I'm ending it here. So it's a twoxshot now.

I thought this story was pretty cute. This chapter is a bit inconsistent in pace, but I think you guys'll manage.

CHAPTER 2: CHANGING TACTICS

Whack! The ball flew into the air before bouncing onto the ground a good couple of metres outside of the diamond. Aoi let out the breath he was holding. Had it not made it outside of the diamond, Usui would have made him do it again.

This entire training session was carried out very professionally. Usui was an unquestionably skilled sportsman, on the professional level for most sports. Aoi didn't really question why. At this point, he was just pleased that he was a good coach. Strict nonetheless.

As soon as Aoi arrived at the field, Usui had ordered him to change and get ready. Aoi did so and while gathering the equipment, Usui had already started teaching him how to set up the kit. That, Aoi thought, was actually very useful. It seems that the blonde haired bishie really knew what he was doing.

After a few warm ups and a jog around the field, Usui started the main coaching session. Aoi couldn't help but remark at how he compiled a seemingly in-depth lesson plan within one day. They did some basic throwing and catching drills, all the while Usui took him through the rules of the game.

During the throwing and catching drills, the tall blonde insisted that Aoi caught fifty balls in a row until they progressed further into the session. Sure, it was a little tough, but the training Aoi and Misaki went through for volleyball was no where near. Though Usui's methods proved fruitful too.

Aoi, however, was blazing with determination and hardly an hour had passed since they started the training, that he could move on from throwing and catching to batting. The teenage coach didn't ease up in the activity either. This time, Aoi was to consecutively hit the ball out of the diamond fifteen times.

Batting wasn't too hard, especially since Usui was pitching. They were all perfectly in the batting zone and so all you needed was some good hand-eye coordination to hit his pitches. That wasn't the problem, though. Aoi had to hit it out of the diamond. Which proved to require good strength and aim, especially to do it consecutively.

But Aoi was tenacious. He got the hang of it quickly and before he knew it, he was holding his breath for his fifteenth consecutive hit outside the diamond.

"Nice batting," Usui said as he wiped away the first sweat he broke all afternoon. "Let's take a break."

They sat in the dugout and replenished themselves with a drink. "Satsuki-san wasn't lying when she said you had a talent for baseball," noted the blonde as he turned to the kid beside him. "You picked everything up real quick."

Aoi let out a hmph. Even though he practically hated them, he wasn't too bad at sports. "Well, I have played it before," he said dismissively, "and you're not so bad a teacher yourself."

"Well, I did promise prez that I'd get you into shape," Usui remarked. "She's been so busy with her work lately and yet she still has time to worry about others. If it wasn't for me telling her to ease up a bit, she'd probably be training you herself. It's the least I could do to help ease her stress."

Did she really overwork herself that much? Really, she was an idiot. Aoi pondered about her concern for him but pushed it to the back of his mind. He really didn't see why anyone would be so idiotic as to worry about someone who hasn't ever even been nice to her. He'd never understand her.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Usui voiced out of the blue.

Aoi looked up in surprise, "Huh? Wha?"

"Prez, that's who you were thinking about, right?"

"Wait, wait, wait! First of all, how on earth did you know that? Are you some sort of creepy mind reader?" Aoi exclaimed, finger pointed accusingly at the seventeen year old. The accused merely chuckled in response. That reaction reminded him very much about someone.

"You're just like her," Usui responded, still chuckling. This was the first time since the session started that they were talking casually. Despite his strict training methods, the teen seemed to lighten up when off the field.

This didn't please the black haired middle schooler, "What? No! How could you ever compare me to that stupid woman. Second of all, amazing? She's an absolute airhead... amazing is far from the word to describe her."

The blonde elaborated, "No, I think she is. Above her busy schedule she has time to worry about you."

"Is that an insult?" Aoi asked, eyes narrowing. Turning chibi, Usui shook his head innocently.

Aoi's sneer melted away when another thought occurred to him. It was something that he'd noticed from the very beginning; something that had always bothered him and that he could never understand.

The pompous attitude of his female form had suddenly engulfed him as he launched questions at the blonde, "Really, what is it with you? It's Misaki this, Prez that, Ayuzawa all the time. You try so hard for that idiot and she can hardly pay you back. Why would you go so far for that stupid woman? There's probably a million other girls out there that would hurl themselves at you, and yet you pick the most stubborn, most stupid one who never even liked you in the first place!"

There was a look of surprise plastered onto Usui's face. Aoi's stare was piercing him for an answer. After a while, the look of surprise melted away into a weak smile. His interrogator's eyes widened as he looked meekly at him, "You're right, there are a million other girls out there but Ayuzawa is the only one who could throw my life into chaos. Ever since I got to know her, she made me worry and she made me care. And it was because of that that I got myself into some pretty tight situations. She's probably the only one who could ever make me such a mess, but nonetheless she never leaves my mind."

Aoi, who was in shock at the sudden confession, seemed to automatically stutter in reply, "Jeez, another masochist." Narrowing his eyes once more, the boy examined the teen in front of him. Usui was scratching his blond hair, with a look of utter defeat. Aoi felt the slightest bit uncomfortable at the sight of a normally in-control person falling head over heels for what he considered to be an airhead.

The brutal honesty was probably what shocked the fourteen-year-old the most. Usui's openness was completely opposite to how Misaki would act. No matter how much Aoi pressured her, she would only be thrown into a blushing fit of evasive mutterings. Honestly, this irritated the middle schooler very much. Their relationship was painful to watch and he could never get answers from her.

But, it seems, that he could easily get them out of Usui. A smirk appeared on the kid's face. He would have preferred a confession from Misaki, seeing as she never really seemed to show much interest in the blonde bishie. Usui, who never failed to show the world his affection for the girl, would probably answer me more straightforwardly. It didn't matter though, he just needed some sort of confirmation to put his mind at ease. They're always so close, they'd randomly hug in the middle of the pathway, he's always rescuing her and yet they aren't going out. He could probably tear his hair out in frustration at this couple.

Realising that some of his aunt's personality was rubbing off on him, Aoi decided to get this done quick. He was changing tactics as to who to interrogate. Putting on the same expression as he did when he asked Misaki the same question, the boy demanded, "Just who is she to you?"

The teenager seemed to consider the question for a moment. Answering quickly (Aoi's eyes were shooting daggers at him) and choosing his words with care he began, "...probably the reason I get up and go to school every morning; the only person that can make my day when they call me a 'perverted-outer-space-alien'; the person whose face I want to see all time, and all the adorable expressions they make; someone who's sheer determination can inspire me; the damsel who's constantly in distress but won't really welcome a knight in shining armour either; the person who can make me worry to the ends of the earth; and also the one and only perfect girl in my eyes; in other words, everything."

Aoi's mouth hung open. Sure, he expected him to confess but he didn't really know what exactly he'd say. He definitely didn't expect him to say so much. Although some of the words were cliché, each word was dripping with honesty and emotion. Aoi blinked.

Usui felt good after letting that all out. That may have been a lot but that was exactly how he felt. Actually, he could probably keep going 'til the sunset listing what she was to him.

After recovering, Aoi snapped Usui out of his daze and asked, "Well then, why don't you ask her out?"

This time, it was Usui's turn to smirk. "That's harder than you think," he stated pointedly, "and besides, I wouldn't put myself in such a troublesome situation."

Aoi gawked. There is something beyond wrong with this pair, he thought. Crumpling his face in confusion, he searched for the right words to yell at the seventeen-year-old – who seemed to be equally idiotic as his self proclaimed love. This is no good, thought Aoi, no matter how hard I think, I can't seem to find the right amount and meaning of words to describe how frustratingly stupid what he just said was.

Normally, two people who like each other should go out, Aoi decided. But these two are far from normal, he noted, sweat dropping. Aoi shook off the thought and decided to think of the other reason. Any more of this and he'd practically jump off a cliff in frustration. Never before have there been people who caused this must pain for Aoi to watch.

After taking a breath, the middle schooler considered the other reason that Usui put forward. "You're right, it sounds like a challenge even for you to ask her out," he agreed. "That woman is always in denial."

The blonde high schooler chuckled. Aoi shot him a look of questioning. "Denial, huh?" Usui muttered. "Is that what you think?"

"Well, nah!" sarcasm dripped from the exclamation. "You're always talking, you're always together and you're always teasing her. If that doesn't scream cute couple to you then what does? Not that you guys are a cute couple, quite infuriating actually. Despite all of that, she still denies liking you in the smallest bit. That's denial and you know it."

Usui considered the nature of his words and seemed to agree. Then he teased, raising an eyebrow, "Infuriating? In what way?"

At that, Aoi wanted to hit something, preferably the smug blonde in front of him. Ok, now he's doing it on purpose he thought, clenching his teeth. Feeling he'd yelled enough already – and that he might maim his coach if he got too carried away – Aoi kept his mouth shut. Instead, he waited for Usui to continue.

Usui thought hard, or at least he seemed like it. After a while he animatedly came to a conclusion and said, "Yeah, I think I see what you mean." Aoi's sweat dropped and his fists trembled. The blonde smiled smugly, he was enjoying teasing the middle schooler.

Aoi looked up to see the grinning blonde who looked as if teasing him was the most amusing thing. It didn't seem like he would continue any further. So with a brief 'tch', the fourteen-year-old forced out, "Which part: the infuriating or the denial?"

"Both!" Usui called in mock enthusiasm. Aoi's eye twitched. Usui began to feel sorry for the kid, who looked sort of constipated now. "Alright, alright," he said, "that's quite enough teasing for now." Aoi pouted, but was secretly relieved. Any more of that treatment and he may have started becoming a masochist himself.

"Let me explain myself," Usui began, "we're infuriating in that we display our feelings in our own special way, right 3?"

Aoi rolled his eyes, "So you finally get it."

"And," he continued, "I see your point with prez's denial. I mean, no matter how many times she kisses me, she'll still denies that she wants me..."

"See I told you -" Aoi started, but was cut short when he realised Usui's words. "WAIT, YOU'VE KISSED EACH OTHER!"

"Oops," was all the blonde said as he abruptly stood up. "Well, break's over, let's keep going."

Aoi had unearthed more than he'd hoped. "Wait, what? You're not even going out and you've kissed each other. Hold on, no matter how many times? You've done it more than once? You idiot couple, you're killing me!" He sprung up and started to chase the annoying high schooler around the field.

"Well, it's not like I don't like her, so it's not a crime," chibi Usui defended as he evaded the fuming boy with ease. "I don't really kiss people I don't like." The black haired boy ignored his comments and continued his futile attempts at hitting him.

"Oh wait, I have done that," Usui said to himself as memories of his kiss with Yukimura returned to him. But then again, he did that for Ayuzawa as well. "We better get back to training, I promised prez I'd make you a champ. Besides, she'll already kill me once she finds out what I let slip."

"Good, you deserve to die!" Aoi yelled as he continued his rampage.

"Really," Usui sighed to himself, "the things I do for you, prez."

Well, that's that. A story finished in three days, I'm proud. Again, beta please, Asian Ranga.

I'd loooove reviews please!