Title: Fictional Truth
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: not mine, cool? cool.


"Masaharu, get up you lazy bum. Yagyuu-kun's here for you."

Niou groaned and turned over. His sister's voice was too shrill to listen to in the morning. A second later, her words registered in his sleep-fogged brain and he shot up, glancing at his clock as he wondered why Yagyuu was at his house over an hour before practice was supposed to start. Quickly changing, he yanked his door open to find Yagyuu on the other side. "Hiro? What're you doing here?" He ran a hand through his sleep-mussed hair, oddly conscious of his disheveled appearance.

"I want to talk to you." Yagyuu stepped aside slightly to let Niou slip past him towards the bathroom. "Shall I wait for you downstairs?"

"No, the family will have way too many questions. Just... chill a sec." Niou closed the door behind him and quickly addressed the urgent matter of relieving his bladder. After washing his hands, he opened the door and motioned Yagyuu over. "What did you want to talk about this early?" He grabbed his toothbrush, squeezed some of the green and white paste his sister liked and started brushing his teeth.

"This whole college thing. I'm sorry I didn't discuss it with you. I'm still going to apply, just to see if I can get in. But even if I do, I don't have to go, you know." Yagyuu leaned against the doorframe, a hand stretched out as though to touch Niou, except he shifted his shoulders and fixed his glasses instead.

Niou paused to spit. He put his toothbrush back in his mouth without a hitch, showing no signs of having heard what Yagyuu said. A silent minute later, he turned on the tap and rinsed the foamy, minty toothpaste away, setting his toothbrush back in the holder and wiping his mouth dry on the back of his hand. He turned and looked at Yagyuu for the first time since the conversation started. "That's not fair, Hiroshi. I don't want to be the one who prevented you from going to one of the best colleges in the world."

"It's not important." Yagyuu stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Niou stepped back against the sink to give him room, but apparently Yagyuu wasn't interested in space. He stepped forward, positioning his legs between Niou's parted ones and pulled off his glasses, bracing that hand against the sink Niou was now leaning back against. Niou was transfixed by Yagyuu's eyes - they were downright dangerous - as Yagyuu gently cupped the back of Niou's head with his other hand. Niou closed his eyes when Yagyuu's thumb stroked his hairline behind his ear, and returned Yagyuu's kiss eagerly when the other boy leaned forward and pressed their lips together. Yagyuu whispered into his mouth, "You're more important," before licking around Niou's lips and pressing his tongue into Niou's mouth.

Niou moaned as Yagyuu's hand caressed his neck, sending shivers down his spine. An alarm sounded faintly in his mind, getting louder as Yagyuu's kiss became more insistent, until finally Niou braced his hands against Yagyuu's chest and pushed him back. "Don't lie, Hiroshi. It's not becoming."

"I'm telling the truth." He looked straight into Niou's eyes as he spoke. There was this thing about being best friends and doubles partners though - Niou knew that Yagyuu lied like he spoke the truth.

"No you're not." Niou sighed and looked up at the ceiling. His eyes closed when Yagyuu leaned down and nuzzled his neck.

"Stubborn."

"Have you eaten yet? We should go do that before going to practice." Niou shoved Yagyuu away and moved to open the door. Yagyuu's hand on his wrist stilled him. Niou stared at Yagyuu until he sighed and let go, and they went downstairs.

They didn't speak on their way to practice, and once in the clubroom, changed quickly and quietly. Niou knew Sanada raised an eyebrow at him behind his back, but didn't feel like responding to it. He also knew Yanagi was watching him closely and probably didn't like that he arrived with Yagyuu. Yanagi and Yukimura had been arguing softly when the two of them had arrived, and had immediately stopped when Niou had opened the door and greeted them. It probably had something to do with him. As he tightened his wrist and ankle weights, Niou mused on how it was easier back when he was the main source of worry for other teams, not his own.

Tension ran high throughout practice. Kirihara wasn't pleased with the weekend's lineup when he heard it. His first question was why Yukimura wasn't playing, and his second was why Yagyuu was playing singles. "Even if Niou-senpai and Yagyuu-senpai aren't playing doubles together, Niou-senpai's the one more suited for singles!" A stern look from Yukimura made him shrink back though, looking off to a side and sucking the inside of his cheek.

Yagyuu was assigned an extra rep with the ball machines and twenty laps for an almost embarrassing loss to Sanada. Niou frowned as he and Yanagi worked with the ball machines after their own match. It was weird doing the exercises he and Yagyuu normally went through with Yanagi. Even though they were a stronger team, it was because their individual strengths were stronger. They weren't imposing as a team - they were imposing as individuals.

"Niou, you should work on leg strength a little bit more. Your power isn't maxed because you're not pushing forward as much as possible." Yanagi never stopped pointing out areas of improvement, even though there were only two matches left and not much leg strength Niou could build up in that time. Rikkai was the kind of team where the goal was to strive for perfection; winning was just an added bonus that they achieved in their quest. Niou nodded, making a mental note to increase his time with the leg machines during their work-out sessions.

The weekend at once came too quickly and not quickly enough. Niou assiduously avoided Yagyuu all week. He even did his homework everyday, so that when Yagyuu asked him about their study sessions, he could honestly say that he was on schedule.

The evening before the semifinals, Niou found himself at their tree by the shrine. He'd gone for a walk after dinner because it was too hard to sit still. He climbed to the branch Yagyuu had sat in the last time they were there together. Leaning against the trunk, he started thinking about when he and Yagyuu first met, and when he started becoming aware of Yagyuu as more than a friend. He recalled how he felt when he saw Yagyuu out on a date, versus how he felt when he thought Yanagi may date Kirihara. There was no doubt that Yagyuu's dating someone else affected him more, but he wondered if maybe, that wasn't the best way of measuring his feelings.

Maybe a part of him wanted to be found. There was no other real explanation for going there, other than to directly face Yagyuu. That was why he wasn't surprised when he heard his name, though he was surprised by who said it. "Yanagi? What are you doing here?"

"I called your house and your mom said you went out. I figured you might be here." Yanagi didn't move to climb the tree though, opting instead to lean against the trunk of a nearby tree, looking up at Niou.

"How do you even know about this place?"

"I followed you two once. Niou, we need to talk. Actually, just listen." Yanagi paused, as though expecting Niou to protest. "I know you're still confused, and I don't really want to add to that, but I think this needs to be said. I don't know what Yagyuu's feelings towards you are, but I don't think they're completely real. Yagyuu is straight and will end up with a woman. It could be an infatuation - his feelings for you right now could be real - but the truth is he won't stay with you forever. One day, he's going to get fed up with you because you're a man. And then what, Niou?"

Niou closed his eyes. Somehow, he couldn't fault Yanagi for his words. How could he, when he knew they were true? He could still hope that it wouldn't happen, but what if it did? When they didn't have tennis practice forcing them to spend so much time together? They would drift apart. They could still be friends, but it was unlikely anything more would remain.

"I went through the same thing with Sadaharu. We dated briefly in middle school, before I moved away. As it turns out, long distance is difficult when one person isn't really interested in the other."

"If you knew all this, Yanagi, why did you push me away after Kantou?" Niou hopped down to the ground so he could face Yanagi. The master looked away, folding his arms defensively over his chest.

"I was hurt. Confused. I doubted myself. I thought maybe, Yagyuu could really care for you, could really make you happy. And in some way, I wanted you to realize it, without my telling you." Yanagi paused, though it was clear he wasn't finished yet. He turned his head and looked straight at Niou. Yanagi didn't often open his eyes, but when he did, it pierced straight through every layer of one's defense. "Have you, Niou?"


Half of this part was written nearly a year ago; half was written more recently. So yea, there might be a disconnect; sorry if there is.

And yea, y'all know what to do. It's the thing starting with an R that makes authors write more.