Sudo asked, a strange gleam in his eye that had Naoki wrapping an arm around Kotoko before she could respond and shrugging his shoulder. He observed Sudo easing his stance a bit, understanding the unspoken message of "SHE'S WITH ME" that even Kotoko did not understand.
"What are you doing here?" he asked bluntly, his arm settling over Kotoko fully, pulling her gently against his side, trapping her there. He ran his thumb over her shoulder in an attempt to settle her in his arms. He inwardly sighed as she relaxed, knowing they looked even more like a couple at this point than they had so far.
"Scouting," Sudo answered. "I would love to have you for TU's tennis club, but you are probably planning to go to Tokyo, huh?"
"I do not know where I am going yet," he answered honestly. "I might just go to Tonan where things will no doubt keep my life interesting." He saw a glimpse of black hair whip past him, curious as to why the Matsumoto girl had been headed his way. He shrugged it off and focused on Kotoko who was looking up at him in wonder. 'She thinks I am staying for her," he realized. 'She would not be entirely wrong I guess…'
"That would be amazing!" Sudo proclaimed enthusiastically. "If you do go to TU, you have to join our club!"
"I will think about it," he said in a noncommitting tone. He just wanted to finish out the tournament he was currently in, everything else could come later.
"Could I join?" Kotoko's soft voice joined the conversation from his side. "Even if I do not currently have any experience?"
"Sure," Sudo replied. "Everyone is welcome. Just get your boyfriend here to teach you. I am sure you will be up to snuff before you can even blink. Anyways, I need to go talk to some more people. See you around!" With that, the older male wandered off. Naoki gently removed his arm after squeezing her gently in a side hug.
"Sorry about that," he whispered, not looking at her.
"Why did you let him assume we are together?" she asked confused.
"Honestly?" he asked. Seeing her nod, he continued speaking. "I have no idea. He had a weird look in his eye that I did not like, so I just reacted." He watched Kotoko contemplate his answer before accepting it and dropping the conversation. They finished cleaning up and waited for the matches to start back up. Naoki was playing as soon as lunch was over, so the rest of the day should be going quickly. He only had three more matches before the final game. He was pumped up and ready to go.
Over the course of the next three hours, Naoki played in and won three matches, returning to Kotoko as everyone settled in to watch the final matches. Matsumoto was playing some other girl. Naoki was annoyed that he remembered the girl's name, since he only learned it due to teaching Kotoko about tennis earlier. He was rolling his shoulders in an attempt to stretch out the stiff muscles that playing five matches in a row had caused.
"Do you want your massage now, Irie-kun?" he heard her ask. He had forgotten about his impromptu comment from the night before but was also glad she offered. He nodded his head before sliding into the seat in front of her, giving her access to his back and shoulders. Kotoko began firmly kneading at the problem areas. By the time Matsumoto had lost her match and became the runner up, Naoki was feeling loose again. He leaned back slightly as Kotoko removed her hands from his back, his head falling on her knees.
"Thank you for that," he told her, watching her eyes widen at his move. "I feel light again. That should make the final match even easier." He stood, stretched his arms above his head, then leaned down to place a gentle kiss against her cheek again, before moving to her ear. "One more match, then a shower. After, it will be time for our date." He chuckled at her gasp, watching her face flame again before grabbing his racquet. He took his position on the court and waited for the serve.
This match went the same way as the others, with Naoki claiming the first three sets and winning the first-place title. After being presented with his medal, he packed up his stuff and walked off to the locker rooms to shower and change into shorts and a tank top. He had nicer clothes in his bag, but he was unsure about Kotoko's plans for their first date. 'First of many I hope…' He stopped just inside the door to exit the locker room at that thought. 'One thing at a time…' He then pushed open the door to see his copper-haired girl surrounded by other females.
Curious, he silently walked over, beginning to fume as he heard them question the girl as to how she could land a guy like him as her boyfriend. Hearing enough he strode over to her side, grabbing her hand and dragging her away. "BAKA," he said in a playful tone. "I cannot leave you alone for five minutes." He heard her sniff before he looked at her, seeing the tears in her eyes. He huffed in frustration and anger, upset that those simpletons were able to upset her. Pulling her down an alley on the path back to the train station, he pushed her gently against a wall, caging her in between his hands that he placed on either side of her head.
"Do not let jealous girls like that get to you," he growled. "They mean nothing. You know better than that." Kotoko nodded before wiping her eyes.
"Congratulations on winning the tournament Irie-kun," she whispered in a choked voice, still recovering. She then wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug. Naoki pulled her closer to him as he hugged her back firmly. He pulled back slight and pressed his lips against hers gently before disengaging entirely.
"Thank you," he replied happily. "Now then, where are we going for our date?" He watched as Kotoko beamed at him, fully back to her usual bubbly self before leading him to the station and scanning their paces to take them to Tokyo.
