16—thanks

Though the stadium was packed even half an hour before the tournament, Gaillard managed to find some peace and quiet on the roof of the stadium. He stood right in the centre of it, as if he was already standing on the set stage. Being alone helped him to collect himself and put aside useless predictions on how good or bad his draws would be. This was not a unique pre-game strategy and once he sensed that another person had stepped on the roof, he was prepared to ignore his fellow competitor to maintain the tranquil atmosphere.

As he felt the other person approach him, he instinctively took a quick look to see who it was. It was Kai Toshiki, holding a paper shopping bag by the handles.

"What's wrong? Still trying to get over your jet lag?" Gaillard instantly regretted letting loose with the trash talk once he had done so. "Sorry. That's my nerves talking."

Kai ignored him and practically shoved the shopping bag against him with one hand. "This is for you."

"What's that, a token of friendship?" Gaillard tried to joke.

"Whatever you like to call it." Kai replied. "I'm giving this to you now, in case we don't see each other later."

Gaillard accepted the gift and checked the bag's contents. It was a dark purple jacket with a collar of black fur and lapels decorated with sequins. He left it in the bag, resisting the urge to unfold it and bringing it to the light like they were in a boutique and they didn't have matches to be ready for in a matter of minutes.

'Being in a clothes shop with Kai Toshiki,' Gaillard mused. 'Would that ever happen in my lifetime?'

The story behind the gift was that Kai Toshiki was a lucky bastard. He had been trying the jacket on when he found a wallet left inside. While still wearing the jacket, he was handing the valuable over to a staff when the owner came running back. As a reward, the owner bought the jacket for him without a care for his objections.

"What the hell, I'm never going to wear this. I tried it on since I thought, 'Who would look good wearing this crap?'" Kai said. "But you would. I mean, think you'd look good wearing this crap."

"Thank you, I am very flattered." Even while laying the sarcasm on thick, Gaillard could not suppress the smile at Kai's restrained compliment.

Then it occurred to him: 'Is Kai Toshiki trying to hit on me?'

The next thing Kai said seemed to confirm his suspicion. "And also, thanks. For hating me." Gaillard noticed the pinch above Kai's nose that appeared for a millisecond as Kai rephrased himself. "For hating me with honesty."

This was not the time for even more honesty. Gaillard would blush and he would sweat and he would not do any of those things in front of Kai Toshiki. He was now truly, honestly flattered.

"Save your talk for later," Gaillard said. "We seem to be a lot better at talking through Vanguard."

"So it seems."

On the surface, Kai looked unperturbed. Gaillard could barely look back at him.

A/N: Sorry that there was no drabble yesterday...I think I pulled a writing muscle. I came up with the idea for this premise when I mistakenly thought that the tournament in Neon Messiah is held after S4. And henceforth this shall be called, the Tournament Flirting Verse!